Homemade Popcorn

Growing up, my mom always made us popcorn from scratch. We had microwave popcorn on hand too, but I have so many great memories of watching movies with my family with a giant bowl of homemade popcorn in front of us. I think I just asked one day how she did it and my mom walked me through the steps. The first couple of times I made it on my own, it was just awful - I remember burning it and having to dump the remains off the side of our deck, haha. However, with practice, I did manage to make homemade popcorn while I was still in high school. Now, I feel like a pro at it!

Easy Pickled Jalapeños

When J and I lived in New Hampshire, we got take-out nachos all the time from this local Mexican restaurant called Hermanos. We were completely obsessed with those nachos. We got the same kind every time (Betty and Shirl's - which had chicken, pickled jalepeños, this kind of garlic oil, avocados, and tons of cheese)! We always asked for baby portobellos on the nachos, while I took off chicken and J asked for blue corn chips. 

They are the most perfect nachos in the world - but one of the reasons they're so good is because of the pickled jalepeños. You can also get jalepeño salsa to go with it, which is the perfect blend of spicy and sweet. After dating/being married to a guy from Arizona for the past 6 years, I learned to love spicy food, so is it really any wonder I learned to love jalepeños?

This summer, J was having an off day and I decided to cheer him up by recreating these nachos. So first, I had to learn to pickle jalepeños. It sounded super daunting. I don't pickle things. This is not my scene. My family doesn't do any pickling as far as I know. I started by googling, naturally, and realized that it wasn't really hard after all! I don't follow recipes well (I'm always changing things), so this is a mix of a couple of the first recipes that came up.

Recipe: Fall Protein Pancakes!

To be honest, I'm not a huge pancake person. I don't like sweet breakfasts very well, probably due to my (literally) unhealthy obsession with salt. I do love my Truetein Cinnabun protein powder though, and pancakes are super easy way of getting protein in without drinking weird shakes, haha.

I started with a basic protein pancake recipe from Tone It Up:

Unfortunately, I just did not like the pancakes from this recipe. :(

It wasn't bad, but it was waaay too sweet. I think the combination of the banana and the protein powder put it over the top for my tastes. So the next time I made pancakes, I changed up the recipe to work for me:

Ingredients: (Makes 2 medium-sized pancakes)

* 1 scoop of Trutein Cinnabun protein powder (or any kind you have on hand) 

* 1 egg 

* 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce 

* Spices, to taste

That's it, I swear! It's the easiest recipe and JUST sweet enough that you don't need any syrup at all! 

All you need to do is: 

(1) Combine the egg and applesauce   

(2) Add your spices; and 

(3) Add the protein powder 

(4) Mix everything up and procede to make delicious pancakes! 

I chose Cinnamon and Nutmeg because, heck, it's fall! It made the pancakes taste kind of like pumpkin pie, even though there was no pumpkin added - yummm!

You'd never know that they were only made with three ingredients, and I love the fact that I don't have to use syrup, as well as the fact that I'm getting a whole scoop of protein powder in when I eat these! I'd love to make these again with blueberries in the mix itself - I think it'd be dynamite!

Have you ever made protein pancakes before? Would you add fruit to these?

Recipe: City Girl Rickey!

Hey friends! I don't normally post recipes for drinks, mostly because I don't normally drink mixed drinks. I'm more of a wine or cider gal, so there's not much opportunity for a recipe... Hey, look at a picture of me pouring this pino grigio into this wine glass!

After Hannah visited me in Hilton Head, I drove her back to Savannah. On the way back, we stopped at a little bar in Old Town Bluffton called Vineyard 55. I got a drink called a "May River Rickey," which had ginger ale, huckleberry vodka, and lime. It was sooo good! Refreshing, light, fruity, and totally fun! I was telling J about it a few days ago when he got back from New York, and I decided to get the supplies to make my own!

I already had lime juice around the house, so all I had to get was fruity vodka and some ginger ale! I tried to find huckleberry vodka, but the closest I could find was either raspberry or cranberry, so I decided to get the raspberry. Plus, the ginger ale was only $0.69 at Market Basket!

