Snack Tray / Asian

About once every few months or so I go through a "give me all the asian flavored foods" phase. HARD. Like I lay in bed at night and think about how good General Tso's chicken is. And how much sushi I could eat right now. And spring rolls. And crispy Asian salads and noodles. And sesame dressing. You get the point.

But if I was to actually eat everything I was dreaming about during said phases, I would spend way too much money on take-out. And have terrible heartburn.

Enter: the Asian snack tray.

SNACK TRAY / ASIAN:

• Snap Peas
• Sesame Stix
• Mango Fire Pepper Cheese
• Pretzels
• Mandarin Oranges
• Fried Peas
• Peanuts
• Mustard for dipping

Snacktime / January 29

High Chair: Ikea / Leather Ottoman: Thrifted / Basket: Thrifted / Rug: Ikea / Headband: Love Amalie Maren / Sweater Dress: Old Navy / Jeans: Carters / Pacifier Clip: Ryan & Rose

Thrifted / February 6

Fringe Coral Pillow - $1.00 / Snuggles Bear - 50¢ / Wooden Pull Car - $4.00 / Vintage Swan Toy - $1.00 / Vintage Bath Puzzle - $4.00 / Foam Building Blocks - $1.00 

Snack Tray / Hawaiian

I pretty much love all things "Hawaiian" flavored. Pizzas. Sandwiches. And now, snack trays. Looking at this photo now I wish I had put some macadamia nuts on there. Gah! That would have made the whole thing perfect!

SNACK TRAY / HAWAIIAN:

• Honey Ham
• Swiss Cheese
• BBQ Chips
• Pretzel Sticks
• Pineapple
• Dipping Mustard
• Macadamia Nuts (not pictured above, but would be a delicious addition!!)

Wooden Serving Board: Target / Black + White Dish: Ikea (Old) / Gold Bowl: Target

Snack Tray / The Original

The fact that I am even writing a post about this CRACKS. ME. UP. I have been laughing about it for days. It makes me happy, deep in my heart.

Snack trays were invited by my Mom in the late '90s.  😂 Unlike today's modern snack tray, they were created out of necessity -- out of "we have nothing but random fruits and crackers and ingredients in our pantry" so, let's slap them all on a cutting board and call it dinner. And we LOVED it. Quickly, snack trays became the thing to enjoy while watching the VHS movies we'd rent from Blockbuster. And eventually, without really thinking too much of it, they became a staple in The Courtney Home.

For whatever reason, I kinda forgot about them... until sometime last year when I had no idea what to make T.J. and myself for dinner. ENTER: snack tray. I threw a few pretzels, cheese, apples, almonds and other items on a tray and it was delicious. T.J. immediately said "WHY have you never made this before? WHY don't we eat this all the time?!?!" And since then, we've never looked back.  😂

I'm not joking. We'll go weeks at a time where we'll eat two a day. Not always with the same ingredients each time, but they certainly "hit the spot" every time. My favorite thing about them is that they're fast and pretty. And simple. Because I really love to cook... so, for me, it rarely stems out of "I just can't even make dinner right now." It's more, just, that they're awesome.

SNACK TRAY / ORIGINAL:

• Pretzels
• Cheese (usually sharp cheddar)
• Apple Slices
• Nuts
• Chocolate Chips (frozen!)
• Grapes (or any additional fruit)
• Dipping Mustard (Herlockers / We consume JARS and JARS of this stuff.)

I hope you'll try making one - either for dinner or as a snack! Have fun with it. Make it your own. Use what you have. And if you make one send me a photo! You can snap it to me, or T.J. / brookemousetis or tjmousetis / or tag me on Instagram / @brookecourtney #snacktrayz

T.J. and I have been dying over the photos you guys are sending so far. Yesterday we got one that was made for someone's kids and it had chopped up granola bars on it which was INCREDIBLE. That's the #snacktrayz spirit! 

Enjoy!

Dishtowel: Target / Wooden Serving Board: Target / Gold Bowls: Target / White Bowls: Vintage

10 Beauty Products You Need To Try From Target Right Now!

Honestly, most days I don't even wear make up anymore. Or shower, for that matter. But when I do, I want it to be easy, fast, pretty and comfortable. I also know myself well enough to know that I don't really shop anywhere besides Target. No joke. Even when T.J. and I go "out for Starbucks", we still park and get out of the car and go to the one inside our Target - even though there is a drive thru one in the same parking lot. We just.. really like Target. And how nice the Starbucks people are there. (Hi Garrett! Hi Megan!) 

