Mother’s Day Brunch On Broadway
Happy Mothers Day! I have been loving today; it’s felt like my own very holiday even though I’ll never be a mom(and I’m OK with that)! And I think everyone else, including my own mom, has enjoyed it as well 😉
8 Miles 69:03
I ran a well-paced 8 miles while watching the newest Dr. Who(This episode freaked me out! for anyone else likewise addicted). I wanted to push it to 10 or even 12, but I just new my legs would appreciate me so much more if I didn’t, so I saved those miles for a rainy day.
Blueberry Chobani With Sprouted Almond Butter
I had some time before my family would arrive so I refueled with a blueberry Chobani and Better Than Roasted sprouted almond butter. Blueberry and almond is such a magnificent combination!
Better Than Roasted Sprouted Almond Butter
I couldn’t help myself from finishing off the almond butter jar(it was a small one) when my parents were running late. I’ve never made this parallel before in my mind, but isn’t nut butter straight from the jar like a vegan’s form of turkey jerky from a bag? I think so. Once everyone did arrive, we set off to this place for lunch:
Nick's On Broadway
Despite being in Providence almost a year, I haven’t been able to get myself to Nick’s On Broadway until today. It was highly recommended by Heather and Sabrina and was voted in the top 59 breakfast places in America! Even though the wait was an hour, I had a feeling it would be well worth it for Mother’s day brunch.
Open Kitchen
We watched the chefs in the open kitchen while we waited, and the smell of homefries, eggs, and toast with butter was absolutely intoxicating. We got a table earlier than expected and someone wasted no time:
Drinks Galore
That would be my grandmother with both a sangria and a bloody mary in front of her. She actually ended up with neither and drinking a decaf coffee instead, but I thought the photo was funny 😉 I sipped the bloody mary and even though I have nothing to compare it to I have to say it was really really good, and that’s from someone who hates horseradish. My one complaint was that the decaf coffee, which I did have, wasn’t terribly hot at all. I was so excited for my meal.
Local Hereford Beef
Homefries
I ordered a local cut of beef with a side of homefries. Between Providence and the Garden Grill Cafe, I’ve grown a love for homefries and had to try Nick’s; they were deliciously and not overly oily at all while still being crisp and delicious.
Local Hereford Beef
The beef was perfectly cooked and seasoned, with a nice herby crust and a rare center. I love the emphasis on local, which is something I’ve found a lot of in Providence. It’s easy to want to eat from within your own state when it’s the smallest in the country 😉 On the way out the head chef, Derek, wished us well and a happy Mother’s day, which I thought was a great, personal touch. Overall I had a fantastic time at Nick’s and can’t wait to go back again.
Whole Foods Bag
We did some grocery shopping and I had a HUGE craving for what was in the bag. Can you guess what it might have been?
Sweet Scoops Madagascar Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
Ice cream! The real, dairy deal. No coconut milk would have sufficed for me, and this was so good. It tasted like straight up vanilla extract, which I know a certain blogger would appreciate if she could tolerate dairy.
Microwave Vegan Chocolate Fudge
And now for my dessert-dessert, I’m eating the last piece of microwave vegan chocolate fudge. This would be such a sadder moment if I didn’t also pick up earth balance and have something in the fridge cooling at this very moment 😉 Check back tomorrow for a new and delicious recipe! And now I need to get back to Leap Year; I have 3 hours before it expires which worries me even though it’s only 90 minutes long.
What do you order at brunch? I don’t usually crave eggs. And as much as I love the smell of toast I cant tolerate the gluten. But one thing my brunch has to have is homefries. I’m awful at making them myself and, when they’re done right, I could eat them as my main course!
Waiting On Chickpeas And What The Internet Knows…
I’m glad you all seem to love fudge almost as much as I do
Could I resist having a piece this morning after photographing it? Not a chance. That does not bode well for how long this will last in my freezer. At least it’s raw, and the coconut oil gave me good energy for a run.
10 Miles In 90:16
Maybe that’s a lie, too. This run was a little slower than I’ve been able to do recently. My left foot hurt and I suspect it’s because there’s so little arch support. These shoes seriously have 2000-3000 miles on them, and I really need a new pair 😦 Perhaps after the half-marathon this Sunday. Besides that, I was entertained by the new Dr. Who and pushed past that.
Blueberry Chobani With Sprouted Almond Butter
Instead of regular class, I had an earlier museum tour today. I didn’t have enough time between running and that for a proper lunch, but it’s always important to fuel, so I threw some Better Than Roasted Sprouted Almond Butter and sea salt on a blueberry Chobani; I love the blueberry/almond flavor combo.
Ancient Egyptian Mummy
The museum tour was pretty interesting; the RISD art museum is famous and somewhere I’d really like to spend more time if I get the chance. As is, we just had 40 minutes to go through a few rooms and get lectured on ancient artifacts.
Tumeric Spiced Carrot Cake Chickpea Salad With Toasted Walnuts, Gingerade Kombucha
Tumeric Spiced Carrot Cake Chickpea Salad With Toasted Walnuts
I was so excited for this salad when I got back. I’ve been toying around with the thought of carrot cake chickpeas in my mind for a while now, and this was a spicy twist on that. In the mix was
- 1 cup chickpeas
- 2 tablespoon chickpea water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- shredded carrots
- organic hunza raisins
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
- sea salt
I took the extra 5 minutes to go down stairs and toast some walnuts in a pan, too. If you have the time, you really should toast your nuts. The flavors here were all incredible and I loved it! This’ll definitely be a new salad recipe to keep in mind for the future. On the side and in my next class I sipped on a Gingerade Kombucha.
Vanilla Bean Purely Decadent And White Chocolate Cranberry Giovanni Gelato
Vanilla Bean Purely Decadent And White Chocolate Cranberry Giovanni Gelato
Even though the weather is crappy and cold, I can still crave ice cream; I can always crave ice cream. In accordance with project cleanout, I knocked down both of these pints, neither of which had a real serving left. I think the combination of a coconut/vanilla flavor with white chocolate was bliss. Could someone make a vegan white chocolate ice cream next, maybe? I’d buy. That was all in prep for dinner.
Grass-Fed Burger And Sweet Potato Chunks
It wouldn’t be a Wednesday night in this house dorm without sweet potatoes and a burger. How long has it been since I’ve had sweet potatoes? 4 days? That’s too long. This meat also tasted nice and fresh since we just got it Monday and I hadn’t unsealed the pack yet–yum!
I always find it funny seeing what website my internet thinks I want to go to just when I type in the first letter. Some of them are dead on; others I can’t fathom what it’s thinking. I thought I’d post them all here for a laugh and encourage any other bloggers to do the same.
B- Brown.edu
D- Database Library(Brown)
G- Google.com
I- iHerb.com
J- JPLicks.com
O- Nothing
P- Pokemon.com
T- Tinyurl.com
U- Ulimana.com
V- Vivani.de
X- Xagave.com
Y- Youtube.com
Z- Zingbars.com
Anyone care to post this on their blog for themself?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 18 so far )Oh Really?
Some things recently have made me question the sanity of certain humans(myself included). I stumbled on a Mythbusters marathon last night and watched it for 3 hours. I love that show, but I have to wonder who’s funding The Study For How Much Popcorn It Takes To Blow Out A Window. Oh really?
Chocolate Avocado Pudding With Coconut + Vanilla Macaroon
I took my mind off those things by making some chocolate avocado pudding made with almond milk and NuNaturals‘ vanilla stevia. I don’t know why, but this particularly batch tasted amazing On top I broke up my last Emmy’s Organics Coconut + Vanilla macaroon. These had SUCH a good vanilla flavor to them; if you can find them, I’m jealous and would highly recommend grabbing them if only to flaunt in my face.
While I was doing that, I was of course playing around on the internet. I haven’t even been away from Facebook for very long, and already I wonder things every time I log in. Like since when can you become a fan of any random object such as brownies? And for the love of God if I get one more invitation to be a farmer, or a vampire, or a vampire farmer…
Better Than Roasted Sprouted Almond Butter
I wasn’t cute sure whether to have oatmeal or more pudding after that. I debated this for 10 minutes like it was a matter of life or death. Oh really? Do I have nothing better to do? Apparently not. And then after decided I wanted pudding, I realized I was out of avocadoes. Oatmeal it was!
Oatmeal With Sprouted Almond Butter And Sweetened Chocolate Coconut
Call me coconut-crazy if you want; I mixed some organic unsweetened shredded coconut with raw cocoa powder and raw vanilla agave. Oh really? Did I just discover how to make quick and sloppy macaroon shreds? Because that tasted a little too good to be true… Concerning the sprouted almond butter by Better Than Roasted, it took me a good 5 minutes to decide what it tasted like: raw almonds. I know–aren’t I a genious? But after chocolate almond butter, roasted almond butter, and white chocolate cherry almond butter, this was definitely unique and delicious in its own right. I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Oh really? He got in to Brown?”
Maple Butter
I woke up at 4 and couldn’t get back to bed. I knew I was hungry, but was hoping I could shake it off and fall back to sleep. Eventually, I told myself, “Evan, you’re an A——. That’s right, you’re an athlete. If you’re hungry now at 4:30, for God sake’s stop being lazy and eat something.” Clearly, I also thought that maple butter, which is pure sugar, would be another good choice for falling back to sleep. Oh really?
French Toast Oatmeal
I went downstairs to the basement to make french toast oatmeal. And you know what? This was actually perfectly cooked; apparently the secret is to do it at a ridiculous hour, half in the dark, and not involved–go figure. And the secret to a “keeper” of a photo? Moving the red Solo cups out of the way.
Morning Apple
I can say that, after that, I fell asleep nicely. And for the first time in longer than I can remember, I overslept. I got up, looked at the clock, and realized it was 9:30! OK, can you oversleep when you really don’t have any “plans”? Probably not. But that’s later than I prefer. I decided the weather looked perfect for another outdoor run, gobbled down this apple, and hit the outdoors.
9.55 Miles In 1:20:53
Before I get into the run, I’d like to point out that’s 3 1/2 minutes faster than yesterday, meaning I shaved off 20 seconds per mile. Wow! Where did that come from? When I looked at this, my first thought was Oh really? Apparently! It was just so gorgeous out again how could I not get into it? I also had motivational support via a country playlist with Taylor Swift telling me “These things will change” and Brooks & Dunn that cowgirls(and cowboys?) don’t cry.
March/April Whole Deal Flyer
Can I also mention my favorite part was running in to Whole Foods, grabbing the new Whole Deal flyer, and running out? I think I got odd looks, but it was worth it. There are fantastic coupons in here, including $1 off their 365 peanut butter! With only peanuts and salts for ingredients, it’s delicious, and that’s a steal. When I first heard about that sale, I had to thing “Oh really? Have they lost their mind?”
Oatmeal With Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter And Coconut Milk, Cherry Vanilla Greek Yogurt With Cherry Dark Chocolate
And then I made breakfast, right at 11:50. I’m glad to have slipped under the wire; I’d have hated to have missed this and then feel like I should eat “lunch”; breakfast is better anyway. I sweetened the plain 2% yogurt with cherry butter and vanilla agave in an effort to keep stevia out of my breakfast. For the oatmeal, some chocolate cherry peanut butter and coconut milk was perfect! Coconut milk keeps forever if you put it in a thick plastic container sealed off in the fridge. And it makes fats more readily available as a fuel source! Perfect for fueling.
I have to sound like “Much to do, gotta run” but… much to do, and gotta run(not literally)! There’s a Vitamix presentation at the Whole Foods nearby today I might get to see(along with some friendly faces), and my grocery list is turning in to a catalog. But first, I need to ask, breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Clearly, breakfast foods are my favorite!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 8 so far )Why, Alton, Why?
In case you haven’t heard, Alton Brown totally revamped his diet with some simple rules he follows that has him happier and healthier than ever. That’s great. Good for him. That’s not what gets me. What gets me is how he’s still giving me major pound cake cravings with his shows. Why, Alton, why? You know I don’t have a stash of pound cakes around. And you’re basically telling me a pound cake is one of the hardest things to bake. Don’t do this to me! OK, well after all that I didn’t have a pound cake. BUT I found something remarkably similar.
1/2 An "I Really Need A" Cookie
Maybe it’s not a pound, but these chocolate chip “I really need a” cookies have a full tablespoon of butter(along with plenty of other healthy things like that ;-)) in them. I wasn’t super hungry for a cookie, so I split one with my dad, and covered my half with a little more earth balance. For something that wasn’t a pound cake, this was super good and hit the spot. Take that, Alton. After a great episode of Unwrapped(which I’ll be rewatching today because I’m obsessed with Unwrapped), I made an equally great bowl of oatmeal.
Banana Oatmeal With NuttZo And 2 Goji Almond Oat Cookies
This wasn’t even like oatmeal; it was like warm banana pudding *drool*. I used the same amount of oatbran as usual but cut 1/3 the thick cut oats and added stevia(not a normal oatmeal ingredient) and that made it perfect. Then I topped it with two of the sweetest treats I could find: the last of my almond oat goji gourmet cookies and a dab of NuttZo. If I were more awake, I would have added vanilla to the oatmeal; thankfully, the sweet vanilla of the cookies saved the day–soo good! And then I went to bed a little early after listening to Jay Leno explain what’s been going on himself. All I can say is the NBC executives have really made a mess for themselves.
Backyard Snow
Ironically, today was the day I was thinking “Maybe it will warm up enough for a run”. Haha. Well Mother Nature had another plan, and I’m OK with waiting a little more. I was a little bit extra pumped to do my cardio this morning because last night I downloaded Say Hey and Tick Tock. Those are such pumping songs! I definitely gave Tick Tock and extra listen, even though 1/2 the time I feel too old to be listening to something like that and the other 1/2 too young.
Better Than Roasted Just 4 Nuts Butter
I really had no appetite for anything after stretching, other than trying out this new nut butterBlue Mountain Organics sent. Just 4 nuts? I think that includes me 😀 it has almonds, cashews, pecans, and walnuts, is raw, and has no salt added, so I was very curious how it would all come out.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Just 4 Nuts Butter
Plain Greek Yogurt With Gluten Free Chocolate Mint Brownie
When you can’t get yourself to want greek yogurt, throw a brownie into it. Unfortunately, I’m running out of said greek yogurt fast 😦 On the bright side, the nut butter was delicious! I wasn’t sure how it would come out, whether a muddled or sweet flavor. It was enjoyably sweet, with a nice nutty crunch to it. I think as someone who isn’t a raw purist it’s hard to be “satisfied” with raw and unsalted nut butters but this one was definitely flavorful and artisan.
It’s still snowing 3 hours later! I love it; it looks so nice and fluffy. Here’s a health tip for the day: Did you know organic, thick cut oats at the bulk bins at Whole Foods are just $1.49 a pound? For less than 15 cents, you can have a healthy and green breakfast. What kind of oatmeal do you eat?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 17 so far )Get My Goat
*Check out my guest post on Tina’s Nuval Blog here*
I’ve never understood the phrase “That really gets my goat,” but right now it has a completely different meaning for me. I think that goat’s milk yogurt a few nights ago resparked my love affair with goat’s milk and now I’m craving it like crazy. According to Avery, it’s actually easier to digest because it’s closer to human milk than cow or soy. I just think it tastes amazing. So please, somebody, get my goat(or yours), start milking, and pass me a glass.
Did you know they make goat’s milk chocolate and goat’s milk fudge? Yes. That is what I was investigating last night, because I couldn’t imagine something to better feed my two loves. Because I didn’t have any of that, I decided to settle for chocolate that has no milk by Vivani.
Vivani Organic 72% Dark Chocolate
In fact, this chocolate has none of a lot of things; look at that ingredient list!
Simple Ingredients
3 organic ingredients and that’s it; I think I’m in love. And this bar tasted great, too! It was 72%, which is 2% over my usual and favorite cocoa content. This was just as good as I would have thought, with a great sweetness and a bitter touch. Chocolate will just never get old, will it?
Yesterday, Bobbi posted the recipe for “the healthiest cookie in America”. I have to admit: I was really tempted to make these(along with a few alterations to make them even more healthy). But we have so much frozen cookies right now, more would be ridiculous. Instead, I took out ingredients to recreate them in “the healthiest bowl of oatmeal in America”.
Better Than Roasted Walnuts
The cookies have dark chocolate(antioxidants) and walnuts(healthy fats) in them, so I grabbed some of the walnuts sent to me from Blue Mountain Organics. I kept trying to read the back of the bag to figure out exactly what they do and I must say that I’m still at a loss. But whatever they do, it must work! These were really light and almost like puffed rice. It was quite odd, but cool. The fact that they were so light made them really easy to break up for presentation.
Oatmeal With Dark Chocolate Almond Butter And Walnuts
I topped it with some dark chocolate almond butter to give it antioxidants and more healthy fats. I’ve probably made healthier bowls than this, but it wasn’t bad. I spent the whole time thinking about how they must “roast” the nuts at a really really low temperature and if I could do that. And about how this should be vegan but wasn’t because Maranatha puts milk powder in their dark chocolate almond butter. Doesn’t that make it milk chocolate technically? >:-(
I don’t think that was enough for a first-thing workout, but I just did not get hungry for anything else and ate that oatmeal minutes before falling asleep. But when I woke up I was still pretty drained. I thought I wanted to do cardio, so I set out for a nice stair session, but ended up only doing 100 flights. After that I knew I needed to just take a break, push it off until later, and eat a meal. The funny thing wa though that nothing really sounded “good” to me; thinking about greek yogurt and pumpkin made my stomach feel like it would have to work to digest, so I tried to keep it as easy and smooth as I could.
Banana Oatmeal With Earth Balance Peanut Butter And Fig Jam
Peanut Butter Soy Yogurt With Salt And Nutritional Yeast
The soy yogurt also sort of felt like a “compromise” that would be tough to digest but at least it was a tasty one. I added a little nutritional yeast to give it sort of a cheesiness more like really peanut butter has. And since I try to fit in protein to start the day, the 6g from peanut flour helped. Since pumpkin was too heavy, I used a small banana for the oats and some fig jam(which would go amazing with anything goat’s milk–just saying).
Now I’m wondering if lunch is going to be as hard to find something appetizing as breakfast. Tofu’s on the meal plan but I think I need something that goes down lighter. You didn’t hear it from me, but there might be a giveaway at the end of tonight’s post, following some recipes 😉 I guess you’ll just have to wait and see…
Or, for an instant giveaway, head over to Brandi’s blog for some delicious sounding jams!
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