i had a moment

Have you ever made something that awakened your senses so much, you just stopped everything and smelled it? Just forgetting where you are, what you are holding, just closing your eyes and smelling the aroma that is flying through your nasal. It's breathtaking and euphoric.
I had that moment while making these brownies. I have made brownies before from scratch and from the box. Mint brownies, caramel brownies, super chocolate brownies, blondie brownies, s'mores brownies, Oreo brownies etc.
But these brownies, these brownies are the most nose-awakening brownies I've ever made. Everyone should make these brownies. I mean EVERYONE. Those who love chocolate and hate chocolate. Everyone needs to experience the smell sensation or smell-sation, as I like to call it, of those brownies.

It started like this:
I was invited to my friend Kacey's house for an Oscar party and typical me, stated that I would bring dessert. Looking at my basic kitchen, I had a panic attack and questioned myself on why I said I would bring dessert. So many ideas and recipes flowed through my brain and I was so overwhelmed that I had to leave and get coffee. I couldn't handle it. Figuring out what people like, what they don't like, how much we are eating, whether it be too light or too heavy. It was a mess in my brain.
It wasn't until Saturday afternoon I was sitting outside in the sun watching a program looking through FoodGawker when I found a recipe for S'mores Brownies. Having made s'mores brownies before, as previously mentioned, I thought "okay this is tots easy, everyone who I know will be there likes s'mores. I got this". Announcing what I will make to my co-workers my friend/co-worker Olivia, then said that I could use her kitchen to make these and it was settled. I would make these brownies and that was the end of the mess in my brain.
I got off work at 11PM, ran back home, ate something because I hadn't eaten in 6 hours, power walk to Olivia's house and followed a fox on the way there. (Btdubs: the fox did not say anything)
My friend Olivia was not home as she was working on an event but left her screen door open for me. Walking to her house, I prayed that the cops would not drive by as I'm sneaking into her room with a bag in my hand. If they did, I had the explanation of how I don't have a kitchen and my friend let me use hers.
The cops didn't drive by and I didn't have to explain myself.
I settled into her kitchen, blasted some music and began baking.

S'mores Brownies
Brownie Mix:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour

Graham Cracker Crust: (If you use a 9x13 pan which I did, double the recipe)
2 cups of graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. melted butter
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Marshmallow Topping
Marshmallow fluff

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 or 9x13 pan with foil. Spray bottom and sides of the foil lightly with cooking spray.

Combine graham cracker crust ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until well combined.

Okay now stop right here....
Smell the graham cracker crust combination. Can you smell the cinnamon? The graham cracker? The brown sugar? Stop. Take a moment and just smell. It's invigorating isn't it?
I stopped and just smelled for about 5 minutes until I came back to reality and realized I was in someone else's kitchen.

Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared foil pan. Bake for 10 minutes.


Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a microwavable bowl and microwave until melted, in 20 second intervals. Mix well. Add brown sugar, sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix well until smooth.
Carefully fold the flour into the chocolate mixture all at once. Fold it in slow so to not over mix. Stop mixing when you don't see white in the mixture.
Pour the brownie mix on top of the graham cracker crust and bake at 350 fro 42 minutes.
Once done, remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Add marshmallow fluff to brownie mix when warm so the marshmallow fluff can melt.

Bring to Oscar party, get lots of compliments and cry at the Oscars when Julie Andrews appears after Lady Gaga's performance, when the In Memoriam happens and it finally hits you that Robin Williams has passed and there will be no one like them and when Eddie Redmayne wins for Best Actor.

Cheers.

it was late, and I needed it

You know when you are sitting on your couch late at night binge-watchin some TV show (most likely Netflix) and all of a sudden, you get the mad munchies. Like not the kind like stoners have, but the kind where it's late at night and you just need a midnight snack. Those kind of munchies.
I craved something sweet, like dessert but small, like a cookie.
I put the two together at 11PM at night and saw this creation via the Internet and made it.

Red Velvet Cookie in a Mug
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 drops of Vanilla Extract
Pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of red velvet cake mix

Place butter in mug and microwave it until melted. Add brown sugar, sugar, vanilla and salt and mix well. Add egg yolk to the sugar mixture, mix well. Add flour and cake mix and mix until fully incorporated. Place in microwave for 1 minute. Eat at night and if you do, slap on some cream cheese because, why not.

