12 Thoughts You Have When You First Start Eating Healthy

Eating healthy is hard, so it helps to find humor it. Here are 12 thoughts you have when you first start eating healthy:

1. "Wait, raisins are my dessert?!"

2. "But I neeeeeeeeed sugar!"

3. "Why are dates in every healthy recipe I find?"

4. "How many cheat meals is too many?"

5. "I am too poor to buy a juicer."

6. "Kale and quinoa are way too popular on Pinterest."

7. "Nuts have how many calories?!"

8. "So I can't just eat whatever I want even if I'm exercising?"

9. "That little piece of brownie couldn't have had that many calories, right?"

10. "Just one bite of something doesn't count."

11. "Umm...where do I buy coconut flour?"

12. "I better lose so much weight."

Quick and Easy Mini Cinnamon Buns with Crescent Roll Dough

This morning, I was craving a decadent breakfast. Cereal wasn't going to cut it. Unfortunately, we were out of eggs, so I couldn't make coffee cake. While perusing my fridge, I remembered that we had some crescent roll dough. So, I decided to make homemade mini cinnamon buns. Here is how you do it:

Ingredients:

• 1 can crescent roll dough
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• butter spray, or about 1 tablespoon melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Roll out the crescent roll dough on a greased cookie sheet while keeping it in rectangles (2 triangles of dough stuck together). You will have 4 rectangles. Lay each rectangle side by side and connect the dough together by pinching it with your fingers. You should now have 1 long rectangle of dough.
3. Spray or pour the butter over the surface of the dough.
4. Measure out 1 tablespoon of sugar and sprinkle over all of the dough. Repeat with 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon.
5. Roll the dough ("hotdog style") from the longer edge of the rectangle to the other. You will have a long, thin roll of dough. Don't worry if the dough comes apart a little since you will cut it apart in the next step.
6. Cut the dough into 12 even pieces and separate them on the pan.
7. Bake for 10 minutes.

Here are some pictures of the process:

Enjoy!

Simple 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Frosting

When it comes to desserts, I love anything peanut butter and chocolate. I'm pretty sure I inherited this from my mom. Since her birthday was coming up, I decided to make her a chocolate peanut butter cake. To do this, I wanted to make peanut butter frosting. I enjoy improvising with recipes, so I decided to try making a really simple, quick peanut butter frosting. It turned out well, and only took about 5 minutes to whip together!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 block cream cheese (8 ounces)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. Soften the cream cheese by allowing it to sit out for 30 min to an hour, or by microwaving it for about 20 seconds.
2. Mix the cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and milk for about 3 minutes until it is well blended.

That's it! 4 ingredients and 2 steps. Simple and delicious.

For my mom's birthday cake, I made a chocolate cake in a 13x9 pan. I then poked holes throughout the surface and poured melted chocolate frosting over the whole top. Next, I spread the peanut butter frosting on. Lastly, I added crushed Reese's cups. It was delicious!

Do you like cream cheese frosting?

Reese's Spreads Review

I was so excited when I found out that Influenster was sending me the Reese's Spreads VoxBox. I am such a fan of Influenster, and Reese's are my all-time favorite candy. I was especially excited to receive the Reese's Spread because I finished all of the Reese's from my Christmas stocking a long time ago.

If you aren't a member of Influenster, you should really check it out! It is an awesome website that you make an account with and connect with your social media accounts. You answer questions about the types of products you use, and then you wait for an email with a pre-survey for a VoxBox or an email saying that you are being sent a box. VoxBoxes include free, full-size items that you then review and promote over social media. On the website, you can also review products you already own or look for reviews.

The Reese's Spreads VoxBox is my second box, and it feels like Christmas all over again. I was amazed at how delicious this spread is. It tastes exactly like a Reese's cup. The only way you can improve peanut butter is to make it Reese's peanut butter and add chocolate. This spread is basically your wildest dessert dreams come true in a convenient jar.

This spread is affordable and priced similarly to regular peanut butter. It also has the same amount of calories as peanut butter, but it tastes even better! So, its' a win-win situation. Or, you could call it a win-win-win situation a la "The Office", since Hershey's wins by gaining a consumer of Reese's Spreads for life.

There are so many ways you could eat Reese's spreads. Here are some ideas:

• anything. Seriously, it makes everything yummy.
• straight out of the jar. Just be careful and don't eat it while watching TV, or you will eat the whole thing in one sitting without thinking.
• with apple slices
• on pretzels
• accompanying graham crackers (add it to cinnamon graham crackers for a flavor explosion)
• on potato chips (sounds weird, but tastes good)
• with bananas (I love peanut butter banana sandwiches, and Reese's Spreads would take this to a whole new level)
• on toast (a simple way to brighten your morning)
• over ice cream
• in place of frosting
• in a smoothie or milkshake
• in a wrap or sandwich
• melted and poured over chex cereal with powdered sugar for a quicker version of puppy chow (a.k.a. muddy buddies)
• with oreos
• on crackers (wheat thins, saltines, ritz)
• drizzled over popcorn
• mixed with cream cheese to make fluffy frosting
• on brownies

Thanks to Influenster and Reese's for sending me this awesome complimentary Reese's Spreads! 

Have you tried Reese's Spreads?

