Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Crashing Vespas in Italy

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This begins the start of the Bad News Bears portion of the trip.

After Valpolicalla we boarded a train to Cormons in the Friuli region.  Trains in Europe are a whole other beast.  The 3 of us are not accustomed to public transportation (it isn’t prevalent in the South), so tackling the Italian train system was… interesting.  There were a lot of changes and a couple of times I was just crossing my fingers we were headed in the right direction!

We finally made it to Cormons around 9p – I was STARVING, but we still had to walk to our B&B.  I’m not sure how far it was, but let me tell you it felt like 10 miles because the wheels on my suitcase BROKE!

I carried that $%&^*n 50 pound bag all the way there.  I’ve never been to happy that I lift weights regularly in my life!  It wasn’t funny at the time but later I’ll post a pic of me carrying it up the stairs in a train station.  It is pretty comical – that thing is bigger than I am!

Our B&B, Borgo San Daniele was beautiful, even at night.  Even more beautiful was that our hostess had a full tasting of their wines (which I drank a but too fast following the bag carrying-adventure) and a ton of cheese and cured meats (proscuitto de San Danielle is the most incredible stuff ever).  Followed by desserts and grappa.  I was so tired that I didn’t remember a picture until the dessert.

We woke up the next day and I decided to go for a jog through Cormons.  This would have been a great idea after the wine the night before; however, my knee wasn’t having it.  You seen, I had the brilliant idea to go for a run the day we were flying to Italy.  Wellllll… I tripped and landed directly on my right knee (which is my bad knee, naturally).  It swelled up like a melon on the plane, making me generally miserable by the time we landed.

Anyhow, my “jog” through Cormons turned into a limping walk followed by some ab work in a park I stumbled upon.  This was the last time I’d work out until the last day of the trip.  That’s unheard of for me!

Back the the beautiful…

Next on our “to do” list was to rent Vespas and drive ~30 km north of Cormons to Cividale.  It’s a wine road (though we weren’t about to taste and try to drive scooters!) and we were told that the town of Cividale was a “must see.”

Don’t I look like a natural?

PSA: Driving a Vespa is not as easy as it looks.

We crashed that thing.  Twice.

Who just hands you keys to a scooter without any instruction?!  The uber chill Italians, that’s who.

I laid thing thing down on the way there and Corinne did it on the way back.  Mine scraped the whole side of the Vespa!  And I landed on my hurt knee side.

Corinne’s at-fault bruised up my hip and her stomach.  I wish I’d gotten a pic of the bruise on my hip on days 3 or 4 – it turned black!

War wounds

We did make it to Cividale, but were pretty shaken by the time we arrived.  Shaken and hungry.

Some German guests we met during the previous night’s tasting suggested we try the Salame all acela and the Frico and at Al Campanile.  Being so close to the Austrian border (and Germany), we decided to trust them!

Al Campanile

They didn’t steer us wrong!  The Salame alla acela was amazing served warm with cooked onions and polenta.  The Frico was good, but quite heavy with all the fried potatoes and cheese.  It was very German!

Salame all Acela

Frico

But the best part was… a very fresh arugula salad and a cold bier (much-needed after the harrowing ride on the Vespa).

Refreshed Slightly less frazzled, we spent the next several hours exploring Cividale.  It is pretty tiny, but there we tons of quaint little streets to wander up and down.

With helmets… at this point safety was paramount.

We tour like rockstars – go big or go home!

Gelato Flavor of the Day: Pesca (peach)

Everyone was a little sad when it was time to return the Vespas to Cormons.  Mostly because we were scared to drive them back.  

I was scared to turn in the scraped Vespa because it was paid for on my card.  Valid fear – yesterday I spent 30 mins on the phone with American Express filing a claim for the $413 Euro the rental place charged me for damage.  That’s almost $600 USD.

