Vega Winner!

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

::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!

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.

OR

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!!

The Wholesomeness of Whole Foods

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!!

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
pollcode.com free polls

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

Stevia Winner!

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!!

Sugar Free Banana Bread (Giveaway)

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.

OR

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 the Winner Is...

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:

2 

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

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!!**

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!

Animals, Avocado, and Angelica's

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

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!

Want to see Food Inc?

If you're in the NY area and are free on Saturday around 3PM and want to see Food Inc, send me an email (not a comment, I won't be able to get to the computer to check the blog, but I'll check my email on my phone).  

Long story short, my brother, Nick, and I are going to see it tomorrow.  I bought the tickets for the wrong day.  So, you should be able to take two friends.  I need to talk to the box office, and they haven't been answering their phones, but I'm assuming it'll be okay if I just give you the confirmation number.  It'd be even better if you contact me before I get there tomorrow around 3PM, so I can give them your name in case there are any problems with the tickets being purchased in my name.  

Also, its first come first serve, but if you are only one person, then I'd hope you'd be open to me giving the other tickets to other people and meeting up to go in together (you don't have to sit together, but you could make new friends!).  

Anyway, if you want to see it, again, email me asap!  

The Winner!

I can't remember the last time I was this excited for it to be the weekend.  Or to wear slip on sneakers.  I wore a pair of shoes today that I will be giving away.  I walked to my front door barefoot they were so tired.  Don't get me wrong, I am excited about the student teaching and all, but it really makes you appreciate your time off more.    

Anyway, I wasn't lying yesterday, I do have news!  

First, I have been doing a Juicer Giveaway over the past few weeks, and yesterday my brother picked a winner!  Thank you so much to everyone who entered the contest, and especially those who linked to the giveaway in their blogs.  I really appreciate it!  

There can only be one winner though, and this time it was:  Joanie Simon!

Congratulations Joanie!!  Once I get your contact info from you, your juicer will be on its way!  

By the way, if you are very upset that you didn't win, or didn't get a chance to enter, Kristen also just started a giveaway for this same juicer..so go ahead and try again!  

My second piece of excitement, I have to admit, is quite selfish of me, since it really only affects me.  But, I figured you are all my blog friends now, and would probably care.  

The news is, first, my husband is officially out of Iraq.  Fun, right?  The even better news is that next week is Regents week at school!  That means I will mainly be hanging around and proctoring exams.  No, that doesn't sound like good news.  Here are a few hints as to why Regents week is good news:  

Because its Regents week and I won't be doing anything, I am going to Hawaii next Thursday!  I can't stay too long, because I have to be back at school on Monday, but it should be worth it, right?!  These pictures are all from when we were living out there in 2006.  And yes, that last picture was from the top of a mountain range.  You don't even want to know how I got up there.  Well, maybe you do, we climbed, it was terrible (I was not in goof shape then), haha, but awesome.  

Lastly, since my contest is over (so sad...hopefully we'll do another soon), I thought I'd direct you over to another very yummy giveaway going on over at Ricki's blog Diet, Desserts, and Dogs.  She has a book coming out soon, and I can't even tell you how antsy I am for it.  Anyway, she is giving away some of the last vegan Ritter Sport Peppermint bars, so go sign up!  Also, if you're in the Toronto area, you can enter a separate giveaway to have her send you treats!  Never have I been so jealous of people living in Toronto.  

Some other good news is that one of our best friends called me from Iraq a little bit ago.  Despite what it may seem, I don't have many military friends.  But my husband and I went to college together, and our friend was a Biology major, and I was a Chemistry major, so we had a lot of the same classes, and then he was in ROTC with my husband.  Then he happened to also get stationed in Hawaii and we became pretty close.  I haven't really seen or even talked to him since he was home for leave in April, so that really made my day.  

I don't know how much I will be around this weekend.  I am going to see some friends in the city tomorrow (I'm not sure where, my friend lives in Brooklyn, but we may be in Manhattan...not sure)...I am hoping to find something vegan-y and fun, but we'll see.  My friends aren't vegan (at all), but I will hopefully either get there early or leave later.  I usually stay over night when I go down there, but we are going to Boston tomorrow to see my brother.  

Random question time.  Does anyone else just find themselves incapable of growing up?  I was talking about it with my friend today, about how immature I can be, (about a particular issue in this case), and I was telling him that I just don't really want to grow up.  And I think that is part of the reason why I have chosen to the spend the rest of my life in school.  I don't know if that is a good or bad thing, but I still feel like I'm the same age as the kids I am teaching (who are 15-17).      

