Vegan Strong

The Last 10 Pounds

2011-11-28T19:47:00.001-08:00

I know I said I wasn't going to be dedicating as much time to working out now. But I think I need to.

http://oatsandbeansandbabygrow.com/2011/11/28/the-last-10-pounds-episode-1/

This is not The End

2011-09-17T15:10:00.001-07:00

Well, hello there.

If you are reading this, thank you for not deleting me completely. Or, maybe you are just bad at pruning your inactive blogs? Maybe? I know I am.

So much has changed since my last post, obviously, since it was almost a year and a half ago now. At that point, we were getting ready to move to Connecticut. The two of us lived there for 6 months, then we both moved to Missouri for about 8 months, then all three of us moved to New York this past June. My husband is back in the military, which I "could" say is "interesting", but its really not. The whole time he was out, we still moved a lot, he still wore a uniform to work, and more or less kept the same hours, so it doesn't feel much different. We did buy a house this past June...which has been exciting. Keep yourself tuned in for home improvement updates. At the very least home upkeep updates...the house was built in 1900, so it needs lots of attention!

The thing is, you're going to have to stay "tuned in" elsewhere. I just started a new blog, which I did for a number of reasons.

First, if you paid attention up there, we are now 3. I had a baby in February! His name is Simon, and he is adorable:

Second, I'm not vegan anymore. I am still vegetarian, but that's also not 100% (or even 50%), why I changed the blog.

I just don't have the time to do a blog that is so heavily involved in food or working out anymore. My time is limited now, and I still work out, and I still cook, but my life has new focus. And I wanted to take that to a new blog.

So if you would like to follow me over there, I would love it! Go to Oats and Beans and Baby Grow.

If you need to contact me for any reason, if you just want to chat, or if you have a question for me, please email me at oatsandbeansandbabygrow@yahoo.com.

Popping In and Dropping Back

2010-04-13T12:33:00.001-07:00

Hello all! Does anyone else have this weird innate sense of what the weather is like before you've looked outside? I can always tell if it rained before I get out of bed. Today, it was very nice when I left for work, and I was telling my manager how I couldn't understand why it "felt" like it was so crummy out. Turns out it had become pretty dreary and rainy. She thought I was nuts (in a good way, we like her).

Anyway, I would love to say that I have a million things to talk about but the thing is...I don't. Hence the lack of posting. Food has been so boring, mostly because I have been super stressed out. And I have yet to announce the reason either, because we weren't sure if it was happening or not until last week. Anyway, we are going to be moving. This month. In less than two weeks actually. We're going to be going to Connecticut for a few months, while my husband waits for his paperwork to be completed so that he can re-enter the Army. After that, we'll be moving again.

I don't handle stress well, although working out helps with that. And of course yoga usually helps the most. A few weekends ago, I had my husband video my dropbacks while were visiting his family in North Carolina, and since I have no food or pictures today, I thought I'd share that. For the record, I thought the sound was off. It wasn't. Yay. Anyway, enjoy. Then come back for the rest of the post.

Last week I was at the point where even yoga was stressing me out, so I've taken the last week off. From everything. This is huge because I even got a new Manduka yoga mat and have yet to even use it. Crazy!

The good news is that change creates things to blog about, plus I'll have a lot more free time since I have yet to decide what I am going to do about that whole job thing. You can expect more from me soon, but no guarantees until after we get settled in Connecticut. Please don't leave me, I promise I have not left!!

Surf Sweets

2010-03-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

How do you decide when to blog? Do you do it everyday? When the mood strikes? When you have something to post about? I've been trying to post two or three times a week, but this week I haven't a had a lot to post about, and I also wasn't really in the mood. Then I came home from yoga this morning and went straight to the computer to blog. Well, that's a lie, I fed the kitties first, THEN I went straight to the computer to blog.

Today, I have a little review for you. I was contacted recently by Surf Sweets, asking if I would like to do a review of their products. My response was a resounding yes yes yes!! I try to be healthy, I really do, but in my moments of weakness, I have a huge sweet tooth. And I LOVE candy. Now, I know we have a lot of chocolate lovers out there, and I'm not dissing chocolate, but I love CANDY. Fruity, sugary, jelly, crunchy, candy, in whatever colors of the rainbow I can get. When I was in high school I perpetually had a big bag of candy from the bulk section of the candy store in my backpack. Jelly beans were a favorite, but anything was fair game: lemonheads, raspberries, gummy bears, rock candy, sour patch kids, etc.

You get the point, right? I loved candy. Okay, I still love candy. The news that Skittles are now vegan was a very big deal for me.

So I was super excited to try out Surf Sweets Natural and Organic Candy. They are made with organic fruit juice, have no high fructose corn syrup, 100% RDA Vitamin C, gluten and casein free, non GMO, and made in the USA with natural flavors. Yummy! All that mattered to me was that they were vegan.

Vegan gummies? Sounds too good to be true, and be warned that for some of their products, it is. About half contain gelatin. But all the samples they sent me were animal product free, and I happily munched. And munched. And Munched (yes, I munched with a capital M that last time).

First up was the Sour Berry Bears. All a bright red raspberry color, these were super yummy. They were also in the smallest package, and were gobbled before any photo was taken. They're not super sour, but they have a bit of a twinge to them.

Next up was the Sour Worms. They came in a few flavors, maybe two or three, but they really had a strong flavor. In a good way. Like, the cherry really tasted like cherry not just some obscure "red" flavor.

Last, but most certainly not least, were the Fruity Bears. These were so cute, and kind of reminded me of a mix between gummy bears and fruit snacks.

Because they don't have gelatin in them (this goes for all the snacks), they don't have they chewiness that other gummies have. I don't miss that though, these were tender little bear shaped candies, in citrus and berry flavors that totally pop in your mouth and cover your teeth in sugary goodness.

The verdict? If I haven't made myself clear already, I love these! They're not an everyday thing, or even something I could keep in the house as I would eat them immediately. While they're made with better ingredients than other gummies, the first ingredient is still organic evaporated cane juice...and that is still sugar. I don't think they're trying to fool anyone with that though, these are clearly meant to be a treat. I especially love that you have the option to buy little treat size packages: the small package of Sour Berry Bears is only 80 calories.

If you are getting nostalgic candy cravings, as I did when I got the email from them, I saw these are Whole Foods yesterday, and they actually only had the vegan varieties, which was nice!

Have a good day people! My birthday is coming up, so I'll have some fun stuff to post about soon.

Open Coconut

2010-03-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...

There they are all standing in a row...on my countertop.

Both are about the size of my head..

I have been trying to eat more raw foods lately. I haven't gotten too fancy in my preparations, because in the past, that has been a recipe for disaster. Not that the food hasn't turned out well, I just lose enthusiasm really quickly.

However one thing that is in every raw recipe book I've ever seen is the young Thai coconut. They're so elusive, they're so expensive, they're so....covered in a rock hard husk. Needless to say I did not have the confidence to try and crack one open. But I recently discovered two things:

1.) our local Asian Markets (there are two great ones)

2.) videos on cracking these babies open

Okay, to be fair, we found the Asian markets long ago, I just didn't think I had it in me to get them open. Then I saw this video on Kristen's Raw. It seemed doable. One problem.

No cleaver.

Back to square one. So I tried the illustrious youtube and came across many videos that used a knife. I only looked at one and decided it was possible. She makes it look really really easy. It is easy, but not really really. Especially when you have a dinky little knife that isn't even a full tang.

This cut off the husk no problem, but required some elbow grease to get the inner cap off. Still, there was success, and it really didn't take long. It was a bit messy, but I suspect it will get much easier now that I know what I'm doing.

I was a little worried about its freshness, but it produced a full cup of almost clear coconut water.

I was thrilled! It was possible! Good thing because I bought two!

I scooped out the meat with an ice cream scoop, and peeled off the bits of brown skin that was stuck to it with a vegetable peeler. After that, I sat down and looked at the internet for information on how to store it. Bottom line, it can be stored for about 3 days in the fridge, but is best eaten immediately, as far as taste and nutrition are concerned. I can do that.

In went 1/2 cup of the coconut water, all the coconut meat, 1/4 of a large papaya, a banana, some ice, and 1 tsp of Xanthan Gum.

Out came a papaya coconut smoothie!

This was so nice and thick, obviously from the Xanthan Gum, and you could totally taste the coconut. Loved it! I have big plans for the next coconut, but we'll see what happens. Have you taken a crack at the young Thai coconut yet? Its not as hard as it sounds!! I'm so excited to take a crack at some more complicated applications with it, especially as I am getting some Teflex sheets for my dehydrator soon!

Vegan Cookie Cake

2010-03-13T04:11:00.001-08:00

There are two weeks every year where I get to make fun of my husband for how old he is. His birthday is two weeks before mine, which makes his age two years older than me until my birthday comes, two weeks later. Yesterday was his birthday. Man is he old.

Have you ever had a cookie cake? What is your birthday treat of choice?

Personally, I like birthday cake, preferably vanilla, unless it involves peanut butter, and then anything goes. But my husband grew up always having a cookie cake for his birthday. You know, those giant cookies covered in brightly colored icing that you get from the little shop at the mall? I bought him one for the last birthday we spent together, two years ago.

This is actually our first set of birthdays together since his return from deployment, and since he became vegan. I couldn't let him down with some ordinary cake, it had to be his favorite, had to be cookie cake. Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, to be exact.

The recipe, was easy, and not mine. Actually a blondie recipe, you would have never guessed it. This was exactly what I was looking for. Dense and cookie like, not cake like, cooked completely through the middle with a slightly raised edge that is just a little crunchier than the rest of the cookie. I used a 9" springform pan, and pretty much followed the given directions precisely.

The directions do say to spread it out into the pan, and you do have to do that. But the dough is really cookie dough like, not blondie batter like, so it is a bit of a task to spread it. I suggest using your fingers. I baked for 45 minutes, and I will do a few less next time. There was a big difference between 40 and 45 minutes.

Then I iced! Clearly the most fun part of the process. I used this recipe, which it says is from Vegan Cupcake Take Over the World, which I wouldn't know because I don't have it. Half of it was dyed blue, and it was piped in a perfectly 'homemade' fashion around the perimeter.

When we were finally both home from work, we cut into it. Yum! It had a perfect cookie consistency, and we smeared on some extra icing post photos. We both had two pieces, which was definitely a little much, but so yummy.

I rarely make the same recipe twice, but I definitely feel a tradition coming on with this cookie cake. Not to mention the fact that it is infinitely better, and cheaper, than the one you buy at the mall, for about $20. If you have any cookie cake lovers in your family, this will undoubtedly please them!!

Raw Foods, Mixed Well

2010-03-06T07:11:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of stealing lately. Of course I mean stealing from other bloggers and websites. As such, I have tons of pictures, and not much to write about except how delicious everything is. So I figured I will do just that.

First off though, we got a Vita-Mix! This has been a very exciting development, and I think I have used it multiple times every day. I love it love it love it already. So most of the food being shown here was made with that.

I hit Averie's blog first. She posts a lot of stuff that looks great, but I have been dying to try her Raw Vegan Kale Chips. They were one of the first things that got made in my shiny new (well...refurbished, but new to me) Vita-Mix...and oh man did they deliver.

They were cheesey and crispy and made the whole apartment smell yummy while they were dehydrating. I added some cayenne for a little kick too, and they were gone very quickly.

I also tried one of Averie's newer desserts that she had posted. Now don't get me wrong, I love chocolate and all that too, but when I saw her recipe for Raw Caramels, I had to make them.

Either my hand is smaller, or I spread mine thinner!

Sandwiched with chocolate soynut butter

Ah, there he is. I'm not the only one in this place that's been stealing. Ivan, our newest little stinker, LOVES food. And I don't mean he gets excited when a can is opened because he still thinks there's a chance it might be tuna, like Zoe does. The cat loves anything. One of his favorite treats is spinach, he loves zucchini and asparagus, and he has an especially soft spot for coconut (flakes, oil, milk, any form). So you can expect to find him in most pictures from here on out because it is almost impossible to keep him out of them!

So, one of the reasons I have always wanted a Vita-Mix was because it seemed like making smoothies was just SO much easier. And...it is infinitely such.

Avocado, kale, spinach, parsley, cucumber, banana, dates.

Avocado, cucumber, parsley, kale, spinach, frozen strawberries, pear.

Topped with grapefruit.

Spirulina smoothie from Annie's Raw Food Kitchen. Which Ivan especially loved...

and got him very messy, since he knocked over the blender and crawled inside to lick it all up.

I did have some not so raw food this week. I was watching the Food Network while working out and saw these Sauteed Potatoes with Chorizo being made on Mexican Made Easy. I was thinking how I could easily do it with a Soy Chorizo, and was then dumbfounded when the host actually suggested doing that to make it vegetarian. So, I tried it.

We also used sweet potatoes instead of white.

Honestly, this was just okay. I've never had real chorizo and I used Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo. I don't think that Soy Chorizo is really an awesome substitute. It just tasted like TVP marinated in spices. I'm sure that's what it is, and I've made things like that before. So, it was fine, just not what I was expecting I guess. Have you tried the Soy Chorizo or even Soyrizo? Is one better? Am I just asking too much of poor TVP?

I also whipped out another tool that I had promised I would be using a lot this year. I have been using it, just haven't been posting about it for some reason. Anyway, enter the spiralizer!

Zucchini "Noodles"

which Ivan, of course, loves

Mixed with a mango and red pepper mixture from the Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook.

All together with a sesame oil dressing, lime, and cilantro.

This recipe was supposed to be made with buckwheat noodles, but it made such a fantastic combo with the Zucchini "Noodles". I have leftovers of this and I am very happy about it!

Back to the Vita-Mix for the last thing today, which was from one of my newest very favorite bloggers, the lovely Michal, from Earth Muffin. I was at a loss for what to have for breakfast this morning. On the weekends I always want something "special", but I still want it to be healthy. I usually end up compromising one of those. Not today! I made her Spiced Carrot Puree.

Yummy.

This pretty much tasted like carrot cake in a bowl. I used 2 dates to sweeten it, and added cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and ginger, and it was totally perfect...with the obvious addition of coconut and raisins! This made such a satisfying breakfast, it totally fit my "special", and healthy, requests. Oh, and this got Ivan's seal of approval too. At one point he was able to get some by sticking his foot in it (I know, I'm not proud), and when I was done, he licked the bowl.

So there we have it! A week's worth of good food, thankyouverymuch blog friends and Vita-Mix! And as I mentioned above, I did get a refurbished model, so it was about $100 less. Still expensive, but I've only had it for a week, and I can tell you it is so worth it.

Enjoy the weekend! I am off to my cousin's birthday party, and my brother's band's show.

Green Monster Breakfast Cookie

2010-02-24T07:50:00.000-08:00

I don't think I need to inform anyone about the Green Monster phenomenon that has been circling the blog world. Its come to the point where greens for breakfast are just commonplace. And that's a good thing. But I do have to say that I really enjoy having food to chew. A smoothie will fill my belly, but I always find that something is missing.

