The Berry Best Way to Start Your Day

Okay, well maybe not the very best, but this smoothie most definitely gets the job done.

Here’s a quick, easy way to pack in a ton of vitamins, anti-oxidents, Calcium and fruit into one simple drink — in less than 3 minutes!

Start with some fresh berries — I chose strawberries and blackberries — and a few extra blueberries I had on hand.

Wash and fill (use as any as you’d like in your smoothie) with whole (no stems) strawberries, blackberries and a few blueberries (your eyes will thank you when you’re 70!)

Pour in about a cup of skim milk (soy and almond milk work too!) and drizzle on a little honey for sweetness.

Blend with your blender or Bullet (I HIGHLY recommend the Magic Bullet!) for about 20 seconds, or to your desired consistency

Enjoy!

If you liked this and want other easy meal ideas — LIKE this post!

My Cuppycake

Moving into our own place again means having my kitchen to myself… and that means baking!

I decided to help bring in the new year with some red velvet/ cream cheese frosting cupcakes. I used Dunkin Hines boxed mix (so easy!) and they turned out gorgeous — and delicious!

Red Velvet Mix

Yea, it’s a little ketchupy looking

icing was so easy! just added butter & water

making sure they’re cooked all the way through

toss the icing in the included parchment bag

cut the tip of the bag and start swirling

add some edible gold glitter and enjoy!

 

Pumpkin Muffins

My mom and I got our bake on last Sunday when we made pumpkin bread muffins. I took pictures during the process, but got a little lazy at the end, so I don’t have the final product! But you get the gist… oh, and they are AMAZING. Happy baking!

RECIPE:

16 ounces can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt (I usually don’t use any)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

*cupcake papers

*cupcake pan

Directions:
Pre-heat over to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (9×5) loaf pans. In large bowl, mix together pumpkin purée, eggs, oil, water, sugar until blended. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves. Stir into dry ingredients in pumpkin mix until just blended. Using an ice cream scoop, pour batter into each cupcake paper. Bake 25 or so minutes in preheated oven or until a toothpick into center comes clean. Cool 10 minutes. & remove from pans

** this same recipe can be used to make bread as well. use two loaf pans and bake for 1 & 1/2 hours

Hawaiian Turkey Burgers

I made these super simple Hawaiian turkey burgers tonight with only a few ingredients.

You’ll need: ground turkey, Kikkoman Stir-Fry Sauce, red onions, pineapple chunks and an avocado.

Only took about 30 minutes including grill time!

Celebrating the Day AFTER Valentine’s Day

Every year, right around February 10th, a sense of panic consumes my boyfriend. After over five years of dating he still gets confused about what to do around holidays, birthdays and anniversaries… somehow it’s a shock that I turn another year older every mid January (did I mention his birthday is two days after mine?)

To make things slightly less stressful, I proposed we celebrate what I consider truly the most romantic day of the year – February 15th.

Have you ever seen those people picking through 70% off heart-shaped boxes of truffles, sparkly red glitter headgear and the few boxes of conversation hearts hanging out in the corner of CVS’ shelving? Yeah — those are my people.

Anyone who would choose to dine at a ridiculously crowded restaurant with an insane prefix menu and buy a dozen red roses the morning of the 14th is crazy. The 15th is the new 14th. Go with it.

For my frugal efforts, I was awarded with 24 gorgeous pink roses (which apparently they were almost paying people to take,) adorable heart-shaped boxes of chocolate and the most hilariously round plush little woodland creature ever created.

Dinner (made by moi) consisted of bruschetta, penne alla vodka, salad and a sweet bottle of chianti.

BRUSCHETTA

Place fresh-cut baked with drizzled olive oil on a cookie sheet and place in the broiler for about 1 minute.

Take out and place fresh mozzarella slices onto the bread and place back in the broiler for another 2 minutes or so (check every so often so you aren’t burning the bread!)

 Cut two small tomatoes into fourths and blend in a food processor (or chop if you’re not lazy like I am) until small enough for a salsa-like mix. then, do the same with fresh basil, adding a bit of olive oil to the mix. Add the two blends together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix and place onto melted cheese/bread from the broiler. EASY, delicious appetizer in less than 20 minutes.

SALAD

For the salad (I apparently didn’t take a photo of this) I used mixed greens, one peeled and sliced cucumber, slices of an asian pear and  croutons along with my boyfriend’s mother’s homemade salad dressing recipe:

2 tbs apple cider vinegar

1 tbs dijon mustard

1 tbs shallots

5 tbs olive oil

pinch of salt & pepper

whisk or use a food processor to mix and viola! amazing salad dressing

 PENNE ALLA VODKA

I first had this dish when I was in Florence and completely fell in love with it. A spicy mix of savory and heat make this pasta dish a must for any italian cuisine lover. I’ll admit this recipe takes a bit of time, but with some patience, it will come out delicious! *I used whole grain pasta* 

 

I hope everyone had a fabulous *post* Valentine’s Day!