Cran-Blueberry Citrus Smoothie

What are you doing to me, Rochester??

Isn't it hard enough to stay focused on studying for my Biochem exam tomorrow in the dead of winter? Now you have to go and dangle spring in front of my face?

If you haven't been paying attention, today the weather in Rochester, NY was supposed to hit 68 degrees.

The past few weeks it's barely been above freezing and I've been bundled up to my eyebrows with a down coat and flannel lined pants.

For no reason at all, today the temperature skyrocketed, and this was the beautiful spring view out my back window.

January 13th... are you freaking kidding me?

In response to everything I've come to understand about the unforgiving, unyielding East coast winters being thrown out the window, I decided to take a little siesta from my homework and celebrate by using my new blender.

And something wonderful happened. A nutritious, thick, fruit smoothie from only things that were lying around my house.

I will say that Code Boyfriend thought the mixture of the cranberry and the citrus juice made the smoothie a little to tart for him, but I thought it was extremely balanced with the creaminess of the yogurt. If you would like a more mellow flavor, substitute apple juice for the cranberry.

Cran-Blueberry Citrus Smoothie
Makes 1 serving

• 1 - 6 oz container of Greek Yogurt - I used Wegman's Vanilla
• 1/2 Cup of Frozen Blueberries
• The Juice from 1 Tangelo, you can easily substitute lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, or any other citrus you have, but I had tangelos that were about to go bad.
• 1/4 Cup of Real Cranberry Juice
• 4 Ice Cubes

Layer all of your ingredients into a large cup, or in a blender.

I got an awesome new Cuisinart emersion blender for Christmas  This is the cup that comes with that because I have no other glasses wide enough to fit the mouth of the blender.

Blend until everything is homogenous, which took me about 45 seconds. (Please notice how my blueberry smoothie matches my epic purple blender)

Pour into a fancy cocktail glass, and garnish with a slice of whatever citrus fruit gave its life for your smoothie.

I felt the need to add a bendy straw. Your mileage may very, but what is a smoothie without a bendy straw? 

Carrot Cake Cookies

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I had a very nice Christmas break. Two weeks was not quite long enough to recharge my school batteries, but it was nice to remember what sleep feels like.

It's back to the college grind today, but it's very unsettling to think that I only have 5 months left.

Code Boyfriend and I have huge plans for after graduation, but more on that later.

Right now, I want to show you pictures from my awesome new camera (hooray for Christmas presents!), as well as the cookies I made for the Knitting Club e-board.

I got so busy before break that no one got any cookies! I had to fix that. So now, carrot cake cookies.

They're soft, and cake-y. Just like a carrot cake muffin. But only the top, which is everyone's favorite part anyways.

Doesn't that look good?

I'm so excited to dig in to them at the meeting tonight.

Carrot Cake Cookies
 Adapted from LandOLakes

• 1 Cup of Butter, softened
• 3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar
• 3/4 Cup of White Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 and 1/2 Cups of Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2 Teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Cups of Shredded Carrots (About 4 Carrots)

Cream together butter and both sugars until fluffy.
Slowly beat in both eggs.
Beat in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Finally, gently mix in carrots.

Place about 2 tablespoons of dough about 2 inches on a baking sheet, lined with parchment or a silicon baking mat. (Please note my awesome new silicon baking mats!)

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. They won't stay soft if you overcook them. And who wants crunchy carrot cake??

Frost with cream cheese frosting and enjoy!

Chocolate Custard and Pie Crust Cookies

Today, I made mini chocolate custard pies. But tomorrow's post will be about that.

Today, I'll give the custard in the pies its day in the sun.

I made Paula Deen's Baked Chocolate Custard. I should have strained it. It would have looked so much less grainy had I strained it. It is still delicious. 

 I also didn't use the hot cream to melt the chocolate. When heating the cream mixture, I added the chocolate chips to the saucepan. It think this does a better job at melting the chocolate chips than pouring the hot cream over them, but that's just me.

 I really do like the way these cookies came out. They are great for dipping in the custard, or pretty much anything else you can imagine.

I used Pillsbury pie crust, cut out circles and coated them with cinnamon sugar.

Then I placed them on a greased baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. About half my tray was golden brown and crispy. The other half was just turning golden.

They are both delicious, but I really need to rotate things in my oven.

Hopefully the Hooks and Needles e-board will enjoy the snack, and I will have more details on that (and the other food for tonight) tomorrow.

Cinnamon Sugar Muddy Buddies

My roommate and I are slightly addicted to pinterest. She found a recipe for Churro Chex mix. When we were looking for a snack, we decided to give it a shot.

About half way through the recipe, I stopped using the recipe. They never stated when to add the powdered sugar to the mixture, and halfway through the mixing, they tell you to move the stick chex to a cookie sheet, and continue to mix.

.... all that did was get my cookie sheet all covered in cinnamon stickiness, while ruining my ability to stir.

Also, it tasted nothing like churros. But! What we ended up with, no one could stop eating. It was sweet and cinnamon-y, and in my opinion, perfect for Christmas parties.

So I will share it with you.

Cinnamon Sugar Muddy Buddies

• 5 cups of Rice Chex (or really whatever kind of Chex you have, I'm sure it would be good with any kind)
• 1 bad of cinnamon chips
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

 Measure out the 5 cups of chex into a large bowl. Set aside.

Melt the cinnamon chip with the butter in the microwave. Stir to combine, and pour over the chex.

Fold the cinnamon mixture into the chex, until the chex are thoroughly coated.

Combine the cinnamon and the granulated sugar to make cinnamon sugar (I know this step is difficult, try to press on)

Pour the cinnamon sugar over the chex, stirring to coat the chex.

They will still be rather sticky at this point. Sprinkle on the powdered sugar slowly, folding in powdered sugar until the chex are no longer clumping together.

Once they are coated in powdered sugar, they shouldn't stick together anymore and are ready for snacking!

Try not to eat them all yourself, it is a lot of sugar, but trust me. This won't stick around for long.