Tag Archives: recipe

fabulous friday #45

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Happy Friday, everyone! I haven’t felt like doing one of these posts for the past few weeks… but I was thinking today about how Celine was an incredibly fabulous person, and I think she would like the idea of all of us recognizing and celebrating the fabulous things, large and small, that we are loving in our lives each week. So, I am happy to be back this week with a fabulous friday post for you. 🙂

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

1. Care packages. Tania sent me three books that she thought I would like: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle; Painted Prayers by Jodi Uttal; and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Reading is such a comfort to me, and I am already working my way through these good books.

books from Tania

And my dad sent me a beautiful card:

typewriter card

2. Another book arrived in the mail this week — Every River On Earth, a book that I have a short story in! It’s been at least two years since my piece was accepted for this collection, and it was so exciting to finally hold it in my hands. It is a beautiful book and I am proud and grateful to be a part of it!

Every River on Earth

3. This inspiring post from Nicole at Life Less BS with some concrete tips for achieving any of your goals using a simple, little-by-little approach. I especially liked this quote:

“Change doesn’t have to be huge in order to be hugely impactful. If you’re sitting there waiting until you have ‘enough time’ or the ‘right circumstances’ to make a big change, you’re making it too hard on yourself. Who says big changes are the only way? Who says it has to be all or nothing?”

4. I baked some delicious sunflower butter cookies using this recipe, adding in both dark chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. They turned out great! Definitely a make-again. Plus, they are gluten-free!

sunflower butter cookies

5. Valentine’s Day! This has always been one of my favorite holidays, whether I’ve been single or in a relationship, because it is all about letting the people you love know that you love them. If you’re looking for some sweet, inexpensive Valentine’s gift ideas, here are some ideas! My favorite way to celebrate is with cards. I still have the cards my parents sent me last year up in my room:

valentines

This year, I’m teaching during most of the day, and then Allyn and I are going out to dinner and to a movie. You can bet I already have my outfit all picked out and am going to bake some red velvet crinkle cookies tonight! 🙂

red velvet cookies

Questions of the day:

  • What are you loving right now?
  • What are your plans for the weekend?
  • Are you doing anything to celebrate Valentine’s Day?

berry cream-cheese muffins

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Happy Thursday, friends! Can you believe it’s only a week until Thanksgiving?! Where has November gone? I’m trying to savor each day as much as possible, but I’m also really excited to see my parents and brother — and Mr. Mur-dog! 🙂

murray paws

In the spirit of Thanksgiving baking, here is a delicious and easy muffin recipe that I whipped up the other day when I had some blueberries to use up. I think these would be great with any kind of berry! The sweetness of the berries combined with the cream cheese in the center really makes these muffins a star.

blueberry cream cheese muffins

blueberry cream cheese muffins

adapted from this recipe at healthy food for living

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar or agave
  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 pint blueberries {I used fresh, but I’m sure frozen would work just as well}
  • 1/4 cup neufchatel {1/3-less-fat cream cheese} at room temperature
  • 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin, or line with muffin cups.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour & coconut flour, coconut sugar, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, oil, and vanilla extract {and agave, if you’re using it}.

4. Toss the blueberries with the flour mixture. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until incorporated.

5. In a small bowl, stir together the neufchatel and maple syrup.

6. Divide the batter evenly amongst the prepared muffin cups. Make a small well in the center of each. Fill each well with 1 tsp of the sweetened neufchatel. Sprinkle each filled cup with a bit of the sugar.

7. Bake for 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean {cream cheese sticking to the toothpick is fine, but no raw batter!} Cool in pan for 5 minutes; transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

blueberry muffins

Hope you enjoy! These were the perfect combination of sweet and savory… a decadent-seeming treat that is pretty dang healthy! This would be a great holiday breakfast item. Thanksgiving brunch, anyone?

If you liked this recipe, you might also check out:
– apple banana oatmeal muffins
– peach streusel muffins
– chocolate-chip banana muffins
– triple berry muffins

chocolate pumpkin-spice kiss cookies

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I have a simple, delicious recipe to share with you today! These cookies are easy to make, come together in a flash, and would be the perfect holiday treat for a party or get-together. I brought them to a BBQ this past weekend and they were a big hit!

