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What Goes Up, Must Come Down

Posted on April 14, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Helllllllllllloooooooo my peoples! Happy day that comes after Wednesday that nobody likes because it is still not Friday! 😉

So glad to see so many fans of socca after yesterday’s post! I’m craving another Mexican Socca Pizza now, just thinking about it!

I have been THIS excited since before work this morning to share my breakfast with you! While catching up on Ashley’s posts, I discovered something genius…cornbread for breakfast! Am I surprised by the source of such genius-ness? Not in the slightest!

Is it just me, or do you wanna lick the screen?

I followed Ashley’s Banana Cornbread Bake recipe to a tee and then topped it with 1/2 cup of Trader Joe’s plain low-fat Greek yogurt, and a drizzle of almond butter and honey.

I have always been a fan of cornbread (I was born in the South…it kind of comes with the territory) and I like it with a touch of sweetness. This bake was absolutely perfect, like the love-child of healthy banana bread and cornbread! I know some of you are probably skeptical about eating cornbread for breakfast, but believe me, this is something you want to try!

And I can’t even begin to tell you how well it went with the Greek yogurt, almond butter, and honey! Ohhh, I die! I rarely repeat breakfasts, but I cannot wait to have this again tomorrow!

You know what also goes well with almond butter? My appetizer for tonight’s dinner:

Cheddar flavored Food Should Taste Good tortilla chips!

Just trust me on this one!

As we all know, balance in life is inevitable. What goes up, must also come down. Which brings me to dinner…

Pretty, no?

Deceivingly underwhelming? Yes.

Ok, so it all started with the calavacita squash that I purchased this weekend. I spied it in the back of the fridge and thought it was time to finally bust it out. Buuuuut, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with it…and it was 6:30…and my stomach was growling (hence the need for an “appetizer”).

I chopped it up, sprayed it with some cooking spray, sprinkled it with S&P, and threw it in the oven to roast as I ~~contemplated the future~~ tried to form a plan for dinner.

Main dish, main dish, main dish? Ohhhh, howabout tempeh? Mmm, yeah! Ok, now what?

Enter the new BBQ sauce I found at Tuesday Morning (similar to TJ Maxx)

Most of the time, my last-minute plans and “aha!” type ideas form a pretty good tasting meal. This time…not saa much! Ok, so the squash needs a little something more than S&P (smoked paprika perhaps), I should have marinated the tempeh, and this was the

HOTTEST FREAKING BBQ SAUCE EVER!

Holy chili peppers!

Eh, well, at least it looked pretty!

I blame this on ~~writer’s~~ chef’s cramp. And too much stress. And not enough sleep. And oh, the fact that it’s the day after Wednesday that nobody likes because it’s still.not.Friday!

“See” you guys tomorrow (when it actually IS Friday)!

What’s the oddest thing you’ve paired nut butter with?

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged almond butter, bananas, Greek yogurt, greens, squash, tempeh | 49 Comments

WIAW: Mexican Socca Pizza

Posted on April 13, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys! Am I the only one that can’t believe it’s already Wednesday? Seems like just yesterday I was getting lost in the woods! Ugh! I really want to try the trails again…maybe I’ll take a bag of breadcrumbs with me this time? 😉

Well, if it’s really Wednesday, then it’s really time for another edition of What I Ate Wednesday!

Have you checked out the weekly link party over at Peas & Crayons? It’s so exciting to see it grow each week with new link ups! If you get a chance, definitely take the time to hop on over there and drool over some food porn!

Alrighty, here goes!

Breakfast (7:45am)
Whole wheat bagel thin topped with Trader Joe’s PB cream cheese,
2 microwaved egg whites + a splash of almond milk,
1/2 a nanner and cinnamon
(un-pictured 1/2 caf black coffee)

I seriously debated getting this the other day…hesitantly, I put back the basil white bean hummus as I thought to myself, “This better be good!”…best.decision.ever!

All wrapped up and ready for the drive to work since I can’t seem to be on time this week!

Don’t forget the vita gummies!

Oh yeah, and I don’t think they allow monkey slippers at the hospital…unless your a patient! 😉

2 cups a the day…the only way to survive the subarctic temps in a hospital!

Lunch (12:00)
Salad of mixed baby greens, zucchini strips, carrots, celery, and some hidden tomatoes topped with a crumbled Edamame Millet Burger (all gone…so sad!)

Organic gala apple & a dark chocolate Adora disk

Pre-workout Snack (4:30)
More blueberry action with 1/2 a Blueberry Muffin Larabar

Christin and I tried these “together” via Twitter yesterday…both of us expected a bit more of a blueberry PUNCH but regardless, we decided it was still tasty and definitely worth buying again!

Have you tried the newest Larabar flavor?

And lots of this! I found my old 32oz Camelbak bottle when I was unpacking. Since I’ve been using it, my water consumption has gone waaaaay up! Yay!

And now, for dinner!

