504 Main by Holly Lefevre
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Sunday, March 10, 2013


Growing up my family did not eat rice.
All my friends did.
I thought rice was "fancy."
But boy do things change...
When I moved out of my parents house and lived on  my own,
I changed my eating habits and made Minute Rice a part of my daily eating.
It was quick and easy to make after work, and always tasted perfect!

In my home, brown rice is popular and a staple in our pantry and most of our meals.
Stir fry's, casseroles, sprinkled in salads, burritos,
and mixed with so many amazing flavors,
we #LoveEveryMinute with rice!

Like most families, we have crazy busy schedules.
I like to know that I have healthy options that can be made quickly,
available for my family at meal times. Minute Rice is one of those products.
Since 1949 Minute Rice has provided healthy meal solutions for families like mine!

I have been making this
Brow Rice, Black Bean, Corn, and Red Pepper Salad
for years and it is one of my favorite dishes.
You can serve it alone!
You can serve it as a side dish!
You can serve it in a tortilla! 

After you try this salad, you may even want to add other ingredients like black olives or chopped tomatoes. Or substitute dill for cilantro. Or switch up the dressing.
Minute Rice Brown Rice makes a great base for this very versatile recipe!  

Black Beans, Corn, Red Pepper, and Brown Rice "Salad"
  • 1 Serving of Minute Rice Brown Rice (2 cups water to 1 cup rice, prepare as directed). I used brown rice, but you can use white rice Minute Rice too!
  • 1 Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 Cup frozen white (or yellow) corn kernels, thawed (you can use canned corn or fresh corn as well)
  • 1/2 cup red pepper chopped
  • 5 stalks of fresh dill (you can adjust the flavor to your tastes). Dill leaves removed from the stalk, and chopped.
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • black pepper, if desired

Dressing
  • 1 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoons Dijon mustard (or grainy mustard)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • dash of ground black pepper
  • Mix altogether 

Make It!
  • Cook the Minute Rice and let rice cool
  • Chop red pepper
  • Drain and rinse black beans
  • Thaw the corn kernels
  • Wash and strip the leaves from the dill, then chop coarsely.
  • Place rice in a large bowl, add the peppers, beans, and corn. Toss to mix.
  • Add the dill, toss to mix
  • Use 4 Tablespoons of the dressing (or more if you desire) and toss the salad. 

Oh you like those tortilla cups?
They are so great for a quick bite at a party! And just fun!
  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Butter/oil a large muffin pan
  • Heat the tortillas for 30 second in the microwave or until they are pliable on the stove top - this keeps them from cracking when you place them in the muffin tin.
  • Gently fold/roll the tortilla into the muffin cup
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes
  • Let cool.
 
 
What's so great about this salad?
You can eat it as is...and it is delicious.
You can eat it warm or cold.
It stays fresh for days in the frig.
It is healthy! 

Minute® Rice is so quick and easy to prepare and is great pantry staple. When meal time seems like a hassle, Minute® Rice is a go-to ingredient your whole family will love and allows you to have more quality time doing what your want with your loved ones.
 Leftover rotisserie chicken or veggies from a meal earlier in the week? Minute® Rice can easily be paired with some of your leftover ingredients to make a quick, easy and wholesome meal your whole family will love in just a matter of minutes.
Visit http://www.minuterice.com/ to create a great main meal or side dish for your next family get-together or potluck.
Signature
This post is written and created at 504 Main by Holly Lefevre
 
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute® Rice.
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Saturday, March 9, 2013

#LuvSoFab
Six years ago, I joined Facebook (just because)...
a few years later I started a blog...
then twitter, pinterest, instagram, you tube...you name it!
I had no idea the impact becoming a a full fledged tweeting, posting,
sharing, pinning member of the social media circuit would have on my life.

When I started blogging, it was for fun.
It still is...but after spending so much time on my blog,
I began to wonder how I can also make the blog work for me.
Around that same time I learned about Collective Bias and Social Fabric.
I was lucky enough to become a part of this community about a year and a half ago.
Social Fabric is a community that offers amazing opportunities to work with brands and on special campaigns, but better yet, all of the people behind Social Fabric and Collective Bias are supportive, knowledgeable, and always willing to offer advice or a suggestion to improve your blog, your post, or even your purpose in the world of social media. Never have I seen such support from a blogging community than I have seen at SoFab!

So the real question is "How could I not #LuvSoFab?!"


