Longing for Summer: Blueberry | Coconut Frozen Yogurt

Hey, yall!!! I so apologize for the lack of posts in the past few weeks. I knew when starting this blog it would be hard at times to find inspiration and I guess the genre of my posts in the past say a lot about me....I LOVE FOOD! haha no but really. Can you blame a sister?! I am really racking my brain to find inspiration outside of food posts....
h e l p!!! 

Can I tell you about my weekend? I made the 14 hour trip from Oklahoma City to Southwest VA for a very special occasion. [yes I drive. I HATE FLYING! I repeat...I HATE FLYING!] Other than seeing my family whom I missed very much, I made the trip to see one of my oldest and dearest friends celebrate the upcoming birth of her baby girl. [I can't wait to meet you, baby Ava :)] I was extremely strategic on my trip to VA due to all this crazy weather the East Coast has been having and actually left a day early to stop half way and spend the night. The trip there was a piece of cake and I had the best time spending the weekend laughing and enjoying the company of my sweet family and oldest friends. I left Monday morning to return to Oklahoma. Knowing there had been some weather in the Midwest I anticipated being a little later to arrive than normal but still eager to get home. After driving for around 7 hours and entering Arkansas my trip began to go South...not literally. The roads began to be covered with snow and I altered my speed accordingly. 150 miles from my destination it began to get dark and even colder and upon entering Oklahoma very dangerous. Thank GOD there were not many cars on the road because at one point my car did almost a full circle when I tried to ease on my breaks due to not being able to see the ice on the road. I had only been going about 30 mph thankfully but when this happened I totally hit my breaking point. There I was crying in my car as I caught my breath and thought how long it would take me to actually reach my destination at this rate. I was tired and hungry and needed to pee....but determined not to stop. After my parents and husband gave me a hard enough time I pulled over in a town called Checotah, Oklahoma and spent the night. 27 hours and one hotel stay later I finally got home and the first thing I thought upon arriving to my apartment is ......Spring..come on girlfriend!!

Never did I think I would be ready for the Winter to end and say goodbye to the beautiful snow but this girl has reached her limit this year. #ByeFelicia 

In my attempt to prepare myself for what I hope is a quick transition to Spring I whipped up this amazingly easy & delicious frozen yogurt: Blueberry Coconut Frozen Yogurt. This was literally the easiest desert and oh SO refreshing and healthy! I am not a huge fan of ice cream...[dont judge me] but frozen yogurt? bring it on!!! And a desert that can whipped up in one machine in 5 minutes? LET'S DO IT! 

4 cups of frozen blueberries 
              -You could absolutely make this with any type of frozen fruit 
1/2 cup coconut greek yogurt
              -You could absolutely use any flavor of yogurt you wish 
3 tablespoons of agave nectar 
            - You cold absolutely use honey 
Juice of 1/2 or 1 lemon...depending on how juicy
             - If you cant get the juice a flowin' just give her a good roll on the counter and she will be good to go!

Using a food processor - which Im sure a good blender would also work - add all the ingredients and let it go for about 5 minutes -- starting on low then switching to high. I let mine go a little longer, it cant hurt it and I like a really firm consistency. 

To serve I topped it with a few frozen blueberries just so people would know what fruit they were eating as well as some toasted coconut for texture and a little hint hint of what that mysterious flavor that is running throughout the yogurt. Oh Yeah..its coconut!! 

 

 
This is what the #cleanbowlclub looks like and I can guarantee you will join me as soon as you whip up this delicious sweet treat. I am imagining that I am making this and sitting out on my desk with a good book and 70 degree weather...instead of the snow covered ground that is our current situation. 

Send me your pictures of other variations of this yummy yogurt.

XO.

Elizabeth 

Valentines Day Recap: Molten Chocolate Cake = Real Love

Well it is the day after Valentines Day once again and I surely hope that whomever or whatever you spent your day and night with made you the happiest of happy. For those who spent the evening out at dinner with either your loved ones or best friends or family I hope that the dinner blew your mind! For some reason my husband and I are really bad at Valentines Day plans. It doesn't matter what city or state we are in but I am always the last possible person to try and make a reservation ANYWHERE! The history of our dates are quite comical...so this year I decided (after not being able to find a reservation 3 weeks in advance. WTF Oklahoma....why do you all need to make a reservation 3 weeks in advance?) that I was going to take over the dinner responsibility for the night and cook a bomb dinner. scallops for me, steak and shrimp for the hubs and then desert....let's be real the most important part of the meal. 
I am going to go ahead and throw it out there that if you want to impress someone with your mad skills in the kitchen this recipe for Chocolate Molten Cake will do the trick!! 

