pumpkin carrot chocolate chip muffins

Okay so.... I am the worst blogger ever. I made these muffins when Meghan visited weeks ago, and am just now getting around to posting the recipe. To be fair, it took me a very long time to go back and search through all the recipes I looked at before making these to try and remember what I actually used in the final product. The good news is these are pretty much my own recipe! The bad news is I'm not positive that these measurements are exact. In any case, these muffins are AWESOME. Dense, and not too sweet. Perfect for breakfast or snack or dessert!

umm... I didn't take this photo, i found it online. #sryimnotsry

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup oats
1 can pumpkin (14 oz)
1 cup finely shredded carrot
1 egg
3/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sucanat (or white sugar)
1/2 chocolate chips



Combine dry ingredients. Mix oats, pumpkin, carrot, egg, and milk and add to dry ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour into muffin tins-- the batter is quite thick and doesn't really rise so it's fine to fill these close to the top. Bake at 375 for... I have no idea. Until they're done. I'm thinking 20 minutes? Test them with a fork. Eat them crumbled on top of banana soft-serve or yogurt, or plain, of course!

P.S. I don't care about this shizzz, but making them with sucanat lowers the calorie content and is better for you or something.  Sucanat is whole cane sugar instead of the refined and processed stuff we typically use. All the vegans are doing it. You could do it too, if you want.

Banana pancakes

I kind of want to eat these every day. Here's what's in 'em: 

6 eggs, beaten

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tbsp. chia seed

4 tbsp. oat bran

cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Melt some butter in a small fry pan (enough to coat the pan) over low to medium heat. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into the pan-- cook until browned, covered. WATCH THAT PANCAKE CAREFULLY. Flip it. Repeat. Serve with peanut butter (my favorite), cookie butter, maple syrup, jam, pumpkin butter, or whipped cream. Or eat them plain, seriously. This recipe makes 6 pancakes. 

AND THEY'RE HEALTHY. 

SOMETHING FISHY

Confession - I'm not great at cooking fish. I'm not great at cooking meat, either, which could be one of the reasons why I rarely make it. However, I'm proud to announce that I seriously crushed this recipe (or my variation of it, at least); it was sooo good. Baking fish in foil at high heat will definitely be my go-to method from now on. I'm already brainstorming all the delicious variations I can create! The tilapia was flaky and perfect, the vegetables were colorful and filled with flavor, and the touch of balsamic vinegar added the perfect tangy-ness. I'm used to dousing fish in lemon, but this needed absolutely no extra embellishment. MAKE THIS FISH. 

Ingredients (serves 1)

1 tilapia filet (approx. 4 oz)

1/2 zucchini, cut into 3 inch matchsticks

1/2 cup mini heirloom tomatoes, halved

1/3 cup loosely packed basil leaves, chopped

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 lemon, juiced

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

salt, pepper, oregano to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine zucchini, tomatoes, garlic and basil in a bowl with the lemon juice, drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch of salt and oregano. Toss to coat, and set aside. Place the tilapia on a large sheet of aluminum foil and pour the veggies on top and around it - finish off with a liberal sprinkling of balsamic vinegar, and some salt and pepper. Wrap the foil around the fish so it forms a tight packet - it's important that no steam escapes! Bake for 15 minutes and serve.

Quick Breakfast Shot

Clearly this picture is terrible, but omg how delicious does that melty peanut butter look as it spills out onto the chocolatiest oats of all time? One of these days I'll get around to posting an actual recipe, I swear.

Tired grad students eat...

Roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli drizzled with homemade vegan cheese sauce. This meal wasn't phenomenal, but I literally did not care at all.

Beans a la Morocco

Sometimes I think the title of this blog should be "Varying combinations of Beans and Cilantro" or "How to Eat Daal Once a Week and Not Get Sick of It." This next recipe is typical, but incredible. And, if we're going to be picky, I rarely eat chickpeas except in hummus, so maybe I'm a bit of a rebel this week? Quarter life crises will do that to you, I guess. Anyway, I followed this recipe almost exactly, except for a few changes because I was a) cheap or b) forgetful. Compare if you like, because the original could be better.


