Category Archives: Reviews

Spring Break in Steamboat

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I had an awesome opportunity this spring break to head to Steamboat Springs, Colorado with a friend and going skiing! I had a wonderful time on the trip skiing, meeting new people, cooking fun meals, exploring the local town, and remembering why I love Colorado so much.

We stayed at a resort right at the base of the mountain and were able to literally walk outside and get on a ski lift. It was awesome and super convenient.

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The resort condo had plenty of room, a huge kitchen table, two fire places, a balcony, and extremely comfy beds. :)

We skied two full days. The mountain had so many different trails so I stuck to greens and blues. The views were breathtaking.

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I didn’t take many food pictures at all but managed to grab a picture of a cheesecake ball (WHAT? Cheesecake ball? I know. We had about five.) The last day, we went into town to grab breakfast and went to the cutest local cafe. Now that is what I call a veggie omelet (avocado on top) and a fresh fruit cup.

One night we ate at a Mexican restaurant in town and the other nights we cooked dinner at the condo and had a great time socializing over spaghetti and chili.

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Needless to say, it was an awesome trip and I still managed to have about three days home with my family with was great. Definitely a spring break for the books. ;)

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I currently just finished unpacking everything from spring break back into my dorm room and am getting ready for the week ahead.

Next week is the spring musical so this week is going to be insane. And so much fun. We have practice everyday this week and then all day Saturday and half of Sunday. Here goes!

What did you do for spring break? Any fun plans for Easter weekend? 

Favorites

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I am almost convinced that all of life’s problems can be solved over a cup of frozen yogurt. Or organic food from Start. I’ll let you choose.

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My latest from Start: Mediterranean Quinoa bowl with sweet potato tots on the side.

It’s probably a good thing I do not live in close driving distance to this restaurant, or else I would want to go every day of break.

My sister recently introduced us to a new yogurt place that *gasp* I hadn’t been to yet.

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I got vanilla and chocolate frozen yogurt with peanut butter cups and homemade whipped cream on top. Yum.

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They must know people like us will eat there just because they have cute monsters on the cup.

Today marks one week left of break. It has definitely gone fast, however, I am not dreading heading back to school. I’m dreading the school-work part, but not the being able to see my friends part and starting my second semester.

Anyone have any fun plans for the weekend?

A Day in the City

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Today I spent the afternoon with my sister and we went Christmas shopping, ate yummy food, talked about life, and watched a Christmas movie. I had such a fun time!

We started the afternoon with lunch at Start. Also known as my new forever favorite restaurant. Their motto is Real Food Fast and they definitely delivered.

I went with the organic veggie-bean quinoa burger on a gluten-free bun with a side of sweet potato tots. Best meal ever.

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The burger was superb and the sweet potato tots were excellent. I recommend this place 100%. I now know where I will eat whenever I’m in the city.

Afterwards, we put our shopping faces on and headed to Half-Price Books.

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Some organic green tea was in order for successful shopping.

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We were able to score some Christmas presents and sneak some pictures in front of the giant tree in the mall. (We may or may not have watched people fall ice skate below us for thirty minutes.)

After we were done, we headed back to my sisters place to eat some delicious veggie pizza (forgot a picture) and watch Christmas in Connecticut.

We also broke into some of the leftover gluten-free desserts and I managed to help out eating a peanut butter cup the size of a small cake. You just can’t go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate.

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When I got home I was [shockingly] looking in the fridge (because clearly I hadn’t eaten enough today) and I saw this:

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It’s like only my dream to get an edible arrangement one day. And while this edible arrangement was for my dad, he kindly said I could eat from it. Yes, the pineapples are shaped like stars.

A boy once asked me what kind of flowers I would want a guy to get me and I said an edible arrangement. I look back on that and think I possibly should have stuck to flowers…he may have been a little confused and weird-ed out. Oh well.

What are your favorite flowers to receive? 

Since I am not going to say edible arrangements again, I would definitely go with daisies.

Mexican Thursday

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Since I have now been in college for nine weeks, I decided it’s about time to share my favorite restaurant.

Ok, actually I decided to because I went here three times last week with friends and need to confess this problem.

Mi Pueblito has officially stolen my heart. The funny thing is, Mexican is usually one of my last choices when I go out to eat (unless we are talking about Chipotle) so when my friend told me I have to go there, I said no at first (plus, I didn’t want to spend money). However, after she asked again, I decided to go just to be nice and obliging. Little did I know, I would be back there again in two days.

But here is the best part and the main reason I was able to go three times last week (don’t worry mom, I will not make a habit of that ;) .

My meal:

Bottomless chips and salsa= FREE

Two soft chicken tacos on corn tortillas with tomatoes= $2.98

Total: $2.98!

So basically in three days I only spent $9 which at a regular restaurant, would probably be just one meal. A win-win situation.

And since we all fell in love with Mi Pueblito, we started Mexican Thursday for anyone who wants to come. So grab some friends, $2.98, and I will see you at the fiesta.

Spa Day

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Well folks, it’s down to three more days till I leave for college. Yikes!

Today my mom and I spent the morning at the Corinthian Wellness Spa and got “rejuvenating pedicures.” No, we do not go to the spa on a regular basis but we had two free $50 gift cards we got from a conference so we decided to use them today. It was ahhhhhmazing.

I seriously want to design my house after this spa. {Pardon the terrible picture quality, it was very dark in the “relaxation room.”)

{They have a fountain coming down from the ceiling}

{My mom and I are officially addicted to this tea…we had two cups there and could have easily had five more.

Now accepting donations on New Balance Nicole. ;) }

A spa that has complementary refreshments? That gets an A++ in my book.

The water was so cool! It was “infused” with all different fruits and cucumbers- so good!

The pedicure was an hour long and they had you laying down in these recliners with hot towels and blankets. I almost fell asleep but I was too enthralled with the room decor and the ceiling painted like a sky. I felt so spoiled. {Which I should, and did feel awkward at first because some people don’t even have food to eat. But I had to remind myself that 1. we had coupons and basically paid nothing and 2. it was a special treat before college so just enjoy it.}

I highly, highly recommend this spa if you have one in your area and spa’s are your ‘cup of tea.’ {Not to mention it is a Christian business.}

I think it would be lovely to work there- always relaxing music, dimly lit rooms, fabulous refreshments, and your ultimate goal is to help people relax and escape reality for an hour.

After our pedicures, we ended up staying in the relaxation room talking and drinking that heavenly tea for another hour. So I would say we got our moneys worth. :)

Well, it’s back to “reality” for me! Off to go pack some boxes…

What is your take on spas? Anybody go to a spa on a regular basis? If you could get any service at the spa, what would it be?

I think a trip to the spa every blue moon {if you have the money} is fine, but I don’t think I personally could ever justify going on a regular basis {unless I was like a millionaire}.

Tiny Towns: Colorado Part 1

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I’m back! Back from breezy, lovely Colorado. Boy was it hard to leave. Nothing like coming home to 100+ weather.

I chose to call this blog post series about my vacation “Tiny Towns” because that’s where we were the whole time in Colorado. Denver, Aspen, and Colorado Springs never got a visit from us. Instead, small, quiet towns were on our map quest. A good choice, if I may say so myself.

We left last Friday at the ripe hour of 4:30 AM and set out to a small town about an hour and a half from Colorado Springs. My sister works on a ranch out there each summer and leads pack trips into the mountains + horseback rides {and performs all the other many ranch duties}. Pretty awesome, huh?

Some people say we look-alike.  {However, you can tell who has seen the Colorado sun and who hasn’t.}

We spent the weekend with her whenever she got a break from work. She took us to some local restaurants and most importantly, caught us up on her life.

If you are not aware, I LOVE Chai Shakes. So obviously when a local deli has them, we will stop. {As you can tell from the picture it was a little windy…my sister likes to call it “The Windy Wild West.”}

My parents went with ice cream.

Saturday night, we went to Cowboy Camp at my sister’s work which is a big cook-out complete with singing, campfires, and good cookin’. I assisted my sister in making her famous fruit salad.

Cowboy camp was a blast and my goodness, some people can sing and play the guitar so well! I could have listened all night.

The next day we went into Canyon City and found the cutest place to eat. You literally feel like you just stepped off the streets of Italy into a little paradise.

Michael’s on Main was a restaurant, coffee shop, and chocolate heaven. We got lunch and chocolate. I went with a spicy chicken and avocado pita wrap with chips that werefantastic. For my choice of chocolate, I went with the dark chocolate salted caramel square.

If you are even near Canyon City, I highly, highly recommend this little oasis.

Last but not least, we enjoyed some Brown Butter Cookies from a local Amish bakery.

You think cookies can’t get any better and then, you put icing on them. It’s a done deal. {Oh, and it also helps when the cookie is the size of your head.}

Anyways, it was awesome to catch up with my sister but also sad to leave because we won’t see her till Christmas. The only bad thing about Colorado’s beauty and awaiting adventures is that my sister quickly lost her heart to the mountains there.

And that concludes the trip weekend. See you soon with part two!

Larabar Love

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Ever since I became interested in eating healthy and learning about nutrition, I’m always on the look out for healthy snacks on the go.

And ever since the beginning, Larabar has been with me. They were one of the first healthy/all natural products I tried and have bought ever since. All Larabars are gluten-free also which is a major plus.

