What I Ate Wednesday
It has been a minute since I have done one these, without further adieu here is yet another WIAW. Thank you, Jenn for hosting this food porn party. If you want to join in this madness stop by Jenn’s blog Peas & Crayons.
Meal Uno:
Ezekiel toast w/ sunflower butter, banana, hemp seeds & honey. Followed by coffee w/ unsweetened soymilk
Meal Duex:
kale, spinach, apple, ginger & almond butter smoothie from Canteen with Abby from Eat Drink and Be Aware.
Meal 2.5
upon arriving home, I munched a few of Trader Joe’s Honey Sesame Almonds.
Meal Three
My beloved
Meal Four
My other beloved. A glass of vino while making din-din
Meal Five
This dinner was so dang good. In this bowl of goodness is steamed broccoli & spinach, roasted delicata squash, quinoa, chickpeas, & avocado topped with a spicy cashew sauce that was heavily adapted from this recipe over at Carrie On Vegan. I basically took this recipe and added 2 dates, a little more nutritional yeast & cumin and a little less cayenne. I also used unsweetened almond milk instead of unsweetened soy milk. I have made this sauce before, but this batch was extra splendid.
Meal Six
I sncked on a few of these while trying to create Averie’s Raw Vegan Cookie Dough Balls.
Her balls:
My Balls:
Far less pretty, but holy mother of Pete are these tasty. I followed her recipe, but added 2T of canned pumpkin & 1T of ground flaxseed. These balls were a little sticky. That is weird sentence to type. This is awkward. Moving on…
I basically ended up eating meal seven straight from the Vitamix. #SorryIamnotsorry.
And that concludes this week’s WIAW!
Happy Wednesday!
Thanksgiving eats and a new salad dressing
Happy Monday. I hope everybody had a stellar weekend and is gearing up for feasting day. We are hosting the day of thanks at our abode this year and we are doing it potluck style, so everybody is bringing a dish to pass. Yesterday, I gathered my recipes and ingredients for my “dish to pass.”
Here are the dishes that I am going to attempt to recreate for T day:
1. Edible Perspective’s Whipped Sweet Potatoes - I have never made these before, but I have wanted to ever since she posted the recipe last year.
2. My New Roots Raw Cashew Dreamcake- I made this last year and was blown away by it. I honestly thought recipes of this caliber were reserved for peeps who really know their away around the kitchen. I am not one of those people, yet I still managed to recreate this appropriately named “Dreamcake.” This recipe take a little TLC, but it really is so easy and so tasty.
3. Kale & Squash Salad. This is going to be a hybrid of a salad I eat often with a new almond butter dressing I picked up from Crazy, Sexy KItchen. I gave a version of the dish a test run last night. The dressing is awesome. I will post the recipe below. The only adjustment I would make is to use less cardamom. I have never used cardamom before, I like the flavor it brings, but it is very distinct.
The dressing, shredded kale and broccoli slaw.
A version of the salad. I added salmon, roasted brussel sprouts, roasted delicata squash, and raisins. For T day, I am going to do kale, broccoli slaw, dried cranberries, roasted delicata squash, sunflower seeds, then topped with the almond butter CSK dressing.
CSK Almond Butter Dressing Recipe: (serves 4)
The Goods:
- 1/4c dates
- 1/4c almond butter
- 1/2 t lemon juice
- 1/2c purified water
- 1 clove fresh garlic
- 1/2t sea salt
- 1t caedamom
- 1/4t black pepper
This is just one the amazing recipes in this cookbook. I can’t wait to try them all.
And with that I am off!
Happy Monday!
WIAW & Tone It UP
It is that time again….
Another What I ate Wednesday is upon us. This time it really is what I ate/ will be eating on this very fine Wednesday.
Breakfast:
Perfect food bar & coffee w/ whole milk
Side note: I tried to break myself of both the bars and coffee, but neither were successful. Obviously.
Pre Workout Snack:
1 Coco-Roon & handful of kale chips
Both of these were an impulse purchase that were way too expensive, but I was starving and no where near home. I am a victim.
Side note: love the kale chips, not so impressed with the Coco-Roons. Deep thoughts.
Post Workout eats:
Cold Buster Green Smoothie (recipe below) & the cleanest cottage I can get my mitts on. What does that mean exactly, well they get their goods from grass-fed moos (this equals more omega 3′s and less saturated fat), they make their delights in small batches, so all the goods get a good amount of TLC, they use celtic sea salt instead of the other stuff and it is organic. Woot!
In this medley= 1/2c cottage cheese, 2T homemade applesauce (color me Martha), a few drops of stevia, and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Perfect for refueling after a rather arnold-esque lifting sesh.
After consuming the above creation, I was craving OJ and we had actually had some, so I bring you my latest obsession, THE COLD BUSTING SMOOTHIE. Honestly, no idea if it will bust a cold, but it made me feel dynamite.
