Blissfulbritt | Page 60

- Spring Eggs
  
  Posted at 9:28 AM by Brittany, on March 26, 2013
  Spring has sprung!! Sorry to all you east coasters that are still getting inches of snow, that’s rough. Over here in the north west it’s been sunny sunny sunny.
  
  It was so sunny on my run yesterday I felt wildly overdressed. It’s almost time to bust out the running tanks, my favorite! I feel like a cartoon in this picture.
  
  Spring means flowers, sun, birds, birds mating, and Easter for those of you that celebrate. I’d be lying if I said Easter didn’t make me think of candy, eggs, and searching for money in a giant yard. As I get older I am trying to appreciate the real meaning behind Easter, with maybe a chocolate egg or two. Before I went vegan my go to chocolate egg was none other than the Reese’s egg. The thick PB center was far more delicious than their regular PB cup. Any holiday Reese’s was divine.
  
  Last year I tried to give my love to another, which was a terrible mistake. Nothing compares. Sorry TJ’s, I love you, and I love your candy, but your choc eggs suck. Since Easter isn’t complete without chocolate covered eggs. I made my own! I was inspired by this recipe, and if you want a non vegan version give it a try! They also have more pictures, and better egg shaping skills.
  
  Before you judge my egg shaping skills, I’ll have you know that no matter what the shape..everything goes in and out of the same place. So deal with it.
  
  Chocolate PB Eggs
  - 2 cups powdered sugar
  - 3/4 cup PB (I used chunkaayy!)
  - 2 tblsp Earth Balance butter
  - 1-3 tablespoons almond milk (depending on texture)
  - 1.5 cups of semisweet or dark (dairy free) chocolate chips
  - 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
  Mix together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and butter. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until it becomes a nice workable dough. Form the dough into egg shapes, or dinosaur turds, and place in the freezer for about an hour.
  
  I used the stove to melt my chocolate chips and coconut oil, but a microwave would work too. Dip each egg into the melted chocolate and place on wax paper.
  
  I put mine back into the freezer to set up. The coconut oil will make these melt quick at room temperature, and I like my treats cold anyway. This made about 16 sm/med eggs. Which were gone in two days..between three people.
  
  These were delicious, and I think it’s time for another sugar detox!! Would you believe I pulled a muscle in my neck reaching for a cupcake?? I did pull a muscle, I’m not sure how, but I’m going to pretend it’s a sign to cut back on sugar…again. HA!
  
  Q: Favorite Easter time treat???
  | 50 Comments Tagged Easter, Reeses, Running, Spring, Sun, Vegan
- Food for Days
  
  Posted at 9:06 AM by Brittany, on March 24, 2013
  
  Yesterday I made my way to Seattle for ~~tons of free stuff~~ VegFest, a vegetarian food festival with lots of samples. This was my first time attending VegFest as a vegan, but I was pleased to find out that 95% of the food was vegan friendly!
  
  The day started off gray, but that didn’t stop hundreds of people from piling onto the ferries going across the water.
  
  I saw that Scott Jurek was in town and was really hoping to see him at VegFest, but no such luck. I did however score big in the food department. Hundreds of samples to eat, and plenty more to take home. All for an $8 entrance fee. Score.
  
  Beet, fennel, quinoa salad.
  
  Two bags FULL of loot.
  
  The final haul, all sprawled out.
  
  The best new-to-me find at VegFest was vegan whipped cream that tasted JUST like the dairy version..pumpkin/apple/berry pie here I come! After stuffing my face with tons of delicious vegan food, it was time to play tourist in the city I adore.
  
  What’s a trip to Seattle without Starbucks?
  
  Pike Place market has amazing spring flowers this time of year, and of course delicious produce! The daffodils were everywhere.
  
  Spring has SPRUNG! The sun also decided to come out for the rest of the day. HOO-rah.
  
  I tell ya, the day would have been rough without this guy..
  
