After taking last week off from “No Fat Talk Tuesday” because of server migration issues, I’m happy to return to the series with an amazing and moving post from Liza. The line that hit me most in Liza’s post was when she said, “I quit fighting so hard to measure up to an external idea of perfection and beauty…and I started fighting a battle against my internal insecurities.” Amen! What a beautiful perspective. Thanks for sharing, Liza! – Madison Hello, friends! My name is … Read More
Clothing Sale for Charity!
Hey, everyone! How was your weekend? Joe and I spent our time up in NW Iowa with our families enjoying the Tulip Festival. But the real reason we made the trip back home was so that I could attend a bridal shower my mom hosted for my friend, Carrie. Carrie and I grew up together and our moms are friends, so being able to celebrate her upcoming wedding was especially meaningful. And being able to spend some time catching up … Read More
Girl Talk: Birth Control
For all my male readers (and male family members), today might be a post you’ll want to skip. I’ll be back to posting about food, recipes and fat talk on Monday! Now, that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s continue. When I girl-talk with my married friends, one of the topics that gets brought up most often is birth control. Talk about a controversial topic! I think it ranks up there with the ‘mommy wars’ and breast feeding … Read More
Ina Garten’s Chicken Salad
Last weekend’s bridal shower was fun and seriously delicious. Between my mom, my cousin, Angela, and myself, we put together a pretty great spread. The shower started at 2 p.m., so we didn’t serve a full meal. Though now that I look back at the photos, we had quite a bit of food. In addition to Ina Garten’s amazing chicken salad, we had a cheese assortment, crackers, fruit, strawberries and whipped cream, and bite-sized desserts, including homemade lemon bars. The … Read More
Pear, Spinach and Blue Cheese Sandwich
I’m back! I’m back! I missed blogging and being able to interact with you amazing people. Please excuse my excitement and my absence over the past four days. It turns out when you have a blog that has thousands of comments and hundreds of posts over a 3 year span, it takes a while to migrate your blog to WordPress/self hosting. Thankfully, after a few glitches and a bit of down time, my blog is up and running on the … Read More
My Summer Beauty Faves
To say my beauty and makeup routine is basic is probably a huge understatement. I only really know how to do my eye makeup one way, and have yet to experiment with bright lip color, although I love the look on others. But I have found a night little mix of reasonably-priced (and sometimes downright cheap) beauty products that make my morning routine complete. What beauty products are you loving lately?
Breakfast Quinoa with Oats
Lately you’ve probably noticed a bit more quinoa popping up on Espresso and Cream, yes? Well, get ready for even more recipes in the months to come! Curtis has kept our house well-stocked with quinoa, and in exchange for the free quinoa, I’ve been creating recipes that go both on this site and on his company’s blog. It’s a win-win if you ask me. My relationship with quinoa took a while to heat up. I first started cooking with this … Read More
30 by 30 Update
Last year, after Joe and I ran our first half marathon, I talked a bit about a crazy idea I had to run 30 races by the time I turned 30. Considering I only started running races last year (at age 23) I’ve got a lot of races to run in order to meet my goal! Even if I don’t end up hitting the 30 by 30 mark, I’m going to have fun trying. I’m hoping to add a couple … Read More
No Fat Talk Tuesday: Cara’s Story
Today’s No Fat Talk Tuesday comes to us from Cara, who blogs over at A (not so) Desperate Hausfrau. Although she was born and raised in the states, Cara is now living in Germany with her husband, Luis, who is a professional athlete. Every time I visit her blog, I’m left with a serious case of wanderlust. When I read Cara’s story, I immediately knew it was one that a lot of women would be able to relate to, and … Read More
Perfect Scrambled Eggs
Some of you may have already dismissed this post because of the title alone, and I can’t say I really blame you. A recipe for scrambled eggs? Really? Yes. Please let me explain. Last Christmas my mom made scrambled eggs for brunch. They took forever to cook and we were starving, but since she was so excited about the method I figured I would see her out. Turns out the eggs lived up to the hype and were well worth … Read More
Make Your Own: Taco Box
Happy Friday, all! And happy (almost) Cinco de Mayo! When it comes to ideas, inspiration and education, The Kitchn is one of my favorite food websites. A while back, I saw this adorable idea for a “New Baby Taco Box“. The idea being that you can bring this all-in-one box to parents of a new baby. It was perfect timing, since friends of ours had just had a new baby. What really drew me in was the fact that the … Read More
Chickpea, Kale and Quinoa Bowl
When it comes to eating out, I’m a sucker for places like the Whole Foods hot bar or the salad bar at Jason’s Deli. It’s a little dose of sensory overload, with all the amazing (and often healthy) foods to choose from. Perhaps as a food editor I shouldn’t admit this, but I would much rather eat a healthy, basic, meal any day of the week rather than to sit down at an upscale restaurant. I don’t exactly have time … Read More