Its a Hero

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No-Bake Nutella Cups

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Confession: I do not like chocolate. I don’t hate it, I just don’t go out of my way for it. And, nine times out of 10, if offered chocolate, I will decline. But hey — good news! That means more for you!

Oh – and I don’t really like cake either.

But guess what?! Like so many of you, I DO love Nutella! I try to avoid having it in the house because I just cannot stay away. In fact, when I was pregnant with Ari seven years ago, Nutella was one of the foods I craved the most. Shortly after I gave birth, my aunt brought me these delicious No-Bake Nutella Cups.

Not only are they absolutely delicious, but they are easy to make and can be frozen and enjoyed later. But enough of the babbling — let me get to the good stuff so you can try them for yourself.

[gmc_recipe 13927]

See? Easy peasy! They can be enjoyed immediately, or return them to the fillo cup container and re-freeze for later! I usually freeze them and pop them out one (or 5!) at a time for a snack.

What’s your favorite make-ahead dessert?

 

 

Explore Ohio // Historic Downtown Delaware

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Things have been quite busy around here. I haven’t intentionally been not posting — it’s just that I’ve had so many exciting things happening on my social calendar that I’ve barely had a second to breathe!

One of those exciting things was an adventure to Delaware, Ohio for a blogger meetup! I was excited, considering the last time I’d intentionally visited Delaware I was eleven, but I’d heard great things about downtown and I was really looking forward to checking it out for myself.

Our first stop was at the Fresh Start Café, where the owner and his wife, whom also just happens to be the incredible baker, greeted us with open arms and fresh pastries!

We mixed and mingled and tasted all of the delicious croissants, tarts, bars, and cookies before heading out to explore downtown.

The downtown area is home to a weekly Saturday morning farmers market, which is incredible for both the students of the nearby university and the residents of the town. I was able to find fresh vegetables, antibiotic-free meats, and even kombucha!

My favorite finds were probably these cookies (I bought the paint-your-own-dino cookies for my kids).

I stopped into all of these tiny little shops throughout the downtown area. One of my favorite things is how PUNNY the names of the stores are! The Greater Gouda? What The Tux? Like, C’mon! I LOVE it!

Our next stop was the Strand Theatre. This gorgeous little theatre has been around since 1916 and is one of the 10 longest operating theaters in the United States! It’s independently operated and a non-profit but still shows first-run movies.

Admission is cheap, considering the cost of movies these days! It’s only $7 for general admission tickets, and there are deals for students and seniors daily!

Breweries + Brewpubs + Restaurants. 

I was amazed at how many brewpubs called Downtown Delaware home! For a ‘small town,’ I counted at least 4 — which is a craft beer lovers dream.

Besides the Flying Pig Ale House, we also stopped at Restoration Brew Worx.

Oak + Brazen Wine Company is a fantastic little urban winery and offers incredible charcuterie and flatbreads!

I truly had no idea that this kind of culture existed in small-town Ohio! I can’t wait to visit again — this time with the whole family.

What’s your favorite

“unheard of” place

to visit and explore??

 

 

Many thanks to Mary of the Fervent Foodie for organizing this event and to Periwinkle Photography for capturing us in action.

 

 

 

Explore Ohio // Wooster { and a GIVEAWAY! }

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I have to admit — I’m really loving this “Explore Ohio” series! Not only does it give me a chance to give ya’ll a virtual tour of my favorite places, but it’s a way of reminding myself exactly why I love living here. There is always somewhere new to explore — like these kid-friendly things to do in Amish country!

Well on my recent trip to Wayne County I spent a whole 24-hours in Wooster, Ohio. Wooster, pronounced Wuh-stir, is just 35-miles southwest of Akron — but, until recently, I had never been!

These were my honest thoughts of Wooster, prior to my visit: “It’s a place where people go to camp, right??” I’m not certain why I thought that, but I did.

Boy was I surprised!

Besides surprised, I was also very nervous because this trip to Wooster was an overnight — and would mean my very first overnight without Miss Bea. But upon check-in at the St. Paul Hotel, I completely ‘checked out’ from my children. No joke.

First of all, the St. Paul Hotel?? Gorgeous! Absolutely stunning. With 17, newly renovated rooms, this unique boutique hotel has culture written all over it!

Our room featured a luxurious king-sized bed amidst a rustic, rust-belt-chic setting. And the bathroom? Heated… freaking… floors! And a TV in the mirror, ya’ll!

And don’t even get me started on this shower! My only disappointment was that I couldn’t spend more time snuggled up in this bed. No joke. I mean, for us, we could have spent an entire week inside this hotel room! That’s how bad we needed a getaway!

Here are my other must-see spots in Wooster, Ohio!

Broken Rocks Cafe. Fresh baked bread, exposed brick, delicious seasonal eats — what more could you want!? I had the chicken salad sandwich (which comes on amazing focaccia!) and a side of jojos. Jojos are basically seasoned + deep fried potato wedges. It’s a regional thing to call them jojos. I never understood it until I moved to Akron.

Chad had the Kung Pao Woodfired Pizza. It was amazing! The sauce was beautifully balanced with the crispy veggies and crust!

The Ohio Light Opera. This professional opera company is located on the Wooster College campus and features operettas and musical theater from June through August. They perform several shows a day, and several different shows at a time!

We happened to catch them during a rehearsal for Say Anything, and, even though we only caught about 30 minutes, I seriously could have stayed and watched them perform all day!

Our group was lucky enough to also go on a little backstage tour, where we saw so many people hard at work! Costume design, set design, and all of the props!

It was an amazing experience, and I have so much more respect for those who work in the theater industry! It’s clear they do it out of passion!

Faithful Little Cupcake. A bakery that specializes in all kinds of specialty cakes, but also sells cupcakes in their storefront, has a passion for ‘paying it forward.’ For every wedding cake sold, the bakers donate a birthday cake to a child that, otherwise, wouldn’t have one.

PS. Their cupcakes are the bomb. THE bomb.

Blue Spruce  Boutique. This boutique is life, y’all. I mean, imagine a smaller, more inexpensive version of Anthropologie + Magnolia combined into one! I could have spent hours and all of my bank account in this store! In fact, the next time I’m in the market for something fancy shmancy, I’m heading here!

Spoon Market. The small-town market of my dreams… We stopped here real quick for a drink at their bar before dinner. They have a full bar with craft beer on tap, craft beer in bottles, and make cocktails to order. The bar only seats about 10-14 people, but the market itself has tables lined up throughout.

The vibe is chill. Very, very, chill. A few of us decided to play a game of Cards Against Humanity (I mean, how can you not when the cards are just sitting there on the bar!?) and it was a blast.

The next day I came back to shop even more. They offer Jeni’s ice cream, a full deli, and eclectic wine selection. Basically, the perfect place to swing by and pick up a bottle of wine and some cheese before your next dinner party.

Tulipan Hungarian Pastry and Coffee Shop. Think of the most divine little coffee shop and pastry shop. This. This is it. The pastries and intricate, hand-painted cookies were not only beautiful to look at, but were some of the best flaky baked goods I’ve ever eaten.

We were tempted to come back the next morning for their chicken paprikash crepes, but we opted to sleep in instead!

Basil Asian Bistro. I’m a bit tough on Asian restaurants, but this one meets the cut 100%! They offer all kinds of sushi, traditional asian dishes, as well as thai dishes!

We may have tried a little bit of everything and this is what I can tell you:

1  You must try the dry ice martinis.

2  The calamari is the best I’ve ever had. Perfect amount of spices/salt/pepper and crunch!

3  My pad thai was on par with what I hold to very very snobbishly high pad thai standards. I can’t help it. I just really love pad thai! 😛

We were excited to hear that the owner of this restaurant also owns two more closer to us in Akron, so we’ll definitely be back to see him very very soon!

Sure House Coffee. On a whim I swung into this coffee shop near our hotel. I walked in and I totally knew it was my kind of coffee shop. With air plants on the wall and a limited menu (think pour overs, brewed coffee, and simple espresso combinations), I could tell the coffee would be fabulous. So I ordered a coconut milk latté to-go, but I so wish I could have stayed!

And I’m SO excited to hear that they are opening up a second location in the Northside District in Akron! Hooray! My dreams have come true!

Even though our kids were not with us on this trip to Wooster, there was not one single place on this trip that I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing them along. And I just love finding new family-friendly day-trip destinations! I can’t wait to come back and explore more.

