Happy Saturday, everyone! I’m cuddled up on the couch with my dogs watching a movie and drinking coffee. We are six days away from moving into the new house, and since I can’t get out and about to keep my mind off the excitement, I’ve been cooking a lot, and that’s why I’m popping on here on a Saturday to blog a recipe! I’ve been playing with a lot of backyard barbecue recipes lately because I’m looking forward to cooking and spending plenty of time outside in the new backyard this summer. I’m sharing one of my favorites today, a fluffy apple snickers salad! It was a dish that almost everyone had on the menu at cookouts back home in Iowa. Mixing Snickers with the word apple shocks people when you mention it here. But I promise it’s delicious! I was so excited for Kyle to try this one! I’ll have him try my favorite, the watergate salad, next!

The great part about this dessert salad is that you only need a few ingredients, and you can make it last-minute before for a party or potluck! Since it has peanuts and apples, it’s “healthy,” right?

I’ve thought about making this salad again with different candy bars to see how it workouts out! Some of my favorites are Twix, Butterfingers, and Kit-Kat! Imagine if they were all mixed in together? Marshmallows are also a great addition, but I didn’t have any in the house.

All you need are Snickers bars, roasted peanuts, whipped cream, vanilla pudding (you could also use a banana), and granny smith green apples!

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Fluffy Apple Snickers Salad

Course Dessert

Keyword snickers, apple, whipped cream, potluck, party, dessert, fruit, kid-friendly

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Author Taralynn McNitt

Ingredients

• 8 Ounces Cool Whip
• 1 Cup Snickers Chopped
• 1/3 Cup Roasted Peanuts
• 1 Cup Vanilla Pudding
• 4 Large Granny Smith Green Apples

Instructions

• Chop apples and snickers into small bite-sized pieces
• Add the apples to a large mixing bowl and coat with the pudding and cool whip.
• Fold in the Snickers and peanuts
• Keep in the refrigerator until it's time to serve!

I hope you enjoy the apple snickers salad recipe.

Questions for you!

1. Have you ever had an apple snicker salad?
2. What’s a recipe that’s unique to your state?
3. Favorite candy bar?

Now that’s officially summer; I’ll be kicking off my summer ice cream series! Each week, you can expect a new fun homemade ice cream flavor that’ll be completely vegan. My ice cream maker has been one of the best purchases I’ve made yet. Kyle and I have been making homemade ice cream after dinner almost every night, and it tastes so much better than the kind found in the freezer section. Plus, it’s better when you have full control over what goes into your ice cream.
I thought it would be fun to kick off this ice cream series with one of my favorite summery drinks as the inspiration for this weeks flavor! The Starbuck’s Dragon Drink! 😋 So what’s a dragon drink? It’s a sweet mango & dragon fruit tea hand-shaken with creamy coconut milk, ice, and real diced dragon fruit. This is one of my favorite go-to drinks after a long run. I went through the drive-through at Starbucks to get this drink for the ice cream recipe, but if you want to make it at home, all you have to do is blend two cups of coconut milk, one mango, 1/4 cup dragon fruit, and your choice of sweetener! 
I love that the ice cream takes about fifteen minutes to make! It’s quicker to do it at home than driving to the store when you’re craving a pint. For the past four nights, we’ve been stuck on chocolate peanut butter ice cream, and it’s better than any flavor we’ve ever bought from the store. I think this homemade vegan ice cream obsession started after our trip to Savannah. Their coconut milk strawberry ice cream was unreal, and it inspired me to make my own.

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Starbuck's Dragon Drink Ice Cream Recipe

Course Dessert, Snack

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Taralynn McNitt

Equipment

• Ice Cream Maker

Ingredients

• 1 Venti Starbuck's Dragon Drink (no ice)
• 2 Tbsps Tapioca Starch
• 1 Tbsp Agave or your choice sweetener
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tbsps Coconut Cream (from the can)

Instructions

• Blend the dragon drink, tapioca starch, agave, vanilla, and coconut cream on high.
• Add the mixture to the ice cream maker for fifteen minutes
• Serve in a cone or bowl!