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Chocolate Cinnamon Bun Oatmeal On-the-Go

Breakfast is a meal that my hubby needs on-the-go because he often works early mornings. Since flavored oatmeal packets are expensive and aren't very filling, I decided to make my own oatmeal mix. It's saved us money, and they taste good! It's a simple recipe, and it's guaranteed to not be bland oatmeal (though it's also guaranteed to not be super healthy :]) Here's the recipe for one zip lock bag of oatmeal, which is about 3 or 4 servings:

-2 cups oats

-1/2 cup chocolate chips

-1/4 cup brown sugar

-1 tablespoon cinnamon

These measurements are just an estimate since I wing it whenever I make a bag. It's an easy recipe to tweak. 

Once you want to make a serving of the oatmeal (which is about a quarter of the oats in the ziplock bag), just add enough water to soak the oats with a little water resting on top. Microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute.

What are your favorite breakfast recipes?

Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of my favorite recipes to bake. It's simple, moist, and sweet. Plus, you can get away with eating it at any time of day. I decided to take my favorite banana bread recipe and tweak it so that it had a little more pizzazz. I love Yammie's Noshery's banana bread recipe, which you can find here:
http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2013/10/the-best-banana-bread-muffins-ever.html#wl5di0ueeGSlclSB.32

To make my banana bread, I used her recipe with just a couple of differences. My changes are in bold letters.

-3 brown bananas (1 cup mashed)
-2 eggs
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3/4 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 cup brown sugar (approximately)
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-1 teaspoon vanilla

Yammie tells you to make it in a gallon zip lock bag, which is a great idea. I didn't have any big zip lock bags, however, so I just mixed the ingredients together in a bowl. The great thing about this recipe is that you can easily mix it by hand with a fork; you don't even need an electric mixer or whisk. Here are the baking steps: (my changes to the recipe are bold)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and mash the bananas.
2. Mix in the eggs.
3. Add the sugar.
4. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

5. Mix in the oil and vanilla.

6. Grease your pan and pour in half of your batter. Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar generously over the batter. 

7. Add the rest of your batter to the pan and sprinkle more cinnamon and  brown sugar on top. Swirl it together with a fork.

8. Bake for 10-20 minutes at 375. Check after 10 minutes to make sure it hasn't started to over cook. 
9. Cool and dust a small amount of brown sugar on the top.

I skipped making the glaze since this was sweet enough on its own.

This bread turned out really well! It tastes like banana bread with a little extra cinnamon-y sweetness. Enjoy!

Livi

Included in the Southern Girl Blogging Community That's Fresh Friday linkup: http://www.thespeckledpalate.com/2014/09/11/southern-girl-blog-community-presents-thats-fresh-friday-link-42/

Puppy Chow Popcorn Recipe

Puppy chow is a wonderful, simple recipe that reminds me of childhood. My family would make it when we spent time with our cousins, especially on trips. It's a great snack for kids, but adults love it just as much! I decided to take the recipe and change it a little since I recently learned how to make popcorn on the stove. So, I made the recipe as usual, but put the chocolate mixture over popcorn instead of rice cereal. This is the recipe:

-9 cups of popcorn
-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (though I usually wing it with this measurement)
-1 cup chocolate chips
-1/2 cup peanut butter

1. Make the popcorn. Put the popcorn in a large bowl that has enough room for the popcorn to move as you mix it with the chocolate later.
2. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or on the stove.
3. Add the peanut butter and let it melt and blend with the chocolate.
4. Pour the peanut butter chocolate mixture over the popcorn and mix. I usually add a little at a time and stop to mix it in, rather than pouring it all in at once.
5. Shake powdered sugar over the popcorn and mix well.

This is a delicious dessert or snack to have on hand! It's hard to make this recipe last for very long- it's so good!

Livi

Included in the Southern Girl Blogging Community That's Fresh Friday linkup: http://www.thespeckledpalate.com/2014/09/11/southern-girl-blog-community-presents-thats-fresh-friday-link-42/

Amazing Pinterest Desserts

I love desserts. I have, on occasion, considered a piece of cheesecake my dinner for the night. Dessert trumps every other type of food. So, naturally, I pin dessert recipes more than any other type of recipe. I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite dessert recipes that I have found on Pinterest and their original link.

Oreo Truffles

Oreo truffles were the first Pinterest recipe I tried and have now become the one I've made the most often. They taste like someone wrapped up all of you're favorite things and added them to chocolate. They're that good. Even better, the recipe is so simple and easy. The hardest part is covering them with chocolate, but as my husband says, presentation doesn't matter as long as it tastes good. All you need is cream cheese, oreos, and chocolate chips. You can find a recipe for these with a quick Pinterest search (there are hundreds of them, but it's all the same recipe).

Sally's Baking Addiction Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are so soft and decadent. They're are exactly what I'm looking for in a chocolate chip cookie. I love that she tells you what about the recipe makes these cookies extra chewy. 

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/05/13/chewy-chocolate-chunk-cookies/

Fudge Crinkles

These cookies are great because they have few ingredients and are quick and easy. They are definitely fudgy, like a little brownie. These are always a hit when I share them with friends.

http://www.food.com/recipe/fudge-crinkles-a-great-4-ingredient-cake-mix-cookie-32614

Funfetti Cookies

These cookies are similar to fudge crinkles since both recipes are simple and use cake mix. I made these for Mother's Day, and everyone loved them. They are rich, soft, and super yummy.

http://dpveen.blogspot.com/2013/06/deliciously-soft-funfetti-cookies.html

Brownie Pudding

Oh my gosh, brownie pudding. YUM. This recipe is amazing because it's fudgy, chocolate-y, and will totally satisfy your sweets craving. It's great warm or chilled. It's not very difficult to make, and it's definitely worth making. I totally recommend it.

http://cookiesandcups.com/brownie-pudding/

Livi

What are your favorite Pinterest dessert recipes?

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