Marriages Made In Heaven
News all over Twitter is that there was a marriage made in heaven today for one blogger. Allow me to steal that and totally abuse it for thematic purposes.
I think it’s well documented that me and chocolate have a deep, deep love affair. Would you bet it’s so great that I was willing to run 5 miles down the road for a gluten-free brownie at 11am? The only problem was that the store opened at noon. Whoops! At least I got a good run out of the deal?
It’s great that raw veggies and Summer salads marry so easily because then I get the best of both worlds. I haven’t liked corn for the longest time, until I tried it raw today thanks to Lauren(who just rocked a Boston half-marathon!). Anyway, raw corn = amazing. It was like adding sugar to the salad and went so well with olives and olive cashew nut cheese. Yum!
Chocolate + Peanut butter. Yes. As much as I want to marry chocolate, I’ll allow it to have its mistress. This has to be one of my favorite ice creams. It’s so perfect, I don’t feel the need at all to try to make it myself. I will just bask in its c+pb perfection.
If I’m like a married person in anyway, it’s that I’m always over a hot stove. Today, I decided to make my own BBQ sauce! The recipe isn’t perfect or flavorful enough yet, so I’ll keep it in my pocket. But it’s so much fun to make your own condiments, I have to say, you should go out(or in) and try it!
Is polygamy legal? Because peanut butter totally has a thing going with local raw honey. As it should; Nothing beats the sweet + salty combo in my books. I ate that over a plain Chobani because really lacking on the protein as of late and that definitely helped to be a filler.
There was also an apple consumed before dinner. That is not invited to the wedding. At all. The last few apples I’ve had have just been way too sub-par. I think we need a “break” like Ross and Rachel.
Everything came together perfect for dinner. It was a symphony of tofu marinated in BBQ sauce and grilled along with some salty sweet potato fries. The onions that were in the sauce got strained out but rather than throw them away, I used them as a topping. Brilliant! They were oh-so flavorful. Have I mentioned how much I love onions as of late? I think that’s another (stinky-breath) marriage right there.
Sweet or salty? Even with my abundant love for chocolate and ice cream, I simply couldn’t live without salty food(hello, Indian cuisine!). That’s probably why I’d sooner opt for a bottle of soy sauce than BBQ sauce. I know they make reduced sodium; do they make enhanced sodium?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 13 so far )A Sweet Deal: Local Raw Honey
If you’ve been reading for the past week, you’d know my newest obsession: local, raw honey.
Raw Local Honey
You’ve seen me eat it on yogurt…
Plain Chobani With Local Raw Honey
And all by itself…
Raw Local Honey
Of course, honey is new to none. And I’ve used it to bake plenty of times before. So why the obsession? Local honey is simply not “just” another sweetener or sugar substitute. I hope to convince you by the end that this is some of the best medicine for your body and soul.
Honey is produced from bees. Specifically, a beekeeper takes the honeycombs from the hive and squeezes out the honey often through a strainer like a cheesecloth. Mass-produced honey is often heated to high temperatures to make it the translucent, neutrally flavored sweetener found in supermarkets. “Raw” honey is never heated above the temperature of the hives, keeping the enzymes in tact and making for a thicker, more crystallized product.
Raw honey can be bought at most natural grocer’s stores and even Trader Joe’s now. However, while this is marginally better than mass-produced honey, I would assert that it’s not what you should be looking for. The real health benefits of honey lie in locally produced jars. Look for these at a farmer’s market, or even some small natural grocers might be supplied by local producers.
Local honey has a laundry list of benefits. Like all honey, it’s a source of energy. It lubricates the throat. It can aid poor digestion and keeps bad bacteria from growing in the stomach(source). The greatest benefit from local honey comes from the allergens. Because it’s unpasteurized, the allergens from the air which the bees fed on is still present. And because it’s local, this is the same allergens in the air which you yourself breed. And so, by eating the honey, you’re introducing these to your body, but in a limited form. By doing so, you build your resistance to the allergens(source). A lot of people–including myself–would swear by raw honey as protection against these over the Summer.
