Shot through the Heart.....

With a magic bullet! Today was the slowest of the slow... and I say that with all assurance. Normally you hear people gripe about 'sitting on their butts all day' and being unproductive. Well, i kid you not when I say i acttually went as far as to take some away from society. Dont believe me? The day started with a quick drive down to the beah before the sun came up so i could have front row seats to God hitting the reset button. It-was-awesome.... like, worthy of awe. Then i walked along the beach and stood in the sand while making fists with my toes-sies. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Die Hard for the best idea EVER! Honestly... i dont know why people do yoga or anything like that when they can just make fists with the toes! My only wish is that i could replace the carpet in my room with sand so i could start everyday like this. Then i got in the car, bought a loaf of bread and went home. All the while... i didnt pay for parking! Thats right society, i stole fifty cents from you guys and I am totally psyched about it. Now watch, the mayor is reading this right as we speak and will soon be coming for me. Therefore, since this will be my lost post I will leave you with the magical discovery of the day.....

Banana Butter!!!

How could this be? Well, the recent purchase of the magic bullet gave us the tool, and the nine hours of boredom provided the fuel to the flame. The recipe, however, cannot have the credit taken by moi... no no no. The true genius behind this creation is the lovely Katie and i must say im kinda upset with myself that i didnt come up with it myself. Think about it!!! Whats the best sandwich in the world? AFTER pineapple and ham..... right, PB and Naner! Howev-sies, i added my thirty pieces of flare by using Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter. Granted, im sure im not the only one that does this... but i wanted to at least appear creative today.



Seriously... cut me some CUH-razy slack with this. Why are the uses? spread it on toast, muffins, put it on oatmeal and cereal in the morning, dip some fruit in it, make ants on a cinnamon raisin swirl log, style your hair with it, make a dessert pasta. PUT IT ON PANCAKES! Why did i not think about that before i cooked this morning?!?! Now im upset at myself, great. Who said blogging it thereputic again?

In the end... this recipe is easy, tasty, healthy and cheap. so go out and make some.... riiiiiiiight NOW! Tune in next time for a pan-creation that will not only kick cancer in the face.... but ensures a spring to be put into your step. Until then, this is PanClayke reminding you that you give love... a bad name!

Winner Winner, Pancakes for Dinner!

First things first... the winner of the Brownie Zbars has been chosen, and the winner is... Livin it! Just Email me the address to send these bad boys too and I will ship them out faster than you can say Meatball. Speaking of meatballs....

Many of you may remember the film review that took place one post ago. Well, remember how i said it was making me hungry..... im a sucker for craving things. what can i say? Thus i give you..

Spa-pancake and Meatballs!

It almost looks too good to be true... doesn't it. Either that or your looking for the bucket because:" There is no WAY this can taste good". Well, you would be wrong friend. These bad boys are Savory beyond all reason (and are designed for dinner rather than a breakfast). Although, i can think of no better cure for a morning hangover than a good plate of these bellas. Also, those of you non-believers, let me stifle you gags with a question... Have you ever re-heated some pizza in order to break your fast? I.rest.my.case.

My apologies for not posting this weekend (on the standard american pancake day) but things got a bit more hectic than i would have liked toward the evening. The kitchen was being overtaken by parent 'chicken cookery' so the cooking of things was much easier said than done. Why you ask? Well... thats the secret to these pancakes. You see, there was one thing i was not going to give up on and that was the meatballs creating a 'hill effect' in the billow-y cake plain. The question is: "How do you heat the whole top when there are two kick stands holding up the cake? Then i remembered: baked ziti, mac and cheese, pizza and spaghetti pie. These dishes get the tops cooked because they're baked! So... the key is to prep the broiler while you are mixing (but not over-mixing) the batter and just throwing the cakes in the oven to crisp the top at the time you would normally flip them. Keep them there for no longer than two minutes and then take them out... the next one should be ready for you to pop in there. Now granted, there are a couple more movements involved... but the extra "aerobics" will make us all feel better since we care technically having comfort food from two different continents for dinner. However, these are not only vegan... but theyre not bad for you at all (whole wheat flour, brewers yeast and a bit of EVOO <--- thanks rach).

Not only was the kitchen occupied, but i found out last night that i had to go into work this morning which means jetting out for the radio station at 4 in the AM. The sun isn't even ready to greet me with his two scoops of rasins and im driving around the city of Miami. Thank goodness i LOVE where i get to go every morning.

Also, quick review.... i tried the newest Clif Bar at work today. Let me be the first to say that these will NEVER be given away... they are too packed full of awesome and pecan pralines and MAPLE SYRUP! This clif was totally a coincidence (maple syrup and all) but put me in an awesome mood and had be almost skipping around the station this morning. Im going to give this bar 9/10 bottles of syrup.

Well fellow cake-amore, I am off to get sexier at the gym for a bit (before the crowd shows up). As usual, shoot me a message if you would like to make these yourselves and stay tuned for more shennanigans (*pistol-whip <-- anyone who knows this reference is awesome!). Unitl next time this is PanClayke reminding you that this is the cake... such a beau-tiful cake.... and they call it Bella Notte.

Cloudy... with a chance of Pancake!

Before we get down to the nitty gritty, there are indeed a couple of announcements. The first is that (oh man i feel awesome!) i am featured by my girl Jenny:Mistress of Peanut Butter. I think its fair to say that i will ALWAYS be a pancake man when it comes to breakfast food. But, oatmeal is still awesome on occasion and that morning something was speaking to me. Also, there is still one day left in the GIVEAWAY! Lastly, there has been a severe thorn in the side of this cake lover recently and i am happy to say that a plan is being concocted for a revenge that is sweeter than pumpkin!Stay tuned for the sweet pancake and the sweet revenge. And now....

MOVIE REVIEW

Now, i'm the first to admit when something seems a little juvenille (even for me). This film started out as no exception, i remember reading the book and that memory alone was jogging some memories for me. Then, when I got to the theater I noticed there was a showing 30 minutes after the one I planned to see that was not only in the imax screen but also in 3-D!!!! I figured if the novelty of the third dimension could save a movie like 'The Final Destination", then it would do wonders for a movie that was already based on whimsy.

Boy... was i right! The 3D was AWESOME. There is something about a giant ball of meat flying at you in that neglected dimension that brings you back to sitting on the magic carpet reading your favorite book while trading a fruit roll-up to the paste eating kid because he is having graham crackers today (can you tell writing this review is making yours truly a bit hungry?)

Hunger aside, the plot is pretty solid and delivers a strong "If you can dream it you can do it" message. There are times where it even gets a little deep. Such moments include the endearing awkwardness of Flint Lockwood around his female love intrest, and continue on to a distant father struggling to give advice to his son... when it is clear the mother did all the talking in this department. However, this proposed a problem for the father (voiced by the wonderful James Caan) since, sadly, the maternal side of the partnership has moved on to the next life. Thus... the struggle of Father and son is surpassed only by the struggle of our hero (voiced by Bill Heder) to not let the fame of food-weather manipulation go t his head while struggling to 'meat' the towns requests. Bascially, Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs may not be a "Homeward Bound Tear Jerker" btu does have its moments when you wish you could reach through the screen and help our hero overcome his life-decisions. All in all, Couldy with a chance of Meatballs gets 7/10 meatballs.

Not only is the plot of the movie endearing/entertaining... but the voiceovers are uh-maiz-ing! Picture this: Bill Heder, James Caan, Anna Farris (House Bunny, Scary Movie), Mr. T, Andy Sandberg (Hot Rod), Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep) and Neil Patrick Harris as 'Steve: the Lab-Monkey!' In the words of gershwin... 'Who could ask for anything more'

Well friends, the tummy is rumbling which is my signal that it is time to prep a snack and sit down in front of some 'Rob and Big' (<-- guilty pleasure). Tune in tomorrow for the winner of the giveaway and a newly inspired pancake! Until then this is PanClayke reminding you; "If you can dream it... you can do it!"

Pie, or cake?

Okay, so I have been following that show "Man vs. Food" prety carefully since it first came out. The fact that this normal guy who has supposedly held 'every job in the kitchen' is getting paid to travel to these awesome places throughout the U.S. eating all this wonderful food and getting new T-Shirts along the way makes me both laugh and cringe at the same time. Laugh because.... well, a man going into a self induced food coma is funny. And cringe because I would be kicking those challenges in the face while being just as entertaining (if not more... i do sing as well you know). I think its safe to say the Adam Richman is my definition of an 'American Hero', someone who uses a niche (no matter how obscure) and uses it to educate as well as entertain...... sacrificing his body one dish at a time.

This led me to think, how could this humble cake-head solidify his status of heroism in such a way. Well, i like food.... i love Florida....and (though it may not look it) i can put away a whole lotta foodening. The answer? Pick up a fork and be your own hero!

This motivated me to jump on the interwebs and search out the challenges of Florida that i was yet to be familiar with. Two have popped up that are pretty local: one being seemingly daunting and the other being perrrrrrrfect for our purposed on this day.

Daunting- "Pizza Rustica"= a 24'' x 16'' pizza (that can be made vegan!) which takes four people to complete! I have already enlisted assistance from the pizza lovers/food movers in my circle and they are so down.

