Best Day of my Life

Off to Hawaii 🙂

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Patience is a virtue

It’s a totally random coincidence that my 2nd blogiversary falls on the same day as my wedding.

Although one is semi-noteworthy, the other far outweighs it (by leaps and bounds) in importance…and so I will be postponing the celebration of hungryhungryhippie turning two until I return from Hawaii.  But you can be sure the wait will be worth it for you because I have several giveaways in the works.  Go big or go home, right?

Hey, I waited 6 years for this day to come, so I know something about patience. 

[College]

[1st Anniversary]

[Graduation]

[Lord and Lady]

[Wine Tasting]

[San Francisco]

[Beach]

[Vegas]

[Central Park]

 

🙂

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Add first…

…subtract later never.

That’s my version of the improve-your-diet rule, at least.  I like trying new things, but I also like keeping the old (can you tell I was a Girl Scout?). 

New: Israeli couscous & French Whole Wheat couscous

Old: Quinoa

And so the three-grain pilaf was born…

Into the pot went:

• 1/3 cup Israeli couscous
• 1/3 cup French WW couscous
• 1/3 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water

I left it to soak in the pot while I went on a run, showered, and answered emails (~1.5 hours).

When I returned to the stove, almost all the water had been absorbed.

Having over an hour to soak first made the cooking process WAY faster.  Soaking also has numerous other benefits (although these aren’t quite as valid in this case, since I cooked the grains afterwards).  Still, soaking improves nutritional bioavailability and makes digestion easier.  This is more important in nuts, beans, and seeds, but also applies to grains and pseudograins, too. 

I added another 1/2 cup water (to just cover the grains) and then turned on the heat.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.  10 minutes went by and it was beyond done.  Because I was aiming for a more mushy rice pudding-like consistency, I purposefully left it on longer than necessary.  For it’s last minute on the stove I added TVP.

What, you ask, is TVP?  Textured vegetable protein is made from reduced-fat soy beans and is most commonly used to replace meat in vegetarian dishes.  It’s super easy to use – all you need to do is add water – and voila! instant (vegetarian) ground meat.  I mostly use it in chili (recipe here), but today I decided to make a “meaty” grain-filled salad.

• 3/4 cup TVP
• 1 tsp onion powder (or sub 1/2 yellow onion sautéed)
• 1/4 cup Bragg’s liquid aminos
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water

The TVP really only needs 30 seconds to soak up the liquid, but I gave it a few minutes to get it extra mushy while melding with the other flavors.   

Once it cooled, I served it up alongside a simple raw veggie salad.

Simple summer veggie chop:

• 4 baby carrots
• 1 tomatillo
• 1/2 tomato
• 20 snap peas
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1 tbsp Bragg’s liquid aminos

Lately I’m loving tomatillos as a sweeter contrast in my salads.  And aren’t they pretty? 

Yes. 

I actually don’t know which dish I liked better. 

The battle of the summer: on the left we have the crispy crunch of fresh summer veggies and on the right we have the nutrient packed grain pudding with wholesome protein galore.

It’s a tough call for sure.  You try and let me know which you prefer.

I definitely had seconds and thirds of the 3 grain protein pilaf. 

Do yourself a favor and get on this recipe like white on rice me on hummus.

How sad that ten different foods just came to mind to plug into that last phrase.  Or maybe that’s not sad at all…I’m going with awesome.  Instead of hummus, I could have said a number of things, starting with coffee and ending with bread.  How would you fill in this sentence for yourself? 

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Savory leftovers

If there’s one thing I pride myself on, it’s my ability to create meals out of the most random hodgepodge assortment of leftovers.  This should come as no surprise given my love for everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salads, but I definitely think I have a knack for making cupboard scraps and a nearly empty fridge into a fairly decent dish. 

Oats are the perfect central ingredient for this little something-out-of-nothing trick. 

If I’m going the savory route with oats, there’s one ingredient I turn to without fail, and that’s nutritional yeast…

Welcome to nooch mountain.  Full of fresh powder.  Lift tickets cost $20.

Like the snow cover in NYC after a blizzard in January April.  In addition to the nooch, it wouldn’t be a complete hippie meal without fiber loading.

