Super Bowl Menu

Hello All! In two short weeks Super Bowl XLVIII will be among us. Incase you don't know me too well, I am a huge NFL fan. (I specify NFL because I don't watch college football, sorry!) If I am not rooting for my team, the Washington Redskins, I am rooting for Peyton Manning. I think he is amazing and I am thrilled to see him make it to the Super Bowl this year!

Now I'm so glad I have a reason to host a party. So what's going to be on the menu? Oh, that's the beauty of the big game being two weeks away, I still have time to decide! I had a list of like a thousand things I would like to make but with that being unrealistic to actually do, I narrowed it down. Here are some awesome Super Bowl/big sporting event food ideas that I'd like to share with you:

Dips

Skinny Taco Dip from myself, ha - Not to toot my own horn but this stuff is addicting! This pairs very well with Tostitos Fajita Scoops.

5 Layer Greek Dip from The Lovely Cupboard - I have made this a few times and got a great response, plus I love it so that's pretty much a big deal. For this I recommend picking up a bag of Stacy's Pita Chips.

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip from Tammilee Tips - I have been eyeing this dip for SO long and I finally get to make it. It also makes me happy that I finally have a Crock Pot to actually make things in.

Appetizers/Main Dishes

Baked Buffalo Wings by Tastes Really Good - How can you have a Super Bowl party and not have wings?! Exactly. Here you go!

Greek Nachos by Not Without Salt - Mmm, I love anything Greek/Mediterranean. 

Buffalo Turkey Balls by I Breathe.. I'm Hungry - Do we notice a trend here? Chances are it's either buffalo or Mediterranean. 

Pigs in a Blanket by 2010 Food Project - These are so simple to make there's no reason not to have them on your menu

Jalapeño Popper Pigs in a Blanket by The Girl Who Ate Everything - Here's a way to spice up some pigs in a blanket. 

Potato Nachos by Priscilla Bakes - These look so good. If you throw in some ground beef, it could definitely be made into a main dish. I mean, of course you'd need like 10 of them but still.

Dessert

Strawberry Brownie Kabob by Erica's Sweet Tooth - Seriously? Yum! So simple and easy. An easy step for this one is rather than making the brownies yourself, you can buy the brownie bites from Costo and they will work perfectly.

Rainbow Krispy Bars by Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen - This is a treat that everyone will love. Well, anyone with working taste buds.

Other

A few other things you could make that I don't have pictures of are (obviously) some football themed cupcakes and cookies that will be near every aisle of the grocery store. Also, a trip to Costco is always good; mozzarella sticks, quiche/appetizers box and soft pretzels. And don't forget your veggie and fruit platters!

Delish!

Overall, I know I have a serious issue with going overboard. I love having a reason to entertain and cooking. Unfortunately, I don't have my own house and I can't spend a ton of money on food and party supplies. I really want to make this year super fun and I can't wait to tell you all, all about it. It'll be interesting to see what I actually end up cooking!

Until next time,

My New Years Resolutions

It's time for me to share my resolutions for 2014. I'm one of those people that if I write out my goals I am more likely to accomplish them. I can come back and look at them, keep track and once it's out there, I tell myself "now I have to do it!" - So here we go.

1. Work harder on my blog - As I mentioned it in my last post, I really want to be successful at blogging and give my blog a good life. I'm having trouble finding my niche but I think I'm slowly getting there. I'm also now looking at it in a different way. I'm currently not the engaged, married, a homeowner, etc but one day I will be. I realized it's a good thing that I've started my blog before all of this so then I can track all of it and be able to look at all of it.

2. Health and fitness - Last year I was doing really well with my fitness, I was in the gym a lot and then BOOM, I got very sick. I spent two weeks in the hospital, a total of five weeks sick RIGHT in the middle of summer. When I was in the hospital it was the point that I was getting pretty gauntly because I was barely eating. After I was cleared and feeling better, I just couldn't get myself to go to the gym and I started eating again and gained a ton of weight. This year I am determined to get myself back on track and sticking to it, no matter what.

