Carrot Cake Energy Balls

Ask me what my favorite cake is and I’ll immediately exclaim, “Carrot Cake!” This is my adult answer. My inner 10-year-old silently responds with “Funfetti Cake.” Not gonna lie, that pure white cake scattered with rainbow sprinkles makes me smile. But carrot cake? That’s just pure goodness. Or as Tom Haverford would say, “a big ole cookie.”

This is one excited face ready to devour a carrot cake:

I’ve made my own carrot cake once. It took a long time and I made a huge mess. Was it worth it? Yes. Would I do it again? Maybe for someone really freaking special. In the meantime, I’ll keep making a (much) healthier and quicker version.

Carrot Cake Energy Bites

adapted from Baking Serendipity

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup shredded carrots
• 1/4 raw almonds, quartered (or chopped)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup milled flaxseed
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup

Preparation

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together oats, shredded carrots, almonds, raisins, flaxseed, and cinnamon.
2. Add almond butter and maple syrup and stir until evenly combined.
3. Place mixture in refrigerator for at least one hour.
4. Shape mixture into one-inch balls. Makes about 18-20.

This is the next best thing to carrot cake, I promise. Not only do you get a similar flavor from them, you get natural energy! Toss one back before a workout and you’re golden.

Toss two back and you might explode with happiness.

Rosemary, Walnut, and Raisin Crackers

Over the Summer I fell head over heels in love with the Rosemary & Raisin Crisps from Trader Joe’s. My grandmother had them in her pantry, and since then, I’ve bought many, many boxes. But at $3.99 a box (containing just 5 servings), this love affair was doing damage to my budget. It was time to make my own.

Now I’m sure many of you are thinking “Make your own crackers? What? Impossible.” In fact, while I was making these my little brother said, “You can make crackers at home? I thought you need a machine or something.”

I did a little research, stalked a few blogs, scanned the ingredient list on the box of crisps, and got to work on making my own crackers. After a few batches, I had a recipe that I was very happy with. Perhaps too happy, as the crackers seem to disappear much faster than I can burn them off.

Rosemary, Walnut and Raisin Crackers

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup skim milk + 1 tbsp. lemon juice)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup raisins, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 350*. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add buttermilk and sugar and stir just until combined.
2. Add raisins, walnuts, flax seed, and rosemary and stir until evenly mixed.
3. Pour the batter into a loaf pan that has been coated with nonstick spray. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling.
4. To slice the bread, it has to be completely cooled. Sticking it in the freezer for an hour helps speed up this process. Next, slice the loaf as thin as you can and place in a single layer on a baking sheet.
5. Reduce heat to 300* and bake for 15 minutes. Flip crackers over and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Makes about 4 dozen crackers.

Don’t be weirded out by the flavor combo. I, along with Sierra, will attest that it is incredible and pretty mind blowing with a chunk of goat cheese. Yes, we went there. You’ll love these so much, you’ll want to eat the whole batch in a day. It’s probably a good idea to package some up for your neighbor, best friend, professor…anyone with a mouth, really. Aside from tasting so similar to the Trader Joe’s crisps, your wallet and your schedule will thank you. They’re much cheaper to make at home, and mixing the batter takes about 5 minutes.

Do it. Do it. Do it.

And then report back. I know you’re going to tell me that you loved them and you had no idea how easy it was to make crackers at home.

Which baked goods are you too intimidated to make at home? One day I’ll make macarons. One day.

What’s your favorite thing to bake? Cookies!

Highlights From My Weekend

To say this weekend was low key would be an understatement. But don’t you worry, I had plenty of fun.

Friday: I picked up my little brother after school so we could hang out for the weekend. He’s 16 and all he does is EAT. I’m jealous of how much he can get away with eating!

I ate my delicious leftovers from Mi Xao, a new Vietnamese restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. Eric and I went on Thursday night and it was everything I hoped it would be. I ask for a combination of two types of pho. My bowl had shrimp, rice noodles, ginger broth, bean sprouts, basil, lime, jalapeno slices, cilantro, onion, and scallions.

Eric had the wonton pho. We also had the spring rolls, pot stickers, and a can of coconut juice. Okay, I had the coconut juice. I wish you had seen Eric’s face when he tried it. He was not a fan. I happily drank it.

