Blondie Likes Food

Many people have asked me if I am obsessed with pumpkin spice. I would say that anyone who likes eating weird artificially flavored coffee, cheerios, cereal, and even pop-tarts because it has the name 'pumpkin spice' in it, or hitting up Starbucks everyday for their PSL fix is obsessed. I am not obsessed. That doesn't mean I haven't tried my fair share of pumpkin infused items that most would not rationally think would make it taste good. Let's talk about what I ate/drank recently that I would encourage anyone to try, and might change the minds of those that think us pumpkin lovers are crazy. Schlafly Pumpkin Ale This would surprise you. If the idea of eating froufrou beer turns you away from this seasonal flavor, I get it. I didn't try it until yesterday, which happened to be National Pumpkin Day. I thought, today I will try this in light of the holiday. AND it might suck. It didn't! Not overly sweet, not artificial. it's literally made from the ma...

Smore's Cookies Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour 1 cup graham cracker crumbs 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 dash of cinnamon 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups miniature chocolate chips 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows 2 Hershey bars, chopped Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 2-3 minutes until fully cooked. Change...

It has been one hot summer. The only way to beat the heat is with something cold and refreshing. I have been hitting up Smoothie King just down the road from where I live. It leaves me refreshed, but also filled with extra calories and broke (they are expensive!). I have been experimenting for a few weeks to perfect a smoothie that is similar to Smoothie King, but is cheaper to make and has less calories. I love cocoa, and this frozen yogurt smoothie tastes creamy and delicious. It's just like a frozen hot chocolate. You'll need a good blender. I have a ninja blender, and it does a great job in creating a smooth consistency. Here's the recipe: Cocoa Yogurt Smoothie 2 small servings or 1 large serving 1 cup of water 1 T cocoa powder (not unsweetened. I use Ghirardelli Frozen Hot Cocoa Powder) 1 T powdered milk 2 T turbinado cane sugar (I use sugar in the raw) 1 scoop of Vanilla Protein powder (any kind you want--I use Elevation Whey Protein powder) 2 small sc...

We helped Tyler's brother move from one end of Tennessee to the other. I wanted to bring a housewarming gift, and I came up with this recipe. On one of our trips we took down there, he took us to the Jack Daniels Distillery. It was a fun experience, and enjoyed the tasting room lined with all of their hand-made oak barrels filled with their aging whiskey. This recipe is adapted from www.delectablebakehouse.com. The whiskey and coffee make them super moist and the caramel frosting makes them more unique than the average cupcake. Ingredients 2 cups flour 3/4 cup cocoa or cacao powder. I used cacao powder. It adds an intense chocolate flavor which came out wonderfully in these cupcakes. Cacao powder has it's health benefits as well (as long as you don't put them in cupcakes all of the time :) ).  Because cocoa is processed at a higher temperature than cacao, the difference is the nutrients are more depleted than cacao.  2 cups sugar 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp...

It's grilling season! I wait for it impatiently all winter long, and expect to embrace warmer weather at any moment. April gets here, and it's still feels like winter. It didn't really get warm until May, after my parents lovingly bought me a new grill and then the next day (and the following two weeks) it rained all the time and was gross. Really?! Well, it's June now, and hotter than hell, so I am in heaven. What do I love most about grilling? The simplicity of it. You can take about any piece of meat, throw it on those grates, and you're done. Granted, you can get fancy with all your marinades, rubs, wood chips and smoker packets. My favorite thing is just a simple burger. I threw together some burgers the other night after I got out of work late, and wanted something quick and easy. I also had to take care of a long standing burger craving. So, I got out my 80/20 meat and made my patties. I prefer to make my own patties instead of pre-made ones. They are ...

My boyfriend did not like the idea of sushi. Cold, raw sea creatures wrapped in seaweed and other unknown things. Something cooked and warm sounded more suitable. He asked me where i'd like to go for my birthday dinner. I love sushi, so obvious choice! We were also newer to the St. Louis scene, and wasn't sure what was good. It took us a while to find this place, but once we both tried it we were hooked. He started his sushi journey with a tame maki roll; the middle roll pictured here called the Sakura Roll . The salmon is fried, with cucumber, avocado and spicy mayo wrapped in pink soy paper. Guess what part he didn't like? The soy paper was pink ;). Now it's our go-to sushi place. It's Wasabi Sushi Bar in Town and Country. It's close, and they have Tuesday $6 sushi roll specials. So, that is where we spend a lot of our Tuesdays! We powered through these last Tuesday. From left to right are the Wasabi Special, Spicy Mango , Sakura, Spicy Omega, and my favo...

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I have to have it, but it can't be loaded with sugar or else I'll be crashing by 10 am. I try to eat healthy when I get up. At least in my experience, it makes me feel better throughout the day and leads to better food choices for lunch/dinner. When I'm off for the weekend, I will get up and try to get a workout in first thing. I'll usually have to drink some water and eat a handful of almonds or cashews to help me power through a workout or a 5k run. When I get back, I'll make some coffee and one of these small but effective breakfasts that I've adapted from other recipes to create a single serving for myself. These recipes are so simple to mix up or swap other ingredients I don't happen to have on hand at the time. Have a good morning! Microwave Pancake: 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour (or whatever flour you want to use) 1/2 tsp cinnamon 0.5 T ground flax 2 T Oats (rolled/old fashioned/instant) 1 tsp baking powd...