Naturally Green St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes

Having a sensitivity to food coloring confuses people sometimes, especially since mine is restricted to blue. What they don't seem to understand is that my body doesn't actually care if it looks blue, just if it contains the pigment Blue 1. You know what else contains Blue 1 besides blue food coloring? Green food coloring. Purple food coloring. A variety of foods that don't fall anywhere on the blue side of the color wheel, also known as my list of reasons I hate everything (because I usually discover these foods contain blue food coloring the hard way).

Reasons I Hate Everything List

• Store bought marshmallows (even the gingerbread ones)
• Cranberry ginger ale (ironically bought to make my stomach feel better)
• Chocolate animal crackers
• Peach Mango Crystal Lite
• Reese's Pieces
• Almost anything berry flavored

There's probably more, but since I've become obsessive about checking the ingredients on foods before I buy them, there's a lot less accidental blue food coloring ingestion, so I'm less angry about it. That's not to say I never slip up (sometimes on purpose, damn you sour gummy worms), but since my system has usually been cleaned out of all blue by that time, it's usually less "I hate everything" and more "well, that was not smart."

But when this time of year rolls around, and everyone decides to dye everything green, the subject starts to come up again. Well I tell someone I can't eat something that has green food coloring, they go, "Why, it's not blue," and I have to go back to the elementary school color wheel to explain how you make something green.

Enter the naturally green cupcakes. I originally made them last year for a friend who wanted "baby friendly" St. Patrick's Day cupcakes for her son's day care. I didn't know what baby friendly cupcakes meant, so I figured I'd just make something low sugar with no artificial ingredients and some hidden healthy stuff. (I topped those original cupcakes with an avocado cream cheese frosting, which made me sad because avocado+cream cheese tasted really good and all I wanted to do was add some garlic and onion to it and spread it on toast. Instead I, very reluctantly, had to add sugar)

I had low expectations for those cupcakes, as they were meant for tiny people who hadn't yet grown all of their teeth, but they were surprisingly tasty. I decided to try and make them again for Christmas, tweaking the recipe up a bit for adults, and topping them with some red velvet frosting. Those were really good, but I decided to make the full recipe in the blender, and the flour got overworked, so they came out a bit on the gummy side (which was also sad, because making them in the blender was so easy!)

So here we've come full circle and I decided to once again, this time with the tweaked recipe and without trying to make everything in the blender. Whattaya think?

Green enough for you? Except for the candy decorations, there is not a drop of food coloring in these bad boys. Have you guessed what makes that possible yet?

The answer is spinach. These cupcakes are loaded up with some green leafy goodness adding color and nutrition without tasting like it. While the cupcakes do have a different flavor than a straight up vanilla cupcake would, nobody can tell you made them with spinach unless you tell them. Plus, they're a lot healthier than a regular cupcake. You've got spinach, you've also got unsweetened applesauce, and there's only one stick of butter for the whole batch. It's practically health food. I've totally eaten these for breakfast and not felt one whit of guilt.

Of course, I've also eaten pie for breakfast and not felt guilty about it, so I may not be the best judge of food related guilt.

These cupcakes are a little more dense and a little more coarse than the ideal cake texture would be. You could skip the frosting and call them muffins, but then you don't get the moral superiority of eating spinach for dessert, and I'm not down with that.

As for the toppings, those are not healthy, but that's the part that makes them cupcakes.

The frosting is a cream cheese frosting, and it wasn't half bad, considering I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, but it refused to stiffen. I have never made a cream cheese frosting that stiffened properly. I don't know if it's because I purposefully use less powdered sugar than most recipes (most cream cheese frosting recipes are way too sweet.Tooth-achingly so. I don't think I will ever understand), but it never happens for me.

Decorations wise, I went super simple. I separated out the yellow M&Ms from a bag of spring colored ones (spring yellow is paler, but there's more per bag), and placed them on top to look like gold coins. Then I sprinkled some rainbow-colored Nerds around the edges to represent a rainbow. You could totally use rainbow sprinkles instead; that was actually my plan, but I saw the rainbow Nerds in the grocery store and I got excited. XD

I realized afterwards that using neon-colored candies to decorate my naturally colored cupcakes was a bit contradictory, but they're pretty so I don't care. (I actually didn't end up eating any of the decorated ones, so it all worked out in the end)

Spinach Cupcakes
Yield: 18

Ingredients
5 cups packed fresh spinach
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar*
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cream cheese frosting

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the spinach, maple syrup, applesauce, and vinegar to a blender and blend until completely smooth.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Add the vanilla.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add about half the flour mixture to the butter, beating on low until just combined. Add half the spinach mixture and continue to mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the remaining flour and spinach mix, and beat on low speed until well combined.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners and fill three quarters of the way with batter. Bake 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

*I have skipped the sugar before with no ill results, besides being not quite sweet enough, so if you prefer to not use refined sugar, you can leave it out.

