WIAW #27: The Last Wednesday

Why is it the last Wednesday, you ask? 
Because it is the last Wednesday before I turn 21! YAY!!!! :) My plan for my birthday (which is on Monday) is to hang out with my close friends and enjoy a few drinks (I haven't decided where yet...). I'm excited for it. 
I spent this weekend in Columbus with Stuart and ate quite the buffet of food. For dinner at his 21st birthday party we went to Mezzo, a fancy Italian restaurant. They had an endless buffet of pizzas, deep fried risotto balls, cheeses, and fresh fruit. It was really yummy! Of course, I forgot to take pictures of my food over the weekend. However, I do have a lot of good foodie pictures I've taken over the past couple weeks (while forgetting to type up my WIAWs for those weeks, of course) so get ready!
Before I kick this WIAW off, something to get excited about and set your calendars for! 

Starting on June 4, PD will be hosting 21 Days of Giveaways - a new giveaway every day (and a new winner every day!) from people and products I love. You won't want to miss this - we have some exciting sponsors, including So Delicious, Skinny Water, La Tortilla Factory, Peanut Butter & Company, Honest Tea, and so many more! So don't forget and come back on June 4 to help celebrate my birthday and win free stuff! 

Now on to this week's eats!

Salad w/ Amy's veggie burger patty, stuffed grape leaves, banana "split" with yogurt & raspberries, banana split with yogurt & carob chips, and a GNU chocolate brownie bar

This is a good summary of how my weekend went. I hung out with my best friend whom I haven't seen in forever, went to the Taste of Cincinnati with Stuart (where I ate a ton of yummy food), hung out with Stuart's younger sibs, and...see the top right picture? That's a god summary of my Sunday night. Unexpected, crazy, and fun. Kudos to Wade (Stuart's roomie) for that crazy picture. 

Stuart's birthday cake that I made - chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and a chocolate ganache topping!

Caramel cookie crunch ice cream!

Strawberries with chocolate chips

Homemade lettuce wraps - filled with a pineapple soy tempeh & veggie mixture :) yummy!

Cinnabon cinnamon roll

Sweets from Sugardaddy's - a bakery I found while in Columbus in Easton mall! So cute, and it sells blondes, brownies, "biscotti" (the edge of the brownie pan), ice cream, cheesecakes, and "brownie bombs". They beat Bobby Flay on an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on Food Network with their Tahiti Blonde - pineapple, coconut, chocolate, cashews... yummy! I had one of those (it was divine) and some of their biscottis. They were definitely winners!
That's all for the food. Phew. Crazy amount of stuff, right? I seriously need to detox and eat healthy/less RIGHT NOW to lose the weight I'm sure I gained. Ha! But yummy pounds those were... 
One last thing. I am trying to sell a few items: 

Do you like Vera Bradley? The backpacks are basically new - I've worn them maybe once. Great condition. The red backpack on the bottom left has already sold, but the rest are available! I'm willing to haggle on prices, but I'm asking $20. The purple backpack in the top left is not Vera Bradley, but looks very similar. The bottom right is a small purse. PLEASE EMAIL ME IF INTERESTED!!!! :)
Have a lovely WIAW everyone! 
Much love, 

Daring Bakers: Challah Bread

There is nothing like a good Challah bread.

Okay, so maybe this is the first time I have ever baked/tried challah before, but it was an extremely delicious experience. Thank you, Daring Bakers, for giving me the chance to try this! 

May's Daring Baker's challenge was pretty twisted - Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from "A Taste of Challah," by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads. 

The bread I chose to make a six strand, whole wheat challah. I even sprinkled some oats on top just to make it pretty. Did it work?

This bread was lightly sweet and makes delicious toast.

Before baking!

This was also surprisingly easy to make. It simply requires patience (it takes lots of rising time!)

Out of the oven it comes!

I highly encourage you to try making this bread. It's very hearty and I think it would make delicious sandwich bread!

Here's the recipe - straight from the Daring Baker's! Let me know what you think if you decide to try it for yourself!