I got the idea for these cookies when I came across these babies at Walgreens after getting my flu shot: pumpkin spice Hershey’s kisses!

pumpkin spice hershey kisses

I was intrigued and they were on sale, so I scooped them up! When I got home, I started brainstorming what I could bake with them, and I thought about the cookies my mom makes during the holiday season using chocolate Hershey’s kisses. I thought I could make a similar cookie — except with pumpkin spice kisses, I decided I wanted a chocolate cookie base.

Rummaging around in my pantry, I found this.

chocolate cake mix

So I decided to make chocolate cake-mix cookies {similar to the funfetti cookies I made for Grandpap’s birthday two years ago.} I love cake-mix cookies because they are dense, soft and chewy. Yum!

I was able to whip these cookies up in about half an hour, and they turned out great! If you don’t have Hershey’s kisses, I think just making the chocolate cookies would also be a hit. Add in some peanut-butter chips and you’ve really got it made! 🙂

chocolate kiss cookies

chocolate pumpkin kiss cookies

– 1 box chocolate cake mix {I used triple-chocolate fudge; I bet devil’s food would be good, too!}
– 1/3 cup vegetable oil
– 2 eggs
– 1 cup chocolate chips
– pumpkin spice Hershey’s kisses

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine cake mix, oil, eggs and chocolate chips in a large bowl. Dough will be stiff and sticky.

3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes, to allow dough to become easier to handle.

4. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. {Note: these cookies EXPAND quite a bit! My first batch, I made the dough balls much too big. Just a tablespoonful is enough, I promise!}

5. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until cookies are set.

6. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. While cookies are still warm, gently press a pumpkin spice kiss into the center of each one.

chocolate kiss cookies

You can easily adapt these cookies based upon your favorite Hershey’s kiss. I think using a peppermint kiss or white-chocolate kiss would be divine!

If you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy:
– aunt elaine’s peanut butter blossoms
– pumpkin spice cake mix cookies
– eggnog cookies with buttercream frosting

pumpkin spice cupcakes w/cream-cheese frosting

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Well, the Giants got a smack-down last night. It was pretty pitiful.

But Dana and I still had a fun time chowing on deep-dish pizza, catching up {we ended up talking more than watching the game, since the game was so depressing} and playing with her adorable new kittens, Sadie and Hunter! They are so inquisitive, full of energy, and TINY! Here’s a photo I snapped of Sadie cuddled up on Dana’s lap.

sadie

So soft and fluffy! I couldn’t stop petting her.

One good thing about the evening was that at least we had yummy baked goods to help ease our sorrows!

baseball cupcakes

These cupcakes might not have been very lucky, but they sure were delicious! And super easy to make. I got some requests on Instagram for the recipe, so I thought I would share it on here!

My secret weapon: Trader Joe’s pumpkin bread mix. This stuff is amazing! Hands-down my favorite baking mix ever. And it’s seasonal, so stock up while you can!

trader joes pumpkin bread

I’m sure you could use a different pumpkin spice baking mix in a pinch, or make pumpkin muffins from scratch — here’s a recipe I love from Snixy Kitchen.

pumpkin spice cupcakes w/cream-cheese frosting

– 1 package Trader Joe’s pumpkin bread mix
– 2 eggs
– 1 cup water
– 1/2 cup vegetable oil
– 4 oz cream cheese, softened {I used 1/3 reduced-fat kind}
– 1/4 cup butter, softened
– 1 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine baking mix, eggs, vegetable oil and water. Mix until well combined.

3. Pour batter into a muffin tin lined with paper cups. In order to make these rounded baseball cupcakes, I filled the cups all the way to the top with batter. If you would like flatter cupcakes, fill the cups 3/4 of the way full.

4. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the muffin tin and set on a rack to cool.

5. While cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting: using a mixer, beat together the softened cream cheese and softened butter until smooth and well-combined.

6. Slowly add the powdered sugar, combing well after each addition. I used approximately 1.5 cups, but you can increase or reduce the amount depending on desired sweetness.

7. If frosting is too thick, you might need to add a little heavy cream or milk to thin it out, but I love my frosting thick, so I didn’t add any.

8. When cupcakes are completely cool, use a knife to generously spread them with frosting. To make baseballs, use a red gel frosting to make dotted lines in two half-moons, like the threading on a baseball.

baseball cupcakes

ENJOY!

