Living La Vida Holoka


Nautical Pizza Pan Wreath

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.

Turn a pizza pan into a nautical wreath for your front with this easy Nautical Pizza Pan Wreath tutorial using the Cricut Joy!  It’s an easy way to decorate your home for summer! 


My little sister and brother-in-law are in the process of moving into their first home.  It’s such an exciting time for them and I can’t wait to see the house when it’s all painted, furnished, and they’re settled.  In the meantime, I’ve been working on some easy home decor craft ideas with my sister using my Cricut Joy.  It’s such an easy machine to use when I’m doing simple crafts or even if I want to craft at my sister’s house in the future. 

I had asked her if she had a wreath for her front door.  She didn’t, so I told her I would make her one.  One of the easiest ways to decorate your home and make it feel welcome is by hanging a wreath on your front door!  My sister’s very into anchors, so we decided to make a nautical themed wreath that’s perfect for this time of year! 

How to Make a Nautical Pizza Pan Wreath

 
We decided to make a pizza pan wreath.  Pizza pans make a great base for wreaths and hanging signs since they’re a flat surface that can easily be painted and decorated with vinyl and other embellishments. 


The first thing I did was spray paint the pizza pan navy blue and let it dry overnight.  While the paint dried, I started my vinyl design in Design Space.  Instead of a wreath that said “welcome” on it, my sister wanted her wreath to say “ahoy.”  Super cute, right?  So I made sure I got Cricut Joy vinyl in nautical, beachy colors.  


We decided on using silver shimmer vinyl for the anchor, white vinyl for the wording, and teal from the Beachside Sampler to make the “o” in “ahoy” a ship wheel instead. 



I was able to apply the anchor and ship wheel without transfer tape. But since the lettering was in two pieces, I applied it to the pan with transfer tape.  Then, I carefully peeled it off so I didn’t take any of the paint with it.  


Once all of my vinyl was applied, I added some nautical rope around the edge of the pan, creating a loop at the top for hanging. Then, I covered the ends of the rope with a burlap bow.

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Spray paint the front of the pizza pan navy blue.  Allow it to dry overnight. 
  2. Open the Nautical Pizza Pan Wreath Project in Design Space.  Resize, if necessary.  Then, click “make it.”
  3. Follow the directions to make each color vinyl without a mat.  
  4. Starting with the anchor, weed the design and place it in the center of the pizza pan (use Transfer Tape, if desired).
  5. Follow by adding “ahoy!” centered across the anchor.
  6. Then, add the ship wheel in place of the “o.”
  7. Measure nautical rope around the edge of the pizza pan.  Glue it in place using a hot glue gun.  Make sure to leave a loop unglued at the top for hanging.
  8. Once the glue has dried completely, you can hang your new wreath! 


Using the Cricut Joy makes it easy to swap between different colors of Cricut Smart Materials without using a mat.  Just plug in the machine, load your first vinyl color, and cut!  Most personalized projects can be done in 15 minutes or less! 

The Cricut Joy is small and portable making it easy to craft anywhere!  Even on-the-go!  Just pack up some vinyl and use the Design Space app to create your next home decor design! 


Did you make this Nautical Pizza Pan Wreath? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidadiy. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs

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These Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs are so juicy, super flavorful, and pack just the right amount of heat to really wake up your taste buds!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.


It’s been pretty hot and humid here in Jersey the past couple of weeks.  Summer has definitely made itself known!  And yet, I’m still somehow craving spicy food.  Does that ever happen to you?  You’re already sweating your face off, but you really want to eat something spicy?  Maybe it’s just me.  But I recently decided to put our exceptionally large bottle of Sriracha sauce to good use last week and made a pretty banging marinade! 

We had some chicken thighs in the freezer from one of our last grocery deliveries and I actually went grocery shopping in the grocery store a couple weeks ago.  That was a pretty big feat for me since I’ve been avoiding it like the…well, you know.  But I was able to grab a bunch of lemons and limes while I was there (and practically everything on my shopping list).  I’ve been using them to infuse my water, but they’ve also been great additions to homemade marinades. 

Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs

 
If you have big eaters in the family, you can count on serving two chicken thighs per person.  But depending on the size of the chicken thighs you get, you could get away with serving one per person.  Thighs are a super tender and juicy cut of chicken.  If you’re not a fan of the skin, leave it on to seal in those juices while the chicken cooks and remove it afterwards.  Marinading the chicken beforehand helps to keep it juicy, but also adds a ton of flavor that gets locked in while the chicken cooks!

This marinade starts with a 1/4 cup of Sriracha sauce.  In my opinion, it’s just enough to give it a nice kick without setting your face on fire.  It also helps that there’s the same amount of honey in it to offset the heat.  I’ve also added orange and lime juices, plus some minced garlic.  This marinade has a lot of great flavor that you can smell as the chicken cooks! 


