Ice Cream For A Cause
Hello, hello! I feel like this weekend totally flew past me between the auction Friday night to Avery’s birthday party to now being back in my dorm room and attending classes again with little to no transition in between. When the flow goes, go with it!
Avocado Rubbed Kale, Sweet Chili Tofu And Peppers
We packed up the car last night and made it to the Whole Foods in Providence in record time. Of course, we hit up the salad bar while grabbing groceries. My plate had some avocado-rubbed kale, sweet chili tofu, and pepper strips. The tofu was to die for. I can’t begin to explain how crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside it was. And the sweet and heat balanced perfectly. I would have had more, except that wasn’t really my dinner…
Ice Cream Social
As any Rhode Islander knows, there were massive floodings earlier in the month from a huge rainstorm that hit us. Businesses and houses were destroyed, and Whole Foods was holding an ice cream social to help raise money for those families. I can definitely get into ice cream for dinner for charity.
Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae With Chocolate Syrup, Whip Cream, And A Cherry
I was hoping they’d break out the fun and funky pints for this, but they just had 365 vanilla and chocolate 
I got vanilla ice cream with organic chocolate sauce, 365 whipped cream, and a natural maraschino cherry. Sundaes always taste better when someone else makes them for you with a heavy hand. The 365 vanilla is OK, but I’ve definitely branched out from dairy-based ice cream and have had better. Other fun finds(but not purchases) at Whole Foods were the new So Delicious flavors in stock and Daiya vegan cheese!
Red Delicious Apple
Endangered Species Dark Chocolate With Deep Forest Mint
While working on some homework not-so-hard, I had the snack of champions: an apple, mint dark chocolate, and decaf coffee. Could I have had a little more sugar last night? It was all for a good cause–let’s keep that in mind. Last Summer I managed to switch from caffeine to decaf coffee; this year it’s been about weening off the stuff completely from the acidity, but I do have about a cup a day, which is probably an ideal balance of antioxidants and acidity. I don’t think I could/would give it up completely.
Oatmeal With An Egg And The Heat Is On PB
I couldn’t deal with more sugar before bed so I went the spicy route with The Heat Is On peanut butter and a savory Omega-3 egg. It might be hard to believe it through my sweet tooth and all, but I definitely could not go a day without a good deal of savoriness. Sometimes, my garlic tooth is just as big.
Pomegranate Chobani With Quinoa Dark Chocolate
Back to classes and rain meant back to runs first thing, so I woke up at 6:30 to squeeze an 8-miler in before class. Normally, dairy and protein wouldn’t work for me before a run. But it was all I was craving. And since I was going to run anyway, I thought why not have the damn pomegranate Chobani with Alter Eco dark chocolate quinoa.
10 Miles In 86:16
Something must have worked, because I extended my run to 10 miles and ran at a 7mph pace. The best part was finding out through the news that the forecast for Sunday’s half-marathon is sunny and warm! Crossing my fingers…
Cranberry Greek Yogurt With Craisins, Oatmeal With An Egg And PB
Finally, for breakfast I was craving craisins. I just wish there was a bar called that so I could have known what to eat so much easier. I mixed Crofter’s Organic Europe jam in a plain chobani and topped with Tierra Farm‘s organic dried cranberries–holy yum were these soft and squishy! On the side I had oatmeal with another egg and some Teddie’s pb sweetened up a tad. In class I got bored and calculated that I ate around 50g of protein and all before lunch! Sure, you could just take 2 scoops of a powder and call it at that. But I love getting so much nourishment from real food.
Do you have any cooking goals? 2 of the things this weekend inspired me to do are 1) use my food processor to make more complex and delicious raw foods and 2) learn to fry tofu. An ironic pairing, no? Well, if things go my way today, I’ll be incorporating one of those into dinner… Is there anything you want to learn to do in the kitchen?
If You Looked In My…
So Delicious Snickerdoodle Soy Milk Ice Cream
If you looked in my freezer, you’d find 8 almost empty pints of ice cream/frozen yogurt/dairy-free desserts and 1/2 a quart of coffee frozen yogurt. A problem? I think so. So really, by eating this So Delicious Snickerdoodle ice cream, I was just doing my part.
Oatmeal With Chocolate Hazelnut Butter
If you looked in my computer, among other things you’d find a folder of photos from a trip to France I took last March. The smell of hazelnuts always reminds me of France. Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter might not be my favorite of his line but I’m out of the other 2 chocolate flavors and it’s all I have 😦 I’m a pig for them. Oink, Oink.
Divine's Milk Chocolate
If you looked in my closet, you’d find a small fortune of chocolate. I could (poorly) feed a third world country with it. Divine’s milk chocolate wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was pretty damn good–nice and creamy with a sweet finish. It’s also got a spick and span fair trade ingredient list, which I loved.
If you looked in my room at 10pm, you would have found me out cold. I was exhausted last night and determined to get my 8 hours of sleep in.
Apricot Goji PranaBar
If you looked in my Apricot Goji Pranabar I devoured this morning before hitting the gym, you’d find no actual goji berries, just goji powder. That much I did not like, but the rest of the bar was really good. I loved the sweet and nuttiness of it, and that it was 75% raw for optimal nutrition. It would be much better named Apricot Cashew, though.
