a little etc.

A little etc.....

My outfit yesterday, I took to the selfies :P I was able to break out the navy chino shorts!

My skills in the kitchen don't extend too far past eggs, but this combination is yummy, healthy, and filling: 

1 slice toasted 60-cal Dave's Killer Bread

2 organic eggs

1/5 (probably? I just a few slices) of avocado

A handful of spinach

Salt and pepper

And you have an open-faced egg sandwich!

xo-ally

super bowl sunday 2013

Hope you enjoyed your Super Bowl Sunday! I spent Super Bowl Sunday with some friends. This year I made my bacon-cheese-date appetizers and tried out Corona Cupcakes for dessert.

First I made the bacon-cheese-date things, due to multiple requests- they're a crowd favorite! They're so easy to make. I just filled dried, pitted dates with a smidge of light creamy swiss cheese, and wrapped the dates in half a slice of turkey bacon. Then I stuck them in the oven on a foil-lined cookie sheet for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. They're also pretty low-cal, too :) about 40 calories per piece give or take, depending on which brand ingredients you use.

Then I baked the Corona Cupcakes, which I found on Lauren Conrad's blog here, but the original recipe can be found Erica's Sweet Tooth here. And...I cheated on the cake mix. I used a box vanilla cake instead of making it from scratch!!! I did, however, make the citrus cream cheese frosting from scratch. So in my mind that cancels out the pre-made cake mix. The cupcakes actually turned out pretty good - there is just a hint of corona and lime in the sweet, confectionery goodness.

How was your Super Bowl Sunday? Did you make any fun treats?

xo-ally

SALADS

I've never really been one to make a large amount of a meal to break into multiple meals throughout the week. I know it's practical, but even I'm too lazy to cook chicken (more like afraid I'll undercook the meat) even though it could last a whole week. Lately, however, I've been making salads ahead of time so I can have it ready to go for dinner. This week I even brought salads to work for lunch! (So much cheaper than buying food every day...)

I chopped up one Roma tomato, one orange bell pepper, and one avocado.

I made a salad with lettuce, avocado, and grapes (so good!) for Tuesday....

...and one with lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocado on Wednesday. I drizzled olive oil instead of dressing on both.

Then I stored the remaining crudites in storage containers. Now when I feel lazy about preparing food, I don't have an excuse to skimp on salad!

xo-ally 

sweets & snacks - recipes for 4th of july

With barbecues and parties celebrating our lovely Independence Day coming up this week, I am seeing USA-themed everything, everywhere. I was perusing the web for Fourth of July recipes, and here are some I found!

Red, White, and Blue Cupcakes from One Ordinary Day

These are super cute, and the colored cake make it so much fun!

Nutella Berry Crunch Crackers from LaurenConrad.com

Nutella? Yes, please! This post on laurenconrad.com has a few other 4th of July snack ideas too!

Pretzel Rods from Martha Stewart

I think I'm going to try these! Looks like a good mix of salty and sweet.

Happy almost-Fourth-of-July!

xo-ally

recipes for memorial day weekend

I can't believe it is almost Memorial Day. 2012 is just flying by! I'm going up to the lake for a friend's bachelorette party this weekend, and since I'm leaving soon I don't have time to cook something (but that's just an excuse for not being much of a mastered chef). If you are going to some barbecues or other parties this weekend, here are some tasty recipes I found 'round the web that would be easy to whip up!

These Lemon Bars from Smitten Kitchen look amazing. I've been getting into lemon lately! Normally, if I had to choose between chocolate and lemon, it would be no question that chocolate would win. Now lemon is coming into the picture more...anyways, I think these sound great!

Smitten Kitchen also made apple pie cookies. What a creative idea! Another great dessert for barbecue-style or buffet-style parties. Or to keep at home and not share because they'd be so good. I wouldn't tell anyone. ;)

This grilled pineapple from Skinnytaste sounds delightful. I love pineapple even by itself because it's so sweet. This recipe adds honey, cinnamon, and lime juice to the pinapple to make it extra sweet! Bonus: Only 51 calories.

