Zuppa Toscana (Gnocchi, Sausage, & Kale Soup)

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Here we are again, another Monday means another recipe! Yum!

Raise your hand if you love S O U P! ME ME ME! :)

I cannot get enough of soup - I could literally have it everyday and never get tired of it. One of my favorite things about soup, is that it never disappoints & it's easy! If you are ever not loving the flavor, just add seasoning and it fixes everything!

This recipe is one of my favorite soups EVER! My sweet sister cooked it for us at her house and it was so amazing that I literally made it within the next week!

There's pretty much only one thing I changed from the original recipe - less cream - which means less calories & more soup to enjoy :)

This soup is best served with some yummy bread & a glass of wine. I recommend Trader Joe's 'Whole Wheat British Muffins' with some garlic & real butter all toasted in the oven & Michael David's 'Freakshow' :) {Every time I drink this wine I can't help but think of American Horror Story - If ya know, ya know :)}

(Recipe originally from GimmeSomeOven.com)

Have an awesome Monday & check out the recipe below! 

XO, Mal

Ingredients: (Organic When Possible)

1lb of ground Hot Italian sausage *Hot is important, but you can see I stuck to sausage links

1 small white onion, peeled and diced (more onion the better)

4 cups low sodium organic chicken stock

1 12oz jar of Roasted Red Peppers, drained & diced

1 bunch of kale (the more you add, the more crunch)

1lb gnocchi (whole wheat preferred) 

1/4 cup heavy cream (original called for 1/2 cup)

salt & pepper

parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:

Add Italian sausage & diced onion to a large pot. Cook over medium-high heat until sausage is completely browned, stirring occasionally with spoon. If grease, drain.

Then add in the chicken stock & diced roasted red peppers.

Bring the mixture to a simmer.

Once it reached a simmer reduce heat to medium-low and then add the kale & gnocchi.

Continue stirring.

Cook for 5 minutes, or until gnocchi are cooked through & tender.

Stir in heavy cream.

Season to taste.

Serve warm with parmesan on top & bread on the side with a glass of wine.

*You can refrigerate this yummy soup in a sealed container (Pyrex are my fav) for up to 3 days - but it doesn't last that long in my house - we devour it as fast as possible :)

Friday Five

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Happy Friday Lovelies!

Cheers to making it through the week & now it's time to celebrate with Friday! There is nothing sweeter than waking up on a Friday morning - and going 'thank you Lord I made it through another week to the weekend' :) Weeks can be hard and we physically, mentally, emotionally, & spiritually need the rest of a weekend - that's why church is on the weekend :) So just a reminder - you don't always need to plan things for the weekends - give yourself time to renew - it will do wonders on you as you go through the next week!

Now it's onto the really fun stuff Friday Five! WOOHOO! I am sharing with you 5 things that I am currently loving, in hopes that you'll love them too!!

Friday Five:

1. Brandy Melville Shorties: These shorties are the absolute softest things & I find myself wanting to wash them everyday just so I can wear them everyday - which means I defiantly need to purchase another pair ASAP :)

2. Whispering Angels Rose: So in the beginning of February I heard Kelly Ripa mention her favorite Rose - and if Kelly Ripa likes it, how could I not like it?!? Sure enough, I tried it on our weekend away at the Sanctuary in Kiawah - and oh my word - delicious! It is perfect for a relaxing day - any season really - but I am so excited to have it as my 'go-to' summer glass of wine! 

3. Adidas Sneakers: I received a Bloomingdales gift card for my birthday from my sweet parents and I was waiting what seemed like forever to spend it - even though it was just 2 months hehe :) Then I found these sneakers 'ahhh' - I am sure you have been seeing these everywhere. At first when I saw other bloggers saw them, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about them - then when I saw them at Bloomingdales I fell in love! I am so excited to style these & just to pair with denim shorts in Disney this April!

4. His & Her Devotionals: We have been looking for a great devotional to do together - and we finally found it! I first saw this advertised when Jeff was posting about it coming out - but then totally forgot to purchase it. So here we are - a week or so in & we love it. Your marriage is the most important thing that God gives you - more important than any other relationship - so that requires work - even if you think everything is wonderful, it can always help to do something like a devotional together - because 3 cords are not easily broken & Jesus A L W A Y S has to come fist & He will totally lead your marriage exactly where it needs to go :)

5. Amazon Fire Stick: Wow!!! We have several Apple TVs, but they are older so not all of the apps are available on them. We recently cancelled cable & purchased 2 amazon fires - and invested in Playstation Vue which is like cable but only $30 a month. By doing this we are saving over $65 a month! Wow! So with that said, we LOVE our amazon fires! They have everything you could possibly need and they are SO user friendly! Amazon is my favorite brand second to Apple - so I was so excited to finally get the fire! 

Shop These Products Below!

Free People #OOTD

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Happy Thursday Lovelies!

We are on our way to Nashville! Woohoo! We are excited to have a night out without a care in the world :)

However, tomorrow we are going to celebrate the life of my Grandpa in St. Louis. So even though it is a sad time there are lots of happy moments to be celebrated and we are excited to be with the whole family for dinner Friday.

Anyways, onto my favorite spring #OOTD :)

This Free People top is AMAZING! I love the color & how flowy it is :)

Shop all of the details below! 

Have an extra blessed Thursday!

XO, Mal

Sunnies (Rose Gold) | Top (Free People S/O Similar) | Denim (Vici S/O Similar) |

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Lovelier Life Lately

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Happy Wednesday Lovelies!

