Okra-z For My Pen Pal!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Monday dudes and dudettes! 

It’s FINALLY time for this month’s Foodie Pen Pal Reveal…you seriously have no idea how excited I was to receive my package from Brooke a few weeks ago and I’ve been DYING to share the deets on all the goodies she sent me!

The day it came in the mail, I was really late getting in from work so I just sat the package on the kitchen table and figured I’d open it in the morning…

Such a great idea…because when I woke up to this, it felt like CHRISTMAS morning!

Um, can we say this girl knows how to do her homework?

OOOOOOOOOOOKRA!!

To say I was a excited is a bit of an understatement.

Fresh out of the shower…before breakfast…before coffee…

There was…the okra appetizer!

Although I’ve been saying for MONTHS that I’m going to try Sarena’s baked okra, unfortunately none of these little green beauties made it ANYWHERE near a heat source.

I continued crunching on them through the week, until the unbelievable totally expected happened:

Three days later, the container was empty.

And then I had an okra meltdown…

Say it isn’t so!

Why God, why?!

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

After continuing on with the rest of the stages of the grieving process, I finally turned my attention to the other package inhabitants.

I missed my chance to put the chili seasoning and dried peppers to good use weekend before last when we were having our relapse into winter…but I was way too busy laying on the couch getting in touch with my inner extra terrestrial.

What is it about being cold that makes you not want to move…sorry Yogi, there will be NO dancing for this gal!

But I did crack open that fire roasted salsa!

It was a great addition to my bowl of savory oats with a sunny egg and avocado slices…
In fact, I vowed to make savory oats pop into my meal rotation more often after finishing that bowl!

That was until I discovered my newest obsession:

Who needs tortilla chips when you’ve got perfectly crunchy celery stalks?!

Other than a little taste straight from the bear’s head…

Am I the only one who gets a little weirded out by that?…it’s like it’s oozing sweet liquid brain matter all over your finger!…

I’ve yet to really enjoy the brain matter honey, but I’ve been cooking up some ideas on how to recreate a few of my favorite snack bars…don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know once I have a successful batch! 😉

As for the zucchini flowers…I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I pulled them out of the box since I had JUST taken this quiz on Facebook…but I haven’t done anything with them yet. I tend to hoard things like this until I find just the right recipe, but I’m super excited to check another one off my list!

Check out the list for yourself…there’s some pretty interesting things on there!

As for MY pen pal for the month, I was paired up with Seema, a blog reader with a few wishes…

Anyone else out there coveting some xanthan gum??

While she wasn’t able to type up a post for me to share with you guys, I DID get her permission to share some of her excitement from the email I received after she opened her package:

Still can’t decide which I like better, the excitement I feel when I open my own package or the way it feels when I KNOW I’ve made someone’s day with with the goodies I’ve sent out!

If you haven’t hopped on board the Foodie Pen Pal train yet, I HEAVILY suggest you head on over to Lindsay’s blog over at The Lean Green Bean and get on board for May so YOU can know what it feel like to have a foodie Christmas six months early!

Here’s an explanation of the program:

  • On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
  • You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
  • The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
  • Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
  • Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.

How many of the 100 Foods to Eat Before You Die have you tried?

What is your favorite vegetable to eat RAW?

Posted in 100 Foods to Eat Before You Die, Foodie Pen Pal | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Whole Wheat VEGAN Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

Posted on April 29, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Sunday my loves!

I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

I told BB that I didn’t care what we did this weekend as long as it involved going done to the local strawberry farm and picking our own strawberries.

And well…my man aims to please 🙂

Even though it’s only a few miles from one of the busiest parts of town, you almost forget that the McCraw farm is still within the city limits…it was so quiet and peaceful! The perfect day for strawberry picking…warm sunshine, blue sky, and a nice breeze…and even better, it wasn’t crowded in the least!

And we had so much fun…like an Easter egg hunt for foodies adults!

Speaking of being adults, it just so happened that a little competition brewed up mid-picking for the most “mutated” berry…BB swore he was going to find one the shape of Texas.

Unfortunately, the only one he found more resembled a rhino, but I found a pretty cool looking sheep dog! 😉

And of course, what is the best part of berry picking?

Quality control testing! 🙂

So after a couple of handfuls to you know, check for poison, we realized our little Easter berry basket was finally filled!

Can you believe we got all this for only $10.50?

It shouldn’t surprise you that when I got up this morning, my mind was reeling with ideas for pancakes!

Since I really wanted to capture the wonderfully sweet taste of the strawberries, I decided on a simple pancake recipe and then created a homemade strawberry syrup to top them with!

