spring: part two

some photos of places we went, stuff we did, & yummies we ate.  in no particular order.

 

back with more soon.

x x alicia

spring: hearty pumpkin bread recipe

during our break in cali, we baked and cooked a lot.  i used to send my mom her favorite cookies and loaves in the mail and this time, she said she would buy a mixer and i could teach her those recipes.  anything for momma right?  she specifically wanted to be able to make this really hearty, healthier version of pumpkin bread that's full of all of her favorite things.  it's made with whole wheat flour and flaxseed meal, and pretty much anything you want can be added in depending on healthy you want it (i.e. chocolate chips, nuts, seeds).  the recipe makes a big batch and i usually double it so my mom can freeze the extra loaves and make them last a bit longer.  i love eating this bread for a healthy breakfast or snack, or toasted with jam and butter, or just freaking plain.  whatever you want you guys, pretty close to guilt free.

hearty pumpkin bread
(adapted from a recipe that i found online forever ago and i can no longer find it.)

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

3/4 cup ground flaxseed

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

8 ounces canned unsweetened pumpkin

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg

1 egg white

1/3 cup fat-free milk (i use almond or soy)

1/2 cup dried fruits (cranberries, blueberries, raisins, etc) or nuts

mix the flour, flaxseed, soda, powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl.

whisk the pumpkin, sugars, applesauce, eggs, and milk in a medium bowl.

pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and gently stir together.  fold in the dried fruit/nuts.  pour into 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.

bake about 40 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.


we added in a dry fruit mix of cranberries, blueberries, and raisins from trader joe's, chopped walnuts, and some chia seeds.  such an easy, non-temperamental recipe.  let me know how it goes if you decide to try it!

x x alicia

spring: part one (in b&w)

happy first day of spring!  it is such a lovely, rainy day and we've been resting it up at home all day before i start work again tomorrow.  we arrived home late monday night and after nanny-ing tuesday morning, spent most of the afternoon and evening cleaning and unpacking.  also, we had to catch up on girls.  do you know how hard it is to avoid hearing or reading about the season finale?  yeah that had to be taken off the to-do list immediately.  so today, i've been sifting through all of the photos i took on our trip and trying to figure out a coherent way to put it all together for you guys.  it is going to have to be in parts i'm afraid.  parts of just memorable photos and places with separate posts for recipes that we made during the week.  it's going to be good.

the first batch features our day trip to big bear lake.  my mom has been wanting to take us up to the reservoir ever since she went with some friends on july 4th last year.  it was such a good way to start our break.  we got out of the city and got some fresh air and sunlight.  i pretended to be somewhere further away and took a bunch of cheesy, touristy photos.

tiger crunch-peanut butter, rice krispies, white & dark chocolate

also, happy birthday to my lucius.  we'll have a little celebration for him tonight, mostly involving food.

x x alicia

hey all.  we are currently taking some much needed chill time in cali this week.  my mom lives in highland, and we are visiting and staying with her till next monday.  my brother, andrew decided to hitch a ride with us as we were passing through provo, so now the three of us are just taking it easy and soaking up some sun.  it is 80 degrees here this week, lucky us!  anyways, my dear momma is the only one in cali who does not have internet in 2013 so there won't be much actual blogging, but i promise i am taking a ton of photos and there will be over-blog when we get back home.  i am super excited about some posts i've been working on over here and i can't wait to share them!

my mom is sort of a health nut & it's so amazing having someone cooking healthy meals and juicing just for you every day.  i already feel rejuvenated and my body is real happy about it.  yesterday we took a mini trip up to big bear lake and the weather was beautiful.  we shopped around the little town and took some photos on our walk around the reservoir.  i'm not sure i can go back to gray, cold, utah-in-march weather you guys..

have a happy week!

x x alicia

here's another breakfast, i'll probably have to start some sort of breakfasty series since i obviously can't shut up about it.  the boy and i have imposed on ourselves a food budget.  reasons for this include a recent, unexpected car expense and the fact that we seriously spend an obscene amount of money on food.  we just love foods that happen to cost a lot of money and find ways to spoil ourselves every chance we get.  but this all stops now.  we have been doing pretty well sticking to the budget and as a result, have taken to making lots of hash-type meals.  for instance, last night our dinner consisted of brown rice fried with eggs, kale, spinach, garlic, and sambal.  the brown rice i got from trader joe's ended up kind of mushy which turned it hashy.  sounds weird right? but it was actually really good.  i felt full and healthy and most importantly, satisfied.  the hash had all important foods, protein from the eggs, fiber/complex carbs from the brown rice, and veggie goodness from the kale and spinach all from stuff we already had in the fridge.

continuing our love of hashes, we once again scrounged from the fridge and used this week's leftover spaghetti sauce and made this:

hash of sweet potatoes, spinach, gardein beefless tips (we got these on super sale, they are so good), homemade spaghetti sauce with peppers, onions, and broccoli.  topped with a fried egg.

cooked tomatoes are oh so good for you ya know..

x x alicia

our little family has been feeling a little under the weather lately.  this, combined with 13 hour work days for me, has been a bit rough but we're all doing better.  here's a simple post for a lazy sunday.

my favorite thing about mornings is breakfast.  pretty sure a lot of people could say that, but for us, breakfast is especially our favorite because we're mostly allowed to fully partake.  potatoes, french toast, cheese, juice, avocados, pancakes, fruit, waffles, yogurt, eggs, coffee, syrup...all vegetarian friendly, and all my favorite.  bacon, eh not my favorite.  i know!  i'm going to get some heat for saying that but seriously, i used to be able to only eat one piece before it become too rich.  and guess what?  there are some pretty damn good vegetarian substitutes for breakfast meats anyways.  so whenever jesse and i have a morning off, we take the opportunity to make ourselves something yum.

i've been craving waffles ever since my lovely sister-by-partnership made them for brunch one weekend, so the other day, i made jesse wrestle out our waffle iron from the black hole in our cabinet.  i broke out the box of pancake mix and made cinnamon chocolate chip waffles for breakfast.  they were so good, the boy loved them, the house smelled delicious, and i've since made them two days in a row now. 

five things:  i used trader joe's brand pancake and all purpose mix and halved the waffle recipe, i substituted flax milk for the water, also substituted one mashed banana for the egg, added a splash of vanilla and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, and threw in a handful of guittard milk chocolate (yes i did) chips.  you can even make a big batch, freeze the extra, and toast them in the morning.. which is what i did.  homemade toaster waffles my friends.  ok that's like 8 things..

the boy "styled" his up & asked me to take a photo.

if anybody out there loves their waffle iron as much as i do, post me a pic!  i know i'll have more variations.  happy sunday!

x x alicia