motweth

If I had to summarized Monday through Thursday in a single post…well…I can’t, so I don’t know how to end that sentence.  But, where I was going with that intro was to say my week has been packed and amazing.

Highlights reel?  Sure, why not.

Monday slash Tuesday I had night shift stuff.  The only thing of note food-wise was how many berries I consumed over the course of the day. 

I have likely met my Vitamin C quota until October. 

I also made a pita pie (for those of you who keep asking about the-best-pita-ever, it’s from Whole Foods and the brand is called Turlock Pita Bread). 

My gorgeous pie was toasted then layered (generously) with Tropical Traditions coconut peanut butter and very thinly sliced golden delicious apples.

Any meal that has fewer than five ingredients, takes under five minutes to make, AND tastes this good should be illegal.  Or accepted into the Foodie Hall of Fame.  Is there such a thing?  Nope. 

 

I also did some late night therapy baking.  I find it a very soothing thing.  Just me and the oven, and the rest of the day fades away…

 

Kyle’s a big fan of these nights.  Unlike retail therapy, they don’t cut into our vacation rent funds, plus they yield delicious treats.  Who else uses cooking/baking in this way?

(Vegan) peanut butter and jelly thumbprint muffins.  Recipe on the way!

Wednesday morning wasn’t notably interesting, but I did make a really really yummy tropical smoothie.

I had it with a massive bowl of cherries (since the strawbeezies are done-zo).

I didn’t measure anything, but it had: light unsweetened soymilk (365), vanilla soy yogurt (Stonyfield), frozen tropical fruit mix (Costco), and some ice.

I tried to go slow and eat cherries in between, but you know I froze my brain up because I have no self control.

Of course to compensate I had to make some tea.  I may be having issues with my body core thermal regulation, because I always seem to be the temperature of whatever I’m eating.  Humans are supposed to be warm blooded.  I may be a lizard.  My poor patients have to deal with my frigid hands poking and prodding them (ok, ok, I’m not that rough).  Good thing I suck down coffee like a fiend all morning long which is when I do most of my assessments…at least the heat from that helps my hands stay a bit warmer.  I’m sure the fact that I’m cracked out of my mind and bouncing off the walls doesn’t even phase them. 

Fact: I drink Yogi tea more for the inspirational messages than the flavor of the tea.  This flavor happens to be Cocoa Mayan Spice.  It’s no Chai, but it fills the roll when my Tazo stash is on empty.

Wednesday afternoon we picked up our friend at the airport.  In our new car.  His name is Carson and he’s a new 2011 silver CRV.  Yes, we name all our cars.  Who doesn’t? 

The best feature is the cup holder in the door.  It fits a Kombucha perfectly.

After navigating our way back to Santa Monica (LA traffic wasn’t that bad actually), we immediately dropped off Dean’s luggage and walked to dinner.

 

Blue Plate is one of my absolute favorite places ever and I have been craving their falafel burger for a solid month now. 

 

We started with chips ‘n guac for the table.

 

Plus a nice white bean dip with bread crisps (on the house).

 

Kyle got the chicken & veggie soup and the falafel burger. 

Dean got the falafel burger with fries.

And I got the falafel burger on a salad with fresh greens, cucumber, carrots, sprouts and huge amounts of avocado. 

 

I used all the balsamic dressing, plus the remainder of the guacamole that wasn’t eaten with chips.  It would be a crime for avocado to go unclaimed!

SO GOOD.  There’s no two ways about it, Blue Plate makes a damn fine falafel.

Wii tennis and golf duels took up the remainder of the night.  We are party animals!

Thursday morning was not meant to start at 5 am, but that it did.  Why you ask?  Because we have crazy effing birds that crow incessantly like they are the alarm clock for the entire West Coast (and their home base happens to be directly outside our window).  The rage I was feeling…gah!  Let’s just say there’s probably never been a more conflicted vegan.  I may not be a member of PETA, but I’m still not into shooting down angry birds.  

In any event, our plans to got for a hike in Malibu were simply pushed forward a few hours.  So after a trip to WF for coffee and a picnic lunch, we headed off to Point Mugu State Park.

We had a fun hike.  It was relatively mild and only took a bit over an hour.  The weather wasn’t really cooperating, but if we had waited ‘til later on, the cloud cover probably would have blown off.  Sun or no sun, we enjoyed the views. 

After reaching the bottom again, we made our way to the beach for lunch. 

 

Not too bad of a view. 

I got a veggie sando from WF with hummus, avocado, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and mustard. 

I could’ve used more hummus, but that’s pretty much always the case.  In life.

The rest of the day was mellow.  We strolled on the Promenade, stopped by the Santa Monica Pier, watched some volleyball games, and enjoyed the sun that finally did show up.

For dinner there was no question about what we were making.  Dean simply HAD to try some home-made vegan waffles.

We tried out Surprisingly Vegan’s latest flavor and I have to say, it’s even better than the OG recipe.

They really are SO good.  Unfortunately, they take quite a while to make from scratch…and grinding and blending and mixing everything uses up just about every single appliance and counter space in our kitchen.  Needless to say, I’ll be glad when these babies finally hit shelves, because just-add-water is so much simpler. 

The good news is that by late summer they will be sold online!!!  Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let you all know when, where, and how you can get your hands on them. 

