Tiny Oranges – Fresh, fun blog for OC moms

I am obsessed with this site my girlfriend sent me called www.skinnytaste.com. When I get obsessed with something I have to blog about it because it makes me so happy to share finds like this.

It’s a recipe website full of amazing low fat recipes. I am not a cook, but I successfully made three of her recipes in one week! That’s a record for for me. Woot woot!

This Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette was to die for. Completely delicious.

It was so good my husband said, “Babe! This is restaurant quality.” Never in my life has anything I made ever tasted remotely close to restaurant quality! Thank you Gina. Smooch!

I also did these Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Salsa Verde. Super yummy, healthy and choc full of protein and fiber. This is a good one to make towards the beginning of the week and have for leftovers.

Then I tried this Grilled Garlic Dijon Herb Salmon along with Susanne’s recipe for homemade vinaigrette dressing on our salad, and I got another first time quote from the hubby, “You are knocking it out of the park with these dinners!”

Big SMILE.

Her recipes are easy, flavorful and low fat.  What more could you possibly ask for?

Click here to follow her amazing boards on Pinterest, where you can even find a Kid Friendly board. Love it.

As I am preparing this post, it is a windy, rainy Sunday so I felt inspired to share this awesome post from the gals over at www.PiertoPeer.net on creative rainy day activities for kids!

Of course by the time this publishes tomorrow, I am sure it will be sunny again, but rainy day or not, Pier to Peer has come up with some really great ideas on ways to keep the kiddos entertained indoors. Personally I am going to use some of these with my older daughter when my little one is napping.

Pier to Peer is a local So Cal blog written by three mamas sharing their thoughts, opinions and adventures with their beach city friends.  Although focused on South Bay happenings, their blog covers topics that appeal to moms everywhere.

Fresh, real, and full of great ideas and articles, book mark it and add it to your list of mom blogs to follow! I am a Pier to Peer fan!

www.PiertoPeer.net * Follow on Facebook * Tweet with the @PiertoPeerGirls * Follow on Pinterest

As I am sure you can tell from my blog, I have a special love for Orange County and all things OC.  So when I found this new website, www.myHealthyOC.com, which marries my local love with my passion for health and fitness, it was one juicy match made in heaven!

Mamas, I cannot R-A-V-E enough about this site.

And please note that you do not have to be a fitness fanatic or an over-the-top health nut to enjoy it.  Anyone with even a little bit of interest in wellness, fitness and healthy living will get something out of this site. There is truly a little somethin’ for everyone.

By bringing together OC folks who have a health-minded focus and sharing interesting content and local companies in the health arena, www.myHealthy OC.com is about bringing a bigger awareness to health and and the abundance of resources available right here in our own backyard to help you live your healthiest life.

Feeling inspired? You will.

Let me talk about their content first. I am busy busy busy. I know you are too. Usually when I go on a website, I don’t have a ton of time to browse around.

But the first time I clicked onto www.myHealthyOC.com, I was sucked into reading their articles one after the other because the topics were just downright HELPFUL.

Posts like, What’s a serving size anyway?… I thought I knew, do you?

Get Inspired: Eat to live, not live to eat…great advice by Dr. Lyndsay Elliott a local Newport Beach body image specialist whom I happen to adore.  She wrote this article for me last year on how to promote positive body image in our children. One of my 2011 favorites.

Green recycling…what do you do with your old cell phones and electronics? Where do I take them? What is even considered recyclable? This article gives the facts.

Top five health apps…who knew?! The Snack App?! LOVE IT!

I immediately signed up for their e-mail list (right column top home page) so I don’t miss a post.

Now a little about supporting fellow OC companies.

www.myHealthy OC.com features great local companies in the areas of nutrition, fitness and wellness.

Make sure to visit the www.myHealthyOC.com shop where you can find SPECIAL deals offered to www.myHealthyOC.com readers! Yes, you can find www.myHealthyOC.com discounts and promos to help save you some $$$!

Plus, it just makes for an easier buying experience.  A virtual local marketplace, if you will!

Supporting local businesses is not only good for Orange County and the environment, it is also good for the soul. I know I get a little warm fuzzy every time I shop local.

So, check it out, bookmark it, sign up for the email list, like www.myHealthy OC.com on Facebook, tweet with the nice peeps at @myHealthyOC on Twitter and get inspired for a healthy and happy 2012!

[Disclosure: wwww.myHealthy OC.com is  a Tiny Oranges Sponsor.]

After four long months  I am so excited to introduce our new design and new look!!

It’s extra special we got the new look launched this week of all weeks, because tomorrow is my 3rd blog birthday!

To celebrate our new design AND  birthday, we will be posting our biggest giveaway EVER tomorrow! Make SURE you come back and enter. Believe me, you will want to enter! Here’s why.

So, about the new design…what do you think? Do you like?

Please take my new comment field for a test drive and let me know!

Speaking of test drives, with projects like this, sometimes right out of the gate there might be a few bugs and things that might not work exactly how they should. If you catch one, please do let me know.  And thanks in advance for your patience.

I would like to extend an ever-so-grateful heartfelt thanks to the tremendously talented Lisa of VentureSom who is the incredible woman behind our new look.

She took my ramblings of abstract wishes like…”I want a clean, modern look, but with a touch of whimsy, and oh yes, I have always wanted a modern looking “tree” to symbolize a family tree, and you know, with the whole ORANGES theme, I love the idea of an orange tree, and, oh,  I just want it to be SUPER CUTE, like a site you want to visit because you love to look at it, and, and, and…”

…and she brought my vision to life.

I don’t know how she did it, but she did.  Thank you Lisa, for everything.

Thank you for being here today and reading. I love you all – really I do. You have no idea.

You are the reason I have so much passion behind this blog. Now speaking of love, can you show me some love by testing out my comments and letting me know your thoughts?!

Thank you!!!!!!

xoxo

Today is the last day to vote in the Circle of Moms Top 25 SoCal Mom Blogs and I am shamelessly using this post to ask you to please (pretty please?) click over and vote for Tiny Oranges! Voting ends at 5pm PST today.

We were in 2nd for awhile, then got into 1st for a glorious day, and then we fell into 3rd. If even a small portion of you reading my email update click over and vote, I think I MIGHT have a chance of getting into 1st!

And I would do one big happy dance!

Can you help me?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Click HERE to go to my direct page and click the vote “thumbs up” icon.

Click HERE to see the list of all the fabulous mom bloggers in Southern California!