Pumpkin, Dark Chocolate, Granola Muffins.

These muffins are delicious. And I like to think nutritious. (Just go with it.) The perfect cloudy, chilly day to bake brought this recipe into my hands. And now this recipe will never, ever be leaving my life. Enjoy!

This is how every kitchen should look when baking. I love setting out all my ingredients first so I don't have to open up the cupboard every five seconds. Plus, I feel like Rachel Ray when she grabs every ingredient needed and balances them all in her arms until she sets them on the counter. What a challenge. I cannot wait to have my own cute kitchen someday, with lots of canisters and ingredients galore! 

The batter in the final stages all whipped up! First whisk the dry ingredients together, followed by adding the wet ingredients (in this case brown sugar is considered a wet ingredient) then the granola and chocolate chips.

All ready to be baked! I chose to use the GIANT muffin pan I have. This way I feel like I just went to a coffee shop and indulged in a huge, yummy looking muffin instead of a tiny regular one that I would eat two of anyway! Plus, this recipe made exactly six giant muffins with lots of granola crumble for the tops!

01 02 18

WHALES.

Okay. This post has been LONG overdue. But so have many other posts that I have been meaning to write. September was a busy month, travel-wise. Work-wise, September brought the least amount of flight hours I have ever worked. Travel-wise, what I really yearn for, September was great. The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta was checked off my to-do list on my birthday (this is the World's Largest Aquarium for those who are curious) as a very fun day trip. And then a two day, semi-spontaneous (I am not spontaneous, I need to plan, so I planned for only one day prior to leaving) trip to San Francisco happened!

I debated between Seattle and San Francisco for quite some time. The whales in Washington are mainly on the San Juan Islands, which would take a bit longer for me to journey to then the easily accessible San Francisco and Fisherman's Wharf. With this being said, I absolutely LOVE public transportation. I look for cities that I can get from the airport to whatever attraction via public transportation. So convenient, so easy, and usually quite cheap. In this case, the BART system in San Francisco was phenomenal. For $16.50 round trip, I made it from the airport right down to the Ferry Building. And from there only $2.00 per cable car ride, or $8.00 per trolley ride. Or FREE if you walk. On a perfectly sunny day, I decided to do a majority of walking all over this town. #lovelovelove

With just my little backpack packed as an overnight bag, I set out to explore this city as much as possible. I have been to San Francisco just once before, back in 10th grade. My mom and I went with the Como Zoo-Hoppers, and explored San Francisco, Oakland, Wine Country, Muir Woods, and the surrounding cities for a week. This time, traveling by myself, my priorities were a bit different. Some of the scenery was the same, some of the scenery was different, and some I did not remember at all.

The highlight and my purpose (to continue my now extended birthday month!) was WHALE WATCHING. Let me preface this by saying, I cannot believe this worked out. I booked my ticket the day prior, and the five and a half hour tour was quite worth the price. Check out the tour group I went with if you ever decide to go, they are all marine biologists, adhere to all rules and regulations about sea life/wildlife, and are super nice, plus the boat is named Kitty Kat! Currently, it is Humpback Whale migration time out at the Farallon Islands, approximately 27 miles past the San Francisco Bay out on the ocean. Yes, 27 miles. Which, by boat, is approximately two hours there and two hours back. That is quite the ride! Thank goodness my current job has gotten me quite used to turbulence and motion, because we ran into some rough water with nothing but grey clouds keeping us quite chilled, and salt water drying to a crust all over my face from random mists and sprays the entire ride. But would I change a thing? Of course not.

The whole group met at 8am at Pier 39. We embarked on our voyage at about 8:30am. The sun attempted to shine through, giving us a tease of the warmth we all wish we had the whole day! And that big cruise ship in the back? That's the Disney Cruise Ship. That thing is massive.

Victoria was our guide for the day. She is a Marine Biologist originally from Australia. She was adorable, informative, massively enthusiastic, and all in all just great.

01 02 18

The World's LARGEST Aquarium!