Vegan, gluten-free, delicious, and nutritious.  :) 

If you’re wondering about the above creation, it’s a waffle ‘wich that I made with two waffle squares, blueberries and Follow Your Heart vegan cream cheese.  I had two servings.  And even though I was very full after my double serving, I didn’t feel like my stomach was coated in lead.  Heavenly!

And now I am getting ready for a Friday at the hospital.  Big salad, quinoa with tofu, Inka Crops corn nuts, apple (x2), Nana’s fudge bites – yep, it’s gonna be a good day. 

 

Lunch is packed and I have a breakfast of vegan waffles ready for early morning leftovers.  Yeah buddy. 

Read Full Post »

Please don’t pinch me

Happy (belated) St. Patrick’s Day!  I seriously forgot to wear green – yikes!  My grandpa would disown me if he knew such a thing!  This is also the first St. Patty’s in a long time that I didn’t celebrate with green beer.  I’ll try and make up for it this weekend.  But more on those plans later. 

I definitely had a rough time waking up yesterday morning.  It didn’t help that midnight came and went and I was still awake…

My alarm buzzed me back to life at 4:20, at which point Jillian and I got our sweat on.  [That sounds dirty] 

Since I had such success with this combo the previous day, I went for a repeat combo.  This time it was sans Attune cereals, but I made a mix as close to the OG version as I could with Love Grown Foods Cocoa Goodness granola plus Three Sisters Cereal Honey Puffs.  It was another brilliant breakfast combo and I made it til noon before my stomach needed more sustenance.  Baller. 

I had an apple as a snack since my lunch break wasn’t until 2 pm.

This beauty was what I had awaiting me when I finally broke free from my patients. 

Spinach, strawberries, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, pepitas, and balsamic vinegar.  100% amazing.

On the side I had an Alvarado Street tortilla dunked piece by piece into a mini-tub of Sabra hummus.  The tortilla and salad combo was a bit like a deconstructed wrap when eaten together.

Naturally, I packed half the produce aisle with me too, including a few cuties and a pair of galas.  This lunch I brought the pure green tea flavor of Ito-En Teas’ Tea.  Kinda strong for green tea, but maybe I am just a wuss.  I’m trying to decrease my stevia intake a bit, so the fact that their teas are unsweetened is nice.  The candied ginger is a given.  I’m probably on my 800th box at this point.  If I could grow it myself, I’d probably cut my Whole Foods bill in half.  No seriously.  It’s an addiction. 

The last piece of the above scene is the newest PROBAR.

Halo S’mores – The Sinfully Healthy Snack.  In a word: fabulous. 

Work was especially exhausting, made even more so by the fact that I had some patients with heart breaking diagnoses that required LOADS of attention.  When I have these kinds of cases, it’s a good (yet, sad) reminder to ditch my own unnecessary stresses.  Life is too short to worry about the ridiculous things that you can’t control.  [Sigh] 

I got home to a clean apartment and freshly folded laundry.  Now that’s a how you pick a husband.

Dinner doesn’t require much in the explanation department.  Butternut squash, red quinoa, falafel.

After a nail biting UCLA game, I was finally able to relax a bit.  I had seconds of the above meal, followed by a chocolate packed dessert.

I decided what this flavor of Love Grown Oat Clusters & Love reminds me of. 

 

Skor bar flavored oats!  Crispy, chocolaty, sweet, crunchy bliss. 

Love love love, love in my tummy!  So, I had 3 bowls to polish off the bag.  And now I’m off to pack!

Guess where we are headed this weekend.  Here’s a hint…

Read Full Post »

Wonder of wonders

Miracle of miracles, my breakfast held me over until my lunch break at 1 pm.  That NEVER happens!  I have this cute bowl to thank.  :) 

Attune foods hooked it up at Expo West – not only did I get this on-the-go bowl (like a sippy cup for adults), but I also got to fill it with whatever cereals I wanted.  As a huge cereal addict, this was one of the highlights of the Natural Foods show.  I could hardly contain my excitement combining all the cereals to make one mega-master-mix.  Uncle Sam – check!  Erewhon – check!

 

In the no-spill bowl: Erewhon High Fiber Raisin Bran, Uncle Sam original, Chocolate Probiotic Granola Munch

Deeeeelish!  I added fresh blueberries just as I headed out the door at 6:20 am, and then swiped some of the hospital’s cheapo brand of soy milk to complete the meal.  The bowl is deceptively large.  I just kept munching and crunching away, delighted at how long it took to eat the whole thing. 

I should also mention I had a mini breakfast of fresh strawberries and cinnamon before leaving the casa along with two cups of coffee.  That’s what happens when you’re up at 4 am to get your a$$ handed to you (thanks Jillian).

Switching gears…this is what I came up with for lunch.  The layers are hardly visible, but it all started with blanched broccoli. 

Choppin Blanchin’ broccoli!  [Old school SNL reference anyone?  I know my sister will appreciate it]

By the by, I’m an equal opportunity eater with regard to broccoli.  Most people only use the heads, but I’m not really sure how that trend even started.  Since when are the stems inedible?  They are just as tasty!  So if you’ve never thought twice about it, I encourage you to give both the heads and tails a shot.  Wonder of wonder, it may just strike your fancy! 

 

So back to the dish…spaghetti squash noodles, tomato, avocado, and broccoli.

Avocado can brings any smorgasbord of ingredients together. 

Falafel and hummus and a brand new dessert treat from Mrs. May’s. 

I don’t think these chocolate fruit rounds are on the market yet, but they are basically freeze dried fruit coated in chocolate.  I LOVED the strawberry one, but couldn’t really figure out what the other one was (and wasn’t really into it).  It was crunchy like a malt ball, but sweet and fruity.  And the ratio of chocolate to fruit was perfect – each balanced and equally present.  Yum! 

Here’s the whole posse laid out…

It should be noted that I crave citrus once in a blue moon…and apparently that time has come for 2011. 

Cuties!

The name alone makes me want to eat a dozen on the spot, and after my past weekend doing exactly that, I couldn’t get the ‘lil buggers out of my mind. 

So there were a few in my lunch, along with the oh so constant apple. 

Can you believe this was my very first KIND bar!?  I know, I know, given the amount of time I’m in Starbucks it’s a shocker.  Somehow I just never got around to trying one though.  This was the Cranberry Almond + Antioxidants flavor.

The ingredients were pretty much pure and wholesome, although they have honey (thereby making them not vegan).  I liked the puffed rice though (textural variety) and the fact that they were all non-GMO. 

They reminded me a lot of Mrs. May’s Trio bars (Costco purchase what whaaaat).  But they weren’t quite as dense.  In fact, it was probably the most airy nut bar that I’ve ever seen.  Maybe I’m just used to jam packed Larabars…

It was my own fault that they were a bit on the hard side since I accidentally stored it in the fridge with the rest of my lunch.  Still, I enjoyed the crunch of the almonds a lot.  The cranberry flavor was a bit too dominating if I’m being really picky, but it was overall a winner.  I’d for sure buy again. 

 

And last but not least, my bevvie.  I rarely bring anything aside from my Klean Kanteen and coffee mug to work, but I had a Teas’ Tea leftover from Expo.  I like Ito-En because they make unsweetened teas with unusual flavors.  Normally lemongrass is not my thang, but this went perfect with the 55 lbs of candied ginger that I had with lunch.  I still wouldn’t buy it on my own though because I can just as easily brew my own and not use plastic containers.  At least the company is from North America so it’s not increasing my carbon footprint too much shipping the bottles overseas.

Speaking of carbon footprint…3 of my 4 patients were on various forms of contact precautions, which meant donning full isolation gear every time I entered the room, which meant repeatedly gowning, masking, and re-gowning and re-masking.  I cannot get over how wasteful this is.  Obviously the precautious are in place for a reason (I had rule-out TB and transplant patients) but it still breaks my hippie heart every time I take stupid trips in and out of the room.  I think being green makes me a worse nurse because I try too hard to cluster my care in order to avoid wasteful use of the non-recyclable gear (read: stay out of the room as long as possible for non-essential tasks).  Hmmm…

For dinner I had seitan, steamed carrots, and millet with nooch and Bragg’s liquid aminos. 

The millet was actually a batch I made last week in the rice cooker, but it came out dense and dry and completely inedible.  To salvage it, I simple added the solid chunks of millet to boiling water…and voila!  Wonder of wonders, a little hydration was all the grains needed.  Because of all the cooking/re-cooking, they were a bit more mushy than millet usually is, so the dish ended up being almost risotto like in texture.  I added a TON of nooch in at the very end so it was rich a cheesy and not overly watered down.

Not too shabby.

Kyle arrived home from a post-finals celebration while I was eating dessert (Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar) and his pizza was intoxicating.  I almost wanted a second dinner even though it was time for me to head to bed.  Melted cheese has a pretty potent aroma. 

What’s your favorite food-related smell?  Least favorite?

I couldn’t choose just one, I love coffee (grounds and fresh brewed…mmmmm), campfires/BBQs, and any freshly baked pies/breads/pastries/etc.  I also think anything with coconut butter/oil is downright amazing.

My least favorite smells are Abercrombie cologne (I know it’s not food related but I detest it) and dill.  I hate dill/fennel/black licorice.  Come to think of it tequila and grappa are pretty disgusting too. 

Read Full Post »

Side notes

Let’s race through the work stuff so we can get to the real story…

The lunch stack!

Side note: I need eco-friendly, reusable utensils.  I’ve been using the same plastic ones day in and day out [actually they are made from corn or some other hippie ingredient, but still, they are most definitely not meant for reuse].  And while I am a fan of this form of recycling, it’s kinda gross.  I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t even wash them.  I just put them back in my lunchbox once I’m done eating.  I’m saving water, right?  Or building up a strong gut?  Hmmm…

Overnight breakfast oats with strawberries, blueberries and cinnamon.  Cauliflower and Sabra hummus snack pack.

Side note: I packed apples and candied ginger aplenty as well.

Seitan, quinoa, carrots, and spaghetti squash noodles.

Side note: I officially have back problems.  If you’re a long time reader, you’ll remember that back in NYC I went through physical therapy for this same issue.  Now, it appears I’ve reinjured myself because my pain has gone from an annoying soreness to an chronic and debilitating problem.  By the end of my 12 hours I was in excruciating pain – alternating heat and ice packs just to be able to tolerate any activity.  Standing up straight is fine, but trying to bend over in any way…yikes.  Hopefully these next few days off will be enough rest.

