Chocolate Covered Oreos! | Blogmas Day 20

I've been making chocolate covered Oreos SO FREQUENTLY this holiday season! I made them for Thanksgiving, I made them for my staff holiday party, and then I made them again for our work cookie swap that we had today. They're honestly so simple to make and they're such a huge hit that it's an easy choice to make these as a dessert to share with family and friends! Here's what you'll need to make them:

-Your favorite variety of Oreos (we got with Double Stuf because... duh)
-Your favorite variety of baking chocolate chips. I've made milk chocolate, white chocolate, peppermint white chocolate, and peanut butter. There are plenty of other flavors of baking chips, though, so get creative!

Those are literally the only two ingredients you need. 😂

Step 1: Lay out some wax paper on a flat surface so you have a place to set the Oreos down. This is a messy recipe and you need to work quickly before the chocolate hardens, so having a place ready to go for them to set is very important!

Step 2: Melt down the chocolate chips in the microwave. You can use as many as you'd like, but I usually opt to melt them one bag at a time in a microwave safe bowl. (One standard 12oz. bag will make about 12 Oreos!) I recommend putting them in the microwave in 30 second increments and stirring between increments until fully melted. This will help avoid the chocolate from melting. You'll want to repeat this process until the chocolate is easy to stir and is entirely smooth.

Step 3: Dip the Oreos one by one into the melted chocolate, and set aside on the wax paper. You might opt to use a utensil to dip the Oreos, but I honestly just use my fingers as it's easier to ensure that the Oreo is entirely coated.

Step 4: Let Oreos sit for 30-45 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden. You can have the Oreos setting in room temperature, but to really get the chocolate to set, I recommend putting them in the fridge overnight.

Step 5: Take Oreos out of the fridge roughly 20-30 minutes before serving so they're not too rock hard!

And that's it! The whole process takes less than 10-15 minutes per batch and the results are always a huge hit. I totally recommend adding this recipe to your dessert arsenal if you're crunched for time!

If you were wondering, I made milk chocolate, white chocolate, and I tried a ~swirl~ batch for the office cookie swap today. I went in with 4 containers of Oreos and only came back with one container that was about 75% full. Not too bad!

What's your favorite dessert that you like to make?

(P.S. These were my spoils from today's cookie swap!)

Favorite Foods of the Season | Blog Ahead #22

Blog Ahead #22
Originally written on October 29, 2018

One of the best things about this time of this year, both the holidays and the colder weeks of the late-fall, is the seasonal foods! I thought I should share some links out to my absolute favorite foods that I only seem to eat around this time of year. As I was gathering photos and links to these three foods that I'll be sharing with you, my mouth was watering and my stomach was growling SO MUCH! I'm definitely ready for these seasonal foods to be back in my life! Highly recommend you get your hands on these treats this year as well. ;)

Baked Brie in Puffed Pastry

Recipe from tbsp.

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Green Bean Casserole

Recipe from Campbell's

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from Foodie Crush

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What seasonal foods are you excited to eat?

#SlowCookerSunday | Blog Ahead #6

Blog Ahead #6
Originally written on October 21, 2018

One of the very few good parts of colder weather is busting out the slow cooker. It's become a habit over the last year or so for Brett and I to cook something in the crockpot on Sunday while we're watching football, and thus #SlowCookerSunday was born. As I'm writing this blog post, it is also a Sunday and I'm also about to head out the door to grab ingredients to make chili in the slow cooker. *yum* So I thought today I could share a couple of my favorite recipes that I've made in the slow cooker that are super easy and you should 100% try out for yourself!

Creamy Chicken & Rice

Recipe from Oh, Sweet Basil

Crockpot Turkey Chili

Recipe from Live Well, Bake Often

Honey Garlic Chicken

Recipe from The Gunny Sack

What are your favorite slow cooker recipes?

Let me know in the comments!

A Few of my Favorite Links {#23}

Hey y'all! It's been quite an eventful week/weekend thus far. I've officially moved out of my apartment and in with Brett which is super exciting! We spend most of this past weekend packing, moving, and settling into *our* new space. We're adjusting back into sharing space with one another full-time but it is so nice to only be a couple of steps away at any given moment and planning dinner every night. There are still some boxes to be unpacked and furniture to be moved but our place will feel like our home very very soon! 

