Roy Swim

 Living in San Diego I always have a need for a great bathing suit, but I don't want to just settle for one at Target. So when royswim approached me I was pretty excited. Not just because her suits are custom made in the USA (She just moved from NY to Santa Cruz), or because they fit perfectly, but because in her plethora of colors and patterns, she has one that is all cats! Now I can be a beachy cat lady!

 Her fabrics are buttery soft and completely customizable and most designs are 2 sided! You want floral? tribal? stripes? gold? pink? BOOM! She can do it and it'll look gorgeous! I chose Kitten and Shiny Rust. I honestly can't rave about these enough. The suit fits perfect! I can't wait to rock my crazy cat lady beach getup all year long!!

Suffed Squash

 It's fall, so let's get festive with a stuffed squash recipe! In the future I think I'd add sausage or goat cheese to up the protein quotient. I also made half a dinner squash and half a dessert squash (butter and cinnamon sugar), and it was a great choice!

 

3 Acorn Squash
3 3 cups cooked grains (I used 2 cups rainbow quinoa and 1 cup rice)
1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 bunch of green onions, spring greens chopped
Dressing:
1 1/2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 Tablespoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon thyme

Instructions

1. Slice Acorn squash in half and scoop seeds. Cook at 400 F for 40 minutes on a cookie sheet.
   
2. Cook grains according to instructions.
   
3. In medium bowl, add cooked grains, chopped nuts and cranberries.
   
4. Whisk dressing ingredients together and toss with grain mixture. 
   
5.  Fill squash halves with grain mixture and pop back in the oven for 20 minutes.
   
6. Garnish with green onion and cheese.
7. Dig in!
   

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

In case you haven't been on social media, or in a Starbucks, or  just out in the world, I would like to notify you that it is fall. Any although it has been over 90 degrees here in Southern California, I wanted to get into the spirit so I baked up some delicious treats! I used a blend of almond and oat flour, which I really liked. The almond flour allows it to get a bit crispy and the oat flour gives it some substance.  For the chocolate, make sure you chop up a chocolate bar, and don't just use chocolate chips. It makes a big difference.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Melted Butter or Oil
• 2/3 cup Sweetness (sugar, maple syrup)
• 1/2 cup all natural Peanut Butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
•  2 1/2 cups Flour (I used 1 c oat flour, and 1 1/2 c almond meal)
• 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Coconut
• Dark Chocolate Chunks

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In medium bowl, add and blend Butter, Sugar, Peanut Butter, Egg and Vanilla.
   
3. Blend in Flour.
4. Add optional ingredients.
    
    5. Using measuring tablespoon drop by spoonful about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
     
   6. Using fork make criss-cross marks on cookie.
   7. Bake for 10 minutes. Should be slightly brown on edges.
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Enjoy!

Avocado Festival 2015

 

This weekend was the fantastic California Avocado Festival in Carpenteria! This year was the first time that I got the full experience: camping on the beach, avocado treats all day and music all night. Here are a few little gems from this awesome coastal festival.

 Robitaille's has been satisfying sweet-toothes for over 40 years. And the continue to deliver. My personal favorite are all the crazy gummy flavors, but they've also got chocolate covered everything and locally made fudge, along with candy from back in the day like pop-rocks, gummy pizzas, lavender gum, you name it.

 One of the best parts of the festival is that it's just blocks from the beach. There's RV and tent camping, but you do need to plan far in advance to get a spot for this weekend. But if you don't, bring your suit for a dip in the pacific, and maybe some gasoline for the tar. If you're not from coastal California you may not know that tar comes seeping out of the earth, and it's very sticky, and they easiest way to get it off of your skin is gasoline.

 

This is Murphy, he has nothing to do with the festival, but he's very cute.  Tip on how to make friends: walk around with a 60 pound puppy, everyone will want to talk to you. 

So that's the avocado festival, put it on your calendar and don't miss out next year!

GoPro video coming soon.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Mix

It's Pumpkin Season!!! and luckily since pumpkin is low FODMAP, we get to indulge as long as the other ingredients are aligned.  This gluten free pumpkin mix falls right in line!

 Overall, it's pretty good: moist, pumpkiney, doesn't make me feel sick. But it does leave a bit to be desired. It's a bit grainy, as gluten free stuff can be, but I think it can be remedied.

 Next time I would replace the water with some type of milk (probably almond). A little more fat and filler isn't always a bad thing.
Overall, pretty great!  Peace, love and Pumpkin Spice!

Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry

Back on my "creating dinner recipes" grind! The only thing to keep in mind for this is that you'll want the meat to marinate for 15 minutes to an hour. The longer it marinates, the more flavorful it is. So maybe don't start cooking when you're already hangry... Leave yourself a little time and you won't regret it!

Ingredients: 

1 lb Chicken

3 Baby BokChoy

Green Onion

2 1/2 Tbs Soy Sauce

1 1/2 Tbs Sesame oil

1 Tbs Minced Ginger

Cilantro

Directions:

1. Combine Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil ad Ginger with Chicken. Mix Well and leave in fridge for 15 minutes to 1 hour to marinate.

2. Chop Baby BokChoy and Green Onions.

3. Cook Chicken in Large skillet. 

4. Remove chicken and lightly cook BokChoy and Green Onions (til leaves start wilting)

5. Toss Chicken back in and Mix well. 

6. Plate on top of rice, garnish with soy sauce and Cilantro. Enjoy!

Amour Propre Collaboration

     

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Amour Propre. Never heard of them? Well they're a great company that aims to decrease bullying by using student advocates and adults that have come out the other side. And also they have cool t-shirts, which is always fun.

     Calvin, the creator of the company, asked me to think a bit about my story before we met up to shoot so that I could have something genuine and unique to say. So I began to think back to high school and middle school, not exactly the best of times. And it really made me realize that as women, we never truly stop being bullies.  Girls make snide comments behind their friend's back, and continue to do so when they're grown women. 

     So even if I aimed my comments at a teenage version of myself, they could easily be applicable to someone my age. As adults we still need to find the courage to stand up for ourselves, to stand up for others. Every time someone makes a "go eat a hamburger" joke the 13 year old in me cringes and tries to hide in the shadows, but the 24 year old puffs her chest out and looks them in the eye. Insulting my body won't make you love yours more, Insulting my style won't make you trendier, Pointing out my dorkiness won't make you any cooler. 

     Instead, work on loving yourself and loving the people around you, every dorky bit of them. I stand by my senior year motto: You do You.

"Be yourself, everyone else is already taken." -Oscar Wilde