Chocolate QUINOA Cake!

Yes, you read that right. A cake made with quinoa. Not quinoa flour, but cooked quinoa.

And it actually tasted good. Even my picky husband agreed!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this super food, quinoa is a grain that is packed with protein. There are a myriad of health benefits in this food, some of which are explained here. I try to get quinoa into as many meals as I can, but this is my first quinoa dessert!

I used the cake recipe from this site. The link will have the specific measurements. I ate mine without frosting (it was SO rich, which is saying something from me!), and Brad used some canned frosting we had lying around.

1. Cook 3/4 cup of quinoa in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water. Turn it down to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or so.

This is what the quinoa should look like once it's completely cooked. 

 2. Add milk, eggs, and vanilla extract to blender and blend for 10 seconds or so.

I used almond milk, but any milk you have on hand will do. 

This is my homemade vanilla extract! Mmmm I love real food :)

This is what it looks like after it's blended. 

3. Add cooked and cooled (or warm if you're impatient like me) quinoa and a melted butter/coconut oil mixture and blend until smooth.

Coconut oil is another super food that has many health benefits as listed here. It's also very easy to employ in your diet, as it can be used in place of oils or butter in cooking. I used a mix of butter and coconut oil in mine, but just butter will work too.

This is what coconut oil looks like out of the container, but it melts very easily. 

This is the mixture. I melted the butter in the microwave, and just put the coconut oil in
afterwards. It melted with a little stirring. 

I'm very bummed I didn't take a picture of the mixture when it was done. It is a dark yellowish color. I have to admit, I was getting a little unsure as to whether this was really a good idea for a cake or not.

4. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar (or another sweetener) and salt

5. Add the wet ingredients from the blender and mix.

6. Put the batter into a parchment-lined pan.

See, that batter does turn out normal-looking!

7. Bake for half an hour at 350 and voila!

Mmmmm cake :)

I was so impressed with this cake! It was moist, chocolaty, smooth and delicious! While I was unable to bled the quinoa 100% smooth, there were only very smart parts where I could tell the texture was a little different. There was no odd taste or anything though. The man had no idea I cooked up one of my weird health foods until I told him there was quinoa in it! I will be making it more often to indulge my sweet tooth while pumping by body full of vitamins, nutrients and protein.

Love and Blessings,

Annmarie Faye

P.S. This is also GLUTEN FREE for all of my readers avoiding gluten, Boo yah!

Why We Do "Meatless Mondays"

As I read that title, I should probably change it to "Why I Do Meatless Mondays and My Husband Remains Silent" because if it were up to him, I'd make steak every night. But since he likes me to cook for him, he just participates in whatever food challenge I give myself. Plus I make some yummy dishes, even without meat, so he doesn't have much to complain about in that department ;).

So here are the reasons why I decided to participate in Meatless Mondays:

1. I like food challenges. 
Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies. I love being creative, trying new flavors and ideas, and using food to make people happy. And by participating in Meatless Mondays, it is making me branch out to try some new foods and techniques in my little kitchen.

Food Challenge: Cooking with Tofu
Baked Barbecue Panko Tofu
Brad said "I don't like tofu...but I like how you make tofu like this."
Recipe found here

2. I want us to be healthier. 
While I love cooking fatty, creamy and sugary meals, I do like trying to make a majority of our meals healthy. And for me, Meatless Mondays have made me cook some healthier meals. Now you can easily make an unhealthy meatless meal. But for me, I am conscientious about the meals I look for on Meatless Mondays because I want them to have protein, veggies and some whole grains. And meats do tend to have more calories than other proteins substitutes, such as tofu or quinoa.  
Also, eating less meat can limit your cancer risk, reduce heart disease, fight diabetes, curb obesity and lengthen life. (As reported on Meatless Monday's website.)

Quinoa patties are one of my favorite meatless recipes!
I've made these before Meatless Mondays.
The man actually requests these.
Recipe found here

3. I want to help the environment. 
I am not a crazy "hippie-go-free-free" environmentalist by any means. I still have to remind myself to turn off all the lights when I leave the apartment. I sometimes leave the water running when I shouldn't. But I am working on it. And by eating less meat, you can affect the environment greatly.

Just to name a few ways it helps the environment, eating less eat will lessen water usage. For example, 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef. Tofu requires 220 gallons per found. Also, 40 calories of fossil fuel energy go into every calorie of feed lot beef in the U.S., compared to 2.2 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce one calorie of plant based protein.

Zucchini pizza bites
A snack/lunch I made before Meatless Mondays
Just cut up zucchini, rub it with oil and salt, broil it for a few,
add sauce and cheese, and broil it for a few more. 

So while I'm not turning vegetarian anytime soon, I am enjoying getting my toes wet in vegetarian cooking. Hopefully I'll be posting more of my meals soon!

Love and Blessings,

Annmarie Faye

Meatless Monday - Eggplant Parmesan

For the New Year, I have the cliche goal is making my lifestyle more healthy. I also want to continue to improve my cooking. I want to branch out and learn to make meals that are outside of my comfort zone.

A way for me to accomplish both of these goals is to participate in "Meatless Mondays." Meatless Monday is a movement to abstain from meat one day a week (preferably Monday). According to meatlessmonday.com, there are many benefits to avoiding meat once a week. Some of these benefits include limiting your risk of cancer, diabetes, and reducing carbon footprint.

Now of course, avoiding meat and filling it was junk food will not get these benefits. Duh.

So this is a good way to try out some new foods, cooking styles, and possibly gain some health benefits.

For my first Meatless Monday, I attempted to make Eggplant Parmesan.

I would like to note that:
1) I've never even eaten had Eggplant Parmesan, so I had no idea what a "good eggplant parm" tastes like. 2) I've never even cooked with an eggplant before! They are a weird, huge and purple vegetable and I had not idea what I was doing. This was a push from my comfort zone for sure.
Fun Fact: The inside of an eggplant is a light green, almost white color! Who knew?

And after following this recipe by Michael Symon, plus some Dreamfield angel hair pasta, my first Meatless Monday was complete.

A little messy looking, but so delicious!

It was amazing! If you like Italian food, you will love this! I mean, how can you go wrong with mozzarella, basil, ricotta, parmesan, tomato sauce and bread crumbs? And the eggplant was really good too! It almost reminded me of a fried green tomato.

A close up of this gooey magical dish

This was a great way for me to try a new food because it was covered in other foods that I love! I would love to make this again-whether it's Monday or not! :)

Love and Blessings,

Annmarie Jordan

Greek and Quinoa Avocado Salad

I was CRAVING avocado the other day. Hardcore, I needed some of it in my life immediately. So I browsed some recipes and found one for a Greek and Quinoa Avocado Salad.

1. Put some spinach leaves on a place.

2. Put half of a cut up avocado on top of the bed of lettuce.

3. Whisk some olive oil, lemon juice and salt together for a low-calorie dressing.

4. Mix up some cooked quinoa,cut up tomatoes, ripped up spinach leaves and the dressing.

5. Put the quinoa mixture on top of the spinach and avocado, and top with cheese.

Note: The recipe suggested feta. I thought I had feta, but it was old. So I used mozzarella. Still yummy, but not as good as feta would have been.

What a delicious lunch salad! I highly recommend using fresh, high quality produce. The tomatoes weren't on point, so the salad was not as good as it could have been. But it still tasted great and had a lot of yummy flavors going on.

Spinach Bacon Tortellini Bake

After Thanksgiving, I was not up for cooking much for awhile. But I saw this recipe on Pinterest and knew I had to try it.

My Dr. Suess Apron means I'm ready to throw it down!

So I pulled out my Dr. Suess apron and got to work!

First I pressed the spinach into the bottom of a 9x9 pan.

I then cooked the tortellini according to the package.

Tortellini is my true love. 

Using the oven method explained here, I cooked bacon.

Glorious.

I put the tortellini in a bowl and mixed in alfraedo sauce.

I chopped the bacon into smaller pieces and added that to the mix.

It's getting there!

The mixture was then messily piled into the pan.

I topped it with some more bacon, parmesan cheese and parsley.

Oh baby!

After cooking, here is the final product.

Sweet baby Jesus that's good!

This was pretty easy and so yummy! Bacon, cheese and noodles just belong together!
My only complaint was the layer of canned spinach on the bottom. It was pretty gross, and I LOVE spinach. Next time I might add fresh spinach and stir it into the mix. But otherwise, this dish was delicious, filling, and fulfilled my cheesy-bacon-ey fantasies.

Hope you enjoy trying this dish as well!

Love and Blessings,

Annmarie Faye

Wisdom Teeth and Turkey

This was mere hours after the wisdom teeth surgery...two were impacted...don't judge.

The Thursday before Thanksgiving, this was me:

Yeah, that was a cute look...

I got the wisdom teeth yanked. Besides a little swelling, lots of sleeping, itchy skin from the pain meds, and crying right after surgery when I learned that I couldn't get a frosty because Wendy's was closed, I recovered pretty well. They are still a little sore sometimes, but the gums are healing and I look a lot better than the swollen, ice-pack-age-bandage-wrapped hot mess above.

On to what I really care about:

I SUCCESSFULLY COOKED MY FIRST TURKEY!!!

Mmmm look at that browned skin!

I did learn that it takes hours among hours to thaw a turkey, so we had our Thanksgiving dinner a decent amount later than I planned...but it turned out delicious!

I made buttery cream cheese mashed potatoes, cornbread muffins, turkey, buttery green beans, corn, and my auntie's homeade stuffing.

The dinner plate of glory...sorry, I'm just super proud I made such a big dinner and didn't burn anything!

Oh my gosh this food was so good! Not to toot my own horn, but wow, I was impressed with my first Thanksgiving dinner made by me was a success.

And I also made a homeade pumpkin pie.

I LOVE pumpkin pie!

And you see the big 'ol glob of whipped cream? Also homeade. Side note: it's super easy to make. Throw some heavy cream in a Kitchenaid mixer, put it on as high as it will go without the cream flying out, and as it solidifies, add a dash of vanilla and sugar to taste. Done.

It was strange to be away from the extended family for this holiday, but it was so much fun cuddling with my own little family.I so enjoyed watching the parade, the game, snippets of the dog show, all while cuddled up with my man and pooch. Oh, and cooking of course.

I am so thankful for my family, my friends, that I am able to further my education, and have so many blessings that I don't even realize. While the food was great, being able to spend time relaxing with the man and the pooch was what made this day so amazing :)

Love and Blessings,

Annmarie Faye

P.S. Only a few hours left in the extended Black Friday Sale for Lilla Rose! Check out my site by Sunday at Midnight for 20%-50% off all items and free shipping for orders over $50! A great way to find some hair accessories at a great price for that girl on your Christmas gift list who has everything!

My Amazing 21st Birthday!

Yes, November 7th was the big 21st. And I learned just how seriously blessed and spoiled I am.

I was woken up at 6AM to my handsome man carting this:

French toast, bacon and sausage for the win!

He woke up at 5 to make me breakfast and bed before work!

So after eating with the man he brought me gift number one: blue-rays of The Heat and Identity Thief. I am OBSESSED with Melissa McCarthy, so this was perfect! These movies are hilarious! Then the man went to work and I cuddled with the pooch most of the day.

Oh, and got the coveted horizontal license.

I got home and he had told me to be ready by 5:45 so we could leave for dinner. I was getting dolled up, browsing the mail (My parents sent me a card from them, as well as one from my dog. They know me too well...), and wondered where we'd go.

We ended up at the Bonefish Grill! Gah it is so yummy! We had Bang Bang shrimp (fried shrimp covered in a creamy spicy sauce) for an appetizer, the man had lobster and steak, and I had a cheesy crab stuffed tilapia.

And of course, I had my first legal adult beverages:

Bonefish Martini 

Their winter special martini...super sweet and good!

We got home and there were two dozen roses and a teddy bear waiting on the door step from the man.

And a chocolate tower from the sister-in-law. It was filled with chocolate pretzels, chocolate covered peanuts, chocolate peanut butter cups, chocolate chip and toffee cookies, and pecan clusters. I am going to be huge just looking at it!

Thanks for making me fat Rachel! ;)

The man also brought ice cream cake (my favorite) and got a little carried away decorating it...but it was delicious!

The 630-8 is for our wedding date (6/22). The other stuff...I'm not really sure. 

The next day, I got my next birthday gift in the mail:

New Boots!

I picked them out by the way. It was his idea to get me boots...but he didn't trust himself to pick them out. Probably for the best :)

That evening we went to a French cooking class. Not going to lie, we followed the address on the website and ended up at a residential house, so we were sure we were going to be murdered.

But instead, we had a blast! We signed up for a creme brulee class, but she also taught us how to make another variation of creme brulee with caramel, caramel sauce, and langues de chat cookies. 

Creme brulee! I feel like a gourmet chef knowing how to make this haha

Caramel sauce!

Langues de chat cookies...which is French for cat tongue...but they were yummy!

Not only did we learn to make some amazing food, but we learned a lot. Sylvie, our chef, is from France. She told us all about French culture, cooking, and life. She even pulled out some chocolate cake that she was working on for us to try (the way to my heart!) and gave us a small class of French wine.

What I loved the most was learning about how the French have decadent foods, but only have small portions because they enjoy each bite. They don't shovel down huge plates on the couch while watching How I Met Your Mother. They treat each meal as an experience to talk and laugh and enjoy great food. It inspires me to do that more often.

That was my super spoiled birthday extravaganza. I am so blessed and had the best birthday a girl could ask for.

Love and Blessings,

Annmarie Fate

P.S. And because everyone loves a dog in a cone, here is a shot from out Saturday nap:

She loves cuddling! Even if she looks possessed...

So It's Been Awhile...

Yeah, I kind of fell of the blogging bandwagon for a bit. We had relatives staying with us for a few weeks, and then school started. It was an adjustment, and while I love blogging, I needed to hop off of it for a bit and focus on getting acclimated to this new schedule.

So here is my schedule for this semester:

Monday
Wellness: 11-11:50

Social Work Practice I: 1-1:50

Tuesday
Speech (ew, but it's a requirement): 11-12:15 (with online work during the week)
Social Work Research: 6-9 (soooo long! And in downtown Lancaster instead of on campus, so I drive through some interesting parts of town.)

Wednesday
Wellness: 11-11:50
Social Work Practice I: 1-1:50
Social Work and Child Welfare: 3:15-5:50 (Also downtown)

Thursday
DAY OFF! Which means homework and laundry :)

Friday
Wellness: 11-11:50
Social Work Practice I: 1-1:50

So overall it's not a bad schedule, just a few later nights. But I am LOVING my classes and really realizing how much I love Social Work and how passionate I am about the field.

Okay, enough boring stuff, here are a few pictures:

The Pennsylvania Rensaissance Faire we went to this weekend. We bought a sword for $20 at a Pirate Auction!

Here's some foods I've made lately:

Pan-fried Salmon with sauteed zucchini and mushrooms 

The Pioneer Woman's chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes 

The Italian Wonderpot

And of course because I am a crazy dog lady:

Maisy, my fur baby :)

 Love and Blessings,

Annmarie Faye