10 Miles In 89:18
If you looked in my gym this morning, you’d find no one their but me for the most part. Glorious alone time? Heck yes.
Oatmeal With An Egg And Peanut Butter, Honey Vanilla Bean Voskos With Cashew Butter
Honey Vanilla Bean Voskos With Cashew Butter
If you looked in my Honey Vanilla Bean Voskos yogurt this morning, you’d find raw cashew butter mixed in. Why? I am just becoming less and less a fan of fat free greek yogurt. I love it, but it’s not satisfying without a little fat in every bite for me. So I thought I’d add a little in! Unfortunately, it also tasted like too much like cashes This is my plea for Greek yogurt companies to make more 2%/full-fat flavors!
If you looked in my trash, you’d find a tub of cream cheese taken from the back of the fridge that smelled like old gym socks. That was why I added cashew butter and not dairy fat to the yogurt.
If you looked at my checkings account right now, you’d find one mysterious withdrawal that I need to make a call about because I did not make it >:-(
Where would I have to look to find your dirty secrets? By the way, I did not watch Food Inc. last night because it wasn’t on like they said it would be! Bummer! Apparently, we Tivoed it at home, so I’ll be able to watch it at my own leisure over the weekend.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 9 so far )I’m A Nut And Oxidize Them, Too
Hey, all! How was your weekend? In cased you missed it…
- Friday there was good talk on Food Combining
- Saturday I admitted feeling burnt out and then wrote my first Picture It post
- Sunday was just excessive but there was a lot of domestic doings done.
- I’ve added a How To Make Oatmeal page
I enjoyed such a low-key weekend because honestly I have no clue when I’ll be getting that again. Next weekend is off-the-wall busy with family and then after that I have my half-marathon. Already?! And that comes just before finals kick up. Greeaaaat. My point: Rest(when you can get it) is good.
My favorite thing of the weekend came from Averie’s blog talk about protein and metabolic types. You can take this online test to find out what kind of oxidizer are you. I was a fast oxidizer. I completely disagree that a 50/20/30 ratio protein/carb/fat ratio is right for me; I could never eat that much protein, shun protein powders, and j’adore carbs. But besides that, the test was shockingly spot on. Always eat fat or protein at a meal/snack? Check. Avoid caffeine and alcohol? Check. Eat fatty meat and don’t overcook it. Somebody knows me too well… Don’t eat a meal around carbs and avoid high GI foods? Close-enough-check. What kind of oxidizer are you? And do you think it’s right? Speaking of fat and protein(but mostly fat)…
Hazelnut Toffee Dark Chocolate With Sweetened Peanut Butter
I sipped on almond amaretto teeccino while eating the last of a hazelnut toffee Endangered Species bar topped with vanilla peanut butter. So really, I’m nuts(pl). Sometime’s(alright, most times), there’s just nothing better than the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. I sweetened mine with Madhava vanilla agave.
Oatmeal With Vanilla Peanut Butter And Milk Chocolate
After that I finished off the jar of 365 peanut butter by making the same sweet kind as I did with the chocolate and topping it on oats. I also included some scharffen berger’s extra rich milk chocolate. If you’re looking for a gift, nothing says “I love you” like milk chocolate with butterfat. Yum 🙂
Healthy Hazel Boomi Bar
This morning I felt starvacious waking up and like I could have eaten a whole meal. Instead, I wanted to get a run in first thing so I grabbed a healthy hazel boomi bar. There was definitely no joking around with the hazelnuts here; I love how they were the first ingredient. Besides that, it didn’t seem all that flavorful, though it was certainly enjoyable.
10.5 Miles In 90:27
I spent 90 minutes watching The Today Show. I think if I didn’t start my week off like that, I’d just feel lost in the news and weather.
Oatmeal With An Egg And Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter, Vanilla Soy Yogurt With Milk Chocolate Peanuts
Soy Yogurt With Milk Chocolate Peanuts
Even though I’m starting to think more and more there’s merit to being a fast oxidizer and being more satisfied with fats and proteins, I’m not about to change how I eat. Greek yogurt really fillsme up, but today I was craving a soy yogurt with milk chocolate peanuts, so that’s what I had. I added an egg in my oats to replace the protein, and topped with cinnamon raisin swirl PB&Co. peanut butter. Yum! I have a lot of “gourmet” peanut butters, but I like PB&Co. because they’re a bit cheaper and easier to buy at markets near me.
What kind of oxidizer are you? Do you think it’s about accurate? Also, I’d be amiss not to mention the Boston Marathon today! Good luck to all its runners! Having always grown up in MA, I can’t understand why the world hasn’t stopped here today like it’s not a holiday, and why the race isn’t on TV 😦 I’m following along on Boston.com
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 16 so far )Oh Really?
Some things recently have made me question the sanity of certain humans(myself included). I stumbled on a Mythbusters marathon last night and watched it for 3 hours. I love that show, but I have to wonder who’s funding The Study For How Much Popcorn It Takes To Blow Out A Window. Oh really?
