Sarah

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

December 19, 2011 by Sarah 5 Comments

Good morning!!! School is officially OVER for the semester, grades are in (p.s. I got a 4.0 this semester- woo hoo!!!), and it’s Christmas break!!

When I think of winter break I automatically think of sleeping in, lounging with a cup of coffee, reading, and home made goodies like these cinnamon rolls. These would also be great to serve on Christmas morning!

I make my dough with a bread machine on the dough setting, but if you don’t have a bread machine (first of all, why in the world don’t you have a bread machine- they’re amazing!) you can certainly make this dough by hand.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
For Dough:
1 cup warm water
2 t yeast
2 t sugar
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 T Earth Balance (or butter)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 t salt

For Filling:
1/4 cup Earth Balance, softened (room temperature)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 T cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

For Icing:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 T nondairy milk
1/2 t vanilla

Directions:
Combine warm water, sugar and yeast in bread machine and allow the yeast to “proof” for 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the dough ingredients, turn the bread machine to “dough” setting and let it do it’s thing. (If you’re making the dough by hand you’ll combine the dough ingredients after the yeast “proofs” and knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic. Then cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours)

When dough is ready it will be a tiny bit sticky coming out of the bread machine- sprinkle with a little flour before you try to roll it out.

Roll dough into a rectangle (around 12 inches or so)

Brush on softened Earth Balance, sprinkle the brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped nuts evenly over the dough.

Roll the dough into a log and slice into 16 pieces for regular sized cinnamon rolls or 8 pieces for gigantic cinnamon rolls.

Arrange pieces on a baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, or until they’re doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Let cool for 5 minutes before icing.

To prepare icing, combine confectioner’s sugar, nondairy milk, and vanilla in a bowl.

Drizzle icing on top of cinnamon rolls.

Delish! Enjoy!!

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: bread machine, cinnamon, cinnamon rolls, Recipes, vegan, yeast

White Rock Marathon Recap

December 15, 2011 by Sarah 4 Comments

I really should have posted this last week but since we’re in the midst of finals at school I decided to wait on it a bit. I still have one more final which I should be studying for right now but I’m feeling kind of unmotivated to study right now honestly.

So I started training for the Half Marathon portion of the White Rock Marathon in September. Before that the longest I had ever run was a 10K. Training for this pretty much took over my life because I wasn’t honestly sure that I could do it. So I made training for this a huge priority. Absolutely no regrets- this was kind of the most awesome thing that I’ve ever done!!!!

My brother is a pretty accomplished athlete- he’s done just about everything: half and full marathons, triathlons, etc… He’s also been a personal trainer and he and my sister-in-law also happen to be my Chiropractors! So when I decided I wanted to do this he was the first person I talked to about a training plan. Between the two of us we made a plan work with my schedule and I got busy running.

My only regret from training was that I didn’t go in for regular adjustments. My knee started giving me major problems about a month before the race and I iced, rested and kinesio taped it. What I should have done was go in for an adjustment- I went right after the race and my knee pain was immediately gone and hasn’t hurt since. Something to keep in mind for the next go round!

I followed my training plan and I was pretty much good to go for the race- just really really nervous! Plus the forecast looked horrible- rain, rain, and more rain.

I headed to the expo the day before to pick up my race packet. I’ve only done one other race with an expo so it was really cool to get to walk around and check things out. And hellooooo… free stuff!!

Ideas for future races…

Bought a few things…

Just a note- I had never tried that brand of kinesio tape before so I thought I’d give it a try cause it’s pink and all. Don’t waste your money- it sucks. It started peeling off before I even got to the race! The Kinesio Tex Gold is the best brand- go for this one if you need some kinesio tape!

And I absolutely love this headband. How can you possibly go wrong with a sparkly headband?! It’s a sweaty band. I have three others in varying widths and they are the ONLY headbands that do not slide right off of my head when working out. I highly recommend them!!

Then I headed home to relax for the rest of the day!

Race Day…

I tried to pack my bag the night before and get my stuff ready for the next day but I was so nervous that I forgot a major item that I needed. Fuel. And I didn’t notice that I didn’t have anything until I got to the race. I found a larabar in my glove box so that’s all I had for fuel the whole race. Major fail.

Race day there was a torrential downpour. I don’t mean sprinkling. Or drizzling. Or even raining. I mean serious gully washing going on here. But I’m cheap and I paid a $100 entry fee for this race so I was going to run it rain or shine.

And rain it did.

It was actually clear when I lined up in my corral and when the race started. Then around mile 2 it started pouring. And it poured the whole rest of the race.

I had a rain jacket so it wasn’t too bad until mile 5 then I just kind of was over the rain and just wanted to be done with the race at that point. Did I also mention that the temperature was falling the entire race? We started out somewhere in the upper 40’s and it was barely hanging out at 40 by the end of the race. No joke my lips and toes were blue by the end of the race!

It. Was. Miserable.

