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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Rain Seeping In

The rain has been non-stop today, and unfortunately our basement is quickly getting filled with water! Luckily, the guy who owns the house also lives here with us, so he's handling all the dirty work. I'm feeling much better today, and hope to be back to 100% by tomorrow.

The rain makes me lazy, so I haven't accomplished much today, but I did attempt to recreate Dreena's Supercharge Me cookies. I added a lot more coconut & used whole wheat pastry flour & choc peanut butter. I loved the texture of these suckers, and the protein kick. Plus the raw dough was pretty tasty too ;) I sent the Aussie into work with most of them or else I'd be stuffing my face right now.


Speaking of the Aussie, he almost always comes home for lunch & I try to have something yummy waiting for him. Today I baked corn tortillas in the oven to crisp them and then topped with refried beans, avocado, salsa, & lettuce. Absolutely delish!




The Aussie and I shared this platter. Easy but oh-so-good.

I hope you're having a great day!

-B

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Sick & Dying

I don't get sick often (as in perhaps once every other year), but when I do I am a huge baby. At the moment I have a stuffy nose & achy body, and you would think I was on my death bed. Speaking of bed, I have been in it allllll day. I was hoping to feel a bit better so I could put in a little face time at the gym, but it isn't looking good. The Aussie & I are supposed to go ring shopping tonight, but that isn't looking good either. I'm hungry, but can't taste anything. I want to move, but feel like pooh-on-a-stick. But fear not, there is a silverlining. Enter Susan Nichole. She makes adorable, stylish, affordable VEGAN handbags. She was doing a buy-one-get-one-free special, so I scooped up two bags for under $ 100.




The bags even came with a handbag holder, so the precious bag never has to touch the ground :) They look amazing.

Back to the bed I go,

B

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Stalking, It's What I Do

Today has been a pretty fabulous day of eats as I stalk the front door (waiting for my Susan Nichole handbags!). I made oatmeal with grilled banana for brekky. I definitely suggest grilling a banana for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. I think it would be great with toasted walnuts and a drizzle of choc (made from melted coconut oil and cocoa powder)


Lunch was an appetizer of carrots/honeycrisp apple slices. Honeycrisp apples are by far the best I have ever had. Be sure to buy organic to avoid wax and it's one of the fruits/veggies that are really terrible for pesticide content, if you don't buy organic.


The main was red quinoa, pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, tofu and a coconut sauce. It was a little bland. It was my first time cooking quinoa, and I used water but in hindsight I'd use veggie broth for more flavor. I'm trying to explore new grains, and quinoa definitely makes a nice meal.


For dessert I finally made the macaroons from Healthy Hoggin. WOW that rocked my world. Seriously run out and buy the ingredients to make these suckers.


I made a small batch--I used 8 ounces of coconut, in total--and it made 9 large 'roons. They are *close* to the amazingness that is OneLuckyDuck 'roons, but the texture wasn't as good (could be b/c I used the oven method).

Off to the gym,

B

Friday, September 24, 2010

My Eats

I finally jumped on the bandwagon--the vegan overnight oats bandwagon that is. I first saw these on Ohsheglows.com. Basically you let the rolled oats chill all night in a dairy-free milk & protein powder bath. My oats had a bath of rice milk, sunwarrior vanilla protein, chia seeds, and agave. In the morning I added a bit of pure maple syrup & unsweetened coconut flakes.

The masterpiece . . .



The upclose action . . .


Most of the oats ended up in the Aussie's belly, but I did enjoy some of it ;)

For lunch I made a noodle-less, cheese-less lasagna. I wonder if you can still call it a lasagna when the only lasagna-e part was the method of assembly. Haha. I say you can ;)

Noodles? Nah, eggplant instead


Cheese? Sure, but it's made out of mashed cauliflower & nutritional yeast


Some added nutrition in the form of spinach? Of course!


The final product was delish


The only thing that could top lunch was a trip into Annapolis to share a vegan cupcake & Moe's burrito



In an attempt to have full disclosure, the cupcake was devoured first and the Aussie hogged more of it :(

Off to read Never Let Me Go,

B

Thursday, September 23, 2010

From Pretty to Ugly

Sometimes you need a bit of ugly in your life, especially when ugly comes from heaps of spinach. The Aussie made an amazing smoothie today--pineapple, oj, strawberries, banana, xantham gum, ice, water, and SPINACH.

It went from this color . . .


To this color . . .


Pineapple makes a smoothie taste so wonderful. My one problem was that the pineapple was in one big chunk. Seriously Wholefoods you can charge 5 dollars for pineapple but not slice it?

In addition to the smoothie the Aussie and I have a lovely salad-type creation--red pepper, yellow pepper, yellow tomato, avocado, brown rice, quinoa, pinto beans, and lime juice. It was delish.


Dessert was inspired by Julie (http://peanutbutterfingers.wordpress.com/)


That's a finger of dark choc dreams dipped into choc chips, and it was glorious.

Off to do wedding stuff (or watch trashy TV),

B

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Beach at Sunrise

The weekend was like a mini-vaca for the Aussie and I. We woke up before the sun on Sunday to watch it rise on the beach. Everyone should watch the sunrise at some point, especially on a beach.





We also went to my favorite local bookstore, which is owned by a lovely irish fellow, and I convinced the Aussie to buy me two books :) Never Let Me Go & The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

In food news, I've been having a few fruit smoothies--strawberries, bananna, orange juice & ice. Tonight will be the Aussie's first yoga experience, so he'll see how flexible or not-flexible he is.

