Lately.

I got asked to prom by a really great guy on monday.
I have been down with a cold since tuesday.
I have been trying to figure out what I want to do about Lent, if anything. Still have not decided.
I watched Where The Wild Things are on my sick day. I loved it, but I can't put my finger on why.
I spent $30 of my christmas money on this granola. Is that crazy? I'm thinking its going to be the best granola I have ever eaten... fingers crossed.
Today was the first day I took medicine for this cold. I am not really a medicine person.
I did not cook all week until today and what did I make? cookies.
I swooned over Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Everyday all week, and got inspired to put together a pancake mix.
I ripped out all the pages about food from every one of my Whole Living Magazines and put them into a binder. I now have a new cookbook!
I am trying to get ahead on homework this week, since its the last week before SPRING BREAK.
I made reservations at this and this restaurant for our trip to Charleston. (t minus 9 days!!)

I'll be back with the pancake mix recipe and maybe the cookie recipe too!

Sunday Brunch.

Felt like cooking brunch for some girlfriends this past weekend. It was rainy and gray outside, the perfect morning for a brunch. We ate cinnamon rolls made from scratch, a frittata filled with onions and beet greens and topped with goat cheese, homemade granola with yogurt, and strawberries. To put it simply, it was a sunday morning well spent. I hope to do it again soon.

"Clean out the fridge" Soup

What do you do when you have a couple of turnips, too many carrots, past-prime kale and celery, and one lonely onion? Make a soup and put all of it in there! It worked for me, so I would assume that it is a good way to clean out the fridge. After I put a pot of beans on the stove, the rest was pretty effortless. This soup does not have any intense flavors, if that is what you are looking for. It really just highlights the simple flavors of the different veggies, and the beans give it some hardiness. The soup should also accompany a grilled cheese pretty darn well :)

"Clean out the fridge" Soup
1 T. olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 stalks of celery (i used the leafy ends)
5 whole carrots, diced
3 small turnips, diced
1 quart low sodium veggie stock + 2 cups water
3-4 cups of beans, or 2-3 cans (i used kidney beans)
kale or other winter greens
spices to taste: sage, thyme, pepper, salt, dash of cayenne pepper

Saute onions in oil for about 5 min.
Add garlic and celery- cook for another 5 min.
Add carrots, turnips- cook for 7 min.
Add stock and water. Cover and simmer for 10-15 min.
Add kale and beans. Cut off heat and let cool completely on the stovetop.

Happy Weekend!

late night. round two.

Baking at night time might be my new favorite thing. I did not have any urgent homework to get done last night and I had a few things that I wanted to get off my mind. So, making some Oatmeal, Cranberry, Chocolate Chip cookies seemed like a necessary use of my time. And it was SO worth it.

These might be my favorite cookies ever and I owe them all to the beautiful Giada De Laurentiis! They got that hardy oat flavor, the fruity cranberries, and the chocolate that is in my opinion a necessary component in all cookies... here's the lovely recipe

I have made these cookies numerous times and they are hard to screw up. You can also make them a little more wholesome by using spelt flour or other whole grain flours, organic butter, a mix of sucanat and muscovado sugar, and dark pure chocolate (not Nestles semi-sweet chips like I used last night). 

I am bringing these delicious little bites to lacrosse practice today to celebrate it being Friday and the beginning of a 3 day weekend! I am a little too excited. Have a happy friday and bring some smiles to faces this weekend with these cookies!

Late night baking (scones)

I had been dreaming about making scones for a couple of days and seeing this recipe really convinced me that I would need to pull out some late night time in kitchen this week. So when my english teacher told me that we were having a "dream party" to celebrate the end of reading the super heavy book, The Trial, I knew it was my chance to whip up some scones.

I don't know what it is about scones that makes me feel so smiley and comfy. They come across as looking hard to make and all fancy cause they're a european delicacy at tea time. But the great thing is that they are actually quite rustic. They are easy to put together, totally customizable, and quite fun to make if you ask me. Homemaking them just makes me feel old time-y or maybe like a sophisticated baker? I don't know. All I can say is that I love how making scones, makes me a happier person and I put smiles on the faces of the people who ate them! Only expect more scones to be coming your way.

Thanks to the lovely Heidi Swanson for totally inspiring me to make this wonderful batch of Orange, Oat, and Currant Scones
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup kamut flour (or another cup of WW, or another flour that suites you fancy)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 + 3/4 sticks of butter (preferably organic, if your into that kind of thing)
zest of 1 large orange
2 cups oats
1/2 cup currants (or however much your heart desires)
1+ cup of buttermilk (I needed a little more than a cup to bring my dough together)

whisk flours, b.powder, and b.soda together
cut COLD butter into slices, add to flour and use a pastry cutter to get butter into small pieces
stir in zest, currants, and oats
add buttermilk gradually stirring it in with your hands, use as much buttermilk you need to get dough to hold together so you can make 2 or 3 rounds
cut rounds into triangles
line a sheet pan with parchment, spread triangles across pan, and bake at 350 for 12-15 min (until sides are browned)

Everyone who ate one seemed to give me two thumbs up... one of my teachers told me it was the best scone he has ever had! That gives me reason enough to bake for others more often.

