Archives for December 2011

Roasted Tomato and Pepper Soup

December 17, 2011 · by Ari ·

We all know how I feel about grilled cheese and tomato soup. So when I was deciding on the perfect comforting dinner I could make for all of my besties, it’s no surprise that’s what I chose. But this time I got creative–you can’t serve people dinner from a can, unless that person is your husband. Sorry Steve, This soup took me a little while to make with all of the chopping–So.Much.Chopping–but the nice thing is I was able to do it all in the morning, put it in the crock pot and not have to stress when everyone arrived. I loved it! I always feel like tomato soups at restaurants have so much flavor and I’ve never understood how they do it. The one time I’d tried to make it from scratch it came out just okay. I feel like the roasting is the key, because this one was full of flavor and I would even choose it over my fav tomato soup at Paradise Bakery!

Roasted Tomato and Pepper Soup

yield 10 servings

4 pounds tomatoes
10-12 large bell peppers (I used a combo of red and orange), seeded and chopped
3 medium jalapeno peppers, chopped (you can leave all, some, or none of the ribs and seeds depending on desired spice level)
2 large sweet yellow onions, chopped
1 head garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
14oz center cut or turkey bacon
1/4 cup dried basil
Sea salt and pepper to taste
3-5 bay leaves
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup non fat plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1-3 tsp Sriracha

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Spray the biggest baking dish you have with non stick spray.
Slice tomatoes in half and scrape out seeds.
Add tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic to baking dish.
Lightly drizzle with olive oil. Season with basil, salt and pepper.
Place bay leaves around the edges
Top with bacon slices
Bake for 40-45 min until veggies are tender, flipping bacon half way through.
Let cool for 15 min, then remove bacon and bay leaves, setting bacon aside.
Transfer veggies in batches to blender or food processor and blend through.
Transfer blended soup to crock pot.
Chop bacon and add to crock pot.
Stir in Greek yogurt.
Add Sriracha, crushed red pepper, and additional salt and pepper if desired.
Cook on low for 4 hours.
Serve with grilled cheese of course!

Lucius is hoping we'll drop some for him 😉

The Last New Distance

December 15, 2011 · by Ari ·

Today I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I knew I needed to long run, but I was alone and I wasn’t sure I felt like running for 2 hours by myself. It’s weird now. I started this training so unsure of whether or not I would be able to run 13.1 miles, and now I know that I can. I knew I wanted to get up to 12 for good measure, but I knew when I hit 10 that I could do this. So today I told myself that I had choices (which I suck at making). I could run anywhere from 8-12 miles. I was pretty sure I would end up doing 8, but I was smart and packed 2 Gu packets just in case. At mile 4.5, I decided I was over it and I was going to turn around and make it 9. Then somewhere around mile 6, I had a little chat inside my head that went something like this:

“What the hell, Ari? Stop being a little bitch and just freaking do it.”

I know tough love doesn’t work for everyone, but it often works on me, and today was no exception. So I changed my route up a little, took some detours and made it happen. At about mile 8.5 I got mad at myself and was like “Mother dicker, if I had just done 9 like I thought, I’d be almost home by now!!! My legs hurt!! My feet hurt!!! Waaaaahhhh!” Too bed self, too bad.

I realllly wanted to try to make it happen in sub 2 hours.

Close, but no cigar.

That’s okay. <2:01:00 is still pretty good. What I want to know is how do people run the entire half in less than that?! I see people all the time with their sub 2 half marathons, and I am amazed. One day, Ari. One day.

My splits were pretty even. The days of negative splits on long runs are a little behind me at this point, but negative splitting 6 miles is a lot different than 12, so I just have to be okay with that. Plus, my first race needs to be about tackling the distance. Speed will come. I’m a little impatient in case you couldn’t tell 😉

Mile 1–10:19
Mile 2–10:45 <–what the hell, body? I do not like you, mile 2.
Mile 3–10:23
Mile 4–10:04
Mile 5–9:55
Mile 6–9:48
Mile 7–10:01
Mile 8–9:59
Mile 9–9:50
Mile 10–10:01
Mile 11–9:53
Mile 12–9:11<–at least I finished strong!

