Taking It In

Hey everyone! Sorry for pulling my disappearing act on you guys without a heads up, but as we all know sometimes life just sweeps you up off your feet and you just have to go for the ride. So I’m taking this moment to say hello!

Hello!

Awhile ago I was going through a “roasted beets and grilled goat cheese sandwich” phase. That’s pretty specific isn’t it? Goat cheese and beets are typically paired together so why not sandwich the wonderful duo in between two slices of bread?

I’ve also been enjoying red lentil curries.

Can you spy the curry leaf? Mix in some basmati rice and you’ve got yourself a tasty meal.

Enjoyed the last of this jar of tahini.

I don’t think I’ll find a jar of this discounted at $1.99 anytime soon. But that’s okay because…

Welcome to Buttermilk Pancake Mountain!

Home of the world’s fluffiest pancakes.

Enjoy it the old fashion way, stacked high with maple syrup and butter.

Mmm yes… maple syrup.

Baking powder is the trick to getting them so fluffy.

Half and half

I love options!

I had medjool dates on hand and there were two recipes I had in mind. Averie’s No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cake Bites and Almond, Date, and Coconut Energy Balls. Before I even looked at the ingredients I bookmarked Averie’s recipe, and they were incredibly delicious! Probably one of my favorite high-raw recipes I’ve made so far. The energy balls were sweet and salty with a nutty undertone that I absolutely loved. I’ve been using that recipe, but making small changes like using cashews/pecans instead of almonds. Making small treats like this are really convenient for any kind of lifestyle, especially if you’re busy, and they’re just my taste.

Recently, I completed something ambitious and that my heart really wanted to do. A lot of people helped make it possible so I wanted to give thanks in one of my favorite ways–food!

Rolled in shredded coconut the coconut-date balls also make great little gifts.

Or thank someone special with Gratitude Granola.

Wonderful clusters

Gratitude Granola (adapted from Jeaneatte Orda’s Everyday Granola recipe)

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup rolled oats

1 3/4 cup corn flakes, crushed

1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax seed
3 tbl ground flax seed
1 cup dried shredded coconut
1 cup combination of walnuts, almonds, and cashews, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 tbl cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
pinch nutmeg
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1/4 cup almond or coconut oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl stir the in the oil, applesauce, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla together. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, stirring well.

2. Lay the mixture out on a baking sheet, and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes, occasionally stirring it. Once it’s done let it cool and store in a container.

 

The honorable duty of taste-tester before you gift it to someone.

Seal of approval

The ambitious project involved driving out to the mountains…

To this retreat center…

Setting up at 5 in the morning with enthusiastic friends…

Running around to solve technical difficulties.

And finally it worked!

Whenever spring comes around I always think of Chip even more. Chip was my boyfriend during my last year of high school, but he was taken from this world in a very violent way. Since we never actually broke up so it felt really weird at first. He was a very special person and I don’t think I’ll ever meet anyone like him, but that’s okay. He ended up inspiring kindness and innocence in many who never got the chance to meet him, so I guess when he was once told that he’d be a great teacher… it was in a way that no one could ever imagine. The inspiration for this came from the idea of writing him a letter, but as a video instead. I believe in a higher power (although I’m not sure what it is) and that there is an afterlife, so the sky is a very meaningful thing to me. We were on top of a hill in the mountains and it felt like you were on top of the world. There was a white “screen”/sheet that I made so it was like the ceiling of an open tent. As the sun rose the projected video faded and the letter was sent. Chip helped me believe in some kind of heaven, and the goodness that’s deep, deep in our souls.

I think he got my message.

When was the last time you felt most alive?

There Are Many Things to Admire

Good day to you and Autumn!

My friend (also happens to be my roommate) and I went exploring the other day.

We went to a museum that had been undergoing renovations for many years. Both of us were taken away by the beauty of the Art Noveau pieces. Imagine being completely surrounded in a world where everything around you is breathtaking.

Like these stained glass windows that were built for someone’s home.

On the topic of being surrounded by beautiful things. I’m sure many of you know about Project Food Blog by now. Well, you know what? It didn’t occur to me how many connections I would making with new people! It’s really wonderful. I love that I’ve been able to check out so many other posts, and nod my head in understanding throughout. It always amazes how much people are alike, but sometimes we feel alone or like “no one understands.” Of course there are differences that make us unique, but there are certain things that I like to call “universal truths.” Here are some posts that really struck a chord with me:

Liv is further pursuing her passion for cooking.

Heather has known about her calling in the kitchen since she was a wee one!

I often find myself thinking that me and Lauren share a brain.

