Stay Hydrated

Hey everyone! It has been extremely hot out and I am really seeing how important it is to drink water. Those of you who know me know I do not drink water, even though I have at least 100 water bottles and cups. Well I recently added to my cup collection and they really help me to drink more water. Keep reading to see what cups I use to get the daily suggested water I need!

The first cup is my Yeti. I have the 30 ounce cup and it is amazing! I use it up until it is in dire need of being washed. If I am being honest it should have been washed a few days ago. What I love about this cup is that it keeps my water cold for a super long time. This is also great because instead of trying to guess if I drank enough water I can just fill my cup twice throughout the day and know that I drank enough. I love the Yeti cups so much that I ordered two more which I am super excited to get!

The second cup that I am obsessed with is a glass mason jar from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. This cup is 32 ounces which is wonderful! Just like the Yeti I can fill the cup twice and get my daily recommended water. Another thing I love is that the lids are colorful with different patterns. I really love The Pioneer Woman’s line, and not just because we share the same name…Ann Marie, because you also can purchase more lids and straws. You can change up the look of your cup every day!

These are just two of the cups I own but they are the ones I use regularly. I highly recommend both cups! They both have great designs but they also help to meet daily water goals. What is your go to cup or water bottle? Let me know in the comments below!

-A

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Fast Food Chains I Love

Hey everyone! Today I am going to talk about my favorite fast food chains. I mentioned a few posts back that I am not really a healthy eater. With that being said I eat a lot of fast food, and I usually stick to the same few places.

The first fast food chain I go to a lot is Chick-fil-a. I probably go once to twice a week. I go so much that my mom took a picture of me and all my left over chick-fil-a bags! When I go I always order their chicken nugget meal. It is so good!

The next place I go to a lot is Chipotle. I do not go as much as other places, but I still love it! I am the only one in my family who likes eating here, so eating here is few and far between. I always get the same thing every time I go, but it never gets old. I usually get a veggie bowl when I go to Chipotle!

The last place I have started going to a lot is El Pollo Loco! This was recommended to me by one of the little girls I babysat. I was shocked at how much I love it! It was definitely worth the try. When I go to El Pollo Loco I order the original pollo bowl!

These are just a few of my favorite fast food chains. What are some of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below!

-A

My Cookbook Collection

Hi everyone! Today I want to talk about my cookbook collection. For someone who does not cook a lot I have an insane amount of cookbooks! Some of which I have cooked out of, others I have not used yet!
The first cookbook I am going to talk about is actually four books. They are all by Giada de Laurentiis. She does have other cookbooks; I just do not have them yet. I really enjoy Italian food so Giada is my favorite chef on Food Network. Not only do I have her cookbooks I also have her cooking videos. I did make one of her recipes. I made the chicken chopped salad in butter lettuce cups, and it turned out great! I definitely plan to make more from the books and videos.
The second cookbook I am going to talk about is Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook called, Cravings. I have yet to make anything from the cookbook, but I definitely want to. If I am being totally honest I originally bought the book, because it was by Chrissy Teigen. I plan on making the King’s Hawaiian BLPTS very soon!
The next book I am going to talk about is the Food Network magazines. I have only bought three editions so far, but I really do enjoy them. I made chicken cacciatore from the Italian issue and it was my favorite! I definitely plan on making it again. Besides the Italian issue I also have the summer pasta cookbook edition and the summer edition. These magazines are the best five dollars you will spend!
The last cookbook I am going to talk about is Eat like a Gilmore. It is based off of Gilmore Girls, and I love it! I have not cooked out of it yet, but definitely will soon. Some of the recipes in this book are; salmon puffs, rocky road cookies, founders day punch, and mock turtle soup.
These are just a few of the cookbooks I have. I definitely plan on trying these recipes out more this coming year. I look forward to sharing my favorites with you all! What are your favorite cookbooks? Let me know in the comment below!
-A

Memory and Energy Inducing Foods

Hey everyone! I know it is a couple days late, but for this week’s Tasty Tuesday I want to talk about memory and focus inducing foods. This idea originally came to me while I was in class on Tuesday night. I was falling asleep in class and trying my absolute hardest to stay awake! It got me thinking about if there were any foods that could help me be more energized and have better focus. This morning I looked up if there were any foods that did what I wanted and I discovered that there are quite a few!
The first food that helps with memory is beets. Beets are natural nitrates, meaning that they help boost blood flow to the brain. Not only do beets help with memory they also help with boosting your energy, which is great for those long days! The next food may be my favorite of the options! Blueberries will not help with short term memory, but it will help in the long run. There is Gallic acid in blueberries which helps protect against brain degeneration and stress! Another good food to help with memory is broccoli. Broccoli is rich in fibers which helps keep your brain focused and improves your memory. The last food that I am going to talk about is dark chocolate. It helps in the free flow of blood to your brain. A good thing to keep in mind with dark chocolate is that the darker it is the more health benefits you will receive. It is also best to get dark chocolate that is processed with at least 70 percent of cocoa.
I hope that all this was helpful to you, and that you learned a little something! Do you know of any other foods that help with memory and energy? Let me know in the comments below!
-A