In the meantime, I’ve got my Giants spirit going all day today! Game 7! Let’s go, San Francisco! 🙂

giants spirit

Questions of the day:

  • Are you watching the World Series? Who are you rooting for?
  • What is your favorite autumn dessert?

fabulous friday #38

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Happy Friday! You know what this means, right? One week till Halloween!! Do you have any ghoul-tastic plans yet? {Haha, someone is obviously a liiittle too hyped up on caffeine right now… sorry!} Earl Grey before yoga + post-yoga endorphins + pumpkin chai latte from Starbucks after yoga = this version of me you are hearing from right now 🙂

Moving right along… this weekend, Allyn and I are going pumpkin-patching {don’t know if that’s actually a verb, but it is now} and I’m planning to hit up a craft store for a couple last-minute touches for my Halloween costume. If you’re looking for an easy, fun Halloween costume but don’t have any ideas, feel free to check out this post with some costumes that have worked well for me in the past!

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

1. This beautiful autumn bouquet from ProFlowers that arrived on my doorstep a couple days ago from my incredibly sweet and thoughtful dad! He sent them just because he was thinking of me and wanted to send some sunshine my way. How amazing is that? I am the luckiest daughter on the planet. I miss you, Daddy!

autumn flowers from dad

2. My favorite dessert of late: peanut butter toast topped with mini chocolate chips!

pb toast

3. Every time this song comes on the radio I do a little happy dance: “Riptide” by Vance Joy.

4. This heart-wrenchingly beautiful and wise short essay my brother wrote for HuffPost called The Girl Effect and My Grandmother. Read it, and believe me — you’ll be glad you did! Here’s a teaser:

“The agony of these missing parts applies not only to our deceased loved ones — it applies to when we allow fear to dampen courage; ignorance to imprison knowledge; and hatred to overwhelm love.”

5. My grandma’s soup. Her chicken tortilla soup just might be my favorite, but she also makes a mean split pea and curried lentil + barley. I’ll try to get the recipes for those latter two up on here soon!

grandma tortilla soup.jpg

Oh yeah, and one more thing that might explain why I’m feeling so dang happy and excited … I FINISHED MY NOVEL!!!

finished novel doc

Happy weekend, friends! Sending lots of love & joy your way! Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogosphere. It means a lot to me 🙂

Questions of the day:

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

goals + recipes for the week of 10/12

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Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope you’re having a great one. After a crazy-busy yesterday teaching wrangling kiddos, today I’m savoring some relaxation! Breakfast with my sweetheart, church, lunch with Dana, and family dinner tonight. A perfect Sunday, in my book!

Now let’s move onto goals. My brother, who is an extremely talented painter and fine artist in addition to his many other talents, reminded me of the importance of enjoying the PROCESS of creating art, instead of only focusing on the results or finished product.

In that vein, I have decided to take the pressure off completing my novel, and instead focus on writing it little by little, day by day. As long as I am investing the time into writing it, I will make progress and I will eventually write those glorious words THE END 🙂 I’m getting so close {!!!} but I don’t want to rush the process. Instead of focusing on making it to the finish line, I want to focus on making it the very best it can be. If I see loose ends, I want to tie them up. If I get a new idea for another thread I can weave through the storyline, I want to feel like I have the freedom and time to do that.

So, all that goes to say, I won’t be putting pressure on myself to finish the whole novel this week, as I have been doing in previous weeks. I always tend to bite off more than I can chew and think that I can make more progress than is realistic. Even though I’ve been putting in lots of time and making significant progress on my novel, I’ve been feeling like a failure because I haven’t been able to cross it off my list on here yet! But I’m learning. Goals are a work-in-progress! And as far as my novel goes, it’s not rewarding or creatively conducive to approach it as an all-or-nothing task. So I’m going to try to complete one chapter this week, and continue to move forward from there.

weekly goals

Here’s how I did on my goals from last time: 
– complete new draft of my novel-in-progress
– celebrate Allyn’s birthday! 🙂
– do yoga twice & core exercises five times
– finish reading Into the Night Sky by Caroline Finnerty

Here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– complete one new chapter of my novel-in-progress
– prepare for tutoring through the end of the month
– go to the gym three times
– read 100 pages of After Dakota by Kevin Sharp

And here are some recipes I’m drooling over this week:
– baked caramel apple mini doughnuts via The Pajama Chef
– kale salad w/sesame lime dressing via The Pajama Chef
– cheesy broccoli quinoa via Peanut Butter Fingers
– crockpot lentil & wheatberry soup via Peanut Butter Fingers
– hearty fall soup w/yucca & coconut milk via sometimes.always.never
– my own

Questions of the day:

  • What are your goals for this upcoming week?
  • What recipes are you drooling over lately?