Average pace 10:01. Not too shabby for me. I took my Gu at mile 5 and mile 9. PS, the mint chocolate Gu is really really good. In fact, Gu is kind of growing on me now that I’m using to the weird texture.

I also like to check my calorie burn just for fun. 1492. Thanks for that added perk, running. I would do it anyway because I like it, but as a person who still wants to lose weight and really likes food, I can’t pretend this part isn’t awesome.

There is always a place near the end of a long run that everything comes into perspective. Usually a great song comes on my ipod, I start to feel pumped, and I just run with this huge stupid grin on my face. I feel happy and powerful and like I really can do anything I set my mind to. Other goals in my life seem less out of reach, as cheesy as that sounds. It’s easy to forget when I want to sit around the house and be lazy. And half way through when I’m tired and want to be done. But, honestly, there is nothing more fulfilling than accomplishing things you never thought you could do. I don’t often feel very proud of myself, but the last 3 months (is that it?!) have been very different. That right there is reason enough to keep going!

And now I want to say to you, yes you! You can do anything you put your mind to. Whether its fitness or career or family, there is NOTHING you can’t do. If you have a goal, go freaking after it! Stop waiting. Stop making excuses. And for the love of God, stop letting the obstacles that life brings you get in your way. Face them. Crush them! Then tell me about your success. I will be your personal cheerleader! 🙂

Hermano’s Orchestra Concert

December 14, 2011 · by Ari ·

Wow. That’s about all I can say. I’ve been going to school orchestra concerts for 5 years since Jacob was in 4th grade. I remember his very first ones. They had to make sure each group only actually played for about 15 minutes, otherwise it would have been really hard to sit through! I remember when he started Jr high, all of the sudden the caliber was upped a few hundred notches. His jazz band won competitions. He played in the top orchestra. They were pretty legit. This is his first year in high school and unfortunately most of his concerts take place while I am in rehearsal. Luckily, his final concert of the season happened on an off night for me, and again, all I can say is wow.

He is one of the only freshman in the top orchestra and he has the second chair seat. As if that weren’t impressive enough, this group is fantastic. They sound like a polished recording. I watched and listened to this concert in awe of all of the potential filling the stage, and my eyes filling with tears from the overwhelming sense of pride I felt. Let me also say that I am not easily impressed. In fact, I am known for being kind of a snobby brat when it comes to the arts (I have to watch talent tv alone because no one will watch with me), but this concert was just so incredible.

Their first number was by far my favorite!

I am a proud big sister, let me tell you!

Academy Award Season

December 14, 2011 · by Ari ·

We all know that I love the holiday season. Mostly for the holidays, but one of my other favorite parts of this time of year is THE MOVIES!!! I am admittedly Oscar obsessed and I always try so hard to see every film nominated in at least the big categories. I usually fail pretty miserably at that because I get busy, and sometimes crappy movies are nominated that I don’t want to waste my time on, but I put in a valliant effort, and my friend Nacho and I get super excited about the awards ceremony every February. Nacho called me at 7:30 this morning to discuss the SAG and Critic’s Choice nominations. I spent my morning (umm this is embarrassing) checking lists and reading descriptions so that I could carefully put together my list of what I want to see before the Oscars. Oy vey.