Leftover salad of red bell peppers, black beans, and raw white corn, plus steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

This was bowl number one of three, but in my defense (not that I need it) the second and third bowls combined were roughly the size of this first one.  I learned from portion numero uno about the pitfalls of filling the bowl to the brim, which made it SO difficult to eat.  Everything was spilling over the edge each time I dug the spoon in to try and mix up the ingreds. 

I don’t like losing ingredients, so the spillage factor definitely caused me to slow my roll…hence the less packed bowls for my seconds and thirds.

If you are like my sister, you are probably sick of these old posts from last week.  She told me yesterday that she wants photos from the days leading up to the wedding…and as much as I’d love to oblige her request, I’m just too busy running errands all over the place.  I’ve been taking photos like crazy, so after the honeymoon look forward to one mother-of-a-recap.  And now I’m off…

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Beachy keen

I started the day with a java the size of my head and a bowl of oats topped with some peanut buttah, which left me bouncing with energy.  Kyle suggested some beach time and I thought, why not?!

Ok, the placement of the peanut butter didn’t work out for the photo at all…

I made the oats on the stove with more water than I typically use and because of that they were super gooey.  So even though I tried to leave the spoon on top to show off the PB, the other blobs just sunk to the bottom of the bowl.  Good for eating, not good for photographing.  Oh well, blog schmog, taste is all that I care about.

After digesting, I threw on my swim suit, snapped a model shot like ma gurl, and grabbed some beach eats.

apple + Sabra + snap peas

Only semi-portable in nature (sandy Sabra?), but still perfectly delicious.  We read on the beach for an hour plus…and returned home for a real meal.

This sando had more of the good stuff (hummus): Sabra hummus, avocado, spinach, and tomato.

With another apple a la mode.

After lunch we went to get my bike tires fixed, which resulted in unexpected fees, unexpected delays, and…long story short…my bike now has a week long vacay in the shop.  Hopefully when I see my Giant on the flip side it will have gears that switch when I want them too, brakes that stop when I want them to, and tires that don’t deflate when I don’t want them to.  Not too much to ask, right?

One Lucky Duck’s blonde macaroons made errrthang better.

I mean look at that gorgeous coconut construction.  Ah Sarma, she truly knows what she’s doing.  Too bad Crate & Barrel doesn’t carry dehydrators to round out our registry.

Eventually I decided it was time to get dinner started.  I really wanted two things: salty nuts and greens.  I also knew I had to use up some stuff in our fridge that would go bad while we were away.  I felt like it was a Top Chef challenge.

While my chopping technique is mighty fine, my nut crunching skills could use some work.  I keep forgetting I have a food processor now!

I went with a more ghetto approach…mashing.

My measuring spoons are heavy, so this was actually a really easy approach.

See?

Now add all the ingreds into a big a$$ mixing bowl.

Carrots, celery, cucumbers, dried cranberries, and mega-salty crushed nuts over a bed of spinach.

Crunch master flex.  I doused the entire bowl in Bragg’s liquid aminos and nooch.  I’m thinking I need to start getting more creative in the dressing department.  I just got this new dressing container (thanks Ethel!), so with that and the help of Brendan Brazier’s book, I think I have some good salads in my future.

I had a steamed sweet potato on the side which I covered in more extra salty nuts.

I was craving nuts like a mad woman (talk about a twss moment).  Even after I finished the salad and the taters, I still went back for more.  The salt makes them impossible to stop eating, but I managed to peel myself away from them after a few handfuls.  For those who know me, this post may have you doing a double-take (I typically detest nuts).  What’s the point in trying to explain myself?  Who knows how or why I want what I want, but there you have it.  Nutty.  Do you ever randomly crave something that you otherwise have no interest in?

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Visiting the vines

I’ve been meaning to introduce you all to the vineyard for quite some time now…but I, myself, hadn’t been to Healdsburg in a while.

Fortunate for you, my Grandpa was kind enough to remind me that I was long overdue for a visit.  And fortunate for me, I remembered to bring along my camera. 

Hello Zinfandel.

