WIAW: Not Feeling It

June 3, 2014 by Christine Skari

Hello friends! Happy Wednesday.

Today’s post is going to be short and sweet because I’m exhausted and feeling stressed and kind of overwhelmed at the moment (to put it lightly). I have finals next week and have my stats test Monday and my physics, ochem, and bio exams in a row on Wednesday-Friday. The thought of how much friggin’ material I have to learn and review is making me feel sick to my stomach.

On that fun note, onwards!

Breakfast:

Hold your horses- big change up here from the usual brown sugar banana oats! I added blueberries and pecans! Try not to get too excited.

Lunch:

Not super proud of this one. Lunch was a big bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and a can of plain… tuna 😯 . I didn’t even bother to put in it a bowl, just ate it with a fork straight out of a can. Partly because my housemates don’t do their dishes (can you tell I’m in a pissy mood?) and partly because I’m a college kid and don’t need to keep up real-people appearances. I’ll spare you a picture since it looks like cat food. Meow.

Dinner:

The good stuff! A Thai tea and pineapple fried rice because I had just taken a demoralizing test and needed to eat my feelings out.

Overall I’m feeling kinda blah. I haven’t gone to the gym in over a week since I’ve been so busy with class and studying. Kyle and I were at the library from 5 p.m till almost 1 in the morning yesterday night and my legs are ITCHING to move. I might treat myself to a workout tomorrow if I can.

OH! And exciting news as of today. I had two recipes from Apple of My Eye featured on The Huffington Post (!!!!!!!!!). I die. This means I can be a full-time blogger now, right? 😉

Anyways, off to do more work. Hope you’re having a good week so far!

Skinny Yogurt Muffins with Sunshine Glaze

June 2, 2014 by Christine Skari

Let me just start by saying BEST MUFFINS EVER. Glad I got that off my chest, whew.

I’m a chocolate-girl down to my bones. Take me to a bakery and I’ll always pick a chocolate croissant or fudgy brownie over anything else. Fruity flavors have always been the side show. Kinda like the previews before the movie actually starts. You eat them and are like okay… this is tasty, but where’s the real stuff? Bring me the real stuff!

That’s why I’m completely shocked myself that this recipe is perhaps one of my favorites ever. Bold claim, no?

Oh, and funny story about this next picture. It turns out getting the perfect action shot of drizzle is a lot harder than it looks. Initially I had Kyle on spoon duty, but the boy just cannot drizzle for the life of him. The first round of pictures came out looking like a bird had decided to take a huge dump on my fluffy muffins… yeah, not too appetizing. After a few more unsuccessful poo- photos, I handed my DLSR camera to Kyle and took matters into my own hands. It turns out that he can handle a fancy camera on manual settings, but can’t put glaze on a muffin. But you know what? Everyone has flaws and I guess I can maybe still like him. Maybe. After all, isn’t that what love is? Accepting each other regardless of their baked-good topping prowess?

I’m a cheater. A lot of people think that having a food blog translates to me being a food snob, but the exact opposite is true. Feed me all the packaged Kraft mac and cheese and you know what? Turkey and stuffing microwavable dinners might actually be one of my favorite things ever. When recipes tell me to sift in the flour (ain’t nobody got time for that) or let butter comes to room temp over night (nahh, it’s going in the microwave 3 seconds before I use it), I scoff.

While I love Ina Garten, the idea of having to make my own chicken broth by scratch to use for gravy is just a romanticized idea of cooking for me 😯 . That’s why, I’m a cheater. These muffins are the product of a cooking lie. They’re made with *gasp* the help of a baking mix.

But YOU GUYS. They’re SO GOOD!!!!

Big, fat berries in every bite and the most delicious glaze you’ve ever tasted. You can even throw in a handful of nuts for some extra goodness. The glaze tastes like sunshine and is bright and lemon-y and perfect. Along with being my shmookie pookie poo, Kyle is my guinea pig when it comes to my recipes. After these came out of the oven, I asked him if he wanted to try some sunshine. Luckily, the boy doesn’t question me anymore and just opens his mouth. In goes the sunshine and out comes the oohhs and ahhs. His response? “Sunshine is the perfect name for this!”

Also, let’s pretend I didn’t just refer to him as my schmookie pookie poo. Let’s also disregard that I googled “the most disgustingly cute names to call boyfriend” to find it. Go big or go home.

Also! No butter! No oil! Just greek yogurt and eggs to help bind everything together into one amazing batter that is mixed together in just one bowl. My apartment has the smallest kitchen the world has ever seen and dishes add up reeeaal fast in our sink. Things get out of hand and it seems like the minute I start cooking or baking my kitchen turns into a place of chaos and dish-anarchy. One bowl recipes are my saving grace. Especially when one bowl leads to this.

