DIY Dip-Dye Plastic Wine Glasses

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.  #VinoBlockParty #CollectiveBias The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or older. 

Summer is in full swing here in South Florida! One of my favorite parts of summer is the extra time I have to get together with my friends and neighbors. We recently moved into a new apartment complex and have slowly gotten to know a few neighbors here and there. We get together by the pool on the weekends and everyone brings a little something, whether it be drinks or food. It's a lot of fun, gets everyone out of the house and we socialize. Our next "block party" will be this weekend and I have decided to kick it up a notch with fun, dip-dyed wine glasses!! 

Check out our pool area. Can you blame us for wanting to be out there all day??

Back to getting ready for Saturday's block party. I went to my local party store and stocked up on some fun, summery decorations for the table I am taking out to the pool. I have picked up two bottles of white wine so I made sure to buy plastic wine glasses. Plastic wine glasses are perfect for the pool since there won't be a risk of glass shards if one breaks and they are super easy to personalize!!

First step is to assemble your glasses and gather your materials. 

For this project, I am using three colors of acrylic paint that I already had and three plates to hold my paint. I added a couple drops of water to each plate. You will also need a towel that can be painted or a tray covered in parchment paper to place the glasses on to dry. 

Now to dip-dye. Honestly, this is the easiest craft on the planet. Grab your glass by the top and dip it in the paint.

Slowly lift the glass and turn it around so the paint coats the bottom evenly. 

Let the excess paint drip off and then gently tap the stem on the edge of the plate a few times to remove any more excess paint.

Repeat with every other color you use. 

I used three different paint colors that represented summer fun!!

Once the excess paint has dripped off, place your cup top side down to dry for about an hour.

Meanwhile, set up your table with your summery decorations and don't forget your chilled wine!

I purchased two bottles of Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi wine, one Sauvignon Blanc and one Pinot Grigio. Woodbridge is made for sharing. Woodbridge has been around for 30 years and is a brand you can trust! Chilled white wine on a lazy pool day sounds amazing to me!

You can make these dip-dye plastic wine glasses for any occasion or holiday and they can be further personalized with markers or wine charms. 

Be sure to check out the Simple Entertaining Social Hub and follow Woodbridge on social: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest!

Springtime Lamb Roast with Lemon & Herb Risotto

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MySignatureDish #CollectiveBias

I love to cook. Growing up, I wanted to go to culinary school but my life took me in a different direction. My love for cooking and learning new techniques has never faded. Now, it's a hobby. A hobby that JC totally loves since he gets to try new dishes all the time. Recently, to celebrate the arrival of Spring, I decided to make him a special dish, something more gourmet than I usually make. To me, spring is fresh herb and lemon dishes. After a little thought, I knew exactly what I wanted to make: a delicious Springtime Roast Lamb with a Lemon & Herb Risotto. So fancy!

Springtime Lamb Roast

serves 3-4

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2-3 pound leg of lamb, boneless and butterflied

salt and pepper to taste

Filling:

1 cup baby spinach

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup fresh rosemary

5 cloves garlic, diced

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

kitchen twine

When I make dishes like this, I like to pull out all the stops. I purchase organic lamb, the freshest ingredients I can find and I always use my most amazing cookware: my bad boy Calphalon Signature™ Stainless Steel 12" Omelette Pan. One thing I have learned about cooking is that you need to use the right pans for certain dishes. My Springtime roast lamb needs to be seared and then roasted. I need to use a pan that heats evenly and can be transferred from stove top to oven. Calphalon Signature™ Stainless Steel cookware is made with five layers of metal that delivers exceptionally even heating and precise temperature control. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Gather all the ingredients for your filling.

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic, rosemary and walnuts. Cook until fragrant (about 5 minutes.)

Add spinach, salt and pepper to taste and cook until spinach wilts. 

Transfer filling to plate. Wipe down pan with a paper towel. Now to prepare your lamb for searing. First, make sure your lamb has been set out for at least 30 minutes if it was in the refrigerator. Cover your lamb with a piece of wax paper and than pound/flatten all over.

Season lamb with salt and pepper lightly. Then spread filling evenly all over the top of the meat. 

Now to roll it up. Cut a long piece of kitchen twine and set aside. 

Start at the thinnest end and slowly roll your meat. Some of the filling will spill out. Just stuff it back in at the end. 

Tie with twine. Make sure you tie it tight and end with a bow!

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Place lamb in pan and sear for about 3-4 minutes per side. 

I love to sear all meats I roast. Searing gives your roast such a beautiful color and helps trap in the juices! Once seared on all sides, transfer roast in the pan to oven and bake for about 1 hour. 

After 1 hour, remove roast from oven and let sit for about 15 minutes before serving. 

Make sure you slice into the meat with an extremely sharp knife. Also, make sure the slices are about 1 inch thick. Look at that filling!

I served my Springtime Lamb Roast with a Lemon and Herb Risotto. I love making risotto when I feel like a fancy meal, especially on date nights. I instantly feel like I am out at a restaurant, even though it's just JC and I at home.

Lemon & Herb Risotto

Serves 2

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup Arbolo rice

2 tbsp yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups chicken stock, warmed

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Add rice and cook until rice begins to crackle, about 2 minutes. 