(friday) mornings rain was falling...

It wasn't. I tried pulling a Maroon 5, but it didn't work. It was a Friday morning where I didn't have an errand to run, an office to go and work or somewhere to go. I could take my time.
I woke up with time to make fresh cup of coffee and make myself breakfast. A rarity that I have hashtag first world problems.
On this Friday morning, with my fresh cup of coffee, I decided to make blueberry coffee cake in a mug.

Blueberry Coffee Cake in a Mug
1 tablespoons of butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup of flour
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2-3 tablespoons of blueberries

2 teaspoons flour
1 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoons cinnamon

Place butter in mug and microwave until melted. Stir white sugar into butter until dissolved. Mix 1/4 cup of flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and salt until batter is smooth. Add in blueberries and mix well.

Mix 2 teaspoons of flour, teaspoon of butter, teaspoon of brown sugar, and a teaspoon of cinnamon together and mix well. Sprinkle on top of batter.
Cook for 50-80 minutes.
Once cooked, mix toppings all around batter. This step is important. Believe me, you do not want to take a first bite and just get a bite-ful of flour. It's not appetizing. So mix well. Take my word.

the one night I felt guilty about eating a nutella pizza

Every Thursday, I prepare myself for the long day and bring out the Lorelai Gilmore in me and inject 3 cups of coffee in me to prepare for the long day.
First it's class from 9:20AM-10:35AM
Then 1-4:40 with one 15 minute break in between
Then 5-8:40PM with a 10 minute break and leaving at 8.
By the time I step out of the building at 8, I'm done and all I want to do is stuff my face with food and pass out on my bed.
Which I did this past Thursday. Well sort of. I had dinner with a co-worker and upon entering the school cafeteria, chocolate awakened my nose. I looked and there was nutella pizza just sitting on the counter, waiting to be eaten.
I walked away, like the bigger person, and got a burger. While eating said burger, I thought "screw being a bigger person and get that Nutella pizza dammit."
So I did.
Between the hamburger, fries and chocolatey goodness of a pizza, I felt like crap hashtag junk food life, went back home and made a salad. I felt a little healthier and a little better.

Spinach Blackberry Salad
Handful of Spinach
Handful of Blackberries
Half of an avocado
Half of a lemon

Place spinach in a bowl with blackberries.
Cut lemon into slices and mix with the spinach and blackberries.
Cut up avocado into slices and place on top of spinach salad.
Consume.

Did I mention that I was binge watching Netflix while eating this salad? Contradicting my belief of being healthy. Oops.

mug-shot

In the theme of Lent and cooking without a kitchen, I have chosen to post one food picture a day. Photo. Not post. I tried doing the one post a day, but with school, midterms and planning an entire week-long, posts-a day is a little overwhelming. I know, this blog is technically my homework as well, but somethings just need to be in priority.
Like this cookie in a mug that I made in substitute for homework. I was assigned to write my own obituary for a writing class and had done every piece of homework that I had even the ones that were tedious and a pain in the butt.
Have you ever had to write your own obituary? 500 words with no mention of how you died nor when the memorial would be. The saddest, hardest assignment that I've probably ever had my four years of college.
So at 11PM on a Wednesday night, when I had no games left to play on Trivia Crack and my friends were out sleeping or doing homework, I sat down, faced my laptop, took a deep breath and typed "How to make a chocolate chip cookie in a mug".


Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 drops of Vanilla Extract
Small Pinch of Salt
1 Egg Yolk
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons of chocolate chips

Place butter in large mug and melt in the microwave for 10 seconds. Add white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract and mix well. Add in egg yolk (discard the egg white)  and mix egg yolk into sugar-butter mix. Add flour, one at a time while stirring well making sure all ingredients are incorporated. Once mixed, add in the chocolate chips and give it one or two last stirs. Put it in the microwave for 40-60 seconds.

And if you are wondering, yes I did end up writing my obituary and finished at one in the morning. It was awkward and sad and weird to reflect on my life as a 21 year old. Also I snuck in a food pun, in hopes of entertain my professor. I hope that's not weird to have an obituary be entertaining. Is it? 

