Happy Halloween!!
Want to know how to make a cupcake with no calories? Make a cupcake you can wear! My Halloween costume this year looked very sweet and tasty. The BF dressed as my baker.
I used my new Halloween cupcake decorating skills to make mummy cupcakes for the Halloween party I attended Saturday night and brain cupcakes for the Hub’s office party today.
Do you have plans to carve pumpkins this weekend? I love the process of carving pumpkins! Scooping out the gooey seeds and pumpkin guts, getting artsy with the carving and roasting pumpkin seeds. So fun!
Here is a great article on roasting healthy pumpkin seeds…
Pumpkin seeds are considered nutrient-dense. They contain protein, zinc, iron, potassium, calcium, vitamins A and C and many other vital nutrients. To avoid turning a healthy snack into a horror show of fat and sodium, cut out the butter and the salt, but not the taste.
Check out Hungry Girl’s picks for Halloween candy.
Halloween is one of my fave holidays. I love planning a costume, creating a costume and getting all dressed up. Yes, I’m almost 30 years old and I still love to play dress up.
Although I do love this day, Halloween gives me lots of anxiety. Candy anxiety. I LOVE sweets. This is one day of the year that I have to check myself so that I don’t go into a sugar coma.
Last night my fabulous friend, Russtanna, and I took a Cupcake Decorating Class through Central Community College! The class was taught by Heather Hascall, owner of Outrageous Cakes and the Cupcake Shoppe.
Heather gave us lots of amazing ideas for decorating Halloween cupcakes!! First, she demonstrated different cupcake designs, then she gave us each six cupcakes to decorate and take home!!
I was super excited because we got to work with fondant and I had never used fondant before! Fondant is a very sweet icing used to decorate cakes. It’s often used on cake shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss to give cakes a smooth finish or it is used for sculpting.
My alarm was set for 5:30 a.m. My plan was to get up, head to the gym and run 3 miles.
The alarm went off and my head was pounding. I tried to swallow and my throat felt like sandpaper.
I hit snooze.
When I finally peeled myself off my pillow at 7 a.m. I assessed my physical symptoms. Sore throat, headache, overall exhaustion. My first thought was, “I don’t have time to be sick!” I have a story due on deadline this morning, I have an interview this afternoon, I’m teaching a fitness class at 5:30 p.m. and I’m meeting a girlfriend for a cupcake decorating class at 7 p.m. Tomorrow is just as full.
So what’s a girl to do? Power through and hope it gets better? Or cancel everything? I’m more of a power through type of girl, but I also don’t want my sickness to last forever because I didn’t take the time to let my body heal.
Before yesterday, it had been over a month since I baked!! That is unacceptable. Especially since I have a pile of pumpkin recipes I NEED to bake this fall.
Luckily, the Kearney Literacy Council’s 2nd annual Scrabble Tournament forced me to get back in the kitchen. I’m on the KLC board and was given the responsibility of bringing a treat, which is always my favorite responsibility.
I knew I had to make something pumpkiny because it would be festive for fall and because I haven’t baked with my orange friend in awhile. I found this recipe on the blog Brownies for Dinner, which I LOVE!
Because it was my first time baking these cookies, I followed the recipe exactly. Next time, I will try to make the cookies healthier by using whole wheat flour and egg whites.
I’m back in Nebraska after a long girls weekend with my fabulous cousin, Kristi. We had a wonderful trip and we were able to see A LOT of the city. My feet are still sore!
We were also able to eat lots of fantastic food!
Kristi and I wanted to eat lots of yummy foods in the city, but we also wanted to come back from our trip feeling good. In other words, we didn’t want to come back pudgy.
Since we stayed at a friend’s house in Brooklyn, we stopped at a market and bought breakfast and snack items. We bought Greek yogurt, apples, grapes, hummus, carrots and wine. I brought packets of instant oatmeal, Luna bars and 100-calorie packs of Emerald almonds. Kristi brought Quaker Oatmeal To Go breakfast bars. We ate Greek yogurt, grapes and oatmeal or oatmeal bars for breakfast every morning. We snacked on hummus and carrots in the evenings.
Now for our food journey…
Every time I travel I feel like I gain more insight on how to be healthier while on vacation.
I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. I encounter hurdles. I make the wrong choices.
