Lemon Roasted Broccoli

Hello and welcome!

This recipe is a take off of the classic Roasted Vegetables, adapted and matured for Lemon Christmas.

Lemon Christmas was a creation of my Aunt Connie and I for this year's Christmas dinner. What started as the story of Domathes being passed down through the generations of my neighborhood became a dinner of Domathes with Lemon Sauce, Lemon Chicken, Lemon Roasted Broccoli, Lemon Risotto, and Limoncello Cookies!

The Recipe: Lemon Roasted Broccoli

• Fresh cut Broccoli florets (as much as you would like to make, we had about 2 cups)
• about 3 tbsp Olive oil with Lemon (Trader Joe's)
• Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
• Lemon Zest, to taste (about 1 tbsp)

The Process: 

1. Set broiler to high, or bake to 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees C)
2. Spread broccoli out on a pan. 
3. Pour Olive Oil over broccoli. 
4. Sprinkle Salt and Pepper over broccoli. 
5. Use a spatula to "mix" broccoli, oil, salt, and pepper. 
6. Roast for about 5 minutes, or until browned. 
7. Enjoy!

The Calories:

Broccoli: 62 calories

Olive Oil: 357 calories

Salt/Pepper: 0 calories

Lemon Zest: 0 calories

____________________

TOTAL: 419 calories

Never feel guilty for roasting vegetables. This is a large portion of broccoli meant to be shared as a side dish. It's not advisable to eat broccoli and only broccoli (especially this much) as a meal, as it can have some nasty stomach effects in large quantities). 

What went right: 

         Everything! These were quite delicious and a lovely complement to the rest of dinner. The Olive Oil with Lemon is fantastic and should be in every kitchen. It gave the broccoli a nice lemon taste without being overpowering. Love. 

What went wrong: 

         It's too good. If you have a child who doesn't like broccoli, make it like this and they'll love it! 

What I would do next time: 

         If I were trying to eat it by myself rather than with family as part of a separate meal, I would combine it with other vegetables as we've done in the past. 

Would I make this in college:

         5 minute prep time, 5 minute cook time? Of course! 

Overall, a lovely addition to Lemon Christmas :) 

Lemon Chicken

Hello and welcome!

This recipe was adapted from Pinterest for Lemon Christmas...Thanks much Annie's Eats!

Lemon Christmas started with a story of Domathes passed down through the generations of my neighborhood, but became a five hour cooking spree with my Aunt Connie followed by dinner with my parents and brother, Aunt Connie, and Uncle Dick. In a single afternoon, we made Domathes, Lemon Chicken, Lemon Risotto, Lemon Broccoli, and Limoncello Cookies! It was a fantastic experience I will never forget and look forward to repeating every year with a different ingredient theme (hint hint ;) )

The only hiccup of Lemon Christmas was my wonderful little brother who absolutely will not stand for Lemon in his chicken....or so he thinks....in light of this, Lemon Chicken also contains the sister adaptation of Plain Baked Chicken for Kirby.






The Recipe: Lemon Chicken

• 2 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
•  2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp thyme leaves
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 6 chicken fillets
• 2 tbsp butter, melted

The Process: 

1. Combine the lemon zest, salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, and rosemary in a ziploc bag. 
2. Add fillets to the bag. 
3. Shake/rub to mix. 
4. Refrigerate for 2 hours to marinate. 
5. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (about 218 degrees C)
6. Put chicken fillets in an oven-safe, preferably porcelain dish to cook. Include all marinade. 
7. Brush fillets with melted butter. 
8. Bake for 50-55 minutes, watching carefully in the last 10 minutes or so based on the typical tendencies of your oven. 
9. Enjoy! 

