When my boyfriend first told me he was a vegan, a whole mess of things ran through my head. Does that mean we’ll never get to go out to dinner together? Is he going to flip when I show up to his house on a Sunday afternoon smelling like bagels and lox? Are we going to go to PETA protests on dates, and is he going to sneak gory slaughterhouse pamphlets into my purse after I talk about jonesin’ for bacon?

Like a lot of college girls, I had been a vegetarian about 15 times by the time I’d met my boyfriend. I gave up meat in high school to freak out my parents, and I gave it up in college to lose weight, then later to impress the chain-smoking anti-war coalition kids that I wanted to hang out with.

Despite my good intentions, however, it never really stuck. The cafeteria had zero veggie options, and I was lazy — not to mention a sucker for carne asada. To boot, I had a pretty superficial understanding of what veganism is; like a lot of people, I thought all vegans were misanthropic skinny kids with social problems. Then I met John. Read More »

We all know that girls love sweets.

The last thing any of us probably need is a new idea for a delicious blast of sugar…and something we need even LESS than that is a new idea for a blast of sugar that can be made without cooking.

That’s right…this one is for you dorm ridden girls. (Or just those of you who hate baking). My friends have titled this pie I make PCP=peanut butter cheese pie.

The boys I make it for swear that this treat might as well be a drug, so apparently, it’s aptly named.

I swear to you that this dessert is an automatic cure for depression. It’s simultaneously a cure for everything else out there, too. (IF you love peanut butter).

Here’s what you need: Read More »

To me, afternoons are like a barren wasteland. They last for hours that can feel like days, and there’s no relief in sight until dinner. To silence the grumbling stomach, it’s important to have a snack sometime in the middle of those wasteland hours.

While it might seem appealing to grab a triple-shot mocha at Starbucks, that’s really not the best thing for our minds or our bodies to have (or, in many cases, our wallets). If you want a snack that scores high on both nutrition and taste, consider one of the following:

Pita with Hummus. You can buy your hummus at the store (roasted red pepper is my favorite kind), or make your own for cheap using a scaled-down version of a recipe like this one. Cut a slit in the side of your pita, shovel in a few spoonfuls of hummus, and you’re good to go.

Yogurt with Topping. It’s really easy to take a container of yogurt with you wherever you need to go, and yogurt has the added advantage of meshing well with almost any topping choice. Try tossing a few chocolate chips on top of caramel yogurt, fresh blueberries atop a carton of strawberry, or a spoonful of toasted nuts and honey on top of plain vanilla. Read More »

So it’s Tuesday. I mean, what the hell is Tuesday? It’s better than Monday, obvs, but it’s certainly less fun than Thursday, and nowhere near the euphoria of Friday.

If you’re like me, and need a little something to get you through these looong, dreary January days, and that little something often means sugar of some kind, then by all means, keep reading.

Because I think I’ve just found the best sweetstuff recipe EVER.

No sh*t. It just doesn’t get any better than Frappucino flavored CUPCAKES (!!!)

Click here to go to my newest blog fave, and check out the amazing recipe

I heart muffins.

It doesn’t really matter what type of muffins they are—I’ll eat any flavor.

I’ll eat muffins with nuts, with berries, with chocolate chips…you can even put carrot and zucchini in there, I won’t mind.

Since the weekend is finally here, why don’t we celebrate two wonderfully late mornings with a beautiful muffin recipe that includes fall’s sweetest treat: apples?

Wake up your whole dorm with the amazing smell of these muffins, and you might just become the most popular girl in school—at least until they’re all gone.

Here’s what you need to get started: Read More »

Sometimes, a drink is called something so preposterous, so stupid, it’s obvious that whoever created it gave it a name after they tried 7 versions.

Sometimes, the actual ingredients are the unbelievable part.

You want me to combine cream, vodka, and cough syrup together? Who’s actually tasted this?

Most of the time, the answer is no one, but today, that’s not the case.

I had heard about this recipe, but never actually tried it…until the day arrived when there was nothing left to drink the fridge besides a bottle of Gatorade someone had left and a bottle of raspberry vodka the roommate and I had received as a present.

“Well” I thought, “now’s the time.”

Sure, it was sweet, but it was also light and tart—a nice thing to sip over ice while waiting for the night to start. Read More »

There are days when I exist almost completely on a smoothie diet.

I get up late, leave myself no time for breakfast, and grab a Vitamin C Blaster! on my way to class. Lunch time rolls around, I’ve got meetings and rehearsals before another batch of classes, so I run back over and buy a Protein Berry Boost. The people at the smoothie place know me by name. It’s like we’re in some secret club; I come in, they see me, nod, and get to work.

But I recently read an article that stopped me in my tracks.

Here I was thinking I was being Miss Healthy, drinking my nutrients, when in actuality, I might have been loading my body with unwanted fat and carbs.

Cool.

For one thing, a small, store-bought smoothie usually rounds out at about 16 ounces, which is roughly two cups. Anything larger than that is more than an average woman needs in one serving, especially if there’s yogurt, flavoring, and sugar added.

Also, just because something has a piece of fruit in it, doesn’t mean it’s healthy. A small “Chocolate Elvis” from the chain Planet Smoothie may have bananas in it, but it also has loads of calories, 9 grams of fat, and 108 grams of carbs. Read More »