Freaky Food Friday Round Four aka Spicy Sundae

I haven't blogged for a day, but man, it feels like a week! Missed you blog! But, I made a brief appearance over at Janetha's yesterday, so maybe that counts a little? Luckily I can come back with a bang. Prepare yourself for this one. If you are a bit squeamish or a more traditional ice cream-ish, read no further!

Inspired by my first attempt at spicy oats, which went slightly awry when I added a sweetened cereal to the mix, I have been mulling over the spicy-sweet combo for a while. Don't hate. Behold, the Spicy Sundae! A lovely scoop of Dreyer's Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Blends, topped with a river of Frank's and a sprinkling of salted peanuts. I was very dubious at first bite, but once I got all the peanuts out of the way and got down to my man Frank, it was all good. I swear. Not kidding. I loved the contrast between the sweet and the spice. The peppers almost seemed to make the ice cream sweeter, and it tasted almost like a spicy creamsicle.

Would I eat this again? You betcha! While not on a regular basis, this seems like the kind of thing you just get smacked over craving one day. I triple dog, double spice dare you to try this. Any takers? Happy Friday everyone! xoxo

Just Peachy

Best. Breakfast. Ever. Thank you Overnight Oat Gods. I have truly experienced nirvana. If you would also like to partake in this blissful bowl of divine nectar, mix the following:

• 3 oz. Kroger mango banana lite yogurt
• 3 oz. Fage 0 %
• 1/3 c. oats
• 1/4 c. Fiber One
• excessive cinnamon
  

Let sit overnight, and add

• splash of almond milk
• half a diced up delicious peach(preferably Utah's own from the Downtown Farmer's Market, but any would do)
  
• scoop of almond butter

I can't even explain to you how delicious this is. The picture doesn't even do it justice. Now when I get to work and everything is a gott dang mess, if anyone deigns to ask me how my day is, I can say "just peachy." Hope yours is too!

Sweetener Smackdown Part 2

I got a little crazy ants in my pants this morning and decided to run from my apartment to our new house. Um, it was far. Not so much that it was far (5.75), but it was all UPHILL. I don't mean like rolling hills, either. This shiz was hard core. Dang. I almost had to stop and walk a couple times, but I persevered and surprised my husband at the house where he was already hard at work. And then I made him give me a ride home. :)

When I got home it was time for a little snackie, and also---another addition of Sweetener Smackdown! Last week, I experimented with agave, and this week my new find is this: It's crystalized honey! Such a wierd little product, I HAD to try it! Ok. I have the same problem with this sweetener as I did with the last. Ugh! You are dead to me tastebuds, dead! A serving size is two teaspoons, only equaling 16 calories, which is twice the size and half the calories of regular sugar or honey. Of course, I'd like to minimize the amount of sugar in my diet whatever the form, so I hated to use the suggested amount in my tea, but I gave it a shot anyway.

Nothing. Maybe a little sweet, but not exactly NatraTaste territory. The crystals don't dissolve all that quickly, even in boiling hot water, so despite my best stirrings, I often end up with nasty honey gloop at the bottom of my cup instead of an evenly sweetened beverage. It tastes like honey (obviously), but I think honey is a very distinct sweetener, and I'm not always super in the mood for it. One thing this does work rather well for though, is a coaxing some sweeteness out of my beloved cottage cheese and cin. It mixes in pretty well and doesn't taste like poo, or like aspartame, so that might be a good solution for this dietary aspect of mine in the future.

Oh yeah, when that sweet hubby of mine drove me home, we made a little pit stop at Einstien Bagels--check out my hot new mug!!! (It was actually cold, cuz it had water in it, but whatevs) Also, in case you missed it on Friday, don't forget to check out my interview over at the Runner's Lounge. Have a great day off everyone, and try to relax and take it easy (unlike me and my cockamamie power runs up the ever-living hills). xoxo

Crackers

To kick off the weekend, D and I headed to a super fun concert at a cool venue called Red Butte Garden.

Representin' the Diet Coke, y'all!SLC ladies, if you have never been to a concert there, you should go. It was way chill (and a little chilly, because it's outside), and it's really pretty. Red Butte usually features artists that are a little off the beaten path, and Thursday was right on tune with Booker T and the DBT's as well as my new favorite band, CRACKER!!

I vaguely recall hearing at least one of their songs before, but seeing them in concert was rad (does anyone say rad anymore?? I do!)! They have a really unique alterna-country-punk sound, and I totally dug it. It's no wonder I love their sound--the band's bio page states that their drummer, Frank Fuanro, had played with Joey Ramone. The Ramones! Duh, my all time favorite band ever! I got a CD and I even got to meet the band to get it signed but I was too shy (ah too shy, shy hush, hush eye to eye) to get a pic with all the dudes. Please incorporate these two songs into your download queue immediately:
Low
Show Me How This Thing Works

Loves it.