So I find myself back at the breakfast cookie. I have posted a few variations in the past, like Banana Walnut and Carrot Cake, and I've been making them again recently. My only problem is that they were decidedly "un-green". I swiped some spirulina this weekend though (that makes it sound like I stole it...I didn't), and now they are just as green as your kale smoothie.

its the tiny bag in the center, left of the bulk cacao nibs and above the butterscotch chips

These are chock full of nutrients, protein, healthy fat, and whole grains; have texture and take time to enjoy; are kind of sort of raw-ish; and are just such an awesome way to start the day!

Green Monster Breakfast Cookies

1 banana, either blended or melted

2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

6 Tbsp liquid sweetener (agave, maple syrup, brown rice syrup)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp spirulina powder

1/2 cup ground flax meal

1/4 cup cacao nibs

1/4 cup grated carrot (about 6 baby carrots)

1 cup protein powder

1 cup old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup raisins

Acquire all ingredients. After that its really easy. Mix all the wet ingredients (banana counts as wet, it should be either blended up with the other wet ingredients) into a big bowl. Then add each ingredient, one at a time, in order, until fully incorporated. Form into cookies*, and refrigerate. I make 8 cookies and for me, this is 4 servings.

Serves 4

Nutrition Information: 556.6 Calories; 18.6g Total Fat; 8.4g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 76.7g Carbohydrates; 12.7g Fiber; 25.4g Protein.

It might be less for you, I rely on these to take me through a good long part of my day. This is a decent sized recipe, and could easily make 5 servings, just make 10 cookies that are a little smaller.

Serves 5

Nutrition Information: 445.3 Calories; 14.9g Total Fat; 6.7g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 61.4g Carbohydrates; 10.2g Fiber; 20.3g Protein

*One little tip for forming these into cookies, is to coat your hands with some vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil). These can be pretty sticky, but they lose their stickiness after being in the fridge for awhile, making them perfectly portable (I often stick them in my pocket on my way to the car).

I am always happy on the first morning of a new batch of breakfast cookies. They don't need to be refrigerated, so the day they're made I eat them immediately, pleased with success, and the fact that I have a healthy filling breakfast ready for the next three days.

Any suggestions for breakfast cookie varieties? I'm always looking for something new to do with them. I've had some successes, that I have posted above and recently made some Zucchini Raisin Cookies that came out pretty well. I've also had some not-so-successful batches, including a tropical variety and a chocolate mint. You can tell they weren't as good because they didn't get formal capitalized names, haha. Anyway, let me know if you have a suggestion, I want to know!!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Let's Talk About Lips

2010-02-22T11:40:00.001-08:00

Its the perfect time of year for it, this confession I have to make: I love chapstick.

Not lip gloss, not lipstick or stain or anything like that. Just chapstick. Although I suppose that is really the brand name, and what I really mean is that I love lip balm.

There, now that the semantics are all out of the way, my bare naked unbridled confession is out.

I love lip balm.

And I hate Chap Stick.

My true love for lip balm was realized yesterday. While visiting my parents this weekend, I went and visited my favorite natural food store with my mom. As we looked over the lip balms and I chose one to buy, she asked me how I liked the ones she had bought me for Christmas. I like them. Very much. I have been using them every day. Every day. She bought 6. But apparently I needed more.

The lip balm my mom bought me for Christmas is amazing. Called Crazy Rumors, it comes in a huge array of flavors, and it doesn't get soft if I leave it in my pocket (which can happen with some vegan lip balm), which I like to do at work.

She gave me the Fresh Squeezed line, which includes my favorite flavor for almost everything, Lime, as well as Orange Juice and Grapefruit. I also have the Brew flavor pack, with flavors like Spiced Chai, Lemongrass Peppermint, and Orange Burgemot.

All the flavors are amazing. I rotate them every week or so. And they all tout a little affirmation that they are indeed cruelty free and vegan. How could it get better than that?

Well yesterday I was struck by nostalgia. In middle school, I bought an oversized lip balm from Bath and Body Works in a peppermint flavor. I like the tingle of peppermint. I had it for years, and it probably got the ax when I moved to Hawaii after college. So, when I saw this oversized peppermint vegan lip balm, I had to buy it. They had a smaller one, but I wasn't interested in that. I knew I didn't need it, but for the aforementioned reason I had to have it.

Slightly softer than the Crazy Rumors, this Out of Africa lip balm is pure peppermint bliss. When my lips are seriously chapped, I live for that medicinal mint tingle, and this delivers.

This doesn't mean I've thrown my older lip balms aside because of these new amazing finds. I still keep my Giving Earth lip balm in my wallet all the times.

I have this one in grapefruit too, which I've talked about before. Its been a year, but I still can't find a website for them! You can find them at some Borders, and its hit of miss, but if you find them, they're worth it. Definitely the softest of the bunch and not the best to keep in your pocket, they're still super yummy.

Do you have a favorite lip balm? Do you use vegan lip balm, or are you okay with mainstream lip balm?

So I just did a lot of explaining about lip balms I love, but gave no explanation as to why I hate Chap Stick. I mean the brand, of course, and thats because it not vegan. I know there is debate about beeswax being vegan, although I'm not sure why. But even if you're okay with that, it still contains lanolin. I don't buy it and I don't use it. If you do, that's your thing, and thats fine. But there are some really awesome alternatives!

All of these lip balms are shea butter based. They contain a number of other natural oils, from jojoba oil to olive oil to macadamia nut oil. Along with natural extracts, they're pretty good for your lips, and your body.

There is a reason I keep referring to these as flavors and not scents too. I heard on the radio the other day that Dr. Oz estimated most women ingest over 7 lbs of lip balm in their lifetime. Now I'm not a huge Dr. Oz follower, and granted, it is over many years, but if you are going to be eating something, shouldn't it be top notch? I can't say I feel even a little squeamish about eating natural oils. And opposed to petroleum jelly, shea butter is perfectly safe to eat. Come on, treat yourself to the good stuff!

So, what would you rather put on your lips? What is your favorite lip balm flavor? I hope all of you in the north have some nice lip balm to go and enjoy the cold weather with!

*I swear, none of these companies contacted me, paid me, or gave me coupons or samples, I just really love their lip balm!*

Vega Winner!

2010-02-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

Its that time again! Time to pick a winner! I have to say, I'm really glad that Vega is doing the mailing this time because I am terrible at getting to the post office. I know it sounds silly, but I honestly just don't live or work near one.

Anyway, congrats our winner of this awesome giveaway by Sequel Naturals:

Gabriela!

Many thanks to everyone who entered, and definitely give the bars a try. I do have to say that I preferred the original out of the two that I tried, but they do have them in chocolate too!

Gabriela, I will get in touch with you and get all of your information for the people at Sequel.

Have a great weekend everyone!! And thanks for the tips on what you do when you're not feeling so great, I'm doing a lot better!

Sniffles

2010-02-16T07:03:00.000-08:00

::Sniffle::

So I've been sick the past few days, and don't have much to post about, but I did want to update to let you guys know that a winner for the Vega Vibrancy Bar Giveaway will be chosen this Friday, February 19!

Be sure to get your comments in on the Giveaway Post (not this post, please!), and link back if you'd like a second entry! Sorry I forgot to post the end date when I originally posted the giveaway.

What do you do when you're sick? Do you ever take medication? I always try and wait as long as possible to take something, but its hard with having to stand at work all day.

Vibrancy - Giveaway!

2010-02-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

I haven't talked a lot about this yet, but I've been taking a Mysore Ashtanga class about three times a week. If you are unfamiliar, it is essentially the primary series of Ashtanga, self-led, with the teacher adding on pieces as you are ready until it is completed. I love it. I also love that I go first thing in the morning, because I walk away from it feeling so alive, peaceful, and vibrant, and ready to make my way through the day. If you follow me on twitter at all, I've been updating here and there, and I have working on standing up from my backbends. I am proud to say, I have got it down. Or up... Either way, I am dropping back and standing up unassisted. I am totally thrilled!

Along with that Mysore class adding some vibrancy to my life, I was lucky enough to be gifted from the lovely people at Sequel Naturals with some of their new Vibrancy bars.

The first big draw is the full name of the bar Whole Food Vibrancy Bar. I love doing product reviews for Vega because I know that they really focus on pure, whole, good foods, and these bars are no exception. In fact, this is what they had to say about them:

Each Vega Vibrancy bar features:

Sprouts galore – Sprouts are like the express bus to nutrition. The sprouting process converts complex carbs into simple carbs, protein into amino acids, and fat into fatty acids, meaning your body doesn’t have to produce its own enzymes for digestion. Plus the nutrients are in a usable, highly digestible form. With 17.5g of sprouts, Vibrancy Bars have more sprouted ingredients than any other bar on the market.
Raw protein – Packed with 10g of plant-based protein from sprouted buckwheat, hemp seeds, sprouted almonds, brown rice and pea protein.
Fiber, fiber, fiber – With 20% of your daily recommended intake, Vega Vibrancy bars have 5g of soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber slows the release of carbs into the bloodstream, helping control insulin levels, prolong energy, and gives you feeling of fullness, signaling that hunger mechanism to shut off. Insoluble fiber is important in terms of digestive health and cleansing by ensuring toxins don’t build up and spread to the bloodstream.

Now, I know some of people have reservations about Vega. Maybe you've tried their whole food powders, maybe you've just heard, but they can be less than pleasant. I've found that the key to their protein powders is adding some fruit to it. Luckily, these bars don't need anything.

They're not too sweet, so they do have a bit of a "healthy" taste, but they also have a nice crunch from the buckwheat crispies in there, and they're just full of so much good stuff that I feel good about eating them. They can be a bit on the pricey side, but with all the goodness packed inside of them, they're definitely a worthwhile on the go treat.

I've done a few giveaways and reviews, and I have to say that the people at Vega are always so wonderful to work with. They're always friendly, they always check up to make sure I got the package because my building is terrible about letting me know when I have something waiting for me, and every once in awhile, they offer a giveaway for my readers too!

So, one of you will be the recipient of a Vega Vibrancy Bar prize pack from the people at Sequel.

The entry format is the same as always, minus tweeting...I just don't dig it:

To Enter:

1. Just leave a comment on here and you will be entered!

2. If you are really motivated and want another chance, give a mention to the giveaway on your blog.

3. If you don't have a blog and want another chance, get someone else to comment, mentioning that you told them about the giveaway.

Good luck!! These bars are definitely worth a try. There are plenty of whole food bars out there, but I feel like these have the most goodness packed inside of them!!

Vegan Cheesesteak Stromboli

2010-02-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I had a little recipe exchange with a friend I had met online. She saw a picture from my bridal shower and saw that we had the same recipe basket, so we exchanged a few cards. I know she got my family's Blueberry Buckle recipe, and one of the recipes I got from her was for stromboli. I took note, because it was one of my husband's favorite things to order, but never got around to making it.

Now, of course, we are vegan, and I have recently made it a goal of mine to convert as many of those recipes that were given to me at my bridal shower into vegan recipes. A few weeks ago I thought I would try and veganize the stromboli. Easy and very unhealthy with Pillsbury canned pizza crust (I already said unhealthy, remember?), I bought Yves pepperoni, vegan cheese, veggies, and it never got made.

A few weeks ago I saw this product:

at the new Whole Foods I talked about earlier this week. By the way, I was very happy to hear that I was not the only one who was super excited about agave being on tap!!

Anyway, I was determined to make the picture on the front of the box. The caveat? I never buy bread like that. I just...don't. So that never got made either.

Today with my mind running wild due to the crazy weather that had been keeping us indoors, they came together and made a super delicious lunch that took less time than it would take you to wait in line at Pat's or Gino's for a cholesterol laden mess.

Vegan Cheesesteak Stromboli

1 can Pillsbury pizza crust

4 slices vegan cheese

1 package Protein Wise seitan, or another thinly sliced seitan or mock beef product

1 onion, sliced

cornmeal, for dusting

salt-free seasoning

This is as simple to make as that list of ingredients is:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sautee an onion in a pan with non-stick spray. When golden and soft, add the seitan.

While the onion is cooking, sprinkle some cornmeal on a clean dry surface, and roll out the pizza dough, then cut into four rectangles.

Break up the cheese into slices and lay on dough, then mound the seitan and onion mixture in the middle of the dough.

Roll up, being sure to seal the ends, and transfer to a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Lightly spray the tops of the stromboli with cooking spray, then sprinkle with salt-free seasoning (we used Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning).

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

We suggest dipping in ketchup.

Seriously, this is so good. Warm and familiar, cheesey and satisfying. You could clearly make it healthier by making your own whole wheat pizza dough, but then, if you're like me, you'll probably never get around to doing it.

We have had a TON of snow here, and its still going. I didn't have work today and we're already cancelled for tomorrow. Nick now has off until next week because of the holiday weekend. We're at our wits end a little, but I have had plenty of time to do some cooking and that I do love. What do you do when you're forced to stay home, for snow or for other reasons?

The Wholesomeness of Whole Foods

2010-02-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

A brand new Whole Foods store opened near my job last month. There was already a Whole Foods just a few minutes from my apartment, but this one was huge, it was new, it was special. I had to go. And there I was on the opening day...

in. complete. awe.

It is gigantic, it has agave nectar and brown rice syrup on tap. There is a pub inside of it, and a prepared foods bar that rivals no other that I have seen.

That first day was kind of crazy, so I grabbed my favorite craving, the avocado sushi. But when I work full days I spend my lunch hour there, which is only once or twice a week...but I look forward to it all morning.

I have to tell you though, I feel a little guilty. It feels a little wrong, walking around this place which undeniably caters to vegans, and provides plenty of vegan options and products that are hard to find elsewhere; but also shamelessly supports the idea of the organic/humane/natural/grass-fed meat movement.

I know a lot of people who are into this movement. And I am not trying to offend any of them because I know many of them read my blog...and there are probably some who I don't even know read my blog. So my point, will be brief. Eating meat, no matter what kind, still perpetuates the demand for meat. I also know people who completely refuse to shop here altogether, and even protest it.

So what is a vegan to do? Whole Foods is so convenient, makes so easy to find vegan oddities, and frankly, has a delicious selection of prepared foods.

Vegan mac-and-cheese with maple mashed sweet potatoes and steamed veggies

Braised seitan with sage roasted veggies and squash, grilled asparagus, fennel orange salad, and steamed kale

It adequately filled our "junk food" craving this past weekend also:

Whole wheat pizza with LOTS of veggies

Raw macaroons. Yum.

For more information on the "humane meat myth", pop over here.

That being said, I am curious. What do you do? Even if you aren't vegan, I'm curious. I'm not a Whole Foods bunny, mainly because I think everyday things are too expensive, and I don't support their stance on meat. In fact, I am usually the first to suggest a local, non-chain, but there is only one around here, and it is painfully even more than Whole Foods. So I will buy things like umeboshi vinegar and vital wheat gluten; things I know I can't find at my grocery store.

I want to know your opinion. Vote!!

Stay tuned for later this week! I'm going to celebrate my 100th follower with a giveaway!!

McDougall And His Soup

2010-02-02T03:07:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, I feel as though I owe the people at McDougall's foods a huge apology. They sent me one of the nicest box of samples I have ever received, and it has taken me until now to review it. Sorry guys. Thing is, I've been busy eating their soup.

It really is the perfect time of year for soup, and frankly, I don't really like making it, so the many boxes that graced my doorstep one November evening were a welcome addition to my kitchen.

