As of lately…

Guys, I just moved across the country….again. Phoenix was great, but I moved to Columbus, Ohio to pursue my career as a graphic designer at an advertising agency! Because I haven’t posted in forever and a day, I decided to do a mini recap of things I’ve been cooking/baking/eating.

Now that I’m all settled in, more real posts to come soon! 🙂

1. Peanut butter, banana, chocolate, protein smoothie.

2. Three ingredient Nutella cookies (from better baking)

3. Banana berry oat bread (from immaeatthat)

4. breadcrumb Eggplant, goat cheese, spinach, english muffin melt.

5. Went out for margs & fish tacos with my friend at a cute little mexican place down the street called Local Cantina 🙂

6. Overnight Oats! (easily my new favorite thing! So easy, so delicious)

7. Zucchini fries!

8. Tomato, cucumber, chickpea salad w/ goat cheese.

New Prints on the Etsy Shop!

Just wanted you all to be the first to know that I added some new prints to my Etsy shop! Check it out 🙂 http://www.etsy.com/shop/brittanythomasprints.

San Francisco Adventures!

This past weekend my boyfriend Alex and I took a quick trip to San Francisco! Let’s just say, I didn’t want to leave. San Fran is hands down the most beautiful city I have ever been to. Here’s a few highlights from the weekend.

Golden Gate bridge!

I just really loved these trees…. Living in Arizona, we don’t see much of this!

   

It just so happened to be San Fran Brew week!

we had a picnic in Alamo square!

Dinner at Rossco’s cafe. Mmm! Loved the wall decor.

Yum!

We saw a stand-up comedian!

San Fran claw chowder & crab cakes! Delicious!

Healthy Cashew Chicken

On Mondays (since I have Sunday/Mondays off) I like to make a big meal to have throughout the week. This week I had a craving for chinese food, so I decided to try a new recipe — cashew chicken! It was soo delicious and very easy to make! I almost feel guilty about how easy this recipe was. I’ve always been a fan of throwing a bunch of things in a skillet and calling it a day, which is pretty much exactly what this is! It’s colorful, and super healthy with all the vegetables!

I got this wonderful recipe from www.howsweeteats.com! This site is full of amazing recipes.

Cashew Chicken

serves 2-3

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup mushrooms

1/2 red pepper, sliced thin

3 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup shelled edamame

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup unsalted cashews

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

 

 

 

Directions: 

Heat a skillet on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add mushrooms and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.

 

Remove from skillet.

 

Season chicken with salt and pepper, then sprinkle cornstarch on chicken pieces and make sure each piece is somewhat coated.

 

Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet and add chicken.

 

Brown on both sides until cooked, about 5 minutes per side.

 

Add garlic, red pepper, edamame, half of the green onions and cashews and stir for 30 seconds.

 

Turn heat to medium low.

 

In a small bowl, mix soy sauce and honey. Pour into skillet, coating chicken and vegetables. Serve with rice. 

 

 

 

Snack Attack {tastes like childhood}

 

 

Who says snack time is just for kids? We all enjoy the afternoon or after-dinner/before-bed snack time! Two of my favorite things in this world, and one of my very favorite combinations, are bananas and peanut butter. When I have a sweet-tooth I try to combine fruits with something sweet, like peanut butter or dark chocolate chips, rather than grabbing the pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Today I, of course, had a giant sweet-tooth. So I decided to take a walk down memory lane and whipped together what I like to call — a smudgie!  This is a super healthy snack that is easy & delicious!

 

 

 

Ingredients: 

1. Banana

2. Peanut Butter (creamy or crunchy, your choice)

3. Graham crackers (I used the low fat kind to save calories)

4. Whatever else you’d like to add! 

 

Directions: 

1. Mash up banana with a fork 

2. Add a few heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter 

3. Mix banana and peanut butter together

4. Spread mixture on one side of a graham and place the other on top, creating a sandwich

5. Place in the freezer for a few hours

6. ENJOY!

 

Somehow…this didn’t TOTALLY suffice my sweet-tooth craving, so I melted some dark chocolate chips in the microwave and simply dunked my smudgie into the chocolate. Perfection! 🙂

 

New Year, New Obsessions

Happy Weekend! Most of you were probably delightfully enjoying this phrase yesterday, on a normal person weekend start day, but working for a newspaper means you get really weird hours/schedules. SO. TODAY is the beginning of MY weekend.

