Weekly Gratitude #14

Happy Easter! Another week has passed without any recipe posts, but what can I say, the end of the semester is hectic. Fingers crossed I can get some posts up this week!

This past week was hectic: Library books to finish, presentations to prep and give, writing and revising my thesis, class, meetings. Plus some insane weather! It was 75° and sunny on Tuesday, pouring rain on Wednesday, SNOWING on Thursday, and freezing on Friday. But we made it through! Had a busy day yesterday as well, but looking forward to sunshine and relaxing at my boyfriend’s parents’ house to celebrate Easter.

Dropping my gratitude list below, lemme know what you’re thankful for this week! Hope y’all have a lovely Sunday with plenty of chocolate, and a great week ahead!

This week I’m thankful for:

  • A week of cute outfits that I felt good in
  • Denim jackets
  • Sunshine
  • Pretty sunsets
  • Falling asleep with my windows open
  • Turkey chili
  • Killing my practice presentation
  • Chili mac
  • The sound of rain
  • Doing some new experiments at work
  • Snow (but only because it’s pretty, not because I enjoyed snow in April)
  • Some super good podcast episodes this week
  • Dark chocolate Kit Kats
  • Finishing 2 books this week (The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Duke and I)
  • A new month of yoga
  • Starting a new volunteer position at a free health clinic
  • Hoodies + flannels
  • An excellent grocery trip getting TONS of produce
  • A productive Saturday (even if I did have to go into work)
  • Making burgers and homemade fries for dinner
  • Eating dinner with the roomies on the porch
  • Reese’s eggs (the superior Easter candy)
  • Josh picking my outfits for the upcoming week
  • Yogurt and granola
  • Coffee from my roommate

Weekly Gratitude #13

Happy Sunday! We’ve got a nice cloudy, rainy day here in Pittsburgh which is perfect for getting cozy and being productive (in my opinion). Got back to Pittsburgh yesterday after a few days at home helping my mom pack and saying goodbye to my childhood house, and I definitely have a lengthy to do list. But it will get done!

Had the nicest time at home hanging out with my fam and seeing my grandparents and enjoying some perfect 70 degree, no humidity days. But also very ready to finish out this last month (!!!) of school. The end is in site!

Dropping my gratitude list below, lemme know what you’re thankful for this week! All the love ❤ Celia

This week I’m thankful for:

  • An afternoon spent reading on the porch and watching the sunset
  • Doing laundry
  • Getting called off work on Monday
  • More afternoon reading
  • Getting a break from volunteering this week
  • Driving home and listening to my fave podcasts
  • Helping my mom organize and pack
  • Inheriting some old t-shirts and assorted other things (candles! an ice cream maker!)
  • Getting to visit the townhouse my fam is renting while they figure out the move
  • Walking Fritz
  • Finishing up my next thesis draft
  • Homemade blueberry waffles for dinner (a family tradition)
  • Some nice chats with my habitat peeps
  • Watching tv with my mama
  • A morning spent reading in the breeze (and finishing my book)
  • Visiting my grandparents (and getting to squeeze them since we’re all vaccinated!)
  • Thai food
  • Catching up with my bff Davey
  • Saying goodbye to the best house
  • Driving back to Pittsburgh with some excellent jams
  • Finding parking on my street
  • A short but fun DnD session
  • Making enchiladas and Mexican rice for dinner with Carissa
  • Eating and hanging out on the front porch
  • Making good progress on the current pair of socks that I’m knitting!
  • A super good night of sleep
  • Calming rainy Sundays
  • Toaster waffles

Weekly Gratitude #12

Happy spring!! We’ve had a week of mostly sunshine here in Pittsburgh and though I love a calm, relaxing, rainy day I can’t deny that the sun has been lovely.

Gearing up for a busy week: test tomorrow, oral presentation draft due Tuesday, driving home Wednesday, and second thesis draft due Friday. But very much looking forward to squeezing my mama and not being in charge of cooking haha.

