Iowa Weekend: Farmer's Market

My weekend was spent in Iowa with Nate. His parents were also in town for a bit. All of us spent our Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market browsing the different stands, trying tasty foods, and admiring all of the different types of dogs. This was the last week for many of the Flower Vendors at the market, so I was thankful we went so I could snap some pictures!

Nate enjoys the Farmer's Market, mainly for the food and dog-watching. 

Again, the dog-watching was the main event during our morning adventure. It was amazing how many different breeds of dogs there were. We talked to a young man who was walking a German Shorthaired Pointer that was 3 months old. This little pup looked like a baby deer trying to walk on her long thin legs. I pointed out how large her floppy years were, and the owner said he hoped one day she would grow into them! We also ran into this bulldog a number of times that morning. This guy just looked so happy, I had to take a picture.

One of our favorite stands is one that makes lawn ornaments out of iron and rocks. They make various different species of animals such as ants, caterpillars, frogs, dogs, cats, scorpions, giraffes, and peacocks (shown below).

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, and had a chance to enjoy the great outdoors!

~Em

Pinspiration: Vanity Decor

Pinterest is one of my absolute favorite websites. I'm sure it is for a ton of women out there. I can spend hours pinning different pictures related to home design, style and fashion, and inspirational quotes. If you have not heard of Pinterest, it is a social networking website that enables users to visually share, and discover new interests by posting pictures to their boards. This is known as 'pinning' in the Pinterest world. A board is a collection of images (a.k.a. 'pins') that normally have a similar theme. What I find most entertaining about the website is browsing other users' pins and boards. Each pin is linked to the website that it came from, so you are usually able to trace that image back to a tutorial, or instructions.

The other day I was browsing for images to pin and I came across this picture found on Style Me Shea of this beautiful vanity decor. I loved the girly touches in the mirrored tray and the colorful, dainty plates.

This picture was inspiration for me to 'dress-up' my own vanity and display my favorite jewelry pieces. My mom is an avid estate-sale goer, so I put her to work and asked her to look for little tea-cup plates and a large glass container, that was raised, if she could find it. I already have a mirrored tray that my mom and I had found at an estate sale, and that I planned to use for this very purpose.

My mom found the plates at various flea markets and sales. They are floral and dainty, just like the inspiration picture! She also found a glass container that was not raised, but had a great design and it came with a matching glass lid. To emulate the inspiration picture found on Pinterest, we decided to take one of my mom's old pudding glasses that she hardly ever uses and glue it to the bottom of the glass container; creating that raised look. Personally, I think it looks great!

I decided to take this opportunity to snap a few pictures of my engagement ring on my most favorite little plate. Nate and I found a similar design of my ring on Etsy. However, we were nervous about ordering an expensive piece of jewelry online. I have had friends that have had good luck with different vendors on Etsy, but Nate and I agreed that we did not want to take the risk of ordering the ring online. So, we went to a local jewelry shop that specializes in affordable, custom designs. We showed them the pictures, modified the design a bit, and they created this beaut! 

The ring is two-toned white gold and rose gold around the halo. The center stone is an oval-shaped, white sapphire. I am so thrilled that I get to wear it for the rest of my life and that Nate and I went through the process of picking it out together!

So, there you have it! My Pinterest inspired jewelry display! In total this project cost around $10. Now I have a beautiful way to display some of my favorite pieces from my jewelry collection in a way that is pretty and fun to look at everyday. How do you think I did? Do they look similar?

How do you display your jewelry?

-Em

Skinny Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Pasta Recipe

Who doesn't love a good Alfredo Pasta Recipe?!? Especially one that is relatively healthy for you! I have been wanting to make this recipe that I saw on Pinterest via Iowa Girl Eats for a long time (p.s. check out her blog!) This was the best homemade alfredo sauce I have ever tasted! It was rich and creamy, but still felt really light! 

I had forgotten to defrost some chicken, so I made the vegetarian version of the dish, which was still very filling and yummy. I also forgot to set aside a 1/2 cup of pasta water when I drained the noodles. I did not mind this. It just made the sauce thicker. To save time and an extra pot, consider cooking your broccoli in the same pot as your noodles. I through them in with about 5 minutes left for my noodles to cook. It worked out perfectly!

By the time I was done cooking, I was so hungry! I apologize for the not-so-pretty pictures! I wanted to get eating!

Skinny Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Pasta  

This recipe Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, seasoned as desired, cooked, and cut into cubes

2 cups cooked broccoli

Half a box of Rotini or pasta of choice

2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic

2 Tablespoons Flour

1 Cup of Chicken Broth

1/4 Cup Milk of any kind (I used Skim Milk)

1/4 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt (I used Vanilla and it was delicious)

Salt & Pepper to taste

3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Save 1/2 cup of water from the pasta before draining and set it aside for later. Then, heat the olive oil in medium-sized pan over medium heat. Stir in the minced garlic and stir until golden brown. Stir in the flour, chicken broth, and milk, greek yogurt, salt and pepper. Turn the heat to low and let the sauce simmer until it has thickened. Once the sauce has reached a thick consistency, add in the parmesan cheese and then the cooked chicken. Pour the mixture over the pasta and then add the broccoli and stir everything together. Add the pasta water as needed if the sauce is too thick. Serve and Enjoy!

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

-Em

The beginning of Fall in Minnesota

On this gloomy Minnesota Tuesday, I wanted to take this time to remember the wonderful weather that we had this past weekend! It was absolutely perfect. The weather was in the 70s with no clouds in the sky! I went on a walk on Sunday around my neighborhood and found some really cool scenery that I captured with my brand new CAMERA!! I was so excited to get outside and take some pictures!

I thought these doors were the coolest thing. A house in my neighborhood had these lined up against the outside of their fence! What a cool backdrop for future photo taking!!

What are you all doing on this gloomy Tuesday?

-Em

Healthy Power Bars

One benefit of Nate being in Medical School is that he had to take a nutrition class and came home with all of these fun and healthy recipes for us to try! These power bars are delicious and really easy to make! They are great for a quick breakfast on a busy morning, and a perfect boost of protein for after a workout!

This recipe makes 32 servings.

Ingredients:

2 cups of quick oats

1 cup natural peanut butter (creamy or chunky)

1 cup honey

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup ground flax

1 cup vanilla whey protein powder (or you can use soy protein powder)

Instructions:

Mix all of the ingredients together and stir until it is well blended. Spread mixture into a 13x10 inch pan and refrigerate until ready to serve (about an hour). Store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks or freeze for later use.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

170 calories

8 grams fat

2 milligrams cholesterol

22 grams carbohydrate

3 grams fiber

5 grams protein

35 milligrams sodium

There you have it! A healthy protein bar that is easy to make and super good! Aren't they delicious?

~Em

Engagement Photos!!!

THANK YOU WHITNEY FURST PHOTOGRAPHY!!

Nate and I had so much fun at our engagement photo shoot! We told Whitney that we wanted (and needed) all of the direction that she was able to give us, and boy, did she deliver! Here are some of our favorite photos!

What do you think?

-Em