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Marvelous Cat Hair-Covered Yoga Pants

Posted on March 4, 2013 by kissmybroccoli

Well, hello there my little cookie monsters!

Sounds like I’ve got a good amount of cookie crack addicts out there! And FYI, I made a little edit to yesterday’s post to include changes for different flours and protein powders. BUT if I didn’t manage to win your heart over with my Thin Mint Cookie Pancakes, just wait until you see NEXT week’s stack…

They’re…shall we say…deLITE-ful?

Or perhaps so good you’ll want…some-moas? 😉

Butttttt (haha, I said butt) for now…how about we take our minds OFF pancakes and ON some Marvelous Monday action?

Join me, my favorite diva, and all the rest of the crew in doing our best to bring the weekend marvelousness into the week!

Since the man-friend had to go out of town for some business this weekend, I had a full TWO and a HALF DAYS all to myself!

Surgery

And after finding out that my surgeon had “accidentally” been double-booked for Monday, thus postponing my knee surgery until this Friday,
I looked at the positive side of things and didn’t let it ~~piss me off~~ get me down…

Then I went to the gym and picked a fight.

Mr. Rubber Man never stood a chance. 😉

Afterwards, I came home, and (since it was SNOWING?!) decided to throw on some cat hair-covered yoga pants and live in them for the rest of the weekend.

Then I popped in this movie (and by “popped” I mean, clicked off of Netflix), lit my new favorite candle…

Seriously, I want to EAT this!

And did something I’ve been wanting to do for some time now…

I fixed my light box!

After re-tissue-ing the box and playing with the lights a bit, I got it back in action JUST in time for dinner…

Marvel at the light of day at 8 o’clock at night! 😀

Needless to say, I was a little excited. 😉

I spent the rest of the night ~~hovering over my new toy~~ chilling on the couch, catching up on blogs, submitting MORE pics to Foodgawker, and I even managed a trip to zombie-ville!

The next morning, I woke up to this…

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful in all your life?!!?*

*And this is what happens to me when my days are filled with old chewing gum-colored days and below freezing temperatures for weeks on end.

While it only got up to 45 degrees and I was still feeling pretty comfy in my yoga pants, I decided to raise up a couple of windows, push up my sweatshirt sleeves, crank up the tuneage and…

Demolish my kitchen in as little time as possible! 😉

And the survivors amidst the wreckage?

Details/recipes coming soon!

But for now, I’d like to give a shout out to my inspiration AND motivation, my girl ♥Meghan♥

Umm, are you cool that I call you my girl, or is that a little weird and stalker-y and if I have to ask, do I already know the answer? 😉

Oh, and at the end of all that, I finally changed clothes…

Into DIFFERENT pair of cat hair-covered yoga pants!

To go run errands…because that way everyone will just think I’m on my way to the gym instead of the fact that I just hate wearing ACTUAL pants! 😉

Do you like wearing pants?

What was something MARVELOUS from your weekend?

Posted in MIMM, Photography, Workouts | Tagged books, cooking, lightbox, movies | 51 Comments

Brownie Points

Posted on March 3, 2013 by kissmybroccoli

Back in the day, when I just was a wee little lass…

What the heck, three days into March and I’m already talking like a leprechaun?!

Anywho!…Each week, I donned a little brown uniform, complete with a skirt, vest, and a sash FULL of patches painstakingly sewn on by my mother.

I was a “Brownie”

Along with my fellow scouts, I did my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring…

Until it came time to earn that badge for cookie-selling.
Then, all bets were off!

The troop masters were sure to teach us well.

~~Stare them down~~

Politely introduce yourself.

~~Reel them in with those sad puppy dog eyes~~

Tell them about our mission to do good.

~~Prey on their weakness for sugary delights~~

Ask them if they’d like to contribute to our cause.

Little did I know that those deeds would come back to haunt me in my adult years….ha, and some people don’t believe in karma!

Every year, it’s the same story. I come out of the grocery store and get totally blind-sighted. It’s almost like she knows, but I can’t do it, I can’t let her get to me…because while some of you may be able to practice restraint around such sugary treats, over the years, I seem to have developed a little problem…

And well, as much as I’d LOVE to stand there and convince myself that my favorite green box of ~~crack~~ goodness is calorie free and that a serving size is an entire SLEEVE, it is most definitely NOT!

Pop Quiz: Who knows the ACTUAL serving size on a box of Thin Mints?

Any one…?

Bueller?

Four…count them…1, 2, 3, FOUR?!?! 😯

Ok, so why don’t we take a quick look at the nutrition label on those four little, and I do mean LITTLE, cookies?

See! I freakin’ told YOU!!

So this year, I decided to make amends…

To right myself with the cookie gods…

Ok, I’m lying…I really just wanted an excuse to slather something else in
Healthy Chocolate Sauce. 😉

Thick, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth, not exactly* laced with crack ~~cookies~~ PANCAKES!

*Disclaimer: Not responsible for healthy chocolate sauce addiction. If you are interested in a twelve step program to end your affliction, see…someone ELSE! 😆

But you wanna know the BEST part?

These are for EVERYONE! 😀

Thin Mint Cookie Pancakes

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8-10 minutes

Keywords: fry breakfast high fiber high protein GLUTEN-FREE GRAIN-FREE VEGAN vegetarian buckwheat flour cocoa powder Pancake Sunday

Ingredients (Serves 1)

2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup buckwheat flour, ground from groats
3 Tablespoons (30g) hemp protein powder (optional)*
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
1/2 teaspoon sodium-free baking powder
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
5-7 drops liquid vanilla stevia (I used NuNaturals)

*If omitting, reduce almond milk to 1/3 and vinegar to 1 teaspoon.

Instructions

1. Preheat a non-stick skillet or griddle to medium heat and coat with cooking spray.
2. Combine almond milk and vinegar and allow to set for 5 minutes.
3. In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and xanthan gum, stir with a wire whisk.
4. To the almond milk/vinegar mixture, add applesauce, mint extract, and stevia and stir well.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
6. Spoon batter onto skillet, forming FIVE medium-sized pancakes, and cook for 4-5 minutes per side (batter will not bubble).
7. Plate and top with several servings of Healthy Chocolate Sauce! 😉

**Edited to add: Any protein powder would work for this so long as it weighs the same. And for those of you out there who AREN’T gluten-challenged, oat flour would be PERFECT (it has the same fluffiness that fresh buckwheat flour has)!

Gluten-free, grain-free, and VEGAN!

Screen shot 2013-03-02 at 7.29.40 PM

HA! I’d like to see those girls produce a box of cookies with THESE kind of stats…and you get FIVE of my “cookies”! 😉

So what do you say, have I earned my brownie points? 😉

What is YOUR favorite Girl Scout cookie?

Posted in Breakfast, Pancake Sunday, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged almond milk, childhood, chocolate, cocoa, cookies, healthy chocolate sauce, hemp protein, mint, pancakes | 58 Comments

Peanut Butter & Peppers

Posted on March 1, 2013 by kissmybroccoli

I’d like to retract last week’s statement that peanut butter and salsa
don’t go together…

ESPECIALLY when it’s THIS peanut butter…

And THIS salsa!

After my disappointment with the combo of peanut butter and plain restaurant-style salsa, ~~I just couldn’t let it go~~ I decided to do a little taste-testing…

Little did I know that that single tortilla chip would spawn into such deliciousness…AND my breakfast for the next THREE days!

PB & Pepper Omelette

Behold the beauty of my sweet and spicy PEANUT BUTTERY omelette! 😀

Nothin’ ~~ticks~~ tastes like a ~~Timex~~ Thai-Mex!

Sorry…couldn’t help myself! 😉

Peanut Butter & Pepper Omelette

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5-6 minutes

Keywords: fry breakfast high protein egg whites Thai Mexican

Ingredients (Serves 1)

4 large egg whites (2/3 cup)
1/4 medium red bell pepper, sliced or diced
1/8 cup diced red onion
2 Tablespoons fruity salsa (I like Mrs. Renfro’s pineapple salsa)
1-2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 Tablespoon coconut peanut butter spread (or regular peanut butter) thinned with water

Instructions

1. Heat a small, non-stick skillet to medium heat and coat with cooking spray.
2. Add egg whites to skillet and swirl around until the eggs coat the sides of the pan about half way up.
3. Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes and then add veggies, cilantro, and salsa.
4. Cook for another 2 minutes (egg will start to pull away from the pan a bit) then carefully fold over (or roll) omelette closed.
5. Plate and top with thinned peanut butter.
6. Garnish with more diced pepper and onion, peanuts, and chopped fresh cilantro.

My mind is STILL reeling from the flavor combo…coconut, peanuts, sweet peppers, spicy cilantro!

But it didn’t stop there.

Anyone catch a glimpse of that orange-drizzled toast in the background?

Remember this guy?

Seriously, go to TJ Maxx….after you find that mustard, you have GOT to get this honey!

Perfectly sweet with just a little kick behind it…

Finger Food

Yes, I will make anything into finger food! 😉

And if ~~your omelette-making skills fail you~~ you want to take the Thai-Mexican fusion even farther?

Breakfast tacos! 😀

Peanut Butter & Pepper Breakfast Tacos

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 4-5 minutes

Keywords: fry breakfast high protein egg whites Mexican Thai

Ingredients (Serves 1)

4 large egg whites (2/3 cup)
1/4 medium red bell pepper, diced
1/8 cup diced red onion
2 Tablespoons fruity salsa (I like Mrs. Renfro’s pineapple salsa)
1-2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 corn tortillas, warmed in microwave
1/2 Tablespoon coconut peanut butter spread (or regular peanut butter) thinned with water
Garnish with more cilantro, unsweetened shredded coconut and/or chopped peanuts.
And don’t forget the hot sauce!

Instructions

1. Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray.
2. Scramble egg whites and veggies, stirring frequently, until done (4-5 minutes).
3. Divide eggs between the two corn tortillas, top with salsa, thinned peanut butter and shredded coconut.