I don't know, it was one in the morning and I was on a cookie high. 

phat tuesday

Fat Tuesday was introduced to me during my catholic school days. King cake would always be served, beaded necklaces that always broke after one day would be worn on my green jumper and fights and tears would be made on who didn't get the baby in the cake.
It was the same thing every year. The day to consume junk food like a garbage truck, binge watch TV before it was cool, or give up MySpace because it was the coolest social media at the time.
It was the day before waking up extra early to go to 8AM mass to get globs of ashes on our forehead and see who in the class could leave theirs the longest or whose ashes ended up on their nose. Meat would not be consumed and Fridays when it was pizza day, there would be no pepperoni, only cheese, much to the dismay of those pepperoni lovers.
Catholic school always kept me in the know of what religious holiday was coming up. Now in college with no one to tell you when Fat Tuesday is or when Easter is, you have to figure it out yourself, I sometimes forget.
My first year in college during the times of Lent, I vowed to wear every pair of shoes in my closet and every item of clothing at least once a day, because, as a college freshman, I brought too much stuff but never used it. Also I did this, so that when my mother would ask me "Do you actually wear these?" I would say yes.
My second year of Lent...well...sad to say I really don't remember it. Not that I had certain adult beverages in my at the time, I didn't I swear. I just really don't remember Lent my sophomore year of college. Sorry Catholic school.
And as for my third year, well I'll just blame it on the fact that I was out of the country and when one is out of the country studying abroad one doesn't really know what day it is. The only time one does, is when traveling is involved.
As for this year...well I don't know. I'm not a fan of giving up things because I always find a way to really need that one thing. Like I really need Netflix. Like you don't understand my life without Netflix is like life with no meaning. What was life before Netflix?
I have yet to come with something to do or give up during these 40 days. Maybe it will be to cook more in my basic kitchen and have a post everyday for 40 days. Maybe give up junk food...no let's be real. If you have a close friend like me, who has a serious obsession with Taco Bell, like he does, then you know junk food is out of the picture. We'll see.

In the spirit of Fat Tuesday, I had a maple doughnut for breakfast, advice taken from my internship boss and also the reason because I had not had a doughnut..since well...a really long time, so I deserved one. I then treated myself to grilled cheese and french fries. Then, don't worry, I huge spinach salad with veggies and a bowl of stir-fry.
Oh and two mason jars of chocolate chip banana bread.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in a Mason Jar
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. milk
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tbsp. peanut butter or nut butter
2 tbsp. of chocolate chips ( or more if you like it über chocolatey)

Add flour and baking powder into mason jar. Add in brown sugar and milk and mix until there are no clumps. Add mashed bananas and peanut (or nut) butter and stir well making sure everything is incorporated. Microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds (or less or more depending on your microwave). Eat two and then one more for breakfast the next day.

Happy Fat Tuesday from my Basic Kitchen to yours. 

Also if you are wondering, I have decided what I will do for the 40 days of Lent. I shall post one picture a day from this blog onto my Instagram so it will be 40 of sending positive waves to your iPhone or smart phone product. AND...I will give up makeup. Yes, for 40 days, I will be walking around looking zombie-like tired, so if you see me, I'm not trying to scare you I'm just trying to be Lent-ful. If that's a word, which I'm sure it's not. Okay, whatever, I haven't been to Catholic school in 4 years, don't judge me. 

Just make this banana bread and be happy, if you haven't given up bread for Lent, if you have, just stare at this photo pretending you are eating it.

i had dinner twice and dessert once

I woke up this Sunday at 12PM and did not care. Having to wake up at 8AM everyday, my weekends are for sleeping in without the guilt.
12PM I woke up and crave a bagel sandwich from Sonoma Valley Bagel across the street from my university. The taste of warm scrambled eggs, bacon and cheddar cheese on an egg bagel, had my mouth drooling.
I got up, got dressed, did my hair and walked to Sonoma Valley Bagel and bought my bagel egg sandwich with coffee and was happy as can be.

There are bacon bits in the eggs. I repeat, bacon bits in the eggs. 

A sandwich and coffee and an episode of Frasier later, I realized I had homework and ventured over to Starbucks, yes I know I just had a cup of coffee an hour before, don't judge me.

Ventured off to Starbucks with my backpack full of books and my laptop, bought a drink and saw that there were no empty tables for me to sit and do my homework. 

Bummer

Back to campus it was. 

