Mommy's Granola Bars

It's a quiz day in math class!  I'm feeling a little down since I just graded a bunch of the quizzes and students who have been working on graphing quadratics for THREE weeks are still struggling with it.  I'm gonna have to look for some new strategies.  Any suggestions?  

Last night was also the first cheer performance for a basketball game!  It was really exciting and the girl's did a nice job.  They are a brand new cheer squad and they have already learned a bunch of cheers as well as a few dances.  The captains did a good job calling the cheers, but as a group we are going to have to work on staying sharp and smiling.  We are also continuing to work on our stunts and learning new routines.  I'm exciting for next month when we have a cheer clinic scheduled with a college cheerleader who has volunteered to come help us out!  How cool is that?  

Coaching and math teaching has been going really well at my new school and overall I just love it!  

I made my mommy's granola bar recipe recently when I knew that I was going to be at school for a long time and needed some sort of snack.  My average day starts at 5:45 when I go to the gym to work out.  Then, I get to school between 7:15 and 7:45 and hold office hours or work on lesson plans.  School goes from 8:30 to 4:00 and then I usually have cheer practice or office hours or some sort of school activity until at least 5:30.  Some nights I am here until 7!  On those crazy long days, I need some sort of pick-me-up and these granola bars totally do the trick.  I can't wait to make these again and maybe try mixing up the ingredients.  For this recipe I used dried fruit, but you could totally mix it up by putting in some chocolate chips, almonds, peanut butter chips, caramel...whatever!  This recipe can also easily be gluten free! 

Mommy's Granola Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 cup rice puff cereal (I used the Kashi 7 Grain one)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 tbsp flaxseed

2 tbsp wheat germ

1/4 cup dried cherries

2 tbsp dried blueberries

2 tbsp raisins

1/4 cup almond butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla 

pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Lightly grease a 8 by 8 pan.

2. In a bowl, mix the oats, puff cereal, flax. wheat germ, and dried fruit.

3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the almond butter, brown sugar, honey, and salt.  Stir until the mixture starts to bubble.  Remove from heat and pour over the dry ingredients.

4. Stir the mixture to coat all the dry ingredients.  Then pour the mixture into your prepared pan and press evenly into the pan.  Place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to chill.  Once chilled, cut into bars.

Enjoy :)

Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins

It's the weekend! Finally! This week of camp seemed to go on FOREVER and I am so excited to rest for a bit.  Of course I didn't sleep in today, but I have been having a great weekend so far!

I went downtown to the Taste of Chicago last night and it was a blast!  My two friends and I tasted a ton of stuff because we shared everything!  The food was great and I can't wait to share here what I tried.

Today I'm not sure what I will be up to, but tonight my friend Alyson is turing 21 and we are all going downtown to celebrate!!  I can't wait to celebrate the special birthday girl and I am super duper excited.

Today I have a fun Gluten Free recipe to share that is perfect for breakfast or as a yummy snack.  I saw Giada make these Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins while working out one day and I just had to make them.  I adapted the recipe slightly to fit with the ingredients I had lying around and they were amazing!  I brought these in for my camp counselors as a breakfast treat and they were a huge hit!

Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup light maple syrup
1 egg
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
1/2 cup dried blueberries or chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a mini muffin pan with liners.
2. Drain the zucchini by placing the grated zucchini on a paper towel, wrapping it in the paper towels, and squeezing dry. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg with the canola oil and maple syrup.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Pour dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.  Mix in the carrot and zucchini.  Mix in the blueberries.
5.  Fill muffin wells almost to the top.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Let cool completely.

Enjoy :)

Red White and Blue Sangria

Happy 4th of July! Today's recipe is a drink recipe that is super festive.  Enjoy my Red White and Blue Sangria!

I am off to go for a run and then see the parade! Later today, Bri and I are meeting up with friends to see some more fireworks!  I am excited to celebrate and enjoy a day off from camp!

Last night, we had an awesome potluck dinner with a bunch of my friends.  I made veggie flatbread and this drink and then we headed over to watch the fireworks in my home town.  It was such a fun evening and it made me so happy to be surrounded by such amazing friends.  I really feel so blessed to have them in my life and it was a great way to start celebrating the 4th!