I think this recipe is so fun and simple for the summer months. With its natural bright pink color, it’ll be sure to impress anyone! Especially the Starbuck’s lovers. You can also do this same recipe with the Pink Drink from Starbuck’s as well.
We bought gluten-free sugar cones and ice cream containers to freeze the extra off amazon!

The next fun summer flavor is going to be S’mores!!!!

Questions for you!

1. Which flavor do you want to see next?
2. Would you like me to do a YouTube video tutorial?
3. Have you ever had a Starbuck’s Pink Drink or Dragon Drink?

PS my TAHOE VLOG IS LIVE! – check it out here!

I have a really fun and exciting weekend coming up! Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until Monday to read about it

In all honesty, I should be getting ready for the upcoming plans instead of writing a blog, but I hate leaving the blog empty for the weekend. Plus, I already promised you the donut recipe. I had the meal prep video scheduled for today, but I’ll save that for next week. Donuts take priority right now, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t currently enjoying one of these delicious treats while writing this post. It only seems fitting…

These donuts are going to change your life! I’m already planning the fall flavors I’ll be baking up next week. I know I’m jumping all over the place in this intro, but I’m just so excited and going through my donut high right now. Enough rambling…let’s talk donuts (as if we weren’t already…)
As you can see, these donuts are gluten free, dairy free, have no added sugar, grain free, and packed with protein! And somehow, they still taste like cake donuts with sugary frosting on top. 
When I was at Sur La Table last week, I picked up some donut pans for $12.99. I’ve been wanting to make them for a while now, and I had carrot cake planned. I haven’t gotten around to those just yet, but I did throw together some protein-packed donuts instead. It was one of those last minute decisions when debating on what to do with the overripe bananas hanging around. It turned out to be one of my favorite last-minute decisions. 
I make a very similar recipe for my protein-packed muffins, so I thought it would be worth the try in the new donut pans.
The only difference between the chocolate and banana muffins is the added 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, chocolate instead of vanilla protein and the addition of 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cashew milk.
If it was batter with regular cake mix, you wouldn’t fill it all the way to the top. But since it’s grain-free, it’ll firm without the whole rising process.
The donuts couldn’t have turned out any more perfect! They were cake-like, moist, and packed with flavor! When you’re working with bananas, you don’t need to add sugar. The Orgain protein powder (Plant-based) that I used is also naturally sweet. It gave these donuts a delicious flavor!

The frosting was the best part. I used unsweetened coconut cream, vanilla, vanilla protein powder, (cocoa powder for chocolate), swerve confectioners (you can use regular powdered sugar as the replacement), and protein powder. It was fluffy like the real stuff, and the taste was out of this world.

I microwaved the frosting for about ten seconds to help spread it. And sprinkles never count as macros…
I frosted some of the chocolate with vanilla, and some of the vanilla with chocolate! I can’t wait to make more combos! This one reminded me of the cookies n cream pop tarts.
The vanilla ones tasted like fresh banana bread with creamy frosting on top! 
How fun would these be to make for your kids? A great breakfast that isn’t full of sugar, but is still a treat!

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Baked Frosted Protein Donuts

These delicious donuts are gluten free, grain free, high protein, with no added sugar, and delicious! 

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Servings 18

Author Taralynn McNitt

Ingredients

Donut Ingredients

• 3 Large Extra Ripe Bananas (mashed)
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1 Cup Protein Powder (I used plant-based orgain)
• 1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
• 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 Cup Ground Flaxseeds (or chia seeds)
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Sea Salt
• 1 Cup Unsweetened Cashew Milk (any milk will work)

Frosting Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Cream (found in a can)
• 1/2 Cup Swerve Confectioner Powder (or use powdered sugar)
• 1/2 Cup Protein Powder (I used orgain)
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350, and grease a donut pan with cooking spray. 
• Add all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. 

  **if you're making chocolate, add in the cocoa powder, extra milk, and chocolate protein powder
• Fill the donut pan to the top with batter, and bake 17-19 minutes. 

  **Use the toothpick method to determine if it's done. The edges will be slightly golden. 
• Let the donuts cool completely before adding frosting or removing from pan.

  Prepare the frosting!

