Happy Friday, everyone!
How is it that we’ve already arrived at Easter weekend? Per usual it totally snuck up on me. I’m SOOooo very excited to celebrate, (Easter is one of my favorite celebratory holidays – it’s so very joyful) and feast on all my Mom’s classic Easter dishes like Party Potatoes Deluxe, Amana ham, and green beans and bacon for lunch. I’m trying to decide between bringing Beecher’s Kale and Brown Rice Gratin with Smoked Cheese Sauce and Kale and Wild Rice Bowls with Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette as my contribution. Who knows, maybe I’ll go crazy and bring both. Probably not. Aint nobody got time for that!
Especially since it’s going to be a full house this weekend. My little brother’s flying in from Denver for the weekend, Ben’s little brother will be in town AND my Mom’s best friend is also coming in from Ohio to spend a few days with the fam. Should be crazy but fun!
Well wherever you are and whatever you do have a wonderful weekend (and Easter, if you celebrate!) and in the meantime please enjoy my favorite finds from around the web and beyond in this week’s Friday Favorites!
Click the light blue links to be taken to the original source.
Favorite copycat: Copycat Cafe Rio Sweet Pork. I’ve never been to Cafe Rio but I have been to Paseo in Seattle and this recipe looks like it could be similar to the epic pork they’re known for. My mouth is watering!
Favorite find: Bird Chirping Weather Print. I’ve been going around the past week or so proclaiming how happy I am that the birds are back. Their chirping makes me automatically think of spring and warmer weather. That being said I bought this sweet print the second I saw it so I can think of them even when they’re all south for the winter!
Favorite homemade: Homemade Flour Tortillas. The one thing I’ve been really missing since going gluten free is flour tortillas. I never knew how much I relied on them for quick meals and snacks! Definitely going to try making my own using GF flour.
Favorite DIY: Chalkboard Globe. What an adorable project, right? Love the cut outs that let you see the colorful globe underneath. Going to see if I can snag a cheap globe now that garage sale season is upon us.
Favorite bite: Parmesan Potato Stacks. One word: DROOL. Cheese and crispy potatoes? I am not mad at that.
Favorite tutorial: The Easy Way to Make a Luxury Bed. Make your bedroom even more of a retreat with this guide on how to really spruce up your bed. Yes please.
Favorite salad: Ranch BLT Pasta Salad. This is an awesome homemade take on suddenly salad which I used to plow through as a teenager. Like, come home from school, make a box and eat the entire thing. That radiatore pasta shape gets me every time!
Favorite sip: Rhubarb Strawberry Margarita. My Mom has three rhubarb plants that come back year after year which means she ends up with about 10 gallon-sized ziplock backs of frozen chopped rhubarb at the end of each summer because there’s only so many strawberry rhubarb pies a girl can bake! These margaritas look like a tasty and refreshing way to use some of it up.
Favorite bling: Asymmetrical Mini Letter Necklace. Wishing this was about $120 cheaper because it is seriously stylin’!
Favorite dinner: Tex Mex Quinoa Casserole. This meal is right up my ally and COULD NOT be easier. Cannot wait to make it!
Favorite travel: The Catalina Bag. Why this model looks so angry to be carrying such a lovely weekender bag, I’ll never know. I just love it! Perfect size for a quick trip and the separate zipper compartment on the bottom would be great for storing shoes or worn clothes.
Favorite bite: Crispy Black Bean Tacos. Easy. Crispy. Vegetarian. YUMMY! These would be really good to make then freeze, me thinks.
Favorite fitness: 7-Minute HIIT Workout. Looooove HIIT workouts. Get more bang for you buck, y’all!
Favorite sweet: Caramel Macchiato Gooey Cake Bars. Sweet, dense, and decadent. And gooey. Anything with the word “gooey” in it and I’m so in.
Favorite advice: 45 Life Lessons Written by a 90 Year Old Woman. Sometimes these can be kind of cheesy or redundant, but I really liked this list. :)
Favorite lick: Salted Bourbon Caramel Pops. C’moooon, summer!
A lot of fun finds here. Thanks for sharing!!
The pulled pork and those caramel macchiato gooey cake bars…OH MY.
Love the cheesy life lessons – it’s never possible to be tooo cheesy in my book :-)
Okay, those carmel macchiato gooey cake bars….I just died!
Thanks for including my pops here, Kristin! Happy Friday.
That globe is awesome! Going to have to check that out for a summer project :) oh yes, the word ‘gooey’ sells me EVERYtime! Have a lovely weekend
Everything looks awesome! That pork from Cafe Rio looks ridiculous! Have a good weekend!
Thank you for feauturing my tacos! Makes me want to go eat them now :) Freezing them would be a great idea! All these other recipes look delicious too. Like that Ranch BLT pasta salad? Yum!
im glad you are back to doing these again. those tacos look great! have a nice easter
I love these! So many awesome ideas and links. Thanks for sharing and Happy Friday!
Love the life lessons, I find myself repeating many of these frequently, either silently to myself or as encouragement for my family.
Thanks for the inspiration this lovely fri morning.
Oooo I do love that bag! Perhaps they caught her on the way home and that’s why she’s rocking the stink face :P
Those salted bourbon pops!! Amazed!
have a great Easter weekend!
