The Chocolate Underground.

Happy Monday! Loving the weather change (or the taste of), with a mild day of 80 degrees. Last night's run was perfect too. Who knew running in 90 degree weather could be so much harder?!

Sunday-funday was spent baking up a masterpiece with the roomie, Annedra. Knowing that I am on a mission to make ever "Southern" recipe sparked the brainchild of a red velvet cake. How original. Creative. Innovative. Please tell me you're picking up my sarcasm....

What IS a fun and creative spin on this classic Southern dessert has been blowing up Pinterest like my phone on a saturday night (that means I get a lot of calls 'cause I'm so popular), is the idea of a BLUE velvet cake. Now we're talkin! But not any ol' blue cake we took it a step further in ode to the great Velvet Underground.We decided the "blue" went with "Pale Blue Eyes", and the Blue Velvet Underground Cake was born!

Soo I can't give you the recipe, since it's a "family secret". Aka I didn't really remember or measure the ingredients. What I can tell you though is that we used an entire bottle of blue food coloring, and half a bottle of chocolate syrup. Despite the abundance of artificial ingredients, we balanced it out by with some pureed blueberries. Pure moist, delicious cake. Topped off with homemade cream cheese icing and a banana. If you don't get the reference, you don't deserve to know! But, I'll tell you anyway, just this once. Andy Warhol + Velvet Underground = Best Buds. Andy Warhol + famous painting = wilty banana. Add blue velvet underground cake = sum of my sunday night.

Pre-baking. What color would you call it?!

Shout out to Madmoiselle for assisting in the cake production

Action shot of frosting by Annedra!

Velvet Underground, Warhol cake

We of course listened to the Velvet Underground while baking this delicious cake, which made it even more "authentic". A nice walk around the neighborhood of course balanced out our inhalation of the cake beforehand : ). Granted, it was a bit greeny-blue, I dedicated it to myself, being of a blue-green eye colored gal.

Gooey split view of the Cake!

Since I do like to give recipes, here is one that I made for breakfast this morn. No pictures, but I can assure you it is one bowl of delicious oats. Again with the oats, I know but who in the food blogging world isn't obsessed with oats?!

I made my own version of PB Fingers, Uber Chocolaty Overnight Oats. The addition of yogurt makes this breakfast more pudding-y, and chocolate never hurt anyone!
Chocolate Protein Overnight Oats
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup milk
1/4 plain non-fat yogurt
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (or 1 heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder)
1/2 banana sliced

Just mix in a bowl, store in the fridge overnight, and enjoy your breakfast waiting for you patiently the next morning! I topped mine with a scoop of peanut butter of course.

Enjoy the rest of your week!!

Raindrops on roses...

and whiskers on kittens! You know it. Don't lie. Sound of music is right up there with Bridesmaids as your favorite movie.

Anyways, this segways into "My Favorite Things":

1.) Fall ( my head is spinning from all my pumpkin-related pinning) so witty, i know
2.) Yoga pants. When will they invent biz-casual yoga pants?! Get with it victoria's secret!!
3.) Peanut Butter. Literally on anything. Literally in my mouth....literally.
4.) The french word "Parapluie" meaning umbrella. And yes, every french word must be italicized.

Ok i think that was the most random list of favorite things I could come up with. But they are legit.

I've been meaning to put this recipe up for a while now, but alas my hunger and lack of ambition has prevailed. Don't fret! I have finally dedicated my 3.5 seconds to take a picture of one of my go-to favorite breakfasts for you to try. It's not quite a parfait, but more than a cereal. Mind-boggling goodness is what it is.

Shredded Wheat Breakfast Bowl
serves 1

1 1/4 cups unfrosted shredded wheat
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 banana, sliced
cinnamon to taste

Simply combine everything in a bowl, and mix until combined. If you prefer vanilla yogurt, you can of course use that and leave out the extra vanilla. I added 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds to mine this morning to help thicken it up, since I ran out of yogurt.

I like to top mine with another favorite of mine, which I call peanut butter sauce:

Start by slicing half a banana (frozen slices work best), and heat a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute, until the banana is "melty" and warm.

Stir in 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, until mixture is combined. Add cinnamon if you please.

I can't wait to try this with pumpkin with fall coming up, and even applesauce. In the words of Will Ferrell, it's gunna be "scrumtrulesant"!

Plain ol' shredded wheat is just as it seems by itself. Cardboard. But once you make this bowl, you will think twice about it's deceptively sweet counterparts. The mixture is thick, creamy, and the perfect amount of sweet. Give the wheat a try!

