Packed in today’s magic basket of super snacks?

Whole Food Energy Bar from Vega that I was sent last week to review.

I liked this one better than the Vibrancy bar actually. I especially liked that at 220 calories, this sucker easily held me over all afternoon while Maxine and I ran errands and Ava spent the afternoon at her homeschooling class.

And I totally needed the energy to play along with Maxine’s latest Take-My-Socks-and-Shoes-Off-Everytime-I-Get-in-the-Car antics.

5 or so stops this afternoon? That would mean lots of playing her new favorite I Take My Shoes Off, Mom Puts Them Back On game over and over again.

Tonight for Zachary’s birthday dinner I made Sweet Potato Tempeh Chili.

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 glove of garlic, minced
1 sweet potato, diced
28 oz canned tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
1 8oz package of tempeh, chopped
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
(Spices are approx – more or less to taste)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt

In a large pot, saute garlic and onions in olive oil. Scrub sweet potato with a brush (or peel if preferred) and dice into cubes, keeping in mind this is basically ready as soon as the potatoes are done. Read: smaller potato cubes = less cooking time.

Once the onions are soft, add tomatoes, broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover.

You want those potatoes cooking while you get work on the tempeh!

I chopped the tempeh in my mini prep. My mini prep is pretty mini, so I had to do it in 3 batches.

Add chopped tempeh and rinsed and drained black beans to the pot. Add spices and stir, simmer on medium-low until potatoes are cooked.

If it happens to be your sweet husband’s birthday, this is where you would get to work on Birthday Peanut Butter Brownies for dessert! Gotta undo all the good stuff that birthday beet juice did for us this morning!

Be warned:

This recipe is not vegan, not raw, not gluten free, not healthy – but hey, it’s not from a box either.

1/2 c creamy peanut butter (I used natural – this would be me grasping at straws for something healthy in this recipe)
1/3 c butter, softened
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 c granulated sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour (I used a half cup of white flour, half cup of whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
dash kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 c chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together peanut butter and butter. Stir cocoa powder, white and brown sugar and eggs. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Add vanilla and fold in chocolate chips. Grease a 9 x 9 inch square pan (I used coconut oil) bake for 30 minutes.

Brownies in the oven – time to eat!

The chopped tempeh in this dish gives this chili a great texture. With the sweet potatoes too it’s a nice change of pace from my usual beans, beans and more beans vegetarian chili.

Ding! Brownies are done!

I snagged a couple of mini peanut butter cups during shoe game errands today knowing peanut butter brownies were on the birthday dessert menu for tonight. Oh! What do you know?! The mini prep is already out! Rinse off the tempeh and it’s as good as clean.

I asked Zak to pick up the ice cream of his choice on his way home from work, failing to mention peanut butter and chocolate were on the agenda. Mint chocolate chip and PB cup ice cream? I think it’s safe to say we all got our recommended daily allowance of peanut butter tonight.

Brownie sundae fixings assembled – let’s rock.

Warm up those pipes, we gotta sing!

Haaaaapppppyyyy Biiiiirrrrrthhhhhdaaaaay tooooo yoooooouuuuuu…

It’s pretty much a tradition here that after we sing to the birthday person, we have to sing to the girls too.

Don’t worry about singing to me – I’ll just eat.

Birthday’s rule. Watching the Biggest Loser after eating a brownie sundae does not.