Bring on Fall, Baby

So long sweet summer!  I can’t say that I am sad to see you go.  This summer has been such a strange one for me, personally.  No beach, no vacation, no anticipation of seeing college friends come September, and definitely NO tan.  I am so glad that fall has finally arrived, and I have so many things to look forward to in this season already.

I have definitely had challenges at my job so far, and it has been a bit of an adjustment having the majority of my day occupied Monday-Friday (from 5 a.m. to about 6:30 p.m.), but I have also had much success and accomplishment so far.  And for that I am so excited! 

In addition to the anticipation of what is to come in my career, I am also anticipating the arrival of cool air in Memphis!  I can’t wait to wear layers- sweaters, blazers, boots here I come!  I’m also so excited for my birthday next week and NOT being 21 anymore.  And mostly, I cannot wait another second for the end of October to come when I get to see all of my college friends return to Memphis for homecoming.  I miss them so much!!

As far as fall food, I have already dug into its wonders!  But, I can’t wait to divulge even further…warm pastas, roasted vegetables, soups…ah the deliciousness of fall   So far, I have been enjoying a lot of pumpkin and cinnamon.  In the form of:

crustless pumpkin pie (usually in a mug)

I roast walnuts in the microwave a la Kath for about a minute on high heat.  Then I add in 1/2 cup pumpkin and heat in the m-wave again for about 30 seconds.  Then, I stir in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon/cinnamon raisin swirl/mighty maple/(you get the jist…)PB, 1 packet of splenda, and loads of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.  It tastes JUST like Thanksgiving…and you don’t have to wait until November!

pumpkin breakfast cookie

In this one: 1/2 cup of pumpkin, 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 tbsp. smooth Barney Butter, 1 packet splenda, dash of flaxseed, dash of cinnamon, and a splash of almond milk.  All mixed and refrigerated overnight to be topped with unsweetened coconut in the a.m.

cinn on top of fall's gem: honeycrisp apples

pumpkin/mashed banana burrito

broiled and then wrapped in aluminum for on-the-go

In this one: mashed banana dusted with brown sugar and heated in the microwave for a few seconds, La Tortilla Factory wrap spread with 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1/2 tbsp flaxseed, agave, and dash of cinnamon, topped with craisins. (broiled in the toaster oven-it’s the quickest)

I have also enjoyed old breakfast favorites (that take a tad too long for my super quick mornings now) for dinner recently:

spinach-egg white-hot sauce omelette, oh how i miss you!

Yes, those broccoli florets are drizzled with Central BBQ sauce.  If you don’t know what that is, you must come to Memphis immediately and have it.  Preferably on a roasted turkey or pulled pork (or portabella for you veggies!) sandwich.  TDF.  To-Die-For.

Lately, Ashley and I have been getting together with our sorority family on Thursdays (since they are still here in Memphis attending college).  We didn’t get together tonight because it is Parents’ Weekend for the youngsters and they are out being wined and dined by their ‘rents (lucky ducks!).  But, since I didn’t post our recipe experiment from the last get-together, I will share it with you tonight in their honor!

I introduce to you: Remixed Party Foods

Faux Pigs in a Blanket:

We simply wrapped a few veggie dogs (cut into quarters) into halved triangles of a packet of Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls from Pillsbury.  Then baked them (on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray) at 400 until puffy and golden.

Light Gorgonzola Pizettes:

Take the same dough from above and don’t cut into triangles. (I read btw, on Hungry Girl today, that Pillsbury actually sells the dough without the precut triangles now, so you can skip that step if you buy this kind!)  Instead, use a cookie cutter to make small circles from the dough.  Drizzle each with olive oil and top with gorgonzola and diced tomatoes.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and bake at 400 until melted and crust is slightly brown/golden.  Top with freshley chopped basil after removal from the oven.

ta da! party treats easy as pie!

 

devoured

paired with a bottle of vino that is wine-on-a-dime worthy, but 14 bucks, so not the perfect choice!

I can’t wait to prepare even more fun, festive, fall foods!  Fabulous? Fantastic? F-enomenal?  For real!  Stay tuned!   :)

Too Much of a Green Thing?

Well hello hello!  My posts are obviously more infrequent these days…sorry!  There just isn’t enough time in the day!  I’m up for the gym at 5, off to work at 7, home at 6 and then by the time I get dinner on the table all I want to do is drink wine and watch something mindless on the tube.  Where does blogging fit in?! 

Anywho, when I look back on all of my eats to share with y’all, I feel like everything I have been eating is green!  Green smoothies for breakfast, spinach wraps for lunch, pestos, basil dressings, salads, zucchini…etc. etc.

On a side note, one NON green thing I picked up the other day at the store absolutely made my weekend!  HONEY CRISP apples are back in season!!  These are my absolute favorite apples (even though they are ridiculously expensive…story of my life) and I could not have been more excited to see them reappear in the grocery store!  I most definitely stocked up.

So back to the greeniness, I’ll share a few of my best (though not always the most photographic) green eats:

1) Walnut Pesto: I whipped this up for a pasta dish early last week.  Simply walnuts, basil, olive oil, salt, pepper, parmesan.  Walnuts are a great alternative to pine nuts for pesto!  Don’t fear the fatty nut.  They actually contain more omega-3s than other nuts (good for your heart!), will keep you fuller longer, and… not to mention they are an aphrodesiac (I swear, I read it in Women’s Health this weekend)!  I ended up using this pesto later in the week for steamed dumplings using Nasoya wraps.  They didn’t look that appetizing, but man were they delicious!!  I just stuffed the wrapping papers with a spoonful of pesto and dropped them gently into a pot of boiling water until they rised to the top.

2) A lower calorie avocado?  I’m still a little undecided about this find.  I bought it at Fresh Market because I was curious as to how a lighter avocado would taste.  It’s much less creamy and rich tasting than a regular avocado, but it does serve the same purpose as far as salads and smoothies.  I’d still rather have the full fat, regular avocado, personally.

3) Zucchini chips.  I adapted my own version from this recipe from Cooking Light.  I used almond milk instead of skim, so they were slightly sweet, and wheat germ and flaxseed instead of breadcrumbs, since I didn’t have any on hand.  Also, I didn’t measure any of the ingredients…just used my eyeballs as measuring tools!  These tasted sinfully good.

topped w. leftover guac from National Guac Day and more green: lime juice!

4) And finally…a green bottle of wine!  On a mission to supply y’all with great wine suggestions between $8 and $10, and never over $15, I asked for a recommendation at the liquor store on a light red.  The result? 

This delicious bottle of Spanish red table wine is fruity and very drinkable.  While a bit acidic tasting at first sip, let it breathe for a few minutes and it will be just right!  And the best part…

It’s $8.99!  Wine on a dime for sure!

Well, it’s off to bed for me!  I just finished watching Gossip Girl and now it’s time to hit the hay.  Is anyone else disappointed by the show’s transition into college?  I’m not getting sucked in like i have been with past seasons.  That’s ok though because my roommates and I are already 100% sucked in to Mad Men.  I am officially addicted.  We have watched all but the season finale of Season One (yes, we are a little behind…), which we plan on watching later this week and I am having withdrawls…I just can’t wait!  Does anyone else watch this show?! 

Hope y’all have amazing weeks!  Goodnight!

Farmers Market Finds

Every weekend, we attempt to go to the farmers market.  Unfortunately, in order to get any of the good stuff, you have to arrive there before the crowd does, which means around 7 a.m.  This is a pretty daunting task when you are in your 20’s and live for the weekends, so many times while our efforts are to be applauded, we end up opting for a few more hours of sleep instead.  This weekend though, we deserve a pat on the back.  Ashley and I made it there in perfect timing to snatch up some goodies.  My picks?  Two sweet potatoes (or possibly yams?  I can’t tell at first glance and can’t remember the label…) for a buck, a basket of zucchini for 3 bucks and a new flavor from my favorite granola vendor (chocolate!).

I had planned on picking up zucchini and sweet potatoes there because I have been meaning to try zucchini as a pasta alternative and I wanted to use the potatoes in a favorite Memphian’s sweet potato bread.

Now that I have a whole basketful of zucchini, I will have to put it to several other uses as well.  My hopes are for a muffin or bread and in a recipe for zucchini chips I found online.  Of course I will share later, as soon as I accomplish these feats!

For my first zucchini dish tonight, I made a raw pasta salad.  Since I had no luck finding a spiralizer this past weekend (any suggestions?!), I patiently sliced two zucchinis into thin strips.  It wasn’t perfect, but it tasted delicious once I topped it with my sauce concoction: a simple blend of one Laughing Cow cheese and several large spoonfuls of Prego Heart Smart marinara sauce.  I topped the dish with some freshly chopped basil and more cheese- parmesan.  DELISH.  Now that I know I like it, I can get more fancy with it next time, but this simple combo was definitely enough to satisfy my tastebuds.  Hope you’ll try it too!

