Mystery novels, foam, and loving galore!

 

  

It was a cold and foggy morning...

 No? Is that not how it goes? Okay, let's try again.

It was a warm and foamy morning...

 

Still nay? Okay, maybe I should nix the "write mystery novels with sexy private eyes for a living" idea.

Ah well, at least I have other ideas for my future...

Like personal nut butter Queen.

So, so, so good. Like eating healthy Nutella straight from the... packet?

Seriously. I could advise people on the best nut butters to buy. Stand near the nut butter section of Whole Foods with a little pin on my apron stating "Personal nut butter Queen." Grind their nuts for them... Hand them tubs of 365 Crunchy, Justin's, and DCD? Yes?

Or else I could settle for personal chef to the rich and famous, serving them divine bowls of oats and hand-crafted foamy lattés...

Oats, cinnamon, vanilla, large chopped banana, 365 Crunchy pb. Coffee with almond milk, steamed in my Nespresso... Mmmm. Best way to start a morning.

So as the opening line to my future mystery novel with a sexy private eye would suggest, It was cold and foggy this morning. I decided it was a good matinée to lounge on the couch, savoring a nice warm bowl of oats, drinking a foamy 'latté', and reading a good book.

Oh, and snuggling with this cutie:

By the way, this is what happens when you're trying to read the last sentence of a page:

Give me love, mommy!

How can you deny that face?

Doggy loved, it was time to get onto important matters. AKA, the loving of these two beauties.

Often I go for the volume tricks popularized by Carrie and Katie, but I've found they leave me with a very watery, unsatisfying bowl. I get enough volume with my banana, and it's so much more satisfying and thick.

How can you say no to that?

What is your dream career?
Voluminous oatmeal: yay or nay?

Getting my balls on...

When the measuring cups and spoons come out, you know Lexi's in the kitchen.

And when the Magic Bullet is out... Well... It's time to cook!

When I got home from therapy this morning (after doing a major stock-up at Whole Foods!! Including Dark Chocolate Dreams for the first time!), I wanted to create something. I've been wanting to make Amanda's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Balls for a while now, so the moment I got home, I was whizzing around the kitchen, grabbing Almonds, dates, oats, protein powder, and chocolate chips...

The assembling of ingredients was surprisingly easy! Instead of using three large dates like the recipe recommends, I added about 1/3 cup of chopped dates. The Magic Bullet made quick work of the almonds and dates, delivering a smooth, even consistency within moments. I was happy :)

  I also used Whole Foods' Chocolate Soy Protein Powder rather than vanilla, 'cuz, well, that's all I had!

The Bullet gave me a very fine, dry powder, which I was supposed to turn into balls. What? How am I supposed to turn this dust into a sturdy, firm form? Impossible! I considered adding some almond milk or more dates to the mixture as a binder, but I figured I would give it a go before altering the recipe more. Forming the mix into balls was tough, but I squished into submission and ended up with a lovely product :)

I'm not sure why, but somehow instead of making four balls, I came out with seven! Weird much? Maybe my protein powder scoop in big, or I just have small hands and thus small balls (at least I'm not a guy). It's a mystery.

I popped them in the fridge, once balled, but of course, I couldn't resist a sample first. Mmmm. So good. A little crumbly, but so much chocolaty goodness! It was like... Taking a bite of very firm oatmeal filled with chocolate... Or... Eating an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Divine.


What's your favorite recipe from the blog world?

WIAW 3

Hey Girlies!

Well, as you (hopefully) know, it's Wednesday. Actually, on summer vacation I kind of lose track of the days. What? It's Wednesday? It's August 31th? I go back to school tomorrow? Really?

Anyway, it's time to join the party and do a WIAW! Which is actually going to be a combination of Wednesday and other days, since I haven't really been posting my eats lately!

Note: I didn't post everything I ate today. In addition to the meals shown, I had a few snacks and desserts which I didn't catch on camera. Sorry, there is a 'behind the scenes' on this blog!





Breakfast (of dreams)

 Wednesday... part 1

Cinnamon Puffins, times two, with almond milk. Don't mind the foam, it was the end of the bottle ;)

Wednesday... part 2

Green monster spooned out of an art deco little bowl I find in the back of a cupboard. Isn't it cute?

Oh yes. That would be the retired Trader Joe's Peanut flour. I know you're jealous.

A tease, much?

1/2 banana, spinach, peach, almond milk, 2 spoons of peanut flour. Yum.

