Eat It Up: Lots of Yum!

After baking all those cupcakes last week like a freaking maniac, I took a break from the sweet little cups of glory to work on some new recipes.

On Friday morning I took crazy to a whole new level by going to Boot Camp at 5:45 in the morning, then making quadruple berry muffins before work.

Berrylicious

I was in the shower after Boot Camp washing away the horrors of early morning exercise and it occurred to me that quadruple berry muffins simply needed to happen.  There was really no way out of it. They just had to be made. I knew I had a buttload of buttermilk in the fridge left over from the cupcaking and I had pints of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries just waiting to be baked into delicious muffins.

My co-workers were thrilled. We just moved to a new office (very suddenly), so I thought it would be nice to surprise everyone with warm breakfast muffins.

These were really some of the best muffins ever. I highly recommend that you make them while berries are in season. They’re super cheap right now! If you’re in the south, Publix has pints for $2 each!

I got the recipe here. I love Joy of Baking recipes. They truly are a joy.

Today I planned on making a barbecue pizza based on this Eating Well recipe that I saw while browsing the site. It looked so good, and my friend Stephen made it and said it was a success, so I made my own and Stephen was right, it was a huge success!  I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my tastes and my laziness.  I used Pillsbury pizza dough (which is surprisingly delicious) and I added sauteed mushrooms and onions because those are my favorite pizza toppings and were necessary to take this pizza from awesome to AWESOME! I loved it. I’m actually looking forward to eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow and I am not a leftovers person at all.

Barbecue pizza in my mouth!

I also had a wonderful visit with Eunice from Food4Fitness on Friday. She was visiting a friend and they came to Orlando for the day to go to Islands of Adventure and met up with me for frozen yogurt afterward. Eunice and I actually know each other through mutual friends down in South Florida where I’m from and where Eunice lives. She started her blog two weeks before I started mine, so we’ve been blog buddies since the beginning! I love her writing style and she’s insanely smart about all things nutrition and exercise, which is good since she’s going to be a Registered Dietician in a few short months!

Blogger love!

We swapped stories over delicious frozen yogurt. And get this. I HAD NUTELLA FROYO!!!

NUTELLA FROYO IN MY MOUTH!

Nutella is one of my favorite things in this world, and this was the first time I ever saw it in froyo form. I can’t believe I didn’t lose control of my bladder then and there. It was so amazing. I don’t know if any other froyo will ever match up. Oh man, it was so good.

In between all this yum, I got some really great work outs in and danced my ass off at my friend Dustin’s birthday party this weekend. True story: I participated in a big booty dance-off and lost to a girl who did a split.

Note to self: The girl with the purple hair will always win.

I would only do that for Dustin. No one else. At least I was best dressed on the stage.

Only for Dustin.

What delicious things you eat this weekend? What absurd things did you do with your ass?

What I’m Loving Right Now

1. Fresh summer berries.

Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries are on sale right now and they’re glorious in every way. I’ve been having them with breakfast, as a snack, and with dessert.  Love.

Yum.

2. My new Roku.

This is not a paid advertisement. I bit the bullet, canceled cable, ordered a Roku, and signed up for Netflix and Hulu Plus, and I couldn’t be more pleased. I don’t miss cable at all. I can stream anything I want to watch without having to hook my laptop up to the TV. I have a lot more options of things I actually WANT to watch. My boyfriend and I have been watching old episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and of Arrested Development and it is just SO much better than channel surfing.

3. Summer reading.

All of a sudden all of my friends started wanting to do book clubs and it’s been great! I just finished up In Cold Blood by Truman Capote for one book club and I’m working on The Help by Kathryn Stockett for the other book club. We meet next week to discuss!

4. Grape tomatoes.

They’re so good this time of the year. I’ve just been popping those little suckers into my mouth like they’re M&Ms. They’re not M&Ms, unfortunately, but they’re damn delicious, and good for me too!

5. XOGreetings on Etsy.

I may be biased because my best friend is the founder and card designer for XOGreetings, a new card shop on Etsy, but are these not the cutest fucking cards you’ve ever seen in your life? Remember to enter my Make Cupcakes, Not War Bake-Off by Sunday, because the runner-up will win a set of Make Cupcakes, Not War cards by XOGreetings.

