Call Me Fudge

Raspberry Smoothie

2013-05-20T19:39:00.000-06:00

I had to leave work early today because I'm sick. We humans are pretty good at blocking out unpleasant memories and because of that, every time I get sick, it feels worse than ever before.

Have you noticed how when you're sick, everyone wants to give you advice? It's nice really, just an observation. You should take this medicine, not that medicine. Eat this, not that. Exercise, no wait rest. Take as much vitamin C as you can get in you, actually more than the daily dose won't do anything. It's confusing. I don't think there's any right or wrong really.

All I know is that I came home from work and I slept for about 8 hours. I ate chicken noodle soup and drank a Strawberry C Monster. The Dingo was pretty sure I came home early so I could play with her longer, so she was pretty disappointed when she kept pushing on me but got no reaction.

My only 2 pieces of advice for you if you get sick:
1. Watch something stupid (like Bridezillas). That way you won't be tempted to stay awake to find out how the show ends.
2. Drink smoothies.

I hope that works out for you (and me).

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Project 365: Week 20

2013-05-19T20:43:00.001-06:00

May 13 | Really pretty sunset after I got home from yoga with a friend, Monday night.

May 14 | Pearl Street is full of blooming tulips right now!

May 15 | Making a special treat and then documenting it with my new app from A Beautiful Mess.

May 16 | Lunch with Austin at Snarf's.

May 17 | My sister and her husband came to visit us, so I had these maple bacon cupcakes waiting for them and I got to use my new cupcake decorating kit - it was a two-fer.

May 18 | At the Rockies game. We aren't the biggest baseball fans, but we still had a lot of fun!

May 19 | Today is Austin's mom's birthday (happy birthday!!!) so we sent her a cute Dingo video - this is her new trick...she's quite the dramatic one.

Also, you'd think it was really cold in our house or something - I think it's 70˚.

Chicken Carbonaro

2013-05-16T12:47:00.000-06:00

Today is a great day! It's a great day because Austin is finally out of my kitchen. I will have space again. I won't always be surrounded by paleo, weighed-out portions of carbs, fats, and proteins. Yesterday was Austin's last day on the Zone Diet!

Today, he woke up and ate cookies for breakfast, put sugar and cream in his coffee, and smiled. There was a lot of smiling. There was no measuring. Today, we are both happy!

His challenge lasted 31 days and he successfully completed (makes it sound like a competition...yeah, that's accurate) all 93 meals and all 62 snacks. In the meantime, I gained 5 pounds and my dinners for the past month have usually consisted of Cheez-Its and muffins.

About halfway into the month, most of our conversations started revolving around: "what do you miss the most?" and, "what are you going to eat first?!" At first, he couldn't really get past wanting chocolate cake. Then he started thinking about meals too, not just dessert. He requested this Chicken Carbonaro, but since he hasn't had dairy for a whole month and he was already lactose-intolerant (kinda) before, I talked him out of it. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have it!

If I had been torturing myself for the past month, I would probably choose this meal too. In fact, when I go home to visit and my parents ask me what I want for dinner, it is almost always Chicken Carbonaro.

This Carbonaro is not at all like the traditional Italian dish. It is loaded with chicken, bacon and green peppers. There's no egg, but we definitely kept the cream and parmesan cheese in there. I used to think this was really hard to make because we did not have it that often, then when I tried to make it myself for the first time, I realized that really there was no excuse for why we didn't eat it every night.

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Banana Nut Muffins

2013-05-14T16:00:00.002-06:00

Growing up, we lived about 20 minutes away from my grandparents house so we saw them pretty often. Usually we would go over there and watch the IU (Indiana University) basketball games, make laps on the big wheels up and down the (really long) driveway, and pester my grandpa for more money to buy candy at the gas station down the way.

In all of those times visiting my grandma and poppop, I only remember eating a handful of things: Chicken and Noodles (loved it), Apple Pie (each time she made it, it was the better than the last), "Yay Big Meat" (my grandma would describe how big the beef was by holding her fingers about 2 inches apart and say it was "yay big" - hated it), Pumpkin Cookies (again, loved them), and Banana Bread.

