Terrible things we clearly don't know..."

Okay, so you all probably know that I am really into food. I also am very into nutrition though. In fact, in a month I will be a certified nutritional consultant! Yeahhh really not that big of a deal but at least I am certified to help people make healthy meal plans and things like that! Maybe I can even help change a few bad eating habits!

Well... because I am so into nutrition, I love to read articles about what is going on with nutrition in the world. Yesterday, Adam sent over this article he received called ~The Truth About Probiotics~ (it is a Men's Health article if you want to find it!) Now for those of you that don't know what probiotics are, they are naturally occurring microorganisms put in food that can help your health. They can help fight off colds and much more. I am all for probiotics (as I'm sure everyone is) so I decided to read the whole thing. Not only did this article say that companies are pretty much lying about having probiotics in their products (yes, even yogurt) but it also had this little disgusting fact at the bottom.

***Did you know Yoplait 99% Fat Free Cherry Orchard yogurt has as much sugar as 3 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls!***

I don't know about you guys, but that literally makes me sick! I have definitely eaten my fair share of Fat Free Yoplait yogurts. I guess Yoplait isn't lying to us at least because they have to put the sugar content on the label. But I think most people either a) don't read the labels b) don't really know how much sugar is just too much or c) think just because it's nearly fat free that it is healthy!

It is little things like this that make me think...Oh and people really wonder why our country is having soo many health problems!? I mean come on! We consume foods that we have no idea what is being put into them because all the ingredients on the back are crazy names that we can hardly even pronounce! It just makes me so sad that it is literally nearly impossible to eat a healthy diet these days because even so called healthy items have pesticides and hormones and chemicals put into them. I just wish more people knew or cared to help change these things. For now, I guess we will all just have to eat as natural of foods as possible!

Sorry for this little rant session...I promise my next blog will be a good one cause it will be filled with lots of fun pictures of mine and Adam's trip to good ole Arizona! So stay tuned loves!!! xoxo <3

Spicy Chicken Stromboli

Today I am going to share with you guys mine and Adam's favorite thing to make and eat! It seriously is so delicious we eat the entire thing within a day! Now I know it says "spicy" but in reality, you could put whatever sauce you want on it. If you like spicy food though, you should give this version a try! Also, you can either make your own pizza dough orrr you can be like me and buy some. I buy whole wheat dough from Whole Foods but since I'm not so scared of yeast, I might make my own now! So here is the recipe...

From: A random blog...If this is your recipe, please let me know! Although I did change quite a few things :)

SPICY CHICKEN STROMBOLI

Dough
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour as needed

Filling
• 1 pound boneless chicken breast
• 1/4 cup Sauce (we use All Spice Cafe-Chipotle Garlic)
• 2 tablespoons butter melted
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 3/4 cup Pepper Jack
• Oil, Parmesan, and Fresh Parsley for topping

Directions
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Stir and let sit until yeast becomes active and mixture looks foamy. Add in remaining ingredients (except white flour) and begin to mix with dough hook. As dough comes together, add as much white flour as you need so that dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl. Once dough has enough flour, let mixer run for 5-8 minutes longer in order to knead dough. Once done, spray with oil and set aside. Let rest for 45 minutes.
• While dough is rising, cook chicken (We bake ours in the oven but anyway works) Once chicken is cooked through, dice into 1-2"-1" cubes and combine with Sauce and Butter (your Sauce to Butter ratio will determine the heat: More Sauce=hotter.)
• Pre-heat oven to 425˚ with a baking stone (we just use a baking pan)
• Once dough has risen, role out into a 16"x10" rectangle with the 16" edge parallel to your body. Leaving a 1" border, spread chicken over dough (drizzle a little of the extra Sauce over the chicken-about 2-3 T). Sprinkle Onions and cheese (the amount of cheese is really up to you- I give you suggestions.) Beginning with the side closest to you, begin to roll the stromboli away from you. When finished, seal each end edge and the long edge by pinching the dough. Cut three-four slits in the top and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh parsley and parmesan. Slide onto baking stone (or sheet tray) and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the filling begins to bubble out and the crust is golden. Let cool slightly before cutting.

When it is all done baking it will look like this!


And when you cut a piece, you can see the ooey gooey goodness of what's inside!


Doesn't it look sooo yummy!? Well, it is! And it is also super cheap to make which is always a plus! Hope you all enjoy! More yumminess will keep on comin though so stay tuned! xoxo <3

Baking, baking & some more BAKING!

Yesterday was filled with tons of baking! I went over to bake with Mia and Phylicia & Whitney joined us! It was seriously such a fun day. Mia is such an incredible baker and I have been dying for her to teach me her ways. I have been so so so terrified to bake using yeast. I know, everyone always says "oh but it's so easy!!" but even with everyone telling me it's not hard to use, I was so scared I was going to mess everything up. Well everyone, I have an announcement. I BAKED WITH YEAST YESTERDAY!!! Ahh and it's all thanks to Mia! To be honest, it really isnt that complex to bake with either! We made Braided Challah yesterday and it was yummy! I ate wayyy too much of it haha. Here are some pics of our cute bread! This is before...