I didn't want to go back to my room since it was 72 degrees and I was wearing a tank top, shorts and sandals in the middle of February. (Hashtag winter in California) I of course ventured into the library where I stayed there for a solid 20 minutes. Either the coffee had kicked in and I was too hyper to sit or I had the attention span of a fish that day. 

Instead I walked to Oliver's in sandals and bought my last three ingredients that were mentioned in the previous post and a sandwich (of course), walked back and prayed for a foot massage that didn't happen and still hasn't happened.

Bacon Lettuce Tomato Sandwich with Mayo, Mustard, Olive Oil in between a Dutch Crunch Roll
::drool::

I then made the simple dinner posted below:

Toasted Bread with Avocado, Tomatoes, and a little extra
Slices of baguette bread
1 avocado
3 Cherry Tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice.

Slice the baguette into as many as you want, (I sliced 6). Spread avocado on each slice. Cut cherry tomatoes into fourths and place on top of avocado covered bread. Sprinkle salt and pepper and drizzle lemon juice onto each slice. Eat.

Fast forward to 2 hours later when I made this lovely number

Nutella Mug Cake

4 tablespoons of flour

4 tablespoons of sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

3 tablespoons of Nutella

3 tablespoons of milk

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients in a large coffee mug. Whisk well with fork until smooth. Like really well, making sure you get all ingredients mixed together. Believe me, nothing is worse than making this and getting a huge chunk of flour at the bottom of your cup. 

Eat all the chocolatey goodness and cry at the sight of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Jane Curtin sitting at the Weekend Update desk being the badass bosses that they are. #bitchisthenewblack

Please don't mind the SnapChat caption.

I ate the whole thing in my pjs because again I'm an adult, and no one can't judge me. Few hours later at around 10PM, I was craving my dinner and the salt and peppery goodness and I had it again.

I was bready for this. 

That wasn't grape enough for you?

Lettuce end this post now.....

on a budget...twice

This past Saturday was my weekly grocery shopping at Oliver's. With my hope of making desserts, the ingredients I needed were too heavy for my little bike basket and so I dragged my friend Brandon who had a car and needed to go grocery shopping as well.
After that day, I realized I had forgotten 3 crucial ingredients and I went again today and instead walked the 6 miles (to Oliver's there and back) in the 72 degree weather (in February mind you) and silently prayed for a foot massage which I never got.

My grocery list:
Milk ($2.69)
Bacon ($3.99)
Cream Cheese ($2.49)
Sugar ($2.48)
Flour ($3.69)
Red Velvet Cake Mix ($2.29)
Graham Crackers ($3.99)
Chocolate Chips ($3.49)
6- pack Eggs ($1.89)
Raspberries Blackberries ($4.99)
Budget: $40.00
Actually Spent: $31.99

Things I forgot and bought the next day
Bread
Avocados
Conditioner
Budget: $20.00
Actually Spent: $9.45

Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching
Total spent for two days: $41.44
Okay so I went over a $1.44 but I promise I will be using all of this stuff. Like I promise and if I don't then please let me know and I will use it. Like please, I don't want to waste money and food, it would contradict this entire project.

cheesecake for one please

Valentine's Day has always been an awkward/sad day for me. Just one more reminder of my single life and how my life is empty without a boyfriend. Grocery stores, malls and even buildings in the university covered in red hearts and immense amount of chocolates and "I love you's".
It's disgusting.
Every Valentine's I find myself stuffing my face with chocolate, wearing red so I can be semi-festive and eating an immense amount of chocolate. (Yes I know I said that twice, just wanted to emphasize how much I eat chocolate that day).
First Valentine's in college, my mom sent me a package entirely with chocolate, which I ate in a span of two days. The second Valentine's I went to class, ate chocolate, and went out dancing and at a sandwich at 3AM (no there was no alcohol, I was just eating my feelings at a 24 hour restaurant because it was Valentine's Day). The third Valentine's I was at a pub where they hosted a "Lonely Hearts Club" in that single people were the only one's allowed. I ate my feelings in a BBQ pineapple hamburger (that was my valentine) and had a big Czech beer and wore red well...again to be festive and watched the Winter Olympics with my friend Cassie. I did not have a Swedish man in my life, but my beer did make a heart out of foam as pictured below.

I took it as a sign, like a crystal ball, that I would find a guy 4 months before I left for the states. I didn't. I then took it as a sign that I would find a guy in the states for my next Valentine's day.

