fabulous friday #2

Posted on November 1, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Friday, friends! And happy November! How was your Halloween? I had soooo much fun handing out candy to a ton of adorable trick-or-treaters. Lots of princesses, superheroes, and some amazing homemade costumes including a Medusa with hand-sewn snake hair! I hope your night was spooktastic and filled with more treats than tricks. 🙂

Here are five things I’m loving today:

1. Thanks to Robyn’s blog The Real-Life RD, I discovered this natural nutrition boost Vega One to add to my morning smoothies, and I’m loving it! I got the French Vanilla flavor and it’s very sweet, so I normally add just a quarter scoop to my morning smoothie. But it leaves me feeling satisfied for longer, and I love getting all kinds of plant-based nutrients and vitamins in my body first thing in the morning. It’s great way to wake up!

2. Two nights ago, I got to see the terrific writer Tom Barbash give a reading at San Jose State … I’ve been a fan of his work for a while, and I’m even more so now because he is such a warm, engaging and humble person. I am simultaneously devouring and savoring his new short story collection, Stay Up With Me. I’d highly recommend it!

Source: http://thestoryprize.blogspot.com/2013/07/tom-barbash-zeroes-in-on-quandary.html

3. Does anybody else watch the TV show Nashville? I got pulled into an episode the other night when I was drowsily getting ready for bed, and I’m now hooked! I guess I should have known this would be a show for me: after all, I love Nashville since it makes me think of Holly, I love country music, I love Connie Britton {Friday Night Lights!!} and I love romantic drama storylines, which the show has plenty of! Now I just need to get caught up on last season…

4. This evening I’m excited to hang out with a group of USC alumni to watch our Trojans play Oregon State … I’m all ready to cheer them on!

5. I get to see my friend Dana on Sunday! We haven’t seen each other in a few weeks and I’m so looking forward to catching up. She always puts a smile on my face. Plus, I get to meet her sweet dog Heidi, which I am looking forward to!

Questions for the morning:

What are you loving right now?
What are your plans for the weekend?

happy halloween!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Before we get to Halloween, I first want to give a shout-out to my beautiful Mom whose birthday was yesterday. The older I become, the more and more grateful I am to have been raised by such an amazing, kind-hearted, intelligent, generous, and loving woman. She is my role model. I feel like I won the lottery to get her as my mom! She makes me laugh and she makes me feel loved every single day. Mama, I can’t wait to see you in a couple weeks and give you the biggest hug!

Today has flown by and I can’t believe it’s almost time for trick-or-treaters to hit the neighborhood. I’ve got my candy ready at the door, my pumpkins carved, and my costume on!

I had the Halloween Party Pandora station going, but it seemed to devolve quickly into random ’80s tunes that had no Halloween association whatsoever {I think the train ran off the rails after I thumbs-upped Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”…} So now I’ve got the Wicked soundtrack blasting, and you better believe I’m singing and dancing along! I forgot how fantastically catchy this music is!

What are you doing for Halloween? Whatever it is, I hope you have a fun night!

oven-roasted pumpkin seeds

Posted on October 29, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Tuesday! As promised in an earlier post, I have a quick & easy recipe to share with you today: oven-roasted pumpkin seeds. If you are someone like me who does not like to waste anything, this is a great way to get the most bang for your buck out of your carved Halloween pumpkins!

After you’ve scooped out all those slimy pumpkin guts, why not roast up the pumpkin seeds for a healthy and delicious snack or salad-topper? Pumpkin seeds are a terrific source of zinc, vitamin e, and a wealth of antioxidants!

oven-roasted pumpkin seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2. Rinse the seeds clean of all pumpkin goop.

3. Dry the seeds on a paper towel.

4. In a small bowl, stir 2 tbsp butter or coconut oil with the seeds until they are well-greased.

5. Spread out the seeds in one layer on the baking sheet. {We had enough pumpkin seeds to do two separate batches.}

6. Season however your heart desires! We did one sweet batch {pumpkin pie spice + cinnamon} and one savory batch {garlic salt + ground pepper.}

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until seeds begin to turn golden brown at edges. Be careful not to overcook the seeds, because they burn quickly! Roasting pumpkin seeds reminded me a lot of cooking popcorn, where things can go from delicious –> disastrous in a very short time frame.

