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Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was pretty uneventful. A little work, a little walking, some Ashtanga yoga (why do men insist on wearing Speedos in yoga DVD’s? No thanks!) a lot of rain, and probably a little too much nut butter. 
The excitement of my weekend (besides celebrating my brother’s birthday) was 2 new finds at the grocery store:
Soy Free Earth Balance
Maybe this has been around for a while? I don’t know, but I was so excited to find this in the dairy case at Whole Foods as I love butter so much. However, all the non-dairy butters I’ve tried either contain soy or other funky ingredients, but not this one. You can read the nutritional facts and ingredient list here.
I ate some for breakfast with brown Basmati rice. So buttery and good:
Butter, I've missed you!
Then I used it to make Katie’s agar agar alfredo sauce:
It's dipping time!
I used plain rice milk to make Katie’s sauce, and it tasted a tad sweet. However, once I added a little more Earth Balance, salt, and pepper, it was perfect. I poured it all over a bowl of veggie yum:
Alfredo Veggies...Don't fear the agar agar my friends.
My second new food purchase was kabocha squash. After wanting to try Kabocha ever since reading about it on Maggie’s blog, I’ve looked all over Nashville for this squash and finally found it in an Asian market not far from my house.
Kabocha, I've waited so long!
Inspired by Maggie’s Neon Green Oats and The Dainty Pig’s Best Breakfast Ever, I made kabocha spinach oats:
Back to my green roots.
I cooked 1/2 oat bran with 1 cup water, and then stirred in 2 TBSP chia seeds, 1 cup hot water, and 1 scoop of Sun Warrior vanilla rice protein. I allowed my oats to thicken for 15 minutes and then blended them in my Vita-Mix with 1/4 roasted kabocha leftover from last night’s dinner, 1 steamed carrot, and a handful of spinach. Topped it all it off with the biggest glob of crunchy almond butter ever and ate every last bite. Might even have licked the bowl once…OK, twice. So delicious and completely satisfying!
New Foods Challenge…check! Kabocha, I’m so excited you are now in my life – it’s even sweeter than my beloved butternut. Yum!
Day 4 with no caffeine. Feeling good. Sleeping like a rock and no more headaches.
{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }
I had Kabocha for the first time last night! AMAZING. I hope you love it!
Emma
I loooovvveee butter too. So good.
I’ve never seen/heard of kabocha squash – it looks like a funky green pumpkin! I’ll have to see whether any of the supermarkets on my side of the hemisphere stock this amazing veg…
Oh i love Kabocha squashes!! They’re so delicious!
seriously! SO MANY guys in bikram wear tiny yoga speedos… disgusting
i haven’t had butter in years. it just freaks me out! that one looks fabulous though
and something that’s sweeter than butternut?? i’ve gotta try to find some kabocha
have a wonderful day <3
i love earth balance! I was always such a huge butter girl until i cut it out of my diet .. earth balance is my savior
lovely dinner, heather!
Ooh, I love me some sweet squash! I’m on the lookout!
Kabocha- nice! I’ve been intruiged by it ever since Maggie started talking about it. Glad the Earth Balance was good. I need to grab some next time I’m at WF and make some vegan baked good with it.
yeah~~~ kabocha fans club is expanding!!! I can’t live without it!
sweeter than butternut?! ya don’t say!! I’ll have to give that a go!!
All I could think of when I saw this post title was Paula Dean haha. Glad you found a soy free version! Very exciting. No caffine? You’re my hero.
Love the new finds!! and if you say that’s is sweeter then my beloved bnut squash I am going to have to go on my own hunt to find it!! woo!
buttah… hmm? mmmmm.
Speedos and ashtangis? I don’t get it, I tell ya. ewww!!
Almond butter and friendships? I get THAT.
Love you, my sweet friend! So happy for sleep and headache-free days!
Thank you for my breakfast today.
XOXO
Good job on the caffiene!
I managed to get by on only 3 cups of hot chocolate a day the last 2 days!
So what does that Kabocha taste like? Or a taste of it’s own…?
I used to buy Earth Balance when I was living in California and loved it! It really is so nice and buttery.
Um, a brown rice breakfast?! You are my dream girl. I’ve seen a recipe for that in one of my books that I’ve been wanting to try. You’ve just inspired me (or should I say thinspired?!)
4 days without caffeine..that is great. We’ve gone to half-caf now with the morning brew but I would love to cut back even more!
congrats on the exciting buttaaaaaa find. life without butter is too rough.
That is a brand new EB, and I just bought some yesterday! Can’t wait to try it.
I’m so excited that you made the alfredo!!! But I’m even more excited that you found kabocha! I had some of that stuff for brekkie this morning. Isn’t it the most amazing stuff ever?! Amazing food for one amazing Heather
So do I need to start calling you HEB instead of HEAB? Wait, HEAB’s never gonna give up the A, what am I talking about?! I should have my mouth washed out with soap for even thinking that thought in the first place.
Hope your retinas aren’t burned by yoga speedo men!
I just added Earth Balance (I usually use Smart Balance) to my grocery list, but there’s no way my grocery store has kombucha.
Have an awesome Monday HEAB.
oh kabocha.. that is a new one to me. maybe i will have to follow your lead and try it.. probably on its own though.. not in oats.. i mean i can only handle so much at one time, but you.. you are the oat combining superhero. downright admirable.
