How to Train Your Dragon Fruit

Hi, Hi and Hello gals and girls!

Today has been quite a success. Meaning I’ve gotten a lot done, but I bet you surmised that much.

I made some Chocolate Mint ice cream for the kids.

it's a bit green

and Newman’s Own Organics sent me some chocolate bars to review. Gosh, NOO, how generous. I got Espresso Dark, Mocha Milk, Milk, Super Dark, Dark and Orange Dark.

check it out!

I’ll admit to not being much of a Milk Chocolate fan, but I actually found the NOO milk chocolate to be not too bad, especially the mocha one. Because let’s face it, don’t chocolate and coffee go well together? All in all, I’m a huge fan!
The favorite was the Very Dark flavor. Typical Hannah; honestly what beats dark chocolate? Not much.

All in all: I’ll represent Newman’s Own Organics any day. New favourite chocolate!

I promised you all a very-cute-picture of G with her tooth, so here you go!

*warning: photo containes a dislocated tooth and an adorable 10-year-old”

Finally!

I really appreciated all the great feedback you guys gave me about my recent NON nut allergy!! (except those Hazelnuts and milk Pistachios) I’ve been trying new nut butters, which has been fun!! I’d been a bit premature and began to accrue quite the nut butter collection before I’d even been tested and even made my mom save me this huge PB jar for OIAJ in case I could eat it.

yum

Let’s just say that this kind is SO much better than the Smart Balance kind. (read: it actually tastes like food and you can see that it is made out of food too!)

I used my trusty crock pot to make some oat bran.

sneaky peaky

Letsbereal here. I think I’m seriously in love with my crockpot. I could nestle up in it’s warmth any day. Except for the 89° days that are coming next week. Then I’ll be in the freezer, thanks.

Into the mix:
1/3 cup oat bran
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 cups water
LEAVE ME OVERNIGHT TO STEW AWAY
in the morning add:
2 tbsp greek yogurt (I used TJs greek- really creamy stuff right thur)
massive amounts of sprinkles of cinnamon
some Flax Flakes
some Granola
some crumbled Peanut Butter Bars that I made for G’s Girl Scout dance last night. Cause don’tcha just get crumbs when you take baked goods out of the pan?

This, my friends, kept me full for house and was delish.

oh where'd you go?

and wouldn’tcha know I liked the PB. I’ve been a bit if-y about peanut butter as to whether I actually love it. I know I  like it but with nut butter I usually fall head over heals. So that’s that. I’m already two timing on the SNB and SSB. Is there room for more? Stay tuned as I try more…

E had a doctor’s appointment this morning. Of course, he loved this because he got to skip school for the morning. In his words “haha Mom, I actually missed my spelling test!” <–quite the trickster.
Did you know they’re trying to give the HPV shot to kids of 10 now? Gosh people, a bit premature, I’d think. On that note, what do you all think of the HPV vaccine? 

I have a bourgeoning love affair with exotic fruit, my friends. I’ve thought this for awhile now. When I was homeschooled, I did a really fun project where I bought a bunch of exotic fruits, tried and reviewed them all, complete with a drawing. Somehow, though, I never came across one of these suckers.

As I mentioned, I found this beauty at the grocery the other day:

yes my friends, we have a dangerous animal on our hands

The beautiful pink exterior with pineapple-like scales drew me in. That, and the fact that it was the only one amongst the kiwis.

kind of strange looking, eh?

This morning, I decided to dive in.

GO: what does it look like to you? I’m thinking strange fish with pink scales?

Here’s a bit about Dragon fruits that I got straight from the Melissa’s website. Cause to be frank, I don’t/didn’t know much about them either.

“Originally from Central America and now domestically grown in southern California and Florida, the Tropical Dragon Fruit is an exotic cactus fruit that has a delicately sweet and mildly acidic flavor, reminiscent of watermelon, cactus pear, and kiwi.<– this would explain why it was with the kiwis….All Melissa’s Dragon Fruit flower at night and emit a jasmine-like fragrance. (romantic much?)The fruit is round and its exterior ranges in color from a hot pink to red. The interior color of dragon fruit ranges from white to pink to magenta. All three types have tiny, edible black seeds (very similar to those found inside Kiwi and similar to chia!). This fruit does not grow well in winter cold or summer heat, so its availability is limited, making it a highly prized treat. (indeed!) The melon-like texture of the Dragon Fruit makes it ideal for blending in drinks (dragon monster?) as well as using in sorbets.”

A real winner. I had a lot of fun with my Dragon fruit so I thought I’d do a dragon fruit cutting tutorial since I really had no idea how to get around this thing. You would also think it would have a pit- not so!

Step One

1. Cut your D.F length wise. Unless you want to have a super hard time getting the flesh out, then go ahead, cut it in half the hamburger bun way You won’t have to saw at it, because if ripe, it will have a bit of give to the touch and will also give to your knife, again, a bit like a kiwi. This dragon looks a bit spiky, but trust me, it’s tame.

Step Two

2. Place the open slices on your cutting board. Marvel for about 10 minutes at the beautiful contrast between the skin and the flesh. See Chuck? I told you it was pretty! Once you’ve gotten over your shock you may move on to step three. And yes, this step is mandatory.