Finally! A non-dessert on this list! This grilled corn guacamole from The Pioneer Woman sounds delicious. It is a unique way to switch up regular guacamole. This would be a hit at any party this weekend!

Well, I'm writing this in the morning before breakfast. And now I feel like eating guacamole and lemon bars instead of eggs. Great.

xo

st. patty's day recipes

When I went to Ireland last summer, the food was amazing! It was a nice break from Italian pasta and paninis - which were also amazing - and it was the first time I had regular eggs and potatoes in a while. With St. Patrick's Day coming up this weekend, I've seen plenty of recipes popping up around the web that are Irish or Irish-inspired!

While these would be good any time of the year, why not whip up a thing or two to get into the holiday spirit?

"Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Cheese Frosting"

 

click here for the image source and recipe!

Doesn't the name alone just sound wonderful?! Not only does Bailey's Irish Cream taste like the alcoholic equivalent to a chocolate milkshake, but the cupcakes are under 200 calories each! These would be perfect to bring to a party.

Mini Shepherd's Pies

click here for the image source and recipe!

I love Shepherd's Pie. From its looks, it may not seem very appetizing, but I promise - it tastes good! Since a whole Shepherd's Pie is pretty heavy, these mini pies are a much lighter alternative.

"Hint O' Mint" Chocolate Chip Cookies

click here for the image source and recipe!

I recently saw the mint chocolate M&Ms at the grocery store and was excited to see a recipe that uses them! I haven't tried them, but they sound delicious baked into a cookie. This recipe also shows that the cookies would be great as a sweet (sweeter?) sandwich, putting mint ice cream in between two cookies!

Irish Soda Bread

 

click here for the image source and recipe!

The soda bread I tried in Ireland didn't have raisins in it, so I think you can leave those out if you want. My first meal in Ireland was fresh salmon on soda bread with coleslaw. It was so good! Click here for a gluten-free soda bread recipe.

I'll be really busy with dance and traveling this weekend, so I don't know if I'll have time to make any of these. If I do, however, I'd love to try the cupcakes. If you've tried any of these or will be making them soon, let me know how they turn out!

xo

For dinner

See those twice baked potatoes in the photo above?! I actually made those! And I did it all by myself.

I'm not really one in the kitchen, but lately I've been trying to cook new meals. Why?

1. Cooking my own food allows me to control the ingredients and literally shows what I am about to put in my body. When I cook for myself, I realize I create healthier meals than some of the ones I choose to eat at restaurants.

2. I'm getting a little tired of eggs, cereal, smoothies, and toast.

I'm going to try to get out of my comfort zone of making the same things I mentioned in #2 over and over. They are healthy, but I want some variety - so I go online and search for a healthy version of the recipe I'm looking for.

I've learned that cooking is all about trial and error. I've never made twice baked potatoes before, and noticed that I didn't bake these long enough. The potatoes were more crunchy than soft, when they're supposed to be soft all over. I used larger potatoes than the recipe called for, but didn't cook them longer than the recipe said to. 

Next time I try this recipe, I'll make sure to bake the potatoes longer or shorter according to the size. The filling was fantastic, though! I sprinkled some cheddar cheese on top and switched out regular onions for green onions. It's all about the learning experience.

xo

$200 Brownies

Last weekend I made the $200 brownies found on Tasty Kitchen! They were delicious and super easy to make.

All you need is brownie mix, oil, an egg (or however many the mix calls for), and Symphony bars.

The recipe calls for two boxes of brownie mix and three Symphony bars, but I only had one box of brownie mix on hand. The brownies weren't as thick, and I only needed two Symphony bars to layer across my 9x9in pan.

When they were ready, I took them out of the oven to cool, ran upstairs for less than 5 minutes, and when I came back down my family had already gotten into them!

I was going to take a picture of a tray of perfectly cut up brownies, but this is what I was stuck with.

Overall, they were yummy treats and I'm sure I'll make them again!

xo