Yep, it's my brother's 18th birthday today!!!  In case you do read my blog, brother, I hope you have an amazing birthday!!  I know we don't always get along perfectly (how boring would that be?), but I hope you know that you are like my best friend!  Seriously, I feel like I can tell you anything!  Thank you so much for being the best brother EVER!!!  I'm going to miss you more than anything when you go to college next year.  I love you!! :D

Everyone left such nice comments on my last post! I can't thank you guys enouph!  You are the sweetest!!  
You may have noticed that I didn't reply to any.   And that's because my blog has a really bad commenting system that doesn't allow me to reply to individual comments.  If I ever get that fixed, I will be back to replying!  Until then, I will just comment back on all of your awesome blogs!  Does that sound all right?

I've tried a lot of different foodie combinations in the last 24ish hours (does anyone else use "ish"?). Let's go in chronological order, shall we...
Friday night, I was kind of in a rut.  I was starving for some dinner, but it was dinner time, and it seemed as if I had nothing to eat!  But if I'm hungry I always find something to eat.  So lo and behold, I did!


Salsa Chickpea-Rice Bowl

Ingredients:
About 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (I used canned)
About 3/4 cup cooked brown rice
2 tablespoon salsa
1-2 tablespoon orange juice (adds a nice touch of sweetness)
Garlic powder/onion powder/ground cumin

Directions:
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and dig in!

Just perfect for a quick, delicious dinner!!
With a side of steamed veggies (sorry for the awful picture!)

And then for dessert, I had one almond butter cup:

Love those little guys!

The next morning, I tried something that I will be having again without any doubt!!!  Behold Kathleen's Almond Joy Pizzert Babies!!!!!!  Go ahead and clap.  These little fellas' deserve a major round of applause!!

I just can't get over how cute they were!!!  I topped mine with almond butter, peanut butter, and Greek yogurt! (And chocolate chips, obviously) I also used brown rice flour in place of the whole wheat flour, so they were also gluten free!  My mom thought they were absolutely adorable too!  Oh, have I mentioned yet that were like mini cakes sent from heaven?  Yep, that incredibly delicious!!!!!

And guess what??  I've had socca at last!  I used Heather's recipe and topped it with a spoonful of salsa!

I'm in love with this socca!!!  Thanks so much for the fabulous and simple recipe, Heather!  I may or may not have gone back for another piece ;) 
And then for dinner, I was craving some more socca!  So I spread some spicy dijon mustard on it (for some reason, I hate regular yellow mustard but love honey mustard and dijon mustard).  Then I topped it with lettuce, a Sunshine burger, and a juicy piece of tomato.  Another fantastic use for the socca!  (Although I'm thinking the socca would be fantastic used in anything! :)

Now wait!  What are those little round bundles sitting at the back?  Well, they are:


Cinnamon Grilled Bananas

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon coconut oil
Cinnamon
1 smallish banana, sliced

Directions:
Melt the coconut oil in a small, not-stick pan.  Put the cinnamon in a small bowl and coat the flat side of each banana slice in the cinnamon.  Place the banana slices in the pan and cook for a few minutes on each side.

Loved them!!!

Something else I love?  Katie's Banana Brulee Oats!!!  My add ins were vanilla extract and cinnamon!  (And topped with peanut butter because a day just can't start without it!)

Katie, I know I've said this before, but you're a genius.  You just plain are!  The brulee oats were out of this world amazing!!  If it weren't for Katie, I would have never thought to blend my oats, but it's the most amazing idea since..... Well, actually, it's just the most amazing idea, period!  I felt like I was eating pudding for breakfast.  It just doesn't get better than that!

Sorry for this very long, chatty post!!  I guess I'm just in a chatty mood this morning!

Just one more week of school and then spring break!!!  Woohoo!!  In a week, I will be just about on my way to California for a college visit!  Can't wait!!!


The daily question:  Are you going anywhere/doing anything special for spring break?