3. Keeping track of my finances - Now that I have a job in my field, a salary paycheck, and real world bills, I'm going to get myself on track. I made myself a pretty awesome excel spreadsheet and listed EVERYTHING. It is honestly one of the most scary things I've looked at recently. One of the scariest things to me is the possibility of ruining my credit and not being able to be stable financially.

4. 30 Before 30 - This year I will be 25. That (obviously) leaves me 5 years until my 30th birthday and I still have 28 things to mark off my list. This year I am going to go for FIVE more things on my list. I don't know which ones yet but it'll happen.

5. Inner peace - I want to focus myself on my inner peace. I want to try to relieve some of the stress in my life and try to make myself a happier person. I truly believe if I can just get rid of some of the massive amounts of stress in my life it will make me a much happier person mentally, it will help me being on track with my health and it will overall help me with every aspect of my life. Maybe I'll start with some yoga?

I have a few other things on my list but they're not major so I'm not going to go into detail about them. All I know is, I have never said "New Year, New Me" but I'm going to say it this year. I will be 25, major milestone, and I am going to make this an ah-mazing year. With the year I had in 2013, I think God will be guiding me into a better year. I can't wait to see what comes my way. I can't wait to accomplish my resolutions, hopes and goals of this year and I hope the same for you!

Talk to you soon.

My Lack of Posts - The Truth

Hello All!

I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday break, vacation, New Year and any other adventure you've had in the past few weeks. Today I'm here to post my first "real" post. By real I mean emotion, no recipes, no pictures/videos, etc. I want to talk about the reason why I don't post so often. The reason why sometimes I have a couple posts in one week and why I go MIA for a couple weeks after.

Here's the truth: I can't find my niche. There are many common factors that I find in the blogs I come across: motherhood, marriage, fashion, home decor, cooking, fitness and adventure. There are 1.5 of the mentioned that I feel I truly relate to. First let me talk about the ones I don't fit in with.

Let's start with this. I'm 24, in a serious relationship (3 years in March) and I still live with my mom. Therefore, I am not married, do not have children (not that you need to be married to do so), I do not have my own place (yet) and I am not fashionable enough to share my fashion with the world. I'm also not that adventurous, even though I'd like to be. I feel that most of the amazing blogs I come across are mommy-bloggers, ladies planning their weddings, gushing about their new home decor, etc. I can't wait to be that gal but for now, I'm not.

The things I do relate to are food (1 point) and fitness (.5 point). If you do read my blog you'll see I post quite a bit of recipes. I love to cook but it can often be hard as I share a tiny kitchen with my mother who just so happens to have a reason to be in the kitchen whenever I am in there. As far as the fitness goes, I read fitness blogs and can apply tips to myself at this time (I don't have to pin it and wait a couple years to do it) but I don't write about it.

I will definitely keep up with my recipe posting but there will be other things I need to start posting about. Until now I veered away from posting about random thoughts that come to mind or popculture, headlines, etc. My last blog (I had it for a couple years) I would post a lot about popculture and it really worked for me. So why did I stop? I honestly have no idea. I guess I figured people just like short, straight to the point posts with pictures and videos. I've decided to go back to my old ways.

My first New Years Resolution is to put more effort and time into my blog. I love it and I want it to be successful in my blogging so I need to put my heart into it and not just let it drift away. I will also put more time into finding and reading other people's blogs. (Side note: One thing I really wish blogspot would make is a more advanced search engine. - I think this would really benefit me, and others, in finding blogs they are able to relate to more. They should also delete the thousands of blogs that haven't been written on in YEARS but that's a completely different rant.)

That will be one of my top resolutions for 2014. I will follow up with a post all about my New Years Resolution(s) and why 2014 WILL be my year! Until then -- talk to you soon!