Tag Archives: brownies

my weekend in a nutshell

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Hi, friends! Hope your Monday is off to a great start! It is a beautifully drizzly day here today — here in California, we are thankful for EVERY drop of rain we receive! — and my grandma is making soup. I’m feeling cozy, warm, and so so grateful for what Mary Oliver refers to as this “one wild and precious life.”

What are you grateful for today?

I’ll be back tomorrow with this week’s year of Wooden post, but for now I wanted to share some scenes from my weekend…

My reading on Saturday as part of San Francisco’s LitQuake went really well! The folks at Arroyo Literary Review were so kind and welcoming. I was honored that they asked me to be one of the readers. I always get a little nervous beforehand, but the audience was super warm and attentive. We were all happy with the turn-out — standing room only, woot woot! I also loved listening to the three other talented readers: Keith Ekiss, Rachel Howard, and Mike Larkin. Here’s a pic that someone snapped of me while I was reading:

me reading arroyo

Alson on Saturday night, I had a super fun time with Allyn and his classmates at karaoke! It was a fundraiser for their humanitarian trip to Kenya, so it was a unique format called “dareaoke” — a person would place a bet for someone else to sing a specific song. If the person didn’t want to sing it, they could “up” the bet to get someone else to sing the song. It was a blast, and a great idea for a fundraiser! It was a big group and no one bet me to sing a song {for which I was grateful} but my sweetheart rocked a rendition of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song that had everyone cheering 🙂

Brownies! For half the batch I made pb cup brownies, for the other I tried a new recipe. I had a carton of strawberries in the fridge that were all ripening at the same time, so I decided to experiment and throw some chopped strawberries and chocolate chips into the batter. It was a success! Fudgy chocolate goodness with bursts of strawberry. I think the trick was to cut up the strawberries into very small pieces. I always love topping brownies with fresh strawberries, so these brownies were right up my alley.

brownies

As far as eats go, I can’t get enough veggie egg scrambles lately. I like to saute a panful of veggies with one or two eggs — I prefer my veggie-to-egg ratio to be very veg-heavy, egg-light. This one had zucchini + bell pepper + tomato + spinach. Serve it on top of a piece of whole-wheat toast for a delicious and healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner!

veggie scramble

My friend Dana just got two kittens! How adorable are these little fluffballs? Can’t wait to meet them in person!

dana's kittens

Aaaaaand that’s a wrap! I’m heading out to meet up with my sweetheart soon for a work session and a night in, making dinner and watching a movie. Enjoy the rest of your day!

new haircut! & other random tidbits

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Hello, friends! Just poppin’ in to say hello. How is your day going?

It’s been a busy morning around here… my favorite kind of busy, productive weekday morning. I woke up early and, after a bowl of oatmeal with sliced apple and walnuts, I headed over to Starbucks for a pumpkin chai latte and a couple hours of writing. This afternoon, I’ve got some tutoring and editing projects on the agenda.

starbucks work sesh

Here are some odds & ends on my mind today…

I got a haircut! Crazy how something as simple as trimming a couple inches off my hair can make me feel so rejuvenated.

new haircut

I’m so happy The Good Wife is back! The first episode of the season was a real nail-biter and I am already on pins-and-needles for next week! The Good Wife is one of the only shows I watch on a regular basis. My parents, grandparents, and aunt Annie watch it, too, so it’s fun discussing each new episode every Monday morning. Do you have any shows like that?

On Sunday night Allyn watched my favorite romantic movie, Serendipity, with me! There’s something about autumn that always makes me crave this movie. As I told Allyn: “My love for Serendpity will never die.” I also love the beautiful instrumental theme song of the movie, January Rain by David Gray.

Serendipity

Yesterday Grandma and I watched the movie Iris on TV about the life of British writer Iris Murdoch. I thought it was heartbreaking but really well done, and now I’m inspired to read Irish Murdoch’s books — I think I might start with her classic The Sea, The Sea.

Speaking of books and writers… I tweeted to JoJo Moyes about how much I loved her book One Plus One, and she tweeted me back! September must be the month for celebrity encounters… remember last year when I ran into Casey James at Starbucks?

jojo moyes tweet

I made a batch of my favorite pb cup brownies {I gave most to Allyn but kept a couple for myself, too!} and I’ll probably polish off the last one tonight. Treats like this just make the week feel more special.

pb cup brownies

Questions of the day:

  • What are your favorite TV shows?
  • Has someone you admire every replied to a tweet you sent? Or have you ever had a celebrity encounter?
  • What treats make your ordinary days more special?

fabulous friday #9

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Happy Friday, friends!

