Favorite Healthy Meal Bars

I love taking Luna Bars to work with me. I have breakfast when I wake up {which is in the form of protein} and meal 2 is always made right when I am running out the door. I bought myself a cute to go tumbler to take it with me to work. By 1pm, I am still at my job. A pizza and wing restaurant. If I don't grab a bar to eat around this hour, I will cave and go for a flat bread or burger. Bars are perfect to throw in my bag and take with me so I don't do that. Here's some I currently have {had} lying around.

Luna Bars:

are anywhere from 200-300 calories.{?} They do fill me up and are equal to a full meal for me. I never really finish a whole bar. Unless I am really hungry.

Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bar:

This is my favorite Luna bar. It does kinda have that meal bar taste/texture, but it is the closest healthy thing I have had to a brownie. It is so rich and dense, like a brownie would be. There is a layer of caramel on the top of the bar and that part is perfection. It is just caramel perfection.I found this flavor at Wal-Mart for $1 near the vitamins.

White Chocolate Macadamia Luna Bar:

Before I discovered the Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bar, this one was my favorite. This has white chocolate coating on the bottom, like the bottom was dipped in white chocolate. It is delicious. It reminds me more of a dense granola bar

Peanut Honey Pretzel Luna Bar:

I was expecting to find pieces of pretzel in the bar but I didn't find any. It does mix sweet and salty, however. It has a peanut butter type of coating on the bottom, like the white chocolate in the macadamia bar. The texture is also a type of dense granola bar. This one was pretty good.

Perfectly Simple Bar:

This reminds me of a plain Lara Bar. The texture and mixture is the same. I can't say it tasted like coconut cream or coconut for that matter. It has very few ingredients, all good ones. There was only one ingredient that was different from the Lara Bars. Evaporated Cane Sugar. I personally don't mind a little sugar. These were on sale last week at Target for 80 cents.

Coconut Cream Lara Bar:

This on the other hand was not a plain Lara Bar. It really tasted like coconut cream. Lara Bars are known for their very few ingredients and all this had was dates, almonds, coconut, coconut oil, and maybe I am missing a couple nuts or or something. The texture of these if you didn't know are a little firmer than a no bake cookie.

Other Delicious Bars:

Home Made Fudge Brownie Lara Bar:

If you have never been to Chocolate Covered Katie and you love Lara Bars, you need to check her out. She is where I get all of my Lara Bar recipes/ideas. She calls them Fudge Babies. Damy also has some good Lara Bar recipes too. You can make your own Lara Bars with whole, healthy ingredients. Nuts. Seeds. Spices. Oats. Dates. Raisins. Coconut. Awhile back, I posted a recipe for a Lara Bar called Fudge Brownie Balls.

{the rest of the photos were taken with my iPhone}

 Kind Bars:

These were recent discoveries and can I tell you about the Coconut + Almond one? OMG it was like eating a gooey coconut macaroon! This was my favorite bar I have had. I am serving these next Christmas instead of my coconut macaroons. Nobody would know the difference. The Blueberry + Pecan one was pretty good too. I know the Kind bars are not as filling as a Luna Bar but they do hold me over.

Odwalla Bars:

Another new discovery. I get these at Wal-Mart. These are also pretty filling but nothing is as ever as filling as a Luna Bar. those babies are dense.

White Chocolate Macadamia:

This one just looks so yummy and it was pretty good. This is more of a chewy bar.

Banana Nut:

This was my favorite of the 2 Odwalla bars. It's even chewier than the White Chocolate Macadamia and has little chunks of nuts or oats or something. It was delicious. It will be my new every day bar.

 There will be more to come on my workout routine, diet, meals, grocery lists, organization, and other ways I stay on track soon enough if I thought that's what you wanted. Let me know if any of that intrigues you.

<3

Erica

Love Pink Skinny Cheesecake Bites

Throw everything you know about cheesecakes out the window because I am going to introduce you to the most delicious, healthy cheesecake you have ever had! I of course cannot take credit for this recipe, it got from Damy Health. She has an array of healthy recipes on her site (including a vegan version of this). I have tried a few but this one far exceeded my expectations, + I took some good pictures so I am exited to share it with you.

