Homemade Strawberry Milk Recipe

Remember drinking strawberry milk as a kid, that irresistibly pink sweet drink that had a great strawberry taste, but was full of artificial flavors and artificial colors and words that you can barely pronounce?  My daughter saw it in the grocery store with me the other day, and begged me to bring some home.  I told her we would try making our own instead!

After a little experimenting in the kitchen, I came up with this tasty recipe.  It contains only 4 easy ingredients (one being water), and makes your house smell simply amazing!  I was inspired by this recipe, but I have to admit, my finished recipe looks nothing like the original.  I cut way back on the sugar, because I think strawberries are pretty sweet and tasty themselves without adding too much sugar.  Next time I think I could get away with adding even less sugar!

Not only is this drink totally delicious, but it also is a great drink for Valentine's Day with its' pretty pink color.  Make yourself a nice glass of strawberry milk today!  You know you want to.  This recipe makes one glass full.

Homemade Strawberry Milk Recipe:

• 1 cup chopped strawberries 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1.  Combine the strawberries, sugar, water, and vanilla in a small pot over medium heat.  Let the mixture boil, and then simmer on low for about 10 minutes.  

2.  Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve, and let cool completely.  You can also place mixture in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.  Once the syrup is cool, add it to a cold glass of milk and stir.

Now wasn't that good?  So much tastier than the processed version, and a nice flashback to the few times I was actually allowed to drink it as a kid.

My little friend was begging for a sip, and he couldn't drink it fast enough!  Enjoy!

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xo, Laura

Strawberries and Cream Smoothie Recipe with Coffee-Mate

This strawberries and cream smoothie is brought to you by Nestle and Collective Bias ®.  #WowThatsGood #Collective Bias #shop

I have never met a smoothie I didn't like.  Seriously.  It's hard to beat the refreshing fruit flavor of an ice cold smoothie!  They can be a great part of getting back on track and eating as part of a balanced lifestyle.  I also love making them for my kids because I can sneak in spinach or oats without them even knowing ;)  My kids all love strawberries (except for one), so I experimented in the kitchen and created an awesome smoothie that my pickiest daughter said is "the best smoothie you ever made, mom!"  And that's from the girl who won't eat a strawberry.  Crazy, right?

This strawberries and cream smoothie has only 4 ingredients, and is so smooth, creamy, and delicious- you'll love it!  When I was at Walmart this week I picked up some Sugar-Free French Vanilla Coffee-Mate, which might sound like a funny thing for a girl who doesn't drink coffee to buy.  BUT, did you know that Coffee-Mate is a great addition to fruit smoothies?  It gives them a nice, creamy taste and consistency.

I hope you enjoy this tasty recipe as much as we did!  This recipe will make one large smoothie or two smaller servings.  You can also use it as a springboard for adding your own favorite blends of fruit (on the second batch I added a banana, which was great, too), and even add in some oats, flax seed, or any other healthy additions you'd like!

Strawberries and Cream Smoothie:

• 2 cups frozen strawberries 
• 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup Sugar-Free French Vanilla Coffee-Mate
• 1 tsp. honey (or agave nectar, sugar, or any sugar substitute)

Blend all the ingredients in a blender, and blend thoroughly.  Pour, drink, and enjoy!

While at Walmart I also picked up a few other grocery items to help me get back on track.  It is January, after all, and my new year's resolutions are all in full swing!

I bought some Lean Cuisine® Sesame Chicken, Lean Cuisine® Simple Favorites Macaroni and Cheese, Lean Cuisine® Morning Collection Turkey Sausage English Muffins, Lean Cuisine® Creamy Balsamic Chicken Wrap Additions, and Lean Cuisine® Three Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Pretzels…. yum!!

The Sesame Chicken was out of this world, and actually looked just like it did on the package! It tasted really really good, too, and was the perfect meal to eat with my strawberries and cream smoothie.

And for those times when my sweet tooth is getting the best of me, I bought some Skinny Cow Divine Candy, which are basically delicious square chocolates that are filled with caramel and are oh so tasty.

So how do you stay on track with your goals for the next year? I'd love to hear in the comments below!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Surf and Turf Dinner Party + Rosemary Potato & Yogurt Dipping Sauce Recipe

One of my favorite things to do during the summertime is to entertain family and friends.  I love to play hostess and put together dinner parties and get togethers.  I have so much fun picking out the perfect dishes and dinnerware, decorations, and food for the party.

