Living La Vida Holoka


Roasted Fall Vegetable Medley

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This Roasted Fall Vegetable Medley is a simple side dish made with a rainbow of fall veggies like potatoes, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, mushrooms, and more!

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After my last trip to the farmer’s market, I had a bunch of vegetables that needed to be used.  I also had a full container of butternut squash from my Hungryroot box.  It’s obvious, with my latest veggie picks, that I am saying good-bye to summer produce and welcoming in all of fall’s beautiful fruits and veggies! Who knew that I had a rainbow just sitting in my fridge!

Roasted Fall Vegetable Medley

 
This roasted vegetable medley recipe gives me all the fall vibes! It’s full of colorful and delicious seasonal veggies. It’s a simple side dish, but sometimes the simplest dishes are the ones that end up being the most satisfying.  This roasted veggie medley is warm, comforting, and goes well with just about any of your favorite fall dishes! 


After chopping all of my veggies and herbs, I added them to a large mixing bowl and drizzled them with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil.  I used just enough olive oil to coat my veggies so they would they would brown up nicely and get a crisp, golden edge.


I prepared a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the veggies evenly onto it.  Then, they went into the oven, at 400 degrees, to roast to golden perfection!


Give the veggies a flip halfway through cooking so they’ll roast evenly.  Cooking time may vary depending on how golden and crispy you like your veggies.  I cooked my veggie medley for 50-60 minutes because I like those super dark bits.  If you like your veggies a little lighter, bake for 40 minutes. 


Plate the roasted veggies and garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary, if desired, and you have an easy fall side dish that’s colorful and delicious! 

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Roasted Fall Vegetable Medley

Roasted Fall Vegetable Medley

Ingredients

  • 2 medium-large red potatoes, chopped
  • 3 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
  • 2 cups baby bella mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
  • 2 cups butternut squash, cubed
  • 1 small red onion, sliced into half moons
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh thyme
  • 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Add the chopped veggies and herbs to a large bowl.
  3. Add the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
  4. Spread the veggies evenly onto the prepared baking sheet.
  5. Bake veggies for 40-50 minutes, turning halfway, until tender and golden brown around the edges.
  6. Garnish with fresh rosemary, if desired, and serve.
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If you really want to up your veggie medley game, give this a drizzle of balsamic glaze.  Or you could really go crazy and add some crumbled bacon! 

I know that it might seem a little too early to talk about Thanksgiving, but this would make a killer Thanksgiving side dish!  Easy, too! And it will add a beautiful rainbow of colors to your holiday spread! 


Every single one of these veggies is in season right now, so take advantage!  Hit the farmer’s market and enjoy this simple fall side dish! 

Did you make this Roasted Fall Vegetable Medley recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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21 Magical Harry Potter Halloween Decorations

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Make your home feel like Hogwarts this Halloween with these 21 Magical Harry Potter Halloween Decorations!

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If you’ve ever imagined what holidays are like at Hogwarts (because I totally have), now you can have a Harry Potter Halloween at home with these Hogwarts inspired decorations!  I love how the Harry Potter movies brought the Great Hall feasts to life.  As a Halloween lover, the Hallowe’en Feast looks like an incredible time!  I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend Halloween with friends, eating all kinds of sweets, surrounded by magic?  

I think one of my favorite ways the movies have brought the Great Hall Hallowe’en Feast to life is with the decorations.  There’s the enchanted ceiling that makes it look like you’re sitting under the night sky.  Then, there’s the floating candles and jack-o’-lanterns.  And, of course, there are the random ghostly residents that make their appearances throughout the celebration.

21 Magical Harry Potter Halloween Decorations

 
If you want to bring a little bit of that Hogwarts magic into your home this Halloween, check out these 21 decoration ideas!  You can string up flameless taper candles with fishing line and hang them from the ceiling.  Add some other wizardly touches with a black cauldron, a sorting hat, and even an oversized chess set that will make you feel like you’re playing Wizard’s Chess! 

On the darker side of magic, you can hang a grim reaper that looks very similar to a Dementor!  And beware of Death Eaters with a wanted poster or two!  Don’t forget your potion bottles!  You wouldn’t want them getting into the wrong hands. 

