Easy Girls' Night Snacks

One of my favorite parts about being homeowner is having the ability to entertain whenever we please, especially outdoors in the summertime. My husband renovated our deck when we moved in so I relish the warm months here and take every opportunity to enjoy meals and coffee wine out there, especially with my girlfriends...

Because let's face it, there's just some things men can't truly appreciate...candles and flowers are theoretically romantic but only your girlfriends will see the real thought put into that. But even more so, us girls have a thing for snacking...chips, queso, humus, salsa, guac, pick your poison...whatever it is, I find that most men would rather skip the small bites and go straight to the meat and potatoes (literally). 

Me? I am all about the dips (bout the dips, no entree), especially when they can be made in under a minute and still make a nice presentation...enter Hormel Snackers.

4 dips to choose from, ready in seconds and perfect to pair with everything from celery sticks to toasted bread or crackers. 

Life is good when something basic becomes fancy with no effort..nobody even has to know the dips came from a container..if you want to play the homemade card, we won't tell if you won't ;)

And things only get more adorable when you choose vino based on the clever name...how can you pass up "once upon a vine?" Can't you just hear your friends now? "I can't even with that wine"...

And if this is a blogger soiree, there will undoubtedly be some Instagram-able moments so your guests will thank you for providing them with the perfect summer setting ;)

What are your favorite girls night snacks?

"I am currently a member of the Hormel Foods Extended Blogger Program and this post is part of my involvement in the Group. While Hormel Foods provides me material and necessary resources to complete various activities, all statements and sentiment in this post are my own."

An Appetizer for Awards!

It's always a little disheartening when the last bit of holiday magic dies out until next year but luckily us #fbloggers have another kind of magic right around the corner: Enter award show season. Once that first red carpet is rolled out for the Golden Globes and Giuliana Rancic reminds us all that she hasn't eaten a cheeseburger in months, we can officially start the countdown til the Superbowl of awards and my Mom's annual Oscar party. 

Like most of our family gatherings, this one revolves heavily around great snacks and adventurous cocktails. In the past, we have dined on mini macaroni bites, gourmet cupcakes, edible arrangements and various "let's try to be healthy" options (which don't get much action). 

My mom makes fantastic bacon-wrapped dates that I always look forward to so this year, I tried my hand at them using Hormel's new brown sugar bacon (omg) and stuffed them with feta cheese for a fun surprise. Using this recipe, here's the simple process in photos:

The delicious smell of "beggin" awoke somebody from his nap...he'd help himself, but he doesn't have thumbs ;)

What treats you indulge in during award shows?

Here is another bacon-themed app that I'm dying to try! 

*I am currently a member of the Hormel Foods Extended Blogger Program and this post is part of my involvement in the Group. While Hormel Foods provides me material and necessary resources to complete various activities, all statements and sentiment in Sisters Marie are my own.

Peaked My Pinterest: Healthy Chicken Salad

I have been on a huge Chicken Salad kick lately - It all started with amazing version I ordered at Jam N Jelly which was made with honey yogurt dressing and I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the best chicken salad I've ever had. 

Really though, the power of words does not do this delicious meal justice -- my cousin and I ordered the same meal that day and talked about it incessantly. I'm pretty sure the rest of our family that we were with was amazed that we were still talking about this meal an hour later...

I loved the idea of substituting mayo for Greek yogurt so I decided to try a similar recipe as an appetizer for our first block party and the recipe was a big hit!

I typically prefer green grapes, but for some reason, red ones always taste so good in chicken salad, right?

This food processor from the Pampered Chef is one of my favorite kitchen tools. It's great for chopping and so easy - you just drop in the ingredients and blades chop, slice and blend ingredients in seconds. The more you pump, the finer it cuts so this was perfect for the almonds and celery.

The dressing is the best part: Greek yogurt, honey & a little dijon mustard

 Thinly sliced apples can serve as the "base" for the salad - a healthy bite size snack

Do you have any great twists on chicken salad recipes? I'd love to try!

Just Because,

Kaitlyn