On another cracker-related note, my cute little brother in law shares some of my experimentarianism and had ventured into a raw food store at my recommendation. He came out with these:
Raw Crackers

Little bro wasn't a fan, so he left them for me (Thanks Ollie!). These fascinating little crackers are cellophane thin sheets of savory flax seeds and dehydrated veggies. They were described by some others that I shared them with as "slimy," but I beg to differ. It's just the smooth feeling of flax seeds gliding over your tongue (which happens a lot because they are so smooth, they slip right between your teeth before you can mash em!) The flavor on these tastes a lot like a minestrone soup mix, and they are particularly tasty with hummmmmus. No, not the dessert kind, just regular.

These crackers are pretty odd, but also pretty delicious--just like my taste in music. Given the fine production of both music and edible delight in this context, you can call me cracker anytime. I don't mind.

Freaky Food Friday Round Three

Remember last Friday when I almost forgot about me freaky food (and apparently about me Luck Charms--good grief, terrible typer!)? Well, there was no chance of that this week! Last Friday, I mentioned my burning desire to try some Crazy Camel Dessert Hummus. Yes, that says dessert and not desert. Over the course of the week, I had the opportunity to correspond with the kind, and quite generous, Chuck--owner of Fed By Chuck and producer of Crazy Camel. Mr. Chuck was amazing enough to send me some samples off all six mouthwatering flavors, including: Chocolate Mousse, Peanut Butter, Caramel Apple, Pumpkin Pie, Maple Walnut and Toasted Almond! Yay Chuck!

I got the package yesterday and immediately busted it open... I was too excited to even take a picture of the box in pristine condition, or of the contents before I rifled through. Duh.

Of course i wanted to try all the flavors athteverysametime because I was absolutely dying to see what in the world dessert hummus could taste like. I tried to be good and limit myself to just three out of the six flavors to begin with: Chocolate, PB and Caramel Apple. I have to admit, it IS shocking to bite into some of this at first! It definitely is hummus, and you can taste the chickpeas for sure. Fortunately, I heart chickpeas, so I kept eating and I'm very glad I did.
After the initial what the fu...-factor wears off, you can really taste the other flavors develop. I found I liked all the varieties much better on fruit, as opposed to bread or crackers. I think the natural sweetness of things like apples or bananas would be a better catalyst for the deeper flavors of the hummus to shine through. So I TRIED to keep the chickpea chow down to just the three flavors..... but I got a little out of hand, and was dreaming about Maple Walnut swirled onto some toaster waffles this morning.
Doesn't that sound (and look) divine? I thought so!
WE HAVE A WINNER!! Winner, winner, chicken dinner! The Maple Walnut is by far my favorite of those that I have tried so far. The flavor in this one is so warm and rich, and yes, you can still taste the chickpeas, but it totally works. I cannot even think of a more delicious or healthier substitute for syrup than this little gem. It would also make an awesome topping for pumpkin bread ( or even pumpkin oats!).

I am jonesing bad to try the final two flavors: Pumpkin Pie and Toasted Almond, but I must think of the perfect flavor combination first (I think the almond would be bomber than bomb on some strawberries--any other ideas?). Luckily, Chuck has kindly informed me that all Crazy Camel Dessert Hummus products freeze amazingly, so that's probably what I' be doing with some of my surplus. Or perhaps I can just literally become a crazy camel myself and start hoarding it in my hump (my hump my hump my hump, check it out!), which is probably where it gets stored anyway.

Each serving has only 70 calories and similar stats to regular hummus. I love that this hummus is low in fat, and contains no gluten, dairy or SOY (yucky). Fed by Chuck is a very small company, just starting up out of New Hampshire, and I totally encourage you guys to check out Crazy Camel's site and see what you think. This would be a great conversation starter at your next get-together if you're a shindig throwin' type of gal, and sure to impress all of your adventurous foodie friends. Another big thanks to Chuck for sharing his product and allowing me to help spread the word about this fabulously freaky food!

Also, don't forget to head over to way-cool online community, the Runner's Lounge, and check out my interview as part of their Open Mic series, courtesy of super cool Tom and very sweet Amy. Amy found the blog a while ago, and encouraged me to submit running story to their site. I entered, and my story, was chosen as the ExtraOrdinary Runner story for the month of August! Yippee! I can't even remember the last time I won anything (um, probably NEVER), so this was an awesome surprise!

