#they looked so yummy I still wish I at least knew the recipe

[granlance]

It's New Years Eve!

Whether you are like this grumpy ninja with a heart of gold and prefer to eat in peace or like his crazy family in the background partying loudly, I hope you have a great end of 2022

He'll join the festivity's with them soon enough 🌘

Happy Birthday to Kurogane! 🎇

[svgurl410]

dec 10- hot chocolate- clark/lois

Title: love is (a warm cup of cocoa) Fandom: Smallville Pairing/Characters: Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent Rating: G Word Count: 1697 Summary: Clark learned to make hot chocolate from his dad.  A/N: previous days HERE 

AO3 link

When Clark was six years old, he learned how to make hot chocolate from his dad. His mom had been looking tired for the last day or so, and even he had noticed.

“How about we cheer mommy up?” his dad suggested, after he had sent her off to get some much needed rest.

“Yeah!” Clark said enthusiastically, and accompanied his dad into the kitchen.

“What do you say we make some hot chocolate?” Jonathan said, and Clark’s blue-green eyes grew wide, nodding quickly.

“I like hot chocolate!” he declared. He frowned a little as he watched Jonathan take out ingredients that seemed different from what his mom used, including a chocolate bar. “That’s not how mommy makes it.”

“You like mommy’s hot chocolate?” Jonathan asked.

“Yeah, it’s the best,” Clark confirmed happily.

“Mommy does everything the best, doesn’t she?” Jonathan replied, fondly, letting out a chuckle at Clark’s very serious nod. “Well, we’re going to try something a little different.”

“Okay,” he said, a little reluctantly.

“This is a secret family recipe,” Jonathan explained. “My dad taught me how to make it and now I will teach it to you.”

“Is it hard?’ Clark wanted to know.

“No,” Jonathan replied. “This takes a little longer, so you can save it for special occasions, but let me tell you something, son: when you love someone, it won’t seem like work at all.”

Clark took that all in. “How do we make it? Can I help?”

“You sure can,” Jonathan agreed, as he chopped the chocolate into small pieces. “Do you know where the marshmallows are?”

“I do!” Clark ran off, only slowing down at Jonathan’s reminder, and retrieved it from the cabinet where he remembered his mom putting it the last time. Bringing the bag to him, he saw that Jonathan was distracted, so he opened it and popped one in his mouth. And then another. After that, a third. Definitely good.

“I hope you’re saving some for the cocoa,” Jonathan remarked, and Clark’s eyes widened. How did he know?

Swallowing, he grinned. “Yeah, I did.”

Jonathan looked over and smiled. “All right, now let’s get you up here.” He lifted up Clark and placed him on a free spot on the counter. “Now, this is the trick. First you have to microwave the chocolate, so that we don’t get any lumps. Cocoa powder is fine but nothing beats a good chocolate bar. You have to chop it up and melt it slowly though, so it doesn’t burn-”

From there, Jonathan went on to explain the recipe and how to make it. Clark watched, mostly quietly, though he did throw out a question here and there, which Jonathan was more than happy to answer.

When they were finished, he separated it into three mugs, mixing in a few more ingredients, what Clark would later learn was half and half, vanilla, and for the adults, bourbon. He let Clark add the marshmallows, before topping it off with whip cream, and sprinkles for Clark.

“What did you add in for you and mommy?” Clark asked curiously.

“That, I will tell you when you’re older,” Jonathan said, lifting him up to set him down once more. “I think you’ll like the sprinkles more.”

“I like sprinkles,” Clark said, still wanting answers, but willing to let it go, because he wanted his drink more. “Do we drink it now?”

“It will be hot,” Jonathan responded, setting the cups on a tray. “How about we take these to mommy?”

Clark readily followed him out of the kitchen into the living room, where it turned out Martha now was, sitting on the couch with a magazine.

“I thought you were going to lie down,” Jonathan said, eyebrows furrowing, as they approached her.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Martha explained. “What do you have there?”

“Hot chocolate!” Clark was eager to say. “Daddy made it. I helped!”

“I’m sure you did a great job, sweetie,” Martha said, smiling warmly, as she accepted the cup Jonathan gave her. Clark got his own cup as well, and eagerly took a sip, wrinkling his nose as he got whipped cream on it, causing his parents to laugh.

“What do you think?” Jonathan asked.

“It’s good, daddy,” Clark confirmed, wiping his nose. Different than his mommy’s, but it tasted yummy and Clark did like it.

“It’s very good,” Martha agreed. “Just what I needed.”

“Looks like we did a good job,” Jonathan said, offering his hand for a high five. “We make quite the team, buddy.”

“Yeah!” Clark said, meeting his hand, with his own. “The best team!” Seeing his mommy smile again made his chest feel all warm and happy.

It was a feeling and a memory Clark would always look back on fondly in the years to come, though it happened less and less as he got older. After his dad’s death, it was bittersweet to think about it at all.

Only when he was in his own apartment, one he shared with Lois, and perusing through the old cookbooks trying to figure out dinner, did he find that old scrap of paper, and in his dad’s familiar scrawl, he saw a hot chocolate recipe, and it brought him straight back to his childhood. All he could feel now was happiness as well as gratitude to have had those memories and such a loving family, because he knew that it all could’ve been much different.

Hearing a door slam, he set the book down, and headed towards the sound, immediately greeted by his annoyed looking wife.

“Ugh, what a day,” Lois said, visibly exasperated as she kicked off her heels. “You are lucky you got out of there earlier. If I hear one more ‘no we can’t’ or get a story canned because some asshole has enough money to cover up evidence, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“Please don’t do anything to get arrested,” Clark requested, amusement evident in his tone and expression.

“No promises,” Lois replied. “Will you come help me escape if I do?”

“Always,” Clark told her, as he leaned forward to kiss her quickly. “Why don’t you take it easy?” I will go order some takeout. Chinese?”

“Please,” Lois said, taking a seat. “I need some kung pao chicken in my life stat.”

“I will get some extra dumplings too,” Clark promised, enjoying the way Lois’s face lit up.

“I knew I kept you around for a reason,” Lois proclaimed.

“I do my best,” Clark responded, amused, and went back to the kitchen, reaching for his phone and a menu to Lois’s favorite Chinese restaurant. Once the order was placed, his eyes drifted back toward the book thoughtfully, as he suddenly had an idea.

“Just going to step out for a second, Lois,” he called out. “I think I heard something.” When he heard her acknowledge it, he quickly left, using the excuse to go out the side window, and making sure to return as quickly as possible, bag full of necessary ingredients.

Consulting the recipe and what he had of the memory, he worked to make the hot chocolate. His dad has made it a few times over the years, but Clark had never tried on his own or had made it for anyone else.

It wasn’t very hard after all, but even if it was a slow process, he had definitely found someone who was worth it anyway. Hopefully, she would like it. Adding the bourbon and the toppings, Clark tried to make it look as appealing as possible.

“Something smells good in there, Smallville,” Lois called out, and he hid a smile. Taking the two cups, he made his way to her, handing her one when they were face to face.

“What is that?” Lois asked, accepting the mug.

“Hot chocolate,” he replied.

“Looks great,” Lois said, and once she took a sip, she made a noise of appreciation. “Tastes better. Where did you learn to make this?”

“My dad taught me,” he said, sitting next to her, with his own cup. “He used to make it for my mom when she was feeling down.”

Her expression softened, holding a touch of wistfulness at the mention of his dad. She had always gotten along with his parents, and he knew that Lois probably missed Jonathan as well. Sometimes, he wondered what his dad would’ve thought of the two of them ending up together; more often than that, he wished Jonathan would’ve been there to see it. He would’ve loved to have Lois as a daughter in law.

“And my whining inspired you to make it?” Lois teased, returning him to the present. She “mmm’d” as she continued to drink from her mug, and Clark felt pleased at her obvious enjoyment.

“Something like that,” Clark chuckled.

“What’s your secret?” Lois wanted to know. “I always get lumps with the cocoa powder.”

“No cocoa powder in it,” he replied. “I can show you, if you want.”

“It’s not some secret family recipe?” Lois joked.

“Actually, it is,” Clark admitted. “But you’re family, so I think it’s allowed.”

Her eyes went bright. “Yeah, that is true.” She paused for a moment. “Then again, if I don’t know how to make it, I can have you continue to do it for me.”

“As if I wouldn’t do that already,” Clark countered, grinning as she let out a laugh in agreement.

“And you can also be responsible for passing on the recipe when we have kids,” Lois added, snuggling closer and resting her head on his shoulder once she had finished.

His heart skipped a beat at the ease Lois talked about potential children; it wouldn’t be the first time, but the certainty always made him feel good.

“That I can do,” he agreed, setting aside his own cup once he was done as well. “Do you feel better?”

“Yup,” Lois said, closing her eyes. “You always make me feel better.”

“I’m glad,” Clark commented, pressing a kiss on top of her head.

“Thanks for the hot chocolate,” Lois murmured.

“Any time, Lois,” he replied softly. “Any time.”

To make her happy, it was the least he would do.

And she was always worth it.

[blurry-fics]

Chapter Fifteen

Where Did We Go | Series Masterlist

Warnings: Angst

Word Count: 1982

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy this one! :) (picture credit to jenna on twitter)

You woke up before Tyler the next morning. He had flipped onto his stomach sometime during the middle of the night so his face was now pressed up into the pillow, smushing his cheek up. One of his arms was outstretched, so that his fingers were just barely brushing against your forearm. You took a moment to admire him resting until a pang of sadness shot through your chest. Although you two had slept in the same bed the night before, you knew that the issues between you two were far from resolved.

You quietly got out of bed and crept towards the door, not wanting to wake Tyler. Your plan was to make a nice breakfast for the two of you as a sort of peace offering and then the two of you could talk things out while you ate. After spending some time thinking about the entire situation yesterday, you finally felt like your head was clearer and you could say the things you needed to say, as well as apologize for the expectations you had placed on him.

You turned the radio on to a low volume before you started to gather ingredients to make some french toast for you and Tyler. The familiar feeling of loneliness was beginning to creep in, but you reminded yourself that Tyler was only upstairs asleep, not out at meetings for the millionth time that week. He had gone to bed at a reasonable time last night, so it wouldn’t be long before he joined you downstairs. If you were lucky, he might even be up before you finished cooking.

Tyler did eventually wake up and come downstairs, right as you were cooking the last few pieces of french toast. His hair was still a ruffled mess from sleeping, but he had taken the time to throw on a t-shirt over his sweatpants. It was loose enough that you could just see his chest tattoo peeking out above the collar. He rubbed at his eyes as he shuffled over and took a seat in one of the stools.

“Good morning.”

“Morning,” he mumbled. His voice was still hoarse from sleep.

“How did you sleep?”

“No nightmares.”

“That’s good.”

Tyler nodded slowly.

“Um, so I was thinking that we could talk through everything that happened yesterday while we eat breakfast,” you said, nervously pushing the piece of french toast around the pan. “There’s a lot of things that I need to say.”

“Me too.”

A chill ran down your spine, nearly making you shiver. Your mind was already preparing you for the worst.

“You can start serving yourself. I’ll join you at the table in a second.”

Tyler stood up and grabbed two plates from the cabinet, leaving one to the side for you. He piled his plate up with french toast and fruit, grabbed a Red Bull from the fridge, and walked off to the dining room. You cooked the rest of the french toast as quickly as you could, eager to have a conversation with him so that you could soothe some of your anxieties. Or at least, that’s what you hoped would happen.

The only thing Tyler had done by the time you joined him at the table was popped open his Red Bull and taken a couple sips. You had tried on multiple occasions to get him to stop drinking energy drinks with breakfast, but he was insistent that it was no different than having coffee. It was a losing battle.

“Where do you want to start?” Tyler asked. You barely even had time to pick up your fork.

“Um, well, I guess I want to start by apologizing for the things that I said yesterday. You were right, I was being selfish and I shouldn’t have implied that you don’t care about me, because I know that you do. It had just been a long day and I was frustrated and I said a lot of things that I didn’t mean.”

You sat frozen in place, waiting for whatever Tyler was going to say. This was the moment that you had been dreading.

“I’m sorry too. I got defensive instead of listening to what you had to say and that wasn’t fair to do. It’s not my place to tell you that what you’re feeling is wrong just because it’s hard for me to hear.”

You almost started crying because you were so relieved to hear that Tyler was sorry too. The night before, you had managed to convince yourself that this was finally the end of your relationship. It was by far one of the hardest nights of your life, especially since you didn’t have Tyler there to comfort you.

“I just hope you know that I do recognize how hard you are trying to make time for me and I need to be more appreciative of that. You’re dealing with a lot right now and while I try to be as supportive as I can, I know I fall short sometimes.”

Tyler nodded, “I do think that’s something that you could work on, but I also think that I need to work on spending time with you and not talking about the band the entire time, either. And I could definitely be better about multitasking when I am working. I have a bad habit of getting too focused on what I’m doing.”

“I agree.”

Tyler smiled and reached an arm out across the table. You placed your hand in his and squeezed.

“Also, I want to apologize for saying I wish things were like when we were 21 again. Yes, I do miss those days when we were kids sometimes, but we aren’t kids anymore. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in that and I forget to appreciate all the things that we get to do together now as adults. I’m so proud of you and everything you’ve done, Ty, and I’m incredibly happy with the place that we’re at now, not where we were five years ago.”

“Me too.”

“So are we ok?”

“Yes, and I think we both have some things that we plan to work on,” Tyler said.

“Definitely,” you nodded. “I still feel really bad about how I acted.”

“You don’t need to, Y/N. We were both tired and frustrated and acted out of emotion, but we’ve talked through it and figured out what to do from here on out.”

“I just…” It was hard to talk around the lump forming in your throat. “I’m terrified of losing you.”

Your breaths started to get shaky and uneven as you fought back tears. Tyler took notice of this and immediately stood up so that he could join you on the other side of the table. He pulled over a chair so that he could sit and pull you into his chest. The contact helped your body relax a little.

“You’re not going to lose me,” he said. “Especially not just because of one argument. You mean the world to me, Y/N, and I’m not going to give you up that easily. We get in fights sometimes, that’s just how life goes, but it never changes how I feel about you.”

“Promise?” you mumbled into his shoulder.

Tyler gently pushed you away. You were hurt at first, until you realized he was holding his pinky out towards you. A smile slowly spread across your face as you linked your pinky with his.

“I promise.”

He leaned forward and gently kissed you. The worry quickly began to melt away as you realized that nothing between you and Tyler had changed.

“A double promise,” you smiled.

“Exactly,” he said, matching your smile. “I love you, Y/N. I mean it.”

“I love you too.”

Tyler gently wiped away a tear that had slipped down your cheek with his thumb.

“Are you feeling ok?”