Birthdays mean a lot to me. I have always had themed birthday parties growing up and love to celebrate and make the day seem special. Versus just another day, or the pessimistic 'another year older' attitude. This year, I decided to go on a day trip to Atlanta (why not, with this job!) to the World's Largest Aquarium! Ever since visiting Le 'Oceanografic in Valencia I have wanted to see the World's Largest Aquarium. As that one was the Second Largest Aquarium. With simply a day trip down to Atlanta and home that night, I did just that for my birthday! I saw the aquarium I never knew if I'd ever see. (And yes, this still means I love my job!)

GEORGIA AQUARIUM

The architecture to Aquariums, Museums, and Zoos, are all so intriguing to me. The appearance of this aquarium is massive as you walk across the park across the street from here. Very sleek, very shiny, and just the right amount of futuristic qualities. Opened in 2005, I love the new feeling everything has in this space. And how cool that the co-founder of The Home Depot, Bernie Marcus, donated $250 million for this aquarium. (I LOVE learning things like this!)

01 02 18

Happy Day.

As another layer of joint compound dries in the basement, the clickity-clack of train wheels rumble past the house, and country music fades in and out, today is a good day. A great day.

After a successful Double Daze at Rainbow (yes, this really is my life I tell you) I put the groceries away one by one and continue my health kick. Preface: I have been sick for a week now. I pride myself on not getting sick. This has to be fixed and basically never happen again. Hence, the health kick.

The multi-vitamin has been bought to add to my daily flaxseed oil regime. Spinach was added to my very first green smoothie. Blended with honey, cinnamon, peanut butter, banana, and almond milk. Tell me this does not sound good. I was leery, vegetables in smoothies? Try it. Any combination you'd like. This was much more fun to consume then a whole bowl of spinach. Because I kid you not I tossed in a HUGE handful of spinach and arugula. Salad-bowl worthy.

Vitamin C in the natural form of oranges have been bought. To be had with breakfast each morning. Vitamin C helps absorb iron more efficiently. To which my most recent cereal, Nutty Nuggets from Cub, was bought solely for the iron content, not the hard, crunchy, cardboard-esque quality, although that sounds appealing, I know. Not to say I have an iron deficiency, but Web MD can sure freak a person out, or kick start one to get all their vitamins and minerals. Hence, the health kick.

Extra tea and honey has been a constant brew for this very long sickness week. Switching my usual green for black and white tea's has brought new senses to my taste buds, and the decision of which to have brings me much happiness. Choices! There are so many! Next: to buy darker honey from the Apple Orchard, which has even more antioxidants than the golden honey I have been accustomed to.

Finishing my snack of a green smoothie and sunflower seeds, I feel great. Today is a happy day. I look out the window and the leaves are rustling. Golden leaves flutter from the branches, squirrels run about the yard, and birds come and go from our feeders. Life is good. No, make that life is great. This health kick is exactly what I needed.


Delicious-ness in a pretty little glass.

01 02 18

Multi-Passionate Careerist.

I have never heard this term before. But to me, with no surprise, the description is perfect. Multi-Passionate Careerist.

Dolphin Trainer. Event Planner. First Grade Teacher. Working at a Zoo. Whale Watcher. Hotels & Hospitality. Growing for a Farmer's Market. Raising Animals. Selling on Etsy. Marketing Manager. Baker. Florist. Water Aerobics Instructor. Owning a business. Fro-Yo. Pharmacist. Cabin rentals. Sorority Leader. Staying as a Flight Attendant. Delta Corporate. International Students. Hall Director. Peace Corps. Teach Abroad. AmeriCorps.

My list could go on, and on, and the more I think about my 'list' the more ideas which come to mind. Sometimes this causes stress. Too much stress on what to do with my life. I have always had plans, lists, a schedule, and now much of that has disappeared in a sense. The following year I'd have to choose courses and be ready for school. Now, another year has gone by and what do I think the following year will hold? I have no clue.

Although the unknown is exciting, perhaps there is a bit of fear at the same time. Here's to being a Multi-Passionate Careerist and having no idea what to do.

http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2012/09/20/how-to-succeed-as-a-multi-passionate-careerist/

01 02 18

Caprese Bites.

A little bit of luxury, that's what I call these Caprese Bites. With fresh basil from the garden, fresh tomatoes from the garden, and fresh mozzarella from the gourmet cheese section at the grocery store, I was all set to make these delicious appetizers.

The picture explains the ingredients, the preparation, and the organization of the food. The only tip you may need to know is that I used a melon baller with the mozzarella. Enjoy.