Breakfast from... another day.

Steel cut oats, soaked overnight in a failed pudding attempt made of firm tofu (mistake! Should have used silken), cocoa powder, stevia, and mint from my garden. The original batch was so bad no one at the table could manage more than a few bites, haha. So I salvaged the remains and added water and oats to it. The result was alright. The peanut butter was, yet again, the saving grace...

Lunch

Wednesday

As usual, a packed salad before my appointments!

Spinach, 3/4 small apple, celery, carrot, cold Kabocha squash <3 (inspired by last week's WIAW!), tofu, artichoke and spinach hummus. I've been trying to add more protein and carbs to my diet, hence the tofu.

This salad was ginormous. Just to give you an idea, I used to store my rice for the entire week in that Tupperware. Crazy!

Lunch on... another day.

Divine pancakes. 1/4 cup pancake flour, 1/4 cup cooked millet, pumpkin purée, beet juice, baking powder. I loved these! For once, they stuck together and didn't fall apart all over the pan when I tried to flip them/ not cook at all. The secret? Don't add too much liquid. Make sure the pancake batter is so thick you can make little designs in the dough, as seen above :P

Topped with almond butter. Mmmm.

Up front and personal.

Dinner

I rarely post my dinners on here, because, well, it would be kind of awkward taking photos of my food as my parents ate at the dining table. So this is a special treat!

I went to a restaurant tonight with i genitori because they had some two for one special on Fish n' Chips. Obviously I didn't partake in that fun. There were two things on the menu I could eat: a grilled veggie sandwich, and a "Tostada salad" with grilled corn, black beans, avocado, and cucumber. I ended up going for the latter because I figured it would have more protein.

Dining al fresco.

Err... Where are those beans?

The beans were practically non-existent, as was the corn. Oh, and the avocado? The little garnish on top was it. I did, however, get lots and lots of lettuce and... er... Tostada shell stuff. But it was good! The dressing seemed to be lemon olive oil, and I felt so green eating it all. Two salads in one day?! Wowie. I definitely got veggies in today. Heck, I probably get more veggies in every day than the average person does in a week! Oh yes, me and my veggies... We're close. Real close.


Home again home again and I spent an hour plus putting together an IKEA chest of drawers that I spray painted silver. Exciting stuff! Afterwards I knew it was time to do some calcium and protein loading, so I turned to my usual night time snack - greek yogurt with nut butter and jam.

YIAJ. Yes, that would be a jumbo almond butter jar bought at Costco for $6!

Peekaboo! I tried Smuckers low/no sugar strawberry jam for the first time today, because I thought: less sugar = healthier. Er, wrong. That stuff was nasty! It tasted so artificial and disgusting. For the first time ever, I was unable to finish my yogurt, nut butter, and jam snack. That never happens. I'm annoyed I got like a 32oz jar of it... Maybe I can feed it to Bella?

Say What?

Okay Bell. I won't inflict it on you. Don't worry...

And of course, the only way to end the day:

Tea! Seriously. It can solve all of life's problems.

This cup was lemon balm, picked from my garden. So tasty.

Hope you had a great Wednesday!


Tell me below: What's your favorite way to end the day?

Yesterday... Time went buy, so slowly...

Yesterday... All my troubles seemed so far away....

Well, perhaps not. But I certainly had time on my mind.

I did however have a lovely day that I would like to share with my wonderful readers :)

It all started out with a wonderful breakfast. For the first time in a very, very long time, I had steel cut oats! I was planning on having these (1/4 c. steel cut oats, 1c water, pumpkin) two days ago before my driving lesson at 7am, but they took too long to cook so I had to abandon them mid-way in favor of some puffins. Thus, I left them in the fridge for two days, half-cooked, and pulled them out this morning, totally plump and hydrated! I warmed them up and topped them with cinnamon, jam, and pb. So Yummy! I may just be a convert. 

In the garden, reading The Bronte Project.

Somehow I whiled away the morning doing mindless things, and suddenly it was time to head to therapy! I drove the half-hour it took to get there with my mom (which is the freakiest thing ever, by the way! She would say the most frustrating things to me while I was driving, like "So, you have a tendency to drive way over on the right side of the road... And I don't know why that is..." Actually, mom, I had a traumatic experience in my childhood where I saw a chicken in the middle of the road and have since avoided that center divide like the plague. Joking!)

Therapy was good. We talked about replacing the eating disorder with other things in my life (art, studying, socializing, living...), my fears of weight gain (I have to gain a little weight to be safely in the mid-range of my set-point), and my plans for the rest of the summer. I love my therapist Diana, because she's so smart, eloquent, yet kind and empathetic. I feel so relaxed and reassured after I see her. In control of my life and inspired.

Afterwards, my mom and I headed over to this cute organic vegan restaurant near my therapist's office. I've been there once before with my dad, and I was so excited to go again! I love restaurants that boast healthy, natural, veggie foods. It warms my heart and makes me feel so light and happy!

Gotta love their slogan! Being vegetarian or vegan helps the environment so much! We reduce food miles, and require less investment into our foods for high yields!

They have the coolest stuff inside! It's like, if all the healthy living food bloggers came together and created a restaurant, this is what it would be like!

I mean, almond butter on your vegan Cranberry Walnut Bread? Yes please!

Kombucha outside of Whole Foods? Kombucha at a restaurant?

Loads of delicious vegan and raw cakes! They had mocha, chocolate, raw strawberry pie, key lime pie, vegan cheesecake... Gosh, it was like being on Katie's recipe page, but without the work!

So what on earth to order?

I finally decided on a tempeh wrap with avocado, lettuce, and tomatoes on an organic whole wheat tortilla. The tempeh seemed to be blended till smooth with something divinely creamy - hummus perhaps? The wrap was paninied into warm, gooey perfection. So yummy! I also had a small cup of salad made of grated carrot, plump raisins, and chopped pineapple drizzled in a creamy sauce. My mom essentially got the same thing as me, except it was called a "Tempeh avocado BLT." Basically, tempeh with veg and avocado in a sourdough sandwich. We both loved our lunches! We split a green tea jasmine bubble tea, which was delish! And of course, no meal is complete without dessert...

Shared chocolate cake, minus a few bites ;)

I really wanted to get the raw strawberry cake, but it turned out to have cashews in the crust (darn allergies!) so I went with the chocolate cake, which was good, but too dry for my taste. I like really rich, creamy, mushy desserts. Next time I'm getting the cheesecake :)

At the end of our meal, we went into creative mode. I started taking photos of stuff, and my mom did what she does best: drawing furniture and architecture. She drew this quick sketch upside down of my bed-side table that is in the process of being created. It was part of my old desk, which we chopped it into thirds, this being one third. I cleaned it, sanded it, and spray painted it silver, but now it needs a counter - I'm thinking glass or metal to go with my silver and turquoise color scheme.

Dessert! And teas...

After lunch, it was time to drop more money! Okay, I hate spending money, but I love shopping. It is quite a dilemma.

First we went to Anthropologie. I love that store. They not only have cute, unique clothes, they have the best home ware section ever! And boy did I take advantage of it. 

I must have spent hours perusing their knobs (clock knobs! What??), hangers, bowls, plates, mugs, cook books... Oh, there is such pleasure in seeing and appreciating beauty.

Plate (On sale for $3.50 down from $12!!), mug, bowl (only $5!), and two metal brackets for supporting a shelf.

Such beautiful dishes... It will be a joy to eat out of these :)

I'll be using these two brackets in my room to support a large (8' by 17'') piece of glass that will be resting on two chests of drawers as my desk. Apparently the glass will need support in the mid section between the two chests, so these brackets fit the bill nicely while also looking slightly antique and pretty!

Anthropologie done, we popped into a little antique shop across the street.

They had all kinds of great knick-knacks. 

 

I found these bowls of cheap thrills - watch faces, jewelry bits, bracelets, old keys, and was immediately drawn in. I realized I could use them to cover up some of the holes in the side of my bed-side table (above).

First, I started considering the variety of silver jewelry - squares, trapezoids, circles. Then my eyes were drawn to the square analog watch faces, and I remembered the time-themed knobs at anthropologie. I dug through the bowl, and started sorting them into little piles of similar brands of appearance, each match sending a quick thrill through me, and inspiring me to continue the hunt.

I eventually went for these round watch-faces. I found four small, identical Elgin brand pieces that had an old, weathered look to them. I was so pleased at my findings, and can't wait to put them to use!

I loved taking photos in this store. These bowls of, well, stuff, didn't seem like much to look at at first, but after spending way too much time browsing the clock faces and jewelry findings, I acquired an warm appreciation for the unassuming beauty these treasures, and their arrangement, had to offer.

Do you like shopping for antiques, home ware, or bargain treasures?

Points if you can identify the two songs in my title!