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Feeling Up the Icebox

Posted on February 4, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

I mean FILLING!! 😉

Hey hey everybody! I loved reading you guys’ comments about your foodie must haves! Let me just add oatmeal to my list! I just noticed that I’m running a bit I’m now starting to get nervous! Haha!

I figured since I finally came out about my relationship with my dear refrigerator (his name is Frio, by the way) yesterday, that tonight I would “take it to the next level” and officially introduce you to “him”.

This is what Frio looked like before I went grocery shopping today:

Haha! Just kidding! This is what he looked like after I cleaned him up!
So fresh and so clean, clean!

THIS is what my poor foodie stock was pre-shopping:

Check out my ginormous pummelo!

I was on a mission today…to be more spending conscious at the store and not just impulsively buy everything around the corner. So, I did a little planning!

Sale ads, grocery list, coupons…check, check, check!

I hit up 3 stores in 2 1/2 hours…it should NOT have taken me this long, but that’s what I get for starting at noon on a military payday weekend! Blarg!

Stop #1: SAMs Club

Organic spinach, ports, mini peps, steebies, peas, & cuties!
Yes, I did buy the 5lb bag of mandarins!
Anyone up for a bet if I’ll finish them all before they croak??

Stop #2: ~~My own version of Hell~~ Wal-Mart

2% cottage cheese, canned salmon, prosciutto, vanilla AM,
golden/reg raisins, canned tomatoes,
lemon ginger & decaf green (hiding) teas,
nanners, cauliflower (99 cents!), avocados (50 cents a piece!),
artichoke, organic zucchini, organic scallions, organic carrots,
2 tangelos, bloobs, 3 pink ladies, and organic cage-free eggs

Stop #3: Kroger

Peach Chobani (hiding), 2 Oikos Greek yogurts,
Yoplait Greek yogurt (never tried this brand before, but I had a coupon),
Ezekiel bread (no sugar!!), Lundberg brown rice cakes,
Lightlife Smart Ground, roasted red peps,
coconut agua, 2 bags unsweetened shredded coconut,
Baker’s unsweetened chocolate,
2 organic maters, and
Celestial Seasoning Mandarin Orange Spice (my fave!)

Reading Chelsea’s blog earlier this week about grocery budgeting, got me thinking about my own spending habits. I tried to be mindful of what I was putting in my…buggy. Yep, that’s what I call them! No, they are not “carts”!

My goal was to only spend $100. I figured a lot of the items will last me for 2 weeks or more and I’m hoping to see my monthly spending below $250 for the month. I know that sounds like a lot for one person, but for me, it works. I rarely ever go shopping or out to eat, so I allow myself to splurge on what I really love…FOOD!

I ended up spending $114.97 with $14.o9 in savings and the only non-food items I purchased were TP and toothpaste. I think I did pretty good, especially since I wasn’t really keeping a tally while I was shopping!

Now Frio is looking nice and full…JUST the way I like him!

I think we have a nice “give & take” relationship!

BEST part about grocery shopping…new snackage!

Brown rice cake topped with sunflower butter & sweet mini pepper

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk, 1/2 square Baker’s chocolate, &
2 HUGE steebies that were impressively juicy and sweet for being out of season!

How do you think I did? What do you choose to splurge on in life?

Posted in Shopping, Snacks | Tagged almond milk, apples, avocado, bananas, coconut, eggs, Greek yogurt, shopping, spinach | 39 Comments

Foodie Commodities

Posted on February 3, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYBODY!!

Well, at least it is for me anyway! Hopefully there are a few of you out there that get tomorrow off too! Any snow bunnies out there? It seems like the winter blizzards are in full force this week! I’m just glad we didn’t see any of it here. Snow is SOOOO last year ya know! 😉

Before I get into the day’s eats, let tell you that I have been trying to clean out my fridge all week. No, I’m not going on a trip (I wish), more like just trying to make it the whole week without having to run to the store! Plus, I finally admitted to myself that there are some problems in my relationship…with my fridge that is…

1. I open like a bajillion containers of stuff at one time and am always having to reorganize the shelves so that everything fits! I currently have 5 different jars of jam open. None of which I can even eat now due to Sugar-Free Week!

2. I often forget about how much I have at home and buy “just one more thing.”

3. And lastly, I am a produce fiend! I like a lot of variety, but I buy more than enough fruits and veggies for one person to eat in a month and then when I get home from the store…well, refer to problem #1!

Ok, now on to the food!

