What I've Been Up To (In Pictures)

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

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

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

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!!

Zero Calorie Sparkling Iced Green Tea

Everywhere I go now is so close that I rarely turn on the radio.  But it seems like every time I do I hear an ad for a new Lipton's product, Sparkling Green Tea.  Sounds yummy.  Especially now that it is really getting warmer here.  Of course I knew without even looking that one of the first ingredients would be sugar.  They proved me wrong though, its actually high fructose corn syrup.  My bad.  

So I set out to create my own.  Should be easy enough, right?  Well it is!  

2 green tea bags

1/2 cup water 

3/4-1 cup sparkling water

stevia to taste (liquid or powder, your preference)

1.  Heat the water until it just begins to bubble, not boil  Green tea shouldn't be steeped in water that is too hot or it cooks the leaves.  If it does start to boil, just let it cool a little before you add the tea bags.  

2.  Let both of the tea bags steep for a few minutes.  The taste will be rather strong, and the color will be fairly dark because it is pretty concentrated.  *Its important that you do this first for two reasons.  First, it will dissolve easier while the tea is warm.  Second, if you add the stevia after the sparkling water is added, it loses some of its fizz.*    

3.  Allow the tea to cool in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  

4.  When chilled remove from fridge and add sparkling water (which should also be chilled, just in case that isn't obvious).

6.  Drink!  Enjoy!  Be refreshed!  

Serves 1-4.  Depends on how much tea you want (and you can have as much as you want because it has no calories!)  I used some tea I got as a favor at the wedding we went to a few weeks ago, from our friends who we met when we were in Hawaii.  

You can obviously do this with any kind of tea:  green, black, white, etc.  Also, if you don't like stevia you can use sugar or agave and it'll still be lower in calories than the Lipton stuff.  If you are nervous about trying stevia, I say now is the time to try it!  I've been using it for quite awhile, in liquid and powder form, and I personally prefer the powder (although they both have their uses).  For stevia, I like the NuNaturals brand.  

This has maltodextrin added which I think is what makes it so NOT bitter, and it also mixes really well.  They make a zero-carb version also, which has some erythritol added.  I've used erythritol before, and I never really gave a review about it.  I don't like it.  It is a sugar alcohol and it just has a grainy taste and doesn't dissolve well.  They both are calorie free, so I'm sticking with this one.  

My only real personal update is that I really have no update.  Nothing worth sharing has been coming out of my kitchen, whether prepared by me or from a recipe.  Sadly most things have flopped, or they were just boring everyday things.  My mom has requested that I write down a recipe for one of my rice recipes that she loves, so that is coming, as well as some scones I plan on making tonight.  Oh, and tomorrow is going to be a raw day, so come back for that!  

As far as running is going, its going.  I'm much slower than I used to be which is extremely frustrating, but I'm still getting up and going which is what is most important right now.  I'm going out again with my new running buddy tomorrow (who is a vegetarian!) for a long run (which right now is only 5 miles, haha).  I also had lunch with another vegan yesterday (vegan friends, yay!), so I'm not just sitting at home with Zoe.  

So, that is why its been awhile, but I have much planned, so be sure to come back this week!      

Challenge Weekend One

We're closing in on week one of my husband's 30 day vegan challenge.  In my last post I mentioned that I thought this would be his most difficult weekend, and...well if I was right, then the rest of this challenge should be a breeze.  

I don't have any pictures so I won't bore you with too many words, but Saturday we had a cookout at my aunt's house with some of our relative who are visiting from Italy.  We brought veggie burgers, so we had them on whole wheat buns with some rice salad that my aunt made.  Plus there was the raw veggies out.  Oh, and then fruit salad...watermelon...yumm.  It was really a lot of fun to meet them, and was all around a good day!  

Sunday we went down to my husband's family to see his sister off (she is going to Greece).  We now live exactly halfway between both of our families, so its kind of convenient.  Anyway, they were cooking out too, so we brought veggie burgers, but I didn't even end up eating them because my mother in law had gotten a tofu recipe from a friend of hers that was really good (thankfully...I don't think they had really tried tofu before). That with brown rice, corn on the cob, some polenta and vegetable pie she made, baked potato wedges, etc, was plenty for me.  My husband still ate two veggie burgers (Southwest flavor Sunshine burgers.  I've never had them, but he said they were good), along with everything else though.  Oh and there was dessert too!  My sister in law is gluten-free, so we had two options for vegan and gluten-free dessert.  Impressive.  