I didn't.

This Valentines, I spent it grocery shopping with my friend Brandon (who is just a friend), eating a delicious sandwich field with garlic (because, let's be real, I wasn't going to kiss anyone so why not fill my breath with garlic), and made this blackberry cheesecake in a jar while looking into the bright eyes of my true Valentine. Netflix. 

Blackberry Cheesecake in a Jar

8oz. cream cheese

1 tbsp honey

1/4 cup milk

1 cup of graham crackers

 handful of blackberries (or fruit of your choice)

Crumble graham crackers into crumbs. Mix cream cheese, honey and milk together and mix until smooth. Take mason jar and place graham cracker crumbs, cream cheese mixture, fruit, graham crackers, cream cheese and then fruit. Seal tight and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Eat and eat and forget that you're single.

Happy Valentine's Day from my Basic Kitchen to yours. 

awkward late night dinner

As a student having night classes, finding a time to eat is the most awkward thing ever. When class starts at 5 and ends at 9, the typical dinner time becomes un-typical. I never know whether to eat at 4 or eat at 9.
If I eat at 4 I will be reaching the mental age of grandmother-hood and as a 21 year old, I wasn't ready for that. If I ate at 9, then I would feel guilty because all the magazines and talk shows and my mother told me not to eat a full meal past 8 because it's not healthy.
WHAT DOES A COLLEGE STUDENT WITH TWO NIGHT CLASSES DO TO BE HEALTHY?
I'm sorry for the caps and the loud voice in your head, but this is a dilemma that I have faced since I started taking night classes my sophomore year of college.
Some nights I wouldn't eat anything before class but then would be starving throughout the whole time and feel lightheaded. Other times I would eat before but yet would work up an appetite by the time 9PM rolled around so I would be a hobbit and eat two dinners in one day.
It was a never ending battle with my stomach and my eating habits. Until I figured out a plan.
Eat a snack and have a coffee before my night class and then have another something small after. 1/2 of a meal before and 1/2 a meal after equals one full meal. (Thanks elementary school math for helping me decide my eating habits. I knew you would be helpful one day.)
I've done that habit and it has treated me well. Especially this past Wednesday.
Before my 5PM class, I bought a latte, sat down in my seat and waited for my professor to come in between games of Trivia Crack. Upon arriving, my professor, who resembles a British version of Dwight Schrute, bought the entire class coffee along with milk and sugar.
Hashtag best professor ever.
With a latte, a small coffee and a mason jar with water and blueberries. I was set to survive my 5-9PM class.
I did and I got out an hour early. Hashtag yes.
Excited to be let out early, but really I was hyped up on all the coffee that I had in 3 hours, I made this filling toast for dinner.

Avocado, Chicken and Pomegranate Toast
2 pieces of bread
1/2 of avocado
Small pieces of chicken
Pomegranate Seeds
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Place two pieces of toast together. Spread avocado on each side well. Place chicken slices on each toast. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds on each toast to your liking. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette on each toast. Eat and try not to get pomegranate seeds on your chair or in between your computer keys.

(Note: I did not cook said chicken. That will be done in another post in the future. I bought the sliced chicken already cooked to save money and time. But one day I will cook a chicken using a microwave as I heard it can be done. One day)

pucker up

When I was really little, I used to (and still do) take lemons and suck all the juice out and eat it off the lemon rind. I loved the taste of the tart and the way it made my face pucker. To get me to stop, my mother would always tell me that the more I ate the lemon, I would ruin the roof of my mouth.
Of course I didn't listen. I still ate lemons, sucked the juice out of them and still do it to this day.
Lemon in water, lemon in diet coke, lemon in tea, or just lemons. I don't care if what my mother said was a myth to get me to stop or was the truth, either way I'd still eat lemons.

After my intense produce shopping on Saturday afternoon, and being extremely proud of being under my budget, I proudly made this salad and filled my basic kitchen with the smell of citrus. My mouth suffered from all the tart of the fruit and I was surprise my face stayed normal though all the puckering it did.

Spinach Citrus Salad
1/2 lemon
1/2 orange
1/2 grapefruit
Handful of spinach leaves
Feta cheese
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Cut lemon, orange and grapefruit into slices and place in a circle (or any shape you prefer) on your plate. Place spinach leaves around citrus slices, sprinkle feta cheese over spinach and citrus and drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over salad. Have  mason jar filled with fruit water to help with the tart-ness.

