Super easy decor straight from the produce department.  Fill clear jars or bowls, or in this case, a candle holder, and fill them with colorful fruits (as shown, Granny Smith apples and oranges).  Huge wow factor, easy to do, inexpensive, and healthy.

Fun Fact:  The coldest spot in your refrigerator is on the bottom shelf, in the back.  It’s the perfect place to keep your drinks to keep them the coldest (and also to avoid having delicate fruits and veggies from getting icy.)

With ingredients you probably have in your fridge and pantry, you can easily whip up a homemade facial mask for an at-home spa treatment.  Don’t throw overly-ripened bananas away, use them in this facial mask…great for dry skin!

Banana Face Mask for Dry Skin
Mash half cup of natural yogurt, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1/4 ripe banana. Apply this pack on face and neck and leave for 10 minutes and then rinse off.

Once you’ve had homemade salsa, you’ll never go back to vinegar-tinged jarred salsa again.  This salsa recipe mimics that of Mexican restaurants in that it’s made with fresh ingredients and, of course, made without vinegar.  It’s super impressive to whip up some salsa on the fly for when friends or family stops by.  I make mine in a food processor, but you can also use a blender.  Tweak it to your liking, add more peppers.  This recipe makes a medium-hot salsa. 

____________________________________________________________

Ingredients: 

Huge handful of fresh cilantro.

1 clove of garlic.

3 small jalapenos. 

1 small onion. 

____________________________________________________________

Ingredients: 

2 14 oz cans of whole tomatoes.

2 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles.

___________________________________________________________

Dice onion

___________________________________________________________

Slice jalapenos long ways

___________________________________________________________

Then dice jalapenos, seeds and all to give it a nice kick

____________________________________________________________

Dice 1 clove of garlic

____________________________________________________________

Combine canned tomatoes, onion, jalapenos and garlic in the food processor. 

____________________________________________________________

Add a teaspoon (or so) of sugar

____________________________________________________________

Add a teaspoon of ground cumin to give it a good “Mexican” flavor.  Then pulse the food processor about 4-6 times, depending on how chunky you like it.  Keep pulsing if you like your salsa a thinner consistency. 

____________________________________________________________

Here’s where it all comes together.  Cilantro.  Use a lot of it.  It gives it a good garden taste.  I use a huge handful, and then pulse for 4 more pulses. 

____________________________________________________________

And there you have homemade salsa.  I blend mine to a medium consistency.  Serve with chips, with tacos, steaks, etc.  Great to have in the fridge all week long to accompany your dinners, and exceptionally good for a low-calorie snack. 

Most of the best advice I’ve ever received in my life has came from my Mom.  Check out this latest tip she sent me.  I will never peel a potato again.   Genius!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4W0qIPJmoo

   Cuisinart!  It’s my signature brand.  My kitchen is riddled with products made by Cuisinart, from a food processor to pots and pans to a coffee maker to steak knives to an ice cream maker to a fondue pot.  (I’ll admit, my stand mixer is a KitchenAid….but that falls under a girl’s rite of passage.)   I have nothing but love for Cuisinart.  In fact, I have this coffee maker.  It looks fantastic sitting on your counter….it does on mine. 

Enter to win this fab Cuisinart Coffee Maker.