Kenzie Blogs Life: April 2016

Easy Cashew Butter

8:00:00 AM

I love nuts. But seriously, I've been making homemade nut butters for awhile now and there is nothing I love more. One thing about store-bought peanut butters is that there are way too many ingredients. Unless you're willing to pay a bit more, making it at home could save you a few bucks too! If you accidentally run low on peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter this is also an easy fix! No need to run off to the shop in your slippers!

Currently, my favorite nut butter is cashew butter. I've gone through Almond butter and natural peanut butter and both are great but cashews have a sweeter taste. I tried making this in our mini food pulser/processor and it just didn't turn out as well as when I used the big blender.

What You'll Need:

A blender or food processor

3 ounces of nuts = about a cup

Choice of nut (in this case Cashews)

How:

Place little amounts in if you're using a food processor, if using a blender then just pour 3 ounces in!

Blend until a creamy texture forms

Empty contents into jar

Enjoy!

Things I've put cashew butter on include:

These AMAZING blueberry vegan pancakes

Waffles

Oatmeal (the organic kind)

A spoon (hah)

I know! It's seriously that easy! I love that my blender makes the butter warm right away so I may or may not sneak a taste before putting it away. It's best to store in the fridge if you plan on not using it in the next week or so. The recipe is completely up to you, if you want salted nut butter then use salted nuts, honey roasted-nut butter, and on and on. Anything is possible. I don't like the salted nuts so I always stick to unsalted cashews!

I hope you enjoyed this post! I love homemade butter and I hope you enjoy it too!

What are your favorite nuts? Have you ever made homemade nut butter before?

Busy

Getting through a busy week

8:30:00 AM

This semester has left me with little time for leisure and a big pile of homework. Time feels like it's moving all too fast. Constantly writing things to do in my planner and actually getting them done feels really satisfying. I haven't been doing anything too exciting other than homework and coloring in my coloring book for me to blog about but I hope you enjoy the rest of this post!

Here are some tips, and helpful words to help you get through your busy weeks!

1. Write out your day. I usually use my note section on my phone, as well as a real planner to write out my assignments for the day. If something has to be done by the next day, make sure you do that first.

2. Take a 10 minute break. Stressing out for seven hours straight cannot be good for you. Taking a ten minute break and just sitting down before moving onto your next task can be really helpful.

3. Color. I mentioned my adult coloring book before, and you've seen it on this instagram post! I love it (I got a new one for Easter). It's relaxing and really calming. You can get one for $4 at your local WalMart.

4. Watch YouTube. Yes you might be procrastinating, but again, taking time to just watch a funny video can be relaxing and revamp you to keep up your work!
5. Take a deep breath. YOU CAN DO IT! Each minute that passes is one more minute to Friday which is nearly Saturday anyway!

6. Plan for the next week. Planning meals takes a lot of stress away right there, and planning chores on whatever days you need to get stuff done can keep you right on track. You're doing amazing.

7.

9. Pack your favorite snack. Sometimes it's the little things that can make your day even a little better and that's all that counts.

10. Treat Yourself. I know you're probably trying to stick to those New Years Resolutions but if you've had an extremely bad day, just splurge on that ice cream, or that chocolate cake. It's okay. take a deep breath and start over tomorrow.

Sometimes looking forward to things and creating a timeline makes the week go faster. That's all that's helping me as I inch closer and closer to the end of the semester. If it's been a bad week, or a bad day I really like to work it off or color, or drink tea, or sit and watch YouTube.

What do you like to do? How do you plan for a busy week and stay relaxed? I love reading your comments! Make sure to tell me if you liked this type of post!

Almond

Almond Butter Cups

8:00:00 AM

There are a lot of things that I love in this world. Two of them off that list are almond butter, and chocolate. Aside from exploring new entree recipes, it's important to indulge now and then! With dark chocolate and nut butter, where could you go wrong?

For this recipe in particular, I used the Endangered species variety of dark chocolate, one being caramel (non-vegan) and one being almond. You can choose whatever type of chocolate your heart desires and whatever nut butter as well.