Slowly add chicken stock. NOTE: Please warm chicken stock before adding. This is a super important step to make sure your risotto is soft and creamy. 

Cover and cook rice over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, finely chop all your fresh herbs. 

Once your rice is al dente, lower heat to low and add your fresh herbs. 

Add your lemon juice, stir and turn off the heat. 

IMPORTANT: Time your meal so that the risotto is ready to serve as soon as it's done. If you need to wait before you serve it, keep it on low heat and add a little warm chicken stock before serving. 

This meal is so delicious. I highly suggest you try it out on your next at-home date night!

I love my stainless steel pans but honestly, I used to be terrified to use them. They look so pretty when you take them out of the box but man can they be nasty when you are done cooking with them. It used to be such a pain to clean all the cooked on food until I found the easiest method to clean stainless steel ever!

All you need to keep your stainless steel pans looking like new is a bottle of non-abrasive, non-bleach cleaner, a little water, a scrubbing pad and a cloth. 

First, add a little water to your stainless steel pan. Then sprinkle in your cleaner to a paste consistency.

Now for a little work. This part is all elbow grease. Grab your scrubbing pad and start scrubbing. It's not too bad though, you will immediately start seeing those spots disappear. Once all stains have been removed, rinse your pan and dry with a soft cloth. 

VOILA! Like new!! I always, always clean my stainless steel pans like this and they always come out amazing!!

In case you were wondering, I purchased my Calphalon Signature™ Stainless Steel cookware at Bed, Bath & Beyond! They are available online and in stores. Calphalon Signature™ Non-stick and Stainless Steel cookware pieces have a full lifetime warranty!

Tell me: Do you pull out all the stops for certain dishes? Do you go gourmet when it's a date night at home?

Be sure to check out Calphalon on Facebook and Instagram for more culinary inspiration!

Cheesy Chicken, Brown Rice & Veggie Bake

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MyNutrishDish #CollectiveBias

I love to cook special dinners for my family on Sundays. I especially love a classic with a twist. One of my kid's favorite dishes is a cheesy chicken casserole but recently I have started making it a little healthier than the original recipe we all grew up with. I make a few substitutions, the main one being that I do not use canned soup. I also use brown rice instead of white rice. Even with my updates, my Cheesy Chicken with Brown Rice and Veggies Bake, is still considered a favorite in our home!

When I say family, I mean JC, the kids, my dog Paris and me. I believe that dogs are part of our family. My Paris has been with me since my college days, not to age myself but she has been around for 14 years! 

My girl is a trooper. She rarely gets sick, eats everything she finds and love herself some human food. I do slip her some human food here and there but most of the time she eats dog food. I like for her to have yummy, tasty dog food that she actually eats so recently we have switched over to Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® DISH Chicken & Brown Rice recipe with Veggies & Fruit food. 

The Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® dog food line is dedicated to "Real Recipes. Real Ingredients. Real Good," which means whole ingredients you can see for a taste your dog will love. Real U.S. farm raised beef or chicken is always the #1 ingredient and you'll never find corn, wheat, soy or gluten, poultry by-product meat, fillers, artificial preservatives, colors or artificial flavors on the recipe label. In fact, every DISH from Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® recipe is made with whole ingredients you can see, like slow-roasted chicken, carrots, peas, potatoes and apples for a while taste your dog will love. 

Honestly, this new food that Paris has been loving led to me updating the traditional chicken casserole recipe to a lighter, healthier dish for my family. 

CHEESY CHICKEN WITH BROWN RICE & VEGGIES BAKE

Serves 6

Prep & Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat

2 tbsp olive oil

3/4 cup milk

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups long-grain brown rice

1 tbsp butter

1 can peas and carrots, drained and rinsed

 2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 cup shredded colby jack cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a pan, heat the 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste. Place chicken breasts side by side on hot oil and cook for 3 minutes on one side.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, add flour and milk. Cook over medium-high heat until boiling. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper. 

Turn the chicken breasts to the other side and cook for another 3-4 minutes. I like seared chicken in my bake. Searing traps the juices in and makes your meats so much more delicious. 

Spray your casserole dish (I keep this old-school one on hand just for this dish!), with nonstick cooking spray and then add the 2 cups of rice evenly. 

Add butter, peas and carrots. 

Then, slowly drizzle your liquid mixture over the rice and veggies.

Add chicken breasts.

Pour chicken stock into your dish

Sprinkle cheese evenly. Cover dish tightly with aluminium foil. 

Bake 35-40 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove form oven, uncover and let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.  

I love how this dish looks. Oh and I love that's it's all in one dish, makes clean-up a little easier! 

This cheesy chicken, brown rice and veggie bake is not creamy since I do not use canned soup but honestly, you won't miss it. It's so good!

I love getting ideas for new or updated dishes from unexpected places! Who would have thought that from buying my Paris new dog food that I would have updated a classic!!

I love to help a cause.  Did you know that Rachael's personal proceeds go to Rachael's Rescue? Rachael's Rescue was created to help shelter pets in need. To date, she has donated over $10MM. This money has gone toward food, medical supplies and treatments for these unfortunate animals. 

Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® DISH is sold at a variety of retailers in store and online. Discover a location near you by visiting the store locator here. Click here for a coupon to make the switch!

Learn more about Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® DISH products by checking them out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!