 

Cheesecake Center

• 1/4 Cup Non-Fat Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 Cup Neufchâtel Cheese (healthier version of cream cheese)
• 2-3 Tbsp Agave or Honey. I used a mix of both. Or you can use Stevia
• 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1-2 Drops Red Food Coloring 

Chocolate Covered Shell

*** I used 1/4 cup of everything and as you may be able to tell from the picture, the coating is a little thin. Because of this, they were a little bit tougher to get out of the ice cube tray. The original recipe calls for 1 cup of each ingredient, explaining that there will be left over chocolate. I would go with 1/2 cup.

• 1/2 Cup Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup, Honey or Agave. I used a mix of the last 2

The Directions:

1. Set out the Neufchâtel Cheese 15-20 minutes before you start to soften it a little bit
2. Blend Cheesecake ingredients until smooth in a blender. 
3. If you live in a cooler climate, melt your Coconut Oil in a bowl in the microwave before mix it. It needs to be a liquid.
4. In a separate bowl, blend Chocolate Coating ingredients until smooth.
5. Spray a pre-chilled, clean ice cube tray with cooking spray.
6. Using a spoon, pour the Chocolate into each ice cube mold to coat the full bottom.
7. Tipping the Ice Cube Tray from side to side, coat the sides of each ice cube mold. Make sure the molds are completely coated.
8. Add a dollop of Cheesecake filling into each mold
9. Top it off with the rest of your Chocolate
10. Freeze it for a few hours.
11. When your ready to serve/eat it, let it thaw for like 5 minutes
12. Twist the ice cube tray, (like you would to remove ice cubes) to remove each cheesecake bite.
13. If that doesn't work (I needed more man power) set the ice cube tray upside down on the counter, grab a utensil and smack the hell out of the bottom of each mold until it comes out.

These are so delicious! Once it is frozen, it is even better! The chocolate around it just melts in your mouth and makes the cheesecake bites that much better. I promise these do not taste like yogurt. They taste like cheesecake! They don't even taste healthy. The chocolate covered coating is.....to die for! If your not a fan of coconut, don't worry because you can't taste it.  The chocolate covered coating just melts in your mouth (realistically and scientifically) 

thank you to Damy for the original recipe!

try em'!

xoxo

Erica

It's the Last Blog Post... (And What I Got for Christmas)

Of the year! I have had like 10 days off of blogging - wow! I have had such an awesome Christmas but I am sure glad it's over and I can start focusing on my life. I wanted to share with you all what I got for Christmas along with some pictures from Christmas as well.

 I wanted to show you all of my Christmas happenings thru a POTW blog post, but I didn't get any. I wanted to do a Christmas cookie series because I made the following: 7 Layer Cookie Bars, Hot Chocolate On-A-Stick, Coconut Macaroons, Fruity Pebble Fudge, Soft Caramels, (all of these recipe's are pinned on my Pinterest board under Christmas Cookie + Christmas Cookies) + the Slatkin & Co. Marry Cookie candle sugar cookies. That recipe doesn't call for enough flour. So we added some and they were a little dry. Nonetheless, really run to make and decorate! Here's pictures of those babies:

Here's everything I got for Christmas!

This year for new years, we are hanging out at my house (just like we do every year) and then walking up to the bar before midnight, having a toast, then walking back. We are planning to get pretty drunk! haha! Whatever! I haven't been drunk in at least 7 months and the last time I went to the bar was 2 years ago! It's unbelievable to think about because I remember when I used to go out every night! Anyway, please have a safe new years! Don't drive if your going out with a bang like me!

And By The Way...
Thank you for such an incredible year in 2012! No matter what what crazy stuff is happening in my life, good or bad, my blog is my "happy place" and my experience with blogging just keeps on getting better and better. My "that look's fun" little project that started 2 years ago, turned into a true passion + I don't think it would have been that way if it wasn't for all of your support and all of the inspiration I get from all of your blog's + comments! Let's make 2013 even better!