The lemon reminded me of my childhood and eating too many lemons, the oranges reminded me of my childhood soccer days when we would smile with orange rinds in our mouth and the grapefruit reminded me of why I never eat grapefruit, thus pushing all the feta cheese to the grapefruit to not waste food.

Also in other #culinarypaparazzi news, do you know who Eden Eats is?  No? I didn't either until I googled her and found that she holds my dream job. Traveling around the world and eating and hosting a show on the Cooking Channel, the only difference is that she is British and I'm not. 

So why am I talking about this Eden Eats? 

She liked my Instagram photo from 17 weeks ago and I almost flew out of my seat, literally. 

A TV host and food lover like myself liked my photo. Does this make me internet famous? No? Will more TV hosts and food lovers like my Instagram photos? I don't know but I'll keep you posted.

So in the meantime, I'll be on Cloud 9 because Eden Eats liked my photo.

Also if you are curious here is the photo that she liked. 

17 weeks ago I went to In n Out with my friend Brandon.

17 weeks later, Eden Eats liked my photo. Ugh, this is a #culinarypaparazzi dream come true.

oats on the the go

Over winter break, the one year my university decided to have a 5 week winter break instead of a typical 3 week, I spent it taking an American Multicultural Studies course to finish my units for graduation instead of going home. 8AM everyday I went to class, watched the critically acclaimed old-upcoming show The Wire, and learned about race, racial movements and ghettos. Interesting and fascinating as the subject was- not sarcastic I actually enjoyed the class, from 8AM-1:30PM, it was overwhelming at times and fortunately my professor realized that. With breaks in between, I would live off of cinnamon raisins bagels and lattes in my Starbucks Travel Thermos' or eat my Fiber One bars that I was obsessed with for two weeks.
One day after getting my 5th cinnamon raisin bagel slathered with cream cheese and my 2nd cup of coffee for the day, I saw a girl sitting behind me with oatmeal in a mason jar. When I saw it, I thought, "Oh I can do that", and then I was inspired.
With few mason jars I brought at home and a bin of oatmeal sitting in my mini-pantry, I took the inspiration and made oatmeal in a jar.

Left to right: Oatmeal & Cinnamon, Oatmeal-Cinnamon & Dried Cranberries, Oatmeal-Cinnamon-Bananas

I call them "Oats on the Go" to people or "Hipster Oatmeal" because let's be real, anything in a mason jar is a hipster thing to do.

Drink beer out of a mason jar- Hipster

Water out of a mason jar- Hipster

Jam in a mason jar- Old Fashioned and Hipster

Just holding a mason jar with Clark Kent glasses and a beanie with a flannel shirt and jeans- Hipster

Good night and have a pleasant meal. 

shopping spree

Part of my senior seminar project is to cook without kitchen but there's more to than than just the challenge. The extra challenge is to find healthy ways to cook without a kitchen and be on a budget. My transportation is a bike and the closest grocery store is Olive'r's which is similar to Whole Food which is a bit high on a college student's budget which is the challenge.
There is a Safeway in my college town but the only way to get there is through streets or through a trail that has just be notified as dangerous. So Oliver's is my only hope. With delicious sandwiches and good looking burrito makers, the extra dollar on food is worth it, or so I tell myself.
The 6 months without a kitchen I have gone to Oliver's multiple times and have spent less $50 each time buying mini-groceries and treats and I plan to keep it that way for this project. So far, since I have started this blog project, I have gone grocery shopping twice there and have spent under $35. Let's hope that it stays that way for the remainder of the semester or my bank account and I will not be happy.
So today after a shopping day with my friend Elizabeth I biked over to Oliver's with a grocery list and a budget, like a grownup.

My list:

Lactose Free Milk  

Granola
Bananas
Spinach
Oranges
Apples
Avocados
Grapefruit
Lemons
Cherry Tomatoes

Budget: $35
What I spent: $31.28

Cha-Ching.
A multidude of recipes will be coming soon with these ingredients I promise. But for now, I made this granola treat out of the shopping spree that I did.

