Uncooking On Memorial Day
I find it ironic that on the epitome of BBQing and Grilling is when I decide to have another one of my raw-kicks.
I started my morning with a run, which called for prefueling with chocolate. Lindt is obviously not a raw chocolate brand but still tasty, and even non-raw dark chocolate has a good amount of antioxidants. Chomp on 🙂
I only aimed for 9 miles but ended up doing 11 after I got way too in to my new playlist. I think I’ve listened to some songs by Adam Lambert and Sugarland 5+ times over the past few days. Whoops?
All I’ve been craving lately for lunch has been raw salads. We seriously don’t have enough raw veggies in this house to satisfy that! I used half an avocado squirted with lime juice as the “meat” here, and around it added raw corn, lemon garlic marinated olives, and onions caramelized in a little EVOO(obviously not raw but cooked onions taste 1000 times better than raw in my opinion). The result: delicious. This was like some backwards guacamole salad. Loved it!
It seems my sweet-tooth, which has been in and out recently is back. A Zevia twist tasted perfect mid-afternoon for a boost. Just like a diet Sierra Mist!
The piece d’ resistance of the afternoon was this Memorial Day sundae. I really want to make a maple walnut flavor ice cream! Along with soooo many others. But since there’s only so much room in our freezer, I took some of the ice cream I made with raw milk and covered it in NH maple taffy and freshly toasted walnuts. Yum! Except whole milk ice cream is just too icy as I’ve found out; you really need half and half to make something decently creamy(or coconut milk at a 2:1 ratio with water for a vegan half and half).
It turned out that I went from being the only one with plans for Memorial Day to being the only one home. How does that happen?! Not going to lie: I was a little upset. But instead I decided to make this a golden opportunity to try a new recipe I’ve been dying to make.
First I snacked on some Crazy Richards chunky pb straight for some energy and got the food processor out.
The recipe I wanted to (not) cook was raw taco meat, so I went straight over to Averie’s blog and found her super simple recipe. Here it is below; I followed it to a T except used her variation of swapping out the spices for predone(Trader Joe’s) taco seasoning.
Averie’s Raw Vegan Taco Nut “Meat”
1/2 C Raw Almonds
1/2 C Walnuts
1/3 C Sun Dried Tomatoes loosely packed (If using oil packed, may slightly reduce amount of olive oil added)
1/2 Tsp Chili Powder (or to taste)
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Powder (or to taste)
2 to 4 Tbsp Olive Oil (or hemp, flax, etc.)
Optional: 1 Tsp Salt (or to taste)
Wow! I’ve never had something so flavorful. And I will be making this again. It certainly wouldn’t suit if all you want is that beef-flavor or meat. But if you’re just looking for something fun and tasty, this totally works. I ate it along a gingerade kombucha and home fries made with white potato, sweet potato, red onion, olive oil, salt and pepper. Of course, really Averie would probably hate this dish because it has about a days worth of sodium in it(and I’m eating it with a salt shaker ready and standing by).
And now I’m watching Knocked Up on TV. I love the movie, but some things are just better done when you have the house to yourself 😉
Where do you go for new recipes? This is something I always get asked by people I cook for. Almost all my recipes come or were derived from blogs, FoodNetwork.com, or Allrecipes.com. Maybe this is a bias crowd to ask this question, but really I have to think this is what the internet is for!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 11 so far )When The Weather’s This Perfect
I’m so happy for the enthusiasm for my blogiversary. It was definitely fun looking over old posts and old photos; nothing makes you feel better than seeing a picture and thinking “I look so young and fresh here” until you realize it’s 3 1/2 years old 😉
After yesterday hit 91 degrees, and the night was riddled with thunderstorms and showers, the weather today was just perfect. There’s so much can do on a day like today!
I love it when it’s not too hot that chocolate melts. This was mint-flavored carob, but I’d assume it’d melt if it were too hot, too. There is nothing worse than opening up a chocolate bar only to find melted poo.
