Baking

Funfetti Cookies

8:30:00 AM


It's holiday season, which means it's time to give in to all those sweets. I hardly baked anything this past summer, and being away at school means I have no access to a proper kitchen Recently, I went home and had the perfect excuse to try out a new cookie recipe! I only hope you'll love it as much as I did!

Cookies for vegans


You may remember that a few months ago, I made this batch of cookies. And similarly I had found a box of funfetti cake mix and wanted to whip it up into a batch of cookies. So, here's what you'll need! 

1. Baking Sheet
2.Funfetti Cake Mix
3.Veggie Oil
4.Vegan frosting (I used dollop) 
5. White Vinegar
6. Baking Soda
7.Cup

First, you can totally un-veganise this recipe by using 2 eggs instead of White Vinegar and Baking soda. The steps are simple to follow and they go like this: 

1. Heat oven to 375 F. 
2. In large bowl combine  cake mix, oil, 2 tablespoons white vinegar and 2 teaspoons baking soda, stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. If it's a bit crumbly, just add a little bit of water (about 1 tablespoon). 
Kenzieblogslife

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased pan or parchment paper
4. Flatten cookies with bottom of cup about 1/4 inch thick
5.Bake about 6-8 minutes (or until golden brown edges) 
Homemade cookies


For the frosting, I used this madagascar vanilla flavor from the Dollop company (which has many more flavors and you should check them out). Being a white cookie, I wanted to spruce up the frosting a bit and added red food coloring! 
Frosting


I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and have fun making it! It's nearly Thanksgiving here in the states, which means I am almost done with this semester of school then I will be heading off across the sea for four months! That's crazy! 
Fresh cookies

Have you tried any new recipes lately? Tell me about yours in the comments! :) x


Autumn

Autumn Market

8:00:00 AM


Let's be honest here. I was one of those people who was not at all ready for it to be fall. The colorful leaves on the trees, yes maybe. But the colder weather, and not being able to lay out on the deck and the fact that classes are in full swing. No. Thanks. But now that October has rolled around, I've finally come to terms with it and have fallen in love with the season again. While scrolling through some photos, and being poorly (I can't breathe out of one nostril it's really great), I thought I would pop a few in a blog post for you all to enjoy. 



Most of these, if not all of them, are from a trip I took to the market in Minneapolis and it was packed with people and colorful looking veggies! 



How cute is that eggplant??





I hope you're having a great start to October so far, what are some things you like to do in the fall? Anything you're looking forward to? 

Beauty

Doors of Charleston

7:30:00 AM



Walking along the narrow streets of Charleston, South Carolina it's easy to see how different and unique every house is. Aside from street numbers, almost every house has a different door color. For some reason, I said "I really like doors" and the entire time we were in Charleston everyone pointed out different doors for me. They were really beautiful, and I have enough pictures of doors to build a village...almost. 

Historic Door

Doors

After walking around the streets looking at all of the different doors, I started to really like the red doors and wanted my photo taken in front of one by the end of the trip (so pic credit to my mom!) 

Rainbow Row

Famous Door
This door might look pretty familiar to you if you have a pinterest account, my sister had one bucket list item to see while we were in the city, and it took us the entire 2 weeks to find it on our last day. This was the most excited she had been the entire trip. 

Charleston South Carolina
17 Tradd Street

 I mean, I don't blame her, this house has such beautiful color and character. Shortly after leaving this spot, I thought about the person who lives there and how it must feel to have a house that is so popular and pinned countlessly by the internet! We also saw a few doors at dusk, which was a lovely time to walk around the city as it wasn't too hot with the sun in the sky! 
Charleston

Night

Charleston

 I've talked a lot about the history of Charleston, but it's so interesting to me and I really enjoyed every minute that I was there (aside from being stuck at an auto shop for over 3 hours). While nobody invited us inside for iced tea or lemonade, we had a lovely time taking it all in. 
Rabbit
Instagram

I hope you enjoyed this post! Time goes by so quickly, and being away from the internet world and leaving my phone tucked away helped me take in, and enjoy every second. Make sure you've checked out my instagram for more fun photos from the trip, and follow me on facebook and bloglovin! 

Buildings

Secret Gardens

8:00:00 AM



There is literally adventure around every corner in Charleston, South Carolina. Five years ago, my family took a trip to visit the city and were there for about three days. We were lucky enough to have a guide that took us exploring the pedestrian alley ways that Charleston has to offer. There are so many beautiful things to see! This post is a bit more photo filled, but I hope you enjoy it! 