  Snacks, water, and extra clothes. The day was great, and to top it off I found $0.63 cents over the course of six hours. I’m not even kidding (super rad, right!?.) I’m up to $1.13 on my coin counter. I’m well on my way to that free donut. By the end of the day I was ravenous all over again. Food for days will last for..maybe five days.
  
  Q: What big city do you live near or in, and how often do you visit?? Seattle, and I visit as often as I can!
  
  | 55 Comments Tagged Adventure, Food, Seattle, Spring, Vegan
- Speechless
  
  Posted at 12:09 PM by Brittany, on March 20, 2013
  I thought about incorporating this treat into another post, but then I decided the only way to do justice to this cupcake is to give it a post of it’s own.
  
  I had so many reasons why I needed to make these cupcakes: free time, chocolate craving, experimental bones in my body, a cat that likes peanut butter, and a new Wilton piping set I was given for my birthday!
  
  I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or proud to say these cupcakes left me speechless.
  
  A rich chocolate cake, with cookie dough icing. Oh and have you guessed yet…they’re vegan.
  
  Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes
  
  For the cake:
  - 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
  - 1 cup raw sugar
  - 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  - 1 teaspoon baking soda
  - 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  - 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
  - 5 tablespoons olive oil
  - 1 cup cold water
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. The ingredients must be mixed in the right order to achieve the correct texture. First, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and mix well.
  3. When the dry ingredients are mixed, stir in the vanilla, vinegar, and olive oil. Then pour the water into the mix and stir well.
  This should make 15 regular sized cupcakes.
  
  For the icing:
  - 3/4 cup brown sugar
  - 1/4 cup coconut oil
  - 1/4 tsp. vanilla
  - 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
  - 1 cup whole wheat flour
  - Pinch salt
  - Chocolate chips to top the cupcake with
  Mix these ingredients together in the order they are presented.
  
  I wasn’t sure how this cookie dough texture would hold up in my piping bag. I’ve never used a nice piping set before, but I am happy to report it was a success!
  
  Just to be safe I didn’t mix any chocolate chips into the dough. I didn’t want the piper to get clogged because I don’t mess around with small chocolate chips. Go big or go home. I added 5-6 chips per cupcake for a nice ending decoration.
  
  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a cupcake platter calling my name for lunch.
  
  Q: Cookie dough icing yay or nay? Ohhh yay for sure. Cookie dough anything please!
  | 68 Comments Tagged Chocolate, Cookie Dough, Cupcake, Food, Recipe, Vegan
- Falling in Love
  
  Posted at 9:06 AM by Brittany, on March 18, 2013
  
  I used to really dislike walking into my kitchen and seeing this..
  
  Spotted bananas usually meant my family was buying more than they could consume. If you hang around me, you know wasting is not an option. These days I have fallen in love with spotted bananas. Anytime I see them I know it’s the perfect excuse to bake something.
  
  Something like banana, applesauce, almond milk, cranberry, pumpkin seed, chocolate chip, cinnamon breakfast cookies. Or as I like to call them, anytime cookies.
  
  I used to only read school books, and even then I would only half read them. Lately I have really begun to enjoy, dare I say love reading books. I recently finished a book written by one of the most selfless people I have ever had the privilege of reading about.
  
  Kisses from Katie is one of the best books I have read in such a long time, I finished it within 5 days. What an inspiration, oh and now I want to travel to Uganda and spread the word of Jesus. Anyone that wants to fund that trip hollerr!
  
  I used to go to yoga because it helped stretch and build muscles in my body. For at least five years this has been my yoga practice. This past week I have gone to yoga every.single.day. sometimes multiple times a day and I have fallen in love with not only the physical aspect, but the mental aspect as well.
  
  I have discovered something magical on that mat when it comes to quieting my mind. My thoughts have been awry this week and forcing myself to focus on the current moment has been amazing.
  
  I used to eat popcorn with just a little bit of sea salt. Since discovering nutritional yeast my world has been rocked. I have fallen in love with this simple yet amazing..yeast.
  
  The only problem is that a lot of the yeast falls to the bottom of my bowl..
  
  Don’t ask me how I cleaned the bowl.
  
  I have always been in love with the power I hold over my furry children.
  
  My treatshake brings all the cats to the yard.
  
  Q: What have you fallen in love with this past week, month, year?
  
  | 65 Comments Tagged Bananas, Cats, Cookies, Nutritional Yeast, Popcorn, Yoga
- Early Morning Confessions
  
  Posted at 9:23 AM by Brittany, on March 9, 2013
  1. I have eaten the exact same lunch the past three days and I am officially obsessed.
  
  Spinach, kale, broccolettes, and sweet potatoes. Topped with mustard and nooch.
  
  I dream about this bowl.
  
  2. I have competition. When asking my (autistic) sister if she had a boyfriend her reply was, “*****. He is a good guy.” Well that’s odd, ***** is my boyfriend. Hahaha.
  
  3. I have FINALLY finished Scott’s book.
  
  I still want to be his best friend.
  
  4. I haven’t had sweets in too long. I lost count. I would shank someone for some Snackimals right now.
  
  5. I went urban hiking yesterday. I didn’t know that was even a thing. It’s what you call walking around town, I guess it sounds cooler to call it urban hiking. Weird. The sights were still as good as a mountain hike though.
  
  6. I love the smell of cleaning products. It’s bad. Citrus smell, bleach, Ajax, laundry soap, cat litter..nothing like chemicals to awaken my senses. Who needs drugs when you can smell cleaning products…….JOKE!
  
  7. I’ve owned my car for 5 years and have yet to change the wiper blades, until yesterday. This may seem like no big deal to my desert friends, but I live in a state that rains..a LOT.
  
  With a combination of discounted blades at Costco, and an insisting family, I bought the blades. I also wanted to use them as ninja sticks.
  
  Fortunately for me I didn’t have to put them on.
  
  Now it just needs to rain.
  
  8. I have found the next half marathon I am going to run. Super jazzed.
  
  9. Sitting in a coffee shop reading a book, people watching, or blogging is one of the most relaxing things ever.
  
  10. I have found the most amazing app for my cheap frugal ways. I have this habit of picking up change when I see it on the ground. I get wayyy too excited when I find pennies, nickles, and dimes on the ground. Don’t even get me started on finding a quarter. I decided to track how much change I find starting from the beginning of March. I found at least $1.50 from January to February. Laugh away, that will buy me a free donut!
  
  So March hasn’t been a big payday yet, but I’m holding strong for the day I find those quarters! My friends won’t be laughing at the end of the year when they see I’ve found $5.00 for free!
  
  Q(s):
  - When’s the last time you changed your wiper blades?
  - What’s your weekly confession?
  | 63 Comments Tagged Confessions, Food, Half Marathon, Random, Running, Vegan
- Three Way “Cheese” Sauce
  
  Posted at 9:09 AM by Brittany, on February 22, 2013
  
  You know something is good when you use it not once, not twice, but three times in less than a week. I have found the most amazing “cheese” sauce recipe for my vegan friends, and those of you that enjoy vegan foods. I did not alter this recipe ONE bit, I left it completely alone..it is perfect. With that said you can find this nacho, movie theater like “cheese” sauce by clicking right here. Using water, cashews, nutritional yeast, red peppers, lemon, corn starch and spices…you get this.
  
  OH my gosh I died. I seriously died. My vegan body died and was reborn, all at the same time. I enjoyed this recipe with chips the first time I ate it. The very next day I made some mac and cheese.
  
  There are greens under these shells, but the shells steal the show.
  
  I have no complaints about this sauce. Not a single one. The ingredients are amazing. The third time, I made an enchilada/lasagna like creation. I love Pinterest.
  
  Before making that enchilada/lasagna, I earned my meal by going on my first hike of the year. It was COLD.
  
  Creep
  
  Despite the cold, the views were gorgeous.
  
  Maybe if we wore pants it wouldn’t have been so cold. Owell, I love my state!
  
