My Favorite Movies of 2012

Okay, so I know I said that I'd be absent from blogging for a few weeks, but I wanted to share my top 10 favorite movies from 2012 with you guys. So this is just going to be a quick little post, but here are my top 10 favorite movies from the past year:

1. Promethius
2. The Hunger Games
3. Jack Reacher
4. Gone
5. Safety Not Guaranteed
6. Man on a Ledge
7. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
8. Cloud Atlas
9. Pitch Perfect
10. The Intouchables

And I also wanted to mention a few other movies that didn't make it onto my top 10 list, but I still really enjoyed them:

The Bourne Legacy - A lot of people would have put this on their top 10 list, but you just can't have a Bourne movie without Matt Damon, I'm sorry! (This was still a good movie though.)

Katy Perry: Part Of Me - Don't roll your eyes at me for liking this movie, okay? It was actually really good! Although it didn't make my top movies list, I thought that Katy Perry's documentary really gave me a good inside look at the behind-the-scenes at her life, which was really interesting.

Well, that's it you guys! I hope you liked my list; it certainly took me long enough to try and figure out! There were a ton more movies that I really enjoyed from 2012, but they just didn't quite make the cut. So let me know what your favorite movie from 2012 was. I'd love to read your comments!

Molly's Recipes: Quick & Easy Hot Chocolate

With winter soon approaching, I wanted to share one of my all-time favorite cold weather treats with you guys! It’s my quick and easy hot chocolate, and it’s so simple to make. In my opinion, it tastes just as good, if not better, than regular hot chocolate, and I hope that you guys love it as much as I do!

 Ingredients:

- 1 and 1/2 cups soy/regular milk

- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

- 2 tablespoons sugar

- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract (optional)

1. Pour the milk into a microwave-safe bowl. Then, whisk in the cocoa powder and sugar until well blended.

2. Microwave your hot chocolate on high for 2 minutes, or until fairly hot.

3. When the hot chocolate is done in the microwave, wisk it again to combine everything, pour into a mug and let cool for a few minutes.

4. (Optional step): You can also make a peppermint hot chocolate by adding the peppermint extract right after you take your hot chocolate out of the microwave.

Serves: 1

Cook Time: 2 minutes

Molly's Recipes: Vegetable Medley Soup

This soup is perfect for lunch or dinner on a cold, rainy day, or really any time you feel like eating something warm and rustic. One day, I just felt like making some soup, so I pulled all of the leftover vegetables that I had in my refrigerator out, and started chopping. By luck, I ended up making this delicious vegetable medley soup. It is completely vegan, and is full of nutritious vegetables. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

 Ingredients:

- 4 medium carrots

- 3 medium potatoes

- 1 small onion

- 4 cups veggie broth

- ½ cup mushrooms

- ½ cup cooked broccoli

- ½ a bunch collard greens

- ¾ cup soy milk

- ½ teaspoon oregano

- ½ teaspoon basil

- ¼ teaspoon thyme

- ½ teaspoon salt

- Pepper

1. Slice the carrots, potatoes and onion and put into a large cooking pot. Add the veggie broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 10-15 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes are soft.

2. Add the mushrooms, broccoli and collard greens and cook for 5 more minutes. Blend the vegetables in batches in a blender and pour the mixture back into the cooking pot.

3. Add the soy milk, oregano, basil, thyme and salt to the soup. Stir and reheat on the stove. Add extra salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy while still hot.

Option:

You can replace the mushrooms, broccoli and collard greens with any other leftover veggies that you may have in your fridge.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Molly's Recipes: Bagel Sandwiches

I absolutely LOVE these bagel sandwiches for lunch! They are so easy to make, and they taste amazing, too. My family and I were inspired to make this recipe because we love the veggie sandwiches that they sell at Nugget Market, but they were kind of expensive. (Shhh, don’t tell Nugget I said that!) So we decided to try and recreate them, only on a bagel instead of bread! So here you go, I’m handing over the recipe to you now. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

- 1 plain bagel

- Salad mix or sliced lettuce

- Sliced cucumbers

- Sliced red bell peppers

- Sandwich pickles

- Condiments of your choice

1. Lightly toast your bagel, and then spread condiments of your choice on either side of it.

2. Pile on the salad mix, cucumbers, peppers and pickles, cut in half, and enjoy!

Option:

You can put on whatever condiments you like. My favorites are honey mustard and Vegenaise (a vegan mayonnaise). You can also change up the veggies on the sandwich to suit your own personal taste as well.

Serves: 1

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Molly's Recipes: All-Natural Soda

Looking for a healthy (but equally delicious) alternative to soda? Then you should love this recipe! This soda is so refreshing, and is much better for you than regular soda is. It is perfect to have on a hot day when you need something cold and hydrating. Me and my family love this recipe, and it’s so simple and inexpensive that anyone can easily make it at home. Enjoy!

 Ingredients:

- Any flavor of 100% juice

- Seltzer water

- Crushed ice

1. Fill a large drinking glass with the crushed ice.

2. Then fill the drinking glass about 1/3 of the way full with seltzer water.

3. Fill glass the rest of the way with the fruit juice, stick a straw in, and enjoy!

Option:

You can change up the flavor of your soda by changing the juice flavor. You could make grape soda, (grape juice) cranberry soda, (cranberry juice) or even orange soda (orange juice.)

Serves: 1

Prep Time: 1 minute