So remember that time I told you I like to work out bright and early, first thing in the morning?  No?  Me neither.  I would never say that, that’s ridiculous!

For me, morning comes no earlier than 9am, which as far as I’m concerned, is still more or less the crack of dawn, and really only happens when the beckon-call of my bird chirping iphone text feature tweets me out of my slumber.  Ok, I know I make it sound dramatic, but I actually secretly (or not so secretly anymore) LOVE that! =)  What’s that, you say?  My alarm?  Worthless.  Most mornings when I finally peel my eyes open to the world I can’t remember ever having HEARD my alarm go off- sad, no?!  MORE COFFEE, PLEASE! 😀

Anyway, all of this leads to what you’ve probably already guessed: I’m not a morning gym goer.  The good thing is, though, that I’ve also never had the desire to be the type of person who hops out of bed in the morning right into gym clothes ready to buzz out the door for a run or a 6am body pump class.  Don’t get me wrong, if you are this type, more power to you!  I believe we all have our own slightly different circadian rhythms guiding our ideal move-your-booty, get up and pump some iron time!  For me, it’s always been evening time, preferably, and the later in the evening, the better.

I’m not exaaaactly sure why, but I believe it has to do with, one, my body actually being awake and functional, and two, not having to deal with such a crowded gym!  Ok ok, there are three points, and I think this is the most important – I like to know I’ve gotten everything done during the day that I need to, and I can finally get out of my head and break a sweat without feeling like I have a schedule to keep or something to get back to.  If I’m feeling particularly energetic and spunky one evening at the gym, I can draw it out a little longer and take advantage of the unexpected surge; likewise, if I’m feeling a lighter, shorter workout one night, I can go home and unplug and chill that much longer!

The real point here is that I made a journey to the gym a little earlier than usual yesterday evening, and the place was PACKED!  Holy moly.  As it turns out, my body’s ideal (night owl?) time to bust a move is apparently far from everyone elses’ and I couldn’t be happier!…Either that, or they’re just all out on the town while I’m dead lifting my butt off (literally) 😉 haha!  I’m ok with that, too!

While I’m on the subject of the gym and being healthy and everything, I’ve got the perfect soup recipe for you!  Vegetarian, gluten free, ….vegan?  Ya, vegan, probably, too,  if you’re so inclined!

Sweet Potato & Coriander Soup

If you like sweet potatoes and guilt-free creamy, comforting soup, this is the one- it’s my new favorite soup!  If you hadn’t noticed, I have a bit of an obsession with both sweet potatoes and coconut, so this is basically the best of both of my favorite worlds!  If you aren’t worried about the vegetarian and vegan aspect, you can go ahead and use chicken broth, and if you want something even creamier and more decadent, go crazy with full-fat coconut milk!  Top with a sprinkle of hemp seeds!

Ingredients:

* 3 Tbsp olive oil
* 2 small onions (I used 1 red, 1 white), peeled and chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 5 large carrots, sliced
* 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes, cubed
* 4 ribs of celery, sliced
* 8 cups vegetable (make sure it’s gf/vegan) or chicken broth (make sure it’s gf, if you need)
* 5 tsp ground coriander
* 1 can (13.66 oz.) lite coconut milk
* 1 small can northern beans or chickpeas
* 5 leaves of kale, torn and stems removed
* Dash of salt, to taste
* Ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a big soup pan on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes (stirring often) until lightly browned.

Add carrots, celery, sweet potato, and vegetable (or chicken) broth to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 50 minutes to an hour (until veggies are smash-tender).

Use a potato masher to mash up vegetables into whatever texture you like (or pour small batches into a blender and blend smooth before returning to the pan).

Stir in coriander, coconut milk, salt, pepper, and northern beans, and cook about 5 more minutes to heat through. Add kale pieces and cook another couple minutes until the leaves have softened.

Another one of my favorite foods right now – KALE!  Spinach had to take a step to the side once I hopped on the kale train, but don’t worry, spinach still holds a special place in my heart (and plate!)  Just turns out kale is what I had on hand when I made this, and it worked perfectly!

I have to confess something here.  The sweet potatoes in the photo above aren’t the actual sweet potatoes I threw in this soup – oopsie!  The ones I used were slightly smaller and BRIGHT gorgeous orange inside!  I just didn’t happen to snap a pic in all the madness.  Next time!

Once you’ve simmered your veggies for a good 50 minutes to an hour, mash ’em up rough-like with a potato masher!  If you prefer really smooth creamy soups, you can even pour it into a blender at this point and blend it up smooth before putting it back in your pot and finishing it up.

Coconut milk!  Low fat version, since bikini season is right around the corner =) …but like I said, feel free to really let loose with the full fat stuff if you’re feelin’ it!  No judgements here.

Good to the last drop…or whatever they say about coffee.

I’ve made this soup recipe going on 4 times in the last 2 months – it’s THAT good!  The first couple times I made it, I threw in chickpeas!  Love those little guys, and they worked beautifully, too!  Northern beans (below) get my stamp of approval, for sure!

Ahem, kale…need I say more??  Load that fluffy green stuff in!  The more the better…

Ta da!  Major yum.  I can eat this soup for several meals in a row.  Fact.

There is a lot of talk and opinion (some scientifically based, some not) going around about the best time of day to work out.  Early, late, mid-day, etc. etc…and maybe I’d buy in to it all a little more if we were all cookie cutter bodies with the same demands, time constraints, and expectations.  But we’re not.  I know, shocking, ha!

Where was I going with all this?  Oh right.  Not to discount science AT ALL, but in my humble opinion, the best time to work out is when you’ll actually do it!  Some exercise will always be better than no exercise, of course!  So get out there and sweat it up, whenever!

…Then follow up with this yummy post-workout recovery soup, and chirp tweet me in the morning! 😉

XOXO

Birthdays are the type of thing you look forward to and love so much when you’re young that you wish you could celebrate several times a year, but then start to avoid, ignore, and maybe even detest once you’re old enough to realize what getting older means. Maybe that’s just me?

You know, you figure out that birthdays are more than just cake, presents, slumber parties, and pink. Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who birthdays still mean exactly that to, and growing up definitely has its perks, but often there are a lot of less desirable aspects of aging that accompany getting older that I won’t even start to get in to. I don’t think I have to!

Anyway, I think the key is really in that whole “young at heart” theory. Some people just seem to be able to remain “young” their whole lives, staying active, energetic, quick witted, and full of that zest for life that sometimes even the chronologically young lose sight of. Genetics surely plays a part, but it’s undeniable that it takes some effort, and a whole lot of motivation, passion, and interest in life and all it has to offer in order to really avoid aging.

So, to my older brother who just turned 30-something: don’t worry, I’ll keep you on your toes. Younger sisters keep older brothers young (I think it’s a scientific fact or something? Maybe younger sisters age older brothers? Nah…) You may get a few headaches over the years, that’s just a benign side effect of the process. You may get your heels run over by giant shopping carts full of cinder blocks, but that just makes you stronger. Let’s just say, you won’t ever be allowed to “phone it in” on my watch.

You may even get a cake. A cake that outwardly resembles a Hostess cupcake with some structural integrity issues…if you squint enough.  It may or may not be only several weeks late.  Just remember, it’s all in the name of keeping you young.

You’re welcome!

I had a perfect plan for this cake. A Hostess cupcake cake…accurate to size specifications, including everything from the cream filling (best scooped out with a finger and eaten slowly) to the frosting layer that was always so much fun to peel off and eat once the rest of the cupcake was gone. In theory, it seemed easy enough (not really).

By the time I figured out I’d need to quintuple the recipe (within the first 5 minutes), rather than double it, as I’d originally (naively) anticipated, I knew it was a challenge I was unwilling to un-accept.

A few quick modifications to the original recipe as well as the diagram I’d elaborately constructed in my head, and everything seemed (key word: seemed) to be back on track.

Hostess Cupcake Birthday Cake

(Slightly adapted from the New York Times Faux Hostess Cupcakes Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Filling Recipe)

I decided for the sake of simplicity to include the recipe for a single batch, which is intended to make 12 (one dozen) standard-sized cupcakes.  If you would like to make the birthday cake version, just go ahead and quintuple the recipe (x5), like I did.

Ingredients (For the Cake):

* 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (they used cake flour, but I had none)
* 1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s cocoa powder)
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* pinch salt
* 2 large eggs, separated (I used extra-large)
* 1/3 cup canola oil
* 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Directions:

(*Remember the quantities given in the directions are for a single recipe, and that you will need to multiply everything by 5 if making the cake! )

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease a straight-edged bundt pan and a cake round.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

Separate eggs into whites and yolks.  Add the whites to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until soft peaks form.  Add 2 Tbsp of sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks.  Move whites to another bowl and set aside.

Add the yolks to the bowl of a stand mixer along with the oil, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 2 Tbsp water; beat together.  Turn mixer to low and gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.  Mix until almost completely combined.  Mix 1/4 of the whites into the batter and then fold in the rest gently, until no white streaks remain.

Pour batter into prepared cake round until about 1/2 full.  Pour the remaining batter into the bundt pan.

