Friday Food Finds #14- Buried Alive

GRRR. So I was seriously hoping that I was going to be wrong with this whole buried-underneath-the-rubbles-that-are-midterms. Will someone come pull me up?

Source: http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/13831/1/1/how-to-draw-a-zombie-hand.htm

And bring a forklift.

Or a shovel.

Both would suffice.

Umm… Moving on.

A good blogger would push through and write up a fantastic post (or better yet plan in advance and have one all ready to go). Today I am not that blogger though and while I have a few recipes that I would love to share, I really don’t want to worry about getting all of the formatting and picture editing perfect. And you wouldn’t want me to forget an essential ingredient like the flour that holds everything together, right?

I thought so.

Instead, I’m going to let the spotlight shine on some bloggers who DO have their act together with another Friday Food Finds!

You can read all about Friday Food Finds and my past posts here:

Friday Food Finds #1 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #2

Friday Food Finds #3

Friday Food Finds #4 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #5 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #6 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #7

Friday Food Finds #8 (Mission Accomplished… Sort of)

Friday Food Finds #9

Friday Food Finds #10

Friday Food Finds #11

Friday Food Finds #12

Friday Food Finds #13 (Mission Accomplished)

Cashew Caramel Apples

For some reason growing up I only ever ate caramel apples in public at the fair. This would have saved a lot of teeth-picking embarrassment.

Blueberry Muffin Bites

Blueberry muffins are my favorite type of muffin ever. A no bake, healthy version that is quick and easy is a dream come true.

Homemade Twix Bars

I’ll admit that I’m not a big fan of Twix candy bars, but I know some people in my family who would love to have me make this for them.

Chocolate Bark

This how-to is super fast and simple. It’s also really customizable so you can include whatever add-ins you want.

And… here are some links that I think you should check out as well!

5 Ways to Deal with Fat Days

There’s no denying that we all have them, so we might as well learn to get through them with the least amount of tears as possible.

Masking Issues with Macros

This has been on my mind a lot lately. I won’t say which way I am on the subject right now, but I love the discussion going on.

Why I Stopped Posting Recipes

You know me and my love for recipes; however, I think this post is great in getting us to think about why we post what we do.

How We Are Adjusting

No matter what stage of life you are in, this post is a must-read on why communication is so important.

Think Before You Judge

We all need to do this.

Also, just because I want to make you smile, these are my top Buzzfeed reads of the week!

“Brides Throwing Cats” Is The Wedding Tumblr You Didn’t Know You Needed

My favorite professor, being a cat-lover, posted this link of Facebook.

17 Reasons You Wish Giles From “Buffy” Was Your Dad

Giles just always knew the right things to say and how to say them as intelligently as possible.

The Guy Who Did Rebecca Black’s “Friday” Made A New Song Called “Chinese Food” And It’s So Embarrassing

I love Chinese Food as much as the next person and even I can’t stand watching this video (the Panda Bear is just too much to take).

This Is The Most Over-The-Top Wedding Proposal Of All Time Ever

While I had to fast forward through a few parts because of the above mentioned midterm studying, I still teared up. Future husband take note.

Five minutes until my blogging cut off point so I’m going to wrap this up. Look for new recipes next week (I see some more cinnamon roll recipes in the future! 😉 ).

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the cookbook giveaway that I posted on Monday! If you didn’t get the chance yet there are five ways to enter and you have until Sunday night.

Also, I just got permission to share ANOTHER recipe with you all from ANOTHER vegan cookbook (my meat-loving friends may groan, but my allergic foodie friends are probably extremely happy right now 🙂 ). I’m joining forces with BenBella Books once again to share a chocolate chip cookie recipe from Lindsay at the Happy Herbivore’s upcoming cookbook Happy Herbivore Light and Lean. It’s part of her pre-blog tour so no cookbook review yet, but like I said, I do get to share the cookie recipe.

In addition, I’m able to ask Lindsay a few questions which I have to send to her by Monday. To make the interview more interesting I’d like to get your input on what you want to know! Everything is fair game and I will pick a few to have answered. Thanks a ton! 😀

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No questions for today except for those coming from YOU on what you want me to ask Lindsay.

And let me know what you think about all of the links I shared today!

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You

Is is possible to fail a dentist appointment? After my one hour stint in the dentist’s chair today I am convinced that the answer to that question is in fact yes.

I was pretty positive that after my dental hygienist got through with my gums there would be nothing left. While I may have jumped to conclusions a little too quickly, can you really blame me when every mouth swish into the sink was red with blood, and every prick of her little tools tickled my tear ducts like a sappy tragic movie?

Still, it was a really nice feeling to walk out of the dentist’s office with a plan of action. The next time that I visit I will be a prime patient. No bleeding gums or tears here! This is the list of things that I am going to work on: use a softer toothbrush, work on my brush angling, floss regularly, and drink only filtered water (no more nasty chemical water from my school!).

So that’s basically how my first morning of Fall break went for me today. Very promising.

Instead of sharing another cinnamon roll recipe with you guys today (I bet you are very disappointed on that account because it’s not like I haven’t posted a cinnamon roll recipe with you before…), I am going to give a preview of what’s coming soon to a blog near you 😉

1. Cinnamon Roll Recipe. Duh.

2. Vegan Chocolate Cake. Grain-Free too of course. And no coconut flour in sight for those of you who can’t eat/don’t like coconut.

3. My super easy roasted chicken recipe with vegetables. Recipe and instructions.

4. A cookbook review, recipe excerpt and giveaway on Monday. Get excited because there are some absolutely awesome vegan recipes in here.

Before I leave I also want to share a few more recipes in the latest version of Friday Food Finds.

You can read all about Friday Food Finds and my past posts here:

Friday Food Finds #1 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #2

Friday Food Finds #3

Friday Food Finds #4 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #5 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #6 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #7

Friday Food Finds #8 (Mission Accomplished… Sort of)

Friday Food Finds #9

Friday Food Finds #10

Friday Food Finds #11

Friday Food Finds # 12

Egg in a Squash from A Dash of Meg

Basically toad-in-the-hole taken to an entirely new and even more delicious level.

Giant Baked Paleo Pancake from Pencils and Pancakes

Obviously from the name of her blog you can tell that Andrea knows her stuff.

Sweet Potato Muffins with Peanut Butter Cheesecake Frosting from Imma Eat That

If I make anything from this post it will definitely be the frosting (it’s only 3 ingredients!).

Black Forest Paleo Brownies from Fitnessista

Cherries and chocolate just belong together.

Coconut Banana Pancakes from Kiss My Broccoli

I’ve been eyeing these pancakes for awhile now (I just need to figure out what to do with the leftover egg yolks!)

As I mentioned on Wednesday, today I made the decision on what magazines that I am going to subscribe to. My final picks were Eating Well, Fitness, Food Network and Entertainment Weekly. Food Network wasn’t available via my brother’s fundraiser at school so I will need to do that separately (but I’m so excited– thanks for the suggestion Heather!)

Thanks to everyone who left a comment with their suggestions. I looked into each and every one of them. My local library has a sale every few months so I think next time I will have to pick up some back issues of the ones that I didn’t choose. They all sounded so good!

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Have an amazing Friday and an even more wonderful weekend everyone 😀

Questions for you:

Do you have The China Study Cookbook?

What are your “Friday Food Finds”?

How do you achieve an *A* at the dentist?

Friday Food Finds #12

Hey everyone! Happy Friday 🙂

Before I start my post for today I just want to thank you all for all of your wonderful comments over the past few weeks and sticking with me even though I fall behind with my blogger duties again and again. I just really appreciate it!

In case you’ve missed some of my last recipes, here’s a quick summary: Vegan Grain-Free Pancakes, Grain-Free Vegan Biscuits, and Peanut Butter and Carob Chunk Cinnamon Rolls. So basically a whole host of grain-free and vegan goodness 😀

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When trying to come up with a post idea for today, I realized that I hadn’t done a Friday Food Finds in a super long time! As in… All the way back in April is the last record that I can discover. That is WAY too long in my opinion so I am going to bring it back for today!

You can read all about Friday Food Finds and my past posts here:

Friday Food Finds #1 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #2

Friday Food Finds #3

Friday Food Finds #4 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #5 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #6 (Mission Accomplished)

Friday Food Finds #7

Friday Food Finds #8 (Mission Accomplished… Sort of)

Friday Food Finds #9

Friday Food Finds #10

Friday Food Finds #11

Now for the recipes:

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer from Lisa Lately

Vegan and gluten-free, this is the perfect alternative to the sugar and chemical-laden creamers that you find in the store. And who doesn’t love pumpkin spice?

Lowcountry Shrimp Boil from Better with Veggies

I personally have never had a lowcountry boil but after seeing them pop up occasionally on various food blogs I know that I need to try my hand at one. This shrimp boil from Better with Veggies just looks delicious!

Peekaboo Pumpkin Pound Cake from She Knows

There are almost no words for how cute this recipe is. No, it’s not gluten-free, vegan or anything, however it’s just a dang good idea. I’m sure that it would probably work with most pound cake recipes. Just find one that is suitable for your diet and follow the steps from there!

Grain-Free Waffles from Food Renegade

You all know that I’m always on the hunt for grain-free waffle and pancake recipes. I love the ingredient list on this recipe in particular from Food Renegade because it doesn’t require cups upon cups of almond flour. Plus the blogger said the waffles were fluffy! Buzzword for sure.

Mini Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cones from In Katrina’s Kitchen

Again, not allergy-free in the slightest. I just can’t pass up sharing a cookie dough recipe though. Especially one that comes in ice cream cones. *Swoon*

Egg-Stuffed Tomato from Copy Cake Cook

This seems like a great alternative to the ever popular Pinterest recipe that bakes an egg inside an avocado. Whether you are tired of avocados or just plain don’t like them this recipe sounds super easy!

Homemade Caramel Apple Pops from Lily Shop

These just scream Fall/Winter to me. I always got at least one caramel apple sucker in my Halloween bag while trick-or-treating during the fall, and at every home basketball game during the winter when I was younger I would snag one of these from the concession stand.

Thanks for joining me for another edition of Friday Food Finds! I hope you saw a few recipes that caught your attention. Maybe all of them? 😉 I know that the coffee creamer and waffles are at the top of my to-make list for sure!

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and weekend. I’m off now to bed and then up early for more Accounting homework. I also have an awards program tomorrow for my Business College to attend so I will be super busy and might not have a lot of time for comments. Plus I now have a quiz, test and a nice big assignment all due Monday so we’ll have to see how much time I have for blog reading over the weekend as well.

Either way, I’ll catch you next week either on Monday or Wednesday 🙂

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What are your Friday Food Finds?

Have you come across any great recipes recently?

What are your plans for Friday/the weekend?

Three’s a Party

Two (Link-Ups) + One (Recipe) = Three.

And three’s a party, right Andy? 😉

Yep. That’s what I thought.

For the first part of this wonderful Friday equation, I have two link-ups to do today.

First up is Meghan’s Week in Review. I’m going to alter this slightly and make it Birthday Presents in Review.

• I’ve already shared part of what my parents got me for my birthday last week:

• As per tradition though I also got a little money to spend- half on clothes and half on “other stuff.” Well, I haven’t purchased any “other stuff” yet, but I did go shopping this past weekend with my mom for some things to wear during my summer internship (which is completely casual dress by the way— no ties {or skirts!!!!} required 🙂

• Don’t you just love the name brand of those shoes?! X-Appeal. We got some awesome deals on a pair of black flats and silver sandals:

• I also got a pair of pink skinny jeans and a white top at DEBS on clearance. Then at an Aerospostale outlet store I found a striped blue and white flowy shirt for only $3.99!

• On Easter Sunday when I saw my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, I also received a few cards full of money which I… still need to deposit in the bank. Whoops!

• My aunt gave me a big wrapped box too when we were leaving the Chinese restaurant. Of course I immediately pulled it into the backseat where I was sitting and proceeded to open it on the drive home. 

