Currently....

 
Reading: I just finished reading Lauren Oliver's 'Before I Fall' this past weekend and really enjoyed it. It's kinda like a version of Groundhog Dog minus Bill Murray but with 'the popular' kids, plenty of teenage angst, some self-awareness and growth for the characters, and a little bit of puppy love. I am currently on the waiting list at the library to start Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy. I have heard so many good things about this series and I am trying to use the power of my mind to will everyone in line before me at the library to read faster.

Listening: I have been using spotify more and more and started using their radio stations on it. I have actually discovered a lot of new music this way and have had these three songs on repeat for the past week.







I am the type of person that can listen to one song over a hundred times in a row (hello Lana Del Ray!) when I become obsessed with it. These three songs have been on a constant loop and I don't see it stopping anytime soon. 

Working On: I have been trying out a new jewelry medium the past few weeks and have been getting a lot of great response.

I use knitting needles as the base and then hammer, stamp and mold them into bracelets. I got a whole bunch of needles yesterday and plan on working on them for a few hours today and will have them available in my etsy store on Thursday. 

It's always so satisfying creating something new. This project has been a great burst of creativity and self assurance for me. 

Feeling Thankful For: I have been mentioned it a few times around here lately, but I just need to say it again. My husband's family is really awesome. Here I am, a mountain girl at heart, transplanted to the South and they have been nothing but warm and inviting to me and all have opened up their homes to us whenever we need one. They have taught me to enjoy collard greens and sweet tea, that you should definitely have ice cream and wine every night and that nothing is better than talking and laughing while in recliners.

We lived with his grandmother for eight months when we first arrived in Georgia and now his parents for two months and I have nothing but lots of love for them all. 

Thanks for making me a part of your family.

Loving: We are pet sitting this week for some friends and this dog just so happens to be Cooper's girlfriend, so he is happy to have her around. 

She also is a little cuddle bug so last night I sneaked her on the bed even though we have a new 'only one dog on the bed policy.' 

Shhhh....don't tell John.

Watching: We just started watching the HBO series 'Six Feet Under.' 

John has already seen it, but enjoyed it so we are watching it together.

I am really loving the character development already and can Michael C. Hall be any better of an actor??

Eating: I am about to head out to the grocery store and I have a big kale salad with this vegan cilantro lime dressing planned for lunch today.

Training: So I have commited myself to running another marathon this year. After the one in March, I thought that I wouldn't do it again. I checked it off the list and was not at all wanting to do it ever again.

But as time passed, I found myself thinking about doing another one this fall. After some talking with John, we both decided to do another marathon in late October here in Atlanta. I don't know if training for a marathon during the summer in Georgia is one of my better ideas, but I am sure to lose a little bit of water weight.

 John took this photo two weeks ago after my first run in almost four months. I look pissed off, but I was just exhausted. Promise.

So that's what I have been up to. What about you??

~ With Love, Ashlee ~

Oh, how pinteresting...

So lately I have been trying to be on a high(er) protein diet. This means that I am eating a lot, a lot of meat. Since I was a vegan/vegetarian for about 15 years of my life, I have no working knowledge on how to prepare meat. Or what to do with prepared meat.

This makes for a sad husband.

I have basically made him cook all forms of meat that we have been eating (except fish. I got that down) and haven't figured out how to make any interesting meals with this new addition to my diet. So the past few days I have been scouring pinterest to find some new recipes so my husband likes my cooking again.

Disclaimer: the problem with hanging out on pinterest all day looking at recipes is that you find a lot of awesome recipes you want to eat right away. Not all of these recipes have meat in them and some are even deserts. But a few have meat and thus serves my purpose.

/one\

Broccoli Cheese Bites

I love me some broccoli and cheese. Mostly cheese.

blog and pin

/two\

Honey Lime Shrimp

I bought a lot of frozen shrimp at Sam's Club last week and we haven't eaten it yet because the husband keeps telling me it needs a sauce. Now that I have successfully found a 'sauce,' we can finally start eating our two year supply of shrimp.

blog and pin

/three\

Pretzel Bites with Cheese Sauce

Not a meal by any means and doesn't include meat, but if I make these, I will be a hero to my husband.

blog and pin

/four\ 

Chocolate Chunk Muffins 

Chocolate. Chunk. Muffins. 100 calories. 

That's all we really need to know.

blog and pin

/five\

Avocado Egg Salad

It is a widely known fact that avocados are in my top five of favorite foods. Put avocado in a recipe and I am all over that.

blog and pin

/six\

White Chicken Chili

We have been eating a lot of turkey chili around here, so it might be appreciated to switch it up to another meat chili. I feel like there is an obscene amount of cheese in this recipe though. And sour cream. Might downsize that amount quite a bit.

blog and pin

/seven\

Pizza Muffin Bites

It is a widely known fact that my husband's favorite food is pizza. I will be glorified if I pack him little portable pizzas in his lunch. 

blog and pin

I have some cooking to do this week. I will let you know when I cook these recipes and how they turn out. Please be sure to share any of your favorite pins this week over at the vintage apple blog!

Homemade Honey Peanut Butter

While visiting my family in Maine, my sister-in-law and I got to gabbing about how she makes homemade almond butter. I have always wanted to make my own nut butter, and I got a fancy shmancy new food processor for Christmas (thanks Mom!), so since I was all inspired, I decided to give it a go.

I do have almonds on hand, but I wanted to start off my buttering adventure with peanuts. I am a peanut butter type of girl. I love it so much and cook with it all the time. Noodles, soups, stir-fry. Whenever, whatever, I season it with peanut butter.

My puppy dog loves that I cook with peanut butter because I always let him lick the spoon.

That much puppy joy is hard to capture without the camera wiggling a bit.

For my first endeavor into nut butter, I didn't want just plain peanut butter. Plus, who are we kidding, I love sweetness. So I went the honey peanut butter route. Here's my recipe...

Honey Peanut Butter Recipe

Makes 10 tbsp of peanut butter

1 cup of peanuts - dry roasted. No salt. (use salted if you want, just omit the salt from the recipe).

1 tsp salt

1 tsp coconut oil

2 tbsp honey

Add your dry roasted peanuts to your food processor and start processing. Your peanuts will get all dry and powdery at first, and after a few minutes the oils will start to clump everything together. 

Dry and powdery...

Starting to get clumpy...

Clumpy!!

After your peanut butter gets clumpy, add the salt, coconut oil and honey. Blend it all together for about another minute. Viola, you have honey peanut butter!

*Notes*

* My sister-in-law recommended adding coconut oil to the peanut butter because not only does it add just a hint of great coconut taste, but since it is a solid oil at room temperature, it won't separate from the peanut butter and will help the peanut butter spread if you keep it in the fridge.

* If you don't have coconut oil or don't like it, try adding 1 tsp of a different oil. Perhaps walnut if you have it, or just canola. You will need to stir the peanut butter though before using it to blend the oil back in.

* Definitely feel free to tweak around the sweetness level. The two tbsp of honey gives you a definite honey taste. If you want something more subtle, go 1 to 1.5 tbsp of honey.

* I am just storing this stuff in a pyrex glass jar with lid in my fridge. I only made about 10 tbsp, so I assume it will be gone in a week, maybe two.

It's a pretty simple recipe, but I hope you enjoy making your own nut butter. Let me know if you make any and if you experiment at all with different nuts or flavors. I am planning on making a spicy peanut butter as soon as I eat all my honey pb. I will let you know how that goes!

Nutrition Information 

(per 1 tbsp of honey peanut butter)

Calories - 102

Fat - 7.8g

Carbs - 6.6g

Fiber - 1g

Protein - 3.5g

Sugar - 2.3g

Cinnamon Raisin Bread?

On a whim a few months ago I bought baking raisins (the kind already plump and moist) and have had baking with them on my to-do list since then. I finally got around to it today as my apartment smelled weird and old and I needed something to spice up the air around here.

I found this recipe on www.100daysofrealfood.com. Now it is not 100% vegan as it does use honey as the sweetener. I am a vegan that uses honey, so if you don't, use agave or vegan cane sugar, or brown rice syrup. I wanted to try this recipe out because it uses coconut oil in it. A lot of it in fact. I bought some a few months ago after reading about some delicious things my sister-in-law was using it for and have been really bummed out by it in my own adventures. I have used it only twice...1) Made a grilled cheese for husband with it. Didn't get good reviews as he doesn't like his coconuts and cheese mixing. 2) For frosting. What a disaster. Due to its consistency, it just kept melting and sliding off the cupcakes. I had to add so much powdered sugar to the frosting to get it firm up that my teeth ached after one bite.

Now...this baby just came out of the oven. And wow....adding a 1/2 cup of oil to it just makes it fabulous! I had to improvise from the original recipe as my bread machine turned off by itself half-way through the process and I had no idea when to add the raisins (btw...I did it after the bread rose for about 45 minutes). This bread is so moist. The bread machine massacured my raisins, so there is really not a single whole raisin in it, but raisin bits throughout it. Honestly, this bread takes like the dark rye bread they serve at Outback Steakhouse (I haven't had it in a few years, but I remember it fondly).

So to sum up...coconut oil in baking bread is awesome. No coconut taste and incredibly moist bread. Baking raisins are a joke, but when your bread machine purees them, it gives your bread a rye taste. And somehow after following a recipe for cinnamon raisin bread I made Outback Steakhouse bread. Sounds like a success to me!

Here's a link to the recipe... http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/25/recipe-whole-wheat-cinnamon-raisin-bread-for-bread-machine/