I just focused on the finish line the whole time. Finishing was my goal and I was going to finish. I was slow finishing with 3:04:28 but I finished! And I also ran the whole thing! (I only walked through water stations since I’m not coordinated enough to run and sip at the same time!)

The course was awesome. I will definitely be running it again next year- hopefully it will be dry! There were just a few slight inclines- not really anything I would consider a hill. We started at Fair Park and went through Dallas and some really pretty residential areas in Highland Park. There weren’t many people out because of the weather. But there were lots and lots of water stations. I didn’t need all of them, but I tried to alternate water with some Gatorade hoping the Gatorade would at least give me some carbs since I had forgotten my fuel.

My brother and sister-in-law were at mile 6 but I didn’t see them unfortunately. Around mile 8 I started getting bored and I was tired of my music. Around mile 10 I was feeling cranky and cold and wet and I was just really really really ready to be finished.

At mile 12 our course met up with the Marathon course so I found a new surge of energy and at 13 we rounded a corner and I could hear the crowd and was starting to see the finish line. As soon as I saw it I could NOT stop smiling! And as soon as I crossed it I totally started crying! I had dreamed of that moment for months and it was finally there. I ran a half marathon y’all!!!!!!

And Laura was there to meet me after I finished! She brought me snacks and took a few pics for me! (see my blue lips?!) Thanks for coming Laura!!!!

After that I headed to see my brother for an adjustment and he got my knees all fixed up and I went home and CRASHED. I was exhausted y’all! And p.s. calf sleeves totally rock- my calves were not a bit sore the next day!

Sorry that this turned into a monster post, hopefully you made it all the way through!!!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Blueberry Glazed Donuts

December 1, 2011 by Sarah 5 Comments

There’s not much that’s better than a delicious donut. Especially one that’s… healthy? Wait, what’s that? Donut? Healthy?

Of course- and it’s all thanks to this!

Now you can BAKE a donut. You get to control the ingredients in your donuts. And they’re baked, not fried so it won’t leave your tummy hurting (I have a pretty sensitive stomach and too much fat really does a number on my tummy!).

I got my donut pan on Amazon. I originally got the regular sized 6-count donut pan. Then I was browsing around Hobby Lobby one day and I noticed that they had donut pans too. So I got one of the 12-count mini donut pans. I’m having so much fun experimenting with different recipes for donuts!

First up is a blueberry glazed donut that will knock your socks off! These donuts are low fat and vegan but don’t let that fool you because they’re amazing!!

Blueberry Glazed Donuts
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:

For the donuts:
1 cup AP flour
1 cup Whole Wheat pastry flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 t vanilla
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 cup blueberries

For the glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1-2 T non-dairy milk (depending on the thickness that you prefer for your glaze)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

In a small bowl combine wet ingredients.

Add wet to dry and stir until just combined.

Carefully fold in blueberries.

Spoon mixture into a donut pan that’s been sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake for 12-13 minutes until donuts are firm and slightly brown.

Let cool in pan for 5 minutes.

For glaze mix together the confectioners sugar and milk and dip each donut into glaze. Let donuts sit until glaze hardens. (NOTE: if you store these in an airtight container the glaze will melt so plan accordingly!)

NOM!!

Enjoy!

Filed Under: healthy living, Recipes Tagged With: blueberries, donuts, low fat, Recipes, vegan

Foodie Penpals, November Edition

November 30, 2011 by Sarah 14 Comments

Hey boys and girls! We’re creeping up on finals here and we’re pretty slammed with lots of last minute assignments, so my posts will be pretty sparse till finals are over.

Even as busy as I am I always find time to post about Foodie Penpals! I think that most everyone posted theirs yesterday since it’s also WIAW, but seeing that I haven’t really been doing WIAW in a while I just decided to stick with the schedule and post mine on the last day of the month. Check out what everyone else got here.

This month Caitlin from Cait Plus Ate was my foodie penpal.

Here are the goodies I got….

Chocolate pita chips. They’re delicious- they taste like crunchy little chocolate cookies!

Two of my favorite things- dark chocolate and coffee…

Caitlin really hooked me up with the chocolate! NOM!

And mint jelly. I’m intrigued by this. I’ve never had mint jelly before, so I’m not really sure what to do with it? Any suggestions??

Thanks Caitlin for the goodies!!!!

Here are the deets if you want to join in on the foodie penpal fun!

On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. *US Residents only please at this time- hopefully we can expand soon!*

If you’re interested in participating for December, please send an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)

She will need to hear from you by December 4th as pairings will be emailed on December 5th!

Filed Under: Foodie Penpals Tagged With: foodie penpals

Tourist in San Francisco

November 21, 2011 by Sarah 1 Comment

Here are some more of my walking around pics from San Francisco! I don’t have much time for narration since I’ve got a test tomorrow that I haven’t started studying for yet, but I’ll do the best I can.

The steepest hill I’ve EVER seen! (so steep that it has this zigzag road so that cars can go down it! So cool!)