How 'Bout Them BUCKEYES!

So with the holidays and the incredible excitement of THE Ohio State University's NCAA Football Playoff birth I have been rather delinquent in my blogging, sorry!  But in the new year I'm destined for change (hopefully)! 

First I have to share some photos from our game watch last night: one of our great tailgate crew and one of the delicious duck our hosts roasted for us!

Tailgate Team Selfie

Yummm that's one pretty bird!  Excellent job Chef Bill!

To celebrate the Buckeyes not only trouncing the highly lauded SEC powerhouse Alabama in the Sugar Bowl then roasting the Oregon Ducks for the Championship, I decided to make a breakfast of champions for me and my beau.  The flavors of Buckeye candies (peanut butter and chocolate) came to mind so I set out to make a Buckeye Waffle that would make this great state of OHIO proud!  (Too much Urban Meyer quoting?  Sorry, not sorry)  But since we overindulged a bit last night while game watching and are trying to watch our diet I made a couple modifications (whole wheat flour and skim milk mainly).

Buckeye Waffle  
(Makes 6 waffles)

 Ingredients:
- 1 c. milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 c. plus 1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter (probably could have used more)
- 1/2 c. AP flour
- 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips (use more or less to your liking)
- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted (for greasing waffle iron)

 Instructions:
- Mix together milk, egg, vanilla and peanut butter until smooth.
- In a separate bowl mix together flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Pour wet ingredients in with the dry, mix together until just combined.
- Mix in chocolate chips.
- Heat then grease waffle iron with melted butter (the chocolate chips can get a little sticky) or use your preferred cooking spray.
- Pour in waffle mixture and let the waffle iron work it's magic.
- Cook to desired golden brownishness and enjoy!
- Humming Hang On Sloopy, Carmen Ohio or chanting O-H are all acceptable forms of enjoying this spirited breakfast item!

These were really tastey, the chocolate can overpower so the batter could stand to have more peanut butter in it or less chocolate, depends on preference.  With the taste of the chocolate and peanut butter as dominant flavors you could probably use all whole wheat flour instead of mixing whole wheat and AP. 

For the leftovers I just wrapped them in wax paper then put them in a freezer bag in the freezer.  They can be taken out and toasted or zapped in the microwave, in the oven or toaster in the future.

So so soooo much more to come like a catch up from the holidays, the Golden Globes fashion review, some great new shoes and 614 Restaurant Week!

Happy Tuesday and Go Bucks!

Cheers!
Steph

W.W.E.D.? - What Would Ellen Do?

In the past couple months I've become a fan of the Ellen DeGeneres Show.  (That sounds like I'm behind the times, she's been doing the show since 2003 but I haven't had the chance to really watch it regularly till now, so call me a late bloomer I guess!)  She and her guests are usually good for a decent giggle plus her desire to empower people and share the benefits of her success is just inspiring!  It makes for some feel good TV! 

As previously admitted, I never paid a whole lot of attention to the content of her show until one day I had it on in the background and I heard her closing remark "Be kind to one another" which just struck a chord with me.  How often (especially during the holiday season) do we forget to be kind?

So with Ellen's daily encouragement in mind, I decided to take a little time out of my hectic holiday prep to spread some holiday cheer.  Granted I couldn't really go giving away thousands of dollars worth of merch and gifts BUT I'd like to think I brightened someone's day and showed my appreciation for them in a manageable way.  

I think it's safe to say our postal workers and package delivery folks are the unsung heroes of the holidays.  They work long hours in the less than pleasant weather (at least here in the Midwest) to make sure all our gifts and goodies arrive in time.  So as a thank you to our dear mail carrier I left him a little note and a Starbucks gift card (note: USPS does not allow carriers to accept cash tips but gift cards under $20 are okay) to fuel his longer shifts in the cold.

There's all kinds of other ideas and people in your life that I bet make your life pre-holidays easier so take a minute and show them you appreciate it!

I'm going to do my best to get more posts up before the holidays!

Cheers! And "Be kind to one another"!
Steph  

ALOHA Supplement Trial

And we're back at it!  How was everyone's Turkey Day?!  Chris and I had a fabulous long weekend with family and friends, proof that our blessings in life are truly in abundance.  Thanksgiving is pretty much my favorite holiday, an excuse to eat excessive amounts of mashed potatoes and gravy is ALWAYS my idea of a good time.  Plus my wonderful Momma got to celebrate her birthday with us at the Ohio State v. Michigan game!  We started our tailgating at 7am (noon games make tailgating schedules rough!) and had such a blast!

Rushing the field after a Buckeye WIN!!

