BOOM!! Beautiful Brussels sprouts in the house!! And just in time for your Thanksgiving Feast! Due to my procrastination tendencies in generating this post, you probably won’t read this until the afternoon. And due to YOUR procrastination tendencies, you’re out doing last-minute grocery shopping, and you won’t read this post until later anyway. This procrastination thing must come to an end in 2015. Can you say 2016 New Year’s Resolution list in the making? But you know what, I strongly believe once a procrastinator most likely always a procrastinator. Because you and I know, once you return home and put away the groceries, you’re headed straight to the computer to check…
-
-
MIXED FRUIT SMOOTHIE TO SURVIVE THE HOLIDAYS
Happy Saturday! Just popping in to share my mixed fruit smoothie with you. You may not have a need for it now; it’ll all make sense on Thanksgiving. 🙂 Earlier this week, I stocked up on lots of beautiful, detoxing ingredients to include in my morning smoothies. Smoothies are ingrained in my life; I drink them all year round adjusting the fruits and veggies according to the season. This morning I wanted the taste of kiwi. Kiwi fruit is not saturated with sweetness but has a tartness I love. Made with freshly squeezed orange juice as the base, spinach, kiwi, frozen blueberries, and half of an apple. This smoothie is loaded…
-
PUMPKIN PANCAKES TOPPED WITH OVEN ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS
Happy weekend my friends! This blog post is all the way live this Saturday morning from my kitchen. The atmosphere is filled with the aroma of warm butter, nutty-roasted pumpkin seeds, with a serious kick-butt scent of pumpkin-cinnamon that’s so intoxicating, I just might be tipsy. With that said, it’s time to get folks fed! Today we’ve got a delicious, hot plate of moist, fluffy pumpkin pancakes that are blanketed in maple syrup, sprinkled with oven-roasted pumpkin seeds topped with a melting pat of butter. Somebody pinch me, but before you do… Confession. Up until about five years ago, I hated pumpkin. Like hated with a capital H=HATE!! This is…
-
GOOD OL’ CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
What’s BIG, THICK, SOFT, and CHEWY with chocolate chips all over? You guessed it! Let’s bake some CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES !!! For the past week, I’ve yearned for homemade chocolate chip cookies. Like, can’t sleep yearning. The craving was so intense, the taste of chocolate chip cookies was palpable, I could’ve eaten a stick of butter dipped in brown sugar, they were that strong. Geez! Who woke up my inner cookie monster ?! My first course of action was to check the pantry and to my dismay, the flour jar was empty, and we were out of chocolate chips. [What?! Who does the grocery shopping in this house?! ] Tonya, don’t…
-
CREAMY LEMON POLENTA TO SURVIVE THE FICKLE FALL
Yeah, I said it, fall you’re fickle!! On Monday, you had me wearing long thick socks, a full-length coat, and gloves. Gloves? Fall. Really? I thought we were cool? I was expecting breezy with a chilly welcoming embrace, but noooooooo you had to go all cray, cray and put a Sistah in an Arctic headlock, and if you haven’t noticed, I’m still slightly miffed by the whole gloves apparel, but I digress. We’re living in cold times, my friends. Cold. Times. After being brutalized by you know who, I was certain we needed something hot and creamy that would ensure our survival to see the rest of the week. Enter: Bob’s Red Mill…
-
SWEET CARAMELIZED PEARS
When the weather delivers relentless rainstorms … bake caramelized pears. It’s your only escape, or do laundry? Yeah, my sentiments exactly. Last week we may have dodged Hurricane Joaquin, but the rainstorms had a plan of their own. We were pounded with rain, flooding in some areas, and blanketed with a dreary, cloudy overcast. Not a good look for the well-planned weekend, but so soothing and relaxing for the worn-out, exhausted me. Because I was suffering from rain overdose and exhaustion, it was in my best interest to sober up and rejuvenate by clamoring in the kitchen. In the company of Bosc pears, brown sugar, and pomegranate arils, I had no complaints. My…
-
CROCK POT SWEET POTATO LENTIL CHILI
little lentils require gentle little hands for this crock pot sweet potato lentil chili. My daughter who we’ll call, “Mini Me” assisted in the kitchen over the weekend as per our routine. My aspiring pastry chef loves all things food and leveling. 🙂 Having her in the kitchen is always a treat and a clever way to teach her about food preparation, ingredients, cooking, baking, and fractions! Now that Fall is officially on the calendar, it’s time to slow things down, break out the crock pot to prepare for some serious low level, let it do its own thing kind of cooking. Are you ready? First up, L is for…
-
SKILLET CHILI PEPPER CHICKEN
Remember when I mentioned that we need to talk? Well, the time has come my friends. I’m a pescetarian. In April of this year, I made a life-changing decision to eliminate meat from my diet with the exception of fish and seafood. This is my second attempt at transitioning into a vegan lifestyle. This go around, I’m transitioning at a much slower pace to prevent relapsing. My first attempt ended after 13 months, with a chicken wing in one hand and a cheeseburger in the other. Not a good look! You’re probably wondering, “what is a pescetarian? ” A pescetarian is a vegetarian who includes seafood in their diet excluding: chicken,…
-
LATE SUMMER PANZANELLA SALAD
Back in the saddle!!!! Did the Cowboys defeat the Giants? Did we successfully complete our first week of homeschool? !!!!! You know what, double !!!!! We started off without a hitch and ended on a high note !!!! We worked hard to yield this result so you’ll have to excuse me while I do the happy dance. Yahassss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I digress. Pardon my enthusiasm and excessive use of emoticons, but I found this plugin I know another plugin right? I promise I won’t go insane and write an entire post with emojis, but I’ll get pretty darn close to it. I once wrote an entire text to my husband using emoticons…
-
VACATION MEMORIES
Happy Friday! Vacation a distant memory, homeschool resumes next Tuesday and this Mama needs to get it together. Sigh…looking over our vacation pictures makes me wanna gas up the Mommy mobile and hike it south, but the reality is all good things must come to an end, but I’ll always have this blueberry brioche memory. Here are a few highlights from our 2015 summer vacation. Have a safe, fun-filled Labor Day weekend, and see you on Tuesday!! xoxo Tonya Dear Virginia Beach, I didn’t know you were so BEAUTIFUL!!!! Love, Me During our stay in Virginia we lodged at The Historic Powhatan Resort an absolutely gorgeous resort full of fun and history.…