Dropping my gratitude list below, lemme know what you’re thankful for this week! All the love ❤ Celia

This week I’m thankful for:

  • Taking off work on Monday
  • Hazelnut lattes
  • Zoom call catch ups with Liz
  • The little girl who gave me a cake pop at my hospital volunteer shift
  • Finding parking on my street
  • Sweet cream cold brew
  • The best and most loving support system
  • Sunshine
  • Toaster waffles
  • Pineapple
  • My green wide-leg pants
  • Getting the park ranger summer job!
  • Coffee dates
  • Spontaneous Friday afternoon McDonalds in the park
  • Sleeping in
  • Successful grocery shopping
  • Getting My Inner Sky in the mail (the book from the live event I went to a few weeks ago)
  • Finishing 2 books this week (What I Carry and Nothing to See Here)
  • Making tofu noodles
  • Ice cream dates and evening walks
  • Morning yoga
  • Yogurt with granola

Lemon Yogurt Cake

We’ve had a few really lovely days of sunshine and warm temperatures up in Pittsburgh these last few weeks, and it really put me in the spring mood. So I decided to spend a random Wednesday afternoon off of work making this lemon cake! I saw this Ina Garten recipe on Twitter forever ago, and it seemed like the perfect treat to get us in even more of the spring spirit.

And it totally did! Super moist, super easy, and delicious. The bulk of the lemon flavor comes from the syrup that you pour over after it bakes, which means the cake itself is very subtle. But I felt like the balance was perfect, and it was enjoyed by me, my roommates, and the boyfriend.

Now that it’s continuing to warm up and Easter is approaching, try this Lemon Yogurt Cake! You won’t regret it.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Time: 1 hour 20 min

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a loaf pan.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.
  3. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
  5. Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
  6. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar syrup over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
  7. Optional: combine 1 cup confectioner’s sugar and 2 tbs lemon juice to make a glaze, and drizzle on top

Tofu Noodles

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Popping in with a super yummy tofu recipe we tried out the other week. My boyfriend found this recipe on Reddit and raved about it, so we knew we had to try it too. And it is SO good and super easy!

The recipe he sent me was super bare bones and for about 2 servings, so I’m dropping the version we made with more vegetables that made probably 9 servings (3 meals each for me and my two roommates). But this is super easy to scale up or down, and you can add literally anything! We added a bag of coleslaw (an easy shortcut for cutting up your own cabbage), sliced up a container of mushrooms, and added one of those frozen stir fry vegetable mixes. But you could very easily add any vegetables you have on hand: onions, bell peppers, broccoli, green beans, edamame. Just cook them through before tossing with the noodles and sauce! And if you aren’t a tofu fan, try cooking up some pork or beef instead!

We also decided to use packets of extra Ramen we had on hand, but I think this would be amazing with Udon noodles, or any other long noodle you happen to have.

So try out this easy Tofu Noodle dish, and make sure you have leftovers because it’s even better on day 2 (or 3, or 4).

Tofu Noodles

Serves: About 9

Ingredients

  • 6 (2.46 oz / 70 g each) blocks of uncooked ramen, or other noodles of choice
  • 2 blocks extra firm tofu
  • 1 bag coleslaw mix
  • 1 container mushrooms
  • 1 bag frozen stir fry veggie mix
  • Salt, to taste
  • Green onions and sesame seeds for serving

Sauce:

  • 2.25 cups room temperature broth or water
  • 3/4 cup soy sauce
  • 4.5 tablespoons corn starch
  • 6 tablespoons maple syrup or brown sugar (or to desired sweetness)
  • 1.5 tablespoons gochujang or Korean chili paste (or substitute with other chili sauce, like Sriracha) to desired spice level
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice or rice vinegar
  • 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1.5 tablespoons sesame oil or neutral oil

Instructions

  1. Mix all sauce ingredients in bowl until well incorporated, set aside. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil
  2. Heat a pan over medium heat and sauté tofu and vegetables in some oil. Then add sauce, leave to simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent starch from sticking to the bottom.
  3. Boil noodles according to package directions, then add to the sauce pan. Cook over medium high heat until the noodles absorb the sauce, and the sauce thickens. Season with salt to taste, if needed
  4. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions, and enjoy!

Weekly Gratitude #11

Woo this week was strange. Every day felt like a different day? Wednesday felt like a Saturday, Thursday felt like a Friday, Friday felt like a Monday. It had me all sorts of confused. Plus I had a small stretch of bad luck this week that included slicing my hand open on a can (that I was cleaning after making soup). But alas, such is life.

I have at least had a nice relaxing weekend! And the sunshine and warmth in Pittsburgh has been very welcome. Yesterday I had nothing on the schedule, so the day included sleeping in, going on a nice long walk, cutting my boyfriend’s hair, and making brownies! Now for some productivity and more reading today (I’ve lost count of the library books I’ve checked out…)

Hope you’re not too tired after springing forward! And excited about the longer days and sunshine. Dropping my gratitude list for the week below, feel free to share yours! All the love ❤ Celia

This week I’m thankful for:

  • Zoom calls with Shelb
  • Meal prepping soup
  • Lots of reading time
  • Facetiming Fi
  • Making homemade spaghetti sauce
  • Roommates who do all the dishes because you cut your hand
  • Bagels with cream cheese
  • Breakfast sausage
  • Having the day off of work
  • Sitting outside reading in the sun
  • Peanut butter sandwiches
  • White cheddar popcorn
  • Rain storms
  • Finishing 3 books this week (working on number 4)
  • Finally catching up with Deena
  • Spontaneous Auntie Anne’s
  • Game nights
  • Long walks looking at cool houses
  • Cutting Josh’s hair
  • Making brownies
  • Sleeping in
  • Fresh sheets

Unstuffed Bell Peppers

Who is surprised, back with another Budget Bytes recipe! This one is her Unstuffed Bell Peppers. All the flavors and comfort of stuffed peppers, but made in one pot with chopped up peppers for ease of eating! No more trying to figure out how to saw through your stuffed pepper without losing any of the filling.

I doubled this recipe for my 2 roommates and I just to guarantee plenty of leftovers, but it couldn’t have been easier. Just sauté your veggies and meat, throw in your rice, and then hang out! We also decided to use red bell peppers instead of green like Beth uses because we like the flavor (although green bell peppers do tend to be cheaper) and we used ground turkey instead of beef because we LOVE ground turkey. This would also work great with ground chicken, ground sausage, or no meat at all if vegetarian is more your style! Although if going meatless, I would suggest upping the vegetables or adding something like diced potatoes to bulk it up.

So try Beth’s Unstuffed Bell Peppers for a super easy weeknight meal! With the best leftovers (perhaps even better than the first day…)

Not the prettiest picture but I swear it was SO good

Unstuffed Bell Peppers

Serves: 6

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 2 bell peppers
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 pound ground beef (or other meat)
  • 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup long grain white rice, uncooked
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1.5 cups beef (or chicken or vegetable) broth
  • 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

  1. Mince the garlic and dice the onion and bell pepper
  2. Add the olive oil and meat to a deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until it is fully browned
  3. Add the diced onion, bell pepper, minced garlic, basil, oregano, and pepper to the skillet. Continue to cook and stir until the onions are soft
  4. Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), uncooked rice, and broth. Give everything a brief stir to combine
  5. Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the broth to come to a full boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let it continue to simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest with the lid on for another 5 minutes
  6. Once the rice has rested, remove the lid and fluff it with a fork, gently folding all the ingredients together (the vegetables may rice to the top during the cooking process)
  7. Pour the tomato sauce over the top, sprinkle with the cheese, and place the lid back on to allow the residual heat to melt the cheese
  8. Remove lid and enjoy! Season with salt if necessary

Pesto Tortellini

Popping in with a super quick and easy recipe today! Pesto pasta is a staple in our dinner rotation this year, and we’re always changing it up. Plain pasta with pesto, adding in tomatoes, or mozzarella, or sausage, or all of the above. A few weeks ago though, we decided to do something a little special and “splurged” on tortellini instead of regular pasta.

I feel like this can hardly be classified as a recipe because it just entailed putting pesto on tortellini and adding some chopped tomatoes, but I wanted to share it in case you were looking for something extremely easy, and super comforting. So next time you want to change up your pasta routine, splurge on some tortellini! Adding pesto and tomatoes like we did is delicious, but you could also add sausage for some more protein, or toss them in red sauce if that’s more your speed

Pesto Tortellini

Ingredients

  • 2 packages of Aldi cheese tortellini (I think in total this was 6 servings)
  • 1/2 jar pesto
  • 1 carton of cherry tomatoes
  • Shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

  1. Boil tortellini according to package directions, and save about 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining
  2. Chop cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters (depending on your preference)
  3. Add pesto to tortellini, adding pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary
  4. Add tomatoes and some shredded cheese (or any other mix ins) and enjoy!

Weekly Gratitude #10

This week was an absolute blur, which is why I didn’t get any recipes up haha. But do not fret, I have some easy and tasty things planned so stay tuned! This week was pretty much exclusively writing/editing my thesis because my first draft was due to my mentor on Friday. Now that that’s done I have more editing to do this week with his comments, but the end is in sight!

This week also featured less lab work (because of writing) which was a nice break, and a super warm day on Wednesday that was perfect for an afternoon walk and making lemon bread 🙂

Lemme know how your week was! Dropping my gratitude list below, all the love ❤ Celia

This week I’m thankful for:

  • Hoodies
  • Finishing a few books (I think 3 this week)
  • A new month, which means a new section/color of my planner! March is light pink
  • A light week of lab work
  • Good yoga videos from Yoga with Adriene (I’ve done yoga every single day of 2021! 10/10 recommend her YouTube channel)
  • Sunshine
  • Time to read
  • Productive revision time
  • Podcasts
  • Neighborhood walks
  • Making lemon bread/cake
  • My endlessly supportive and loving bffs
  • Lattes
  • Grilled cheese and tomato soup
  • My HaleyDrewThis hat
  • Submitting my first rough draft of my thesis
  • A live book release event for one of my fave authors/writers Mari Andrew (can’t wait to get her new book!)
  • Successful grocery trip
  • Getting back into DnD
  • Spam fried rice courtesy of Carissa
  • Watching the first Lord of the Rings movie for the first time
  • Brown sugar cinnamon pop-tarts
  • White cheddar popcorn
  • Sleeping in
  • Lemon bread and coffee for breakfast

Weekly Gratitude #9

This week flew by, I feel like last weekend was just yesterday. Between a class presentation on Monday, a “self care day” of no class on Tuesday, working on a research poster/video for Friday, and getting my second vaccine, it felt very good to sleep in and read this morning. Although that also means it’s already 1:30 and I still have lots of work to do, oops.

Dropping my gratitude list below, hope y’all had a good weekend! Lots of love ❤ Celia

This week I’m thankful for:

  • Meal prepping pulled pork
  • Pulled pork tacos
  • A successful class presentation
  • Making a quinoa salad for lunches
  • Random warm weather
  • Making time for morning walks
  • Grabbing milkshakes for a Habitat for Humanity fundraiser
  • New jeans
  • Cute houses
  • Hoodies
  • Making a huge pot of tofu noodles
  • Getting my second vaccine
  • Finally getting through some thesis revisions
  • Doing two huge loads of laundry
  • Finishing the pair of socks I was knitting
  • Starting a new pair of socks
  • Sausage spaghetti
  • Brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts
  • Pretzels
  • Finishing 4 books this week (up to 24 for this year!)
  • Cookie delivery from Shelb ❤
  • Cozy, rainy Sundays
  • Finishing 2 straight months of yoga
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