Since I was using raspberry vodka instead of huckleberry, I decided to call this my "City Girl Rickey." Raspberries just seem way more of a "city girl" fruit, am I right?

Making this is ridiculously easy. I used a wine glass because it seemed v college to use a plastic cup, and I'm using a bendy straw to drink it because why wouldn't I???

Here's the recipe:

• 1 shot of raspberry vodka
• 2/3 of a shot glass of lime juice
• ~3-4 oz of ginger ale (basically, just fill the rest of the glass)

See how easy that was to make? And trust me - it's so delicious! J's not super into fruity drinks (he's more of a craft beer guy), but even he loved it. When I made one today, he commented on how refreshing it was, so you know it's true! :)

Try this recipe out and let me know how you like it! If you like it as much as I do, it's going to be a staple for you.

Recipe: Ginger-Garlic Salmon

One of my goals for 2015 was to make two new recipes each month, which I've been fairly good at keeping up with. One of the recipes I tried in June was this amazing recipe for ginger-garlic salmon, which I've made two more times since! It's a really easy recipe that I can't wait to make again and again! J's pretty happy with whatever I cook, but this has been a huge favorite of both of ours!

I really prefer to make this with fresh salmon, but I got a whole frozen side for really cheap this month and I just couldn't say no! This last time I made the recipe, I had two portions left that I thawed in warm water. There was a side that was slightly freezer-burned, but I just cut that part off when I was taking the skin off.

The next thing I did was marinate the salmon! J prepared a marinade of (based on the linked recipe):

• 1 whole head of garlic, chopped up
• 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
• 3 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon syrup (from Vermont)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 heavy dashes of white pepper
• Pinch of salt

We marinated the salmon in that mixture for about an hour and a half, and then pre-heated the oven to 375. When the oven was ready, we transferred the salmon to an oven-safe pan, along with all the excess marinade! We both tend to like more of the marinade that is really called for because I've been serving it over cilantro-lime rice, and it just tastes sooo good together!

It cooks in the oven for 15-20 minutes, and then is ready to eat! We piled the cilantro-lime rice into bowls, placed the salmon on top, and then poured the excess liquid on top. SO. YUMMY!

Honestly, this isn't the easiest recipe in the world because the marinade does call for a lot of preparation... but it's so, entirely worth it! J and I both love Asian food, and this salmon really encompasses what I love so much about it - tons of garlic, tons of ginger, and tons of flavor! I hope you love it as much as I do!

Have you ever made this recipe? Would you? Do you have a recipe that you could make over and over again?

Recipe: Egg Muffins

Are you ready for the easiest breakfast recipe ever?? Because I'm pretty sure these egg muffins are it!

I got the idea to do egg "muffins" from Pinterest, but I mixed and matched a few recipes to find one that worked for me. I started making them so I had a quick and easy breakfast option, and what's easier than this? Bake, store, and pop one in the microwave whenever you need one!

Ingredients:

• Eggs (enough for one per muffin)
• Chopped up veggies
• Pan spray
• Feta cheese
• Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and spray down your muffin tin so the eggs don't stick as badly.

For veggies, I chose spinach, broccoli, and mushrooms. I left the spinach whole, and chopped up the mushrooms and broccoli super small. Put a few of your veggies in the sprayed muffin tins (leaving room for the egg!) and sprinkle some salt and pepper over them. After that, crack an egg into each muffin tin, and sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Add a few more veggies, sprinkle with some cheese, and you're set!

After the oven's hot enough, put them in the oven for 20 minutes, and they should be cooked through! I used a sharp knife to cut around the edges of the tin to separate the egg from the tin, even having used the spray. I used a fork to try and pry the egg muffins out, and they all came out smoothly (albeit, with some "scraps" still attached to the sides of the muffin tin).

I used parmesean in this batch instead of feta, but trust me - use the feta! I didn't really notice any flavor from the parmesean, but the feta adds this beautiful little kick to the egg muffins, even if you don't use a lot!

Once they've cooled, I put them together in some Tupperware and store them in the fridge until I need one. In the mornings, I usually microwave them, lightly covered, for 30 seconds, and that heats them all the way through.

Honestly, I've loved having these on hand in the mornings! I like to work out around 6AM, so I wake up around 5:15AM, make some coffee, and eat something before I head out. These are a perfect pre-workout breakfast, because they're small enough to not upset your stomach during the workout, but enough to give you a kick of protein and veggies!

What did I tell you - easy, right? :) Let me know if you try these and like them!

My Favorite Recipes

Vegetarian Tortellini Soup

This is one of my very favorite recipes ever, and I make it at least once a month (for several meals). It's healthy, absolutely delicious, and full of veggies and nutrients... but you'd never know it because it's just that good! Plus, it's easy to change out which vegetables you use - which means you can adjust this really easily to whoever you're cooking for.

Plus it's one of my favorite kind of meals - one where you can put all the ingredients in, and just let it cook on its own!

Kale Chips

Kale chips are my favorite (and let's be honest, one of my ONLY) way of eating Kale. On it's own, I feel like Kale can be really bitter and totally not my thing. Add in some olive oil, salt, and cayenne pepper, we're in business! Holy cow are these good. The only real trick with these is figuring out when you need to take them out of the oven, because they burn like THAT. But when they're great, there's nothing that compares!

I assume they keep pretty well, but I've never tried... because they're all gone within twenty minutes of making them.

Coconut Oil Chocolate

I hate female stereotypes, but god do I love chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the better. Homemade coconut oil chocolate? Even better! This is smooth, rich, creamy, bitter, and just the right amount of sweet, because you can make it exactly as sweet as you'd like! I've never made a batch that wasn't absolutely perfect.

Moreso, it's not the kind of chocolate that you need to eat an entire bar of to feel satisfied - it's so rich from the cocoa and the coconut oil that you don't really want to eat tons of it at one time. You feel like you got your chocolate craving taken care of after a piece or two at the most!

Tom Yum Seafood Soup

This is by far my favorite of my favorite recipes! I make this about once a week... maybe once every two weeks if I've been really busy or haven't been able to go to the grocery store. Like the tortellini soup, it's absolutely full of delicious nutrients and some of my favorite foods and flavors. Seafood? Spinach? Broccoli? Muchrooms? Asian flavors? Spice? ALL OF THE ABOVE. Yummmm! It's a seriously guilt-free way to have your favorite seafood and Asian flavors, all in one warm soup.

I actually made it this week when I was feeling really sick, and it made me feel a ton better. The spicy flavors cleared out my sinuses, and the warm soup and coconut milk felt really good on my throat! It's basically perfect in every way.

What are some of your favorite go-to recipes? Have you tried any of mine? Which look the best to you?

Homemade & Healthy Bran Muffins

I don't know about you, but I am OBSESSED with bran muffins! My grandma makes the best bran muffins in the world, and I could easily eat a whole batch of them (given the option - usually guilt keeps me in check).

I saw a recipe on Pinterest a few weeks go, so I was excited to try it out! The only thing I changed from the original recipe was adding flax seeds (which I thought would add some fiber and a fun texture change) and changed sugar to stevia packets.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 packets of stevia

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups Kellogg's All-BranOriginal cereal

1 cup almond milk (or other version of your choice)

1 egg

1 individual package of unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup flax seeds

Check out this amazing recipe from Happy Food, Healthy Life for the steps to make these AMAZING bran muffins!

How great do these look?! This is actually the second batch I made, and the first turned out better - aka, fluffier. They still tasted AMAZING, but I really prefer my bran muffins to be fluffy and airy... well, as far as bran muffins can be, at least.

The batter seemed a little heavier than it should have been the second time around, so I really should have known that they were going to be a little more dense. 

But seriously - how amazing does this look?!

Do you love bran muffins as much as I do? Have you ever made them from cratch before?