Moroccan Chickpea Stew

This picture is terrible because it was taken on my phone. 

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 cup onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried apricots, sliced
1/2 tbsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup water
3/4 tsp. lemon zest
3/4 tbsp. lemon juice
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (unsalted)
3 cups endive, torn into 1/2 inch pieces
fresh cilantro
toasted almond pieces


Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove garlic from pan using a slotted spoon; discard or reserve for another use (aka wait for it to cool and then pop it in your mouth). Add onion and next 6 ingredients (through cinnamon) to pan; sauté for 7 minutes or until the onion is lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add water, lemon zest, juice, chickpeas, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lastly, stir in endive; simmer for 1 minute or until endive wilts. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cilantro and almonds. Serve over couscous or quinoa (with raita on the side, obvi.)

THIS WAS FREAKING AMAZING. I had enough for about 3 servings, and I am sooo excited for the next time I make it.

1. 
   

Ignore this if you don't want to hear me whine

There have been times in my life when I thought I'd like to go back and relive experiences because I missed them so much. I remember after college wishing I could start at the beginning, but ultimately realized that I was glad I had finished and I didn't actually, really want to relive all of it again.

Now, I'm beginning to understand that it must actually be over with Nate, because every part of me wishes I could go back and have each experience I had with him over again, with no thought for the future or for the ways it would set me back in my life. I wish I could live on a circuit, where I just replay the two years we had together in Ithaca, and even the year we had together after I moved. I wouldn't even necessarily change anything to make it better, although I can say definitively that none of it was perfect. I just want it again. And again, and again.

I took this picture off my nightstand today.  Little by little I've tried to remove pieces of him from my life; I hide the miscellaneous tee shirts in bins beneath my bed, I slip birthday cards into the pages of books I've already read. I'm just hoping that I won't accidentally unearth them until I'm ready to throw them out. But that thought in itself- that I want that moment to come, that I want to forget him absolutely- makes my heart hurt. 

Weekend breakfast I'm loving lately...

Fried eggs, sharp cheddar cheese, and salsa. 

So salty and satisfying after a run! 

Eggless Fried Rice

This week I found myself with leftover zucchini, onion, and mushrooms-- I chopped them all into tiny pieces and fried them with butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, black pepper and leftover brown rice, and then added shrimp sauteed in lemon and soy sauce. I forgot the egg, but this meal was still delicious and easy; plus, it was created solely with ingredients I had on hand! New life plan: open Hibachi restaurant.

Blehhhh

I count the hours as they pass

one by one.  My feet

fall in line, miles to work and back.

Evenings ring of dinners prepared

and eaten,

of arms around me in the

kitchen,

bottles of wine shared in noisy

restaurants,

the mornings side by side.

I greet the sun with resolve.

I insist on forgetting.

Hour by hour I close my mind to you,

open it and breathe,

close it to you again. 

Going through the motions

I'm still eating. 

Proof:

I basically copied this recipe, except I measured everything to taste and eliminated the red pepper. 

Creamy and delicious. 

Because I feel bad for not posting about anything food-related in so long...

This is a bit of an atypical meal for me-- leftover buffalo chicken chili mixed with whole wheat pasta and topped with cheddar cheese. It tasted super unhealthy, and I think maybe it was. It was one of my last meals in my old apartment (aka like 3 weeks ago) and I honestly forget what I put in it, but this recipe seems similar. 

In other news, Schuy hates running in the heat and has been downright depressed about it. Thank god Nate is coming to take him back to Ithaca for the next 6 weeks before he starts considering suicide.

Vignette

Birthday presents in action at my new home: 

My herb garden, from Jordan. 

A panted green shelf from Westy, with a Ball jar vase. 

More to come soon; I'm still rearranging and getting into the swing of things at my new spot! 

Whose house is this?

