If you are looking for a quick and easy meal to serve to your family or guests on New Year’s Day or perhaps for Sunday Brunch, then this easy, breezy simple Shrimp Salad should fit the bill.
I purchased a 2 lb package of frozen shrimp which was thawed in the refrigerator overnight. You can either steam the shrimp in a Double Boiler or place them in a pan with 1/4 cup of water to cook until they are pink in color. Allow the shrimp to cool then remove the shells, and veins and cut into thirds.
Place the shrimp into a bowl, add 1/4 cup of mayonnaise or more if you like a creamier salad, the 1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard, 1/4 cup diced Red onion and the juice from the lemon and lime. Lightly stir to mix all the ingredients together then cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour to chill.
To serve you can either scoop some of the Shrimp Salad onto individual lettuce leaves or onto toasted Italian bread slices garnished with Dill.
This simple Shrimp Salad is also perfect for a light lunch or as a quick and easy mid-week meal.
As you ring in the New Year you may also begin to think about making plans for a mid-winter vacation. And if these plans include somewhere warm and sunny, please check out A-Destination Management Company FL (A-DMC FL).
A-DMC FL is a multi-faceted destination management service company based out of Hollywood, Florida.
A-Destination Management Company FL provides area expertise to clients looking for customized services for all your family’s needs and lifestyle. You can rely on them to assist in flawlessly executing your next travel plans!
A-DMC FL offers the following services;
Hotel Accommodations
Restaurants Reservations
Activities for Families
Exciting Excursions
Conference Venues
Themed Events
Gala Dinners
Logistics
Resort World Bimini Superfast
So as you begin to think about your new year vacation, why not start with A-DMC FL for all of your travel needs!
A Destination Management Company FL (ADMC-FL) PO Box 222152, Hollywood, FL 33020 Office: 754-816-2074, Fax: 954-404-6219 Email: info@a-dmcfl.org /
Disclosure: I received these Slimfast products in exchange for an honest review, however, all opinions are 100% my own. #Slimfast #Influenster #igotitfree #ItsYourThing
I know…I know…everyone is talking about eating right and losing weight but as we all know words means nothing – action means everything! So mark my words, I am going to start the new year eating healthier, drinking more water, less wine and incorporating the Slimfast Advanced Nutrition meal bars, shakes, smoothies and 100-calorie snacks into my meal plan.
I will begin my day with a nutritious and delicious Meal Replacement bar while commuting to work and this Dark Chocolate Sea Salt bar not only fills me up while on the road but it also tastes great! This Advanced Nutrition bar contains 10 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, 18 vitamins and minerals and is Gluten Free and when you mix chocolate with sea salt, there’s definitely going to be a party in your mouth!
My second meal will be replaced with a Creamy Chocolate, High Protein Meal Replacement Shake along with a piece of fresh fruit and water. I love my shakes cold so I will either pour it over ice or put the bottle in the freezer about 30 minutes before drinking. This high protein shake contains only 1 gram of sugar, 5 grams of fiber, 24 vitamins and minerals, contains antioxidants, and is both Lactose and Gluten free.
And of course, when the 3:00 o’clock munchies hit, instead of hitting the vending machine for a bag of chips, I will grab a pack of these light and crispy 100 Calorie Snack Baked Crisps. If you like sour cream and onion you will love these, a lite and tasty treat containing 2 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber will satisfy your hunger between meals.
Once home at the end of the day, dinner will be a healthy meal consisting of a little protein, a few carbs and of course fresh veggies, most likely a salad which is my favorite and of course more water.
Other than the convenience of packing Slimfast products for work during the week, having a large assortment of flavors keeps my taste buds from getting bored.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you celebrated Christmas you and yours had a very merry one. Can you believe that in less than a week, we will be entering a New Year – 2016!
I can’t remember the last time that hubby and I went out on New Year’s Eve, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to wear a little bling to ring it in and of course have a glass of bubbly too.
There are, however, a few other New Year’s Eve traditions that I have which include:
making sure all the clothes in the house are clean;
Collard Greens and Black Eye Peas are cooking on the stove;
Fried Chicken Wings are prepared but most importantly;
at midnight we are all on our knees in prayer.
Since I am home and not out partying I’m usually wearing a big comfy sweater with leggings, both of which provide great comfort while eating and drinking and of course watching The Twilight Zone marathon on the Syfy channel.
