You know when you dream up a recipe that makes your mouth water by just thinking about it? And then you make it, but it never lives up to your expectation?  That's exactly what happened to me last weekend.  (Please tell me I'm not the only one!)  You see, I wasn't slacking on posting - at least it wasn't my fault for slacking.  Just talk to my failed Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes if you don't believe me.

Fortunately, my last recipe testing was nothing less than a huge success.  It sounded good (not literally, obviously - to my knowledge, food doesn't talk), smelled good, looked good, and by golly tasted good!  I was slightly surprised at first (thanks to my last testing), but then my thoughts trailed off to something else.  That something was this:

Sunny Surprise Oat Bake
I'm sure you can substitute a different nut butter for the sunflower seed butter, but personally, I can't imagine this any better.
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1/2 banana, mashed
• 1 tablespoon sunflower seed butter
• Heaping 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 7 tablespoons almond milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the banana, sunflower seed butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and baking powder.
3. Stir in the oats and almond milk.
4. Spread evenly into a greased (I used coconut oil) ramekin.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes.

This bake will put the silver lining on each and every cloud.  My future beholds many silver linings.  Yes, I can tell the future.

Had the morning I ate these pancakes been my last breakfast, I would have died a very happy person.  Obviously my last breakfast isn't for many years to come, but when it does arrive some day, these pancakes will likely be on the menu.  But on to brighter topics - like the recipe.

Blueberry Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes
I like to use meyer lemons for these - their flavor shows more of the sweet lemon side and less of the acidity side that is most often associated with lemons.  But if you can't find them, I'm sure a regular lemon would do.
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons brown rice flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (the zest of one small-ish lemon)
• 1/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen, but preferably fresh
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons almond milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 heaping tablespoon Greek yogurt (I'm sure applesauce would make a fine substitution)
• 4 drop stevia or other sweetener of choice

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, zest, and blueberries.
2. Add the lemon juice, almond milk, vanilla extract, yogurt, and sweetener.  Mix well, but don't over mix.
3. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium low heat.  Cook pancakes for about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
4. Serve with Greek yogurt, maple syrup, or, if you're feeling extra special, a drizzle of lemon icing (powdered sugar mixed with lemon juice).  Enjoy!

Spring breaks is here!  Yaaaay!  This means spending extra time with my horse and making new earring designs for my fundraising-based earring business (among other things)!  

Enjoy the week everyone - even if you're not on spring break.  You can still try something new, go someplace different... just make the most of this week and every day after!  Don't get too caught up in school or work that you forget what a wonderful gift life is and that you're meant to enjoy it and live it to its fullest, as well as help others enjoy it - it's something that everyone deserves.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to follow my own advice.  See you all next time!

Hello, hello!  Sorry I didn't get a recipe up last weekend - I was off doing a college visit!  But I'm making up to you all today by posting two recipes.  And yes, they both include corn (hence the title - sorry, I couldn't resist!), corn in the form of a round, flat disk.  I don't know about you, but I've always loved corn tortillas.  I loved them even more when I had them homemade for the first time.  Really, there is nothing better than a warm, soft corn tortilla fresh of the griddle.  Please excuse me while I drift off into corn tortilla heaven...

Okay, back to reality.  Thankfully, coming back to reality gives me the opputunity to have these:

Sometimes reality is better than dreams.


Sun-dried Tomato and Pepper Jack Cheese Enchiladas
If you don't want to make your own tortillas, feel free to use store-boughten.  But I recommend you take on the challenge.  I made mine garlic, but you can omit the garlic powder if you want them plain.
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup masa harina 
• 3/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• Up to 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 ounce pepper jack cheese, sliced thin
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup + green chile sauce (I used Roberto's vegetarian green chile)

Directions:

1. Combine the masa harina and garlic powder in a small bowl.  Add the water and mix until a soft dough forms.  It should not be wet, sticky, or dry.  Form two balls and put them back in the bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Preheat a non-stick skillet on low heat.  Meanwhile, either press the tortillas between plastic wrap in a tortilla press or put the corn balls (one at a time) between plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to roll them to about an eighth of an inch thick.  Cook them on the preheated skillet for a minute to a minute and a half.
3. Spread one to two tablespoons of the green chile on the bottom of a small, sprayed baking dish (I actually used a small pie pan).
4. Fill each tortilla with half the cheese, about a tablespoon of chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and half a tablespoon of green chile.  Roll them up and put them seam down in the pan.
5. Cover each tortilla with at least a tablespoon of green chile.  Make sure they are completely covered so that they don't dry out when baking.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

The next recipe is similar to my breakfast tacos.  But it was so good, that I decided that it deserved its own glory.

