I Burned the Cupcakes

Grocery Guide!

A lot of people find it really confusing to buy groceries upon starting a new diet plan or making a choice to eat a little healthier. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about our food and what’s considered “healthy”. The major pitfall that most people make when starting out on their quest for healthy eating is immediately going to those foods that claim to be “low fat”, “low calorie”, or buying those 100 calorie snacks and not paying any more attention to the other nutritional information. 

A lot of foods and packaged snacks out there claim to be good for you. They boast of being low in calories or low in fat, but these foods pack in loads of sugar or sodium that end up leaving you bloated and feeling really tired later. Not to mention, they barely suppress your hunger for more than half an hour. Something to keep in mind if you’re not a complete expert at reading nutritional labels just yet is looking at the serving size, the percentage of trans fat, and the percentage of sodium and sugars. Anything around 5% or below is low, and anything 20% or more is high. 

Now as for fats, monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) are good fats. Your body benefits from them so much, as does your metabolism. The type of fat you want to stay away from is trans fat. This kind of fat is not naturally occurring fat. It’s found in things like vegetable oil, margarine, and its in almost every baked good (pies, cakes, cookies, etc.) unless specifically noted. Things like added sugar and salt are things that should only be consumed in moderation. Too much salt and you’re going to retain your water weight and bloat up. You also bloat with too much sugar, but not as much as you will with salt. Added sugar is typically bad for you because it’s going to give you a short energy boost, but ultimately leave you fatigued and add to your waistline. Added sugar is the biggest thing to watch out for in these foods that claim to be healthy, trust me! Just look at a Cliff Bar if you don’t believe me.

The best thing you can do when starting a new healthier diet is to go natural. I try to buy as many fruits and vegetables as I can. Rule of thumb: If it goes bad, it’s good for you. If it doesn’t go bad, it’s bad for you! Go ahead and buy a head of lettuce, some spinach, carrots, mushrooms, bell pepper, broccoli. Add in some peaches, apples, bananas, blueberries, strawberries. It’s better to know where your food comes from and cook it up at home than to rely on a manufacturer for your food, adding in who knows what to that 100 calorie snack pack you just bought. And trust me, the natural sugars in fruit are way more satisfying and your body will thank you for those vegetables that are high in fiber! Just made sure to compliment with some whole grains of course (:

Smoothie time!

Probably my favorite healthy snacks to whip up are smoothie. You can have them at any time of the day or night and they’re really versatile. I love to make my own because I can add in anything I want and, for the most part, they’ll always turn out great. They can be amazingly healthy when you make them yourself (and you can even sneak in some veggies!)

Just for you guys, here are a few of my favorite healthy smoothie recipes:

Mixed Berry Smoothie

Calories: 115 per serving

Ingredients:

• 16 oz Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 cup Fresh Strawberries
• 1/2 cup Fresh Blackberries
• 1/2 cup Fresh Blueberries
• 1/2 cup Fresh Raspberries
• 1/2 cup Ice
• 1/4 cup Fat-free Milk

Directions:

• In a blender, add milk, ice, and yogurt. Pulse for about 20 seconds.
• Add in all other ingredients and blend until smooth.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Calories: 110 per serving

Ingredients:

• 2 Ripe Small Bananas
• 1 cup Fresh Sliced Strawberries
• 1/2 cup Ice
• 1/4 cup Fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 cup Strawberry Banana V8 Juice

Directions:

1. In a blender, add yogurt, milk, ice, and V8 juice. Pulse for about 20 seconds.
2. Add strawberries and bananas and blend until smooth.

Blueberry Peach & Spinach Smoothie

Calories: 120 per serving

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Fresh Blueberries
• 1/2 cup Fresh Leaf Spinach
• 1/2 cup Fresh Sliced Peaches
• 1/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 cup Fat-free Milk
• 1/2 cup Ice

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine ice, milk, and yogurt. Pulse for about 20 seconds.
2. Add spinach, blueberries, and peaches. Blend until smooth.

Avocado Banana Smoothie

Calories: 165

Ingredients:

• 1 Ripe Medium Avocado
• 1 Large Banana
• 1/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 cup Fat-free Milk
• 1/2 cup ice
• 1/8-1/4 cup Honey
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Directions:

1. In a blender, add milk, yogurt, ice, and orange juice. Pulse for about 20 seconds.
2. Add honey, banana, and avocado. Blend until smooth.

I absolutely love being Italian. Ever since we did our heritage project in second grade and I learned about this wonderful country I was from, I’ve been obsessed with everything Italian. I have maps of Italy cluttering my room, Italian language books, travel guides, Italian art history books, cook books from Italy, and probably a bunch of other stuff I’m forgetting.