This is the good stuff, not only because it comes in pretty boxes instead of cans, but its better for you. To show you why, I conducted a face off between the lentil soup and a can of lentil soup that has been migrating around my pantry for a few months.

The first thing you'd notice is that McDougall's is larger. However, they both contain two "servings" of soup. Check out the nutrition information:

Canned

The canned soup has more calories, more fat, more sodium, more sugar, less fiber, and less protein.

McDougall's

Don't get me wrong, it isn't exactly a low-sodium food, but it definitely has less than its canned counterparts without tasting like water. Oh, did I mention that yet? That it tastes good too?

I set out to tasting it right away, which was made convenient by the pristine white bowl they sent me.

Yes, we eat in front of the TV

I set out to trying the minestrone first, which has always been one of my favorites. I love the veggies along with the beans and the pasta...its just perfect. McDougall's version did not disappoint.

Please try to ignore the embarrassing background of the garbage/recycling

The next day I wanted more soup. With my pretty white bowl all dirty and in the dishwasher, I had to improvise and use one of my own green bowls. This time we went for black bean, with a few cubes of avocado for good measure.

Definitely try avocado in your soup, its a nice addition, especially for black bean. This soup was perfectly hearty and warm...what black bean soup is best known for.

While they didn't send me this, I also took the liberty of trying their instant soups at work one day, and it was another version of their black bean.

The flavor in this, was really good. I couldn't figure out what it was at first, then I remembered that it was black and and lime. Definitely had a lime-y-ness to it. Unfortunately, soup was just not made to be powdered and instant. It was okay, but it just didn't come together completely. Bits were still crunchy, and it there was goopiness at the bottom even though I mixed throughout eating it. Not bad in a pinch, but not a staple either.

By now, we've tried almost all the soups, but of course, I had to leave you with the classic: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup...with McDougall's Chunky Tomato soup, of course.

Just as good as it looks, made with Follow Your Heart Cheddar, dunked in warm chunky tomato soup, this was a perfect meal at the end of a long week.

So if you are in the market for some convenient soups, give McDougall's a try. I know I have seen them popping in at my local Giant and Wegman's, which is nice and the weather is cold!! They're made from a group of people focused on wellness, and as far as healthy packaged soups go, they are pretty tasty too.

A Kind Spark

2010-01-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you guys, but I have a lot of cookbooks. The collection started before I was vegan, or even vegetarian, so I have everything from The New Best Recipes and Fix it and Forget it Lightly to my new classics like Veganomicon and Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. And frankly...we live in a small space now and there just isn't room to be buying every new cookbook I want. As it is, the cookbook space is fairly messy already

There is a second pile behind these...

And that doesn't even include those used most recently, which teeter atop the toaster oven.

Sadly, they don't get used very often lately. I've grown enough in my own cooking that I don't need them as much anymore, and I often don't have the time for following through recipes.

So new cookbooks, be warned, it takes quite a bit of scrutiny to make it into that messy pile nowadays. You've got to offer something special, really stand out, and probably have lots of colorful pictures too (I'm shallow that way). Of course a recommendation from a friend couldn't hurt either...

After sending off the winnings of my last giveaway to AutumnTao, she sent me back a lovely thank you note, and in part of it she recommended I give The Kind Diet a read. I was skeptical. First, I already know about being vegan, and a lot of the book is an explanation of the why and hows. Second, I didn't want to actually follow any diet. Third, it is written by Alicia Silverstone. Not that I have anything against her, but previous to now, I had no idea she knew anything about food. But it did focusing on cutting back sugar, something I need, and it did have pretty pictures. I wasn't convinced. Some of the recipes were so average, like Rustic Pasta, Granola, and Caesar Salad. But then there was the Seitan Polenta Casserole, Toasted Nori Burritos, and the recipe that finally won me over, the Rice Waffles with Vegetable Melange.

So I bought the book, and it isn't a diet plan (good). I read most of the first part, which was well referenced and had some facts and figures I hadn't heard before. As AutumnTao had indicated, it really did give me a bit of a spark, and made me want to get back into the kitchen and eating good whole foods. So I went ahead and made the Rice Waffles. These are not waffles made with rice flour. It is the easiest, most simple waffle recipe made with cooked brown rice. They came up nice and crispy on the outside, moist on the inside. Savory and decidedly dinner appropriate, the Vegetable "Melange" brought it all together for a really awesome meal.

I was pleased, Nick was pleased, and I am quite looking forward to the leftovers for lunch. I'm also looking forward to trying more of the book's recipes (although, I say that about every book I buy).

Yes, it is written by Alicia Silverstone, which I guess can be seen two ways. First, its great in the fact that it makes veganism more mainstream (I hear she was on Oprah the other day). On the other hand, it also makes it seem trendy. We actually have a friend who told us recently that he was going vegan "because it is trendy". Those are seriously his words. I want to think that is better than nothing but....is it? If people are just going vegan because its "cool" and they aren't educating themselves and really caring, it seems like they're more apt to go back to their old ways and make veganism seem like something that isn't worth doing, is difficult, that isn't a lifetime choice. Anyway, I bought it because of the recipes, not Alicia but....it did make me want to go watch Clueless again.

Anyway, I know I keep saying I am going to try blogging more, and I do mean it. I miss it and I have a huge backlog of lonely pictures waiting to be written about and posted. Until next time though, enjoy your cookbook stash and stay trendy!

What I've Been Up To (In Pictures)

2010-01-01T04:37:00.000-08:00

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!

Isa shared the recipe for these!

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!!

The Veggie Burger - A Survey

2009-12-08T06:41:00.001-08:00

I have a confession to make. I love veggie burgers. A box of veggie burgers does not last very long in our freezer. There is a very long list of veggie burgers that I enjoy, but I have a definite favorite. With four patties to a box, these burgers last for no longer than four days in our fridge. To me, they always sound like a great idea for a meal, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Although honestly, I would rarely last until dinner to have one of these, if they're in the house.

Yes, I eat them for breakfast. Today, I am having one for lunch (yes, its even good after being cooked and sitting in the car for 4 hours.

My most favorite veggie burger ever is:

Amy's TEXAS burger. It is the perfect blend of sweet and savory, made up of all ingredients that I can pronounce, and packs a good punch of protein too (12 g). It is just, delicious.

So with that, I'm wondering...what is your favorite veggie burger? Do you make your own instead? Do you (gasp) not like veggie burgers? Inquiring minds (mine) want to know!!

Have a great day people, I'm off to cook my veggie burger and get to work!

Chocolate Chia in the Morning

2009-12-02T05:33:00.000-08:00

Nick and I went for a run this morning. Man, is it getting cold out. My car was completely iced over. Upon coming home, I decided I wanted something warm. I've mainly been having boring cereal for breakfast (Special K Protein Plus, to be specific), but I had a little extra time today, so I made something that took a little more effort.

Chocolate Chia Oat Bran

Honestly, this can only be described as love in a bowl. I have tried oat bran, and I have tried chia pudding, separately. This brought them together, with a nice dollop of chocolate soynut butter, and totally made my day.

For those of you who like recipes:

What You Need:

1/2 cup oat bran

2 cups water

2 tbsp chia seeds

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 Tbsp maple syrup or agave

1 Tbsp chocolate nut butter (you could use regular, but you've already got so much chocolate goodness, why stop?)

pinch of salt

What You'll Do:

On a stovetop, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil and add oat bran and salt. Cook until the bottom becomes dry, then add the rest of the water, the chia, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Mix well. Let sit for 15 minutes. Stir in sweetener, top with nut butter, and enjoy.

Serves 1 Big Bowl of Oats

Nutrition Information: 443.1 Calories; 17.1g Total Fat; 7.8g Saturated Fat; o.omg Cholesterol; 67.0g Carbohydrates; 21.3g Fiber; 19.7g Protein

I know I waffle when it comes to calculating calories, but I really love doing it. Look at all that fiber!! Also, this is a lot of food, and it might be even better with 1/3 cup of oat bran, and some frozen cherries added. Experiment!

I also suggest adding some stevia, for those of you who are not allergic to it, which I think I am. I have been getting fairly bad hives for the past few months, and I couldn't pin down what it was from. I actually went to a doctor, who put me on prednisone, and it got worse. At first I thought it was just the Vitamin Water 10, but I have now also cut it out of my morning tea, and have stopped using my protein powder that has stevia in it, and the hives have practically stopped. There's a chance it may not be the cause, but I would bet on it. This makes me sad, I am a big stevia fan, and I had used it for over a year before I started drinking the Vitamin Water in September, and the allergy started.

Sorry for the lack of postage lately. Work has got me fairly busy, and I have time to blog, but not really time to cook. I doubt you want to see what I had for dinner last night (hint: Soyatoo, Chocolate Soynut Butter, and Rice Crackers. NOT together, I'm not completely crazy). I'll try and get in here as often as possible!

I hope everyone is having a great post-Thanksgiving week! Have you started decorating for Christmas yet?

Oh, and our little bug is growing, he's about 5 lbs now. He is a little monster sometimes and a little angel others. He came to work with me a few days ago, and we dressed him up in angel wings. The pictures are on my phone, I'll try and get them on here. This was him on Saturday though, with Nick.

*Sigh* He is cute. I just wish he'd stop biting my ankles!

Stevia Winner!

2009-11-22T05:38:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the stevia giveaway! The site for the random number generator I usually use is down, so I used this scientific one. Turns out it won't let me copy and paste it with the results into here, but I assure you,

The winner is.....Number 14!!

Which is AutumnTao! Send me an email, at the address in my profile, with your mailing address, and I will get it out to you sometime this week!!

Slow Sweet Potato Chili

2009-11-18T05:27:00.000-08:00

Back when I was in grad school, there was a nice natural foods store near my college, and I went there often. More often than I should have, probably! Currently, I have quite a few things lingering in the pantry that I'm just not sure what to do with. Any idea what it is?

Its probably obvious, the plastic container under the Israeli couscous is a rather odd product, and not something I see very often. Its TVP, something most of us have worked with before, and I have even put in granola bars, but I was unsure of what to do with these big chunks.

Tuesdays have become slow-cooker day, because I get home much later than any other day. I had planned on making a sweet potato chili with kidney beans, only to come home on Monday to find that Nick had used the can of kidney beans that had been sitting on the shelf for a month (isn't it always that way?). I decided this would be a good time to test out these TVP chunks.

Slow-cooking is still very experimental for me. Last week's was somewhat of a failure (hence why you aren't hearing about it until now). Surprisingly, this came out really well! Very yummy, and we were both fans of the TVP chunks. They definitely soaked and swelled up for a very "meaty" product.

Sweet Potato Slow-Cooker Chili

What You Need

2 large or 4 small sweet potatoes

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups TVP (you could also use smaller TVP or a can of beans)

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp Chipotle Taco Seasoning*

2 Tbsp agave nectar

1 can water + 1/3 can water (just fill up the tomato can)

*I used Ortega Taco Seasoning, because it was also lying around in the pantry. You could also make your own by using chipotle chili powder instead of regular chili powder. Keep in mind if you are making your own that you might need to add salt. I don't add any salt to this recipe because between the tomatoes and the taco seasoning, there is enough!

What You Need To Do

Throw everything into the slow cooker in the above order (ie start with sweet potatoes, end with water). Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Nick turned ours off at almost exactly 7 hours, when the potatoes were done.

I forsee the slow-cooker making many more appearances. Its already proved itself quite useful, and since we're big on chili and stews and meals like that, its perfect for that. This particular recipe really hit the spot, being warm comfort food with a hit of spiciness and the slight sweetness of the chipotles paired with agave. Yum.

In other news, the kitties are doing pretty well. I snapped this picture of them yesterday

Zoe still isn't really sure what to make of him. She wants to play, but he keeps barreling over to her and trying to jump on her, and she isn't quite a fan of that. But they're getting better every day!

Don't forget about the stevia giveaway! Nora asked a question about the baking blend. Stevia does have a slight aftertaste normally (although I find NuNaturals has the least), but there really isn't any with the baking blend. Again, I'm not giving away the baking blend, just the pure stevia packets, but wanted to clear that up. Anyway, you have until Friday to enter!

Sugar Free Banana Bread (Giveaway)

2009-11-16T05:51:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I was very lucky to receive a package from NuNaturals, who make my favorite stevia. They sent me a very large variety of products, but I just wasn't ready to review them, as I had not gotten a chance to review what I found to be the most intriguing product, the baking blend.

Then this weekend, as I prepared to go visit my best friend and her new baby girl, I realized I was almost out of sugar. Wanting to bring her some banana bread, but also have some for myself, I was faced with a bit of a conundrum. I was already late, so I could go out and buy sugar and be even more late, or not make any for myself, or try and find a substitute for the sugar. At that point, the NuNaturals Baking Blend rose ceremoniously from the depths of the cabinet and shined its light down upon my kitchen.

Okay, yeah, that's a little dramatic, but I did use it. I completely substituted all the sugar in the recipe (which is the Lower Fat Banana Bread Recipe from V'con) with the baking blend. The loaf I made for my friend used the real sugar and also had chocolate chips.

Baked with stevia

Baked with sugar

The verdict? Well, the regular sugar did bake up to make a slightly prettier loaf. The batter for the stevia loaf was a tad stickier and probably could have used some more liquid. So, the top of it wasn't as smooth. But it tastes fantastic. I really couldn't tell that it wasn't made with sugar, it was very much delicious.

Once cool, it was sliced into perfectly, and was really really yummy. This substituted 1/2 cup of sugar very successfully. The only downside to the Baking Blend is that it is fairly expensive. So if you do a lot of baking and were to use it exclusively, your wallet might feel it. But if you are an occasional baker who likes to keep things as healthy as possible, you can't go wrong!

Now, the lovely people at NuNaturals sent me a lot of stevia, and while I don't have any of the baking blend to give away, I do have a 100-count box of their White Stevia Powder packets for one lucky reader!

To Enter:

1. Just leave a comment on here and you will be entered!

2. If you are really motivated and want another chance, give a mention to the giveaway on your blog.

3. If you don't have a blog and want another chance, get someone else to comment, mentioning that you told them about the giveaway.

4. What the heck, if you want another entry, tweet at me about it!

Entries end this Friday, November 20! Have a great day everyone, hopefully your week is starting out with something yummy like banana bread for breakfast!

And Then There Were Four

2009-11-14T03:54:00.000-08:00

We've been living happily in a three member household for the past three years. You've all met my baby, Zoe.

Many a morning for us is spent like this. Me on the computer, her trying to literally be on the computer with me. This was her last day as an only cat. This week we brought home a little monster to join in on the fun.

This is Ivan. He is about 4 months old, and very cute...although I don't think Zoe agrees on that. Each day seems to be getting better, but they're still getting used to each other. He's got a tad too much energy for Zoe right now!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

A Midweek Quickie

2009-11-11T05:03:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Wednesday!! I'm more pumped than usual for it to be the weekend because my best friend is having a baby today. Right now, actually.

Anyway, its going to be a busy day for me. I have a "webinar" for my online classes this morning, and we have a jam-packed day at work. Plus, we are bringing home a kitten tonight! We've introduced kittens before, but this is my first time doing it just JUST my baby (Zoe - see sidebar!) and a new kitten. If anyone has advice on introducing kittens, I'm open to whatever I can get!

The point is, most days, I am too busy to cook when I get home. Leftover of my Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Portobellos was perfect last night when I got home. So today is just a little catch up of things that don't necessarily require their own special post.

First, we went to California Pizza Kitchen this past weekend. Vegan? Uh, no not really. But really, plenty of vegan options. They also changed their menu recently, all their soups are vegetarian, and they have a bunch of new salads on the menu that only need a minor adjustment to become not only vegan, but very delicious.

I had the Miso Salad. I honestly don't think I have ever enjoyed a salad quite this much. With edamame, avocado, daikon, little rice straws, and a wonderful miso dressing, this was so yummy.

I'm still thinking about it, it was that good. Its given me a new love for salads. I ordered it, of course, without the seafood, but also without the wontons strips, just because I don't like big crunchy bits on my salads (I don't like croutons either).

Second, anyone else digging the Clif seasonal flavors? I bought each of the three that were at my store.

This one, the Iced Gingerbread, was alright. Nothing spectacular. And I actually didn't like the Iced Pumpkin Pie at all. However, the Cranberry Orange Nut is completely amazing. By far my favorite Clif bar, ever.

I also had what can only be described as a kitchen fail this weekend ::hangs head in shame::. I tried making the Iraqi Beet Stew with Meatballs I saw posted here. It did not work. I should have just quit when I saw that my store only had teeny little beets.

The meatballs themselves were okay, and I have been eating the leftovers for lunch (hate to waste that seitan), and the beets are yummy, but the 'stew' part, the sauce, didn't work out and the rice, while pretty, was way too heavily spiced for me.

I've been mixing the rice with half plain brown rice to cut back on the spiciness. A disappointment.

Well, that's it for me today!! It'll be another day full of leftovers for me. Time for me to check into my webinar before getting ready for work.

Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms

2009-11-10T03:55:00.000-08:00

I am not a Rachel Ray "fan" per se, but when we were living in Hawaii, we didn't have cable, and only got a few very fuzzy local channels. This was right after we got married, when I was just discovering my love of cooking, and her new talk show was the only "food show" I had. So, I pretty much watched it every day.

One day I was struck by, what is the only recipe I have ever made of hers, Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms. At the time, I was vegetarian, and was more concerned with making it healthier (using fat free ricotta, and less cheese).

Well, we went out to dinner at a decidedly non-vegan establishment this weekend and there it was on the menu. Spinach and artichoke dip. Yum. Definitely a favorite of the appetizer world. Into my head popped that mushroom recipe and a new version, a Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushroom, was born.

You will need:

1 medium Onion, diced

12 oz Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained

8 oz Artichoke Hearts, canned in water

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

1 tsp (or to taste) Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 package Mori-Nu Lite Silken Tofu

1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast

3 Garlic Cloves

3 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp dried Basil

1 tsp dried Parsley

1/4 tsp (or to taste) Cayenne

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

6 Portobello Mushroom Caps

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the oil, sautee the onion, artichoke hearts, spinach, italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.

In a food processor or blender, blend together the tofu, nutritional yeast, garlic, vinegar, basil, parsley, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Clean the mushroom, removing stems and gills, and lightly score an X into the bottom of the caps.

Spray the bottom of the caps with cooking spray, and place gill side up in a baking dish.

Fill each cap generously with dip. There should be enough for 6 good sized mushrooms. If you have extra (I only had 3 mushrooms, so we had a lot of extra), you can make a few ramekins of it.

Serves 6

Nutrition Information: 153.5 Calories; 4.7g Total Fat; 0.7g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 17.7g Carbohydrates; 7.2g Fiber; 14.1g Protein

This got big thumbs up from both myself and my husband. This is also the perfect dinner for me because I get home from work fairly late, and I don't like to eat anything heavy and very filling, but I still want real food for dinner. Not to mention, its gluten free, fairly low in fat, and higher in protein and fiber. Yummy and good for you too!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. My husband and I are thinking about getting a new kitten. Keep your fingers crossed that Zoe is okay with this!

Vega Sport - An Honest Review

2009-11-09T03:24:00.000-08:00

How was everyone's weekend? Hopefully the weather was beautiful for you too, and you went out and did something fun. Yesterday morning, I lay in bed, convincing myself that I didn't have to work out. I don't usually work out on Sundays, but...I missed Friday. So I *should* work out, but it was, after all, a Sunday. A day to relax. The last day of the weekend. You know the feeling, right?

So I used my husband. Its always easier to go out and exercise if he is coming with. Coupled with a promise of breakfast at our favorite place, we took it the next level, and instead of doing cardio in our basement gym, we went for a run around the lake near our place.

Before we went though, we downed some of the newest product from Vega: Vega Sport Performance Optimizer.

I get a decent amount of products to review. Most of them are just fine. Although I've said before that Vega isn't my favorite. The regular stuff is too weird tasting me for me to bother with. The Smoothie Infusion isn't too bad, once its mixed with fruit, fruit juice, and maybe some coconut milk yogurt.

And while I've never been a fan of "performance optimzers" in the past, I really have to say that I love this stuff.

First: The Taste

Well, typical of Vega products, on its own it doesn't taste like ice cream going down. But it doesn't taste terrible either. In fact, I've only taken it three times, and its definitely a taste you get used to easily. I was gifted the berry variety, and its definitely drinkable on its own, but its actually good with half-water, half-apple cider.

Second: The Ingredients

If you know anything about Vega, you know that the ingredients are top notch. The main ingredient is sprouted whole grain brown rice syrup, intended to give you an instant energy boost, and organic palm nectar, for sustained energy (it claims around 30 minutes worth). Coupled with Yerba Mate, Green Tea, Kombucha, Rhodiola Extract, Ginger Extract, etc, this stuff is full of not only energy, but herbs that are meant to stimulate your system to help you naturally perform better.

Third: The Results

So all this doesn't matter if it doesn't work, right? Well, it does. And I don't just say this because they sent it to me, honestly, I wouldn't do that. This stuff, no joke, works. I first tried it last Monday and went for a run on the treadmill after not having ran for over two months because I hurt my knee. It seemed to work, but I wasn't convinced yet. After all, I ran pretty slow, and hey, it could have just been endorphins. I also used it before my first Mysore yoga class on Thursday, just to have something in my system.

But what really has convinced me that this product is awesome was our run yesterday. Remember, this is after not having really ran at all (besides Monday) for over two months). The loop around our lake is 3.65 miles, and I didn't feel the need to stop and walk for any of it. This might not mean anything to you, but I haven't not stopped on a run that long in well over a year. I have never felt that good on a run, my body never got tired, and my mind was completely clear and focused.

I also had a girl yell at me that I was her inspiration as we ran past her and her friend walking. So there you go, I have their new tag line. Vega Sport - Be Inspiring.

It comes in two flavors, and I have yet to try the lemon-lime. I don't really know what that would mix with, maybe orange juice? Suggestions anyone? At only 70 calories a serving, I feel it needs to be mixed with a little something.

So there you have it folks. A product that does what it claims to do. How often does that happen? Of course, Vega is always on the pricey side, but I really think this stuff is worth it. In fact, I will probably continue to purchase it myself once I run out of the container they were so generous to send me.

This actually makes me really excited to start running again. I'm seriously looking forward to doing our Turkey Trot again at the end of the month! Maybe I can get my dad to try it too!

Gifts From Friends

2009-11-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of fun stuff that comes with blogging: making new friends, receiving product samples, hosting giveaways, eating lots of food at every vegan restaurant you can find because you must report back to those friends, lest they be stranded in your corner of the world with nothing to eat...

But by far, the best thing about blogging is swapping gifts with said friends. Even better is when you are lucky enough to receive homemade gifts. And this past week I was the lucky recipient of homemade treats from two wonderful bloggers.

First, I won Amy's lovely giveaway of her own homemade jam. I opted for the Vanilla Bing Cherry variety and I was not disappointed. This is extremely delicious, even better than I anticipated. You can clearly taste both the sweet tart cherries and that clean splash of vanilla. Thank you Amy, you are so talented!

Not to mention it came with a completely adorable giraffe card!!

Happily following the cherry trend, I was surprised by another package a few days after Amy's arrived. I got excited when I saw that return address, as it was from none other than Hannah, and from the shape of the box, I was crossing my fingers for some more homemade goodness.

Sure enough, out popped a bag of Coconut Granola with Cherries. Yum.

Yes, Hannah, I do love coconut, and I especially loved how as soon I as opened the bag, the coconut smell hit my nose immediately. This is very delicious, and we are big granola lovers in this house! Thank you so much!

I am so thrilled so have been the recipient of such kindness this month. And with the holidays fast approaching, the season of giving and sharing is already in full swing. If you're in the mood to help someone out, hop on over and visit Katie, to support Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness. All it takes is a click...literally!

Enjoy the day, everyone!

A Treat For Me!

2009-10-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I worked last night and my brother is playing a show tonight that I am going up to my parents' to see, so I have successfully avoided any parties. Don't get me wrong. Normally, I love a good party. I just hate getting dressed up.

Nevertheless, I still came home to find a treat on my doorstep. It wasn't candy. Not a little black cat. Wasn't a little green goblin. It was...

Granted, I sent this to myself. But still, it got here just in time to be a Halloween treat! And a day sooner than expected!! With recipes for everything from healthy(ish) applesauce cookies to homemade vegan Samoas (you know, the best Girl Scout cookie ever), this is most definitely going to be appearing frequently in my kitchen. I love cookies.

Sadly, I didn't have enough time or resources to make anything in there before bed last night (our pantry situation is dismal, we don't even have oatmeal!!). Plus, I will be away this weekend at my parents' and then Boston Veg Fest Sunday. I think the Veg Fest treats will make up for delaying the baking madness that VCIYCJ will ensue. Hm. I don't like the acronym for this one. I think I'm shortening it to VCI - VEGAN COOKIES INVADE!! --- Very Halloween appropriate.

I hope everyone enjoys whatever it is that they enjoy about Halloween, whether it be the treats, or the little kids in costume, and I will see you Monday with a Veg Fest recap! I also want to thank you all for your Blog-iversary support, I love the comments, and it kick started my little blogger spark. Have a great weekend!

The Vegan Strong Blog-iversary!

2009-10-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

I sat here today, thinking about how I was feeling a bit of the blogging slump. How I really wanted to just be excited about cooking again for the sake of cooking and not for blogging. I was thinking, its probably just like anything else, where the initial excitement starts to fade and you have to get through a rough patch to reach your stride. Of course, I say this all with a light heart, as it is, after all, just a blog.

But I started thinking about this in terms of the year and how after I hit a year, it'd probably be on the upswing. Literally, this happened less than a minute ago. Then I realized...it HAS been about a year. So I checked and, it has actually been EXACTLY a year! So, happy Blog-iversary to Vegan Strong. Its been quite a year. Some has changed, and some has not.

Bulgar Wheat and Soy, my second post, is still one of my favorite things.

My Vegan Coat is itching to officially come out of the closet this year (I have a new hat to go with it).

I had a Gluten-Free week, which definitely made me more sensitive to those of you with gluten intolerances/allergies/celiac's/etc.

I tried to involve as much of the "strong" in Vegan Strong as possible with posts about protein, protein powder recipes, and workouts, and while I know they aren't the favorite posts, they're important to me.

I've had a few raw days in there, something I wish I was more diligent about doing on a regular basis!

You were all there with me during my student teaching experience, the good and the bad.

I went to Hawaii and Maine, and moved to New Jersey.

And most recently, you've heard about my complete career change, which I am still really happy with.

All in all, its been quite a year, and I can't believe how quickly its gone by. I am really looking forward to this coming year, especially the upcoming holidays! I hope that I've been able to share some of my personality, my sense of humor, and given you an idea of who I am. Its been really great getting to know a lot of my fellow bloggers and developing relationships and doing exchanges and giveaways with them.

So thank all of you for visiting, reading, and commenting. I really love hearing from everyone, and I hope that I give back to you what you all give to me!

Have a great day everyone! And I hope you'll stick with me for another year!!

Its Yum Yum

2009-10-28T04:23:00.000-07:00

Vegan Yum Yum, that is. If you don't have Lauren Ulm's new book, you are missing out! Not only do the recipes all sound delicious, the full color photography is beautiful. Don't lie, you love when your cookbooks show awesome pictures of the food. I do.

Admittedly, life has been busy lately. While I have a lot of free time in the morning now, I pretty much come home and go to bed, which = no dinner. Don't worry, I'm eating, just not anything at all fancy.

But the Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad from Vegan Yum Yum was so quick and easy to throw together that it was able to make an appearance!

Browning the chickpeas gave them a warm golden color, and the artichokes gave a distinct flavor that was of course delicious. I really thought that the toasted ground nuts made it pretty, distinct, and yummy all at the same time. We actually threw this together with some whole wheat pasta to make a pasta salad.

Now on Sundays, I bake. Forgive me for taking a few days to get this up (I so badly wanted to talk about my Vegan Brunch that it had to wait!), but I made some of Veggie Girl's Peanut Butter Banana Bread.

Sans bananas on top...I had already used 3 of Nick's bananas (he eats about 10 a week).

This is yummy, although I found that mine was very crumbly. It also took way longer to bake than hers did. I don't know if I didn't add enough milk (vague recipes and me don't go together well when it comes to baking), but it was delicious just the same. Especially heated up the next day with some Earth Balance and a glass of soymilk...which coincidentally is what I just had for breakfast!

*Sidenote: Does anyone else have a cat who LOVES Earth Balance? Zoe will try to lick some of it up whenever I have it on something.*

So while the new job doesn't exactly provide a ton of time for cooking, there is still plenty of opportunity to squeeze in some good food. Today I am hoping to try a curry in my slow cooker. How do you balance food, work, and blogging about food? If I wasn't blogging, I wouldn't have an issue, I'd just have Trader Joe's soy nuggets for dinner every night. But no one wants to hear about that. Its good though, this keeps me on my toes and out of vegan convenience food mode, but its hard to make it all fit.

Other than finding that balance, everything is good, and the new job is going very well so far! There are lots of cute puppies that I get to play with every day. I hope everyone is having a great week, Happy Wednesday!

Vegan Brunch: Philly

2009-10-26T03:25:00.001-07:00

Most things are fairly easy to replace in a vegan form. Now that Vegan Brunch has taken the world by storm, its even easy to replicate a lot of your favorite breakfast dishes, like the formerly elusive omelet. However, one of our favorite pastimes has always been going out for breakfast. With most diner offerings no longer being options, and our not wanting to pay $8 for a bowl of oatmeal, what is a vegan couple to do?

Well, after a quick search for vegan breakfast venues in Philadelphia, we just ate at home. Kind of a no-brainer. But then, when I was least expecting it, a place serving vegan brunch came onto my radar. Excuse me? I thought I had thoroughly researched this?!? A quick Google search told me that I was horrifyingly wrong, and hence, we had to go. ASAP.

Enter Mi Lah Vegetarian Restaurant, which is vegan, and on Saturdays and Sundays they serve up a fantastic vegan brunch.

We started out with a cup of coffee, with a sweet little plate of seasonal fruit. I love that its apple season, by the way. The decor in this place is perfectly sweet and modern, I really loved it.