Breakfast Tacos - Take 2
I used homemade corn tortillas (but without garlic powder) for these.  Once again, you can use store-boughten, but you should try homemade.
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 2 corn tortillas (homemade or store-boughten)
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup cooked black beans 
• About 2 tablespoon salsa
• A handful of cilantro leaves
• Two to three tablespoons Greek yogurt (or you could use sour cream)

Directions:

1. But the rice and beans down the center of the tortillas and microwave for about a minute or until warm.
2. Top with the remaining ingredients and enjoy!

Well there you have it!  I have another really yummy recipe for next week.  And guess what it includes???  Did you say corn?  What could possibly make you think that? ;)  Luckily, it will be in a slightly different form next week.  Any guesses??

I don't recall the last time I had a real donut, but I can think of a few memorable donuts that I've had in my time.  One was found in a tiny shack called "American Donuts" in Texas (if I remember right).  My family and I have a soft spot for stores in shacks so we filed out of our car and through the door.  And then, before our eyes, they pumped freshly made donuts with cream and jelly and handed us the best filled donuts we had ever had (and probably ever will have).  Ah, good times, good times.

The other?  Well, there isn't a specific other donut that lingers in my memory.  Instead, I'm referring to the couple of times when my brother and I made our own glazed donuts.  Seriously, there is nothing better than a warm, homemade, glazed donut.

I'm sure that the donut recipe I'm sharing today isn't nearly as good those gems, but it's still delicious.  Especially the icing.  If you don't want to make the donut, at least make the icing and put it on oatmeal or a muffin or something.  Or a spoon.  That would work great too.

Peanut Butter Icing Donut
The donut itself is simple in flavor, but I still love it.  Especially when drenched with peanut butter Icing.  Mmmm.  If you want to add more flavor to the donut, you could try increasing the amount of almond extract.
Makes 1 donut

Ingredients (for the donut):

• 1/4 cup brown rice flour (or other flour of choice)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 egg white 
• 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• sweetener such as stevia, agave, maple syrup, or brown sugar.

Ingredients (for the icing):

• 2 teaspoons peanut butter (I use salted)
• 2 teaspoons coconut butter
• 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and dry sweetener (if using).
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg white, yogurt, almond extract, and liquid sweetener (if using).
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until well combined, but don't over-mix.
5. Spoon the mixture into a greased greased donut pan (I use coconut oil) and bake in the preheated oven for 12-13 minutes.  Check with a toothpick!
6. While the donut is baking microwave the peanut butter with the coconut butter for 20-30 seconds or until the coconut butter is melted.  Stir in the maple syrup.
7. Drizzle the icing over the warm donut and enjoy!

What's your favorite kind of donut?

Confession time:  I am the world's worst waffle maker.  But let me explain a little bit before you run as you know that a waffle recipe is to follow.  When I say worst, I mean in the looks department.  The taste department is just dandy, but I often feel like I'm eating a pile of twigs instead of waffles even though my taste buds tell me otherwise.  I always blamed it on the waffle iron, but seeing as my mom could always make perfect waffles with it, I think that my assertion was only wishful thinking.  Luckily, my mom recognized my dilemma and tried her best to help when she bought me this for Christmas:

Did it help?  No twigs in sight!  So, I would answer that question with a "yes."

Hopefully you're not scared of this recipe anymore. ;)



Almond Oat Waffles
These waffles get their almond flavor from almond extract, but if you want to add chopped or slivered almonds, I think that would be a nice addition (though I haven't actually tried it)!  This recipe is based on Mollie Katzen's Oatmeal Waffles from Sunlight Cafe.
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour (or other flour of choice)
• 2 tablespoons oat bran
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of baking soda
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
• 1 egg white

Directions:

1. Preheat a waffle iron.  (If it has an adjustable temperature, set it to 400.)
2. Mix together the oats, rice flour, oat bran, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk, extracts, Greek yogurt, and egg white.
4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry.  Mix well, but don't over mix.
5. Grease the waffle iron with coconut oil or butter.
6. Pour the the batter into the iron and cook for about 3 minutes.
7. Most important step:  Top with desired toppings (maple syrup, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, fresh berries, etc.) and devour!

