Sweet Teeth

Best news ever: Spring is coming early! Not sure how Punxsutawney Phil would have seen his shadow in all of this rain anyways… But I’ll take it 🙂

I’m home sick today… But while I sit here and watch Regis & Kelly, Rachel Ray and other shows that only you lucky stay at home workers get to watch I figured I could update my blog! I’m a great multitasker.

By the way, thank you for all of your sweet messages on my post yesterday about being sick. Hopefully just one more day and I’m back to normal!

I’ve made some amazing breakfasts recently…one of them has become my new favorite. Thanks to Olivia for giving me this idea!

Oatmeal Fro-Yo Parfait

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp almond milk
• 1 frozen banana, sliced

Directions

• Prepare Oatmeal (1/2 cup oatmeal + 1 cup almond milk)
• While Oatmeal is cooking slice banana and add to food processor w/ 2 tbsp of almond milk
• Blend until banana becomes the consistency of frozen yogurt
• Layer it in a glass
• Eat your dessert for breakfast 🙂

Sorry, but you’ll be seeing A LOT of this breakfast in the future.

Another blueberry concoction…

Tofu Blueberry Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

• 3 ounces silken tofu
• 1/3 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 2 tablespoons of protein powder
• 2 tablespoons of plain greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon agave
• 2 -3 ice cubes, optional

Directions

• Mix everything in blender until smooth
• Top with some blueberries

OK, last breakfast recipe and then onto dessert 🙂

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup of almond milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1 Tbsp of Peanut Butter

Directions

• Prepare oatmeal (1/2 cup oatmeal & 1 cup almond milk)
• While oatmeal is thickening slice 1/2 banana and add to food processor with a Tbsp. of Peanut Butter

• Once smooth add the cooked Oatmeal to the food processor

• Blend everything together.
• Pour into bowl.

• Feel free to add more toppings (i chose the other half of banana, blueberry granola crisps and some raisins)

All of these breakfast foods are healthy, delicious and easy to make so you’re not just stuck eating plain cereal everyday. Beach season is right around the corner! Make meals that wont break the bank or the button on your jeans 🙂

OK now for some Dessert recipes! These actually aren’t THAT bad for you.. I’m not sure what I am thinking with all of these healthy recipes lately but we will thank ourselves later when bikini pictures are being tagged of us on Facebook!

First up we have Tofu Mousse… Don’t be turned off by the name. It has CHOCOLATE in it. Everyone loves chocolate, right? I’m loving Olivia because I got this from her as well 🙂

Chocolate Mousse (Tofu)

Ingredients

• 4 oz silken tofu
• 1 1/2 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp agave
• 1 tbsp almond milk
• 3/4 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum

Directions

• Blend first 5 ingredients together until smooth
• Add xanthan gum until pudding becomes thicker
• Eat immediately… not like  you would want to wait anyways

Oh imagine that… I sprinkled blueberries on top! I’m not gonna lie, I ate this for dinner… It had protein and fiber in it, so it counts as a healthy meal 🙂

Funfetti owns my life. It started off with the pancakes last week and now I’ve moved on to dips, whoopies and lollipops. This box of funfetti mix has come A LONG way.

Funfetti dip

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of funfetti cake mix
• 2 tbsp of greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup of fat free cool whip

Directions

• Mix everything together….Easy enough.

Dip anything you want… Vanilla wafers, graham crackers or even funfetti cookies if you’re feeling really fun! This tastes just like licking the batter off of the bowl (i have plenty of experience so I should know) but without the raw eggs, oil and butter! Sorry my bowl is so messy… I may or may not have already started dipping before I took the picture 😉

For the next 2 recipes you will use the remainder of your cupcake mix… If you’re anything like me you have a secret stash in the basement so this isn’t too upsetting.

Funfetti Cookie Lollipops & Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

• Funfetti cake mix
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of butter
• Container of Fat Free Cool Whip
• Wooden sticks
• Icing
• Sprinkles

Directions

• Mix together funfetti cake mix, egg and stick of butter until dough forms.
• Scoop out a generous tablespoon and form into a ball shape.
• Push wooden stick in the middle of dough ball.
• Flatten out with a spoon to make the ball flat.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden at edges.
• Ice, sprinkle, eat!

Not only do these look pretty but they taste pretty good!

• Scoop the remainder of the dough into a rounded teaspoon
• Place on baking sheet
• Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes
• Let cool
• Once cool spread the cool whip onto one cookie and place another cookie on top of that. Roll in the sprinkles. Freeze until ready to eat.

I, clearly didn’t need to freeze mine.

I guess you could eat them as regular cookies too… but who wants to do that when there are so many fun ways you can enjoy them instead.

Now do you believe me when I say I have sweet teeth instead of a sweet tooth? I also ate some regular dinner foods… Not everything had chocolate or peanut butter. (although it’d be great if it did)

Egg Salad Salad (Spinach, cucumber, carrot, egg salad (courtesy of whole foods))
Sesame and Thyme encrusted Halibut with a side of Asparagus

Black Bean and Squash Enchilada

I wont bore you with the savory recipes after I’ve given you all of the sweet ones. Another time…

I finished the goodie bags for the 5-year-old birthday party and also made some paper napkin flowers. 

The party is on Saturday and there is still a lot left to do! I hope being sick today doesn’t leave us stressed for time!

I went to the grocery store on Monday (along with 3 million other people) because we were apparently going to get the worst ice storm of the year… Didn’t happen. But I did find these things that made me HAPPY 🙂

Love edamame… especially if it comes shelled!

I promised I wouldnt buy vegan chocolate chips… But these are carob chips! and they are just like chocolate chips – but healthier. So I’m still going strong with no Chocolate Chips – I think its been a week?

I have been eating these all day… Guess I knew I was going to get sick!

I plan on making a new running playlist tonight so hopefully I can share these with you tomorrow!

Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy

Key West Sunset… I love sunrises and sunsets and this is one of the best places to see them!

Day 7: Favorite movies – mine are completely random.

1. Grease

2. Man on Fire

3. Devil Wears Prada

4. Toy Story

5. Love Actually

6. Closer

7. Mean Girls

8. The Little Mermaid

9. The Town

10. Eat, Pray, Love

This post has exhausted me… Time to rest again!

QUESTIONS: Do you workout when you are sick? What is your favorite movie of all time? Are you hungry when you are sick?

Cottage Cheese Pancakes, Cake & Cake Pops

Good Morning everyone! I am extremely exhausted and running on 4 hours of sleep today but I’m starting the day with a smile 🙂

Yesterday I started my LONG day off with some pancakes… I wanted to give them a burst of Protein so I made them Cottage Cheese Pancakes. If you’re craving pancakes and in a rush…these are the way to go!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes – Serves 2 (2 pancakes each)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• Olive Oil Spray

Directions:

Place skillet on stove and lightly mist with Olive Oil Spray. Mix cottage cheese, whole wheat flour and egg whites together until combined. Pour onto skillet while on Med-High heat. Add desired toppings.

Flip after 1-2 minutes to cook the other side. Transfer to plate and add more toppings if you’d like.

I added a couple more blueberries and some Sugar Free Syrup… Scrumdiddlyumptious. It’s a word, look it up.

Good thing I made a quick breakfast this morning because I came out to my car covered in a sheet of ice.

Where is my boyfriend when I need him… This took me a good 40 minutes to scrape off AND to top it off I was completely out of gas.

It doesn’t even surprise me that I would be out of gas the day there is an ice storm and I would need to defrost my car for an hour. It’s just the way my life goes…I’m just glad my car held out until I was done with my manual labor for the day.

When I got to work I decided to make some protein bars. The luna bars are expensive, I haven’t found a Larabar I enjoy yet and the  fiber one bars give me extreme stomach pain… So i thought I’d give making my own a go!

Chewy Protein Granola Bar

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups oats
• 2 cups almond milk
• 4 heaping tablespoons of brown rice protein powder
• 2 tbsp ground flax
• 6 tbsp warm water
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup agave
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 3/4 mini chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup cinnamon almonds
• 1/4 cup dried bananas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, raisins, protein powder, chocolate chips, almonds and dried bananas. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.  Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix with a wooden spoon until uniformly moist.  The batter will be very thick like stiff cookie dough.

Dump into a 9X12 baking pan that has been greased with non-stick cooking spray and spread into an even layer.

Bake in oven for 35 minutes or so, or until lightly brown around the edges.  The dough will not change shape at all during the baking process. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into 12-14 individual bars.  Wrap each bar individually and store in the refrigerator for a quick snack anytime. The finished product should be very chewy and thick like a dense brownie.  They are very satisfying and very healthy.  The best part about them is you can customize them to your liking!

The girls liked them and so did the mom! Perfect, because I’ll need someone to help me eat 14 of these since I’m home alone this week.

We had an inside day since it was so icy cold out. We made lots of crafts out of food!

I don’t know who enjoyed it more…me or them

Last week while making the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread I burned myself on the oven (it was worth it). But I think it is starting to get infected!

Yuck… So the girls patched me up.

A princess band-aid? They sure know how to make me feel better!

