Living in the lap of (low cost) luxury

I don't know if it's because I'm home for winter break but I've been experiencing all kinds of low cost luxurious things over the past few days. I took a bunch of pics of the luxuries that comprised my day, but alas, most of them turned out all pixely (new word, start using it). Here is what I could salvage.

First off, I awoke to near freezing weather conditions. I'm serious, it was about 32 degrees. I celebrated this with a cold breakfast. I ended up having cookie dough cereal again. As I was eating I realized two things.
1. This does not taste like cookie dough
2. I put way too much protein powder in this bowl. Couldn't finish it (hate that)

After brek (nickname for breakfast), I accompanied my mom for an errand marathon. while on this journey I enjoyed snacks compliments of the SOHO convention.

Org. Tea + to-go tumbler

Cheeky Monks

This snack rocked. They are like cheese puffs, but peanut butter flavored, and only 98 cals!? Score. 

After reading the back of the package, I discovered that a cheeky monkey is: "a light-hearted name for a sassy, mischievous, sometimes naughty, often witty character, who boldly says or does something slightly unconventional." I identified with this. 

While waiting in a doctor's office, I came across this strange item in an Avon catalog.

creepy clip-ons

 Clip-on bangs. First of all, the price is redonk. Secondly, this is just weird. 

After finishing the errand marathon, I worked out for free then chilled the rest of the day. 

I ended my night by baking a batch of Caramel Apple Bars compliments of my friend Betty. 

like a delicious cookie/pie/cake 

I could get used to this. ( I just realized the large amount of parenthesis in this post. Completely unintentional.)

Crazy for Cookies

Do you ever have days when all you want is cookies? Today was one of those days. I woke up to the sound of rain. I took this as a sign that I should bake. Also, it's the holiday season- another reason I should bake. Not to mention I made cookie dough last night and left it in the fridge. I'm what you could call a "healthy eater" but when it comes to baked goods, especially cooks, I can't say no.

After deciding it was cookie day, I decided to break the fast. It involved cookies. After seeing cookie dough cereal all over the blog world, I figured I would give it a try. I followed the recipe from Fitnessista.

Cookies for Breakfast

In the bowl: 1/3 cup oats, 1/2 scoop Shaklee Vanilla Protein Powder, 1 tsp natural pnut butter, sprinkle of cinnamon, 1/2 banana,  1/2 cup orig almond milk.

After assembling this, I went all sorts of crazy and added mini chocolate chips. It was the best decision I've made all day. 

For the next few hours, I tried to work on grad school applications. Wasn't happening, so I decided I should get to baking. Last night I created something. My mom wanted some sort of shortbread cookie for Christmas and I wanted an excuse to use Nutella in a recipe. As a result I came up with Nutella shortbread sandwich cookies. I started with this recipe from Nestle and let my creative juices flow. 

First, line up ingredients

As I snapped this pic, I noticed that 3 out of the 4 ingredients are generic store brand. Appropriate. Mix everything together. (Note: this takes a lot of muscle power) 

Once mixed, wrap the dough and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. I left mine over night. Once chilled, roll out the dough cutting half into circles and the other half into rings

I made mine tiny because let's be honest, during the holidays there are tons of sweets everywhere and there is no reason to offer people cookies as big as their heads when there are other desserts to be had. 

Once they bake, allow the cookies to cool completely before adding the star of the show

Spread Nutella on the circle cookies then top with a ring cookie. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

These are delicious. Drop what you are doing and make them now.

Nutella Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter (softened)
2/3 cup of sugar
2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
Nutella (in whatever amount you feel is best)

-preheat oven to 350

-mix butter, sugar, vanilla until combined. Gradually add flour. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour.

-roll out dough and cut into small circles and small rings

-bake 5-7 minutes until lightly brown

-allow to cool, then assemble sandwiches!