I ended up slathering mine in peanut butter.  Perfect looking, perfect tasting.  I think my title adequately describes these waffles.  Yum! :D


Do you like waffles?  What's your favorite flavor?

These were wonderful, though I do love chocolate waffles.  I'll have to experiment with a recipe!

Creative title, I know.  At least I managed to convey a bit of enthusiasm, right?

So, Christmas is the name of the game today!  It's already over?!  No, 362 days until Christmas.  You see, there is a bright side.

Let's start with Christmaas Eve!

Me ready for the feast:

The Feast!

Not the best picture in the world, but I was a little bit more focused on the plate of food in front of me than my photography skills at that moment.  But who could blame me for being distracted when maple glazed veggies (from Happy Herbivore, click here for recipe; highly recommended as even my parents loved them - score for fixing veggies that everyone will eat!), a homemade bread roll, potatoes au gratin, and chickpeas with my dad's amazing garlic rosemary sauce were staring me in the face?  Definitely the best meal of the year.  Especially when followed by my mom's chocolate cream pie:

Gifts were the next morning!  Look what I got!

I am also now the proud owner of the cutes Christmas dishes ever. 

Told you so. ;)  I got some other foodie stuff too, but you'll have to wait for my next post...

My brother got me Jillian Michael's yoga DVD!!  I was so excited and went through level one later Christmas day.  I was sore the next day!  I'm used to pretty intense work-outs, but the yoga poses and movement used different muscles so it was a great challenge!  And was followed by loose leaf ginger lemongrass tea.  (In the cutest mug, remember?)

All together, my Christmas was wonderful!  Full of lots of superb food, gifts received and given (I'll have to show ya'll what I got my dad at some point), and, most importantly, lots of time spent with my wonderful family!

And now (insert drumroll here) time for a donut!!

Lemon Cake Donut
This donut has a light, refreshing lemon flavor.  If you want the lemon more pronounced, increase the amount of lemon zest in the donut batter.  You can also increase lemon juice (though I haven't personally done this).  If you do increase lemon juice, you may need to add additional sweetener and increase the baking time by a few minutes.
Serves 1

For the donut ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown rice flour (or other flour of choice)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• zest from one small lemon (about 1/2 teaspoon of zest)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 egg white
• 2.5 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Sweetener, to taste (e.g. agave, maple syrup, stevia, granulated sugar - I used three drops stevia)

Donut directions:

1. Preheat your oven 350 degrees and grease one donut mold in your donut pan (I used coconut oil).
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest, and dry sugar (if using).
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the lemon juice, egg white, yogurt, vanilla, and wet sweetener (if using).
4. Stir the wet mixture into the dry.  Mix until well combined, but don't over mix.
5. Spoon mixture evenly into the greased donut pan, and bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Ingredients for the icing:

• Coconut butter
• Lemon zest
• Lemon juice
• Sweetener, to taste

* Adjust amount of ingredients according to taste.  I used about 1.5 tablespoons of coconut butter, 1/8 teaspoon zest, 1 teaspoon juice, and a drop of stevia.  Next time, I would probably use more zest, less juice, and either more stevia or a teaspoon or so of maple syrup.

Directions:

1. Place the coconut butter in a bowl and microwave it until the coconut butter has melted.
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
3. Spread onto the donut as soon as you transferred the donut to a plate.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  And, since it's only a few days away, Happy New Year!!

Let's do a little comparison game, shall we?  Pizza is round, pancakes are round. (Well, my pancakes at least slightly resemble a round shape.  Most of the time they're more squarish or jagged on the edges.  Character. Yes, it gives them character. ;)  Pizza has toppings, pancakes have toppings.  True, the toppings are quite different... pizza has tomato sauce and cheese, maybe veggies, pepperoni for many while pancakes have butter and maple syrup, or Greek yogurt and peanut butter (!!), possibly coconut butter (!!)... but still, a topping is a topping.  Pizza is eaten for dinner, pancakes are eaten for dinner.  Who wants to wait until the next morning for pancakes when you can have them that night?  Um, not me.  Now the most obvious similarity is, of course, the taste.  Pizza is delicious, pancakes are delicious.  And these two recipes are nothing less.  