Chocolate Avocado Pudding With Coconut + Vanilla Macaroon
I took my mind off those things by making some chocolate avocado pudding made with almond milk and NuNaturals‘ vanilla stevia. I don’t know why, but this particularly batch tasted amazing On top I broke up my last Emmy’s Organics Coconut + Vanilla macaroon. These had SUCH a good vanilla flavor to them; if you can find them, I’m jealous and would highly recommend grabbing them if only to flaunt in my face.
While I was doing that, I was of course playing around on the internet. I haven’t even been away from Facebook for very long, and already I wonder things every time I log in. Like since when can you become a fan of any random object such as brownies? And for the love of God if I get one more invitation to be a farmer, or a vampire, or a vampire farmer…
Better Than Roasted Sprouted Almond Butter
I wasn’t cute sure whether to have oatmeal or more pudding after that. I debated this for 10 minutes like it was a matter of life or death. Oh really? Do I have nothing better to do? Apparently not. And then after decided I wanted pudding, I realized I was out of avocadoes. Oatmeal it was!
Oatmeal With Sprouted Almond Butter And Sweetened Chocolate Coconut
Call me coconut-crazy if you want; I mixed some organic unsweetened shredded coconut with raw cocoa powder and raw vanilla agave. Oh really? Did I just discover how to make quick and sloppy macaroon shreds? Because that tasted a little too good to be true… Concerning the sprouted almond butter by Better Than Roasted, it took me a good 5 minutes to decide what it tasted like: raw almonds. I know–aren’t I a genious? But after chocolate almond butter, roasted almond butter, and white chocolate cherry almond butter, this was definitely unique and delicious in its own right. I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Oh really? He got in to Brown?”
Maple Butter
I woke up at 4 and couldn’t get back to bed. I knew I was hungry, but was hoping I could shake it off and fall back to sleep. Eventually, I told myself, “Evan, you’re an A——. That’s right, you’re an athlete. If you’re hungry now at 4:30, for God sake’s stop being lazy and eat something.” Clearly, I also thought that maple butter, which is pure sugar, would be another good choice for falling back to sleep. Oh really?
French Toast Oatmeal
I went downstairs to the basement to make french toast oatmeal. And you know what? This was actually perfectly cooked; apparently the secret is to do it at a ridiculous hour, half in the dark, and not involved–go figure. And the secret to a “keeper” of a photo? Moving the red Solo cups out of the way.
Morning Apple
I can say that, after that, I fell asleep nicely. And for the first time in longer than I can remember, I overslept. I got up, looked at the clock, and realized it was 9:30! OK, can you oversleep when you really don’t have any “plans”? Probably not. But that’s later than I prefer. I decided the weather looked perfect for another outdoor run, gobbled down this apple, and hit the outdoors.
9.55 Miles In 1:20:53
Before I get into the run, I’d like to point out that’s 3 1/2 minutes faster than yesterday, meaning I shaved off 20 seconds per mile. Wow! Where did that come from? When I looked at this, my first thought was Oh really? Apparently! It was just so gorgeous out again how could I not get into it? I also had motivational support via a country playlist with Taylor Swift telling me “These things will change” and Brooks & Dunn that cowgirls(and cowboys?) don’t cry.
March/April Whole Deal Flyer
Can I also mention my favorite part was running in to Whole Foods, grabbing the new Whole Deal flyer, and running out? I think I got odd looks, but it was worth it. There are fantastic coupons in here, including $1 off their 365 peanut butter! With only peanuts and salts for ingredients, it’s delicious, and that’s a steal. When I first heard about that sale, I had to thing “Oh really? Have they lost their mind?”
Oatmeal With Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter And Coconut Milk, Cherry Vanilla Greek Yogurt With Cherry Dark Chocolate
And then I made breakfast, right at 11:50. I’m glad to have slipped under the wire; I’d have hated to have missed this and then feel like I should eat “lunch”; breakfast is better anyway. I sweetened the plain 2% yogurt with cherry butter and vanilla agave in an effort to keep stevia out of my breakfast. For the oatmeal, some chocolate cherry peanut butter and coconut milk was perfect! Coconut milk keeps forever if you put it in a thick plastic container sealed off in the fridge. And it makes fats more readily available as a fuel source! Perfect for fueling.
I have to sound like “Much to do, gotta run” but… much to do, and gotta run(not literally)! There’s a Vitamix presentation at the Whole Foods nearby today I might get to see(along with some friendly faces), and my grocery list is turning in to a catalog. But first, I need to ask, breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Clearly, breakfast foods are my favorite!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 8 so far )Shedding Vegan Guilt And Others
“Guilt” is a really nasty word in my book and something no one should ever have to go through. And yet, at times, I feel like I put some pressures on myself that make my feel guilty for really stupid reasons. I write this post in earnest in hopes that, by getting them out there, I’ll be able to squash these feelings from ever returning.
Burnt Peanut Butter
Last night started off on a much lighter note: I managed to burn peanut butter. Is that even possible? Apparently. I was trying to get the last bit of this butter toffee peanut butter to soften but after 40 seconds it started smoking and the bottom was like pumice! Such a major bummer that this happened to my favorite Naturally Nutty peanut butter but thankfully there wasn’t much left and I had a full 16oz jar to replace this 8oz one.