When it’s this nice out, part of me feels like I could keep going and going. The other part of me(aka, my knees) remembers all too well the 14 miles from yesterday, so there wasn’t much enthusiasm to go any further. Still, this was a dreamy run.
When the weather’s this perfect, grilling is the obvious option, but there are some things that just taste better in a seasoned pan.
I was craving Spanish potatoes and ground beef. This was so simple, too; just potatoes and onion cooked in olive oil with sea salt, paprika, and black pepper, and then grass-fed ground beef cooked through. A little basil just brightens up everything; it’s my favorite herb to add in the Summer.
I couldn’t wait for Sundae Friday this week; I just had to have fun in the kitchen. I used up the last of the vegan blondies and mixed them with snickerdoodle soy ice cream. It was missing something, though…
Rice whip, anyone?! All vegan; all delicious.
When the weather’s this perfect, I think my diet soda addiction kicks back in. Like I said here, even though I went 96 hours without stevia, I still adore it in moderation.Since the weather was so nice, I took a walk around the neighborhood, and made a delicious snack plate upon my return.
A random plate of raw onion, raw broccoli, and 2 slices vegan Hawaiian pizza. I was curious if leftover gluten-free, vegan pizza had that same magical quality as regular leftover pizza. It does.
For dinner, my mom went out with her girlfriends for the night. That used to mean “breakfast for dinner” for the boys, where the breakfast was poptarts. Thankfully, we’ve all grown up a little since then and can make real food.
When the weather’s this perfect, a Summer Salad is the way to go. This was just dressed spinach with homemade chickpeas, raisins, and Daiya. I think I’ve reached my fake-cheese limit for the day.
Do you take your leftover pizza hot or cold? I like to heat it back up and get it to the gooey cheese state.
What do you feel like doing in perfect weather? I’m 90% sure ice cream will be made tonight. I’m just debating between a very classy chocolate chip or a vegan white chocolate flavor…
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 18 so far )What Would You Do?
My newest Friday night television obsession is the ABC show What Would You Do? The whole show is based on what used to be a 20/20 segment where they put real people in morally compromising situations with hidden cameras to tap their reaction. Since I’ve been watching 20/20 and this segment for 5-6 years, I was excited for this(You can go ahead and do the math; you’ll just find out I turned into a grandpa at a really young age). As much as I wanted to recommend this show, I didn’t have much to say about it. That was until I had a What Would You Do? moment in my own life.
At the gym, someone clearly left their Debit card and hadn’t noticed since they weren’t around the entire while I was there. I’ve seen lost personal property at the gym before and left it, but since this clearly had the person’s name on it I decided to take it and find them. When I tried to find a school email, they weren’t in the system; at this point, I thought I’d made a huge mistake and wanted to go throw it back on the gym floor and forget about it. Instead, I used one of my most prominent skills: Facebook stalking. I was able to track them down and message the person, who actually cancelled the card right away and said thank you but that I could tear it up. What would you have done in my situation? In their’s? I think we both did the best thing; I definitely would have been hesitant to take anything from the gym if I didn’t think finding the owner would be reasonably easy, so if it were a real gym I’d probably have turned it in to the front desk and went on my way(there’s no staff there; it’s just a single room of machines).
For breakfast I had a bowl of oatmeal with Naturally Nutty Butter Toffee Peanut Butter; how is it that I haven’t eaten this peanut butter in weeks?! It may not be vegan, but it’s perfection. And on a cherry fage I crumbled my last lemon ginger macaroon from Emmy’s Organic. You know you’re a blogger when you forget that “real” macaroons have egg whites in them and aren’t raw. They also aren’t this yummy.
Right before leaving for the gym I remembered my fudge in the refrigerator. My runs are a lot better when I do some serious prefueling. Ironically, I thought eating chocolate before a run would just be crazy and cheap. But fudge? Now that’s a class act.
I ran 12 miles on the treadmill. In hindsight, I have to question how sane it is to run on an electric machine when there’s a huge thunderstorm outside. But the thought didn’t occur to me until mile 7 so I kept going. I also got to watch Ice Age and laugh out loud at the line “It’s hard to get fat on a vegan diet.” Someone hasn’t tried my fudge…
For lunch, I threw together a little Spanish fiesta with foods from the dining hall. I topped black beans with Daiya, which is still pure magic in case you’d thought I’d forgotten. On the side were some Spanish Potatoes and salsa, and a Dr. Zevia to wash it all down(OK, actually to empty the can so I don’t have to carry it out of the dorm).
Dessert was more vegan chocolate fudge with a little vanilla peanut butter. I have a recipe for vegan peanut butter fudge in my mind! But obviously I don’t want to release it until I can make a test batch.
Really, the fudge was just an apertif for the main course: So Delicious chocolate peanut butter swirl coconut milk ice cream. I’m going to cry in the time that I don’t have this between moving out of the dorm and settling in at home. It’s that good.
After that I walked to CVS where I got the most perfect Mother’s day card and picked up a citrus kombucha and ate that as a snack with 1/2 a raw chocolate bar. I’ve had this 1/2 lying around for so long frankly because I haven’t cared for it; if you’re looking for raw chocolate, better to try Nibmor or Lulu’s or even make your own with my recipe. Speaking of recipes…
I cooked! OK, it wasn’t anything more than maple baked tofu with roasted broccoli and sweet potatoes. But it felt soooo good to get back in the kitchen and turn on the oven after more meals than I can count from the dining hall or Whole Foods or made of oatmeal. Don’t get me wrong–I love a good meal made for me here and there. But there’s nothing more grounding than making something yourself.
Do you feel like you need to cook or bake from time to time? Clearly, I do. Do you think it’s “hard to get fat” on a vegan diet like Sid the Sloth says? That’s how I used to think–that vegans were sticks who ate grass–, but after learning more and reading so many wonderful vegan blogs I know they can cook with the best of them and it’s still everything in moderation that’s key. I’ll point out everything here today besides the butter toffee peanut butter and Cherry Fage was vegan. And what would you do?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 13 so far )Ravenous
I’m really happy that so many of you seem to love your fancy nut butters! Sounds like there’s going to be a lot of experimenting in the kitchen this weekend done(and a happy Friday to you, too!) And if you think you’ve seen a post like this recently, maybe it’s because me and Christy are on the same wavelength when it comes to being ravenous.
I kicked off my weekend the best way possible: Going to Whole Foods. Nothing is more relaxing than being at a grocery store even before the lunch crowd sets in. And I was tempted to buy anything and everything new I could find(like a new gelato Lauren introduced me to!). But in the spirit of Project Cleanout, I kept it nice and reserved.
That would be oatmeal and oatbran(running low), an organic sweet potato, canned goods, a candy bar(whoops. I had a coupon, though), prepared foods, and new kombucha that were on sale.
I couldn’t help breaking into one of the kombuchas when I got hungry for lunch really early thinking I was just hungry from boredom. This flavor was good, but a little too sweet and lemony. I probably wouldn’t buy it again even on sale. And besides, I was hungry for food.
The best thing about going to Whole Foods was getting a lunch so that I could just work on my final papers without thinking about lunch. Cashew chicken is definitely one of my favorite Asian foods, but the cashews here had no texture, and I’m pretty sure the gluten ingredient I didn’t think would bother my stomach did On the bright side, the cauliflower was so good. Please, Whole Foods, roast for me more often.
That filled me up for all of 30 minutes when I busted into my Cookie Friday treat: a Sunspire dark chocolate coconut bar.
I just love that companies are making more organic junk food! Wait… no, that’s what I meant to say. But…
I was still hungry and decided to eat the last organic apple I had. Uhhh, I’m pretty sure this was turning into apple cider vinegar in front of my eyes. Does that look appetizing? Because it wasn’t(I still ate it).
If there’s anything that gets my hunger going it’s rest days and doing serious school work. Not only did I not run today, but I finished two rough drafts of papers I have to write(hold your applause). It felt great to get those partially out of the way, but before I knew it I was making myself a huge Sundae Friday sundae.
This had Elan’s vanilla frozen yogurt with 3 squares Endangered Species‘ organic smooth dark chocolate. Even though j’adore this chocolate, it was not bangin’ in this combo; the fact that the ice cream is so sweet over-accentuated the bitterness of the chocolate. Or maybe my taste buds were just off because I was more hungry than usual. Speaking of unusual:
Since chocolate and ice cream and candy bars weren’t working(Gosh, I couldn’t imagine why), I decided to go down the protein route and have a can of tuna before dinner. Proof that I am not a smart cookie: It took me about 3 minutes of shopping to realize this was the same tuna I’ve been eating all year, they’ve just changed the packaging of it. You like? I’m not a fan(because it confused me). Anyway, this actually worked to keep me full until dinner.
I would definitely be guilty of taking the lazy way out due to finals because I cooked 0% of this. I covered roasted yukon gold potatoes from the dining hall with the remnants of a can of 365 vegetarian chili. On the side was broccoli and seasoned tofu(both also from the dining hall) and a can of Zevia because I realized that’s going to be easier to move out of the dorm if it’s empty…
Poll: Would you hurt a fly? I’m talking literally here. I try to be very conscious of animals at all times. I’m appreciative when I eat meat, and even fish like canned tuna fish(I don’t really buy the pescitarian thought that they’re any less conscious than cows). But the one creature I feel no remorse for are flies. They just bug me(pun intended) in a way like nothing else, and I had an epic battle with one for 30 minutes. Evan 1; flies 0
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 15 so far )These Legs Were Made For Walking
That’s just what they do. One of these days the legs Are gonna walk all around you.I feel like I went everywhere today, and all by foot! So much for rest day? But it was fun! I did not expect the RISD art sale to be in swing again. There was so many amazing paintings and potteries, any of which I’d have been lucky to own. When I hit downtown, Providence couldn’t have reminded me of Boston any more, and for the first time. I’ve never really seen the city like this; all my time so far has been rainy or cold but today was perfect. Of course, the reason for my walking extravaganza was this:
I can’t believe the half-marathon is just tomorrow! The nerves are starting to set in, as this will be my first “real” half-marathon. The Race For The Border was fun, but it felt more like 250 people getting together in New Hampshire to run around a bit. This feels real. The best part of the walk back was knowing that I started lunch at 9:30 and it’d be waiting for me.
I think I’ve hit vegan heaven.
I’ve been really intrigued by Caitlin’s combination of sweet potatoes and BBQ beans. I also loved the combination of sweet potato fries and Daiya from last night so much I knew I wanted it again! Why not combine the two in a poutine-like fashion? This was divine. The flavor came through as some salty, sweet, and fatty bit of deliciousness with crisped potato fries, soft beans, and gooey Daiya. I’m going to need several more plates of this over the Summer.
My options for the early afternoon were work or do chores. I’d rather do chores. I walked down to Eastside Market and my little Whole Foods to get some ice cream(majorly on sale), 3lb of organic sweet potatoes, beans(dinner), a bar(my “breakfast” tomorrow), and some chocolates(longly considered and purchased enthusiastically).
I snacked on an organic apple for rehydrating from all the walking until I was ready for something more “desserty”.
This hit the spot. I used the last of my mint Sweet Scoops frozen yogurt with a good amount of Elan’s vanilla. Cost per scoop, this is hands down the best vanilla ice cream out there. It was only $3 for a quart on sale! It’s local to New England and the flavor is absolutely fantastic; it tastes like a fresh, frothy vanilla milkshake all the time. And, of course with me, the ingredient list is rather clean.
As big as my chocolate tooth is, my vanilla tooth is right there with it; I had a small bowl of oatmeal with some 365 peanut butter mixed with Madhava’s vanilla agave. Vanilla makes for the best everything: peanut butter, chocolate, cookies. God bless vanilla.