Big round of applause to Chuck, Tom and Amy for making my week much more wonderful than it would have been without you. Thank you so much! Hope everyone has a phenomenal Friday and a very un-laborious Labor Day! xoxo

Nifty

Ok, buckle up buttercups, this is going to be a long ride! (Buckle up buttercups is something my mommy used to say to us whenever she'd drive us places growing up, so I ALWAYS hear it in my head when get in my car now--thanks ma!). Luckily, for you though, the scenery is interesting on this trip : )

I had the opportunity to make lovely Lainie's ingenious neat joes on Sunday night, and since I made enough for leftovers, I had the perfect concoction up my sleeve for later in the week when I was feeling too busted to cook.

The neat joe's were super delish and easy to prepare. I even pretty much followed the directions :) The only things I did differently were to chop up the onions and add them to the mix; and also I didn't have any tomato paste, so I substituted the world's best condiment--ketchup, instead.
The turkey mash up was the perfect blend of sweet and spice. I have to say, I was tempted to add MUCHO more cumin since I love it, but I'm glad I opted to heed the original instructions here. The recipe called for one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, which I just so happened to have on hand from this and then this. Ladies, buy yourself something nice and get a can of sauced-up chipotles--it will last ya!

We had a little less than half left over, so lickety split, I transformed this:Into this:
Nifty Neat Joe Zucchini Lasagna

Step by step:
I blended 1 c. cottage cheese in my food processor with some garlic powder, red chili flakes, basil and oregano. Oh, and I almost forgot--I threw in a couple of tablespoons of parmesan and feta, too.


Sliced up a humuongo zucchini that D brought home from workSpread half of turkey mixture on the bottom of a 9x9 pan sprayed with Pam. Arrange zucchini slices over the sauce.
Blob a big old glop of the cottage cheese slop onto the zucchini and spread evenly

Add another layer of zucchini and cheese, then top with remaining turkey mix. I sprinkled the top of our s with a little parm for some extra yum, too.

After the casserole was prepared, I just sealed it up and popped it in the fridge.

It was a good thing too, because I got home from work TWO AND A HALF HOURS later than I anticipated and was in the mood to stew, not in the mood to make stew.

I was also in the mood to eat so I was totally bugged by the fact that I had to put this bad boy in the oven for an hour (tightly covered @ 400 degrees), but it was worth it in the end!I can always usually judge how good something is by the number of times Dustin mentions that it's good or that he likes it throughout the meal. If it's something with too many vegetables or whatnot, my super trooper husband eats it anyway and only opens his mouth to take another bite, but if it's really bomb, I get like five or six of "I really like this babe" or "That turkey stuff is really good." He's so cute. And that turkey stuff was, indeed, really good. :)

Spicy Oats Take One

I knew work was going to be a hot mess today, so I decided to kick off my morning with a little hot and spicy mess of my own to make me feel better. Here is my own (slightly misguided) version of the supah spicy oats, which I’ve been dying to try. I didn't want to cook an egg ( mistake #1), so I used my fave protein substitute: cottage cheese, and mixed it with some Greek yogurt. I actually made them into overnight oats (mistake #2), since I was going to be rushed. And instead of using just oats, I added some Fiber One, which was more out of habit than anything (mistake #3).
So here's probably what NOT to mix together:

• ½ c. cottage cheese
• 1/3 c. oats
• ¼ c. fiber one
  
• ridic Frank’s sauce
  
• s&p

I topped my bungled bowl with couple of squirts of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray (just for you Allison, even though I can't follow your recipe), and then also added some salted peanuts (I figured, what the hell?) to up the savory quality. Ok, I'm not saying this turned out awful--I still ate it. But here's my valuable learning experience:

• Don't use Fiber One. That was silly. I kept tricking myself into thinking I was eating something sweet since the cereal has my good friend aspartame in there. So I'd take a bite, chew, chew, chew and then get hit with the salt and spice from the back. It was confusing for my mouth.
  
• This needs to be warm. I think I could get behind the savory a little more if it wasn't cold. I'm sure everyone already knows this.
  
• Try an egg for Pete's sake like you're supposed to.
  

Hopefully one of the things you guys like about this blog is that I post my experiments even when they come out kind of yuckier than I anticipated. Most people just wonder what stuff tastes like in odd combination. I actually try it. I don't know what this says about me good, bad or indifferent.

My apologies to the lovely Allison for massacring her masterpiece. So sorry! But don't worry my little green puppy pants, I promise a repeat with more of the original oaty ingredients quite soon.