For breakfast this morning, I decided to whip up a half batch of some of Alex’s One Size Fits All Pancakes after seeing HEAB’s extra fluffy/drool-worthy batch the other day.

I thought they turned out really well, especially since I ran out of almond milk halfway through the recipe and had to improvise with some watered down kefir! I also threw in a sad little banana that was on death’s doorstep!

You would never guess these fluffy little babies are gluten-free, sugar-free AND vegan! To make them even better, I topped my little banana cakes with something else a little fluffy!

Sugar-Free Apple Walnut Butter:

1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup natural applesauce
cinnamon
water to thin

Combine all ingredients into a food processor (or Magic Bullet) and process until smooth and creamy! Mmmm!

After breakfast, I threw a lunch together to take with me to work. Since I’m all out of my regular dinner leftovers, I decided to make myself a wrap. I don’t know why, but I always forget how much I love wraps!

Last time I went to SAMs, I bought a ginormous container of Sabra’s Spinach & Artichoke Hummus so I decided that since I’d been a good little girl this week and polished off both Mama Pea’s Zucchini AND TJ’s Tomato & Basil Hummuses (hummi?) that I would finally crack into the big mamba jamba!

TJ’s whole wheat tortilla (the ONLY bread substance I have in my house with no added sugar!), spinach and artichoke hummus, roasted red peppers, pea sprouts, and sliced cucumber (hiding under the sprouts).

I had this with some plantain chips and raw snap peas and it was
Abso-freakin-lutely delicious!

For dinner, the hummus made another appearance! Can you guess where it is?

This dinner was so not a recipe dinner. I just threw a whole bunch of stuff together and in 30 minutes called it a meal! Quick.Easy.Delicious!

Crunchy Chicken Strips: Chicken breast cut into strips coated in spinach and artichoke hummus and dipped in a mix of whole wheat bread crumbs and Italian seasoning. I dipped my strips in some warm sunflower butter…YUM!

Baked Smoked Paprika Potato Chips: 1 medium potato sliced into rounds, drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of garlic powder, black pepper, and smoked paprika

Roasted Beet, Cucumber, & Feta Salad: 1 large roasted beet (left-over from my beet experiment) and 1/2 large cucumber mixed in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar, topped with crumbled feta cheese.

And with that meal, I am now officially out of everything!! Not really, I still have my jars of jam, but I seriously cannot be expected to live in a house without my necessities:

almond milk
Greek yogurt
eggs
spinach
portobellas
bananas

The ONLY thing that is keeping me from going completely over the edge of insanity is the fact that I do have a good amount of nut butter on hand…um, 5 to be exact! What? Only FOUR of them are open! Haha!

What foodie items can you not live without?
It’s only been 2 days since I finished up the spinach and I think I’m already starting to develop and eye twitch! 😉 <- See?

Posted in Apps & Sides, Breakfast, Entree, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged almond milk, banana, chicken, eggs, Greek yogurt, hummus, pancakes, potatoes, spinach | 33 Comments

What I Ate Wednesday: “Steak” & Eggs

Posted on February 2, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hey y’all! Yep, I said Y’ALL…because I’m from the south and I can! 😉

Hope you all had a hump-idy good day!

I’m playing along with Jen’s link party again this week so for your viewing pleasure, I bring to you “What I Ate Wednesday” Part 2!

And remember, all my eats are still sugar-free!

Breakfast (8:00am)
Peachy Banana Smoothie In a Bowl
+
12oz mug (un-pictured) black coffee

1/2 banana
1/2 cup frozen peaches
1/2 cup plain low-fat kefir
1/2 cup puffed red wheat cereal
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon sugar-free peach butter
1 tablespoon raw, unsalted almond butter
a small handful of raw almonds

Lunch (12:15pm)
Leftover Smokey Chipotle Beans & Rice

Snack #1 (3:30pm)
Trader Joe’s Tomato & Basil Hummus & 1 whole wheat tortilla

Snack #2 (6:45pm)
1/4 cup 2% cottage cheese with fresh pineapple

16oz water x 1

16oz hot tea x 3
Hey, I was cold!
😉

Dinner (8:30pm)
“Steak” & Eggs

For the “steak”, I just sautéed 1 large portobella mushroom with some onion (a few scallions might have also made an appearance) in about 1/4 cup of beef broth and then added spices to taste (cumin, garlic, black pepper, and a splash of liquid smoke).

Mmm! I love the “meaty” taste of portobellas!