Step Three

3. Take a household spoon (preferably a round one… yes, I’m talking to you, you people who have awesome kitchen accessories) and run it along the inside of the fruit, so you get the flesh to come out like you might if you wanted to skin all that awful hairy stuff off of a kiwi. Or like you might take a melon out of its skin, if you’re sick of the kiwi comparisons.

Step Four

4. Lift the flesh out of the skin. You don’t want to eat the skin, trust me, this is no apple. Did you see those spikes? I imagine you also do this when you eat dragon-not-fruit, but I’m a vegetarian, so I wouldn’t know.

Step Five

5. Slice, and add to whatever you’re adding it to. The flavor isn’t strong. It is something like a really tame grape + a more solid watermelon? Can’t really describe it. I’d also tell you to just buy your own, but it may or may not have cost us upwards of $8!

My breakfast of choice?

nom

Nature’s Path Flax Plus Cereal! 
I challenged myself to eating cereal this morning. I needed to do this because as I’ve mentioned, I’m employed as a camp counselor this summer and I’m SURE they won’t have a crock pot in which I can make oats every morning.

Nope. They’ll have cereal, I guarantee you. What child do you know who likes overnight oats? Thought so. (no, your own children or other children of food bloggers don’t count!)

So up until now I’ve been afraid because:
1. I thought the serving sizes were too small so therefore
2. It wouldn’t keep me full for long enough and I’d be left hanging until lunch, unable to give myself permission to eat more
3. so. many. carbs.
4. carbs build muscle = bulky = feeling fat/thick

Well, let me tell you, this breakfast DID hold me over until lunch! AND it provided carbs for my brain to think this morning, even though I was not doing any hard core learning.

could ya resist?

I paired it with Soy Milk and the sliced Dragon Fruit. I have, indeed tamed the dragon. Now if I could tame my ED dragon too, that’d be just dandy.

Cereal for breakfast = success!

After E had his appointment, we perused Borders for a bit. I also did not spend the roughly 4 gift certificates that have been burning holes in my wallet since my birthday this fall….oops

Mom and I hit up Ocean State Job Lot (“The Home of Adventure Shopping!”) after we’d dropped E back at school. I love this place, if you’ve never been and you have one near you, seriously go, they have the most random things there, but it’s just fun. Mom got some long bug catching nets for G and E to use at the lake to catch cray fish, probably, something for gardening, some egg noodles (they have really fun noodles there), some Israeli marshmallows, and some pants, and a tabouli mix. I told her we should make our own like we usually do with the (seriously) two bags of bulgur wheat we have but she wanted it NOW.  This is my part of the haul:

woo!

Vanilla Almond Dream, two organic dark chocolate bars-one with almonds! (I promised to share these with mom), 1 package of figs!, a jar of pitted tart cherries, organic medium salsa, more oat bran (selling for $2.49? can’t pass that up!), Original and Cinnamon Wheat Puff things, more Wild Garden Hummus (my fav kind!), and some Almond Butter (a canadian brand? I just loved the cute jar!)

I tried the Almond Milk right away. It was sweetened, but I’d wanted to try it. Being a person who isn’t fond it sweet things, it was a bit much, but still good. Can’t wait to try the regular flavor! I also dug right into the almond butter- Oh. My. this stuff was perfect!! And seriously the ingredients were just almonds! love it!

looks shapeless, but picture a belt!

and yes, we are getting a carpet. In flux people, in flux.

and a JJill Dress! I love this company. Just such beautiful, classic, flowey clothes. This dress is usually $99 in the store/catalogue. I got it for $8. yeah. STEAL!

When we got home, I was ready for lunch! I whipped up the tabouli for mom and I to try- it tasted pretty good, after I’d finished inhaling it and choking on it. That was quite unfortunate, indeed.

fluff!

I ate it on top of a salad beast with celery, salsa and sauerkraut.

not bad

with some Dr. Krisper’s Salt and Pepper Rice Krisps on the side. Love those.

Tomorrow the fam is trecking….via car….up to Fort Ticondaroga where I’ve never been! It is supposed to be really hot and I might have to abscond to the trunk of the car with the ice packs if it gets above 80°

Can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Love, Hannah

Have you ever tried Dragon Fruit? Have you ever been to Fort Ticondaroga? How long does Cereal keep you full? Doing anything fun this weekend? How have you conquered a fear food? 

Two Kinds of Chill

Hi guys! Long time no talk…blog….tog?

Anyhow. I’m ending my house confinement aka my mother can almost drive soon!! I’m really psyched about this because I’ve been getting a bit stir crazy staying at home all day. I’m a “lets do errands all day!” type-a girl. Feel me?

Lately I’ve been feeling smooth….real smooth.

The other day it was Banana Berry Smooth….

so good!

So smooth, in fact, that I made a face to convey to you my feelings.

smile!

Yes, my friends, my smile looked just like that.

