Sweet Potato Casserole

Here is my recipe for sweet potato casserole. I'm too stuffed with thanksgiving food to write anything else. 

In conclusion, it's delicious but make it next year - it's time for a nap. 

Ingredients:

(For the casserole)

4 large sweet potatoes 

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted 

1 egg

A pinch of salt 

2 teaspoons vanilla 

2 tablespoons sugar

(For the topping)

1 cup pecans 

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 stick unsalted butter 

Directions: 

Scrub the potatoes. Poke each with a fork several times. Bake at 350 on a baking sheet for about an hour or until tender. Let cool slightly. Peel skin off. It should come off easily, but if it doesn't you can scoop out the insides instead. 

Place in food processor, or a bowl if mixing by hand.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Combine potatoes with remaining casserole ingredients. Spread evenly into a baking dish. 

To make the topping, combine all ingredients in food processor, pulsing until crumbs form. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes. 

Phenomenal Coconut Brownies

I don't use that word lightly - these brownies are indeed phenomenal. 

If anyone still reads this, they may have noticed that I don't blog quite so often as I had hoped and planned. Alas, they don't pay me to do this so I have to work 8+ hours a day elsewhere. However, I am happy that it has been 8 months and I am still blogging away, whenever I get the chance.

These brownies came out so amazingly perfect that I couldn't not blog about them. 
I found the original recipe on Pinterest, which brought me to this lovely blog: http://simonesmith.hubpages.com/hub/Simple-Homemade-Brownie-Recipe. Her recipe is coconut-free, so if you're into that sort of thing, by all means, use her recipe instead. 
I, on the other hand, am definitely pro coconut. In almost anything really, but especially in desserts with chocolate. 

Here is my adapted recipe: 
Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup of organic coconut oil
• 1 cup of organic sugar
• 2 large organic eggs 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder 
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Coconut flakes (optional topping)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil brownie pan and dust with cocoa powder. 

2) Mix together the coconut oil (melted)*, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

3) Pour batter into a brownie pan (about 8x8). Top with coconut flakes, if desired. (I did half and half just in case the BF didn't like the idea). Bake for 25 minutes. VOILA! Brownies :) 

*(Mine is always melted because we live in Florida.....)

I didn't pre-plan and take many photos, but here's one of the finished product! Hope you like them as much as we did! 

Autumn Soup

Today is the first day of autumn, and since we are now living in the Sunshine State, I wanted to make something that would make it feel a little more "Fall-y" around here. 

I got the idea for this recipe from this blog: http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/carrot-ginger-soup-50400000123351/

Then I tweaked it a bit to turn it into the wonderful autumn soup you see above. Or as the bf called it, "it tastes like fall in my mouth", (a very accurate description I might add). 

Here is my recipe, which is for the crockpot but I'm sure it can be made on the stove as well. 

SLOWCOOKER AUTUMN SOUP

Ingredients: (all of which are approximate since my best cooking is never measured). 

- 1 1/2 lbs. organic carrots

- 1 organic sweet potato, peeled

- 1 10oz. bag organic frozen butternut squash 

- 1/2 a yellow onion

- 1 heaping tsp. minced garlic

- 2 teaspoons minced ginger 

- 1/2 to 1 tsp. of curry powder 

- a generous dash of nutmeg and black pepper

- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter 

- 3 cups chicken stock

- 4 cups water 

Directions: 

Roughly chop the carrots, potato and onion. Add butter then vegetables to crockpot. Then add spices and stock and water.  Cook on low 8-11 hours. (We have a ridiculously long work day so mine was on almost 12 hours and came out amazing). Blend with an immersion blender stick until smooth. Serve with toast or bread. Enjoy! 

Pistachio Doughnuts

Please forgive me for not updating this blog. I'm literally writing this post on my phone in the car, while I wait for the bf to get out of work. 

Turns out living in Florida does not exclude you from commuting. Who would have thought other cities have commuters too - clearly not us. 

