Vegan Butternut Squash Soup (Spicy)

Remember back when I told you about Jessica's mom's world-famous soups? Well, with the leftover Thanksgiving decorations (aka phallic gourds) I attempted to recreate the Butternut Squash soup that I fell in love with. Turns out Mrs. J's recipe was off the top of her head and fairly simple, but considering I don't have the magic soup touch, I decided to combine it with a couple other recipes I found online as well (since I don't trust my judgement when it comes to measuring out spices). The first step, however, was cutting open & baking the squash.

It smelled just like watermelon when I first cut it open. I was so pleasantly surprised!

I set the oven to 375, filled the pan with water and baked the squash for about 30 to 35 minutes. The recipe called for 40 minutes, but considering what happened last time I tried to bake gourds.. I decided to play it safe.

According to this vegan butternut squash soup recipe, you only use 1/8 teaspoon of each of these spices.. but that's no fun. So I probably tripled or quadrupled the amounts of each spice. I like to live on the edge..

After mixing this bad boy up, bringing it to a boil and letting it simmer down (now) for a while, I transferred it in sections to the blender (I don't have a food processor), added green onions and chowed down.

I thought it was delicious. Austin? Not so much. So if you try this recipe out, make sure to let me know how you like it. I found that I needed to add a lot of salt, but once you do, it's pretty tasty. 

Beauty In Nature

Isn't nature fascinating? Those specks look yellow in my photo, but in real life I swear they are pure gold. I wish I had gotten a before-picture because I saw this little caterpillar when it first decided to latch onto this ledge on our front porch. I didn't pay too much attention because I see those little guys all over the place (my mom specifically plants milkweed all over the yard for the Monarch butterflies), but today the gold flecks on this beautiful green cocoon really struck me. I suddenly found it completely awe inspiring. That fat little caterpillar went from a stripedy little sausage to a curled up little emerald and gold specked gem. Where does he keep all that green? And what purpose does the gold serve? It made me want to share with you my other encounters with nature lately.

I found this little guy resting on top of my laptop several days ago. He blended right in at first. I was probably typing away for five minutes before I noticed the reptile whose space I was invading. I gently lifted my computer (after photographing him, of course) and brought it outside where he hopped into the bushes.

My mom took this one, and I will admit looking at that spider still gives me the heebie jeebies. 

Here's the thing, a couple months ago there was a big-ass spider in my room. I discovered it while in the shower (it was a big-ass, peeping Tom spider.. the worst kind, if you ask me) and I freaked the eff out. I ran butt naked out of my bathroom and into the hall bathroom because I hadn't even rinsed the shampoo out of my hair yet! So of course by the time I was done showering and had pumped myself up enough to go back into my bedroom.. it was gone. I spent the next three nights sleeping in my sister's old room and I bug bombed my room. Yes, I am, in fact, a big baby.

Anyway, after cleaning and vacuuming, the spider was still nowhere to be found... until I saw Ziggy rolling around the couch with that look of sheer bliss on her face that can mean only one thing: she found a dead animal to play with. Sure enough she had spider legs sticking out of her mouth.

Then just a couple weeks ago I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. It looked like Ziggy was playing with a tennis ball, but the tennis ball had eight legs and was a far less pleasing color. She did not seem to mind. I flipped out, of course, but before I could make sure the spider wouldn't bite her, she whacked it with her paw, stunning it just enough for me to get it with my shoe. Now that's what I call teamwork.

Look, I appreciate spiders (because of the whole eating mosquitoes thing) and I hate killing any living creature, but I'm gonna be honest, spiders scare the poop out of me and they do not need to be living in my abode.

This photo was actually taken a little over a week ago on Ziggy's third spider encounter (yes, a bug bomb is definitely in order for this house), where according to my mom, Zigz spotted and chased this sucker from the living room, to the backyard and into the bushes.

Seriously, guys, do I not have the best dog ever? She may be terrified of kittens and the doorbell, but you can bet your bottom dollar she's gonna protect me from those spiders.

Field Trip

Hey guys! Today I'm featured over at Cover to Cover and Everything In Between, so go check it out and leave Nay some love. If you're visiting from her blog, welcome and thank you so much for visiting my page. Feel free to explore (and leave lots of comments!).

xoxo

MacKensie

Updo Tutorial

Sometimes you just don't feel like washing your hair, am I right? That's when updos come in handy.. really handy. In order to create this look you need:

Source

• Conair Infiniti Wand
• Hair tie
• Tons of bobbypins
• Hairspray - I love Garnier Fructis Anti-Humidity Spray because it doesn't make your hair crunchy at all, but I also like to finish it off with Pantene Pro-v Hair Spray because it adds lots of shine, holds curls better and is super cheap

Directions:

1. Leave bangs/shortest layers in the front out and put the rest of your hair into a low pony tail at the back of your head

2. Split pony tail into two sections

3. Twist one section loosely and wrap counterclockwise around the other section, pinning it as you go

4. Repeat clockwise with the other section

5. Curl front layers of hair around the wand away from face

6. Pin the longest curls back into the bun loosely so they retain the curl & leave shorter curls out

7. Apply massive amounts of hairspray 

8. Go out on the town - that's what I did!

We went to Rocky's Dueling Piano Bar where these dudes will play anything for a couple dollars. This is my awesome friend Mike who was home visiting from the Marines for the weekend.

They even pulled all the service men up on stage to recognize & thank them for what they do for our country. We love you guys!

Then the boys got a little silly..

Saturday night I met up with my best frans for some tailgating in the Swamp. Just in time to watch Florida State beat the crap out of us.. le sigh.

Whatevs.. football isn't everything, right? 

It was so awesome having Mike in town, and I loved seeing all my old friends. I love the holidays.

Holiday Traditions

Me in front of the giant tree downtown

Back when I was adamantly 'respecting the bird,' I touched on several of my Thanksgiving day traditions (as silly as they can be), but now that Thanksgiving is officially over, it's Christmas time.. And we have some legit holiday traditions. The first one actually starts on Thanksgiving day right around when the food coma starts to kick in and we're all buzzin' on our mimosas and white russians. That's when we watch these two wonderful, Christmassy movies.

Hilarious? Check. Taking place during the holidays? Check. Inappropriate? Double check. Perfect. If you haven't seen either of these movies and don't offend easily, I strongly encourage you to check them out immediately.

Every year we get a real, live tree and usually chop it down ourselves (after hours of deciding which one is perfect, of course). Then we watch more traditional Christmas movies (my mom's favorite is "It's A Wonderful Life" even though my sister and I think it's way depressing) while stringing popcorn and cranberries to hang on the tree.

One of my very favorite traditions, however, is gingerbread house decorating! My mom has legit cast iron molds and she bakes the gingerbread herself every year. Check out my house from last year:

Also, I'm absolutely in love with holiday parties.. especially ones of the Ugly Christmas Sweater persuasion. This year we're having a cousins' Ugly Sweater party and I am super stoked.

This one was from freshman year of college!

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

Auntie Kaitlin

This weekend was full of joy, love and great tragedy. After an auto accident and several days of unconsciousness, we have lost a great friend and wonderful person. Kaitlin Labuda was the most joyous person with the biggest smile you've ever seen. She was beautiful, hilarious, constantly happy, young and everything you hope to never have to say goodbye to.

Kaitlin on the left with my big, Stacey.

I hope that you will all keep Kaitlin's family in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time. I also ask that you keep my big, Stacey, in your prayers as well. She and Kaitlin were the best of friends and I wish her comfort.

If you knew Kaitlin, then you know, but if you didn't, trust me, she was the type of person that you met once and you instantly loved her. You had no choice, she was completely lovable. 

I almost wrote about this several days ago when I first found out about the accident, but to be honest I was in denial. I thought to myself, 'she's just going to wake up in a few days and think it's silly that we all made such a big deal about it,' but I never stopped thinking about her. 

She is in a better place now, and even in death she will continue to help other people's lives as an organ donor. If you would like to stay updated on this process or simply express your love or sympathies, feel free to like the Prayers for Kaitlin page on Facebook.

I am so thankful to have known my Auntie Kaitlin. Rest in peace, sweet girl.

Thanksgiving Recap

My Thanksgiving started with a very shivery 5k walk with my big sister, Brandy, while my nephew ran the whole thing again! Austin & his clan ran ahead as well. I saw tons of old friends and enjoyed talking with my sis the whole way. 

Once I got home I (reluctantly) iced my knee and admired Britni's gorgeous decorations.

After showering and changing into more holiday-appropriate clothing, I took pictures of everyone. I was so excited to have all the fam together -- not to mention I had about four sugar-free pies waiting to be consumed by this guy.

First, the lactose & sugar-free blueberry cheesecake.

Silken tofu is the best invention ever (as far as vegan cooking goes at least). All blended in a regular old blender.

Then came the pumpkin pies (I made them two different ways, but I'll show off my fave).

I put this bad boy in the oven looking like this:

Then after writing this blog post, I took it out looking like this..

Woops.. I just did my best to keep the burned parts out of the mix. Here are my ingredient substitutions:

Lastly I made my lactose-free chocolate mousse pie.

Here's all the delicious desserts together

Then once all the eating, eating & more eating was done... Ziggy helped with the dishes.

She's very helpful. 

I got to enjoy a second dinner at Austin's family's house, chill by a bonfire at Jessica's and then spent the night on the town with a great friend in the Marines who's just home for the weekend. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I did. 

By the way, follow my blog with Bloglovin!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Just finished walking the Turkey Trot 5k! Photos & food to come later.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Turkey Lurkey Lee..

Top: Express

Tights: Target

Boots: Steve Madden

Ring: Forever 21

Earrings: Grandmother's

I wore this outfit to my sister's casa on the too-much-wine night. I found the culprit on my phone..

This was before I knew what it was going to do to me the next day..

Today I have been baking like crazy because tomorrow is THANKSGIVING!! Who else is super stoked? I'm so excited to have everyone try all my vegan baked treats. Right now I'm working on my chocolate mousse pie, a brand new vegan blueberry cheesecake recipe & a vegan pumpkin pie from scratch (which I have never attempted before). While waiting for the pumpkins to get soft enough to scoop the good stuff out of them, I remembered that there were still some avocados waiting to turn to the dark side, so I threw together some guacamole and it is surprisingly delicious! (I'm chowing down on it right now)

Here's what I used:

• 2 avocados (the small California ones)
• White onion
• (Lots of) Chopped garlic
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt
• Celery salt
• Juice of one small lemon

Super easy & simple. I just added ingredients without measuring them and tasted it as I went to see how much salt, etc. I needed. I used a lot of salt... I am addicted.

Today I am thankful for delicious and bountiful food, and the holidays that bring family all together!

Avocado & Sweet Potato Pita

Around lunchtime yesterday I noticed a bunch of avocados laying on the counter that were at that point of no return - you know, where if you don't eat them today, they'll have passed over to the dark side by tomorrow. I Googled creative avocado recipes, but I kept coming back to the avocado & sweet potato wrap I got at Civilization in Gainesville one time (which had the BEST salsa verde I have ever eaten). 

I thought I would just throw the ingredients I thought I remembered there being into this pita & call it a day, but then I realized it would probably just taste like green & orange mush.. so I found this recipe, which I figured had to be good because it called for fancy spices and whatnot; so I followed it to the best of my ability. 

The sweet potatoes were already baked from dinner the night before, so I just stuck them in the oven with all the other ingredients to heat 'em up.

Then I heated up these kidney beans instead of black beans because they're all I had.

I sliced up this avocado because the first one I cut up already had brown veins running through its beautiful green flesh.. how sad.

Then I shoved them all into a pita because I didn't have any wraps and added salsa roja to it (which wasn't nearly as good as salsa verde). Just one half of this pita filled me up. No joke, I gave the other half to Austin. And it was pretty dang good, if I do say so myself.

As far as exercise goes, I sort of alluded to my less-than-satisfactory leap back into the running world in my Friday's Letters post.. it was bad. I ran two miles and the first one was okay, but the second one was pretty dang painful. I went ahead and made an appointment with a chiropractor in town whom my parents have both have had good experiences with. My appointment was yesterday and it was intense, y'all. They realigned my knee -- aka jerked it left and right and up and down. I slightly thought they were going to break my knee entirely, but afterward it actually felt a lot better. So weird. I'm going to attend several more physical therapy sessions to see if it starts improving, and if not I'm going to have to get an MRI.

Also, Ashley of Adventures of Newlyweds was sweet enough to ask her Physical Therapist husband about my knee and he sent me tons of awesome advice. Thank you SO much, you guys! I'm excited to try out these new tips.

Today I am thankful for my friends and boyfriend (and their health). They are all so supportive and they keep me from going insane. Love you guys!

Movember: Female Edition

I had a little way too much wine last night, which resulted in me participating in Movember in the only way I knew how. (btw those are not my cigarettes, I'm a runner, remember?? I gotta take care of them lungs!) So after a silly night, I've spent the day chugging Gatorade, popping Advil and lying on the couch watching old SNL episodes. I just climbed into bed to try to sleep it off once and for all when I decided that blogging > sleeping.

While checking my Blogger feed, I came to realize that Ashley of The Sweet Life gave me the Liebster Blog award! I am so excited, especially since I love reading her blog & I was so surprised to see my name on there!

The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome -- in other words, I'm super stoked to receive it. Thank you so much, Ashley!

Here's how it works:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you. (Ashley)

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.  

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog. 

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love, too! 

Here are my my top 5 picks:

Haily at Coastal Heart Country Soul

Sheena at She Speaks

Kristen at Whiskey.Tango.Foxtrot

Katie at Charmed Earth

Sam at Threadesque

Today I am thankful for art (and that hangovers don't last forever, even though it seems like they do..).

"Little Bee"

Shirt: Old Navy

Skirt: Made from 80s Goodwill dress (shoulder pads & all!)

Shoes: Target

Belt: Charlotte Russe

Necklace: Gifted

Second Necklace: Lucky Brand

Like my silly photo shoot? Don't mind my messy room. It's how I live. Messy & mismatched socks are my way of life. Now if only I had a designated photographer every time I decide to dress up..

My Goodwill 80s dress for an 80s Prom social freshman year before resurrecting it as a skirt! 

(also check how short my hair was back then!)

I wore this outfit to a luncheon for Pace Center for Girls, which was wonderful. All the women in my family, including Jessica and my spunky Grandma (she went skydiving for her 80th birthday!!), gathered at the Hilton to eat chicken salad and learn about all the wonderful things this organization does for the troubled young ladies of our community. It made me cry (but what doesn't, right?) but it also made me incredibly proud of my big sis, who's a bada$$ social worker there! She helps so many girls every year that would otherwise be picked on, abused or in juvenile detention.

This luncheon, combined with reading "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave, made me realize how little I have been doing for others lately.

Source

The back of this book says:

"This is a story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again--the story starts here... Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds."

In keeping with the requests of the author, I won't tell you want it's about.. but I will warn you: This book made me really upset. I cried a lot, but I also couldn't put it down. I finished it in about 3 days, one of which was spent blubbering and squinting through teary eyes at about 3 am. I think that's probably a sign that it's a good book, but at the same time I'm not sure I would wish the disturbing images in my head upon others.

There were, however, some really beautiful prose which I folded down the pages of and it definitely makes me want to help others. Unfortunately, it makes me want to help people in a way that I am not capable of at the moment, but one day I will have the means to help others as much as I feel that I should.

For now, I think I will volunteer at the Pace Center and see if I can make even a tiny impact on some wonderful young women's lives. I will keep you all updated on how it goes. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

• Learning the Queen's English is like scrubbing the bright red varnish from your toenails, the morning after a dance. It takes a long time and there is always a little bit left at the end, a stain of red along the growing edges to remind you of the good time you had.
• I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.
• England was made of dawn mists that rose to the horse's shoulder, of cakes cooled on wire trays for the cutting of soft awakenings. My first real choice was what to take at university. My teachers all said I should study law, so naturally I chose journalism.* (Seriously?! Two of the main characters in this story are both journalists, and the back of this book did NOT tell me that. Weird.)
• Tea is the taste of my land: it is bitter and warm, strong, and sharp with memory. It tastes of longing. It tastes of the difference between where you are and where you come from.

There are several other worthy quotes, but this post is already lengthier than planned, so I will leave you with what I am thankful for:


I am thankful for living in a nice house with a wonderful family in a free country. I don't always show my appreciation for good ole 'merica, but I am very thankful to live here.

Friday's Letters Part I

 

Today I am joining Ashley from Adventures of Newlyweds  in her "Friday's Letters" tradition by writing letters to all the people, things and ideas on my mind during this rather frustrating Friday night.

Dear laptop, 

The one time I actually shut you off when I'm done using you and now you won't turn back on. "System repairs may take over an hour" is not the kind of message I can respond to after all this time we have spent together. Don't make me sick the Geek Squad on you..

-M

Dear left knee,

You really let me down today. I had high hopes for you. For six weeks I let you rest, you lazy mofo, the least you could do was let me run two miles without pain. But no.

Very disappointed,

-M

Dear potential employers,

Please hire me. My bank account is emaciated and I need to pay for physical therapy, potential computer repairs and those really cute boots I saw.

Hopefully yours,

-M

Dear cheese (and all other dairy products),

Stop tasting so good. My lactose intolerance thanks you.

-M

Dear Ziggy,

I particularly enjoyed watching you play with a chihuahua 1/100 of your size at the dog park today. Thanks for being so cute and cuddly.

-M

Dear GRE / prep course,

Be more enticing so that I want to study you more. Also, when test day comes, please go easy on me..

Scared,

-M

Dear X102.9,

LET ME WIN TICKETS TO METRO PCS'S BIG TICKET CONCERT!!!!! I need to see Fun, Taking Back Sunday, Sublime with Rome & Young the Giant live & I don't have $30..

-M

Dear TCBY lady,

I did not appreciate you cutting us in line last night. Rude. We eat our froyo politely 'round these parts.

-M

Dear Blog Readers,

Thank you SO much for reading my blog. I pee myself a little every time someone comments on one of my posts. Also, if you would follow me publicly, I would be very thankful. If you don't know how, read this!

Love,

-M

Today I am thankful for my physical and mental health. Even though my body frustrates me sometimes a lot of times, I am able to walk, dance and be active all on my own, and even though I cry about everything and can be a little crazy sometimes, I am emotionally stable. For these things I am VERY thankful (even if I don't act like it sometimes.. I still love you, left knee).

Turkey Cookie

Yesterday I needed some cookies. I was convinced I could find an easy sugar-free cookie recipe with no problem.. but it turned out to be much more difficult. Eventually I found this one and I whipped it together hoping for the best. Here's what I used.

Then I plopped hefty 2 tablespoon blobs of this mixture onto a greased cookie pan and had enough for one more cookie left over once the pan was full. So I got creative in the name of Turkey Day.

Then while these bad boys cooked for about 8 minutes (375 degrees), I attempted to make sugar-free icing out of the (extra firm..) tofu that was about to expire. It was a mega fail. I'm talkin' straight nastiness. So I went ahead and used powdered sugar to make a normal-good-tasting icing. Then I made it colorful.

I really liked it because it reminded me of the food fight in "Hook."

As Rufio would say, Bangarang.

Today I am thankful for my best friend Jessica. She does the silliest, most boring things with me & makes them fun, like grocery shopping, watching Modern Family, driving 20 minutes to drive through Starbucks and looking through bridal magazines. You are the best best friend a girl could ask for.

Oh, and I'm thankful for cookies too. :)