We will be celebrating Fourth of July weekend with a Weezer concert tomorrow (thanks for the tickets, Lindz!) and a trip to New Hampshire to spend the actual holiday on the lake with my whole fam which includes a visit from my South Carolinian sister! It will be good to all be together again. That hasn't happened since Thanksgiving! I hope you all are planning fun, eventful holiday weekends as well!

I'm really happy with this month's selection of favorite links! It's a good combination of things that I love and things that I'm looking forward to this season. I hope that you can find something to enjoy in this handful of internet gems and be sure to share your favorite links of the moment in the comments!

Game of Thrones Houses as Pokémon 

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Talk about two of my geekiest obsessions colliding to make something awesome! This is a series of illustrations created by Kaleb Raleigh that reimagines the house sigils of Game of Thrones as Pokémon evolutions! (The series is titled A Song of Blue & Red... awesome.) All of these are pretty awesome and accurate to what I would have imagined them to be. Of course, I had to share with you my favorite house here (#TeamTargaryen fo' lyfe) but I strongly encourage you to click the link and check out the other houses as well!

The Little Prince Official US Release Trailer



The Little Prince is one of my all time favorite stories and I am OVER THE MOON that it is being released as an animated feature on Netflix in July. I guess this film was dropped by its original studio at some point in the process so I am extremely happy that Netflix did the smart thing and picked it back up! If you haven't read The Little Prince, I strongly - STRONGLY - encourage you to do so and be just as excited as me that this is happening!
Simone Biles Floor Routine at the P&G Gymnastics Championship
Raise your hand if you're excited for the Olympics! ME: *flails arms both arms around in the air like an idiot* So I've been watching some of the Olympic trials and championships for Olympic sports in preparation for the summer games and getting SO PUMPED for the Olympics! It's just over a month away and I can't wait to sit on the couch all month and be amazed at how talented these athletes are while I shove handfuls of chips and Oreos into my face. This gymnast, Simone Biles, is incredible and a force to be reckoned with. Just look at this floor routine - especially that last pass. WOW. She won this championship and will be going to the Olympic trials for the Women's team, but I don't have a doubt (barring disaster) that she will be representing the USA in Rio. She is amazing! Strawberry Ravioli with Balsamic and Basil

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This recipe looks incredible. It looks complex to make, but sooooo delicious to eat. And a perfect dish for summer, too! The blogger that wrote about this recipe said that it took them a few attempts to make it the way it appears in the image above (I'm pretty sure that making pasta is ALWAYS a pain in the ass) but that the pay off is super worth it. I would love to attempt this recipe some time this summer because it looks so yummy!

What links have you been loving lately?

A Few of my Favorite Links {#22}

Hello friends! I can't believe today is the last day of May. We are already nearing the halfway mark of 2016. HOW?! Brett and I have been enjoying the slow down in our schedules lately - spending more time with family and we were even able to venture up to New Hampshire over Memorial Day weekend and spend time with my parents and pups! We were lucky enough for it to be nice and hot enough for a MAY SWIM (always a big deal when that's able to happen!) and, of course, we made our usual pilgrimage to La Festa!

I have a handful of amazing links to share with you all today, and each one reflects a different interest of mine or part of my life! I hope you all find something in this post that you're able to enjoy, and don't forget to share your favorite links of the moment in the comments so I can check out some more internet awesomeness! <3

The #SAgrad Development Theory

This is a cute little Zine created by a fellow member of the Student Affairs community! It's a student development theory for Student Affairs grad students that include vectors like "You've eaten cold, old, leftovers over your kitchen sink at midnight AND you didn't cry this time." Super adorable and painfully true!

Kittens vs. Thugs

This is a hilarious video where a adorable puffball of a kitten has a staring contest with some tough looking dudes. I was giggling the whole way through this video and needed to share!
6 Reasons You Need to Run the Utah Valley Marathon

I always have an eye out for new races to add to my race wishlist. I have a life goal of running a marathon in all 50 states, and so when different marathons get featured on race websites it always grabs my eye. This race - the Utah Valley Marathon - seems like the perfect 26.2 for my Utah stop. Beautiful scenery, fast, and downhill - it seems like the perfect formula for a PR and, more importantly, a wonderful experience!

Mint Julep Popsicles

I know we're a bit past the perfect time of year for a Mint Julep, but this article was posted right around the time of the Kentucky Derby and I think this would be the *perfect* summertime treat. Take a refreshing drink, freeze it, and put it on a stick - who wouldn't love to enjoy something like that on the beach?!

Doug the Pug TV Show Compilation

It wouldn't be a Favorite Links post if I didn't include SOMETHING that has a dog in it, right? This video made me laugh so much I needed to share it with my friend Erin who loves pugs. Have a favorite show? It's likely that Doug the Pug parodies the intro to it in this video. If you need a smile or some sort of pick me up then press play on this amazing video and get ready to be cheered up! :)
What links have you been loving lately?

A Few of my Favorite Links {#21}

April....PHEW. 

It's been a whirlwind y'all, as it usually is. If you've been following this blog for a while now you can totally tell when things are crazy for me at work because that's when posts get a bit more infrequent (usually September and April every single year). I guess that's just the trend in my life! Anywho, we had our final *major* event of the year - Pangy Day - on Friday and it was super successful! We were gambling hard with the weather. All week called for rain and even thunderstorms but kept going back and forth on when the rain would actually begin. We had outdoor activities planned from 10:30AM to 3PM, and according to all of the weather sites rain wouldn't start coming down until right around the time we would be packing it in for the day, so on Friday morning we made the official call to stay outside and we. hit. the jackpot.

While it was quite humid (we were expecting thunderstorms, after all), the sun was shining for most of the day, everyone was in their summer clothes and summer spirits, and everyone was having a blast. It was truly such a perfect day (I keep joking that Mary Lyon was looking out for us) and the weather held right until we got the last person and last piece of equipment inside after breaking down at 4PM when it immediately started pouring, thundering, and lightning-ing. Perfect timing, to say the least! With a smattering of other weekend events, we closed out our year of student programming Sunday afternoon and I can officially say I made it through my first academic year as a professional! We only have Senior Week and Commencement to worry about before we can officially call it summer time! :)

I have a few really awesome links for you today which (per usual) involve 3 of my 

most favorite things in the world - food, dogs, and Game of Thrones. I hope you enjoy!

Super Filling Sweet Potato Tacos

If you've been following my weekly vlogs or if you were around for this blog post, you'll know that I've been making a bit of an effort to be a bit more conscious when it comes to eating meet and dairy products. I by no means have cut them completely out of my life, but lately I have been pausing to consider possible alternatives, often making the decision to take a vegan or vegetarian option when it's available, and have recently made the choice to completely stop eating pig meat all together (yes, including bacon) which was a pretty easy choice as I never was too crazy about it in the first place. It's a journey and while I don't think I'll ever go completely vegan or vegetarian (then again, who knows?), making these decisions little by little will help in the transition.

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Enter, this recipe. I just stumbled upon it yesterday and it is completely vegan! It looks freakin' delicious and honestly not that much different than a regular taco recipe. Just really replacing the meat with sweet potatoes which sounds pretty amazing in my opinion. I definitely want to try these out the next time I'm in the mood for homemade tacos!

Pet Portraits by Incandescent Design

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As I've come to find out, I'm all about customized pet products that create a fun memory of your beloved furry friend. Incandescent Designs offers up these fun pet portraits for a modest (sarcasm) $200. With a finely detailed drawing, a pop of color, and a little twist to show off your pet's personality, I think this would be a fun addition to any room in your home!

Chart of 40 Different Kinds of Pizza

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I'm not sure when I came across this chart but I do know that I came across it when I was borderline hangry and of course fell heart-eyes-emoji in love! There are some items on this list that I wouldn't really want to try, but the vast majority of these pizzas - sign a lady UP. I think the top three pizzas I would need to try at some point in my lifetime are the Scottish Pizza Crunch, the Pizza Cone, and I really want to try Cauliflower Crust Pizza as well! What one would you want to try?

9 Times Actual History Was More F*cked Up Than Game of Thrones

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In honor of Game of Thrones finally returning, I obviously had to include a GoT related link of some sort! This one showed up on my Facebook feed, as most BuzzFeed articles do, and I had to click on it because I love when fictional stories are put into historical context. It's crazy just how messed up the world was back in the day and it was just considered to be normal. I mean, could you imagine hearing about a party reminiscent of the Red Wedding happening in real life?! Yikes.

What links have you been loving lately?

Fall 2015 Cook Book

(1 | 2 | 3 | 4)

Whenever the weather cools off I find myself itching to try out new recipes. I think with football Sundays being in full-swing and holiday get togethers on the horizon (too soon?), I get inspired to experiment in the kitchen and share the results with friends! I've search around the internet for some culinary inspiration and I've put together an autumn collection of recipes that I hope try out this season. Make sure you click the links to get the full recipes and to check out the awesome bloggers that shared them!

Beverage: Bourbon & Maple Apple Cider
Recipe found on Freutcake

How delicious does this drink sound? The perfect blend of sweet apple & maple and the spiciness of bourbon. This is actually a beverage I could see being suitable throughout the winter as well. I'm a huge fan of hot cider when the temperature starts to drop so this sweet cocktail twist is something I can totally get on board with (even though I could only probably drink one at any one time)!

Appetizer: Fried Mac n' Cheese Bites
Recipe found on Thrifty Jinxy

I've been wanting to make these for months! A video of this recipe popped up on my Facebook feed and my mouth immediately started watering. This would be so perfect for a lazy Sunday watching football (or, if you're me, perfect for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of eternity). I'm definitely going to bring this with me for one of the afternoon we spend watching RedZone and the Patriots at our friends' house!

Meal: Mediterranean Baked Sweet Potatoes
Recipe found on Minimalist Baker

Sweet potatoes are my jam. I love that the fall brings these babies back after a long summer without them. This recipe is a really interesting way to prepare and serve sweet potatoes as part of a dish and I am super into it. This recipe also seems fairly easy to prepare and serve, so I definitely see this being a simple dinner to throw together after a long day at work!

Dessert: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe found on Foodie Crush

This is my favorite fall baked good! (I was going to say favorite fall dessert, but then I remembered that apple crisp à la mode is a thing. *droooool*) I had a colleague at BSU who always brought these into the office in the fall and I ate about a million every single time. I've never made them myself, but I would love to take a crack at this simple, 3-ingredient recipe! (And if it isn't as great as I remembered I'll look up one of the more extensive recipes you can find online.) Either way, I'm pumped!

Let me know if you have any fall recipes that you love in the comments - I'd love to try them out as well!

How to: Make Buffalo Chicken Dip

The Super Bowl is this Sunday and my team, the New England Patriots, are playing! Because of this, I thought it would be fun to share the recipe to one of my favorite appetizers of all time - Buffalo Chicken Dip! I LOVE this recipe and it is an absolutely perfect treat to bring to your Super Bowl party this weekend!

I first discovered Buffalo Chicken Dip at a 4th of July party a few years ago, and while I was a little bit skeptical of whether or not I'd like it (I'm not a huge fan of spicy foods), I gave it a shot and instantly fell in love. The ingredients in this dip really cool off the spiciness of the Buffalo sauce, and if you'd like you can even opt to use a more mild or more intense Buffalo sauce, depending on what your spice preference is. This recipe only calls for 5 ingredients, can be completed in about an hour, and will be a huge hit at whatever party you bring this to! Let's get into it, shall we?

A Few of My Favorite Links {#7}

It's been an exciting first few weeks of the semester! As my event calendar ramps up and my marathon training winds down (just began tapering... yikes!), I've been spending a little less time perusing the internet for fun and more time doing actual research related to school, internship, and work. (#gradlife) I have, however, found quite a few great links over the past few weeks, so I suppose quality has not been sacrificed! :) Here's what I'm loving online as of late:

Holly-Woo: Matthew McConaguhey struts onto Clark University Campus

Sooooo Matthew McConaughey was casually on campus at Clark, my internship site, last Friday, filming for his movie Sea of Trees. I didn't have the pleasure of seeing him myself, but I did get to see the set and the filming process which was really, really cool. (I also discovered that I have the worst time spelling "McConaughey".) I can check "spend a day on the set of a movie" off my bucket list! Can't wait to see the movie when it releases! Here are a few of my own photos from the day:

Trailers in the parking lot across from campus.

View from my office window. A few scenes were being filmed in the building in the background.

Movie crew outside of the building I work in. McConaughey was filming in the room above the guy standing on the roof!

They had to create the effect of trees in the window with spare branches (even though there were actual living trees outside...)

Home Run to Happiness: The Kickball Ice Cream Maker

This is an amazing idea! I remember making home made ice cream at Girl Scout camp as a kid and though the experience was fun in itself, I remember it being a lot of work as well. This gives you the fun of making ice cream as well as the fun of playing! Such a fun summer activity idea! (Until the ball pops open and the ingredients go flying everywhere. It's inevitable.)

