Summertime means….

Summertime means a lot of things: warm weather, swimsuits, cute sundresses, sunglasses, (sunburns), and family time.  Summer is also a time when lots of my favorite foods are in season like berries, corn on the cob, and ice cream.  Ice cream is always in season for me, but it just seems right in the summer. Summertime food also includes grilling!  I’m not a huge meat fan, but I do love a good cheeseburger, or in this case turkey burger…

 

These turkey burgers were super yummy, and really easy to put together.  My whole family liked them which is saying a lot because they’re a bunch of beef lovers.

 

Turkey Burgers (Makes 5 burgers)

adapted from Annie’s Eats

1.3 lbs ground turkey

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/3 cup onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tbsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat.  Add the chopped onion and saute about 3 mintues.  Add the garlic to the skillet and cook about 2 minutes longer, until the onion is tender.

 

Add the onion mixture to a mixing bowl.  Add ground turkey, salt, pepper, and herbs to this bowl.  Mix well to blend all ingredients.  Form this mixture into 5 evenly sized patties.  Cook on grill about 4-6 minutes per side, until burgers are cooked through.

XOXO,

Jamie

 

Breakfast Smoothie

I woke up this morning.  I brushed my teeth, washed my face, did my hair and makeup, and got dressed.  At this point my stomach was feeling pretty empty.  I looked around the kitchen and nothing quite sounded right.

Reese Puffs: no.

Bagel: no.

Peanut Butter Toast: no.

Eggs: no.

Pop Tarts: Ew…definitely no.

But I was hungry! Then the overripe bananas sitting on the counter struck me with inspiration. It dawned on me: at that very moment I needed a strawberry banana smoothie.

So that’s what I made! I got out my mom’s Ninja (It’s a really nice blender she bought on an infomercial), and in less than 5 minutes, I had the perfect breakfast.

What you’ll need:

1 super ripe banana

1-2 cups strawberries

milk (enough to reach desired consistency ~1 cup)

Add everything to a blender, blend, and enjoy!

XOXO,

Jamie

Tay is 18!

My little sister Taylor turns 18 today! I’m still not ready to let go of our younger years.  We used to have so much fun just acting like goofballs all the time. Now we’re both grown-ups. I really don’t embrace change very well, and I definitely hate growing up. She still has one more year of high school though before she goes to college and actually becomes an adult.

Of course what’s a birthday without a cake? Well…it’s not really a birthday in my opinion.  Because Taylor is all grown up now, I made a grown up mocha cake with mocha frosting.  The cake is just a doctored up cake mix, and the frosting is home-made but easy.

Cake:

1 chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines triple chocolate)

Make cake as directed.  Instead of using water in the cake mix, use coffee.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, melted

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup black coffee

6 cups powdered sugar

Mix butter, cocoa powder, and coffee.  Slowly mix in powdered sugar until incorporated.

XOXO,

Jamie

Peanut Butter Bars

Last night my sister needed a treat to take to school today. She wanted to make these fantastic taco roll ups my mom makes, but we didn’t have all the ingredients.  We did, however, have a couple boxes of brownie mix and cake mix.  We both thought that brownies were too typical, and we didn’t have frosting for a cake.  Lucky for us though, there was a recipe on the side of the Pillsbury Golden Butter Cake mix for peanut butter bars.
These bars are super quick to make, and they’re delicious.  We slightly adapted the recipe because the topping called for chocolate frosting mixed with peanut butter (and as I previously mentioned, we didn’t have any frosting!).  Instead, we just melted Hershey Chocolate bars and spread the melted chocolate over top of the bars.  It turned out great!

Peanut Butter Bars

Recipe adapted from Pillsbury

1 Golden Butter Cake mix

1/3 cup water

1 egg

1 cup peanut butter

3 full size Hershey Bars
Mix cake mix, water, egg, and peanut butter until blended.  Pour into greased 9×13 baking dish.  Bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes. Remove the bars from the oven.  Melt the chocolate bars and smooth chocolate over the peanut butter bars.  It will take a while for the chocolate to set, so to speed up the process, you can put the dish in the fridge.  Once the chocolate sets, cut into bars and enjoy!

XOXO,

Jamie

I made a hat!

I found a new hobby this year!  I learned to knit!  I first learned to knit from watching youtube videos.  It was frustrating though, and it wasn’t super fun to knit all by myself.  I joined the knitting exco (short for experimental college) and fell in love with knitting.  I got pretty good at it too!  Exco’s are student or townspeople taught classes at Oberlin that you can take for 1 credit or just for fun.  There are tons of excos ranging from swing dancing to the Harry Potter exco to Brazilian jiu jitsu.  Excos are great.  I had so much fun knitting every Monday during class.  It’s a really fun activity for watching tv or movies and keeping your hands busy.

Without further ado, here’s the hat I knitted!  It’s a newborn hat that can be used in baby photography.  My sister does photography, so I’m really excited for her to be able to use it in a photo shoot!

XOXO,

Jamie

The end of the school year…

So I’m sitting here in my dorm room at Oberlin College.  It’s the last day I’ll spend here in three months *sigh*.  As much as I hate being stressed out, worrying about grades, and writing papers, I love this place.  I’m sad to leave.

I can’t believe an entire year has gone by. I remember moving into Oberlin. I was still deep into my anorexia, and I probably should have taken some time off to work on myself.  But, being me, I couldn’t fathom taking any time off school. Transferring to Oberlin was scary.  I thought I would hate it just like I hated my previous school.  I thought that maybe I just wasn’t cut out for college. I’m happy to say that I was wrong though.  Oberlin is perfect for me.

Oberlin is like a strange little hippie haven in rural Ohio.  It’s unlike any other place I’ve ever been in Ohio.  It’s such a counterculture in comparison to everything I grew up with.  At any other college campus I’ve been to, girls walk around wearing their Northfaces, Ugg boots, and Coach purses. Not at Oberlin.  Showering is optional.  Shaving is definitely optional.  Most of the time, clothing is also optional. It’s a fun little place.

Finals time is crazy at Oberlin.  The entire student population walks around campus looking like zombies.  It’s not uncommon to see students making the “walk of shame” out of the library after staying there the entire night. There’s the beer fairy and naked runs through Mudd (If you go to Oberlin, you know what I’m talking about). I’m ready for finals to be over, but I’m not ready to leave my little piece of paradise.

XOXO,

Jamie

Hey everyone!

This blog is about my journey from self-deprivation to self-love.  I’ve suffered from eating disorders, and although I’m still a work in progress, I’ve made great strides in self-acceptance and self-nurturance.  I would like to share my journey with you all!

A little more about me:  I’m a college sophomore, and after I finish my undergraduate degree in Biology, I’m planning to attend medical school.  I love shopping, all things pink, and I’m a feminist.  I watch junky television shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.  I love reading and video games!

My philosophy on food and exercise:  There was a time when all I ate was plain lettuce and I forced myself to work out for three hours a day. NO MORE!  Food is beautiful, nourishing, and nothing to be afraid of.  I try to eat foods full of nutrients to fuel my body.  That being said, I have a sweet tooth and love a decadent indulgence.  I mostly avoid processed foods because they leave me feeling icky.  On the topic of exercise, I really just don’t.  I like to go for walks, and when the weather gets nicer in Ohio, I ride my bike.  However, I haven’t gotten to a place where I can comfortably exercise in the gym.  It reminds me too much of a time when I exercised to rid my body of calories instead of to take care of myself.

This blog will be a little about my life, a little about self-acceptance, and a lot about delicious food.  It’s finals time though, and I live in a dorm, so the first foodie post should arrive in approximately two weeks.

XOXO,

Jamie