marvelous monday: finding happiness in the details

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Happy Monday, everyone! I admit it, I had a hard time saying goodbye to this weekend. It was just so nice! I always feel such energy and excitement in the air when summer turns over to autumn. {I won’t lie, I still had a hard time waking up this morning … more on that in a minute!}

On Saturday Mike and I went to Feast of the Hunters Moon, a Lafayette tradition. It’s sort of like a Renaissance Festival but for colonial times. People seize the opportunity to dress up — not just in colonial period costumes, but as pirates, animals, face-painted Native Americans {which always makes me cringe after taking a Native American History course in college} … there is singing, dancing, cricket-playing, marching. We saw a fife & drum troupe and a miniature horse pulling a carriage around, bells jingling. Tents were set up all around with people selling homemade goods; we walked past a blacksmith, a leather tooler, potters and jewelry makers. And there’s all sorts of delicious and interesting food {as one friendly lady told me and Mike, “That’s why they call it FEAST!”} We sampled bison stew, fried smelt, corncakes, an apple fritter, and croquignoles, which are cinnamon-sugar donuts. It was a gorgeous, crisp sunny autumn day and I think my favorite part was just walking around taking everything in.

On Sunday we had a relaxing workday and book-browsing at Barnes & Noble, then played a few rounds of pinball at this local arcade before heading home. Would you believe that yours truly actually scored high enough to win a free game?? Yes, I was proud. The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” may just be running through my head right now. 🙂

Maybe because it was such a lovely weekend, it was extra hard getting up this morning. My first thought was: “Monday? Waaaah!” But I diligently rolled out of bed, and as I brewed my mug of tea I thought of that saying, “The dollar is in the details.” I think it can apply to happiness, too. The little details of our days can bring us so much joy if we just take a few moments to appreciate them.

Here are a few details that brightened up my Monday morning:

1. James Taylor on the radio. I love you, James!

2. Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice tea. {My mom got this for me last Christmas and it is so yummy I’ve been trying to draw it out and ration myself to a cup or two a week, though I might end up caving and using it all up this week! … It’s so perfect for autumn}

3. Pumpkin pie. For breakfast. {I needed to celebrate the yummy pie I made last night after a true disaster of a pumpkin pie attempt on Friday … more on that later this week!}

4. The “good morning” text message from my dad … he’s so sweet and always sends me text messages before he goes to bed on Pacific time, so when I wake up on Eastern time I’ll find a good morning from him waiting on my phone. Always gets my day off on a good note!

5. Watching a hilarious episode of Arrested Development as I ate breakfast.

6. A sunny 58-degree day outside … cold enough to wear my cute boots and scarf, but not too cold that going outside means freezing my butt off.

7. Cute dog videos on YouTube … I miss my dog Murray so much {he’s our family dog and lives with my parents in California} and watching videos of adorable & funny dogs that remind me of him almost makes me feel like I’m waking up to him snoring upside-down on “his” couch in the living room.

8. The pretty autumn wreath I snagged last year at CVS pharmacy, of all places. I just adore it! I love coming home and seeing it hanging on my front door. I hope it brings a little smile to our mailwoman’s face every day, too!

I’m feeling a zillion times better already, ready to embrace the day! What details are making your day marvelous?

❤ Dallas

incredibly easy pumpkin spice cookies

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In honor of tomorrow being the Autumnal Equinox, or first official day of autumn, I decided to celebrate by baking these incredibly yummy — and incredibly easy! — pumpkin spice cookies.

I came across this recipe about a month ago on one of my favorite blogs, Peanut Butter Fingers — I absolutely love pumpkin desserts and pastries, so right away I was on board. Then, when I saw that all you need is TWO ingredients to make these cookies, I was amazed. I knew I needed to try out this recipe for myself!

These cookies are thick, moist, and full of pumpkin goodness. They were super delicious warm from the oven yesterday and they still tasted fresh when I had a few for dessert tonight. Plus, since there is no butter, oil, or even eggs in this recipe — and pumpkin is a great source of Vitamin A and C — these are pretty healthy as far as cookies go!

Whip up a batch of these cookies and enjoy a taste of autumn!

pumpkin spice cookies

– 1 box of spice cake mix {I used Duncan Hines}
– 15 oz can of pumpkin
– chocolate chips, marshmallow, white chocolate chips, nuts {optional mix-ins for the cookies}

1. Preheat your oven for 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, dump the cake mix and pumpkin. It will look like this:

3. Keep stirring until the pumpkin and cake mix are fully combined. The batter will be thick! {This recipe doubles as a great arm workout, haha!}

4. Drop the pumpkin by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet or onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

5. If you’d like, add chocolate chips, marshmallows, or nuts to some of the cookies. {I used white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips in about half the cookies, and the rest I made plain.}

6. Bake 15-20 minutes or until cookies are firm in the middle.

Yummmm… ENJOY!