Those crispy black bean tacos look amazing!
I need that rhubarb-strawberry margarita in my life, asap! Have a great Easter weekend.
loving the globe…i’ve been trying to think of a way to incorporate a globe in the baby’s room. this is a good place to start looking for inspiration!
Thanks for featuring our tortillas! Happy Friday! xo
Check out Oh She Glow’s Spelt Flour Tortillas she just posted! I want to try them out. If you can have spelt flour, that is. But you could probably try her recipe with a different flour too.
So many fun finds here today! Thank you so much for including my gooey bars :-) Have a wonderful Easter weekend!!!
Have you discovered Gluten Free on a Shoestring yet? She makes amazing GF recipes on her blog and in her cookbooks. One of my go to places.
here is an acrylic version of the initial necklace – if you get gold with antique gold acrylic it looks pretty great – with a more reasonable price tag – i have an acrylic monogram and its awesome – i get SO many compliments!
Love the Friday Favorites!
If you’re looking for a gluten free flour tortilla, here’s my recipe: http://www.yammiesglutenfreedom.com/2013/04/gluten-free-flour-tortillas.html
:)
I should not have read this before breakfast. I actually drooled at the sight of that margarita (it is too early for drinks, right?) and those parmesan-potato stacks look amazing!
Hi Kristin! Thanks so much for including my Copycat Cafe Rio Sweet Pork in your Friday Favs today! Before I started blogging almost a year ago, your blog was one of the first I started reading :) Thanks for sharing the love and happy Friday!!
I found it interesting that the “90-year-old woman” is actually in her 50s and compiled these in her 40s. It seemed that some of these are pretty modern/common sayings for a 90-year-old.
I know, that was kind of weird but I still liked them anyway. :)
Checking out that taco recipe ASAP! Thanks for sharing :)
Have a great time with your family! That’s great your brother is coming all the way from Denver.
I haven’t celebrated Easter with my family since high school. I went to college in Chicago (where I’m still living) and my family lives in Atlanta. I’ve never been able to justify the short trip.
Cafe Rio is the BEST! Seriously. Find an excuse to come out west and try it. My husband and I eat there at least once a week. If this pork is anything like the real thing, we’ll be making it all the time!
[…] of my favorite Friday lists is here. Also great […]
This all sounds great….and those bourbon pops, oh my. Must try!
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter!
I have actually done the Cafe Rio pork recipe. It was part of a whole set of recipes for the Cafe Rio inspired taco salad. (YUM)
And thank you for the HIIT workout. That may be handy for the days that I am traveling.
Thanks so much for sharing Kristin. I greatly appreciate it :-) Have a great easter with your family!!
Loved the recipes today. Confused about the three cups of dry quinoa.No rinsing? Love casseroles of Tex-Mex ingredients.
Have you tried Trader Joe’s brown rice tortillas? The texture is different but they are delicious and still made a nice quesadilla!
These tacos looks SO good! I may make them tonight….
— Alex at Cashmere Kangaroo
Easter can be such an overlooked holiday but I love it. That strawberry rhubarb margarita looks heavenly.
xx,
Elizabeth http://www.adrianjames.com
I love that monogram necklace too! And not to be annoying but I sell Lia Sophia jewelry and we have one that looks almost identical, it is called the Initialed necklace if you are interested :) Love this Friday Favorites, I need to make those caramel macchiato bars!!
Re: asymmetrical necklaces — they’re all over the internet in silver for under $40. I heart mine and they’re great for layering. Check Etsy too.
I have the “c” necklace from Maya Brenner! I know it’s expensive…..but I have to tell you I wear mine everyday and I get so many compliments! Ask for it as a gift :)
ALLLLL amazing! I love these, thanks for posting!
Those tortillas, tacos and quinoa casserole all look amazing! Thank you for sharing them! Oh, and I wanted to tell you that the new Seasons magazine from Hy-Vee has a whole feature on gluten-free beers that I thought you might be interested in :)
Sweet! Mine’s sitting on the counter but I haven’t had a chance to go through it yet!
I LOVE party potatoes, too! After going gluten-free, I miss them probably more than I should admit. :-/ Do you have a good suggestion for making them gluten-free?
We used homemade cream of chicken soup made with gf flour then nixed the corn flake toppings. I’ll admit that it missed the crunch but the rest of it tasted exactly the same!!
Thanks for the reply & the tip! I added crushed corn chex because I didn’t think I could go without the crunch. Love your blog! ;)
I think I will do the workout and then have a caramel pop. Yum! Happy Easter!!
I love the Bed Making Pin!
I grew up in Utah, where Cafe Rio started and their pork is the BEST. None of the knockoff recipes (and I’ve tried them all) taste quite like the real thing so if you ever have a chance to try it at the restaurant, you have to! There is even an location at the Salt Lake City airport so if you ever have a layover there, check it out!: )
I have a gold asymmetrical letter necklace and it’s beautiful. it really stays where it is supposed to, too. i ordered it here.
SO very kind of you to share my post in your Friday Faves. Thank you. And it is super nice to connect with you as well. I am off to have fun perusing your site and your YUM healthy recipes! Thank you again!