What I Eat - Breakfast Edition

You've probably heard the saying "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" and it's honestly true.

That being said, I don't always feel like eating breakfast but I've been trying to! When I wake up I'm not hungry at all. In fact, I don't get hungry until like 2 hours after getting up! So that can be tricky depending on what my plans are for the day.

I also have a bit of an egg intolerance so I try to stay way from eggs as much as possible. Which is why all my breakfasts are usually fruit based.

If I'm going to work I like to stick to something light since I'll eat a snack a little bit later in the day. I also try to stay away from dairy so if I mention a diary product I'm using then it's a dairy alternative! (i.e. coconut milk yogurt, earth balance butter, almond milk)

My go to is toast! The cool thing about toast is you can dress it up so many different ways.

this looks so gross lol but it tastes good I swear 

You can do peanut butter ad bananas, cream cheese and avocado, just cream cheese, or you can be weird and put butter, tomato and parmesan on it like me! I remember looking through the fridge trying to find something to eat one day and just thinking "ok I can do tomato.. that's healthy.. maybe I'll throw a lil balsamic on there." But then, I saw the parmesan and decided to give it a go. It's really not that strange of a combo but it just makes me laugh whenever I make it! You also don't have to have this on just bread. You can have a bagel, English muffin, rice cake.. literally anything.

Another breakfast staple is granola! I like to eat it on top of cereal, on a smoothie bowl, in some yogurt, or as a base with some fruit and almond milk! It's so yummy. My favorite is the honey almond one from Open Nature.

granola, blueberries, banana, almond milk

smoothie bowl I made with frozen tropical fruit mix, almond milk and I think a banana. topped with granola

My last easy breakfast is fruit! I eat fruit almost every morning. Fruit digests quicker than most foods so I try to have fruit be the first thing I eat in the day. Throw this stuff on cereal, oatmeal, toast, a smoothie, or eat it alone! It's always refreshing and tasty. I love berry smoothies (blueberries are my favorite fruit) and it's easy to just pick up some frozen berry mixes at the grocery store. The frozen ones last longer obviously, and they make the smoothie thicker. Which also comes in handy when you want to have a smoothie bowl cause otherwise you'd be having fruit soup. Trust me, you don't want that.

 peaches, a nectarine, and a banana

Eat ya fruit kids!

Fun Photo Diary (Disney + Girls Day)

Howdy friends! I had a cool idea to do an entire blog post dedicated to a trip to Disney but because I'm me, I barely took any photos. BUT, I will be sharing the photos I did take from when I went.

I know, you're probably thinking, "why don't you just go back?" Well you see, my pass is blocked out the entire summer and by the time I can go again it's going to expire. Also I don't see myself renewing it due to them raises prices and the fact that I'd rather spend my money on something else!

The past year with a pass has been so much fun and I'll miss it for sure. Maybe I'll get one again in the future but for now, it's so long.

I was so happy to see that for my last Disney trip I get to see the castle! It's been being refurbished for what seems like forever but she's back better than ever! That fresh paint tho

What's your favorite treat from Disneyland? I have to get a churro every time I'm there! It's my favorite thing I think.

The rest of these photos are from a fun day of treating yo self. Got my nails done, got donuts, and got my ears pierced! Very exciting day. 

I don't have any pictures of the piercing place but I got my second lobe piercing's done. Didn't hurt at all, though I wasn't really expecting it too! 

here's the piercing and also my extremely faded pink hair 

Thanks so much for reading! 

Next week's post is going tome full of recipes! Hint: It's all about the most important meal of the day! I've been working on it for a few weeks now so I'm excited to finally share the finished product. 

May Favorites + Life Update

Hello friends! It's finally June aka summer and I couldn't be happier about it! Though I think deep down the only reason I like summer is because winter is not far behind. You guys know what winter means, right? Christmas! The most wonderful time of the year!

No but really, I'm excited for the warmth and going to the beach and basking in the sunshine. Apparently the sun hasn't gotten the memo yet though because the June gloom has been in full force this week it seems. The weather will be warm soon enough!

On another note, I have been having a creative itch lately. I want to create and make art more than I ever have before. Building up the courage or even the energy to get started is hard though, especially with everything going on. Here I am though. Making the effort. Getting things done. I'm very proud of myself.

Sitting at my desk right now and writing all of this out is fueling the fire inside me. I feel very content and after this I'm going to go paint something. I don't know what, but I'm gonna try! I've never been good at drawing or painting things. My creativity usually comes through in other ways. And hey! If my painting isn't totally and completely awful I'll probably end up sharing it here!

Something else I've been yearning to do is get out and take some photos! I feel like the last time I even held my camera was on my camping trip :-( That makes me very sad to be honest. I think I haven't felt inspired to take any pictures since some (most) of the film I got developed turned out horribly. I still have a couple more rolls and hopefully those aren't as bad but, honestly I don't even want to see in fear that those are messed up as well.

I'll gain the courage someday. Maybe that day will be soon. But for now, I'll take pictures with my polaroid. Which is just as fun and almost better since I get the photos right away!

Anyways, enough updates for one post I think. On with the favorites!

The first thing I've been loving is fruit. Yes, fruit. That may seem weird but I've been eating a lot of fruits and drinking a lot of smoothies lately and I just can't get enough of them! So good and so good for you! It makes me not want actual sweets anymore actually which is a little added bonus!

smoothie bowl with granola

Second thing, the color pink. Another weird one honestly but, I'm drawn to everything pink. Heck.. even my hair is pink now! I just think that soft blush tones are so pretty as decor. It's soft enough that it's not too overpowering but still brings the perfect amount of color into a room!

Next up we have an ice roller! I got mine off of amazon and it's life changing. You just freeze the roller and take it out when you're going to use it and ta-da! The most relaxing thing ever. It's supposed to help with rejuvenation and sore muscles. I got mine to help relieve sinus pressure and to help with my TMJ pains! This is honestly the coolest thing I have ever purchased.

The next and final thing is something very important. I used to not use this and have finally come to my senses and use it everyday if I'm going to be outside at all. Sunscreen! I always hated the way sunscreen felt on my skin but this one is really great and I don't even notice it. The only problem is that it has an insane white cast so I do have to wear foundation over it when I wear it or else I'll look like a zombie. I use the La Roche-Posay Anthelios Mineral sunscreen. It's the SPF 50 and it's for the face and body!

That's all for my favorites last month! Thanks so much for reading and sticking around y'all.

Garlic Dip Perfect for Potatoes!

I know, I know. Before you even say anything. I know. I've been absent from the blog yet again. But you know what? That's ok.

I'll get better at posting more frequently. In like 2 weeks I will have a more open schedule and will be able to get posts up with more ease. So just be patient with me while I get through some scheduling issues and me being completely exhausted!

But for now, here's a recipe that I find myself making quite often. Its from the Center Cut Cook!

I've used this recipe for both the potato wedges and the dipping sauce and they are both really yummy! I typically don't measure anything out when I make it, simply because I'm lazy and it will taste good no matter what.

Though I will warn that it may be a tad bit garlic-y for some! Which is an easy fix.. don't use as much garlic! But I love garlic and will even add more than the recipe calls for. My boyfriend wasn't a huge fan (because the garlic was too overpowering) but I think he would like it if I made it for him again!

The potatoes that go along with this isn't much so I find that I have more dip than potatoes to go around. That isn't a problem for me of course because it also tastes incredible with potato chips! Which may seem obvious because its a potato but it's not a very chip worthy dip.. but try it. It's good, I promise. It also goes well with carrots and other crunchy vegetables!

Here's the recipe

• 1/3 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

Is this post totally boring because I don't have a picture? I agree. But you know what. Thats life sometimes. Sometimes all your photos get deleted. Sometimes you don't want to make food you aren''t in the mood for just to take a photo. Nobody's perfect y'all! 

But you can expect a photo filled post soon. Very soon. Don't you worry. 

Spring Weekend Photo Diary

So a couple weeks ago I went with my boyfriend to go film his podcast. If you want, you can listen to it over on youtube!

I didn't know what to expect honestly and I had to be quiet the whole time! So I watched Mama Mia on my phone and listened to music. But the next time I go I'm going to be in charge of the camera.. aka making sure it doesn't stop recording mid shoot.

I had so much fun though! I love listening to my boo talk about cars.

I did take more photos but it was dark and I'm working on editing them to make them look all purdy ya feel. 

Next on our weekend adventure.. BEACH!! Except we always do this. It never gets old though!
Something amazing happened while we sat on a bench to watch the sunset.. A BUNNY HOPPED OUT OF THE BUSHES. I was giddy with excitement. You all (hopefully) saw the picture I posted on my story when it happened.

We also made an appearance at a bonfire with some friends but I have no pictures since I didn't bring my camera! Oops! 

Now since I haven't talked much in this post I wanna chat a lil about some things I'm doing this month! First off, I'm getting my hair done this weekend and I am beyond excited. I've been waiting like 3 months to do this and it's finally happening! I'll share the results via instagram obviously, don't worry. 

Next, I've got a bunch of posts coming! Like I have so many different ideas and cool approaches on things and I'm just really excited for them to come to fruition! Also hollaaaaaa at the fact that I've had a couple posts up this month and I'm gettin serious with this thang!! 

Just very proud of myself for sticking to it. (lol it's been like 3 posts calm down girl) 

Speaking of girl.. have you guys seen New Girl? I'm rewatching it for like the hundredth time and I love it so much. One of my favorite shows for sure. 

My film was developed! Well, some of it was. I got 2 rolls developed and of course, like 2/3 of the pictures were blurry! What can you do though. It was my very first time using a film camera and I'm still learning so I'm not going to let that bring me down! 

Having the pictures in my hand even if they didn't turn out the way I wanted was so special to me. One of my favorite things to do is look through old photos from when I was little. The photos that my mom has from when she was my age. It's so nostalgic and lovely. All of the memories in each one and being able to transport back to the moment when you look at them! 

Anyways, that's enough photo talk. I have a photography update coming soon so I'll go a little more in depth there and even show some of my film that turned out ok! 

See ya next week!

Let's Talk - Earth Day

Happy Earth Day friends!

Do you care about the environment? Do you need some ideas of ways to help this beautiful earth we live on? Well great news! I'm here to help.

Let's talk basics.

Super duper easy things you and I can do. These are small things. Something you can do every single day!

1. Recycle! This is probably (and hopefully) something you already do! And if you aren't......why
2. Reusable water bottles! Don't buy single use plastic bottles anymore! Get a water filter and get your water this way. It's so easy and it honestly tastes better than bottled water anyways. Win win situation here. 
3. Reusable grocery bags!! Keep them in your car and you'll always have them with you! Bonus is that you now won't have to pay for bags at the store (since most of them charge nowadays) 
4. Switching to bar soap! This is obvious. There's no plastic container to be wasted! And it's also beneficial because, to me, liquid body wash seems to not last long at all for the price it is. 

Now let's get into some harder but still doable things. 

1. Going meatless a few times a week! Even doing this one day (meatless Mondays duhhhhh) is beneficial. I avoid meat like 3/4 times a week. There's also a lot of meat alternatives on the market right now that tastes just as good! 
2. Cleaning up. Yup. Have you ever been to the beach and looked around? There's trash EVERYWHERE. I wish this was not true, but unfortunately there's a lot of people out there who don't care and litter. Don't be that person. There's trash cans at the beach. And if there isn't one? Keep your trash with you until you find one. Easy. Now since people probably won't stop doing this, YOU can help by going out to the beach and picking up trash! Get some friends together and do a beach cleanup or even just pick up anything you see when you're out taking a stroll. 
3. If you wear makeup, try using reusable makeup wipes! Microfiber cloths are great for removing makeup and can be used forever pretty much. Most single use wipes will just sit in a landfill since they can't be recycled. That being said, Simple and Burts Bees make biodegradable makeup remover wipes!

Let's save this earth y'all!

Visalia Camping Trip

The past couple months have been crazy and this last week has been even crazier. Even though I just got back from vacation I feel completely drained and I'm hoping to get out of that funk soon. But for now I'm going to share with you all some pictures I took on my trip! It was such a great time and being away from social media and being away from..people...was refreshing. 

My boyfriend and I drove up to Visalia for a truck meet and camped out with a bunch of his buddies and we had the best time! I miss it already. I truly wish I was still there right now.. (even though I fell in the snow and had a hornet with us in the car while we were driving up the mountain).

While we were up there, we decided to drive up to the Sequoias to see General Sherman Tree! All of the trees up there are absolutely incredible but that one is an entirely different story. If you've seen it then you know what I mean!

Now I was not expecting there to be snow so the fact that we saw some, even if it was melting, was so cool! I've never been in snow in my entire life, except for when I was a baby, but that doesn't count.  I loved every second of the slush we all walked around on (and filled our ice chests with). I'm thinking this winter calls for a real snow trip.. what do you guys think? 

My boyfriend and I also slept inside his truck which was very new to me as I'm very much a tent camping kind of gal. I need space to move around! But the truck bed was super comfortable, maybe even more comfortable than a tent? 

Do you guys sleep in a tent? Or do you go full blown outdoorsy camping sleeping under the stars with nothing but a sleeping bag? That would be interesting to try.. I don't think I could do it because of all the bugs. or a bear! could you imagine. heck no. 

Bears were something I was very concerned about the first night here. I thought if we even had a single crumb a bear would be knocking on the doors trying to get it. I even considered tossing my deodorant in the trash because it's citrus scented and I read bears like that! But alas, there were no bears in sight (thankfully). It turned out that I had nothing to worry about and bears didn't actually live around that area.. they were more so 10 miles up from our camp.

I deeply regret not taking my film camera with me on this trip so I edited all my photos to have that film feel! I hope you enjoy them! I'm also FINALLY in the process of getting all of my old film developed so I'm excited to share those within the next month or so! 

I hope you enjoyed this post and as always thank you so much for reading! Now you guys have got to let me know, what's your favorite place to camp? I've got the itch to go camping this summer and I'm looking for some new spots! Let me know in the comments down below! 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Have you ever tasted something that was so good that you don't want to eat anything but that for the rest of your life? That's how I feel about the cream cheese frosting on these cupcakes.

Yeah the cupcake itself is amazing too but this frosting.. wow. WOW.

I honestly can't get over how good these were. They are being made again ASAP. 

Here's the recipe so you can make them and see for yourself. The frosting was tweaked a little bit but I'm sure it would be just as good if you follow the recipe from Sugar Spun Run! And because I only changed the recipe for the frosting that's what I'm sharing with you today! But go ahead and click the link above to see the cupcake part of the recipe.

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups powdered sugar (I did 3 cups because I don't like overly sweet frosting)

Directions

• Combine butter and cream cheese. Beat until creamy with no lumps.
• Add vanilla and salt, stir well.
• With mixer on low, add powdered sugar gradually, mixing well after each.

Now you can either eat this frosting straight out of the bowl or use it on top of your cupcakes or regular cake or even cookies! You do you, boo. 

If you're going to make anything that I've ever shared here on the blog I highly recommend this being the one. It's seriously incredible. Ok. I'm done now, I'm going to go make this frosting. 

See ya next time!

Corned Beef Sandwiches

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today we're having sandwiches. The best sandwiches ever in the world. We only eat this once a year and I get so excited to have them. March can't come soon enough, ya know?

Anyways, these sandwiches are super easy to make (especially if you are Irish and eat corned beef on this day already.) You're literally just making a grilled cheese with the corned beef except your putting thousand island on the bread and then the meat, and then some Swiss cheese.

I'm drooling just thinking about it.

I'm about 99% sure these are rueben sandwiches without the sauerkraut.. but I'm just gonna call em what I call em.

Heres the short ingredient list if you want it

• corned beef
• thousand island
• butter
• sourdough bread
• Swiss cheese  

Very simple and easy to make (if the corned beef is already made). I'm not exactly sure how to cook corned beef since I've never done it before.. maybe you boil it.. I literally have no idea. I'll learn someday. But for now we're talking an easy, yummy sandwich to enjoy with your st paddy's day leftovers!

Do you eat these every year too? Or is my family the only one? Let me know!!

Making Your Bed

It's been a while since I've posted. Don't know if anyone actually noticed but my New Years resolution to post consistently uh....fell through.

I've had an incredibly stressful month and I really don't want to make excuses but with everything going on I just decided me having to worry about posting every week was not in my best interest. I hope to get back on a more consistent schedule.. but maybe not every single Tuesday.

I just got a desk for my bedroom so I can work at a desk rather than sitting in my bed so I'm hoping that will encourage me to write and do more things for you guys here. You can see pictures of my finished bedroom very soon in a new blog post so look out for that!

The point of today's post was to apologize for my lack of blogging, and to talk about life and something that's very important to me; making my bed.

I started making my bed every morning when I got up, maybe like 6 or 7 years ago? I don't remember why I did it but I'm glad I did. Making the bed is such a simple thing to do and it really can turn your whole day around. It makes you feel like you accomplished something. Like oh hey! Just crossed something off of my to-do list! Just getting the ball rolling if you will.

The winter gloom happening over here in California has been taking it's toll on me. So something as simple as this has been a bit of a mood booster and something to make me feel somewhat productive.

Another thing. There's no better feeling than getting into a made bed. The sheets are crisp and all straightened out like they should be. It just looks great.

It makes me feel like I know what I'm doing with my life. Which is far from the truth if I'm being honest with myself.  I mean I know what I want to do. In the future. But right now? It's not it. I have to work hard to get to where I want to be and that's what I plan on doing. Making my bed is going to help me get there.

If you don't already, make your bed every morning! Thank me later. And you can expect a new post in the next few days!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to play Kingdom Hearts all night. Adieu.

Cheesy Chicken + Spinach Pasta

Howdy y'all!

Welcome to another installation of Cooking with Sammi!!! Today we're making pasta! Who doesn't love pasta? It's actually one of the best things on earth.

I'd first like to start out by saying I only took one picture from the actual cooking process because the chicken for some reason was giving me so much trouble and I was just frustrated and totally over taking any photos. So you get one picture of the cooking and then a picture of the final product!

Oh and btw this pasta is actually incredible. I'm beyond proud of myself for making something that tastes this good (without using a recipe). Like I just made this up.. Amazing.

Ingredients

• jack cheese (grated) ((should be about 3 cups))
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup milk 
• chicken (I used chicken thighs but I recommend using chicken breasts instead) 
• a bag of spinach honestly
• pepper 
• garlic salt 
• thyme 
• salt
• pasta of your choice (I used penne) 

Directions

• I started off by cooking the pasta. (Boil water, add pasta, cook for 10 minutes).
• Then I cooked the chicken in a pan on the stove on medium high. I seasoned the thighs with garlic salt, pepper, ad thyme on both sides and cooked it until they were a little brown on each side. 
• Cook the spinach in some olive oil in a pan and add to pasta. Now I only had half a bag of spinach which obviously wasn't enough so I recommend using an entire bag if you plan on making this. 
• Cut up the chicken into small squares and throw into spinach/pasta mix. 
• For the sauce you will melt a tbsp of butter. Once it's melted, add the 2 tbsp of flour and stir util its smooth. 
• Add the milk and keep stirring until thick and creamy. Season to your liking. I put a bit of pepper and the tiniest pinch of salt. Like barely any salt. 
• Add the grated cheese bit by bit and stir until it's all melted. Once it's melted to your liking pour over the pasta mix and mix it up completely. 
• Voila! The cheesiest yummiest pasta to ever exist! 

Also sorry this post is a day late! Was a very busy hectic day yesterday! 

Thank you for reading! See ya next week 

My Photography Journey

Hi guys!

Today I'm getting personal.. sort of. I'm going to be talking about my journey with photography. 

I love taking photos. I love it so much. This is something that feels 100% right to me. Looking at the photos I take at the end of the day is so rewarding. Especially when I felt horrible while taking them. (I'm my own worst critic.)

I definitely go back and forth in my head saying "these aren't turning out. these look horrible. this lighting is awful. you don't know what you're doing." To be fair, I don't know what I'm doing. In fact my boyfriend has been so good with me on this. He's helping me whenever I need it, he's answering all my questions, and he's supporting me! He's the most wonderful person on earth. So thanks for all your help babe! 

Another thing; taking photos is like, riveting? I love being able to capture moments and cool scenery. Being able to look back at them and remembering that moment perfectly; What I was wearing, who I was with, and what we were talking about. That's so amazing to me!

I haven't taken very many pictures with my new camera yet as I've been fairly busy and it's been raining almost every day but I'm excited to go out hopefully sometime next week and take some!

Here are some of the photos I've taken. You probably have already seen them as I posted them over on my instagram already.

In part 2 of this blog post I will have way more to share but I wanted this post to be the beginning of a new series. I'm going to be sharing things I'm learning along the way. I'll be sharing the photos (obviously) and talking about my experience the whole journey of becoming who I want to be.

So I apologize for the short post but this is only the beginning! So get ready!