Guest Post--> Prepping for a Date Night In

Hey y'all! I was wrong about Wednesday being the last day for the giveaway which you can enter here! It is actually today! It ends at 10 PM so get in your last minute entries. There has been some confusion on how to enter. In order to enter you have to follow me on bloglovin. You can do that here. Then you can check off on the giveaway that you have done that and complete the other entries at will! Hopefully that clears things up a little :)

Today I am excited to introduce Kade from Blonde Bellezza! I love that I can make new friends through blogging and I can already tell I am going to need to keep reading and following up on her blog because she shares awesome makeup tips, that let's be honest, I could really use! You can check out my post on her blog here! Go on over and check her blog out because it is wonderful! I am so glad that I have become blogger buddies with her.

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Hi guys! My name is Kade and I write a beauty blog at Blonde Bellezza and I just started a second blog for all my favorite recipes at Bellezza Recipes. I decided to start a blog while living in Europe last year, so I combined two of my favorite things: Italy & Beauty and with that Blonde Bellezza was born!

I am so excited to be a guest post for Stef's awesome blog for you today combining beauty tips & my favorite recipes and show you my idea of a perfect date night in, so keep reading below to check out my tips & recipes for your date!

First off whether you're staying in, or going out Date Night is the perfect time to spend a little extra time to prep, prime, and primp starting off with spending an extra couple minutes doing your makeup. My favorite thing that helps me feel extra glammed up in mascara. To get the most of your lashes, double up on a lengthening & a thickening mascara and apply two coats of each. The first one from the base of your lashes all the way up and then second one just at the tips! These are my favorite two go-to's and I usually put a 3rd kind to help them stay put using Anastasia's waterproof topcoat which you can check out here!

When's you're all dolled up it's time to start prepping in the kitchen! I love mixing up a batch of Sparkling Fruit Punch using:

3 cans of sparkling green tea

1/2 bottle of 7up or Sparkling water

Peach juice to taste

1 lemon sliced

Chunks of your other fav fruit whether that's strawberries or watermelon, you name it! Combine and enjoy!

Now it's time to whip up a Starter Salad for a delicious side:

You're going to want to have pecans on hand, either whole or chopped are fine. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter and drizzle over top along with a few pinches of salt and sugar and then roast them in the oven at 350 for a couple minutes stirring often. Be careful not to burn, you will know they are ready when they start to get a bit darker.

Next combine baby spinach with your other favorite type of lettuce, cut up and add strawberries and blueberries. Sprinkle with goat cheese, so so good, and top with this super easy delicious dressing:

Summer Salad Dressing:

1/4 Cup of Raspberry Vinaigrette

1-1 1/2 Tbsp of Mayonnaise

About 3 tsps. of sugar

*add a bit of sugar at a time and do some taste tests to make sure its not too sour and not too sweet! Top with chicken breast and you'll be the fanciest salad maker around!

When you're done your prep work, go ahead and put on your favorite party dress, or date night outfit and then get back to the kitchen to finish the details of this delicious date night main course: Honey-Garlic Bacon wrapped Chicken Bites, yum!

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless chicken breasts

20 thin bacon slices

3 tbsp honey

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1 tsp of ginger

1 clove of garlic or equivalent

Directions:

1.Cut the chicken breasts in thin strips. (Be careful not to cut it too thin because the bacon has to brown and if the chicken is too thin it will get dry before the bacon is crispy and that would be a sin!)

2.Soak the chicken in the soy sauce, ginger, & garlic for at least half an hour, or overnight for super flavor

3. Take the chicken out of the mixture and keep the sauce handy. Wrap each piece of chicken with a piece of bacon and place on a baking sheet. When all the chicken is bacon wrapped and on your cooking or baking sheet, brush each piece with remaining mixture and honey. If you hate mess than you can put them on foil, but it might stick a bit.

4. Bake them in a preheated oven at 425F (225C) for about 12 minutes, or until the bacon looks crispy, take them out flip em' over, spread more honey delicousness on them and put them back in the oven for about another 12 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy again.

If you're looking for a vegetarian alternative check out my recipe for buffalo tofu fingers here  and pair either the tofu or chicken bites with garlic mashed potatoes, or this vegan cauliflower recipe I found on Pinterest today that I cannot wait to try!