I cooked the chicken on our cast iron skillet grill to get a nice char and grill marks on the outside.  Then, I finished cooking it in the oven at 350 degrees.  The next time I make this recipe (and it’ll be soon because it was so good), it’s totally going on the gas grill! 

If you cook them over medium heat, chicken thighs will take about 8 minutes on each side to cook through.  Let them rest for a bit before cutting into them and serve them up with some grilled veggies for a super easy summer dish! 

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Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs

Serving Size: 2

Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs, or 4 bone-in chicken thighs, skin on
  • 1/4 cup Sriracha sauce
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together Sriracha, honey, orange juice, lime juice, and garlic.
  2. Place chicken thighs in a container, or freezer bag, and pour marinade over chicken.
  3. Place container in fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  5. Spray a cast iron skillet grill with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium.
  6. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Add them to the skillet, skin-side-down, and cook for about 7 minutes.
  7. Then, flip the chicken thighs and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
  8. Transfer the chicken thighs to a baking sheet lined with foil and non-stick cooking spray.
  9. Continue cooking for 20 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through.
  10. Allow the chicken to rest 5 minutes before serving.
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If chicken thighs aren’t your jam, try this marinade on vegetables, shrimp, pork, or boneless, skinless chicken breasts before grilling!  It’s so flavorful with just the right amount of Sriracha heat! 

Did you make this Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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Asian Style Kohlrabi Noodle Salad

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This Asian Style Kohlrabi Noodle Salad is a refreshing, crunchy veggie noodle salad packed with healthy vegan ingredients and Asian inspired flavor!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps support the blog.


New Jersey is opening back up again and we were able to enjoy some backyard barbecuing with the family this past weekend for Father’s Day.  Then, my husband’s birthday was this past Monday and we barbecued again – steaks for the two of us.  We had store bought potato and macaroni salad for Saturday and a big tray of my Italian pasta salad for Sunday.   I was so sick of heavy salads by Monday, that I wanted to throw together something light and refreshing.  Especially since it was the first 90 degree day of the season!

I got a bag of kohlrabi noodles in my last Hungryroot delivery.  It was my first time ever trying them and I honestly don’t know what took me so long!  I’ve never had kohlrabi in any form before, but it kind of reminds me of a sweeter radish with a whole lot of crunch!  A lot of people seem to use them as a pasta alternative, but I loved the fresh flavor so much that I decided to keep them in their raw form and use them in a refreshing salad! 

Asian Kohlrabi Noodle Salad

 
Since I really didn’t know what I was working with at first, I looked up a bunch of kohlrabi salad recipes. A lot of the recipes I saw were slaw style salads made with apples and herbs.  They sounded pretty tasty and I’ll definitely be making a slaw in the future!  But after tasting the kohlrabi for myself, I was instantly inspired to made an Asian style salad. 

I grabbed some of our snow peas and scallions from the garden and found rainbow baby carrots (also from my Hungryroot box), mini cucumbers, and some peanuts to use.  The dressing I made is simple.  It’s just enough to finish off the salad with a nice hint of sweet and salty flavors, plus a little bit of tang from fresh lime juice!


I can see why the kohlrabi would make a nice pasta alternative, but I’m really enjoying it in its raw form.  It has such a great crunch to it and even hours after soaking in the dressing, it still had some nice crunch left to it. 

Toast the peanuts in a pan for a couple minutes to make them even crunchier and bring out more flavor.  Then, toss everything up in a big bowl and pour on the dressing.  Give the salad at least 30 minutes to soak up all of that good flavor.  If you can make it ahead of time, it’ll be even better!  

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Asian Style Kohlrabi Noodle Salad

Asian Style Kohlrabi Noodle Salad

Ingredients

  • 10 oz kohlrabi noodles
  • 2 mini cucumbers, quartered
  • 1/2 cup snow peas, chopped
  • 3/4 cup rainbow baby carrots, julienned
  • 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
  • 1/3 cup peanuts, chopped
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1/4 tsp. red chile paste
  • Dash of sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • 1 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the kohlrabi noodles, cucumbers, snow peas, baby carrots, and green onions.
  2. Add the chopped peanuts to a small skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently and toast until the nuts are golden brown in color, about 5-8 minutes.
  3. Remove the peanuts from heat and allow to cool. Then, add the peanuts to the salad.
  4. In a small bowl, mix the lime juice, red chile paste, honey, soy sauce, and olive oil.
  5. Pour the dressing over the salad and serve, or chill in the fridge until ready to eat.
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This is such a refreshing, cold salad for those steamy summer days!  If you want to make a full meal out of it, you could totally add some shrimp to it – that’s what I did the next day for lunch!  So good and such a great hot weather dish! 

Did you make this Asian Style Kohlrabi Noodle Salad recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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Everything You Wanted to Know About Hungryroot

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I’m answering everything you wanted to know about Hungryroot like plans, food, and more! Plus, I’m sharing a special discount code for new customers!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.


I’ve talked about Hungryroot a lot over the past few months!  When this pandemic started and I was avoiding the grocery store as much as possible, I became incredibly grateful for my weekly Hungryroot delivery!  I was a fan of their service before, but now even more!  Not only has Hungryroot allowed me to get great, healthy groceries delivered right to my door, but I’ve been able to discover new products through them. 

Over the past few months, I’ve received a lot of questions on social media about Hungryroot.  I’ve tried to answer them individually to the best of my knowledge.  But today, I’m answering all of your questions about Hungryroot in one, big post.  If you have any other questions that I didn’t get to, make sure to leave them in the comments!  There’s also a discount code at the end of the post so you can get $50 off when you sign up! 

Everything You Wanted to Know About Hungryroot

 

What size box do you get?

The size of your box is based on the amount of meals/groceries you want per week.  But if you want to talk in terms of small, medium, or large, the box I get is probably considered medium in size.  My plan includes 4 lunch servings, 4 dinner servings, 0 breakfast servings, 2-4 snack servings and 0 sweet servings.  

It might not seem like much just looking at the numbers, but we get a lot of food in our weekly delivery!  I’m able to freeze the meats, some of the pastas, sauces, and get a nice variety of fresh veggies, snacks, and beverages! 

Do you set your Hungryroot delivery for a certain amount of people?

Yes and no.  Again, your plan is basically based upon the amount of groceries you want to receive each week.  Going through Hungryroot’s weekly selection of groceries is like virtually going down aisles at the super market. 

So if you know how much your family consumes on a weekly basis, you can factor that into your meals, snacks, and other groceries. Also, there are serving sizes on each grocery item to make meal planning easier! 

How much is it a week? 

Cost is also determined by the amount of food you order.  You can always go into your account settings and play around with the amount of meals and snacks you want to receive.  There will be a total at the bottom to let you know how much you’ll be spending per week.

If you find that you are getting too much or too little food, you can go back into your plan and tweak the meal amounts. I actually just went into and changed my plan to get one less meal (the plan I listed above is my current plan).  We’re still getting a lot of food in our box! 

By the way, when you shop for your weekly groceries, you choose items by the amount of credits you have.  Every meal and grocery item costs a certain amount of credits.  Your weekly payment is turned into credits for the week. 

Can you choose a certain amount of items in each box?

Yes!  Each week, Hungryroot hand selects the items in your box.  However, you can go in, clear those selections, and choose your own items and meals.  You will see your allotted credits for the week on the bottom of the selection page.  You can use those credits to shop for your weekly groceries.   

If you’ve been getting weekly deliveries from Hungryroot and have some new favorite items, you can choose to get multiple of the same item!  This has been a great way to stock up on things like pasta and rice to keep on hand.  I’ve also been able to grab an extra item or two to drop off to my parents.  Or you know, just grab a few of my favorite desserts! 

Could Hungryroot replace grocery shopping for a single person?

Absolutely!  I think this is a great option for a single person who is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and cook wholesome meals.  It’s also great for meal planners since everything is already prepped for you.  All you have to do is cook it – or in some cases – just heat it up!   

If you’re a fan of leftovers, I find that most of our Hungryroot meals allow us to have leftovers for lunch the next day, too!  You can definitely stretch these meals!   

Is it meals or is it just a bunch of different ingredients?

It’s both!  Unlike other services, Hungryroot isn’t considered a meal subscription.  Sure, there are meal options that are prepped and ready for you to cook (and done within minutes!).  But you have the option to just shop for grocery items, which is what I usually do. 

When I go into my weekly list of what I’m receiving, I clear out the list completely.  I’ll browse the meal section, but I usually head straight for groceries and pick and choose from that list to create my own meals (like the zoodles with portobello mushroom balls and tomato sauce pictured above). 

Tip: check in close to the Thursday 12PM cutoff.  Hungryroot usually adds a few new grocery options to the list per week. 


I’m allergic to certain foods.  Can I speak to someone about that?

When you set up your food profile, you will have the option to personalize your dietary needs.  So if you have nut, dairy, gluten, soy, or other allergies, you’ll be able to set it up so your food availability will reflect that.  

Plus, you can click on any of the food options available for the week and see the ingredient list, nutritional facts, and ways to cook the item. 

Do you have a referral code?

Yes!  If you want to give Hungryroot grocery delivery a try, you can use the code 25OFF2HOLOKA at checkout.  You’ll get $25 off your first two deliveries!  That’s $50 in free groceries!  Not a bad deal!  

If you try Hungryroot and decide it’s not for you, you can cancel anytime. You can also skip grocery weeks and pick your delivery day.  If you have any questions (that I can’t answer here), Hungryroot’s customer service is awesome!  They’re super friendly and always get back to you in a timely manner!

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