I may come up with some quirky combos, but some of the BEST (and strangest) ones I’ve ever tasted have been discovered simply by me asking myself,
“I wonder how this and that will taste together?”
Sometimes it doesn’t go as well as hoped (note to self, peanut butter and salsa just doesn’t work), but other times, it turns out to be a flavor explosion…
POW! Right in the kisser! 😉
So here it is, the long and thoughtful process of this week’s #strangebutgood recipe…
Three bottles plus one little jar equals…
One bowl of smokey and spicy, sweet and salty deliciousness!
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant.
2. Add meat-less tenders, mushrooms, and peas and saute 10-12 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.
3. Whisk together remaining ingredients in a small bowl to form sauce.
4. Pour half of the sauce into skillet, stirring to coat veggies.
5. Transfer contents of skillet to a plate and drizzle with other half of sauce.
6. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
But I’m not making a Bob Marley reference…though you can’t deny that song IS pretty awesome! 🙂
No, I’m talking about these little beauties…
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the people of Sambazon to sample and review a few of their smoothies. After taking a look at the flavors and seeing the amazing ingredients (all organic, non-GMO, fair trade, and even VEGAN!), I couldn’t handle my excitement!
The company sent me some VIP vouchers to try not one, but THREE smoothies! The hardest part was deciding which ones to get…I really wanted to try the kale ginger
(uh, YUM!), but sadly they weren’t in stock. 🙁
In the end, I went with the breakfast blend in strawberry banana, and two of their protein smoothies, vanilla and chocolate almond coconut!!
I’ll admit I was a little nervous trying these since most juices/blended drinks tend to be too sweet for my tastes. They definitely were on the sweeter side, but not so much that I couldn’t enjoy them.
The strawberry banana was the first one I tried and loved it from the first sip…the PERFECT blend of strawberry and banana!
And at around 210 calories for the whole bottle, I was surprised that it kept me full for TWO hours (pre-made shakes usually only hold me over for an hour tops!).
Next up was the chocolate almond coconut and oh my gosh you guys, the coconut flavor in this is UNREAL!
It was like drinking the creamiest of chocolate milks out of an actual COCONUT!
Last, and actually what I thought was the least, was the acai berry vanilla. It had a nice mild vanilla flavor that went well with the berry but I thought it was a little gritty-tasting.
That is until I had a minor stroke…of GENIUS! 😉
Are you ready for this?
It tasted…
just like…
CAPTAIN CRUNCH!!!
I kid…you not! 😀
Along with my VIP vouchers, the company also sent me this GORGEOUS handcrafted bowl…
And a cute little spoon too…which makes a fabulous impromptu mic while dancing around the kitchen 😉
But the bowl has an even BETTER use…
Hmmm, what could that be?
Oh yes…yes I did! 😉
So now for the SUPER exciting news…
Sambazon is giving you ALL the chance to win FIVE VIP VOUCHERS so you can see for yourself just how Samb-AZING they are…and they’re also throwing in a handcrafted ginger chew bowl AND a wooden mic! 😉
Wow…I couldn’t help but have the BIGGEST smile on my face as I read through all your sweet comments on Monday’s post…especially since I know that the man-friend will be reading them too (yep, he reads the blog :D) and by the time I see him again this weekend, I’m sure his ego will be as big as a house! Lol
Along with all my AMAZING Valentine’s Day goodies, I have to say, even though our Memphis plans fell through, he did a pretty darn good job keeping me entertained this weekend…especially when he asked me if I wanted to go to Big Lots…for the SOUL purpose of checking out the healthy treats like the new Budpop gummies! 😉
But besides buying WAY too many snacks to add to my already BURSTING pantry, we also found ourselves faced with some DELICIOUS eats…
As always, a BIG thanks goes out to our crafty, veggie-loving hostess, Jenn for giving me a reason to bombard you with more foodporn! 😉
Before heading off to my massage appointment, we fixed a quick but oh so satisfying breakfast…
Mmmm, oats!
He kept it simple with a bit of honey drizzled on top, but I went BIG with a perfectly fried egg, blueberry jam, and a dash ton of cinnamon!
After he picked me up from my appointment, we had planned to go out for lunch, but traffic was terrible so instead we hit up the grocery store, picked up a few things and made a nice lunch at home!
JUMBO-sized salads topped with yummy hummus!
And while the man-friend opted for a turkey sandwich, I was really feeling the need for something warm in my tummy.
Soup’s up!
Unfortunately, this soup sucked BIG time! I know it can be hard to find low-sodium soups that actually have FLAVOR to them, but I know it can be done…sadly, Amy doesn’t have the skills.
The rest of the day was full of movie-watching, nap-taking, and otherwise being lazy bums. Oh but we did manage make this tasty little snack…
Ain’t no guac like a CHUNKY guac!
We finally decided to get up and get moving later that night and since I didn’t get the warm tummy goodness I had hoped for during lunch, I suggested we go out for Thai…nothing like some good (mildly <- I’m a wimp) spicy curry!
We started out with some spring rolls served with an incredible sweet peanut sauce to start, and then came our entrees…
I actually ordered the dish on the left…chicken, carrots, onions, and snap peas in a brown ginger sauce, but after a couple of bites, I really wasn’t feeling it (the chicken was a bit tough and I was very disappointed with the ginger flavor) so the man-friend did one of the sweetest things…he SWAPPED plates with me!
Granted, he had already polished off HALF the bowl of this sweet coconutty bowl of deliciousness, but I GLADLY dove face first into finished the rest! 😉
But after dinner is where it got REAL…
Oh yeah baby! Fro-yo Heaven…complete with cookie dough, Oreo crumblies, and cereal “sprinkles”…aka Fruitty Pebbles…aka one of the best kiddie cereals in the WORLD!
And hidden under my mountain of cereal? Only some of the best fro-yo ever…
red velvet cake batter!!! YUMMMM!
Later that night, before heading off to bed with our fro-yo-full bellies, I introduced the man-friend to…
Overnight oats!
In the morning, he again went purist on me with a drizzle of honey (seriously, we need to work on this…must turn man-friend into nut butter addict! ;)) while I topped mine with thawed frozen strawberries and melty coconut peanut butter!
My bowl was SUPER filling…so much so that, hours later, the man-friend was forced to eat lunch alone…but I don’t think he minded not having to share his leftover Papa John’s with me! 😉
But dinner was a different story…
Whole Foods hot bar and ANOTHER new-to-me kombucha flavor!
I had a piece of fried chicken (my first in YEARS…omg, SO good), sesame green beans, braised cabbage, broccoli casserole, sautéed greens and tomatoes, red cabbage salad, and some antipasta!
A few hours (and MORE shopping…haha!) later, this happened…
Ummm, I mean…THIS HAPPENED…
BAM!!
Fro-yo two days in a row?! Hey, you only live once! WHY have I’ve never thought to add hot fudge and peanut butter to my fro-yo before?? Omg, I’ve been missing out! And um…that may or may not be a couple of demonic cookies (aka Thin Mints) on this side! 😉
I have to say, looking back at everything, I think we did great at balancing out our eats…plenty of veggies, whole some grains, and TONS of calcium! 😉
What’s the best thing you ate this weekend?
When you get fro-yo, what’s one topping you can NEVER go without? FRUITTY PEBBLES!!!
My name is Heather! I'm a southern gal with a passion for food, fitness, and photography...and alliteration if you didn't notice! Here you'll find a mix of random musings, delicious recipes, and hopefully a chuckle or two! Check out my "About' tab to learn more!