Be Safe + See You Next Year!

Yours Truly,

Erica

Skinny Fun-fetti Cheesecake Dip

I didn't think something like this was possible, but turns out it is! Being my birthday on the 8th of October, I knew I wanted a skinny alternative to stand next to the delicious, fattening chocolate cake that my b/f's mom made me! God, I love that cake. I wish I could send you all a piece of it! You know the secret ingredient for a good chocolate cake?

coffee! 

It turns out it enhances the chocolate as opposed to making it taste like chocolate coffee.

back to the Fun-fetti cake dip. 

No, it doesn't hold a candle to my chocolate cake. No sweet food will ever come between me and that cake. However, the Fun-fetti cake dip to me can easily be second best. It could pass as a much creamier version of some yummy icing. The best part of that is, is that it is the skinny version!

here's your ingredients:

Directions are so simple:

-Make the Cheesecake Pudding according to the package. Let it set. 

-Add all 3 ingredients into a huge bowl and stir it up

1 serving would be 1/4 cup. 

 I tried to figure out calories and it was tough to figure out. I would say 270 calories in each serving and there are some calories in fat from both the fun-fetti cake mix and the cool whip lite. Just a head's up!

I first got the idea from Eat Yourself Skinny and she used plain yogurt in place of the pudding. I do think the cheesecake pudding gives it a little something. But then again, I have yet to try the yogurt version. Which ever one you have will work! 

I didn't expect the dip to get as thick as it was. My best friend Alex said it tasted just like cake batter, but much thicker. It was really delicious.

Idea's for dipping

We used dehydrated banana's & apples (my personal fav), 

strawberries, 

animal crackers, 

grapes which I thought were blueberries at the store. Everyone makes mistakes.

It's also really good with apple slices which I have been doing since my birthday.

So it isn't "good" for you but it's a much better option for any kid's party, adult party, birthday party, halloween party, work potluck, or any gathering of lots of people. Or you can make it for a bake sale and put it in little containers along with a little baggie of homemade shortbread cookies for dipping! that sounds like a fun, unique idea to me!

nutrition facts:

fun-fetti cake mix

jello cheesecake pudding (ff sf)

cool whip lite

So what do you guys think? Do you wanna try it out?

thank you for reading!

xoxo
Erica

Healthy Dip n Dots!

When you guys read through this blog post, you are going to laugh and wonder how come you never thought of it! I wish I could take credit for this clever recipe (if you wanna call it a recipe) but I was Pinspired. 

I love Pinterest. 

This is so easy and actually fun! If you like piping frosting on a cake, I have a feeling your going to like this too! If you have kids around, this would be a fun "recipe" for them to do on their own!

Before we get started, here's some things you should know to make this even easier:

*Tip #1: I recommend using yogurt that doesn't have chunks of strawberries in it. The strawberries get stuck and won't come out of the hole making the little dots unpredictable sizes. Either way, it's really no biggie! If you have strawberry yogurt on hand, use it if need be. Just be prepared to have different size dots, like mine.

 *Tip #2: If you have a pastry bag, you can use that instead of the ziplock bag! It would make for really cute dots!

*Tip #3: To make getting the yogurt into the bag easier, grab a cup and place the bottom of the bag into it as you see in the picture. Put the yogurt into the bag, that is in the cup. Get it? That way, when your bag is filled up, you simply grab it out, there's no mess, and the yogurt is at the bottom where we need it. Picture for demonstration purposes only.

Here's what the yogurt should look like in the bag. Your going to cut that corner where you see there isn't any yogurt:

Here's my dot's before they were frozen to give you an idea:

There yah have it! Make your own Dip n Dots! I hope you have a great weekend! I will be back soon enough with a Birchbox review!

xoxo

Erica

Healthy Fourth of July Quickies!

I have been looking a lot at healthy eating blogs lately and I just thought I would share a couple of recipes I came across. if your going to a picnic and you wanna bring something healthy & delicious! And by the way, I tried to get the easiest recipes too! There is only 1 involving the oven (the first one on the list) *but* I would have to say those look worth it!

Skinny Taste: Red, White, & Blueberry Cheesecake Yogurt Cupcakes 

(she also has a lemon blueberry version too! yum!)

Edible Perspectives Coconut Shell Fruit Popsicles:

Skinny Taste: Asian Ginger Carrot Dressing

  

Eat Yourself Skinny Cherry Peach Sangria

Cocktail Popsicles: White Russian and Black Russian

I hope you guys like this post! 
Will you guys be testing out any of these?

Happy Holidays
Erica

Blueberry Cheesecake Pudding Pops

hello, hello! I am exited to post this today! The weather is awesome and everyone around me is eating Handles Ice Cream (the best ice cream chain debatably in the world) and I have a few bites, but it is hard not to indulge. So, I did what only a girl who wants to stay healthy would do: got to the kitchen! I am so glad I did because the Pudding Pops I made hit the spot to no end. The best part? I don't have to feel bad about eating 6  a couple!

-makes 8 pudding pops, depending on how big your dixie cups are

-2 pudding pops = 1 serving for me. it's about 53 calories total. Not to mention the nutritional value from blueberries!

-I used Sugar Free/Fat Free Cheesecake Pudding & it is amazing. It is one of my favorite snacks.

- I sprayed my dixie cup's with cooking spray and I am not sure if it made the popsicles slip out easily or not. You can also cut the dixie cup too. I used plastic dixie cups. I do know that paper cups work fine too

-The silver balls on the bottom are sprinkles. those are optional, obviously.

-I used a couple different food colorings.

I need to take pictures outside more often! I love how they turned out, don't you?

anywho, I am outta here. I need to make more pudding pops!

Till Next Time
 xoxo
Erica

A Few of My Favorite Things

Hey guys! Can you believe I tried to film a video for this 4 different times? When I finally completed it, I needed to edit it. I have Windows Movie Maker. However, it will not take .mov files. I am not sure how to convert them. Everything I tried costs $$.  How do you guys convert your .mov files to edit on Windows Movie Maker if you do? How do you edit your videos period?? Please let me know in the comments!

Whatever, I will just do a good old fashion blog post! Little late but better late than never,  people! 



♥favorite beauty items


YBF Beauty Blush & Bronzing Duo: I am in love with both sides of this duo. However, I favor the blush over any other blush I have. It is such a nice pink color with some sheen to it. I have swatched this before on my blog, in case you missed it, I will link you up! Not to mention the blush goes on beautifully. I hate when your putting on blush and some are too chalky and look really cakey on the skin. I also hate when a blush is too light, no matter how many coats you put on. This blush is in the perfect middle. Again, to see swatches, click here

Urban Decay Primer Potion: Maybe I am a little late on the band wagon but it has been my favorite for the past month or so. Even though I think that Drugstore Brands do a fabulous job, UD does it even -dare i say- better? When it comes to longevity, It is a tie between this and let's say Jesse's Girl. When it comes to making your eyeshadow more vibrant & pigmented, I have gotta hand it to UD.

LaVanila Hand Cream: This was a Birchbox find. This actually came in my very first box! The past few months I can't say I have been impressed with Birchbox. If you want a full explanation, let me know guys! Anywho, I actually do not like the scent of this stuff. I am not a fan of lavender. Even after that, it is still my first pick of hand lotion every night. That is because it moisturizes without leaving that greasy residue. You can even tell by the texture of it when you first squeeze it out of the tube that it isn't greasy/oily. It is just different, even the texture. It looks like cottage cheese or something. Do not worry! it doesn't feel like it!

 


Proactiv Cleansing Brush: This was the best investment I have ever made. It wasn't even an investment at all! All I did was ordered Proactiv's 3 steps, which I use on a daily basis, and I got the cleansing brush free. All I had to do was re-order the Proactiv's 3 Steps & choose my free item, as always. This has got to be the best free add-on I have ever got from Proactiv! Review is coming on this. All you need to know right now is that refill brush heads are only $12, it is battery operated, it is water-resistant, very comfortable to use, very simple to use, and cleanses better than my hands have ever cleansed before. 

