When given two dates to choose from, I decided to go with Saturday the 11th of May so that it would fall on Mother’s Day weekend. My in-laws and mom would be in town and we’d all be able to celebrate Mother’s Day together for the first time, as well.

But honestly the focus was on our sweet, sweet almost 8-year old and her special day.

I really can’t put into words the pride and joy I felt. We were given several blank cards to choose from at the communion retreat and instructed to write our child a note and give it to them the morning of their mass. I tuned out the hustle and bustle, sat and wrote her words from my heart, took her aside and had her read it. She immediately gave me a hug and said, “Thank you, mommy!”

She was confident. She was ready.

Some days she fights me when it’s time to go to CCD, but I’ve never backed down and every time we arrive and I walk her to her room, she runs in and doesn’t even say goodbye. I’m OK with that.

She’s memorized all her prayers and even got 100% on her cumulative quiz. She performed her first reconciliation like a {pro} in early February. I had NO doubt that she was going to make us just as proud as she received her first eucharist.

And proud we were….

{We found her dress at Nordstrom. It’s actually an Easter dress and was a fraction of the cost of their communion dresses sold on-line. I wanted simple and classic, yet with a twist and I think this was perfect. Her little shoes are from Payless and her veil is from the parish gift shop. ~ Thank you to Lolo & Lola for her dress and Gramma Kathy for her cross earrings and matching necklace! XO}

Jay and I hosted a little dessert celebration that evening and I had so much fun planning and preparing for that. Obviously.

I found some sweet notecards at TJ Maxx and used those for the invites. Again, I just format the text and run them through the printer for a “professional” look.

Of course the main color of the day was WHITE so I tried my hardest to stray away from the bright, vibrant colors that I love so much. I knew there was going to be some tulle involved since, to me, that is so light and delicate and reminiscent of the veils worn by the little girls.

I covered our huge Cinzano picture in brown mailing paper and then hung a few embroidery hoops from the tulle. I found a small remnant of while polka dot fabric at Joann’s as it complemented the little dots on her dress.

I’d also seen a balloon chandelier on Pinterest and went off memory when putting that up…

I had no idea what I was doing…just picked up a bag of 10 gold {accent color} balloons and some white iridescent curling ribbon, blew up the balloons, cut a long piece of ribbon, curled the bottom half of it and hung it with tape on the ceiling so that the curly part hung down. Simple as that. I hung all 10 balloons over the center of our big table.

We decided to just do desserts and drinks and I wanted everything to be white. I went with my favorite sugar cookie bars, white chocolate covered strawberries, white chocolate covered pretzel rods, TJ’s vanilla meringues and at the last minute we picked up an ice cream cake for the kids.

It was just lemonade for the kids and beer and wine for the adults…

I finally picked up the stemless wine glasses I’ve been wanting for years for the occasion.

I wanted all the families to go home with a little something so I found some small wall plaques at Dollar Tree, swapped out the ugly ribbon and repackaged them. I think we all can benefit from a little reminder of FaItH & hOpE once in awhile.

FAITH is inspiration for the future.

HOPE never falters or gives up.

Amen.

The kids chalked up our court with the help of the street lights. Elliott desperately wanted me to take a picture at 10:30pm, but I had to wait until daylight to best capture her work…

Here are some other favorites from the day…

*****

Thank you to all who came to the church for the mass and to our home to celebrate and for all her precious gifts ~ perfect reminders for her down the road of this special day and tokens of our faith.

It was a truly blessed day.

Can’t wait to do it again in two years with Holden.

It’s a big deal.

I know this because I just went through it myself about 6 weeks ago.

She’s been preparing for this since October and she is so excited. Her catechist has done such a fantastic job this year paving the road to her first reconciliation and now her eucharistic sacrament. I think it helped that she watched me being baptized, confirmed and receive at the Easter Vigil. She is ready and we can hardly wait to witness this solemn, yet powerful, milestone.

We’ve been shopping and selected her dress with Lolo and Lola. She chose her veil all on her own {I zipped my lips ~ promise!} at the parish gift shop and we tracked down Monsignor Mike to bless it. We’ve been practicing taking the host and sipping the wine at home.

And then there was the shoe issue.

She wanted sandals with HEELS.

WHITE sandals with heels.

Like these…

I said absolutely not and may have played the {sandals are not allowed} card.

I just couldn’t do it.

Her dress is darling and extremely simple. I wanted her shoes to also be classic and sweet.

Without heels.

I scoured several stores ~ Famous Footwear, Kohl’s, Target, Wal-mart {just couldn’t go through life knowing I purchased her first communion shoes at Wal-mart, sorry}, Marshall’s and Ross.

Then a mom that I totally adore and value her style and taste mentioned that she got her daughter’s shoes at Payless and that they had several styles to choose from. I immediately logged on and clicked through the white dress shoes and found these cuties…

Delicate little ruffles with the ever so tiny sparkle of a few rhinestones.

And FLAT.