• A crock-pot is the perfect present for me as I will most likely be continuing my soupy ways this summer and being far from home in a foreign kitchen I’ll need some appliance to make broth in!

• And last, but certainly not least I got a card from one of my close friends in the mail on Monday this week wishing me a Happy Belated Birthday. The present? An awesome drawing that made me smile 🙂

Now for part two of the link-ups I am going to be joining Jessie in her Together Tuesdays/ having my own little Friday Food Finds party. Here are just a few great food ideas that I’ve seen floating around the blog world and Pinterest lately that I thought were pretty great:

The first pin that I want to share is this Pineapple Ginger Smoothie from Gimme Some Oven. Someone in the comments called it an “orange julius on steroids” which immediately grabbed my attention. For those with dairy allergies or for those who are vegan, the Greek yogurt could probably be subbed for another frozen banana or some coconut milk/yogurt.

Next are these delicious-looking Healthy Ice Cream Sandwiches from The Lean Green Bean. The “bread” is made from figs and a combination of pistachios/peanut butter. The “ice cream” is made from frozen bananas. Again, for those with allergies, in particular pistachios or peanuts, you could sub them out for equal amounts in seeds and sun butter.

For a quick and easy meal, I also spotted this recipe for Healthy Wraps from Purely Twins. Unfortunately these contain eggs so they aren’t an option for those with egg allergies or who are vegan, but other than that they would be perfect to make when you need a tasty lunch but are out of store-bought bread.

It seems that I am just fascinated with Girl Scout cookies these days as I pinned another Girl Scout cookie remake, this time Do-Si-Do Cookies from Sit, Stir & Savour. These are vegan, grain-free, refined sugar-free and oil-free, so basically perfect for almost any diet!

The last recipe that I have to share is probably one that many of you have already seen. It’s the Healthy Homemade Goldfish Crackers from Chocolate-Covered Katie. Vegan of course with a gluten-free option, and nutritional yeast for the “cheesy” flavor.

With two out of three done, I only have one part left to wrap up this party! A recipe.

Probably much to the annoyance of some, this recipe is not for the pear crisp that I’ve been promising for oh… a couple of weeks. But I’ve already started on the post for that and it will be coming at you all soon.

This recipe is no where near vegan however, so those of you who shed a bashful eye to all things meat, scroll down and answer my question for today! (Although the beef is grass-fed and pasture-raised, so there is that 😉 ).

Mama Mia, It’s a Meatza!

Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Nut-Free, Dairy/Nut-Free Option, GAPS/Paleo-Friendly

Makes 4 servings/squares

Ingredients:

• 1 pound grass-fed ground beef
• 1 egg (optional for egg-free)
• 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, dash of pepper
• 1 cup pizza sauce (I made my own with tomato puree + Italian seasoning/salt/onion and garlic powder to taste)
• chopped onions, peppers and mushrooms (approximately 1/2-1 cup each)
• Ghee (Or coconut oil for dairy-free)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×9 glass pan with ghee (or coconut oil).

2. In a medium-sized bowl combine the beef, egg and seasonings.

3. Press the beef mixture into the pan and spread evenly.

4. Bake for 10 minutes.Top with the pizza sauce and the chopped vegetables.

5. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables begin to brown and the meat is thoroughly cooked. (Broil if desired to make it extra crispy).

If you couldn’t tell from its name, a meatza is basically a Paleo/grain-free version of pizza! Some meatzas also have cheese on top, so that would make a great add-on for those of you who can have dairy. I made this on Saturday for my parents and they each had two slices for supper.

Shared at Thank Goodness It’s Monday, Naturally Living Monday, Make Your Own Monday

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And now that you have finished this incredibly long post you are officially free to have a fantastic Friday. Check out some of the recipes above and let me know what you think.

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Question for you all: Other than obviously laughing at the Pin above with Chef Ramsey, how do you feel about the healthy precautions that one needs to take when cooking food? This goes out to both vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike. Are you really careful about  washing your hands and utensils before you begin to make a meal? Have you ever gotten food poisoning from food being mishandled at a restaurant?