How to Make Veggie Broth from Kitchen Scraps

Love cooking with veggies but hate tossing the scraps in the trash? Don't! Save them and make a delicious veggie broth.

Keep a bag in your freezer and toss in scraps while cooking. These scraps can be the tops, bottoms, skins, seeds of whatever your cooking.

Bell Pepper Tops
Onion Top, Bottom and Skin
Carrot Top, Bottom and Skin
Mushroom Stems
Jalapino Tops
Garlic Top, Bottom and Skin
Potato Top, Bottom and Skin
Parsley Stems
Plus any other scraps you have

Once the bag is full of scraps, you're ready to make your broth

Poor the frozen scraps into a large pot. Cover the scraps completely with water. Add herbs to taste like sage, rosemary or a bay leaf.

Turn on stove and bring the water to a boil, reduce heat and let broth simmer on the stove for 1 hour.

After an hour strain out the veggie pieces. They should be soft and soggy. 

Pour broth in an airtight container. Freeze or keep in the fridge for about a week. Enjoy! 

A Class A Month...

I'm having serious adventure withdraws since completing my 30 Before 30 bucket list. To ease my mind, I'm taking one class a month during 2018. These classes can have any theme or difficulty level. Here's what I've accomplished so far:

January: A floral arrangement class at The Vintage Bouquet Bar

February: Aerial Yoga at Synergy Studios

March: A Vegan Tex-Mex Cooking Class put on by Green Restaurant

Bonus March Class: Sprouts and Spritzers class at the Botanical Garden

April: Calligraphy class put on by The Golden Spec 

May: Vinyasa flow yoga class with Nomadik Yoga

June: Women's Self Defense Class at Mission Ridge Gun Range 
I unfortunately didn't take any photos of this class, this photo is from the Facebook Event

July: Kickboxing kicked my butt at 9 Round 

August: Can I use that bonus class here? I was too busy celebrating my birthday!

September: Bungee class with Grounded Aerial

October: Welding Class at 10Bit Works

November: Wreath Making at The Vintage Bouquet Bar

December: Hot Yoga Class at Black Swan Yoga. I've been putting off trying hot yoga for so long. It was surprisingly great! I actually did this class on January 3rd. December was way too busy. This is my challenge so I can bend the rules a little bit right?

Taking a class a month was a great way to continue being active after I completed my 30 Before 30 bucket list. I highly recommend you go out and do something you love!

Season's Eatings

I was given a Taco Cabana gift card in exchange for a blog post. However, all opinions are my own.

There are only a few days left to take advantage of four holiday favorite menu items at Taco Cabana. 

Photo from the Taco Cabana Facebook Page

These items include: Pico & Avo-Verde Tacos, Rancho & Verde Beef Enchilada Plate, Horchata Margarita and Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. 

I tried the Pico & Avo-Verde Tacos, Horchata Margarita and Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. All were delicious. 

The tacos were hot and tasty, the rita was like Christmas in a glass and the cheesecake was smooth with a graham cracker crust. 

Right now, you can get a FREE great appreciation card with the purchase of $25 worth of Taco Cabana gift cards. Happy Holidays! 

Photo from the Taco Cabana Facebook Page 

Merry Friendsmas!

Over the weekend I got together with my friends Samantha, Gina and Aly for a friendsmas dinner.

Aly, Me, Gina and Samantha

Gina hosted and let me decorate her dinning table! I love a good holiday themed tablescape!

I used a table runner I picked up at Target during last years after Christmas sale, score! By mixing a beautiful bowl and cake places I had the perfect platform for some Christmas ornaments I inherited from my grandmother.

I stopped at the Dollar Tree and grabbed simple round ornaments, half matte and half glitter, for the bowl. I had short round jars from my Easter tablescape that filled with fresh cranberries and a white candle. On top of the runner was a strand of battery operated fairy lights. 

The china is from Gina's Williams Sonoma collection. I finished the table by adding a stocking at each plate to hold silverware. These stockings were on sale for less than a dollar at Hobby Lobby. Again, purchased at an after Christmas sale. 

We ate, we drank, we spread Christmas cheer and exchanged gifts. A good night was had by all. 

My very best Martha Stewart pose. Its a good thing. 

Gifting With A Purpose

I received two items from Global Purpose in exchange for a social media promotion. 

During this gift giving season do you really think about the items you purchase? What if you could feel as good about your purchase as the person who receives it? This is exactly what Global Purpose has in mind. 

Global Purpose is a purpose-driven enterprise that has a variety of brands under their care. One of those brands is Village Artisan, a company based out of India that pays local women a living wage to crate handcrafted jewelry and home goods. 

Village Artisan can be purchased right where you pick up groceries! Look for the brand in the Blooms section of your local H-E-B store. 

Village Artisan products are 100% eco-friendly and made from a range of natural and recycled materials. Making purposeful purchasing decisions crates a more hospitable world! 

I was gifted these beautiful earrings and handmade cloth banner, now hanging in my dining room.  

Next time you swing by H-E-B, pick up a purposeful gift for your sister, mother or friend! 

Jumping Out Of a Perfectly Good Plane

I kicked off my 30th birthday at Skydive San Marcos! Skydiving was part of my 30 before 30 bucket list. Read the full 30 before 30 list here.

My sister was the only other person brave enough to take the plunge with me.

I was TERRIFIED the entire time we suited up and gained elevation on the plane. There is such a build up of anticipation before you jump. I skydived tandem and good thing because I don't know if I could have exited the plane alone.

Once you exit there is such a trilling rush. All my nervousness went out the window, or should I say out the plane. My amazing sister got the DVD package so we both jumped with a videographer who captured these shots during the free fall.

Once your shoot opens, and believe me it will open, you enjoy a very peaceful, slow fall back down to Earth. I enjoyed taking in the view, chatting with my instructor and watching my sister land. 

Skydiving might seem scary, but I encourage everyone to take the jump! You wont regret it.

New Flame-Grilled Tacos & Tequila Margarita at Taco Cabana

I was given the opportunity to try three tacos and a margarita at no cost in exchange for a blog post. However, all opinions are my own.

I stopped by Taco Cabana today to try their new menu items, the flame-grilled chicken tacos and the Lunazul Tequila Margarita. 

Premium Lunazul Tequila Margarita

The margarita was amazing! The perfect combo to go with the tacos. You can get salt or sugar on the rim but I opted out. The rita also comes in strawberry, I can't wait to try that next. 

The tacos come in three different varieties, grilled peppers and onions with salsa roja, roasted poblanos with ranchero sauce and cheese, and bacon and jalapeno with salsa ranch. I got one of each. 

Flame-Grilled Chicken Tacos 

It was hard to pick a favorite but in the end the bacon and jalapeno with salsa ranch chicken taco won be over! 

Bacon and Jalapeno With Salsa Ranch Chicken Taco

These delicious tacos sell for $2.29 each or mix and match any three for only $5.99. Hurry! These tacos are only for a limited time. However, the tequila upgrade is a permanent addition. Why not try them both? 

Nothing Left, Even For The Bees