Moving right along… nerve-calming aperitif at Jazz & Wine and dinner at Ai Due Fratelli.  The dinner spot was a recommendation for our new friend Erika, the bartender at Jazz & Wine.  We have her to thank for one of the top meals of the trip!

Spaghetti with clams and a fantastic clam-olive oil-butter-garlic sauce

Eggplant with red sauce (much like an eggplant parm with out the heavy fry)

Some delicious grilled fish that I can no longer name…

Wait.  Where’s the wine?  Did we not order a bottle of white with dinner in the region most famous for it’s Pinot Grigios, Friulanos, and Ribollas?

Silly Rabbit, of course we did!  White wine, noir-style.

We selected a bottle of the Ribolla, which is a light-bodied, floral wine from the region.  It also has hints of lemon, which played well with the fish.  The Friulanos tend to be sweeter and the Pinot Grigios are what you see most often in the States.  Being red wine fans, we chose more acidic and obscure white. 🙂

Post-dinner we headed back Wine & Jazz to hang out with Erika and some other soon-to-be new friends.

I like sparkly things. Including wine.

Italy Milestone: first bar we closed down during our trip.

Speaking of wine… I’m almost through the first 1/3 of the cleanse!

Interesting observation/learning: it is EXTREMELY difficult it is to be vegan (and bread-free) while on the road.  It took the Ritz 2 hours to figure out how to make me wild rice and grilled veggies for dinner on the first night of my stay!  They did apologize and offer a free glass of wine… which I turned down (sorry for the cold front – hell hath frozen over).

As nice as they were about making me a special meal… I was starving after it took so long to prepare.  Sadly, there wasn’t nearly enough food on my plate and it was really oily.  Ritz fail.

For breakfast I wandered down the street to a local St. Louis/Clayton coffee chain called Kaldi’s with the hope that they would be able to make a smoothie for me.  Success – they guys there were super nice and made me a delicious berry–banana smoothie WITH the protein powder I brought with me.  

Special Diet Travel Tip: pack your own protein powder (BYOP!) and locate a smoothie place.  They will use your powder!  If you enjoy cinnamon if your smoothies like I do, go ahead and toss some in the baggie with your powder before you leave home.  It worked perfectly!  I’m a little shocked I didn’t get search by TSA with my bag of powder!

It was so good that I returned for lunch to have a delicious vegetable soup with a (modified) Greek salad.  They (once again) went above and beyond to customize my food and were incredibly nice about it.  Thanks for making my day, Kaldi’s!

I was actually nervous to call down for dinner after the previous night’s ordeal, but steeled up and dialed room service again.

The Ritz pulled through for dinner this time – they were ready for me!  Perfectly cooked wild rice with steamed french green beans, asparagus and spinach with cherry tomatoes on the side.  Not too oily or over salted this time!  Ritz win.

***

All that flying on Delta will call for some Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls soon ehough. 😉

Do you have any trips for traveling on a special diet?

Have you ever been on Vespa?  Would you try it in a foreign country?

Valpolicella and Amarone 101

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This was the day I looked forward to most on the trip. 

We traveled about 30 miles outside of Verona to Valpolicella where my favorite wine is produced – Amarone.

We booked a tour through a company called VeronAround.  Our guides, Daniel and Sabrina, were fantastic and very knowledgeable about the wines.  I definitely recommend using them if you are in the region.  They also do tours of Verona!  Click here for their website.

Our first winery was Giuseppe Lonardi.  All across Italy the harvests were early this year due to the unseasonably warm weather.  This winery was on the last day of the harvest, so we did get to go out to the vineyards and see it in action.

Winemakers determine whether the grapes are ready to be picked by testing their sugar level.  When it reaches the ideal point, its “go” time!  Most winemakers have 5-8 hectares (12.5-20 acres) of land and the harvest takes about 3 days.

Giuseppe’s daughter, Silvia

Corvina, the most important Amarone grape, drying

After being picked, the grapes are dried on racks for a 3-4 months.  This concentrates both the alcohol  and the taste, making Amarone a richer (and more alcoholic) wine.

