Well, it’s no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Snapchat. I know, I know… some of you are still shaking your heads about that fact, aren’t you? If you aren’t on Snapchat though, you are missing out on some really fun ways to see unfiltered glimpses into lives of everyday people! If you still aren’t sold, hop on over to this post I wrote last year about why I really love Snapchat. Then, if you want to see who some of my friends are who make me love Snapchat, check out the rest of this post below.

As many of you know, I do a daily Coffee Talk on Snapchat and it has become one of my absolute favorite ways to engage with readers, friends, family, etc. During coffee talk, we chat about things we might be chatting about if we were actually having coffee together. Each morning, I get to have a virtual coffee date with thousands of you, and it’s one of the best parts of my day each week.

I’d love to have you join me for Coffee Talk! You can do that by downloading snapchat, then by clicking HERE on your mobile device. You can also just take a picture of any of the yellow individual Snapcodes in this post using the camera in Snapchat to easily follow any of us on Snapchat. (Here’s a quick tutorial for how to do that.) In addition if you need another way to add people, you can simply add my user name (dineanddish) as a new friend on Snapchat. It’s that easy! (OK I know it’s really not… let me know if you need help!)

(This list is simply in the order my friends got their snapcodes emailed to me. Also, if we’re friends on Snapchat and you aren’t on this list – I’m sorry! It’s not intentional…it just means you must have missed my request for you to send me your info. Please see the very end of the post so I can get you added ASAP!)

I’ll be updating this post often, so be sure to check back for more friends and foodies to follow on Snapchat!…

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The post The Best Foodies and Friends to Follow on Snapchat appeared first on Dine and Dish.

So, with that, let me share with you what’s been making me happy lately!…

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The post The Happiness Report #26 appeared first on Dine and Dish.

I’ve been feeling like such a bad blogger because I absolutely know that now is the time I should be doling out gift guide posts and SEO rich cookie and treat recipes, and Christmas crafting ideas but I’m just not feeling it. Honestly, when you are trying to lose weight, creating unnecessary treats just for a pinteresting blog is kind of counter productive. Even though I know you all would love to see some of that stuff, I hope you don’t mind if it comes at a slower pace than the other on the ball blogs. Just know, I’m not on the ball right now, but you know what I definitely am? HAPPY! I’ve had such a feeling of overwhelming happiness lately… and maybe that’s because I’ve stepped back and disconnected a little more. I don’t know, but I like it!

So, with that, I thought it was the perfect time to share my 25th Happiness Report with you! Below are some of the things that have been making me happy lately.

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The post The Happiness Report #25 appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Thank you all so much for sharing your favorite mushroom recipes over the past 2 weeks. With your help, we were able to bring awareness to The Mushroom Industry’s initiative to “Go Pink” for breast cancer awareness! As you know from my earlier post featuring my Creamy Mushroom and 3 Bean Soup, this is a cause close to my heart. We’ve been swapping out meat for mushrooms in some of our favorite recipes to give our meals a healthy boost with the wonderful benefits of mushrooms.

Below, you’ll find links to some wonderful recipes featuring fresh mushrooms. But first, congratulations to Donna from Cooistry for winning the random drawing for a gift card and mushroom apron from The Mushroom Channel. Donna shared a wonderful recipe for Mushroom Stroganoff, which is a perfect example of swapping out meat for mushrooms in a classic recipe! Now, on to the wonderful collection of Mushroom Recipes!

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(1) Raspberry Parfaits (2) Baked Onion Ring Dip (3) Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake (4) Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake (5) Zucchini Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (6) Monterrey Spinach Artichoke Dip

I’m kind of a big fan of things with Philadelphia Cream Cheese in them. I was looking through past recipes in my blog archives the other day and found more recipes than I remembered having featuring cream cheese in them. Above are just a few of my favorites. Make sure to check them out (especially that Philadelphia Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake up there… sooo good for this time of year!).

Speaking of Philadelphia Cream Cheese – remember the Real Women of Philadelphia? Well, they have a wonderful new giveaway going! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from now through November 9th, they are giving away a new KitchenAid Mixer in an ingredient inspired color! That’s 9 mixers in all and entering to win is easy. All you have to do is head over to the Real Women of Philadelphia website and leave a comment on their site with a link to your favorite Real Women of Philadelphia recipe, and you could land you your very own KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Head Real Women of Philadelphia to learn more!

All those colors up there sure beat my boring old grey KitchenAid. Which color KitchenAid Mixer is your favorite? I wouldn’t turn any of them away, how about you?

Make sure to head over to the Real Women of Philadelphia page to find out more info and to enter to win!

Disclosure: I am honored to be working with Kraft Foods on promoting their Real Women of Philadelphia site. I have been compensated for my participation but all opinions are my own.

The post The Many Shades of Philadelphia Cream Cheese appeared first on Dine and Dish.

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The post The Happiness Report #12 – Iced Coffee, Flowers and Moleskine appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Wow – what a week! Last weekend, my husband and I took our kids to Iowa to spend the week with Grandma and Grandpa. When we arrived home, I collapsed into bed only to be jarred awake a few minutes later by the phone ringing. It was one of my sisters and she told me I needed to get to the Emergency Room ASAP… our brother was not doing well and things weren’t looking good.

I arrived at the ER to discover my brother in a horrible state. He was hallucinating, dehydrated, extremely weak and his chest sounded like a fish tank gurgling along. His oxygen level was very low and he was in tremendous pain. To make matters worse, he was nauseous from the chemo he had earlier in the week and he couldn’t throw up because the tumor was blocking his esophagus. He also had pneumonia in both lungs, but couldn’t clear his chest because of the tumor blocking his esophagus. Can you imagine how horrible that would feel?

I watched helplessly as my sister-in-law dealt with the “do not resuscitate” orders… nurses came in and out just trying to keep him comfortable. It was one year to the day that my friend Ann lost her battle with cancer. I was cursing cancer and hating what this disease had done so quickly to my brother.

I ended up staying the night with him at the hospital. I had to leave for a short business trip to Chicago the next morning and as I gave him a hug and kiss goodbye, I honestly was fearful that this would be the last time I saw him alive.

Our friends here at home and those of you who heard the news online committed to praying relentlessly for him, his doctors and his family. I’m excited to tell you that those prayers have worked…my brother has taken an unbelievable turn for the better, thanks to your prayers and the innovation of a great doctor who has apparently gone through something similar with his own family recently.

It was discovered that the tumor had punctured a hole in my brothers trachea and esophagus causing everything from his feeding tube and other fluids to leak out into his lungs and body cavity. The doctor decided to perform surgery to put a stint in his esophagus and it worked! He came out of surgery and is now able to eat, drink, cough, breathe again. After seeing him on Sunday and then visiting him again today, I can’t believe the improvement in just these few short days.

His prognosis is still the same… he’s not going to be with us all that much longer, but we are thankful that we have awhile longer to have him in our life.

So, today’s happiness project is a long story but boils down to one thing. I’m thankful to have my brother alive. Actually, make that two things… I’m thankful for your prayers as well. I’ve received so many kind emails, phone calls, tweets, facebook messages from all of you. Thank you so much for keeping our family in your thoughts. It is so appreciated.

The post The Happiness Report #11 – My Brother Larry appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Happy Summertime, everyone! You know the warmer weather makes me especially happy after the harsh winter we’ve had. I thought I’d share a little dose of what’s been making me happy lately….

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The post The Happiness Report #9 – Cozi, Cocktails & Instagram appeared first on Dine and Dish.