Ketchup..er, catching up

Hi friends! No, unfortunately, there is no ketchup to be found in this post, but there IS some yummy cranberry mustard, and a whole lotta catching up to do , so let's dive in, shall we?

It's been almost a week since I've posted, but of course the big highlight was my birthday last Thursday. Thanks so much for all the wonderful birthday wishes. You guys are the best, and I was very flattered by all the comments! Anyone tried the SMOATS yet? Gosh, I know they look weird, but they are so good! I'm having them again tomorrow to perk up my day--I have to work all. dang. day. Over 12 hours. Waaah. What a cry baby.

Anyway, I got tons of super sweet and thoughtful presents for my special day, but I'll just show you the fabby foodie ones.

My sister is the bomb and got me the ultra-stylin' polar bear plate and matching sparkly cup that I've had my eye on. Yeah, I'm 26 now and I still like melamine cartoon plates--also to perk up my day at work. What? Cute little beehive tea infuser (I do live in the Beehive State!) and sinfully indulgent walnut green tea from my bro. It tastes like butter. No joke.

And...check it out! Probably like the very first ever home exercise audio! How freakin cool is that? I don't have a record player, so I'll probably never know what it says, but luckily I have the handy-dandy pictures on the cover to assist me if I ever decide to bust out the moves. Thanks Joel! Hubs also got me a gift card to Whole Foods, which is burning a major hole in my pocket! He's so great.

Oh food, glorious food! So many good things on my birthday including a ginormous frosted cupcake from the gals at work, crispy sweet potato fries,
turkey burger with cranberry mustard (told you) on a sweet potato bun and the most decadent and marshmallow-y bread pudding I have ever tasted, courtesy of Acme Burger. Ho-leeeey cow. Everyone's order was very tasty and the service was impeccable. If you are in the SLC, GO!

Of course I was even more spoiled rotten at home where my mama whipped up her signature from-scratch super chocolate cake with extra frosting and tons of SPRINKLES!!!
My mom was so funny--she hunted high and low for just PINK sprinkles, but couldn't find any so she and my dad sat down and hand sorted out a bunch of pink for me. Jeez. I am spoiled!

Daddy Experimentarian obliged my two birthday requests also, by fixing up his perfect pancakes with a side of thick cut bacon for breakfast.

I swear those pancakes are one of my favorite things on this earth. I would probably make them my last meal. Well, pancakes and smoked salmon--which my dad also put together for me.

Seen here as lunch leftovers the other day atop mixed greens, red peppers, onion, mushrooms and dried cranberries. I mixed that with a little BBQ vinaigrette and I never wanted to stop eating it.

Well, that's all for now, and quite enough, I'm sure! A big huge thanks to Kendal for guesting for me on Friday. I don't know about you, but all her food adventures make me long to travel! Luckily, I've had my dose of exotic locales for now (Sweetwater County homies!) and am all settled in at home, at least until next week!

Do you love going home for a little TLC like me? What's the one thing your parents make for you that no one does better? You saw my list above--I'd love to know yours! xoxo

A Recipe and A Review

Hey guys! guess what I found out today? The state vegetable of Utah is the ONION!!

How appropriate. For me, anyway. So glad I live in a place that gives love to one of my favorite things!

Out of curiosity, I looked up Wyoming to see if it had a state vegetable, but sadly, it doesn't I should have known--nothing grows in Wyo except for sagebrush anyway, which probably isn't so tasty. Not that I wouldn't try it! ;) However, I DID learn that another one of my favorite states, North Carolina, own the SWEET POTATO as their veggie of choice. Awesome! just another reason to love the "old north state!" So... a little random trivia there!

In other randomness, I decide to forgo both Freaky Food Friday and Sammie Saturday this week, and mix it up a bit instead with a recipe and a restaurant review, hence the title!