Some of these movies have been out for a while, some aren’t out yet, and a few will probably not be nominated for anything, but here is what I hope to have seen come February 2012:

The Artist
The Descendants
Tree of Life
Hugo
Martha Marcy May Marlene
My Week with Marylin
Iron Lady
J Edgar
War Horse—-uuuggghhh, I guess. Isn’t the whole point of War Horse the giant horse? Is it really going to be interesting with real live horses?
Take Shelter
Beginners
Carnage
The Muppets (not for the awards, I just really want to see it!)
Puss in Boots (Hey, Cars 2 looked awful–this one could get best animated!)
Shame
Moneyball
Young Adult
Like Crazy (again, not going to win any awards, but I’ve heard good things and I really want to see it!)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
50/50
We Need to Talk About Kevin

The ones in bold are the ones I want to see the most. I really really reallllly want to see Carnage because I feel so cheated that I didn’t get to see it on The B-way. It isn’t very high up there for nominations or in Oscar predictions (which I also looked at all morning), but the cast is great and the play is supposed to be fantastic.

My friend Mac is really the best at the movie seeing/reviewing. I think every year he makes it to every single movie, and he is actually smart when it comes to reviewing things. For me I say things like “It was amazing!!!! I felt something!” or “That was lame and I didn’t care about anyone in the entire movie.” That’s the extent of it over here. But never the less, I am super excited to see some *hopefully* great movies and some good acting!

A couple shout outs to movies I’ve seen already and I feel deserve some kind of nomination:

Midnight in Paris

Seriously this movie is so original and interesting. I think it at least deserves a nod for screenplay, if not director as well.

The Help

Okay, sure, The Help has it’s problems as an entire film, but that did not stop me from loving every second of it, and Ms. Davis’ performance is absolutely outstanding, as always.

Bridesmaids

Comedies are finally beginning to be recognized by the Academy, and this one certainly deserves it, in my opinion. What most people don’t realize is that comedy is hard. Often harder than drama. There is so much that goes into it, and the timing, and creating ridiculous, yet believable characters. It’s no joke–haha, catch my pun? I’m so funny. See, it is hard.

Nacho, I have made the list—anything you’d like to add?

Anyone else have any movies they think I should add?

Do you like to see all the award season movies?

Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Cookies

December 13, 2011 · by Ari ·

Today is my amazing friend Emily’s birthday! Aside from being a wonderful friend, Emily also happens to be my boss at one of my many jobs. She is pretty much the best person to work for on the face of the planet. Brilliant, talented, kind, supportive, helpful, you name it. So today I wanted to do something special for her. I was originally going to make cupcakes, but I’m on kind of a cookie kick, so I created a brand new recipe that ended up being a success.

This is not necessarily the healthiest recipe I’ve ever created, but it still has a touch of me and my avoidance-except-in-small-doses of my ex lover: butter. Seriously butter, I still love you, but it’s a toxic relationship.

Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Cookies

yield 16 medium sized cookies

1 cup + 2 tbs flour (I used plain ole white this time, but white whole wheat, or whole wheat pastry would also be good)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup light whipped butter, softened
1.5 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1 oz fat free plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tbs Splenda
1 1/4 tbs fat free half and half
3 tbs egg substitute (an egg white would work too)
1/2 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 candy cane, crushed

Directions:

Whisk flour and baking soda together, set aside.
Beat cream cheese, butter and yogurt until fluffy. Beat in brown sugar and Splenda, followed by egg substitute, half and half, and vanilla.
Slice vanilla bean down the center and scrape seeds into sugar mixture.
Beat in flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
Preheat oven to 325 and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray with nonstick spray.
Roll cookies into small-medium balls and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Place onto cookie sheet.
Top each cookie with a little crushed candy cane.
Bake for 14-18 minutes.
Let stand on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Oooooohhh Cut Footloose!

December 13, 2011 · by Ari ·

Is there anything better than doing jumps in spin class while singing along to Footloose?

What about moving through lots of different positions and paces to this song?

Both in one class? Let me just say there were lots of people turning their heads while pedaling to see who the freak was that was singing along. It was me!!! Sorry. I have no shame. The right music totally pumps me up in a work out, especially in spin class. I mean, we’re all just in that same room with nothing to look at other than the puddles of sweat (or maybe it’s just by my bike that there is a puddle of sweat), and the music is played loud (at least it should be), so when a good song comes on, no matter how tired I am, I get a burst of energy and can’t help but sing along. I know what you’re thinking, but I really can’t help it. I’ve heard rumors of karaoke spin classes. I honestly can’t think of a way to work out that would be more fun!

First you've got to turn it arrroooouunndd. Then put your feet on the groo-ooouu--uuund.

Oh spin class. I really love you.

For me, this just reiterates the important of choosing work outs you love. Believe it or not, I wake up most days with a list of excuses running through my mind as to why I could skip my work out. Still. I was telling Steve last night that I think I am actually kind of a lazy person. That sucks. I wish I was the kind of person who got things done with a big smile on my face while singing a Happy Little Working Song.

I wonder how many songs I can fit into one post 😉

But anyway, it really can be a challenge for me to get my butt out the door, and I know that if I was trying to get to the gym to sit on the rowing machine for an hour, the excuses would win. I hate the rowing machine. Hate. But I love running. And I love spinning. And I love Zumba. And I love bodyworks. I feel like sometimes people get too caught up in there being a “right” or a “wrong” way to work out. Or people have said to me in the past that my work outs “count” more or are “better” and I have caught myself thinking the same thing as I read other blogs.

The only right way to work out is the way that is right for you.

You don’t have to figure it out right away. Try different things until something sticks. And honestly, isn’t that true of all things in life?

Irongirl 10K Race Recap

December 12, 2011 · by Ari ·

My very first 10K race!!! I talked myself out of participating in this race about 100 times before finally fully committing and signing up the day before. I mean really I had every reason not to. I had 2 shows + strike and a cast party coming that day. Opening night of Fiddler followed by the GoDaddy holiday party were happening the night before. I had even officially told all of my blogger friends that there was no way I could make it work. Buuuutttt, so many wonderful ladies were doing it! And I’ve never done a 10K! And I really wanted to run! So I finally told Nicole, Carolyn, Emily and Raya that I was done being lame and I was signing up!

Saturday morning I met Nicole and Carolyn for brunch at True Foods and then headed over to the expo. I’d never been to a race expo! There were some cool stands set up and lots of things I wanted to buy, but after spending the money on the race, I decided to try not to empty my bank account on running souvenirs. Sunday morning we arrived back at the race site at 8am for a 9am start time. By this point, I was nervous. I’d gotten about 5 hours of sleep, I had never run a 10K race before and I just had no idea what to expect. Yes, I have run much further than 6.2, but I am learning that a race is a lot different than a normal run. Is that bad that it’s different? I’m new at this and I have no idea if that is normal, but I do know that the 3 times I have crossed the finish line, I’ve felt way more beat than after any other runs.

Ok back to this race! Steve came with me because he is the best husband ever and we quickly met up with Nicole, Carolyn, and Emily (and later Raya–somehow I ended up with no pictures with you in it–laaaame!).

Dear blog friends: you are so amazing!! I feel so lucky to have you ladies in my life!

See that pretty sparkly head band??? I’ve been wanting one and I showed Steve the one I wanted and he bought it for me! Then it fell off somewhere in the middle of the race and I was so focused on not dying that I didn’t even realize it 🙁

While waiting for the race to begin, we posed for some action shots.

Seriously, that’s what we all look like when we run. Don’t be jealous.

My goal for this race was to keep up with ~~Speedy Gonzales~~ Nicole. Actually, that’s a lie. My only real goal was that I really really really wanted to finish in under an hour. The last time I ran 6 miles it took me I think 1:02, but I know I’ve gotten faster since then and I wanted anything under 59:59. My plan to make this goal happen was to try to keep up with Nicole! As soon as we crossed the starting line, Nicole was off weaving and dodging around people and I made her my rabbit and stayed close behind. Right away we started going slightly uphill and I remember thinking “This will be nice coming the other way at the end.” Little did I know. After about mile 2, I started to feel over dressed. The sun was out in full force and the high of the day ended up being about 70. I should have been in shorts and a tank top! Whoops. But for the first 3 miles, I really felt like I was doing awesome. We were flying (for this slow poke) and hitting negative splits.

Mile 1–9:38

Mile2–9:11

Mile 3–8:30

Yup, that is too fast for me for mile 3 of a 6 mile race. I wish it wasn’t so, but at this time it is and I kinda knew it. I just kept hoping I’d be able to keep it up, but after that mile I felt exhausted and the real hills began. I sadly told Nicole to go up ahead and that I was going to fall back.

Mile 4–10:47

Booooo. I felt like my hopes finishing in under an hour were long gone because I had to take way more walking breaks than I would like to admit. I felt kind of like I had blown it, but fortunately I kept checking my garmin and seeing that there was still hope! I just kept forcing myself to run again, and run hard, after every walking break and push onward through what I would call hills of death. Okay, probably for someone who does not live in Phoenix (I mean, if you want to get technical I live in Mesa which literally means FLAT!) these would not be hills of death, but I had never ran on anything like this before!

At one point I stopped to walk and this woman who had to be in her 50s or 60s looked at me and told me “Keep going, you can do it.” I wanted to cry. I wanted to carry her to the finish with me. I had so much love for this woman that I could never explain to her. I didn’t even know how to say thank you. I am someone who thrives on encouragement and positive affirmation and to hear this stranger say she believed in me when I was doubting myself was such an incredible feeling. I just kept pushing forward, allowing myself to walk up steeper hills when I needed to. Finally I got close to mile 6 and I could feel that my goal was still on the tips of my fingers. I ran hard and gave the end of the race every last ounce of speed I had in me. I looked down at my Garmin and realized it hit 6.2 before I crossed the finish and remember feeling so angry! All of the sudden, I was no longer sure if I was going to make it, and I felt so cheated by the system. Yes, I am that dramatic when I’m exhausted. No, I do not actually think the Irongirl team was out to get me and not let me reach my goal. I crossed the finish line and tried soooo hard to have a finish with my arms up and looking strong.

“Dear God, AM I THERE YET?!?!?!?!?!!”

“Okay, look see I did it!!! ARMS ARE UP!!!!”

I waited until after I ran through with my arms up for just a second before I paused my Garmin, then looked down, hit pause and say this

Seriously??????

As soon as I crossed the finish line, Steve tried to hug me, but I thought I might puke, so I pushed him away and waited for the feeling of death to subside. Luckily, it didn’t last longer than a minute or two and I was quickly reunited with Nicole who had finished 2 and a half minutes before me!

Check out Speedy Gonzales crossing the finish line! Nicole, one day I will be fast like you!

“WE DID IT!!!!!!!”

I got my very first race medal!!!!

And I was also given the most amazing little post race gift bag from Steve! Did I mention that he is THE BEST HUSBAND EVER?! He got me a spibelt, and lots of mileage stickers, not to mention the headband that he had bought me before the race (I miss you already headband. You were so sparkly!) I felt so loved and so happy.

Then a little while later I got a text from Nicole with a picture of my official chip time

59:58

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goal achieved. It feels pretty damn fantastic.

GoDaddy Holiday Party

December 12, 2011 · by Ari ·

The GoDaddy holiday party is pretty famous. Bob Parsons rents out the entire Chase Field and thousands of people attend. This was our 3rd year attending and it was probably my favorite yet! Although last year, I got to meet Jillian Michaels, so last year probably still wins 🙂

BFFs, right Jillian? Please don't get a restraining order, I just think you're really amazing!

This year the theme was United States and there were little areas designated to famous US cities including Las Vegas, New York, Hollywood and New Orleans. Since we arrived late after opening night of Fiddler and I missed the moment where I could wait at the stairs to the stage for Jillian to come off and profess my love to her, this was definitely my favorite moment of the night

See the name in the star? No? Well 3 guesses 🙂

I also enjoyed playing poker in “Vegas” and living it up on the red carpet in “Hollywood”.

We spent our short amount of time at the party with our friends Josh and Ashley.

My husband sure knows how to look smart in pictures.

And I figured this was as close to an Oscar as I’ll ever get, so I hung on for dear life!

Is it narcissistic if winning an award is on my life time bucket list? I'm an actor, I feel like narcissism is somewhat implied.

We had to peace out pretty early because I had a race the next morning (recap coming soon!), but it was super fun and I look forward to this party every year! The only work parties I have are filled with a bunch of kids singing and dancing. Poor Steve takes me to a party where the company owner pulls names out of a hat to give $10,000 to and I drag him to youth theatre cast parties. 😉

Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pies

December 12, 2011 · by Ari ·

The time has finally come! The time to share my Food Blogger Cookie Swap creation! For those of you that don’t know, the way this swap worked is hundreds of bloggers signed up to take part of the giving that two fabulous bloggers organized. We were each sent the names, addresses and blog urls of 3 people who we would send a dozen cookies to each. I was so excited to get 3 people who were completely new to me! There are so many blogs out there, that it is always nice to be introduced to new ones.

The truth is, as soon as it came down to actually make the cookies, I started regretting my decision. I started to get a lot of anxiety about what to make and if other people would enjoy my baking or if they would think it was bad or if the cookies would stay fresh–this is still my biggest concern. The thing that I’ve noticed about my healthier baking is that if not stored perfectly, a lot of times things are likely to go stale a little bit faster. I feel like using less fat it is just a little easier for things to get dried out. Generally, however, if kept in air tight containers, I’m good. I was just nervous because this is a new recipe so I wasn’t sure about shelf life.

In true Ari fashion I waited until the day before send off day to bake my cookies. Also, the first day of tech week. Smart, Ari. So at 9pm after being at the theater all day, I got in the kitchen and was feeling less than thrilled. I had made pretty much this same cookie (I just had a few ideas to make it extra special 🙂 ) for my dad’s half birthday and it was such a huge hit that I changed my original cookie plan which involved chocolate, peanut butter and pretzels and went with this instead.

And everything seemed to be going well, and as planned.

Then they came out of the oven and looked like this.

Well, that looks different than before.

I still wasn’t sure what had happened, but I knew that they tasted good so I kept going for a bit, trying to get them together.

If you like cookies that are actually cake, you would have loved this first version.

Finally I admitted to myself that these were way too flimsy, and just not right. I couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong so I grumpily went to bed and decided I would get up and bake first thing the next morning. During my tossing and turning, it finally dawned on me!!! I had doubled the recipe (which when you are as bad at focusing as I am can be dangerous). Well, I had doubled everything….except the flour. I really thought I had doubled the flour, but going back through my steps, I realized I hadn’t. That’s why they turned out more like cake!

You can see the evidence in the dough

Batch 1:

Cake.

Batch 2:

Cookies!

Success.

Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pies

yield 40-50

Inspired by Can You Stay For Dinner‘s Vanilla Whoopie Pies with Chocolate Ganache

For the outside:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup light whipped butter, softened
4 oz fat free cream cheese
1 cup organic raw cane sugar
2/3 cup Splenda
4 large eggs
1 cup reduced fat buttermilk
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp vanilla extract
2 candy canes, crushed
green sprinkles (optional)

For the filling:

