Petite Moment: Oatmeal, so not overrated.

Having oatmeal for breakfast is one of my favorite things to do in the fall.  I love how it is warm, perfect for the chilly days of fall.  It is also a hardy breakfast.  It is fast to make and can be tailored to your individual taste.

Add berries, seeds, and nuts!

On the days that I am in  rush (or more like lazy) I simply add chia seeds, dried cranberries, and agave syrup.

Today's breakfast, I ate this in bed while I caught up on watching YouTube videos.

What do you put in your oatmeal?

-Diana

Ride the Train to Coffee Town

Two posts about coffee in one week? Why not! As I was scrolling through Facebook (definitely not procrastinating) I ran across a post that caught my eye. It was a link to a map of Chicago's greatest coffee shops based on the train line system. So basically its a coffee shop per stop and I thought it was genius!

http://www.thrillist.com/drink/chicago/best-chicago-coffee-shops-by-cta-public-transit-train-stops

Each stop has a distinct coffee shop that you can attend and I think it would be a fun activity to go to as many shops as you can! I'm not sure how many cups of coffee you can drink before you overdose on caffeine, but maybe visiting 4 or 5 shops a day and not drinking coffee at each would be perfectly fine. The nice people at The Thrillist even go so far as to show you each line individually. I'll share some of them with you...

Red Line:

Brown Line:

The Loop:

If you live in Chicago, I definitely recommend bookmarking this in your phone so if you ever feeling like trying a new coffee place on your way to work, school, or anywhere you know where to look! Even if you don't live in Chicago, but you are visiting, checking out some of these places is definitely a must! You can Yelp the best places to ensure you get the best coffee. I definitely plan on doing this whenever I go back home (Diana, we are obviously doing this together!) and I will let you guys know how it is! 

Check out the full post with more details here

Have a great weekend!

-Emily

Petite Moment: The Time has Finally Come!

The moment we've all (okay, mostly me) been waiting for has finally come! I finally had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte. And it was everything I thought it would be and more!

I usually don't get whipped cream on it because I want to save myself those extra calories, but today I felt like indulging myself (treat yo self) and it was amazing. Also it doesn't hurt that me and my friend Adriana, not Audriana (Starbucks workers always misspell names) got the buy one get one deal for all of the fall drinks!

Do you like the PSL? Or do you like another fall drink? Let me know below!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

-Emily

Healthy Chocolate Pudding?!

http://thebeautydepartment.com/2014/09/chocolateavopudding/

Hello everyone! Do you remember my post about the healthy "doughnuts" made out of apples? Well in that post The Beauty Department used a healthy chocolate pudding made out of avocado and I have thought about it ever since! They finally posted the recipe and I thought I would share it with you.

http://thebeautydepartment.com/2014/09/chocolateavopudding/

Avocado is seriously the most amazing thing to me. It is a lovely fruit (some may consider it a vegetable) that is so creamy and delicious yet it is so good for your health. Apart from eating avocado in just about everything (guacamole, toast, alone, and now pudding), you can use avocado in your face or hair masks! Avocado really does it all! Anyway, back to this recipe. The ingredients they used in the recipe are:

• 2 ripe, peeled and pitted avocados
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of cinnamon

So how do you use all these lovely ingredients? There is only one step to greatness and that is to put all of your ingredients in a blender or food processor, and voila your done! If you want to go an extra step and add some toppings you can go right ahead! TBD used coconut whipped cream (what?! sounds so good) and pomegranate seeds! But honestly anything sounds good paired with chocolate pudding. 

http://thebeautydepartment.com/2014/09/chocolateavopudding/

Whenever I go back home from college and have more ingredients(and space) available to me, I will definitely be trying out this recipe!

Do you think this sounds good? Do you love avocado? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great weekend!

-Emily 

Petite Moment: Guess Who's Back?

Back again...

Pumpkin Spice Latte

As you probably already know, the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks is back! Like a million other people, this is my favorite drink from Starbucks and knowing that its back makes my heart flutter. Fall is my all time favorite season and when school starts again, I start dreaming about sweater weather. And this is about the time where pumpkin everything starts coming out, like: doughnuts, coffee creamer, candles, and etc. I haven't had the chance to go get a PSL because I am waiting for the weather to be just right, I don't want my first PSL of the season to be iced, it just doesn't seem right! I will keep you posted when the magical moment happens(probably some time this week!). 

How do you feel about the PSL, do you love it or hate it? Let me know below!

-Emily 

Petite Moment: Lazy Night In

Saturday night with no plans, this calls for a date night with myself.  I was feeling particularly lazy and decided a movie was perfect.  I picked up The Grand Budapest Hotel from the Red Box, fixed myself a snack, and got comfy.