5 Things I'm Not Allowed to Say

I really enjoyed this post shared by Katie at Scarphelia. She discusses what some bloggers have become, and points out that many blogs revolve solely around click counts, giveaways, and brand deals rather than including authentic writing, which is what blogging is there for in the first place. Many bloggers try to uphold the image of being "perfect" and having "perfect lives" in order to maintain an audience and sacrifice their authenticity in the process. As an avid blog reader as well as a blogger myself, I can't help but agree. When I'm reading posts that are painfully obvious brand promotions, I have to scroll away from them. I like to read what the author has to say, not what the person who is paying them does. What's your take on this issue?

10 Lessons Learned While Running 100 Marathons

This woman is an inspiration to me. I came across this article when I was feeling pretty down on my training, but reading that not only had she has accomplished 100 marathons within the time span of a few years, but also has experienced the same training mistakes as me, was another reminder that truly anything is possible if you dedicate enough time and energy to it. If you need some fitness motivation (or even life motivation), check out this article! 

(Side note, 3 weeks and 2 days 'til the New Hampshire Marathon! AHH!)

"Paradise" by City & Colour

I loved City & Colour in high school & college, but I kinda forgot about his music after I graduated (save for a few iTunes shuffle appearances). I heard this song on a rerun of Catfish (hilarious) I had on as background noise as I was cleaning my apartment one day, and Dallas Green's voice immediately caught my attention. I tracked the song down and have been playing it on repeat ever since!
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I've officially come to terms with the fact that my favorite season is pretty much over and that fall is making more and more of an appearance in New England. (The leaves are still green, but it is getting depressingly cooler outside...) For me, fall is a time for FOOD. I think fall is my favorite season for food (not counting summer BBQ... that will always be the best in my eyes/taste buds) because it has all the best flavors - pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, cider... YUM. Of course, because of this, I've been Pinning fall recipes like CRAZY and I can't wait to try some of them out. Here are three recipes that I'll definitely be testing in the coming months:

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

If the title doesn't intrigue you enough, just look at that photo! *drool* I swear once the weather gets colder, pretty much every recipe calls for cream cheese of some kind. Not that I'm complaining... Definitely need to make a batch of these and bring some into one (or all) of my offices!

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

If you know me at all, you know I'm a breakfast gal through and through. My co-workers know I don't eat huge lunches because of it, my boyfriend knows I get cranky if I don't get my breakfast in the morning, and my mom knows that a fresh batch of French toast can cheer me up after a long day. When I found this recipe for pumpkin French toast, I just about fainted. Can NOT wait to try these out on my next lazy Sunday this fall.

Caramel Apple Sangria

One of my favorite fall treats growing up was apple slices and caramel dip. This is a fun grown-up play on that treat! Perfect for a cozy night in after spending the day watching a football game and pumpkin picking! Can't wait to try this out with some friends. :)

What links have you been loving lately?

December Goals

Can you believe it's already December? 2013 has flown by!
Time for one last set of goals to finish out this year strong!

1. I already have 3 occasions that I'm planning to wear one, so I don't think that this will be too much of an issue!

2. We're having a Christmas party on the 20th and our apartment needs to look the part! (Aaand it's also pretty great to pretend you're living at the North Pole during the month of December.)

3. I mean... no pressure.

4. This may be a struggle... Due to my hectic schedule (and admitted laziness) I have not been running as much as I need to in order to be prepared for a half marathon. I'm just hoping that some of my pre-Hartford training is still sticking with me! 

5. What better time to go on some new kitchen adventures than the holidays?

6. Always does the trick to get me in the Christmas spirit!

7. Even though I'm usually on a pretty tight budget, I always try to donate something to a toy drive for children so they can have a happy holiday as well. This year, I'd really like to make an effort to give a little more. Change in the Salvation Army buckets every time I see them, Toys for Tots, donations to food pantries... any time I see something, I'd really want to make it a point to give something to those that need it more than I do!

Homemade 'Naner Bread!

Ever since I was little, I've LOVED my mom's homemade banana bread (or as I like to call it, 'naner bread). Now that I'm living on my own, I've learned to make it myself! It's not the exact recipe that my mom uses, but it still comes out pretty darn good (if I do say so myself), so I decided to share the recipe with you all! :)