I realized once I set out to make the sweet potato bread that I didn’t have any ripe bananas (they were freshly purchased that day), so I will keep you posted (no pun intended!) on how that goes when I do get around to it.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weeks!  Some exciting food holidays this week, so be sure to celebrate!  Today was National Linguine Day (does raw zucchini pasta count?), tomorrow is National Guacamole Day (basically an excuse to get mexican food and a margarita!) and Friday is National Cheeseburger Day!  Mmm mmm mmm.  Goodnight!

When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a…

Big frittata pie, that’s amore!!  Seriously…it was love.  Don’t get me wrong- I looove a good pizza, especially a homemade one.  In fact, I just bought a three-pack of yeast at Whole Foods this weekend even though it freaks the bejeezies out of me.  I am so so excited to make my own dough and freeze it so I will be able to have pizza anytime I want!  But, this one particular night when I came home I wanted something much lighter and I just happened to have all of the right ingredients (except maybe a little basil) in my fridge!  I have to thank my friend Amanda for leaving some turkey pepperoni behind to inspire this dish!  It’s delish, so enjoy!

Pizza Frittata Pie:

You’ll need:

• 5 egg whites
• 1 whole egg
• A couple handfuls of turkey pepperoni (or regular or tofurkey or whatever your little heart desires!)
• 1 cup spinach
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. garlic
• Enough marinara sauce to coat the top
• Enough shredded cheese (I used pecorino) to coat the top
• Spatula
• Oven-proof skillet
• Oven-mit! no joke…don’t forget to remove the skillet from the oven with this!
• A watchful eye..my times aren’t precise!

Preheat oven to 350 egrees.  Whisk/Blend egg and egg whites together with a splash of water and a dash of salt and pepper.  Pour into a skillet sprayed with non-stick spray (or olive oil) on medium heat.  Let cook for a minute.  Add pepperoni, spinach, cheese, garlic, marinara (in any order you want..I actually did marinara first then spinach, pepp…etc. like a real pizza, but it doesn’t really matter).  Cook for another 4 minutes or so, until completely firm on the bottom and bubbling/beginning to harden on the top.  Remove from heat and put in preheated oven for about 5 minutes, until firm and cheese on top has melted/begun bubbling.  Take out of the oven, and ta-da!  Dinner is served!  Mangia!

slices like a real pizza!

and "crust" too!

And the best part?  Leftovers!

Wine on a Dime: Chateau Mont-Redon Cotes du Rhone

I was first introduced to Rhone wine while on vacation this past June with my Dad.  Seated outside at this adorable little restaurant in downtown Santa Fe, I glanced over the wine list only to realize that I didn’t recognize a thing.  Now that I am of legal age to drink and a bit more confident in my wine knowledge, I’m not embarassed to ask questions regarding the wine list.  So, I inquired about one particular wine in the red section, one of a Rhone variation.  At the time, the waitress explained it to me as a French table wine.  Simple, light, and both common and inexpensive in France.  I thought what the hey, and gave it a whirl.  She was exactly right!  It was perfect for a hot, summer evening and I enjoyed every sip!

Until this weekend, I had not seen this wine on any wine list since.  So naturally I wanted to try it again, but this time I paid much closer attention.  When I returned to Memphis from FL this weekend, I picked up the exact same bottle primarily to make sure that it was in fact inexpensive here in the States as well.  Turns out…it is not.  Well, it is.  But, my goal for this page was to introduce you all to wines under $15, and stay primarily in the $8-$10 range.  So, I haven’t met my goal already.  BUT, I will stay true to that goal from here on out and for now, not regret sharing this delicious wine with you all.

At $16.99, this bottle is still affordable and definitely worth it.  After doing a little research, I discovered that this particular Rhone, the Cotes du Rhone, comes from the Southern Rhone region of France. It is the most popular and the least expensive of the Rhone wines.

Since I’m no wine aficionado, I will give you my review (as I will from here on out) in my own non-w(h)iney terms.  Hope you don’t mind!

Thin, light, and flavorful with a bit of a spicy aftertaste (finish?).  I read that it ages well, so perhaps for $2 over my “budget” this would be a good buy to keep around for a special occasion.

Hope you enjoy and please comment on the “Wine on a Dime” page if you give it a whirl!

Vita-de-licious

Well hellooooo blogland!  It has been so long since I have posted!  Life over here in Emilyland has been crazay. First and foremost, I GOT A JOB!  Woo hoo!  So, now I am just adjusting to life workin’ for the man and trying to fit in time to do anything other than that!  The biggest challenge for me right now is trying to make a new schedule that works- one that includes working out, blogging, relaxing, etc.  There are just so few hours in the day!  I have taken on another gig in addition to my 9-5er posting for a website that gives you all the info on four very talented UK hotties, one of whom I’m sure many of you know and drool over…Robert Pattinson!  You can check out my bio and the site here.  So, please bear with me as I struggle to fit everything in!