Amanda has got these incredible recipes that make me swear that I can taste them already!

Who wouldn’t fall in love with Kelsey?

Liren makes a great point about proudly being an emotional eater.

Gillian’s charm will never fade.

I’m always wishing I could hang out with Lynn when I read her blog.

Sophia has got this gift with words and coming up with awesome recipes!

If you’re a food blogger you’ll definitely relate to Sabrina’s post.

I love Maggie’s embracing vibe.

There are so many more wonderful entries out there, and can click here to check them out.

Let’s continue admiring beautiful things, shall we?

The other day I was in the store, and I bought the rest of the peaches that were left. I felt like I was stealing them! Here I sliced one over some spiced oatmeal, with banana slices, walnuts, chocolate almond butter, and sunflower seed butter. I’ve been missing the crunch of whole nuts! I love nut butters, but sometimes I want some crunch.

Roasted chickpeas for breakfast?

I was inspired by Brittany’s cinnamon roasted chickpea recipe and this roasted chickpea recipe as well. I basically used the spices that Brittany used, tahini, honey, and sea salt. The smell was so wonderful when roasting, and just hard to ignore! I love the coating the tahini gave these chickpeas after roasting. Chickpeas are so versatile; I thought I’d share a link with you that has a bunch of recipes on how to make them in different ways… sweet or savoury! “15 More Ways To Flavor Roasted Chickpeas“

Coincidence! I made pumpkin pie inspired bowl of oats on the first day of autumn.

I cooked the usual oats with pumpkin puree, in the morning I cut up some dates and crystallized ginger cubes. Then I topped it off with the pumpkin pie spiced roasted chickpeas, more almond milk and spices, brown sugar, walnut nut butter, and tahini. Oof this bowl was delicious! I love starting off a new day with yummy things like this.

I made another great recipe from “The Veganomicon”

It’s been awhile since I last cooked a recipe from this book. I had gotten a head of cauliflower at the store with intentions of making a curry, so I went through my cookbooks in search of one. I decided on the Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry, but de-veganized it by using ghee. I just can’t get over how wonderful ghee is! This recipe called for a surprising ingredient: parsnips! Cooking curries is such a great experience since they are so aromatic. So far I’ve served this with basmati rice, sweet potatoes with curry-ketchup (pictured above), and now I’m wanting to try it with naan bread.

The other day I made the best burrito I’ve had in awhile… make that ever!

I prepared some black beans with rice, onions, sweet pickled mango, garlic, sweet pepper jelly, cumin, cinnamon, and ketchup (hey I had no tomatoes on hand!). Topped it with diced avocado, corn, cilantro, and Greek yogurt (or sour cream if you have that).

Got to wrapping.

And with that, I was off to class!

Who knew I could spice up a burrito’s flavor so much? Thank goodness for curiosity because this was indeed the best bean burrito I’ve ever had. What’s something that recently made you wonder and try something new?

p.s. the last day for voting for the first Project Food Blog challenge is tomorrow so make sure to get your votes in! Fingers crossed!

p.s.s. I just had my first critique of the semester for the video I made. You can watch it by clicking this link, and let me know what you think! Thank you.

Feeling Quite Ghoulish

In honor of one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, this is going to be a post full of spooky things and autumnal eats!

My first bowl of pumpkin oats!

I just mixed in pumpkin puree with oats, vanilla protein powder, dried cranberries, NuNaturals vanilla liquid, and pumpkin pie spice. Once that was done cooking I topped with with pecans, Butterfingers, and ginger syrup. Yum!

After I was done enjoying my bowl of pumpkin oats, I put on some spooky tights.

More pumpkin goodness.

So I was roasting some acorn squash while I took Matilda on a walk. When I got back I realized I hadn’t even plugged the toaster oven, so no acorn squash for lunch! I improvised and made a mess out of bulgur, sautéed onions and garlic, chickpeas, pumpkin pie spice, coconut oil, and pumpkin butter. Totally random but still yummy.

I actually roasted the acorn squash this time!

The only differences in this bulgur mix was the addition of raisins and subtraction of pumpkin. The acorn squash was baked with maple syrup, cinnamon, and butter.

The black hole!

Kind of like a cherry crumble.

I had a bowl of Nature’s Path vanilla almond granola with sweet dark cherries in warm soymilk.

Fall colors!

I tried a sample packet I got in Florida.

This is an all plant protein made by LifeTime. I tried the vanilla flavor and I was pleasantly surprised. I expected it to have a super “green” taste, but it didn’t at all and it was so yummy and thick. I tried it plain first, then I blended a banana after my taste-testing.

