Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp carob chips
• 3 tbsp natural peanut butter (or nut butter of your choice)
• 2 tbsp honey

Method:

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with your hands, and roll the dough out into little balls.
• Place in a plastic baggie, and pop them in the fridge.
• Let them harden for at least an hour. You can eat them right away if you like, but they taste better after being in the fridge for a bit.

An army of protein balls!

So click below to check out my review!

Decor:
The outside is a little boring, but I like how simple it is. On the inside, it’s cozy, but looks like it needs a little help from Restaurant Makeover. (EDIT: I’ve seen that this place actually has been on Restaurant Makeover… I had a good laugh at that! It actually looks a little run down now compared to how it looked right after the makeover…) This place is pretty big, and in a great location, so it really does have potential to be awesome. Maybe couches/chairs and coffee tables instead of diner-style seating would be an improvement for the owners to consider. The menus are pretty cluttered, so unless you already know what you’re going to order, it may take a while to figure things out… My suggestion is to stick to just a coffee, espresso, latte, cappuccino, or tea.
Service: I only saw one woman working there, but it wasn’t busy at all so I guess that’s fine. For the size/capacity of the place, I hope that during busier times they have at least one other person working. The woman working there tonight was really friendly though, so no complaints there!
Food:
They have pastries from Dufflets, so again, no complaints there! Though in terms of originality, they should try having their own baked goods instead of getting them from another bakery. It’s always a let down when I go into a cafe, and they’re selling someone else’s food. I didn’t try any of their cooked foods, because I had a funny feeling that I would have been waiting for a while to be served… So I ordered a lemon tart (mmmmmm!!!!!), and an espresso. The espresso was pretty good (but not the city’s best), not sure what brand of coffee they use though. I also didn’t know if they had any specialty drinks because as mentioned above, the menu at the front was too cluttered to actually read.
Price:
Wow. For an espresso and a lemon tart, I paid between $7-$8. That’s pretty much what I’d spend at Starbucks for one of my usual orders (beverage and a treat). So after paying, my expectations were that the coffee and treat would be better than what I can get at Starbucks. Not so much… In fact, for that price, I can go to the cafe down the road from where I live and order: 1 coffee, 1 espresso, and 2 fancy pastries. And the place down the road from me is pretty darn good… At the risk of sounding cheap, it was a bit expensive for what I got. I’ve read that they have that $3.99 breakfast, so there’s obviously cheaper items there, but I haven’t seen anything good about it on here, so I’d probably never order it.
This place really does have potential to be a great hang out spot, but to be honest I would probably go to a Starbucks instead. That way, if I’m paying $7 for my coffee and treat, at least I know it’s going to be amazing.

Click here to see more reviews on my Yelp profile!  

I can’t believe it’s 2012 already!

Without going into detail, I’ve gotta say that 2011 was a year filled with good and bad. There were definitely memories made, tears shed, and laughs had. It was a year where I learned a lot about life, and about myself. As I’m sure many people did!
Here’s to hoping that 2012 is filled with good things for everyone! *raises glass*

Now that I’m settling into my new place, I’ll be posting entries a little more often! I don’t make resolutions for the new year, but if I DID make one, it would be to post more in this blog. Now that I’m back in Toronto, I’ll be wandering around the GTA a little more, posting more reviews, and letting all of you out there know about some hot little foodie gems hiding around this wonderful city. This new year feels like a fresh, new start. So in honour of that, I will also be making a few changes to the layout and feel of this blog! Check back soon to see!

For now, that’s all. I have a lot of spring cleaning to do… Wait, no. That doesn’t sound right… Winter cleaning? Hmm… I don’t know. Just cleaning. Then I’m going to head out to a few of my favourite spots in the downtown core! So until my next post, enjoy your day!

Love, Nikki

So I decided to put together my SUPER EASY eggnog latte along with a review for the Starbucks 2011 Christmas Blend, and here’s what I got: A video. Yay! I also talk about using a stove-top espresso maker… I make a mistake describing how to use it (at 3:30, oops! ), but I correct it… I also talk a lot… But hey, if you read this blog, you should be used to how much I ramble about things by now!

The video was filmed and edited on an iPad 2 and the iMovie App! Such an awesome application, and so easy to use!

In about a week, I will be moved into my new apartment, which means I will have my own kitchen again. Which ALSO means that I will be back to posting yummy things in this little blog!

I’ve had a few readers suggest to me that I try video blogging. Now, I don’t really like being on video because, well… I’m awkward. Especially on camera. And I make mistakes when I cook. A lot. I’m also very new to editing videos… So things will be choppy for a while… But I’m going to try it! I’ll still post recipes, and pictures. But now, instead of having a whole paragraph of yapping away about some random story, you can click the play button and hear me tell the story instead. And maybe even watch the recipe take shape from start to tasty finish so that you can see how my things turn out!

I’m actually pretty excited about this. So for those of you who have been reading for a while, and those of you who are new to the page, welcome to the introduction of my “video blog” (for lack of a better name).

PS: Be nice, I’m still new to this… There’s two videos because I haven’t figured out how to edit them together yet. Be patient. And excuse the horrible camera quality. There will be something better once I start actually posting recipes!

-Nikki

Denmark has imposed a “fat tax” on fatty foods in an effort to convince Danes to
eat healthier. The tax is a complex one, in which rates will correspond with the
percentage of fat in a product. The value of the tax is about $3.00 for every
2.2 pounds of saturated fat.

This is one of the more interesting articles I’ve read in regards to a “fat tax”. I heard about this being in consideration a while ago, and thought it was an interesting idea… I know we all enjoy treats from time to time (sometimes more times than not), but this would be a great way to potentially curb people’s decisions on whether or not they purchase healthy foods. Can you imagine what it would be like if it were actually more expensive to buy the ”cheap, easy, and unhealthy” foods that so many people buy? Can you imagine what it would be like if it were cheaper to  buy a bag of almonds instead of a bag of chocolate/candy?

A common excuse for why people don’t eat healthy is that it’s too damn expensive to do so. I like to argue this point with people, because since I started buying healthier foods, my grocery bills are quite lower… However; if there were a tax on foods that are unhealthy, potentially a tax high enough for people to truly notice the price difference (and a tax that was high enough to make the healthier options cheaper), then maybe North America wouldn’t have such a problem with obesity. I know people like their butter, and their burgers, and whatever else… But I believe this to be a great idea. I’m not saying that everyone who is larger in size should lose weight, but I do feel it’s a great idea to incentivize people to make the right decisions when it comes to eating for optimal health.

I wonder what everyone else thinks…

Click here to read the full article, or click the quote at the beginning of this post!

With all the greatness that comes with enjoying a part-time job, there is one downfall… Some customers buy really, really tasty and tempting bad foods. I lose count of how many people buy packs of cookies. On one day a few weeks ago, it seemed that every customer that came through the check-out had peanut butter cookies. Then, one customer who didn’t have cookies was buying all of the ingredients to make peanut butter cookies. I couldn’t take it anymore! After my shift was over, I rushed home to make some myself! Though I skipped on some of the more common ingredients, and made a healthy little alternative! Chocolate also happens to be a big weakness of mine, but I’ve gotten really into carob as a replacement for chocolate. (I still eat chocolate…)

Anyways, that’s the end of my story… So here’s a tasty, soft, and chewy twist on a basic peanut butter cookie! Enjoy! I sure did…

Peanut Butter & Carob Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• pinch of salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar (you can replace this with whatever type of sugar you have on hand, however I really enjoy the flavour of turbinado sugar)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup carob chips

Method:

• Pre heat your oven to 350.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat, and set aside.
• Add all dry ingredients into a bowl.
• Add all wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
• Mix all until combined.
• Spoon out about 2 tbsp of dough per cookies on the baking sheet. Press together with your fingers if it starts to fall apart.
• Flatten the tops slightly with a fork, keeping the cookies about 3/4 of an inch thick.
• If you like, sprinkle with a little more turbinado sugar.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are LIGHTLY browned. Don’t bake for longer than 20 minutes, otherwise they will dry out.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
• Eat, and enjoy!
  

  So good... You need to taste these!