I was having a little fight with myself today when I got home from work.  It went a  little something like this:

Emily: You need to go to the gym.  You haven’t been in a week and you will feel so much better if you do.

Emily: I know, but I am so hungry and tired.  All I want to do is make dinner and have a glass of wine and lounge in front of the t.v.

Emily:  That’s true.  You really shouldn’t ignore your hunger.  You also have to post on two sites.  Is there even enough time to go to the gym? 

Emily:  Yea, I don’t think there is. It’d really be better if I didn’t go, huh?

Emily:  Yea.  So, where’s the bota box?

Emily:  In the fridge, duh.  Pour me a glass too?

Needless to say, I am going to have to work on this new gym routine.  Starting with tomorrow, bright and early at 5 a.m.  I have to be at my new gig at 7:45 a.m. which means  I have to leave the house at 7:20.  No more luxurious 6 or 7 a.m. workouts or spinning for this girl.  Oh how the real world hurts.

Before I could be really upset with myself for missing out on the gym, Ash came in with these and brightened my mood.

I didn’t have the fancy vase they deserved, so I just had to put them in an old wine glass…because you know I have THOSE around! 

There was no S.E.E. this weekend, due to the fact that my roommates and I all went separate places for Labor Day weekend.  My weekend involved anything but labor, though.  I went to Pensacola, FL and had the most amazing time ever.  I hung out with old and new friends, soaked up some rays at the beach, and ate delicious food.  My friend David and I had dinner at a wonderful little tapas restaurant downtown.  We ordered so much food we weren’t even sure it would all fit on the table!  And then…we ordered white chocolate creme brulee.  And of course, you know we had a lovely bottle of wine- an affordable one too!  I will discuss that in more detail tomorrow for the first Wine on a Dime post!

I didn’t take any snaps of my eats this weekend, but prior to that regardless of the fact that I hadn’t been posting, I had been snapping.  Here’s a look at a few things:

i can't get enough of the "lil bit" dressing! you have to try it!!

white choc wonderful banana soft serve. mm. mm. mmm.

And today’s eats went like this:

farmers market granola w. mango, strawbs, almond milk.

dinner: wrap and spinach with "lil bit" (i told you!)

turkey, red bell pepp, spinach, swiss LC

And I even made breakfast for tomorrow…to be eaten in the car.  So classy, I know!  At least I’m not the dude who’s stuffing an Egg McMuffin in his face or trimming his nose hairs in the rear view mirror…right?

la tortilla wrap, agave, naturally more PB, banana

And finally, what I promised FOREVER ago!  Da da da da….A Vitalicious Review!

Out of the 10 flavors of VitaMuffins that I was so lovingly sent, I sampled six and the VitaBrownies.  I decided not to try the CranBran because I am not a fan of the cran.  As for the Corn, Bluebran, and Deep Chocolate flavors, I have nothing against them.  I just haven’t gotten around to eating them, and felt I had already had enough information to share my opinion, even if I didn’t like those two!

Sooo, what is that opinion?  Overall, I LOVE this product!  Here are all the flavors I had in order from my favorite to my least favorite.

• Banana Nut
• Apple Berry
• MultiBran
• Chocolate Fig
• Double Chocolate Dreams
• VitaBrownie
• Fudgy PeanutButter Chip

I was beyond surprised to find that the one flavor including peanut butter was my least favorite!  Maybe that’s because I found that you could put a little bit of the real thing on most of the other flavors and it was much more peanutbuttery and real tasting than the PB flavor?  I don’t know. It just didn’t do it for me.  It was neither pb-ery enough for me, nor chocolatey enough.  I found that I enjoyed the fruity flavored muffin tops much more than the dessert flavored ones.  Also, I liked the consistency much better when done in the toaster oven rather than the microwave. But, to each her own! 

Overall, these babies pack mean stats!  For all that breadiness, density and general scrumptious satisfaction, each muffin top (and brownie) is just 100 calories.  Plus, they are made with no preservatives or artificial ingredients and ARE made with whole grains!  None of the flavors have more than 1.5 grams of fat, but they DO have 5-6 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein.  I have never had such a tasty little treat with so many pluses!

My ultimate goal in this review was to determine whether or not this product was something I would buy online or not.  The answer?  Most definitely, yes.  I’m not just saying this because I got the product for free. Seriously, this is something I would recommend purchasing because of its easy storage.  It stores conveniently in your freezer and because of that, there is no pressure to use it up like most delicious carby goodies like real muffins or bread, etc.  If you’re looking for a good side to your smoothies, a quick warm dessert or an on-the-go snack, here’s your solution…even if you live somewhere like I do and have to order them on the world wide web!