1. I washed my face with coconut oil and followed with my nighttime face moisturizer and reached for the nearest body lotion to me.
2. Then I put coconut and cranberry granola mix from Trader Joe's into my Oikos greek yogurt.  Healthy, sweet, and filling.
3. I lighted my Villa Bergamot candle from Bath and Body Works, spritzed a lavender scent on myself, also from BBW and moisturized my lips with vaseline lip therapy in rosy lips. 
4. I pressed play and began the movie!

The Grand Budapest Hotel

It was a beautifully made movie.  Each shot was captivating and colorful in its own way.  I giggled a few times and was also on the edge of my seat because it was quite a thrilling movie.  I highly recommend it!

* A night in, no problem! Find ways to enjoy your down time and really relax, this is how I spend my easy going nights.

-Diana

Homemade Hummus (Way Too Easy)

I tried it 4 times throughout my life and hated it each time.  However, one beautiful May morning 2 years ago I decided to try it one more time.  And who would have guessed, the 5th time was the charm.  I became addicted to it.  That "it" is Hummus.  I have loved it ever since and this past summer it has been a favorite in my house and must always be in the fridge.  If we run out, we freak out!  Then I had the idea to try and make hummus instead of buying it all the time.  I figured it would be cheaper to make than to buy.  I quickly began to look for recipes and found that it was not only super simple to make, but that I could save a lot of money from making it at home!

My Favorite recipe came from a blog called Minimalist Baker.  This blog is quickly becoming one of my favorites!  The bloggers promise to give recipes that will only require 10 ingredients or less and will take about 30 minutes to make.  This is the kind of cooking that I like.  So when I stumbled upon their "BEST EVER 5 MINUTE MICROWAVE HUMMUS" I knew this was the recipe for me to try!

I followed the recipe almost exactly as it is written except I used limes instead of lemons. *

Tahini-Jewel Osco
Chick Peas, Sea Salt, Garlic- Trader Joe's
Limes- Local Grocery Store
Olive Oil- Costco

Making it: The recipe is incredibly easy to follow there is little to no room for errors.  Your hummus will most likely always end up tasting great!  You can make this in about 10 minutes and will be able to immediately enjoy it.  (I love not having to wait to try what I make!)

Limes instead of Lemons: I used limes because that is what I had in my house and I thought I would experiment rather than follow each part of the recipe exactly.  The hummus still tasted amazing, however I do suggest to use lemons rather than limes!

Love at First Taste: Because the Chickpeas are called to be microwaved, once the hummus is done it will be nice and warm.  I loved that it was warm!  It was supper creamy and I credit that to the microwave!

Still loving it: The next day and days after it still tasted great!  I will definitely be making it again!

If you are a lover of hummus and have never made it then I think it is time you gave it a try!  You will not regret it I promise, and you might just like it better than the store bought stuff.  You can make the hummus faster than the time that it will take you to go buy it and you will be saving money!

*I plan to try more recipes from Minimalist Baker, I will be sure to let you know about my experience with other recipes from their blog.

-Diana 

Foodspiration: The "Cronot"

The other day I was catching up on TBD (thebeautydepartment.com) when something really jumped out and caught my eyes. Let's just say it involves doughnuts and health food, a pair that usually do not belong together. It was something they called the "cronot" a healthy doughnut made out of apples instead of dough. I thought it was genius and decided to share it you all of you.

They are so freaking cute!

Don't they look pretty and legitimate, it will trick your brain into thinking you're eating a doughnut.

So how do you make these? According to TBD...

First, you core and slice apples:

Next, you pick your toppings:

As their frosting or "glaze" they used: flavored Greek yogurt, chocolate pudding made out of avocado (which sounds amazing, btw), and almond butter (peanut butter would also be a good option). For the toppings or "sprinkles" TBD suggests poppy seeds, almonds, cashews, peanuts, coconut, banana chips, dried apricots, dried cherries and pineapple. You can seriously add anything that your little heart desires! 

I am seriously loving how these look and how healthy they can be! I want to try these out as soon as I can and I will definitely show you what kind of creations I come up with!

Remember, an apple a day keeps the doctor away...

-Emily

Italian Flag Pita Sandwich

I Love: Basil.  I am thankful to have a beautiful brightly green colored basil plant in my yard.  The basil is always fresh and tasty.  I love the combination of basil with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

I started the sandwich by toasting the pita bread.  Then I stuffed it with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil.  I lightly drizzled olive oil on the sandwich and added a few dashes of salt and pepper, and then I WAS DONE! 

This pita sandwich is quick to make and it tastes very fresh.  I love eating this for lunch and it is more exciting than a regular old turkey sandwich.  

