WIATIFTBA: A Vegan Meat Sandwich

Hiya kids!

Welcome to the post for the short-term memory-challenged…

The ADHD-stricken…

And of course, the regular Wednesday celebrator!

Otherwise known as…

WIAW GOES GREEN

What I Ate That I Forgot to Blog About!

Big thanks to Jenn and her weekly blog party for giving me a reason to scour my photo library and RE-discover these gems! And since these pics just happen to be full of GREEN, coinciding with our latest WIAW theme, perhaps you’ll forgive the fact that they’re almost a MONTH OLD?!

Oops? 😕

This particular weekend of deliciousness started with the man-friend and me satisfying a HUGE craving…

Pizza

A doughy, cheesy, get-in-my-face pizza kind of craving!

Old Chicago

We were both eager to try out Old Chicago’s new Tavern Thin Crust pizza and since I just happened to get a coupon in the mail that week, we figured it must’ve been a sign! 😉

I ordered an individual-size topped with my pizza must-haves:
Mushrooms, red onions, green peppers and black olives.

And the man-friend went with a large topped with manly must-haves:
MEAT!

And no, you didn’t read that wrong…nor are your eyes messing with you. Notice the pies are the same size? Well, the kitchen goofed and ended up making us TWO LARGES…buuuuuut we were only charged for the sizes we ordered.

See, I told you it was a sign! 😉

The next day, I met up with my favorite purple-haired, chicken-loving gal at a new-to-me restaurant in Nashville…one of our ONLY vegan options, The Wild Cow!

Vegan Artichoke Dip

We started out with a plate of spinach and (heavy on the) artichoke dip along with some perfectly seasoned crostini.

Then it was time to bring it on down to Veganvilllllllllle….

Wild Cow

Buffalo tempeh salad for Allie and a seitan Philly with a side of garlicky kale for me!

I tried a bite of Allie’s tempeh and while it was a bit spicy for me, I thought it had a good flavor. My sandwich was absolutely amazing…filled with “meaty” seitan, peppers and onions, stuffed inside a perfectly toasted whole wheat bun…and the “cheese”? YUM!

After we’d finished basking in the glory of our veggie-filled lunch, we decided to head next door for some dessert at Jenni’s

Jenni's Ice Cream

Because you know, the best way to end a VEGAN lunch is with ICE CREAM! 😉

After sampling HALF the store (I kid you NOT!), I ended up going with a scoop of the goat cheese with red cherries and the pistachio honey!

There were SO many incredible flavors to choose from: toasted coconut, wild berry lavender (that tasted like friggin’ Fruity Pebbles!), Bangkok peanut butter (with a nice spicy kick), and they even had an absinthe flavor that was soooo interesting!

I will DEFINITELY be going back!

On my way home that night, I took a small detour and headed over to have dinner with the parentals. My sister, Tori, was at work that night so it was just the three of us!

Stew & Mustard

Mama’s homemade beef and vegetable stew with a side of Heather’s #strangebutgood crackers! And a little un-pictured dip (or three) into the sweet pickle jar for a little appetizer! 😉

Later that night, back at Casa de Broccoli, was when I first discovered February’s Indulgence

PB&J Sundae

PB annnnnnnnnnd J!

Because you can never have too much ice cream

Because I needed an excuse to eat cereal

Because I wanted it!

What is the last craving you satisfied?

Did you catch Justin Timberlake latest hosting of SNL?
I may be behind the times but I watched it on Hulu last night and laughed until I almost cried!

Posted in Restaurant Review, Vegan, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , | 56 Comments

Marvelously Maniacal & Hover Roundin’

Happy Monday my loves!

I hope you all had a marvelous, and perhaps GREEN? weekend!

I may not have gone out dancing and green beer drinking last night (even if I HAD the ability to dance, I’m not really much of a St. Patty’s Day celebrator), but I DID whip up this bowl of goodness…

Green Oats

And by “whip up”, I totally mean I heated up a packet of Oat Fit Oats, threw it in the good ol’ Magic Bullet with a handful of spinach and cinnamon, and VOILA!

Nail Polish

I also thought I’d be festive and give myself a little Irish manicure…

Nail #Fail

Only I’m a bit impatient/forgetful and ended up ruining it less than an HOUR later…

*grumble*

BUT this weekend wasn’t ALL about green-filled festivities surrounding a holiday that I have no idea why American’s even celebrate (?). Nope! There were some other pretty MARVELOUS happenings over the last few days!

Join me, the one and only Healthy Diva, and the rest of the MARVELOUS crew as we celebrate Monday the best way we know how…by living through weekend snapshots!

Crutches

But first, a quick update since I had my follow-up appointment with the surgeon on Thursday. I found out that they did have to remove part of my meniscus, but he also went in and “scraped” some arthritis out of the knee-joint.

My stitches were removed (I will definitely spare you THAT picture!) and I was given orders to start physical therapy on Tuesday…oh yeah, and about going back to work next week? Not happening! The doctor said that until I show progress in PT, he wants me to stay out of work for up to…are you ready for this?

THREE MORE WEEKS!!!! 

Holy friggin’ crap…I’m going to go insane!

Please pray that I make some HUGE steps (pun intended) in therapy and can go back in at least two weeks!

To lighten up the shock of the news, after leaving the office, my mom took me to the one place she knew would cheer me up…the grocery store!!

And well, then the real MARVELOUSNESS began…

Scooterin'

Marvelous?…Maniacal?…Eh, close enough! 😉

Publix Scooterin'Seriously, I had ENTIRELY too much fun with this…

And may or may not have tried to find a way to fit this baby into the back of my car!

Back at the house, mom and I fixed some salads for lunch and then while she helped me with a bit of food prep, I was able to teach her a few things…like how to slice into and remove the seeds from a pomegranate and how to bake a spaghetti squash!

Spaghetti SquashI tried to teach her a few of my #strangebutgood ways while testing out some of the spaghetti squash after baking, but I just couldn’t win her over with my peanut flour, BBQ seasoning, and FROG jam combo…

Hmm, more for me! 😀

As for the rest of the squash, I had big plans for dinner that night…big plans involving this recipe and this tomato sauce! And of course what would plans be without a little auto correct #fail to the man-friend…

Tomato Sauce TextHippopotamus? 😉

Thanks to the man-friend’s help in the kitchen (he and my mom switched places as Heather’s babysitter for the night), dinner turned out…

Laura's Spaghetti Squash PieMARVELOUSLY deeee-licious!

Seriously, if you haven’t made Laura’s Spaghetti Squash Pie, I totally recommend it!

The next day, the man-friend rescued me from yet another day of couch banishment with  a MARVELOUS trip OUTSIDE where I got to SEE the SUN!

Sky

So where did we go?

Well, I may or may not have told him about how much fun I’d had with mom at Publix the  day before and…

Sam's Club Scooterin'SAMs club WAS just a few minutes down the road! 😉

Along with testing out the turn radius of my newly acquired wheels, getting my fill of free food samples, and otherwise having the time of my life (hey, it’s the little things), I happened across a bit of childhood nostalgia…

Sam's Club Finds

I ended up putting the game back (sorry, Pac!), but WILLOW?! There was no WAY I was passing that up!

Unfortunately, after two outings in one weekend, my body decided it had had enough…

Bad Leg

Notice the cankle? See the difference?

So the man-friend went home to take care of some stuff, and I spent the rest of the weekend BACK on the couch, but this time hanging with my other “man”…

Kitty CuddlesSuch a little love slut! 😉

Seriously, he was stuck to me like GLUE! Lol

What made your weekend MARVELOUS?

Who wants to pitch in on the “Get Heather a Hover Round Fund”?
It’s for a good cause! 😉

Posted in MIMM, Shopping | Tagged , , , | 68 Comments

Confessions of a Pancake Queen

 Forgive me, Spatula, for I have sinned…

Spatula

It has been TEN DAYS since my last pancake flip.

But, thanks to perfectionism, late night test-batches and a resulting overflowing freezer, only THIRTY SIX HOURS since my last indulgence… 😀

Coconut Cauliflower PancakesCoconut Cauliflower Pancakes topped with “Healthy” Chocolate Sauce, pom seeds, and shredded coconut in the “dawn” of the ever faithful lightbox!

Since I can’t exactly get in the kitchen and whip up a breakfast worth celebrating on Pancake Sunday (damn crutches!), I thought I’d borrow Sarah’s theme of “confessional Sundays” and share a few things I’ve learned over the years in all my
pancake flippin’!

I figure I’d do this in installments since there are quite a few bases to cover what with the utensils, basic ingredients, specialty ingredients, add-ins, and toppings…
Sound good to you? Good, I thought so! 😉

Ok, let’s talk Pancakes UTENSILS!

Pancake Making - UtensilsThe basic (and MOST important) items you need to whip up a batch of delicious pancakes in your own castle kitchen…

Pancake Making Must Haves - Griddle

A LARGE non-stick skillet (or griddle).

I absolutely LOVE my pancake griddle! It is definitely one of my most used kitchen appliances. You don’t have to pay big money for some fancy schmancy one either…mine cost around $20 and I’ve been using it for almost a year now without a single problem.

Before I was lucky enough to own one of these babies (and because I am one of the most IMPATIENT people I know, especially when it comes to food), I would use three different skillets to cook 3-4 pancakes. That way they would all be done at the same time and I wouldn’t have to wait! Lol

The one trick with a skillet is to make sure you leave yourself enough “maneuvering” room between the pancakes so that when you go to flip them, you don’t end up flipping one onto another…believe me, I speak from PLENTY of experience!

Pancake Must Haves - Oil:Non-Stick SprayNon-stick cooking spray (or coconut oil)

To get away from relying on the cans of stuff with “mystery” propellants, I took a whole TEN dollar bill and invested in a Misto! You fill it half full of your favorite oil (I use extra virgin olive oil), give it a few pumps, and you’re good to go spray! 😀

You can also use melted coconut oil. Just dip a folded up paper towel into the oil and quickly/lightly wipe down the surface of your skillet (or griddle) before getting started.

Just DON’T forget this step or your skillet will be eating your pancakes…NOT YOU!

Pancake Making Must-Haves - UtensilsA sturdy spatula/turner, mixing spoon, rubber spatula, and wire whisk

Your spatula should be large enough to hold the entire size of your pancake and should be comfortable to work with. I actually got a new spatula this Christmas and was super excited about it until I realized it was way too big and ended up getting in my way more than anything…bummer, I know. 🙁

Any ol’ mixing spoon will do. I prefer a medium-sized plastic one because it’s lightweight and has a good handle for griping.

The rubber spatula is not required, but it is definitely RECOMMENDED. After stirring my batter and spooning it onto my GREASED griddle, I like to run the rubber spatula around the sides of my bowl to make sure I get every last drop of yummy pancake batter deliciousness.

Pancake Taste

And well, since this IS a confessional post, I’ll admit, sometimes that yummy pancake batter deliciousness goes straight into my mouth instead of in the pan…

Hey, gotta check for poison! 😉

The whisk is double-duty instrument. I use it to mix my dry ingredients (to break up lumps in the flour and also to ensure I don’t end up with clumps of baking powder, spices in the middle of my cakes) and I also use it (in the case of NON-vegan recipes) to whip my egg whites before adding them to the batter.

Bowl

And last but not least…a good medium-sized mixing bowl.

Ya know, to hold all that yummy pancake batter deliciousness! Preferably, you want one WITHOUT bread dough in it though…sue me, it’s the only picture I had!

I hope you all found these little tips & tricks helpful! More to come from my pancake-makin’ repertoire in the coming weeks! Hey, before long, I’ll have ALL of you turned into my little squires! 😉

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I’ll be sure to include them in the upcoming posts!

GREEN Pancakes! Now, who’s coming over to whip up a batch GREEN cakes for their favorite
crippled Queen? 😉

All recipes can be found under my RECIpage tab!

♣ HAPPY ST. PATTY’S DAY! ♣

Will you be celebrating the holiday with some green pancakes? shakes? BEER? 😉

*Linked up with Danielle’s National Breakfast Week roundup!*

Posted in Pancake Sunday, Tips & Tricks | Tagged , | 48 Comments