quinoa

i’ve always loved this grain and now that i’m “on my own” i’ve started cooking it on my own. lately, i’ve been doing so a little more frequently as i’m trying to eliminate as much gluten from my diet as possible. i have a thyroid condition that is being treated with medication but there are some other homeopathic/nutrition-based remedies that could potentially cure my disease that i’ve been struggling to regulate since i was 16.

so the “phase” that i am at with this right now is the eliminating gluten phase. it’s been a little tough and also expensive but i feel much healthier and i certainly shop well {courtesy to my mother, i should say}.

i was walking around the discount gluten-free section of a health food store the other day and stumbled upon these boxes of mixed quinoa. Not only did it appeal to me because I wouldn’t need to sieve it on my own nor would it take long for a night that i’m really just not in the mood to cook but want to eat something ‘good’ but there were tons of natural spices and vegetables that were mixed into this little mix. it took me about half an hour to boil then simmer. fluffed then eaten with some baked chicken i’ve made for the week along with some grilled asparagus. it was a great fix! i had to add a little ketchup to try to get rid of some of the onion-y taste (i really don’t like onions) and it was perfect. not going to complain at all though for the price, convenience, and cute little packaging (totally got me).

any other gluten-free foods/recipe ideas you think i should try? i would love to hear about them!

Chocolate Chip Sugar (Holiday) Cookies!

Once the exams, papers, projects, and overall stress was over and Eileen and I had some time to finally just…live and enjoy the holiday season we made a little list of reasonable things that we would want to do for our week off from school. I was super excited and it felt good to only have work, itself. It was something like… “real life” minus the frugal grad school lifestyle (haha)

On this night we decided to make chocolate chip sugar cookies! We tend to improvise a lot with choc chips and would virtually add them to well, anything. We also used food coloring added to Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting and SPRINKLES! to decorate 🙂

what’s needed: 1.75 c. all purpose flour // 1 tsp baking soda // 0.5 tsp baking powder // 1 c. butter (softened) // 1.5 c. granulated sugar // 1 egg // 1 tsp vanilla extract // whatever you would like to decorate // *we also added some water (immeasurable) to make the dough easier to work with and mixed

directions: 1// preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 2// prepare the cookie sheet. 3// In a small bowl: stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. 4// In a large bowl: mix together butter and sugar until smooth. 5// beat in the egg and vanilla into the large bowl mixture. ADD CHOC CHIPS! 6// Gradually fold in dry ingredients into the large bowl. mix. 7// Add water, if needed to form a mixture that is dough-like. 8// roll rounded balls of dough (we flattened ours a bit) and space apart on cookie sheet 9// bake 10 min in oven. 10// cool. 11//decorate!

happy baking, friends! and enjoy your great company this holiday season!

Ketch-up Post #1: Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

do you like my play on words?! i love ketchup. and with fries, it’s a must have. so to comply with taking responsibility for my lack of posts this fall, i’m giving you just a tad bit of humor. this series of posts will be giving overall posts on what has been going on in the last few months during one of the craziest semesters of my life..but don’t worry i thought of you, all and certainly have plenty to say! happy reading!

This semester was beyond me. For my <10 posts all Fall and for the ones that were posted, I’m sure you could assume that it’s been nearly impossible to find time for myself, anything social, anything fun, etc. My good friend, Eileen and I decided that we should make a “pact” (which we really did abide by) to do one fun/relaxing/deserving thing every weekend. On this specific weekend, we had lots of work but managed to make these AWESOME pumpkin choco chip cookies! they were a hit with everyone who tried ’em! We also had so many that it’s safe to say that the recipe provided below will make pleeenty.

The recipe is adapted from My Baking Addiction‘s Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies with white chocolate and cherries click {here} to see their version. My Baking Addiction is a blog on baking and cooking with tons of recipes!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Choc Chip Cookies

what’s needed: 2 c. all purpose flour // 1.5 c. oats // 1 tsp baking soda // 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon // 0.5 tsp salt // 2 sticks (softened) butter // 1 c. brown sugar // 1 c. granulated sugar // 1 c. pumpkin puree // 1 egg // 1 tsp vanilla extract // 1 BAG choc chips (bc why not)

directions: 1// preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2// line baking sheet with foil. 3// combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. 4// in a large bowl; mix butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy. 5// add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. 6// add flour mixture and mix until all ingredients are mixed in well. 7// fold in choc chips. 8// drop spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. 9// bake for approx. 17 min, until brown. 10// cool and enjoy!

Donut Emergency!

FRIENDS. where can I find a well-priced compartment donut baking pan?!

quick and easy ice cream sammiches

after my visit to sarabeth’s in may (see post about it HERE) i became obsessed with real, homemade ice cream sandwiches. baked fresh with amazing ice cream flavors between. with my last month of school being the most hectic of my life i ended up craving all things sweet and thought of a quick and easy way to make my own! (without having to worry about the heat of the oven in the fall-like weather)

simply, what you’ll need: ready to bake pillsbury cookie dough, ice cream right out of the freezer!

all you need to do is place the {i chose chocolate chip} cookie dough in the oven at 350 for approximately 15 minutes. let them cool completely and take a great scoop of {i chose neapolitan} ice cream and squeeze it between two cookies. you’ll likely need a bowl to eat it all together as the cookie might break but it is one of the greatest, quickest treats that combines two of the best things…ice cream and cookies!

p.s. if the cookies are a little burnt, it actually tastes awesome with the ice cream (in my opinion)

enjoy this treat for the last couple weeks of summer!

xx|A

a charming honey lime sweet tea

i had a couple special friends visit me this weekend for my birthday. i made (and bought) some special food and treats for us to indulge in…we love food. i mean, how could you not?! one special thing i decided to try was my version of A Beautiful Mess‘s honey & orange sweet tea.

what you’ll need: 2 cold brew tea bags (lipton is great), 3 tbsp honey, 2 limes, 1 cup sugar

fill a pitcher 2/3 way with cold water. mix the honey and sugar in and mix slowly until dissolved. drop the two tea bags in and wait about 3-4 minutes. in the meanwhile, slice your limes. when done brewing, remove the teabags and stir. squeeze the ends of the limes into the tea mixture and add the limes.

when cold and ready, pour over ice and serve! it was a hit! and so, very refreshing for the summer.

hope you enjoy! xo

my simple (white) sangria

i love white wine. oh, the sophistication and flavors. better yet, i love white sangria. it’s perfect for these hot, summer days we’ve been experiencing. i love how informal it can be just hanging out with friends for a summer party, bbqs, sleepovers, you name it! my good friend, Mandy had a little get-together the other night and i contributed some of my super simple sangria!

what you’ll need: a large pitcher, about 5 limes, 2 oranges (or 4 clementines), 5 tbsp (a little more, a little less, or none at all is fine too) of sugar, water (for making your own lime juice), a wooden spoon (for mixing), and 1.5 bottles of white wine.

for the lime juice: squeeze 3 limes into 2.5 cups of water until diluted (chilled with ice to keep the temp up)

cut the oranges and limes into thin slices and combine all of the ingredients in the large pitcher. stir and mix with the spoon. leave to let it soak for about a day- stirring whenever you get the chance. this version of a sangria has a more lime-citrus flavor (which i love) you can leave it really for however long you want (adding ice the sooner you may want to drink it for it to be cold)

see…super easy to make! enjoy!