One of the great things about Italian culture is, of course, the wonderful food. There’s so much history around every Italian dish, every time I make one I feel more connected to the culture (and less like I’m living in rainy Seattle). This Christmas, I was ecstatic to receive a Pizzelle Iron from my family. They even threw in a really cute apron and some Pizzelle mix! I’m just now getting around to making some and they seemed really simple. The mix was all ready for me, so I just needed to add some water and pour it onto the iron. Easy right? No, not so easy. The mix came shooting out the sides the iron the second I set it down and I burnt the first few cookies pretty badly. Note to self: Pizzelle are not supposed to be blackened. Once I got that under control and I could make a cookie without burning it or having the batter oozing out in every direction, I set them on a cooling rack to harden. Only, they didn’t harden. They just cooled down and stayed really flimsy. Note to self: Pizzelle are also not supposed to be waffle-like. 

I tried everything, reducing the amount of batter, adding more batter, adding more dry mix in case I accidentally made the batter too watery. Nothing fixed the problem, so I ditched the batter all together and decided to make my own from scratch (this time I added in some lemon zest). This batter looked a whole lot different than the previous pre-made one. It was a lot thicker and immediately I thought this was going to be another disaster. But I tried it anyway and… drum roll please… They came out perfectly! They tasted sweet and crispy and they turned out perfectly wafer-like. 

I’m hooked on making these cookies now! They’re really easy (when you get the hang of them) and they taste delicious! And get this… Only 65 calories per cookie and 0g of fat!

College is coming!

College is fast approaching for me here in the northwest, and I don’t think I could be more excited. So far I’ve decided that I’m going to major in communications at WSU; and to me that seems like the best option because it gives me a lot of options when I go job-hunting after I graduate. Though going into corporate event planning with this degree is something I’m interested in, it’s not exactly my dream job. Baking has my name all over it! I read all the time about these people who travel to Paris to go to famous culinary arts schools or people who start up their own local bakeries that end up becoming huge hits. I wish I could do that, those people are living my dream. I can’t tell you how many applications I’ve sent in in my high school career to any local bakery, cafe, ice cream shop, or sweet shop I could find. Anything remotely related to a bakery around here and I’ve applied there. 

Most people who know me know that I would love to open up my own bakery. There are just those dream jobs that people have in their minds and they think, wow, waking up every morning to do that wouldn’t even feel like working. That’s how I feel about baking. A lot of people I know don’t really understand that about me. How can making a cupcake really give anyone that much satisfaction? Well, I couldn’t tell you. But for me, I love making people happy through food and that gives me joy!

Being the artist that I am, I love doing anything creative and I have to do things perfect. If it doesn’t turn out beautifully then it’s trash. So I think for me, my love for baking also coincides with my obsession for doing things the best that I can and sharing that with people. And what better thing to share with someone than a really good dessert?

I made cake pops today!

It’s been snowing non-stop for three days so far here in Washington. That means: schools closed, a foot of snow outside, icy roads, and nowhere to go. What’s a girl to do? Bake cake pops of course!

I sat down looking at this recipe and was shocked at how easy these little cake pops were to make. I don’t know why, but in my mind I imagined it being some hugely complicated ordeal. I mean how do you really make cakes into balls? But, it was probably the easiest thing I’ve ever done! 

All you do in pop a cake into the oven, my vanilla one only took about 13 minutes, let it cool and then crumble it into a mixing bowl. Once all the big pieces are crumbled up you add any kind of frosting you like and mix it in. (I added vanilla buttercream) The mixture looks kind of like cookie dough except it’s a lot lighter of course, and it tastes so deliciously rich! After you’ve done that you can start assembling them into balls and placing them on parchment paper. You take sticks and dip them about 1/2 inch into melted chocolate and stick them into your cake balls. Set them in the fridge for a while to set up. 

After you’ve wait about 30 minutes or so, you can take them out and cover them all in melted chocolate. I decorated mine with crushed peppermint candy and I must say, these little pops look so cute and they taste pretty amazing for such an easy recipe! 

What’s really in your snack bar?

Being the health junkie that I am, I’m always interested in knowing where my food comes from and if these so called “healthy” foods are actually all they claim to be. After doing a little bit of research on energy bars, protein bars, and other snack bars, it turns out that all I thought I knew about my regular afternoon Cliff Bars was completely untrue and that most of these snack bars are completely junk! 

Most of these bars have tons of added sugar to them and almost no nutritional value. You’d be better off saving all the extra calories for a slice of cake or a bowl of ice cream really.

Some of the best snack bars (in no particular order):

1. Fiber One 90 calorie bar.

2. Quaker Fiber & Omega-3

3. Kashi TLC

Some of the worst:

1. Cliff Bar

2. Balance Bar

3. Odwalla Bar

I’m admittedly not a professional when it comes to baking, but I love it. Sometimes I can create some pretty bad concoctions in the kitchen, but more often than not I turn out some pretty mouth-watering pies or cookies or whatever I decide to make that week. I don’t know why I love it so much, but I know I’m not the only one who thinks that owning their own cupcake bakery would be the bomb right? Of course not! So in the spirit of baking, I’ve decided to try one new recipe every week. This could be disastrous for my healthy diet and exercise plan, but I think it’s well worth the risk. So, I’ve settled on a delicious Key Lime Cupcake recipe to try and I’m crossing my fingers it will turn out as amazing as this picture looks! For anyone interested, you can find the recipe below (:

http://mymadisonbistro.com/archives/key-lime-cupcakes