Tag Archives: easter brunch

Easter brunch, a nap, baking, and a good run

Hi everyone! Happy Easter to everyone celebrating (well it’s almost over, but better late than never). I didn’t even indulge in any Easter chocolate today because if I buy it, I’ll be in trouble. The only thing I want to scope out tomorrow is if Cadbury mini eggs are still available because that is my fav Easter candy.

Rewind to the rest of Saturday evening. After I got back from the gym (biked 17 minutes; did a full circuit of weights), we made pizza on a Boboli whole wheat crust. Craig is sick of making these pizzas but I was so sick of frozen pizzas that were full of junk. I filled my half with mushrooms, red peppers, and kalamata olives. I had plans to add some broccoli, but that didn’t happen because I tend to overdo it with the veggies.

pizza

mothership new belgium beer; veggie pizza

I enjoyed my pizza with a New Belgium Mothership Wit beer while watching Eat Pray Love.

New Belgium Mothership Wit

Eat Pray Love

I had already seen it in the theaters, but I wanted to watch it again. I loved the book and thought the movie was ok. I want to reread the book again, so I’ll have to add it to my list of many books I want to read this year! When I read the book, I was living in California and was pretty depressed. I had just come off of canceling my wedding, another boyfriend breaking up with me and Elizabeth Gilbert’s story certainly inspired me to see that there is more in life than relationship after relationship that doesn’t work out.

This morning, we prepared a small Easter brunch and had my sister-in-law over.

To fill my tummy until 11 a.m., I had Kashi Summer Berry granola with almond milk and some coffee.

Kashi summer berry granola; coffee

I made a Berry Good Oatmeal Cookie Cake from this cookbook.

Too Hot in the Kitchen

Berry Good Oatmeal Cookie cake recipe

IMG_4294

baking

The crust wasn’t complicated, but for some reason, it didn’t turn out perfectly. I had to cut the recipe in half but I followed the directions perfectly. The crush didn’t stay together well and broke apart when we cut the pizza.

crust

Berry Good Oatmeal Cookie Cake

It looks as yummy as it tasted though. I have had better fruit pizzas, but I’ll experiment and do better next time or find a different recipe to try.

I also made scrambled eggs and Craig made some bacon. Sis-in-law Lisa brought fresh squeezed orange juice that was delicious.

Here was my plate, minus the few piece of bacon I ate.

Easter brunch

easter brunch

After chatting for a bit, we went on a 20 minute walk around our neighborhood. It was nice to walk after eating all of that food.

Then I did what is becoming all too regular for me on the weekends–I napped with Karma on the couch while Craig and his sister played Mario Kart. I was out and didn’t hear a thing.

After my sister-in-law left, I made beer bread by following this recipe and it was so delicious! The only change I made was not putting the butter on top at the end because I am ashamed to say that we don’t have a brush I could have used! I also added flax seed to the recipe.

beer and bread mix 1

For the beer, I used a New Belgium Fat Tire bottle that I was able to purchase and use in a recipe as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

new belgium fat tire amber ale beer

New Belgium beer

I actually don’t think I have ever baked a bread in my life. I know it sounds weird, but I guess this was my first time. Also, I am still relatively new to the whole cooking and baking world. I didn’t always love doing both like I do now.

beer bread

The recipe was super easy and the bread turned out delicious. My husband had a couple of pieces and loved it too.

beer bread

And I just got back from a 2.09 mile run outside not too long ago. I felt strong on it. Guess the beer bread I ate before helped! Glad my 10k training has been going well so far and I feel stronger with each run I do.

Back to the grind tomorrow. Hoping for a more positive week than last week!