Healthy Exposures

I've MOVED!

2010-02-20T14:39:00.000-08:00

I've MOVED!!
everyone walk on over here to keep up to date. In fact, there's already a new recipe up!

Threepeat

2010-02-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

Did everyone make it to Friday okay? I sure did - now it's home free for a whole week!

The funny thing for me when I'm on break from school, though, is that not much changes! I still work MWF, and if it wasn't winter I'd be working all week!

This morning had some new guests - and a good thing, because otherwise it would have been very repetitive! Not that I'm complaining, but you guys might get a little bored ;)

Ironically, not one of the jams from yesterday. This one's been chillin' out in my cupboard for a while. It was time to break out that and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl for my Coconut Plum Brekkie Bowl.

In the Mix: 2 T. Spelt Hot Cereal, 2 T. TVP, 1 T. Wheat Bran, 1/2 c. brewed coffee, 1/4 c. almondmilk, goji berries, cinnamon, vanilla, 3/4 diced plum, 1/2 pkt. sun crystals

On the Top: the same yogurt-chia seed icing from yesterday, plum jam, cinnamon raisin swirl PB, flax, raisins, and caramelized plum & coconut.

deeee-vine.

I think the plums I picked up still need a couple more days to get nice & juicy-ripe, though.

I've had a couple questions on the so-called yogurt chia seed "icing," and realized I never really addressed it.

Basically, I prepare approximately equal parts almond milk and plain greek yogurt, mix it together, and then add in chia seeds, allowing the chia seeds to soak up some of the mixture, but not so much that it gets to the consistency of normal pudding or yogurt. I love the texture of the chia seeds prepared this way - and find normal yogurt too thick and...well, weird...on top of oats.

If I'm making a large batch to get me through a couple mornings (and bites throughout the day!) I just do a basic mix of the yogurt, milk, chia seeds, and then some vanilla and/or maple syrup or jam for sweetener, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and sometimes acai powder.

It's also really good with pumpkin puree, mashed banana, anything!

What are your favorite uses for Chia seeds?

This was a really good batch - but I say that all the time!

I love the Spelt, and the PB was amazing, too! I was expecting it to be more raisin-y, but I just realized a few minutes ago after I was helping myself to more that they're mostly on the bottom - so next time I use it I need to be sure to stir!

Self explanitory leftovers. I meant to grab half a sweet potato I had left or make the last naan dough up to go with it, but totally forgot. As it was, as much as it looks, it was not enough and I was ravenous by the time the day was done!

An Apple Walnut SoyJoy bar was broken into on my drive home. Always prepared with the snackage! The apple walnut flavor is actually really good. My first soyjoy bar was raisin almond, and some of you may remember my on-the-fence opinion on it. The parmesan cheese really weirded me out, too. But this apple-walnut one didn't have a strange after-taste at all, and the apple flavor was naturally apple-y, not artificially at all, like some bars can be. Overall - I recommend!

I came home and prepared a three-peat dinner:

The last of the noodles, last of the sugar snap peas, last piece of naan dough, and half of a leftover sweet potato. And some almond mozzarella on top for fun and because it is so dang delicious.

I think that is my favorite shirataki recipe thus far. And I loved having that naan dough at my disposal! I will have to be making more soon :)

Does anyone have any fun plans for the weekend?

I may need to bake up some of my carrot-bran muffins. I'm all out! I like having them with my nightime snack. That or I may try my hand at some sort of raw cookie. I've never made them before. I usually just help myself to a handful of dates :P

And also, a question for other bloggies: I've been hearing lots about wordpress being much more beneficial in the long run versus blogspot. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Those of you who have gone from one to the other, or have thought about it as well? Would love some opinions :)

I'm thinking about doing a fun giveaway soon, too! Any thoughts? I realize I'm far from a "big" blog, - but I think a fun little "vermont pride" giveaway will be fun - especially since I really appreciate you guys who do read on a daily basis. Even when I'm boring, like today :)

I Got Issues.

2010-02-18T17:08:00.000-08:00

Uh, so, can anybody else hardly believe it's Thursday already?!

It snuck up on me - and I'd almost forgotten that I'm on break from classes all of next week! My college goes on break every 5 weeks (or 6?) so that kids don't get depressed. They always come at jussst the right time - whenever I get the thoughts of "hmmm..do I really need to go to class today...?" I can tell there's a break coming up :)

Yes - believe it or not, there's oats under there!

As I've mentioned before, I've never been a huge chocolate fan. Even growing up I'd opt for the skittles or gummy bears, if I had to chose a candy. Exceptions were if coconut and/or almonds were in the chocolate, of course :) Go figure - now that dark chocolate is discovered to be good for your health, right? hah. But anyways - sometimes I get the urge for some chocolatey goodness, and this morning was a prime example.

Yep - under that mess is a good ol' batch of banana-almond chocolate spelt & tvp cereal!

It's no secret how much I love spelt bread - so I couldn't wait to try this Rolled Spelt hot cereal! Unfortunately, I should not have used them in such a "flavor-masking" bowl such as this - I couldn't detect the differences of flavor between spelt and oats. Oh well - tomorrow!

In the Mix: 2 T. TVP, 2 T. Rolled Spelt, 1 T. wheat bran, 1/4 sliced nanner, goji berries, almond extract, 1.5 t. organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 packet sun crystals.

For the "Icing": Greek yogurt, chia seeds, acai powder, dollop honey, vanilla extract, almondmilk

On the Top: sliced nanner, icing, toasted coconut, toasted almonds, flax, strawberry-pom jam, white choco coconut PB

Yum-o! I lovelove the combo of almond, coconut, banana, and chocolate!

This morning I actually didn't go to my first two classes - but only because it was a make up day! Teachers kinda "get" that kids hate showing up when break is so close I guess, haha. So - I scheduled to shoot a senior portrait and then thought I'd run into town to Bed Bath & Beyond, and Hannaford. (rut roh - now you have an idea what the title of this post alludes to, huh?)

Anyways - still packed a lunch and snacks!

Simple Bulgur wrap with spinach - that bulgur from last night is a great wrap filler! Would have been better pressed on the 'nini maker, of course ;)

naranja, trail mix, veggie crisps, wrap, tea, nanner, spelt toast with dates, pb, and jam.

and of course coffee and agua!

After a very cold but good shoot, I hit up Bed, Bath & Beyond in search of cute bowls and plates. I've been getting so bored photographing the same old ones, I'm not gonna lie. Is that bad? haha.

That and, I adore browsing through all those kitchen appliances - I could have a hay-day in there! I found some super cool bowls and plates - you'll see! Next up? Hannafords. Oh, heavens. Why am I allowed in there? I've got serious issues. All I needed were some shirataki noodles! But of course I had to browse the peanut butter and jam aisle and wound up with two new PB & Co PB's and two new jams. And trust me - I almost had far more jams! Luckily, I shied away from the mustard aisle, but only because there was another woman blocking the whole shelf. I silently thanked her. Although - I have been dying to find PB&Co around here - and the jams were on sale :)

After making it back to campus and nomming on my lunch while surfing the web in my mom's office [the only other place to eat without freezing or looking strange is the dining hall - and you can't get in without paying or swiping ID. Since I commute, I don't have a meal plan, so would have to pay.] I had our first photo critique. It went much better than I thought! Still not sure what the teacher thinks, but there were good critiques and some really nice work from the other students, too. I was surprised, though - for once, I was the talkative one! Usually, I listen to everyone else and chime in when really necessary or I have something I really want to say. This is a really quiet group, however!

It was also a very fast critique. I made it home in time to edit some of the senior portraits & snack on some spelt bread (with, of course, pb, jam, and dates & a vanilla latte) before making possibly the best dinner of the week. Hmm...lemon...sensing a new pattern, here...

I can't help it - I love shirataki noodles! Maybe it's in my blood - my mom loves them, too.

Creamy Lemon-Garlic Noodles with Tuna, Bacon, & Veggies

Ingredients For the Noodles:

-1 pkg Shirataki noodles/pasta, rinsed & microwaved 1 m.

-1 can chunk tuna

- 2-3 T. olive oil

-1/4 c. diced red onion

-1/2 carrot, diced

-1 T. minced garlic

-3/4 c. sugar snap peas

-2 slices cooked turkey bacon, diced

-salt, pepper

For the Sauce:

-1/2 c. plain greek yogurt

-1 T. lemon juice

-lemon pepper

-crushed red pepper

-basil

-scant 1/4 c. almondmilk/milk/cream

-1 T. BBQ sauce
-1 T. dijon mustard

Sautee minced garlic, red onion, carrot, peas, and bacon in olive oil until soft. Add in tuna, and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the sauce, seasoning to taste.

Add noodles to veggie mixture and combine, followed by the sauce.

Serve with lemon-pepper naan (naan dough prepared in lemon pepper-covered iron skillet) and parmesan cheese.

Delish! Seriously loving having that naan dough on hand, and it is so. darn. good. with the lemon pepper!

Whatcha think of new plate #1, btw?! I think it's pretty neat - though I do wish it wasn't so flat!

Honestly - I think the shirataki noodles are perfect for this. I don't look at them as a sub for pasta - I look at them as jazzy ramen noodles! haha.

Lately, my "unpictured evening snacks" have often been consisting of heated applesauce and/or greek yogurt, with jam, pb or ab, dates or raisins, and some kashi (and sometimes some of those butterscotch chips!) or a slice of spelt toast with pb or ab, jam, and dates, also heated. Can you tell I seriously adore dates?

What's your favorite unusual snack?

I guess toast isn't unusual - what's unusual is that I love something so simple! haha.

Just Take My Word for it...

2010-02-17T18:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Humpday! The week's almost over already...can you believe it?

I woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow, and was ready to play with a [small] portion of my Bob's order that I received yesterday.

I actually ordered a ridiculous amount of grain-y things...but I decided to start here! I've got to pace myself, though - unfortunately, I can't open them all at once! I have a "thing" about that, hah.

What better way to try them with a new "combo," too?

How about some plum oats?!

The Mix: 2 T. Barley Flakes, 2 T. TVP, 1/4 c. almondmilk, 1/2 c. brewed coffee, goji berries, majority of a chopped plum, cinnamon

On the Top: caramelized plum, pineapple chia seed "icing," dates, toasted coconut, toasted almonds, ground flax, pom. strawberry jam, and white choco. coconut PB.

mmm! quite good :)I just wish the plum was a bit more ripe. The slices I warmed up in a skillet with some maple syrup were okay, but the chunks in with the cereal were a bit tart. This was my first bowl in eons that didn't have banana!

Verdict on the barley flakes? Good! I still combined them with TVP because I really like to get a lot of protein at breakfast. That's why I do it with normal oatmeal, too. Hey, it's what works for me! These were quite voluminous - my bowl was almost too small! And I liked their chewy texture. Not too much of a taste difference, really. But that's okay! I love experimenting with new grains.

Lunch: carrot sticks and a panini wrap consisting of hummus, two fried eggs, spinach, red onion, red pepper, dill pickle, and a dash of the cheesy ranch sauce leftover from last night's dinner.

Snackage during work: homemade "trail mix" [kashi H2H, total, Snyder's butter snaps, dates, raisins, walnuts, crumbled mate bar, crumbled kashi bar. basically, the whole cupboard.] huuuuuge orange, and that white container is some almondmilk for coffee

Snackage on the drive in: spelt toast with PB, jam & dates, nanner.

good foodage.

The mac at work finally got up and running around noon today. Luckily, nothing was lost and it was something I don't understand and can't even recite back to you all because I am terrible at understanding computer dynamics. lol! But, it was just mr. mac's time to have a freak out. He just chose me as the crash dummy :)

I had dinner ideas involving a sweet potato, an apple, and chicken or chik'n planned, just wasn't sure what exactly, so thoughts were rolling around in my head for the afternoon. Eventually, my beloved bulgur came into play, and I decided I'd try a lemony bulgur salad with sweet potato, apple, and chicken.

It sort of held true...

[disclaimer: i sincerely apologize for the poor quality of my dinner photos lately! I feel like they all look the same lately, and not very appetizing. I really can't wait until it's light out both morning and night! that will be a huge help. So, until then, take my word for it: I'm not just eating a bunch of gross stuff! haha]

(I realized I forgot dressing for my spinach shortly after these pictures. I didn't feel like re-shooting just for that)

Anyways! Now that those disclaimers are out of the way, this was really good. Promise.

I ended up just hoping it'd turn out good and made extra, thinking it'd be a really good wrap filler. I definitely am glad I made that call! Here's what I did - just use the seasonings to your taste - that's what I did, so don't have exact measurements.

Creamy Sweet Potato and Bulgur Salad

-1/2 c. cracked bulgur wheat [I use hodgson mill's bulgur with soy]

-1 c. water + 2 T as needed

-diced red onion, about 1/4 c.

-dab of butter

-handful baby spinach, torn

-diced carrot

-1 small sweet potato, or 3/4 med., cooked and cubed
-1/4 c. raisins
-1/4 c. walnuts or almonds, opt.

-minced garlic

- salt and pepper

-lemon pepper

-dash nutmeg

-dash curry powder (opt)

-dried basil

-1/4 c. greek yogurt

-1 t. raspberry dijon mustard

-2 T. unsweetened applesauce

-1 T. lemon juice

Toast the bulgur and red onion in small amount of butter and minced garlic until fragrant - about 10 m. Season with salt, pepper, lemon pepper, basil, and nutmeg.Add water and spinach and carrots and simmer until tender / water is soaked up. Add in raisins.

Meanwhile, mix together greek yogurt, applesauce, lemon juice, mustard, basil, lemon pepper, and curry powder (if desired).

Once bulgur mixture is ready, add your cooked and cubed sweet potato. Allow to cool for a bit before combining the dressing and bulgur. Mix in nuts, if desired.

I didn't end up using all of the dressing - use your judgement! And hopefully I remembered everything...heh.

I had it with a naan cooked in lemon pepper. I just sprayed the cast iron skillet, sprinkled it with lemon pepper, and then slapped the naan bread down. The lemon pepper really added to it, I must say! (both the naan and the salad)

I was too lazy to roll my naan dough out. I guess it's not very naan-like, but I'll still call it that.

Hopefully I haven't made everyone lose their appetites! I promise it was quite satisfying, however! Creamy, refreshing goodness. I eat a lot of spicy foods - as you all well know - and sometimes forget how much I enjoy food that isn't spicy, as well. For some reason it seems more satisfying and healthy, lol.

I think I've gotten so distracted so many times throughout the course of this posting, that I really hope it makes sense. I've got a lot running through my head - shooting a senior portrait tomorrow, and need to get my photos ready for our first critique, too. And need to take advantage of a bunch of BOGO sales at price chopper! Food is always a priority, ya know ;)

Anyways - that is all from my end.

What's your favorite Bob's Red Mill product? Or, what's a grain you love, or one you really want to try?

Extremes

2010-02-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

First of all, thank you guys so much for your kind words after yesterday's post. You're all too sweet! I hope I didn't sound like too much of a Debbie Downer - in all honesty, days like that, I can't help but to laugh a little! Keeps ya from crying, ya know? But in all reality, nothing seriously catastrophic happened (okay, well, the computer crashing stinks, but it really wasn't my fault, lol) but how often does everything happen all at once like that? haha.

Secondly, I don't think I can ever ask what your favorite ______ is ever again! Why? I'm way too jealous of all the awesome jams you guys can find in your areas! Fig? Creme of Dates with Almond? Ginger? Vanilla chestnut? Seriously - every single suggestion about had my mouth watering! I think I would especially kill for Creme of Dates with Almond ;)

But anyways - on to today!

Lets just say...it was the extreme opposite of yesterday!

In the Base: bulgur, oats, TVP, and wheat bran mix, with cinnamon, nutmeg, goji berries, 1/4 banana, and orange zest.

In the "Icing": greek yogurt, chia seeds, sliced pineapple, and almondmilk.

On the Top: flax, toasted coconut, toasted macadamia nuts, 1/4 banana, orange zest & wedges, pomegranate strawberry jam, Naturally Nutty White Chocolate Coconut PB, and poppyseeds - just because!

Holy Yum! Sometimes there's no such thing as too much of a good thing, I guess!