Chocolate Avocado Pudding With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter
This combination of chocolate avocado pudding with sweet butter toffee peanut butter was absolutely heavenly, just what I wanted, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But it did have me face 1 common guilt I have: vegan guilt. On several occasions, I’ve caught myself thinking “Why do you have to eat that. Why not something similar but vegan?” It mostly ever occurs with things that might otherwise be vegan but aren’t due to added ingredients, like an energy bar or peanut butter. That’s when I lay down the line and remind myself I’m not vegan, raw, vegetarian, or any label like that, nor do I have plans to be. It’s so easy to get caught up and think about participating in some vegan for a day challenge; the fact is that I’ve done that, hated it, and moved on. I’ve also had days when I unintentionally ate completely vegan and been 100% satisfied. So from here on, I’m shedding the vegan guilt, knowing I do well for my part.
Red Delicious Apple
After that, I snacked on an apple while doing work. Sometimes I wonder what must it look like that I eat a good deal after dinner? I’ll shed that guilt before it starts by saying it’s just how my body works that it gets more hungry at night, I have no clue how much I eat after dinner or through the day for that matter, and it fuels me well for an a.m. run. Last night in particular I was fueling for a long run, so these extra carbs were more than welcomed.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Chocolate Peanut Butter And Milk Chocolate Peanut Sunspires
To cap off the carb loving, I had a big bowl of pumpkin oatmeal with Justin’s chocolate peanut butter and a few milk chocolate peanut sunspire candies. Ya’ll(OK, seriously, where did that come from), I can not tell you how bad my pictures get me down sometimes. But I think by typing it out I’ll feel a lot better: I’m working with crappy lighting in a dorm room at night. We’ll all just have to deal. Phew. Now I can talk about how good Brothers & Sisters was, as well as the closing ceremonies. I thought the latter were so much more fun than the opening ceremonies; I loved all the celebs and the hockey game at the end. Russia, though, seemed like downers on the whole party. Brothers & Sisters is definitely getting funnier, too. I just hope they crank up the drama to finish the season.
13 Miles In 1:54:55
Like I said, I was fueling for a long run in the morning. And that worked really well. I ended up running 13 miles. This also gave me time to think about my guilts, brainstorm this entrie blog posts, and discovered some running related ones: marathoner’s guilt and treadmill guilt. As you all probably know, I’m running a 1/2 marathon in 27 days, and that’s what I’m training for. After thinking about it, I realized I really like to run 8-10 miles and have no desire for much else usually. It’s great to be inspired by so many marathon running bloggers but that just ain’t for me. Besides that, I loved the treadmill. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating; I love having a TV and a nice warm, bright climate. Will I run outside again? Sure. But I like it hot(60’s at least) and sunny(we haven’t seen this in New England for about a week now). So there’s where I stand on running.
Soy Yogurt With Bacon Peanut Brittle, Oatmeal With An Egg And Butter Toffee Peanut Butter
Oatmeal With An Egg And Butter Toffee Peanut Butter
I big time got over my vegan guilt for breakfast; case in point: My yogurt isn’t even vegetarian. I added a plank of Sir Francis Bacon‘s Bacon Peanut Brittle and some vanilla stevia and sea salt. God was that good. It’s helping to settle my cravings for Fakin’ Tempeh Bacon(how much longer is Lent?). In the oats went an egg and on top more butter toffee peanut butter. And right now the only shred of guilt I have left is because I’m drinking a really good new tea I’m not sharing yet, but I have to save something for future posts, right 😉 Any guilts you need to shed? Let ’em out! I assure you, it feels 10 times better afterwards.
Here’s a giveaway for some good gluten-free granola–yum! Perfect for me 🙂 And here’s another for come cho-cho-bani!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 23 so far )Layers Of Flavor
Reunited and it feels so good… with Food Network! I forgot how much I enjoyed this channel. Right now, I’m getting my 5-ingredient fix with Claire Robinson on; I’m not even a fan of hers but 3 weeks without having it and I’ll watch anything on the Food Network. Her theme is layering flavors, so naturally I’m going to be a copy cat and show you some delicious layered flavors.
Soy Yogurt With Milk Chocolate Shavings, Peanut Butter, And Salt
From top to bottom:
- Sea salt
- 365 Creamy Peanut Butter
- Trader Joe’s Bulk Milk Chocolate Shaved
- Soy Yogurt With Vanilla Stevia
Hello, flavorful. I didn’t have any peanut butter cups around, and I didn’t feel like making the, so I just used the raw ingredients. Then I stirred it all together. BIG MISTAKE. The peanut butter always gets lost in the yogurt, so I finished it off with a garnish:
Peanuts Added On Top
Much better 🙂 I find, if you want peanut flavor in your yogurt, it’s better to use peanut flour(which I’ve discovered troubles my stomach) or peanuts to get it loud and proud. On TV was bobsledding; I think bobsledding/luge/skeletons are so much more exciting than most of the sports they show on The Olympics but they get almost as little attention as cross-country skiing 😦 And yet the world has to stop to see ice dancers. Go figure. Before I went to bed I had some nutty oats.
