Things I’m Lovin’ Thursday

Posted on August 18, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
-Robert Brault

How true is that quote? I mean seriously, if we don’t appreciate each day’s little things, then what exactly are we getting up for each morning?

Here are a few of the things that have been making my days lately…

The fact that so many of you guys are interested in trying Spinachy Oat Bran!

Yesterday wasn’t the first time it’s made an appearance on the blog, but each time I make it, like here and here, it’s a little different!

Basically, just use your favorite cooking method for your oat bran, throw it in a blender or food processor with a big handful of spinach and a little S&P and press the button labeled

“Make me a delicious bowl of green oats!”

Also known as: “blend”

Seattle’s Best Cinnamon Coffee

And truth in advertising…
Not that I can remember MY grandmother ever baking cinnamon rolls! 😉

Finding gems at (of all places) Wal-Mart 

I checked out this protein powder when I found a coupon in the paper and after a look at the nutritionals, I figured what the hey…THEN I tasted it!

Ahhhhmazing!

And over one POUND of rich and creamy PB for UNDER 3 bucks?!

Don’t mind if I do!

Incorporating two of my loves in ONE breakfast
WHILE sneaking in more veggies!

Spinach isn’t the only thing I’ve been trying to eat through lately…

Zucchini Bread Protein Oats: (serves 1)

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 medium-sized banana (thawed from frozen, or sliced very thin)
  • 1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1. Combine all ingredients, stir well, and microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until oats reach         desired thickness/consistency.

2. Top with shredded coconut, raisins, granola, and a big ol’ spoonful of peanut butter!

Delicious and nutritious!

As I mentioned in yesterday’s WIAW post, I’ve been having lemon water every morning before breakfast and I’ve been lovin’ my Pampered Chef lemon juicer…

It definitely beats having to squeeze the hell out of them by hand!

The fact that rice really DOES help if you…I don’t know…happen to let your iPhone take a dip with you in the bathtub!

12 hours in some arborio rice (knew I bought that stuff for something ;)) and she was as good as new!

New running gear!

And the fact that a year ago, if you told me to run 5 miles, I would’ve laughed in your face…

Now I own a pair of barefoot running shoes, a sports watch, and I’m working on a bit of a running skirt collection! 😉

What are some of the little things that you’ve been lovin lately?

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

WIAW: The Greens Edition

Posted on August 17, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Alternative Title: How To Eat a 1/2 Pound of Spinach in One Day!

As always, be sure to head on over to Peas & Crayons and check out all the blog-worthy WIAW eats this week and while you’re at it, leave some comment luv for our gracious host, Jenn!

So this week’s edition of WIAW could be considered 1. A tutorial on the great uses of spinach or 2. A confession from a vegaholic…

As you guys now know, I’m leaving for California at the end of the week. Well, after waking up this morning, I realized, I have had myself in a bit of a predicament…

A one POUND package of spinach predicament!

Well, that was until I devised a plan: Spinach-ify every meal and see what’s left at the end of the day!

Behold the plan in action…

Breakfast (6:30-7:30am)

Lemon Water and Coffee while catching up on some blog reading

“Candy”

and…

The BIGGEST and BEST green brown smoothie I’ve ever tasted, for the road!

The picture doesn’t really do it justice…seriously, that is a 32oz Mason jar!

Chocolate Cherry Almond Smoothie:

  • 2 big handfuls spinach
  • 1 medium-sized frozen banana (the trick to not tasting the spinach)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh (still not frozen) cherries
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder + 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder (or 1 scoop chocolate protein powder…I’m all out!)
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 Tablespoon almond butter
  • 1 cup ice
  • 1/4 teaspoon guar gum*
  • 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum*

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor (yes, I use my food processor for smoothies…hey, it works!) and blend until smooth!

I seriously cannot even begin to tell you how fantastic this was! There was so much depth to the flavor…at first sip it was vanilla…then a hint of cocoa…and then there was the fusion flavor of the cherry and almond!

Yeah, pretty sure I just found my new favorite smoothie!

Lunch (12:30pm)

Spaghetti Salad: Spinach, carrots, zucchini, parmesan cheese, and fresh ground black pepper to be topped with leftover (reheated) spaghetti sauce from dinner Monday night

The best I can do for a recipe for this sauce:
1 pound grass-fed finished beef, 1/2 onion, 1/2 bell pepper, 1 clove garlic, 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes, 1/2 cup tomato puree, 1/2 cup veggie broth, a squirt of sriracha and a crap-TON of spices!

Brown the beef, saute the veggies, dump everything together and let warm through while you add just about ever spice that you have in your kitchen!

Voila! Homemade spaghetti sauce!

😉

Annnnd, just when a normal person would get tired of “choking down” the green stuff…

Dinner (8:00pm)

Savory Spinachy Oat Bran topped with 1 fried egg, sharp cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and black peppa!