And now, a giveaway! That’s right – I’m hosting a giveaway for a $25 gift card to one of my favorite places to shop here in Ohio (and they do have a lot of locations elsewhere, too!) — Giant Eagle! Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

 

Thank you to HER Realtors for sponsoring todays post and giveaway. As always, all opinions herein are my own!

The Perfect Date Night (Cook)Out // PLUS Party-Perfect Potato Salad RECIPE

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GrillNGear #CollectiveBias

Summer has officially arrived in Northeast Ohio, and one thing that my husband and I love to do in the summer, is use our grill and entertain friends. Well, since Remy was born (yes, 16.5 months ago…), we’ve fallen a tad bit short on the date nights and having friends over for barbecues. In fact, most Summer nights we find ourselves eating the kids leftovers and falling asleep before dark. It’s true!

But last week I decided to change that. Sure, our schedules are mostly determined by two small people; but we can still enjoy an impromptu cookout/date night at home, right!?

I was determined — determined, ya’ll! But I still had to remain optimistic. I mean, I was taking two kids with me to shop for this date night, so getting in, finding my items, and getting out were of top priority! So I stopped by Giant Eagle on my way home from work. It’s close, it’s convenient, and they always have exactly what I’m looking for.

And what I was looking for were their amazing Bacon Cheddar Patties. A friend from work turned me onto these bad boys and they do not disappoint!

Found in the butcher section, these patties are ground fresh daily, mixed with thick-cut bacon and chunks of sharp cheddar. Amazing!

I also picked up some Hellmann’s Mayonnaise for my delicious potato salad (keep reading for the recipe!), cookies for dessert, and some fizzy lemonade for a mocktail!

In and out in 15-minutes, flat! That’s what I like to call the perfect one-stop shopping trip! PS. Had I planned my date night cookout sooner, I would have just used the Giant Eagle Curbside Express to order online and pickup from my car! Silly me…

That was the easy part. The difficult part was actually getting our date night dinner together while wrangling two toddlers. Luckily, I kinda know my go-to potato salad recipe like the back of my hand. And I was able to chop and dice all the veggies while Remy was napping (thank goodness she takes long naps!).

Although I am no grill-master, I can actually operate a grill (I know, I know… it’s a surprise, right!?). Well my hidden ‘secret’ of grilling is to actually throw the burger toppings on the grill, too! That’s right — I throw those sliced mushrooms and onions into a foil packet and let them get all grilled before serving them right alongside my burger! No buns even necessary on a burger that’s this good! 🙂

And, since we were squeezing in this date night cookout just after the kids went to sleep, I figured a mocktail was in order. I made a delicious frozen blueberry sparkling lemonade with Nature’s Basket frozen blueberries and Lemon Lemon Sparkling Lemonade! It was perfect! It just so happened to be a 90+ degree night, so the chill from the frozen blueberries was honestly the perfect touch.

We rounded out our date night with a couple of Farmhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies and called it a night. Okay, we called it an 8:30PM 😛 😛 But seriously, it was much-needed, both the company of each other and the delicious meal. In fact, we even reminded ourselves to slow it down and chew our food! You know, because the kids weren’t there to distract us! 🙂

Okay, now for that Party-Perfect Potato Salad recipe!

[gmc_recipe 11447]
All in all, I’m grateful that we did this. I’m grateful that we spent some time together and reconnected — even if this version of a ‘date night’ is a tad bit different than it used to be!

 

So tell me — what’s your favorite grilling tip!?

Life Lately // June 2016

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This post originally started as a “weekend wrap up” … OVER A MONTH AGO! Like, I’m talking APRIL. But life just got extra busy and the sleep started to get even harder to come by. So I was failing at putting words into sentences. Heck, most of the time I’m still struggling to put logical sentences together!

I swear, in between the Remy Bea drama (yes, I’m calling her newborn nonsense “drama”), we have had a bunch of fun(ish) things going on, too!

I have, like, 300 things on my to-do list. At least half of which are action-items for this here blog. But last weekend I ditched my to-do list — and my email, twitter feed, and online presence — and I lived in the moment!

Our First Baby-Free Date //

My mom has been up to visit several times over the last month. And one of the days she was visiting, Chad and I took full advantage of “Mimi!” We went on our first date without the kiddos! Yes, I realize that it should be obvious that a date doesn’t include kids; but that’s rarely the case. Seriously.