My in laws have a really awesome natural food store near their house, and as much as I love Wegmans, I do miss the local places.  So we went on our way home.  I didn't really get too much, but I did get these olive oil...things.  

I can't explain them, and I ate them all already (they were REALLY good).  I guess they are kind of like a mix between a pastry/cookie and a cracker.  Like, a sweet cracker.  But round, and sprinkled with sugar.  What put them completely over the top awesome though was the ground anise and anise extract.  Soooo good.  I have never seen them there before, and they were this special "imported" item, so I don't know if they'll be there next time, but if they are...you KNOW I'll be buying some more.  

Today we got up EARLY and went to spinning at 5:45.  We got there at 5:40 only to find out we were actually 10 minutes late because they moved the class up to 5:30.  I totally LOVED it!  It was so much fun.  On top of that we're going to be lifting tonight.  It sounds like a lot, but because of his job, my husband almost always works out twice a day.  Since I have the time now, why not?  On days we don't lift I am going to do yoga.  I've found a place around here called Yogawood that does an Ashtanga style flow, which is what I am used to, and what I love, but I think I may try a Bikram place tomorrow.  By the way, I want to clear up something I said on Friday, that the yoga didn't keep my legs very strong, and I think I should mention that "strong" is a pretty relative term.  Yoga keeps your muscles fit and relatively strong...but not strong enough to squat 100 pounds.  I hope that makes more sense.  To ME, that is STRONG.  Warrior poses don't really do much of anything to my leg muscles (my hips, that's another story).  I lost much more strength in my big legs lifts than I did in my upper body lifts.  But, every kind of exercise, every practice, whether its yoga, running, lifting, etc they all have their own benefits, and they all make you strong in some way.  Which explains why I'm always trying to do a little bit of everything!      

After spinning we have breakfast, which has been "interesting".  Since all I have is a Magic Bullet (no blender), I have a very limited volume capacity.  My smoothies always consist of six ingredients:

1.  Banana

2.  Spinach

3.  Protein powder

4.  Non-dairy milk

5.  Frozen fruit

6.  Water    

Well, as you may imagine, this does not fit in the Magic Bullet very well.  So I've been making them in pieces, and we end up with a green component (spinach, banana, water), and a fruit colored component (today was purple---blueberries!!).  When you pour them together it looks all swirly.  

I just think it looks cool, but my husband likes it like this because he says he can taste the separate components.  Okay. 

In case you were wondering, we're not using the same protein powder.  I'm using the same stuff I've talked about a bunch of times.  My rice and pea blend, sweetened with stevia, from trueprotein.com.  He is using a GNC soy protein isolate.  I can taste such a difference.  His is sweetened with sucralose, I believe, and it is so much sweeter.  I don't like it because it reminds me too much of whey.  So if you are trying to move away from whey, this stuff may be the way to go.  

One last update.  I stopped at my parents this weekend before going to my aunt's house.  I talked about the baby birds living on their porch a few days ago.  

Well this was my mom's most recent picture of them, just a week after that first picture. 

 And this was my picture of them this weekend.  

They're gone!  The babies have officially grown up and left the nest (and my family can use the front door again).  

As far as the vegan challenge, so far it is going very very well.  He says he's feeling really good, and...well that's about it, what else do you want?  Yesterday on the way to my in-laws, I had him listen to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's podcast, Vegetarian Food for Thought.  Now, I know I have  mentioned her in passing before, but I seriously love this podcast.  The one I really wanted him to listen to was one of her most recent episodes, and its one that I suggest everyone listens to.  I know I have people who read this who aren't necessarily vegetarian or vegan, I'm talking to you, too.  It may not be something that you want to hear, but I think its worth the 40 minutes to just listen.  Not because I want you to be vegan.  But because I want you to be sure you are YOUR definition of healthy.  You can take from it whatever you want, but I think it should be required listening.  And I will never beg you to listen to another one of her podcasts again, I swear.  You can even do it through iTunes, just search.  So, go download:  Vegetarian Food for Thought, Diseases of Civilization.  Now.      

My husband was really unhappy I was making him do this, but once he started listening to her, I think he is hooked.  He takes a lot of pride in being well educated, and her podcast present information that he has never really looked into before.  It is very well research, and it isn't presented in an angry way, so its hard not to listen.  We listened to it the whole way there, and then he told me I could put it on "if I wanted to" on the way home.