Houses

Wyndham

Flowers

Buildings

Historic

Gates

Garden

Pinterest

Homes

Pineapple

Houses

There are a ton of beautiful homes, secret alleys and gorgeous gardens hidden away amongst the streets of Charleston. If you're ever in the city, I would highly recommend making a stop and trying to find a few alley ways! 
In all honesty, being stuck in Charleston may have made the trip longer, but being able to see everything again with more time, was definitely a nice adventure. 
Can you imagine what this city was like way back when it began? 

Fresh

Peach "Nice"cream

8:30:00 AM


You may have seen this blog post a few months ago, and luckily I've made so many more since then! My favorite flavor of this dairy free-ice cream at the moment, is peach!

Sunshine

Nice-cream is probably one of the easiest things you can make, and this summer I've been obsessed with peaches. All you need are 3 ingredients to make this delicious treat! 
1.Frozen Peaches
2. Nut milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk!) 
3. Frozen bananas

You're mostly using frozen peaches for this, but I liked the flavor combination! 

Vegan Nicecream

Staying cool this summer keeps on getting easier with all of the fresh fruit that's available to freeze! Just fill your blender with about 1 and a half cups of milk and 1 cut up frozen banana and 2 cut up frozen peaches! 
What are your favorite summertime treats? 
I hope you're following me over on facebook Instagram and bloglovin


Crisp

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

8:00:00 AM



Last summer, I made this Strawberry Pecan Crisp. While that went over really well, I decided that this year after picking fresh strawberries from a field, and borrowing my grandmother's fresh rhubarb from her garden, that one of my favorite summer treats would be made. 

Vegan

This recipe is dairy free (and vegan). It's also delicious and simple to make! 
Here's what you'll need
8x8 Pan
Bowl
2 cups rhubarb
2 cups strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup vanilla
1 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon

Topping:
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 and 1/4 cup oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
strawberries 

Here's what You'll Need to Do
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl, stir the sugar, vanilla, cornstarch and salt together 
Add strawberries and rhubarb and stir to coat. 
In a different bowl, stir flour, oats, brown sugar and salt until combined
Pour the fruit mixture into the pan and top with topping mixture. 
Top with a few strawberries, or wait until after
Bake for 40-45 minutes until top is firm and fruit is bubbly. 
Let cool for 30 minutes and serve warm!

Healthy

I used extra cinnamon in my batch (just because I like it), but you don't have to! 
It goes really well with any type of ice-cream when you serve it. 
I hope you enjoyed this recipe! 

What is your favorite summer fruit dish? This one is definitely mine and I cannot wait to make it again sometime soon! 
Make sure to comment below! 


Asheville

Wicked Weed: Asheville

7:00:00 AM


Time goes by so quickly, it actually blows my mind. Just last month I was in Asheville, North Carolina sitting in the warmth of the beginning of the summer with the idea of 12 more days of vacation ahead. One of the first places my family and I ate at in Asheville was called Wicked Weed. 

Menu

With a friendly staff, and a great atmosphere it was the perfect place to have our first real vacation dinner. The Wicked Weed is situated in Asheville's downtown area and has a wide range of menu items for everyone. I had the Eggplant wrap with sweet potato fries and it was fantastic! 
Sweet Potato Fries

Since this was our first time in the city, our extremely nice waiter recommended that we head to the chocolate lounge just down the street. Wanting to just check it out (and being in love with desserts) we decided that it would be a good idea to walk off our big meal a bit. 
Asheville

Asheville

Peanut Butter Cup

Our waiter did not steer us wrong, we each got a little treat and enjoyed a nice stroll back to our vehicle! Asheville was full of little surprises and beauty, and there is so much more to show you in the upcoming posts! 
What kind of chocolate treat is your favorite? Are you a dessert person or an appetizer person? 

Let me know in the comments! I do love hearing from you! 

Brie

Tupelo Cafe: Asheville

7:00:00 AM


If you've been reading my blog for awhile now, you already know a few things. I love to travel, and the latest place I've gotten to is Asheville North Carolina, and secondly, I love food. Visiting new places and trying local food is really fun for me. Looking for a fun place to eat while my family stayed and explored in Asheville, we found Tupelo Honey Cafe. This cafe was a recommendation by our concierge at the hotel we were at and it did not disappoint. 

Asheville NC

It was a warm and humid day that we came to the Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville. We were just beginning our trip and had not had enough sunshine yet and wanted to be sat outside. One of the first things we were given was a homemade biscuit with blueberry jam and Tupelo Honey. 