Oatmeal With Dark Chocolate Almond Butter And Coconut Creme Concentrate
- Coconut Creme Concentrate
- Maranatha’s Dark Chocolate Almond Butter
- Oatmeal With Sea Salt
One thing that is not muy bueno about being home is not having my super stash of nut butters to choose from. I ended up going with Maranatha’s almond butter, which is not nearly as good as Justin’s now that I’ve tried both 😦 I can’t wait to turn the people in this house on to Justin’s once it hits New England shelves!
Spoonful Coconut Creme Concentrate
The coconut creme concentrate is a new product I’m trying from Tropical Traditions. It’s kind of like very concentrated coconut milk. I haven’t explored it much and so won’t review it yet, but know that it was tasty enough that I took a spoonful straight from the jar before falling asleep 😉
This morning I slept in and read a little in bed before actually getting up. Is it just me, or are there a lot more commercials for cereals and breakfast foods before 9am? That would be good advertising if it’s true. It made me hungry for some cinnamon toast crunch–not like we actually have that or even any organic version around. That’s OK because I was perfectly capable of layering my own flavors.
Cinnamon Soy Yogurt With Ginger Cookie, French Toast Oatmeal With Honey Cinnamon PB
For the yogurt, I did…
- Cinnamon
- Vegan Pumpkin Molasses Cookie
- Soy Yogurt With Vanilla Stevia
This was delicious, kind of like my beloved snickerdoodle ice cream but breakfast-friendly. I think the fact that I have 3 soy yogurts in the my fridge right now for the week and I’ve gone through 2 in 12 hours is a bad sign.
Oatmeal With Cinnamon And An Egg Topped With Honey Cinnamon Peanut Butter And Maple Butter
The oatmeal likewise was a bit of a flavor conundrum(I’m pretty sure I’m not using this word right here).
- Maple Butter
- Honey Roasted Cinnamon Peanut Butter
- 1 Cage Free Omega-3 Egg
- Oatmeal With Sea Salt And Cinnamon
Cinnamon toast crunch who? This was wayyy better. And it went good with some Mexican style coffee on the side, too. Now Food Network programming has shifted from Aida to Sunny Anderson. Fun fact: She actually commented on this blog once! It was towards the beginning of the Summer when I mentioned the new program The Best Thing I Ever Ate. It definitely made me feel famous for that one day(and might have gone to my head :-)). Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe Giada will be coming on, and she’s always entertaining to watch, and not because of her cooking 😉
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 13 so far )Friday Fish And Chips
Happy Lenten Friday, everybody! OK, that has an awful and fake sound to it. The Church needs to come up with something catchy. But while they do, I’ll catch you up on what we decided. Last Friday I posed the question yay or nay on fish if I consider them a “meat” in terms of vegetarianism. A lot of you raised compelling arguments and the clear answer was that fish was cheap at the time of Aquinus which is why Catholics can still eat fish during Lent, but it’s “in the spirit” to have only the lesser-quality fish(aka no sashimi :-(). Of course, I also consulted my mom who’s the real my-word-goes-if-you-know-what’s-good-for-you and she agreed that fish was OK. Why am I saying this when fish wasn’t even on the menu for lunch?
Asian Tofu And Egg Stir-Fry With Honey Ginger Veggies And Hemp Flax Crackers
In my way overworked pan, I browned the last of a block of tofu(1.5 servings maybe) in soy sauce. Then I added these honey ginger vegetables I picked up at the dining hall until they were heated. Lastly, I cracked in an egg and cooked through–delicious! I’m not sure what was on the veggies; I don’t want to know. But this tasted perfectly greasy like real Chinese food. Over the top, I sprinkled some Omega-3’s ala seed crackers:
Foods Alive Hemp Flax Crackers
Foods Alive Hemp Flax Crackers to be exact. These were so deliciously herby! Rosemary is towards the bottom of the ingredient list but the flavor was LOUD and proud, and good, too! I actually opened this thinking it was “herb” instead of “hemp”; perhaps it should have been.