Adore.

AND they were $5 off.

ANNNNND when I got home and showed them to her she squeeeealed, “They have heels!”

Win. Win.

Everyone’s happy and she’ll be an inch closer to the ground ~ at 7 {allllmost 8} years old, that is a good thing.

I suppose one could argue that the higher the heels, the closer to GOD………

Cannot argue with that.

*****

Looking forward to your day, Elliott Elizabeth Aspiras…Saturday, May 11, 2013 is going to be so, so special.

It’s NOT about the shoes anyway.

Jay found this version in Men’s Health and it reminded me so much of our favorite Banh Mi sandwiches, but in burger form.

Spicy Asian Pork Burgers

What you’ll need:

½ English cucumber
½ cup rice wine vinegar {I like “seasoned” rice vinegar}
Salt to taste
1 lb ground pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp sriracha
4 sesame-seed buns, lightly toasted
¼ cup hoisin sauce

How to make it:

1. Make the pickles by combining the cucumber, vinegar, and a few pinches of salt in a bowl or jar. Set aside.

2. Preheat the grill over medium heat. Combine the pork, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Gently shape into patties, season with salt, and grill for about 5 minutes on each side.

3. Combine the mayonnaise and sriracha and spread on the bottom buns. Spread the top buns with hoisin and then sandwich the two halves around the burger with pickles. Makes 4 burgers.

They were delish, of course.

Spicy from the Sriracha mayo, sweet from the hoisin and crunchy & tangy from the pickled cucumbers!

I served them with sautéed zucchini and red onion in about a tablespoon of coconut oil ~ my new fave.

*****

Grab the ingredients and grill up some of these this weekend!

Here’s to a beautiful Saturday & Sunday….

{his & her smoothies ~ wanted Jay to sample it…this is one serving, though}

Green Monster Spinach Smoothie

Another Pinterest find, of course.

Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 frozen sliced banana {Peel, slice and freeze FIRST!}
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 cup 0% Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt {I like FAGE 0%}
1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (or other kind of milk) {Just discovered Vanilla Almond Coconut Milk!!}
4 cups baby spinach (or more, or less)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Nutritional stats:

350 calories, 10g fiber, 21g protein

I usually get the almond coconut in the dairy section, but stumbled across this on the shelf in some aisle at Ralphs….

{vanilla, almond AND coconut? Sold.}

*****

I like that it doesn’t have ice in it…my poor antique Oster blender has trouble with ice these days. The frozen banana keeps it cold ~ I need my smoothies COLD!

Looks green, but takes like peanut butter.

Perfect on-the-go breakfast.

Enjoy!

]]> http://flipflopfollies.com/?feed=rss2&p=13142 0 http://flipflopfollies.com/?p=13135 http://flipflopfollies.com/?p=13135#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:00:38 +0000 Amy http://flipflopfollies.com/?p=13135 My dear friend, Patti, sent me this…

Could not agree more.

Happy Monday, floppers!

XOXO

It’s a lot of fun to be a spectator as well as participate…I partook last year and it was quite the comedy. You can check that out here.

Jay requested a nice pasta meal the night before the 10K and, of course, I was quick to say, “Sure!”. He decided on Tequila Lime Chicken Fettuccini ~ a fabulous choice, I thought.

Cilantro? Jalapeños? Tequila? Lime?

Absolutely.

I followed the recipe precisely, however, subbed half & half for the heavy cream to feel a little bit less guilty. Also, wasn’t too sure about the soy sauce ingredient since this isn’t an Asian dish, but decided to roll with it. I didn’t think it took away from the tequila lime flavor at all, though.

We both thoroughly enjoyed it. Personally, I thought it needed more heat. Next time I think I will use 2 fresh jalapenos and leave the seeds and the ribs in since that is where all the heat is {this time I only used one and took out most of the seeds and innards}.

We were up bright and early to report for duty at Lake Castaic!

Jay did awesome and watching from the sidelines this year made me want to set a goal to do it again next year….

With his dog tag medal….

*****

So, I guess I am half way committing to doing the 5K again next year.

I’d like to get a team together and make a party out of it. Anyone interested?

Definitely going to need to {train} better and tackle some bigger hills leading up to the race, but mostly it’s a novelty event and just getting out there and getting dirty is what it’s all about!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

XO

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mexican Lasagna is the dish that I’ve coined as my {dinner after baby} meal. It’s one of those dishes that just as good, if not better, a day or two later.

Normally I bake it and deliver it hot and ready to serve, but this time I decided to grab a disposable pan, assemble it and add a little note for how to heat & serve it just in case they didn’t want it immediately or something else came up.

They also have two little guys {a kindergartner and a preschooler} that like pasta {when you create a Meal Train profile, it gives you the opportunity to tailor it to the recipients likes/dislikes}. I decided to just do a simple Annie’s white cheddar shells and carrot sticks with Ranch for the boys. I picked up a couple tossable plastic containers and included a Capri Sun and a CLIF fruit twist for dessert. I also tied a couple Army parachuters to the top of their individual plastic containers to make it extra special for both big brothers.

