sausage-potato salad

Ok, so you might be thinking that sausage and potatoes should not be in the same sentence as salad.  But, hear me out....this little combo is one of those meals that is comforting and feels a little unhealthy but it is actually a really great healthy option.  I love when a healthy salad tastes like delicious comfort food.

This salad was inspired by an appetizer/snack a friend of mine always makes.  She puts pieces of chicken sausage, potato, and arugula on a skewers and serves with a mustard dipping sauce.  So simple and so good!  I can eat like fifty of them in one sitting.

sausage-potato salad {for one}
-salad greens {any type will do}
-one chicken sausage {my favorite is Trader Joe's sundried tomato}
-one small golden potato {a little smaller than the palm of your hand}
-honey mustard dressing {my favorite is Newman's Own lite honey mustard}

Chop the potato into small pieces and put it in the microwave {or boil until just fork tender} for three minutes.  While the potato is cooking, cut the sausage into small pieces and toss in a non-stick skillet to brown and heat through.

Once the potato is fork tender, throw it in the pan with the sausage for a minute so that it can brown a little.

Fill a plate with salad greens, top with the warm potato and sausage and drizzle with a little dressing.  Perfection.

thai peanut kale salad

My GOD, this salad is amazing.  I made it a week ago and ate it for lunch and dinner until it was gone.    When I find something I love, I pretty much eat it non-stop.  I go through phases with certain foods, eat them for a month straight, get sick of them, and switch to something else.  This salad is on the current favorite food rotation.

I got the idea for this delicious salad from this recipe post and created something similar based on my favorite "thai" ingredients.

I eat kale a lot and am really starting to like it.  At first I just ate it because I was supposed to, but now I love having it as a staple in my diet.  If you are a kale hater, this recipe does a great job of fooling anyone into eating kale.  It's sweet and peanut-ey and perfect. 

thai peanut kale salad {makes about four servings}
-1 large bowl of kale, chopped thin {I used one large bunch, removed the tick stems and thinly chopped}
-1 cup of shredded carrots {I bought pre-shredded}
-1 cup of shelled edamame beans {I bought frozen and steamed them}
-Add any other veggies you love....thinly sliced bell peppers and cucumbers would be amazing.    Maybe even some scallions or thinly sliced red cabbage.   Note, if you up the amount of veggies by a lot, you will want to double the dressing recipe.  The recipe below is really only enough for the kale, carrots, and edamame.

peanut dressing
-2 heaping spoonfuls of creamy all natural peanut butter {about 1/4 cup}
-1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
-the juice from two limes
-2 tablespoons honey
-freshly grated ginger - about a tablespoon
-1 clove of garlic, crushed
-1 1/2 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce

1. Put your veggies in a bowl and set aside.
2. Measure out the peanut butter in a seperate small bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds, just until it's easy to stir.  Whisk in the rest of the dressing ingredients and taste.  If it needs more salt, throw in a dash more of soy sauce.  If it is too bitter, an extra squeeze of honey.
3. Pour the dressing over the veggies and toss to coat.  Eat right away or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

I have been eating this salad with my favorite Trader Joe's potstickers.  It is the perfect, healthy, and quick lunch or dinner.

shelves!

Last week I finally got around to doing two shelving projects I have had in my head for months.  It feels good to get things organized and cross projects off my to-do list!

The first project was a super simple solution for all my makeup, perfumes, etc that are always all over the place.  I bought three small wood crates at Michaels.  These sell for about $6.99  each but I always get them on sale or with a coupon.  

I spray painted two of them white and one of them gold them hung them up with 3M Command Picture Hanging Strips.   

I am obsessed with these things.  I know they are a little pricey but my gawd, they make hanging stuff so easy.   And I can now hang pictures straight, so they are worth every penny.

I filled each shelf with makeup, perfumes, lip glosses, nail polishes, etc.  Everything is so tidy now - I love it!

The second shelf project I tackled was a thrift store re-do and slightly more invoved than my crate shelving.  

About six months ago, I bought this shelf at The Salvation Army for around $7.  I hated the heart and knobby, country style hooks and trim but I loved the potential in all the little nooks and tiny shelves.

This is how I changed it - not anything difficult, just a little time consuming....

Step one - take off the ugly bits.  I used a hand saw {not electric - my husband thinks a power saw would be "dangerous"} and cut off the top and bottom portions so I was left with a square shaped shelf.

Step two - sand.  I used my electric sander to take off the old stain.  Most of the little nooks were too small for the electric sander so I ended up sanding a lot of this piece by hand.  It wasn't fun.  Sanding by hand is time consuming.

Step three - stain.  After the piece was completely sanded, I stained it with rust-oleum stain in sunbleached {the same stain I used on my Ikea hack dining table - love this color!}.

I put on a super light coat of stain, let it dry for several hours, then added a second coat and let it dry overnight.

Step four -  the back.  In order to make a back for the shelf, I bought a square piece of plywood at Lowe's and cut it to the correct dimensions with my small dremel rotary tool {it works well when cutting thin pieces of wood}.  After cutting the plywood, I painted it with teal paint that I had leftover from a previous project.  I let the paint dry for a few hours, then used several small nails to attached the painted plywood to the back of the shelf.

Step five - hang.  I didn't think 3M Command Strips would be strong enough for this heavy shelf, so I attached brackets to the back and hung it with good old fashioned nails.

I ended up hanging it to the left of my desk {above my printer} and it is the perfect piece for all those little things that end up collecting in my desk drawers or crowding my desktop.

Have you completed any thrift store re-do's lately?  Or do you avoid buying thrifted "project" pieces?  I try to avoid the project pieces but my imagination often gets the best of me.....it's a good thing we have a big garage :).

mocha banana shake

I love making coffe milkshakes in the afternoon when I want a little sweet snack/pick me up.  Typically, I blend a cup of cold coffee {leftover} with chocolate soy milk or vanilla almond milk, maybe a scoop of ice cream, and some ice.

I think this is the perfect afternoon treat, so when Silk asked me to try out their new soy milk latte drinks, I was happy to oblige.  I buy Silk products all the time {the chocolate soy and unsweetened vanilla almond milk are my faves} and the new latte drink did not disappoint.  Truthfully, it's a lot better than I expected.  The drink has a nice coffe-chocolate taste ratio and is not super sweet.  I like a little sweetness in coffee drinks, but I hate when they are sting-the-back-of-my-throat-sweet.  

The best part of the new Silk latte drinks is that they have no artificial sweeteners and are just 100 calories per serving.  I cannot stand the taste of artificial sweeteners.  Give me real sugar any day of the week.

My mocha banana shake is just 150 calories but tastes super rich.  Neil actually walked in the kitchen as I was enjoying it, tasted it, and was shocked that it wasn't an actual ice cream shake.

Mocha Banana Shake {makes one}
-1 small banana {or 1/2 a large one}, frozen
-1/2 cup Silk Mocha Latte
-whipped cream {optional}

All you need to do to make this shake is slice a banana, freeze it for a few hours, and blend it for about 3 minutes with the Silk mocha latte.  Pour in a glass and top with a little whipped cream.  Prepare to enjoy it - seriously SO good!

If you have never blended a frozen banana before, you are in for a treat.  Blending a frozen banana for a few minutes creates a soft serve like consistency and it is so amazing.  It's not quite soft serve, but it's a pretty close second and so much healthier :).

Silk is offering all of you a dollar off coupon of their new ice latte drinks - just click the image at the bottom of this post....go get some!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

Continue this conversation on twitter using the hashtag #TasteSilk and tagging @LoveMySilk