Meal Prep-Veggie Chipotle Salads-Wildtree Style

It's that time of year again where I get into the meal prep mode. It's too bad I'm not like this year round! But you know how it is....life gets in the way. Especially with the crazyness of the holidays.

I would like to share with you a simple meal idea to prepare lunches for the week. Yesterday I ate at Chipotle, actually to be honest, I have eaten there twice in the last week!! I just LOVE their salads and burrito bowls. So I thought, why not make them at home?! What an easy way to have lunch ready everyday.

I prepped all the basic ingredients to make Chipotle salads this week: Fajita Veggies, Cilantro Lime Rice, Pico De Gallo, and Honey Lime Vinaigrette.

I prepared the fajita veggies with some Wildtree Grapseed Oil and a sprinkling of Wildtree Fajita Seasoning. I used about 3/4's of a red and green bell pepper along with about a half of a red onion.

I prepared two cups of white rice per the package directions. Then added juice from 1 1/2 limes and about 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro.

I prepared the pico de gallo the traditional way. Just chopped roma tomatoes, cilantro, chopped red onion, chopped jalapeno, minced garlic and lime juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and your'e good to go! I never measure when I make pico, I just start throwing it all together!

I plan on packing up everything and bringing it all to work. I also cut up some extra limes for garnish. LOVE me some lime! :) And don't forget the black beans!

Here is the recipe for the knock-off Chipotle Honey Lime Vinaigrette:

Chipotle Honey Lime Vinaigrette Recipe:

1/2 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 Cup Honey
Juice from half of a lime
2 t. Dijon Mustard
1 1/4 t. Ground Chipotle Powder
3/4 t. Ground Black Pepper
3/4 t. Kosher Salt
1/2 t. Paprika
1/4 t. Garlic Powder
1/4 t. Onion Powder
1/4. Dried Oregano
1/2 Cup Wildtree Natural Grapeseed Oil

1. Combine all ingredients except for the oil in a Magic Bullet, small chopper, or blender. Whorl for about ten seconds.
2. Slowly add the oil. I used my Magic Bullet and added the oil in parts giving it a whorl in-between sections.
3. Chill and serve.

Yields 1.5 cups

I have made this dressing quite a few times now and I just LOVE it! You can also use olive oil if you prefer. For an extra kick, add a little bit of Cayenne Pepper!



I will end up packing all of this and bringing it with me to work. There will be no excuse to spend extra money on lunch!!



What meals do you prepare for prepping your weekly lunches? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Recipe adapted from: http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=chipotle_honey_vinaigrette_recipe

Thanks for stopping by!

~Megan

Flashcard Birthday Tags

My niece Emily will be turning 4 in a few days! She is the cutest, spunkiest almost 4 year old around. You just never know what she might say or do next!
I found the cutest gifts for her at Target the other day. Have you ever heard of Li'l Woodzeez? They are these cute little collectible animals and play sets. I picked out the Li'l Woodzeez Farmers Market. I also got her one of the characters to go with.

Here are the cute little tags I made to put on her package. The larger one is just some paper scraps and washi tape. And the number 4 is punched out from old flashcards!

My mother-in-law gave me two boxes of old flashcards from when my husband and his brothers were little. They are so perfectly vintage and I was excited to finally find a use for them! 

I whipped up a few more to use on future birthdays:

The bold numbers and manila folder like paper are just so simple and cute! I love the look! 

Have you made anything with vintage flashcards? I would love more ideas! 

Pampering Birthday Gift Basket

It's one of my best friend's birthdays!! My dear friend Kayla is turning another year older. I feel weird saying older, because she's not old! In fact she'll never be, because she's a few years younger than I am. Just a baby!

I wanted to share the gift basket I put together for her. I have been obsessed with giving gift baskets lately. They are just so easy and pretty! And totally functional!
The theme for this gift basket was "Pampering". I want her to feel loved, pampered and spoiled on her special day!

Here's what I included in my basket:

• Caldrea Essentials Mango Lily Body Wash
• Caldrea Essentials Mango Lily Hand Balm
• Burt's Bees Lip Shine in Whisper
• Bathery Body Sponge
• Sparkly Gold Stud Earrings
• Lindt White Chocolate Truffles

I wrapped a few items in twine and added some crinkle paper as filling. I wanted the colors to be neutral and soothing.

I shopped for everything except the basket at Target. The cute chicken wire, canvas lined basket was from Gordman's. They has the BEST baskets for all gifting, organizational and decorating needs! And best of all, they are all very reasonably priced. Home Goods is another great place to find awesome gift baskets at awesome prices! 

I had a blast shopping for the goodies to put in the basket. I mean, who doesn't love to wander the aisles of Target for what seems to be hours on end!?!? I forced myself not to grab a cart this time, because every time I do, I end up spending far more than what I went there for! I got out of there without spending a dime on myself! Impressive, I know!

I also made her a homemade card. Here's a pic of the pretty homemade sheet music envelope:

Here's a fun picture of Kayla and I:

Happy Gift Basket Giving!!!

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String

Recently, a group of my close friends had our 3rd annual Favorite Things Party. Have you ever gone to a favorite things party? If not, you should organize one right away! They are so much fun and super easy! It’s a great way to do a fun and interesting gift exchange with your favorite ladies!

Here's how we exchange our gifts:

• Everyone brings five gifts (they can all be the same, all different, or a mixture of the two)
• Stick to around $5 each gift
• Gifts can be handmade or store bought
• Everyone puts there name into a bowl five times
• There are five rounds, this year whoever had the most miles on their car started the first round :) 
• The first person that starts picks a name out of the bowl and receives one of that persons favorite things
• We then continue to go around the room until everyone has handed out one of their gifts that round
• We start each round with a different person, picked at random
• On the last round, we go around the room, without opening gifts until we make sure that everyone has received five different things
• Everyone goes home with five different Favorite Things! 

Here’s how I wrapped my favorite things.....in a simple brown paper lunch bag, tied with white twine and cute homemade layered tags. 

My Favorite Things included:

• Door County lip balm (handmade at a winery in Door County, WI)
• Tazo tea (Peachy Green and Bramblewine)
• Tea light candles
• Washi tape
• Mint Bliss Trident gum

Some other gifts included handmade scarves and boot warmers. Chocolaty sweets, lottery tickets, wine and beer. Homemade seasoning blends and hand painted coffee mugs. Perfume, favorite movies, cozy head wraps and magazines!

It was a wonderful night spent with some really great friends. I can’t wait to see what everyone brings next year! 

Customized Mappy Scrappy Thank You Cards

Welcome to my first ever blog post!!! I have dreamed, procrastinated, thought of, talked about, and anticipated this day for years now. I am FINALLY starting my own blog. With a lot of help (and encouragement) from my husband, this day has finally arrived. It's super simple right now, but it's a START. So thank you so much for stopping by!

First, one thing you should know about me: I have an obsession with maps, book pages, and sheet music. No, not reading them....tearing them up and making things out of them. So, sorry, in advance, to any book lovers, explorers or musicians, I just can't help it. I have quite a collection of vintage papers of the like that I have been hording and thrifting for some time now.

Here is a recent example of how I have used scraps of these materials to make customized thank you cards. I just love the vintage feel of the different repurposed materials.

Customized you say??? Yes, all three cards are customized to the person that I sent them to. I chose a map of the state I was sending the card to and used it to customize the card and/or envelope. Then I added book pages, sheet music and washi tape, along with my "a note of thanks" stamp on the top. For the first two envelopes, I used my new stampin' up envelope punch board, which I am currently also obsessed with. 

I hope you enjoyed this easy, simple idea for card making!