January Foodie Penpals!

Remember last month when I did the cookie swap with 3 mystery food bloggers, sending out 3 dozen and receiving three different dozen-sized batches of cookies? Well, this is sort of like that…only not really.

It’s a fun monthly event put on by Lindsay from The Lean Green Bean where you’re matched up with a food blogger (whom you contact), send out a package to, and you receive a package from the blogger who contacted you! Its fun!

I sent mine out to Julia from A Girl with a Stethoscope. I sent out some fun stuff like some homemade granola, gingerbread tea, Biscoff cookies, dark chocolate coated espresso beans, Coconut Chocolate LUNA bars…there could have been more, but I can’t remember. No pics of this…sorry.

But I do have pictures of what my foodie penpal sent me! I got my package from Amy of A Healthy Eater. She sent me such amazing goodies!

I got a super delicious blueberry muffin Larabar…which I ate shortly upon opening the package! This flavour is not available in any of my local stores, so I was really excited about getting this. Yum.

 

A lil’ sachet of Justin’s Almond Butter. Yum!

 

Some rich and delicious Buckeye candies! I love these. Amy said in the (lovely) little note that came in the package that she’s a Ohio State alum, and of course everyone knows of the Ohio State Buckeyes, right? Right! She said that they receive these at orientation. I thought that was pretty awesome Plus, I love Buckeyes. Aapni parivar used to make something like this at x-mas time, only ours were a little different…they had either crushed graham crackers in them, or else rice krispie cereal. It was cool getting legit ones

 

 

Some sundried tomato spread…which is KILLER on cooked broccoli, FYI. And I may or may not have threw some in a curry or two great flavour in this stuff.

 

 

Some Tazo Calm herbal tea. Delish. And calmness is something I need much more of in my life…MUCH more.

 

 

And last, but certainly not least, is some homemade honey. THIS was the most sentimental gift, by far, and I am honoured to have received it. I know what y’all are thinking…”But honey isn’t vegan!” Well, deal with it folks. I made an exception with this honey! Her grandfather is a bee-keeper, and she helped with this specific batch, which I thought was totally cool. I feel it’s okay if you know you’re getting honey from a groovy bee-keeper Plus, and most importantly, she told me how happy it made her grandfather knowing that I loved and appreciated the honey very much, and he was so excited that his honey was going to be talked raved about on my blog. The fact that I made someone happy by doing such a simple thing as this just made my whole day. I wanted to smile and cry at the same time So thanks to Amy and Amy’s granddad!! <3 I loved everything!

 

So are you interested in participating? If so…here are the details!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 

*Breaking news! This month we’re going to do a trial run for our Canadian friends. I’m still not exactly sure how it will work with shipping costs and stuff for you guys up North, but if you’re willing to give it a try for a month and provide me with some feedback, that would be awesome! Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

If you’re interested in participating for February, please send  an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-WHETHER YOU ARE A US RESIDENT OR CANADIAN RESIDENT. – this is SUPER important so I can get you on the right list!

I will need to hear from you by February 4th as pairings will be emailed on February 5th!

So the truth is…

I don’t have all that much homework this evening, so I’m going to get a little bit of blogging caught up. Lucky you! This post’s theme is as the title suggests…a post of truths. Or the truthiness. Whichever you prefer. I prefer the latter. So shall we being?

The truth is, my last statement very much reminded me of what we learned in Hindi today – the subjunctive tense (yes, prepare you’re ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ – it’s totally exciting). Just in case you wanted to know.

The truth is, I broke my food rut, at least a little bit. For tonight, anyways.

The truth is, I’m eating some killer eats right now. What to know what?

Falafel.

But not really. Because the truth is, there are no chickpeas in here. But there is chickpea flour. And there’s no fresh parsley. But there is dried. Because that’s all I have…so deal with it dried-herb-haters! It works just as well.

The truth is, these are really low in calories, are really good for you, and really filling. Not to mention delicious.

The truth is, I want some more…

The truth is, I’ll probably make more tomorrow. Because they’re just that good.

Fauxlafel 

Yields 4 balls

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cauliflower, chopped
• 2 tbs cooked lentils
• 1 tbs besan flour
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• a small squirt of braggs liquid aminos
• an even smaller squirt of sriracha

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper, and spray that with nonstick cooking spray.

In a saucepan, boil your cauliflower until its mushy. Drain and return to the skillet.

