It's the most wonderful time of the year!

So I got a call from my wonderful mama yesterday, asking if I would mind doing the christmas baking this year. Since I'm done exams and have nothing but time, I agreed without blinking. Who doesn't love an excuse to bake?!

So today I made two delicious treats. The first, a personal favorite, nanaimo bars! Then second, a peanut butter thumbprint cookie. Yum yum!

Nanaimo Bar modified from The Original Nanaimo Bar


1.  So first, we start with the bottom layer. A delish blend of cocoa, butter, sugar, graham cracker crumbs, chopped almonds, and coconut. With all of that in it, how couldn't it taste fantastic!

Once all mixed together, pour onto the bottom of the pan and press flat. I           

  used another 8x8 pan, put wax paper underneath of it, and pressed it down on the bottom layer in order to get it evenly distributed throughout the pan. 

2.  For the second layer, mix together icing sugar, butter, and vanilla custard powder. As I didn't have Vanilla custard powder, I just used original custard powder and added vanilla flavoring to the mix. Tasted fine to me!

Now spread that gooey goodness onto the bottom layer!

3.  For the third layer, melt 4 squares of Baker's Semi-sweet chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter. Be careful not to burn!

And finally pour that chocolate on top and leave the finished product to set in the fridge... or eat it all. 

Obviously, I wasn't sticking to my allergy-free diet when making this. However, as I'm baking these treats for my family, I didn't make them special for myself. Tomorrow I'll be making some healthier options of treats, with certain ingredients that make them okay for me to eat.. we'll see how those turn out. 

I also made these thumbprint cookies today. Can you say scrumptious?! I'll post the recipe tomorrow... or later this evening. Hey, I've got nothing but time these days! 

Wow I've been out of the loop for a while! Been super busy. Just thought I'd get some pictures up of what I've been up to...

Mmm looks good right? Any guesses to what everything is?

Hopefully I'll be back soon once everything slows down! Nursing school is definitely a LOT of work! 

Mondays Suck.

Mondays are the worst, aren't they? I couldn't fall asleep until around 2 am last night, and I had plan to wake up around 6:30 am this morning to start preparing myself for getting up early early for clinical - but stupid me slept in until 7:45! I had to rush out to my 8:30 class and was exhausted! Still had time to whip up my green monster though :)

Spinach, Banana, Blueberries, Flax seeds, Chocolate AmazingGrass, Almond Milk. Yum!

That went fast!

So I got to class and ended up having the worst headache ever! My head was pounding and I could barely see straight. I ended up skipping my second class to come back to my room and snooze. Much needed! I had some carrots and hummus for a snack, and once I got really hungry I made myself a big bowl of hot oatmeal. So GOOD!

I made the fresh oats with water, then I added raisins, pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds, a big spoonful of raw almond butter, and some unsweetened almond breeze. A protein-packed meal - to die for! You can't go wrong with a big hearty bowl of oatmeal.

After that had one more class, and now I'm back in my cozy (aka tiny) little room. I've got tons of homework to do, and also want to get some grocery shopping in. I've decided I'm going to invest in a food processor so I can make my own larabars and almond butter. Yummo!

Bootcamp tonight at 7 pm. I'll also be back to post my weekly training plan :)

I'm thinking about buying shape ups to wear at work. Anyone have any experience with them? 

Result of my Shopping

So now that I've got my new toaster oven and I'm reading and RARING to start baking I knew I needed some supplies. I went out shopping today, and here are the results of my plunder...

•  4 Different-sized Organizing Jars (Have oats, Rice flour, Tapioca flour, & Pumpkin seeds in them)
• Muffin Baking Pan
• Muffin Cups
• Bread Pan (Already a little burnt due to my corn bread adventure...)
• Rolling Pin
• Storing Container
• Fancy Glass perfect for GREEN MONSTERS :)

And I got this is all cheap, cheap, cheap too! Want to know a 'starving student's' best friend? THE DOLLAR STORE! Seriously guys, check it out - you wouldn't believe the stuff you'll find there. I got everything on the left for about six dollars!

The jars I did get from Wal-mart however, but they were on sale (how could I resist)!

I'm having trouble getting started on my homework. It seems like the more I have to do, the less I want to do it.  Why don't we look at my night's cooking instead??

I made gluten-free spaghetti for dinner. I got the recipe from glutenfreeda.com, but modified it a bit by adding more veggies and taking out the tomatoes (I'm not a tomato fan):

Start by sauteing garlic and onions in a frying pan for about 15 minutes. (My corn bread is cooling next door)

Add any other veggies that you're craving, I chose red peppers and spinach.

Once the veggies are at your preferred tenderness, add rice noodles (which you should've already cooked following the package instructions). Top with basil and chives - I just went by taste for how much I should add. 

Top with balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese, & ENJOY!

This turned out fantastic, and I've got plenty of leftovers for dinners this week :)

Well I guess I should get back to the homework grind. Just thought I'd leave you with a neat-o picture of my new glass.

Now if that glass isn't perfect for green monsters, than I don't know what is!

Where to begin?

Well I guess this is it... my first blog post. First off, Hello! (if anyone out there is reading).

Today's been a lazy Sunday - I'm feeling down for no apparent reason. I'm ready for tomorrow, Monday's always a great day to start fresh, don't you think? Tomorrow is the start of my new, healthier life!

First off I just wanted to go over everything I'm going to be covering in this blog:

• Daily Eats, Health Topics
• Exercise & My path to running my FIRST half-marathon
• Beauty Tips, Reviews & Ideas

Alright so back to the blogging. Let's look at what I made yesterday, who says university students can't cook?

First - Gluten Free Bagels, I found the recipe at glutenfreeda.com:

 I modified the recipe to make it healthier, substituting apple sauce for shortening, raw organic cane sugar instead of regular sugar, etc. I made two flax/pumpkin seed bagels and two cinnamon/raisin.  I wasn't completely happy with them, a little too 'yeasty' (is that a word?) for my liking. I think I'm going to retry this recipe with a little more sugar or apple sauce to sweeten next time, and make all  of them cinnamon/raisin - they were my favorite.

Next I made Gluten Free cornmeal bread, I'd never had it before and tried to create my own healthified recipe of it:

Delicious! I tried one piece smothered in Earth Balance, and the other in Maranatha Almond Butter. Can you say YUM?!

Well time to hit the books. I've been wasting my time away on the computer today, and my homework pile is growing and growing.

xx Liv