Monthly Pinspiration

It's the most wonderful time of the year. I love the Christmas music, decorations, homemade goodies from neighbors, parties with friends, and all the fun holiday festivities with the family. 

I was so inspired this month that I am sharing three more pins: 

8 Tutorials to Get Beautiful Holiday Photos

Source: Kevin & Amanda

Their website has a ton of tips, tricks, and advice on photography, plus a lot of other fun stuff. Find the post about creating your own beautiful holiday photos, here.

Found on my Pinterest Board "Photography Ideas" 

How To Make Your Own Wreath

Source: Fellow Fellow

I love this pin. It shows step-by-step instructions on how to make a wreath using fresh plants. Find out how to make your very own wreath, here.

Found on my Pinterest Board "Winter Holidays"

Gingerbread Snowflakes

Source: Chasing Delicious

I love homemade gingerbread cookies! They are one of my favorite holiday treats. This lovely website gives you a recipe for gingerbread cookies as well as illustrations on how to decorate them like perfect snowflakes. Find the recipe, here.

Found on my Pinterest Board "Winter Holidays"

You can find me (and follow me) on Pinterest, here.

Monthly Pinspiration

I am a huge fan of Pinterest. I absolutely love spending time going through all of the amazing pins and getting inspiration to try new recipes, make new crafts, and travel to new, fun places. I thought that since I have so many wonderful pins (well, I think they are wonderful), that I would share three of them a month, which I will call "Monthly Pinspiration." 

Here are three pins that inspired me this month: 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Source: Bakerella

Original Source: Love and Olive Oil (The Cookie Dough Lovers Cookbook)

I made these today and they were very simple to make and incredibly delicious. Find the recipe, here.

Found on my Pinterest Board "Party and Event Ideas"

Handmade Holiday | Woodland Wrapping

Source: Odessa May Society

I love this. It's simple, pretty, and probably smells really good. 

Find out how to create this beautiful gift wrapping, here.  

Found on my Pinterest Board "Winter Holidays"

Enjoy The Little Things

Original Source: Unknown 

I just love this saying. I think that especially this time of year we need to just relax, slow down, and enjoy the little things, too. 

Found on my Pinterest Board "Words To Live By"

You can find me (and follow me) on Pinterest, here. 

Top Five: Favorite Drinks On-The-Go

When I'm heading out for a day on the town or even a trip to the grocery store I usually make sure that I have my reusable cup filled with ice and water. But when my water is gone or I feel like something else then I usually grab one of the following delicious, healthy, and quenching drinks: 

Evolution Fresh Juice

Evolution Fresh juices are delicious fruit and/or veggie blends that can be found at Starbucks. They are made up of only fresh cold-pressed fruits and vegetables with no other added ingredients. I love all of the different flavors.

Roxberry Green Smoothie 

The green smoothies offered at Roxberry were created by the Green Smoothie Girl, Robyn Openshaw. She is a nutrition coach, public speaker, and bestselling author. You can find her website, here. Green Smoothie Girl recommends drinking green smoothies to detoxify the body, lose weight, increase energy, prevent heart disease, lower cholesterol, and boost the immune system. My favorite green smoothie at Roxberry is the 32 oz. Green Smoothie Girl Original which has 200 calories and 15 servings of raw fruits and veggies (15!!) and 12 grams of fiber. It has spinach, kale, mixed berries, peaches, bananas, and agave. 

Smart Water 

My favorite bottled water is Smart Water. It tastes clean and fresh and I drink a lot of it. 

Mamma Chia

Mamma Chia, the original chia seed drink, provides a complete nutritional profile of omega-3, balanced dietary fiber, complete protein, antioxidants, and minerals. They are all-natural and fairly low in calories. I have tried most of the flavors and have loved all of them. Read more about why I love chia seeds, here. Find my homemade smoothie recipe made with chia seeds, here. (I now add chia seeds to every smoothie I make.)

Silk Pure Almond Dark Chocolate

Silk Pure Almond Milk in Dark Chocolate is one of my guilty pleasures. I drink almond milk on a daily basis, but the chocolate almond milk is a treat. It's rich and creamy and perfect for on the go since it doesn't need to be refrigerated. Although I do recommend drinking it chilled. 

Fifty Shades Of Grey

I just ordered Fifty Shades of Grey (the first book in the Fifty Shades Trilogy) by EL James from Amazon. I have had so many people tell me that I have to read these books. They warned me that this series would most likely be rated "R" (or worse) if made into a movie so for those of you that thought the Twilight series was a little risque, these books are definitely not for you. I will post my review soon.

Peanut Butter Banana "Ice Cream"

If you love ice cream but don't really love the fat and long list of ingredients on the carton, then you have to try this easy, healthy, four-ingredient "ice cream." It's delicious and creamy and my new favorite summer treat (click here to see my other favorite healthy summertime treat).

Peanut Butter Banana "Ice Cream"

1 Frozen Banana, Sliced (click here for tips on freezing bananas)

1 Tbsp. All-Natural Peanut Butter 

2 Tbsp. Vanilla Almond Milk

1/8 tsp. Cinnamon

Put ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Serves 1

Resolution 1: Eat Even More Healthy

"The food you eat can either be the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison." - Ann Wigmore

You probably already know that I love fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meats, and low-fat dairy. I try and buy all of these foods all-natural or organic and make most meals from scratch. I crave healthy food. But the reason I am not a size six is because I still have some pretty bad habits holding me back. My worst habit is my insatiable sweet tooth. I love cake, cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, etc. 

One of my 2012 resolutions is to eat even more healthy less-processed and organic foods. Before I start working on my other resolutions I am going to focus the next month on getting my bad eating habits and emotional eating under control. I am really going to work on cutting back on portion sizes, cutting back on sweets and learning to have them in moderation, and continue to keep fried and processed foods out of our diet. I have also picked up a pretty bad habit at work - I have a Venti Raspberry White Chocolate Mocha (640 calories) that I will now replace with a Grande Non-fat Latte (130 calories). 

One of the main reasons I have to become the healthiest version of myself is for my little girl. Of course I want her to love healthy foods and have an active lifestyle, but I don't want her to ever have a bad body image because of me. I need to be the best role model I can be. I have seen so many young girls pick up on their Moms bad habits of never ending dieting or self-destructive criticism (calling themselves fat or worthless). They don't need to see/hear that from the person they look up to the most. Am I right? 

If we eat healthy as a family and stay active as a family I am hoping that will not be another thing for her to deal with in the future. I want to teach her that diets are only temporary and that a healthy lifestyle is forever.

Andes Mint Cupcakes

A favorite dessert at my house are mini Andes Mint cupcakes. They are so easy to make, just the right size, and so chocolaty and delicious. I used my Andes Mint cake recipe but made it into cupcakes with buttercream frosting. What makes them so easy to make is because they are made with a boxed cake mix. I would usually prefer to make cupcakes from scratch, but who doesn't love a really easy, delicious recipe once in a while? I do.

First, I will share the cake recipe and then I will let you know what I did to make it into cupcakes. (I do suggest making the cake recipe at least once - it will make you an instant hit. Everyone loves this cake! It is super moist and minty.)

Andes Mint Cake
1 Milk Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Large Package Instant Chocolate Pudding
2 Eggs
1 3/4 Cups Milk
1 Package Andes Mint Chips (divided in half)

Mix the first four ingredients together until blended. Add half of the package of Andes Mint chips into the batter and mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. After you remove the cake from the oven, sprinkle the other half of Andes Mint chips onto the cake and spread until even and melted.

To make cupcakes I mix the batter as directed above and then fill 35 2-ounce souffle cups (aka nut cups) 1/2 of the way full. If using souffle cups you can just line them up on a cookie sheet since they are strong enough to stand on their own. 

I bake them for about 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Keep checking on them and remember when you insert a toothpick and it comes out with chocolate on it - it may just be a melted Andes Mint. Next, I topped them with buttercream frosting (see below) and add green food coloring to it until it becomes a mint green. 

Last, I made the decoration to go on the cupcakes. I melted the remaining Andes Mint chips and put small amounts, about the size of a nickel, on wax paper to harden. Then I melted white chocolate melting chips, then mixed it with green food coloring until it was a mint green, and then put it in a frosting bag and just cut the bottom of the bag so only a little of chocolate would come out. Then I crisscrossed it across the melted Andes Mints. 

Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup Butter (room temperature)
2 Tablespoon Whole Milk
1 Tablespoon Vanilla (I prefer Madagascar Bourbon)
3 cups Powdered Sugar
Green Food Coloring

Frosting Tips: I use tip size #807 for regular cupcakes and size #806 for minis. I use disposable 12-16" decorating bags and just cut a hole big enough in the bottom for the tip to fit about half-way through. I start my frosting swirl in the middle of the cupcake, work out toward the edge, swirl around the bottom and then work in and up. It's easy and just takes a little practice.

Top Five: Cookies

Today I made a batch of some of my favorite cookies, peanut butter no-bake cookies (which were made with mostly organic ingredients). I know, it's only the 4th day of January and most people are well on their way to healthier eating, but I was craving something sweet. And sweets are okay in moderation. One cookie with a glass of skim-milk totally hit the spot. Before I share the no-bake cookie recipe with you, I thought I would share my top five favorite bakery cookies. I personally think they are the best cookies you will find in Salt Lake City. So, here they are in no particular order:

RubySnap Vivianna Cookie: It has mangos and dark chocolate in a citrus dough and it is truly mouthwatering. I actually love all the cookies at RubySnap. They are all made with fresh, high-quality ingredients. I also love that you can buy the dough frozen and bake them at home. 

Nordstrom Coffee Bar Sugar Cookie: This cookie can be found at the Fashion Place Mall location. It is a delicious sugar cookie with an absolutely fabulous buttercream frosting. I heart them! 

Schmidt's Pastry Cottage Mint Sandwich Cookie: Two chocolate cookies dipped in chocolate with mint frosting sandwiched in between. They are minty deliciousness.

Mrs. Fields Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie: Who hasn't had one of these cookies? Right up there with the best chocolate chip cookies ever. 

The Sweet Tooth Fairy Small Sugar Cookie: I love this cookie because it's baked to perfection. It's a tiny bit doughy which I love and it has an amazingly tasty buttercream frosting that tastes like it has a hint of coconut in it.

Now, as promised, here is my favorite no-bake cookie recipe:

Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

2 T cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla 

2 cups old fashioned oatmeal (I like to use quick oats)

Mix the sugar, butter, cocoa, and milk in a medium saucepan. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from stove and add the peanut butter and vanilla. Mix quickly until peanut butter melts, then add the oatmeal and mix until well blended. Drop spoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper. Allow time to set and cool completely. (Note: Cookies may not set up on a humid day.)

Makes 2 dozen 3-inch cookies

And next week I am making these cookies found on Pinterest: New York Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. Don't they look amazing? I think so.