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Friday, January 1, 2010

What I've Been Up To (In Pictures)

Well, first of all Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope whatever December holiday you celebrate treated you well, and that you had a great New Year's celebration! Ivan would personally like to wish you a belated Merry Christmas though.


I know I haven't been around much. Frankly, I don't have much time for cooking, let alone blogging, and I've been debating whether or not to even keep doing it. In fact, I told Nick yesterday that I was going to stop....but I don't think I can. Just expect me to be posting less frequently (although, I'm sure most of you have figured that one out by now). Anyway, this is just some pictures of what I've been up to.


Pignoli Almond Cookies from 'Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar'. Also my first experience with almond paste!



This Purely Chocolate drink from Bolthouse Farms is really good. I reviewed the Vanilla Chai almost a year ago, but this might be even better: super creamy, fruit sweetened, high in protein.


Vegan Breakfast Sandwiches from Vegan Yum Yum. These took a good long time to make, since it was my first homemade biscuit experience, but they were really good. Definitely one of Nick's favorites.


Spelt Biscuits

'Egg'

Maple Tofu



After a long day out Christmas shopping, we didn't want to spend a lot of money on eating out, or spend a lot of time making dinner, but I really wanted some 'Italian food'. I've been wanting to try these for awhile, and at the time, it hit the spot.

Perhaps not authentic Italian, but I had the lasagna, and it was pretty yummy, made with a soy ricotta filling.



My pride and joy of the holidays was definitely the Peppermint Patties I had intentions of making for many friends and family. However, after a day FULL of candy making (there were chocolate caramels too), I really didn't want to see chocolate again for awhile. So, this tin went to my best friend, and once I got over my chocolate overload, my husband and I finished the rest because they were incredibly delicious. They are NOT healthy, but really awesome, and you can find the recipe here. I used brown rice syrup and doubled the mint extract.

Not pictured, I also made some peanut brittle and pecan clusters for my grandparents. I was in Christmas overload at that point, and forgot to snap a quick picture before they were gifted.

I end with the candy for a very specific reason. One of the reasons I was considering quitting the blogging was because since I started, I have gained a significant amount of weight. I don't look incredibly different, but despite working out consistently, my clothes don't fit. I feel like I have to focus more on my health than on trying to make 'blog-worthy' food. So, in the New Year, expect things to be a little healthier.

Also, expect things to be spiralized.

One of the gifts I was lucky to get this year was a spiralizer. Ivan likes the box, and I'm already loving the thing.

So, that is where I have been, and I hope to not completely drop off the radar for so long anytime soon. Enjoy the new year, eat some black eyed peas!!

19 comments:

  1. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you too! : )

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  2. Ha ha. Cats love boxes. Peppermint patties sound awesome.

    Happy New Year!

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  3. Happy New Year! You have the most adorable cat in the world!

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  4. I got a spiralizer for Christmas too! Best gift ever, huh? I love your kitty in the box!
    I just had cookies for breakfast on Jan. 1st. Oops. At least they were my gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookies!!!
    Your maple tofu looks so yummy.
    Happy New Year to you!!!
    XOXO,
    Erin

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  5. Sometimes breaks are needed in the blog world, and if that's what you need, by golly you should take one! But don't give up your blog, we'll always be here :)

    I love all of your fun vegan creations. I wonder if my Nick would notice if I served him soy ricotta cheese...I should try that! Like you, I'm really into the Alton Brown cookbook. There are a lot of meat recipes, but plenty of great vegetable and meat-less recipes too. I also like all of his food science information throughout. It's so helpful.

    Happy New year!

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  6. i look forward to continuing reading whenever you find time! i'm glad you are taking time to put your own health first! happy new year!

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  7. YES FOR SPIRALIZERS!!!!!!!!!!! We should start a fan club. Happy 2010!

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  8. Just post when you can. I enjoy following you :) Have a great day!

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  9. Happy holidays, and Happy 2010!

    OMG I LOVE that Bolthouse stuff! It's addictive, and I used to drink it all the time... Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, it really upsets my stomach, so I had to lay off lately. Hopefully it's a passing thing that I can adjust to... Both the chai and chocolate are amazingly delicious!

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  10. I felt like not blogging, too. So I stopped for a couple months, but that meant I stopped reading blogs and I missed both reading and writing, so glad to be back to reading yours. I, too, was making blog worthy food and taking pictures and then never actually posting about it because life got in the way. Food blogs are a lot of work! I'm not in a place where I could do it. I'd rather be sitting and ready my new 30 Minute Vegan cookbook I got for Christmas because with my new job I've lost the incentive to make new food and have been scrounging. What is your favorite thing to make with your spiralizer? Anything your husband likes from it? I've thought about getting one.

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  11. Happy new year! Im glad to see that you have been enjoying your holiday. Those breakfast sammies look majorly yummy and i cant believe how yummy those cookies look.

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  12. I get hungry just by looking at your photos, minus your cat though.. happy new year to you! Please keep blogging!

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  13. Happy 2010 Gina! Ivan is adorable!

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  14. Happy New Year, Gina! Wishing you and Nick all the best in 2010!

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  15. I understand not feeling like blogging, and not always wanting to make "blog worthy" food. That is the main reason why I quit Wing-it and moved on to something new. As long as you are happy with what you blog about, that's all that matters! Bring on the spiralized food! If I buy a spiralizer, will it come with a kitteh? :-)

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  16. The breakfast sandwich is awesome! I made today and couldnt be happier with the results! :)

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  17. Everything looks so delicious. I'm sad to hear you considered quitting your blog. I'm happier to hear you may simply slow down. I didn't realize one could gain weight from being vegan but I totally understand if you've been experimenting and creating all sorts of dishes to share with your readers. I did an experiment with going vegan. Unfortunately it only lasted a week. I suffer from chronic fatigue and I found after the week, I just couldn't keep up to all the shopping and cooking it required. I'm now back trying to at least eliminate the dairy and that has been going better than the first go around. I figure it is better if I fail and get back up and try again (even little changes will add up). Blogs like yours help me do that. Take care and I hope you have wonderful 2010!

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  18. It all looks so good!
    Check out the cookbook giveaway on my blog..
    Debra @ Vegan Family Style

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  19. Fun! I love the Bolthouse drinks too. Mmm that chocolate looks great!

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