Wedding Recap: Welcome Bags!

Our welcome bags were a labor of love. Both literally and figuratively. We wanted our bags to reflect us as a couple. My hubby is from the Washington DC area, I'm from Boston. We decided what represents us better than food? I love cook and we both love to eat and we wanted a taste of our hometowns in each bag. So we compiled a grocery bag of sorts, complete with a few of our favorite items including goodies from some great companies generous enough to share their bounty with us.

Being the environmentally friendly folks we are, we opted for brown paper grocery bags, with an m&s embossed white hangtag. Personalization was a theme throughout our weekend...

We presented each guest with a brown paper package, tied up with string:

Here's what we filled our grocery bags with:

Water -- My beverage of choice for hydration, always.

Pain killers -- For those who may have imbibed a few too Howling Wolfs (more on that later...)

Nature valley granola bar -- Who doesn't love this old standby?! And these single bars are pre-portioned. Yes!

Personalized pink, gold and silver m&ms -- They read: Megan & Stewart, The Wolfs, New York City and 11.9.13, packaged in a clear cellophane bag, sealed with twine and a small sticker reading "love is sweet."

Homemade old bay seasoning sealed with an embossed m&s sticker (same embossing as the hangtag) -- we love a well seasoned crab boil with Old Bay. 14 cups of this stuff later, we'll likely never run out. Or ever have to buy the commercial stuff again.

Dunkin' Donuts coffee -- A New England staple!  I grew up with Dunks, so the small 2oz containers we included felt like a taste of home.  And is there any better hangover cure than a good cup of coffee?

NYC magnets and a NYC map -- A memento to remember their visit, plus a little help getting around the city.

Flatout bread -- Who can resist a good wrap, sandwich bread or flatbread? Not us. Plus these babies come packed with fiber and protein: two stay-full components to any good food item. Have you ever made pizzas with these flatbreads?  They.Are.So.Good.  We especially love the foldits. And, they fit veggie burgers so perfectly.  

Peanut Butter & Co peanut butter -- Peanut butter may be my favorite food of all time (I know I say that about a lot of foods...but I'm serious about it this time)  I love peanut butter.  And this particular brand is amaze-town, USA. The flavors!  I don't think I can pick just one. But...if you twisted my arm it might be Cinnamon Raisin Swirl or White Chocolate Wonderful. OMG, they are so good.  The three is us have been hanging out for ages.  We're BFF. You know who else is BFF? Peanut butter and bread. Our guests could easily compile their own sandwich in no time at all. Lucky, lucky people! 

The Chia Company chia seeds -- These chia shots were too cute. Chia seeds are packed with healthy fat, protein and fiber and when they're mixed with liquid, they form an amazing gel.  We like ours best added to smoothies, oatmeal or yogurt. Or in chia pudding. Could this be any more convenient? Pre-portioned packages of health!

Popchips - If there's one thing I really love  in this world, it's salty, carbohydrate rich snacks. And I can gladly indulge in Popchips because they are a healthy alternative to regular potato chips. At 100 calories, they add a tasty crunch to many a lunch at our house. That aforementioned veggie burger on the Flatout bread? A perfect match with Popchips. Our favorite flavor is BBQ.

Thank you so much to each of our sponsors. Our grocery bag wouldn't have been the same without you. And our guests got a healthy dose of our favorites. Head on over to their sites and give them some love. But don't take my word for it...go out and sample the different variety of products. Find your fav and let me know!

xx,

Mrs. Wolf 

Morning Coffee Routine

Don't you just love a good cup of coffee?  I am someone who loves coffee, all kinds of coffee: basic coffee with milk, lattes, cappuccinos, iced coffee.  But I am also someone who is somewhat particular about the coffee I make at home.  

When I moved in with my (then) boyfriend, he didn't have a coffee maker in the apartment, for one very simple reason: he doesn't drink coffee.  You can imagine what distress this caused me.  And him - he went downstairs to Starbucks every.single.morning to get me coffee.  What a guy!  

While I really was ever so appreciative of my sweet man and his sweet gestures, I love making coffee in the morning and it's so much easier for him than running out every morning.  It's a win-win. 

What was our solution?  It's two fold: 

1. A Keurig.  Are you familiar with this brand?  It's a non-traditional coffee brewing system: it makes single servings, which is perfect for a household with only one coffee drinker. Plus    a Solofill (more on that below...)

2. An Aero Latte or Nespresso machine.

Here is our Keurig, he is the Platinum Brewer:

We did run into a few small problems though:

1. We have limited storage space in our kitchen and massive amounts of K-cups did not make the prime real estate cut.  

2. K-cups are expensive!  Especially if you are someone who uses 2 each time coffee is brewed (like me).

3. I don't love the taste of pre-packed K-cups as much as my beloved Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut coffee.  Even the Dunkin K-cups do not taste the same in my opinion.  

But, no problem, we worked around this...enter Solofill.  This is by far the best refillable Keurig compatible product I have found.  And, because it's sold at Bed Bath and Beyond it's 20% coupon eligible, of course!  In all seriousness, though, this really is a lifesaver: it doesn't get grounds into your coffee like the other Keurig compatible products I have tried.  And it seals tightly.  Important stuff here...

Directions to make one heck of a tasty cup of coffee:

 1. Start here: Procure some Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut coffee.  I freeze any excess coffee that I may have - in this case 5 pounds of excess.  

2. Fill a large jar with ground coffee.  This jar comfortably holds over 1 pound of ground coffee and sits with all of our other jars, which happens to be right next to the Keurig. It's good to keep things that "go" together in close proximity.  However, in most NYC apartments everything is in close proximity to everything else.  So, depending on where you live and how big your kitchen is, you may wish to consider moving your coffee canister close to your coffee brewer.  

 3.  Pack your Solofill.  I use a teaspoon to help me keep things tidy, and because most coffee measures are too large to fill this small cup.  Here is a picture of that:

And here is a picture of the Solofill packed and ready to go!

4.  Place your Solofill into your Keurig machine.  I select the second to smallest cup size.  And then make two cups (thus the reason I would need 2 K-cups).  This is the setting I prefer, but you may wish to try the medium setting first, and determine how weak or strong you take your coffee.  

If you drink your coffee black, then you are finished!  If you take your coffee with milk, read on...

If you have a Nespresso machine with a built in milk frother, then I imagine you make the most delicious frothed milk ever to be had.  But if you don't have one, not to worry!  I have a much cheaper solution for you.  An Aero Latte is a handheld milk frother for under $20 (and 20% coupon eligible) although I'm really not trying to beat a dead horse here, who doesn't want to save money?

5.  Pour your selected milk and sweetener into your brewed coffee.  Place the Aero Latte into the mug and turn on, being mindful that it might spray everywhere if you lift it up too high.  Keep it low in the mug.  You'll get fabulous whirring action that will mix in your sweetener and froth your milk.  

6. Enjoy your coffee! 

A Keurig was the best choice for us - no wasted coffee from brewing too much and can be made exactly to your liking with a Solofill.  Also, I feel as if I should note that while this post is long, the coffee brewing process really is not.  Under 3 minutes!  Faster than running down to Starbucks...

Do you like regular or flavored coffee?  Have you tried to froth your milk?  I'd love to hear from you!

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf