I’ve Got A Hot Dog
And, yes, I’m talking about this stud:
Montana
This is what he looks like 2 minutes after waking up. If you wait 3 minutes you’ll find him back asleep again. That’s pretty much what he does. Everybody left the house leaving me to wait around until lunch. It feels like this house lacks “real food” whenever I’m gone. That’s why I pack an entire shopping bag full. See? I’m smart–food smart 🙂
BBQ Tempeh And Broccoli With Goat Cheese
Pineapple Chobani With Pumpkin Flax Granola
I listened to the back of my Lightlife tempeh box which says it’s best grilled and skewered some BBQ tempeh. I loved the smoky flavor that it gave it and nuttier texture, but I still don’t know that the BBQ flavor came out. The broccoli was for the green(or maybe just an excuse to eat hickory smoked goat cheese). And the Chobani was a bit of early dessert. Even though I had the thought “I could be having ice cream instead of this” I chose the yogurt; what has happened to me? Clearly, that granola has a bit of flax and a bit of crack. Immediately after lunch we got on with the afternoon festivities…
Empire Apples
Apple picking! Would you believe every Saturday so far this season I’ve came home has been rainy? It was windy, but not a raincloud around, so we hit up Tougas Farms for their final weekend. The trees were pretty picked but we made do.
Apple
Naturally, one snuck in my mouth on the walk out. I forget which type this was but I had an Empire; it was very nice and crisp and reminded me of a less sweet and visually attractive Red Delicious. After that we went to Target in search of some elusive Archer Farm’s Vanilla Cranberry Peanut Butter. Alas! No luck 😦 Next up was Hannafords for some general baking and eating goodies before heading to Micky-D’s(for a coffee, of course) and home. Here was the loot of the odyssey.
Groceries
Greek yogurt–obvs–, Organic PB cups for an Evan Halloween :-), pumpkin, oats, apple butter, soy milk, tofu, and organic Smart Balance butter. I didn’t want to spring for the organic but the regular stuff apparently has artificial flavor. What are they flavoring it? Just like I don’t like butter, I don’t like fake butters either. But I know they’re necessary for a certain recipe I was thinking of making so I sucked it up and tried not to touch it too much. I was also pretty hungry and in need of a little mood booster, so I busted out the last of my old Smart Balance peanut butter.
SB PB And Chocolate Chips In A Jar
And then all was right with the world 🙂 I don’t think any of my other jars are quite close to being finished, so I really savored this one. I tried catching up on Tivo and some homework but I got distracted and needed to try out a recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Brownies
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 15oz can pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 1/4 cup pumpkin butter
Pumpkin Brownies With Pumpkin Butter
Preheat your oven to 350. In a bowl, sift together the first 5 ingredients. Add in the pumpkin, soy milk, and vanilla and mix well. The batter will be thick. Spread into an 8×8 pan. Scoop pumpkin butter into a ziploc bag and snip off one end. In lines, squeeze the pumpkin butter. Then, with a knife, alternate cutting motions in both directions to make an effect. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Pumpkin Pumpkin Butter Brownie
If you love fudgy brownies, these are definitely the ones for you. They didn’t even taste like a pastry but more like solid packed pumpkin and chocolate. I used too little sugar and baking powder, but I adjusted the recipe accordingly so hopefully yours will come out a bit more flavorful. Be sure to tell me if anyone tries these 😀 This was a nice appetizer for dinner.
Salmon, Asparagus, Maple Mustard Tofu
A dinner, by the way, that was eaten spread over 30 minutes of being on the couch translating latin and running to answer kids at the door. I wasn’t feeling salmon. I feel like there’s an expectation for me always to want salmon or some meat when I come home, but that’s just not true. I tried introducing some alternative protein to the meal with grilled tofu. I liked the Nasoya firm better than what’s at my dining hall, so I might be adding it to the shopping list from now on, but I think it was too firm; when I reach for the ‘fu, I want something mushy and funky. There was also this humongous apple:
Mutsu Apple
It’s hard to tell, but this was big(TWSS). I ate it quick and sloppily just so that I wouldn’t have to feel hungry running back and forth to the door! God that gets annoying, and is so unfruitful. Next year I’m hitting the streets again. At least that way you get candy for your work. Now I just need to find an organic street… I did have a partner in answering the door:
Montana
I told you I had a hot dog. He didn’t actually fit in his costume so we just held and threw it over when people came to the door. We didn’t get too many visitors, which my mom was very pleased with since that left her with a good amount of candy for herself.
So Delicious Vanilla Soy Yogurt With Newman's Own Organic Milk Chocolate PB Cup And Vanilla Sugar
Would it have been Halloween if I didn’t buts into a little candy? Clearly not. This was actually an educational experience. I learned a) when it comes to peanut butter and chocolate, milk is the way to go. I would have thought dark because in general I love that way more than milk but it just works with the peanut butter. Also, b) candy is better on top of yogurt. It feels like a sundae. I wonder if organic coated candies leak organic coloring like M&M’s do. That’d be sweet. c) Vanilla soy yogurt actually tastes like vanilla. Unfortunately, this boy likes his soy yogurt to be as funky as tofu, so it was a bit of a letdown 😦
4-C Scone With White Chocolate Wonderful
Cranbran Vitatop With White Chocolate Wonderful, Toast With Peanut Butter Cookie Spread
Vanilla Cranberry was clearly the flavor obsession of the night. I was a little disappointed I couldn’t get the Vanilla Cranberry peanut butter 😦 Word from the foodie is that it’s in Woburn but that’s a good hour in the wrong direction for me. I’ll find it yet. I don’t even remember when I baked my last batch of those scones; I love finding pastries hidden in the freezer. I think I need a spare freezer just for english muffins because they never seem to be where I want them.