Dinner was majorly random.  Our fridge is a desert.  Barren and dry.

Thank goodness the freezer pulled through.  I had four Quorn meatless meatballs left…along with some falafel (individually frozen after I made them here).

At least I had a bit of quinoa left and the heel piece of the Field Roast (review coming soon)…supplemented with carrots and (questionably edible) cauliflower.

Flavor-wise, it’s very similar to my log seitan.

Smorg.  A$$.  Friends, it’s not a pretty picture, but it’s what I came up with.

Side note: Brown and beige are officially the reject hues on the food color wheel.  Blah.

While leftoverville’s entire population found it’s way to my plate, their former homes left quite the pileup…

Tupperware bubble bath!

Side note: My random plate of leftovers didn’t fill me up. 😦

Enter Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter.  Ta-da!

Oh my word.  If there were ever two butters to combine and create a master nutbutter, this would be it.  So I guess dreams do come true!

Side note: I chopped up two gala apples because I initially set out to dip them in the coconut peanut butter, but as soon as my spoon hit the jar, I knew it was game over.

Yeah…

This is crazy good.  It tastes like coconut infused peanut butter.  The texture varies based on it’s temperature because coconut butter is solid at cooler temps, but melts when it gets warm.  So depending on where you store the jar, you could have a creamy drippy sauce or a thick spreadable butter.  As you can see above, I quite enjoyed it plain.

Side note: I went to town on the stuff.

It almost tastes like the inside of a Reese’s peanut butter cup (but way healthier obviously).

I did end up melting some to dip the apples in as well 🙂

Mmmm…

And for breakfast the next day?  What do you think I had?

Well, duh.

After making a huge stack of pancakes, I didn’t even think twice about what topping I wanted.

Side note: Spreading nut butter between each pancake layer makes the stack more like a PB sammie and makes every bite flavor packed with coconutty goodness.  Try it!

There’s a pretty good chance all 94 servings will be gone by next weekend.

This is love.

Side note: In addition to being organic, Tropical Traditions gets bonus points because there are only TWO ingredients in their nutbutter – organic dried coconut and organic roasted peanuts.

And now, I have to go pack for this weekend because I’m heading to EXPO WEST!!!!!!

I can’t even put into words how excited I am for this event.  Like a kid in a candy store, I am already giddy.  And like a kid on Christmas Eve, I can hardly sleep thinking about all the fun to come!!

Side note: I plan on meeting each and every one of my favorite foodie companies, and it would probably take a dozen horse tranquilizers to slow me down.  Anaheim here I come!!!

Read Full Post »

Mostly brownies

I haven’t had very many interesting things to share.  The weather went from shorts and tank-top temperatures to bundle in layers degrees.  Don’t you gauge the season by outfits, too?

I still fit a 4 mile run in yesterday between stuffing my face with brownies.

One, two, buckle my shoe unbuckle my belt…

Okay, okay, I didn’t JUST have brownies (as if you’d judge me either way).

I had a huge bowl of nearly-spilling-over-the-edge oatmeal.

• 1 cup whole rolled oats
• 1 apple, chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• dash of cinnamon
• drip of NuNaturals’ vanilla stevia

Perfection

My evening was uneventful.  Kyle and his waffle team are working furiously on their big presentation this week, so I was left to my own devices for the entire day.  Amazingly, I got very little accomplished, unless you count clearing out the DVR.

Dinner was simple.

Sweet potato stuffed with hummus (a new flavor!) with a steamed kale and carrot salad and falafel crumbled on top.

One half of the sweet tater had the last bit of the old Sabra flavor (roasted pinenut), while the other side had the new kind (spinach and artichoke).

This was confusing for my taste buds.  It really didn’t have enough chickpea or tahini flavor going on and for me, it was mostly like a spinach artichoke dip.  It was good, but shouldn’t be categorized as a hummus.  Make no mistake, I enjoyed it thoroughly (and definitely added heaps more after taking the photo).

For dessert, I opted to nix the brownies (lest I OD in under 24 hours), and chose a new-to-me Clif MOJO.

Sweet & Salty Trail Mix Bar…mmmm…

These bars are perfect in satisfying either kind of craving – salty AND sweet.  The crushed pieces of pretzels and mini butterscotch chips are drool inducing.  Try as I might to slowly savor the bar, I still scarfed it in under a minute.

I may have to attempt a home-made replication of this soon.  It was friggin’ awesome.

After dessert, I packed up my work food for the day and started settling into my PM routine.

Work was work.

Jillian-ed it up with The Shred at 4:30 am then broke the fast with coffee and an apple.

Work breakfast was oats.  Nothing too fancy, just strawberries & cinnamon.

My main course for lunch was steamed kale topped with spaghetti squash and vegan Field Roast (and subsequently doused in Bragg’s liquid aminos).

Oops, I still owe you all that Field Roast review, huh?  Ok, I’ll get on that 🙂

Don’t tell Kyle, but me and Nana are starting to have an affair.  This is my 3rd in a week.  😉  Ginger is one of the best flavors.