Anyway, between commuting to work, sharing a car, and both working full time, we have on average a 12 hour day, 5 days a week. Not much time for hobbies, especially indoor ones being that it's so beautiful here most days. 

In conclusion, I made doughnuts this weeks and used the recipe from this website: http://www.thelawstudentswife.com/2014/03/baked-pistachio-donuts/

I tweaked it slightly, using several organic ingredients and whole wheat flour, but it's basically the same recipe. 

They came out really good so I hope you try them! Very easy to make too. (I had an hour to figure out what to bake and then bake it and it worked out great.)

Enjoy! 😊🍩

Breakfast (Smoothie) of Champions!

I've been a little lazy with the cooking and blogging lately, but now that we're starting to get settled here in Florida, I'm trying to get back on the bandwagon.

This is a very simple and easy breakfast (or dessert) smoothie that is also ridiculously healthy
and ridiculously delicious. (I just finished mine and I'm considering making another one for lunch).

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT be deterred by its green hue! It tastes nothing like "green" as some people might say... and I think the color is actually quite pretty.



Here we go! Ingredients:

- 1 frozen banana
- a handful of spinach (this is not much)
- 2 dashes of cinnamon
- a dash of nutmeg
- about a cup of coconut milk (or any other milk you like)






Directions:
Put everything into a blender (or nutribullet, which is what I used), and blend until smooth. Drink!


Now some of you might be wondering, 'what's so great about a smoothie with bananas and spinach in it? And what's up with the cinnamon and nutmeg!?' 

Well, besides all the ingredients being yummy, here's why they are also really good for you:

Bananas

 

Spinach                       

Cinnamon

Nutmeg



Happy Blending! :)

A Happy, Hungry, Healthy Life...in the Sunshine State!

My good excuse for not blogging in a month? We finally moved to Florida!!!!! The last few weeks have been very hectic - and I loved every minute of it.
Sitting here in our new, beautiful, spacious apartment, in the sunshine state, feels really, really good.

Today is the bf's first day at his new job, so our mini-moving-vacation is over I guess, but school doesn't start for another month, so I'll be home, with plenty of time to blog!

Here are a few photos of our new home!

Quick and Easy Veggie Sammie and Gluten-free Brownies

Hi Everyone! Just a quick post today for a "recipe" I made for lunch over the weekend. This veggie sammie is super simple, so I wasn't going to blog about it originally, but so many people mentioned how it inspired them to eat something a little healthier this past weekend, so I thought I should post it on here!

I use the term "recipe" loosely because hello, this is sandwich, not rocket science, you can literally put whatever you want on it.

This is what I choose:

-homemade hummus
-organic tomatoes
-organic cucumbers
-organic spinach
-organic arugula 

I layered all those yummy (and consequently, vegan) goodies onto whole wheat bread. I may have eaten some goldfish crackers with it... nobody's perfect.

Here's the proof:

I also made some gluten-free brownies this weekend for some co-workers (and myself...). The recipe uses black beans instead of flour and can be found here. They are SO good and no, they taste nothing like black beans. Give them a try if you don't believe me (they are also very easy to make), and before you tell you boyfriend/husband/neighbor/bff/whoever what's in them, let them taste for themselves.



Here's how mine came out:

Chocolatey Goodness

Please leave a comment and thank you for stopping by! :)

Super Summer Salad Dressing

 I CANNOT wait for summer to be here. So many good things to look forward to - including more time to blog! :) 

I made this salad dressing last weekend and have been meaning to post about it. 

Here are the ingredients: 

1/3 C. rice vinegar

2/3 C. extra virgin olive oil

a pinch of pink Himalayan salt

a pinch freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder

1 t. honey

1 tsp. chia seeds

1 tsp. sesame seeds

juice from 1/2 an orange

                                                      Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar and shake well. 

