Hey guys!

Sorry things have been a bit slow here. I have photos on my camera, just no chance to upload them. Now my boyfriend is coming to town for about a month. I will have plenty to blog about from him being here. I'm still here and leaving comments. I just may not have any new posts coming as often. I think you guys can understand!! Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and I'll see you soon. Fallon

MMM Pancakes

Here is another Kodiak cake creation I have made. I added flax to the pancake mix and topped with vanilla almond butter and a fresh strawberry sauce. Nothing like ONE huge, fluffy pancake! I've been on a pancake kick lately and these totally hit the spot for that craving! The sauce is easy. Basically I took some fruit syrup that came with my Kodiak cakes, added fresh strawberries and heated it up on the stove. Easy! Here is to a GREAT start to the week. Fallon

Shredded Cabbage Slaw with Radishes, Raisins, and Dijon Dressing

Summer is ALMOST here and I couldn't be more excited. Now is the time where people are throwing BBQs and everyone going out on vacation. The last thing anyone wants to be doing is working, but life can't always be that peachy. Not only do I love summer and this time of the year, but I like the fact that I crave foods that aren't as heavy and are much lighter. I always want salad and fruit. Okay and the occasional frozen yogurt or ice cream ;).

I like all types of salads, even coleslaw as well. I like when the cabbage has soaked up the dressing and everything is just perfect. Makes the perfect side dish for those BBQ nights. I found this recipe on Martha Stewart's website for Shredded Napa Cabbage Salad with Radishes, Golden Raisins, and Dijon Dressing. I like this recipe a lot because most coleslaw salads have a mayonnaise base dressing and I'm anti-mayonnaise, so the dijon dressing was a winner in my book. I made a few adjustments like usual. First of all I've been a total bum and didn't want to shred napa cabbage, so I picked up a bag of regular cabbage already shredded and mixed in some broccoli slaw. I found a white balsamic vinegar because I couldn't find white-wine vinegar.

Just like I couldn't find golden raisins, so I used normal Thompson seedless raisins. Other then that this recipe was very delicious with the adjustments I made. It was sweet, crunchy, tangy with a bit of heat. It was so good the next day. I had it with teriyaki chicken, baked sweet potato and baked beans. YUM! I will be making this salad again and again!

This salad was absolutely beautiful. Love the grainy mustard!

Click HERE for Shredded Napa Cabbage Salad with Radishes, Golden Raisins, and Dijon Dressing.

Ciao,
Fallon

Peanut-Maple Power Bars

Mother's Day was approaching quickly and on holidays I usually like to bake up something. My mom kept telling me not to make her anything. We are both trying to watch out weight, and I totally understood where she was coming from. I remember her mentioning she wanted to make some homemade bars to eat after the gym or even as a snack. I researched and found many great recipes. It came down to one from EatingWell. This website is amazing. It has everything on there about healthy cooking and nutrition. Plus tons of recipes! I had a hard time choosing but their recipe for Almond-Honey Power Bars sounded really good. I liked how it was basically a no baked bar, besides melting the almond butter, honey and sugar on the stove top. It would be the glue for the rest of the ingredients. This bar is crunchy, chewy, perfectly sweet, and nutty!

This recipe is one you can definitely use as a go to recipe and constantly change up the ingredients to come up with new flavors. Which I already did. I decided to swap some ingredients, so I could use up what I had on hand. These made the perfect Mother's Day gift. She was pleasantly surprised and has really been enjoying them! The recipe makes 8 servings and are 244 calories a serving. I decided to make them smaller and into 16 servings, clocking in around 122 calories. It's a perfect satisfying snack. Below you will find my adapted recipe. Click HERE for the original recipe for Almond-Honey Power Bars.

Peanut- Maple Power Bars (Adapted from EatingWell)  
Ingredients
1 cup old-fashion rolled oats
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
1 cup unsweetened whole-grain puffed cereal
1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/3 cup dried jumbo raisins, chopped
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch-square pan with cooking spray. Spread oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and sesame seeds on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the oats are lightly toasted and the nuts are fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add cereal, dried cherries, apricots and raisins; toss to combine. Combine peanut butter, sugar, maple, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles lightly, 2 to 5 minutes. Immediately pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula until no dry spots remain. Transfer to the prepared pan. Lightly coat your hands with cooking spray and press the mixture down firmly to make an even layer (wait until the mixture cools slightly if necessary). Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes; cut into 8 bars. (I cut mine into 16 bars instead.)

I wrapped each bar individually and into the fridge to stay fresh. They last for a long time! I usually just grab them as I'm on the go, and make a great afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee. I like these even more for the fact I don't like going to the gym hungry in the afternoon, so this bar fixes that problem and I'm able to workout with a boost of power bar energy. ;)


Always,
Fallon

Another 5K

This post is coming late but better then never! On May 1st I ran my second 5k ever. My goal was to just do one race which happened in February. I'm not a perfect runner and I don't know if that is even possible. Running is hard ya'll! I'm glad I am able to run 1 mile without stopping. Granted I don't kill myself to run the fastest mile. I'm like the turtle, eventually I'll beat the hare ;). For my second 5k I stressed myself out by setting a goal. I wanted to run under 30 minutes. It got to the point where I hated running. I was forcing myself to run a certain amount of miles a week and my mind was playing with me. I realized this wasn't fun. I was running for a great cause, Susan G. Komen! So I stopped stressing myself out with times and just ran. I ended up beating my original time by 15 seconds! Like I said running is not easy. I'm now taking a break until I get in the mood that this is something I want to do. Las Vegas is not a friendly environment to runners or bikers outdoors. I prefer the outdoors over the indoors. The thread mill is LAME! I think that what did me in.