I’m fond of any restaurant that keeps a gigantic bottle of Sriracha on the table. Please look at my broth in the above picture. Now look at this picture, after I had clearly added a ton of the magical sauce. I left with teary eyes and a watery nose.

Saturday: I woke up and made my new favorite breakfast: a pretzel Flatout wrap + scrambled eggs (1 egg, 2 whites) + avocado + Sriracha.

I signed Amanda and myself up for the Charleston 1/2 Marathon. Eeehh, it’s real!

I browsed Hobby Lobby for some craft ideas and ended up finding a birthday present for Rachel…and a majorly sassy glue gun.

I went for an easy 4-mile run around I’On then proceeded to get LOST in the DARK for 30 minutes. I couldn’t find my car and had to map myself with my phone. Typical!

The little brother and I made dinner, watched movies, and ate too much candy and frozen yogurt. Later I suffered from some serious FOMO when I received this text from Danielle:

Sunday: I made crackers. Yes, crackers. I’ve made these twice now and feel the recipe is ready for the blog! Stay tuned. If you’re my friend on instagram, you already know that they contain rosemary, raisins, and walnuts. It’s a fantastic combo, trust me.

Amanda and I started Week 3 of our 1/2 marathon training.

I love having a workout schedule mapped out for the next 10 weeks. I’ll share it with you soon! Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

What were the highlights of your weekend?

What was the best thing you ate?

The Friday Five 7.20.12

1. What I’m Reading: Though I’m still reading Gone Girl for book club, I picked up a heavy stack of books that I had put on reserve at the library.

The one I’m most excited to peruse is The Naked Foods Cookbook.

2. What I’m Eating: We’re pretty fortunate to have a cafeteria at Blackbaud, even if it means that Rachel and I spend a silly amount of money there, just out of convenience. This week, I had a delicious lunch: sundried tomato wrap with turkey, feta, roasted red peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, banana peppers, and hummus. Why does a wrap/sandwich always taste better when someone else makes it?

3. What I’m Listening to: Another good song by The Airborne Toxic Event.

4. Recipes I’m Bookmarking: Carrot, Almond, and Raisin Energy Bites.

5. GIFs I’m Loving: 

WHEN I’M TOO LAZY TO PUT ON MASACARA

So true!

WHEN I FIND THE MOTIVATION TO GO TO THE GYM

BEFORE:

DURING:

Happy weekend, friends!

VLOG: Chick-fil-A Multigrain Oatmeal

My obsession with Chick-fil-A causes me to wake up at the crack of dawn so I can vlog about new products. Please enjoy the awkward video below.

From the Chick-fil-A site, here is the menu description:

Here is the nutritional information for the plain oatmeal:

And with toppings (dried fruit, nuts, brown sugar & cinnamon):

To see the ketchup video, click here.

Hmmm…what should I vlog about next? Your ideas are welcome!

XO!

Baking Carrot Cake Cookies in Gym Attire

Around 5 a.m. this morning, a nasty storm came through Mt. Pleasant. It was so loud that it woke me up and I thought the world was ending. No joke! It shook me up so much that I couldn’t go back to sleep. I must also mention that I didn’t fall asleep until about 1 a.m. So running on 4 hours of sleep, I decided to start working at home.

By the end of the day, I knew I should go to the gym, but I was exhausted. I know better than to go to the gym when I’m overtired. I end up doing a pathetic workout and feeling like crap rather than energized. Boo.

So I skipped and baked instead. This makes total sense, right? I decided to leave my gym clothes on and get in the kitchen!

The dough was so good, I didn’t really want to bake it. I just kept looking at it.

And then I ate some.

And some more. Even though it looks like I’m kissing the dough…

I present to you…

Carrot Cake Cookies!
adapted from the Brown Eyed Baker

Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup raisins
• ½ cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375*.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and cinnamon.
3. With a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another minute. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.  Carefully mix in the carrots, coconut, raisins and walnuts.
4. Spoon cookie dough onto a baking sheets. Baking for 15-18 minutes or until slightly browned.



These cookies are tender but full of texture from the carrots, coconut, raisins and walnuts. They taste very similar to carrot cake, but almost in soft muffin-cookie form. I used much less butter than the original recipe which made my cookies softer. If you’d like a crumbly cookie, use the original recipe. 

