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Fresh Finds & French Toast

Posted on May 21, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Hey loves!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

It was BEAUTIFUL here this weekend! Blue skies, warm sun…the perfect setting for the opening day of Clarksville’s Downtown Market!

BB had something he had to do for work, so Saturday morning I set out for a morning at the market armed with my shopping bag and my camera!

Our market is not your average farmer’s market…

While you can find the traditional fare: seasonal produce, farm fresh eggs, grass-fed beef, local honey

And beautiful flowers…

It’s also one of the best craft fairs around!

Handcrafted wooden bowls, homemade soaps, jewelry made from recycled aluminum, anything and everything you can think of in knit form…and yes, that would be a knitted Swiffer duster!

I spent a whole 10 minutes sniffing all the wax melts…the Monkey Farts smelled just like banana cream pie! Lol

For the record, I could have watched these men with their magic wood-shaving machine for hours…throw in a stick and they’ll turn it into a table leg!

Our little market may not be very large, but the thing I love most about it is that it’s not very large.

It’s so nice to get to know all the regular vendors…

Like my favorite “Earring Lady” who makes the most beautiful jewelry…I buy a pair of earrings from her at LEAST every other week during the months the market is open. And all her profits go to fund her yearly mission trip to Honduras!

This year, there were even more vendors than last year and I was fortunate enough to meet Sarah, the baker behind Nerdy Birdy Cookies!

Grain free, gluten free, soy free, but ANYTHING from taste free!

I tried the maple almond butter and it was perfectly dense and chewy with just enough sweetness…I can’t wait to go back next week and try some of her other flavors!

Luckily, after I snuck a bite of cookie, I decided to save the rest for later…otherwise I would’ve missed out on all the deliciousness that awaited me!

Boar’s Head sampler plate with some sort of mind-altering delicious rice and bean burrito, chicken salad in a lettuce cup, and a cream cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped jalapeno…hand-popped kettle corn…a cup of fresh summer punch made with Legacy Tea and a slice of whole wheat nut berry bread with buttah from Evawood Bakery!

So when I wasn’t taking 5,000 pictures of everything and constantly being asked if I was with the newspaper (which I proudly stated, “Nope, I’m just a food blogger”…and actually did NOT get any weird looks!), I was stalking the puppy of my dreams!

Meet Bailey the chocolate Labrador…and yes, I did in fact force her owner to hold her down for a picture! 😉

*Sqeeeeeeeel*

Unfortunately, they wouldn’t take any money from my sugary and butter covered hands so I went home puppy-less, but I did at least have a small collection of treasures from the market to cheer me up:

Two loaves of fresh bread (one raisin pecan, one whole wheat with seeds and nuts), farm fresh eggs, green onions, yellow squash, sundried tomatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes!

After BB finished up with his work stuff, we made a trip over to McCraw’s Strawberry Ranch for probably our last pick of the season…the weather has been so hot lately that the crops have definitely suffered 🙁

It took some extra hunting to find the ones that hadn’t withered away in the sun or didn’t have caterpillar bites in them, but after about an hour, we had a basket filled to the brim!

LOVE!

Of course breakfast on Sunday just HAD to incorporate some of my fresh finds from the day before, so I pushed up my sleeves and committed a cardinal foodie sin…

I made French toast on Pancake Sunday!!!

I know…just take me out back and beat me with empty syrup bottles…

But I have to admit, I would totally do it again! 😉

Whole Wheat French Toast

by Heather Powers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (Serves 1)

2 slices fluffy whole wheat bread
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons almond milk
1/2 teaspoon maple extract (HIGHLY recommend)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Fresh fruit, peanut butter, and/or syrup for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat skillet or griddle to medium heat and coat with coconut oil.
2. Combine all ingredients except for bread in a medium-sized bowl and whisk until mixed well.
3. One at a time, dip bread slices into egg mixture, allowing the slices to sit for a bit to soak up as much as possible.
4. Carefully transfer soaked bread slices to the skillet or griddle and cook approximately 4-5 minutes per side or until golden brown and a slight crust forms.

What is your favorite strawberry recipe?
Lord knows I could use some ideas!

Do you frequent your local farmer’s market? If so, what are your favorite vendors to buy from?

Posted in Breakfast, Shopping | Tagged farmers' market, natural, organic, recipe, strawberries | 15 Comments

Good Thing I’m Not an Egg

Posted on May 18, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys!

So on Wednesday, I put in for Thursday off…and then I kept it a secret.

Wanna know why?

Because since the moment my feet hit Tennessee soil after my EPIC weekend at Blend, things have been NON-STOP! I went straight into my 10 hour shifts last week and even though I had a three day last weekend, with Mother’s Day to prepare for/errands to run/and a house to clean, before I knew it, I was staring at yet another Monday.

I’ve been sure to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night, but every morning when the alarm would sound at 5am, I would practically throw it across the room. So morning workouts were obviously a no-go…but even after work, I just couldn’t bring myself to get to the gym (it was EVERYTHING I could do to stay awake on the drive home!)

Fatigue, mad sugar cravings, and a near-drug addict relationship with coffee ensued…

If the coffee pot’s water level reads “5 cups” but you can fit it into two cups…can’t you just say you only had TWO cups of coffee?

Knowing I had the next day off was probably the ONLY thing that got me through my last night with Pete & RE-Pete. I told myself that I would make it a “me day”…not do any chores or errands…just play everything by ear.

Well, so much for that idea!

As it happens all too often, I was washing up my breakfast dishes and the next thing I knew, I was ripping clothes I haven’t worn in years out of my closet and making a mountain on the floor.

In less than 3 hours I had cleaned out my closet, organized my bookshelf, vacuumed the couches (cat hair is the bane of my existence), rounded up the recycling, and loaded my car up with stuff to take to Goodwill!

I even gave my ever growing aloe plant a new (bigger) home! 😉

I know I said I wasn’t going to do any house work, but I have to admit, I felt so much better after that trunk load of clutter was out of my life…I really don’t see how people can be pack rats!

And even though I was feeling a bit worn out after all that work, I threw out all my excuses and FINALLY made it to the gym!

10 minute warm-up on the elliptical, 30 minute full body circuit, AND 1 mile on the treadmill…first time I’ve run in over a MONTH!

It felt so good to get those endorphins flowing!

As for the rest of the day?

#thingsthatlooklikepoop

Essie Love!

Entertainment AND enlightenment!

And of course, breakfast for dinner (my ultimate comfort food)!

That would be egg white stovetop oats with maple extract and cinnamon topped with thawed frozen peaches, blueberries, almonds, and Justin’s Maple Almond Butter!

Mmm, mmm, MMM!

Do you like a lot of clutter or are you a material-purger like me?

Oh yeah, who wants to know the winner of the PB Crave giveaway?! 😉

Like I could really forget a thing like that…

Drumroll please!

…………….

……….

….

Which means…

TT, you are the lucky winner of THREE jars of incredible peanut buttery deliciousness!

A big THANK YOU to all who entered…you guys are pretty serious about your love of peanut butter! I’ve MORE than a few ideas for my next snack!

Posted in Personal, Running, Workouts | Tagged cleaning, stress | 19 Comments

What Exactly is Normal?

Posted on May 16, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

It couldn’t possibly be taking multiple pictures of yourself in Photo Booth trying to achieve your best “perplexed” look…

Hmm, so in other words…boring.

Of course you guys KNOW I am anything but normal…I mean, heck, I write love stories about peanut butter for God’s sake! But you know what? I think my life is a bit mor fun on the “abnormal” side.

If I were normal…

I wouldn’t take a picture of myself just to show how excited I was to babysit Pete and RE-Pete this evening.

I most assuredly wouldn’t have documented my pack-n-go dinner for such an occasion.

I probably wouldn’t have lost myself in a moment of playing Matchbox cars while I fantasized of cruising down the freeway in a life-size version of the car of my dreams.

Maybe I wouldn’t have encouraged multiple poses in a Spiderman photo shoot for the boys…this was the best one of oh, about a dozen! 😉

And I sure as heck wouldn’t have found myself in a grocery store in the middle of the night doing a little retail therapy* after finding out my time with these little munchkins has come to an end.

*Some people buy shoes, others purchase clothes, I scout out manager markdowns at my local supermarket! 😉

Yep, that’s right…mom and dad’s bible study group has come to an end, meaning they will be home with the boys on Wednesday nights from now on. I only pray that the hints of my being available for date nights/unexpected meetings/trips to the store for milk…will work out for me in the near future!