Recipe Copycat: Shredded Sprouts Salad and PB Shake

Tonight I will review 2 recipes borrowed from other blogs.

Last night I cooked up a little brussel sprouts recipe (Shredded Sprouts Salad), thanks to this recipe over at How Sweet it Is.  I ate a little bit of it last night, and brought the rest for lunch today.

Check it out.  Here are the ingredients:

• 2 cups whole brussel sprouts
• 1/2 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 slice bacon, fried and crumbed
• 1/2 ounce grated asiago cheese
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Brussel Sprouts in the food processor - Before

After

My food processor really chopped the sprouts into tiny shreds; I don't know how to chop them less.  Despite having some chopped into tiny tiny pieces, there were still a couple bigger chunks left in there, which I just took out and cut with a knife. 13 sprouts was too many for our little 2-cup capacity food processor; I had to split the sprouts into 2 shifts.

I couldn't be tempted by buying a whole package of bacon in the fridge.  I last bought a package of bacon about a month ago, and I don't want to get into a regular habit of buying tasty bacon.  So, I got one thick slice of ham from the deli to add a little of that flavor; not quite the same though.

I'm also all about short cuts, and let's face it, sometimes it's easier to take a little scoop of garlic out of jar than it is to peel and chop a clove of garlic, and end up with a stinky garlicky hand.  So, that's what I did.

In the pan.

In my bowl (After the addition of balsamic vinegar).

It was pretty good last night! And actually I ended up eating it cold for lunch today.  I skipped on the cheese as I didn't have asiago on hand, and I didn't know that it needed cheese.  I am enjoying expanding my brussel sprouts horizons.

Today I was feeling a strong urge for junk food.  At work, this meant having a mini Snickers bar stashed in my desk.

When I got home, I was very tempted to grab something greasy and delicious from the nearby pizza place.  It doesn't help that they appear to pump garlic out of their air vents in the direction of my apartment!

After dinner, I made a shake a la Superficial Endeavors.
She had referenced a shake she tried with PB, Vanilla Ice Cream, and Honey.  I decided not to use honey.  I had Edy's Slow Churned Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream (Vanilla w/mini PB cups and a PB swirl).

I cracked open my new Trader Joe's peanut butter- and sampled some.  It's good.  And I used the Vanilla almond milk in the fridge.

Final result: delicious!  And very airy.  Of course, not like a real milk shake though. Since I used light ice cream and not-whole milk  That's how you make a real one.  I liked this (how could I not?) but next time I'd add more PB, and maybe use 2% milk to be a little thicker.

Fun Fact: My first real job in high school was working at an ice cream place!

Sorry for the funky formatting. I tried fixing spacing and captions multiple times but my changes aren't saved when I publish...

"Uh oh. Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays..."

Back to work today.  I feel like I didn't get to relax at all since we were hosting parents for the second weekend in a row (mine last weekend; his this weekend).

This morning I prepared some tasty snacks to bring to work with me.  I made my own little fruit & yogurt parfait.  This was my first time trying Chobani's vanilla Greek yogurt.  I layered it with some strawberries and some Honey Oat granola from "The Baker."

Verdict: the vanilla Greek yogurt is ok with strawberries and crunchy stuff; 

I can't say I love the vanilla on its own though. 

I went to work.  I feel like my peep-toe pump days and my skirts without tights days are numbered.

I came home.  I had to really tell myself not to stop at Dunkin Donuts on my way home for a pick-me-up iced coffee (and hm, I have a coupon for a free donut with purchase of beverage...I haven't had a donut in a long time).  But I resisted. 

photo from Dunkin Donuts

 photo from flickr

I made it home, but I snacked on some delicious peanut butter pretzel nuggets. (Better than a donut, right?)  Because I was feeling lazy and putting off going for my run.  Ok, I also had a Reese's Peanut butter cup... why did my husband have to bring a bag of those home??  And why can I not get enough of peanut butter.  And why do I really really want junk food today.

It was about 58 and overcast when I got home from work.  I was happy to have a chance to wear some cooler weather running clothes!  It also felt incredibly cold.  I had to remind myself that at one point in the spring, I probably thought 58 was warm!  With it being so overcast and a little windy out, it was hard to get off my butt and step out the door, but I did.

I went for a run in my Lululemon Swiftly Tech L/S in dark classic grey (purchased last year on markdown at my local store - not sure why it looks so awkward on the model on the website!) and my Lululemon Run: Zoom crops in black (snagged off of loot this summer for $49!).

Slouchy McSloucherton

I went for 5.17 miles, at what I would call a comfortable pace.  That pace is what all my runs have been lately.  I think since I'm not actively training for anything there's no reason to kill myself over my pace; just trying to enjoy running.  This was my longest run since the half marathon on September 19th. (The next longest distance I've done in the past month is two ~4.35 mile runs).  Anyway, it felt good to go for a nice longer run in the cool weather.

ETA:
As a follow up to this previous post, much to my relief, sans-cold medicine my heart rate was back to normal on this run.  My average HR was 167 over the course of the run which is good for me.  The cooler weather helps too.

PS, Anyone know what movie the title of today's post is from??

I love avocados. and peanut butter.

Tonight I made guacamole, sort of.  I love avocados, and we had a ripe one.  So I cut it up, added some tomatoes from our garden, plus some crushed red pepper (from dried cayenne peppers also from our garden!), lime juice, pepper, and a little garlic salt.

I saved a couple slices for some salmon burgers we are having for dinner tomorrow night, but it was about 2/3 of an avocado + a small "big boy" tomato, part of a roma and a couple cherry tomatoes.  Because we had tons of tomatoes to use.  Here's the most recent harvest from our garden (Monday 9/7):

My version of guacamole is much healthier, I'm sure, than the version I grew up with.  I'm pretty sure the kind made by my parents involved mayonnaise and/or sour cream?  Anyway, we didn't have tortilla chips (I like the whole grain kind) so we ate this with Triscuits.

I also love peanut butter.
Or, really any nut butter.

As if peanut butter weren't delicious enough on its own, I came across some natural peanut butter with maple syrup at the store earlier this week, by Peanut Butter & Co. I tried some on a graham cracker today and it was fantastic (how could it not be?)

The label suggests trying it on waffles... hmmm.
You can read more about Mighty Maple peanut butter here.


In other peanut butter news, back in January while in Vermont skiing, I came across Vermont Peanut Butter Company brand of peanut butter/almond butter.  They have 8 different varieties you can check out.  It is really good but also kinda expensive.  It was definitely worth trying, and I'm happy to support smaller businesses, but at $8-9/jar (+shipping if I were to order it online before we are in Vermont again), I can find cheaper alternatives - like the Peanut Butter & Co. brand above ($4) at my local Wegmans, or Trader Joe's Almond Butter (crunchy, unsalted) is around $5/jar.  Back in January, I didn't realize there were much cheaper alternatives.

I ordered three kinds to try.  Here are the two I have left: Good Karma (Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter) and Stowe Cinnamon Raisin.  The third kind I had (which is long gone) was Green Mountain Goodness (peanut & almond butter with pumpkin and flaxseed).

 What's your favorite brand/variety of peanut/almond/other nut butter?

Any favorite avocado uses/recipes??