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Farmers Market Finds & Other Grocery Goodies

Posted on February 18, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

It’s no secret that I LOVE a good farmers market.

And well, if you haven’t been to Atlanta to witness the sheer awesomeness that is the Dekalb Farmers Market, then you are surely missing out and…this post is probably going to make you green with envy!

Having been once before, I thought I’d be able to handle myself when Laura and I went this past weekend, but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t sweating ten minutes after walking through the door. I just can’t help but get overwhelmed by the floor to almost ceiling shelves of grains and dried goods, fruits and veggies, meat and fish, bread and wine and cheese and ohmygodIthinkmyheartisgoingtoexplode! 😯

So how about I show you ~~my loot~~ the small amount of items I DID manage to walk out with?

Organic cocoa nibs, Turkish carob powder, organic cornmeal, coconut curry cashews (haven’t tried these yet, but Laura told me they’re amazing!), coffee and chocolate extracts, and chocolate-covered popped amaranth (because I’m tired of drooling over Sarah’s!)

A HUGE bag of cashews (oh yes, there is more butter-making in my future!), dried pineapple, roasted salted soybeans x 2, sunflower seeds x 2, and organic dried banana chips x 2…can you tell I plan on making trail mix? 😉

Honey nut rice cakes…I definitely should have bought more of these, but I couldn’t help but ~~run~~ walk away from the WALL of them after deliberating for 10 minutes over whether I should get the honey nut or the cinnamon toast! Lol

Lemon, apple, walnut & raisin bread that I could smell through the bag so yeah, I HAD to have it and proof that sampling works: once I tried a bite of this multigrain artisan bread, I hunted it down in the bakery section! It’s like a sweet honey wheat…so soft and so delicious!

A few new-to-me varieties of apples (names of which are eluding me at the moment), purple sweet potatoes x 3, purple potatoes x 4, a five-pound bag of carrots, and just ~~a few~~ FOURTEEN persimmons! Ha!

Look Meghan, CHEEEEEEEEEESE!!!

Confession: I know as much about cheese as I know about wine…absolutely NOTHING! So I can’t help but always feel like I’m playing the lottery whenever I buy any…so far though, the goat’s milk blue cheese made me a lucky winner!

Greek yogurt cream cheese (that I actually got at Whole Foods, but snuck into this picture anyway), quark, and SIGGI’S COCONUT YOGURT!!!

I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the quark just yet, but omg, the cream cheese and the Siggis are sweet purrrrrrrr-fection! I’d never seen this flavor of Siggi’s before…and I mean, c’MON, it’s coconut!! This brand has always been one of my favorites because their flavors are never too sweet for my tastes, but this flavor is by far the best!

And well, since the Atlanta Whole Foods just happens to be next to a TJ Maxx…

I may be spontaneous, but I’m totally predictable! 😉

And now I am officially hungry! Lol

What are your favorite items to buy from the farmers market?

Posted in Shopping, Snacks, Travel | Tagged Atlanta, bread, cheese, coffee, dip, farmers' market, persimmons, TJ Maxx, trail mix, Whole Foods, yogurt | 52 Comments

Marvelously Spontaneous!

Posted on February 17, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

I’m not the kind of person who needs a plan.

So this weekend, I embraced my spontaneity! On Friday afternoon, I jumped in the car and drove…

To ATLANTA!

To see this girl!

To stuff myself silly with cheese, crackers, and crudites!

To dine like a queen among amazing company!

To wake up bright and (not so) early, meet up with THIS girl, and quite literally have my ass handed to me by a trainer whose neck is easily the size of my thigh…and of course, loving every minute of it!

To spend the rest of the day not taking pictures, but instead, galavanting all across Atlanta’s sunny (but still frigidly cold) streets, shopping, sampling, and farmers marketing!

To swoon over things like kale and braised pork ravioli with brown butter (HEAVEN!) sauce, grilled calamari with roasted cauliflower and pickled red onions, and seared scallops over sunchoke puree (I want that stuff on my FACE!) with poached fennel in chive butter!

For the record, I HIGHLY recommend La Tavola!

To share a midnight snack (or 2am dessert) of the creamiest peanut butter mousse cake while a certain someone tried convincing me that the Buzzfeed quiz wasn’t wrong when it told me I should live in Georgia.

