Holiday Sparkle Shoes- My Latest Steal

      So recently I found sparkly, rose gold, Mary-Jane pumps made by Kate Spade. I really considered buying them but just could not justify it because of their price and my budget. So, I did some research and I found similar ones from amazon. YES... Amazon. I am almost embarrassed to admit how cheap these were but you cannot deny a good deal.
       I received them in the mail today, and I am more than pleased and plan on wearing them friday night for my Friendsgiving party.

Here are the original Kate Spade:

Yes, they are fabulous but at a lofty price of 350$.

And here are my steal pair:

Yes, they are different but they are sparkly and mary-janes, which you can never go wrong with during this festive time of year. Oh, and the best part about these is that they were only 20$. 

 (brand-SODA)

XOXO,

Anna Crew 

Super Easy Vegetarian Chili

I absolutely love vegetarian chili. My mom has a wonderful recipe that I partially claim as my own. It's great to make and freeze some so you don't have to eat it 3 nights in a row. I kind of hate admitting that I used canned beans and tomatoes for the recipe because I try to always used dry beans and fresh tomatoes but it's too good not to share.  Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

1 cup of black bean soup (I use Amy's organic black bean soup- you can find it at publix or whole foods) 

1 can of organic kidney beans 

1 can of organic Cannelilli beans (white beans) 

1 can of organic chickpeas 

1 can of organic diced tomatoes 

1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped 

1 tablespoon of chili powder or 1 package of chili seasoning 

1 1/2 teaspoon of oregano (fresh or dried)

1 1/2 teaspoons of  parsley (fresh or dried) 

1 1/2 teaspoons of basil (fresh or dried) 

Instructions: 

Combine all ingredients in crockpot starting with black bean soup and cook on high for 2 hours. 

Xoxo, 

Anna Crew 

Franny's Peach Crisp

Peach Crisp. 

My sweet friend and fellow blogger shared with me this awesome recipe of hers. She is a super talented baker who makes pretty and tasty cupcakes. Check her blog out by CLICKING HERE. 
(Disclaimer: I would use a regular size casserole dish for the whole recipe, when I made mine I made it into two separate dishes that were smaller but know that the recipe listed below makes more than a pie dish full.)

Below is the recipe and it is so simple and  a perfect use for your South Carolina peaches (Or Georgia or California but SC's are the best). In the winter I may try and make this with pears for a winter dessert. I served it warm with Breyer's vanilla ice cream. 

SC peaches 

Ingredients:

-7-9  ripe fresh peaches 

-1 cup sugar

-1 cup flour

-1/2 cup white sugar 

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 egg

- 1 stick of salted butter 

Directions: 

Sliced peach and sugar filling

 Cut 7-9 peaches and add a cup of sugar and pour them in casserole dish.

Mix in a separate bowl 1 cup flour,

1/2 cup white sugar, 

1/2 cup brown sugar, 

1 tsp cinnamon, and 

1 egg  

Then dice a half a stick of butter and mix it in the flour mixture (to make crumbles) and sprinkle the mixture on top of peaches. 

Then melt the other half stick of butter and pour it over the whole dish.
  

Ready to bake. 

Bake on 350 for 35-40 minutes (until top is crispy)

Thanks for this recipe Mary Francis! 

xoxo, 

Anna Crew 

YUM!

Last minute 4th of July dessert.

Need an easy last minute 4th of July dessert? I had the idea to make meringues because I had some really delicious ones from Trader Joes recently. The recipe I found is actually a  from the McCormick website and they are wonderful! I decided to make them white and blue and pair them with a red plate for this lovely holiday.  Here is the link to the recipe:

www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Dessert/Festive-Meringue-Cookies

The key to making your meringues is following the instructions carefully and use less food coloring than what the recipe calls for- a little goes a long way! Also, once you have mixed all the ingredients you must put the batter in a gallon ziplock with an icing head to squirt out like you are icing a cake. Make neat little stacks of the meringue batter and they will bake perfectly. I LOVE these sweet treats and they are light and airy perfect to go along with all of your outdoor grilling. 

Enjoy! 

xoxo, 

AC 

My Favorite Pie Recipe

I have been into making pies lately. I find it a new challenge especially with how temperamental the crust is. I recently found a strawberry and rhubarb pie recipe from my food network magazine. I am going to share this link because this recipe is fabulous,  and if you do not have rhubarb on hand or easily accessible, I have an alternative recipe with just strawberries listed below.

Here is the link to the strawberry and rhubarb pie (use the crust in this recipe for the pie with or without rhubarb): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nancy-fuller/strawberry-rhubarb-pie.html

Here is my strawberry rhubarb pie: 

Note: If you have never baked or cooked with rhubarb, it is a super cool ingredient. It taste bitter before you bake it but once you bake it you barely even notice it because it becomes sweet with a small tart taste. Delish! 