Kyle and I left bright and early to arrive in Dry Creek Valley just as the clouds were clearing out.  It may be summer, but Sonoma mornings are still a tad overcast with AM fog. 

In case you are a new reader, my fam has a vineyard in Healdsburg. 

For a long time, the grapes went to Quivira. 

Yum. 

But then, I am a bit biased…

Some grapes have gone to Murphy-Goode.

In addition to a variety of other wineries’ yields…which are always tasty.  And that’s fact. 

Are you a fan of Zinfandel? 

You should be.  Just sayin’…

After hanging out for a while, it was time to hit the road.  My Gramps was generous enough to send us home with figs from his tree and his own Santa Rosa plums.

Juicy.

So yeah, hope you enjoyed this quick post introducing you to the vines.

Later that night my family got to BBQing, so we did what we do best…

Pulled out the Riedel wide bowled glasses and poured. 

This bottle of 2004 Endeavor Cab Sauv is a product of Dry Creek Valley, and a mighty fine one at that.  My dad loves opening good bottles.  His cellar is packed and rather than hoard his fine wines away to never be enjoyed, he has embraced a motto that I’ve come to love (as I benefit from it greatly)…OTBT! 

Open That Bottle Today.

It’s kinda one of those “seize the day” phrases, but for winos.  You may as well live in the moments and enjoy things now, because life is short and there’s no sense in missing out on a good thing because you want to save it for a later time that may or may not come.  That’s not intended to sound morbid, it’s just that I tend to do the same thing in other areas of my life and for what?  Have you ever saved a special outfit for an occasion that’s never come?  I have; and it’s pretty silly when I think about it.  So Carpe Diem and Open That Bottle Today! 

While sipping on my vino I started prepping le veg for le ‘cue. 

Summer squash, mushrooms, bell peppers, and a heavy-handed pour of Garlic Gold’s vinaigrette dressing.  In another bowl, I coated some extra mushrooms with the same dressing. 

Then I tossed it all into this brilliant device and let my dad tend to it on the grill, while I helped with the salad.

Mixed greens with beets, edamame, and cherry toms.

Salmon and sausage were available for the non-vegetarians.

But who could choose meat with perfectly grilled veggies like these!?!  Not I.  Obviously. 

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Eggless is Best

Sorry Chicken Little, I’m sure you have a fine product, but I have a egg salad alternative that will make even non-vegans dig in. 

Talk about a timely post.  With the recall fresh on people’s minds, I’m fairly certain eggs aren’t flying off the grocery shelves quite like they used to…

This recipe was the result of half a box of unclaimed silken tofu.  Unclaimed?  As if Kyle would be fighting me for tofu!?!?  Ha!  Ok, so I had leftovers from an undocumented carob tofu pudding dessert (when late night munchies strike all bets are off in capturing it on camera).

Silken ‘fu + raw veg (I didn’t actually use the entire amount in that bowl)

Add the following into a food processor (unless you haven’t done your arm workout for the day, in which case, suck it up and get those biceps working, ya pansy!):

• 3 broccoli florets
• 3 cauliflower florets
• 5 baby carrots
• 1/2 box of silken tofu
• 1 tbsp BBQ sauce (I prefer Annie’s)
• 1/2 tbsp spicy dijon mustard
• 1/2 can chickpeas (if you’re lazy or don’t have canned chickpeas on hand [the tragedy!] you can use 1/4 cup hummus)

Pulse briefly so it’s still moderately lumpy, then spread onto the fluffiest bread you can find. 

I prefer it un-toasted because I love the way the bread sticks to the roof of my mouth.  It’s just how I remember the egg salad sammies of my childhood.

*Side note: I didn’t had no idea what egg salad was until I was almost a teenager.  I was at a friend’s house and her mom made us egg salad sandwiches, and – I kid you not – I felt like Columbus discovering America.  I was in shock that I was so oblivious to the existence of such a dish!?  Upon getting home, I immediately told my mom about this wondrous “egg salad” thing.  It soon became a staple in my lunch rotation…until I entered high school and decided that egg salad was too stinky I was too cool. 

But back to my egg-less salad.

The chickpeas added such a delicious (almost creamy!) texture with the silky tofu and crunchy raw veggies.  Plus, the zing of the BBQ sauce and mustard wasn’t strong enough to overpower the salad, but still offered a nice bite. 

Perrrrrfect.

What was your favorite lunch sandwich as a kiddo?  Did your friends get things that your mom/dad didn’t give you?  I was fortunate enough to have a (mostly) vegetarian mom who packed my lunches every day.  Wholesome, home-made eats that differed every day and covered every food group…and I enjoyed it all without any clue that cow/pig products were MIA from my diet.  What my friends got that I didn’t get was packaged snacks, chips, cookies, etc.  I feigned jealousy at the time (it was the popular thing to have Doritos and Oreos), but really had no interest in such crap.  My favorite was PB&J.  But I bet if I had known what hummus was…whole different story.

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Huckleberry and Finn

As I previously mentioned, my aunt and cousins came to see our new apartment and take us to lunch last week.

We went to a local cafe called Huckleberry, which is one of the best places to eat see and be seen in all of Santa Monica.

As tasty as my lunch was, I could hardly focus on the food because my cousin’s adorable son, Finn, had my undivided attention.  He’s so dang cute!  I know you all agree because last time he was on the blog he got more comments than the food!

But back to Huckleberry.  They offer the most delicious food, starting with their homemade artisan breads (which may become a weekly treat in the hippie household) and pastries…and then there’s the lunch menu…soups, salads, sandwiches, rotisserie chickens and deck oven flatbread pizza.  Plus, all their produce comes from the local farmer’s market, and they only use free range hormone and antibiotic-free meat, poultry and dairy. 

Because their breads are such a hot commodity you have to time your visit to make sure they have the goods you’re after (if you’re getting a full loaf that is).  Luckily they post the fresh-out-of-the-oven times for carb-a-holics like moi. 

As if the bread factor wasn’t reason enough for me to live across the street (this is hardly an exaggeration), they brew Caffe Luxxe’s gourmet coffee and offer Art of Tea loose leaf teas, too.  Bread, check!  Caffeine, check!  And I’m in heaven. 

The menu is so stacked, I had a really hard time choosing what to get.  In the end I went with the trio of prepared salads…which led to yet another impossible decision making process.  There were too many good options!  Quinoa salad, white bean dip, sautéed kale with garlic…and those are the ones I didn’t select!!

I chose the carrot salad, mixed grilled vegetables, and curry chickpea salad.

With a hunk of fresh bread on the side.  Here’s the up close of each dish:

Grilled veggies with cauliflower, eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers.  A bit greasy, but amazing nonetheless.

Carrots with WAY too much cumin.  I was shocked by this dish because I thought it was going to be my favorite.  It looked like one of my favorite salads from the WF hot bar, but (unfortunately) tasted nothing like it.  I could only stomach a few bites before deciding it was inedible.  My cousin and Kyle agreed it was a loser of a dish, but my aunt liked it, so obviously it’s a flavor preference thing.  Finn tried a bite, too…

And promptly scrunched up his nose and spit it out.  Bear in mind this kid likes everything.  Sorry Huckleberry, this dish should definitely be reworked before you serve it again.  There were spices askew, and then some.

I saved the best dish for last, though.

Curry spiced chickpea salad.  Holy deliciousness in my mouth.  This was an amazingly flavorful dish that left my taste buds wanting more.  I even used the bread to sop up every last drip drop of it’s sauce.  I need this recipe.  NEED.

All in all, I was beyond content with my meal…although it’s pretty clear which parts were my faves.

 

The rest of my dining companions all ordered off the sandwich menu, starting with Kyle’s warm turkey meatball sandwich on ciabatta.

It came with a simple side salad, too.

My aunt got the BBQ pork sandwich with house made pickles & cole slaw. 

My cousin got the tuna salad sandwich with tomato, arugula & aioli on multigrain bread.

Can you even believe this bread? 

To be honest, I can’t remember what my other cousin ordered, but it’s alright because you can’t even see the insides anyways.

We also got an orzo salad for the table to share.

I had a bite, but it tasted far too delicious to not contain butter, so I immediately withdrew my fork from contention and passed off the rest of my share to Finn. 

