White Spinach + Cilantro Queso (Lazy College Student Edition)

I had totally planned to get you guys this queso recipe in time for Super Bowl Sunday, but the big game came and went while I obsessed over Valentine’s Day crafts! I did end up making this last minute for a small get together that weekend though, which is when I snapped these few pictures. And rather than wait a whole year to share the best queso I have ever made at next year’s bowl, I figured that life is always a party and a little melted cheese can be just one more way to celebrate. (Plus, in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas, last week was Fiesta!!)

What’s special here is the white cheese, cilantro and spinach that makes this recipe simultaneously fresh and rich, as such cheesy goodness should be. Think of this as classic queso’s classy cousin—like the high society version of that Velveeta, Rotel and ground beef! And yes, I did just talk about cheese that much. (I mean, I’m from Texas. Queso’s practically a staple food here!) This is also really reminiscent of the queso blanco from Chili’s if you’ve ever tried it! Just to give you a heads up of what you are getting into.

The recipe was snagged from The Recipe Critic, but we made a few adaptations for the lazy/college student cook, and threw in a few of our own preparation tips. I hope you will adore this cheesy goodness as much as I do!

White Spinach + Cilantro Queso

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1/2 c chopped white onion, or 1/4 c chopped red onion

16 oz Velveeta Queso Blanco (1/2 block)

5 oz shredded pepper jack cheese

2/3 c milk

10 oz medium Rotel, drained (1 can)

2 cups fresh or frozen chopped spinach (frozen is lazier—already chopped and wilted!)

1/4 c cilantro paste (found in the produce section)

Heat oil over medium heat, and sauté onions until tender. (They should slice easily from the pressure of a spatula.) Add cheeses and milk and stir until melted. Now add the spinach, and stir until wilted and/or defrosted. Drain and add the Rotel, and stir in the cilantro paste. Mix well. Serve while melty and delicious!

It’s easiest to keep the queso ooey and gooey by storing it in a small crockpot on low heat, stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t burn onto the sides! Our favorite chips to eat with this are Tostitos scoops, Fritos, and, surprisingly, rosemary naan chips. Some more fun things we’ve dipped in queso are toasted slices of baguette, shrimp, and even veggie fries like these green bean fries! (We made those for Thanksgiving and they were en pointe/on point. Depends on if I’m feeling French or not.)

What are some of your favorite party snacks to make?

Stay lovely,

Nut-Free, Dairy Free Protein Oatmeal with Anjou Pears

Ever since coming to college, I have been trying to be more conscious about my eating choices, and one of those choices has been adopting a primarily vegetarian diet! Now if you’ve ever considered a vegetarian diet before, then you know that one of the key aspects of this diet choice is making sure that you are still getting plenty of protein from non-animal sources. And as such, I’ve come up with a trick or two about how to add some sneaky protein to my meals! First on the menu? Amping up breakfast.

Although I’ll call this a recipe for convenience sake, it’s really kind of a “life-hack” I guess! (Fun, pointless fact about me: I really don’t like the word “hack” very much…) It’s also incredibly easy which is great, because college student. Now, even if you are 100% an omnivore (thanks middle school science), I still find that protein in my breakfast keeps me full longer! So let’s get on with it, shall we?

Protein Oatmeal using Instant Oats

½ cup whole grain instant oats

¼ cup unsalted pumpkin seeds

3/4 cup water

1 tbs raw sugar

A generous dash of cinnamon

¼ cup milk (optional, or you can use whatever non-dairy variety you enjoy)

½ Anjou pear + a few small slices for garnish

Measure out your pumpkin seeds, and grind into a powder in a food processor (or blender). Mix with the oats, add water, then microwave for the time suggested on the oats (1:30 for me). Stir in the raw sugar and cinnamon, so that it can dissolve with the heat, then add the milk. Finely chop your pear in the food processor (or blender), and stir together with the cooked oatmeal for a fresh twist!