6. Late spring cleaning.

I’ve been going through my place like a tornado pulling out everything I know I can do without or haven’t used in the last few months to sell at a yard sale on Saturday. Anything that doesn’t sell is going to Goodwill.  I’m de-cluttering and going minimalist. Well, as minimalist as I can be, which is probably not impressive to actual minimalists, but it is to me.

7. The fleeting gusts of wind we’ve been getting since hurricane season started.

Summer in Florida is actually ten times hotter than the depths of hell.  I checked when I filled out my paperwork for the afterlife. But since hurricane season started a few days ago and some rain has been coming in, I’ve noticed delightful gusts of wind floating by, just slightly taking an edge off. Each gust is like a sweet little sneeze of mercy from Baby Jesus. We’ve only got, like, five more months of sweltering heat left, right?

8. Key Lime Pie Bar frozen yogurt from Yogurtland.

I love the fuck out of key lime pie, and the new Key Lime Pie Bar froyo from Yogurtland is a really, really good imitation of the pie I love so much. This is apparently a limited time only flavor, which means I have to eat it as often as possible. I like to top mine with graham cracker crumbs and a few dark chocolate chips for an extra key lime pie experience. I also love Yogurtland’s Toasted Coconut froyo, and I’ve been mixing it with the Key Lime Pie Bar recently. Love. It.

9. When Hope Is Not Enough firming serum from Philosophy.

Again, not a paid advertisement. I just love this stuff. Philosophy’s whole line of skin care has really helped make my skin the best it can be, but the When Hope Is Not Enough firming serum is my absolute favorite. It smells good, it smooths irritated skin, and it keeps me blemish-free. It also feels really light and I can use it under makeup without a moisturizer, which is really good during these hot ass summers.

10. Shorter workouts.

You know, it’s hot. I’ve got shit to do. Being stuck inside of a gym on beautiful summer days is a drag, so I made it one of my June goals to do shorter, more efficient workouts, and I’ve been much happier with this routine so far. Today I just did a Next Level session instead of a spinning and Next Level combo and I feel so much better than I usually do. I’m planning on spinning tomorrow, instead of taking it easy, and I know I’ll be able to get through the spin class because I didn’t kill myself at the gym today, but still got a really excellent and sweaty workout in.

And finally, I’m loving trips to the (nudie) beach with my delightful friends. But I always love that, no matter what time of the year it is.

Just a reminder, you have until 11:59 pm on Sunday, June 12th to submit your Make Cupcakes, Not War entries to me at jaclynworksitout@gmail.com! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

What are you loving right now?

Sweet Sunday Waffle

I’m an eggs-and-carb for breakfast kind of girl.  Most days of the week I scramble or fry an egg and have it with a piece of whole wheat toast or mini bagel and/or a side of fruit, because I need the protein and because I love savory breakfasts.  I do have the rouge bowl of oatmeal here and there, but eggs really are my main breakfast staple.  Those of you who don’t eat eggs, I really don’t get you.

That all being said, every few weeks I find myself craving something special on a Sunday morning; usually something in the realm of French toast, pancakes, or waffles.  A few weeks ago, after a busy weekend of drinking cherry beer, dodging ghosts, supporting my gay friends’ rights (and having fun) at Disney, and winning Scattergories with friends despite being completely beat, I woke up feeling very waffley.

Enter whole wheat (and low fat) waffles!

Oh hai, waffle.

I adapted the recipe from the King Arthur flour website and made a few modifications to make it even healthier than it already was so I could enjoy it thusly.  I swapped 1/2 a cup of the whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup of quick cooking oats and I subbed 1/3 cup of cinnamon applesauce for the 1/3 cup of oil.  I also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and some cinnamon.  The recipe yielded about three and a half waffles on my round waffle maker.  I ate one and froze the others.

I topped the beautiful concoction off with a teaspoon of butter, about a tablespoon of REAL maple syrup, and a buttload of fresh berries. One metric buttload.

Don’t consume fake syrup.  Just say no to chemical syrups. Support Canada.  Real maple syrup!  Real maple syrup!

Oh, Canada.

Sorry Aunt Jemima.  Real maple syrup beats you.

This breakfast ruled.  Make it for your next Sweet Sunday.

Keep reading for my adapted recipe.