Recipe: Fantastically Fudgy Brownies

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What is almost as abhorred in the baking world as someone presenting yet another chocolate chip cookie or banana bread recipe?

Another brownie recipe. But before you moan and groan, since that's exactly what I have for you today, please refer to the signature crackly crust and rich, fudgy interior of said brownies (presented above). This recipe is worth giving a try!

Lots of brownie recipes end up dry and fluffy, like bar-shaped chocolate cake, but this one is like bakery brownies or (good) boxed mix brownies! It's the only recipe that I bother with anymore and for good reason - bring these to a party and you won't have to worry about how to store the leftovers. There won't be any!

Here's the recipe - it's a one bowl recipe, so clean up is super quick and easy, too!

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Weeknight Convenience with Marley Spoon!

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Those of you who follow me on Instagram know that I love to bake and cook.

My Irresistible Irish Soda Bread

If you follow me, you also know that I recently left my flexible, but also all over the place, schedule as a freelance writer and print model behind to join the 9-5(ish) world as a children's entertainment writer. I love my job!

But that doesn't mean that adjusting to the new, structured schedule didn't require a little work. While I no longer have to be up at 5am on shoot or writing until 2am to meet a deadline, I also don't have time to pop out in the afternoon for a grocery run or precook part of an elaborate dinner when the mood strikes me.

But home cooked dinners are not only fun to make, they're also generally more nutritious than eating out and that's important to stay healthy and happy!

Luckily, there's a middle ground between the time-effective but less nutritious option of eating out and the healthy but time-consuming process of grocery shopping, recipe finding, prepping, and cooking your own dinner. It's called Marley Spoon!

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Happy Fall: Covering Your Bases with Aflac

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It’s finally starting to feel like fall and just in time – today is the first official day of fall! 

Doesn't New York wear it well?

While summer is great for all things water sports, fall is when we shift our focus from the coastlines to the mountains. I love, love, love the beach, but I also truly adore the mountains! Hiking is one of my favorite day trips, camping has that nostalgic glow (I was a girl scout for twelve years), apple picking is a blast and you get to go home with a ton of yummy snacks, and exploring a city (*cough, cough* New York) by foot is so much nicer when temperatures are moderate than when the sun is pounding down on you.

Photographer: Nick Trochil

All in all, there are many reasons to love fall. But lots of outdoor activity in fall means that you can also anticipate a possible uptick in injuries as the leaves start to turn. At least from anecdotal experience, people seem to get hurt more in fall! With the average medical expense of accidental injury at a whopping $5,500 according to the National Safety Council, that's something to think about! 

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Recipe: Chococonut Shake

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While you would expect the cravings for ice cream and milkshakes to be greatest in the peak of summer, when it's crazy hot, that's not always the case! 

I used to work at an ice cream shop and on the really scorching days, we saw just as little business as on the cold, rainy days. When it's too hot, something super sweet and rich isn't that appealing! It's those warm, but not hot, late spring or early fall days (like now) when we're in the mood for a cold and creamy treat. 

Yum!

Still, we all want to look our best and regular trips to the ice cream parlor aren't great for a healthy complexion. As a model, it's important that I eat a healthy, balanced diet that keeps my overall health (as reflected in my skin) optimal!

Behind the scenes at a recent shoot. Follow me on Instagram for live snaps!

I also just like feeling my best. 

But what if I told you that you can have it all? The above-pictured Chococonut Shake is plantbased, vegan, and sweetened only by vitamin-rich fruit and Born Sweet™ Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener. 

Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener is made with only real ingredients, extracting the sweetness found in Mother Nature's stevia plant to add delicious sweetness to this shake with zero artificial ingredients and zero calories. Find Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener in a store near you here!

Read on for the quick and easy recipe for my delicious and nutritious vegan Chococonut Shake!

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Review: Sinless Raw Chocolate

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I love dark chocolate.

In most cases, I'm a fan of the-darker-the-better and tend to enjoy 99% dark chocolate bars or even Ghiradelli's 100% baking bar. Dark chocolate is rich, creamy, satisfying, and can even be quite good for you! 

Here is a quick list of some of the health benefits of dark chocolate:

* Naturally  high in antioxidants

* May lower risk of heart disease

* May help control insulin sensitivity 

* May help against headaches

That last one really works for me! Sometimes a square of really dark chocolate (perhaps the caffeine in it?) can alleviate a headache for me. If your problems are more digestive, it's worth noting that dark chocolate was used to treat diarrhea in the 16th century - and recent studies suggest that there may actually be something there!

Since dark chocolate is high in fat, you don't want to overdo it or you might face some stomach upset just from that. But another great thing about dark chocolate is that since it is so intensely flavorful, you really don't need very much to satisfy a craving.

While I often choose plain dark chocolate because I can get darker chocolate that way, I also love dark chocolate with other flavors (like nuts, berries, etc.). I was excited to discover a new brand of healthy dark chocolate with high cacao content (85%) and some great flavors.

Sinless Raw Chocolate is raw, vegan, sugar-free, paleo, and sweetened naturally with erythritol. And did you ever think you could possibly get in your greens by eating yummy dark chocolate? Now you can! 

True to its name, Sinless Raw Chocolate really is a healthy indulgence. It has raw organic greens hidden in its tasty chocolate! I swear you can't taste it at all, I was surprised when I saw it on the ingredients list!

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Speedy Weeknight: A Fast & Frugal Homemade Dinner!

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I'm a young professional, working 9-5 in an office while balancing a social life and career passions (and hobby passions!) outside of work. What does that make me?

Busy. But I love it!

Still, it's neither a particularly frugal nor a particularly healthy habit to get used to eating dinner out every night, especially since I tend to eat lunch out with my coworkers every day. I love making fun, elaborate recipes, but that's not what I need for weekday dinners. I need something fast and easy!

Barilla® Pronto™ pasta is a great base for a simple staple dinner that's equally well suited to busy young professionals like me as it is to busy working moms cooking for their families.

Read on for my experience and the recipe for the mac & cheese pictured above!

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Recipe: Challah

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I love learning about different cultures and food can be a huge part of culture! It's also interesting to see how cultures intersect.

I'm not Jewish, but it's a culture with a rich food history and rich traditions overall. I am German, and I always think it's really interesting when I see overlaps between German words and Yiddish words, traditional German foods and traditional Jewish foods, and so on.

One such overlap is Challah - or Zopf in German cuisine! Since tonight is the start of Rosh Hashanah, what better time to share a great Challah (or Zopf, if you're German) recipe?

This bread is soft and flaky and light, ever so slightly sweet, works great with or without poppy seeds on top, and looks great! It's an absolute winner fresh, but even the leftovers (if there are any) won't go to waste. It makes great french toast!

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Summer Style: Manhattan Parks, Shades of Pink, and Lace

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Before we bid a final adieu to summer, let us enjoy the last beautiful days of summer. 

Even in NYC, a daytime getaway to a downtown Manhattan park can be a romantic daydream. Without more discussion, I hope you enjoy this final taste of summer style!

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Review: New Crazy Richard's Pure PB

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I'm a legume-loving vegetarian and a huge fan of peanut butter. HUGE. 

Peanut butter is awesome with so many things! For starters:

* Bananas

* In smoothies

* Chocolate

* Sandwiches

* In savory dishes

* In sweet desserts

* On ice cream

* On a spoon...

You get the point. Peanut butter is pretty awesome. The delicious spread has also come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1895! In addition to a large variety of different flavors for peanut butter spreads, there are also variations on peanut butter for all sorts of different dietary needs. 

Crazy Richard's Crunchy Peanut Butter is a long-time favorite of mine, but recently the company behind my favorite peanut butter also put out a high protein, low fat peanut flour and a high protein, nutrient enriched peanut butter. Let's take a look!

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Recipe: Magnificent Maple Salmon

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This recipe is my hands-down top salmon recipe. Whether you're cooking for a long-time salmon lover or someone who is a little warier of the healthy pink fish, the flavorful marinade works excellently with the natural flavors of the fish and makes for a yummy supper!

Best of all, it is actually relatively quick and easy to prepare, so it's a perfect stress-free dinner option for a weeknight or  for when you want to host, but don't have the whole afternoon to spend prepping for your dinner party.  

It pairs well with creamed corn and avocado, roasted asparagus and risotto, or similar sides! 

Here is the recipe for perfect salmon in just 45 minutes (including a 30 minute marinade)!

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Healthy Beauty: Five Foods for Beautiful Skin!

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We have all heard the saying that beauty comes from the inside. The saying is true, of course, in the intended sense - a beautiful, good soul is so much more attractive than any aesthetically pleasing combination of physical features.

But it's also true in the cheeky sense that a beautiful outside, at least one that stays beautiful over time, requires a healthy inside!

In addition to staying hydrated, sleeping well, and leading a generally healthy lifestyle, here are five of my favorite healthy skin foods to keep my skin healthy and glowing!

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