Enjoy!

You can also prepare this recipe as overnight oats, by adding the pumpkin seeds to a recipe like this one!  Or, if you can have nuts, add a spoonful of peanut or almond butter to increase your protein even more. As for other variations, know that there about a billion delicious and creative oatmeal mix-in’s out there just waiting to be tried! I personally have enjoyed adding peanut butter and jelly or chocolate chips to my oatmeal in the past!

As for the flavor of the oatmeal, I don’t find it to be altered at all by the addition of pumpkin seeds, since they are a very mild taste to start with. The texture may change slightly if you do not get your seeds quite as finely ground, but I didn’t find the change to be bothersome at all!

So do you ever eat vegetarian? What sneaky protein tricks do you have?!

Stay lovely,

Chocolate Covered Cherry Green Smoothie

There are two things almost every college girl loves: sleep and chocolate. This recipe gets you both! I mean, it doesn’t directly involve sleep as an ingredient, but it’s so dang easy and takes so little time, that maybe you’ll get to sleep more! Or perhaps actually study for those tests that you have next week. (Guess who’s avoiding that one!)

Oh, and did I mention it’s secretly healthy! Now, not like low-carb or anything (sorry, chocolate lover here), but it does have fruits AND veggies AND protein snuck inside, which might be just about as good as it gets in this hectic life of mine… (We'll just use the hectic-ness of life as an excuse for being blogging-M.I.A. too, okay?)

Regardless, this is the most desert-like smoothie I’ve ever had the pleasure of blending, and I am so SO happy I was craving chocolate the other day and made it happen! Are you ready for your produce and protein-packed chocolate fix?!

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Green Smoothie (serves 1)

3 cubes frozen spinach (blend fresh spinach with just enough water, and freeze in an ice cube tray! It’s perfect when your healthy eating plans take a week off, but your ripening greens don’t!)

4-5 whole frozen strawberries

A couple frozen black cherries*

½ cup V8 Fusion Black Cherry Apple juice (not sponsored, just delicious)

1 6oz carton vanilla Greek yogurt

Chocolate syrup to taste (honestly, I just give it one real good squeeze!)

*I prefer this strawberry-cherry ratio, but I think it will differ depending on your tastes! For example, if you use a different juice, you will probably want to go with more cherries!

I love smoothie recipes because the instructions almost always go like this: put it all in the blender and press go!

Now with this particular recipe, I would recommend you add less syrup than you think you need, blend, take a sip, and go from there. You can also definitely use fresh spinach and strawberries, and then just add 6-8 ice cubes to get that smoothie-licious consistency.  Oh, and you should probably serve it in an opaque glass, because the color is not the most appealing thing about the smoothie… The flavor seriously makes up for it though, I promise you!

Do you turn to smoothies as a lazy and deceptively healthy meal? Link your favorite recipe in the comments, and let me know just how strong your chocolate addiction is!

Stay lovely,

Cucumber-Fennel Salad with Creamy Meyer Lemon Dressing

So this is new, isn't it? Even the title of this post seems a little different! I mean, I've only ever "cooked" things for this blog with exorbitant amounts of sugar or refined grains before! And I don't blame you if you're thinking "where is the old, sweet toothed and simple Corin, and can we get her back with all our sugar, please?"

Now never fear, I still eat pasta and cookies like they are going out of style. Like any adult though, (ha, I'm not an adult) I have been trying some new things too ! I got involved with an amazing organization at A&M that grows their own produce right on campus and practices some legit sustainability, including using rain barrels and having their own, off-the-grid, completely solar powered building made from reclaimed wood! Needless to say, I am very very impressed, and being a part of this organization is awakening my middle-school-self, who wore World Wildlife Fund t-shirts at least once a week and pestered her family endlessly about recycling. (To find out more about this organization, known as Howdy Farm, click here.)

Anyway, I wrote a tasty recipe over on their blog using fresh (literally picked right in front of me) produce and Greek yogurt! I even incorporated fennel, which I had never seen prior to a week ago! (For the record, it tastes mildly like licorice. I don't like licorice, but somehow I love this vegetable/herb.) It's a citrusy and sweet cucumber salad, and pretty fabulous if I do say so myself.

Fennel and Cucumber Salad with Meyer Lemon

Ingredients:

3-6 seedless snacking cucumbers (depending on size)

Juice and zest from 1 Meyer lemon

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 tbs milk

1 tsp sugar

2 tbs chopped fennel leaves

1 thinly sliced fennel stalk (optional)

Salt

For the rest of the recipe, check out the Howdy Farm blog!

Have you ever bought or grown your own fresh produce? What did you make with it?!

Stay lovely,

Fizzy Guava Limeade (A St. Patrick's Day Mocktail!)

A few of the bloggers I follow on Instagram recently made a whole party's worth of St. Patrick’s Day cocktails, and I thought it looked so SO fun! Now, I can’t drink yet, but I at least like to pretend I could be the Apartment Bartender! Nothin’ wrong with spicin’ up your limeade, right? And especially if I add a little garnish or two, this drink just makes me feel so fancy and grown up!

Now, this is definitely not specifically St. Patrick’s, but I figured that the colors work well AND it’s super tasty, even for the non-drinkers out there. It’s also extremely customizable, because it is essentially a thick syrup, some store bought limeade, and just a touch of ginger ale. So customize away! But maybe you need the actually recipe before you can do that…

(But first, this backdrop: doilies from my Thanksgiving table runner + glitter scrapbook paper from my Valentine's backdrop + a repurposed Christmas tree garland. Don't you love it? I mean, I do A LOT! Yay for repurposing your craft supplies!)

Fizzy Guava Limeade (makes 5-6 drinks)

4 guavas

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

Limeade (I used Simply brand)

Ginger ale

To make the syrup component, wash your guavas, cut off the ends or any bruised sections, and cut them guavas in half. Combine with HALF of the water (1/2 cup) in a food processor.  Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, using the back of a spoon to push it through a little (it’s essentially a puree at this stage), but being careful not to force through any seeds.

Add the extracted juice, the other 1/2 cup of the water, and the sugar to blender, and blend until well combined. This is your “kind-of-a-syrup” base for the drink.

Stir together equal parts of this syrup and limeade and pour into a pretty glass! (Yes, the glass must be pretty. That is a requirement of this recipe.) Then pour a little ginger ale on top (probably about an ounce). The ginger ale will add a pretty, fizzy touch to the beverage, and adds just a little more complexity to the final flavor!

So whaddya think, can you customize it now?

To get this vivid green color, I added some green food dye to the “syrup” before mixing the rest of the beverage. I love the fun touch all the color adds, not to mention the rim of gold sprinkles, but if you want to go classy, add just a slice of lime instead. We also had white flesh guavas, which produced a pale yellow drink without any dye added. So for me, the green color worked nicely, but if your guavas are pink, GO PINK! (Seriously, I would be so jealous.) I’m pretty sure the St. Patrick’s Day color scheme includes rainbows now anyway.

Do you have any nifty drinks you’ve crafted lately? Don’t worry, I’ll pass on the alcoholic ones to my older sister! ;)

Stay lovely,

PS: Need more drinks for your party? Try some Strawberry Rose Lemonade Punch, or keep it simple with Sweet and Sour Shirley Temples!

Strawberry Rose Lemonade Punch

A couple weeks ago I made some super cute Valentine’s Day Shirley Temples, and in the process discovered Rose Lemonade! And to be honest, I was totally shocked by how much I liked it! I’ve always thought that florals were meant to be used as a scent and nothing more, but in the right dosage they actually do add something quite elegant and wonderful to a beverage. Inspired by that lemonade (I originally purchased this brand), I set out to make my own, and then that somehow turned into this nifty little Valentine’s Day punch recipe! Think of it as classic sherbet punch, but with an extra dash of girly flirtiness—and not just because it is pink!