What makes it my favorite wine is that it is fruity without being too sweet.  It’s heavy raisin on the nose with notes of cherries.  There is often some spice on the end.  It pairs well with bigger dishes (like grilled meats) and dark chocolate.

After this, the grapes have 3 stages to go through:

  1. The juice is kept in stainless steel tanks to ferment for about 3 months
  2. It is then transferred to oak barrels to age for 2 years
  3. Finally it is bottled and aged about a year before it is ready to be sold

Other wines are also produced here:  Valpolicella Classico, Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso, Recioto Classico della Valpolicella, and Giuseppe’s own creation – Privilegia.

They each have their own processes as well.  Winemaking is definitely an art!

The Lonardi’s were just beginning the production of the Ripasso.  Above is a picture of Giuseppe himself dumping the first of the freshly picked grapes into the de-stemming machine.  I was beyond excited to witness the start of the 2011 winemaking!

Giuseppe’s daughter, Silvia, conducted most of the tour (Giuseppe doesn’t speak English).  We loved her instantly.  She was so sweet.  We are all about the same age… I may go back and just hang out with her.  And the French oak casks.

Silvia opening a Superiore to taste

2008 Amarone casks

The tasting was fantastic!  We were able to taste the most recent bottles – 2008 Classico Superiore Ripasso (it doesn’t need to be aged as long as the Amarone), 2007 Privilegia, and 2007 Amarone.

The Privilegia is Giuseppe’s own creation.  It is not made from the tradition grape blend, and therefore you won’t see the Valpolicella name on the bottle (they are very strict about wine rules!).  This did not affect it’s deliciousness. 

The family has recently opened an inn and restaurant where Silvia’s mom cooks.  If you have the opportunity to go to Valpolicalla, please stop by for a stay and tell them I said hello!  Click here for their website.

I could have stayed there all day, but we did need to get on to the next tasting with the 3 brothers of Fratelli Vogadori.

Can you believe this is their backyard? (Minus these hot mammas, of course 😉 )

Vogadori was fantastic as well.  We tasted their Classico, Ripasso, Amarone, and Recioto.

Recioto is basically a sweet version of Amarone.  The grapes are dried; however, the fermentation process is stopped earlier before all of the sugar turns to alcohol.  It feels heaver and more velvety on the palate and pairs perfectly with dark chocolate or cantucci.

A couple of those Amarone bottles my or may not be in the mail on their way to me…

Here we also tasted olive oil.  Many families have a small production of olive oil.  We learned that it takes quite a lot of olives to make oil, so the smaller family winemakers only produce it in limited quantities.  My mom now has a bottle in her kitchen. 🙂

Most places (here included) offer prosciutto and/or salami and bread sticks during tastings.   The brothers brought out a blue cheese snack to go with the bigger wines at the end of the tasting.  It was SO good – and that’s not just because we were 2 tastings in!  

Corinne approved!

I mentioned before that one of the odd things about Italy is that it was so hard to find fresh veggies and fruit.  After 2 weeks of  carbs,  cured meat, steaks, and more wine that I’ll ever admit to drinking, I’ve decided to do a modified version of the Standard Process Cleanse I did last November.

My rules:

  • 10 days of all the veggies and fruits I can eat (more veggies than fruit, as much raw as possible)
  • 4-5 tsp of oil a day (flax, olive, coconut)
  • 1 C lentils or wild rice a day
  • 2-3 protein shakes a day
  • 1 serving of tofu, chicken, or fish a day on last 11 days
  • No alcohol
  • No diary
  • No processed food

The strict program doesn’t allow beans or nuts… but I’m allowing a small amount.  I love nuts.  (Yes, you can quote me on that.)  I may also allow coconut milk after the first few days.

I was going to ban coffee… but I’m in my 3rd city this week and am averaging 4 hours of sleep per night.  It’s about survival.