Apple With Coconut Oil Agave Dipping Spread
While watching America completely own Finland, I had an ingenous and delicious snack. I sliced up a red delicious apple and spread on it Tropical Tradition‘s coconut oil mixed with Xagave–sweet fats, this was good! I could have just eaten the coconut oil with a spoon; OK, I might have done that a little, too 😉 Anything to distract me from work! But then I got hungry again, which meant early dessert apparently:
Soy Yogurt With Milk Chocolate Peanut Sunspires
I was on such a good vegan streak until the egg, and then milk chocolate. Oh well, if my milk and meat teeth want to return, fine by me. While majorly enjoying this, I stuck a sweet potato in the oven, but it didn’t cook in time for dinner 😦 I had all the time in the world; I should have put it in early. I’ve since stuck it in the fridge for another meal. Here’s where the fish comes in:
Trader Joe's Wild Alaskan Salmon
Ain’t she a beauty? Straight from a can. It kind of made me think I was eating cat food(like, a lot). I guess that’s the spirit of Lent! 🙂 To flavor it, I added some maple syrup and maple butter. And because my sweet potato didn’t turn out, I had a very different form of potatoes…
Maple Butter Alaskan Salmon, Broccoli, Sour Cream & Onion Pop Chips
Is it wrong that I probably liked the Sour Cream & Onion popchips more than I’d have liked the sweet potato? Yeah, no shame. The salmon was pretty decent for being from a can; they didn’t keep much fat in it, though, which is where all the Omega-3’s would be 😦 Good enough, I suppose? I’d actually been thinking about finding a good DHA supplement this year, but my final verdict is the same: I don’t really believe in supplements(fortified foods I’m a bit more tolerant of). I’m much more apt to want to get the nutrients from the foods themselves. And it’s especially hard for me to justify that I would need fish oil when there are so many healthy vegans and vegetarians. So no supplements for me! And I probably saved some good money with that decision, too 😉
Looking back over this week, I learned 1 block of tofu is not enough for this soy lover, and 4 soy yogurts barely got me through. Add those to the shopping list! And looking ahead, I’d really love to go home and bake a cake for no reason, but I don’t see that happening 😦 Visions of sugar cakes baking in my sleep? I’m guessing…
I hate to barrage you with contests but there are a lot out there right now and since I recently won I figure I’d keep the luck going and maybe get some scratch tickets later, too! Avery is having a peanut butter giveaway, here’s a chia seed giveaway, a popchip giveaway(which I obviously need to feed my addiction), a giveaway for shredded coconut from Trop Traditions, an ice cream machine giveaway, and lastly one for chia goodness oatmeal.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 14 so far )A Little Something For Everyone
I love hearing that a lot of you have seen the Emmy’s Organics macaroons but just haven’t picked them up yet! Well, I don’t like that last part, but I will say you’re lucky in that I’d never seen these before they showed up at my door and do suggest you give them a shot(Better yet–get a different flavor and tell me how that one is!).
For lunch I “planned” for a fly-by sort of meal where I would just go with whatever’s quick and simple. Who “plans” for grabby meals like that? Apparently, me 🙂 I ended up with a plate that had a little something for everyone on it(but all for me really).
2 Eggs, Feta & Spinach Chicken Sausage, Tempeh Bacon, Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookie
The Wow Baking Company Gluten Free Cookie
This was a lot of fat, a lot of protein, and a little bit of carbs, and it totally worked for me! At least at this meal it did. I thought the idea of having (vegan) bacon and eggs was cute, as was the idea of having eggs and chicken (sausage). Sooo why not have it all? And with a gluten free cookie on the side? Perfect! A little something for whatever your eating habits may be. 🙂 This sausage was a new one to me; I loved how delicious salty it was! It wasn’t very feta in flavor, but it certainly had flavor and would be a perfect basic sausage.
The Wow Baking Company Oregon Oatmeal Cookies
The Oregon Oatmeal cookie was part of the pack from The Wow Baking Company. It smelt sooo good! Like fresh cinnamon–yum! I loved the base of the cookie, with rich tones of butter and thick, hearty oats. But the fruit I thought was a little bland and lacking. And this was a LOT of sugar. I mean, what can you expect from a cookie overall? Definitely something fun to eat, but it didn’t really WOW me.
Thumb Cut
I actually was a supreme clutz today. I managed to burn my bicep(yes, my bicep) with the pan I was cooking eggs with. Can’t figure out how one does that? It’s very complicated, and I’m clutzy enough. Later on I got a package from the mail room and managed to slice my hand open with my room key trying to open it. Not a big cut but I did manage to finish off a roll of paper towels throughout the afternoon stopping the bleeding–joy. It was worth it though because the package had goodies from Honest Foods such as this bar I snacked on:
Honest Foods Almond Trail Mix Granola Bar
First off, this bar was another product where the smell was just amazing. This time, I swore I was sniffing an open bottle of amaretto 😀 Holy sweetness. But the flavor was underwhelmingly almondy after all that; it was good but had a lot going on with other seeds and fruits. I loved the nutrition, though! Not many bars have a healthy fat source higher than sugar on the ingredient list; that’s rocking! Keeping up with the almond theme, I tried a new butter.
Trader Joe's Almond Butter With Roasted Flaxseeds
Monica convinced me I needed this in my life, so that last time I was at Trader Joe’s I grabbed it off the shelf. As if it weren’t enough of a fat source, I thought I’d throw it over some pudding.
Chocolate Avocado Pudding With Trader Joe Almond Butter
Chocolate avocado pudding made with almond milk, to be exact. The combination of almond and chocolate wasn’t so perfect here–not sure why not 😦 TJ’s almond butter was awesome and so well salted. But I wasn’t a huge fan of the flax seeds. Too sweet, maybe? And I don’t like having to chew them to get the nutrition from them What can I say? I’m lazy.
For dinner, I had planned to meet up with some friends in one of the dining halls. At this dining hall, you don’t have to use any meal credits to get in and only pay or what you pick off the line, so I was able to bring my whole meal without using my meal plan. Beforehand, I made some of my favorite foods in the oven in my dorm, wrapped them in foil, and was good to go!
