Dark Chocolate Strawberry Cups

Valentine's Day is known for it's sugary reputation, so I couldn't help but make these light yet delicious dark chocolate strawberry cups suggested on the Tone It Up website. I recently posted my version of their protein pancakes a few weeks ago. Check it out here. 

These desserts are perfect for a party or just a dinner for two, like I did for my boyfriend and I for a Valentine's Day treat last week. They're low maintenance and not to heavy after dinner. 

Ingredients

2 cups dark chocolate chips
6-10 cupcake liners
1-2 cups fresh strawberries
Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

- Place chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute until melted

- Put cupcake liners in cupcake tin and spray the liners with non-stick cooking spray

- Spoon melted chocolate into liners and be sure to coat the full cup, including sides

- Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes

- Check to make sure that the entire liner is coated in chocolate; touch-up missed spots and refrigerate again if necessary

- When ready to serve, take cups out of refrigerators and remove liners

- Slice fresh strawberries and place inside of chocolate cups

- Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings or crushed nuts as an extra garnish!

Romantic Reds From NYFW

Oscar de la Renta, Zac Posen, Prabal Gurung, Delpozo

New York Fashion Week is just today wrapping up and as usual, there were countless draw-dropping and flawless runway looks from numerous designers. In the spirit of Valentine's Day tomorrow, I decided to share some of these runway looks in rich red! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Costello Tagliapietra, Alice + Olivia, Marchesa, Naheem Khan

Karen Walker, Diane von Furstenburg, Giulietta,  Donna Karan

Victoria Beckham, Reem Acra, Tadashi Shoji, Carolina Herrera 

Monique Lhuillier, Honor, Escada, Narcisco Rodriguez

 Ralph Rucci, ZAC Zac Posen, Josie Natori, Trina Turk

Tory Burch, Vivienne Tam, Timo Weiland, Rachel Roy

What were your favorite looks from NYFW? What are your plans for Valentine's Day? 

Valentine's Day Inspiration

Here are just a few of my favorite Valentine's Day inspired items! What are yours?

1. Victoria's Secret Fringe Halter Top

2. Nike Flyknit Lunar2

3. Tory Burch Danica Tunic

4. Kendra Scott Carly Stud Earrings

5. Yankee Candle Red Velvet

6. Torn by Ronny Kobo Dress

7. Michael Kors Runway Watch

8. Lululemon Energy Bra

9. OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips

10. Christian Louboutin Ron Ron Suede

11. Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick

12. Kate Spade Cedar Street Elissa

Easy & Healthy Protein Pancakes

I've recently joined the Tone It Up team! You may have seen the wonderful Karena and Katrina on their show, Toned Up, on Bravo lately - the season finale is tonight. Tone It Up is a health/fitness community that provides workouts, recipes and support from other ladies all around the world!

I'm part of the "Members Only Group" because I purchased the nutrition plan that also comes with exclusive recipes and meal plans. I'm currently doing the 7 Day Slim Down to kick start my journey and one of the recipes for breakfast is the Perfect Fit Protein Pancake. Perfect Fit is a type of protein supplement with the Tone It Up brand, but I just use a soy protein that I got at the grocery store. 

I was a little skeptical when I saw the ingredients for this because they sounded a bit out of the ordinary, but it came out tasting great with some all natural maple syrup on top and fresh strawberries on the side. It's a great light breakfast or snack after a workout. Check out the recipe below and let me know what you think!

Ingredients (serving size: 1 pancake)

4 teaspoons protein powder
1/2 banana, mashed
1/2 tablespoon almond milk
1/4 cup egg whites
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

- Mash banana and mix with almond milk until combined
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix throughly
- Spray skillet or pan with cooking spray and slowly pour batter into pan
- Wait for 3-5 minutes, check the bottom of the pancake, then flip and cook for a few more minutes until it's cooked all the way through and both sides are golden brown

Super Bowl XLVIII Recap

My family decided to have a small Super Bowl party for some of our close friends and neighbors to root on the Denver Broncos. Despite their epic loss, the party was fun, the halftime show was good, there was great food, and I won a little extra money on the side playing a game my family calls football pool (I'll explain that later).

I've always been a Denver Broncos fan since I was little, so I was ecstatic that they had won the American Football Conference (AFC) and were going to Super Bowl XLVIII to battle the Seattle Seahawks. The boys had a great season, and I was pretty confident that they would pull out the win at the Super Bowl, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. The Seahawks crushed the Broncos, 43-8. Although I'm still a bit sad about it, I'll still stick by my Bronco's side. 

The other best parts of the Super Bowl besides the game are the commercials and the half time show. Bruno Mars was the main half time performer alongside The Red Hot Chili Peppers. A lot of people weren't too excited about that, and most people said there's no way he could top last year's performer, Beyonce. I thought he did a great job though. Bruno is a great performer, dancer and singer, so I loved the half time show. I also loved his super skinny tie and metallic blazer. The little Red Hot Chili Peppers performance wasn't so bad either. You can check out the full performance below.

As far as the commercials went, I didn't think they were really that funny this year. There were only a few that stood out to me: a heartwarming, tear-jerking Budweiser commercial featuring a puppy and a clydesdale and a funny Dannon Oikos commercial featuring John Stamos and a little Full House reunion. Check them out both below.

Last, with a party comes lots of great food. Everyone who came brought an appetizer with them and my family covered the main dishes and desserts. One of my favorite appetizers were homemade pizza roll-ups. Click here for a similar recipe. My parents made some delicious filet mignon sliders, and I made my famous peanut butter bars. They're easy to make and really addicting to eat. Stay tuned for a recipe post later this week.

So back to what football pool is. It's a game that has no strategy, it's all just luck. There are 100 squares that people can buy - we made two posters this year, one was $1 per square and the other was $3 per square. Once all the squares are filled in, you label 0-9 at the top and the left side in a random order. You split up the pot for each quarter, so $20 each (for the $1 board) and $20 for overtime, just in case. After the first quarter, you match the numbers to see who's box it lands on. For example, after the first quarter the score was 8-0, Seahawks, so you find the 8 at the top and the 0 on the left side and see which box they land on, which was the box with my name on it! So I walked away with $20. Sort of hard to understand, but it's a fun game to play with everyone.

What did you do for the Super Bowl? Did you have any favorite commercials?