Earth Cafe Cheesecake

A few days ago, I received a box on my doorstep from the wonderful people at Earth Cafe.

box of deliciousness

When I found out they specialize in making vegan, non-dairy, gluten-free cheesecakes I almost fell out of my chair. I love me some cheesecake but I'm lactose intolerant, so cheesecake is usually out of the question. Until I found out about Earth Cafe, I had no idea dairy-free cheesecake even existed. 

After discovering that Earth Cafe won the category of "Best Raw Foods" in VegNews' foodie awards this year, I knew I had to try this right away and Earth Cafe kindly sent me some samples. 

I opened the box to find five samples of cheesecake. 

still frozen! 

I immediately popped them out of the packages and let them thaw, so I could try each one. 

yummers

The flavors I received were: (from left) Who's Your Daddy Carob Mousse Pie 

                                                               Find Your Thrill on Blueberry Hill

                                                               Rockin' Raspberry

                                                               Strawberry Field's Forever

                                                               Cali Style Lemon

In addition to loving the creative names, all of the flavors were delicious! The crust is made from crushed nuts and reminded me of a salty Larabar. The fillings are so moist and light, it's almost like you are eating air. 

The Strawberry Fields Forever flavor was by far my favorite followed by the Cali Style Lemon. The Who's Your Daddy Carob Mousse was also great and reminded me of Nutella. 

All of Earth Cafe's cheesecakes are raw and made without refined sugar making them a much healthier option than other cheesecakes. As a result, they are much lower in calories than typical cheesecakes (major bonus) . 

You can definitely tell these cheesecakes are handmade. The fruit flavors tasted amazingly fresh and the crust definitely didn't have that creepy factory made and then frozen taste. 

Are you ready for the best part?! Not only are these cheesecakes healthy and delicious, they are affordable. A whole cheesecake runs about $35 dollars, which works out to around $4.50 a slice making them a definite low cost luxury. 

If you are looking for a great alternative dessert or a nice gift for someone special check out Earth Cafe. They are located in California but ship all over the US! 

Special Thanks to Craig and all of the people at Earth Cafe for letting me sample! 

Long (but was actually short) Day of Luxuries

Do you ever have days when you feel like your life is one big low cost luxury? I feel like that nearly everyday but today it was especially apparent. First off, I woke up at 9:32 am. This never happens, and it won't happen again. I suppose this could be considered a luxury but I felt like half my day was gone, which really stressed me out (not luxurious at all). Despite this, I still managed to take pics.


I started my day by rocking these slips compliments of Old Navy. They look like Uggs and they were only $4. Purchased them in the kid's section nearly three years ago.

slips with matching carpet

Next I took a cue from Snack-Face and painted my nails to look like Christmas Ornaments. Usually, OPI nail polish can be kind of pricey but this was a baby bottle, therefore, not so pricey. Unfortunately, this bottle didn't have an awesome name like the regular sized bottles. 

Tis the season

After nail time, I got down to business. By business I mean trying to figure out what the hades I am going to do with my life upon gradating in the spring. Option 1: graduate school apps coupled with tea. 

White Christmas tizzle (tasted like a candy cane)

It took me about an hour too long to reset my password. After working on the future for the rest of the day, my mother arrived home and we feasted on one of my favorite low cost dinners- Spaghetti Squash! 

So. Good.

After dinner, we traveled to Wal-Mart. The store of Wals can be quite sketch most of the time, but tonight it was splendidly safe. We purchased holiday baking supplies and these. 

Ginger babies from heaven

When I saw these I flipped out. They were only $1 and were broken into on the ride home. They taste delicious. Go buy them now. 

Twas a great day in low cost luxury land. I hope to do something similar tomorrow. 

Cliffhanger: A future post will feature what is inside this box. Get pumped up. 

Good stuff right here

Going Greek (Yogurt)

Over the past few years, I have developed a strong love for Greek inspired things. I blame the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies for this. Gladiator sandals are a fashion staple, I love greek salad and I've rocked the toga multiple times for Halloween.

I must confess, greek yogurt is at the top of the list. If you've never tried greek yogurt you are missing out. It's creamy, much lower in fat and sugar than regular yogurts and the plain flavor is an easy swap for sour cream. The only downside to this delightful food is the cost- it's usually more expensive than regular yogurt. We just can't have that so I decided to make my own greek yogurt. I saw it on TV somewhere and tried it out last night/this morning.

You start with regular yogurt, any flavor you wish. 

All- natural, plain, and nonfat

Place the yogurt in a strainer lined with a coffee filter (or paper towels) then place the strainer over a bowl. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. The liquid in the yogurt will drain into the bowl.

the morning after

It turns out thick and creamy just like greek yogurt! Make yourself a delicious bowl of yog.

Yog, banana, strawberry jam, Kashi Go-Lean cereal

After you assemble the yog bowl, mess it up and enjoy.

Yogurt Mess

Buying regular yogurt and making it greek is a much cheaper way to enjoy the luxury that is greek yogurt. After going greek I bopped around my house cleaning and organizing my room. I also did some of this. 

Christmas Decorations!

Did you notice the senior research to the left? I thought maybe placing the books so close to the tree would motivate me to spend time working on this project over winter break. And because really, what says Christmas more than Men's Health Magazine and books on agenda setting and cultural trends of individualism?

 

Celebrating with Cheap Coffee and Chocolate

Today marked the end of fall semester of my senior year of college (Woah). I was lucky to have no finals this semester, only papers and projects. The only downside to this was the fact that the papers were due in hard copy form, meaning I had to drive back to school just to hand in the papes. Naturally, the biff also had to turn in hard copies, so we made the trek together.

On the way back, I enjoyed one of my favorite low cost luxury drinks. Iced Coff from the 7-11 Heaven.

French Vanilla Iced Coff + Pumpkin Spice Creamer

After my last iced coffee experience, I was a little worried but alas, this did not disappoint.

After chilling at Biff's for a few hours, I headed home to get my bake on. After perusing the Internet, I stumbled across an enticing bar recipe. It only has five ingredients- all of which are cheap. Perfect? I think so. The only problem with this is the fact that the ingredients are not the least bit healthy. To this I say, everything in moderation. 

I used this recipe from Food Network. 

(I switched out the pecans for pretzels because I have a strong opposition to nuts in desserts and because pretzels make everything better)

Basically, you start with this

Actually, there are 2 sticks of butter in this recipe. Just call me Paula Deen

After, boiling, baking and refrigerating you end up with this

delish

This was probably one of the easiest/most delicious things I have made in awhile. Quick, easy, and cheap. Love that.

Samples, SWAG, and Shopping Saturday

Yesterday, I enjoyed a plethora of low cost luxuries. Here is the recap in pics:

It began with a trip to Orlando with Biff and her family for the annual SoHo Expo, a health convention extravaganza. I went last year, and let me tell you, it was awesome. Basically, we spent three hours walking around The Gaylord Palms hotel sampling healthy snacks and supplements.

Biff and I experiencing Christmas, Gaylord Palms Poinsettia style

 WOW Bakery booth. My faves: Chocolate Peppermint Brownies (!!) and Pumpkin Cookies (!!!!)

I'm pretty sure those cookies were the highlight of the SoHo experience. Wait, this was the highlight of the SoHo experience. 

SWAG! Free samples galore. Love.

Pumpkin Bread! It's like their goal was to make all of my dreams come true.

After getting our SWAG on, we galloped around IKEA, aka the place that will furnish my future studio apartment in a big city (I dream big). 

clearance at IKEA

I bought nothing here, which was hard because: inexpensive + European = a match made in heaven. I practiced self-control. It's good for me. 

We then skipped over a store that was new to me- Nordstrom Rack. I purchased a belt for $4.

hearts

The day ended with late lunch at Chang's because sometimes you need some Asian in your life. Biff and I split the gluten free lettuce wraps and brown rice. Loved it but did not photograph it. 

A day full of friends, food, and enjoyment, in other words the best way to spend a low cost luxury Saturday.