One last thing (I swear).  I get really tired of say "my husband this", "my husband that", etc.  I know that other bloggers have other names for their significant others or family members (BoyfriendLovlie from VeganLovie, CD from Heather Eats Almond Butter, and Mama and Papa Crunk from Vegan Crunk come to mind), but I got nothing .   Any ideas?  

Allright, NOW I'm done.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday!!

Tea Me Please

I tried really hard to not drug myself in order to get through my day.  Long story short, driving an hour home after being on your feet since 7AM is just a bad idea without any kind of a pick me up.  

So, I have turned to tea.  And in the past few weeks I have become quite the tea drinker.  A tea freak, even.  I have at least 4 cups a day.  It helps too that my mentor teacher is a tea drinker, so I’m just surrounded by it all day.  Just to be clear, I am no connoisseur, no loose tea here, I like the convenience of the little mesh bags.  

I’m sure you know there are a bunch of different kinds of tea:  black, green, red, white, etc.  It gets more specific and more specialized, but I’m just your average tea drinker.  I try to get a variety!

My first tea requirement though:    

No, not that there are 20 bags in the package, that there is CAFFEINE!  Surprisingly, this isn’t always easy to find.  I think the idea is that some people drink tea instead of coffee because they don’t want the caffeine.  Not the case here!  No decaf tea, and even better is tea that specifies that it is caffeinated.  You’ll find some boxes marked “Revive”, or “Awake”, and those undoubtedly will give you a little perk.  

When embarking on my tea adventure, I turned first to Yogi Tea, which I have seen at every grocery store I have been in recently, and more extended collections at some natural food stores.  I went for their “Uplift” line, and there were a few options.  One of my favorite things about the Yogi tea is that they listed on the side of the box how much caffeine was in it.  So I got the box with the most caffeine:  Lemon Ginger Green Tea.

  

In my desk drawer (yes, I brought my camera to school today).

My first thought was:  grass.  It smelled like grass.  It kind of tastes a little grassy too, but not in an overpowering way.  I’ve been keeping this box at school, and its been quite effective at getting me past my drive home slump.  

So, I had my school tea, but I desperately needed something to have on my way to school in the morning.  I perused the aisles of my local Shop-Rite (they have a pretty nice natural food section), and found this “Energizing” Passionfruit-Mango Green Tea.  

I have to say, this was one of the best teas I have ever bought.  Most of the time, I think fruity teas are too light, or too “flowery”, or don’t taste like much, but this just tastes so nice and tropical, and you can still taste the green tea.  Its really awesome, just a little sweet:  Passionfruit Mango Green Tea by Teakanne. 

 

Now that the tea ball was rolling, I just couldn't stop...especially when there was a sale.  Leftover teas, marketed for Valentine's Day, with an additional coupon if I bought two boxes.  How could I say no?  

First was a black tea, this was the V-day one:  Celestial Seasoning's Vanilla Strawberry Rose Ceylon Black Tea.  

Vanilla?  Awesome.  Strawberry?  More awesome.  Rose?  Um..not so sure.  I spent way to much time in the tea aisle debating this one, but I am so so so so glad I did.  It is just fantastic.  You can't really taste the strawberry, but the hints of vanilla and rose, combined with cinnamon and spices, is completely perfect.  

Lastly, I got a white tea.  I was on the fence with this one:  Perfectly Pear White Tea.  

I've only had iced white tea before, and I never liked it, I find it too light tasting.  Luckily, this tea made me a white tea convert.  It is really great, and you can really taste the pear flavor.  

Anyone else a big tea drinker?  I see this becoming a very bad habit.  And by bad, I mean I'll have more boxes of tea than space for boxes of tea.  

Are you a decaf drinker?  At one time, I too preferred to keep my tea free of caffeine.  At night I still have my absolute favorite:  Candy Cane Lane!  

Yes, you can only get it at the holidays...but I bought two boxes this year.  I don't know what it is about it, but I love it, the peppermint, the green tea....completely perfect.  

If anyone wants to share their favorite, I am completely and totally open to and looking for suggestions.  Like I said, I foresee a rapidly expanding tea collection in my future!!          

