Do you know Flax?

Do y'all know about flax seed?

Flax is an annual flower and the seeds have been found to have lots of nutritional benefits and it is super easy to add into your daily diet!

Some flax seed bragging rights:

-It's been shown to reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes

-It can help lower your blood pressure

-Reduces inflammation caused by Parkinson's Disease and asthma

-Reduces hot flashes in menopausal women by 50%

Now, there is a lot of evidence that proves that flax seed is wonderful but all reports make it very clear that it is not some sort of super food but still recommended to add to your daily diet.

While researching, I found out that pregnant women should not be adding flax seed because there has not been research done in this scenario yet! Definitely a question I will be asking my doctor about!

Now the real question. How do you eat it?!

The easiest ways I have found to add this great body booster is in my breakfast. Sprinkle it on yogurt, cereal, toast with jelly, in smoothies or in your juice. It would also be easy to add a sprinkle on a sandwich, in a soup or marinade for lunch or dinner!

This is important: flax seed can go bad at room temperature once opened very quickly. I keep the bag in the freezer and have a small tupperware in the fridge that I refill once I use all that up.

Look for it in the baking/flour aisle next time you're at the grocery store and add some flax seed benefits to your routine, too!

This helps balance out the blueberry cupcakes...

Laura

(Information via here and here)

Football Hurricane Filler

After July 4th and before Autumn can be looked at one of two ways.

1. The relaxing calm before the holiday decor storm.
2. The stressful, awkward interlude between red, white and blue and pumpkins.

I definitely fall under category #2.

Do I go with watermelons? Beach balls? I live in the mountains!

Well, in our household, this awkward time also means that COLLEGE FOOTBALL is about to start! We are HUGE college football fans (OSU for this girl, OU for the hubster) and putting little football touches around the house really gets us even more pumped up for September 3rd!

This is one of my favorite hurricane vase fillers and it is SO inexpensive and easy!



I stuffed the bottom of the hurricane with shredded green paper filler to look like grass. Then, I took football birthday candles (they're attached to toothpicks), cut the wick off the top and stuck them into the paper "grass"!



How easy is that?

I found both supplies at Michael's but any craft store would work! When it's time to bust out the fall decor, I simply put the candles and paper filler back in a large, labeled ziploc and store it away until next year! Reusable- even better.

Go Pokes!
Laura

Salted M and M Marshmallow Popcorn

That's a mouthful! In more ways than one.

I love the combo of salty and sweet and one of my favorite ways is to throw some M&M's in with my popcorn!

But then sometimes you have to dig around when the M&M's sink to the bottom of the bowl and that's just too much work for my calories, you know.

Where there's a problem, there's always a solution. And the solution here is this delicious popcorn!

Salty, sweet, chocolate-y. Perfection.



Salted M&M Marshmallow Popcorn

Yield: 8 cups

Prep Time: 10 min. Total Time: 15 min.

Ingredients:

-8 cups popped popcorn

-5 tbsp. salted butter

-One bag marshmallows (I used large but small ones would work, too!)

-M&M's

-Salt

Directions:

-Melt butter in large saucepan. Stirring occasionally. Add marshmallows and stir occasionally until melted. This can take a few minutes so watch the pot closely to avoid burning.

-Add popped popcorn to butter/marshmallow mixture and gently toss to coat.

-Pour popcorn onto a greased foil (or silpat without grease!) lined baking sheet and pour M&M's over the top. Push the M&M's into the popcorn so they stick and sprinkle generously with salt.

-Cut apart and then let cool. You can cut them after they cool but it does harden quickly.

-Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Laura

Nightlight Wallflower

Have y'all seen these?





Nightlight Wallflowers from Bath and Body Works!

My grandma brought me some and I love them. We all know that Bath and Body Works has the best smelling scent options (not to mention they have about 746 options...) and the nightlight is a bonus! Even better, the light turns off when you have the room light on and flips on once you turn off the lights in the room.

It's so smart.

Check them out in store or online here!

Bath and Body Works is so technologically advanced,
Laura

Blueberry Cupcakes

I told y'all I had a lot of blueberries to use up.

So, I've been thinking. We eat blueberry muffins for breakfast...why not make them into a blueberry cupcake to eat for dessert, too?

I am a huge fan of desserts made from scratch but I am also a fan of semi-homemade desserts that taste like they are made from scratch. A dessert isn't worth it if you spent all day in the kitchen and didn't get to enjoy the time with the people you made it for!

Here is where a doctored up cake mix comes in. It's a great base for infinite possibilities of flavor (oh wow- that sentence is so dramatic...I've been watching the Bachelorette a lot).

These Blueberry cupcakes are a perfect example of how to uniquely and deliciously doctor up a cake mix!

Did I mention these cupcakes have a cinnamon sugar topping and cream cheese frosting, too? Oh, they do. 

Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 min. Total Time: 1.5 hrs. including cooling

Ingredients:

-1 box yellow or white cake mix plus ingredients needed on box

-1 3/4 c. blueberries

-1 tbsp. flour

-6 tbsp. granulated sugar

-1/4 c. brown sugar

-1 tsp. cinnamon

-8 oz. cream cheese, softened

-1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened

-2 1/3 c. confectioners sugar, sifted

-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

-Blueberries for topping

Directions:

Spray 24 muffin tins with nonstick spray or use cupcake liners. Preheat oven to temperature directed on cake mix.

Mix cake mix according to directions on box.

Gently combine blueberries with flour to lightly coat. Fold blueberries into the cake mixture and scoop into prepared cupcake liners.

Combine granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle on top of each cupcake. Bake according to cake mix box directions, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In an electric mixer, combine cream cheese and butter on high until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in vanilla and confectioner's sugar and beat on low until combined. Increase speed to medium high and beat 1 minute.

In a small saucepan, combine approx. 50 blueberries (at least one per cupcake) with a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of water. Cook over low-medium heat, stirring, until blueberries are bubbly and sauce turns blue. Remove from heat and let sit for syrup to thicken.

When cupcakes are cooled, top with frosting and a blueberry with some syrup.

Enjoy!

Call me Dr. Cake Mix,

Laura