Strawberry Rose Lemonade Punch

By the glass:

4 oz lemonade

3 oz sparkling water

1-2 tsp rose water (adjust to taste)

1 rounded spoonful Strawberries and Cream Sherbet

Add your sherbet to the glass, followed by club soda, and stir until the ice cream completely dissolves, then add in the lemonade and rose water! It’s that easy!

By the pitcher (or Mason jar, whatever floats your boat):

2 cups lemonade

1 1/2 cup club soda (1 can!)

2 tablespoons rose water (again, you may adjust to taste)

2 small scoops sherbet

Add all ingredients and stir until dissolved.

I included both quantities because I usually will just make a classy beverage for myself to enjoy, but you could totally whip up more for that amazing Galentine’s Day brunch that you are hosting! (I mean, it’s cool if you want to make this for the boys too, just make sure they are a-okay with drinking pink!) I love how this is fruity, a little fizzy, and has just a dash of that rose water goodness, which makes me feel just a little bit like a fairy princess when I drink it! Plus roses and Valentine’s Day—classic.

Now I just have to pick my favorite between this and some Shirley Temples! Do you have any Galentine’s Day plans?

Stay lovely,

Valentine's Shirley Temples for the Sweet and Sour

In case the glittery pink chocolate boxes and copious amounts of conversation hearts didn’t give you a heads up, Valentine’s Day is coming very soon! And if we are being honest, nothing quite sparks DIY inspiration like a sparkly holiday. Better yet, today’s DIY is appropriate whether you are cynical about a day of Hallmark Cards and bouquets of roses, or if you just love a day dedicated to love, no matter how cheesy that may be. (You can count me in camp number 2 on that one!)

I wanted to give the classic Shirley temple a little remix by trying it out with some different flavors! Now although I had to forgo the maraschino cherries for reasons of “forget to get that at the grocery store,” I think these layered drinks are still super cute and fun!

For the sourpuss:

Rose water lemonade (we bought this brand)

Grenadine (you can make your own!)

To get the ombre effect in this one, pour in the lemonade to the desired level, then add a little grenadine. It will fall to the bottom, but not without leaving some beautiful and romantic gradation!

For the sweetheart:

Raspberry seltzer soda (we bought this!)

Grenadine, also

Ice

This time, add a little grenadine to the bottom of the glass, then add 6-7 ice cubes on top. Slowly pour in the soda. The ice barrier and slow pouring creates a more definite division of colors!

I think any lightly colored or clear soda would be just about fantastic for this, so obviously modify based on your color and taste preferences. We bought both our sodas at World Market, but I’ve seen similar products at the grocery store, and even something like Izzie might do the trick. And oh yeah, the cute paper straw with hearts is definitely a requirement. (Target dollar section say whaaaaat?)

What kind of fun beverages are you thinking ‘bout stirring up this Valentine’s Day?

Stay lovely,

Eat Me: Spice It Up!

Hello internet! Today I am talking about soup, because it’s basically the cure for cold weather. It always reminds me of fall and family and yes, I do get nostalgic about just about everything. Also, it’s been my vegetable source of choice since college started! I particular, we get vegetable-blend soups at HEB, which I know is in Texas only, but now they have an expanded online store! (And no, I’m not being paid for this. They are just good grocery stores with good soup!) I like these because they come in good flavor groupings, are full of veggies, and are just creamy enough! The only thing is that they aren’t too heavy on the spices—but that’s where this post comes in! I’ll be sharing some fun and quick spice blends to fancy up your soups! Here we go!

Pumpkin Pie Chai Spice

8 oz HEB pumpkin harvest soup

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Ginger

Cloves

Cardamom

Go easy on the cloves and nutmeg, moderate on the ginger and cardamom, and heavy on the cinnamon! I don’t have exact measurements, because preferences and base soups differ, but you can always start off light and add more!

Garden Fresh

8 oz HEB green soup (pea, zucchini, and kale)

Rosemary

Ground sage

Sea Salt (we use Himalayan pink salt, and not just because it’s pink and I’m basically a child. Tastes good too!)

Heaviest on the salt, moderate on the other two.

Tex-Mex Roasted Corn (Yes, this is fall to me in Texas)

8 oz HEB yellow soup (Yellow carrot, corn, and yellow bell pepper)

Chili powder

Cilantro

Sea salt

Lime zest 

Zest lime, mix with the salt, and chop through the mix a few times with a kitchen knife to grind it together and make lime salt before adding to soup. Then just a sprig or two of cilantro, and a moderate dose of chili powder!

I really hope that you can find some alternatives to the soups I used, because these flavor combinations are so tasty and simple to dress up any meal! We just heated these in the microwave after adding spices, but I think slowly heating on the stove top with spices already mixed in would be AMAZING! (Maybe I’ll actual have time to try it that way! Ya know, after finals…)

What’s your favorite soup for the holiday season? (Assuming that I am not the only one who associates soup with the holiday season!)

Stay lovely,

Corin

Eat Me: Cinnamon Sugar "Dough Babies"

It just so happens that patience is not one of my strong points. I think a have a reasonable degree of patience with other human beings, but for some reason, inanimate objects sometimes get the best of me. Whether that’s sewing, or my occasionally incorrigible hair, or even kitchen matters, I just get unreasonably frustrated when things don’t magically take the shape I want them to. Now I will admit, this doesn’t happen with everything, for example, drawing my little word doodles. I can handle those. It just seems that in this case, crescent roll dough was something I could not.

My sister had this idea to make bone shaped crescent rolls for our Halloween get-together, and of course I volunteered! And then my excitement quickly turned into the “how the heck do you do this” panic and then transformed a big ball of dough on the counter. Luckily, as usual, she came in with a brilliant way to salvage that valuable crescent roll dough (seriously valuable though)! Everyone really liked these “dough babies,” so I thought you might too! 

You will need:

Pillsbury crescent roll dough (Also comes in sheets. Or make your own!)

Cutting board or silicone baking mats

Butter knife or pizza cutter

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Unroll the dough and cut into bite-sized pieces on top of the cutting board or mat. Then spread the pieces out on a cookie sheet or two! Throw them in the oven (not literally, ya sillies!) for 8-10 minutes or until they get all pretty and golden brown on top.

While those are baking up all nice, combine the powdered sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, and mix well with a small whisk or a fork. After pulling the bites out of the oven, let them cool enough to handle them, and toss them in the powdered sugar mixture to coat on all sides. You’ll want to do this quickly while the dough is still warm because the powdered sugar mixture will stick better! You don’t need to coat them with extra butter though—the “original” dough as it comes is just that healthy for you ;)

 As you can see, it’s an incredibly simple “recipe” (does it even count as one?), but definitely worth munching on! It’s also nice that they are bite-sized because you can snack throughout your evening get-together, study session, or whatever it is you’re up to! I also really want to try and make a savory version of these guys—with butter and bread, any flavor is possible, right?!

And that that is what happens when you combine the ingenious Samantha and my comical kitchen conundrums. (I’m not an English nerd who uses alliteration. I don’t know what you are talking about.) What recipe fails, successes, and re-imaginings have you tried lately!? (Please share—I love food!)

Stay lovely,

Eat Me: Strawberry Cake Mix Panckes

I am a big supporter of breakfast for dinner. I mean, weekday mornings  I barely get up in time for a bowl of cereal, but for some reason I have no problem wasting an extra 30 minutes in the evening on food! (Gee, I wonder why? Couldn’t be more procrastibaking right?) So when I have the time, it’s pancake time. More particularly, cake mix pancake time!

