For the Love of Oil

Here's a quick sneak peek of a new gem opening up in the Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte this week! My blonde sister and her husband are the masterminds behind this artisanal oil and vinegar shop. My entire family, in fact, has been involved. It's a regular "family business" and I am so excited for Pour Olive to open its doors.

More to come soon...

I Pink Puffy Heart Essie Nail Polish

I have a thing for painted nails. I always feel a little more put together when my nails have been painted, even if just a nice sheer neutral. essie nail polish is by far my favorite. I purchased my first bottle several years ago and it's all I buy now. After I shared a new color in my vlog last week, I received several comments and e-mails regarding essie polishes such as where to buy and why I loved it so much. Since this is one of the little things in life I get excited about, I thought I would whip up a quick post with my favorite essie colors.

I do not get my nails done regularly. I prefer to spend my money elsewhere and I actually enjoy doing them myself. With a good base coat, top coat and high quality polish, you can have perfectly manicured nails all the time! essie polishes have some of the most beautiful colors. It's a quality product and since I have fairly tiny nail beds, the smaller brush is the perfect size and creates an even coat. Using a base, color and then a top coat, my nails will usually stay nice and neat for a week! (even through cooking dinners every night, cleaning, DIY-ing, etc.) I also have to admit that my little OCD heart loves the way these bottles line up so nicely together.

Here's the roundup of my favorite essie colors on constant rotation:

BALLET SLIPPERS

My favorite nail polish of ALL TIME. As in, if I was forced to wear only one color the rest of my life. Well, this would be it. It's the perfect lady-like milky neutral with a slight kiss of pink. 

TART DECO

The perfect peachy coral for summer. Looks especially lovely on tanned feet!

SOLE MATE

A deep, dark, chocolatey berry that I wear often throughout the Fall.

PEACH DAIQUIRI

My newest Essie love. The perfect fun, punchy, slightly neon color for Summer.

CLAMBAKE

The quintessential warm red with orangey tones. An easy second favorite!

FRENCH AFFAIR

A super feminine lilac-y pink that screams everything we girls love about Spring.

SUGAR DADDY

When clear just won't do but you want a little sheer shine with the tiniest hint of pink.

PLUMBERRY

This is for juicy, berry-kissed nails and is perfect all year round. (Thanks, Ashley for this one!!)

For a base and top coat, I really like essie's 3-Way Glaze. I apply a base coat, two coats of color and then a final top coat. The 3-Way Glaze ensures you several days of shiny, no-chips nails! If you are in a pinch, Ulta makes a good quick drying top coat that I also use from time to time.

I typically purchase essie polishes at Ulta or Target. They have a great selection of colors. If you haven't already, sign up for Ulta coupons by e-mail and mail. Never make a trip to Ulta without their little $3.50 off coupons in hand! Additionally, if you are looking for a particular color, check Amazon (all linked above), as sometimes the stores don't always have what you're looking for. 

Happy nail painting!

Strawberry Salad with Goat Cheese + Avocado

Next to my beloved Caprese, this is the second best salad EVER. It's a little sweet and a little savory with A LOT of goodness. Tangy goat cheese adds some fresh creaminess and chopped avocado is the most surprising bite of the bunch! I top it all off with a light and easy balsamic vinaigrette. Add some shredded chicken to the mix and you have a complete meal.

Strawberry Salad with Goat Cheese + Avocado

Mixed baby greens or romaine

Strawberries, sliced

Avocado, diced

Red onion, thinly sliced

Goat cheese

Shredded chicken (optional)

Balsamic Vinaigrette (for one)

1.5 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinaigrette

1/4 tsp. dijon mustard

Salt + pepper to season

Whisk all ingredients together and enjoy on top of your salad creation!

Stop and Smell the Roses: Week 9, Vol. 6

Skipping to the mailbox is one of my favorite moments of the day. A good mail day usually consists of a new J.Crew Catalog or Anthropologie, an Ulta flyer with a coupon to further fuel my lipstick hoarding, and the newest issue of Southern Living or Cooking Light. Throw in a save the date and I'm all smiles. That's a good mail day. But a GREAT mailday? Those days could be nothing but junk mail and amidst the junk is a single envelope with a handwritten note inside. Those mail gems simply are the best!

Supplies mentioned in this video that I keep on hand for homemade stationery:

blank notecards (found at Hobby Lobby, Michael's)

scrapbook paper in fun patterns and colors

acid-free gluestick

stamps

stamp pads and markers

envelope liner stencil (made with a manilla envelope)

I'm a total pen snob. Here are my favorites for both note writing and everyday:

Uniball Vision Elite (MY VERY FAVORITE...the multi-color pack, of course!)

Sharpie Pen fine point

Pilot G2 Retractable

Send someone snail mail love this week and let them know that you are thinking about them! When it comes to random acts of love and kindness, it really doesn't get a whole lot better than that.

If there is something you're smiling about this week, film a vlog and link up with us! You can find all of the details on Mandy's blog, House of Rose, HERE.

Remember to take in the little things and find an extra reason to smile each and every day. Be positive, spread the love and always CHOOSE JOY.

P.S. "Nothing says I love you like lined envelopes". xoxo

Mint Chimichurri

I'm big on sauce. I love a rare treat of Chick-Fil-A Waffle Fries doused in ketchup. Pesto is heaven on earth, especially accompanied by fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes and Tzatziki, I enjoy straight from a spoon. Chimichurri, however, is the sauce of the Gods. It's zesty and fresh and brightens up everything it's devoured with.