  Q: Have you started hiking yet this year?
  
  | 37 Comments Tagged Green Mountain, Hiking, Recipe, Vegan, Washington
- Birch Bay Half Marathon
  
  Posted at 9:09 AM by Brittany, on February 19, 2013
  
  After what felt like the longest week of the year, I was able to successfully complete my second half marathon!
  
  The race would have been tough without this.
  
  I contacted Pro-Tec Athletics about reviewing a knee brace, and Jennie with the sales/marketing department replied to me that same day. She was so helpful in suggesting a brace, and she ended up sending me TWO just to be sure I found one I liked. I ended up LOVING this patellar strap (the one she suggested), and I am SO impressed with this companies customer service. I’ll admit I was skeptical of a strap helping my knee, but boy was I wrong! This little strap worked WONDERS!
  
  Not only were these braces sent to me for free, they were sent priority mail and I received them the very next day. This was such a life saver. I wore this strap anytime I was on my feet for a long period of time. I wore it on walks, and I wore it for the race. My knee performed amazingly. I would recommend this patellar strap to ANYONE with runners knee, or anything similar. Oh and if it couldn’t get any better, Scott Jurek wears these braces..since we’re best friends and all. Thank you so much Jennie and Pro-Tec, you helped me run this race! Ok enough mush..onto the race!
  
  The location of this run was gorgeous. Along the bay for a good chunk of the race meant views like this.
  
  The race was flat for the most part, but did have some rolling hills. One of the hills was so beastly and lasted for over a mile (I am a wuss when it comes to big hills.) My pace held steady around 10:40 until I hit this hill and I dropped to an 11:40ish pace. That hill killed my hips. This was around mile 7 and I really started to feel the effects of being on my butt all week. While my knee felt great (yay) my hips were screaming.
  
  By mile 10 my thighs were burning so bad I thought they were going to cramp. This was a new sensation for me, and two days later they are STILL sore!! Miles 11-13 were on autopilot. At this point I wanted to be done. My legs were burning, my back was hurting, and my energy was GONE. I don’t think the cinnamon toast crunch I had for breakfast lasted longer than the first 3 miles. Free continental breakfasts are great! Thankfully I had my running rock with me and having him next to me was enough to keep going.
  
  With a bum knee, a week off from cardio (seriously this week off made me sluggish!), a lack of fuel, and massive hills, I finished without walking and I now have a shiny new PR.
  
  I chopped 9 minutes off from my last half! The Disney congestion during the first three miles made for some very slooowww miles. This meant I had plenty of room for improvement, and improve I did. Thank you to EVERYONE that sent me good knee vibes, it paid off!! I will be taking some time off of running to ensure my knee gets back to 100%. Hellooooo spin class! YAHOO time to look for the next half marathon!
  
  Q: Have you ever run/walk/biked in a race or something similar while injured? I saw two other people with patellar straps in this race, I felt like I was part of a special club!
  
  | 75 Comments Tagged Half Marathon, Knee, PR, Running
- Meerrroww
  
  Posted at 10:38 AM by Brittany, on February 15, 2013
  
  I consider myself very lucky. My Valentine showed up on time, and stayed with me all day long. He dressed to impress and put on his tuxedo for me.
  
  I just can’t get enough. While his white “almost” soul patch works for now, I want to get him one of these..
  
  This is not my cat, but I need that neck tie.
  
  My date and I had fun adventures. We started with a walk (he escaped and then I left him outside.) On my walk I found the love that is my neighborhood.
  
  I can’t tell if that smaller pile is poo or a pine cone. After our walks we baked. Well, tried to bake. I wanted to make a giant heart cookie. Everyone was making cakes, so I wanted to rebel. It backfired.
  
  Giant chubby heart. It was still raw in the center and while I love raw dough, I tore it apart and recooked it in pieces.
  
  I also spent some time with this guy.
  
