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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 banana, chia seeds, coconut butter, cottage cheese, Garmin, oats, overnight oats, shopping, Vibrams | 45 Comments

Brownie Batter Pancakes with Cherries

Posted on August 14, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Good morning, dolls!

I hope you are all having a great start to your Sunday morning! I know I sure am…well I was, that is until I finished my plate of ~~brownies~~ pancakes that I “mmm-ed” my way through earlier this morning!

I’ve had a huge thing of cherries in my fridge for about a week now. And when I say huge, I mean three POUNDS of cherry-goodness people…yeah, I totally went to Sam’s Club hungry! Definitely going to be freezing the rest of the container today since I can’t seem to eat them fast enough! Oh, and if you own a cherry pitter and you’re free later, by all means, c’mon over! I’ll make you pancakes! 😉

With a fridge full of cherries, my mind naturally went the chocolate/cherry route this morning when it came time celebrate Pancake Sunday. Isn’t that the first thing everybody thinks of once they hear the word “cherry”? Well, that and maybe ice cream…oh my gosh these would be INCREDIBLE with a big fat scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream on top, but oh, I digress…

Please excuse my foodie ADD!

Ok, now I’m back on track!

Originally, I was just going to go with “chocolate cherry pancakes” but I didn’t think that did them justice. I’m not sure if it was the addition of the coconut oil (love!) or what, but I swear to you, these pancakes tasted just like fluffy cake-like brownies!

Brownie Batter Pancakes with Cherries (GF)

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

Cook Time: 8-10 minutes

Keywords: stovetop breakfast vegetarian gluten-free nut-free cocoa powder brown rice flour Pancake Sunday

Ingredients (Serves 1)

1/3 cup brown rice flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (15g scoop)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 – 1 full packet of stevia
1 egg white
2 teaspoons coconut oil
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon NuNaturals cocoa bean extract (or vanilla)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cherries, plus more for topping

Instructions

1. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray
2. Combine flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and stevia in a medium-sized bowl and whisk together to break up any clumps.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg white, coconut oil, milk, and extract.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until all the flour is incorporated.
5. Add cherries to batter and stir to combine.
6. Spoon batter onto skillet, forming 4 small pancakes, and allow to cook for about 3-4 minutes per side.
7. Try your best not to lick the brownie batter goodness out of the bowl…or you could be a rebel like me and do it anyway!
8. Once the cakes are finished cooking, top with fresh chopped cherries and a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Plated, sugared, and cherrified!

~~Brownie~~ Pancake bite with a cherry on top! 😉

And then, because I have a hard time eating anything for breakfast that doesn’t include some sort of nut butter…

Chocolate brownie + cherries + peanut butter drizzle = breakfast foodie coma!

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to distract myself from the fact that my plate of chocolatey-cherry peanut-buttery goodness is gone, meet up with my sis and make an impromptu road trip to Nashville, because after reading this post from Janetha the other day, I can’t wait any longer…must.have.Vibrams! 😉

Quick! What’s the first word you think of after hearing the following words?

1. Chocolate
2. Peanut butter
3. Shopping
4. Road trip
5. Sunday

Posted in Breakfast, Gluten-free, Pancake Sunday | Tagged cherries, chocolate, coconut oil, pancakes, peanut butter | 29 Comments

Carrot Cake “Cookies”

Posted on August 12, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hello my little carrot cakes!

Thank you guys so much for all the positive feedback on yesterday’s

Carrot Cake Hummus!

As I was making another batch of it today (yeah, the last one only lasted about 2 days!), I thought about it for a minute and then decided…

Why not bake them?

Shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to you…not after my PB&J Hummus Ball shenanigans!

Carrot Cake Hummus Balls:
Inspired by Christin’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bean Balls

1 can chickpeas, drained
1 cup carrots, chopped and steamed until tender
1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil, melted
1/8-1/4 cup maple syrup (depending on your sweet tooth)*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 Tablespoons milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
1/4 cup flour (I used brown rice flour so they are also gluten-free!)
1/4 cup unsweetened (finely ground) coconut*
1/4 cup raisins**

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add chickpeas, carrots, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and spices to a food processor and process until combined.
3. Add flour and milk to hummus mixture and pulse until all the flour is incorporated.
4. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and stir in your raisins and coconut.
5. Form your balls with a cookie scoop, if you want, you can roll them around in your hands to smooth them out a bit before placing them on a foil lined baking sheet.
6. Place in the oven and allow to bake for 12 minutes. They will look about the same as they did when they went into the oven, but they’re little bottoms will be nice and brown!

*I used a finer ground coconut as opposed to the larger shredded variety I used in yesterday’s recipe just for fear that the coconut might burn in the oven. If you can’t find a finer ground coconut in the store, just throw whatever variety you have in your food processor and pulse it for a couple of seconds until it is a finely ground consistency (kind of like coarse sand).

**Or you could use chocolate/carob chips instead…Matt would be so proud!

Am I the only one who thinks bite-sized snacks are more fun to eat than regular sized ones?

Plus, I’m all about having the “portable” option!

And c’mon, look at ’em…they’re just sooooo cute! 😉

But seriously guys, I WISH you could have smelled the aroma that filled my kitchen while these babies were baking to perfection in the oven! There’s just something about the warm smell of cinnamon and spices coming from an oven that is just so comforting…

And of course, there’s nothing like having some “cookies” warm from the oven with a cold glass of [almond] milk!

Any exciting plans for this weekend?
I have a feeling this weekend is going to be a loungy weekend…and I’ve already gotten a good head start! I had the day off today and after running a few errands and making “cookies,” I actually took a nap (I never do that)! And it waaaaas glorious! 😉

What has been your favorite portable/on-the-go snack lately?
Since these haven’t actually made it outside my kitchen yet, I’m gonna go with my carrots and pretzels combo I’ve been loving on all week!