A Veggie-Filled WIAW + Easter Cupcake Creations!

Hey my BEA-UUU-TIFUL Buzzling Bees!

Thanks for all of your comments on my Turkish-Inspired Hummus. I have already gone through FOUR batches of that stuff. It is seriously THAT good.

How was your Easter?

I really enjoyed getting to spend time with my family, friends, and my Sunbeam class!

Some of the things I did included:

CUPCAKE DECORATING! I love decorating cupcakes.

MAKING ZUCCHINI BREAD! I made my mom some zucchini bread, this time with almonds in place of the raisins.

MAKE AN EASTER CREATION WITH MY SUNBEAMS! They were so excited to go home and show their parents and tell them the story of Easter!

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Time for another WHAT KAT ATE!

SNACK:

Frozen Banana with my Homemade SunButter.

BREAKFAST:

My Blueberry Coconut Protein Pancake topped with Peanut Butter! It is SO GOOD! (Recipe coming soon!)

LUNCH:

My favorite Protein-Filled Green Smoothie – a whole quart of it! (Recipe to come! ) This kept me full all afternoon.

DINNER:

Black beans and mixed vegetables on top of whole grain pasta, a whole wheat roll, and TONS of tomato sauce (I like to use the tomato sauce to dip my roll in).

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LOTS OF FRUITS AND VEGGIES! (Namely banana, broccoli, orange, apple, blueberries, cauliflower, spinach, and carrots!)

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Do you like decorating cupcakes? I go absolutely ballistic at the chance to decorate them.

How was your Easter? Mine was really quiet; the highlight of it for me was doing Easter egg hunting with pictures of Christ inside and making the cupcake into a “tomb” with my Sunbeams (the 3-year-old Sunday school class I teach).

Favorite food pictured? I’m loving both the smoothie and the pancake!

xoxox,

There’s A Face In My Pumpkin Pie!!!

Hey My Lovelies!

Thanks for all of your comments on my Cookies N Cream Milkshake. I’m going to get you my recipes for a raw version of it, and I have some more delicious recipes for you soon.

Did you enjoy your Thanksgiving? I really enjoyed spending time with my family and reflecting on the things I am grateful for in my life, like my Savior, my family, Mother Earth and all of the creations here, my friends who have always been there for me, YOU, my cousins, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, my teachers, my church leaders; I got to reflect on the blessings I have in my life. And I love how Thanksgiving gets us prepared for Christmas! Thanksgiving and Christmas are definitely my two favorite holidays of the year!

What did you make for your Thanksgiving Dinner? (If you celebrate Thanksgiving, as I know some of you don’t live in America)

I made quite a few yummies, which included:

Pumpkin Pie!

Can you see it?!

That face – look back up at the picture: can you see it? 

I made the pumpkin pie based on my last recipe, but better! I can share it with you if you would like.

I also made some Homemade Rolls! This is my Homemade Bread Recipe, which I want to do a new post on because I have learned some techniques and have improved the recipe so it’s even better – and I want to explain the process a little more – it’s not as hard as it seems!

Next, I made a Sweet Potato Mash. We washed, pealed (I would have eaten the peals if we had baked them in the oven, but alas, it was mashed potatoes), cut up, and boiled about four sweet potatoes. Then we mashed them up with a little smart balance light buttery spread (which is vegan — no milk, so no tummy ache for me) and non-dairy milk. Yum! Let me say that this Thanksgiving definitely did not help my orangeness problem. 

And then my mom made some Homemade Mashed Potatoes – with the skins. We just prepped the russet potatoes like we did with the sweet potatoes, but kept the peels on them.

I had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving.

I mentioned that I was making some goodies for some Thanksgiving Baskets. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to make them to give away. It makes me feel so good inside when I serve others and share my love of baking. I promised pictures, so here they are!

White Chocolate Chips Chocolate Crinkle Cookies – these are chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips, rolled in powered sugar before baking. They get all “crinkly” as they bake.

And then I made Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Homemade Vanilla Frosting.

I had so much fun decorating these. 

I also promised (on a previous post) that I would spill the beans on my date. And so, as promised:

MY DATE: I really had a fun time. He picked me up at 6pm and we went out to dinner to Jim’s. Then we headed for the football game – well, tried anyways. We got lost most of the way; haha, but we were laughing about it. Once we finally got there, I got to see my first football game live! Yep, that’s right: I’ve NEVER EVER been to a football game before. I’ve seen it on TV, but never in person. The teams that were playing weren’t even my own. I just cheered for my date’s team. Sadly, they lost; but I learned a lot about how the game works. (I bet he got tired of explaining to me everything….) AND THEN afterwards, we went to HEB (a grocery store) for dessert. I know, a grocery store for dessert?! Yep! Plus, it was like after 10 o’clock at night. And what did we get? Oreos. You heard it – Oreos. And when we got home (which was about 10:30), I did have a couple. I’m working on eating those kinds of things. It’s still hard. I really DON’T want to eat them, but I know I need to get over this obsession – and I’m doing better at it. Those were actually the first Oreos I’ve had in a very long time. And then, as such a great gentleman he is, he left the rest of the Oreos for mi familia. If there is any way to win over most of my family, it’s by doing that. You should have seen their faces: hahaha, it was priceless – their eyes said it all (and that smile that crept up their face – yep, it confirmed it). Overall, I really had a fun time. This was actually my second date; my first date was to Prom. I’m actually in no hurry to date. I’ve had made a personal decision not to date until I was 16 (which I am now) and that’s only double or group dating. I don’t really see a reason to date singly or seriously until I’m ready to get married (I’ve also made the decision to not single date until I’m 18). Group dates are more fun anyway, and you get to know more people (and be with MORE guys…. haha, jk! ).

