Santa’s Helper With Banhez – Holiday Cocktail Series Starts Here!

‘Tis the season for sharing your favorite recipes and sweet treats with the people you love, and today I’m sharing with you a very special series! I’m teaming up with Banhez Mezcal to bring you some holiday themed cocktails just in time for your next party or festive gathering.

Today’s installment, jovially named Santa’s Helper, is the first of three that will all be launching here this week. During the video where I make this drink live with you, you’ll hear me refer to the ‘Banhez ensemble’ and I say that because Mezcal is made from 100% agave, but this one is a blend of two, which creates a very mixable spirit, perfect for cocktails!

Before we jump into the recipe I want to tell you why I chose to partner with Banhez. They’re the only mezcal that is Farm Family (37 and growing) owned (co-operative in Oaxaca Mexico) and they believe that a strong foundation comes from a strong community. So closely related to my own brand ethos, community building and story sharing is so important to me. I love that they’re filled with heritage which is so often celebrated, and that honoring the land is such a huge part of the Banhez mission.

So to continue with this theme of gratitude and community, I’m hosting a giveaway with Banhez just for YOU! Today through the 21st you’ll be able to enter my Banhez Mezcal giveaway, right here just by commenting below! So I hope you follow along and enter each step of the way, you’ll have multiple chances to win and the prize is valued at over $250! Entry details are below, following the recipe <3

Santa’s Helper: 

  • 2 oz Banhez Ensemble
  • 3/4 oz Cranberry syrup**
  • 2 dashes Fee Brother’s Old Fashioned Bitters
  • Orange zest
  • Sprig of rosemary

Begin by preparing the Cranberry Syrup and then begin to build the yumminess!

**Cranberry Syrup:
1 can of cranberry sauce, any consistency will work
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Dashes of whatever spice you’d like- I used 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg

1) To prepare the cranberry syrup simply put all the ingredients together in a Japanese stirring glass (or pint glass) and mix until smooth. Double strain solids through a sieve and bottle the remaining syrup in a mason jar or air tight container. If you’d like to make this recipe in bulk simply double or triple the recipe and it should last in your refrigerator for about two weeks.

2) Now for the cocktail part, in a large shake tin combine together the Banhez ensemble, cranberry syrup that you just made, and bitters over ice. Shake shake shake and then strain into a rocks glass with ice, garnish with orange zest and a rosemary sprig.

I truly hope you give this cocktail a taste and let me know what you think! Banhez Mezcal is best when enjoyed with friends as it’s made with the spirit of community, and is meant to be shared with yours. I’m so happy to support a brand that has so much heart and that’s where my excitement to share this series with you comes from.

As I mentioned before, I have two more holiday themed cocktails featuring Banhez coming your way this week so stay tuned and don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY below in the comments section! The lucky winner will receive this gift here, featuring a 1 Liter bottle of Banhez Mezcal and this entire beautiful cocktail creating set!So enter enter enter this is a good one!

I hope you know I love hearing from you all so you’ll have to tell me if you’ve tried Banhez Mezcal before. Is there a recipe I should make for myself and share with everyone? Sharing is caring, tell me all the things! Thank you for being a part of this series with me, to purchase Banhez Mezcal for yourself or as a gift (yay they’ll ship before Christmas if you order now!) you can order HERE! I chose to feature Banhez because it’s special to me as is my platform. Especially because they’re proudly Mexican, full of heart and heritage, made up of cocktails and artisanal dreams, and built by the spirit of community. What’s not to love, look at these smiles!

Giveaway Entry Rules:

– must be 21+ years old to enter
– winner will be selected at random
– enter as many times as you like, the more you enter, the more chances you have to win!
– an ‘entry’ is a comment on all 3 Banhez Mezcal cocktail articles here on the blog, here’s Epi 2 and Epi 3! Be sure to enter on ALL 3 blog articles!
– stumped on what comment to leave? Tell me a fun fact about yourself or what your plans are for the holidays! I love learning more about you guys!
– and drink responsibly as always please and thank you <3
, love Mama Lizama

Feel free to send this to a friend who would like to enter as well, the more the merrier! Tis the season of sharing so cheers to you and yours from me and mine <3

Interested in learning more about Banhez? I’ve linked you here: 

BANHEZ IG: @banhezmezcalartesanal

BANHEZ FB: https://www.facebook.com/banhezmezcalartesanal

 

 

 

 

 

What I Eat In A Day

I’m not sure what my current obsession with what everyone’s eating these days is all about, but it’s freaking me out. I genuinely am so curious about what everyone’s eating in a day, how much, what foods, how do they prepare it, what do they consider ‘clean’ eating? I hate the phrase ‘clean eating’ because it can be so confusing to me. Like 80 avocados and 17 bananas in a day, I wouldn’t do it, but to someone somewhere, THAT is clean eating and they don’t understand why they’re having digestive issues. Am I climbing the crazy tree alone here?