I realized that this PB will still last a year if I don't refrigerate it. Safe to say - it won't last that long, so I'm leaving it out now! It gets too hard in the fridge. I like it to melt in! And with the new knowledge - I'm not so afraid to open the others *gasp*at the same time. For some reason I thought they went bad way faster.

This peanut butter is seriously amazing. I love that it's not very chocolatey, and the coconut is allowed to take center stage :) Probably because it's white chocolate, not dark. Which, I actually just realized this morning as I was thinking to myself how glad I was that it wasn't overly chocolatey. Uh, duh, Jess....just read the label. lol...

floating oats!

Yes - these were taken outside.

It was cold. But they look so much pretty outside, don't you agree?

Sorry - I got a little photo happy this morning, I'd say.

Before I left for my first classes I threw together some "overnight oats" consisting of plain oikos, almond milk, chia seeds, oats, goji berries, maple sizzurp, and a crumbled mate energy bar. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it home for lunch like usual because there was a possibility - weather permitting - that I would be shooting someone's senior portrait. It was supposed to start snowing right around noon - when I get out of class - and we were supposed to shoot then, too.

Well, the shoot got rescheduled because she was too sick - and good thing, too! It's finally storming pretty darn good! Started right when I got off the phone with her. So, I [slowly!] made it home - the snow really started sticking to the roads, and fast.

And, with the wintery weather, couldn't decide if I still wanted cold "over morning" oats! So I opted for the best of both worlds:

In the Pita Panini: turkey bacon, spinach, roma tomato slices, red onion, almond mozzarella, and maple-dijon mustard.

On the side: sundried tomato hummus, Schneiders butter bites pretzels, carrot, and Suzie's spelt multi-seed flatbreads.

This. Was. Perfect. I think I'm in love with just about every component. That almond mozzarella is pretty awesome, as ws my first turkey bacon experience!

It was made even better that I could see this every time I looked out the door...

I love the peaceful beauty of snow when it falls like this :) Isn't it gorgeous?

Are you a snow lover or hater?

It's funny - I've never gone snowboarding or skiing a day in my life, and hate being cold. But I love, love, love, watching the snow fall.

Lunch was followed shortly with my dessert, something probably only appetizing-looking to me, but oh well!

Some seriously good oats. Everyone must put dried goji berries in their next batch of overnight oats. They get deliciously moist and...delicious. haha. Same as rehydrating them while your oatmeal boils. So good! I don't really care for them dry...

It was about this time that I decided I would not be driving back for my night class! The roads were much too sloppy already - and even if the commute in wasn't bad, I only knew the one home would be awful. I hate driving at night in snow storms. It's like driving in a tunnel - and really exhausts your eyes! Not to mention the conditions in general.

This is a really nice professor, though - so hopefully he's relatively understanding. I feel bad because I hate looking like I'm copping out!

With this information, I could have ditched my plans for a quick, easy dinner since had I gone to class I'd be getting home quite late. But, I'd grown rather fond of my idea and decided to roll with it. It incorporated two new finds - one from my co-op trip the other day, and one from my Bob's Red Mill order I received today!

I knew the hot dogs would come in handy, and have pretty good nutritionals, and have been dying to try out nutritional yeast since reading Mae's blog.

So, I decided on Turkeys in a Blanket!

Okay, so this dun' look so hot.

It. was. so. good.

There's just something so great about comfort food made quasi-healthy, don't you agree?

What's the "blanket" you ask?

Oh, you know...just the Naan I made up the other day!

Crafty.

Turkey dogs all cozy in a Naan dough with sundried tomatoes and a cheesy ranch sauce?

And burnt broccoli?

Yes, please!

And, verdict on the turkey dogs? Oh my goodness. So quick, so convenient, and so good! They're really moist - I was kind of expecting...I duunno. Dry weirdness? haha. But really. They're quite good!

But that's about it from me!

What's your favorite "comfort food"? Whether you healthify it or not!

Also! Is everyone familiar with Tastespotting? It's a relatively addictive website, and where a lot of my ideas stem from - it's picture and one-liner based, so it's easy to grab an idea and run, rather than follow a recipe. And, if you're a recipe-follower, the recipe is provided via a blog link.
Well anyways! There's a new website similar - but just for desserts! It's called Dessertspotting, and Donalyn is looking for more participants, photos, recipes - be it a healthy recipe or not! Breakfasts, sweets, etc. I know even though I try to healthify many things, I view websites like these on a daily basis because it's not forcing a recipe on you before seeing a photo or one-liner description. You can pretty much take the flavors and idea and adapt it to your nutritional needs and desires! That and - I know tons of you dear readers have beautiful and delicious recipes that are certainly deserving of a feature. So go ahead, get on the boat and start submitting to this wonderful community!

One of those Days...

2010-02-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

Today was kinda one of those days that just remind you we're all human :)

You know...everything's going great for a couple weeks, and then you get a day where it seems like nearly everything that can go wrong, does? Ehhhh, well.

It started out fair enough:

It was kinda like a trip to the tropics, actually!

Mixed in with the oatmeal was banana, sliced pineapple, and goji berries.

And on the top? Flax, toasted coconut, toasted macadamia nuts, sliced banana, raisins, chia-seed yogurt "icing," pomegranate-strawberry jam, and Naturally Nutty Choco Coconut P.B.

Yum!

It was quite colorful underneath, too - I took a photo but it was blurry. Should have taken that as a hint...

Afterwards, packed up a lunch consisting of a sweet potato & tomato pita panini, an orange, sugar snap peas, carrot sticks, and homemade trailmix.

The rest of my morning banana and a half a slice of bakery spelt bread with A.B. and pomegranate-strawberry jam for the car ride in, too. Why half? For some strange reason, the other half got stuck in the toaster and started smoking. Uh, whaaa? I guess I sliced it a bit uneven. Oh well. I wasn't hungry, I just wanted it. lol. An added boost to my day, if you will.

Work started out okay...I shot an artist reproduction all by myself (involved a lot of light fidgeting and I've only done it twice before) so I was pretty proud, even though someone came in looking to have their passport taken while I was right in the middle of shooting, so of course I had to hurriedly disassemble the repro-lighting set-up to get the lighting right for a portrait/passport to shoot that. Shoot the passport, re-assemble the lighting, shoot the painting, and again disassemble the repro lighting to re-assemble the passport/portrait lighting. Oi. It's good practice.

I guess. haha.

So that wasn't too bad. But then it happened.

It? you ask?

Well. I seem to have a knack for being the one using technology when it decides to finally...uh...kaput.

I was happily retouching and printing photos from the Mac, when I turn around to grab a print off the printer to put on the dry-rack. Next thing you know, I turn around and there is a message saying "You need to restart your computer now." In about five different languages, and unlike any message I have ever seen before.

My "project" boss had just left for the day because his sister-in-law was having a baby. (the one who kinda oversees digital/tech-y jobs and gives me the stuff to work on)

I was going it alone. (well, with my other boss - runs the business, but not as UTD with the digital projects & such)

After much googling, I discover it is a kernel panic, which has to do with incompatible RAM or software, or a severely corrupt hard-drive. Cool, right? Well, let me tell you, I was in a kernel panic for the better part of the day. When I left it was still a very unhappy Mac, so I guess we'll find out Wednesday what the word is.

To make matters worse: An order came through that needed to be printed off of that Mac that the customer needed tonight. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be happening. I had a feeling that would happen.

But hey - dinner would make everything better, right? Salmon tonight. I love salmon! And I'd do a Maple-Ginger glaze. Mmmm! I love maple! and Ginger!

Uhh, okay...I love ginger in moderation. Unfortunately, I had a minor accident with the ginger shaker and added way too much. Like, a nearly unbearable amount. Pretty sure I only kept eating in efforts to convince myself that it wasn't that bad. But...it really wasn't that great. The good part of this meal? The orange slices. And the salmon was okay when I scraped the glaze off. heh...

However, I think my "hey you're human" day is turning around after all. I just found another bag of butterscotch chips in the cupboard. And I made a piece of Spelt toast without burning it. You'd best believe I'm enjoying a bowl of warmed-up applesauce with P.B. and butterscotch chips, and some spelt toast with PB & J :) Pretty sure I'll be nomming my way through the night, though - I tend to do that when I'm unhappy with my dinner because I feel like i was ripped off, food-wise. lol.

Pretty excited to be watching the downhill skiing now - these guys are crazy! Did anyone else catch the men's moguls last night? My knees hurt just watching. Pretty insane, pretty awesome.

AND! We're finally supposed to get a minor snow storm tomorrow! It's been far too long since Vermont's seen snow...you guys in the South are hogging it all this year!

On a relatively unrelated note:What's your favorite jam, jelly, or preserve?

Brand or flavor :)

I love finding interesting new jams and preserves...kind of like a nut-butter obsession but different...though I'm pretty sure I'm beginning a nut-butter obsession, too!

What a Buffalo

2010-02-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day, beautiful people!

Did you all treat yourselves to Valentine's goodies, I hope?

My day actually started with a real cookie - and I'm not talking about another crazy oatmeal concoction! Part of my valentine's gift to my mom was some Cherry-Almond Ginger Cookies from a local bakery. We each started our mornings off with one. Hey, we've gotta do what we've gotta do, right? It was so delicious that I'm sure its' flavors will appear in a future oatmeal bowl.

But this morning's was to die for, as well:

I didn't want this bowl to end.

Remember when I used to have blueberries non-stop with my breakfast? Well, I still have some from that craze, and they may be coming back after this delicious-ness!

In the bowl: The usual mix (including banana) with frozen blueberries and ground ginger. Obsessed with ginger lately! I also have been putting goji berries in with the mix while it boils. They get deliciously soft. Does anyone know if this affects their benefits, though?

Toppings of the morning: ground golden flax, toasted coconut & macadamia nuts, chia-seed yogurt icing, sliced banana, blueberry-cherry jam, and Naturally Nutty Chocolate Coconut PB.

Heaven in a bowl. But when don't I say that lately?! I only wish the Naturally Nutty didn't get so solid in the fridge. I like when PB or AB gets all melty :)

Most of my morning was spent typing a paper for my family violence class (I hope new readers don't get the wrong impression when they read that...lol) and getting photos together for our first photo critique. I'm actually not really sure what the teacher is looking for because she won't answer my e-mail, and I definitely feel like I'm missing something. But I guess I'll just march to the beat of my own drum?

So, I'm doing a couple comps, with two pictures - including the black and white portraits I posted the other day...

And a couple just as-is. These look kind of bland on here since they're being res'd down so much, I apologize. They are HDR photos - High Dynamic Range - so they are really quite vibrant in their original forms. I need to upload some to my flickr.

HDR photos are the compilations of at least three different photos, of varying exposures. So, I would shoot each image at the correct exposure, then one image 2 "stops" under, and another 2 "stops" over. This allows you to capture the details in what would otherwise be overexposed highlights (i.e. the sky) and underexposed shadows (i.e. the windows). It's really quite fun! I think the reason I enjoy this moreso than regular digital captures is because I like film so much - but this is something that you can't do with film. I guess I'm still of the belief that film is superior, so if I'm going to shoot digitally, I might as well be doing something I can't do with analog.

But, I'll stop with the photo-geekery. That's my little knowledge tid-bit of the day rather than a foodie one :) If you're interested in HDR photography, check out the blog link above. Definitely some good explanations there.

Breaking for lunch, I did something new that I initially found to be a very odd idea indeed:

A sweet potato on a sandwich?! But...but...aren't those textures too similar?

I guess it just never occured to me that a sweet potato - already a starchy, carb-y food, would really fit in on more bread. But after seeing this panini I decided it was worth a try. And I mean really. How can you go wrong with a sweet potato? Worse comes to worse, just dismantle it and eat everything separately, right?

Well, it was fantastic, and you should go make a sweet potato panini right now.

I didn't quite follow the recipe - I dislike avocados quite a bit, actually - but did attempt to mimic the dressing, and the idea in general, of course.

I first panini'd half a sweet potato cut into rounds and seasoned with salt, pepper, and curry powder until soft. Meanwhile, on a pita, I spread a mixture of dijon mustard, greek yogurt, poppyseeds, and maple dijon mustard. On top of this I layered baby spinach, red onion, roma tomato slices, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and curry powder. Placed the sweet potato rounds, folded, and pressed the whole sandwich in half. Oh. So. Good.

My intentions were to use feta cheese, but before opening the container, I noticed it had a feb.28 use-by date and decided I'd rather bring it back to the store considering it was just purchased yesterday, lol. Ah well.

I also decided to try baking the rest of the butter beans! I loved making curried baked chick-peas so I decided to do the same thing with these butter beans - rinsed and patted them dry before shaking in a bag with curry powder and french fry seasoning. French fry seasoning = bad idea, baked butter beans = good idea.

They were good, but I guess I didn't realize how salty the french fry seasoning is, and it became overbearable halfway through :( This from the girl who is relatively liberal with salt, too.

I had one of the best snacks today, too:

Okay, looks simple. But have you ever heated up applesauce with butterscotch chips before? Before this, I hadn't either. After this, I will be doing it often. Once the butterscotch chips are replaced. Who leaves four butterscotch chips in a bag? I think it must have been my mom. I've noticed she'll think she's doing a nice thing by just taking a small nibble of something, which just results in leaving a small nibble. Or, as I say, tease. Just eat the whole thing! I'd rather not know what I'm missing, I guess. haha.

What's your take - do you want to be left a tiny little "tease" of something and wish there was more, or not even know it existed in the first place?

It's funny, because just that morning I made fun of her for doing it with some of my leftover banana, haha.

Anyways; in addition: homemade trail mix [kashi, total, crumbled mate energy bar, walnuts, and goji berries], raisins, Spelt bread toast with PB & Blueberry-Cherry jam & a Choco-Mint Yerba Mate Latte! Well, quasi-latte.

Naan also made an appearance again tonight! I just put all of the dough balls in the fridge so I could make them as I wanted them. Sooo handy!

Has anyone else noticed my food tends to have an orange-y hue to it lately? With all this curry, sweet potatoes, pumpkin puree, and Franks, I think I'll be orange soon!

Buffalo-BBQ Chik'n Naan Pizza!

The Naan recipe makes the perfect size for one slice. I was afraid it'd be way too small, but my eyes are also way larger than my stomach.

For the chik'n mixture, I simply sauteed 1 c. chik'n tenders in minced garlic, added half a cooked sweet potato, chopped (leftover from lunch!) and then 1 T. Honey-BBQ sauce and 3T. Frank's Red Hot. Meanwhile, I rolled out and made the Naan in a cast-iron skillet. Assembled by layering baby spinach, mozzarella, slices roma tomato, red onion, chik'n mixture, and more mozzarella (actually, I used the almond mozzarella - so good! just looks a lil funny) and then baked in the oven until the cheese was melty. Next time, I'll just cover it in the skillet. I think it'd be easier than turning the oven on just to melt some cheese!

Served with some delicious homemade ranch dressing on the side :)

Question of the Day: Is there anything better than buffalo anything?

haha, okay, besides that, did anyone do anything special for Valentine's Day?

p.s. loved reading everyone's favorite indian dishes. I wish we had a real indian restaraunt around here. I want to try more indian food!

Beans, Beans, Beans...

2010-02-13T17:56:00.000-08:00

Is everybody's Saturday turning out to be a good one? I hope so - I feel like mine was pretty productive!

Started out with a relatively simple bowl of pumpkin hot cereal:

I felt it was time to go back to basics again :)

Today incorporated pumpkin puree and a couple slices banana while cooking, and topped with some pumpkin chia-seed yogurt pudding for topping, as well as some toasted coconut, toasted walnuts, raisins, banana, wheat germ, raspberry preserves, and almond butter.

Delicious no matter whether simple or complex!

The morning was then spent getting some groceries with mi madre and then I went into town to clean the office and finish my valentine's day shopping. We're not big Valentine's Day people obviously, but we usually tend to get each other random cutesy nick-nacks. I was back by noon (I love waking up early and getting the "grunt work" over with before it's even the afternoon!) and opted for a small snack incorporating this beautiful creation:

Ahmahgaw. Sooooo good. I received my Naturally Nutty order yesterday, but didn't try any then, and nor did I have it with my breakfast this morning - will power, I tell ya! But when I got home I needed a snack (I like eating lunch later) so opted for an orange and had just half a Joseph's Flax Pita left after last night's dinner. So I made a quick little PB&J panini! White Choco Coconut + Pomegranate-Cherry Jam + Soft Flax Pita + Panini Press = Heaven. This isn't Jess talking right now, it's her spirit. The end.