What else has happened….We cut asparagus from our back yard!! Seriously, I don’t know how high they let the stuff grow on those big farms, but ours gets really tall!! The stalks are all growing at different rates, unfurling out of the ground; it’s really neat.

case in point:

many a size

There really isn’t much that I love more than asparagus fresh from our garden <–this is a lie. I love nut butters. You know this.

chili, asparagus, tofu dog, vegan parm, mustard

Dinner that night was pretty tight.

Then another day held deliciousness in the form of Chocolate Cherry. 

chocolaty goodness

My computer even recognizes the word “chocolaty“.  approval. Drinking these protein shakes, as I’ve been loving lately, makes me chilly though!

The next night my mom surprised me by sauteing onions and peppers- YUM! I ate these with some left over asparagus action, beans of green  and some more chili. 

yum!

Today was Monday woo!!

I woke to toast with sweet potato and greek yogurt and SNBmixed as mah spread. Well, I mean, I had to make it…

it made heaven on wheat.

So. Good. I made a bit extra to have perhaps tomorrow!

I was going to make butternut squash fries for dinner. All well and fine. Except I had to use this sucker:

just begging to take one of my fingers

It was tough work. But eventually, they were all (unevenly) sliced and ready to go!

can't wait!

Butternut squash is something I just can’t stand raw. I know you’re probably not supposed to eat it that way, but some veggies are good raw. Carrots, Beans, Peppers, etc. Not those starchy veggies though, no way.

They ended up looking like this.

crispy....delicious

I had the thought then that they said more “breakfast” to me than “dinner”. So I’m saving them- hence the container in which they are currently lying.

MY POOR SISTER. She is losing her last tooth and it is hanging by a thread. Never fear, faint of heart, I, too become queasy at the thought of such things and will not go into more detail. Not only because I know anything over “it was going to fall out soon” would make some of us sick, but because I legitimately inquired no farther for that very reason. She cried and whined all through dinner. Mom cooked chili tonight and she claimed she couldn’t eat it. Long after we’d all finished, she was still sitting at the table, lamenting the tooth that would all too soon be under her pillow. My mom handed me her chili bowl and told me to put it in the blender. Honestly, I thought she was kidding. Indeed, she was not, and so into the food processor it went. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t about to put it into the blender. Meat Chili + Smoothies = bad combo.
It ended up looking a bit like cat food.

um...yeah

Pretty gross, right?

and I might have mentioned that our food processor holds like, one cup? It is pretty much nonfunctional unless you’re grinding like…a molecule of flour or an oat.

