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!

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.

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

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

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 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

Thank you guys for the warm welcome back and good luck wishes for the ACT!  Luckily, it's all over.  I am officially DONE with school for the summer.  Unless you count the seven classical books I have to read this summer for next year's AP Lit and Comp class, but we won't go there.  For now, I'm just going to enjoy the thought that I can get up and not have to worry about studying!  

Now about the amazing trip coming up!  My family and I will be going to Greece for a week, Finland for a week, Denmark for about five days, and then to Iceland for a day!  We'll be home for a bit and then my brother and I are off to Newfoundland with my grandparents!  Am I excited?  Let's just go with "yes" since there's no way I can capture my true excitement in words.  You would have to come to my house and see me bouncing off the walls to know what I mean. ;)  And what am I most excited for?  The chance to try real Greek yogurt! ;) You know I love the stuff in the store to death, but I'm assuming it doesn't taste nearly as good as the real thing.  Can anyone back me up on this?

Even though the last month has been crazy with school, I made sure I had time for a bit of cooking (some how, that's something I always have time for. ;) 

In attempt to make this post at least somewhat organized, I'll start with a recipe and then show all the random foodie pictures (versus a random recipe in the middle of random pictures...)

So an explanation on the name of the recipe.  I was going to call them "cake batter pancakes."  Then I thought that that would make no sense since they're cooked and thus are not batter.  Recalling what they tasted like, I decided that they most accurately tasted like cake.  Pancakes.  No really? ;)  But "pancakes" was just a bit to boring, and so I took the wordy approach and decided to call them "Mini Cakes Cooked on a Griddle."  Or, you could just call them pancakes.


Mini Cakes Cooked on a Grill With Peanut Butter Fauxting
(Serves 1)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup brown rice flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ (sub extra brown rice flour or oat bran to make these gluten free)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
13 grams (more or less as desired) cake mix (I used a gluten free, chocolate variety)
About 1/2 cup (more or less depending on how thick you like your pancakes) almond milk
2 teaspoons coconut oil, melted
A handful of sprinkles, optional (I didn't add any but would next time)
Peanut butter + stevia (or other sweetener) + water

Directions:
Gather your ingredients!

Mix together the flours, wheat germ, baking powder, and cake mix (and sprinkles, if using).

Pour in the almond milk and coconut oil and put that arm to work!

Now cook the batter just like you would any other pancake.  Meanwhile mix together the peanut butter, stevia, and water until desired sweetness and consistency is reached.  Stack the pancakes on a plate with the PB fauxting in between and then dig in!

I really did love these, and I think the addition of sprinkles would make them even better!  

Now, time for the randomness...

I've wanted to try that Kashi dinner for a loooong time, and I'm glad I finally did!  I loved the spicy flavor!

One day, I was searching for a healthy banana recipe when I stumbled across this recipe.  I didn't have the corn bread mix, so I instead used 1/3 cup pancake mix (mine was buckwheat) and 1/4 cup oatmeal.  I also ended up baking it about twice the amount of time the recipe said.  But none of that mattered in the least because this was the result:

Incredible would be an understatement.  Seriously.  What is it about baked breakfasts that are just so amazing?

While we're in the category of amazing, have you tried Olivia's Hummus Pizza yet?  I've raved about it before, and here I am raving about it again.  That just goes to show you how truly amazing it is.  It's even amazing when topped with sun-dried tomatoes!

So no more excuses.  Make. It. Now.
And while you're at it, make yourself some of Olivia's Tahini Chocolate Chips Oatmeal.  I'm telling you, that girl needs to write a cookbook! 

Moving on...

And finally we have:

That would be Katie's Deep Dish Cookie Pie.  Yes, it is as good as it looks x 100000000.  I want another one.  Right now.  But unfortunately, I have no garbanzos left.  That problem need to be fixed.  Like VERY soon!! :D  If you've meaning to try it, don't wait!  You won't disappointed!

Ahhh, it's so good to be back blogging again!  This was what I looked like when I was too busy to blog:

Luckily, I'm better now.  

I've had the big bear in the corner of my room since I was about seven.  Just in case you were wondering.

Sometimes I think we should switch back to black and white photography.  It's way more fun!  Anyone agree?

All right, enough of my babbling, I want to know about you!  Do you have any summer plans?

Hello blog friends!!  Hang on, it's going to be a long, bumpy ride! (Well, it's actually only long - not bumpy.  But long and bumpy sounds way better than just long, don't you think? ;)  Start with a recipe?  Sounds good to me!


So when I heard that this week was celebrating pancake day and peanut butter day, I decided to celebrate both them at once and maaaaaaaaake....


Peanut Butter Pancakes!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup buckwheat (or other) pancake mix - my savior on school days!
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons almond milk


Directions:
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and cook away!

Why are pancakes so good?


More pesto oats with steamed broccoli and carrots:

Awesome as always!  Another food that's awesome?  My Apple Spice Brown Rice baked!  Baking makes this dish 10x better!

Let's see.... What other munchies have I been enjoying lately?  Ah yes!  Yummy nummy green [purple] smoothies!  This one contained Greek yogurt, chia seeds, LOTS of spinach, blueberries, almond milk, and cinnamon.

I also tried this bread that I bought way back when I was in Hawaii!  It still isn't moldy - maybe because it was like vacuum packed?  There aren't any preservatives, but it's still kind of creepy...

Creepy but delicious!  Slathered in coconut butter:

For lunch I've been loving pesto sandwiches (simply pesto spread between two pieces of bread).  So simple yet my favorite sandwich ever!

Peeking in is some raw carrots, fresh tomatoes, and steamed broccoli/cauliflower/brussels, fresh mango, and Endangered Species 88% dark chocolate (I switch between that and Baker's 100% each day).


And this is my latest obsession:

If you haven't tried banana chips yet, you must!!!  WAY too good!


And, another recipe!  Behold, pesto and chickpeas combined to form:


Pesto Chickpea Enchiladas

Ingredients:
2 corn tortillas
About 2 tablespoons pesto
About 1/2 cup chickpeas
Chopped onion
Enchilada sauce
Greek yogurt for topping (optional)


Directions:
Spray the bottom of a small baking pan with non stick spray and spread some of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Spread about one tablespoon of pesto down the center of each tortilla and top with about 1/4 cup of chickpeas on each tortilla and sprinkle on some chopped onion.

Roll up the enchilada and place, seam down, in the pan.  Repeat with remaining tortilla.  Spread some more enchilada sauce on top and place in a 350 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes.

Yet another incredible meal! 


And now I want to mention a few non-food related things (what did she just say?  NON food related?!)


So first, in chemistry yesterday, we had a yoga brain break!  We stopped class for about 5 minutes and our teacher led us in a sequence of yoga.  How awesome is that?!  I really think that yoga brain breaks should become a part of everyday class ;)  Honestly, I felt SO much more concentrated after the yoga!


Second, check out my really cool school project!

Yes, it's a mole falling down a waterfall.  There's the Moletnomah Falls (based on a falls in Oregon spelled Multnomah) and there's Mole T. Nomah (the mole) falls.  Did you get the pun?  I had so much fun with that project :)


The daily question:  Have you ever had a yoga brain break in school?  Which food picture above do you think looks the yummiest?


Have a wonderful weekend everyone!