Whoever is the grandchild of “Nana” is SO effing lucky.  These cookies are out of control.  I’ve tried every flavor and they are all perfect.  Chewy, gooey, and melt in your mouth sweet.

Best of all they don’t shoot your blood glucose through the roof.  Always a plus.  My only complaint is that the serving size is 1/2 a cookie.  Because it’s BS to think that anyone could eat half of one of these babies and call it a day.  I dare you.

The rest of the snack pack included raw cauliflower and carrots with Sabra hummus, two apples, and mucho candied ginger.

I have to share a photo that I took on my lunch break (with my phone’s camera) because, well, you’ll see…

I’m sorry about the quality (my blackberry is certainly no iPhone) and the odd angle (I was trying to be semi-incognito), but as you can see here, some mighty fine characters hang around the hospital.  Allow me to draw attention to his plastic gold stunna shades, his ghetto phabulous chain necklace, and his beach blanket (a pile of stripped clothes).  The best part of all, however, which is sadly not caught on film, is that this was mid-exercise.  Mid-crunches, to be specific.  Let me tell you, the guy had spectators.  It was a scene.  Anyway.  I thought you may enjoy it.  It definitely made my lunch break that much more entertaining.

When I got home I did some damage to the brownies and eventually contemplated dinner.  More on that later…

Read Full Post »

Dog Days

Sadly, no, it’s not summer quite yet.  The dog days I’m referring to aren’t the ones of sweltering heat.  I’m talking about working like a dog.  The past few days have been busy busy busy, filled with A fib, altered mental status, and other nursing fun.  Night shifts are not my friend.  But next week I’m back to days so three cheers for that! 

How about some food!

Apple, pear, leftovers.

Quinoa, roasted butternut squash, and lentil loaf.

The thing about night shift, is my body still thinks it’s night time.  So I don’t have much of an appetite, even though I’m still working the same 12 hours as a day shift.  As you’ve seen from my day shift pre-packed eats (and prepping tutorials), I would typically require wayyyyy more food.  That’s the weird thing about night shift.  My body doesn’t really know how to adapt.  It doesn’t help that I go back and forth between AM and PM schedules (I was hired for half and half), but then, I’d rather have 50% day shifts over none.  After all, I do like seeing my husband and friends every once in a while…

Back to work.

Apple, apple, leftovers.

Spinach, steamed sweet potato, squash quinoa patty-cake.

And finally, my last shift to freedom.

Shredded collards, carrots, falafel, quinoa.

Look how I made the collard greens into ribbons!  So silly right?  It was an accident.  I “lightly cooked” the leaf by putting it in a glass bowl and running boiling water over it in the sink (one of the classier methods you’ve read about no doubt).  It just softened the texture up a bit since the raw form is a bit tough if not being used as a wrap (like here).

Once the collards were warmed they loosened up slightly, while still maintaining enough shape to easily de-stem and thinly slice.

Then I just added in carrots, falafel, and quinoa.  Done and done.

Voila!  Along with Sabra hummus and a double side of apples.

Of course working nights isn’t ALL bad…

I get to spend way more time on breakfast.  As a result, my morning meals have become my faves.  Oats are fine and all, but pancakes, waffles, french toast, and home-made granola are definitely treats for my taste buds.  Step aside dinner, there’s a new course in town!

Speaking of decadent breakfasts…hurry up, it’s the last day to enter to win waffles!! 

Read Full Post »

Garbanzo Goop

The reason this post was (is) delayed is because my “g” recipe sucked.  Alphebruary is getting hard!  Turns out there are some letters without very many food options. 

I had heard you could make hummus out of garbanzo flour, and frankly I had my doubts going into it (should probably have tuned into that intuition).  But then I thought, hummus really is just garbanzo beans…and the flour is just a different form of the stuff…

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.  

I started this little garbanzo flour journey by following the recipe on the Bob’s Red Mill website.  It said to wait ‘til you have boiling water and then whisk in the flour.  Uhhhh.  Eff.  That. 

Not so lovely lady lumps. 

Seriously, unless you are a whisking god, this recipe is absolutely a joke.  My arm was in agony as I attempted to de-clump this hot mess.  Disastrous. 

This handy whisk was the only thing that managed to semi-salvage the hummus. 

Oh, and this tahini. 

Praise the Lord for this organic tahini.  At least the flavor was decent. 

The texture was so-so at first (when it was still warm).  But after a few hours in the fridge, it was completely solidified. 

How do you use solidified lumpy hummus?  No really.  I’m asking you. 

I first tried it with falafel.  Standard, right?  But it required heating to even get to a texture that could be anything dip-like.

 

The next time I used it was in a wrap. 

It was like trying to spread a pancake into a tortilla. 

You see those lumps?  Don’t be fooled into thinking they are hunks of garbanzo flesh.  They are in fact balls of flour that cooked on the outside and formed a gummy ball with raw dry flour on the inside.  Sounds yummy, huh.

This photo kinda shows the texture.  Taking a knife to it resulted in the above crumbly clumpy crusty cakey chickpea creation.

I still stuck with it though, piling on spinach and falafel.

Not gonna lie though.  Despite all the whining I just did about the sh!tty texture of the garbanzo goop, it actually was tasty!  And once I wrapped it up, the texture didn’t really matter anyways.