This year along with these comfy clothes I will also be accessorizing my outfit with a few Pretty Party Pick pieces from Avon.
Cuff Bracelet
item #476-480
Hoop Earrings
item # 476-461
Band Ring (size 8)
item # 477-157
I also bought the Ear Cuff earrings, item #476-476 which I will most likely wear to church on Sunday.
If you click the catalog below you can see the additional Pretty Party Pieces available in this set, including a Collar Necklace and Necklace and Earring Gift Set, all available in Campaign #1.
There are also some comfy clothes, including that grey Serene Lounge Set that I wore last week which will be available in Campaign 2.
What are a few of your New Year’s Eve traditions?☺
Disclosure: I am an Independent Sales Representative for Avon and if you place an order via this link, www.youravon.com/ablake48 I will receive a small commission but it will not increase your cost.
I am sharing a tradition that started before my sons were born….going to Santa Claus Lane in Bear, Delaware to see the holiday lights – enjoy the show!
Believe it or not I finally had an opportunity to do a little holiday shopping last weekend but since both of my sons are older, they don’t need much of anything so basically I just bought groceries.
I did however, pick up a Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker for Malik and along with a white bathrobe that I ordered from Amazon that finished my shopping for him. I didn’t know what to get Tayair and he adamantly told me that not only did he not want anything, he didn’t need anything. I may go against his wishes and stop at Old Navy tomorrow to pick him up a pair of pajama pants and a sweater.
In addition to weekly groceries from Walmart SuperCenter I also picked up the ingredients for a Slow Cooked Chili and thankfully the store wasn’t as crowded as I had anticipated.I don’t wear jeans very often, but when I do, I like wearing ones of color and these red ones were perfect for a weekend shopping trip which by the way were previously purchased from Walmart.The multi-color scarf and over sized top were thrifted from Goodwill and the Blue Suede Booties were purchased many years ago from The Shoe Dept in the Exton Mall. The purse was purchased from the Unique Freak, LLC when I attended the Meet the Greek event last month and it has my sorority letters on the side. #SigmaGammaRho
Sunday, I drove down to Bowie State University in Maryland to pick up Malik and as you can see from his face, he was definitely glad to leave and start his month long winter vacation.
Friday I attended the #FridayFuelUpDE holiday party, check out my YouTube channel to see more pictures and food from this great party.
Speaking of food, I baked Chocolate Chip Cookies on Saturday night while watching the Democratic Debate and then once I got home from Maryland made the Slow Cooked Chili on Sunday – too many calories but both were very tasty!
I do hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and if we don’t get another opportunity to chat before Friday – MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The overall look of your blog has a significant impact on whether visitors read your content, on whether they navigate to other pages, and ultimately on how long they spend on your website. In short, your blog’s design truly can make or break the popularity of your blog. So how do you make sure that your blog’s design is truly enticing? Here are some tips to keep in mind as you create a blog design that is sure to draw visitors into your site.
Use high quality photos.
This can’t be stressed enough. Instead of taking slapdash photos on your phone’s camera and uploading them to your blog without making any adjustments, you’re going to need to pay some attention to detail. This means using well exposed, well balanced photos—and resizing those photos to fit the width of your blog post area exactly. Making it a habit to use correctly sized, high quality photos will give your blog a much more professional feel, which is sure to draw in more visitors.
Feature easy navigation.
As this article details, your site’s navigation should make your site as user friendly as possible. Easy navigation has the power to carry users through your website very quickly, and can can really influence how much time a user spends on your site. Keep your navigation prominent, such as just below the header of your website. More sophisticated websites will even include a feature that adds a horizontal navigation to the top of the window when the user scrolls down below the main navigation at the top of the page.
Navigation should also give visitors an instant, broad overview of what’s on your site. When visitors can get a quick overview of your site, they are less likely to become confused and more likely to stick around on your site. A good way to approach your navigation is to first ask yourself: “which major categories would I use to organize all of my content?”
If you run a lifestyle blog, for example, and you tend to share cake recipes, playlists, and photography, then “recipes,” “music,” and “photography” might become three different options that you’ll be able to select from your navigation menu (along with the usual “about me,” “contact,” and “FAQ” pages). Each navigation option would then lead you to either a static page or to an archive page that organizes older posts.
