Friday, October 15, 2010

Meet Mandi!!

Happy Friday and thank you for all of the positive words about my Fall Slaw and inquiries into what is happening to the blog.  I have been blogging now at Itzy’s Kitchen for over 2 1/2 years! I have enjoyed sharing recipes, making friends with like minded foodies, and learning about new products I would have never heard about were it not for blogging. I’ve also really liked sharing a little bit of my life with each and every one of you. However, things have been a little hectic lately. Between work, teaching group fitness classes, keeping up the house and spending time with my wonderful husband, bulldog, friends & family….I haven’t been able to blog as much as I’d like.  Enter Mandi….

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When Josh and I first moved to South Carolina, we went to dinner with a guy he was working with, Bryan, and his wife, Mandi. I knew Josh thought Bryan was a very cool dude and was worried that I’d be stuck all night talking to his wife who I had nothing in common with (come on now, we’ve all been there). Boy, was I wrong!

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Mandi was SO much fun and we had a million things in common…including our love of food in general, cooking & baking. We also are both tiny with ginormous husbands:

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Mandi is a fabulous foodie and a great baker. She has been lurking on blogs for a while now and its about time this lady starts sharing her goodness with the blog world!  Mandi will now be the second half (and maybe better half ;)) of Itzy’s Kitchen!

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So give her a big welcome!!! We will kick things off this weekend with some rocking Oktoberfest recipes (ok…we’re a little behind the ball on this one).  What probing questions do you have for Ms. Mandi???

35 comments:

Jessica @ How Sweet said...

How exciting! Hi Mandi! :)

Rose said...

How exciting!!! Welcome, Mandi. I love the comment about the ginormous husbands :)

Heather said...

Welcome, Mandi!! How exciting!

Can't wait to hear some stories about Erica.........hehe. :)

Maria said...

Welcome Mandi! I look forward to reading both of your posts!

brandi said...

Hi Mandi!

Exciting :)

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ said...

Wahhhooo welcome to the Blogworld Mandi!!! I'm so excited you're blogging now. XOXO

I love the pic of you and Bryan. :)

Julie said...

HOW FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! i can't wait to hear from both you and Mandi! that's super exciting and i'm pumped to see what the two of you have cookin up!

i'd like to know how you guys meet such enormous men! send them here to ny for me!

Faith said...

Welcome Mandi! Blog collaboration sounds like so much fun! Can't wait to see what you ladies come up with!

hbobier said...

Hi Mandi! Welcome! I'm excited to see what you have to share--hopefully some phenom baking recipes... :)

Corey @ the runner's cookie said...

Awesome! Welcome, Mandi!! Can't wait to hear more about you!

Esi said...

Welcome Mandi! I completely understand the hecticness of trying to have a life while blogging. Looking forward to Mandi's posts.

Holly said...

Oh my gosh - how fun!!! Welcome, Mandi! I can't wait to read your posts and see what yummy things you have to share. :-)

Veggies, Cake & Cocktails said...

Welcome Mandi! Can't wait to follow along with your posts. Anyone Erica trusts her blog to has got to have some good things to say:)

Krista said...

Can't wait to see what the 2 of you "cook" up!!! :)

Pound said...

hooray for mandi!! this is so exciting!! love you!

Mom on the Run said...

That is so exciting Erica!! I need a partner in crime as well. Life has taken over.

Welcome Mandi!

Lauren said...

Yay!! This is so awesome. I love Mandi already. :)

Christina said...

how fun! welcome mandi!!

Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather said...

Welcome Mandi! Can't wait to read your stories :)

Elisabeth said...

Yippee Mandi! How awesome!

Unknown said...

Welcome Mandi!!!

Susan said...

Hi Mandi! I can't wait to see what shenanagins you and Erica get into ; )

Kerr said...

so fun! welcome mandi!

Aggie said...

awesome! Welcome Mandi! Can't wait to see what the two of you will have in store for us...have fun girls!!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

How exciting...and what a nice BREAK for you Erica! you deserve/need it!!

Welcome Mandi! Can't wait to see what the two of you whip up together...

But i'd rather read about LIFE than recipes, so fill us in on all the juicy life deets too please :)

Lea @ Healthy Coconut said...

Hi Mandi :) Nice to meet you in the blog world. I look forward to your posts and your recipes.

I love Erica's blog, now there will be double love since there are two of you on here now.

Exciting news! Have a great weekend

lee said...

Cool, hi Mandi!

Unknown said...

hi mandi :)

Tiffany @ The Chi-Athlete said...

Nice to meet you, Mandi! :D

CaSaundraLeigh said...

How cool is this?! What a fabulous surprise..can't wait to see what Mandi has up her sleeve :-)

Bridget said...

Awww so fun!! I'm jealous a little...you two are going to have a blast blogging together! Can't wait to see!

Stephanie in Suburbia said...

Love it! Mandi, what's your go-to dinner when you want something healthy but easy? Do you always have the ingredients on hand? I love to get people's lists of what they ALWAYS have in their cabinet. Like, we always have arborio rice and canned mushroom for a quick risotto.

Mandi said...

Stephanie - that is a great question! I always seem to have a bottle of barbeque sauce, chicken, short grain brown rice, and vegetables of some sort. My fave go-to recipe is actually my mom's crockpot barbeque chicken, it is SO simple (as long as you think about it ahead of time of course!):
32 oz. bottle of bbq sauce
4 oz. Coke
4 bay leaves
1 large onion, chopped
4-6 chicken breasts
Dump all ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours. So tasty and tender! I always usually serve with short grain brown rice and some roasted veggies - I love roasting veggies - usually cut up some squash, zucchini, onion, or whatever is on hand at the time and season up with some EVOO, s&p, some thyme, rosemary and pop em in the oven!

Janetha G @ meals & moves said...

I am late to the party! Welcome, Mandi! How exciting :)

Diana said...

Fun stuff! Welcome to Mandi!

And yay Erica for making positive life changes--whatever that means for you. :)