Summer always makes me excited to entertain and take advantage of these late sunsets with some evening entertaining, and one of my favorite ways to do that is to have friends over and make a delicious spread on a whim. I’ve been using Walmart+ to order my groceries, and it’s such a perfect way to throw together some snacks and bites without having to leave the house so that I can use the extra time to tidy up or make a fun playlist before friends come over. What’s the easiest way to feed your guests with the least amount of energy spent: a cheese and charcuterie board. Load tasty goodies on the board, pop open a bottle of sparkling water or wine, and enjoy some yummy snacks with friends. It’s casual, it’s quick, it’s cute and almost always gone by the end of the night so that clean up is a breeze.

What’s even easier than throwing together a cheese board? Getting it delivered fresh with a Walmart+ membership. You can even throw in a pretty new cheese board with your order, and have it delivered from your local store and have it delivered to you same day. It’s so simple — I just browse their website or app to curate my cheeseboard with fresh produce from the comfort of my couch. They hand-pick each item so you know it’s as fresh as if you headed to the store yourself. On top of special occasion orders I order my weekly groceries from Walmart and they are delivered to my doorstep with free same-day delivery. ($35 order min. Restrictions apply). It’s extra easy because the app remembers all of my go-to items and recommends my shopping list for me. It’s perfect for saving time grocery shopping! Sign up for a 30-day free trial here!

Sharing all of my go-to items to add to a cheese board below so that you can shop them directly, and a few cute serving boards too! Be sure to check out Walmart+ and take advantage of their 30-day free trial here.

MY CHEESEBOARD MUST-HAVES

What’s your go-to for quick entertaining? Let me know in the comments below!

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The post Summer Cheese & Charcuterie Board appeared first on Erika Carlock Blog.

Ever since I got our new blender I’ve been making smoothies on repeat. This one is my favorite way to get some greens, but also feel like I’m having dessert.

+ 6 oz coconut milk?
+ 2 handfuls of spinach?
+ fresh mint?
+ 1 frozen banana ?
+ a scoop of plain Greek yogurt ?
+ a drop of mint extract ?
+ a drop of vanilla extract ?
+ a few pieces of dark chocolate or cacao?
+ ice?
+ garnish with fresh mint and chocolate shavings ?

Blend it, and enjoy with someone! It serves two.

The post Mint Chip Green Smoothie appeared first on Erika Carlock Blog.

Ingredients

• Fresh or frozen salmon portions

• White rice (I prefer basmati or jasmin rice, or I use the Trader Joe’s frozen rice packets when I’ in a hurry)

• Trader Joe’s Chile lime seasoning

• Avocado

• Fresh lime

• Chipotle dressing (I used Hidden Valley)

How To Make Them

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
2. Cook rice in rice cooker or on stove
3. Season salmon filets with Trader Joe’s Chile lime seasoning, squeeze fresh lime, and drizzle with olive oil
4. Bake salmon at 425 degrees, about 10-12 minutes depending on the size of salmon
5. Layer rice on bottom of bowl, top with baked salmon, sliced avocado (Tip: sprinkle Trader Joe’s Chile lime seasoning on sliced avocado), squeeze fresh lime over bowl, drizzle with Chipotle dressing and serve!

Hope you love these! Tag me on Instagram if you make these.

The post Chipotle Salmon Bowls appeared first on Erika Carlock Blog.

I’m all about a simple, quick lunch idea and my go-to is this southwest chicken bowl. Every time Joe works from home we make this recipe. It’s super yummy, healthy and perfect for two people or meal prep for the week.

INGREDIENTS

• Grilled chicken (I grill it on a cast iron pan) with chili lime seasoning from Trader Joe’s. OR if I have time I marinate the chicken the night before with chicken stock and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (tastes just like chipotle chicken!)

• 1/2 of a bag of Trader Joe’s Mexican Style Roasted Corn with cotija cheese (obsessed with this stuff, it’s like elote in a bag!)

• Chopped red onions

• Jasmine rice mixed with lime and cilantro

• Top it off with sliced avocado, cilantro + a squeeze of lime

Layer the bowls with rice on bottom, then top is with all of your toppings. So good!

The post Easy Lunch Idea: Southwest Chicken Bowls appeared first on Erika Carlock Blog.