Be still, my heart.

Thinking Out Loud: Prom & Other Thoughts

May 29, 2014 by Christine Skari

Hi friends, hope your week is going well! I’m linking up with Amanda today for a post filled with random thoughts and reflections. Thanks, Amanda, for hosting!

1. First off, I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your kind and sincere words regarding Monday’s post. Kyle and I were fortunate to have left to go home for the weekend a few hours before the shooting started and heard the news from the safety of our hometown. My school is still in shock, but we are all doing are best to try to return to some sense of normalcy and classes have resumed after a long Memorial weekend and a designated day of mourning on Tuesday. Sending all of you big hugs.

2. Since it’s been a while since I’ve posted, I haven’t shared what my long weekend included! On Saturday, I tagged along with Kyle and his parents to go take some pictures of his little brother’s prom. It felt like just yesterday that Kyle and I were at our senior prom and it was SO bizarre to see all the youngins all dressed up! We drove over to some of the nearby cliffs for a quick photoshoot with a million other high schoolers and I snapped a few keepers.

Funny thing: whenever I upload pictures of Adam to Facebook, it automatically tries to tag him as Kyle from their Facebook recognition technology. every. single. time. Other than it being kinda annoying to have to click a million times to tag a picture correctly, I think it’s cute that they look so similar. Good genes in that family!

Annnnnnd since I couldn’t resist, throwback to our prom!

I promise he likes me 😯 😯 .

3. Remember how I mentioned that I was working on some new freelance projects? Well, here’s my latest recipe! So much cheese. So much love <3.

4. BABY CHICKS. Kyle’s family has a small barn in their backyard and just got a new batch of chicks in. Nuff’ said.

5. Meet my newfound love. We’ve only just been introduced, but I think it’s the start of a beautiful and long-lasting relationship. And no, I don’t have a new boyfriend, just a new topping for my morning oatmeal. Homemade candied sea salt pecans. Swoon.

And since it’s 12:30 and my arms feel like they’re going to fall off from the gym, it’s time to stop typing and hit the hay. Have a great Thursday, all!

With a Heavy Heart

May 25, 2014 by Christine Skari

As I write this, I find it unbelievably difficult to find the right words to express.

My heart has been heavy the last couple of days from the the grief and shock that come from the events that unfolded at my college this last Friday. As many of you have seen on the news, UCSB was subjected to a premeditated massacre by a misogynistic student from the neighboring community college. My entire school is in mourning for our lost classmates and are in disbelief that something like this could happen to our small tight-knit community. It’s impossible to fathom how something so devastating and tragic could happen to the place I call home. It is completely surreal to know the location of every crime scene on the television and to think that I had just been there a few days ago for lunch or had walked up that street the previous day. To know that my SISTER was living in the same apartment complex at the same time as the shooter last year. Now that apartment complex is a crime scene and three bodies have been pulled out of it.

My home feels violated.

I love my school and Isla Vista. My prayers go out to the victims and their family and friends. Please keep them in your thoughts.

Healthy Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

May 22, 2014 by Christine Skari

I love breakfast food. Whether is be in the form of my sweet Blueberry Pie Oatmeal or a few pieces of toast with peanut butter, the simplicity and ease of breakfast recipes make my heart sing. On weekends, though, I like to do a bit more to make my morning even more special by sitting down at the table with a hearty breakfast and cup of coffee. And this, my friends, is the heartiest!

This Healthy Crockpot Breakfast Casserole is perfect for a weekend brunch and makes plenty of leftovers that can be heated up for up to five days so you can enjoy it all week long! Fix it and forget it at its finest.

Last weekend, Kyle and I drove to the library for some early morning studying and productivity. I threw all the ingredients into the crockpot before we left, said a quick prayer to the food gods, and then returned a few hours later to an apartment bursting with delicious smells and a hot meal! Well, to be honest, not so hot since I promptly whipped out my camera and let the dish go cold as I tried to capture pictures to match how good it tasted. The lighting was bent on making that difficult and poor Kyle was left waiting hungrily for over an hour… rough life for that guy.

This recipe can serve a big crowd or, like I mentioned before, can be refrigerated and reheated. The beauty of this recipes comes in how much breakfast it packs into one bite. It tastes like a full restaurant meal of hash browns, scrambled eggs, omelets, and bacon all packed into one delicious slice! Did I mention it’s filled with a whooooleeee lotta veggies? They meld together with all the other ingredients to make a tasty and filling breakfast that even your picky eaters will love! One serving is 1/8th of the total recipe (a whopping big slice- hooray!) and has 320 calories, over 5g of fiber, and over 22g of protein. It’s a hearty way to start your day off right and keep you full throughout the morning!