Food Staple pt1
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| Josh & Maria from the food blog Two Peas & Their Pod |
A couple years ago we came across the food blog Two Peas and their Pod. The blog consists of a super cute culinary duo: Maria and her husband Josh. We literally spent hours looking through all the amazing mouth-watering recipes that were destined to be made in our kitchen. From vegetable spring rolls with peanut sauce to strawberry dark chocolate hand pies, there are 100's of recipes to choose from. They also have regular give-aways from brands like KitchenAid, Epiphanie, and Albion. You can also follow them on Facebook, Pinterest, and/or Instagram!
Two of the recipes we've made the most, by far, is the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars and the Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.
For the most part, we've followed the recipes rather closely with delicious results. We don't have a regular-sized oven nor a regular-sized baking pan, so we put the pumpkin chocolate chip bars in a 6-muffin tin in the toaster oven for twice the amount of time. It takes a few hours to put that little 6-muffin tin in multiple times to use up all the batter, but its well worth the wait for the warm gooey-ness that results! YUM!
Yesterday during the 24th straight hour of intense rain and flooding, we experimented with the recipe of our long-standing diet staple: Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. We probably make this at least once a week. It's quick to make, doesn't take a lot of dishes, and has a lot of fresh fruit & veggie content. You can find the ingredients and instructions below. I'm not much of a food photographer, so please bear with the crummy photos.
This recipe mades two whole sandwiches.
Hardware:
Panini Press
Fork (to mash and mix the fruit & veggies!)
Knife (to cut up fruit & veggies!)
Software:
4 - small slices of 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Thinly sliced Extra sharp cheddar cheese - enough to cover two of your bread slices
1 - ripe Hass Avocado
1 - plum tomato - chopped
1/2 - small sweet onion - finely diced
1 tbsp - Cholula Hot Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
1 tbsp - Light Sour Cream
1 tsp - Paprika
1 tsp - minced garlic
1 tbsp - Lime or Lemon Juice
1) Cut avocado in half, remove seed, scoop out avocado from peel and put in a bowl.
2) Mash avocado with fork until creamy.
3) Add sour cream, diced onion, chopped tomato, hot sauce, paprika, garlic and citrus juice.
4) Stir until all ingredients are mixed evenly. Voila! Guacamole!
5) Place cheese on bread
6) Spread desired amount of guacamole onto two bread slices and cover with the remaining slices
7) Heat panini press and place sandwiches inside.
8) Wait about 1 minute or until bread is slightly browned.
9) Serve warm
Let me know if you make this and what you think! I'd love to hear about it!
Mindful Music Mix pt.1
Music has the incredible ability to communicate with us, no matter what mood or stage of life we are in. Everyone has the ability to enjoy music at some level. Music resonates beauty, enjoyment and gives us an emotional outlet for expression. It can lift spirits and bring people together. It can allow us to connect to something inside ourselves and gives us the courage to create through love and healing.
While designing for the Sailor's Omen summer collection during the past few months, I have been largely inspired by music. I thought I would post the playlist I have been listening to:
Song 1: "Tighten Up"
Artist: The Bluegrass Tribute to the Black Keys
Album: The Pickin' on Series
Song 2: "Here Comes the Sun"
Artist: Yuna
Album: Savages (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Song 3: "Fortuna"
Artist: Kaki King
Album: Everybody Loves You
Song 4: "Wolf Like Me"
Artist: Lera Lynn
Song 5: "Mission"
Artist: Beats Antique
Album: Contraption Vol. 1
Song 6: "From Here to Where"
Artist: Blktop Project
Album: Blktop Project
Song 7: "Tonight You Belong to Me"
Artist: Eddie Vedder
Album: Ukulele Songs
Song 8: "Even After All"
Artist: Finley Quaye
Album: Maverick A Strike
Song 9: "Dark Water & Stars"
Artist: Natural Calamity
Album: Peach Head
Song 10: "Rope & Summit"
Artist: Junip
Album: Fields
Song : "Crystallize"
Artist: Lindsey Stirling
Album: Lindsey Stirling
Song : "Bring Back the Sunshine"
Artist: Miss Li
Album: Proud to Be Woman Vol. 3
Song : "Remember My Name"
Artist: Yuna
Album: Yuna
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Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. -Plato
The Power of Perception
Perception is a strong influence on how we see ourself and the world. Through beauty trends and personal thought, we transform our minds and slowly - without knowingly- to create filters to see and think through. It is rare that we stop to reflect and question the basis of those observations.
The following YouTube video by Dove shows us how our perception isn't everything, but sometimes it's all we allow ourselves to have. I urge you to give yourself more and don't always believe your thoughts. You deserve more beauty in your life.
Wishing your warm seas & a gentle breeze,
Ashley
The following YouTube video by Dove shows us how our perception isn't everything, but sometimes it's all we allow ourselves to have. I urge you to give yourself more and don't always believe your thoughts. You deserve more beauty in your life.
Wishing your warm seas & a gentle breeze,
Ashley
Sincerely, Kinsey Yoga Mat DIY
I LOVE this tutorial from the Sincerely, Kinsey on how to make your own yoga mat! You can find it here.
Local Tourism
There are advantages to my boyfriend and I having flexible jobs. Luckily enough, I was able to switch shifts and get caught up on orders to get a few days for some local camping. I did some research on location, activities and availability and was able to put together the itinerary below.
Day one: Finish housework and other miscellaneous chores. Pack the bags and the truck. Drive two hours north to Fort Clinch State Park. This would include taking the scenic route along A1A (conveniently close to our house), crossing a river on the Mayport Ferry, grabbing a disappointingly bland dinner in Fernandina Beach, and set up camp. We were thrilled to find the campground and bathroom facilities were immaculate. I've never been to such a well-maintained natural area- not to mention the incredibly friendly staff. It was beautiful and I highly encourage everyone to take a trip there at some point. I know we will be visiting regularly from now on. Please enjoy the pictures:
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| Our adventure-mobile on the ferry amongst Heeps & bikes |
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| Looking in on the courtyard at Fort Clinch |
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| Old cedar bunk beds and dusty brick walls |
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| These straw-filled beds make me grateful for my pillow-top mattress |
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| Many corridors to explore |
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| A mix of large bricks (older) and small bricks (newer) make up these cavernous roofs |
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| Heavy artillery that- according to documents posted in the general's quarters- can fire up to 3 miles away |
Day two afternoon: Hike four miles in the state park- including the Magnolia trail. Learn about the flora and fauna along the way. Every so often there are plaques with information on them along the way with some insight into the local wildlife. Learn about air plants, fungus, magnolia trees, sparkleberries and more! There is also a good chance of turtle and alligator sightings! (see pics below)
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| Colorful pink and green fungus |
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| Alligator sighting! I wish I had a better camera. There was actually a baby gator too, but my phone doesn't have optical zoom :( |
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| Turtle! |
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| New Spectrum Necklace! |
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| Rings available soon on www.sailorsomen.etsy.com! |
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| Sunset |
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| Some of the best times are around a campfire |
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| Alex doing some crescent palm surfing |
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| Evidence of motion of the ocean |
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| Great giant driftwood littered the beach |
Day four: We slept in and woke up naturally with the increasing energy of the day. After lounging around the ashes from the previous night's campfire, we took a walk to the beach then started for home.
On the way, we stopped at Atlantic Beach, ate a delicious lunch and walked around for a few minutes. One particular store caught my eye: Unique Boutique. There were many vintage treasures to look through in such a tiny store. We spent about an hour looking around and came across an antique bench for a great price. We learned the bench was part of the original collection in the Villa Zorayda Museum, from Saint Augustine, FL (only a few blocks from our house)! It ended up coming home with us :)
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