Lunch was leftovers of Monday Night’s Dinner (Pumpkin Enchilada) and then I forced myself headed off to the gym. I had a sore throat all day but thought a sweat might help… I ran 3 miles and left. I need to work on toning today because I’ve been doing more cardio then weights! I stopped by Michael’s on my way home (Michael’s is like Target to me… I could spend forever in there). I picked up some supplies for my Cake Pops and went home to get them started!

First I had dinner… I used some Veggie Protein Crumbles and mixed with corn and BBQ sauce to mimic a sloppy joe. Stuffed it in half of a pita and made some zucchini “fries”.

This was my first time using the veggie crumbles instead of ground turkey for this meal but it wasn’t much of a difference. I think the BBQ sauce makes the dish!

I was contemplating what to have for dessert and then it hit me… I hadn’t had Peanut Butter in 2 days! I’m sure this is why my throat was hurting… Withdraw symptoms 😉

Freshly opened jar… I sliced up some bananas, drizzled my “medicine” on top and stirred in a lot of some mini chocolate chips. Guess what? My sore/swollen throat has disappeared! See, there is a reason why I have to eat Peanut Butter everyday. It keeps me healthy 😉

OK now to the cake pops that took over my life last night. My little cousin and his 5th grade class better enjoy these!

CAKE POPS

Ingredients:

• Box of cake (yes i cheated) – i made two white & devils food
• 2 containers of frosting (cheating again)
• Lollipop sticks
• Lollipop wrappers
• SPRINKLES
• Candy Melts (or white/dark chocolate)
• Ribbon
• Styrofoam

Directions:

Prepare Cake as directed on box. Cool completely.

Mash the cake… Pretend its an ex-boyfriend and just smash it until it looks like this.

Stir in entire container of frosting and mix well. Place in fridge for 15 minutes.

Prepare two large baking sheets by covering with wax paper or parchment. Use an ice cream scooper to scoop balls out of the mixture and then roll each one into a smooth ball. Place in fridge for another 15 minutes while you melt the candy melts.

Dip lollipop stick into the melted candy and stick into cake balls (Like a glue).

Dip into candy melts and stick in styrofoam. I bought this fancy contraption that I DO NOT recommend. It was a hassle.

Very messy – Next time I will use the styrofoam! I then let these cool completely and dipped the tops in a white chocolate mixture then rolled them in sprinkles.

Can you believe I used all of these?

That’s not even half of my collection.

Last step of the process is to let them cool completely and wrap them in a lollipop wrapper and tie with a pretty ribbon!

88 cake pops DONE.

They’re terribly cute, incredibly delicious and a nice switch from cake or cupcakes. The outter shell gives way with a little snap to a moist and soft inside.

If you have some time one day and you want to make something fun definitely do these! However if you work all day and do a million other things I do not suggest staying up until 2 am to make these.

OK, one more cake recipe and then I’m off to work. The cake I made for the birthday party on Saturday…

Triple Layer Devils food w/ Vanilla Buttercream and Milk Chocolate

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk, scalded
• 2 cups cake flour, sifted or stirred before measuring
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Grease a 13x 9 cake pan and sprinkle bottom with wax flour. Sift the cocoa with 1/3 cup sugar; pour into the milk gradually; stir until well blended. Set aside to cool. Sift together flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, soda, and salt. Add shortening and half of the cooled cocoa and milk mixture. Beat at medium speed of an electric hand-held mixer. Add eggs, vanilla, and remaining cocoa and milk mixture. continue beating for about 2 minutes, scraping bowl with a spatula occasionally. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Completely cool. When completely cooled, stick in the freezer while you make second layer.

Don’t forget to lick your spoons 🙂

Vanilla Buttercream Icing (2nd Layer)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup 2 % milk
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

Beat butter and slowly add milk and vanilla. Add powdered sugar and salt, beating until mixture is thick.  Spread in an even layer on top of the chocolate cake. Set in the freezer for 15 minutes while you make your last layer.

Milk Chocolate Frosting – 3rd layer

Ingredients:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 tablespoons of water added 1 or 2 at a time

Beat butter and vanilla. Add cocoa powder and powdered sugar until combined. Add water 1-2 tablespoon at a time until mixture is smooth – Make sure the frosting does not thin out. Spread onto 2nd layer of cake.

Store in fridge until you are ready to serve.

You should end up with a beautiful 3 layer chilled cake.

I am more of a vanilla (or funfetti) cake girl… but this is definitely one of the best cakes I’ve had. All of the flavors combined in one bite are phenomenal. It’s a classic dessert and the three layers of the tender cake slathered in a vanilla buttercream AND a milk chocolate frosting make for an impressive slice.

I need to get to the gym just thinking about all of these sweets.

QUESTIONS: Do you like vanilla or chocolate cake more? Have you ever made cake pops?