It was beautiful this afternoon so I decided to expand our walk into a lovely picnic on the water front. Hubby has been working so hard at work lately it’s time for a little romance. I picked up a wonderful spread of food from Healthy Living and Fresh Market and grabbed a blanket from the trunk of the car and we headed out for a walk. Hubby was so delight and surprised it was a great afternoon and BEAUTIFUL! We had lots of amazing food from snap peas with tamari almonds, baguette, olives, dolmas, artichokes, veggies, babaganoush, red wine and vegan truffles.
Wonderful food and a beautiful view.
Q: What do you do for your significant other to show your love and appreciation?
After my morning at the coffee shop it was straight to the office to get down to business with my piles of files to work on. I was hopping that today I could catch up some organizing but it seems that just wasn’t in the cards. I spent all morning going and going and going….and I still have a ton to do. You see I only work four hours a day (on average lately it’s been more like 5-6) and I know you’re saying WHAT that is the life. Haha I wish it was but it’s really not long enough to get everything done each day and there is constantly something that needs to get done. I also am on call pretty much all the time so even if I’m not at work I might be called to do something. Anyways, now it’s time to get a snack and hang out at Healthy Living since I haven’t been here all week and I figured they missed me.
Hubby and I decided that we would do our nightly walk down at the Burlington Bike Path after he gets out of work instead of heading straight home. Since we won’t be home until later and I’ve had my yummy yogurt with banana and oats for lunch I needed some greens and a little protein. So I made a little plate of goodness to enjoy while I get some school work done that I didn’t do this morning.
On my plate of goodness is tempeh of the sea, roasted sweet potato, kale and sauteed green beans and a few tiny pieces of chipotle tofu.
How do you balance work, relationships and time for yourself?
Yesterday all I seemed to want to eat was soygurt- Whole Soy of course- I had it for breakfast and lunch. I would have had it for dinner as well but hubby stopped me. Yesterday a.m. I had a big beige bowl of vanilla soygurt with cashews, flax sprinkles, oatmeal (not cooked) and a banana. I had seen on Caitlin’s blog about using uncooked oats in her oatmeal and I was skeptical at first but decided to give it a try. It is actually really good and makes the yogurt have a little more body and makes it filling. I even got the hubby to try it since to his disappointment I did not make granola as I had intended.
Disclaimer: Paramount Coffee provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.
Since hubby decided to work from home/day a half PTO I didn’t go to the coffee shop like I usually do, we both commute to work right now and I have to be to work later than him so I hang out at Speeder and Earl’s sipping coffee and doing school work or blog posts. Anyways, since he didn’t go into work I didn’t have to leave early so I enjoyed some of my “weekend coffee” which lately has been from Paramount Coffee who was kind enough to send me a few samples of their coffee (I recently spotted some ground flavors at the local TJMaxx). My favorite of the three I received has been this Fair Trade Organic Community Blend which is a medium roast and is “A combination of Asian and South American coffees in a medium-dark roast. A very rich cup with low acidity and pleasant flavor. (source).” I have also been enjoying the Fair Trade Organic Swiss Water House Blend (Decaf) which I like to sometimes mix with my caffeinated beans to cut back on the caffeine. Both of these have been really tasty and I can’t wait to try the third one I received which is a Fair Trade Organic Music Morning- sounds uplifting eh?
Following work I headed straight home to get something to eat since all I had at the office were some veggie sticks, pretzels and Tribe Forty Spice Hummus which is my absolute favorite! However I was super hungry when I got home and to my disappointment the wonderful smell of food that I came home to was non existent, hubby had made himself lunch and it smelled amazing! So I turned to the soygurt this time mixed berry and added a little oats and flax sprinkles. I also made hubby and I a green smoothie to share that included a frozen banana, a packet of chocolate Amazing Grass, unsweetened chocolate Almond Dream, a small spoon of Sunbutter and lots of spinach. I also enjoyed a tangerine and some water out of my new water bottle from Earthlust. Isn’t this water bottle so cute? GUESS WHAT! I have one to give away to you all as well so keep your eyes peeled for a post tonight about how you can enter to win your own stainless steel water bottle from Earthlust.
I forgot to take a picture of dinner but don’t worry it wasn’t very appealing to the eyes however it was delicious! We had a mix of onions, peppers, celery, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli and tofu all stirfried up with BBQ sauce, soy sauce, chili flakes, garlic powder, and a little brown rice syrup and I served it over greens. It was really delicious but I was hungry later so I had a small banana with Sunbutter as we caught up on an episode of House and The Amazing Race- I forgot how much I love this show, GO COWBOYS! Haha.
This morning I am just hanging out at the coffee shop sipping on some decaf maple french toast coffee and I ate a bagel with hummus and tomato that I had picked up before we left home. You’re probably saying why not just get a bagel at Speeders? Well I would but they have Montreal style bagels which have eggs in them! I know right BOOO! So they are usually pretty good and don’t say anything if I eat outside food- love Speeders.
Oh and P.S. I found the charger for my camera battery so no more mediocre iPhone shots!
Question of the Morning: What is your favorite soygurt brand and flavor?
