Just Call Me Snacky Kathy!

Posted on January 27, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hey hey! How is everybody doing? Me? Well, thanks for asking…I had a great day!

I had an older gentleman as a patient today (for newbies, I am a CAT scan technologist in a hospital) who was the most personable and pleasant patient I’ve had in a long while. It can be hard working in a hospital sometimes. Let’s face it, when you don’t feel well, you get cranky and sometimes that crankiness is projected at the wrong people. This gentleman was a stark contrast to the majority of my patients lately. He had a bright smile and a great sense of humor and was a joy to talk with. It feels good to be appreciated for what I do and the patients that acknowledge that always bring a big smile to my face!

I started out with something a little different for breakfast this morning. Honestly, I really couldn’t decide if I wanted oats or a yogurt parfait. I seriously stood in the kitchen for at least 5 minutes contemplating my breakfast! I know…I have no life!

1/4 cup oat bran + 1 tablespoon ground flax cooked in 1 cup of water
1/2 container of Strawberry Chobani
1 tablespoon TJ’s Valencia peanut butter
1/2 banana, sliced

And Black Coffee
Like my new mug? I L-O-V-E it! 😉

This was good, but I was hungry again after two hours. I will definitely use 1/2 cup of oat bran next time.

Like you can see from my post yesterday for What I Ate Wednesday, typically I have one am snack and one pm snack along with my three main meals. Today I had FOUR snacks and three meals!

Snack #1 (8:00am): A new-to-me Z Bar flavor courtesy of my girl Christin. I am in love with these things!

Yeah, the package is empty! That’s how hungry I was by 8am!

Snack #2 (9:30am): About 3 cups of fresh popcorn from our popcorn machine in the breakroom!

Popped with butter-flavored oil, no salt

Snack #3 (4:00pm): Pumpkin Pie Parfait

1/4 cup pumpkin puree + 3-4 drops vanilla stevia +
a HEAVY sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice
+
Cottage Cheese
+
Pom Arils

I swear this tasted JUST like pumpkin pie! The only thing it needed was some graham cracker crumbs!

Snack #4 (right now!): Snickerdoodle Hummus & Animal Crackers

I saw that Katie made herself some dessert hummus today with inspiration from Evan. I was like, “What is dessert hummus?” So I took a look over at Evan’s blog wannabechef. You have GOT to try this! I seriously thought I was eating a snickerdoodle! I followed his recipe, but left out the brown sugar and I thought the sweetness was perfect!

Excuse me while I live vicariously through Teddy here for a moment and bathe in this cinnamon goodness!

I may or may not have just run out of animal crackers and used my finger to clean this little bowl! 😉

Have you ever tried dessert hummus? If not, go make it NOW!

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What I Ate Wednesday

Posted on January 26, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

The lovely Jen over at Peas & Crayons has started up a new little game that I was super excited to join. It’s called “What I Ate Wednesday” and to play you just document all the food, snacks, and drinks consumed for one day. I decided to post all my eats for today so that I could be true to the title…instead of What I Ate…er, the other day! 😉

I knew it was going to be a cold morning this morning. They called for snow and for once the weatherman got it right! Boo! When is it going to be Spring already?!

I decided to take a break from the overnight variety and whip up a bowl of warm, creamy oats! Nothing like a hot comforting breakfast on a dark snowy morning. It’s been a while since I’ve made a bowl of oats since I’ve been out of bananas (I used them all up making Everything-But-Sugar Oatmeal Cookies) so this morning I wanted to make them a little special with CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oats: (serves 1)

  • 1/3 cup rolled oats
  • 2 tablespoons oat bran
  • 2 tablespoons ground flax
  • 1/2 cup chocolate almond milk
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • splash of vanilla
  • 1/2 banana, sliced thin

1. Combine all ingredients except for the banana and cook over medium heat until about       half of the liquid is absorbed.
2. Add banana slices and whisk it like a mad woman crazy for chocolate oats until the             banana is incorporated and only pieces remain.
3. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes to allow the natural sugars from the banana to mix in.
4. Remove from heat and top with the other 1/2 of banana, 1 tablespoon peanut butter (I       used Valencia PB) and dark chocolate chips!

There’s just something about the combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and banana! It will never get old!

Breakfast: 5:30am
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oats with my cup of 1/2 caff coffee + cinnamon

I took pics of my work eats in the good ol’ lightbox before I left for work…I hate how the fluorescent lighting always makes my food look a nasty shade of green. Ick!

Mid Morning Snack: 9:30am
A ginormous minneloa (tangelo) & dry roasted nut mix

Tea Time: 11:00am
Anybody tried this flavor by Celestial Seasonings?
I swear it tastes like PEZ!!!

Lunch: 12:15pm
A HUGE Salad & a Sunshine Falafel burger with
hummus + balsamic vinegar for dressing

When I’m going to have a salad, I’m going to have a SALAD! Hey, go big or go home…right? 😉

In the Bowl:

  • 1 big handful fresh spinach
  • mushrooms
  • shredded carrots
  • vine ripe tomatoes
  • mini sweet peppers
  • cooked, shelled edamame
  • feta cheese
  • garlic gold nuggets
  • fresh ground black pepper

I’ve wanted to try the Falafel Sunshine Burger since I tasted the BBQ one so last time I was at Whole Foods, I grabbed a box. They are not very falafel-ly, but they do remind me a lot of my grandmother’s cornbread dressing? Who cares…I loved it! And check out the nutritionals!

