Pumpkin, Paparazzi, & A Photo Montage

Hey peeps!

I have some sad news…

For the first time ever, since my little broccoli blog found itself into this world 10 months ago, there was no celebration for Pancake Sunday.

Butttt, it DOES have it’s very first piece of memorabilia! ๐Ÿ˜‰

To say this weekend has been busy would be an understatement. Allow me to play it back for ya!

Prepare yourself for a photo montage…

Wait? What’s that?

Oh, just FIFTEEN cans of pumpkin…that’s all! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Oh and speaking of pumpkin,

I finally made it into Starbucks for some pumpkin spice crack ala an Americano with steamed soy milk.

Hmm, who could that be in the hiding behind my cup??

I kid (shameless pun) you not, Nicole Kidman was right next to me in line at Starbucks this morning…and I now realize that I have some mad paparazzi skills…I really should think about taking up a second job! ๐Ÿ˜‰

After my celebrity spotting, more excitement awaited…

True story: I’m on the interstate and I just happen to look over as I pass an exit with a Super Target. I pulled off at the next exit and turned around JUST so I could finally say that I’ve been in a SUPER Target!

And of course I managed to find some goodies!

I had to get my hands on some of the Dunkin Donuts pumpkin spice coffee since I’m squash junkie I saw it on Katie’s blog last week and well, the other items just “magically appeared” in my basket ๐Ÿ˜‰

Christmas decorations in September I have a problem with…Celestial Seasonings sugar cookie sleigh ride, I do not!

Though I’m still kicking myself for not grabbing up that cranberry horsey mustard…

“Great with turkey or ham”…Ha! If it’s as good as it sounds, you can put it on a stick for all I care!

Ahem, WHY did they not have this stuff when I was a kid?!?

Then, after I finished frolicking up and down the aisles like a kid in a Goober factory, I continued on to meet my good friend Christine and her husband Donny for pizza and pottery painting. Whew, say that three times fast!

Nevermind, I just tried it and it’s not that hard;)

Mmm, gotta love Mellow Mushroom!

Even though I totally suck at math! :-/

ย Though this was my first painting experience, Christine and Donny are frequenters to Brushfire and are starting a little collection. He does Broadway themed pieces for her and she makes retro comic book/cartoon characters for him.

Anyone out there remember Earthworm Jim?
(yeah, really telling my age on that one!)

And the best part about Brushfire studio? It’s right across the street from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s!

Hmm, just how many things CAN I buy with pumpkin in them?

Reminds me of this post!

Two new flavors of Power Crunch to try!
Hopefully they’re both better than the peanut butter one.

Bulk bin loving: Quick oats, whole wheat pastry flour, oat bran, and rolled oats

And I found Biscoff!! Is it sad that I’m kind of scared to try it?

Actually, I was a little worried I would be pulled over and get caught with it on the way home.

“Officer, I swear, I didn’t know when they said it was ‘like crack’ that they meant it literally!”

Oh, and not all my shopping, frolicking, and obscene amount of picture taking was foodie based…

This is what happens when you go to exchange a pair of flip flops at Old Navy and they send you out unexpectedly into a den of hungry wolvesย storewide weekend sale.

Both tanks were under 10 bucks and the cropped cardigan was $14.50!

Am I the only one who gets an adrenaline rush when something says 50% off? ๐Ÿ˜‰

And last but not least, after intense scrutiny, the New Balances have been benched and there’s a new all-star player on the scene…

The same Asics that I had before only in black and a new pair of compression socks…hopefully I’ll be running again before too long!

Whew! I think I just made myself tired from recapping all of that! Good thing I had leftovers to fuel me through this post!

Oh and by the way this epic pizza goodness would be the “Magical Mystery Tour” from Mellow Mushroom: pesto sauce, mozzarella, portobello mushrooms, spinach, feta, and jalapenos! Mmm! Spi-saaaay!

Well, I’m off to bed (probably to have some weird jalapeno-induced dreams)! Be sure to stop by tomorrow as I make up for missing Pancake Sunday with an even bigger celebration:

NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY!!

Are you going to celebrate with me tomorrow?

Have you ever spotted a celebrity in public? What did you do?

Posted in Pancake Sunday, Photography, Running, Shopping | Tagged , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Vegan Pumpkin Spice French Toast

Hey guys!

I want to thank you so so much for all the sweet comments on my last post! I’m sure you realized that I went a little MIA yesterday, but no worries, my “happy Thursday” just happened to continue on into Friday and I’m feeling a bit better now!

A few things that made my day yesterday: a much need massage at my favorite local spa, having a 15% off coupon for said massage, replenishing my stock of Yogi tea after spotting a sale, and not only getting my hands on my FAVORITE flavor of Chobani, but also finding it on sale for 10/$10!! Yes, my friends, sometimes dreams DO come true!

Unfortunately, there were only 5 containers of black cherry Cho…but you better believe I scooped them all into my basket without thinking twice! ๐Ÿ˜‰

You wanna know what else made yesterday special?

It is now officially fall!

Time to bring out the pumpkin!

I still have my one coveted can of Libby’s hidden away in the depths of my pantry that I’m holding on to until my town gets with the program and puts it back on the shelves, but I just had to crack open this can I got from Whole Foods MONTHS ago, because c’mon, what would the first day of fall be like without pumpkin??

So how about I get to the part where I share a ridiculously tasty VEGAN recipe with you guys that celebrates the best part of fall?

PUMPKIN of course! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Vegan Pumpkin French Toast with Pumpkin Sauce

by Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10-12 minutes

Keywords: breakfast dairy-free vegan vegetarian bread pumpkin puree fall winter

Ingredients (Serves 1)

    For the French Toast

    • 2 slices of your favorite vegan bread
    • 2 Tablespoons ground flax
    • 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
    • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
    • 1/2 small to medium-sized banana, mashed
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

    For the Pumpkin Sauce

    • 1 Tablespoon pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
    • 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
    • 2 Tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
    • 1/2 Tablespoon coconut flour (optional, if omitting, reduce milk to 1 Tablespoon)

    Instructions

    For the French Toast

    1. Preheat a non-stick skillet to medium heat, coat with cooking spray.
    2. Combine flax and non-dairy milk in a small bowl and set aside.
    3. Meanwhile, mix pumpkin, mashed banana, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice in a shallow dish.
    4. After allowing about 4-5 minutes for the flax to set in the milk, add it to the pumpkin/banana mixture and whisk until smooth.
    5. Using a basting brush or spoon, coat both sides of bread with pumpkin mixture.
    6. Add to skillet and cook approximately 5-6 minutes per side.
    7. Plate and top with Pumpkin Sauce

    For the Pumpkin Sauce

    Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, whisk until smooth.

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    Now the sauce/syrup alone does a fine job of making this breakfast (or dinner…you all know how I feel about breakfast after dark!) extra special, but if you REALLY want to make it look like fall exploded on your plate, just do as I say…

    Drizzle on sauce,

    add the other 1/2 banana…

    some unsweetened coconut shreds and dried cranberries…

    and top with toasted pecans! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Simple trick to lazy girl (or boy) toasted pecans: Throw them on a plate and microwave them for 30 seconds…ta-daaa! No oven required!

    Then brew up a big mug of pumpkin spice flavored coffee…

    *Added to the grounds like I did here with cinnamon*

    Thanks for the great idea Rachel! ๐Ÿ™‚

    …or aย steamerย if coffee’s not your thing.

    And look forward to many more pumpkin-filled mornings!

    Happy Fall everybody!

    What are some of your favorite things about this season?

    Posted in Breakfast, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments

    Happy Things Thursday

    Hey guys! I hope you all are having a great week…and if not, relish in the fact that tomorrow is Friiiiiiiiday! ๐Ÿ˜‰

    I’m gonna be honest with you guys, this has not been the best week for me. The little bit of rest I got on Sunday was not enough to help my shins make it through a week of four 10 hour shifts standing on concrete floors. I actually took today off because I couldn’t stand (cheap pun) the thought of working one more day…plus, for some strange reason, Thursdays seem to be one of our busiest days. On top of all that, I’ve been dealing with some personal things over the last few weeks that has gotten me down.

    Buttttttttt, rather than wallow in self-pity (so not my style), I decided to take charge and find the things that make me happy.

    Things like…

    A big bowl of protein oat bran topped with bananas, coconut, chai-coconut sauce, and Warrior Crunch granola followed by not one, but TWO cups of cinnamon coffee

    My favorite magazine, a DIY mani/pedi, and Jack Johnson’s sexy, soothing voice ๐Ÿ˜‰

    A little endorphin rush after laying out for two days

    Rest is rest, but I needed a little something…and this was a good way to do it with hardly any impact on my shins.

    A much needed soak in the tub…don’t worry, I left my phone outside the bathroom this time ๐Ÿ˜‰

    The sweet smell of roasting sweet potatoes

    The beauty of fresh green aspargus

    And finally breaking out that bison steak for dinner tonight.

    Which I will enjoy with a glass of this:

    And (hopefully) a few good laughs while watching this:

    What are your go-to happy things?

    Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Workouts | Tagged , , , , , , | 29 Comments