Recipe by Kim

Great Grains Crunchy Stuffed French Toast

Happy National French Toast Day!

Did you know that my favorite French toast of all time involves cereal? True story. There's a local catering company with a tiny cafe that only serves lunch and brunch, and they make this Crisp French Toast which is coated in corn flakes. It's the greatest thing ever, all crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

This recipe reminded me of that French toast, which made me super excited to try it. Except this French toast is stuffed with bananas and chocolate, so it was almost like it was invented just for me.

This stuffed French toast is a healthier twist on the usual brunch favorite. It's baked and not fried (which is also convenient when serving a crowd), and it's coated in Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch cereal. The cereal not only adds a great crunch, but it's also packed with protein, fiber, and whole grains.

Unfortunately, this French toast didn't quite measure up to my favorite. It was tasty, but my testers all agreed that it was missing something. I think adding some cinnamon and a little extra vanilla could really take it to the next level. Still, nobody was turning down a slice.

(Also, because I am a crazy person, I used fresh baked bread. I had literally baked it that morning. That probably contributed to the problem, since stale bread soaks up liquid better. So, you know, use old bread.)

Great Grains Crunchy Stuffed French Toast
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup fat free milk
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. sale
2 cups Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch
8 slices challah bread, 1/2 inch thick
2 oz. bittersweet baking chocolate, finely chopped
1 large banana, sliced
2 cups sliced strawberries

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large shallow dish with wire whisk until well blended; set aside. Place cereal in resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Crush cereal with rolling pin. Dip both sides of the bread slices in egg mixture; place on clean work surface. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate; top with bananas. Dip both sides of remaining 4 bread slices in remaining egg mixture; place over bananas to make four sandwiches. Press together gently. Coat both sides of sandwiches with cereal crumbs; press crumbs firmly into sandwiches to secure.

Place on greased baking sheet.

Bake 20 to 25 min. or until lightly browned. Cut diagonally in half. Serve with the strawberries.

Tips and Suggestions
Substitute: Prepare as directed, using semi-sweet baking chocolate
http://postfoods.com/recipes/crunchy-stuffed-french-toast/?alttemplate=greatgrainsrecipe&brands=1171

*Disclaimer: I was provided with free samples of Great Grains cereal in order to feature this recipe. I received no further compensation. All opinions are, as always, my own.*

Grape-Nuts Turkey Burger Sliders with Cranberry Jalapeno Ketchup

Today is a day that many people are going to sit around their television with other people and a lot of food and they are going to yell at the sportsball players on the television.

I'm not sure why they yell at the sportsball players. Maybe it's because they make an awful lot of money considering they play a game for a living. Why does no one pay me millions of dollars to play games? Have you seen the size of my Steam library? I have a lot of games I could play.

The sportsball is confusing, but the food, that's something I can understand. All the good stuff seems to come out this time of year: buffalo wings and cheese dip and burgers and fried fatty goodness.

But January just ended. Literally yesterday. And I'm guessing your New Year's Resolution did not involve more fried fatty goodness in your diet. So why not take the burgers and the finger foods and all that good stuff and make it healthy?

Hear me out: healthy doesn't have to mean bland. Ground turkey is a super lean source of protein that takes flavor really well. And I know you've probably had tasteless hockey pucks before masquerading as turkey burgers, but these sliders are juicy and tasty, and thanks to a super secret ingredient, they're totally satisfying. That secret ingredient: Grape-Nuts cereal. I know, it's totally crazysauce, but it works sort of like stuffing in meatloaf. The Grape-Nuts take a little bath in some non-fat Greek yogurt and Worcestershire sauce, they soak up all that good flavor, and they soften, which in turn helps keep the turkey burgers moist and tasty. Plus it adds whole grains and a ton of nutrients

Then you top it off with this cranberry jalapeno ketchup, which couldn't be simpler to make and has got that whole sweet and spicy thing going on. Ketchup is usually too sweet for me, but the addition of the cranberries helps cut that, and it is so good on top of these burgers

These sliders have the whole food pyramid going on. Meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy, whole grains. They're super easy to make, and they're so good. Add them to your sportsball menu. Your body and tastebuds will thank you.

