Cupcakes For A Cause

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, my work decided to have a "Ladies Night" and asked me to bake for the event!

I decided to whip up some Vanilla and White Chocolate Strawberry cupcakes, top with Vanilla Buttercream frosting, and then...a pink ribbon made out of a stretched out Starburst!

The hubs was in charge of making the ribbons while I made the frosting. He loves me.

I topped the Vanilla cupcakes with the ribbons and the White Chocolate Strawberry cupcakes and mini cupcakes with sparkly sugary sprinks!

The hot pink sprinks made these cupcakes look like snowballs, and I was ok with that.

You know...the snowballs.

They are right up there with Zebra Cakes if you ask me. Nom.

I must be honest with you. I am not a cupcake baker. 

I leave that shiz to Sprinkles.

 My specialties consist of anything oat-related. However, these turned out pretty darn delicious if I must say so myself. I also LOVED the crunch of the sprinkles, so yum.

I was a little weary on whether or not the Starbust ribbons would work like I had imagined they would, and after a few gentle tugs, they were surprisingly very cooperative! I would highly recommend them when trying to create a cuteness-overload experience :)

Happy Breast Cancer Awareness Month! I think we all know someone who had been affected by this, so make sure to let them know how much you love them and admire their bravery!

Get our there and LOVE ON PEOPLE!

Pumpkin Butter Problem

I think I have a problem.

I walked into Williams-Sonoma today on a mission to buy new baking pans, but was quickly deterred by their seasonal Pecan Pumpkin Butter that is currently on display.

I asked an employee if I needed it. He responded with a short moment of silence, then strongly declared, "Yes. You need that."

I liked the intensity, so I bought some.

I got home, unloaded my loot, and quickly threw together a quick pre-workout snack of organic gala apple slices and some quick oats.

Then...I swirled in the buttah.

O.M.G

You need this.

And while you are there, grab 20 more jars for me please and thank you :)

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Yay fall! I love fall. I think fall is everyone's favorite season.

Last night, I baked. 

I was in a hardcore baking mood, which was convenient because I wanted to A) bring something to work today for a coworker's birthday and B) wanted something delicious and fall-y that I could top with cold vanilla ice cream and eat right before bed while watching The Cooking Channel's Unique Sweets (love) at 11:00 PM.

No, this isn't pumpkin bread, pecan pie, or anything close to your traditional fall dessert, but I am convinced that Reese's Pieces make everything look like it should be nestled in a bed of fake orange and brown leaves and photographed until my heart's content.

Not to mention that they are one of my all-time fave candies.

Oh, and I was fresh out of leaves, so the white plate had to do. Next time.

And I mean, if you prefer pumpkin bread or pecan pie over FUDGE BROWNIES TOPPED WITH PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKE...there is something a little off. 

You are loved and appreciated...but seriously, brownies > nutmeg.

I really hope you enjoy these, because I sure do. In fact, I think they are fantastic and will definitely score you a nice big kiss right on the smacker.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:

For the brownie layer-

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 cups white granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 Tbsp high-quality vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the peanut butter cheesecake layer-

• 9 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 egg

Topping-

• Reese's Pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a 13x9 baking dish.
3. For brownies: In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
4. In a separate medium bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, and salt.
5. Add cocoa mixture to butter mixture and mix until barely combined.
6. Fold in chocolate chips and pour batter into baking dish (batter will be very thick!).
7. For peanut butter cheesecake layer: In a separate medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar until smooth and combined. Beat in egg.
8. Pour cheesecake batter on top of brownie batter and spread evenly.
9. Sprinkle Reese's Pieces over the top of batter and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown in color.
10. Remove from oven and place pan on a cooling rack to cool completely.

ENJOY!

Bluebird Bakery

Brent and I are a pretty active couple. I run my life away and he would probably bike everywhere he went if his life didn't call for business casual 95% of the time. It makes sense that we are all about quick, easy, healthy fuel to keep us moving, so about two years ago, I started making my own homemade oat bars.

The first batch tasted amazing but for some reason reminded us of egg rolls, so after a few tweaks, I came up with a recipe that yields the PERFECT oat bar.

Word quickly spread and before I knew it, I was baking up dozens of these bars every week for family and friends.

I decided that, after moving to The Woodlands, I would work on trying to legitimize my little baking business and perhaps expand the types of healthy, delicious food items offered.

The name "Bluebird Bakery" stuck, symbolizing that with great, healthy food, you can be active and live as free as a bird! (Cheesy, I know, but I like cheesy).

After locating a commercial kitchen that will allow me to legally and sanitarily produce my goods, and processing through all of the legal documentation, I can honestly say that I am now officially owner and founder of Bluebird Bakery!

Currently, Bluebird Bakery is offering oat bars, granola, and muffins in a variety of flavors.

I am still in the process of confirming my brand name, logo, etc. but was too excited about this new business venture to not share it with you all!

I LOVE food, but what I love even more is providing a hearty product that I know will keep consumers satisfied, happy, healthy, and active.

I've also made it a priority to not skimp on the ingredients used in all of my products. My mission for Bluebird Bakery is "All Natural, All Good", confirming my commitment to using all-natural, organic, and local ingredients whenever possible.

I will hopefully have a website up and running in the coming months, which will allow customers to browse the menu and order online, but in the meantime, please visit my Bluebird Bakery Facebook page for information!

I am SO very excited about Bluebird Bakery and feel like I am finally bringing a dream that have had for a long time to life. I hope that you enjoy these products as much as I do!

Bluebird Bakery

Oat Bars

Soft, chewy, hearty oat bars!

$1.75 each; $20/dozen

• Plain Jane
• Just Nuts
• Maple Nut
• Cranberry Almond
• Blueberry Walnut
• Oatmeal Raisin Walnut
• Chocolate Chip
• Cherry Cashew Crunch
• Peanut Butter Cookie
• Peanut Butter Pretzel Raisin
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip
• Chocolate Fudge Brownie
• Dark Chocolate Espresso Chip
• Dark Chocolate Cherry Coconut
• Dark Chocolate Pretzel
• Cinnamon Roll

Granola

Chewy, chunky granola with a slight crunch!

$5 per 12oz bag

• Maple Nut
• Cranberry Almond
• Blueberry Walnut
• Peanut Butter Chocolate
• Cherry Cashew Crunch
• Pretzel Raisin
• Chocolate Coconut
• Cinnamon Roll

Muffins

Large, moist muffins with a punch!

$2.25 each; $25/dozen

• Banana Nut Bread
• Vanilla Vanilla
• Peanut Butter Bliss
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
• Triple Chocolate Chip
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip
• Maple Cinnamon

*All products can be made gluten-free!

I will do another post linking my website to the blog once it is up and running. In the meantime, these products are available for pick-up or delivery! Delivery price will vary depending on the distance.

Please send orders to: Emily at bluebirdbakes@gmail.com

When placing an order, please include your:

• Name
• Phone Number
• Address (if being delivered)
• Flavors
• Quantity
• Pickup or Delivery

A Perfect Day

Saturday morning started bright and early with a 16 mile run completed in a little under two hours. Wheee!

Then it was time to freshen up and meet this lovely lady for a much needed sister day!

The hubs and I initially had plans to visit his family this weekend, but a last minute opportunity for him to join his dad at the deer lease had us changing our plans a bit. So, since the hubs was out of town, I decided to take full advantage of a sister date!

After swinging by Jamba Juice for a...coffee (are you as surprised as I am that they sell coffee?? Who knew. It was actually pretty good!) we headed to the outlets to see if we could nab some awesome designer steals. The sis came away with some great finds from JCrew and we ALSO got a ton of great Christmas gift ideas for some very lucky people... :)

Before we knew it, it was 12:30 and our tummies were talking! Hannah is an AMAZING triathlete and is competing in a race tomorrow, so after swinging by her packet pickup, we decided to stop at Flora & Muse for lunch.

Neither of us had been there before, but were both immediately blown away by the overall concept of this place. It's basically a bistro, bakery, and a flower shop. Total cuteness overload.

I can't image what would happen if they decided to sell puppies, too. Help me.

I ordered the Curried Chicken Salad on Multigrain, that came with a small salad and a side of cranberry chutney.

Amazeballs.

Hannah has a gluten allergy, so she went for a bun-less burger and split her fries with me :)

I also ordered a bowl of fruit for us to share, but ended up dominating the whole thing. I have ZERO self control or manners when it comes to fresh fruit.

After more shopping and Hannah's FIRST trip to the greatest store of all time, we decided to stop by Menchie's for a fro-yo break.

I really cannot remember what all went into my bowl, but I am pretty sure that it consisted of red velvet, peanut butter, angel food cake, cake batter, and dulce de leche yogurt flavors and topped with Snickers, Reeses cups, and rainbow SnoCaps (!!!).

I.heart.SnoCaps.

Then it was time for a quick trip to her neighborhood Whole Foods before parting ways. 

Yay for the beginning of Fall, enormous pumpkins, and MORE Siggi's!

Now I am home, blogging and enjoying a few bowlfuls of organic vanilla yogurt topped with my homemade granola.

It's totally not the same thing as my Menchie's earlier. And even if it was, you can TOTALLY have yogurt multiple times a day. Just say yes.

I feel a new obsession coming on. There is just something so.insanely.wonderful. about creamy yogurt topped with nice, crunchy granola. Mmmmm...

Today was a perfect day :)

Tell me about YOUR Saturday! Any good food, finds, or family time?

Check in tomorrow for a big announcement!

Julia Love and Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

I thought I would start this post with a Julia quote that my sister texted to me the other day. 

This image is now the background on my iPhone :) I love it.

Ok, now on to these enchiladas that are super easy and SO good.

I LOVE sweet potatoes and have found that they can be enjoyed in so many other dishes that your typical Thanksgiving sugar bomb casserole.

And since these are technically vegetarian enchiladas, and I am married to a hard core CARNIVORE, I sliced two links of hot venison sausage into coin-sized pieces and sauteed them in a little bit of the enchilada sauce. 

He was appreciative. 

It was actually an INSANELY delicious addition and totally worked.

Big 'ole simple salad on the side. Crunch.

Make these enchiladas! And eat them with a side of sausage. Or not. Whatevs.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 9 whole wheat flour tortillas (soft taco sized)
• 9oz pepper jack cheese, grated
• 1 can red enchilada sauce (I used Hatch brand)
• 2 hot sausage links, sliced into coins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, toss sweet potato cubes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until soft. Let cool for 10 minutes.
3. Place cooled, baked sweet potato back in large bowl and mix with drained black beans.
4. Using a large spoon or masher, coarsely mash black beans and sweet potato together until combined.
5. Lightly grease a 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray.
6. Spoon sweet potato mixture into flour tortilla and sprinkle about 2 Tbsp cheese on top of mixture. Roll flour tortilla and place in pan. (Reserve 1/4 cup cheese for sprinkling on top).
7. Repeat 8 more times, placing enchiladas in baking pan as you go.
8. Pour 3/4 of enchilada sauce over the top of enchiladas, spreading out evenly. (Pour all of sauce over the enchiladas if you are not planning on serving sausage with them.)
9. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup cheese over the top of enchiladas.
10. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
11. While enchiladas are baking, saute sausage in the remaining 1/4 cup enchilada sauce over medium heat until done.
12. Serve warm, with sausage, if desired.

ENJOY!

Halfpops. They DO Exist!

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I knew Brent and I were soulmates when A) he didn't think twice about getting a large popcorn and coke for us to share on our first movie date, even though he had just treated me to dinner and B) let me eat all of the crunchy, buttery "halfpops".

We LOVE our popcorn, but even more so, L.O.V.E the halfpops. 

Well, I love the halfpops. Brent hates them...which makes us perfect for each other :)

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A company called Halfpops has perfected the...well, the halfpop....and now produce these little gems by the bagful.

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 Halfpops currently come in two flavors, Butter & Pure Ocean Sea Salt and Natural Aged White Cheddar, but are packed with flavor and contain only all-natural ingredients.

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You most likely do not live close to a retailer that carries Halfpops, so order here and let the blissful snacking begin!

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Halfpops. They DO exist!

Crooked Tree CoffeeHouse

If I made a list of the top 10 reasons why Dallas > Houston, Crooked Tree CoffeeHouse would be near the top.

I fell deeply in love with this little coffeehouse while living there, and even though we were only able to visit a handful of times, I felt like I was drinking coffee and eating pastries at Grandma's house every time.

So warm, so inviting, so comfy, so perfect.

Crooked Tree has BY FAR, the best coffee in Dallas and focuses on Fair Trade, Direct Trade, and Organic coffees, teas, and chocolates. The majority of their coffee comes from a local coffee roaster, Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters, and most of their pastries come from a local vegan bakery called Tough Cookie Baking Co.

So, it comes as no surprise that they were named "Best Coffeeshop" in D Magazine's "Best of Big D 2011.

Awesomeness.

I actually had the great pleasure of meeting the owner of Crooked Tree CoffeeHouse during our most recent visit. She was as sweet, accommodating, friendly, and delightful as they come.

(Excuse the iPhone pics in these last few photos)

It was a clear, crisp Dallas morning, so I ordered the Toffee Nut Latte and a warm Vegan Cinnamon Roll for breakfast. 

EASILY the best breakfast eating experience of my life.

And this is what a make-up less Emloves looks like after dominating the worlds best cinnamon roll and gulping down the tastiest latte on earth at Crooked Tree CoffeeHouse at 8:00 AM on a Saturday morning. 

Can you feel the excitement? This is what this coffeehouse does to you.

If you are ever in the Dallas area, make sure to stop by Crooked Tree.

I'll come find you and give you a spankin' if you don't...

New Snack, More Siggi's, and Ultra Marathons

Listen up dearhearts. I have a secret.

Sometimes I make two batches of overnight oats just so I can have it for breakfast and then again as an afternoon snack.

Scandalous, I know.

However, I was not feeling my usual double O snacker the other day and needed to finish off my container of Fage, so I decided to top two honey grahams with the remaining Greek yogurt, some honey, and a sprinkle of paprika cinnamon.

Voila! A quick, semi-healthy, delicious new obsession!

After my snack, I made a Siggi's pyramid.

My lovely sister picked up an armful of this goodness for me while shopping at Whole Foods the other day. She loves me. And she's big ballin', smashin', makin' my ends, smokin' big killa gettin' high in the Benz.

No, not really. I just have that song stuck in my head for some reason. 

But she is really really cool.

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Ok, now on to a totally unrelated, but equally awesome topic. Ultra Marathons.

If you are not familiar with an Ultra, it is basically any race that is longer than your normal marathon (26.2 miles). The most generally accepted "ultra marathon" events are 50 Kilometers (31 Miles), 50 Miles, 100 Kilometers, 150 Kilometers, 100 Miles, 24 Hours, 200 Kilometers, 48 Hours, 200 Miles, Six Days, 1,000 Kilometers, and 1,000 Miles.

I saw a guy wearing an Ironman shirt the other day that said "26.2? That's cute." on the back and it immediately had me thinking, "How far could I run if given the opportunity to go farther than 26.2?"

I also work with a guy who will be running in the Cactus Rose 100 Mile Ultra in October. Crazy. I don't think a 100-miler will be on my calendar any time soon, but perhaps a 50K?

Have you ever (or know anyone who has) run an ultra? Any words of wisdom??

I definitely have a handful of races that I want to run before I even THINK about signing up for a 50K, but who knows. 

Thank you ultras for making the marathon seem like a nice, Sunday morning jog... :)

Now off to work! Tonight's dinner will either consist of shrimp or pizza, so stay tuned!