Super simple tomato sauce

As a college student with limited funds and limited time, I am all about quick and easy meals! I would love to spend hours in the kitchen trying out new recipes, cooking the day away, but I, just like any other college student, have a jam-packed schedule. I typically do all of my recipe testing and experimenting with flavors while making my own meals, so sometimes I end up with some pretty interesting tasting dinners, to say the least! However, this sauce is perfect for college students, better yet, anyone really. It is really super simple and adds the perfect amount of flavor to veggies and whole grains.

In the top picture, I made the sauce, and tossed it with some quinoa and black beans, served on a bed of sauteed kale, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. In the bottom picture, I sauteed veggies and chicken and let them cook in the sauce for a while and served it over zoodles!

 

Recipe:

 Splash olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes (no salt added/reduced sodium)

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/8 of a cup of coconut milk

 2 tsp basil 

2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

pinch of salt

Directions:

Add a splash of olive oil to small sauce pan on medium heat. Open can of diced tomatoes and drain slightly, place in sauce pan with minced garlic. Add in the basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour contents of sauce pan into a large blender or food processor. Pulse a few times, until the mixture is slightly creamy but still has some chunks of tomato. Pour sauce back into saucepan and simmer to allow the flavors to emulsify. Allow some of the water to cook out and add in the coconut milk, this step helps make it creamy and less tangy. Toss this sauce with quinoa, whole grain pasta, or jazz up some veggies with it! Bon Appétit! 

xoxo

Samantha

Lemon Poppy Blueberry Cake

Horray for my first recipe on Rose in the Kitchen! I made this delicious Lemon Poppy Blueberry cake for Easter dessert and it was one of my first times making a healthy, refined sugar and flour free dessert! I typically make quick deserts or have some organic yogurt with fruit and dark chocolate, but this was beyond my expectations. It was a perfect dessert for Easter and conveniently stifled my craving I had been having for a lemon poppy seed muffin for the past few weeks! I love the combination of lemons, poppy seeds, and blueberries. Something about it tastes just like spring, so fresh and airy. This is something that everyone could make, it is super easy and doesn't involve a lot of ingredients! This recipe also serves 8-10.

Recipe: 

4 cups ground almond flour

3 tbsp poppy seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 c coconut oil (softened but not melted)

1/2 c organic honey

2 lemons

3 eggs

About 2 cups of blueberries

Frosting: 

1/4 c plus 3 tbsp Go Veggie plain vegan cream cheese

1/4 c plus two tbsp vanilla greek yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 packet or 1 tsp stevia

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350°. then place almond flour, poppy seeds, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl and mix until combined and then put to the side. Measure out the honey and coconut oil and heat on low in a sauce pan until the mixture combines. Turn off heat and zest the two lemons, cut both in half and squeeze the juice of the lemons into the mixture, mix together, and pour this mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Beat the three eggs together and fold them into the mixture. Then add one cup of the blueberries and gently fold them into the batter. Pour batter into a greased spring form cake pan. 

Proceed to bake for typically 40 to 50 minutes but it may vary depending on the strength of your oven. The cake should look golden brown on top and if stuck with a tooth-pick, it should come out clean. Remove from oven and place in fridge to let cool before taking it out of the pan. 

(Mine was a little well done on top but I like a little bit of a crust!)

While it is cooling, it is time to make the frosting! Yum! Take a small bowl and place all ingredients together and combine until creamy and distributed. Place frosting in the fridge to chill and when the cake has cooled, using a rubber spatula, frost the top of the cake and top with the remaining cup of blueberries. 

There you have it! My first recipe! Let me know if you try it out and email me for anything or any topics you think I should post about, or any recipes I should try! 

xoxo

Samantha 

Rose in Bloom blog REVAMP!

I created this blog after the new year as a place for me to express my thoughts, share experiences, and give advice. I really loved it until I felt as though I ran out of things to talk about and became extremely busy with school work. Since winter break, I have dramatically changed my diet as well as my lifestyle. I spoke about this in my last post, but Cameron Diaz's The Body Book really made an impact on me as well as helped me see food in a completely new way. I now look at food as a wonderfully delicious way to fuel our bodies, nourish our souls, 

and feed each and every cell in our bodies. 

Before, I had been counting calories, eating nutrient-poor foods, feeling bloated and deprived, and hating every second of it. I would scrupulously plan every single morsel I put in my mouth, only to binge eat at night because I felt so deprived. The binge eating then lead to obsessively going to the gym as soon as I woke up or even twice a day to get rid of all of the extra calories I had ingested. I was sad and ashamed, in a really bad mental place. 

Fast forward a few months, one amazing book, a great counselor, and some really inspirational people on social media, here I am. I feel better than I have in so long. My binges have reduced significantly, although I still face some issues. I have begun to love my body, to realize that my view of myself is skewed and inaccurate. I have realized I am my biggest critic and I need to be kinder to myself, because this is the only body I have and will ever have. I have found myself falling into a plant-based lifestyle (mostly with a few exceptions) and I am absolutely loving it! I have discovered a love for yoga, for meditation and mindfulness, for being in the present moment and expressing my independence from things I leaned on before as a crutch. Now I go to the gym because I love to and I enjoy challenging my body and improving my health, not because I feel like I have to or I need to burn off the calories I ingested. 

I have begun an Instagram account (@roseinthe_kitchen) where I post recipes for a lot of things I make for myself as a college student on a budget. Through doing this, I have found my love for nutrition as well as my passion for cooking. Now I am looking to get my Masters degree in Nutrition and Dietetics and eventually become a Registered Dietician! This whole journey I have gone through and am still working through has shown me that there is truly a silver lining to every situation, never give up because giving up is not an option. This blog will now be an outlet for me to share recipes, post about my favorite nutrition inspirations and accounts on instagram, and post about my life and life in general. Oh how beautiful it is, this wonderful, amazing, scary journey life is, and I am still really in the beginning. 

xoxo

Samantha

2015 Goal: Pure Happiness

2014 was a very tough year for me. I went through a lot of things, hit some pretty bad low's and had also some amazing memories. I had gained a significant deal of weight during the second semester of last year, my sophomore year, and I felt so unbelievably uncomfortable in my own skin. It was horrible. When summer came, I wanted to stay as far away from all of the things I enjoyed, like going to the beach specifically. I wore long pants almost every day, and most days hated myself and how I looked. I started doing CrossFit and I loved it! Some people from my community opened up a local CrossFit gym and they built an awesome community that I felt immediately comfortable in. I was so proud of my body for being so strong and being able to do CrossFit, and I also felt a little badass.

CrossFit RailTrail

 

My issues with my body and food have been going on for so much longer than I have ever realized once I began to think about when all of this started. My second semester last year was so terrible because I began to use food as a crutch and gained all of the weight because my binge eating became the worst it's ever been. I had also stopped going to the gym at this time, just being busy, lazy, and very involved with my new relationship, which is SO WONDERFUL and was not the reason why I was miserable, just a combination of many things. 

I went into this past semester with a better attitude but still pretty uncomfortable. I had my sweetheart back, which was wonderful (he was far away all summer on an internship and being away from him for months was hard) and it was a new semester that I would be going to the gym and working hard on feeling and looking better. I made progress but the most was after this winter break. 

I began to read Cameron Diaz's The Body Book (bought for me by my lovely boyfriend) which is an amazing book (I'm not kidding, really amazing!) outlining three main parts of having a wholesome and healthy body, the first being Nutrition, second being Movement, and the third regarding Mind. 

I have not even finished the book yet but I am already raving about it, it is wonderful! It has truly helped me transform myself into a healthy positive outlook on food and all of the different macronutrients (carbs, proteins, and fats) as well as vitamins and minerals. I used to be so afraid of eating carbs because of the carbs=bad attitude I used to have. Now I have been eating whole grains, oats, or rice with every single meal and I have never felt better! Just in this past month I have seen so much improvement in my mind and body and I am so impressed with myself thus far. 

Not the prettiest photos, but some examples of what I eat on a daily basis, the mush on the bottom two plates is oatmeal with some parmesean cheese mixed into it. I know how bizarre that sounds but it's delicious! It tastes like risotto almost.

Now, the challenge will be staying on this positive mindset and continuing to grow and just become better and better as well as happier. It is a lengthy story and I have left out a few parts, but I believe I am on the right track to becoming who I truly want to be. This year is dedicated to growth and setting myself on the right track to become the woman who I truly want to be.

xoxo

Samantha

Why am I beginning this blog?

Hello blogger world! My name is Samantha Rose, hence the name of my blog! I like to think I am blooming or blossoming into myself, therefore Rose in Bloom. I am twenty years old, soon to be twenty-one. I go to school at a private college in western MA. I love white and pink wine. Red is okay. I love love loveee a good cup of coffee. My music preferences vary from month to month, even sometimes week to week. Frank Sinatra, Nora Jones, Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles, Michael Bublé, Kings of Leon, Colbie Caillat, Jason Mraz, Train, Bruce Springsteen, and The Beatles are among some of my favorites. I love a good Romantic Comedy. Sometimes I'm completely irrational but I just can't help it. I get angry quickly, but in two minutes I will probably forget why. I am a hopeless romantic head-over-heels in love with my best friend. 

He is my sweetheart (I'm smiling stupidly as I think about him while I write this). Sorry for the large assortment of pictures, he's just so darn cute. Sappy books, to me, are the best books. I have a terrible habit of twirling my hair. I love to sing, it is one of my favorite things to do. 

I am a self proclaimed health nut but I am still learning more and more about health and wellness. I love to exercise, most of the time, but sometimes I am just downright lazy. I will probably write posts further regarding this, but I am slowly becoming more comfortable with myself and my body.

I wouldn't necessarily say I struggled with an eating disorder, but I have struggled with body image, food, and binge eating for years. In the past year or so it has gotten the worst it has ever been, but that is partly why I am writing this blog. 

I am on a journey to find peace, my own inner bliss, which I believe will also be found through exploring and expressing my thoughts, whether it be online in a blog, or just through writing.  

Happy New Year to everyone by the way! My goal for 2015 is to become happy, so unbelievably happy. I want to love myself, all of myself. I don't want to hold anything back. I don't want to think about what other think of me, I don't want to think of judgement or feel uncomfortable with myself. I just want to live my life, and love it. Cheers to a brand new year and a brand new blog! 

xoxo

Samantha