Americans have ketchup. Italians have Pesto. Greeks have Tzatziki. But Argentinians? They have Chimichurri. My dad started making chimichurri several years ago and I've had a food obsession ever since. A basic chimichurri recipe combines parsley, oregano, garlic, shallots, lemon juice, olive oil and salt. I mix up small batches from time to time to have alongside grilled meats or fish. I love it so much that I may or may not have contemplated serving on top of ice cream.

Our lovely Easter for two featured a rack of lamb that sat in a pool of red wine, garlic and rosemary for several hours before grilling to perfection. Alongside the lamb was some simple grilled asparagus and Goat Cheese Risotto. I am not sure why lamb goes so well with mint, but is just does. It's a beautiful combination that happens to be one of my favorites. This love started at a young age. When we were younger, my sisters and I doused our grilled lamb chops with mint jelly. I still love a heaping scoop of mint jelly with my lamb, but I wanted to try something fresh and new on Easter. I found a recipe for mint chimichurri and immediately added it to our holiday menu. All that I have left to say is PLEASE MAKE THIS.

And no, I won't judge you for eating it on top of ice cream.

Mint Chimichurri

recipe from Food & Wine

2 cups mint leaves

1 small jalapeno, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 small shallot, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Pinch of sugar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

In a mini food processor or blender, puree all ingredients. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Weekly Eats

Last week's menu was fresh and healthy! Everything at the market is so colorful this time of year and the grill has already gotten so much love. This not only makes meal planning a breeze, but also super healthy without even trying too hard. Another win is that there is so much local produce at our market. I do love that about the area we live in- the fruits and vegetables are always so ripe and delicious. All this farmland better be good for something, right!?

MONDAY/TUESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY/SUNDAY

For Monday's meal, I whipped up a quick marinade with tequilla, olive oil, lime juice, orange juice, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. I let the chicken thighs bathe in the marinade for about 4 hours before Mark threw them on the grill. Paleo Shepherd's Pie was by far the rare bite of the week, but was surprisingly good. You can read my review here. The blackened chicken recipe that I used as my inspiration is from Epicurious and it was AMAZING. I think soaking the chicken in a brine prior to grilling really takes it up a notch.

What are you cooking this week? Link up with Molly & Rachel or just grab your meal planning supplies and browse the yummy looking menus everyone is sharing. You're bound to find some great kitchen inspiration!

Wishing you all a delicious week!

Recipe Review: Paleo Farmer's/Shepherd's Pie

There are some recipes that are not picture-worthy enough to blog, but they are still interesting enough to share. (Read: if I posted a picture of the final product, you would probably stop reading now.) Paleo Farmer's/Shepherd's Pie fits into this category.

This recipe went way outside of my comfort zone. Like, WAY OUTSIDE. This was along the lines of meatloaf scary. I thought that nothing would be more uncomfortable than the manfood.

I'm not really a casserole person, and anything dumped into a pyrex and cooked together in the oven is pretty much a casserole to me. Strike one.

Additionally, I've never even eaten Shepherd's Pie before, let alone make it in my entire 27 years of living. Strike two.

And...since there wasn't a reason to lay down a third strike, I decided to give it a go! Plus, it's an English dish. (I do not hide my love for the Royal family) My dear friend Sophie grew up across the pond and her mother made Shepherd's pie all the time. They called it "Shepherd's Construction". I think that's what I will call it from now on.

I arranged sort of a recipe "mash-up" of sorts and developed my version based on these two recipes:

Elana's Pantry Shepherd's Pie

Paleo Comfort Foods Farmer's Pie

If you have everything chopped up and ready to go ahead of time, this is a pretty quick meal to put together. If you don't, I suggest corralling a helper into the kitchen (thank you, Mark!!). It took us about an hour to put the entire dish together and then 30 minutes to cook, and 10 minutes to sit and cool off before we sat down to dig in. If you have the time, great. If not, chop up all of your veggies so that they're ready to go a few days before you cook this up.

Now, for my cooking notes...

I mostly followed the Paleo Comfort Foods recipe, with a few alterations. I only used a pound and a half ground 98% lean ground sirloin and omitted the ground lamb all together. The recipe from Elana's Pantry included bacon for extra flavor so I chopped up about a third of a pound of that to mix in with the ground beef. Since I made the portion smaller, I only used one head of steamed, mashed cauliflower for the top. I kept the rest of the recipe the same.

Next time, I think I will ommit the bacon, and do a mixture of sirloin and pork or even some turkey. I would add in even more celery, carrots, and onions, maybe even add some mushrooms to the mix. Fresh basil would be another great addition. I would also omit the Worcestershire sauce and swap in some red wine for a richer flavor. (this is what my mom would refer to as Italianizing it!)

We loved this dish and Mark even gave it his seal of approval to go on our dinner rotation. The mashed cauliflower was the surprise of the night. It turns out, that when steamed and pureed in a food processor, it really is a good substitute for mashed potatoes! The best part is that it's super flexible and can be customized to your tastebuds. We have been enjoying leftovers for lunch the past couple of days which is also an added bonus. This is definitely a meal I will make and play around with again.

Cheers to branching out! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!