Homemade Hummus

I made hummus for the very first time today, and I must say it turned out quite well!  I'm very proud of my handiwork, and declare my first hummus-making venture a success!!

Collard Green Wrap...Photos!

As promised, here are the photos of my Collard Green Wrap:

Collard Green Wrap

In an effort to up my calcium intake, I am trying to eat spinach and other leafy greens at LEAST once a day.  So far I have been successful with the spinach but not so much with the "other leafy greens."  It's not that I'm unwilling to try said "greens," I just don't know what to do with them!  Spinach I'll eat in salads, blend in smoothies, put on sammiches, etc.  However, I think kale, for example, would make a berry smoothie taste just awful and I'm not too jazzed about the idea of having a kale salad.

Therefore, I was really excited about my recent collard greens purchase.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, collard greens are HUGE.  One leaf is literally larger than my face.  The stem, too, is kind of like the stem of kale, in terms of its durability and its need to be removed prior to eating.  It's also a wee bit larger than kale's stem. 

A collard green leaf is, itself, quite soft and pliable--perfect for a wrap! 

So that's just what I did. 

I wrapped it.

I smeared a crap ton of avocado from last night's dinner on my leaf and then loaded it up with cucumber discs (cut in half for greater rolling ease), shredded carrots, Granny Smith apple wedges, raisins, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and some delicate sunflower sprouts (aw!).  I rolled that bad boy up, tucked it in some foil so it would keep its wrap-like form, and paired it with some grapes.

Nearly four hours later and I feel on top of the world.  Like, I can see through walls.  I attribute this superhuman feeling to my collard green from earlier.  I feel indestructable.  This is awesome. 

I will upload pictures of my wrap later tonight!

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.
- Hippocrates

Vegan Tofu Scramble

As a [vegan] food blogger, I am constantly scouring the web (and books when I'm feeling nostalgic) for all things food-related.  This includes recipes, blogs, photos, bios of foodies, you name it.  It's very exciting when I find a new recipe that I think I'll be able to rework and make my own, but sometimes I just need to be lazy, and that means one of two things:

1.  Ordering out.

2.  Using a Veganomicon recipe.

I opted for the latter the other night...or rather, my mom did (even lazier).  And actually, the recipe was not from her book--that requires flipping pages, after all--it was from her blog, Post Punk Kitchen.  Isa Chandra Moskowitz's recipes are fail-proof.  Every time I make one--or, again, my mom--I know the final dish is going to be delicious.  Tonight was no exception.

I wanted a breakfast-y dinner, so I thought: Scrambled Tofu!  I keyed those words into the blog's search box and up popped a delicious-sounding recipe for...you guessed it...scrambled tofu.  My mom made ours with green onions and Crimini mushrooms, topped with avocado.  Divine.  On mine I, of course, put hot sauce.

 The full spread, with Ezekial Cinnamon Raisin Sprouted Grain Muffins.

 The full spread, a little closer.

 The avocado was unexpectedly divine.

This, very likely, looks disgusting.  It was, however, entirely opposite of disgusting: it was delicious.  What you are looking at is creamy avocado and sauteed mushrooms cloaked in savory herbs and garlic, spread on a muffin.  I'm pretty sure I ate more than a half a pound of the tofu.  How could I not, though, really?

Dinner Cop-Out

'Twas a looooooooonnnnnnngggggggg day yesterday.  I left my house at 5:30 am to make a 6:00 am yoga class, only to have my car end up in a ditch on my way there.  The snow must have been more than my poor car could handle, and when I was literally two miles from my yoga studio, my car skidded out, doing a 360', and ended up a foot deep in mud.  Awesome.  AND I did not have a phone.  AND no one stopped.  So I walked a mile to the nearest gas station.  AAA could not help because the coverage was under my dad's name.  Awesome again.  The towing company to which AAA referred me was "unavailable."  Awesome again.  I finally got a hold of my dad, who came and picked me up.  We went to the scene of the crime, so to speak, and my car was gone!!!!  Awesome.  My dad called the local police and it turns out, in the short time I was gone, a towing company had been contacted to come and tow my car away.  So my dad and I went to pick up my car and pay the towing fee.  At least my car did not get hurt (or me for that matter!)

I say all this to say, I did NOT feel like making dinner last night.  So I did what I do when I need to feel comforted: I went to Whole Foods.  I bought one of their yummy vegetarian rolls for dinner.  It hit the spot.

 Check out my awesome "Chimpsticks."  I still kind of struggle with normal chopsticks.  That's where my Chimpsticks come in!!

I got this before when I went to Whole Foods for lunch with my mom, but I forgot to bring my camera.  This time I made sure to take a picture of it--it looks so pretty, dontcha think??

Lunch! (Yesterday)

Yesterday was a leftover-y kind of day.  I had the rest of my yam fries, pesto and vegan BBQ sauce from the other day and made my own version of a portobello wrap (note to self: sunflower sprouts pair very nicely with portobellos).  I also slapped together a lovely green salad to pack in those vitamins!

Without further ado...the spread!

Home Cookin'

There are times when I absolutely love living at home again, and those times are when my mama cooks.  Because I cook and bake so often, when I am able to come home--from doing whatever--and have food waiting for me on the table, I am one happy camper.

Tonight a piping hot bowl of the most scrumptious lentil soup is what awaited me.  Let the pictures speak for themselves.

My Storefront

Okay, so not really, but here are my goodies at work.  This, I might mention, is before they started selling like hotcakes.  I'm not even being sarcastic (for once)--they really did go fast!