Well, that’s it for me.  On now to post about the beautiful Brits.  I hope you all continue to stay tuned while I try to find time to keep up with PB Prerog through my transition into the real world.  And, I hope I can catch up on everything you all have been contributing to the blogworld sometime soon!  Goodnight!

A Social Breakfast

Hello, hello and happy hump day everyone!  I want to start this post off with a few non- food related questions for all of you out there.  Do you use twitter?  If you do, do you use it just for fun, or for business, or perhaps both?  Due to recent education in the marketing wonders of twitter and facebook fan pages, I was prompted to write a little bit about the subject in the hopes that y’all were interested in listening!

This morning was a different sort of breakfast.  Yes, I did have oats.  Yes, I did have fruit.  Coffee? Check.  It was the entertainment that was a welcomed change.  Yes, it was unfortunate that I missed out on my favorite dancing talk show host, but I did have the opportunity to sit in on something of even greater interest to me recently.  Greater than Ellen Degeneres.  I’m not even kidding.  

Hosted by LunaWeb, a website design and marketing company here in Memphis, the Social Expedition breakfast enlightened me on several social media topics.  Of most importance to this crowd- an application on your iPhone from Yelp that locates restaurants and bars in the surrounding area of your location at the immediate time of your search!  In addition to locating joints only a few steps away from where you’re tapping on your iPod, the app also tells you, as the Yelp site does, whether the food will be delicious or repulsive.  All in the same spot at the top of your phone screen.  Pretty neat, huh?  Anyone lucky enough to have the iPhone G3?  You can take advantage of this cool app, while the rest of us (especially those super uncool people like me, with my Samsung flip phone) will have to wait.

The breakfast was a unique way for local Memphis businessmen/women to get together and talk about the intimidating world of social media (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and more unknown networks such as ning).  With seven 7 minute presentations, it was just enough information to leave you informed, but not overwhelmed.  If you’re in the Memphis area, I highly encourage you to attend the next one.  The Social Expedition breakfasts are held monthly.  You can go to the website for more information.

If you are interested in using social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, for your business and have questions about doing so, please feel free to email me with questions.  I’d be happy to answer anything that I can, and even happier to try to find the answer to something I don’t know myself!  I am trying to learn as much as I can about this stuff, so your questions would actually be very helpful!  peanutbutterprerogative@gmail.com

So, now that I’ve been talking about tweeting like a bird, I can talk about eating like a bird.

he's just so cute i had to stick him in here!

My birthday cake was such a hit yesterday!  A complete 180 from the no-eggs, no-dairy cake I attempted the night before, this cake was a chocolate guinness cake with a neufchatel cheese icing.  I ate so much of it, I wasn’t even hungry until DINNER time today.  So, warning: if you make this cake, you WILL want to eat the entire thing.

I used Nigella Lawson’s recipe, which can be found on a multitude of sites if you google it. The only thing I changed was I used neufchatel instead of cream cheese for the icing!

Before diving into dessert, we went to a tapas restaurant downtown called Safari.  We were really excited to try this place because it is one of the few on Main St. that we haven’t been to.  Unfortunately, we were let down by the ambiance.  It was much more dreary than we were expecting from the hip tapas menu, but the food did turn out to be really good.

good portion of veggie pizza for only $7

falafel and hummus plate

Then we moved on to SOB (are you at all surprised?), so the birthday girl could enjoy some 901 on 9/01.

a "light" margarita

...and of course some popcorn

It was a great night and the perfect celebration for Ashley’s 23rd birthday.

As far as tonight’s dinner went, repeats were on the menu, which actually means nothing to you since I failed to post last night.  Woops!  Well, at least it isn’t a repeat to you all then!

spaghetti squash with marinara and sprinkling of romano cheese

spinach with "lil bit" dressing

dessert of vitabrownie with heated bananas. mmmm.

I am absolutely exhausted, so I am going to catch some z’s now.  I hope I have left y’all to dream of both the wonders of twitter and the heavenliness of guinness mixed with chocolate.  If the above pictures weren’t enough, here’s more.  Goodnight!

Birthday Cake Disaster

I was so excited to post tonight because I thought I was going to have a gorgeous, tasty, vegan chocolate avocado cake to share with you all.  Unfortunately, this is not the case.   I definitely don’t blame the blogger from whom I got the recipe.  All of her baked goods look delicious and this particular one got RAVE reviews, so it must be something I did wrong.  Most likely, it was the fact that I did not plan far enough in advance, so the avocados I used were not ripe enough.  The icing and the cake were a little too veggie tasting, where as if I had used really ripe avocados, I think the creaminess would have come through, and not so much the flavor.  Anywho, here is the recipe if y’all want to see how DELICIOUS it looks and attempt it yourself!

