Author Archives: saramackay23

Sep21

Just Wink iPhone App

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I finally joined the cool kids and bought an iPhone last month! Having internet on my phone has seriously been a life changer. I really didn’t know what I was missing out on. My friend Kristen introduced me to one of my favorite apps called Just Wink. You should really Just Download it. Seriously. It’s free. Such a great find! With this app, you can send greeting cards through text message (or email to people without smartphones or pay to send a paper card to people with nophones). When you receive the card on your phone, you can “swipe” it open like you open a real card. Who doesn’t love a surprise card from a friend?? The cards range from birthdays to “miss you” to random funny notes. Click the link to my website so you can see the slideshow of cards and how it works:

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Once you pick your greeting card, (which takes awhile because there are so many fun ones!) you can insert a photo, add a message, and even use your finger to trace your personal signature to sign the bottom! It delivers free, instantly, and no concerns about losing it in the mail. Send one to a friend today! Or to me :)

Sep17

Quinoa Salad with Mango and Chicken

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Are you looking for a healthy meal to recover from a weekend of over-indulgence?? That is exactly what I was looking for and this salad does just the trick. (I will share my weekend indulgence recipe soon, because it was AMAZING.) But first, this salad is perfect for making on a Sunday and having ready for dinner during the week. I had been looking for a recipe to try to learn to like kale, since it seems to be the “super-food” that cures everything these days. This salad is the perfect segway dish, with every bite, I cannot believe how delicious and refreshing it is! I really like buying the kale at Trader Joe’s in a bag that comes with it already chopped up:

Quinoa Salad with Mango and Chicken

My friend Denise taught me a great trick: Massage the kale in your hands, just give it a few squeezes like a stress ball, to reduce the toughness.

Quinoa Salad with Mango and Chicken

The first time I made this salad, I used mango. This time, the mangos weren’t ripe, so I tried it with nectarines, which was equally great. I would definitely use them again.

Quinoa Salad with Mango and Chicken

Adapted from Kate at ThreeApplesADay
Ingredients

¾ cup quinoa

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

½ cup water

4 chicken breasts
(grilled or pre-cooked, sliced or cubed)
1 mango
(or nectarine/another fruit you like)
1 red bell pepper

¼ cup chopped green onion

2-3 handfuls kale leaves, chopped

¼ – ½ cup cilantro, to taste, chopped

¼ – ½ cup mint, to taste, chopped
(I left this out because I don’t like mint)
3 T lemon juice

Lemon zest

3 T olive oil

1 ½ T red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Fill a saucepan with water and chicken or vegetable broth and quinoa. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and cool in refrigerator (best to make ahead of time if possible, so it’s chilled when ready to eat).

2. Dice mango and red bell pepper. Massage and chop kale, and chop scallions, cilantro, and mint.

3. Whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.

4. Toss the quinoa with the dressing, add all of the other diced/chopped ingredients, and  top with chicken.

5. Garnish with cilantro, mint, and lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.

Sep12

Oreo Campaign

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In celebration of Oreo’s 100th birthday, there are all kinds of interesting and delicious marketing strategies for reminding people about the excitement of Oreos. Did any of you try the limited edition Birthday Cake Oreo’s that were in stores at the beginning of summer?? Clearly they were limited – by the time I heard about them they were off the shelves! There is also a Candy Corn Oreo coming out for Halloween – I saw it in Target already last weekend. (Reviews online are mixed – apparently you have to like the candy corn flavor to like these Oreo’s.)

A fun campaign that is going on now is what they are calling the “Daily Twist”. Starting June 25th, every day they post an Oreo cookie that represents current events. The posts are real photo shoots involving real Oreo cookies. Their goal is to drive digital advertisement through websites such as Pinterest and Facebook. Well it’s working on me because here I am blogging to you guys about it!! Here are some of the cookies they’ve done so far:

I seriously want to try the gay pride version – frosting is my favorite part of the cookie. How fun does that look?? Today’s post is an Oreo cut to resemble the iPhone 5…follow along on their website here: Daily Twist Feel free to share your favorite “date” in the comments!

p.s. I am watching the premier of X Factor right now, so I guess I have committed myself to 4 months of wasted time in front of the TV! I can hardly handle the emotion – I had tears when Paige was singing and her daughter ran on stage, my heart was pounding for the 3 boys from Huntington Beach who chose to do an original song, and I could not stop grinning at 13 year old Justin Bieber look-a-like, Reed!! I feel like my friends are back, having LA Reid and Simon back in my living room…I’m doomed…

Sep8

Strawberry Bruschetta

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Before summer’s over and the berries are no longer ripe, you should try out this fun fruity take on bruschetta! Everyone I’ve made it for is always delightfully surprised at the variation from the normal diced tomato topping. It’s a perfect summer appetizer.

Strawberry Bruschetta

Strawberry Bruschetta

1 French or whole wheat baguette, lightly toasted
4oz goat cheese (or another similar spreadable cheese that you like)
1 cup diced strawberries
extra-virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
roughly 1/4 cup sliced basil leaves
freshly ground black pepper
 
While the oven is heating up, dice the strawberries into small pieces and let them sit in a bowl until ready to use so that the juices can macerate. Lightly toast the baguette slices in the oven. Then, spread goat cheese on each slice of bread and top with a spoonful of strawberries. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the top of all of them. Then sprinkle with thinly sliced basil leaves and cracked ground pepper.
 

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats

Sep5

Lipton Cold Brew Iced Tea

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One of my favorite things to drink in the summer is a cold glass of iced tea filled with lemons. I used to rarely ever have it at home though because it seems to take too much effort to either boil water, steep, and then chill completely, or to let a jug of water sit out on the back patio all day to steep. Someone at work introduced me to Lipton Cold Brew Iced Tea and it changed my world of poolside/oceanside drinking! If you are an iced tea drinker, of the unsweetened variety, add this to your grocery list! (You can also order it on amazon.com.)

Lipton Cold Brew Iced Tea

In order to make a full pitcher, I used 2 tea bags. First, unwrap the tea bags and fill the pitcher with water. Let the tea bags steep for 5-10 minutes.

Lipton Cold Brew Iced Tea

While the tea bags are steeping, cut up some lemon slices to add to your glass. Fill your glass with ice and a lemon slice and you are good to go. There is nothing better or more refreshing on a hot summer day!!

Lipton Cold Brew Iced Tea

Sep1

One Week Free Yoga

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Today marks the first day of National Yoga Month!! If you have never tried yoga or are looking to test out a new studio, then September is the perfect time for you to go for it! The Yoga Health Foundation has organized the opportunity for students to try out a new studio for 1 week FREE in the month of September or October at participating studios. This is what you have to do:

  1. Go to this website: One Week Free Yoga
  2. Click “Request One Week Free Yoga” and fill out your information
  3. Type in your zip code to find the list of participating studios near you
  4. Select the studio you want to try and print your Free Yoga card

That’s it! Let me know which studio you try! Namaste :)

Aug30

Creamy Feta Dip

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A few nights ago after work I met some of my girlfriends for a hike and picnic at Griffith Observatory. Griffith Park is a great place to go when you are visiting LA, or even if you already live here! There is a couple mile hike that starts up behind the Observatory and loops around to give you great views of the city and gets you very close to the Hollywood sign. The Observatory itself is cool too – they have two huge telescopes that you can use to view the stars. I even got to see Saturn when I was there last time.

Griffith Observatory Hike

After all that exercise, we dug into this Creamy Feta Dip I made. It was SO GOOD. It was SO creamy and just a perfect bite of feta heaven. Also, very simple to make! First, you have to roast jalapenos and garlic, which made our apartment smell delicious.

Creamy Feta Dip

I made half the recipe for 6 people and it was plenty. If you want leftovers or are bringing this dip to a party, definitely make the full recipe. I didn’t really know how to take a good picture of creamy dip, so you’ll have to trust me on how awesome this is!

Creamy Feta Dip

Recipe from How Sweet It Is

Creamy Feta Dip with Jalapenos 

makes about 2 cups [a little goes a long way!]

2 bricks of feta cheese, 8 ounces each

3 whole jalapeno peppers

1/4 cup olive oil + 1 tablespoon

1 bulb garlic

the juice of half a lemon

the zest of half a lemon

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the top off the garlic bulb and drizzle it with a teaspoon of olive oil. Wrap it in foil and roast for 25-30 minutes, or until garlic is golden in color. At the same time, brush the jalapenos with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Either grill or roast them – I stuck them in the oven with garlic and just watched until they were charred. Remove both from oven and let cool. Once jalapenos are cooled, remove skins, cut in half and discard the seeds. Chop into small pieces. Don’t touch your eyes!

In a large bowl, crumble the feta bricks. [Crumbling the bricks yourself works best, but if you can only find crumbled feta that is fine.] Add chopped jalapenos, the zest of half a lemon, and the juice of half a lemon. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb directly into the feta. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil and mash with a fork. You want the feta to be a bit “wet” – I can best describe it as a cross between a spread and a dip. There is no right or wrong – make it however you’d like. Taste the feta and season with salt and pepper. Serve with pita chips, warm pita or naan, or spread it on sandwiches. Store it in the fridge for up to one week – I find that I like it best at room temperature, so allow it to sit out for about 30 minutes before serving. We also think it would be great with some kalamata olives.

Aug25

Pretzel Necklaces

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Last weekend some friends and I went down to San Diego to Stone Brewing’s annual Beer Fest. Is there any other way to celebrate Andrew Maze’s birthday?? I can’t think of one! With the price of admission, you get an official Beer Fest glass and 10 tickets to sample beers from over 40 different craft breweries of Southern California.

Pretzel Necklaces

Because it was so hot and you are sampling paaa-lenty of beer, a co-worker of mine suggested making pretzel necklaces to snack on while you walk around. You guys, these necklaces were a HUGE hit! You would’ve thought we were celebrities the way everyone was pointing at us! And we’ve never talked to so many strangers! In order to make them extra special, I made them “birthday style”. This is how simple it is: cut some ribbon long enough to slip over your head, string on some pretzel twists, and tie a knot!

Pretzel Necklaces

I made mine a little more special by adding home-made birthday buttons. Andrew had so many people wishing him Happy Birthday because of his button. Lots of people wanted in on the snacks.

www.sarasfavoritethings.wordpress.comAside from a beer or wine tasting, I’ve been trying to think of what other events could be greatly improved by the additional of pretzel necklaces. I keep coming back to college keggers, tailgates, things of that nature….Apparently anytime there is drinking involved, pretzel necklaces should be incorporated!

Aug21

Alex Care “Too Close”

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Were you glued to your TV every night of the Olympics like we were in my apartment?? Were you completely sleep deprived and suddenly feeling like you have your life back now that the closing ceremonies have passed? (Yes, I even stayed up for the Spice Girls – they looked impressively good, didn’t they?! I was shocked!) If so, then you have probably heard this song that played during the commercials. You may have not even realized that the commercial was for Internet Explorer because the song makes it seem so cool! That’s thanks to Alex Care and his song “Too Close”. It was released in the UK last year and became big when Microsoft picked it up. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I find myself running a little faster when it comes on my shuffle…

By the way, I know there are some issues with getting to my blog with the email link. Here is my website if the link above doesn’t work and you will see this post first: https://sarasfavoritethings.wordpress.com/

Aug17

Mediterranean Hummus Dip

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Thanks to all of you for signing up to follow my blog! I’m really excited to get started and thrilled that you were interested in hearing from me :)

If I’m being honest, I was feeling the pressure to make sure this first post is a great one! I knew I needed to pick something delicious. If you like feta, you are going to LOVE this Mediterranean Dip that I found over at Annie’s Eats. I made this for dinner last night and between 4 people, we licked the plate clean.

Mediterranean Hummus Dip

We also ate an entire bag of pita, don’t let the 4 little triangles in the picture fool you. In order to stand up to the weight of all the fresh ingredients in this dip, I recommend making your own pita chips. Take some fresh pita bread, cut each pita into 8 triangles, and toast in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until they start to brown.

Mediterranean Hummus Dip

Keep this dip in mind if you need to bring something to a labor day cookout in a few weeks. Or just make it for dinner tonight! Because really, who needs an excuse to eat feta??

Layered Mediterranean Dip (from Annie’s Eats)

For the cilantro pesto:
1½ cups fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil, divided
2 tbsp. pecans
2 tbsp. pine nuts
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

To assemble the dip:
Hummus
Cilantro pesto (above)
Cucumber, seeded and diced
Red onion, diced
Banana peppers, chopped
Sliced olives (black or Kalamata)
Crumbled feta cheese
Tomatoes (I just diced mine, Annie roasted hers)

To make the cilantro pesto, combine the cilantro, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, pecans, and pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse repeatedly until a coarse paste forms.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the processor running, add the remaining olive oil in a steady stream and process until smooth.  Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan.  (If storing for later use, drizzle with a thin film of olive oil, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pesto, and store in an airtight container.)

To assemble the dip, spread a layer of hummus on a serving platter.  Spread the cilantro pesto over the top of the hummus.  Layer evenly with cucumber, red onion, banana peppers, olives, feta, and oven-dried tomatoes as desired.  Garnish with an additional few tablespoons of minced fresh cilantro.  Serve with pita chips.