El blog del chocolate

Barney Butter and Brownie Batter

beckicartn — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:43:00 +0000

A big, chocolate-covered “thank you” goes out to Jennifer of the Barney Butter Company for sending me a yummy free sample of Barney Butter so that I could see (and taste!) for myself what all the fuss is about. My verdict? I like this stuff! But then again, I’m not exactly picky when it comes to nut butters– I love ‘em all. The Barney Butter has a taste similar to almond butter (well duh! It is almond butter!), but its texture is smooth and creamy, kinda like Skippy peanut butter (from what I remember; I haven’t eaten Skippy in years and years).I first tried it plain, straight-up, which is my all-time fave way to eat nut butters. But I decided that I like Barney Butter better (say that three times fast) on sandwiches.

Now it’s time for a confession– and it’s hard to believe I’ve blogged this long without spilling my secret! Call me un-American, but I don’t like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches… mainly because I don’t really like jelly.

I opted to try the Barney Butter as a component to my second-favorite nut-butter combo (Sandwich of Dreams being first, of course). Second favorite? Peanut butter and Apple! (Or applesauce, in this case) I simply spread one half of an Ezekiel pita with applesauce and the other half with Barney Butter. Slap it on a plate, throw together a huge salad, and call it lunch!

A quick lunch munch: the sandwich, a mondo kale-and-mix-green salad, and peach salsa

Chocolate-Covered Meal of the Day
Brekkie (nope, not second brekkie; this was eaten on a day off from running, meaning I didn’t channel my inner hobbit)

My first try of Barney Butter. And what’s that chocolatey-lookin’ stuff? That, my dear friends, is Brownie Batter Hot Cereal. To all you oatmeal haters: I doubt even you could maintain your oat-hatin’ ways if your hot cereal tasted like brownie batter!

In the bowl: I cooked 1 serving of those awesome kamut flakes (you can easily sub oatmeal) with water and a pinch of salt. Later, I mixed it with about a T of Extra Dark cocoa powder, some non-dairy milk, a piece of frozen banana (I used the Melted Banana Trick), and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

I cooked it all up using the blended grain technique (but usually, I don’t even bother blending, as I like the chew).

Brownie Batter in a bowl, I tell ya; Brownie Batter in a bowl

Yogurt, Muffins, Products… what about Henry?

beckicartn — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:04:00 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe how many people want to make decisions for me! Y’all rock! I was so excited to see all the comments!!! I’ll try to return the favor by visiting all your blogs (if you have a blog) soon ) I am graduating from college soon, so I’m going to need another decision made for me. Don’t worry; it’s a small one. All you decision-makers, please decide: What should I “be” when I “grow up”?See, I told you it was a small decision ;o)As for voting, it looks like “yogurt-making” stole the show. I’ll get to work on that post pronto. In the interim, though, I’ll write a quick “product-review” post, since “product reviews” got a lot of votes too. And then the muffin post will come sometime after the one on yogurt. Sadly, Henry was not so popular with the voters (poor Henry!), so I can’t say for sure when he’ll next pop up on my blog. At present time, he is laying low, trying to mend his wounded ego.And Molly? Well, she is miffed that her name didn’t even appear on the voting ballot. What idiot came up with the list anyway????