I see kabocha all the time around here as I mainly buy my veggies at Asian markets. I need to try it out – especially if its sweeter than bnut squash.
looks absolutely perfect, heather!! So glad you finally found some kabocha. It is definitely mighty tasty! I am at heart an Ashtanga girl, but let me tell you, I STILL cannot understand the speedos. Why, oh why?
Glad your coffee headaches are gone!
Paddy rice! That’s what my Filipino family calls rice with butter. Not P.C. but oh so good
I’ve never seen that EB either, so I bet it is new. I’ll have to go on a quest for it soon.
I want to try that Alfredo, but vegan ones I’ve tried before are so awful. I should buck up and give it a whirl this week.
I don’t know if someone already commented, but the soy free EB IS new!! I haven’t seen it anywhere yet though (not that its really a necessity for me).
Glad you found some kombochu, I don’t think I’ve seen them anywhere….yet
But I also haven’t been looking!!
whoa ive never seen that earth balance flavor either! i think i just might get that when my next one runs out…
i just bought kabocha to try too!! cant wait now that i know youre a fan.
Ooooh that butter is super good! Glad you found it
All of the new goodies look delish! I’ve seen those squashes before but was afraid of it 
I’ll have to pick one up next time! Glad you had a relaxing weekend! I need one of those asap 
yaay! kabocha!
i despise butter in every form EXCEPT when on rice! HEAVEN IN THE MOUTH!!!!
i could bathe in those oats.
seriously.
Woo hoo!!!! I’m so glad you liked it! I gotta try Katie’s alfredo saucce because that looks great too. Yum. I love bloggie inspired meals
I haven’t seen that butter yet but it looks great! I still haven’t conquered that fear but I might just have to now that it’s soy free =)
I need to find kabocha! Too bad you couldn’t send one in the mail to me! haha Can you imagine?!
Oh man, the first thing I chucked after giving up veganism was my pricey and icky earth balance spread. Okay, that’s a lie. I chucked my soy cheese first. Anyhow, glad you found a kind you like and also yay for the kombucha!! Quite a tasty lil’ squash!
I like bread and butta, I like toast and jam, that’s what my baby feeds me cuz I’m her lovin’ man!
I hope you’ve heard that song or you’ll think I’m a kooky. Well, I am kooky, but still!
How cool is that butter? I just looked at the ingred. and they totally don’t scare me! So glad you found a new treat.
I loooooooooove kaboocha. I discovered it this past winter and was amazed at how creamy it is. So good! And I blend it up with the skin too! My hubb thinks that’s disgusting but I try to tell him it doesn’t change the flavor. He thinks it does… oh well, more green for me
Happy Monday!!
beautiful green breakfast
Nice job kicking the caffeine so far!
I’ve never heard of that kind of squash… but then again, around here, an acorn squash is pretty wild, so it’s not that surprising. Those oats look pretty darn tasty.
Heather, I want some of that squash. I having been searching for it also with no luck
. Maybe next time we lunch out that way I will pick some up 
. Hope you are feeling better form the weekend cause I am not 
. Trying to get a doctors appointment at Vanderbilt at the moment. Something is seriously just not right!!
~Justine
Wow-that bowl looks so cool and yummy! Yay for new foods
<3 jess
xoxo
It’s always nice to have a boring weekend. That alfredo sauce sounds really good.
Yo, I’m offended. I thought I was the highlight of your weekend. And where’s my beautiful salmon breakfast! I was just bragging about it this morning!
Eeew men in speedos, no thanks! Yoga, divers…I don’t get it.
Agar sounds interesting. Actually I associate it with the gel stuff I use to make plates for bacteria, haha. I’m sure the edible kind makes a tasty sauce, though.
Those oats sound intense and nutrient packed! And green is my fave color of the moment, so of course I love them.
Yay for getting past the no caffeine effects! Boo for men in speedos bending and twisting!
I really need to order a tub of Sun Warrior I think, if they ship here. I bought a different brand (Rainbow Light?) last week…rice based vanilla whey and it smells and tastes sickeningly bad. $20 down the drain, there’s no way to mask it.
ok it took me a long time to accept the green smoothies were good.. I still haven’t joined the green oats the movement.. haha that’s funny for a couple reasons
Kabocha is my favorite squash– you don’t even have to peel it. (I know that this is true for butternut as well, but butternut skin gives me the willies.)
Try it roasted with crushed cumin seeds and bay leaves. You will not regret it. Also, Thai coconut pumpkin curry. There is no more that needs to be said.
Felicicades sin caffeine!
Eeeeew – thanks for the warning! Note to self: check out back of DVD for pics and make sure there are NO speedo-wearin’ men featured.
I LOVE squash! I’ve never heard of kabocha squash before. What a fun name. I’ll keep an eye out…our city will probably start getting it in a couple years.
i need to try that squash
looks awesome, as does that alfredo!
You know, I really thought that squash was a watermelon. I was completely intrigued at how blended watermelon oat bran would be. But alas…It was almost a let down.
Oh, and…there’s nothing better than rice and butter! Total comfort food.
The squash looks and sounds so interesting! Four days without caffeine? I admire you!
Those oats look really interesting! I’ve never seen kabocha in the shops, must look out next time I’m at the farmers’ market shop in town!
Those oats are stunning, simply put! And are you trying to spell something with those onions? Sneaky, sneaky!
-Erin
PS: Yoga Speedos are gross!!
EB soy free IS NEW and you are so lucky to have access to it! I still haven’t seen it stocked on my grocery stores, but you can bet that once my regular EB is gone, I will be purchasing the soy free kind!
I will have to keep my eye out for that kind of squash here! Looks good =)
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