Are you ready to make your own little cups of chocolatey-almond happiness?

Here's what you'll need:

Dark Chocolate
Organic Almond Butter
Ice-cube tray

Here's what you'll need to do:

Break the chocolate apart. I used bars of dark chocolate!
If you used two variations of dark chocolate like I did, make sure you melt them in seperate bowls!
Melt each bowl of chocolate (depends on your microwave, I melted for about a minute).
Stir and if it's not melted enough then add about 10 seconds stirring afterwards
Add the chocolate to ice-cube tray (filling about half way)

It'll be delicious don't worry!

Add small amount of almond butter
Top with rest of chocolate
Set into freezer for about 30 minutes or overnight
Take out and enjoy!

These are so simple to make and super fun! This is also the first time I have ever made something in the dorms! I wouldn't recommend using a caramel-filled chocolate just because I accidentally burnt mine and set the smoke detector off. Oh well. Ya live and ya learn!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and try it out! What is your favorite snack that you indulge in? Make sure to leave a comment!

As always, thanks for reading!

You can also use mini-muffin tins, I didn't have any nor do I have the room in my mini fridge for storage!

Clean Eating

College Eats: Staying Healthy

8:30:00 AM

The freshman fifteen. Yea that's a thing. Eating healthy when you're away from home when you have no one to tell you that "maybe that giant monster cookie isn't such a good idea for lunch or dinner." can be really difficult. I really love eating healthy, I have for a really long time. I thought I would share some tips!

Tips:
1. If your school has a salad bar, use it. I get 99% of my food from my schools salad bar. Occasionally I'll have a soup, but only if there are no animal products. My school has a wide variety of toppings, and greens to choose from that make switching up salads fun and exciting.

2. Eat breakfast in your room. This is easy. Taking time to make breakfast in your room is consistently stated on so many sites as a healthier way to start the day. Oatmeal is my favorite!

3. Read the labels! This is for anyone, even if you're not in school. If a product has ingredients that you can't pronounce, you probably shouldn't put that into your body. Standing in the aisle for 2 minutes extra to look before throwing it into your shopping cart might save you.

4. Pre-pack meals. This might be hard if you're like me and live in the dorms. While I'm running around on lower campus, I like to have a pre-packed snack in my bag to take out anytime I get hungry. I snack a lot.

Apples with Cinnamon are my favorite!

5. Look up some good YouTube workout videos! My favorite channels are Shayloss and Train with Monica. Since I did something funky to my knee I can't do legs as often, so my abs are going to look great. Probably.

*Bonus Tip: Even though Organic food might be more expensive, you can always buy in bulk and freeze stuff. My mom freezes a lot of food and it's completely fine when we take it out later on. Also, coupons=best friends.

Animals

Lending A Hand

8:30:00 AM

Helping others is so rewarding. Helping animals is even more rewarding. Don't get me wrong, people are great, but I'm more of an animal person. For one of my classes, we got into groups and had to come up with an idea to help out a charity in the community that is settled around my university. While other groups helped out kids with cancer, individuals dealing with hunger, and many other organizations, the group I was in had a passion for animals and teamed up with our local animal shelter.

We also got to hang out with dogs for four hours

We spent our time volunteering, and setting up a table on campus to encourage other students and community members to come and help tie a tie in the blankets that would later be donated to the shelter.

We gave out snacks, and brochures encouraging people to adopt if they could. The thing is, pets are a life-long responsibility. I had a dog for 14 years. If you're not ready to own something that long, then it isn't right for you. I strongly believe animals have feelings and seeing the older dogs at the shelter hurts my heart because I wish I could adopt them, but I can't (because I have neither a yard nor a reliable income.) But as soon as I do, you know that's the first thing on my list.

Do you have any pets? Have you ever volunteered with an animal shelter before? What is your favorite animal?

Thanks for reading!

xx Kenzie

Food

Target Food Haul

8:21:00 AM

I love food. And I love food shopping. While so many people can spend hours wandering around a Forever 21 or H&M, I really enjoy going up and down the grocery aisles just checking out what's new and seeing different things. When I go shopping for food, which at my University isn't very often since I don't have a very large fridge or shelf space.

Recently, if you read my post about going plant-based, I've been trying to find good vegan food. While my campus has a wide variety for a salad bar and some vegan snacks, I still was looking for something warm. Something I could just steam in the microwave or heat up.

Taking advantage of the weather, I hopped over to Target.

I had eaten lunch already at that point, therefore my shopping cart wasn't full with things I didn't need to buy! (plus I was on a $20 budget). Trying to find things that are vegan isn't very difficult, especially when you only buy what you need. I found so many vegan options:

I'm not a big fan of cheese by itself in the first place, so I didn't pick up any Daiya, but knowing that they have it makes me very excited and I do want to try it eventually! Aside from the already vegan products (veggies and fruits and course nut butters(my favorite) and I picked up a few mini packets. Though I already regret not taking a big container anyway. They also had a meat alternatives section and was pleased by the selection! Also I had to get the bread, it practically had my name on it!

I picked up their last pack of sweet potatoes and left the store incredibly excited to make dinner!

Maybe it doesn't look immediately pleasing but let me tell you. It tasted amazing and I am definitely going to buy Quinoa burgers (or make my own??) when I get home again!

Consensus?
The Quinoa burgers: ARE AMAZING honestly I may never look back after eating these

Tuscan Kale Blend: Delish! Not sure how I like warm Kale though, but still nice.

Sweet Potatoes: Were probably on sale because it's nearly the end of their season.

Almond Butter: Delish and I love the little packet

Hazelnut Butter: Basically healthy Nutella. It's delish!

Peanut Butter: It's PeanutButter. Of course it's delicious.

I hope you enjoyed this food haul, I love looking at what other people cook up so I hope you do too! Have you ever tried a quinoa burger? Is it easier for you to do food shopping on a full stomach? Are there any posts that you'd like to see coming up about finding vegan alternatives/healthier food options? Let me know in the comments!

x Kenzie

2010

Hawaiian Throwback

8:30:00 AM

Chances that you've been one of the lucky few that actually catch when airlines make an oops and accidentally set affordable prices that go to places like Hawaii? Maybe pretty low, but 6 years ago, my family did. I found these photos while saving mine on backup and thought I would do a little bit of a throwback post like I did with Italy.

It was one of those things that was just meant to be. Taking off of school for a week was definitely a plus. While we might have had a close call missing our connection to Maui, we still made it and it is still definitely one of my favorite trips by far. We spent a week in Maui and it was amazing. I got freckles on my nose from the sun, and ate amazing fresh fruit, and delicious homemade banana bread from a little green hut. I never wanted to leave.

We also visited Honolulu on our last leg of the trip and had to take photos on the beach.

Waking up to watch the sunrise on top of a crater on Maui? Yes worth it. Do it if you're ever there.

Because then you pretend like you're driving off the end of the world, but you're not.

We saw so many whales (we were there in late March/beginning of April and there was so much wildlife). Being a huge fan of animals, I was definitely loving life.

Of course experiencing a luau is also mandatory.

(takes typical 9th grader shadow pose on the beach)

We also had a convertible, and braids were definitely the go-to style.

I loved Hawaii so much, even though I haven't been there for 6 years (ugh that seems like so long yikes) I really would go back again! I mean, sun, fresh food, the beach, what else could you really need?

Have any of you ever been to Hawaii? Did you like it? Where has your favorite vacation spot been in your life so far? Anything exciting coming up? I've got one that I'm counting down to at the end of May! (can summer please hurry up?)

What's your favorite fruit?

Make sure to comment below!

x Kenzie

Pages

Easy Cashew Butter

Getting through a busy week

Almond Butter Cups

College Eats: Staying Healthy

Lending A Hand

Target Food Haul

Hawaiian Throwback

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