A Very Special Day

Morning, everyone!!!!
So yesterday was my mom's birthday!!!!!!!! We hung out, sang happy birthday, and went out for dinner!! It was a good day. I'm sooo thankful for my mom and for everything that she has done and it was really great to get to spend some time with her on her birthday! :D

So a couple of  days ago, I made up a new superset workout while at the gym and ended up really liking it! It was pretty tough and I tried to focus on the legs this time around because usually when I work out I feel like I never actually work my legs very much....typically I focus on arms, abs, back, etc. So, I decided to switch things up a little and loved it! Here ya go:

You'll probably notice that the word "squat" is featured in almost every superset....the hardest were definitely the bulgarian split squats...ouch! 

So yesterday I was alone for part of the afternoon...getting some studying done (finals are coming up). Well, the kitten must have been helping me study or something because after a while, I found her passed out asleep on the couch! She lives such a hard life! 

I don't know why anyone would say that we spoil our cats...do you? hahahaha 

Well, I'm going to get back to studying...see ya'll later!!

What have you been up to this week? 

Apple Braid

Good morning!! How did your weekend go? Ours was nice....extremely quiet but very nice!

Last night, my sister and I decided to bake our version of this apple braid that I had seen a while back. We changed up a couple of things, and for some reason ours didn't stay braided, but everyone really liked it and we're definitely planning on making it again!!! :D Here's what we did:
Apple Braid

Ingredients:
For the apple filling:

• 3-4 apples (3 medium or 4 small)
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

For the bread:

• 2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

• 1/3 cup sugar 
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Directions:

For the apples:

1. Peel and core apples. Cut them into thin slices and then cut the slices in half. Toss with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice, place in a buttered dish and bake for 15 minutes at 350. 

For the bread:

1. While the apples are baking, combine all of the dry ingredients for the bread in a large bowl. Stir in the water, oil and vanilla. Mix until smooth, adding more flour if dough seems too sticky. 
2. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead a couple of times to make the dough smooth again. Roll out to a rectangle about 12 inches long and 6 inches wide. Transfer dough to a greased baking sheet.
3. Using a sharp knife, cut strips 1 inch thick along both sides of the rectangle, leaving about 1/3 of the dough in the middle uncut. Spread the apples down the middle section of the dough. 
4. To braid, fold strips of dough into the center, alternating sides. When you reach the end, pinch seams to seal. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. For more information on how to braid the bread, click here.

For the glaze:

1. While the bread is in the oven, make your glaze, by combining all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat until simmering and cook until it thickens, about 2 minutes. If after 2 min, it still seems thin to you, add more sugar by the tablespoon, while cooking the mixture over low heat until the glaze is the right consistency for you. When the bread is done, brush the glaze over the top and serve! 

So there ya have it....our version of the apple braid!!!!! :D It was sooooo yummy!!!!! The apples tasted like pie filling and the bread was really awesome too!!! The main difference in our version was that we used a little more sugar than in the original, because our apples aren't too sweet and we also really like sweet stuff! :D Also, the glaze was completely different but that's only because I didn't happen to have any confectioner's sugar on hand so I had to make a warm glaze. It turned out nicely, though! 

Well, I'm hoping that my slice of apple braid this morning will fuel me through some school work.....only two more weeks left! whohoo!! What are you up to today????

See ya'll later! 

Happy Anniversary to my Parents!!!

Good morning!!! So, as you may have guessed from the post title, today is my parents' wedding anniversary! 26 years! :D My dad bought my mom a gorgeous bouquet:

This thing is huuuuuuuge....and really pretty too! :D 

So nothing much has gone on this week around here....although I did go to youth group last night with some friends!!! It was really good! The house where our group meets is really close by so a friend of mine comes by here and we walk there together! I've gone a couple times so far, and definitely plan on going most Wednesdays!

Other than that, it has pretty much been a quiet week....I've only got 3 more weeks of school, so I'm starting to get all my end-of-the-year projects and stuff. I can't believe how fast my junior year went by!!!

Well, that's really it for today....what have you been up to this week? 

Easiest Biscuits Ever!

Morning! How's that for a creative post title??? I bet it comes as a complete surprise that today I'm going to share a biscuit recipe with ya'll....hahahaha! 

Anyway, before I do,my here's what went on this weekend. Saturday, my parents went on a mini (read: one day) vacation. It was my mom's surprise for my dad because their anniversary is in a few days. So, a friend of ours came and hung out with us for most of Saturday and yesterday. We had a lot of fun! My sister and I made churros with this recipe and they were awesome!!! We also made a chocolate dipping sauce to go with the churros! :D So fun! 

So, this morning, I was up pretty early and decided to try something that I've never really been great at baking...biscuits. For some reason, mine always are either too flat or they don't bake in the middle. Anyway, after some online searching, I found a recipe that looked awesome....plus a lot easier than most biscuit recipes that I had seen before. There actually isn't any butter in the biscuits...just some brushed on top before baking! Sooo here it is:

Easy, Yummy Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (plus some for dusting)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar 
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Gently fold in 1 1/4 cups of the heavy cream and add the remaining cream in by tablespoons just until the dough comes  together (I used about 3 tablespoons of the remaining 1/4 cup). Gently fold all the ingredients together, making sure not to overwork the dough. 
2. Turn out onto a floured surface and pat out the dough until it is about 3/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds of dough and set on a buttered or lined baking sheet. Gather the dough scraps and make more rounds until all of the dough has been used up (I got about 9, but I cut my biscuits a little large...the recipe originally said 10-12). Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter. 
3. Bake at 425 for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are golden. Serve with butter, honey, jelly, etc! :D 

These were really great, and easy as well! 

