Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Luck of the Irish Cupcakes! March 17, 2011

Filed under: Cooking,Food,Friends — Kelocity @ 9:24 pm
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This is not a food blog, nor do I claim it to be so. It’s pretty obvious that I have absolutely no creative cooking skills what-so-ever. But that doesn’t prevent me from seeing amazing recipes on other great food blogs and recreating them myself.
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Today’s culinary adventure comes from Green Lite Bites (who had a baby today, by the way!!) She posted a great recipe for green cupcakes! Erika and I had a dinner party tonight, and these were the perfect dessert for St. Patrick’s Day!!
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But here’s the kicker…. the recipe calls for a box of cake mix, some applesauce and this magic ingredient:

A whole bag of spinach!
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Ok, I know, sounds gross… but trust me on this one. Roni doesn’t steer you wrong.

You puree the spinach with the applesauce for a while in the food processor:
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Yep. A whole bag! Pregnant ladies need their nutrients!
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Then you mix the green mixture with a box of cake mix… and stir, baby, stir!
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I know, I agree, it sounds gross. But I did some batter sampling, and I can tell you that all I tasted was vanilla.
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We used mini cupcake tins to make bite sized treats.
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It’s so much fun baking with friends!
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They came out of the oven perfect! They even rose up like normal cupcakes do.  We dyed our frosting green too (for the record, frosting=unhealthy… but I could eat a jar of frosting with a spoon, and in my world, cupcakes need frosting!)
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I experimented with a piping tip to make them look all pretty, I need a little practice though.
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So pretty!
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We tasted them and they were pretty rocking. They were rich and moist, with lots of vanilla flavor.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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Delicious Dinner + Dessert March 16, 2011

Filed under: Cooking,Food,Friends — Kelocity @ 10:22 pm
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Tonight, my friend Janet came over for dinner. I originally promised her a crockpot recipe, but I couldn’t get my act together in time to set it this morning. So instead, I scoured the blog world for an easy healthy recipe for us to enjoy. Luckily that’s not too hard to do. I decided on Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce from How Sweet It Is (her blog is amazing, by the way!) I went to the grocery store and got all the ingredients…. except for the peppers!! How can you make stuffed peppers without the peppers? So I had to make a second trip. Lame!

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I never noticed how beautiful the texture of an onion can be. I’m starting to love this photography thing! Though I’m still having an issue with low light… any suggestions? When the light is low, the picture is blurry!

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I followed the recipe exactly (except I didn’t have Parmesan cheese. They came out AMAZING.

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Janet made some twice baked potatoes to go with it. They were incredible. We ate them with ketchup (of course! I’ll eat anything with ketchup). She says the secret is adding lots of cheese. You can’t go wrong with cheese.
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For dessert, I whipped up my favorite Banana Soft Serve. This time, we blended in some chocolate peanut butter and Nutella and topped with fresh strawberries. It tasted like a Reeces Peanut Butter cup (only better…. and way healthier!)
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We spent the rest of the night scrapbooking. I promise to post my scrapbook pages when the book is complete!!! Night!

 

Houseparty: Kraft Philadelphia Cooking Crème (And a Giveaway!) March 13, 2011

Filed under: Cooking,Food,Friends,Giveaway — Kelocity @ 8:04 am
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Last night, we had some friends over to enjoy an evening of cooking, dining and laughing, courtesy of Kraft and Houseparty.
They sent us some goodies, including their new Philadelphia Cooking Crème to cook up some delicious meals.
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We would be cooking two recipes: Chicken Bruschetta Pasta and Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole.
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The kitchen was prepped…
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The table was set…
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Let the cooking begin!
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They also sent this Todd English Pan to test out… and it was pretty awesome.

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Once everyone arrived, we (the girls)  got started on our first recipe:
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Danielle took one for the team and cut up all the chicken. That’s my least favorite cooking task.
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Erin got the magic ingredient ready!
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We used the ‘Savory Garlic’ flavor in the casserole.
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While the casserole was in the oven, Erika manned the stove and cooked the chicken for the next dish!
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The pan worked really great!
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We used the Original Flavor in the Pasta dish.
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Friends!
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To finish off the Bruschetta Pasta, we added in the fresh basil.
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Then the Casserole came out of the oven… slightly undercooked. If you make this recipe, make sure you cook the chicken BEFORE putting it in the oven, because ours definitely wasn’t done.
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We paired our two savory dishes with a simple salad to lighten it up a bit. I thought they were pretty good. Next time, I’d make the Bruschetta Pasta with the Savory Garlic instead of the Original flavor.

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For dessert, we had an Oreo Ice Cream cake and a lemon tart.
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Both were fantastic. We did some serious damage to the cake though.
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What a fun night with friends! Hi Irving and Erin!
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Tim and Erika!
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And me and Danielle!
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Each guest walked away with a pack of goodies.
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The evidence of a great dinner party:
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO WIN! I’ll be sending two lucky winners a Philadelphia Cooking Crème goodie pack that includes: Coupons, Recipe book, notepad, magnet and cooking spoon. I’ll even throw in a surprise treat to go with it.
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To Enter: Go to cookphilly.com and tell me which recipe you’d like to make using the Cooking Crème. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on Tuesday night. Good luck!

 

Ladyface: LA Blogger Meetup! March 12, 2011

Filed under: Blogging,Food,Friends — Kelocity @ 3:23 pm
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Last night, 12 other bloggers and I met up at the Ladyface Alehouse in Los Angeles. It was so fun to hang out on a patio, drink some great beer, and meet my online blogger friends in person!
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I know absolutely nothing about beer, so I asked for the lightest beer they had on tap.
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The blonde was great. Crisp and refreshing.
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What a lovely group of people it was. The conversation went all over the place and I had a blast.
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Danielle and I!

I had eaten before I came, but I had to try the Pretzel. It just seemed to fit the beer theme.
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Some amazing women: Monica, Katherine and Amanda.
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So fun to see Kaitlin again! And her awesome friend Katy! (She lives in Boston, where I’m from!)
–And hi Mark!
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There was a group shot taken in there somewhere, if anyone has it, please send it to me!

So awesome to be in the company of such fun people, wish I got more pictures of the other fun bloggers!. We’ll just have to do it again soon!!

 

Home, Home on the Golf Range! March 5, 2011

Filed under: Friends — Kelocity @ 9:54 pm
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Today was a GORGEOUS day in LA… I mean, we don’t get very many of those, right? But seriously, today was perfect! 75, blue skies and breezy. We just HAD to get out of the house.
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It wasn’t hard to convince Erika and Timmy to come to the driving range with us to hit some balls.
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I have a girly set of clubs, but I actually did hit a few nice shots!
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Uh… except for a few of these, when I totally whiffed the ball!
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This doesn’t look like very good form….
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The pink glove helps with hitting the ball really far. lol
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It was so fun catching up with Erika!
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It’s been almost a month since I’ve seen her, and her baby belly is growing! So cute!
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What a fun morning!
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Later in the day, we wanted to get out again, and headed out on a 3 mile walk around the neighborhood. We love to find houses for sale and dream about what our lives would be like in them. Such a fun day.