Thursday Things and an Egg Epiphany

Posted on July 26, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Thursday friends!

Wow, you guys REALLY want to win some Simply Bars! My Twitter feed has been blowing up with all your entries and I couldn’t love it any more!

Keep ’em coming! You have until Sunday to enter! 🙂

But besides all the excitement I feel from you guys, there have been some other things I couldn’t love more this week…

Yep, it’s time for another round of Thursday Things!

First up…

HEALTHY BITES!

But more specifically, the drool-inducing PB&J and Muddy Buddy Brownie flavors! I put in an order with Lindsay a few weeks ago so I could finally get my hands on some of the most talked about balls in blog world. She was kind enough to put together a smattering of flavors so I wouldn’t have to chose (because frankly, that’s the hardest part) and out of the five flavors I received, these two are my absolute FAVORITE!

I swear the PB&J tastes JUST LIKE a sandwich…no fake peanut butter flavor at all! And the Muddy Buddy? Yeah, it’s pretty much laced with CRACK!

If you haven’t tried Healthy Bites, you are SURELY missing out, but luckily there is a remedy for that problem! Just email Lindsay: lindsay@oureahlthybites.com and get your balls on…I mean, put some balls in your mouth…I mean, oh forget it! 😉

MOJITO MANICURES

Love love LOVE these two new Essie colors I picked up a few weeks ago!

Light green = Navigate Her
Darker Green = Mojito Madness

And yes, I think I’m now officially addicted to painting my nails. Kinda funny since over a year ago, I hated the look of polish on my hands!

GNC POWDERS!

Oh my gosh y’all (yes, I said y’all)…I am beyond in LOVE with these two supplements! The casein protein has already made an appearance on the blog, but the superfood powder, I just tried the other day and was seriously impressed by the natural berry flavor (no weird aftertaste or anything).

Then it took me all of about 2.2 seconds to come up with my new FAVORITE combo:

Berrific Protein Bowl: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 scoop casein whey, 1 scoop berry superfood powder all mixed up and topped with fresh fruit!

It’s also really good with bananas, but I ran out…so today, it was bloobies! 😉

And speaking of brilliance ;)…

I’m sure you guys are probably wondering what the heck an egg epiphany is. Well, allow me to introduce you:

EGGS IN A JAR!!!

While mixing up an egg & veggie scramble for lunch today, I reached inside the fridge for my favorite jar of salsa and realized it was just about out. While it sat on the counter awaiting it’s eggy destiny, it dawned on my that I didn’t have to painstakingly scrape each and every last micro-ounce of tomato/pepper/onion deliciousness OUT of the jar when I could just put my scramble IN the jar!

I know, I know…sometimes it hurts to be such a genius! 😉

I made my meal complete with a multigrain Wasa cracker sch-meared with creamy peanut butter and topped with TJ’s chocolate coffee bean grinder…not exactly genius, but definitely delicious…and too pretty of a pic not to share! 😉

Any delicious epiphanies for you lately?
I’m always up for new flavor combos…like this one I got from IG today:
Somebody asked if I had topped my PB with salt and pepper.
Now THAT is something to try!

What are YOUR Thursday Things this week?

Posted in Breakfast, Thursday Things | Tagged eggs, Essie, GNC, peanut butter, protein, veggies | 37 Comments

Simply Delicious

Posted on July 24, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Wow-wee!

What I Ate Wednesday already?!

I still can’t believe it! Feels like just last week, I was getting “pumped up” for the latest WIAW theme Jenn threw our way! Speaking of, be sure to pop on over to Peas & Crayons and show our beautiful host some love in the form of a comment…without her, Wednesdays just wouldn’t be the same!

So let’s get this party started, shall we?

Once I made it home after my night shift, I whipped up something quick for “breakfast.” My level of consciousness had been slowly declining from the moment I swiped my badge at the time clock so there was no time to waste!

A quicker variation of my protein wheat cake pizza…just crumble it up, throw it in a bowl and grab a spoon!

I used carob instead of chocolate this time just in case my body decided it wanted to get sensitive to the effects of caffeine. 😉

Minutes later, I crawled into my bed, donned my new lavender-scented sleep mask, and pulled the covers up to my chin…

Ahhh, sleep at last!

When I woke up about five hours later, I really wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, but, the tummy rumblings would not be ignored so I shuffled to the kitchen and realized all I wanted was a big bowl of creamy oats!

Egg White Oats topped with blueberries, coconut, chia seeds, and a drizzle of peanut flour sauce (PB2 mixed with a little water).

Blueberries + peanut butter = HEAVEN!

After I finished my “lunch”, I figured I’d wait an hour or two to let my food digest, but I knew I had big plans for later…plans for a nice sweaty workout at the gym guaranteed to get my heart pumping and bring the life back into me!

That plan died minutes later when I found myself crawling back into bed, donning my lavender-scented sleep mask and pulling the covers up to my chin.

Sleep is good! 😉

And you know what? I didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt about it either. Sometimes you just have to listen and give your body rest when it needs it.

After snoozing for about 4 more hours, I knew it was finally time to get up and start my day. As I was getting ready for my shift, I brewed some coffee and made sure I gave myself enough time to sit and enjoy it with a little snack before heading to the hospital.

You guys know me…I’m a born dipper…so tell me, WHY have I never thought of this before?!

The little crispies soak up the coffee and literally MELT in your mouth…which actually reminds me of–

******

I interrupt this regularly scheduled What I Ate Wednesday for something of a very important nature!!!

******

Who wants FREE Simply Bars?!

About a month ago, the INCREDIBLE people over at The Simply Bar were gracious enough to send me a box of four of their most popular flavors to try and they’re giving you the chance to try them as well!

Whether your rowing a boat, hiking up the side of a mountain, primping for a night out, or needing a little pick-me-up before a night shift, The Simply Bar makes the PERFECT snack!

At only 160 calories or less per bar, it is loaded with everything you need to keep you satisfied for hours…low in sugar, high in protein and out of this world in flavor!

1. Lemon Coconut (my FAVE!)
2. Caramel Peanut
3. Chocolate Peanut Butter
4. Cinnamon Pecan

“Loved by many, The Simple Bar makes a great snack for athletes (pre and post workout), vegans, health conscience individuals and those suffering from Celiac, Crohn’s and IBS. In addition to it being a great snack, The Simply Bar is gluten free, low GI, dairy free, Kosher and easy-to-digest.”

Here’s how to enter (leave a SEPARATE comment for each):

1. Follow The Simply Bar on Twitter

2. Follow Kiss My Broccoli on Twitter

3. Tweet the following: “I just entered for a chance to win a FREE case of “simply delicious” bars from @kissmybroccoli! http://kissmybroccoliblog.com/2012/07/24/simply-delicious/ @TheSimplyBar #giveaway”

Details: Giveaway only open to US residents.
Ends Sunday, July 29 @ 11:59 CST.
Winner to be chosen randomly and announced Monday, July 30.

I “simply” wish you the best of luck! 😉

Posted in Breakfast, Giveaway, Product Review, Snacks, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged coffee, Greek yogurt, night shift, oats, PB2, peanut flour, protein powder, rest day, The Simply Bar | 177 Comments

For the Love of Snails

Posted on July 23, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys!

I hope you had a marvelous weekend and hopefully it ended with a celebratory pancake breakfast like mine did yesterday. Oh and speaking of those delicious pancakes, I have some great news…one of my lovely readers, Katy, informed me that making you own quinoa flour is a CINCH! No toasting or anything required, just throw some quinoa in a coffee grinder and badda-bing-badda-BOOM!

Now you don’t have ANY excuses to keep you from making some
“Cha- Cha- Cha- Chia” Pancakes!
Of course singing that song while making them is completely optional but highly recommended 😉

Like I mentioned on Friday’s post, BB was able to come home for a brief visit this weekend. We didn’t really do much…may sound weird, but I feel if we cram too much in the day and a half that we have together, time will go by way too fast!

BB is my bowl of warm steamy oats topped with the perfect oversized spoonful of peanut butter…I savor each and ever ~~bite~~ minute! 😉

One thing that we DID do this weekend was try out a new seafood restaurant! If you’re ever in Paducah, KY you have to visit Whalers Catch! They have an incredible menu selection FULL of creative seafood dishes and a bit of Cajun flare as well!

I know I just did an Instagram photo dump the other day, but I just HAVE to share the ones from our visit to the restaurant on Saturday because….

It was my very FIRST time trying snails!

BB got a half dozen of raw oysters and I hesitantly told the waiter I’d like an order of the escargot in garlic butter sauce. I was a little nervous, but I mean c’mon, how can something swimming in garlic butter be bad, right? 😉

I was a little surprised/excited to see that they came to me shelled…we’ve all seen those “slippery suckers” in action! 😉

Surrounded by crusty pieces of warm garlic bread, the smell of the plate was intoxicating.

And with the first (somewhat nervous) bite,

I fell in love!

Their earthy taste and squishy texture reminded BB and I of sauteed mushrooms so if you’re a mushroom lover, I think you’ll love them as much as I do!

Saltine + oyster + horseradish & hot sauce =

HEAVEN!

We ended up splitting our appetizers and polishing off every last crumb of garlic bread just as our salads made their way to our table…

Standard iceberg lettuce salad jazzed up with cajun seasoned croutons with the raspberry poppyseed house dressing on the side.

It was everything I could do to finish this salad…I was already SO FULL!

When my entree came out (seared ahi tuna on a bed of Cajun rice), the waiter must have seen it in my eyes because he didn’t hesitate at all when I asked for a to-go box! Lol