Measuring Cups, Optional

No Added Sugar Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I have this love/hate relationship with the beginning of every year. It’s new, it’s a fresh start, it’s 300-some days of opportunities. And it’s also the dead of winter, with no holidays to look forward to. On the bright side, that means we can all focus on our forever resolutions to lose weight. I don’t even consider it a New Year’s Resolution anymore, because I wish for it all the time. For everyone else who’s in the same boat, I have a fun, delicious solution for your dieting sweet tooth! Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are a game changer. The cookies are packed with everything good for you like bananas, oatmeal and peanut butter. You likely have most of these ingredients in your pantry anyway. Best part? No added sugar (except honey, which is a natural sweetener anyway). So it’s vegan, sugar free and gluten free. It’s a win-win situation. What I really like about these cookies is they take almost no time to make. The baking time only 15 minutes. (more…)

This Week on Instagram

categories: Posts

It’s been a pretty busy week on the Instagram front. Aside from making a pretty easy pesto spaghetti squash, I fit in a cultural event mid-week, and spent a food-filled weekend in New Jersey and New York. We did some other things, but mostly just ate. (more…)

Pesto Spaghetti Squash

categories: Posts, Recipes, Vegetables & Sides

I’m trying really hard to stay healthy (read as: cut carbs) but it’s just so hard. I love carbs. I especially love bread and pasta and rice and all those delicious things that add inches to my thighs when I eat too much. We’re on week 2 of 2017 and I’m doing pretty well so far. I’ve been going to the gym, taking a healthy breakfast to work — and actually eating it, I’ve been packing my lunches, filling up on veggies, fruit and protein. Yes, I’ve been having some cheat meals. But come on, I need to live a little! (more…)

This Week on Instagram

categories: Posts

We made it through the first full week of 2017. So far so good. It’s also the second installation of “This week on Instagram,” and I have so many things to share! I did a ton of eating out and not as much recipe testing. I’m really excited to share my delicious experiences at the restaurants in the DMV (that’s DC, Southern Maryland, and Northern Virginia). (more…)

New Year’s Champagne Pancakes

categories: Breakfast, Posts, Recipes

Now that 2016 is behind us, it’s time to start the New Year off right. Has anyone actually gone to the gym this week? I did! Now that we made it through week 1 of exercise and eating right, it’s time to celebrate, again, with Champagne Pancakes. Come on … you’re entitled to a cheat day, or two.

Leftover bottles of New Year’s champagne? No problem. Don’t put them away just yet. While you may have opted to just pour champagne into you morning glass of orange juice for an instant mimosa, consider saving some for your pancakes. Say what?? Yes! Boozy champagne pancakes. Before you write off champagne pancakes, you have to try them. The bubbles give the pancakes added fluffiness, while the champagne frosting is a fun substitute for syrup. You’ll find that it’s a similar consistency and just so fun with sprinkles on top! So pour yourself a mimosa and start your first weekend of 2017 off with a breakfast celebration. (more…)

This Week on Instagram

categories: Posts

It’s a new year. Happy 2017!

With the New Year, I’m happy to introduce a new feature to Measuring Cups, Optional. Starting today, I’ll be posting a weekly piece called “This (last) Week on Instagram.” For everyone who follows Measuring Cups, Optional on Instagram — THANK YOU! — you know that I am always in the kitchen working on a new project and most of the time, those projects don’t make it onto the blog. There are a number of reasons why that is, but I don’t want my readers, who don’t necessarily follow me on Instagram, to miss out. Especially on some of the fantastic recipes I test out from other food bloggers. Aside from just tons of food, there’s a sprinkle of the fun things I do. In the spirit of the oversharing society we’ve become, you’ll get a weekly dose of MCO happenings in one convenient post. (more…)