Category Archives: Brochelle

Thanksgiving Recap!

     Good morning!!! Why so good, you ask? I think it’s because I got a full night of sleep after the longest day of my life.

     Yesterday was absolutely INSANE. As a lowly retail worker, I was forced awake after four measly hours of sleep so I could head off to my job and prepare to receive all the Black Friday shoppers at 3:50am. A-M!!! And so, armed with a gigantic to-go mug of coffee (which, by the way, does NOTHING at three in the morning), I stood at my counter to face the onslaught.
    
     I could not believe how many people actually showed up! The store had lines by 4:10am. If I offend you here, get over it: ALL YOU BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPERS ARE INSANE!!! Why anyone would want to subject themselves to such an ordeal is beyond me. I was barraged by swarms of teenagers chugging Red Bull, adults wearing onesies (seriously), and elderly people who are normally up at this time, but now have an excuse to be at the mall speed-walking even earlier.

     I worked until noon, then went home and crashed for an hour, waking up in order to eat more leftovers and stare in a daze at the television while my mind feebly attempted to comprehend the images that flashed before me. Needless to say, it was a long day.

     THANKSGIVING! Let’s have a recap!

I made the most AMAZING cranberry sauce I’ve ever tasted!
Big thanks to Angela for posting it!
I doubled the recipe. I used 3 and a half cups of fresh cranberries, 1 cup of pure, real maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and  2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar. DO NOT SKIP THE BALSAMIC VINEGAR! This makes the sauce EPIC!
     I also made Itty Bitty Herbed Pumpkin Knots. It was a Glow-y kind of day!
Post-kneading, pre-rising.
IT ROSE! That has never happened to my dough before!!!
Punched, spread out and sliced!
Wrapped into cute little packages. Lovely!
     We had to set up the table in a fancy fashion to fully appreciate the feast that was set before us!
Quaint and festive – just the way I like it 🙂
My one (and only) plate. Clockwise from the top: homemade whole wheat stuffing, a pumpkin knot, turkey with the most amazing cranberry sauce in the world, green bean casserole made with fresh green beans and homemade vegan cream of mushroom soup and caramelized onions, and mashed potatoes with gravy. 
     I was left comfortable full after my plate, and retired to the couch with a glass of Brochelle to have some quality time with the parental unit. The things I do for family, eh? 
     I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine! I also hope that you spent Black Friday at home on the couch in your pajamas like everyone is supposed to. If you were out shopping, be warned that I have a little bit of anger towards you. I’d say it’s not personal, but that would be a complete lie.
Have an amazing weekend! Time for some more recuperation for myself!

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Filed under Black Friday, Brochelle, cranberry sauce, epic, itty bitty herbed pumpkin knots, pumpkin knots, Red Bull, retail, Thanksgiving, turkey

I Hate Women

     I had to work in the women’s department today, and I’ll tell you, they are VICIOUS!!! I got yelled at by a coworker who was stealing my sales and snapped at by some irritable female shoppers. I think I’ll stay in my nice quiet store with the nice, patient men.

     Today was… PANCAKE SUNDAAAAAAY!!!!!

I made Oatmeal Blueberry-Cocoa Pancakes and topped them with mashed banana instead of syrup. If you feel like something is missing, you’re right. No Green Monsta this morning! Sadness, cured by cakes of pan.
     Work was work was work was work. I dislike that building and the women in it, and I had sushi for lunch. Yep, that sums up my day.
     I got home and had some freshly-made Summer Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder and a glass of Brochelle. According to my roommates, I am now a wine snob. Woohoo!
De-freakin-lish.
What’s your favorite healthy comfort food?

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Filed under bacon, Brochelle, Pancake Sunday, potato chowder, summer corn, sushi, work

Pancakes and CocoButta!!!

     “The Chief” aka portion-control, is going wonderfully! It’s ridiculous how much food I was stuffing myself with. Taking my time to enjoy every meal and starting with smaller portions really cuts down my consumption! As of now, I’m satisfied food-wise, full of chamomile tea, and very happy.

     I did something DIFFERENT today! I made a new recipe… kinda… We were out of spinach for Monstas, so I whipped up some pancakes: adapted from Angela’s Blueberry-Carob pancakes. Thanks, Angela!
Oatmeal Blueberry-Cocoa Pancakes!
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup quick cook rolled oats
1 tbsp Trader Joe’s sipping chocolate powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cup unsweetened soymilk
3/4 cup blueberries
1/8 tsp sea salt

In a large bowl, mix together the oat flour, rolled oats, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour the soymilk into the dry mixture and whisk. The mixture will look VERY watery, but don’t worry, the oatmeal soaks it up after a few minutes! Stir in the blueberries.
Chocolate milk!

Pour a HEAPING scoop of batter into a pan that has been sprayed with canola oil and heated over medium for 3 minutes.
See? They turn solid! It’s like magic!

Wait until the tops of the cakes have begun to dry out and the little bubbles have popped (about 2-3 minutes), then flip the pancakes and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Plate and top with some mashed banana instead of syrup!
(I took the mashed banana tip from Angela as well. Delish!)
This made about 12 small pancakes. I had 3, made some for the roommates, and now have some leftover batter in the refrigerator for tomorrey morning :).

     After my awesome culinary expedition, I had to go to work. Sigh. This is how I spent my day:
This is a piece of paper that I sliced into oblivion using a pair of small scissors. It took me 2 hours to do this. I think I need a new job that mentally challenges me a little more…

     Lunch was the same old, MSTRwBR. You should know what that means by now. From now on, just assume that’s what I eat for lunch – If it’s ever anything different, it shall be photographed and blogged about!

     On the way home, I swung by Sprouts to pick up some unsweetened dried coconut to make my own CocoButta! I spent a lot of money on this coconut, so if it didn’t turn out, I would have been bummed!
That’s right, I splurged and spend $1.41 cents on this half-pound of coconut!

     I threw the whole thing into the food processor and pulsed it a few times.
Hmm, that didn’t do much…
7 minutes later…COCOBUTTA!!!!!
(Thanks for the recipe link, Justin!)

     I poured the CocoButta into a tupperware and set it on the counter. I’m still waiting for it to solidify. Am I supposed to refrigerate this? Does anyone know?

     Dinner was made for me by the roommate! I am so freaking spoiled!
1/2 cup of Summer Corn, Bacon and Potato chowder (soymilk was used instead of regular milk), and a glass of Brochelle.

     We took our amazing Zinfandel (Brochelle is EPIC!) outside and spent the evening enjoying the (somewhat blurry, thanks to my camera) view.
Now I’m off to start my “weekend”! I’m really looking forward to making some coconut-cherry-banana bread tomorrow, then throwing around some clay at pottery class with my mum!

What are you most looking forward to this week?

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Filed under bacon, Brochelle, coconut, coconut butter, pancakes, potato chowder, summer corn, sushi, work