Highlighting The Week in Food

Hello friends! Here we are again at the end of another week. My weekend will be spent packing and possibly brunching. I only have SIX days left in Toronto! Holymoly!

Anyways, I like to keep it light here on Fridays seeing as most people are ?checked out? for the weekend. Here are some highlights from my eats at home this past week?

1. The world?s fluffiest protein pancake

That picture really doesn?t do it justice. It is so thick!! Here are the ingredients, but the instructions are the important part:

1/4 whole wheat flour
1 scoop (30g) soy/pea/hemp protein powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup egg whites
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup almond milk

Mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together the peanut butter and egg whites for a few minutes. If you have an electric mixer, you can use that to fluff them up more. Combine with the dry mixture, adding almond milk until batter is still very thick. Pour into greased pan on medium heat. The smaller the pancakes, the more likely they are to fluff up. Also, don?t over-flip them. They really should only cook once on each side. But knowing when is the right time takes practice!

 2. Canadians! President?s Choice has Greek yogurt!

For some reason, Canada is waaaay behind on the strained yogurt trend. We only just got Greek yogurt here about a year ago and it was a so-so and very expensive version of it. Now Loblaws, one of the country?s largest grocery chains, has their own version of it. Which means it?s 1) more accessible and 2) cheaper! Plus, it?s significantly thicker than the Liberte brand. At $4 for 500g, I could see myself splurging on this a lot more often.

3. It?s mine. All mine.

I happened to get care packages from both Brie and Theresa on the same day, and they both contained my favourite goodies from Trader Joe?s!! You have no idea how ridiculously excited I was to open not one, but two jars of my favourite nut butter. I?m blown away by the support from my blog friends since my accident. This week in particular was a bad week for pain and recovery. These packages were a definite bright spot through all that. And no, I will not share ;)

4. Canada?s got some competition.

Dare cookies better watch out. Trader Joe?s is making a much better version of their maple leaf cream cookies. There is so much filling in these babies. I still maintain Canada makes the best maple syrup (sorry New England) but these American cookies rock my socks.

5. Sweet quinoa is the best thing since savoury oatmeal.

I combined two of the above foods with cooked quinoa ? Greek yogurt and sunflower seed butter. Along with some sugar-free syrup for sweetener and more sunflower seeds and raisins to garnish. I love the texture of quinoa. The little chewy balls of quinoa paired perfectly with the creaminess of thick yogurt. Plus, it kept me satisfied for a really long time.

6. I?m a tea drinker!

Well, kind of. Ever since my injury, I?ve been sipping on liquids to prevent me from boredom munching because I?m in the house all day. And by ?liquids? I mean Diet Coke. In efforts to reduce my Diet Coke consumption, I started subbing it out with tea. I?m up to about two cups a day! Rooibos is my tea of choice, whether with spicy chai, sweet vanilla or creamy cinnamon apple yogurt.

7. Kitchen sink granola.

Y?all know the drill. The panic and frenzy of eating up your pantry and freezer before moving. I made quite the dent on my pantry today by throwing together all the random grains, nuts and dried fruit I had in there. Here?s the basics:

6 cups ?grains? (5 cups rolled oats + 1 cup graham crumbs)
1 cup nuts (sunflower seeds)
1/4 cup oil (coconut oil)
1/2 cup liquid sweetener (pure maple syrup)
1 tbsp cinnamon
Add ins! (2 cups dried coconut, 1/4 cup crystallized ginger pieces, 1/3 cup raisins)

Mix the grains, nuts, oil, sweetener and spices together. I included the coconut in this as well. Spread evenly on two large baking sheets and bake at 300F for about an hour. Checking on it frequently and mixing it around a few times. Let cool before eating. Trust me on this.

Now I?ve got a HUGE bowl of yummy granola that I think I?ll divide and give away as thank-you gifts before I leave. On top of that ? a near empty pantry!

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!