how to create gorgeous photos and graphics for instagram

How to create gorgeous photos for Instagram

It's official: I am obsessed with Instagram. I use my account to share my clean recipes, workouts, random inspirational quotes, and behind the scenes daily life. Come on over and join the party!

I'm also obsessed with making my pictures look pretty by using photo editing apps, and let me tell you, I've tried a gazillion of them. After over a year of 'gramming I've narrowed down my favorites to a select handful and today I'm going to share my top two favorites with you!

I have an iPhone 4 and use it to shoot all my Instagram pictures. (And yes, I'm soooo excited to upgrade my phone so I can finally get a better camera...but I want to prove to you that you don't need the latest fanciest gadgets!)

Here are my go-to's. Some are free, some are a few bucks, but in my opinion every single one of these apps is worth the money. Out of all of these, the ones I've been using daily are PicTapGo  and Word Swag.

1. PicTapGo

This is hands-down my favorite app for making your pictures look crisp, bright, and professional. Use it as a mini Photoshop for filters and editing pictures themselves.

I've tried all the trendy filter apps, including VSCO, Afterlight, Rhonna Magic, and while those are all great too, PicTapGo is the only one I use now.

Whether you're going for clean and crisp, dark and moody, hazy, bright, vintage, or textured, there is a filter for you and you can adjust the intensity of each one.

The best part? You can layer multiple filters and then save and name the "recipe" to create your own signature look. I usually use a combo of Lights On, Awake, and Crispity.

Before (blerg)

After (OH HEYY!)

2. Word Swag

Ok. I literally just discovered this amazing and glorious text editing app this week. MIND BLOWN! Do you love motivational quotes or graphic text, but don't know how to make your own words look pretty? For the love of creativity and originality, STOP copying and re-posting other people's images and make your own!

In Word Swag you can either import your own picture or choose one of the gazillion free backgrounds.

Then you can either enter your own text or choose from several pre-made quotes.

And THEN. The fun begins. There are so many themes to choose from, and five different designs within each theme. I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking....

I literally whipped up all these designs in about 60 seconds flat. Thank you Word Swag for making me look like a professional graphic designer.

WITH THEIR POWERS COMBINED

I've been using PicTapGo and WordSwag to create some branding images for my Etsy shop. I'm still trying to figure out what my "brand" looks like (and tying together my Facebook page, Instagram, shop, and fitness consulting is an ongoing adventure), but I'm just going to keep playing with things that look good to me and see what emerges!

What do you think? Are you as excited as I was to discover these apps?

Go forth and populate the web with your beautiful images, and leave your Instagram handle in the comments so I can follow you!

xo Anna

sweet potato shepherdess pie

sweet potato shepherdess pie

It officially feels like winter in Chicago. The leaves are gone, desolation and darkness is setting in, I've started to string twinkle lights around the windows, and the puffy coat is OUT! We just made it through a solid stretch of record breaking below-freezing days and now the weather has "warmed up" for a very brief respite (funny how 40's can feel so deliciously balmy after sub zero windchills) but it's pouring rain.

Also known as: perfect comfort food weather!

We've had a busy weekend--yesterday we tackled errands and cleaning, then went to the movies to see Interstellar. Talk about INTENSE! Have you seen it? It was fascinating and I definitely recommend it, but I don't think I'd ever want to see it again simply because it was one of those "high emotional investment" movies for me! You know the kind? Where you walk out of the dark room completely depleted and disoriented? Let's just say that I'm extremely grateful to be living in a pre-apocalyptic world, ha.

Today I took a mini-road trip to Indiana for the baptism of my cousin's sweet baby girl. It was great to spend time with my family and catch up. Family is one of the top priorities that I'm focusing on (necessary to avoid letting the crazy chaos of self-employed life get the best of me!) so it was worth the drive, although I'm pretty exhausted now. Luckily I made this huge casserole for dinner yesterday so we could re-heat some leftovers for a lazy Sunday night dinner.

I was inspired to make this riff on shepherd's pie by a recipe from one of my all time favorite cookbooks, Veganomican. So I totally ruined the vegan aspect by replacing the tempeh with ground turkey...but it turned out delicious! I absolutely love making mashed sweet potatoes, and I like calling this Shepherdess Pie because of the extra sweetness.

Sweet Potato Shepherdess Pie

Inspired by Veganomican

Serves 6

Sweet Potato Layer

-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

-1/4 c milk

-1 tsp dried rosemary

-salt and pepper

Turkey Layer

-1 T olive oil

-1 yellow onion, chopped

-4 cloves garlic, chopped

-8 oz sliced mushrooms

-1 lb ground turkey

-1 1/2 cups frozen peas

-1 1/2 cups frozen corn

-2 T tamari or soy sauce

-2 cups low sodium broth

-2 T corn starch

Preheat the oven to 375*.

Place the chopped sweet potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, then bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until they can be pierced with a fork.

While potatoes are boiling, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms, and sauté until veggies are soft. Add the ground turkey and continue to sauté until the meat is cooked.  Add the frozen peas, corn, soy sauce, and cook until the peas and corn are heated. In a separate Pyrex or bowl, whisk together the broth and corn starch, then pour into the skillet and bring to a simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the liquid has started to thicken.

When potatoes are soft, drain them and then add the milk, rosemary, and salt and pepper to the pot. Mash away!

Transfer the turkey mixture to a 9x13" baking dish, then top with the sweet potatoes. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Serve with a big side salad!

[21 Day Fix: 1 yellow, 1 red, 1/2 green per serving]

Enjoy!

xo Anna

P.S. Stay tuned later this week for new scarves coming to the shop  and a HUGE Black Friday sale! Make sure you're signed up for my newsletter to get advanced notice ;)

what is clean eating?

Clean Eating Basics

What kinds of food did you eat growing up?

I was raised on the "standard American diet" of the 90's. If you asked 12-year-old Anna what her favorite foods were, the answers would include:

fudge pop tarts (the Kroger generic brand!), toaster strudels, Pillsbury orange rolls, frozen Salisbury steak, Oreos and peanut butter, macaroni and cheese from a box, Ego toaster waffles, chocolate Teddy Grahams, crescent rolls, Kentucky Fried Chicken, oatmeal creme pies, Hamburger Helper, 100 Grand bars

oh, and Grey Poupon mustard. There were definitely a couple years when I received Grey Poupon in my Christmas stocking and was really excited about it.

Aside from the mustard (and the occasional Teddy Graham...), my diet has turned a complete 180 over the past 10-15 years.

It all started around junior year of college, when I finally had my own tiny apartment kitchen and was officially responsible for cooking some of my own meals. Hamburger Helper and Easy Mac were still staples, but as I grew into independence I began to discover food blogs like Carrots 'n' Cake, Kath Eats Real Food, and Healthy Tipping Point. I immediately became somewhat obsessed with stalking the virtual lives of these these random women who promoted healthy, active lifestyles, and I slowly started to really think more about the food I was putting in my body.

In the winter of 2008 I spent two months at Holden Village, a retreat center which is known for its delicious, made-from-scratch food. My oatmeal and veggie addictions were sparked there, and I never really looked back! (This was the same time period I started running and working out on a regular basis as well, so the healthy living thing kind of clicked all at once.)

I ended up losing around 20 pounds between sophomore year of college and grad school, although it was a very slow up and down process. I don't even own a scale anymore because I'm happy with how I feel in my own skin and I don't want to let a number control my happiness and sense of worth, but that's a topic for a different post. Today I want to talk about FOOD!

Clean Eating Basics

My diet these days is MAINLY comprised of the types of food you see in that picture. These are what I call "clean" or "whole" foods.

Obviously I am not going to say no to pizza, pasta, burgers, froyo, and cake when the occasion or weekly date night calls for it, but I try to stick to clean foods as much as possible!

What is clean eating?

There are so many definitions and diets out there these days. Vegan, raw, Paleo, If It Fits Your Macros, gluten-free, Weight Watchers, it's enough to make your head spin. Which one is really the "best?" That's something I've been trying to figure out, and here's what I've concluded after reading a lot of books.

In my personal opinion. the BEST diet is one that hits these three criteria:

1. It focuses on whole foods

2. It makes YOUR body feel amazing

3. It is non-restrictive and intuitive enough that you can maintain it for the rest of your life without obsessing

This article on the art of eating sensibly pretty much sums up my views!

What are whole foods?

I personally define whole foods as literally whole foods. One ingredient things. Fruit, vegetables, meat, nuts, whole grains. Anything that hasn't been processed!

I also consider things that have less than 4-5 ingredients to be "clean" too, like Greek yogurt, unsweetened almond milk, a sprinkle of cheese, the occasional whole grain wrap or splash of cow's milk in my coffee. 

Note: I don't have any allergies or sensitivities and go by the "everything in moderation (including moderation)" approach.

When in doubt, don't eat it. If it makes you feel like crap, don't eat it.

Read labels!

If there are weird chemicals in the ingredients list or anything you can't pronounce, then try to avoid or limit that food in your diet. I looooove cereal, but I don't eat it for breakfast because it is basically sugar with vitamins sprayed on, aka empty calories! I might have a handful of Ben's Golden Grahams after dinner if I'm craving something sweet...but I understand that it's a slippery slope to standing in the dark kitchen shoving handfuls in my mouth straight out of the box because those chemicals and all that sugar? They are DESIGNED to trigger addictive tendencies! When was the last time you started eating chips or crackers or cereal or fries and couldn't stop? Yeah, probably the last time you ate chips, crackers, cereal, or fries. 

I don't restrict myself from eating things that make me happy...I just try to make a mindful, intentional CHOICE that I am going to eat it because it makes my brain happy and accept the fact that it's going to make my body feel a little crappy afterwards!

Grocery Shopping Tips

Clean Eating Basics

Here is a basic go-to grocery list that I share with my clean eating accountability groups I host on Facebook! You can download a copy by clicking on the image or click here.

-Only go grocery shopping with a plan, and a list!

-Never shop on an empty stomach. You will have zero willpower when it comes to impulse buys.

-Stick to the perimeter of the store as much as possible, this is where the fresh whole foods are found.

Clean Eating Resources

If you're interested in learning more about cleaning up your diet and breaking your dependence on processed convenience foods, these are just a few of my favorite books and websites for more information and delicious recipe inspiration!

Books

It Starts With Food

The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged

In Defense of Food

Blogs

101 Cookbooks

Oh She Glows

Whole30

Move Nourish Believe

Tone It Up

Against All Grain

PaleOMG

What do you think? Are you inspired to clean up your diet a little bit?

If you have any questions or want more information on my 1:1 and group wellness coaching services, feel free to contact me. I'd love to chat!

xo Anna