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Making the MOST of It

Posted on September 22, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Monday kiddos!

I hope your weekends were full of fun with plenty of rest and relaxation to prep you for the week ahead. Let me rephrase that and tell you what I really mean…I hope you got a HECK of a lot more sleep than I did over the last few days.

I’ve finally learned to accept the fact that working nights isn’t always going to be a ~~piece of cake~~ stack of soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. It seems to be a bit of a roller coaster at times. I’ll sleep like a baby for months and then BAM! I mirror that with day upon day of tossing and turning, slamming coffee like there’s no tomorrow, and basically begging to the moon gods and goddesses to grant mercy on my poor soul. And well? That’s the path I’m on at the moment. Add to that the fact that I’ve had to pick up some extra hours lately and yeah, you got it…

UNK-CULLLLLLLLL!

But instead of letting it get the best of me, I’ve decided to just take it in stride…knowing that sooner or later things will turn up ~~or I’ll drop dead~~. 😉 So this weekend, I did my best to make the MOST out of every minute that I had…

By indulging in all my pumpkin pie fantasies with Freeze Pleeze’s new LIMITED EDITION flavor. All you local peeps? Y’all need to get on this like…NOW! And I do highly recommend getting yours topped with whipped cream for the full pie experience! 😀

By taking a walk at the park with just me, my bowl of pumpkin pie goodness, a jam-packed iTunes library, and a side of cloudporn.

By becoming addicted and marathoning yet ANOTHER show on Netflix. Ok, how many people am I going to disappoint by confessing that I’m just now getting into Breaking Bad.
😯 Eeeeek!

By unpacking my latest wine club order, gathering all the bottles together, clutching them tight to my chest and repeating, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

By [finally] cracking into the watermelon I bought at the farmer’s market LAST weekend…while dreaming of a land where summer fruits are available WITH flavor year-round.

By going on a leisurely walk around the neighborhood with a friend which ended up with us talking each other into jogging, which ended up with us stopping at the bottom of a GINORMOUS hill huffing and puffing till we thought we were going to cough up a lung. And then we went inside and had wine. 😉

And by getting my buffalo on (I have no idea what I mean by that…just go with it) with those cauliflower bites I was coveting the last time I went to Liberty Park Grill. Omg, they were DEEEEELISH!

How did YOU make the most of your weekend?

What show can you not get enough of lately?

Posted in Randomness | Tagged coffee, farmers' market, Freeze Pleeze, life, night shift, park, walking, watermelon, wine | 23 Comments

Thinking Out Loud: Park Eats & Pumpkin Treats

Posted on September 18, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

What? Three posts in one week? Who am I?!?

I hope you guys got a bit of entertainment out of yesterday’s hyperactive post. I swear I wasn’t even riding a caffeine high when I wrote it. I guess…well, I guess I just missed you guys and I’m finally getting my groove back. 😉

*smooches*

But whether I’m playing Stella in the film or not, today isn’t a day laid out for structure. Nope, today is a day for Thinking Out Loud!

I met some friends last Friday to try out one of Clarksville’s newest restaurants, Liberty Park Grill (I already want to go back again this weekend just to try the Buffalo Cauliflower appetizer!). Liberty Park is where my favorite walking tracks are in town and also where I spent most of last summer recuperating my my knee after surgery. The restaurant is connected right to the park and overlooks the river. I ended up ordering the salmon salad, not because I’m a huge fan of salmon, but because I HAD to have the toppings: sautéed mushrooms, cilantro, avocado, AND feta cheese, I just couldn’t say no!

I was actually surprised that I really enjoyed the smokey flavor of the salmon and I loved how all the flavors worked together. Also, the sweet(ish) vinaigrette that came with it was ahhhhhhhhmazing!

I FINALLY made it back to the farmer’s market last Saturday! Granted, I was a bit rushed after waking up at 12:30 (when the market closes at 1pm) but I made it and I came home with some tastes of fall and a couple of seasonal denial items…and I also picked up a jar of my favorite FROG jam!

Which made for a perfect sweet and savory breakfast sandwich on some SUPER fluffy garlicky herbed bread. Yes, I bought a loaf of bread at the market when I already some at home…neither of which got me any closer to that damn French toast craving that I’ve been having for weeks, but we all know how that turned out! 😉

Speaking of going to the store and buying shit I don’t need. I’m back on the Big Lots bandwagon. I haven’t been in a while and over the last month, I’ve stopped in like five times! I found a box of decaf K-cups there the other day for NINETY CENTS! But what I really wanted to tell you guys about is this weird slash amazing tea! I stood in the aisle, hemming and hawing for like five minutes, but in the end, my curiosity won (like it always does). I have no regrets whatsoever. Actually, I’ve been back to buy more. It tastes like root beer…but it’s friggin’ GREEN TEA! And it’s even better mixed with this. 🙂

Has anyone tried the new pumpkin Chobani yet? I have a recipe for my own Pumpkin Greek Yogurt, but I just had to see how it compared. And? Right on target! Oh and in case you were wondering, with Tuesday’s pancakes, the season of ~~self tanner~~ pumpkin has begun! Now if I could just find THIS, my life would be complete! C’mon, you guys KNOW my obsession with pumpkin and peanut butter!