But each vacation seems to get a little healthier.
The reason for all the travel talk is because I’m leaving for New York City tomorrow! I’m meeting my cousin/BFF, Kristi, who lives in Atlanta. We’re taking some time for ourselves and having a long girls weekend. I’m so excited to explore the city and to have some much needed girl time!
When I travel, I like to enjoy all the destination has to offer (see falafel sandwich in Israel above and Walla Walla Onion Rings from Burgerville in Washington below). I want to try new foods and eat things I wouldn’t normally eat in my daily life. But I don’t want to come home from a trip 5-10 pounds heavier and feeling uncomfortable. I also don’t want to spend the next month (or two) trying to lose the vacation weight.
It’s finally here!!! I’ve been working sooooo hard eating and drinking all of this season’s pumpkin goodies. I have compiled a list of everything I have tried (so far) with reviews…
VitaMuffin VitaTops in Pumpkin Spice - Vitatops in any flavor are awesome, but pumpkin is super delish. VitaTops have 100-calories, 15 vitamins and minerals, are high in fiber and majorly satisfy sweet cravings. They are a great dessert or snack. I topped the Pumpkin Spice VitaTop with some fat free Cool Whip and that made it seem super decadent. Love!!!
Available at www.vitalicious.com/57196-12.html
Kashi Crunchy Granola Bars in Pumpkin Spice Flax and Kashi TLC Layered Granola Bars in Pumpkin Pecan - I’m a major Kashi lover and I think these flavors are amazing! I love these because they don’t have artificial ingredients. The layered granola bar’s pecans add the perfect touch to the cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin flavor of the granola bar and topping. The crunchy granola bars are perfect for satisfying a crunchy and sweet craving.
Available at all grocery stores.
This is one of those recipes I’ve had forever. I’ve made this a couple of times and every time I make it, I wonder why I don’t make it more often.
It’s delicious and very filling. The Gruyere cheese gives the gratin a unique flavor that I LOVE!!
Gruyere and quinoa can be expensive, so this recipe is a bit of a financial splurge. But to cut costs, you can use another white cheese. I’ve used Muenster and that worked well. You could probably use mozzarella as well.
If you’ve never had quinoa you are missing out!! It’s delicious, especially in a comforting casserole like this. Quinoa has lots of protein and fiber so this can served as a main dish.
This is an awesome blog!!!! The writer, Mrs. Q, is a teacher who was fed up with the unhealthy school lunches served at her school. She committed to eating the school lunch everyday for a year. She documented the meals on her blog.
Mrs. Q now has a book called “Fed up with Lunch: How One Anonymous Teacher Survived a Year of School Lunches.”
She now photographs and describes the lunches she prepares for her children to take to school.
I love her!!! This is one issue I am very passionate about. I’ve been collecting school lunch menus for awhile now. It makes me sick what our schools are feeding children. It also makes me very sad to see children who are overweight and unhealthy.
This event sounds very awesome. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it to Omaha, but I would love to go.
OMAHA - Omaha is joining the national celebration of Food Day in its inaugural year with a free event for the whole family.
Food Day is a national campaign, modeled after Earth Day, to encourage Americans to “Eat Real.” The idea is to expose more people to delicious, healthy and affordable food that is produced in a sustainable, humane way. Thousands of events will be taking place around the country on and around Food Day - October 24 - to inspire healthy living. Omaha’s celebratory event will take place Sunday, October 23.
In Omaha, The Omaha Farmers Market and the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition will be host to a grand Food Day event Sunday, October 23 from 9 am to 1 pm at Aksarben Village by extending this location’s Farmers Market one week and offering additional activities in the village. The Farmers Market will have a variety of delicious local fall produce as well as baked goods and homemade crafts available for purchase.
This story was reposted on Facebook by one of my friends. I thought it was worth sharing…
A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman.
The caption was “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”
A woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:
“Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.
My five-year old niece, Brynn, loves to get crafty. She loves painting, cutting, gluing, drawing, glittering, etc. I knew she would be all for this crafty project.
The idea came from my coworker, Kim, who has two girls - a seven-year old and a five-year old.
This is super easy. You cut up an apple into slices. Fill a few small bowls with different flavors of sugar-free Jell-O. Then let your kiddos dip or sprinkle their apples with the Jell-O crystals.