Grape-Nuts Turkey Burger Sliders
Yield: 12 sliders

Ingredients
For the cranberry jalapeno ketchup:
1/2 cup ketchup 
1/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
2 tbsp. diced canned jalapenos
1 tsp. onion powder

For the burgers:
1/3 cup Grape-Nuts cereal
1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tbsp. nonfat (skim) milk
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 lb. ground turkey
1 egg
1 tbsp. olive oil

12 slider buns
lettuce
mayonnaise

Directions
In a small bowl, mix together the ketchup ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until use

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the Grape-Nuts, Greek yogurt, red onion, milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and garlic powder. Let stand for about 10 minutes, or until the cereal softens. Add the egg and the turkey and mix until well incorporated (do not overmix, or the meat will get tough). Form into 12 equal patties (about 1/4 each)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the burgers and cook 4-5 minutes per side, until each side is well browned.

Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the slider buns, add lettuce, a burger, and top with the prepared ketchup. Serve warm.

Recipe from PostFoods.com

*Disclaimer: I was provided with free samples of Post Grape-Nuts cereal in order to feature this recipe. I was under no obligation to give a positive review, and I receive no further compensation from this post. All opinions remain, as always, my own. This post contains affiliate links*

Microwave Popcorn without the Bag

Microwave popcorn that's cheaper, healthier, and greener than the prepackaged stuff. What's not to love? 

I love popcorn. I think it's a great snack food. I eat it a lot. My biggest problem with microwave popcorn though is that it's always way too salty. And its weird to me that there's not a single brand out there thinks, hey, we should do low sodium popcorn. Even the "healthy" brands are super salty, and what's healthy about that? The Shop Rite store brand has a salt-free butter flavor, and it's the only one I've ever seen.

So, I finally bit the bullet and bought plain popcorn kernels. I knew that you can make microwave popcorn in a paper lunch bag, except I didn't see them in the grocery store. No worries, there had to be instructions on the back of the bag. Well, there were. And they sounded hard (plus, lots of oil involved).

I took to the Internet to see if I could find an easy way to make popcorn that didn't involve paper bags, and I did.

Things you will need:

• A large, microwave safe bowl
• A microwave save plate that fits on top of the bowl
• 1/3 cup plain popcorn kernels

 Measure out your popcorn kernels

 Pour them into the glass bowl and cover with the microwave safe plate. Note: you don't want the cover to be air tight, so I wouldn't recommend using any cover that might have come with the bowl. If you don't have a plate the right size, you can use parchment paper held in place with a rubber band.

Put it in the microwave for about 5 minutes on high. Now this time will differ between microwaves and popcorn brands. Make sure to listen while the popcorn is popping and take it out when the popping slows to a few seconds between pops. A little over 5 minutes works for me, but my microwave isn't very high powered. You might need more or less time.

Using pot holders because the bowl will be very hot, take it out of the microwave and remove the plate immediately (if you leave the plate on, the trapped steam will condense as it cools and make the popcorn soggy). Season as desired (I like a little drizzle of olive oil with some cracked black pepper and sea salt) and serve.

If you want butter, just mix a little melted butter in with the kernels before putting it in the microwave.

That's all there is to it. No bags to throw away, just a reusable bowl and plate that barely get dirty. Cheap and easy and environmentally friendly, and as healthy as you want it to be. Seriously, no downsides. Except you might find yourself eating way too much popcorn. *innocent whistling*

Technique adapted from The Yummy Life and Cherryvale Farms

Cake Batter Muffins

Once upon a time, there was a food blogger who had been invited to a friend's house for brunch. The food blogger didn't want to show up to the brunch empty handed, as she was kinda-sorta a semi-professional amateur of baked goods. But the food blogger happened to not be in much of a mood to bake (or have much in her pantry to bake with). Something simple would be ideal, something easy that didn't take much effort.

The food blogger spotted a jar of Homemade Yellow Cake Mix she had used the week earlier to make Cake Batter Truffles. What could be easier? She'd make cupcakes!

But, the food blogger realized, a cup of the mix was missing for the truffles, and that would throw off the measurements. Plus, she really didn't feel like making frosting. Luckily, this food blogger lived in the era of "cake batter ALL the things" and knew that cake mix could be used for more than just cake. She decided to use the leftover mix as a muffin base instead. She replaced the missing mix with whole wheat flour. She was low on eggs, so she replaced 2 of them with unsweetened applesauce. She became worried that the whole wheat flour and applesauce would make the muffins too dense, so she used buttermilk instead of regular milk. Then she added sprinkles, just for funsies.