I don’t know about you, but I go through phases when it comes to my favorite things. Mostly with food. Once I find something that I love, I can’t get enough of it, and eat pretty much every day for like…a month. My current obsession for January: OATMEAL!

It all started with the obligatory New Years Resolution of being healthy. I usually  don’t make New Years resolutions because I break them before the end of the month, so this year I’m taking the approach to just simply live healthy. Oatmeal is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. I’ve always LIKED oatmeal, but I never loved it. And that’s probably because I never realized how FUN it can be! I’ve tried about a trillion different things in my oatmeal (some successful, some not so much) and have found that this tasty treat has a little something for everyone.

Baked Oatmeal:

Strawberry ,banana, peanut butter:

berry fruity:

 

I love a good weekend trip

The weekend, Alex and I took a trip to (in my opinion) the most beautiful city in Arizona. Sedona is absolutely breathtaking and being only 2 hours away from Phoenix, I try to visit as much as possible. Something about the bright blue skies and the red rocks is sooo relaxing.

adventuring & exploring [Catalina Island]

This past weekend my boyfriend Alex and I celebrated our one year anniversary on beautiful Catalina Island. I flew out of Phoenix to L.A at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. He picked up my sleepy (yet excited & anxious) self from the airport and we drove directly to San Pedro to board the Catalina Express. After 90 minutes of sleep-deprived excitement, we finally arrived at the beautiful island. Despite the weather being a little cloudier and overcast than we would have preferred, we were still in awe as we approached the gorgeous scenery. We wine & dined, explored the island, and really just relaxed and took in the gorgeous scenery surrounding us. I would definitely suggest this trip to anyone who is looking for a short, sweet, decently-priced getaway.

fashion & favorites [Fall]

I love Fall. Fall fashion, fall weather & fall treats have always been my absolutely favorite thing. Fall has always been that new & exciting time, serving as the light at the end of the tunnel to cure the end-of-summer blues. Although the “fall” weather has been in the 90’s here in Phoenix, I still try to keep my Ohio fall routines alive by drinking lots of pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks, picking pumpkins at nearby pumpkin patches (yes, they have pumpkins in the desert), and wearing flannel & boots!

Here are some of my favorite Fall things:

1. I love flannel shirts! This season the best ones I have found  so far are from Target. They have a wide variety of colors for men and women. This is the one I have, and I love it!

2. Scarves complete any outfit. This light, fashionable navy scarf is from one of my favorite online shopping sites, Modcloth.

3. Watches seem to always add that sophistication and professional aspect to an outfit. They can dress up the outfit, and also come in handy during the day! Michael Kors has the most beautiful watches. Ever.

4. Small cross-body satchels are everywhere this season. So convenient, cute, and complimentary to any outfit. This one I found on Pinterest, but can be found at Modcloth.

5. Coffee coffee coffee. Can’t get enough of pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks.

6. BOOTS. I don’t think it would even be possible for me to have enough of these wonderful creatures. If I had it my way, and the weather cooperated, I probably wouldn’t wear any other shoe. These specific boots are from Steve Madden, but you can find a good pair pretty much everywhere this time of year.

adventuring & exploring [Los Angeles]

I love traveling & exploring new places, but having lived in Ohio my entire life and living in a small college town  for the past 4 years, I haven’t really been able to do much exploring. Now that I’ve moved to the west coast, I’ve been trying new things & discovering new places. My boyfriend lives in Los Angeles, so I try to make frequent trips out there to visit him, and that is exactly what I did this past weekend! We had 3 wonderful days chalk-full of fun adventures & exploring the city!