Mean Miles And Extra Special Blondies
And here I thought a party at the Museum of Science’s skyline suite what special, I had no idea the blondies I’d be cooking up today.
Endangered Species chocolate = amazing pre-running fuel. The milk chocolate with a hint of peanut butter let me down the first time I had it, but now I feel like I get that hint–really subtle hint.
I had fun kind of running around the town and found a new route I liked that came across a reservoir. And it just so happened to be an even number of miles! I love it when that works out. And then I was stahvin’ for a good lunch.
Finishing off a jar of Mighty Maple is always tragic; at least it’s redeemed when it’s in a killer way. A sweet potato with BBQ baked beans, raw tofu chunks, and a scoop of the good stuff. Um, yum. Am I blessed to love the texture of raw, soft tofu or what?
This afternoon snack was missing something…
Perfect. Who says you need to eat the peanut butter on the apple? They taste fine separate š
Tonight, we’re having guests over. I wanted to recreate this recipe. The result was nothing more than “special”, extra “special”. It’sĀ gluten-free and vegan. There are specks of vanilla bean in the batter. And it just tastes damn good. How could it not(with 2 sticks of earth balance)?
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 sticks non-hydrogenated margarine
- 1 cup all-purpose GF baking blend
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum(optional)
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste(or vanilla extract)
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Preheat your oven to 350 and let the margarine sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before working with it. Cream the margarine and the sugar in a large bowl. Sift in all ingredients from flour to xanthan gum(if using). Add the liquids and vanilla paste and mix thoroughly with a large spoon or rubber spatula. Add the chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed. Press into an 8×8 baking pan and bake for35-40 minutes or until the center is set. Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes before slicing. Makes 12 servings.
Now are those fattening, err… “special”, or what?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 10 so far )I’ve Been Waiting
How long might a normal dog take to do his business?
Because mine had me waiting almost 15 minutes as he walked around the whole backyard to find his “perfect” spot.
I’ve been waiting all my life to find a nut butter as good as Mighty Maple. I’m glad that search came to an end last Summer when I found it!
This Summer, it’s all about the coconut milk ice cream. And I’d been waiting to review Luna And Larry’s Coconut Bliss with the free coupon samples I was sent until I was home with a full freezer. Except then it had to thaw for 10 minutes to get scoopable. So I waited…
Done. The chocolate peanut butter flavor wasn’t my favorite rendition of this “classic combo”, but I liked it very much. The ribbons of peanut butter was very flavorful. I just wish there was more of a chocolate bite to all of this somewhere in there because that’s what I missed: A real sharp chocolate.
The texture was definitely more intense than with any other non-dairy ice cream I’ve tried; this was just like a premium Ben & Jerry’s. And I this brand tastes and feels the most like dairy ice cream for any fussy eaters. I’d like to serve this at a party and see if anyone notices, except I’m not sharing š
I was waiting to fall asleep, but I couldn’t so I snacked on a broccoli crown. On The Today show they said raw vegetables were good for dentalĀ hygieneĀ because they’re already kind of like toothbrushes. I could see theĀ resemblance.
And I was waiting weeks until I could finally have almond butter in a jar, and this morning was finally the morning. Trader Joe’s makes the best almond butter. I’m glad we have another 1/2 eaten jar of this somewhere. But apparently the Trader Joe’s near me considers chocolate chips a seasonal item and hasn’t had them for a while. What season is that?! Don’t tell me I’m going to be waiting until September for chocolate chips…
What have you been waiting on? A marriage proposal, perhaps?… After waiting and waiting and waiting, I’ve finally got a new camera I love. I have to be thankful for my old camera, which lasted me 3 1/2 years. But I’m too clumsy, and have dropped it too many times; it was time for retirement.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 13 so far )March To The Beat Of Your Own Drum
It’s one of the simplest things to say, but the hardest to do. And yet, if we can do it in the little places in life, can’t we master it when it matters, too?
We define “serving sizes” all the time. Don’t tell me to eat 10 pieces of ginger Vivani chocolate when they’re made 4 blocks to a row. I know math and that just doesn’t work out unless I’m willing to put a little effort into it. Likewise, there’s no such thing as a tablespoon of Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter or Madhava’s hazelnut agave. There’s a scoop and a squirt and how much that is is how much that is. And ice cream? A serving’s what I left in the pint after the last time I at some. I don’t need a measuring cup, and I don’t even need a cup–just hand me the spoon.
