Easy Skinny Margarita

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Ever since my first trip to a local taco joint (Donkey Taqueria), I've been thinking about getting my marg on. I had a delicious, hot pink "prickly pear" margarita, and it has plagued me ever since.

In a good way.

Recently, when we had an at-home taco night, I decided it was time. Prickly pears were nowhere to be found, but I did manage to throw together something simple, healthy, and perfect for taco night.

In case you needed any more convincing, here's why you should make this margarita instead of buying store-bought mix:

• WAY LESS SUGAR. Store-bought margarita mix has 30-50 grams of sugar per glass. If you are using stevia or a sugar substitute and following this recipe, you will ring in at about 1.1grams. That means a much lower risk of waking up with a headache or getting the munchies after your second glass.
• WAY LESS CALORIES. It's hard to beat a 74 calorie cocktail. In this recipe, the calories come from the tequila itself (64 calories per shot), and the lime (10 calories per half-lime). That's it. (Note: I'm not trying to get you to count calories here, but when you make the comparison, a 300 calorie frozen margarita becomes more difficult to justify - especially if you're drinking more than one!)
• IT IS SO EASY. No blender needed. Nothing fancy required. Once you have everything out, you can throw it together in 60 seconds. Seriously, though. Try it.

Easy Skinny Margarita

Servings: 1 Per Recipe
Calories Per Serving: 74 calories

Ingredients:

• Ice
• 1 shot Tequila (I used the equivalent of 1 shot per drink, because I was prepping these in short rocks glasses - and I consume drinks rather quickly, so I try not to overload each of them with booze. If you like your margs very strong, feel free to bump that up to 1.5. And, if you are making these in a highball glass, go with somewhere in between 1 and 2 shots.)
• Juice from 1/2 Lime + 1 Lime wedge (I used the juice from 1/2 lime, plus an extra wedge to garnish, for each drink. Feel free to adjust as needed for your preferences)
• 1 tsp Stevia Syrup or 1 pack Sugar/Sugar Substitute (You can use any sugar or sugar substitute here. I used liquid stevia drops, which require about 1 tsp. If you use sugar or a granulated stevia/substitute, use one pack)
• Sparkling Water (I have used regular sparkling water, as well as cherry-lime La Croix, so feel free to experiment with anything bubbly and unflavored or mildly flavored here)

Directions:

1. Fill glass with ice. 
2. Pour tequila over the ice
3. Squeeze lime juice into the cup.
4. Add sugar substitute.
5. Top with sparkling water, stir, and serve with garnish.

DIY Vintage Chic "Let It Snow" Christmas Decor

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Christmastime is here, and I'm in good spirits because I love my apartment. I'm a bit biased against the traditional Christmas colors, though. I have a strong preference for cooler tones that mimic the weather outside -- no, not "frightful," but the colors of sky and snow. Blues and silvers, glitter and shine, those are the colors and textures that make Christmastime special for me.

So when it came to decorating my apartment, I was determined to do it in a way that fit for me. Which meant it had to fit my color scheme and, of course, it had to be a DIY project. Here's one of the projects I came up with:

I've got to say, I'm quite happy with it. The bright globe lights feel like shining stars, and the phrase is one of my favorites. I considered something like "The first Noel," and almost chose to go with "Emmanuel" (might make a second one that says that, actually). But, alas, I decided to go with the extremely catchy line, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."



Supplies:

• Brown paper (I used paper cut from brown paper grocery bags)
• Light paper to cut out letters (I used light blue paper that is lined, to add some extra detail. I would also suggest using light colored graph paper)
• Scissors
• Glue Stick
• Twine

Directions:

First, cut out rectangles for each letter, as well as one to place in between each word so that the letters don't run together. "Let It Snow" has 9 letters and 2 spaces, so I cut out 11 pieces. Make sure the pieces are roughly the same size.

Next, trace letters onto your lighter paper. I chose to do all uppercase letters. If you want things to look perfect, you could choose a font on the computer and type the word out (making sure the letters are large enough to fit nicely on your background sheets, of course) to use as stencils. Personally, I enjoy the handmade flair, so I drew my letters freehand. I went with all capitals, and added hand drawn serifs.

Once you've drawn or traced your letters, cut them out and glue them onto the brown background. 