And a cool Zevia beverage after returning from the dining hall with some greens for dinner. I just hope in hindsight that the concentrated erythritol or stevia here doesn’t cause any running discomfort tomorrow morning.
I’m really digging this Daiya. I don’t even like real mozzarella this much! I figured because it’s so flavorful it must be loaded with added sugars. Nope! There aren’t any! It puzzles me, but all I care is that it’s good. And there’s never enough room on the plate for my greens, so instead I just put them in a separate bowl after dressing with Foods Alive sweet and sassy; you can’t tell but that’s fully packed in.
OK, kiddos, since I won’t have time to post in the morning, here’s my game plan: I’m going to try to be asleep by 10:30 tonight to get hours and wake up at 6:30. After my morning routine, I’ll either be walking or getting a ride down to the starting line at 7, snack on my Amazing Grass chocolate peanut butter protein bar, and the race will start at 8. My goal is to do it in under 1:40, and my bib is 3761. Nervous? Yes. Excited? Yes. But I figure that’s all part of the recipe for success. As the best of them say, here goes nothing!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 14 so far )Special
You might think someone who’s willing to post such a large portion of their life on the world wide web would live for attention. I don’t. In fact, in life I really hate being “special” in any way or getting extra attention at all. But some days that’s hard to avoid. Some days, you just stand out whether you’d like to or not.
Like this apple. It was probably the biggest piece of organic fruit I had ever seen. It held me over 2 and 1/2 hours. I love it when organic fruit is humongous; it gives me hope for organic farming.
We drove to New Hampshire for my cousins birthday party. It was at a local raquet club where the kids could swim in a pool. I conveniently forgot my bathing suit and went out to pick up the pizza with my father and grandfather. Of course, I didn’t want to be “special” but I couldn’t eat the pizza because of the crust. On the way back, we stopped at a natural food store where I found a salad bar.
I was having a good vegan streak this weekend and wanted tofu, but chicken was what they had It was very tasty chicken, I must add. I also had some greens and pineapple, and ate off to the side trying not to seem “special”(though it was pretty obvious). I must add: pizza still smells really good even when you can’t/won’t eat it, and the one with pineapple and marinara sauce was tempting me.
Thank God for birthday cake, because I could have sworn he was turning 4! 8-| Obviously, I passed on this, but not on this…
The cupcakes I made were a hit, even though I really didn’t care for the frosting. Even my older cousin who doesn’t care for chocolate loved them. My aunt, in trying to describe them, gave them every “special” title in the book: vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, organic. I was surprised she didn’t add Jesus made them. They weren’t 100% organic, but they were all-natural.
Coming home, I was really torn whether to try and go back to campus tonight or not. I was tired, not prepared, and overall a grouch, so that made the answer pretty simple after chewing on the last of some baby carrots and an orange Zevia. And since no one felt like cooking, it was out to dinner.
I had such a coconut milk craving last night, you wouldn’t have believed it. We went to Big Fresh Cafe. After explaining why wheat noodles wouldn’t work for me in this dish, and that I’m just not a fan for rice, my plate was a big bowl of veggies, tofu, and coconut curry sauce. I’d rather get a big bowl of “special” ordered food I love than not eat 1/2 of it. And I loved this; I could have drank the sauce, but I didn’t. Come to think of it, that may not have been vegan if they used eggs or anchovy in the sauce. Regardless, I need to make curry more.
I bought this chocolate bar while at Whole Foods and started digging in with some mocha teeccino. It may be a project cleanout fail but it wouldn’t be much longer I could get a decent mint chocolate bar for $2.
And I finished up with the emotional roller coaster that is Brothers & Sisters and a bowl of oatmeal with almond butter, which photos my camera is withholding It’s probably just as well since I didn’t bother to photograph the 2 fingerfulls of almond butter and handful of almonds I had afterwards. I think I was on an almond kick, especially after baking these.