These last minute muffins turned out so good that the food blogger resolved to put them on her food blog, but had no time to take photographs of them. It wasn't until many moons later that the food blogger remembered the muffins and whipped them up again, and they were just as good as remembered.

Okay, fairy tales aside, these muffins are in no way, shape, or form healthy. It's pretty much still cake. I tried to healthify them a bit with the whole wheat flour and unsweetened applesauce, and some of the sugar and fat goes away when you remove that cup of mix, but it's not enough to tick the healthy column. These are not New Year's resolution muffins; these are a way to eat cake for breakfast muffins.

Not that I have a problem with cake for breakfast, I'm just putting that out there.

And these are definitely more like cake than muffins. They are soft and moist, but the whole wheat flour gives them a subtle heartiness. They are denser than cake, but not too dense, and they have that great cake batter flavor which is what makes them so darn special.

Plus, they are so dang easy to make. Even making the mix, it took me maybe ten minutes of prep time. If you have the mix premade, it would take no time at all to get to the oven. Easy clean up too, with only one bowl and one whisk to put everything together.

Now, this recipe only works with my homemade yellow cake mix. I don't know how it would translate with a box mix, or another yellow cake mix recipe. My best guess would be to replace the oil with applesauce, the water with buttermilk, and a cup of the mix with whole wheat flour. But again, I haven't tried it, so you shouldn't take that as gospel. (If you try it, let me know!)

Cake Batter Muffins
Yield: 18 muffins

Ingredients
Homemade Yellow Cake Mix (minus 1 cup of mix)
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract 
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix and whole wheat flour. Mix in the wet ingredients until smooth (some lumps are fine). Fold in the sprinkles.

Line a cupcake tin with paper liners and fill 3/4 of the way with batter. Bake 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

Note: you can use the leftover mix to make cake batter truffles

Recipe by Kim

Banana Crunch Parfait

So, my interwebz has been on the fritz lately, which is why this wasn't posted last week. Sorry, lovelies.

Anywhozzle, did you know that September is National Whole Grain Month? It is. I'm not exactly the world's healthiest eater, but I usually try to incorporate a lot of whole grains in my diet. Why whole grains? As the name implies, they use the whole grain which means it has more nutritional value, rather than refined grains which have most of the nutrition processed out. Whole grains are good sources of fiber, which helps fill you up and keep you from over eating, but are also a good source of other nutrients like magnesium. For those of you that don't suffer from migraines, you might not know that migraines can sometimes be caused by a magnesium deficiency. So if a carb that's already better for me nutritionally might help prevent me from having migraines, you bet your booty that I'm going to try and eat that one more.

To celebrate National Whole Grain Month, I made these magnesium-rich Banana Crunch Parfaits (bananas and yogurt are also good sources of magnesium. Word) with Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch Cereal. I got a chance to try Great Grains cereal for the first time, and let me tell you-- holy crunch, Batman! The cereal was at like granola-levels of crunchiness, which was awesome. It wasn't quite sweet enough for me, but mixed with the sweet ingredients of the parfait, it worked great. I've been eating the Vanilla Graham flavor for breakfast, and I'm loving it.

As for the parfaits themselves, they're an awesome, quick breakfast. I even liked the honey drizzle on top as that extra sweet kick, even though I'm not usually a fan of honey. The only change I would make would be to use fresh strawberries instead of the canned pineapple, since I found the pineapple to be a little jarring, both in flavor and texture. I think the strawberries would just go better-- and who doesn't like strawberries and bananas together, amiright?

I used Stonyfield Farm Greek yogurt for extra protein, and got an eminently satisfying breakfast. You could make them as a healthy snack, or even a healthy alternative to dessert, if you're into that sort of thing. They do need to be eaten immediately, so the cereal doesn't get soggy. But trust me, you won't have a problem doing that. I didn't have parfait cups, so I made one giant parfait instead of 6 little ones and I may or may not have eaten the whole thing in one sitting. It's okay because it's healthy, right?

Banana Crunch Parfait
Yield: 6 parfaits

Ingredients
1 cup low fat vanilla yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
1 medium banana, sliced
1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained
1 cup Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch Cereal
1 cup honey

Directions
Spoon half of the yogurt into 6 parfait glasses. Layer with half of the banana slices, pineapple chunks, and cereal. Repeat the layers, and drizzle the honey on top.

*Disclaimer: I received free samples of Post Great Grains cereal in order to feature this recipe. I was under no obligation to review if I so chose, and I receive no further compensation from this post. All opinions are, as always, my own*

Baked Buffalo Chicken Strips

You know what I actually really love? Frozen chicken strips. Especially the flavored ones: the honey barbecue and the cajun style and the buffalo ones. I'm a food blogger, I'm not supposed to admit my love of processed foods to you, but there it is.

Do you know what I hate to do? Go food shopping. I blame it on my inherent dislike of interacting with people. (I'd make a really good hermit) I also hate using the carts, because they're so awkward. When you're shopping by yourself and you have a cart, how do you check out? Do you stand in front of it for ease of reaching the items and then be that weird person with no one pushing their cart? Or do you stand by the handle and pop your arms out of the socket trying to reach the items? I'm only shopping for me, so I'm never in a million years going to fill the cart, so I've got this bulky thing taking up an entire aisle, trying to squeeze past other people with the same bulky thing, for no reason other than I can't fit an 8-pack of toilet paper in a basket.

(My grocery store just started providing these smaller carts that are basically two baskets stacked on top of each other, and it's actually the greatest idea grocery stores have ever come up with.)

Any way, my point is that when I do manage to drag myself to the grocery store, I usually get things that will last me a while. I generally do get some frozen chicken or pizza to tide me over on the nights I don't feel like cooking, but I've also learned to love the value packs of meat in the butcher section. I get it home, separate it into freezer bags, and I'm rarely ever without some kind of meat for dinner. My favorite are the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They usually come about 6 to a pack, and since I'm cooking for just little ole me, that usually lasts me a good, long while.

I had a couple chicken breast defrosting in the fridge, and had a craving for some crispy chicken strips. Now, I could have just done my Crispy Oven-Baked Chicken Strips, but remember how I started this post with how much I love the flavored, frozen chicken strips? I decided I was going to make my own, healthified version.

I started by slicing the chicken into strips and marinating them right in the buffalo sauce. The longer you marinate it, the more flavor the chicken will absorb, so overnight is recommended (but if you're not a planner, you know, like me, then 2-4 hours is fine). Dredge in seasoned flour, eggs whisked with more hot sauce, and panko, and bake.

You could totally skip the flour/egg bit and just take the chicken in the sauce and toss it in panko, but I like a lot of breading and unnecessary steps.

How did they taste? Well, the buffalo flavor was definitely there but not as prominent as I would have liked. I could have tossed the cooked strips in more buffalo sauce, but I don't like my strips too saucy. Maybe next time I'll just use hot sauce instead of ready made buffalo sauce. Otherwise, they were crispy, juicy, and flavorful, just the way I like them. Served with some more buffalo sauce for dipping (or, you know, drizzled on top all fancy-like because you're a food blogger) and some homemade ranch (I used this recipe, minus the dill), and they're pretty nearly perfect

Baked Buffalo Chicken Strips
Yield: 10-12 chicken strips

Ingredients
1½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. buffalo sauce*
¾ cup whole wheat or all purpose flour
1 tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
2 eggs
1½ cups unseasoned panko bread crumbs
Cooking spray
Extra buffalo sauce and ranch dressing, for dipping

Directions
In a large zip top bag, add the chicken and ½ cup buffalo sauce, making sure the chicken is well coated. Marinate in the refrigerator 2-4 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, and fit with a wire rack. Spray well with cooking spray.

Take 3 wide-mouthed shallow bowls. In the first, mix together the flour, cayenne, paprika, garlic, and black pepper. In the second, whisk together the eggs and the remaining buffalo sauce. Add the panko to the third.

Remove the chicken from the marinade, and use paper towels to wipe off the excess sauce. Working with one strip at a time, toss the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess. Dip in the egg wash, letting the excess egg drip off. Toss in the panko, making sure the strip is well crusted. Place on the prepared rack, spray the chicken lightly with more cooking spray, and bake 10-12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Serve warm, with extra buffalo sauce and ranch dressing for dipping.

Note: I didn't add any salt because the prepared sauce usually has enough for my tastes. Feel free to add to taste. The cooking time will also vary depending on the size of your strips.

*You can use hot sauce for a more intense flavor and spice

Recipe by Kim

Om nom nom chicken strips

Roasted Broccoli Grilled Cheese

Hello hello hello everybody! I'm back! Well, I'm not back back, since Viola's not up and running, I don't have my measuring spoons, and my light tent is still packed somewhere, but I'm back. And this is the first thing that I cooked in my new house so I'm sharing it with you!

And I also want to apologize for the pictures. I only had one sliver of countertop to take them on, and the window was a lot higher than I would have liked, so some of the lighting got a bit wonky. Oops. This is why I have a light tent. :D

So, I'm not usually a huge vegetable eater, but broccoli is one I usually like, and I definitely like roasted broccoli. I've had this recipe from 2 Peas and Their Pod pinned forever, so when I was looking for a recipe with easy prep (and basic ingredients, since I still have to finish stocking the pantry) so I could eat something other than pizza, I remembered this.

And the prep really is super simple. Just chop a head of broccoli into small florets, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic, and stick it in the oven for 10 minutes. Butter two slices of bread, add cheese and broccoli, and grill in a hot pan. Voila: healthy, wholesome, tasty, and not pizza.

I put a yellow cheddar slice on the bread, added the broccoli, and then sprinkled it with shredded white cheddar, then topped it with another slice of yellow cheddar. This not only adds extra cheese, but keeps the broccoli from falling out of the sandwich.

If I was fully back up and running, I would have buttered the outside of the bread as per usual, but buttered the inside with roasted garlic, because garlic and broccoli are best friends and that would have been amazeballs. But I'm not at that point yet, so I had to make do with some garlic on the broccoli itself. Dipping it in tomato basil soup helped, too.

I wish I could tell you I had a recipe for the soup, but I don't. It's Campbell's. And it was tasty, so don't hate.

Roasted Broccoli Grilled Cheese
Yield 3-4 sandwiches

Ingredients
Florets from 1 medium head of broccoli, chopped small
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
6-8 slices of bread
Butter, softened
Cheddar cheese (I used a combination of yellow slices and shredded white)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a sheet pan, mix the broccoli, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, if using. Roast for 8-10 minutes, until the broccoli is evenly roasted, but not burnt. Allow to cool.

Heat a skillet on medium-low heat. Generously butter the bread on one side only. On the unbuttered side, layer cheese, broccoli, cheese, and another slice of bread (buttered side up). Grill in the heated skillet, flipping once, until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot.

Recipe adapted slightly from 2 Peas and Their Pod

PB&J (with Bananas) Smoothie

Hey guys! So, the floor guy is coming to refinish the floors tomorrow, and that'll take 3 or 4 days, so after that, I can finally move in. I still got painting to do, but that can wait until I'm actually in the house. In the meantime, I'm in a kind of limbo. Half my stuff is packed away, half of it still needs to be packed. I have a maze of boxes. I want to buy things but I can't really buy things until I can put them in the house and I can't do that until the floors are done.

I did buy a rug and some pyrex at an estate sale, so there's that. (Except the rug cleaning place hasn't called me back. Seriously. Do you not want my business?)

Anyway, the long and short of it is, I kind of unpacked my blender just to make this smoothie.

To be fair, it wasn't premeditated. I already had some frozen banana in the freezer. We already had a big tub of strawberry yogurt in the refrigerator that didn't really look like it was getting eaten. So I was like, oh, I'll make a strawberry banana smoothie. And then I added peanut butter to it because peanut butter. So it became a peanut butter and jelly (with banana, because bananas are cool) smoothie.

And I liked it, because really, what's not to like? So I made it again, this time taking measurements instead of dumping things willy-nilly into the blender so I could blog it, and here we are

The peanut butter and strawberry flavors are definitely the most prominent; though you can taste the banana, it's there mainly for texture. And between the banana, the peanut butter, and the yogurt, this sucker is filling, which makes it a great option for breakfast. It's probably the healthiest thing I've ever put on this blog, and I-- butter and sugar and cream loving I-- made it for dessert. O.o

This smoothie, make it. Dessert, breakfast, snack, anytime. It's thick and creamy and sweet and cold and has peanut butter. It's exactly what every smoothie should be.

PB&J Smoothie
Yield: 1 smoothie

Ingredients
1 small banana, chopped and frozen
1/2 cup strawberry yogurt (I used Stonyfield Farm Smooth & Creamy)
1/4 cup lowfat (skim) milk
1-2 heaping tbsp. peanut butter (I used White Chocolate Wonderful)*
Splash of vanilla extract (optional)**

Directions
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

*I didn't really measure the peanut butter. I just took a big spoonful and plopped it in there. You can never have too much peanut butter
**Or replace the skim milk with vanilla soy or almond milk

Recipe by Kim