Creating Healthy Habits of the Year Ahead

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

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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)

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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

One Room Challenge: Cottage Studio, Week Seven

Hello Friends! Can you believe it’s already Week Seven of One Room Challenge and I’m living for the extra two weeks this round! Quick reminder, One Room Challenge is all about the process of re-imagining a space in 6 weeks (this round has an extra two weeks to transform our spaces due to Covid-19) and sharing the design process from start to finish. This round of One Room Challenge, I’m thrilled to be a Featured Designer, every Wednesday on my blog for 8 consecutive weeks. For my One Room Challenge, I’m giving my backyard cottage a makeover inside and out! I’ve linked my weekly blog posts below and you can also see the progress in real-time as I shared on Instagram & Instagram Stories, follow me here I’m also saving my IG Stories to my ORC 2020 Spring Highlight.

Week Seven of ORC is flying by and I’m keeping this week's blog post short and sweet! This Friday I have my photoshoot shoot, so I’m in go-go mode over here: sewing, planting, touch-up paint. As most of you know in addition to running my blog, I also work full-time and this has been a super busy time juggling all the things…so quick update! Some of my items for ORC havn’’t arrived yet, so it’s going to be a make it work moment :)

Inside the cottage, my DIY Roman Shades are up and OMG, I’m in love! How To Coming soon :)

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This week I’ve been sewing pillows and trying out exposed zippers, and had a few setbacks. But will keep pushing through. More fabric details next week.

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Outside the cottage, the door has been painting, hardware installed and so much more. Oh and look at all the pretty grass! Working on the cottage inspired us to get our backyard in shape! Sod went down over the weekend and its amazing! More to come next week.

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Please follow me on Instagram I will share all the behind the scenes details, the good and the bad! I can’t wait to have a creative office space again, that feels like me and gets me excited to get some work done! Next week, lots of behind the scenes and all the pictures!!

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY FELLOW ONE ROOM CHALLENGE FEATURED DESIGNERS BELOW

A Glass of Bovino | Beginning in the Middle | Beth Diana Smith | Clark + Aldine | Coco & Jack 

Deeply Southern HomeDesign Maze | Dwell by Cheryl | Erika Ward | Home Made by Carmona 

House of Hipsters | Hunted Interior | Kandrac & Kole | Kate Pearce | Katrina Blair | Liz Kamarul 

Veneer DesignsRambling Renovators | Renovation Husbands | Studio Plumb | Media BH&G 

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The real MVP’s of the One Room Challenge are my Design Collaboration partners for believing in me and being so supportive and making everything come together. Huge thank you to my ORC Design Collaboration Partners: APT2B, Calico Corners, Emtek Hardware, Handy Products, Hudson Valley Lighting, Velux, Scandinavian Designs and The Home Depot

Next week is my reveal and I’m so excited, currently putting the finishing touches on everything.