SoCal to NorCal

I have lived in the same city my whole life. I love living by the beach and have always been a stone's throw away from the ocean. But that is about to change. My husband got an amazing job opportunity up in the Bay Area, and we are moving away from the only place we've ever lived. Right now I am full of mixed emotions, and until we find an area and place to live, I'm afraid my enthusiasm is not quite where it should be.

There are many things I am looking forward to, as well as many things I will miss when I'm gone. Let's start with the positives.

Things I am looking forward to:
~ Living and exploring a new area.
~ Meeting new people.
~ Drew enjoying his work.
~ Being that much closer to San Francisco, Tahoe, Yosemite, the Redwoods, wine country, etc.
~ Finding a new job in a different field.
~ Buying a home.
~ Possibly traveling to Germany for Drew's work.

Things I am going to miss:
~ Being close to family and friends.
~ My job with the school district.
~ That nice ocean breeze.
~ Being walking distance to Trader Joe's.
~ My daily run through the wetlands.
~ Volunteering with the goldens (though I'm sure I can find an equivalent up north).

Though I really will miss being so close to family on both sides, I am looking forward to this new stage of life. Soon we will drive up and hopefully find a place we would love to live. Once that happens, the reality of moving I'm sure will hit. Until then though, it all seems so surreal.

Knock-off Chipotle Vegetarian Bowl

Ever since Chipotle hit the scene, I've been a fan. Their burritos are so tasty. Since I can't be going to Chipotle all the time, I decided to make a Trader Joe version of my favorite item, the vegetarian burrito. It's super easy and you can get 3 bowls/burritos out of it. It doesn't look like much, but it sure hits the spot! You will not be disappointed by this dish.

Homemade Chipotle Vegetarian Bowl


Ingredients:
* 1 bag of Trader Joe's frozen fire-roasted peppers and onions
* 1 15 oz can black beans
* 1 bag of Trader Joe's already cooked brown rice
* 2 cubes of frozen cilantro
* Lime juice
* Garlic powder
* Olive oil
* Tortillas (if desired)

Garnish:
* Mexican lite shredded cheese blend
* Guacamole
* Corn-chili salsa
* Pico de gallo
* Your favorite Chipotle topping

Directions:
~ In a large skillet, heat a little olive oil. Add peppers and onions and saute for 10 minutes or until cooked through.
~ In one small pot, cook beans. Do not drain! Sprinkle with a generous amount of garlic powder. Slowly cook, stirring occasionally.
~ In another small pot, add cilantro cubes, rice, and a splash of lime juice. Slowly heat, stirring occasionally.
~ Once everything is done, leave out with toppings and have people add what they would like!

Note: Obviously you can easily add meat or any other toppings you would desire. Just like with Chipotle burritos, I feel like I can never finish them if I add meat. Plus Chipotle charges you $1.50 for guacamole unless you get in vegetarian. I'd rather have guacamole over meat any day! Win/win for me! Also while you are at Trader Joe's, pick up a six pack of Trader Jose Lite beer! It's only $4.49 and I think it's better than Corona!

Bloomin' Garlic Bread

Here is a new way to do garlic bread. It is delicious but be aware, you will devour the entire thing if you love bread even half as much as me. Luckily my husband was there to share in the indulgence otherwise I would have had to quadruple my workout for the week.

Bloomin' Garlic Bread

Ingredients:

* 1 small sourdough or Italian round loaf

* 1/2 stick of butter

* 2 tsp chopped garlic

* 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

* Italian spices

Directions:

~ Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Evenly cut bread vertically and horizontally to the bottom crust. Do not cut through the bottom.

~ Melt butter and then add in the garlic. Brush it down every nook and cranny and coat it well if you love butter and garlic. (And come on, who doesn't?)

~ Generously sprinkle cheese in the nooks and crannies as well and a little for the top. Also sprinkle the spices.

~ Bake for 10 minutes or until warm and bubbly. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes (if you can wait that long!).

Layers of chocolate and peanut butter. What could be better?

Though I usually make cookies, I'm trying to branch out and do other things. This was my first attempt at making cupcakes that didn't come from a box. They are Chocolate and Peanut Butter Layered Cupcakes. They were very good, but very dense! I also found that the chips need to be a layer and not a topping. And somehow I ended up with way more chocolate mixture than peanut butter mixture, but I easily solved that by making chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter chips.

(Made for a delicious, be it unhealthy, breakfast!)

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Layered Cupcakes

Yields: 16 cupcakes

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups flour

* 1/3 cup baking cocoa

* 1 cup brown sugar, packed

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1/4 tsp salt

* 1/3 cup vegetable oil

* 1 cup water

* 1 tbsp white vinegar

* 2 tsp vanilla

* 1 egg

* 1 8oz package lite cream cheese, softened

* 1 cup JIF peanut butter 

* 1/3 cup sugar

* 1/3 cup powdered sugar

* 1/4 Reese's peanut butter chips

* 1/4 semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cups in each regular size muffin cups.

~ For the chocolate layer: in a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add oil, water, vinegar, and vanilla to flour mixture, stirring just until smooth. Do not over mix.

~ For the peanut butter layer: in your electric mixer's bowl, beat egg, cream cheese, peanut butter and granulated sugar on medium until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until creamy.

~ Spoon 1 tablespoon of the chocolate batter into each cup. Evenly spread 1 tablespoon peanut butter filling on top. Repeat the chocolate layer. Sprinkle a mixture of chocolate and peanut butter chips. Finish off with a layer of peanut butter mixture.

 ~ Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and cool 10 more minutes.

 (These have the chips on top, but I had to scrape them off because they burned!)

Note: Adding the chips as a layer keeps them from burning. I don't know why the original had you sprinkle them on top. Also the peanut butter layer was very cream cheesy tasting, so I would add more peanut butter.

Satisfying Mint

I love anything mint. Andes mints are my favorite, so when I saw a bad of Andes chips on sale at Target, of course I had to buy them. Then I came across this super easy and super yummy recipe. I had already made the Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies in the same week, but I just had to make these. 

If you need to whip up cookies in a snap, these are a crowd-pleaser and will not take up a huge part of your afternoon. (You know, sometimes life outside of the kitchen gets in the way and you can't spend all afternoon in the kitchen whipping up delicious goodies.) Plus if you aren't a mint fan, you could easily use a different candy like Reese's.

Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yields: 2 dozen

Ingredients:

* 1 Devil's food cake mix

* 1/2 cup oil

* 2 eggs

* 2 tsp vanilla

* Andes mints (or the chips)

Directions:

~ Mix cake mix, oil, eggs, and vanilla. 

~ Scoop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and flatten a bit. Bake 5-7 minutes. Do not over bake!

~ Remove cookies and put Andes mints on top of each cookie while hot. Once melty, take a spoon and smooth out mint like a frosting.

See? Super easy!