Chia Charger and Quinoa Noodles

 Well, it happened.

I caught the bug that is going around.

Despite my germaphobia, I am a sneezing, coughing, stuffy headed mess. Bleh.

However, I could still taste this delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Muffin for breakfast this morning, which was a lovely surprise!

 Lunch included this pretty little duo...Crofters and Chia Charger!

 I am IN LOVE with this nut butter. The texture of the chia seeds with the creaminess of the butter is perfection. I love how there are still chunks of peanuts in there, too. Yum yum.

 With a glass of Whole Foods freshly squeezed OJ for some Vitamin C, and salt and vinegar chips for Vitamin D-lish.

 A Caramel Delight Samoa and Thin Mint for dessert.

I may or may not have gone back for wwuuunnnn more Thin Mint. Nom.

 After a long...long...long...freaking long day of coughing on calculators and staring at spreadsheets in a total daze, I came home and whipped up a batch of Butternut Mushroom Spaghetti with Quinoa Noodles!

 I roasted the butternut yesterday, which made assembly super easy. Just throw it all in and eat!

Quinoa pasta is definitely the closest in texture to regular pasta. I love brown rice pasta also, but it tends to be a bit slimier after cooking. Just in case you needed a replacement! 

My dietary needs do not call for gluten-free pasta, I just like to try different kinds :)

Make this and love your life!

Butternut Mushroom Spaghetti with Quinoa Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 10 large mushrooms, sliced
• 1 medium butternut squash-peeled, cubed, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned (salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme!), and baked at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.
• 1 large jar organic tomato basil pasta sauce
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

• 1 package quinoa pasta, prepared according to package directions
• crumbled goat cheese, for topping
• mixed veggies (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet.
2. Add mushrooms and saute until they start to soften.
3. Add the remaining ingredients (excluding pasta, goat cheese, and veggies), bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer.
4. Simmer (stirring occasionally), until heated thoroughly.
5. Serve on top of pasta (and veggies, if desired) and sprinkle with goat cheese.

ENJOY!

Chocolate Milk & Brownie Bites

New favorite snack: Wild Squirrel Curious Cocoa-Nut and cereal.

This nut butter is great on top of anything, but especially Kashi Heart to Heart with almond milk.

Cereal is a snack food to me, not a breakfast food, since it normally only carries me for about 2 hours.

Not very filling, but the perfect mid-day fuel!

 

This delicious cereal snacker fueled me through the creation of all of these cute little Chocolate Mint Brownie Bites!

I made them for a fun Oscars party that I was supposed to attend last night, but I have been fighting cold symptoms for about a week now and they were literally trying to kill me yesterday.

Headache, stuffy nose, coughing, sneezing, achiness, the works. Not fun.

So I sent them with my sister, who attended the party, so they could still be enjoyed without my hacking in the background.

Leetle bitty bite-sized brownies. Almost too cute to eat.

I had some leftover batter that I baked into full-sized brownie cups.

Go big or go home.

Or just eat mini-sized things because mini is cool too :)

I also have a large jar of sprinkles that I bought for ME TO EAT WITH SPOON a funfetti cake that I made a while back. They keep making their way into my baked goods and ice cream bowls (as you may have noticed), and I am glad. 

I mean, how can you not smile when you're putting sprinkles on things? Impossible.

Make these cuties and tell me who you think was the cutest at the Oscars!

Emma Stone gets my vote. Obsessed.

 

Chocolate Mint Brownie Bites

(makes 24 mini cups and 12 full-sized muffin cups)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
• 4 eggs, at room temp
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup Andes mint chips
• Sprinkles, for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line 1 24-cup mini muffin tin and 1 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
3. In a large bowl, mix together sugar and butter until combined.
4. Mix in eggs on at a time.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
7. Mix flour mixture into butter mixture until barely combined.
8. Fold in chocolate chips and mint chips.
9. Divide evenly among muffin cups.
10. Sprinkle the tops of batter cups with sprinkles (optional).
11. Bake mini cups at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Bake full-sized cups for about 20-25 minutes.
12. Let brownies cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

ENJOY!

Halos and Another Empty Jar

Today began with an early morning sweat sesh at the gym, followed by breakfast at work.

This is my THIRD near-empty peanut butter jar used as a vessel for fluffy rolled oats this week. I have a peanut butter problem.

  This morning's batch included plain rolled oats, blueberries (tossed in about half way through cooking), honey, and the delicious residue from my Wild Squirrel Sneaky Cinnamon.

Wild Squirrel offers some pretty amazing flavors, but I think this one is my favorite. 

Raisins + Cinnamon + Nut Butter = Winning

I met up with my smokin' hot husband for our midday meal at Whichwich.

 Turkey on wheat with American cheese (I know it's not real cheese, don't judge), dijon mustard, jalapenos, pickles, tomatoes, and lettuce. SO yum.

 I picked up this Halo bar (s'mores!!!) the other day at Hubbell & Hudson, which served as a tasty afternoon treat! Excellent texture and flavor.

 Dinner was a big bowl of leftover Mediterranean Shrimp & Sausage Coucous with veggies and Great Harvest Rosemary Garlic.

 Sprinkles for dessert!

I am so happy that tomorrow is Friday! Looking forward to a chill weekend and a fun Oscars party!

Goodnight!

The Food So Nice They Named It Twice

 Let's work backwards today, starting with tonight's dinner....couscous!

 I am NOT a fan of tiny, grits-like couscous, but give me pearl couscous and I am one happy girl.

Meet my Mediterranean Shrimp & Sausage Couscous! So easy and 100% delicious.

 Lunch was a sandwich from Jimmy John's. Not my favorite sandwich in the world, but not bad. 

Whichwich sets the bar pretty high (love)

An afternoon sweet came in the form of a truffle brownie. Yum.

 Breakfast once I arrived at work was oats in an almost empty Wild Squirrel Pretzel Pizazz jar!

..topped with Biscoff. 

So.stinking.obsessed.

Hope you had a happy Wednesday! After leaving work, I headed to the gym for about an hour on the elliptical and some weight lifting. Nice afternoon sweat sesh.

Now time to hang out with the hubs, perhaps watch a movie, and definitely eat some ice cream.

Mediterranean Shrimp & Sausage Couscous

Ingredients:

Coucous-

• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups whole wheat pearl couscous
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp olive oil

Shrimp/Sausage Mixture-

• 2 cups organic andouille sausage, sliced into thin coins
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can corn kernels, drained (fresh is better though!)
•  1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

Lemon Olive Oil Dressing-

• juice from two large lemons
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Topping-

• 1 block feta cheese, cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped
• 1/2 cup green olives, chopped
• 1/2 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, chopped

Directions:

1. Prepare couscous according to package directions, using chicken broth in place of water.
2.  In a large saute pan, cook sausage and onions until sausage is cooked and onions are translucent.
3. While the sausage cooks, prepare the lemon olive oil dressing in a small bowl or measuring cup.
4. Add the beans, corn, and shrimp to the skillet and pour the lemon dressing over the top.
5. Reduce heat the medium low and simmer until shrimp is just pink.
6. In a large bowl, mix couscous with shrimp and sausage saute.
7. Sprinkle toppings over the mixture (or stir into the mixture) and serve warm (with steamed veggies, if desired).

ENJOY!

Triple Dipped Oreos & Truffle Brownies

 You want to know...a secret?

Because I know one and it is soooooo good to hear it. You want to know whatez schwaz? 

Aaaright...I tell you whatez schwaz.

 I know...how to make...the eeeziest dezert...of all time.

And I will tell you how to do it...faster dan you can say poopty peupty pants-ss.

Ok, enough with the youtube clip quotes :)

But this really is the easiest dessert of all time and GUARANTEED to be a hit at your next bachelorette party, birthday bash, bar mitzvah, baby shower, bunco group, and/or bingo night.

Here is what you do. Stay with me, this can get confusing:

1. Melt vanilla almond bark (candy coating) in the microwave or on the stove until melted and smooth.
2. Take one package of Oreos (I used the Triple Double Chocolate...YES) and dip them into the creamy goodness (use a fork).
3. Place the dipped Oreos on a sheet of foil or parchment paper, sprinkle with desired toppings (mini chocolate chips and coconut in this case), and let them set for 5-10 minutes, or until coating has hardened.

WHEW! Glad I used the numbers.

 Now how about a TRUFFLE BROWNIE?

In the attempt to get rid of some Valentine's Day truffles (and by "get rid", I mean chop up and sprinkle on top of more butter, sugar, and chocolate...) I made brownies.

 Rich, fudgey, truffle-y (??) brownies.

Yeah, it was a GREAT day at my house.

Make these desserts! Then throw one slammin' bar mitzvah...or whatever :)

Truffle Brownies

Ingredients:

•  2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 cups white sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temp
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups mixed truffles, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 9x13 baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar together.
4. Mix in eggs one at a time.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
7. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until barely combined.
8. Fold in chocolate chips.
9. Pour batter into pan (batter will be thick!).
10. Sprinkle truffle pieces on top of batter.
11. Bake for 35-40 minutes (you still want some gooey crumbs on an inserted toothpick!)
12. Let brownies cool completely before cutting into squares.

ENJOY!

Eats & Rain Boots

When I am at a loss for what to write about, I always resort to random food finds found on the world wide web. 

I love food pictures, especially the ones that give me an OMG I WANT moment.

So since I'm not sure what to talk about tonight, let's just talk about delicious food. Okie dokie?

 Stuffed Shells with Sausage & Spinach

Holy yumballs.

BBQ Chicken Rolls

I'll take 47 thanks.

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

Yes siree.

 Sweet Potato Burgers with an appropriate amount of sliced avocado on top.

I need a moment.

 HOMEMADE GOLDFISHIES!!!

Finally...seriously.

 Chocolate.Chip.Lava.Cookies

What gym?

Peanut Butter Nutella Fudge Ice Cream. 

Necessary.

 Homemade Snickers. 

My mouth just squirted.

 And holy freaking "Mom can I please sleep in my rain boots" rain boots.

Not a food, but still a need.

Ok, that is all for today. Hope everyone had a fantabulous Saturday! 

Stay warm & dry, be happy & healthy, keep smiling & hugging, and love passionately & always!

My Lovely Valentine

My Valentine's Day began with a loving bowl of red (Crofters strawberry jam) and white (oats, almond milk, plain Greek yogurt) overnight oats. 

All I needed was a few pink M&Ms on top to complete the Valentine's color wheel.

 

 I can't get enough of these oats!

 Work work work...Jimmy Johns Turkey Tom...work work work

Then a co-worker surprised us with chocolate Frosty's, so I HAD to take part.

Pretzels with mustard as an afternoon snack.

Then...a lovely Valentine's surprise!

The Mr. stopped by my office on his lunch break with gorgeous flowers and yummy chocolate! Pretty sure I have the greatest husband of all time.

After work, he took me out for an insanely delicious sushi dinner at Kita. 

Seriously...so good.

 Shrimp Cream Cheese wontons to start.

 Then the sushi feast began. We polished off these plates in no time.

 We were both pretty full, but of course still had room for dessert at Hubbell & Hudson. A small vanilla bean gelato (best I've ever had), peanut butter chocolate cupcake, and a slice of THE BEST carrot cake were split...and demolished.

Holy Thanksgiving full Batman.

Now I leave you with a little something to make you giggle :)

Hope your Valentine's Day was full of love, kisses, and lots of delicious food! Make it a great rest of the week!