What I ate today

Today was alright. I finished my last week of classes and now I just have finals to get through. I can't wait until the snow starts to fall & I can give everyone their presents. I hope all my hard work pays off and I can take time to do things that I haven't had time to do.

What are you doing for the holidays/ break?

Here's most of what I ate today besides a few snacks that I didn't take pictures of.

Breakfast:

Fruit Bowl & Coffee

Lunch:

Salad (spinach, kale,cucumber w/oil and vinegar) and vegetable spring rolls

Dinner:Spicy Chili( I don't use the word spicy lightly here.... Worth it.)

Vegan Clementine Cake

 Slightly inspired by my favorite movie(The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and partly inspired by my growling stomach. I present: 

VEGAN CLEMENTINE CAKE

 Dry Ingredients:
2 Cups of flour
1 Cup of sugar
1.5 Tablespoons of baking powder
1 Tablespoon of baking soda
.5 teaspoon of salt
Optional (poppy seeds)


Wet Ingredients
1 Cup of almond/soy milk
1 Tablespoon of vinegar
1 clementine juice (about 3-4 or .5cup)
Clementine zest( about 2 clementines)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/3 cup of oil

Glaze:
.5 -1 cup of powdered sugar
1TBS.+ Almond milk

 1.) Preheat oven to 375 F....Then start by making vegan "butter milk". Mix the almond milk and vinegar together and set to the side for later.( it should curdle)

 2.)Sift the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl. Set to the side.

 3.) Juice 3-4 clementines.( it should yield approx. .5 cup)

Note: you can use oranges or orange juice however it may yield slightly different results. Make sure to measure .5 cup of the juice.






4.) Zest two clementines into the juice. 

5.) mix milk mixtue, juice and 1/3 cup of oil together .


6.) Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until a batter forms.

7.) Pour batter into a prepared cake tin

The cake should take about 30 minutes to bake however, check after 20 by sticking a tooth pick in. If it is done remove, if not leave for ten more minutes and again check. Different ovens will bake the cake differently so take it out when you know its done..Let the cake cool most of the way.Poke the top of the cake with a fork and then pour glaze over the top( do this while the cake is still slightly warm.).

Note: This cake is best with poppy seeds included and resembles a poppy seed cake.The clementine flavor is mild. Stay tuned for a more citrus-y flavored dessert in the future!

The Probability Of Miracles- Book Review

 Book Review:
The Probability of Miracles 

After the third time hearing my sister recommend this book, I decided to go ahead and read it.

I guess I could just flat out say what I didn't like about it first......

#1- It is in third person
      My main issue with this is that,  I like to feel as though I am the lead in a story, but it was a challenge and it took me out of my comfort zone. The only way I am going to become more comfortable with third person is if I just keep reading it and learn to enjoy the different perspective it can have on a story.

#2- Its slightly too immature for me. Not in the sense that it's a children's book, I've just wanted to move on to more complex and meaningful books.I want to read things that aren't straight forward and really make me think.

That said, I did enjoy this book. If you like modern young adult/ teen books with some love, life lessons and the likes then you will most likely enjoy this. Its a pretty easy read and I often find that books like this get me out of reading slumps, so I can get back into reading deeper things.

The main gist of the story is that a teenager named Campbell has been battling cancer and is approaching the inevitable( death) at the young age of 17. Her mom drags her to a place in Maine called Promise where miracles supposedly happen.

The story has moments that make you laugh because of Campbell's sarcasm, and moment where you feel emotional pain for not only Campbell but also her family.

Its very cute and shows how people can grow and change even in a short amount of time.

I personally gained some hope and inspiration because it made me realize that although I'm not sick, I am very much like Campbell. I have pretty much just accepted that I wont live a long healthy and happy life. but only simply because that's what I let myself believe. Campbell struggles a lot with the motivation to see a future and have HOPES.
 The book did not make me believe in miracles but it did make me pay more attention to the small things that seem to fall into place.

My favorite quote from this book is:
" Hope is it's own reward"

The meaning I give this quote is that, having dreams and hopes is motivation and happiness itself. Without hope things can't be enjoyed as much because we didn't have the yearning for those things.... So never give up hope, its what gets us through the days.


I give this book:
3/5