Fish Tacos

So the hubs and I decided to start a weight loss competition this past Monday between us and another married couple that we're friends with. In doing so, we've been trying new recipes to cut down on eating out. Needless to say, we've also been trying to make healthy recipes. Well last night I think we hit the jackpot of all recipes: fish tacos! It was literally one of the most delicious and satisfying healthy meals I have ever had. It's no pizza or macaroni, but I didn't feel like a disgusting cow after I ate it either. So, I decided to share with you. Because I think you'll love it too!

I mean, my mouth is watering just looking at this picture. I really wish we had had leftovers. 

Ingredients:

3/4 c fat-free plain Greek yogurt

1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped

4 Tbsp low sodium taco seasoning

1 lb white fish fillets, cut into 2 inch pieces

2 tsp olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon or 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice

Shredded cabbage

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 avocado, sliced or diced

1/2 red onion, diced

Package of small flour wheat tortillas

How to make:

Combine plain yogurt, cilantro, and 2 Tbsp taco seasoning mix into a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, and the rest of the taco seasoning into a small bowl. 

Cut the fish.

Place the fish on a tinfoil covered baking sheet and brush the olive oil mixture onto the pieces. 

Broil on high for 5-10 minutes or until fish is flaky. While the fish is cooking, chop your veggies. (And if you're new to cooking, make sure you wash your cutting board free of fish juice). We don't need anybody getting sick.

Warm up your tortillas in the microwave. You could also use corn tortillas to make it even healthier, but I absolutely detest the texture of corn tortillas. So we went with wheat flour tortillas. 

Spread some of your Greek yogurt mixture onto your tortillas. 

Add your fish and top with tomatoes, avocado, onion, and shredded cabbage. And if you're a sauce person like me, I added more of the yogurt mixture on top!

And there you have it. Some healthy fish tacos. Bon appétit! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Tutorial Tuesday #9: Bridesmaid Totebags

I am so excited I can finally sit down and blog again. I am also super excited I get to share my first tutorial in forever today! I still have a lot of wedding projects that I never got to share, so don’t be surprised if that’s what most of my tutorials are for a while. Oh, and Christmas crafts. 

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite projects from the wedding. And funny, it wasn’t even a decoration. These were actually my bridesmaids’ gifts.I made a lot of handmade things for my gifts to try to keep it cheap. Because let's be honest, weddings are a rip-off. 

How I did it was really easy but a little time consuming. 

Here's what you need to make your own tote bag

Supplies:

Blank linen tote bag (Hobby Lobby)

Fabric Paints or Acrylic Paints (In whatever colors your heart desires) and Fabric Medium

Masking Tape

Ruler

Freezer Paper

Cricut or X-acto knife and Monogram Template

Foam Brushes

Instructions

1. I taped my bags front and back to make stripes. I used my ruler to help guide where I put the tape and I made my stripes an inch long. You could do any pattern you wanted really, but stripes seemed easiest to me. *Also, make sure you put paper inside of the bag to keep the paint from bleeding through.

2. I mixed 1 part fabric medium and 1 part acrylic paint (brown) and painted my stripes. I ended up doing two to three layers. But be careful, because the tape likes to buckle once you start painting. 

3. After the stripes dried, I took all the tape off. 

4. To make my monogram, I used the same technique as in my Muggle T-shirts and my Keep Calm T-shirts. 

5. I tied a large ribbon around each of them and a stamped "handmade for you" label. 

6. I filled the tote bags with a homemade pumpkin body scrub (recipe found here), a pair of brown flip flops, a hanger I made for each of them, and a makeup bag I had monogrammed with each of their initials. The makeup bag had some of my favorite things in it. Examples - Lipgloss, Essie nail polish, sunglasses (the ones we wore in the pictures), nail polish remover, a small candle, and some other stuff I can't remember. 

And there you have it. My bridesmaid totes. And just for the record, these would be great gifts for any occasion! Not just weddings ;) Hope everyone had a great Tuesday!

Tuesday Tutorial #6: Personalized Acrylic Tumblers

I mentioned in my last post that I would have a tutorial post for you soon. Well "soon" meant not even 24 hours later. That's a surprise, huh? I know I missed last Tuesday's tutorial post but I'm back with a bang. Well, sort of, not really. I want to show you how to make the acrylic tumblers that I personalized for all my girls at my bachelorette party.