But what if I told you to get to that snickerdoodle So Delicious soy ice cream I had to walk through a room of people drinking and playing beer pong in front of the fridge? And that I was in my pajamas? And that I really didn’t want to be doing that? Fact. Fact. And you bet your booty. It was one hell of an awkward minute I felt like a fish out of water. But what would have been the argument against getting the ice cream? There wasn’t really one, so in the end I knew what was “right”. Besides, the joke should be on them: It was Cinco de Mayo and I saw no margaritas. Really, guys, really?
So where does that leave me, on this most Holy of days, Seis de Mayo. Well, I know a few things. I know I was hungry way before class today and ate my breakfast of Mighty Maple oatmeal and a pineapple Chobani with cashews early. I know I’ll watch Bear Grylls in just about anything and everything he wants to do in his career(see Worst Case Scenario). And I know that I should throw away fears and do what I really want to do more often, because at the end of the tunnel there just might be a pint of ice cream. Now, ifĀ I may quote different strokes…
Now the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum. What might be right for you, may not be right for some. Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 16 so far )Things To Do And Avoid On Those Hot Summer Days
Do wake up at 7 before the weather turns hot to enjoy a nice run around your home streets.
Don’t go out with the mindset “I’m going to find some horses!” not knowing where the nearest horses are and getting lost 7 miles away from your house.
Do call your sleeping parents in a frenzy saying “I’m lost, can you pick me up?” and then wave them off when they find you saying “Naw, I can make the last 3 miles”
Don’t run 14 miles unless you really want to. Personally, that’s a bit too much out on the roads.
Do pour coconut milk on your oatmeal and sweeten your yogurt with gluten-free birthday cake mix instead of plain sugar for some really crazy food pairings that work beautifully.
Don’t eat store-bought apples when you have freshly picked Summer berries lining your countertops. Unfortunately, I don’t have that yet, so I did eat this organic red delicious apple.
Do make simple summer chickpea salads with this invariable formula:
- Greens(iceberg salad mix. Blech)
- Chickpeas(1 cup 365 brand no-salt added)
- Something Creamy(Next Generation Dairy parsley raw & probiotic cheddar)
- An Oil(lemon pepper olive oil)
- Seasoning(all-purpose dill mix with sea salt)
Do go to Target when you’re double fisting gift cards and hit up the sales. I got 2 chocolate bars for $5 and a 4GB memory card for $13 bucks.
Don’t expect chocolate not to melt when you eat it. I think it says something about me that my addiction to chocolate and my hatred towards melted bars almost makes me completely hate the Summer season. I love chocolate.
Do eat about as much ice cream as you can get your hands on, including fun and funky new flavors like green tea coconut milk ala So Delicious. It tasted very coconutty, but I didn’t mind because it made me think of this as some fun Asian boba tea or something. The green tea was actually subtle flavor to the whole thing. Wouldn’t this have been perfect for St. Patrick’s Day?
Don’t take pictures of said ice cream on your new camera which photos you can’t upload onto your computer yet. Whoops! I enjoyed about 2 servings.
Do snack on carrots for something healthy, low-sugar, and filling when you need that added crunch to hold you over.
Don’t waste your afternoon in front of Tivo watching Food Network and Little People Big World. Err, whoops? Well, to be fair, I’m only home for the weekend and need to soak up the goodness while I can š
Do make amazing and delicious desserts like vegan chocolate cupcakes from Sweet Utopia to test out new recipes while cooking for your cousins birthday.
Don’t crush 2 cupcakes by fussing around with the oven lay-out š¦ I still got 18 good ones! And 2 piles of crumbs that will be tasty on just about anything š
Do try new meals, especially when things don’t go as planned. I’m very particular about my sweet potatoes, and these were too soft I tried cooking the tofu and sweet potato together in a pan with walnut oil to crisp them about. It wasn’t amazing, but certainly improved.
Don’t even think about not enjoying those nice Summer nights. If there’s nothing on The Food Network, I spy a Sherlock Holmes DVD to keep me from getting anywhere on my Latin homework.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 12 so far )Homemade Raisinets
One of my favorite Michael Pollan’s Food Rules is “You can eat all the junk food you’d like, so long as you make it yourself”. I couldn’t agree with a thought like this more. Sometimes I wonder, “Is that hamburger and sweet potatoes meal I alway make all that different from a McDonald’s burger and fries?
There are obvious differences: The lack of a refined-grain bun, no added oils or frying, naturally raised and grass-fed beef, etc. But even if my version topped the charts in calories, fat, you name it, I’d still feel 10 times better eating it knowing I made it myself. In fact, the last time I ordered a burger out has to have been August at Ufood Grill. I couldn’t agree more that–on the occasion–having food made for you couldn’t feel like a better treat. But if you’re making from scratch 90% of what you eat, it’s a great way to feel healthy and on top of your game.
Last night, I started craving milk chocolate covered raisins like nothing else. Chocolate’s not so weird for e, but dried fruit? Funky. Even though I didn’t have any, I had all the ingredients. Why not make some? I was sure they’d come out with a cleaner ingredient list than raisinets, anyway. I used raisins from the Whole Foods bulk bins and 3 chunks Trader Joe’s pound plus milk chocolate bar.
I might have overlooked the annoying fact that these needed to dry individually. Eventually I moved them to the refrigerator, which worked much faster.
Voila! Don’t they look authentic? I still can’t believe I was craving dried fruit, but that’s another story. These tasted so much fresher than the raisinets I remember, too. Best of all was not thinking about “How many from a King sized box is a serving?” There was no serving. A serving was how much I made and I ate them all up, happily and healthfully.
Give me some time and I think I could make even dark chocolate covered almonds. But last night it was just a handful of Tierra Farm‘s while passing the time with a book.
So happy to have a fresh can of coconut milk opened that I love. It’s just 365 brand organic, but it’s so much better than the other I’ve tried. Sadly, this was the last good scoop of Justin’s chocolate almond butter :,-( I’m sure I could make my own, but I love the way Justin’s tastes. I hope to find them in stores really soon.
I think we can extend the homemade metaphor to breakfast. As in: No matter what or how much you top oatmeal and yogurt with, it’s healthy so long as you do it yourself. That seems legit, right? My oatmeal was actually quite reserves with just 1 huge plop of mighty maple. Do you think it’s a problem when you start singing “Addicted” by Simple Plan to your peanut butter?
Look where those bears wound up today! Trying to steal some of my chocolate. This was a new bar to me: Dark Chocolate Mint by Divine. It was good and definitely had some minty staying power. I wasn’t a fan of the crisps, though(never am). I’m still infatuated preferring Alter Eco’s dark chocolate mint on this one.
What was your last do it yourself project? Besides these raisinets, I haven’t had much of a chance to play around this semester between everything else A little birdy tells me, however, that there’ll be vegan and gluten-free chocolate cupcakes coming up this weekend…
“If I’m Running, It Ain’t At 6:15”
Good morning! I hope you feel refreshed. I sure do sleeping in. I think I’m still catching up on sleep lost from Saturday night and I knew a 6:15 wake-up was not happening. I was thinking of running soon but I’ll just take a rest day and call the whole thing off.
Can I change the name of the blog to “Oats and peanut butter”? Because that’s all you’re getting today since that’s all I felt like. I blame the fact that something in our hall smelt like freshly roasted peanuts. God, I can’t pass those up. I tried to recreate some sinfully unnutricious Reese’s peanut butter and had a little too much fun putting it on my oatmeal.
Despite the combination of 365 brand peanut butter, Madhava vanilla agave, and vanilla bean sugar, it didn’t really taste that sweet Maybe I wasn’t using as much sweetener as I thought, but I’ve had the agave in peanut butter before and it tasted better than this. Oh well, there’s always the next bowl!
And there was another bowl. This time, it was a more tried-and-true combination of PB&Co.’s Mighty Maple, which you must know I’m addicted to for a sweet peanut butter, and some Scharffen Berger milk chocolate, which is perhaps the dreamiest I’ve ever had but better to get as a gift than pay for yourself. A little sea salt to this and it was like a gourmet peanut butter cup. Yum.
It felt very good this morning to have time to sip coffee, walk around, check email and blog all before having to do much activity; that’s definitely not how my Tuesday/Thursdays would go otherwise. Eventually, my taste buds led me to yet more oats and peanut butter…
I broke open a new can of pumpkin and had to celebrate with Naturally Nutty‘s butter toffee peanut butter. And for a fun yogurt-mess, I started with a fruity flavor of Chobani and added some fruity chocolate.
I remembered really loving the combination of pomegranate and citrus chocolate so I thought I’d try it with Vivani’s orange dark chocolate. The combination was good, but not quite magical. Vivani’s dark chocolate is just a little too dark to let the sweetness of the citrus shine. Of course, since I love their 72% dark chocolate, I knew this could never be a bad bar š
And now in between classes I’m the luckiest man and get to take a trip to Whole Foods. I did not realize how low on oat bran I was when I went on Sunday! The answer? Very low! I usually only use Trader Joe’s oatbran, but since he’s 10+ miles away the bulk bins will have to do. And if I put this off any longer I’ll never be back in time for my next class. See you tonight!
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