Her banana bread was so light and moist and when you bake it, the top turns this dark espresso brown color which is magically sweeter than the rest of the bread. There is a reason that I loved it then and I still do now.

To make her perfect banana bread into muffins, I just tweaked a few things (namely the baking time, amount of batter, and the amount of pecans). The muffins are still sweet and not dense at all AND now they're portable.

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Project 365: Week 19

2013-05-13T14:29:00.003-06:00

May 6 | I got my cupcake decorating kit from bakeitpretty.com! Be prepared to see some cupcakes "baked pretty" very soon!

May 7 | I had really good intentions to make my mom french macarons for Mother's Day. It was a baking fail that resulted in my mom getting a phone call on Sunday instead :)

May 8 | Hosting a dinner on a rainy night for work.

May 9 | This is what Austin's diet looks like - it's not always ugly, it's just that it's never followed by dessert.

May 10 | My little container garden is up and going - now let's hope for no more snow!

May 11 | New birdhouse.

May 12 | Had to celebrate Mother's Day without my mom this year :( Maybe next year...

Rosemary Loaf Cake

2013-05-08T15:54:00.001-06:00

Somedays you go into the kitchen with your best intentions. You have an idea and a recipe. You have the ingredients necessary. Despite all of your efforts and good planning, something isn't right.

Yesterday, after a trip to the grocery store, I spent about 4 hours trying to make macarons with the aim to pack them up and send them to my mom for Mother's Day. Instead, I spent 4 hours and got little, thin wafers that, quite honestly, didn't even taste that great. They ended up in the trash and now I'll have to send a lame card or order flowers or something.

Sure, cookies that don't turn out perfectly is not that big of a deal in the scheme of things, but it did have the ability to ruin my day. Because I didn't get those treats in the mail by this morning, my mom isn't getting anything special this Sunday, and what I would really like to do is have a meal with her. My sister could probably make dinner, I could make dessert. My other sister could take a nap on the couch ;)

So do me a favor, if you are lucky enough to spend this Sunday at the same table as your mom, make her something delicious. Appreciate it. I recommend this Rosemary Loaf Cake.

Sorry about the macarons, Mom...maybe this cake will be arriving at your house soon!

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Thick 'n Creamy Potato Soup

2013-05-06T16:46:00.001-06:00

Have we moved on from soup? Are we only eating fresh, raw salads and berry pies from here until October? We're only going to eat alfresco and have garden parties and wear big hats that block the sun? We'll drink iced tea and lick ice cream out of waffle cones.

That all sounds really nice and I like a fresh blueberry pie more than most, but unfortunately summer fruits and veggies aren't quite in season (at least not here in Colorado where we had 10 inches of snow last week). So I think we should embrace hearty, soul-warming soups for a little while longer.

Once we've packed up all of our winter clothes and put them in storage, we can officially start the diet of fresh greens followed by berries and ice cream. Washing it all down with fresh-squeezed lemonade and cold beer.

Even then, there are always rainy days, right? All I'm sayin' is give soup a chance!

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Project 365: Week 18

2013-05-05T19:59:00.000-06:00

April 29 | I really hope sinking my hands into warm, yeasty dough is the only therapy I'll ever need. I don't think I've ever felt more relaxed.

April 30 | Refrigerator cleaned and organized! That's been on the to-do list for a long time.

May 1 | Happy May Day! I started it off by bringing my espresso machine out of hiding.

May 2 | After getting a parking ticket, I worked out my frustration by cleaning and rearranging the living room - it didn't really work.

May 3 | It finally feels like spring might stick around this time - I'm ready to spend some nights out on the deck now.

May 4 | Austin and I stumbled upon our favorite street performers on Pearl Street yet. They're called "Intuitive Compass." You can't see it here, but the dude had a baby strapped to his back too. Only in Boulder.

May 5 | This morning, Austin and I ran our first 10k! I am calling it...my training for the Bolder Boulder is accomplished! Treated myself to this delicious raspberry banana smoothie (recipe soon) afterwards, and had a nice relaxing Sunday.

Red Apple

2013-05-03T13:20:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I had to go in early for our board of directors' meeting. It was fine, but you know, early. I like sleep.

When I walked out to my car after work, I noticed a little paper flapping in the wind tucked under my windshield wiper. The woman wrote the ticket a whole 4 minutes before I got there! Yes, my meter had expired - that does not however mean that I was happy about it.

The rest of the afternoon I spent trying to get myself out of a funk. I thought yoga would help, but when I got there, I ended up having to teach the class instead of take it. Again fine, but didn't really help my mood.

I'm not advocating alcoholism or anything, but sometimes when you've tried everything else (or at least a couple things), a cocktail might just be the solution you're looking for. Plus, the weekend is quickly approaching and it's practically begging you to sit outside with a cocktail and unwind. Happy Friday!!

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Choconana Cupcakes

2013-05-01T15:53:00.003-06:00

When I was little, I never did any of the classic pranks that other kids were getting in trouble for. I never went TP'ing. I never "forked" someone's yard. I never even prank called innocent listings in the phone book. I generally didn't like to get in trouble which meant I only did things I knew I could get away with ;)

So, I remember when May Day came around each year and you were instructed to doorbell ditch and leave flowers on your unsuspecting neighbor's stoop, I was more excited than I probably should have been.

Do kids still do that? I think maybe it's a Midwestern thing? - Austin's never heard of it.

If this is a tradition that's been lost, we should bring it back. How excited would you be if you were surprised with flowers (even flowers made of tissue paper) on your doorstep? In fact, why don't we start leaving more nice treats at our neighbors' door? That'd be nice.

It's up to you. You can make these cupcakes and eat them all OR you can spread the love.

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Confetti Quinoa

2013-04-29T19:40:00.002-06:00

This past weekend was one of those weekends that just did not last long enough. Maybe it's because I ended up having to work yesterday. Maybe it's because the weather is so nice out today, it's kind of a crime to be inside an office with no windows.

Now, I'm not normally the type of person to dread Mondays this much. I pretty much never feel the need to update facebook on my feelings about not wanting to go back to work. But for some reason today is different.

I should note that I have it really easy. I have a nice job with a nice boss and I get to go home at 1:30 to work on my blog, or go to one of my other 3 jobs. (Probably why I don't complain too much about the work week.) And then I talk to my sister who is regularly working 12-14 hour days and putting in extra time on the weekends. So, I'm reminded just how easy I have it.

But somehow, even though my sister is working all the time, she still finds time to get into the kitchen and make up some of the best concoctions I've ever eaten! Confetti Quinoa is the perfect busy weeknight meal because you don't have to go to the grocery store - just use whatever you have in your fridge, and you can make it ahead of time and just pop it in the oven a few minutes before you're ready to eat and it's done. I guess maybe this is how she does it?

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Project 365: Week 17

2013-04-28T21:27:00.001-06:00

April 22 | Working after work.

April 23 | My friend, Jane, and I had an awesome lunch with pea hummus at Riffs! The service was not so good, but the food made up for it.

April 24 | These banana nut muffins (recipe soon) almost made Austin quit his diet 2 weeks in.

April 25 | Pulled out the deck chairs - apparently there is going to be more snow on Tuesday, but I'm trying to be optimistic.

April 26 | Picked up my weekend read - "Paper Towns" by John Green.

April 27 | Our lunch spot on our hike.

April 28 | Slurped down this super thick smoothie that was really more like ice cream before heading off to a teacher training at my yoga studio.