Is there a recipe that you had trouble with when you first started baking? 

For me, biscuits are tough for some reason....I'm pretty sure that I always overwork the dough because I'm nervous about the ingredients not being incorporated enough...haha. :D Even these weren't perfect....I guess I just have to bake some more biscuits then! 

Well, I had better get going.....got school to do!

How was your weekend?

Switching up my Routine

Good morning! :D Thank ya'll for the comments on my last post! I'm already thinking about the brazilian-style recipes that I want to post at some point in the future!!!! 

This week so far, I've pretty much studied and hung out here at home. Sort of the same routine that I've had for the past couple of weeks.....which is why I'm trying to think of ways that I can switch up my routine so that I'm not always doing the same exact thing. Even if that means just walking up to the park to study a little, I want to really change things up some. It is always nice to do something different! :D 

One thing that I have managed to "switch up" is my workout. I did go to the gym on Monday, and while I did a superset/circuit style workout, which I have been doing, I came up with a brand new one containing some new-to-me exercises! I actually really, really liked it, so here it is!

Here are the exercises that I hadn't done before, or hadn't done in a while:

Side-to-side lunge (I hadn't done these w/ weights before)

Exercise Bench Pushups (I just tend to avoid anything with the word "push-ups" in it!)

V Raise (I added a squat)

Crescent Lunge and Row (I actually really liked this one!)

Sooo, as you can see, I tried out some new stuff, workout-wise! :D 

My next goal is to change up my study routine, like I mentioned earlier! 

Soo, what have you been up to?

Do you have to make yourself break out of a routine, or are you good about switching things up naturally?

That's about it for today....see ya'll later!

Writer's Block

Morning everyone!!!!! Sorry about really not posting very much at all these past couple of weeks.....I've really not done a whole lot. Mostly school.....and I don't believe that biology, business math and economics make for very interesting post topics. :D I honestly don't even have any new recipes or anything like that to share!

Anyway, how was everyone's Easter weekend? Mine was pretty great! We hung out at home for most of Saturday and yesterday we went to church. Not too much going on, but it was still fun! My sister and I attempted to make strawberry candy, but evidently our candy thermometer was a little off and the candies ended up being softer than we were expecting them to be. They still taste really good though! :D Also, we have decided that at one point in the near future we will be baking some petit fours....the whole nine yards with the cake, simple syrup, filling and icing. It is our next "big project"! Do you like having "baking/cooking projects"? Every once in a while my sister and I decide to make something big (like the eclairs we did a while back) and then we spend a good chunk of a day working together to make it!

Well, I do have a couple of questions to ask ya'll, so here they are:

What would you like to see on the blog? 

More vlogs, specific recipes (anything that I have mentioned before but not actually posted a recipe of), what life is like here, etc. Also, if you have any questions, put them in the comments and I'll see if I do another Q&A vlog!

What are you up to this week? :D

Aaand before I go, here's our new family picture!

We took this yesterday after church..fun stuff! :D haha

Good to be Back

Morning everyone!!!!!
How did ya'll's weekends go? Mine was pretty great! Yesterday we visited a new church and had a nice time meeting new people!
So I was a little bit absent from the blog world last week.....just been really busy with school and stuff...plus I actually didn't have any new recipes/workouts to share. Sometimes it helps me to have a little something like  that to get me going on a post and then I just sort of go off on tangents from there. :D
Anyway, I do happen to have a recipe for ya today...the world's easiest cake! It is plain though, so you can either frost it and serve as a dessert, or do what I did and leave it plain and serve with jelly, honey, butter, etc for breakfast! Anyway, I do want to warn you that the texture of this is not a traditional "cake" as it is actually a brazilian recipe and I got my basic recipe from here. Because of the condensed milk in the cake, it is almost like a flan consistency but with flour, if that makes any sense at all. Also, the batter is very thin.....I was pretty worried when I first put it in the oven, but it does bake nicely!

Condensed Milk Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup + 3 T flour
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs 
• 3 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Butter a 9x9 baking pan, set aside. 
2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Beat very well until there are no lumps in the batter and everything has been incorporated. 
3. Pour batter (once it again, it should be runny!) into the prepared pan. Bake for 22-28 minutes or until the cake tests done with a toothpick. 
4. Remove from oven, let cool. Top with powdered sugar, frosting, more condensed milk, jelly, butter, etc! :D 

This was a seriously easy cake to make! Like I said before, the texture is a little bit different, so for that reason I don't think I'll make this all the time, but for a treat every once in a while, it is nice! I even made a lemon curd this morning to go along with it (I woke up at 5:30 today for no reason and I bake when bored). It was actually my first time having lemon curd, and I loved it!!!! I'm already thinking about the other citrus flavors I could use in the recipe! :D 

Easter is less than a week away. It is such an important time of the year. Not only is it a time to spend with friends and family, for Christians, it is also a time to remember Christ's death for us and His resurrection .  

It is a special time, and  I am definitely looking forward to having some quiet family time later on this week. Do you have any Easter plans? 

Well, that's about  it for today......

What are you up to this week?