I have an idea. How about you tell me it’s not really almost bedtime on Sunday night???!! How did this happen?!
Saturday involved a prescription for Peep recovery which went something like this:
(The Peeps moved into freezer bag 1A with the current lease-holder, half a package of Newman’s Os.)
Some of you suggested that I put one of these innocent marshmallow birdies/duckies into a microwave for 5 seconds to see what becomes of it. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the Peeps), I am microwaveless!! Anyone have pictures to share of what happens to the little creatures?
Peep recovery continued with hot yoga followed by this:
CSA delivery #2! My half of the share (pictured) included pea shoots, spinach, mesclun, three eggs (the other three are from last week), asparagus, cilantro, garlic scapes, and snap peas.
Next on the Peep recovery agenda was a 1 p.m. breakfast:
This bowl involved an immersion-blended mix of cooked kale from Nydia’s Edible Arrangement, whole wheat couscous from the health event, and overripe banana slices from my [old] roommate Tara; a sprinkling of instant oats and goji berries for chew; cinnamon and nutmeg, and this new find:
I heard about this PB2 competitor last week and had to get my hands on some samples when I found out that FitNutz had a chunky mix! Peanut pieces aside, however, I much prefer the taste of PB2. The FitNutz butter had some extra sweetness in it that didn’t thrill me. (I also mixed the packet with a tbsp of plain yogurt instead of 2 tsp water.) It was ok, and I know I will enjoy my sample packets, but I’m probably not going to be buying it anytime soon.
The FitNutz experiment represented a perfect segue from Peep recovery to kitchen adventures. I decided to take on the challenge of homemade balls once again. Although the goop-turned-crepe last week actually worked out quite well, my goal this weekend was to achieve ball perfection. I learn well from my mistakes, so I opted to skip a pre-soak and just throw all the balls into a pot of boiling water.
As you can see, they started out a light beige color and turned the desired dark brown as they cooked.
I could tell the tapioca was done when the balls became dark brown all the way through (any beige meant that the texture would still be chalky instead of chewy inside). Because these were jumbo balls (as opposed to the typical tapioca with teeny balls), they took a long time to cook — at least an hour and maybe two.
I was overjoyed with the finished product: ball perfection!
I had some homemade bubble tea right then and rinsed the rest of the balls with cold water, drained them, and put them in the fridge for storage and easy access.
My final kitchen project of the weekend was none other than coconut-banana ice cream. I had a few chunks of fresh coconut left in my freezer from when Jessica gave them to me at work weeks ago. I chopped the coconut into small pieces and mixed it with some more of Tara’s abandoned banana chunks, a chopped date, and plain yogurt.
One intense immersion-blending session later, I had this:
Which, after 15 minutes-stir-15 minutes-stir in the freezer, became this:
I garnished the “ice cream” with a fresh CSA strawberry, an OhNuts! whole strawberry in dark chocolate, and a sprig of homegrown basil.
Does your freezer have any unlikely bag-mates?
Also, Melissa is giving away a ridiculously loaded prize package over at For the Love of Health. I highly suggest that you go enter her contest as me ASAP.
Tales of Expansion: Baby Butternut Edition 
Fitnutz?? Is it good?? What?? POWDER?? I just don’t get it. i mean, the picture looks amazing, and “real”, I never would have guessed it started out as a powder! I am a peanut butter finatic, would I like this? Is it cheaper? What’s the benefit?
Sorry I’m asking a million questions but I’ve never heard of such a product!! I’m speechless…well now I am.
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I also do not know how it’s almost bed time on Sunday! I’m guessing you woke up late today, like me?
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OMG homemade bubble tea?? this may need to be a snack and soon!
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Cheers! Cheers! And more clapping sounds… I’m happy you were able to perfected the tapioca balls. I was in the Asian market recently and came across the colored ones and recalled how difficult they were to cook.
So, what type of tea do you use for your bubble teas?
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Thanks for the heads up on Fitnutz! I have PB2 and was kind of bummed when I heard of fitnutz and then wasn’t sure if I bought the best powdered pb. I definitely like my peanut butter less sweet though so I think I made the right choice!
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Cool project of homemade bubble tea. My husband loves that stuff, although he orders it without tea. I don’t really care about it one way or another.
I got pea shoots this weekend too! I can’t wait to use them. I’ll probably just stir fry them.
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Thanks for the fitznutz review. I was considering buying some a while back, but I’m glad I didn’t. Those CSA goods look awesome! I really wish there was a CSA near us.
That coconut icecream looks incredible! And I love the idea of homemade bubble tea. I’ve had it a few times, and it’s yummy!
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You are………wait for it………a ball master! Those look seriously professional.
http://eatingchalk.wordpress.com
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Homemade bubble tea?! I need to try that – I haven’t had bbt in ages & I miss the yummy tapioca balls in my normal smoothies.
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I love bubble tea! I need to buy my own tapioca pearls!
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SO COOL that you made homemade tapioca/boba!
Oh, and your CSA delivery is awesome. When we did it last summer, we mainly just got potatoes, apples, and very little variety with veggies. Looks like you got some cool stuff!
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I want that bubble tea! you made it perfectly this time! 😀
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I always have a “dessert” bag in my freezer. The current stack includes VeggieGirl Fig and Almond Blondies and Homemade Gluten Free, Vegan Fig Newtons. YUM-TASTIC!
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Great ice cream creation!
Everything hasits own home in my freezer. I’m one of these people that doesn’t like my food to “touch” unless I deem it oK to! My family jokes that I need one of those divided plates for my meals, but I think they’re really serious! 🙂
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That is quite the exciting weekend you had! It was fun to see pics of the VJD event – I had kinda hoped to stop by (being that it’s right by my office) but the weather caused me to puss out. But that food film festival is A-MAZ-ING. So jealous.
I will be interested to hear what you think of the SoyJoy bars – I had one and did NOT love.
Thank you for the ball tutorial – I now know exactly what to do with my balls. 🙂
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woo hooo! I’m so glad you tried the ball experiment. Now I know what to do 🙂
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the CSA share looks delicious! love all the eats/experiments!
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