Guest Foodie Friday Post at Arkansas Women Bloggers

Today I have a post over at Arkansas Women Bloggers! I love this group of ladies and getting to write for them. This is my first Foodie Friday post which was super exciting to write and create for!

Today's post is all about how to throw a Tapas Party. You know those little Spanish dishes that come on cute small plates. I have a lot of small plates and bowls and I couldn't wait to use them for my tapas party, it was their first time in years being put to their real use.

Earlier this week I shared my Spanish Bruschetta that I made for the party, you can see the rest of the recipes over at Arkansas Women Bloggers. 

This was my second big photo shoot using my new camera and I had so much fun styling and working on each dish so that it looked great. Thanks to my Craftsy class my pictures are getting better and better but are still a work in progress. You can read all about the class here. 

Have you ever thrown a tapas party or made a delicious tapas? I would love to hear about here or over at the ARWB site. 

Spanish Bruschetta

When I think of bruschetta I think toasted bread, a tomato slice, basil, and mozzarella. The Spanish has another take on it and it's just as delicious. Most versions that I found simply rub toasted bread with the tomato flesh to soften it and serve with other dishes. I did a slightly different version that is also common. A fresh baguette, fresh tomatoes and garlic are all you need for this delicious appetizer.

Spanish Bruschetta

Ingredients:

French Baguette

2 roma tomatoes

2 gloves of garlic

salt to taste

Directions:

Slice baguette into 1-inch pieces. Toast at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes until golden. 

Halve tomatoes and place into food processor or blender. Dice garlic and add into blender.

Add in salt. Pulse until the tomato is in small pieces but not pulverized. 

Scope tomato mixture onto toast and serve. 

If you wanted you could add some manchego cheese or a bit of goat cheese to the bread for added flavor. 

I made these for a tapas party that you can read about Friday over at Arkansas Women Bloggers. 

Have you ever made any Spanish dishes before, or made a delicious tapas plate? 

Trusting God is an Act of Worship A teaser for the Look to Jesus from Dawn Klinge

Look to Jesus by Dawn Klinge is a all about how to trust God and why we should trust him. I have enjoyed reading it and think it is great for all Christans, no matter where you are in your walk with Christ.

Her life stories sprinkled throughout brings the book to life.

My only complaint is that it reads like a long blog post that is hard to follow at times. But the content does make up for this.

The following is a teaser from Dawn Klinge herself, this will give you a little taste of the book.

Trusting God is an Act of Worship


Did you know that when you trust God it ‘s an act of worship? Did you know that he delights in you? He loves you so much that Jesus died for you? There is nothing we can do to earn this amazing love. It’s a gift of grace.


No, there is nothing we can do to earn God’s love. We already have it- not because of anything we’ve done or are deserving of, but because of what Jesus has done for us. When that truth starts to work its way into our hearts we want to give something back to God, in gratitude. We want to worship him.


Trust is our gift back to God, an act of worship. When we trust God, we’re acknowledging that he is sovereign. This means that he is, above all, in control of our lives.


There’s a beautiful song, called Oceans, by Hillsong. It’s all about keeping our eyes on Jesus instead of the circumstances around us. It’s about trusting God. There is one particular line in that song that says, “Your sovereign hand will be my guide”. I wrote a blog post based on this line. You can read it here.

Actually, I wrote many blog posts, all inspired by that song, and all centered on the idea of trusting Jesus. Eventually, those blog posts became the basis of a book. It’s illustrated with stories from my own life- as I’ve been learning what it means to trust Jesus. This book is called Look to Jesus: How to Let Go of Worry and Trust God. It’s available now on Amazon in paperback and digital versions. I pray that it blesses and encourages everyone who reads it. I hope you read it!



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Dawn Klinge is the author of Look To Jesus: How to Let Go of Worry and Trust God (coming January, 2016). She writes about Christian faith regularly at Above the Waves, drawing on her experience as wife and mom to two. She holds a degree in education from University of Idaho. A pastor’s kid and a church girl her entire life, she’s still trying to figure out what it looks like to put her trust in Jesus. Dawn and her husband, Derek, live near Seattle, Washington. You can also find her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

McDonald's New McPick 2

I am a brand ambassador for McDonald’s of Central Arkansas and am being compensated for this post, all thoughts and opinions though are my own.

   Have you heard the commercial for McPick 2, it's been stuck in my head for a couple of days now? It is quite catchy and got me wondering what the McPick 2 options were.

   McDonald's has begone to move away from their iconic Dollar Menu that, in recent years had been changed to the Dollar and More Menu with most items at the $1.19 price range. Now they are giving customers the choice of select menu items to pick two for $2, bringing the price of the items back down to $1 each.

   I love McDonald's for many reasons including their, what I like to call, premium items like their Chef Crafted Sandwiches and Premium Salads that cost a little more than the regular burger. But when I was a broke college kid and hungry, I loved that I could go and get a McDouble and a small fry for under $3 and make it through the rest of the day.

