Almond Butter Broccoli with Eggs

Good morning everybody! :)

The weather has been so beautiful in the SF bay area lately. I feel very blessed to live here. ^_____^ Today, I want to share with you my delicious Almond Butter Broccoli with Eggs recipe! It's very simple and easy to make so if you're a beginner in the kitchen, I would definitely recommend this recipe! :)

Almond Butter Broccoli with Eggs

Strawberry Coconut Almond Butter

Hi hi my lovely readers! 

GOOD NEWS!!! With summer giving me more free time, I plan to blog at least three times a week! So cheers to more fun blogging! :)

I hope you all are having a wonderful week! My week has been filled with lots of eating, reading, hiking, and swimming! I love summer! Oh man, the swimming though...I am definitely three shades darker than when I entered the pool today. -____-; Either I should start swimming earlier in the day or later at night to avoid the sun. Or find an indoor swimming pool somewhere. Haha~ Oh well, I guess it's just one of the side effects of summer! (If you get this reference, I just finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green the other day. It was such a great read! I definitely recommend everyone to read this book~! :)) 

Recently, I ordered four packs of unsweetened shredded coconut from Amazon (because I was getting a sweet deal for it) and now I am on the quest to make use of it all. @_@; Amazon can be a great blessing as well as a great nuisance. I love the convenience of having my products delivered straight to me at a competitive price, but sometimes these competitive prices are only available when I order in bulk. && SOMETIMES when I order in bulk, I forget to use some of these items or I lose fondness for them. Anywho, guess I'll be eating a lot of coconut this summer~ :P 

I found some strawberries stocked in my fridge and thought to myself, 'STRAWBERRIES + COCONUT??? I THINK YES.' But I also needed to have something to hold it all together nicely, so I went with my current food addiction: almond butter. (Going off on a tangent, I also ordered almond butter by the bulk from amazon and I can't get enough of it with apples! Oh my goodness, apples and almond butter are like the gift from the gods. Best breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, whatever. I could eat these all day. ^_______^ Bwahahaha~ But no lie. I think I need to keep it out of the house for awhile. I eat too much of it in one sitting. >_>;)

So blah blah blah with many minutes of staring into my fridge and pantry, I have created a delicious new spread to use on your toasts, bananas, apples, or whatever you want!


Strawberry Coconut Almond Butter

Prep time: 3 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp shredded coconut
1 cup fresh strawberries (or any berries!)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
1.) Pour all ingredients into a food processor & blend. (I used a Magic Bullet. ONE OF THE BEST KITCHEN INVESTMENTS EVER.)

Makes 3 serving.

Refrigerate leftovers.*

*Side note: It will harden in the fridge, but you can microwave & it'll turn into a spread again! :) I personally like my almond butter a little warmer anyways~ Makes me feel all warm & gooey inside like warm golden honey~ Hehehe~!

This recipe is great because you can use it just like any other spreads (Nutella, PB, almond butter, etc). It's also packed full of good oils, fiber, protein, and vitamin C to get you through the day! I found it sweet enough without any sweeteners, but if you want, you can add some honey or agave nectar. I think next time, I'll try it out with different kinds of berries and see how it goes. So far, I love just eating this on toast or just by itself! Yummy yummy in my tummy. :P 

Let me know how you like this recipe & remember: always have fun in the kitchen! :)

Nutrition Info (per serving): Calories134.4 Total Fat 10.9 g Saturated Fat 2.7 g Polyunsaturated Fat 2.1 g Monounsaturated Fat 6.1 g Cholesterol 0 mg Sodium 97.4 mg Potassium 233.0 mg Total Carbohydrate 8.0 g Dietary Fiber 3.8 g Sugars 3.9 g Protein 3.6 g Vitamin C 45.3%

Calorie counter used: http://www.sparkpeople.com/calorie-counter.asp

Easy Chia Seed Pudding

Good morning everyone!

I hope you all are having a lovely week! I know I am now that finals are finally over! YAY FOR SUMMER BREAK!!! Sorry for not making a post last Thursday (I was feeling the overwhelming stress of my finals~~~ T_____T;) But now that I am able to embrace the beauty and carefree joys of summer break, I will definitely be working on my blog more often. I have lots of exciting projects that I can't wait to share with you all in the near future! :) <3

After my mom brought chia seeds into the household (I swear, despite their fobbiness, her and her sisters are more knowledgable about the latest health craze than I am) and I learned about them for the first time, I experimented with different ways to eat them. I've placed them in smoothies, oatmeal, water, etc, but this is by far the best way to eat chia seeds. Luckily, it's also as easy as making cereal! ^____^

Easy Chia Seed Pudding

Ma Low-Fat Fettuccine Alfredo Pasta

Hey y'all!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week! At the moment, I am in the midst of my dead week, which is the STUDY week before finals. *crying a river* Unfortunately, this blessed dead week makes me feel like I have all the time in the world (AKA I don't do any productive studying). Fortunately, I decided to use my time to write a much overdue blog post about my delicious, creamy low-fat Alfredo pasta! :) Yum yum yummers~!

Side Educational Blurb: Typically, I would be an advocate for full fat like whole milk because it naturally comes out the cow that way, but because dish is already heavy in fats, I feel like it's better to be thrifty with the fat here. Although, in general, you need fat to help absorb nutrients, provide energy, protect organs, keep your hair & skin beautiful, and much more! :) So, make sure you're getting lots of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats in your diet! My favorite sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are from avocados and nuts! I can eat these for days! Yum! ^___^ Saturated fat is okay too, but in limited amounts b/c it raises bad cholesterol, increasing your risk of cardiovascular diseases && DEFINITELY DO NOT CONSUME TRANS FAT b/c all it does is wreck havoc in your body. Trans fat is a manmade product created by hydrogenating vegetable oils so that vegetable oils can remain solid at room temperature. The problem with trans fat is that it raises bad cholesterol (LDL) while lowering good cholesterol (HDL). Eating trans fats can increase your chances of getting cardiovascular disease and stroke. You can recognize saturated fats and trans fats because they are usually solids at room temperature.

I feel like my low-fat Alfredo recipe is a great alternative for those trying to keep up a healthy lifestyle while still being able to indulge in one of their favorite Italian dishes without losing flavor! Another pro is that this easy dish only takes 25 minutes to make! :)

Ma Low-Fat Alfredo Pasta