Food: Eating Healthy During The Holidays!

Hello Made by Girl readers! We are Lori & Michelle and we write for a healthy living & food blog called pure2raw. 

We are beyond excited & so honored to be a contributor (along with many other great ladies) for Jen here on Made by Girl. Not only is Jen, and everything about her blog, amazing, but real, inspirational, and fun! On our blog we mainly talk about food!

We eat a diet that focuses on pure, wholesome ingredients along with being gluten-free. We also live for desserts, what about you? Any other dessert lovers out there? Today we are focusing on the holidays. 


The holidays are always a tough time for many to eat healthy, stay on track, but enjoy the holiday celebrations at the same time. We struggle too. But today we have some amazing recipes that we hope inspire you to stay healthy this holiday season as well as have some fun! Remember less is more. Keep food simple like guacamole squash.

Maybe try something non-traditional but still has all the flavors of fall like this lentil squash pie.

We love chocolate and find it is a perfect way to spread the holiday spirit. Chocolate makes for the perfect gift.

Make these healthy, delicious and super easy homemade bon bons for friends, co-workers, or even for yourself.

Going to a holiday party and need a quick recipe that any one will love, these biscotti cookies might do the trick. They are quick to make too. Anything with chocolate is always a crowd pleaser too right?

 

Mini chocolate hazelnut cookie biscotti

 

Looking for a new way to enjoy winter squash, then you must try it in a sandwich like our chocolate flatbread with layers of basil and squash. Chocolate bread anyone? Told you we love our chocolate.

 

In need of a quick healthy pumpkin pie recipe, look no further our unbaked pumpkin chocolate pie is always a great and new idea.

 

Looking for the ultimate holiday recipe? One that you can wow people with, well we got you covered with our pumpkin brownie cupcakes. 

Ever had a squash or pumpkin blended up? Call us crazy but they make for some amazing creamy, rich smoothies like this ginger pumpkin kefir smoothie!

We hope we have inspired you to try some new things this holiday season. Maybe try out a new recipe, play around with new ingredients, or play with new flavor combinations! The possibilities are endless with a little creativity. Wishing you all happy, healthy, Holiday!  

-post by Lori & Michelle 

New at Cocoa & Hearts!!

Cocoa & Hearts now has two new paintings in the gallery for sale.....& both are large! 

This one below is GOLD & black....although you can't see the gold much in these pictures, in person you will! Check them out here.

 -images by jen ramos

New At Made By Girl....!!

The NEW Silver LOVE print is now available!! It's a metallic silver foil (different than the previous silver one we had launched, much nicer!) & would look perfect this Holiday in your home!! 

Get yours now for 20% OFF with the discount code: HOLIDAY20

Buy it at MadeByGirl.

-images by jen ramos

DIY: Sequin Holiday Ornaments...

Hi MadeByGirl readers! It's Jenny Bevlin. I'm super excited to get the opportunity to be a contributor on MadeByGirl. I can't wait to show you some great DIY projects!

I don't know about you, but when it comes to holiday decorations I love everything that glitters and sparkles. These sequin ornaments were actually a happy accident. While working on another project, some of the sequins I was using ended up getting wet from the condensation of my nearby water glass. 

The sequins stuck to the glass. Surprisingly, once the water evaporated, the sequins stayed on the glass. This got me thinking that maybe this would work on the inside of glass ornaments. I tried it and this DIY project was born! What you need to make these ornaments: 

• Clear ornaments
• Sequins
• Cold Water
• Ribbon

Steps:

1. Remove the top of the ornament.
2. Fill the ornament with cold water and then empty the water out.
3. Dry only the outside of the ornament.
4. Fill the bottom of the ornament with sequins.
5. Cover the ornament with the top.
6. Swirl the sequins around the inside of the ornament. You will notice that the sequins stick to the inside of the ornament. Continue to swirl until you have the inside covered.
7. Take the top off the ornament and dump out the extra sequins. You can also leave the extra sequins in the bottom of the ornament.
8. The water will eventually dry on the inside and the sequins will remain stuck to the inside of the ornament.
9. No need to wait for the water to dry though, you can hang your creations from your mantle or on your tree with sparkly ribbon right away!

- images by Jenny Bevlin

-post by jenny bevlin

Quick Pic....

Holiday Gifts for You & Me.....

My guy usually tells me to choose 1 or 2 gifts during the Holidays & then he'll surprise me with a 3rd one! 

So, I've chosen the first - now I need to pick out a second. Hmmmmm

Below I gathered some gift ideas that you may also like....or ask your GUY for!! I already have 'C'  - but I'm really digging 'h' & 'b'. 
 

So, tell me, which of these would you get?!?

a. Diane Von Furstenberg via ShopBop

b. Michael Kors

c. La Mer Collections

d. Belle Noel by Kim Kardashian via ShopBop

e. Burning Torch

f. Westward

g. Pour La Victoire Boots

h. Foley + Corinna

i. M. Missoni

ReUsable Canvas Wine Bags...

How is everyone? 

We're getting closer & closer to the Holidays & like many of you I love going to Christmas parties! Today, I wanted to highlight a little shop called Towne9. They make reusable canvas bags to carry stuff like wine around to parties! I love these! 
 

My favorite is the one that says, 'CELEBRATE'. I love how they used various types of typography on every bag...clever!

Which one is your favorite?

-all images via towne9