Frosting

• Add vanilla, protein powder, confectioner powder, and coconut cream to a bowl or electric mixer. Combine well. 

  **Add more protein or confectioner powder until smooth. 
• Spread about two tablespoons onto the donuts. You'll definitely have some leftover! 

  **Add cocoa powder to create the chocolate frosting. I added the cocoa powder to the leftover vanilla frosting. 

Notes

Recipe makes 18 Donuts (I made two batches. One chocolate & one vanilla) 

Nutrition facts for one batch of vanilla!

Per Donut: (2 tablespoons of frosting on each donut) 

160 Calories, 14g Carbs, 7g Fat, 5g Sugar, 14g Protein, 3g Fiber 

 

The recipe makes 18 Donuts (I made two batches. One chocolate & one vanilla)

Nutrition facts for one batch of vanilla!

Per Donut: (2 tablespoons of frosting on each donut)

160 Calories, 14g Carbs, 7g Fat, 5g Sugar, 14g Protein, 3g Fiber 
I didn’t want all these donuts laying around on my counter, so I placed them on a tray and froze them for about thirty minutes. Once the frosting had hardened, I stacked them into a freezer-friendly container. Now, I can defrost one for about ten minutes on the counter whenever I want one! 
These donuts are so perfect to have prepared in the house! Apparently, I have to make some to bring to Iowa this fall! I have a feeling my brother would be obsessed! Oh, forgot to mention! I’m heading back to Iowa in October for my cousin’s wedding. My whole family is going and I can’t wait to catch up with everyone! 
The chocolate ones with a glass of cashew milk = perfection! Or a really good post-workout treat.
Now, I really must go finish my tasks before the weekend! I hope you all have a wonderful day and a fantastic weekend!

The fun part  

Questions for you!

1. What flavor of donut do you want me to create next?
2. Glazed donuts or jelly donuts?
3. What do you have planned for the weekend?

Well, the “Funfetti birthday cake” and “yes to Sunday recipes” won in the blog polls last week. So here I am sitting on the couch, currently binging on a new Netflix series (Seven Seconds), and blogging the delicious dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, and no added sugar Funfetti birthday cake recipe on this lovely Sunday night.

Rewind to January. I thought it would be fun to come up with a unique cake recipe for my birthday. I do LOVE birthday cake, but for some reason my body hates it. Every time I eat frosted cake, my stomach bloats, and I feel sick. I end up guzzling down the tums and using the heating pad on my stomach to fall asleep. I think it’s the combination of the dairy, sugar, and flour heavily thrown into a dessert. Or, it could be the fake dyes/flavor in the frosting when I buy them at the grocery store bakery. I’m the same way with Christmas cookies. The past couple of years, stomaching certain foods has become an issue. Moral of the story, I wanted to avoid feeling like complete crap on my birthday. I literally get sick every year.

**This does not mean that you should avoid birthday cake, eat as much of it as you want! I just chose to make a recipe that I could eat without feeling ill.**

Curious about Swerve? Here is the link to the variety pack for the granular and confectioner! 
Oh, and this recipe also makes cupcakes! I made five cupcakes on the side. 
You’ll know when the cake is done if your toothpick comes out clean after poking the middle. The edges will be slightly brown. 
Frosting perfection.
So the verdict? Delcious!

This isn’t going to be a fluffy and flour-y birthday cake texture. You could skip out on the almond flour and coconut flour and use a gluten free flour to get the fluffy texture. I may try to make a vanilla cake recipe (the classic way) soon. The flavors are there for sure, though! We all enjoyed this cake, and my family was impressed. I cut the leftover cake into small bites and ate it with my yogurt all week long.

Nutrition Per Serving (Recipe Makes 13 servings/5 were made into cupcakes)
210 Calories, 14g Fat, 17g Carbs, 5g Fiber, 5g Sugar, 8g Protein
Questions for you!

1. Are there any foods you LOVE, but they make you sick?
2. Are you a birthday cake or pie person?
3. Are you watching the Oscars?

Before I knew it, it was 7 pm, and my parents were at the door. They stopped by to bring me a few birthday gifts, and have some cake with me. Kyle came over a little bit after them, and now I’m finally on the couch ready to get this blog up! We are leaving for Charleston in the morning
About a week ago, I decided to make avocado brownies.

Almost four years ago, I made avocado brownies, and they have been a favorite! Well, I decided to change up the recipe, and these turned out incredible. I can’t even explain how good they taste! You’ll have to make them and try them to ever fully understand.

My parents and Kyle were obsessed. My mom packed half of this batch up to take home, and I was forced to make a whole new batch on Sunday night because they were requesting them.

What I love about this recipe is that it’s truly simple. You know me, I love simple!

The awesome part? They have only 7g of Carbs and a whopping 7g of protein! You could even add protein powder if you wanted more. 
These fudgy, rich, and decadent brownies are perfect for pretty much anyone. They are gluten free, low carb, dairy free, soy free, no added sugars, and healthy as it gets! You can trick anyone into thinking these are filled with butter, sugar, or real flour. This would be a great treat to pack into your kid’s lunches, eat for dessert, snacks, or with your coffee in the morning (that’s what I did.)

I always crave brownies around Valentine’s day. My mom and I used to make (boxed) brownies, frosted sugar cookies, and truffles for the family. Valentine’s Day was always my mom and me’s favorite holiday. She always got me a giant Valentine’s Day basket filled with fun goodies like fuzzy socks, conversation hearts, and stuffed animals. She did this even when I was in high school. This recipe would be a great treat for a Valentine’s Day party or gift. You could add some pink and red sprinkles, or Valentine’s Day themed M&Ms. 

This recipe makes 16 jumbo brownies!

For each brownie: 170 Calories, 7g Carbs, 14g Fat, 7g Protein, 3g Fiber, 1g Sugar
I also tested this with a mug/microwave, and it was a success! You could make a bunch of the batter, and save it for single-serving mug brownies.
I made the batch on Sunday with birthday sprinkles! My goal for the next batch is to make them without eggs so that they are vegan-friendly. I will also be adding peanut butter to those!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these! I made a birthday cake with a similar recipe that I’ll be sharing soon!

Questions for you!

1. Brownies or cookies?
2. Rainbow sprinkles or gummy bears?
3. Chocolate or Vanilla?

I had such a fun opportunity last month to join a group of bloggers and General Mills on a trip to Winnipeg, Canada. We learned a lot about the farms that grow our oats, the importance of whole grain in our diet, and how our oats make it to our cereal bowls. Did I say “oats” enough?
 
In honor of National whole grain month, I’m teaming up with General Mills to bring you guys a delicious Honey Nut Cheerios breakfast fruit pizza recipe! Cereal is a great source of whole grain and the perfect way to start your day (Or end your night!) Cereal with whole grain as the 1st ingredient has beneficial vitamins, fiber, magnesium, iron, and for me, it keeps me fueld for a productive morning.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and all the fun facts about Whole Grain!
I chose Honey Nut Cheerios for my recipe because they are my absolute favorite and they are made with whole grain oats. I eat Honey Nut Cheerios at least five times a week. 

This recipe is super fun, easy to make, and absolutely no baking involved. You can customize the ingredients to fit your dietary needs, or tastebuds!

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Once the butter has melted, add marshmallows, 1 tablespoon of honey and stir until all the marshmallows are melted and creamy.
 About 95% of Americans do not reach their recommended 48g of whole grain per day! There are so many ways you can fit whole grain into your diet!

2. Pour melted marshmallows in a large glass bowl with the Honey Nut Cheerios. Mix together until Cheerios are coated.
“Whole Grain is the first ingredient in all General Mills Big G Cereals, meaning there is more whole grain than any other single ingredient (including sugar from all combined sources).”

3. Add the coated Cheerios to a large serving plate. Softly press the cheerios down to form a large circle. (It helps to damp your hands with water or coconut oil to prevent the marshmallows from sticking to your fingers)
4. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, yogurt, two tablespoons of honey, and one teaspoon of ground cinnamon together.

You can fit your whole grain into ANY meal. Start your day off with a bowl of cereal with whole grain as the first ingredient. Pile your veggies onto whole grain crackers with hummus for lunch. Serve your dinner with a side of whole grain rice. End your night with popcorn topped with dark chocolate chips.

5. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the Honey Nut Cheerios crust. Leave a half-inch of the edges uncovered.
6. Top the breakfast pizza with your choice of fresh fruit, a honey drizzle and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.
7. Keep refrigerated until served. 
This breakfast pizza is the perfect treat for special mornings, office parties, tailgates, weekend treats, or holidays.

This was such a treat and I cannot wait to make it again! I want to try it with Cocoa Puffs and a chocolate cream cheese spread. 
HONEY NUT CHEERIOS BREAKFAST FRUIT PIZZA

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Once the butter has melted, add marshmallows, 1 tablespoon of honey and stir until all the marshmallows are melted and creamy.

2. Pour melted marshmallows in a large glass bowl with the Honey Nut Cheerios. Mix together until Cheerios are coated.

3. Add the coated Cheerios to a large serving plate. Softly press the Cheerios down to form a large circle. (It helps to damp your hands with water or coconut oil to prevent the marshmallows from sticking to your fingers)

4. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, yogurt, two tablespoons of honey, and one teaspoon of ground cinnamon together.

5. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the Honey Nut Cheerios crust. Leave a half-inch of the edges uncovered.

6. Top the dessert pizza with your choice of fresh fruit, a honey drizzle and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

7. Keep refrigerated until served.

RECIPE MAKES 8 LARGE SLICES

Questions for you!
How do you get your daily whole grain?
Which breakfast cereal should I use in my next recipe…Cocoa Puffs, Reese’s Puffs, or Pumpkin Spice Cheerios?
Why do you love cereal?

Good Morning <3

I hope all of your week’s are off to a great start! I can’t believe tomorrow is already Friday. I feel like my weeks go by so fast nowadays. I wanted to catch you guys all up before I head out on my trip today! I’m driving up to D.C. to surprise my brother for his birthday (assuming he doesn’t read my blog.) I’m so excited because Becca (best friend) took some days off and will be coming with me! I love bestie weekends That means…Exploring! We don’t have any set plans, so we are going to metro, walk and go all weekend! I will also be keeping up with the August Fit Challenge while I’m gone!

I’ve lightened up the workouts the past week for myself. I went so hard in July and I think my body was telling me to rest. I’ve made sure to keep my miles below five, stretch more, drink water, and do strength training four times a week (instead of everyday.) I will step it up starting tomorrow! The break was much needed. I sometimes beat myself up when I take breaks, so I need to work on not being so hard on myself or realizing that it’s ok to take time off. Listen to your body first.

 
Becca and I headed to the park to workout on Monday night. We walked, did some outdoor strength training and other random workouts using the playground! Crazy how much you can do without a gym.

 We met this little guy at the park after our workout. A super nice lady rescued four pitbull puppies and the parents from a bad environment. They were so sweet and it makes me so sad to think of how mean people are to animals!

SO VICIOUS!

 
We were coming up with fun outdoor workouts! Getting across the rope without using your feet was so hard!

He’s so precious. He gets to hang out with Kyle all weekend!

Becca and I headed to Amelie’s on Tuesday night to work a bit and grab a dessert! Can you believe I didn’t drink coffee!? I’m doing pretty well! It’s going to be hard in D.C. since all the coffee is so good! I’m gong to bring my backpack and fill it up with water.

SO…I made Eating Bird Food’s delicious chocolate hummus brownies! I made a few swaps to save a trip to the grocery store. I love how basic and real the ingredients are! I added peanut butter chips and dark chocolate chips! I also used dark chocolate cocoa powder (to save a trip) and they were so good! You cannot taste the hummus and they were super fudgy! I used the classic Sabra hummus for mine! I highly recommend trying these out!

I ran two miles yesterday before getting caught in the rain and so I called it quits and headed to the gym with Becca. We did two of the August Fit Challenge circuits & then sat in the sauna (while chugging water.)

Kyle and I caught up on the show “The Nigh Of” sooooooooooooooo good!!!

Post gym popcorn!

Rewind to Sunday!

I still can’t believe I jumped out of a plane. I will be blogging all about that experience soon, but it’s going to be a long one! After taking the jump (he had no idea we were going), we headed back to Charlotte!