Lets just say I ended up making her a shake with the  Strawberry Froyo from yesterday. Yes, I made more, it was that popular.

~~~~~~~~

I’d like to start a little thing on mondays where I talk about my past, a memory I have or something like that. I’ll call it, Memory Monday, how original. But in all honesty, I need to push myself to remember times in my life where I was happy and content (mostly) and think positively about the future.

I was doing something earlier that reminded me of my trip to New Orleans. I can’t remember what it was that I was doing at the moment, but I wanted to talk about New Orleans today, because I think my pictures show just how very happy I was and how much fun I was having.

Happy Hannah!

Note: This was the day my friends decided they wanted to straighten my hair.

We worked together this week to build gardens and repair homes that had been devastated by the Hurricane.

We built that fence

I can remember how wanted and included I felt on this trip- a feeling that I hadn’t experienced much prior to this and haven’t much since  then. I can say that I hung out personally with every person in these pictures- even those whom we were helping! Their stories were just so inspiring and it was simply amazing to hear about it first hand.

we're happy, I swear.

I think we were pretending to be models in this picture. But that just goes to show me how much fun we had. How much we trusted each other to be silly. That boy and I did amazing improv each night where he played the  blues on his guitar and I made up lyrics as I went along. Everyone would gather around us and listen. Yes Hannah, you used to have people who surrounded you. You were and are liked. You felt the warmth of laughs and smiles.

and bodies.

cuddle puddle!

You felt the coolness of ice cream….froyo…and a cute top I borrowed from a friend. I still remember that top with fondness…sorry…

I think it was Butter Pecan froyo?

Note: If you’re ever in NOLA, please go to this place. I don’t care. Don’t make excuses, just go. And remember to read the website too, because some of the flavors they’ve had in the past are AMAZING!

Your went out for Mediterranean food (and didn’t know enough to take pictures? Who ARE you? haha)

well

Well. You took them of what mattered in the moment. Friendship and Fun.

and faces apparently.

You stood on the ground of people who had it 10000x more difficult than you. And you held your friends in that moment, because you have all you really need.

Lower 9th Ward

And even if you can’t see a smile….

Sayyy Asbestos!

You know it’s under there by the light in your eyes.

or maybe it was just the construction glasses

Even with an intense week of fun though, you took time by yourself to contemplate. You, Hannah, need time alone. And you took it.

In the Bayous

and spotted others so they wouldn’t fall.

that's mah Dad up on that there ladder

Each day was jam packed with work and laughs. We sang, we ran around, we played, we hammered in the morning and the evening (all over this land?). I wouldn’t trade this week for the world, and reliving the memories is just the beginning step to cultivating more experiences like this for my future. Heres to that!

Have any of you ever been to New Orleans? Did you go to Creole Creamery and get…what? What is a fond memory you have? 

Love, Hannah

Froyo, Newyo, things I gotta show!

WHAT’S that you say? A day without rain? Why yes, my friends, it has finally stopped raining in my corner of the world. We’ve been blessed with lovely sun today, and I’m sure that I will be going for a long walk later, if possible.

I was also blessed with this Smile You’re Beautiful award, from Lenna! 

 1. Smile!

new heart sunglasses!

Done and Done.

2. Write 3 things you like about your looks.

Exhibit A: I like my curly hair!

ice cream + laughter!

Exhibit B: I like how when I smile, I look truly happy:

Oxford, Summer 2010

Exhibit C: I like my arms.

clubbing in Oxford?

3. Write 3 things you appreciate about your personality.

I’m am intellectual

I think of others and enjoy giving joy to other people

I love adventure

4. Write about something you find beautiful in other people (looks, personality – whatever)

I value honesty, a good sense of self  and awareness to the world around you

5. Award as many other people as you like and let them know!

I chose YOU (any of you that you like. Cause you’re beautiful. Duh)

The last couple days….okay, so maybe it was two…saw this happen:

better not turn it on!

I saw a mouse in our kitchen so my Mom immediately told me to put everything in the microwave? Hm..okay Mom, whatever you say

When Dad picked me up last week from school, we stopped at WF on our way home (LOVE IT!) and I picked this new find up: Sunsational Non Dairy Milk made from….sunflower seeds!

yum?

I was looking for the new unsweetened Coconut Milk by So Delicious, but I found this instead. Who could resist when I love sunflower seed butter as much as I do?

told ya

It had a darker color than most milks I’ve tried

kind of the color of sunflower seeds?

but like I’ve said before; I’m down for anything but dairy milk! The stats on this drink aren’t stellar (ie: lower in protein and calcium than others), but I had fun drinking it and it tastes good. Verdict? I think it tastes really good. Kind of like what you’d expect the milk version of SSB to taste like and thus a winner. It’s creamy as well, which is a nice.

I also found myself this Liberte yogurt.It was new so I had to try it. Well….that and the fact that it was Date and Fig flavored. Seriously guys, two of my favorite dried fruits AND yogurt? I’m IN!

ooowie!

I really liked this as well, but it was a bit sweet. Don’t judge based on me though; I tend to be super sensitive to sweet things and therefore not like them as much. The yogurt itself had a really nice flavor, not just plain but as if it had a bit of the flavor infused into it- a really nice touch. The fruit on the bottom was more like apple butter texture- so like figdate butter texture? It was quite sweet (as dates and figs are) but I can see eating this yogurt with toast and then spreading the fruit on the bottom on my toast with nut butter!! Next time, my friends.

Had me an awesome protein shake. I’m really feeling these lately.

sprinkled with cinnamon, of course

This morning my family went to  help sort plants that my 4th grade sister G and her class sold to help the victims of the tragedy in Japan. I didn’t get any pictures because we were moving and organizing plants from 9-11:30, but I actually had fun!! Good thing I fueled myself a delish brekkie!

NOM

GCW (Ginger Cracked Wheat)
1/4 cup cracked wheat + 2 cups water, cooked overnight in my lovely mini crockpot
1/4 tsp ginger- this even ended up being too much and overpowered the oats, sadly
dump sprinkle on the cinnamon
2 tbsp Sunsational Sunflower Milk 
blob on the greek yogurt
2 tbsp maple syrup (I added this in a desperate attempt to balance out the ginger)

Like I said, the ginger totally overpowered the taste of the cracked wheat. I really have been getting into cracked wheat lately because I love the chewy texture it lends to my breakfast.

what a glow

Of course eaten with bites of SSB and SNB. When do I NOT dip other foods in these??!!

After we got home and ate lunch, I finally got to finish my project from last night:

pink of perfection

I made Strawberry Froyo!!

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
1 cups greek yogurt
1/2 cup strawberry yogurt
1 cup milk (I used skim here, because I wanted to share it with my family)
2 tsp strawberry extract  (or the rest of the bottle, which wasn’t that much…)
1/2 a banana (this added creamy texture)
1 tbsp arrowroot powder (for thickening!)

This all went into my blender because we still don’t have a food processor

*insert annoyance and foot stomping here!*

and then it went into our ice cream maker.

y.u.m.

Pretty much a success, I’d say. My mom liked it!!
ps: it tastes great with SSB and SNB- I told you I ate it with everything!!

Tomorrow is my last day of being housebound!! or rather, my mom’s last day of not being able to drive/intense recovery from her surgery!! WOOHOO!! I forsee trips to the two natural food stores around, Fresh Market and the new Super Target with grocery section in my near future. And a farmers market, for sure

Hope you’re all having a cheery day full of sun. If you’ve ever made ice cream or froyo, what flavors did you make? What was your “trick” for making it come out right? 

Love, Hannah

WIAW!! My First!

Hi guys!!

I’ve decided to do a WIAW today!! It’s late, however, because I’m not really sure how to do it. Is it supposed to be what you ate on wednesday or can it just be any full day of eats? This is what I ate today, May 18th, 2011, but perhaps next time I’ll pick another day of the week so I can actually get it up in a timely fashion….

<center><a href=”http://peasandcrayons.blogspot.com/”><img border=”0″ src=”http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f210/klutzycutie16/SUSHIbutton12-1.jpg&#8221; /></a></center>

Breakfast began with a Banana Berry protein smoothie. So excited!

yummilicious

I love Spirutein Shakes. They come in so many flavors!

this sucker was huuge

1 packet spirutein Berry Banana Gold protein powder
1 cup Silk Soymilk
guar and xanthan gums

Perfection in a glass.

I loved this so much, that I had to make another one as a morning snack.

can you tell what flavor?

I made this one chocolate by adding unsweetened cocoa powder to a vanilla protein powder + silk.

frothayyy

These were tasty, but I still miss the spinach element. The spinach I had turned all mushy on me

Lunch was OOIAJ (overnight oats in a jar!) …or rather, two jars

these were about ready

Filling? Chia Seed Oat Bran!

a la crock pot

Jar One: Chocolate Soy Nut Butter 

Jar Two: yogurt cheese

all filled up!

I was super psyched about this. The weather outside is frightful (sorry) but the oats were mmmmm delightful

Jar Number One

Contents: 1/2 the oat bran, sliced strawberries, honey rice puffins, barbaras oat squares, soy nut butter, banana vanilla tofu pudding (a wonderful addition!), 1/4 a sweet potato, chocolate soy nut butter

Jar Number Two

Contents: 1/2 oat bran, barbaras oat squares, honey rice puffins, TJs Sunflower Seed Butter, yogurt cheese, 1/4 sweet potato and banana vanilla tofu pudding

So. Good.

lovely layers

I ate one of these at lunch time and saved the other for an afternoon snack. They were quite filling, as you all know

fini

I guess I didn’t like it or anything….

Midafternoon, I took a break from cleaning/organizing my room to catch up on some of your WIAW posts and downed my other OOIAJ, cold from the fridge.

real classy-like

I like them both warm and cold, it turns out.

chillin' with the blogs

I made a compromise because of the weather and walked home only from my doctor’s appointment. I read like Freya while I walked

I couldn’t even decide what I wanted for dinner when I got home. Half of me wanted  a quesadilla….

melt!

and half of me wanted chili. I settled for both!

perfection.

I steamed some fresh green beans and accompanied the meal with mustard dippage and salsa. Two of my favorite condiments, of course.

mmmmmmmelty

I loved this meal, let me tell you.

protein+fat+carbs=happy body

.

and of course, I had a salad with carrots and balsamic on the side. as per usual, I love my salads!

.

I had a couple spoonfuls of banana vanilla tofu pudding and yogurt with SSB and SNB for dessert. You know how I do.

All in all, a perfect delish day.

SIDENOTE: Not moments after I posted yesterday’s post, detailing how much I loved my Pufferfish Mug, I heard a huge crash from the kitchen. Yes, it was indeed my younger sister breaking my mug.

I cried.

for about twenty minutes

then I went to meditate for an hour and felt a bit better.

Rest In Peace

I’m going to miss it

Hope you guys all had a terrific wednesday,

Love, Hannah

Slackage

Hi y’all.

I’ve been slacking with my posting lately which is mainly because I’ve been strung between finals and home and being back at school to record for a cappella 6 hours a day. Needless to say, I’m exhausted and can’t even make straight thoughts.

Today’s recording session was awful. Our pitch yelled at me again and this time I broke. I apologized to her between hands I held to my face as if they could stop the tears. She didn’t even apologize or listen to me. She walked away.
I left the room and found another member of our group outside who sat me down and rubbed my back while I tried not to lose it completely.

I’ll give A (the pitch) the benefit of the doubt. I was having low energy (I have NO energy today and yesterday….) and because of that, I might have not had the most positive attitude. But I also hate feeling needy or drawing attention to myself, so I wouldn’t  tell anyone even if I was feeling seriously ill for fear they wouldn’t care or would think I was trying to get attention. During recording, I could barely keep my eyes open, but I said nothing. Not to mention that I kept falling asleep on my feet. I was just miles away.

As you know, the struggle between this pitch and I is not a one time thing, it has happened before. Perhaps it all stems back to my general lack of social abilities, I don’t know. But it is certainly making spending multiple hours with my a cappella group- a pastime I used to so enjoy- kind of dreadful.  I’ve been thinking a whole bunch about what it is that makes people drop me. I don’t have any answers yet, but I’m trying to be mindful of how I act around others so I can read their signals if I’m doing something wrong. Regardless, I don’t think she has any right to berate me every time she’s feeling down. She does it in private, maybe so people can’t stick up for me. Luckily, a. she is graduating on sunday and b. I still know that I’m a worthwhile person. You all follow my blog, so I must have some redeeming qualities. haha.

Do you have any advice? 

Our glee club had the senior banquet last night. I went, sat with K and C, ate 2 plates of salad, buttered broccoli and mashed potatoes (poor veg options!) and then we left. We just weren’t feeling it and it was C’s birthday so we walked around in town a bit before going to get her the free Sundae that you get on your birthday from  our local ice cream joint.
Town hosts two markets each week which is really fun. The saturday morning farmers market and a smaller scale tuesday market which is the one we encountered quite by accident while walking the back way so as not to walk around the restaurants huge glass windows and be discovered/shamed for our leaving the banquet. Wow that was a long sentence.

freeee

I love free samples, so we tried some different spreads. I think this one was like maple gooseberry? I liked it. I’m not sure K did though…

maybe not?

that face says I'm just smiling for the photo

C liked it!

smiles!

and the best part was that there was a cute little black lamb for petting/nuzzling. I did the latter, of course.

nuzzlewuzzle

but it walked away and wouldn't pose with me

We tried some cheese. I have got to say, anywhere where samples are, samples of cheese are my favorite. Whole Foods shout out??

although I wasn't so fond of these

something funny happened; I tried some goat cheese that I liked!! Strange, I usually find it too bitter. It contained honey, which I usually find too sweet, but this cheese was to die for, seriously! There may be hope to me visiting the land of goat cheese yet!

C for her birthday sundae.

very cute

and some chocolate all over her lips.

lick!

All in all, we agreed it was better than just sitting at senior banquet.

Time for retro pictures!

Sunday began with a run. I was feeling ambitious/not tired as usual, and woke up to some nut butter covered dates- of course!

best combo ever!

is there even a date under there?
It was sunday and E and I (being the earliest risers in the house) made breakfast in bed for my mother on Mother’s Day. Guess what I made?

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Oatmeal!

all trayed up

My mom shares my love of oatmeal, which makes everything easy
we didn’t want to make Dad feel bad, so we whipped him up some rather ugly lookin’ pancakes from the leftover batter in the fridge. Sounds terrible, but I tried one and they weren’t bad.

a tad lumpy

Then I went on my run.

sweatyyyyy

I love my mother photo bombing in the background.
Had myself a delish vanilla protein shake.

thick and creamy and cold

I was amazed at myself. I’ve been feeling really tired lately, but since I’ve been home I’ve been eating better (more carbs!) and I did my whole run without stopping which was pretty big for me and the fatigue I’ve been feeling. I knew I wanted a big refuel when I got home!

fooling around....

Yes, I looked terrible and put on some snazzy sunglasses

I had another one later.

ommmmm

Do you ever get on two smoothie day kicks?

Now I’m going to go get some lunch and read a bit before our senior banquet tonight- a cappella style! I hope it turns out okay. I’m singing “Slow Pony Home” by The Weepies which is the senior song. I have the solo but I’m not sure how comfortable I feel singing it to A. I feel like maybe I’m not the one she’d choose….ugh feelings! slow pony home. Nice song, really.
See you tomorrow!! a review of some yummy things is coming, as well as a recap of senior banquet!

Love, Hannah

After long silence

So hey guys, remember me? I’m finally done for the year, which is such a relief, and I’ve got a couple days worth of photos for you!! I’m going to just do a bit of recap with photo captions and then tell in glorious detail the things that need telling, of course.

one pale green monster- check!

eating some SNB

desk before moving out

desk after moving out

I seriously notice a clothing-color trend...remember this shelf? empty!

home, sweet home!

I thought I wouldn't open this. WRONG.

Found!!

I’ve been found!! After a MIA weekend at my grandparents house, I’ve arrived back at school and plugged myself into the internet again. Sounds terrible, but without it I cannot blog for you That said, I loved my computer-less weekend!!

I did my laundry before my mom picked me up on friday. Do you see a trend in the colors I own?

gnome much?

We gave a ride to my friend E who happens to live in the same town and after we dropped her off, we got to go to Trader Joes!!!! We bought a wonderful smattering of goodies because my grandparents like to keep their fridge….bare…

so much yogurtttt

So we bought some….

the loot!!

Spicy Brown Mustard, PEANUT FLOUR,Crunchy Curls (these are so. good.LENTIL), Dried Apple Rings, Squishy Tummy Spring Gummies!

Can we get a “YAYAYAYAYYAY” for peanut flour? I grabbed two of these in the event that I’m not actually allergic to nuts? We find out later this month