Lunch!

Lunch was delicious! I had a sweet potato with Artisana’s coconut butter a la Liz. Homegirl knows what’s up! This was incredible. I am going to have to get myself a full-size jar of this stuff. One the side I had a mound of wilted spinach and chickpeas cooked in a spicy tomato and cardamom cooking sauce. I dressed it up with some crushed cashews.

Dinner

This was incredibly delicious! I got the recipe from Molly Wizenberg’s blog, Orangette. The recipe? Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini! I used the last of the sample of tahini from Artisana. On the side I had a Japanese sweet potato with butter and 1/2 garlic powder (too lazy to saute garlic), the other 1/2 cinnamon. Japanese sweet potatoes are so delicious!

And here’s what I did with the last of my free white acorn squash…

I adapted my favorite Yummy Mummy, Cate’s white beans and Lebanese cous cous stuffed acorn squash recipe. Since I didn’t have cous cous on hand I just used bulgur.  The acorn squash was too small to fit all the stuffing so I just put th rest of it in a bowl and eventually made it an acorn squash delicious-mess.

Sweet potato and ricotta toasted sandwich.

I roasted some kabocha with cinnamon and maple syrup. Then I put some Artisana coconut butter on each wedge. In the back is some sweet potato with the coconut butter and a sprinkling of cinnamon as well. And my burnt toast? It’s a sweet potato and ricotta toasted sandwich! The original recipe calls for rye bread but I just used whole wheat since I don’t have rye bread. I also realized I forgot the spinach! Oh well! In the mug is a new tea I got: chocolate hazelnut!

Now on for some real Halloween frights! I had a reunion with an old friend of mine and he brought two other friends along. It was my first time meeting them but we had such a bonding experience! We went to a haunted hayride. Actually we visited three different attractions. We were chased by scary creatures with chainsaws, had to go through pitch black mazes while people and other things jumped out and surprised us. At some points we had to get down on our knees and crawl!

Driving to certain doom…

Down a dark and winding country road.

All smiles!

The place is actually a berry farm.

Nightmare numero uno

They took us on a really long hayride out to the woods in the middle of nowhere!

Oh yes he dared!

We’re like naive little baby chickens!

Still naive!

David is such an incredible person bursting with life!

The woods!

So we decided to take a break from being scared out of our minds and stopped for a photoshoot.

Hilarious!

He's such an actor!

I’m suppose to be the scary one, but I look terrified!

He was good at being creepy.

And Iman got to kiss one of the scary guys!

Moreover, don’t forget to enter my 101st Post Giveaway. You have until tomorrow noon time EST to enter!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween! I’m hoping to go trick-or-treating. I just have to remember to smile really big! And of course there’s a costume in store.

p.s. Make sure to check out Krissy’s glo-ing giveaway!

101 Dalmations!

This is why I believe the number 101 is better than 100! This is reason why I decided to have a giveaway to celebrate this special occassion. Definitely special enough!

Original Video – More videos at TinyPic

Yeah that’s actually my contained version of my excitement! I know I’ve expressed it quite a few times what this blog and all you friends out there mean to me. So what’s my way of celebrating this special occassion? With a snip-it of what it’s like to live in my life for a couple days and a special surprise at the end from yours truly. I’ll be honest, these last couple of days have been rough. But I had a reminder of how much harder things can get when I learned some sad news relating to someone I know. It really helped me push through, and helped me to stay motivated to rise above the stress. Anyway, here’s a little glimpse starting from Saturday night…

Scarves really help out when coming up with an impromptu costume!

Warm soy milk with Nature's Path Hemp Plus granola and sliced banana.

A nice way to start a grey chilly Sunday. I swear Nature’s Path makes some awesome granolas for something that comes out of a cereal box. Usually I find those granolas to really be lacking. The two flavors I’ve tried – Vanilla Almond Flax Plus and Hemp Plus are nothing short of delicious.

I decided to go out and check my mail, since I’m special and I get mail on Sundays. I really just forgot to check the day before, but let’s pretend.

From one of my most favorite and admirable people ever!

I had forgotten my driver’s license and cash in her purse from the night we went clubbing in Miami. I got way more than that! One time someone complimented her on her sweater and she asked if they’d like to have it. This girl means what she says. I had mentioned that I liked her keychain cover, and she remembered that.

Gio is one year old!

I did some things around the apartment and before I knew it my tummy was growling for lunch!

Penne with Artichoke hearts, spinach, parmesan, ricotta, and pine nuts.

