Tag Archives: protein powder

A Plethora of Pictures Post coming at you.

The maximal amount of food (etc) pictures I have just chillin’ in my “Camera” folder from the last ten days is causing me stress sweats. The minimal amount of thoughts of a unique, dynamic and thrilling nature roaming my mind is also causing me stress sweats. I’m gently knocking to the ground these two birds with this one ~~stone~~ post by throwing down a lot of pictures from the past weekish without too much (or any) deep, insightful thought to accompany them. Bare with me.

Today we’ll start with the product pictures edition. Next post will be the plates edition so as to break up the insanity and not completely overwhelm you. I tend to be a little overwhelming.

And GO!

Products

I’ll never stop loving on Mr. PC and his presidential choices.

Such as this new awesome salad dressing. Take ranch. Combine it with SALSA. What’s not to like?

(No I did not put the Salsa Ranch dressing on the peanut butter cookies behind it. Nor on the kiwis. It’s good but I do have boundaries)

Instead – Salsa Ranch on my salad. That seems about right.

This dressing may single-handedly be the reason my shorts are snug. Though it probably had a little help from Mr. Peanut Butter Jar.

I don’t think it was his white corn & black bean salsa that made it into the salsa ranch dressing since there were no bean nor corn chunks to be found in said dressing. There were plenty in this jar though, making it an incredibly satisfying topping for my rice crackers and tortilla chips…and also making it disappear in one day. This house likes its salsa.

Back in the day (maybe two years ago now) I used to buy this PC Vanilla Soy Protein Powder. Then I eventually accumulated others to try and stopped buying this one. I recently remembered its deliciousness and let it into my life once again. This stuff is so good it can be eaten dry and straight from the container. Not that I’d ever do that or anything…ehem.

It’s also excellent in PUMPKIN. So good stirred into pumpkin.

But mainly it does a mighty fine job in smoothies (duh) – Chilled tea, almond milk, ice, gums, stevia, vanilla soy protein powder and some poor teddy grahams crumbled to their doom.

Products You (Probably) Don’t Want To Eat

My new purple shirt from Costco (they always have some great cheap workout swag) and my new shades from Winners. Both noteworthy because I’m kind of in love with this purple hue and because I’ve been (casually) looking for new sunglasses forever and I finally found a pair that don’t make me look like a dork. First pair I tried on too. Win!

(I’m happier about the purple than I pretend to be)

NEW SHOES. Oh how overdue I was for a new pair of running shoes.
Out with the old (Left), in with the NEW (Right). I don’t even want to talk about how overdue these were. But let’s just say it’s been a while… and considering I run most days… my poor little Asics sure didn’t have much “kick” left in them.

Might partially explain why my runs have been so. darn. exhausting. lately. I have high hopes for my new babies.

I also bought about 900 other things in the past two days and now my wallet aches. The main NEED was the running shoes though, so checking that off my list dried up a small patch of my stress sweats.

Barney. Okay so he’s not quite a product but I have been catching up on the most recent season of How I Met Your Mother since it’s one of my favourite shows and I so rudely threw it to the wayside during school. And then forgot about it.

So that was only a mini plethora. I spared you a hundred pictures of raw vegetables covered in salsa ranch and me looking rough and tough flexing in my new hot pink workout top (one of those other 900 purchases I mentioned above). The former you will get to see in my next post though. I know you’re excited.

What is your most recent purchase?
And your favourite salad dressing?

Minimal Labour

September 7, 2010

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How was everyone’s fine long Labour Day weekend… aka basically the final weekend of summer?!

Shock gasp horror

(weheartit)

I still can’t get over the fact that it’s already September… and a week in already at that.

And that I start back to classes in a week. Welcome Fourth and Final Year oh boy. I think I’m ready for it though… bring it on books.

(Source)

My weekend wasn’t terribly adventurous.

It involved chilly and peaceful mornings.

Accompanied by warm and comforting breakfasts.

Simple stovetop banana oats with peanut butter and raspberries

Soft and chewy whole wheat pbjb waffles with fresh cantaloupe

The weekend was actually quite laden with peanut butter.

As well as vast amounts of roasted buttercup squash. I just can’t get enough, I just can’t get enough. I cooked up a big sucker yesterday… and not a trace remains.

It was less laden with other vegetables, though I tried to stomach them where I could. I think I’m in a vegetable rut. I’m just not loving them as much lately. Sigh!

There was a bit of shopping (along with some sweet deal scores!) that happened.

I found this Living Raw Food book in the book section of an antique marketplace at our farmer’s market. Perfection condition $12. Done! I’m clearly not a raw foodist but I find it to be an interesting way of eating and this book seems to have some great recipes as well as a whole slew of good clean food information, so I couldn’t pass it by.

Not so raw but an equally good deal, Designer Whey Double Chocolate Protein Powder for $8 on clearance. I love Winners.

And a retro bar night of drinks and 80s tunes probably happened last night. Black Sunday, busiest night of the year at this particular hole in the wall bar. Can’t miss it.

(weheartit)

And of course, a little recipe testing had to happen as well.

Vegan with a Vengeance (which first introduced me to TVP) delivered my TVP-filled dinner tonight in the form of TVP Veggie Burgers.

This probably would have been much more successful with tiny TVP chunks (mine were the large ones) and much more finely diced vegetables. They barely held together so the whole “burger” concept was basically shot.

I managed to get one lone burger to stay together.

(The left white blob is mashed potato and the right white blob is mashed cauliflower mixed with laughing cow, dijon mustard and ff sour cream… mmm)

The taste is still, well… tasty, so the remainders shall be eaten fork style. Or maybe wrap style! Endless possibilities. Ish.

I also had a request for da mom for fresh baked granola. So of course I delivered. And this batch got a standing ovation.

Welcome home Averie’s Vegan Gluten & Soy-Free Granola.

I completely de-veganized it by using normal butter. That is what we’ve got. And I threw in a handful of pumpkin seeds and raisins. Cooked it for 15 minutes.
And I halved it. You know, just in case it didn’t turn out…

What was I thinking? This one took over first place as favourite homemade granola recipe so far!

Perfectly crunchy, satisfyingly sweet.

How do you spruce up your veggies and make them more exciting when you’re just not feeling them?

Highlight of your long weekend?

Have a terrific

bright-tuesday36_large
!

Breakfast Battles and Baking Biz

May 13, 2010

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14 Comments

Once upon a time yesterday I woke up and decided that I would eat a tortilla.

But it was not just any tortilla.

It was THIS tortilla >

THIS tortilla was spread with Laughing Cow, microwave-softened Granny Smith apple slices and cinnamon, pan grilled until crunchy, and dipped in “sauce” of maple syrup and plain yogurt.

THIS tortilla was special.

Once upon a time today I woke up and decided I would eat some oat bran.

But it was not just any oat bran.

It was THIS oat bran.

THIS oat bran was different. THIS oat bran I cooked in a lot of water, cinnamon and flax. Not so different. But then at the end of it all I stirred in… my dreaded chocolate protein powder – This stuff only works in smoothies. ONLY.

And thus… THIS oat bran was NOT special.
Well it was special in the sense that it got to experience the very rare event of getting trashed after I could no longer handle any more of its gritty lacklustre taste. I ate all of the banana and plain yogurt out of it though. They still shone on.

Lacklustre breakfasts require redemption baking endeavours. As do mother requests for zucchini muffins for work staff celebrations tomorrow.

And the redemption is born.

The big kahunas for the work peeps.

And the leftover batter bit mini muffins for my snacking pleasure. I ate the top right away, mmk?

Besides baking muffins, I also baked up some tofu that was getting funky in my fridge along with some polenta that was most likely getting funky in my fridge considering it had been in there for… at least 6 months? I saw no mold, I smelled no skeez, I made polenta fries. Daring to live on the wild side.

Skeez tofu solo.

Et avec old geezer polenta fries stacked on top.

Equally great and musty free a day later, I finished up said polenta fries dipped in pasta sauce alongside my greener than a forest salad.

I ran. I sang. I cried. I walked. I read. I ate. I browsed. I found this.

And this.

(how great are these cards?)

My evening ~~was~~ is now complete.

The Great Tastes of Last Week

February 2, 2010

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20 Comments

Short on energy but big on pictures so no messing around – Let’s jump right in, shall we?

The Savoury:

Cold leftover Tuna Casserole eaten for breakfast, straight from the container.

And eaten for a snack with buffalo sauce.

Bowls of greens decked out in honey mustard…

…In everything I could find in the fridge…

…x2…

…and in big scoops of salsa, hummus, and baba ghanoush.

Sugar Snap Peas. One of the most addicting veggies out there.

La soupe du jour – Campbell’s V8 Garden Vegetable Blend!