Anyway, I'm sorry there was no food today and I'm sorry if my news wasn't as exciting as you all were hoping for, but this is a crazy exciting time for me!    

How to Have a Great Cook-In

The first step to having a Great Cook-In is to get your significant other out of the house.  Okay, he or she can stay if they want, but if they happen to be hiking in ridiculously cold weather with their friends, and your friend comes over instead, that would be fun.  

Second, you should arrange for the weather to look like this.  

This means that a cook-out is clearly out of the question.  However, what IS the perfect way to spend the weekend is having a cook-in.  

You'll want to start out the weekend with some Saturday morning yoga (you won't be doing much other exercising).  Then you should grab your friend, and stop at the grocery store to pick up some stuff, to make sure you are fully stocked.  It'll be nice if your friend wants to help you with some recipe testing for one of Robin Robertson's upcoming cookbooks.  Lunch for our cook-in was Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties with Handy Hummus.  

Handy Hummus

Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties

They were meant to be served as sandwiches, but I don't really like bread, so we just ate them with some salad greens and sliced tomatoes.  We both really liked these, and also thought that they would make a good base for lots of different flavor combinations.  The hummus was great also, really nice and creamy.  

Handy Hummus; makes approximately 1 1/2 cups, Serves about 6

Nutrition Information:  193.6 Calories;  12.4g Total Fat;  1.7g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  17.2g Total Carbohydrates;  3.9g Fiber;  5.4g Protein.

Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties; Serves 4 (not including salad greens and tomato)

Nutrition Information:  280.5 Calories; 5.9g Total Fat;  1.1g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  44.7g Carbohydrates;  5.9g Fiber;  13.3g Protein

Since this weekend is all about the food, you can spend the afternoon being pretty lazy.  After all, did you see that snow?  We watched a few episodes of Planet Earth, napped, and chilled out (in?) with her puppies.  

Deiter

Katahdyn

Then we decided we didn't want to be quite so lazy anymore, so, in keeping with the food theme, we went to the little Asian grocery/natural food store near her house, the Green Market.  The first thing I beeline for in any new store like this are the bars.  Duh.  I found something new!  I wasn't expecting to, because it is relatively small, but it really had a lot of good stuff.  

Excuse the fuzzy picture, but these are Sencha Green Tea Bars.  They're vegan and gluten free. So far I have tried Original and Delicate Pear, but I also have one of the Lemongrass variety waiting for me.  They each have about 220 Calories and 9g Protein, and are chock full of good stuff like pepitas, pistachios, black sesame seeds, dried fruits (the original had goji berries, pear in the other), almonds, matcha powder, dates, etc.  They are awesome, but I do like the pear variety better, as I'm not a huge fan of gojis.  If you ever see these, I definitely think they're worth picking up.  

If you want to involve some culinary adventure in your cook-in you should pick up something that is new to you.  We went for fruit, and brought home some quince and kumquats.  How fun!   

Upon arriving home from our second grocery stop, we decided it was dinner time, so we made the second recipe we were testing for Robin, a Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cashews and Kidney Beans.   

Serves 4

Nutrition Information:  369.3 Calories;  17.9g Total Fat;  2.6g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  44.7g Carbohydrates;  11.3g Fiber;  9.8g Protein

At first, we were kind of on the fence about this dish, but by the time were got to the end of it, we were both totally loving it.  There were a few different components, but they worked together harmoniously.  Plus, it was nice and colorful!  With that, it was time for dessert.  

If you aren't familiar with kumquats, they're a citrus.  Small, bitter, with an orange rind that is very thin, so it can be eaten if cooked slightly.  If you have ever wondered if there were cool things you could do with a kumquat, I am here to tell you that there are! 

We decided on cookies.  However, in order to make the cookies, we had to hit up the grocery store again.  Yes, count that, three times in one day.  That's kind of my idea of a good day though.  To each their own, okay?  We picked up everything we needed for some Chocolate Chip and Kumquat Oatmeal Cookies.    

Makes 12 Cookies

Nutrition Information:  136.7 Calories;  3.5g Total Fat;  1.7g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  24.4g Carbohydrates;  2.6g Fiber;  2.6g Protein  

These were completely awesome, especially right after they cooled a little out of the oven; nice and crispy on the outside and moist and fluffy on the inside.  They did make for a pretty cakey cookie, and almost looked like messy muffin tops.  I am going to try and make them again, to make them less cakey and gluten free, but it it doesn't work out, I'll post the recipe we used for these!  Soon, I promise.