Perrrrrfect-"Shelby's Diner"= a 24'' pancake known as the 'terminator' covered with eggs, homefries, toast and bacon. A giant pancake! I would have to be insane not to do this.... but it is a solo challenge. Could one do it on their own? Also, this dish cannot be vegan friendly, which leads me to some serious decisions about the choice to make the switch (more to come on that later) However, if i need to... im going to whip out a giant sheet pan and make my own pancake "Uncle Buck" style.... cause im totally jonesing for a giant pancake right about now (I should snack before work tomorrow).

Well, the question then is: 'Cake or Pie', sweet or savory.... the eternal struggle. I pose this question to you and await the answer.

(*note; the picture at the top of the post is a 24'' pizza pie. Just to be used as a comparison. Compare it to something like........... a human baby. Scary, no?)

Pei-Wei's Playhouse!!!

Mekkah-lekah-hai Mekka-heiny-heiny-hoooo!
Those of you familiar with a vegan diet (no animal products) know how hard it is to eat out with friends. For those of you that dont... peruse the grocer and think of what does NOT have eggs of milk in it. Even products such as these contain eggs and milk = grocery store fail! However... there are some restaurants, even in the ocean of corporate chains, that provide a shining light in a sea of omnivores.... Can you smell it? Yep. Its time for a

(*Fanfare*)Restaurant Review!!!(*Fanfare*)

After a romp around the world of Ikea the yours truly and a bestie (aka 'Evie) decided to pass the Panera, Cruise past Chipotle and jump past Jamba Juice. Instead... we made a Pilgramage to Pei Wei!

Noodles and Tofu and Brown Rice, oh my! Im telling you, i have not been to a Pei Wei in a number of years... and it was like seeing an old friend at a High School reunion. If that friend was covered in a 'swicy' (sweet/spicy) sauce. But, you ave to remember, before the race you have to do a quick stretch.

<--- Winner, Winner, Steamed Edamame! The salt was not used however as it was, or lack of a better word, TOO salty. I mean, this stuff is like the sea salt you find at Gordon Ramsay restaurants... and we got it at Pei Wei! Also, these portions are HOOOOOGE! There were two of us going after this appiteizer and we couldn't finish it to save our lives. So, imagine the shock and awe that occured when it was time for the Main Event! Spicy Korean Tofu and Vegtetables, with brown rice on back-up vocals! And the crowd goes wild! Whats sad is, aside from like half the rice, i PLOWED through this plate of vegan-friendly love that is about the size of 2 of my heads. I didn't think that was a big deal till i was remembering that scene in Jerry Maguire where Tom was telling that nerdy kid in the backseat how the human head weighs eight pounds... and i had TWO! I thought there was no way he could know for sure... then i remembered he was some sort of a scientist and i shut my mouth.


Couple all this fun with a wide assortment of drinks of tap (FREE REFILS, WHAT!!??!) and a waitstaff thats attentive to the point of annoyance (i don't like being 'sideled') and Pei Wei Asian Diner scored an easy 8/10 chopsticks.

"Where is your favorite 'go to' place to eat when you can't think of anything else?"

Well, the sheets are calling as i must be up before the sun. Tune in next time for the revelation and application of the next secret ingredient and more immature ramblings! Until next time this is PanClayke reminding you to eat with a new utensil once in a while.

SWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGG

Stuff. We. All. Get! I have literally decorated my entire condo with all my SWAAAAAG! (The Office Reference!).
So, if you notice the Last Post you will notice there was a lot of retail therepy yesterday. Totally needed, trust me. I don't know what it is but i have a problem with buying something just for me, like im not entitled to something nice once in a while. I think it spawns from a past experience of invesing my entire alowance on poorly produced animated movies (Rock-A-Doodle not withstanding) and/or Beast Wars action figures. It took a couple mishaps to realize I didnt know my own strength as a kid..... many a figure suffered as a result of finding this out. Anyhoo, yesterday was an exception like whoa! It involved three different retailers, two trips back to the car, and a few things that I did not know existed. That being said... lets review some of the new finds!

First off we got a little thing called 'Nutritional Yeast', apparently all the rage when it comes to being a vegan. It tastes kind of like flakey cheese and has the texture of some fish food. Your going out to get some right now aren't you? Well, what it misses in looks if gains in nutrition. There's an abundance of chromium and selinium to regulate the blood sugar and it has a hooge complex of B-Vitamins which are hard to find in a vegan diet since these vitamins are the ones found as a result of bacteria in meat sources. I take a supplement for this already... but its nice to have something else that tastes like cheese around the house. Have so far sprinkled it on soup, toast and stir fry's an an extremely pleased with it. Couple that with the nutrition powerhouse its packin... and its definitely a good buy. Its also kind of cheap since you get it from the bulk bins.

ON TO BEST BUY!!!!!

