Blueberry Muffins

Hey ya’ll!

I’m all settled in at Oberlin. I’m interviewing for jobs (wish me luck!), and classes start Tuesday. I’ve been enjoying my free time here before classes start, but I’m pretty ready to get into a routine. There’s a lot of uncertainty in terms of the job situation and what my class schedule is going to be like. I’ve definitely talked about how uncertainty makes me anxious. It used to be pretty crippling, but now it’s just kind of an annoyance.

Today, in the midst of all this uncertainty, I found myself baking muffins. Baking is therapeutic in a multitude of ways. It’s physical. You can work through your anger by mixing, stirring, and measuring. It’s calculated and fail-proof; as long as you follow the directions of a trusted recipe, a handful of simple ingredients become something complex and amazing. It’s sensual in the smell of baking bread, the beauty of a frosted cake, the taste of a stolen spoonful of batter. Everything about baking makes me feel relaxed and at peace with myself.

Blueberry Muffins. They’re Charlie’s favorite, so I made them for him as kind of a welcome back to the United States and welcome back to Oberlin and welcome back into my life gift. He’s been in Peru for the last month, so I haven’t really had any contact with him aside from a couple emails.

This is a basic blueberry muffin recipe. It’s super easy and sure to please.

Blueberry Muffins

recipe courtesy of vegetarian.about.com

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.Spray bottoms of 2 1/2-inch muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.Beat egg until foamy in a small mixing bowl. Beat in oil and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Stir in blueberries. Make a well in the center and pour in liquid ingredients. Mix together with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened; no more than 25 to 30 strokes. Batter will be lumpy.Using an ice-cream scoop, fill the cups in the muffin pan. This will measure your batter equally for each muffin. Fill each muffin cup slightly more than half full. (Try to scoop only once for each cup; muffins will be lighter.)Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and muffins test done with a toothpick. Loosen with spatula and turn out. Best served warm.

Servings: 12

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Well my darlings, I’m spending the rest of my evening with a lovely lady by the name of Carrie Bradshaw. I just purchased the first season of Sex and the City, and I’m totally hooked.

XOXO,

Jamie

Microwave Apple+PB2+WIAW

Hello and happy Wednesday! As always, thanks to Jenn for hosting this lovely event. This week is dragging by thanks to the fact that I’m writing secondary application essays like a mad-woman. It’s all good though. I’m my best me when I’m busy.

I meant to chronicle my entire day’s worth of eats either yesterday or today, but silly me always forgets to take pictures of my food. So, instead, I’m just going to share a couple things I remembered to take pictures of.

What you see above is 1 apple sliced, topped generously with cinnamon and stevia, and microwaved for 2.5 minutes. After dinner yesterday I was still a little bit hungry, and I was craving something sweet. This just came to my mind, and I’m glad it did! It tasted like apple pie filling. After 2.5 minutes in the microwave, the apple slices are soft and HOT. Let them cool off for a couple minutes before digging in.

This may look like a regular bowl of oatmeal, but oh no, it most certainly is not! This is oatmeal with the addition of…

PB2! I just received my PB2 order from Amazon a couple days ago, and I am in love. I ordered both the original and the chocolate varieties, and they are both fantastic. So far I’ve had them mixed with water as per the package instructions, stirred into yogurt, and stirred into oatmeal. I love the added protein to my oatmeal. Plus the fact that it tastes like I’m eating a big bowl of warm peanut butter is pretty great too. I can’t wait to go home and be reunited with my blender- I’m gonna make some awesome PB2 smoothies!

Moving onto the theme for July’s WIAW: Fitness

As per usual, I’ve been going on lots of walks. I’ve also been doing some yoga.

So far I am loving it. I think it will really help me build some strength, and it’s really relaxing too.

Have you ever tried PB2? If so, what’s your favorite way to eat it!?

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten this week?

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday!

XOXO,

Jamie

For the Love of Brussel Sprouts

Normally I write my posts at night, but this post is coming to you right after breakfast! I have 15 minutes before I have to run off to class, dissect a tadpole/frog and then hopefully rock my chemistry exam!

15 minutes is totally enough time for a quick post.

Yesterday’s lunch: A turkey and blue cheese wrap with a side of roasted brussel sprouts. I should really try to eat more veggies. I naturally gravitate towards fruit or dairy for snacks and sides. I have a feeling that I will be on a brussel sprout kick for a while though because these hit the spot. I just tossed them with olive oil, salt, and garlic powder and baked them at 425 for about 25 minutes. The burnt parts are my favorite!

I just noticed that just about every sentence in that last paragraph starts with the word “I”…When I’m in a hurry, varied sentence structure is not a priority.

The purplest smoothie ever! My roommate thought I added food coloring to it because it was so purple. Nope. Just blueberries. In the mix is blueberries, cottage cheese, soy milk, and stevia. This was totally delicious, but my mouth was blue even after brushing my teeth. You’ve been warned.

My chapstick also makes an appearance in the above photo. Right now I am loving strawberry Carmex. My junior high/high school best friend, Megan, got me addicted to chapstick. She put it on like every 20 minutes, and the habit wore off on me.

And with that, I’m off to class. Have a good day friends! And may the chemistry gods be with me!

XOXO,

Jamie

 

You Won’t Believe It’s Not a Milkshake

Okay, I have to get to a chem review session in 20 minutes, so this post is going to be super quick.

I present to you The White Chocolate “Milkshake” that is SO DAMN GOOD You Won’t Believe It’s Actually NOT a Milkshake and is Actually Super Healthy.

Whew…that’s quite a mouthful, but no other name would do this creamy, frozen beverage justice. When I brainstormed this gem, I had super high hopes for it. I LOVE white chocolate. The outcome completely exceeded even my wildest expectations.

It all started a couple weeks ago when I was browsing the internet for new smoothie ideas. I kept reading about how a pinch of xanthan gum makes smoothies super thick and creamy…so I made a super major impulse buy and spent $10 for xanthan gum on Amazon. TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Today I got my xanthan gum in the mail, and I made this. I must warn you, the ingredient list is a little scary. Trust me on this one though!

White Chocolate “Milkshake”

1/2 cup cottage cheese

6-8 ice cubes

3 tsp stevia (or other sweetener of choice)

2 tsp Jello Brand Sugar Free White Chocolate Pudding Mix

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

enough soy milk (or milk of choice) to blend everything together (probably about a cup)

Put it all in a blender and blend. Enjoy bliss.

XOXO,

Jamie

 

The bestest healthy strawberry milkshake you will ever have the pleasure of drinking!

Alright ya’ll. I have a good one for you today. Yesterday I made the best smoothie ever. It tasted like a thick, creamy milkshake. It was so good, I made it again today. And I want another one right now…..but…..it’s past 8:00 pm.

I force myself to stop drinking liquids at 8:00 pm. If I don’t, I am up all night going to the bathroom. No lie. Even when I don’t drink anything past 8, I still get up once in the middle of the night. Sad times over here.

Was there ice cream in this aforementioned smoothie/milkshake/hybrid you ask? No… This smoothie is a super healthy snack and can easily be turned into a meal on the go with the addition of protein powder.

So I didn’t have a glass massive enough to fit all that smoothie in, and I hate doing dishes so I figured why not solve both problems by drinking it directly from the blender!? Roommate got a kick out of this one. I told her my blog is called CollegeGirlCooking for a reason.

Strawberry Milkshake Amazingness

1 cup frozen strawberries

1/2 cup cottage cheese (SERIOUSLY! You will love this I promise!)

3 tsp sugar or stevia or whatever sweetener your heart desires

enough milk of choice to reach desired consistency. I probably used about a cup of 2%. I never measure the liquid I add to smoothies. I just add a little, then keep adding more until is it justtttt rightttt.

Put everything in the blender. Blend. Voila. Super protein packed delicious milkshake-esque smoothie. The cottage cheese makes the smoothie super creamy and more like a milkshake rather than a smoothie. Like I said, you can add a scoop or two of protein powder and make this smoothie into a meal on the go.

Also, random thought, but some cocoa powder could also be a super great add in. Chocolate covered strawberry milkshake? I might just have to try that out tomorrow.

I’m going to relax the rest of this Wednesday evening. I totally need and deserve it after a day of super hard-core studying. I hope you all can have a restful evening as well.

XOXO,

Jamie

My favorite snacks and some snackspiration

My sister recently came to me requesting healthy snack ideas. In fact, she said it would make a great blog post and I agree! I’ll be listing some of my favorite snacks, and some snacks from other websites/blogs that sound great.

Fruit

Whole fruit. Pretty much the simplest snack ever. I eat an apple nearly every afternoon. The caffeine in it keeps me going through long lab/study sessions.

Yogurt Messes

A yogurt mess is a bowl with yogurt and anything else your heart desires. In the above picture, My yogurt mess has yogurt, wheat puffs, and peanut butter dip. Right now my favorite yogurt mess combo includes raw oatmeal and blueberries. Ideas for add-ins include granola, cereal, fruit, nuts, and honey.

Smoothies

Above is my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Smoothie. I have a ton of smoothie recipes under my recipe tab, so check them out if you want inspiration! If you aren’t into following recipes, just add some of your favorite fruits/veggies to a blender with enough liquid (milk or juice) to get it going. Then add sweetener to taste.

Carrots and Hummus

Pretty self explanatory. I love carrots and I love hummus. Put the two together and I am a happy camper. My mom told me that when I was a baby/toddler, I ate so many carrots my skin was orange.

Cottage Cheese and Whole Grain Crackers

Cottage cheese seems to be a love it or hate it kind of thing. I’m glad I love it because it is a cheap [broke college student over here] healthy protein. Both the protein in the cottage cheese and the complex carbs in the whole grain crackers will give you long lasting energy.

Now I’m going to post some snackspiration!

Creamy Fruit Dip via OhSheGlows

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Chickpeas via pbfingers

Guacamole with Bell Pepper Strips via Glamour

Do you tend to snack or eat bigger meals?

What works best for me is to eat about 5 times a day. I usually have a moderate sized breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have a small snack between lunch and dinner and a mini-meal before bed.

What are your favorite snacks?

XOXO,

Jamie

Pumpkin Muffins/Cupcakes/Whatever you want to call them!

Now, onto the yummy pumpkin muffin recipe I promised you. I have an issue with Muffins…they are totally just cupcakes without frosting. Anyways, these pumpkin muffins taste just like pumpkin pie. They are super ooey gooey, pumpkin, spicy, delicious.

These are my pumpkin muffins! All they consist of is a box of spice cake mix mixed with 15 oz canned pure pumpkin. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, and voila!

My sister also made these muffins, but she frosted hers, and made them look super cute!

My sister is a lovely photographer! (And she is still in high school!) Check out her other work here! I certainly miss food styling. I can’t wait to get my second hand DSLR, thanks to my aforementioned lovely photographer sister, and get back into my food photography!

Make some quick and easy pumpkin muffin/cupcakes! It’s soooo not fall without eating pumpkin every day!

XOXO,

Jamie

Homemade Wheat Thins

Alright, so I totally meant to do a What I ate Wednesday post today, but I completely forgot to photograph my food. Alas, I can at least provide you with a totally delicious recipe for homemade wheat thins.

Is anyone else a huge cheap-o when it comes to buying groceries? If my mom is buying, I’m all for getting my expensive foods like coconut milk and protein bars. When I shop for myself though, I refuse to pay 4 dollars for a package of crackers. But I love me some wheat thins, so I took matters into my own hands!

 

Okay, so they aren’t quite as pretty as store-bought, but they have a very similar texture and flavor. AND NO PRESERVATIVES!

Homemade Wheat Thins

I got the recipe from sweetpeaskitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus extra for topping
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and paprika. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and vanilla and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together. (My dough was still pretty dry so I had to add slightly more water before it came together.)
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, cover with a towel so they don’t dry out. Working one piece at a time, on a lightly floured work surface, roll one of the dough pieces into a large rectangle, 1/16-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the rectangle into squares about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide.
4. Transfer the dough squares to the prepared baking sheets. You don’t need to leave much space in between the crackers-they don’t spread at all in the oven. Sprinkle lightly with salt and cover with a towel. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough. Save all of your scraps under the towel and reroll them all at once to create a final batch of crackers.
5. Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, until crisp and browned, about 5-10 minutes.  Check the crackers after 5 minutes to remove some of the thinner ones that are browning too quickly and return the remaining crackers to the oven to finish baking. Transfer crackers to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Yields: about 64 crackers

Source: adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures, originally from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Cookbook

When I made the recipe, I left out the paprika, simply because I didn’t have any. They still turned out great! If someone bakes them with the paprika let me know how they turn out! Also, I’m thinking these would be delicious with a little more sugar and cinnamon added to them…sweet crackers

XOXO,

Jamie

It’s finally the weekend…

And I can take a breather.

