A Midweek Quickie

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

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!

The Vegan Strong Blog-iversary!

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!!

On the Road Again ted

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!

Raw Banana Bread Cookies

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)

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!

Fruity Food

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!

Toasted Corn and Sweet Red Pepper Rice

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 Warming Sensation (POST 100!!)

Can you believe this is my 100th post?  That is something crazy.  Its been almost nine months, which also means I've been vegan for a little longer than that.  Its all so "milestone-y".    

Okay, well the first order of business is, husband says to use his name.  Husband = Nick.  I'm sure you would have caught on.  

Second order of business.  We moved!  I know, I mentioned this time and again, that I wanted to move, that we were going to move, that we were living in a hobbit's shoebox, that we were in the process of moving, etc.  Well its done.  Some of our stuff is still on its way from storage in Hawaii, but I thought I'd give you a tour of one room that looks like it is completely finished:  the kitchen!  

Now, the apartment is small, so the kitchen is small, and its not even an eat-in, but its pretty nice.  Here you are walking in:  

Nick wanted me to show you the fridge.  I don't think he's ever seen this many vegetables in one place before!  We went to the farmer's market yesterday and picked up local greens and strawberries, squash and eggplant.  Yum.  

I am a big fan of the Debbie Meyer's Green Bags (yes, they work!!!).

You will then turn and see my makeshift pantry on the left.  There is a ton of storage all over the apartment.  Our bedroom has three closets.  Yet, there is no pantry in the kitchen.  So, this is what we did.  It works.  

Oh wait.  What is that?  I told you, its my pantry.  No, no.  That big giant black box on the right.  Ohhh, that.  

That is my new dehydrator!!  I was so stressed around my birthday that I never told my parents what I wanted, or rather, exactly which dehydrator I wanted.  I finally got around to it (easy decision), and when I went home last week it was waiting for me!  I know, its gigantic, its the 9 tray Excaliber, and I am very excited about it.  

Okay moving on (don't worry, I'm getting back to the dehydrator in a minute), we have been eating food.  In fact, Nick even went and cooked by himself the day I was home last week, and I suspect he'll want to be sharing it with you at some point.  This weekend though, someone has been sick.  Someone is not me.  He spent way over 24 hours of this weekend in bed with a fever.  So, tonight we had soup.  Possibly, the most simple soup ever in the entire world because I was being super lazy.  

This is 1 coffee mug of Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix (we don't have measuring cups), 4 coffee mugs of water, 4 tsp low sodium vegetable broth powder, 4 tbsp tomato paste, liquid smoke, salt & pepper.  This belongs in the "stupid easy" category, but I enjoyed it so much!  It simmered in the broth for 30 minutes, then I added the liquid smoke, salt, pepper, and tomato paste, and gave it another 30 minutes.  I am really happy we have leftovers because I want more.  Does anyone else buy low-sodium broth and then end up adding salt because it tastes like nothing?  I wonder if it ends up being more or less sodium in the end.  

Anyway, on top are a few of Peanut Butter Boy's Roasted Chickpeas,which I also made today.  I was hoping for a stronger peanut butter flavor, but the do give a good crunch!  

I mentioned how excited I was to get Ani's Raw Food Dessert book a few weeks ago (and many times on other's blogs too).  I got it the week it came out, and until today, I hadn't made anything from it.  So sad.  Well, I finally had my dehydrator.  Although not many of the recipes in the book actually call for dehydration, I still wanted one of them to be the first thing I made.  So, at the farmer's market we got strawberries.  I picked up a few medjool dates at the store, and everything else was in my pantry to make Strawberry Macaroons!  

Her recipe says it makes 6.  She is making GIANT macaroons!!!  I got 15.  They dehydrated, nice and quietly, for 3 hours.  My husband and I split one when they were done.  His reaction was something like "....?!?!  These are amazing!!  Good thing we have a dehydrator now."  They really are awesome.  They're just firm enough on the outside that you can pick them up no problem, but they're still so soft and moist on the inside, and you can taste the fresh strawberries.  He was looking through Ani's Raw Food Kitchen later on, and he wanted to know what she was eating on the front cover, and then wanted to make it, so....I see her burgers in our future. 

Okay, well that it is it for the food portion of this post!  But...I do have more to say and show you.  When we were living in the hobbit house, I mentioned that Zoe was very unhappy.  Well, she is much much happier here.  