Steve (Kyle’s friend) and I cooked up a feast for Kyle’s birthday! & we also made the ULTIMATE birthday cake.

Look at that happy face!

These are my favorite little appetizers! They are inspired by a trip I took to D.C.

Ingredients: 1 Package Cream Cheese, 2 tsps garlic powder, juice from 1/2 small lemon, black pepper, red onion slices, fresh dill, smoked salmon, and a french baguette.

First stir the lemon, cream cheese, garlic, and pepper to taste together. Taste test the cream cheese to make sure it doesn’t need more garlic, dill, lemon, or pepper.

While you’re making the cream cheese mixture, place the baguette in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 300 degrees to heat. Once you take the baguette out, slice it into little pieces.

Spread the cream cheese over the baguette

Add the smoked salmon, red onion, and a speck of dill.

(Shoutout to Meighan for preparing these babies!)

Steve prepared all the meat! BBQ wings & garlic and herb chicken breast!

The broccoli was steamed and finished on the stovetop with sea salt, black pepper, and olive oil.

Recipe for the roasted potatoes can be found here! 

Dinner was SO GOOD and we were all so stuffed!

Steve and I started brainstorming about cake ideas. We decided to do something over the top and completely crazy! Kyle likes peanut butter chocolate and that is exactly what he got!

Boxed yellow cake, boxed chocolate cake, rainbow sprinkles, Reese’s peanut butter cups, peanut butter M&M’s, peanut butter chips, creamy peanut butter, and chocolate fudge frosting!

We baked four layers! We also added peanut butter chips to the yellow cake mix.

Our frosting consisted of two containers of chocolate fudge frosting and one jar of creamy peanut butter!

We stacked each layer on top of layer of frosting and then frosted all the way around the cake. We lined the bottom of the cake with peanut butter chips, pressed peanut butter M&M’s all around the cake, topped it with rainbow sprinkles, stuck Reese’s pieces into the top and then added candles! We all had SO MUCH FUN making this cake!

It was huge! The five of us had to split one slice and still couldn’t get it all down! We had SO MUCH leftover.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!:)

The cake was dangerously good.

 I hope you all have a great weekend and I will keep you all updated from D.C.! You can keep up with my travels on Instagram and Snapchat: @taralynnmcnitt!

Questions for you!

1. How do you know when to take a break from working out?
2. What is the craziest dessert you’ve ever made?
3. Snapchat stories or Instagram stories?

My mom and I went dessert crazy on Christmas Eve. We spent almost two hours at the store making sure we had all of our ingredients, and spent twelve hours baking. There were some things we put off until the morning, but managed to do most of it.

My mom sent my brother a box of these chocolate caramel pretzels and I wanted to make them after seeing a photo because they looked so good! Plus, they were so easy and quick. You can make them for any occasion and decorate them to fit. I will probably make these for the Super Bowl party!

All You Need?
*1-2 bags of soft caramels. *salted pretzels, *melting milk chocolate

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

On a piece of parchment paper, lay the caramels on top of the pretzels.

Bake for about fifteen minutes. The caramel should be soft enough to press down into the pretzel. Do not overcook.

Drizzle chocolate over the top, or dunk them into the chocolate! I added sprinkles for decorations.

These candies were incredibly scrumptious. They reminded me of the mini snickers.

If you have gluten free guest or you are gluten free, use the gluten free pretzels. They’re actually better tasting than regular pretzels.

There are a lot of fans of the yellow cake/chocolate frosting combination. I can’t blame them though; it’s absolutely delicious. I’m more of a vanilla bean cake with white fluffy buttercream frosting person, but that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy a piece of delicous yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting!

It was Ralph’s, Nick’s Dad’s, birthday last weekend and he’s a huge fan of the yellow cake with chocolate frosting combo. I made him cupcakes on Thanksgiving and he loved them! I decided to make that cupcake recipe into a cake and it turned out perfectly. I found a recipe on the Taste of Home website that had pretty good reviews.