Warm and gooey peanut butter sauce.  Oh, yes.

I'm compiling an extensive list of fall recipes to try, which could take me a while. Some I plan on posting are Banana Bread oatmeal, yeast-free cinnamon rolls, and a veggie stew!



What are some of your favorite fall time treats?

Eat Your Broccoli! (and enjoy it.)

Broccoli. Love it or hate it. I of course love it, and could probably polish off an entire head of it, but I am not your average veggie eater. BUT! This recipe will make you change your mind on this questionable vegetable. It is inspired by a dish that my best friend's mother would make. It's a perfect side dish for really any occasion or season. I did not have her recipe or any internet the day I made mine, so it was all an experiment, and I am pleased with the results. It's originally simply called Broccoli Salad, but since it was my own experiment, I decided to title this one 'Green Tree Salad'. It's also less daunting without the B word in the title. Here's what you'll need:

Green Tree Salad- ~serves about 6-8
1 Head of Broccoli, bite size pieces
1/2 red onion, diced
1 cup plain non-fat yogurt (regular or greek-style)
2 Tablespoons Light Mayo
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Sugar
1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries

Equipment:
Knife
Cutting Board
Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
Small mixing bowl
Serving Dish

First, chop the broccoli into bite size pieces and place in your serving dish. Then, dice your onion and add to broccoli

I forgot to take a picture of the next step since I was on the phone, and multitasking isn't exactly my strong point. It is pretty self explanatory though. Combine the mayo, yogurt, vinegar, and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add to broccoli and stir until combined. Stir in the cranberries and sunflower seeds.

That easy to a delicious dish! Now before serving, I just sprinkle on some more cranberries and sunflower seeds. I love the flavor of this dish, and the crunch of the broccoli. It's tangy, sweet, and creamy, and just a winning combination. It makes a great alternative to the redundant pasta or potato salad, and you're getting some veggies in!

Depending on how many servings you get, this dish is around 80 calories per serving. There's a great tool on sparkpeople.com that allows you to analyze recipes for nutrition information. If you really wanted to be accurate, or if you change any ingredients, here's the link:
Recipe Calculator

Do you have a favorite spin on classic side dishes?

Yogurt: Just Sweet Enough

Obviously this post is about yogurt. I personally enjoy just the plain, non-fat yogurt by itself, but it's tang doesn't fit every one's palette. But,  lot of the flavored yogurts out there are some artificial and sweet, in flavors like "Key Lime Pie" and "Apple Turnover", they are just as high in sugar as the dessert name implies. So if you do like yogurt, but don't want as much or as artificial as many of the ones on the market, you can sweeten it yourself like this.

First I buy a big container of plain, non-fat yogurt, brand or size doesn't matter to me. You can either sweeten it as you eat it, or just sweeten the whole container at once. These directions are for sweetening it by serving, which is 1/2 a cup for me. So to 1/2 c of yogurt, I add about 1 tablespoon of no sugar added fruit preserves. Now you have to read the ingredients since some no sugar added jams add in artificial sweeteners since they're technically not "sugar". Some names they go under are "sucralose" "aspartame", "acesulfame k", "acesulfame potassium", and "saccharin". To me, if you buy those types of jams, why not just buy the presweetened yogurt? So I buy the all natural fruit spread, such as Polaners all fruit spread. Those contain no sugars, but rather fruit juice as a sweetener. The jam pictured here is a natural berry jam from The Maine Diner. But pick a flavor you like. My favorite is blueberry.

Also, I add some frozen berries too. i chose frozen since when you micrwave them for about 20 seconds, it makes some extra juice, which I find makes the yogurt look, well more like flavored yogurt. If you prefer fresh berries, or they're in season that would work too. For a serving I use about 3 tablespoons, or a little less than 1/4 cup. 

Mix it all in and enjoy. Now you can play around with different flavors and amounts to your liking, but I feel adding your own sweetener makes it just the right amount of sweet, and your not using the artificial sweeteners which personally, I feel are just ....chemical? Anyway I prefer to stay away from them. 

Now for a half cup serving of the yogurt i made here has about 100 calories, 0g fat, 15 g of sugar (all natural, remember that), 4 g of fiber, and 6 g of protein.

For comparison, the average fat free flavored yogurt has about 100 calories, 0g fat, 14 g of sugar ( that is not including all the artificial sweeteners added)  0 g fiber, and 5g protein.


Hope you enjoy and experiment with new flavors!