Her new favorite activity:  Watching cars 

(we live outside of the mall entrance, lots of action for her!)

She likes to cuddle with smelly boots.

Blurry, but too cute not to post it!

We got her this scratching "thing" on Saturday.  I heard her scratching *something* she wasn't supposed to be scratching in the middle of the night.  I'm pretty sure it is our chair seats, and this thing has a really cool texture, which is just what she seems to like.  

The idea is that they "sit" in the seat part, and then scratch the woven part.  So, she's doing it wrong, haha.  Nick calls it her "couch", and she does snuggle with it.  Here she is "with" him.

So far she loves it.  I'm really hoping it'll keep her attention away from our chairs.  

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and commenting on my last 100 posts.  It has been so wonderful getting to know so many of you, and I appreciate everyone who has stuck with me even though I haven't been able to post as frequently.  I hope that I will get know even more blog friends (whether or not you have a blog, feel free to comment or email!) over the next 100 posts!  

Now its on to a busy summer of blogging...and it WILL be busy...an announcement and a request tomorrow!

Like A Kid Again

Ah, childhood memories...sitting on the beach, sipping milk out of giant coconut with a bendy straw, eating a mango and banana fruit salad with my fingers and

Wait.  Does this sound like your childhood?  

If so, I'm jealous.  But I did acquire a few things recently that brought me back to younger days.  

Yesterday I was lucky enough to receive a package from Matt's Munchies!  They're all natural fruit leathers (dairy free, egg free, nut free, gluten free!), which are pretty much the healthiest versions of fruit roll-ups you can come by.  How can fruit roll-ups not remind you of childhood?!  I think what set them apart in their kinship to fruit roll-ups (compared to other fruit leathers) was that they kind of have to be peeled apart like a fruit roll-up.  What makes these way better than a fruit-roll up is that they're made from either bananas, or mangoes, plus spices.  They come in six varieties:  Mango, Island Mango, Ginger Zest, Banana, Apple Pie, and Choco-Nana (Choco-Nana does have more ingredients, and some evaporated cane juice...but its worth it).  

I don't really know how to express to you that I liked them besides telling you that I got through more than half the package (there was two of each flavor) before I remembered that I really needed to take a picture. Uh...oops.  Here's what is left:

(Honestly, the Island Mango isn't actually left 

anymore either...they make good blog writing snacks)

One of the things I love about these, besides them tasting great, is that I feel like there's a lot in the package.  The Mango and Ginger Spice are about 50 calories per package and the rest are closer to 70 calories...and there is at least 6 pieces in every package.  My favorite is no surprise...Choco-Nana!  

Sometimes "natural" chocolatey stuff disappoints me, but these were such a perfect chocolately treat, that I'll probably be ordering more.  I did prefer all the banana based flavors over the mango (even the Apple Pie is banana based!), but the mango varieties were still awesome.  The Ginger Spice tastes just like a warming ginger candy, and the Tropical Mango has flecks of coconut in it.  

All in all, a big thank you to Matt's Munchies for letting me sample, and reminding me of the goodness that is smushed fruit (while being admittedly better than the childhood fruit roll-up). 

Now, while I didn't get to sip any coconut milk today, I did get a new lip balm.  My next door neighbor used to sell Avon, and one year for Easter, I got this cute coconut lip balm with a bunny on it.  I loved that lip balm.  It reminds of my neighbor, it reminds me of the beach, it reminds of the time in my life (most of high school) when I perpetually smelled like coconut (body lotions, shampoo, you name it).  A few months ago I mentioned a vegan lip balm that I got randomly at a Borders in Honolulu, and how much I loved it.  Well, there was a display at my local Borders today!  Even better, the flavor that popped out at me immediately:  Coconut Milk.  I snatched that sucker up with haste.  

I know I said it in my last post about The Giving Earth lip balm, but this stuff is the best.  It is so smooth and creamy and I just completely adore it.  I don't think I've ever stuck with a lip balm for so long...at least not since my coconut bunny lip balm.  There is a website on the lip balm, but it does not bring you to any sort of product page.  Check it out, its weird.  I also can't find anything about the company online, still.  However, I did notice that some of their flavors were in different, newer packaging, so maybe if I had gotten one of them I would have gotten an updated URL on it.  And maybe that means they're expanding and you should check your Borders for them! 

I'm off to bask in the coconut goodness on my lips and enjoy some Mango Matt's Munchies!  Just like a kid again.

