Macaroons, straight from Paris!

You know what I love about a healthy eating lifestyle?

The fact that it is actually GOOD to occasionally indulge.

A good example of this is when your roommate's mom visits from France and brings your own box of 100% Parisian macaroons!!!

 I think green first :)

Happy living,
~Princess

Healthy Strawberry Shortcake...for Breakfast!

This weekend, I thought my special visitor should get a special breakfast. The first morning started with this:

 Strawberry Shortcake Scones

(adapted from bakingforhersoul)

Here's a shot right before it's eaten!!

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance Vegan Margarine (you can use butter too)
• 1/4 cup SO Delicious Coconut Milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• yogurt or whipped cream
• tub of strawberries

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar together.
3. Using a pastry blender, or your hands, cut the cold Earth Balance into the dry mixture until it’s evenly mixed throughout the dough, like pea sized chunks.
4. Mix in the coconut milk and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined, and gather all of the dough into a ball.
5. On a floured surface, roll out the dough until it’s between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch thick.
6. Using a cup, cut out even sized scones and place on sprayed baking sheet.
7. Make a mixture of a tiny bit of coconut milk with equal amount of powdered sugar and mix together. Brush onto the tops of the scones, and sprinkle with granulated sugar (optional).
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Remove and allow to cool fully.
9. Top with yogurt or whipped cream and strawberries.


 SO GOOD! There was actually a comment from my boyfriend that this is one of the best recipes I've made him :)

It also gave me a chance to try out my new coconut milk:

 I'll post about Thanksgiving tomorrow!

 Happy living,
~Princess

Life definitely never goes as planned!

This is what I hoped today's blog post would be based on:

Someone special in your life that deserves a little cookie love? I found a recipe for these delicious looking hunks of wonderful while I was searching the web:

Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Spelt Flour Healthy and Gourmet

And this is what actually happened:

Have you ever had a boyfriend arriving on a train in less than 25 min, and you still have to straighten your hair, find something nice to wear, fix your makeup, overall beautify yourself, arrive at the train station in style, AND BAKE COOKIES?!

If you ever find yourself in this situation, I highly recommend running to the nearest convenience store, purchasing a pouch of Betty Crocker Double Chocolate Chunk cookie mix, frantically baking them, and then arriving to pick up said important person just on time.

In all other situations, I recommend making the healthier and probably tastier version :D

Either way, it gives you a chance to fill your cookie jar:

 Happy living (and Canadian Thanksgiving!)
~Princess

Princess for the win!!!

The new issue of Clean Eating Mag is in!

 I could pretend to be normal and hold in my excitement, but life's too short.

In other news, 

GREEN TEA RICE CAKES?!

not sure whether to be impressed or sceptical...

I'll have my green tea loving boyfriend try them out first. That's what boyfriends are for, to taste test. ;)

Happy living, 

~Princess

Letter to the Princess: Tasty munchies

Thank you for your question ANONYMOUS reader! (gotta love supportive family)  <3

Dear Princess,
I was packing today for a rather long trip that I'm about to take, and I thought I had everything I needed. Comfy shoes? Check. Headphones? Check. Three books, four magazines, and a catalog to read between layovers? Check. But tasty munchies? None!
What kind of goodies do you stash in your skate bag when you're on the go?

I am truly a Princess of snacks! I always have an emergency munchie or two in my bag.

I'm not sure why I always started to make sure I have food on hand...maybe it's because I turn into a raging tantrum throwing beast when I'm hungry :)

ANYWAY, I always bring some back up food with me, so starving is far from possible!

THE PRINCESS'S 2 MAIN "ON THE GO" FOOD GROUPS :)

1. BARS

2. PACKETS

Of course you can always never go wrong with a healthy homemade trailmix!!!

 Glow Trail Mix

All this goji barry and dark chocolate goodness from Keep it Skinny

Hearty Healthy Trail Mix

This dried fruit, nut, and granola masterpiece from Eat Clean Diet

Tropical Trail Mix

This recipe combo of pineapple, coconut, and macadamia from laurajcampbell

So wherever you go, you can have that "I just ate something delicious, and it was healthy!" smile on your face :D

Happy living, 

~Princess

Dinner the other night was truly fit for a princess! (It was partially eaten as fingerfood, but hey, princesses can do what they want.) I made an extra big batch, and saved some in my freezer with these cute labels:

Frugal Living

There was no chance I would forget to eat this fabulously delicious dish before it went bad, so freezer labels weren't really necessary...but they were multicoloured! So they were clearly essential :)

3 Cheese Stuffed Shells
With Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

 Straight from the cover of my fave magazine!

Ingredients:

Sauce
3 C chopped tomatoes
12oz roasted red bell peppers
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 packed cup whole parsley sprigs, roughly chopped

Shells
4 ears corn (or frozen bag)
olive oil cooking spray
30 large whole grain pasta shells


1 1/2 C low-fat ricotta cheese
3 oz goat
2 T fresh mint, chopped
2 T chopped parsley leaved or chives, plus additional for garnish
1 large egg, lightly beaten
fresh ground black pepper
3 oz 2% mozzarella cheese, grated

Instructions:
Prepare sauce: in medium saucepan, combine tomatoes roasted red peppers, rosemary, oregano, rep pepper flakes and black pepper.  Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Transfer to a blender and ass parsley.  Remove plastic center from blender to let steam escape, hold a towel loosely over top to prevent splatter or just let sauce cool completely before blending.  

Prepare shells: Preheat oven to 350F.  Cook shells according to package directions.  In large bowl combine ricotta and goat cheese, mint, parley, egg, and half of the frozen corn (11/2cups).  Season with black pepper.  Spread 1 C sauce on bottom of 9×13 baking dish.  Fill each shell with 1 rounded T ricotta cheese mixture and place in baking dish stuffed side up.  Cover shells with remaining sauce, corn and mozzarella cheese.  Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbling.  Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.  Garnish with parsley.  Enjoy!

Happy Living,
~Princess

Once Upon a Time... There was a Stuffed Pepper

Here's a story I wrote:

Once there was a  princess.

She was in the mood for peppers. 

Stuffed peppers.

 She did a little world wide web research:

Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Peppers, Can You Stay for Dinner

Quinoa Stuffed peppers, Vegetarian Times

Clean Eating Stuffed Bell Peppers, Fitville

She discovered you can put anything in a stuffed pepper!

Brown rice, beans, quinoa, salsa, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, chiles.

You can top it with cheese, spices or avocado.

So she frisked her kitchen for anything "Mexican"

Stuck it in a pepper:

Baked it at 375 degrees for 20 min,

ate it, smiled, and called it a day.

Then she lived

Happily ever after