Thank you, Pinterest...Salad in a Jar and Cookies!

Pinterest has been a popular Internet site for a while now where people can share ideas and inspiration with others. For those who use it it's like a virtual bulletin board of all the things you like! My boards (where you pin these ideas to) include Travel Thoughts, Taking Care of My Tummy (recipes), Cookie Decorating (for my new hobby), Fun Stuff (DIY random projects), and Makeup & Stuff.

I have found a lot of great ideas that I'd like to try from Pinterest. I'm bummed I didn't know about it when I was planning my wedding. But then again I think I would have gone crazy and overwhelmed with all the amazing ideas and pictures!!!

One of my favorite things to look up on Pinterest is recipes, especially easy and healthy ones! Salad in a jar has been around for a very long time. Google it and everyone has blogged about it. So here's my ode to salad in a jar too! :o)

It takes a lot of prep time but here's what I'm thinking...if I make all my lunches for the week, that means I get like 10 more minutes of sleeping in! Right? Just grab 'n go! I layered my jars with different kinds of dressing (Cesar, blue cheese and olive oil/balsamic vinegar). They say for your next layer to use something that isn't going to be soggy from the dressing. So I put carrots and onions. Then the rest you can do whatever you want! I included mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, parm cheese, hard boiled eggs, hmm what else? I just remembered I forgot the olives. Tim wanted olives in his salads and I'll need to add those to our salads tomorrow morning. Thanks for the reminder! Then on top add the lettuce! I made two jars with romaine lettuce and the other two with spinach (for a spinach, Gorgonzola, cranberry, pecan salad). I'll let you know how it goes this week. I hope I don't get sick of salads though. That often happens but more because I get lazy in the mornings and don't want to go through the hassle of cutting everything up. Well here's the answer to that! I've read on other's blogs that the jars last for up to a week in the fridge so that's another plus!

Another Thank You Pinterest Shoutout goes to my new board I created last week for Cookie Decorating. I recently blogged about cookie favors from my friend's bridal shower and the cookies I have ordered from my former BTSA coach makes. That had inspired me to look up first: how to make cookies and second: how to decorate them!

I went off to my local Michael's store to pick up all the supplies I need for this new challenge. I got decorating bags, a new tip, meringue powder, sugar (lots of it), cookie cutter and food coloring. This hobby is pricey but I figured everyone I know is getting cookies for their birthdays and Christmas presents!!! :o)

My first batch of cookies were delish thanks to a recipe from allrecipes.com (http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/10402/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies). I had a little issue with the royal icing though. There's a bunch of different recipes out there for this and I chose the one on Martha Stewart's website mostly because it was the easiest one with the least amount of ingredients. I often choose many of my recipes this way. Well this icing wasn't becoming the texture I wanted for the outlining of the cookie. I ended up adding some more sugar and mixed it more. It wasn't perfect but I was running out of time (and maybe some patience). I outlined my cookies and then also used it to "flood" or fill in the outline on the cookie. Overall I don't think it was that bad for my first time. I definitely need to work on this royal icing recipe and getting it to the right consistency. And I also need to practice having a steady hand when outline. But at the end of the day, I'm happy with the finished product and can't wait to make some more!! Whose birthday is next??? :o)