Making New Friends

So far, its been a relaxing week.  Spring Break for me, remember?  In all honesty, it should not be this relaxing, I have a ton of stuff to do that I'm just ignoring.  I am procrastinating for a few reasons.  First, I do everything better under pressure.  Second, I finally got my hands on Breaking Dawn.  My next door neighbor let me borrow it since I'm too cheap to buy, and that library thing just wasn't working out.  I'm about a third of the way through.  

Normally on a week off I'd be taking advantage of extra gym time, but I've been doing a detox/cleanse/whatever you want to call it, and it was suggested that you kind of take it easy.  I've been walking with my mom and her friend in the morning, and going to yoga.  I went to a new teacher today and was thrilled to find that my normal teacher was subbing for her!  I love him so.  It was a short class though, only 60 minutes, when I'm used to 90 minutes.  There's just not enough time to get into things with only 60 minutes in my opinion.  

So clearly food this week has been different.  Well, not so different than normal but super different from the crap I've been eating lately.  I've been resorting to a lot more processed food than normal, and I really wanted to break away from that.  The diet that this "cleanse" suggests is mainly fruits and vegetables.  Almonds and sunflower seeds are okay in moderation, as are millet and quinoa.  I've mainly been sticking to the fruits and veggies though, and keeping a large portion of it raw.  There is also no caffeine, which is fine with me when I'm not working, no processed foods, no soy, and no salt.  

I do miss salt.  

Other than that its going really well.  Much better than I expected actually.  The hardest part was getting used to eating at the suggested "meal times", because I'm not used to eating such low calories foods all day, so I get really hungry, and I'm not about to tell myself I can't eat.    

So, I've been eating tons of fruit, thinking about Paulina's experiences (who recently started to basically follow an 80/10/10 diet), and having some fun with food again.  Its been far too long.  I really don't have any complaints so far, and while they suggest not doing any intense exercise, I feel like I have a ton of energy (says the girl who has been sitting on the couch reading and watching TiVo all day).  

My favorite meal on this diet (not that it isn't usually) has been breakfast.  There is just something so cheerful and vibrant about a big bowl of fresh fruit in the morning. 

 

I had this yesterday:  Bananas, pomegranate seeds (that I froze months ago), coconut, and the most beautiful papaya ever.  

I love you, papaya

This totally made my morning.  One of the downsides to this is that all the fruit and vegetables are supposed to be organic.  Yikes.  I don't know about you, but to me, that reads expensive.  $6 for a papaya?  I about fainted when I saw that pop up on the screen, and I told myself it had better be the best papaya of my life...I don't think it disappointed.  I'm not usually a papaya fan, but I believe it was Vegetarian Times who has an article this month about its health benefits and how it aids in digestion.  Maybe I'm wrong though, I get all those little free magazines at my health food stores, so everything gets mixed up in my head.  Regardless, I did read an article, and I figured now was a good time to try fruits I was wary about.  Wary no longer!

I made another new friend this week:  Beets.  I know I've had golden beets featured on here before, but I have also expressed my fear of its more mainstream sibling, purple beet.  I decided it was time to conquer my fear.  

Beets are the dark purple, apples are the pink, and carrots are the orange (obviously)

Now, this cleanse doesn't suggest that you eat only raw food, but I figured I would conquer my beet fear head on, and had this really delicious raw Spiced Shredded Beet & Carrot Salad from GoneRaw.  It was really good!  Beets are really good!  The only change I made came from the comment of the person who posted it, which was to add apples.  She also made the suggestion of adding pine nuts, but I think walnuts would be better...however, since I'm not eating nuts right now, they didn't get added.  

Conquering beet fear?  Check.  Well, I guess I have done one productive thing this week.    

As this has been a largely raw week, of course I turned to the one and only Ani Phyo.  I've mentioned Ani's Raw Food Kitchen on here many times, and this was another recipe that did not fail to disappoint.  

Above is the Garden Pate, one of my nut (almonds) based meals for the week, stuffed in a pepper with some edamame.  Totally yummy, and you can't see but there are raisins in it, which make it really extra yummy in my book.  By the way, if you check her site, you'll see that Ani is coming out with Ani's Raw Food Desserts soon.  I totally can't wait to snatch that up, I love the semblance of dessert being healthy!        