These were a perfect way for all of us to know where our cup was at all times. And, since they aren't glass, we were able to use them at the pool and the beach. Even more perfect, they didn't get sand in them. I got the inspiration from some I saw on Etsy and my original plan was to make them as part of my bridemaids' gifts. So, I started searching for cheap, clear acrylic tumblers and found that I could buy 6 somewhere else for the same price as 12 on Amazon. So, since I might as well get my money's worth, I bought the ones off of Amazon and decided to use them for the bachelorette party instead since there were more girls going than are in my actual bridal party.

Here's what else I used:

9 Clear Acrylic Tumblers
Black Vinyl
Teal Vinyl
Silver Vinyl
White Vinyl
1" Circle Hole Punch
A roll of ribbon
Cricut, Font Cartridge, and Sweethearts Cartridge

*All of the vinyl was purchased at a local sign shop. It's so much cheaper than buying Cricut brand vinyl.

First, I washed the cups with soap and water. Then, I cut each of their names on the black vinyl using my Cricut and the font I so desired.  Next, it was a matter of placing the letters of their names in the correct position. I really need to learn how to use transfer paper with the vinyl. I'm sure it would make my life much easier. After I had the letters down, I punched out a bunch of 1" circles using my hole punch. I used all four colors for the dots and filled them in around the rest of the cup. Then, I used my ribbon and tied a bow around each of the straws.

For my cup, I cut a 3" engagement ring using my Sweethearts cartridge and placed it on before putting my name on. (I know, I'm a huge nerd.) Seeeee.

Ta-da! There you have it, the finished product. That's all I have for today dear friends. Have a wonderful week!

Tutorial Tuesday #4: Guest Book Pens

Hi friends. It’s another Tuesday which means I have another tutorial for you! I wasn’t able to post last week’s favorite things, and for that, I am sorry! But, I have a good excuse – I’ve been in Orlando/Disney World since last Wednesday and ended up not having wifi like expected. But, this morning we had to stop by a Starbucks for one of my fellow travelers to do some schoolwork. So, I decided to take advantage of the free wifi (and an iced mocha – mmm!)

This week’s tutorial is wedding related, but it can be used for most anything, really. I’ve started focusing on the details I want and I started with the easiest thing I could think of. Guest book pens. 

 

Kind of lame, but slightly important. I knew I didn’t want the store bought guest book with the fancy pen that sits in the base, but I don’t really know why I decided to make them the way that I did. I just figured it would look pretty. So, this is how you make your own.

Supplies:

Twine

2 Papermate black ballpoint pens

Hot glue gun

Two floral stems

E6000

*Before I began, I ended up spray painting my twine so it would be brown (to match my wedding colors) instead of tan. The tan twine gave them a “rustic” feel, which, at this point, isn’t exactly the look I’m going for. I don’t even know what to call my wedding style, honestly. DIY? Crafty? Make everything wedding related on Pinterest? I don’t know. And I don’t care. As long as looks decent, I’ll be satisfied. 

Anyways, after spray painting my twine and letting it dry, I dabbed a spot of hot glue on the side of the pen at the very top. I stuck an end of my twine in it and began wrapping the twine around the rest of the pen. Easy, right? I dabbed a few more spots of hot glue as I wrapped it around and then finished it off at the bottom of the pen. Then, I cut the entire stem of my flowers off so that I was just left with the bloom. I then used the E6000 to glue the flower to the top of the pen. (E6000 holds better and doesn’t risk pulling off easily like hot glue does). And, there you have it. The easiest wedding project ever made. 

 

Hope everyone has a great week! Happy crafting! 

Fave Things Thursdays: Pillows

It's time again for some weekly Pinspiration. Today's fave thing is something that has been a big project on my to-do list for quite some time. Pillows! There's only one problem. I have not the slightest clue how to use a sewing machine. Teaching myself to sew is also on the to-do list. I am in desperate need for new couch pillows for our future apartment and there's so much great diy inspiration out in craft world that I would feel like I was betraying my love for crafts if I just went and bought some plain, boring, store pillows. Just saying. So, to get on with my post, here are a few a bunch of my favorite diy pillow ideas!

Word pillows

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Stenciled pillows

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Ruffled Flower pillows

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Pleated pillows

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Fringe pillows

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Rosette and Burlap pillows

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Bow pillows

My love for bows would probably be considered a problem to most people

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Fabric flower pillows

Words cannot describe how beautiful I think this is!

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And because nothing is complete without a little chevron print

Chevron pillows

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 Well, that's all I have for today's fave things post! Hope everyone has a great weekend!