Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Lettuce Wraps and Snow Day

Happy Tuesday! Are you getting snow where you live? It is coming down this morning in Raleigh. While I do love a good snow day, we are ready for spring. Snow days aren't quite as fun when you are over the age of 12...there are no such things are snow days (aka work from home and it gets boring). On a different note today we are featuring an easy and delicious recipe found on Kitchn: Asian Lettuce Wraps. You can get the recipe here. Perfect for a busy week night. Clean up was easy, it took about 20 minutes to make and is relatively healthy. Enjoy! Stay warm and safe! xo
 
Chicken Lettuce Wraps

How To Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Serves 2 to 4 as a main course, or 6 to 8 as an appetizer or side dish

What You Need

Ingredients

3 to 5 tablespoons
hoisin sauce (gluten-free, if needed)
2 tablespoons
soy sauce (or 1 tablespoon tamari, if gluten-free or coconut aminos)
2 tablespoons
rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon
sesame oil
1 teaspoon
cornstarch, optional
 
1 pound
ground chicken, white meat  (or ground turkey)
2 teaspoons
vegetable oil, divided
8 ounces
mushrooms, chopped small
1
8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and chopped small
3 cloves
garlic, minced
1-inch piece ginger, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1/2 cup
sliced green onions (from about 6 green onions), divided
2
small heads Bibb or butter lettuce
Red pepper flakes, to serve
 
Hot sauce, to serve
Optional extras: chopped onions, chopped bell peppers, chopped or grated carrots
 

Instructions

Mix together the sauce: Combine 3 tablespoons of the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Whisk to combine with a fork and keep near the stove. If you'd like a more thickened, glossy sauce, whisk in 1
teaspoon of cornstarch.
 
Cook the ground chicken: Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the ground chicken and cook until cooked through and no longer pink, 7 to 8 minutes. Break up the chicken into small crumbles as you cook. Transfer the cooked chicken to a clean bowl.
 
Cook the vegetables and aromatics: Warm the other teaspoon of oil in the skillet. Add the mushrooms, along with any other optional extra vegetables you want, and cook until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the water chestnuts, garlic, and ginger, and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds.
 
Combine the vegetables and chicken: Transfer the cooked chicken back to the pan with the vegetables, along with half of
the green onions.
 
Stir in the sauce: Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken mixture and stir to coat. Cook just until you hear bubbling and the sauce is warmed through, 30 to 60 seconds. Taste a spoonful of the mixture and add more hoisin sauce if you'd like a stronger flavor.
 
Serve with the lettuce: Break off all the lettuce leaves and pile them on a plate in the center of the table, along with small dishes with hot sauce, red pepper flakes, and the remaining sliced green onions. Transfer the hot chicken mixture to a serving dish, or serve straight from the skillet. Give everyone a spoon and let them dig in — place a generous spoonful of chicken mixture in the middle of a lettuce leaf, top with green onions and hot sauce or red pepper flakes, and eat right away.

Recipe Notes

Make-Ahead Chicken Mix: The chicken filling keeps very well in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. Reheat just what you need and add a splash of chicken broth if the mixture seems dry.
 
 
 
 


Friday, January 12, 2018

The Love Potion Cocktail

TGIF! Today we are sharing this delicious cocktail from Lark and Linen. Meet "The Love Potion". It looks super easy to make and sounds amazing! Perfect for Valentine's, "Gal"entine's Day or just to toast your fabulous self! We hope you have a wonderful weekend! Cheers! xo
 
 
 
Ingredients
 
FOR THE BLACKBERRY SYRUP
1/3 cup blackberries, plus 8 more for garnish
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
 
FOR THE COCKTAIL
1 bottle of prosecco or champagne
 
FOR THE GARNISH
4 sprigs of thyme
 
Instructions
1. In a small saucepan, bring the blackberried, water and sugar to a boil. Turn to low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Strain blackberries and let syrup cool.
2. Add 2 tbsp. of syrup to the bottom of each glass. Top with champagne and add in a sprig of thyme and 2 blackberries!

