Thursday, March 12, 2015

#NowPlaying

I love music- as anyone who knows me- or has been around this blog for any period of time knows. But I feel like I go through ruts sometimes when I am just in desperate need of some new stuff to listen too... I am approaching one of those ruts now so I thought I would share what has been most played on my Spotify app lately, and see if y'all have any new suggestions for me.

Indie Pop that might not be new but it's relatively new to me:
- Thudder Clatter; Wild Cub
- Somebody Loves You; Betty Who

Cheesy country songs that I just can't help but love:
- Love Me Like You Mean It; Kelsea Ballerini
- Spring Breakdown; Luke Bryan
- Make Me Wanna; Thomas Rhett
P.S. You will fall in love with Thomas Rhett once you watch this video

Feelin' the love songs:
- Islands; The xx
- Home; ZZ Ward
- Love Me Like You Do; Ellie Goulding

A few more in a category-less portion of my list:
- Gentle On My Mind; The Band Perry
- You Are The Best Thing; Ray LaMontagne
- Geronimo; Sheppard

What have you guys been listening to lately?


Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tostadas

Hi Friends!

I believe I've shared before that I am far from being America's next Top Chef, however when I have time I do enjoy experimenting with new, easy recipes. Thanks to Pinterest, this past weekend I tried out a recipe I found via a Six Sister's post (from over two years ago!). The post itself- 100 Healthy Dinner Recipes- is awesome and totally worth checking out.

Today I'm linking up with Mary at Eat Drink and Be Mary, Full Time Mama, and Coping With Frugality for their Delicious Dish Tuesday to share the delicious dish I made over the weekend.

I chose to make the Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tostada via Two Peas and Their Pod. I didn't take any pictures of mine- so their picture will have to suffice. Regardless of my blogger fail in picture taking, this recipe was a total win in my book.

I generally hate eating leftovers, but I ate all of this up over the course of a couple days. Sweet potato is one of my favorite things and it was nice to learn that roasting sweet potato is just as easy as roasting any other veggie (roasted asparagus and broccoli are two of my favorites). Throw in avocado (which is one of my other favorite foods) and I was sold.

If you are looking for a super easy, vegetarian meal to make this week- I suggest you give this recipe a try.
Photo Credit

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, washed, peeled, and cut into small cubes
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 tortillas
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, diced
1 lime, cut into wedges
Shredded cheese (optional)
Salsa or hot sauce (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place sweet potato cubes on a large baking sheet. Lightly drizzle with olive oil and toss. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft and tender. Stir a couple of times while they are roasting.

2. Place tortillas on a baking sheet and lightly spray with cooking spray. Place under a hot broiler for about 2 minutes. Remove from oven and turn over tortillas. Place tortillas back under the broiler for another two minutes.

3. Heat black beans over the stove or in the microwave. Top tortillas with beans, sweet potatoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and any other toppings you desire. Serve warm.

That's it! Super easy and very yummy!

Eat Drink & Be Mary

Friday, March 6, 2015

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing...

...is waiting not the most excruciating feeling?!
real life ridiculous snapchats
Okay, maybe that is a little dramatic but in terms of #firstworldproblems there are few things worse than waiting for something you really want. I can think of many torturous waiting periods in my life:

I remember waiting to:
- find out if I got in to the college of my dreams
- try on the new clothes I ordered online
- get a job offer (this has happened many times)
- have a pizza arrive when I'm so hungry I could eat my hand
- get on my favorite ride a Disneyland (Space Mountain, obvs)
- say yes to the man who turned out to be the man of my dreams
- be in the same place as the aforementioned man

... Alright that list is clearly a mix of serious and ridiculous waiting periods... I blame it on the fact that I am currently losing my mind. I am writing this from a very frustrated point of view, friends.I'm waiting for something I REALLY want and I've done all I can and it is no longer in my control. 

So someone please send help. Preferably in the form of plane tickets to Disneyland, a delicious pizza, some awesome new clothes that fit perfectly, or maybe just the news I'm waiting so impatiently for... Thanks.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Charleston, SC: The Activities

While our primary activity in Charleston, SC was definitely food- we did manage to do a few other things while we were in town.

First up, we took a Ghost Tour of the city with Old Charleston Walking Tours. We got a great deal on the tickets through GroupOn- which at the time of this post is still available here! The tour was so much fun. It incorporated Charleston history in to some really awesome ghost stories based on real people's experiences. The tour guide has gather stories of supernatural encounters from people over the years, then done research in to Charleston's past to determine what events the ghost might have come from. I'm not sure that I really believe in that kind of stuff, but whether you believe or not it is really fun to walk around and hear the stories!

The next day we did another walking tour of the city, but this one was also a photo tour. This tour was through Liz of Say Charleston! A hates taking pictures, so when I found this I thought I had no shot of getting him to do it, but he surprised me by agreeing that it would be nice to have some quality pictures of us to remember the trip by. Despite this tour starting in the same location at the ghost tour, there was very little overlap in content, which was awesome. Our tour guide/photographer Liz lead us around the city for two hours talking about Charleston's history and the unique architecture style of many of the historic homes in Charleston. Plus she took some really amazing pictures of us along the way. I loved this tour!

These were the only two formal activities we did but here are a few other things we did that you will definitely want to do too:

Shopping on King Street- King Street is primarily shops so we walked up and down the street multiple times popping in to all the different shops, boutiques, and art studios. We particularly loved Ben Ham's studio. His pictures were absolutely gorgeous and we've told ourselves that some day we will splurge on one of his photographs for our future home.

Wandering the Harbor, Rainbow Row, and Battery Park- our last day was spent wandering these parts of town. It was so much fun to just walk around and take in all of the beautiful sights in Charleston. We loved looking at the houses and fantasizing about owning one someday.

A few things that we didn't do that we would like to do when we go back were- visit Fort Sumter and take a tour of one of the gorgeous plantations outside of town.

We can't wait to go back to Charleston one day. We both truly fell in love with this amazing city. If you missed either of my other recaps on the lodging and the food, go back and check those out.

Now... we just have to decide where we should go next!!