Sun-dried Tomato and Pesto English Muffin Pizza
Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 english muffin, cut in half (I used Rudi's whole wheat english muffins)
1-2 tablespoons basil pesto
About 3 sun-dried tomatoes, torn into small pieces (if using dried, soak in water for a few hours prior to making the pizza)
1 oz shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Cover a small baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper.  Set your oven to broil.  Spread each muffin half with half to a full tablespoon of pesto (depending on how pesto-y you want it).  Arrange the tomato pieces evenly on top of the pesto, and evenly sprinkle on the cheese.  Make sure the tomatoes are under the cheese or your tomato pieces will burn.  Put the pizzas on the baking sheet, and put the baking sheet in the oven.  Broil for about five minutes or until the the cheese melts and begins to brown.  Enjoy!

The pizzas are so easy to make but are extremely yummy!  You could even make lots of them and then arrange the pizzas on a big plate and take them to a party!

Side note:  I ate the pizzas above with some raw snap peas and a package of spinach, steamed and then mixed with balsamic vinegar and garlic powder.  Got my greens for sure!

Now for the pancake recipe.  These aren't your basic light and fluffy pancake - they're much softer and denser.  But as we've previously discussed, different pancakes are actually good!  As long as they're cooked in a pan, I think they qualify as pancakes. 

Okay, so today I was down town with my mom (we went to this amazing Indian place for lunch <3), and we stopped at this cute little kitchen store called The Cupboard.  I found the perfect cup in the sale section.

I'm back already!  As you probably know, I don't normally post everyday and for two reasons.  1) I don't often have time to post everyday and 2) I don't normally have something to post everyday.  Today, however, is a little different.  One still holds true, but two doesn't - I actually do have something to post about today.  And since it's just so amazing, I decided to ignore number one and go ahead and post about it.  So, here we go.

It all started when I saw Katie's Vegan Cool Whip.  I immediately tossed some coconut milk into the fridge and started contemplating what to put in on.  (The cool whip is amazing by the way!  It didn't turn out very thick, but that's completely fine because the taste is incredible!  Every time I go by my fridge, I take a spoon and have a spoonful... not even kidding.)  I was originally going to put it on oatmeal, but then pancakes entered my mind.  But what kind of pancakes?  Chocolate, plain... enter visions of sprinkles dancing in my head.  The deal was sealed - I mean, there's no way I can say no to sprinkles. ;)  So I used Katie's Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes as a base, and Confetti Pancakes were born.

Confetti Pancakes (serves 1)

Adapted from Katie's Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes

Ingredients:
1/3 cup brown rice flour (or other flour if desired)
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 tablespoon rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sprinkles
1/3 cup almond milk (I actually used a mixture of almond milk and water because I ran out of    almond milk)
1 tablespoon applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 drops stevia (or you could use agave or sugar, to taste)

Katie's Vegan Cool Whip

Directions:
Combine the flour, wheat germ, oats, baking powder, and sprinkles in a small mixing bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir until the mixture is well combined, but don't over mix.  Cook on a pre-heated, non-stick skillet for a few minutes on each side.  Layer with Katie's cool whip.

Ooooooh my.  My oh my.

Pleeeeaaaase make these now.  Seriously, soooo good!  Even my mom loved these (and she's not always a fan of my healthy foods and doesn't like stevia at all!).  In her words, "Weird, these actually taste like cookies."  And you know what?  They do taste like cookies!  Right on, mom. ;)

I want another plate of these. Right. NOW.

Please make them.  Pretty please.  With an ice cream cone and sprinkles on top.

Convinced yet?

<3

Hey everyone!
Here I go again - putting off recaps and recipes.  But oh well.  This is what I wanted to do today so this is what I am doing!  I will return to recaps and recipes eventually, but that's for another day. ;)

Someday, I hope to do a WIAW (What I Ate Wednesday) post, but for now, I'll just show you guys what I ate Thursday instead (gotta start somewhere, right?).

After seeing Ellie have OIAJ, I knew that that was what I wanted for breakfast!  It's been forever since I've had OIAJ, and it was time to bring back an old favorite!

So into the not-very-empty jar of peanut butter (there was a lot of peanut butter left on the bottom... mmmm) went a very heaping serving of steal-cut oats.  I take steal-cut oats over rolled oats any day!  The only complaint: the serving is 1/4 cup.  Um, what?  Definitely not enough for me, hence the very heaping serving. ;)  On top of the oats...