The Tupelo Honey is SO good, and it was a great appetizer for our lunch spot. The menu at the Tupelo really has something for everyone and I would highly recommend it! 
My mom and I shared their Pear and Brie grilled cheese,with a side of Brussels sprouts and bacon. It was all delicious. 
Grilled Cheese with Pear

Brussel Sprouts

This was one place I would definitely go back to if I ever got back to Asheville. If you want a light lunch, I would also recommend splitting a dish as it was pretty big and the perfect sharing size! I would not have been able to eat all of it on my own. 
Finishing up our meals and filling our tummies with delicious food, we ventured into the town to do some shopping. Asheville has two Tupelo Cafe's in the area and you can also buy the Tupelo Honey scent, from the Savannah Bee Company as well! 

I hope you enjoyed this post! Do you like pear and brie grilled cheeses? 
Where do you eat out the most often? 
Let me know how you liked this post down in the comments! 
x Kenzie

Charleston

Making Lemons from Lemonade

7:00:00 AM


Chicago Illinois


 Hello everyone! I'm officially back from holiday, while I soaked in as much vitamin D as I could, I let this blog take a back seat. I honestly loved being off the internet, it was freeing not to have it with me and just have my nice camera, not to worry about if my phone was left behind and not checking what was happening every 15 minutes on social media. 

So, where was I? May 31st through June 14th I was gone, and I stayed near Charleston South Carolina on Kiawah Island. Near the end of our trip, we ended up getting into a bit of car trouble, extending our holiday and downsizing our wallets. While waiting for news on our vehicle that would take us home (Charleston is 17 hours from Wisconsin), we had no choice but to make Lemonade from our Lemons. And we did. I made up a list about Pros and Cons of being "stuck" in a vacation that will seemingly never end. 

 Pros:

 Eating out at restaurants you said "We'll eat there next time" to
Seeing sights you would have had to come back to
Having more time off of work and school
Being in the sun longer
Finding new things to do
South Carolina


 Cons:

 Not knowing when the vehicle will be done (we waited a long time around the shop)
Spending more money than you thought you would
Running out of Data for your phone 
Getting behind on classes and work
Having to go back to Charleston and get the car and drive it back
Not starting the drive back at a reasonable time 
Charleston South Carolina

 We eventually left Charleston on Monday at 6pm Eastern, drove about 6 hours and 15 minutes and then an entire 11 hours on Tuesday. Which is why there wasn't a post Tuesday. 
Even though we ran into some trouble, I really enjoyed being in the south, having more time to eat shrimp and grits, see the sights and spend time with my family. It may have been an unfortunate situation but I definitely feel like we all helped each other make lemonade from our lemons! We survived and made it home at last! 

I cannot wait to share all of the photos from the trip with you guys! It might take a while but I hope you'll love it! I hope you're all having a great month. Has there ever been a time where you have had to make a bad situation good? Have you ever been stuck on vacation? 
Can't wait to hear from you in the comments! 
x Kenzie

Chickpeas

Savory and Spicy Chickpeas

6:30:00 AM


It's finally summer. Which means I'm home from University and creating new dishes and enjoying loads of time outside! Eating salads is one of my favorite things, but having salad two meals in a row just isn't my style, and thus I came up with this dish! 


A vegan chickpea dish with spices and veggies that's easy to make and doesn't take much time at all! If you're looking for a healthy, easy and quick dish to make for yourself (or one other person) this is the meal for you! 
What You'll Need:
1 can drained garbanzo/chickpeas
1 cup chopped peppers
1/4 cup mushrooms
1 cup chopped white onion
2 tablespoons Garlic Powder
1 tablespoon Onion powder
1-2 tablespoons Paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

You can 100% play around with the flavors, personally, I really have been loving garlic powder so you can take it down or turn it up with any of these ingredients!

What You'll need to Do:
Drain the chickpeas
Heat 1 tablespoon Olive Oil in pan over medium heat
Add onions, peppers, mushrooms to pan and cook about 4 minutes
Add all the spices and stir
Add chickpeas and add more spices if you wish! 
Stir continuously and cook for about 5 more minutes


I found that I split up the spices and added more after the chickpeas were added and you might want to do that as well! I hope you all love this recipe as much as I did! I really love chickpeas and want to see what other dishes will come up next! 



Have you discovered any new dishes lately? Anything that you want to try out? I hope this inspired you to create your own and I cannot wait to hear what you have to say in the comments! Make sure to send me an email if you have any suggestions for blog posts! 
x Kenzie

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