Manuka honey from New Zealand is prized as one of the most holistic, but runs a high price. Trader Joe’s honey is raw, but manufactured in Mexico. And so, which is the best for you? I would argue whichever is produced closest to home. That way, the allergens the bees feed off of are most similar to the ones you breathe. Look for honey producers at a farmers’ market.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 12 so far )How To Have A Staycation
Staycation: A vacation spent at home or nearby(merriam-webster)
Did you know Italy could be in the town right next to yours? And later in the freezer? Italia est mi amor.
At The Colosseum
On The Ponte Vecchio
The Vatican On Palm Sunday
I’ve been there twice and both times have been pure magic. Looking back at the pictures makes me want to go again. Of course, all of this was pre-foodie days so there’s no pictures of the mountains of pizza I consumed.
Last night, I decided we’d take a staycation to Italy. Really, do you have to go 1000s of miles to eat good food, overindulge, and open your wallet? Not really. You can do that all at home!
Tomasso
Dinner took place at my favorite Italian restaurant nearby: Tomasso Trattoria. This place is the real deal; I was listening to twitter updates from them all day about how they got a fresh pig in and were roasting it. Heaven.
Roasted Pig With Fennel And Local Greens
For my Secondi I ordered the special: roasted suckling pig stuffed with garlic and fennel sausage, radicchio in agrodolce, local field greens. With a Contorni:
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Roasted fingerling potatoes with sage. Yes, I am 110% a meat and potatoes person. The fennel was too vinegary for my own taste so I passed those off. I loved how rich and fatty and well cooked the meat was; a little salt and it melted in my mouth. And I think white potatoes are my true passion; these were divine. Another great meal in Italy, err… at Tomasso’s.
Starbucks Sumatra Decaf
All good Italian desserts start with a good cup of coffee. This was to die for. I swear, this Sumatra blend didn’t even need sugar or stevia or any sweetness. I won’t say that about a lot of hot drinks!
Scharffen Berger Bittersweet
For dessert, there was a little dark chocolate. I don’t think I’d tried this one before. Tres magnifique!(yes, I know that’s French). But I think the price and smaller portion will have me not buying this one again.
Talenti Tahitian Vanilla Bean Gelato
Finally, it was time to get my Italian gelato. I picked up this brand on this blogger’s recommendation. I love how they add a little lemon for a vanilla flavor–so Italian!
Talenti Tahitian Vanilla Bean Gelato
Dreamy. Creamy. Deliciouso. Do you know the difference between gelato and ice cream? Ice cream legally has 10% or more butterfat, whereas gelato has less. It’s also churned at a slower rate, meaning less air is added into it and the product is denser. That was my Italian history lesson for the day.
Gluten-Free Biscuit With Walnut Butter And Sea Salt
On the flight home, we had a layover in the South, so I ate one of their biscuits and topped it with Artisana Walnut Butter and sea salt. I hate layovers, but I love these biscuits so I went ahead and ate another.
Oats In A Butter Toffee Peanut Butter Jar, Plain Oikos With Local Honey
The best part of a staycation? No jet lag. No unpacking. And only a slight sense of “OH, I really need to hit the gym now after that”. Yes, I do believe I’ve found a love for staycation, along with my pre-existing loves for local raw honey and butter toffee peanut butter. Speaking of Naturally Nutty, you can win some in Averie’s giveaway! Let’s recap:
How To Have A Staycation
1. Pick the cuisine. Italian? French? Hell, you could take a whole tour across Europe if you want!
2. Find the local spot. Look for the best “authentic” restaurant. Now is not the time to drive around and stop at the first place called “Georgio’s” only to find it’s a greasy pizza joint.
3. Plan the night out. From dinner to dessert, just have a plan and things will run smoother.
4. Make use of groceries. Now might be a good time and excuse to buy that French wine you’d been eyeing that was out of your budget. Like my gelato, the food frontier doesn’t just have to be in a restaurant.
5. Forget about the costs. Since a staycation is meant to be taken in place of a mini-vacation, treat it like one and let your worries go for the time being.
6. When in doubt, take a rain check. Didn’t get reservations at the restaurant of your dreams? Unless the staycation needs to be taken that day, put it off until you can do it right.
Where do you want to take your next staycation? I think Greece is on the travel plans for me.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 14 so far )That’s The Last Time I’ll Ever…
Eat “real food” for breakfast because I’m not craving oatmeal or yogurt. The fact is, I just love my sweet and hot carbs first thing, and if I’m not craving it at first I’ll be craving it 30 minutes later.
