greek yogurt and pomegranate

Oh, pomegranates. The strange looking yet colorful fruit of winter. 

Confession: I've had a pomegranate in my fridge for at LEAST a month because I've been too lazy to cut it up. 

Luckily my sister in law assured me that it was still good, so I finally extracted the seeds and have been eating them on top of vanilla Greek yogurt lately as a mid morning healthy snack! The crunch and juicy burst of the seeds tastes delicious with the creamy yogurt. Yes, you do eat the whole seed. They're like the natural antioxidant filled form of Gushers (remember those from grade school?). 

Here's a link that shows you how to open and de-seed a pomegranate with minimal pink juice explosion!

You can also put the seeds in salad or oatmeal. Have fun!

joy is untouched by circumstance

(source)

For quite a while I've been subscribing to (somewhat cheesy but totally awesome) motivational emails from the Brave Girls Club, a website, community, and blog dedicated to empowering women to be good to each other and themselves. Usually I delete the emails but every once in a while I'll read the message of the day, which always seems to relate perfectly to what is going on in my life. Today's email on the difference between joy and happiness hit me because I've been spending a full year now trying to figure out my path in life and learning what it takes to live in the present, have trust and faith, and connect to my true self despite constant challenges and the deep void of scary blackness that threatens to overwhelm me whenever my confidence starts to drop. Recently I have been feeling the joy because I've discovered a creative outlet that gives me purpose through knitting and painting. I've been doing pretty good lately on focusing on what is RIGHT in life versus what is WRONG.

So anyway, here's a bit of deep philosophical inspiration for your Tuesday. I hope it speaks to you too, and I also hope that it is warmer where you are than it is here in Chicago today (high of EIGHT degrees, you'll find me buried in fluffy blankets in front of the space heater all day)!

Dear Joyful Girl,

Joy is good. Did you know there is a difference between happiness and joy? This anonymous quote describes it perfectly:

"Joy is untouched by circumstance."

You see, happiness is sometimes fleeting. Joy is a state of mind -- that no matter what happens, no matter how much we had planned on a different outcome, that we will always center our lives on what is RIGHT rather than what is WRONG. We will trust the moment and the unexpected gifts that every moment holds -- even the scary, strange, and unexpectedly difficult moments. Especially those moments actually.

Even Oprah said it perfectly:

"What I know for sure is that you feel real JOY in direct proportion to how connected you are to living your truth" -- Oprah Winfrey

Living your truth means listening very closely to the very quiet voice that is constantly trying to get your attention. Living your truth means being very very still and seeking truth and beauty and goodness and small miracles all the days of your life. Living your truth means being exactly who YOU are, in spite of who and what others around you are. Living your truth is a joyful path -- a path that no circumstances can every rip you off of.

Joy can be felt anywhere, at any time, it any situation. This is the truth.

Go forward in JOY, brave girl!

xoxo

(sign up for the emails here)

healthy banana bread muffins

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!! 

This week flew by, as I have been obsessively building my etsy shop. Adding new items gives me a high and I am excited about the Valentines cards and the new fluffy infinity scarves I'm adding!

Do you have any fun weekend plans? My best friend is coming to Chicago for a visit and for a medical residency interview. I can't believe she's almost a medical resident! That sounds so official. We used to want to be pediatricians together in grade school, and she is actually making those dreams come to life (I quit on them after discovering environmental science ha).

Also, it is supposed to be FREEZING here, like, lows in the single digits wahhh. I can't really complain though since we still haven't gotten any snow.

Anyway, here's a little muffin recipe for your Saturday breakfast!

At my bridal shower last summer all the guests were asked to bring a recipe to make a little cookbook for me. One of my bridesmaids (also named Anna) gave me this delicious banana bread recipe, or as she calls it "Benanna bread" for our celebrity name. I subbed vanilla Greek yogurt for the butter, which kind of altered the texture and made them more spongy but still delicious! If you go the healthy route the muffins are best toasted!

Healthy Banana Bread Muffins

aka Benanna Bread

Makes 1 loaf or 11-12 muffins.

Ingredients

-2 cups flour

-1/2 t. baking soda

-1 t. baking powder

-1/2 t. salt

-1/2 cup butter (I used 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt instead for healthy version)

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1 egg

-3 T. milk

-3-4 large bananas

-1 T. vanilla

-1 T. cinnamon

-1/4 cup nuts if your husband doesn't hate them

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream sugar and Greek yogurt (or butter). Beat the egg slightly and mix into wet ingredients. Peel the bananas, add to wet ingredients, and mash until creamy (I use a potato masher). Add vanilla and milk, then LIGHTLY combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix in nuts (optional).

Spread batter in a large loaf pan or a muffin tin coated with cooking spray.

Bread: Bake at 350* for 40-50 minutes

Muffins: Bake at 350* for 18-22 minutes, until tops are browned.

Enjoy warm!