I included a caesar salad kit, some sparkling lemonade, paper plates, napkins and a couple treats for baby.

And what is dinner without a little something sweet afterwards? Yesterday I whipped up a batch of my all time favorite Sugar Cookie Bars…with baby blue cream cheese buttercream, of course!

*****

Meal Train is a great way to orchestrate meal delivery for a variety of different reasons. It’s extremely easy to log on and select a date to deliver a meal to appreciative recipients.

It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to deliver a meal to a family with a new baby! It was so much fun to put this together and deliver it to their doorstep this afternoon.

I will never forget the kindness and thoughtfulness WE received after Elliott & Holden were born. Sweet friends bearing meals and gifts in those first days after coming home from the hospital are so vivid in my memory and were so very much appreciated.

It is just as much a joy to be on the giving end.

Cannot wait to meet you, little Rowen Samuel!

XOXO

Buffalo Chicken brownies?

Buff Chix Smoothie?

Chocolate chip cookies?

I kid, but you catch my drift.

What I am NOT kidding about are these Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower “Wings” which were probably first pinned from PETA’s website here.

I chose to follow skinnytaste.com’s version here with my own teeny tiny twist.

I followed Gina’s directions to a “t”, but used about 1 tsp. unsalted butter and 2 tsp. coconut oil instead of 1 tbsp. butter. I am just now getting around to jumping on the coconut oil bandwagon…can you believe it? If you know be my now, you also know that I love all things coconut.

Um, these were amazing. I could’ve eaten the whole pan. To be honest, you don’t even need to dip them in ranch or blue cheese. They are perfect alone.

I didn’t have any celery on-hand so I served with some cucumber slices and just a tad bit of ranch.

Oh, and this is the only buffalo sauce that I use…

*****

Once in awhile I love to go to Hooter’s or Chili’s for boneless buffalo wings and an ice cold beer. These cauliflower bites just might take away the craving and are certainly more guilt-free ~ both in my eyes and in PETA’s eyes.

If you, too, love all things buff chix, you MUST give these a try.

Linking up again with sweet Jess and her monthly PinterTest Kitchen!

It was too difficult during Lent.

All the sweets and desserts……

However, I am at a standstill with meals and needing to channel some healthier options and am asking Pinterest to go steady again.

NOT that this post is about healthy options ~ one step at a time!

I guess this Crescent Roll Taco Braid could possibly be skinny-fied, but this time around I used ground beef and full fat cheese. I did use one reduced fat crescent roll and one regular. This recipe makes 2 big braids…perfect for leftovers and lunches during the week. I have NO idea how one would fit a pound of ground beef, a can of black beans, a can of Rotel and 2 cups shredded cheese into ONE crescent roll tube as the recipe suggests.

{followed directions, but used two tubes of crescent rolls}

{garnish with lettuce, chopped tomatoes, light sour cream, avo/guac & a shot of Cholula : other possible toppings : jalapeños, cilantro, salsa and/or olives}

To wash it all down, I stirred up some Pink Grapefruit Margaritas. It is Spring Break after all…

I totally stopped reading the recipe and didn’t realize these were supposed to be blended. Whoopsie.

Here is what I had pinned…

{via}

*****

The taco braid was delish! I left it in the oven a tad longer than 25 minutes to get nice and crisp, but not too overcooked. I doused mine in Cholula, of course, and used an Ortega chipotle taco seasoning packet for some more heat. For the Rotel, I used the lime & cilantro variety. I’ll definitely be making this again and next time will use ground turkey and lowfat cheese on the reduced fat crescent roll to cut fat & calories a bit.

The margs were perfect, too. Not too sweet, not too tart and a pretty shade of pink that would be perfect for a bridal shower or bachelorette party.

Or a Friday night on Spring Break.

Linking up with Jess over at Keeping up with the Johnsons…come say “Hi!” and click around to discover all sorts of Pinterest action!

You, too, can craft homemade circles of love with a quick trip to your local Target…

This Sunbeam Donut Maker was on clearance for 50% off last week for just $15. It gets fabulous reviews as seen here.

The basic batter is surprisingly easy to prepare and I happened to have everything on-hand including the glaze ingredients {just powdered sugar & milk}.

From what I understand, just about any muffin {not cake} mix will work here. I’ve heard rumors from this girl that you can make cinnamon toast crunch donuts with this mix…

Yes, please.

Since we’re on Spring Break, we may have fired this baby up once or twice to experiment…

The opportunities are endless with these things. It comes with a few recipes in the manual, but any thicker muffin-type batter would work.

I’m thinking blueberry donuts with a lemon glaze.

Or a simple cinnamon sugar.

Pumpkin for the Fall or gingerbread for the holidays.

Please stop me.

Just don’t forget your coffee to go alongside.

Happy Spring Break….or what’s left of it!

XOXO