season’s sweetings with SMARTFOOD.

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Would you believe that in my four years of living in NYC, I haven’t once decorated for the holidays? I always put it off because a) getting a Christmas tree here is a pain and b) I usually spend the week or two around Christmas at my parents’ house.

This year, though, I teamed up with SMARTFOOD® popcorn to get a little creative with the holiday decorations. And I must say - it was so much fun (and delicious)!

SMARTFOOD’s two holiday flavors - SMARTFOOD Cinnamon Brown Sugar Popcorn and SMARTFOOD Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn Popcorn – are not only insanely good, but you can also get creative and make tons of holiday-themed decorations with them around the house! The combination of sweet and salty plus some crunch made for the perfect snack to munch on as I decorated my apartment.

I’m not normally one to play with my food, but I decided to go old school and make fun holiday decorations out of SMARTFOOD popcorn. All you need is some thread and a needle, and you thread the popcorn on for a cute decoration to either put on your Christmas tree or around the house (in my case, apartment).

This season, let’s see how many popcorn craftivities we can create. From centerpieces to wreaths to garlands – ornaments to snowmen to decorative treats…the question is, what CAN’T you make with SMARTFOOD popcorn?

Now through December 20th, simply share a photo of your #SmartfoodDIY holiday creations on either Twitter or Instagram. Use the #SmartfoodDIY and #GMLifeEntry and we could both win a $250 gift card – just a little extra sweetness for the holidays! (see official rules at fritolay.com)

  • Follow Frito-Lay on Instagram: www.instagram.com/fritolay
  • Follow Frito-Lay on Twitter: @Fritolay www.twitter.com/fritolay
  • Frito-Lay snacks – link on first reference: www.fritolay.com

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Frito-Lay. DIY creation and stated opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.

eats: red velvet cake batter brownies with cream cheese frosting.

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Second only to my Original Cake Batter Blondies, this recipe has been my most popular post. It’s been a while since I shared it, so I thought it would be a good time to do a little re-post. You know, since it includes those Christmas colors and all 😉

Red Velvet Cake Batter Brownies || girlmeetslife.com

brownie ingredients:

  • 1 box red velvet cake mix
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup milk

frosting ingredients:

  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 + 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

cream cheese frosting

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cake mix in a large bowl and mix in the oil and egg. Then add the milk slowly JUST until the batter is combined – you want it to remain as dense as possible. Place batter in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan and bake for 22-25 minutes.

While the brownies are is in the oven, get started on the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter until fully combined. Add vanilla and sugar, and continue beating until creamy.

Let brownies cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting/frosting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, brownie-batter texture.

Red Velvet Cake Batter Brownies || girlmeetslife.com

These babies - especially combined with the cream cheese frosting - are pretty much guaranteed to be a crowd pleasing dessert for the holidays.

(Check out all of my Cake Batter recipes here)

eats: Cinnamon Brown Sugar Apple Crisp.

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We’ve all got them – those family favorite recipes that you just have to make every holiday season.

Growing up, I can’t remember a year where we didn’t make Apple Crisp some time around Thanksgiving. It’s the perfect delicious and comforting dessert, which also happens to be quite easy to make. So when asked to partner with Grain Foods Foundation to bring you a holiday favorite recipe, I knew exactly what to share!

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Apple Crisp

ingredients:

  • 4 medium (or 3 large) apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3/4 cup flour (I used almond flour)*
  • 1 cup regular oats
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons granular sugar

directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place apples in a greased 8×8 baking dish, and sprinkle with granular sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, mix together the melted butter and brown sugar, then add the oats and flour.
Spread topping on the apples and bake for 28-30 minutes.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Apple Crisp

* I was really excited that using almond flour in this recipe turned out well! White flour and oat flour work great too. You can use the flour of your choice.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Apple Crisp

One of the best things about this recipe is that you don’t have to (and shouldn’t) wait for it to cool before digging in 😉 Don’t forget the vanilla ice cream!

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Apple Crisp

Please note that this post is sponsored by Grain Foods Foundation. All opinions herein are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.

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What’s one of your family’s favorite recipes during the holidays?

 

here’s what | 11.23.14.

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Sheesh, I haven’t done a life lately post in forever! So here’s what are some little things going on in this life I’ve met…

1. Might as well start with these goodies – Magic Cookie Bars that I made for our girls’ night last week. I followed this recipe but made them gluten free by using gluten free graham crackers.

Gluten Free Magic Cookie Bars

2. Speaking of gluten free, the other day when I was running around the city for errands/meetings, I treated myself to a nice sit down lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. I got the ricotta & prosciutto tartine on gluten free crisps, along with a macaroon for dessert. Since going off Whole30 I’ve been trying to at least stay gluten free (as well as sugar free), just because like every other person in the world it’s been engrained in my mind that gluten is the devil. Or whatever.

Le Pain Quotidien

3. SPEAKING of Whole30 (like my segues so far?), as expected I’ve slowly but surely let my diet go back to (mostly) crap. I’m going easy on myself because HI I’m human and it’s basically the holiday season now, but I still want to clean things back up a bit again. I’ve failed miserably at keeping track of my meals on Tumblr, but I’m really going to do it this time. Hold me accountable, y’all!

4. Since Whole30 I HAVE been getting my booty back to the gym, though, and it’s felt great. I’m planning on getting a new routine from a trainer soon, which I’m really looking forward to. A girl can only climb 45 minutes worth of stairs leading nowhere for so long…

FullSizeRender

5. Lately I’ve been feeling a bit of a quarter-life crisis brewing. Is that normal? Please tell me it’s normal. Some days I wake up and I LOVE what I do. Love love love. But other days I feel discontent – like there’s something else/more that I should be doing. I don’t feel it strong enough to change anything (like I said – most of the time I’m very happy with what I do), but it’s still something I want pray about in keep in the back of my mind.

6. The only thing worse than falling down the stairs is falling up the stairs. And the only thing more embarrassing than falling up the stairs is doing so in front of your neighbor. Not that I’d know, or anything.

7. My love/hate relationship with Snapchat has been leaning toward lovin’ lately. It’s such a fun way to keep in touch with people without the pressure of responding to texts all day (no offense). Plus I like to use it to whine about really important things like being cold and not brushing my hair.

(Be my friend @alagracie! But keep it PG, por favor ;))

8. I’m that person who plays songs over and over and over again when I really love them. And thanks to Hype Machine (and Martina for introducing me to it), that has been happening a lot lately. I’m especially going loco over this Weekend remix. (p.s. I have a new playlist coming your way this week!)

9. I think I might be officially outgrowing my “party” days. Of course I’ll always love fun nights out with my friends, but the idea of spending a Friday/Saturday night doing dinner and a movie is 1000% more appealing these days.

10. IT’S ALMOST THANKSGIVING!! AND CHRISTMAS!!! Anyone else excited to eat too much food and spend too much money? I’m kicking it off my buying myself a new MacBook in a few days. I’m on my 5th PC in less than 5 years, and it’s time…

But seriously. I am that girl that is a wee bit holiday obsessed, and I couldn’t be more excited for this next month.

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Will you be buying yourself any (early) Christmas gifts? What about the holidays are you most excited for?

eats: whole30 approved mayo + bang bang shrimp.

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You guys. I have to make a PSA.

If doing the Whole30 challenge, you must make the homemade mayo from the Whole30 website.

It’s not the mayo you’re used to – it’s much creamier, milder, and can very easily be made into different sauces and dressings!

Before I even started Whole30, my friend Emily insisted that I made sure to make this mayo. My first time around was a complete failure because I used extra virgin olive oil (later seeing that that’s a no-no). It was disgusting.

BUT – when made correctly – it’s a game changer.

I used it in this bang bang shrimp, which you can find the recipe for here.

Whole30 approved Bang Bang Shrimp

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Do you ever make usually-store bought food(s) from scratch?

wellness: whole30 week one update.

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Hey babes!

So I decided not to track my entire Whole30 experience here on GML just for the sake of not inundating you with it, but I do want to check in with updates here and there. So here’s a recap of my first week doing the Whole30 challenge.

First up - the food!

breakfast: been keeping it pretty similar each day – usually some version of eggs + sweet potato.

lunch: I try to make a double batch of something that I can have for lunch AND dinner – either a meat + veggie combo or my Whole30 Approved Chili.

dinner: usually same as lunch! With the exception of my girls’ night (where I did some snacking on Bacon Wrapped Dates and fruit/veggies).

Whole30 meals || girl meets life.

(Visit my Tumblr for larger photos/descriptions of the meals)

How I’m feeling:

The first few days were a little rough – I felt really low on energy and had very little motivation. Oh, and I wanted something SWEET. But deep down I knew how awesome I’d feel the longer I could stick to it, and now each day that goes by leaves me feeling more and more motivated.

Physically the only changes I’ve noticed are more energy and clarity, and feeling a bit lighter than usual. I haven’t really noticed any weight loss yet, but I haven’t weighed myself so I’m not sure.

Other observations:

I’ve definitely noticed my overall mindset toward food changing. First of all, I’m really enjoying having three square meals instead of snacking all day – it leaves me feeling much more satisfied, and I pay attention to my meals instead of mindlessly grazing.

Honestly, I’m really proud of myself for getting through a whole week. I know that’s not a huge deal to a lot of people, but I don’t have much willpower – especially when it comes to the social aspect of food/eating. I didn’t realize that this challenge would be such a mental achievement as much as it is health-wise!

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Have you ever done Whole30 or a similar challenge? How do you stay motivated to stick to it?