I love Italy, but the return of the (green) Sweet Potato Smoothie (and football!) was a welcome one.

***

I’m already on day 6 of the cleanse and feeling good!

Did I put you all to sleep by geeking out on wine?  What is your favorite wine?  

Do you do anything to cleanse a certain points in the year or after a period of overindulgence?

Asian Cabbage with Lentils

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Going back to work post-vacation is like jumping into a cold pool.

This is my nice, warm-fuzzies “pool” in Verona

I had every intention of posting a wonderful recap of our first full day in Verona; however, I left the office last night at 1:30 AM.

I love the job that allowed me to have a great vacation.

I love the job that allowed me to have a great vacation.

I love the job that allowed me to have a great vacation.

I love the job that allowed me to have a great vacation.

I love the job that allowed me to have a great vacation.

The good news is that I have been cooking!  No pasta and meat after the 2 week overload.

Italian restaurants are void of fresh fruits and veggies.  I have been in hot pursuit of green food after going so long without.   Seriously – the  very night I flew into Atlanta I hit the Dekalb Farmer’s Market (a.k.a. veggie heaven).  $60 of nothing but fruits and veggies.

I tried my hand at a cabbage stir-fry over the weekend.  It was so good that I ate 1/2 a head of cabbage in one sitting.  FYI: that may cause gas.

Yes, I did say that I am on a veggie rampage… but this was actually just that good.  I think.

The hint of sweetness from the coconut oil played perfectly with the zing from the ginger and the heat from the serrano.  Don’t skip the toasted sesame seeds – their crunchy nutty taste really made the dish.  It would probably be good with toasted cashews too!

Asian Cabbage Stir-Fry with Lentils

  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1/2 small red onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, pressed
  • 1 T minced fresh ginger
  • 1/2 serrano pepper, minced
  • 1/2 medium cabbage, quartered, and sliced crosswise
  • 1 1/2 T seasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 C cooked green lentils
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
  • 1/4 tsp Chinese 5-spice
  • S+P, to taste

Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add red onion and stir-fry until just becoming soft, ~3 mins.  Add garlic, ginger, and serrano pepper.  Saute for a moment – until fragrant but not cooked, 45 secs – 1 min.  Stir in cabbage and stir-fry until beginning to wilt, ~3-4 mins.

Stir in the vinegar, soy sauce, and lentils.  Continue to cook, stirring, until the cabbage is tender but retains a slight bite, ~4-5 mins.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and 5-spice.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 2 servings.

***

I’m in an all day meeting in Alabama now.  Seriously.

How do you get back into the “real” world post-vaca?  I need all the help I can get!

What veggies do you crave? 

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

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Just another day in paradise… errr… Italy.  Specifically,  Siena!  We’ve been so excited to see this area.  (More) Great food, medieval history, and Gothic architecture.

I was lucky enough to discover Ari’s blog, ThE DiVa DiSh, a few months back and have looked forward to reading every day.  She has the MOST beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen (and I’m not just saying that), complete with a ton of spunk.  Ari is an innovator – whether it’s doing her own “design on a dime” or creating a healthy meal that looks like a fat kid’s heaven, I can always count on her for inspiration and a good recipe.

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Hey Guys!

My name is Ari and I blog over at ThE DiVa DiSh!

I am so excited that I have the opportunity to guest post for Laura today! I am super jealous of her trip adventures right, and secretly wished she would have taken me in her luggage so I could join her….

Maybe next time. (Editor’s note – for sure!) 🙂  As for now, I’m excited to share a little bit about me and my amazing family.

 

I’m a wifey and a mama, and there is nothing I love more. My husband is a cross between a woman who loves shoes and a man who loves sports… And my daughter is beautiful, dramatic, and full of energy. I try best to raise my family living a healthy lifestyle, and we feel that our bodies are temples, and we should treat them that way. We try to eat an abundance of plant based, whole, and natural foods as much as possible.

