Sharing a recap of our stay at Aulani, the Disney resort in Hawaii and if I think it’s worth it!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How was the weekend? I hope you had a great one! Ours was pretty busy but good. We’re definitely still adjusting to being back in school and back in the routine after two epic trips this summer. We went to Spain, and to Hawaii, and also spent some time at Aulani while we were there.

My story with Aulani is an interesting one, because I was supposed to visit the property for a press trip years ago. Our plane had to make an emergency landing – it was pretty traumatizing – and our neice was born the same day! I ended up missing the trip, and have wanted to go this entire time. Last time we were in Waikiki, we did a luau in the neighborhood (Paradise Cove Luau – the food was meh but the entertainment was excellent) and knew when we returned, we’d have to stay at Aulani.

Leading up to the trip, I was slammed with work stuff because I was trying to batch content, record podcast interviews, and do client call check-ins so I could mostly unplug. I reached out to Laura to see if she’d help booking our trip, and she made it SO easy. She also took care of our Aulani luau reservations. I highly recommend reaching out to her if you’re looking for a travel agent, and she specializes in family and international travel.

(my dress is sold out at Anthro here // P’s is here // Liv is wearing an older Madewell dress)

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The BEST Dry Rub Smoked Chicken Wings

Chicken wings bursting with flavor from a perfect dry rub of dark brown sugar, oregano, smoked paprika and more! Your boring chicken wings just became the best dang chicken recipe you’ll have this month!

I’ll be the first to admit it, I was wrong. Chicken wings are not a waste. Chicken wings are in fact delicious. I don’t know how such a teensy tiny amount of meat can be so good but these Dry Rub Smoked Chicken Wings are proof of the deliciousness. If a dry rub and smoker aren’t your thing, try our traditional buffalo wings, air fryer teriyaki wings, or our garlic parmesan grilled chicken wings recipes!

I remember the first time I ever tried chicken wings. It was at a restaurant in Idaho and the sauces all tasted almost identical. The chicken tasted like it was frozen and reheated and there was a lot of stale popcorn.

Maybe it was just that location.

Maybe I was the problem.

I don’t know, but it was not my favorite dinner and in fact I went home from that date with a stomach ache.

Fast forward 500 years and bust out your Traeger (or any smoker) because I’m totally on board with this lil’ chicken wang thang!

How to Make Smoked Chicken Wings

The first step to making these smoked chicken wing recipe is to prep your Traeger (or pellet grill of choice). Preheat the smoker with super smoke for 5 minutes with the lid closed. Set the heat to 225 degrees and allow the smoker to preheat for 10 minutes.

While the Traeger is preheating, prepare the dry rub. See section below and the recipe card for more details on the dry rub. We like to use a disposable pan for smoking these wings. Pat the wings dry with paper towels. Toss the wings and the dry rub in the disposable pan until the wings are completely coated. Then arrange the wings in a single layer in the pan.

Place the pan in the smoker. Cook the wings for 1.5 to 2 hours or until the internal temperature of the wings in their thickest part is 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.

How to Get Crispy Skin on Smoked Wings

When the wings have reached temperature, remove the pan from the smoker and set the smoker to high heat or heat up your grill if your smoker doesn’t have the high heat function. Grill the wings on both sides until grill marks appear and then let them rest for 5 minutes. Serve and eat!

read more: Looking for Traeger recipes? Check out our Traeger Chicken Breast Recipe or our Whole Smoked Chicken Recipe next!

What Goes in the Dry Rub?

The dry rub is where all the flavor comes from. Combined wi

Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are super moist with a delicious spice cake flavor and fluffy cream cheese buttercream.

Zucchini is such an amazing food to bake with. I know that the whole idea of putting vegetables in baking sounds weird to a lot of people – but trust me – zucchini is incredible in muffins, cakes, breads and cupcakes. It makes baked goods super moist with a soft crumb, just like these Zucchini Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

So today we’re making zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes have a delicious spice cake flavor thanks to warm cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves. Then there’s a hint of vanilla and a touch of brown sugar for even more flavor.

The fluffy cream cheese frosting is the perfect topping. Smooth, creamy, extra fluffy and slightly tangy. You’re seriously going to love them. One of my favorite zucchini recipes ever!

Why Use Zucchini in Baking?

Using zucchini in baked goods adds moisture, texture and even healthy nutrients without altering the flavor. Zucchini is very mild in flavor and high in water content so it is ideal for adding moisture to a muffin, cupcake, quick bread, etc. The added bonus of using zucchini in baking is getting lots of yummy treats from all that zucchini coming from your summer garden!

Zucchini Cupcake Ingredients

Most of the ingredients for zucchini cupcakes are pantry friendly, and chances are that if you have a zucchini or two, you can whip this cupcake recipe up with little prep. Here is what you need:

Zucchini Cupcakes

• Zucchini: If you grate it finely, you won’t even know the zucchini is there.
• Flour: Just regular all-purpose flour is all you need.
• Baking Powder: Acts as a leavening agent to give the cupcakes rise and fluffiness.
• Salt: Enhances the sweetness and all the flavors.
• Seasonings: Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Ground Cloves
• Vegetable Oil: Adds fat to the cupcakes to keep them moist. Canola oil also works great.
• White Sugar: Adds sweetness.
• Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness and rich flavor.
• &

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’ve been home for almost a week and I’m not entirely sure where the time has gone. I’ve gifted myself the last week of our summer work-free – and I’m still pretty happy about it. I’ll be back with new recipes to share next Monday. In the meantime, there are thousands of recipes already on the websites – check them out and find something new to try!

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Nothing new from me, but my friends have been sharing all kinds of deliciousness. Check these recipes out for inspiration this week!

I need to make this Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad soon. And this Chicken Panzanella sounds fantastic. 

This Broccoli Rice Casserole looks creamy, cheesy, and perfect for pretty much any meal. It would be great with some juicy grilled chicken. 

And this recipe for Whipped Goat Cheese and Blueberry Balsamic Crostini is absolutely calling my name.

Oh! And that reminds me that Rebecca’s Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Goat Cheese Fondue is one of the tastiest goat cheese inspired things I’ve ever tasted. (It’s a copycat Rusconi’s recipe and it’s truly fantastic.)

German Chocolate Cake is one dessert that I absolutely can not turn down if it’s being offered. And this one looks soo good!

My FAVORITE THING this week is this magnetic cell phone holder. I’ve been using this phone mount for almost 2 years, and I just bought another one for my new car. We have them in all of our vehicles now. It’s the easiest thing ever to use!

What I’m READING: This Is Your Brain on Food by Uma Naidoo MD. Dr. Naidoo is a psychiatrist, nutrition specialist, and professionally trained chef. She draws on a great deal of scientific research to explain the many ways in which food contributes to our mental health, and illustrates how our diets can help treat and prevent a wide range of psychological and cognitive health issues. 

While food isn’t going to cure everything, there are a great many studies that have proven how beneficial certain foods can be for specific health issues. I found this book to be fascinating. (Side

Hi friends! Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? It’s a pretty normal weekend around here with basketball, dance, time with friends, and time to plan and catch up for next week. It’s also our anniversary 🙂 I’m looking forward to a family dinner with my favorite people; I can’t believe I actually got to marry to Starbucks guy and feel blessed every day for this beautiful life we have together.

17 years <3

I’d love to hear what you have going on this weekend.

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

8.16 Friday Faves

Fashion + beauty + random:

New Amazon watch band! I got this to wear with me “real people” clothes aka non-workotut clothes, and the quality is surprisingly good.

I loooove this gentle exfoliator. It isn’t too abrasive for sensitive skin and is also unscented.

Tangle teezer! Our girls’ friend had one of these and loves it, so I got some for the girls. The hype is real! It takes out tangles without pain and while the Morrocan oil always helps, this has been a gamechanger with all of the siwmming they’ve done.

Read, watch, listen:

The girls and I have been reading old American Girl books before bed and friends, they have stood the test of time. They’re just as lovely and interesting as I remember and the kids have adored them! It’s been fun to share the thing that introduced me to historical fiction when I was P’s age.