I made a breakfast...thing!

I was somewhere between wanting to make something fun and elaborate for breakfast and OHMYGODIHOPBRINGMEFOODNOW!!! this morning which led to long angsty stares into my refrigerator, whimpering and cursing the gods. Eventually I just said screw it we've got eggs, I'll make something up. And thus, the stove-top spinach frittata was born.

I sauted the onion with the olive oil then added frozen spinach and a little water, covered, stirring occasionally. 
When the spinach was cooked through I added salt and pepper to taste, then the capers, nutritional yeast and spices.

The mixture took on a paste like consistency and I spread it evenly along the bottom of the pan before pouring the egg whites on top. 

 covered again to cook through. When the top looked mostly done I flipped to make sure the eggs were thoroughly cooked. The flipping may or may not have been necessary if I had more patience.






Ingredients

	1 cup(s) egg white(s)
	1 cup(s) chopped frozen spinach
	2 Tbsp capers, with liquid
	1 medium uncooked red onion(s)
	1 tsp granulated garlic
	1/4 tsp ground coriander
	1/4 tsp ground turmeric
	1 tsp table salt, to taste
	1 tsp black pepper, to taste
	1 Tbsp olive oil
	2 tbsp Bragg Premium nutritional yeast seasoning   The recipe serves 4 and is 2 WW Points Plus per serving. Logistically this probably would have made more sense as a traditional frittata but I was hungry and not thinking logistically so much as GIMMEFOODNOOOOOOOOOOW!!!

Black bean Brownies

About a month ago I was letting the hours of my life slowly slip away from me over at pinterest when I saw a pin for flourless brownines from Skinnytaste.com. I was skeptical to say the least. Black bean brownines? Uh...yeah, that sounds awesome. So of course I had to try it. I followed her recipe exactly and I have to say that I was kind of amazed. No butter, no flour and yet, somehow they were incredibly delicious brownies.

I loved the Skinnytaste brownies but you know the saying; if it ain't broke- tweak it. I stayed pretty true to her recipe on my second go but I cut down on the sugar by a quarter cup, added a bit of cinnamon because I just have this thing about cinnamon and chocolate and I cut the chocolate chips down to 1/4 cup. This part was actually an accident. I was intending to cut it down to 1/2 a cup but realized after I spread the batter in the baking pan that I had forgotten to stir in the first 1/4 cup so I just sprinkled that cup on the top.

Now, I will admit that so far I like the original better. BUT these brownies are still rather good and they are only 2 points each if you're on Weight Watchers. Which is kind of amazing.
I'm planning on playing around with this recipe some more. Next time I'm going to give a go at veganizing it!

There are always casualties in the Hunger Games.

Crazy Tasty Love

Valentine’s Day and I have a bit of a rocky past. I haven’t always spent the day rocking back and forth in fetal position. locked in a dark room- but it’s never exactly been a wonderland of flowers and candy and admiration. Last year was particularly difficult.  But that was last year and this year I had a lovely day- except for the part where I had to go work, but we’ll just wave the magic wand of fuzzy memory and pretend that part was a bad dream.

For Valentine’s Day brunch my baby and I went to CrazyBeans, one of our favorite spots. It’s cozy and quirky and fun; it’s the kind of coffee shop that makes you want to open a coffee shop. Plus, the food is really, really good. It’s a little bit of a drive from where I’m currently living but I’d much rather be hanging out at Crazy Beans than Starbucks. Hands down. 

Look at that beauty. And now I want another one. Never blog hungry, folks

They’re not a vegetarian establishment but they are vegetarian friendly and have always been more than happy to make substitutions. One of my favorites is their Huevos Locos burrito which I swap out bacon for avocado and it is fantastic every time. And their pumpkin pie pancakes are the best pumpkin pancakes I’ve had anywhere so far.  

It was a good Valentine's Day this year. I got to spend time with the man I love at a coffee shop I love eating food I love. What made this day so particularly good was that it wasn't forced or fake. We weren't trying too hard to be something uber romantic and Hallmarky, we were just us enjoying being us and sharing heart shaped pancakes.

#polarvortexproblems

You ever have one of those days when you just don’t want to think about anything? Like, you try really hard to think about algebra or the intense creepiness of Supernatural Sam/Dean fan fiction or puppies but instead your brain just makes a low whirring noise? That would be me today. My brain has been sputtering occasionally but it’s mostly white noise up there. I am thinking perhaps it has frost bite.

Snow days were more fun when I was a kid and I didn’t have to use up my paid vacation time in order to stay home where it is warm and there is slightly less risk of being involved in a car accident. Back then I didn’t have to deal with call-out guilt either. Nothing ruins a sick or snow day quite like call-out guilt. To combat that guilt I decided I was going to be productive.

I was prepared. I had a list of topics that I wanted to blog about.

I looked at the list and then looked at my computer, and the blinking cursor of judgment, and then back at the list. And I realized that I just have no desire to think today. I care about all of these topics enough to have written them down so that they would not be lost in the dusty corridors of my feeble brain and here I am, sitting on my couch with the leisure to write about them for hours and hours if I like. And yet….

I keep looking out the window at the snow that just won’t quit. It feels like it’s been snowing for about two years and, much like the Congressman who had concerns about too many troops causing Guam to tip over, I am worried about my poor little island giving in and sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic or perhaps floating off somewhere. That’s how islands work, right? Too much weight and we lose our structural integrity and become unmoored. Right? I’m thinking Long Island is just about ready for that. And spring just feels so far away. Maybe we’ll float off somewhere warm and I’ll want to go outside again. Or maybe we’ll be the new Atlantis. Do you think they’ll be wi-fi in New Atlantis?

When all else fails, cook. How bout some Drunken Tofu Scramble to combat that call-out guilt?

Run From the Border

Learning that 1- the refried beans at Taco Bell are vegan and  2- You can sub beans for meat in pretty much anything they offer is both the best and worst thing to happen to me as a vegetarian. It’s great to have another option for when I’m out, especially if I’m the only vegetarian in a group and we’re looking for something quick. The problem is when I’m hungry there’s this part of my brain that keeps defaulting to Taco Bell now. It’s fast. It’s cheap. It’s not that far from work. You know you want a cheesy gordita crunch. It’ll make you feel good. All the cool kids are doing it… Taco Bell is awesome. Occasionally. But when it becomes an obsession and your jeans don’t fit anymore it’s time for an intervention. Oh crunch wrap supreme, I wish I could quit you.

Mission accomplished

Sick Day Apple Butter

As per Physician’s Assistant’s orders no work for me today. I have this weird upper respiratory thing going on where if I am sitting down or lying in bed and not moving much, or talking, I feel fine and dandy. But the minute I decide to get out of bed and do something useful with my time my lungs throw a bit of a hissy fit. P.A. says “it’s probably viral” and it should pass in a couple of days. And she’s probably right since everyone in the office seemed to have been on the sicky train this week. So, in the mean time I am lying still as often as possible and trying to enjoy the bits when I'm not coughing.

Apple butter is a good way to feel productive when you don’t particularly feel like doing anything at all. Cut up some apples, throw them in a slow cooker with some sugar and spices and 10 hours later you have something yummy to spread on your toast. At least, that’s what I’m hoping I’ll have in about two hours.

In between fragrant stirs I am re-learning French on duolingo.com and freaking out my cat with my ukulele practice. Really, it’s only two chords I don’t know what he’s afraid of. 

The thing I seem to have forgotten to think about though is that I have a crock-pot full of 3 lbs worth of almost apple butter and no canning supplies. Perhaps this thought should have occurred to me eight hours ago…

Apple butter party, anyone?