So I thought in the interest of keeping up with a trend that has piqued my interest, I’d share with you what I eat in a day. This is what I’m eating this week and the kind of meals I consumed last week as I’m in a Lacey Stone Fitness bootcamp, the last two week camp of the year and I’m all IN! You’ll notice I didn’t mention how many calories I have in a day because honestly it doesn’t matter. My caloric intake and my fitness goals are going to be different from everyone else’s so I thought I’d spare you the drama of explaining my daily breakdown of it all and just show you the food, when I’m eating it, and how I’m eating it…. the answer is with my fingers!

Here’s the video of my day <3

You’ll also notice I’m using My Fitness Pal (not spon, ha must disclose this just because) because I’m tired of ‘guesstimating’ what my eating habits are doing for me. How many calories am I consuming in a day? Where are my nutrients coming from? How many grams of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs am I having? WHERE IS IT ALL COMING FROM?! I had no idea, so I downloaded the dang app and decided that for two weeks I’d track my meals and give myself a more accurate layout of what I’m doing that’s both good and bad for me.

I personally love meal prep because of the convenience. And the fact that it saves me time and money. We did the math and for us 6 ladies to meal prep 4 meals a day for 5 days, it cost us $79 each…for the week! Whoa, hey babyyy yes count me in! On days like yesterday and today where I’m cleaning the house or plowing through a day of work and to-do’s it really does help me to just heat the meal up and move on with my life. My hand is raised right now because I’ve become that person who sets an alarm to eat every 3 hours or so. Honestly, I do it because I forget, or I get too busy that I’ll munch on a snack aka a sugary treat and then by the end of the day I’ve gone the entire day without eating real food. So this helps!

So it goes down like this: after a fasted workout I’ll have my breakfast, then lunch, then a midday snack, then dinner. Four meals a day, either over 12 hours (8-8) or over the entire day depending on travel and my intermittent fasting streaks.

Breakfast: Egg white frittatas, fruit, coffee

Lunch: Lean protein, complex carb, healthy fat (this is every meal actually) and on this day I had a turkey burger with a Portabella mushroom open faced ‘bun’, some grilled veggies, salsa, and sweet potato fries

Midday snack: Veggies with hummus (I did zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers)

Dinner: Lentils with brown rice, hummus and a spinach salad (I used the spinach leaves like a tortilla and wrapped the hummus in the leaves like a lil baby taco!)

*Also featured as another meal option to have is another meal we prepped, bbq pulled chicken with grilled veggies, corn and black beans, with sweet potato cubes (they had cinnamon on them omgawww noms!) Also not featured, the healthy snacks I’ll munch on throughout the day if I’m ravenous and don’t want to eat my arm off. 

And that’s what I had for the day. It may not sound exciting but honestly it was delicious and super nutritious, and I feel so energetic and good already just after this last week of eating this way. The bloat has gone away and I feel like my peppy self.

 

Have you meal prepped? Do you love it? Have recipes to share? Would you like the recipes for the meals I had today?

 

 

 

 

DIY Halloween Cocktail

Halloween is this week and I’m all for an easy themed cocktail just as much as I’m up for an easy costume! This is the Vampiress Kiss, it’s delicious, Rum-my, sweet, and you’ll just need one… kinda like that vampiress kiss, only takes one.

 

What you’ll need:
– Captain Morgan’s White Rum
– Coconut Rum
– Ice
– Kahlua
– coconut essence
– Milk

For the Vampiress Kiss Drizzle:
– Sugar
– Cherry juice

Method: add ice to a tumbler and combine an oz of white rum with an oz of coconut rum, splash of coconut essence, half an oz kahlua, 1/4 cup milk, and SHAKE

For the drizzle you’ll combine one part sugar to two parts juice in a small pot and boil the mixture until thickened. Then drizzle that goodness into a martini glass and try not to lick the pot. Or do!

I hope you enjoyed this easy and not so spooky Halloween themed cocktail and have a safe and happy Halloween babes!

What are your plans? Staying in or braving the chilly weather and going trick or treating?

 

 

Wine Not Wednesday – Dairy Free White Russian!

It’s #WineNotWednesday babes and today we’re making a dairy-free White Russian cocktail with a twist! A lil zing of coffee cold brew baby!