MPM-Spring
This post is featured on Menu Plan Monday!

mid-week meditation #13

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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our new subscribers! {I’m especially loving Kiley’s blog, Food Friends, which I just subscribed to… I’m already eying her sweet potato & sausage skillet as a possible dinner recipe for tonight!}

Yesterday I spent the whole day with Allyn which was such a treat! We pretty much just worked side-by-side on our computers for most of the day, but it was so nice to have some company during the workday. Sometimes those ordinary “routine” days are the best, ya know? Plus, my sweetie is the best thing for my productivity because he inspires me so much! He is extremely diligent and driven, so I tend to stay seated at my computer, booty-in-chair, writing writing writing, for longer periods than I might otherwise if I was on my lonesome. {I am the queen of snack and tea breaks when I am writing on my own at home! Anyone else the same way?}

For dinner we made BBQ baked chicken + herbed wild rice + a tomato, corn, avocado salad that I threw together without a recipe. It turned out delicious!

corn avocado tomato salad

I know that photo is kinda bad, but trust me, it was a goodie! All I did was boil an ear of corn, cut the kernels off the cob, and mix it up with one diced tomato and half of an avocado. {A whole ‘cado would probably be even better, but we only had half.} Then add some salt and pepper, mix it all up, and you’ve got a great side dish. Quick, simple, healthy = three of my favorite things when it comes to cooking!

Today Allyn had to take his car into the shop for a check-up, and I had some errands to run and laundry to do, so we are back to working separately. I’m hoping to get a lot of random items that have been languishing on the old to-do list finally CHECKED OFF today. We shall see! I’ve got my workstation going on the dining room table. And a bowl of oatmeal for lunch! Sometimes you just gotta give the body what it wants, and mine wanted oatmeal. 🙂

workstation

This week’s meditation comes from one of my favorite writers, Louisa May Alcott. Whatever you are up to today, I hope these words come at a good time for you and your beautiful aspirations:

aspirations quote

 Question of the day:

  • What are your highest aspirations?

goals + recipes for the week of 9/28

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Happy Sunday, friends! It’s a busy day around here. I’m off to do a little tutoring this morning before church; then after the church service we’re having a Young Adult potluck; and then tonight we’re having family dinner at my aunt Annie’s house before my Uncle Frankie heads back down to L.A. in the morning. Lots of friend & family time, which makes my heart happy!

Speaking of happy hearts, my sweetie’s birthday is this Tuesday! Last night I was invited to celebrate with him and his sister, dad and stepmom at the beautiful Clairemont Country Club. I wore my navy and ivory chevron dress from this past Easter {thanks to Arianna for helping me decide on an outfit! My cousin is eleven years younger than I am but has waaaaay more style!} 😉

chevron dress

And my other stylish cousin, Bianca, helped me bake red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for the birthday boy!

cupcakes

Speaking of yummy desserts, I have to share a photo of this aaaaaamazing butternut squash bread pudding I ordered for dessert on Friday night. I’m gonna try to recreate it myself at some point, perhaps using this recipe? Oh and yeah, that’s salted caramel gelato on top. With chocolate caramel cups mixed in. Yuuuuummmmm. I want to eat this again, like, right now.

butternut squash bread pudding

Before I lose myself in drooling over this photo, let’s move onto goals…

weekly goals

Here’s how I did on my goals from this past week: 
– complete new draft of my novel-in-progress {wrote two new chapters; one more to go!}
– finish editing work
– prepare for first week of teaching/new semester
– do yoga twice & core exercises five times
– read 100 pages of Into the Night Sky by Caroline Finnerty

Here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– complete new draft of my novel-in-progress
– celebrate Allyn’s birthday! 🙂
– do yoga twice & core exercises five times
– finish reading Into the Night Sky by Caroline Finnerty

And here are some recipes I’m eying this week:
– crockpot asian pulled chicken via The Pajama Chef
– creamy spinach & cheese green chile enchiladas via Two Peas & Their Pod
– pumpkin cinnamon cookies via Two Peas & Their Pod
– 6 healthy crockpot chicken freezer meals via New Leaf Wellness & Money-Saving Mom
– my own curried butternut squash & apple soup

Questions of the day:

  • What are your goals for this upcoming week?
  • What recipes are you drooling over lately?

