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Vegan Pumpkin Eggnog Oats

Posted on December 16, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hello my lovelies and happy Friday!

Hope you all have a fun-filled yet relaxing weekend! I’ve already gotten mine off to a good start.

Knowing I wouldn’t have time to get a workout in later today (BB is coming over right after work today to spend the weekend with me), as soon as I got up this morning, I changed and was back to the gym…hmm, only 12 hours since my last workout…but don’t worry, I focussed on a whole other area of the body today.

It’s been rainy and nasty outside for the last couple of days and when I made it back to the house after my workout, I knew I wanted something warm and comforting for breakfast…but it had to be something to help with muscle recovery too.

And then a little lightbulb went off!

Or the bells sounded…whatever I’m going with it! 😉

Vegan Pumpkin Eggnog Oats

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 2-3 minutes

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Keywords: microwave breakfast dairy-free high protein vegan vegetarian oats pumpkin puree winter

Ingredients (Serves 1)

1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup Silk Soy Nog
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 scoop vegan protein powder (optional)
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

1. Combine oats, eggnog, water, vanilla extract, and protein powder (if using) in a microwave-safe bowl and cook for 3 minutes, stirring halfway through.
2. After cooking, stir in the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice (oats will still be watery until after the addition of the pumpkin).
3. Top with your favorite granola, fresh or dried fruit, and/or nuts.

I chose to top mine with a little LOVE!

I may not be the next Love Blogger (sadly, I did not win this year, but I thank you all for the votes), but I still know how to spread some love! 🙂

I also ‘nogged up my coffee!

If you remember, I bought the Silk Nog last year around this time, but wasn’t much of a fan of the sweetness, but when mixed in other things, like coffee and oatmeal, it lends the perfect flavor without the overwhelming sweet taste.

Fueling my muscles never tasted so good!

Now before I go and primp for BB’s visit, I’ll get down to what I know a lot of you are eagerly anticipating…

The Blissful Bites Cookbook Giveaway winner!

Hmm, who could lucky number 50 be??

Congratulations Andreea! Just send me an email so I can shoot it on over to Christy’s marketing crew and they will have it in the mail as soon as possible! Hopefully you will be able to try out some of those recipes just in time for Christmas! 🙂

Thank you all for entering the giveaway! And don’t worry, I may have a thing or two in the works for another one real soon! 😉

Do you like egg nog (vegan or regular), boiled custard, or are you more of a mulled apple cider sort of person?

Any exciting plans for the weekend? Do tell!

Posted in Breakfast, Giveaway, Vegan | Tagged coffee, eggnog, granola, oats, protein powder, recipe | 17 Comments

Insta-Post

Posted on December 15, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

What is UP my peoples?!

I hope you are all having a great week! Mine is actually over now being as today was my “Friday”

Don’t be jealous,
I’m sure none of you would want to work my 10 hour shifts!

But I swear the end couldn’t have come sooner. We have been CRAZY busy at the hospital lately…tis the season for cold and flu ya know! 😉

Life has been sorta busy lately too…so busy that I’ve only been able to capture bits and pieces with my iPhone and upload them onto Instagram.

So I thought it would be fun to show you my life lately via Instagram!

I last left you guys saying that I was off to make a pineapple upside down cake for my peeps at work. Well, that didn’t happen. Time got away from me and when I looked up at the clock, it was creeping up on 11:00pm and there was NO way I was gonna break out the flour and sugar at that time on a ~~school~~ week night!

So I decided to get up early and get my bake on!

Just so you know, it is perfectly acceptable to lick cake batter from your beaters at 6:30 in the morning…as long as it’s for a good cause!

C’mon, I HAD to check for poison! 😉

You don’t even know how hard it was not keep this all to myself! I was so impressed with how it turned out that I literally patted myself on the back…and then I texted a picture of it to half the people I know! Haha!

What I didn’t mention when I said I was making a cake was that I was also getting in touch with my southern roots as I prepped for a Country Cookin’ themed potluck that our department put on on Wednesday.

I ended up with the cake, a recipe that’s been in my family for YEARS called “Chicken Stuff” and a big pan of cornbread.

Everybody LOVED it…I barely had anything to bring back home with me by the end of the day!

Check out that spread…I couldn’t believe how much there was to choose from!

This was BY FAR the best turn out we’ve ever had for a potluck dinner…I guess you can say we all love our traditional southern dishes!

My plate runeth over!

I ended up with (starting at the top and going clockwise): Mashed potatoes, turnip greens, broccoli and rice casserole, green beans, my “Chicken Stuff” served over crumbled cornbread, baked beans, sweet potato casserole, and corn casserole in the middle.

Yes, I cleaned my plate…and then I went back for dessert…but I polished that off without even a thought of taking a picture! Let’s just create a mental image:

Peanut butter pie, homemade shortbread cookies, and Oreo truffles dipped in some kind of peanut butter magic! Mmm!

And as if a day of stuffing myself to the brim with rich and hearty Southern cooking wasn’t enough, today we had our Christmas dinner at the hospital!

I was sure to be a bit choosier this year, and I didn’t even finish my plate, but still ended up stuffed to the max!

Oh and word to the wise, inspect red gelatinous desserts carefully before assuming they are cranberry sauce…turned out it was jello! Blech!

I seriously could.not.stop.eating.sweets today!

I obviously have a weakness for cream puffs, chocolate covered pretzels, and gingerbread men suffering from multiple “lacerations” 😉

Needless to say, gym time has been a must this week…

The only thing that can balance out this massive sweets beast that I seem to have lately…

Or so I thought!

Yeah, that would be tonight’s “dinner”…too stuffed for a real meal, but never to full for ice “cream”…right Janetha?

Oh, and if you’ve noticed the nails in a lot of the photos…

It’s Essie’s “Coat Azure” + Pure Ice’s “Don’t You Wish” and I’m in love with the combo!

Looks like it snowed on my fingers! 🙂

Wow, this post got long FAST! If you made it all the way to the end, congratulations…no prize for it or anything, but stay posted because I’ll be announcing the cookbook giveaway winner tomorrow!

Anyone else creating a sweets beast lately?
Proven fact that the more you eat, the more you want…I had no desire to partake in the chocolate covered cherry fest that was going on in my department the other day, but now, heck, I’d eat the whole frickin box if I had one right now!

Note to self: Do NOT buy any chocolate covered cherries. 😉

Posted in Entree, Holiday | Tagged baking, Christmas, Instagram, potluck, Southern cooking | 19 Comments

Food is Love

Posted on December 13, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hey hey hey!

Can you believe the week is half over? Or more importantly, can you believe there’s only 12 more days until Christmas?!

And guess who STILL hasn’t started shopping!

Ugh…

I may not be on the bandwagon with all the other elves, but one thing I AM excited about?

Oh yeah! Time for another What I Ate Wednesday put on by the ever so lovely Jenn of Peas and Crayons.

Be sure to head over to P&C and show your WIAW appreciation!

My morning started with an apple in the light of a neon moon…or the refrigerator…who knows, it was 5:30am and I was half asleep, BUTTTTT I am happy to say that after lying in bed and debating for about 30 minutes on whether or not I was going to get up to workout, I made it to the gym!

I may have been yawning throughout most of my upper body circuit, but by the end of it and then a little date with the arc trainer, I was one sweaty mess!

Once I got home and cleaned up, I dove head first into my latest obsession:

Plain Greek yogurt topped with peanut flour and strawberry jam!

Yeah, pretty sure I’ve had this at least once every couple of days for the last week and I’m STILL not tired of it!

There was also some TJ’s Sumatra Blend organic coffee (best bold roast ever) while I hummed the words to the song printed on my cute little Christmas mug.

Lunch was a beast…

A SALAD beast that is!

Baby spinach topped with shredded carrots, orange bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, and a crumbled Millet-Black Bean Burger (don’t forget to enter my giveaway!) topped with some balsamic vinegar straight up.

And then two little “cuties” just happened to jump into my hand! 😉

Snack-time came a few hours later and while my co-workers were popping chocolate covered cherries like it was their jobs, I indulged in my own little “dessert” without the sugar crash!

And finally, after a seemingly never-ending 10 hour shift at the hospital, I came home to some fantastic leftovers…

Homemade pot roast with root veggies, biscuits and gravy!

I surprised BB with a good home-cooked meal Monday night since I had the day off and decided to make my mom’s recipe for roast with all the fixin’s…well, that is if you call throwing a slab of meat in a cooker with handfuls of veggies and broth a recipe…

What can I say, when I care about someone, I cook for them…I guess it’s part of my love language! 😉

Now, if you’ll excuse me…I have a pineapple upside down cake to make for the guys at work tomorrow!

Water count: 64 ounces <- I know I can do better!

Do you enjoy cooking for others?

Do you know your love language?
If not, take this quiz to find out! I read the book a couple of years ago and I think it’s helpful for anyone…even you singletons out there…because it’s helps us to understand what we need to look for in relationships and why.