Winners of the NuNaturals Stevia Giveaway:
Emily and Ozlen, please email me with your addresses and I’ll forward your info to the kind folks at NuNaturals (who by the way are very excited for their Rose Bowl bound Oregon Ducks!!!)
Let’s see, where were we…oh yes, the gums.
Smoothie Girl Deb changed my life forever when she sent me xanthan and guar gums this past summer. Thanks again Deb! And now, I would like to change your life by sending some to you. In honor of HEAB’s 1st Birthday, Bob’s Red Mill has agreed to send a bag of each to one lucky HEABer. Thanks Bob!
What are the gums? They are all natural thickeners, and trust me, once you go gums, you’ll never go back.
Rather than add more oil to your next homemade salad dressing, try adding a 1/4 tsp of guar gum to thicken the mix. Better yet, just skip your dressing recipe altogether and make this one instead. Then shoot me an email expressing your love for me. 
Mmm, Lemisoni dressing with roasted tempeh, avocado, and walnuts on a bed of spinach. My idea of a perfect salad! Then for dessert, make this…
Protein ice-cream topped with kabocha custard. I make the ice-cream in my Vita-Mix, and the gums are what make it thick. No ice-cream maker required. I also used xanthan gum in my custard. Again, LOVE THE GUMS and use them everyday.
I am no gum expert. If you have questions, please read Smoothie Girl Deb’s post on why she uses xanthan and guar gums. Deb is my gums guru. Allie over at Pimp My Protein Shake is also a fan of the gums. Please check out these ladies’ awesome blogs for some great smoothie ideas and recipes. You guys think I make some crazy things in my Vita-Mix? Well, I’ve got nothing on these girls. Trust me, nothing!
To win your own bags of xanthan and guar gums please leave a comment below telling me your favorite way to pimp your shake.
P.S. CD and I will be in Memphis through tomorrow night, and I’ll have limited computer access. So, if you have any questions, you may not hear from me until Sunday. Have a good weekend my friends!
Dear Katie of Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Be Vegan, I have a kabocha squash with your name on it. Please email me your address and it’s on its way. Sincerely, Heather
As most of you know, I am not a fan of sugar. For any new readers, you can read about it here and here. My body simply does not process sugar, even the natural stuff. As soon as I eat it, it goes straight to my muffin top belly. When I lost weight, I practically lived on diet sodas, and I used to put 4 Splendas in my Venti iced coffee from Starbucks. FOUR. Blech, the thought of that now makes me sick. Anyway, over the last few years, I’ve cut out most artificial sweeteners from my life…most anyway. I still have a problem with this one, and then I went and bought this yummy concoction a few weeks ago. I won’t lie…it’s really good, especially in protein ice-cream. 
Anyway, I discovered stevia a few years ago and tried to love it since it’s an all natural zero calorie sweetener. However, most brands I tried had a bit of a funky aftertaste. After a while, I managed to acquire a taste for stevia and started using it in my coffee instead of Splenda, but I couldn’t handle it in much else. Over the years, various companies have managed to improve the taste, and so when NuNaturals offered to send me some samples of their stevia, I was more than happy to try them. Honestly, I think it’s the best tasting out there. I’m still a fan of the NOW brand liquid drops in my coffee, but NuNaturals makes my favorite powdered stevia. The company has been super generous with bloggers, and I’ve already done one giveaway of their products. However, when I contacted them about doing a 2nd giveaway in honor of HEAB’s birthday, they were more than happy to oblige. So, two random commenters on this post will each receive 1 box of powdered stevia packets along with some liquid vanilla stevia. Thanks NuNaturals!
What can you do with stevia you ask? Well, let me tell you…
You can make the following:
I could go on and on, but instead, I’ll leave you with my latest stevia creation.
I made a batch of my Almond Butter Banana Nut Muffins using NuNaturals NuStevia Sweetener Baking Blend. Mmm….Happy Birthday HEAB!
Well then, today is your lucky day.
But first, guess who won a jar of homemade chipotle almond butter?????
I’m so excited to announce today’s random winner because I happen to love this girl, and I know she loves spicy foods. Congrats to Fitnessista. Expect some almond butter in your mailbox soon my friend!
Onto today’s blogiversary giveaway…
Did you all know that I really love this crazy little winter squash called kabocha?
No? Well, I do. Love it sooooo much. It’s great roasted plain…
You can put it in pancakes….
You can make kabocha butter…
Yesterday, I made a kabocha custard. Click here for the recipe.
You can play with Mr. Kabocha Head…
You can even carve your kabocha. After all, kabocha means pumpkin in Japapnese…
Such a versatile little veggie, no? Want to know what my favorite thing to do with a kabocha squash is?
Duh…slow roasted kabocha pureed with Jay Robb rice protein powder, cinnamon, and maca powder exploding from a waning tahini jar. THE BEST!
One commenter from today’s post will get their very own kabocha squash sent from me to you. Sorry to all my international readers, but U.S. residents only please. Blame it on those crazy customs folks.
I leave you with our mantle. I finally got the Christmas decorations up, and yes, we have stockings for our dogs…we’re totally those people.
Later, I came home to CD’s Random Comment of the Day…
Ha ha, very funny CD.
Don’t forget to click here for a chance to win Katie’s Artisana coconut butter giveaway and here to win Erica’s yoga mat giveaway.
Bye-bye.
First off, the winner of the EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Scale is Run To The Finish. Congrats! Please email me with your address.
Since I made Mole Chocolate Pancakes on Saturday, I decided to skip the pancakes on Sunday for something a bit more savory. I knew I wanted eggs. So, I threw some leftover chopped veggies in a skillet with some shrimp and spices. I then added my eggs and decided on an omelet.
Mmm, an omelet topped with chipotle almond butter. That would be perfect…but then, I had a revelation of sorts. Instead of an omelet, I made a veggie shrimp scramble, and after a quick game of musical jars, behold the best savory breakfast ever….
Scrambled eggs with veggies and shrimp in the chipotle almond butter jar!!! This was quite delicious, and I decided that I needed to share the chipotle love with my HEABers. Thankfully, reader Carolyn was kind enough to send me her secret recipe so that I can now make my own chipotle almond butter. Who wants some? Leave a comment below, and I’ll pick one random winner to receive a jar made by me.
Happy December!
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