Bananas, Chocolate Chips, Dried Cranberries, Granola & Honey

Also, have you ever been overwhelmed by granola? Just the sight of 10 different kinds of granola in front of you all sounding delicious. Strawberry granola, Raspberry Vanilla Granola, Almond Vanilla Granola, Pumpkin Spice Granola (the basic bitches of all granola), the granola is endless. I stood there with my basket full of produce just staring at the plethora of granola wondering, which one I should get. Which one would go best with fruit? or yogurt? or honey? or even Nutella (scratch that, everything goes well with Nutella). I stuck with Almond, Vanilla Granola and went simple. Maybe next time I'll get the Pumpkin Spice Granola, despite it not be fall and I'll make sure to wear by long brown boots to go with the theme. 

green toast and no ham

A tribute to a childhood book with skilled rhyming  my dinner was green one night, yes it was. It was green and bright, just because.


Green Toast
2 slices of bread
1 avocado- sliced
pistachios
olive oil.

Take two pieces of toasted bread and placed sliced avocado on each piece bread. Sprinkle pistachios over the avocado bread and drizzle olive oil over it. I will eat this on a boat. I (may) eat this with a goat. Yes I may. Sam-I-am.

Did you enjoy my attempt at being Dr. Seuss? 

I tried, but rhyming was never my thing. Just make this toast and enjoy it.

toast-a-gram

With a lack of stove and oven and only have plug in appliances my first couple of recipes consist of mainly toast and a few salads coming soon. Upon posting this picture, a fellow high school friend of mine said "you should make a toast Instagram! These look so cool!"
Thank you Jacqueline but a toast Instagram would have overwhelmed me. So instead I'm putting my toast on this blog maybe turning it into a toast-a-blog.
In the future, there will be more than toast, I promise this blog will not turn into a toast-a-blog.

Cream Cheese, Pomegranate, Apple, Cinnamon Toast 
(I have yet to find an acronym for my long named toast so in the meantime, bear with me).
Cream Cheese
Pomegranate Seeds
1/2 apple-sliced
Cinnamon

Take two pieces of bread, toast slightly. Spread cream cheese on each side (amount is up to you, if you're like me, you spread it all over so the entire slice is covered in cream cheese). Place apple slices on each slice, sprinkle pomegranate seeds and sprinkle cinnamon. Eat and sweeten your tastings.

I got a lot of compliments on this toast including the one from Jacqueline, so you should really make this toast. I promise, it's good.

national pasttime day

Yesterday my mother graciously informed me that it was National Nutella Day.
My childhood friend and the reason why my dentist always got upset with me every visit, I had to pay tribute to this chocolatey goodness that has been in my life more than a romantic male companion.
With the little I had in my fridge and wanting to not overeat on bread in one day, I took whatever fruit I had, the four three Newman O's that were left over (I ate one while the making of the treat) and took out my squeezable Nutella from Spain that my parents got me and drowned my treat in Nutella. I happily ate it with my hands getting Nutella all over my fingers, because I'm an adult and I can. Also I played this song while eating this treat as a tribute for my love of Nutella. Note the lyric "Can't believe you're mine." Yes Nutella, I can't believe you're mine.

supertoast

There was a season finale in the sports show on Sunday. I'm not sure what it was but I know the Patriots had a good ending and a lot of people ate chicken wings.

I on the other hand, lacking a television and making 300 pairs of paper pants for an event made this supertoast while quietly singing Nicki Minaj's "Superbass". It was a super day.

Supertoast

1 piece of bread

Feta cheese

pistachios

olive oil

Take one piece of bread and sprinkle feta cheese over it. Then sprinkle pistachios and drizzle olive oil. Simple to make simple to eat. Isn't that super?

I know it's tilted but you get the picture. #picturepun

If you ask me who I think should have won, I have no idea. Football is not my cup of tea. Now if you were to ask me to chose between Logan or Jessie from Gilmore Girls, then we can talk. #teamLogan

when dinner turns into late night nommie-noms

Thursdays are my longest school days. I have class from 9:20-10:35 then 1-4:40 then 5-8:40. How I manage to stay alive and not fidget in the school desks? Answer: lots of coffee and persistently looking at the clock. In between class breaks, I do what every student does and pull out my phone because it is attached to my hip, and I have greatly accepted that,  and I scroll through my social media endlessly.  Facebook scroll of endless statuses, articles about Beyoncé, memes and ads and Instagram photos of quotes, babies and selfies, until I reach Food52.
Food 52, mentioned my pages as a source of inspiration, is my newest obsession in the food blog world and I've stalked their pictures like a thriller movie. Scrolling and double tapping and screens shotting, I found this little bread recipe that I just had to have. A quick bike ride to Oliver's (the Whole Foods of Rohnert Park) and a budget of $35 I bought the below ingredients and had time to buy the Petaluma County sandwich (the god of all Oliver's sandwiches) and a drink.

Ingredients:
Bananas
Pistachios
Dried Cranberries

Fun Fact: Did you know that a pound of shell-less pistachios nuts cost $12.99?
Thanks but no thanks Oliver's. Instead I bough a $5.99 box of pistachios in their shells and spend 20 minutes popping off the shells of the pistachios. That's how dedicated I was to this recipe. That's how dedicated I am to this blog and all you readers out there.
Also is it sad that I am more dedicated to peel off pistachio shells for a blog than my homework? Is it?

Dedication right there.

Banana, Cranberry, Pistachio "Toast" (PCB Toast)
2 pieces of bread
1 banana
almond butter or peanut butter
handful of dried cranberries
shell-less pistachios
honey

Take two pieces of bread and spread almond butter/ peanut butter onto each slice.
Take one banana and chop it into slices and place on each bread piece.
Sprinkle dried cranberries and shell-less pistachios on top of each piece. Drizzle with honey and pair with water with apple slices in it in a mason jar like a hipster.

Fast forward to 5 hours later when I'm still craving this mixture but I know I shouldn't have bread again let alone that late at night. So I took all the components of above picture, minus the bread and almond butter and added chocolate chips.

Bananas, Pistachios, Chocolate Chips, Dried Cranberries & Honey

Take all the ingredients and mix them together and eat.

apple of my eye

It was Friday and I had been running errands since 10AM and this is what it looked like:

10AM: Run to my internship office to go over lesson plans with my group partner.
12:30PM: Meet with my staff for lunch and go over an event we are planning
2:15PM: Run to my apartment grab my laptop, meet up with group leaders at the pub, buy a drink.
3-5PM: Have a meeting with my participants for my Alternative Spring Break trip that I'm leading.
5-6PM: Coalition meeting with trip leaders.
6:14PM: Sit down on the couch after a long day
6:15PM: Rip my favorite pair of pants
6:16PM: Cry and throw a child-like fit as I take off ripped pants and put on jeans.
6:17PM: Sulk on couch
6:30PM: Go on the Internet to search for take out sushi across the street, order sushi, get sushi and watch Cheers as I eat said sushi.
7:30PM: Make this apple treat to convince myself that I have eaten healthy all day and continue watching Cheers because I was 7 episodes away from finishing the whole series.

AppleSnack
1 apple
Pomegranate Seeds
Honey
Squeezable Nutella that my parents bought for me from Spain
Cinnamon

Chop up apples and place in a circe on plate. Drizzle Nutella and honey and sprinkle cinnamon and pomegranate seeds.
I ate, I felt healthy and I forgot for a split second that I ripped my favorite pair of pants.

the first post

Hello and welcome.
If you haven't read the introductory page on this blog "Press Start" then here is a brief description into the purpose of this blog.
This blog is my Senior Seminar Project in which my professor let the class decide what project we wanted to do in a field that we wanted to work with. I had two choices for this said project: create a television show from start to finish, or create a food blog on the struggles of not having a kitchen.
Writing a television show would have taken me days as a TV show (a sitcom) is about 21 minutes with about 12-15 episodes, therefore I would have to write 21 minutes worth of an episode 12 -15 times in my last semester of college juggling a job and an internship. No thanks.
Food blog it was.
Incorporating my internship along with leading a Food Justice trip next month, I introduce you to my blog on cooking without a kitchen and how to eat healthy while doing it.
I hope you enjoy it because my grade depends on it.

I made a rice cake look good
2 rice cakes
Maple almond butter (or peanut butter)
1/2 granny smith apple
Honey
Cinnamon

Place two rice cakes side by side. Chop up half of an apple into slices. Spread almond butter or peanut butter on each rice cake, place apple slices on top and drizzle honey and sprinkle some cinnamon over it. Eat or be like me and try not to get honey on your bed or computer.