Red White and Blue Sangria (adapted from Group Recipes)

Ingredients:
1 bottle dry white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
1/2 cup triple sec
1/4 cup citrus vodka
blueberries
raspberries
pineapple, cut into chunks
strawberries, quartered
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Directions:
1. First place 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let boil for a minute or two and then turn off heat and let cool.
2. In a large pitcher, pour wine, triple sec, and vodka.  Stir in sugar mixture and add in fruit.  I would just add in as much fruit as you want.  Also, you can cut the pineapple into chunks or cute shapes!
3. Serve over ice.

Enjoy :)

Blueberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies--No Butter!

So I really like to bake and I haven't had a ton of time to do this this year because of teaching.  However, as the year winds down and we head into finals, I found myself with a little more time on my hands.  I think I also just felt more prepared in general when it came to teaching.  I have grown so much more confident and comfortable as the year has gone by and so last week, after ensuring I was ready with my review activities for my students, I made some cookies!

Also, as the year winds down, I have been wanting to go back and visit middle school.  So, yesterday when I did not have any finals to sit through, I drove over to the middle school and visited my students and cooperating teacher.  It was so wonderful to see all of them and it put this huge smile on my face.  As students entered the classroom they looked at me, looked slightly confused, and then smiled.  They all remembered me and wanted to know if I was back to teach them.  I explained that as a student teacher you do half your teaching in middle school and then half in high school and that now I was in high school.  They were still very excited to see me and I hung around to help out during class.  I also got expressions like, "Where did you go?", "Hey look, I'm taller than you now..." and, "How are you? Where are you gonna teach next year?"  It was so cool to chat with them.  They were the bunch that really taught me my first lessons about teaching and classroom management.  Plus, it was great to see the 8th grade team.  This group of teachers, especially my cooperating teacher, helped me to learn so much about myself, teaching, and working as a team.

After my visit, I returned to high school to get some work done and then it was back home, a nice 6 mile run, and then dinner with Bri.  Yesterday was such a great day and it makes me so excited to get grounded in my new school next year.  I can't wait to have those experiences every year as I meet new students, teachers, and make connections.

But back to those cookies, I made some Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies and I used Coconut Oil instead of butter! The result was one fantastic tasting cookie. I shared them with the teachers at high school and everyone was a big fan.  Plus, they were shocked to learn that there was not a single stick of butter in the batter!

Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
2/3 cup virgin coconut oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flours, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, beat coconut oil with brown sugar until well combined.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla.  Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.  Stir in the blueberries and white chocolate chips.
4. Form 1 tbsp - 2 tbsp sized balls of cookie dough and place on prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cookies will start to brown around the bottom.  Let cool.

Enjoy :)

My First Half Marathon and a Memorial Day Dessert!

Bri caught a great photo of my crossing the Finish Line!

I did it! I ran my first Half Marathon in an ACTUAL race.  Last summer, I ran the distance, but I just went out there and did it on my own.  This year, I got my friends, Lauren and Patrick to do it with me and we had a blast.

We stayed together all the way through mile 10 and somehow kept a pretty clipped 9:30 mile pace.  Then, between 10 and 11, there was this AWFUL hill.  I had to walk, Patrick (good for him) ran it, and Lauren slowed down a bit.  I spent the last 2 miles attempting to catch up with Patrick which was great motivation because I ended up finished with about a 9 minute mile pace and only 30 seconds behind Patrick.  My finishing time was 2:07 and this is about 13 minutes faster than I was really expecting.  It was amazing that we all did this for the first time and were so great! We enjoyed our free beer and snacks afterwards and, after a quick shower, got all our friends and family together to go out for an amazing brunch at the Great Dane.

Champs :)

My Results

I was so happy to have the support of my family and Bri and we had a really nice day together.  Today my parents are packing up some of my room and heading home.  Next weekend, I have to take Teacher Tests back in IL and the weekend after that I move out! Basically, this was my last big hoorah in Madison and I can't think of a better way to have spent it.  I am so proud that I dedicated the last few months to training for this and I feel great!

Last year, I made adorable Skinny Memorial Day Cheesecakes and I just had to share them again here.  They are the perfect dessert for the holiday and they are a great way to indulge without feeling too guilty.  However, I just ran a Half Marathon, so I might go out an eat something a little more guilty than this :).

Skinny Memorial Day Chocolate Chip Cheesecake (adapted from Skinny Taste) 

Ingredients:

12 vanilla wafers

1 8 oz package of 1/3 less fat cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

6 oz fat-free vanilla greek yogurt

2 large egg whites

1 tbsp flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

strawberries and blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350, line a cupcake tray with 12 liners, and place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each one.

