Better Put on Yo Dancin’ Shoes!

Posted on March 7, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaay guys!

Guess what! It’s NEWS time! But first, please join me in a little Carlton happy dance!

Haha! That will NEVER get old!

Ok, so I was trying to figure out the best way to share my super incredible, awesomely fantastic (adjective overload) news with you. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, and it really is a whole lot quicker to see rather than read them all (trust me, I could get wordy with this…I mean c’mon, I just used 4 words to describe “news”!) why don’t we just start out with a picture intro?

Obviously this is meant to be me and my strong, yet oddly shaped, biceps muscles! 😉

Haha! I know you are all super impressed with my artistic ability! Can you believe I’ve never had one day of professional training??

May

I

have

a

Drumroll

Please

?????????

I’M MOVING!!

Ok, ok…so what’s the big deal? It’s not like I’ve never moved before! The reason that I am thisfreakinexcited is:

I’M BUYING MY FIRST HOUSE!

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

AND THE KITCHEN IS HUGE!

Check…it…OUT!

A tad bit of history: The house I currently live in (originally purchased by my ex) has been on the market for almost a whole year! There have been a couple of handfuls of showings, but nothing promising. Just last week, after I’d pretty much given up all hope and figured I wouldn’t have any more interest at least until Spring, there was a showing….and the person LOVED it…and made an offer the very next day!

I’ve leisurely looked at some houses before, but obviously there was a huge need to shop fast so my realtor and I hit the pavement! Out of the batch of houses the agent gathered up for me, I narrowed it down to this one, but really, how much considering is needed with a 9×20 kitchen?!

I made an offer last night and it was accepted late this afternoon! I close at the end of the month! Ahhhhhhh!

So….who out there owns a truck and wants to help me move?? I guarantee a killer workout and some on the house recovery fuel, because what’s a moving day without a little of this:

I know…food porn at its greatest! 😉
It’s okay, I understand if you’re drooling over my
paaaaaper-paaaaaper pizza!

Alright, I’m off to bust out some Carlton moves look through carpet/hardwood samples while I munch on some Puffins straight from the box because I’m classy like that!

Did you know that it’s National Cereal Day?

It’s not too late! Go grab a handful…or pour in a bowl like a respectable person! Do as I say not as I do! 😉

Posted in Food Holidays, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 51 Comments

Pancakes and Turnips

Posted on March 6, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Sunday everybody! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I’d have to say that mine was pretty dandy! Hmm, now that’s a word I’ve never used before…where did that come from??

Soooo THAT’S why they call him Yankee Doodle Dandy!! Duh!

Anywho, my dandy Sunday…Dun-day? started off with a celebration in honor of Pancake Sunday with some lovely whole wheat pumpkin pancakes! Wha, don’t tell me you’re one of THOSE people who reserve this wonderful veggie for autumnal feasts and then never think about it again? Kate and I may have to take you out back and teach you a thing or two! 😉

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes: (serves 1)

  • 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • scant 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • sweetener if desired (I left it out and went with a sweet topping instead)

1. Mix dry ingredients.
2. Mix wet ingredients.
3. Combine wet and dry and spoon batter into a skillet heated to medium-hight heat.
4. Cook 4-5 minutes, flip.
5. Cook an addition 2-3 minutes.

I served my cakes layer style with 1 cup of Greek yogurt that I spiked with agave and cinnamon and added a dollop of TJ’s cranberry apple butter and a handful of toasted pecans.

Check out that topping waterfall!

Close up bite shot before it was all gone!

After breakfast, I did some blog reading and then got ready to head to Nashville to meet the lovely HEAB for lunch. We met at the Turnip Truck, a locally owned natural market that, even for it’s small size, rivals the bigger companies like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Heather and I chose to have lunch from their hot bar (much cheaper than WF’s by the way).

Ok, see? I told you not all my pictures are pretty! I totally blame this on the bad natural lighting since it was another cloudy/gloomy day in Nashvegas today! Bleh!

