Try It Tuesday...Spinach & Artichoke Dip

 Whether I like it or not it's that time of year where Sundays are for snacking.  I'm not a big fan of football but love the snacks that come along with it. Plus it's always fun to make it all look pretty with different platters, bowls, and whatever else I have around our casa. I made this supah easy spinach and artichoke dip recently and although it's not exactly like Houston's famous spinach and artichoke dip it's pretty damn close. Check out the recipe below...

wearing  dulce de leche

 Ingredients

1 can artichoke hearts (diced up)

1 10 oz bag of frozen spinach (thawed)

3/4 c vegenaise (or mayo)

3/4 c grated parmesan

3/4 c mozzarella (next time I'll try using monterey jack thanks to Laura's tip)

1/2 t garlic powder

Mix these ingredients together and place in your favorite oven safe dish. I use a 9" pie plate just to give you a reference to size.

Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes or until hot. Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream and salsa on a platter for fun!

I'm crushing on this and this to serve my snacks on...

Fall Favorites...

cardigan//stripes//plaid//black//mules//fringe

I keep drooling over everything plaid for this fall! It was hard not to put more than one plaid item on my favorites for today. Everyone needs a good, warm cardigan for cooler temps and this toffee cardigan on the top left is going to be on repeat. It's the perfect sweater to throw on with jeans, a casual dress or just around the house. I'm lovin' all the fall styles this year and btw the black dress is on sale!

Try It Tuesday...Layer of Love Taco Salad Review

This is by far my favorite taco salad evah! It's healthy, fresh, tasty and a little time consuming but so worth it. I came across it on Tracy Anderson's 3 Green Hearts Instagram account and I was immediately smittened as it's mexican and yet, so good for you! You know what makes me feel even better is when I drink a 'rita with it.  As I promised, here is the recipe so you can try it for yourself! I did leave out the cilantro it called for and I used can corn instead of fresh (I hope that you can forgive me). Also, the recipe doesn't specify amounts for some of the ingredients and there were a few other things I left out so just improvise to your liking.  FYI-this wasn't kid friendly but the hubs did enjoy it. Let me know what you think of it and a big muchas gracias to Tracy for the recipe!

Ingredients

2 cans of kidney beans (drained)

1 lb. ground turkey (optional)

garlic cloves (I used 2)

red onion-diced (I used about a half of 1)

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cumin

sea salt

purple cabbage 

rice wine vinegar

corn (I used 1 can)

coconut oil-refined

1 cup cooked Lundberg Black Japonica Rice

homemade guac or whichever brand you prefer

romaine lettuce

plum tomatoes

avocado

trifle bowl

How to:

Start cooking your rice since this will take about 40 minutes. 

Brown your turkey if you decide to add this to the mix.

Take your rinsed kidney beans and blend them in a vitamix blender or a food processor. Saute them in a pan (along with your cooked turkey if you so wish to add this) with onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin and sea salt.

Put this bottom layer in your trifle dish. 1st layer

Mix your cabbage with rice wine vinegar and place on top of bean/meat mixture. 2nd layer

Saute corn with coconut oil and this will be your 3rd layer.

Add 1 cup of cooked rice to the dish and this is your 4th layer.

Add your guacamole to make the 5th layer.

Your final layer will be your romaine lettuce.

Top with a few halved plum tomatoes and diced avocado and Enjoy!

*you can also add salad dressing to this.

Friday Favorites...

taco salad

Our morning bell has been going off about a half hour earlier than usual this week and by 8pm I'm ready to shut it down for the evening. I do like the extra time in the morning because I seem to get so much more accomplished and I don't like to brag, but I've been suzy homemaker this week.  I tried a new taco salad recipe in a dish I've been wanting to use ever since I bought it two years ago and it's safe to say that it's a keeper (the dish and recipe.) I'll be sure to share it next week on Try It Tuesday. See my other favorites from the week and TGIF friends!

cacti are in my wheelhouse//outdoor patio scene

Our newest plant addition

 can't stop thinking about this buffalo check top

Fallin' for Army Green...

Army green, olive call it what you want but this color is everywhere this fall and I'm loving it! I'm looking forward to my next night out wearing this shirt and I'm putting this clutch on my wish list. The hunt is on for some cargos in this color...

Try It Tuesday...DIY hand sanitizer

This past weekend I whipped up some hand sanitizer using essential oils and other household items. Super simple so I suppose I should share (couldn't think of anymore "S" words). I'm a little bit of a germophobe and the alcohol in the regular store bought sanitizers were drying my hands out way too much so I thought why not put my oils to use. Each single pure essential oil consists of several natural chemicals which have antibacterial properties. I used lavender because it is my all time favorite "go to oil" for almost every situation, melaleuca (tea tree oil) because it's the most popular antibacterial oil, and On Guard which is an oil blend that kills harmful bacteria, mold and viruses. I'll keep the 1oz. bottle in my purse and I doubled the recipe below to put in a 4oz. bottle to keep in my car. 

what I used

 how to

You can shop these oils on my doTERRA site by clicking here and the glass spray bottles can be found here.

Friday Favorites...

velvet pumpkins 

It's gettin' real around here. We've had a hard time getting back into school mode and after a long holiday weekend it's been even harder to get into a morning routine. Although it doesn't feel like fall yet I'm slowly breaking out my seasonal decor...which means saying goodbye to my go to summer nail polish.  We had a full week and I'm still jumping for joy over the comeback of my fiddle leaf fig. They are so finicky but fingers crossed that I will be able to put this beauty back inside the house again. Hope y'all have a fun and relaxing weekend.

fall polish

 after school brownies

My fig is back

Color Crave...

I'm typically not a fan of maroon but for some odd reason I'm craving it for fall this year.

Friday Favorites with J.Crew & Madewell...

tank//bells//sandals//necklace//shades

Most of my denim is slim fitting but I do have a few pair of bell bottoms that I love to rock. They are all the rage right now and I love that I can dress them up or down. Also, it's always a good idea to have a pair that you can wear with flats and a pair to wear with heels or wedges. Yesterday I went for this casual look and am already looking forward to wearing this outfit again. The striped tank is now one of my favorite shirts and finding it on sale was icing on the cake.  I love mixing new with old and having it all come together for a simple, classy look that I can wear just about anywhere. 

Try It Tuesday...Living Proof

Shampoo less. Live more.

I've seen the buzz surrounding the Living proof hair products but have never tried it out until this past weekend. The deal is I have fine hair and if I don't wash it everyday it gets greasy and unmanageable. My typical goal is to wash my hair every other day but sometimes that doesn't happen. I finally decided to give their Perfect hair Day dry shampoo a go because it had me at "actually cleans hair." What? Clean my hair and eliminate oil? Let's do it. I went two and a half days without washing my hair and this product is legit. I'm not sure if it really "cleaned" my hair but it sure is the best dry shampoo I've used. 

It has a clean scent, it doesn't leave a white residue (be sure to shake the can well before use) and the oil absorption was excellent. Read more about their products here, here or here!