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Warm Weather Wants

Today feels like a major heat wave...the high 60's and we are loving it! The past few weeks have so brutally cold and this warm spell has us dreaming of spring. With that being said I have a few items on my list that I am eyeing for the warmer weather. All items below are available from Shopbop, one of our favorite shopping sites. Now if only it would stay like this...what's on your spring list? xo

Caroline Constas James Blouse
Obsessed with the style and color. Bold colors are big this season and we love anything by Caroline Constas! Would look great with light denim or white. Love this!
 
Joie Yaritza B Blouse
Floral is big this spring and I love this blouse by Joie. Always love a good white blouse and the pattern would look great with dark denim and good pair of wedges.
 
 

Clare V. Alice Tote
Clare V. makes the best clutches and we love this woven shoulder bag. It would go with so much and a piece you could use all spring and summer.
 

DVF Crew Neck Tent Dress
This color is everything. Love bright pink and the style. This would be perfect with a nude pair of heels...perfect for a spring wedding!
 
Mara Hoffman Valentina Dress
Love anything Mara Hoffman. This is gorgeous dress is perfect for those spring nights and we love the bold stripes. Wedges or flats would work with this too.


 
Stuart Weitzman Naked 65mm Kitten Heels
We love all Stuart W shoes and these are a new update on a classic. Kitten Heels are another trend this spring. Hurry though...the sizes are already selling out.
 
Jonathan Simkhai Bikini
We love classic black swim suits and this classic style. Black is slimming and you can't go wrong with it!
 
 
Lizze Fortunato Daisy Earrings
Speaking of flowers-love these earrings! The color is amazing and you could wear them with so much!












 


Monday, January 8, 2018

This and That

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We did! Friday night we hit up one of our favorite spots 42nd Street for some oysters. So good!
 
 
 
 
Have you heard Justin Timberlake's new song, "Filthy"? In our book JT can do no wrong...we're obsessed.
 
 
 
NC STATE! What a game! We were so happy the Pack took down Duke. Even Ashley who is a Tarheel pulls for the Pack when playing Duke (and I pull for the Heels when playing Duke). Did we mention we don't like Duke? :) The picture below is when we were at the 2013 game when State beat Duke. Our scarves are by Tradition Scarves, a local Raleigh company. You can check out their collection here.
 
 
 
The weather has been so cold the past few weeks and we have been making a lot of soups/comfort foods. We made a new jambalaya recipe last night. It was so good and very easy to make: our kind of recipe. You could also add beans if you want or other veggies, but we stuck to the original recipe. We served ours with buttermilk biscuits and it was the perfect meal for a cold Sunday night.
 

 
 
"This is Us" comes back tomorrow night. Can we talk about Sterling Brown. Our in opinion he is the best character on the show. We love some Randall. Congrats on his Golden Globe, very much deserved! We can't wait to tune back in tomorrow.
 
 
 
 
The weather is finally supposed to "warm" up this week. Bring on the warmer temps! Hope you have a great Monday! xo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Friday, January 5, 2018

A Winning Combo

Happy Friday and...2018! So you may have noticed the posts were pretty slack last month but the holidays are so busy with trips, parties and celebrating the season. We hope you had a great holiday and your new year is off to a great start. Today we are sharing one of favorite beauty combinations for eyelashes. Trust us when we have said we have tried almost all mascaras out there...and Chanel's Le Volume Mascara truly is the best on the market. Ashley has used it for forever and got me and our mom both hooked. I had been reading a lot about eye lash primers the past few weeks but never really used one because Chanel's mascara is just that good. Over Christmas break I popped into Sephora and picked up Dior's Maximizer 3D Lash Primer. The verdict:  LOVE it. I also got it for my sister and mom to put in their stockings and they have been loving it as well. Needless to say this primer really does work some serious magic and makes your eye lashes look even better (if that was possible). I will never go back to using just mascara. Hope you have a great (and warm) weekend! xo
 
Chanel Le Volume Mascara and Dior 3D Primer