Eh.  I definitely won’t ever attempt to make hummus with garbanzo flour again, so if there’s nothing else you take away from this, let it be this.

1) Tahini can rescue any hummus-y dip.

2) Make dips from real food, not flour versions.

Read Full Post »

Sights unseen

This weekend was so much fun.  I had Friday through Sunday off and Kyle was actually caught up with all his MBA shiz, so we got to spend a lot of time relaxing (together).

I’ve shown you the d & e meals, but Superbowl Sunday was definitely the highlight.  PACKERS what whaaaat!   

Friday morning started with an early breakfast for me.  I was up and at ‘em with the sun garbage trucks (which was fine since I had fallen asleep at 7:30 the night before). 

I made myself a warm bowl of oats and buckwheat. 

This was actually an overnight concoction, but since it was kinda dried out I added warm ricemilk to make it more creamy and rich.

I kept it simple and sprinkled the top with just shredded coconut.  Yum.  Buckwheat has a different flavor than other breakfast grains so I find that when it’s combined with oats, it makes a simple meal much more complex for the taste buds. 

Kyle, on the other hand, wasn’t hungry until later.  Eventually he made breakfast for himself while I sucked down coffee number two.

Can we just admire the bed head here?  LOVE.  Clearly he was stoked with his breakfast burrito creation. 

This is pretty standard weekend breakfast fare for Kyle.  I can vouch (from personal experience) that he has definitely perfected the art of hash browns. 

Unfortunately he hasn’t quite perfected his wrapping technique. 

Spillage…

Sad face. 

Post digestion Kyle and I went on a run together on the beach.  Usually I don’t like running with him because he has the advantage of longer legs, and our paces just don’t align.  But I wasn’t feeling the run at all, so having him to drag me along motivate me was just what I needed. 

After our workout we hit up Kinkos, the bank, the car wash, the hardware store, and the grocery store.  Phew.

Back at home, I was in need of major sustenance.  I polished off the hummus and quickly moved onto the next best dip.   

Artisana’s cashini butter is without a doubt my best discovery of the year.

I ate it with apple slices, then some spelt pretzels, and finally with nothing but a spoon. 

Dinner was all about durum.  [Nut-shell casserole]

With a late night snack (raw nuts, seeds, and dried fruit) while ignoring the new Wall Street movie (1 star).

Saturday morning was another easy one. 

The farmer’s market was busy!

 

Gorgeous beets.

 

Look at the colorful greens!?

 

Note the starbucks cup in the lower corner ;)  Aside from my grande misto, all I came away with from our morning stroll was a spaghetti squash.

For some reason I decided to torture myself further with some window shopping at Anthropologie.  That store and Barnes & Noble are really my favorite places on earth.  Okay, Whole Foods as well. 

At noon, we met up with friends for brunch at Jack ‘n Jill’s.  It’s next door to Real Food Daily in Santa Monica. 

It was pretty packed, but we still found a table for our group of 4.  It’s more cafe style than restaurant style because you order at the register and then they bring you the food.  My only issue was that our food arrived way after that of our friends’ (because we had ordered separately).  I realize they go by the order number and not really by table, but still, the place isn’t that big and it was clear that we were a group.  Ah well. 

Kyle got the breakfast burrito.  Standard.

 

I made my own scramble with silken tofu, avocado, spinach, and tomatoes.  It also came with fresh fruit and multi-grain toast. 

 

The toast was super grainy and hearty, which made it awesome on it’s own – no jam necessary.  The fruit is not really worth mentioning but I will say the pineapple was mighty juicy.  As for the tofu scramble?  Well how can you mess that up when avocado is involved.  Other people would probably prefer a bit more seasoning, but I like the simplicity of it.  The portion was legit, too.  I had leftovers (which I ended up eating an hour later).

This ambrosia accompanied my leftovers rounding out my afternoon snack with a sweet somethin’ somethin’.  I am really into ambrosia apples right now.  Note the copy of my work schedule (let’s hope that having a copy will prevent more incidents like this one).

The rest of the day went by in a blur.  And I already showed you dinner.

So that brings us to…SUPERBOWL Sunday.

Pre-game, Kyle and I both did Jillian’s Shred Level 3 and caffeinated ourselves.

Apple Pie Hot Breakfast

• 1/2 cup dry oats
• 1/4 cup dry buckwheat
• 1 apple, chopped
• 1 loooong squeeze agave nectar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Now that’s how you warm-up for the big game!

After the fast was broken, we headed to our friends house to cheer on the Packers.  (!!!!)

What an exciting game!  I think I caught myself holding my breath several times throughout the 4th quarter. 

Since we were playing a drinking game that involved “socials” every time the announcers mentioned Chico, Butte, or Cal, it was a fun time 🙂

Copious amounts of hummus, Coors Light, and guacamole were my snacks of choice.  After Aaron kissed the trophy and the last of the confetti came to a rest, we headed home and I had a quick “f” dinner before passing out.

I cheated.

Whatever.  It’s hard enough to think of lettered foods and plan ahead…making them in advance wasn’t going to happen without a little help from a box.

The ingredients on the Fantastic World Foods box were clean and simple.  Just add water then roll into little balls…and bam!…falafel. 

