First Day of Spring?

Today is supposed to be the first day of Spring but it sure doesn't feel like it here. There's still plenty of snow on the ground where I live.

This is what it looks like where I live, it still feels like Winter to me. What I imagined the first day of spring to be like was the grass showing and flowers starting to grow. Most of the day I spent baking up different treats. Away from home I made Sourdough Bread, Fresh Fruit Tarts, Sponge Cakes, and Sugar Syrup.

After I got back home I made some Peanut Butter Banana Cookie with Dark Chocolate Chunks. At different points in the week I make up different recipes for later in the week. Bulk cooking can save you time if you set aside a day to do it.

I ended up with plenty of time left in my day to exercise - getting in a run and doing some Zumba. 

After a day with a few bumps it's nice to be able to relax and do things you want to in your own haven.

Definitely a good time to also practice some skills such as making buttercream icing flower, cake border designs and using royal icing.

With any skill you want to get better at practice definitely helps. Some people improve faster than others - we have to keep working at it no matter what. We all have our own goals so let's work hard to achieve them!

Chocolate Easter Eggs and Using Chocolate Molds

I'm getting excited for Easter to come so I thought why not go ahead and start making some Easter themed treats. Chocolates are one of the things my family tends to give one another on Easter so this year I made some Chocolate Easter Eggs.

Chocolate Easter Eggs

Ingredients:

At least 1 cup of Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate (I used  compound milk chocolate - you can find it at a bulk store)

Colored Molding Chocolate (optional: Use some of this if you want to add color accents)

Tools Needed: 

• Solid plastic molds or molds designed specifically for chocolate work best.
• Offset spatula to scrape away excess chocolate
• Bowls to melt chocolate in, or a double boiler pot to melt chocolate 

Note: Amount of chocolate you need depends on the size of your chocolate mold(s) and how much you plan to make. I made over 12 eggs and the molds were about 2.5 inches (or about 6 cm) in length. 

Directions:

1. If you're adding color accents to the Chocolates: melt down the chocolate carefully (chocolate burns easily). Mix the colored chocolate until it becomes smooth. Add to the bottom of the mold by brushing the areas you want covered with a small paintbrush, back part of a chopstick, or other small tool. Let the colored chocolate cool before going to the next step.

2. Melt down the milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate and pour into the molds. If you melt it in the microwave be careful about how long you leave it in there. Stirring the chocolate every 15 seconds for microwave method helps to evenly melt the chocolate. Once it's close to completely melted make sure you mix it until it becomes smooth.
For solid eggs fill to the top and then level off the tops and make smooth. Let cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. If you try and take out of molds too soon they will fall apart.
For Hollow Egg: fill chocolates to top (make sure you have some wax paper underneath; or you can tap the molds above a large bowl), level off the amounts in each mold then turn upside down and tap out the excess chocolate. Once this is done return the mold right side up, scrape off the chocolate left on top of the mold and let the chocolate harden.

Note: One way off telling if your Chocolates are getting closer to being ready is when the color changes from being shiny and wet looking to more of a dull color. The chocolates should not jiggle if you shake the mold gently. If you're unsure if they're ready leave it sit for longer.

What's your favorite thing to do during Easter?

St. Patrick's Day Weekend

St. Patrick's day is one of my favorite days to celebrate during the year. A day where you can enjoy green colored foods and drinks or even just celebrate your love of the color green (You could even make a green smoothie n_~ ) Life's more enjoyable when you take some time to have fun and do some things you really want to do.

I decided to make some Mint-Chocolate Fudge Pie and some whipped topping colored with a bit of green coloring. I poured the Mint Chocolate Fudge Pie into different glass cups and some small bowls then added some of the whipped topping. Everyone had some of the dessert and enjoyed the taste (We have many chocolate lovers here!).

Between doing different projects, spending time with loved ones, baking and cooking and getting in some exercise this week has gone by pretty well. I've been trying new things and getting out of my comfort zone. I ended up taking care of the house and my brother while my parents were away on vacation which meant there was way more cleaning for me to do than normal ^_^'. It made me realize how much work it is to take care of a household by yourself. 

It's fun to visualize the different exciting possibilities in life during some spare time. It can help you see what goals you want to achieve and figure out the steps you need to do in order to get there. I just need to go get a scrapbook and then i can make myself a vision book.

Since it's still cold and snowy outside I've been sticking to exercising indoors by doing different things like jumping on the rebounder (mini trampoline), using the treadmill, using hand weights, exercise DVDs and stuff like that. As long as you do the type of exercise you enjoy that's what counts. When you enjoy something you're more likely to stick with it for the long run. 
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What's your favorite exercise/ activity you like to do? 

Introduction

Here's a little something to let anyone reading this blog get to know me. My name's Megan but most people tend to call me Meg. I went through a college program called Culinary Management (which trains people to be able to get a job as a Chef eventually). It was while I was in that program that I discovered how much I love to bake so I ended up taking the Baking&Pastry Arts program.

I have a passion for good tasting food, health and fitness. In the bakeshop you tend to be surrounded with so much temptation - especially if you really love sweet treats. I'll admit that I personally have a pretty big sweet tooth and enjoy getting to have a little dessert here and there. I decided to start a quest to achieve better health, fitness and have lots of fun experiences along the way.


I've struggle with my weight since I was little. For most of my life I've been slightly on the heavy side except for one point where I ended up weighing not enough for my height. Being more of a foodie type can affect weight to some degree I guess.
To get headed in the right direction I've been trying different Clean Eating recipes and keeping a food log since I have some weight/fat to get rid of.


One thing I really enjoy as far as exercise is running. I had hurt my knee at one point from increasing my mileage too much and too soon. I'm starting from base level to get back to running on a regular basis. I also happened to discover Zumba (a type of dance class). The music used gets me excited to move and groove.
I like to have a couple of different types of exercise that I do in a week.

Everyone has to begin their journey somewhere and we all have a different start point. Instead of comparing ourselves to other people around us we should aim to constantly improve ourselves when we can. As I go along my journey I'll post different things like recipes, workouts I've tried, and many other types of posts.

Sending lots of love to everyone!