The day I made it, I poured it over this salad: 

 

The ingredients for the salad were these (but you can use whatever you'd like). I also added pan-seared shrimp on top, and more sesame and chia seeds (which are uber-good for you). The shrimp was seared in a little butter, salt, pepper, and a little chili powder. 

 

I also used this dressing on top of my veggie wrap today for lunch. The wrap had homemade hummus, organic cucumbers, organic tomatoes, and organic arugula in it. It was too big to wrap, so I ate it like a giant taco (I looked ridiculous but was still delicious). 

I ALSO made some fresh squeezed organic orange juice today! It only took me maybe 10 minutes (squeezed by hand - old school style) and it was a 10 minutes well spent! 

Please comment below! Thank you for stopping by! :)

Ginger Lemon Detox Water

Happy June! 

I cannot believe it's June already! Being a teacher, June is pretty happy month - the end is near my friends! It's an especially happy June for us this year since we will be moving to the Sunshine State at the end of this month! 

It's safe to say I'm feeling pretty upbeat this morning and when I'm feeling good, I tend to eat, drink and be healthier. (Gotta keep the good times rolling, right?) So I made some "detox" water this morning - a term I use loosely, because really if you think about it, all healthy foods detox your body in one way or another. In any case, this water is good for you. 

Here are the ingredients:

- cold water

-1 organic lemon

-1/2 tsp. ground ginger (or fresh if you have it!) 

Directions:

Squeeze the juice of a lemon into a jar or large glass. Then go ahead and throw the lemons in there. Put in the ginger. Fill the jar/glass with cold (filtered) water. Put the lid on and shake to incorporate. 

What's so great about this water? Well I like the way it tastes, but of course the water is hydrating (more so than let's say, having just coffee in the morning...), and I'm not a huge fan of drinking plain water. It just seems so boring. 

And what about the ginger? You can read all about how awesome ginger is here. 

And the lemon? Again, they taste good, but lemons are also really good for you, and you can read all about them here. 

You can also read about how good lemon water is for you here. 

Please leave a comment if you try this or are already a lemon water drinker!   :) 

Spinach Shrimp Quesadillas

 Some of the most delicious meals can be made from fridge leftovers.

Quesadillas are especially good for leftover concoctions. You can literally put anything in them. We had shrimp and spinach in the freezer, so I went in that direction. It was a good decision for a Friday night quickie dinner. 

Here is what I used, but like I said there are many variations:

-1/2 a white onion, chopped

-1/2 a jalapeno, chopped 

-shredded cheddar cheese

-flour tortillas

-shrimp, thawed and patted dry

~1/3 cup chopped (frozen) spinach

-a dash each of: cumin, chili powder, salt and cilantro 

Directions: 

In a small pan, saute the onion, jalapeno, spinach and spices in olive oil. Then add in the shrimp and cook for another minute. In another pan, (NOT oiled) place a tortilla. Turn it on medium-low. Put cheese on the tortilla, and then spoon some of the filling you cooked on top. 

Cover with another tortilla. Cook for about 5 minutes (or until slightly brown on bottom) and then carefully flip over with a spatula. Cook for another 5 minutes. 

Eat! 

Buffalo Chicken Wraps and Homemade Potato Salad

Happy Memorial Day! It is FINALLY beautiful here in New York and I am officially ready for it to be summer!

All this nice, warm weather puts me in such a good mood! 8-) It's one of the many reasons we're moving to Florida (in exactly one month tomorrow!) I can't wait to live in a place with amazing weather more than 3 months out of the year. That being said, I will miss summertime in NY - so far it's the only thing I can think of that I'll miss! (Except our friends and family, of course!)

In honor of this lovely 3-day weekend and my upbeat attitude, here are the recipes for our dinner tonight - Buffalo Chicken Wraps (made in the Crockpot), and Red Potato Salad.

The Chicken is EXTREMELY easy to make.

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts (I used frozen organic)
- ~1/2 cup buffalo sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)
- thin cut carrot sticks and celery sticks
-tortillas
-lettuce
-blue cheese crumbles

Directions:
Place the chicken and sauce in the Crockpot for about 4 hours on high (if frozen). Shred the chicken with 2 forks and mix around in the sauce.
Build your wrap. You can add whatever you'd like, but I recommend a few carrot and celery sticks, a leaf of lettuce, and some blue cheese crumbles.

For the potato salad, you will need:
- 6 red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
- ~ 1 tsp. mustard
- ~1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
- ~ 1 tsp. red wine vinegar
-salt and pepper to taste
- ~ 1/2 tsp. dill
- ~ 1/2 tsp. garlic
- ~ 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (or mayo if your prefer)
- ~1/4 tsp. paprika (I used smoked)

Directions:
I'd be lying if I said I actually measured any of these ingredients (I rarely measure when cooking, but ALWAYS when baking). That being said, I gave you some approximations, but it's salad not rocket science, so feel free to add or subtract as you see fit.
First, cook the potatoes in just enough water to cover them, on medium-high for 20 minutes. As soon as they are soft when poked with a fork, they're done. Let the potatoes cool, or use cold water to cool them off. Make the sauce while they cool.
Mix all the remaining ingredients together. Then mix with the potatoes. Cool in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Chicken Tikka Saag

Today, I took the day off work to go to a doctor appointment, which I thought would mean I'd have the other 7 hours of my day to lounge around.
I was way off. Somehow, having a day off to relax suddenly turns into 'chore day'. #bummer.
So, I did laundry, cleaned, went to visit some old co-workers, went to my check-up appointment, aaaaaanndddd made Indian food in the Crockpot for dinner! :)

So here it is! My first attempt at making Chicken Tikka Saag (in the Crockpot)!
From what I understand, 'saag' means spinach and 'tikka' just means little pieces, so basically this recipe is chicken with spinach and some 'Indian' spices.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
-1 large chicken breast (I used frozen)
-2 cups frozen chopped spinach
-1 cup chicken stock (which I made using 1 tsp. Better Than Bouillon + 1 cup water)
-1 small onion, chopped
-1/2 tsp. chili powder
-1/2 tsp. coriander
-1/2 tsp. cumin
-1/2 tsp. crushed garlic
-1 tsp. garam masala (which is an Indian spice mix)
-a few turns of the black pepper grinder (to taste)

Directions:
Throw everything in the Crockpot, (liquids and chicken first), then cover and set to low for about 8 hours. Shred chicken. Serve with rice.

*Notes* 
This is a very healthy dish, however that to me, makes it taste slightly less authentic in a way. Next time I make this, I might try using some olive oil or coconut milk, to give it a little creamy nudge.

Also, I'm just now realizing that this a very frugal meal to make, which is awesome! I'm thinking about adding price approximations to the meals I make from now on! :)

I hope you try this recipe! Enjoy!

1,000 views!

It might seem like a small milestone to seasoned bloggers, but I am SO EXCITED to have reached over 1,000 view this morning!

I'm going to take this opportunity to also announce that we are moving from New York to Florida this summer! We (the bf and I) are very excited about this new chapter in our lives, and to finally be WARM for once! :)

If anyone has any tips about moving/packing or Florida in general I would love to hear them! (You can comment below).

Also, since I reached 1,000 views today, I thought I would try to survey my followers and see what they'd like me to blog more about. Do you want more dessert recipes? More healthy dinners? More DIY beauty products? Or maybe something else? I would really LOVE to hear your suggestions!
Maybe I'll even share some of my creations with those that post a comment....     ;-)

Anyway, THANK YOU so much for following my blog or even just reading it occasionally. Your comments are what make me want to keep blogging! Here's to another thousand views! 


(Enjoy my explanatory emotion GIFs --- which don't seem to be playing automatically, but if you click on them they should). 

Homemade Toner/Astringent

Homemade Toner or Astringent is probably one of the easiest DIY skincare products you can make. There's only 3 ingredients, one of which is water, and another of which is optional.

Here is what you'll need:

~2/3 cup water (I used filtered)
a few drops of tea tree oil (Trader Joe's sells it and of course Amazon has everything)
a few drops of lemongrass essential oil (also on Amazon) (optional)

How to use it: 

Fill a small bottle with filtered water. Mine held almost 2/3 of a cup. Put in a few drops of tea tree oil, and a few drops of lemongrass EO (if you want). It still works REALLY well without the lemongrass, however TTO does not smell so great, so if the smell makes you gag, add the lemongrass (or other essential oil). I chose lemongrass because of what it says on the back of the bottle:

I use this toner/astringent/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, after I wash my face to remove excess makeup, dirt and oil. I also use it sometimes when I haven't worn makeup that day, and I'm too lazy to wash my face. Probably a terrible idea (to not wash my face), but hey, it's better than nothing I guess. 

Pour a small amount onto a cottonball and wipe your face. You will be shocked at the amount of dirt that is still on your face after you just finished washing it.
I have normal/oily skin, so I don't always put moisturizer on after, but if you have dry skin, you might want to do that. This toner tends to dry out your face a little. 

Also note, DO NOT GET THIS IN YOUR EYES. I haven't done this (yet) but I have a feeling it will sting a lot. 

I hope you give this very easy DIY toner a try!  Leave a comment and tell all your friends! :) 

~Mallory~

Pea Soup

Pea Soup isn't the prettiest of foods. 

But it is quite delicious. Especially in the spring or fall, and especially when you have leftover Easter ham and you're tired of ham sandwiches. 

So here is my recipe for pea soup in the Crockpot, which is VERY easy to make, and can easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the ham and replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock (if you're into that sort of thing). 

Ingredients:

1 bag (16 oz.) dried split peas

4-5 celery stalks, diced

4-5 carrots, diced

1/2 a white onion, diced

~6 cups of warm water, mixed with 

4 heaping teaspoons of Organic Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base (or any other stock you want to use)

2 Bay Leaves

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

~1 cup diced leftover ham, or however much you have left (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients in the Crockpot (in the order listed). Cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. You can use an immersion blender to mix it a little if you want, or leave as is. I blended mine for about 20 seconds, just to make it a little smoother. ENJOY! 

The BF gave it 2 thumbs up :) so I hope you try it! Please leave a comment if you do! THANK YOU! 

Carrot Cake Cookies!

We're going to visit "the in-laws" (aka my boyfriend's mom and step-dad) this weekend for Easter, and I wanted to bake them something Easter-y, so of course I made carrot cake cookies! :)

I guess carrots and Easter don't technically go together, but it was one of those "honey rhymes with bunny and bunny rhymes with....rabbit?" moments; (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh).
You get where I'm going with this....I hope.

ANYWAY! I saw this recipe on a blog called Yummy, Healthy, Easy for Carrot Oatmeal Cookies, and tweaked it a little to make own version! I'm sure the original is just as tasty, I just substituted some of the ingredients for what I had available, and switched out half the fat for applesauce to make them a little healthier.

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients: 

2 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup quick oats (not instant)
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter (softened)
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated organic carrots (4-5 carrots)
¾ cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Use a food processor (or grater) to grate the carrots. (I used a food processor). 
Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, oats, nutmeg and cinnamon). 
In a separate bowl, beat the sugars and wet ingredients (butter, applesauce, eggs and vanilla).
Mix in the carrots and walnuts. 
Scoop spoonfuls onto a lightly greased pan (I sprayed mine with the Misto). 
Bake for 13-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. 
ENJOY!

I LOVED these just the way they were (as did the BF) but my mom and brother said they could use some frosting.......(oy...) so feel free to dip yours in a quick frosting or eat them with ice cream!

Please leave a comment if you try this recipe! They're practically healthy so I think you should! :)

Mmm :)