Nestlé® Butterfinger® Cookies + Crispy Crunchy Bars for Lunch Boxes #MyGoodLife

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Hi lovelies!  Can you believe summer is just about over?!  I can't - it seems like it just started.  My kiddos head back to school in just a week so it's now that time to start thinking about packing school lunches again.  While this may be a dreaded chore for some, I really have fun getting creative with my kids' lunches and making something that'll put a big smile on their faces.  I always include Juicy Juice® boxes in their lunch, it's my favorite and theirs too!  As much as I try to keep their lunches healthy, I do include a treat or two so I wanted to create something fun with Nestlé® Butterfinger® and Crunch® bars other than just including them, so I came up with a couple of fun and best of all easy and quick recipes!

I like to do any baking/extra-long preparing on Sundays, and the kids love to help cook!  It's a great way for us to spend some quality time together, and preparing things in advance gives us more time throughout the week to really have more time to spend together.

Let's learn how to first make some easy Nestlé® Butterfinger® cookies!  {Click to keep reading!} 

Spiked Cherry Sprite Drink Recipe

Hi lovelies!  As you may or may not know, I'm such a fruity-drink lover.  I'm not a fan of wine/champagne at all, and love beer, but loooove my fruity drinks.  So I decided I'd start sharing some of my favorite recipes with you.  Today I'm sharing my Spiked Cherry Sprite drink.  It's super easy, *almost* like a Dirty Shirley (which may be coming up next week), but not.  Best of all, it is the perfect I-want-to-drink-something-fruity-that-doesn't-taste-like-alcohol drink.  Watch out though, or it will creep up on you!  *SnS advises you to please drink responsibly*   Get out the drink umbrellas, it's totally acceptable here!  {Click to keep reading!}

How To Make Sweet Tea in a Keurig

Hi lovelies!  Today I'm sharing a super easy way to make my favorite summertime drink - sweet tea!  I'd usually make this by the pitcher, but since getting a Keurig I found a much quicker way to do it.  Don't like sweet tea?  That's fine, just omit the sugar.  Iced coffee fan?  The same technique works for it too!  {Keep reading for the how-to!}

DIY ~ Valentine's Treats For Your Sweets

Hi lovelies!  Ahh Valentine's Day is almost here!  And while we'd all love to give and get a bevy of luxury goods, sadly it's not in most of our budgets.  Well have no fear.  For less than $10, you can make your own gifts for EVERYONE!  These are great for your special someone, kids, friends, co-workers, etc.  {How-to after the jump}

Warm Balsamic n Bacon Dressing Salad Wrap ~ A SnS Recipe

Hiya lovelies!  I wanted to post this earlier, but I was a bit preoccupied today ;)

I'm a salad fanatic.  I could eat salads for meals everyday, and not because they are healthy, but because I love them.  This is one of my favorite recipes, I actually had it for dinner the other night.  It's easy, and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand.  Here's what you'll need:

Spinach or spring mix, bacon, onion, brown sugar, feta cheese, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon, flour tortillas (I like the spinach ones!).

Cut up 3 strips of bacon into little pieces and start cooking them.

When they are about halfway done, I add about 1-1/2 slices of onion, cut in half.  Cook until done.

While those are cooking, I take about 2 handfuls of spinach and cut it into smaller pieces.  Put in a large bowl.

Remove the pan (temporarily!) from the burner.  Add about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and about 1-1/2 teaspoons of brown sugar.  The crucial part here is to get the vinegar in without it splattering everywhere.  I pour it directly into the oil, off the burner.  Finally, put about 1/2 teaspoon of each sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Let it boil for about 2 minutes, or until it thickens slightly.

Pour it over your bowl of spinach.  Add however much feta you'd like; I like an insane amount.  Squeeze a lemon wedge over the top.  Mix well.

Rinse out the pan well and put it on a burner, over medium heat.  Add your tortilla, moving it around.  Heat it on each side for about 30 seconds.

Put your salad in the middle of the tortilla, I use a spoon to do this.

Wrap it into a burrito, and enjoy!  This makes a great easy lunch, or dinner if you're like me :)
Will you make this?  Let me know how it comes out!
xx
Lia

Balsamic Marinated Steaks ~ A SnS Recipe

Happy Friday eve!

I'm going to let y'all in on a little secret.... I love to cook.  Now by cook, I don't mean bake.  Although I make a killer apple pie including crust.   I love to cook meals, especially main courses.  Now I am a carnivore.  I love meat.  Especially red meat.  My doctor keeps warning me that I will have cholesterol problems, but I don't yet.  I also love Mediterranean style cooking.  And by Mediterranean I mean Green/Italian.  All my Greek cooking I learned from my Yiayia.  The rest?  I'd watch my stepdad cook while I was growing up, and he would cook the best Italian inspired food.

So there's my background.  As I get older, I play around and fine tune my own recipes.  One thing I've discovered is how much I love balsamic vinegar on everything.  I think I picked that up from my stepdad.  So this is my favorite way to marinate beef.  I pour some in the pan when I make a roast, but my favorite use is to marinate steak in it.  So here's my quick and easy balsamic marinated steak.

I have two boneless NY strips here that I've poked some holes in with a fork so that the marinade will get inside the meat.  I also use EVOO.

Step one: poke holes in the steak with a fork.

In a large ziploc bag, put about 2-3 tablespoons of each olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Then add about a teaspoon each of sea salt, oregano and basil, followed by about half a teaspoon of pepper.

Add your steak(s).

Shake shake shake.  Then put it in the fridge, flipping occasionally.  Marinate it for at least 20 minutes, up to overnight.  Then throw it on the grill for about 20 minutes, cooked to your liking.  I like mine rare / medium rare, so sorry if this pic grosses you out :)

I serve this with baked potatoes and corn or a salad.  My fave meal!

What's your favorite way to cook?

xx

Lia