On our “Big Date Adventure” we went to Choolaah Indian Barbeque in Beachwood. Choolaah is a Chipotle-ish, fast-casual, Indian restaurant. We’ve been meaning to try it for a while, but kids. Always those darn kiddos! Ha!

 

We swore that since we were childless for a meal we would slow down and actually enjoy our food; but of course we inhaled it, as per usual. But we absolutely freaking LOVED our lunch! We both left satisfied and eager to come back to try it again! Next time we’ll even bring the kiddos!

Post-lunch we headed over to Trader Joe’s for some serious shopping. We had just gotten our chest freezer the previous week and we were aching to fill it up with some frozen goodies! We’ve been avoiding the TJ’s frozen section for a couple of years now since we’ve been without a chest freezer (’cause we will seriously buy all of the things!).

tj

We seriously ended up with a giant cart full of goodies… but somehow we made it out of the store in what seemed like record time. … But that’s what happens when you are shopping with kids! It’s too easy! Ha! When all was said and done, our date ‘day’ ended up being a date ‘three hours.’ And that includes about 60 minutes of drive time. Ha! Pathetic! 🙂

But, ohhh, what a lovely three hours it was! ♥

Playdates in the Park  //

We are so lucky to have a park right behind our house (literally. right behind our house. we frequently find children wandering onto our deck because they want to play with ari’s toys and can see them from the park.). It has a full playground and a wading pool for small kids!

And every single day, Ari asks “Mommy, can we go to the park behind our house?” And it’s hard to say no when he can look out the window and say “I see my friends in the park!”

So we go. Even if it’s just for ten minutes. We go.

Columbus Weekend Trip  //

While I wish my mom and my sister lived closer, it’s nice being able to take a whole weekend away to go to Columbus and visit. My mom will drive up from Kentucky to Columbus (about a 2.5 hour drive), and I’ll drive from Akron to Columbus (about a 2 hour drive), and we’ll all spend the weekend together.

Well recently my brother-in-law had to go out of town for the whole weekend so my mom and I drove to see my sister and have a girls (plus kids) weekend!

 

We enjoyed many a-fun-things while in Columbus! We ate lots of yummy food, went to dinner at the Rusty Bucket, played board games, sipped CBC Bodhi, and helped my sissy register for her must-have baby items!

Also? Donuts from the Lil’ Donut Factory! I saw them years ago on the Food Network and ever since, I make it a point to get a donut on every Columbus trip!

It was a fantastic weekend! It was a fairly ‘normal’ weekend; but it was awesome because I spent it with my family!

LEGO Americana Exhibit  //

The LEGO Americana exhibit toured our area mall recently and I was so eager to take Ari to see it! First of all, historical sites for the win! But also? Legos. All. the LEGOS. Ari freakin’ loves Legos. In a big way.

We walked around Beachwood Place for over TWO HOURS. Ari held his “treasure map” and kept saying “Mommy – let’s go see more legos!”

Be still my Mommy heart! ♥ ♥ But seriously. It was totally, totally, awesome.

Workshops Galore!  //

Home Depot, Art Museum, Legos, and Lowes — OH MY! I absolutely LOVE the kids workshops that are available to us. And I’m surprised how many families don’t even know about them. FRIENDS. If you have kids, register them for as many of these workshops as possible. They are FREE!

Making all the things  //

I’ve been trying my hand at a few recipes. (Related: I hate those “tasty” videos you see on Facebook). They are YUM!

baking
So yeah. We’ve been busy. A good busy!

PS. Other things have suffered. Mostly cleaning, laundry, etc. But these are the moments, people!! These are THE moments!

 

farewell 2015

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Looking back on my photos from 2015 (because, let’s face it — that’s the easiest + quickest way to glance back), it’s clear that my year was comprised of the following:

  • Moosh playing. At parks, at Cafe O’Play, at home, etc. We definitely had no shortage of playing in 2015!
  • Cooking. Me cooking, specifically. Which had previously been unheard of! So no wonder I documented it. Oh, much, much more cooking to come in 2016!
  • Spending time with family. Moosh, Chad, my parents, my sister, Chad’s family, my aunts… It’s been a wild ride, surrounded by those I love! ♥

And so I’ll leave you with this:

[youtube=https://youtu.be/AcjpT80clYc]
Happy New Year, friends. Let’s send 2015 out with a bang — or in our case, bed at 10PM and PJs before 5PM! Ha! xo