Add to the cauliflower your cooked lentils, besan flour, seasonings, braggs, and the sriracha. Mash everything together, form the mixture into four balls and arrange on the baking sheet. Spray each one with a little bit of non-stick and bake for 20 minutes.

Flip them after 20 minutes, spray again, and bake for another ten.

Serve in a salad, in a wrap, with some pita, with some hummus, with some dhania chutney…however you’d like it.

I had mine in a salad. It consisted of:

4 falafels (or is the plural of ‘falafel’ just…’falafel?’ hmm…). 2 oz of garlicky cooked kale. 2.5 oz simmered acorn squash cubes. A drizzle of liquified dhania chutney (dhania = Hindi for coriander. Word of the day! Woo!). A small drizzle of soy yoghurt. Les yum.

The truth is, I’ve been on a major ‘yoghurt’ kick. I dig Silk Live! Plain Soy Yoghurt. I dig So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk Yoghurt in the plain and vanilla flavours. And most of all…I looooooove the So Delicious Greek Style Coconut Milk Yoghurt in the vanilla and plain flavours. Just. Divine.

Hmm…what else can be said now? I’m pretty sure I got most everything covered! But just for the fun of it, I’ll end this post with a survey, because the truth is, I think that they’re really fun. I found this one on the fab blog, The Guiltless Life.

1) What is one of your favorite ways to spend a Saturday?

Lets see…at home, doing some exercising, some yoga, some baking…and preferably no homework, so there is time for leisurely reading.

2) List your top three favorite TV shows.

I’m honestly not much of a TV watcher so I would have to say…Ellen. The Today Show. And anything on: the Food Network, Cooking Channel, or The History Channel (yes. I’m a nerd)

3) Would you rather be in pictures or take them?

Take them, for sure! I hate pictures being taken of me. I’m ugly :p

4) Why do you blog?

Primarily, I blog because I really like to write. I honestly don’t talk to many people, if any, throughout the whole day, so in a way it’s sort of a release for me. I’m a very quite person, and tend not to speak up in public situations…but I have a lot to say. My blog is my flow of consciousness.

Plus, I get to share my recipes and health advice/opinions with y’all!

5) Share five websites that you visit regularly…

Okay…

Twitter. My University page (sorry, no link provided to that one!). Foodgawker. Calorie King. Pretty much my entire blogroll.

6) If you could have lunch with one person from your Twitter list, who would it be?

I would have to say it’s a tie between Deepak Chopra, Dr. Andrew Weil, and Dr. Oz. Or Alec Baldwin.

7) List a few of your favorite snacks.

Well, I’m not exactly a “meal-snack” person. My meals are sort of “snacky.” I guess you could say that my pumpkin mousse is a snack, and sometimes I’ll have a banana with some peanut flour paste. And here and there I may have a date. Other than that…no snacks usually. Just coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

8 ) Do you have a pet? If so, what kind?

Yes! His name is Pumpkin, my sweet (although currently loud and mouthy) kitteh. I love him…the good ol’ boy. <3

 

9) Which three material possessions would you struggle to live without?

Lets see…my macbook. My chef’s knife. And…man I don’t know. Something to wear to keep warm with?

10) What’s your favorite drink?

Easy! Coffee! The darker, the better.

11) Do you enjoy cooking?

Um, duh?

12) Do you have children?

Never shall I ever.

13) What are your favorite hobbies?

Blogging, writing, reading, drawing/painting (when I get the chance), yoga, exercising, general geekery.

14) Would you consider yourself to be shy or outgoing?

Shy, do doubt about it. Probably overly so.

15) If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?

Refer to the previous question. Sometimes it’s not the best thing to be so reserved…

16) Who is your favorite actor/actress?

COLIN FIRTH <3.

Source

 

17) What’s the coolest thing you’ve done this week?

Well, considering it’s only Monday, let’s leave this as an open ended question…

18) Do you live near your family or far from them?

Near.

19) List three of your talents.

1. I’m pretty good at drawing and painting.

2. I have a knack for doing impressions of people.

3. I’m a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself.

20) What is your greatest attribute?

I’m not too sure. Dogged persistence and perfectionism?

Well, that’s all for today. I’m off to do some extra Urdu practice. Cheers!

What is your favourite style of cuisine?

What are your favourite foods to break away from food ruts with?

Do enjoy taking surveys? 

Help!

I’m stuck in a major food rut, and I can’t get out! This (alongside school) has been a major factor in why I haven’t been posting lately. I just haven’t made anything new. I’ve been too busy to even contemplate coming up with some wild new dish. Does anyone have any suggestions? I want something healthy, delicious, and I would prefer it to be grain free. Grains haven’t been working with me lately…other than my nightly bowl of oat bran, I avoid grains like the plague (bad, bad…I know.). I need some ideas…

This is what I have been having  a lot of lately…and not just for breakfast, as the recipe title implies.

Bharati Breakfast Bowl Tutorial

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 2 cups vegetables of choice (mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, peas, carrots, et cetera…)
• 2 cups leafy greens (spinach/baby spinach, swiss chard, kale, beet greens, et cetera…)
• 1/4 cup “protein” (lentils, cooked beans, crumbled/cubed tofu, crumbled/cubed tempeh
• 2-3 tbs Braggs’ Liquid Aminos
• 1 tbs ketchup
• 1/2 tsp sriracha
• 1 1/2 tbs: garlic powder, onion powder
• 1/2 tbs: ginger powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric

Ingredients:

Cook your vegetables of choice until tender.

Add these to a cast iron skillet, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, an set the heat to medium.

Add in the Braggs, ketchup, sriracha, and seasonings to the vegetables and cook, stirring for about a minute, making sure there everything all mixed together.

Add in your greens, stirring and wilting them in with the veggie-spice mixture.

Add in your protein, turn off the heat, stir and serve.

 

So, any suggestions for something for me to eat?

Do you tend to stick to the same foods when you’re crunched for time?

What are your “go to” foods?

How do you break a nasty food rut? 

WIAW: At School, Take Two!

Namaskar!

So last week I was pretty much b****ing and moaning about how much school sucks, how I didn’t want to take Experiencing Otherness, and how I wished for the semester to be over with already! Well..some of that is true. Experiencing Otherness was a mistake, and I do wish semester were over. Mainly because I hate cold, snowy, windy weather. I say, bring on spring!

But don’t worry, it’s all good. Before attending my first class, whilst doing the first homework assignment for EO I realized something…I had not understood a single word I had just read. So I read the reading again. Nothing. My brain simply didn’t want to drink up any of the bleedin’ information presented in Carl Jung’s The Nature of the Psyche. Yes. It’s as dull and high-falutent as it sounds. Instead of totally failing this class, I did the smart thing. I dropped it. It was the last day to add or drop a class without penalty. And thankfully, I was lucky enough to find a class that had just opened up that night (on the last night for registration – sneaky little class, eh?), and this class suits my interest far more than learning about the psyche. So now I am taking Islamic Cultural History! I had my first class yesterday – and I am so happy I changed into this class! It’s going to be amazing, and I am not the only late registrar – there are 5 others like me, who swooped down on the opportunity to take the course. All is good!

But today is Hindi and Contemporary Asian Societies day. Nothing to complain about here. I do have a ton of homework. Major grammar exercises for Hindi. A bit of practicing beginners Urdu script. Reading 4 news articles for CAS. Reading about Da Buddha for Buddhism (next weeks reading…that might just have to fall on the wayside tonight…). Nothing too stressful. So now on to today’s eats, since it is Wednesday, after all! Thanks, as always, to Jenn for hosting this rad-tastic blog party!

Morning. 6 am. I wake up. Turn on my DVD player to do yoga. While the intro plays, I eat 1/8 block of tofu. Just as is. Why? I’m not sure. But that was 25 calories, so whatever. I did my yoga for 1/2 hour. This was followed by getting dressed, breakfast making, and heading off to class via shuttle at 7:30, arriving on campus exactly 5 minutes later. Got my coffee after chatting on my cellular with mummy for about 15 minutes. Then I had breakfast. Eventually. While doing my morning blog-surfing and email checking.

“Rent a Text” Um…no thanks. No one would want a textbook back after I was finished with it. It would be bleeding fluorescent yellow. Anyways, breakfast constituted of my usual grande dark roast (Italian roast!!) and a non-so-usual curry. I was 1/3 cup of cooked split moong dal cooked together with a bunch of curry-spices, and 2.5oz cooked acorn squash. Yum. I forget how much lentils fill me up. By the time I finished eating this I was full to the max. Which explains why I wasn’t hangry enough for lunch until after noon…

Anyways, Hindi was from 9:30 to 10:55, afterwards I went back to the apartments and went to the gym. Biked for 1/2 an hour (whilst fuddling around on my ipod…), went to my apartment, made lunch, responded to a discussion board post for CAS and returned to campus. Bought more coffee. Went to class at 2. Ended class 50 minutes later. THEN ate my lunch. Finally. I was starved. Thankfully, I had my soup to save me. It wasn’t quite warm as I would have liked it…bloody thermos. Anywho…here’s the soup I whipped together today…

Curried Carrot-Squash Bisque

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped cauliflower (3.5 oz)
• 2 oz winter squash, cubed
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots (2 oz)
• 1/2 cup water (or nondairy milk, if you want it really creamy)
• 1 tbs braggs liquid aminos
• 1 tsp madras curry powder
• 1/2 heaping tsp: garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/8 block lite firm tofu, pressed and cubed

Directions:

In one saucepan, combine 1 oz of the squash, along with all of the cauliflower and the carrots in water enough to cover them, and boil/simmer until fall-apart tender.

In another saucepan, boil the remain 1 oz of squash until just fork tender, drain and set aside.

When the mix of vegetables are fall-apart tender, drain them and add them to a blender or food processor along with the 1/2 cup of liquid and the spices. Blend until very smooth. Add this to the remaining cooked squash, add in the tofu as well, gently re-heat (if you so choose) and serve.

 This was super filling…especially for something that’s only around 100 calories a serving. I noshed on this while posting my article for the CAS discussion board.

Then…back to the apartments…and back to the gym. 3o minutes on the bike…followed by my usual supper (number 1) of ‘shrooms, squash, and spinach…with the welcome addition of broccoli.

I didn’t feel much like thinking about what to eat. Thinking must be saved for homework. And oooohhh did I need every inch of my mental capacity.

I worked on Hindi…for almost 4 hours straight. I realized around 8 that I had not eating in hours…

…so I quick made up a dish of 1/2 cup soyghurt and half a banana. Then I tossed some squash in the oven to roast and went back to work.

I’ve been on a major banana and soy/coconut milk yoghurt kick lately. Which is odd, considering I never even used to like yoghurt…

I finally decided to break from doing homework for the evening after finishing up my Hindi and ate my squash, kale, and xanthan-gum-thickened almond milk “shake” (with 1/2 tbs hemp protein powder mixed in).

Look! My Hindi homework! I swear, I love learning the language a lot. I’m not really complaining at all. If I didn’t like doing what I was doing, I wouldn’t be working on it so diligently for hours on end.

I’m saving my Urdu script practice for tomorrow morning/afternoon. No use trying to attempt to learn new characters when your brain’s all fizzled out.

Anyways. After my squash, kale, and shake I had…some pumpkin mousse! Gotta have my mousse.

…and some yummy oat bran for a bedtime snack.

I swear there’s oat bran and half a banana underneath all of the soyghurt and peanut flour paste.

Nothing too exciting today. I was just too busy today to notice any real signs of hunger. Everything I ate today I ate only because I knew I had to…not because I had the desire to eat or the feeling of hunger. I really should work on eating mindfully, and no be so distracted by daily activity…

How’s the spring semester treating you all, university-attending bloggies?

Do you prefer your breakfasts to be sweet or savoury?

Do you want to finish my Urdu homework for me?

Do you you ever feel so busy and caught up in work that you just don’t feel the urge to eat anything?

Let’s Talk “Fat Talk”

Don’t worry folks, this isn’t meant to be a negative post. Rather, I’m trying to be very positive today! I had a good day yeserday, and I want to keep the good times rollin’.

Yesterday was a rather auspicious day, to start with. ‘Twas National Peanut Butter Day! I know you’re excited about this. I am. I love peanut butter. I think I’ve mentioned on here before how I used to eat PB sandwiches every day for lunch growing up? And how I used to eat the creamy stuff right out of the jar? Um, yeah. And I still do (although I don’t glom down spoonfuls of it, as I probably used to…).

And there’s good reason to enjoy peanut butter (in moderation!). Here’s where the first meaning of “fat talk” comes into play…peanut butter contains healthy fats! Fats are integral macornutrients in our diets that we simply cannot ignore! Around 20-30% of our total calories should come from a healthy fat source (ie – not a stick of butter). Having healthy fats encourages and assists in general growth and development, maintaining energy, aids in vitamin absorption, it’s necessary…and most people would agree that it’s tasty! Otherwise…we wouldn’t want to eat it, now…would we?