 

I'm so happy to be eating food again.  It has been an expensive week, but that is mainly because I'm bored and keep going to grocery stores for fun.  Funny, I used to do nothing every day and was fine, but now I actually miss going to "work".  

As much as this cleanse is going great, there are some things I already miss, and I am definitely fantasizing about making some tofu when this is over.  Barbeque Tofu?  Tofu Salad?  Any suggestions?

Rawday Sunday

Firstly, I would like to thank Denny for the SO sweet Valentine's Day e-card!  I got it first thing on Valentine's Day, but forgot to post about it yesterday when I posted about my other V-day swag.  My favorite line:  

"Do you have a raisin?

  No?  How 'bout a date?"

Thank you Denny, you're the best!  

How was everyone's Presidents' Day?  I hope you all had the day off.  It was a pretty nice day here.  I went to see He's just not that into you with my mom this morning, and since my grad class was also cancelled tonight, I got another yoga day this week!  

Most notably though, today was my second successful raw day (I had a raw flop a few weeks ago).  Same as last time, everything is from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.  Its the only raw book I have, and I like it.    

For breakfast I made one of my favorites from my first raw day, the Coconut Cashew Pudding, which I had with an apple and 2 tbsp of ground flax seeds.  I love this stuff, although I probably should have eaten a little more.

For a snack I made a batch of the Donut Holes.  I skipped rolling them in coconut (there was already coconut in them, and I had coconut for breakfast), and they were yummy!  

I used these dried green mangos, which I got while I was in Hawaii, instead of dried pineapple, because...well that is what I had.  They weren't green at all, and they were awesome!  I wish I had bought another bag.    

A melon baller worked perfectly for making the little "holes".  Does anyone actually use a melon baller for balling melon?  I can't say I ever have, I always use it for stuff like this.  Anyway, I had three during the movie, along with some dried pears.  I also had the rest of this raw Kombucha tea that I bought a few days ago (which is organic and raw).  Its weird, has an effervescence, but its pretty good once you get into it.    

Guava Goddess Flavor..they really don't market this stuff towards men, huh?

Lunch was probably the highlight of today.  I made the Stuffed Anaheim Chilies with Mole Sauce recipe.  They are stuffed with Ani's Black Pepper Cheeze, which is utterly fantastic.  

I wasn't thrilled with the Mole Sauce on its own, but it was good with the stuffed pepper.  I think my favorite thing about this was the strong spiciness from the garlic.  I can't believe I've never mentioned this before, but I adore garlic in any way shape or form, so this was totally perfect.  What is also perfect, is that this pepper package is totally portable and will be my lunch for most of this week!  

Snack time, banana ice cream!  Pretty simple, just a blended frozen banana topped with 2 tbsp of the Artisana Raw Cacao Bliss, that I found in Hawaii.    

Then I had some unplanned Donut Holes (they're so good!).  

Dinner was the Marinated Portabello Steak and Brazil Nut-Broccoli Mash.  This wasn't totally raw, because I didn't spring for the Nama Shoyu, and just used tamari sauce.  

My grocery store always has the most beautiful portabellos

Excuse the bite I took out of it...oops.

Now, I have something important to tell you.  If you have never had a raw marinated portabello mushroom, go out and have one right now.  Seriously, I've been trying to make myself like mushrooms for about a year now, and I just...don't.  Sometimes they're okay, but most of the time I just think they're icky.  But this is delicious.  I would seriously eat this often, happily.  And I really have to convey the fact that I have HATED mushrooms for years.  You may be asking why I even bothered trying this, but, again, trying to like them.  I'm so happy I found a way that works!  It is a tad salty from the tamari, but all in all, a glowing success.  As for the broccoli mash, as much as I am a huge fan of cooked broccoli, its never been a raw veggie favorite of mine.  So it was alright, but I'm not raving.  It probably would have been better if I had made the Mushroom Gravy, but I opted out of it.    

All in all, there is no doubting that raw food can be incredibly delicious. 

I'm looking forward to this week, although I won't have a lot to post about.  I made full servings of each recipe, and planned out my whole week, and it should be a pretty high raw week, as I go through all the leftovers.  I'm not so much looking forward to it because it is raw, but because I have it all planned.   

I have to get to bed, up at 5 again tomorrow!  I'm getting used to getting up, but I've been falling asleep on the way home.  Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I'll edit nutrition info tomorrow!  I've started, but it takes so long for an entire day.  

Enjoy the four day week everyone!