Whole Wheat Vegan Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

by Heather Powers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients (Serves 1)

For the Pancakes

  • 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon ground flax
  • 3 tablespoons warm water
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon raw sugar (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Syrup

  • 1 cup diced strawberries
  • 1/8 cup water
  • 1/4 teaspoon arrow root powder (or cornstarch)
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon raw sugar

Instructions

For the Pancakes

1. Add apple cider vinegar to almond milk and allow to set 3-5 minutes (this is your “buttermilk”)
2. Combine flax and water, stir, and allow to set 3-5 minutes (this is your “egg”)
3. Preheat a skillet or griddle to medium heat and coat with coconut oil or other non-stick spray.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar.
5. Add flax “egg” to the buttermilk mixture along with the vanilla extract. Stir wet ingredients together and then add to flour mixture.
6. Stir batter just until flour is incorporated (batter will be thick)
7. Spoon batter into skillet forming 3 small-medium pancakes
8. Cook approximately 6-7 minutes or until golden brown on underside, then flip and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until done.

For the Syrup

1. Set a small pot to medium-high heat
2. Add strawberries and water and allow to come to a boil.
3. Allow to cook for approximately 5 minutes.
4. Transfer strawberries to a blender or Magic Bullet (careful, it will be hot) and blend to puree`
5. Transfer mixture to a mesh strainer and push through to remove seeds.

Powered by Recipage

Ok, so don’t be intimidated by the length of the recipe. I know it looks like a lot, but it’s really SUPER easy! I made these babies and had them on a plate in front of me in less than 30 minutes…and the syrup is seriously worth the extra effort!

And, if after you remove the seeds from the sauce, I urge you to use that time to do some  quality control testing of your own!

And I won’t judge you if you leave the spoon in your mouth for the duration of the cooking process! 😉

I was seriously impressed with the thickness of these babies…it is not an easy feat to make fluffy pancakes without an egg, but I did it…

JUST FOR YOU!

And then I stuffed them with peanut butter…

JUST FOR ME!

Happy Pancake Sunday! 🙂

How have you been enjoying the recent arrival of strawberry season?

Have you ever been berry picking?

Posted in Breakfast, Pancake Sunday, Vegan | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Thursday Things & Mutant Peppers

Posted on April 26, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys!

I hope you are all having a great week…only one more day and the weekend will be here!

So it’s that time again, the time were I start to notice all the things that are rocking my week…

Time for KMB’s Thursday Things!

1. Gym Time

Ok, so I know I’ve said this before, but I think I’ve finally hit the point of making the morning workout thing a habit…my alarm was set for 5am this morning and I woke up ALL ON MY OWN at 4:12am!

I thought about going back to sleep for about a minute, but then figured, what the heck, and got ready for my workout!

I was at the gym by 4:54 and done at 5:50!

I decided to trade my LiveFit workout in for a good sweaty cardio session and by the end of it, I was a hot mess…but oh so proud! 🙂

2. Camel-ing Up

I seriously canNOT even tell you how much water I’ve been drinking lately…but I CAN tell you I’m going to the bathroom about 2385 times a day…wait, TMI?

3. Cottage Cheese

It’s been too long since this guy has seen the inside of my fridge!

Back when I started to become aware of my slight lactose intolerance, I gave it up thinking that it just wasn’t worth it to have to remember my Lactaid each and every time I wanted a protein-pumped snack…but guess what!

Last week, I bought a small container of it…remember this little treat from my WIAW post?

Well, it seems that along with Greek yogurt, cottage cheese is something I can handle…of course I’ve not been brave enough to go over the 1/2 cup serving at one time yet…

But I couldn’t resist today and bought two of the BIG containers to nosh on throughout the next week!

And let me just say, there ARE brands out there that have less than 5 ingredients and are sketch free:

It saddens me every time I pick up a container that reads: “cultured skim milk…and a whole bunch of other needless ingredients only added to increase our marketability with extended shelf life.”

Ok, so maybe it doesn’t say that verbatim, but it’s pretty close. 

The only thing that would make it better is if I could find THIS brand in my area!

4. Mutant Organics

Holy freakishly huge pepper, Batman!

And man was it one of the BEST peppers I’ve had in a while! I made a little veggie/hummus sandwich for lunch today and enjoyed it with some of my darling cheese of the cottage and cantaloupe (which was equally delicious)!

Simple.Fresh.Delicious.

5. New Polish

Picked these up the other day and JUST finished my manicure!

Verdict?

LOVE the yellow, but the matte?…eh, not so much 🙁

Maybe I should try it with a darker color?

What is your favorite cardio exercise?
You guys know I love running, but since my knee has still been bothering me, I’m taking it easy and spending my time on the elliptical and in the pool and loving it!

Have you tried any of the new mattifying topcoats? What do you think?

Posted in Workouts | Tagged , , | 23 Comments