Till Tomorrow,

B

Friday, September 17, 2010

Pasta Craving Satified Without Pasta

The other night I was craving pasta, but ended up eating something else. I knew the craving would not go away unless it was appeased, but my typical pasta meal is not particularly healthy--white pasta, red sauce, lots of garlic bread and no veggies. Tonight I decided to trick the pasta monster by using my favorite pasta sauce (Ragu) to turn veggies into beauty. I did opt to keep with the garlic bread tradition, but went very light on the earthbalance, removed the insides of the bread and picked a wheat bread instead of a white.

For the veggies, I decided on eggplant, broccoli, and tomatoes.


After roasting . . .


And of course the glorious garlic pieces of heaven . . .


Next time you get a craving for something unhealthy, find a way to make it healthy :) Your tummy will thank-you.

In other news, I got a pair of new-to-me shoes from Plato's Closet. This place sells gently used clothes/shoes/handbags, and had many good deals. Fall weather is here,so start the fall shopping :)



We're off to the Jersey shore tomorrow, so I'll see you at the end of the weekend.

-B

Choking Down a Thick Smoothie

I forgot to show you the inside of the glorious macaroon


I have also become a fan of chai tea. I never liked it before, but I craved it the other day when my friend had some at her house. Of course as soon as I got home I had to purchase some, because that's how I roll.


It is darn comforting.

Lunch was roasted red pepper & yukon gold potatoes with gardein chicken tenders. It was delish, though you can overcook the tenders (which I did).


For a lunch appetizer the Aussie made us a far-too-thick green smoothie (he added too much xantham gum).

The ingredients . . .


It was our first time using the protein powder in the smoothie, and it was pretty tasty.

A picture of the final product on the outside deck . . .


Off to FINALLY mail the wedding invitations :)

B

Thursday, September 16, 2010

One Lucky Duck Rocks

The feast from One Lucky Duck did include non-desserts


I had the caesar salad with the avocado. It was good, but I prefer my own caesar salad much more.

The absolutely best part of the One Lucky Duck experience was the blonde macaroons.


These are incredible. The text is chewy and amazing. The recipe has been changed, and they are now nut-free. If you ever get to One Lucky Duck you MUST try them.

In other news, I developed a new way to make the beloved kale chips. I mixed nutritional yeast, water, seasonings (garlic, sea salt, pepper, cayenne pepper) and a touch of xanthan gum, then poured it over the kale chips and massaged. It creates a much better chip, but without the calories of a cashew base that many bloggers use.

Off to try on contacts (b/c apparently I need them),

B

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Say NO to Fur

Yesterday was a 14 hour day filled with protesting with PETA, traffic, and delish food. I went up to New Jersey to see my best friend and to go with her to a PETA anti-fur protest. The fur industry is truly shocking--there are plenty of videos of what the fur industry is doing, and I think everyone should watch one to decide if it's something they can support. I helped paint bodies, because a few girls (the bestie included) went naked.


Here's a picture of us before we headed out. I was wearing a cute t-shirt that said "i am not a nugget" with a picture of an adorable baby chick.


Now to the food. When I arrived in New Jersey we went to an adorable little place that had falafel salads. It's pickled beets on top.


Dessert was sour apple water ice. It was tasty, but too sweet. I only got through the top portion.


It was definitely a dessert fest courtesy of One Lucky Duck. In case you don't know, One Lucky Duck is an all raw, vegan, organic place in NYC.

Raw almond buttercup icecream . . .


I thought it was going to be made-to-order but instead they grabbed it from the back. It was tasty, but not worth the 8 dollar price tag.

This is the caramel choc bar. It had a good texture, but wasn't sweet enough for me. The caramel flavor/texture didn't come through.



The star of the day was definitely the mallomar bar. The creamy fluff on top was incredible. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this fantastic treat.


One bite down! Look at that center :)


The raw choc chip cookies are good. I love the texture, though they do taste nuttier than the original version.


Tomorrow is the rest of the NYC festing :) And the most incredible raw thing I have ever eaten.

Till then,

B

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Sugar Coma aka Vegfest

The Aussie and I drove into the city yesterday for Vegfest. My best friend was down from NJ for the festival, so we got to hang out and EAT! There were tons of vendors, though I did find the walking areas to be rather congested. I wish they had chosen a bigger location (it was on George Washington University's campus).

I know I said I was avoiding white sugar and I am, but how can a girl resist when this vegan table of masterpieces is in front of her . . .


IMPOSSIBLE to resist. The Aussie and I couldn't decide, so we went with 4, yes 4, options--the peanut butter cheesecake (top left), the peanut butter bomb (bottom left), the oreo cake, and the caramel cheesecake.


I let the Aussie attack the oreo and caramel ones, while I face-planted into peanut butter love. These were made by a bakery in PA called Vegan Treats. They were almost too lovely to eat ;) Almost.

Knowing dessert would be intense, we opted for a raw lunch. We shared a raw pad thai and wild rice dish washed down with coconut water.



I also saw a rice krispy treat on a stick, which had to be purchased.


I definitely recommend finding out if your community does a vegfest, because it's a great chance to taste new things (I tried a new coconut water, vegan cheese sauce, pasta, and lots more).

Off to beg the Aussie to take me to the outlets,

B