I recently decided to purchase a package of mochi (pronounced mo-chee) to try but have been having a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do with it. Finally last night I made a savory version of it but heating a small amount of sesame oil in my cast iron pan putting in the mochi (making sure they didn’t touch) and then turning the heat down to low and covered for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes I flipped them and sprinkled with soy sauce then put the cover back on for another 4 minutes. At this point the mochi gets nice a gooey almost like cheese and I wrapped them in nori and served along some colorful stirfried veggies. (I apologize now for iPhone pics I can’t seem to find the charger for my digital camera battery).
This morning I forced myself up after a few too many Wolaver’s Pat Leavy’s All-American Ale and jumped on the elliptical for a quick sesh. I have a hard time waking up and just drinking a glass of water especially when I go to work out when my eyes are barely open so I usually turn to coconut water. It is great for hydration and a healthy alternative to those sugary sports drinks. I have tried a number of different kinds of coconut water and currently I have been sipping on some samples of Vita Coco. Vita Coco has a number of different flavors of their coconut water which include: acai & pomegranate, pineapple, peach & mango, tangerine and regular. My favorites were the regular and peach & mango; as for the others I didn’t care for them the flavor just wasn’t right for me. I did really enjoy the regular coconut water though. My husband who is not crazy about coconut water decided that the regular one of these is his favorite kind, success!
Disclaimer: Vita Coco provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.
I know I have been pretty absent from my blog lately but I am working on getting back in the swing of things and the posts should start to flow again. Hubby and I spent the day trying to be productive and yet relaxing and fun as well. We started out with a trip to Plato’s Closet so that we could see how much dinero they would give us for our old clothes. We made out pretty well so we treated ourselves to a huge veggie sandwich at Martone’s that was filled with veggies, hummus and tabouli it was massive so we got one to share, I wish I had taken a photo of it. After a wonderful lunch we decided to go to a matinee and we saw Date Night which was absolutely hilarious!
After our relaxing lunch and movie it as time to get down to business and by business I mean shopping. Grocery shopping that is! We picked up some great finds at Costco (greens, broccoli, mushrooms and Organicville no sugar added BBQ sauce). Then we were off to pick up a few more veggies and such for lunches. We picked up this yummy treat to share, a little one serving container of Ciao Bella Sicilian Blood Orange Sorbeto:
For dinner I made a yummy dinner of baked BBQ tofu, roasted broccoli, green salad and garlic-saffron quinoa:
Baked BBQ Tofu
80z of pressed tofu cut into 4 thin slices
1/3 cup BBQ sauce of your choice (I used Organicville no sugar added)
1T soy sauce
3T water
1t sirracha
Preheat oven to 425F. Mix the BBQ sauce, soy sauce, water and sirracha together and pour into a small baking dish. Place the tofu in the sauce and flip over a few times to coat. Bake for 40 minutes, flipping half way.
Roasted Broccoli
4 cups of broccoli
1T olive oil
salt and pepper
Aluminum Foil
Preheat oven to 425F. Toss the broccoli with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the broccoli in aluminum foil and create a closed packet. Place in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes.
Garlic-Saffron Quiona
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2T olive oil
10 strands of saffron
2 cups of water
1 vegan chik’n bouillon cube
1 cup quinoa
salt and pepper
1/2T nutritional yeast
In a small pot heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion and garlic for 3-5 minutes. Add the water, bouillon and saffron to the onion and garlic and bring to a boil. Stir in the quinoa and return to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to medium, and cook 12-15 minutes until the water has been absorbed. Take off the heat and fluff with a fork. Add the nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste. Let sit covered for 15 minutes before serving.
For dessert we were cravings something sweet and banana like:
Chocolate Banana Soft Serve
Ingredients
2 frozen bananas broken into pieces
1 T nutbutter (today I used Sunbutter)
1/3-1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
Directions
Place everything in a food processor (a blender really won’t work not even a Blendtec or Vita-Mix) and processes until fluffy smooth and softserve like.
Friday night hubby and I enjoyed some veggie dogs in our favorite New England (top split) hot dog buns. Since the buns out numbered the dogs I decided to find another use for them. Then I got to thinking what other things do you usually find in a hot dog roll? LOBSTER Salad! The sea vegetable flakes give the chickpeas a fish taste and the minced sundried tomatoes against the white vegenaise mimics the colors of a lobster roll.
Ingredients:
1 15-oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 carrots, minced
2 celery stalks, minced
2T onion, minced
1/2T Triple Blend Flakes (or kelp flakes)
10 sundried tomatoes, minced
1/4 Cup vegenaise or your other favorite vegan mayo
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together mashing the chickpeas a bit with the back of your spoon. Stuff this mixture into a New England Style hot dog bun because it just wouldn’t be the same in any other roll.
4 servings of homemade dried fettuccine pasta (feel free to use fresh)
1 oz. dried morels
1T olive oil
1/2T fresh thyme leaves, minced
1 large leek- white only, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup reserved morel soaking water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2/3 cup soy creamer
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1T red miso mixed with 2T warm water
salt and black pepper, to taste
Directions:
Soak the morels in water for a 5 minutes and then drain and rinse them off to remove any dirt that they may have on them. Then soak the morels in enough HOT water to cover them and let them sit for 1 hour. Drain and reserve 1/4 cup of soaking liquid.
Cook pasta according to the directions.
In a medium saute pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and then add the leek and thyme, saute for 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and morels and saute for a minute and then add the morel soaking water. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Stir in the nutritional yeast, soy creamer and peas and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat and add in the miso mixture and stir until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.
