Flip Flop Follies

It’s A Date

By Amy | Published: May 16, 2012

I’ve never really given much thought to dates.

I think of fruit cake when I think of dates.

But all this changed 4 years ago at Jay’s company holiday party. For they past four years his company has hosted the festivities at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley and for the past four years I have enjoyed almond stuffed, bacon wrapped dates at the appetizer station. Every year, not only do I look forward to attending this event with Jay, but I look forward to coveting these sweet, salty, crunchy morsels and overindulging in them.

I plan to make them soon using this recipe…

{may or may not use the goat cheese}

Last week at Elliott’s dance class, I overheard two other moms talking about a date smoothie. I see the medjool dates all the time at Trader Joe’s and thought I’d pick up a package and add them to my morning smoothies to change things up a bit.

Enter the {Spiced Date Smoothie}…

{2 cups crushed ice, 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk [or milk of choice], 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 2 seeded & chopped medjool dates, 1 medium banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon}

Blend until smooth and enjoy! I will say that the dates are pretty hearty and it may take a minute or so to process them in the blender. The package said to refrigerate them after opening which makes them a little harder and more difficult to blend. You can either chop them fairly well before blending or throw then in just halved or quartered to get bigger pieces in your smoothie. I like to use the big milkshake straws and get bigger chunks of dates up the straw from time! They are nice and sweet and chewy and add texture to the drink.

{milkshake straws via}

I found my straws at Ralphs hanging on those random little clip racks in one of the aisles.

This smoothie reminds me of the boba teas in that you get a little surprise up your straw every once in awhile as you sip, but instead of it being a tapioca ball, it’s a chunk of date!

It’s yummy.

So, don’t pass up the dates next time you’re in Trader Joe’s or your local grocery or market. They have lots of health benefits, too!

Happy Humpday!

Posted in Flip Flops On The Rocks, Food | Tagged almond, bacon, date, smoothie, stuffed, wrapped | 1 Comment

Pinky Up

By Amy | Published: May 15, 2012

Mother’s Day weekend was fabulous.

Special cards and handmade gifts from the two that made me a mama. Pedicures. Meals treated to by Gramma and prepared by Jay. Mango margaritas. Homemade Cake Batter ice cream. Beautiful Mother’s Day mass. Fancy tea at a local tea house. Pool time. Taking a nap under an open window letting through a cool breeze.

It was just what I needed.

Here are some Mama’s Day moments…

{vanilla rooibos}

{clotted cream}

{beautiful words}

{the scones were my fave ~ with clotted cream and blackberry preserves}

{petit fours and other miniature desserts}

{my mama, aka gramma}

{mama and her babies ~ elliott was upset they didn’t serve pancakes!}

*****

I LOVE high teas. I wish I could attend/have them weekly, but enjoying them only once in a while for special occasions maintains their charm, I think.

I have fond memories of each and every tea I have attended…to name a couple, The Empress Hotel in Victoria and The Hotel Del Coronado. Holden’s Baby Shower was held at the cutest little tea house in Gilroy, Jordan Rose Tea Haven, which is no longer in business unfortunately, but that is one special day that I will never forget.

This Mother’s Day Tea was no exception…once we diverted Elliott’s attention away from pancakes and found a butterscotch scone, all was well with the world.

Thanks babe, for the special treat.

Putting up my pinky and sipping with four of my favorite people made me feel like royalty!

P.S. Jay made beef kebab and saffron rice for din din…

It was delish, babe. Thanks, again & again!

Posted in Family | Tagged day, mother's, tea | 1 Comment

Cartwheels

By Amy | Published: May 11, 2012

Hi friends!

Again, so sorry I haven’t checked in for much of this week. Just taking care of business, I guess…sometimes the days can become monotonous, but then again the routine and structure is what I feel works best.

Always trying to find the {perfect} balance between homework, play dates, activities, chores, down time, etc.

Last night I went and signed up both kiddos for AYSO. This will be our first year and I am very excited about it. Holden was placed on a wait list because for his age group there aren’t enough coaches. I was a little bummed because he is the one that I most wanted to get signed up! Elliott does dance and has CCD so adding soccer is a little bit of a stretch, but we are more than willing to make it work. I was told that if I volunteered as a coach, Holden would automatically have a place on a team. I sort of laughed because I have not played a game of soccer in my life…maybe in PE back in the day, but soccer was not one of the sports I participated in as a kid. I think it is a fantastic sport and I am so thrilled that both Elliott and Holden are equally excited about it. After Elliott’s evaluation last night, the guy mentioned that all I would have to do to become a coach is read a book or something and become certified and run a 1 hour a week practice, blah, blah, blah. I was thinking my services would be more along the line of hair bow making or fancy post-game snack assembling, but I drove off with a little voice in the telling me, “Maybe you SHOULD be a coach”.

Am I crazy?