Thanksgiving Treats

Hey everybody! Thanksgiving is almost here and so I figured I would share a couple Thanksgiving Day treats with you all. I found these recipes on pinterest when doing a search for Thanksgiving Day treats. I have yet to make these treats, but I definitely plan to do so on Thursday! I will post pictures on my Instagram page when I do make them for you all to see!
The first treat is Thanksgiving Pilgrim hats. These are the cutest things I have ever seen, and are super simple to make. You only need four ingredients to make these! You will need miniature peanut butter cups, chocolate wafer cookies, white frosting, and orange food coloring! The first thing you are going to do is dye your frosting orange by adding the food coloring to it. This will be used for decoration and for holding the peanut butter cups to the cookies. After getting your frosting ready you will put a small amount of frosting on the center of the cookie, I will be using Oreo thins for the cookie. After putting the frosting on the cookie you will then place the peanut butter cup upside down on the cookie. This will form a hat. The last step is to take your frosting in a frosting bag (I use a zip lock bag with the tip cut off) and drawing a line around the base of the peanut butter cup. Then add a square to the band to look like a buckle. After you do that you are done! It is such a cute treat and takes very little time to make!
The last treat I am going to share with you all is also super easy! It is a turkey rice krispie treat. For this you will need rice krispie treats cut in the shape of a circles, melted chocolate morsels, chocolate wafers, candy corn, candy eyes, and orange m&m’s. To make these turkeys you will need to make rice krispie treats and shape them into circles. After doing that you will use the melted chocolate and “Glue” on 5 candy corn feathers, one wafer for the face, two eyes and half on an m&m for the beak. Like the other recipe it is super simple to make and will take you no time at all!
These two recipes are so cute and festive. I cannot wait to make them for my family! I look forward to sharing the pictures of how they turn out with you all! What recipes do you make for Thanksgiving? Let me know in the comments below!
-A

Rosanna Pansino Baking Line

Hello everyone! Today I am going to tell you about Rosanna Pansino’s baking line. Those of you who know me know that I do not cook. Not because I cannot cook but because I am super lazy! Well I recently got on a kick of buying recipe books and cooking products. Lately I have been buying products from YouTube star Rosanna Pansino’s baking line and I want to tell you all about it!
The first product I got and used was the smart cookie stamp. It was fall break for a little girl I watch, and thought that it was cute and would be so much fun for us to do! With this I decided to buy the cookie dough and not make it ourselves. When it came time to let the little girl use the stamp I thought it would be easier to flatten the balls of dough before stamping. I quickly learned that the little girl and I were not on the same page. She did not even wait for me to flatten the dough before she started stamping. Even though the stamping process got a little crazy the stamp transferred really well and held up! The little girl loved looking at the cookies and was even begging for one as soon as they came out of the oven. It was only nine in the morning though, so she had to wait! A little side note, during this process the little girl and I quickly realized that cookies expand in the oven. Needless to say our cookies came out a little crazy, but the pattern was super cute!
The second product I bought was the mustache shaped cookie cutter. This time I used the mustache cookie cutter with A, another little girl I watch. She also was on fall break. This go around I made the cookie dough from scratch due to a ton of food allergies! These cookies were a big hit! A even had the idea to make lip shaped cookies to pair with the mustache cookies. These cookies were so much fun to make and just as fun to eat!
The last baking product I bought was the poop emoji treat pan! I made cake in this pan, and it turned out fantastic! It was easy to take the cake out of the mold and the shape held up! It was even a big hit with my mom and brothers! I will definitely be using it again!
A couple non baking products I got were Rosanna’s Nerdy Nummies Cookbook and the half apron. The cookbook is so great! It has so many fun recipes to make, from a chemistry lab cake to emoticon cookies. There is even an 8 bit heart cocoa recipe! The cookbook even has many great resources for beginner bakers! It is a must buy! The apron is also the perfect addition to a new found love of baking and/or cooking. The apron is red and white and covered in pixilated hearts. It is so cute, and I love wearing it!
All in all Rosanna Pansino’s baking line is a must have! You can buy the products I spoke about and many more from Amazon and Michaels. Have you tried or seen her new line? Let me know in the comments below!
-A
P.S: You can watch different videos of Rosanna baking and cooking on her YouTube channel, Nerdy Nummies. She has many cute and yummy recipes on YouTube too!