Afternoon/Pre-workout Snack: 4:00pm
1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean sprinkled with cinnamon,
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk & raisins

A sprinkle of cinnamon makes EVERYTHING taste better!

After a great cardio workout and a shower, I whipped up some leftovers that I never shared with you guys last week.

Dinner: 6:45pm
Barbecue salmon, steamed snap seas with Garlic Gold Nuggets,
and roasted potatoes sprinkled with dried rosemary & nooch

I’ve been doing really well holding myself to the goal of including more fish in my diet. I have had at least one serving every week this month! This was actually the very first time I ever put barbecue sauce (I used TJ’s All Natural BBQ Sauce) on salmon…I highly recommend it!

Over the course of the day, I drank two of my Camelbak bottles worth of water

I love this thing! Double insulated so it keeps your drink super COLD!

 

I am now rounding out the night with another travel mug full of PEZ blueberry tea. 😉

So there you have it folks, my day in food?…my food in a day?…my
What I Ate Wednesday!

Are you a tea drinker? What is your favorite flavor?
My favorite is CS Mandarin Orange Spice or the Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride, but sadly it is only seasonal! I really should write the company about that one!

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , | 29 Comments

A Kitchen Full of Throw Togethers

Posted on January 25, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

So I’m totally loving all of my fellow peanut butter lovers out there! Glad to hear so many of you were celebrating with me yesterday! I won’t leave you hanging on last night’s dinner any longer. I kind of threw this together on the spot, but lucky for you I kept up with my measurements! 🙂

Peanut Noodle Veggie Bowl: (serves 1)
Inspired by a recipe from All You Magazine

  • 2 ounces dried spaghetti noodles
  • 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup shredded carrots
  • 3 mini sweet peppers, cut into strips
  • 1/2 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
  • 1/8 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup cooked edamame
  • 1 scallion, green parts only

1. Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse in cold       water.
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add minced garlic and saute for about 2 minutes.
4. Add vegetables and continue to cook until veggies are tender, but not browned.
5. Mix peanut butter, aminos (or soy sauce), and vinegar.
6. Combine veggies, edamame, and noodles and toss in peanut butter sauce until                     thoroughly coated.
7. Garnish with sliced scallion, green parts only.

The perfect way to round out the celebration of National PB Day!
Creamy, nutty noodles and garlicky veggies with the crisp bite of fresh scallions.

Breakfast this morning was OOIAJ with another peanut butter jar (guess I didn’t get enough yesterday), but this time a little different combo.

Peanut Butter & Pumpkin OOIAJ:

  • Remaining 2 tablespoons or so of your favorite peanut butter jar
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup whipped cottage cheese (all out of yogurt)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Combine all ingredients and allow to set in the refrigerator overnight to thicken. Add more milk in the morning if needed to thin a little. Top with granola (I used 1/2 pack of 18 Rabbits Granola). These were even THICKER than my jar yesterday! I loved it!!

Haha! My cup of coffee looks HUGE next to the oats!

After work, I got in a great workout in support of Team HEAB, but I was starving like Marvin afterwards! I burned off my pre-workout snack fast and needed some refueling!

Pre-workout: Trader Joe’s dried mango slices topped with homemade dark chocolate almond butter!

So, what happens when you are absolutely famished and can’t make up your mind what you want to eat? A kitchen throw together of course!

First let me explain how I got here. The other day, I wanted to make a potato hash, but after I got a bit carried away with adding veggies, it kind of grew into a more of a hashbrown veggie bowl!

  • 1 medium potato, grated
  • 1/4 diced onion
  • 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup grated carrots
  • 1/4 cup grated zucchini
  • 1/2 cup black beans
  • Leftover stuffed bell pepper that had been hiding in the back of the fridge (oops!)
  • Cheddar cheese for topping
  • Mrs. Dash Southwestern Chipotle Seasoning

I started with the potatoes, sauteing them in 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter until brown and crispy. Then I added in all the other veggies, black beans, and chopped up stuffed pepper and cooked until heated through. Then I dumped half the mix in a bowl, cheesed and spiced it up and called it dinner!

I couldn’t decide if I wanted the left over hashbrown veggie bowl, an omelet, or a salad, so in true indecisive Heather fashion, I just went with all three! Please let me introduce you to my Breakfast Salad! Breakfast for dinner is fine by me any day!

What’s in a Breakfast Salad?

  • 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
  • 1 serving of hashbrown veggie bowl
  • 1 pour, poke, and spread egg
  • a sprinkle of cheddar cheese and more Mrs. Dash Chipotle

Ohhhhhh, this definitely hit the spot! I forgot how much I love salads with warm toppings. The spinach kept some of the fresh crunch, but also wilted in some parts and mixed with the melting cheddar cheese! It was a party of textures and flavors in my mouth! See what indecision can do for you? Haha!

What’s the best salad you’ve ever eaten? Do you ever top yours with unusual ingredients?

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments