Whooooopie! ... Pies

I've got my Christmas shop on!!
One of my favourite buys so far is this baking book for my bf's little sis:

If someone has any sort of interest in baking, I try to help it flourish. More cookies for me haha. So when I saw this whoopie pie book, I had to buy it for her.

In case you don't know, whoopie pies are just delicious cookies sandwiched together with icing. It's an amazing invention!

I even research a few different recipes, so you can make them for any kind of person!

For the The No Nonsense Girl

Basic Whoopie Pies, from Food Network

I've made these before, and they're delicious!!!

For the Health Nut
Guilt-free Strawberry Whoopie Pies, from Family Fresh Cooking

For the Exotic Foodie
Pistachio, Cardamom, Whoopie pies with Rosewater buttercream, 
from Serious Eats

For the Veganista
Cacao Cinnamon Pecan Whoopie Pies, from Rawmazing

And for anyone who loves the holidays:

Chocolate peppermint whoopies pies, from Joy of Baking

Gingerbread Whoopie pies, McCormick

Now go have some fun, and relieve your stress by squishing cookies together with icing :)

~Princess

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

What a wonderful morning I had!
Any day that starts with pancakes is headed for success :)

 Today I went with Apple-Cinnamon!

I started with a bit of a short cut:

Then threw in a chopped up apple and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Who said a healthy breakfast had to be time intensive to prepare?


I find that a fruit and a dash of something are the perfect match in pancakes. Like:

Blueberry & Vanilla

Pumpkin & Pumpkin pie spice

Lemon & Poppyseed

Pineapple & coconut

 

Banana & Cacao powder

So go find your favourite whole grain pancake recipe, or find a good mix from your grocery store, and make tomorrow morning pancake perfect.

~Princess

5 Ingredient Clean Pizza

 Last night's dinner was a complete success! Delicious, healthy, and fast enough to throw together so I could have enough time to go watch the new twilight movie... and let me tell you, that movie was as intense as this dinner was tasty.

Spinach and Chicken Sausage Pizza

from Clean Eating

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 oz spinach leaves
• 1 14.5-oz can, no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 whole-wheat thin pizza crust
• 2 fully cooked, all-natural, deli chicken sausages, sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
• 3 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup)

PANTRY STAPLES:

• Olive oil cooking spray
• Ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Coat a skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium low. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 4 minutes. Season with pepper, to taste. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Place 1 cup tomatoes in a fine mesh strainer and press out as much liquid as possible. Spread tomatoes onto pizza crust. Top with spinach, sausage and mozzarella. Bake 10 minutes, or until sausage is lightly browned and cheese is melted. Rest pizza on a cutting board for 5 minutes, slice into 6 equal pieces and serve.

Nutrients per 1/6 of pizza: Calories: 230, Total Fat: 8 g, Sat. Fat: 4 g, Carbs: 25 g, Fiber: 5 g, Sugars: 3 g, Protein: 12 g, Sodium: 205 mg, Cholesterol: 25 mg 

Here's mine:

ummm... The burntish bits were on purpose... to celebrate the dark and mysterious movie I was about to see. 

Happy living, 

~Princess

Almost December... time for some cookie indulgence?

What can I say, I needed an excuse to make cookies :)

I found this recipe: 

Cookies and Cream Brownie Cookies

from Bakers Royale:

Ingredients:

• 4 ¼ oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• ½ cup of butter
• 1 teaspoon espresso granules
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cup sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoons salt
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 12oz Hershey’s Cookies and Cream Candy bar (three 4 oz bars)
• 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips

Instructions: 

1. Place unsweetened chocolate and butter in saucepan over low heat while stirring constantly. Once melted, add in espresso granules and stir to combine. Set aside.
2. Place eggs, sugar, vanilla, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix to combine until glossy about 1-2 minutes on medium if using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer and on high if using a hand held mixer. Turn off mixer and fold in slightly cooled chocolate mixture.
3. Place flour and unsweetened cocoa powder in a bowl and whisk to combine. Fold dry mixture into wet mixture until combined. Add chopped cookie & cream candy and chocolate chip to batter and fold to combine. 
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Here's how mine turned out:

My house smells yummy now :)

Happy living, 

~Princess

I'm baaaaaack!

What an awesome extended weekend I had!
My competition was great! My mom came to watch/support, and I loved getting to see her for a bit! I miss her a lot, it was so hard to say goodbye at the end of our time together!
We had a lot to catch up on, much of which we did over Starbucks skinny peppermint mochas (this is also what got me through my 6am practice session).

I love when festive drinks come out, it totally sets the mood for the holiday season! To go along with all the Christmas feeling in the air, I've even started to make my gift list. I found some cool printables to help with that:

from coleman chronicles

from imom

from imom

from red robe designs

from fakin' it

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

~Princess

Important Life Stuff

I have a little bit of important competing to do this weekend.

I'll have to be focused, so I'll be missing in action for the next few days!

Sorry for the neglect, I'll be back soon!

But I leave you with this (something I've been reminding myself the past few days):

Happy living,

~Princess

Christmas list - bake, make, and celebrate

MY CHRISTMAS LIST:

1. Make most of my Christmas gifts
Not because I'm a poor student or anything... I just want to bring out my inner craft girl OKAY!

[source]

2. Bake mini pies.
I mean common! MINI PIES!

 

[source]

3. Listen to Justin Bieber's new Christmas Album on repeat
...don't judge me

[source]

4. Make it a healthy Christmas

[Ginger&Garlic]

5. Catch up with all my friends by having a little gingerbread decorating soiree

[baking bites]

6. Send out Christmas cards. 

Most importantly, find something interesting/witty to write in them

[source]

7. Make Santa Hat brownies

Because Christmas only happens once a year!

[Sweet Tooth]

Happy living, 

~Princess

Chocolate Bark

I'm VERY in the mood for Winter treats, but healthy homemade ones with REAL ingredients. Like dark chocolate, dried fruits, and nuts :) 

What could be a better Winter treat than some homemade chocolate bark???

Superfoods Chocolate Bark

goji berries - cranberries - apricots - almonds

I

Clean and Delicious

Mexican Hot Chocolate Bark

pumpkin seeds - cinnamon - cayenne

Tasty Kitchen 

Dark Chocolate Bark

papaya - pistachio - cranberry

Joy the Baker

Chocolate Orange Peanut Bark

Orange zest - peanuts

Urban Spork

I think I'll have to make them all before the season is over!
Happy living,
~Princess

It's November, and time for hot chocolate!

It's November 2nd. I'm calling it Christmas time. Crazy? I prefer the term enthusiastic.

Plus over half the stores at the mall had Christmas stuff out today. HOW do they get it out so fast???

[source]

But most importantly, this build up to Christmas means hot chocolate. Lots of hot chocolate. Plus if it's healthy, you can drink more :D

Here's my favorite easy recipe:

 Ingredients:
- 2 cups skim milk (or soy, rice, coconut, almond)
- 2 rounded teaspoons 70% dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons healthy sweetener, adjusted to taste (stevia, maple syrup, agave, raw cane sugar)

1. Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming, not boiling
2. Add cocoa powder and sweetener and whisk to combine.
3. Pour into favorite mugs

Please note:

Corny Christmas mugs greatly increase the enjoyment factor:

You can spice up your frothy beverage with:

Cinnamon 

Nutmeg

Vanilla

Mint

Happy living, 

~Princess