Parent Time

Josh, Kaylin & I were lucky enough to have dinner at both Josh’s Parent’s and my Parent’s houses this weekend. Since they had prepared all of the food, I brought both sets of Parents tulips:

At my Parent’s house, we had shrimp cocktail and wasabi peas to start. I am a wasabi pea addict

I adore my Parent’s house…their backyard is so peaceful:

Kay seems to like it too:

For dinner, we had steak, corn on the cob (I took a picture of both that didn’t come out too well) and amazing strawberry spinach salad:

My Mom had watermelon for dessert, but everyone was too full! She gave me the mini watermelon to take home and I can’t wait to eat some today. Kay even joined us at the table:

Dinner at Josh’s Parent’s house was equally as wonderful! Josh’s Mom set a beautiful table:

For dinner, we had fresh fruit, big salads & crab cakes:

and homemade apple crisp and cinnamon ice cream for dessert:

I feel so spoiled after such a yummy weekend!

Outside eating , I got in a couple nice runs and walks, ran errands, and cleaned! What did you do this weekend?

Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Corn Muffins (Giveaway)

Grab and go breakfasts are SO key when you have a peanut! So, when the nice people at NuNaturals sent me their new lemon and orange NuStevia liquids (disclaimer: I received these for free), I knew I had to use one in an easy, vegan muffin recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cornmeal (I used cornmeal mix, if you just have regular cornmeal, add ~1 tablespoon baking powder)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 8-10 drops Orange NuStevia extract
• 1 tablespoon flax
• Desired quantity chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In one bowl, mix together cornmeal mix and whole wheat flour. In a second bowl, mix together brown sugar, almond milk, nustevia extract and flax. Combine dry and wet ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray. Place 1/4 cup of mixture into each muffin well.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Makes 12 muffins.

Want to try the new lemon and orange NuStevia liquids? NuNaturals is going to send four Itzy’s Kitchen readers a set of their own flavored stevia liquids. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite kind of muffin. For an extra entry, like NuNaturals on Facebook and leave me a separate comment telling me you did so. The contest is open until Tuesday, May 1 at noon . You DO NOT need to have a blog to enter. NuNaturals can not ship to PO boxes.

You can also take advantage of a discount on any of the NuNatural projects by visiting their website at www.nunaturals.com. When you get to the checkout page, enter the DISCOUNT CODE ;  BLG0612  and you will receive – 15% DISCOUNT on your ENTIRE ORDER. This discount remains  EFFECTIVE UNTIL  JUNE 30, 2012 .

Wonderful Wednesday (Sesame)

First off, thank you for all of the feedback on my flat cookies. I think I have determined that the culprit was the brand of butter I used….I’m going to give them a second go (you know, to confirm my findings) next week. Again, flat or not flat…they are delicious!

I had a good day yesterday. Kaylin and I went for a run in the morning and then I had work. After work, I met Amelia for a wonderful walk near the Mount Pleasant pier.

It was WINDYYYYYYYY, but beautiful out:

After our walk, I ended up meeting Josh’s Mom for dinner at the new Sesame in Mount Pleasant.

This was my second trip to the new location. The first time, I think the staff was still trying to get everything under control. This visit was delicious and the service was wonderful. I got a turkey burger in a bowl with red onion, tomatoes, grilled zucchini & lettuce. I also got their delicious pineapple vinaigrette on the side.

I could eat one of their turkey burgers every day (yum, yum):

Tell me something about your Wednesday.

Falling Flat (Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies)

There have been some ups and downs around these parts lately. Luckily, there have been WAY more ups than downs, and the ups have peaked quite high. One recipe I made recently demonstrates this very idea.

I adore Dawn of Vanilla Sugar. She makes some of the most amazing looking baked goods. I seriously want to take up camp in her kitchen.  

She recently posted a recipe for double chocolate coconut cookies. The minute I saw them, I knew I had to make them!! I stirred up all of my ingredients. I used a cookie scoop to place the dough onto the cookie sheet and placed them in the oven. When the timer went off, I ran to the oven expecting to see the gorgeous puffy cookies Dawn had made….but I saw pancakes:

Tear….I’m a puffy cookie kind of girl. The good news? They’re amazing. Their flavor wayyyyyyy overtakes the fact that they’re flat vs. puffy:

So, sometimes things don’t end up looking or being exactly how we think they should look/be. A lot of the time, that doesn’t matter . Thanks for the delicious recipe Dawn!

Weekend & Pawley’s Porch

Are you having a good weekend? I hope so! Our weekend has been pretty relaxing. Friday, I taught, had a doctors appointment, ran errands, and then enjoyed a dinner in with Josh. I also enjoyed one of my favorite snacks- plain Chobani with maple syrup:

Saturday morning, Kay and I went for a five mile run. She sat in this awkward position the entire run:

After my run, I picked up plants for my garden and got to planting! This year, we have strawberries, jalapenos, cilantro and cherry tomatoes. I hope the garden does well:

The rest of the day was spent running errands with Josh. Our biggest to do was to get home safety items (socket covers, baby gates, etc). As Kay is starting to get more mobile, I want to make sure she is protected.

For dinner, we went to Pawley’s Front Porch to celebrate my Uncle’s birthday.

This was my first time to Pawley’s Porch and I had sort of low expectations. I thought the food would be greasy, but was pleasantly surprised how tasty my meal was!

I had a side Caesar salad with Whole Grain Dijon Honey Mustard dressing. I really enjoyed the dressing:

and I had a bun-less front porch burger. Now, I haven’t had red meat in a LONG time, but I must say this burger was delicious! It was cooked perfectly and wasn’t greasy at all. The toppings were fresh.

I will definitely be coming back!

Tell me about your weekend!

Chocolate for Mama (CLIF Giveaway)

I think all of us enjoy a delicious treat. Being a group fitness instructor and new mom, I really enjoy a healthier, delicious treat. CLIF has found a way to combine these two things in their products.

With Mother’s Day coming up, CLIF wants to give YOU (or your mother, sister, wife, friend, etc.) the chocolate she’s dreaming (le sigh) of at night…a healthy indulgence to reward her active life!

CLIF will be giving three Itzy’s Kitchen readers a chocolate themed prize pack that will include a CLIF bar, CRUNCH & MOJO (the MOJO’s are my personnel favorite!!) (disclaimer: CLIF will be providing these prize packs and provided samples to me for free):

To enter, leave a comment telling me why you (or the active lady in your life) deserve this prize pack. You DO NOT need to have a blog to enter. For a second entry, leave a SEPARATE comment telling which CLIF bar you’re most excited to try. Comments must be left by Sunday, April 22 by noon.

10 Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies for Caroline

 

I had the pleasure of meeting Caroline a couple months back. She is sweet, genuine, just wonderful! She is having a baby very soon, and myself and a bundle of other of her blogger friends are throwing her a blog baby shower!

I wanted to make something that involved chocolate (her blog name contains the word chocolate after all), but something that is still semi healthy. I thought a 10 grain chocolate chip cookie would be just the thing! I used two Bob’s Red Mill products, the 10 grain and 5 grain hot cereal mixes, but you could use just one of the two if you prefer. I used this recipe as my basis and made some adjustments. I hope you enjoy it Caroline! So much love!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal
• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill 5 Grain Cereal
• 1 cup white, whole wheat flour
• ½ Teaspoon baking soda
• 1Teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 Teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 stick salted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup tap water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• chocolate chips (desired quantity)
• coconut (optional, desired quantity)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cereals, baking soda, and spices

3. Using a mixer, cream the butter with the brown sugar until smooth. Add the water, milk, eggs and vanilla, beating well to incorporate

4. On the lowest setting of the mixer, add the flour mix to the butter mixture, until lightly combined.

5. Using a large wooden spoon, mix in the chocolate chips and coconut (if using)

6. Use a cookie scoop (or rounded tablespoon) to spoon dough onto cookie sheets

7. Bake each batch for 12 to 14 minutes until the edges are beginning to brown (took me 13 1/2 minutes)

8. Transfer to wire racks and allow to cool. Store in a sealed container.

I made the majority of the cookies without coconut (because I forgot it ):

 

I added coconut to the last batch:

These have such fun texture! Congratulations Caroline!! You’re going to be a fabulous mother!

Here are all the awesome shower links:

Drinks:

Healthy Food For Living - Carrot Cake Colada

Bran Appetit - Strawberry Mint Sparkling Lemonade

Savory:

Baked Bree - Pancetta and Chive Quiche

Simply Whole Kitchen - Mini Quinoa Bites with Goat Cheese Pesto

Pastries:

Food Doodles - Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Filled Whole Wheat Cream Puffs

Kevin & Amanda - Baby Cinnamon Buns

Desserts:

Baked by Rachel - Mini Lemon Lime Cheesecakes

Bake Your Day- No Bake Lemon Cheesecakes with Lemon Blueberry Sauce

Eat Good 4 Life - No Bake Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes

Fearless Homemaker - Angel Food Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Cream

Itzy’s Kitchen - 10 Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

Keep It Sweet - Peanut Butter Cake with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Icing and Chocolate Ganache

Texanerin Baking - 100% Whole Grain Chocolate Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Weekend Happenings

Did you have a good weekend? Mine involved coffee with friends (soy café au lait):

Date night with Josh & Kaylin, a big SPRING into fitness event at the gym (I taught Attack) & a party at the house! We had friends over for a “ball” party. I made the main course, three different kinds of meatballs. I made turkey marinara meatballs, beef Asian meatballs & beef bbq meatballs.  The guests all brought ball themed appetizers, salads and side dishes. It was an absolute blast. I was too busy during the party to take pictures, but here are a few pictures of the prep:

Today, my Mom, Kaylin and I walked the bridge and went to lunch. Now, I’m baking and learning Body Pump choreography!

Tell me about your weekend!