Even though we go through a Costco size spinach package in two days, I can assure you the same goes for chocolate. We know how to live and be happy, as well as love and respect the bodies we have been given.

One of my favorite kitchen tools is my blender. I had to do many “I ain’t gonna talk about” things so I could convince my hubby to get me the blender of my dreams. I use that thing at least twice a day.

That being said, one of my favorite things to make is a milkshake! It’s hard enough when we crave foods we love, and we try and tell ourselves we can’t have them. This only makes it harder, and in the end we are more likely to give in to those “butt” shakes, as I like to call them. Well my friends, I can assure you that there will be no more worrying. No more telling yourself, your kids, or even your hubby NO!

Healthy, natural, whole, yummy milkshakes!

S’mores Milkshake

Carrot Cake Milkshake

Coconut Vanilla Chai Milkshake

And lastly, how about a seasonal one?

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Ingredients:

1 c. coconut or soymilk

1 banana

½ c. pumpkin puree

1 carrot finely shredded

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. molasses

1 TB. 100% pure maple syrup

1 TB. vanilla

Directions:

Blend all together until creamy! Sip and enjoy!

There you have it! Now go get your milkshake on! (you never know, it might bring some boys to the yard…)

Did I really just end with that?

(Editor’s note – Yes.  I could teach you, but I’d have to charge.)

Thanks again Laura for giving me this opportunity!  Have a great and safe trip!

***

I’m going to make one of these with gelato… mmmmm…

What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

Do you they to “healthify” your favorite shake flavors?

Healthy (Meatless) Meal Ideas for Busy People

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Today I am in Valpolicella tasting Amarone – my favorite wine. 🙂

Lisa from Healthful Sense has graciously composed a rockin’ guest post for you all.  This is the first in a serious of guest posts from some of my FAVORITE bloggers.  Lisa’s blog is fairly new to me.  It was love at first visit to her site when I saw her innvoative, tasty-looking recipes.  (Epecially the vegan brownies – OMG).  

Hopefully you will discover some new bloggers through this guest series!

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Morning!  I’m Lisa and I blog over at Healthful Sense!

I’m so excited to be a guest poster on Laura’s blog today!  We have alot in common – we love to eat healthy, make crazy food concoctions, and share a love of peanut flour (yeah baby).  She definitely has me beat on the exercise though!

One other commonality that we share is that we are extremely busy… she with work and working out… and I with kids (3 rugrats).  I still haven’t decided which is more exhausting — working 3 jobs (before I had kids) or being a stay-at-home mom of 3 little ones.

Anyway, since we are both busy people it’s safe to say that we’ve both become “experts” on making quick, healthy meals.  So quick & healthy meals are going to be the theme of today’s post.

 

Quick & Healthy Meal Ideas

1. Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt is usually put in the snack category but because it’s so rich in protein you can easily make a quick meal out of it.

Here are some fabulous ideas:

Laura’s cinnamon roll oats:

 

 

And her Sweet Potato Greek Yogurt:

 

You have got to try the sweet potato/greek yogurt combo… it is amazing!!

Another fabulous combo is peanut flour/greek yogurt!!  It’s packed with protein from both the peanut flour and the greek yogurt.  I recently did a post about peanut flour — it’s a great product that you can add to just about anything!

 

One last idea is this dark chocolate hemp mousse made with greek yogurt.

 

 

2. Smoothies

Smoothies might just be the perfect quick & healthy meal.  We both make killer green smoothies!

Laura’s Avocado Green Smoothie:

 

 

And my High Protein Green Smoothie:

 

3. Pudding

These pudding ideas are packed with protein and sure to satisfy.

 

Chocolate Breakfast Pudding:

 

Sweet Potato Pudding:

 

 

4.  Bananas & Peanut butter

This is my all-time favorite quick/healthy meal.  Simply a banana with peanut butter, cococa powder and cinnamon.

