Where do we go from here?

I am getting so burned out on all things real food related. I just want to sit around and read books and eat Nutella and things dipped in Nutella and Hersey's kisses (especially the cookies 'n cream ones that are resting nicely in a bowl on the counter in our kitchen.) I get home from my office at night around 9:15 pm, usually starving, and I stare woefully into the pantry and refrigerator extremely uninspired. This situation keeps coming up and last night this (above) was my solution. Organic extra virgin olive oil, topped with freshly ground pepper and pink Himalayan sea salt, paired with crusty French bread. Simple. Perfect.

I just wanted to give you guys a heads up that Matt and I have compiled a list of places we MUST eat in Richmond. It's four pages long. So much food spam will be coming this way.

Sidebar: I'm baking doughnuts tonight. See y'all tomorrow!

Oops

I've come to the conclusion that I seriously suck at this whole keeping up my blog deal. I'm so busy and blahblah whatever. I'm just gonna throw a bunch of what I've been eating up here lately and we'll call it a day.

We had pizza night again!!!! It was all me this time though. Pictured here is a chicken and pepperoni pizza.

Matt asked me out on a date this past Friday evening and we ended up at The Boathouse (...his new place of work but we'll come back to this at a later date).

I ordered the shrimp and grits. It was perfect. Matt got crab stuffed shrimp.

For dessert we hit my favorite spot, Sweet Frog!! I always leave here satisfied and happy. That peanut butter frozen yogurt seriously hits the spot topped with Nutella.

Sunday night upon my return from OBX, we went out to dinner at Kitchen 64. What you see here is my Gyro with roasted lamb and the best sweet potato fries in Richmond.

Monday morning I was greeted with these little treats on my desk! Homemade red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing.

Sup y'all

This past weekend, my best friend Diane (see her link in that followers section over there to the right) and Shawnna came to visit Richmond!!! We had a really delicious breakfast at Lamplighter on Sunday before the girls had to head back to Norfolk. Diane ordered the Slammer (soysauge and cream cheese on a cinnamon raisin bagel; first picture) and I got an everything bagel stuffed with tempeh, tomatoes, and hummus (second picture)! We both got iced tea. I was stoked on the glasses.

On Sunday night, Matt and I decided to head to Sticky Rice for dinner. I had this awesome BOGO coupon and the weather was perfect for walking the few blocks over there.

OF COURSE you have to start any meal off there with their tots plus the vegan dipping sauce. For my entree, I ordered the mock chicken Szechuan with rice noodles. I was a happy girl.

This week is kind of busy so I don't think I'm going to get any baking done until Friday but my mind is on brownies!!! Mmm with cookies and cream Hersey's kisses. Any takers?

Eh

It's one of those kind of mornings. It was freaking hard to get out of my warm bed and work is slow. But last night I did get a little bit of baking done and my tummy was definitely happy from it.

 

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. No recipe, to be honest. Matt and I went to a K-Mart that was going out of business so we managed to get a lot of things for cheap and one of those things being Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix. All I did was throw in a few handfuls of chocolate chips and ta-da! They were tiny and delicious.

And secondly, let's talk a second about Nutella. The delicious Hazelnut and skim milk spread that makes any and everything better.

 

Including mini twist pretzels. I guess I'll get back to work now....or reading The Girl Who Played with Fire. Have a good weekend!

Spring has sprung

And I'm the happiest girl! On another note, these are the main staple of my diet lately. Perfect.

What a mess

Wow y'all. I am slacking on this blog!! I'm sorry. I'm just busy. Or sleeping. Mostly sleeping.

So I know I had mentioned this but last Thursday was Matt's birthday! I spent the night before getting so much baking done.

Being too tired to finish icing, I woke him up to these pretty little gems.

 

Red Velvet Cupcakes (Vegan)

Printable Recipe

Cupcake
Ingredients:

• 1 cup So Delicious brand unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups Arrowhead Mills brand organic enriched unbleached white flour
• 1 cup vegan granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons organic raw cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp vegan red food coloring
• 2 tsp Simply Organic brand vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line muffin pans with liners (in my case Halloween ones per request of my boyfriend).

Mix together the coconut milk and vinegar then set aside to curdle.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the oil, food coloring, and vanilla extract to the curdled soy milk. Mix well to combine.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and gently fold wet ingredients into dry, mixing until large lumps disappear. Do not over mix – small lumps are okay.

Fill cupcake liners about three-quarters full. Bake 18-20 minutes until done or until toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean

Cool cupcakes in the pan for a few minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack or surface to cool completely.

Frosting
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups vegan powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using a hand mixer, cream together the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese until just combined.

Whip in the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup batches. Scrape down the sides and mix until smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla.

Spread some frosting on each of the cupcakes. Serve and enjoy!

Tiramisu Cupcakes with Coffee Icing! These were the biggest hit and all the boys ate them up so fast. I got this recipe over at Becky Bakes but made a few big changes in the icing only because I was using what I had on hand. Please make these!! I will be baking up a batch again very soon.

I gave Matt the choice of going out to breakfast and dinner anywhere he wanted, my treat. This handsome babe chose The Black Sheep to start our day.

He ordered The Barn & Bay Breakfast sandwich: Scrambled eggs mixed with crab meat, country ham, green onion & Swiss cheese on buttered & griddled Texas toast and I got the Green Eggs & Lamb: Baked frittata with pistou, spinach, green onions & derby sage cheddar topped with a grilled lamb sausage and garnished with sauce verte. Served with toasted baguette. They were both extremely delicious!

We spent the day sleeping and just hanging out, I'm pretty sure it's cause it started raining, but we ended up at Alamo BBQ for dinner. Now, let me just preface what I'm about to say with this fact: Alamo is hands down the best place to get a perfect BBQ pork sandwich. I would choose theirs over anything but DAMN were we disappointed with the ribs. I'm too bummed to even elaborate.

As we headed home from dinner, little did Matt know that I had a surprise waiting back at the apartment....

I got Matty's closest friends to be hiding in our living room when we got home from dinner with an ice cream cake lit up with candles. He had no idea! It was a great surprise and a good day.

Waking up on Friday, we were welcomed with so much sunshine! We made our usual stop at Starbucks to kill some time before our showtime for the museum. These next two pictures are to showcase a few things; 1. my new love for soy green tea lattes no foam no simple syrup extra hot mmm, and 2. how perfect we are together.

More about that showtime. We went to the VMFA for the Mummy exhibit! It was cool. We got to watch a 3D film and then roamed around without realizing how big the new museum actually is. Holy crap! It was great. This was one of my favorite pieces from the Russian Orthodox Divine images.

 

Onto Sunday! I woke up a bit early to make us breakfast and spoil him with breakfast in bed. Below you will see a beautiful, wonderful, perfect from scratch whole wheat waffle with fresh banana, homemade organic almond butter, and chocolate chips topped with whipped cream. Yeah, I made that.

For dinner that night we got to be treated in celebration of both Matt and Mackenzie's birthdays! Their mom took us to The Hard Shell. I'll let my descriptions speak for themselves. Let's get started then.

 

To start we ordered Fresh Cut Shoe String Fries: Sea salt, malt vinegar, chipotle aioli and Flash Fried Calamari with Sweet chili lime dipping sauce. That calamari. Oh. My. Goodness.

 

For my entree (excuse the picture, I was in a rush to eat for good reason) both Matt and I ordered the Rib and Crab Combos: ½ rack ribs, ½ lb. dungeness crab legs, potato croquette, asparagus. Only change was that we both got broccolini instead. 

 

My dessert: the brownie served a la mode. Alongside this was Matt's NY Cheesecake, Mackenzie's creme brulee, Nicole's brownie, and Quinton's key lime pie. We were all feeling good at the end of this meal.

Only one more day until my weekend! Yes! I promise (I really do) that I will post again before then however. I'm thinking fried chicken and waffles soon. Or cherry coke cupcakes. So many ideas!

Oof

I know, I know. I'm so behind on posts but I have A LOT to update on! I realize none of this is in chronological order but I'm too lazy and it's been a long week. First up!

A few days ago a package arrived in the mail and this little baby has been added to my family :-) I am smitten! The very next morning I was in total waffle mode.

I decided to wake up early to make Matt and I breakfast. I came up with this recipe (plus threw some extras in the mix!)

Whole Wheat Waffles
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup Arrowhead Mills brand organic enriched unbleached white flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup So Delicious unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
• 1 tsp Simply Organic brand vanilla extract

*Please note you can use any milk or non-dairy milk substitute and while the first time I made these, I separated the yolks from the whites and beat the whites to a stiff peak before folding in, it made no difference from the second batch where I just threw in the whole egg.

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In a separate mixing bowl beat together eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture all at once. Stir mixture until blended. 

Spray your waffle maker with a non-stick! Pour batter onto preheated waffle maker. Depending on your particular one, they will take anywhere from 3-5 minutes to your desired doneness.

Top with whatever ya want (I topped mine up there with homemade almond butter [see how I made that a bit later] and strawberry jelly), throw in some chocolate chips (like I did for Matt's!!), or even do a savory combo.

 

I wish I could keep track of what days I did what but the second time around getting to use my new toy, I used the same whole wheat recipe, cut in half, then added cooked sausage and mild cheddar cheese. These were a total hit with Matt!!! And tasted delicious with sugar-free syrup.

On this past Sunday, Matt and I spent our entire day in a driving class. Don't ask why.....but I've gotten to the point where I take pictures of all our food and I have to give Sonic a serious high five for how good these sweet potato tots were and as always, the diet cherry-lime aid with the crushed ice. YUM.

 

I think this was last Thursday night (I swear everything is a big blur you guys) but I came home and realized I had way too many almonds in the pantry. I decided to make some homemade almond butter. Needless to say, my roommate Erin and I have been two very happy girls.

 

*The recipe is really not a recipe at all: throw your almonds into a food processor and process until it is the consistency of thick butter. Refrigerate and enjoy!!! Preferably on a piece of whole wheat toast with fresh strawberries or bananas and a drizzle of organic raw honey.

Now for the best brunch I've made to date. Ok, Matt will get mad if I don't fess up. I didn't even make these. I just mixed the batter and put the goodies inside. Onto the Nutella, strawberry, banana, and whipped cream stuffed crepes. So dreamy.

AND as if all that food is not enough, last Friday, Matt and I met up with his family for dinner to celebrate his grandmother's birthday. I was so excited to get to finally try Firebirds Wood Fired Grill!!! For an appetizer Matt and I split the ranch battered onion rings.

 

And for my main course I ordered the filet and shrimp with a fully loaded baked potato. I could only eat a quarter of my meal but I was sitting in a food coma just as happy as could be.

 

Then Saturday we had a date night including a late night dinner at Mary Angela's, a stop at Sweet Frog, and then seeing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at the Byrd. It was a nice night.

Tomorrow is my boyfriend's birthday which means that tonight I will be baking up a storm and will have two different cupcake recipes PLUS we are going to breakfast and out to dinner per request of Matt AND to dinner on Friday with Matt's dad AND today was his younger sister's birthday (Happy Birthday Mackenzie!!!!! :-) so we are also going to the Melting Pot for dinner on Sunday. Expect another big post Monday. Have a great weekend y'all!!!

 

P.S. Lololol I love this picture of them so much. Adorable kids. How mad will they both be when they see this?! Happy birthday you two!