This week has been hectic with planning and organizing for work but now everything is done and I can finally breathe. I was so exhausted last night I got home from work and passed out. Now I finally have my groove back and can get back to school, blogging & cooking.
After work today I had a snack before my Week 2 of C25K:
Cucumber, Mr. Krispers Salt & Pepper, Hummus & a little Zebra Tomato
Dinner tonight was simple:
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Balsamic Reduction
A not so pretty mix of brown rice, quinoa, spices, mushrooms and baby spinach.
oh and a slice of bread I forgot to photograph. I am relaxing for the remainder of the night and maybe doing some homework….hmm maybe not.
Good Morning! We have friends coming on Friday so I have tons to do this morning to get ready for this visit. I started off with a bagel with curry on top. I know sounds strange right but it’s delicious.
Alright sorry about the short post but this morning is going to pass by quickly and I have tons to do! I’ll check in with you all later.
Last night I got home from work and decided that I really needed a little yoga in my life since It has been so long since I have done it. I decided to start with Rodney Yee AM Yoga because it really has the right poses to get me ready for a more intense yoga. After that I did Beginner Yoga For Abs again with Rodney Yee. I felt that yesterday since I hadn’t practiced in so long that it was time to go back to the basics since my body is just not feeling as flexible as it once was.
After a wonderful yoga session I felt great and ready to make some dinner before my first meeting with my health counselor.
When I got home from work a package was waiting on my door step from Lodge Cast Iron Cookware. Inside was a 12″ cast iron pan and the best part is that it comes already seasoned so I don’t have to take the time to do it myself, and that meant I could make dinner in it!
For dinner I had planned to take my carrots, kohlrabi and celeriac and make root veggie pancakes with some sauteed garlic chard. Thins were going well, I shredded up the carrots, kohlrabi and celeriac mixed them with a little water, garlic powder, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and chickpea flour. I heated up my pan with a little oil and scooped out the root veggie mix for pancakes. After about 4 minutes they had browned and I thought they were ready to flip, however these little guys didn’t want to flip for me and just crumbled every where. At this point my garlic chard was all done and I was in recovery mode. How was I going to make this all work for me without wasting any food?
I turned the oven on to 450F and I added all of the root veggies and the garlic chard to the cast iron pan and mixed them together eventually pressing it all down into an even layer. I decided that the mixture needed a little crunch so I topped it with a sprinkle of panko bread crumbs, chili powder and garlic gold. I then baked it for 10 minutes. Here was the test to see if this dish turned out to be something yummy or would it be a fail?
Topped with a little hot sauce and this was honestly the best thing I have eaten in a long time! The execution may have failed but in the end I created something delicious! Unfortunately I don’t have an exact recipe for you this time but don’t worry I will be recreating this VERY soon and will post a recipe for you.
Q: Have you ever made something that just didn’t turn out how you expected but were able to turn it into something great?
Happy Be-Lated Mother’s Day! Yesterday I spent all morning in the kitchen preparing a wonderful Mother’s Day brunch for my Mom and G-Ma. We had originally planned to go on a picnic however when snow, yes SNOW was predicted for the weekend we decided to bring the party inside. It was just as well because I love to cook up a feast for everyone.
Roasted Apple Scones
Tomato Basil Scones which were served up with a Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Scallion Spread
Baked Sweet Potato Hash and Homemade Tempeh Bacon
Mushroom and Onion Tofu Scramble
Mustard Greens Salad with Radishes, Tomatoes & Cucumbers with Italian Dressing
A lovely fruit plate that my momma brought
Everyone loved the food and even went back for seconds-that’s always a good sign or they were just being polite.
After we ate I gave my Mom and G-Ma their gifts which included these cute Okabashi sandals for my mom.
“Okabashi was founded in 1984 to produce, sell and distribute quality, healthy footwear in the United States. Every shoe, sandal and flip flop we produce is carefully designed for both personal and environmental wellness. As you look at our sandals, flip flops and shoes, look for the features of each product while noting that every one is made in USA and comes with a two year guarantee! Back in 1984, there were many other companies making footwear in the USA; Okabashi is the only one left that mass produces sandals and flip flops, and we are growing.”
I actually received these sandals as a sample however unfortunately they were about a centimeter too short for me so I decided that they would be great for my mom. They are so comfortable and did I mention you can wash them in the dishwasher? I know I am not sure why I would but it’s a fun fact! I really was tempted to wear them a little short but since these ones didn’t fit me the Hubz said that I should give them to my momma and I could order myself a pair….in the next size up of course!
Lots of luck has been coming our way this week. We were approved for a new apartment which we will be moving in to July 1st and I can’t wait. The place is so nice and has a huge kitchen with a great layout.
This morning I realized I didn’t have food for lunches so we picked up lunch on our way to work at the City Market Co-op in Burlington. To our delight we each purchased a can of Zevia for 29 cents each. Crazy right? They were on sale for 79 cents and then I found a coupon for 50 cents off a can. So a great deal to go with my salad of spinach, roasted tofu, roasted broccoli and chickpea salad with balsamic dressing.
I also snacked on these glorious organic strawberries.
After work I met up with a girlfriend for a drink while hubby went to his softball practice. By the time softball practice was over it was late so hubby and I picked up some dinner from On the Rise and we came home to a number of great treats in the mail.
For dinner we enjoyed a seared tempeh wrap and a tempeh lettuce and tomato sandwich. They were both delicious with an Anchor beer and for dessert a vegan blondie.
Lately I have been on a huge green juice kick and it feels great! I have picked up some really great organic veggies this week which have made some tasty juices. My favorite combination is romaine, cucumber, celery, carrot and a small green apple – when I have parsley I like to add that as well.
I sucked this all down from my National Life Idol mug- at my last job we had an American Idolish contest for the employees. Honestly it turned out to be more like National Life’s Got Talent than an Idol show but either way it was a break from sitting at my desk and I got the huge mug to drink green juice from!
I have also been trying to keep lunch pretty light and raw since the summer is coming and raw food with soon be in abundance. Raw veggies have the highest nutrients and are great for you. The more you cook your vegetables the more nutrients are lost so try incorporate more raw and lightly steamed veggies into your diet.
Thursday night we finished off the last of our Daiya with some amazing grilled sandwiches. These sandwiches were olive rolls stuffed with bbq tempeh, tomatoes, spinach, tofutti, and Daiya then grilled to perfection. I served it up with some quinoa tabouli that was tasty and very refreshing.
Since I forgot my camera yesterday with all my pictures to post I had planned on posting everything above me last night so it’s a bit delayed but I figured still totally worth showing of the yumminess. We ended up staying out until around 11pm last night for on of my girl-friend’s b-day parties so we didn’t get home until midnight and I was too tired to post at that point. We did however have an amazing night filled with delicious food from American Flatbread- the hubby and I shared a double order of the Evolution Salad which has yummy arame on it and a Vegan Revolution Flatbread which was equally as delicious. We also tried some of their house brewed beers which were delicious and then we headed next door to play Apples to Apples and have a Long Trail.
Now it’s time for laundry and cleaning/packing up our apartment but first a little menu planning from these two books:
We have been having miserable weather this week in Vermont so I started my morning off with some light, refreshing and uplifting, a green smoothie! This smoothie had unsweetened vanilla milk, vanilla hemp protein powder, half a banana and 2 huge handfuls of spinach.
After a busy and stressful day I was ready to come and make some comfort food. I found daiya at Healthy Living and decided that I had to purchase some since everyone has been raving about it. I also picked up some of my favorite low-carb tortillas that only have 45 calories each so they make tex-mex food guilt free. I stuffed the tortillas with roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, onions and spinach. I then topped with salsa and daiya and baked until bubbly. I then topped these yummy things with avocado-tomato salsa that I had made- HOLY YUM!
Q: What’s your favorite vegan cheese? What is your favorite way to eat it?