A Little Fish in a Big Ocean of Choices

beckicartn — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:29:00 +0000

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…Have you ever tried to count the number of decisions you make in a given day? It’s probably impossible to do, because we’re faced with so many choices in our lives–big choices (like what college to attend or whom to marry), as well as smaller choices (like what to eat or how to dress). I don’t know about the rest of you, but sometimes I’d like to take a break from making decisions, as it can be stressful! If there exists such a job as a personal decision-maker, then please add my name to the list of hopeful recipients. (While you’re at it, you can also sign me up for a personal shopper, personal chef, and a butler. Thank you very much.) Who is feeling magnanimous today and would thus like to make all decisions for me from here on out? Anyone care to volunteer? Bueller… Bueller… Bueller… No, no takers? Too bad, because that means all of you are now my personal decision-makers (as far as this post goes, anyway). And for your first task, you get to decide the topic of my next post. Honestly, I feel like this blog is all Me, Me, Me! But I want to know more about all of you. Therefore, I’m going to start trying to ask more questions and look for more feedback from all my lovely fellow fishies– both bloggers and readers. You know the routine; leave a comment and let me know what you want to see!1. Love Muffin recipe 2. How to make vegan yogurt (without all that complicated “yogurt starter” rubbish) 3. Product Reviews (If you pick this one, is there anything specific you want to hear about? Recent sampled products include: a new nut butter, grain, sauce-thickener, drink, meat substitute, bread, and chocolate bar.) 4. A new kitchen gadget 5. A post about Africards 6. Things I’ve cooked/eaten recently 7. Screw all the above; just show me pictures of Henry! Chocolate-Covered Words of the Day1. The Chocolate-Covered Blogger of the Day is Little Miss Kristie, of Lighterportions. Besides being amazingly beautiful on the outside, Christie is also such a warm-hearted person inside. Good thing she has that kind heart to keep her warm, as the poor girl lives in freezing-cold Canada! Kristie seems like such a fun friend; someday I would love to get together with her so we can dance the night away!Chocolate-Covered Song of the DayAs was pointed out to me, I dropped the ball (or the squash!) in my last post by not having “Build me up Buttercup” as the song of the day. So it can be today’s song instead!Chocolate-Covered Meal of the DayTomato soup (the usual), sauteed garlic-y cabbage, broiled spaghetti squash, baked tofu (marinated in soy sauce), two Love Muffins, and a baby mekan (I grew up eating these in Japan)And yes, Erin, I do eat almost everything with chopsticks (Explanation here). I say “almost everything” because I definitely don’t eat foods like peanut butter, pudding, or soup with chopsticks LOL. Someone once asked me if I ate oatmeal with chopsticks, and I said “no.” But after that, of course I had to try it. And guess what… it’s fun! (You might remember I also tried pancake-eating with chopsticks. It’s official– I’m insane.) But enough chit-chat. Get to voting, people!

The Butternut Tales, Part Three: Build Me Up, Butternut Baby

beckicartn — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:04:00 +0000

I need you, I need you, more than anyone, darling, know that I have from the start…

You’ll be happy to know that the Butternuts made it back from their vacation safely (although they were reluctant to return to Dreary Dallas, where the forecast is for an ice storm. Yes, you read that right). They’re already planning another getaway– possibly to Hawaii. Bring on the sunscreen!

Chocolate-Covered (Butternutty) Meals of the Day
(No, I didn’t really eat all these meals in the same day! The pictures are over the course of a few months.)

Oh, and to answer the question as to where I got my fry-cutter: We bought it at Linens-n-Things many years ago ($12.99), so my best bet would be to look at a store like Bed, Bath, Beyond. Otherwise, I’m sure you can buy one online. (Is there anything you can’t get on Amazon these days?)

Sweet cinnamon-y fries, baked tofu, savory oatmeal, and a ginormous chard-and-romaine salad with peach salsa

Yummy snack: cinnamon butternut fries alongside one of my favorite new “hot” cereals

I put “hot” in parenthesis because it’s not really a hot cereal at all. I throw maybe a little more than 1/2 cup Post Shredded Wheat’N Bran cereal into a bowl, cover with maybe 3/4cup of water or non-dairy milk (sorry, I don’t measure so I can’t be more specific!) and a little salt, and microwave for about 2 minutes. It magically turns into hot cereal! How cool is that?!
Butternut fries, kale chips, a ripe banana, baked tofu, and creamy hulled-barley pilaf

Another CCV-approved snack: Butternut fries and Reeses peanut butter cup filling. Oops, wait, that’s just a jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. (I ate them separately. But now I wonder how squash fries would taste with peanut butter. Probably pretty yummy…)

Nutty butternuts, mucho más kale chips, tender seitan (marinated in soy sauce), a juicy blood orange, and– if I remember correctly– that’s savory oatmeal in the green bowl

Same participants as above, except the orange did a nifty little trick of morphing into a Gala apple
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Chocolate-Covered Song of the Day
Paralyzer (Finger Eleven)

I feel a Product-Review post in the near future…

The Butternuts take a Vacation

beckicartn — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:36:00 +0000

Just for tonight. Don’t worry; they’ll be back tomorrow.

The Butternut Tales, Part Two: The Future Mrs. Butternut Squash

beckicartn — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:14:00 +0000

Our future together looks bright (bright orange, that is!).First things first: A lot of y’all asked how I got the squash to look so “fry-like.” It’s thanks to this cool gadget, called a “fry cutter,” that looks something like this:Katie’s “Butter(nut) Me Up” Squash FriesIngredients:1 Butternut Squash (or, if you’re as squash-obsessed as me, you can opt to make more than one squash-worth of fries at a time!)saltcinnamon! (the special ingredient I was talking about)Procedure:Cut the squash into fry shapes (use a fry cutter or a knife)Preheat the oven to 425 degrees FPut the fries into a big Ziploc-type bagSprinkle on your salt and cinnamonClose the bag and mix all the ingredients together by squishing the bag around in your handsLine a baking sheet with tin foil, then spray with a tiny bit of Pam (and wipe it with a paper towel so it’s even on the tin foil)Spread your fries on the baking sheet and shove ‘em in the ovenBake for 30-40 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your fries, and depending on how many fries you put on the baking sheet (I fill my baking sheet up completely with fries, and I like the fries to be on the softer side, so I usually bake them for about 30-35 minutes). Chocolate-Covered Song of the DayCry Cry Cry (Johnny Cash)Squash-fry Style: You’re gonna fry, fry, fry and you’ll fry alone. When everyone’s forgotten and you’re left on your own. You’re gonna fry, fry, fry.Anyone else a fan of the movie Walk the Line? Oh come on; you know you love Joaquin Phoenix. And he’s a vegan. Could it get any better??Chocolate-Covered Meal of the DayThose little fry guys, Lightlife chick’n strips, raw walnuts (gotta get those Omega threes), creamy blended wheatberry pilaf, and almost an entire package of broccoli and cauliflower, roasted. Somehow it all fit into my happy tummy. Wouldn’t your tummy be happy too, if it was treated to such yummy foods?Tomorrow I’ll post the third (and final) installment of The Butternut Files, with more meal and snack photos. See you then!

The Butternut Tales, Part One: Little Miss Butternut Returns!

beckicartn — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:06:00 +0000

In fry form!
(But this time, I’ll refrain from posting naughty photos. You can all breathe a sigh of relief.)
Did you ever have a favorite food you ate every day, but then, for some reason, forgot about? That’s exactly what happened to my poor butternut fries. A few years ago, I was eating these babies all the time. But gradually, I found new favorite foods and the squash fries were replaced and forgotten.
The Way We Were (circa 2005):
So strong was my love for the fries that I made a scrapbook page in their honor!

I gave my daddy the official title of “Fry-Cutter.”

-Question: What do you do for a living, dear Dad?

-Answer: I cut french fries.

(Glad to see that Ivy-League education is coming in handy.)

World’s Greatest Dad, indeed .

A happy CCV, four years ago, posing with what was left of her lunch (squash fries on the left)
Thank goodness the blogging world (Erin! Gina!) reminded me of my old love. These past few months, Butternut and I have been renewing our flame with a vengeance, making up for lost time!
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Part Two of The Butternut Tales will include my squash-fry recipe (it’s kinda like everyone else’s… but there’s one special ingredient), as well as lotsa butternutty meal and snack photos.

***EDIT*** Part Two (with the recipe) can be found here: chocolatecoveredkatie.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/if-you-are-what-you-eat-then-im-a-butternut-squash/
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CCV-in-a-Box Winners

beckicartn — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:35:00 +0000

The winners of the CCV-in-a-Box Giveaway are:
1. MaryMoo (entered twice)
2. Lisa (entered five times)

Congrats, girlies!! I already emailed both of you. If you didn’t receive my email, let me know: veggieprincess@msn.com. And don’t worry—you’re not really getting stuck with me-in-a-box; just my favorite products .

To all the inquiring minds: The seagull cupcake from the bonus question can be found in this post.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! I’ll have another giveaway up soon, as well as more recipe posts, product reviews, and CUPCAKES!

