Shannon's Kitchen Creations

I love hosting and going to home parties. I actually was a consultant for “The Body Shop at Home” (yes the cosmetics store in the mall) for 7 years.  I did facial, makeup and pedicure parties. They were so fun and I love meeting new people and allowing woman to pamper themselves. I love getting all my friends together to hang out, relax, eat and drink!. I had 10 friends over on Friday night, my kids slept at my mother in laws and I was ready to chill out!  My friend Raeshelle is selling these adorable bags and storage bins for Thirty One Gifts!! I earned 200.00 in free products!!! Wooo Hooo!!! I will be giving away one of her adorable bags this fall, but check out her website! The bags are awesome quality and I love the fabric choices and how you can personalize them!

The Best Bag ever!!! The organizing utility tote has 7 outside pockets!! I got one to keep in my mini van to hold all my “Stuff” in the well between the front two seats and it was only 25.00!!!!

I was so excited when I was able to try some delicious wine and champagne from Barefoot Wine and Bubbly!! They sent me their Sweet Red and their Brut Cuv’ee Champagne. I also picked up a bottle of their Moscato for the home party that I hosted on Friday night!

The first wine we tried was the Sweet Red.

I made a sangria with it. I added  tons of fruit. Chopped apples, mango, pineapple, green grapes, and orange slices. All you have to do is pour the bottle of wine in a large pitcher, add one can of diet sprite or ginger ale and all your fruit. Let it marinate for 1 hour. It was amazing and you can eat the fruit with a fork.

I also bought a big bottle of the Moscato at my local liquor store. My friends loved it and they drained the bottle in no time! It was light, fresh and delicious!!

Moscato

Tastes & Delights

Delightfully sweet with lush fruity aromas. Hints of citrus skip across flavors of juicy peach and ripe apricots. A bright, crisp finish dances in at the end. It’s a bit sweeter than our Riesling.

Time to Uncork

Swingin’ on the porch swing watchin’ the world go by.

Perfect Partners

Good at keeping things fresh with some fruit or mild cheese

Brut Cuvée

Tastes & Delights

Green apple, jasmine, hints of kiwi and peach flavors bubble up for a crisp finish. Bubbling with aromas of Chardonnay, it’s our most traditional bubbly.

Time to Uncork

Simple moments. Big moments. Everyday moments…

Perfect Partners

Make a toast to that buttery lobster or fresh fruit & enjoy!

Now the best part at home parties besides the drinking and shopping is the food! I made tons of naughty favorites, but also made my delicious Roasted Eggplant Dip and a ww friendly artichoke cups. My friend Julie shared this recipe with me and I know you will love them. They are like eating artichoke dip in a wanton wrapper. Easy, low in points and everyone wanted the recipe!

Artichoke Cups

[...]

Do you like Goat Cheese?? I love it! Feta is one of my favorites, but I also love soft creamy goat cheese spread on crusty bread or in pasta. I have recently discovered how healthy goat milk is for us. It is a closer make up to human milk than cow’s milk so our body can digest it easier. It is also lower in fats and is great for people who are lactose intolerant. I have found some amazing goat’s milk products that can be found at whole foods : Redwood Hill Farm Goat’s milk yogurt (with wonderful flavors like cranberry orange and apricot and mango) and La Loos Goats milk ice cream (with divine flavors like Deep Chocolate and Rumplemint) * I will be doing giveaways for both of these companies soon!**

Image from YumSugar

Anyways I picked up some chevre (soft goat’s cheese) at the grocery store yesterday and decided to make one of my favorite pasta dishes. It is delicious!!! Enjoy!!

Tomato, Chicken and Goat Cheese Pasta

[...]

These are the best granola bars! I love them and so do the kids. I always feel like most granola bars are sad. You get 5 chocolate chips and some oatmeal in 3 bites and they are not worth the calories. But these are awesome! Big chunks of fruit and whole nuts. You actually feel like you are eating something that will actually fill you up! My favs are the trail mix bars! Check them out next time you are at the store!

Description from website:

Our TLC®, Tasty Little Chewies, chewy granola bars are truly lovable. They bring our unique blend of Seven Whole Grains and Sesame together with whole, roasted nuts, succulent, sun-dried fruit, and a touch of wildflower honey. And with 4g of Fiber and 5-7g of Protein, they are as nourishing as they are tasty.

Naturally, you won’t find any partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial anything but what you will find in our chewy granola bars is just what you’d expect from Kashi—minimally processed, pure ingredients, and natural goodness you can see as well as taste.

With whole, roasted almonds, succulent, sun-dried fruit, toasted sunflower seeds and a touch of wildflower honey, our Trail Mix granola bars have 4g of Fiber and 6g of Protein.