4th of July 10K and Angel Food Cake

My 4th of July was crazy exciting.

First, my brother and I ran our towns traditional 10K! It was super hot (90 degrees in the shade at 8 AM), but we survived! It was a nice race and I'm proud of myself for doing it.  I've been doing all this half-marathon training, so this distance wasn't so scary.  However, the heat was, and it certainly got to me.  I had to walk a few times when I started feeling really overheated, but I finished in 1 hour and felt good about that! Plus, afterwards we showered and then celebrated with an awesome brunch!

Next, my family went to our parade, another yearly tradition, and it was pretty fun.  Again, the heat was awful (now it was around 98 in the shade) and so we headed back home to relax and cool off!

Our plans then took us to a family friend's bbq.  My mom was assigned to bring some fruit...

So, we did all this:

And I made an angel food cake because that just goes with berries! It was delicious.  The cake was light, sweet, perfectly moist, and amazing with all the fresh fruit.  This is a great recipe and I love how light it is!

Angel Food Cake (adapted from Health.com)

Ingredients:
12 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
3 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the flour and 3/4 cup sugar together.  Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, beat the egg whites on high until foamy.  Beat in the cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form.  Slowly beat in the other 3/4 cup sugar, about 2 tbsp at a time, and beat on high until stiff peaks form.  Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice.
4. Sift the flour/sugar mixture over the batter, about 1/4 cup at a time, and fold in using a spatula.  Pour the batter into an un-greased angel food cake pan.  Run a knife through the batter to break air pockets.  Bake for about 50 minutes or until cake bounces back when lightly touched. Remove the cake from the pan by running a knife along the sides and bottom.  Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy :)

This 4th of July was really nice and I loved being surrounded by my family.  I am also super proud of myself and my brother for doing this 10K! I have a feeling that there will be many more family races to come :)

Oh, and then I found this out: Ashlee over at ABpetite sent two more awards my way! Thank you so much, Ashlee! I ABsolutely (see what I did there?) love her blog and her recipes are always amazing.  I am truly honored to be recognized by this fantastic lady!

Exciting News

Oh my! Exciting things have been happening over here lately.

First, I made an awesome dinner Sunday night that really made me appreciate the power of food bringing people together.  My mom, dad, Bri, and I enjoyed BBQ Pulled Apple Chicken, Strawberry Spinach Salad (Fresh, sliced strawberries, baby spinach, goat cheese, and candy pecans with Poppyseed Dressing), Broccoli-Slaw (recipe on the bag plus 1/2 cup of Dried Cherries), and Grilled Corn on the Cob.  Plus, I made a delish Strawberry Cake.  It was a lovely evening!

Great way to do corn: just butter, garlic, salt, and pepper,
wrap 'em up in foil and place on the grill until cooked! 

Awesome way to eat: enjoying the outdoors
on a gorgeous evening

MMM...

Next, I was nominated by two fabulous bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award! Huge thank you to Caity from Awkward Kitchenette and Emma from Food, Fork & Good for their nominations.  I truly appreciate their kind words about my site and I encourage you all to go check out their blogs.  They are both fantastic! I already recieved this award a while back and so I am going to refrain from passing it on this time around, but please head over to these two ladies lovely sites for some great stories, photography, and of course, recipes.  Also, their other nominations are fantastic as well!

And then, I woke up this morning to discover that yesterday, my blog reached 1000 views in just ONE day.  I remember when I was super pumped when I reached 10,000 views TOTAL.  But, now I am up to 28,000! I couldn't figure out what was going on, until I noticed that Blogger made me a Blog of Note! AND THEN, this morning I woke up to one of the more exciting e-mails of my life: my Strawberry Yogurt Cake made the FoodBuzz Top 9!!!!

I can't believe that so many people are enjoying my site.  This was all started because I was bored and wanted a way to keep track of my college experience and celebrate my love of cooking.  This is all just a hobby for me and way to keep me sane.  I love being able to get my thoughts down in writing and food is just something I am completely in love with.  The fact that others are enjoying my recipes and stories as well is a huge blessing and completely baffling to me.  I just want to say, Thank You! 

One Lovely Blog Award

Today is a pretty big day.  My little brother is graduating from high school! I am so excited for him and I can't believe he is all grown up and going off to college! It just makes me feel super old! I wish him the best of luck with whatever he does and wherever he goes.  I hope that he has great experiences in college and that he makes great friends! I have had an amazing college experience so far and I hope that he does as well.

