{whatever wednesday} Independence Day

Independence Day.  A day for cookouts, friends, family, and the big event: FIREWORKS.  Whether you're heading to a party, hosting a party, or just want to do a little something patriotic to celebrate America the beautiful, here's some food, decor ideas and other 4th of July inspiration to get those creative juices flowing.  Do you have any 4th of July traditions?  Have a Fabulous Fourth!

Start with Flag Foods

Create a flag with blueberrys and sliced bananas and strawberries.

 Or opt for white chocolate colored pretzels instead of the bananas.

Another idea that would be cute is to dye a fruit dip blue and place that in a square container instead of the blueberries :)

 {Easy Sugar Cookie Flag}

{Patriotic Taco Salad}

{24 Festive Recipes for Fourth of July from Shape}

{15 Fantastic Works of Hot Dog Perfection}

Say so long to the ketchup and mustard.  Get creative and dress those dogs up with tastier toppings, such as grilled pineapple or mac and cheese.

 

 

{Firecracker Funfetti Cupcakes with Pop Rocks Centers}

Cheers to Lady Liberty!

{4th of July Cocktail Recipes}

{Watermelon Blueberry Mojito}

 

 

{Patriotic Margaritas}

Decorate in Red, White, and Blue

{Vintage Americana Canteen}

 

 

{Coke Crates and Carnations}

 

 

{Vintage Ribbon Flag}

{Red, White, and Blue Windcatcher}

{4th of July Clothespin Wreath}

{DIY American Flag Picnic Blanket}

Fashionable Fourth Outfit Inspo

For more outfit inspo, go here:

Stars, Stripes, and Sparklers: 4th of July Fashion

Meatless Monday

This past week called for a much needed girls night with a few close friends.  Gossip, cocktails, treats, laughs, and music that takes us back to our high school days required.  This being said, I scoured my Pinterest recipes and decided on a Fiesta Dip.  Quick, easy, delicious...and it made enough for leftovers for all.

Fiesta Dip

Ingredients

8 oz package fat-free cream cheese

16 oz container fat-free sour cream

11 oz can yellow corn, drained

15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

10 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained

1.5 tbsp taco seasoning

2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

tortilla chips

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Cover and chill for 24 hours.  Serve with tortilla chips.  Serves 10-12.

Allison's notes:  I served it cold but zapped some leftovers in the microwave the next day and it was ah-maz-ing.  Served nacho style, in a quesadilla, even on Cheez-its...multiple possibilities with this recipe.


I'm a fan of breakfast food but rarely eat breakfast at breakfast time.  I came across this recipe to make scrambled eggs in the oven (I'm not the best at scrambling stove top) and decided to give it a shot.  They turned out great...so I made some toast, threw some eggs on my toast, with onion and a slice of cheese, added ketchup, hot sauce, and enjoyed a spectacular 9:30 p.m. breakfast sandwich.  I also have enough scrambled eggs to get me through the week.

Oven Baked Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients

4 tbsp butter

12 eggs

1 cup Almond Milk

pepper

dash of cayenne pepper

dash of hot sauce

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place the butter in a 9x13 baking dish and place in the oven so the butter melts while the oven preheats.

2.  Remove hot pan from oven and swirl so the butter coats the bottom.

3. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, pepper, cayenne, and hot sauce until well combined.  Pour over melted butter and place in oven.

4.  Remove after 8 minutes and stir the eggs using a spatula, making sure to scrape the edges of the pan.  Continue baking for 8 more minutes and stir again.

5.  Top with cheese, add veggies, build a bagel sandwich or breakfast burrito...Serve your eggs however you wish!

See the full recipes here:
Kelly's Fiesta Dip
Oven Bakes Scrambled Eggs

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

Black Bean Fiesta Veggie Burgers and Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake

Lately, I've been trying to get in to cooking and baking more.  I'm really good at spending countless hours and minutes browsing recipes and drooling over pictures, but have a hard time deciding on what to make.  Overall, I'm a healthy eater, love spicy dishes, and am not a big meat eater, so figured this Black Bean Fiesta Veggie Burger with Spicy Slaw would be perfect for my first home-cooked vegetarian meal.

Black Bean Fiesta Burgers

makes 6 burgers

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups black beans, drained/canned (unsalted)
3 Tbsp fine bread crumbs
3/4 cup baked/mashed sweet potato
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro - including stems
1/3 cup diced white onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chopped garlic
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 jalapeno, diced/de-seeded
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast - or use more bread crumbs
a few dashes of chipotle powder or cayenne for extra heat

1 bag Broccoli Slaw

Special Spicy Sauce:
1/2 cup mayo
2 tsp garlic hot sauce

6 whole wheat burger buns
6 round onion slices and 6 round tomato slices
optional: lime-juice spritzed avocado slices (not shown in burger photos - but recommended!)

Directions
1. Mix together slaw, mayo, and hot sauce and refrigerate.

2. Next up, prepare the burgers. Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor. You can also mash well by hand - but a fp is a tad faster. Next, hand-form burger patties with the mixture and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet. I like to roll my burgers in a touch of bread crumbs so that they have nice crisp edges.  (I mashed mine by hand)

3. Bake your burgers at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before assembling burgers. The last 5 minutes of cooking - add your burger buns to the oven to warm/toast them. (Toasted bunz-Very important)

4. Assemble those burgers! Warm bun, spread of special sauce, tomato, onion, optional avocado, burger, fiesta slaw and finally another slather of the special spicy sauce on the top bun.

{assemble}

{serve and enjoy. NOMZ}

Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake

Now, now...like I said, I typically eat healthy, but I'm a sucker for peanut butter and chocolate.  I had been dying to try this recipe for weeks and got around to it.  Mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as the pictures, but whatever.

Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake

Ingredients
16 oz fat free Cool Whip  (I accidentally bought the 8 oz size)
1 cup crunchy peanut butter (Since I had half the amount of Cool Whip, I altered to half a cup on PB)
16-20 reduced fat Oreos

Directions
1.  Line the bottom of a standard loaf pan with 8 Oreos.  (I broke some of mine apart to fit better)

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter and Cool Whip.  Pour half the mixture over the Oreos.

3.  Line another 8 Oreos on top of the Cool Whip layer.  Pour remaining peanut butter and Cool Whip mixture on top.

4.  Top with crumbled Oreos, drizzle melted peanut butter, chocolate, and/or all three. (optional) 

5.  Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.  Freeze it for easier cutting and a more ice-cream like texture.

{Clearly I did not do the freezing method.  Presentation?  Not there.  Taste?  Phenomenal}

It SHOULD have looked like this:

See the full recipes here:
Black Bean Fiesta Veggie Burgers
Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake