Cars and Brownie cups with strawberries!

I was reading the February Cosmo issue today, and it told me that I should incorporate some guy activities into my dates with Stephen. Okay, so it wasn't really talking to me, but it said that a relationship should have a balance of girly and manly activities. Well, it just happened that we were on the way to Hsouton for an auto show! Definately a guy event, but I had a lot of fun, too! I saw a lot of cool vehicles and we even got to test drive a bright yellow camaro!!

Here are some of my favorite vehicles:

An Acura IC. It even looks nice in white, and I really do not like white cars.

A Mazda 2! I love this color so much.

Me in a Jeep Wrangler! This will be one of my future vehicles. Here is a secret, though: I do not drive. But when I do, I will have a wrangler! They have always been the ultimate fun car to me.

A very large green toyota truck. I had to climb in!

This is a nice one. A Jaguar convertible. My dad has a jaguar, and I can definatley understand his love for them now. It was so comfortable inside! And it just looks cool.

A Lotus!! My favorite sports car! It looks like a bug or an alien to me. I am a strong believer that a sports car should not look like a regular vehicle. It needs to look really really cool, like an insect!

Stephen in his cool car. Look at how happy he looks.

A Mini Cooper. I learned that these cars are very very tiny inside, and I think it has diminished my desire to get one. Oh well, it still looks cute.

That is the end of my car adventure! Now on to dinner and dessert!

Dinner was a wheat pita with chicken sausage, veggies, and salsa mixed with greek yogurt.

And sweet plantains! Yum! I haven't had these guys in a while. They were definately delicious!

And for dessert:

Dark cocoa brownie cups with strawberries!

To make these, first preheat the oven to 325 F then, microwave:

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter

3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

a little over 3/4 cup hershey's special dark cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

You want to stir about every 30 seconds until the butter is melted and the mixture looks like above, smooth but still gritty.

Then, add:

1 1/2 tsp bailey's irish cream

and

2 eggs

stirring vigorously with a spatula or wooden spoon after each egg.

The mixture will get smooth and shiny.

Mix in with a spatula until it disappears:

1/2 cup flour

Then give it 40 good strokes with the spatula and divide between 12 lightly greased muffin cups.

Take 1 cup chopped strawberries and divide them amongst the cups.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The time may vary, but just bake them until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

I let them cool in the freezer while we ate dinner. They come out quite fudgy and delicious!

They were a little difficult to remove from the muffin tins, but I managed to get most of them released.

Except for one poor brownie...

Brownie, I am sorry!

(I swear that happened on its own. The strawberry fell out.)

Getting ready for Gala!

Today was spent preparing, physically and mentally for gala tonight! It is going to be a fun night of work, dancing, and just having fun in our pretty dresses and tuxes!

For lunch, I decided to mix in some spicy peanut butter into my tuna salad to make an awesome tuna melt!!

It was delicious!

Since I will not get to eat until 8:00 tonights, I had an extra good snack that will hopefully keep me satisfied.

I made a sunflower spread, greek yogurt, tomato, and brocolli wrap, in a wheat tortilla.

And for a little "dessert", I blended a frozen banana, until it made a nice "ice cream", and poured some warm agave syrup mixed with cocoa powder over it.

This was actually surprisingly satisfying! Some raw food recipes really intrigue me! Just, please, do not go around calling eggplant chips a substitue for bacon. But banana frozen dessert = awesome!! I love that it is so simple.

Okay time to put on my pretty black dress and make the final preparations for gala.

Sludge and Burgers!

Today should be a good day. It is Friday! The weekend! But I feel like so much is crashing down on my shoulders and I don't know what to do about it. I wish I could be back on my cabin balcony and just stare out at the ocean. The waves always seem to have answers...

I know I have nothing to be upset about. If anything, there are a few good things:

• I finish the whittle my middle challenge this weekend! Woohoo for sticking it out. It sucks but it feels amazing at the same time.
• I have a fun gala to attend tomorrow night! I can't decide if I want to wear my short black dress (don't worry, it is very tasteful), or my long blue gown. It is James Bond themed, so maybe the black dress!
• Stephen's granny sent me 3 really cute shirts in the mail yesterday and I have already worn 2 of them!
• I also got samples of Sunflower butter spread from Amy at VeryCulinary!
• Monsters Inc. is on Instant Play on Netflix, so I watched it today!

Now that I have put some optimism inside of my head, I will share some sludge and food with you!

I was a very hungry girl this afternoon. I only had a small sandwich and salad for lunch, so I should not be very surprised! I made myself a very thick green monster with spinach, apple, almond milk, and some cocoa powder. I put a little bit of sunflower butter, because I felt like eating it with a spoon! It kept me full enough until dinner, and will hopefully help me fight off thesickness I have been feeling lately. Isn't it terrible when only one side of your nose is clogged? It makes me feel so out of balance!

I know, this smoothie looks even more digusting than most green monsters. But there is something about ingesitng something that looks like sludge. You know it is good for you, you can taste it and feel it in your pores, and it feels good!








Time to make BURGERS!

The beauty of a burger is that it is one of the easiest and most versatile meal to assemble! Plus, you get your hands all nice and messy, which is always fun!

Here, I mixed up some ground pork with garlic, onions, and some pepper and oregano. I mixed it all up and devided them into a little smaller than 1/3 lb patties.

I cooked them up and them assembled them in the panini grill!

I used sandwich thins, which always have a nice crunch to them in panini form. I also used cucumbers, brie, tomatoes, and "honey mustard". The honey mustard consists of agave, greek yogurt, and mustard.

It gets very gooey inside there!

New way to make oven fries!

These fries are actually pretty crispy! I am so happy that I finally have a way to make crispy fries in the oven with regular and sweet potatoes!

• Preheat oven to 400F.


• Slice up potato into fries


• Place in a pot with enough water to cover them


• Bring water to a boil and sprinkle some salt


• Let boil for about 4 minutes


• While they are rolling around in the pot, lightly oil a sheet pan and place in the hot oven


• Drain fries and pour into a bowl


• Coat in olive oil and desired spices


• Take hot sheet pan out of the oven and spread fries on the pan in a single layer


• Bake for 15 minutes


• Turn fries over


• Bake for another 10 minutes


• Turn on the broiler for 5 minutes


• Remove from oven, add salt (if you want to) and enjoy (you will!).

Certainly a delicious meal and a great way to embrace the weekend!

Does anyone know a nice hearty veggie burger recipe? I have been wanting to try one with quinoa and mushroom, or with nuts. Any ideas?

I feel like a super hero!

I did something good today!! I donated blood!

This is really exciting, because I haven't donated in almost 3 years. I have been wanting to try, but the last times I have tried, I get turned away for low iron. Today we were distributing flyers around campus, and I ran across a small blood drive. I signed up. They pricked my finger and ta-dah! Good iron! Maybe it's the spinach I eat every day? Or just good nutrition? I don't now, but I am really happy I got to help out the world in a small way today. One weird thing. They just let me walk out without sitting down for a little snack. I did take an apple juice and chugged it on my way out. I was fine, but honestly, what if I wasn't? Regardless, I got a free shirt and a free hole in my arm!

I painted today. Lots of petals. It was very soothing.

I have been experimenting with the microwave oatmeal cookies the past 2 nights for my nighttime snack. Last night, I made one with shredded apple and greek yogurt. It came out a little too moist. But still tasty.

Today's was actually good. Chopped apple and cinnamon chips! It's certainly a fun way to have oatmeal as a snack. Substitute for a cookie? Not exactly. But definately a great snack option.

I'm sorry, I appreciate all healthy options, but there are cravings that I make myself honor:

• When I want a beer, I drink a beer. No light beers. Give me something flavorful and maybe dark! Hello Guinness and Young's Double Chocolate!
• When I want a cookie, I have a real cookie. Real chocolate, real sugar, real butter.
• When I want bacon, I eat bacon, real bacon. Anything else doesn't cut it for me. Even turkey bacon. It is almost satisfying, but real bacon is just heaven.
• When I want cheese, I eat real cheese. No low fat or dairy free, enhanced options. A grilled cheese sandwich and macaroni and cheese need cheese. That's why cheese is in the name. So I respect the foods and use real cheese, and I enjoy it!

When you are going to enjoy something, enjoy the REAL thing. Otherwise, what is the point?

Shrimp Dumplings with Spicy Peanut Sauce!

Hooray for more painting! And hooray for having an awesome Monday because I got to teach my first lab of the semester. As I was getting ready to go to lab, one of my students saw me and asked if he was in my lab. I nodded, and he and his friend celebrated! It's nice to know that people like me as a TA. But honestly, I love minerals, and I love teaching people about them. I think I have just been missing interaction with people. There is only so much satisfaction I can get from staring at a computer screen and reading articles day after day!

On another note, my body hurts a bit, because I did an arm workout yesterday and today I ran 5 miles!! It's the longest I have run since I hurt my knee. It doesn't hurt anymore. And for some reason, I was having fn running on the treadmill this morning. Tomorrow I may try a leg workout. We shall see.


Breakfast was awesome today, because I poured my iced coffee into a great mug that I dug out of my cabinet! The oatmeal was also delicious.

Dinner was definately a very exciting part of the day! I made shrimp dumplings!


The doug is actually pretty easy to make. Just take 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water and mix together. The key here is to knead the mixture with some extra flour for a good 5-8 minutes. If you don't do this, the dough will be too sticky to put a filling in. Trust me, I learned this the hard way!

I cooked up some shrimp, onions, and carrots to put in! I cooked the shrimp in lemon juice, ginger, and soy sauce.

Once I formed the dumplings, I cooked them up in a large skillet by first browning their bottoms and them steaming them.

Sauce was spicy peanut butter mixed with water, agave, greek yogurt, and soy sauce. It was delicious on the dumplings!

Served on a spinach salad with the left over filling. This was an awesome meal. Making new dishes is one of my favorite things to do! It was a little bit of work, but definately worth it.

Try a bite?

Night time snack was some greek yogurt with cinnamon chips, mango, and cocoa almonds. I am one of those people that needs to eat a snack before bed, or else my tummy will growl and keep me awake.

Does anyone else feel like January is flying by? Where is it going?

Sunday is a taco day!

Sundays are awesome because:

• I get to go grocery shopping and gets lots of new food.
• I usually make a fun dinner.
• I can start stressing out about the upcoming week without feeling like I need to do anything about it yet.
• I take a day off from whittling my middle, which both hurts and feels amazing. But it is nice to take a day off.
• It is usually a baking day. But today, instead of baking, I prepared some food for the upcoming week. I cooked up chicken for pita pizzas and salads.

Today I made turkey tacos for dinner!
I love tacos, but for some reason always want to be fancy and make a tortilla pie or enchiladas, or quesadillas. But today, tacos were te main event. They were made a little bit healthy with ground turkey, multi grain small tortillas, black beans, spinach, tomatoes, onions, and salsa.


Here is a very crowded oven! In the top right, I am preparing the soft tacos! I melted cheese in the tortillas before adding toppings. This was an excellent touch! I also slightly cooked the onions to give them a sweet flavor.

The meal was definately one that made me smile!

Hehe, I couldn't resist.

And for dessert:

A delicious peanutbutter raspberry oat square!! They actually came out great, so I think I cn unban myself from the good baker club. These are pretty incredible in my opinion. Slightly chewy with a nice crunch on top. And the flavor of the raspberry preserves and peanut butter is just intoxicating. Then again, I am a huge fan of peanut butter and jelly. And peanut butter and fluff. And peanut butter and chocolate. And peanut butter and pickles. Okay...peanut butter and anything!

A little early for valentine's day, but I felt like painting one of my small canvases, and this is what happened! A cute little flying heart!

Hope it makes you smile as you (and I) mentally prepare for the week!

Raspberry Peanutbutter Oat Bars! Dessert success!

Today was pretty good. I worked out, played with my cat, went to the natural foods store and bought some treats, watched one of my new movies (and fell asleep during it!), cooked up a good lunch and dinner, and made a dessert that looks like it came out right! Oh, and I got to paint a little bit, too! I am now out of my pad of canvas. Hmm, now I need to find other things to paint on. To bad that apartment complex would probably disapprove of a mural or two...

For lunch I made tuna melts with brie on sandwich thins. They were awesome!

With carrot sticks, because I love carrots so much. I really want to buy a juicer. What are some good but affordable brands of juicers out there?

I bought some vegan raw granola! Have you ever tasted something that you weren't sure if you liked it or not. But it tasted so interesting that you ate it and enjoyed it anyways? That is how I feel about this granola. It is from Kaia foods. I got the dates and spices version, and I think I might like it. I definately can't wait to eat it again, if that means anything. I love dates, so that is definately a plus, because the dates are huge in this granola!!

For dinner I decided to make sandwiched again, but I made bbq eggplant, poached eggs, and swiss sandwiched. They were absolutely wonderful! I love eggplant. The only problem with eggplant is that I am nervous about truly experimenting with it. I am afrai that it will just come out squishy and unappealing. So for now, eggplant parm and eggplant in sandwiches and salads will be the way I go. If you know of any cool ways to use eggplants, please let me know!

I made sweet potato fries on the side. Stephen told me to make them crispy, and I think I succeeded! The technique I used:

• Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat the oven to 400F
• Cut the sweet potatoes into fries and place in a bowl of cold water. Put in the freezer for 10-20 minutes.
• Once the oven has preheated, place about 2 tbsp of canola oil in the baking sheet. Then place back in the oven.
• Drain the fries and place in a ziplock bag with some flour. Make sure they all get coated.
• Then place the fries on the baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes. Turn the fries once or twice during the time. You may need to add a little more oil.

They definately do not come out soggy.

For dessert for the coming week, I made raspberry and peanut butter oat bars! They are a typical oat and raspberry bar, but with some baileys and peanut butter in it. Sounds good, right? I don't know yet, because apparently these are best the day after baking, so I am waiting until tomorrow!

Raspberry and Peanutbutter Oat Bars

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together:

1 stick unsalted butter softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

Add:

1 egg

1 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream

In a separate bowl, mix

1 1/4 flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

Combine the two mixtures.

Stir in

1 3/4 cup oats

Take 2/3 of this batter and press into a 9 x 9 baking pan, or a cake pan like I did.

Spread on top of the batter:

1 cup raspberry preserves

1 tbsp peanut butter (I used dark chocolate dreams)

To the rest of the batter, add 1/4 cup oats and mix together.

Crumble this batter on top of the raspberry and peanut butter

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the top is nicely browned!

Allow to cool before cutting into squares. Refridgerate until tomorrow and eat eat eat!

A closeup of what looks like heaven!

I am now off to make some tea and a small night time snack. Goodnight to you!