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Side Dishes

Side dishes feature all projects, stories, DIY and how-to ideas that is not a recipe. Find DIY Gifts for birthdays, Christmas, and home improvement projects. This category features any and all projects not involved with the kitchen, rolled up into one, easy location. Our ideas are budget, family, and living-on-your-own friendly, and easy to follow. We’ve made everything featured here and our posts will let you know how much we liked it. Let’s be honest, we’ve loved pretty much everything. Leave a comment if you have one. If you’re looking for something more specific use our search bar or check out one of our other niche categories. Thanks for stopping by, hope to have you back soon!

All Recipes/ Appetizers/ Celebrations/ Comfort Food/ Cooking Through Cravings/ Lunch and Dinner/ Side Dishes/ Super Bowl

John Legend’s Chili Recipe: Cooking Through Cravings

January 11, 2017
John's Chili Recipe

The next stop in our journey through Cravings, is John Legend’s chili recipe. His recipe is used with the Frito Pie Bar. We didn’t go all out with the Frito Bar, but we used a few of the toppings (cheesy guacamole, we have our eyes set on you!). If you haven’t been inspired by our other ventures into Cravings, then I hope we can sway you with this chili recipe. And all you’d…

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All Recipes/ Beverages/ Celebrations/ Healthy Living/ Side Dishes

January is National Hot Tea Month

January 4, 2017
January is National Hot Tea Month

You learn a lot about someone when you start living with them and you either love or hate those things. Then you get married and you just learn to love the things you used to hate. I knew I loved Brian even more when I found out he shared my love for tea. We have a nightly ritual where we end every day on the couch reading, watching TV –…

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Celebrations/ Christmas/ Doing Good/ Side Dishes

26th Annual Toys for Tots Collection Party Recap

December 15, 2016
Toys for Tots

Last night, was my family’s annual Toys for Tots collection party! Our community collected 5,579 toys for kids in New Haven County! We were joined by the New Haven Marines. For those of you not familiar with Toys for Tots, the foundation is a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve program. The last few years, the collection party has been held at Gaetano’s Tavern on Main. Great food, great drinks, and music from Arlene! Santa…

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All Recipes/ Appetizers/ Celebrations/ Comfort Food/ Cooking Through Cravings/ Lunch and Dinner/ Side Dishes/ Super Bowl

Steak Bites: Cooking Through Cravings

December 7, 2016
Steak Bites

I cannot believe it’s already December! Where did this year go? Now that the holidays are here, we all need to find some amazing recipes for our guests. I highly recommend these delicious steak bites! A little something you may not know about me, is the first Christmas I ever celebrated was with Brian. I grew up in a Muslim household. Although I haven’t been practicing since I was nine, there were still a…

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Celebrations/ Christmas/ DIY/ Side Dishes

DIY London Map Ornament

December 2, 2016
London Map Ornament

Fatima and I started a tradition of making these DIY map ornaments from the places we visited. Since starting this project, we’ve grown quite a collection! Our latest ornament takes us across the pond. Here’s the story behind our London Map Ornament. In January, we traveled to London. We were there on business and only had 48 hours for sight-seeing. We woke up early, put on our sneakers and hit the…

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Celebrations/ Christmas/ Doing Good/ Side Dishes

Toys for Tots and Giving Back

November 30, 2016
Toys for Tots

For over 25 years my best friend Jim and I have hosted an annual Toys for Tots party for the US Marine Corps in Wallingford, CT. In the past several years, we have averaged over 5000 toys per collection. Jim and I share the same birthday, December 18th. Instead of celebrating our birthday, we throw this toy collection party to benefit the kids in New Haven County. We are very lucky that…

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Celebrations/ Christmas/ DIY/ Side Dishes