♥Favorite Fashion Statement 

 Bow Earrings: Just recently I started wearing hoops & was going to make hoops my favorite jewelry for the month. That was only until I spotted these. I can't remember the brand but I bought these from Kohl's. I have always been a studs kinda girl so these being a slightly oversized bow, were perfect for me. They do cover my ear lobe, tastefully. I just love them

♥Favorite Candle

 Beach Flowers from Yankee Candle: I think the last time I was this much in love with a candle it was back during fall 2011 (Marshmallow Fireside) & Christmas 2011 (Candied Sugar Plum). It has been a while! It is a new scent from Yankee, and they did fabulous on it! It's a very clean & floraly smell. Neither old lady floral or a powdery clean. It smells like the scent is a really beautiful perfume sprayed onto a really clean body. (lol) It reminds me a lot of Glade's Angel's Whisper candle. I have yet to check out Slatkin's summer candles which is crazy long for me. I am really happy with Beach Flowers for now though. I actually still have a haul coming up from Yankee!

♥ Favorite food

Vitatops: Have you guys tried these? They actually contain more vitamins and minerals than an apple. Chocolate that is better than eating an apple? I was already sold. All you do is pop them in the microwave and eat it. I am sure you guys know by know I hate diety foods. Fake sugar? yuck! Diet coke? Can't do it! These do not taste "good for you" if you know what I mean. They are only muffin tops as opposed to a whole muffin, so I like eating them along with a banana. Yummy! They are expensive but I suggest to try them once and if you like them buy them again. I can't buy these every time I go the grocery store at $8, but I like to spend on them every once in awhile. 

♥ Favorite Drink

HonestTea: Again, I hate diet foods and drinks. These Honest Tea's are so awesome! My favorite flavor is the Orange Mango one. The sweet tea is equally good. However, those flavors do contain some sugar. The lemonade one conatins none. It actually doesn't contain anything, besides Vitamin C! Something I do not understand at all but I will have to let you take a look at the nutrition facts. If you like tea with a hint of sweetness, you will love these. I really like sweet tea & with these they are neither too sweet or too bland. Perfect mix. They are usually 4 for $5 at my local grocery store.

this is the lemonade nutrition facts. told you!:

♥Media Faves

♥ Favorite Game

The Sims: Sims has always been my favorite game. All the way back to Sim City! Every now and then I will go through phases where I either do not play at all, or I become obsessed with playing it. Right now, I am obsessed! I have every single expansion pack from Sims 2 but I only have 2 expansions for Sim's 3, which is the one I play nowadays. Hopefully I can build my collection and have enough time to play with them all until they release a Sims 4! Do you play? If so, Which expansion pack should I get next?

♥Favorite Blogger
Samantha Schuerman: She does a lot of weekly favorites and has some pretty good tutorials too. I really like her! Her makeup collection is huge so she is always talking about something different & she nevers runs out of stuff to talk about. I also love that she doesn't just stick to beauty products because I also like to talk about other things on my blog, other than makeup, obviously. Check her out! She has a blog as well, which is where I got the picture.

♥Favorite Show
Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search For Elle Woods: Please somebody tell me you remember this show from MTV from a few years back? I used to love it! A couple of weeks ago, I suddenly remembered my all time favorite show from 2008. On MTV.com not only do they have every full episode *but* they also have full performances by each girl! The songs they sing are catchy, you can't help but to sing along and love them (:

Bailey was my favorite from the beginning & something in me told me she was perfect to be Elle. The judge's agreed with me on that & she won(!) I always "promised" myself that as long as Bailey won the part then I would go and see it on Broadway. Needless to say I have always been pretty broke so I never got a chance. (lol) So, I decided to get a hold of Bailey on twitter to see if she would ever play Elle again. Luckily, her answer was yes & she will be on stage all summer as Elle! Not in NYC, but in Alabama. Ticket's are reasonable (about $30) so if me & my boyfriend can figure out a cheap trip (we live in Ohio) we are going to go! My boyfriend is the best because he is such a good sport with whatever I wanna do. Love you Phillyboo!

source

♥Favorite Movie
I just thought I should include this little section because we have watched a couple newer movies recently. My favorite one was Contagion. I love movies that are about half of the world dying from a weird virus. If that's your thing, or if you loved I am Legend (one of my faves) then I think you will like Contagion.

 source

Another classic that has been on all month is Clueless! God, I love that movie. Is it sad that I know every single word? If you grew up watching it just like me, then you probably know it all too! I remember me and my cousin used to put half of a bottle of conditioner in our hair because we thought that was how we can create long straight hair just like Cher...even though we both had really wavy hair, haha! I also remember riding our bikes around town and taking our bubblegum pagers, pretending they were cell phones, & talking on them as Cher and Dee. We were obsessed! What are your memories from when you were a child based off of Clueless? Do you have any?

 source

♥Favorite Song(s)

Ed Sheeran Give Me Love: OmGosh you guys, this song is seriously to die for. If I had to pick my favorite out of the 2 songs mentioned, I would pick this one. I can listen (& have been!) to it over and over again! Do you like acoustic? You will love this! They have been playing it for all of 5 seconds on a new Victoria's Secret commercial. If you do not do anything else all day long, listen to this song. You will thank me later. Your welcome (:






Ron Pope- A Drop in the Ocean: After the first time I heard this song, I knew it was going to be a favorite for a long time. if you don't listen this whole song, just listen to the first minute or so...I guarantee you will love it!

Ok, that is everything! Not a short post by any means! Lots of good stuff this past month! What have been your favorite things? Link me in the comments! Thank you guys for reading! 

Take Care!

Erica

Home Made Lara's Bars in Hot Fudge Brownie

Well, hello there! So glad you wandered onto this blog post - have I got a treat for you! Have you ever tried a Lara Bar? they are all natural snacks made out of a few natural ingredients including nuts & fruit. Some are ok and some are amazing. They are $2 a bar. That's expensive! no! So when I came across Chocolate Covered Katie, a vegan who loves chocolate, she had so many different flavors of Lara Bar's that she has been making all on her own. I decided I was going to try it out too considering:

-They are Raw- No cooking! Yay!

-They are Vegan 

-They are All Natural

-The Price!

This recipe makes about 5 bars or 10 balls. 5 Lara Bars = $10. I made half & half. I calculated a round about estimate on how much this recipe is worth, considering how much of each ingredient I used & I came up with $5. That's half of the price of a regular Lara Bar!

It took me around 10-15 minutes total to blend it all, including the time's when I stopped to mix & stir everything around. It's essential unless you want full sized dated (yuck, i don't!)

After everything was blended, I went ahead & threw in some more whole cacao chips. I also forgot to include the shredded coconut so I went ahead and threw that into the mix too!

I wasn't sure if I liked dates so I decided to give one a try and I was right: I didn't like them! I made the Lara Bars/Balls anyways and gave more than half of them away. When I seen everyone chowing down on them in front of me I figured I would give them a try even if there are dates. Let me tell you, they were really good! Something about the chocolate makes the dates much less "date-y"- So even if dates are not your thing, you just might like these! I wish I would have given them a chance before I gave them all away!

The only thing I hated about it? I didn't make enough. This may have been my most successful healthy dessert attempt yet! I hope you guys really try these "fudge babies"(as Katie would say) out! Also, make sure you go check out Katie's blog! It's really a skinny dessert lovers dream!

What do you think, are you guys going to try it? 

It's so easy! I urge you to try it! Make one up on your own, even!

Can you think of any other variations I can try?

Thank you so much for reading!

xoxo

Erica

Quinoa on the Sweeter Side and 30 Days of Blogging

Hey guys! What's up? NMH. J/C. *anyways*
*D*
  *R*
     *O*
        *P*
to the next subject. if anybody used to write like that in 7th grade, holla! I remember we used to have notebooks that we would decorate just for notes. Nobody ever carried around a real school notebook. It's funny because all of our notes mention the same thing....absolutely nothing! we would write notes just for the sake of writing them on our note notebooks, & decorating the page. It was like a competition on who had the best notebook. okay, whatever. How do I get off topic so badly?
*D*
  *R*
     *O*
        *P*
to the next subject. You may have seen the first part of the title Quinoa on the Sweeter Side! I am guessing you have probably made it for dinner or for salads, I know I have. It is one of my favorites. But dessert? Yes! While I was on Eating Bird Food , my new favorite healthy blog, I found a bunch of different ways to eat quinoa. Don't let the title scare you like it did me, she's great! She loves incorporating Quinoa in home made Granola, in Yogurt, she will even make it into a cold cereal. I am not sure how, but maybe I will find out. Anywho, I decided to try it in my yogurt parfait. It makes for a Rice Pudding Dupe! ha! see what I did there?

I thought this would be a great idea considering Quinoa is full of fiber (the stuff that makes you full) and not to mention protein. I love Quinoa because 1. It tastes really good. I love pasta's, and rice, and that, and since I am not eating anything white, quinoa is (2.) one of the best grain's you can eat. Don't ask me why. it probably has something to do with the nutrition facts, of course. Tone It Up told me so, so it must be true.

I am not going to give you a freaking recipe because, it's not really a recipe. It is Quinoa in Greek yogurt with toppings. I will tell you what I layered anyways.


Creamy Base: Mix the yogurt w/ quinoa. That is your first layer.
Juicy Fruit: I choose Pineapple, Blueberries, & Raspberries
Crunchies: Nuts & Granola. I choose Almonds & Sunflower Seeds

Thats it! Easy Peasy! The only cooking involved would be cooking the Quinoa before hand, then letting chill in the fridge. I cooked a lot of it so we can have both sweet & savory Quinoa for the week!

ok so now onto the 30 days of blogging....I am going to attempt to blog every day for 30 days straight. Anybody wanna join me?? Let me know in the comments so I can follow you! If I skip a day, it just means I am really crazy and I don't have any time to perfect each and every post. Anyone else a perfectionist?

Has anyone ever tried Quinoa on the Sweeter Side?

Till Tomorrow

xoxo

Erica

Skinny Cupcakes

Lots of protein. Very Few Carbs. The carbs that are in this cupcake are the good ones, anyway. I hate diet-y tasting food. Loved these cupcakes. Rival Duncan Hines any day.

I was actually skeptical with these cupcakes, as I am with anything diet-y. When I made these, I was quite happy with the turnout. My mom even had one! She is one picky lady. She only likes pizza w/ pepperoni and anything with chocolate.....actually, only some stuff with chocolate...& MGD & pumpkin seeds. That's really it. If they pleased her, they will please anybody!

Did I mention I hate diet-y food? Well, I do. That's is why I love these! They are not the diet-y type of cupcake. They are actually good for you cupcake's. Even ask Karina & Katrina from Tone It Up, which is where I got this recipe, & I bet they will tell you that these very cupcakes would be good before or after a workout.

Ok so I kinda cheated on the name. I didn't think Valentine's Day Cupcakes was an appropriate name, so I am dubbing them "Skinny Cupcakes" the only unoriginal thing I can possible take credit for. That, and the cute font & colors! haha!  

 83 calories. 6 calories from fat

Now for the frosting. The frosting that they had on Tone It Up looked amazing! But, I didn't have cream cheese. So I was off to find another recipe. This frosting is from Oh She Glows. Now, one quick thing: this frosting is by no means skinny! Oh She Glows is a vegan baking blog, so the frosting is vegan, but not skinny! Personally, I liked the cupcakes on their own with no frosting & a little bit of earth balance. They were really great that way! I put the frosting on for everyone else in the house. Plus, the cupcakes look cuter with a hat on!The frosting was also fun & easy to make

  That's that! I hope you guys enjoyed my Skinny Cupcakes posts! Don't forget to visit Oh She Glows & Tone It Up to see another probably delicious icing and alot of other amazing desserts!

Stay Healthy

Erica