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Thinking Out Loud: Cookies, Bananas, & A Wine Party

Posted on May 22, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Hello, friends!!

I hope you are all having a fantastic week! Today’s Thursday…which means you’re (since mine technically starts today) one day closer to the weekend …which means that I’m wasting precious word count because we all know that Thursday’s are best for thinking out loud…and I’ve got a LOT on my mind today!

Like how there are only FOURTEEN days (and you know, like 1500 miles) standing between me and Park City, Utah! Two weeks people! And I have YET to do any dress shopping! Ahhhhh! I guess the bright side is that with all the extra hours I’ve been picking up at the hospital lately, I can pretty much spend whatever…though we all know where I’ll be looking first, right? 😉

And speaking of my favoritest store in the whole wiiiiiide world, I took a little trip there last weekend, practiced an ungodly amount of restraint around the athletic wear section, and happened upon a couple of gems…

HELL-O!

I’ve never thought about drinking macaroons before, but holy YUM! It’s funny, I don’t usually find creme brulee flavored coffee to have a strong enough taste for me, but this one is SPOT on! Of course, you know the only trouble with that…I’ll probably never find it again! Guess I’ll just have to add it to the TJ Maxx treasure list along with Mini Pops, any and ALL dips made by Terrapin Ridge Farms, annnnnnnd…

Chimes

CHIIIIIIIIIMES!!

Just when I thought I was set for a while on my beloved ginger chews, I spotted not one, but TWO bags of the orange flavor…which I haven’t seen in a store since…well, since the last time I went on a crazy ginger mission (double entendre totally intended!) all across Nashville!

So remember how I said I wasn’t a fan of baked cookies & cream Quest bars? Well, allow me to make a little addendum to that statement…

Because BROILED cookies & cream Quest bars are the SHIIIIIIT!

Seriously, the crispy crunch on the outside with the soft and almost gooey inside? The “cream” takes on the perfect consistency! Oh…and schmear a little almond butter on that baby and you’ve got yourself the ULTIMATE cookie combo!

Oh and speaking of almond butter, look what I made!

MUFFAAAAAAAAAAANS!

But not just any ~~muffans~~ muffins! Oh no. Those, my friends, would be Amanda’s Banana Bread Muffins that I’ve been coveting for weeks now…WEEKS I tell ya! And after my SECOND trip to the store for bananas, there was NO WAY I was letting a little thing as “maybe their too ripe” to stand in my way!

Because near-fossilized bananas still make some DAMN tasty muffins! C’mon…it’s not like they were ~~very~~ fuzzy or anything! 😉

Now to make these babies last throughout the weekend? Perhaps they’ll help fuel my mad dash around Clarksville for that dress I’m in desperate need of? And then I can come home and celebrate!

Maybe with just a little wine?

Ha! So how about my first wine club delivery came in the other day (and the damn Fedex man woke me up TWO HOURS early…damn it’s hard being a ~~gansta~~ wino!) and now, with the three bottles I purchased during wine fest, the two bottles of white in the fridge, and the bottle of red that’s open on the counter, I have…

TEN BOTTLES OF WINE!!!!

Alright, who’s coming over? Or more importantly, who’s bringing the crackers? Because we ALL know I’ve got the cheese thing covered! 😉

Be sure to hop on over to Spoons, give our hostess a little shout, and check out all the other random bits flying through blogworld! Have a great day guys! I’ll “see” you back here tomorrow with a fun little survey!

What is your favorite store/thing to shop for?

What’s the last thing that you baked?

Posted in Randomness, Shopping, Thinking Out Loud | Tagged Blend 2014, coffee, ginger chews, Quest bars, TJ Maxx, wine | 34 Comments

Pretty F-ing Marvelous!

Posted on May 19, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Faaaaaa-UCK!

HOW is it Monday already?!

Sorry I’m not sorry for the abrupt intro, but DAMN! Is it just me or does it feel that the further we get in the year, the shorter the weekends get? Thanks for nothing, Daylight Savings Time! Figure out how to “save” me an extra 24 hours in there somewhere and THEN we’ll talk!

Nevertheless, I can’t think of any other way I’d rather have spent the last few days…they were full of fun times, friends and family, and of course some fantastic food. I guess you could say this weekend was…

PRETTY F-ING MARVELOUS! 😉

FETA-ing…

I swear it’s there (under all ~~that bacon~~ those other scrumdiddlyumptious toppings)! Ok, I have to confess, I wasn’t sure if it was gonna work with the other toppings, but my friend convinced me and man, as soon as I got that “pop” of flavor in my first bite, I was SOLD!

FLOWERING…

What would a weekend be without at least ONE walk? Made even better with perfect weather (sunny with a light breeze) and great conversation with a friend. I just HAD to snap a picture of the lilies they had at the beginning of the trails…one of my favorite flowers!

FIGHTING…

My back and shoulders put up a good fight, but they were NO match for my dreadlocked, gauged-ear masseuse at the spa the other day. Thank you, Josh, for ~~making me feel like I’d been beat up when I woke up the next day~~ helping me walk like a normal person again!

FAMILY-ing…

Remember how I mentioned that we would have to postpone our Mother’s Day celebration since my mom had to work all last weekend? Well, yesterday, we all got together over at my parent’s house and had a great time!

FLAUNTING…

And as tempting as it was to knock off Mr. Tom Strut-Your-Stuff-ALL-Over-The-Front-Lawn…we opted for another fine feathered friend when it came time for dinner!

Muahahahaha!

