Squash & Banana Brownies

Hey guys!

Remember me? Lauren, the author of this blog? I've been a bad blogger...can you forgive me?

I hope so.

So let's catch up! Things you need to know about my life so that my posts from here on out aren't totally confusing:

• I'm not a hog farmer anymore! 
• I've moved to West Chester, which is a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio! I'm living in my dad's basement. Woo yay woo.
• I'm a student at the Midwest Culinary Institute in the Pastry Arts Program.  
• I've been a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant since February.
• This week I started training for my second half-marathon. I'll be running the Avengers Half-Marathon at Disneyland in November.

Okay, I think we're all caught up! This week fall classes began at Cincinnati State and tonight is my first baking lab! Fundamentals of baking from 4-9:50! I'll be all dressed up in my whites so I'll be sure to update this with a picture later : D

In honor of tonight, how about a recipe? I was craving chocolate Monday but I didn't want to indulge my sugar demand so I made these brownies. My inspiration came from here but I changed the recipe quite a bit by the time it went into the oven.

Summer Squash & Banana Brownies

What you need:

• 2 bananas - mashed
• 1/2 c applesauce
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c AP flour
• 1c wheat flour - you can use 2 cups of AP flour if you don't have this.
• 1 medium summer squash - this is basically a yellow zucchini so if you can't find one, grab a zucchini!
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts - I omitted these so my nut-allergic friend could eat them.

What you do:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Peel and grate the squash. Transfer grated squash into a paper towel and squeeze out the excess water. THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! Your batter will be super soupy(heh heh) if you don't do this.
3. Add mashed nanners, applesauce and sugar together and mix.
4. Add in vanilla and cocoa powder and mix again.
5. Add the your S-es: soda, salt and squash. Mix again.
6. Finally, add in the flour and nuts and give the batter a final mix.
7. Spread the batter evenly into your pan. My batter was a little clingy so you may need to coax it into the corners of your dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the brownies spring back when gently touched. I cut them into 20 equal servings.

Yum! These have a great chocolate flavor and won't leave you feeling guilty! I actually did the math and by subbing the applesauce in, these babies come out with .3 grams of fat per serving! Not too shabby! 

Well friends, thanks for reading! It's good to be back!

Until next time,

Lauren 

Vacation Part 1 - Amarillo Texas

Last week I had the privilege of embarking on a week long vacation with my best friend! Even though I had to work the weekend at the farm, as soon as I could escape I headed down to meet her in Jeffersonville! Then we loaded up the car and were off!

First stop? Amarillo Texas! In case you're wondering, yes I did play and sing "Amarillo By Morning" as the first song in the car. The drive really wasn't that bad and we split it up into two shifts with Jackie driving us through IN, IL and MO and myself taking OK and TX. We got into Amarillo with  plenty of time to stop for a delicious breakfast at Ye Olde Pancake Station. Totally worth it.





After breakfast we found a hotel room for the night, checked in and freshened up. We didn't book the room in advance but rather just used Priceline to find a cheap room. We actually did this twice throughout the trip and it worked pretty well for us. Now we were finally ready to take on Amarillo.  

The first place we visited was the American Quarter Horse Association Museum. I was a little worried that Jackie would find it boring but being raised riding Quarter Horses, I couldn't pass it up. The museum was small but very informative and I think we both had a good time. 

Our next stop was the Cadillac Ranch located along I-40. Cadillac Ranch is considered a sculpture and is basically a bunch of old Cadillacs shoved nose first into the ground a painted. Tourists are actually encouraged to paint them! Lucky for us we found some leftover spray paint cans and were able to add our initials to the cars! 

Inside one of the shells.

It should also be noted that we freed a tumble weed from a life of being stuck in the fence.

For dinner Monday night we went to the Big Texan, home to the free 72oz steak! That's right, this restaurant is famous for it's promise that if you can eat the 72oz steak, shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad and roll, you get the whole thing free! We opted for the 21oz ribeye prepared for two, which we assumed meant we would split the steak and sides. But we were wrong. They say everything is bigger in Texas and this meal was no exception. Along with our 21oz steak to split, we each got two sides and rolls. I think it goes without saying that we were pretty full. Especially once you factor in the boot of in-house brewed beer we each had.

