Christmas Cocoa

Although it's only November, December is approaching with rapid speed. This means everyone is gearing up for Christmas, and I must say, I am more than excited. While we have to wave goodbye to the iced coffees and blended drinks of summer to avoid being even COLDER than we are (in Vancouver, anyway), I am happy to curl up on the couch with a hot beverage. One of my favourite Holiday beverages is hot chocolate, and while it is a year 'round treat, there's nothing better than adding a seasonal twist such as eggnog, peppermint syrup & candy canes. Hey, Kahlua & Baileys is pretty darn good, too!

Below is the hot chocolate I made the other day. Although there was no eggnog, coffee liqueur or candy cane flavouring in it, I added a swirl of whipped cream & put it in my favourite candy cane mug to feel a little bit more festive!

Also, Starbucks has their Holiday drinks now, as I'm sure you all know. I was wondering when they would finally bring out those cute red cups! I have to say, the skinny peppermint mochas are delicious!

What's your favourite Starbucks holiday drink?

Note: Since writing this blog post, I purchased some light eggnog & have added it to basically everything. Needless to say, I haven't shared it with Brandon, and I have nearly made it through one litre all by myself. Yes, Holiday pounds are approaching (ha ha)!

Fun Food: Mixed Berry Muffins

These muffins are a lot similar to Tim Horton's Fruit Explosion Muffins - minus the obscure amount of calories, that is! I found a recipe in a muffins & more cook book, but made my own tweaks to it and added things here and there. They are moist, delicious & sweet from the mixed berries. Check out the recipe below!

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk (I used almond milk for my muffins)

1/4 cups 0% fat Greek yogurt

Approx. 1 cup fresh or frozen berries

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center.

Pour milk, egg, and Greek yogurt into the well. Carefully add in fruit. Stir to moisten ingredients.

Grease muffin cups & fill about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 200*C.

Makes 12
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Let me know if you guys try this recipe! :)

Other eats:

Spicy Italian sausage with zucchini, yellow peppers & carrots. I later added a spicy chili tomato sauce. My mom & sister are away on a school trip, so I have made it my responsibility to cook for Brandon & my dad. I needed a man friendly meal & I think they'll really enjoy this!

My favourite brand of spinach. I'm sure it's all the same, but the medium sized containers are awesome for holding huge salad beasts (and therefor creating a large vegetable induced food baby). I shredded some & added it to romaine lettuce for Caesar salad (below, in the works).

Everything is ready to be put together now. It's dinner time folks!

Bake-a-Palooza

I tried for the life of me to delete that sideways picture of peppermint green tea, but it just wasn't working. So just ignore it, or tilt your head in awe. You pick ;) I spent the majority of my day making meat/cheese, veggie & fruit trays for my mom. She's going to a teachers appreciation night tonight, but since she had to work today, I got the fun task of shopping for the supplies and putting it all together. However, I finished off that job by baking a ridiculous amount of cupcakes. I'm thinking four dozen? Thankfully my mom took some with her, so there's half of the temptation out of the house. The ones with chocolate frosting are butter pecan, and the others are carrot cake topped with homemade whipped cream and pumpkin seeds. I was on a roll in the kitchen!

Oh, and the smoothie above is mixed berry + banana, with chia seeds, greek yogurt & soy milk. It powered me through the morning, as well as a little chunk of the homemade granola bars I made (pictured above). They were super easy, and done in less than 5 minutes! Now that's what I call easy.

Have a good night everyone! Any big plans for your Thursday?

Rings & Things

My day today: Sleeping in almost until 10 AM, spending the majority of the afternoon wandering amongst clothing (and a brief stop to a health food store) and making homemade onion rings with Brandon. Oh, I made some delicious carrot ginger soup, too. We are out of carrots now.

Wearing: Thrifted flannel, mom's infinity scarf, black tights and some fuzzy slippers - for the house, of course!