Recently I made a delicious surf and turf meal for my family and parents.  I used lots of fresh, natural ingredients, many of them freshly picked from the garden.  I knew I wanted the dinner to have a nautical theme, so I went to World Market and found the perfect dinnerware and entertaining pieces to use!  

I fell in love with so many items from their outdoor entertaining and outdoor dining collections, and found a way to incorporate many of them into my nautical surf and turf meal.  Be sure to check out their fun outdoor entertainment and outdoor dining items to find just the right products for your summer entertaining!

You might already know I have a slight obsession with anchors (and anything nautical, really), so World Market was THE place for me to shop for my dinner!

The anchor and crab Seascape Plates (pictured above) screamed out my name, so I bought a set of 8, as well as three of the matching anchor and crab Seascape Platters.

One of my favorite little nautical details was this Seahorse Spreader.  So cute!  And of course I had to have the matching Seahorse Servers, too, to serve with the Caesar salad.  You might also recognize the Lagoon dinnerware from my Coconut Macadamia Mango Crusted Mahi Mahi recipe.  I used the large Lagoon Platter for serving the garlic bread, and I used the large Lagoon Serving Bowl to serve the Caesar Salad in. I love the light aqua color, and the way that it almost looks like sea glass... beautiful!

Since no party is complete without World Market's delicious Italian Sodas, I picked up five different flavors for our dinner.  So refreshing!  I served them in the Galvanized Party Tub, which was the perfect size to hold all of our drinks.  I also picked up the Black Metal Party Tub Stand, which held the party tub really well so that I didn't have to use up my valuable table space for the drinks.

I've been looking for a few years (literally) now for the perfect drink dispenser for my parties, and I finally found this beautiful glass drink dispenser at World Market for only $19.99!  I bought two, and am absolutely in love with them. They have a few different styles of dispensers there, so be sure to check them out!  The hardest part will be deciding which one to buy!

To add to the nautical theme of my surf and turf dinner party, I included a net onto the table and used it as a runner.  On top of that, I used my DIY American Flag Garland that I made out of burlap and some spray paint. 

I love the color that it added to the table, and it matched perfectly with another favorite World Market find- the American Flag Pillow, perfect for the Fourth of July!  I picked up two of these adorable pillows. 

For our surf and turf dinner, I decided to go with shrimp and lobster tail and top sirloin steak. Yummmm!! We grilled the shrimp and steak, and boiled the lobster tail.

The meat and seafood tasted absolutely perfect! To go with main dishes, my mom and I made some delicious salads.

I made a Caesar salad, and my mom went out to the garden and picked fresh tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, and dill to make a tomato basil salad and a cucumber onion salad.  The salads tasted so fresh since the ingredients came straight from the garden!

One of my favorite side dishes I created for this meal were the Rosemary Potatoes with a Creamy Caper and Dill Dipping Sauce.  I love that I can smother my potatoes in a tangy, creamy dipping sauce without feeling guilty, since this sauce is made with a Greek yogurt base (instead of heavy mayonnaise) and various herbs and spices.  No guilt at all!

The many different flavors in the sauce all fuse into one, and are amazing with the potatoes, but could also easily be used as a sauce for the shrimp, lobster, or steak.  Here's the recipe so you can try making your own!

Rosemary Potatoes with a Creamy Caper & Dill Dipping Sauce:

For the potatoes:

• Red potatoes
• Olive oil
• Fresh rosemary, chopped 
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• Diced onions (optional)

For the dipping sauce:

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
• 1 Tbsp. capers, chopped (I used canned)
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
• 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2-3 Tbsp. red onion, chopped
• Sea salt, to taste

Mix up the dipping sauce first so that the flavors can meld together while the potatoes are cooking. 

If you aren't familiar with capers, they are a small round edible flower bud used in pickling and flavoring fish, seafood, salads, etc.  I bought a small jar of capers, as well as my white pepper, at World Market.  Their white pepper tastes great and is very strong, and is the perfect color to blend right into the creamy caper and dill yogurt dipping sauce.

Add all of the ingredients to the Greek yogurt, and stir well to mix in all of the ingredients thoroughly. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

Now on to the potatoes!  Wash and slice each potato to about a 1/4" thickness.  Place in baking pan and drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil.  Add the chopped rosemary, sea salt, pepper, and diced onions (if using), and stir to mix.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Halfway through cooking, carefully add another 1/4 cup of olive oil to the potatoes. 