It has been an exhausting week, as I’m sure you could tell from my lack of posting. This weekend isn’t going to be super exciting either since I have to study for a virology exam, revise a literature paper, and prepare for an oral report, but I’m determined to have at least a little bit of fun!

This evening, Emma and I went to Walmart to pick up some much needed groceries. Ice cream, hot chocolate, and baking supplies…totally essential. We both needed to satisfy our pumpkin cravings, so we did a little baking this evening.

I made pumpkin granola!

It turned out so great! I can’t wait to eat some of this on top of yogurt or oatmeal….or just eat it plain with my fingers because I’m classy like that

Pumpkin Granola

from shopcookmake

serves one (I doubled this recipe in the above photos!)

1/2 cup Oats
2 tbsp Honey
2 tsp Water or Apple Juice
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
pinch of Nutmeg
pinch of Salt
2 tbsp Pumpkin Puree

-Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl, make sure they’re well incorporated.

-Place in a baking dish, bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it, granola burns fast!

Emma had something a little different in mind for her pumpkin.

PUMPKIN MUFFINS! She made these simply by mixing a box of yellow cake mix with 15 oz. of canned pure pumpkin and baking for 20 minutes at 350 F. I haven’t tried one yet, but she said they rock! And I definitely have my eyes set on one for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Tomorrow I’m going to see a play with my brother and his girlfriend. Sometimes my brother is such a bone head, but then out of the blue, he invites me to see a play, and even bought my (expensive) ticket! I’m super excited to spend the day with him tomorrow. Then in the evening, I’ll be hitting the books…hard.

Have a good weekend everyone!

XOXO,

Jamie

Pumpkin Obsessed

It’s that time of the week again! Can you believe it’s already Wednesday!? Technically these are Tuesday’s eats….but who’s really counting.

Let’s just say I’ve been a little pumpkin obsessed lately. Pumpkin has been impossible to come by in Ohio until very recently. I seriously can’t get my hands on enough of the stuff.

Breakfast:

Pumpkin overnight oats! These oats tasted like pumpkin pie. So good. Definitely will be having them again tomorrow. I mixed 1/3 cup oatmeal with 1/3 cup pumpkin, 2 tsp. cinnamon, a splenda packet, and enough coconut milk to blend everything together (probably a little less than a cup). Once all this was mixed, I placed it in the fridge overnight and had a wonderful breakfast waiting for me when I woke up.

Snack:

Yes, I prefer to drink my smoothies out of wine glasses. I’m just so classy like that…the plastic straw only adds to my illusion of class

<—there is my foot!

Banana Pumpkin smoothie! I blended together a frozen banana with 1/2 cup pumpkin, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of vanilla, 2 splenda packets, and about a cup of coconut milk. This smoothie was amazing.  Banana and pumpkin go together surprisingly well.

While I’m currently obsessed with pumpkin, I did however, eat lots of other yummy things today: grilled turkey sandwich, pretzels, grilled chicken, baked potato, jelly beans. Today was pretty good in the eats department, and was actually really great overall.

I had Renaissance Literature this morning which is actually turning out to be one of my favorite classes. It is super challenging for me, but the class is so exciting and fun. My professor is amazing and super enthusiastic about the topic. Then, this afternoon, I shadowed a pediatrician. I always have a lot of fun doing that. Every week I realize more and more that medicine is definitely what I need to do with my life. I had a lovely skype date with my boyfriend. Then I met up with some classmates to finish the Animal Physiology problem set. Now, I’m finally here, ready for some much need rest and relaxation.

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

What’s you’re favorite day of the week?

Don’t you think my sister should be super nice and give me her hand-me-down Nikon D40 so I can get back to beautiful food photography?

XOXO,

Jamie