new sassy sweater

thank you spring & clifton for making this gorgeous sweater. thank you mystery shopper X for returning it to my store so it could be marked down 50%... thank you employee appreciation days for marking it down an additional 40%. i love my new expensive sweater i got for cheap cheap cheap!

zucchini cookies and love

this morning i had some extra time after decorating for christmas so i decided to find a great recipe for all of the free zucchini we got! this recipe is delicious!

this is a vegan recipe so if you don't have egg replacer you can just use an egg-but i personally think vegan desserts are delicious and usually even better than non-veg.

*i substituted the honey for agave and halfed it. they turned out perfect. i did half the recipe with chocolate chips and half without. i'll let you know after we try both which ones are better!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

From “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”

Makes 2 dozen cookies

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer

1/3 cup warm water
1/3 c applesauce
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c honey
1 T vanilla extract
1 c spelt flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 t baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 c finely shredded zucchini
12 oz chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg replacer and water until frothy. Stir in the applesauce, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla extract.

3. In a small bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The dough may seem a little dry, but that’s okay, the moisture from the zucchini will be all it needs. Add the grated zucchini and chocolate chips, stirring until incorporated.

5. Spoon the dough onto your cookie sheets and bake for 12 - 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and enjoy! These will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 - 4 days, if they last that long.

since we are penny pinching i haven't really been able to decorate the house, but i find inexpensive, home-made cookies usually add a very comforting feeling to the house. i'm looking forward to painting and making curtains. but for now it's time to clean and ride my bike to work! hope you love the recipe!

thank you daiya, for being delicious and nutritious

best. meal. ever.
we made pizza with $1.29 whole wheat pizza dough from trader joe's + daiya vegan cheese + veggies galore and it equaled delicious scrumptiousness. so good. so cheap. so much amazing food.

daiya is the newest and best of vegan cheeses that we have tried. why? lets face it. all the other ones kind of suck. they don't melt and they are flavorless. daiya is both melty and flavorful. it is the closest to the real thing and still totally dairy free. the pizza possibilities are endless so look forward to more pizza posts!

one year of being mrs. jordan phelps! cheers!

the best picture of me!!! yikes!

jordan and his antlers
reindeer !!!!

we celebrated our wedding anniversary this past wednesday and it was a pretty perfect day. we woke up feeling so excited and happy. we exchanged gifts in the morning and i outfitted jordy in some cool new shirts from urban outfitters courtesy of my awesome discount. he was very thoughtful and bought me a thermos cup with a filter for all of the tea i love to drink and some awesome new herbal tea with loose leaves, fruits, and flowers! then we went to the zoo and had so much fun seeing the animals. i think our favorites were the chimps. the gorillas were cool too ,but they had the craziest B.O. that you could smell if you were within one hundred feet of them. E-YUCK! we loved being able to see the reindeer at the beginning of the holiday season. hard to believe that those little guys can pull a sled full of toys and a big cookie scarfing jolly man. but that is the magic of christmas folks.

to top the evening off we went to an delicious indian restaurant and had a romantic dinner. it is really bizarre to think we have already been married one whole year. it was fun to think about our courtship, engagement, and the most amazing day of our lives. i love my jordy. it's the best being married to someone who is loving, compassionate, smart, goofy, funny, uplifting, caring, giving....the list goes on and on. we are really happy we found each other. here's to our one year anniversary!

congratulations are in order!!

congratulations to jordy on his new job! he starts monday so wish him luck! i am so proud of him!

favorites from the wedding...scanning takes time

... the happiest day of my life. the best party i've ever been to. and the mostwonderful man in all the world to share it with. 

Non-Laborious Fun

So yesterday was probably the most fun Labor Day I have ever experienced.

Well, the day started out great as I went to the gym with my new personal trainer and boy oh boy is he HOT!...it's my hunk of a husband JORDAN - DOY GUYS! I am really feeling all of the muscles we exercised yesterday and I'm excited yet fearful for our session today. Then...

 We went to my parent's house in Torrance with all of the siblings. We swam forever and EVERYONE played Marco Polo. That was so fun and we all felt like little kids again. And to boot, my mom was doing backflips and front flips in the pool!! She is amazing and I hope I'm like her when I grow up. Then, we had a BBQ with the most delicious food and grilled pineapple and peaches. Best idea ever!

 Then, we played the candy game (Jordan and I scored BIG), Balderdash, and family favorite PIT ! (all of you Roberts out there ... you should be jealous it was a raucous game!!! Jordan even passed the bear and the bull together once so Ron was sorta there in spirit!)

Also- I had a little miracle happen that I don't ever want to forget. I've got to write (draw) it down in my journal. A little angel named Ruehi from Iran saved me from a lot of sadness. I won't forget her. 

All in all the day was a complete success. I am so lucky to have such a crazy, fun, amazing family.