So, if you're anything like me and want to keep your beauty routine simple, easy and manageable - here are 10 items you should grab the next time you're at Target!

1. Burt's Bees Peach & Willow Bark / Facial Cleansing Towelettes: Hands down, absolutely my least favorite thing about makeup is having to take it off. It's the worst. It's enough to make me not put it on for weeks at a time. But! These face wipes have definitely helped with that. They smell wonderful and because they're "exfoliating" wipes, they can really scrub off my thicker, nicer makeup when I do decide to put it on. If you want to try them out, but don't want to purchase the larger pack right away, I do believe they have smaller packs in the travel sized area of Target's beauty department!

2. Nourishing Coconut Milk Conditioner: Speaking of the travel sized area of Target, that's where I first tried out this fantastic conditioner! I grabbed a small container to take with us on our Hawaii trip and the second I tried it, there was no going back. So we've upgraded to the larger bottles now. I'm not sure if you're familiar with all of the "shampooing your hair everyday isn't good for it" or "you don't really need shampoo" articles out there, but I actually totally agree with them. I've drastically reduced the amount of shampoo I use in the shower and my hair definitely feels better and lasts longer between washes because of it - which is why a nicer conditioner is at the top of my list now. Oh and this one smells like summer and happiness. So, win win.

3. Vaseline / Lip Therapy Cocoa Butter: Last Spring I had to stop using the lip balm I'd been using for awhile. It was making the skin around my lips break out in a super itchy rash, which would then lead to cracked lips and lots of pain! Interesting enough, that lip balm happens to be EOS, which was recently sued for that exact thing - making people's lips worse. I switched to using regular Vaseline for awhile, which I actually love way better, but it didn't have a yummy flavor and having a huge container in my purse wasn't ideal either. ENTER: the itty, bitty cocoa butter lip therapy from Vaseline. I LOVE it. And it's super cute. I actually think I bought it the first time around simply on the grounds that it was "just so cute that I have to have it." I have one in my purse and one on my nightstand!

4. Maybelline / Dream Fresh BB Tinted Moisturizer: Almost every makeup brand out there offers a BB cream (beauty balm). I happen to like Maybelline's the most, but what I really encourage you to find is a tinted moisturizer that you love! They're lightweight, easy to apply and give you just enough coverage to feel like your skin color is evened out and smooth. The one I have suggests that you can apply it several times a day - just like a regular moisturizer. I have one (pictured above) with SPF 30 and another that's more of just a general skin cream. Both are awesome and effortless to use. You can't mess it up!

5. NYX / Pure Mineral Finishing Powder: Don't let the bright white color of this powder scare you! It's totally translucent and leaves your makeup feeling "set and soft." Up until using this powder, I'd always used a colored powder - but I never really liked that. Between the colors of foundation and concealer and bronzer and whatever else, I didn't like topping it all off with another layer of color. But this stuff is perfect! Apply with a large, round face brush and BAM! Ready, set, go!

6. Suave Professionals / Dry Shampoo: This stuff has been saving my life for years. I've always liked the Suave dry shampoo the most out of all the ones I've tried. They recently rebranded all of their bottles and I just about had a heart attack when I went to grab one off the shelf and everything looked different! "I CAN'T SHOWER EVERY DAY!!" were my first thoughts, but then I realized they just changed the color of the can, and all was well again. Make sure you really use your fingertips to rub the dry shampoo into your scalp once you spray it on. (Read the directions!) I've seen one too many girls with creepy white scalps walking around (Target, probably) and it's just so bad looking! You shouldn't be able to see your dry shampoo! 😂

7. Goody / Ouchless Rubberbands: I started using these bad boys way back in high school for cheerleading. Yes, I was a cheerleader, which T.J. thinks is just "so funny" and "so not me". But hey! A girl's gotta keep that ponytail tight when doing backflips!!! And that's exactly what these guys will do. You can purchase them in clear, brown or black. All of which are great and I use at random. Currently I love them for ma' braids. They're small and discreet and really grip onto the messy end of a braid. If you do use them for a ponytail, I usually double up, so that I can really leave the top part of my ponytail messy but still keep the whole thing tightly in place.

8. Maybelline / Instant Cheek Flush: Mmm... this might be my favorite out of all of these things. Because again, it's just so cute, but it's also so fast and pretty. When I showed it to T.J. for the first time I described it as "chapstick for your cheeks", which caused quite a bit of confusion, but once I clarified "FOR MY FACE", we were on the same page again. What I love most about it is that it leaves you with a healthy glow because it's a creamy balm and not a dry powder! You can apply it alone or over makeup. Its fast and mess free and could easily be thrown in your bag (along with your cute Vaseline!) for easy touch ups on the go.

9. NYX / Wonder Stick: Similar to the blush mentioned above, this creamy gel stick is your quick and easy contouring secret weapon. (If you're not familiar with contouring, just do a quick search on Pinterest. It's so easy.) Just swipe the appropriate shade into place and then blend, blend, blend! It leaves you looking healthier, too!

10. Revlon / Colorburst Balm Stain: Yet again, I love these lip balm stains because they're just so easy. "It's like a giant crayon for your lips." Apparently I feel the need to describe makeup items to T.J. by relating them to something else... instead of just saying "its lipstick, but not." These stains come in a wide variety of shades and leave behind the prettiest of colors when you've been wearing them all day.

So there you have it! I hope you'll try them and let me know what you think!

Give Your Houseplants A Shower!

We are on day three of being snowed in. DAY THREE, PEOPLE! T.J. is starting to feel crazy and talking endlessly about how much he loves potato chips, and I've run out of things to bake into cookies or smash into a casserole dish and throw in the oven. So, yeah. That's where we're at.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Having a little extra time on my hands today, I gave my house plants their biannual shower. I find over the fall/winter months, my houseplants get very dusty and a shower is just what they need to be looking happy and healthy again. I tried to get a good photo to show you the dust, but it was hard to capture with my iPhone -

In the summer I try to move most of my plants outdoors! They love the light, heat, my shaded front porch and even more so, the rain!! Which is why the second is starts to thunderstorm in the summer I start running around like crazy shoving all of my plants out onto the front walkway, because FREE WATER. But when thunderstorms aren't an option, a quick rinse the shower will do the trick!

Make sure you really let everything dry out in the tub before you put your plants back, or you'll drip gross plant water all over your Ikea rug and then spend the rest of the day Googling "how to get stains out of wool rugs."

Happy plant showering! Also, Leo says "Hi!"

Sea Salt Brownie Cookies

Brace yourselves. These cookies are about to become a new staple in your life. Like, every-single-day-life. They're called brownie cookies and that's definitely accurate. The dough is very thick and sticky and the first time you make them you'll be thinking to yourself "this can't possibly be right," but I assure you, it is!

I took a batch of these cookies to my nephew's 1st birthday party recently, where one guest pulled me aside and with wide eyes exclaimed "I don't know what heaven taste's like. BUT I'm pretty sure IT'S THIS" as she chomped through her second cookie. 😂

The ingredients are quite simple and I'd bet you have most of them in your pantry already. I personally eat A LOT of olive oil - I use it on and for everything - so the fact that this recipe doesn't have any butter, but has olive oil instead, makes me so happy. Top it all off with sea salt and I'M IN.

SEA SALT BROWNIE COOKIES

• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs (preferably free range!)
• 3/4 c. flour
• 3/4 c. cocoa powder (natural)
• sprinkle of sea salt (+ more for tops of cookies)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. hot water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

DIRECTIONS:

In a large mixing bowl with hand mixer, or your stand mixer, combine olive oil and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add flour, cocoa and salt - combine well. At this point your dough should look like a dark brownie mix, just super thick! In a separate dish, dissolve the teaspoon of baking soda into the tablespoon of hot water. Then add the "baking soda water" and vanilla to the mixing bowl and combine well. Finally, fold in your chocolate chips!

Refrigerate dough for a least 1 hour - or overnight. You need it to really "set up", so you can scoop it onto your cookie sheet with a cookie scoop.

Once dough has chilled an hour or more, preheat your oven to 350. Remove dough from the fridge and scoop onto your cookie sheet with a cookie scoop. My cookie scoop is rather small, (about the size of a golf ball, or a bit smaller) which worked perfectly for these. I also prefer to bake all of  my cookies on parchment paper, but it's not necessary if you don't have any. The dough will be very sticky. I had to run my scoop under hot water a time or two, between baking the batches, to help everything scoop more easily. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt before placing in the oven.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on the cookie sheet. Transfer to a plate, or directly to your mouth, only once cooled! They'll be beautifully gooey inside, like a brownie, but a bit crisp on the outside like a cookie. It's the best of both worlds.

The next time I make these I plan to add walnuts. Or macadamia nuts. Mmm.. let me rephrase that - tomorrow when I make these, I plan to add nuts. Enjoy!

Naptime / January 2nd, 2016