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

1. Caramel turtle brownies. I made these a couple nights ago, improvising a little on the recipe directions by placing a Rolo caramel candy in the center of each one. {I was inspired by my peanut butter cup brownies!} They turned out delicious, though quite caramel-y… my grandparents teased me about having to drink lots of hot coffee while eating these babies in order to get the caramel off their teeth! So you have been warned.

caramel brownies

2. Artsy movie theaters. This week, I had my first experience going to a movie theater where they serve dinner and drinks during the movie. It was so neat! I felt way classy sipping on my glass of wine, reclining in my comfy movie theater seat. We saw “Nebraska” and I would highly recommend it — one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. It is a brilliantly told story about flawed, relatable characters who are recognizable and human, just doing the best they can for each other. I laughed, I cried and I was sad when it was over!

3. The Plain White T’s. I was really into the Plain White T’s back in college {ahh, the “Hey There Delilah” days …} but I’d sort of forgotten about their music these past couple years. However I love their new song “The Giving Tree” and this week I’ve been listening to a bunch of their stuff, old and new, on youtube. Here’s one of my faves of the moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYg3g6LX0DE

4. Long phone chats with friends. My far-flung friends and I have gotten into the habit of scheduling “phone dates” at least once a month, and I’m so glad that we do. It helps me stay close to wonderful friends and keep up-to-date on their lives even when we don’t get to see each other in person very often. I also love that my brother makes time to talk to me on the phone, pretty much every day. We have so many inside jokes and nobody else on the planet makes me laugh like he does!

me and gb goofy

5. My beautiful cousin Arianna is turning Sweet Sixteen on Sunday! I’m so excited to celebrate with her all weekend long. Happy birthday, sweetheart!

me and arianna

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Questions of the day:

  • What are you loving on this fine Friday?
  • What are your plans for the weekend?

happy birthday holly!!

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Today is my amazing friend Holly’s birthday! As per our tradition, I baked her something special even though we’re not together right now to celebrate. {Fortunately I am going to visit her in two weeks, so we get to celebrate belatedly then!}

holly bday

Holly is one of those people that just has this light about her. She glows with warmth and genuine kindness. She is a constant source of joy in my life. We would talk often on the phone this summer when I was living at home, and my family would immediately know I was talking to her because I would erupt into fits of giggles. She is that type of friend. She knows me to my core and she loves and accepts me exactly as I am. And the amazing, generous person she is makes me want to be a better person myself. I feel so blessed that our friendship has grown with us the past eight years and even though we are physically separated by distance, as the years pass we grow closer than ever.

me and hol thesis reading

Happy birthday, Holly! I love you! ❤

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my 3 fave ways to use chia seeds

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chia seeds

In the past year, thanks to some of my favorite bloggers {I’m looking at you, Julie and Lindsay!} I’ve been introduced to a nutritional powerhouse: chia seeds! In just one tablespoon of chia seeds, you get six grams of fiber, three grams of protein, and 2.9 grams of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Here are three of my favorite, no-fuss ways to use chia seeds in my daily life:

1. Smoothies. Just sprinkle some chia seeds on top of your fruit and ice and blend away! A smoothie combo I’ve been loving lately is strawberry + banana + mango.

smoothie

2. Salads. I love adding a tablespoon of chia seeds on top of my favorite healthy chicken salad.

chicken salad lunch

3. Baked goods. Stir a spoonful of chia seeds into your muffin or bread batter — or hey, why not even try some in brownies, cookies or cakes? I just made a batch of chocolate-chip banana muffins with some chia seeds added in!

banana muffins

When the weather cools down a little, I know I’ll be switching out my breakfast smoothies for a warm bowl of oatmeal — another great dish to sprinkle chia seeds on! I’ve yet to try overnight oats but I’ve heard chia seeds are a crucial ingredient in helping the oat mixture thicken overnight. This and this are both on my “to try” list of recipes!

Have you ever tried chia seeds? If so, what are your favorite ways to use them?

my favorite. dessert. ever!

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Happy Friday, friends! Hope you have something fun planned for this weekend. 🙂 I am getting ready to head to LA this afternoon for my cousin Amanda’s bachelorette party! I am so excited! It will actually be the first bachelorette party I’ve ever attended. I’m looking forward to seeing my cousins and friends and celebrating Amanda’s final days of singledom!