... wheat germ!!  What's shown times about 20.  I'm absolutely loving the wheat germ on oatmeal combo!!  My OIAJ were devoured along with green tea and fresh mango (normally store-boughten mangos are just okay, but this one was more than just okay -  SO good!! :D).

And yes, that is a snowman and Christmas tree on my mug.  Who says you can't enjoy cute snowmen in the middle of summer?
A close-up of the mango:

After breakfast, I went and rode my horsey!  He was such a good boy, and it was so much fun!
For a snack when I got back...

PEANUT BUTTER FILLED PRETZELS!!!!  I think I'm addicted to these things.  I don't even want to tell you how many I eat on an average day.  Can we just leave it with lots?  Okay.  Moving on...
Lunch:

Love my bowl, don't you?  Haha, it's actually one of those big heart shaped serving bowls.  So much fun to eat from!  It it is steamed veggies (carrots, broccoli, zucchini - from my neighbors garden, and sugar snap peas), a heaping serving of cooked bulgar (I always make heaping servings when it comes to grain - I never think their serving is enough!), and a whole bunch of Katie's Crazy-Good Ranch.  The name described the dressing pretty well, but it doesn't quite do it justice.  Maybe Incredible-ForgetTheSaladAndGrabASpoon Ranch would be a bit better?  Yes, I think so. ;) Love that dressing.  Great on veggies/grains and by multiple spoonfuls (not that I would know or anything... okay maybe I would know, but that's beside the point. ;)  
Lunch was served with more fresh mango.  Nom, nom.

A little later in the afternoon, my brother and I went and played tennis!

We had so much fun!  We hit it back and forth a bit, and then we got into some trick shots.  My brother did a behind the back, and I did an under the leg.  It was epic.  AND I only hit the ball out of the court once, so I considered it a major success.  
After tennis, we hit the grocery store and then went home and had dinner.  After seeing Ann Claire use an english muffin as a hamburger bun, I knew I had to try it!  So I cooked up a Sunshine falafel burger (love that flavor!), and served it on a whole grain english muffin with avocado and fresh sliced cucumber and bell pepper on the side:

And a close up of the burger:

Even though it's hard to tell, the english muffin was spread with pesto!  Yum!  Given the chance, I think I would choose an english muffin over a hamburger bun any day.  Sooo yummy! :)
Dinner was followed by dessert - Chocolate Macadamia Oat Bar!!

Questions:
Do you like wheat germ?  Ever had it on oatmeal?
Do you like steal cut oat?
Do you make heaping servings of grain?
Ever had peanut butter filled pretzels?
Do you like to play tennis?

Wow, a lot of questions!  I was just trying to, um, give you lots of choices.  Choices are always a good thing, right?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!! :)

<3

Hey all!  So I know I still have lots of recaps to do (pictures still not unloaded = lazy), but I really wanted to do just a regular "what I've been eating post" today.  I promise I'll still do the recaps, but that'll be another day.  And I promise I'm still going to post the peanut butter spelt bagel recipe.  Not today, but when I get tired of recaps again, I'm sure it'll be making an appearance. ;)

My first meal of the post is actually one I had at the Boston airport on the way back from Iceland.

That airport is not very vegetarian friendly!  The only thing I could find was a wilted salad.  Not exactly my cup of tea.  So I proceeded to order the "avocado turkey sandwich" without turkey, but they were out of avocado.  Then I ordered the "pesto chicken sandwich" without chicken which they did have.  The guy taking my order was laughing at me because I kept ordering the meat sandwiches sans the meat, lol.  But the sandwich was actually really good!  It had lots of pesto so how could it not be good? ;)

My first meal at home was just about the most basic breakfast ever.  But it had never tasted so good before!  I tried to find oatmeal in Finland, but as you will learn from my Finland recap, that kind of failed.

So I know I just said above that me and wilted salads aren't exactly best friends, but that doesn't mean I don't love a good salad.  Wilted leaves, a few carrots shreds, and maybe a slice or two of tomato is not what I consider a good salad.  This, on the other hand, is what I consider a good salad.


Super Salad

Note: You can use however much or little of the ingredients you like or even substitute ingredients.  Think of this as guidelines instead of an actual recipe.