I was sent this lovely package a while back but for some reason I have been consuming minimal amounts of soup this winter and hadn’t tried it yet… until now!

Soup Verdict? I’d buy it again! You can’t argue with a soup that can pack in 12 different vegetables. Plus the flavour is great, the soup itself is hearty and filling, and the generous vegetable chunks won me over. I really want to try the other flavours next: Golden Butternut, Sweet Red Pepper, Southwestern Corn? Count me in!

Sweet potato (or something like it?) decked out in steamed spinach, jalapeno hummus, salsa and sour cream mixed with buffalo sauce + mini fried potatoes and mashed cauliflower sprinkled with apple cider vinegar

Belated Holiday Work Dinners in January. Yep, that happened this Saturday night. Every year we go to a schmancy restaurant and get serenaded by live piano music while eating:

- Fresh bread with salmon mousse spread
- Appetizer artichoke, tomato and parmesan pasta dishes (this appetizer was the amount of pasta I’d eat in a whole meal)

- And my favourite dish I’ve had the past 3 years: Baked lemon chicken breast with Greek salad. Usually served as the actual breast with the salad on the side, this year they sliced the chicken right over the salad instead. I didn’t mind! They can plate it any way they want as long as my big chunk of creamy Greek feta is present.

- Plus I may have stole a bite (or a few) of my dad’s dessert – vanilla cake with blueberry sauce. Mmm.
Apologies for the crappy quality pictures but rest assured they are not indicative of the quality of the food. It was much better.

And I must highlight tonight’s dinner, the coolest dinner I’ve had in a while: Cauliflower Pizza! Right before I was about to start cooking myself something quick before class I came across this idea on April’s blog. With the knowledge that leftover mashed cauliflower was sitting in the fridge, I ran right into the kitchen and started up the oven. About 20 minutes later, dinner was born. I would have left it in a little longer to crisp up more if I didn’t have to rush off to class so it wasn’t super crusty, but no matter.

My “Crust” = 1 cup cauliflower, generous splash of egg whites, 1/4 cup cream of mushroom soup (it was leftover in the fridge so I figured why not), basil, oregano, garlic powder.

Toppings = Tomato basil pasta sauce, Frank’s Red Hot, Laughing Cow wedge

You. Must. Make. This.

Delicious. Incredible. A breakthrough in the science of pizza eating.

The Sweet:

Yogurt mixed with oats, flax and cocoa powder, left overnight to magically transform into brownie batter deliciousness by morning. Thanks Liz! Seriously, breakfast brownies? I’m in.

April’s Lean and Mean Pumpkin Muffins. Especially cold from the fridge. I love LAMP (muffins). Get it?! …Har har?

And the best of both of these worlds: yogurt mixed with an insane amount of cocoa powder and a LAMP muffin!

Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiivine.

Cold Overnight Oats for a cold morning – mixed with unsweetened chocolate almond breeze, vanilla yogurt, banana, flax, pb

Warm non-overnight oats for a non-warm morning – mixed with … I don’t remember. Whoops!

More warm oats but this time I do remember – mixed with flax, unsweetened chocolate almond breeze, sugar free jello creme brulee pudding (oh yes I did!) and topped with banana slices and peanut butter mixed with vanilla yogurt! Decadent way to start the day.

Apples with foamy coffee

Especially special when the first big chomp is almost heart-shaped love.

The best buttery rich banana bread ever. Made with mom magic. She’s been making this recipe since I was wee and I don’t think I’ve ever had a better banana bread. Not one drop of healthy in this dessert. Worth every crumb.

Banana bread is always better the next morning. Especially when paired with a Hot Chocolate Smoothie

And yesterday happened to involve a Costco visit. Always a pleasure Costco, always a pleasure. Especially when you send me off with parting gifts of 2kg/4.4lbs of decadent chocolate protein powder at 8 bucks off. It’s not all natural, it’s made with sucralose and other funny ingredients, and it’s cheap and tasty so whatevs.

Smoothie time!

Can you please lend me a hand in putting a dent into this beast by telling me your favourite ways to use protein powder? Recipes, snacks, whatever floats your protein powder boat, send em my way! It’d be much appreciated. I’ll need to get creative to make my way through this doozy.

Oh and HAPPY FEBRUARY!

Already, do you believe it? Spring is right around the corner! That corner way off in the distance, but it’s still a corner I have in my line of sight so we’re making strides here! Groundhog day tomorrow. Don’t let me down Wiarton Willie!