While I was baking, Santo sent me a message saying I needed to meet him later to pick up my birthday present. I love experimenting with new cookies and Santo is my go-to cookie taster! He is always honest and I’m glad to provide him with sugar. He’s such a great friend – it’s the least I can do!
Now my present from Santo…oh my goodness, another pickle present!
Not only do these say “Tickle my pickle” but they glow in the dark. Hahahaha.

I must admit, if I met a guy and he wore these, I’d be a tad bit concerned, wouldn’t you? However, rolled over 3 times and worn by me, they are pretty stinkin’ cute!

Ignore the rather large bruises. I am a clumsy mess.
Thanks Santo!! 

Snowpocalypse 2011: The Day We Had No Snow

Sunday evening news reports were claiming icy rain and possible snow in Charleston on Monday. We already had flurries a couple weeks ago, so I wasn't really surprised. Charleston is the new North. Except the people aren't rude. (I am originally a Masshole, I am allowed to say that.) I begrudgingly got out of bed at 7:30, got ready, and headed into work. On my way there, Victoria called me and yelled "TURN AROUND! The office is closed!" I nearly screamed into the phone like a 5-year-old, veered onto the next exit ramp, and turned around to go home. I was overjoyed! But on my way home, I spent over an HOUR on the Ravenel bridge. I saw 5 different accidents, with cars facing all different directions. Maybe one or two of these accidents were caused from black ice, but I actually think people just panic while driving under "inclement weather conditions" and end up driving worse than I do. Which is really, really bad. 

So how did I spend my random Monday off? 

As soon as I got back home, Lucy asked if I wanted to go to Target. That was a big fat yes. She, Rebecca, and I spent well over an hour in every department in Target (other than Men’s and the baby section, of course). Purchases included some rainbow-heart printed dish towels (very necessary), chocolate, mints, biore strips, and other womanly things. These are all things worth driving in the Snowpocalypse for. 

We also made a quick stop at the pet store. Now here's why Lucy might also be a bad driver. Instead of letting me get out to move this grocery cart, she said, "Don't worry about it! It's fine." And just parked. Like this. Haha.

When we got home, we did what we do best: sit on the couch with our laptops and surround ourselves with  magazines, books, and food. We usually leave the t.v. on too - any random channel will do. Every 5 minutes it seems that one of us asks the other, "Um, what are we watching?" or "Why are we watching Rachael Ray? She is soooo annoying." or "You can totally change it if you want." Yet we never really change the channel.

Lucy was itching to bake something so I suggested we make homemade granola. We again decided to brave Snowpocalypse 2011 to pick up supplies at Whole Foods. Very worth it. I was inspired by the Carrot Cake granola on Allie's blog, but I made mine a little differently.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup rice crisp cereal
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1 tsp apple pie spice (or 1 tsp total of cinnamon + nutmeg + all spice)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup raisins (save for the end)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325*. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together oats, coconut, cereal, carrots, walnuts, raisins, and apple pie spice, and salt. 2. Add honey, pineapple juice, and vanilla extract. Stir until dry mixture is fully coated.3. Spread mixture evenly over a baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping granola halfway through baking time.4. Once cooled, toss raisins into granola.

This granola can be enjoyed by the handful, over Greek yogurt, or atop oatmeal.

Immediately after baking, I again braved Snowpocalypse 2011 so I could go to Spin class. Today was my first class with David Cross, and he is fantastic! His high-energy level was so encouraging, and I loved how during our cool down song, he came around and high-fived everyone. But my absolute favorite thing from yesterday's class was that he played Meatloaf's "I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” Now that is how I want to start my Mondays. With this guy:

After Spin class, I hurried to get ready to watch Auburn play in the National Championship game. At the end of the game, a 19-yard field goal by Wes Byrum at the end gave Auburn the National Championship, with a 22-19 win over the Oregon Ducks. Champagne bottles were definitely popped!(Look, I’m Asian!)

In summary, Snowpocalypse 2011 meant great things: shopping for unnecessary crap, watching mindless television, baking, exercising, and drinking champagne for football games. I decided that work is overrated and anyone willing to financially support these habits of mine should feel free to call me on my telephone. I may or may not silence your call and text you back. That's just what I do.

WAR EAGLE!