Just look at that deal!  How could people NOT take advantage of it?!

REVIEW: Amande Cherry Yogurt

Today's product:  Amande Cherry Yogurt

I am not a huge fan of yogurt.  The texture is weird--I like foods that require me to chew--and I don't generally like eating cold things, which yogurt is, unless you heat it, which sounds just awful.

However, this yogurt by Amande, which is made with almond milk, sparked my interest for two reasons.  The first being, I need to up my calcium intake.  One serving of this yogurt satisfies 30 percent of my daily calcium requirement.  Awesome.  The second being that it was on sale at Whole Foods.  Win.  Win.

TASTE:  ***

The yogurt tasted pretty natural!  It didn't seem like I was biting into/slurping up a spoonful of corn syrup.  Rather, I felt like I was eating cherry yogurt, which is, after all, the goal.  Additionally, there was no aftertaste.

TEXTURE:  **

While I did enjoy this yogurt overall, this is where I have to knock my rating down a bit.  The texture was weird.  I might compare it to the contents of a JELL-O cup, and not one of the straight-up JELL-Os either, but one of the more custard-y ones.  I thought maybe it needed to be mixed and so I did but that only transformed it into something resembling pale mauve-colored cottage cheese.

APPEARANCE:  ***

The yogurt looked appealing at first glance.  To me, this is very important.  The yogurt had a slight sheen and looked very smooth.  I also liked that it had a "cherry yogurt color," but desaturated (if that makes sense).  Nothing about it seemed artificial.

PRICE:  ****

Price was cheaper than regular yogurt, especially given that it was on sale ;)

OVERALL:  ***

As someone who does not like yogurt, I found this yogurt quite enjoyable--great natural cherry taste, smooth texture, albeit slightly weird when stirred, no weird aftertaste, and great source of calcium.  I will definitely buy Amande again.

Seva Restaurant

Seva in Ann Arbor has been on my "to try" list of restaurants forever.  The entire time I was at U of M, I always thought, I neeeeeeeeeeeedddd to try Seva, but I never did.

All that changed yesterday, however, when...you guessed it...I tried it!  All I can say is that I wish I would have sooner.

My excitement for my burger made me forget to take a photo when my meal arrived :(  So here it is, my portabella burger, halfway through.

Action shot, as I lead the juicy burger to my mouth.  Really, though, my describing it as an "action" shot is really just to provide an excuse for the photo's blurriness.  The lighting in the restaurant did not lend itself to sharp, crystal-clear photos of food close-ups.



Yam fries.  Scrumptious.

Cashew-walnut pesto.  I was tempted to drink this but my pride--and restaurant guests--deterred me from so doing.

Okay, I know this ("this" is juice, by the way) does not look that appetizing but it was goooooooooooood.  It was a combination of grapefruit juice, orange juice, lime juice, ginger juice and spinach!  The spinach was my own creative addition, as a way to get more Calcium, but you really can't taste anything!

Swamp drink close-up.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Walnuts and Sea Salt

Check back at my Etsy store later today! These little babies will be avilable for purchase! They contain, as their name so aptly describes, vegan chocolate chips, oats, walnuts, sea salt...ALSO!: whole wheat pastry flour, unbleached all-purpose flour, vegetable shortening, flax seed, vanilla, cinnamon and baking soda. Many of the ingredients are organic too and I will designate such in my shop.
In the meantime, feast your eyes!

Spaghetti Squash Virgin...No More!

Tonight was the first time I'd EVER eaten spaghetti squash!  It was so cool!  And really easy to prepare too!

To my "spaghetti" I simply ladled on some chunky tomato sauce (which I half made myself), drizzled on some of my homemade pesto and sprinkled on some raw cheese.  That was it!  Deliciously simple.  My kind of meal.

RECIPE: Mango Spinach Smoothie

Mango Spinach Smoothie

Okay, eew, sorry, this picture is really bad and does not do the smoothie justice.  Rather, it kind of looks like swamp algae that's been sitting around in a glass for too long.  I will make this smoothie again and take a better picture--one that looks as good as it tastes :)

Here's the recipe!!

-  1 c. frozen mangoes

-  Handful of spinach

-  1/4 c. goji berries (why not?!)

-  Juice of half a lime

-  1/2 c. apple juice

-  1 T. ginger juice

-  Mint leaves (add how much or as little as you'd like--the same goes for the ginger!)

Blend.  Enjoy!

RECIPE: Brown Rice Bowl with Banana, Walnuts and Coconut

Brown Rice Bowl with Banana, Walnuts and Coconut

Ingredients:

-  1/2 c. brown rice

-  1 medium banana

-  2 T. chopped walnuts

-  2 T. unsweetened coconut (I got mine from Whole Foods' bulk section)

-  1 T. pure maple syrup (kind of expensive but it will last forever!)

-  Salt, to taste

Directions:

-  Pretty easy--just cook up some brown rice in your favorite rice cooker or, if you have leftovers on hand, go ahead and pop that in the microwave with a little bit of water for 1.5 to 2 minutes, depending on your microwave.  

*You can, of course, use white rice or oats, if you'd prefer, but I like the chewy, heartiness of brown rice and I think it works really well in this recipe.

-  Slice banana to desirable thicknesses.

-  Toss in walnuts and coconut (you can toast it if you've got extra time and really feeling crazy).  

-  Drizzle on maple syrup.  

-  Salt.

-  Mix.

-  Enjoy!