Chocolate-Covered Katie

I was so excited that everyone liked yesterday’s Pancake Roll-Ups idea.

And I was even more excited to hear some of the delicious-sounding fillings you all were inventing.  From Cinnamon Rolls to Fudge Baby-filled cakes, to Savory Hummus, all of your ideas are seriously awesomelicious pancake-licious!

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It was a dreary Monday here in Texas.  Seems like we’ve had a lot of rain this winter.  I think rain is my least favorite weather condition (well, cold rain, anyways).

Ugly weather calls for comforting food; a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do:

Make more Pancake Roll Ups!

Yesterday’s roll ups had fresh strawberries and homemade Vegan Whipped Cream

Tasted like Strawberry Shortcake!

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But I didn’t stop with Roll Ups; no sir:

On another day, I made Strawberry Shortcake Pizza!  (Like this Carrot Cake Pizza)

Below, waiting to be sliced:

A whole dessert pizza, just for me!!!

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And then, one day there was:

Strawberries and Whipped Cream in a Bowl (or in this case, in a pancake pocket sandwich!)

 

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While eating these pancakes (24-Carrot Cake Pancakes again), I think back to those cutey-pie dolls I played with as a kid.

My favorite was Blueberry Muffin.  (Can you imagine going through life with such a name?)

Yes, like a true child of the 80s, I also played with Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Dolls and My Little Ponies.

What about you?  What were your favorite toys as a kid?

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Click to enter the NuNaturals Stevia Giveaway.

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Waffles are so last year.

French Toast?  Who’s that?

It’s time to make room for the new kid in town breakfast:

Pancake Roll Ups!

Above, Carrot Cake Pancake Roll Ups, filled with raisins and (vegan)Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting, covered with carrots and more raisins and Cream Cheese Frosting (a.k.a. cheesecake mousse)

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Step-by-Step to make Pancake Roll Ups:

Step One:

Cook up your pancakes, a bit thinner than usual. (In the photos, I used 24-Carrot Cake Pancakes.)

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Step Two:

Top each pancake with lots of yum-licious ingredients

 

(Such as raisins and Cheesecake Mousse… or even Whipped Cream in a Bowl)

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Step Three:

Roll up the pancakes

Side note: I *heart* the cute strawberry plate from Pier One.

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Step Four:

Put more deliciousness on top!

Step Five:

Devour your Pancake Roll Ups before other members in your house see them and beat you to it!

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Question of the Day:

What fillings would go in your perfect Pancake Roll Ups?

Apparently, February is National Pancake Month, so you have no excuse not to make your dream Pancake Roll Ups a reality!

Get to your kitchens!  

One I want to try soon: Coconut butter and chocolate chips stuffed into Brownie Batter Pancake Roll Ups = Mounds Bars for breakfast!!

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In the past, some pretty cool-cat guests have shown up at my Super Bowl parties. 

Like this sugar-cookie guy…

…and all his colorful animal cookie friends.

.But this year I have no idea where I’ll end up, because my friends seem to equate “planning ahead” with “the devil.” 

*Sigh* they’re my friends, and I love ‘em.  But sometimes they drive me crazy!

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What about you? 

Are you a planner?  Or do you like to live spontaneously? 

I know I promised cupcakes, but today I’m in a rush.  This week, though, I have some really exciting posts planned.  (They’re exciting to me, anyways.  Hopefully you’ll like them too!!)  Cupcakes, a raw dessert, and a really fun new breakfast recipe are all on the menu.

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Sneak Preview of tomorrow’s post:

Now what could this possibly be???

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Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  Let’s hope the commercials this year are better than last year’s!

Final note: NuNaturals Stevia Giveaway here.

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On to Part Four of Stevia-Sugar Week:

Time for a giveaway!

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Yesterday, I highlighted some of my favorite recipes with stevia.

But today, YOU get a chance (or, rather, four chances) to win some stevia so that you can make your own sweet recipes .

FOUR lucky winners (two bloggers and two readers) will each receive a 50-count box of NuNaturals stevia packets AND (the best part) a bottle of their amazing vanilla alcohol-free stevia drops!

(Not everything you see here… but all the google-image photos I could find were too small/too blurry/belonging to other bloggers.)

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To see how to enter the giveaway, click here.

Tomorrow: Cupcakes!!

Happy Saturday!

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In yesterday’s post, I wrote my love letter to sugar.

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But I’ve become a fan of stevia too.   

I don’t use much, but just a little now and then can really jazz up a dish. 

And it doesn’t seem to give me that awful crash-and-burn feeling I get from too much sugar.