And this is after...After us eating half of it :)


Sorry the pictures arent the best, I was using my iPhone and just snapped a few shots. The bread was beautiful in real life though. Now, back to the baking. We also made some yummy cookies & bars. I guess they are called Grandma's Kitchen Sink Cookies? They pretty much have everything in them and they were also very tasty! Here are the bars fresh out of the oven...


And for the cookies...


Like I said, these pictures are terrible haha so you really are going to have to forgive me! We also made THE most delicious peanut butter cookies! I don't have any pictures at the moment but I'm definitely going to be making them again and I'll post the recipe for them, as well as for the Challah! I hope you guys aren't getting annoyed of all these food posts cause I have soo much more to share with you guys! Stay tuned for these recipes cause you are going to want to make these as soon as you get a chance! xoxo <3

Blogpress. Why did I just find out about you!?

So I obviously just got the app blogpress! I can't believe I just now found this. Now when I am out of town and traveling, I can just do little posts from my phone! This clearly is going to be one of those little posts! I just wanted to send out a thank you to all the people Adam works with for his VoiceOver! For those of you that may not know, Adam does a VoiceOver for the cartoon Winx on nickelodeon. It will start airing in June so everyone stay tuned!! But anyway back to the point haha. Yesterday Adam arrived at work and they gave him the cutest little basket and card to congratulate us on our sealing!


The basket was filled with non alcoholic wine (cause they know we don't drink, how cute are they!?) and also delicious little meats and cheeses and crackers. In case I haven't mentioned it before, I have an OBSESSION with cheeses! Any types of cheese. Yeah I'm weird. So yesterday and today I have been sampling the types they gave us and man oh man they are so delicious! You have got to go out and get some! Im gonna give you a list and seriously if you can find them, buy at least one. You won't regret it! Unless you're lactose or something. Then you probably will regret it and go on to hating me and never want to read my blog again but I guess to each his own haha! :)

*Emmi Gruyere Young Bulk ( I am currently eating this toasted on a French roll. So yummy!)

*Naturally Aged Gouda

*Vintage Grand Ewe Gouda

*Triple Creme French (I believe this is a type of Brie, clearly I'm not a cheese connoisseur yet!)

Now, don't worry, these aren't like super weird cheeses. They are pretty common but they are scrumdidileumptious! So, like I said, GO TRY SOME! xoxo <3

Mmm...You all should make this!

So as you all know.

Adam and I got sealed a week ago!!!

Honestly, it was the most incredible experience ever.

To know that I will be with him for time and ALL ETERNITY is the greatest feeling!

And we got to spend an entire weekend with family and friends!

Thank you all who came and celebrated with us.

It meant the world to us!

OH and a special thanks to MIA!!! She made us THE best wedding cake EVER!

I don't have the pictures back to show you guys our special day...

But... As soon as I do. I will post them!

On another note.

I have an obsession with baking.

No guys, it's really bad.

Trying to eat healthy while baking is just not a good idea!

I decided that I am going to start posting the delicious recipes I try.

Don't worry, ONLY the delicious ones.

(I have tried some nasty ones in case you didn't know)

Welllll here is one that I tried last week before San Diego.

Adam and I went to my favorite farm up in Moorpark, CA (Underwood Family Farms) last week!

We bought an entire flat of strawberries.

Seriously we had hundreds of strawberries!

Most are now in our freezer for popsicles and smoooothies.

Both my favorite things.

I love love love spring and summer :)

Anyways...

Go try this strawberry cake.

It was to die for!

Strawberry Cake

found on: Two Peas and Their Pod  

Adapted from Martha Stewart

 

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on top of cake (I used granulated)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan or pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.

3. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Arrange strawberry slices on top of batter. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over berries.

4. Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 50-55 minutes. Let cool in pan. To serve, cut into wedges. Store cake at room temperature, for up to two days.

Serves 10

It was so so easy to make, so anyone could make it!

And just check out these cute pics of Adam.

Isn't he the cutest for being my little taste tester!? Yep, I love him!!!<3

The past week has been crazyyy!

Once again, it has been way too long since I posted.

We were so so busy with wedding stuff.

And...we went to Vegas and Zion.

It was such an amazing week!

We got to be at my Uncle Steve and Marie's wedding. Which was beautiful!

I definitely cried like a little girl.

We also got to spend a couple days hiking in Zion with my parents.

I am obsessed with hiking(so is Adam, thank goodness!) and seriously had so much fun.

Anywaysss...I promised to post some pics from our little wedding shoot.

So here are a few!

Also, I thought I would post some pictures of our Zion trip!

So incredibly happy I got to spend the entire week with my momma.

She is the most amazing woman I know and truly is my best friend!
Hope you enjoy all the pictures!

xoxo

<3

ETERNALLY TIMES ETERNALLY...

Here's a little preview of our wedding pics!

Stay tuned for the actual pictures.

Our photographer Mikel Roberts took some amazing shots!

Hope you enjoy!

xoxo

<3