Me and my "not-so-little-anymore" brother...posing like champs

I am also so excited to say that Starr over at the Misfit Baker just awarded me with One Lovely Blog Award.  Starr's blog is truly fantastic and she shares a bunch of vegan and healthy recipes that look amazing! I can't wait to share this Lovely Blog Award on this Lovely day! I feel flattered to have received this award and I am excited to pass the award along to some amazing blogs that I have been enjoying lately.

Here are the rules that come along with the award:

1. Link back to the blogger who nominated you.
2. Paste the award image on your blog.
3. Tell 7 facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 other blogs that you would like to give the award to.
5. Contact the bloggers that you have chosen and let them know about the award.


So...here we go:


7 Facts About Me!


1. I am training for a half marathon.
2. I am a senior in college
3. I can't stand when my nails aren't painted
4. I have a serious problem with picking my nail polish off after I paint my nails... 
5. Thus, due to the combination of #3 and #4, I have a HUGE nail polish collection
6. I am the site director at a day camp and I am super busy planning the summer right now
7. I love almost all foods except I can't stand raw bananas...weird right?


My 15 Nominations for the One Lovely Blog Award
(in no particular order)


1. Skinny Simple Recipes
2. The Cooking Actress
3. Melanie's Mixtures
4. From Calculus to Cupcakes
5. Fragrant Vanilla Cake
6. The Smart Cookie Cook
7. A Dash of Megnut
8. Home Skillet
9. Sarcastic Cooking
10. Everything in the Kitchen Sink
11. No Sugar Sweet Life
12. Juanita's Cocina
13. Love Food Cook Food
14. The Healthy Bites
15. Chocolate Therapy


Make sure to check these guys out, they have amazing recipes and wonderful stories to tell!

Now, I have to get ready for graduation! Congrats, lil' brother!

Death By Oreos Cupcakes

Today I am sharing with you some very exciting news! I was recently awared two more awards! Jen over at Love Food Cook Food awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award and the Sunshine Award.  Her blog is fantastic and you should all head on over there and check it out! Thanks Jen for noticing my blog!!!

For the Kreativ Blogger I am supposed to share 10 things about myself:

• I love running and I am training for a half marathon
• I am a SENIOR (as of last week) at UW-Madison
• I am a future math teacher
• I have a permanent bruise on my leg (weird right?)
• I have been in 10 community theater productions
• This summer I am the site director at a day camp
• I can't survive without coffee
• I eat an apple with some peanut butter every day and I make sure that I am always fully stocked on these supplies
• When I was in middle school, I only wore one contact
• I have two cute kitties named Ricky and Lucy :)

For the Sunshine Award, I am supposed to share some of my favorite things (I hear a song coming on...)

• Favorite Color: Purple!
• Favorite Animal: My cats are pretty awesome, but I'm also a big fan of penguins
• Favorite Number: 21
• Favorite Drink: Kiddie Cocktail 
• Facebook or Twitter?: Facebook
• Passion: Sharing my cooking creations and teaching
• Getting or Giving Presents?: Getting!-Not because I am selfish, but because giving stresses me out and I feel like I can never pick out the perfect present! Getting presents is much less stressful because I truly appreciate whatever I get.
• Favorite Pattern: Polka-Dots!
• Favorite Day of the Week: The weekends of course! I get to sleep a little!
• Favorite Flower: Not a huge flower fan, but it is super romantic to get them as a surprise on Valentine's Day:  

Of course, I was also planning on sharing a fantastic recipe with you all.  So, before I tell you about some other fantastic bloggers who deserve these awards...Death by Oreos Cupcakes inspired by Food Snots.  I got the recipe for the chocolate cupcakes from 52 Kitchen Adventures and then I went to town with the oreos!  Seriously, there are oreos on the bottom, smashed in the middle, and of course, in the oreo cream cheese frosting! Yum!

Death By Oreos Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 package of regular oreos
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz light cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 16 cupcake wells.  Place a cupcake wrapper in each well and 1 whole oreo on the bottom. Take half of the remaining oreos and roughly chop them.  Place the roughly copped oreos in a small bowl off to the side.  With the other half of the oreos, place them in a food processor and chop until finely ground.  Place in a small bowl off to the side.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time until well combined.
3. In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
4. In a separate small bowl, whisk milk and vanilla.
5. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the butter mixture, starting with the dry ingredients and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix until well combined. Stir in the roughly chopped oreos.
6. Scoop batter into the cupcake wells so that they are half full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
7. Make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Slowly, beat in the powdered sugar until well combined.  Mix in the vanilla.  Finally, mix in the finely ground oreos.  Frost the cooled cupcakes and...
Enjoy :)

And now...drum roll please...I give you some fabulous bloggers who are super KREATIV and full of SUNSHINE :)

• From Calculus to Cupcakes-another great blog about food and math! 
• The Healthy Bites-delish food ideas that are good for you!
• Fragrant Vanilla Cake-amazing photos of delicious treats that are reinvented
• A Dash of Megnut-another college girl cooking her way through life :)
• Melanie's Mixtures-Melanie is a co-worker who does a beautiful job with her blog
• The Inventive Vegetarian-great blog for awesome vegetarian ideas
• Juanita's Cocina-the food over here is always amazing! I want to eat everything that I see!
• The Messy Baker-amazing photography!
• The Realistic Nutritionist-awesome ideas for healthy food, plus super fun stories!
• The Healthy Everythingtarian-another Madisonian/runner/healthy eater! Inspiring!

Please stop by these blogs and enjoy them as much as I do!

Another Award!

I am super honored to say that I have been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award! Peter over at Feed Your Soul, a fantastic blog, gave me the award and I am super excited! His blog is great and you should all go check it out.  Feed Your Soul is certainly versatile and all the recipes that Peter posts are great! Thanks Peter!!!

So, what is the Versatile Blogger Award? "It is a great way to introduce different bloggers to each other and to promote quality blogs that awardees and their readers may not have discovered otherwise."

Now, I get to tell you about some of the blogs that I think deserve this award!  Here we go:

1. A Dash of Nutmeg
2. The Healthy Bites
3. The Inventive Vegetarian
4. Melanie's Mixtures
5. Jen Goes to College
6. How Sweet It Is
7. Cookin' Up North
8. Flourtrader
9. The Healthy Foodie
10. Chocolate and Carrots
11. Mother Thyme
12. Chocolate Therapy
13. Winner Celebration Party
14. Two Peas and Their Pod
15. Finally, Just a Little Organic.  I recently discovered this blog and I absolutely love how they make traditional foods healthier, in fact I am going to share with you a recipe I just tried!


And now, I get to share 7 things about myself:

1. I am a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (the best school ever!)
2. I am a secondary math education major and when I am not indulging in my passion for cooking and baking, I spend all my time figuring out how to be the best teacher ever.
3. I have  HUGE immediate family and I think it is the most fantastic feeling to be with them all.
4. I have a permanent bruise on my leg (the doctors had never seen something like it before) and I got it by almost breaking my leg while watching a movie...yep.
5. I am super in love with my amazing boyfriend and I hope that he becomes my co-blogger at some point...(hint hint Bri: get really good at food photography :))
6. I am an avid reader and if you ever have book suggestions for me please let me know!
7. When I am not being a student, being a teacher, being a wanna-be chef, I also love to sing and dance and I have performed in many community theater shows!

Well there you have it folks, a little bit about me! Oh, and I almost forgot, I also want to share with you a new recipe I found while hanging out on pintrest.  As many of you already know, I think greek yogurt is like the coolest thing ever.  I recently found a recipe for corn bread that is made with greek yogurt! Since Bri and I are thinking of having a chili night, I decided to make it! Here's your funky corn bread recipe:

Corn Bread (slightly adapted from Just a Little Organic)

Ingredients:
1 15 oz box of Krusteaz Natural Corn Bread
1 6 oz non-fat honey greek yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1/2 cup drained and rinsed corn
a pinch of chili powder
a pinch of nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9 by 13 inch baking pan (you can make this as muffins or in a square baking pan as well, just watch the baking time).
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg, yogurt and applesauce until combined.  Slowly mix in the corn bread mix and the corn.  Finally, mix in the seasonings.
3. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 10-12 minutes.
Enjoy :)

Finally, here's the official "rules" that come with this award:


1. Thank the person who gave you this award
2. Include a link to their blog
3. Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you've recently discovered or follow regularly
4. Nominate those 15 blogs/bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award
5. Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself


In the same post: include this set of rules and then, inform each blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

Liebster!

I've been Liebstered by The Posh Latin Cook, thanks Elena! This is an award for beloved new blogs. 

The Liebster Award originated from Germany and it means, "Dearest, Beloved, Favorite."

Here are the rules:

1. Show thanks to the blogger by linking back to his/her blog.

2. Pick 5 blogs with less than 200 followers and let them know about your nomination by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog!

My nominations:

1. A Dash of Megnut

2. Badger Girl Learns to Cook

3. Is Butter a Carb?

4. Quest for Delish

5. The Healthy Bites

Check these guys out!