Tag Archives: food

Not-So-Obvious Items You Need To Buy For Your Kitchen (Make It The Best Room In The House!)

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Not-So-Obvious Items You Need To Buy For Your Kitchen (Make It The Best Room In The House!)

Now a days there are SO many amazing items that you can purchase for your kitchen. From carnival style popcorn and cotton candy makers to ice cream machines and fruit juicers, your kitchen could become the ultimate utopia of the coolest treats and decor. Check it out:

Not-So-Obvious Items You Need To Buy For Your Kitchen (Make It The Best Room In The House!)

When you are designing your kitchen, you will be busy picking out the essential appliances you need for the room. However, as much as it’s important to get items such as a great fridge freezer for your kitchen, there are some other things you do need to make it a fun environment. Here are some not-obvious-items you need to buy for your kitchen to make it the best room in the house:

Crepe Maker: Okay, a crepe maker is not an essential item for your kitchen. But it will definitely make the room a lot more fun! This quirky item is a great thing to add to make breakfasts much easier in the morning. All you need to do is make the mixture and then pour it onto the machine. You can then move the mixture around until you create good sized pancakes which you can enjoy as a breakfast treat. The crepe maker will definitely be a hit if you have young kids in your home! It’s also something that you can get out at parties to make your guests a tasty dessert after the main meal! YUM. ❤

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 I’ll take ten!

Toasted Sandwich Maker: Grilled cheese sandwiches are my ultimate favorite food and nothing answers my desire to be fat and happy like a toasted sandwich maker. It’s such a luxury item because standing at the stove and flipping is a thing, but still, who doesn’t want delicious food quickly at the press of a lid?

All you do is butter two slices of bread and then fill your chosen ingredients inside the bread. Then you put it in the machine and pop the lid down for a few moments. Instantly, you will have a delicious toastie to enjoy for a lunchtime snack. It’s perfect for adults and children alike as it turns a boring sandwich into something fun that they will want to eat! And the best thing about toastie makers is that you can find many darling designed machines which will look fantastic in the kitchen!

Wine Cooler: An obvious MUST for every classy man or lady’s kitchen is a wine cooler. It’s ideal for your growing collection of your favorite “adult beverages”. It will also ensure that they stay at the right temperature so that you can enjoy a glass or two in the evening! A wine cooler is a must-have for when you have dinner parties, too. It can easily fit in your kitchen if you have space on one of your cabinets. You can just try one of these freestanding wine coolers which are perfect for showing off your collection while keeping them cool!

A Unique Set of Knives: It is so important to make your kitchen look unique so it stands out from the crowd and becomes a cool and comfortable environment for cooking and entertaining. One way that you can do this is by getting a staple set of knives for your kitchen. You probably are in need of one anyways, so why not make it fun? You can find some great colorful blocks with all the knives you need for preparing food. And you can even embrace your inner ninja with a Samurai set! You can see other cool knife sets you will love for your kitchen in this article!

A microwave and other large appliances is also a must for your kitchen. But I promise that it doesn’t have to be boring! Check out my previous blog where I talk about the most precious pink lemonade microwave and other vintage kitchen gear. Quirky conversation starters for your kitchen that are also incredibly handy will make your place the talk of the town and the obvious choice for all things entertainment!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

One Year Anniversary

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One Year Anniversary

Hey everyone and happy Thursday! So Monday was a lot of fun because my boyfriend, Kyle, and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Technically, it falls on the twentieth but there’s no harm in breaking out the party pants a few days early! We had a fantastic day of fine dining at Taco Bell, getting drinks, and going to see Suicide Squad in the evening. AND exchanging presents is always a plus! Our big day together was just the best and I wanted to give an extra special I love you shout out to my Kyle! You are amazing and thank you for a fantastic year together! Hurray!