Have you tried any of the Naturally Nutty line? What's your favorite?

I also got two other flavors - but you'll have to wait and find out what they are :)

After getting some schoolwork done for an hour or two, I was ready for lunch.

After last night's Garlicky Butter Beans & Scallops with Bacon, I had a big spoonful or two left-over that I added to. Normally if there's such a small amount left I don't bother saving it (It's just a tease!) but I knew I'd be using more of the beans for a wrap for lunch today (whole can open!) and thought I could just add more beans and veggies to the already-deliciously flavored mixture. Worked great! I just heated last night's mixture up in a pan, added some more butter beans, dijon and garlic, and spooned that over a pita that had some romaine and red onion. Tri-Fold and Press!

Delish. Other snackins included this Luna Cookie:

It was on clearance for 90 cents at P-Chop. Couldn't resist.

The verdict? It's basically a brownie Clif Z-Bar but with peppermint icing! I definitely think it's the same recipe, haha. Which, since as you all know, isn't a bad thing because I love Z-Bars. But I was definitely expecting something more like a cookie! The peppermint icing made it not too chocolate-y though, which was my only issue with the Choco Brownie Z-Bar. I heart chocolate peppermint.

I have made so much progress organizing my recipes! I am finally getting things out of my over-crowded bookmarks online, and organizing and printing from Word. I feel like my web-based collection is too small now,though! Gotta start bookmarking again.

Dinner tonight was...you guessed it...more butter beans! I actually don't think I'd ever used butter beans much prior to last night, but they may very well be one of my new favorite beans. Of course, since I love all beans I don't know how valid that statement is. I opted for a Butter Bean Curry with Homemade Naan!

Okay, so my Naan is nowhere near as gorgeous as Jen's is, but I tried! I'd never made Naan before, and I was terrified after having a failed Roti attempt not too long ago. I wasn't sure how thin to roll them out, and I am pretty sure I went a bit too thin, but it actually came out really delicious! I'd type out the recipe, but I want you to go read it on this amazing blog instead! Jen has so many amazing recipes, and she's not lying when she calls it "Ridiculously Easy Naan." A few notes, however: I halved the recipe, used 1 c. bread flour and 1 c. whole wheat flour, used garlic salt with parsley in place of the salt, used half almond milk and half water, and used olive oil rather than canola. Mmmm!

The bean curry was helped along by the Good Housekeeping Coconut-Chile Curry Sauce that I've mentioned on here previously. I sauteed butter beans, carrot slices, red pepper, diced plum tomato, and onion in minced garlic, added 1 T. of the Curry sauce, and seasoned with ginger, curry powder, cumin, and pepper. When it was all done, I topped with some shredded coconut (key!!) and had a side of sugar snap peas, as well. The craving for them hit - I used to have them on a daily basis, ya know!

A simple, easy dinner...but definitely hit the spot. The curry was perfect scooped up by the Naan! You really must make it. If I can, I'm pretty sure anybody can.

I'll leave you on this note:

I've got some Moguls and speed skating to watch!

Night everyone :)

What's your favorite Indian dish?

Overboard

2010-02-12T17:28:00.000-08:00

Is everyone super happy it's Friday? I know I'd be lying if I said I wasn't! I'm also super excited for the start of the Olympics. Finally something good on television!

This morning started with another ridiculous bowl of Toasted Coconut Gingerbread Oats with Choco-Mocha "Icing". I think it's safe to say I've been going a little overboard with the toppings as of late, no? hehe.

At least it's still kind of healthy though, right? It just feels like cheating :P

I'm totally loving the whole molasses/gingerbread flavor. And hey - blackstrap molasses just so happens to be an excellent source of iron and calcium! How ya like them apples?

The usual mix with heaping 1/8 t. each ginger, nutmeg, ground clove, and cinnamon; vanilla extract, and 1.5 t. molasses.

Topped with 2 t. coconut (toasted) toasted walnuts, goji berries, crystallized ginger, banana, wheat germ, raisins, and a maraschino cherry, just for good measure!

The Chia-Seed Yogurt Pudding "Frosting" of the day was brewed coffee, almond milk, chia seeds, greek yogurt, unsweetened organic cocoa-powder, and a splash of agave.

*deep breath* phew! that was a mouthful!

Lunch was a repeat from the past couple days, yet still hasn't gotten old! I actually froze the meatballs so they kept pretty well. Still enough for one more delicious turkey buffalo wrap, too.

Work actually went by pretty quickly today, just slowing down towards the end of the day so I ended up leaving a half hour early. It was a beautiful day outside so I took the opportunity to walk a package down to the post office. I love being able to take a short walk during work, even though the wind did get quite chilly after a couple minutes! Oh, well. The sun was gorgeous, and I can't help but to smile when it's out. The weather has such a huge impact on my mood, I think moreso than most people.

How much does the weather affect your mood?

I came home to a surprise!

Aside from my Naturally Nutty shipment coming in, my mom was thinking of me when she saw these at the Discount Foods Store! Sure, the cans are dented but who cares? They're not expired yet, and will certainly be consumed before that date, anyway. I was mourning to her about the pumpkin shortage awhile ago, but she remembered...and I've been dying to try the S'mores Z Bars.

She's too good to me :)

Dinner tonight was a good one, too! Even though I only got home about 20 minutes earlier than usual, I just felt like I had so much more time to cook! It was quite nice. This is another "how is this healthy" meal from me, haha. Sure, I'm not saying it's a prime example of health food by any means, but food can certainly get much junkier than this, too. And I've finally finished those scallops! hah.

Garlicky Scallops & Butter Beans with Bacon

For One

Ingredients:

2 slices raw bacon

~3/4 c. raw scallops with their juice

1/2 c. canned butter beans, undrained

1/8 c. each: diced scallions, diced red bell pepper, diced red onion

2 sundried tomatoes, diced

1.5 t. minced garlic

1 t. honey mustard

salt & pepper

EVOO

Destructions:

1. Defrost scallops in microwave, do not drain liquid from bowl. Microwave bacon on paper towel-covered plate for 45 sec, blot away excess grease, and chop into medium-sized pieces, trimming away excess fat.

2. Over low heat, begin sauteeing the minced garlic in a non-stick pan drizzled lightly with olive oil (alternatively, I'm sure you could omit the EVOO and microwaving the bacon, and instead use the bacon grease in place of EVOO. I declined on the notion.) Add the scallops & their liquid as well as the bacon, scallions, pepper, and onion. Season with honey mustard, salt and pepper, and allow scallops and bacon to finish cooking thoroughly.

3. Once thickened some and scallops and bacon is cooked, add the beans and sundried tomatoes.

4. Plate!

I cut and then toasted a pita with some garlic, and served with a side of "burnt broccoli," as well, and topped with some parmesan. Delish!

If only burnt broccoli looked as appetizing as it tastes. It's my favorite way to eat broccoli! So much better than just steaming or microwaving it.

This was a really good meal. Next time? I'll be making some homemade Naan rather than the pita!

Is anyone else excited to have the Olympics to watch?

What sport are you most looking forward to?

I can't wait to watch the snowboarding. Ice skating is exciting, too. ( the racing )

Subliminal Messaging

2010-02-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

Did everyone else get to enjoy beautiful weather today? Vermont was certainly graced with some beautiful sun and warm temperatures! Given the time of the year it is I should be crying that it was nearly 40*. Lately all I've been wanting is snow, snow, snow. We have none! But since beautiful sunshine came along with the warmth, there was no way I could complain.

I should have known it would end up being a beautiful day after seeing the subliminal message in this ridiculous bowl of banana cream pie breakfast:

Anyone else see the heart?!Not intentional.

This craziness involved the usual whipped banana bowl of grains, topped with more banana, coconut, walnuts, raisins, and whet germ. The chia-seed yogurt icing had some mashed banana, too! And almond butter and a maraschino cherry, just for good measure, of course.

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven after eating this.

I grabbed the buffalo turkey wrap out of the fridge that I'd made for lunch last night, an orange, a carrot, and a Z Bar and made my way to school for classes.

After my first one I learned of two amazing facts: 1. Int. to C.J. was cancelled, and 2. Photo would just be a "work day" if we so chose! Luckily I learned both these things in e-mails, so decided to do my own photo class by driving round Rutland and finding sketchy places to take photos. Strangely, I've never just walked around downtown with my camera with the intent to take photos. I learned that sometimes you overlook some of the neatest places!

I've got quite a few photos to go through to keep me busy tonight, tomorrow, and the next day! Hopefully I got one or two good ones.

While I was in town, I took advantage of the time to explore our co-op! I've never actually been in there - another shocker, right? I told myself I wouldn't buy much. And I did great until I got to the bulk section, where everything...uh...sort of added up. There's so many fun things, and still feel like I hardly got as much as I wanted! haha. Finds included goji berries, other dried fruits and nuts, almond "mozzarella," oikos, applegate farms turkey hot dogs, some bars, and some cookies! What I really wanted to find was coconut butter, but no such luck. My other stop was my favorite little organic deli/cafe, the Back Home Again. I about lived there all summer long, until I started school. (Then "Jess's Budgeting Act" cut-off so much buying of meals, and encouraged the making & packing of meals. It's ridiculous how much I spent a week buying lunches rather than packing my own!)They make amazing breads, and I needed some Spelt bread. They also sell yerba mate and mate energy bars, which are amazing. So I picked some of those up as well. Bliss.

By the time I was done spending money and taking pictures, it was around 1:45 and I had only eaten all my snacks. They held me over so luckily I wasn't so tempted by any of the delicious wraps and sandwiches at the BHA and decided I'd just enjoy my wrap grilled once I got home!

Look familiar? It hasn't gotten old...but I'm almost out of those meatballs! I do miss hummus and veggie wraps though, so it's all good :)

Dinner was to incorporate one of my interesting co-op finds!

I had planned on just getting some really good marinated mozzarella when I went grocery shopping this weekend (I am picky about my mozzarella. Go big or go home. No skim over here.) but was quite fascinated when I saw this! Never even heard of it before, so of course I had to give it a try. I'm not lactose intolerant, vegan, or anything requiring me to avoid real cheese, but I was quite intrigued. And it's quite good! But we'll get to that.

On the agenda tonight was a Sausage Polenta Bake. I'd been tossing ideas around in my head all morning, and initially wanted to do sausage-apple, but wasn't sure what veggies I had that would go well with that.

So, for 1-2 servings (my mom and I shared it but each had another sausage & sauce on the side) I prepared the bottom polenta layer with:

1 Pesto-Chicken Bilinski Farms Chicken sausage, diced

1/3 c. polenta/corn grits

1 c. water

minced garlic

diced scallions, red pepper, and yellow pepper.

garlic salt, pepper, and basil

I just prepared the polenta as usual and when it was beginning to pull from the sides I added everything in. Poured and spread into a mini casserole dish, and baked at 400* for 20m.

Pre-baking:

Then I decided on a middle veggie layer:

baby spinach - 1 c.?

broccoli crown, chopped

1/4 c. cream of broccoli soup

minced garlic

dijon mustard

salt, pepper to taste

Sauteed in a pan until cooked down & soup about evaporated. By this time your polenta should be about done, so go ahead and put this layer on top.

Top with some sort of marinara/tomato-based sauce on top, and then some mozzarella shreds. (or, in my case, almond mozzarella)

I initially thought I was going to have to make my own "sauce" with diced tomatoes and seasonings like I usually do, but my mom actually had a pot of spaghetti sauce on for some pasta and sausages she was making, so I just stoled some of that. Convenient!

Pop back in the oven until your cheese is melted, and dig in! (Caution: Contents Hot)

Basic, but good :) I still like my sausage-apple polenta casserole idea, though. Soon!

Now, however, it is time for dessert round 2 (round 1 was a mate bar!): chia seed pumpkin pudding!

If you have a local co-op, what's your favorite find there?

Or, if you're grocery shopping, do you end up trying way more new things than you went there with the intention of purchasing?

I know I'm guilty of having a grocery shopping new-foods problem!

'Night everyone!

Back to Basics

2010-02-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Humpday, everyone! Belated Humpday, almost...

This morning started off with a Back to Basics bowl of brekkie.

[Can you tell I have no idea what to call my breakfast mix? It's not oatmeal...and I'm not calling it porridge. Porridge sounds so unappetizing. So it's a bowl of brekkie. Ya dig? haha]

The normal mix con shredded coconut, choco-chia "icing," raisins, rasperry jam, chopped walnuts, and almond butter.

I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted so I decided I'd just do the normal whipped banana bowl. No matter how simple or how complex, it is always so good, wouldn't you agree?

I never really looked at walnuts for their health benefits - I always thought almonds and peanuts were superior! So I was shocked when I learned that Walnuts are actually king! This is because they are loaded with omega-3s, and an insane amount of antioxidant activity levels. They are also a large part of Meditterannean diets because they are very heart healthy, helping to reduce total as well as bad cholesterol, increase artery elasticity, and help to keep the hardening of arteries at bay. [Source]

Work and car-ride eats, in case you were wondering:

My wrapping skills are becoming better by the day.

Repeat of a buffalo turkey meatball wrap, ranch dressin' on the side, carrot sticks, orange, Z Bar, and crack. Remaining nanner and some spelt toast with almond butter just for good measure.

Buuuut, I was able to print some of my film today :) Nothing super impressive, but a couple fun ones:

and....the downside of film:

A big ole scratch, right on my emulsion! Ah well.

Dinner tonight was simply superb. Planning out meals has worked so well. I was hesitant about doing so, since my cravings can change by the second, but I've found that when I look at what I've got planned for dinner the night before or the morning of, I start off just wanting that anyway! I'm allowing some mixing-up of meals; it's more of a "here's 5 meals ideas, here's the ingredients, now just cook them whenever." lol. And all the look-up work has been done when I have time to do it (versus when I get home from work - because that wsn't happening. hah!), so I'm going through all these recipes I've been wanting to try, too! I'm also getting better at knowing when to make extra for leftovers, and when not to. The meatballs worked out great for lunches this week, so besides the strata, I've been making just enough for dinner. Go me! haha. [okay, sometimes there's a littttle left, but not enough worth saving. as you can imagine, Kaia isn't complaining.]

How do you go about your meal planning? On a whim, or planned in advance?

Anyways, back to tonight's Pumpkin-Honey Curry Chik'n!

Served with sweet potatoes and baby spinach.

Ingredients:

-1 c. Quorn Chik'n Tenders, or 1 cup chopped, cooked chicken

-1/2 carrot, chopped

-1/4 c. each chopped yellow and red bell peppers

-1 T. honey

-1 T. honey mustard or dijon mustard

-1/3 c. almond milk

-1 t. Curry Powder

-2 T. pure pumpkin puree

-1 sweet potato, sliced into rounds

-salt and pepper

-baby spinach

Destructions:

-Place sliced sweet potato rounds on panini press/grill, spray with non-stick spray, season with salt and pepper, and allow to cook.

-Meanwhile, combine chik'n, veggies, honey, mustard, milk, pumpkin, and curry powder in small frying pan. Allow to simmer until sauce thickens slightly/chik'n absorbs it.

-Plate baby spinach, top with sweet potatoes, and then the curry mixture.

Enjoy!

In addition to your meal planning strategies, what is your favorite go-to meal?

'Night everyone!

Rejuvenated

2010-02-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up feeling so rejuvenated!

And no, it's not because I went and got a free Denny's Grand Slam :P Pretty sure if that was the case, I'd be feeling dead. lol.

I ended up going to bed relatively early last night, around 10, and slept really well, too! Usually I wake up a time or two, each time wide-awake and ready for it to just be morning...and then a little groggy when 6am does roll round.

Not today! I was ready to be up, bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 6am. Unfortunately, it's my day to "sleep in" until 7, but I decided tojust browse the web and watch the news and relax until then. It was quite nice! I love waking up ready to go and in a good mood. The good mood definitely carried on throughout the day, too. I think this repeat bowl of brekkie helped that :

More gingersnap oats! This time I used a little more than 1/4 t. ground ginger. I'd be lying if I said my tongue wasn't a litttttle tingly by the end! Mmmm.