As I said. Peanuts. Great source of fat, amongst other things. Roasted peanuts, for example, have antioxidants rivaling those found in those antioxidant powerhouses, berries! How’s that PB on whole grain with some fruit preserve sound, now? Pretty good, right? They’re also rich in those energy providing B vitamins, folate, vitamin E, and a considerable amount of dietary fibre (14g! In one serving!). One serving of peanuts is listed at around 160-170 calories for 1/4 cup, which is satisfying, if you’re not eating them straight from the jar. So measure first, mmkay?

But I must admit, I’m guilty of not getting enough fat into my diet, even though I know full well that it is not fats that make you fat (refined sugars and hi-GI foods are…). This is where my second definition of fat talk comes in…

Have you ever been in a group, or have overheard a group, of girls talking. You know, just about themselves…everday chatter. Eventually someone brings up a part of her physical being that she dislikes – say, for example, she dislikes her thighs. She self-depricates claiming them to be “thunder thighs” or something of the like. Soon, someone soon follows, saying the she doesn’t like her “jiggly arms,” and someone else will follow by saying “Oh, my arse is the size of an elephant-butt!” Eventually the whole group goes from a bunch of normal girls to wildly obese, jiggly, fatty, pachyderms! Ayya! In their minds, at least. But this is all too common, and as you all full know, I am not happy with my own body, claiming and truly feeling that I am fat, when in reality fat is the furthest thing that I am from. This fat talk is something that most to all people do (unless they’re totally conceited…), especially in group situations like the one I made up above. We can’t, as members of an image obsessed society, just like ourselves the way we are. We only see and magnify the bad to the point of whatever insecurity you may have becoming wildly distorted. We need to learn to love and accept ourselves.

Something I have a very hard time doing.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way…I came up with a yummy, peanut sauce for y’all yesterday!

 

Peanut Pumpkin Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs powdered peanut butter mixed with no more than 1 tbs water
• 1 tbs pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp Braggs’ liquid aminos
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 packet stevia extract in the raw
• a droplet or two of sriracha
• a little extra liquid, added by the 1/8 tsp until the desired consistency is reached

Directions:

Mix everything together! A great topper for noodles, rice, or veggies!

I had mine over steamed broccoli. Yum.

What’s your favourite way to eat peanut butter?

 

This is a non post.

*ahem* Pardon me, I mean to say that this is a naan post. Naan. Like the bread, naan. I’m so original.

I apologize for my horrid corniness.

Onto the content of the post. Which translates to story time.

On Friday in my Hindi class we were introduced to some new vocabulary. It just so happened that none of the vocabulary was new to me – it was a bunch of different foods in Hindi. Specifically bread. You know…roti…chapati…poori…naan. Stuff of that sort. My instructor asked if anyone had tired any of these breads. Some raised their hands signifying that they had indeed, myself included. But it got me thinking…I’ve never tried naan. And it’s not something that I can buy from the store…they all contain some sort of milk products. And Indian restaurants, forget about it! They would probably be sopped up in ghee. The only way I could ever have naan would be to make it myself. So I did. This recipe is totally inauthentic in almost every sense of the word. But it’s good enough for me to think this is what naan might taste like, had I ever experienced it. For those of you who have had it…please don’t criticize the inauthenticity…take it for what it is! A yummy flatbread.

 

Whole Wheat Naan 

Yields 12 smaller or 8 larger flatbreads

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup warm water
• 1 tsp agave nectar
• 1 packet active rise dry yeast
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (plus a little extra for needing)
• 1/3 cup almond milk (not cold – either room temp or slightly warm)
• 2 tbs soy yohgurt
• 1 packet of stevia or 1 tsp natural sugar (for the dough)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Activate your yeast with the warm water and agave by stirring them together, dissolving the yeast and letting it sit for around 20 minutes.

In a mixing bowl combine the foamy, activated yeast mixture, 1 cup of flour, the almond milk, yoghurt, sweetener, and salt.

Mix in the remaining cup of flour to form a dough, turn onto a floured surface, and kneed for 10 minutes (until smooth and elastic), adding additional flour as necessary.

Spray a large glass bowl with nonstick cooking spray, place the dough in the bowl, cover the dough with a warm cloth, and let it rise for a good hour (or longer – the longer the better).

When you are ready to start making the flatbreads, being by preheating a large, dry cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and without working the dough, divide into 8-12 pieces (I did this by wedging the large dough ball with a sharp-bladed knife).

Take a piece of dough, and start forming it into the traditional teardrop shape, dusting it lightly with flour. Place the dough on your hot, dry skillet and cook on the first side until it starts to bubble and puff. Then, flip it over and cook the other side until it starts to brown.

Repeat with the remaining naan dough pieces.

Brush each piece with some olive oil or vegan margarine, if you so choose (the non-vegan version would do so with butter or ghee)

This would go great with a tasty curry, or even with just some jam or chutney. Mum even had one with Biscoff cookie spread. Genius.

Well, I best get some shut-eye. Tomorrow will prove to be a busy day. We’re going to start learning Urdu script in my Hindi-Urdu course, so that equates to a lot of homework. Plus I want to get at least an hour of cardio exercise in…PLUS I’m staying after classes tomorrow (I think…) for practice Hindi speaking sessions…don’t you hate when you’re busy and you don’t feel like there is ever enough time? If only there were more hours in the day…

So. Before I go.

What is your favourite type of bread-product?

What is your favourite “veganized” recipe?

Is there a recipe that you would like to see made vegan, but haven’t yet?

*Random* How much/what type of exercise do you do when you’re having a busy day?

Saturday = Catch Up Day

Hey all! Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Second semester at Uni just started, and I have been pretty busy getting everything situated. So it’s needless to say, I’ve been doing mostly homework, very little recipe creating/testing, and my diet has been very…repetitive. Lots of curries. Lots of soup. Lots of squash/kale/broccoli-based dinners. Tofu puddings. And oat bran messes.

There are things I have been changing up, though…mostly out of necessity. You see…the weather absolutely sucks here right now. Typically, I would only walk to campus, and use that as my daily workout. But I hate the snow, and I hate the cold…and thus walking is out of the question. So I’ve decided to take up the gym. Here’s how my exercise goes now:

• 20 minutes of yoga, twice a day (once in the morning, once at night)
• 30-60 minutes on the recumbent bike (usually 60, except on Fridays and weekends)
• 15 minutes leg-centered pilates stretches (a series of leg lifts targeting different areas of the legs)
• Twice a week I do this, but only 2 sets each, instead of 3 or 4

Normally I would use my Tony Little Gazelle at home on weekends…but it broke today. I overused it. So I’m buying another.

And I’m doing this all on my usual 1100 calories…I should probably be eating more, but I’m still too uncomfortable to do so. I’m still just not hungry the majority of the time.

What else…let’s talk dinner, shall we? Or better stated…what I made today. I started off with my weekly loaf of Mama Pea’s Spelt Bread for the fam, since it is seriously the best bread ever. Thanks Mama That was followed by me throwing together a batch of cornbread, at my mum’s request.

 

I made mine in a heart shaped pan. Cute, huh? Mum, an avid cornbread lover, approves. Here’s what I threw together…

 

Old Fashioned Cornbread

Yields 1 9×9 pan

Ingredients:

• 2 cups stone ground cornmeal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 almond milk, curdled with 1 tbs vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy yoghurt (or applesauce)
• 1/4 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1/2 tbs ener-g egg replacer, mixed with 2 tbs warm water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F, and spray a 9×9 or 9″ round pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients, whisking them together ensuring there are no baking powder or soda lumps. Add in your wet ingredients, and mix to form a batter. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Slice when cool.

The cornbread will be pretty golden on top…just make sure it doesn’t burn! So check at 25 minutes and go from there.

To go with it…I made Indian food. Go figure. Mum had to experience the type of food that I find most pleasing to the palette. And now she knows why I eat what I eat all the time…

 

Chola aur Palak

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sliced onion (4 oz)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tbs Braggs Liquid Aminos
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 oz chopped kale
• 85g chopped spinach
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas

Directions:

Spray a large cast iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray, and saute your onion over medium low heat until it starts to soften, around 3-5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic, and cook still over medium heat for another 2-3 minutes. Add in the liquid aminos, spices (and perhaps another spray or two of nonstick cooking spray). Cook until your onions are very soft – almost caramelized. Add in the kale, and cook until it’s started to wilt. Add the spinach, and wilt. Finally, add in the chickpeas, mixing them into the cooked greens, remove from the heat, and serve with rice, chapati, or your preferred bread.

 

So that was what was goin’ on food-wise today…and actually all that went on today in general. This has been a pretty uneventful week. Homework. Exercise. Make/eat food. Let’s hope that next week will be more interesting.

 

What did you fun this past week?