Use scissors or a hole punch to poke two holes on each of the pieces. Keep the holes on the top left and right, but be sure not to get too close to the edges (because the closer you get with the hole, the higher likelihood there is that you'll accidentally rip through to the edge as you assemble the project).

Finally, string the twine or string through your pieces. I came in from the top on one side, threaded it around the back, and popped back out on the other side. If you want more string to show, begin at the back, then thread it through to the front so that the string spans the center top of the paper, then back out to the back. Whichever method you choose, keep it consistent on each piece.

When you're finished, hang your wonderful creation!

4th of July Red White and Blue Jolly Rancher Suckers

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These suckers are Red, White, and Blue... and they taste a heck of a lot like Jolly Ranchers (because they're made of them!).

When I made these, it was sort of an experiment. Obviously, Jolly Ranchers would melt at a certain temperature -- after all, how else would they have molded each candy into that brick-like shape? The question was how high to turn up the heat.

As it turned out, keeping the heat fairly low (250 degrees) works perfectly, and you only need to bake them for about 5-8 minutes! 

Red White and Blue Jolly Rancher Suckers

Ingredients Per Sucker:

• 1 blue Jolly Rancher
• 1 red Jolly Rancher
• 1 sucker stick
• Aluminum Foil 
• Pam/Oil
• Optional: Coconut Flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
2. Line a cooking pan with aluminum foil (parchment paper will also work). Spray the foil with cooking spray or wipe with vegetable oil.
3. Line up one blue jolly rancher and one red jolly rancher next to each other, leaving room for each set to spread out without melting into another set, and also leaving room for adding the sticks without getting the sticks in other suckers. I did 2 rows with about 5 sets per row, and staggered them so that the sticks would not be in the same place once I put them in.
4. Bake for approximately 5-8 minutes, or until the Jolly Ranchers melt and spread out. 
5. Remove from the oven and carefully place each stick into each sucker, twisting the stick in the still melted candy in order to ensure that it is fully inside the sucker once it dries.
6. To add the white coconut flakes, press small handfulls of flakes onto each sucker before the candy hardens. You only have a few minutes to do this, so work fast!
7. Enjoy!

Guinness Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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St. Patty's Day is upon us (well.... almost!). If you've been observing Lent, your time is almost up. Were you giving up sweets? Alcohol? Guinness? Let's just say, hypothetically, that you were giving up all three things. What would you do on the day those treats were suddenly back on menu?

You'd make these cupcakes. Obviously.

I've been making cupcakes with sparkling water or diet soda for a while now... and have dabbled in the liquor infused cupcakes (like Frangelico and Kahlua)... but hadn't yet tried beer.

I have to say, the Guinness is amazing. Seriously. Even though the recipe for the cupcake batter omits eggs, oil, and butter, the cupcakes are still extremely moist. Perhaps we have the heavy, rich consistency of Guinness to thank for that, eh?

My sincere advice: Make these. Then eat them. Eat them with a pint of Guinness in front of you to wash it down. Glorious!

(From CalorieCount)

Alternative Christmas Tree DIY

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This weekend, I helped my manfriend, Justin, give his Wicker Park apartment a makeover (get ready for that post tomorrow; I'm still drooling over it).

In the midst of the apartment makeover, my lovely mother began inquiring about Christmas decor. Were we going to decorate? Did we want a miniature Christmas tree? Did we want a box of Christmas lights?

Fearing that any traditional Christmas decor wouldn't quite jive with the modern feel of the apartment, I began to... you guessed it... brainstorm.

This was initially just an idea for good old Christmas-time, wintery decor... I envisioned a variety of metallic-looking branches coming out of a large hurricane glass vase. After finding a few gorgeous colored glass vases for between $0.49 and $0.99 cents at Goodwill, the project took off in a bit of a different direction. 

As it turns out, the addition of a few red mini-ornaments helps this legitimately pass as an "Alternative Christmas Tree."  That said, post-Christmas, I think it'll pass for legitimate non-Christmas decor (minus the ornaments, of course).

And so, without further ado, here's your fabulously easy tutorial!

You need:

• Sticks (check your back yard, silly)
• Chrome (or metallic) spraypaint
• Vases (I used colored glass bottles from Goodwill, but a hurricane vase would also work, as would a few Perrier or Pellegrino bottles)
• Mini-ornaments
• Optional: White spraypaint, weights (I used glass stones but washers, stones or pebbles, and coins would also work)