Dinner (7:30pm)
Personal-size Mexican Socca Pizza

Mexican Socca Pizza: (makes 1 single serving pizza)

1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon Ms. Dash ~~crack~~ Southwestern Chipotle Seasoning blend
pepper, to taste

1. Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl and break up any lumps.
2. Pour batter into a greased 8 inch oven-proof skillet (10 if you want a SUPER thin crust) and cook for 12-15 minutes.
3. Top with 2 tablespoons of your favorite salsa. I’m pretty loyal to this brand (I love the low sodium…not many salsas out there with stats like that!)
4. Add your pizza toppings.
5. Place skillet in oven under low-medium broil until warmed through.

I topped my pie with sliced zucchini, Soyrizo, sweet mini peppers, onions, diced heirloom tomato, and Daiya cheddar, garnished with fresh cilantro.

I’ve been wanting to try Soyrizo for a while now. I found this brand at Wal-Mart and I LOVE it! The flavors are spot on and you can’t even tell it’s not real meat!

Sliced and served alongside some cheezy kale chips!

Super simple and oh so tasty!

Spray washed/dried kale leaves with cooking spray, sprinkle with nutritional yeast and pop in a 350° oven for about 6-8 minutes or until crispy.

Have you tried kale chips before?
I’ll admit that the first time I tried them, I wasn’t a fan, but only because I didn’t realize that I cooked mine for too long…FYI, burnt kale leaves taste like freshly mown grass! 😕

Best thing you ate today?
I thought breakfast was fabulous, but dinner reigns supreme this time!

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged apples, banana, kale, nutritional yeast, salad, socca, tea, veggies | 54 Comments

Random Bits from the Broccoli Stalk

Posted on April 12, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hey peoples! Hope you are all having a lovely week so far! I loved reading about your bargains from yesterday’s Saturday Shopping Extravaganza post. Looks like I’m not the only one that knows how to snag a deal or two!

For tonight’s postage, I’d like you all to know that the lovely Emilia of Namaste Gurl recently awarded me with the Versatile Blogger award!

Don’t applaud…just throw money! 😉

In order to accept this award, there are a few rules:

Thank the person who awarded you and link back to them in your post.
Tell 7 random facts about yourself.
Pass the award on to 15 new-found bloggers.
Contact each blogger you want to pass the award on to and let them know you’ve done so, and let the giver of your award know whether you accept it or not.

Ok, so after this post and that post, let’s see if I can come up with 7 things I haven’t already clued you guys in on!

1.) I have never, ever played the lottery or gambled a day in my life. I like my money, I work hard for my money (so hard for the money! <-sorry folks, couldn’t help it), and I like to KEEP my money!

2.) I have many OCD tendencies…not the count the stairs I walk up or repeating words three times or anything, but for instance:

When I hang up my clothes, I HAVE to have the hanger hook pointing to the left and the clothing facing me
In the refrigerator, there is a veggie drawer and a fruit and cheese drawer…they do not cross contaminate
And last but sure as heck not least, the alarm MUST always be set to an even quarter (6:00, 6:15, 6:30, 6:45)! Seriously, I cringe at the thought of setting it for something off like 6:03!

3.) When I was in x-ray school, I once spent all day at a clinic site with another student replicating the x-ray in the intro to the show Scrubs . Needless to say that particular site was extremely sloooooooow!

And of course then we had to pose for a cheesy photo! 😉

Any Scrubs fans out there? I love me some Zach Braff!

4.) Speaking of television, I actually haven’t had cable/satellite at my house in over a year. I got tired of shelling out money each month for the handful of shows that I cared to watch. Do I miss it? Not one bit…just don’t take away my internet!

5.) I’m a Twilight fan…so shoot me! For the record, the books are SOOO much better than the movies.

But I won’t lie…I’ve seen all the movies in theaters…with my mom & sis!

6.) Every time my sis and I get together, we wind up taking 624 pictures of ourselves and half of them always turn out like this

And yes, we do have matching scarves from TJ Maxx!

7.) 1, 229…the number of pictures I took on my vacation to St. Augustine, Fl last summer. It’s still in the works, but there’s a very good chance that I’ll get to go there again this year! Woo hoo!

And now I get the privilege of passing this award on to some other amazing bloggers out there, and although I could sit here and list names from here to next week (there are SO many fantastic blogs out there!), I am going to shine the spotlight on 4 wonderful women in particular:

Jess from Healthy Exposures. I am in LOVE with this girl’s writing/photography/recipes! I’ve only been following her blog for a short time, but I am totally addicted! And I absolutely love her sense of humor!

Jenn from Peas & Crayons. Jenn and I have really gotten to be great friends over the last couple of months. I love her playful personality and creativity! And she is a genius at saving some money too!

Heather from Heather Eats Almond Butter and Allie from Live Laugh Eat. These two ladies are responsible for sparking my interest in healthy living blogs and then later becoming a blogger myself. From Heather’s HEABified Sloppy Joes to Allie’s Banana Avocado Bread, I entered my way into one of the greatest communities of people out there. I am so proud to call myself a healthy living blogger and so grateful to have all of you guys as readers!

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of randomness for the day!

Any vacation plans this summer? Do tell!