Easter Dinner Series: Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

The Easter Holiday is an extraordinary occasion to celebrate. Since we come from a big Catholic family, its one of the most significant days we celebrate out of the year, so it entails a big feast :) So I thought I would post on my Easter dinner menu and hope you can try some or all of these out for friends and family. We will start with the main dish....

Easter Main Dish: Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

It is a special occasion meal that looks beautiful every time. Not only that, it is really simple and I always have all the ingredients on hand.  This can be used for any occasion...

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2 lbs. pork tenderloin

1/2 cup of Catlina or French Dressing, divided

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. garlic powder
1tsp. dry mustard

1tsp. paprika

1/2tsp. dried thyme leaves

2Tbsp. honey

Place pork tenderloin in a baking dish. (I usually put mine on a baking mat and on a baking sheet because it is 10times easier to clean)

Spread about 4 Tbs. of dressing over pork. Combine all spices and rub over the meat on both sides. Place in oven and bake for about 12 minutes. Meanwhile combine the 4Tbs. of dressing and 2Tbs. of honey. Brush over meat after 12 minutes and place back into oven for another 10 minutes or until interal temp is 145degrees. 

It will have a slightly charred look, but the meat will be very moist with incredible flavor, serves 8.
Recipe adapted from Kraft.

Stay tuned for Easter Sides and Desserts!

  

My Food Philosophy: Because the effort to make good food is a gift to those around me, it's happy memories, togetherness, the living part of life.

*Post by my sister, Maria. You can find the rest of her beautiful eats here.

Giveaway: Custom Print from Mosie Posies

Tara Mosier is the artist and designer behind Mosie Posies, an etsy shop dedicated to personalized prints for new arrivals or birthdays. I love her combination of colors and the way she uses type. I mean the elephant duo on the top left?? My fave of course.

There are alphabet, numbers, initial prints, and name sake prints as well. 

She is giving a reader a custom 8 x 10 print! Enter easily through rafflectopter below.

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P.S. Winner of the Pursemafia giveaway announced in the rafflecopter widget here!

Bump Styled: Neon and Turquoise

{Top: c/o Questhaven Fashions (20% off site with code IHOD), Coated Jeans: H&M, Necklace: Bauble Bar, Shoes: Zara (similar), Tote: Asos (similar)}

Anyone have tips for that lovely growing out the bangs phase? A perpetual side braid is all I got!

I am entering into the third trimester (already?!) - what I like to compare to feeling as if you are carrying a kangaroo in your pouch and the awkward waddle starts to replace your once confident stride. The puffy  face alludes to the fact that you did just eat a whole can of pringles by yourself, and you don't really care if your toddler just dumped a bag of rice on the floor. Let her play in that mess because you don't have the energy to move you and your kangaroo pouch off the chair to clean it up.

Goodbye energetic and mobile second trimester.

But its okay because I get lots of kicks and hellos from the little one inside reminding me its all worth it.

In other news...

We were blessed with the most gorgeous weekend Georgia has seen in a while, and even better, I had my sisters in town to share it with. I am now okay with the rainy monday since I soaked the sun out of the weekend. How was yours friends?

P.S. Its the last day to enter to win $50 credit to PURSEmafia! This could be that time you win!

Style File: Spring Fever

Hat // Shades // Tote // Cardi // Necklace

Image: H&M via Shop Sweet Things

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After what seemed to be a month of rain and gloom, spring has arrived in all its glory and it has brought a FEVAAA with it! Sunnies and 70's all weekend long (you guys gotta move to the ATL) and these lovelies above are on the top of my favorites list.

I have a fun round up of links for ya:

This is what I am doing with my abundance of strawberries in the fridge via Creature Comforts

This DIY has me in a frenzy. Seriously good.

Not only crazy about this shop website but everything it contains:)

Cutest St. Patrick's Day pinch polish from Andrea Dozier. 

4 Messy hairstyles for unwashed hair.

IHOD has a DIY up for your little ones over on Small Fry Blog!

If you are in the south, hope I will see you at the Maiedae Mixer in June!

Happy St. Patrick's Day weekend friends! I am not irish but my children are so that means we are celebrating the good saint loudly! (I have plenty of freckles to boot.)

He felt the baby move...

He felt the baby move. 

A series of questions proceeded...

When is the baby gonna come out? Wil I get to hold the baby? Will she be happy?

He doesn't know that just yesterday, I was waiting for him anxiously, feeling him kicking and moving constantly in my womb, and wondering who he was going to be.

My first born.

I ache for those days where he fit into my arms perfectly, but accept that it was a gift to have those days at all. I have shed tears thinking of how fast he went from being my newborn to my little man in what seems to have been only a year in time. 

When I saw him react to feeling this baby move, I was reminded that he was meant to be my first born. God knew exactly what He was doing. Gabriel will be the big brother they will learn from.

And boy, has he challenged Gabe and I these past few years. Stretched us to our limits and re-molded our hearts. Through the ugly moments and the sweet ones, I know he was made to be my first.

Little lovebug in the womb, you are a lucky one. You have a big brother her already loves you so much. He thinks you are a girl. We will see:)

Easter Surprise Straws DIY

I saw these fun straws at Target, and before I knew what I was going to do with them I took them home. (Currently in the Target easter section for $3 per canister.) These were going to be put to use, no matter what.... I obviously had to grab some jelly bellies while I was there as well so when I dumped the contents of my Target bag on my table when I got home, it occurred to me that they were made for each other;)

Use straws that are wide enough to slide down your favorite small Easter sweets (3/8 in.). 

(Jelly Beans, Tic-Tacs, Nerds, etc.)

Use bright washi tape  to cover and seal the ends. Make sure it is sticky enough to stay put.

These are fun to stick in easter straw for a party display or just hide them in deserving Easter Baskets.

Can't wait to surprise my little ones with these in a few weeks! 

You could also use just the green ones filled with green treats for a St. Patrick's Day DIY.

Some St. Patrick's Day DIY's you don't want to miss:

Pretty much everything on Studio DIY, but especially these Lucky Poppers.

Lindsey of Pillow Thought created an adorable St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt for Small Fry.

One Charming Party created free printables for bags of gold.

Thoughfully simple has an adorable St. Patrick's breakfast idea for your little ones.

Loved Say Yes to Hoboken's Shamrock Tea Bag DIY.

Have any St. Patrick's Day or Easter DIY's to share? My pinning fingers are ready!

Giveaway: $50 credit to PURSEmafia

Colorful patterns and prints galore:) 

These gals know how to make a bag fun inside and out. Above are my top favorites from Pursemafia, an etsy shop run my Brigette and Michelle who handmake everything in their shop! From make-up bags to vacation totes, the sizes, patterns, and colors vary to give a fun array of options for different tastes.

PURSEmafia is kindly giving away a $50 credit to spend on any items you like!

Open to international readers. We will draw a winner next Monday night!

If you don't want to wait around to see if you win, Pursemafia offers a 15% discount for all of their facebook fans.

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