Pardon the less than stellar photo…who knew the sun would start going down now around 7:30pm (*sad face*)…who also knew that TWO out of the THREE lightbulbs I have for my lightbox would be dead!

Proof that I still have a LOT to learn about my camera and terms like
“white balance” and “aperture size”

Whomp whomp! 🙁

Anywho! There were a couple of green-challenged eats that found their way into my belly:

A Blueberry Bliss Luna (DEE-lish) bar pre-workout and a decaf iced Americano with a little moo juice post-workout

Final thought at the end of the day:

Whew! At least I have enough to make another smoothie in the morning! 😉

What is your favorite way to get your greens in?

Anyone else noticing nighttime sneaking up on us again? I can’t believe it, Daylight Savings is still TWO months away! I’m so not ready for winter 🙁

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Gifts for Me and a Recipe!

Posted on August 15, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hey peeps! Hope you are all having a marvelous Monday!

I am sooooo excited about this post that I can’t even contain myself! Seriously, I am backspacing like an idiot right now because my brain is going faster than my little fingers can type!

Do me a favor…

Scoot your chair back from the computer…or if you have a laptop, pick it up and sit it a couple of feet from where you’re sitting!

Ok, got it?

Now make two fists…

Put them on each side of your face near your chin…

And continue reading while looking at the screen like this:

Ok…now we can carry on!

So apparently, I must think it’s my birthday or something. I’m typically not a big spender when it comes to shopping for myself…well, unless it’s groceries and then that’s a totally different story, but lately I think I’ve gotten on my good side, because gifts keep coming left and right. Hmm, I must be buttering myself up for something…

When I left you guys yesterday, I mentioned a little road trip to Nashville to get the “frog feet shoes” as my mother so lovingly refers to them. Well, let’s just say the trip was a success!

A very PINK success!
Kristina would be so proud!

I seriously ran (ok, I drove) to the gym last night an hour before closing JUST so I could try them out for the first time!

I only ran one mile and then did some time on the elliptical, but so far…

I LOVE them!

See Jess, you DO need a pair! 😉

What I didn’t tell you guys is that BEFORE my little excursion, I threw down some paper on something else that I’ve been quietly pining over for, I don’t know, the past 8 MONTHS!!

[source]

After MUCH debate/research/Twitter polling, I finally decided that the Garmin Forerunner 305 was right for me. Thanks Mary and Presley for helping me FINALLY make up my mind!

Yep…come Wednesday, Amazon (slash the mailman) is going to make me
one. happy. lady!

And well, as if new running gear wasn’t enough of a gift to myself, I had to go and spontaneously plan a vacation…

in a week…

to CALIFORNIA!!

Omg! Omg! Omg!

You guys, I have never been further west than Texas! This is HUGE for me!! Though I may be a little nervous about flying for only the second time in my life…

Note: Airplanes do NOT intimidate me…AIRPORTS DO!

So what’s in California you ask? More like what ISN’T in California?!

I’m just a small town girl…

*cue Journey cover band and a sea of lighters*

After talking vacation plans with one of my dear blogger friends, things just seemed to fall into place…so much so, that it was almost crazy NOT to plan a getaway to sunny California! I seriously cannot thank the beautiful Emilia enough for graciously opening her home (and her veggie stash) to me for 6 whole days of California lovin’! I’m so excited!

Now to decide on what to pack besides…

What can I say, I can’t live without my F.R.O.G. I even have the shoes to prove it! 😉

With all this celebration and gift-giving receiving in the air, there’s seems to be only one logical thing I can think of to do next… Perhaps it’s time to start shopping for gag mugs to add some humor to the festivities!

Have cake!

For breakfast?

Most definitely! 🙂

Cake Batter Oats have returned to KMB, but this time, things look a little different…

Cake Batter Overnight Oats:

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup cottage cheese (or yogurt if your skeeved out by curds and whey)
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 Tablespoon yellow cake mix
  • 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
  • 3/4-1 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stir together, cover, and pop in the fridge overnight!

Toppings: 1/2 banana, chopped fresh cherries (that I still haven’t froze), and MANDATORY coconut butter!

I’m gonna tell you right now, topping cold overnight oats with warm melty coconut butter is beyond amazing! It hardens once it hits the oats and makes a little sheet of coconut “ice” that you can crunch up and stir throughout the bowl…and when you get a bite with a piece in it, it’s like having white fudge AND cake batter for breakfast! 🙂

  Trust me on this one!

So, anybody in the San Francisco/Bay Area care for a little blogger meet-up? Shoot me an email {kissmybroccoli(at)gmail(dot)com} and we’ll see what we can do!

It’s always nice to splurge every once in a while. What have you “gifted” to yourself recently? 

Posted in Breakfast | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments