Absolutely Delicious New Recipe and a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta!

83. Try a new recipe every month (12/33)

I love, love, love this month's new recipe. I'm even mixing it up a bit. For the first time in many, many recipes, this recipe is not from Candice Kumai's Pretty Delcious cookbook. But it is from her newest cookbook Cook Yourself Sexy. The recipe: Japanese Chicken Yakisoba Noodles.

This dish is so simple but packed with delicious flavors. Added bonus: this recipe contains kale. Kale is so good for you for many reasons. It is high in beta carotene, calcium, vitamin C, and more, plus it gives you lots of vitamin K.

Eating a diet rich in the powerful antioxidant vitamin K can reduce the overall risk of developing or dying from cancer, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. --WebMD - The Truth About Kale

How do you argue with that?! If you are not a fan of the sometimes slightly bitter raw kale you have no need to worry. You can barely taste it in this dish. I also baked up some kale chips in the oven as a side dish for the first time. I LOVE the texture and the way they just kind of crumble in your mouth. However, I baked mine a tad too long or maybe used too much olive oil so mine had a bit of a burnt taste. I will try to perfect my kale baking in the near future.

Ready for a close up?

Yummmmmm.... I am already ready to make this again! Make sure to check out the recipe HERE.

I found the yakisoba noodles at Sprouts in one of the refrigerated sections in some kind of yakisoba stir fry kit and just got rid of the seasoning packet. I was so disappointed when I pulled them out of the fridge and looked at the ingredients and saw artificial colorings in the ingredients list. Before making these again I will definitely need to find different yakisoba noodles that do not contain artificial colorings.

Since I seem to be preaching about healthy food choices more than normal today... Are you all aware that many artificial food colorings such as Yellow #5 and Yellow #6 are banned in many European countries or require a warning label if they are included in the ingredients because of the possible negative health effects of consuming these products? There is said to be a link between the consumption of artificial colorings and increased hyperactivity in children susceptible to hyperactivity. Although there is not conclusive evidence that artificial colorings cause ADHD in children, why take that risk???

More info on artificial colorings:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_yellow_5_and_yellow_6
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/food-dye-adhd

57. Give a gift a month (8/29)


May is going to be (and really already is) super crazy this year because of back-to-back-to-back events, parties etc. My sister is getting married at the end of the month so we have extra happenings on our calendars. This month's gift was a couples wedding shower fiesta style! This past weekend we had a Cinco de Mayo themed wedding shower complete with tequila tasting, Mexican beer, sombreros, and tacos. Here are some of the decorations:

I searched long and hard for affordable Papel Picado flags and was stoked when I found them HERE at amols.com. They were beautiful, way bigger than I expected, and perfect for less than $5 a banner. 

I love, love, love how my centerpieces turned out. The giant margarita glass was from Party City and then rest of the stuff (other than the limes) was from Michael's. The table runner was also from amols.com. 

My first attempt with chalkboard paint. I bought a picture frame, painted the frame red, the glass with chalkboard paint and voila! A bar menu!

Senor Tequila! My mom's adorable painted tequila man light!! And guess where I found the cheap maracas? Yep, amols.com.

Silly Boy.

Everyone had a great time and I hope it was as fantastic as my sister had envisioned. This was a fun party to put together and the theme was totally perfect for the couple.


95. Watch 26 movies we've never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet

IMDb - Zero Dark Thirty

E checked out Zero Dark Thirty from the library so we sat down and watched it the other night. I really didn't want to watch it and thought I would be bored out of my mind. Boy was I wrong... Zero Dark Thirty is the story of the CIA's hunt for Osama Bin Laden. I was totally sucked into the movie the whole time and even though I obviously knew the outcome, my heart was pounding throughout the events immediately leading up to his death. I highly recommend watching this one.








64. Go swimming once a month (7/29)

We took C swimming the day after his birthday and he had so much fun, as he always does. There were a few times when he decided to just jump up and go under water (on purpose?) so he's getting even more comfortable and daring in the pool. He was even going down the bigger slide on his own.

I love that smile! :)