I will keep it on the back burner, but in the meantime I will pray that a more qualified soul will come forth and volunteer to coach another BU6 team.

*****

Speaking of cartwheels, this week has also be sprinkled with a little bit of summer agenda drawing up ~ scheduling weekly camps for Holden and coordinating gymnastic day camps for Elliott. For me, I try to have them be at an activity AT THE SAME TIME so that I can maintain my summer sanity and have a little alone time. Sometimes I feel guilty about this, but then I overhear a mama {raising her voice} at her kids in Target and I realize that {I am not the only one}…always a welcome feeling when it comes to parenting.

I also completed our 2012 Summer To-Do List that I will be sharing here real soon. We have done this the past two years and have really enjoyed it. You can read about that here and here.

*****

Anywhoo….just cartwheeling through our weeks making sure we don’t forget anything! Somedays I feel like there is so much to remember and I worry that something will slip by…anyone else feel like that?

This weekend I look forward to a 3-generation pedicure, a formal Mother’s Day tea that Jay so sweetly arranged and taking a wee break to sit back and enjoy the beauty of motherhood.

What about you? What are you up to?

Posted in Faith, Family, Fitness, Friends | Tagged AYSO, list, soccer, summer, to-do | 1 Comment

Drinko de Cinco

By Amy | Published: May 5, 2012

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

When Jay and I were on our honeymoon in the Virgin Islands, we were introduced to the juice of the {soursop} fruit. Wiki describes the flavor as “a combination of strawberry and pineapple with sour citrus flavor notes contrasting with an underlying creamy flavor reminiscent of coconut or banana.”

Sounds like perfect margarita material, no?

Soursop Margaritas

Yesterday while in Target, I found some {Guanabana} nectar and noticed that the picture on the can looked like the prickly soursop fruit…a quick Google search confirmed it and a couple cans landed in my cart!

39¢ at Target ~ run out and grab some now for your margaritas later!

Enjoy!

Posted in Flip Flops On The Rocks | Tagged guanabana, margaritas, nectar, soursop | 1 Comment

Kicking Myself

By Amy | Published: May 3, 2012

I’ve been working on a simple, yet festive dinner menu for Cinco de Mayo.

Let me start by saying that I think we’re going to have to fetch the ice cream maker from the garage rafters and make some Dulce de Leche Ice Cream with Salted Pecans for dessert!

Secondly, I saw these cactus glasses at Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago and have been thinking about them ever since…..went today and they had ONE left!

Wah.

I just think they are so cute and the perfect vessel to hold these gorgeous pink Cactus Pear margaritas…

Jay and I enjoyed sipping these margaritas at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in Vegas and they are definitely something worth trying to recreate at home ~ the problem is where to find the cactus pear juice?!?

Tomorrow I will be tracking down some more of these {prickly} glasses and the ingredients to fill them on Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, we have our vibrant papel picado hung across the kitchen and are ready to celebrate!

{as seen here on our trip to Olvera Street over Spring Break}

*****

Kicking myself that I didn’t pick up a set of those glasses when I first saw them.

I hate when that happens.

Posted in Flip Flops On The Rocks, Food | Tagged cactus, cream, de, dollar, dulce, glasses, ice, leche, margaritas, pear, pecans, salted, tree | Leave a comment

Anchors Aweigh

By Amy | Published: April 29, 2012

Santa Monica on a Saturday morning.

Some of my favorites…

This little nautical inspired photo shoot certainly got us thinking about beach days to come…

Almost time to pull up the anchor and sail into summer!

Posted in Family | Tagged harajuku, monica, pier, santa, Target | 1 Comment

Smooth Sailing

By Amy | Published: April 25, 2012

Hi friends!

Happy Humpday.

Hope your week has been smooth so far. Mine has been drama-free thus far and I have been able to get up to the gym the last couple nights which was always good for me and seems to make life smoother.

Last week I {invented} a little breakfast smoothie with one of my new finds via Instagram. A friend posted some {Cookie Butter} from Trader Joe’s during Lent and I immediately fetched a jar to enjoy on/after Easter! It is fabulous alone on a spoon, on bagels, Ezekiel toast and graham crackers, but I thought I’d incorporate it into a smoothie in place of peanut butter and see what happened!

{Cookies & Cream} and Banana Smoothie

You will need: 2 cups crushed ice, 1/2 cup almond coconut milk, 1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt, 1 banana, 1 tbsp ground flax {flax meal} and 1 tbsp. TJ’s cookie butter

Place all into a blender and blend ’til smooth!

Pour into a glass, add a straw and enjoy!

*****

And speaking of {sailing}, we plan to take a quick little trip to the beach this weekend.

Last time we went to the beach {in January!} Jay captured some cute pics of the kids just frolicking in the sand…this time I wanted to plan a little better with their wardrobes and hair and have a little Nautical inspired photo shoot at the shore.

I had originally picked up the anchor tee for a gift for a little girl….when the guy rang it up, it came up as boy’s. I thought it’d be cute on Holden so I set out to find something complementary for Elliott and stumbled upon this little striped number with the big bow on the shoulder. Both of them will wear rolled up jeans and bare feet ~ I think it’ll be perfect for some fun photos to get us excited for summer.

*****

Make the most of the rest of your week…Saturday and Sunday will be here before you know it!

Posted in Family, Fashion, Flip Flops On The Rocks | Tagged banana, butter, cookie, cookies, cream, flax, harajuku, joes, nautical, seed, smoothie, Target, trader | 1 Comment

Bypass The Big Green Circle

By Amy | Published: April 20, 2012

Want to save some money when it comes to your Starbucks/CBTL/Peet’s/etc. addiction?

Sure you do.

Want some strong, cold, iced coffee waiting for you in your ‘fridge every morning?

You absolutely do.

Cute Julie passed along this method via {a bit of sunshine}.

: Cold Brewed Iced Coffee :

Super easy. Super yum.

You will need:

French Press

3/4 cup ground coffee {I use French roast}

3 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp extract of choice {vanilla, almond, coconut ~ I’ve used all three and they’re all excellent!}

Cinnamon, optional

3 cups water

*****

Take your french press and add your brown sugar, extract and a couple shakes of cinnamon if you desire. Add in your 3/4 cup coffee and 3 cups water.

Place into ‘fridge overnight.

In the morning {or for an afternoon pick-me-up} just press down the grounds and pour half the press into a tall glass with lots of ice. No need to add sugar, just your favorite creamer or a splash of milk!

{I get two servings out of one press}

Pop it into your cup holder and carry on with your day!

Be sure and give a little honk or a wave at your local Starbucks as you drive past!

{I’m not telling you to boycott your fave coffee establishments, just letting you know you can save a little green here and there when it comes to caffeinating yourself!}

Note: I enjoy the almond the most. Almond extract is easy to find, but it comes in itty bitty bottles. To remedy that, just run to your nearest Smart & Final and pick up a 16 ounce bad boy for less than 6 bucks…

Enjoy.

Posted in Flip Flops On The Rocks | Tagged brewed, coffee, cold, flavored, iced | 2 Comments

UNO

By Amy | Published: April 19, 2012

Happy Thursday!

{UNO} more day ’til the weekend…thank goodness.

If you are at a loss of what to make for dinner tonight, tomorrow night or over the weekend, may I suggest this?

: Farfalle with asparagus, caramelized onions, mushrooms and goat cheese :

{Recipe from Food & Wine}

From Pinterest, but I added asparagus, used smaller mushrooms and used farfalle as my pasta cut of choice.

Was super yum and our dinner last Saturday night before the infamous mud run!

Jay requested pasta and I was happy to click through my Pinterest boards and find something to help us get our carb on.

If you love all things goat cheese, you must make this.

Enjoy!

Posted in Family, Food | Tagged asparagus, caramelized, cheese, farfalle, goat, mushroom, onion | Leave a comment

Get A Pork Tenderloin STAT

By Amy | Published: April 17, 2012

We love Thai food in this house.

Peanutty, spicy, curried ~ we’re all about it.

I pinned this and couldn’t get it out of my mind.

: Crockpot Thai Pork :

I used a 1.25 lb pork tenderloin from Trader Joe’s {this was plenty for 2 meals for 2 adults}

¼ cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp lemon juice

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Cut the tenderloin in half and place it into your CP. Mix the above ingredients in a small bowl and then pour onto the pork. Cook on low for about 5 hours or until it shreds easily. Shred with two forks and skim off any fat. Add 1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter {I used creamy} and stir to incorporate. Enjoy immediately or keep on warm in crock pot until ready to serve. Sprinkle in chopped cilantro or Thai basil before serving.

I chopped some romaine and added 2 Tbsp Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette from Trader Joe’s to make a little salad to go onto the tacos.

Slice up a cucumber in long strips.

Building your taco from the plate up:

Warm some small flour or corn {I used white corn} tortillas on your burner or in the microwave.

Place a few cucumbers on the tortilla.

Put some pork followed by some of the romaine salad.

Top with some Sriracha for heat and some chopped peanuts for crunch.

These would also be fabulous as wraps in a larger tortilla, but all I had on hand was the corn and they were absolutely to-die-for.

I served with some garlicky Asian sugar snap peas…

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

Mix these three ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Mince 6 cloves of garlic and put into a pan sprayed with Pam. Cook, stirring constantly for a minute or so.

Add two 8-ounce bags of sugar snap peas and the marinade and stir over medium heat until all peas are coated. Place a lid on it and stir every so often until peas are tender and sauce cooks down {about 5-7 minutes}.

Then plate it up with your Thai tacos!