01 02 18

The Perfect Evening.

I have been throwing out the word 'perfect' quite a bit lately. It's on the subtitle to my blog, I say it out loud when things go right, and quite honestly, this word feels perfect to say.

Now the word perfect to me means everything is going right, whether a recipe turned out better than expected (like this evening), a day of work was more fun than work (which happens frequently), or I have ideas and thoughts that make me happy, and thus have been perfected a bit more each day.

Tonight's perfect is a package deal: A day of work that ended by 2 p.m., an impromptu stop at the Delta Farmer's Market (which only happens on Wednesday's) and a true find of perfect eggplants (and beets for future recipes), a great connection with a Delta employee (hopefully I hear back from this lady!), a quick stop at the grocery store for more ingredients after deciding eggplant lasagna is happening, and finally, an early evening of Dolly Parton, Trader Joes's Chardonnay, cooking, baking, and chatting with friends. Perfect.

Eggplant Lasagna. I have never tried eggplant in my life. I have always, ALWAYS, been curious about this vegetable. I really want to grow this in my garden, but hesitated this year because I had no idea what this tasted like. My best description of raw eggplant is the similarity to a fresh green bean out of the garden. A bit woody, a bit barky/planty, but fresh and firm. You could use any dip, my choice lately, has been balsamic vinaigrette, which would be perfect after soaking into the flesh after a few minutes. That will have to be tomorrow's snack, as indeed I bought two eggplants.

Tonight's meal: Eggplant Lasagna. I 'googled' recipes while in the Rainbow parking lot as I have never made lasagna before. I knew I wanted to still use noodles in addition to eggplant. The solution is the following, a combination of two recipes:

Ingredients:

One medium eggplant
2 tbsp Olive Oil
9 lasagna noodles
1 - 15 oz container of Ricotta Cheese- Part Skim
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
5 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can spaghetti sauce - tomato/basil

Eggplant preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper and a drizzle of olive oil over the entire sheet.
3. Wash and cut eggplant into 1/4" lengthwise strips and place on cookie sheet, flipping eggplant to cover with olive oil. Use only the insides of the eggplant (softer/fleshy) and discard outer peeling segments. In total, I had six slices, three for each layer.
4. Cook eggplant for 20 minutes, flipping at the end to make sure both sides are starting to caramelize.
5. Take out of oven and set aside until ready to place into lasagna pan.

Noodle preparation:
There are two types of lasagna to use. Noodles that you must cook before baking, and the new creation, noodles that do not need to be cooked prior. I used one layer of noodles that I cooked first (salted pot of water, about 5 minutes), and two layers of noodles that did not need to be cooked prior (I would always use this method in the future, saves time!). And I could not taste any difference in the end.
1. Cook noodles according to package IF you have the must boil first type.
2. No need to cook noodles if using the quick and easy, no cook noodles.

Cheesy Filling preparation:
1. Mix together  1 container (15 oz) of ricotta cheese, part-skim, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, 3 tbsp grated Parmesan, 1 tsp dried basil, and 1 tsp dried oregano in a bowl and sit aside until ready to start layering.

Tomato Sauce preparation:
1. I used a canned spaghetti sauce jar of tomato and basil. Some day, I hope to use home-made sauce, but for now, this turned out perfect and saved a lot of time.

Layering (Lasagna has SO many steps):

1. Put 1/4 cup of canned sauce onto bottom of a well greased (cooking spray) 9"x15" pan.
2. Set lasagna noodles on top of sauce (I used three noodles sheets) barely overlapping as they expand while cooking.
3. Spread 1/2 of cheesy filing on top of noodles (this is tricky, use spatula and be patient)
4. Add layer of eggplant slices using three eggplant slices (half the plant)
5. Add 3/4 cup of canned sauce over eggplant slices.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 once more. Making sure to end with lasagna noodles on top.
7. Spread the rest of the canned sauce on top of noodles, sprinkle with one more cup of mozzarella and 2 tbsp of Parmesan.
8. Cover with tin foil and cook for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
9. Uncover foil after 30 minutes and allow to cook for 10 more minutes until all cheese on top is melted and starting to bubbly. This means your lasagna is done! 01 02 18