What’s your favourite recipe for cornbread?

Random question time: Does anyone have suggestions for a good, but fairly inexpensive juicer? I’m looking into investing in a juicer.

WIAW: Back to School Edition

Oh, I can only pray for it to be April 30th, so semester can be over with already, and I can be on summer break.

Yup, semester’s only just started, and I want it to be over with. I’m just sick of classes. Sick of work. I’m tired. And I’m bored.

Classes this semester are decent, actually. Well, most of them anyways. I have my usual Intensive Intro to Hindi, which I lurve, as well as Contemporary Asian Societies (focus: India, Vietnam, China and Sri Lanka) which is taught by my Hindi professor (my favourite professor!). I’m also taking a course on Buddhism, which is proving to be very enjoyable already. It’s renewing my interest in meditation. I may just try to make time for sitting again…I’ll have time for it. I think. I tend to make myself think that I don’t have enough time…I overwork myself very easily. Anyways, I’ve been struggling to officially choose a last class. The one I was going to take, India in the Traveler’s Eye, ended up being nothing of what I expected it was going to be (too reading intensive…it would be too much with my other reading intensive classes…). So I have been trying to find something to replace the credit hours with. I haven’t found anything I’m terribly happy with…at the moment I’m taking a seminar called Experiencing Otherness. Which is weird and Freudian and not particularly enjoyable at the moment.

Anyways. It’s Wednesday and YOU want to see what I ate on campus today! *thanks to Jenn for hosting, as always!*

Here’s how my day went…

Woke up. 6 am. Did 30 minutes of hatha yoga (which is a must in the morning). Got ready for the day (Got dressed. Did makeup. Did hair. Made breakfast. Et cetera…). Left for campus via shuttle. 7:30. Got some coffee from Starbucks on campus (Pike Place Roast, Black, sweetened with stevia extract packets that I brought along with me). Actually had breakfast (and did some reading) around 8 am.

Breakfast was my usual curry, and my grande coffee.

Then off to Hindi class at 9:30 until 10:55. Then back to the apartment to make lunch and swap books.

Got back to the apartment complex, and headed straight for the gym. I did 30 minutes on the recumbent bike, whilst reading the Buddhist textbook chapter assigned for next week (Yes. I’m already a week ahead).

After the gym, I finally headed to my apartment, made lunch, and left for campus for my next class…around 1 pm. Arrived on campus around 20 after, and went to get another coffee – again, a black grande Pike roast. I usually get their bold pick o’ the day…but they’ve been serving up that nasty Christmas Blend, which always gives me an upset stomach. Anyways…there was no time to eat my lunch before class, so I had it after class, around 3.

I made a curried squash soup, and threw some tofu in for good measure.

I got back to my apartment and muddled and did homework/reading around for a while, finally settling down for dinner around 5:30.

Dinner was my usual scramble of squash, mushrooms, cauliflower, and spinach. Always a good go to when you have a fried brain.

This was followed by even more reading. Followed by more biking at the gym, around 7:30.

Post workout I had 1 tbs powdered peanut butter (mixed with 3/4 tbs water so it was runny), 1 small banana, and two dates. Yum. This was to hold me over while waiting for…

Roasted squash, kale, and broccoli. I decided to treat myself and break into my last kabocha squash -sob-

Then I read some more. Chatted with mum. And shortly realized I was really short on calories. So I had…

Maple-Pumpkin-Tofu-Mousse. Yums. Aaaand….

Oat bran with a banana, 2 tbs powdered peanut butter (mixed with 1 3/4 tbs water to make it runny). And an unpictured Flatout flatbread (90 calories).

I only made it to 1060 calories today (probably burning more than that…) but hey…that’s good for a stressed feeling day. I think.

What did you eat good today?

What do you turn to, eating at school/university?

How do you find time to fit everything into your day?

I’m in love…

With this. Greek Style So Delicious Coconut Milk Yoghurt.

Just look at how thick and creamy it is.

I, after MONTHS of impatiently waiting, FINALLY found this at Wegman’s this past Monday evening. Mum can attest…I nearly crapped my pants when I found this.

I know. TMI. But I was so excited that I probably looked like a total fool.

And for good reason. This…is some of the most amazing stuff I’ve ever tasted. Back in my non-vegan days, I never liked yoghurt of any sort. Not even those Trix yoghurts aimed at small children with their vibrant colours and annoying cartoons spokes-rabbit.