It absolutely broke my heart, not to mention my no-waste rules, to throw away this cake, but it really was just not good.  I made it for my roommate Ashley’s birthday, so even though it wasn’t inedible it definitely wasn’t of gift quality.  Because I couldn’t throw every bit of it away, I doused some of it in PB and ate for dessert tonight and I stored a few slices in the freezer.  I’m sure I can find SOME use for it, right?!

ally and i "testing" the cake with the avocado icing

putting it to good use with some white chocolate wonderful

On Monday, before making the cake, I did have a very successful dinner!  I made Betsy’s Broccoli Pesto and mixed it with some of the spaghetti squash that I cooked up last night.  I used slightly more basil, slightly more-cooked broccoli (I was hoping for a creamier texture), and slightly less olive oil.  I LOVED it.  What I didn’t eat tonight, I stored in the freezer.  Does anyone know if that’s not a good idea because I already added the nuts and cheese? I read a few places online that you shouldn’t freeze it with the nuts and cheese mixed in, but then other places said you could freeze it any way.

I had the Red Stripe after dinner to help me groove to my jams while I baked.  The failure of the cake does not take away from the relaxation I got from baking it.  Give me some music and a baking recipe and I am one happy woman girl.

Here’s a few from my “In the Kitchen” playlist:

• Alexi Murdoch- All My Days
• Matt Hires- Tangled Web
• NeedtoBreathe- Girl Named Tennessee
• Ingrid Michaelson- Everybody
• Marcus Foster- I Don’t Mind
• Horsefeathers- Finch on Saturday
• Postal Service- Such Great Heights
• Eric Hutchinson- You’ve Got You

Other Monday eats included:

grilled banana, mighty maple, coconut sammy

chobani, pink lady, cinn

And to back track to Sunday’s Eating Experiment:

We took take-out, make-out (when you make it at home and take it somewhere, duh! Get your mind out of the gutter…), and wine to the river!

I got a Whole Foods salad/little bit of everything from the cold bar.  At 7.99 a lb, I was really hoping everything in this sucker was fantastic.  That is SO expensive!  They should really just have a set price for each container size and let you fill it up.  Come on, Whole Foods..don’t you know we’re in a recession?!

I took the bag out of the Bota Box to finish it off…

the view+ the weather= perfection

It was such a perfect evening, and the weather really lifted our spirits.  After withstanding the bugs for as long as humanly possible, we left the river and trekked over to Baskin Robbins, our old Mid-Town stomping grounds.  We all got various Premium Slow Churned options.  I got the Chocolate Overload flavor, which was an absolute HIT!  It was soooo chocolatey and I definitely did not taste any artificial flavoring (even if there was some!). It tasted like the real thing, so hey, I was happy!

If today, and this week so far in general, is any proof of what this month is going to be like, then September is sure to be a great month!  I am so excited for what is to come in the near future: professionally, weather-wise, food-wise, etc.

I would post the rest of my eats for today, including the DELICIOUS cake that I baked up for Ash’s bday to redeem myself from the disaster, but I am all too tired and have to be professional and ready to take on the day at the crack of dawn tomorrow.  So, I will call it a night and PROMISE (but not a broken promise this time, I PROMISE (?)) to post tomorrow with the cake and the rest of the wonderful happenings over on my side of the blogosphere.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful start to their weeks.  I look forward to catching up on all of your blogs tomorrow!  Until then,  I will leave you with some pictures of me and Ashley over the years.  She is the best friend a girl could ask for, and I am so blessed to have such an amazing person in my life, especially on a daily basis!  I love ya, Ash!  Thanks for being my rock and the one thing in my life I know I can always count on.

Kid Tested, Babysitter Approved

Warning: Humongous post follows!

Well helloo blog world!  It feels like it has been forever since I have posted what’s been happening over here in the PB Prerog kitchen, and my camera has the proof!  I have many pics and eats to share, so I’ll keep the blabbing to a minimum!

First, I want to say thank you to all the readers that responded to my bratwurst post with alternative suggestions.  I can’t wait to try Boca and Tofurkey’s versions of the brat!  Maybe then it could be more of a regular occurence over here!  Also, I just want to say thank you in general to this community.  I am constantly reading posts that are so comforting because it makes me realize that there are people out there that are not only going through similar things to me, but also just share the same loves and oddities that I do.  Whether it’s something more serious like overpowering thoughts and sleep problems or something lighter like a love for Memphis and its food and embarassing peanut butter collections, thank y’all for sharing!  Even if this post doesn’t reach you directly, I hope you know somehow how you have reached me on a daily basis!