First of all...its a freaking molten cake. Which means you will look at the outside of this perfectly shaped decadent looking chocolate cake and already be so excited to dig it and then.....you will cut into it and there on the inside is a beautiful warm chocolate pudding that will run out and cover the berries that youve adorned the plate with or collide with the vanilla ice cream that you've served on the side...or wine...everything is better with wine. Am I right?! ;)  This desert is not only impressive to look at and eat but it will impress you that it is possibly the easiest thing you'll ever make. Like easier than a box cake or bag cookie recipe. It is insane!!! 

The cast of ingredients include:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. First you need to brush the inside of a cupcake tin with melted butter && then take a little sifter and dust the tins with cocoa powder to ensure that your perfect little cakes don't stick to the pan. Next put the first 3 ingredients [chocolate chips, butter & cream] in a microwave safe bowl and let those go for about 30 seconds. It will be the most beautiful chocolate ganache like sauce and fill your kitchen with a decadent smell. 

After your chocolate mixture has cooled slightly we will add the last 3 ingredients. Yep that;s right...only 6 ingredients!! Make sure the mixture is cooled down because hot chocolate + eggs = scrambled chocolate eggs. EWW. After you have all these ingredients mixed [whisked] together so that they are totally incorporated you can pour the batter into the muffin tins. Put the muffin tin in the fridge for at least an hour up to overnight. Make this first before the rest of your dinner or before you get ready to go out for dinner that way when you are done eating or get back from a restaurant all you have to do is take the tray out of the fridge and pop it into the oven. These little cakes only need 10 minutes to bake. Perfect amount of time to get out some plates, drop some berries & ice cream on them and pour the champs. 

 

Once the cakes are done baking a short 10 minutes later they need to cool for just a couple minutes before the big dismount...as I like to call it. You will take a cookie sheet and put it on top of the muffin tin and flip it over and WAH LA: the most amazing individual chocolate deserts. I say individual because they are meant to be just that..individual. I am about all kinds of sharing, especially with my hubs but when it comes to the perfect bite of warm chocolate cake|pudding the only thing that could ruin this moment is when I get the perfect bite on my fork & my husband reaches over and uses his fork to scrape off that perfect bite and put it on his and then eat it...with a smile. I cant.

 [insert straight face emoji] I do this baking stuff for you people & hopefully these individual cakes will save you from that moment that you contemplate stabbing your husband with your fork. 

There you have it...this Chocolate Molten Cake will rock your world and forever change the way you look at deserts. I hope you all can make this for your loved one on your next date night and/or holiday! 

XO.

Elizabeth

Easy like a Saturday Morning: Blueberry Muffins with Greek Yogurt

Buenos Dias, Friends and Happy Saturday!!! There are so many things I love about Saturday: no alarm (well except the one I set to wake up and watch my idol, The Pioneer Woman's new episode on Food Network), Food Network shows, lots and lots of coffee refills, laying in my pjs, and getting inspired by all my favorite Food Network Shows to make something delicious for breakfast...ok brunch...ok lunch at the time I get around to peeling myself away from the TV. [Do NOT judge me!] 

This particular Saturday was a Valentines Day special. Is it already February?! Sheesh...time flies when your having fun! I watched all my favorite Saturday morning FN shows and drank about 3 cups of coffee an was sufficiently hyped on caffeine when I walked to my kitchen to prepare breakfast for 1. Where is my hubby you ask?! Well....Texas, California, Nevada....somewhere on the West Coast I believe. Back to baking! I was gifted a bag of scone mix for Christmas. Confession: Scones intimidate me! There is something about them....it's like a nuclear physics equation to come up with the perfect scone that is flaky and moist and totally perfect. I have had one to many dry and brittle scones in my day. Because this is a mix I had high hopes...until I read the directions and realized I was missing the one ingredient that was needed to make the scones: heavy cream. So there's that and there will be no beautiful cinnamon and orange scones baking away in my oven today. What's next...I have blueberries and greek yogurt. Typical weekday breakfast for me but I was craving baked goods. MUFFINS!!! So I decided on a Blueberry muffin with greek yogurt and why not if we are going the healthy route I might as well use whole wheat flour. 

So here she is in all her glory:

...and she was amazing!! I love a homemade muffin!! One that has plump juicy blueberries in every bite is a total bonus!! 

One of the fun tricks that I have learned while baking is that if you have an ingredient that you want to taste in every bite like blueberries you need to add it to the dry ingredients for a good coat so that don't sink to the bottom of the pan while baking. 

After mixing the dry ingredients: 2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour | 1 tsp baking powder | 1/2 tsp salt | throw in the blueberries and toss to coat. Set aside

Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl: 1 egg + 1 egg yolk | 1 c. sugar | 1 c. greek yogurt, I used vanilla | 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted. 

 I'm going to let you in on a little secret: yoplait greek vanilla yogurt is my spirit animal!! It is SO good!!! One of these little perfectly portioned containers is exactly 1/2 cup. So no measuring needed just throw 2 of these bad boys in and call it a day. Another tip: When adding the melted butter to the wet mixture whisk it in slowly to temper the eggs...which is just a fancy way of saying introduce hot butter to cold eggs without ending up with scrambled egg mixture for your muffins. EW.

Once you have your wet + dry ingredients just combine the two and fold until combined. Be careful not to be too rough with the blueberries because they will burst and you will end up with blue muffins. EW. Scoop the batter into a cupcake tin with liners. I started by using this 1/4 cup measure then said screw that because the batter was thick and used a cookie scoop. With a delicate hand of course because of those precious blueberries. 

I sprinkled a little extra granulated sugar over the top of the muffins because I'm not fancy enough for the "sprinkling sugar" and feel like these are rustic muffins so they can handle the real deal. 

Bake the muffins for 5 minutes on 425 degrees to get a good crust then turn the oven down to 350 for about 20 minutes until they are baked through. These muffins would be perfect to make ahead and have for a busy weekday morning!!

Enjoy, y'all.

XO.

Elizabeth

How To: Get This Face

Hey ya'll! I apologize for the absence this past week!! I began the last leg of my Masters degree in School Counseling as an intern at an Elementary School! I have been in a Masters program for a little over a year and have to say I cannot wait to be D O N E!!!  I have been trying to perfect my "makeup routine" for quite some time now and finally have found some products that I really love. 
A bit of honesty....I have suffered from some pretty serious acne since..well..my whole life! I can't remember a time where I didn't have breakouts. I have always envied girls with beautiful clear skin! Especially those that don't even have to wash their face every day...UGH! What is life?!!!
I will say that still having acne later into my 20s is pretty frustrating!! I recently had to stop taking a prescription birth control that I have been on since my teens due to a blood condition. (nothing crazy I will live hehe). The help from this birth control is the only thing that has given me any relief  from the acne and I have tried everything!! These products that I am sharing with you all not only do a fabulous job of covering whatever happens to be on my face at the time but they also seem to be nice to my  super sensitive skin. 

Untitled #3 by encollins08 featuring Sephora Collection

Primer| After moisturizer I have recently added primer to my routine. For the longest time I skipped this step because I was like...right...another product to clog my poors. But really this Benefit POREfessional primer acts as a barrier for the my skin vs. the foundation and makes everything stay in place all day long!! I believe this particular primer also helps with oil too because on top of the acne my oil levels are off the charts!! 
Foundation has been a touchy subject for me for the longest time! What do I use that is not bad for my skin and keeps me from becoming a grease ball during the day and does it match my skin and will it last?!!?! Well I feel like I have found my holy grail of foundations Estee Lauder Long Wear. This foundation is beautiful!! It blends so nicely and their are a million color options for every type of skin tone! What else could it possibly have to offer you ask?? When it says long wear it AIN'T messing around!!! This stuff is like leave your powder at home because their are no touch ups needed good!! Be warned: You will need some serious makeup removing powder to truly deep clean your face at night or whenever you take off your makeup. I use makeup wipes then every other night use my Clarisonic to get a really deep clean. 
Concealer is a non-negotiable people. If nothing else get yourself some concealer and cover those dark circles...because let's be real...we ALL have them!! I have used Maybeline Instant Age Rewind forever and will until i'm old and wrinkled (but that could be forever since it is age rewind...get it?!) 
Powder| I learned a couple years ago that a super important step in your makeup routine is to use a powder on top of your concealer to set the product and keep it from sliding around all day long. I have used Clinique powder since I was in high school and completely stand by it!
Bronzer & Blush| For every day I don't take the contour process too serious. But trust me I can chizzle cheek bones with the best of them!! I mainly just give my face some color..or life because for 9 out of the 12 months of the year it is a crime for me to be as pale as I really am. I have been using a Sephora bronzer and Nars Laguna blush combo and I am a huge fan!
Brows...bro! I am totes not one to take 19348 hours and draw on new eyebrows because let's be real...ain't nobody got time for that! For me the Benefit Gimme Brow is perfect! You just swipe it on to give your brows some color and definition and tame those crazy hairs.
Eye balls - For every day I just curl my lashes and use both of the mascaras listed Covergirl Lash Blast & Loreal Telescopic. The eyelash struggle is real ya'll!! My lashes are barely visible so they need some TLC every day! I love this mascara combo!! If it is anything more than school I will take the time to do some eye shadow from my favorite Naked palate then use an eyeliner pen with a felt tip like this Bobbi Brown to make it super easy to get a very "chill" cat eye. Because their is totally such a thing right?! 

Well..I think that is it folks! I'm positive I am forgetting something...My routine starts by throwing my hair on top of my head and cranking up the jams before I can do anything to my face. Its a process and I like to think of it as a painting. I just keep trying new things until I like the way it looks. 
Hope you all enjoy these products as much as I do!! Let me know if you use any of them or what your favorite products are!

XO.

Elizabeth

Cookie Sunday: Death by Chocolate

You know what today is y'all: Cookie Sunday!!! I asked the hubby what he would like to see for Cookie Sunday and his answer was double chocolate cookies. So double chocolate cookies it is. To be honest, I'm not a double chocolate lover and these bad boys should be considered death by chocolate cookies!! My favorite cookie is a chocolate chip with the perfect amount of chocolate to cookie. Just enough to get a small chocolate surprise in every or even every other bite. These cookies are not for the faint at heart. If you aren't game for rich, dark, decadent chocolately goodness then these just aren't the cookie for you. Here we have the cast of ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter: room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips/chunks

We all know how cookies begin: butter + sugar become besties!! Cream those babies together until they are basically one. Add 1 large egg + 1 tsp vanilla and keep on mixing!!

For the dry ingredients mix the four, cocoa powder, baking soda/powder, salt together in a bowl and add it all at once to the butter, sugar mixture. Mix on high just until the dough comes together. It will seem a little dry but thats ok :)

Add the chocolate chips to the batter and you are ready to scoop! Scoop scooop ay dooop scoop ay doop scoop ay doooopaay...oh wait. That's not the song!! HeHe 

Use your cookie scoop and drop cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake these rich little bites of deliciousness for about 10 minutes. Make sure to check the cookies and not over bake them. Because they are dark chocolate cookies it is easy to bake them too long and no one wants a crispy cookie?! These should be moist on the inside and gooey and did I mention delicious?! 

Like I said before....these are not really my jam. However, a good sprinkling of sea salt takes these cookies to a level that I can totally enjoy. Why does salt have to be so naughty?!!! Ugh I just want everything in life to have a nice sprinkling of sea salt...is that wrong??

I hope you all enjoy these cookies as much as my hubby did. After all in my house we share the happy husband/wife = happy life saying! Until next Cookie Sunday...

XO.

Elizabeth 

Dutch Braid "Tuck Under" Hairstyle

Hey ladies.... (yeah?!) do you love an effortless hairstyle that looks like you spent hours on it or do you love an effortless hairstyle that looks like you spent hours on it?!! [see what I did there?! ;) ] Well I sure do! I want to take this moment to say I 100% represent for the greasy hair girls of America. Im talking wash every day, sometimes twice a day, or day two hair looks like I didnt pay the water bill and couldn't shower greasy. Contrary to the words of the wise Juvenile "she get it from her mama" I got it from my daddy. I envy my mothers thick beautiful black hair. That woman can literally go a week without washing and it looks better on the last days than it did on the day of the wash. My dads hair color has also transitioned from red to brown to blondish grey throughout his life and I can say that I also get my hair color from that sweet man. I am forever changing my hair...chopping..coloring...growing..chopping. It's a viscous cycle! My hair is in the awkward in-between short and middle length stage right now where its just long enough to throw on the top of my head and only need 2 bobby pins instead of 239839847 that I have needed the past few months. 

This past summer I was browsing Pinterest looking for inspiration for a hairstyle for an upcoming wedding. I can safely say some of the best and worst decisions I have made have been because of Pinterest. Home DIY disasters, OOTD misses, and the epic foodie fails. But I stumbled upon a picture of this braided hairstyle that involved little to no time and was somewhat of an "updo" with all of the hair tucked into a head band. I started to think...headbands. We are all familiar with the dreaded things. Its like you have to have a specific shaped head for that thing to stay put. Playing sports for the majority of my life I know all too well the evolution of the headband. It stays where you put it for approximately 10 minutes then it starts sliding in the most unflattering places on your head. I was definitely skeptical about all my hair being tucked into the two strings of the headband. BUT this "do" had the front part of the hair, or the bangs, braided around the headband. AH HA! I thought...of course it will stay!! So I gave it a go and it was a huge success! So many compliments and literally took 10 minutes to accomplish. I was browsing through my old pictures came across this picture of the braided "do". Obviously I keep all my selfies that I think I look bomb in....don't judge me!Here I was tan, my winged liner was even, & my contour was on point!  

[[regular braid above]] 

I admit: I rock a braid where my bangs should be whenever I can. With growing my hair out comes the super odd lenghth bangs that never look good so what to do? Braid those bitches!!! The past few months I feel like I have been going through an early mid-life crisis. All my clothes look awful, my skin hates me, and nothing I do to my hair ever looks as cute as I imagine it looking. Even my go-to braided pony....fail! I look like a child again! So I decided to step up my braiding skills and master the "dutch braid". Which I immediately fell in love with!! I LOVE any hairstyle that looks like you have slept on it. Something messy but cute is my everything and that is exactly what a dutch braid is! 

The dutch braid is essentially the exact same process as a regular braid. You criss cross the outside pieces under the middle piece of hair for a regular braid. -- You cross them over the middle piece for a dutch braid. Once you finish braiding in a dutch braid you will think....this chick is crazy because this is hideous! [[But wait!]] You have to then go back and pull out the pieces of the braid. Mess it up! It will look beautiful in the end. Promise

For this "do" you will put your headband in where you like it. If you want you can go ahead and tuck all your hair under and into the band. I know it sound weird and your thinking how will it stay? I can't really explain it..it just does! Just keep tucking until all your hair is secure. This hairstyle is super classy without any type of braid and if this is how you want to rock it, braid-less, then more power to you! 

For the braid you will take three pieces of hair, one from behind the band and two from in front. [[see below]] Begin your braid whichever way you please (regular or dutch). For the dutch I usually braid once or twice without pulling pieces of rest of the hair to begin the braid. Pull small pieces from each side of the band and keep crossing them over the middle piece. Don't worry if you have some small fly always stick out because you will pull it out and they will blend right in with the rest of the braid. When you finish the braid you can either secure it with a clear elastic band or just hold it with one hand and begin to pull it out with the other. Start at the bottom and pull one "loop" of the braid at a time working your way up to the beginning. I didn't have any little elastics, but I would recommend securing the braid with some type of elastic then just tuck the braid into the rest of your hair in the back. 

Once you get the hang of the braiding part this will literally take you 10 minutes or less. Talk about a savior in the morning when you wake up late and can't just throw it on top of your head. This is an extremely chic style to start your day!! 

 

Leave me comments or pictures if you try this style out! I would love to see!!

XO.

Elizabeth