Coffee Crumb Cake

Coffee Crumb Cake

January 31, 2017

Jeremy asked me to make breakfast for the Sunday School class the other day and I knew I had to finally delve into something I've had on my mental cooking back burner.

Coffee Crumb Cake.

I basically just wanted the cinnamon filling of a coffee cake and the topping from a crumb cake, hence Coffee Crumb Cake. Even with 3 layers this recipe turned out to be pretty easy. If you don't want a ton of crumb, cut the crumb ingredients in half.

I actually used double the cinnamon filling and am cutting it in half for what I'm sharing today. It was just a little much for an 8x8 pan. But judge it yourself, if you think it wasn't enough filling then by all means make the other half of it.

You know me though, I like non recipes and tweaking things. I'm not a by the book recipe blogger.

Coffee Crumb Cake

Filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cocoa powder

Crumb:

1/3 c sugar

1/3 c brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

8 tbsp melted butter

1 3/4 c cake flour

Cake:

1 1/4 c cake flour

1/2 c sugar

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp soft butter

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup buttermilk

powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

Filling - combine ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. 

Crumb Topping - Whisk dry ingredients, then stir in butter until it forms a crumbly dough. 

Cake - Preheat oven to 325 with oven rack moved to the upper middle space. Grease and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. Begin by mixing dry ingredients in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer). Gradually add butter one pat at a time until well combined. Continue to mix for 1 minute afterwards. Gradually add wet ingredients and then mix on high until light and fluffy. 

Pour half of the cake batter into the greased 8x8 pan. Evenly distribute filling mixture over the cake mix layer. Top with remaining cake dough. Top with crumb topping by grabbing handfuls and working it into pea size and slightly larger crumbs. Press down slightly. Bake for 35-40 minutes

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Meal Pinning Monday

Meal Pinning Monday

January 29, 2017

I don't have much to say today, just a meal plan. 

My aunt passed away yesterday after a 2 year battle with cancer. Therefore I'm not finding myself in the most upbeat of moods. Even after 9 hours of sleep last night I found myself being extremely sleeping in church today. Considering I did something similar when my grandmother passed away, I'm thinking fatigue could be part of my grieving process. 

Either way, he's a much peppier than I am meal plan. 

[What is Meal Pinning Monday?]

MPM is how I meal plan for our little family. I once spent a lot of time searching the web and my recipe books hunting for new recipes and ideas for what to cook every week. Then, Pinterest came along and made meal planning much easier for me. Every weekend I look over what I have pinned the prior week and decide what I would like to cook and make my grocery list from these recipes. MPM came about as a way to share what I am cooking, and to also see what others are cooking every week to hopefully get even more dinner ideas from other bloggers. If you don't pin your recipes feel free to just share what you are cooking.

Monday - Lemon Chicken with Brown Rice & Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Tuesday - Parmesan Chicken with Pasta

[Dip chicken breasts in Greek yogurt & parmesan cheese mixture with seasonings & bake - serve with pasta & marinara sauce]

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Salad

(putting this sauce on chicken in the crockpot all day)

Friday - Beef & Green Bean Stirfry

Saturday - playing it by ear right now

Sunday - Super Bowl Party - taking Pimento Cheese & Spicy Ranch Crackers

Breakfast - Baked Oatmeal with Greek Yogurt & Honey

Lunch  - Grilled Chicken with Broccoli Salad

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Hi blog, It's me Emily.

Hi blog, It's me Emily.

January 25, 2017

Slacking is basically my middle name.

Not a lot of new recipes. Didn't even post MPM this week.

Then in real life I never even clicked post on my lesson plans.

It's one of those weeks, where nothing goes right. I just need a bucket of ice cream and a do over. After not sleeping last night I realized what I really needed, to focus on what matter/what makes me chill the mess out.

When I start getting too high strung I know of three things that de-stress me:
1) bible study
2) gardening
3) working out

I've done two of the three today, #3 was not approved by the toddler. His Daddy was outside doing something and he was under a need level of severe.

I've also realized that work makes me feel out of control. The new grade level that comes with absolutely no data that's useful for the state test. That my friends is not fun. It makes me a Negative Nelly, and I'm afraid I've probably give off the impression that I am in fact just negative to people.

It's just hard when it's a hard year to not let it ripple effect into every aspect of life.

I wish I could write a post about how to not let it mess with the other aspects of life, but currently I need that post written so that I could read it.

Until then, I'll just keep doing bible study at tiny increments of alone time during the day, pulling weeds as therapy, and hoping around the living room to burn off negative energy while my husband comments that I should never try to take my act out in public. 

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Greek Yogurt Snack

Greek Yogurt Snack

January 19, 2017

I recently mentioned that I had bought Country Heat and decided to try out the Beach Body portion containers with it. I'm liking it, it's really been great to see how much food I should be eating, and honestly it's a lot of stuff.

Except this week when the mother of all craving weeks has begun, anybody feel me on that?

Back to the point, Beach Body considers Greek Yogurt as a protein so it works great when I want something sweet for a snack instead of boiled eggs.

They also allow for 1-2 teaspoons, or if you watch Autumn's YouTube videos she even says up to 4 teaspoons, of raw honey a day to sweeten coffee or what-not. I've been choosing to use it in greek yogurt. 

Well eventually the texture out to me. 

And that's what brought me to my current snack. 

I have no idea what to call it. It's late at night. I said I was going to post this a week ago. I'm basically brain dead. 

If you have a better idea let me know. I think Greek Yogurt Snack is kind of lame personally. 

But here's how I make it. 

Greek Yogurt Snack

Ingredients:

3/4 cup plain Greek Yogurt

2 ish teaspoons (give or take) of raw honey

2 tbsp work of the following: cacao nibs, flax meal, chia seeds, and unsweetened coconut

Directions:

Layer ingredients in a bowl and enjoy. 

In case you're wondering the seed container is what I use to measure the toppings, it is roughly 2 tbsp. I put about a 1/4 of a seed container of each topping in. 

I tried eating cacao nibs back in the spring and couldn't get past how nasty they were, but in yogurt they have an actually chocolatey taste and give it a nice texture. Honestly that's what I was looking for with this recipe, a little different taste and a lot of texture. 

The bonus, if you use local raw honey it will help with your allergies. I just with the Tabasco Company could sell raw, their honey is so good. 

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Meal Pinning Monday

Meal Pinning Monday

January 16, 2017

Excuse the last of posting last week, but we were in the throws of minor bronchitis with a toddler here. 

Yes he felt bad, but a week of sickness did more emotional damage than anything. He now thinks he should be carted around by his Daddy all day long. I've started to write a post a few times but said to myself, YouTube looks interesting. I'll watch that and be brainless while the kid naps. 

The disagreeable nearly 2's are rough. 

[What is Meal Pinning Monday?]

MPM is how I meal plan for our little family. I once spent a lot of time searching the web and my recipe books hunting for new recipes and ideas for what to cook every week. Then, Pinterest came along and made meal planning much easier for me. Every weekend I look over what I have pinned the prior week and decide what I would like to cook and make my grocery list from these recipes. MPM came about as a way to share what I am cooking, and to also see what others are cooking every week to hopefully get even more dinner ideas from other bloggers. If you don't pin your recipes feel free to just share what you are cooking.

Monday - Mexican Lasagna

Tuesday - leftovers

Wednesday - Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Jambalaya

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet

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Meal Pinning Monday

Meal Pinning Monday

January 8, 2017

Another week, another meal plan. Right? 

If you're looking at this and thinking, that's more dairy than usual? Then you're right. My workout VHS, yes VHS, has started to die and I decided to get the Beach Body Country Heat workout. It comes with their meal guide and portion control containers and I thought I'd give it a go this month. 

