Odd Combo

I opened a can of garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) to use in last night’s dinner and had several servings leftover since I only ate a cup with my salmon and broccoli.

A salad seemed like the easiest way to incorporate the beans into my lunch, so I threw together leftover roasted broccoli, salmon and grape tomatoes and included several handfuls of the beans in the mix.

Salmon + Broc + Chickpeas + Grape Tomatoes

Fishy Veggies

Pink Salmon = Pretty

Simple but tasty!

Lettuce-Free Salad

Side Order

Though this salad was pretty large, I knew I’d feel unsatisfied after lunch if I didn’t include a side of something sweet.

With another cup of garbanzo beans remaining in the can, I decided to toss them in cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and roast them for 25 minutes last night. Inspired by Angela, I topped the cinnamon-roasted beans with Crazy Richards chunky peanut butter and stirred the beans and pb until every last chickpea was covered in the creamy nuttiness.

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Chick Peas

I then popped the cinnamon and peanut butter-covered chickpeas in the fridge overnight and by lunchtime rolled around today, I had a cold, sweet and nutty treat!

"So Check Me Out"

Odd combo? Sure. Tasty combo? Definitely.

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 1 c. canned chickpeas
• 1 tbsp. peanut butter
• Cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice to taste

Directions:

• Toss chickpeas with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice until fully coated
• Roast chickpeas on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray for 15 – 25 minutes at 375 degrees
• Remove chickpeas from the oven and place them in a bowl
• Top the chickpeas with the peanut butter and stir until the peanut butter covers all of the cinnamon-roasted chickpeas
• Enjoy hot or refrigerate for a cold treat
• (Note: You may want to add honey or maple syrup to the peanut butter before tossing if you desire a sweeter taste, though I thought it was delicious without any sweeter.)

I’ve successfully included peanut butter in both my breakfast and lunch so far today… Let’s see if dinner can complete the trifecta!

Chickpea Pita Pocket

Today I finished up the can of chickpeas I opened up yesterday. Lunch was my third chickpea meal in less than 48 hours!

What’s your favorite chickpea recipe?

I combined my remaining chickpeas with veggies I had leftover from dinner and coated everything  in marinara sauce.

Saucy Chickpeas

I stuffed my saucy ‘pea mixture in a whole wheat pita pocket with a handful of fresh spinach. It was yum.

'Pea Pita Pocket

Stuffed Pita

After work I’m off to an Invisalign appointment and plan to scoop up the pup for a quick trip to the dog park before Ryan gets home. On Monday he left for the University of Florida to represent his company at a career fair on campus. I missed him last night. Fortunately I was able to entertain myself with The Bachelor. 😉

What’s your favorite reality show?

I am a huge fan of The Biggest Loser.

Sure… Throw That In, Too!

That was my motto when creating my lunch today.

I knew I wanted tuna salad, but I also wanted chickpeas and sweet corn. What’s a girl to do?

Throw them all into the salad and hope for the best, of course!

Tuna Salad

Today’s tuna salad included:

• Tuna
• Light Miracle Whip
• Dijon mustard
• Relish
• Sweet corn
• Chickpeas
• Sliced baby carrots

I also enjoyed a snack sized baggie of carrots on the side.

Monday's Lunch

I wasn’t sure how I’d like my random ingredient tuna salad since I generally limit tuna salad to the fish, mayo, mustard, relish, celery and onion. Fortunately this was an experiment that turned out really well. Everything tasted great and I got to enjoy all the foods I was craving.

Well… almost everything I was craving. Chocolate didn’t make the cut, but including chocolate chips in the tuna salad would be barf-inducing, I believe.

What little extras do you include in tuna or chicken salad?

I love adding in fun foods and flavors to kick tuna or chicken salad up a notch. I’d love some creative suggestions!

Whole Lotta Veggies

Last night I was loving the taste of the sauteed portobello mushrooms and onions in my pasta and wanted to incorporate them into my lunch today.

I made a big ol’ veggie bowl with onions, mushrooms, steamed broccoli florets and chickpeas.

Veggie Bowl

I smothered the veggies in a French onion flavored Laughing Cow cheese wedge for added creaminess. Very tasty.

Veggies with Cheese

I think artichoke hearts would make an excellent addition to this veggie bowl. Next time!

Snack Time

As I’ve mentioned before, I do not typically post my snacks since they’re usually the same thing over and over and I don’t want to bore you. Today, however, my morning snack was so darn tasty and I actually snapped a pic to share.

Cottage Cheese Blended with Pumpkin, Sweetener and Pumpkin Pie Spice

I blended cottage cheese with pumpkin, sweetener and pumpkin pie spice. This mix reminded me of pumpkin pie and got me all the more excited for Thanksgiving.

I used a no salt added cottage cheese. This was my first time using cottage cheese without any added salt. I picked up the container at the grocery yesterday since I had a coupon. I didn’t even know there was a lot of salt in cottage cheese, but let me just tell you that when it’s removed, you notice! Wow. It was great blended with the pumpkin, but repulsive on its own.

I would definitely buy the no salt added cottage cheese again, but only for use in recipes. I don’t want to punish my mouth by eating it on its own ever again. Bleh!

Big Ol’ Salad

The only veggies I ate yesterday were in the light spinach salad I ordered for lunch. My dinner was a bowl of clam chowder and a bag of 100-calorie popcorn… tasty, but not exactly full of nutrients.

Today I made a commitment to incorporate more leafy greens and fresh produce into my meals.

Exhibit A: My lunchtime salad.

Monster Monday Salad

The base of the salad was broccoli slaw and fresh spinach. I added chopped celery, steamed broccoli florets, chickpeas, sliced plum tomato and MorningStar Farms chik’n strips to the mix for additional flavor and variety.

Close Up

I used balsamic vinegar as my dressing and placed the lid back on the Tupperware before shakin’ it up to evenly distribute the veggies and dressing.

All Shook Up

The salad was tasty and filling! The chickpeas were my favorite. I am off to make a hot cup of tea now because I am freezing and cold salads don’t exactly warm ya up.

Question: What’s your favorite way to enjoy chickpeas?