I drank some tea in my favorite mug:

love this illustrator

My sister had made these cute coconut cupcakes for Easter. Of course, I couldn’t bring myself to eat one, but they’re cute anyhow!

festive

But I did eat some delicioso pizza for dinner. My favorite frozen pizza is Amy’s roasted veggie pizza and TJs makes one that is mostly the same. I haven’t had this in so long, but the caramelized onion sauce is just my favorite.

yum

mmmm

With broccoli that I overcooked and of course, mustard!
I also made a neat salad, which was great!

love me some craisins!

Let me tell you: I was really glad to be back in the kitchen again!!

a stove!

I went for a walk and hit the hay.
The next morning we woke early (when do I not??) and I looked outside: It was pouring.  Great, because we were going to (and did) go to Minuteman National Park to explore on Jr. Ranger Day for my sibs, who are 10.
I made myself a perfect breakfast for a rainy day: Oats and Strawberries from TJs.

yogurt for dipping with a drip of maple syrup

the main event

and a spoon shot, just for you:)

Off we went. It was beautiful, but wet wet wet

skunk Cabbage!

Mom, G and E on the path ahead

We went to a little (heatless!) house where my sister refused to make a little bonnet. I made one, since I didn’t have a hood.

three coats and a pretend hat

Yes. I wore it all day.  Don’t my siblings just look SO TEN???
We found our way to the North Bridge, where the river was swollen like a cow ready to give birth!

love it

Being the silly nature lover that I am, I took a whole bunch of few pictures. I’ll spare you.
We got home and I was freezing. I brought my running shoes with me which are practically made of mesh. Bad idea.
I made my family’s traditional easter dish: Wonderful Salad. Let me tell you something about “wonderful salad”: it is anything but wonderful. It combines most of the foods that I cannot/will not/would not eat: mayo, jello, cottage cheese (although I love it now), condensed milk and pineapple.

ew

But I did my grandmother a favor and made it for her. Plus I was just itching to cook.

mmmmm...no

It hardens in the fridge.

smoothie in a bowl? think again

Tessa asked if you guys wanted her Easter recipes. I know you guys won’t want this one.
That night, I made up the Easter Baskets (which I then left in the rain….) G and E like to leave a treat out for the Easter Bunny like Santa, so they left celery and lettuce.

yup

I had a little snack.

celery!

EASTER CAME! I go church on Easter with my grandfather. He, my cousin and myself stand in a row. All of us are singers. You do the math.
Breakfast = so springlike! I love strawberries

perfect

I didn’t whip out my camera at lunch, but I had some sweet potatoes, salad, asparagus and a bite of my mom’s quiche that she lovingly made by hand and I could not bring myself to eat (can you hear the guilt? sadness? I’m sorry mom… I love you better than Ed, I swear) My Dad didn’t get to come, he is working 3 jobs?!
But my cousin and I had a great time hiding Easter Eggs. We’re only 3 years apart and we always have such fun together.

: )

<3

That is my weekend!! I hope you guys enjoyed your Easter too. Tune in tomorrow for a GIVEAWAY!!!! My first ever!
Love, Hannah

 

Ring Ring Ring!

Potato Phone!

todayyyyy
It began with hearing E running around the mud room before his MRI appointment at 530am. I’m an early riser as you know, but Daylight Savings Time has thrown me a bit on top of being home for spring break (Spring? it is SNOWING) and so I was a bit groggy. I rolled over and muttered, “What time even is it????” and went back to sleep until 7 when I had to wake up to put G on the bus. I said goodbye to her and ran to answer the phone! My breakfast was calling!

What is it?

Hello?

(Ignore the daylight savings time morning-glazed look)
I’m funny like that; I choose my sweet potatoes based on whether they look like something. I once bought one that looked like a bird.
Popped that baby in the microwave (I know, I should have baked it, but it was urgent!) for 5 minutes and DING it was done in a jiffy! Now….how to eat it….AHA I know! With some Chocolate Soy Nut Butter and Once Again Sunflower Seed Butter. This stuff tastes so different than the SunButter brand, but I like it!

I scooped some Chobani into a bowl and topped it off with Sprinkles a la Megan. The sprinkles were old or something, but they were sure pretty : ) We bought this Chobani at BJ’s yesterday and oh. gosh. I love a big tub of the stuff!! I haven’t tried many of their other flavors but I always find I’m partial to plain yogurt anyhow (that way, I can dress it up!)
It was snowing like crazy this morning! I don’t know what’s come over the Northeast but spring is definitely NOT as close to coming as I thought it was. 

Although if I look outside now, the snow has melted enough to see little patches of green where the Starlings are pecking at the bare earth with their little golden beaks!
Mom, Dad and E came home and all took a nap. I guess being at the hospital is exhausting. I had lunch while they slept.

hot and spicayyyyy

Have you ever had Green Mountain Gringo Salsa? If you haven’t and you like delicious salsa with big chunks in it, this stuff is for you. I could seriously eat an entire jar. Needless to say, they don’t last long around here

I really like that leaf of lettuce!

it just kinda....sticks up!

mmm finished off a bag of leafy greens, salsa, south west egg beaters, carrots, mustard and some pretzel thins which were the end of the bag so I sprinkled them on top. Savory sprinkles!

omnomnom. Mom, E and I watched The Princess and The Frog. Such a cute movie!! I loved the sparkle visuals and the feel good songs. It totally made my day. But it definitely had some scary themes….Disney, of course.
I think I’m going to go do some more seminar reading now. *sigh* see you later!
Hannah

 

Do you like sweet potatoes for breakfast? Do you have a favorite Chobani flavor? Do you think Disney films have frightening elements? How have you been reacting to daylight savings time?

Sunday sweet Sunday

wow. Blog I do late at night, huh? I need to figure out how to do this stuff guys.
Today was sunday and I usually really hate sundays for some reason.
Nothing to do, maybe. yes, shake your heads, but I really like having something to do!
Got up and made these for my sister:

angle shot, for good measure!

“Big, Fluffy Pancakes”
(I halved the recipe; my changes in red)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt I omitted this by accident and they turned out okay…
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon I made these on a whim and didn’t have a lemon, so I left it out.
1 stick of butter, melted
2 1/2 cups whole milk mixed with juice of 1 lemon, left to sit at room temperature until thickened or microwaved for 30 seconds to 1 minute until thickened wow this is complicated. I just used coconut milk because that’s what I had. It seemed to be fine and you couldn’t even taste the coconut when they were done!
confectioners sugar, for dusting and marmalade for serving I guess this was for the Harry Potter aspect?

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Drizzle in the melted butter while whisking vigorously. Whisk in the milk.
2 Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Whisk the two mixtures together briefly until just combined. The batter may be lumpy. Take care not to overmix or the pancakes will come out tough.
3. Spray an 8-inch skillet with cooking spray. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into the skillet and cook until the surface bubbles and the bottom is golden brown (check by gently lifting with a fork). Cook on the other side for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden. Remove the cake from the pan and repeat until all the batter is used up, spraying the pan with cooking spray between each pancake.
4. Dust the pancakes with confectioners’ sugar or serve with a dab or marmalade.

Makes 11 large pancakes.

again, I mentioned that I halved the recipe, and I added Butterscotch Chips at the request of my ten year old brother, E, who is getting an MRI tomorrow for his Neurofibromatosis. Please send him fond thoughts.

The pancakes were from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook and were well received. This cookbook is cute and definitely a winner for someone as big on Harry Potter as G and E are right now. It has all the recipes for everything you wanted to make (Butterbeer anyone?) and recipes for things you really don’t  (Blood pudding? ew) plus little tid-bit facts about the recipe itself. Really a nice book.

After I was done with these I decided I was still in a cooking mood.
What…shall….I….make….
aha! I remembered that I had a thing (tupperware?) of black beans left over from yesterday’s Black Bean Brownies. Off I went to the fridge to get them; I knew just what I was going to make.

mmmmm

Chocolate Black Bean Dip/Spread
~1/3 cup black beans
~3 tbsp Chocolate Soy Nut Butter (or other chocolate nut butter of choice)

Plop these two in a food processor, whizz and BANG: You’re done!
This is super delish and I can’t wait to have it on something….tomorrow…. haha

For a snackie I ate one of my Black Bean Brownies with a little Strawberry Yogurt Cheese and some Apple Slices. mmmm mmm good.

yeah…this totally looks like 2 pieces doesn’t it. Just so ya know, it is one broken in two. Which is technically still 2 isn’t it….

Definitely worth it.

Now I’ve seriously got to go to bed and read. I’ve got more than 5 books to read over break for my seminar and different papers. Not complaining though, they’re all super interesting!

What do you do with leftover ingredients? Have you ever made a sweet bean spread?  Are you a Harry Potter fan? If so, what was one recipe you’ve always wanted to make?

See you all tomorrow ♥
Hannah

Springing home!

Well, I’m home! Dad came to pick me up last night at 7 and we got home at 10 (yes, I don’t drive, let the fun-making ensue) I don’t know what took us so long….

This morning I got up ready to go on a nice run in what I thought would be warm weather and found

SNOW

I go a bit north and this is what I get?
Well, I wanted to make a delicious breakfast and I wanted to cook. We’ve got some of my favorite cereals around the house, it turns out, and I was going to have a bowl of Kashi Cinnamon Harvest (which is one of the only Kashi things I can eat with my sesame sensitivity!) but there wasn’t much left….

when I shook the box...

seriously?

I’d like to know who serves themselves a bowl of cereal and leaves 2 biscuits in the bag! I popped them into my mouth while I figured out what to make for breakfast.
I was going to bake my Delicata Squash butttttt….

this is a no-go

so sorry to see that go.
so I decided I wanted pancakes. Carrot Cake Pancakes. I mixed….
1/3 cup wheat bran
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp coconut milk
2 tbsp applesauce
2 tbsp egg whites
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
dash stivia
1 medium carrot, grated

mix it uppp

together and flipped’em into the pan! Served with vanilla Wallaby yogurt. Anyone tried this stuff? It is SO GOOD!! and I’m not usually one for “flavored” yogurts, but these are tasty.

mmmm

they got a bit burnt ’cause I was looking for a recipe for the next thing I made while I was cooking them…still tasted fine

all gone!

Gosh. Carbs. I needed those. I haven’t been doing really well in that category lately but gosh when I work myself up to it, it is SO worth it. I enjoyed every.last.bite.
I stopped to take a picture of some residual winter action….

Next I decided to make something else I’ve been wanting to try.

I take bad photographs...blame the point and shoot camera.

Black Bean Brownies!!
2 1/2 cups black beans
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup egg whites
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

I haven’t tried these yet, but they look tasty! I’ve been wanting to make these forever.
Perhaps I’ll try one tonight after dinner.
I’m home with G tonight while E and the parents are at the Boy Scout Blue and Gold dinner. My mom is E’s den leader, which I think is hilarious because I’d never peg her for the type. I’m going to get my awesome-sister on tonight with G; I think we’re going to watch Harry Potter or something. She is recently ten and so into the series. Can’t blame her; it’s good!

Wonder what I’ll make tomorrow : )

What are you doing tonight? What is your favorite thing to do with your siblings? Have you ever tried carrots for breakfast or black bean brownies?