Recent Eats: Coffee Shop and Bakery Favorites

If you asked me where I work, I’ll say I work form home. Really, though, I work more from coffee shops in and around the Twin Cities than I do in my own home… or, my “office” - the desk I’ve had since I was a teenager in my bedroom at my parents’ house in the eastern suburbs of Minnesota. 23 (and a half!), restless, curious, and hungry, I can’t stay seated in my office for more than two hours at a time, and how productive would I be if I let myself go for walks around the neighborhood four times a day?

So, I coffee-shop-hop. Each week, I seek out two or three coffee shops I want to visit - some new to me, and others familiar favorites. I pack up my work things and block out the entire afternoon for coffee and a pastry. I mean work! I’m working, I promise… with bottomless coffee and something a little sweet (occasionally savory) and treat-y. Here are my favorites, so far.

When I said “occasionally savory”, I was talking about this croque monsieur bun from Mon Petit Cherie in Stillwater. I think I like it a little more because I don’t need to drive far to get my hands on it. This delicate bundle of ham, cheese, and tender, buttery dough called to me, and I couldn’t ignore it, though I did also have my eyes on the giant slices of peanut butter chocolate cake (!!). I pulled apart the dough, swirled snuggly around a center of warm, melty cheese and more tender, buttery dough. Sweet or savory, the inside of any bun is the best part - that’s a known fact. What is up for serious debate now is which has a bigger piece of my heart (also my stomach): a sweet cinnamon roll or this croque monsieur bun…

The latter is currently in the lead.

And while I’m talking about Mon Petit Cherie, I must shine the spotlight on their chai latte - make it dirty for me, please. I’m not snobby about my coffee drinks, but I will ask if the chai flavor comes from a syrup or actual tea. And if it’s syrup, is it house-made? Also, how sweet is it? Just curious. Okay so maybe I am a little snobby, but the source of the chai flavor makes a big difference! MPC makes their syrup in house, and it’s sweetened only with a touch of sweetened condensed milk, mostly for creaminess. This is the drink to order when you need a hug, but not from a human. When you just want something warm, sweet, and espresso-spiked.

When I do make the drive into the Twin Cities, my two closest friends always offer me their couch for the night. Nicole, who lives in St. Paul, has a surprisingly cozy and comfortable couch and a sweet pup who wakes me each morning with a few kisses (read: aggressive licks on my cheek). Just down the street is PJ Murphy’s Bakery on the corner of Randolph Ave and Syndicate St. It’s the kind of place you can show up to on a Saturday morning in your pj’s, glasses, and still-kinda-tired-yawns and be greeted with welcoming smiles behind the glass case of every croissant, donut, muffin, danish, and coffee cake you could dream of.

I spotted this raspberry cream cheese croissant-danish (yes, it’s a thing) tucked between others, similar to but not one of its kind. This beauty is one-in-a-million. If Julie Andrews were a pastry (in my opinion), she’d be this. Enough said.

One of the first coffee shops in St. Paul, Bread & Chocolate, secured its spot on Grand Avenue almost 30 years ago now, long before the coffee-shop-hopping, aesthetic-latte-loving millennials of my time came on the scene. Minnesotans of all ages love this place - you’ll see young college students with textbooks piled high on their tables sitting next to older folks with sharing newspapers, stories from their college years, and bottomless cups of coffee. A cross between your favorite family-owned neighborhood coffee shop and the new, “hip” spot on the main street, Bread and Chocolate greets all of its guests with consistently high-quality coffee (and free refills), made-with-love sweet treats, and an unmistakeable warm sense of community on a historic, bustling St. Paul street.

When you go, you’ll likely feel overwhelmed in the best way possible when scanning the case of baked goods. Start here - with the classic chocolate chip cookie. I promise you, it’s simple and subtle, but without a doubt, perfect.

And when you’ve got plans with a group later (or not, and you’re just craving sweets - it’s fine), pick up a handful of treats and take them to go. If the chocolate chip cookie takes first priority, the brownie comes next, with a precise and difficult to achieve fudgey, rich and light, cakey texture. The oatmeal raisin cookie, well, get it if you know someone who needs it. It’s good, but it’s not my favorite when surrounded by the rest of these. The cute heart cut-out cookie sandwich was the best shortbread cookie I’ve ever tasted. Reminiscent of the Knott’s Berry Farm thumbprint cookies, this one surpassed the classic upon first bite.

When I’m in Minneapolis for the day, I can’t not take a walk around Lake Calhoun or Lake of the Isles, but before I do that, I must be productive. And to boost my productivity, I must have a steaming hot cup of caffeine and something sweet with me. Coffee shops in Minneapolis aren’t cheap - and this “Chai-der” latte from Five Watt Coffee is no exception. Whatever the price tag, though, the coffee is fantastic every time and the baristas are some of the most friendly of their kind. I’ll warn you - it can get a little loud here so if you absolutely must work in peace, this might not be the best coffee shop for you. If, however, you need some umph in your creativity and you want to work around cool people, definitely check out one of Five Watt’s four locations.

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention! If you wait until 4 PM at Five Watt, you can snag two baked goodies for just $2! Usually, though, I don’t have the patience, and I want something sweet with my coffee, and I can’t drink coffee at 4 PM. So, I pay full price and I’m reminded it’s all worth it when I bite into a giant bittersweet cookie like this with three different types of chocolate!

One time, I was almost patient enough to wait until 4 PM for the $4 special. Almost! Oh well. I snagged this gluten-free brownie and a seasonal scone and planned on taking half of each home with me to share with Mom and Dad, and savoring the other half of each myself with my coffee - decaf coffee because it was 3:55 PM on a Tuesday. In contrast to the brownie from Bread and Chocolate mentioned above, this one was soft and pillowy, distinctly milk chocolate, and studded with tiny chunks of chocolate throughout. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting from a gluten-free brownie, and I loved every bite. None of this brownie made it out of the coffee shop, but I did manage to save the scone for Mom and Dad and they said it was delicious, so there’s that on that.

Driving along Hennepin Avenue in Uptown Minneapolis stresses me out, so I’m thankful for Spyhouse Coffee on the northern end (just one of the brand’s many locations throughout the cities), where I can pull off onto a side street, always find parking, and settle in at this cozy brownstone space. Again, you need to just swallow the larger-than-normal price tag of the drinks because they are worth it. Many of the drinks rotate seasonally, and the baristas are magnificently creative with their flavor combinations. Pictured above is the “Solid Gold” - a play on the turmeric latte, or golden milk latte, made with oat milk and espresso, and only lightly sweetened. I’ll be back begging for this drink to stay on the menu, as soon as I get my next paycheck.

In just 6 short weeks, I made 6 trips to Isles Bun and Coffee in Uptown Minneapolis. If that doesn’t tell you how good it is, I don’t know what would. Read more here about why I adore this place and their giant buns laced with sugar, cinnamon, and butter, and slathered with cream cheese frosting. Also, this is the exception to the expensive coffee trend in Minneapolis. You can pick up a cup of drip for just about $2, or a latte or cappuccino for less than $4 alongside your big sweet bun.

Who needs cake on your birthday when you can get a bacon apple fritter, known as the “Pinup Girl + Bacon” at Glam Doll Donuts, and bottomless coffee? Lucky for him, Dad got all three this year with his favorite (and only) daughter. Women-owned Glam Doll Donuts in Northeast Minneapolis (also on Eat Street) brings back memories of my donut-shop days in college. It’s exactly what a donut shop should be - bright and vibrant, whimsical and upbeat, and most importantly, welcoming. Glam Doll nailed it. Oh, and the donuts! Those are fantastic. I went for the jelly-filled “Femme Fatale” donut and couldn’t put it down - it was messy, so that’s one reason, and it was just too good to stop, so that’s another reason. Dad tends to be less vocal about his food, even when he loves it. Before I even took a bite of my donut, I peeked over my laptop and all I saw were crumbs on his plate. Next time we go, I’m sure he’ll get the same thing. I’ll branch out and try something new - Glam Doll offers too many fun donuts too settle on just one. Stay tuned for the next donut adventure!

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Hey, thanks for reading. I hope I’ve stimulated your sweet tooth and coffee cravings! Now its your turn - if you’ve been to the Twin Cities, or if you live here, I’d love your recommendations for coffee shops and bakeries. My list is always growing! Leave your suggestions in the comments below.

See you next time!

Recent Eats: Hard Kombucha, Grandma’s Lasagna, Homemade Bread, (a last-minute) Thanksgiving, and more

Did you read that? Like really read that? I found hard kombucha in the Land of 10,000 Lakes! I also found the best dirty chai latte and it’s from a coffee shop only 3 miles away from home, and Mom, Dad and I made Grandma’s scrum-diddly-umptious lasagna recipe using a special ingredient. But did I mention I found hard kombucha, too? Anyway, on with the eats.

Here she is. Isn’t she beautiful? After calling a few liquor stores near my house in Stillwater asking, “Hi, do you guys carry hard kombucha? Also known as kombucha beer?” only to get a confused response, something along the lines of, “Umm, let me transfer you to the produce department…” I felt a little discouraged. Believe it or not, Dad actually found this at a liquor store in Minneapolis. For those of you who live here and are now curious, you can find them at Surdyk’s in North Loop. I went with him to his office in the city one day and on our way home, he suggested we stop here because, of all liquor places around here, Surdyk’s would be the one to carry hard kombucha. He was right! Shamelessly, I grabbed about 3 4-packs. Girl’s gotta’ do what a girl’s gotta’ do.