Did you know I’ve always wanted to be a cake decorator? It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and just jump at every chance I get.

Did you see the face on the pumpkin pie? It’s like he’s blinking at me. Even with that face staring at me, he was still delicious. (hahahahahaaaa, *evil laugh* jk!)

Did any of you go Black Friday Shopping?! We went at like 7:30 in the morning to two stores: Target and Payless. We got some clothes, shoes, and stuff for college – we’re starting early: I can show you what we’ve collected so far if you would like. Right now I’m waiting for my college track schedule (I WAS ACCEPTED!!! ) to see if I’ll be going in either the fall or winter of next year.

xoxox,

This Single Lady Eats!

Hey all of my Yubby Dubby Cutie Pies!

Thanks for all of your comments on my Recipe By Special Diet page. I’m really excited about the new organization. You guys blow me away with all of your love and support. Thank you for always being there for me! It really means a lot to me.

I love Single Lady Recipes. Because sometimes, you really only need to make one item of something – and not an entire batch of them.

Here are some of this Single Lady’s lovelies she’s been trying. (Note, most of these are in single-lady servings, but a couple are not, like the dips – but the rest are.)

SkinnyTops – as babies! Topped with walnut butter, unsweetened finely shredded coconut, and dried cranberries. The coconut gave these a minty flavor. That really surprised me – I did not expect that. I’ve never had a VitaTop, so I can’t compare these to them, but Katelyn hit the nail on the head with these!

Red Velvet Single Lady Cupcakes. I haven’t baked much with coconut flour, so this was such a great way to expand my baking. I really liked how Kat got the flavor of this. The only substitution I made was that I used oat flour in place of whole wheat, which I was out of at the moment). It didn’t rise as much (because I made that substitution), but the flavor was there.

The Breakfast Cookie. This is definitely something worth waking up to! I made it a cinnamon raisin version with vanilla protein powder, a dash of cinnamon, and some raisins to add the finishing touch. I enjoyed this right before we left for our trip.

Heather is like the pro at pancakes. Her Super Fluffy Peanut Butter Carob Chip Pancakes have won my heart. She taught me how to make my own vegan buttermilk! I had never done that before, but this got me over that speed hurdle and now I can fly! It was so cool to see how the vinegar really thickens the non-dairy milk (I used soy) and makes it like buttermilk — but vegan! And these are true to the name – SUPAH FLUFFY!

Lactose Free Lizzie’s Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pie Dip. And that’s what it tastes like – Pumpkin pie with chocolate chips in a dip form. Perfect for the holidays.

This is the Brownie Batter Dip from Teen Eat Live. Talk about brownies straight into your mouth! I can’t stop digging my spoon into it! My bowl is already less full than pictured.

And now for some yummy single-lady eats!

On our trip (that I mentioned), I had a couple snacks (since it WAS a 6 hour drive). Those included Sugar Snap Peas. They are awesome! My favorite part is the beans inside them. The way sugar snap peas also remind me of edamame, but you can eat the outside of these where with edamame you don’t.

I also had a yummy red apple and some almonds (unpictured).

I saw this Cashew Cookie Larabar at Kroger’s and HAD to grab it. (It has cashews in it!) I haven’t tried it yet, but I know what I am going to do with it.

And one of this single lady’s favorites:

Nut Butter!

When we got home from our trip (it was a 6 hour drive there on Friday and then 6 hours back on Monday), I found that there was

NO NUT BUTTER IN THE FRIDGE.

None.

Nada.

Zip.

I almost fainted.

Once I contained myself, I quickly went about fixing that! J
I made a big batch of mixed-nut butter (mixed so it helps me get variety of nuts): about 3 cups of walnuts (which I toasted in the oven at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes), 2 cups of raw hazelnuts, and about 1 cup of unsalted dry roasted peanuts, and then added a big handful of raw cacao nibs, two pinches of salt, and a dash of cinnamon.

I also made HOMEMADE BREAD after making the nut butter! This stuff is my FAVORITE. Nothing store-bought can ever beat this. I baked it not only for my family, but to also share it with the young women in my church and their parents at our Young Women in Excellence program, where we share some of our accomplishments this year in Personal Progress (a program that helps us become more like our Heavenly Father) and share our talents.

The smell of freshly baked bread that fills the air is like a magnet.

Everyone ends up in the kitchen, impatient for a slice. If you keep a window open, your neighbors drop by for a “visit.” Fresh-out-of-the-oven bread with mixed-nut-butter is SO good! Fresh-out-of-the-oven bread is good period! But it’s extra yummy with nut butter.

The next recipe I’ll be sharing is for my Cookies N’ Cream Milkshake, and then it will be Sun Butter time!

Do you like Single Lady Recipes? I love how you can make ONE cupcake, ONE cookie, or ONE pie, especially if the craving is quenched with ONE of something.

What snacks do you like to bring on a trip? Some of my favorites are raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

Do you make your own bread? nut butter? Homemade bread and homemade nut butter just can’t be beat! Also, I’ve been thinking of doing a remake of my homemade bread post (but as a new post). I’ve gotten better at it and have some improvements to show you! If you would like me to share, just leave a comment!

xoxox