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^^^ #AWE 😉

Wanted: Fall Guest Bloggers

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Wanted: Fall Guest Bloggers

Hi everyone and TGIF! Similarly to my summer time guest bloggers series at the beginning of June, I would love to have a series to kick start the beginning of fall during September. I will be looking for seven to ten guest bloggers to create articles about anything from fall beauty and style to autumn inspired crafts, food, and drinks. If this is something that might be of interest to you, please shoot me an email at sarah.mush6794@gmail.com with your information as well as a topic that you would like to write about. I look forward to hearing from all of you soon! Much love. -Sarah

Monday Update: Vacation Pictures Edition

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Monday Update: Vacation Pictures Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday! I have returned home from my beautiful Asheville, North Carolina family vacation and am ready to bring you the latest and greatest in my world. I have to admit, I’m not thrilled to be home since Asheville was so gorgeous! It was such a nice change to be surrounded by all of the art and nature that NC had to offer as opposed to the flat and boring Ohio. But before we begin this post, a round of applause is in order for all of my fantastic vacation guest bloggers! Thank you so much for all of your help in maintaining lifewithlilred while I was away. Great job! Now, let’s take a look at some vacation pics, shall we?

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^^^ Can I go back now, or?

My family had the best time exploring Asheville and we left with so many great memories. One of my favorites was going horseback riding for the morning through a ranch that provides trail rides on their vast 550 acre property. My horse was named Sassy and we were obviously a perfect match! Despite getting super sun burned thanks to our three hour trek, it was definitely a lot of fun!

You might notice some random pictures in the slide show like the snap of a flashlight in its packaging. That happens to be a birthday gift given to me from the Blue Mountain Pizza Company. Lol, I got a glass of wine and when they asked for my ID my dad mentioned that it was my birthday on that very day. The meal was delicious and at the end, our waiter came back with a super special birthday flashlight for yours truly because the restaurant gives presents to those who are celebrating. I can’t say that I’ll make very good use out of the flashlight so I regifted it to my dad who can at least do something with it!

One of our days was spent exploring all of the downtown shops in Asheville so make sure you check back for a post on my vaca purchases. As you can see, my mom and I proudly posed in front of a sign for Appalachian Naturals – the most amazing little homemade soap store that Asheville has to offer. We must have spent close to an hour browsing the store, selecting soaps, and chatting with the knowledgeable and helpful employees.

We left with an enormous selection of handcrafted soap, chapstick, shampoo, dog soap, bath bombs, and…a meatball? Haha, yes. One of the products that the store had to offer was a one pound ball of soap that was made from the excess shavings from the soap making process. It’s admittedly the most ridiculous thing ever but we couldn’t not get it. One of the employees told us a story about how a husband had startled his wife while she was in the shower and she ended up throwing the soap ball at him which resulted in two black eyes and a broken nose. Yikes!

The final picture of the slideshow is a family photo at El Poncho, a Mexican restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia when we went to visit my brother and his wife to start our vacation. The food was SO good and we had such a great time. I got serenaded by the mariachi band for my birthday and throughout the meal they continued to come back and play for us. At one point my parents got up to practice their Rumba and ChaCha while the band performed. They were a hit!

At the end of the meal we decided to take a family photo and everything looked awesome except for one thing. The man on the farthest right has no relation to our family. Lol, we got photobombed so hard by this guy sitting at the bar and none of us can get over how good of a job he did. He seriously looks like he belongs in the picture. When we caught the culprit after we took a look at the picture we invited him into our family as an adopted son and brother. He has yet to accept or decline this offer.

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update which displays some of the many Vacation Photos that were taken during our week in Asheville! Who is going on vaca soon? Where is your favorite spot to travel to? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Accidental Lip Facelift

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Accidental Lip Facelift

Hi everyone and welcome to a guest post from my friend, Lori, over at The Bluntist! As all of you know, I am on vacation right now and am lucky enough to have such amazing blogging friends to help maintain lifewithlilred while I’m away! So without further ado, enjoy a hilarious post from the beautiful Lori, with a guest appearance by tequila:

Accidental Lip Facelift

On Saturday we invited 30 of our closest friends over to celebrate my husband’s birthday. At a loss for what to drink, I opted to just do tequila shots all night long. I figured it would save me all the calories I would be consuming if I had selected a mixed drink or beer. After shot number 4 or 5 my lips felt crazy chapped. I felt like the 9 year old kid back at summer camp with the super chapped and peeling lips, except mine weren’t visibly chapped, they just felt like they were. I kept looking in the mirror and they looked plump and I didn’t need lip gloss. I kept up with the tequila shots.