It was very hard to make a decision because so many things looked so good. Okay, everything looked so good. The menu on their website it outdated, it used to be a Prix Fixe, but now they have a larger variety of entrees, and also encourage making yourself a meal out of their side dishes. (If you're curious about the price, now that it is not prix fixe, it was actually cheaper for us.)

I settled on the dish I had heard raves about, the omelet. Not really an omelet fan in my pre-vegan days, this was completely perfect.

My three fillings were red pepper, vegan sausage, and cheddar cheese. I was hesitant about the cheese, because as I've said here and again, I hate almost all vegan cheese (yes, even Teese, yes, even Daiya), but this was good. Altogether the omelet was amazing, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and plenty of filling. On the side were some red bliss and sweet potato home fries. All incredibly yummy.

Nick had the Yard Beer battered seitan with Belgian waffles. They ended up being chocolate waffles! He seemed fairly pleased with his, although he said he wanted an omelet next time.

As I mentioned, they have a wide variety of sides, not least of which is French Toast. Nick had to try the French Toast, so we split it, and...it was divine. On good crusty bread, it was wonderfully sweet with just a splash of their organic maple syrup.

All in all, I can't wait to go back. I'm not kidding, I wanted to go back for dinner (we didn't). There are quite a few vegan restaurants in Philly, and many of them are Chinese. New Harmony and Singapore are two we've tried and are both very good. But sometimes you want brunch, and sometimes, you don't want Chinese food! So I'm happy that when this place is done with their delicious vegan brunch, they break out a very local, seasonal, menu. Think: brussels sprout and butternut squash gratin. Granted, they have this at Horizons, but this is less expensive.

The moral of this story is, be sure to go here. Don't even think twice, if you're in the Philly area, or within driving distance, you must go. Oh, and you don't even have to get up that early because, in true brunch fashion, they serve until 3. You will be happy, I promise!

New Week, New Job, New Food!

2009-10-19T05:31:00.000-07:00

There are a few things I haven't really mentioned on here. First, I quit my job. Second, I got a new one. I know a lot of you were with me for my student teaching earlier this year, and I was really stressed out. I started a job with a very large school district here, and it just wasn't working for me. I think I cried every day except Fridays and Saturdays. So I quit.

Today I am starting a new job at a vet's office. I am really looking forward to it. The best part is that I don't have to do hours of planning at home, so I had plenty of time to get everything ready for this week regarding food. Of course, food is the first thing that pops into my mind when I have any kind of free time.

Sundays now, are spent planning meals, food shopping and cooking. All through the week when I find something I want to make, I put it on the "Dinner Ideas" list, and then add the ingredients to the list. By Sunday, I maybe have one meal to add, and we are ready to go. After hitting Trader Joe's (we are addicted to their granola, aka crack in a box) and Wegmans, I headed back for a nice afternoon of cooking my little heart out.

First up is a batch of seitan, same as I made last week. I had dinner plans, but I really wanted to bake something. I poured through my many cookbooks and ended up on the computer going through Sweet Freedom. I love this cookbook, but I've only made a few things because many of the recipes include things that I should have on hand...but don't. Like agave. I ran out a few months ago and didn't buy it again. There is a lot of agave. Anyway, I settled on a delicious Raisin Tea Bread. Named not because it is to be eaten with tea (which was what I thought), but because there is actually tea as part of the liquid in it. Sweetened lightly with maple syrup and made with whole grain spelt, this baked up beautifully, with a nice crunch to the exterior, but a light and moist interior.

I used Chai Tea, which was intensified by the warm spices added to the bread.

After that, we watched a movie and I have to say that our recent movie rentals have been dismal. One of them we didn't even finish, and the other two...if I had my way, we wouldn't have. Nick said, that's what you get when you get your movies from a vending machine (Redbox), but I really think we just chose poorly.

Dinner was Breakfast. Or the other way around. I wanted to try Bianca's Breakfast Casserole, and I knew I would never actually get around to making it for breakfast. Her recipe calls for the use of any cheesy sauce recipe, and I doubled this recipe, from Fat Free Vegan's Eggplant Parmesan, which was one of the first posts I made on here, actually.

It came out delicious; yummy pieces of soaked bread, chunks of scrambled tofu, and bites of smoky sausage. I used Yves breakfast sausage, and I added garlic and onion to the scramble. Next time I think I will add some greenery to it, maybe mix in some peppers, or spinach.

Of course, it was only natural to follow this up with something else breakfast-y, the Tea Bread! With some vegan cream cheese slathered on, this was the perfect end to my day of food.

How do you go about planning your meals for the week? Do you just play it by ear with what's in the fridge? Go shopping every other day? Plan everything in advance and hope it all works out?

Hope everyone has a fantastic week! I hope to see you back here fairly often since, as my job doesn't start until 11, I will have plenty of blogging time!

First Squash of the Season

2009-10-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

The leaves are changing colors, there is a definite chill in the air and Halloween is just around the corner. But in my house, something is missing. For some reason, it just wasn't fall yet.

Well that reason was the squash. I was so excited when I first saw squash at our grocery store, and they are my favorites, so I picked them up right away. And they sat on the counter for over a week (you may have seen them lurking in some photos this week).

One of the reasons I love acorn squash, is that they are the perfect size for becoming a single-serve bowl.

I liked how my lovely friend at kubiclekitchen used them as a bowl for chili, and I decided that I would be a copycat. So after I cut them in half and roasted them, that is precisely what I stuffed my warm, orange, edible bowls with.

Three Bean Chili in the better edible bowl

This only used one half of my squashies though. Nick wasn't home, so he didn't have one, and he didn't take one to work along with the rest of the leftovers.

I don't know what the weather is like by you, but it is ugly here: rainy, foggy, cold. And I finally had that little light in my head go off that said "Time for Soup".

Not only was it the perfect time for soup, but it was the perfect time to use up the leftover squash, and a pantry items that I rarely use: red lentils.

Except, although I rarely use lentils, I ended up not having enough (go figure), so split peas went into the pot as well, along with some leftover roasted squash.

Roasted Squash and Lentil Soup

1 cup TOTAL red lentils and split peas

1/2 cup brown rice

6 cups broth (I used half low-sodium)

2 onions

3 carrots

3 cloves garlic

1 roasted acorn squash

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp dry rubbed sage

1/2 tsp ground sage

1/2 cup cooked beluga lentils (optional)

diced avocado (optional)

Serves 4-6

The onion, garlic, and carrots were sliced and diced, then sauteed until soft with the red pepper and sage. The squash, removed from its skin, was roughly chopped and thrown into the pot.

The broth was added and brought to a boil, and then the rice, lentils, and peas were added. This all cooked together for about 40 minutes, when the lentils were mush, and the rice was tender. The cooked beluga lentils were stirred in during the last two minutes and were just added something pretty, they are not necessary.

This could be pureed...except the rice kind of gets in the way. To puree, cook the rice separately, then add when everything else has been cooked and pureed. I happen to like my soup chunky.

Add some diced avocado for some cooling creamy bites, and this made a perfectly wonderful rainy day soup. Just a little spice, just a little sweet, and perfectly warm and hearty for a chilly day.

So there we have it, the first squash of the season, and now I have finally entered fall. I am much more in the fall mood now, and these warm meals have been perfect for this rainy weather. Is anyone else super antsy for the holidays this year?? I can't wait.

We have some indoor fun planned this weekend at the Philly Wine and Food Festival, which should be fun! I hope you all have something fun planned! And if not...eat some soup!

Choosing a New Gym + A Slippery Mat Tip

2009-10-15T03:07:00.000-07:00

I mentioned yesterday that we joined a new gym, and I got a request to talk about it. Well, since we went out for dinner with my dad last night, I don't have any food to share (although you are more than willing to continue the wrap vs. bed debate!), I thought I would share our gym search experience and what I think is important in finding a gym.

1. Where do you live?

Okay, this one is obvious. If its too far from home you won't want to drive there. But, when we first moved here, we just went to the gym across the street...a chain which will remain nameless. So keep in mind that closeness doesn't always equal bestness (yes, I made up this word). We were members for about 3 months and only went a handful of times.

2. What do you do at the gym?

Cardio?:

Do they have a wide variety of cardio machines that you like to use? Are they set up in a way where you feel comfortable? In our current gym there is a women's only area which is nice for ladies who may be a little self-conscious (I guess self-conscious males just need to get a straw and suck it up), or just want a more relaxed atmosphere.

Weights?:

Is there a variety of equipment in a variety of weights? Don't join a gym that has what you need right now, but not enough for you to grow into. And make sure they have what you want. Do you like free weights or pre-loaded machines? Hammer strength your thing? If there is a specific piece of equipment, make sure its there. For example, my husband and I will under no circumstances join a gym without a squat rack. That's just crazy talk.

Classes?:

If classes are your thing (anyone miss leotards???), make sure the ones you want don't cost extra and make sure they fit with your schedule. Do the classes get extremely crowded? Do you need to be there at a certain time to sign up? Are the instructors and classes current? Lots of gyms are incorporating functional strength and Zumba classes now. Those classes may not be important to you, but the fact that they exist might show that the other classes you DO care about are more current also.

3. No frills vs. Bells and whistles

The "no frills" gyms are becoming more and more popular: Planet Fitness, Retro Fitness, etc. If you are the kind of person who goes to the gym with solely for cardio or lifting and are happy with your iPod to entertain you and like a minimalist atmosphere, this may be the place for you.

Or, you may be the type of person who likes your own TV on each piece of cardio equipment. Maybe having towel service is important to you. Perhaps you'd like child care and a spa in your gym. If it is going to get you to work out, it might just be worth it.

If you're thinking, well I would *like* my own TV (I do), but those places cost so much more, that brings me to point 4.

4. Price

Don't let the prices listed online deter you from a gym that seems ideal but way to expensive. Gyms are ALWAYS having special offers. For example, my husband and I left a gym where we were paying $40 a month. We went to visit a gym, even though I thought it was way too expensive (they told us $59-$120 a month), because it seemed so ideal. Turns out they were having a special where you paid $59 a month...for two people. We also got a month free because we transferred from a competing gym, as well a free massage. How can you say no to a free massage? Also, be sure to ask about student rates or military discounts!

4. Facilities

Do you need a pool? A sauna? Maybe you like to play some 3 on 3 when you get off of work. If so, you probably want a gym with at least a half-court. Are you going to use the locker room? Is there a pro shop or a smoothie bar? How qualified is the personal training staff? Would you like to see a nutritionist? Is there physical therapy on site? What do you need? This is your money, don't let yourself be persuaded by a gym to pay more for a bunch of cool stuff that you won't use.

5. Music

I only add this because of my husband. He hated the music at our old gym so much that he commented about it every single time we were in the gym...and it kind of made him angry. Our first day in the new gym we were lifting to Manchester Orchestra, and he was immediately immensely happier.

6. The "Feel"

Lastly, the most important, and the most objective, how does it feel? Is it a family environment or a meat market? Does the membership representative you talk to sound like he's trying to screw you over? I know it sounds obvious, but someone who sounds like they're trying to sweet talk you probably has something to hide. Look for a gym that sells itself, with a membership representative who seems proud of what they're doing, and doesn't feel the need to justify the price to you. It should feel right.

Check the layout. Our last gym had a wide variety of weight lifting equipment, but it was a horrible layout. Everything was way too cramped, even when it wasn't crowded.

And of course, the advice that is always given, make sure you visit at the time you will be going. Also, make sure you are looking at the area you will be working out in. If you are going to the gym at 7PM, and there is no one on the cardio machines, but the weight room is packed, and you're going there you lift, you might want to think about that.

Our Gym: I am so happy with the gym we ended up with. As I have mentioned before, the things I mainly go to the gym for are weight lifting and yoga. I know yoga studios are great, but they are expensive, even if you don't also have a gym membership. So it is advantageous to me, to be able to go to yoga at a gym. Its just cheaper. Well, this gym has a great weight area. It has two squat racks, plus more cables than I've ever seen. There is a TV on every cardio machine, which I do enjoy (we don't have cable, so I like watching TV when I work out).

But the best part, in my opinion, is the classes. The schedule is huge, and that's because they have three studios, one of which is specifically a yoga and mat pilates studio. The classes are consistent, they don't get overly crowded, and they have a wide variety of levels and types.

This place does have all the bells and whistles, the masseuse, the pro shop, the smoothie bar, child care, all things we will probably never use. But considering that it is actually cheaper than our old gym, it is nice to have them there, plus it has a very family oriented feel. The membership rep was incredibly nice, no nonsense, the place sold itself...and he told us that.

He also gave us a handful of guest passes. That's a good sign. Of course they want you to bring people, they want to get new members, from their currently loved members. I was never a fan of only being allowed so many guests.

One thing I have found is that I tend to like gyms that have a focus. For example, my gym at my parents' house had a focus in gymnastics. This gym is actually a huge tennis facility. No, we'll probably never use it for tennis, but the largess of such buildings leads to more room for other fitness facility, especially upstairs levels, since they require large ceilings. Plus, there are a lot of family-oriented people going there for lessons, bringing kids for lessons etc. If you hate seeing kids in your gym, maybe that's not a good idea (maybe a more minimalist gym is better for you), but they're not in the work out area. It just tends to attract a more responsible crowd and I find that common space ends up being more respected.

One fast yoga tip:

So you can do more than child's pose

Have a slippery yoga mat? This is typical of new mats. Try washing it in your washing machine with a few tsp of vinegar and let it hang dry.

That helps, but the best thing is to use it. Okay, that can be hard when it is slippery; kind of a double edged sword. Try leaving it on the floor of your kitchen to stand on while you cook. It'll help the wear-in process, just by walking all over it!

So there you have it. I love my gym. Anyone have any other tips for choosing a gym? I would love to add any suggestions to the list!

In a Wrap or on a Bed

2009-10-14T05:55:00.000-07:00

My husband loves things to be wrapped, sandwiched, covered with some sort of carbohydrate goodness. While I'm not afraid of carbs, I prefer that they be a separate entity (like muffins). So its become a trend that when I make tacos, or burritos, or anything that could be a wrap or sandwich, I end up eating it on a bed of greens.

Yesterday, our wrap vs. bed meal was BBQ Seitan Tacos.

This weekend I used this recipe for Seitan Cutlets.

I chopped up three cutlets and mixed with half an onion, sliced thin, and enough BBQ sauce to coat. I let it marinate while I cut up some avocado, tomato, and cilantro. After that, the seitan and onion went into a medium-hot pan coated with cooking spray, and it was covered, and cooked for about 15 minutes, stirring periodically (but not too often, so you get those nice brown spots).

Then the raging debate began.

On a wrap?

Or on a bed?

Then the debate ended because our mouths were too full. This was so easy and so yummy. Plus I had no idea how happy avocado makes my husband!

Anyone else for the wrap? Or the bed? I'm a supporter of greens wherever I can get them!

I am now off to a yoga class! We started at a new gym and I am quite pleased.

Fiesta Oats

2009-10-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Pesonally, I think this is delicious, but my husband thinks its gross and a complete disgrace to oatmeal.

I love it. I think its fun, its colorful, its got veggies and whole grains. How could you go wrong. Well, decide for yourself, but I present you with one of my most favorite meals, that I probably have at least 3 times a week:

Fiesta Oats!