And some food for thought: did you know that

"Ginger is an anti-inflammatory, which means it may be useful in fighting heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and arthritis. Plus, it's high in antioxidants that fight all kinds of diseases."

Pretty cool, huh? Click here for the source, as well as other tidbits about the 7 most potent disease-fighting spices. I'd like to start "showcasing" random facts about stuff I utilize...mainly foods, spices, etc, but I'm sure some photo stuff will work it's way in here, and some soc. stuff :) Whatcha think?

Today's new bar was a Kashi GoLean Crunch Bar in the chocolate caramel flavor

How is this bar so healthy? It baffles me. It's got some seriously awesome ingredients, and tastes just like a peanut buttah rice krispies! That's probably just me, though, because it is not actually peanut-butter flavored, but I always combine peanut butter with caramel. I dunno. Don't ask.

But! This made an excellent mind-refresher in between classes. Why is it that I get way hungrier and tired sitting at a desk listening to people talk than I do on my feet all morning at work?

Does that happen to anybody else?!

I was super-duper ready to come home for this, though! It took my already great mood (don't you love being in a good mood for no given reason?) to entirely new levels

Buffalo Turkey-Meatball Wrap!

Two summers ago I just about lived off of Buffalo Chicken wraps. For some reason I have let an entirely too-long period of time before having a buffalo something wrap. And those buffalo turkey meatballs were just the ticket! I mixed up a version of Clean Eating's homemade ranch dressing sans buttermilk with just some greek yogurt, dill, chives, garlic salt with parsley, black pepper, and onion powder. Better than ranch dressing, I say. In addition to that, en la wrap es sliced meatballs, more franks, red onion, half a cheese wedge, romaine, dill pickle, and tomato. Oh. So. Heavenly.

Con carrot y the rest of the tomato and dressin' for dippin'.

Afterwards, Kaia and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful sunshine and slightly warmer weather and go for a leisurely walk! I've never been much of a gym person. I much prefer getting my exercise by working outside, going for walks, helping with the horses (or, soon, riding horses, lol) going for a run down my road or doing some cardio kickboxing or pilates. I guess it kind of works out, since - I don't have much time to spend at the gym! I am thinking about getting a membership and starting swimming, though.

What's your favorite form of exercise - be it intentional or unintentional?

I didn't dress very appropriately (yes - I live in Converse, no matter the weather, and I also forgot gloves) because I failed to recognize that yes, while it was quite warmer than it had been, 25* is still pretty chilly.

So, we were only gone about 30 minutes. It was quite refreshing, though. I was cooped up inside most of the weekend, and like going on short ganders whenever the weather is enjoyable :)

Before our walk, I had thrown together some almond milk, pure pumpkin, greek yogurt, chia seeds, cinnamon, and a dash of cheesecake pudding mix and refrigerated to create this delicious pudding that I enjoyed before leaving for class once again:

Gah. So good. Love the chia seeds!

And then this was waiting for me after class:

Not photographically pleasing. But oh-so-good. Lately every meal I've eaten I say to myself after "okay. I never want to eat anything else ever again." Somehow, I keep coming through for you guys and creating new things :P haha.

Leftover strata and some "burnt broccoli" and carrots with a raspberry-honey dijon & balsamic vinegar glaze/dressing. And some parmesan. Perfection.

Aaaaand, that's about it from me! I hope everyone else's Tuesdays were as equally terrific!

(ah, I get it...I need to stop with the corny alliterations.)

Super Strata

2010-02-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

mmm....the smell of gingerbread in the morning!

Gingerbread Oats, that is!

Thinking about a gigantic bakery gingersnap cookie my mom brought home with her the other day, yet left me with just a tease of a taste, I decided I could make my own gingersnap cookie this morning! I love how I always make my favorite desserts into breakfast, haha. And I think I may just like them better - because oats are involved!

To make this yourself, just replace your water with brewed coffee (if I was really on-the-ball, I would have brewed some of the Green Mountain Gingerbread coffee I have. I didn't think of it 'til after!), whip in half a banana (more for sweetness and volume - you can't much taste it)lots of cinnamon, ginger, and ground clove, splash of vanilla extract, and 1 tsp dark molasses. Top with crystalized ginger, raisins, chopped walnuts, banana, and Chia-Seed Yogurt "icing". I added a teaspoon of organic light brown sugar, as well...I thought it would need the added sweetness, but it turned out being unnecessary, lol.

Another winning bowl! Next time I'm adding even more ginger, though :)

After getting ready for work (Involving packing an amazing lunch involving a sundried tomato & feta turkey meatball wrap, an orange, carrot sticks, oat bran pretzels, and a kashi bar) I was so on the ball that I prepared tonight's dinner!

Any guesses what I made? Anyone? Anyone?

Turkey Meatball and Apple Strata!

If you've never had strata before...you're seriously missing out. Seriously.

It's funny, because up until now, Strata has always been a once-a-year occasion: Christmas morning. In my mind, Strata=Christmas Brunch. Nothing else! My mom has always made up a huge, cheesy, sausage breakfast strata. This year was the first year I joined the fun, and made up a healthified version to go along with hers! Our "showdown" was tons of fun, but none of us could choose between the two. The traditional was, of course, delicious (be it greasy!) and mine was healthy and delicious.

It's funny because it's not necessarily as much as a holiday meal as my mind has ingrained it to be. And after seeing Brandie make it so many times recently (re: not a holiday, Jess!) I realized I, too, should be enjoying this delicious dish during the week! Preferably multiple times :)

My favorite thing about strata is how versatile it is. You could make it differently every time, but my favorite - which I just discovered this past Christmas, during my mom and I's strata showdown - incorporates sausage and apples, and feta! Another awesome thing about strata is that while it easily can be a "guilt" meal, it doesn't need to be. It'd be great to bring to a get-together. No one would be any the wiser! (Okay, that, and - how cool is it that I could throw this together in 15 minutes before work, refrigerate for the day so the bread soaks up the egg, and just call home when I left work for mom to pop it in the oven? Pretty cool...)

Sausage and Apple Strata for One or Two

Ingredients:

-2 slices Spelt bread, lightly toasted and cubed (or whole wheat, day old french, etc. Use what you've got!)

-4-5 Sundried Tomato and Feta Turkey Meatballs, crumbled (alternatively, it's very good with chicken sausage)

-1 apple, chopped

-1/4 c. scallions, diced

-1/8 c. red onion, diced

-1/8 c. red pepper, diced

-crumbled feta or shredded mozzarella

-2 eggs or 1/2 c. egg beaters

-1/3 c. almond milk/soy milk/milk

-salt and pepper

-garlic powder

-1-2 c. baby spinach leaves

-raspberry dijon mustard, 1 tsp or so, to drizzle on top

Destructions:

In a large liquid measuring cup, combine milk, eggs, cubed bread, scallions, red onion, red pepper, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and spinach.

Pour this mixture into a greased mini-casserole dish.

Over this, crumble your meatballs or other pre-cooked sausage, followed by the chopped apple, and then the feta/cheese of choice.

Garnish with a few dices of scallion and drizzle with some raspberry dijon mustard.

Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight/over"work".

When ready to bake, bake at 350* for 30m covered, then uncover and bake at 425* for an additional 10m.

Oh. mah. gaw. So good! Just like Christmas morning :) haha.

I had half with a biiiig salad. Tomorrow's my late night at school, so this will be the perfect leftovers! It reheats quite well - might just get better with age!

If you don't care for feta, it would be really good with provolone or mozzarella, I bet. Some nutmeg in there with the spinach might have been nice, too.

And I am now enjoying a delicious bowl of pumpkin yogurt chia pudding. Greek yogurt + pumpkin + chia seeds + cinn & nutmeg + almond milk + cheesecake pudding mix = amazing. The end.

In addition: It's been awhile since I've done a Fun Flickr Photo Feature!

Check out Rowena R. on flickr!

Amazing use of lighting, and I love the color and post-processing. Subtle but effective - sometimes "over photoshopped" images run rampant these days, but it's all in how it's handled!

She is undeniably talented...definitely something to strive for - amazing motivation in her stream. So, take a look-see!

Alright bloggies. That is all from this end of the world...but not before I thank you all for another FoodBuzz Top 9! Too cool...I hope everyone makes that French toast now :P

Question? Do you have any meals that remind you of certain occasions or holidays, yet aren't necessarily widely received as such when you really think about it?

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

2010-02-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

So...who's watching the commercials right now?!

I've gotta be quick so that I don't miss any good ones myself! haha.

Rewind to this morning. It had been to long since my last bowl of Carrot Cake for Breakfast!

Hands down, my favorite way to eat a hot cereal :) For the "icing" this time, I added 1 tsp. of Chia seeds along with the syrup, greek yogurt, and almond milk. Yum! As well as raisins, walnuts, raspberry jam, shredded coconut, and banana for toppers.

Today's been pretty lazy! I didn't get out of my pajamas once! After breakfast, kicked off the day with some good ol' house-cleaning and organization, finished some homework, went crazy ordering from Bob's Red Mill and Naturally Nutty (yikes!), and started organizing my recipes! It will be a long process, I tell you.

In the middle of this all, I did a "last leg" lunch!

Meaning, if this doesn't get eaten in the next five hours, it needs to be thrown out.

Red beans from Monday, a really sad yellow pepper, some almost-forgotten-about romaine, and then of course some raspberry-dijon mustard and a cheese wedge. I didn't even bother to wrap it up all pretty.

It was sort of hard eating leftovers when those meatballs were staring me down, or at least the produce I picked up yesterday! But I made it work - raspberry dijon mustard and beans make anything work, especially in a wrap and then panini'd :)

I did follow it up with a yummy little quick dessert, though:

Not so pretty, but tasty enough! I just wanted a pumpkin-esque pudding sort of thing...so I mixed together some rolled oats, pumpkin puree, egg beaters, chia seeds, banana slices, and spices. Nuked and garnished with a delicious apple, total, and maple sizzurp.

And copious amounts of this followed throughout the afternoon:

If I only had one snack to choose from for the rest of my life, it may just be these veggie chips.

I'm having so much fun going through all these recipes, but at the same time, it is slow torture! haha. I've already found a couple that I'd totally forgotten about that are uh.maz.ing. So they'll probs be making appearances soon :)

Dinner tonight, however, was largely Mae inspired. Hummus tortilla pizza!

Oh, yes. Except I cheated, and hopefully I won't be shunned for it - I added in some real feta cheese. So see Mae's versions, clicky! Mine hardly compares, but I am none the wiser. Why? I've never had nutritional yeast or tahini, so I don't know what I'm missing! I can say, however, that this was fantastic.

Not gonna lie - I was a little skeptical of hummus on my pizza. Yeah, I love hummus and all...but I just had difficulty wrapping my mind around it. Was I wrong!

I can't wait to make it with a real pizza crust or naan. That was my original intention, but I didn't want to make up a big batch of dough and pizza for just me - the rents were eating leftovers from their restaurant rendezvous last night. Ironically, you will probably see this again tomorrow, since I had planned pizza for tomorrow!

For mine, I toasted the WW tortilla over the stovetop, and then topped with baby spinach and sauteed broccoli florets, followed by slices plum tomatoes, red pepper, sundried tomato and feta meatballs, and red onion.

In a seperate bowl, I combined sundried tomato hummus, raspberry dijon mustard, and some feta cheese - nuked, added a splash of water, and drizzled over the top. Baked just to crisp up a tad, and viola! My mind is still skeptical at the thought of it...but oh.my.god. Is it good!

I had half at dinnertime with a spinach side-salad, and just now finished up the other half :)

Okay, gotta get back to the commercials - I hope everyone has a great night!

I'm not much a football fan myself...is everyone watching for commercials or for the sport?

Recipe: Meatballs Two Ways

2010-02-06T17:33:00.000-08:00

Turkey Meatballs, Two Ways

Take One: Sundried Tomato and Feta in Phyllo Cups

To get to "Spicy Buffalo Turkey Meatballs," scroll past all my blabbing.

Giada DeLaurentis is probably my favorite food network gal. I mean, look at her. She's adorable! And, she has good recipes to boot. One day I was watching her make a turkey meatloaf with sundried tomatoes and feta. This was when I was completely obsessed with any sort of italian cuisine, and vampires were sure to stay far from my home due to the copious amounts of garlic that I added to everything.

Of course, I still love italian cooking, but it seems that during the winter months I've become more apt to make something spicy, or mexican-esque.

Regardless - I knew I had to make this meatloaf.

I called up my mom, and told her I was coming over and making them dinner. I was making them meatloaf!

Imagine her disbelief. I was going to make meatloaf? The daughter who, for the past 19 years, couldn't be force fed meatloaf? Oh, yes. I forgot to mention: I "hated" meatloaf. Meatloaf, to me, equaled weird onion soup mix, ketchup, and ground beef. Uh, thanks, but no thanks.

But Giada was onto something good.

Okay, enough, enough. How does this relate to meatballs?

Well, the meatloaf went over with rave reviews, but that was eons ago. I haven't made it since, and tonight I was planning on making dinner for the fam, and wanted to change up the recipe a bit, and make them into turkey burgers! Well, I ended up being ditched (being the grandma that I am) and was on my own for dinner. Since I'd already defrosted the ground turkey, and tomorrow being the superbowl so the turkey won't get used then, I figured I'd just stick to my gameplan - but instead, I decided on making them meatballs (easier to add to lunches). So, here we go. I did try to measure most everything so I could relay it again, rather than just adding a bit of everything.

Ingredients:

-10 oz. 99% lean ground turkey

-4 sundried tomatoes, chopped

-1 oz. Crumbled Feta Cheese - I like to use the F.F. Mediterranean Herb kind by President - (Alternatively, I think a really good marinated mozzarella would be amazing - I wanted to use the feta I had, though.)

-scant 1/4c. chopped scallions

-2 T. almond milk

-1 egg

-2 T. rolled oats

-1 T. grated Parmesan Cheese

-1/4 t. minced garlic

-1/4 t. dried basil (I would have preferred fresh, but couldn't justify buying a huge pack at the grocery store today)

-salt and pepper

-dash nutmeg

-1/4 t. garlic salt with parsley

-pre-cooked mini Phyllo cups

Destructions:

Preheat oven to 400*.

Combine all ingredients except for the feta and phyllo cups:

Form by the small handful (uh...maybe...1/8 cup size?) into small patties, and press some crumbled feta into the mixture. Fold over and press into a ball.

Place on a greased cookie sheet or glass baking dish.

Sorry if raw meat grosses you out. It still grosses me out...I wouldn't touch it until a year or so ago! hah.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking first at 15. They didn't take very long.

The colors of Italy!

If desired, place meatballs in fun little pre-made Phyllo cups! I devoured these with a side of bulgur with spinach and carrots, and a spinach salad with that divine Raspberry Dijon Mustard. The Raspberry Dijon actually went quite nicely with everything else!

They would also be really good in a pita - Greek it up with some Tzatziki, perhaps?! That's my next plan.

I yielded 11 meatballs with these quantities.

Take Two: Spicy Buffalo Turkey Meatballs

Rather than make a whole bunch of meatballs in the same fashion for just myself (the rest of my family aren't as fond of leftovers as I am - go figure) I decided I'd just do half each...and I wanted some Frank's! Frank and I go way back. I was actually thinking about how long it'd been since my last Buffalo Chicken Wrap, and decided - why not make Buffalo Turkey Meatballs and have that in a wrap?! I winged it on this one, but they came out pretty well! Hopefully the measurements are accurate :P

Shown in the background, spotlight stolen by the Sundried Tomato & Feta Meatballs.

Ingredients:

-10 oz. 99% lean ground turkey

-1 egg

-1 T. Almond Milk

-3 T. Frank's Red Hot (If you don't like them too spicy - I, personally, will be adding more next time.)

-2 Suzie's Spelt Multiseed Flatbreads, crushed

-scant 1/4c. chopped scallion

-1/8 c. chopped red pepper (I used orange due to the fact that he was on his last leg.)

-1/2 t. minced garlic

-salt and pepper

-1/4 t. lemon pepper

-1/4 t. chili powder

-1/2 t. Dijon mustard

-1 cheese wedge, chopped up

-little bit o' crumbled feta cheese.

Destructions:

Combine all ingredients.

Form into balls, and place on sprayed cookie sheet.

Name that country! Orange, green, and white? Ireland, anybody?

Bake at 400* for approx 15 minutes.

Don't overdo them, like yours truly.

Hey, I was busy loving those Sundried Tomato ones. It could have been worse.

Devour!

A Little Love

2010-02-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Brr. I. Am. So. Chilled!

I just got back from running errands, and while I may have been inside most of the time, that wind chills you right to the bone the second you step into it! That, and, one errand involved Price Chopper...and it is always freezing in there. Makes sense, I guess.

You would think, however, that with my heart-warming [pun intended] breakfast, I would have stayed warm and fuzzy regardless!

Yeah, I made myself a Valentine's Day breakfast a week early. What of it?

There's something amazing about waking up early on the weekends. I don't think I'm a real college student. How many college kids say that?

I really hate sleeping in. During the week, I don't bound out of bed at 6:00 to go to work, but it's not a problem, either. On the weekends, however, I'll gladly wake up at 6 or 7, and just leisurely go about starting my day. And I love doing something a little different for breakfast on the weekends!

So maybe this Almond Butter & Banana Stuffed French Toast isn't that unique to most, I've never had stuffed French Toast before. And mind you, yesterday was my first grilled almond butter and banana experience.

And oh, this was delicious. I realize now that my food presentation needs work but hey - I do what I can. It's sort of sad to think about myself making such a love-themed breakfast for myself, but again. Oh well. haha. At least my mom came back from her haircut in time to give me a funny look. She's not a "breakfast person," so unfortunately I can never treat her to breakfast...

But! Just because I am a relatively sad excuse for a college student, doesn't mean you are - and maybe you want to treat your honey to a heart-healthy shmalentine's day brekkie?

Because I think you should.

Of course you all know how to make French Toast. I won't go into those details. But here's just some added fun-stuff I did!

For the Stuffed French Toast

2 slices of this amazing Organic Spelt bread by the Vermont Bread Company [okay, okay. you can use any bread. But this is GOOD Spelt bread!]

1 T. All-Natural Almond Butter

1 Banana

2 Eggs [if you are an egg-beaters user...PLEASE use at least one real egg white! I like egg beaters and all - but when it comes to French Toast, it's just not the same!]

3 T. Almond Milk

1/8 t. Cinnamon

1/8 t. Nutmeg

Dash ground cloves

1 t. Vanilla

1/2 t. Wheat Germ

1/2 t. Chia Seeds

Spread 1 teaspoon almond butter on one side of each piece of bread (if you're going to make a pretty heart shape, do that first of course) and arrange your banana slices on one side - I used half on the sandwich, half to garnish. Sandwich together and poke outsides a couple times with a fork.

Whisk together eggs, milk, spices, vanilla, and wheat germ. Place sandwich in mixture and begin preheating a non-stick, sprayed pan. Allow sandwich to soak a minute before flipping, poking both sides again with your fork.

Sprinkle Chia seeds over outside of bread and cook until golden on both sides.

For the Pumpkin "Sauce"

1/4 c. Plain Greek Yogurt

1/8 c. Pure Pumpkin Puree

1/8 t. cinnamon

1/8 t. nutmeg

2 t. Maple Syrup

1 t. Chia Seeds

Stir together and plate with French Toast, along with remaining banana and almond butter, and cute little apple heart! [p.s. apple = amazing dipped in this.]

So, after playing with my food - I got to work meal planning!

This week, I'm going to try something new - planning my meals in advance, and in some cases preparing in advance! I've been pretty good this week about cooking up new things, but when I don't have a game plan, it's so much easier to just come home and make a veggie and bulgur stir fry or panini or something. Which, I obviously love, but I enjoy cooking new things, more.

So, I put together 5 meal ideas, and figure I can interchange them a little bit if I'm not feeling up to something one night, but at least I have ideas now! I think I just have so many recipes stockpiled that I can never make up my mind on what I want! Organizing them is a project for this weekend, as is setting up a recipe page on here.

After browsing online for coupons (I was so savvy at the grocery store today!) I finally went into town to clean the office, run to Rite Aid, and then the grocery store.

Holy SuperBowl Sunday Shopping. Everyone and their brothers had to stock up on beer! It was also full of people leaving their carts in the middle of the aisles. Don't you hate grocery shoppers that do that?! I'm sorry if you are one of them. But please. Don't do it. Love you.

However, I jumped past my exciting Rite Aid find!

I know wht you're thinking.

And no - I didn't find that delicious salmon with blueberry glaze at Rite Aid.

Nope! Not the mashed sweet tater, either.

Clean Eating's new issue!

I love this magazine. So much information on new foods, and awesome recipes too. You know what I hate about it, though?

It only comes out once every two months!

I was jonesin' for the new issue.

What's your favorite magazine?

So, naturally, my lunch was consumed while browsing that :) Dericious and nutritious!

And a Sobe LifeWater. Has anyone else tried these?

Normally I'm not a flavored water fan at all, especially the "naturally sweetened" ones, because they're almost too sweet! But these are actually pretty good! I'm a huge water drinker, but lately have been finding it kind of boring (though I think it has more to do with not wanting to drink something cold when the weather is so cold!) so this was a nice change for my lunch time today :)

I do, however, hate that they advertise the 0 calorie count. I hate buying things that state in huge bold letters how many calories they contain. It makes me feel...I dunno. Superficial? I'm weird.

Anyways. That is all for now. I'm off to get some homework done, hopefully start on a recipes page, organize my recipes I've saved over months and months, and then start dinner. Can't wait for tonight's menu!

What are your plans for this cooollddd Saturday afternoon?

Nommin'

2010-02-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

I caved.

I finally opened the giant can of pumpkin I've had in safekeeping for months last night.

and OH, my world, I forgot how much I love pumpkin. I guess I wasn't necessarily "hoarding" it...but I was worried it would be difficult to find it after Thanksgiving. That and...it's a giant can. I wanted to make sure I would appreciate every last spoonful and not get sick of it and have to throw some out!

...I don't think that will be happening.

After waking up ravenous in the middle of the night and remembering the pumpkin I'd opened earlier, I had to make up some pumpkin yogurt...it was so good that it made an appearance as my porridge topper!

Aestheticlly pleasing? It's Debateable. Palate pleasing? Oh yes.

The usual mix, topped with banana, Kashi H2H Warm Cinnamon, chopped walnuts, Red Raspberry Preserves, Barney Butter, and a mix of Greek Yogurt, Pumpkin, and a splash of almond milk.

To be honest - I much prefer putting the pumpkin right in the oats. The coolness of the yogurt and the warmth of the oats kinda weirded me out...but it was good nonetheless :)

...And you know you're just destined to have "nommin'" day when you find yourself eating a grilled banana and almond butter pita pocket before even leaving the house - even though you're still full from breakfast!

I was still full from breakfast...but I could NOT get this out of my head! So I justified it by using half a Joseph's flax pita, half Better N' PB, half Full Circle Almond Butter, and adding in some wheat germ. Hey, an extra peanut butter n' banana pita never hurt anybody, right?

And it worked to my advantage - while I was using the panini maker I figured why not make my lunch extra special and utilize the panini press? We have one at work but it's all gross and full of old, congealed grease and cheese. Why don't people wipe stuff down after using appliances like that? It's not gross then - it's gross months later, however.

mmmm.

Does anybody else swear by those Copco travel mugs? They're the only ones I have luck with not spilling all over me! They have the coolest looking cold beverage one, too.

I don't have any exciting stories today, except for the one thing I had on my mind all day: Sweet Potato Crepes. You see, I've had this idea since my Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie.

To be honest, I didn't think the idea was all that strange when I thought of it. But then I searched high and low and could not find a recipe to reference anywhere. I mean, I guess making your sweet potatoes into crepes rather than just mashing them and eating them as a sad may be a little extravagant. But they're sweet potatoes! Sweet potatoes are heaven sent! You can do anything with sweet potatoes! Why not crepes?!

Needless to say, that did not discourage me (though it probably should have suggested that I'm a little wacky) and was instead just going to be hoofin' it alone.

In my head, the crepes would be slightly sweet, relatively true to a plain sweet potato. The filling would be slightly spicy beans, peppers, and chicken in a small amount of thick cream-based sauce.

So, that's just what I did. Which is shocking, because half the time I think about a recipe creation this much in advance, I;ve changed twenty things by the time I actually execute it. Ah well.

To speed up the process, I boiled and mashed a sweet potato last night, so I would be all-systems-go when I got home from work. (Funny side note? with all that pumpkin in the fridge, my pumpkin yogurt in the middle of the night was almost sweet potato yogurt. Luckily, a hunk of sweet potato skin stopped me dead in my tracks.)

For the "Crepes" I whisked together approximately half the sweet potato, 2 eggs (plus a splash of egg beaters), scant 1/4c. or so of almond milk, 1 T. or so of flour, and seasonings: chili powder, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. It made a mixture that was runny enough to thinly coat the entire pan when I tilted it. Cook in pan coated with non-stick spray. I got three medium-sized crepes.

Obviously, my crepe-cooking techniques need work. Or I need to be more attentive.

I think it's both.

For the Filling: (which weren't very photogenic) I sauteed red beans, Quorn chik'n tenders, minced garlic, red and orange peppers seasoned with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper and eventually added in some Imagine Organic cream of broccoli soup and half a cheese wedge.

Fill the crepes and fold!

I also whipped up some greek yogurt with some of the mashed sweet potato and Cedar's salsa and put some of that in it, too.

mmmm, good! Why just lump on a pile of mashed taters when you can have this much fun playing with your food, instead?! And think of how pretty they'd be if you're a good crepe-maker :)

The sweet potato flavor comes through really well, and I love the combination of the chicken and beans with it.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Friday! I'm off for some baked pumpkin oatmeal dessert, sure to be followed by pumpkin yogurt!

What's your favorite thing to do with pumpkin? Or...sweet potatoes, for that matter :P

Is that Snow on your Oats?

2010-02-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

Brrrr!

We're back to the winter cold here - and I am so glad I'm back into the oatmeal addiction!

Thanks to Bobby Flay, I made German Chocolate Cake inspired "oatmeal" this morning! Or maybe I should just say multi-grain cereal? Wait until I find that this whole breakfast combination I go through on a daily basis is already patented...I ought to look into that, and see what those multi-grain hot cereals consist of, eh?

In the mix this morning? "The Usual" combination of grains & liquids, with 1/2 t. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 1 packet Sun Crystals, 1/2 banana, and vanilla.

Topped with raisins, walnuts, coconut, Barney Butter, Raspberry Preserves, and "Icing" made up of 1 tsp. chia seeds, greek yogurt, almond milk, and maple syrup.

Sooo perfect :) I'm not typically a chocolate kinda gal, but I am a coconut kinda gal!

The realistic view...

Does anyone else leave the best for last?!

I love letting the almond butter kinda melt in, and then mix it up with the last quarter or so, so the flavor doesn't get lost :)

This geared me up for a chilly, busy day!

Well, I guess not too busy. Morning classes went by pretty quickly, and then I had two hours before photo class. I decided to go to my mom's office on the other side of campus and re-heat my lunch in peace and get some homework done! I hate going to the library...I can never concentrate. Isn't that what libraries are for?! oh well...

Photo was...interesting. I'm becoming more and more skeptical of how this class is going to go over. This teacher keeps trying to prove me wrong! I really don't think I'm coming across as arogant by any means - in fact, I'm pretty quiet because I'm afraid if I answer all the time, or talk too much, I will come across as a know-it-all. And I'm there to learn, not be "macho." So it's frustrating when I do do something right and it's just challenged or demeaned. It's tough to go into detail because it would involve lots of explanations of camera technical facts, lol.

But, coming home and cooking dinner certainly cheered me up! Luckily, we're given the last hour and a half to do whatever, including leave early. I left early, which means I get some extra free time to watch Ellen AND make a good dinner!

When I first saw the Guilty Kitchen's recipe for Baked Salmon with Blueberry Sauce, I was skeptical. Blueberries? Count me in! Salmon? Count me in! Oh...together? Um, no thanks. But then I gave it some more thought...and why wouldn't a blueberry sauce work? I mean, I've done apricot, applesauce, honey, maple, orange...why stop there? So I decided tonight was the night to do my own take on the idea!

I did end up making quite a bit of subs...in fact, I think the only thing I left the same is the blueberries and the thyme! Regardless, I'm super happy with how this came out. My mom loved it, too. She was quite skeptical at first, too. Sometimes I feel like my family members think I'm crazy; some other breed of human, or something; for always making crazy "health" food.

Too bad leftover broccoli is so NOT aesthetically pleasing...

Flaked Salmon Pita with Blueberry-Raspberry Dijon Glaze

(why do I always give my recipes such long titles?)

Serves: 1-3

For the Salmon:

2 4 oz. salmon fillets

1.5 t. minced garlic

salt

pepper

thyme

chili powder (opt.)

olive oil

splash balsamic vinegar

Season both sides of the fillets with salt, pepper, chili powder and thyme - to taste.

Sautee in garlic in pan lightly coated with olive oil, or non-stick cooking spray. Splash with balsamic vinegar. Cook until done and flakes easily. Flake into medium sized chunks and leave over low heat.

For the Glaze:

Note: Measurements are approx - adjust to your tastes!

3/4 c. frozen or fresh blueberries

1/4c. water

1 t. cornstarch

scant 1/4 c. original almond milk

1 t. balsamic vinegar

1 T. Raspberry Dijon Mustard

1/4 t. black pepper

1/4 t. thyme

dash paprika, chili powder, crushed red pepper and salt

Combine all ingredients in saucepan and heat over low until desired consistency. Additional cornstarch can be added if thicker is desired, or water omitted. I found it to be just right - not too thick, not too thin.

To assemble:

1 Joseph's Flax Pita

1/2 cheese wedge

1 t. Raspberry Dijon Mustard

chopped scallions

romaine lettuce (spinach would be better - I didn't have any!)

chopped walnuts

Spread 1/2 cheese wedge in middle of flat pita (unopened) followed by mustard and then lettuce. Top with as much of the salmon as desired, tri-fold the pita over, and press on a panini press/grill.

Top with blueberry glaze, scallions, and chopped walnuts.

I forgot about the walnuts and they only made it into the top photo ;)

Enjoy! I'm also enjoying a really delicious pumpkin pie oatmeal dessert right now, but I think that's enough talking and recipe - giving :P

I hope everyone's having a great night - and here's a warning that tomorrow may be leftover night. But that's okay, because this salmon makes up for it, right?

Do you plan your meals in advance, or decide hours before you're ready to eat?

It's all the Rage

2010-02-03T17:41:00.000-08:00

It's funny how as you grow up, everyone's telling you to not be afraid to be different, be your own person.

For the most part, I feel like I'm pretty successful with this advice. I don't feel like I stick out like a sore thumb by any means, but I definitely have different interests, tastes, styles, and hobbies than a lot of people I see on a daily basis.

However, I've come to the conclusion that sometimes, you've just gotta follow the things that are all the rage! This includes the newest team member of what is now my breakfast cinctuplet. Actually, after all the toppings I throw on top on a daily basis, it's far more than a cinctuplet, but I digress.

Chia seeds!

I ordered these from The Raw Food World's Amazon.com store, in addition to some Acai powder, and got them in the mail yesterday. Let me just say - the Raw Food World has amazing customer service! Though the shipment was through Amazon, they included a handwritten thank-you note in addition to samples of other nifty products - Hemp protein powder, Cholerra, and an additional Chia seed sample. Too cool! It's nice to know that as a customer, you are appreciated.

equal parts bulgur with soy, TVP, oatmeal, and wheat bran (I use 1 T. each, to make a standard 1/4c. serving size) with equal parts almondmilk and brewed coffee, 1 tsp Chia Seeds, 1/2 banana, whipped in, nutmeg, and vanilla. Topped with shredded coconut, remaining nanner, dates, raspberry preserves, Barney Butter, and a "glaze" of almondmilk, Greek Yogurt, and unsweetened cocoa powder.

Naturally, I was psyched for my first Chia seed experience this morning! This was a delicious bowl! Other rage that I took way too long rebelling against? Nut butters! oh. ma. gaw. They are just so perfect. I can't wait to try others, like cashew, sunflower, etc, in addition to flavors!