We in the Hansen House are morning people. We like watching the sunrise, drinking multiple pots of coffee, and whipping up a big ol’ breakfast all while enjoying each other’s company (which can’t be said in a less cheesy but still truthful way, so I apologize for the cheesiness). Dad makes the bacon and I make something brunch-y, and that something brunch-y is usually pancakes because pancakes are just so darn easy and tasty. I chose this recipe from Blue Bowl and the family loved it!

“Come meet me in downtown St. Paul for a bite to eat and a drink after work!” I texted my parents after my first week at my new job. I felt cool and successful to finally have a job that I love, and I felt so at home to be able to meet up with my parents for dinner without needing to buy a plane ticket six months in advance. We met at Red Rabbit on Grand Ave. in St. Paul and, per the bartenders’ recommendations, I ordered the spicy sausage pizza and a side of roasted broccolini. If this is isn’t the exact image of my ideal dinner (glass of buttery, oaky Chardonnay not pictured), I don’t know what is.

The. Best. Chai. Latte. Make it dirty, please. I like to be that person who asks where the chai flavor comes from, if it’s made in-house, and if the latte can be made without any additional sweetener. There’s nothing worse than a chai latte that tastes only of sugar and cinnamon! I’m not wrong. Mon Petit Cheri in downtown Stillwater makes the perfect chai with a house-made chai syrup using condensed milk and local chai tea, plus a shot of espresso if you’re like me. I look forward to a little me-time with this chai latte and my journal.

You should recognize this face if you know anything about my life. Grace, my best friend, came to visit during the first week of November which also happened to be the coldest week of this winter thus far - perfect timing for the California girl. Nonetheless, as we always do, we made the most of it. We bundled up when we needed to and braved the almost-negative temperatures to find good food and fun happy hours. For the last happy hour of her trip, we took a couple spots at the Matchstick bar in downtown Stillwater and sipped some of my favorite buttery, oaky Chardonnay. Mmmm.

My dad’s mom, my grandma, created this stupidly good lasagna recipe many, many years ago. In fact, it’s probably older than I am, and it’s a significant component of my fondest childhood holiday memories. For as long as I’ve been in the kitchen, I’ve never taken part in the making of this family favorite dish. Dad’s craving for it triggered the same in me, and at just the right time, Banza sent me a sample of their new lasagna noodles. Clearly, it was time for me to get my hands deliciously dirty - lasagna-style. We tweaked a couple things in Grandma’s recipe: chickpea noodles instead of the usual wheat noodles (which turned out wonderful, might I add) and bleu cheese mixed into the ricotta. Of course, we always find room for improvement, so we will definitely be making this again and tweaking even further. The Banza lasagna noodles will definitely be in the next batch!

Just looking at these pictures gets me all jazzed up, and not just because this pizza had bleu cheese and sausage, though that’s definitely a significant contribution to the excitement. Mom, Dad, Mom’s friend, and I picked Giulia in downtown Minneapolis for dinner a couple weeks ago, and after a couple sips of our wine, we ordered the Mozzarella A Mano (I don’t know what that means other than a mozzarella dish), Speziato, One of the chefs rolled a cart with a couple bowls and simple ingredients up next to our table and began what I can only describe as a mini cooking class on how to make mozzarella. He pulled and shaped the milk curds and chatted with us all the while. Before we knew it, a beautiful plate of creamy, fresh mozzarella and an olive tapenade sat in the center of our table just begging for our consumption. We wasted no time digging in. Amazing! For dinner, I chose the Black Apple pizza, topped with sweet sausage, gorgonzola, fennel pollen, arugula, and an apple jam-y type thing. Again, amazing.

That right there is a loaf of homemade whole-wheat sandwich bread, and the official statement that I will probably never (read: maybe once, but that’s it) buy another loaf of the store-bought stuff. I’m still playing around with the recipe I used, which I got from work, and contains a mix of white and whole-wheat flour + beer + honey + butter + active dry yeast. As soon as it’s all ready to go, I’ll post it on the blog - it’s too simple and too darn tasty to keep all to myself!

We had a rough week here at the Hansen House, and we considered just skipping the whole Thanksgiving thing (the food, not the gratitude) this year. Thankfully - pun kind of intended - we pulled ourselves together on Wednesday night and came up with our best attempt at a plan for the big meal. Included in the plan was: cornbread sausage stuffing, balsamic roasted brussels sprouts with bacon, salad, homemade cranberry sauce, plus a turkey and a ham. I’m pretty proud of not only this meal, but of us as a family for picking up our broken pieces and making the best of a day of thankfulness we so desperately needed.

There ya’ have it for November’s eats! Come back in a month to see what else I’m cooking, baking, and eating - I’ve got plenty to share.

Recent Eats: Summer Fruits, Work Lunches, SLO Favorites

Summer came and went just like that. Anybody else feel like the season slipped right through their fingers? I mean, I barely ate enough peaches! I only ate one s’more! I went to the beach twice, and I live just ten minutes away from the water. Come onnnnnn. Anyway, here’s a recap of the things I did enjoy over the last couple of months. Bon app!

Peaches and raspberries, both from the local farmers market. Every Saturday, I make my way around the market and try to buy something new to me, or at least from a farmer new to me. There is one exception to that rule, however - at the end of my market trail is a farmer who sells the most juicy, sweet, and perfectly plump and ripe stone fruits during the summer. We know each other at this point, and that makes me so very happy.

I’ve cut my coffee consumption in half because it was hurting my stomach and making my high stress levels these days only worse, but here’s a picture of a gorgeous and delicious dark chocolate mocha I made back when my coffee consumption was at an all-time high. Maybe someday when I feel like I can handle the extra caffeine I’ll create a recipe like this for the blog. I’ll also need an espresso machine… hmmm.

I’m into the whatever’s-in-the-fridge kind of dinners these days. Leftover sweet potato? Toss it in there. Kale? Massage it with some olive oil and toss him in there, too. Oooh! Finally! A nice avocado! The fried egg on top is self-explanatory. Duh. Then a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, a dash of hot sauce, and a drizzle of tahini to finish things off. This is becoming an ideal dinner!

Banana bread - a classic breakfast-y baked good, especially in my world. If there isn’t a loaf of banana bread already made or one in the making, I must be sick or something. And now I have this brown butter banana bread recipe and I’m wondering how I ever lived without it?? I highly - very highly - recommend the cream cheese frosting, and if you’re out of the juicy summer peaches the recipe calls for, don’t fret. You can certainly swap those for some homemade raspberry chia seed jam (recipe here) and let yourself fall in love with the combination of brown butter banana bread + cream cheese frosting (a healthy one!) + raspberry jam (again, a healthy one!).

One of the biggest perks of my job - other than meeting and connecting with tons of cool healthy foodies all day - is that lunch is provided for me every single day and I can choose from anything off our menu at Nourish. Before I actually started working, I was all prepared to pack a lunch everyday just as I did when I was in school, but this is so. much. better. Pictured above is our eggplant caponata grilled cheese (one of my top 3 favorite items on our menu) and a classic caesar salad.

Given that I don’t need to think twice about lunch five days a week, you might assume that I’d be all jazzed up for dinner - creativity wheels spinning away with ideas for what to make. NOPE. I usually come home with an exhausted brain after a day full of human interaction and recipe development, so lately, I’m keeping dinners simple. Seared broccoli and Banza mac n’ cheese is easy, comforting, and ever so satisfying.

Of all the delicious restaurants in SLO, Taste is one that stands out from the rest. It caters to those of us who want one of everything on the menu - pick 2-4 items for a taste of whatever is catching your eye. You’ll pick from the long list of sliders, mac n’ cheese, brussels sprouts, and salads. Just make sure to give yourself enough time to actually choose because it can be difficult. While you’re making your decision, munch on some of their sweet potato fries because they’re really dang good. I also recommend the salmon sliders and the lamb slider!

Did I mention how much I love my weekday lunch situation? No? Oh, well ITS AWESOME. I consider it a blessing. While I love love lovvvve our sandwiches at Nourish, sometimes I just need a plate of veggies and meat. This is our Italian roasted cauliflower salad with arugula, slivered almonds, dried cranberries, and an apple cider vinaigrette, and our fresh corn salad with cucumber, cherry tomato, basil, and a lemon vinaigrette alongside our roasted tamarind glazed turkey. I felt like both salads needed some feta, so I added the feta. Boom. Lunch is served.

I like my lunches and dinners to be exciting and adventurous these days, but I stick to this for breakfast most of the time. Some 5% Greek yogurt, homemade raspberry jam (same recipe as above), and sliced banana. The sweet and slightly tart jam combined with the silky, tangy, rich yogurt is just sooOoOOoo good. Later on in the morning, usually around the time I get to work, I need a little something starchy to nibble on so I bring one of these dark chocolate chunk zucchini muffins or some banana bread or something to hold me over until lunch. Ask my why I love mornings so much and the food is one big part of that!

Okay I lied a little bit. Of course, there are some mornings when I just want peanut butter toast and, for whatever the reason, those mornings are usually weekend mornings. Breaking Bread Bakery, a local bakery in SLO, makes THE BEST whole-grain bread and it’s hard to have good toast without it now that I’ve become accustomed to its perfection. Quality bread, RX Bar nut butter (or regular, but I like the subtle flavors here), and banana - simple, easy, and satisfying. In case you’re curious, I used those last two very ripe bananas and the last of the nut butter in the RX jar to whip up a crazy-good banana bread. Coming soon!

Do happy hour the right way and get an order of sweet potato fries. Do it. My favorite spot for happy hour these days is Lido at Dolphin Bay - fantastic service, great happy hour prices, and a gorgeous view of the ocean. It doesn’t get better than that!

Last but most certainly not least - Old San Luis BBQ. It’s a 7-minute walk from my apartment and I won’t say that wasn’t a small reason (one of the many) Grace and I picked this apartment. Priorities! I know it’s a barbecue place, but it’s worth mentioning that their sweet potato fries are the best in town. The very best. In terms of actual barbecue, I love love love their pulled pork slider - that and the bbq chef salad you see Grace digging into in this picture are my go-to orders. I did branch out, though, and try the tri-tip which is also fantastic. But pulled pork.

I eat a lot and take pictures of whatever I’m eating just as often. It’s quite fun, actually. Thanks for reading along! I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I do! See ya’ next time.

Recent Eats: Birthday Treats, Breakfast for Two, and a Trip to LA

Hello hello hello! Welcome back to the more free-spirited and way-less-scheduled post on the blog. Here’s what I’ve been cooking, eating, and drinking lately. Bon appetit!

Cast-iron skillets, coffee makers, and jumbo muffin tins - these are three of the most essential kitchen items (among a few others). I bought the jumbo muffin tin specifically for this recipe because I knew, if I wanted bakery-style muffins, they must be jumbo. And they must have the coarse sprinkling sugar on top. Of course. These make the best quick weekday breakfast with a scoop of Greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey, and the best accompaniment to a weekend brunch spread.

I cannot tell you how much I love that Jake and I can cook together. We’ve made homemade pizza (all the ingredients from Trader Joe’s!), sweet potato nachos, pasta with chicken sausage, and a friend-rice-type-thing except with farro instead of rice, annnd even some tahini brownies! This particular night we made a sweet potato hash with spicy chicken sausage, avocado, and goat cheese (my favorite cheese). Yumma!

Grace is my breakfast buddy. We lovvvve breakfast, and when our slow weekend mornings collide, we take advantage! Coffee comes first, always. Black for me, and with a splash of almond milk for her. While we sip, we throw out breakfast ideas - French toast, waffles (those have been off the menu since the day I tossed my cheap waffle maker in the trash), pancakes, banana bread, muffins, avocado and egg toast, and the list goes on. Pancakes win, 9 out of 10 times. Here we have gluten-free blueberry oatmeal pancakes with fresh fruit, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, and maple syrup. These were some of the BEST gf pancakes I’ve ever had! Don’t worry - the recipe is saved and patiently waiting for its turn on the blog.

I’ve lived a 5-minute-drive away from the famous Madonna Inn for the last 5 years, and I’ve only had so much as a bite or two of their well-known cakes. Grace and I drove by it on our way home from the beach one night, looked at Madonna, looked at each other, and just knew - it’s time. Cake time. We scurried inside, 23-year-olds with the excitement of 7-year-olds, and scanned the glass case for the cake that called out to us. Soon enough, we sat in puffy pink barstools at a diner-style counter and scooped forkful after forkful of rich, German chocolate cake into our mouths.

PS - if you’re planning to visit, one slice feeds 2-3 people. Easily.

Jake brought me donuts on my birthday! He’s a keeper. These are all my favorites, and apparently his least favorites - that’s probably a good thing. Apple fritters remind me of my dad, who’d always choose this one on Saturday morning donut runs, and now I think they’re among some of the greatest donuts on the shelves. I discovered old-fashioned and buttermilk donuts in college and love almost equally as much as apple fritters. It’s a texture thing when it comes to donuts, and the fluffy donuts just don’t understand that. Anyway, enough of my donut opinions.

I think summer birthday celebrations should always involve beach views, best friends, and strong, sweet sangria - thankfully, mine had all those wonderful things! Lido at Dolphin Bay provided the beach views and the strong, sweet sangria, and, well, I’ve got the best friends covered, obviously. When everyone asked me where I wanted to go/what I wanted to do on my special day, I think it only took me half a second to pick up the phone and make a patio reservation at Lido. Definitely one of my favorite spots in this area - unbeatable!

We can talk about jumping rope and coloring with sidewalk chalk and slumber parties all we want, but nothing quite brings back the memories of childhood like Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. I know, I know - a can of processed, sugary dough that asks nothing more of the baker who prepares them than to just open it up and lay them out on a baking sheet, bake for 10 minutes, and then spread this pre-made (who-knows-what) frosting on top? Yeah, those. I’m all for whole grains and vegetables and homemade goodies, but Pillsbury has its own special place in my diet.

On that same sweet note - CAKE. My whole family flew out to California to celebrate my graduation, and I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. The only thing I asked for (demanded, actually) was cake. To me, it’s almost as important as the loved ones in a celebration. Everyone insisted I couldn’t make my own cake, even though I offered and kind of wanted to honestly, so we stopped at Angela’s Pastries in Paso Robles and picked up one or two or… eleven things. My favorite was the lemon cake, with the carrot cake coming up close behind in second place.

Another celebration necessity - mimosas. Duh. ‘Nuff said.

This burger from Hachè LA gave In n’ Out a serious run for its money. Tender meat, creamy goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, and the (almost) perfect bun, plus a side of fries to share and a tall glass of sangria for both Connie and me. It tasted like it should have cost way more than it did, but I won’t argue with them on that. Girl’s gotta’ budget! And I love a good burger that fits in that budget.

We woke up the next morning, sipped some coffee, and immediately realized we’d need more than just one cup. Connie seems to know LA like the back of her hand, yet somehow we still couldn’t decide on a coffee shop that was both convenient and cute. That is, until we landed on Little Ripper. This is the kind of coffee shop where I’m sure a simple pour-over is just dandy, but next to a Chicory-Cacao house-made almond milk-infused latte sweetened with dates and lookin’ all bougie… well, the latter steals the spotlight in my eyes. Connie ordered the same drink, but with a lavender flavor and hot instead of iced. We loved both!

Between our morning beverages and our evening beverages (shown above), we did a lot of networking, socializing, and working in the midst of all that, so we wanted something with a little extra zing, ya’ know? Connie has had her eye on Sawyer for a while (it’s a bar, not a person) and I can understand why - refreshing atmosphere with light, cheery decor and absolutely delish drinks. We had two! Round one is pictured above: two margaritas, and round two (not shown): was a moscow mule for me and frosè for her. Whenever my next visit to LA is, I’ll be stopping here for sure.

So, that’s that for now. I’ll be back soon with more eats and drinks!

Recent Eats: Easy Breakfasts, True Food Kitchen's Burger, and Healthier Boxed Mac and Cheese

It’s time for some non-Instagrammed food photos! As unaesthetic as these are, I find them a refreshing change of pace from all the set-up and touched-up food photos I see on a daily basis. I love those, and I create plenty of them, too, but every so often I like something raw, untouched. Something you’re eating on a Monday night when your fridge is almost empty. Something you’re quickly packing for lunch when you should have walked out the door five minutes ago.

If you like those, too, you’ll love all of these. Bon appetit!

Three main components of my diet - greens, sweet potatoes, and goat cheese. I’ll add avocado occasionally, but it isn’t essential for me. I toss the sweet potato cubes in avocado oil, garlic powder, sea salt, and chili powder, then roast them at 425F for 30-35 minutes, tossing halfway through. They come out absolutely perfect every single time!

This banana bread is an essential component of my morning routine - it’s that good. I especially love it with Icelandic Provisions Skyr (plain) and creamy peanut butter. This and some more coffee after a morning workout - MMM doesn’t get better!

Here’s just another variation of my favorite breakfast. If I’m out of either ripe bananas or time to make banana bread, I’ll buy these sprouted bagels from Alvarado Street Bakery and gather up the same team members - skyr, peanut butter, whatever fruit I have on hand, and cinnamon. I don’t know why it’s so good, why I love it so much, but it is and I do and we just need to leave it at that.

The very best, juiciest, sweetest oranges I’ve ever sunk my teeth into fall from a tree just 20 steps away from my kitchen. It’s wonderful! They’re best enjoyed when eaten directly over the sink, all cares about cleanliness pushed aside for just a moment to soak in the flavor, and the fact that I have a beautiful, fruitful orange tree in my backyard.

Is it possible to make chicken thighs actually look appetizing? No? Oh, okay. Then I don’t feel as insecure about the gross-looking (but delicious!) chicken thighs tucked between the best crispy roasted broccoli and spaghetti. Wait - what? Yeah, I made spaghetti! ‘Twas a delightful and simple meal I will certainly be whipping up again soon.

The bagel is back. And this time, he’s savory - not a bit sweet. Homemade egg sandwiches don’t compare to bagel-shop egg sandwiches, but for a quick weekday lunch, they will certainly do the trick. This one is hummus, avocado, crushed red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast, a fried egg, and some mixed greens.

Am I the only who has always felt like homemade wraps aren’t as good as sandwich-shop/cafe-style wraps? Well, up until now, at least. With only ten minutes to prepare a lunch to eat in the car while I drove down to LA a few weeks ago, I spread some hummus on a whole-wheat lavash bread, sprinkled nutritional yeast and crushed red pepper flakes, greens, and sliced tempeh and rolled it up tightly. It fit snuggly into my tupperware container and was, I must say, one of the easiest to eat car-lunches ever! It’s also delicious, so even when I’m not eating with one hand, driving with the other, and singing my favorite throwback songs, I make this.

The True Food Kitchen burger. I can debate between this and other items on the menu as much as I want to, but I always end up with this messy hunk in my hands and I’m not mad about that. It’s balanced out with a satisfying kale salad on the side, too. You probably aren’t looking at that, though… I mean, after all, look at that cheeeeeeese.

A deconstructed peanut butter cup? Sure. Nestle is releasing new chocolate morsels soon, so I asked my friend to grab a sample form Expo West. Let’s just say…. we should warn all the other chocolate chips. These are coming in hot. I scooped a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter to act as the creamy vehicle on which to bring the chocolate chips to my mouth. Gotta’ keep life exciting in the midst of studying chronic kidney disease, respiratory complications, and metabolic stress, ya’ know?

I finished the last bite off this plate and, for the umpteenth time, asked myself WHYYYY do I not make this Banza mac n’ cheese more often?! It easily could have stood on its own, sans steamed kale, but it was the only veggie I had in the fridge on Monday night (I went grocery shopping the next morning), so… yeah. I may or may not have eaten the entire box. I don’t know. It was just unbelievably good.

Recent Eats: A Pizza Party, Pumpkin Flavors, and Easy Dinners

Never have I ever so frequently forgotten to take a quick picture of whatever it is I’m eating. Yeah, I’m a little disappointed in myself because making a meal aesthetically appealing and capturing that on camera is enjoyable (for me, at least). But life is moving at what feels like a million miles an hour right now and I simply don’t have the time I used to have to dedicate to making food pretty. Here are some of the moments I have captured within the last month or so!

Back in September, I was invited to a sort of community dinner with a couple other bloggers and social-media-people to get together, hang out, eat good food, and see the remodeling of Woodstock’s Pizza in SLO! Delicious - d e l i c i o u s - pizza, tons of laughing, and a really cool new section added to the back of the pizza shop, along with a redesign of the kitchen. If you’re in SLO, check it out and order the Pesto Primavera or the BBQ Bird.

I think it is possible - difficult, but still possible - to go a little overboard on the cookie-making. Thankfully, I have hungry friends who are more than willing to take extras off my hands. These Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies are the next best thing to plain ol’ oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies! For those of you in need of a seasonal Fall/Winter dessert, may I interest you in these?

RX bars are some of my favorite quick and easy snacks. I know some people say they’re too chewy, but to me, it’s like a workout for my jaw and in a really weird way I kind of like that. My go-to flavors are peanut butter, peanut butter chocolate chip, and PB & J! I also highly recommend trying the new nut butter. It’s delightful, to say the least.

When our schedules match up, Grace (my roommate/bff) and I love to make dinner together. And because our taste buds almost always match up, it’s not unlikely we’ll be making some variation of roasted veggies and chicken thighs. We like to keep things simple during the week! Dinner with friends and family can be rare during this season of life (busy, in college, working, studying, blahblahblah), so I try to make it happen whenever possible because celebrating food with loved ones is just unbeatable.

My mid-morning pick-me-up lately has been another cup of coffee and maybe a bite or two of something sweet I have laying around (there’s always something). High Brew Coffee sent me some samples and, though this one was really sweet, it was absolutely delicious! I never really buy lattes at coffee shops because I think anything over $5 for a drink that costs me less than $1 at home is just ridiculous. So, thanks High Brew for sending me these!

This was my lunch for, like, a week straight. Not kidding. I bought whole-wheat English muffins to make a recipe for the cookbook, but then ended up using them all for this DUHlicious meal - soft-scrambled eggs, avocado, spinach, a touch of nutritional yeast, and salt + pepper + cilantro for garnish. It’s the kind of meal that fills you up perfectly, but you want more simply because it’s that amazing.

And then there are nights when I come home from class or work or studying or wherever and want as little to do with cooking as possible, so I break out a box of Banza mac n’ cheese, some easy-to-cook veggies, and call it a night. Until about six months ago, I couldn’t remember the last time I had boxed mac n’ cheese, but I did know that Banza tops every bowl I ever had as a child.

I look forward to Thursday night not only because it’s the end of the week for me, but because it’s the night of the Downtown SLO Farmers Market! And that means my friends and I - 90% of the time - end up with bbq pulled pork sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and a glass or two of wine. My favorite spot is Old San Luis BBQ - the pulled pork and chicken sliders are unbeatable!

One of my best friends, Jeannette, came down to spend the weekend with me recently and our plans consisted mostly of cooking dinners, shopping, chatting and catching up on life, and trying new recipes. We made my Best Vegan Brownies one day and added in some Gr8nola Charcoal Chia granola, and obviously went through an entire photoshoot to capture the beauty. Duh.

I am not lying when I say I am undeniably obsessed with every single component of this breakfast: the banana bread, the skyr or sometimes yogurt, regular peanut butter or sometimes this unbeatable RX bar nut butter (I told you it was delicious). Three or four days a week, I’m coming home from work at 8 AM starving and rushing to get ready for class. All I want is something quick, easily digestible, and 9/10 times, sweet. This. Is. Perfect. Here’s the recipe for the banana bread!

THE COOKIES. The Pillsbury holiday cut-out cookies. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably remember the intense hunt Grace and I went on last year to find these. This year, we lucked out and found the Halloween ones! Of course, we bought three boxes without thinking twice. Now that Christmas is somewhat around the corner, we’ve got three more boxes in the freezer ready to go. For whatever reason, the hunt was much easier this year. Maybe Pillsbury heard my cries of desperation last year and took it easier on me this time.

Last but certainly not least, my go-to weeknight meal: roasted veggies, greens, and these really yummy (and also kind of random) tuna cakes I came up with recently, plus some cilantro and mayo. Once I cross off all the other items on my to-do list, I will do my best to get the recipe for the tuna cakes either on the blog or in the cookbook recipe collection!

Well, thanks for reading and I’ll see ya’ next time I decide to sort through all the food-related pictures on my camera roll to share a small portion of them here. Hope you enjoyed all that you saw and read!

Recent Eats: Burritos, Bagels, and Big, Fun (and still healthy) Dinners

The ratio of pictures showcasing food to pictures showcasing life has, in recent days, leaned more towards the latter - a rare occurrence in my photo album, but one to cherish, nonetheless. And I have a summer jam-packed with memories as juicy as fresh, seasonal strawberries and peaches to thank for that. It’s just wonderful.

But, you want to see the food. I get that. Here ya’ go!

That guy in the background is a good friend of mine, so when he suggested the fish burrito from a local taqueria, I trusted him and went with it! I asked for veggies instead of rice in mine because rice in burritos, along with beans and a tortilla, just feels like too much for me. The crunch of the fajita veggies is just what such a satisfying meal needs. If you’re in the area, this is from Taqueria Santa Cruz on Monterey Street. Tell me your go-to order in the comments!

RX Bar gets lots of love in my pantry. I find them to be just the right size when I’m in need of a snack, and this PB & J flavor hits every spot. Paired with an iced coconut milk latte here, this bar kept me satisfied and sane through some of the stupidest Saturday LA traffic as I drove down to OC for my bff’s graduation party. A taco man catered dinner, so even though I was pretty hungry when I arrived, I knew I had a plate full of carne-asad-eliciousnes awaiting me (see what I did there?).

Bagels confuse me. How can they make me drool when sitting in front of me, all dressed up in rich cream cheese and buttery smoked salmon, but then let me forget all about them a week later? Then, I’m caught back up in the carb-induced bagel-obsession the minute I see one again. If I try to figure this dilemma out, though, will that erase the deep love I have for the oh-so-fluffy carbohydrate, undeserving of the neglect from carb-haters? Forever a bagel-and-carb-lover.

Grace and I wanted ice cream from the minute we woke up on this day. Okay, maybe not that exact minute, but I do remember it being quite early in the day when we scheduled an ice cream snack for later in the afternoon. I think this was from a place called Scoop Deck in Southern OC - she got mint chip and I got cookies n’ cream. Cravings were satisfied beyond imagination.

If my stomach weren’t bound by it’s own walls, I would devour plates upon plates upon plates of this meal - grilled chicken and sausage, baked beans, roasted corn, and mixed greens. Simple. Quick. Bursting with flavor. Nothing extravagant or trendy, but still one of my absolute favorites. And, to top it off, I enjoyed it all while relishing the soft summer breeze of Minnesota along with Mom, Dad, Ben (brother), and Natalie (sister in law). It would all still taste good if I ate it just by myself, but the family component takes the meal (any meal, actually) to a whole new level.

More ice cream! When I insisted on at least one trip to Dairy Queen during my Minnesota vacation, Dad replied with nothing but a link to the Nelson’s Ice Cream Instagram page and, though I’m still a devout fan of DQ, I couldn’t say no. Especially if my dad is recommending an ice cream place (he’s more of a pie-for-dessert kind of person). The five of us took what seemed like endless bites of several flavors - we ordered four of the kids size, which actually turned out to each be equal to about the size of my head. We rode our bikes home for a little movement and a chance to relish more of the soft summer breeze.

Speaking of a sugar-high, all these bad boys are from a famous bakery in my mom’s hometown, of which I would butcher the name if I tried, so don’t ask. Cinnamon rolls, croissants, classic glazed, and a couple maple bacon held us and our sweet cravings over for the next couple of days. We even brought some leftovers to my grandparents, who had never heard of a maple bacon donut, but upon first bite, became huge fans. To my surprise, the maple bacon was my favorite, too.

Natalie cooked dinner for us all one night - a roasted veggie dish she often cooks for my brother in England. She mentioned sweet potatoes and immediately I was in. We had this alongside some more grilled chicken, more roasted corn on the cob, and probably bread because Dad loves bread. Me too, Dad. Me too.

Lots of love for RX Bar - did I not tell you? If you haven’t yet tried their new nut butters, please please please do so. You’ll thank me for sharing the news, and you’ll thank RX Bar for being pure genius.

Lots of love for dinners like this - did I not tell you that, too? We had family over for a barbecue one night and everyone brought something to share. I went for my favorites (the chicken and the beans) along with a few others, like mom’s farro and greens salad, my aunt’s marinated tomatoes and mozzarella, and my uncle’s guacamole.

We hung out in Downtown Stillwater for a night and found a cool bar/restaurant for happy hour. I got a wine slushy (not the exact name, but that’s the gist of it) - a red wine blend with fresh blackberries and tons of other flavor to make it even sweeter and better than everyone else’s drink of choice… in my opinion :)

It’s just a tradition whenever I’m home to make Dad’s favorite waffles. It needs to happen. I’ve tried to teach Mom how to make them, but I don’t know - maybe it’s just one of those things when food tastes better when made by a specific person, ya’ know? I think I made, like, five batches total while I was there because we all just kept eating them. They’re that good. My favorite way to eat them (and I got a couple others on board with this, too) was slightly toasted and topped with Fage 2% yogurt, Mom’s homemade berry jam, and fruit. Unbeatable.

What prompted me to make overnight oats, I cannot recall. But I went with it and loved them. If you missed the last couple updates, I started working at a local cafe as one of the bakers. So, three days a week, I’m up and out the door by 4:15 AM, and finished and on my way home by 8:30 AM. It’s still an adjustment, but I’m loving the experience! For these oats, I combined 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats + 1/2 cup almond milk + 1 tbsp. collagen peptides + maple syrup + a sprinkle of chia seeds + a dollop of peanut butter + sliced banana. As soon as I go through all the banana bread in my freezer, I will be making this again!

Approximately 97.9% of my lunches look like this. Mixed greens serve as the base of the bowl, skillet-roasted chicken thighs add hearty protein, chopped celery adds some juicy crunch, and a creamy hummus dressing made with hummus and the juices that cooked out of the chicken thighs (holy moly it’s amazing) dresses it all up with tons of flavor. I know, you’re probably where the carbs are in this meal (and if you’re not, I’ll tell you anyway) - they usually come in the form of toast on the side, or a couple bites of whatever leftover baked good I have laying around. Lemon chia seed oatmeal cookie sandwiches sound like a pretty dang delicious way to round out a solid lunch salad!

Welcome to one of my favorite places in San Luis Obispo - Old San Luis BBQ. Their pulled pork sliders have my heart, and now their new thick-cut sweet potatoes are stealing the show. My friends and I eat here pretty much every time we come downtown for the Thursday-night farmers market and always leave with happy tummies.

Alllllllllrighty my friends. There ya’ have it. I love sharing these fun and casual posts with you and I hope you enjoy reading them!

Recent Eats: Tollhouse Cookies, A Happy Hour Feast, and Dinners with Dad

Hello, food-loving friends! Ready to check out another collection of blog-worthy meals and snacks and whatnot? You better be. I'm one-month-deep into summer and it feels like heaven on earth - I'm sleeping in (and by that I mean roughly 7:30 AM at the latest), I'm working on the cookbook (!!!), I'm making progress on finishing This Is Us, and I'm continuing to learn more and more each day how to just relax. I'd say it's been pretty fantastic so far.

The most basic meal ever that just so happened to also be one of the most delicious was this one - garlic roasted Japanese sweet potato cubes + tempeh + mixed greens + avocado + feta. SO GOOD. 

I came home one evening from wherever I was and found my roommates on our floor eating pizza and cookies and reminiscing on the last two years of living together/almost tearing up at the thought of no longer living together. 'Twas an emotionally challenging situation to walk into, but the Tollhouse cookies made it a little easier for all of us. 

I told you we love happy hour! This spread is from Milestone Tavern in San Luis Obispo - a few of my friends and I treated ourselves on a Monday night to some appetizers and drinks and loved every bite. My favorites were the pretzel and cheese dip and the pulled pork slider (you should've seen that one coming)! 

I wasn't much of a wine drinker until I discovered rosè - holy moly guacamole. Whenever my mom and I drink wine together, we love to add some fresh chopped fruit. The flavor isn't much different than wine without fresh fruit, but I'm convinced the small addition makes us feel... cooler? Fancier? Funner? Something like that. 

One of my best friends recently married her college sweetheart, so my friends and I drove up to Northern California for the wedding a couple weekends ago. Our lunch, post four-hour-car-ride, was a stop at a cute local sandwich shop that was far too crowded for my liking, but the sandwiches were far too yummy for me to care that much about the line I had to wait in to get my hands on said sandwich. Speaking of that, it was something with garlic roasted turkey breast, brie, fresh veggies, and a spicy pepper aioli I think. 

And the wedding dinner was chicken with veggies and mashed potatoes. The bread was a disappointing take on cardboard, but hey, we still love the bride and had plenty of food and cake for hours of dancing. Peep the adorable jar of homemade jam! 

The girls and I had these breakfast burritos planned for the morning after the wedding about a week in advance and I could not have been more excited. Once we pulled out the breakfast sausages, I think my heart skipped a beat. Okay, but really, this was our last time together as roommates and it was both infinitely joyous and tear-jerkingly sad at the same time. We've all lived together for at least two years, so saying goodbye was harder than... hard. Gotta' do what ya' gotta' do. Sorry - I don't have any uplifting advice for goodbyes. 

I usually pack a lunch or at least some snacks for work everyday, so here's one of them - some chopped nectarine (white ones are my favorite) and an RX Bar nut butter packet, which was p h e n o m e n a l by the way, and then a big ol' salad of mixed greens + chopped carrots and cucumber + black bean burgers + a hard-boiled egg + mayo whisked with salsa for the dressing. MMMM!

Every so often, I'm lucky enough to take home some leftovers of whatever the chef made either that day or a few days prior, and this time it was a thick slice of jalapeño cheddar cornbread! He offered it up and I graciously volunteered to take this chunk of his hands. I'm so nice. Later that evening, I heated it back up and ate it alongside some roasted veggies and tempeh. 

Grace and I treated ourselves to a new ice cream place in town - Nite Creamery. I don't remember exactly what we got, but we ordered the same thing and I think it was vanilla ice cream + cookie crumbles mixed in and a caramel drizzle. HELLO. So good. Well, like ice cream is delicious and all, but if you ask me, what really makes ice cream special is eating the ice cream with loved ones in the warmth of a summer Sunday night.  

Dad and I couldn't decide what to do for dinner his last night in town, so I found a grill, bought some meat + veggies + burger buns and invited my friends over for the ideal summer dinner. We had burgers, roasted sweet potatoes, salad, fruit, and wine and capped the night off with a few rounds of banana-grams, which is hilarious and my new number one recommendation if you're looking for a simple yet effective game to keep a fun night extra fun. 

After a magnificent brunch at Lido in Pismo Beach, I HAD to go back for something else... just to make sure the menu is consistent, ya' know? It is. It is consistently good. This was the nicest meal Dad and I have had in what feels like forever, for as long as we can both remember, and it was my gift to him for Father's Day (a whole month late) when he flew out here to spend a few days with me. He ordered the carbonara, I ordered the vegan pizza with a little cheese on top, and we split some roasted cauliflower. Everything was unbelievably good! 

For whatever reason, I think it's worth mentioning here that this wedding-centered weekend - from not being able to squeeze in a workout two days in a row, to snacking on leftover cake and wine at midnight (let alone cake in and of itself), to making breakfast burritos with sausage and white tortillas - would have stressed me out for weeks in advance and even more so during the event had it been three or four years ago. And this still hurts to say but even some of the time with my dad would've been spent planning meals and workouts and scheduling our day around when I can workout and where I can eat this or that. I've learned A LOT since then and I'm not saying that to brag, but rather to let those of you who aren't as happy as you might want to be in your relationship with food and/or body image that there is a way out of that mind-clogging, fun-sucking state. It can be a long, strenuous road with some disappointments and setbacks here and there, but it is worth the drive. The freedom to enjoy cake and breakfast burritos and the brain-space and energy to chat with friends and dance for hours instead of working out for 30 minutes is absolutely worth it. The freedom to savor a pizza and sip some damn good rosè overlooking the ocean with Dad by my side and the brain-space to discuss faith and our challenging questions and to reminisce on family memories and his college years and beyond is absolutely worth it. 

It's more than food. 

Recent Eats: Beach Drinks, Burritos, and a Really Good Burger

Well, it's that time again. My phone storage has completely filled up, so here I am, emptying all the pictures of food onto the blog for your eyes to feast on! Not even a month has passed since the last of these posts - I guess that means I've been eating well! School just ended last week, so I don't predict this post or the next few to come to include many packed lunches or dinners, things like that. Cool? Cool. Instead, from here on out for the rest of the summer, expect lots of fun foods, lots of new foods, lots of... everything :) 

A couple drinks from a bar in Avila Beach (Mr. Rick's, for those in SLO) after my friend and I hiked one evening. In the back of my mind, this didn't sound like a fantastic idea - you know, re-hydrating mainly with alcohol - but we were both fine and the drinks tasted even better considering how thirsty we were. Tangerine Mai Tai for her, a Harlem Shake for me, and a stunning view of the ocean along with live music and everyone dancing on the boardwalk to make for a fantastic Friday night show for both of us!

I remember this distinctly. It was a Thursday afternoon, right after an anatomy midterm I had the hardest time studying for because my emotions that week were just out of control and sleep didn't want to be my friend in the slightest. Don't worry - I didn't fail, but I did walk out knowing I was not about to see an A or B on that exam (I got a C and I'm okay with that). And because my day was still six hours from being over, I bought myself a latte from Starbucks and cracked open this new RX Bar. It's not my favorite flavor, but that isn't to say it wasn't good! 

If you didn't guess from the mess on the kitchen counter, I was baking something here today, and I think it was the cookies in the picture. What sparked in me a desire to experiment with a new recipe, I do not know, but I rolled with it and after 30 minutes mixing together some almond flour, cacao powder, nut butter, and other ingredients, out from the oven came rich, soft, fudgy cookies that might be better described as brownies. Or brownies that might be better described as cookies? 

Here they are! I saved the recipe, so I'm planning to post it here soon. Until then, patience. 

Speaking of baking... I made a cake! And there's zucchini inside! And everyone liked it even when I told them about the vegetable! This four-layer chocolate cake was for a close friend's birthday - I spent the morning making it because 1) it was her BIRTHDAY so, duh, I wanted her to feel special and 2) (selfishly) I desperately needed a break from studying and baking sounded like the way to go. Win win win. Happy birthday Michaela! Oh, and here's the cake recipe. 

I made an afternoon-coffee habit on Tuesdays and Thursdays this quarter because my schedule gave me only an hour-long break each day, and going from two hours of anatomy lecture to two hours of nutrition counseling lecture felt like a mountain to climb. Coffee and snacks to the rescue! This is the cascara latte with coconut milk + two of my chocolate peanut butter sea salt power bites. 

When you wait to start what would become a ten-page written midterm until two days before it's due (not to mention that + anatomy lab practical + nutrition counseling essay all due in the same week), you spend the entire weekend at your favorite coffee shop. For me, that's the Steaming Bean in Shell Beach and I'll talk more about why I love it so much when I finish my post about the best coffee shops in SLO. I digress - I brought this pasta salad with me and it's pretty much Banza pasta + shaved carrot "noodles" + this mayo + salsa + cilantro. Sounds kinda' weird, I know, but trust me when I say it's pretty dang good. 

Please excuse this picture if I've already posted it, and I wouldn't be surprised if I have because I've made these chocolate chunk tahini cookies at least six times in the last two months. Here they are again, all warm and gooey and freshly baked, ready for transport to the preview of my cookbook! I hung out at Holland's senior project showcase to meet her professor and her classmates and to, of course, see the finished product! I cried. :))) just a few more months and we will have ourselves A BOOK!!!

Please also excuse this plate of sweet potato wedges that seems to reappear on my dinner menu multiple times a week, hence why it's always included in these posts. It's just so good and so easy and so satisfying. I usually go for the white sweet potatoes or the Japanese sweet potatoes, which I buy organic from Whole Foods (because I can't find them anywhere else less expensive) . Toss them in avocado or grape seed oil with garlic powder and sea salt, roast at 425F for 35-40 minutes, flipping them in between, and then serve with whatever dip or sauce sounds good. 

Birthday tacos! These (which I split with a friend) are from Luna Red which will very likely forever and always be my favorite spot in SLO. I wish I could think of an adjective perfect enough to describe it. Picture this: flowery trees + pops of colorful furniture + outdoor bar and lounging area + twinkly lights (twinkly lights!). And as for the food, think: bacon-wrapped dates + seafood or vegetable paella + goat cheese balls + cured meat and cheese boards and way more you must check out for yourself. Must. 

I also remember this quite distinctly. It was one of those rare (rare for me, at least) indecisive mornings when I couldn't decide how I wanted to get some movement into my day before I spent the rest of it in front of my computer/textbooks. First, I went for a walk, but only made it about half a mile from my house before I realized I felt like something more intense. Back home I went, thinking a bike ride to the beach sounded perfect. As I changed clothes, I changed my mind yet again and set my plans on getting to the coffee shop early to finish a chunk of studying, and then giving myself an hour or two in the afternoon for some movement as a study-break. So, that all happened and so did this breakfast burrito from Steaming Bean. Bacon + eggs + avocado + tomato. It was a little plain for my taste, but I know the owner and this felt like something he would make me if he invited me over to his place for breakfast. And I like that.  

About three weeks ago, I made my first-ever very own grilled cheese sandwich. I loved them as a kid, but once my mom started letting me make my own food, I grew out of them. Then, the whole issue of my relationship with food crashed in and cheese and bread were never allowed and then I went vegan and, well... yeah, no cheese obviously. And that brings us here, to Haley's homemade grilled cheese sandwich #2. I bought a block of organic pepperjack cheese from the farmers market and melted it along with some spinach between two slices of my favorite bread from Breaking Bread here in SLO. Mmmmmm. I've missed these. 

Happy graduation, Grace! If you're wondering who Grace is, she's my best friend first and then my roommate second and she just graduated from Cal Poly with a BS in Recreation Parks and Tourism Administration. Her whole family came up to SLO this weekend, so we spent every minute (okay, not every single one, but many) celebrating in some way. For dinner on Friday night, we went to the Shell Beach Brewhouse and both ordered a chicken sandwich and a glass of rose. The sandwich was huge and delicious, and we left stuffed. We can't really complain though - good company, good food, good rose, and so much laughing that my stomach and cheeks actually ached for the rest of the night. 

 To finish celebrating Grace, we went to Sally Loo's for brunch on Sunday. For me, a veggie breakfast burrito sounded like it would hit the spot, and it did. I asked for no potatoes, so they subbed extra veggies and it was perfect. Whenever I eat breakfast burritos with potatoes, I feel way too full afterwards and would rather have more eggs or veggies instead of more starchy-ness in addition to the tortilla. Ya' know? Sometimes I feel too high-maintenance, but then I remind myself that 1) I'm rarely ever actually high-maintenance (I've seen worse) and 2) I want to actually enjoy my food. Duh. 

There they are, all the memorable eats within the last month. I hope you enjoy reading these posts! Come back soon for more. What are some of your memorable eats recently? Comment below!

Recent Eats: Burgers, Pizzas, Brunch, and a Picnic

What would I do with this blog if I didn't like to eat as much as I do? That question might be silly because 1) I do love to eat and I hope that never goes away, and 2) this blog wouldn't exist in the first place if I didn't enjoy eating. Just a thought. I don't know. Moving on! Here's a big - but fun, and worth the read! - compilation of most of the blog-worthy, inspiring things I've tasted in the last month-ish. Bon appetit!

A turkey burger on a whole-wheat bun from Sylvester's Burgers in Los Osos is probably one of the foods I'll almost crave. It's huge and the zucchini fries are an absolute must, so I like to let myself get hungrier than usual so I can enjoy it all because who takes a couple bites of a burger home? Maybe you, but not me. Oh, and all of it tastes much better when eaten in good company! 

A random snack plate from a day during finals week last quarter when I knew I needed food but didn't know what I wanted. Some fresh veggies and hummus, Rumiano white cheddar cheese (spendy, but tasty), and a handful of Hippeas sounded pretty good. Easy and satisfying!

Homemade whole-wheat pizzas (Trader Joe's dough)  with Mom and Dad when I was at home for spring break, and when they still lived in SoCal (they've moved back to Minnesota now, if you missed that post). If burgers are the first food I'll almost always crave, pizza is a close second. Good news is both of those foods allow for plenty of veggies, proteins, carbs, and fats! Wow, what a balanced life. 

Dinner and my go-to beverage with Jeannette when I drove up to NorCal to visit her for a weekend. We made turkey meatballs, zucchini meatballs with an avocado pesto sauce, and whole-grain toast with hummus and Healthade to drink. Of course, we wanted to save room for dessert - then ate it too quickly to take pictures of it - which was my cherry garcia cookie skillet. Yummaaaa. Love and miss you, Jeannette!

To-go lunch packed for one of my long days on campus. I've been all about pasta salad lately (I can't remember the last time I had anything on hand that wasn't Banza pasta - by far my favorite!), so I make a huge batch each week and scoop some out when I'm packing lunch for the day. This one is my pesto pasta salad recipe, but I've also used hummus, Tessemae's dressing, and Primal Kitchen dressing, too. Plenty of options!

Mmmm, my favorite weekday breakfast as of late - a big green smoothie made of frozen banana, frozen zucchini, spinach, avocado, Ka'Chava Tribe Chocolate protein, some cacao powder for extra chocolateyness, and a juicy date for extra sweetness, aaaaaand all of it topped with some of the best packaged granola I've had, Gr8nola (thanks Erica!). Smoothies are usually the easiest, tastiest, and fastest way for my muscles to get the nutrients they need in the morning after I workout and before I leave for class. 

Pizza! Again! This one is from Blast 825 Taproom - they offer $5 pizzas for students on Tuesday nights. It's a tough decision between $5 pizza and taco Tuesday, but pizza wins more often than not when I don't feel like cooking/want something I rarely or never make at home for myself. My favorite is barbecue sauce + grilled chicken + veggies + light mozzarella + goat cheese and red pepper flakes and basil on top. Damn good, my friends. 

An unplanned dinner out with a couple friends at a local Mediterranean restaurant (Petra, for those of you in SLO). Everyone has been telling me to try this place, and since I love Mediterranean food, I was certainly excited! Did it "wow" me? No. But was it still enjoyable? Yes, mostly because I, again, had good company :) I ordered the grilled chicken shawarma with pita (I think it's made in house and it's deeeeelicious) and we all dipped everything we could in as many dips as possible before looking weird.  

OKAY. This was incredibly simple and even more incredibly tasty. I combined the last of my tempeh skillet leftovers with some roasted Japanese sweet potatoes and some mixed greens on the side, all of it topped with feta, and promised myself I'd make this more often. MMMM. Love me some plants. And sweet potatoes (which are plants, I realize that, but they deserve their own sentence fragment). 

An assortment of snacks and wine for a friend's birthday picnic! You can't see the sunset in this picture, and this post isn't about the sunset, but - my, oh myyyyy was it beautiful. Anyway, we LOVE cheese and crackers and other snacks one would think of with wine, so we went all out tonight. No holding back, especially on a birthday! Brie, Gouda, cheddar, hummus and sliced carrots and cucumbers, grapes and berries, crackers and crackers and more crackers, plus bacon-wrapped dates (did you hear that? bacon. wrapped. dates.). Oh, and sangria and a couple other whites and reds. Lots of laughter, too. Like, even more laughter than cheese (that's a lot).  

Cookbook cookies! If you're unaware, I'm teaming up with a friend/fellow Cal Poly student to write a cookbook (technically an ebook, but potAYto, potAHto, ya' know?). Every week, she and I meet up for an all-day cooking, baking, and photographing session. It's an absolute blast. I couldn't imagine trying to do this on my own - not only would it be physically challenging, but emotionally/mentally challenging as well. Having a partner in this project is a blessing! Oh, and these are salted chocolate chunk tahini cookies - the recipe will be in the book, so get excited!

Another version of my favorite smoothie, but this time sans granola (because sometimes it fills me up beyond comfortable-full) and in a measuring cup (because it was laying around from when I made coffee earlier and wasn't technically "dirty", soooo... yeah). I added double the cacao powder compared to the recipe earlier in this post and have been doing so ever since. Extra chocolate flavor is as much of a "must" as brushing your teeth everyday. Not an exaggeration. 

Oh. My. Word. This was what dreams are made of. Grace and I treated ourselves to a fancy Sunday brunch at Lido, which is a restaurant inside one of the resorts in Shell Beach. A friend of mine works there and always talks about how good the food is - and he mentioned mimosas, so Grace was in immediately, with or without the good food. She and I split a scrambled egg dish and asked for sweet potato fries on the side instead of the home fries, and a half-order of the french toast. And it was sunny and 75. And the service was fantastic and so were the mimosas. And the view was perfect. We'll be back. :) 

My snack bag for long days on campus consists of a lunch, which is almost always some sort of salad, and plenty of snacks - fruit, a granola/protein bar, veggies, maybe some popcorn or chips, and one of these PaleoValley turkey or beef sticks. I can't decide whether I like turkey or beef more, but I do know I'm definitely a fan of both. Plus, they're pasture-raised and grass-fed!

Last but never the least, here's another snack-bag favorite. When I don't have time during the week to make these protein bites, RX Bars have my back. Some of the flavors are a bit too chewy for me, but the I've found this flavor and the dark chocolate to be just about perfect. And I like that egg whites are the protein source - it gives my diet that much more variety, since I already include protein powder in my smoothies a few times a week. RX Bars, y'all rock my snack-loving socks off. Keep it up. 

So, there you have it - another round-up of eats. I hope you like reading these because I like eating all the food and writing about it! 

Recent Eats: Cookies in Class, Lunches and Dinners on the go, and Expo West Eats

I hope you came prepared for the amount of food pictures your about to encounter. As the title implies, these are most of my recent eats - meals and snacks I think are fun and exciting and delicious and worthy of a spot here on the blog. I'd bet you'd also be surprised to find out just how popular posts about my day-to-day eats are. Shocking, guys. Shocking. 

For starters, these are kolachkis - a Polish cookie made with cream cheese and jam, pretty much. The dough is delicate and creamy, and the jam is so sweet. We made them in one of my nutrition classes for an event on campus - over 1,200 cookies made! 

This is what breakfast usually looks like - waffles are rare, but when they do happen, mmmmm. I think I used a Bob's Red Mill whole-grain mix here and added in some chocolate chips, and ate it with some Greek yogurt (this is my favorite) and sliced banana for a post-workout/pre-long-day-of-classes breakfast! 

This... this was good. A bowl of roasted spaghetti squash mixed with marinara sauce and chicken, topped with steamed kale, goat cheese, and cilantro (pretty much the only herb I regularly have in my fridge). Spaghetti seems to be one of those stereotypical college meals - easy to throw together, inexpensive, etc., yet it's one that rarely hits my plate. That just might have to change after a bowl like this. 

One of my favorite lunches, not only for the taste (and nutrition, duh) but also for the eeeeeease of preparation. Those are beet and black bean burgers made with ground Hippeas instead of flour because I'm so resourceful like that over a bed of mixed greens, and alongside some chopped veggies and avocado. And yes, that is barbecue sauce as "dressing" - don't knock it 'til you try it. If I'm feeling hungry, I'll add a hard-boiled egg or two. Protein!

More spaghetti squash because those things are pretty much never-ending sometimes (or so it seems). Here, I made a small dinner of spaghetti squash with a serving of my Sheet-Pan Chicken, Chickpeas, and Veggies and topped it off with just a tiny bit - sense the sarcasm there? - of sharp white cheddar cheese. S O  G O O D. 

I'm on campus for somewhere around 8-10 hours on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I make darn sure to bring pllllllenty of food. Snacks are good, but I don't usually feel satisfied (especially on long days) off of crackers and fruits and nuts and whatever else I consider a snack food, which is why I pack actual substantial meals like these. For lunch, I threw together a couple items from Hungry Root - cooked quinoa, sauteed brussel sprouts, lemongrass tofu, and some Thai peanut sauce with greens. For dinner, I roasted a hefty white sweet potato (so much better than the orange one) with a Bilinski chicken sausage, steamed some kale, and packed it all up with a little hummus. Easily one of my favorite weeknight meals. 

Aaaaand for another weeknight favorite - pulled pork sandwiches! For real though, I could not stop thinking about pulled pork for like a week until this. My friends probably went with me just to shut me up. These are from Old San Luis BBQ and are, by a long-shot, the only sandwich that can make my mouth water when I'm in anatomy lab staring at muscles on a cadaver. We all had a pulled pork sandwich and then split some sweet potato and regular fries. The thought of all of this is now making my mouth water, so let's move on. 

Ahh, vino. Call me cheap, but I LOVE this Charles Shaw white zinfandel. Apparently, it's known as "two-buck Chuck" in the wonderful land of Trader Joe's. Whatever. It's friggin' good and I'm not in the position to drop $12 on a bottle of wine. 

Are you as tired of seeing my roasted sweet potatoes as you are of hearing about classes? I hope you aren't tired yet of either. My parents graciously gifted me with a Lodge Cast Iron skillet for Christmas, so take a guess at the vehicle in which I've been cooked e v e r y t h i n g lately. Don't ask me how it's done, but the skillet just makes sweet potato wedges so perfectly crispy-on-the-outside and tender-on-the-inside. Sometimes I eat just the potato if it's a big one or I'm not hungry enough for an entire meal, and other times I love it with chicken or eggs or whatever I have. 

Round 1 of enchiladas! Success? Ehh. There's a first time for everything and this was most definitely and clearly my first time making my own enchiladas. With the veggies and the chicken all cooked, and all the other fix-ins laid out, I still found myself confuzzled about what to put in first, how to layer and roll, etc. Good thing enchiladas taste so dang good, otherwise I wouldn't be very motivated to try again. I'll have a recipe up here soon - perfection takes time, my friends. 

After four years of taking pictures of my food, one might think that stopping what I'm doing to snap a quick picture wouldn't feel awkward at all. One would be wrong, in that case - it's still awkward. Anyway, this is a snack plate from a friend's bridal shower! Eeeep I know a bride I know a bride I know a bride! We spent the day just hanging out and giggling and eating and sharing memories of little Phoebe back in her single days. Then I went home to study because... well, you know why. 

Oh, and we drank mimosas! These aren't the best pre-study beverage, but I'd still recommend - balance, right?

Remember those long days on campus I told you about? Those are when Perfect Bars feel like my best friend. My class schedule throws off what would normally be dinner time for me, so I end up eating something during what you might call "happy hour" on the weekend but is more like "stress hour" or "cram hour" before anatomy lecture. And because I want something sweet after dinner/something to munch on in class, I bring one of these. Favorite? Ummm... probably the Dark Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter OR either of the new flavors. Worth every penny. 

Coffee is so much more satisfying than tea, in my opinion, but when it's 3 PM and my wiser instincts remind me that coffee right now will keep me awake when I'd rather not be later tonight, I reach for tea usually in the form of kombucha. And when kombucha is too expensive or just doesn't sound fantastic, I reach for this! Tazo is my go-to and this bottle of iced tea was above and beyond any other iced tea I've had before - sweet, but not like juice or dessert in a bottle, you know? 

Speaking of dessert, I've been so into little bites of chocolate lately. My mom bought me a couple of these from Taza Chocolate and I think I found love at first bite. The texture is so unlike any other chocolate I've had - it's almost like you can feel like sugar granules, but yet the sweetness isn't overpowering. I can't describe it, so you should just try it.

The people around this table mean so much more to me than any food ever could. We all met at last year's Expo West and bonded unbelievably well, so a reunion this year was, like, a given. JJ, Alayna, Connie, Winnie, and a couple new faces - Jeannette and Kelly - and I shared a bunch of food from Sage Vegan Bistro in LA and left absolutely stuffed. Everything was delicious and I couldn't have asked for more! 

Less than an hour into my day at Expo West, I was already searching for a kombucha - a clear representation of how overwhelming and exhausting of a day was ahead of me. I met the people behind Humm Kombucha and could've easily just hung out with them for the rest of the day - hilarious, welcoming, genuine, and makers of some of the best kombucha I've tasted! I will certainly be stocking up on this stuff every week. 

The next morning, I dropped Jeannette and Kelly off at the airport before the sun was even up, so I packed a snack-ish breakfast  - banaynay and one of the best peanut butters everrrrrr. It wasn't the easiest to eat while driving, but I made it work. 

And when I came home to a ten-feet-tall pile of homework and studying to tackle, I was beyond thankful for leftovers of the pasta dish I made just before I left for Expo - cashew tomato sauce with Banza chickpea shells (pretty much the only pasta I buy for myself) and sautéed red bell pepper, topped with fresh basil and some sharp white cheddar. Comfort food meets nutritious food meets college-friendly food.  

Okay, last one I promise. Here's another stupidly easy weeknight dinner - roasted broccoli and red onion (season with whatever you like), baked chicken breast (thighs are still my preference), and whole-grain bread with herb cream cheese and some avocado. My weeknight dinners usually involve roasting because it allows me to toss everything in the oven for 40-ish minutes and leave it there while I squeeze in some time to study. 

Recent Eats: Pillsbury Cookies (finally!), Nachos, Burgers, and Chilaquiles

Multiple reasons for this post: 

1) big plans for a cupcake recipe are being re-designed - recipe to come next week! 

2) big week of midterms and studying for next week's midterms is d r a i n i n g me. 

3) big folder of food pictures on my computer is filling up and I figured it would be fun to share recent eats that made me happy! 

A lot of these I share on my Instagram stories, so you may recognize them, but if you missed them, then YAY for you!

What could possibility be better to start with than the long-awaited, endlessly searched-for Pillsbury Christmas cutout sugar cookies?! I sincerely hope you followed Grace and me along on our tireless hunt for these - at the end of it all, we searched at least eight grocery stores and finally found victory at an Albertson's store in Southern California. Worth. Every. Minute. 

CHILAQUILES, bby. My closest friends and I spent a week-ish in Lake Tahoe in Northern CA and cooked breakfast and dinner almost everyday. 'Twas a beauuuutiful kitchen in my eyes, so I could've cooked every meal in there, but two of my friends cooked this breakfast for us all one morning and I must admit that I forgot how relaxing eating a meal someone else cooked for me feels. AND delicious, obviously. If you're wondering what these are, it's basically eggs scrambled with homemade corn tortilla chips, tomato sauce, and cheese and a side of homemade refried beans and Spanish rice. I am definitely not the only one in friend-group who can cook, and I could certainly learn a thing or two from these girls! 

This is a huuuge sandwich from a local deli in SLO - High Street Deli. Three and a half years into my time here and I finally tried this place that everyone (college students especially) rave about. It's a bit on the spendy side, but you definitely get what you pay for - based on size, I probably could've saved half for later, but sandwiches tend to get soggy and yucky the longer they sit in the fridge, so I know to come to this place hungry so that I can polish off every last bite!

Please excuse the poor quality of this photo - night-time doesn't make for the best lighting or clarity. BUT NACHOS. Nachos. These are from a local bar/restaurant where my friends and I usually frequent for late-night two-for-one drinks. It was purely a drink location until we discovered this pile of cheesy, chippy pleasure. We topped them with pulled pork, and probably will from now one because wowowow is it good, but any meat is an option. Pair with a cider (which I thought was a beer until Michaela corrected me - oops) and you have a d e l i c i o u s meal. 

When I'm spending a full day at home, whether working on my computer, doing homework/studying, or just reading (very rare, but very cherished), something about the laziness of it all makes a big plate of roasted sweet potato wedges sound like just about the best thing in the world. I usually roast them in coconut oil or avocado oil because the fats can stand high heat. Depending on how hungry I am, I might have some eggs or turkey or chicken or whatever protein I can find to keep things balanced, ya' know? Oh, and for dipping, guac and/or hummus are my go-to's! 

Kombucha. It's an everyday thing. Don't ask my wallet about it (the prices on campus are i n s a n e), just trust. I usually sip on one in the afternoon - mostly for taste and bubbles and caffeine, but also for the probiotics because my tummy likes them. I LOVE GT's because the flavor never fails!

Winter break ended and school began more abruptly than ever with four tough classes filling my schedule, and on top of that, managing this blog thing and volunteering on campus for our health center (through an organization called PULSE). Thank the sweet Lord above for a collaboration with Hungry Root, who let me try a variety of their products - prepared salads, pre-cut veggies, marinated tofu, brownie and cookie batters, and more! This is a quinoa salad with artichokes and lemon and garlic and a bunch of other beautiful flavors. I'm not usually one to choose quinoa, but I decided to give it another chance - I added some kale and spaghetti squash, which you probably can't see. Overall, I'm a fan of quinoa again and an even bigger fan of Hungry Root! 

And this, my friends, is my current favorite burger spot - Sylvester's Burgers. If you're on the Central Coast, there a few locations throughout the SLO area that you MUST try. The menu itself is mouth-watering and the burgers are above and beyond. And they even offer vegan options, which I've tried and loved, too! Anyway, my friends and I were heading to a concert in our area and I remembered that a Sylvester's was nearby the concert venue, so I dubbed this place our dinner option and no one objected (great friends). I don't remember exactly what we all ordered, but the burgers and that basket of fried zucchini in the middle hit. the. spot. For those of you wondering, red meat doesn't really hurt my stomach. I rarely ever eat it, and when I do, it's not in huge amounts (except this occasion). I've also never dealt with many stomach issues, so there's that, making me not the best resource for maintaining gut health. But that's beside the point - burgers! Delicious! 

Study snacks! My nose has been buried in my textbooks for the last month - I'm not complaining, though, because I really really (yes - really) enjoy most of the classes I'm taking. Finally, as I move farther along in school towards my degree, the classes focus more and more on areas in which I'm interested. Studying what I'm passionate and curious about makes the hardcore studying, lab hours, and long days on campus a bit easier. Anywho, I pack Perfect Bars for a snack almost every. single. day. Cannot stop, will not stop. Don't ask me what my favorite flavor is because I will not be able to answer. 

One more burger - sorry not sorry. This one is a turkey burger with gorgonzola, red onion, garlic mayo, and arugula on a whole-wheat bun from Natural Cafe (which I think is only in CA). My friend and I treated ourselves because 1) she had a BOGO coupon for this restaurant and 2) we both c r a v e d burgers that night, so we figured we'd give these a try! Satisfied, very much so. 

Last but not least, feast your eyes on my first ever (or at least in as long as I can remember) batch of homemade - as in completely totally from scratch!!! - cupcakes! This is the recipe that led to this post because I'm being stubborn as a button with it. I want it as close to perfect as can be! Cupcakes aren't my usual dessert choice or recipe-for-the-blog choice or even procrasti-baking choice, for that matter. Something about the frosting and fluffiness feels fancier than what a typical weeknight dessert really asks for, so that's why I'm always stocked up on cookies or brownies instead, but d a n g these cupcakes have sparked in me such a love for the cute little treats and I can't wait for them to do the same for you when I finish the recipe! PS I made extra cream cheese frosting and kept it in a jar in the fridge and have shamelessly been scooping spoonfuls from it whenever my heart desires. It's the little things. It's the cream cheese frosting. 

I hope you found my recent eats as entertaining and delicious (well, vicariously so) as I did! Maybe these will become semi-regular posts, or maybe just plan-B posts for when plan-A fails. Let me know your thoughts!