DIY Elf Ornaments

November 29, 2016
DIY Elf Ornaments

Last Christmas, Fatima and I made these adorable Elf Ornaments for everyone in my family. We wanted to give them a handmade gift that they could display on their Christmas trees. The significance of giving the same ornament was to remind them that family is always connected. While most of our family is located in the northeast, we have family in the south and as far west as Hawaii! When…

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Celebrations/ DIY/ Gift Guides/ Side Dishes

DIY Finals Care Package

November 28, 2016
DIY Finals Care Package

In the next few weeks, many college students will begin to prep for finals. Back in undergrad, I loved opening my mailbox to find a package slip. It would turn out to be a finals care package from my parents stuffed with all the essentials. My parents would often send out a finals care package to my other cousins around the time of their finals, too. They would stuff these packages with…

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Celebrations/ Christmas/ Elf on the Shelf/ Side Dishes

Elf on the Shelf: Stuck in the Whisk

November 23, 2016
Elf on the Shelf Stuck in the Whisk

Harvey came back early from his vacation in the North Pole to help us make Fatima’s famous sweet potato pies for Thanksgiving. He thought he was being helpful when he decided to setup the KitchenAid, but got stuck in the whisk in the process… Welp, we’ll see how helpful he is when we have to make everything else…have a great Thanksgiving, all!…

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All Recipes/ Appetizers/ Autumn/ Celebrations/ Comfort Food/ Garden Thyme/ Lunch and Dinner/ Side Dishes/ Slow Cookers and Soups/ Super Bowl/ Thanksgiving/ Vegetarian

Pumpkin Bisque

November 21, 2016
Pumpkin Bisque

If you could whip up fall over the stove, it would be called Pumpkin Bisque. This is one of my favorite recipes to make in the fall. I recently made this for our Harry Potter Halloween Party last month and I plan to make it again for Thanksgiving. What’s great about this recipe is you can substitute the pumpkin purée for butternut squash. I realize that butternut squash may be the…

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All Recipes/ Autumn/ Celebrations/ Comfort Food/ Cooking Through Cravings/ Lunch and Dinner/ Side Dishes/ Super Bowl

Chrissy’s Mac and Cheese Recipe: Cooking Through Cravings

November 16, 2016
mac and cheese recipe

After that election, I think most of us (and yes, most, since Hillary won the popular vote) are in the need of a drink and some comfort food. Chrissy Teigen’s mac and cheese recipe was the first recipe we tried. However, I was waiting for the perfect time to blog about it. I know when I’m having a stressful week, my favorite dinner is a form of therapy. This mac and cheese recipe…

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Garden Thyme/ Side Dishes

Meet Our Plants

November 9, 2016
Meet Our Plants

It’s incredible how much life plants can bring to any space. Living in New York City, we’re not afforded the outdoor space (or space in general) I once had living in the suburbs of Connecticut. When we were looking for our next apartment, it was important for us to live close to a park (aka Central Park) and in an apartment with many windows. Now that we have the windows,…

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Celebrations/ DIY/ Family Fun/ Halloween/ Side Dishes

DIY Harry Potter Themed Costumes: Another Marquis Halloween

October 26, 2016

We went a little overboard with the Polyjuice potion at our Harry Potter inspired Halloween Party. With so many Potterheads in attendance, this was our most engaging party yet! Our guests went all out with their Harry Potter themed costumes and we loved all of them! As you saw earlier this week, Fatima and I were Hedwig and Harry Potter: Here are more DIY Harry Potter themed costumes from our party…

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Celebrations/ DIY/ Family Fun/ Halloween/ Side Dishes

DIY Harry Potter Costumes: Another Marquis Halloween

October 24, 2016
DIY Harry Potter Costumes

Over the last two years, we slayed Halloween with our #TGIT themed Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder costumes. Our couples costume originated when we dressed up as Peter Pan and Tiger Lily when we first started dating. Since then, we’ve tried to keep the ‘couples’ thing’ going. This year, we made DIY Harry Potter costumes for Halloween. For my family’s annual Halloween Party that happened this past…

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