I’m all for an easy recipe and this is certainly one of those! It does take a little while because of cooking the individual pancakes, but the recipe could be halved or you could cook them on a griddle instead of a skillet! (If you have one—#firstworldproblems, I know.) Now whether this is easier than plain ol’ pancake mix is debatable, but it certainly satisfies my incorrigible sweet tooth more. And because it’s cake mix, it opens up a lot of flavor possibilities! We made strawberry this go round but spice cake might just be perfect for fall. Hmm, I don’t need to study tonight, right…?

Cake Mix Pancakes (slightly adapted from Tastes of Lizzy T)

Makes 2-3 dozen

You will need:

1 box cake mix

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 cup oil

1 cup chocolate chips or some nonsense (In case the sugar we already added was not enough!)

Mix all ingredients. Heat a skillet to medium-low (it depends on the stovetop, mine likes to burn things..) and spray with cooking oil. Pour batter for one pancake into skillet using a 1/4 measuring cup, and flip when the edges begin to solidify. Serve fancily (if that’s how you roll).

We layered our strawberry pancakes with strawberry preserves and topped with sugared strawberries.  It was so. good. (All the sugar and strawberry flavor, right!?) You can make the strawberry topping by lightly sprinkling sugar on thinly sliced berries (I use an egg slicer) and letting sit in the fridge overnight!

These particular pancakes didn’t have anything mixed in, but we’ve made lemon cake ones with white chocolate chips before, and they were pretty on point as well. Like the cake mix cookies, you do you and enjoy eating them!

Anyone else feeling breakfast for dinner tonight?

Stay lovely,

Eat Me: Cake Mix Cookies

College is quickly getting into full swing for me and I’ll admit, it’s a little insane. In fact, I have my first tests of the semester next week (three of them to be exact) so naturally I’ve been procrastinating a little. My method of procrastinating is a little different than most people’s though…

I have this tendency to “procrastibake,” meaning I make all the baked goods instead of studying! Lucky for my GPA though, I hit the gold mine back in high school with this one very simple, very versatile recipe that doesn’t hinder my studying for hours, but still yields a yummy snack: cake mix cookies!

I love this recipe because it is very inexpensive, you only need 4 ingredients, you’re done in 30 minutes flat, and your flavor possibilities are essentially endless. You can use cake mix as wide ranging as red velvet or mango (yes they make that), and add anything from candy bars or chocolate chips to gummies to mix it up! And I promise, they are delicious.

Cake Mix Cookies

Makes 2-3 dozen

You will need:

1 box cake mix

2 eggs

Canola oil

1/2-3/4 cup of some crazy mix-in

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the cake mix and eggs and stir. Then, add your canola oil until the dough reaches a good consistency (usually 1/2-2/3 cup, but it depends on the cake mix). You should add just enough oil that that all powder gets incorporated into the dough.

At this point you can cut down your mix in to approximately chocolate chip size and add it in! I usually go with approximately 3/4 cup but it just depends on what you want your cookies to be like.

And finally, plop your dough onto the cookie sheet in rounded tablespoons. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until browning around the edges. 

Congratulations! You have now cut down your procrastibaking to only 30 minutes and have some delicious snacks to eat when you actually do get to studying. As I said, you can use essentially any flavor combo you want and they are super cute to customize in color and taste for holidays. (I even made these in 5 different colors for my Disney’s Up themed graduation party!) Just be aware that the cookies do brown a little while baking, which will alter the external color.

The batches pictured are watermelon cake mix with Sour Patch watermelon candies, and your classic white cake mix with chocolate chips of 2 sizes. It seems whatever wild stuff I put in there though, these cookies always come out delicious!

So go crazy and go make some cookies. And then let me know about the cookies you made! (Because there's obviously some more procrastinating that needs to be attended to.)

Stay lovely (and hungry),