Category Archives: fire

MY TOWN IS ON FIRE!

     I realize it is neither National Pancake Day, or Pancake Sunday, but since we were out of spinach this morning, I decided to make some whole grain cakes.

This first batch was experimental…
… an experimental FAIL. I used egg in this recipe just to try something new. Apparently, new + Becki = hockey pucks masquerading as pancakes. Oh well, lesson learned!
The second batch appeared to be faring a little better…
Oooooh yeah!

Vegan Banana-Pecan Oatmeal Pancakes
1/4 cup whole rolled oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup soymilk
1 banana, 1/2 of it diced, 1/2 in thick slices
A handful of chopped pecans
     1. Toast the handful of chopped pecans in a pan over medium heat. Pecans are done when their warm, nutty aroma fills the air (about 3 minutes, stirring constantly). Be careful not to burn them!
     2. Put the thick slices of banana into a greased pan over medium-low heat.
     3. Carefully flip the banana slices after 4-5 minutes.
     4. While the second side of the banana is cooking, mix together the oatmeal, flour, baking soda, salt and toasted pecans in a medium sized bowl.
     5. Add the soymilk and diced banana, and stir until well combined.
     6. Pour a heaping tablespoon of batter onto a large greased pan or skillet.
     7. When the tops of the pancakes start to bubble and appear to dry out, flip em!
     8. Cook them for another minute on the other side, then plate with the caramelized banana slices on top and drizzle with syrup or honey.
Incredibleness on a plate.
As always, a great breakfast is best enjoyed with an amazing view on a beautiful morning!
     You’d think that such an rich breakfast would fill me up until the end of time, but before I knew it, it was lunch time!
Mexican food on the brain! I got a grilled chicken quesadilla with guacamole. I haven’t been making the healthiest choices lately – I can blame it on my schedule or on the insane heat, but really it comes down to my own lack of self-control and planning. 
Problem acknowledged, and being worked on!
     The drive back home held a surprise! While we were in the restaurant, about thirty fire trucks, cop cars and paramedics went screaming by, and I forced the roommates to investigate!
THE TOWN IS ON FIRE!!!! It actually looked like a bomb went off, or a plane crashed, but it turns out it was just four businesses that were lovingly built from the ground up, burning right back to the ground thanks to some chemical fire. Sadness :(
     When we got back, I split and headed to the library to pick up some books I had on hold – I’m now reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My cousin recommended the series to me, and while I’m loving the story so far, I’ve been really slow, which is bad considering it’s due back in a few days! I distracted myself from reading a bit longer by replenishing my aromatherapy spray.
I used to be a massage therapist and always wanted to specialize in aromatherapy. Even though I don’t work as a therapist anymore, I brought aromatherapy along with me for daily life.

Bexter’s Spaaaaah Mix
  1. In an 8oz. atomizer bottle, add 7 drops of lavender oil, 7 drops of lemon oil, 2 drops of tea tree oil and 1 drop of eucalyptus oil.
  2. Fill the atomizer bottle with filtered water, cap and shake well.
  3. Spritz the mixture into the air to remove toxins, and over face while inhaling to be in total, utter bliss.
Bexter’s Spaaaaaah Mix! This bottle makes me so happy!
     The rest of my day was spent lounging around, doing massive amounts of research and note-taking for a novel I’m writing and swinging by Great Harvest for a loaf of their High 5 Fiber bread to go with dinner.
The roommate made an indian-inspired veggie soup. I don’t have the recipe on hand right now, but it has fresh green beans, eggplant, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, garam masala and a whole bunch of other stuff that makes a heavenly, healthy stew. 
My soup was served in my most successful bowl made in pottery to date!
     I’ll be hitting up the farmers’ market tomorrey to pick up some ingredients for a Foodbuzz competition I’ll be joining in! Food contests aren’t normally my thing (I’m a VERY competitive person, and it stresses me out and erases a little of the enjoyment for me), but I decided, why not! Stay tuned for a new recipe… or a lot of competitive anger! :-D

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Filed under aromatherapy, banana pecan pancakes, contest, fire, mexican food, Pottery, quesadilla, The Hunger Games, vegetable soup

Merlot and Fire!

     Farmers’ market! There’s nothing so wonderful – except a farmers’ market that’s not 95 degrees! I had a nice cool breakfast to start my day with.

A Monsta. Duh. 5+1/3 cups of spinach. I have 5 servings of veggies in my before 8am. Boo to the Yah!
Enjoying my Monsta with a view.
Life is good. God is great :)
     I spent a lot of the day doing laundry, cleaning my room and the house, and doing all the things I’ve missed while I was gone for over nine days. Getting my room and house in order helps me feel like I have control over my life, and helps de-stress me. Cleaning is so therapeutic! And I’m weird. You all know that by now :) .
     After breakfast, I did a little interning for the talent manager, visited the bank to deposit some checks, and headed out to the farmers’ market.
Need eggplant recipes! Anyone???
A jungle of kale and chard. I’ve tried the kale, what do I do with chard?
Normally I’d buy some flowers, but nothing grabbed me today.
Here’s the bounty I returned with. I LOVE VEGGIES!!!!
Lunch was a Kitchen Sink Salad with about 2 cups of mixed greens, a whole chopped red bell pepper, 3/4 of a cup of lentils and some homemade balsamic dressing.
     After sweating through the farmers’ market, I headed back to the wonderful comfort of air conditioning and finished my current book, “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana de Rosnay. The book was breathtaking until the halfway point, but really petered out by the end. Actually, it was really disappointing. I feel like the author stopped caring and just decided to add some busywork to add some extra pages. Oh well.
     Next up was some chopping in preparation for dinner!
Slicing kernels off of corn, dicing cooked potatoes and sipping merlot. I had a rough night ;) .
Dinner was delicious corn chowder, a glass of merlot and an amazing script. I have lots of memorizing to do! It’s so nice to get a script you really can connect to. The last one I felt so strongly about was Summer Campbell, which I just filmed. I have high hopes for this next one :) .
     The night was spent sipping merlot, eating a freshly picked farmers’ market dinner and sipping on merlot. Oh yes, and roasting marshmallows.
Roasting marshmallows/setting skewers on fire. Same thing!
     Now it’s 11pm and I have to sign off and head to bed so I can wake up at 6am for a beautiful run on the beach up in Santa Barbara! I feel so blessed in life right now. Thank GOD for his peace and balance :)
What’s the most therapeutic activity for you?

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Filed under farmers' market, fire, green monster, kitchen sink salad, marshmallows, Sarah's Key