My mornings, my way.

Waking up is hard to do. But one luxury of my beautiful kitchen is that I know I can have a delicious nutritious breakfast any, and every, morning. Literally my favorite mini-meal of the day is my regular breakfast of a fried egg white, glass of V8 and a doppio espresso (what's up Moka Pot).

I only recently found my perfect mix to get me started for the day. I think everyone needs to find their own combo that they find delicious, gives them energy, and makes them excited to wake up. 

Have you figured out your morning yet?

An Avocado Afternoon

When I get back from class around noon, I am starving. Usually I've only had two hours of class since I last ate, but all that thinking listening really drains me.

Today I decided to try another Pinterest recipe I found last week: Avocado Basil Smoothie.

All I had to do was blend together 1 diced avocado, 4 ice cubes, 1 cup of milk, 1 tsp basil (I used the seasoning because I'm fresh out of fresh basil), and a squirt of lime juice. The recipe also recommended agave nectar but I'm not fancy enough to have any of that stuff.

I'm gonna be honest, it tasted a little funky, but it was good! The flavor was very fresh and not very sweet. Also, it filled me up for the rest of the afternoon.

Now that's a super smoothie.

No Pasta, No Problem.

Besides becoming a coffee snob like I mentioned in my last post, another tough adjustment returning from Italy was changing my regular diet to not include a first course of pasta every dinner. Not only is there no comparison to what my Italian host mom could conjure in the kitchen, but also I've been trying to cut back my Italian weight and fit into my jeans again!

And guess what, there IS a solution to replace a heavy pasta dish: spaghetti squash.

With a free evening last week, I attempted my first spaghetti squash roasting. Luckily it was way easier than I expected and super yummy and filling:

I got my recipe and instruction from here (thanks Martha). I chose the parmesan and herb recipe for my first go around. My one tip would be to not skimp on seasoning and salt! Spaghetti squash is very bland and needs a fair amount of salt.

My next goal is to try the spaghetti squash pad thai. Um, yum. 

Homemade Cappuccino

Coming home from studying abroad in Italy has cause me to do a couple minor things differently. But there is one habit change that I have to deal with everyday: the way I drink my coffee.

I became a huge fan of the espresso while abroad. The easiest, fastest (and delicious-est) method of getting some energy. I bought a Moka Pot to continue this addiction back in the states, and as a poor college student, it was the best 25 euro purchase I could have imagined. No bulky espresso machine, no cleaning up weird tubes and grates, just water, grounds, a stovetop and boom: coffee.

After taking my regular dosage of a doppio espresso (two shots) every morning, I wanted to try something new. I craved a cappuccino.

However, I had a huge obstacle without any way to make foam. Naturally I googled it, and this is what I learned:

What you need:

• Cold Milk
• Glass jar with lid
• Microwave

Pour 1/2 cup of milk into the glass jar. It shouldn't matter which kind you use, it will affect the flavor. I'm a fan of skim.

Put that lid on that jar. Tightly.

Shake it until the volume of the milk/foam is about twice the original volume.

Remove the lid and microwave. Microwave it for about 30-45 seconds until hot.

Use a spoon to hold foam back, and pour milk into espresso. Spoon the foam on top.

Enjoy!