MPM-Spring
This post is featured on Menu Plan Monday!

raspberry brown butter bars {gluten-free!}

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Hi, friends! I have a DIVINE recipe to share with you today! Perfect for these gorgeous end-of-summer days. I first came across this recipe on Roxane Gay’s blog, which was inspired by this recipe on smitten kitchen, for cherry brown butter bars.

Alas, I do not own a cherry pitter, and the lovely Erica requested a raspberry dessert for our dinner get-together a couple weeks ago, so I decided to make raspberry brown butter bars instead. They turned out wonderfully. I think these bars would also be lovely with blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, even pears — feel free to experiment!

raspberry brown butter bars

raspberry brown butter bars

crust:
– 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
– 1/3 cup brown sugar
– 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour {I made mine gf so used 1/2 cup oat flour & 1/2 cup rice flour}
– a pinch of salt

filling:
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 2 large eggs
– a pinch of salt
– 1/4 cup flour {I again used a combo of oat flour & rice flour}
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup  unsalted butter, diced
– 12 ounces raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Use butter or Pam to grease an 8 x 8 glass baking pan.

2. Mix melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl. Add flour and salt and stir until incorporated.

3. Transfer dough to your greased pan, and use your fingertips to press the dough evenly across the bottom of the pan.

4. Bake the crust until golden, about 18 minutes. Let crust cool in pan. Maintain oven temperature.

5. Make the filling: Cook butter in heavy small saucepan {a lighter-colored one will make it easier to see the color changing, which happens quickly} over medium heat until deep nutty brown.

6. Be careful not to overcook because it will burn!

7. Here are my best tips to not burn the butter: stir constantly and watch carefully. If in doubt, after about six minutes, consider it browned. Immediately pour browned butter into glass measuring cup or glass container to allow it to cool slightly.

8. Whisk sugar, eggs, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add flour and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk browned butter into sugar-egg mixture; whisk until well blended.

9. Arrange raspberries in the bottom of cooled crust. Carefully pour browned butter mixture evenly over the fruit.

20140723_152227

10. Bake bars until filling is puffed and golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack and then cut into bars.

raspberry brown butter bars

Enjoy!

if you liked this recipe, you might also like:

– triple-berry cobbler
– zesty lemon bars
– rice krispies treats w/m&ms

fabulous friday #13

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Aaaand just like that, it’s Friday again! Where did this week go? I can’t believe how quickly it flew by.

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

1. My friend Janet is visiting! We’re both going to a writer’s conference in Seattle and she was able to book a flight to San Francisco to spend a couple days with me before we head to the conference together. She gets in tomorrow morning. We email and talk on the phone, but I haven’t seen her in over a year and I can’t wait to give her the biggest hug. We met in college while studying abroad in England {along with our dear friend Lauren, who lives in New York} and whenever I get together with these ladies it feels like zero time has passed at all. Lots of laughter and too much chocolate will invariably be happening in my life this weekend.

jan laur and me

{Janet, me, and Lauren on a bus in Norwich, England. This was during my headband phase 🙂 Hard to believe it’s been six years since this was taken!}

2. This song: “Happy” by Pharrell. It’s impossible for me to restrain my happy-dancing when this song comes on. So dang catchy! I think this could be the theme song for TGIF!

3. These flourless chocolate cookies from Two Peas & Their Pod. Nom nom! These babies are definitely on my baking agenda.

4. All the sweet and thoughtful people in my life. I am so blessed. Just a few examples lately: Melissa at church sent me an incredibly kind Facebook message. Kathleen invited me a comedy show and offered that I could stay with her overnight if needed. Holly texted me a happy note that got my week off to a great start. Ben left me a nice voicemail. {Ben, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry I haven’t called you back yet! This weekend!} Allyn took time out of his super busy schedule to send me recommendations for places to check out in Seattle, since he used to live there. Dana, a Bay Area native, took time out of her day to compile a list of fun places Janet and I can check out while she’s visiting. And I could go on and on… I am surrounded by amazing people who make me feel very loved and grateful.

me and dana

5. These wise words from the always-wise Whitney: “A Letter to Myself at 22.” And this inspiring post from another one of my favorite bloggers, the always-inspiring Robyn: “nobody cares about your pant size.”

Now I’m off to finish a couple projects before heading into the city for dinner tonight. Happy Friday, everyone! Treat yourself to something fun today!

Questions of the day:

  • What are you loving right now?
  • Any fun plans for the weekend?