Hello hello there! I am so happy to say that these past few days have been awesome. I think it’s the whole mentality I’m trying to maintain to get me through the winter. It was actually the title for a recent post of mine, “life is what you make of it.” The winter doesn’t have to suck the life out of me (okay I’m being dramatic here), but instead I focus on what I’m doing now and all the positives of this holiday season. And all your answers really stuck with me and reminded me of so many things I have to smile about. Don’t we all?
Here are few of my reasons, inspired by some of you, in the past couple of days.
A different version of frozen yogurt
I took a container of So Delicious coconut milk yogurt and stuck it in the freezer.
Two cookies for good measure!
The night I received the package I had a couple of Holly’s homemade vegan pumpkin molasses cookies. Wow! These were so good, I’m glad she shared her recipe.
Inspired by two very special ladies.
The other day I saw that Maya and Eliza had each made a bowl of gingerbread-inspired oats. Do I need to explain? This is why I love breakfast. When I’ve had a delicious breakfast then I know it’s going to be a good day.
On my day off from classes I felt like dressing-up.
One of my favorite scarves - it makes me feel like Mozart.
And a skirt I should wear more often.
Along with some dark grey tights and red Mary Janes flats.
I had recently gotten a ton of basil.
So I decided to make a pesto. Rather than using raw pine nuts I toasted them first and it really made a difference in the flavor.
Afternoon snack
These are the Apple Grahams that came in the package Holly sent me. I’ve tried them plain, with the medley jam she also sent me, pumpkin butter, dipped in Sugar Cookie tea, and pumpkin spice soymilk. I have yet to crumble them on a nice warm bowl of oatmeal.
Almost forgot about lunch!
For lunch I tried another Gardein product. This time it was the chick’n scallopini. I really liked how they lightly-seasoned these, and they were also a really nice size. There are some vegetarian products out there that give such small portions and that can be frustrating. I decided to cook up the rest of cauliflower and chick’n scallopini in a Sweet Pepper and Coconut cooking sauce. Served with Nishiki rice. So good that even my little Moofia toy wanted some.
I recently picked up a new item at the grocery store.
What could it be? A rutabaga! I’m pretty sure I’ve never tried one before. My darling darling, Brooke, said this was one veggie I needed to try. She recommended to try them with cranberries, so of course I listened! I roasted the rutabaga and an apple with sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. I also had a Tofurky Kielbasa decorated with ketchup, beer-brewed mustard, and a bit of sweet relish. Yum! I definitely was looking up more rutabaga recipes after this.
This was a special bowl of oatmeal...
In Brooke’s survey one of the questions was, “bowl of hot cereal you have been wanting to try.” And I answered a banana rum cake-inspired oatmeal. Lynn thought it sounded good too, so I decided to make it! I made my way to the liquor store and got a miniature bottle of Captain Morgan’s spiced rum. I did not prepare my oatmeal as I usually do because I additionally cooked it with a couple spoonfuls of spiced rum and a bruleed banana. I topped it with a sliced banana, some pecans, New Morning Honey Grahams, and a ZenSoy banana pudding cup.
I even mixed spiced rum in the banana pudding!
I wanted to be drunk for my Taoism class! Kidding of course!
I hadn't worn this blazer in ages!
Lunch was surprisingly yummy.
I wanted to try out something different for the wee bit of kale I had left. It was just enough to help make this sandwich (I just boiled it). I assembled the sandwich with French Meadow Bakery’s gluten-free sandwich bread, cashew butter, kale, and pumpkin butter. This was a new combination I thought of and wanted to try out; I think some onion jam would’ve definitely sealed the deal, but this was delicious as well. I had some of the leftover hummus from Brittany’s sandwich recipe – perfect for the broccoli!
Bright and early on a Saturday!
Since I have to wake up really early on a Saturday morning (and I hadn’t gotten home on Friday till 4:30 am), I just want as much sleep as I can get. So when I woke up I quickly put my breakfast together. I tried another 18 Rabbits flavor that was sent to me; that morning I decided to try the “Nibble a Sultana” bar. I had it with a container of vanilla Greek yogurt, a diced apple, and cinnamon. I’ve seen sultanas baked with apples in little tarts. This bar didn’t have that same perfect granola-y flavor the other one had. It was okay, but I probably wouldn’t buy it for myself.
Carrots and rutabaga mash + sandwich
With the rest of my rutabaga I followed Brooke’s advice again and made a mash out of it! I stumbled upon this recipe and I knew it would be nothing short of delicious. However, I ended up sprinkling on some pumpkin pie spice and mixed some coconut oil in as well. This had me licking my bowl clean. The sandwich was inspired by a local coffee-shop item on their menu. It had my homemade basil pesto, Gardein chick’n scallopini, roasted red peppers, and goat cheese. Wow! Do any of you ever recreate restaurant recipes?
I just had to!
After going on a long walk excursion with a friend I came home to work on my project.
And I got kind of side-tracked...
Okay, really side-tracked!
Then I finally got back to work.
Then, next thing you know dinnertime rolled around! I had become so focused that I had totally lost track of time.
Yin and Yang
I made sweet and sour lentils and had it with leftover Nishiki rice and coconut oil.
Korean-Russian Carrot Salad
I’ve had this recipe saved for a really long time and totally forgot about it! This tasted very different from what I usually eat, sweet and spicy, but it was a very pleasant change.
Later that night I ended up going to some of my friends’ art exhibit and met up with another friend. Afterwards we went to a birthday celebration and eventually I came back home and I woke up with two thoughts on my mind. “I have on last night’s makeup” and “April’s pumpkin French toast sticks.”
An example of a perfectly delicious Sunday breakfast.
April’s recipe also calls for a peanut butter frosting. I changed it around a bit and made it vegan by omitting the eggs, and used Pumpkin Spice soymilk (highly recommended!!!) and a thickening agent. I used two thick slices of Rudi’s 100% Whole Wheat bread. The toppings include: diced apple, more pumpkin pie spice, and some Apple & Maple syrup. This breakfast was such a great way to start a beautiful day.
Well now I’m off to enjoy the sun and walk to the Farmer’s Market with Matilda. I hope you all had a relaxing and fun weekend! I’ll leave you all with a clip from a new hit TV series aka a video recording I made:
Original Video – More videos at TinyPic
Much love!
Katharina's Food Adventures 