2. In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Beat in the sugar and vanilla.  Slowly beat in the greek yogurt, egg whites, and flour until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3. Fill each cupcake well about 1/2 full and bake for about 25 minutes.  Let cool.

4. Top each mini cheesecake with some sliced strawberries and blueberries and let chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Enjoy :)

Whole Wheat Blueberry Coffee Cake

So I attempted this coffee cake and it turned out terribly! I am sharing this with you because people seem to think I am perfect at cooking and baking and this is just not true.  I have to practice and learn a lot and sometimes things just don't turn out right.

Bri and I are moving in together and I feel like this coffee cake is symbolic of how I need to think of myself.  I am not always going to be perfect, neither is he, but if we work on ourselves and focus on our relationship, we will end up with something pretty awesome anyways.

For example, this coffee cake looked awful.  It stuck to the pan, it was mushy in the middle, the blueberries sank. However, if you closed your eyes and took a bite, it was pretty darn fantastic.  Super tasty and all you have to do is ignore it's imperfections because its a blueberry coffee cake and those things are tasty.  Also, I slathered on browned butter vanilla glaze, which admittedly made it look worse, but also made it taste heavenly! Oh man, I could have eaten that glaze straight out of the bowl...all of it.

I know that Bri and I are going to have to always work hard and focus on the positives  but I have faith that we are going to do great! I already taught him how to make risotto and it turned out amazing!

Blueberry Coffee Cake with Browned Butter Vanilla Glaze

Before the oven...looked pretty good :)

Coffee Cake Recipe HERE (follow this exactly because mine turned out like crap)

Browned Butter Vanilla Glaze:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Make the coffee cake and let cool.
2. To make the glaze, put butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and swirl continuously until butter is an amber color and smells fragrant.  Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.  Drizzle over coffee cake.

Enjoy :)

Blueberry Nutella Brownies

Saturdays in Madison mean two very important things: Farmers Market and Badger Football.  I love walking around on Saturdays and seeing everyone in their Wisconsin Red getting ready for another game.  Also, win or lose, Madison has the best spirit of any city I've ever seen.  Everyone is always happy and nice and it is just a fantastic thing to be around.  I simply love it.

My house always hosts a little cookout before the games on our porch.  It's super fun! We cook, play music, and get our spirit on!  Everyone shows up, even if they don't have tickets or aren't going to the game, because we just like hanging out on the porch.  I decided to help out with our latest cookout and make some yummy brownies to share with everyone!

On the porch!

Ages ago, I tried a recipe for Blueberry Nutella Brownies.  Since then, I've been wanting to make them again.  Plus, since finding my favorite brownie recipe, I wanted to try adapting it and try out different flavors.  Then, there's the Farmers Market, which is just down the street from me and always bursting with amazing fresh produce.  I got some blueberries and I got to work!

My Favorite Dark Chocolate Brownies

Blueberry Nutella Brownies 

Ingredients:

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp coffee grounds
1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup Nutella

Check out that swirl! 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line the inside of a 13 by 9 inch baking pan with foil.  Let the foil hang over the ends of the pan.  Grease the foil.

2. In a large saucepan, over very low heat, melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Once melted, stir in the sugar until well combined.  Next, stir in the eggs until well combined.  Then, mix in the coffee grounds, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt.  Fold in the flour until just combined and then fold in the blueberries.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Drop spoonfuls of Nutella on top of the batter and using a knife, swirl it in. 

3. Bake for about 40 minutes.  The sides will be set and the center will be just a little wet still.  Let cool for 15 minutes.  Using the ends of the foil, lift the brownies out of the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy :)

Chocolate Chip Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I had a really good teaching day!  My cooperating teacher told me that in the past students have not performed very well on standardized tests on the order of operations problems.  So, we decided to have an order of operations review day!  She found a great introduction video at Khan Academy and I made a worksheet to accompany the video lecture.  The worksheet helped them to take notes.  They had a word box with words and numbers that they can use to fill in blanks as they listen to the 10 minute lecture.  Some of the more advanced kids did not need to word box, but some of the other students found it really helpful! They were all engaged.  Then, for homework they had a worksheet with a bunch of examples.  Normally, many students do not do their homework or do not know all of it, but this assignment was a success! Many students completed the problems and did them well! It was really great to see how engaged they were and how accessible the material was to them.