The Goods:
- 1c organic, fresh pressed OJ
- 1/3 frozen small banana
- 2-3c spinach
- 2t Douglas Laboratories Detox Powder (totally optional)
- 3-4 ice cubes
- dash of sea salt & cinnamon
How To:
put all of the above goods in a blender, push start.
Onward….
later today I packed some goods to eat at work:
1 hard boiled egg + 1T hummus+ dash of curry & sea salt+a wee bit of honey mustard. Mix them all together and you have a high protein, tasty baby food-esque medley. hmmmm
Also packed some, new to me, Flackers w/ raw almond butter & raw honey
A word about Flackers, they are kinda blah, but the ingredient dec is so superb and they make a tremendous nut butter vehicle, so I would say I am a fan. On another note, please excuse the crusty pics. My camera is having a moment.
I am thinkin’ dinner is going to be a repeat of last night’s delight:
Shredded kale, with roasted root veggies, a drizzle of homemade OJ & EVOO salad dressing then topped with Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie burger & bbq sauce.
A word about Dr. P and his veggie burgers: they taste amazing, but the ingredient dec needs some work. Why does everybody insist on using canola oil. Why?!!
For Dessert: I imagine I will be hitting up my not-so-secret stash of Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered cherries. If past behavior is any indicator for future behavior this will most definitely be the case.
Now a word about Tone It Up.
If you do not know what tone it up is, you should go here. The ladies that are leading this crusade seem really sweet and dedicated to getting young women to feel their best in their bods and they definitely lead by example. I recently purchased their Beach Babe DVD and I really like it. The workouts integrate yoga, strength training and cardio and they can be done in the comfort of your humble abode. Yesterday, I got on Lance for a solid 35 minutes and did their bikini sculpt workout. I feel like I got a really good stretch and workout in. I also didn’t hate every second of it and I think it really can work with any fitness level. Keep in mind, I am not a fitness expert, so take my words with caution.
And with all of that life altering information, I am out.
Happy Wednesday and if you want to oogle at more eats or participate in WIAW, go here.
Another Portland Gem
Keith and I went out for a pre dinner drink on Friday because I passed by Canteen a few weeks earlier and I was itchin’ to see what it was all about.
Look at that handsome devil
So, I must say the aesthetics of this place pulled me in. I am a sucker for all things grey, concrete and wood.
However, the menu is what wowed me. It is a simple menu that offers fresh, vegan, gluten-free and some raw food and the most amazing smoothies, juices and beers. Furthermore, their wine pours were nothing short of amazing. I guess this place epitomizes Portland’s dining scene to me. Their emphasis is over quality over quantity (minus the wine pours) and I adore them oh, so much. Portland, I just want you to know I appreciate you.
And with that , I am off.
Happy Monday!
On the menu
I write this post while sipping on my chocolate mint latte, all the while patting myself on the back. Damn this latte is good and there are many more good eats to come in the next 24 hours. Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. Since our family is way too far away, we do T-day with our group of friends, which have quickly become our Oregon family. This year (and last year) we are heading over to Jess, Cody and Maxx’s house for the food frenzy. The lovely hosts are vegan, so this a BYOM affair. Keith is bringing a rib roast and there is rumor of turkey to be brought by another couple (Jack & Emily). The vegans are going to be surrounded by meat.
My contribution to the affair include the following four recipes I stole from two of my favorite bloggers. Ashley and Sarah. We are on a first name basis. Yep, they have no idea who I am.
These guys are just waiting to me made into magic.
The recipe I most excited about is the Raw Cashew Dream Cake I got from the blog My New Roots. I pretty much followed this recipe to a tee, except I doubled the recipe and put it in an 8″ spring pan rather than a 7″ and I used a medley of frozen berries. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of a slice of it to show off how beautiful this guy is on the inside, because he is still in the freezer anxiously awaiting his debut. I do have these photos though:
1st layer- coconut flakes
2nd layer pecan & date pie crust
3rd layer cashew, lemony, vanilla-ny, goodness
I am obsessed with this layer. The vanilla bean speckles kill me
Top layer. He is dressed and ready to go.
Next up. I decided to try to make the Black Bean Chili Cherry Cookies from My New Roots too. Sadly, I did not love these. They were a little too spicy. I will try to make them again and reduce the cayenne. I doubled this recipe too, so perhaps it would’ve been better if I kept with the original configuration.
Today I am swiping another of My New Roots’s recipes. I am going to try my hand at Sarah’s Poppy Seed- Crusted Butternut Squash with Pomegranates. Obviously I am obsessed with this blog. I promise you will be too. I do not have a picture because he has yet to be born.
I do have a picture of the Pumpkin Spice Hummus that I swiped from Ashley over at The Edible Perspective. I followed this recipe to point and it turned out swimmingly.
nailed it.
Off to walk the pug. I hope everybody has a truly amazing Thanksgiving!!