The next day, I kept applying coconut and olive oil because Vaseline and Carmex weren’t cutting it. Come Monday, I was irritated and told myself that I would moisturize for one more day before taking to my lips with a toothbrush to exfoliate them. Patience has never been my strong suit so I grabbed a tissue and gave my lower lip a swift wipe right to left and then dragged the tissue left to right over my top lip. Instantly dead skin flaked off my lips and they were left feeling softer than a baby’s behind! What the hell had just happened?

Months ago, I had stumbled upon an easy natural-ish one ingredient cleanse  and it appears that I’ve now discovered another easy natural one ingredient lip facelift! Here are the easy steps on how to rejuvenate your lips.

Directions:

1. Cut up fresh limes into wedges.

2. Fill shot glass with Patron Silver.

3. Take the shot of Patron Silver and follow up by sucking on a lime wedge.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 numerous times.

5. When your lips begin feeling chapped, begin moisturizing with Vaseline, coconut oil, olive oil, or any other lip moisturizer. Do this for 24-36 hours.

6. Swipe a tissue swiftly across your lips. Wipe away the flaky dead layer of lip skin. Is lip skin technically a thing?

7. Enjoy your new soft supple lips….. compliments of my accidental lime lip facelift!

You’re welcome!

^^^ So funny! This is one beauty hack that I definitely don’t mind trying! Thanks again to the always wonderful, Lori! Please make sure to check her page out at The Bluntist and give it some love! Also, remember to tune in tomorrow for another guest post here on lifewithlilred! Much love. -Sarah

Perfect Summer Drinks

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Perfect Summer Drinks

Hello everyone and welcome to part two of this weekend’s guest posts by my darling friend, Zeighn, at oneselementblog! Yesterday featured some of Zeighn’s favorite healthy summer picnic food recipes and today will showcase some sweet drinks to wash it down with. Zeighn linked me to a Cranberry & Ginger Tea Punch that sounds fabulous and will be teaching us how to make a yummy smoothie and mango based beverage below. Cheers!

Peach & Oat Smoothie:

Ingredients:

  • 2 ripe peaches, quartered, pits removed
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 frozen banana (peeled before freezing)
  • 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • Optional: 1 tbsp agave, maple syrup, or Stevia for added sweetness. (Or honey for non-Vegan.)

Instructions:

  1. Add all ingredients to a blender and let set for 5-10 minutes so the oats and chia seeds can soak. Then blend until smooth.
  2. To thicken, add another quarter or half of a frozen banana. To thin, add more almond milk or OJ.
  3. Taste and adjust flavor as needed. I added a touch of agave.
  4. Serve immediately.

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Super-Spiced Mango Ice:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chopped, frozen mangoes (or 1 fresh mango)
  • 1 heaping teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 pinch of chili powder
  • Optional: 1 tbsp honey
  • Ice cube tray (Not that you can eat that!)

Instructions:

  1. Thaw the mango for about 30 seconds in the microwave. It’s easier to chop if it’s still partly frozen. Alternatively, chop up a fresh mango. Chop into small cubes, about 1/4 of an inch, and divide evenly into the ice cube tray.
  2. Zest orange and sprinkle into each cube.
  3. Sprinkle chili powder into each cube.
  4. Optional: Squirt a dollop of honey into each cube.
  5. Fill a small cup with water and pour carefully over the tray to cover the fruit. Place in freezer over night.

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Thank you so much again to Zeighn for sharing her favorite recipes with us for a perfect summer picnic! If you want more from my lovely guest blogger, check out her blog at oneselementblog or follow her on Instagram. Happy summer! Much love. -Sarah

Perfect Picnic Food

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Perfect Picnic Food

Hi everyone and happy weekend! Today and Sunday are going to be kind of special here on lifewithlilred because both days will be featuring a guest post from my sweet friend, Zeighn, over at oneselementblog. When Zeighn first contacted me, she mentioned that she’s a total fashionista and lives a healthy lifestyle through Veganism and daily yoga.