I think it was a really great idea to switch up the class and have a video.  The students were not expecting it and it was a nice change of pace.  The worksheet to help them follow along allowed them to take control of their learning and provided them with a reference sheet for their homework.  Then, the homework allowed them to apply the concepts.  Overall, it felt like a great lesson and it made me smile.

You know what else makes me smile?  My mom's zucchini bread.  I needed to use up the last of the zucchini I had in my fridge and so I decided to make this awesome treat.  I adapted her recipe a tad to be a little healthier and then I threw in some chocolate chips and dried blueberries.  I ended up with a fantastic, moist loaf of bread.  I came home from school today with a smile on my face and then I shoved a slice of that bread in my mouth.  It's been a good day!

Chocolate Chip Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Stuffed with chocolate chips and blueberries!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt (I used Chobani)
2 zucchini, grated
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together.
3. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, sugar, and yogurt together. Beat in the eggs until well combined.  Mix in the flour mixture until just combined.  Fold in the zucchini, chocolate, and blueberries.  Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Keep stored in the fridge.

...I couldn't wait

Enjoy :)

Baby Blueberry Tarts and another Foodie Friends Friday!

I didn't have enough time to go out to get Daiya cheese and actually make something this week, but I did just make these adorable Whole Wheat Coconut Oil Tarts! There isn't any butter or eggs needed! Then, I saw a recipe over at A Couple Cooks, and I decided to do something similar.  I filled those cute pre-baked tarts with greek yogurt and blueberries!  To make it vegan, just use vegan yogurt!  Check it out:

Baby Blueberry Tarts

Ingredients:
4 pre-baked mini tarts (These are mine)
1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp vanilla
blueberries

Directions:
1. Mix together the yogurt, honey, and vanilla.  Divide among the 4 tarts.  Top with fresh blueberries!

Enjoy!


It's time for another Foodie Friends Friday! Last week this lucky winner won an adorable spoon ring from Miss Macie:

Cinnamon Rolls from Baker Becky

And here are the winners from last week!

This week is sponsored by Daiya and there will be 6 winners!!! Four randomly picked posts and 2 randomly picked readers will win coupons!

But first, here are this week's co-hosts:

Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com

Robyn's View http://www.robynsviewathome.blogspot.com

Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://wifeofthecolonel.blogspot.com/

Lindsey at Family Food Finds  http://www.familyfoodfinds.com

Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings  http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com

R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade  http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

Ericka at Chef Picky Kid  http://www.chefpickykid.com

Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.blogspot.com

Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.blogspot.com

Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

Amber at http://www.mamasblissfulbites.com/
Skye at http://www.avirtualessence.blogspot.com/

One more thing: The Rules

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• A recipe that is made and photographed by you
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Step 2:

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If you want to be the very best Foodie Friend Ever...

• Grab our button at  http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com and put it on your page and share Foodie Friends Friday! 
• Take some time and check out other submitted links and the blogs of all our gracious hosts
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Step 3: Come back on Sunday and vote for your favorite recipes by clicking on the star  under the recipe.  You only get 3 Votes so use them wisely!

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White Chocolate Blueberry Cookie Butter Cookies

The day before I left for school I saw a recipe on Kevin & Amanda for cookies made with blueberries, white chocolate, and biscoff spread.  I bought a jar of cookie butter from Trader Joe's at the beginning of the summer and I had yet to try it out.  I have heard that it is similar to biscoff spread and so while I was drooling over these cookies, the wheels in my head got spinning and I decided to try out the recipe with cookie butter instead!

The cookies came out super yummy and it was the perfect treat to bring back with me to school.  I have been sharing them with all my friends and they have made my room smell delicious!

White Chocolate Blueberry Cookie Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup Cookie Butter
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line some baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper
2. Whisk flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
3. Beat butter and both sugars on high until light and fluffy.  Beat in the cookie butter until well combined.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.  Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in the white chocolate and blueberries.
4. Drop tbsp sized cookies on the prepared cookie sheets and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy :)

Note: To keep the cookies fresh and soft, place the cookies in a container with a piece of bread.

Peach Blueberry Crisp

My brother left for college today!
I am so excited for him and I know he is going to do great and have an amazing time! Last night we celebrated his last night at home with a nice family dinner out and then I made a yummy dessert for after.