The Picky Eater Process: 

1. Combine 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper in a ziploc bag. 
2. Add 1 chicken fillet to the bag. 
3. Shake/mix. 
4. Marinate for 2 hours. 
5. In a separate dish, place the fillet and any remaining marinade. 
6. Brush with melted butter. 
7. Bake for 50-55 minutes at 425 degrees (at the same time as the other chicken. 
8. Serve to your picky eater ;) 

The Calories: Lemon Chicken

Chicken (6 fillets): 684 calories

Lemon Zest: 3 calories

Lemon Juice: 20 calories

Rosemary: 2 calories

Thyme: 2 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Pepper: 0 calories

Butter: 204 calories

Garlic: 8 calories

___________________________

TOTAL: 923 calories

Remember, this was for 6 people. That means a single serving is only 154 calories! This might be the most healthy chicken recipe I've ever had for the taste. No replacements, all nutrients, all taste, and fewer calories than a cupcake. Wow. 

The Calories: Picky Eater Chicken

Chicken (1 fillet): 114 calories

Olive Oil: 119 calories

Salt: 0 Calories

Pepper: 0 Calories

___________________________

TOTAL: 233 calories

This assumes that all of the olive oil was actually eaten, but there was still marinade left in the dish when Kirby was done. Personally, I think the plain chicken has less flavor. All of the moisture and flavor in this version of the chicken came from the olive oil (aka fat), whereas a lot of the moisture and flavor in lemon chicken came from the lemon juice. 

What went right:

           We lucked into some MAGNIFICENT meats here. I mean, these chicken fillets were enormous and juicy, and the marinade complimented them perfectly. The herbs held enough flavor to equal that of the lemon, so the chicken was moist and thick, but not excessively lemony. The bake time was absolutely perfect. Some of our table was unable to finish even one fillet because they were that thick and meaty. Love! 

What went wrong: 

           This chicken was so good, I ate the table leftovers...oops ;) 

What I would do next time: 

            Absolutely nothing. This was utterly fantastic. Some other additions I might make in the absence of our Lemon Christmas sides are cherry tomatoes, some parmesan cheese, and some pasta shells or flat noodles. For a healthier adaptation, I might try baking it with some orzo and basil in the dish, or even wild rice (in honor of my dad's traditional Chicken and Wild Rice dish, one of my favorite meals of all time). 

Would I make this in college: 

             Possibly. It takes a while to marinate and if I were only cooking for me, I would end up buying a massive excess of herbs.

Overall, a wonderful main meat for Lemon Christmas, and a new favorite chicken of mine! 

Lemon Risotto (a la Giatta)

Hello and welcome!

This recipe comes from Giatta's cookbook, courtesy of my Aunt Connie, as part of our Lemon Christmas :)

Lemon Christmas began as the story of a neighborhood tradition, and grew from our love of cooking and food into Domathes with Lemon Sauce, Lemon Chicken, Lemon Risotto, Lemon Broccoli, and Limoncello Cookies. It was the best, most successful five hours of cooking I've ever experienced. This recipe is one I would love to make again, because it's fantastically addictive!


The Recipe: Lemon Risotto

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 2 large shallots, diced
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup white wine for cooking (can be found near the olive oil and balsamic vinegar)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesean cheese 
• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

The Process:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the broth and half of the lemon juice to a simmer. Cover to keep warm. 
2. In another pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. 
3. Sautee the shallots in the butter for about 3 minutes. 
4. Add rice and stir. You do not need to cook the rice beforehand. 
5. Add the white wine and remaining lemon juice and cook for about 3 minutes, continuing to stir. 
6. Add small portions of the broth and lemon juice mixture in the other pot (about 1/2 cup each time) to the pan with the rice and shallots. 
7. Once each is fully mixed, continue slowly adding and stirring until all broth is in the mixture. 
8. Add in remaining ingredients: parsley, mint, parmesean, mascarpone, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. 
9. Stir over low heat until creamy. 
10. To serve in "lemon cups": hollow out lemon halves used for juice, but not zest. Cut off tip so it is flat. Fill with risotto. 
11. We recommend only serving the first portion in a lemon cup and keeping the remainder in a bowl on the table, to save time. 
12. Try to stop eating ;)

The Calories: 

Chicken broth: 77 calories

Lemon juice: 30 calories
Butter: 306 calories
Shallots: 14 calories
Arborio rice: 363 calories
Wine: 80 calories
Parmesean: 216 calories
Mascarpone: 146 calories
Zest of lemon: 11 calories

Salt: 0 calories
Black pepper: 0 calories
Parsley: 2 calories

_______________________

TOTAL: 1245 calories

This batch made quite a bit of risotto. We had enough for 6 lemon cups, plus maybe 2 cups in a bowl. This would make about 15 servings. That means each serving is only 83 calories! 

What went right: 

          This was absolutely delicious. We really nailed the risotto. Giatta, great recipe, and Aunt Connie, thank you so much for teaching me! I think I ate the most of anyone because I just couldn't stop. Even my little brother tried it and didn't hate it :) The consistency was fantastically rich, but still light enough to not densely clump. Love. 

What went wrong: 

         It's entirely possible that I now have a risotto addiction. Just kidding! But really, nothing went wrong with this recipe. 

What I would do next time:

         Risotto is something I would definitely love to make again. Mushrooms are one of my favorite ingredients, so I would like to make a mushroom risotto. Weirdly enough, I just ate red pepper risotto at the Emory cafeteria (Dobbs University Center AKA the DUC) and it was...not terrible. I think they used white cheddar instead of mascarpone, which made it very dense, and there were no shallots (sad day!), but it was still more impressive than I expected and quite well-timed! It would also be fun to try putting squash in risotto. I've also seen caprese and saffron risottos that looked quite delicious!

Would I make this in college: 

         Given that it's essentially a single pan and single pot dish, oh yes! I would make a much smaller batch, because there's no way I could keep myself from eating it all, but it doesn't take very long to make and the marginal return on taste is enormous. 

Overall, an amazing second course to Lemon Christmas, and a simple base cooking technique that will definitely become some fun experiments in the future :) 

Ground Turkey Domathes: A Neighborhood Tradition

Hello and welcome!

This dish has an amazing story passed down through the generations of my neighborhood and was the inspiration (and appetizer) for Lemon Christmas :)

While shadowing my Aunt Connie -with whom I share a fondness for cooking and enjoying delicious, unique food- for a day, she told me the following story...

"On our block there used to live a Greek woman who was very close to Dorothy (fantastic grandmother, chef, knitting extraordinaire, and our lovely former next door neighbor, rest in peace <3). One day while I was visiting Dorothy, she brought out this recipe for Domathes (Greek traditional stuffed grape leaves) and told me about the Greek woman, who taught her how to make them. So Dorothy taught me to make them and gave me the recipe, and I would like to teach you how to make them if you'd like."

Naturally, I was very excited and honored to be a part of this tradition!

Once I learned the sauce for the domathes was lemon, I suggested that we have an entire lemon-themed dinner. Thus, Lemon Christmas was born :)

The Recipe:

Domathes:

• 1 Jar of Grape Leaves
• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1 cup rice
• salt and pepper
• 2 tsp parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp mint flakes
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 box chicken broth

Lemon Sauce:

• 3-4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup of "hot liquid from pan" (referring to the juice from the cooked domathes pan)

The Process:

1. Brown the ground turkey. 
2. Mix in rice, salt, pepper, parsley, and mint. 
3. Cook onion with olive oil and tomato sauce in a pan. 
4. Add to ground turkey. 
5. Add egg to ground turkey. 
6. Mix the filling for the domathes and allow to cook together on low heat. 
7. Very carefully, remove grape leaves from jar and separate, laying each leaf on a section of paper towel to air dry. 
8. If you have leaves with holes, or leaves that are very small, you will want to combine a few small leaves to make a larger leaf. 
9. With a spoon, place some of the ground turkey in the center of a grape leaf. 
10. To fold properly, fold the stem up first, covering the ground turkey mix completely. Next, fold in each side. Finally, roll the leaf tightly away from you, securely wrapping the turkey mix. 
11. Place in a deep pan in a close, circular pattern (see photo). 
12. Once you have rolled all leaves, you will likely have a very large amount of ground turkey left. We probably used 1/3 of the ground turkey recipe, so you may want to make less or buy more grape leaves. 
13. Cover the wrapped domathes in the pan with chicken broth. 
14. Bring to boil and cook for 30-40 minutes. 
15. About 10 minutes before the domathes finish cooking, begin the sauce. 
16. Separate 3 large eggs. 
17. Beat whites until they are foamy. 
18. Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice slowly to whites. (We used fresh lemons for everything, so account for juicing time based on your personal juicing comfort.)
19. Add egg yolks slowly to the whites and lemon juice. 
20. Add 1 cup of hot liquid from cooking domathes to the mix. 
21. Plate rolls as desired. 
22. Slowly pour sauce over plated rolls. You should have plenty left over to put on the side. 
23. Share and enjoy :) 