Initially, my first thoughts were “Great, because I love to eat” so I asked Zeighn if she could create a post with some of her favorite recipes for summer time snacks and drinks. Today will feature some food perfect for a picnic while tomorrow will show you some mouthwatering beverages to wash it down with. Take a look at the post that Zeighn created special for my readers and please be sure to give her page some love:

Perfect Picnic Food

Pack up these delicious meals and head outdoors for a refreshing outing. Best part? Everything is healthy and Vegan! All recipes will be linked down below. 🙂

Make sure not to forget your picnic blanket! A picnic is not complete without a blanket, basket, and lots of fun!

^^^ Omg. Can you say YUM?! All of Zeighn’s favorite recipes sound amazing! If you want more from my lovely guest blogger this weekend, check out her blog or follow her on Instagram. Thanks again, beautiful!

My birthday party at the end of the month is going to be of a garden party theme so now I need everyone’s opinions. What recipe listed above should I attempt to make for my guests? What recipes do you plan on trying? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Monday Update: Really Good Scones Edition

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Monday Update: Really Good Scones Edition

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new week here on lifewithlilred! I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend. If there’s one thing that Lil Red loves, its cooking and baking. I could spend all day in the kitchen whipping up new meals and treats and have the time of my life. Recently, my mom acquired a new recipe from Today’s Kitchen in Wooster, Ohio to make Raspberry White Chocolate Scones and they are just as amazing as they sound. These scones are one of my favorite things to make and I just had to share the recipe with all of you since I made a fresh batch this weekend. They were delicious, if I do say so myself, so take a look at my finished product and then stick around for the recipe:

scones

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones:

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream, half and half, or milk
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (I use 1 tsp)
  • 1/4 cup raspberries (I use 22 raspberries on the dot)
  • 1/4 cup white chocolate chips

The Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla powder (I use 1 tsp)
  • 3 tbsp cream or milk

Directions:

  1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2.  Whisk sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in butter until it is in small pieces. With a spatula stir in 3/4 cup cream, extract, berries, and white chocolate chips. Add more flour if dough is too wet. (Dough should form a relatively smooth, firm ball.)
  3.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead gently. (I usually have a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour handy because the dough will still be pretty wet.) Press or roll out into a 6 to 8 inch circle and cut into eight wedges. Place the wedges, not touching, on baking sheet. Bake scones for 20 minutes or until golden and slightly firm when pressed. (I bake mine for 12 minutes because my oven sucks.)
  4.  Cool on a wire rack and then coat with glaze.

These scones are simply to die for and I hope all of you enjoy them as much as my family and I do! Thank you so much again to Today’s Kitchen in Wooster, Ohio for the divine recipe!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Really Good Scones Edition! What is your favorite thing to cook or bake? Has anyone had any kitchen disasters lately? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Akron Zoo Date

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Akron Zoo Date

Hey everyone and happy Tuesday! Last Friday my boyfriend, Kyle, and I had the most fantastic date day. We went out to lunch at my favorite restaurant and then we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Akron Zoo. Kyle wanted this post to be called “No Bears? No Problem. A Day At The Zoo With My Boyfriend” but that title was way too long so we’ll just stick with Akron Zoo Date for now! Read up on our lovely day together and be sure to check out all of our zoo pictures, compliments of my beau:

For lunch, Kyle and I went to my favorite restaurant which just so happens to be right down the street from me. It’s called the Saffron Patch and it’s seriously the best Indian food I’ve ever had. I recently got Kyle hooked on Indian food when we went to an Indian buffet on Valentine’s Day and I’ve also been craving it something fierce. So when I got to pick where we were going for lunch, I knew exactly where I wanted to go!

The Saffron Patch has such a great atmosphere and the inside of the restaurant is so beautiful. We had a gigantic and insanely delicious meal fit for royalty. Malai Kofta for me and Tandoori Chicken for Kyle along with Naan and jasmine rice for us to share. We ate until we were stuffed silly and were fearful that we might be too full to walk around at the zoo! However, we were dedicated to our idea of exploring the nearby zoo in my neck of the woods so despite our full bellies, we ventured to the Akron Zoo after lunch.

Here are some of the many pictures that Kyle snapped during our visit:

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The rest of our afternoon was spent saying hello to all of the beautiful animals at the Akron Zoo… Except for the bears, who were all out of their exhibits. Hence the meaning of Kyle’s wannabe title “No Bears? No Problem.” Although we didn’t get to see the grizzly and sloth bears, we still got to see so many amazing animal friends. Friday was slightly overcast in good ol’ Akron, Ohio which made the day even better because it was like having the whole zoo to ourselves.

Some of our favorite exhibits that we saw were the penguins, otters, and the lemurs! The lemurs were so active when we were there and Kyle and I spent a solid fifteen minutes watching them jump about and interact with each other. We liked watching them so much that we went back to visit them again before we left! As you can see in the picture of the lemurs, one of them made it into his little tree house and was observing all of the action that was going on with his friends. This made us laugh so hard because one of our favorite phrases, compliments of Borat, is “king of the castle” and this little lemur was definitely king of the castle/tree house!

One of our other fan favorites were the red wolves who were insanely active! While one ran about, the other was busy chasing his tail. The wolf went around and around so many times and then he would change the direction that he was running in to try and catch that darn tail! The wolves were also howling away at the coyotes that were housed next door which was cool to hear! When the coyotes weren’t too busy howling at their neighbors, they spent their time having a race around the exhibit. They were neck and neck and seemed to be having so much fun! It was so cute. :*)

Kyle and I spent close to two hours walking around the zoo and giving “window love”, as Kyle calls it, to all of the precious animals. We explored until it was almost closing time and then we headed back to my house for some R&R. Our evening was spent watching Horrible Bosses and a few episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm before Kyle made his way back home for the night. Our entire day was so perfect. We got to go out and do something that we normally wouldn’t do and make lots of fun new memories. Great success!

Our Akron Zoo Date was such a blast and I can’t wait to have another date day with my beau soon! Where is your favorite place to go on a date? What was one of the best dates that you’ve ever been on? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Monday Update: Versatile Blogger Award Edition

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Monday Update: Versatile Blogger Award Edition

Hellooo everyone and welcome to another week here on lifewithlilred. I hope that all of you had a fantastic weekend despite the fact that we lost an hour of sleep! I was a little under the weather over the weekend but I still had lots of fun so expect some posts about all of my adventures soon! I was recently nominated by my pal, Simon, over at sfarnell for the Versatile Blogger Award. I was pretty excited because this is an award that I’ve never been nominated for before. So thank you very much, Simon, and everyone be sure to check out his blog! With all of the fun blogger awards comes a set of rules to follow so check them out and then read up on some fun facts about yours truly:

The Rules:

  • Display award.
  •  Thank the person who nominated you.
  •  Share seven facts about yourself.
  •  Nominate up to 10 other bloggers.

All About Me:

  1.  This week is my spring break at Tri-C and unfortunately a trip to Cancun isn’t in my future. Instead, I’ll be attending an internship fair at school to interview for a summer internship! Fingers crossed.
  2.  My family has two dogs – a Golden Retriever named Gem and our newly adopted Terrier mix named Ollie. Now I have my heart set on getting a black dwarf bunny and naming him Floppy! I’ve been begging my boyfriend to get one for me for my 22nd birthday in June since Christmas! Fingers crossed.
  3.  At this moment in time there is someone knocking at my door but I’m not going to answer it. BYE!
  4.  My boyfriend and I just finished the three seasons of Wentworth that are on Netflix and are now looking for a new show to binge watch so if you have any suggestions, let me know!
  5.  I LOVE the Despicable Me movies so much and the minions and Agnes are my spirit animals.
  6.  I love to read and have recently just finished Room and The Danish Girl. Both were excellent and I’m looking forward to watching the movies soon! Now I am on to a book called Charlotte’s Story which is part of the Bliss House series. It’s very good so far!
  7.  I love all types of food. Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Indian, you name it. There’s an amazing Indian restaurant down the street from my house and I seriously think that I could eat there every day. YUM.

My Nominees (I’m only doing three):

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Versatile Blogger Award Edition! Thank you again to Simon at sfarnell for the nomination! What are some fun facts about yourself? Did you do anything exciting over the weekend? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah