Nom Nom Recipe: Vegan Brownies

Sorry to disappoint guys, but no, I am not vegan. Although, I did recently find out that vegan brownies are amazing. After being asked by one of my friends to make her vegan brownies, I started off on a journey to find a simple but yummy recipe for brownies that would fit a vegan diet. A few google searches later, I combined a couple different recipes to produce chocolately, moist brownies. Hope y'all enjoy as much as I did!

Ingredients

Dry:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Wet:

1 cup water

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions 

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F

2. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

3. Mix in wet ingredients

4. Stir until well blended 

5. Bake for 25 minutes 

6. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting 

-Katie

Live to Love, Love to Live 

Story Time Chapter: One Dollar Ice Cream

One of my closest friends, Chelsea, works at a nearby Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. This past week she posted on Facebook something that happened to her at work that truly touched my heart. After talking to Chelsea in person about it and seeing how her face lit up when she recapped the events to me over our own scoops of ice cream, I knew the story of the One Dollar Ice Cream had to be the first Chapter of Story Time. So it begins:
            
A little girl walked into Ben and Jerry's, went up the counter, and asked Chelsea what could she get for a dollar. Well, at Ben and Jerry's there is nothing on the menu for only a dollar, but not wanting to disappoint this adorable little girl, Chelsea scooped her up strawberry ice cream in a small sugar cone. The little girl in return handed Chelsea a sticky, wrinkled up dollar bill, licked her ice cream, smiled at Chelsea, then skipped out the door. About five minutes later, a man walked into the shop and asked Chelsea  if she was the person that gave the little girl her ice cream. Chelsea replied yes, and the man then said, "It is nice to know that there are generous and caring people in this world like you." He gave Chelsea a wink, put a 5 dollar bill in the tip container, and walked out. 


Moral of the story is that you never know who is watching you or how you will impact somebody else's life. By giving that little girl an ice cream cone, Chelsea gave that girl a smile and probably made her day. She didn't do it hoping someone would see her and give recognition or hope that a parent would wander in and give her a tip, she did it out of kindness and generosity. It made my week, knowing that someone so close to me made a great impact, by doing something small and not even thinking twice about it. 
-Katie 
Live to Love, Love to Live

Why Cindy Lou Who?

Almost everyone has a doppelganger. You know, someone that looks exactly like you to the point that it's scary. They can be celebrities or just some random person passing you by on the street...but in my case, it's a character from a Dr. Seuss book. Ever since I can remember, I've been told I look like the little girl that caught the Grinch stealing ornaments on Christmas Eve by the name Cindy Lou Who. There used to be a point in time where I hated the fact I looked like her, but as I got older, I embraced it. I mean who doesn't want to say that they resemble an adorable little girl. This blog isn't going to be about awkward moments I've had where people tell me I look like Cindy or anything, although I will write about those occasionally, but more about my day to day life of being a young adult and learning as I go. So welcome to "A Day in the Life of Cindy Lou Who" and I hope you enjoy!
-Katie
Live to Love, Love to Live