A Child's Worst Nightmare

Brussel Sprouts.

I'll recap my very first encounter with the mini cabbages in a second, but first:

the beautiful, crisp autumn day that was...

Started with coffee and breakfast:

1 boiled egg with 2 pieces of whole wheat toast smeared with almond butter.

Am I the only person who saves the butt of a loaf of bread for the PERFECT occasion?

Okay, maybe I am.

I remember when I was a kid, I HATED bread crust. My dad always said that was "the best part"... Now I see what he means.

The breakfast served as perfect fuel for a meeting with Jillian in my living room. Phew, that workout is never a joke, no matter how prepared I think I am.

After getting my sweat on, I blended up this little diddy

There's currently a spinach drought in my house (what a travesty), so this one only contained:

-a frozen banana

-some blueberries

-1 scoop of Sun Warrior protein

-the last of my hemp seeds

-water and a splash of almond milk

I was dying for greens shortly thereafter (no seriously, my body craves them- weird, I know) so I juiced:

Then headed to acting class with this is my bag:

quinoa mix with green beans, broccoli, red bell pepper, red onion and goat cheese

When I got home 4 hours later, I was in dire need of sugar. It wasn't one of those "I want" kind of cravings, it was more like an "I DESPERATELY NEED" sort of thing. I searched the kitchen high and low- nothing! Then I remembered the vegan cookies in my freezer.

Thank God for microwaves.

After heading to the grocery store, I got to making dinner:

Homemade black bean burgers with roasted brussel sprouts and mashed sweet potatoes

Mmm mmm good.

The burger ingredients:

First you mash the black beans

Then the food processor turns this

Into this

Take the spices, egg, and a reused bowl

And make it look like this

Mix it all together

And make some patties

They look like double chocolate chip cookies if you ask me. (OR I just have sweets on the brain 24/7...)

While those were baking away, I got to work on my new veggie:

I can't believe I'd never tried them before. I guess I was a lucky kid- we were only force-fed broccoli and green beans.

I cut the tails off

And sauteed them in a pan with canola oil, salt and pepper until browned and tender.

SO.GOOD. Who'd've thought a vegetable so feared could be so tasty?

Needless to say, I was a happy camper 'til the bitter end of this dinner.

*Something I discovered tonight? When cooking a meal, I tend to make far too much. This time, I reduced the portion sizes to less than what I thought was necessary. While it didn't look like a lot on the plate, it actually hit the spot in every way without leaving me overly stuffed.

Future words to live by, I think.

Alright, I'm off to chillax. Catcha tomorrow with a quicky post!

xoxo

mads