Who doesn’t love a peppermint mocha latte during the holidays? I know I do! What’s better than a latte? Cookies! These yummy treats taste just like a peppermint mocha latte, and I wanted to eat them all. I made these for a cookie exchange party, and they came out so good that I had to share the recipe! Since I was a kid my favorite holiday treat was those white chocolate dipped Oreo’s, and this is the closest homemade cookie I’ve ever found close to it.

The cool part about these is that if you want to make them for your own allergies just add the espresso, peppermint, vanilla, and cocoa to any chocolate chip cookies recipe (or any box of chocolate chip cookies!) and do the dipping part. I wanted to make gluten free chocolate chip so I grabbed a box of those from the store, and added the extra goodies to turn them into peppermint mocha. Super easy!

Ingredients:

+ 1/2 cup butter

+ 1/2 cup granulated sugar

+ 1/2 cup brown sugar

+ 1 egg

+ 1 tsp vanilla extract

+ 1 tsp peppermint extract

+ 2 tsp espresso powder or 1 tbsp instant coffee

+ 1 cup all-purpose flower

+ 1/2 cup cocoa powder

+ 1 tsp baking soda

+ 1/8 teaspoon salt

+ 1 cup chocolate chips

+ 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, or white chocolate bar

+ candy canes or a bag of crushed candy canes

How To Make Peppermint Mocha Latte Cookies:

+ Use a mixer to mix the wet ingredients together. Mix butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until blended. Mix in egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract.

+ In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt together until blended.

+ Blend both wet and dry ingredients. Then add chocolate chips, and mix again.

+ Refrigerate the cookie dough for 3+ hours. This is vital!

+ When you’re ready to cook, pre-heat the oven, take the dough out of the fridge and chill for 20 minutes. Scoop the dough into 1-2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

+ Bake for 10-12 minutes. Then, let cookies cool.

+ Now for the dipping! Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave, then carefully dip the cookies half way into the melted milk chocolate. Put them on a cookie tray immediately, and sprinkle crushed candy canes on them. Put the tray in the fridge to firm up for 20 minutes, and voila!

Happy baking, babes! xoxo Erika

The post Peppermint Mocha Latte Cookies appeared first on Erika Carlock Blog.

We all love Trader Joe’s right? They can basically convince me to try anything at this point, TBH. With the holidays coming up, and lots of entertaining going on I had to share the ultimate Trader Joe’s cheese board. This is the end all be all of cheese boards. You can make the most insane cheese board using entirely TJ’s ingredients that will seriously wow your friends. Give you all of the deets on how to make this killer cheese board below!

What You Need to Build the Cheese Board

Cheese

Let’s start with the best part, the cheese! There are a ton of amazing cheeses at Trader Joe’s, but I’m listing the creme de la creme here. If you haven’t had these run to your local TJ’s and grab one pronto.

+ Manchego (I grab this cheese every. time. I. go. to. TJ’s)

+ Triple creme brie

+ Creamy toscana soaked in syrah

+ 1000 day gouda (this is actually aged for 1000 days, and delicious)

Meat

I like to add a few meat options onto my cheese board. I typically grab the peppered salami, and fold it into easily grabable pieces. Go for any meats you like!

+ Peppered salami

+ Thinly sliced prosciutto

Crackers

There are tons of cracker options, I like to stick to these favorites, but go for others too!

+ Raisin Rosemary Crisps

+ A French baguette

Fruits, Nuts + Spreads

These are the icing on the cake, if you will. Delicious little additions that everyone will ooo and aaaah over after they’d tried the classics above. I’m including a huge list here, but feel free to pick and choose a few depending on the size of cheese board you’re making. Just don’t pass up the flavored almonds…they’re too good!

+ Rosemary marcona almonds (omg these are heavenly!)

+ Dark chocolate covered almonds

+ Dried apricots

+ Cashews

+ Almonds

+ Fresh grapes

+ Candied pecans

+ Fig butter

+ Honey

+ Fresh rosemary for decoration

Build the Board

Start with the cheese, then add on from there. Next I usually go with the crackers, and meat. Then top of the end with fruits, nuts, and some rosemary for greenery. And voila, so easy and most importantly delish!

Hope you enjoy and share this cheese board with people you love! xoxo Erika

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