With (very)full bellies we waddled to the car and returned to our hotel room. We turned in early but it was a necessary evil as we wanted to be on the road by 4am.

So that is day 1 of our cross-country road trip to Las Vegas! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Lauren

My Crazy, Tragic, sometimes almost Magic, Awful Beautiful, Life.

Wow. What a crazy life I live. So much about my life has changed in the last month and is going to continue to change with this next month. I know I've been hush about details so this blog is to bring everyone up to the same level.

In February I hit my two year mark with MP3Farms, and while I love the pigs, I haven't been as pleased with everything else. I had told myself in November that in 6 months I would be somewhere different. So I started looking. I updated my resume and applied for jobs, with no return. Which anyone one with job search experience can tell you is pretty depressing. 

So along comes the Christmas season and while visiting my father, it comes up that if I could drop everything and go to culinary school, I would. Well leave it to my father, the wonderful man that he is, to offer to house and feed me for the duration of school if I was serious. Wait, did anyone hear that? It was opportunity pounding on the door. 

Don't worry, I wasted no time in figuring out where I could go to school and still live with my dad. Which led me to apply to the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State. The application was the easy part, since then I've had to submit transcripts, take placement testing and apply for financial aid. The whole process has taken a couple months. 

In the meantime, completely out of the blue a few weeks ago I got an email from an Ag Talent seeking group looking to fill a position on a hog farm. The chosen person would receive a salary, company car and have a masters degree paid for. The catch was that the farm was in Iowa. Well, once again I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by so I updated my resume and sent it in. 

I then proceeded to hear absolutely nothing back. Not even a confirmation that they received my email. Bummer. 

So here it is, March and time for my vacation. I still don't know my admission status for the MCI and I don't know if I'm going to hear back about this job or not. So Friday morning I called the MCI and guess what?

 I'M GOING TO CULINARY SCHOOL!!!!

Yep! That's right, and the best part? I'm starting May 5th! So soon! So I basically have a month to quit, pack, move and start school. Did I mention I'm also putting on three Skin Care Classes and a Grand Opening Party with Mary Kay and running a Spartan Sprint? Holy hell somebody pinch me! 

So yeah, that's what my life has looked like. I plan to write some posts about my vacation as it was pretty dang awesome. So stay tuned!

Thanks for reading,

Lauren 

Potato Ham Chowder

Soup is a wonderful thing. I know a lot of people associate soups with cold weather, and while that is definitely warranted, it's not my view. Don't get me wrong, there are few things more enjoyable than coming in from the cold to a warm, delicious bowl of soup. It's fantastic, but I love to turn to soup for comfort. When I've had a long, or bad, or both day, I take comfort in the fact that I can make a big pot of something warm and creamy to enjoy. This soup was no exception.                                                                                             I got to use another new, to me, ingredient in this recipe! Ham steak! It made everything go smoothly due to being already cooked. All I had to do was dice the amount that I needed. This particular steak provided way more than I needed so I save the rest for ham sandwiches later in the week. So, let's make some soup shall we?

What you'll need:

Melting the butter.

• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1.5 cups frozen corn kernels
• 2 tsp fresh thyme
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3.5 cups milk
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 7 oz ham steak, diced
• salt and pepper, to taste

Between steps 2 & 3.

What you'll do:

Ready to serve!

1. Heat a large skillet over med-high. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy. Set aside on a paper towel lined plate.
2. Melt butter in a Dutch oven, or large pot, over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in corn and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
3. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, only a minute or so. Gradually whisk in milk and cook, continuously whisking, until slightly thickened, and 1-2 minutes. 
4. Stir in potatoes.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes. Stir in ham, salt and pepper. 
6. If you feel your chowder is too thick you can slowly add milk as needed.
7. Serve immediately, garnished with the bacon!

I found this recipe on Damn Delicious, and it was definitely damn delicious. Wonderful for a cold night! I topped mine with some shredded cheddar and it was perfect! 

Bon appetit!

Lauren

Turkey Lasagna

Remember this?

Well, it's high time I show you how to use it!

We're making Lasagna!

This was super tasty and really good for you! By that I mean it's from Clean Eating Magazine so the ingredients are fresh and very minimally processed. This recipe does call for no-boil lasagna noodles, which I had never used before. Word for the wise, make sure that the entire noodle gets covered with sauce when you're doing your layering. If not there will be no moisture and the noodle will not get cooked. AKA you'll have crunchy bits of noodle. Slightly off-putting. 

Let's get started.

What you'll need:

Spinach turkey mixture.

• 9oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1lb ground turkey breast
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 15 oz reduced-fat ricotta cheese, drained
• 1/3 cup loosely packed chopped fresh basil leaves
• 12 whole-wheat no-boil lasagna noodles
• 4 oz reduced-fat, grated Italian four cheese blend
• Homemade Marinara 

What you'll do:

Between steps 5 & 6.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Place spinach in a mesh strainer and press firmly to drain. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high. 
3. Add turkey and cook until no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes. Add spinach, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
4. In a second bowl, combine ricotta and basil. 
5. Reheat marinara on medium until steaming hot. Spread 3/4 cup sauce inside a 9x13 baking dish. Top with 4 noodles, half the ricotta mix, 1/3 of cheese blend, half the turkey mix and 1 cup of sauce. 
6. Repeat once more, starting with noodles and ending with sauce. 
7. Top with remaining noodles, remaining sauce and remaining cheese blend. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.Remove foil and bake until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling, 5-10 minutes more. 
8. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving. 

Ready to go in the oven! 

I got this recipe straight from Clean Eating Magazine, which I LOVE!!!! If you ever want to borrow one, just ask! They have lots of recipes that not only taste great, they're great for you!

I'm gonna go write some more, overdue, blogs now! Enjoy!

Lauren

Start Something Beautiful

Wow. 

My life never seems to slow down. Seems like Monday the 3rd was yesterday and I was looking at the calendar not sure how I'd make it to my day off on the 12th. Now that's just two work days away. 

Let's talk about work shall we? So much has changed for me recently. At the farm I have moved into a secretarial role. Yay! Kinda. Now I spend most of my day up in the office doing paperwork, answering the phone, doing all the laundry and keeping the place clean. I know what you're thinking and no, it's not what I started there intending to do. But nothing has really gone the way I planned in regards to my career there. I will say this, I'm pretty happy with this change of pace. I was worried that being in the office would mean I was less active overall but my FitBit has been telling me otherwise. So hopefully that's where I'll stay until I leave for culinary school. 

As for culinary school, it's not all worked out yet. Don't worry, there'll be a blog when it is :P

In other career news, you may have seen on Facebook that I have become an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay. I cannot tell you how excited I am! I've been going through the training and new materials and I really feel like this is something I can be successful at. Which is nice because I'm going to need an income during culinary school. Please please PLEASE don't be hesitant to talk to me if you are at all curious about Mary Kay! I'm happy to share my knowledge with you and show you how wonderful Mary Kay is!

Well friends, it's bedtime. Once again I'm going to leave you with a promise to blog more. My jar needs more funds haha!

Thanks for reading, 

Lauren

Mmm...Marinara!

Mmm...doesn't that look delicious?

I don't know about you guys but I definitely prefer to use homemade ingredients over store bought. Unfortunately, like most people, I simply don't have the time on a regular week night and pre-packaged wins. 

However, when I do have the time, I go all out. This week I found this delicious Turkey Lasagna recipe in Clean Eating magazine and part of making it is making the sauce! Since I had Monday off, I knew I had to try it! And you know what? It was really easy and really tasty! I'm really glad I ventured out and tried it because now I have this in my arsenal and nothing impresses more than saying "I made it myself".

What you'll need:

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled & chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 28oz cans unsalted, whole tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

What you'll do:

1. In a dutch oven(or large saucepan) heat oil on med-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned. About 10 minutes. 
2. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add vinegar and let bubble 10-20 seconds while you scrape browned bits from the bottom of the pan. 
3. Add tomatoes and stir to combine, breaking them up as you go. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium or med-low to maintain a steady simmer.
4. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until thickened. 
5. Stir in honey, salt and pepper.
6. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce to your consistency liking. If you don't have one, carefully transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and proceed. Just be cautious as the mixture is still very hot.

This sauce can be made up to two days in advance, provided it is stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. So you don't even need to have a whole day free to make this tasty meal! Just make the sauce the night before! Oh, and don't worry, the lasagna recipe will follow in a later post!

Stay tuned,
Lauren