Coconut Chickpea Masala

Today was kind of floppy.  I was supposed to have a meeting at school, but it kind of snowed a lot.  I probably could have made it but, I called to see if it was still on, and they said that they weren't expecting everyone to show, so...duh, I didn't go.  I mean, an hour in the snow or...stay at home.  Hmm...difficult.  But then I felt kind of guilty and lazy.  I normally would have went to the gym, but I already was going to yoga tonight.  I made some muffins, which were a disaster.  I tried using the gluten free all purpose flour again, and it was disgusting.  I just can't shake that bean flavor.  I can smell it on my fingers over an hour after using it.  Bah.  I just threw out the rest of it.  I'll just use the rice and buckwheat combo that I've been using so far.  

Anyway, I did go to the grocery store to get out of the house for a little.  I needed some bananas.  But...who can go to the grocery store and *just* buy bananas??  Not me.   

This is so yummy.  If you can't see the label, it is Vanilla Chai Tea from Bolthouse Farms.  Not all of their drinks are vegan, but this one happens to be.  It is sweetened, but with apple juice, which I find to be acceptable!  It has 160 calories and 10g of protein per serving.  Oh, and it is delicious..did I mention that?  Fabulous.  Not an everyday thing, but an awesome treat.  

Between the grocery store and yoga though, I was bored.  So I prepped everything for dinner before I went.  Awesome.  I mean, that sounds lame, but it made making dinner so much faster.  

   

So pretty, right?  I got those bowls for Christmas, they certainly came in handy today.  I can see this becoming a trend too, it made things so much faster.  Yoga was okay.  Thursday is kind of slow because there are usually new people, but it was still okay.  My instructor said that class Saturday is going to be 1h40min minutes long instead of the usual 1h30mins.  I'm totally excited!  It means he has something new planned, I'm sure.  Either that, or he wants to be able to do group stuff, which takes up a lot of time.  We did that last week.  Anyone do a double downward dog?  My partner was scared, so my instructor did it with me instead.  To give you a mental picture, he is about 6'2'' average build, and I am 5'4'', kind of small.  I was on the bottom:  

Nothing like that today though.  One of the woman was brand new, another was only her second time, and one guy hadn't been there in a long time.  There were only 12 people, so enough to tailor the class towards them.  They don't hold back on Saturday though...can you tell I am looking forward to it?  It had BETTER not snow.  You hear that weather??

Anyway, those pretty bowls did eventually turn into dinner.  It was really good, I just made it for my brother and I.  My mom was out, and I didn't want him eating frozen pizza for another meal.    

Coconut Chickpea Masala

1 cup of potatoes, in bite sized chunks (I used fingerlings, but any sort of yellow/white would be okay)

2 medium carrots, sliced

1 small red pepper

2 cups cauliflower florets

1 medium onion

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced/pressed

1 tsp ginger (you might want to use a little more, actually)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup lite coconut milk

1 cup water

15oz can diced tomatoes

15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

5 cups spinach

1. Lightly coat a pretty big pan with cooking spray, and saute the onions and peppers over medium heat until soft.  Make sure you move it a lot or else it will stick.    

2. Add the cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, garam masala, and chili powder to the pan, and cover, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.  You will also probably want to add a few tbsp of water every few minutes, just to keep things from sticking.  

3.  Add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and cayenne, along with 1/2-1 cup of water.  Simmer for 20 minutes, until most liquid has been absorbed, and the potatoes are tender.  

4.  Add the spinach, mixing until wilted.  Add chickpeas, and stir until heated through.  

5.  Remove from heat and add the coconut milk, plus any salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4

Nutrition Information:  309.2 Calories;  12.4g Total Fat;  9.7g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  43.2g Carbohydrates;  9.5g Fiber;  9.9g Protein.

This was good.  Spicy, sweet, coconutty.  Yum.  Plus, you've got to love anything with garam malsala.  You've got to.  Not a question, an order.  Love it.  Also, this is not as high in calories as what I normally have for dinner, but it was really filling.  It'd obviously go well with some brown rice though.  

Also, I've said this before, I'm not against using fats, I just don't like to use them in places where I don't feel like they really affect the taste.  I think you can really see that hear, since I used no oil to saute the onions, but still added the coconut milk at the end.  Gina fact of the day, I love coconut...all things coconut.  I always have, and my mom hates it.  She hates the smell, the taste, hates anything even remotely to do with coconut.  When I was a "rebellious" teenager, I think every scent I owned was coconut because I knew it drove her nuts.  My shampoo was coconut, my body lotion was coconut, body spray was coconut.  Ah, to be a pain in your mom's ass again.  Oh wait, I'm pretty sure I still am now.  But we're friends, don't worry.

You get a Gina fact AND a Cooking Song, feel special!:  "Gamma Ray" - Beck