Dog Bows Made Easy

We recently added a new addition to our family. Everybody, meet.....Hannah!

She is an adorably sweet girl that in a few short days has turned our house upside down! But in a good way. On Sunday, we took Hannah for her first grooming appointment at That Fabulous Dog. Our oldest, Conner, just loves going to see David and we knew Hannah would too. I was absolutely thrilled when we went to pick up our girl. David had placed two hot pink bows in her hair!! She has since pulled them out, but it's too late....I'm totally hooked on how cute she looks with bows, which means she will have them all the time!!! I stumbled across a great video today that explains how to make these super cute dog bows at home. Thanks, Susan, for the video!

Manicure Madness: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love two things: scarves and manicures! That doesn't mean those are the only things I love. But let's just say I've never seen a scarf or a bottle of nail polish that didn't put a smile on my face :) I wear a scarf everyday and I paint my nails at least twice a week!! This week I'm all about the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear shades for 2011. They really have some great shades this season like Mint Sorbet and Lacey Lilac! As soon as I saw Grey Area on the display I fell in love. (I fell even deeper in love with the price...2 for $4 at Walgreens)! This is a fantastic shade for transitioning from the super dark nail polishes of Winter into popular pastels for Spring. 

I was on Yahoo looking through the headlines and saw the story: 6 Things Your Nail Salon Doesn't Want You to Know. Check it out here. I really love going to the salon or spa and getting a nice manicure, but this article makes me think twice. Scary! Honestly, how would you know if that expensive bottle of hand lotion or nail polish has been watered down or completely refilled with a cheaper product?! My advice: DIY manicures with your own tools and polish is the safest choice....and there's no extra charge for a color change!

Wine Country Chicken Salad

I think I wrote about starting the journey to healthy eating in my New Year's post. Well, I'm happy to report that 4 months into the new year, we are still sticking to our plan. In fact, for Lent my fiancé and I decided to give up red meat, white rice, and soda. So far so good thanks to my good friend Trader Joe's. Lest you think I've been living under a rock, I've shopped at Trader Joe's before. But back then I was not committed to ridding my diet of synthetic hormones, food dyes, and other additives. Now, I'm on a mission and this store offers a wealth of treasures to ease the transition from a diet of heavily processed foods to organic nutrition....enter Wine Country Chicken Salad.

My fiancé and I were shopping at TJ's two weeks ago and they were giving out samples of their chicken salad. It was so delicious, I wasn't even ashamed to grab a second sample! In the store, my fiancé was underwhelmed, but once we got home and he put it on TJ's Multigrain Oat bread, he was hooked! The tiny container lasted about 2 days. Since I didn't want to become dependent on the store brand, I decided to try to make some from scratch. Using the ingredients listed on the package and a ton of various chicken salad recipes I found online, here's what I came up with:

1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup organic mayo
1/2 cup organic plain yogurt
1 cup pecan, cranberry, and rosemary mixture**
4 cups cooked organic skinless chicken chopped into bite-size pieces
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp organic honey

Grab two bowls. In the first, mix together the chicken, pecans, cranberries, and rosemary mixture, and celery and set aside. In the second bowl, mix together the mayo, yogurt, sugar, and honey.
*you can also add salt and pepper to taste. I chose to lightly salt and pepper the chicken when I cooked it. Next, pour the mayo mixture over the chicken mixture and mix well. Chill for 2-3 hours before serving.

This was a HIT in our house and the first batch barely lasted 1 day! I will say that I need to tweak the mayo/yogurt mixture as the consistency was slightly runny. Other than that it was super yummy and a great healthy snack or light lunch option to have on hand. This will definitely become one of my regular recipes!

**Instead of buying separate containers of pecans and cranberries, I used a package of Trader Joe's Nuts Rosemary Pecans & Cranberries mixture. A little sign next to the display said it was 'like Thanksgiving in a bag." And, indeed it was!! You can use this in many recipes or even sprinkle some on top of a salad. This will be a regular item on my weekly grocery list!