Vegan Chocolate Fudge
After yesterday, no more eating fudge straight from the pan with a spoon. Does that ever lead down the road somewhere good? I don’t think so.
9 Miles
My run was full of lessons and “lasts”. From now on, I won’t push off a workout to better fit my snack schedule, run without proper form, or be so unprepared for running in the heat. I think all of those things go without question. But the biggest mistake of all would have been not finishing what I started when I could, so I wrapped up at the 9 miles I planned.
Oh, and I’ll never run again without praying Sex Bomb comes on itunes shuffle because that’s just too funny.
Plain Chobani With Local Raw Honey
I will never go a day without eating some local raw honey. It’s new to me, but I’d swear by it. Expect a health post soon about why it’s so good and why I love it so much.
I’m pretty sure the last time I abused my grandmother for a ride to the grocery store I said I wouldn’t do it again. Whoops. To be fair, she abused me to pump her gas for her, so really it was a win-win situation today.
Raw Whole Milk, Oatmeal With Chocolate Peanut Butter And Peanuts
Now I can’t say I don’t drink milk anymore. I honestly do not remember the last time I drank a glass of milk. Over the past 10 years, the closest thing I’ve had is Silk Nog. In my family, no one drank milk; you put it in your coffee and tea. That’s probably because all we ever have around is crappy Garelick 1%, which–let’s face it–might as well be water. Well, apparently now I do drink raw, whole milk from local, grass-fed cows along with a bowl of oatmeal and Justin’s chocolate peanut butter. Sometimes.
Oatmeal With Cookie Dough Peanut Butter
I’ve bought chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter for the last time. Why? Well, besides the fact that the company no longer exists, my recipe is much more cleaner and it’s so much more fun to make your own food. Don’t you think?
Clearly, if I eat vegetables and meat at breakfast, I take that as license to eat oats and yogurt all day. Hopefully, that won’t be on the menu for tonight, which should be done Italiana style.
What have you recently sworn off? After today’s Oprah, I think she needs to hang up her music career. But she’s definitely rich enough to do what she wants in my mind.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 12 so far )Too Much Nature For Me
Sometimes, I have to look at how my post makes me seem and laugh; I swear I’m not too crunchy granola, really 😉 I do have limits to my love of nature. Bloggers, do you feel like your blog persona is never the true you?
Vegan Peanut Butter Fudge
I snacked on vegan peanut butter fudge before my run. Not only was I nervous about the thought of a 14-miler after 3 days of not running, but to make things work I looked out my window and say a big, black ball in my draveway. It turned out to be a wild turkey, and this one looked mean 
He left and soon enough I was off.
14 Miles
The highlight of the run, by far, was running past a beautiful, big brown cow who looked straight at me going by. The decaying possum on the side of the road I had to pass twice? Yeah, not so much. Oh, and the joy of everything was just finishing!
Raw Salad With Cherry Tomatoes And Olive Cashew Cheese, Multigrain FTSG Chips
Since raw food takes no cooking, why not have a raw meal for quick post-run recovery? I mad a simple salad with arugula, spinach, basil, and olive oil, and tossed grape tomatoes in sea salt and black pepper.
Raw Olive Cashew Cheese
We bought this cheese on this occasion at Grezzo’s and I finally dethawed it. Wow, is it delicious! It doesn’t really remind me of cheese, or cashews. It’s so unique. And somehow I insist I’m not that crunchy granola 😉
Red Delicious Apple
Dessert was an apple, and then I was off!
Wolf Hill Farm
Raw Local Honey
I went down to the local farm to get more honey. Apparently, I can go through almost a pound of honey a week–who knew?! I love supporting a local farmer, but… I really wish the middle aged woman running it would buy a support bra with all that support I’m giving. Now she is that crunchy granola.
Plain Chobani With Honey And Crunchy PB
This afternoon snack was a no-brainer: yogurt with honey and peanut butter. So good! It helps to mask that plain favor I despise so much. Have you seen the new blue containers? I think I dig them more than the pink, but it’ll take some getting used to.
Coconut Ice Cream With Crunchy PB
And before dinner I polished off a coconut coconut milk ice cream to make room in the freezer. Adding peanut butter to ice cream is never as good than ice cream with peanut butter already in it. I think it needs a little extra sweetness.