I also Love the Bright colors of the ingredients. 

-Diana 

Petite Moment: Dark Chocolate with Quinoa?!

Recently, I was at Mariano's (my favorite grocery store ever) and was strolling through the candy aisle because I was looking for a treat (treat. yo. self) and I spotted an unusual chocolate. It was a dark chocolate bar with quinoa crisps inside it! I love quinoa and I found this to be very intriguing, so I happily added it to my cart. Quinoa is a seed that when cooked can be a great replacement for rice, which is how I usually eat it. If you want to learn more about quinoa click here. Anyway, the chocolate that I found is from the brand, Alter Eco.

It is certified organic and fair tried certified, it is only a 60% cocoa so it is not a very strong dark chocolate. According to the packaging, this chocolate is also vegan, soy free, gluten free, and non GMO. The quinoa is mixed with rice to give it a light airy feel and it is absolutely delicious. It is a great alternative to a "Crunch" bar because not only is it a million times healthier, it is also better for the planet. It is guilt-free but still makes you feel like you are indulging yourself. I love this and I will definitely be re-purchasing this!

-Emily

Super Simple Green Brunch

Avocado Sandwich and coffee

One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast is simple and increadibly easy to make.

I start by toasting two pieces of sandwich bread.  Then I cut half of an avocado and chop it into tiny pieces.  I chop, chop, chop, and chop so that the avocado will be easy to spread onto the toast.

After I spread the avocado onto the toast I simply add a dash of ground pepper and salt.  And then it is done, can you believe it?  It can be made more tasteful with other ingredients such as cheese and eggs which are my favorite. However, sometimes I am lazy and feel increadibly satisfied with just two slices of bread and some avocado.  I love avocado, this is why I enjoy this simple sandwich.  This meal is filling and quick, just what I need on a busy morning, or when I am running late.

On this particular morning I decided that iced coffee would nicely compliment my sandwich (more like: I just needed something to wake me up and get me going).

As for creamer, every morning I use these individual delight hazelnut or french vanilla creamers.  They give my coffee a great taste and depending on my mood I may add as little as one or as  much as three creamers into each cup of coffee.

Finally I sit and enjoy this quick meal (usually while I sit in front of my tv). 

-Diana 

10 Things Diana Loves

Some of my favorite things in no particular order.

1. Strawberries.  I love the bright color of strawberries!  I think they are so simple and delicious on their own.  I often eat these right after I workout.  They can brighten up a cup of water and add a light flavor.  They are also my go-to ingredient for smoothies.

2. Rainy Days.  I always find it extremely difficult to get out of bed on rainy days.  I feel that cuddling up in a bed or on a couch is a rule for rainy days.  I love the sound of raindropps hitting my roof or windows because it makes me feel relaxed.  I also especially like watching movies on rainy days because the cloudiness of outside makes the lighting in my house darker and perfect to watch movies.

3.  Bagels.  They are filling and easy to have for breakfast.  With so many flavors to choose and all the different spreads that complement bagels, I find it hard to ever get bored of bagels.  *I have a secret dream of one day opening up my own bagel and coffee shop.

4. Coffee/Coffee Houses.  Coffee not only goes well with bagels, but I also find it relaxing and motivating.  The taste of coffee is simply wonderful to my tastebuds.  When I drink coffee I find that I am motivated to get stuff done.  I also love coffee houses and find that the ambiance is enjoyable and peaceful.

5.  Unmade/somewhat made beds.  Unmade beds seam so comfortable and they remind me of life and movement.  It is nice to know that it may not be a perfectly made bed but at least someone is using it.

6. This quote.  I find it to be motivating as well as a reminder that life is never easy, yet in the end we will all come out as stronger humans.  I hope in the end we will all be skilled sailors. Let the waves of life make us stronger!

7. Movies.  I am obssesed with movies.  Movies are meant to be watched with open minds.  You should hopefully always learn something, whether it be about the world, about yourself, or it should motivate you to go learn more.  *I have many favorite movies, but Midnight in Paris holds a special place in my heart. 

8. Minimalism Fashion.  I enjoy simplicity and the statement that a few basics can make.  

9.  Pink Peonies.  I don't love flowers, however peonies have a way of brightening up a room and simply making me happy.

10.  New York Yankees/Baseball.  America's Pastime puts a huge smile on my face every time.  I love watching it and the whole idea of it.  I can only say, "It's hard not to be romantic about baseball"-Moneyball. 

 * None of these pictures are mine and do not take any credit for them.  I found them all on Pinterest, feel free to follow me: http://www.pinterest.com/dianalb21/

-Diana