GIVEAWAY: Savoring Summer

Welcome to FLAN Remix's 1st GIVEWAY!!!

Let's Savor Summer just a little bit longer...

Enjoy 2-$25 restaurant.com certificates and a brand new J.Crew Crystal Link Bracelet in Metallic Mint

You know us girls, we love food and fashion! and we also love sharing!

I bought this bracelet earlier this summer and loved it sooooo much, I just had to get another one to share.  Hope the lucky winner loves it as much as I do!

Giveaway rules:
- open to followers in the US and Canada 
- ends Friday, August 31st at midnight PST
- winner will have 1 week to claim prize after being announced 

To enter (mandatory):
- leave a comment about how you're going to savor summer just a little bit longer
- one entry per person

Winners will be announced Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 and will have one week to claim.

Can't wait to see who it'll be!!

<3
Roe

"I Just Wanna Dance"

One of FLAN's favorite quotes is that of our beloved Steven Kim, "I just wanna dance." This past weekend, and many nights before, that's exactly what I did. While I'm not dreaming about being a donut, nagging Roe for style advice, or hustlin', I'm dancing hula. Thank you, Roe and D, for coming out to support me and the hula fam! (Check out more photos from the event on my personal blog.)

<3 C

phu's maxi & summer squash remix


 A little fancy for a casual hangout but perfect for chilling at a bar next to the Chicago river sipping on cocktails, catching up, having great conversations, enjoying the city lights and sharing laughs with good company during a beautiful summer night. I'm very proud of myself for being able to do the sock bun which by the way is the perfect hairstyle for when the weather is hot and humid, when I'm too lazy to curl/straighten it or when it looks like a mess down. 

shoes: steve madden; necklaces: forever21; headband: h&m

maxi skirt: forever21; tank top: nordstrom rack; clutch: express

My photographer and one of my dearest friend Anica is so talented. She has such a creative mind and I cannot wait to see the wonderful artistic ideas that she's gonna show the world through her films and photography. I love seeing my loved ones following their passion to make their dreams come true. Ani, don't forget me when you're famous please. ;)

photography by Anica Wu.

I've been trying this Paleo diet for some time which means that I try not to eat any grains, dairy, refined sugar, or any processed foods (but of course I still reward myself with a cupcake from time to time haha). I wanted curry and decided to cook this dish where I used this recipe as a guide. Usually I would eat curry with rice but I used spaghetti squash as a substitute which goes perfect with this month's remix.


Paleo Chicken Curry Soup

2 lbs chicken breast, cubed - season with curry powder and pepper
1 white onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
mushrooms
shiitake mushrooms
coconut milk
curry powder
coconut oil
fish sauce and pepper for taste 
cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out insides out with a spoon. Place squash face down on baking pan and bake for 1 hour. Use fork to scoop out the "noodles" once it is cooled.
2. Heat coconut oil over medium heat and cook chicken ~ 7 mins
3. Put chicken aside and cook veggies ~ 6 mins
4. Throw chicken back into pan and stir for couple mins, next pour coconut milk until it covers everything and add some curry powder
5. Turn heat to low and simmer for 10 mins
6. Garnish with cilantro 

I eyeballed everything as I was cooking this dish. Add as much curry powder, fish sauce, and pepper as you like for taste. 

instagram: phuphubear

The spaghetti squash with curry was pretty tasty to me. The spaghetti squash is perfect substitute for pasta as well.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to look out for our annoucement next week! :)

<3, phu

Squash-ee

My manfriend gives me a hard time for wearing maxis. He says they look like night gowns. What a dude thing to say about the most comfortable and easy to wear piece of clothing in a woman's closet. I like mine with a print, which makes it hard to wear on the regular, but I feel less like I'm wearing a night-ee. The fit makes a difference too. So opt for petite if you need it and it's available, or throw on some heels or comfy wedges like the hom-ee Nicole (below).

Unfortunately, life got the best of me on this remix. Sorry, FLAN friends. I was looking forward to completing the post and proving the mushroom lady wrong. "Squash-ee," as she calls it, CAN be pickled AND delicious! Here's what I was thinking:

So Sweet Squash Pickles

Although, I'm not a big fan of peppers and would probably replace them and the white onions with red ones. I'd ribbon the squash too with my handy Pampered Chef mandolin. I'll have to try again when my stock of summer veggies aren't so flaccid. Flaccid pickles are never a good thing, right?

"Stay up."

