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Addiction

Posted on November 21, 2013 by kissmybroccoli

Umm, hello?

My name is Heather. It has been 2 days since my last Quest bar. 😉

It’s no secret that I have an addictive personality…whether it be a brand new CD that I play on repeat for weeks or foregoing sleep to marathon-watch all of the first season of Orange is the New Black! Ugh, does ANYONE know when the new episodes are coming out?! While my latest addiction may seem to revolve around my dwindling stash of protein bars, actually, there have been quite a few things I’ve been addicted to lately…
and I have some of my fellow bloggers to thank for that!

Goat Cheese

Or more specifically, Meghan’s Blackberry Peach Grilled Goat Cheese!

After having not one, not two, but THREE bunches of cilantro go bad on me, I FINALLY got my hands on some blackberry jam, broke out the last of my unseasonal peaches, and made the sandwich I’ve been dreaming about for MONTHS! And? It was totally worth the wait!! Creamy honey-sweetened goat cheese, warm, grilled peaches, spicy cilantro…and why yes, all that would happen to be my FREE cinnamon raisin bread!

Just to be sure that plate wasn’t just a figment of my imagination, the next morning, I decided to make it again…for breakfast! Only this time, I added a little signature Heather-strange-but-good-twist! 😉

I figured if regular honey and blackberry jam is delicious, then red pepper honey and strawberry jalapeno jam would probably be ~~pretty tasty too~~ SMACK YO MAMA GOOD! And thus the Strawberry Pepper Peach Grilled Goat Cheese was born! Oh and I also threw in some sweet sautéed onions…because duh, I’mma genius! 😉

Flatbreads

After seeing EVERYONE make these, I FINALLY made Khushboo’s Oat Flatbreads…

Lentil Tacos with Oat Flatbreads

And while I had a hard time getting them to roll out at first, they were a cinch to cook up and transformed nicely into some “tostadas” topped with Tasty Bite Madras Lentils (review coming soon), sautéed peppers and onions, tomatoes, Greek yogurt, and cilantro…with steamed spinach, avocado, and my favorite hot sauce on the side!

But don’t for a second think that this pretty plating means these babies weren’t eaten with anything but my hands…mmmm, my messy little Mexican pizzas! 😉

Brussels Sprouts

After roasting up a pan of brussels sprouts and eating them straight up with a little honey mustard (yeah, we’ve established that I’m weird. Moving on!), I knew I had to have more and since I was totally on a roll, I decided to go for a little stretch and try Jenn’s Cranberry Cucumber Shredded Sprout Salad.

God, ain’t it gorgeous?!

I say “stretch” because as much as I wanted to make it, I didn’t have any feta or Caesar dressing. Instead of doing what I always do and SWEARING that I’ll make it after my next trip to the grocery store, I came to terms with my ADD and early onset Alzheimer’s and decided to just wing it with some substitutions.

I threw in some steamed chicken breast, hemp seeds, and goat cheese instead of feta and then drizzled it with a homemade honey mustard Greek yogurt dressing.

2 T Greek yogurt + 1 T honey mustard + 1 T apple cider vinegar = YUM!

And well, let’s just say there’s a reason why this looks like Christmas on a plate…
ahhhh-FREAKIN-mazing! 😀

Chocolate

While I’m not usually a HUGE chocolate person, I’ve mentioned over the last few months that I’ve come around a bit. So when I saw Amanda’s Double Chocolate Mug Cake last week, I couldn’t help but be a little curious…

I also couldn’t help subbing in some peanut butter chips! Sorry, while I may have crossed over to the “dark” side (haha, get it?), I’m no choco-holic…and well, these babies are like pure CRACK! I’m sure Arman would agree with me on this one!

Like chocolate peanut butter angel food cake and so freakin’ FLUFFAAAAY!

Donuts

After all the kitchen success this week, I decided to revisit my little muffins…yeah, remember those guys? But I guess after seeing Amanda AND Melissa both whip up some chocolatey coffee dunkers, I couldn’t help but follow suit!

But you’ll just have to wait until tomorrow for that! 😉

After getting so excited over how many people made my Crock Pot Pumpkin Chili, it feels SO good (in my heart AND my tummy) to return the favor! Plus, it just reminds me that I need to try more recipes more often! 😀

What’s the last blogger recipe that you tried?

What have you been addicted to lately?

Posted in KMB's Recipe Lovin | Tagged brussels sprouts, cheese, chocolate, cilantro, donuts, goat cheese, Greek yogurt, hemp seeds, hot sauce, Mexican, mustard, peaches, salad | 44 Comments

WIAW: Saved By The {Quest} Bar!

Posted on November 20, 2013 by kissmybroccoli

Hey there foodies!

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

Before we get to partying it up, I wanted to share a few thoughts. I actually wasn’t going to share this day of eats because, after last week, I didn’t want you guys thinking all I eat are bars, BUT since I’m staying true to my word and going UNplanned with the WIAW posts from now on, I thought who cares! You know what, sometimes ~~shit~~ Quest bars happen! Honestly, if it wasn’t for these super filling protein packed bars, my ~~wallet would be a whole lot thicker~~ life would be a lot more stressful. Seriously, how am I’m NOT an affiliate for them!? 😉

Ok, onto some eats already!

There were three days last week where I woke up in the middle of the night with my stomach growling and Friday was one of them. While I think I’ve got my last meal of the day better balanced now to keep me full throughout the night, I was grateful to have a stash of Quest bars in the pantry to save me from having to wake up and make something to eat.

Yep, I shuffled my way to the kitchen with half-closed eyes and then shuffled my way back to bed with a peanut butter supreme hanging out of my mouth…#noshame! 😉

Unfortunately on this particular day, my post Quest bar slumber was no more than an hour or so. At 5am I gave up and started my day with my morning cocktail…

I promise not all of the pics today will be recycled ones from last week! 😉

Then it was off to the gym!

Where I had one of the best LEG workouts I’ve had in a while!

I’d like to think my high school mascot, Cubby, was rooting me on while I did my modified squats, lunges, and leg raises. Gotta whip this knee into SHAPE!

After a good 45 minute (or so…I have no idea since I don’t HAVE to know all the numbers anymore…woot woot!) workout, I was back home and ready for breakfast!

Cottage cheese bottomed with puffed kamut cereal and topped with warm cinnamon apples and “Grail” mix…oh and a shitton more cinnamon added post pic.

Ummm, how am I just now discovering the deliciousness of Saigon cinnamon?!

To balance out my cold breakfast, I had not one, but TWO cups of coffee (one half caff, one DECAF) which helped to power me through some errand running. I ended up having to swing by work for something and once I ~~saw~~ smelled that they had just cranked up our handy-dandy movie theater-style popcorn popper, I couldn’t resist…

I’m actually glad I grabbed it because after a “quick run” to TJ Maxx turned into over an hour of frolicking around and buying ALL THE THINGS, I was famished by the time I got back to my car!

Go in for shampoo and conditioner, come out with shampoo, two conditioners, three pairs of leggings, four packs of ginger chews, and ♫ FIVE GOLDEN RINNNNNNGS! ♫

Oh I’m sorry, too early? 😉

Back at the house, it was all about food, FAST, in the face NOW!

Bagel Thin with Cream Cheese and Spinach Egg Puff

Enter an everything bagel thin with Greek herb and garlic cheese spread (still obsessed) and a micro-spinach egg puff thingy…side of carrot sticks.

Eggs (and/or whites) + spinach + blender + microwave (2 minutes) = PUFF!

And for dessert?

The most perfect-est fruit in all the land! AKA: a persimmon. 😉

Later that night, I made the trek to the man-friend’s place. I say trek because I forgot that a certain suit and tie was in town for a concert…therefore DOUBLING the amount of time it takes to get anywhere in Nashville!

Needless to say, when I FINALLY got to his door, I was ready for some grub! Luckily, Calypso Cafe is right down the road and thoughts of their incredibly delicious greens made me start drooling. Since I’ve only been once before, I decided to order something a little different…

I decided to go with the Island Burger (first burger in MONTHS…I was so excited!) with a side of mustard greens (had to) and some bean and corn salad in lieu of chips.

Well, I guess when they say “island burger” they mean a slab of meat that washed up on the shore and laid out in the sun all day because that was the driest, nastiest burger I’ve ever tasted! What the FRENCH, toast? I could have ordered something else, but I actually found my sides to be pretty filling so I just ~~gave the waiter the stank eye~~ made do. Oh and I of course had to ninja two bites of the man-friend’s nachos…

Hard to tell from the pic, but there’s actually black beans and chicken under all that glorious melty cheese!

Then it was time for me to drool over some~~thing~~ ONE else! 😉

And I guess luscious locks and chiseled abs tend to distract me in more ways than one because once we got back home (at nearly 11pm), all of a sudden I felt like I could gnaw my own arm off! The man-friend, armed for such Hangry Heather moments, quickly tossed me a mandarin…like literally TOSSED ME A MANDARIN!

After it hit me in the head and bounced to the floor (kidding), I picked it up and inhaled it in 2 seconds (give or take). But as cool as that little cutie was, I knew it wasn’t going to hold me over long. It was late. There was no time. Face-plant was inevitable.

I had to call for reinforcements…

And a mixed berry BLISSful night sleep soon followed!

Well except for the weird citrus-induced dreams…but that’s a story for another day!

Now scoot! Off to Peas & Crayons you go! You’ve got links to drool over…and I’ve got a Quest bar stash that needs replenishing! 😉

Does your significant other abuse you with flying fruit?

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night hungry? What do you do?

Posted in Restaurant Review, Snacks, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged apples, cheese, cinnamon, coffee, cottage cheese, eggs, hospital, movies, nachos, persimmon, popcorn, Quest bar, shopping, TJ Maxx, trail mix | 55 Comments

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cornbread

Posted on November 18, 2013 by kissmybroccoli

Hello there, my impatient little hermits!

First off, I hope you were able to keep nice and warm this weekend. We had an unseasonably warm day yesterday (high of 72?!), but I missed most of it since I didn’t get to sleep until 6am (womp womp). I DID wake up just in time to be alerted to a tornado warning though! That’s Tennessee weather for ya! 😕

But you wanna know what else I woke up to? At least a half-dozen tweets from you guys on my Crock Pot Pumpkin Chili! Talk about starting the day off on a good foot…I was on cloud nine ALL ~~morning~~ afternoon! Obviously, I’m not alone in my mission to sport a winter tan so I couldn’t keep you guys waiting ANY longer for this cornbread recipe…

Ahhh, THERE it is!

I seriously came up with this recipe on the spot. I already had the chili going in the crock pot just waiting for the man-friend to get off work and make his way over, but once he arrived, I realized we needed something more and well, what goes better with ~~pumpkin than MORE pumpkin~~ chili than cornbread?!

My first thought was Davida’s recipe, but unfortunately if I didn’t get cornbread in my face in LESS than 30 minutes, Hangry Heather was going to ~~die~~ be very unhappy! Enter frantic Googling and perhaps a little ~~swearing~~ sweating (hmm, a little Freudian slip perhaps? ;)). After running around in circles (figuratively of course), I decided to just wing it…and pray to the pumpkin gods that I didn’t end up with pumpkin flavored cardboard because well, it’s no secret that I’m not a baker!

Lucky for us BOTH, it was a WINNER on the first try!

Oh and before I could even ask him, the man-friend looks over at me and says, “Wow, I really like this cornbread…it’s perfectly sweet.” Then he went to the kitchen and got himself another slice! And in case you require another opinion, my girl Lucie is definitely a fan! 😀

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cornbread

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Keywords: bake side bread dairy-free vegetarian nut-free pumpkin puree cornmeal whole wheat flour fall

Ingredients (9 squares)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 large egg
2-3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon blackstrap molasses

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F degrees.
2. Coat an 8×8 baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir to break up any lumps.
4. In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine remaining ingredients and whisk well.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
6. Transfer batter to baking dish, place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before slicing and serving or crumble it over a bowl of Crock Pot Pumpkin Chili!

And while it is FANTASTIC crumbled into a bowl of chili, it’s also great on its own, with a little butter, orrrrrrr warmed and crumbled into a bowl of cottage cheese with warm cinnamon apples…the breakfast I was pretty much OBSESSED with last week!