Naked Running And Eating Raw
Do you ever go running naked? No, not like that; get your mind out of the gutter 😉 I mean, do you go running with or without a Garmin? I love my 205 and usually won’t run without it. Today, however, I noticed it was low on batteries before I got going. Yikes! There was nothing I could do other than take it off and hit the road. I didn’t know really how far I was going at any time. All I know is when I was done I felt like this:
And I had ran for 1:51. Wow! Time really got away for me. It wasn’t until after lunch that I was able to sit down and map my run, only to find that I ran 13.4 miles. That’s .2 miles more than my half-marathon last weekend and a new outside distance PR! No wonder I felt beat. The first thing I did was grab this from Hannafords:
I had never had coconut water before. To be honest, it tasted a little like feet BUT I love the potassium content here. I don’t think I get much potassium, so this boost was welcomed, and I hope it really does help with recovery and hydration like I hear hyped up so much.
You know what tastes really good after a long run? A burger on the grill–not going to lie there. This was 1/3 pound grass-fed beef(I figured I needed a little more for recovery), and while it was a little overcooked it was so juicy from the grilling. I can’t wait until Summer! On the side was steamed broccoli and Snikiddy Classic Ketchup Fries. These really tasted a little too sweet for me, even though it only had 2g of sugar. I thin the beauty of a french fry in ketchup is salty/sweet and there wasn’t enough salt here.
Gotta keep hydrating 😉 This time I had a ginger root beer Zevia. Don’t worry; between running and then I had also had at least 2 full water bottles. I just kept needing more!
Aaaand it was feeling like a bottomless pit day by the time I grabbed this organic apple not much later. I love increasing mileage; the downside, however, is going through groceries like crazy. I won’t even begin to rant how cheap empty calories are but how expensive nutritious ones can be. Of course, there are also those empty calories that cost a lot, too…
I would be lying if I said that my cookie dough cashew butter from this morning wasn’t inspired because I was willing to go straight into this ice cream at 9am. It was just as good at 4am, but I didn’t want to spoil my appetite for dinner. As part of continued birthday celebration, we drove in to Boston to eat at Grezzo’s raw vegan restaurant. I’ve eaten here twice before(here and here) but this was the first time my parents had eaten raw. Even though I had a burger at lunch, a raw one seemed just as good for dinner.
The Grezzo Sliders were 2 sunflower patties served on bleu cheese greens, pickled cucumbers, and avocado slices between tomato “buns”. This was tasty–not very filling or big but a nice “appetizer”. The chips(potato slices soaked in vinegar and dehydrated) were a lot better than their sweet potato chips. Even though this was my “entree”, I really thought of my dessert as the main course.
Oh yes. Let me talk you through this one. That would be vanilla bean cashew milk gelato with cacao nibs on top of a raw brownie covered in a coconut oil chocolate fudge sauce and brazil nut shreds with a few macerated berries. It was tasty! I didn’t care for the nibs, but besides that the gelato was amazing; it tasted like true vanilla. There are 2 types of “ice cream”s I like: low/no-fat frozen yogurt, or vegan. Heavy dairy just doesn’t do it for me, so this was brilliant. The brownie was OK but really not much more than my raw vegan brownies.
Done and done. This “impressed” my dad. Really? Did he know me? I’m a card carrying member of the clean plate club, and the sliders weren’t much. Besides, this was my “birthday dessert”, so I was willing to go all out here 😉 It was definitely a lot of sugar, though, because I was all too willing to “let my body move to the music” and vogue to the radio on the way home.
And now I’m sipping on a Trilogy kombucha. The perfect way to end this night? I think so. My meal has made me think I want to incorporate more raw foods into my diet. And I’m not talking about going to the salad bar more often; I mean the raw foods that take days to make but come out intensely flavorful like nut cheeses. I put this out there only because I feel like saying it on the blog will make me accountable to follow through. And really, who doesn’t love a good nut cheese 😉
If you’re looking for giveaways, here’s one giveaway for coconut oil and here another. There’s also one for an iHerb shopping spree and last(but so not least) a giveaway for raw chocolate.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 26 so far )« Previous Entries