FEASTING…

This parmesan crusted chicken (sounds gross, tastes amazing!) with corn on the cob, steamed green beans, roasted red potatoes, cucumber and onion salad, annnnnnd a Hawaiian roll…am I the only one out there who is a complete sucker for these?

FRUIT-ing…

And of course, what family get-together of mine would it be without a fruit salad the size of a small child? I got the idea of adding mandarin oranges from some of the pre-made (read: incredibly overpriced) fruit bowls in the produce section and now I’m thinking all future fruit salads will HAVE to have them! Served up alongside some fluffy angel food cake and some leftover whipped cream, it was delicious!

FINISHING…

Season three of Game of Thrones is now behind me. And…? I feel…? I just have to say…Davida said it ALL in this comment!

FORGETTING…

I could’ve had this “F-ing” post up this morning after I got home from work, BUT that would’ve required at least another hour and some sort of miracle in the brain power department. I said forget that and opted for sleep instead. And now that I’ve been up for a couple of hours…I’m going to start my day right…by going BACK to bed! 😉

Give me three F’s from your weekend!

What is your favorite flower?
I love almost all lilies, but calla lilies are my favorite!

Posted in MIMM | Tagged cheese, family, flowers, fruit, Game of Thrones, massage, pizza, Southern cooking, walking | 32 Comments

FlapJacked Birthday Cake Protein Pancakes

Posted on May 16, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Thanks to FlapJacked Protein Pancake Mix, these soft and buttery, BIRTHDAY CAKE pancakes are worth celebrating every day!

Because hey, it’s someone’s birthday everyday, isn’t it? And when you take HALF the time and effort out of the process of getting birthday panCAKES in your PIE hole, well then, that’s just something to ~~ice~~ sCREAM about! 😉

I’ll be honest, when I received an email from Lauren (my beautiful blend who I’ll be seeing in less than a month!), asking if I had interest in reviewing FlapJacked Protein Pancake Mix, I just about dropped my dear, sweet, precious iPhone 5. I’ve seen this stuff ALL over Instagram for months and have been DYING to try it myself. I may be a former(?) pancake queen, but hey, I can’t deny my love for practically instant ~~pancakification~~ gratification!

FlapJacked Protein Pancake Mix is an all-natural mix with minimal ingredients that boasts 6g of fiber and 17g of protein per serving for incredible staying power. And with a 1:1 ratio of mix to liquid, they couldn’t make it easier to choose a healthy breakfast!

As requested, I received a large packet of the buttermilk flavor (better for pancake experimentation of course), but they also surprised me with a small package each of their flavored mixes…banana hazelnut and cinnamon apple.

Right away, I knew exactly what I wanted to make…EVERYTHING!

Birthday Cake Protein Pancakes from www.kissmybroccoliblog.com

So yeah, it took me a while to narrow it down…should I keep it simple and play around with toppings? Go crazy with the add-ins? Or maybe I could switch things up and try different liquids like tea or coffee orrrrr….

And then it hit me! I’ve been wanting to make a BIRTHDAY CAKE protein pancake recipe for a while now but after a ~~few~~ MANY failed attempts (too dry, too flat, not cake batter-y enough), I threw in the ~~towel~~ sprinkles.

I’ll admit, it still took a couple of tries to get this right.

This mix is made with a blend of oat, coconut, and quinoa flour. Now if you’ve never had quinoa flour before…well, let’s just say that, just like the smell of RAW quinoa (which is what it actually is…just ground up), it tastes a bit “earthy”. While I don’t think the flavor is noticeable in the flavored mixes*, I did taste it in the buttermilk pancakes.

*For the record, the cinnamon apple was my favorite (though I didn’t taste any apple) and the banana hazelnut didn’t really have a flavor, but, in my opinion, makes a great “regular” pancake.

But of course, that just gave me all the more reason to bust into my stash of flavors and extracts! I know I’ve said this at least a DOZEN times, but if you don’t have it already, you guys seriously need to get your hands on some butter flavor/extract…it makes ALL the difference in this recipe…which I guess I should get to sharing, huh?

Birthday Cake Protein Pancakes

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 6-8 minutes

Keywords: high fiber gluten-free high protein pancake/waffle mix birthday

Ingredients (Serves 1)

1/2 cup buttermilk (or banana hazelnut) FlapJacked Protein Pancake Mix
2 Tablespoons gluten-free yellow cake mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter extract
1/2 cup cold water

Instructions

1. Preheat non-stick skillet or pancake griddle to LOW heat and coat with coconut oil or non-stick spray.
2. Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and allow batter to sit for about 5 minutes to thicken.
3. Spoon batter onto skillet/griddle, forming 5 small-medium pancakes and cook for 5-6 minutes before flipping (batter will bubble and edges will look crisp).
4. Allow pancakes to cook for another 3-4 minutes before plating.
5. Top with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry on top if you’re feeling frisky!

Birthday Cake Protein Pancakes - Have breakfast with a CHERRY on top! www.kissmybroccoliblog.com

So tell me, what could be better than cake for breakfast with whipped cream, sprinkles, AND a cherry on top?? How about TWENTY PERCENT OFF of any of the mixes for all of my pancake-loving readers?!

That’s right! Just head on over to the FlapJacked website, pick your packets and enter the code: KISSMYBROCCOLI at checkout from now until the end of the month!

Disclaimer: I was sent these products free of charge for review purposes. I was not compensated for this post and all the honest opinions expressed are of my own.

Be sure to follow FlapJacked on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more recipe ideas and deals on their products! And for the record, I hear they make excellent waffles! 😀

What would YOU use to top your protein pancakes?