Tuna Fudge Dog Treats

2013-04-24T16:09:00.003-06:00

You remember that Alanis Morisette song, "Ironic?" If you don't - educate yourself on YouTube. Do you also remember when that song came out and everyone was enjoying themselves singing along and then there was the smart kid who was like, "all the stuff that she's singing about: well, it's not really ironic, it's just unfortunate." That was my sister.

Here's the definition:
i·ron·ic Happening in the opposite way to what is expected, thus typically causing wry amusement.

So you might find it ironic that my blog is titled "Call Me Fudge" and I have yet to post a recipe for fudge. You might also find it ironic that the first time I do (today), the fudge is filled with canned tuna fish and is for dogs.

Maybe you don't. Maybe you were the smart kid. Maybe you're going to leave a comment telling me that I'm using the wrong adjective.

So maybe I don't always know the right word for every situation and maybe I misspell things every once in a while, but I do know that you make these treats and you will have dogs flocking to you all over the dog park. It's your job to figure out how to get them to stop jumping on you.

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Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2013-04-22T14:58:00.001-06:00

My mom came out to visit us last week and I really loved having her here. But now, she's gone.

The house feels emptier, the Dingo is missing her tug 'o war partner, and I'm feeling pretty homesick once again. I love it when family comes to visit, but it always leaves me wanting to go back home more than ever.

In a couple of weeks, things will go back to normal. But for right now, I need cookies. They say you can't eat your emotions, but you can eat cookies. And you know how songs can bring you right back to a specific time and place, well I think cookies can too.

Austin's grandma makes these peanut butter cup cookies every Christmas and as soon as I take a bite, I am transported back home, and I'm surrounded by family again. It's kind of amazing what your taste buds are capable of. You might not have a memory associated with these cookies, but you could make one!

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Project 365: Weeks 15 & 16

2013-04-21T20:23:00.000-06:00

April 8 | Chicken Carbonaro is my version of comfort food (recipe soon).

April 9 | Thanks Ben & Jerry for "Free Cone Day!"

April 10 | Made these monster bars for our trip to Moab before running out the door to teach yoga.

April 11 | Does this look like enough stuff for 2 people to go to Moab for 4 days?

April 12 | Moab, Utah is my favorite place on earth - this is why.

April 13 | Austin was all pumped for his big adventure race. He looked (slightly) different after 40 miles of biking, a 200 ft. rappel, and 6 miles of kayaking.

I hung out at camp and read :)

April 14 | On our hike, we got to see one of those jeeps almost flip over and roll off a cliff. They didn't though. Everyone was ok.

We celebrated for them with a milkshake from Milt's!

April 15 | When we left Moab, it was raining. It quickly turned to snow and all paths over the Rockies were closed. We detoured and spent the night with Austin's grandparents and headed back home in the morning. (The reason there was no Project 365 post last week.)

April 16 | By this point, everyone was tired of the car ride.

April 17 | I made some Choconana Cupcakes (recipe soon) and then my mom and I ate them (guiltily) in front of Austin.

April 18 | My mom came to visit for a few days and she got to spend a lot of quality time with the Dingo! Tug o' War is their favorite game.

April 19 | I have the best BFF ever who sends me all of the most delicious things from Trader Joe's!

April 20 | Took my mom for a hike once the trails dried out a little.

April 21 | Relaxing with "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt."

Lemony Asparagus & Squash Linguine

2013-04-19T12:45:00.000-06:00

I already told you about Austin's "Zone Diet." We didn't really know what it meant besides a lot of measuring, no pasta, and no cream. So basically, in this lemony asparagus and squash linguine dish, he can have the asparagus.

Oh, one more thing. He can have a lot of the asparagus!

The other night, he sat down to a plate with a half a steak and then piled it up with asparagus. And I really mean piled it up. The stack was at least 4 inches high and the entire width of the plate, literally an entire bundle of asparagus. Austin really likes asparagus, but that was kind of a lot to take in.

Oh, I forgot another thing - that wasn't the whole serving...he was supposed to have 4 times that amount!