  We share somed vodka and cried over being old. I am 24 today. It’s almost all down hill from here. Before I get calls about deforming my cats, he doesn’t really look like this, but that app was hilarious.
  
  There we go.
  
  Q: How was your Valentines day? Who was your date? The couch…your pets…a wine bottle?
  
  | 65 Comments Tagged Birthday, Cats, Half Marathon, Valentines day
- Taking A Week Off
  
  Posted at 10:07 AM by Brittany, on February 13, 2013
  
  A couple weeks ago I tweaked my knee. From running 11 miles in crap shoes, to attending too many spin classes and getting the B.A.C. (badass chills..this is when you know you are going HARD!) I of course didn’t listen to this nagging irritation in my knee, and I continued to workout on it. I took it easy in spin, but I didn’t take it easy with running.
  
  I actually had the best run of the year this past Sunday. A 12 miler around my favorite lake.
  
  Aaannndd then shit hit the fan. The second I hit stop on my watch I felt my knee yelling at me. Ugh..WHY! It was swollen to the point I couldn’t make out my patella anymore. I’m 99.9999% sure I have a slight case of runners knee. I’ve had it once before, and without the $20 copay and some cold hands rubbing all over my knee, I’ll do my own self diagnosis.
  
  Here’s the dilemma: I have a half marathon this Sunday. *&#*#&$@@!!! I am not a natural runner, half marathons take training for me. I have been training for two months for this race, and I am so excited. I am staying optimistic that I will still be able to run this race (even if my pace is 15:00min/mile!) I’ve been R.I.C.E-ing like it’s my job, and I am not doing ANY physical activity this week. No running, no spinning, no WALKING! Nothing. I’m skipping three days of scheduled running in HOPES that I can still participate this weekend.
  
  It was clearly my turn to get spanked with the injury stick, but boy is this rough. I never understood how hard it was to sit back and do..nothing. It’s only been THREE days, and I am going stir crazy without movement. For all my friends out there that have serious injuries and are sidelined for months..you have my sympathy and support! I’ve naturally been drowning my sorrows with cupcakes, and I made these on Sunday night. I of course veganized the recipe and they turned out pretty good, not enough mocha flavor though.
  
  My pictures were not pretty, so I am using theirs.
  
  Tomorrow is Valentines day, and then the day after that is my birthday. I would loveee to run a half marathon for my birthday…just sayin. Happy day of love to you all.
  
  My favorite accessory.
  
  Q: Any tips/suggestions/comment/ideas/stories about knees, or about cats that anyone can help me withhh!!?
  
  | 57 Comments Tagged Birthday, Cupcake, Half Marathon, Knee, Running, Valentines day
- Dance Party
  
  Posted at 4:16 PM by Brittany, on February 11, 2013
  
  When I was in elementary school, birthday celebrations were almost more exciting than meeting Santa. Kids would bring treats to class, and the last 15minutes were reserved for an in class party. These days birthdays seem to come and go without the blink of an eye. I usually like to keep my birthday on the low down, unless I get free stuff..then it’s time to party.
  
  I think I may have talked about The Veggie Grill once or twice before..it’s safe to say I am obsessed. It just so happened that I received a, “welcome to grill club” and a, “happy birthday” coupon all in the same week! This meant a free meal (for birthday) AND a free dessert (for joining grill club.) All I had to do was give my e-mail address..SOLD!
  
  One of those plates was free, along with the carrot cake. Vegan comfort food never tasted SO good. Happy Birthday to me. Along with eating my weight in food, I bought myself some birthday party pants earlier that day.
  
  My life is so black and white..time to add a little color.
  
  $10 dollar pants on sale at H&M, dance party indeed.
  
  Q: Do you have a big celebration for your birthday? Mine is on Friday, but I have a half marathon on Sunday and want to take it easy the few days before! AKA I am a grandma and will probably bake some cupcakes and fall asleep by 10pm.
  
  | 70 Comments Tagged Birthday, Food, Free Stuff, Half Marathon, Hot Pants, Vegan, Veggie Grill
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