Black Beans With Daiya, Peppered Potato Wedges With Caramelized Onions
Dinner was a lot of carbs with a new recipe! I’ll be posting it Saturday night, so potato fans keep an eye out 😉 I have just come to love the white potato over the past few weeks. Maybe I was Irish in a past life? The only thing that disgust me is cleaning the potato itself, especially once it’s started to grow stars. Ew, ew, ew! Too much nature for me.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 12 so far )An Eventful Day In Boston Part 1
Good evening! What’s a perfect way to spend an evening?
Homemade Iced Tea
Sipping half-caf iced tea with lemon and stevia. Superb. Last night, I was flipping back and forth between Survivor and Brothers & Sisters. All I can say is WOW to both of them. Brothers & Sisters got a little predictable towards the end, but that didn’t make it any less good. Anyway, the food.
Green & Black's Ginger Dark Chocolate
I absolutely love this chocolate now on my 2nd bar. And I might have bought another at Whole Foods since it was on sale. Maybe. Anyway, I’ll have to throw up a review page for it. All I can say are ginger and chocolate were meant to be. I also had a handful of baby carrots around this time, which I saw a better option than more chocolate. Again, maybe.
Oatmeal With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter, Local Raw Honey
Before hitting the hay I made a bowl of oatmeal with Naturally Nutty‘s butter toffee peanut butter and some local raw honey on the side for dippage. Yum! The honey is definitely a new addiction; I snuck down stairs afterwards for another scoop. Did it help me fall asleep? Probably not, but it was good.
Speaking of sleep, I woke up with my alarm, hopped in the bathroom, and then started getting all my clothes ready, and still felt really really tired. After I put in my contacts, I saw that I set my alarm for 6:20 instead of 7:20. Whoops. I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I just made an extra special breakfast.
Cooking A Hash
Practice makes perfect; that’s what the owner of Nick’s On Broadway told me himself. Let’s just think of him as my hashpiration 😉 This one started with earth balance, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, red onion, and basil. I then added some EVOO for a different flavor.
Sweet Potato And Potato Home Fries With Basil, Scrambled Tofu, Mighty Maple
This one was much better than the other ones I’ve made(all 2 of them); I think the earth balance added a much needed butter flavor but from a vegan source. The scrambled tofu was so much simpler than I would have thought: just tofu and nutritional yeast cooked in whatever fat the potatoes didn’t take up. And it was all super tasty and filling.
Maybe it’s just because I’ve been stuck home the past week, but Boston seemed so alive today. Several schools, including my dad’s college, were having graduations, so joyful families were everywhere. I started my day at Whole Foods to get some coffee(the same one where Gisele Bundchen shops), and then meandered to the graduation I was attending.
Cashew Cookie Larabar
I snacked on a cashew cookie larabar beforehand. It was a terrific ceremony and it was great to congratulate everyone. But rather than stick around I was really excited to go to my favorite Boston restaurant and keep the raw vegan theme rolling. I took the T and walked down to the North End(not easy for someone self-proclaimed “T-literate”). But look what I found when I got there!
"Grezzo Is Closed"
Yes, it’s true, unfortunately. The owner explains the reasons on her blog here. In the larger picture, I’m very sad to see the very thing that introduced me to raw veganism disappear like that. I felt like it was a Boston institution. On a much more limited scale. What was I to do for lunch? I was starving by this point and in a part of Boston I almost never go. Would I find somewhere good? Would I ever eat raw again?
Have you ever had a favorite spot close down on you? Where was it?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 20 so far )Better Than Candy
I promise you something in this post is actually better than candy! 8-| Did you ever expect to hear that from me?!
Trader Joe's Almond Butter
It was not this extra scoop of Trader Joe’s almond butter I had with breakfast. Almond butter is good–it’s really good. But it’s not candy…
Vegan Chocolate Fudge
And my microwave vegan chocolate fudge doesn’t count because it is candy. I just have to say I love a life where I can wake up and before doing anything else make fudge; that makes me a happy boy 🙂
9 Laps
This run was so long, and so brutal; the winds were intense today and it felt like wherever I ran, I was going into them. It doesn’t help that my neighborhood is hilly or that I forgot to stretch after yesterday’s run(rookie mistake). But I’m always prouder of a tough run I stuck out than a longer run that felt easy.
Yellow Curry Tofu Over Vegetables
This was certainly not candy. Whatever made a New England boy think he could cook Thai food? I just heated up tofu in a pan and simmered it with coconut milk and yellow curry paste. It was delicious, but I was a little too quick to throw in extra salt and garlic, so that my mouth was on fire. I couldn’t in good conscious feed this to anyone without having them sign a waiver.
Lipton Lemon 0 Calorie Naturally Sweetened Pure Leaf Iced Tea
I cooled down with this new tea from Lipton I was sent to review. Oh. My. God. All through high school, I had an addiction to Arizona diet iced tea, which I guzzled faster than water. This was like that and so much more; the flavors of lemon and black tea really shined and it was all perfectly sweetened with stevia! This can’t get on store shelves fast enough in my mind.
Oatmeal With Honey Maple Peanut Butter
Organic Fuji Apple
Over the course of the afternoon I snacked on an organic apple and oatmeal with high-protein honey maple peanut butter. The peanut butter tastes OK–certainly not better than candy–and is only high protein because of whey powder(not a fan) so I probably won’t buy another container once I’m done with this one. So what was better than candy?
Raw Local Honey
Raw local honey. How local?
Local Farm
Let’s just say I walked there and back in less than 15 minutes. When I got there, I asked the woman who runs it if they sold raw honey and she looked at me as if to say “Are there fish in the sea?” God I love rural America. Anyway, I bought a jar, walked home, and dug in with a spoon.
Raw Local Honey
Oh my stars. Words can not express how good this tasted. No honey I have ever had compares to raw, crystallized honey. This was the best $6 I have ever spent. Expect a lot of this over the Summer; she tells me the hives are almost ready for a second turn, whatever the hell that means.
Grilling
After not having meat since Wednesday and writing this scathing post on my hatred towards “veganism” but love of a plant based diet, I finally wanted meat again, and so we happily fired up the grill.
Grass-Fed Burger Over Bitter Greens, Grilled Potato Fries, Pickle
What says American comfort food better than a burger and fries? Just making the healthy swaps of grass-fed beef and grilling the fries in a moderate amount of EVOO really pumped up the nutrition of this meal, too. Now I won’t lie: That honey jar sitting on the counter is looking really good right about now.
Winning this giveaway would also be sweet like candy, too…
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 9 so far )Someone Thinks I’m A Healthy Blogger
Well, it might not be clear through all the chocolate I eat…
Divine Mint Dark Chocolate
…But believe it or not I do fall under the “health food blogger category”. And now I’m excited to say I’ll be a featured publisher for that, too! Foodbuzz is releasing a special section devoted to healthy living and I’ve been accepted as a publisher! First of all, you can friend me and buzz my profile here. Of course, I’ll still be having the same fun and friendly blog. I’ll just be sure to emphasize on occasion a new healthy recipe(like banana goodness bread) or deeper info on a health-related topic(like how gluten affects me). And if you have a Foodbuzz account, please friend and buzz me! Of course, I’ll always be a chocolate reviewer at heart…
Vivani Dark Chocolate With Ginger
Vivani Dark Chocolate With Ginger
I think I’m on a ginger dark chocolate kick. After trying Green & Black’s last night, I had to see what Vivani had to offer. I liked their bar, but not quite as much. The ginger was perfect; I just wish there was a tad more of it. But the combination of ginger and dark chocolate is a new favorite in my book! It also seems that, in the time since Vivani sent me several of their bars to review, they’ve completely renewed their line; I’d be interested to see if they become more widely available now.
Oatmeal With Honey And Peanut Butter
I finished the night with a little honey in my oatmeal; sometimes, there’s nothing better than fragrant, warm honey.
Peanut Choco' Nature's Path Organic Bar
This morning, I had the pleasure not to have a 9am class. I slept in(just a bit) and decided still to run first thing. I snacked on a Peanut Choco’ Nature’s Path Chewy Granola Bar while sipping some coffee before making my way down. An empty gym is definitely food for the soul, too, when it comes to relaxation
12 Miles In 1:45:18
105 minutes later, I had gone 12 miles. The run wasn’t much more exciting than what was on TV, which was the Today Show. Have you heard of Sandra Bullock’s baby adoption and how they’re willing to work together through divorce to both be parents of Louis? That’s such a sweet and at the same time heartbreaking story; I still have secret hopes she’ll reconcile with Jesse James.