What is your favorite nutbutter?

When it comes to the Chia seeds, they really weren't noticeable. In fact, I only remembered the addition until halfway through, haha. My excitement over how good this was caused me to forge. Probably because I started out with just a small amount. I don't think they really add a flavor, anyway. But muy bien health bennies!

The acai powder is quite good - I enjoyed it with a cup of almondmilk last night. But when it comes to the chlorella and the hemp protein powder - I'm lost! Chlorella just reminds me of cholerra. Hopefully it won't give me that. hah! But, I guess they're just tablets that you can eat just like nuts. I can see the protein powder sitting for a while though. I'm pretty good about my protein intake :)

Worked today, so I among my various snacks I packed some leftover sweet-potato pie for lunch. Just as good, if not better, the second time around! I have a littttle bit left that will go perfectly with a bigggg salad to bring for lunch tomorrow, too. That concoction is a keeper!

Tonights dinner was super random. I could not make up my mind for the life of me! I kept going back and forth between scallops or quesedilla. Finally, I decided on both. And salad. And broccoli. Uh, random?

But, since I'm obviously a really random person anyway, this was just fine! Sorry it's not very exciting :P That "pita quesedilla" certainly tasted exciting, however! And if it makes you feel better, I at least kept the flavors consistent throughout :)

"Quesedilla" : Spread 1 laughing cow wedge and Raspberry Dijon Mustard over half a Joseph's Flax Pita. Layered with red beans, red and yellow pepper, and chili powder. Folded back over, and pressed on the panini.

Scallops and Broccoli: Sauteed in a "sauce" consisting of balsamic vinegar and Raspberry Dijon Mustard, splashed with some lemon juice, and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

The pita was uh.mazing. The laughing cow with the raspberry dijon mustard was the perfect combination. Reminded me of cranberry goat cheese! I don't know what I did to be deserved the luxury to have found raspberry dijon mustard, but I'm sure glad it happened!

It also paired well with the scallops and broccoli, and makes the best salad dressing!

I still have to try the Maple one. I'm thinking it will go really nicely with salmon.

But, that's all from my end of the world! I've got to catch Throwdown with Bobby Flay tonight - Vermont represent! Not that I wouldn't be watching the Food Network anyway ;)

What's my breakfast concoction gonna be tomorrow?!

Tuesdays are for Eating

2010-02-02T18:12:00.000-08:00

That's the conclusion I've come to: Tuesdays are for Eating.

Delicious eating, that is.

Too bad the food that ends up tasting the best, always looks the worst.

And it's a good thing, too: Learning about family violence for nearly three hours does a number on your optimism. Especially since you all know how cheerful and in love I was just prior to it!

It's such a difficult thing to grasp, too: I've been fortunate to never have to deal with an issue so troublesome personally, and have never even been witness to such things. I live in Vermont: there was one documented murder in 2008. [enter C.J. class from earlier today! hah] so I think part of why I find social problems so fascinating is because I can't quite comprehend the mindset of someone who would intentionally harm others: especially young children and elders.

But anyways, I won't send such thoughts your way, too. You're not here to get depressed.

I bet no one guessed I made a Tex-Mex Sweet Potato Pie while I was home earlier for dinner!

It. was. divine. If you like your sweet potatoes savory, like I do, then you've gotta try this :) Here's how I did it!

Cubed and boiled a sweet potato while ~~having a love affair~~ eating my lunch.

[we won't mention that due to the love affair I may or may not have over-boiled it slightly...]

Mashed the potato with half an onion, cream of broccoli soup, chili powder, cumin, franks, salt and pepper, and spread half in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Topped with a serving of pink beans and sprinkled with cumin, garlic powder, pepper, and chili powder.

In a separate, microwaveable bowl, I combined Quorn Chik'n Tender and 1 cheese wedge, and microwaved until cheese was melted. Then added chopped red and yellow pepper and salsa. Seasoned with pepper, garlic salt, chili powder, cumin. Spread on top of bean layer.

Spread remaining mashed sweet potato mixture on top, and sprinkled with paprika, parmesan, real bacon bits, chili powder, and pepper.

Threw it all in the fridge while I was away, got home and baked for...30m? at 415*.

So, that's what I did...and it was great! Loved all the flavors together. BUT! Next time I would either: nix the bottom sweet potato layer and just put it all on top, OR! Bake the bottom sweet potato layer until it firms up, and then continue the layering process, and then bake again.

Obviously it was all cooked through, but the beans were a little soupy, so the bottom portion got a little soupy, rather than firmed up. It didn't bother me any, but it might be a nice added touch.

I also would "jazz up" the bean layer - maybe some cilantro and corn, and maybe a cheese wedge? But I didn't want to go through all that prep, and it was nice simple, too.

Paired it with an amazing salad. I love simple salads with minimal dressing...and remember that raspberry honey mustard I picked up last week? Well, I still hadn't used it...haven't been sure what to use it on! And then it clicked that it would make a great salad dressing!

So, that got drizzled over some romaine, red and yellow pepper, pickles, and feta. Carrots were added after - forgot about them!

Overall, a successful day :) I am so full right now...Not digging the whole "eating dinner at 7:45" thing, but I'd rather enjoy a nice hot meal at home than eat in class. I draw enough attention to myself when I start mowing down on dried veggie crisps. [true story. those things are loud. I can hardly hear the lecture...needless to say, I stopped and opted for the clif z bar in my pocket. what can I say? I'm always prepared. I always have food in my pocket.]

What was your good eats of the day??

Love

2010-02-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

It's official.

I'm in love.

Initially, I was going to talk about how I fell in love with this new Silk PureAlmond Original Almondmilk, and that there is officially no use for me to need a Valentine this year.

d.e.l.icious. Remember when I was having a big coffee creamer dilemma? It's been solved. Who knew almondmilk was the answer? I disliked almondmilk the first time I had it months ago. But this Silk brand is absolutely amazing..

But, behold! I realized that I may be cheating on my new lover, with the delicious bowl of oats to follow my first encounter with almondmilk:

Your parents lied to you when they said carrot cake wasn't for breakfast.

That's right...Breakfast Carrot Cake...uh...Porridge? Some hybrid word born from "TVP-Bulgur with Soy-Wheat Bran-Oatmeal"? I'm not sure what to call my mix.

In the Bowl: The new "usual" mix of equal parts TVP, Bulgur with Soy, Wheat Bran, and Oatmeal, and equal parts Almondmilk and brewed coffee.

Also: half a large carrot, grated, nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger, 1 packet SunCrystals, half a banana, and vanilla.

Topped with: "Icing" consisting of large spoonful of greek yogurt, splash almondmilk, cinnamon, and agave. In addition: sliced banana, dates, raisins, crystallized ginger, and additional grated carrot.

Forgot to add because I was so excited: shredded coconut.

The icing seriously made this. I wasn't going to dress it up in such a way but then I saw the Greek Yogurt staring at me so innocently, and my new lover Almondmilk was asking to get more incorporation into the dish, as well.

So.dang.good.

I was excited and nervous about the Almondmilk when I saw it at the store the other day. I remembered the first time I tried it, I could take it or leave it. But I was intrigued that Silk now made an almondmilk line! They had vanilla and original - I opted for the original. It's perfect! And I can use it in my coffee happily! Meaning, not feeling like I'm being deprived of an enjoyable cup of coffee without those terrible creamers because it tastes just as good, if not better! That and it's delicious on its own - way better than soy or regular milk.

And then, I met another new love shortly before leaving for class:

My first Luna bar. WHAT?! I'm only just getting in on Luna bar action? I really must have lived in a cave... Unwrapped and bagged, because I'm always the disruptful one nomming on food in the back of the room. Was hoping this might reduce my disruptful-ness.

Seriously have been missing out on the bar & peanut butter craze. I've got a lot of catching up to do. Must.try.Chai.Tea.flavor. STAT!

Cookies 'n' Cream Delight was just that. The folks at Luna don't lie! I'm a big cookies n cream fan, and this was just like the ice cream :)

I'm also beginning to LOVE my Tuesdays. Why Tuesdays, you ask? Seems like a terrible day to love. You haven't reached Wednesday, and you're still far from the weekend.

Well, I love Tuesday because I love being able to come home and make a lovely lunch, utilizing wraps, hummus, fried eggs, and veggies, which we all know I ... you guessed it... love!

I was really proud of how well I wrapped and pannini'd that wrap...

Only half the orange and carrot made it to the photo shoot alive, though...

En la tortilla: fried egg, more hummus than Cedar ever intended for one person to eat at once, dijonnaise, pickles, red and yellow pepper, romaine, feta, and salsa.

With some delightful Snyder's oat bran pretzels. These pretzels are really good!

A little bit of heaven on a plate...I'm so easily pleased.

You know what else is awesome about tuesdays?

While I'm home, I can prep dinner!

Any guesses as to what I made up tonight? I'll give you some hints:

Anybody? Anybody? Okay, one more...

I warned you...

I'm hoping my concoction tastes as good as its' parts!

What's one thing you've loved about your Tuesday so far? I hope there's at least one thing!

Oh, Hey, February...

2010-02-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

...how did you sneak up on us so fast? I'm still in November!

I've finally found the perfect combination!

Equal parts bulgur with soy, TVP, oatmeal, and wheat bran! Simmered with equal parts milk and coffee, or milk and water if you choose - with cinnamon and nutmeg and vanilla (to the extreme) and whipped banana!

Topped with the rest of the nanner, dates, red raspberry preserves, wheat germ, and Barney Butter!

Oh, yes. I went there.

Oh, how I love dates. And nanners. And Barney Butter. And this whole concoction.

And, of course, Green Mountain Coffee "Golden French Toast" flavor.

d.e.l.icious.

Why do I feel the need to combine four different grains/proteins for complete breakfast?

I'm not really sure. BUT! I like the higher protein content of the TVP and bulgur with soy. I'm not sold on the texture of TVP alone, nor the texture of Bulgur alone - as a breakfast food, that is. The two combine are really good. And then this morning I figured, why not sub some TVP for regular rolled oats?!

Maybe I'm just weird to want the best of four worlds, though...

Do you like mixing foods, or are you picky about keeping everything separate?

I do the same thing with food on my plate...mix it all up!

Work started out sllllooowww this morning. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to noon without lulling off into sleep! But then luckily after my amazing lunch of leftover noodles, a fun graphic design job came in, along with a bunch of stuff to print! Score. All accomplished while grazing on veggie crisps all. day. long. No shame.

Except, working on other peoples' business cards makes me realize how badly I need to re-do mine! Luckily, I have until April or so before I start needing them. It's always good to be prepared, though!

I've been having wicked cravings for a Mexican-esque dish lately! I was tempted to make a Mexican polenta casserole like I had thought I was going to make last night, but then didn't want to wait for it to bake, etc. So instead I made a sort of huevos-rancheros-meets-red beans & rice dish!

It was actually really good - and you know you'll be seeing red beans throughout the next couple of days now that I've opened a can! I'm not complaining :) Especially since I don't think I'll be able to kick my mexicn polent casserole idea until I finally make it!

Here's what I did!

For the "Rice" layer (bottom): Brought equal servings TVP and Bulgur Wheat with Soy to a simmer in equal parts Imagine Orgnic Creamy Broccoli Soup and water. Season with salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin.

For the Bean Layer: Saute minced garlic, onion, carrot, and red beans and season with spicy brown mustard, pepper, chili powder, and cumin. Add in one cheese wedge.

For the Top Egg Layer: Saute red and yellow pepper and add in egg mixture - eggs, milk, spicy brown mustard, salsa. Season with salt and pepper.

Layer in your bowl and top with salsa, franks, parmesan, real bacon bits, and remaining red and yellow pepper. Viola!

Take away the heat with a refreshing dessert:

All mixed together: 1/2 thinly sliced banana, instant oats, greek yogurt, dates, drizzle agave, and instant vanilla pudding mix. Freeze for 30m and enjoyed with some Total complete :)

So, overall, a pretty boring day. Time for a new Two and a Half Men! The only decent show left on television...lol.

How was everyone's February First?

Recollections

2010-01-31T17:02:00.000-08:00

Weekend's over already, back to work tomorrow :( Fast weekend. Seems like they always are lately.

I spent the rest of my afternoon going through old photos, remembering "the good old days".

yep. I was an avid horseback rider from just about the time I could walk up until a couple of years ago, when life got in the way.

I would spend my summers working all day in order to get a ride in, or to help pay off board for my horse. There's no better feeling than bringing a young or green horse along, and successfully competing in their first show. The bond is an amazing feeling, but then of course the time comes to start over with a new one, yet rather than feel sadness at selling your old friend, it's just pride as you watch your "baby" show a new rider the ropes, and watch a new bond form.

Don't get me wrong - there's also those horses that you keep with you forever, both of you learning together rather than one educating the other. I was fortunate enough to be able to partake in both of these roles.

I got so busy senior year of highschool, with school, working whenever I wasn't in school, and college stuff. Then I worked 9-5:30 all summer, and then started school.

Whenever I wasn't busy, I would try to divide my time between "me" time, family time, friend time, and horse time, but it just got to be too much, and horse time ended up taking the backburner.

My horse at the time, Burly, the first horse in this post, ended up sitting in a pasture for the better part of the summer. Of course he was still fed and cared for - he was at a boarding barn - but it killed me that he wasn't getting the love and attention he deserved, from one person (me) rather than the usual come-and-go of other boarders and lesson students passing through the barn. Burly was the horse I had finally settled on, who I had purchased using the money I had saved up from prior resale projects. He had the best personality, and every time I stopped to see him he would still give me just as much love as a family member would, regardless of the fact that it didn't seem like I was giving it back. You could tell how proud and happy he was after each successful ride we'd squeeze in, and it seemed like the more time off he'd get, the more heart he'd give me. Usually, it's the opposite.

I couldn't sell him, but I knew I needed to find someone for him.

Luckily, I am able to lease him out to a place where he is getting all the love and attention he truly deserves. Hopefully, within the next couple of years, I'll be able to dedicate a larger portion of my time to horses, and possibly bring him home. But who knows if I'll have the heart to take him back from where he is now?

Burly - Summer 2008

Lately, I really miss it, and am hoping to find time to ride for at least one day a week.

But, enough babbling. Just thought I'd offer a small peak into my life. I feel like you guys hardly know me!

Back to food. And stuff. haha.

It's no secret that I love polenta. And it seems like lately, polenta is sweeping the food-blogger world! After seeing so many recipes pop up for polenta casseroles, I couldn't hold off any longer and had to make one myself. Strangely, I started off with the inkling for a Mexican Polenta Casserole, but like most everything I do, changed my mind last minute to incorporate scallops.

No, I don't all of a sudden have a scallop obsession - see last night's meal - in fact, I could take or leave scallops, really. But these scallops have followed me from my last apartment, and they need to be consumed. That's a couple months. I mean, they're fine in the freezer and everything, but really now.

Sorry for the poor photos. I wanted to leave it in that cute little personal casserole dish - kept it nice and warm! - rather than plop it all out onto a plate. It's fitting because I coincidentally, accidentally stole that mini casserole dish from my last roomates. It's the perfect size for one! anyways, you can't really see the layers, but here's how it went down:

For the scallop layer: Sautee ~10-15 Bay Scallops in minced garlic, lemon juice, dijon mustard, chopped onion, and chopped red pepper. Season with paprika, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and chili powder. Set aside once done.

For the Veggie Layer: Sautee veggies of choice (I used broccoli, red pepper, tomato, onion, and carrot) in minced garlic. Season with same as above, or just some salt and pepper.

For the Polenta: Bring 1 cup water to a boil, and slowly whisk in 1/4 c. yellow cornmeal. Season with salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and garlic.

Layer in casserole dish - I went veggies, polenta, scallops, and then topped with tomato slices, parmesan cheese, real bacon bits, and red peppers. Bake for about 20m. at 400 degrees.

If you're in a hurry, baking isn't totally necessary since everything is cooked - but it's definitely worth it. Gives the polenta a nice crust!

The scallops actually went really nicely with the polenta. Get a bit of everything! I liked the lemony flavor carrying through everything, but the chili powder gave it just the right mild kick.

Finish with:

a lime poppyseed oatmeal cookie and banana-raspberry-vanilla greek yogurt with dates, crystallized ginger, and total!

mmmm :)

Have you had to force a favorite pastime to the backburner in order to make room for other responsibilities?

