Since kicking off the new year a few months ago, I've been adding healthy habits into my daily routine for myself; walking more, drinking more water, and eating healthier. I love that the New Year is always a great time to reflect and make changes as needed and decided what to stick with long-term

Sources // Enameled Dutch Oven, Grey & White Dinnerware Set, Copper Silverware Set, Acacia Cutting Board with Leather Handle

I'm excited to share some of the healthy habits I've recently added to my daily routine with the help of two small appliances in partnership with The Home Depot. In addition to offering a great selection of kitchen appliances, they also have an extensive range of small kitchen appliances including, coffee makers, stand mixers, blenders, and much more from your favorite brands available online at homedepot.com/decor.

I recently added two blenders in my kitchen! A blender for mornings (and beyond) plus immersion blender for evenings, both with the same purpose creating healthy habits. These new small appliances have been a game-changer in my kitchen!

One of the healthy habits I wanted to add to my daily routine is more fruits and veggies. For the past several months, I have been making smoothies during the week and enjoying smoothie bowls on weekends. I've never been big on breakfast, but I love a tasty smoothie and love knowing I'm starting my day off healthy. I've been making smoothies using the Cuisinart Hurricane blender; I love its compact size making it a great addition to my kitchen.

Sources// Cuisinart Hurricane Blender, Copper Silverware Set, Acacia Cutting Board with Leather Handle, Wood Cooking Tools

Selecting the right blender for my kitchen and needs was easy on The Home Depot website. One of the features I appreciate when shopping online on homedepot.com/decor are the product reviews and the comparison tool that shares similar products showcasing all their features. These tools really help make my shopping easier.

The blender comes with everything you need to take your smoothie on the go, including two travel cups and four reusable straws. Both of my sons are also loving this addition to our kitchen; the Cuisinart Blender is super simple to use; you turn the knob to your desired setting and blend. The compact design also makes it super easy to store in my kitchen drawers. The Home Depot offers FREE delivery on over One Million eligible online shipped directly to your home. Or if you prefer you can pick up your online order in the store for FREE IN-Store pickup, there’s over a one million eligible items available for free pick-up. I love having the ability to choose how I want my order to arrive. They're easy no-hassle free return process both in-store and online sets them apart from other retailers. HomeDepot.com/decor offers exclusive private label brand collections with great value. I'm smitten with the Brenner copper flatware; it’s modern and beautiful. I love how it helps elevate my everyday moments and bonus; it's dishwasher safe!

Now that I’ve become a mini-pro making tasty good for you smoothies, here’s my go-to morning Berry Smoothie Bowl recipe.

Berry Smoothie Bowl

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of frozen mixed berries

½ cup plain greek yogurt

One banana

1 cup of almond milk

½ cup of crushed ice

Toppings: Honey (drizzle) mixed fresh berries, sliced bananas, granola, pumpkin seeds (optional)

MAKING THE SMOOTHIE BOWL

Blend until smooth and then pour into a bowl and top with fruit toppings, drizzle honey for added sweetness

My other favorite addition in my kitchen is the Cuisinart Smart Stick Immersion Blender. I love making soup, especially in the colder months. Fan favorites in my house include butternut squash, tomato bisque, and roasted red pepper gouda soup, without an Immersion Blender, I was unable to make creamy, delicious soups at home. Now I can!

Sources // Enameled Dutch Oven,, Acacia Cutting Board with Leather Handle, Stylewell Glass Tumblers, Cuisinart Smart Stick Immersion Blender

I used to buy canned versions of our favorite soups, but they didn't taste fresh, and often they were loaded with sodium. I love the option of being able to make soups at home and know what the ingredients are, along with watching the sodium content. When making soup, I love cooking it in a Dutch Oven. The beautiful blue cast iron Dutch Oven I'm using is also available online at homedepot.com/decor.

Sources // Enameled Dutch Oven,, Acacia Cutting Board with Leather Handle, Stylewell Glass Tumblers

Making creamy soup is super fast, thanks to an Immersion Blender. There's no need to buy canned soup or use your blender to make a creamy soup. Transferring a soup from your dutch oven to a blender is a super messy process and tricky, hello hot soup! Using an Immersion Blender is super easy after your soup is cooked and ready to blend; you remove your pot from the stove. Let the soup cool for a few minutes and then add the immersion blender to the soup and blend until smooth. I even add my cheese directly to my dutch oven and use the immersion blender to mix it. The Cuisinart Smart Stick Immersion blender has five speeds making it easy to blend to the desired thickness. The Smart Stick also comes with a grinder/chopper attachment and whisk attachment. Today I'm sharing one of my favorite Go-To and easy to make soups.

Roasted Red Pepper Gouda Soup

Roasted Red Pepper Gouda Soup //this soup is so good and so to make! *Recipe Adapted from a compilation of sources

INGREDIENTS

6 oz tomato paste

8 oz jar of Spanish Roasted red peppers

2 14 oz jars of fire-roasted tomatoes

3 cups of low sodium chicken stock

8 oz of smoked gouda cut into cubes

1 cup of diced red onions

Two tablespoons of minced garlic

½ up of heavy whipping cream (optional)

Season to taste with: pepper, sea salt, dried Italian spices

MAKING THE SOUP

In a dutch oven, saute the onions in extra virgin olive oil until translucent and then add garlic. Next, add the tomatoes, roasted red peppers, chicken stock, tomato paste, and seasonings. Bring to a boil
Let the soup cool for about 10 mins and then with using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.
Next, add the cubed gouda cheese and blend, then add the heavy whipping cream and mix. Return soup to the stove and bring to a boil, let cool for a few minutes. I love serving this soup with crust bread.

In addition to carrying a large selection of small appliances for the home, you can now find everything for your kitchen on homedepot.com/decor, including a large selection of dinnerware, glassware, cutting boards. I recently added a few new kitchen items from the homedepot.com/decor to my including, new glasses, dinnerware, cutting board, wood cooking toolset, dutch oven, and more (all sources linked below)

Thank you so much, The Home Depot, for partnering with me and helping kick off my New Year with year-long healthy habits! I'm so excited to continue making yummy smoothies for myself and family to enjoy, along with making all the soups! Below are links to all the sources shared in my post for your convenience.

Sources //

Cuisinart Hurricane Compact Blender

Cuisinart Smart Stick Immersion Blender

Acacia Cutting Board with Leather Handle

Stylewell Glasses

Brenner Copper Finish Flatware

Chastain Swirl Grey Dinnerware Set

Wood Cooking Tool Set

Enameled Cast Iron Blue Dutch Oven

I was sitting around my home last week and said out loud, I’m bored. In reality, there’s no reason to be bored. I actually have lots of small and large projects, both inside and out to tackle! There’s no better time to stop, be grateful and love on your home! Plus the weather is slowly warming up across the country and I have a feeling it’s going to be a beautiful Spring and since it looks like we’re spending most of our Spring at home.

Now is the time! Today I’m sharing my budget-friendly ideas to tackle on your exterior during Shelter in Place, these are all projects I’m currently working on around my house.

FIVE BUDGET-FRIENDLY EXTERIOR PROJECTS TO TACKLE DURING SHELTER IN PLACE

ONE // PAINT YOUR FRONT DOOR - Spring cleaning your front door! Spring is the perfect time to clean and repaint your front door. Front doors are often in need of love and repainting. You can easily paint your front door with a quart of paint and opt to buy your paint online and pick up in-store; both The Home Depot and Sherwin Williams now have this option. Our front door takes a beating since it’s our main entry and exit point to our house (fingerprints etc.) plus it receives full sun throughout the day. Over the weekend, I gave our front door a good cleaning using soap and water (I used Dawn soap because it’s gentle and tough)

Sources: Door Color Antiquity by Sherwin Williams, Mailbox, Modern House Numbers, Hanging Planter (similar) Hello Welcome Mat, Chevon Planter, Ceramic Windchime (similar) and Garden Hose Holder

TWO // UPDATE HOUSE NUMBERS & MAILBOX - Over the weekend, I gave our mailbox a quick clean and quick makeover. I love the power of paint. I will love the style of the mailbox but was looking faded and I never loved the oil rubbed bronze finish. I used Krylon black spraypaint and quickly gave my mailbox a makeover. Those little exterior projects we all put off add up and quickly give our home a nice refresh. I’ve rounded up some of my favorite modern mailboxes to give your front entrance a new hello. Also, consider updating your house numbers, I love these house numbers. This is a quick inexpensive update!

SHOP THE LOOK

THREE // ADD HANGING PLANTERS AND GET PLANTING! - Now is the perfect time to plant pretty flowers in your garden. I love hanging planters, outside my front door and back porch I have hanging planters I got from Ikea ages ago. I love to add colorful flowers in them, and if I’m good and water properly they grow like crazy! I love this beautiful terracotta hanging planter, it would look amazing with succulents, flowers or terms!

FOUR // HOME MAINTENANCE - All the little projects you’ve been putting off outside, now is the time! Clean your windows, sweep the front porch, weed & feed your lawn. Trim your bushes, dig up that old bush you hate! Get all your outdoor ‘stuff’ organized. We recently added the KOLNJORN Indoor/Outdoor Cabinet from Ikea to our garage. It’s the perfect compact solution to hold outdoor patio items (outdoor dinnerware, grill stuff, and outdoor cushions) It was a pain to put together! But I’m so glad we got it and I already feel more prepared for this Spring & Summer.

FIVE // NEW DOORMAT = NEW WELCOME - One of the happiest and most affordable updates you can make to your exterior is updating your welcome mat! Over time they shred and fade, Spring is always a great time to add a new greeting! I just added a HELLO doormat to our porch and it makes me smile. Check out this blog post: 10 Quirky Statement Doormats for more ideas on welcoming guests (whelp in the future!)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my list of five budget-friendly outdoor projects you can tackle now! This is my little push to you and myself to not mope and around and declared myself bored, instead go outside and make things pretty to enjoy now!