What “healthy” subjects would you like to see touched upon more? I’m all ears! And tonight I can’t wait to announce a blogging milestone. Until then, just click around a bit, read a few recipes to get us there quicker 😀
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 14 so far )As Unpredictable As The Weather
Such computer drama! I think mine is dying if not dead 😦 I’m blogging from the library now. As a blogger and a student, this is a nightmare. Bear with me through what could be an awful week
Pomegranate Chobani With Organic White Chocolate
Green & Black's White Chocolate
Last night I predictably wanted a greek yogurt chocolate mess for dessert. Unpredictable was the white chocolate; it’s so much easier to find good dark chocolate than white, but the Easter bunny picked out this Green & Black’s organic white chocolate to give a shot. He I enjoyed it a lot, though it’s not quite as good as Divine‘s; the key to amazing white or milk chocolate is not milk powder but butterfat as the source of dairy. Unfortunately, all the Whole Foods in the area seemed to not carry Divine‘s anymore 😦
Oatmeal With Organic Cinnamon Vanilla Almond Butter
Right before bed was a bowl of oatmeal with organic cinnamon vanilla almond butter from Naturally Nutty. I was definitely in an almond butter mood from blog reading 😉 Though I like my almond butters a bit thicker than this was last night–not sure why. But the flavor was so earthy and delicious!
Cranberry Crunch Lite Perfect Foods Bar
On the way to the gym this morning I ate a cranberry crunch lite Perfect Foods bar. I was craving something honey and the raw honey that these bars made with has soooo much flavor. Unfortunately, this was the last of my pack 😦 I’m seriously considering ordering a case of the peanut butter or carob chip–they’re that good; I just need to prioritize and fix things like, say, my computer.
10 Miles In 88:04
If you had told me I would want to wake up at 6:15 and run 10 miles, I would have thought you were nuts. But I did! Last night, I decided I completely missed the morning rest, The Today Show–the entire package. These 10 miles seemed to fly by. I found it funny that, in my time on the treadmill, the forecast went from “chance of late afternoon showers” to no showers. Guess what the weather was doing when I got out of class at 10:30… I’m finding a new weatherwoman.
Vanilla Soy Yogurt With Milk Chocolate Peanuts, Plain Greek Yogurt With Honey And Banana
I packed this breakfast before class. I forgot how amazing plain yogurt with New Hampshire honey could be; I don’t even normally like bananas but that completely pulled the flavors together. And the milk chocolate peanut sunspires were the candy on top 🙂 Now I seriously need to organize my life. I can’t blog in the library forever; I’ve got sweet potatoes in the oven! See you later(maybe?)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 16 so far )The Birthday Day
First of all, thank you. For everything. I haven’t had time to say that enough between the half marathon and my birthday, so I wanted to get that out from the start. These past two days have been hectic but I panned them that way after all and so thank you for all your well wishes. Over the past two days, 1) my official time and place was announced as 1:42:10 and 36, 2) Megan wrote this article which I really enjoyed pausing to take the time to read and I think you might as well, and 3) my Wellness giveaway is still running so get your entries in!.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Butter Toffee PB, Vanilla Cake Chobani With Milk Choc Peanuts
Vanilla Cake Chobani With Milk Chocolate Peanuts
For breakfast I had plain ol’ pumpkin oatmeal with butter toffee peanut butter, which we’re running out of here and at my dorm so clearly it’s time to reorder Naturally Nutty. I sweetened a plain Chobani with 1/2 a serving Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free vanilla cake mix for something really yummy. On top were also one of my favorites–milk chocolate peanuts–making this definitely one special birthday breakfast.
Spelt Banana Goodness Bread
Since it was raining, I took the chance to do something I haven’t done in over 4 weeks: bake! Runners gotta run and bakers gotta bake. Since going low-gluten, I’ve discovered that one of the wheats I can tolerate is spelt. Spelt is an ancient, non-hybrid grain whose gluten is generally accepted better. Hearing that, I whipped up one of my favorite recipes, the banana goodness bread. A good bread has plenty of brown sugar on top to turn into a crust 🙂
Honey Baked Tofu
I decided to do a “practice” for something to make for Easter Sunday and try baking a tofu “ham” with honey and cloves. The result was OK, but it really didn’t come out like I was thinking it would, and I much prefer maple anyway. Who needs to stick to tradition?
Honey Pineapple Soyaki Tofu And Asparagus
Spelt Banana Goodness Bread
The honey with some soyaki Trader Joe sauce was actually really good and made it taste a little “tropical”; it reminded me of the Wildwood tofu I reviewed a while ago. For a vegetable, there was asparagus. And because bread tastes freshest, I had a slice of banana goodness bread made with spelt, chocolate chips, and hemp seeds(!!). The hemp added a great subtle nuttiness to it that I preferred to the flax.
Apple
Even though I wasn’t running, I felt like I could eat and eat and eat. This apple came while I was cleaning up dirty dishes and waiting for my next baked good to cook…
Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
You all didn’t think I posted that recipe last night for no reason, did you? I made a batch of gluten free chocolate brownies done peanut butter style. I had such difficulty finding the black beans, wondering why they weren’t with the baking items?! I definitely had no patience, ended up cutting into them way too early, and making 1/4 of the pan turn into crumbs. Nevertheless, I got my slice.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie With Chocolate Chip Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Brownie a la mode, anyone? I’ve actually never understood the combination of cold ice cream and warm brownie–until yesterday that is. It’s not that you want the contrast between the two, you just want brownies and ice cream and so take both 🙂 This was So Delicious, pun intended, but not terribly filling. Why not have more?
Coconut Milk Vanilla Yogurt With Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie
Did you know the same amount of So Delicious ice cream and yogurt has just about the same amount of sugar? In fact, a lot of flavored yogurts are just as sugary as some ice cream brands. Maybe I should have just had the ice cream, lol. At least this had probiotics. And after this grand afternoon snack I was filled well for dinner, which we ate at Tomasso.
Grilled Local Chicken, Sage Roasted Fingerlings, Broccoli Rabe
Holy yum, a dinner I didn’t have to cook! At first, I was a little disappointed the prezzo fisso menu wasn’t that appealing nor were the specials; I ended up ordering(for the first time, too, probably) just off the everyday menu local Misty Knoll chicken, roasted potatoes, and broccoli rabe. Let me tell you, the chicken and potatoes were to die for. Seriously, I have a little for leftovers and can’t wait to have them. I don’t think I’ve eaten local chicken before, either! So it was special after all.
Raw Vegan Brownies
When we got home I whipped, err, processed up dessert. I made a batch of raw vegan brownies using sunflower and hulled hemp seeds; I love that a raw recipe can be so no-fuss and still taste great and exotic! I made a quick and raw coconut milk frosting using about 2 parts coconut milk and agave to 1 part cocoa powder.
Raw Vegan Brownie With Raw Chocolate Frosting, So Delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Brownie a la mode was definitely the theme of the day 😉 The chocolate peanut butter swirl ice cream never gets old; it’s just pure magic, and such a fine, natural replacement for my old Turkey Hill addiction. And anything with frosting never disappoints 😉
Raw Vegan Brownie
I snagged one last brownie, because, ya’ know, they’re best when they’re freshest out of the food processor. They’re also little sugar bombs, which is probably why I was up 2 hours later, but I got to sleep… eventually. All in all, it was a great great day, and that’s coming from someone who has a tendency to inflate the importance of things and create impossible expectations. I drank too many cups of decaf coffee to count, ate a lot of sugar, and couldn’t get out for a run because of the constant deluge here in New England, and I’m OK with all of that because that’s what special days are for.
I can’t believe all the Facebook notifications in my mailbox right now; did it have to send one everytime someone posted on my wall? Now I have the morning to deal with that. I’ve also decided I’m going to try to go low/no added sugar today and without sweetened beverages; after yesterday, my palate is just begging to taste something other than sweet. I managed to keep my breakfast “clean”, but I’ll save that for the next post. In the meantime, here are giveaways for a refrigerator makeover, my favorite brand chocolate, gluten-free goodies, a gluten free cheesecake giveaway, and one for coconut oil.
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