Happy autumn, everyone!
-Dallas

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-Time spent: 30 minutes {including bake time}
-Cost: about $4.00

marvelous monday: my favorite tea mug

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I’ve already told you about my intense love for tea — in fact, my first project for this blog was reorganizing my tea stash in my kitchen cabinet. What I haven’t yet shared are photos of my favorite mugs to brew my tea in. Well, today is the day!

At the top of my list on Monday morning is this sunshiney mug that I got for Christmas last year. I love sunflowers, and this mug is an instant mood-lifter. How can it not be a good morning when you’re drinking a steaming hot cup of tea in this beauty?

On those inevitable “snooze button” days when I’m having an especially hard time rolling out of bed, I reach for this mug: it’s ginormous! Practically a soup bowl. I can brew two regular mug’s worth of tea in a single serving of this amazing mug:

It’s extra special because it came from the Serendipity 3 cafe in NYC. I bought it when I visited my close friend Janet last year, when she was living for a short time in the big apple. She took me there because the movie Serendipity with John Cusack and Kate Beckingsale is one of my all-time favorite movies. It is such a special memory, and drinking tea from this mug always makes me think of Janet and smile.

It’s almost as big as my head!

What are some of your favorite mugs and water glasses? Do you have any small household items that get your day off to a sunny start?

Have a marvelous day!
-Dallas

coconut zucchini muffins

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Happy Friday, everyone!

Now that I’m settling fully into my school routine, I’ve found myself baking muffins even more frequently than usual. When I can make healthy, fruit-or-veggie-filled versions at home, they’re the perfect thing to grab for breakfast on my way out the door or bring as a snack to eat between classes.

Since I love coconut, I was really excited to see this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs Two Peas & Their Pod for coconut zucchini bread. One look at the delectable photos was all it took to convince me I needed to try it out myself! I tweaked it to make coconut zucchini muffins. Here’s my take:

coconut zucchini muffins

– 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
– 1 & 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (squeezed and drained in a paper towel)
– 1/2 cup brown sugar
– 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
– 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt at room temperature
– 1 large egg, at room temperature
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tin with papers and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3. In a separate large bowl, combine shredded zucchini, sugar, applesauce, yogurt, egg, and vanilla extract.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Stir in the shredded coconut.

5. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I also sprinkled some extra cinnamon on top of each muffin about 10 minutes into the baking time.

These turned out great! Delicious and healthy, a perfect breakfast or snack or even dessert.

Have a wonderful day! Happy baking!
-Dallas

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-Time spent: about 1 hour, including bake time
-Cost: less than $5.00

If you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy this recipe for chocolate spice zucchini muffins!

the pantry challenge + white chicken chili with corn muffins recipe

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Confession: my pantry is a bit of a jumbled mess.

I’ve tried organizing it multiple times, but no matter how I sort through all of the cans, jars and boxes, it always looks messy. I finally realized the problem is that I simply have too much stuff crammed in there! So many cans and boxes and mixes that it’s impossible to even know everything that I have. So when I go to the store, I inevitably buy new cans and jars of stuff that is already buried in the back of my pantry. What a waste!

So, inspired by this post by Jill at the lovely blog Reini Days, I’ve made a resolution to use up all the food in my pantry that I already have. I’m not going quite so hardcore as Jill and her family did — I am still giving myself permission to buy new food and ingredients that I don’t currently have if necessary. But I will make an effort each week when doing my meal-planning to make recipes centered around ingredients that already live in my pantry before I go out and buy new things at the store.

The other night, I got my new pantry challenge off to a great start when I made a big batch of chili! I had friends over for Labor Day dinner and I made two big pots of chili. Look at all the cans & boxes from my pantry that I used in this single night:

Count ’em! That’s eight cans and two boxes for a total of ten items that were languishing in my overstuffed pantry! Perfect way to kick off the challenge I’ve set for myself.

Since I had seven friends over, I made two big pots of chili. In one pot, I made a tomato chili recipe from my mom that I am looking forward to sharing with you in the near future. In the other pot, I made a white chicken chili that was delicious and is perfect for anyone who is sensitive to high-acid foods such as tomatoes or suffers from heartburn because this chili is tomato-free! This is the recipe I’m going to share today. I call it “California-style” because I think it’s best served with sliced avocado on top!

california-style white chicken chili

– 1 package chicken breasts or chicken breast tenderloins
– 1 green bell pepper
– 1 orange or yellow bell pepper
– 1 tsp mixed garlic
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– 1 can white beans {I used organic great northern beans}
– 1 can corn
– 1 package white chili seasoning
– 1/4 cup water
– 1 medium avocado

1. Pour the olive oil and garlic into the bottom of a large pot. Turn heat on low. Dice the bell peppers and pour into the pot. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until pepper begins to soften.

2. While pepper is cooking, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

3. Drain the can of beans and corn and pour both into the pot.

4. Add the chicken, water and white chili spice packet and bring chili to a boil.

5. Turn heat down a little and simmer the chili for 20-30 minutes {or longer if you have the time … the chili gets more and more flavorful the longer you cook it. YUM!}

6. Before serving, top chili with diced avocado if desired.

My friend Xun who came over for dinner absolutely loves cornbread, so I served the chili with corn muffins, which were super easy to make. I just used a Jiffy boxed cornbread mix and poured the batter into muffin tins instead of a bread pan.

jiffy corn muffins

– 1 package jiffy cornbread mix
– 1 small can corn
– 1 egg
– 1/3 cup milk or buttermilk

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.

2. Combine cornbread mix, egg and milk.

3. Drain can of corn and add to the batter. Mix thoroughly.

4. Pour batter into paper-lined muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Each box of mix yields about six muffins. For our get-together, I used two boxes and doubled the ingredients.

These were fantastic! We had a bit of each kind of chili left-over, but the corn muffins were all gobbled up by the night’s end!

It was a really fun night, and chili is such a relaxing meal to cook — all you really need to do is plop all the ingredients in the pot and let it simmer until you’re ready to eat. Perfect for having people over and wanting to spend your time visiting rather than slaving away in a hot kitchen.

So, does anyone else want to join the challenge with me? I’m excited to update you on my progress as I try out new recipes to clear out my pantry!

Have a great day–
Dallas

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-Time spent: 1 hour {including cook time}
-Cost: about $10 {though I had almost all the ingredients in my pantry already, hooray!}

MPM-Winter
This post is linked up to Menu-Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie!

marvelous monday: guest post by “the sunny girl” Lauren Cook!

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I am thrilled to have Lauren Cook as a guest on the blog today! She is a dear friend and an inspiration to me to live life with joy, gratitude and love. Her blog The Sunny Girl: The Brighter Side of Things is a treasure trove of insights and resources to make your daily life happier. Check it out!

She was kind enough to stop by the blog today and share some thoughts on finding happiness through a sense of daily accomplishment. Enjoy! 🙂

There are a few things in life that leave me hard-pressed for happiness. Without a good meal, a good night’s rest, and my daily to-do list, I’m lost at my soul’s sea. I love having direction in my life, both for the big picture and for the seemingly small tasks throughout the day. That’s why nearly every day, without fail, I write a check list for what I need to get done and what I want to get done.

The main reason: I love the feeling of accomplishment. Even getting that little “check” on my list for achieving something as simple as going to the grocery store keeps me on track for the day. I know it sounds silly, even ridiculous, but I think it’s so important to stay goal oriented and focused. If I leave my mind to do as it pleases, I’ll end up watching mindless TV, eating that extra scoop of Ben and Jerry’s Greek yogurt (my new obsession!), and delaying my work for the day. I wouldn’t label myself as a procrastinator, but my life is so much more productive when I’ve planned it out on paper.

I write all about happiness for young adults. I’m working on publishing my first book right now and while this is a huge goal, there are hundreds of small goals embedded within it. Without my daily to-do lists, these goals just seem to float along in my head rather than actualize.

I’m so much happier at the end of the day when I can look back on my list and see that I made an EFFORT. Even if I don’t finish a chapter or if I still have emails to send, knowing that I gave it my best for the day leaves me satisfied yet eager to start the next day.

We all have our own ways of writing to-do lists but here are a few of my Sunny Suggestions:

1. Get a planner you love to look at. You’re going to be using it a lot! No matter how you like to take your notes, whether it’s on your phone or a notebook, make sure it’s convenient to carry and nice to look at. I’m hoping for a Lilly Pulitzer notebook soon—with a notebook that pretty I’ll never want to stop adding things to do!

2. Look at it at least three times throughout the day: If it’s out of sight, it’s all too easily out of mind. Sure, it’s simple to write down the tasks but it’s a whole other thing to keep your eyes on the prize. Make sure you have your notes handy so that you can see how much progress you’re making throughout the day.

3. Make goals out of goals: Some days are busier than others. Some days I know I can’t accomplish even half the items on my to-do list. Still, set a goal for how many goals you’d like to finish that day. And if you meet your goal? Don’t stop there! Set a new one and keep going til that sun goes down!

We all ultimately strive for happiness and I think setting goals is a primary way we work towards that happiness. For me it all starts with a to-do list. Make your visual and present on a daily basis. Don’t leave your list in your mind—get it on paper. It’ll motivate you to put in the extra effort.

I hope you start seeing your goals getting accomplished more than ever and I hope you start living the happiest life you’ve always wanted!

Keep shining,

The Sunny Girl, Lauren Cook

Connect with Lauren:

– Blog

– Twitter

– Facebook

homemade yummy hummus = yummus!

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Considering my love for hummus now, it’s hard to believe, but I did not discover this delicious dip until I was in college. I particularly remember falling head-over-heels for hummus my junior year, when I studied abroad for a semester in Norwich, England. The grocery chain Tesco made a superb fresh hummus, and nearly every weekday for lunch I would make myself a plate of hummus and pita bread before heading off to class. My flatmates {dormmates} would tease me about it, and I kept wondering when I would grow tired of my hummus lunchtime routine, but I never did. I ate hummus and pita bread for lunch nearly every weekday of my sixth-month stay in Norwich, and I kept eating it when I returned home to the States. I’ve never been able to find a store-bought hummus that tastes quite as good as my memory of that hummus from Tesco. Plus, store-bought hummus can get a little pricey, and who knows what preservatives and additives I’m inhaling along with my pita bread.

So, this week, I decided to get out my blender and try making my own hummus. I’m SO glad I did, because it is absolutely delicious, waaaaay cheaper than store-bought brands, and could not be easier to make! I also love how I can control how much oil, garlic and spices go in. And it was simple to make my hummus organic — I just paid 20 cents more for the organic version of Kroger-brand garbanzo beans!

easy-peasy garlic hummus

– 1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, most of the liquid reserved
– 1 tablespoon lemon juice
– 1 tablespoon olive oil
– 2 tablespoons tahini
– 2 cloves garlic, chopped {I used 2 tsp pre-chopped garlic}
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– black pepper, red pepper, or cumin to taste

1. In a blender, or by hand, chop the garlic. Pour garlic and garbanzo beans into blender.

2. Pour lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, chopped garlic, salt, and optional spices in blender. Blend until creamy and well mixed.

3. Add additional bean liquid to get desired texture and additional spices, salt and lemon to taste.

4. Optional: chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, or as long as you can stand the wait. I think this hummus tastes even better the next day, once the flavors have had a chance to marinate together for a little while!

I served mine with fresh sliced carrots and cucumber. I also love eating hummus with warm pita bread. Makes a great lunch or healthy snack! Hummus also makes a great sandwich spread — I’ll use it instead of mustard or mayonnaise.

What are some of your favorite veggie dips & sandwich spreads? Any other hummus-obsessed people out there?

-Dallas

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-Time spent: 15 minutes
-Cost: $3.00

You might also enjoy these healthy snack posts:
– baked mango with brown sugar & cinnamon
– creamy avocado yogurt dip from Two Peas & Their Pod
– honey goat cheese dip from Peanut Butter Fingers

blueberry streusel muffins

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I spent a rainy afternoon last weekend at Starbucks writing, reading and grading. Sometimes it’s nice to just get out of the apartment — if I stay inside all day without getting out at all, I start to feel a little claustrophobic. I call it the “closed-in feeling” and when it hits, the only solution is to grab my bag and books and keys and head out! Even just heading down the street to Starbucks is enough to clear my head and get me into productive mode.

I ordered my usual Zen green tea and since I was a little hungry I also tried a blueberry muffin. I really loved the crumb topping and as soon as I got home, I thought: I want to make my own version!

So this morning that’s what I did.

I found this recipe on the blog Stacey Snacks for peach streusel muffins … I didn’t have any peaches so I adapted it to make blueberry muffins. I’m looking forward to trying the recipe with peaches sometime soon though! The photos on Stacey’s blog look amazingly scrumptious.

Here’s how my blueberry streusel muffins turned out:

blueberry streusel muffins

for the topping:
– 1/3 cup uncooked oatmeal
– 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
– 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
– 1 tsp ground cinnamon
– 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

for the muffin batter:
– 2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1/2 cup sugar {or 1/4 cup stevia/truvia}
– 1 tsp baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 2 tsp ground cinnamon
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 3 eggs
– 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
– 1 cup Greek yogurt
– 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
– 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
– 1 & 1/2 cups blueberries

1. For the topping: In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir in the butter, and mix until well blended. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray.

3. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, from flour to salt, and set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, butter, yogurt and vanilla.

5. Add the egg mixture to the dry mixture. Stir until just moist and blended, being careful not to overmix.

6. Fold in the blueberries.

7. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan until the batter comes to the top of the paper liner or pan. Sprinkle with the brown sugar streusel topping, and lightly press the topping into the muffin batter.

8. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until tops are golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Update: These were delicious right out of the oven, and still moist and fresh-tasting a couple days later when I finished the last of the batch. They’re a great way to use up the last of your summer blueberries! I especially loved the streusel topping!

YUM!

Have a delightful day, everyone!

Always,
Dallas

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-Time spent: about 1 hour {including bake time}
-Cost: less than $5

You might also enjoy these previous posts:
–blueberry/blackberry/raspberry muffins
–good morning sunshine muffins

happy anniversary, mom & dad!

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Today is my parents’ 30th wedding anniversary. They were college sweethearts and married young, right out of college — two years younger than I am now. I feel so grateful to have them as parents — I won the parent lottery! My whole life, they have been a living example of a real-life love story. I can’t ever remember seeing them argue or yell at each other. They talk through things; they admire and respect each other; and they laugh together all the time.

As I write this they are somewhere in the waters off Alaska, on a week-long cruise my mom has been dreaming about for years. I am so happy for them!

Congrats, Mom & Dad! I love you. Thanks for showing me every day how to love and be loved.

❤ Dallas

marvelous monday: finding balance

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Happy Labor Day, everyone! According to a quick Wikipedia search, Labor Day was created to celebrate the “social and economic contributions of American workers.” Hope you are enjoying a day of rest and relaxation!

I really love my job, but teaching is something that it can be hard to leave at the office. I’m always bringing home papers to respond to and also thinking about future assignments and lesson plans. Today, I’m celebrating Labor Day by taking a day off from grading and thinking about my classes, and instead just relaxing and enjoying myself. I’m having some friends over for dinner tonight — planning on whipping up a big batch of white chicken chili and corn muffins {recipe post coming soon!} and maybe some lemon bars for dessert. YUM!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about balance. One of my favorite quotes {which I might have shared on here before, I can’t remember} is from the late, great coach and teacher John Wooden. He said the two most important words in the English language are “love” and “balance.” I think that is so true, and yet balance can be really difficult to achieve. Especially in the fast-paced, multi-tasking-obsessed, constant-communication world we live in these days. It’s so easy to get sucked into the void of doing, doing, doing; more, more, more; faster, faster, faster.

Balance is something I am continually striving for. My work ethic is a quality I am really proud about, yet this is something that can easily slide off-balance. When that happens, I become a stressed-out, perfectionist workaholic. That is not who I want to be or how I want to spend my time!

So I’ve been taking some time each day to focus on balance. Find my center. Close my eyes, take a few deep breaths, and think of all the things I love about my life. I think about who I want to become. The hard work I plan to put in, the goals I want to accomplish–but also the fun things I wish to do, too. The places I want to travel. The fun books I want to read and movies I want to see and concerts I want to go to. The random treasures I want to take advantage of in everyday life: the awesome pinball arcade Mike & I stumbled upon, the nature trail along the river, the plethora of local restaurants we want to try out.

I’ve started to think about balance as a day-by-day thing, something I am working towards each and every day. For me, a good day does mean putting in two or three or four solid hours of work on my thesis draft. But it also means other things, too: relaxing with my sweetie on the couch watching an episode of The Wire; letting my mind wander while I try out a new dish in the kitchen; going for a long walk around the neighborhood; catching up with my family or friends on the phone; laughing till my stomach hurts over a hilarious video on YouTube; making my way through the stack of good books on my bedside table; and on, and on. A truly good day, to me, means a balanced day. I have discovered that I feel the most fulfilled and joyful and content when my life is balanced.

I saw this cartoon in a recent issue in The New Yorker and I wanted to share it here because it seems super appropriate not just to the theme of this blog, but also to the idea of balance.

cartoon from The New Yorker 2012

This cartoon made me smile, but it also gave me pause. I started this blog because I wanted to become more organized in my daily life, while also saving money and time. But I never want organization to become a source of stress, or to feel pressure for perfection. My life and my apartment have become a little more organized in the past few months. I’m making progress. I’m trying new things and cooking more meals at home and flexing my newly developed decorating muscles. But my life will never be perfectly organized. I will never be that woman in the cartoon.

And I think that’s a good thing.

I’m not striving for perfection. I’m striving for balance. To me, love + balance = happiness.

What’s your happiness equation? How do you find balance in your busy life?

-Dallas