Talk about not being able to make up my mind! I got falafel with tzatziki sauce, a buttermilk biscuit with gravy, seaweed salad, barbeque seitan (first time trying by the way…loved the meaty texture), greens, rice pilaf, and roasted cauliflower. There’s also a slice of bacon under there somewhere! Ha! The greens were definitely my favorite with a nice hint of maple syrup in them!

Picture time!
Aren’t her eyes just gorgeous?!

After getting back into town and taking care of a few more secret squirrel details (don’t worry, I won’t leave you guys hanging much longer!) I came home and had a light and colorful dinner!

Edamame hummus wrapped in collard leaves Christin style, mini sweet peps, and a sunflower butter/nooch quesadilla!

And tonight, I will leave you with something I like to call “my amusement for the day”!

Seriously? Since when did cash the boot?

How was your weekend? Was is “dandy”?

 

Posted in Breakfast, Pancake Sunday, Shopping | Tagged , , , , , | 36 Comments

Butter Toffee Almond Butter

Posted on March 5, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Saturday my peoples! It was so good to hear all of your random confessions from yesterday’s post! Nice to know I’m not the only OCD/quirky chick out there! Oh, and remember how I said I was feeling drowsy from my chamomile tea? Ha, how about I woke up at 5am on the couch with my laptop beside me!

Today was a gloomy, cold, and rainy day. I always tend to forget that Tennessee doesn’t really have seasons. It goes a little something like this:

COLD (Winter)

RAINY (Spring)

HOT as Hades (Summer)

And yeah, we don’t usually get a Fall 🙁

I woke up this morning and knew today would be the perfect day finally try Ashley’s Coconut Cream Blueberry Buckwheat Bake. I whipped it up according to her directions, popped it in the oven, and went to get my sweat on with J Dub (yeah, we’re tight like that now!) before I had a chance to let the gloominess of the day make a lazy bum out of me!

Oh my goodness! It was even better than I imagined! The coconut cream “surprise” on the inside is out of this world! Creamy, chewy, warm, and delicious!

What’s that blob of stuff on top you ask? Well that’s just my butter toffee almond coconut butter! Such a cinch to make…I broke out with a little Sandra Lee on this one, if you will.

Butter Toffee Almond Coconut Butter:

  • 1 cup butter toffee almonds (made by Blue Diamond)
  • 2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut butter

1. Throw in a food processor and blend, scrape, blend, scrape, etc until smooth and                 creamy!
2. Scoop your newly discovered favorite nut butter into a jar and proceed to lick the bowl     of the food processor. Don’t worry, we won’t judge! 😉

I feel pretty ridic posting this as a recipe, but hey I’ve seen worse…anyone seen Ellie Krieger’s Dark Chocolate as a Snack recipe? Food Network actually took it off the site so I had to search it out. View the super complex recipe here and check out some hilarious reviews here.

The rest of my day was SUPER busy with cleaning, cleaning, more cleaning, and a some more of my secret squirrel activities! Hopefully I will be able to share some great news with you guys on Monday!

My super quick dinner after a busy busy day!

What’s in a salad?

  • collard greens
  • mini sweet peppers
  • button mushrooms
  • roasted broccoli & cauliflower sprinkled with turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon
  • roasted tomatoes
  • 1 fried egg
  • TJ’s masala veggie burg, crumbled

Mmm, spicy breakfast meets crunchy salad! I love pairing this veggie burg with eggs. I swear it taste just like a spicy hashbrown!

Well, I’m off! Gonna try not to pass out in the floor from drinking more tea! 😉 Have a good night lovelies! I’ll “see” you tomorrow for Pancake Sunday!

What is your favorite way to eat almond butter? What’s your favorite flavor?
Definitely on top of oats! (duh) and my favorite is Justin’s Maple Almond Butter followed oh so closely my MaraNatha’s Dark Chocolate Almond Butter

Posted in Breakfast, Entree | Tagged , , , , , , | 27 Comments