I put them on a lined baking sheet and popped them in the oven for 30 minutes (on 350).

The instructions tell you how to fry them, which is obviously how you make falafel traditionally, but I’m not into grease if I can avoid it.  Plus, baking them is way easier and safer (and healthier).

Oh, I had a batch of butternut going on too.

The final product smelled AHHHHH-SOME.

So I popped a few of these falafel balls after the game, along with some (more) hummus and butternut squash.

Then I watched Glee (love!), packed up my lunch for work, and hit the hay.

What a freakin’ weekend! 

Read Full Post »

If you build it…

I will eat it.

Now since I want you to get it just right; here’s how to build the most be-udi-ful breakfast bowl.

Assemble your team.  I like a balance of textures, so I went with an apple, a pear, The Greek Gods plain greek yogurt, and Udi’s gluten free Original granola.  If the granola didn’t have dried fruit and nuts already in it, they would have been supplemented by moi.  Fortunately, Udi’s granola is legit enough to already contain the goods. 

I loved Udi’s Au Naturel flavored granola (seriously top notch stuff) so I was pretty sure the original flavor would be a treat for my taste buds, too.

And I was right.  It had the distinct crunch of a true granola (as opposed to the raw oaty muesli texture that Alvarado Street’s granola has).  Plus, it had dried fruit (love) and a hint of crispy golden sweetness coating the face of each whole rolled oat. 

Ingredients: certified gluten free oats, wildflower honey, canola oil, raisins, banana chips, walnuts, cashews, almonds and pistachios.

Nuts much? 

I was scared at first because I don’t like walnuts.  At.  All. 

Lucky for me, they weren’t the dominant nut.  There were cashews and raisins aplenty, with beautiful clusters of oats and pistachios.  I love clusters.

To create this divine bowl of perfection, I simply added the chopped apple and pear to a bowl of greek yogurt…

Added cinnamon…

And then topped the whole thing off with Udi’s granola. 

It only slightly beats out the Au Naturel Udi’s flavor.  Udi’s makes so damn fine granola.  And although I keep wavering back and forth, I think this may beat out Frog Hollow Farm’s granola for the top spot.  It’s a close call.  Frog Hollow Farm’s granola did have some massive clusters that I loved, but it also had whey derivatives.  Both have honey, which makes them not vegan. 

The Greek Gods greek yogurt was a new purchase for me as well.  I’ve never had such thick greek yogurt.  I usually buy whichever brand is on sale at Whole Foods (which tends to be Fage or Chobani), so when I saw how cheap this was I figured I’d give it a go.  I don’t have the ability to discern any subtle flavor differences in plain yogurt, so all I have to go on is texture and this was thick and a great mixer for the fruit and granola. 

Anyway, the whole combo was so good that I had three more bowls after.  I hate when my granola/cereal bags/boxes are nearly gone after one sitting :(  It’s a common occurrence with me.

The good news was that this magnanimous breakfast/lunch held me over for a morning filled with errands.  I was all over the place trying to get my life in order, but eventually I put a pause on the chaos for some me time.  And by that I mean a 30 minute jog to the ocean and back.  It was great to breathe in the crisp winter air.  My lungs felt wonderfully painful as I sucked in the harsh air.  It reminded me of my soccer days. 

This is what I like the fruit basket to look like.  But even though it was all stocked up, I was still in need of a few key things…which required a Costco date.

I met my girlfriend for a semi-quick run through (it’s very helpful to have a friend with you to stay on point in such a store).  Even though I had a list already made (which I was ordered to strictly adhere to since we have zero room in our budget for my foodie impulse buys), I still managed to take a few detours in certain aisles.  The most depressing part of this non-story is that I left without ANY hummus or falafel.  Huge fail on Costco’s part, not keeping such essentials in stock.  Unacceptable.  I’m still sad about it.  Sure I’ll get over it sooner or later, but for now I plan on wallowing for a few more hours.

I had two oranges (from my parents’ trees) and an apple once I got home and then got dinner under way.  Since I had falafel on the brain, you can probably guess what I wanted…

The last four falafel balls.  :(  Sad. 

I bought these falafel from Costco in August and froze them so they wouldn’t go bad (it would be rather hard – even for me – to consume 45 falafel balls in such a short amount of time.  I believe the brand is Republic and I highly recommend them.  They were quite tasty for a reheated food that wasn’t meant to be a frozen food item (I bought them in the refrigerated section).  They easily thaw within minutes and tast magnificent too.  Crispy on the outside without drying out on the inside.  Much better than WF’s falafel.  So you understand why I’m so bent out of shape not being able to find such an item.  Cheap AND yummy?  Now I’m on a mission.

Anyway, I made some hummus to go with it.  I used the same method I mentioned here. 

I refilled that little dish many many times because I like my veggies caked in chickpea goodness. 

Even after the carrots, mushrooms, and squash were gone, there was still extra hummus, so you know how I handled that (with Alvarado Street sprouted bread).  I may have had an extra serving of butternut squash somewhere in there as well…because I still have 10 or so left. 

For dessert, I couldn’t decide between sweet or savory.  Such a dilemma.  I chose both. 

Mitica nuts are like a Spanish cocktail mix.  Or corn nuts.  They are salty as all hell, which is why they are so dang addicting.  This mix had soooo many different kinds of nuts and beans in it, I was loving each more than the last.  The big fava beans and garbanzos were soft and kind of melted in my mouth, whereas the corn nuts and almonds crunched in a major way.  I couldn’t stop eating them!!

But I still wanted the sweetness of chocolate, so I turned to dark chocolate covered almonds as a night cap. 

Plus tea.  Lots and lots of tea. 

Read Full Post »

Preppy prep-star

This weekend went by way too quickly.  I played catch up the whole time, and it’s already over! :(  All I do is make massive bulk meals for the week.  Prep prep prep.  In any event, the recap need not be dragged out.  Here are the bare essentials…including how I plan ahead for a week’s worth of work eats. 

Brunch

Coffee sprinkled with cocoa

Sando with hummus and vegan “cheese” on Ezekiel heel pieces.

Snack

Assorted platter of veggies, fruit, and “cheese”

Workout

30 minutes of running on the beach

15 minutes of leisurely bike riding

Relaxation

Vitamin D time on la playa

Drank

Dinner

Take-away salad by North End Caffe. 

North End Caffe is located in Manhattan Beach and was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives (any Food Network fans?).  Lucky for me, my friend happens to be the general manager of the place, which is why I got a custom made vegan salad with the works for dinner. 

Bias aside, this salad was a beautiful beast.  It had so many delicious things going on, from the candied pecans, pistachios, dried cherries, cranberries, and fresher-than-fresh greens to the fresh orange wedges on top and the tangy, citrusy vinaigrette.  YUM!  It was so nice of my friend to surprise us with take-out meals, but even more thoughtful that he brought us all individualized items.  Kyle got a warm BLT with avocado.  I’m not even sure if my salad is on the actual menu, but it was fantastic.  I ate every last bite, and even scraped the dressing container clean with the grilled sourdough slice.  The greens were truly straight from the farmer’s market and I could definitely taste the difference.  All in all, it was salad that I could eat day in and day out without boring my taste buds. 

Dessert #1

Dates, cashews, and carob chips

Dessert #2

Sugar coated ginger

And then the cycle repeats…

Breakfast

A bowl of fruity sweetness covered in cinnamon.

Heart Thrive apple suncake

It was like oatmeal in cookie form (aka hearty and delicious). 

Lunch

Open faced sando x2

Oh how I’ve missed you, Alvarado Street bread. 

For those who are newer readers (or anyone else who doesn’t have Rain Man memory), I used to be obsessed with Alvarado Street bread.  As a huge fan of sprouted breads, I found Alvarado Street managed to merge flavor and texture with healthy and wholesome ingredients like no other product is able to.  Ezekiel can make a mighty fine english muffin, but when it comes to breads, they are more on the cardboard end of the spectrum.  Alvarado Street, on the other hand, makes sprouted breads that still offer a fluffy delicious quality critical in sandwich making.  So for the longest time, I rarely used anything else to make my sandwiches (for proof check out my archives from wayyyyy back in my earliest blogging days).  And then, suddenly it vanished from my local health food store in NYC and I ended up making the switch back to Ezekiel.  I wasn’t happy about it, so imagine my delight when I moved back to CA and saw an Alvarado Street delivery truck pass me on the freeway (!!!!).  So exciting.  I immediately went online and found out that they are a Northern CA based company, and so the hunt began…

If you’ve given up on sprouted bread because you thought they were stiff and tasteless, it is worth reconsidering. 

If you want to feed your body delicious food that is also completely wholesome and will make you feel energetic for hours, you should give these breads a try. 

Basically, if you’ve never tried Alvarado Street breads, you are missing out.*  Can you tell how big of a fan I am, yet??

For one half of my lunch sammie, I piled on my favorite WF prepared salad, the Gardein curry chik’n salad with currants, almonds, and curried veganaise.

To be completely honest picky, I would prefer less veganaise, but the extra fat is so dang delicious. 

The other half of the sammie had Cedar’s original hummus. 

Snack

 

Fitness

25 minute run on the beach with an interval on the Santa Monica stairs

Dinner

Course 1 was a bowl of last week’s never-ending three bean salad.

Course 2 was also a smorgasbord of last week’s leftovers, including the remainder of the roasted veggies and some falafel. 

The falafel (for those who have been asking) is from Costco and is made by a brand called Republic.  I’ve been thawing them a few at a time and they reheat perfectly – still crispy on the outside and not dried out. 

Dessert

 

And now, the food prepping portion of the weekend.  Are you ready for this?

Bulk veggie roasting.

From this…

To this…

Tupperwared up for later.

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the seeds.

Gotta get my iron and zinc 🙂

Bulk quinoa cooking.

Rice cookers make this a mindless background activity…it’s so cute how the curly Qs end up on the lid of the cooker. 

Bulk butternut squash baking.

Plus some bean soaking, salad veggie chopping, and grocery shopping. 

Oh and macaroon making.  But this recipe deserves a full post…so you’ll just have to wait :P 

And that’s how I get ready for the work week! Any questions?

*Disclaimer: I was given a coupon for a free loaf of bread, but in no way does this affect my feelings for Alvarado Street’s products.  I have been a loyal costumer in the past and continue to buy their products with my own money.

Read Full Post »