The consistently ugly pictures are what has kept me from posting about this...bear with me.

The ingredients are as simple as you'd think:

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 1/2 cups frozen broccoli

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup salsa

1/3 cup frozen corn.

Its the method though, that makes it perfect:

First, cook the broccoli (I just use the "frozen veg" option on my microwave)

Add the oatmeal, salsa, and water, stir until combined.

Cook at 50% power for 5 minutes.

(You should cover with a paper towel or something, it splatters)

Remove, stir in corn, cook an additional 30 seconds on 100% power.

Then, enjoy!

Keep in mind that it just finished being in the microwave for well over 5 minutes. That sucker is HOT. Sometimes I use oven mitts, but since I never eat in close proximity to my microwave, I always put the bowl onto a hot plate for transport

Today, I am eating in front of my computer, love Mac's Photo Booth.

I highly suggest you try it, the salsa makes the oats even more creamy, plus it gives them a little bit of a kick. Some pep. Something totally yummy and awesome. Oh, plus it is versatile; I've usually have it for breakfast but it is now also my default for lunch or dinner. I have added some black beans for a more substantial meal, Trader Joe's soy nuggets or tofu scramble for an extra boost of protein, and yesterday when I was out of frozen broccoli, I used frozen peppers and onions instead (for something I like to call, Fajita Oats). Any of those things get added in with the corn.

So there you have it. Weird but amazing and satisfying. Yummy way to start the day!

Pear Berry-Jam Muffins

2009-10-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

I know that fall is synonymous with apples, but pears are really the fruit that has always done it for me. Since they aren't grown locally, their season is sort of muddled, but now is when they're on sale, and now is when Trader Joe's sells a 1/2 peck of them for a few dollars. That, in my pear-loving book, is a deal.

I mostly like my pears unadulterated. Yes, a baked pear is nice, and they could be a nice addition to a salad, but for the most part, I just bite right in.

For this particular 1/2 peck of pears, I made an exception, and modified the Jam-Filled Oat Bran Muffins in Joy of Vegan Baking to include some of these perfectly ripened pieces of fruit.

Pear Berry-Jam Muffins (modified from JoVB)

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

6 Tbsp water

2 cups oat bran

1 cup spelt flour (could sub any other flour, AP or WW, etc)

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup unsweetened soymilk

1/3 cup sunflower oil (use any light oil)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups chopped pears

1/2 cup blackberry preserves

I've been on a Trader Joe's 'kick' recently (I love the Chili-Lime cashews), and have been buying more and more stuff from them. One of my recent purchases was of my most favorite kind of jelly/jam/preserve, blackberry.

The fact that its low(er) in sugar makes it even better. The lack of sugar is definitely noticeable, but it actually lets the taste of the blackberry peek through a little more. I felt this would pair with my pears perfectly; the deep purple next to the light green is a beautiful contrast, plus...it tastes good.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Whip the flaxseed and water to make your "flax egg" (I like to use a mini-food processor or my Magic Bullet for this job)

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients (even the sugar!): flour, oat bran, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt.

In a small bowl combine the wet: milk, vanilla, oil, flax "egg" mixture.

Stir the pears into the wet mixture, then combine wet with dry, stirring until just combined.

Take out your muffin tins and either grease or apply muffin cups.

Fill cups halfway with muffin batter.

Using a 1/2 tsp, scoop out a dollop of jam (about 1 tsp).

Nestle the jam in the batter, then cover the jam with another spoonful of batter.

Bake 15-20 minutes. I took mine out around 18 minutes.

These came out completely perfectly. Little chunks of pear in a muffin that is warm with whole grain nuttiness from the oat bran, and then the jam...who doesn't like something filled with jam?

If you want to get crazy, these probably wouldn't mind being highlighted with some walnuts too, nuts in muffins just aren't my thing.

I made a half batch of these, and I came out with about 9 muffins. So plan for 16-18.

Nutrition Information: 158.7 Calories; 5.5g Total Fat; 0.5g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 24.2g Carbohydrates; 3.5g Fiber; 3.4g Protein.

If anyone is wondering about the sporadic-ness of the nutrition information, that is because while I don't count calories, I liked to calculate in the past to highlight how healthy vegan food is. I don't necessarily have the time for that now, but if I do have time, or if I'm curious myself (as I was for these), I'll post it! And if there is anything where I don't post it, and YOU are curious, let me know, I'd be more than happy to calculate for you!

One last thing...Bianca posted about this the other day, and while I assume I must be the last to know, maybe this will light up someone else's life as it did mine...

Skittles are vegan! This makes me incredibly happy, as they were always one of my favorites (back in high school, I logged onto their website everyday at work to vote to keep the green lime, and not apple). If you buy a pack now, you'll see under the ingredients that they are Gluten Free and Gelatin Free. Pretty cool. Healthy? No. Fake fruit flavored sugary goodness? Yes. Granted, they're a "once in awhile" food, but its nice to know they're there, and they're animal-free.

Enjoy the rest of your Columbus Day weekend! Hopefully you have some festivals to go to, fall is in full swing!

Baked Falafel Patty

2009-10-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

This past summer my husband spent a month in Washington state. Left to his own newly vegan devices (less than month), he subsisted on the same few meals over and over. One of them being falafel from the food court next door. He was going there on a pretty regular basis until the owner thanked him for his continual business, and then he got embarrassed and cut it down to only a few times a week.

While there are plenty of places to buy falafel around here, it is such a easy (and healthier!) thing to make at home that I have taken to making him a big batch and freezing it. Well, now I just refrigerate it because he goes through it so quickly there's no reason to freeze.

Yesterday we both had falafel for dinner, and there is just something so satisfying about those chickpea patties.

Our recipes involves a few additions and then we pair it with a silken tofu tahini sauce.

Baked Falafel

3 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp dried cilantro

2 Tbsp dried mint

2 cups chickpeas

1/2 cup rolled oats

2 Tbsp wheat gluten flour

3 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

water (optional)

*This recipe doubles...or triples (which I did last night) very well*

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix garlic, cilantro, mint, chickpeas, gluten flour, and oats in a food processor until chopped and blended.

Sprinkle baking powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper over the mixture.

I like my falafel mix to be almost paste-like, so at this point I will add about 2 Tbsp of water.

Form the falafel mixture into patties (you could go for more traditional balls, but it will affect your cooking time), and place on a greased baking sheet.

Cook 10 minutes, remove and flip, and cook another 10 minutes until golden brown.

Now, my husband is also a big fan of hummus, so that invariably goes into his pita, but I prefer the taste of tahini with my falafel, rather than overload the chickpeas with more chickpeas (although I guess some would propose that impossible!).

Silken Tofu Tahini Sauce

1/2 cup silken tofu

3 Tbsp tahini

1 clove garlic

3 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

water to texture

salt and pepper to taste

Add everything into a small food processor or blender, and blend together. Add water to achieve the consistency you like. Ours was fairly thick, I added about 2 Tbsp of water.

In addition to health-i-fying the falafel by baking rather than frying, I had a falafel salad instead of a pita. As I've said before, I'm not a big sandwich person.

Go enjoy some falafel. Its good for you, its got protein and fiber, and..umm....its delicious!! Any other falafel lovers out there? From what I've seen, no one rivals my husband!

New Harmony in Philadelphia

2009-10-06T04:52:00.000-07:00

We have been living "just outside Philly" for a few months now. But since we're always away on the weekends, we have barely gotten to get over there at all. And after my initial disappointment, we finally got a chance to make up for it.

There are a few places that I have really been wanting to try. First on the list however, was a place that was right over the bridge that had vegan Dim Sum. How could you possibly go wrong? You can't, and they did not. The place is New Harmony Vegetarian, and for $12 a person, we got all the Dim Sum we could eat!

Hot and Sour Soup

Steamed Veggies and Scallion Pancake

Steamed Veggies and a Tofu Skin Roll

Steamed "Pork" Dumplings

Dessert: Fried Bananas and Fortune Cookies

Not pictured is Nick's Won Ton soup, and sticky rice with black eyed peas and vegan ham.

It was all good. Every last bit of it. But the *best* was the "Pork" dumplings. They were perfectly delicate, and savory, and just really wonderful. Another winner: fried bananas. It is kind of their specialty, they suggested it as soon as we said "dessert". Simply bananas in a light batter, fried, with a light sweet sauce. It was ooey and gooey and just totally perfect.

Its going to be hard to not come here every weekend! Those dumplings were really that good. Plus, who doesn't love a good fortune cookie?

If you are ever in the Philly area, definitely stop by. Although I am glad to find that my initial disappointment was unjustified, and there are plenty of really great veg places in Philadelphia!!

On the Road Again ted

2009-09-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

We just can't seem to stay home on the weekends. We're always somewhere, and the past two weekends in a row have brought us down to the area where we went to college, and where my husband grew up.

A few weekends ago (has it really been that long?), we hit up the first annual DC VegFest.

Lots of vegan vendors, and lots of vegan food. We both, obviously, had to have dessert. Our own desserts. I had already been to Vegan Treats and Sticky Fingers, so we hit up Emily's Desserts. Nick had the chocolate cheesecake, which was to die for.

I was boring, and had my default dessert, carrot cake. If ever there is carrot cake available, that is what I will be having! And this was one of the most adorable carrot cakes ever.

After all that sweet, I needed some more substantial food. Nick had a falafel which was gone way before there was an inkling of picture time. I had a house made mini veggie burger from Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant.

Does anyone else not like sandwiches? I didn't eat the bun, just the burger, and the little cup of chili. It was pretty good, although I wasn't a fan of the service...the person taking orders was a little intense.

When we head down to either the DC or Baltimore area, we stay with my in-laws. My sister in law is gluten-free, so even though she is away at college now, my mother in law is constantly searching for places that she can go to when she is home. In doing this she found Great Sage, which is all vegetarian, almost all vegan, often gluten free restaurant in Clarksville, MD. We went there one weekend with my in-laws, and I forgot my camera. But we liked it so much that we went back by ourselves the next weekend.

This didn't quite capture it, but the atmosphere is really nice. Very calm, and that art on the back wall is actually a water feature. I think I stared at it for 75% of the time we were there the first visit.

We were really hungry, so Nick dug into the bread right away.

He was nice enough to let me snap a quick pic of his vegetable terrine before he dug into that.

I had the special which was grilled polenta with white truffle, on roasted garlic puree, topped with vegan parmesan (Daiya - not a fan, I took it off), and garlic sauteed spinach, garnished with roasted pearl onions. This was totally as good as it sounds, even though the picture is kind of dark.

If you ever find yourself in Clarksville, or are driving from Baltimore to DC, or are just going south on 95 and want to stop for some really good veg food, you should most definitely go there.

We also visited St. Michaels on Maryland's Eastern Shore. While there was no fun food, I did see flowers that looked just like the head flower from Alice in Wonderland.

Is anyone else really looking forward to the new version of this coming out? Looks trippy. Alice in Wonderland was always one of my favorite movies. Its one of the few movies I actually own.

We walked by the water too, and saw some jellyfish. I watched them for far longer than was probably considered normal, but I think they are so cool. Plus, I've never seen them in the "wild" before, just in aquariums.

I have the hardest time going away on the weekends because I miss Zoe! She is a really good girl while we're gone, but I like to think that she really misses me. So when we came home, we cuddled a little.

So that is where I have been, and what I have been doing. Now that school is in full swing, I don't know how often I will be able to post, but we are canceling our cable tomorrow, so hopefully I will have more time to dedicate to blogging instead of feeling like I have to catch up on television!

But I wouldn't expect to hear from me this weekend. Now we're heading up north to my family!

Beating the Boredom Back to School Workout

2009-09-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile I realize that I have neglected the "Strong" portion of the blog. Fear not, it is still happening!

Yes, this is me (okay, its not).

The start of school, and for me, work, means that my workout routine needs to drastically change. If I learned one thing from student teaching earlier this year, it is that, when I am stressed out, I don't work out. I know, working out should be a stress reliever, but if it is piled on too high, I lose motivation. So I have been working out in the morning. I don't know about you, but here, school starts pretty early, and honestly, I'm lucky that I can get up at 5 and have time to work out, shower, and be at school on time.

Additionally, I've been working out in our building's basement gym. I love it because there is rarely anyone there (regardless of the time of day), so I can walk around and sing to my iPod like an idiot. I don't like it, because I am dealing with limited resources. I pretty much have dumbbells, a bench, and a few machines.

Yes, this is from my building's website

Plus, I do really only have half an hour. If you are short on time, or just want a quick workout, this is the way to go.

Su: 1 hr cardio

M: leg workout

T: 30 min cardio

W: chest workout

Th: 30 min cardio

F: back workout

Sa: 1 hr cardio

Simple. And versatile. I pick 5 workouts that work a range of muscles in the targeted area for the day, and do it for 5 reps, circuit style, for 5 sets.

Confusing? It's not, I swear. Here's an example for today, which was the back workout:

5 reps of Dumbbell Rows

5 reps of Dumbbell Curls

5 reps of Rear Lat Raises

5 reps of Seated Cable Row

5 reps of Hyperextensions

Do all of these in a fairly quick succession, and repeat 4 more times.

You don't have to do these exercises. You just want to be sure that you are hitting all the muscles, which to me are the upper back, lower back, and rear shoulders. If you are unsure of what exercises correspond with which muscles, this is a really great website that I have been using for years.

For chest day this week I did:

5 reps of Dumbbell Chest Press

5 reps of Front Raises

5 reps of Dumbbell Kickbacks

5 reps of Pushups

5 reps of Dips

*I also did 20 situps between each circuit*

I like working out like this because it goes by VERY quickly, and you work up a sweat if you keep it moving. You'll also notice that instead of dedicating a day to arms and/or shoulders, I add triceps in with chest day, and biceps in with back day. I do shoulders every time I lift.

Leg days usually look something like this:

5 reps of Dumbbell Squats

5 reps of Straight Leg Deadlifts

5 reps of Calf Raises

5 reps of Leg Extensions

5 reps of Shoulder Presses

I never do the same workout twice, I am always changing up what I do, using variations on exercises from books, online, magazines, etc. Its important to change things up because it keeps your muscles guessing, and it beats gym boredom. I always joke that I have gym ADD, but I really am way more likely to work out if I know it isn't going to be plodding through the same old routine.

Another way to beat boredom? Plug in the iPod! Some of my favorites on my current "Gym" playlist:

Here in Your Bedroom - Goldfinger

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand

Redeeming a Monster - Broadway

Scattered - Green Day

I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor - Arctic Monkeys

Let's Dance to Joy Division - The Wombats*

The Magnificent Seven - The Clash

*I have suggested this song before. That is because it is REALLY good, and fun, and there is almost never an inappropriate time to listen to it.

After my cardio tomorrow, we will be heading to the beach with a bunch of friends and family.

Sadly, not this beach, this picture is from when we were in Hawaii. But we do have a busy weekend planned at a beach, and it is supposed to be a perfect weekend. Hopefully you all have the weekend off and will be able to get outside, feel healthy, and enjoy the beautiful weather!

And the Winner Is...