So lately, I have been pretty experimental in the kitch.  I have tried cold overnight oats, a recipe of Giada’s I have been wanting to try for a while, new VitaTops, and new LaraBars.  Also, if you’ll notice, I have added another page on the blog.  While I haven’t actually added anything to the page yet, I plan on writing the intro in the next few days, so be sure to stay tuned!  My hope for “Wine on a Dime” is to be able to experiment with inexpensive wines and report on the good finds…and the bad!  There’s not a person who isn’t affected by this recession, so for those of you who enjoy wine, I know you will enjoy the great finds to be revealed on the new page!

Of course, while there has been experimentation, there has also been a bit of the usual.

creamy banana oats with coconut, almonds, strawbs...

 

almond slivers and strawb preserves

 

pb puffins w. almond milk and bananas

 

and coffee made a major return this week

 

frozen key lime fiberone for dessert

 

frozen bananas and strawb slices

 

loooving the frozen bananas lately

 

avocado-spinach-banana smoothie

BUT with a new VitaTop flavor!  AppleBerry.  Another success.  (A full review on VitaTops will come tomorrow.) 

another green treat. favorite larabar flavor: keylime pie!

AND a new LaraBar Flavor: Cinnamon Roll.  Ally bought this, actually, but she wasn’t a huge fan.  I, on the other hand, loved it!!  It tasted pretty similarly to the peanut butter cookie flavor in my opinion, except it had a cinnamon zing that the PB (or Cashew) Cookie flavor lacks.  YUM.

Now, onto the experiments, starting with cold overnight oats!  Oh-em-gee.  I was a little skeptical about eating my oats cold, but these did not disappoint!  I love how versatile this food is!!  There’s always a new way to eat it and the result never lets me down.  Dear Quaker, will you marry me?

In the overnight mix:

• 1/3 cup oats
• ~ 1/3 cup almond milk
• sprinkle of unsweetened coconut
• handful of dried cranberries

I mixed it all up in a cereal bowl, stuck it in the fridge, and let all the ingredients get well acquainted overnight!

topped with 1/2 banana and strawberry preserves in the a.m.

The consistency was a little too similar to a breakfast cookie for me, and I knew that the overnight oats I had seen on other blogs looked a lot creamier, so I was a bit turned off at first.  But, as soon as I added a little Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk…perfection!  I topped the oats with some almond slivers too.

mmmmmmmm

 

this is not for show. it legit happened.

As did Cumin Coffee?

After having a cayenne infused capuccino recently, I wanted to make my own peppery coffee.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any cayenne on hand, so I used a little cumin in the filter instead thinking it might have a similar result.  Nope.  Definitely not.  I think Ally called it “hummus coffee.”  Ick.  Note to self: buy cayenne pepper and use cayenne pepper when called for, not cumin.

For a dinner experiment, I channeled my inner Giada.  My inner Giada that I wish were outer Giada.  I’m a little obsessed.  I basically want to be her.  Delicious Italian food everyday? Check. A beautiful house on the beach in California? Check.  A cute husband? Check.  A hot little bod? Check.  Her very own cooking show? Check. Check. Check?  Yea, girlfriend’s got it all.

So, I decided to make one of her “Meals for One” dishes, but I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients on hand, so I simplified and came up with this (no real measurements, sorry.  I’m a true chef, what can I say?)

• couple handfuls of spinach
• little bit of basil
• couple handfuls of sundried tomatoes
• ~1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• ~1/4 cup goat cheese
• 2 chopped roma tomatoes
• 1/7th of a box of WW angel hair pasta

I mixed everything but the pasta in a bowl.  Then, I cooked the pasta until al dente, drained it (saving a little bit of the pasta water- important!), and added it to the bowl.  Voila!

Notes for next time: Wilt/Cook the spinach a little first.  I was hoping it would blend in a little more with the pasta dish.  Instead, it was more like pasta atop salad, not a verycohesive dish.  Also, I would add a little less pasta water back in than I did.  It was a bit watery.  Overall, a good dish!  The cheeses melted and combined with the water  to make a yummy sauce that coated the tomatoes, spinach, and WW pasta.  It was the perfect amount too.  It kept me full all night, but I didn’t feel stuffed.  Thanks, Giada!

Other dinner experiments?

I finally cooked up that Okinawan potato!  I made purple sweet potato fries.  I was tempted to do something really fun and fancy to show off the potato’s color, but I wanted to cook it simply first to really get an idea of its flavor, consistency, etc.

i cut it the same way i did this orange one a while ago

I cut it this way because I like to get both the fries and the wedges.  I don’t discriminate.  But, there are several other ways you could cut your potato!