So, ALL WEEK, I have been craving one thing: a brownie and a Diet Coke. Odd, I know, and it sounds like such a "dieters" snack, but that certain combo makes me quite nostalgic for my mama in a round about fashion. Explanation: growing up, we would always have an afternoon snack on the weekends, usually consisting of yep, a piece of chocolate something or other and a delicious diet beverage. Usually this would occur after my mom woke up from her nap, which happened after reading the weekend comics, which happened after a scrumptious pancake brekkie made by my dad, which happened after my weekly father-daughter bonding grocery shopping trip with him. So you see, quite the string of happy flashback memories for ya there!

A lady at work actually brought in brownies which is what kick started my chocoholism, but I DID taste one and they were kind of yucky. They just tasted like margarine. Icky. Of course, I know it is perfectly fine to indulge in a real brownie every now and again, but I knew I could make a healthified sub in the meantime.

I have been totally eyeing everyone's microwave creations lately--see Tina's cookie and April's protein cakes--but I created my own combo by modification a recipe I found on the Eggland's Best site. Introducing the Brownie Batter Puffcake!

Whisk together 2 egg whites, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. powdered stevia ( I used two NuNaturals packets), 2 tbs. pumpkin puree and 1 tbs. almond milk. Once thoroughly combined and egg whites are frothy, stir in 2 tbs. flour and one heaping tbs cocoa powder. Mix well to combine, and pour contents into a microwave safe mug sprayed with Pam. Microwave for 2-3 minutes, and plop out to let cool.

Cake will be very moist and almost souffle-like in texture. It's almost like pudding at the bottom, which is where the name comes from--pudding+cupcake/muffin+mug=Puffcake.

Top with sprinkles (obviously) if you want to be extra fancy, and a dollop of vanilla yogurt and serve alongside Diet Coke for a trip down memory lane.

OR, throw into a bowl of cottage cheese and top with Sunbutter for a super delicious start to your Saturday morning.

Decadent. I may mess around with this and try adding wheat bran instead of flour to up the fiber content and make it a little more filling. You surely could sub in protein powder, but since most brands have soy in them, that is not a good option for me. However, this still has pretty good stats, clocking in at right around 100 calories, 3 g of fiber and 10 g of protein.

Even after that delicious start, my day got better! It is my bro-in-law's birthday on Tuesday, so we drove down to Provo, which is about half an hour away from us to celebrate early. I LOVE birthdays! I don't care who's they are, I just think they're great! But, they are even better when they belong to people I love :) Speaking, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SUSAN TODAY!!!

Anyway, Ollie is a vegetarian, and I knew the perfect place to please everyone's discerning palettes. Guru's used to have a location in SLC before I lived and I would visit all the time with my sis. Now they are just in Provo, but it is sure worth the drive! Guru's has a great philosophy about first nourishing our bodies so we and then nourish our lives, and nourish we did! After pouring over an extensive menu packed with great, healthy options, with everything from noodle and rice bowls to wraps, pasta, even breakfast, I finally chose a blackened salmon salad with raspberry vinegar.

Not even an oily vinaigrette--they actually had gourmet vinegar! It's like they knew I was coming! My salad was a lot of lettuce, but also had feta cheese, tomatoes, onions, snap peas, and the salmon was out of this world!

Ollie had a veggie and tofu cilantro lime wrap that came with tortilla chips and salsa.

And Dustin had a good-sized burrito, stuffed with juicy pork, rice and black beans then smothered in cheese and pico di gallo.

I must say, everyone devoured their food and loved every bite of it! Everything I saw come out of the kitchen looked seriously amazing, and there are tons of yummy menu items I would love to go back and try! the decor is fun and hip, the service was good and I'm definitely giving Guru's my two thumbs up!

Another thing I'm giving a thumbs up--Ollie's super sweet new look courtesy of some of our hilarious birthday presents to him. Rockin it!

Happy Birthday Olls! Love ya!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend and is eating as much yummy food as I am! check out Guru's menu and tell me what YOU would try next. It's all killer! xoxo