Chocolate-Covered Meals of the Day

Lately, I’ve been featuring others’ meals because:

……A. I get sooooooo excited when someone makes one of my recipes!! (Really, it’s sad…)

……B. Usually they make the recipes look even better than I do.

So here’s Miss Raspberry Runner’s take on my Mad Tofu Scramble:

And here is the talented Ruby Red Vegan’s dinner featuring savory blended grains:

Anyone have fun Easter plans? I’m just excited to have Friday and Monday off from school

There was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus?

beckicartn — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:27:00 +0000

Please tell me you know the quote… If not, go out and rent Love, Actually right now! It’s one of my favorite movies (Hello Colin Firth!).Apparently, there were more than three kings present at the birth of Jesus as well. Check it out!King Henry (the eighth?), thinking he’s all high-and-mighty, wanted in on the Nativity-Scene action. Or maybe he was just looking to eat the Baby Jesus as a snack? Bad, bad puppy! Thirty “Our Fathers” for you, Henry!.Chocolate-Covered Meal of the Day:Pasta was on the menu tonight, which made for one happy CCV. It’s always a good night when pasta’s around, don’tcha think?I sauteed red peppers and brussel sprouts with a bunch of spices (garlic being the numero uno– stay away from me tonight!). Then I mixed it all up with some whole-wheat spaghetti, letting the flavor from the veggies coat the pasta and act like a sauce. The verdict? A simple, yet yumlicious, din-din. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I also had a coconut date roll. I flattened it a bit, then “baked” it in the microwave for a few seconds until it was a bit crispy– like a crispy coconut cookie. Yumlicious indeed ).

Sugar and Spice and everything Nice

beckicartn — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:15:00 +0000

That’s what Banana Spice Pudding (or yogurt) is made of.

“Everything Nice” Banana Spice Pudding
(I call this “yogurt” since it’s healthier than traditional pudding)

Ingredients:

3 level teaspoons agar flakes
1 and 1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I use almond milk)

1/4 tsp cinnamon (or more, if you’re a Cinna-freak)
a tiny dash salt (1/16th tsp)
frozen banana (I only use about 1/4 of a large banana, as I wasn’t looking to make a banana pudding, rather more of a spice yogurt with a hint of banana. For a strong banana flavor, use more banana.)
Optional: sweetener (I don’t use any, but when I made this for my mom, she wanted a few teaspoons. Start with a little; you can always add more.)

Procedure:

To make the base, measure the non-dairy milk into a pot.
Mix in the agar flakes and let the two sit together for about 5 minutes before you turn on the heat.
Slowly bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer until the agar flakes pretty much dissolve (about 5-8 more minutes).
Turn off heat and leave for a few minutes to cool, then put in the fridge (uncovered is fine). When it’s cooled and gelled, the fun part begins…

Scoop out the agar base into your blending gadget-of-choice (the Magic Bullet is GREAT for this).
Add the banana, cinnamon, salt, and sugar (if using), and blend away.
Scoop the creamy pudding into a bowl. At this point, I like to put it in the freezer for 10-20ish minutes, because I like it super-cold. But that’s just a personal preference. It’s just as yummy at room temp, or even heated .

For more on how to work with agar, check out: “Working with Agar” Tutorial.

Pudding/yogurt Pictures:

Banana Spice Pudding accompanied by a Love Muffin (recipe to come in a future post) and some fake flowers (I’m such a dork!)

Ah, peanut butter, my true love (don’t tell chocolate!).

The banana spice pudding provided a sweet ending to this kinda strange, but very delicious, meal that also consisted of: broiled spaghetti squash (when cooked this way, the sweetness of the veggie really shines through), tomato “soup” (Hunts seasoned tomato sauce; I like to eat it as soup), and chewy hulled barley pilaf (yay for the chewiness).
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Chocolate-Covered Song of the Day
(in keeping with the spicy theme of this post)
Spice up your Life (Spice Girls)
Yes, I am admitting to still listening to the Spice Girls. Hey, David Beckham likes ‘em too (or one of them, at least!), so I’m in good company.
People of the world, Spice up your Life–with banana spice pudding, that is! I suggest making a double serving… just in case a certain British soccer player shows up at your door .