2009-09-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

Time to pick a winner for the Love Force giveaway! I used a random number generator and the winner is...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2009-09-01 22:48:34 UTC

Commenter number 2, aka Gina from The Candid RD! Congrats Gina! Send me an email with some of your top choices.

Didn't win and still want some Love Force bars? I've been sampling them every few days (I found another store near the beach that has them), and I thought I'd give you my two cents.

Chocolate Vanilla: YUM. The vanilla intensifies the chocolately flavor of the raw cacao and raw carob. Very yummy.

Fig Ginger: Not my favorite, in fact, I didn't finish it. But I think I just might only have loved the figs in Fig Newtons. If you know you're a big fig fan, go for it. The flavor is good, I just wasn't a fan of all the little fig seeds in it.

Goji Lemon: Really really yummy, especially if you are a big lemon fan.

Granola Cacao: One of the tops! It is so yummy, with chewy raisins and little crunchy cacao nibs. Totally delicious.

I already reviewed the bliss that was Chocolate Orange, and I'd say it is still probably my favorite!!

If you didn't win and want to get creative with bars or some raw yumminess, try out my Pumpkin Ginger Granola Bars or Raw Banana Bread Cookies!

Pumpkin Ginger Granola Bars

2009-08-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

Today is officially my last day of summer. Work for the teachers starts tomorrow and school starts next week. Time to end the fun and get down to business. In all seriousness, I'm really looking forward to starting work, and have been really looking forward to the fall days and flavors up ahead.

One of the best things about eating seasonally is that craving for the different foods that become fresh as the seasons change. Personally, I miss those days when everyone's blogs were filled with pumpkin: stuffed pumpkin, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, etc. Well I didn't want to wait anymore. I decided that a good back to school snack for me would be some Pumpkin Ginger Granola Bars.

These are high enough in protein that I could call them a protein bar if I wanted to. The macros rival Clif bars, but with much less sugar. These guys also have some healthy fat, fiber, and whole grain to keep you going, whether it be through a school day, or whatever else you've got planned this coming September.

Pumpkin Ginger Granola Bars

1 1/4 cup oats

1 1/4 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)

1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds

1/4 cup flax meal

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup brown rice syrup (agave can also be used)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup crystalized ginger, chopped

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Grease a baking dish.

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet in another. Mix wet and dry together until everything is coated.

Spread into prepared baking dish. I used a 11x13 dish, but I only pushed the mixture into about 3/4 of it. It worked fine, the TVP makes these hold up really well. You could use a smaller baking dish, but they would be thicker, and you might want to cook them longer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool completely and cut into whatever size you like. I made 10 granola bar-sized bars, but it could easily make 20 granola bar squares if you are looking for a less substantial after-school snack.

Serves 10

Nutrition Information: 218.3 Calories; 5.5g Total Fat; 0.6g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 31.8g Carbohydrates; 5.1g Fiber; 10.3g Protein

**If you want someone else to make your nutrition bars, be sure to enter my Love Force bar giveaway! Today is your last day to enter!!**

Quick Scones

2009-08-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

I claim no responsibility for these. So when you make them and want to eat them all at once, its not my fault.

It is all her fault. Her being Jacqueline from Sweet Beet and Green Bean. The delicious offender? Apricot Scones.

Scones are one of my favorite things, but they always seem to come out better when other people make them. I actually tried to make some recently and just threw them out before they even got baked (I will not name the source). These were amazing. Just totally amazing. They were just solid enough so that you could cut them into triangles, and they baked up light with a crispy exterior. Plus, the apricots are perfect.

I got mine from the farmer’s market.

I don’t think I ever would have thought to make scones with apricots in them, but they were the perfect amount of sweetness and chewiness. I did use whole wheat and spelt flour instead of the unbleached flour listed in her recipe posted above.

Makes 10

Nutrition Information: 179.3 Calories; 8.2g Total Fat; 2.1g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 25.7g Carbohydrates; 3.4g Fiber; 4.1g Protein

That’s it. Probably the shortest post I’ve ever done because I want to save you time so that you can go make some scones. Also, if you have some time on your hands, I’ve made her omelets before, and they’re really good too!

***Don't forget to enter my Love Force bar giveaway!! I've found another place that sells them so I've been trying some other flavors...they're all so good, the winner is going to have a hard time only choosing five!***

Raw Banana Bread Cookies

2009-08-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

Something about that Love Force raw bar had me in a raw mood. Usually when I "do raw" its all-out for a day, and after that, I'm over it until the next time I decide for a full-on raw day.

This time, something clicked that I didn't have to eat super high raw for the day in order to incorporate some raw food in my day.

I soaked some almonds, cashews, and sunflower seeds, and then set to finding recipes for them. Believe it or not, these started out as...falafel. Don't let that sway you, I abandoned that recipe after grinding up the almonds and decided to go my own way.

Banana Bread Cookies were born. And they were yummy. If you are in the mood for something raw, this is a pretty good treat made with things you may very well have sitting in your pantry, begging to be made into raw cookies!

1 cup Raw Almonds, soaked

1/2 Banana

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

2 Tbsp Water

1 Tbsp Sunflower Oil*

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 cup Raisins

I processed my almonds when they were still wet, just out of their soak, so they grinded together in the food processor together to make a wet meal. If you are using dry almonds, you may need to add a little more water. After grinding the almonds, add all but the raisins, and process until you have a smooth, sticky batter. Add the raisins and pulse a few times, until combined.

*You can use another oil, like melted coconut oil instead of sunflower.

Use a Tbsp measure to portion out each cookies, and flatten so that it looks like a cookie. The batter will be sticky, you may need to wash your hands a few times.

While these are quick and easy to make, they do take a bit of time to dehydrate. If its nice out (it finally is here), stick them outside for a few hours (we have no outside space). I dehydrated them at 115 degrees for 6 hours, and they are still slightly soft in the middle (in a good way). They were still good at 4 hours though, so anywhere from 4-8 hours would be tops. I always like to flip stuff like this halfway through, so..I did.

This makes about a baker's dozen.

Serves 13

Nutrition Information: 89.2 Calories; 6.6g Total Fat; 0.5g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 6.5g Carbohydrates; 1.6g Fiber; 2.5g Protein

If you don't have a dehydrator and live in a small apartment with no lanai like us, you can use an oven. Just keep it on the lowest setting, cracked, and check from time to time. Your oven will be warmer, so it probably won't take quite as long.

Don't feel like making your own raw treats? Be sure to enter the giveaway for some Love Force bars!! Five more days to enter!

With that, I am going to go enjoy some raw cookies at the beach. Peace :)

Love Force (Giveaway)

2009-08-24T06:54:00.001-07:00

You've been waiting your whole life for this...

At least, that is what the package of the Love Force bar that I picked up at Essene says.

My whole life? A tad dramatic, don't we think?

Surprisingly, no, not dramatic at all. This thing is freaking delicious. I mean..amazingly delicious. I'm sorry that I only bought the Chocolate Orange flavor. I'll have to travel back to Philly to get some more (don't worry, its only a 10 minute drive that I now know will be totally worth it).

This particular flavor features walnuts, cacao, and coconut, as well as almonds, carob, agave, vanilla bean, and orange oil (all ingredients raw and organic).

Pros: raw, organic, vegan, gluten free, absofreakingdelicious, moist, delicious, and really delicious.

Cons: $$$, high sugar content (23g).

Nutritional Information: 280 Calories; 11g Total Fat; 6g Saturated Fat; 180g Sodium; 49g Carbohydrates; 9g Fiber; 6g Protein.

When you first take it out of the package it is a little wet, but that is just goodness that keeps it so moist. At the same time, it isn't squishy, and the texture is perfect. And those three little almonds in it? Still perfectly crunchy. Its also got the perfect balance of tasting delicious while being good for you. It is easily the best raw bar I've ever had.

The packaging is awesome too. It markets itself as "Edible Love, Light, and Happiness". How true. All food should make you feel this good. No lie, I am super happy right now and definitely in love.

So in love, that I have to share some:

1. Check out the link above and leave me a comment telling me which flavor you would most like to try (either the bars or the bread).

2. Link to the giveaway in your blog, and I'll enter you twice!

*If you don't have a blog, tell someone about the giveaway, get them to enter and say that you referred them, and you'll get yourself another entry!

The winner will get 5 bars (or breads, if that's your thing) sent to their doorstep (or post office, or mailbox, or wherever you get your mail) by yours truly!

Get the comments in by August 31st! Seriously, comment, even if you've never commented before, you want to try these, I promise!

Screw You, Stir-Fry Sauce

2009-08-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

We’ve been house hunting a few nights a week in the evening. By the time we’re done it is dinner time, and we want to eat. Immediately. Yesterday I thought stir-fry would be good, and in the past, the easiest way for me to do this was with stir-fry sauce.

I don’t know if I missed it on the brand I used to buy, but my husband picked one up and said it had fish in it. Okay fine. I picked up another one that seemed okay, bought some tofu and off we went.

We got home and marinated the tofu, and then started stir-fryin it up. What made me look at the label again I’m not sure. But there it was, glaring at me: oyster sauce. Oyster sauce. I should have known. I should have been more thorough. I should have been less lazy and made my own sauce.

Out went the sauce, and the tofu that had been marinating in it. Out went my mood too. Waste of money, waste of food, and...where was dinner?

Alright, the peppers and onions were still good to go, and there was some garlic in there too. Broccoli was already cooking up in the microwave. We could keep it just veggie, but we had two hungry people to feed. In went a can of chickpeas. While those warmed, we cut up a mango, and thought about the sauce.

My new favorite thing is Thai Chili Sauce. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve used this stuff in the past week. I’ve been using it as a dip for spring rolls, dipping sauce for our dumplings, and now a stir fry sauce. We poured in about 6 Tbsp of the Thai Chili Sauce, added 2-3 Tbsp tamari, and 1/4 cup of pineapple juice. I might have thrown in some extra crushed red pepper too.

Success. Really really good success. I mean, after that I would have been happy with something just edible, but this was really good.

The corn was good too!

So maybe I should be thanking the stir-fry sauce, and not cursing it, but it still wasted all that food. I guess its a draw!

And...now I need to go buy some more Thai Chili Sauce, I think that stuff is going to start flowing through my veins.

Perfect Cookie

2009-08-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

I take my cookies pretty seriously. While it is hard to have a bad one, some are definitely better than others.

Well, I couldn’t sleep the other night, and without even looking for it, I stumbled upon the simplest vegan cookie recipe I have ever seen. No vegan substitutes, just regular ingredients, that somehow make my perfect cookie.

Now, I know that people have differing opinions on cookies. However, I like mine crunchy. If I wanted something cakey, I would eat cake. I like them light, airy, and crunchy on the outside, with just enough chewiness too. A tall order. To have such perfection come from such a stupidly simple recipe was amazing.

To give credit where credit is due, I didn’t come up with this recipe. You

can find the original here. I’ve read a lot of reviews on it though. Other people have said that theirs didn’t spread at all. Mine definitely did. I suspect because I didn't use raw sugar? I'm not quite s But I like a cookie that spreads. I had been trying to make a cookie spread like this all last weekend.

I only changed the recipe slightly, and made two different cookies.

First, I made some Snicker Doodles

1 cup spelt flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light oil (I used sunflower)

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp sugar

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl mix the oil, vanilla, and sugar. Combine wet and dry.

For Snicker Doodles, I took a Tbsp of dough, rolled one side in a mix of 2 Tbsp cinnamon and 1 Tbsp sugar, then flattened them to about 1/4 inch and slapped them on a baking mat. These have plenty of oil in them, so I don’t think you need a baking mat, or even a greased cookie sheet, but my regular baking sheet was in the freezer, and the thing I was using had holes in it...not ideal for cookies.

Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. It should make about 2 dozen cookies.

Cookie perfection, I’m telling you. Give them a minute to cool before taking them off and just be happy. If you’re as happy as me, maybe you’ll make some more.

I made some more. Second came Tropical Orange cookies. This time I used only spelt flour, used orange extract instead of vanilla, and rolled them in unsweetened coconut prior to flattening.

That’s really all I can say about these. Awesome. Perfect. Go eat some now. That’s all I’ve got. Enjoy.

Brunch-tastic

2009-08-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else feel like the blog world has been experiencing something of a slump? I know I’ve been feeling slumpy. I think because of the nice weather, the longer days, etc, you just don’t want to sit in front of the computer in a small dark room, packed floor to ceiling with boxes.

What do you mean your computer room doesn’t look like that? Mine does.

In fact, this picture is incredibly deceiving, it is never this light in there. Zoe loves it,

I do not. I know, most people have wireless, I haven’t gotten a chance to set it up. Mainly because we are hoping to move soon, which is another reason why we have all these still-packed boxes sitting around.

Now, contrary to when I personally am going through a bit of a slump, the kitchen has been quite productive. We’ve been making dinner most nights, and its been tasty as well.

The weekend before my husband came back from his trip to Washington state, I had a little Vegan Brunch extravaganza. Some favorites were the Buckwheat Waffles.

YUM! We got a waffle iron from a church sale a few weeks ago for $5. WORTH IT!! These were so good, and the perfect use of all the buckwheat flour I have. These were so light and fluffy, nice and moist inside, and had a nice nutty flavor from the buckwheat. They also freeze and re-toast perfectly. They somehow stay moist inside.

I also made the Italian Feast Sausages. I love vegan sausage. Its really hard to find a kind that I don’t like. I made a half batch because the whole batch doesn’t fit in my steamer basket, and I made them half-size, so that one sausage is a perfect little portion.

These are good for breakfast, these are good for lunch, these are good for dinner, and I suspect they’re probably awesome for brunch. They’ve got a nice hit of spice from the fennel and chili flakes. They’re good.

And I am hereby ending my blogging slump. At least until we move (which probably won't be for awhile still). Now go out and have some brunch!

Animals, Avocado, and Angelica's

2009-07-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

I spent this past weekend at my parents' house. Yes, again. I know, I can't get away from it. I guess it is mostly because Nick isn't home, but he should be back sometime next week. Anyway, my brother and his wife were visiting and even though the rain ruined our hiking plans, we still went out and did something I had been wanting to do for awhile.

Sunday we visited Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. Long story short, it was amazing. The tour was great, the animals were happy, and surprisingly...

the skies were blue! We met all the animals on the farm (except the cows, they were on the other side of the field being anti-social).

All of the animals were amazing, really. I don't understand how someone could go to a place like this, look in an animal's eyes, and not see their food differently. I was the most surprised by the turkeys! Those strange looking heads of theirs are actually incredibly soft, and they love to be pet. They're so sweet. Everyone we met was really great, from the goats and pigs to the ducks and chickens.

After the sanctuary we went back to town and I had had lunch at the Garden Cafe, a vegan restaurant. I had an excellent Mexican corn souffle.

The next day I went into the city with my mom and brother. We went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex, but had to grab something quick to eat first. This was nothing special but these avocado spring rolls totally hit the spot.

The fruit is a mango nectarine, which I thought sounded so cool! It ended up just tasting like a really juicy and delicious nectarine, but I'm not complaining. The Rock and Roll Annex was fantastic. The regular museum was really very cool, but the special John Lennon exhibit made it even better. I've never been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio, but the way it works here is really cool. You get your own headphones that are attached to this transmitter, and the music changes depending on where you're standing. Really cool.