I really like asparagus too, but I prefer mine over a bed of pasta and soaked in a spicy, lemony, cream sauce. Maybe a little parmesan cheese grated on top.

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Monster Bars

2013-04-17T11:38:00.002-06:00

Austin and I headed out of town this past weekend for a much needed break from everyday life. We drove down to Moab, UT on Thursday after work and planned on coming back Monday afternoon. That was the plan.

The weather was really nice all weekend - 75 and sunny. So we were a little surprised when we got on the road and tried to cross the Rockies and found out that it was a literal no-go. I-70 was closed because of an accident and highway 40 was closed for avalanche danger.

Austin's first reaction in this situation was to call his brother (aka "Human Google") and get a detour. My first reaction was to inventory the car and make sure we had enough food. Luckily, we had been camping, so we were pretty well prepared for whatever happened. Seriously, my first thought in every situation is, "do I have enough snacks for this??!?!?"

We ended up detouring and staying with Austin's grandparents, but just in case it didn't work out, I was really glad we had some of these monster bars left in the back!

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Greyhound

2013-04-11T10:35:00.001-06:00

My dad introduced me to this very simple, yet very satisfying cocktail. When I was home for Christmas, he had some grapefruit flavored vodka around (don't know where that came from), so he mixed one up. I think I was drinking a beer at the time so I almost passed up taking a sip. So glad I didn't.

First of all, I like drinks with names that don't give you any hint of what's in them. When I hear "greyhound," I think dirty buses and unsafe places at night and I also think of fast dogs. I don't think of vodka or grapefruit juice. Never enters my mind.

Second of all, this is tasty and so easy to drink. Enough said.

This is the type of drink that should be added to the list with mimosas and bloody mary's. That's the list of cocktails that are acceptable to drink at breakfast. And until I figure out the perfect recipe for my "breakfast beer" (I'm working really hard on it), we will have to settle for citrus/alcoholic beverages before 5:00.

GREYHOUND
5 oz. grapefruit juice
1.5 oz. vodka

1. Stir well and serve over ice.

Vanilla Macaroons

2013-04-08T21:16:00.003-06:00

Austin is starting this new diet. His Crossfit gym is kind of hosting it. This morning he had to go to the gym, be dunked in a tank, get all his measurements taken, and in the next couple of days, he will get his prescribed diet for 30 days.

After he was dunked under with no oxygen, they let him come back up and asked if he had any questions, then they asked him, "do you live with other people - any roommates/family/wife/girlfriend that could help you stick to your diet?"

Do you see the problem?

His answer was, "my girlfriend is actually a foodblogger who writes mostly about baked goods...so, no." The woman's response: "oh."

I'll see if I can help him out and be supportive, just because, but as soon as I need a cookie, I'm going to have a cookie! I didn't sign up for any diet :)

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Project 365: Week 14

2013-04-07T20:16:00.001-06:00

April 1 | I don't even remember why we went to Costco, but I'm sure it was a good idea.

April 2 | Tuesday was the best day at the gym! First of all, the TVs on the treadmills are working now and more importantly, Nicki Minaj radio was on MTV!! Doesn't get better than that.

April 3 | My sister shared her really delicious recipe for Confetti Quinoa so this was waiting for me after I got done teaching yoga.

April 4 | My new pumped up kicks came!

...And I made the Dingo some homemade Tuna Fudge (yes, I'm that dog-owner).

April 5 | Friday was my sister's birthday - I wish I could have been home to celebrate with her. Unfortunately, this sunrise was the only good thing about this day.

April 6 | I fell asleep in the field and woke up to this :)

April 7 | The winds have picked up and apparently they are bringing in 12 inches of snow with them tomorrow and Tuesday.

Banana Cashew Smoothie

2013-04-05T11:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I got some new pumped up kicks and instantaneously I felt inspired to be healthy. Then I quelled that feeling by eating a Snickers Egg (thank you 1/2 off Easter candy). Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Anyway, I guess I didn't completely squash the feeling, because last night I was inspired to take the Dingo out for a run. It was probably about 5 minutes in that I got a killer side cramp. That didn't stop me though! I woke up at 5:30 this morning and gave it another go. Again, side cramp!

