Peanut Butter addict

I'll be the first to admit that I am addicted to peanut butter. The addiction is real and I am happy to be alive to share my story. ;) In all seriousness, everyone who knows me knows that I am a peanut butter lover. In college, I used to go to the cafeteria with my friends and swear I would only have peanut butter once that day. Never happened. Over the years I have created many unique recipes involving this delicious treat, but this recipe I did not make up. What recipe do you ask? This one: 

Peanut Butter Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tbsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg

1 cup plus 2 tbsp milk, plus extra if needed to thin

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, melted

2 tbsp oil

4 tbsp butter

Directions

Preheat a griddle. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Slow mix in egg, milk, peanut butter and oil until combined. Add a little extra milk if batter feels too thick. Let mixture sit 5 minutes. Melt 1 tbsp butter on griddle and move around to coat entire griddle. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake on griddle to form 5-inch pancakes. The batter spreads as it cooks. Fill griddle without crowding pancakes. Flip when air pockets start to pop on the top and a quick peak on the underside reveals a golden pancake. Repeat with remaining butter and batter. 

I got this recipe off food networks website. Yes, I have it bookmarked. What did you expect? I am a food lover. Anyways, I was in the mood for something sweet tonight, and when i discovered I had all these ingredients already in my kitchen I had no choice but to make them :)

dare you to try them! You will fall in love. Oh, and I always like to add a little something extra to any recipe I use, so to I topped my PB pancakes with apple. You could also do banana and even a little bacon (dare devils only). Finally, instead of using syrup, I took a few tablespoons of fresh strawberry preserves (diluted with water--ad as much or as little as you want. depends on how thick you like it) and heated it up on low in a small pot on my stove. After a few minutes, it is ready to be poured over the fantastic peanut butter pancakes you just made! Now it is time to chow! bon appetit!

Let me know of different toppings you added to yours or how your syrup turned o*click on photos to make them appear larger 

*photos shot and edited by the wonderful photographer, Maggie Fortson 

O is for Omelette

Woah, a post two days in a row? I am surprised too.

If you are like me, you LOVE breakfast! If you are even more like me you never know what to make! So today I thought, "What will fill me up, give me energy, and provide me with the nutrients my body needs?" Okay, I didnt really say this to myself, though I did decide an omelette would be a perfect way to start my morning. It is so simple and allows you to get creative in the kitchen.

Let's face it, we all don't get enough vegetables, so here is a perfect opportunity to pack them into one meal.

To start, I cracked two eggs onto a hot pan (on low) and scrambled them a bit. While that was cooking, I quickly chopped up my favorite veggies and tossed them in with my eggs. To finish it off I topped it with a little Feta cheese [You can choose whatever cheese you fancy though :) ] and laid it on a bed of greens.

Did you see how easy that was?! Now you just need a glass of orange juice and you have a nutrient packed breakfast waiting for you at the table!

*I apologize for the quality of this photo. it was taken with my cell phone, which i must say has been dropped more that 20982309572935792378 times.

Your Order's Up!

Tonight I had this random taste for a mexican inspired dish. Considering that it is November and freezing outside, I was a little surprised about this sudden desire for this cuisine. 
There are so many things I love about Mexican food. For one thing, the dishes can be extremely inexpensive to make. Who doesn't love that? Another reason why I love it is because there are so many creative dishes and unique flavors to play around with, as well as classics. 
Tonight I decided to make a classic bean and rice dish with a side of organic corn chips (I got mine from Target). Here's how I went about doing this:
To start I got out a small pot to cook my rice. I used brown rice because it is a healthier option, but white rice is great as well. I filled my pot with 1.5 cups of water and 1 cup of brown rice. I put the burner on as high as it could go to bring it to a boil quickly. Once it began boiling, I put the burner on low, added a lid to my pot, and let is simmer for 20 minutes. 
While my rice was cooking, I cut up some vegetables to saute with my beans and rice later on. This is where it gets fun because you can use whatever vegetables you enjoy! I did a mixture of green peppers, red tomatoes, green onions, and mushrooms. 
Once I was done prepping my vegetables my rice was done, so I let it sit with the burner off, keeping the lid on, for 10 more minutes. I took a small pan and added 2 tbsp's of olive oil. Then, I mixed in my vegetables and  black beans. To add a little more flavor I incorporated a little bit of Oregano and garlic. I let that sit on low for about 10 minutes. Once my rice was done, I added it to the pan to mix with the vegetables and beans. 

Now the fun part; plating the food. I am all about presentation and have great respect for people who can make food look beautiful. I do not know if I have that skill or not but I try. For this dish, I simply placed a small handful of mixed greens at the center of the plate, added 2 tbsp's of sour cream on the lefthand side, a stack organic corn chips around the greens, and placed the rice and beans mixture on top of the greens. To finish it off I topped it with a little cilantro and lemon/lime. 

This recipe is easy to make, healthy, and satisfying without putting a hole in your wallet! Try it out and let me know how you enjoy it! 

*You can click on the images to make them larger
*Photography was done by Maggie fortson

And your total comes to...

There is nothing I love more than saving money! I hate seeing money go to waste, which is why I absolutely love going bargain hunting. Now, I didn't bargain hunt for clothes today, but I found great deals at the grocery store. I was really happy with the good deals I found because I go through produce on a weekly basis. Therefore, I can not afford to pay high prices. Coupons help and so do preferred savings! Try to guess as you read through the list of items I purchased how much you think I spent? (aim a little higher because I had to pay high taxes. That is the worst part about living downtown Chicago). Okay, here it goes:


1. 2 loaves of 12 grain bread
2. 3 tomatoes
3. 3 apples
4. 3 bananas. By the ways, I figured out a good trick when it comes to banana buying. Since you obviously won't eat every banana that you buy in one day, you can buy 1 or 2 green ones, 1 or 2 medium green, 1 or 2 that are more yellow than green, and 1 or 2 yellow bananas. I figured that this way you don't risk any going bad by the time you get to the last one :) 
5. 11 oz of mixed greens
6. 1 avocado
7. 18 eggs
8. 10 containers of assorted mixed yogurts

Total: $21.61
saved: $8.53

It is crazy how little you can get these days with $20, or in this case $21.61. When my grandparents were young, spending $20 was like spending $100+. I wish you get more with your money like you could years ago, but you can't. Thus, I want to encourage you to find ways to cut costs! We don't need everything we thing we need. Next time you are shopping think, "do I NEED this or do I just WANT this item?" It is fun to try to find ways to save money,too. Or maybe I am weird and find some odd enjoyment out of it. Nonetheless, as a follower of Christ I want to honor God with my financial choices. I hope I have encouraged you to at least make a small change in your financial life. 


God Bless. 

Bacon, Anyone?

It has been a long week of studying and working on school projects, so the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner tonight. I wanted to do something quick and easy. Therefore, I decided to make the classic B.L.T for my sister and a bacon salad for myself.
My sister finally got her camera back from the repair shop, today. she was extremely eager to take pictures. I am happy she did, because she captured our dinner beautifully! The best part was the fact that we were able to enjoy our dinner while watching'Grey's Anatomy'. Even better, we got to hear our brother, Andrew Belle's, song 'Make it without you' in the episode! This evening was wonderful.

Today's tip: never under estimate the wonders you can do with simple ingredients.

maggiefortson.com (my twin sisters photography website)

April Showers bring May...Herbs?

It has been a little while since my last post! My sister, who takes my photos for each blog post, has had her camera in the shop so I have had no one to take pictures for me. Her camera is in the shop for another week, but I could not wait any longer. So, These Images are horrible cell phone camera pictures. Honestly, I need to just save up and buy my own digital camera!

Anyways, my mom always has the most creative gift ideas. This year for easter she got me candy (of course) but also three little pots with seeds to grow my own herbs! She has been so supportive of my desire to grow my own food and eat fresh, natural food. Thank you, Mom.

I had had the pots sitting in my cabinet for almost a month, because I kept forgetting to purchase potting soil. Luckily, my mom is always good at remember the things I forget. When we were shopping yesterday she had the great idea of picking up potting soil.

Today I woke up feeling refreshed, after having been sick all weekend, and decided it was a perfect day to plant my seeds. It took a lot longer than I thought, but it was enjoyable. I can not wait to see them grow! Ill make sure I post a blog in a few weeks to show their progress. (Ill make other posts concerning different things in the mean time). Until then, live, laugh, and eat WELL.

God Bless.

Finally, a path is in sight.

For a long time I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life; become an attorney. When I got into practicing this study at my former college, Olivet Nazarene University, I discovered I lacked the passion for this particular field. After a long process of trying to figure out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to study, I chose to begin a practice in Marketing at Columbia College. Now, I chose this major because it was broad, and I knew it would give me many career options after I graduated. Mind you, I wanted to find something I felt passionate about, but could be something of a ministry for the Lord. Throughout these past two semesters at Columbia, I continued to struggle with finding a concentration within marketing that I could see myself doing the rest of my life. Well, I don't feel like that anymore! See, I have always had a great passion for food, but it was not until recently that I became obsessed with not just eating good tasting food, but REAL food. Someone who has become one of the biggest influences for my new obsession is Jill Dart. Jill is my Brother, Andrew Belle's, girlfriend. Her beautiful, healthy, and delicious food has been a great encouragement to me. So Jill, here is a shout out to you! Thank you for sharing your gift with me and teaching me how important it is to eat real food.  

My biggest pet peeve is people who try to eat "healthy" to loose weight and for no other reason! Okay, so you are probably wondering where I am going with this. Well, as a Christian, I know that our body is a temple and we need to take care of it by not only exercising but providing it with real, fresh, and nourishing food. It hit me the other day that this could be my ministry! I could open my own organic kitchen with my marketing degree and, at the same time, be able to share the ministry of Christ through my REAL food. I am so excited to finally feel like I have some career direction. I felt so lost for a long time, but now I actually feel like I know where I will be going in my future. God may change this plan of mine or edit it a little, and I will work hard to listen to his direction through prayer and devotion, but until then I hope to work extremely hard to make this ministry for Christ come to life! Before I get ahead of myself, I am going to enjoy some homemade, organic pizza I put together for my sister and I. Oh, one last note. When I say 'real food' I mean food that does not have chemicals, preservatives, etc. So, in other words, nothing that could be made is a science lab! Take care of your bodies! You have the power to feel great and be great! Now, help yourself to some real food :) You deserve it!

(Thanks for the cookbook/support mom)

Photography by Maggie Fortson (maggiefortsonblog.com)