Maple Baked Tofu, Sweet Potato Fries, Roasted Broccoli, Orange Zevia
Roasted Broccoli, Sweet Potato Fries
Better than cafeteria food? I think so. No matter how many times I roast sweet potatoes, they never cease to impress me. I think maple baking tofu is the simplest way to add flavor, but I’m definitely on the lookout for new recipes to switch it up. It was great to catch up with things from the past week in some case and the whole of winter breaks in another; one of my friends is a fellow runner and might have another half marathon to turn me on to! I’ll have to see. The only downside was getting into my dorm at 8:30 and thinking “Gosh I’m home late”. And when exactly do I get my senior citizen discount? In my defense, I have my alarm set for a 6:15 run!
Did this post provoke you to think of new things to try? I’ve found plenty of recipes for almond milk, and it’s much simpler than I would have imagined! I have yet to track down some Jungle Peanuts, but rest assured I will 😉 In the meantime, here’s an appliance giveaway, a coconut oil giveaway, a chocolate giveaway, an iherb giveaway, and another coconut oil giveaway.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 17 so far )The Banana Soft Serve Diet
I loved learning from this post that American Chop Suey is primarily a New England meal; I never knew that! It sounds like you either grew up eating this 3 times a week(guilty and proud of it ;-)) or have never tried it. Really, it’s just pasta(usually elbow macaroni) with ground beef, green pepper, onions, tomato sauce, and some seasonings, but it’s one of those dishes that is 10 times better than the sum of its parts; you would not believe the flavor it can have.
Another thing I cannot believe the flavor of? Fried Rice. I admit I’ve had this from a restaurant maybe once in my life, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to make it with my leftover organic brown rice. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing, but that’s never stopped me before 😉 I heated maybe a tablespoon of earth balance in a pan, then added the rice and tamari until it was mostly absorbed. Then I added steamed broccoli florets. I couldn’t figure out if eggs were traditionally added as a necessary ingredient, or a protein source(still unclear on this), so I threw in 1 egg white and cooked until that was well set.
Fried Rice
Lightlife Buffalo Wings
1 egg white was not my protein source so I had the rest of my Lightlife buffalo wings, too. I realize the flavors don’t work here at all; I could have thrown in some tofu. But damn if those wings ain’t delicious. Now if only they weren’t an arm and a leg 😦 The fried rice came out delicious! I mean, anything with added fat and sodium is never bad, is it? I think next time I’ll add a full egg or two for some yolk-flavor(Oh, and there will be a next time). Along with lunch I was watching television and guzzling down a new-to-me beverage.
Raspberry Steaz
This Steaz was a lot better than the other two I’ve tried. Instead of just tasting like flavored green tea, this actually tasted like raspberry. I don’t think I’d buy it over Zevia again, though, except for that we got 2 4-packs for $2.66; that was such a good sale at Whole Foods I think I’ll be dreaming about it.
Snow
Did I mention it was still snowing after Days? In fact, it snowed all day, even though it wasn’t supposed to at all. Weird. It was a nice snowfall to watch, though–very light and fluffy. For whatever reason my grandmother dropped by and proceeded to try to convince me it was “warm” out. Warm? Really? From what I’ve learned, it doesn’t snow when it’s “warm”. Then again, I wasn’t about to argue with an 81 year old(now, if she were 82, that would have been a different story).
The one thing I did not like about lunch was that it did nothing for my hunger. It really is true what they say about Chinese food: You’re just hungry an hour later. I could have eaten my arm off, but instead I decided to have an early afternoon snack.
Chocolate Banana Softserve
So much to say–where to start? Number #1: Anything put in a food processor with cocoa powder comes out good. It’s a fact. This was 6oz banana, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, and some vanilla stevia, and it came out amazing. I was thinking of adding Xanthan Gum but was sooo happy I didn’t. Look how thick it was all its own! #2: As good as this was, it wasn’t a Frosty from Wendy’s, which I was craving. This would be more like a frosty if it had less chocolate, and some milk, and some ice, and came from Wendy’s. Yep. That’d make it more like a frosty. #3: Whereas my meal of fried rice and buffalo wings didn’t hold me over for an hour, this held me over 3 hours until dinner. Does that mean there’s some truth to the banana diet? I’m totally up for it, so long as that banana comes in soft serve form.
Among the things I did in the afternoon was play with my food processor, while it was out.
Tierra Farm Organic Salted Pistachio Meat
Among the package Tierra Farm sent me was these pistachio meats. Because I’m 99% more likely to eat seeds and nuts in their butter form, and didn’t have a pistachio butter, I set 1/2 an ounce aside for dinner and shoved the rest into the processor.
Pistachio Butter
Nut and sed butters are, unfortunately, not the sexiest one at the party, but this was pretty bangin’. It was so easy to grind these, probably because Tierra Farm knows what they’re doing in roasting them unlike this nut. I can’t wait to put this over oatmeal. Pistachio and pumpkin? Sounds good to me. Speaking of being a nut…
Buffalo Chicken
I ate those buffalo chicken wings at lunch fully knowing I was making the real thing for dinner. Obsessed? Just a little. These were really simple. I cooked the chicken breasts fully. While those were working, I melted 2 tablespoons earth balance and franks red hot sauce in a pan until melted. When the breasts were done, I let them sit in the butter mixture for 5 minutes or so.