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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Welcome to Tickled Pink!
It is time to share your projects, tutorials, crafts, stories,
 baked goodies, and foodie creations!
Tickled Pink Linky Party


 Have you noticed?
 I - the blog - got a little makeover.
(thanks to Designs by Kassie)
I need one to but that will have to wait !

For now...let's just say this week had a mind of it's own!
I am ready for the weekend.
How about you?  

On 504 Main this week...
#1  My sweet girl modeled Spring dresses
#2 The importance of an everyday breakfast
#3 Honeynut Cheerios Peanut Butter Bars
#4 Lucky and Blessed Burlap Banner


That's it for me...
now what about you?   
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FEATURED PROJECTS AND INSPIRATION 
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Grab a Button here if you were featured!

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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

I am banner obsessed!
I have been making and selling banners locally
and love always making them different. Take note this is the first ever St. Patrick's Day craft I EVER posted.
(I am kind of proud of myself)
 We do make leprechaun house out ot tissue boxes every year...
but that doesn't count!

Burlap Banner

These banners - "Lucky" and "Blessed" were actually a custom order.
This lady has the sweetest cottage
and she hangs my banners in her windows!
(I may sneak over and snap a photo later)
(I will ask first!) 

Burlap Banner
Read on to see the tutorial!

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Monday, March 4, 2013

We are a cereal family. I love cereal. My husband loves cereal. The kids love cereal.
We eat it for breakfast...and snacks.
But I wanted to come up with a new way to eat cereal...
something to eat on the go and great for snacking at school. 

Honey Nut Cheerios Peanut Butter Bars

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Once upon a time, my favorite part of the day
was sharing breakfast with my son before school.
Then I had another child...
then I started the blog, stayed up too late, and could not drag my behind out of bed early enough to enjoy a relaxed breakfast and get to school on time...
but I really feel like it is time to reconnect over breakfast
when the day is fresh and full of possibilities.
Everyday Breakfast

So now, we are starting a new routine! I have always believed breakfast is an important meal and essential to how my kids behave in school and even how I behave as an adult! Now, my kids LOVE cereal - they are quite happy with a big bowl of cereal. Occasionally on the weekends, holidays, or when we have guests I get crazy with breakfast and make a feast, but for our every day life we have a simple plan...

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Saturday, March 2, 2013

It must be genetics. I have always loved to shop.
I have always loved fashion. I have always had my own style.
And so does my daughter!
 At 5 she has strong opinions about what she will wear,
how she does her hair, and even creates new looks
by mixing and matching her shoes and socks, etc.
I LOVE IT! She LOVES IT!
 And besides she is adorable, so how can she go wrong?
Cookie's Kids
Cherry Stix Breillat Dress, Fuchsia/Purple
 Spring is right around the corner...
and that means Easter and parties and good old fashioned Spring time fun...
and of course my girl needs some new dresses.
I decided to shop online at Cookie's Kids and let Jules select the dresses she liked
(with motherly advice, persuasion, and the ultimate veto power, if necessary).
As I mentioned, she has strong opinions about what she wears...
and this shopping trip was no exception.

 Our Easter celebration is fairly casual.
We just have a low-key brunch and egg hunt with friends.
 I like to have the kids look nice, and Jules especially likes to have a pretty new dress...or dresses! With the prices on at Cookie's Kids, we were able to purchase a few things, including some cute (sparkly) ballet flats!
Cookie's Kids
Dream Girl Hearts and Stripes Dress, Lime/Black/White
Shopping online, especially when trying to keep a kiddo focused is great.
There is no hunting for sizes or colors - our choices are right there!
And there were so many choices, including Disney and Hello Kitty!

 As soon as the Cookie's Kids website came up on the screen, all I heard was: 
"I like that!" 
"Oh that's is pretty!"
"Can I get that?"
We did look at the Party Dresses, but ultimately ended up shopping from the Casual Dress and Sundress categories, as those styles better fit our celebration style. You can read all about our #CookiesKids Shopping Trip on Google+



Cookie's Kids
Sugah and Honey Petal Pretty Dress
 Cookie's Kids has everything so nicely categorized.
It was easy to make our way through all of the choices from Girls Dresses to Boys Suits. While, yes, we were shopping for my daughter but I did pop over to take a look at the Boy's Suits for me son. He is extremely hard to shop for (for so many reasons) and I thought I would take the opportunity to see what was available just in case he needs some "fancier attire" for an upcoming event. My son's style is also very conservative, so I find my self shopping School Uniforms for supplement his wardrobe - there is a great selection of basic collared shirts and pants! We do not have to wear uniforms at our school, but after seeing this selection and the prices, I will passing along this information to some of my friends!
School Uniforms