He was busy with his own kid’s meal though.

Cream cheese and jelly!  Finn did quite a number on this sammie.  I think 60% ended up on his face, while the remaining 40% was smeared all over the plate, the table, and the table next to us…

You can get away with making messes when you’re this cute though 🙂

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Did I mention I’m unemployed?

Kyle and I just left Santa Monica and are on our way to Nor Cal now (where our wedding is) to iron out all the dirty last minute details.  Can you even believe it’s under a week ‘til I become a Mrs.!?! Wow.  It still hasn’t really hit me.

I’m several days behind in my posts and something tells me I won’t have much time to play catch up this week…so maybe I’ll get a few mini-posts up to show you what Kyle and I have been up to.

[times a zillion]

If you follow me on twitter, you know I recently made the PC to Mac switcheroo.  The adjustment has been a bit rough, but I’m slowly making progress.  In order to assist my transition to the world of Apple, I bought a year long subscription of lessons from the Mac geniuses.  It has already been worth the $ in stress management alone.

Meet my new (functional) computer.  ‘Aint she a beaut!

And as if that’s wasn’t enough excitement, I also got an iTouch.  In case you forgot, I’m unemployed.  😦  But at least I have some nice tech toys to amuse me while I watch my bank account dwindle down to nothing.

Anyways, in between my 4 trips to Apple (in the past 3 days), Kyle and I have been handling the last minute wedding details and hanging out with friends and family.

First up, dinner at 4th and Jane.

Coincidently (but probably not) it’s on 4th street.

Happy hour?  Don’t mind if I do…it’s not like I have a job or anything (let’s see how many times I can reference my unemployment in this post, m’kay?).

Connect four!!  Hell yes!  There were games on almost every table.  That’s as close to love at first sight as you can be in a bar.  The next best thing is cheap booze.  Wouldn’t you know it, they were in the middle of happy hour.  So I ordered a drank and we headed upstairs to wait for our group.  Eventually all nine of us arrived and it was time to switch from liquids to solids.

If I told you there was a hummus sandwich on the menu would you believe I ordered anything else?  Nah.  Didn’t think so…obviously, I ordered the Garden Sandwich.

House-made hummus, sprouts, avocado, cucumber, and tomato (hold the cheese please) on whole wheat bread.

The bread was legit, but the toast hurt my mouth (how random of a complaint!?).  Also, there wasn’t nearly enough hummus.  It was kinda surprising since they were so generous with the avo.  Alas, I was left wanting in the chickpea department.  I left the shoe-string fries for Kyle to do a number on, except for the ones near the pickle.  As I’ve told you before, Kyle steers clear of all things pickle/cucumber.

After dinner, Kyle and I called it a night and walked home.

The next day we had plans to go to lunch with my aunt and cousins (and my cousin’s adorable son).

Look at him all dapper in his suspenders.  All together now: awwww…

I’ll be back later with a recap of our fabulous lunch date at Huckleberry.  I’m just SO busy with my non-existant job…

Ciao for now!

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Mexican Layered Dip

Because (a) I’m without Windows Live Writer (still learning how to get XP on my MacBook), (b) I’m not very savvy with wordpress’ blogging tool, and (c) it’s taking me an hour to load each photo, I’m going to post another photo recipe from last weekend.

It’s not like I reinvented the wheel with this one (the recipe is certainly not original), but the photos are pretty and I thought I should share.

(Vegetarian) refried beans

Black beans.

Sour cream.

Corn roasted salsa.

Four cheese blend.

Black beans.

Avocado.

More avocado.

Salsa.

Devour.

I made the above dish for the boys, while I made a vegan take on the layer dip for myself, using:

• 1 whole avocado
• corn roasted salsa
• black beans
• refried beans

With carrots instead of tortilla chips as scoopers.

I had triple the amount shown because avocados are so freakin’ good.  It was kinda like a massive mexican guacamole mash up.

Aside from guacamole, what’s your favorite way to eat avocado?

Personally, I think hummus and avo make a dynamic duo (no surprise there), but (similar to hummus) I could see it going well with just about anything…if you have new ideas, let me hear ’em!

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