ENJOY! 🙂

year of kindness challenge: week 43

Posted on October 29, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

The autumn decorations are up at my grandma’s house, and I love them!

They make me smile every time I walk through the door. 🙂 I absolutely adore this time of year! The weather turned the past couple days and it truly feels like autumn. There is a cold crispness to the air and frost is expected here on the ground in the morning. I’ve busted out my cozy sweaters, scarves and boots!

Now, on to the kindness…

This past week’s kindness challenge was to buy someone else’s morning java fix or afternoon caffeine boost. I gave $10 to the barista at Starbucks to pay for the drink of the next person who came in, and said to keep whatever change there was as a tip. Two acts of kindness in one! It brightened my entire day. 🙂

The Week 43 Kindness Challenge is to take a batch of Halloween treats to a nursing home, fire station, police department, or school … anywhere that could use some Halloween treats, not tricks!

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn AT gmail DOT com.

Have a marvelous week!
– Dallas

P.S.: Head on over to this Year of Kindness Challenge page to see all the archived posts from the previous 42 weeks!

Questions of the day:

What kindnesses happened in your life this past week?
Do you decorate your house for autumn?

goals + meal plan for the week of 10/27

Posted on October 28, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Sunday, friends! How has your weekend been? I have been soaking up so much wonderful girl-time with Celine. We went to the pumpkin patch, carved pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds {easy + delicious recipe coming soon!}, curled up on the couch and watched a movie in our PJs, and just talk-talk-talked. I hadn’t seen her in more than two years, so we had a lot of catching up to do! Ahhh, I love this girl SO. DANG. MUCH.

It was also a boatload of fun to see our friend Jessica shine onstage as Ulla in The Producers! She did so fantastic and we were super proud of her. Here’s a shot we snapped with the beautiful starlet after the show:

All in all, a wonderful weekend that went by way too fast! I can’t believe we are into the last week of October. Highlights of this upcoming week for me include dinner out with my aunt and cousin, a meeting with the other Steinbeck fellows, my mama’s birthday on October 30th, and of course Halloween!

Here’s how I did on my goals from last week:
– write 20 pages of new material {15 pages … close!}
– ~~respond to story for workshop~~
– ~~submit one fellowship application~~
– submit Ph.D. application
– ~~exercise at least three times~~
– ~~mail Halloween cards~~

Here are my goals for the week of 10/27:
– write 20 pages of new material
– submit Ph.D. application
– exercise at least three times
– phone dates with two friends

And here are some recipes I’m hoping to try out this week:
– pumpkin, chocolate & brie grilled cheese sandwich via Two Peas & Their Pod
– cranberry whole wheat muffins via The Lean Green Bean
– jamaican jerk tempeh via The Real-Life RD
– hashbrown-crusted quiche via AndreaDecker.com
– mediterranean feta dip via The Pajama Chef

Questions of the evening:

What was your highlight of the weekend?
What are your goals and/or meal plans for the week?

fabulous fridayyyy

Posted on October 25, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy TGIF, friends! I’ve noticed a lot of my favorite bloggers doing “things I love Friday” type posts, and they always get my weekend off on a good note. So I thought I would join in on the fun!

Here are five things I am loving today:

1. The wildlife in my grandparents’ neighborhood! It is not uncommon to see families of deer nibbling at grass as I drive past on my way to morning yoga. Every time I see them, I squeal with excitement. Earlier this week I finally pulled over and snapped a picture, not even caring that I looked like a tourist in my own neighborhood. Look at these cuties!

2. Speaking of cuties … my grandparents are so adorable! I am so grateful I get to have this year living with them. They make me smile every single day! Here’s a photo I stealthily took of them the other day when my Grandpap was trying {unsuccessfully} to teach my Grandma how to work the Google Maps app on her phone:

3. These s’mores pancakes from Peanut Butter Fingers. I WANT.

4. The other day when I was driving I heard the song “I Hope You Dance” by LeAnn Womack that I remember loving in high school but had not heard in ages … what a great song! The lyrics all came back to me and I was belting it out. Now that I’m older, the wisdom in the lyrics rings even more true.

5. I get to hang out with these two lovely ladies all weekend…

… and tonight we get to see Jess in The Producers! I can’t wait! I know she’s going to break a leg!

Questions of the morning:

What fun things do you have planned for this weekend?
What old songs always make you smile when you hear them on the radio?

curried butternut squash & apple soup

Posted on October 24, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Oh my goodness you guys. This soup. My grandma pulled out the recipe the other day and I was thinking, “Are we really going to try to make this??” I was intimidated by the blender part of the process. But it really wasn’t difficult at all. The toughest part of the whole recipe was cutting up the butternut squash! Next time we are definitely going for the easy pre-cut packaged option … definitely worth the extra couple bucks, in my opinion.

Anyway … I highly recommend this soup! Healthy, hearty, creamy, the slight spice of the curry mingling with the sweetness of the apples and squash … YUM. This soup = autumn in a bowl. Enjoy!

curried butternut squash and apple soup

– 3 lbs butternut squash, cubed
– 2 apples, peeled and chopped {we used gala apples}
– 2 cups onions, diced
– 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
– 4 or 5 tbsp curry powder {depending on your taste for curry}
– 1 cup apple juice
– salt & pepper to taste
– green apple for garnish, if desired

1. Peel and chop your squash and apples. As mentioned previously, I would highly recommend using pre-packaged chopped butternut squash for this recipe, but if not I’d recommend baking the squash in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until soft. That will make it much easier to peel and chop!

2. Saute the diced onions in a little bit of butter or olive oil. Add curry powder and cook until onions are translucent.

3. Add the squash, apples and chicken broth and bring to a boil.

4. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer, half-covered, for approximately 25 minutes, until the squash and apples are soft.

5. Pour soup through a strainer, reserving the liquid. Blend the squash/apple/onion mixture in a blender or food processor until creamy.

6. Transfer blended soup back into the pot. Add the apple juice. Gradually stir in the reserved liquid until the soup reaches desired consistency.

7. Heat the soup on the stove until warmed through.

8. If desired, garnish with grated green apple. Serve warm.

I paired mine with a grilled cheese sandwich and it was the perfect dinner on a crisp autumn night!

Question of the morning:

What are some of your favorite apple recipes? #appleweek

if you like this recipe, you might also enjoy:
– creamy blended potato & cauliflower soup
– savory pumpkin & kale stew
– shrimp & sausage stew

gluten-free apple pie bites

Posted on October 23, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Hi friends! Apple Week continues today with a recipe for apple pie bites, adapted from one I came across at The Washington Post online. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of these babies … you’ll just have to trust me on this. They’re: 1) delicious; 2) easy to make; and 3) gluten-free! In other words, these apple pie bites are the bomb dot com.

For the crust:
– 1/2 cup gluten-free flour {I used coconut flour, which turned out very well}
– 1/2 cup almond flour or almond meal
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon
– 2 tbsp agave syrup or maple syrup
– 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
– 1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:
– 1 cup finely diced, skin-on apple
– 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
– 1 tsp vanilla extract
– 1 tsp agave syrup or maple syrup
– 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a mini muffin pan and set it aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal and cinnamon. Add the maple syrup, applesauce and water; stir to form a soft dough.

3. Divide the dough evenly among the wells of the mini-muffin pan. Use your fingers to press down the dough so that it lines the bottom and sides of each well.

4. Now make the filling: stir together the apple, applesauce, vanilla extract, maple syrup and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Divide evenly among the dough-lined muffin pan wells, pressing down the filling so it is firmly packed.

5. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes; the edges of the tarts will be lightly browned and the filling will have settled a bit. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then use a fork to gently dislodge and transfer each tart to a wire rack to cool.

These are the perfect light dessert or portable snack! Happy baking!

—————-

you might also enjoy these recipes:
– apple cake with crumb topping and a brown sugar glaze
– baked sugar & cinnamon donut holes
– melinda’s vegetable salad with apples, bacon & honey-apple vinaigrette

apple cake with crumb topping & brown sugar glaze

Posted on October 22, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Hi everyone! I’ve decided to designate the next few days as Apple Week here on the blog! I have a few apple-themed recipes I’m excited to share with you, so I thought why not group them together in a single week … after all, no time of year says apple like autumn does!

Today, I’m excited to share the recipe for the apple cake I shared a teaser picture of in yesterday’s post. Grandma and I baked this cake for our dinnertime get-together at my aunt’s house, and it was a huge hit! There were only six of us there, and pretty much the entire cake got devoured by the time we left.

apple cake with crumb topping and a brown sugar glaze

for the cake:
– 5 cups apples {peeled, cored and chopped}
– 1 & 3/4 cups flour
– 1/4 cup almond meal
– 2 tsp baking soda
– 2 or 3 tsp cinnamon {depending on your tastes}
– 1 tsp salt
– 3/4 cup brown sugar
– 1/4 cup maple syrup or agave
– 1/2 cup vegetable oil
– 1 cup applesauce
– 2 eggs
– 1 tsp vanilla

for the crumb topping:
– 1/2 cup flour
– 1/2 cup brown sugar
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 2 tbsp butter

for the brown sugar glaze:
– 1/2 cup brown sugar
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 2 tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, maple syrup/agave, and chopped apples. Mix until apples are well coated with sugar. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, and vanilla until well combined.

4. Sift together dry ingredients: flour, almond meal, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

5. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.

6. Pour the batter over the apple-sugar mixture. Stir until well combined, then pour into the baking pan.

7. To make the crumb topping: mix together flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add butter in small pieces. Mix until you have a fine, crumbly mixture. Generously sprinkle the crumb topping over the apple cake batter.

8. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. {Note: your house will smell AMAZING when this is baking!}

9. While cake is baking, make your brown sugar glaze by combining brown sugar, vanilla and water in a small bowl. Stir until smooth.

10. Remove cake from oven and drizzle with brown sugar glaze, which will harden as the cake cools.

In my opinion, this cake is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!!

———

like this recipe? you might want to also check out:
– baked cinnamon french toast
– incredibly easy pumpkin spice cookies
– chocolate spice zucchini muffins
– apple banana oatmeal muffins

year of kindness challenge: week 42

Posted on October 21, 2013 by dallaswoodburn

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope your week is off to a good start. 🙂 The BART strike continues up here in the Bay Area, and I feel so bad for all of the commuters into the city who rely on BART and now have to find other means of transportation. Please send good thoughts that the issues get resolved soon and the trains will start running again!

My cousin Arianna went to the Homecoming Dance this weekend and she looked absolutely gorgeous! I love this photo of her and my grandma … we were calling them our two ladies in red:

Yesterday was another family-filled day, and I loved it! In the morning I headed over to cheer on my cousin Makena in her soccer game — not only did her team win, but she scored three goals! I was so proud. She is quite the soccer star!

Then I headed over to the U.U. church a couple towns over {the closest one to where I live now} … it was my first time going to this particular church, and everyone was so welcoming and kind. The church itself is stunningly beautiful, on top of a mountain, and the chapel has a ton of windows looking out over the green hills and the valley below. I was definitely happy I made the drive, and I plan to go back next Sunday! It can be intimidating to walk into a new church, and it takes me a few weeks to feel completely comfortable and to start recognizing familiar faces.

In the evening, we got together for dinner with my other aunt’s family. Grandma and I made an apple cake with cinnamon crumb topping and brown sugar glaze … YUM! It was actually a very easy recipe, and was a big hit with everyone. Grandpap even went back for thirds! I’ll have to share the recipe on here soon.

Now … on to the kindness! Last week’s kindness challenge was to advocate for someone, particularly someone younger or newer or just starting out on their career path. I sent a dozen or so emails to young writers with contest information I came across, and I also spoke on the phone to a few high school students about their writing and college applications. I always come away from these conversations inspired myself — I hope they felt the same way!

The Week 42 Kindness Challenge is to buy someone else’s morning java fix or afternoon caffeine boost. This might mean paying for the person behind you in line at Starbucks or bringing lattes to your coworkers as a mid-week treat. Whatever strikes your fancy!

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn AT gmail DOT com.

Now I’m off to work on fellowship apps and then go for a run at the gym. Have a wonderful day!

❤ Dallas

P.S.: The archives were getting pretty loooooong below each new post, so head on over to this Year of Kindness Challenge page to see all the archived posts from the previous 41 weeks!

Questions of the morning:

What kindnesses happened in your life this past week?
Have you ever moved to a new town and had to start out at a new church? Do you have any advice about making the transition?