I sprinkled them with sea salt, olive oil, and lime juice.  The lime juice was such a delicious addition and something I will definitely try on my regular sweet potatoes!

fries

 

wedges

 

ketchup!

 

such a gorgeous color!

And in other random experimentation:

"caramelized" bananas

I just sprayed a pan with PAM and turned the burner to medium-high heat.  Then I covered come sliced bananas in a bowl with cinnamon and a sprinkle of Splenda granular.  In the pan for just a matter of seconds on both sides. And voila!  Who needs rum and brown sugar?  These things were amazzzzzing and I cannot wait to put them on oats, in pancakes, on yogurt, on ice cream…etc. etc.!

chocolate fig vitatop! another tasty one!

 

heaven mixed into 0% chobani greek yogurt

Then this weekend, I experimented THREE times with no-bake peanut butter balls, inspired by Tina!

I made my first batch with AB just like hers, except I added coconut, which I think made them a bit drier, but still delicious!

Then, I went babysitting and made some there with what they had on hand:

• 1/2 cup granola
• 1/4 all purpose flour
• handful of crushed pretzels
• 2 big spoonfuls of of Jif Crunchy PB

They were a hit!  I have been babysitting this family for more than a year, and one of the things that the 5 year old and I LOVE to do together is make crazy concoctions.  We have so much fun coming up with how to make a delicious treat from what they have on hand.  This one was especially a hit!  Good tasting and good for you….but, they don’t need to know the last part, right?!

the pretzels were a great crunchy add!

Then, when I got home, I experimented with WW flour.  These are my personal favorite and at less than 100 cals per ball, a perfect snack and topping for yogurt, oatmeal, etc.!

• 1/3 cup WW flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut
• less than 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 2 heaping tbsp. of Mighty Maple
• splash of water for easier rolling

 

Whew!  If you actually made it through that entire post, you’re a real friend! 

I just cooked up a spaghetti squash for the week, and now I’m off to Whole Foods to pick up a few “necessities.”  Stay tuned tomorrow for a VitaTop review and a recap of tonight’s S.E.E.! 

Hope everyone had wonderful weekends.  Happy Sunday!!

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming…

Hey y’all!  I had the most exhausting, yet very exciting day today!  Things are definitely looking up over here in Bluff City.  Unfortunately, I am very tired from a long day, so I don’t feel like posting all of my delicious eats (though I can promise some very yummy ideas to share tomorrow!).  I DO, however, want to bring some links, videos, and fashion finds that I have found or been referred to (thanks, sister!) over the past few days to your attention!  As soon as I saw these, I just had to share.  So, here’s a quick little post with the things that have been gracing my lovely computer screen this week.  Back to regular foodiness tomorrow!!

First, for all you fashionistas out there…

Kate Spade is having a sample sale with ridiculously good prices AND $5 flat rate shipping on every order!  They do have free shipping on all of their regularly priced things, but those are just too pricey for this girl.  Heck, even the sample sale is too pricey for me considering I have no paycheck, hence why I am sharing this with you lovely peeps who hopefully have parents or husbands with no credit limits jobs!

Another scrumptious fashion find:

http://www.oldsoulnewheart.com/

Just promise not to buy it all because I have my eye on a few things…Triple Threat and Dressy, But Not Serious in particular.  Which one would you get, even if spending 40 bucks on an accessory for your cranium/capitulum/noggin (yes, i google synonymed head. don’t judge.) isn’t your thang?

Also, I went to a social media panel today and learned about this video that had people all awhirl, but where was I?  Have y’all seen this?!  Apparently, this guy flew United Airlines and after landing, he noticed the crew throwing his guitar around while loading it off the plane.  When he got it off the luggage belt and discovered that it was broken, he went to the United Airlines staff to complain.  They brushed him off.  His response?  This video that got over 5 million views and spots on numerous talk shows, including Good Morning America.  Talk about bad PR, huh?

I learned about this one too.  A pretty funny spin on what will happen if we take this whole social media thing too far.  I believe the speaker today said, “Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should” in reference to using the technology that’s available to us.  Hear ye, hear ye.

And for something a little bit more like what you normally see here, this is a video from one of my favorite blogs, CHOW.  They have a series of videos called “You’re Doing It All Wrong.”  It enlightens you on how to do things you think you’ve been doing right all along, the ACTUAL right way.  Like here, on how to chop an onion.

K.  That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed seeing something a little different on here today!  See ya tomorrow.