Did anybody else feel that extra hour? I woke up at 8 7 and felt both well rested and not lazy. That was nice. Instead of hitting the streets, I hit the kitchen. I’ll save what I whipped up and my breakfast for the next post 😉
A cookie giveaway from one Nutricious gal
Thanks for the link back!
Those pumpkin brownies look DELISH!
OMG You MUST try Archer Farms’ Dark Chocolate PB…..look at it here:
http://nutritiousisdelicious.blogspot.com/2009/01/change-of-plans.html
Emily
November 1, 2009
boo I am so sorry you couldnt find that peanut butter woburn is where its at!! haha thanks for the sweeeet shout out, evan!! 🙂
hmm goat cheese with the tempeh souns awesome!!
yeah I can never sleep longer even though we get an extra hour!! I was up at 715 rolling around because it was really 815! ohh well!
have a great day!
onefitfoodie
November 1, 2009
HA! Love Montana’s costume 🙂
VeggieGirl
November 1, 2009
ha i am terribly amused by animals in costume… (babies too. when i have a baby it’s going to be a lobster. and i’m going to put it in a bigggg pot. i may also be the worst mother ever someday)
eatingmachine
November 1, 2009
I love the hot dog costume 🙂
very jealous of your apple picking excursion – I can’t believe I didn’t go once this year! what a fail!!
Jenny
November 1, 2009
jealous of the apple picking, how were the apples? is wasn’t too late?
and that extra hour was nice but not the most useful thing as i still got very little sleep with last night being halloween haha 🙂
marathonmaiden
November 1, 2009
cute dog!!
those brownies sound amazingg
xoxo,
shelley
http://findinghappinessandhealth.wordpress.com
shell625
November 1, 2009
Just wondering, but why do you go home every weekend?? You may be surprised by how nice it can be to spend a weekend at school, and you’ll never know if you don’t try it!
tmoney
November 1, 2009
The pumpkin brownies look fantastic! I love the topping!!
That extra hour of sleep was DEFINITELY needed in my house – I felt so refreshed this morning!
ksgoodeats
November 1, 2009
I recently tried the Newman’s dark chocolate PB and caramel cups, and although I didn’t think I would like them as much as the milk chocolate, I was (delightfully) mistaken. Next time you put the smashed PB cups in the yogurt, stick it in the freezer for a wee bit and you have a pretend Blizzard. Yum…
And Chauncey (my “Montana”) was a lobster again this year. I am ridiculously amused by animals in costume, so he took the brunt of it.
Abby
November 1, 2009
those vegan pumpkin brownies look perfect – i’m definitely going to try that sometime!!!
Lynn @ The Actors Diet
November 1, 2009
yessss i woke up at 7:30am (8:30 body clock time) and i felt well-rested. twas wonderful. and i am LOVING your brownies. i like my brownies fudgy so these sound right up my alley.
and i LOVE the hot dog costume 🙂
Holly
November 1, 2009
I woke up at 1:20 pm. Gosh. I had a splitting headache from sleeping too much.
I love the looks of that pumpkin brownies! yum~
burpexcuzme
November 2, 2009
Love the hotdog costume! And the brownies! And that extra hour of sleep was still nice this AM in order to wake up for work. I wish we could have daylight savings every weekend!
Erin
November 2, 2009
Your BBQ tempeh looks so good!
And I’m totally saving your brownie recipe. That sounds amazing!
healthy ashley
November 2, 2009
Love the dog costume 🙂
Whitney @ Lettuce Love
November 2, 2009
Wow brownies with pumpkin butter….I have to try that!
Kelly
November 2, 2009
That brownie recipe looks great! Just bookmarked it to try 🙂
Meghann
November 2, 2009
Apple picking is always a good time! I actually just dedicated my last post to apples…they’re soo good fresh off the tree!
Food-Fitness-FreshAir
November 2, 2009
I just read your comment on Caitlin’s blog. I suck at riding a bike 😦 I kinda just learned as an adult and I am not very good at it. Whew, that felt good to admit.
Runeatrepeat
November 2, 2009
looooove your lil’ doggie!!! what a cutie pie.
peanutbutterfingers
November 2, 2009
Apple picking is the best part of fall. Even the grossest apples (cough… red delicious… cough) taste decent when fresh off the tree.
Red delicious are like the deamon apples of the apple world. Beautiful and classic on the outside, stupid and flavorless on the inside. >:-(
haha
ohhmay
November 2, 2009
Apple picking and pumpkin butter brownies and Halloween candy all make me so happy! I might have to try that brownie recipe soon…There are so many recipes that I want to try – I need at least 2 more stomaches 🙂
runnerskitchen
November 2, 2009