Heeeeyyyyy guys!  Quick WIAW post today - busy week in school!

Insert peanut butter filled pretzels, and a ride on my horsey.  Please tell me you knew that was coming ;)

Lunch:

Insert second snack of peanut butter filled pretzels + ginger dark chocolate.  No, I don't think I'll ever get tired of that snack ;)

Dinner:

Post dinner included a nice, long walk aaaaaand half an apple + peanut butter!

Sorry for the rather wordless post!

I have a different question for you today... how do you read books for class and walk your dog at night at the same time?


Got it yet?


Have an answer?


Any ideas??


Well, here's the answer:

Multi-tasking at its very finest. ;)

Have a wonderful rest of the week!! <3

Hello my fellow chocolate chippers!  I hope everyone's weekend is off to a fabulous start!  

I don't know about you guys, but I've found that lately my appetite has been ravenous!  It seems that I can never get filled up - I guess it's that teen appetite!  Anywho, here are some yummy foodie pictures from this past week! 

Inspired by Brittany, the delicious salad above consisted of romaine, spinach, tomatoes, avocado, dried plums, cottage cheese, and balsamic vinegar.  It was accompanied by a lovely bowl of cinnamon puffins. <3

That would be Angela's Delicious Vegan Chili topped with Greek yogurt and chopped onion.  Delicious is right!  I used chickpeas in mine and it brought the chili to a whole new level!

Mmmm... homemade pizza made with whole foods whole grain pizza dough, pesto, broccoli, tomatoes, fresh basil, onion, mushrooms, and mozzarella!  Homemade pizza is SO GOOD!!  I did have one complaint though.  It turned out so small!!  I could have eaten two! :D

I finally roasted chickpeas!!!  I used Katie's recipe because she's just so amazing and did half with the spices she recommended (paprika and curry powder) and half with pesto!  If there was such a thing as chickpea heaven, these would be everywhere in it!  Both flavors were incredible!  The pesto ones didn't get as crispy, but their wonderful flavor completely made up for that! :P

While on the topic of Katie, one evening I made a pizzert of the chocolate chip cookie variety!  (And of the un-picturesque variety...)

It was a Katie recipe.  It included chocolate.  Enough said.

Oh and one more Katie recipe!  Her fabulous brownie batter pancakes! :D

Finally we come to last night's dinner!  I normally make my own dinner (or at least tweak my portion of the rest of my family's dinner) because we eat differently.  But last night, I didn't.  I ate what my mom cooked and didn't tweak it in the slightest!  And it. Was. Good.  Actually, it was beyond good!  My mom makes this incredible blended yellow lentil soup with spiced yogurt.

It is seriously amazing and even more amazing when made with love by my momma!  In addition to what's above, I had another half bowl plus avocado and some garlic bread that my mom bought at the store:

Let me tell you something about that garlic bread.  It has real chunks of roasted garlic in it.  Yes. And it is AMAZING, and I definitely had another slice of it. :P  Mom, thank you for the wonderful meal!!

Dinner was followed by dessert.  I mixed canned pumpkin with almond milk and tons of cinnamon and then topped the mixture with some roasted peanuts!!

This is one of the examples of my screaming appetite lately.  After the soup, avocado, bread, and pumpkin dessert, I went for a walk and then went to bed.  As I was going to bed, my stomach started growling!!

Questions:
What in this post looks best to you?
Do you go through times when no matter what you do you can't get filled??

<3

Wednesday has become one of my favorite days of the week thanks to WIAW (and, of course, our lovely host Jenn)!!

This time, I'm showing off Sunday's eats.  And so, pancakes were the star of my breakfast.

Those would be Blair's Flourless Oatmeal Cinnamon Protein Pancakes topped with coconut butter and vanilla spice almond butter.  Well, I did a few things different with the pancakes.  The differences being that I used only 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, a chia egg instead of a regular egg (because I had almost exactly a tablespoon of ground chia seeds in need of use), more almond milk, and used only one drop of liquid stevia because the protein powder I used (Terra's Whey Vanilla) was already fairly sweet.  The result?  Um, wow.  I think I have about ten slots in my top pancake list, and lets just say that one of the slots belongs to these pancakes. :P

Enter typical Alex snack (please tell me you know what it is by now... hint: the acronym would be PBFP ;) + typical morning Alex horse ride here.

Lunch was another winner!  I mixed pesto with brown rice, microwaved if for one minute, stuffed it into an Ezekiel pita pocket, and broiled if for a few minutes.  Try it.  You will love it.  Trust me. I ate it a long with some steamed brussel sprouts, half a steamed beet, and some roasted Kabocha  (I finally found one and I must say that the first bite = <3) 

Mid-afternoon stack = PBFP + dark ginger chocolate (I <3 that stuff!!):

We went out for dinner!  

I ordered the hummus with fresh veggies and pita bread.  Give me hummus and some kind of dipping agent, and I'm pretty much set for life (as long as you throw in some chocolate and peanut butter, that is).

Dinner was followed by a visit to this amazing place:

My favorite frozen yogurt place!  It's self serve so you can put however much of whichever yogurt flavors and toppings! :D  My frozen yogurt included plain tart, fruit sweetened tropical, and peanut butter cup and my toppings were chocolate covered sunflower seeds (best topping ever!), macadamia granola, banana slices, and peanut butter cup pieces.  The definition of heaven in a bowl!

The frozen yogurt experience was followed by a nice long walk with my mom. :)

Now I know these are Sunday's eats, and I know that today is Wednesday, but there's something about Tuesday that I want to share.  This week is Homecoming week at my school and each day there is a different theme.  Well, Tuesday was Tacky Tuesday, and so I ceased the opportunity to show my school spirit.  Obviously...

Even though you can't see it in the picture, I was wearing two different earrings - one dangle and one stud.  Showing school spirit is fuuuuuuun! :)

Questions:
Favorite frozen yogurt place?  Frozen yogurt or ice cream?  I normally have to go with fro-yo on this one because I love the creaminess!  But when I get a really good ice cream or gelato, fro-yo comes up second. ;)

<3

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember my trip this past summer to Greece, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland and later to Newfoundland, and how I was putting off the recaps.  Well today, I felt like doing a recap!  So a recap you have!  (For earlier recaps: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4)  You may consider this an early (or late?) wordless Wednesday post.  I mean, who needs words when you have pictures?  So, here is Delphi!  Which, by the way, was one of the places I was most excited to see since I learned a lot about it from my archeology classes.  It was built on the side of a hill which is soooo neat and a great source of protection!  Though a pain to walk up. ;)

Well, there was my last Greece recap.  My next Europe recap will be featuring Finland!

Questions:
Have you ever studied about a place and then gone to visit it?  Was it how you imagined it would be?

Love you guys! <3

Hey guys!  These eats are from a day this past summer when I was in Europe because I haven't loaded off my pictures recently (I blame school ;).  This WIAW is going to be really quick, so let's dive right in!

Breakfast (Copenhagen):

Lunch (also in Denmark, but in the town where Hamlet's castle is):

Dinner (Iceland):

Question:
Any idea what that little orange fruit is?

Happy WIAW!

<3

Howdy ya'll! I hope everyone's week was fabulous and that everyone has some great plans for the weekend!  My week was busy as usual, but better than last week.  I think this weekend will be busier than the week!  Think college applications, essay due Monday, Spanish quiz Monday... yeah, I'm sure a lot of you know exactly what I'm talking about.  But I'm going to make sure to squeeze some fun in there.  As much as I, um, love writing essays and, um, studying for quizzes, it's not exactly my idea of fun. ;)

Okay, so today's post will be full of foodie pictures!!  Beginning with the Spanish food.  If you're new to my blog, you may not remember that I had a culture project to do for Spanish class, and I chose to cook a Spanish meal! :D

For the appetizer: Bread with Mushrooms and Aioli

This is the aioli I used:

I could have made it by hand, but I mean, this one was actually from Spain and it wouldn't have been if I had made it.  (Laziness radar going off about now ;) 

Pre-baked:

Post-baked:

Taste-test time!!!!

Wow!  I want to host a party now just so I can serve those (and eat them! :P ).  You wouldn't expect much from a piece of bread topped with garlic mayo and sauteed mushrooms, but I guess this just proves that you should expect a lot from such a dish!

For the main course: Vegetarian Paella

We all loved this!  Another fabulous dish for sure!

For dessert: Cinnamon Ice Cream

The final product:

And, of course, the taste test:

Lol!!!!  Crazy hair, crazy eyes.... but super happy taste buds!!

The Spanish food making experience was a success!  Everything was loved by all. :D

Okay, so now for the random eats!

Ashley's Vanilla "Funfetti" Oat Bake topped with her Cake Batter Cashew Butter:

This. Was. In. Cre. Di. Ble.  Make it.  Devour it.  Love it.

OIAJ, but not just any old jar... a Cake Batter Cashew Butter jar!!  Tears may or may not have been present when I scooped up the last bit of amazing-ness from the jar. ;) (Topped with loads of wheat germ of course!)

One dinner was at the Mt. Everest Cafe, a Nepalese buffet.  It's one of my favorite places to eat!  (My absolute favorite is Taj Mahal, an Indian buffet downtown.)

As I'm sure many of you know, it was Katie's birthday this past Tuesday, and so I celebrated with her Brownie Batter Pancakes topped with her Coconut Banana Butter and, of course, sprinkles!!!  And then, to make it a true Katie meal, I ditched the fork and snatched the chop sticks!

An incredible meal to honor an incredible person!  Seriously, my taste buds would have such a dull life without her. ;)  And aside from her crazy amazing cooking skills, she really is a wonderful, sweet person!  Happy [belated] Birthday, Katie!! :D

Last, but definitely not least, I made my own nut butter again!  This time it was Kathleen's Vanilla Spice Almond Butter!  Of course, the important thing is how it tasted.  Pre-taste test: 

Down the hatch:

Post taste-test:

From excited to in love!  Really in love!! :P  If you want an amazing, nicely spiced, addicting nut butter, make Kathleen's almond butter!!

Okay, if you've made it this far, congratulations!  Oh but wait, you're not done... first some questions. :)

Questions:
Any Spanish food making experiences?  Please tell!
What's your favorite restaurant/buffet?  Do you like Indian-type food?
Nut butter: homemade or store boughten?  I really love both!  It's fun to make your own because you can make it whatever flavor you want, but I love my certain brands of store boughten too!

Have a great weekend, and remember to have some fun! :D

<3

Oh yes, a middle of the week post.  Nothing like planning ahead to make things happen!

I'm so glad that you all enjoyed reading my facts!  I definitely enjoyed writing them.  And I'm very happy to report that by Sunday evening, no trace of my sore throat was to be found!  It must have been all your get well wishes. :)

So, I've made a few attempts in the past to join the amazing WIAW party hosted by the lovely Jenn, but unfortunately, those attempts kind of failed.  But not this one!  Although, these aren't actually my Wednesday eats, they're my Sunday eats.  Ah well!  Baby steps, right?

Here. We. GO!!!

What better way to start off a bright Sunday morning that with a big stack of pancakes?  You may say nothing, but I say starting off the morning with a big stack of Katie's Blueberry Pie Pancakes layered with her Coconut Banana Butter!

Make them and try one bite, and then I'm confident you will see my way. ;)  Blueberry pancakes are delicious.  Katie's blueberry pie pancakes take delicious to a whole new level! :D

As usual for weekends, breakfast was followed by a ride on my horsey which was followed by a snack!

My addiction of peanut butter filled pretzels lives on!  Along with my addiction for dark chocolate covered almonds.  I bought them at TJs in Nebraska, and have been eating one a day ever since to make them last as long as possible. :P

Luncho was another Katie recipe!  This time, it was her Snickerdoodle dip which I'd been dying to make!

Now it may look like a pile of brown mashed potatoes in the picture, but let me assure you that the taste was far from it!  I licked the blender clean, and then grabbed a spoon and almost proceeded to demolish the bowl of it for lunch.  But I decided to save some of it for later to make quick lunches throughout the week (boo to senses ;) .  So what did I end up doing with it? Made it into a sandwich!

Um yeah, sorry for the awful picture.

Lunch was followed by a walk with my neighbor's dog (I was petsitting this past weekend) which was followed by a trip to the garden store.  Anyone else have a slight (or major) obsession with plants?  I know I do.  I can never leave the nursery without a plant in my hand.  It wouldn't be such a bad thing, but as I've mentioned before, I have a very black thumb.  Seven shriveled cactuses later, I've given up on my desert friends.  But I always find some kind of plant.  They just fascinate me so much, and I love taking care of things!  (Or at least, um, trying too.)  Now I know you were just dying to know all that. ;)

After returning from the nursery with my next victim, I proceeded to have a snack:

A square of Endangered Species 88% chocolate and more pb filled pretzels.

Dinner was a new favorite.  Ashley's Lemon Basil and Grilled Corn Pasta to be exact.

Okay, this is officially my favorite pasta dish.  You really must make it.  I promise you won't regret it.  Not ever.

And dessert was a snickerdoodle stuffed date.  I think the name explains it's deliciousness preeeetty well. 

So, my first "official" WIAW, but definitely not my last!

Questions:
Do you have an obsession with plants?  Do you have a green thumb or, like me, a very black thumb?
Any particularly delicious eats today?

Have a fabulous rest of the week everyone!!!

<3

Hello my lovely people!!!  I missed you all so much this past week!  The week was definitely veeeery busy, but it also ended very well!  In terms of school anyway.  Unfortunately, it also ended with a very, very tired Alex and an Alex with a sore throat (all those germs!).  Hopefully blogging and the three day weekend (enter hollers of joy here) will help me to feel better. ;)

So onto the facts!  The sweet, gorgeous Maxwell passed the Butterfly Blogger Award onto me!  Thanks so much girl! :D

So, here we go!!

Name your favorite color: Greeeeeeeen!!!!  Perhaps that's why I like broccoli and spinach so much??  But then again, I LOVE sweet potatoes and carrots, so there goes that theory. ;)

Name your favorite song: Okay, ready for this.... I don't really like music.  Strange, I know, but for some reason, I find it kind of annoying.  Although every once in a while, I do hear a song I like, but I never know the name of it!

Name your favorite dessert: My all-time favorite dessert would have to be Chili's molten lava cake.  Anyone ever had one??  SO GOOD!!  Although I haven't had one in forever.  Oh the horrors. ;)  And my mom's chocolate cream pie is INCREDIBLE!!  We have it every year at Christmas, and I think it's of my favorite parts about Christmas. ;)  As far as desserts I eat more frequently, peanut butter filled dates all the way. :P

What really annoys you?: I could probably right a list on this, but I think what annoys me the most is bad drivers.  Um, turn signals please.  Or, I was planning on getting to my destination today.  Or sometimes, this isn't the Indy 500!!!

When you are upset, you: Go ride my horse!  It makes me feel better every time! 

Your favorite pet: Sorry, but this is an impossible choice.  I love ALL my animals so much!

Black or white: White for sure!  It's so uplifting... black kind of seems depressing to me.  Although in terms of clothes... white is so hard to keep clean so I don't wear a lot of white!  But I don't wear a lot of black either (though I do have some black clothes that I love).  Kind of random, but hope it was interesting anyway! ;)

Your biggest fear: Small spaces.  Yep, I'm claustrophobic (maybe I should make the question "your smallest fear"... ;)

Best features: I love my hair!  And my smile :D :D

Everyday attitude: Happy and smiling!  Although when I get really tired, I get quiet and kind of grumpy... I need my rest!

What is perfection?: Loving ourselves for who we are.  As long as we learn to love and accept our kinks and quirks, I consider us perfect in our own way! :)

Guilty pleasure: Hmmm, I don't really have one.  I mean every once in a while, I'll get a DQ blizzard or something, but I'm talking once a year or so.  So I don't consider it guilty - I'm just enjoying a treat that I don't have that often. :P


So there you have it!  I know pass the award onto the following lovely bloggers:

Kathleen @ Kat's Health Corner
Rachel @ Tea and Chocolate
Eleanor @ Eating Like a Horse
Erika @ The Teenage Taste

Well, that's all I have for you guys for now!  Excpect a recap of my Spanish food making experience in my next post (dun, dun, dunnnnn!!!!).

Have a wonderful weekend!

<3