Loving It Because It's Friday!

So, I didn't really have too many favorites this week. Not that it wasn't a good week, but nothing really rocked my socks. Well, aside from these cookies. But I haven't even tried them yet, so Idk how much of a favorite they can be. Maybe it should be Friday of Potential Favorites. Let's go with that so I can add more items!

1. I am UBER excited about trying these Peanut Butter Cookies from thegraciouspantry.com. Look at these puppies, LOOK AT IT! I wonder if the whole wheat pastry flour can be replaced with whole wheat flour. Or if you sift whole wheat flour it'll thin it out so it won't be as heavy. We'll find out. GET EXCITED!



2. Drake, Take Care
So, you know, haven't heard the album. I've heard the songs that have hit the radios like Headlines and Marvin's Room, The Motto. Big fan of EVERYTHING he's doing currently, so I assume I'm going to be really into his album. But it's like $15 on itunes. On the one hand, because I'm such a strong follower, I am almost certain the record is worth the $15. On the other hand...I feel like that price is high. So, I'm going to play the waiting game. Maybe it'll be a Christmas present?? (It's weird not having a picture or something)

3. Iphone 4s
I ORDERED IT!!! It's not arriving until December 9th. ALL the stores are out! I'm super excited. I got it in black, I hope I like it better than the white. The white seemed too...popular. Like everyone and their mom was going to have it. I'm unconvinced Siri is going to be vital to my life, but being able to email, BLOG, and track my running ALL through my phone!?!? Priceless! Clearly not priceless seeing as I dropped $200 on this mess. (Now you know why wack self won't pay that $15 for the Drake album. My bank account needs to recoup!) I'm super excited about this phone. Oh, you know who else was super excited about it though? Adonis! Lol. He was almost more excited than I was. I hope he knows I don't share.


4. Mac Miller, Blue Slide Park
I've been listening to a lot of Hip Hop recently. I am unsure why, it might make me feel extra cool. So, somehow I discovered Mac Miller. I enjoy his album lots, but not actually enough to call it a favorite. I think if I found him less attractive I would probably listen to it less, which is terrible because it would have absolutely NOTHING to do with his talent. Regardless, in my head this is what he looks like daily (see below) and I think he's really attractive in the thin-lipped, rough around the edges kind of way. I really enjoy people with thin lips sometimes. Again, this has NOTHING to do with his rapping ability. This is why I don't discuss certain music genres with people, I'm SO... illegitimate! To be more...legitimate I will say that I DO have a favorite track on the album. Missed Calls. I always enjoy tracks that are smooth and ride the line between rapping and singing. It's probably why I'm so drawn to Drake as an artist. I added the song below. Salud!

Clean Mac n' Cheese

Triple Post Sunday!!! You have to wonder why I don't post throughout the week instead of overloading on a single day. Your guess is as good as mine. I'm going to start with laziness and end with I'm busy. Maybe I'll try to do better next year. New Year's Resolution? Lol. Anyway, I wanted to do a second review of thegraciouspantry's Clean Mac n' Cheese. That's right, I tried it again and really aced it this time! I figured out that go get the flour to meld into the milk, you have to nurse THE MESS out of it. I mean adding fragments of teaspoons of flour at a time and then alternating between swirling the pot and whisking. Of course, simultaneously, you have to make sure the milk doesn't boil. So at this point you're swirling, whisking, taking the pot on and off the stove, sprinkling fragments of flour, repeat until all the flour is in there. *whew* right? Definitely WHEW! But, totally worth it in the end. Also, instead of whole wheat flour I used basic unbleached white flour. I think using both whole wheat flour and whole wheat noodles creates too strong of a whole wheat flavoring. In addition, I used less ground mustard. Overall this attempt was far superior to the one prior. And, plus side, the recipe is so simple it's super easy to throw together in a pinch. Which I did. At this point, I would 100% say this is a 4 star recipe. If for nothing more than the ease of creation. It taste good too, not yet kraft, but definitely passable as a mac and cheese sauce recipe. Check it!


http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-macaroni-and-cheese/

(I really need to buy a camera.)

Tomato Soup...TOMATO BASIL SOUP

BIG DIFFERENCE. I do like them both, but Tomato Basil is SO much richer. But! Do you know why it is so much richer?? Because legit Tomato Basil calls for heavy cream AND a good chunk of butter. Delicious...definitely not nutritious. My favorite recipe, thus far, is from allrecipes.com (In your face! Not from Tiffany! Lol.) http://allrecipes.com/recipe/rich-and-creamy-tomato-basil-soup/detail.aspx It's super legit. 5 out of 5.


Today I pulled this recipe from: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tomato-basil-soup-10000000225897/. It's also legit. The cream cheese did not blend in properly, so there were specks throughout. Didn't actually affect the taste. I will say that I added sugar at the end because it was very acidic. (I also used a combination of tomato paste and water instead of tomato juice) So, I think it was "cleaner" than the OG version above because it used 2% milk instead of cream, but it also used cream cheese instead of butter & cream. I don't think cream cheese, I know, isn't clean. Clearly I'll have to keep looking.


Until then, there is always Tiffany's recipe!!! It's totally clean and totally delicious. It's just not a Tomato Basil, solely Tomato-- which is fine if that's what you're in the mood for. Personally, I like to add extra carrots. http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-tomato-soup/ .


Until I figure out how to make clean Tomato Basil, I'll just have to keep going back and forth between these three. Clearly cooking Tomato soup more often than Tomato Basil...maybe. :D Salud!

Rookie Mistakes

I've been making them all day. *sigh* But, lesson learned, you know? So I had this serious hankering for Mac and Cheese and we all know, if I'm cooking it's going to be clean. Therefore, I turned to my favorite clean chef Tiffany at, you guessed it, Thegraciouspantry.com. Check it:

I thought it was good. Kinda hit the spot. A 3.85 out of 5. I don't think I like Mac n' Cheese that has a pourable sauce. I like it to be combined. Like with Kraft. Or baked, like real homemade Mac n' Cheese...but mainly like Kraft. ANYways, I don't think using whole wheat flour (which I assume is used as a thickener) was wise...it's not that it settled or clumped, but you could definitely taste it. But I will say the sauce, overall, has a lot of potential. I would try it again sans flour and less ground mustard (my B!) AND I was thoroughly surprised how tasty the whole wheat macaroni turned out. I was expecting it to taste like poop. If  you really want clean Mac n' Cheese I recommend trying it; it's easy and tasty in it's own way.
http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-macaroni-and-cheese/

Further, I decided that along with my Mac n'Cheese I wanted to have mini meatloaf. Great idea, on the one hand, that I stole from Lacey at http://shesinyourface.blogspot.com. (Clearly I don't come up with my own recipes) She stole her recipe from Jamie Eason (I die!) and overall, it looks totally legit. Check it:

http://shesinyourface.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-heart-mini-meatloaves.html
I didn't use that recipe. Maybe one day. Instead, I used a basic meatloaf recipe (ground beef, green onions, bbq sauce[clean aspect OUT THE WINDOW!], bread crumbs[c'mon Lady!], an egg, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce & 1/2 serrano pepper). If you really want the recipe laid out bit by bit, let me know. Well, let me tell you. Generally speaking, I'm an ace meatloaf maker, however, because I decided I wanted to make mini meat loafs, here are two key aspects that everyone should know, and I should have caught.

Rookie mistake #1: If you note, the recipe at Lacey's site specifically uses a super lean meat (ground chicken or turkey). I, on the other hand, used lean ground beef. Normally this would be okay except when you make meatloaf in a muffin tin, there's no where for that extra oil and fat to drain to. Instead it's just sitting in the bottom of the muffin paper waiting for you. *sigh*

Rookie mistake #2: I like to minimize cleanup and thereby always use aluminum foil, or in this case, paper cupcake holders. I think, I know, this caused the meatloaf to cook unevenly so the whole thing was cooked, but the bottom part sitting in that contained oil didn't stiffen. It was super lame and super rookie-ish on my part. *sigh*

We'll get 'em next time, tiger, no? Salud!

Pumpkin REVIEW(S)!!!

I don't know if I've ever disclosed this, but! I love Tiffany at http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/. Well, I don't know her, but I love the recipes she provides (they're clean and doable!!!), particularly these two I recently discovered involving pumpkin.

1. Pumpkin Spice Latte

Totally delicious. Totally reminiscent of Starbucks. Personally I like it better than Starbucks...the Starbucks version is too strong (coffee & pumpkin spice wise), but this version is wonderfully tweakable, which is key for my burgeoning coffee addiction, but easy on my still low tolerance for caffeine!! Totally try the recipe, I promise it will be your new favorite fall drink!
http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-pumpkin-spice-latte/

2. Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

So...I wasn't actually a fan. I think the ratio of pumpkin puree, for me, was off. Don't get me wrong, I totally ate it because I'm ridiculous like that, but I cut the recipe in half and if I were to make it again, debatable, I'd have to cut the puree portion in half again.

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-pumpkin-pie-oatmeal/

Shot post, short reviews, short and sweet recipes! Gotta love it, no? Salud!