The Calories: 

Turkey: 676 calories

Grape Leaves: 13 calories

Rice: 684 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Pepper: 0 calories

Parsley: 2 calories

Mint: 1 calorie

Onion: 46 calories

Olive Oil: 119 calories

Tomato Sauce: 70 calories

Egg: 294 calories

Chicken Broth: 60 calories

Lemon Juice: 30 calories

___________________________

TOTAL: 1995 calories

This recipe makes a ridiculous amount of domathes. Using 1/3 of the filling mixture and sauce, we made at least 60 domathes. The total for this batch alone comes to 674 calories, meaning each of the 60 domathes was about 11 calories. I probably ate 10 and that was a LOT of food. 

What went right: 

         These were absolutely delicious!! They're great appetizers, especially for cold weather. Domathes have a very real, timeless, warm taste. I have absolutely no doubt that love is a flavor integrated into every step of this recipe. 

What went wrong:

         The lemon sauce makes the domathes a bit too damp to eat by hand in more than one bite. Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't seem to eat one without drops running down my hands and forearms or a squirrel cheek. I probably should have just used a fork and knife but there's gotta be a way to serve these without the runny drops. Potentially keeping the sauce on the side the whole time but having it readily available for dipping would have alleviated this issue. 

What I would do next time:

         Aunt Connie and I decided that making a smaller batch of the filling and sauce would be better, since we only had enough grape leaves for about 1/3 of the batch. (Maybe grape leaves have gotten smaller since this recipe was made?) 

         There's nothing in the recipe itself that needs to be changed, but the serving/eating should have some alterations for the sake of etiquette. For a more formal gathering it would be nice to consider cutting them in half and serving them on small spoons for bite-size pieces that don't involve actual handling. For casual get togethers like ours, maybe keeping all the sauce on the side, readily available for dipping but not on the domathes, would have made it easier to handle. If I think of any other serving techniques/test these, I'll be sure to edit! 

Would I do this in college:

         This would be very difficult to do while in school. It takes a significant amount of time and specific ingredients that aren't in most other things. I would definitely make it again at home and will be making it in my future, but making it in school isn't time-efficient. 

Overall, a great start to Lemon Christmas! Keep checking for the next courses :) 

Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Cupcakes

Hello Cupcake Lovers!!

This recipe is one of three adaptations of the Chocolate Buttercream M&M Cupcakes from New Years Eve, made on New Years Day for a dinner party with some of our close family friends, Jana, Andy, Alexander, and Larissa! 

If you have any fun cupcake-related experiences, please share them in the comments at the bottom of the page, or send me an email or google+ comment! 

The Recipe: Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Cupcakes (Total Recipe makes 12 cupcakes and 6 mini cupcakes, but only 6 became this flavor and the others had additions to their filling and frosting). 

The Cake: 

• 1 cup flour
• 7/8 cup sugar
• 3/8 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2.5 tbsp shortening (aka Crisco)
• 1.5 mashed bananas
• 1.5 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 dark chocolate chip (for shavings)

The Filling/Icing: 

• 3 stick butter, softened
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp hazelnut powdered creamer
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees C). 
2. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
3. Cut shortening into small pieces to make it easier to mix with dry ingredients. 
4. Mash banana into another, smaller bowl. (Don't tell the kids there's banana in their cupcakes!!)
5. Add one egg to the bowl with the banana. 
6. Break other egg into a small cup or bowl and whisk so that it becomes relatively homogeneous. Pour half of this into the bowl with the banana.
7. Mix oil, milk, and vanilla extract into bowl with banana. 
8. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat. 
9. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (or butter and flour the sides of the pan). 
10. Fill cupcake liners about halfway with batter. 
11. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer (or toothpick) can poke the center and come out with some moist crumbs. You will be able to see the cupcakes rise and smell when they are done. Use the pictures as a guide as each oven is different. 
12. Allow to cool with paper towel covering. 
13. Blend ingredients for filling/icing.      
14. Use cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake and replace its center.
15. Fill an icing press with remaining icing.          
16. Press into desired pattern. 
17. Shave dark chocolate on top. 
18. Enjoy! :) 

The Calories:

Flour:  455 calories

Sugar: 665 calories

Cocoa: 70 calories

Baking Powder: 0 calories

Baking Soda: 0 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Shortening: 260 calories

Banana: 150 calories

Egg: 115 calories

Oil: 482 calories

Milk: 30 calories

Vanilla: 12 calories

Hazelnut creamer: 35 calories

____________________________________

TOTAL: 2274 calories 

Granted, this recipe was for about 12.5 cupcakes. So each cupcake really only had about 182 calories :) 

What went right: 

          They were very delicious and looked prettier than the first batch. 

What went wrong:

          This batch was less moist than the last batch. Not sure why, but might have been a minute or two over cooked, comparatively.

What I would do next time:

         Technically, this batch was basically the same as the M&M batch, and the changes were made in the other cupcakes you see below (coming soon! ;) ) 

Would I do this in college: 

          Totally! In fact, I'm working on reducing this recipe for single serving cupcakes without waste so that I can easily make a quick cupcake for a friend's birthday without having to make an entire batch. One of my least favorite things about baking is that the amounts can be so arbitrary because they depend on your specific baking equipment. One of my goals for this page is to be able to have a mix for every common number of cupcakes desired. Recipes can always be doubled, but the hard part is reducing and keeping the consistency of the original. Keep watching for single serving cupcakes :)

Overall, a wonderful party treat and a great time in the kitchen. It took much longer than I planned to make all three different types of cupcakes, but they turned out fantastic so I don't even care. Everyone enjoyed and I had a blast baking them and honing my icing skills. 

Having a cupcake for 182 calories is actually quite good! A plain bagel has 260-280 calories, and a scone or muffin can have 350-430 calories. However, it's not particularly healthy, so if you'd like to ensure you wake up with your toned body in tact, be sure you've done any of the below before you indulge...

1. Run 1.5 miles
2. Walk 2 miles
3. Dance for 40 minutes
4. Rearrange furniture for 30 minutes
5. Play darts for 70 minutes
6. Play badminton for 40 minutes

Any of the above will burn about 200 calories, making your cupcake guilt-free ;)

                                                            

Chocolate Buttercream M&M Cupcakes

Hello Cupcake Lovers!!

Sorry I'm a little late on this one! This recipe was my version of New Years Eve this year. As a non-drinker, I've found that chocolate and sugar and delicious baked goods tends to produce the same happy effect my friends seem to exhibit while drunk. Even if it doesn't work as well as I think it does, it's never too early in the day for chocolate ;) So after dinner and before midnight, I decided it had been a while since I had a good cupcake and anything goes on New Years Eve, so it was the perfect time to fulfill my cupcake needs :) 

I don't know about you, but cupcakes are definitely a weakness of mine. A few wonderful quotes regarding cupcakes in my life...

1. While discussing with a friend how to best manage one's weight, he confidently suggested (like most men, who can eat whatever they want and still end up losing weight by some ridiculous and terribly unfair force of nature) that I, "run and don't eat that cupcake", referring specifically to the birthday cake batter cupcake I bought for myself from Crumbs a few days prior. Just so we're all on the same page in terms of the irresistability of this cupcake, here's a link. 

2. While enjoying the cupcake you're about to watch being made with my family, my mom asks, "So what kind of cake is this?" and my dad, with flawless as always comedic timing and tone, replies, "Cup!". (Honestly, I'm still laughing while typing this and it's been about a month.)

If you have any fun cupcake-related experiences, please share them in the comments at the bottom of the page, or send me an email or google+ comment! 

The Recipe: Chocolate Buttercream M&M Cupcakes (makes 8 cupcakes)

The Cake: 

• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/3 +1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2+1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/2+1/8 tsp baking soda
• heaping (not leveled) 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 2/3 tbsp shortening (aka Crisco)
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 egg
• 1/6 cup canola oil
• 1/6 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The Filling/Icing: 

• 1 stick butter, softened
• about equal parts powdered sugar (so in this case, about 1/2 cup)
• 1 tbsp hazelnut powdered creamer
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Dark Chocolate M&Ms

The Process:

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees C). 
2. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
3. Cut shortening into small pieces to make it easier to mix with dry ingredients. 
4. Mash banana into another, smaller bowl. (Don't tell the kids there's banana in their cupcakes!!)
5. Mix egg, oil, milk, and vanilla extract into bowl with banana. 
6. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat. 
7. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (or butter and flour the sides of the pan). 
8. Fill cupcake liners about halfway with batter. 
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer (or toothpick) can poke the center and come out with some moist crumbs. You will be able to see the cupcakes rise and smell when they are done. Use the pictures as a guide as each oven is different. 
10. Allow to cool with paper towel covering. 
11. Blend ingredients for filling/icing. 
12. Use cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake and replace its center. Ice its top and coat with dark chocolate M&Ms to taste :) 
13. Try not to eat them all before midnight!!

The Calories:

Flour: 300 calories

Sugar: 390 calories

Cocoa: 49 calories

Baking Powder: 0 calories

Baking Soda: 0 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Shortening: 203 calories

Banana: 109 calories

Egg: 75 calories

Oil: 318 calories

Milk: 20 calories

Vanilla: 12 calories

Hazelnut creamer: 35 calories

____________________________________

TOTAL: 1511 calories 

Not counting the M&Ms (70 calories per cupcake), this makes a single cupcake only 189 calories! This is actually pretty fantastic for cupcakes. Plus, there's banana in it :) 

What went right: 

          These cupcakes were SUPER moist. My family inhaled them in minutes and I was super proud :) They're very chocolatey and having the filling is a wonderful addition to the classics. Even my brother loved them with the banana and hazelnut. (Shhh ;) )

                               

What went wrong: 

          I didn't have enough butter to make a good amount of the filling/icing and at the time I didn't know that we had an icing press with pretty design tips. I had fun with design tips later though (hint hint!) It was still plenty, but it would have been better with more. 

What I would do next time: 

          Well there were more than enough next times with this very malleable base batter. These cupcakes went so well, I ended up baking a whole other set of three entirely different cupcakes all originating from this batter for a dinner party the next day. It took SIX HOURS. I gained a new respect for cupcake makers everywhere. Keep watching for these three recipes! 

Would I do this in college?: 

           Yes and no. The cupcake spree, probably not. Mostly because I don't have a cupcake pan and don't feel like buying/storing one for the maybe one time per semester that I would make cupcakes. It doesn't take that long to make the basics, but it takes long enough. It would be easier at that point to just use my springform pan and make a whole cake. 

Overall, an AMAZING first cupcake experience and a delicious start to 2014! 

And now for the workout...naturally, I went back into my fitness routine after the new year began. It wasn't really a new years resolution, because I had been working on it for over a year prior. However, I decided it was time to revise my morning workout for the sake of variety: 

• 150 regular crunches
• 100 ankle tap oblique crunches
• 100 reverse crunches
• 200 crunches with legs extended and feet flexed
• 20 leg lifts
• 20 bridges
• 20 leg lifts with the other leg
• 20 bridges
• 20 leg lifts with the other leg
• 20 bridges
• 30 clams in side plank
• 10 push ups
• 30 clams in side plank on the other side
• 30 tri push ups
• 20 second plank
• 20 second plank with leg lifts
• 20 second plank with alternating hip touches 
• Stretch as needed

This should be more than adequate toning to justify cupcake enjoyment :) 

Happy baking!!