Entertaining: Mother's Day Dinner Party

            Hi Everyone! I hope you are all having a great week! I wanted to pop on and share the fun Mother's Day dinner I hosted with several of my friends last week. There were 7 of us total and we thought it would be fun to get together for Mother's Day and also do a "favorite things" party. I have never been to a favorite things party and it was so much fun! Everyone bought "2" of their favorite things they enjoy such as something to cook with, makeup, hair products, books, etc. The sky is the limit and then you draw names and each person goes home with "2" new favorite things. It was a lot of fun!

          On the menu for dinner was a Mexican spread that I put together. We had a taco bar, Mexican layer dip, and a black bean & corn dip. For dessert, I made everyone their own personal bundt cake to take home or for dessert. I hope you enjoy this post and thank you for stopping by! Here are the dip recipes from the night and a little about my Mexican menu!

Dinner Menu:

Taco Bar:  Beef tacos & shredded chicken tacos with toppings 

Chips & Queso with Salsa 

Mexican Layer Dip: Which has a refried beans layer, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa with toppings

Black Bean & Corn Dip: It's a great cold but light summer Mexican dip which is always a crowd pleaser

Dessert: 

French Vanilla Almond Mini Bundt Cakes with a chocolate buttercream 

Tablesetting: 

Pink & White theme with pops of color & flowers from our rose bush

Mexican Layer Dip Recipe:

Ingredients:

-1 can of refried beans

-1 taco seasoning packet

-1 8 oz package of cream cheese 

-1 medium size container of sour cream

-1 medium size container purchased or homemade guacamole

-1 medium size container purchase or homemade salsa

Toppings of your choice: I used black olives, shredded mild cheddar cheese,  & cilantro 

Details:

-combine the taco seasoning, cream cheese, and refried beans and place in the bottom layer of your dish or trifle dish

-next, layer on the sour cream

-then, layer on the guacamole & salsa

-then, add your toppings 

-serve with tortilla chips 

Black Bean & Corn Dip Recipe: 

Ingredients:

(I doubled this recipe for a larger mixture)

-1 can of black beans rinsed and drained 

-1 can of sweet corn drained 

-1 green pepper chopped

-1 red onion chopped

-2 roma tomatoes chopped

-1 small bunch of cilantro 

-2 tablespoons of olive oil

-salt & pepper to taste

-1 juice of a lime 

Details:

-start by adding in your beans & corn to medium size serving bowl

-chop up your red onion, green pepper, roma tomatoes, and cilantro

-add everything to serving bowl 

-then add in you olive oil, salt & pepper, and lime juice and mix well with spoon

-I placed this in the refrigerator for 2 hours for the lime juice to soak in but you can serve immediately as well either way 

-serve with tortilla chips 

Recipe: S'mores Dip

                   Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday!  I hope you all are having a great week! I can't believe it is already Wednesday and next week is Thanksgiving. Time is flying! This time of year it is all about the recipes and family time and I wanted to share the easiest dip I have ever made with you all to share with your families. I made this for our community group this week and it was definitely a hit and like I said, literally the easiest recipe ever! This recipe is great for both adults and kids! This would be a great recipe for a get together, dinner party dessert, or to make on a weekend when it is cold and you are feeling like s'mores :)

                 I found this recipe on Pinterest and I am so excited to share it with you. Even if you don't bake or cook a lot, this is a recipe for you especially haha! It's really that easy! Here is the recipe and details, I hope you enjoy it! :) Thanks for stopping by xo Tesla

Ingredients:

(I made a large batch of this, if you want to make a smaller batch for a few people then I would cut this recipe in half)

-6 Hersheys Chocolate bars 

-1 bag of large marshmallows

-1 box of regular graham crackers

-butter spray or pam spray

Details:

-Turn your oven on to 450

-Grease your dish with butter or pam spray

-Break apart all 6 Hershey bars and place those in the dish first

-Then, line up your marshmallows on top of the chocolate bars

-Then pop this into the oven at 450 for 5-7 minutes (keep an eye on this as you are wanting the marshmallows to brown on top)

Serve with graham crackers or graham sticks 

-Eat & Enjoy! :)

So easy, and so good!

Hosting a Taco Bar

               Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope you are all having a great week :) I wanted to stop in to share the taco bar I hosted last weekend and give you ideas if you ever want to do this in your own home or for a party. This was such a fun night celebrating Reed's Birthday with his parents and grandmother. We enjoyed the taco bar and thought it would be fun to share. Taco bar's can be extensive or very simple; either way they are always bound to be a hit!

              I had a simple table setting with polka dot placements with white napkins and a colorful centerpiece of flowers in different colors. This is a great way to add a pop of color to any table. Then, I made one large appetizer dip which consisted of refried beans as the bottom layer, the middle layer I mixed 1/2 cup of mayo, 1 cup of sour cream, and one pack of taco seasoning for the second layer, and then I added shredded cheese,  green onions,  and tomatoes on top. You can serve this appetizer with frito chips or tortilla chips. My grandma or as we all know her as "Mam" makes this and everyone always enjoys it. It is a very simple but great recipe for any party. 

            After the appetizer, I set out several small bowls of toppings, sauces, and condiments for the tacos. This is your chance to get creative with toppings and also your choice of colors of bowls or your serving pieces. The main dish was taco meat & pork carnitas and then everyone could choose a soft or hard shell for their taco and then add whatever they wanted on top of their tacos. This is a fun way to entertain and easy as well! For a couple sides for this dish I put guacamole, cheese dip, salsa with chips and also a side of rice. As you can see, you can make it as large as you want. My taco bar was a hit I think as everyone enjoyed good conversation, company, food, and celebrating Reed. 

            For dessert, I purchased a Nothing Bundt Cake which was Reed's favorite (Red Velvet). We had a great time! I hope you all enjoyed this post and look forward to sharing more parties or events I host in the future. Thank you for stopping by :) xo Have a great week!

Recipes: Whole 30 Week 4 Meal Ideas

          Hi Everyone! Long time no blog post (well since last week)! We have have been under the weather for several days with all of the crummy cold/illness going around I am just now getting around to posting our last week of Whole30 Meal ideas as well as getting online. Our last full week of Whole30 and since we have both been sick, it was a lot of quick dinners and take out. Here are a few images below of some meal ideas that I wanted to share with you to wrap up our January Whole 30. I can't believe it is February this week! So crazy. Enjoying and embracing the month ahead and looking forward to a wonderful week. I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoy the first week of February :) Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for some fun Valentines Day Ideas coming up soon!

xo Tesla

Whole Foods on the go Dinner (pulled pork, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, one piece of paleo chicken, and strawberries

Hashbrown, sausage, onion, and egg muffins for grab and go breakfast

Pulled chicken, green onions, on a baked potato with Tesserae's Whole 30 BBQ sauce and green beans on the side 

Recipes: Whole 30 Week 3 Meal Ideas

               Hi Everyone! Happy Monday! Week 3 of whole30 is upon us and we are feeling pretty good. I wanted to share what week 3 of our meal ideas looked like. Some things are on repeat at this point because we have enjoyed them so much such as this Salad using Tessemae's Cesar dressing and a lot of eggs haha! I hope you all had a great weekend and hope you have a great week ahead. Enjoy these meal ideas and thanks for stopping by :) Xo

If you saw my last two weeks of meal ideas, you see this is my favorite go-to salad I have created. Lettuce, green onions, cashews, and Tessemae's Caesar dressing

Grilled chicken Fajita's with tomato paste

Pork chop with Basil/Cashew Pesto, asparagus, and roasted sweet potatoes 

Egg Omelette with garlic, cilantro, &  green onions with Whole30 Bacon

Apple turkey sausage, eggs with green cilantro, and a banana pineapple smoothie with collagen and coconut milk 

Same Tesserae's cesar salad as above only  added the whole30  bacon- so good!

Applegate turkey dog and spiraled white sweet potatoes 

Recipes: Whole 30 Week 2 Meal Ideas

Hey Everyone! Happy Sunday! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! We definitely did. Full of relaxing, slowing down with a few good books, date night, and getting ourselves in the gym. It was a great weekend :) We wrapped up week 2 of Whole 30 and are feeling pretty good. I refuse to step on the scale until the first program is over and that is what the Whole30 recommends but Reed hopped on and has already lost a good chunk of weight. Which is great, but it doesn't compare to how much better we already feel only after 2 weeks of the program. That's the reason we are doing this again because of how much better we feel. Just like last summer when we did this, it was such a great re-set and we plan to continue this longer than just the 30 days and more of a lifestyle change. Definitely much needed for us.

I wanted to share a few simple and easy meal ideas that we had/made this week for our Whole 30. Just like last week, this is just a few of our meals from the week. If there is any meal below you would like the recipe for, just let me know and I can send that to you or post on the blog. I hope you are all enjoying the first few weeks of the New Year! Have a great night and Happy Sunday!

Thank you for stopping by xo 

Whole Foods Grab-n-Go for Lunch: Paleo chicken, Roasted Sweet potatoes, and Brocoli 

For a side for Dinner one night: Smashed Garlic & Ghee Butter Yukon Potatoes (so good) 

Homemade Chicken Wings with "Everything but the Bagel seasoning" from Trader Joes

Dinner: The chicken wings, garlic potatoes, and leftover Brocoli from above

Dinner Leftovers & Arugula and Green Leaf Caesar Salad using Tesserae's Caesar Dressing

Breakfast Casserole: Hashbrowns, eggs, chicken apple sausage, peppers, and onions 

Snack: Orange, Apple, and Almond Butter 

Recipes: Whole 30 Week 1 Meal Ideas

Hi Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Last summer, Reed and I did our first Whole30 program and really enjoyed the results of the program and now we are doing another round this January. For any of you who are doing Whole30 or similar diet programs to start off the new year or just simply wanting to eat better I thought it would be good to share some of the meals we are having/making each week. I hope this will serve as inspiration for anyone wanting some new meal ideas. Since we have fully completed a round of Whole30 before, we know how great it feels to complete an entire 30 days of no processed food and a diet free of dairy, gluten, and sugar; therefore, it is a goal of mine to do my absolute best in completing another round after this January program. I would love to maintain this fully as a lifestyle change. It is definitely not easy, but always worth it in the end. 

Here are just a few of our meals that we made/had this week. Some examples of lunches, breakfast and dinner. Not all are pictured obviously, but just some of the highlights haha. 

I hope you enjoy! More to come next week xo

-A quick grab-n-go dinner at whole foods: roasted sweet potato wedges, green beans, one plain chicken wing, pulled pork, and one piece of cilantro lime chicken

Lunch: Lettuce, Arugula, Green onions, cashews, with Tessemae's ceasar dressing 

(dressings and sauces that are whole30 approved can be purchased at Tessemae's

Breakfast, Lunch, or dinner: Egg Muffins with eggs, whole 30 approved bacon, and salt/pepper

Dinner: Baked potato with shredded chicken tossed in Tessemae's bbq sauce, cilantro, and ghee butter.

Breakfast/Lunch: Sweet potato pan with roasted sweet potatoes, 4 eggs, whole30 approved bacon pieces, arugula, and garlic salt/pepper.

Dinner: Zoodles with Rao's Basil Marinara, diced onions, and grassfed beef

Dinner: Sweet potato & cinnamon, sirloin, and grilled asparagus 

Recipe: Trader Joe's Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

            Happy Wednesday! I hope you are all having a great week! In the season of everything pumpkin, I wanted to share an amazing gluten free pumpkin bread mix that I recently purchased at Trader Joe's. It's funny, I had several people message me asking me for the pumpkin muffin recipe from my blog post picture on social media earlier in the week and I told them I would post it, but surprise!! It's the easiest recipe ever, and from a box haha!

           Normally, I love baking things from scratch- it's that excitement and thrill of trying something new and creating something homemade that makes it wonderful; however, every once in a while I will try a box to see what it tastes like or for something new. In this case, I am glad I purchased this box because I will be going back for more. You can make muffins or bread out of this mixture. I sprinkled cinnamon on top to give it more of a cinnamon taste when you bite in and I love how good these are! Happy Fall, Happy Pumpkin Recipe, and Happy Baking :) Enjoy the easiest recipe I will ever post haha :) xo

Here is what the packaging looks like so you can look for it: 

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Pumpkin Mix

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Baking Mix is easy to make (add egg, oil & water, mix, and bake), and even easier to eat.