Here is my pie without the rhubarb where I used the same crust from the link listed above but for the filling I used the recipe listed below the picture:

-5 1/2 cups of strawberries (sliced) 

-1 1/4 cups of sugar 

-1/3 cup of all purpose flour 

-1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon 

Simply mix these ingredients together for the filling and once the crust is made and set in the dish pour in this mixture. 

My loved and cherished Granny.

As this summer truly begins with the passing of memorial day, my blogging for the summer will soon take off. This summer began differently than expected as my sweet Granny passed away just two weeks ago. My heart aches and my eyes fill with tears as I write this post. Granny did not lose her battle to cancer but fought until the end and WON because she now is rejoicing eternally with our Heavenly Father. I could sit here for hours and list my favorite memories and stories about my Granny but instead I will share one moment and one precious little gift I have to remember this lady who my heart longs to be with again. 

Granny getting her pedicure. 

 In february, Granny was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and began chemo soon after that. On my spring break, in the beginning of march, I was home and took her to get a pedicure. I helped her to the car, got her to the nail salon and watched her get a pedicure while I got one too. My eyes filled with tears when I looked over and saw her eyes softly closed and her face relaxed as she got her stubborn, worn out feet cleaned and rubbed. The woman giving her the pedicure had no idea what she was doing in that moment, but as I looked on I saw a beautiful lady losing her hair and her strength to an awful illness have a moment of complete peace and relaxation. It's in recalling this moment that I see the goodness of the Lord and that even in this nasty illness she had many moments of peace and relaxation like this one. I believe God gave her moments like this with my cousins, mom, aunts and uncles to show to us all that one day (sooner than we expected) she would be in heaven and those little glimpses of peace, relaxation, and joy are now permanent. 

My Granny's cameo. 

Lastly, 3 years ago my Granny gave me  her cameo that was her grandmothers. On the day of my Granny's funeral it was the only jewelry I wore. This cameo is the first piece of jewelry in my life that I will hold onto and never let go of. It is not because it is worth a ton of money but because it is from my granny a woman who knew and loved her children and grandchildren so well. She gave us all gifts perfect for who we are whether they were time or special trinkets. We will all hold on tightly to these gifts and never let go. So, thank you, granny for the gifts of all kinds that you gave your 5 children, 16 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, they will be cherished and held onto tightly until we rejoice along side you in heaven.

xoxo, 

Anna Crew 

Happy Summer! Easy Shrimp for the Grill

    It is finally summer for me, and the true blogging journey starts. I NEVER again in my life will live in a dorm so I will forever have a kitchen, and I could not be more excited. I will be living at home until August WITH a kitchen, and then I will be moving into a house in Charleston WITH a kitchen. Okay, I have gotten that excitement off my chest, so now time for the kick off recipe for this lovely summer.

      My dad, who only cooks on the grill, and I cooked a kick off summer dinner the other night. We made  grilled shrimp, grilled vegetables, grilled red potatoes and homemade cornbread. It kills my heart to make cornbread because nothing about it is healthy or good for you. I pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients with much resistance. I actually did not eat it because I try and steer clear of anything with dairy especially when I am out of Lactaid... So here is the "how to" for this yummy dinner: (disclaimer- this is not my healthiest recipe ever but it's delicious.)

My dad and I bought shrimp (deveined and shelled). We marinated them in a  recipe from my uncle that is super easy and they only need to sit in the marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Here is the recipe for the marinade for 1 lb of shimp:
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/6 a cup of mayo
1/6 of melted butter
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper  
Just whisk all the ingredients together.


After the marinade is ready pour it into a ziplock with the skewered shrimp and place in the fridge for 30 min. Once you take out the fridge place on grill until pink (5ish minutes on each side but keep a close eye on them).


Along with  the shrimp I sliced squash and zucchini and cooked them as long as I did the shrimp.
I poured a little olive oil on them along with Nature's seasoning (my go to seasoning- not fancy at all).

The potatoes need to cook a bit longer than the shrimp and veggies. I cute them up into slices and wrapped them in foil (camping style) and cooked them on the grill for about 45 minutes. I  covered them in olive oil and nature's seasoning but you could add a different seasoning to spice it up













Lastly, the glorious cornbread. It is one of my favorite recipes from Pioneer Woman. Like I said it is not healthy and you end  loading it with honey to make it even more wonderful, I like to call it a dessert to make myself feel better about it. Check out the link for the recipe:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/skillet-cornbread/