Bake bundt pan for about 55 minutes, depending on your oven.  Check after about 45 minutes with a toothpick.  Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  I made the mistake of NOT baking the bundt pan cake long enough and it ended up sinking.  DISASTER!

Bake the cake round for about 30 minutes, but again, check after about 20 minutes and take it out when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Allow both cakes to cool in their pans before removing and allowing to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Once the cake round cake is fully cooled, using a cake knife, or a serrated bread knife, filet in half.

(while you’re waiting for both of the cakes to bake, whip together the filling!)

Ingredients (For the Cream Filling):

This is the single recipe for the cream filling if you want to make cupcakes. For the cake, I doubled (x2) the recipe.  I don’t know how it happened, but somehow I managed to NOT get a single photo of the cream filling process.  Ugh.  Well, it’s white and whippy.  Got that?  Ok, good.

* 6 Tbsp unsalted butter (I used salted butter)
* 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff (use a full jar of marshmallow cream)
* 2 Tbsp heavy cream (I used 2 Tbsp vanilla extract instead)

Directions:

Cream the butter until soft and fluffy in the clean bowl of a stand mixer.  Add half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Add the marshmallow cream and the vanilla (or heavy cream, if you prefer) and mix until smooth.  Add the rest of the powdered sugar, and beat until creamy and fluffy.  Set aside.

Ingredients (For the Ganache):

This is the single recipe for the ganache if you’re just making cupcakes. I tripled (x3) the recipe for the cake.

* 1/4 cup heavy cream
* 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used a combination of Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate kisses)
* 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (Again, I used salted)

Directions:

(I suggest this not be made until the cake is fully assembled and ready to be frosted, since it will tend to set up when cooled)

Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan on medium-low heat.  Once the cream starts to boil gently, remove pan from heat and add in the chocolate.  Stir until melted and smooth, heating again on the stove if needed.  Don’t burn it, though!  Add in the butter and stir until melted and completely mixed.  To frost the cake, allow the ganache to cool slightly and then spoon on, smoothing over the top.  For best results, chill the whole cake for several hours before serving in order to allow the ganache to set.

To Assemble the Cake:

Place one of the cake round layers on a cake round, a cake stand, a plate (whatever you want your cake to be sitting on).  Place the bundt cake on top of the cake round (cone shape facing upward).  Since the cake round is slightly larger than the small end of the bundt sitting on it, slice around the cake round so it’s the same size.

Fill the center well of the bundt cake (you can hollow it out a little more if you want lots of cream filling, but don’t go overboard, that’s where I started having structural issues!) with cream filling.  Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cream filling frosting and put it in a plastic ziploc bag.  Throw it in the fridge.

Place the last cake round layer on the top of the bundt cake.  This is the fun part.  Use a serrated knife to round out the top of the cake (think top-of-the-cupcake kind of round).

Spoon ganache onto the top of the cake, starting in the center and working outward.  Take it slow, it will run off the edges and all over the plate you’re working on.  Not that I know.  Except that I totally know.  It will probably be a bit of a mess to clean up regardless, but there are worse things to have to do.  Refrigerate the cake for a couple hours to let the ganache set up.

Once everything is firm and in place, take your ziploc bag of cream filling frosting and let it soften a little.  Cut the corner off the bag and pipe on the swirly topping…little known fact (or maybe just little known fact I didn’t realize I didn’t know until now): there are 8 swirls on a hostess cupcake.  No more, no less.  Now you know.

As you can see, the center of the bundt cake managed to condense under its own weight, creating a center portion that’s more like a fudgey brownie than cake.  This part was everyone’s favorite, though, being the perfectionist that I am, it was the most annoying part to me, ha! =)

I made this on Saturday, and after a night in the fridge, I can tell you from experience: the ganache peeled off JUST like the real Hostess Cupcake frosting – WIN!

I’m not going to lie, this cake is A LOT of work.  Let’s just say a certain brother will NOT be getting the cake he requests next year.  I’m thinking maybe a Ding-Dong.

You know, a round sheet cake, a little filling, ganache coating, and be done with it?  To make it even cuter, I’d maybe even consider wrapping it in a giant piece of foil, but that’s only if I’m feeling any ounce of ambition left after this year’s Hostess Cupcake Cake fiasco!

So, if you’re feeling a little more like going in a different direction, I would highly recommend Birthday Cream Puffs like I made for my brother’s birthday last March…

Or perhaps Birthday Cake batter Biscotti, like I made for my momma’s birthday last July…?!  Both Birthday Wins!

Happy {Belated} Birthday, Big Brother!

(When you end up feeling like, .2 years younger because of me and this cake, you owe me. BIG time)

Remember how I droned on in THIS post about how I go through phases with bananas?  About how I can go for weeks and even months on end without so much as the desire to LOOK at a banana, and then wake up one morning wanting to eat nothing BUT bananas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for the remainder of my days?  Right now I’m on the latter.  Total banana kick in full swing.  I even managed to find organic Del Monte bananas (my favorite!) at my favorite fruit store in the world – SCORE!  I bought a few bunches immediately, and then realized I’d be heading out of town again for the weekend…

So, currently there’s just one major problem I have with bananas.

Traveling with them.

Correct me if I’m wrong, and please share if you know a secret about this that I don’t, but bananas are not the easiest fruit to travel with (even a road trip, as is the case right now).  An apple I can toss in my purse, backpack, bathroom bag (you know, wherever), and open it to find a nearly perfect apple waiting for me when hunger strikes.  Bananas, on the other hand, are NOT easily thrown in to a purse or any bag containing really ANYTHING at all, let alone a bag of clothes.

Bananas just have that ability to be impossible to pack on a trip both because of their penchant to brown and squish ALL over the place, but also because of their ability to make everything in your life at any given moment SMELL like banana.  Now, I love me a banana (on a good week/month) but I don’t want to pull a pair of banana smelling pajama pants out of my bag at the end of the day.  There’s a reason banana didn’t make it on the list of fruity scented body washes and lotions in the Burt’s Bees and The Body Shop bath and skin care line.

The only places bananas smell good are right after you peel them and they’re headed straight into your mouth, or coming out of the oven in breads, muffins, cupcakes, and bars.  Speaking of bars, the banana bars I’ve got for you today are a cookie-banana bread-hybrid, and it was totally unplanned as far as texture, as well as everything else about them goes.  Some of the best things in life are unplanned!…Although, as far as I’m concerned, some of the worst things in life are also unplanned (ie: running out of gas on the freeway).

I had an idea in my head for the flavor profile I was hoping to achieve, but the rest was left to chance.  That being said, if you’re looking for a dense, chewy cookie with a mild banana taste, this might not be what you’re looking for.  If, however, you have a hankering for a breakfast-ish bar with a sorta gooey, cakier than cookie texture, and lots of caramel and butterscotchy goodness packed in, this recipe is quite possibly exactly what you’re looking for.

That being said. I obviously (OBVIOUSLY) still packed up the SEVERAL bananas I had left after making these bars and loaded them in to my car to take with.  I wasn’t about to leave them behind only to get down to LA and wish I had bananas, and then be forced to buy new ones.

I love me some bananas! (FOR NOW) <3

Blog post today fueled by Starbucks!   Ahhhh, I love me some green tea (FOREVER!) <3

Happy Weekend!

I spoke too soon and jinxed myself when I mentioned wanting the weather to stay sunny and awesome…so much for 70 degree t-shirt weather, now it’s rain, rain, rain!  We need it, but I’m still no ray of sunshine myself in the midst of all the gloom, if you know what I mean.  I took one look out my window today at the gray and drizzle and wanted to burrow under my blankets and cuddle the day away, only emerging for mug a few steamy mugs of coffee or hot chocolate.

Fall and winter before last, while I was still in school, I devised the most brilliant plan I’ve ever had to this very day.  One morning while untangling myself from the warm cozy depths of my 18 blanket-clad bed in search of the elusive coffee that feeds my spirit and brings my limp, sleepy body to life in the morning, I realized the absurdity of just what I’d been a slave to all these years.  No, the coffee is not the enemy here, if that’s where you think I’m going with this (it’s the giver of life).  Instead of going to the coffee, the coffee should be coming to me.  And so it happened- I promptly relocated my coffee pot to my bedside table.  The very next morning, I had coffee at the reach of an arm.  Done.

Now, I wish I could say this story was leading up to a declaration that I was able to accomplish the very same coffee situation with such ease on this particular dreary morning, but alas, I didn’t have the foresight.  Bedside coffee may be making a long-overdue return if the weather keeps up this way!  I realize this story has absolutely nothing to do with limes.  Coffee doesn’t even taste good at all with lime in it.  Also, at this moment all I can think about is chocolate, so there’s that.

Not only is there no coffee in this recipe, there is also no chocolate.  Ooof.

This weather is really doing a number on me!

 Chewy Lime Zest Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 cup non-dairy margarine
* 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1-2 Tbsp non-dairy milk
* Juice of 1 lime
* Zest from 1 lime
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with zest of 1 lime (for rolling)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Cream together the margarine and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat in egg and vanilla, and then lime juice, 1 Tbsp non-dairy milk, and zest.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed between additions. If the dough seems too dry, add the second Tbsp of non-dairy milk, or a little more vanilla.

Scoop out 1-2 Tbsp size portions of dough and roll into balls. Roll in the sugar/lime zest mixture and place on baking sheet, about 1-2″ apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine needed almost exactly 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the pan before transferring cookies to a cooling rack.

I can happily say, however, that these little cookies fit the bill for my green food-themed month perfectly!  What I really like about these cookies is that unlike most sugar cookies, they don’t require all of that rolling pin and cookie cutter drama.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place – Christmas cookies, heart-shaped Valentine’s day sugar cookies, my Noah’s Ark Frosted Animal Cookies *cough, cough*…

But this is not that time.  Nor that place.

This is the place of simple, yummy, chewy, lime-spiked sugar cookies that melt in your mouth and clear the clouds from the sky…

Ok, let’s not push it.  They’re just cookies, they can’t change the weather!

….But they will put a smile on your face! :))))

Valentine’s Day can be a complicated little bugger, can’t it?

Ask any guy, and chances are good the mere thought of Valentine’s Day somehow warrants a defensive front of epic proportions akin only to that of a man staring down the barrel of a gun ready to strip him of his manhood.  All of a sudden a cute, simple, holiday becomes a bank-breaker, a platform for anti-Hallmark rants, candy and Tiffany’s protests, and a potential one-way ticket to the couch for the night.

Dramatic.

Now, ask any girl, and chances are good Valentine’s Day probably ranks 1^st, followed only by New Year’s Eve (that’s a different story), in terms of expectations for romantic gestures from the fella in their life.  We want flowers, flowers are good.  Candy is doable.  Jewelry will get you everywhere, guys.  Lingerie is a sensitive subject.  We want seductive and lovey, but not tacky.  There’s a fine line…a verrrrrrry fine line between a blissful day and a day spent pasting a guy’s face on a dart board.  Just saying.

And what do girls get their guys on this particular hive-inducing, red alert prompting holiday that won’t be seen as girly or cutesy or a passive aggressive stab to his ego?

Dramatic.

So what’s a guy to do?  What’s a girl to do?  Can’t we all just love and be cute and wrap things in pretty bows and pink paper and be thankful for one another and cuddle up and watch movies or stare at each other and go back and forth all night about who’s prettier, and then eat these brownies?

Sigh.  I sure hope so! 😉

Red Velvet Brownie Bites

Adapted from How Sweet It Is red velvet brownies

Ingredients:

* 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

* ¼ tsp salt

* ½ cup butter, room temperature (or non-dairy Earth Balance)

* 1 ½ cups sugar

* 4 Tbsp cocoa powder

* 1 ½ Tbsp red food coloring

* 2 tsp vanilla extract

* 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or non-dairy chocolate chips like Enjoy Life)

*****

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Line or grease standard muffin tins or heart-shaped muffin molds.

Combine cocoa powder, food coloring, and 2 tsp vanilla extract to create a gravely mixture.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter or non-dairy spread and sugar until fluffy.  Add in eggs one at a time, mixing between additions.

Add cocoa powder mixture slowly to the butter and sugar and mix until combined.

Sift the flour and salt in a separate bowl.  Add slowly and mix until just combined.  Don’t over mix!  Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Evenly distribute into prepared muffin tins or heart-shaped muffin molds until each well is about full.

Bake about 22-25 minutes depending on your oven.  Don’t overbake!

White Chocolate Chip Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

* ½ cup (1 stick) butter or non-dairy Earth Balance

* 2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

* 2 tsp vanilla extract

* Dash of salt, to taste

* ½ cup white chocolate chips, melted (I used Ghirardelli) – omit if you’d like dairy-free, or use non-dairy chocolate chips!

* 1 ½ tbsp milk, or non-dairy milk like soy or rice

*****

Directions:

Cream butter or non-dairy spread in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add in one cup of confectioner’s sugar and mix.  Add the vanilla extract and dash of salt, mixing to combine.

Melt the white chocolate chips or non-dairy chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Set aside to cool slightly before adding.

Add another cup of the confectioner’s sugar, and then the milk.  Beat.  Add the remaining ½ cup of confectioner’s sugar and mix well.  Add in the melted chocolate.

Add a splash more milk if frosting is too thick, and a bit more confectioner’s sugar if it’s too thin.  Beat until fluffy.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

A note, a hug, a kiss, a call, a text?  Scratch that last one.  A brownie!  Now that’s more like it….share the love!

PS:  No, YOU’Reeee prettier…. 😉

XOXO