Ruth’s “Go-To” Whole Wheat Challah

(adapted from D’s Whole Wheat Challah)
Servings: 12

Ingredients
2 (.25 oz.) packages (4½ teaspoons) (22½ ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) dry yeast
1 cup (240 ml) warm water (100°F/38°C)
½ cup (120 ml) (100 gm) (3½ oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup (one stick) (120 ml) (115 gm/4 oz) margarine or unsalted butter – room temperature
2 tsp. (10 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) salt
3 large eggs
2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) whole wheat flour
2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) all-purpose flour
½ cup (120 ml) (50 gm) (1¾ oz) rolled oats (Old Fashioned work just fine!)
Additional flour for kneading (½ to 1 cup) (120 to 240 ml) (70 to 140 gm) (2½ to 5 oz)
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water for glaze

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Allow to stand about 5 minutes until creamy/foamy.
2. With paddle attachment beat 3 eggs, sugar, margarine (or butter), whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and oats into the yeast mixture. Or, if mixing by hand (ok, spoon), combine eggs and margarine/butter with yeast mixture until well mixed. Add flours and oats and mix until it becomes difficult to mix.
3. Once combined, switch to the dough hook and knead for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding flour as/if needed. If kneading by hand, this should take about 10-12 minutes.
4. Form dough into a round, compact ball. Turn in oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen/tea towel. Let rise in warm area (I put it in the oven with the light on) until doubled, approx. 2 hours.
5. Once dough has doubled, punch down. Recover with towel, allow to rise again for an hour, but even 30 minutes will be fine if you’re in a hurry.
6. Punch the dough down again, divide in two.
7. Shape each half as desired (3, 4 or 6 strand braid, rolls, etc.). Place shaped loaves onto parchment covered baking trays. Cover with the towel and allow to rise another hour.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Brush loaves with egg wash. (Sprinkle with vanilla sugar/sesame seeds/poppy seeds/other topping here if desired)
10. Bake 30 to 40 min. until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
11. Transfer loaves to a wire rack to cool before serving.

Much love, 

Columbus for the Weekend!

Hey everyone! I about to go to bed, I wanted to leave a little post before I leave for Columbus tomorrow afternoon. I'm going up to spend the weekend with Stuart's family and celebrate his 21st birthday.

Speaking of 21st birthdays, mine is in 10 days! I still don't know what I'll be doing - do you have any suggestions? 

Look forward to my Daring Baker's post for this month while I'm gone - it will post on Saturday. 

I love you all!

Holy COW, friends.

Talk about amazing.

Someone pinned this image of the Tone It Up ladies from this post of mine, and I have since been getting thousands of page views a day. It's ridiculous, and I love it! Thank you so much, whoever pinned that image! 

That being said, that just shows me that the Tone It Up community is really gaining some followers. I actually made a new blog - Butterflies & Bread - just to document my journey to get healthy and tone it up! Be sure to go follow that blog to stay up to date with my workouts and improvements in fitness!

On another note... I think I am going to go back to avoiding dairy completely. I have been getting outrageous headaches lately, and I've noticed that I get them after I eat dairy - today, I got my headache after I ate a piece of cheese around dinner time. It sucks, but if it means I will feel better, I need to do it. So back on the dairy-free train I go. Hopefully it will make a difference!

Okay, time for something fun - things I've been loving! I've noticed a lot of people have been doing this lately and I want to join in on the fun.


Things I'm Loving (this week)
1. Sports Bras
Specifically this... (Champion no seams in neon yellow)

And this... 

Also a Champion bra. This is a compression bra though. Isn't it pretty?

2. Shorts

Again, these are by Champion. I didn't buy them, but I really want them! They match my new sports bra!

3. Collard Wraps

Seriously, they are SO GOOD. These were filled with a mixture of wild mushrooms, pineapple, canned salmon, and Asian seasonings. Too yummy! 

4. Strawberry Rhubarb Jam 

I bought a jar of this from a local market called Pipkins a while ago - and I finished the jar within the week! I never eat jelly that quickly. This stuff was amazing, that's all I can say. Unfortunately, i have no picture of the actual jam, so here is one I found online...

5. White Bean Hummus

I wasn't sure how much I would like this when I bought it, but this is seriously my new favorite hummus. Too yummy. And it has pine nuts, which I love! You NEED to try this. 

That's all for now, friends! See you later! 

Much love, 

Product Review: La Tortilla Factory Soft Wraps

GUESS WHAT? Are you ready for some exciting news?

This is my first video review of a product - and really, my first video blog about anything! Yay! I'm excited to try this out and look forward to making more videos. Please ignore the awkward face I am making in the image that YouTube decided to freeze. Super awkward. 

In general: I was sent the entire line of La Tortilla Factory's new Soft Wraps to review - both full size and minis. I absolutely loved both. The wraps contain no aluminum in their baking soda/powder, no trans fats or hydrogenated oils, no lard, and no high fructose corn syrup. Seriously, they are awesome. And extremely low in calories too. What could be better? 

Click here to see the review of La Tortilla Factory that I did a few months ago when I worked with this company for the first time! 

Note: be sure to turn up your volume. I'm speaking kind of quietly in this. 

Thanks La Tortilla Factory! 

The Daisy Rating

5/5 daisies

Let me know what you think of the video and leave any comments you may have! :)

Much love,