After 20 minutes, pull out a potato slice with a fork, and test for doneness.  If the potato is cooked, then you may either:

1. Remove the potatoes from the oven (and keep warm until ready to serve)  or 

2. Place them in a grilling basket for about 10 minutes away from direct heat on your grill.  This will allow the potatoes to have a slightly smoky, grilled flavor.  If you do the grilling option, make sure that the potatoes are away from direct heat, and be sure to check them regularly!  We also added a few large sprigs of rosemary and some large slices of red onion for extra flavor and color. 

To serve the dipping sauce, I used these lovely large natural baking shells that I bought from World Market.  They come all clean and ready for food to be placed, or even baked, inside of them.  The shells were the perfect size for individual portions of the sauce, and fit in perfectly with my nautical theme!

Good food, a loving family, great weather, and World Market!! The perfect combination for an amazing summer dinner party!

Oh, and a few books and someone to read them to you is crucial, too.  Just ask my daughter ;)

I hope you enjoyed all the fun details of our delicious summer dinner!  If you are doing any entertaining this summer, be sure to visit World Market (in store or on-line) and see all of the amazing entertaining items they sell.  

Cost Plus World Market has partnered up with Southwest Airlines to offer four Great Summer Getaways!  Enter for a chance to win a trip for 4 anywhere Southwest Airlines flies!

There are 4 weekly Grand Prize Packages that include airfare for 4 on Southwest Airlines, hotel accommodations, AND a $500 World Market Gift Card!  You can also earn bonus entries for liking their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr brand pages for more chances to win.

Be sure to enter the sweepstakes here!  And good luck!!  Wouldn't that be so cool if one of my readers won?  Fingers crossed for you!

Are you doing any entertaining this summer?  Any fun vacations planned?  I'd love to hear about it!

If you haven't already, I'd love for you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

I am a member of the World Market Trendsetter Tribe, and I was compensated for this post.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Linking Up Here:  Sugar Bee Crafts, Lolly Jane, SNAP!, Lil' Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, House of Hepworths

Refreshing Strawberry Limeade Recipe

Yesterday I just about melted when the temperature reached 101 degrees... seriously? It's only the beginning of May!

To beat the heat, I made some refreshing strawberry limeade, and it was amazing!!

I originally wanted to make strawberry lemonade recipe, but when I realized I had tons of limes and not enough lemons, I just swapped out the lemons for limes, and I love the delicious results!

Try mixing up your own batch of this delicious drink today!  This recipe is also made using all-natural fresh ingredients- no cans of limeade here!


And because I love my readers so much, I also created two printable recipe cards for this strawberry limeade in 3x5 and 4x6 sizes, perfect to fit in your recipe box!  Printables are available at the end of the post!

Strawberry Limeade

16 oz. fresh strawberries (1 lb. container)
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh lime juice
6 cups water

1.  Wash strawberries and cut off green tops. Puree in a blender or food processor until it reaches desired consistency, just like I did when making 10 minute strawberry jam.  If you like little strawberry pieces in your drink (like me), then you can make it a little more chunky.  If you like your drink smooth with no strawberry pieces, you can puree the strawberries to be very fine, and then strain in a strainer to remove any small chunks.

2.  Make simple syrup by mixing one cup of sugar and once cup of water.  This ratio made a pretty sweet limeade, so if you would like yours to be a little more sour, then just use 3/4 cup of sugar to one cup of water.  Stir and boil until the sugar dissolves.  Let cool.

3.  Combine the strawberry puree, syrup, lime juice, and 5 cups of water into a pitcher.  Stir, and serve over ice.

Makes 2 1/4 quarts.

Strawberry Limeade Printable 3x5" Recipe Card

Strawberry Limeade Printable 4x6" Recipe Card

Enjoy!

Another great way to use up those strawberries is to make this delicious 10 minute strawberry jam.  Strawberries also taste great on Navajo fry bread too.

This Brazilian limeade is another refreshing drink, too, that requires no juicing or squeezing, and takes under 5 minutes to make!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Linking Up Here: Lolly Jane, Sugar Bee Crafts, Craft-O-Maniac, Lil Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Someday Crafts, Snap Creativity

Easy Strawberry Jam (in only 10 minutes!)

I'm back!  We've been in Utah for the last week for a family vacation and for me to attend the SNAP creative bloggers' conference.   I had an amazing week, and have learned so many things that I can't wait to start implementing and sharing with you!

But for now, I'd like to share a delicious strawberry jam recipe with you that I made today.  This easy recipe only took 10 minutes to make from start to finish (I swear, I even timed it!), and the resulting jam tastes so fresh and delicious!  