But with such gluttony comes necessary checks and balances so I thought I'd give a new health product a try and share it with you.  It's called ALOHA which offers powered supplements as well as nutrient capsule packages that are vegan, non-GMO, gluten free, soy free, etc.

I think I found this floating around on Facebook and saw they offered a free trial, all you have to do is pay shipping, which I thought was pretty cool!  They have a couple different options to mix and match with your trial.  I decided on Daily Good Greens: whole food powders and The Foundation: 5 capsule nutrient packs.

The trial came with three flavors of Daily Good Greens: chocolate, berry and original and three capsule packs.

I tried the Daily Good Greens three different ways: in my breakfast smoothie, in a glass of coconut milk and in a glass of just water.  My breakfast smoothie typically has water, flax seed, raspberries, banana, spinach, peanut butter and lemon juice so I added the Original powder to the mix as well.  It was good, you could definitely taste a little more "green" taste but it didn't make it terrible or anything.

The capsule packs contain 5 capsules: 2 Be Brilliant capsules that promote brain cell growth, glowing skin and better sleep quality, 2 Be Young & Strong capsules that sharpens cognition, strengthens bones and defends cells and 1 Be Protected capsule that soothes everyday inflammation, relieves stress, detoxifies and boosts the immune system.  (For the full vitamin breakdown, click here.)  Each pack came with these cute little notes with inspiring quotes on one side then nutrition facts on the other which was a nice surprise! 

I mixed the Daily Good Greens: Chocolate in a glass of coconut milk.  It didn't dissolve very well which made it pretty grainy/chalky tasting, it still tasted a little earthy but nothing too bad. The worst part was the texture.

I mixed the last packet of Daily Good Greens: Berry in a glass of water, it wasn't entirely desirable tasting but it dissolved easier than it did in the milk. 

Overall it was fun to try and it helped kind of kickstart some better eating before the holidays.  I cancelled the membership before they could charge for or send me the next month's package, which you have to do if you sign up for the trial but they send reminders before your trial is up.  I really didn't care for the Daily Good Greens much but I did like The Foundation capsule packs.  I would consider getting those to help boost my immune system through these winter months, etc.  Plus the little notes in each pack were a good mood booster for each day! 

Hope you all have a great Cyber Week and nab some good deals!  Next up I have some shoes, LFMs and a new recipe to share!

Cheers!
Steph

Jalapeño Hush Puppies

Well greetings from SNOWY Ohio friends!  Columbus has finally joined the rest of the Midwest region and is covered in a blanket of winter wonderland.  Thankfully my current schedule allowed me to stay in my jammies at home while the rest of the city faced the elements on Monday which was an excellent way to enjoy the first snow, making me much less bitter and angsty!  Anyways lets talk food instead, but first...I want to send a birthday shoutout to my dear Great Aunt Chookie who blogs over on Here's Another Sunday!  Hope you have a day just as special as you! 

Ok NOW we can talk food.

A couple weeks ago Chris had a homebrew beer tasting with co-workers and needed to bring a snack to share.  Of course I thought since it was a mostly male audience I couldn't go wrong with bacon or meat or some combination of bacon and meat.  Then he tells me no dice, the majority are vegetarians, whomp whomp, wind completely blown out of my bacon/carnivorous supportive sails (is that even a thing? Yes!).  So I played around with some ideas and we landed on these tasty Jalapeño Hush Puppies.  Even though I've never been this biggest corn bread fan I've been coming around to it and these golden nuggets make it very easy to do so.  

Jalapeño Hush Puppies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup all-purpose Flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 2 large eggs

- 1 cup buttermilk

- 2 jalapeños, finely diced, (seeds and membrane removed)

- 1/2 cup sweet yellow corn (thawed and drained)

- 2ish cups vegetable oil, for frying

Instructions:

-Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

-In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined.  Then add jalapeños and corn until well incorporated.

-Pour oil into a cast iron skillet, deep fryer or a deeper pan and heat to 375° (if you don't have a thermometer you may have to do some testers to see if the oil is the right temp.  You want it to sizzle and start to float when the mixture is dropped in but you don't want it to brown too fast or else the outside will be burnt and the inside will be raw.)

-Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into oil, I used a cookie scoop. Fry in batches 3ish minutes on each side or until golden brown.

-Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

Fluffy inside flecked with corn and jalapeno, brings fun color to it!

I served these with a side of spicy Sriracha Mayo (about 2 to 3 tablespoons of sriracha mixed with 1/2 cup of mayo, use more or less sriracha depending on spicy preferences).  Chris said they were a hit and went well with the beer(s) they had.

So to flip things on it's side a little, next I'll be posting about my Aloha dietary supplement trial!  Stay tuned!

Cheers!
Steph