I headed over to Michaels Arts & Crafts and then the grocery store while the boys were at Baseball practice. I spent some time with Nick’s Grandpa while I baked the cake. He’s the funniest old man on earth! It’s always fun to have an audience while you bake

Cake Ingredients: *2/3 cup butter, softened, *1 3/4 cups sugar, *2 eggs, *1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, *2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, *2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, *1/2 teaspoon salt, *1 1/4 cups 2 % milk

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Ingredients: *1/2 cup butter, softened, *1/3 cup cocoa powder, *2 tsp vanilla extract, *3 cups powdered sugar or more, *1/4 cup of whole milk or more.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees!

Cake Instructions:

1. Spray two round pans with cooking spray.
2. In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar.
3.Mix in eggs (one at a time) and beat well after each egg.
5. Beat in vanilla.
6. In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the egg, butter, and sugar bowl. Alternate the flour bowl with the milk and beat well.
8. Distribute the batter into each pan evenly and bake. (25-30 minutes) Use toothpick method to check if they’re done!

While the cake is cooking in the oven, prepare the frosting.

For the frosting, add all ingredients to an electric mixer and mix on high! If it’s too runny, add more powdered sugar, if it’s too sweet, add more butter, if it’s too dry, add more milk!

Once the cake is cooked and cooled, it’s time to frost! Frost the top of the bottom layer, place the next layer on top and frost the top and the sides of the cake.

Use a paper towel to clean the cake plate and then decorate with sprinkles.

I used an icing tube to write the words on top of the cake!

The cake can be stored on top of the counter or in a fridge. I recommend leaving it out!

I was really excited with how the cake turned out and Ralph loved it!

I always get nervous when serving a cake when I haven’t tried it, but this one was a success!

The cake was light, fluffy, and most. The frosting was chocolaty rich! I had a hard time making the frosting because the boys kept sticking their fingers in it.

We served the cake with vanilla ice cream.

I bought the saucer, the sprinkles, and the frosting knife at Michaels Arts & Crafts.

This cake was definitely rich and flavorful! Five bites were enough for me!

I brought some over to my dad, who is also a chocolate frosting/yellow cake person! He gobbled it write up!

Overall, it was a success and I will be making this recipe again! I might make this yellow cake to go with the Twinkie cake recipe next sunday!

I turned 22 on Thursday. I can’t believe how old I am getting. I now understand why my parents hated celebrating birthdays. It means you’re aging. That is why it’s important to me to take care of my health, so I can hold on to my youth as long as possible. I don’t want to use age as an excuse to why I can’t run a mile or fit into my clothes.

I received a lot of comments saying “why don’t you splurge on your birthday”. Well, why would I? People create reasons to splurge like : Halloween, football parties, Christmas, birthdays, Valentines Day, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s Day, Friday, Fourth of July, Graduations, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas Eve, Work parties, Anniversary, Girl’s night out, baby showers, weddings, etc…you guys get the point. If you splurge every time, there may be a weight problem creeping up. That is why I choose to make my favorite recipes healthy, so I can have my cake and eat it too. I spend too much time working hard in the gym to ruin on splurging. Don’t get me wrong, splurging is fine every now and then, heck I do it, but all in moderation.

I am apologizing in advance for this SUPER long post. I couldn’t stop taking photos of my cupcakes. I don’t know what it is about cupcakes, but I love how they look in photos.

Ingredients: (All Purchased at Whole Foods)

3 Large Extra Ripe Bananas
3 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1/4 Cup Flax Seed
4 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 Packets Truvia
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Large Egg White
1 Cup Fresh Blueberries
12 Tbsp Light Whipped Cream
1 Tbsp Pb2 Powdered Peanut Butter
2 Tbsps Whole Food’s Energy Antioxidant Trail Mix 

I was a little hesitant if these would turn out. I walked down the aisles of whole foods throwing whatever I thought would work into my cart.

Before starting these cupcakes, I had to make some coffee. It’s my birthday and I’ll drink coffee if I want to. I need coffee to keep me awake now that I am getting older (Joking)

This year, bananas have become the magic to my kitchen. I’m serious. They are the key ingredients in my : pancakes, ice cream, smoothies and now cupcakes. I try to find the extra ripe bananas because they are the strongest in flavor.

-Add three bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash together. You can use a potato masher or a food processor. (I was just too lazy to clean a food processor, so I did it the hard way)

-Add 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed. (For a thicker cupcake, add 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder with the flaxseed)

-Add Chia seed to banana mixture. Chia seeds have also made a huge difference in the way I bake lately. They are a super food high in : protein, omega-3 and fiber. I use them as an egg replacement in a lot of my recipes. I also throw a couple tbsps into my coffee in the morning.

-Add 2 packets of truvia or stevia if you prefer it.

-Separate the yolk and the egg. Add the egg white to the bowl and save the yolk for whatever you wish.

-When it comes to measuring tsps, I’m way too lazy. I get that from my mom. She would always use the palm of her hand for determining the measurements. I do the same thanks to her.

-Mix in baking powder and baking soda.

-Add in unsweetened cocoa powder

-Mix it well. You don’t want any extra cocoa powder bubbles in the batter. That may be one bitter bite!

-Add in one  cup of blueberries. (You can add more if you’d like)

-Combine. Make sure the blueberries are evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Fill a cupcake pan with 6 liners. This recipe made six 1/4 cup sized cupcakes.

Scoop 1/4 cup of the batter into six cups!

-Bake for 17 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let them cool after removing from the oven.

The relief I felt after removing these cupcakes from the oven! I didn’t know if they’d work out or not, but they certainly did!

I may have done a happy dance, but I won’t admit to it.

When the cupcakes have cooled, remove them from the pan. Make sure they are room temperature before adding the frosting, or you’ll end up with a glazed cupcake.

 The frosting doesn’t get much simpler! You don’t need a fancy mixer or seven different ingredients. All you need is Pb2 and light whip cream!

As I walked down the freezer section at Whole Foods, I prayed they would have a light whip cream It’s hard to find “light” products that are made organically. This New Years resolution has been a challenge but I know it’s going to benefit me in the long run.

As I looked down, under the pies, the “light” whipped cream appeared. I was so happy! I flipped it over to read the back, and was impressed with the label. Only 2g of sugar, low sodium, low fat and low carb! This was going to be the lightest frosting I’ve ever made!

I already had Pb2 in my house. (I stalk up on that stuff as if I was extreme couponing)

Mix together 12 Tbsp of whip cream and 1 tbsp of Pb2.

This was the fastest, healthiest and tastiest frosting I have ever made! This makes six servings.(2 tbsp per serving)

Each serving contains: 28 calories, 1.6g fat, 10g sodium, 4.5g carbs, 2.3g sugar and .4g protein.

That is crazy impressive! Most cake frosting contains more than 200 calories and 40g of sugar!

It doesn’t taste light either. My boyfriend had no idea it was low calorie.

Sprinkles. They are pretty, but somewhat tasteless. Basically just bedazzled sugar.

I like to use other toppings for my cupcakes. There are other pretty toppings you can add to cakes, like trail mix.

Trail mix has a lot of health benefits that sprinkles can’t provide. I chose the Whole Food’s antioxidant/energy mix because of the flavor and pretty colors. It’s full of fiber, antioxidants, healthy fats and protein.

I decorated the center evenly distributing the ingredients in the trail mix.

Oh, and Mr. Grumples helped me lick the spoon when we were done!

(Don’t worry, I didn’t re use it)

I was very happy with the turn-out. For not following any recipe guides or knowing what the heck I was doing. They look pretty darn good!

The liners fell right off, and they smelled so delicious. Taking the first bite worried me. They looked beautiful, but did they taste beautiful?

YOU BET THEY DID!

The blueberries and chocolate popped in your mouth like those little chocolate covered candies. The frosting complimented the chocolate-banana flavors perfectly, sending my taste buds into happy-mode. The trail mix gave the bites a crunchy texture.

I highly recommend this cupcake for any birthdays or special occasions. It’s hard to believe this delicious cake did not contain: sugar, milk, oils, flour, salt, butter, heavy whipping cream or any of the other common cake ingredients.

Nutrition Per Cupcake (With Frosting)

-140 Calories, 4.4g Fat, 287g Potassium, 23g Carbs, 4.5g Fiber, 12g Sugar, 4g Protein

Now that is what I call a “happy & healthy” birthday!