I stumbled upon this yummy site full of pasta recipes. I was feeling kind of down and out after some studio time and some “old/new” crush heartache (he decided to go MIA), so I called a good girlfriend of mine to do some retail therapy.

Note: it's a big deal if I wear my hair up.

Jeez Matilda!

But she can also be a little lady.

Picking up my friend and admiring the leaves.

Matilda welcomes all passengers!

We picked up some coffee and headed to the doggy store. I got Matilda some goodies!

A couple pumpkin "pup"cake cookies, a spooky cookie, and a new harness (finally!)

Then we headed to Anthropologie! And what did Matilda do the second we got there? Peed, of course! It was weird because she had never done that before.

Some things I tried on...

Being sneaky taking pictures in the dressing room. I always feel like this is forbidden.

Super cool shirt!

Here’s a new addition to my necklace collection

Why hello there!

My friend snapped some pictures of us crossing the James River on the way home.

Appreciating the fall season.

Got home and cooked some dinner.

I vaguely followed the recipe for pasta with ricotta, basil, and tomato. On the side are some hot butter and garlic artichokes with grated parmesan. Later I prepared my meals for the next day so I could spend all day in the studio.

Ah, Monday Monday…

I had some European style plain yogurt with Crofter’s raspberry superfruit spread, cranberry cinnamon swirl toast with cream cheese, pumpkin butter, and some slices with Artisana tahini and agave nectar. Oh! And can’t forget the apple I had already started biting into. May I just add that tahini + honey or agave = the bomb.com?

Then it was off to my morning Taoism class - first day of learning some exercises with sticks.

Then I stopped by my apartment real quick to get a snack and the rest of my goods.

Graham-wiches!

U.S. Mills sent me these awhile ago and I finally got around to trying them. I got to try the Honey Graham & Vanilla Creme sandwich cookies and the Chocolate Graham & Peanut Butter Creme kind. Both were seriously so good.

Sandwich cookie powers unite!

Then it was time for my "Kick Ass in the Studio Day"

Then I took a break to go to my Literature class.

I came prepared!

I made banana dahl + coconut oil with brown rice and vanilla butternut squash mash with cinnamon and ricotta.

All mixed together.

Some of the butt-kicking that went on.

Energy bar break!

Have you guys ever tried the Prana Bars by Divine Foods? Well, I was lucky enough to be sent some to sample for a review, which I will be posting later. The sneak preview – this flavor was incredibly delicious and I could definitely taste and even see the coconut shreds. The sweetness mainly comes from the date paste and agave I believe.

After having a dance party while setting up my piece in one of the critique rooms, I finally got home around 9 pm and let Matilda out to take care of her business.

So Tuesday rolled around the corner and it was critique day. Dun dun dun.

Random breakfast

I crushed up Trader Joe’s peanut butter filled pretzels, a fun-size Butterfingers, vanilla yogurt, and Crofter’s raspberry superfruit spread. I had an orange for a vitamin-c boost since I was feeling under-the-weather.

Crit Room 3

All that stuff on the table and in front of it on the floor fit into someone's Nissan Sentra.

And my sculpture... it also had a sound piece to it.

I was so scared about this critique… nauseous scared.. I wanted to go against my perfectionist tendencies as an artist, and just experiment and go with the flow. That felt so uncomfortable, so a lot of insecurities rose up. However, much to my surprise, the critique did not make me cry, nor did I actually throw up.

So now here’s the surprise! I decided to have a giveaway in celebration of this blog’s 101st post. The prize?

Lots of goodies!

A Sunshine Burger baseball cap so you can rep the best veggieburgers in town. A Nature’s Path Optimum Blueberry Flax and Soy bar (yummy icing). All the Prana Bars which are vegan, high-raw, and delicious. There are also some coupons and a vitamin case. Last but not least, I’ll also be sneaking in some other goodies but that’s a secret.

So what do you have to do?

1. Tell me your favorite recipe! It can be a sandwich, yogurt-mess, bowl of oatmeal bliss, dessert, whatever your hearts desire! I will recreate the winner’s favorite  – and no worries if it’s not vegetarian. Where there’s a will there’s a way!

2. Link back to this contest.

3. Add me to your blogroll.

And please let me know if you do numbers 2 & 3. The contest will end on Saturday noon time EST. Thanks and good luck!

p.s. All you folks that have been treating yourself to Pumpkin ice cream, try it with walnuts!!! Speaking of sweets, I will be updating my recipe page so you can see the recipe for the scones! Enjoy your Wednesday everybody; we’re in the middle of the wave and it’s smooth riding from here.