Snow Cream

Oh the weather outside is...rainy? Well, unfortunately in Western PA, that's how it has been for the past week. But prior to that, we had a nice snowfall. During that time I collected some snow for snow cream! What is snow cream, you might ask?

Snow cream is more than a delicious dessert, it is also a memory for me. My Mamaw, who past away recently, would always talk about making snow cream during the winter. My aunts have also always made this wintery dessert, and I guarantee if you went to visit my Aunt Bonnie or Aunt Barrie at almost anytime during the year, they would have a batch of snow cream in their freezer. I figured it was time for me to past on the tradition.

Doesn't that look amazing? Like a pile of sweet, snowy heaven.

Cinnamon Pita Chips and Cocoa Yogurt Dip

Saturday night we went to a magical place. Trader Joe's! There is only one in Pittsburgh, and I have been deprived up to this point of visiting. I wanted to buy everything, and that is an understatement.

Cocoa Almond Spread. One of my more valued purchases from that night. Similar to Nutella, but instead of being a hazelnut spread, this comes from almonds. Whoa. 

So, besides put this stuff on absolutely everything (i.e bagels, toast, cookies, veggies, pizza), I decided to attempt a cocoa almond based dip. What you'll need: TJ's Cocoa Almond Spread (or Nutella), vanilla yogurt, whole wheat pita, olive oil, honey, and cinnamon. 

Marketing, Motivation, and Recycling

 I didn't know how to title this post. But I promise it will encompass all of the above.

Believe it or not, but it is almost the end of January and Shawn and I are still attempting to eat healthy(er).

Also, marketing. What about Marketing? Well I believe a part of staying motivated to eat better can be done by marketing healthier foods to yourself.

What are two basic marketing techniques that every consumer consciously/subconsciously looks for? Appeal and access. Does it look pretty and/or fun? And how easy is it to get or to do?

If it's easy and hot, we want it. So do stupid boys, but don't get me started on that!

But one way to market healthy foods to yourself is by having them in places you frequent (easy access). Such as on your kitchen counter instead of in your pantry. Also, instead of having a bunch of bags of food sitting out, why not use something a bit more attractive and organized.

A lot of times you'll see the decorative glass containers that will hold your snacks for you, and those are great, but they cost money. I have a more affordable option....

What does Giada have to do with this? Well, nothing at the moment. Oh, and this pasta sauce is 'off the hook' as some would say. You can buy it at Target. Look at my marketing skills, helping Giada make a few dollars on my blog. Ok, sorry. ANYWAYS, a cheap/easy way for storage is by using empty glass containers. You can recycle old pasta jars, jelly jars, canning jars..the options are endless, really. 

I have some pretty mason jars I wasn't using, so I added them to the mix. 

I ran my Giada jar under warm water to loosen the glue and the paper came right off. The I added my, ahem, healthy snacks. Yes, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and....yes....peanut M&Ms. I know, I know, I'm not helping the cause, but I needed to store them. They were soon replaced, anyways, as you'll see below.... 

Also, if you're using a mason jar, you can easily remove the center and screw the lid back on for easy access during a party or what have you! A nice way to share, huh? (Not my idea, I saw it on Pinterest)

See? I put my popcorn in it and added a bow to make it pretty!! Great way to gift.

See, you can market things to yourself. You could even go a step further and decorate the jars in eye catching colors or something. Regardless what you do, I guarantee that if you make those less desired foods look more desirable and easier to access, you will me MUCH more likely to consume them. 

Try it and let me know how it goes!

Sophisticated Popcorn

So on Monday I told you about our brilliant breakfast experience at Yolk. Today, I'm going to share another recipe inspired by our Chicago trip. 

On the last day we spent in the Windy City, we visited Grahamwich. Grahamwich is this cute little sandwich shop that Shawn really REALLY wanted to go to. So much so that we traveled through a rainstorm to get there. Yeah, ridiculous.

One of our favorite foods from this shop was their popcorn. Now, Chicago is well known for it's popcorn. I'm not sure why, but it is. But Graham Elliot decided to take good popcorn to the next level. I'm calling it sophisticated popcorn. Why? Well, I'll tell you:

Notice anything 'sophisticated?' Black truffle oil. It's not cheap, and most would hesitate to put it on popcorn. This little bottle could go for upwards of $15! Want to know my cheap secret? TJMaxx Homegoods. They had it for $5. That's a bargain for sure.  You could also use white truffle oil if you wanted. If you don't want to make the splurge and can't find a decent deal, you could use grape seed oil, walnut oil, or garlic oil. You can even totally omit it, if you have to. 

Finally chop your chives. You want about 2 tablespoons. Chives are awesome, they provide a great oniony flavor in such small green. 

Pop your corn! I love our popcorn maker. :) You could do them over the stove, though.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil while popcorn is still warm to help ingredients to stick. Then add 1/4-1/2 tsp of truffle oil. A little goes a long way! Add chives, cheese, and salt and pepper. 

Look at that. Incredible flavor. The truffle oil adds this distinct earthy, nutty flavor that quickly becomes addicting. The cheese and chives also add to the addiction factor, and you'll soon find yourself polishing off a whole bowl. 

So, for the Super Bowl, take regular brown bags and fold the edges down and fill with this stuff. Your guests will definitely be impressed!

Sophisticated Popcorn (inspired by Grahamwich popcorn)

Ingredients:

*1/4-1/3 cup of popcorn kernels 

*2 Tbl of olive or vegetable oil

*1/4-1/2 tsp of truffle oil (can substitute grape seed oil, or garlic oil)

*1/2 cup of Parmesan or Romano Cheese, finely grated

*2 Tbl of fresh chives

*sea salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions: 

Chop chives and grate cheese (if necessary).

Pop popcorn kernels using popcorn maker or over the stove.

As soon as popcorn is done (while warm), add 2 tablespoons of olive oil followed by 1/4-1/2 tsp of truffle oil, mixing popcorn well so that it becomes lightly coated.

Add cheese, chives, and salt and pepper.

Serve to your friends and watch them be impressed by your fanciness. :)

Blueberry-Granola Pancakes with Honey

Over the summer we went to Chicago with some friends. It was a great trip. One of my favorite aspects, was, of course, the food. For brunch one morning we went to Yolk. 

Yolk is this trendy breakfast joint that has outrageous food. 

I had their Banana-Blue Crunch Cakes! This is a picture of my food. Because I am weird and take pics of my food at restaurants sometimes. These little babies comes full of granola and blueberries and are topped with bananas and served with a side of warm honey. YUM!!

So, it's been several months since this trip, and I kind of miss some of the food we ate. So I decided to create my own pancakes inspired by their delicious banana-blue crunch cakes. Here's what happened: 

Gather your ingredients. Pancake Mix: This is our go-to pancake mix, Krusteaz. It always turns out beautiful, delicious, fluffy pancakes. Yolk's cakes are actually multi-grain, but I didn't have that. Your standard pancake mix wil do or you can make your own.  Granola: Again, you can buy it our make your own. You'll never guess where I found this at. TJMaxx. I thought it'd be perfect since it's a blueberry and banana granola in itself. Then you'll need blueberries and bananas. Gotta have fruit. Also, honey for serving. You could just use standard syrup, but why not try honey? It's something out of the ordinary.  And, lastly, water for your mix (duh).

Follow standard directions for pancake mix. For 4-6 standard sized cakes, I used 2 cups of mix and 1 1/2 cups water. I actually ended up adding another 1/2 cup later, because the granola will absorb some of your water and make the batter thick. I then added 1/2-3/4 cup of granola, followed by 1/2-3/4 cup of blueberries. 

Here's my batter. Almost looks like yogurt, doesn't it? You don't want it this thick, though. Add some water to get a looser batter. Like I said, I added about 1/2 a cup. If you like more dense pancakes, then leave it as is. Also, since there is granola, it may take a few minutes longer to cook than regular ones.

After pancakes are done, top with slices of bananas and blueberries. Add a side of honey and serve with bacon (well you don't have to, but who doesn't like bacon?)! 

Here's an idea, make this as breakfast-in-bed for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. I think you would definitely score major points with that one. Just don't spill the juice on them or anything.

Warm honey in the microwave for a few seconds and drizzle across your cakes like so. Wow, I miss these guys already!

Um, yeah, that's pretty incredible.

Just because these cakes are full of healthy stuff, doesn't mean they won't fill you up. Adding granola to pancakes makes them super filling. They will definitely keep you going throughout your morning!

Look at those blueberries. Wow. I think the people of Yolk would be proud of my efforts, don't you? 

Okay, you know these aren't that difficult to make. Go get the ingredients and make these for someone special (i.e. yourself). :)

Blueberry-Granola Pancakes w/ Honey (Inspired by Yolk's Banana-Blue Crunch Cakes)

Ingredients:

-2 cups of pancake mix

-2 cups of water

-1/2-3/4 cup granola 

-1/2-3/4 cup blueberries

-2 bananas

-Honey (for drizzling on top)

Directions:

Combine pancake mix and water, whisk until JUST COMBINED. Don't over mix, or you're batter won't be fluffy.

Fold in granola and blueberries. If mixture becomes very thick, add additional water a few tablespoons at a time.

Turn griddle to 350 degrees or turn stove to medium-high heat. Allow griddle/non-stick pan to heat up. Ladle desired amount of pancake mixture onto surface. Remember, the bigger the pancake size the longer they will take to cook. Once you start to see bubbles on the surface of the cake, and the cake bottom starts to pull away from the surface of the pan, it's ready to flip. 

Top with slices of banana and left over blueberries. Serve with warm honey. 

Yields: 4-6 medium-large pancakes.


On Wednesday I will be sharing a recipe in which popcorn is drizzled with truffle oil. It is also inspired by another Chicago experience! 

Sweet Potato Shrimp Chowder

 Sweet Potato Shrimp Chowder.

Sounds crazy, right? It is....crazy good. That sounded lamer than I was hoping.

But really, this recipe is a great way to shake up your boring soup, chili, or chowder.

One of the key ingredients in this chowder is dill.

There wasn't any fresh dill at the store, so we got dillweed. Isn't that a mean name kids call each other?

The longest part of this dish is chopping up the sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces, which isn't really that long. Then sauté with olive oil and sweet potatoes over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.

Next, add garlic and onion and saute for an additional 2 minutes.

Lemon Cranberry Scones

Snowy days. We haven't really had any this year. Last year, the snow started in October and didn't end until April. That's way too much winter for me.

But today was a cold snowy day. So what did I do? I baked.

Not only did I bake, I baked lemon cranberry scones. 

And they were fantastic. 

Here's Sidney in here chair looking out at the snow. She's not apart of the recipe, but she's cute. :)

Meyer's Lemons. Ever heard of them? Neither had I. They are a little smaller, smoother, and sweeter than 'regular' lemons. They grow in California. I got a bag of them at Walmart. You can use regular lemons and I'm sure they will work just fine.

Healthy Snacks: Homemade Hummus

 Hummus. I'm a fan. Are you?

During our detox week, hummus was our hero. We put it on pita with veggies, we ate it with cucumbers, we ate it with, well everything really. It kept things from getting too boring.

I decided to make my own hummus, and see how that turned out. I figured it would be rather challenging. But I was wrong.

Here's the basic ingredient from the recipe I had: 1 16 oz can of chick peas (also know as garbanzos), 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 3 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of salt (I also added 1 tsp of lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice, 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper).

Healthy Snacks: Kale Chips

Preheat oven to 275. All you'll need for this is fresh kale, olive oil, and sea salt. Later I thought it would have been awesome to use garlic salt and/or parmesan cheese. I wish I thought of it earlier! Oh well.

 Kale Chips. Yup, I know what you're thinking. "Ew."

Well, I kind of thought the same thing. But I have a bunch of kale I needed to use, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I mean, if there's a possibility I can get my greens in by eating something in the form of a chip, it's definitely worth a try!

Look at this leafy guy. So full of vitamins A, C, and K. Yet, we neglect him. Because he's kind of yucky.

2 Ingredient Frozen Yogurt

 Pineapple Frozen Yogurt.

I got a lot of great gifts for Christmas this year. One that I've been extra excited about is my Kitchenaid ice cream attachment.

Well, you know, we're being all healthy as of late, so I can't go making REAL ice cream, can I (I'll save that for next month)? And we all know that frozen yogurt stores are all the rage, so I decided to jump on the trendy health bandwagon.

Just 2 ingredients. Yup, believe it or not. If you buy vanilla yogurt, it's already sweetened, so you don't have to. You could do greek yogurt, that'd be awesome. I decided to add pineapple, because, well, I had one I needed to use!

Chop up your fruit into little chunks. You could do blueberry, strawberry, etc, add some chocolate chips...the options are endless, really. You could even use canned or frozen fruit if you wanted.

Fabulous Lemon Marinade and Weeknight Dinners

So I bought this bag of lemons when we were going crazy buying produce last week. I don't know why.

It's not exactly lemonade season, so I decided to try the marinade recipe on the back of the lemon bag.

It turned out pretty awesome! I tried it on mahi mahi, but you could do it on chicken, or even use it as a salad dressing!

Here's a weeknight dinner that will look like you put in the effort of a weekend meal. 

Shawn used to not be a fan of fish. If you feel the same way or it freaks you out a bit, but you'd like to take the plunge, I'd recommend starting with mahi mahi or tilapia. These two fishies are mild and not fishy flavored AT ALL. We love to buy these fillets from Giant Eagle because they are affordable without settling in quality. 

Here's what you need for the marinade: 2-3 lemons, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 2 garlic cloves (minced), 2 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger (or 1 tsp of ground ginger), 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, 1 tsp of cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp of pepper.

Healthy Granola Bites

Confession time. Yes, I love baking. But sometimes I also hate it. And the time of the year I despise it the most is right after Christmas.

During the holidays, I'm full of Christmas spirit and that comes out in my baking (and blogging). But, afterwards, I've done so much that I'm sick of it.

To the point it causes me pain, literally. Being 5'11, the average countertop is a bit too short for me. So spending hours leaning over a counter or stove leave my back a hot mess. To the point I have to take a lovely trip to my chiropractor.

So, not only does a detox allow my body some time to recover, it also allows me the downtime I need to recover from my overindulgence in baking, to the point I actually come around to wanting to do it again. So that is where I find myself today. Ready to bake!

End of Detox: What We Ate

 So, we are done our detox. I should've updated sooner, but I've been super busy!

But I decided to do one last post to show you what we ate on our last day.

How have we been doing since? Pretty good! We allowed ourself some "food fun" (that's really corny, I know. Forgive me) Over the weekend, but we've been able to allow for a little spurge here or there without totally going off track. And I think that's what it's all about, right?

To the left are the ingredients to my morning smoothie last week, one banana, one of my frozen smoothie packs, a couple tablespoons of greek yogurt and 2 tablespoons of flaxseed.