I have a delicious recipe to share with you today! I made this for my dad’s birthday cake on Monday. He loves peanut butter and chocolate, so I took my peanut butter cup brownies and upgraded them to a “brownie-cake” … and the highlight is definitely the homemade peanut butter frosting! This frosting is SO simple to make, and if you like peanut butter, you are in for a treat! I predict you will be licking the bowl. {Or maybe that’s just me!}

pb brownie cake

I will warn you in advance, I didn’t even try to healthify this dessert … I don’t even want to know how many calories/fat/sugar/etc. is in a slice of this! Sometimes you just have to treat yourself, right? But I did just come across this recipe by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean for healthy sweet potato brownies that I might try using in this recipe in the future! If you try it out, let me know how it goes!

I used my fave boxed brownie mix … Ghiradelli dark chocolate!

brownie mix

I made the batter as directed {if you’re trying to healthify things a little, you could substitute unsweetened applesauce for half of the oil} and poured the batter into a lightly greased 8 x 8 pan. Then I stuck in mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups in a tic-tac-toe pattern.

brownies prebake

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

brownie cake

Once the brownies were cool, I frosted them with homemade peanut butter frosting!

homemade peanut butter frosting
– 1/4 cup butter, softened
– 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
– 3/4 cup powdered sugar
– 2 tbsp milk {to taste … depending on your frosting consistency preferences!}

1. Mix together the butter and peanut butter until well blended.

butter pb

2. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add milk until it gets to desired consistency.

frosting

After frosting the brownies, my final step was sprinkling mini chocolate chips over the frosting layer. Ta da! My favorite dessert ever!

pb dessert

These disappeared from our house in record time!

Thank you also for the sweet birthday wishes! I had a wonderful birthday. My family took me out for dinner and even surprised me with sunflowers! How pretty and happy are these flowers?

bday girl

Thanks also to everyone who took part in my birthday beauty giveaway, and welcome to all our new subscribers! The two randomly selected winners are:
– Big Beauty Basket: Anna Wang
– Travel Beauty Clutch: Jo Tran

I will email you both to get your mailing addresses to send you the prizes!

Happy weekend, everyone! Eat something yummy and spend time with those you love!

MPM-Spring
This post is linked up as part of Menu-Plan Monday!

april foodie pen pals reveal

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FPP-post

This was my second month participating in Foodie Pen Pals through The Lean Green Bean, one of my favorite blogs! Here’s how it works: you visit The Lean Green Bean and enter your contact info to sign up for the next month of Foodie Pen Pals. Then the amazing Lindsay matches you up with two other bloggers or food lovers: one person to send a foodie package to, and one person who will send a package to you! Then you spend $15 putting together a box of fun, yummy treats for your pen pal, pop it in the mail, and eagerly await the arrival of your own foodie package!

Natalie from In Natalie’s Shoes sent me a package this month. She sent me a box filled with delectable goodies:

foodie pen pals april

  • homemade brownies with Reese’s peanut butter eggs inside
  • dark-chocolate-covered  pretzel slims from Trader Joes {these are addicting!}
  • a jar of cookie butter, also from TJ’s {amazing spread on apples!}
  • honey glazed almonds
  • Special K chocolatey pretzel cereal bars
  • Nature Valley Almond Crunch granola bars

Thanks, Natalie!! This package really brightened my week! I would encourage all of you to check out Natalie’s food/travel/craftiness blog: http://innataliesshoes.wordpress.com/

If this kind of thing sounds fun to you, go sign up for May Foodie Pen Pals at The Lean Green Bean. It only takes two minutes and it is a blast!

peanut butter cup brownies

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Thanks to everyone who joined in Monday for this week’s #yearofkindness challenge {delivering valentines to a nursing home} and those who were with us last week for my fave romantic movies and easy, inexpensive homemade Valentines ideas. Today we’re continuing “Valentine’s Week” with a delicious recipe that you can make for your sweetie, friends, coworkers, or even yourself!

valentines week

Peanut butter and chocolate may be my all-time favorite dessert combo, so it’s no surprise I was inspired to combine peanut butter cups and dark chocolate brownie mix! I thought I was soooo clever for using my muffin tin to make these cute little brownie cups, but one of my friends told me she and her mom have been making these babies for years. Maybe I’m a little late to the party, or maybe it’s just true that great minds think alike! 🙂 Either way, these are de-li-cious and so easy to whip up. Enjoy!

peanut butter cup brownies

– 1 package brownie mix {i like the dark chocolate variety}
– 1 package mini peanut butter cups
– 1 egg
– 1/3 cup vegetable oil
– 1/3 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper cups or spray with vegetable spray and set aside.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine brownie mix, egg, vegetable oil, and water. Stir until ingredients are well-mixed and there are no lumps in the batter.

3. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 of the way to the top with the batter.

4. In the center of each cup, gently press an unwrapped peanut butter cup.

reeses brownies

5. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean.

reeses brownies

YUM! These are dangerously good. You’ll want to eat the whole batch yourself!

What are some of your favorite Valentine’s Day memories? Are you planning to do any Valentine’s baking this year?

More tomorrow!
-Dallas ❤

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Looking for more Valentine’s Day treats to make? You might enjoy these earlier posts:
– red velvet cupcakes with coconut cream-cheese frosting
– rice krispies treats with m&ms
– chocolate strawberry coconut cookies

saturday upsides: a cozy night in

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saturdayupsidesbutton

Monday is the beginning of a new semester at Purdue, and I’m gearing up to teach my two courses: First-Year Composition and Business Writing. Being back in Indiana means returning to below-freezing temps and snow on the ground, in addition to transitioning from festive vacation mode back to the everyday stresses and obligations of my normal life. Yesterday was filled with meetings and course prep, and {as often happens when I travel} I feel my body fighting off a little bug that I probably picked up on the airplane coming back from California. I’ve been downing green tea, Airborne, and plenty of water, which is seeming to help! Fingers crossed I fight it off and am feeling rested and energized come Monday.

My Saturday Upside is that I am reminded again and again that so much of happiness is based on not what happens to you, but what you make of it. {Or, as Coach Wooden so eloquently phrased it: “Things turn out for the best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.”}

Instead of feeling stressed or nervous for the start of the new semester, I’m choosing to feel excited and hopeful that it will be a great one!

Instead of dreading a long day of meetings, I chose to focus my mental energy on how great it would be to see my friends and colleagues again after a few weeks away. And it was!

Instead of feeling bummed about fighting off a cold, it’s been a great reminder at the start of this new year to slow down and spend time taking care of my body.

I had the perfect cozy night in last night: an easy homemade chicken-and-quinoa recipe I’m eager to share with you soon, M&M brownies for dessert, and snuggling up on the couch with a Redbox rental. I’m looking forward to a laid-back, restful weekend!

What are your plans for the weekend? I’d love to hear your Saturday Upsides!

🙂 Dallas

happy birthday holly!

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Today is my friend Holly’s 25th birthday! Happy birthday, Holly! ❤ We met our freshman year of college at USC where we lived in the same dorm and quickly bonded over our shared love of Sarah Dessen books, Nora Ephron movies, cheesey rice cakes, giggling, baking, browsing Target, taking long walks {especially in the autumn with hot apple cider from Starbucks!} and listening to Taylor Swift albums on repeat. Holly is one of those people who makes others feel instantly at ease with her warmth and compassion. I admire her for a zillion reasons: her genuine kindness, brave spirit, intelligence, creativity, insightful take on any situation. She is someone I can always call for advice and she will listen thoughtfully and help me come up with solutions when it seemed like there were none. And she is always someone I can count on to make me laugh and find the joy in the everyday moments of life!

Holly is living in Nashville, going to divinity school at Vanderbilt, and I’m bummed I couldn’t celebrate her birthday with her in person. We lived together for our four years of college, but since we graduated our friendship has been “long distance.” I miss her! But we have a little birthday ritual that helps us feel like we get to celebrate together even though we live far apart. It started when Holly baked me a cake on my birthday a couple years ago and sent me a picture. It was such a sweet gesture and I loved thinking of her enjoying some birthday cake on my behalf! We’ve continued baking birthday cakes for each other even though we aren’t together to share them. {I’m hoping one day soon, we will be!}

This year I changed things up a little bit and made Holly some birthday brownies instead of a cake. I used to make brownies all the time in college and I have many fond memories of Friday nights in, eating brownies and watching Friends marathons.

Nom nom nom!

I just used a box mix for these brownies {Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate} but I substituted the oil for applesauce to make them a little healthier and I also mixed in some white chocolate chips for extra chocolate goodness.

And because what goes better with chocolate than strawberries… I sliced up some strawberries and put them on top! Delicious.

Do you have any special birthday rituals? How do you celebrate the birthdays of your friends & family?

Happy weekend!

-Dallas