If my gums keep bleeding, I'll be back to mostly Paleo by the end of February. Something about wheat causes my gums to bleed. Granted, my husband won't be crying over the introduction to cheese and tortillas this week. 

[What is Meal Pinning Monday?]

MPM is how I meal plan for our little family. I once spent a lot of time searching the web and my recipe books hunting for new recipes and ideas for what to cook every week. Then, Pinterest came along and made meal planning much easier for me. Every weekend I look over what I have pinned the prior week and decide what I would like to cook and make my grocery list from these recipes. MPM came about as a way to share what I am cooking, and to also see what others are cooking every week to hopefully get even more dinner ideas from other bloggers. If you don't pin your recipes feel free to just share what you are cooking.

Monday - Puerto Rican Chicken with Plantains, Salad, Mojo Sauce, & Avacado

< Chicken link >

Tuesday - Enchiladas  with Salad & Avocado Ranch

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - Paleo Chick-fil-a Nuggets & Fries (a toddler favorite)

Friday - Unstuffed Pepper Skillet

Now for the recipes I didn't get to last week...

Saturday - Lemon Chicken with Brown Rice & Brussel Sprouts

Sunday - Boneless Wings with Cucumbers, Carrots, & Fries

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Persimmon Pudding

Persimmon Pudding

January 5, 2017

I came across this recipe awhile back and pinned it to my "I Wish I was English" board. Then by some miracle my neighbor's mother has this particular variety of persimmon in her yard.

Winter fruit score!

This pudding is everything I love about a British pudding, but baked in a tray without all the bothersome steaming. Top it with some whip cream, or even custard, and you're in business. 

Persimmon Pudding

adapted from Saveur

Ingredients:

2 cups of hachiya persimmon pulp

2 cups of sugar

2 eggs

2 cups of buttermilk (I used cashew with a tbsp of white vinegar)

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/4 cup heavy cream (I only had half and half on hand)

4 tbsp melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Combine sugar and pulp, add eggs. In a small bowl, combine buttermilk with baking soda, stir. Add to pulp mixture. Sift remaining dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Gradually add to pulp mixture, add in cream and mix well. Grease 9x13 pan with butter and add remaining butter to the pudding mixture. Pour into dish. Bake until dark brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour. 

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2016 Favorites

2016 Favorites

January 4, 2017

This year I'm skipping sharing resolution, a year in review... basically all of the usual. 

2016 was the year that I found products I loved, and half of that could have been the fact that I turned 30 and did everything possible to quit aging!

1. RetinA - this has become my love of the year. After weaning from breastfeeding my hormones went wild and I had hormonal acne that I've never seen the likes of before. Not only has it cured that, I feel like my skin looks so much better.

2. Cetaphil & CeraVe - between their lotion and face wash I've been in heaven. My skin is no longer overly dry or overly oily. It's the right balance for the first time in ages. You can easily find these at drug stores so I won't bother linking them.

3. Beauty Blender - I've been using knockoffs from T.J. Maxx and love them. I can't imagine shelling out 20 bucks on a sponge. So really, try the knockoffs.

4. Baby Feet - this my friends is what feet dreams are made of. I'm stating it here officially, like I've said to friends, I'll never go to get a pedicure again. At least not with the purpose of having my skin exfoliated. Best foot peel on the planet.

5. Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Creme - I was sent Truth or Bare and their Poutliner in Primrose from Influenster and I'm in love. This is another "venture of 30" where I'm trying to become a lipstick person. These are great nudes, and great rosy nudes if you're looking for one. After lunch today I still had remains of it.

6. It Cosmetics Illuminating CC Cream - I know a lot of the beauty bloggers don't like the illuminating CC, but it gives my 30 year old easily dull skin a nice all day glow.