We also went to Strands, the home of 18 miles of books. It was cool, they had a lot of old books, but I was tired and hungry, so I visited the travel book section and found a place to eat. Now, whenever I go to the city, I have big plans for places to eat, and it almost never works out. This time, when I had no plans, we ended up being just a few blocks from Angelica's Kitchen. The atmosphere was great, casual but intimate enough. It actually reminded me of a place we had breakfast when we were in Kauai, just in the way like you truly felt as though you were in someone's kitchen. I guess that's why it's called Angelica's Kitchen, huh?

My mom and brother both made their own combo bowls. My brother featured tempeh, which I thought was some of the best I've had. My mom's had soba noodles with a yummy sesame soba sauce. I had the three-bean chili, mainly because it came with cornbread, which I had been craving for awhile!

I also had this coconut carob orange cookie, which was good, although I think there was almost too much coconut in it. My brother had a peach cinnamon muffin, which tasted amazing, plus there were huge slices of peaches in it. It was a tad on the dry side though. When I go back there (and I will go back there), I will get dessert again, but I would definitely be going there for the food first. FYI, if you go, they are cash only.

I know I promised that my next post would be a giveaway, but I didn't want to put this one off, since it actually happened this weekend. Tomorrow is giveaway day, and I'm really excited about it!

Fruity Food

2009-07-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

Since I've been back at my apartment, I haven't been feeling exactly inspired. More often than not, when I decide to have at it again, after not cooking for awhile, I usually end up with something bland, burnt, or just...bad. Well, today I was quite pleased with myself.

First though, you'll never believe what did inspire this meal. I was at the gym, watching Paula Deen. First, off, its kind of funny to be watching the butter queen at the gym. Second of all, I rarely watch Paula Deen at all. Anyway, Paula and her son made a Zesty Grilled Tilapia with Mango Coconut Rice. I've been trying to use up what I have in the pantry and fridge this week, plus, the tilapia was obviously not vegan, so I made some changes. Yummy changes.

Please excuse the fuzzy photo and bad lighting!

Tropical Rice

1 can light coconut milk

1/2-3/4 cup water

1 cup brown rice

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups pineapple (I used crushed canned pineapple, but you could use fresh, or diced, or anything)

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut (optional)

Boil the rice in the coconut milk, water, and salt. When it is finished add in the pineapple and shredded coconut. Yum! And a little goes a long way with this, even with the light coconut milk, its rich and realllly nice and creamy! Best of all though, it makes a lot, and once its chilled, it makes an awesome rice pudding-like dessert.

Orange Chickpeas

1 tbsp light oil or non-stick spray

1 can drained and rinsed chickpeas

6 tbsp orange juice

1 tsp salt

black pepper to taste

1/2 tsp grated ginger

1 1/2 tsp hot sauce

Mix it all in a big bowl and let it marinate for about 20 minutes. Spray a pan with non-stick spray and set to medium heat. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the chickpeas are cooked through and taste orange-y.

I was really the most excited to make the rice. However, while the rice is awesome, creamy, and delicious, the chickpeas were definitely the star. I was surprised how much they retained the orange and little hint of spiciness from the hot sauce (I used Tabasco Sweet and Spicy that we got on our trip to Louisiana). All around, one really yummy meal.

I feel like I need a personal life update since its been awhile. I don't know if I ever mentioned, but I obviously didn't end up driving cross country with Nick. The reason why is a long story, but he still appreciated everyone's advice!! He had some vegan donuts earlier this week on someone's suggestion. He also drove through Forks, WA the other day. Haha, I guess that tidbit is really only relevant if you have read or watched Twilight.

Hopefully the "inspiration" will keep flowing and I'll be blogging a little bit more! Stay tuned, hopefully tomorrow, I've got a giveaway coming up!

Where in the world...

2009-07-18T03:49:00.000-07:00

Where in the world have I been? I actually have a good answer. Last week my family decided to invite me on vacation with them. Since they called on Tuesday night and were leaving early Thursday morning, this didn't leave me a lot of time for anything, let alone blogging. Such is life though, right? We spent a few days in Bar Harbor, Maine, then a few in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and now we're back in Portland, Maine, and should be heading home today. But we're finally in a hotel with free internet that works, and its early and I can't sleep so...hello!

While we were in Bar Harbor, we went whale watching:

We had breakfast at this little place called the 2 Cats Cafe almost every day:

We went for a bike ride/hiked/drove around Acadia National Park:

Even found a little place called CJ's that served some really good vegan ice cream!:

All in all, Bar Harbor ended up being a very veg friendly town. I don't really have any pictures from Halifax, but we did a lot of historical stuff (visited the Citadel, the Maritime museum, saw Harry Potter...what, you don't consider that historical?), and it was also extremely veg friendly. We didn't actually go anywhere that was solely a vegetarian establishment, but most of the places we went to had really good veg options, or were more than willing to make substitutions or some odd sounding concoction for me (one night I just felt like steamed veggies in marinara sauce..."No, no pasta thank you. Yes, I'm sure.")

Just in case you ever find yourself in Bar Harbor, here is my list of places to visit: A&B Naturals, CJ's Big Dipper (the soy ice cream is in the gelato case), Gringo's Mexican Cafe, Siam Orchid Thai, 2 Cats Cafe.

As for Halifax, we weren't there as long, but we had great success at Mexicali Rosa's, Hamachi House (the location on Barrington), Ray's Lebanese Cuisine, and Sugah!. As far as food options go, I wish we could have stayed in Halifax longer, they had a huge variety of different ethnicities that I don't normally see.

It has been kind of a crazy summer, but in a good way! I'll be back home on Monday and will get all caught up on everyone's blogs, I hope you all are enjoying your summers too!!

Toasted Corn and Sweet Red Pepper Rice

2009-07-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

I ended up staying at my parents for much longer than anticipated this week. I left on Monday afternoon, planned to come home Wednesday afternoon. Well, its Thursday, I'm still here, and we're going to the movies tonight. So, I don't think I'll be getting back until tomorrow. Don't worry, I brought Zoe with me, and she is quite happy watching the birds and chipmunks again.

It took awhile, but I realized my mom has the same camera as me, so I can just borrow her camera cord. Hellooo!

When I was living at home I usually made dinner once a week. I am not the type to make the same recipe twice. There's just so much out there, why keep making the same thing? My mom, does not agree. If she ever gets asked, she always wants the same thing, which has come to be known as "that rice stuff I like".

I figured since it is mom's favorite, and she's been asking me to actually write down some kind of recipe for it, I would make it for her, and share! I gave it fancier name, but you can still call it "that rice stuff Gina's mom likes" if you want.

Toasted Corn and Sweet Red Pepper Rice

3 cups of COOKED Brown Rice (about 1.5 cups raw)
10oz box frozen corn (about 2 cups)
2/3 cup salsa
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1 large red pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 block extra-firm tofu

Put two pans on to medium heat. Liberally cover both with non-stick cooking spray.

While the pans heat up, remove the tofu from the water. Slice it as thick or thin as you want (probably into about as many pieces as can fill your pan), and press with a towel on both sides. You don't need to be crazy about removing the water, just dry it a little. Salt and pepper both side and place in one of the pans. Just let it sit in the pan. Don't move it around, don't pick it up. It will form a golden crust on that side. Peek at the corner of one piece until it is somewhat hard and golden brown. Then flip and wait for the other side. When its all done, cut it into cubes.

The corn goes in the other pan. It'll thaw first, but it needs to be in long enough to toast. You'll want to stir, periodically under it starts get brown flecks and look toasty and caramelized.

You can do the rest before or while everything is cooking. While this stuff is cooking, slice the pepper, chop the scallion and make the dressing. For the dressing, mix the salsa, lime juice, and canola oil.

When everything is done mix it all together in a big bowl.

That's it! Its easy, its fast, its healthy and it is soooo good. We usually have it as the main dish with a side of broccoli. It can serve anywhere from 4-6, depends on how hungry you are.

Serves 6

Nutritional Information: 271.5 Calories; 8.2g Total Fat; 0.9g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 40.0g Carbohydrates; 4.8g Fiber; 11.3g Protein

You could also use garbanzo beans if you are intolerant to soy, or you could just leave the protein out altogether.

We went to the Kutztown Folk Festival yesterday, my mom, brother and I. Its in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch country.

I always think this view looks like that default Windows background

I guess the food is supposed to be good, but its not really our kind of stuff, so I found a place that would make us all happy to stop for lunch. If you ever find yourself in Kutztown, Betty's is a cool place. Cute little place, kind of wants to be funky and earthy when it grows up, and the food was great! Its casual, and cheap, mostly wraps, salads, soups, and you can easily eat for about $5. Oh, and it caters to both omnivores and vegetarians/vegans.

We saw some cute baby ducks at the fair. I love birds, but I especially love ducks, and everyone knows that babies get even more love, so I had to take a picture.

There were really cute baby bunnies too, but my attention was taken away from picture taking then because we were allowed to pet, hehe.

We stopped at the Clinton Station Diner for dinner. Its right on the side of the highway and its got a train car attached to it, so we always notice it. We actually got to eat in the train.

Me and my brother

Also, my brother recently became a vegetarian, which I believe I have yet to mention on here, so that's pretty awesome! There was plenty of stuff I could have eaten at this diner, but I thought we were getting fast food for dinner so I had brought my own, and already had eaten it, so I just had some fruit salad.

Because I am at my parents', I have already seen a bunch of movies. I don't know why, Nick and I haven't really been at all. I saw My Sister's Keeper with my mom, and saw Public Enemy with my brother and his friend last night. My Sister's Keeper was so sad, but really good. No, I didn't read the book, but apparently some important things (I won't say what, but if you want to know, email me) were very different. I kind of like it that way because I feel like I can go read the book now if I want. Public Enemy was good. The acting was good, it was engaging, but I'm not running around raving about it, its just not my kind of movie. Tonight we are going to see Away We Go, which I am really excited for!

As much as I like being home, I definitely woke up this morning wanting my own bed (which is weird because this bed was "my bed" for two years). I think its my pillow that I miss. Anyway, we should be back home on Friday!

A New (Raw) Day

2009-06-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

The first time I ever did a "raw day" I was nervous about exercising. Worried that I wouldn't be eating enough, not getting enough calories, would be tired, sluggish, etc. Yesterday, after having some dates, I went out and ran (and walked) a total of 5 miles, and I'm still feeling pretty peachy.

The menu included a lot of nut and seed soaking, prep time, and a very messy kitchen, but it was well worth it.

Breakfast was a Vega Smoothie. The very lovely people at Vega sent me a nice sized bag of Vega Whole Food Smoothie Infusion last week. While the hemp in Vega is raw, the other proteins aren't (like the pea protein). I figured with so much good stuff in it, was still okay with me to start a raw day.

But, I was skeptical. Oh SO skeptical. I have regular Vega and I'm not a fan of it. I bought it because it has so much great healthy stuff in it, but I just can't have it every day, for various reasons. I decided I'd make their Blueberry Smoothie suggestion on the back of the package, since I had fresh blueberries from the farmer's market yesterday. My first impression? Ew. The powder is a gross green color...but that's because its filled with greens (spirulina, spinach, broccoli, etc)! So I sucked it up and made the smoothie. And...it was really good!! It was still a gross greenish brown color (hence the lack of picture...you didn't want to see it), but that's just what happens when you add greens to a smoothie. The Vega Smoothie Infusion is about 120 calories a serving and has 14 grams of protein. So the verdict is, if you're looking for a very healthy, very easy way to start (or end, or continue) you day, there is no denying that this stuff is really good for you, and pretty tasty to boot!

I can't possibly say enough about how delicious my lunch was, so I will just give you a picture which does not do it justice.

This is the Baked Macaroni and Cheese from Everyday Raw, with Buckwheat Cheezies (recipe follows). This was SO good. What really made it just the best was that it was dehydrated for awhile, so the squash softened a little bit. Really, this is fantastic, if you have the book, you must try it.

The Buckwheat Cheezies are based on a recipe that was in Vegetarian Times a few months ago, but I made it raw-ish, so I will share.

1/2 cup Raw Buckwheat Groats

1/4 cup plus 1-2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast (not raw)

2 tbsp Olive Oil

3 garlic cloves

5-ish Basil Leavs (depends on how much you like basil)

2 tsp salt

1. Soak buckwheat groats overnight. Give them some space because they just about double in size.

2. Dehydrate the groats for about 3 hours at 104 degrees.

3. Blend together the oil, garlic, salt, and basil until it makes a thick paste.

4. When the groats are dehydrated, add them to a bowl with the paste and mush everything together until all the groats are more or less coated with something (it may not be even).

5. Dehydrate for another 30-60 minutes.

These are so yummy! I wouldn't eat them by themselves, the raw garlic is fairly strong, but they were absolutely perfect over the baked mac and cheese. Also, for those of you without a dehydrator, you can do this in a 300 degree oven too, which is what the original recipe calls for. If you want to roll that way, you don't need to pre-dehydrate them, and you should only keep them in for 30 minutes. Also, if you're not keeping it raw, you could cook the garlic with the oil.

Makes 8 2-Tbsp Servings

Nutritional Information: 90.5 Calories; 4.1g Total Fat; 0.6g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 10.7g Carbohydrates; 2.6g Fiber; 4.6g Protein. And 181% of the RDA for Vitamin B12!

One of the things I was really itching to make with the dehydrator was Ani's Black Sesame Sunflower Bread.

I had it as a raw sandwich for dinner along with her Sun-Dried Tomato Cheeze, topped with some avocado and tomato, along with some fresh farmer's market green beans. This Cheeze was okay. The Black Pepper Cheeze was way better.

The bread was somewhat of a disaster, although it worked out in the end! Because my kitchen is still in pieces all over the country, I don't have things like sieves, so it was hard to get all the water out of the teeny flaxseeds and sesame seeds. I think that made it too watery, and it made a bit of a mess. Again though, it worked out. Next time I make it I think I'll take her advice to make a few batches of it. I calculated the nutritional information for it and was really surprised. I'm not a big "real" bread person, so I'd choose this any day.

Makes 9 Slices

Nutrition Information: 167.6 Calories; 13.0g Total Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 9.6g Carbohydrates; 7.0g Fiber; 6.6g Protein

Dessert, of course, was the impetus for having a raw day at all. I've had my eye on the Key Lime Kream Bars in Ani's Raw Food Desserts since the moment I opened the book.

I really didn't need a "raw day" as an excuse to make them, since they came together in all of 5 minutes (plus freezing time). They are yummy! I made a dessert or two in Ani's first book and I thought that they were incredibly salty, but it seems like she's toned it down for this book, and everything I've tried so far (like the Strawberry Macaroons) has been fantastic!

I really love having an (almost) entirely raw day. Because I have far too much time on my hands now, I calculated the nutritional information for everything (email me if you want any of it), and it came to just about 2000 calories (including an orange I had for a snack), which is perfect for me. What is really more important to me though, is that it all came from good, whole food. Nothing is better than that, right?

Wholly into Whole Foods?
	I do all my shopping at Whole Foods
	I don't live near a Whole Foods, but I would shop at one
	I buy select items there I can't buy elsewhere
	I refuse to shop at Whole Foods
	Other

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