We had a ton of peaches lying around so I decided on a peach crisp.  But then, just to be exciting, I threw some blueberries in as well! It is only just occurring to me that the dessert was orange and blue and he is going to the University of Illinois! I mean, I totally planned that...

I made an apple crisp recently and I made this crisp in a pretty similar way.  It turned out super yummy and it just felt like a good summer dessert.  We topped off the warm crisp with some cinnamon vanilla ice cream and it was awesome.

Good luck, Zack! I know you are just going to love college!  I'll be visiting soon :)

Peach Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:
8 peaches, pitted and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
2 cups blueberries
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. In a greased 12 inch skillet, place the prepared peaches and blueberries.  Toss with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, oats, almonds, both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Stir in the melted butter until you have a crumbly mixture that resembles wet sand.  Sprinkle the topping evenly over the peaches and blueberries and press down with your hands.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the topping is a deep golden brown.

Enjoy :)

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!

Dessert Fruit Dip

This is just a quick little post to say hi and send a cute little recipe your way.  My new laptop and my old laptop were just dropped off at the laptop doctor for an overnight visit.  That means I'm on my parents computer and I can't edit photos.  This is all very sad and a tad frustrating, but I'll make it work. 

I made this fruit dip as a light little treat for dessert tonight and it was great! We got a bunch of fresh berries at the store and then served them around the dip.  It's a great little treat and a super yummy way to celebrate some flavors that are in season. 

Dessert Fruit Dip

Ingredients:
1 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
fresh berries

Directions:
Just mix everything together and add flavors to your taste.  Serve with yummy berries!  We also had some cinnamon sugar pretzels that were pretty tasty when dipped in this!

Enjoy :)

Blueberry Bread Pudding

My dad always hated bread pudding.

I made challah a while back for the Daring Bakers Challenge.  Three of my four loaves were already gobbled down, but I still had a loaf of blueberry-whole wheat sitting in the fridge.  I really wanted to try my hand at bread pudding and I figured a berry bread pudding with blueberry challah would be amazing. The only problem: my dad.

I decided, as Father's Day wasn't for a few more weeks, I would make the bread pudding, call it baked french toast, and see if he would eat it.

Not only did he eat the bread pudding, he LOVED the bread pudding.  I guess there is a slight chance he was just being nice.  However, seeing as how my father was the type of person to tell me that if I purchased a ring-tone for 99 cents, he would not pay for any of my college tuition, I don't think he was messing around.

Very-Berry Bread Pudding (inspired by Country Cleaver)

Ingredients:
1 loaf of Blueberry Challah 
3 cups of berries (I used quartered-strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries)
2 cups skim milk
2 cups half-and-half
5 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, beat milk, half-and-half, and eggs.  Beat in the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
3. Slice the challah into cubes and place in the baking dish.  Pour milk mixture over the bread.  Sprinkle the berries all over the top.  Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the middle is no longer jiggly when you lightly shake the dish. Serve warm...maybe even get the whipped cream out!

Enjoy :)

Blueberry Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

Half Marathon Monday Update: I just finished a 3 mile run and I am about to start a 30 minute abs work-out with my mom, but I wanted to share some updates with you all first.

In terms of running, today marks the beginning of week 3 in my training schedule.  Things have been going really well, but I think I should be icing my knees a big more.  Also, today I noticed that the inside of my left ankle is hurting a tad when I turn corners.  Is this a shoe problem or me?  Anyways, overall I'm feeling really great.  I love running and having this schedule and goal is keeping me motivated and feeling good about myself.  I also joined a gym for 3 months (student discount deal) and my mom and I have been going about 3 times a week for Zumba and a Hi-Lo Interval class.  I also really want to get into pilates because I think it's a great low-impact work-out that will balance out the running and keep me some-what flexible.

In terms of food, the other day I noticed 4 extremely ripe bananas sitting out in my kitchen.  So, I spontaneously threw together a banana bread that I had been wanting to try.  I found a recipe over at Curry and Comfort that doesn't use any butter or added sugar! I really wanted to give it a whirl.  Also, when I was in the mood to bake and conveniently had 4 ripe bananas, I was also craving blueberries and chocolate.  So, I decided on a blueberry-dark chocolate-banana bread.  One word: yum!

Blueberry Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a loaf pan.
2.  In a stand mixer, or large bowl, beat the bananas to mash them.  Beat in the honey, oil, vanilla, lemon juice, and eggs.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and blueberries.
4. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Enjoy :)