You nodded, “I’m ok now.”

“Good.”

Tyler gave you another quick kiss before getting up and sitting back down in his original spot at the table. Most of his food had still yet to be eaten because of the discussion you two had. Maybe having a serious conversation during a meal hadn’t been your best idea.

“This is really yummy,” Tyler said as he cut off another bite-sized piece of food. “Thank you for making breakfast.”

“Your welcome,” you smiled. “It’s my grandma’s recipe, my mom used to make it for Carter and I all the time when we were kids. I would make it more often, but we’re usually so busy that it’s not worth the time and effort to make.”

“Maybe that’s something we should make more time for too: having a proper breakfast,” he laughed.

“That’s probably not such a bad idea. It’s better than you having Red Bull and cereal every morning, at least.”

“Hey, Red Bull and cereal is a delicious tour breakfast.”

“Maybe when you were 23! I swear your diet hasn’t changed since we were in high school.”

“Why should it? It worked for me then and it works for me now.”

You shook your head, knowing this was a losing battle. “Ok, Ty.”

“Oh, hey, speaking of tour.”

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to give you the rundown for this next week before we leave.”

“Ok.”

In the midst of everything that had been happening over the last week, you had almost forgotten that there was only a week left until it would be starting again. Thankfully, this time you would be able to join him now that Carter and Marenna’s wedding was over and your schedule was cleared up. You were looking forward to it.

“I have a few things that I need to finish up either tonight or tomorrow, then there’s a meeting on Monday. It’s supposed to be the last one, but I have a feeling they’ll end up scheduling one final one on Tuesday. They gave us Wednesday off, which will probably end up being our packing day. Poor Josh has to fly home Tuesday night and then come back the next day so that he can pack up his stuff. Then, of course, Thursday and Friday are rehearsals in the morning and Saturday is our last free day,” Tyler smiled before popping another piece of french toast into his mouth. “Oh, and I managed to get all of our siblings, and their spouses, together for a last dinner together on Friday before we leave.”

“You did?” you asked. Leaving your family behind had always been one of the hardest parts of tour for you and Tyler.

“Yep. We have a reservation at that one restaurant we really like.”

“That’s amazing. Thank you, Ty.”

“Of course.”

He dramatically blew you a kiss from across the table, making you laugh.

“Also, do you think you would be able to give me a haircut on Monday after my meeting?” he smiled sweetly.

“Yeah, we can do that. It’s getting pretty long.”

“I know, look at it curling on the ends.” He picked up a small section of his hair and then let it fall back down.

“You’re not going to shave it all off, are you?”

“Not yet. Probably later in the tour.”

You sighed, but decided not to fight him on it. It was another battle that you could just never seem to win.

“Let’s try and make the most of this last week before tour, what do you say?” he asked.

“I say I’m in.”

The two of you fist bumped and then sat back in your chairs. You couldn’t help the smile on your face as you thought about the adorable idiot that you had grown to love. It was a huge relief to know that nothing had changed between the two of you, despite your argument. At this point, it didn’t seem like there was anything that could come between the two of you.

You hoped that never changed.

*     *     *     *     *

Taglist

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[rmg91]

The Woes and Antics of Living Together-4

....This chapter started strong but I feel it ended kind of meh. I'm sorry for that but it just didn't want to cooperate no matter how much I tried to rewrite it. But then again, I wrote it so I see it is as yuck *shrugs*

The Snack Pack has made an appearance! Yay!

Enjoy.

Previous Chapter/Next Chapter; AO3/FF.net

@writerofberk CHAPTER 4!!! (hopefully tumblr alerts you)

                                                      ~*~*~*~*~*~

Living with Poppy was proving to be...an experience for Branch. If she wasn't dancing around the apartment singing along with some annoying pop song or scrapbooking, she was out with her friends either at a party or off on some crazy scheme and Branch often wondered how she had time to study or actually get to get class with how busy she seemed. Of course she also constantly tried to get him to go along with her, thinking it would be easier now that they lived together but his answer was and would always be 'No'. At least she had yet to invite her equally crazy group of friends over since he had moved in but Branch had a feeling it was only a matter of time till their place was invaded.

Walking across campus one late afternoon about a week and half after moving in, Branch was hoping to make it to the news stand to grab a paper before they closed as he was starting to go just a little stir crazy without having a job already. He also wanted to hurry before Poppy inevitably found him and distracted him like she did, which was the other reason he needed an excuse to be out of the apartment. He was already losing what little resistance he had against her and it hadn't even been a month yet! Maybe he should reconsider this whole arrangement they had...

But then he'd be right back where he had been and the prospect of living under a bridge still wasn't very inviting and at least if he stayed with Poppy he'd have a real roof over his head. But then he'd still have to deal with her sunny optimism and her lovely, over-the-top singing, plus the adorable way she wiggled or bounced around when she was excited. Not to mention the way she just lit up when something made her so happy or the way she bit her lip when she was concentrating or even the way she'd pout and glare at him in such a way that was both cute and attractive and made him want to just kiss her and tell her all the poetry he'd written about her gorgeous smile and endearing freckles and-

Branch growled and tugged at his hair, No, no, no, no! Stop it! This was why he shouldn't be living with her! He was just falling even deeper down the rabbit hole than he already was!  Stupid, stupid, stupid! She was never going to love him back! She only saw him as a friend and she didn't need him complicating her life with his greyness and she was so infuriating and impossible and beautiful and adorable and wonderful and-and-and...

And currently standing in front of him looking concerned.

"Branch?"

"Aaaaahhh!!!!" He screamed, jumping back from her, "Don't do that!"

Poppy placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him, "Then don't just stand in the middle of the sidewalk freaking out about something." She tilted her head to the side, "You okay, by the way? Wanna talk about it?"

He frowned at her, "No. I'm fine." Like he would tell her.

"Come on, tell me. I'm sure you'll feel better."

"No." He shoved his hands into his pockets as he looked away, "There's nothing to talk about because I'm fine."

"Uggh, fine." Poppy rolled her eyes, "So stubborn. So!" And now she was back to being almost overbearingly perky, "What's for dinner, Roomie?"

Branch gave a silent sigh of relief as she let it go, "I was thinking chicken and broccoli casserole with some salad."

"Mmmm~ Sound yummy!" She smiled sweetly up at him, "I gotta say you could make it as a professional chef one day if you wanted to. You're cooking's the best!"

"I just follow the recipe. Not a big deal."

"I mean it!" She lightly smacked his arm, "I enjoy your cooking, Branch. And anyway..." The pinkette started walking toward the parking lot, "I had something I wanted to ask you."

"What?" He should've known she was trying to butter him up for something.

Poppy worried her lip between her teeth as she fiddled with the strap of her bag before blurting out, "Would you be okay with the Pack coming over tonight?!"

Branch, momentarily distracted by the way she had bit her lip, blinked to clear his head, "What?"

"Please? It's not for a party! Well...it sort of is... But a study party, you see? Not like the super, amazing one from this weekend you totally should've come to! And anyway! We always get together to study on Tuesdays and it's my turn to host and since you live with me now and I promised as part of our deal I'd let you'd know when we'd have company over, I'm letting you know, you know? So are you going to be okay with them coming over tonight?"

It took Branch a second to decode her fast paced rambling and when he did, he groaned. He knew it, he just knew he'd have to deal with her friends sooner rather than never.

"Oh, come on, Branch. It's not that bad. You could join us! It'll be fun!"

"No." He liked to actually study and not sit around listening to gossip all night.

"Please~?" She clasped her hands under her chin and gave him that wide eyed, puppy dog look again.

Branch frowned and looked away, he wouldn't fall for that stupid look again, "No, Poppy. I'm not studying with your friends."

"They're your friends too."

"Pretty sure they're just your friends."

"Our friends."

"Your friends."

"Our friends, don't fight it."

Before Branch could continuing arguing the voice he hated most cut in, "Trouble in roommate paradise already?"

"Hi, Creek~" Poppy smiled at the guru, "And no, I'm just trying to convince Branch he should join our study sesh tonight."

Creek nodded, "Of course. They do say the more the merrier and all." He then turned to Branch with that fake pleasant smile he always wore when interacting with him, "Join us, won't you, Mate?"

"No thanks. I'd rather come back to study in the library." Branch deadpanned.

"Ah," Creek tsked, casually putting an arm around Poppy, "But I'm afraid the library's a might closed tonight. Shame, isn't it?"

Branch bit back the growl that was threatening to escape, "Then I guess I'll just study in my room."

"What's the harm joining us, Hm? A little company could do you some good."

"I'd rather study on my own." He then stormed off.

Poppy sighed as she watched her roommate march off, "Well...I don't really know what that was about. Still, I wish he'd join us. We could have so much fun..."

"Worry not, Love. I'm sure he'll come around eventually. Just give him some more time and that glowing positivity of yours will be sure to work it's magic."

She giggled, "Alright." She wiggled out of grasp and grinned at him, "So I'll see you tonight?"

"Indeed you will~"

"Great~ See ya later!" And then she was running off to catch up with her grump of a roommate.

                                                 ~*~*~*~*~*~

A little while later found Branch and Poppy cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. As Branch sealed up the leftovers, Poppy was singing and dancing in place as she washed the dishes. Slipping the food in the fridge, the dark haired man came up beside her and grabbed a towel to dry the clean utensils. Poppy, smiling as she sung, bumped her hip against his in an attempt to get him to play along, Branch simply ignored her.

"When the workin' day is done, Oh! Girl's just wanna have fuuuun~!" She sung with a flourish before flashing a smile at Branch, "Sooo, Branch! My man~ You sure you don't wanna join us tonight? It'll be fun~ Eh? Eh?"

"Yes, Poppy. I'm sure." He answered tiredly.

She pouted, "Oh come on. You can't just locked yourself in your room all the time! We had a deal."

"A: Excuse me for wanting a little privacy while you have your friends over. And B: I haven't been locking myself up," He gestured to his books sitting on the table, "So your argument's invalid." An obnoxious knock suddenly filled the apartment, "And that's my cue to leave."

Grabbing his books, Branch made his way down the hall leaving a pouting Poppy in the kitchen. "Spoil sport!" She called after him before answering the door.

"Guys! Hey!"

"Hey, girl~!" Fashion crazy twins Satin and Chenille Couture greeted.

"'Sup, Pops?" Saluted Suki Akiyama, DJ extraordinaire.

"Hi, Poppy~" Waved soft-hearted Brian 'Biggie' Cordon.

"What'up? What'up?!" Bounced Cooper P. Davis.

"The fabulousness has arrived!" Guy Diamond said, tossing his glittery, silver hair back.

"Let's wreak this homework!" Cried Susan 'Smidge' Riley, the shortest yet strongest of them all.

"Hello, Poppy." Greeted Creek from behind them all.

"Come on in!" The pinkette invited with a wave of her as she moved to the side to let her friends in.

The group of multi-hued haired friends made their way inside, books, bags and snacks getting dropped onto the coffee table as they made themselves comfortable. Cooper flopped down on one of the beanbags, almost tipping over before righting himself with a giggle. Satin and Chenille took a few cushions on the floor, Chenille smoothing her skirt out while her sister began pulling out binders and pens from their designer bags. Guy and Suki made themselves comfortable on the couch with Biggie between them, organizing supplies into neat piles. Smidge crashed in the free beanbag, dumping her stack of books beside her before pulling her bright teal hair back into a tight ponytail. Creek helped Poppy quickly gather some drinks and brought them over before taking a spot on the floor, leaving the armchair for Poppy.

"Alright!" She exclaimed as she clapped her hands together, "What's on the agenda tonight, you guys?"

"We've got some French to go over but first..." Started Satin, sharing a look with her sister.

"You've got to tell us what it's like with your new grumpy roommate." Chenille finished.

Biggie nodded, "Oh, yes. How is Branch adjusting?"

"I still can't believe you're letting him live with you." Smidge said, "Just remember if he tries anything, say the word and he'll get a pounding." She punctuated her statement by hitting her fist against her other hand.

Poppy laughed, "That won't be necessary, Smidge. And, come on, he's our friend and he needed help. I wasn't going to let him live in a box somewhere."

"Yes, we know, Love." Creek patted her knee, "Your kindness knows no bound."

"Seriously though, Pops'," Suki spoke up, "Things going alright?"

"Of course! He keeps to himself." She waved a hand in the direction of their rooms, "But I know he'll warm up soon."

"Hey!" Cooper cried suddenly before stuffing a chip in his mouth, "Maybe we should get him to join us?!"

"Cooper! Snacks for later!" Scolded Biggie.

"And I already tried, Coops. Multiple times. He's being stubborn right now." Poppy said, crossing her arms, "But just wait, I'll get him to part of our study group some day!"

"Okie-dokie!"

"Alright, alright. Enough gossip about Branch..." Guy said before striking a pose, "Let's talk about me instead~! And the delicious date I went on~"

The group made noises of intrigue, 'ooh'ing at Guy before Creek cut in, "You can tell us all about it after some we've done some work. That's the whole point of tonight, Guy."

"You're just jealous, Darling. Admit it."

Creek smirked, "Extremely. Come now, everyone. We can hear all of Guy's tawdry details in a little bit."

There were whines and complaints but soon all the young adults settled into their routine. As papers were shuffled and books opened talk turned to their various subjects, some offering advice if they could, others giving help in the form of checking things over and of course there was always the positive comments of 'You can do it!' whenever anyone got stuck. They spent a few good hours like that before finally calling a break to snack and listen to Guy talk all about his latest date.

Branch found them like this, clearly gossiping and not studying, when he ventured out into the kitchen for a snack of his own. Rolling his eyes, he dipped into the fridge for a water bottle before leaning against the edge of the counter, unable not to quip, "Wow. You guys look like you're studying so hard."

Poppy turned around from her seat and stuck her tongue out at him, "Stop. We're just taking a break."

"And how long has this 'break' been, hmm?"

"That's none of your business."

"Uh-huh." Branch turned around but before he could go far Cooper suddenly spoke.

"Hey! Did you and Branch ever christen his moving in?"

Poppy gasped and Branch had a sudden bad feeling, he should've stayed in his room, "Oh My Gosh! No!" She flew out of her chair and into the kitchen, "Branch, don't go anywhere!"

"What are you doing?" He asked as she reached into the cabinets and pulled out a couple of shot glasses before digging around their few liquor bottles.

"Housewarming shots!" She cried happily, brandishing a bottle of Creme de Cerise, sour cherry flavored creme liquor.

"No way!" Branch denied, "I'm not taking shots with you."

"Oh, come on. One won't hurt you. Plus it's tradition! It's how we celebrate moving into a new place now."

"Yeah! It's tradition!" Chimed the twins.

"No. There is no way I'm doing this."

"Please? Just one."

"No."

"There's nothing wrong with a shot now and again."

"Poppy, I said no."

"A celebratory shot isn't going to kill you, Branch. Live a little for once!"

"Fine! If it'll get you to shut up!" He finally shouted.

Poppy pursed her lips, "There's no need to shout, Branch. And thank you."

Pouring the liquid quickly into the tiny cups, Poppy handed one to her grouchy roommate as their friends watched on. Flashing a grin at him, she downed hers and gave him an expectant look for him to take his. Branch grimaced at the red alcohol before knocking it back quickly.

"Ack!" He gagged, "What the hell is that shit?! It's disgusting!"

Poppy rolled her eyes, "It is not. You just have no taste."

Branch coughed and took a deep drink from his water bottle, "Yeah, sure, that's it." Shaking his head, he turned away, "Whatever. I'm going back to back to my work." Making a grab for the fruit bowl, his hand found nothing but air, "Hey...Where's the last peach?"

"Oh, sorry, Branch." Cooper answered, "I ate that a little while ago."

Branch glared at the blue dread-locked man as Poppy replied, "No worries. We can just get some more. Right, Roomie?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Branch growled before marching back to his room.

                                              ~*~*~*~*~*~

The Snack Pack left a little while later with smiles and promises to see each other the next day. Closing the door with a happy sigh, Poppy flipped the locks before skipping back into the living room to finish cleaning up. Humming to herself, Poppy tried to think of a way to make it up to Branch for the miseaten peach. Bouncing in place as an idea occurred to her, she went to the kitchenette and began gathering ingredients.

No one could resist a fresh chocolate chip cookie!

She easily whipped up a batch, not even bothering with a recipe having made these so many times before and was soon pulling the pans out of the oven. Taking a deep inhale and dancing in place as the smell of her childhood swirled around her, Poppy was sure this would cheer Branch up. She placed a few onto a plate and happily went down the hall. Knocking softly just in case he was asleep, Poppy quietly opened the door before pausing in surprise.

He was sitting at his desk, back to her and pencil tapping on the surface while his radio played faintly but that wasn't what had her pausing.

"I'm outta my head hopelessly devoted to you. Hopelessly devoted to you, hopelessly devoted to you..."

So he did still sing! And while she had thought he had a nice voice when they were kids, puberty had very kind to him, he sounded like a downright angel. Poppy closed her eyes and enjoyed it for a moment as he sung along with the radio, wondering briefly why he didn't want to share that beautiful voice with the world. Then she realized she was eavesdropping and closed the door before he could noticed her, not wanting to ruin what little trust he was developing for her.

She stood there for a moment and then knocked loudly, acting as if she hadn't heard anything at all, "Hey, Branch! I made cookies! Thought you may want some~"

He opened the door a few seconds later, an incredulous look on his face, "You just randomly decided to make cookies at almost ten at night?"

"Yep~!" She offered the plate to him, "They're fresh from the oven. Also, the gang's gone now, so you can come out at anytime."

Branch eyed the cookies for a moment before taking them from her, "Thanks. Maybe when I'm done with this paper."

She shrugged, "Alright. You live here too after all and can do what you want. And...sorry if I've been maybe a little pushy about somethings. Just really excited you're here, you know?"

Branch fought the urge to blush as he took a few moments to reply to the sudden, random apology from her,"...Yeah..no, it's fine. I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

She grinned and giggled, "Okay~ I'm gonna go take a shower now but feel free to help yourself to more cookies if you want them!"

He watch her disappear into the bathroom before shrugging and turning to close his door again but before he could she suddenly popped back out with a cry, "Oh wait!"

She was then hugging him from behind before he knew it, "What are you doing?!"

"It's called a hug, Branch."

"Yeah, I know that! Why are you doing it?!"

Poppy giggled, "Because I can and because you needed one." She let him go with a cheeky grin, "That wasn't so bad was it?"

He glared at her silently.

"Glare all you want. I have no regrets." She then spun back toward the bathroom, "Night, Branch! Don't stay up too late!"

"You're crazy!" He called after her.

His response from her was only a giggle as she closed the door. Sighing and shaking his head, Branch closed his own door and wondered why she was so crazy.

                                                    ~*~*~*~*~*~

Was I too obvious with Branch's song choice? Maybe but I don't care! Anyway, donno why Biggie and Smidge got real first names but they did XD And aww~ Tiny-ish Broppy moment, also good girl Poppy, don't let him know you were listening to him...but next time just don't do that XP

I hope you all enjoyed!

Song credit: "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"-Cindi Lauper

"Hopelessly Devoted to You"-Grease (Glee version used as visual however)

[lolainblue]

Presque Vu -- Chapter 29

T/W: Smut

Tagging:  @msroxyblog @nikkitasevoli @maliciousalishious@meghan12151977 @fyeahproudglambert  @lady-grinning-soul-k @pheenixpeterson

   Raina was a mess Monday morning as she tried to get ready for work. Everything ached, and not in that tingly, pleasant way it had after their previous encounters, but actual hurt. The muscles in her arms that had strained against her bindings screamed when she lifted them in the shower, her bottom stung when the water hit it and every tender membrane seemed to be on fire. She didn't know if she was angrier at herself for not thinking things through or angrier at Jared for being right.

   The bruising on her neck wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be, and she wondered vaguely how long her health had been off. She couldn't remember the last time she had bounced back this quickly. She would still need a pashmina for a few days but it was nothing shocking. Cassie might even be able to cover it up for her.

   She downed a few Tylenol, grabbed some fruit from the refrigerator and headed into the studio. She passed the little vegetarian cafe that Jared had bought her breakfast from previously and on impulse, pulled into the lot. She was surprised at how normal the menu looked. Growing up on a farm she had somehow always imagined vegan and vegetarian food to be some exotic mishmash of tofu and weird vegetables she had never heard of, but these were mostly the same recipes she had grown up with, undoubtedly tweaked just a little bit. She saw the daily special was listed as vegan french toast with a cranberry compote and ordered it, along with some tea. The cashier that took her order was friendly and answered her questions about the recipes with an enthusiastic smile – apparently it was flour and something called nutritional yeast taking the place of the egg that was traditionally used in the preparation – and in a few minutes Raina was back in her car, with a container of yummy smelling breakfast on the seat next to her. This was one area she didn't mind admitting Jared had been correct about. Even if she was never going to learn to cook a thing she could still make better choices about what she was eating.

   Work was the same as always, although Val seemed a bit more relaxed than he had been the last month. She wished he would confide in her a little bit what was going on, but she realized how hypocritical that was of her. She never spoke of her personal life to him at all either, not even in the most general or guarded of ways. She got that it was work, but she wondered if maybe they weren't drawing the boundaries a bit too strictly. She doubted however that Val would be open to change and she certainly didn't want to aggravate him by telling him how to live his life.

   By the time she got back home for the day she was moving stiffly and the stairs to her apartment seemed to have increased eleven-fold. She started a warm bath before anything else, then poured herself a glass of wine. She heard the notification on her phone telling her there was a text waiting and she scooped it up and carried it with her. Once her bathtub had been turned into a bubbly, perfumed, candlelit oasis she set her wineglass down on the ledge and climbed in. The heat and the alcohol rapidly relaxed her tense muscles and she began to feel better right away.

   Once her glass of wine was finished she reached for her phone. Unsurprisingly the text was from Jared. “How was your day, Princess?” Raina smiled typed up her reply, “It was a typical Monday. I'm enjoying a glass of wine and a bath now,” she replied. He responded quickly, which told her he was finished with his day as well, and soon they had a conversation going.

  Raina chuckled at their ridiculousness. Neither one of them really knew how to give an inch, but they were growing more comfortable with that dynamic. It worked for them in a strange way. She took another drink of her wine before continuing.

  Raina shook her head, knowing where that question was leading. They were back to their old pattern of letting things devolve into sexual innuendo minutes into the conversation. This time she didn't mind as much but she hoped she had made it clear how tired and achy she was. She was formulating her reply when her phone rang, Jared's impatient nature obviously kicking into overdrive.

   “Yes sir, I am in the bathtub,” she greeted him.

   Jared laughed softly. “I'm sorry, baby girl. You should know by now how much I love to see you all wet and soapy.”

   “Do you want to see, sir?” she asked with a purr. Her body may have been exhausted and out of the fight but the arousal center in her brain awakened at the sound of Jared's voice.

   “You know I do. I will always want to see as much of you as I can. You are so beautiful,” he complimented.

   Raina could feel her cheeks heating. She had always felt just pretty enough, nothing special, nothing that got her any extra attention, but enough that she at least didn't get passed over. Jared and Shannon had a way of making her feel like a goddess, as if she were always the most beautiful woman in every room. She didn't really believe them, she was sure her appearance hadn't drastically changed in the time that she met them, but she appreciated the way they treated her. It was like living a pleasant fantasy. She chose to play along. Carefully she positioned herself underneath the bubbles, stretching out her torso and turning her waist for the most flattering look. Once she had snapped the pic she sent it to Jared, awaiting his response.

   “My God, baby girl, you just get more stunning every day,” he exhaled appreciatively when he received the image.

   “Thank you, sir,” she replied demurely. She could feel her mindset changing from her hectic day, and her focus began to fall to the dynamic between them. “I'm glad  you like it.”

   “Very much so,” he growled. “This tour is so close. I'm going to miss you so much while I'm gone.”

   Raina had been trying very hard not to think about Jared and Shannon's impending absence. It was bad enough she had let herself grow close to them, but now they were about to leave, and she was to be alone again just when she was realizing that alone wasn't a place she wanted to be anymore. “I'm going to miss you too,” she choked out and she knew Jared had to notice the warble in her voice.

   “Hey now, no need for that,” he chastised. “It's not for a while yet. And I was thinking maybe you could fly out and join us a few times, when your schedule allows. Would you like that?” He added the last part almost shyly, and Raina remembered that this vulnerability wasn't any easier for him than it was for her. He just put a braver face on it.

   “I'd actually like that a lot,” she confessed. She realized she had never really told Jared how much she had dreamed of traveling, or that that particular hope had been dashed along with her other dreams. “I've always wanted to travel, but I put it off for other things when I had the chance and doing that has been a big regret for me.”

   “Well after I introduce you to Emma I'll have her get with you to make arrangements. It's a European tour, so the flights will be long and you'll want to make sure you have enough time off to enjoy yourself. You can pick any of the cities you want, but Emma can show you which dates would be the least hectic for us.”

   Raina was relieved to know that their time apart would be tempered somewhat and excited at the prospect of seeing new places. Her mood lifted immediately. “It sounds amazing,” she gushed. “I can't wait.”

   “Well don't get too impatient,” Jared laughed. “It means we'll be gone and I won't get to hold that gorgeous body of yours as much as I want to.” Raina heard him sigh and close a door. “Let me see a little more of it. How about a nice shot of those fabulous tits of yours? Or I guess I should say mine now, shouldn't I Princess?”

   Raina rolled her eyes. Of course, the conversation had swung right back to sex. She was in a mood to indulge him, however. “Yes sir, they are. Just a moment.” She positioned herself again and snapped a quick selfie, making sure to give Jared the view he wanted.

   “Run your hand over them. The way I would if I were there,” he commanded.

   Raina sighed. At least they weren't as sore as the rest of her. She adjusted her bath tray and put Jared on speaker before placing the phone on its flat surface. Adding a little shower gel to her hands first she ran her palms over the wet skin, circling and kneading it just the way that Jared liked to. Her eyes closed and the edge of her lip caught behind her upper teeth. Despite her physical condition, she could feel things stirring in the pit of her stomach and it made the aches seem a little less.

   “Are you doing as I told you?” Jared's voice rang out in the steamy room.

   “Yes, Sir,” Raina murmured, hoping he wouldn't fail to notice the heavy tones of lust in her reply.

   “Good girl,” he told her. “Make sure you pay attention to those nipples. I want them hard as little jewels when you are done.”

   Raina kept her eyes closed and let her head fall back, It wasn't hard to imagine Jared here with her, not with his voice ringing out in the little room and the memory of lying against his chest in the big bathtub at his place. As she let the fantasy consume her her sighs and moans increased and her body began to tingle pleasantly. “They are ready for you Sir, just the way you like,” she offered. “I wish you were here with me. I wish I had that divine mouth of yours on them. I love the way you tease them.”

   Jared's voice was a honeyed growl when he replied. “And I love the way you whimper and moan when pull them between my teeth. I'd keep you in my bedroom at my private service all day every day if I could.”

   It was just a fantasy of course. She could never abandon her life so completely as to give her entire identity over to Jared. She knew that some couples did, that for them that was the optimal way to be in a relationship, but it wasn't for her. She suspected it wasn't for Jared either, in spite of his musings. It didn't hurt to fantasize, however, and she admitted the thought of spending days at his service, fulfilling his every whim did have a certain appeal to her. She didn't want to lose herself in submitting to him, but she wasn't sure how to find the balance she was looking for either.

   “Raina? Are you still with me, Princess?” Jared's dulcet tones pulled her back into the moment.

   “Yes, Sir. I'm sorry. I was just fantasizing about that suggestion.”

   “That's my girl. I knew you would like that,” he purred back. “Let's move one of those hands a little lower. Slide it down your stomach and to the inside of your thigh.”

   Anxiously Raina led her hand along the path he had prescribed. So much of her was tender now but she was dangerously close to the the most sensitive and abused parts. “Yes, Sir,” she exhaled, letting him know she had complied.

   “You sound tense, Raina,” he teased. “Are things a little sore there this evening?”

   “Yes Sir, you know that they are,”

   “And who got you into that situation baby girl?”

   “I did Sir”

   “So should I be denied use of what belongs to me because you made a bad decision?”

   “I....” Raina hesitated, her breathing rapid and shallow.

   “Answer me, Raina,”

   “No, sir,” Raina conceded.

   “Then I want those fingers on that pussy. You can be as gentle as you like but I want to hear you moan while you tease that tormented bud of yours.”

   Raina bit her lower lip before adjusting her hand and gliding it through the water and toward the aching flesh at her core. She hissed as her fingers brushed against her outer lips, but she didn't want to disobey Jared. Taking a few deep breaths she delved in between the folds, whimpering loudly when her fingertips connected with the sensitized bud of her clit.

   “Shhh, that's a good girl,” Jared murmured. “I just want you to remember that that is mine now. That means you'll touch it when I ask you to and only when I ask you to. You are not to touch yourself at any other time. Do you understand me, Raina?”

   Raina wondered briefly where that left Shannon in all this. But she understood a bit more clearly now that all of this exchange was an illusion. Jared would only ever have the power over her that she chose to give him, the control was a gift she ceded to him. What actually happened between Shannon and herself when Jared wasn't there wasn't the point. What he needed from her was that fantasy, that idea that he commanded her submission and devotion absolutely. She could pull the plug at any time, not just with a safe word but with every action. There was no need to lose herself. It was her that he wanted. He wanted her to be whole and strong and to give herself to him anyway. She desperately wanted that too, and she was becoming more and more comfortable with that each time she interacted with him. “I understand, Sir,” she finally replied.

   “Excellent. You may stop now,” he told her. Raina moved her hand away from her core and dried it off before picking her phone back up. “You're such a good girl,” he added.

   “Thank you, Sir,” Raina gushed. She was feeling warm and fuzzy, the bath and the wine mixing with the hormonal soup in her brain to give her a deep feeling of calm and happiness. “Would you like me to do anything else for you?”

   “No, that's fine. I just want you to finish your bath and get to bed nice and early. Get a good nights sleep for me baby girl.”

   “Good night, Jared,” Raina added wistfully before disconnecting the call.

   Once she had drained the bath and dressed in her pajamas she realized she hadn't eaten anything since lunch. As she popped into the kitchen for a quick bite she remembered that Wednesday was beer and pizza night with Cassie. She shot off a quick text inviting both Shannon and Jared to join her, figuring with their busy schedules she would do well to have even one of them show up. Then she made a quick sandwich, took a few more Tylenol, and climbed into bed.

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 4.28.19

Those of you who’ve been reading for a while might remember that 2017 was the year of bread baking around here.

It all started when my friend Ali published her (wonderful) cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs. I’d wanted to get serious about homemade bread baking for a long time, but everything I’d read until that point made my eyes glaze over: it was all so technical and intimidating. Ali’s peasant bread technique—which involves no kneading and almost no dirtying of hands at all, in addition to the heartwarming fact that the loaves get baked in buttered Pyrex bowls—gave me the courage I needed.

Months later, Emilie gifted me with sourdough starter and a copy of her cookbook. Baking my first loaf of homemade sourdough was a small victory: I couldn’t believe it had actually worked, which I guess is the magic of natural leavening.

Bread baking found me at the right moment. I was having a hard time in March and April of that year: a longterm relationship had just ended, in a way that I wasn’t ready for and didn’t yet understand. For the first time in my life, I felt completely ill-suited to being on my own. I moved through my space and my days in a haze of confusion and grief, feeling scared and alone and more than a little sorry for myself.

If that period of time taught me anything, it was the gift of small things. None of the big stuff—love, graduate school, sense of direction or purpose—seemed to be working out. Even work, which is typically a major source of meaning for me, felt rote and joyless. My post-bacc years and the ones that followed hadn’t been easy, but they’d been animated with an incredible sense of yearning and direction. Suddenly, I had neither.

What I did have were my daily routines, which I fought to maintain even when things like cooking and chores felt insurmountable. I knew from past experiences with depression that keeping up with small habits, even if they felt suddenly like a lot of work, was the least I could do. And I did, day after day, until they started not to feel so tough anymore.

For a while it was all pretty muted, but as the months went by, I was reminded of my own capacity to be gratified by simple pleasures: good food, a clean home, a walk to the park, an hour of reading. I didn’t have a plan, but I did have the next meal and the next task, and at that moment, those things were enough.

And there was bread. It’s always been my comfort food, and I’d have eaten plenty of it that spring even if I weren’t baking it from scratch (for a while there, toast and cake were the only two things I wanted to eat). But I was baking from scratch, week after week, and it was wonderful. Unlike some other DIY food projects I’ve tried—kombucha, yogurt, seitan—this felt like the right ratio of effort and reward. The bread was so much better than anything I could buy, and I actually liked the process: mixing, shaping, scoring. The smell of a loaf in the oven on Saturday morning became something I looked forward to all week long. I wouldn’t quite say that bread baking got me through the year, but I can’t imagine that spring and summer without it.

I kept up with homemade bread for a while. But sometime last spring, in the race to the grad school finish line, the habit fell away. Once my internship started, it felt silly and imprudent to bake when I needed grains, beans, and fully cooked meals as weekly mainstays. During my acute care rotation, when getting the laundry done was a challenge, feeding my starter was the last thing on my mind.

My GI rotation gives me two weekdays off, which has been a gift in so many ways: it allows me to ease up on my batch cooking, to get work done during the week, and to have a true weekend. Most of all, having a little extra time on my hands gave me a kick in the pants to bake bread again. Now that I’m in the swing of it—one or two loaves weekly for the last four weeks—I’m rolling my eyes at the fact that I didn’t make time for it sooner. It’s a time commitment, sure, like anything/everything else. And it’s time perfectly spent.

I cook because it’s fun, healthful and economical. But cooking and feeding myself will always be a symbolic act as well as a practical one: it’s my way of asserting the desire to be alive, nourished, and whole. Bread making speaks to this desire more than almost any other type of cooking that I do. The fact that the process demands patience and time is only more evidence that, no matter what’s going on, I want to eat well and be well. I’m so glad to have been reminded of this in the past month.

Wishing you a week of good food and good self-care. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

Speaking of Ali, I’m loving her latest, Indian-inspired fried rice recipe.

Yet more motivation to branch out with my air fryer. This time, a vegan sheet pan supper with lemony tempeh from Susan at FFVK.

I love the looks of this sun-dried tomato pesto (and the yummy pappardelle that accompanies it).

A pretty phenomenal looking vegan kidney bean burger.

I’ve never made cookie dough in a blender, but consider me inspired by these chocolate cookies.

Reads

1. I believed that too much water at mealtimes could “dilute” stomach acid for years! Evidence says otherwise, and this article—in which my current preceptor, Tamara Duker Freuman, is interviewed—explains. (For the record, when I was working in a GI practice in DC, I did learn that chugging water at mealtimes can encourage the swallowing of air, which can be bloating, so steady sips are still a wise idea if you’ve got a sensitive digestive tract.)

2. More support for the value of eating breakfast.

3. Popular Science busts some sleep myths (sobering stuff for those of us who often do without enough of it, and tell ourselves it’s NBD).

4. Yikes! Bad news for allergy sufferers like me (yes, it’s getting worse, and climate change is in part to blame).

5. Finally, I wanted to link to this post from my friend Maria. It’s a lovely meditation on meeting oneself and one’s feelings—including the despondent ones—with acceptance and faith in the promise of release and transformation.

On that note, enjoy the remainder of this Sunday. And happy Orthodox Easter to those of you who celebrate today—maybe a bowl of vegan avgolemono is in order.

xo

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Eat Fudge And Not Worry Unduly About Gaining Weight?

Grab some Almond Cookies and STILL Be Able To Fit into your jeans?

No, I’m not crazy. Well, I am crazy — crazy for sweet treats and snacks even though I am a former body builder and fitness expert. It works for me — And it will work for you if you know my secret!

If you’re like most people, it’s a struggle to avoid gaining weight without having to deny yourself when it comes to reaching for quick fix snack when you’re in a hurry or need a quick burst of energy. Here’s how I feed my snack urges and never waiver from my fitness plan.

From The Desk Of Carolyn Hansen

Dear Friend,

I used to think that eating healthy food meant swearing off sweet treats, snacks and desserts. But a chance meeting with a very special plate of fudge opened my eyes (and my mouth) to an amazing way to combine my health and fitness goals with my favorite foods.

Let me tell you more about how I bumped into that plate of fudge and how that encounter will change the way you look and feel.

Hi, I’m Carolyn Hansen. If you know me, you know that I am all into fitness and eating healthy foods. I’ve written four weight loss books, thousands of articles, and somehow found the time to become a certified fitness expert, competitive bodybuilder and fitness center owner.

But none of that means I don’t like to eat. I LOVE to eat!

If you love to eat too, but want to avoid unnecessary weight gain, let me tell you a story…

Once upon a time, there was a fat girl who hated mirrors. She hated the mirrors in her house; she hated the mirrors at her office. She hated the endless stream of mirrors and reflective shop windows that seemed to mock her everywhere she went.

Whenever this girl saw her reflection, she was reminded of how unhappy she was. She was reminded of how bad she looked in her clothes. And she was reminded how much she wished she could change her life by changing the way she looked.

I was that fat girl. And one day I decided to make my wish come true.

I’m not going to take you through all the details of how I made the journey from being the fat girl in the mirror to becoming the fit and healthy woman I am today. Instead, I am going to focus on one HUGE mistake I made, so you don’t have to make it too.

Looking Leads To Wanting — And Wanting Leads To Eating

For a long time (far too long), I was a “food martyr.” I made the very common mistake of thinking that losing weight (and keeping it off) meant I could never again eat the things I liked. No sweet treats. No snack foods. Nothing that was fun to eat.

I missed my old friends Coconut Fudge Bars, Almond Cookies and Caramel Dream Bars. But most of all I missed my best food friend: Fudge!

I don’t know about you, but I do not have a will of iron. So when the urge to get together with my old “friends” would strike, I’d struggle between telling myself “NO!” and sneaking some guilty pleasure. I’m sad to say, the guilty pleasure usually won out.

There’s a reason they call it “guilty pleasure.” Because every time I would “cheat”, I would feel terrible about it later. I’d beat myself up and vow never to put a good-tasting snack into my mouth again.

Oh, what a life of misery…

One day I was sharing my life of misery story with a friend. She stopped me when I started to tell her how much I loved fudge. “Follow me,” she said as she walked into her kitchen. She opened up her refrigerator and took out a plate piled high with White Chocolate Gogi Fudge! I was in seventh heaven and depressed both at the same time. “How could you do this to me? You KNOW I can’t eat this stuff. I’m DIETING!”

She looked at me with a puzzled expression and said: “Don’t you know about this secret recipe? I thought everybody did.” I looked back at her with an equally puzzled expression as my hand, with a mind of its own, snatched a glorious piece of fudge from the plate.

“You just grab yourself another bite, because this is healthy fudge you’re eating honey!”

Healthy fudge? Yeah, right!

But when she gave me the recipe, I was shocked. It WAS healthy fudge. And while there was no way I could sit down and eat the entire plate full (and I WANTED to eat the entire plate full), I could have a piece or two and not worry about the guilt feelings ruining my day!

Once I discovered there was such a thing as healthy fudge, I was committed. Committed to discovering what other tasty surprises I could eat without breaking my commitment to eating healthy food.

And here’s what I came up with:

INTRODUCING… 100 Healthy Raw Snacks

It’s your one-stop resource for delicious, healthy, guilt-free snacks that you can eat every day and STILL eat healthy.

And even better, EVERY ONE of these recipes are NO COOK! That right. These are RAW healthy snack foods that taste as good as their fattening counterparts.

I’ve cut all of the fat out of my e-book too. So it’s just 47 pages of easy-to-follow recipes for amazingly delicious snacks like these:

My 100 Healthy Raw Snacks recipe book is the best way to feed your snack urge without impacting your weight loss and fitness goals, and without sweating over a hot stove. These “taste fattening and look fattening” treats are 100% healthy and 100% no cook. So go ahead, eat them guilt free! I do.

But here’s the thing. I found that once I’d put together the first 100 recipes I wanted to keep on going. So I did. Before I knew it I’d gone and created two more books, these ones devoted exclusively to desserts:

50 Healthy Raw Desserts – Vols. 1 & 2

I became so committed in fact that as I set about creating these no bake, sugar free, gluten free easy to make desserts, I couldn’t stop.

My goal was to come up with 50 recipes and publish them for the world to enjoy… but before I knew it – I had overshot that mark and was so delighted with my discoveries, I soon had more than I could fit in one book! So

my exuberance is YOUR gain

and I’m giving you not one, but TWO volumes to enjoy to your heart’s content!

This 2-Volume Set of 50 Raw Desserts is your one-stop resource for delicious, healthy, guilt-free snacks that you can eat every day and STILL eat healthy.

And even better, EVERY ONE of these recipes are NO COOK!

That’s right. These are RAW healthy snack foods that taste as good as their fattening counterparts.

I’ve cut all of the fat out of my e-books too…

So it’s just 23 pages of easy-to-follow recipes for amazingly delicious snacks like these:

My 50 Raw Desserts recipe books are the best way to

feed your snack urge without impacting your weight loss

and fitness goals, and without sweating over a hot stove.

These “taste fattening and look fattening” treats are 100% healthy and 100% no cook…

So go ahead, eat them guilt free! I do.

In fact, I’ve actually gone ahead and created yet another reason for you to feel great about including these kinds of desserts in your diet by taking the approach one step further. Are you a fan of pumpkin pie? Odds are that you have at least tastes it. But what about Chocolate Zuccini Cheesecake?

This cheesecake recipe is just one of dozens that I have include in the final installment in this series – desserts that include vegetables. Talk about really turning this junk food thing around and getting in your share of healthy foods! Take a look:

50 Healthy Desserts With Hidden Veggies

Allow me to give you just a taste of the fifty recipes you’ll discover in the 67 pages of this book – all of them illustrated with photographs that show just how tempting these dishes will be when they appear in front of delighted house guests who would never guess just how healthy these dishes really are…

And who would ever guess just by the look of them that every one of these delicious recipes contains a hidden vegetable?

Perfect For Those Fussy Eaters In The House!

So – are you ready to put yummy snacks back into your life without compromising your health and body weight goals?

Because here’s the bottom line when it comes to thinking about whether or not these recipes deserve a place in your life:

If you love fudge, pie, cookies and more…

If you’re sick of feeling guilty every time you indulge yourself with a little snack…

If you’re ready to put a smile on your face and healthy nutrient-dense snacks into the mouths of you and your loved ones…

Then you are exactly the person I created this collection for!

So, now that you have seen the tremendous range of material I have prepared for you today you’re probably wondering…

How Much Does The Blended Bites Collection Actually Cost?

Hopefully by now you have been able to see the extraordinary value that I have put into The Blended Bites Collection. Instead of simply offering you every book in the collection (which I will do nonetheless) I’m going to let you decide which components you’d like to begin using today.

Option #1 – For

$27.00

$17.00 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes

Get access to 100 Healthy Raw Snacks today for a one-time payment of just

$27.00

$17.00

You’ll receive the first one hundred recipes of the Blended Bites Collection. These are the snack recipes that turned my thinking about the problem of junk food on its head.

Once I’d discovered the approach to snacks outlined in this volume I never again found myself bingeing or even feeling deprived.

I had access to comfort foods that actually helped control my cravings for low nutrient junk foods. In fact I’d say the recipes in this book helped destroy those cravings.

Option #2 – For

$37.00

$27.00 200 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

When you select this option, in addition to getting 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes (the Option #1 offer) you’ll also get access to 50 Healthy Raw Dessert Recipes – Vols. 1 & 2 today for a one-time payment of just

$37.00

$27.00

That’s another one hundred recipes – this time focused entirely on desserts.

If you thought the first set of recipes for snacks provided you with plenty of ideas for how to rid yourself of the junk food in your life, this collection will delight you by doubling your options.

With no less than two hundred highly nutritious snack and dessert recipes at your disposal you won’t run out of healthy options for waistline-friendly treats any time soon!

Option #3 – For

$47.00

$37.00 250 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

With this option you get it all!

Not only do you get both 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes and 50 Healthy Raw Dessert Recipes – Vols. 1 & 2 (the Option #2 offer), but you’ll also get access to 50 Desserts With Hidden Veggies today for a one-time payment of just

$47.00

$37.00

This final addition that rounds out the Blended Bites snack and dessert recipe collection provides you with perhaps my favorite set of recipes yet. There is something inherently satisfying to be able to put away a dessert and at the same time know that you are working towards meeting your minimum daily vegetable requirement.

Yes, it’s almost wicked the way this works out!

* PLUS * WHEN YOU SELECT OPTION #3 YOU GET THE FOLLOWING BONUSES – FREE!

Transitioning To Paleo

Do you ever feel the need to turn away from the destructive food habits you are currently experiencing to the body- and health-changing benefits of eating the foods that early mankind ate every day?

With Transitioning To Paleo you’ll learn all of the benefits behind eating Paleo. Then you will discover how easy it is to begin making the change to better eating. And finally, you get a four week complete meal plan to get you started with your transition.

Believe me, there is no faster and easier way to discover the benefits of the Paleo diet.

Best Healthiest Breads Ever

Who doesn’t love bread? It’s probably the most convenient food ever conceived. But there’s a problem with almost every piece of bread you are likely to come across in the course of your day – it’s all wheat-based.

So why is that a problem? Well, you’ll get the full details in my book Best Healthiest Breads Ever. But in a nutshell all you need to know is that our bodies are NOT well-adapted to metabolizing wheat.

In fact, we are so bad at this that the wheat does far more damage to our bodies than it does good. Wheat may even be the cause of many chronic and potentially life-threatening diseases – including diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

But don’t worry. This does NOT mean you need to give up bread, just the wheat part of it! And to help you I’ve provided dozens of wheat-free alternative recipes for bread in this book…

How To Eat With Abandon

Have you ever found yourself eating just because you like the physical act? Well, it’s not a habit you want to encourage. Especially if you are having trouble maintaining your current bodyweight.

But what if there WAS a way to eating without having to worry about how much weight you were going to gain because of it? In How To Eat With Abandon you’ll discover that the secret is how to eat better, not less.

Eating in a calorie-conscious way has NOT helped us avoid the spectre of an ever-increasing waistline. Clearly a new approach is called for and that approach is based on the idea of nutrient density – eating foods high in nutrition and low in empty calories (the kind you’ll find in sugar-laden and highly processed foods).

In this book I’ll introduce you to the concept of the nutrient-dense eating plan and show you how it leads to approach to food that essentially allows one to eat with abandon…

Outsmart Your Hunger

Hunger is hard to ignore. But many people try to do exactly that in order to avoid packing on excess body weight. The problem is, the more you try to ignore your hunger, the more likely it is that you will end up gaining weight.

That is just one of the surprising discoveries you will make in Outsmart Your Hunger. But don’t despair. You are about to learn how to master your hunger by regaining control of your eating habits. In fact, you’ll be able to say goodbye to hunger and still meet the conditions required to maintain your ideal body weight.

Special Metabolic Fitness Report

As we age we tend to slow down. We eat less, exercise less, and begin the slow decline that eventually takes its toll on our health. But who says it has to be that way?

In this Special Metabolic Fitness Report you will learn how to ward off the effects of aging – or at least slow it down significantly – by rebalancing your metabolism so that you can shed the excess body fat that is slowing you down and elevating your risk for chronic disease, so you can have more life, more vigor than you ever would have thought possible.

A Whey Of Life

Protein is an essential component of every meal, but so often it gets overlooked and the result is a tendency to eat more than a sensible share of simple carbohydrates. The end result? Slow and steady weight gain.

But, as you’ll discover in the pages of A Whey Of Life it is the proper balance of protein, carbs, and healthy fats that dictate whether your body will be able to burn energy efficiently rather than store it in the form of unwanted body fat.

In this short volume you’ll be introduced to the 40-30-30 principle of healthy meal preparation. You’ll also discover the dramatic health benefits of eating whey protein, and I’ll provide you with some of my favorite hyper-healthy whey-based snack recipes.

Power Bowl Meals

Meal preparation at the end of the day can often seem like a daunting task and the temptation to surrender to a microwaved processed meal from the refrigerator can be strong. But of course that’s not a sensible eating plan for the long term.

So to help you avoid making bad eating decisions I have prepared a simple alternative approach: Power Bowl Meals. The idea? That you can simply grab a single cooking implement, such as your trusty wok, and throw in the ingredients for a healthy meal built around fat-burning protein.

Easy to prepare and cook, healthy for you (because they are built on the 40-30-30 principle of balancing your macronutrients), these nutrient-dense meals can be thrown together in a matter of minutes and can feed a family of any size.

They are also VERY tasty, because at the base of every one of these power bowl meals is salsa, or special sauce that gives each of the recipes in this collection it’s very own “kick”.

Are you ready to get started with the recipes outlined on this page?

If you are you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time and effort over the coming years – time and effort you might otherwise have to devote to trying to get your diet and body weight under control.

I know this because I spent years myself on these very same things. And until I made the mental shift to eating metabolism-enhancing foods – like the snacks and desserts contained in this collection of recipes – I made no progress whatsoever.

In fact, I wasted years of my life following exercise and nutritional strategies that were DOOMED to fail simply because I had no idea how important the role of nutrition is when it comes to trying to stay lean, fit, and healthy.

If I had only known then what I have detailed in this recipe collection I would have saved myself a LOT of time and trouble!

There is absolutely NO reason that you should repeat my mistakes, and with the information you’ll be getting today you’ll avoid exactly that.

My 60-Day Iron-Clad Money-Back Guarantee

Simply make your selection about which collection of ebooks you would like to download today and use the corresponding order button to make your purchase. Then take a FULL 60 DAYS to read your book(s) from cover to cover, and digest all of the information.

Then, if this offer isn’t everything that I say it is; if it isn’t everything that you HOPE it is, just let me know anytime within 60 FULL DAYS and I’ll give you your money back.

That’s how confident I am that each of the recipe ebooks in the Blended Bites collection contains the answers you’ve been searching for.

Don’t wait another minute! Download your selection of ebooks from Blended Bites collection and uncover the secret to creating your own nutrient-dense and metabolism-enhancing snacks and desserts. There simply is NO better approach to ridding your life of junk food once and for all than by shifting to the recipes I teach you in this collection. I guarantee it!

To Your Success,

Author, Health And Nutrition Expert, Fitness Centre Owner, & National Champion Bodybuilder

I’m Going To Remove All The Risk From Your Investment Because I Want You To Succeed!

YES – Carolyn, I’m READY to create my own fat-burning snacks and desserts!

I understand I’ll be instantly downloading my chosen selection of one, two, or three ebooks from the Blended Bites collection

On top of that, I understand my investment is backed by your risk free, no questions asked, 100% money back guarantee.

Option #1 – For

$27.00

$17.00 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes

Option #2 – For

$37.00

$27.00 200 Healthy Raw Snack & Dessert Recipes

Option #3 – For

$47.00

$37.00 250 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

PLUS All The Following Bonus Products

You will get INSTANT ACCESS right now — Even if it’s 3.00 A.M.!

*NOTE: These are digital downloads in Adobe PDF Format and you will be taken directly to the download page upon successful completion of checkout. Should you experience any problems being returned to the proper page, please simply email:  (carolynh@xtra.co.nz)

(Click the Order Button Above to Download.)

I hope that by now you recognise that these recipe guides will act a valuable resourcea that never go out of date and which will prove their worth over and over again.

To Your Success

Carolyn Hansen

P.S. You are protected by my 100% money back guarantee.

DISCLAIMER

The website’s content and the product for sale is based upon the author’s opinion and is provided solely on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis. You should do your own research and confirm the information with other sources when searching for information regarding health issues and always review the information carefully with your professional health care provider before using any of the protocols presented on this website and/or in the product sold here. Neither ClickBank nor the author are engaged in rendering medical or similar professional services or advice via this website or in the product, and the information provided is not intended to replace medical advice offered by a physician or other licensed healthcare provider. You should not construe ClickBank’s sale of this product as an endorsement by ClickBank of the views expressed herein, or any warranty or guarantee of any strategy, recommendation, treatment, action, or application of advice made by the author of the product.

ClickBank is the retailer of products on this site. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. ClickBank’s role as retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of these products or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of these products.

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The Blended Bites Healthy Snack And Dessert Recipe Collection

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The Blended Bites Healthy Snack And Dessert Recipe Collection

 Buy Now    

Eat Fudge And Not Worry Unduly About Gaining Weight?

Grab some Almond Cookies and STILL Be Able To Fit into your jeans?

No, I’m not crazy. Well, I am crazy — crazy for sweet treats and snacks even though I am a former body builder and fitness expert. It works for me — And it will work for you if you know my secret!

If you’re like most people, it’s a struggle to avoid gaining weight without having to deny yourself when it comes to reaching for quick fix snack when you’re in a hurry or need a quick burst of energy. Here’s how I feed my snack urges and never waiver from my fitness plan.

From The Desk Of Carolyn Hansen

Dear Friend,

I used to think that eating healthy food meant swearing off sweet treats, snacks and desserts. But a chance meeting with a very special plate of fudge opened my eyes (and my mouth) to an amazing way to combine my health and fitness goals with my favorite foods.

Let me tell you more about how I bumped into that plate of fudge and how that encounter will change the way you look and feel.

Hi, I’m Carolyn Hansen. If you know me, you know that I am all into fitness and eating healthy foods. I’ve written four weight loss books, thousands of articles, and somehow found the time to become a certified fitness expert, competitive bodybuilder and fitness center owner.

But none of that means I don’t like to eat. I LOVE to eat!

If you love to eat too, but want to avoid unnecessary weight gain, let me tell you a story…

Once upon a time, there was a fat girl who hated mirrors. She hated the mirrors in her house; she hated the mirrors at her office. She hated the endless stream of mirrors and reflective shop windows that seemed to mock her everywhere she went.

Whenever this girl saw her reflection, she was reminded of how unhappy she was. She was reminded of how bad she looked in her clothes. And she was reminded how much she wished she could change her life by changing the way she looked.

I was that fat girl. And one day I decided to make my wish come true.

I’m not going to take you through all the details of how I made the journey from being the fat girl in the mirror to becoming the fit and healthy woman I am today. Instead, I am going to focus on one HUGE mistake I made, so you don’t have to make it too.

Looking Leads To Wanting — And Wanting Leads To Eating

For a long time (far too long), I was a “food martyr.” I made the very common mistake of thinking that losing weight (and keeping it off) meant I could never again eat the things I liked. No sweet treats. No snack foods. Nothing that was fun to eat.

I missed my old friends Coconut Fudge Bars, Almond Cookies and Caramel Dream Bars. But most of all I missed my best food friend: Fudge!

I don’t know about you, but I do not have a will of iron. So when the urge to get together with my old “friends” would strike, I’d struggle between telling myself “NO!” and sneaking some guilty pleasure. I’m sad to say, the guilty pleasure usually won out.

There’s a reason they call it “guilty pleasure.” Because every time I would “cheat”, I would feel terrible about it later. I’d beat myself up and vow never to put a good-tasting snack into my mouth again.

Oh, what a life of misery…

One day I was sharing my life of misery story with a friend. She stopped me when I started to tell her how much I loved fudge. “Follow me,” she said as she walked into her kitchen. She opened up her refrigerator and took out a plate piled high with White Chocolate Gogi Fudge! I was in seventh heaven and depressed both at the same time. “How could you do this to me? You KNOW I can’t eat this stuff. I’m DIETING!”

She looked at me with a puzzled expression and said: “Don’t you know about this secret recipe? I thought everybody did.” I looked back at her with an equally puzzled expression as my hand, with a mind of its own, snatched a glorious piece of fudge from the plate.

“You just grab yourself another bite, because this is healthy fudge you’re eating honey!”

Healthy fudge? Yeah, right!

But when she gave me the recipe, I was shocked. It WAS healthy fudge. And while there was no way I could sit down and eat the entire plate full (and I WANTED to eat the entire plate full), I could have a piece or two and not worry about the guilt feelings ruining my day!

Once I discovered there was such a thing as healthy fudge, I was committed. Committed to discovering what other tasty surprises I could eat without breaking my commitment to eating healthy food.

And here’s what I came up with:

INTRODUCING… 100 Healthy Raw Snacks

It’s your one-stop resource for delicious, healthy, guilt-free snacks that you can eat every day and STILL eat healthy.

And even better, EVERY ONE of these recipes are NO COOK! That right. These are RAW healthy snack foods that taste as good as their fattening counterparts.

I’ve cut all of the fat out of my e-book too. So it’s just 47 pages of easy-to-follow recipes for amazingly delicious snacks like these:

My 100 Healthy Raw Snacks recipe book is the best way to feed your snack urge without impacting your weight loss and fitness goals, and without sweating over a hot stove. These “taste fattening and look fattening” treats are 100% healthy and 100% no cook. So go ahead, eat them guilt free! I do.

But here’s the thing. I found that once I’d put together the first 100 recipes I wanted to keep on going. So I did. Before I knew it I’d gone and created two more books, these ones devoted exclusively to desserts:

50 Healthy Raw Desserts – Vols. 1 & 2

I became so committed in fact that as I set about creating these no bake, sugar free, gluten free easy to make desserts, I couldn’t stop.

My goal was to come up with 50 recipes and publish them for the world to enjoy… but before I knew it – I had overshot that mark and was so delighted with my discoveries, I soon had more than I could fit in one book! So

my exuberance is YOUR gain

and I’m giving you not one, but TWO volumes to enjoy to your heart’s content!

This 2-Volume Set of 50 Raw Desserts is your one-stop resource for delicious, healthy, guilt-free snacks that you can eat every day and STILL eat healthy.

And even better, EVERY ONE of these recipes are NO COOK!

That’s right. These are RAW healthy snack foods that taste as good as their fattening counterparts.

I’ve cut all of the fat out of my e-books too…

So it’s just 23 pages of easy-to-follow recipes for amazingly delicious snacks like these:

My 50 Raw Desserts recipe books are the best way to

feed your snack urge without impacting your weight loss

and fitness goals, and without sweating over a hot stove.

These “taste fattening and look fattening” treats are 100% healthy and 100% no cook…

So go ahead, eat them guilt free! I do.

In fact, I’ve actually gone ahead and created yet another reason for you to feel great about including these kinds of desserts in your diet by taking the approach one step further. Are you a fan of pumpkin pie? Odds are that you have at least tastes it. But what about Chocolate Zuccini Cheesecake?

This cheesecake recipe is just one of dozens that I have include in the final installment in this series – desserts that include vegetables. Talk about really turning this junk food thing around and getting in your share of healthy foods! Take a look:

50 Healthy Desserts With Hidden Veggies

Allow me to give you just a taste of the fifty recipes you’ll discover in the 67 pages of this book – all of them illustrated with photographs that show just how tempting these dishes will be when they appear in front of delighted house guests who would never guess just how healthy these dishes really are…

And who would ever guess just by the look of them that every one of these delicious recipes contains a hidden vegetable?

Perfect For Those Fussy Eaters In The House!

So – are you ready to put yummy snacks back into your life without compromising your health and body weight goals?

Because here’s the bottom line when it comes to thinking about whether or not these recipes deserve a place in your life:

If you love fudge, pie, cookies and more…

If you’re sick of feeling guilty every time you indulge yourself with a little snack…

If you’re ready to put a smile on your face and healthy nutrient-dense snacks into the mouths of you and your loved ones…

Then you are exactly the person I created this collection for!

So, now that you have seen the tremendous range of material I have prepared for you today you’re probably wondering…

How Much Does The Blended Bites Collection Actually Cost?

Hopefully by now you have been able to see the extraordinary value that I have put into The Blended Bites Collection. Instead of simply offering you every book in the collection (which I will do nonetheless) I’m going to let you decide which components you’d like to begin using today.

Option #1 – For

$27.00

$17.00 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes

Get access to 100 Healthy Raw Snacks today for a one-time payment of just

$27.00

$17.00

You’ll receive the first one hundred recipes of the Blended Bites Collection. These are the snack recipes that turned my thinking about the problem of junk food on its head.

Once I’d discovered the approach to snacks outlined in this volume I never again found myself bingeing or even feeling deprived.

I had access to comfort foods that actually helped control my cravings for low nutrient junk foods. In fact I’d say the recipes in this book helped destroy those cravings.

Option #2 – For

$37.00

$27.00 200 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

When you select this option, in addition to getting 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes (the Option #1 offer) you’ll also get access to 50 Healthy Raw Dessert Recipes – Vols. 1 & 2 today for a one-time payment of just

$37.00

$27.00

That’s another one hundred recipes – this time focused entirely on desserts.

If you thought the first set of recipes for snacks provided you with plenty of ideas for how to rid yourself of the junk food in your life, this collection will delight you by doubling your options.

With no less than two hundred highly nutritious snack and dessert recipes at your disposal you won’t run out of healthy options for waistline-friendly treats any time soon!

Option #3 – For

$47.00

$37.00 250 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

With this option you get it all!

Not only do you get both 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes and 50 Healthy Raw Dessert Recipes – Vols. 1 & 2 (the Option #2 offer), but you’ll also get access to 50 Desserts With Hidden Veggies today for a one-time payment of just

$47.00

$37.00

This final addition that rounds out the Blended Bites snack and dessert recipe collection provides you with perhaps my favorite set of recipes yet. There is something inherently satisfying to be able to put away a dessert and at the same time know that you are working towards meeting your minimum daily vegetable requirement.

Yes, it’s almost wicked the way this works out!

* PLUS * WHEN YOU SELECT OPTION #3 YOU GET THE FOLLOWING BONUSES – FREE!

Transitioning To Paleo

Do you ever feel the need to turn away from the destructive food habits you are currently experiencing to the body- and health-changing benefits of eating the foods that early mankind ate every day?

With Transitioning To Paleo you’ll learn all of the benefits behind eating Paleo. Then you will discover how easy it is to begin making the change to better eating. And finally, you get a four week complete meal plan to get you started with your transition.

Believe me, there is no faster and easier way to discover the benefits of the Paleo diet.

Best Healthiest Breads Ever

Who doesn’t love bread? It’s probably the most convenient food ever conceived. But there’s a problem with almost every piece of bread you are likely to come across in the course of your day – it’s all wheat-based.

So why is that a problem? Well, you’ll get the full details in my book Best Healthiest Breads Ever. But in a nutshell all you need to know is that our bodies are NOT well-adapted to metabolizing wheat.

In fact, we are so bad at this that the wheat does far more damage to our bodies than it does good. Wheat may even be the cause of many chronic and potentially life-threatening diseases – including diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

But don’t worry. This does NOT mean you need to give up bread, just the wheat part of it! And to help you I’ve provided dozens of wheat-free alternative recipes for bread in this book…

How To Eat With Abandon

Have you ever found yourself eating just because you like the physical act? Well, it’s not a habit you want to encourage. Especially if you are having trouble maintaining your current bodyweight.

But what if there WAS a way to eating without having to worry about how much weight you were going to gain because of it? In How To Eat With Abandon you’ll discover that the secret is how to eat better, not less.

Eating in a calorie-conscious way has NOT helped us avoid the spectre of an ever-increasing waistline. Clearly a new approach is called for and that approach is based on the idea of nutrient density – eating foods high in nutrition and low in empty calories (the kind you’ll find in sugar-laden and highly processed foods).

In this book I’ll introduce you to the concept of the nutrient-dense eating plan and show you how it leads to approach to food that essentially allows one to eat with abandon…

Outsmart Your Hunger

Hunger is hard to ignore. But many people try to do exactly that in order to avoid packing on excess body weight. The problem is, the more you try to ignore your hunger, the more likely it is that you will end up gaining weight.

That is just one of the surprising discoveries you will make in Outsmart Your Hunger. But don’t despair. You are about to learn how to master your hunger by regaining control of your eating habits. In fact, you’ll be able to say goodbye to hunger and still meet the conditions required to maintain your ideal body weight.

Special Metabolic Fitness Report

As we age we tend to slow down. We eat less, exercise less, and begin the slow decline that eventually takes its toll on our health. But who says it has to be that way?

In this Special Metabolic Fitness Report you will learn how to ward off the effects of aging – or at least slow it down significantly – by rebalancing your metabolism so that you can shed the excess body fat that is slowing you down and elevating your risk for chronic disease, so you can have more life, more vigor than you ever would have thought possible.

A Whey Of Life

Protein is an essential component of every meal, but so often it gets overlooked and the result is a tendency to eat more than a sensible share of simple carbohydrates. The end result? Slow and steady weight gain.

But, as you’ll discover in the pages of A Whey Of Life it is the proper balance of protein, carbs, and healthy fats that dictate whether your body will be able to burn energy efficiently rather than store it in the form of unwanted body fat.

In this short volume you’ll be introduced to the 40-30-30 principle of healthy meal preparation. You’ll also discover the dramatic health benefits of eating whey protein, and I’ll provide you with some of my favorite hyper-healthy whey-based snack recipes.

Power Bowl Meals

Meal preparation at the end of the day can often seem like a daunting task and the temptation to surrender to a microwaved processed meal from the refrigerator can be strong. But of course that’s not a sensible eating plan for the long term.

So to help you avoid making bad eating decisions I have prepared a simple alternative approach: Power Bowl Meals. The idea? That you can simply grab a single cooking implement, such as your trusty wok, and throw in the ingredients for a healthy meal built around fat-burning protein.

Easy to prepare and cook, healthy for you (because they are built on the 40-30-30 principle of balancing your macronutrients), these nutrient-dense meals can be thrown together in a matter of minutes and can feed a family of any size.

They are also VERY tasty, because at the base of every one of these power bowl meals is salsa, or special sauce that gives each of the recipes in this collection it’s very own “kick”.

Are you ready to get started with the recipes outlined on this page?

If you are you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time and effort over the coming years – time and effort you might otherwise have to devote to trying to get your diet and body weight under control.

I know this because I spent years myself on these very same things. And until I made the mental shift to eating metabolism-enhancing foods – like the snacks and desserts contained in this collection of recipes – I made no progress whatsoever.

In fact, I wasted years of my life following exercise and nutritional strategies that were DOOMED to fail simply because I had no idea how important the role of nutrition is when it comes to trying to stay lean, fit, and healthy.

If I had only known then what I have detailed in this recipe collection I would have saved myself a LOT of time and trouble!

There is absolutely NO reason that you should repeat my mistakes, and with the information you’ll be getting today you’ll avoid exactly that.

My 60-Day Iron-Clad Money-Back Guarantee

Simply make your selection about which collection of ebooks you would like to download today and use the corresponding order button to make your purchase. Then take a FULL 60 DAYS to read your book(s) from cover to cover, and digest all of the information.

Then, if this offer isn’t everything that I say it is; if it isn’t everything that you HOPE it is, just let me know anytime within 60 FULL DAYS and I’ll give you your money back.

That’s how confident I am that each of the recipe ebooks in the Blended Bites collection contains the answers you’ve been searching for.

Don’t wait another minute! Download your selection of ebooks from Blended Bites collection and uncover the secret to creating your own nutrient-dense and metabolism-enhancing snacks and desserts. There simply is NO better approach to ridding your life of junk food once and for all than by shifting to the recipes I teach you in this collection. I guarantee it!

To Your Success,

Author, Health And Nutrition Expert, Fitness Centre Owner, & National Champion Bodybuilder

I’m Going To Remove All The Risk From Your Investment Because I Want You To Succeed!

YES – Carolyn, I’m READY to create my own fat-burning snacks and desserts!

I understand I’ll be instantly downloading my chosen selection of one, two, or three ebooks from the Blended Bites collection

On top of that, I understand my investment is backed by your risk free, no questions asked, 100% money back guarantee.

Option #1 – For

$27.00

$17.00 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes

Option #2 – For

$37.00

$27.00 200 Healthy Raw Snack & Dessert Recipes

Option #3 – For

$47.00

$37.00 250 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

PLUS All The Following Bonus Products

You will get INSTANT ACCESS right now — Even if it’s 3.00 A.M.!

*NOTE: These are digital downloads in Adobe PDF Format and you will be taken directly to the download page upon successful completion of checkout. Should you experience any problems being returned to the proper page, please simply email:  (carolynh@xtra.co.nz)

(Click the Order Button Above to Download.)

I hope that by now you recognise that these recipe guides will act a valuable resourcea that never go out of date and which will prove their worth over and over again.

To Your Success

Carolyn Hansen

P.S. You are protected by my 100% money back guarantee.

DISCLAIMER

The website’s content and the product for sale is based upon the author’s opinion and is provided solely on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis. You should do your own research and confirm the information with other sources when searching for information regarding health issues and always review the information carefully with your professional health care provider before using any of the protocols presented on this website and/or in the product sold here. Neither ClickBank nor the author are engaged in rendering medical or similar professional services or advice via this website or in the product, and the information provided is not intended to replace medical advice offered by a physician or other licensed healthcare provider. You should not construe ClickBank’s sale of this product as an endorsement by ClickBank of the views expressed herein, or any warranty or guarantee of any strategy, recommendation, treatment, action, or application of advice made by the author of the product.

ClickBank is the retailer of products on this site. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. ClickBank’s role as retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of these products or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of these products.

p=101

[allenmendezsr]

The Blended Bites Healthy Snack And Dessert Recipe Collection

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/the-blended-bites-healthy-snack-and-dessert-recipe-collection/

The Blended Bites Healthy Snack And Dessert Recipe Collection

 Buy Now    

Eat Fudge And Not Worry Unduly About Gaining Weight?

Grab some Almond Cookies and STILL Be Able To Fit into your jeans?

No, I’m not crazy. Well, I am crazy — crazy for sweet treats and snacks even though I am a former body builder and fitness expert. It works for me — And it will work for you if you know my secret!

If you’re like most people, it’s a struggle to avoid gaining weight without having to deny yourself when it comes to reaching for quick fix snack when you’re in a hurry or need a quick burst of energy. Here’s how I feed my snack urges and never waiver from my fitness plan.

From The Desk Of Carolyn Hansen

Dear Friend,

I used to think that eating healthy food meant swearing off sweet treats, snacks and desserts. But a chance meeting with a very special plate of fudge opened my eyes (and my mouth) to an amazing way to combine my health and fitness goals with my favorite foods.

Let me tell you more about how I bumped into that plate of fudge and how that encounter will change the way you look and feel.

Hi, I’m Carolyn Hansen. If you know me, you know that I am all into fitness and eating healthy foods. I’ve written four weight loss books, thousands of articles, and somehow found the time to become a certified fitness expert, competitive bodybuilder and fitness center owner.

But none of that means I don’t like to eat. I LOVE to eat!

If you love to eat too, but want to avoid unnecessary weight gain, let me tell you a story…

Once upon a time, there was a fat girl who hated mirrors. She hated the mirrors in her house; she hated the mirrors at her office. She hated the endless stream of mirrors and reflective shop windows that seemed to mock her everywhere she went.

Whenever this girl saw her reflection, she was reminded of how unhappy she was. She was reminded of how bad she looked in her clothes. And she was reminded how much she wished she could change her life by changing the way she looked.

I was that fat girl. And one day I decided to make my wish come true.

I’m not going to take you through all the details of how I made the journey from being the fat girl in the mirror to becoming the fit and healthy woman I am today. Instead, I am going to focus on one HUGE mistake I made, so you don’t have to make it too.

Looking Leads To Wanting — And Wanting Leads To Eating

For a long time (far too long), I was a “food martyr.” I made the very common mistake of thinking that losing weight (and keeping it off) meant I could never again eat the things I liked. No sweet treats. No snack foods. Nothing that was fun to eat.

I missed my old friends Coconut Fudge Bars, Almond Cookies and Caramel Dream Bars. But most of all I missed my best food friend: Fudge!

I don’t know about you, but I do not have a will of iron. So when the urge to get together with my old “friends” would strike, I’d struggle between telling myself “NO!” and sneaking some guilty pleasure. I’m sad to say, the guilty pleasure usually won out.

There’s a reason they call it “guilty pleasure.” Because every time I would “cheat”, I would feel terrible about it later. I’d beat myself up and vow never to put a good-tasting snack into my mouth again.

Oh, what a life of misery…

One day I was sharing my life of misery story with a friend. She stopped me when I started to tell her how much I loved fudge. “Follow me,” she said as she walked into her kitchen. She opened up her refrigerator and took out a plate piled high with White Chocolate Gogi Fudge! I was in seventh heaven and depressed both at the same time. “How could you do this to me? You KNOW I can’t eat this stuff. I’m DIETING!”

She looked at me with a puzzled expression and said: “Don’t you know about this secret recipe? I thought everybody did.” I looked back at her with an equally puzzled expression as my hand, with a mind of its own, snatched a glorious piece of fudge from the plate.

“You just grab yourself another bite, because this is healthy fudge you’re eating honey!”

Healthy fudge? Yeah, right!

But when she gave me the recipe, I was shocked. It WAS healthy fudge. And while there was no way I could sit down and eat the entire plate full (and I WANTED to eat the entire plate full), I could have a piece or two and not worry about the guilt feelings ruining my day!

Once I discovered there was such a thing as healthy fudge, I was committed. Committed to discovering what other tasty surprises I could eat without breaking my commitment to eating healthy food.

And here’s what I came up with:

INTRODUCING… 100 Healthy Raw Snacks

It’s your one-stop resource for delicious, healthy, guilt-free snacks that you can eat every day and STILL eat healthy.

And even better, EVERY ONE of these recipes are NO COOK! That right. These are RAW healthy snack foods that taste as good as their fattening counterparts.

I’ve cut all of the fat out of my e-book too. So it’s just 47 pages of easy-to-follow recipes for amazingly delicious snacks like these:

My 100 Healthy Raw Snacks recipe book is the best way to feed your snack urge without impacting your weight loss and fitness goals, and without sweating over a hot stove. These “taste fattening and look fattening” treats are 100% healthy and 100% no cook. So go ahead, eat them guilt free! I do.

But here’s the thing. I found that once I’d put together the first 100 recipes I wanted to keep on going. So I did. Before I knew it I’d gone and created two more books, these ones devoted exclusively to desserts:

50 Healthy Raw Desserts – Vols. 1 & 2

I became so committed in fact that as I set about creating these no bake, sugar free, gluten free easy to make desserts, I couldn’t stop.

My goal was to come up with 50 recipes and publish them for the world to enjoy… but before I knew it – I had overshot that mark and was so delighted with my discoveries, I soon had more than I could fit in one book! So

my exuberance is YOUR gain

and I’m giving you not one, but TWO volumes to enjoy to your heart’s content!

This 2-Volume Set of 50 Raw Desserts is your one-stop resource for delicious, healthy, guilt-free snacks that you can eat every day and STILL eat healthy.

And even better, EVERY ONE of these recipes are NO COOK!

That’s right. These are RAW healthy snack foods that taste as good as their fattening counterparts.

I’ve cut all of the fat out of my e-books too…

So it’s just 23 pages of easy-to-follow recipes for amazingly delicious snacks like these:

My 50 Raw Desserts recipe books are the best way to

feed your snack urge without impacting your weight loss

and fitness goals, and without sweating over a hot stove.

These “taste fattening and look fattening” treats are 100% healthy and 100% no cook…

So go ahead, eat them guilt free! I do.

In fact, I’ve actually gone ahead and created yet another reason for you to feel great about including these kinds of desserts in your diet by taking the approach one step further. Are you a fan of pumpkin pie? Odds are that you have at least tastes it. But what about Chocolate Zuccini Cheesecake?

This cheesecake recipe is just one of dozens that I have include in the final installment in this series – desserts that include vegetables. Talk about really turning this junk food thing around and getting in your share of healthy foods! Take a look:

50 Healthy Desserts With Hidden Veggies

Allow me to give you just a taste of the fifty recipes you’ll discover in the 67 pages of this book – all of them illustrated with photographs that show just how tempting these dishes will be when they appear in front of delighted house guests who would never guess just how healthy these dishes really are…

And who would ever guess just by the look of them that every one of these delicious recipes contains a hidden vegetable?

Perfect For Those Fussy Eaters In The House!

So – are you ready to put yummy snacks back into your life without compromising your health and body weight goals?

Because here’s the bottom line when it comes to thinking about whether or not these recipes deserve a place in your life:

If you love fudge, pie, cookies and more…

If you’re sick of feeling guilty every time you indulge yourself with a little snack…

If you’re ready to put a smile on your face and healthy nutrient-dense snacks into the mouths of you and your loved ones…

Then you are exactly the person I created this collection for!

So, now that you have seen the tremendous range of material I have prepared for you today you’re probably wondering…

How Much Does The Blended Bites Collection Actually Cost?

Hopefully by now you have been able to see the extraordinary value that I have put into The Blended Bites Collection. Instead of simply offering you every book in the collection (which I will do nonetheless) I’m going to let you decide which components you’d like to begin using today.

Option #1 – For

$27.00

$17.00 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes

Get access to 100 Healthy Raw Snacks today for a one-time payment of just

$27.00

$17.00

You’ll receive the first one hundred recipes of the Blended Bites Collection. These are the snack recipes that turned my thinking about the problem of junk food on its head.

Once I’d discovered the approach to snacks outlined in this volume I never again found myself bingeing or even feeling deprived.

I had access to comfort foods that actually helped control my cravings for low nutrient junk foods. In fact I’d say the recipes in this book helped destroy those cravings.

Option #2 – For

$37.00

$27.00 200 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

When you select this option, in addition to getting 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes (the Option #1 offer) you’ll also get access to 50 Healthy Raw Dessert Recipes – Vols. 1 & 2 today for a one-time payment of just

$37.00

$27.00

That’s another one hundred recipes – this time focused entirely on desserts.

If you thought the first set of recipes for snacks provided you with plenty of ideas for how to rid yourself of the junk food in your life, this collection will delight you by doubling your options.

With no less than two hundred highly nutritious snack and dessert recipes at your disposal you won’t run out of healthy options for waistline-friendly treats any time soon!

Option #3 – For

$47.00

$37.00 250 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

With this option you get it all!

Not only do you get both 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes and 50 Healthy Raw Dessert Recipes – Vols. 1 & 2 (the Option #2 offer), but you’ll also get access to 50 Desserts With Hidden Veggies today for a one-time payment of just

$47.00

$37.00

This final addition that rounds out the Blended Bites snack and dessert recipe collection provides you with perhaps my favorite set of recipes yet. There is something inherently satisfying to be able to put away a dessert and at the same time know that you are working towards meeting your minimum daily vegetable requirement.

Yes, it’s almost wicked the way this works out!

* PLUS * WHEN YOU SELECT OPTION #3 YOU GET THE FOLLOWING BONUSES – FREE!

Transitioning To Paleo

Do you ever feel the need to turn away from the destructive food habits you are currently experiencing to the body- and health-changing benefits of eating the foods that early mankind ate every day?

With Transitioning To Paleo you’ll learn all of the benefits behind eating Paleo. Then you will discover how easy it is to begin making the change to better eating. And finally, you get a four week complete meal plan to get you started with your transition.

Believe me, there is no faster and easier way to discover the benefits of the Paleo diet.

Best Healthiest Breads Ever

Who doesn’t love bread? It’s probably the most convenient food ever conceived. But there’s a problem with almost every piece of bread you are likely to come across in the course of your day – it’s all wheat-based.

So why is that a problem? Well, you’ll get the full details in my book Best Healthiest Breads Ever. But in a nutshell all you need to know is that our bodies are NOT well-adapted to metabolizing wheat.

In fact, we are so bad at this that the wheat does far more damage to our bodies than it does good. Wheat may even be the cause of many chronic and potentially life-threatening diseases – including diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

But don’t worry. This does NOT mean you need to give up bread, just the wheat part of it! And to help you I’ve provided dozens of wheat-free alternative recipes for bread in this book…

How To Eat With Abandon

Have you ever found yourself eating just because you like the physical act? Well, it’s not a habit you want to encourage. Especially if you are having trouble maintaining your current bodyweight.

But what if there WAS a way to eating without having to worry about how much weight you were going to gain because of it? In How To Eat With Abandon you’ll discover that the secret is how to eat better, not less.

Eating in a calorie-conscious way has NOT helped us avoid the spectre of an ever-increasing waistline. Clearly a new approach is called for and that approach is based on the idea of nutrient density – eating foods high in nutrition and low in empty calories (the kind you’ll find in sugar-laden and highly processed foods).

In this book I’ll introduce you to the concept of the nutrient-dense eating plan and show you how it leads to approach to food that essentially allows one to eat with abandon…

Outsmart Your Hunger

Hunger is hard to ignore. But many people try to do exactly that in order to avoid packing on excess body weight. The problem is, the more you try to ignore your hunger, the more likely it is that you will end up gaining weight.

That is just one of the surprising discoveries you will make in Outsmart Your Hunger. But don’t despair. You are about to learn how to master your hunger by regaining control of your eating habits. In fact, you’ll be able to say goodbye to hunger and still meet the conditions required to maintain your ideal body weight.

Special Metabolic Fitness Report

As we age we tend to slow down. We eat less, exercise less, and begin the slow decline that eventually takes its toll on our health. But who says it has to be that way?

In this Special Metabolic Fitness Report you will learn how to ward off the effects of aging – or at least slow it down significantly – by rebalancing your metabolism so that you can shed the excess body fat that is slowing you down and elevating your risk for chronic disease, so you can have more life, more vigor than you ever would have thought possible.

A Whey Of Life

Protein is an essential component of every meal, but so often it gets overlooked and the result is a tendency to eat more than a sensible share of simple carbohydrates. The end result? Slow and steady weight gain.

But, as you’ll discover in the pages of A Whey Of Life it is the proper balance of protein, carbs, and healthy fats that dictate whether your body will be able to burn energy efficiently rather than store it in the form of unwanted body fat.

In this short volume you’ll be introduced to the 40-30-30 principle of healthy meal preparation. You’ll also discover the dramatic health benefits of eating whey protein, and I’ll provide you with some of my favorite hyper-healthy whey-based snack recipes.

Power Bowl Meals

Meal preparation at the end of the day can often seem like a daunting task and the temptation to surrender to a microwaved processed meal from the refrigerator can be strong. But of course that’s not a sensible eating plan for the long term.

So to help you avoid making bad eating decisions I have prepared a simple alternative approach: Power Bowl Meals. The idea? That you can simply grab a single cooking implement, such as your trusty wok, and throw in the ingredients for a healthy meal built around fat-burning protein.

Easy to prepare and cook, healthy for you (because they are built on the 40-30-30 principle of balancing your macronutrients), these nutrient-dense meals can be thrown together in a matter of minutes and can feed a family of any size.

They are also VERY tasty, because at the base of every one of these power bowl meals is salsa, or special sauce that gives each of the recipes in this collection it’s very own “kick”.

Are you ready to get started with the recipes outlined on this page?

If you are you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time and effort over the coming years – time and effort you might otherwise have to devote to trying to get your diet and body weight under control.

I know this because I spent years myself on these very same things. And until I made the mental shift to eating metabolism-enhancing foods – like the snacks and desserts contained in this collection of recipes – I made no progress whatsoever.

In fact, I wasted years of my life following exercise and nutritional strategies that were DOOMED to fail simply because I had no idea how important the role of nutrition is when it comes to trying to stay lean, fit, and healthy.

If I had only known then what I have detailed in this recipe collection I would have saved myself a LOT of time and trouble!

There is absolutely NO reason that you should repeat my mistakes, and with the information you’ll be getting today you’ll avoid exactly that.

My 60-Day Iron-Clad Money-Back Guarantee

Simply make your selection about which collection of ebooks you would like to download today and use the corresponding order button to make your purchase. Then take a FULL 60 DAYS to read your book(s) from cover to cover, and digest all of the information.

Then, if this offer isn’t everything that I say it is; if it isn’t everything that you HOPE it is, just let me know anytime within 60 FULL DAYS and I’ll give you your money back.

That’s how confident I am that each of the recipe ebooks in the Blended Bites collection contains the answers you’ve been searching for.

Don’t wait another minute! Download your selection of ebooks from Blended Bites collection and uncover the secret to creating your own nutrient-dense and metabolism-enhancing snacks and desserts. There simply is NO better approach to ridding your life of junk food once and for all than by shifting to the recipes I teach you in this collection. I guarantee it!

To Your Success,

Author, Health And Nutrition Expert, Fitness Centre Owner, & National Champion Bodybuilder

I’m Going To Remove All The Risk From Your Investment Because I Want You To Succeed!

YES – Carolyn, I’m READY to create my own fat-burning snacks and desserts!

I understand I’ll be instantly downloading my chosen selection of one, two, or three ebooks from the Blended Bites collection

On top of that, I understand my investment is backed by your risk free, no questions asked, 100% money back guarantee.

Option #1 – For

$27.00

$17.00 100 Healthy Raw Snack Recipes

Option #2 – For

$37.00

$27.00 200 Healthy Raw Snack & Dessert Recipes

Option #3 – For

$47.00

$37.00 250 Healthy Snack & Dessert Recipes

PLUS All The Following Bonus Products

You will get INSTANT ACCESS right now — Even if it’s 3.00 A.M.!

*NOTE: These are digital downloads in Adobe PDF Format and you will be taken directly to the download page upon successful completion of checkout. Should you experience any problems being returned to the proper page, please simply email:  (carolynh@xtra.co.nz)

(Click the Order Button Above to Download.)

I hope that by now you recognise that these recipe guides will act a valuable resourcea that never go out of date and which will prove their worth over and over again.

To Your Success

Carolyn Hansen

P.S. You are protected by my 100% money back guarantee.

DISCLAIMER

The website’s content and the product for sale is based upon the author’s opinion and is provided solely on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis. You should do your own research and confirm the information with other sources when searching for information regarding health issues and always review the information carefully with your professional health care provider before using any of the protocols presented on this website and/or in the product sold here. Neither ClickBank nor the author are engaged in rendering medical or similar professional services or advice via this website or in the product, and the information provided is not intended to replace medical advice offered by a physician or other licensed healthcare provider. You should not construe ClickBank’s sale of this product as an endorsement by ClickBank of the views expressed herein, or any warranty or guarantee of any strategy, recommendation, treatment, action, or application of advice made by the author of the product.

ClickBank is the retailer of products on this site. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. ClickBank’s role as retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of these products or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of these products.

p=101

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 4.28.19

Those of you who’ve been reading for a while might remember that 2017 was the year of bread baking around here.

It all started when my friend Ali published her (wonderful) cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs. I’d wanted to get serious about homemade bread baking for a long time, but everything I’d read until that point made my eyes glaze over: it was all so technical and intimidating. Ali’s peasant bread technique—which involves no kneading and almost no dirtying of hands at all, in addition to the heartwarming fact that the loaves get baked in buttered Pyrex bowls—gave me the courage I needed.

Months later, Emilie gifted me with sourdough starter and a copy of her cookbook. Baking my first loaf of homemade sourdough was a small victory: I couldn’t believe it had actually worked, which I guess is the magic of natural leavening.

Bread baking found me at the right moment. I was having a hard time in March and April of that year: a longterm relationship had just ended, in a way that I wasn’t ready for and didn’t yet understand. For the first time in my life, I felt completely ill-suited to being on my own. I moved through my space and my days in a haze of confusion and grief, feeling scared and alone and more than a little sorry for myself.

If that period of time taught me anything, it was the gift of small things. None of the big stuff—love, graduate school, sense of direction or purpose—seemed to be working out. Even work, which is typically a major source of meaning for me, felt rote and joyless. My post-bacc years and the ones that followed hadn’t been easy, but they’d been animated with an incredible sense of yearning and direction. Suddenly, I had neither.

What I did have were my daily routines, which I fought to maintain even when things like cooking and chores felt insurmountable. I knew from past experiences with depression that keeping up with small habits, even if they felt suddenly like a lot of work, was the least I could do. And I did, day after day, until they started not to feel so tough anymore.

For a while it was all pretty muted, but as the months went by, I was reminded of my own capacity to be gratified by simple pleasures: good food, a clean home, a walk to the park, an hour of reading. I didn’t have a plan, but I did have the next meal and the next task, and at that moment, those things were enough.

And there was bread. It’s always been my comfort food, and I’d have eaten plenty of it that spring even if I weren’t baking it from scratch (for a while there, toast and cake were the only two things I wanted to eat). But I was baking from scratch, week after week, and it was wonderful. Unlike some other DIY food projects I’ve tried—kombucha, yogurt, seitan—this felt like the right ratio of effort and reward. The bread was so much better than anything I could buy, and I actually liked the process: mixing, shaping, scoring. The smell of a loaf in the oven on Saturday morning became something I looked forward to all week long. I wouldn’t quite say that bread baking got me through the year, but I can’t imagine that spring and summer without it.

I kept up with homemade bread for a while. But sometime last spring, in the race to the grad school finish line, the habit fell away. Once my internship started, it felt silly and imprudent to bake when I needed grains, beans, and fully cooked meals as weekly mainstays. During my acute care rotation, when getting the laundry done was a challenge, feeding my starter was the last thing on my mind.

My GI rotation gives me two weekdays off, which has been a gift in so many ways: it allows me to ease up on my batch cooking, to get work done during the week, and to have a true weekend. Most of all, having a little extra time on my hands gave me a kick in the pants to bake bread again. Now that I’m in the swing of it—one or two loaves weekly for the last four weeks—I’m rolling my eyes at the fact that I didn’t make time for it sooner. It’s a time commitment, sure, like anything/everything else. And it’s time perfectly spent.

I cook because it’s fun, healthful and economical. But cooking and feeding myself will always be a symbolic act as well as a practical one: it’s my way of asserting the desire to be alive, nourished, and whole. Bread making speaks to this desire more than almost any other type of cooking that I do. The fact that the process demands patience and time is only more evidence that, no matter what’s going on, I want to eat well and be well. I’m so glad to have been reminded of this in the past month.

Wishing you a week of good food and good self-care. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

Speaking of Ali, I’m loving her latest, Indian-inspired fried rice recipe.

Yet more motivation to branch out with my air fryer. This time, a vegan sheet pan supper with lemony tempeh from Susan at FFVK.

I love the looks of this sun-dried tomato pesto (and the yummy pappardelle that accompanies it).

A pretty phenomenal looking vegan kidney bean burger.

I’ve never made cookie dough in a blender, but consider me inspired by these chocolate cookies.

Reads

1. I believed that too much water at mealtimes could “dilute” stomach acid for years! Evidence says otherwise, and this article—in which my current preceptor, Tamara Duker Freuman, is interviewed—explains. (For the record, when I was working in a GI practice in DC, I did learn that chugging water at mealtimes can encourage the swallowing of air, which can be bloating, so steady sips are still a wise idea if you’ve got a sensitive digestive tract.)

2. More support for the value of eating breakfast.

3. Popular Science busts some sleep myths (sobering stuff for those of us who often do without enough of it, and tell ourselves it’s NBD).

4. Yikes! Bad news for allergy sufferers like me (yes, it’s getting worse, and climate change is in part to blame).

5. Finally, I wanted to link to this post from my friend Maria. It’s a lovely meditation on meeting oneself and one’s feelings—including the despondent ones—with acceptance and faith in the promise of release and transformation.

On that note, enjoy the remainder of this Sunday. And happy Orthodox Easter to those of you who celebrate today—maybe a bowl of vegan avgolemono is in order.

xo

 The post Weekend Reading, 4.28.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.

Weekend Reading, 4.28.19 published first on https://storeseapharmacy.tumblr.com

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 4.28.19

Those of you who’ve been reading for a while might remember that 2017 was the year of bread baking around here.

It all started when my friend Ali published her (wonderful) cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs. I’d wanted to get serious about homemade bread baking for a long time, but everything I’d read until that point made my eyes glaze over: it was all so technical and intimidating. Ali’s peasant bread technique—which involves no kneading and almost no dirtying of hands at all, in addition to the heartwarming fact that the loaves get baked in buttered Pyrex bowls—gave me the courage I needed.

Months later, Emilie gifted me with sourdough starter and a copy of her cookbook. Baking my first loaf of homemade sourdough was a small victory: I couldn’t believe it had actually worked, which I guess is the magic of natural leavening.

Bread baking found me at the right moment. I was having a hard time in March and April of that year: a longterm relationship had just ended, in a way that I wasn’t ready for and didn’t yet understand. For the first time in my life, I felt completely ill-suited to being on my own. I moved through my space and my days in a haze of confusion and grief, feeling scared and alone and more than a little sorry for myself.

If that period of time taught me anything, it was the gift of small things. None of the big stuff—love, graduate school, sense of direction or purpose—seemed to be working out. Even work, which is typically a major source of meaning for me, felt rote and joyless. My post-bacc years and the ones that followed hadn’t been easy, but they’d been animated with an incredible sense of yearning and direction. Suddenly, I had neither.

What I did have were my daily routines, which I fought to maintain even when things like cooking and chores felt insurmountable. I knew from past experiences with depression that keeping up with small habits, even if they felt suddenly like a lot of work, was the least I could do. And I did, day after day, until they started not to feel so tough anymore.

For a while it was all pretty muted, but as the months went by, I started to be reminded of my own capacity to be gratified by simple pleasures: good food, a clean home, a walk to the park, an hour of reading. I didn’t have a plan, but I did have the next meal and the next task, and at that moment, those things were enough.

And there was bread. It’s always been my comfort food, and I’d have eaten plenty of it that spring even if I weren’t baking it from scratch (for a while there, toast and cake were the only two things I wanted to eat). But I was baking from scratch, week after week, and it was wonderful. Unlike some other DIY food projects I’ve tried—kombucha, yogurt, seitan—this felt like the right ratio of effort and reward. The bread was so much better than anything I could buy, and I actually liked the process: mixing, shaping, scoring. The small of a loaf in the oven on Saturday morning became something I looked forward to all week long. I wouldn’t quite say that bread baking got me through the year, but I can’t imagine that spring and summer without it.

I kept up with homemade bread for a while. But sometime last spring, in the race to the grad school finish line, the habit fell away. Once my internship started, it felt silly and imprudent to bake when I needed grains, beans, and fully cooked meals as weekly mainstays. During my acute care rotation, when getting the laundry done was a challenge, feeding my starter was the last thing on my mind.

My GI rotation gives me two weekdays off, which has been a gift in so many ways: it allows me to ease up on my batch cooking, to get work done during the week, and to have a true weekend. Most of all, having a little extra time on my hands gave me a kick in the pants to bake bread again. Now that I’m in the swing of it—one or two loaves weekly for the last four weeks—I’m rolling my eyes at the fact that I didn’t make time for it sooner. It’s a time commitment, sure, like anything/everything else. And it’s time perfectly spent.

I cook because it’s fun, healthful and economical. But cooking and feeding myself will always be a symbolic act as well as a practical one: it’s my way of asserting the desire to be alive, nourished, and whole. Bread making speaks to this desire more than almost any other type of cooking that I do. The fact that the process demands patience and time is only more evidence that, no matter what’s going on, I want to eat well and be well. I’m so glad to have been reminded of this in the past month.

Wishing you a week of good food and good self-care. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

Speaking of Ali, I’m loving her latest, Indian-inspired fried rice recipe.

Yet more motivation to branch out with my air fryer. This time, a vegan sheet pan supper with lemony tempeh from Susan at FFVK.

I love the looks of this sun-dried tomato pesto (and the yummy pappardelle that accompanies it).

A pretty phenomenal looking vegan kidney bean burger.

I’ve never made cookie dough in a blender, but consider me inspired by these chocolate cookies.

Reads

1. I believed that too much water at mealtimes could “dilute” stomach acid for years! Evidence says otherwise, and this article—in which my current preceptor, Tamara Duker Freuman, is interviewed—explains. (For the record, when I was working in a GI practice in DC, I did learn that chugging water at mealtimes can encourage the swallowing of air, which can be bloating, so steady sips are still a wise idea if you’ve got a sensitive digestive tract.)

2. More support for the value of eating breakfast.

3. Popular Science busts some sleep myths (sobering stuff for those of us who often do without enough of it, and tell ourselves it’s NBD).

4. Yikes! Bad news for allergy sufferers like me (yes, it’s getting worse, and climate change is in part to blame).

5. Finally, I wanted to link to this post from my friend Maria. It’s a lovely meditation on meeting oneself and one’s feelings—including the despondent ones—with acceptance and faith in the promise of release and transformation.

On that note, enjoy the remainder of this Sunday. And happy Orthodox Easter to those of you who celebrate today—maybe a bowl of vegan avgolemono is in order.

xo

 The post Weekend Reading, 4.28.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.

Weekend Reading, 4.28.19 published first on https://storeseapharmacy.tumblr.com

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 4.28.19

Those of you who’ve been reading for a while might remember that 2017 was the year of bread baking around here.

It all started when my friend Ali published her (wonderful) cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs. I’d wanted to get serious about homemade bread baking for a long time, but everything I’d read until that point made my eyes glaze over: it was all so technical and intimidating. Ali’s peasant bread technique—which involves no kneading and almost no dirtying of hands at all, in addition to the heartwarming fact that the loaves get baked in buttered Pyrex bowls—gave me the courage I needed.

Months later, Emilie gifted me with sourdough starter and a copy of her cookbook. Baking my first loaf of homemade sourdough was a small victory: I couldn’t believe it had actually worked, which I guess is the magic of natural leavening.

Bread baking found me at the right moment. I was having a hard time in March and April of that year: a longterm relationship had just ended, in a way that I wasn’t ready for and didn’t yet understand. For the first time in my life, I felt completely ill-suited to being on my own. I moved through my space and my days in a haze of confusion and grief, feeling scared and alone and more than a little sorry for myself.

If that period of time taught me anything, it was the gift of small things. None of the big stuff—love, graduate school, sense of direction or purpose—seemed to be working out. Even work, which is typically a major source of meaning for me, felt rote and joyless. My post-bacc years and the ones that followed hadn’t been easy, but they’d been animated with an incredible sense of yearning and direction. Suddenly, I had neither.

What I did have were my daily routines, which I fought to maintain even when things like cooking and chores felt insurmountable. I knew from past experiences with depression that keeping up with small habits, even if they felt suddenly like a lot of work, was the least I could do. And I did, day after day, until they started not to feel so tough anymore.

For a while it was all pretty muted, but as the months went by, I started to be reminded of my own capacity to be gratified by simple pleasures: good food, a clean home, a walk to the park, an hour of reading. I didn’t have a plan, but I did have the next meal and the next task, and at that moment, those things were enough.

And there was bread. It’s always been my comfort food, and I’d have eaten plenty of it that spring even if I weren’t baking it from scratch (for a while there, toast and cake were the only two things I wanted to eat). But I was baking from scratch, week after week, and it was wonderful. Unlike some other DIY food projects I’ve tried—kombucha, yogurt, seitan—this felt like the right ratio of effort and reward. The bread was so much better than anything I could buy, and I actually liked the process: mixing, shaping, scoring. The small of a loaf in the oven on Saturday morning became something I looked forward to all week long. I wouldn’t quite say that bread baking got me through the year, but I can’t imagine that spring and summer without it.

I kept up with homemade bread for a while. But sometime last spring, in the race to the grad school finish line, the habit fell away. Once my internship started, it felt silly and imprudent to bake when I needed grains, beans, and fully cooked meals as weekly mainstays. During my acute care rotation, when getting the laundry done was a challenge, feeding my starter was the last thing on my mind.

My GI rotation gives me two weekdays off, which has been a gift in so many ways: it allows me to ease up on my batch cooking, to get work done during the week, and to have a true weekend. Most of all, having a little extra time on my hands gave me a kick in the pants to bake bread again. Now that I’m in the swing of it—one or two loaves weekly for the last four weeks—I’m rolling my eyes at the fact that I didn’t make time for it sooner. It’s a time commitment, sure, like anything/everything else. And it’s time perfectly spent.

I cook because it’s fun, healthful and economical. But cooking and feeding myself will always be a symbolic act as well as a practical one: it’s my way of asserting the desire to be alive, nourished, and whole. Bread making speaks to this desire more than almost any other type of cooking that I do. The fact that the process demands patience and time is only more evidence that, no matter what’s going on, I want to eat well and be well. I’m so glad to have been reminded of this in the past month.

Wishing you a week of good food and good self-care. Here are some recipes and reads.

Recipes

Speaking of Ali, I’m loving her latest, Indian-inspired fried rice recipe.

Yet more motivation to branch out with my air fryer. This time, a vegan sheet pan supper with lemony tempeh from Susan at FFVK.

I love the looks of this sun-dried tomato pesto (and the yummy pappardelle that accompanies it).

A pretty phenomenal looking vegan kidney bean burger.

I’ve never made cookie dough in a blender, but consider me inspired by these chocolate cookies.

Reads

1. I believed that too much water at mealtimes could “dilute” stomach acid for years! Evidence says otherwise, and this article—in which my current preceptor, Tamara Duker Freuman, is interviewed—explains. (For the record, when I was working in a GI practice in DC, I did learn that chugging water at mealtimes can encourage the swallowing of air, which can be bloating, so steady sips are still a wise idea if you’ve got a sensitive digestive tract.)

2. More support for the value of eating breakfast.

3. Popular Science busts some sleep myths (sobering stuff for those of us who often do without enough of it, and tell ourselves it’s NBD).

4. Yikes! Bad news for allergy sufferers like me (yes, it’s getting worse, and climate change is in part to blame).

5. Finally, I wanted to link to this post from my friend Maria. It’s a lovely meditation on meeting oneself and one’s feelings—including the despondent ones—with acceptance and faith in the promise of release and transformation.

On that note, enjoy the remainder of this Sunday. And happy Orthodox Easter to those of you who celebrate today—maybe a bowl of vegan avgolemono is in order.

xo

 The post Weekend Reading, 4.28.19 appeared first on The Full Helping.

Weekend Reading, 4.28.19 published first on