Make it cohesive.
Instead of filling your site with standard social media buttons, plain links to other pages on your site, etc., customize these elements to suit the overall design of your site. Your design needs to be cohesive. If your site has a primarily geometric design and feel to it, for example, you might use triangle-shaped social media buttons in various colors that match your palette.
If your blog is rich in pastels, then maybe you’ll make the “about me,” “contact,” “sponsor,” and “FAQ” buttons in your sidebar various pastel colors. If you’re going for a clean, minimalist look that favors lots of white, then maybe you’ll make several of the “featured post” images in your sidebar circular in order to incorporate more white. Defining a color palette and list of one or two fonts are great ways to really tie things together in your site’s design.
Make elements continuous throughout your site.
Remember: when looking to improve your blog’s design, you need to take into account the fact that not everyone is going to see your home page first. In fact, if you have blog post links scattered all around the Internet (and chances are you do if you’re a blogger), then visitors to your site likely aren’t going to see your home page first. So it isn’t just about your home page here. Your blog design needs to feature stunning elements that are continuous throughout your entire site. This includes things like a bold header, a footer, navigation elements, social media buttons, and a sidebar if there is one.
Put your all into every post.
With this in mind, you really need to consider the overall look of every blog post that you publish, because every post has the potential to serve as a landing page for visitors to your site. Some elements of an eye-catching blog post: a clear and attention-grabbing headline; an image at the top of every post; a healthy balance between text and images; and text that is organized with line breaks, subheadings, and bullet points as needed (and therefore easy to skim).
If you are anything like me, you will eat any cheese that tastes great and pair it with any wine in the same fashion.
However, if you are preparing for the holidays with big celebrations and want to impress your guests, then the following chart will help guide you in pairing the right wine with your cheese and fruits selections.
Please note that when pairing cheese and wine, it’s a personal decision not a hard and fast rule.
Cheese
Wine
Fruit
Soft, Fresh Cheeses Uncooked, unripened cheeses, mild and creamy with a slight tang; spreadable.
Cream Cheese, Mascarpone, Neufchatel
Champagne
Apples, Grapes, Pears, Mangos, Melons
Soft, Ripened Cheeses Mild with smooth and creamy-to-oozy textures and thin skins.
Hispanic-Style Cheeses (Quesos) Hispanic cheeses run the gamut of flavors and textures, and then some. Below are three popular Mexican cheeses suitable for wine and cheese pairing.
Asadero (semi-soft, a cross between Mozzarella and Monterey Jack)
Champagne, Chardonnay
Apples, Peaches, Pears
Cotija (hard, pungent, similar to Parmesan)
Chardonnay, Riesling
Bananas, Berries, Mangos
Queso Blanco (fresh, crumbly, similar to Monterey Jack)
I am loving this unseasonably warm weather because we all know that it’s just a matter of time, a few weeks from now when the first snow flakes will begin to descend, but until then, I am wearing short sleeves!
This outfit is a recent Avon Insider purchase and it will be available in Campaign 2, next month in 2016. Wow, 2016…where did the year go?The Serene Lounge Set is a relaxed-fit lounge outfit with ribbed collar and kangaroo pocket. The comfy pants have drawstring and an elastic waistband, as well as pockets. Made of Polyester/viscose/and spandex, is machine washable and dry and is $39.99.This 2 piece set is perfect to not only lounge around the house after church as seen here or for a casual weekend run-around-town outfit. It would also be great to wear while you’re traveling whether it’s by train, plane or automobile. It can be dressed it up with a pair of booties and oversized jewelry or just kept comfy with simple jewelry and sneakers.On Sunday, hubby felt well enough to take these pictures so I took full advantage of it and decided to play around with this “in style” with “InStyle” photo shoot. I just love seeing Viola Davis on the cover of the January issue, do you watch her in “How to Get Away with Murder?”
Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? Believe it or not, I haven’t even started, but my sons are older and don’t really need anything so I can hit the stores this weekend to pick up a few “stocking stuffers”.
Although it’s too late to order and have it shipped to arrive by Christmas, take a look at the latest Avon catalog for fresh looks in makeup, jewelry and more for the New Year.
DISCLOSURE: I am an Independent Sales Rep for Avon so if you place an order via this link, I will receive a percentage of the sale but it will not increase your cost.