   I think the McPick 2 menu is great and has very popular items that everyone enjoys. The options are a McDouble, McChicken, Small Fry and Mozzarella Sticks. The menu lets you mix and match to make a customized value meal. Want mozzarella sticks and fries, go for it, want a McDouble and fries then that’s great too. You pick two in any combination and it's only $2, I don't know of a better deal around.

   This promotion will run until Feb. 8, but has the potential to be around for a long time. I personally hope it stays.

   What would your McPick 2 be? Mine would be a McDouble and Mozzarella Sticks, when they are fresh the cheese sticks are amazing!

~Lemme get a McPick 2~ 

Fakeroni and Cheese THM S

   I was craving a good macaroni and cheese but had already had Dream Fields pasta that week and wanted to stay on track so I thought I would try something new. Cauliflower + wonderful cheese sauce = fakeroni and cheese.

For full recipe at new site please click here. There you can also find many new THM recipes.

Married Monday: A Praying Wife

    Prayer is so crucial to our relationship with God and for our marriages. It is the way we can speak directly to God, the way we can ask him for help, seek his will, and know that he cares about us and loves us. He wants your marriage to serve him, to be good, and something that shows his love to the world. For your marriage to be its strongest I believe that we should be praying for our husbands and our marriage.

Craftsy Photography Class

Any links in this post may be affiliate links, if you decide to make a purchase through my link I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you.  

   I got my new camera for Christmas and I was so excited and started messing with light settings and got some funky looking pictures. Then I didn't know where to reset them to get back to a normal image. I knew I needed to find someone to teach me what the heck those numbers mean.  

  I knew that Craftsy had online classes that covered a lot of topics, so I searched their photography classes. I found they have quite a few classes on different types of photography. I decided that I needed the basic photography class to get a good foundation. Craftsy was generous and let me try the class out for free in turn for a review.  

Book Review Food A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan

   I received this book from blogging for books in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

   I originally ordered this book as a Christmas gift when I had no idea what to get someone on my list. I figured it would be a fun read. I ended up finding a much better gift and giving them it instead. So here I was with Food-A Love Story by comedian Jim Gaffigan. This is not my typical book to read but I know that Gaffigan is pretty funny and is known for his food humor so I sat down to read.

Dunkable Chocolate Chip Cookies

   So there are so many cookie chip cookie recipes out there that it can be hard to pick. I typically stick with the one on the back of Nestle chocolate chips, but Hubby found this one and wanted me to try it. He likes a cookie that can be dunked in milk, so it needs to have a bit of a crunch but still be chewy. The reviews on Reddit said it was perfect for dunking, so I gave it a try.   

  They turned out pretty well, he loved them. They are best when warm, about twenty seconds in the microwave is perfect. The main difference to Toll House recipe is that there is more sugar, giving them a chewy consistency. 

Married Monday: A Year of Date Ideas and a Challenge

   I want to challenge you this year to be intentional with dating your husband. Yup that’s right I want you to go on dates. We try to go out or take one evening at least every couple weeks to hang out together. These don't have to be elaborate things they can simply be watching a movie and cooking dinner together. Here is a list of 12 dates to do during the year, one for each month.

Setting and Planning Your Goals

   It seems as though each new year people make their resolutions to be better, to lose weight, to achieve this or that during the year. Typically those resolutions are forgotten or pushed to the side within a few weeks. I have decided to not make resolutions anymore but instead make goals for the year to come. Goals can end up the same way resolutions do if you don't make a plan to stick with them.

The Best Chicken and Dumplings

   Chicken and Dumplings is a classic comfort food in my world. I remember a time when I was little that I did not like them at all, I think I had a problem with soups in general, but now I don't want to go without them in winter. My mom still makes the best pot out there but I have finally gotten my process down to where it is almost the same. The first winter we were married I tried to make my first pot all on my own. I followed Mom's directions but they turned out runny and not enough dumplings. Hubby was a trooper though and ate them with a smile, he's so sweet. I have made many batches since and they each got better, the last two though have been my best yet.

Married Monday: Play Games Together

   What do you do after dinner? After cleaning up and you are ready to relax do you hang out with your husband? Or do you go to your different screens and do your own thing? I know many of us go and watch our tv shows, check Facebook, or play games instead of spending some good one on one time. Why wouldn't we though it's easy, it's entertaining, something to do when you want to unwind and relax, instead of the harder task of finding things that you both like to do, something to talk about, something new to do.

Happy New Year: My 2016 Word

   Have you heard of My One Word? Instead of making a long list of resolutions for the new year, you pick one word and focus the changes you want to make around that word. It can be a difficult task to pick one word or to know what kind of word you should pick. I haven't accomplished this before, I could never come up with a good word or I forgot about it about a month into it. This year is different, though.