7. Milky Piggy - So far I've purchased my mother and I the Collagen Jella Pack, which is their sleep mask. I'm loving it, I use it twice a week on a non-RetinA night. It's super moisturizing and had a great smell. Next on my list are their pore masks.

8. Hard Candy Setting Spray - According to a few Youtubers it's been likened to Urban Decay Up All Night Setting Spray. This actually keeps my makeup in place all day much better than other drug store brands I've tried.

9. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sun Block - again this I feel is a product of 30, but it isn't greasy and my skin definitely needed to start wearing this daily. Especially after that appointment where they did imaging and showed what sun damage I had. Eek!

10. My beloved Camelbak - I've tried the Yeti craze this year people and I have to say I still prefer this water bottle. It allows me to measure how many ounces I've had in a day and I can drink out of it quicker than other bottles.

11. Naked2 Basisc - hands down the best everyday neutral eye palette I've ever had.

12. Women's Seamless Nursing Bra - Gilligan & O'Malley™ - no photos of a lady in her underwear here, but this sleep bra has been a dream. After nursing my girl parts haven't gone back into place, and I assume they never will, so a sleep bra has been a must. I use to be the girl who didn't wear a bra if I didn't have to, like IBTC member that could wear a sweat shirt without one and you'd never know - to now Mommy Boob Club and they touch my ankles. So this bra, and it's ability to keep them off my knees, heavenly. 

13. Fire & Ice Pickles - a friend gave me her recipe years ago but I'm just now getting around to making them. They're good people, really good. Here's a version I found on Pinterest of them >>>



14. Wanderer Bracelets - These handmade bracelets are made in Bali from water buffalo bone and support local artisans. They are super hippie chic and super fun. I honestly love the purpose of the company and their products, and even more so that they are affordable. If you want to get one for yourself use my code LABride20 for 20% off and the link >> http://bit.ly/2hSqnd9

The two in the pic below are a Lima Beads Bracelet in Large & the Hook Wrap Bracelet. I lost my Coordinates Bracelet during NYE and plan to order another one, I had our wedding location on it. Super sad face. They are super well made though, and sturdy. Way better than similar bracelets I bought in a street market in Naples.

15. Ghee - I got addicted to this during the Whole30 back in January and have used it in place of butter ever since. It's super easy to make and basically lactose free for those of you who stomaches disagree with dairy... like mine. Here's an easy Pinterest recipe >>>

16. Whole30 - I've been a long time Paleo lover and used Whole30 a lot when I was nursing to get Harrison over some sessitivity issues, but during January I did my first one that I stuck to 100% the entire month. Loved it. I also highly suggest it ti figure out what foods bother you, I for instance solved my bleeding gum issue with removing wheat. I've known diary was a problem, but a month without it did me well. 

So that sums up my 16 favorite products or such from 2016 that I loved! Tell me, what were some of your favorite product finds in 2016?

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Meal Pinning Monday

Meal Pinning Monday

January 2, 2017

Happy New Year, here's my first meal plan for 2017. 

[What is Meal Pinning Monday?]

MPM is how I meal plan for our little family. I once spent a lot of time searching the web and my recipe books hunting for new recipes and ideas for what to cook every week. Then, Pinterest came along and made meal planning much easier for me. Every weekend I look over what I have pinned the prior week and decide what I would like to cook and make my grocery list from these recipes. MPM came about as a way to share what I am cooking, and to also see what others are cooking every week to hopefully get even more dinner ideas from other bloggers. If you don't pin your recipes feel free to just share what you are cooking.

Turns out Pinterest Widget isn't working today, everything is a link. 

Monday - Mac & Cheese with Chicken & Broccoli

Tuesday - French Dip Sandwiches with Whole Wheat Rolls (I'm skipping the peppers in recipe)

Wednesday - lefovers

Thursday - Lemon Chicken with Broccoli & Brown Rice

Friday - Parmesan Chicken with Pasta & Marinara Sauce

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - Boneless Wings with Cucumbers, Carrots, & Ranch

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