As we shopped, we used the Alva sizing system to determine what size Jules would need. She is very tall for her age and shopping online always presents a sizing issue, but with this easy system, I plugged in some of her info and we had the size we needed! We selected three dresses and they all fit perfectly. The Petal Pretty dress was maybe a wee bit short, but this girl loves her leggings...under everything...so it works!
Cookie's Kids has a great history and is an American success story!
1972, a young man named Cookie and his brother Marvin went into business together. They rented a 1600 square foot store in Jamaica, Queens, fixed it up, bought inventory and Summer and Fall, and opened a day after Thanksgiving with a full stock of holiday toys. The toys were a success and they put the extra money toward buying children's clothing for the next season. When that did well, they bought more clothing. The business was on it's way.

By the late 1990's there were six superstores throughout the NYC area, and though they previously had different names, by that time they were all named Cookie's Kids. Also in the late '90s came an important addition to Cookie's Kids' inventory: school uniforms. It was the steady success in uniform sales that paved the way for founding CookiesKids.com in 2007, which originally sold uniforms and soon after the entire Cookie's Kids Inventory. 

Cookie's Kids now has 7 stores in the NYC area: Bronx, Brooklyn, and Jamaica...and you can shop Cookie's Kids online as well!

I was really impressed with the selection of clothing and the prices.
My daughter LOVES her new dresses! 
She has already decided the Hearts and Stripes Dress is for St. Patrick's Day
 

The Petal Pretty Dress is for Easter
Cookie's Kids

And the Breillat Dress is her favorite -
I may not be able to get it off her.
It is for everything!
Cookie's Kids

Be sure to visit Cookie's Kids and follow along on
facebook and twitter for updates and specials!

Now...I need to do some more shopping!
Signature
This post is written and created at 504 Main by Holly Lefevre
 
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and CookiesKids.com #CBias #SocialFabric
 
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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Welcome to Tickled Pink!
It is time to share your projects, tutorials, crafts, stories,
 baked goodies, and foodie creations!
Tickled Pink Linky Party

Don't forget...
there is still a giveaway happening
4 passes to Disneyland!

Now...how was your week?
I spent last weekend at our city's artwalk and at our local wholesale antique market. My kids held a lemonade and hot chocolate stand to help "Save our Lovers Point Children's Pool"
Then I got a little crazy with the desserts!
I am a little obsessed with creating mini desserts in cups!
As if I needed one more obsession.
Hop on over (if you hop you can eat more dessert) to check out my
Molten Marshmallow Fudge Cake
Oatmeal Crunch Cookie in a Cup
 
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FEATURED PROJECTS AND INSPIRATION 
Now for the features and the Linky!
Grab a Button here if you were featured!

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Yesterday I shared a recipe for Molten Marshmallow Fudge Cake in a Mug. While I remember something similar from my childhood, I had forgotten how yummy and fun these are to make...and now I am kind of hooked on these easy peasy single serving fresh from the (microwave) oven treats! So, of course, I had to try more...but this time a cookie!
make cookies in a mug in the microwave!
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

You can make cookies and cakes in a cup/mug/whatever!
HEAVENLY!
I remember doing this in Girl Scouts (or something like that),
but had forgotten about it until recently.

Molten Marshmallow Fudge Cake in a Mug

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Monday, February 25, 2013

This weekend was one crazy busy hoo-ha!
My kids had last week off and it was relaxing...
but we ended it with a bang.
I participated in our city's artwalk on Friday.
This weekend was also the fourth Friday of the month...
and to me, that means it is my favorite weekend -
time for our vintage wholesale market Pickings!

Vintage Goods
Succulents and and iron grate

Last month I sold my banners there,
but this month I shopped and my kiddos hosted a lemonade stand
(see more about that a bit later in the post).

Vintage Goods
Vintage Juicer

I just wanted to share some of my eye candy from this weekend,
as captured on my HTC OneX phone.
This phone takes the most amazing photos - I am blown away.
These photos may have been cropped but not retouched/altered at all...
aren't they gorgeous!? ENJOY!

Vintage Goods: succulents in a typewriter
Miniature gardens in all sorts of magical vintage vessels. This is a creation of THE SILVER PLANTATION

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