  1. Flameless Taper Candle Lights
  2. Hanging Grim Reaper
  3. Realistic Hairy Spider
  4. Footprint Floor Decals
  5. Hanging Flame Light
  6. Halloween Pumpkin String Lights
  7. Faux Leather Sorting Hat
  8. Harry Potter Remote Control Wand
  9. Electronic Plush Mandrake
  10. Bellatrix Lestrange Wanted Poster
  11. Ministry of Magic Decal
  12. Snow Owl Plush Animal
  13. Harry Potter Candy Bundle
  14. Black Cauldron
  15. Golden Snitch Table Lamp
  16. Antique Style Brass Skeleton Keys
  17. Harry Potter Hogwarts Banner
  18. Decorative Storage Suitcases
  19. Black Apothecary Bottles
  20. Star Fleece Throw Blanket
  21. Oversized Chess Set

When the magic of Halloween has settled, you can cozy up with a starry fleece blanket (reminiscent of the Great Hall ceiling), snuggle up with a plush owl, crack open some candy, and keep the spellwork going with a remote control wand for your TV!  Pretty fun, huh?!

Are you a Harry Potter fan?  Have you turned your home into Hogwarts for Halloween before?

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Sausage, Spinach, and Tomato Pasta Bake

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Looking for an easy weeknight dish full of fresh and flavorful ingredients and topped with gooey mozzarella cheese? This Sausage, Spinach, and Tomato Pasta Bake is it!

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


It’s finally happening!  Cooler mornings and evenings have replaced sweltering days and nights.  It’s been a blissful fall preview that has me craving fire pit nights (I’ve already had a few), hoodies, and warm meals like big bowls of soup and pasta.  All I’ve wanted lately is a pile of pasta on a plate.

And pumpkin, but we’ll get to that some other time. 

My craving for pasta is noticeable once you open the cabinet holding our dry goods, revealing about three full boxes of pasta in all different shapes.  My favorite seems to be rotini.  I mostly use Banza rotini thanks to my Hungryroot box.  It’s a chickpea pasta and the corkscrew shape isn’t just fun to eat, it grabs all of that saucy goodness in your dish!  That’s why I like using it in pasta bakes! 

Sausage, Spinach, and Tomato Pasta Bake

 
Sure, it’s easy to crack open a jar or can of tomato sauce.  But I wanted to use fresh tomatoes in this pasta bake.  An homage, if you will, to our garden tomatoes that are seemingly on their way out for the season.  Another sayonara to summer that’s had me sneaking in some store bought tomatoes while we wait to see if the rest on our plant ripen. 

Despite all of the tomatoes I used in this recipe, this pasta bake isn’t really saucy, but it has a lot of bulk and fresh flavor.  Along with fresh tomatoes, I also added in some fresh baby spinach that I picked up at the farmer’s market, onion from our garden, garlic, and sausage. 

Grocery shopping every three weeks has me loading up on meat for our freezer.  Needless to say, we have quite a few portioned bags of sausage right now.  But sausage made a perfect addition to this fresh and delicious pasta bake!  It added great flavor to it while making it a meaty dish you can really sink your teeth into!


Making this dish is simple.  Cook the pasta just until it’s al dente, drain, and set it aside.  Since I had sausage links, I created my own crumbles by removing the sausage from the casings and browning and crumbling it in a skillet.  Once it was cooked, I removed it from the pan. 

In that same pan, I added in my onion and garlic and stirred in the tomatoes.  Once they softened and starting breaking down, I added in some herbs and spices.  At the very last minute, before adding the sausage and pasta into the pan, I added my spinach and cooked it just until it wilted. 

Then, I mixed everything up, spooned it into a casserole dish, and topped it with mozzarella cheese.  Then, the pasta went into the oven and cooked until the mozzarella got nice and melty and started to bubble, but not brown.  It was fresh, cheesy, and delicious! 

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Sausage, Spinach, and Tomato Pasta Bake

Sausage, Spinach, and Tomato Pasta Bake

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. box rotini pasta
  • 4 sweet Italian sausage links
  • 1/3 cup red onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 6-8 Roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 tsp. fresh oregano
  • 1 tbsp. fresh basil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Crushed red chili pepper flakes, just a pinch
  • 1-1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

  1. Salt a pot of water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 6-8 minutes.
  2. Drain pasta and set aside.
  3. Remove sausage from casings and heat in a skillet over medium heat.
  4. Break up the sausage into crumbled pieces and cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from skillet.
  5. Add onion and garlic to the skillet and cook just until softened and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
  6. Add the tomatoes to the skillet and cook until the tomatoes start breaking down. Then, add in the herbs, salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.
  7. Add the sausage and pasta into the skillet and stir to combine.
  8. Spoon the pasta mixture into a casserole dish.
  9. Top with mozzarella cheese and cook in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starts to bubble.
  10. Serve immediately.
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I was honestly a little nervous to serve this for dinner the night I made it.  My husband isn’t the biggest fan of sausage or “soggy,” AKA cooked, vegetables.  But I was pleasantly surprised when he put a heaping serving on his dinner plate and wanted leftovers for lunch the next day! 

Did you make this Sausage, Spinach, and Tomato Pasta Bake recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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How to Make a Craft Supplies Kit for Kids

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If you have a kid who loves arts and crafts, this DIY kit is full of age appropriate kids craft supplies that will allow them to create all kinds of imaginative projects!

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My niece’s 7th birthday was at the beginning of the month.  We’ve spent a lot of time, over the past seven years, crafting and creating together!  She knows her Aunt Jess loves to get crafty, she always loves seeing the projects I’m working on, and she’s even asked me if my house is a craft museum!  

Since we’ve made loads of projects together, I thought it was about time that I made my niece a craft kit of her very own.  I wanted to fill the kit with craft supplies that were a little more mature than just crayons and coloring books.  But I also wanted to make sure they were age appropriate and safe for her to work with.  


So I headed to Michaels to see what I could put together.  The first thing I looked for was something to hold all of the craft supplies and keep things organized.  At first, I was thinking about a craft tote.  But then I saw plastic scrapbook cases.  I actually have a few myself and they’re the perfect size to hold all of my vinyl scraps and paper crafting supplies.  I grabbed a clear one for my niece and planned to fill it up with supplies and put my niece’s name on it later. 

As I walked around the entire store, I didn’t really have a game plan.  But I ended up grabbing a bunch of basic supplies like glue, kids scissors, paint brushes, and a drawing pad.  I did another walk around the store and added some unicorn stickers, a painting set, washi tape, and the greatest, biggest set of #2 and colored pencils topped with fun erasers!

How to Make a Craft Supplies Kit for Kids

 

  1. 12″ x 12″ Clear Scrapbook Case
  2. Crayola Washable Glue
  3. Blunt Tip Kids Scissors
  4. Modeling Clay Set
  5. Paint Brushes
  6. Glitter Glue Pens
  7. Drawing Pad
  8. Canvas Painting Kit
  9. Washi Tape Set
  10. Colorful Cartoon Animal Pencils
  11. Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils
  12. Pipe Cleaners Craft Pack
  13. Unicorn Puffy Stickers
  14. Wood Picture Frame
  15. Unicorn Cookie Cutter

Like I said, I found all of the items I used to fill the craft supplies kit at Michaels.  But if you don’t have a Michaels near you, you can find similar items, listed above, on Amazon.

I actually had that unicorn cookie cutter in my cart and took it out at the last minute. Even though my niece likes baking and helping out in the kitchen, I felt like the cookie cutter didn’t really mesh with the rest of the kit. 

I almost regret not getting it since she could have used it with the modeling clay.  But it’s always something I can pick up another time! 


I used my Cricut Joy machine to add my niece’s name on the front of the scrapbook case.  Then, I filled it up with the supplies I bought her.  I had to wrap the pencil set separately because it was so big, but everything else fit perfectly inside the case!   

I can’t wait to see my niece and give her this craft supplies kit!  Hopefully she’ll be as excited as I am about this kit and want to make something right away with her new supplies! 

Did you make a Craft Supplies Kit for Kids? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidadiy. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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