That’s what my oven sounded like all night last night!  I’ve had so many kitchen adventures in the past 12 hours, and they’re all starting to pile up on me. Here’s a long and time-consuming quick recap.

I baked my BSI: Strawberries entry (recipe to come soon) yesterday afternoon and had to taste-test half of one right out of the oven:

Mmmm, I have so many ideas for how to incorporate these into my meals/desserts! I also had plenty of the batter while mixing. The batter may have even tasted better than the finished product 🙂

Next, I tried my first ever RiceWorks brown rice chip in Sea Salt flavor while I packed tomorrow’s lunch — it was tasty enough, but I probably wouldn’t ever spend money on a bag of these (I got the bag for free with a coupon).

Dinner last night was all courtesy of my trusty oven. I slathered half a block’s worth of tofu slices with Country Bob’s all-purpose sauce and baked until crispy. I had half of the tofu I cooked with half of a grilled portalbello mushroom cap that roommate Tara asked me to take care of for her before it went bad (the other half of each will make an appearance in my lunch later today … I think), quartered and roasted brussels sprouts, a few salvageable chunks of Brigitte’s romaine from the crisper, and a sprinkle of my homemade parmesan

Blackened edges are my favorite!

Dessert was a compilation of treats. I toasted the end slice of Brigitte’s gram’s zucchini bread and topped it with 2 tbsp chocolate mousse and 2 chopped strawberries.

On the side I had the other half of my BSI: Strawberries creation.

How rich does this look?? (And it tasted even richer!)

Oh, and remember when I conceded defeat to my cuisinart mini-prep plus when all it gave me was nut dust (delicious nut dust, to be fair) instead of the butter I was after?? Reading Heather’s post last night got me inspired to try again. I roasted up a load of cashews and almonds and threw them back into the processor — this time for nearly 10 minutes (I had to hold the button down the whole time because that’s how fancy my kitchen appliances are), as per Heather’s instructions — and it actually worked!! Look at the creamy nut butteryness:

Thank you, Heather, for helping me emerge victorious from the food processor battle. Never again will I pay too much money for nut butter that cannot possibly compare to homemade.

I had to try some right away on top of a date. I swear there’s a date hiding somewhere under there. (And yes, you still see some nut dust — it’s from the side of the processor bowl that I obviously scraped clean before washing because crumbs are not allowed to go down the drain.)

And I probably also had a small spoonful of vanilla ice cream with a chopped Hershey’s Kiss right before I went to bed …

Today’s biggest news is that, oh my goodness, I have giveaways coming out of my ears! A rundown:

1. Click here if you like donuts because Food Snob has two dozen of them!
2. And click here if you’re hangry because you’re out of juice and want to be able to make your own.
3. Click here if you’re feeling short on southern charm (or if you just really like New Orleans cuisine).
4. Click here if you’re into granola customization (and who isn’t?).
5. Click here if you love seasonal produce, especially of the sort that means spring is here!!
6. And finally, click here if you are not opposed to birthdays and chocolate

Phewwwww, I’m ready to go back to bed after explaining all of that! But, alas, it is time to go to work :-). I’ll be back later with breakfast, a workout, and potentially some surprise food encounters.

How have your kitchen appliances come through for YOU?