Unfortunately, time really DOES fly when you’re having fun and eight short hours later, I was BACK in the car, heading north, and belting out some Bon Jovi.

But the spontaneity didn’t stop there! I decided that since this was my THIRD time traveling to/from Atlanta, that it was high time I actually stopped at some of the places that have caught my eye in times past. While I was a bit too tired to conquer the outlet mall in Calhoun, I did visit a couple of wineries!

And after spending 45 minutes at the second one, sipping and talking wine with the other passersby, I left with a bottle of Port, a membership to their wine club, and mayyyyyyybe a bit of a buzz? Oops? 😉

I finally (and safely) made it home around 4pm…just enough time to get a two-hour nap before I ~~had to get ready to go to work~~ put my “lucky” shirt on and camp out in front of my computer waiting for registration for Blend to open!

And while I had already planned to go to Blend this year, I would just like to announce the TOTALLY OUT OF CHARACTER spontaneity that Meghan exercised yesterday by deciding to go after Laura and I sent her a very “encouraging” text message!

And that my friends, is nothing SHORT of MARVELOUS! 😀

When was the last time you did something without a plan?

Where should YOU live according to Buzzfeed?

Posted in MIMM, Restaurant Review, Travel | Tagged Atlanta, Blend 2014, blends, shopping, wine | 62 Comments

Valentine’s Day Red Velvet Mugcake!

Posted on February 14, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Happy VALENTINE’S Day!!

Will you BE{ET} mine? 😉

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. And I have a feeling you guys will be able to forgive not only my corniness, but also for holding out on a certain waffle recipe until next week. I mean, when you “accidentally” make a cake for BREAKFAST that just happens to beet all festive and stuff…

You just have to share! 😀

And well, I guess you can see where I’m going with this…I confess, it’s also a little #strangebutgood…but I promise you can barely even taste it! Especially since the texture of this cake is somewhere between angel food and CHEESECAKE!

Oh yeah, you heard me! But that’s not even the HALF of it…there are SO many great things about this little plate of deliciousness! Here, allow me to sell it to you… 😉

1. It’s gorgeous…
2. It’s gluten-free, grain-free and sugar-free…
3. It’s gorgeous…
4. It gives you a FULL serving of vegetables…which is especially important if you’re like me and haven’t eaten any in about a week!

AND…

5. It’s ready in less than THREE MINUTES! 😀

Wait, did I mention that it’s gorgeous?? Because IT IS GORGEOUS!

And that topping? That is a thing of brilliance right there, if I do say so myself! Vanilla Greek yogurt…cream cheese…almond milk…and even if you don’t have my prized cream cheese bakery emulsion (TJ Maxx score, but I have seen it at Wal-Mart too!) you’ll still want to slather that stuff all over every surface that’s appropriate to lick.

But hey, it’s Valentines Day…I’m not looking! 😉

Red Velvet Mugcake

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 2-3 minutes

Keywords: microwave breakfast dessert gluten-free grain-free sugar-free #strangebutgood cake

Ingredients (Serve 1)

For the Cake

2 Tablespoons coconut flour
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup finely diced cooked beet (steamed or roasted)
1/4 teaspoon butter extract
5-7 drops NuNaturals chocolate (or vanilla) stevia*Use coupon code QQQ940 at iherb.com for 5-10% off your first order!

For the Icing

2 Tablespoons vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon low-fat cream cheese
1-2 teaspoons unsweetened almond milk
1/8 teaspoon cheesecake emulsion/flavoring (optional)
Dark chocolate shavings/pieces/chips for topping

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients for the cake in a small bowl and stir well.
2. Transfer to a large mug or ramekin that has been coated with non-stick spray or coconut oil.
3. Place in microwave and heat for 2-3 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, prepare icing by stirring all ingredients with a small whisk or fork until smooth.
5. Transfer cake to a plate, drizzle on icing, and sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

So whether you’re celebrating today solo or rubbing NOSES (sheesh, what did you THINK I was gonna say) with your special someone, how about whipping something up that not only tastes good, but is ~~gorgeous~~ GOOD FOR YOU! 😉