Productively Unsuccessful

2010-01-31T13:16:00.000-08:00

Figured I'd break today up into two posts, even though I'll probably be eating dinner in like...2 hours anyway. I'm bored. Just busted out my last paper and got a mock-portfolio together, as well as went into town earlier this morning to clean my office. And managed to find a cool run-down barn long the way that I snapped a couple photos of! Film though, so they'll have to wait to be seen :) For a while there I was feeling really lazy and unproductive...but I guess I did get some stuff done today after all! hah.

This morning started off with an amazing yet severely unphotogenic mix!

1 Tbs each of: Yellow Cornmeal, Bulgur Wheat with Soy, Wheat Bran, and TVP, with 3/4 c. brewed coffee, 1/4c. soy milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, Truvia, and 1/2 thinly sliced banana stirred in quickly. Topped with 1/2 nanner, red raspberry preserves, and a portion of my Barney Butter sample!

What did I think of the Barney Butter? Um, yum. Hello. It is definitely way different than the Full Circle 100% Almond Butter kind I purchased recently (which, by the way, has definitely grown on me.) but in a good way! While I've come to love the Full Circle kind, it's not something I enjoy by itself, necessarily, whereas the Barney Butter is sweetened and is actually, to me, more like a different sort of peanut butter! And let me just say...even though I'm way behind on realizing this...it is amazing in a hot breakfast cereal concoction! I don't know why it took me so long to hop on the nut-butter-in-oatmeal train. I don't know if I was even living then, apparently! So, definitely scurry on over and see if Barney Butter is still giving away some free samples! Mine came super fast - I don't think it even took two weeks - which is pretty unique when it comes to samples. Definitely a good company. And where would I be if Karla hadn't given me the heads up about it? Pretty sure I'd still be under a rock.

Last night while I was surfin' the web I started looking into breakfast polenta! Since polenta is just yellow cornmeal which is very similar to grits, I figured it's had to have been done. And my oh my, it has! There's tons of sugary concoctions out there, so I decided to incorporate it into what is becoming my morning mish-mosh of grains! Since cornmeal doesn't have anywhere near the nutritional value of Bulgur or TVP, I decided to just replace one of the tablespoons of TVP with yellow cornmeal to see what the outcome would be. Not a huge difference, really. But worth experimenting with more! This breakfast makes me so full! Which is sort of sad since it all adds up to a normal portion size. I'm not sure if I want to cut it back a bit and maybe add a little more fruit or not. I know I should at least be eating that much for breakfast, so I'd like to leave it, haha. Why is my stomach so small?! I'm such a grazer.

P.S. I apologize for how unappetizing this breakfast combination looks. I know Bulgur has a brown color already, but the coffee instead of water makes it even more brown...resulting in...well, you can imagine. Hopefully the delicious bananas, jam, and Barney Butter disguise it a little bit?

This is going to turn into a very review-y post, I can tell!haha.

Afterwards, I got ready to go into town and clean the office & see if I couldn't find some cool old barns. I like getting the office out of the way early in the day, and usually don't leave it for Sundays. I was just not in the mood yesterday. I knew I'd have some papers to finish and wanted to work on getting some photos together for a portfolio, as well, so I hustled in and out.

Since it's a good drive, by the time I was done it was almost noon and I was ready for a snack, so I tried one of those SoyJoy bars I'd tried a while back. Initial reaction? hmm. Interesting....

First I thought it almost had a chemically, artifically taste, but an intriguing taste, so of course I tried more. And whaddya know, it grew on me. Halfway through though, I became interested in the ingredients and discovered it has parmesan cheese in it. Uh, what? I admit, I must have been in a rush because checking ingredients in foods is usually a given before I buy it. But after that, I kept tasting a Parmesan cheese after-taste. No joke. I'm not sure if it's psychological or legitimate...but I think that's what I tasted at first too. I just...wouldn't have thought in my wildest dreams it was parmesan cheese.

Anyway, cutting to the chase: Raisin Almond SoyJoy=okay. Not bad. Not sure I'd buy it again, though, due to how many bars are out there that I do love. HOWEVER! I have a bunch of other flavors to try, and only some of them have parm cheese! So I'll definitely let you guys know what the dealio is with the others.

What are your thoughts on the Parmesan Cheese and SoyJoy bars?

haha, sorry...gotta ask.

MOVING on.

Heaven.

Oh, how I love wraps.

Oh, how I love Cedar's Hummus wraps. (Or should I say Hommus? Why is there such a discrepency in the spelling of hummus, anyway?

In La Tortilla: Roasted Red Pepper Cedar's Hummus, dijonnaise, red pepper, 2 fried egg whites, romaine, red onion, President Mediterrnean Herb Feta Cheese, and tomatoes.

Holy yum. I love feta cheese...and was ecstatic to see a new President flavor!

Only thing that coulda made this better was some beans!

Or if I'd remembered the pickle...ah well.

And this may come as a shock, but I'm currently enjoying some of the delicious frozen greek yogurt :)

What's your favorite wrap or sandwich? And what should I make for dinner?

Hah. Kidding. Except not really...

Catch ya' later!

The Chill Factor

2010-01-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

It.Is.So.Cold.Here.

Even though I always talk about how much I love winter, I also really love to be warm. And you know how they say it won't snow if it's too cold? It's definitely true. And today is certainly one of those days. Lets hope we get some of that snow storm that everyone else is getting!

Breakfast was a slight remedy...golden french toast!

psych! hehe...

Does anyone else adore Green Mountain Coffee as much as I do? What's your favorite flavor?

I know flavored coffee & coffee in general is a very picky subject but I love my coffee - and the right flavor is just divine! We won't talk about a bad one, though...that's a morning ruiner right there ;) Namely, fruity or intensely chocolatey flavors. Blech! This Golden French Toast specialty flavor hits the spot, however.

The rest of my breakfast also hit the spot...

The usual mix of 2 T TVP, 1 T. Bulgur with Soy, 1 T. Wheat Bran, 1/4 c. soy milk, 1/2 c. + brewed coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and stevia.

I actually cut it back to just 1 T. of Bulgur since 2 T. is almost too filling. I knew I was just going to be chilling around home for the day, anyway. Add ins for the day was 1 chopped Pinata apple (boiled & prepared with the mix), raspberry preserves, almond buttah, raisins, and reserved apple slices.

This brekkie sure is divine!

I spent the majority of the morning trying to figure out how to make a Facebook page for my photography. Let me tell you, Facebook does not make this an easy task. Once I thought I'd made some lee-way I set to work on pumping out paper #1 for Criminal Justice, and then, as you may very well know, started baking! Granted, just searching for a recipe took up at least half an hour, and it ended up being all for nothing. These muffins did not end up being "all for nothing," however.

Seriously nommer-ful.

It was while I was baking that I realized I was ravenous! I snacked away on some crack

in efforts to tide me over until lunch, but then I realized it was already lunch time anyway! So I threw together another divine meal of falafel! Big enough for two, but I polished it off without a problem. Seriously good lunch right here.

In Joseph's Flax Pita: falafel, tomatoes, romaine, onion, dijonnaise.

So simple. So good. Enjoyed in two parts, due to the fact that muffins were baking and needed some lovin' in the middle. Gave me time to digest and polish off the rest ;)

nom-nom-nom

Heh, sorry for the tease.

ANYwho. After that I retreated to la computadora and finished off the first paper, bloggied, and went back to Facebook. This is when I realized I actually made myself another facebook account, and instead of friending everyone through my photo account, which was my intent, I was friending people through my alter-ego. Embarrassing. I think I've got it straight now, but it's very frustrating that I can't friend people on my photo account if I'm not friends with them on my personal account. I guess it makes sense, because I know I don't want to be bombarded by fan requests from businesses, but I don't necessarily need customers seeing/being friends of my personal account. Ya dig?

There was a particular snackage that was off-da-ropez today, that was worthy of a photo-op. Check it!

So simple. So addicting.

Brown Cow, vanilla pudding mix, raspberry preserves mixed up with some chopped dates and oatmeal, frozen for 30m. or so, and topped with a bit o' Kashi and crystallized ginger. Seriously. Try this. Maybe it's not breaking new ground, but it is.so.good.

And look who received their Barney Butter free samples already! They send two - kudos to them for not being stingy!

Set to work on paper #2 for my Family Violence class (everyone laughs when I say that...it's not a laughing matter by any means, but I guess they could have named it something different.) and broke halfway through for dinner. It's another comical story just because I was planning all day on Chik'n Satay with Peanut Sauce and Shirataki Noodles, but then when I went to make it I saw something (I can't even remember what) that made me say "Alfredo!" and a new plan was born:

Shirataki Noodles with Veggies and Chik'n: 1 pkg. Fettuccine Noodles, broccoli florets, red pepper, onion, minced garlic, Quorn Chik'n Tenders, and Bay Scallops in a sauce consisting of 1 Parmesan Peppercorn Sonoma Jack Cheese Wedge, Imagine Cream of Broccoli Soup, and Parmesan. Threw in a spoonful or so of some random pasta sauce in the fridge, too. Oh! And of course dijon mustard! Seasoned with basil, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and garlic salt with parsley.

Gosh, sometimes I feel like these dinners are make are so random because there is so much in them, but they work, I promise! And hey, my mom liked it, too. Which is strange...because most people don't care for the Shirataki Noodles even though I adore them. Go figure. She wasn't a fan of the muffins, though. I can't get her to like whole wheat or bran anything. It's kind of a bummer.

Anyways. Just finished up some more of that heavenly Greek yogurt in addition to an oatmeal quick cookie. You guys must think I live on cookies. I swear I eat healthy things during the day, too, haha. Although broken down, what's so bad about oatmeal, wheat bran, cinnamon, nutmeg, stevia, and egg substitute, anyway? And Greek yogurt isn't hurting anybody, even though it tastes better than anything at Dairy Queen :P

Two out of three pages done for paper #2...thinking I'll leave the rest for tomorrow and/or Monday. I love getting everything done on the weekends though. Sounds so lame, but then I don't have to worry about it until classtime on Tuesday!

Are you a procrastinator, or do you like to get things done and out of the way right away?

I hope everyone had a lovely Saturday, and is having a great night! If it's snowing where you are, send it on up!

Recipe: Carrot-Maple Bran Muffins

2010-01-30T11:28:00.000-08:00

I'm a random baker. I can browse the internet, foodbuzz, tastespotting, read blog, etc. for hours every night and see & save tons of recipes that I decide I WILL, soon, make.

But then when it comes time to bake...I can't pick out a recipe to save my soul, and feel like all the ones I've saved just aren't what I feel like making! So then I go on hour-long hunts to find just the right recipe before giving up and combining favorites with some flavors I'm craving.

I blame part of this on my terrible recipe-organizing skills, but mostly I blame it on being quirky.

So, this brings us to today. I've finally almost eaten through all of my Christmas baked goodies. And by finally I mean there's still three mini-loafs of Banana Oat Bran Bread in the freezer, rather than 10. Luckily, I love oat bran bread...and was sort of what I wanted to make again!

...except different.

But what was it I wanted?

Cinnamon Buns? mmm...tasty, but not enough nutritional value.

Supercharge Me Cookies? nutritious, but I prefer breads or muffins.

Pumpkin Spelt Scones? ooh, getting warmer!

But what about Bran? Oh, yes! Bran!

Carrot Bran?

Carrot Oat Bran?

So the search began for recipes. I came up unsuccessful for a Carrot Bran Muffin recipe that met my "requirements" and finally decided to take my beloved oat-bran bread recipe and a generic bran muffin recipe, and combine them and modify it to my liking.

When I say requirements, I mean tasty and nutritious. I'm not really one for just munching away on sugar-laden cookies all day...Ideally, I'd like to be getting some form of nutrition. And when it comes to muffins and breads, bran is by far my favorite, be it oat or wheat.

Let's see what I came up with, shall we? I feel it was a large success, and I hope you do too!

Carrot-Maple Bran Muffins

yields approx. 12 muffins

See notes after recipe.

Ingredients:

-1.5 c. Wheat Bran

-1/2 c. Oat Bran

-1/4 c. Rolled Oats

-1/4 c. Spelt Flour

-2 T. A.P. Flour

-1.5 t. Baking Powder

-1 t. Baking Soda

-1/4 t. salt

-1/3 c. Stevia [or sweetener of your choice]

-cinnamon, ground ginger, and nutmeg [i didn't measure. heh...]

-vanilla extract [i was pretty liberal with it.]

-1 c. soy milk

-1/2 T. vinegar

-1/3 c. unsweetened apple sauce

-1/3 c. maple syrup

-1/4 c. egg substitute

-1/2 - 3/4 c. grated carrots

-crystalized ginger, dates, raisins, additional oats [optional - for mix-ins or topping]

Notes on Ingredients:

1. Ratio of brans & oats not exact - I am fairly confident this is close to what I used, but may be a hair off. Additionally, you could use more wheat bran and less oat, and vice versa. The oat bran gives it a great texture, however.

2. WW Flour could likely be used in place of A.P, as well as the Spelt. I wanted to incorporate Spelt flour, and added in some A.P. just because I wasn't sure if WW would encourage it to be too dense. Baby steps!

3. If you don't have/dislike maple syrup, I am sure these would rock just as hard with molasses or honey - especially molasses. But, I'm from Vermont. You know how we do.

4. I used between 1/2 c. and 3/4 c. grated carrots...but I think next time I'll up the ante and use a whole cup.
5. Next time, I think I'll try to "soup them up" a bit more and play with the ratios of brans - taking some out and adding flax or wheat germ. I was hoping I could experiment with Chia seeds this weekend as well, but I have not received my delivery...

Lets start baking, shall we?

1. Preheat oven to 375*. In a liquid measuring cup, add vinegar to milk. Let sit 5 minutes while measuring and combining wheat bran, oat bran, and oats.

2. Add milk & vinegar mixture to bran and oat mixture. Let sit while mixing together applesauce, stevia, egg, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Pour this mixture into bran & milk mixture.

3. Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in seperate bowl. Then add this and grated carrots to the master bowl.

4. Mix just until moistened. Do not overmix! You can also add in raisins or dates at this point.

5. Think to self "well dang, at least this smells delicious...will it taste this delicious?"

Spoon into greased [okay, sprayed] tins of choice.

I happen to have the cutest little mini loaf pan...I made 8 mini-loafs (which probably equate to a very large muffin?) and had batter remaining for 2 average-sized muffins.

5. Pray to the baking gods that you crafted something successful.

Bake for about 20m. It is very easy to underbake these, so be careful and cut one in half before taking them out. I find that the with the oat bran, it actually get s a really nice "crust" when done for a couple minutes longer than completely necessary, anyways!

6. Remove and Cool!

(...but, you should probably enjoy one while they're warm! or, maybe more than one...)

So, yeah. Really happy with how these came out! Give them a shot!

Rekindled

2010-01-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

This morning was definitely one of those mornings that were made for curling up under your down blanket in your big comfy bed...however, that wasn't exactly a choice if I want to remain happily employed! Flipping on the local news I was informed that with the wind chill, it was only -15* out! After cringing at just the thought, I knew it was time to re-introduce warm, comfort breakfasts into my life:

Breakfast TVP/Bulgur: 2 Tbs Bob's Red Mill TVP, 2 Tbs Bulgur Wheat with Soy, 1 Tbs. Wheat Bran, 1/4 c. Soy Milk, 1/4 c. water, 1/4 c. brewed coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, and Truvia. I also "whipped" in 1/4 sliced banana. Topped with 1/2 serving Kashi H2H, 1/4 sliced banana, wheat germ, and 1.5 tsp Full Circle Organic Almond Butter.

This is way more appetizing than it looks! Sorry about that :P Definitely hit the spot. It's definitely different than oatmeal, but a similar concept. I find I really like the texture the bulgur & TVP combination provides. And it packs a ton of protein! It really kept me satiated for hours - I do way better with a lot of protein in the morning, I think.

I was curious as to whether I could still "whip' sliced banana into it similar as I would oatbran or oatmeal, and it sort of worked! My banana wasn't very ripe, which made it difficult, but I think it can definitely be done! also: huge fan of almond butter with this! I'd never had it with oats before - just never interested me. So glad I hopped on the bandwagon, though! I think my love for warm breakfast cereals has been rekindled - especially if this frigid weather continues!

After making sure I picked out some super-warm clothing for the day, I put together a wonderful but not-so-new lunch:

In La Tortilla = chick pea salad & romaine, accompanied by veggie crisps, remaining nanner, and a Blueberry Clif Z-Bar.

I've said it once, but I'll say it again: love these Z Bars! I think Blueberry and Apple Cinnamon are my favorites :) And besides being a little bit higher in sugar than is really necessary (but hey, at least it's real sugar?) they've got some good stats!

Today was pretty much an all-around great day...beautiful weather (from the inside I mean...sunny and beautiful, but deceiving - as soon as you stepped outside the wind chill made you gasp for your breath!), a great vibe at work, and it flew by! Maybe I should credit the mean breakfast?

Before I knew it, it was time to come home and utilize leftovers! As usual...have you all noticed how I always seem to drastically overestimate how much I am capable of eating? haha.

Fish Tacos a-la Bulgur & Veggie Stir-Fry:

Leftover Tilapia and Veggies from These Tacos combined with a bulgur stir-fry with 2 egg whites and other miscellaneous veggies.

'twas wonderful, really...

...and salsa.

Caught up on some blogs and whipped up some greek fro-yo and a simple quick-cookie:

Fro-Yo: Greek Yogurt, Graham Cracker pieces, vanilla pudding mix, cinnamon, and truvia. Left in the freezer for 30m.

Cookie: 1.5 tsp. rolled oats, 1 tsp. wheat bran, 1/8 t. baking powder, truvia, cinnamon, vanilla, 1 t. egg beaters. Nuked for 45 secs.

Topped with Apricot-Mango preserves.

Is everyone enjoying this beautiful moon?! Last night was so light out that I thought I overslept when I woke up at 2am!

Does anyone have any exciting weekend plans?

I'm trying to get a photography page put together on Facebook, and also have some papers to do, as well as some shooting! Nothing exciting! Well, besides the shooting. Hoping to squeeze in some baking too, or at least make a real dinner! We'll see how it all falls into place.

But for now, I'm off to blog-read and munch my way through the night :) I should probably point out that I really only document a portion of what I eat a day. I don't bother so much with the random munchies. Not to mention I love random snacks like applesauce with bread. Who needs to see applesauce and bread? haha.

What's your favorite "random" snack?

Over and out!

Absolutely Fantastic

2010-01-28T16:58:00.000-08:00

"Absolutely Fantastic."

This is what a man on a BBQ ribs show just deemed his recipe, but it also fits my day, and that includes my eats for the day :)

This probably looks vaguely familiar. BUT! If you thought this was a repeat of some Blueberry-Lime Buckwheat Pancakes, then you would be incorrect. Instead, we have Lime Poppyseed English Muffin French Toast! I guess we should start airing a few of my breakfast obsessions:

1. Poppyseeds - Essentially, lemon or lime poppyseed flavored baked goods

2. bananas, blueberries, FRUIT!

3. greek yogurt.

4. really good jam or preserves

A month ago, this list would have consisted primarily of oat bran or oatmeal. I still love me some oat bran and oatmeal, but I have been shifting my tastes, I guess! This list will only get longer.

To make this lovely french toast breakfast yourself, simply combine ~1/4 c. egg beaters, 1 egg white, splash soy milk, vanilla extract, nutmeg, poppyseeds, zest of 1 lime, juice of 1/2 lime, and stevia or your sweetener of choice. Halve a whole-wheat english muffin, and poke each side with a fork (well, the "hard" side of each half). I've found it helps if you nuke it for a couple seconds first, too. Start pre-heating your pan, and then dip halves in egg mixture and allow to soak up some of the liquid. Throw on your pan and cook to your liking! Towards the last half of their cooking time, I threw in some frozen blueberries, and when they were all done I topped with some greek yogurt, strawberry preserves, some more poppyseeds, and the remaining lime zest. Loffly!

After happily beginning my day with a sure-fire brekkie, I got everything together for classes, which involved organizing all of my camera gear into one bag. This proved to be much more difficult than one would think, given the ridiculously large size of my camera bag. This also included lunch-packing:

nom-nom-nom.

Drove to school in a beautiful wintry mix as the weatherman would say...and it was! Love it when it snows. It is so comforting! Morning classes flew by, and so I flew into Hannafords to pick up some goods! It's the only convenient time for me to go there, really. They have a couple things that the local P.Chop doesn't, so I figured it was a good way to kill the two hours I had before my next class...I needed more o' deese:

Oh, yeah...enough veggie chips to get me by for oh, a couple days I Suppose. My mom asked me if I left any for the other Hannaford's Nature's Place hippies. Also got some more quorn chik'n tenders.

And check out these mustards!

Not sure how "right" it is for a Vermont chickie (a.k.a. me) to pick up Maine Maple, but how could I pass it up? Can't wait to try them. I'm so lame.

Lunch Obsessions:

1. mustard. of all shapes flavors and forms.

2. Anything in a wrap. Anything that can be thrown in a wrap. La Tortilla Wraps. Sandwich Thins.

3. Panini Presses

4. beans.

5. hummus & veggie sandwiches.

to be continued...

Photo was fun today! We got to shoot a little in a lightbox. Pretty sure my teacher has a vendetta against me though because, for some strange reason, she dislikes the lab I work at?

Has anyone had a teacher where you get the impression that they are threatened by your knowledge of the subject? I still have so much to learn about photography, don't get me wrong. But we're starting with really basic stuff, so of course I answer, or ask more questions out of curiosity...and I always get these strange responses that are sort of "well...you're right, but..." and some nonsensical answer that includes why it could be wrong. I don't know.

Anyways. It apparently snowed like crazy for the two hours I was in there! There weren't any windows so I was shocked to leave the building and see slippery sidewalks & roads, and mas fresh snow coating the ground. Love snow!

Came home and threw together fish tacos!

My first ever, no less. Granted, these are fish tacos in a pita. But shh. It's pretty darn similar, no?

These were definitely holy-yum though! To make them I browned 1 tilapia filet seasoned with pepper, garlic salt, and chili powder in minced garlic, lime zest and juice, onion, cilantro, and chipotle salsa. In a separate pan, I threw together some julienned carrots, red pepper, chopped tomato, and salsa and seasoned with salt, pepper, chili powder, and lime juice. Added in some parmesan cheese and franks, and then stuffed a toasted Joseph's Flax Pita with chopped romaine, the veggie mix, and the fish mix (which got treated with some Frank's!). And a blob of greek yogurt "sour cream" on the side!

Soo nommer-ful. Love fish! Pretty sure I could be a vegetarian if I didn't love fish so much. I could care less whether I ate real meat again, but I love fish.

Dinner Obsessions:

1. mustard. still.

2. veggies of all shapes flavors and forms.

3. wraps. still. beans. still.

4. tilapia. salmon. crab. shrimp. FISH.

5. Quorn Chik'n

6. Polenta.

to be continued...

So, that's about it! I'm off to enjoy some dessert :) But, I want to know...what are some of your food obsessions?!

F-A-I-L.

2010-01-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

...spells FAIL! But we'll get to the comedy act a little later :)

First, as usual:

Brekk'ist! At least breakfast never fails me. I don't think you can ever go wrong with breakfast foods - they're good no matter what! Unless you have runny egg yolks. blech! Sorry Karla, for always having to see my gross crusty eggs :P

Gotta rep the school, of course.

Today was 1 Whole Wheat English Muffin topped with all-natural Almond Buttah & Strawberry jam, 2 Fried Egg Whites con Montreal Steak seasoning, half a nanner, and Green Mountain Hazelnut Coffee. I'm trying a new creamer! I used to love coffeemate and the like, but sadly know there's a whole bunch of junk in them :(

Busted - this photo is obvi. from yesterday.

So, I'm giving Silk Creamer a try! Although I'm not too sure it's that much "healthier" when it comes down to it, hah. It's not so bad, put I still prefer my Vanilla coffeemate. I think that's one thing I can't give up :\ Ah well. I don't even use the serving size because I don't like my coffee really sweet anyways. Sometimes I'll just want it black. So, I think my Nalgene bottle will kill me first.

How do you like your coffee?

Work went by pretty quickly today! One of my bosses is out with vertigo so I kept pretty busy. A peak at the eats:

Seriously love this chick pea salad. Garbanzo beans = love. And kidney beans. And butter beans. And pretty much any other kind of bean. But enough about me - what's your favorite bean?

Does anyone else think this wrap looks mini in this photo, though? It's kind of comical, really. It's a normal wrap, I swear! haha.

Carrots, Kashi Raspberry-Choco Granola Bar, Nanner, Crack (aka dried veggie crisps), wrap, coffee, chips, and wadah.

Not a big chip fan, not really sure what I was thinking. I think chips are one of those foods I feel like I should like, though. So I keep trying them. All to no avail. Needless to say, they came home -1, and are all mom's now. haha. Additionally: Kashi, I love you, but your Raspberry Chocolate TLC bars taste very artificial. Not a fan. Pumpkin Pie and Coconut are impressive though, so I guess I can forgive you.

After 8 hours of diligently goofing around in the lab and smiling like a schoolgirl every time I looked outside and saw beautiful snow once again gracing Vermont, it was time to come home and make a beautiful polenta pizza! Because, well, I like pizza, and I love polenta, and I had leftover ingredients to use up that were made to be polenta pizza.

Not only that, but while it was baking I could get either a shower or some quick schoolwork out of the way. Perfect! I assembled the perfect pizza with basil polenta (pre-prepared - I admit it works better when it's homemade polenta, but I had this kind I needed to use still), tomatoes, feta, red pepper, chicken sausage, and red onion. Popped it in the oven and accomplished a quick assignment and a shower while it was baking. Score! Can relax for the night!

Here's where the trouble starts.

Pizza's ready and as I am trying to get it free of the pan, start to think spraying the sheet would have definitely been a good choice. At this point I almost snap a "pretty" photo of it, while it's still pretty, of course - before just dumping it in a blob in a bowl. Then I finally get it free and it still looks relatively pizza-like. Phew, that was a close one.

But oh, no. I wasn't out of the woods yet!

I grab the garlic salt because just like mustard, everything is better with more garlic.

I unhinge the top, and reach over to sprinkle some over my pizza while looking away and reaching for my camera.

I get the feeling of slight alarm when it seems the salt came out way easier than it usually does, and look over at my plate.

I had successfully emptied half the contents of the garlic salt all over my pizza.

It was slightly comical because all I could really do was stare down at it in silent mourning. Usually someone would vocalize some sort of displeasure, but I was just too amazed at my idiocy, and had a slight spark of hope that I could just scrape it off.

Newsflash: You can't scrape off salt when it's all over an absorbent surface.

Le Sigh. So, after a disgusting taste-test to make sure it was really ruined, the garbage earned a what was once delicious dinner, and I just started pulling everything out of the fridge that was "leftover", and came up with this:

Mish-Mash of Morningstar Farms Mealstarters crumbles, broccoli, tomato, carrots, corn, laughing cow, and cubed polenta, sauteed in balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard.

Because when all else fails, I resort to my beloved veggies and mustard.

Actually, this didn't taste as funky as the picture suggests. I do love veggies. But it was no polenta pizza. I'm one of those people that when I get a food idea planted in my head, come hell or highwater, that's what I'm gonna have. I actually though "Oh. OK. Well, I'll make a stove-top version of my polenta pizza, then." But I quickly realized I had no patience for that. haha. There were tons of things I could have made, really, but I was just at a loss for ideas and sought comfort from broccoli and mustard.

Oh well! You win some, you lose some.

And, this dessert more than made up for it:

Cookie: 1 tsp Almond Butter, 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, stevia, 1 tsp wheat bran, 1/4 tsp jam, 1 tsp egg beaters. Combined and nuked for 1 minute.

Along with Strawberry Shortcake Greek Fro-Yo: Greek Yogurt, Vanilla Pudding mix, strawberry jam - freeze for 30m.

and butterscotch hot cocoa.

Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with eating your emotions.

So tell me, what's your biggest kitchen blunder?

I hope everyone's had a good day - catch you all tomorrow!

Not Feelin' It

2010-01-26T17:08:00.000-08:00

Guess what I saw this afternoon?!

...SUN! Couldn't believe it. No picture documentation, but we saw some good old fashioned sunshine for a good 15 minutes :) Supposed to be sunny tomorrow, though, so hopefully the weatherman isn't lying. I'll take sun or a snowstorm, just NO MORE RAIN!

Anyways, class got out a litttle bit early, but not really enough to make a difference in dinner plans. I stuck with falafel:

And the leftover sweet potatoes! To be honest, I'm glad I had so many leftover...not really feeling the falafel wrap tonight and ended up focusing most of my attention on the taters :( Not sure what it was, really...but I forgot to put tomato in the wrap and I think that kinda ruined it for me, as lame as it sounds. Or maybe I just prefer my falafel with real tzatziki in a pita with spinach, or in a salad. I dunno. I don't think it was the falafel itself though; when I ate it plain I liked it even though this time the recipe was slightly different.

Oh, well! Not the end of the world I guess, haha.

And c'mon. If I kept saying "oh my god this was good!" on here, you guys are bound to start thinking I'm just cheesin' it for the blog!

It's been a while since I've done a fun Flick'r feature!
When I just post once a day I feel like I'm talking so much that no one wants to hear any more by the end of it, haha. But I need to get back to shooting a bunch, and was browsing for some inspiration when I found artofdreaming's photostream. Um, look at these amazing black and white shots!

This is by far my favorite.

Sorry for the link-age. I know it's a pain, but I can't figure out how to post it. and I think if someone wanted to get real picky, that could be viewed as copywright infringement.

Well, I'm off to watch NCIS with the fam. What sort of TV shows do you like to keep up with? Any "Family traditions"?

What Butter Is to Paul Dean...

2010-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

...is what mustard is to me.

But we'll get to that shortly, after starting with a mustard-free start to my day. And the power stayed on! Score.

Oh, delicious breakfast, I love you so much. Looks like I burnt my pancake in the toaster! haha. I actually did, but only a tiny bit. Added character, I say. Topped with pure Almond Butter, strawberry jam, and a slice of banana or two, hehe. On the side: banana (duh.) and two fried egg whites. That were oversalted. I picked up some new seasonings and apparently there is way more salt in "French Fry Seasoning" than I had anticipated. Eh well.

Afterwards, tried to make myself look the most presentable I could considering I was going showerless (I am not a "shower in the morning" kinda gal. sorry folks.) to school. Was relatively successful, but I probably stunk.

Classes went by pretty quickly so I came home for lunch and to shower. Still have another class in a couple hours, but I like coming home for lunch and a shower was desperately needed. Haha. So before I got stink-free, I chopped up a sweet potato to roast! I haven't had a sweet potato in forever and finally picked some up from P.Chop the other day. I mixed it up in an oven-proof casserole dish with a chopped carrot, parsley, honey mustard, some leftover diced tomatoes, s&p, parmesan, and tons of curry powder. I prefer my sweet potatoes savory rather than sweet, and with curry powder they are amazing! I like to make them fries, but I didn't want to take that much time cutting them up and wasn't sure if they'd burn while I was in the shower since they'd be skinnier.

What's your favorite way to eat sweet potatoes? Or your favorite vegetable?

Paired with a small side-salad and viola!

Made me feel bad for neglecting sweet potatoes for the past month or two! They are so amazing. This is only half...I'm still trying to make my way through it, though - the other half may need to be leftovers!

Don't be afraid of the curry powder. Go liberal!

I've realized lately I haven't done too much experimenting with more "exotic" veggies, like celery root, kale, etc. I've been dying to try kale! So, I ask you:

What is your favorite vegetable? Least favorite?

In other news, check this out! #7 on the FoodBuzz top 9? So cool, thanks guys! I'm not really sure how it happens or how they decide it, but I still think that's pretty neat-o :)

Guf - I am full! Off to go powder my face and catch up on blogs, too, if I have time. See you guys for dinner! I'm thinking a falafel wrap :) If the class runs until 7 like it's supposed to then that means a late night, so I'm glad I've got some already made up!

Is it sad that when I get bored in class I start thinking about what to have for lunch and dinner regardless of how hungry I am?