Hey there! How was everybody’s Saturday? I took a day off from “crime fighting” and concentrated more on getting my daily dose of Vitamin D! Can you believe this? It was just snowing last weekend with a high of only 24 degrees!

All day long, I kept going outside expecting the temperature to drop, but it never did and I finally was reunited with my dear friend, Mr. Sunshine! It truly has been TOO long!

Look! You can see my shadow!

I got started this morning with a HUGE bowl of oats…but not just any oats…Green Monster Oats! You had to know it was coming. I couldn’t just stop with the pancakes!

Green Monster Oats: (serves 1)

• 1 handful fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup frozen peaches
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• splash of vanilla

1. Start by making your Green Monster (GM) by combining the first four ingredients in a       blender and puree until smooth.
2. Pour GM into a pot along with the water, oats, cinnamon, and vanilla.
3. Cook on medium heat (stirring occasionally) until it reaches your desired thickness           (for me it was about 5-6 minutes).

I topped my bowl with what was supposed to be melted coconut butter, but instead ended up being toasted coconut butter and some frozen blueberries.

Note to self: coconut butter should be treated like chocolate when melting-use a double boiler or in the microwave-do not try to melt on top of the stove in a saucepan!

Mmmhmm, good stuff right there!

After breakfast I went for a walk around my neighborhood. It was a little windy so I threw on a hoodie, but after about a mile it had to come off! It was so warm and I was loving it! I swear I had the biggest grin on my face while I was walking. I can’t even begin to tell you guys how much this gray and gloomy weather has gotten to me over the last few weeks! I am a warm weather gal…I can only take so much!

I did 2.5 miles in 30 minutes. When I got back to the house, I did my last workout for the week for Team HEAB! One of the moves was a stability ball pass crunch. Please tell me I’m not a total mushy-muscled dork since I can only do about 3 or 4 of these before I’m spent! Please?

Lunch today was brought to you by a little inspiration from the following ladies: Tina and her roasted eggplant panini, Sarah aka “Mama Pea” and her “nix the pet goose” zucchini hummus (if you haven’t read this post, it is a MUST! Hilarious!), and Jen with her kabocha “sniff test” find.

First of all, let me tell you I will take a hot sandwich over a cold one any day. I don’t care if it 90 degrees outside. There is just something about the melding of flavors when you fire up the panini press (or in my case a grill pan with a heavy pot on top).

Spinach, tomato, and smoky zucchini hummus on whole wheat bread. Oh.my.word! No lie, absolute food-gasmic! I savored every single bite of this. I don’t think it has ever taken me that long to eat a sandwich before! The flavor, spice, and smokiness of the hummus was out of this world, especially when paired with the sweet roasted kabocha! It has been a while since I’ve last had a sandwich but after today I know that is definitely going to change!

So what would a Saturday be without baking? No Saturday in my book! I saw Carrie make some delicious looking brownies today and just knew I had to have them…plus I had a package of tofu in my fridge that was expired about to expire! 😉

Chocolate Hazelnut Tofu Brownies: (12 servings)
Slightly adapted from Carrie’s recipe here. My changes are in red.

• 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used 3/4 tsp ’cause you can never have enough cinnamon!)
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 10.5 oz package of silken tofu
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1 tsp groundnut oil (I used coconut oil)
• 3/4 cup sweetener (I used brown rice syrup)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pecans (I used 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts)

1. Combine dry ingredients and stir with a wire whisk.
2. Add wet ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. Stir in hazelnuts
5. Pour batter into a greased 8×8 baking dish and bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-     25 minutes.

You know what the best part is about making brownies?

Oh yeah!

The perfect brownie sundae! Coffee flavored Arctic Breeze and Tru-whip!

What? Doesn’t everybody serve the middle slice first?
I also always steal the middle cinnamon roll! 😉

How did you enjoy your Saturday?

Hot or Cold when it comes to sandwiches?