cocoa powder does not mess around

We all know that I bake cookies a lot; there was a month where I didn't even have to look at the recipe anymore.


A few days ago, I decided I had to bake away some of the blueberries I had picked. By using my strong Google-fu, I was able to find a great recipe! (You can find the recipe here.)


Today, though, is the day before my parents return from their two-week safari, and I had promised them brownies.


I follow Keep It Simple Foods, a fabulous blog for vegetarian recipes and everything delicious. Before my parents had left for their vacation, I had found a brownie recipe on KISF that was seemingly to die for.


You can find the recipe here, but you'll want to make them right away. Don't say I didn't warn you.


The recipe uses pecans, but I left those out. Kept the chocolate chips, though.

Hello, lover.

I've never made brownies from scratch before, and certainly never with cinnamon or cocoa powder, but these are winners.

true life: I'm a carboholic.

I'm pretty sure my body needs twice as many carbs as it does protein; where normal people need meat, I'll be happy with crackers or bread.


One of the foods I crave the most when I'm away from home is potatoes. ANY kind of potatoes. They just don't keep in a dorm situation.


I've been toying with the idea of frying my own french fries, a Main family staple, or my own hash browns.


Tonight, though, I went with my favorite version of the potato: roasted.


After consulting Google, which has a handy recipe function, I concocted a winner.


Sami's Potatoes:

healthy is not boring, sorry

I've had some apples sitting in our fruit basket for a while. Pretty sure the only way to tell if apples have gone bad is by squeezing them every day and making sure they're not mushy. These are still far from mushy, but they're not doing anybody any good just sitting there.


So I wanted to make an apple salad! I remembered these lemon glazed cookies I made a couple weeks ago; the glaze was just lemon juice and powdered sugar. (Cookies here.)


I dumped a small amount of granulated sugar in a bowl and squeezed the juice of one lime over it. Combine via whisking and add two chopped apples. Stir together; enjoy.

You guys have no idea.

pita pizza!

As I was putting away groceries today, I found a can of pizza sauce that we had used recently. Lunch was invented!


I kind of made up some of it as I went along, but it turned out delicious.

The tools! You can have whatever toppings you'd like, but the sauce and cheese are a must.

quinoa, I barely know her!

Quinoa is somewhat of a mystery to me, but I've learned how to use it to my advantage.


It's a grain that is PACKED with protein; as a vegetarian, I have to get my protein wherever I can find it.


Tonight's dinner was quickly thrown together. I never know what I'll feel like eating (or cooking). I saw my infrequently used box of quinoa in the pantry and figured it was time.

Tools of the trade.

snacks became tradition

Sometimes it's hard to balance a college life with my home life. I suppose I technically don't live at home anymore, but I do visit whenever I can during the semester.


This year, I would bake cookies every time I came home. It started out as a way to say thank you to my parents, either for driving two hours just to bring me home or for constantly putting up with my various problems. Cookies became synonymous with Sami.


However, I was basically terrible at baking. I'd follow the recipe on the back of the Nestle chocolate chips bag (the same recipe in this post), but my cookies would turn out like pancakes.


Flat, misshapen, but still delicious.


I've now baked cookies so often that I know the recipe by heart. Every time I bake, the cookies turn out a little differently than the time before. Oh well.


There was no way I could have taken photos for this post; my hands were incredibly messy. 


Here's the recipe and how I make these cookies my own:

make it count

I'm spending a couple days with my grandparents, just something to pass the time while my parents are out of town. This means that my Nana showers me with delicious food and snacks while telling me that I eat like a bird.


Sadly, that means I'm not really doing any of the cooking, so I have no recipes to share with you.


But! We picked our own blueberries today. Of course, you have to sample as you go. Blueberries are one of nature's "superfoods": they're packed with antioxidants and tons of vitamins.

The bigger ones tended to be sweeter.

So I've had a ton of these today, along with my new favorite granola. The "Back to Nature" brand makes a "honey almond cluster" granola that is TO DIE FOR.


I may not eat a lot, but I try to snack and eat smartly when I do.

my "own" pasta sauce

So I've been slightly cooking for myself for a little while now. As a vegetarian, a lot of my meals or protein elements come from the freezer, so I just have to heat them up in the microwave - bing, bang, boom. 


Living in a dorm does make cooking harder, but this past year I lived in an apartment-style dorm. Technically, that made cooking easier, but nothing compares to the access of my pantry at home. Not that it's extensive, but it at least has more to it than a college pantry.


I'm pretty sure carbohydrates are really what my body needs, not protein or certain vitamins. I can eat crackers anytime of day and I love getting loaves of bread from the store to snack on during the week. So, as a carb lover, I think it's fitting that I start off this blog with a pasta post. I was inspired to start blogging once things were already cooking, so bear with the photos.




I chopped some fresh garlic and started heating that over low heat in a pan with a capful of extra virgin olive oil. I let that heat up for a while to make sure the garlic got slightly browned; it's important to keep it on low heat during this part, because garlic can burn easily.

Tools of the trade.