I particularly like this recipe because I’m dairy free now, it tends to upset my stomach and this version still has the richness of the original minus the kick, literally. I replaced the dark liqueur with cold brew and this Stumptown is one of my favorites! ps chocolate liqueur everything please and thank you!

For today’s shake-up you’ll need:

For this deliciousness you’ll just need to pour 1/4 cup cold brew, a few shots of vodka, some ice, and a shot of liqueur into your shaker and shake it up!

Pour that into your glass and stir in gently 1/4 cup almond milk and garnish with nutmeg! Enjoy babe!

Does this recipe sound just like an espresso martini? LOL it just may be! I didn’t google it before making, I just threw it together for you so try it out and let me know what you think! 

 

 

 

Crazy food night with my husband!

Oh la la, I said husband! So Joe and I had a crazy food night making spicy quesadillas and Hi-C margaritas! I say crazy because of the copious amounts of jalapenos that went into making them 😉 Give these a try for a fun date night or dinner with friends . . . oh oh have a game night!

The Hi-C margarita was sweet but not too sweet, slushy but not too slushy, and just the perfect amount of ice crunch!

Please Subscribe to my channel if you haven’t, I love creating these food/ beverage nights with you!

What themed night would you like to see next? Girls night? Sleepover? Movie night? 

Caribbean Mango Cooler – Saturday Sip

I felt so inspired booking our Bali honeymoon that I created a lil vacation in a blender for you! This cocktail IS A VACATION for your senses! Yes all of them because it smells like an island, it’s so pretty to look at, and it tastes tropical and mangoey! I love mango and coconut anything so here’s this #SaturdaySip just for you!


Blend it up baby! What you’ll need:

In a blender add an entire can of your chosen Malibu flavored canned beverage, 2 oz of Malibu Coconut Rum, and 1/4 of the frozen blended juice. Toss in sliced mango, lime juice, ice, and blend. E N J O Y!

I made two ninja blenders worth of this magical drink and Joe and I had a tropical dance party in our living room. Beachy music and all!

Please sip responsibly and let me know what summer flavors you’d like to see in this week’s #WineNotWednesday! 

 

 

 

Vodka Coco-Mint Lemonade – #WineNotWednesday

I’ll find any excuse to put coconut anything into everything. Today for your #WineNotWednesday shake up, we’re making a coconut infused vodka mint lemonade! It’s just as refreshing and delicious as it sounds.


Shake it up baby! You’ll need:

  • Coconut water (Harmless Harvest is my all time favorite!)
  • Lemonade (Simply Lemonade is soo good, no pulp with a smooth tart)
  • Vodka
  • Kiwi
  • Lime juice
  • Jalepenos
  • Mint
  • Fresh strawberries

Place mint, strawberries, ice, and vodka into a shaker and shake it up. Kind of muddle the mint and strawberries together before adding in 2 oz lemonade, 1 oz vodka (or 2 if you like), and 1 oz coconut water. Pour the goodness into a glass and garnish with jalepeno slices, mint leaves, kiwi, and ENJOY! Sip responsibly. Love, mom

Do you love coconut? You either love it or hate it and if you love it than you put it in everythingggg!

 

 

 

 

 

Coconut Rum Spiced Apple Cider Cocktail – GOT Edition!

Things are heating up on this season of Game Of Thrones so I thought I’d follow suit with this week’s #SaturdaySip! A warm lil stir up with coconut rum, apple cider, and cinnamon!

Stir it up baby! You’ll need:

Pour equal parts of rum and cider into a cup (yes I like it strong like the label says!), top with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and garnish with fresh apple slices! Enjoy!

Are you loving these themed GOT drinks?! I actually have the most fun time trying to figure out what I’m going to stir up or shake up for you each week! xoxo

 

 

 

Mother Of Dragons – Game Of Thrones Drink!

In honor of Game Of Thrones season 7, I have a special series of #winenotwednesday for you! Each week I’ll share with you a yummy, happily evil lil drink but it’ll be more happy than evil 😉

Today’s stir up is the Mother Of Dragons potion featuring some fresh cracked black pepper because, black hearts and a swift kick to the throat. Easy on the salt bae sprinkle or you’ll prolly gag on this delicious ‘dragon blood’. Okay before I get any more obnoxious, here tis.

Stir it up baby! You’ll need:

  • rose champagne
  • dragon fruit
  • black pepper
  • kiwano fruit (aka dragon spikes)

Drop cubed pieces of dragon fruit into your flute, sprinkle with some black pepper for fun, and garnish with your ‘dragon spikes’. Yup, I’m doing this every week sooo. Enjoy 😉

What potent lil potion do you wanna try next week? PS who’s your least favorite GOT character . . . I could name a few!