Life without a television is often pretty productive, I’ve discovered. The problem is when you want to have a “date night” at home, and there is nowhere to watch a movie! Out of necessity, we started watching movies on our laptop, but found it to be more comfortable to watch it in bed. Que romantica! And just to make sure no hanky-panky happens before the movie is over (this only sometimes works!), we make our favorite snack to eat during the movie. Kettle corn!

It’s probably my most favorite snack ever, which is kind of rough on me this week, because I’m doing a two week sugar ban with a friend. So, since I can’t have any, I figured I would share with you a little video demonstration on how to make your own kettle corn at home.

(Please be gentle! This is my very first shy and hat-headed attempt at making a nice short film for you all.) (Music is “Vanishing” by Architecture in Helsinki.)

Resolution #14:
Try new recipes.
Guest Blog post by Danielle 

Hi Here’s Looking at Me, Kid readers, Danielle here, from Sometimes Sweet (http://sometimessweet.blogspot.com)! I’m ecstatic to be sharing an incredibly healthy, extremely easy, and super fun recipe with all of you today.  I remember before I jumped in and actually prepared spaghetti squash myself I would see this large veggie in the produce aisle and feel a little intimidated.  I’d heard a lot about it, but the idea of a vegetable looking and tasting like pasta- how on earth would I achieve that?!  Luckily, this veggie is incredibly simple to prepare and takes less than an hour to put this delicious, nutritious meal on your table. And what better way to start the new year than with a new healthy recipe to add to your arsenal of dishes?

1) Purchase a spaghetti squash from your local grocer- you’lre looking for a squash that feels heavy for its size and one that has no cuts or bruises on the outside.

2) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is heating up, prepare your squash by cutting it in half, length wise.

3) Remove all of the seeds from each side of the squash with your hands.  Don’t be afraid to get in there, but be careful not to scrape too much off of the sides of the squash in your de-seeding efforts; be gentle.  And if you’d like, you can even roast the seeds in the same way you’d roast pumpkin seeds!

4) Place the squash, cut side up, on a tin-foiled baking sheet.  Add a pinch each of sea salt and pepperif you’d like. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the squash is slightly browned, as shown in the last photo in the sequence below.

You can also pre-season the squash with butter, brown sugar, or anything else you’d like, but for the sake of staying as healthy as possible I chose not to.  There are many healthy pre-seasoning variations too- everything from olive oil and oregano to garlic and basil- so don’t be afraid to experiment!  And just so you know, a four-ounce serving of spaghetti squash has only 37 calories! Amazing.

5) Remove the cooked squash from the oven and scrape the sides with a fork.  The “meat” of the squash should be easily scraped off and resemble spaghetti!

6) Place in a bowl, and cover with sauce of your choice…and enjoy your incredibly healthy meal

Resolution #6:
Throw more parties.
Guest Blog post by Elsie of A Beautiful Mess

Hello there! I’m Elsie from A Beautiful Mess and I am super excited to share some fun party ideas for this new year! I put this little party table together in 30 minutes, for under $40!

Parties with pals don’t have to be super expensive or time consuming to be fun and memorable. I opted for colored candies and fresh fruit and flowers. My sister, Emma, created this yummy raspberry sparkler cocktail too! Don’t forget to take photos of your cute parties and get-togethers because they’re a lot of fun to blog about too.

Here are a few sweet ideas for 2011 parties…

*Have a fancy ‘girls only’ tea party. Dress up and take lots of instant photos!
*Have a donut party. You know you want to…
*Have a movie themed costume party. Make sure you have your camera too. ;)
*Invite your pals over for a craft night. Be sure to collect lots of cute supplies in advance!
*Make your own photo booth backdrop for a cute get-together.
*Host a back yard camp out with friends, tents, sleeping bags and smores.

Xo. elsie