Now you have no excuse for skipping a meal due to the lack of time 😉

What is your favorite quick and healthy meal?

 

♥ Lisa

Stop by and visit me soon at Healthful Sense … muah!

***

I’m with Lisa – PB and banana is the best snack. 🙂

Have you ever put avocado in your smoothie?

What’s your favorite wine?

 

 

 

Vegan Ricotta Pasta Bake

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Wicked.

 

Last night I went to the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see Wicked with my mom.  It was wicked good!

The Wizard of Oz was filled with political undertones (ex: the yellow brick road refers to the gold standard), and this “rest of the story” play delivers on that level as well.  It was actually a pretty dark play!

 

I’m always impressed when playwrights that are able to parallel what’s going on in society in such creative ways.  For instance, at one point the Wizard says to Elphaba:

When I came here, there was discord and discontent. And what better way to bring people together than to give them a common enemy?

 

Sound familiar?  

But this isn’t a political blog.  Let’s talk about food, baby.

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Yesterday I posted a dinner pic for WIAW.  You are probably sick of hearing about how I’m only using what I have this week BUT… but I am always amazed when these garbage hodge podge  recipes deliver.  Everything But the Kitchen Sink Stew, for instance.

This bake was a winner.  Like whoa.

 

Doesn't everyone take their pans outside to photograph... errrr... cool..?

For those of you who have been turned off by shirataki noodles in the past, believe me when I say NONE of the sea-like smell remains after this dish bakes.

 

My “lazy” tomato sauce turned out well too – it’s amazing what sauteing some onions and garlic can do for the jarred stuff.  Capers and artichokes were a great add with the lemon-y “ricotta.”

Yes, “ricotta.”  I would not have believed it if I hadn’t tried it for myself, but this vegan tofu variation of the creamy Italian cheese is actually good.

 

To summarize:  Vegan (that is, until I grated what was left of my French sheep’s milk cheese on top).  Gluten-free.  Low carb.  Delicious.  The secret’s in the sauce.

 

It also tastes good leftover… eaten straight out of the pyrex.

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Vegan Ricotta Pasta Bake

Tofu Ricotta

  • 1/2 tofu block, extra firm
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 T nutritional yeast
  • 1 T fresh thyme

 

Tomato Sauce

  • 1 small shallot, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 C jarred artichoke hearts, rough chopped
  • 1 C marinara sauce (I used tomato-basil)
  • 2 tsp capers, drained
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • S+P, to taste
  • 1 package Shirataki tofu noodles (or regular noodles)

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Press tofu for ~20 mins (I do this by placing a stack of cookbooks on it).  Crumble into a bowl and combine with remaining ricotta ingredients.  Using your hands, break up mixture until it reaches a “ricotta-like” consistency.

Meanwhile, saute shallot with a bit of olive oil in a medium saucepan until just turning translucent (~5 mins).  Add garlic and artichokes, sauteing 4-5 mins long until garlic is beginning to brown.  

Add pasta sauce to saucepan with the capers and red pepper flakes, stirring to combine.  Bring to simmer, tasting and adjusting flavors as needed.

While sauce warms, prepare noodles according to package instructions.  Mix noodles and tofu ricotta.  

Place noodle mixture in 9 x 11 pyrex dish.  Top evenly with tomato sauce.

Bake at 325 for 15-20 mins, or until heated through.

***

Leftovers for lunch.  Perfection.

Have you tried any of the homemade vegan “cheese” variations?

Do you like to go to the theatre?  What is your favorite play?

 

Pumpkin Shortage + WIAW

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Don’t panic but…

 

There may be a pumpkin shortage.

Damage from Hurricane Irene is worse than we thought.  The hurricane destroyed hundreds of pumpkin patches in the Northeast.  Prices for the surviving pumpkins have doubled in some cases.
Growers in other regions are shipping pumpkins to the NE, but if you’re in the affected area you still want to get your pumpkins early before the good ones are gone!