With my Mama in the AM!

All in all, it was a beautiful morning. My mom joined me for the run as well! Surprisingly this was her second 5k as well. We had a lot of fun and can't wait to do this exact race again next year. Oh yeah... and can you say they loaded our Trader Joe's bags with so much food. Check it out!

Mini Moon Pie! I've never had one so I stashed one for a chocolate days. ;) Gave the other processed goods to dad. lol

I donated $1 to New Balance and got these nifty shoe laces!

I'm a bit behind on posts! I made my mom something delicious for Mother's Day (Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the mamas out there!) that I can't wait to share with you. Also my boyfriend is finally back home. YAY!!! I get to see him in less then 2 weeks!!! Always, Fallon

Curry Honey Hummus

Have you ever been in that kitchen rut of what to eat and being sick of the foods you usually eat? I get like that a lot! Recently I got tired of eating hummus. I was tired of the original or the spinach artichoke flavor. I never thought it would happen but it did! Thank goodness I bookmarked several homemade recipes for hummus. I went straight to the one that was different from anything I've ever tried. Curry. I've never had any Indian type food or have even tried curry. Let me just say I've been VERY curious. Finally my curiosity got the best of me. I went to the store, bought everything I needed for this hummus and got to work. Thanks to Ashley from The Edible Perspective for whipping up this fabulous recipe for Curry Honey Hummus. I now know I like curry and can't wait to try experimenting in the kitchen with these new spices! You can click HERE for the recipe. I've had this hummus many ways so far like:

• In a blue corn tortilla and a hard boiled egg, sliced
• Spoonful on my Italian salad
• Crackers
• Red bell peppers
• Spoonful from the jar (sorry peanut butter!)
• Quesadilla with goat cheese

I'm actually almost done with this jar and I only made it a few days ago! I will be making it again. Always, Fallon PS: I used a jar from almond butter I just finished. I'm becoming quite the jar lady saving all the glass ones to reuse. They really come in handy. I use them for everything!

Sugar Cookie Bars

After seeing this recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars on several blogs I finally gave in to make them. These are easy to serve for large crowds and gives you that childhood feeling again. I like when a dessert can take me back in time! Nothing like a thick sugar cookie with a hefty layer of frosting. I opted to make my own frosting. I went with cream cheese frosting because it would make a good contrast to the sugar cookie. Plus it uses real ingredients, and not shortening that is called for in the original. So I of course made a few mistakes. I'm always goofing up something! I used too small of a pan and the cookies were slightly under cooked. I'm not always a perfect baker! At least I'm honest ;) Don't make the mistake I made, make sure you use a the large baking sheet it calls for, I used my pyrex thinking it was the right size. Boy was I wrong! 15 minutes and my bars were still not cooked. So I cooked them longer. I just couldn't figured it out until I finally added the frosting and ready to cut them into squares I realized I probably used the wrong size pan. ;) They were still delicious regardless!

Click HERE for the Sugar Cookie Bars recipe. 

Click HERE for the Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. I can't wait to make these again with zero mistakes. Don't forget about the Cream Cheese Frosting either!

Always, Fallon

The Best Cream Cheese Frosting

Frosting to me is what makes the cake or cupcake. Sometimes cookies. There are many ways to make frosting and one tiny mistake can definitely ruin a good frosting. I've tried many frosting's like butter cream, swiss meringue, royal icing, ganache, and cream cheese. They are all very good, but my favorite has always been the cream cheese frosting. What can I say, it just that good! It is a favorite with many. It tops well with red velvet and carrot cake. Plus you have to make it fresh and homemade. The pre-made kind just doesn't cut it, even if you are in a hurry. MAKE HOMEMADE!

How do you eat your frosting? Well its always the first to go on my piece of cake. Meaning I start eating the frosting first and work my way to the cake. Sometimes not finishing the cake because I really just wanted that delicious frosting. ;) I'm not a frosting expert by no means and I saw my Joy of Cooking cookbook looking lonely. This book is an expert! The book is bigger then my college textbooks I use to have to lug around! I flipped to the frosting section, and came across 2 variations on cream cheese frosting. Perfect! Either the food processor method or the electric mixer method. I went with the electric mixer method.  

Cream Cheese Frosting (From Joy of Cooking)  

Ingredients
8 ounces cold cream cheese
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

Beat in a medium bowl at low speed just until blended the cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Add one-third confectioners' sugar at a time and beat just until smooth and the desired consistency. If the frosting is too stiff, beat for a few seconds longer, do not over beat.

Fluffy goodness!

I could not wait to lick all the left over frosting from the spatula and beater from the mixer. THIS WAS AMAZING! It was smooth, creamy and sweetened perfectly. I added 3 1/2 cups of sugar. Even then I felt it was much but I wanted to make sure the consistency was right with the sweetness. There are 2 secrets they mentioned that make the perfect cream cheese frosting. Cold cream cheese and to not over beat= perfect! I use to always let my cream cheese come to room temperature with my butter. Definitely could notice the difference this time around. I'm learning so much already from this cookbook already! This will always be my go to cream cheese frosting recipe. So what did I use the frosting for? Oh well you will just have to come back and see! 

 
Always,
Fallon
 
PS: Any day now my boyfriend will be heading home from Iraq. I can't believe a full year has gone by and how fast the deployment went. I'm just glad he is coming back happy and healthy! That's all that matters. I wanted to thank my readers and fellow bloggers for following me on this rough journey, your supporting comments were thoughtful and helpful! Thank you.  

PPS: My friend Robin Sue over at Bed Red Kitchen is hosting an awesome giveaway featured by Bertolli "Pasta Party." Definitely check it out and leave a comment!