Happy Hump Day!

Granola + Valentines Day.

The reason I have not said hello to y'all in over a week is because the end of last week was  hectic! I babysat one night, had a big math test on thursday, and left to visit my brother on friday morning and did not get back till sunday night. So, the granola that I made last weekend is just now meeting you on this lovely day we call Valentines.

To be honest, I don't know how I feel about Valentines Day. It sounds super fun if you have a significant other to spent time with tonight, or if you are 7 years old and you get to put little valentines in all your friends boxes at school today. However, I am in neither of those categories. So I am left feeling like it is a pretty normal day. Yes, I am wearing loads of pink and yes, I had the desire to bake something pink and red and sweet all over. But other than that today feels like a pretty normal day. And on normal days, I eat granola. So here's to feeling like an average joe that likes granola on this gushy, heart throbbing, pink cupcake filled day we call "Valentines Day". Spread the love :)


Simple Granola
Dry:
4 cups oats
cinnamon
ground ginger
sea salt
raw almonds, whole or chopped
raw cashews
Wet:
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup honey
2 T. olive oil


Stir up wet. Stir up dry. Add wet to dry. Bake at 325* on a sheet pan for roughly 40 minutes or until golden brown. Stirring every 10 minutes. Enjoy on top of yogurt, as cereal, or by the handful! Again this recipe is really flexible. Do any types of nuts or seeds you like. Add in any dried fruit you like after cooking (I added currants). I do not like mine very sweet, so up the honey if you want it a little more decedant!

Monday Mash.

First off my best friend, Elly, is venturing off to a far away land tomorrow... for 6 whole months and that is the minimum (knowing her, she will figure out some way to stay a little longer). I could not be more excited for her and the big adventure she is about to go on, but I am realizing how different its going to be without her. She is the kind of person that you do not get tired of. The kind of person that is game for anything, anytime. We can have fun together by literally just being around each other, it doesn't matter what we are doing.

She teaches me things every time I am with her. Things like how cool the x-games are, how to slow down and enjoy life, and how great it is to be yourself. Elly is pretty inspiring and I am going to miss her shining spirit. She has made many of my nights ones to remember and I already can't wait to hear all about her time away!

I am sharing this because I hope you have a friend like Elly in your life. If you do, don't be like me and wait to tell them how great they are before they are leaving for a while. Go ahead and let them know what a blessing they are to you. It feels good to be loved and it feels good to have someone to love on. I think we only come across such special people few times in our life, so when you find one, hold on to them!

Cheers to friends, being young, and taking adventures!

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

-Steve Jobs

Happy Monday

February + Goals

daisies are blooming!?

It's already 5 days into February, but it feels like spring! I have not talked about the end of my cleanse, I have not reflected on my January goals, and I have not set new goals for this month. I am beginning to feel like I am failing at this whole blogging thing...

This past week lacrosse started, which makes my nights much shorter, my legs much more tired, and my hands much less busy in the kitchen. I did not manage to get pictures of some of my eats... but its okay cause one recipe author has already taken lovely ones. I made this killer bean and squash soup, that gets better and better over time. I went to Elly's and ate a few too many helpings of a salad with pecans, strawberries, apples, and avocado in it.  I made an accidental Dal (indian lentil dish) with carrots and onions in it, which will be made again for sharing with y'all.

To recap quickly on the cleanse, it was great and I am so glad I did it! Totally challenging but really rewarding. It is nice to practice self-control in a world where most days there is no need to. I successfully cut out dairy, gluten, sugar, and anything processed from my diet for 21 days. This past week I have been slowly adding back these foods into my diet. Sugar is what I can detect most. It makes me feel sluggish and after eating a couple of little cookies yesterday at my lacrosse team retreat, I had a headache. As for dairy and gluten I have not seen much effects. Bread has not bothered me, and the little bit of cheese I have had has not been a problem either. I have not had yogurt yet, and I think that will be a good test for how dairy treats me for breakfast. I have also realized that once I was done with the 21 days, my portion sizes have been creeping back up.

Now that I am done with the official cleanse, I really want to keep my sugar and dairy intake low, keep juicing 2x a week, and watch my portions. So for February goals...
- only 3 desserts a week
-juice 2x week

On the other front of life, in February my goals are to...
-give daily appreciation to my parents
-give my all in lacrosse by being a leader and encouraging the team through hard workouts

Hoping to post more this week!
Happy Super Bowl Sunday, Go Giants!