Monthly Favorites: February 2016

You know how some kids say that the dog ate their homework? Well, midterms ate my blog posts! February flew by thanks to a killer combination of projects, essays and midterms - but I still squeezed some fun in between the craziness.

(Or at least I had a little fun while going crazy!)

My face = that spoon!

What I'm Eating

Whether due to midterms stress or just the munchies, this month was all about "healthifying" typically unhealthy and gluten-filled meals. One of my favorites was triggered by a late-night burrito run with friends: a hungry celiac + her boyfriend's (gluten contaminated) loaded carne asada fries = a delicious plate of "potato nachos" a few days later. Though I haven't uploaded a recipe (yet!), just bake some potato wedges and top with all the goodies your heart (or tummy) desires!

I also devoured a super delicious - and super easy - pizza with some inspiration from Further Food's recipe for a salmon and veggie wrap! I just topped my favorite rice tortilla with an avocado sauce (just add avocado to my radish green sauce) with lots of sautéed veggies, black beans, salmon and a little Daiya cheese sprinkled on top. Baked at 425 Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes - just long enough for the edges to get crispy. Definitely going to be my new secret weapon for pizza cravings on busy school nights.

Some of this month's best eats!

Vegan and gluten free cupcakes thanks to The Good Scone! To help my friends (and, okay, me) survive midterms, I threw their vanilla cake mix and a few other ingredients into a bowl and poof! Cupcakes appeared. I also added some chopped up peppermint dark chocolate into the mix - 'cause chocolate fixes everything, right? Especially with homemade chocolate frosting as literal icing on the cake.

What I'm Doing

This is a little bit of a cheat, since it's another thing I ate - but when I went to dinner with friends at Slater's 50/50, I also made up a pretty swag name for my personalized burger. Literally.

With lots of gluten free instructions on the side! ;)

Making lots of funny faces with the boy while waiting for the Superbowl to start. We didn't end up staying to watch the whole thing - we knew traffic driving back to campus before classes the next day would be cRaZy after the game ended! - but it was a fun day of food, football and friends.

Opening lots of big boxes. Fun fact. Two weeks ago, I won a contest from SmartFlour for a free box of gluten free pizza and some swag. Hence the reason I toted a 25 pound box of pizza from mail services to my apartment across campus. I must've made a funny picture because a lady who was obviously visiting my college saw me finally near my apartment and said, "Wow, you were going a long way - I saw you on the top of the hill! Hope it's worth it!" Free pizza? Always worth it.

A few shots from the Expo!

Going to the Gluten Free and Allergen Friendly Expo with my mom! You can check out my full recap here, but I'll just say that it was full of good food, awesome companies and lots of new favorite products.

What I'm Planning

Posting more recipes - including the potato nachos and my easy pizza - to the blog!

Enjoying that I survived midterms and shouldn't have any more big projects, essays, or exams in my future for a little while! This means lots of movies with friends, date nights (Chick Fil A is apparently the craving of choice for restaurants), and homework parties. Maybe even another burrito run with a poncho-clad driver and speakers booming "Bringing Sexy Back."

All the goodies!

A review and giveaway of Milton's Baking Company. You a crunchy, cheesy, or chewy kind of foodie? It doesn't matter - Milton's got you covered.




What were your highlights for February? Any big plans for March? Comment below!