Need to make this quick... i gotta meet the new boss by 8am. Honestly, is there anything better than finding out one of your favorite shows came out on DVD and you didnt know about it? Its such a wonderful surprise as I have seen every season of Scrubs thus far and am SOOO ready to keep the trend going. Actually, picking this up reminded me of the first time I ever even saw the show. Thanksgiving day, sophmore year of college, half a pumpkin pie all to myself and a feeling of explosion was immanent. I was definitely no superman that day.

Then... it was decided that enough fun had happened and it was time to head to Publix and get the bare neccessities................ or so i thought.

First off, anything with a monkey on it immediately catches my attention. Couple that with a love for rasins and a Peter Pan syndrome and Presto! Peanut Butter and Co answered my prayers yet again. Not only are there son EFA's running through the nut butter, but cinnamon helps the digestion a whole bunch and rasins make me want to throw on some tap shoes and do and antioxi-dance! Taste-wise... it definitely aimed to please. Especially when paired in a sengwich with apple sauce instead of jelly. Apple butter might also work well... but there was none on hand so we had to make due. All in all, in giving this guy to, very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Now for the list. Apples? Check. Salad stuff? Yepper. And how bout... WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?

Those of you from the carribean will recognize the 'Bonatio'. To put it bluntly, its like a less sweet, sweet potato. Its got a whole bunch of vitamin C not to mention a good deal of fiber. You cook it and eat it like you would a potato... so im thinking it might make the appearance as some home fries tomorrow morning. Either that or some carribean latkes... but I havent thought that far ahead at the moment. Have yet to taste it but i will be honest in assuming its got some big shoes to fill. Will update later... while listening to Kevin Rudolff (ANOTHER AWESOME PURCHASE!)

Well kiddies, Happy Swagging and wonderous cake making to all.... and to all a good night (or a good morning as the case may be. Note=re-form sleep schedule soon in order to resume the world of the living. Tune in next time for more misadventures and cake making.... plus, a new ingredient (i am soooo iron chef right now).

Boo-Cakes!

Happy Pancake Day (aka sunday)! It seems as though the entire blogsphere has been taking this wonderful 24 hours to do nothing other than making themselves happy... and I'm te first to admit I thought that was a pretty good idea. Soooooooo, after a wonderful message at curch this morning preceded by a quick praise in the car since that cop who saw me speeding on the way there (stoopid office season 5 on DVD keeping me up all night!). Im as nostalgic as the next guy but i think its time to bite the bullet and get a new alarm clock as 'Ricky-tiki-tavi' has been lacking in the dependablility dept recently.

(*Note, problems with alarm clocks are never the result of human error!*)

Anyway... after the Good Word there was the discovery of the best whole in the wall pizza place in the world. Now, i can only judge based on the asthetics of the place (a re-modeled 3-bedroom house!) since the fundage was not in my favor to blow $18 on a pizza... but this is the first place ive found with some Vegan Pizza Goodness! Plan on a critique of this wonderful find later on in the week as I have totally planned to go back! However, today the visit was about the wonderful conversation that was shared... sweeter than pinesapple and more meaty than canadian bacon. MAN! Loves me some 'Big Hawaiian'!

Post pizza led to a romp in my two favorite places... Best Buy and Whole Foods!!!! Will do a complete post of all the wonderous SWAG later on... but some higlights were vegan cream cheese, something called brewers yeast, and Kevin Rudolff. This was follow by a less miraculous trip to Pubix to replenish the produce stash (Yes... i know i am missing out on the better produce by not getting it organic/local at the WF.... but, again, the fundage is not in my favor). Then, while walking away from the produce i noticed the Halloween oreos!!! Remember the ones that have the orange frosting since orange is scary? Well, theyre baaaaack! But, they are not vegan which made me a little sad, then i realized that I have made chocolate pancakes.... whats to stop me from making orange?

(*fanfare) NOTHING! THATS WHAT (*fanfare)

Now, while i did not have the dough for the 'good' pears this week, there was an extra 98cents in the budget for a packet of butterscotch pudding mix. The only thing is (as indicated on the box) the puding will not set up with soy milk. I was worried but then realized that if i just added a LOT less milk to the whole packet then there was a chance...

Imagine how epic it felt when my butterscotch started to get pudding-y and wonderful?!? You may notice a bite taken out of the pudding bowl..... lets just say there was a lot of gum chewed/urging for the panakes to be ready to flip.
(will power + clay = non existent)



Once the prayers of the pancake kicked in it was all a matter of stackage and snackage.

Now, if you will excuse me... there is something more pressing that requires my attention. Tune in tomorrow for a wonderful SWAG post and a review of a few wonderful things. Until next time, this is PanClayke reminding you to 'let it rock!'