Pink & Green Summer Drinks

What is a better color combination for summer than pink and green? Pink lemonade and limeade are my favorite Lilly-fied beverages to drink to cool down on these hot summer day!

Pink Lemonade

1. Bring 1 cup of water with 1 cup of granulated sugar to a boil in a pan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and refrigerate for an hour.

2. Add 2 1/2 cups lemon juice, 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, cranberry juice, and 1 1/4 quarts of water to your prettiest pitcher. Stir until dissolved and refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. Add ice cubes and garnish with lemon slices.

Limeade

1. Bring the grated zest of 1 lime, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of water to a boil. Remove from heat once sugar is completely dissolved.

2. Strain out the lime zest from the sugar-water mixture. Add 1 cup lime juice and 2 cups of water. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. Serve with ice and garnished with lime slices or fresh mint sprigs.

What do you like better - pink lemonade or limeade?

Click on over to Pink Preppy Lilly Lover for more pink & green fun!

Easter Recap

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! Mine was busy, but fun. I helped my mom cook and clean and she tends to get crazy (and I mean CRAZY) before she has guests over... is anyone else's mother like this??

Some tid bits from the day:

I wore one of my favorite Lilly dresses!

I made two desserts to bring to my parent's house. First was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls. These were a big hit (especially with my fiance!) and I used a recipe I found on Sweets & Treats!

(I borrowed the picture from Sweets & Treats.)

I also made the Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes recipe I found on Gina's Skinny Recipes. These were so so easy to make and so so delicious to eat.
(I borrowed the picture from Gina's site.)

What did you have for dessert this weekend??
Have a great week!

Recipe Friday: Power Foods!

I've been trying to make an effort to eat better lately. Not just to lose weight (hello, 8 months till my wedding!), but to feel better and have more energy. Plus I feel like I just eat so much junk! So I recently bought a new cookbook called Power Foods.

It's by the editors of Whole Living magazine and has an introduction by Martha Stewart. I've tried a bunch of the recipes in it, but so far this one is my favorite.

Soba Noodle Soup with Shiitake and Spinach
(serves 4)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola or safflower oil (I used canola.)
1.2 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps cleaned and thinly sliced (I used slightly less than this and it was plenty.)
4 scallions, trimmed, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
Coarse salt
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
3 cups water
4 ounces soba noodles
1 bunch flat-leaf spinach in bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon low sodium tamari soy sauce (I used about 2 tbsps to add more flavor.)

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium in a large saucepan. Add mushrooms, scallion whites, garlic, ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender (about 6 minutes).

2. Add broth and water; bring to a boil. Add soba noodles; reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add spinach; cook until just wilted (about 1 minute). Add lime juice and soy sauce. Garnish with scallion greens and serve!

{249 calories per serving}

The finished product:

Delicious and light!

A Pink & Green Thirsty Thursday!

Remember my post on the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade episode that featured Lilly Pulitzer? I wanted to share another fabulous recipe from that show - just in time for Pink & Green Thursday! What are Pink & Green Thursdays you ask? Well if you don't know yet (and you totally need to!), please check out Pink Preppy Lilly Lover.

This recipe is extra special today because it celebrates both Pink & Green Thursday AND Thirsty Thursday!

Pretty Pink Lemonade
Ingredients
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 (12 oz) can frozen concentrated lemonade, thawed
1 1/2 cups vanilla vodka
3 cups cold water
2 cups seltzer water, chilled
Mint springs, for garnish
1 lemon, sliced into rounds

Directions
Put the raspberries in a blender or food processor and puree. Using a rubber spatula press the raspberry puree through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. In a large pitcher combine the frozen concentrated lemonade, strained raspberry puree, the vodka, 3 cups of cold water and the seltzer. Stir and pour into glasses filled with ice. Garnish each glass with a sprig of mint and a lemon slice.

How yummy does that sound? Cheers!

{Recipe courtesy of FoodNetwork.com}

Semi Homemade - Lilly Pulitzer!

Last weekend, I happened to catch an episode of Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking on the Food Network that featured a Lilly Pulitzer tablescape!

via

The table was a beautiful array of pink and green and feaured all of our favorite Lifeguard Press items including the party pom poms, pinwheels, cocktail napkins, and melanine plates and bowls.

Sandra Lee even wore a pretty pink Lilly dress! Perfect!

The episode, which was called "Garden Fresh" featured some really wonderful sounding recipes that you can find on the Food Network website. Here were my favorites:

Caprese Mozzarella Salad Bites

Ingredients
2 endives
1 large green zebra or yellow tomato, chopped
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Separate the leaves of the endive and set aside the larger leaves.

In a bowl, gently mix together the tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and dressing, and season salt and pepper, to taste. Fill the leaves with the mixture and sprinkle with a little Parmesan. Arrange the bites on a serving platter and serve.

Blushing Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 pound strawberries, washed and hulled
1/4 cup water
1 box white cake mix
3 egg whites
1/3 cup canola oil
Frosting
2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
Reserved strawberry puree
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Red food coloring

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (24-count) mini muffin tins with paper liners.

In a blender combine the strawberries (reserve about 12 small strawberries for garnish, slicing each into 4) with 1/4 cup water and puree until smooth. Puree should equal about 1 3/4 cups, if not add more water. Set aside 1/4 cup of the puree for frosting.

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, and 1 1/2 cups of pureed strawberries for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of bowl to make sure all the batter is well incorporated. Using a mini ice-cream scoop, fill the muffin tins about 3/4 of the way to the top. Bake until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the tins from the oven cool slightly before removing the muffins. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Frosting
In a mixing bowl that fits over the top of a pot of boiling water, combine all of the ingredients, except the vanilla and food coloring. Beat with hand mixer on medium speed, while mixture cooks, until peaks are formed when the beaters are lifted out of the bowl, about 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and add vanilla and red food coloring to the desired pink shade. Frost the cupcakes with the colored frosting and garnish each with a strawberry slice.


Don't these just sound delicious? I think I may try making the cupcakes next week. I'll let you know how they turn out! Did anyone else catch this episode?

Happy weekend!
xoxo

{All recipes courtesy of FoodNetwork.com)

Cheddar Chicken recipe

Last night I made this Cheddar Chicken recipe for my boyfriend. I found it in the May edition of Real Simple magazine. It was a big hit! I served it with rice pilaf and green beans, which the magazine suggested. It's definitely not super healthy, but it's delicious and simple. I'd imagine it would be good for kids - because my boyfriend is so picky that he practically IS a kid.

Cheddar Chicken

Total Time: 45 min

Serves 4

Ingredients

16 buttery crackers (such as Ritz) crushed (about 3/4 cup)

6 oz sharp cheddar, grated

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Kosher salt & black pepper

4 6-oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 tbsps unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl, combine crackers, cheese, garlic and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper.
2. Dip the chicken in the butter, then in the cracker mixture, pressing gently to help it adhere, and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle any remaining cracker mixture on the chicken and drizzle with any remaining butter. Bake until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, 25-30 minutes.

You can also find the recipe here. Enjoy! Happy Wednesday!

P.S Don't forget about the Lilly Pulitzer sale on Rue La La tomorrow! Click here for an invite!