Recently I was sent some Larabars to try and review.

I was so excited to try the Cappuccino and taste its amazing-ness!

As usual, Larabar did not disappoint.

Want to win 16 Larabars? Enter the giveaway right here!

Oatmeal Overview

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Remember how I told you I was going to learn to like oatmeal? Well, after many experiments I think I will finally be able to incorporate it in my daily diet.

[In no specific order, just the order that I ate them.]

Banana Oatmeal

The verdict? Not my favorite. I discovered I cannot do hot bananas. Something about the texture and intense richness caused me to only get through 3/4 the bowl (and that was with a lot of pep talk).

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

I stilled used this recipe (love the protein content!) but  substituted apple chunks for the banana and added cinnamon.

The verdict? Much better than the banana oatmeal. The apples and cinnamon caused it to have a faint taste of apple pie and the taste was so much better without the bananas.

Sugar Cookie Oatmeal

(with an apple on the side)

I made the recipe a little different by not adding sweetener or salt and adding an egg white for some extra protein. I also cooked it over the stove instead of the microwave.

The verdict? Very good. It didn’t have as much of the sugar cookie taste as I wanted but then again, who can eat a whole bowl of sugar cookies at 6:30 AM? Overall, quite yummy and filling.

Peachy Cream Overnight Oats

(Please don’t judge the oats by their look)

This was a little recipe I made up one night when I knew I wasn’t going to have time to make hot oats in the morning.

1/3 cup oats

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup yogurt

4 peach slices

1/2 TBSP ground flaxseed

1 packet Truvia (or sweetener of choice) or 5 drops liquid Stevia

A sprinkle of Cinnamon

Directions:

The night before, place all ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Place air tight lid on top and place in refrigerator.

In the morning, take out and let sit for 10 minutes (to take the chill away). Stir and eat.

The Verdict? I like hot oats better. :) The combination was good, but I just can’t get over the soggy-ness of cold oats. Next time, I am going to make it hot and I’m sure it will taste much better.

Oatmeal Pancake

I used this recipe, topped it with maple syrup and enjoyed it with a cup of milk and an apple on the side.

The verdict? Delicious. But then again, what isn’t delicious when topped with maple syrup? This is definitely my new favorite “quick” pancake recipe!

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Overall, I am very glad I tried all these recipes and will be eating hot oats probably 2-3 times a week. Yay!

If I discover any more versions that are blog worthy, I’ll let you know.

Until then, happy oatmeal creating and eating!

What is your favorite oatmeal recipe? Link up!

Nut Butters and Confessions

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Sorry for the week of absence, friends!! This week is finally over. It was a crazy busy week and well, you’ve heard the phrase,

“When life happens, blogging doesn’t.”

But what better way to welcome the weekend then with new food products?

The awesome people over at Artisana Organic Foodssent me some lovely products to review.

I am really excited about these products because I have a slight confession…

I am addicted to peanut butter (there, I admitted it, the first step of recovery is over).

I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich everyday for school and often times have PB at breakfast and my morning snack. And, lets not mention my recent favorite afternoon snack of PB on gluten-free graham crackers.

Since nuts are awesome for your diet and a great source of protein, I don’t want to stop eating peanut butter, just branch out and try some different nut butters.

So I am limiting myself to one serving of peanut butter a day and am going to be sampling these for the rest of my nut cravings.

I am so excited to try them all and will be sure to update you on my favorites. I will admit that the Cacao Bliss has been calling my name for the past few days.

Be sure to check out Artisana and explore their endless healthy nut butters and oils!

Hope your weekend is relaxing and yummy. See you soon with a gluten-free weekend recap!

It’s the Little Things…

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Today is a big day, folks. I now have an official “blog supplies” drawer. Thanks goes out to my awesome mother for clearing me a spot.

I am beyond excited and  pretty much feel like I can conquer any blog feat now.

On the other hand, I got my W2 form in an envelope from work and managed to convince one of my co-workers that I won the employee trip of the month to Hawaii. I couldn’t keep a straight face for more than 30 seconds though. After he asked if I could please take him with me, I lost it and burst out laughing. Later, when my manager heard about it, he told me that I was officially a cool kid now. Score.

Also recently, I received some products to try from Ron at NuNaturals and happy danced around the kitchen when the package arrived. Stay tuned to see these products popping up in my daily meals!

(I have already used some NuStevia packets in my tea!)

I am especially excited about this guy…Cocoa Bean Extract! YUM. It said you could use in cooking or just place drops in your mouth…hmmmm.

Ah yes, tis the little things in life that feed my soul.

What makes you “happy dance” around the kitchen? Anyone ever cooked with Cocoa Bean Extract?

If you have time: