Pumpkin Spice Latte

It's no secret that I am in love with Fall.  In fact, I did an entire blog entry about my favorite season (you can read it here).  One of my favorite things is eating/drinking pumpkin-flavored goodies.  This weekend Cody and I enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning and I decided to tryout a recipe I saw for homemade pumpkin spice lattes.  There was no choice…I had to do it.

Ingredients:

1cup milk

1tbs sugar

1tbs pumpkin puree 

 1/2tsp vanilla

brewed coffee

cinnamon

nutmeg

Directions:  Heat 1/2cup of milk, pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla, and spices on medium heat. Bring to a simmer and hold at this temperature for 5minutes while occasionally whisking.  Then, whisk in remaining 1/2cup of milk.

I used this as more of a creamer for my coffee.  The website that the original recipe came from included a few more steps (but, hey, I'm a little lazy).  My coffee was amazing! I definitely recommend it.  Plop a little whipped cream on top and enjoy!

Questions:
How do you feel about pumpkin-flavored goodies? 
Do you make coffee at home or get it to-go?

Adventures in Bread Making

This week I decided to try homemaking bread for the first time! I have always been interested in baking my own bread from both a frugality standpoint and a sustainability standpoint .  While browsing the internet this weekend I checked out a TON of bread recipes for the crock-pot and it seemed like something fun to try, you can check out a few of the recipes here and here.  I finally decided to test out this recipe, courtesy of the Chicken in the Road blog.

All mixed up and headed into the pot! 

The process was super simple! I just made the dough, plopped it into the crock-pot, and set the pot to low.  I turned it over at the one-hour mark and then continued baking for another hour. After two hours I checked it and it still seemed fairly doughy (recipe deviation) so I repeated the process for another hour. Also, I pulled it out at the end and stuck it under the broiler for 5-6 minutes in order to achieve my desired color. Check out the finished product!

Lookin' tasty! 

"Almost" an awesome loaf of homemade bread. 

So, it did turn out as bread, which I was concerned about (hah!).  I've heard it said that baking bread is a lot of trial and error and I would have to agree.  I wouldn't say this bread was UNsuccessful but it also wasn't perfect.  The middle was still fairly soft and it turned out pretty dense as well.  While it is edible, I know that I can do better.  So, I will be at it again trying to perfect my bread in the crock pot.  I plan to repost the perfect loaf when I finally bake it :)

Questions:
Do you homemake bread? 
Would ever consider trying it in the crock-pot?

Snowy Saturdays

After a week of beautiful weather and decent temperatures I had high hopes that spring had arrived.  I was wrong. So, terribly wrong….

We got about 4inches of snow last night out of the blue.  Specks is thrilled, Cody and I not so much.


Anyways, I tucked into this delicious breakfast this morning.  I mushed the recipe together from a few different blogs that I read.  It was AMAZING.  Seriously.  If you are a breakfast person, you need to try this out.  Check out the recipe.

Ingredients
1/2cup oats
1cup water
1tbs chunky peanut butter

Directions:  Cook oats to package directions on the stove top.  Cooke until almost done (2-3minutes).  Then, remove from heat an stir in peanut butter.  Top with fruit :)

After that we spent most of our day being lazy.  We ran some errands, checked out a local bookstore, and then headed back home.  We bought Les Miserables, which we are planning on watching after dinner.  I am excited to watch it because I loooooved the book.


For dinner we enjoyed a little Warm Quinoa Salad. I will post the recipe later this week because it was truly delish :)

**We woke up Sunday to some serious spring weather and we are headed out on a big hike this afternoon.  Pictures to come!

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

How I feel about mornings, as told by one of my favorite women in the entertainment industry.  

I always wake up at least 90minutes before going anywhere so I can have some time to myself to drink coffee, think about my day, lounge, and wake up!  This Sunday Cody let me do just this.  I woke up to cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting and steaming hot coffee.  Delicious :)

Yummy. 

Specks feels just like I do in the mornings. 

Sometimes, I just need to wake up super sloooooowly.  I am sure many of you feel the same.  Cody, however, does not.  He wakes up 15-30minutes before he leaves the house.  He rarely eats breakfast but he somehow still has time to shower, drink coffee, and get dressed up all spiffy in that short timespan.  I envy this quality of his.  For now though, I am content being a sleepyhead each morning.

Happy Monday Morning :)

Stress Cooking

This week was…stressful, to say the least.  Cody and I both had insane work weeks and came home completely pooped each night.  Needless to say, blogging was not on my mind.  Cooking was far from my mind as well.  My days consisted of waking up, going to work, running errands, cooking dinner, and going straight to bed.  None of this makes for particularly interesting blog entries.  At any rate, I still had to make some meals this week.  Here were three of my favorite meals from breakfast, lunch, and dinner this week.


 


Breakfast: Open-face fried egg and fakin' bacon sandwiches.  Made with Silver Hills Bread (Vegan), organic eggs, and MorningStar fakin' bacon.  It was topped with some Cairo BBQ Sauce, which Cody's parents sent us in the mail because it is a local sauce.

Lunch: GF wrap with smoked tofurkey, kale, spinach, onions, and tomatoes.  I topped this with a little bit of Roasted Garlic Sauce from BWW (also mailed to us by Cody's parents).  I ate it with some Kettle Chips and Light & Fit Greek Yogurt.







Dinner:  Chik'n Patties on Vegan Bread.  Cody topped his with just cheese,  I had mine with cheese and veggies.  Served with a side of Annie's Mac N' Cheese.  Quick, easy, and delicious.

Obviously we were slacking a bit on the cooking this week.  We are hoping this weekend we can get back in the healthy-cooking groove.  Wish us luck!  In the meantime I plan on continuing to look something like this….

Picture courtesy of Cody.  Payback to come. 

Weekend Eats

Here is a collection of my favorite eats this weekend.  It was a dreary weekend so I focused on hearty and healthy recipes to keep us warm, dry, and happy.

Breakfast led me to these guys all weekend.  Have any of you tried this brand of waffles? Best instant waffles I have ever had.  No guilt about eating them either.  All natural, gluten-free, no preservatives…woo!!  Just top with a little organic, low-sugar maple syrup and a little Earth Balance.  Enjoy!

Van's Waffles…Yummm! 

I also enjoyed this delicious quiche for breakfast this weekend.  I normally don't eat much in the way of eggs but our wonderful neighbors made these and dropped them by for Cody and I.  They are fans of making me vegetarian cuisine so I am always in heaven when they bring food by!

The one on the left is veggie and the one on the
right is for carnivores. 

Lunches were composed of some of these delicious options: pesto pasta, leftovers, PB&J's, and sauteed veggies with rice.

Pesto Pasta topped with a little bit of fresh Parmesan.  

Dinners were composed of delicious vegetarian chili and my old standby of Vegan Cheesy Rice & Broccoli casserole, which I posted the recipe for here.  Overall it was a tasty weekend!

Spicy Chilli
3cups water
2cups No-Chicken broth (sodium free)
1cup of salt-free tomato puree
1 1/2 cup of quinoa
2cups of black beans (uncooked-soaked)
1cup of corn (frozen)
1cup of green beans (frozen)
1tbs garlic
1/2cup peppers (jalepeno, green, red, etc.)
Pepper
Red Pepper
Onion Powder
Seasoned Salt


What were your favorite weekend meals??

Rainy Day Coffee and Snacks

This week the weather has been bad abysmal!  Mother nature is confusing.  It has been raining and thirty.  I normally don't mind the rain, but weeks of it without reprieve gets a little depressing.  Here is the one beautiful picture I was able to take this week (during our twenty minutes of somewhat-sun).  The rest of them were just icky and rainy.

View from my porch on our one sunny-ish day. 

To combat the rainy weather I needed something sweet and warm to drink this morning.  Regular coffee was NOT going to cut through my rainy day blues.  So I tried out something a little different with my coffee.  Future barista?  I think so.

Delicious Coffee Recipe
1 steaming cup of coffee
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1tsp of powdered sugar
Dash of cinnamon

Topping:  Whip heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar together until it thickens.  Pour (small amount) into steaming cup of delicious coffee.  Top with cinnamon.  Makes enough for the entire pot of coffee.

Mmmmm…..who doesn't love a steaming cup of coffee?






Another of my rainy day favorites is natural popped popcorn.  I just top it with some cracked pepper, a hint of salt, and a little melted Earth Balance.  Healthy, easy, and delicious.  It can also be done with some seasoned salt and/or red pepper for a little spicy treat.














What are your favorite rainy day meals??  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuits

I woke up waaay before Cody did this morning so I decided to whip up a tasty treat for us to eat for  breakfast.  I made my vegetarian version of the Bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit.  Enjoy the recipe :)

Ingredients
Egg Whites (or egg substitute)
Soy Milk or Organic 2% Milk
Biscuits, English Muffins, or Bread
Onions
Green Peppers
Cheese or Cheese Substitute
Salt
Pepper
Hot Sauce (Optional)


Eggs
1 1/2 cup egg whites
1/4 cup soy milk
Dash of Salt
Dash of Pepper

Whisk all "egg" ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.  Then, choose one of two ways to prepare.  Prep 1: Pour egg mixture into an already warmed skillet.  Cook into a basic omelet.  Prep 2:  Pour egg mixture into a muffin tin.  Fill each individual hole about 3/4 of the way to the top.  Bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

**Prep2 makes perfectly round eggs while Prep1 requires you to cut them into pieces to fit on to the biscuits.

Then,  place the eggs on the biscuits. Add some chopped veggies, some tasty cheese, and spicy hot sauce. Finish off this meal by topping it with some Fakin' Bacon and TA-DA!! You now have a delicious and extremely quick morning meal.  This meal can be adjusted to be even healthier VERY easily (leave off the cheese, serve without the biscuits or on english muffins, and etc).

When served with some Holiday Cheer (Coconut, Tropical Fruit, & Dark Rum Flavored) Kona Coffee your morning will be assuredly more wonderful.  Check out Kona Coffee here, It can be a little tricky to get your hands on.  Luckily, I get it shipped to me from my lovely sister in Hawaii :)

Delicious breakfast treats (pardon the crummy picture quality!)

Leave me a comment and let me know what you enjoyed for breakfast this weekend…. or what you think about my new layout :)