And it looks like everyone else is just as excited for pumpkin-mania…

I took this screen shot of my stats last week after Buzzfeed featured my Crockpot Pumpkin Chili in a roundup of slow cooker recipes. Holy 4,438 views batman! My highest ever and EXACTLY what I needed to see after taking a month off from blogging.

And what would a ToL post be without a little tuneage? Remember when I mentioned Shakey Graves a few months ago? Well I just discovered a new band called Little Hurricane, with a very similar sound. Anthony “Tone” Catalano handles most of the vocals while Celeste “C.C.” Spina rocks.it.OUT on the drums! I have to say I have a soft spot for female drummers. I always wanted to play the drums when I was younger, but when I joined the middle school band, my dad told me they were “just for boys”.
Ha, well in yo face, Daddy-O! 😛

Favorite line: “You and me are like biscuits and gravy” <3

Ok, I think that’s enough rambling for one day! Hop on over to Spoons and check out all the other thoughts running around the web today!

Have you broken out the pumpkin yet?

Any big plans for the weekend?
Since I’m working on Saturday, I plan on making the most out of the next two days…by carving an indention of my ass in the couch! But I DO hope to make it to Freeze Pleeze at some point because they just announced their pumpkin pie flavor is out! 😀

Yes I have problems. I am aware of this.

Posted in Restaurant Review, Thinking Out Loud | Tagged cheese, eggs, farmers' market, FROG jam, Greek yogurt, music, pumpkin, Spotify | 22 Comments

WIAW: Pumpkin Pannycakes

Posted on September 17, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Alternative post titles:
1. That Time I Woke Up Craving Maple Syrup or…
2. Oh Look, I Ate Actual Meals!

So it’s been a while (again) since I’ve made it to a What I Ate Wednesday party. Like I mentioned in my last “Currently” post, I’ve basically been snacking my days away…and honestly I’ve got no complaints. I’m finally starting to accept the fact that most days, I eat like a bird. Though I can’t deny that occasionally I can be a bear! And now I’ve totally tied in a connection to our hostess with the most-est. If you’re a little lost, take a minute and check out this post. Ok, now that we’re all done gushing over that cuteness, let’s get to the FOOD…in the form of ~~Wednesday’s~~ Tuesday’s eats!

Like I said, I woke up craving ONE thing! And though I’ve been craving French toast like a mad woman for the last couple of weeks, I have yet to make it to the store for a loaf of bread. Actually, I take that back, I’ve yet to remember to grab a loaf of bread in the SIX times I’ve been to the store in the last couple of weeks. Ha!

So I had just a liiiiiiiiiiiittle bit of this Trader Joe’s pumpkin pancake mix (that expired sometime last year) sitting in the pantry…which calls for butter and eggs and milk and shit. I opened my fridge…

I had eggs.

But I was determined to have myself some ~~maple syrup~~ pancakes so I set to work! I threw a bit of pumpkin in the bowl, a couple of egg whites, and enough water to get things ~~shakin’~~ stirring, and BAM!

Pumpkin pancakes for your PIE HOLE!
*fist bump*

Then I spent the next hour editing and Instagramming my beautiful stack of semi-homemade-oh-my-god-I-feel-like-a-genius pancakes…even though it only took approximately three minutes to actually eat them.

After I finally got my ass off the kitchen floor…because yes, that’s where I photographed, edited, and inhaled my little punkin’ pannycakes…oh god WHY DID I SAY THAT? That is way to close to another word for lady undergarments which I refuse to say. Ok, pretend that didn’t happen. What was I saying? Where was my ass?

What got me movin’ and groovin’?

Ohhhhhh ye-yah!

Though it only resided in my cute little TJ Maxx mug for a quick snap before it got thrown in a travel mug and then down my gullet on my way to the el job-o! Normally, I have a little snack at some point between the start of my shift and whatever I feel is “dinner” time, but this day, I was busier than a centipede in a toe counting contest. So instead, I just chugged an orange LaCroix and moved on.

Dinner actually came in two minute increments spread out over about two hours. Eh, you take whatever you can get when you work at a hospital. Luckily, I had “some” leftovers from this weekend’s visit to my favorite Greek place in town (Sam’s Greek Cafe in the mall for all you locals!). I say “some” because the little middle-aged man was obviously a little sweet on me. My trip to the counter involved two bashful smiles, one high-five, fourteen packs of ketchup (for my friend’s fries), and a FIVE POUND Greek salad! Seriously you guys, I’m surprised the to-go container even closed!

It had lettuce, lamb, four gallons of tzatziki, twenty-four tomatoes, eighteen cucumbers, thirty bell peppers, eighty-six banana peppers, and more than five black olives. Oh and the pita bread was previously demolished on day one.

Things finally calmed down later in my shift and all of a sudden I was starving. Craving something with crunch, I raided my locker, aka my #blendswag safe! And yes, my carrots are sitting in a (CLEAN) emesis basin…thanks for noticing.

And then, there was breakfast…I mean dinner…I mean…fuck it. When you work nights, it doesn’t even matter! My favorite cottage cheese (on sale at Publix this week, buy one, get one FREE!) topped with cinnamon, fresh figgys…figgies?…why am I talking like a baby? Balls!

I mean nuts…PEAnuts and honey! 😉

WIAW Teal