Whole Wheat Cherry Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Earlier this week, I decided to take an impromptu weekend road trip. It was one of those “I have to get out-of-town” moments. The weekend started off pretty well– I was packed and had my little survival kit including a batch of cherry chocolate chip banana muffins (recipe to follow). Unfortunately in the mishegosh of packing, it seems a certain someone forgot a certain driver’s license which meant I was stuck doing ALL the driving. Don’t get me wrong, I like driving and I like road trips, but the one thing I realized is that road trips have to be done with a group of people you don’t mind being around for a couple many hours. Especially when everyone in the car wants to play backseat driver.
Continue reading “Whole Wheat Cherry Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins”

Advertisement

Orange Honey Madeleines

I have a confession to make. The first time I ever ate a Madeleine was at Disney World and then the next time I had one was at Starbucks. You know the kind that you pick up on a whim at the cash register? The ones from the Boulangerie Pâtisserie in Epcot were also sitting by the cash. I guess they’re an impulse purchase. I’m not sure how authentic those madeleines were but I liked the ones I had so much that I ran out and bought a Madeleine pan but this was a few years ago. I’m a little embarrassed to say that the pan sat unused until last weekend. Continue reading “Orange Honey Madeleines”

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Protein Cookie Balls

Looks like July is here and I hope everyone’s summer is going well so far! I have no complaints except for the excessively hot weather. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take the heat over the cold and snow any day, but I love baking and running. Especially with baking, I’ve only been turning on my oven when I absolutely have to. So I went through some of the recipes I had and came across one for a no-bake cookie that was given to me by my chiropractor Marco.  Continue reading “Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Protein Cookie Balls”

Fresh Find Friday – Munching at Menchies

I see lots of bloggers posting ice cream recipes and I have no room for an ice cream machine in my freezer. Kinda makes me sad. You thought the real estate market was bad? Try finding space in my freezer. Geez! But not having an ice cream machine isn’t all that bad because it’s a great excuse for me to get out and try something new. Enter Menchie’s, a popular self-serve fro-yo chain from the US. Yeah they’ve been around for a while but it’s new to Canada. And for all of you Dole Whip fans out there, if you can’t get to Disney World, Disneyland or Hawaii, you’ll want to keep reading.  Continue reading “Fresh Find Friday – Munching at Menchies”

Torta All’Olio D’Oliva (Olive Oil Cake)

You know how there are some TV personalities that you could just watch for hours on end? It doesn’t matter what they’re talking about or what they’re cooking, they’re just nice to look at and that makes for good TV! Those of you familiar with David Rocco and Dolce Vita know what I’m talking about. So I was really excited to try a recipe from his latest book ‘Made in Italy’. Continue reading “Torta All’Olio D’Oliva (Olive Oil Cake)”

Lemon Curd

While playing beach volleyball Friday night, my calf cramped while diving for ball. Nothing like a cramp to make you feel old and out of shape. Wait a minute – I thought I was IN shape! So much for that. Though I did get back up to play, the cramp threw me off a little bit and running for the weekend was out because of lingering soreness.

So I spent the weekend with an ice pack and watching season one of “The Walking Dead”. Thanks to Eric for recommending it to me! Coincidentally, the electric utility thanks you too Eric. Tip: don’t watch zombie stuff after dark. Needless to say that I now want a crossbow and the episodes for season two. Why a crossbow? Just in case (’cause you never know). Okay, after hours of zombies, death and the apocalypse, it was definitely time to lighten up.

Continue reading “Lemon Curd”

Fresh Find Friday – Airport Macarons

People tell me that traveling for business is not fun. I get it. You hurry to the airport, get strip searched by strangers, are crammed onto a plane, land, go to meetings, rinse, repeat and you’re on a plane back home before you know it. Fortunately, that’s not me. Kidding! I’ll just live vicariously through the rest of my friends who do travel for business. Where am I going with this? I got a present in a small paper bag last evening. A friend who had gone to France returned with a gift. He said “I knew you’d appreciate this.”  I opened the bag to find a giant green thing inside. Continue reading “Fresh Find Friday – Airport Macarons”

Chocolaty Yogurt Mousse

This past weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend which meant I had extra time to catch up on sleep, running, laundry and all those things I normally don’t have time for during the week. I went for a massage and then an impromptu pedicure with my friends Matt and Dawn. I couldn’t convince Matt that he’d be pretty in pink but hey at least the three of us will have the best looking feet for beach volleyball next Friday. Afterward we went for lunch and hit the local wing joint. I haven’t had wings in about a year. They were sooo good! And naturally after a lunch like that, the conversation turned to dessert. Even though Saturday is my food cheat day, I just couldn’t. I knew I had a container of Greek yogurt at home and it got me wondering whether I could use it to make a somewhat healthy dessert.  Continue reading “Chocolaty Yogurt Mousse”

Blueberry Cream Cookies

I love muffin tops! No, not the kind you get from wearing jeans fresh out of the dryer but the kind you might find in a bakery. You know, the ones that you eat. I don’t know what it is about a muffin top: maybe it’s that combination of the slight crispy-crunchiness yet soft cakey texture and the fact that you can break it into small bite sized pieces and not have it fall apart. Or maybe it’s just me. I like Oreo cookies but not so much the cream center. Shocking I know. So I was intrigued when I came across this recipe for Blueberry Cream Cookies. Creator Christina Tosi describes the cookie as being like the top to a blueberry muffin. Even though I hadn’t eaten this cookie on my last trip to Milk Bar, I have enjoyed her other recipes such as her bagel bombs and Compost Cookies so I definitely wanted to give them a try. Continue reading “Blueberry Cream Cookies”

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Chocolate and peanut butter. Do you even have to ask? Well, you know something’s good when you’re eating the pie filling out of the mixing bowl and deciding whether you should actually continue making the pie or just eat the filling by itself. And you know it’s really good when you give a piece of the finished pie to someone who doesn’t like chocolate with peanut butter and they eat the whole thing, pie crust and all. Yes there is actually someone who doesn’t like chocolate and peanut butter but I can’t name names.  Continue reading “Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie”