During your lifetime...

Did you know...

During your lifetime you’ll about 60,000 pounds of food! That’s the weight of about 6 Elephants!

Another weekend come and gone. We had beautiful weather in Indiana for the marathon on Saturday.

Elann, Mark, and I geared up for the run Saturday by drinking our coconut waters, eating bananas, and a spoon full of peanut butter! We wanted to load our bodies with essential running nutrients to keep the cramps away, it worked beautifully for all 3 of us. They are now both believers in Coconut Water, hooray! I got to experience Mark and Elann's first marathon, we had a great time. Mark finished at 27 minutes and Elann and I came in at 31 minutes. After the marathon we enjoyed Mallow Run's wine, Bazbeuz pizza, and live music.

-Marathon pictures coming soon!

I try to get as much baking done on the weekends as possible. I have a passion for baking and a love for cooking. I made pumpkin spice cookies for the marathon on Saturday. I used a Martha Stewart recipe but made my own tweaks for a "healthier" cookie, still delicious! The smell of pumpkin filled my apartment immediately.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies-

1 cup all purpose flour
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter
2 heaping table spoons Oikos 0% Greek Yogurt
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
3/4 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.


 Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

Here are the results! Some have icing, some don't.

How about some Pumpkin Whoopie Pies?

Sunday Cooking & Baking:

I made my dad and I Kodiak Cake flapjacks this morning. Instead of 1 cup flapjack mix and 1 cup water I mixed 1 cup flapjack mix, 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt, and 1 tbsp Chia Seeds. The Greek yogurt made the pancakes extra moist and the Chia seeds added the extra omega 3's and protein! Sorry I didn't snap a pic before we gobbled them down. I really suggest ordering these if you haven't had them...whole grain deliciousness!

Lunch:

Lamb Burgers with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I purchased ground lamb at the Farmers Market and finally got the opportunity to cook for more than 1 or 2 people! As you can tell, this makes me really happy when people want to try my food : D

Ground Lamb Burgers-

Ground Lamb

1/3 cup diced white onion

1/2 clove garlic

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup bread crumbs

Sauté onions in olive oil and garlic for 3-4 minutes on medium. Once brown, add to ground lamb, then add breadcrumbs.

Form burger patties as you would a hamburger.

Cook in same skillet on medium high until meat is thoroughly cooked.

(I found this takes a little longer than hamburger does)

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus-

1 can garbanzo beans

1 tbsp parsley

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp cayenne (optional)

1 Roasted red pepper in oil

Put all of this together in the food processor. Whirl around for about 3 minutes! You're DONE! Mmm..

Next I made Walnut Pecan Cinnamon Butter for my dad to take home.

1 cup Walnuts

1 cup Pecans

1 tbsp Coconut Milk

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp cinnamon

Add walnuts and pecans to food processor, let it roll for 9-10 minutes scraping the sides as needed.

Add Coconut Milk, cinnamon, and Honey; process for 1 more minute.

For the Colts game I made an Apple Crisp.

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar

1 stick unsalted butter cut into cubes

1 cup old fashioned oats

7 apples, cored and peeled

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare your apples. In a large bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Cut butter into flour, using a pastry blender or two knives, until mixture is the texture of coarse meal. Add oats, and use your hands to toss and squeeze mixture until large, moist clumps form. 

In another bowl, toss apples with lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Transfer to a shallow 2-quart baking dish, and sprinkle with topping mixture. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until golden and bubbling, 55 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

I had mysterious roses on my dresser this morning...

My dad bought me some Witch's Brew! I can't wait to try it :)

I had an acorn squash that I bought at Fresh Market a week or so ago. I've never had it before but I thought today would be a good day to bake it. Oh myyyy goodness it's SO yummy!

Cut lengthwise, scrape out all seeds and put face down on a baking sheet that has 1/2 inch water for moisture. Bake 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Garnish to your liking. I hear brown sugar and butter are good!

I thought this was cute :) My taste testers at their finest!

My dad was nice enough to let me use his Nikon D-70 this weekend...LOVE that camera. Until I can afford one of my own I can just use his on occasion ;)

Keep it Happy, Keep it Healthy, Keep it Sweet.