12 oz grain sweetened chocolate chips
3/4 cup 2% milk
1 1/2 tbs light whipped butter
1 tsp peppermint extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and spray with nonstick spray.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
In a separate large bowl (I used my Kitchenaid), beat butter, cream cheese, Splenda and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time. Add buttermilk and almond milk and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until just incorporated.
Stir in vanilla extract.
Using a sprayed tablespoon, drop cookies onto lined and sprayed sheet (for prettiest cookies, use your hands to roll after batter has been dropped).
Sprinkle each cookie with crushed candy canes and green sprinkles (if it’s not the holiday season, you can omit the sprinkles).
Bake for 10 minutes. The whoopie pies should spring back when you press them gently. Let the cookies sit for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Begin the filling by placing butter, peppermint extract and chocolate chips in a medium-large bowl.
Heat milk in microwave (or on stove if you’re more patient than me 🙂 ) until the top begins to bubble, but be careful not to heat too long.
Pour in hot milk and mix well until chocolate is fully melted. Let cool and thicken(I put mine in the fridge for about 15 min).
Spread a little chocolate on the flat side of one cookie, top with the flat side of a second and press together. Repeat with all cookies.

They look so much better this time around!

Happy holidays fellow food bloggers!!!

I really really loved the way these cookies came out. I hope that Emmamarie, Amy, and Monique enjoyed them!!! And thank you so much to Julie and Lindsay for putting this together!!

Charlie’s Birthday

December 10, 2011 · by Ari ·

The tradition of Starbucks birthdays continues!

Last night we went out to celebrate Charlie’s birthday at Abuelo’s.

Birthday boy!

It actually ended up being, for me, the perfect group. Kara, Charlie, Eddie, Steve and me. I tend to do better in smaller group settings. Large groups give me anxiety and I get shy and I feel like I don’t know who to talk to or what conversation to listen to. I often have to force myself to go to things where there are large groups and people I don’t know, but last night was easy, fun and really chill which was exactly what I needed! They also had skinny margaritas on the menu which made me super happy! I love margaritas, but I can never justify the calories of a full sugar one. Skinny margs are the way to go, and honestly, I think they taste better–I like to taste my tequila!

I had never been to Abuelo’s, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The food was soooo delicious! The portions looked huge so Kara and I decided to split a seafood dish

While Charlie ordered for the entire country of Ethiopia

Everything was delicious, but the bites I stole of Charlie’s spinach and cheese enchilada were definitely my favorite! With so much food, we all kind of ended up sharing everything which is my favorite way to do it! I can never decide on just one thing, I like to try lots of things!

And of course I brought Charlie’s green tea cupcakes for dessert.

They were a huge hit!

Don't worry Eddie, you can thank me later for posting this awesome picture of you.

I had a fabulous time spending time with some of my favorites!

Green Tea Mini Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

December 10, 2011 · by Ari ·

When my friend Charlie requested green tea cupcakes as his birthday treat, I was a little unsure of how they would turn out. I don’t really drink green tea. I’ve never made anything with green tea. The only reference I had in my brain was a sample of green tea fro yo. In true Ari fashion, I found a recipe to use for reference, then just did my own thing 🙂

Green Tea Mini Cupcakes

yield 20 mini cupcakes

1/2 cup cake flour
1 tsp matcha powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
3 tbs organic raw cane sugar
1 1/2 tbs Splenda
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain non fat Greek yogurt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line 20 mini muffin tins and spray insides of liners (lower fat cupcakes tend to stick to the liner if you don’t).
Combine flour, matcha powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, sugar, Splenda, egg white, and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients into dry, then add yogurt. Mix until just incorporated.
Fill each lined muffin tin about 2/3 and bake for 10-14 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool completely and top with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

yield frosting for 20 mini cupcakes (it really ended up being the PERFECT amount!)

4 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
1 tbs light whipped butter, softened
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Beat butter and cream cheese together until fluffy.
Add extracts.
Add powdered sugar (you can use more or less depending on your sweetness preference).
Top cooled cupcakes.
Optional: If desired, top with sweetened flaked coconut.

Like a green tea latte, I think? But better!

I ended up being sooooo happy with the results! I would seriously make these cupcakes over and over again! The texture was perfect, and the flavor combination between the coconut and the green tea (something I kind of went for on a whim hoping it would work) was perfectly balanced!