Ingredients:
A handful of mixed lettuce leaves
A handful of fresh spinach
A handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Half an avocado, sliced
1/3 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed if using canned
A handful of dried cranberries
1 oz goat cheese, crumbled
Fresh dill, to taste (I like LOTS!)
5 slices of cucumber, sliced in half
2 baby carrots, grated
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
A big blob of hummus (or salsa of your other favorite salad topping)

Directions:
Umm, toss ingredients together?  I think that's pretty self explanatory. ;)

You can't necessarily tell from the pictures, but that salad was huuuuuuge!  It compared to me:

See my shirt?  It says "To Be or Not To Be."  We visited Hamlet's castle in Denmark, and so I got the shirt to try and get myself psyched up for Hamlet, one of the books I have to read for my AP Lit and Comp class.  And it's kind of working!  I went from dreading it a lot to dreading it a little. ;)  Lol, I'm actually pretty excited!

Other random meals:

After seeing Tara steam eggplant, I knew I had to try it!  And I'm very glad I did.  I still prefer it roasted, but when I'm limited on time, I'll definitely be steaming it!  

Random fact:  I'm always on the search for a good protein powder.  I find many to be grainy, and very much lacking in the taste department.  They're also really expensive, and since I don't like many, I often buy the packets to experiment with.  Here's my most recent:

I normally try rice or soy protein, but I though I might like whey better.  And into a smoothie it went!  I kept it simple so I could taste the protein powder.  In the mix was a frozen banana, about half a package of spinach, flaxseeds, the protein powder, and almond milk.  And since I didn't go crazy, the result was actually green! (I'm well known to make purple/brown smoothies... ugh.)

This was fabulous guys!!  Truly, it was.  I'm so glad I found a protein powder that actually tastes good!! :D

Ever tried a grilled banana and avocado sandwich?  No???  Time to fix that. ;)


Grilled Banana and Avocado Sandwich

Ingredients:
One banana, sliced in half and then each half sliced lengthwise
1/2 an avocado, sliced
2 slices bread of choice (I used oatmeal bread), toasted

Directions:
Place your sliced banana in a pan and turn on heat to medium-low.

Once they get all nice and brown, turn 'em over.

Stack them onto one of the toasted bread pieces...

...and stack the avocado on top of the banana.

The entire plate:

Sandwich close up:

You should try it.  You won't be disappointed.  Trust me.

Wait, what is that chocoltey amazingess above?!  A batch of Katie's Fudge Daddies before going into the oven.  I had no tofu so used pumpkin in place of both the tofu and the applesauce. I doubled the batch (since it was one of Katie's recipes I knew I would love it!) and used a total of 3/4 cup pumpkin.  For flour, I used 1/2 cup whole grain pastry flour, 1/4 cup brown rice flour, and 1/4 cup spelt flour.  For sweetener, I used 1/4 cup maple syrup and 10 drops of stevia - perfect sweetness for me!  I put the chocolate chips on top and then when they came out, I spread them around and then once they cooled, they had a crunchy top.  Definitely recommend doing that!  Oh, if the brownies look a little thin, that may or may not be the result of a certain someone (not to mention any name) who quickly became addicted to the batter.  Oops.
Katie suggested letting them sit for a bit, but I simply couldn't wait and ate one straight out of the oven!

By the way, this was before I spread around the chocolate chips.  Probably a question I've asked before, but how does she do it?!  There must be a secret to creating recipes that are so good not even words can explain.  Or maybe it's just that she's a magician?  Yes, that must be it. ;)

Brownies were also consumed in this form:

And then yesterday, I saw her recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes.  It was past breakfast, but I didn't really care.  Pancakes are a suitable lunch, right? (Warning: I went a little crazy with the pictures.)

Everyone, drop what you're doing and make these pancakes right now.  I'm serious here.  You're not still reading are you?  Didn't I just tell you to go make these pancakes?  If you're reading this, you didn't follow my orders.  Your loss.  I'm telling you, these are the. best. pancakes. ever.  I've had a lot of pancakes in my days, but these take the cake (pancake, that is ;) . 

Oh dear, this got long.  Sorry guys - you're probably bored to tears, if you're still reading that is!  I'll let you go now.  Just promise me one thing - you'll make Katie's pancakes!!

I'll be back next time with another recap!  Love you guys!!

<3