I've always been ridiculously sentimental about beginnings and ends of things. Lately I've been finding myself admiring the gardens of my neighbors in the Palisades, or pausing outside houses that I'm sure I'll never walk past again to take in their perfect doorways or fences, saying to myself "this is the last time you'll ever see this door knocker, Gwynne, say goodbye."

I feel like the past 3 years have been filled with goodbyes to people and places that I never really intended to leave; drafty apartments in Ithaca, the unremarkable Dallas skyline, and now my picturesque neighborhood in DC with its entirely too perfect wooded trails and sidewalks. I think of Schuyler, how he's plodded along beside me at each locale and waited for me behind dozens of doors. I have to wonder how many more houses we'll adopt together before settling down in a true home. There has been so little permanency to each of my "homes" since I graduated that I feel like I've been living in a perpetual state of not-quite-belonging... I'm not sure what it will take to shake that feeling of displacement.

I guess most things in life are better articulated by a Nobel prize winning writer--

Whose house is this? 

Whose night keeps out the light

In here?

Say, who owns this house?

It's not mine.

I dreamed another, sweeter, brighter

With a view of lakes crossed in painted boats;

Of fields wide as arms open for me.

This house is strange.

Its shadows lie.

Say, tell me, why does its lock fit my key? 

Toni Morrison

Breakfast/Dessert

I'm pretty sure breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. That might be because I eat it when I get to my office, nearly 3 hours after I wake up, so I'm absolutely ravenous (what's new?). Or it could be that I'm just unnaturally obsessed with oatmeal in all its forms, and my various concoctions are always imitations of my favorite desserts including peach melba pie (no words for how good this is, I'm actually eating it as I write this), chocolate raisin spice cake, and of course, carrot cake. I might write a cookbook called "Let's add stuff to oatmeal until it's no longer good for you." Here's what I used for my carrot cake oats:

1/2 cup oat bran and 1 and 3/4 cup water

dash of salt
1 tbsp. chia seeds 

1 heaping tbsp. dark brown sugar

one small carrot, finely grated

vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice to taste

ginger pecan granola (sprinkled on top)

dried cranberries 

golden raisins

This is what the end result looked like (sort of; this is a picture of an earlier version that wasn't quite perfect):

Healthy? I think so. Let's not think about the calories. Delicious? YES. Make this, become a believer.

The big L

Because I'm too excited for this weekend to think about anything else.... 

Katie and I thought we were hot back in the day. 

We were. 

I miss those sweatpants, and that sister!

Circa... 1994? 

Haaa Meghan. 

Just dancing to live music at the Stand.  

Standard. 

Mapes girls at the center of the family, as they should be. 

Annual kids pic on the steps!

My running buddy. 

What we think of Rachel's ex boyfriend. 

Perfect. 

Behind the scenes

Most days I like to pretend that all I eat are the yummy meals I put together for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) it's all a lie. Take a look at what I snacked on before last night's dinner:

Granted, these rice cakes are very low calorie and healthy.

Until you load them up with this:

Whatever, healthy fats, right? (Warning: This stuff is like crack cocaine. If you buy it, you will not stop eating it on absolutely everything until the jar is gone.)

Then, dinner consisted of baked salmon, an obnoxiously huge serving of roasted potatoes, and a plateful of Indian cabbage smothered in cucumber raita sauce-- a normal person would not still be hungry after this meal, trust me. I, however, promptly poured myself a large bowl of cereal and almond milk:

Times two. Damnit!

Then I had the bright idea of chopping up a mango and freezing the pieces to snack on later in the week. Too bad I ate the entire thing straight off the cutting board. Juuust another day!

Spicy Red Lentil Chili

I realize I've put everything about Ithaca on a pedestal, which I suppose is natural because it's my home, and I miss it. On the day I made this recipe it was 6o degrees in DC and beautiful while upstate New York was overcast and covered in a layer of snow, but I still found myself wishing I was home to wade through the slushy parking lot of Wegmans and go grocery shopping. I mean seriously, what?! That doesn't even make sense.

My perpetual homesickness luckily led me to search Wegmans recipes online, and I was able to download one of my absolute favorites: spicy red lentil chili. I'll confess, had I known I could make this soup myself I would have stopped buying it years ago because pre-made soup is ridiculously expensive compared to the cost of the actual ingredients, but now I can have it whenever I want-- you should, too. Disclaimer: my version is slightly different, and maybe tastier? I left out the Tobasco, chili powder, and green pepper.

Ingredients (makes about 7 cups):

1 cup red lentils
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
2 tbsp. garlic cloves, chopped (this measurement was a little unclear to me, but I think I ended up using 6 large cloves)
1 medium tomato, diced
2 cups vegetable stock, plus 2 cups water 
1/8 tsp. tumeric
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne (note: I used 1/4 tsp. and it was verryyy spicy... I think in the future I would use somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. corn starch

Bring lentils and 2 cups water to a boil; promptly remove from heat and put half of the lentils and liquid into a blender. Let it cool for several minutes, and then blend for approximately 1 minute. Set lentils aside.

Melt butter; add onion and saute for about 2 minutes, until soft. Add celery and garlic- cook for 5 minutes, and then add tomato. Cook for 5 more minutes and add stock, water, and spices. Bring to a simmer, and add lentils. Cook for 15 minutes until lentils are tender. Stir cornstarch with 2 tbsp. water and add to pot. Remove from heat and serve.

I ate mine with warm pita that I brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt... the combination was delicious! But when has warm pita ever been bad?

Just another day

I've been the least creative person in the kitchen lately; all I want to eat is refried beans and banana soft-serve. It's become a bit of a problem. Last night I half-heartedly attempted to make something new, but I ended up using all the same ingredients I always use when I cook anything, so I guess I'm a failure? It was delicious though: spicy quinoa and black beans (with a crap ton of cumin, of course), topped with roasted sweet potato, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. So good!

 

And, cue the hallelujah chorus, it's back:  

Maybe this week I won't eat over 10 frozen bananas.

TWENTY SIX

In case y'all are wondering what I did on my actual birthday...

I drank a glass of chardonnay and burned my new soy candle (thanks, Mom!)

I spent $9 on a small container of curried chickpeas from the Lebanese deli down the street.

I ate left over carrot cake from my early birthday celebration with my family.

I ended the night with an episode of Lost, which has really helped develop my fear of being kidnapped while pregnant. Awesome! Why, oh why can't I stop watching.... 

Yep, there's nothing quite like being closer to 30 than 20.

Comfort Food

Before Nate visits I spend a good portion of my time wishing he wouldn't, because I don't want to say goodbye to him again.

I know that sounds backwards, and perhaps it's an indication of my irrational anxiety; in any case, it's probably one of the hardest things about being in a long distance relationship for me. Even before we get to spend time together I'm dreading the moment when we don't. It feels like a never ending cycle of anticipation and then let-down... when he's here I feel like my real life can finally begin, and then we say goodbye and I start waiting for him to come again.

I always find it hard to function the day he leaves, so for dinner on Monday I made something that I felt like I'd been craving (even though I never had it before). There are lots of recipes for shrimp and grits online but they all sounded kind of intense and super high in fat, so I created my own, simplified version:

Shrimp & Grits (serves 1)

18 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp. creole seasoning (I made my own by combining 1/4 tsp. each of salt and paprika, then a pinch each of onion powder, black pepper, oregano, basil, and thyme- yield: about 1 tsp.)
juice from one lemon wedge
1 tbsp. butter 
1/3 cup white grits
salt to taste
extra sharp cheddar cheese to taste, cut into cubes (I cut about 1 inch off a standard block of cheddar)

Method:

Prepare grits according to package instructions- I just use salt and water, but you can use milk and butter too. Instant grits can be made in the microwave but they aren't quite as good as the stove top version... although making grits on the stove is time consuming because you have to stir them pretty frequently. Okay, clearly I'm undecided on this issue.

Rinse shrimp and put them in a small bowl. Squeeze lemon over them, and stir in seasoning. Set aside until the grits are ready.

Transfer the prepared grits to a bowl and add cheddar cheese. Stir and set aside.

Melt butter in a small fry pan and add the shrimp once it bubbles. Saute shrimp for several minutes until pink. Drain off the butter (trust me) and then add the shrimp to the bowl of grits. The cheese should be melted and gooey but not completely mixed into the grits, and the shrimp should be flavorful but not greasy. The combination is incredible; it almost made me forget that I'm going to have to say goodbye to Nate again in a couple weeks :-)

The other white meat

I don't cook much for Nate when he's in town, which I always feel sad about since it was something we both enjoyed when I lived in Ithaca. Now he says he likes to take me out when he's visiting because I rarely get to do it on my own, and that he'd rather hang out with me than watch me cook. Fine with me! But, in preparation for his visit this weekend I made pulled pork, which is one of his favorites.

I sampled it last night. Oh my gosh, SO GOOD. I followed this recipe almost exactly,  and was totally wowed by how flavorful it was. And juicy! There was so much juice. My only changes: I cut the measurements in half (but used around 2.5 lbs of meat) and added a few squirts of TJ's BBQ sauce to the pot (maybe 2-3 tbsp.)

I've always kind of enjoyed pulled pork more without a bun, which is why it's just an unattractive heap on my plate. Buuut, for Nate I'll serve it with pickles on a crusty roll, and maybe whip up some tangy coleslaw.

Then again maybe I won't, since he'd rather just hang out.

Just like ice cream

What's this, you ask? Oh nothing, just a homemade non-dairy frozen treat that has completely revolutionized my life.

Ingredients:

1.5 large bananas, frozen
splash of almond milk

Method:

Blend banana and almond milk in a food processor until smooth. Add toppings like cinnamon, dried cranberries, and peanut butter. Try not to eat it every single night for 2 weeks straight.

For Jordan

The most wonderful thing about moving to DC has been that I get to see one of my dearest friends at least once a week. This past Saturday, Jordan and I spent most of the day together eating and chatting, and drinking red wine...at lunch. Scratch that, she had a $12 beer. Words cannot describe how thankful I am to live near her!

Because Jamie can't eat chicken and is iffy on seafood Jordan is in need of red meat ideas; hence the title of this post. I've been meaning to write down the recipe for ages (instead of just winging it, in true Rhonda Mapes fashion) and I finally got my act together, although my measurements are still a little vague...

Beef and Mushroom Stew (2-3 servings)

salt and pepper
3-4 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 lb. (ish) stew meat
1/3 white onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup red wine
1/8 cup soy sauce
4 oz. sliced white mushrooms (I think... I used half a standard package of whole mushrooms from TJ's)

Put stew meat in a ziploc bag with salt and pepper to taste (several shakes of each). Add flour one spoon at a time and shake until all the meat seems to be evenly coated. Place meat in slow cooker and use your hands to separate the pieces; add more flour, or salt and pepper if the meat looks too bare in places, or until it looks something like this:


Sorry, I'm sort of regretting posting that photo but I feel like it's somewhat necessary. Add the water, wine, soy sauce, onion, and garlic and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 10 minutes before serving, saute the mushrooms briefly in butter, red wine and soy sauce and add them (without juices) to the slow cooker. Serve this stew with mashed potatoes, or maybe white rice (it kinda sucked with brown). Note: this recipe is mushroom heavy because I'm slightly obsessed... if I was making it for a non-mushroom lover (read: Nathan Lockett) then I would probably cut that amount, and maybe reduce the liquids slightly.

Totally not a typical Gwynne meal, but delicious all the same!

Coming to a Panera near you...

Roasted chicken, homemade apple cider vinaigrette, fresh pear, pecan, extra sharp cheddar. All that was missing was the side of baguette! 

Brussels

Recent favorite: roasted brussels sprouts with mushrooms, garlic, olive oil, S&P.

Small things

It's winter, and I've been living far away from my boyfriend and family for 7 months. As much as that sentence sucks, I'm grateful that I can see the Washington Monument and Georgetown's beautiful Healy Hall together in the skyline on one of my run loops, a sight that isn't visible when leaves are on the trees. And, despite it still being dark when I get up each morning, it's breathtaking to run under a small sliver of moon and the pink glow of sunrise within the same 30 minutes. I'm also feeling particularly blessed because I created the perfect bowl of chili out of leftover ingredients: no small feat for a poor girl like me!

Notice the picture in the background! 

Beef Chili for Two (or for One, twice!)

1/3 pound ground beef
1/2 a red onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can kidney beans
1/2 a can of diced tomatoes (leftover from Maple Baked Beans)
1/2 a fresh tomato, chopped
1/2 cup water
salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, coriander, and chili powder to taste

Saute onion, garlic, and celery in olive oil for 3 minutes. Add beef, and cook until no longer pink. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with sweet potato or grits and cheddar.

Carrot Cake Cookies

I have an unhealthy obsession with carrot cake. Case in point: I took Grandma to my favorite restaurant for brunch in DC last weekend, Founding Farmers, and I ordered carrot cake pancakes, despite the fact that I adamantly believe that pancakes (aka CAKE) for breakfast is a terrible idea for your body.  In fact, I've been known to loudly complain about this very fact in front of my entire family dad while he indulges in coffee cake or other sweets in the morning. But, love of carrot cake trumps all!

I've been meaning to try making carrot-cake-in-cookie-form for months, and finally decided on a random recipe I found online that was somewhat sketchy and had no reviews. As a result, I had to perform some major resuscitation to get this to work, which is why the recipe looks somewhat ridiculous- I know there must be a better way to achieve the same result. Bear with me on the measurements... I cut the recipe in half (sort of), and altered the ingredient list.

Ingredients:

Not pictured: lots of stuff, including a glass of red wine. 

4 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tbsp. unrefined virgin coconut oil
1/2 of an egg (aka 1 yolk plus a little white)
3/4 cup plus 1/8 cup TJ's white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup TJ's Golden Berry Blend (golden raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1 cup oats
2 tbsp. chia seeds
3 tbsp. water

I beat the butter and coconut oil together until most of the chunks were gone (sick), then beat in half the flour and the rest of the ingredients up through the cinnamon. I stirred in everything else and found the dough to be crumbly and disastrous. ENTER MIRACLE SEED. Chia seeds are my new love, and just in the nick of time since I am totally over flax seed. And, they have the coolest gelatinous property! After stirring in the seeds + water I was able to form cookies with the dough. I baked these at 375 for about 10 minutes:

I vowed to only eat one, but ended up eating three plus some dough. Shoot. The rest are being sent in a birthday care package to Nate, but they're mostly for his dad, who (unlike his son) always enjoys a healthy cookie!

Maple Baked Beans

There's a spot in my heart reserved for summer dinners at my grandparents' house, when we sat at their round picnic table on the patio. Grandpa would station himself at the grill, smoking a cigarette and talking quietly with my dad while we tumbled in the endless lawn of cool, evening grass. We'd wear ourselves out playing tag, racing between the flower beds and pine trees until we collapsed on the hammock and lay there until dinner was ready. Back then, the only "picnic" foods I would eat were hotdogs, potato chips, and Grandma's fruit salad (if it was loaded with marshmallows); praise the Lord that my taste buds have changed! One dish I always made sure to decline was baked beans, and I've continued passing on them until just recently. In the spirit of trying to break old habits I decided to make them this weekend and am IN LOVE with this recipe's tangy sweetness.

Ingredients: 

3 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 large vidalia onion, chopped

1 cup (about half a can) diced tomatoes

4 tbsp. unsulphured molasses

3 tbsp. maple syrup (I used maple/agave blend)

2 tbsp. mustard

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. salt

a handful of dried cranberries 

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir well. Cook for 4-5 hours on high heat, or 7-8 hours on low. These would be wonderful topped with a sliced, grilled hot dog and cornbread on the side, but I ate mine with brown rice (of course).

DANSKOS

I hate these shoes. Except I love them. WHY ARE THEY SO COMFORTABLE? And really, I'm almost starting to think there's something cute about them when they're worn with cuffed jeans.