I made some homemade whole wheat bread last night on a whim, and this strawberry freezer jam was perfect to spread on top.

In Utah we spent some time at my husband's aunt and uncle's house, and his aunt ALWAYS has homemade strawberry freezer jam in the fridge and the freezer.  Thanks Christine for inspiring me to make this!!

Like I said, the whole process of making the jam took 10 under minutes from start to finish.  I followed the recipe on the back of the Ball pectin package that I bought. 

Supplies:

• 16 oz. strawberries (or 1 2/3 cup finely chopped or crushed strawberries)
• 2/3 cup sugar or Splenda
• 1 package of Ball Real Fruit Instant Pectin (make sure you buy the Instant kind for this recipe)
• 2 half pint mason jars (or one pint jar, or any other container will work, too)

Directions:

1.  Finely chop your strawberries.  To make this easier and save time, I cut off the green tops, and pulsed the strawberries on the chop setting in my Kitchen Aid blender.  I like my jam a little chunky, but you can puree them as much or as little as you like according to your preference.

2.  Pour the strawberries in a bowl, and add the 2/3 cup of sugar and the package of pectin.  Stir for 3 minutes.

3.  Pour the jam into clean jars and let stand for 30 minutes. 

4.  Optional- If you want a cute lid, just trace around the round top onto some pretty patterned paper, Cut out, glue to the top of the metal top, and instant pretty lid!

Easy, right?  And sooooo worth waiting just 10 little minutes for some fresh strawberry jam!  This jam will last for 3 weeks in the refrigerator, and will last in the freezer for up to a year.  Be sure to leave 1/2" of space at the top of your container if you choose to freeze your jam, to allow for food expansion.  

You can also use any other fresh fruit for this recipe (just be sure that if you use peaches you add 1 Tbsp. bottled lemon juice).  

Easy, quick, and delicious - my kind of recipe!  This jam would taste great on this Navajo Fry Bread.  And be sure to check out my favorite bean salad recipe and this quick and delicious homemade salsa, too! 

Enjoy!

xo, Laura

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

Linking Up Here: C.R.A.F.T., Lil' Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Tatertots & Jello, The 36th Avenue, Lolly Jane, Sugar Bee Crafts

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Baby Shower

About two months ago I threw a Very Hungry Caterpillar baby shower for my good friend Aarean, the talented lady behind the blog Color Issue, and graphic designer at La Ditta Design.  She is so creative, and is the genius behind my blog design.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of my favorite children's books, and I thought it would be the perfect theme for a baby shower...

I had so much fun putting this party together!  Aarean's shower was on a Saturday morning, and the night before I had another Very Hungry Caterpillar party, a double birthday party for my two youngest children.  That weekend was so fun and crazy, and I thought I'd share with you some details from the shower.  I'll post about the birthday party in the near future...

Here is one of the tables I set up.  I used a couple Very Hungry Caterpillar play mats that I found at Babies R' Us to cover the tables.  My wonderful husband made the cute tree branch and base that is in the center of the table from tree limbs from our recently trimmed trees.  I used glue dots to attach the construction paper leaves that I cut.  Everyone had to pick off a leaf, and then answer a question about Aarean, the momma-to-be.  I made the diaper cake above for one of her gifts.  Guests all guessed how many gumballs were in the jar, and the closest guess won a prize.

Here is the other table I decorated...

My husband made these beautiful rustic stands especially for this shower... yeah, he scored major points for those beauties!

The shower was early, so we had a brunch that consisted of english muffins, scrambled eggs, sausage, fresh fruit, muffins, and donuts.  On this tree the guests each wrote out a wish for Aarean's baby girl, and then hung it on the tree with the cutest little fruit clothespins that I found at Michael's.

For the mantel I created a clothesline where I hung up some cute onesies I made.  I used iron-on transfers of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, butterfly, and some of the food from the story to go along with the theme.  I was really pleased with how easy they were to make and how well they turned out.

For favors I filled little bottles with colorful fruit candies, along with some little tags I created.

I decorated the banister with colorful copies of animals and food from the story.

Here's all the gang with Aarean.  She seriously does not look like she is about to have a baby in a couple weeks!

One last picture taken with the coolest camera ever, my new Fuji Instax Mini.  It instantly prints out the cutest little pictures that are the size of a credit card... love!  I had so much fun putting together all of the details for this shower.  If you want to see more pictures, and hear what Aarean had to say about the shower, you can check out her post here on Color Issue.  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think!  I'd love to hear from you!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

XO, Laura