<3 C

faaancy squash salad

Squash this! It's BBQ time! When looking over the potluck list for the BBQ this past Saturday, I noticed there were no vegetables! so I did what any good person would do, bring a salad!  I didn't want it to be a regular garden salad, so I decided that this was going to be a mixed squash salad.  All the squash I could get my hands on, mixed into a big bowl of tastiness!  It was easy, and definitely tasty!

• 2 yellow squash, ribboned with a vegetable peeler
• 4 zucchinis, ribboned with a vegetable peeler
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 acorn squash, cut horizontally in about .5 to 1 inch pieces
• 1 butter nut squash, quartered
• olive oil
• 4 table spoons balsamic vinegar, 2tbsp for before, 2 tbsp after
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1. Rub olive oil and salt & pepper, to taste, on your acorn squash and butternut squash and wrap in one layer in foil.
2. Throw on the grill for about 30 minutes, check for doneness around 30 minutes.  Your knife or fork should easily pierce the meat of the squash, can be a little firm, just not too mushy.
3. While the squash is grilling, toss your ribboned yellow squash and zucchinis in a bowl with the cherry tomatoes, and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, add salt & pepper to taste.
4. When the squash from the grill is done, about 30 minutes, take the squash off the grill, and peel off the skin of the butternut squash and then cube.  I left the acorn squash as is.  Be Careful! it's hot!
5. Let the butternut an acorn squash join the squash party.  Toss.  Add the chopped cilatron, more balsamic vinegar, if you want (I like balsamic vinegar a lot), and salt & pepper to taste.  
6. Top off with some feta cheese, and enjoy!

instagram: roeyboat

Thanks for joining me today!

<3 roe

perfect BBQ maxi

McNear's @San Rafael, CA

What better way to enjoy a summer BBQ than in a flowy, unrestrictive, maxi dress.  It's the perfect outfit, because it gives me plenty of room to indulge in life's simplest BBQ foods, short ribs, burgers, garlic shrimp, hot dogs, brats, chicken, squash salad, and much more.  I kept life simple with this outfit, some sandals, nothing but my jade bracelet, and a simple necklace.
I used to be wary of maxi dresses.  You know, the whole thing about short people in floor length dresses, but as soon as I gave it a try (less than a year ago), my collection of maxis started to grow.  This one is by far one of my favorites.  I got it from J.Crew Factory on final sale back in April, for just under $30? It was super long, and I had to cut about 9 inches off the bottom.  The jersey knit is so comfortable and casual, yet the empire waist, vneck, and twisted straps give it a faaancy touch to it.

{Outfit}

Maxi: J.Crew (old)

Shoes: Sam Edelman

Sunnies: Kate Spade

Necklace: Stella & Dot
Photos: Courtesy of D :)

Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned for my Squashy Remix!

<3 roe

squashy summer soup

Good thing I planned to make a soup today! Woke up this morning with the chills. Soup always makes you feel better, and I warmed up the traditional butternut squash soup by roasting the squash and adding some curry and roasted garlic. I'm definitely feeling warmer now!

 Ingredients:

• 2lb squash
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 onion
• 3-4 cups vegetable broth
• olive oil
• 1 tsp curry powder

1. Preheat oven to 375.


2. Cut a butternut squash (or any other squash of your choice) in half. Deseed, rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and put onto baking pan.

3. Break up a head of garlic and put it on the pan with the squash. Loosely cover everything with foil.

4. Bake for 1.5 hrs, or until the flesh is tender. My oven is weak so I ended up baking for an extra 30 minutes


5. Pull out from oven, let cool a bit, and peel the skin off the squash. Cut into chunks.

6. Squeeze out garlic from cloves. Set aside.

7. In a pot, cook onions in oil until browned.



8. Add garlic and squash. Mix.

9. Add broth and curry powder.

10. Cook for about 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

11. If there are any remaining chunks of squash, let cool (if you have the patience) and mix with blender. Enjoy!

something blue and something borrowed. but not what you're thinking.

I have to admit I have not been doing a great job of keeping on top of these posts this past month or two. BUT I did think ahead for once, and I got to shop Roe's closet last week to borrow one of her maxi skirts for this remix. I chose a long blue skirt, and picked a nice sunny day to wear it out with a cream color tank with crochet, a brown belt, and a necklace from c with my favorite animal, an elephant.

It's kind of rare to get much sun in my neck of the woods, so it was nice to soak some of it in before I went to hang out with my sister. It was a nice way to start out a nice day :)

I'm going to do something different with my food remix today and write it I go.. mostly because I haven't been cooking or eating at home much lately... partly because the sink has been full of dishes and I hate cooking with a sink full of dishes. At any rate, I'll see you guys for part 2 soon!