(Above, using a bit of stevia makes for one amazing bowl of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Oatmeal )

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Other ways to enjoy stevia (in powdered form):

Cook up a dessert-for-breakfast feast fit for a chocolate-covered queen: Brownie Batter Pancakes

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Or…

Make a warm batch of cinnamon-y sweet Snickerdoodle cookies Snickerdoodle Oatmeal 

 

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And it works well in any of the following, too:

 

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From the top:

• S’more Muffins

 

• Oatmeal Cookie Crepe Cakes

 

• Better-n-Kozyshack Oatmeal Pudding

Unlike some of the other brands on the market, NuNaturals stevia powder isn’t cut down with erythritol.  (Truvia and PureVia contain more erythritol than actual stevia.)  Therefore, you end up needing quite a bit less powder to achieve the same amount of sweetness.  Also–and judging by the comments in my previous two posts, others seem to agree with me–I don’t think NuNaturals stevia  has a strange aftertaste. 

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Sometimes getting free samples from a company can be a very bad thing. 

My wallet would be much happier if I’d never been introduced to the likes of Artisana butters or Vivapura cacao nibs or Epic Roots Mache. 

And now Ron, of Nunaturals, introduced me to another fun find I never would’ve picked up on my own: their alcohol-free vanilla stevia drops.

Seriously, I never would have bought these because: They aren’t sold near me, they’re super-expensive, I wouldn’t have thought to buy them, and—oh yeah—did I mention they’re super-expensive?  But the price is deceptive, because with these drops, a little goes a looooooong way.  And the taste is divine; I go crazy for anything vanilla-flavored. .

These little drops work wonders in recipes such as… Five-Minute Chocolate Mousse 

 

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Or:

……Whipped Cream in a Bowl 

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……..Chocolate Mudslide Oatmeal 

..       Pumpkin Pie Soup/Salad Dressing

 

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And, for a bitter-sweet taste, add a few drops to otherwise-unsweetened Choco-licious Chocolate Pudding 

Admittedly I did not try all of the products that they sent.  I didn’t use the baking blend, the no-carbs blend, nor the erythritol.  And I wasn’t fond of the cacao bean extract.  But the NuNaturals stevia powder is, in my opinion, one of the best out there.  And as for those vanilla drops… well, if you can find them, I very much recommend buying a bottle. 

Yup, ladies and gentlemen, you heard this chocolate-covered girl correctly: Buy the vanilla!

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Oh, and many of you have been asking about the Vita-Mix giveaway: 

Yes, it is over.  Read the wrap-up post here.

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You’ve seen Mary Poppins, right?  It’s such an adorable movie! 

After I wrote this title, I realized that I haven’t seen it in years .  It’s been entirely too long since I watched Dick Van Dyke dancing on rooftops, Julie Andrews singing about funny words, children jumping into chalk drawings (I wanted the ability to do that!)… and oh my goodness how cute is the scene where they’re all floating on the ceiling?!

Thanks so much for all your awesome opinions/comments in yesterday’s Stevia Debate post. 

One of the things I love most about this blogworld is that we can hold different opinions and still have a great discussion. 

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Now, on to Part Two of the four-part series, Stevia vs. Sugar. 

In my normal, everyday diet, I barely eat any added sugars at all. 

(I keep repeating this so that no one will get the wrong idea and think that–with these posts–I’m advocatng anyone sit around eating mountains of sugar all day.)    

And if I do get a sugar craving, it’s usually for something natural, like fruit or fudge babies (I had to mention them!).

 

Such as the babies above:  Hot Chocolate Sandwich babies.

If they can’t stop a sugar craving, you’re doomed!

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But sometimes, a girl’s gotta have her sweets.  And as long as there’s no medical reason to stay away, I believe that a little real sugar in one’s diet is perfectly fine and healthy

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Here are some of my favorite sugar-containing foods:

Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter (especially good for making Chocolate Banana Butter)

 

Freshman year of college, when I lived in Philadelphia, there was an amazing bakery, filled with vegan cakes (such as the cookie dough cake below).  I usually went with cheesecake or coconut cake.  It was always hard to choose!  Gosh, I miss that bakery. 

 

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Speaking of coconut…

This Coconut ice cream (sweetened with agave) melts my chocolate heart

   

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As does Soyatoo (especially when stirred into Choco-licious Chocolate Pudding)

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Then there’s my all-time favorite vegan chocolate.

 

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And of course, the aforementioned vegan cheesecake

 

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I laughed so much when people started telling me they thought the white powder to which I was referring was Cocaine. 

Seriously, how did that thought never cross my mind when I referenced white powder?!

But speaking of Crack…

 

Agave-sweetened Crack-in-a-wrapper

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Question of the Day:

What are some of your favorite foods with real sugar?

(And you can still answer yesterday’s question of the day too.)

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Next up: Recipes in which I use stevia, along with a stevia review.

Still to come: Stevia Giveaway

***Last-minute addition: I just wanted to highlight Ruby Red’s comment in yesterday’s post, because it brought up an interesting point about how so-called “calorie-free” artificial sweeteners might actually not be calorie-free (i.e. maybe you should think twice if your sole reason for using them is to save calories).  Just one more reason to stick with the real stuff (in moderation) and train your body to simply crave less sugar in the first place, instead of trying to trick it with fakes.  The body’s a smart machine, not so easily fooled . 

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