purple fluFF
/I felt like something FUN for breakfast [Sunday].
- cornbread heated with a drizzle of maple
- banana with pnut butter + cacao bliss melty goo + Heather’s jam
- pour, poke + spread eggs
You can see how the goo forms a hard shell. MmmmMMMmmmmMmm
GULP. Mom fed me a carrot because I was being really annoying an angel in the kitchen.
“what is this all about?”
“I think I’ll chew it”
“What are you lookin’ at?”
“It’s allll miiiiine”
“Can I get a light?”
“mmmmmmy carrot”
Lunch: I made TWO of yesterdays veggie burritos because they were just SO good. I left them in the oven a little longer than I meant to but the most amazing thing happened! The tortillas puffed up and got really crunchy! It reminded me of the crispy shells that come with taco salads. Waaaay tastier than a crunchy taco. It was flaky and delicious. Best accident ever!
Steam + Puff
Air pocket :) I folded it in half and it turned into a taco!
Hmmmm…I got an idea for a sauce to put on steamed veggies. It was INsanely delicious. I sauteed 2 small garlic cloves in about 1-2T olive oil. I added about 1T balsamic and ~2T red wine. I let it simma’ for about 5min and it was sweet but garlicky and just delicious.
Veggies with a side of cornbread! I wasn’t too hungry from my huge burrito lunch. HUGE plate of veggggies mmmmm
saucy drizzle
Dessert: So I’m sure many of you have read about “banana soft serve” around the blog world. I have seen it on various blogs, but the first time I saw on Gena’s blog, Choosing Raw. I was skeptical at first, but Gena is a girl of her word, so I trusted her. So the idea is that you take 2-3 frozen bananas and whip them in your food processor [not blender] for about 5min. It is supposed to create insanely fluffy whipped banana fluff that tastes like banana icecream. No added sugar or other ingredients? Nothing else is necessary but you can get creative with it!
So I have a problem with bananas. I eat sooo many of them that I never have leftovers to freeze. I know, buy more right? I have a bunch that I’m waiting to get nice and brown on the outside so I can freeze.
*Do not throw out your brown bananas people!! Peel them and stick them in freezer bags, letting out all the air. Thaw them to use in baking or just throw them in a blender for smoothies, etc.
Okay, so since I didn’t have frozen bananas to use, I thought I would ad-lib.
- 1/4c frozen blueberries
- 1 banana
- few ice cubes
- 1t coconut butter
Turn your food processor on for about 5min. I wiped the sides down 2-3 times.
Prepare to seriously be amazed!!!!! It would have been better with frozen bananas because I still had tiny icy grit, even after mixing for 5min. It was still incredible however. It got really fluffy and light and you just MUST try it!!
I would definitely use 2 bananas next time for an even fluffier texture. I was just trying it out and thought blueberries would be a good addition. I’m sure adding any fruit in with the banana would work. This was different than a smoothie…definitely was more like eating ice cream or froyo. Mmmmmm
I will be buying MANY more bananas now and you will see this OFTEN….try it and let me know what you think!! Check out Gena’s step by step guide as well.
……
On another note [also thanks to Gena] I wanted to take this time to bring up NEDA [National Eating Disorder Awareness] week. There have been a lot of great posts throughout the food blog world, that have been really moving. Gena wrote a stellar post, per usual, discussing the idea of “embracing our appetites.” I have never had direct experience with disordered eating myself, but have seen close friends struggle with with ED’s.
As talked about in “my story,” I definitely struggled to figure out what the right weight for my body was. I tried out a few different diets and thought I was eating healthy for such a long time. I bought into the low fat craze as well as the low carb craze and all this did was confuse my body. I worked out a lot all through college, and thought I made reasonable food choices. I wasn’t very good at balancing, which would lead to guilt for eating/drinking the wrong things and emotional eating. My major [architecture] was extremely stressful and all-consuming. During undergrad, my body was just confused because I had no real schedule. I was up all hours of the night, which made me eat more, and then weekend drinking, late night pizza, etc. Stress would also lead to eating the wrong things or over-eating. It was something I thought about a lot and was really an annoyance in my head, more than anything else. Nothing ever got out of control, and compared to most college students, I probably was eating fairly healthy, but I just didn’t feel good about myself.
I feel like my true dive into the world of health, began with my thesis research. My thesis was on Food + Architecture. You can check out the tab at the top for a brief explanation of what I was looking into. I feel like that is when I really started getting to know food on a much more real level. Once I started researching I couldn’t stop. This is when I started reading books like Slow Food Nation [Carlo Petrini] and In Defense of Food [Michael Pollan]. Reading about food changed my life! I feel so much more confident because I have a better handle on what I’m putting in my body. Even though I didn’t change much physically I am much happier and more comfortable in my own skin.
So I want to take this time to say…
I’m Ashley. I love to eat. I embrace my appetite and welcome hunger by filling my body with nutrient dense, delicious foods. I feel healthier mentally and physically. I am happy and proud to proclaim my love for food. I am ecstatic to have this food blog and be a part of the food blogging community. It has helped me embrace my passion for food, even more.
Do you LOVE to eat!? If so, spread the word.
[photo from our honeymoon in Ireland]
……
On a lighter note, STAY TUNED for TWO exciting giveaways on the blog. I haven’t gotten to do any giveaways yet, and I am extremely excited about both of these!!
Teaser!
#1 – Amazing Grass is going to HOOK UP one lucky reader!!!!!!!! Full details tomorrow!
#2 – There will be a cookbook giveaway within the next week. Hint: I am currently obsessed with this cookbook and talk about it almost every other post :)
Ciao for now!
~Ashley