Today, I am sharing Life Lately - as in this past week :)

I have been working up a storm & trying to spend the least amount of $$$ on trying to do our living room & dinning room - as you notice I said do not 're-do' because we have never 'done' our home hehe :) It takes SO long to fill a home and we are slowly getting there! The Lord just keeps blessing us and keeps giving us more than enough so that we can slowly fill out home. 

This past week we have my parents over one night then Ceej's family over another night - and it was so nice to finally invite people over to sit at a TABLE! :) It has been our island forever when having people over, so it was such a blessing just to eat together at a table :)

Below I am sharing some of my DIY of refinishing my table - then when completely finished I will share photos from our living room & dinning room - if you follow me on snapchat (lovelierbymal) then you will find lots of behind the scenes :) 

This table was a gem & I found it thrifting on Facebook's Marketplace. I actually bought it from a girl I used to cheer with! And guess what... it seats 10 with both leaves in and it was only $70!!!! We were SO excited - then we purchased our chairs on Wayfair. So all I had to do was buy some paint and then the table became 'ours.' 

I used the whitewashing tecnique on our table & I LOVE it. I understand that this is not everyone's taste - but for me, it is totally worth it for $70! :)

Check out my DIY below :)

Needs:

1. Flat White Latex Paint with mason jar

2. A Brush - I use this one

3. A damp washcloth

4. A wax sealer

5. Sandpaper or a professional sander

6. Water

Directions:

1. Sand entire table

2. Mix 2 parts water 1 part paint in mason jar

3. Take paint brush and slightly tap it so that it is semi dry 

4. Follow the wood grain and paint the wood - a handful of strokes at a time

5. Then very quickly after you paint a few swipes wipe off the paint gently with your damp cloth

6. Continue this process across the entire piece of furniture

7. Follow up with more coats of paint & wipe offs until you get your desired affect

8. Use sandpaper to distress areas that need it after paint has dried

9. Seal with clear wax

10. Let wax dry at least 24 hours

11. Once completely dry move into your desired space & use! :)

Check out some not so great pictures (hehe) below for an idea! 

Anthropologie Sweater Dress #OOTD

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Happy Tuesday Lovelies!

Today, I am sharing one of my favorite dresses EVER! I bought this dress on sale at Anthro for $32! Isn't that cray cray!?! One of my favorite features on the dress is that it can disconnect, so I can wear the sweater separately & wear the dress in the summer without the sweater!

Anthropologie has the BEST clothing - I truly am NEVER disappointed! 

And with that said, Charlotte Russe has the BEST shoes! I buy almost all of my shoes from there now - and never pay more than $30 - I'm usually paying between $10-$30 for shoes there! They ran out of my size in these - so I sized up and still they are my favorite shoes!

Shop The Look Below These Pictures! 

Have an extra blessed Tuesday!

XO, Mal

Sunnies (Only $12 & my fav!) | Sweater Dress | Booties | Necklace (S/O Similar)

Sunnies (Only $12 & my fav! Rose Gold) | Sweater Dress | Booties | Necklace (Anthro S/O Similar)

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3 Ingredient Brownies

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Happy Monday Lovelies!

Who else LOVES a good brownie?!? I am all about brownies, just not all about the sugar, artificial flavors, & high calorie count. SO I did some researching & taste testing and I found the most delicious brownies!

With that said, if you do NOT like bananas then you will NOT like these brownies - so I am so sorry, but please do not make them & waste your time :)

However, if you love Banana Bread, like me - then you will absolutely love these brownies!

Also - I am a lover of all things healthy - there are very few healthy things that my tastebuds dislike - where as my sweet husband will try some healthy things I love and want to puke - haha  - so with that said - know your tastebuds when making this - if you love healthy foods, like me & love banana bread, like me - then you will for sure love these brownies!

So we all know refined sugar is bad, white flour is bad, things you cannot pronounce yet eat daily are bad, but it is SO hard to say no to all that bad goodness! I am on a lifelong journey to eat as clean & healthy as possible - but also allow myself to splurge & treat myself. So will I make store bought cookie dough & store bought brownies weekly or even monthly? No. But what if one day I cannot get my mind off of Pillsbury brownies (the best) - guess what - I will make a pan - and enjoy ONE - even then I will use coconut oil NOT canola oil - and that is the biggest struggle - only one - everything in moderation - including splurges. All about that 80 / 20 life nah mean?

As I dig deeper into my blog I will share with you all my love for nutrition and all the amazing life changing facts that most of us would never know! This doesn't mean you need to commit to a hard core diet and never eat chemical products like oreos & soda. BUT it means that you can enjoy all the amazing ingredients that the Lord gave us from the earth - we do not need all of those artificial ingredients - and most of those lead to terrible diseases - so as I dig deeper it will just be a way to show you what you can indeed fall in love with & with time you will fall out of love with all of the harmful yet delicious food products.

Now onto my 3 ingredient brownies!

I found this recipe on Pinterest from 'Big Mans World' :)

Ingredients: (Use Organic When Possible)

3 overripe bananas (mashed)

1/2 cup smooth almond butter (I use Trader Joe's Raw Almond Butter)

1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, spray an 8x8 cake pan with coconut oil

2. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt your nut butter - just to heat it up.

3. In a large mixing bowl, add the bananas, nut butter, and cocoa powder and mix with mixer until all blended and smooth.

4. Pour the mixture into your greased baking pan

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.

6. Remove from oven and let set for several minutes, then enjoy!