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What I Ate on National Fro-Yo Day

Posted on February 8, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Did you catch the latest and GREATEST food holiday?

Well, besides Sunday being National Nutella Day…which I would have luvvvvved to celebrate, but being as the fact that I’m a recovered Nutella junkie, I’m pretty sure my sponsor would not have approved of me falling off the wagon so soon…

This past Monday was National FROZEN-YOGURT Day!

But before I even knew about what grand holiday celebrations awaited my taste buds (Thanks to my girl LaRae and Instagram), I had to peel myself out of bed at 5am…ok, more like

5am…hit snooze,

5:15am…hit snooze again,

5:30am…hit snooze AGAIN,

WAIT!! Get up you moron! You have to leave the house in like 30 minutes!!

Pause to give thanks to our hostess with the mostest…Jenn of Peas & Crayons!
Of course, I definitely “Loved my veggies” before ending the night in great celebration…but that’s nothing new! 😉

Obviously, breakfast was quick and on the go:

And also liquid…but I can think of 3 other beverages I’d rather start my day out with!

Well, besides maybe one of these…but hey, it’s a workday! 😉

Chocolate Banana Peanut Flour Protein Smoothie

by Heather Powers

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

Cook Time: N/A

Ingredients (Serves 1)

1 cup water
1 scoop chocolate flavored protein powder
1/8 cup peanut flour
1 small-medium banana
5-6 ice cubes
1/8 teaspoon guar gum
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
dash of cinnamon

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a blender OR food processor and blend, blend, blend!

Since breakfast came so early, I had some much needed fuel mid-way through the morning:

One of my top favorite Chobani flavors…is it just me and my jacked-up sweet tooth (or lack thereof) or are some of the flavors almost too sweet? I’m actually thinking about mixing half a container with some plain yogurt in the future.

Since I had about 5.0009 minutes to throw a decent lunch together, I dug this little almost-forgotten-about gem out of the pantry:

No salt added…100% sustainable…AND 24 grams of protein? Sign me up!

It went perfectly atop my spinach salad with whatever random veggies I grabbed from the fridge + salsa and some nutritional yeast (because everything’s better with nooch!) 😉

On my way to the gym after work, I munched on a red pear:

My favorite…always full of flavor.
No guessing like Bartlett’s and Green Anjous

When I got home, I walked into the kitchen to a nice surprise:

Ok, so I knew BB was going to be making dinner, but what I didn’t know was how fantastic the house would be smelling!

This is his I’m-so-excited-to-be-chopping-onions face.

He cracks me up!

While I got cleaned up, BB prepared a dinner of seared scallops and grilled mahi-mahi with fresh, HOMEMADE mango salsa

Click the links above for the recipes he used.

My only contributions were cooking up the quinoa and suggesting we add avocado to the salsa since we didn’t have all the ingredients needed, plus, it’s always better when there’s more

COLOR!!!

As promised in a text earlier in that day…

After a little time to rest and digest, BB and I made a special trip all the way across town to the only fro-yo place that carries my favorite flavor:

TARO!!

I was totally going to go the fruit topping route, but as is the case on most occasions, I was tempted by the more indulgent confections: yogurt covered pretzel balls, white chocolate chips, almonds, and graham crackers!

I would have totally added one of my favorite cereals, but sadly, some little leprechauns had already raided the bin:

The insanity!!!!

Did you celebrate National Frozen Yogurt Day?

What is your favorite flavor/topping combination?

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged Broccoli Babe, coffee, Greek yogurt, protein, smoothie | 27 Comments

Raw Avo-Fredo Sauce

Posted on February 7, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys!

Thank you all so much for the super sweet comments on the return of Pancake Sunday. I can’t wait to whip up my next batch…the gears are still turning!

Speaking of gears turning, I am beyond excited to share a recipe that took tonight’s dinner from:

“Oh yay…I’m eating healthy…”

“HECK YEAH, I’M EATING HEALTHY!!!”

It all started with a 3 pound bag of broccoli…

Now, I know I eat a lot of vegetables, but would someone PLEASE tell me that I cannot go to Sam’s Club and buy 3-5 packages in BULK??

I mean, it’s just not possible within a week for one girl to consume a 3 pound bag of broccoli, 2 pound bag of carrots, 1 pound bag of brussel sprouts, AND a huge carton of portobello mushrooms…wait, not a veggie, but whatever, you get my drift!

So anywho! I knew I had broccoli to eat…and while I was ~~casing out~~ shopping at the new Publix this past weekend, I picked up some all-natural antibiotic free chicken breast (read: not the size of my face) that were on sale.

Chicken and broccoli…yeah, doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the first thing that came to mind!

Sorry to disappoint Janetha, but I did NOT make pancakes!

First, I got out my chicken breasts* and pounded them into oblivion…I mean, purposefully and not with any pent up rage from the workday, flattened them to about 1 1/2 inch thickness to shorten the time on the grill. I totally recommend doing this with chicken as it can easily cut your cooking time in HALF!

*This would also be fantastic over grilled tofu/tempeh for all my non-meat-eaters out there!

Two flattened chicken breasts went in the grill pan and 10 minutes later, two perfectly golden brown chicken breasts came out!

Now we’re getting to the good part! While the chicken was doing it’s thing, my Magic Bullet and I whipped up a delicious sauce in only FIVE MINUTES!

Raw Avo-Fredo Sauce

by Heather Powers

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: N/A

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1/2 medium-sized ripe avocado
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
S&P to taste

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a blender or small food processor and process until smooth and creamy.

In less time than it takes a chicken breast to cook…or in the SAME amount of time it takes a handful of broccoli to steam, you could have yourself the perfect creamy, garlicky, hint of cheesy sauce to ~~slather~~ drizzle all over your plate!

I layered my plate with spinach (hey, why not), warm quinoa, diced up grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, and a few spoonfuls of the avo-fredo sauce…then I added a little more sauce for good measure!

Don’t you just want to bathe in it?

No? Just me?

Hmm, I bet it WOULD make a good moisturizer! 😉

What is your favorite meal to “healthify”? Feel free to drop a link!

Posted in Entree, Raw | Tagged avocado, broccoli, chicken, cooking tips, raw, recipe, veggies | 16 Comments

Brown Sugar Bacon Pancakes

Posted on February 5, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Pancake Sunday!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know…it’s ABOUT TIME, huh?

Now that we’re a whole month into 2012, I figured it would be a good time to bring back the weekly celebration I love so much. I’d like to say that I’ve still been pancake flippin’ each and every Sunday, but sadly, pancakes have fallen to the wayside lately.

Since I’ve succumbed to weekend laziness over the last several weeks, I’ve been happy to sit back and let BB take charge of the kitchen and even some days, just enjoying a simple bowl of cereal…

*gasp*

But I have to tell you, the pancake-loving runs deep within me and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I got that itch to get back to flippin’.

Just the other day, I started envisioning warm fluffy SAVORY pancakes. My mind went in several different directions with this, so lucky for you I’ve already got some ideas for future Pancake Sundays, but I finally settled on the last one I thought of before drifting off to sleep last night…

A sweet AND savory pancake:

With brown sugar and bacon!

It’s ok…you can do a little happy dance…I know I did! 😉

Brown Sugar Bacon Pancakes

by Heather Powers

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

4 slices thick cut bacon
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons buttermilk powder*
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon water
1 egg
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons bacon grease

Instructions:

1. Preheat skillet to medium-high heat and fry bacon until crispy on both sides. Remove from pan and blot with paper towels to remove excess grease. Crumble into bite-sized pieces. Drain grease from skillet and set aside.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, leavening agents, buttermilk powder, and pepper (if using).
3. In a separate bowl, add egg, brown sugar, water, and bacon grease and whisk well.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
5.Fold in the crumbled bacon.
6. Pour batter into skillet over medium heat (be sure to coat pan with cooking spray if you don’t have residual bacon grease left in it) and cook pancakes approximately 4-5 minutes per side or until golden brown.
7.Serve with pure maple syrup or go restaurant style like me and cook up some sunny eggs for dipping!

*I used the equivalent to 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp of buttermilk, but since I rarely ever cook with buttermilk and don’t want it to spoil, I typically buy the dry version from the baking section at that grocery store…makes things a little easier!

Can I also get a little happy dance for my very first RECIpage recipe? Big thanks to Christin for letting me know about the now FREE service that will eventually house AND organize all of my proudest recipes!

I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how heavenly the kitchen smelled while these babies were frying up. My mouth was watering from the moment the bacon hit the hot surface of the griddle!

And just a hunch…not like I would REALLY know…but I bet the batter taste like cake batter with bacon sprinkles…

But like I said…that’s just a hunch! 😉

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but from the very first bite, I knew these were going straight to the top of all my pancake recipes…right next to the Pumpkin Bread Pudding and Banana S’mores pancakes!

Oh yeah, they are THAT good!

So what are you waiting for? All you carnivores out there need to quit reading and go make some pancakes!

What did YOU have for breakfast this morning?