No word on whether it will affect canned products or pumpkin ales.


I hope I didn’t alarm anyone.  🙂

Back our regularly scheduled WIAW: The Using Everything in My Kitchen Edition.

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Breakfast:

I recently bought what will probably be the last peach of the season.  Sad.

 

Peach Cobbler Chia Pudding isn’t sad though.  This made for a tasty breakfast while on an early conference call with Taiwan.

I did it the same way as usual (click link above for recipe), except I used chunky PB and sunflower seed milk (which was NOT as good almond milk in this!).

 

Not pictured are my 2 cups of coffee.  Black, with cinnamon sprinkled in the grounds (pre-brew).

 

 

Lunch:

I went on a nice little 7 mile run and was starving when I got back.

Monster Salad time.

 

In my bowl:

 

I wasn’t a huge fan of Sunshine patties at first, but I discovered that microwaving them half way and then finishing them off in a pan makes it much better.

 

Snacks:

Biscoff Cookie Dough Ball for pre-run fuel.  These kept really well in the freezer… but this was the last one. 🙁

 

I also made another Biscoff spread treat.  Which I will share on Friday… it seems timely since I’ll be eating Biscoff on my flight. 🙂

 

Dinner:

This was a creation inspired by the cooler weather… and fact that tofu, spinach tofu noodles, and tomato sauce are all on list of this to use in my fridge.

 

This Vegan “Ricotta” Pasta Bake was seriously good.  I added artichokes and capers, which made it not-your-mamma’s pasta bake.  And – of course – red pepper flakes.  

 

I love surprising myself.  Recipe coming tomorrow!!!

For a more delicious eats, check out the round up at Peas and Crayons!

***

It is proving to be a fun challenge to use only what I have.  Running out of spinach is a scary thing though!

Are you affected by the pumpkin shortage?

What ingredient are you most looking forward to being back in season?

 

Black Cherry Breakfast “Soup”

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3 more days!!!

This week is creeping by… yet flying at the same time because I have SO much to do.

Not the least of which is formatting some rockin’ guest posts.  Hopefully you guys will discover some new bloggers and gain so fantastic info from these guest spots.  All of these lades and gents offer something special and unique!

My lofty goal is to post every other day.  Wi-fi may be sketchy and we are going to be on the move quite a lot, so I’m being realistic at the same time.

 

One of my other lofty goals is to use everything in my kitchen this week.  My challenge to myself is to not buy even the smallest thing at the grocery store.  It’s much harder than it looks!

The color of today’s breakfast almost made the title this post “Food No One Will Steal From the Office Fridge.”  The fact that it is too long a title is the only thing that held me back.

 

I used a new product – Sunrich’s Sunflower Seed Milk.  Sounds exciting, right?

To be honest… it tastes a bit like Milk of Magnesia on its own.

Mixing it in smoothies and oats hides that taste.  I still wouldn’t buy it again.

 

The “soup” does taste good!  Much better than the color would indicate.  🙂

I love cherries and with the creamy texture the banana adds it makes for a fantastic soup.  Why not just drink it like a smoothie?  Because eating it with a spoon for breakfast seemed like more fun!

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Black Cherry Breakfast Soup

  • 1/2 C black cherries
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 C milk (or milk substitute)
  • 1 C fresh spinach
  • 1 T chia seeds
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 large banana
  • 5-6 drops NuNaturals Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia
  • shake of guar gum (thickener)
  • Ice/water, to taste

 

Throw it all in your blender/Bullet/Vitamix and blend until smooth.  Pour into a bowl and top with your favorites – nut butter, granola, cereal, muffins… whatever you crave!

Enjoy!

***

Thank you to everyone for the sweet hair compliments – you guys made my day! 🙂

What’s your favorite milk substitute?  Or do you prefer the real thing?

Do you try to use everything in your fridge before trips?

 

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