Even though I really want to use my new fancy shoes, I also think my body/lungs are giving me some pretty straightforward signs here. Maybe it would be best to just start filling up mason jars with smoothies and walking around, pretending like I'm healthy.

When I was in middle school, I remember making banana "smoothies." More accurately, I should have called them banana milkshakes, if we're being real. I used one banana and about a pint of ice cream. Blended it together and felt good about myself for the rest of the day.

Now that I'm an grown woman (ha!), I make my smoothies with cashews that have soaked overnight, bananas, and maple syrup (I still want it to taste like the milkshake!). These are good, and they're extra good because you can feel good about drinking them.

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Blueberry Pear Buckle

2013-04-03T15:57:00.001-06:00

Say the word buckle over and over again to yourself (or someone else if you're with someone else). Keep saying it. Keep going for about a minute...

Buckle is just about the weirdest word I've ever heard, and if you've been saying for the past minute (as instructed), you'll think so too, I'm sure. Yes, any word (including your own name) repeated will start to sound weird, but I still think that buckle takes the cake (pun intended).

What's even weirder is that buckle can be the name of a delicious cake with a crumble topping or it can be a fastener for your belt. I don't understand how these things happen. Apparently, because the tops of these coffee cakes, bend, fold, or buckle, they got the name. Don't overthink it, just eat it - it's better that way.

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Hot Toddy

2013-04-01T15:10:00.000-06:00

I remember back when we first moved to Utah. I was 11. It was April 1st and I thought I had come up with the best prank! My family was out skiing for the day and I thought it would be funny if I pretended like I broke my wrist. So I laid down in the middle of the run, called out over the walkie talkie and waited for my family to find me. It wasn't funny...so I was told.

This year, I swear I am the one being punked. And I'm not being punked by my sisters or Austin. I am being punked by The Weather Channel.

Yesterday, it was 70 degrees and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, today they are calling for snow! Again, this is not funny. I keep waiting for them to issue an apology statement. Telling us all, "we were just kidding and we realize we ruined many people's days because of our so-called joke."

In case they're not joking, here's this:

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Project 365: Week 13

2013-03-31T20:20:00.002-06:00

March 25 | I got locked in the parking garage at work, but it wasn't all bad - I got to see this view of Boulder.

March 26 | After getting Shelly's windshield fixed, Austin and I played with the Dingo in the "dog park."

March 27 | I'm really hoping that this is the last snowman of the season.

March 28 | It's on it's way out!!

March 29 | My boss gave me Good Friday off! - I spent it getting rid of old clothes...it felt so good!

March 30 | Thanks to all the cleaning and organizing, we found our growler from Moab Brewery - we're definitely bringing this with us in 2 weeks so we can get a refill of my all-time favorite beer (Dead Horse Amber Ale).

March 31 - This was the best Easter surprise...ever!!!

Those are celebratory looks after a very long, steep hill climb!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

2013-03-28T17:38:00.002-06:00

This weekend I have plans to do some spring cleaning. With the snowman in the neighbors yard finally melting away, it seems like a good idea. I've never really done spring cleaning before. Usually I leave my deep-cleaning to when I move in or out of a new apartment. That's been happening about every year so it's worked out fine.

This year, I am feeling the need to purge some of my belongings though, and I don't think it can wait until we move out of this apartment.

Because I can't close any of my dresser drawers without working up a sweat, and because stuff falls out of the closet when I try to get the vacuum out, I feel like it's necessary. It's daunting, but totally necessary.

At one point, I read something about burning as many calories cleaning as you do jogging on the treadmill. Well, that's not true, but either way, I know that when I vacuum I get hot. Sometimes I get winded (probably because of all of the sugar/fat I eat), and I need snacks to keep me going. So I choose to have sugar/fat-based snacks to keep with the trend.

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