friday with a bang

At first glance this bowl of oats looks like just that.

Oats with jelly, a little oat milk, maybe some banana?

But if you take a closer look…you will see…

Banana Scramble Topped Oats!

Scramble:

• 1/2 banana
• 2T milk [I used coconut]
• 1T peanut butter
• 1T unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1T rolled oats
• 1/4t cinnamon

1. Heat a well greased pan over medium heat.
2. Place doughy scramble on pan, stir and let brown.
3. Stuff in a sandwich or top on oats….or just eat it warm from the pan.  You really can’t go wrong.

Again, this geniousness comes from Ashley + Stephen over at (never home)maker.  May latest and greatest blog crush.

I made a bowl of Steel Cut oats but left the banana out since it was in the “scramble.”  I topped with a little oat milk and mixed berry jam.  I really can’t express how delicious the scramble was on top.  Creamy + pnut butter + banana + coconut coupled with oats in every bite?? GAH!!! 

I am a carrot monger lately.

nom nom nom

Chris + I went out to lunch at Parsley.  I’ve only been there one other time with Melissa and it kind of left a little to be desired.  The prices are high but the food is high quality.  They use mostly organic ingredients in their juices/smoothies/salads/sandwiches.  My 1st + 2nd veggie juice experiences have been here, and I just don’t know if this stuff is for me!  It’s so thick…and strong tasting.  Both times, 1 ingredient completely overpowered the whole thing.

Last time –> celery

This time –> carrot

Wait, wasn’t I just saying I LOVE carrots?  Not like this! It was like thick muddy carrot sludge and I don’t get why juice isn’t served cold!  I don’t like ice in my beverages but please don’t give me juiced veggies without being very chilled or including ice.  This juice also had apples + ginger.  I could taste a mild note of ginger but NO sign of apples.  I had to gag it down.  Literally.  You’d think with all the Green Monsters I can slurp away and wheatgrass, etc. I would like these.

Please someone tell me if there is a reason they aren’t served ice cold.  Angela + Kath love them but I’m second guessing my birthday wish for a Breville juicer…hmmmm??

Anywhoooo…Chris got Green Sencha Tea with mint…A much wiser choice.  He had a turkey samich with some veggies and I think it was ~$8!  They do use Applegate Farm meat products..but still, there was NOT enough on this sandwich.

I got a sandwich called “The Treehugger.”  I’m expecting piles of veggies…but no.  The fresh mozz was tasty but there were about 2 of the most thinly sliced cuc’s you’ve ever seen, a feeeew roasted red peppers and romaine.  I kind of split the sandwich open here and it looks much bulkier than it really was.  When it was closed you could only see the lettuce poking out…There was way more BREAD than veggies.  I’m not sure if I even had 1 full serving of veggies in this whole sandwich.

Good thing I got the juice…I guess….

Parsley

Pros:

• quick service
• delicious locally made ciabatta bread
• quality ingredients
• menu selection [tons of good choices, especially for veg-heads]

Cons:

• HIGH prices – which I don’t mind paying if they would actually fill up the sandwiches!
• room temp juice – this happened twice, not just a fluke
• watery sandwich – last trip there
• more bread than sandwich ingredients
• I was hungry 1hr later – because I basically only ate bread + cheese with a 1/2 serving of veg
• owner seemed to care less about customers
• they brought us water cups that were only half full with water and had no ice – which is fine if the water is chilled but it wasn’t

I will not be going back. I give this place a 5/10 – GREAT idea.  POOR execution.  I left lunch angry at how much it cost and how poor it was.  BLEGH!

Do you want to know how to feel OLD when you’re 26?  Play 1 game of softball, that’s how.  I was incredibly sore today and still am.  My arm/shoulder hurts from throwing the ball and my quads/hams/groin are super sore from sprinting the bases a few times.  Yowza.  I went for a good swim today in hopes that it would loosen me up.  My quads are still screaming but it definitely helped a bit.

The swim rocked!  This time, I paid no attention to time but just focused on my stroke and counted laps.

• .75 mile walk to the rec center
• 50m – kickboard
• 50m – buoy – arms only
• 50m – breast stroke
• 1900m – freestyle!! [76 lengths]
• 50m – breast stroke
• .75 mile walk home

I sprinted every 10th length.  The workout went by so quickly!  Also, the bi-lateral breathing is going really well.  I’ve been using that method 100% for my last 3-4 swims.

Start time: 12:37pm

End time: 1:25pm

Total swim time: 48min

Soon after my lack luster lunch the tummy was a grumblin’

Colorado friends!  If you’ve never been to Natural Grocers/Vitamin Cottage you must check it out!  Their produce is ALL organic and the cheapest you’ll find.  Here were some of today’s deals: $3/strawberries – $3/blueberries $1.79lb/broccoli $.79/avocados!  Pretty awesome.  They have a great bulk section as well and a HUGE vitamin/supplement section.

—

The lovely people at Kardea found my blog recently and asked to send me a few of their bars to try.  I’m always up for trying the latest food bar!  Something is wrong with their site right now, so I’ll have to give you more information about them soon. 

The flavors sounded GREAT!!  banana nut : cranberry almond : lemon ginger : chai spice – The ingredient list was decent but they contain 2 of my least favorite ingredients: Soy Protein Isolate and Soy Lecithin.  I don’t like either because of how incredibly processed + overused they are. Processed soy protein is last on my list of protein sources [I make exceptions for fermented soy products, ie: tempeh].  More info on these bars when I can access their site!  I’ll let you know when I try one!

5min later….hehehe  I tried the Banana Nut.  It has a very smooth texture for the “glue” part, unlike how Larabars are kind of fibrous.  This bar was also a bit softer than an LB.  I really enjoyed the texture.  It had awesome little crunchy bites inside, that were almost like a biscuity cookie…not really sure   However, I’m not sure about the flavor.  It wasn’t overpowering but just a little off in some way I can’t put my finger on.  We’ll see how the other flavors are.  Unfortunately, I won’t be buying these bars after my samples are gone, as the ingredient list just isn’t my favorite.

Some of my other finds from Natural Grocers.  79 cent organic avocados!! Yummm

Rawma Bar – anyone ever tried this?  The ingredient list is all REAL food and sounds awesome.

chia seeds + organic raw cocoa powder [great deal] + scottish oatmeal [yessss]

I was mulling over dinner for awhile…what to make!?  We’ve kind of been scrapping meals together the past week or so.  They’re turned out fine but I felt like cooking with a recipe tonight.  Well, I at least started with a recipe

I made my creamy coconut rice but with brown rice instead of Jasmine.  Worked perfectly!  Still on my brown rice kick…love that chew!

So, I started with a recipe on 101 Cookbooks for Tempeh Curry.

Making the curry sauce [which was completely amazing].

Time to use 1 of my favorite kitchen tools

Immersion blender time!

Nice n’ smooth.

Apparently, I’m still on my broccoli kick too!  This was seriously amazing.  The broccoli was the perfect addition to the recipe.

Creamy Coconut Brown Rice

• 1c long grain brown rice
• 1c lite coconut milk
• 1c water
• 1T unrefined coconut oil

1. Combine all ingredients in a pot.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat, cover + simmer for about 25min until liquid is absorbed.
4. Turn heat off and let the pot sit, covered, for 10min.
5. Fluff with fork.

Seriously amaaazing rice!

Broccoli Tempeh Curry [original recipe]

• 1t fine grain sea salt
• 1T butter [or earth balance]
• 2T olive oil
• 1 med. yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4t ground cumin
• 1 1/2t curry
• 1/4t turmeric
• 1/8-1/2t cayenne [I used a little less than 1/4t for a medium spice]
• 1c canned tomatoes [I chopped whole peeled tomatoes, or use canned diced]
• 3/4c water
• splash of cream [I used coconut milk instead]
• 8oz tempeh, cubed
• 2 bunches broccoli

1. After rice has been cooking for about 10min, steam/boil/sauté broccoli until al dente.  Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and set aside.
2. In a large sauté pan, add in butter + olive oil over a low heat.
3. Add in onions and cook ~5min until soft.
4. Add in cumin, curry, turmeric, and cayenne.  Stir.
5. After 30sec add in tomatoes, water and salt.
6. Take off heat and stir in splash of cream or coconut milk.
7. Blend with immersion blender [in a large bowl] or drink blender.
8. Once you have taken the rice off of the burner [for time reasons], add the blended curry back to the sauté pan over medium-low heat. 
9. Add tempeh and cook for about 5-7min.
10. Add broccoli until warmed ~2-3min.

This was seriously delicious.  The sauce MAKES the dish.  Again, the broccoli went perfectly with the curry flavor.  The original recipe calls for potatoes instead of rice, no coconut flavors, and no broccoli.  I made the potato version back in the fall but this was definitely better! 

The rice was awesome with this sauce.  I promise you!!!

I can’t really express how delicious this coconut rice is.  Texture + flavor perfection. 

The same goes for the curry sauce.  It is spot on delicious and REALLY easy.  If you’ve ever been scared of cooking Indian flared foods, fear no more!  You can have a tomato curry sauce in 15min!

Leftovers will be fought over!  I think the cook will win

—

Whoa…overload much?  Yah…I have content filtering issues…as in I can’t do it! 

I have a nice little Friday planned:

• morning – meet with Laura in Boulder to hang out and make her her first Green Monster – I’m literally taking the VitaMix with me
• afternoon – long bike ride with Chris if our 88yr old, softball sore bodies ,can suck it up!!
• later afternoon – client phone call for another blog header I’ll be working on!!
• early evening – work on potential job/business ideas
• evening – hopefully a vinyasa yoga sesh with my girl Lauren at Om Time Yoga – haven’t been to a real class since the fall!

—

Aaaand I’m out!

Who is going to The Healthy Living Summit this year???  I forgot to ask!!  I’ll be attending and can’t wait to meet so many of you!!  I’m super excited!!

<3 Ashley

Print PDF