Brussels Sprouts With Goat Cheese, 3oz Buffalo Chicken, 1/2oz Organic Pistachio Meat
The chicken came out good and flavorful, but I don’t think the sauce was thick enough or took to it well; maybe add a tablespoon of flower next time? Still, it was an upgrade from what would have been all-white meat. It’s good to have some sort of fat on or with meat, and since I used earth balance it was trans-fat and cholesterol free 😀 I smeared goat cheese on my brussels, to change them up, and had 1/2 an ounce Tierra Farm organic salted pistachio meat to review. Umm, yum! Maybe I just forgot how good pistachios were, or maybe these were just that good, but I loved them! Nice and salty 🙂 I can’t wait to try my seed butter now!
I have to tell you: Tomorrow morning will not be pretty. Our big coffee pot died this morning 😦 It’s not so much a problem for me because I have my Keurig single cup brewer. The key words there are “my” and “single” 😉 And now I’m flipping between American Idol and The Biggest Loser right now. Why do we have to choose things like this? It’s not fair.
Here’s a superfruit spread giveaway.
A giveaway for vegan ice cream! How fun.
And a giveaway for Q.bel chocolate–one of my faves!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 18 so far )Some Light Rawflections
Last night, I took the plunge:
Homemade Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup
I went from the only person in blogworld not to make these to just the last! Boy that felt good 🙂 I heated up Newman’s Own Organics’ milk chocolate and filled that with 365 salted in a muffin liner. I did not realize how much chocolate these call for! So instead of two I only ended up making 1 Oh well. I know me and here’s how I am: I will have a recipe on my “to-make” list for months and keep putting it off because I think it will be difficult. Then I’ll do it once, fall in love, and keep doing it for 2 weeks. Now that I’ve done these, I’m sure I’ll be pumping them out like Reeses. Of course, I ate this like I eat all my peanut butter cups.
Soy Yogurt With Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup And Peanut Butter
Over soy yogurt. Oh, how I swim in the irony of topping soy yogurt with milk chocolate 😀 I threw in a little extra peanut butter because this was feeling chocolate heavy, but the result was awesome. I love the touch of salt–gotta have my sodium. After that I watched Leno and am so confused on the controversy here. Is he getting cancelled? Is he moving time slots? I hope not because having a consistent, reliable program on at 10 night after night is the best thing that’s happened to TV in a long time, I think. Right before bed I made a snackeroo.
Oatmeal With Smart Balance Peanut Butter
I think I really wanted more milk chocolate, but could convince myself into this because my tongue associates smart balance peanut butter with milk chocolate from all those advent calender treats I had pre-Christmas! Do you think anyone makes an advent calender that counts down to Christmas starting from January 1st? I could definitely get on board with that 🙂
This morning I definitely felt like a cardio workout, but not-so-much strength. I wanted to want both, but it just wasn’t happening. But when I thought about not working out, I knew that wasn’t the answer either. Instead, I decided a plain and simple 200 flights would be a good settlement. Just a note: I do not run these. It’s more like power-walking than running. Running would be… Oh God, I don’t want to think how my legs would feel after that. After an hour of that, I showered up(because this really makes you sweat) and thought of what I wanted for breakfast. Funnily enough, I wanted eggs and avocado. Those are “normal” breakfast foods on their own, right? Well I wanted them a little differently.
French Toast Oats
Probiotic Chocolate Avocado Pudding With Vanilla Snackaroons
Can you believe it? NO peanut butter OR greek yogurt? And I’m not even feeling sick, too. Go figure. For some hot protein I made a big bowl of oatbran and oatmeal and cracked an egg right in there. So delicious, simple, and satisfying(especially when you add the maple syrup and cinnamon but you can do that to anything and it’ll be satisfying). With the avocado, I made my almost raw chocolate avocado pudding with 1/2 a leftover avocado, cocoa powder, vanilla powder, stevia, and coconut milk kefir, and topped them with The Raw Bakery‘s Vanilla Snackeroons. This was so good! I loved how it all worked together. The coconut from the snackeroons with the creamy avocado made a great mingling of two foods I don’t eat enough. And the Vanilla Snackeroons were great! Nothing makes me happier than looking at a food and seeing real vanilla bean specks.
Rawflection: Today I got a great bunch of products from Blue Mountain Organics and their companies of raw products to sample and review, which I’m excited to bring you over time. One of my resolutions as of late has been to try new foods like raw dishes into my diet. I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job, too, so long as we’re counting banana whip and chocolate avocado pudding 😉 And I have to say that I have not felt better or more “regular” than I have in the past 2 weeks of eating. Being so in control of my eats with wholesome, clean foods has had great side effects for me. Some of that’s been raw, which I hope to continue, and some of that has just been simple and pure foods like pan-seared ahi tuna, which I also hope to continue. If you’re looking to purify your diet or change things up for wellness, then mark my words when I say you do not need to go on some steadfast, total cleanse for a week. Just slowly but surely and raw and simple foods into your diet. Nothing needs to be 100%; a little at a time can go a long way 🙂
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