A cook-in, if you aren't aware, is kind of a special occasion.  To make your cook-in truly great, you *must* have two desserts.  Since my friend had an avocado, we also made the Avocado Dark Chocolate Mousse that I posted about a few weeks ago.    

We ate dessert while watching the movie we rented:  Traitor, with Don Cheadle.  Honestly, he is fabulous, but I thought the movie was just okay.  If you haven't noticed yet, I watch a lot of movies, but I by no means claim to be a connoisseur.  I tend to like silly, lighthearted movies.

Its not the end of the post, and its not the end of the cook-in, but it is the end of the day.  Our cooking song for today was 'Nights in White Satin' - The Moody Blues.  We had a Classic Rock radio station on the TV while we were cooking.  You have to rock out while having a cook-in.    

We woke up to a lot more snow.

It continued to snow for most of the day.  This ruined our gym plans.  I mean...we were having a completely lazy cook-in so screw the gym  (I was supposed to go to the gym with her and take her on a walk through the weight room).  We did to some yoga on FitTV, which we both thought was pretty lame, but it was better than nothing.  We decided to try something with the remainder of our fruit adventure.  Today:  Quince.  

We didn't do anything quite as fun as cookies with it, but we did bake it up with some agave nectar, cinnamon, and lime juice with water at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, and 425 degrees for 10 minutes.    

Serves 2

Nutrition Information:  62.8 Calories;  0.1g Total Fat;  0.0g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  16.6g Carbohydrates;  2.1g Fiber;  0.3g Protein.  

If you've never had a quince, they're sort of inbetween an apple and  pear, although they're even grainer than pear.  Altogether they were good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to try it again.  If someone wanted to peel it, cut out that obnoxious core, and make it for me, I would eat it though.    

After this, we cleaned the whole kitchen.  This is not a necessary part of the cook-in, but chances are, you're making a mess...clean up after yourself!  

Another trip to the grocery store brought home some dinner supplies.  My friend has never had tofu, so I definitely wanted to make that.  We also got portabellos, tomatoes, kale, and some parchment paper.  Parchment paper?  Not for dinner, for the rest of the kumquats.  You want to waste as little as possible when having a cook-in (the more you can eat the better!).  

Since the rind of the kumquat is so thin and doesn't have much pith, I thought they'd be perfect for the Orangette recipe in My Sweet Vegan.  We split them in half, spooned out the flesh, which we dehydrated, and set to candying the rinds.  When both parts of the kumquats were done, we dipped them in chocolate.  

Dehydrated in the front, candied in the back

We did quite a bit of dehydrating while I was at her house, and it just made me want a dehydrator even more.  I keep saying that I want to wait until I have my own place to put it, but this is a lie.  I'll probably get one when I get another coupon for Bed Bath and Beyond or something.  Soon, hopefully.

While we were doing this, we also heated up the oven and made some Kale Chips.  I looked around the internet for this one, since I've heard varying reviews.  I don't understand why, they tasted like kale...crispy!  We both loved them.  They got tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt, and were baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  We could have also dehydrated these, but our cook-in was coming to a close.  

By the way, at this point in the cook-in you may be feeling a bit delirious and decide that your kale chips would look fabulous against a snowy white background...which you just happen to have right outside. 

I didn't take any pics of dinner.  If you are having a really great cook-in, your camera will most likely be running out of battery at this point.  Most of dinner ended up really good though.  We had roasted portabello mushrooms with balsamic and garlic, Italian marinated tofu, boiled and sauteed kale, and quinoa with pine nuts and tomato.  The quinoa was lackluster...sad.  That was okay though because like I said before, my friend was a tofu virgin, so that was where the pressure was really on.  She liked it!  Yay!  After dinner we rented The Go Getter on Demand, largely because I love Zooey Deschanel.  

So, if you ever plan a great cook-in, I hope that gives you some ideas.  We really did get a lot of snow, so I just got back this morning, hence the lack of posting on my part, and the huge lineup of posts in my reader, courtesy of many of you!  Student teaching starts tomorrow, so if I am slower at commenting and posting than usual, I apologize in advance!  

Lastly, I forgot to mention this in my last post, but your time to sign up for the Juicer Giveaway is running out!  I will be picking a winner on Thursday this week!  

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend, hopefully a nice long one, if you get to celebrate MLK day!