When I first tried soy yoghurt, I wasn’t initially a fan, but it grew on me enough. It wouldn’t eat it regularly, but it’s not bad.

But this. THIS is amazing. Just. Amazing. I tried it out tonight. Twice. Once to just give it a test. The other time, to use up the rest of the container.

Time one, just to see if I liked it, I had it “mess” style – just a dollop of yoghurt, with a smaller dollop of pumpkin puree and a small handful of kamut puffs. Let me tell you…I needed neither the pumpkin or the puffs. That yoghurt was amazeballs.

Time two was sort of like a garnish…as a topper to this…

Pumpkin Cream Pie Oat Bran

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oat bran
• 1 cup water (or half almond milk, half water, or all almond milk)
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp cardamom (or nutmeg, alternatively)
• 3 packets stevia extract in the raw
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 container (3 oz) So Delicious Greek Style Coconut Milk Yoghurt (plain or vanilla)

Directions:

Cook the oat bran in your preferred liquid over medium-high heat, along with the vanilla, spices, and stevia until completely thick. Turn off the heat and stir in the pumpkin puree. Pour the cooked oats into your serving dish, top with the coconut milk yoghurt and eat away!

Like I said…I’m in love with this stuff. I must try more flavours. If only Wegmans’ had blueberry in stock…

**The recipe on this page was submitted to The Breakfast Club: Dairy Free Theme brought about by Helen’s Flavours Breakfast Club

Creamy Soup, Times Two!

Fact: Once you get an immersion blender, you feel compelled to make creamy soups for every single meal.

Well, maybe not every meal…but certainly numerous times in one day.

As I posted a while back, I received from me Gran’mum for x-mas a really nice immersion blender, which I just broke out yesterday. And today I made two more Single Serving Soups (SSS) with it! In honour of this month’s Vegan Iron Chef secret ingredient (and my personal favourite!!) SQUASH, I decided to make two different soups, both including squash!

The first was at lunch time. The weather, yet again, was awful around here today. Absolutely frigid. Thus warming curry spices were in order. And this soup certainly hit the spot:

SSS: Curried Squash and Apple Soup

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped cauliflower (3.5 oz)
• 1/2 cup chopped butternut squash (2.5 oz)
• 1/2 cup peeled and chopped apple (2 oz)
• 1 cup water, plus about 1/2 cup extra
• 2-3 tsp Braggs liquid aminos
• 1/2 heaping tsp: curry powder (or even 1 tsp, if you like the heat), garlic powder, onion powder
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• a small squirt (1/8 tsp) sriracha
• 1/8 block pressed lite firm tofu, cubed

Directions:

Get ready two small saucepans.

In one have together 1/2 of the squash and 1/2 of the apple – bring to a simmer, and simmer until just tender when pierced with a fork.

In the other, add in the rest of the vegetables along with 1 cup of water – bring this to a rolling boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer until very very tender. When very tender, remove the vegetables from the heat, and blend these vegetables together (without draining) with the Braggs, spices, sriracha and the additional 1/2 cup water.

Mix the blended part of the soup with the simmered squash and apples. Mix in the cubed tofu, gently re-heat and serve.

None of the flavours were too strong, nor did one stick out more than another. Very, very tasty.

And later on during the day, around the late dinner hour, I was still in want of a delicious soup…but didn’t want the same one as earlier. And since I still had some leftover chopped uncooked squash, and an abundance of carrots, I decided to utilize them to make this delicious soup:

SSS: Peanut Carrot Bisque

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped cauliflower (3 oz)
• 1/2 cup chopped butternut squash (2.5 oz)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots (2 oz)
• 3/4 -1 cup water
• 1 tbs peanut flour mixed together with a little over 1/2 tbs water (enough to make it a little runny but not saucy)
• 2 packets stevia extract in the raw (or 2-3 tsp natural sweetener)
• 1/2 heaping tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp sriracha hot sauce

Directions:

In enough water to cover all of the vegetables in a saucepan, bring the veggies to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer until very tender. Drain the vegetables, and then blend them with the remaining ingredients until very smooth and free of lumps. Add additional liquid for a thinner soup.

I don’t like to pick favourites, but I liked this one a lot more than my lunch soup. And I really really liked my lunch soup. I’m making this one again tomorrow, for sure. It was sooooo velvety. I can still taste it now…mmmm…-ahem- anyways. Make this.

Another thing I have to do tomorrow -sadly- is pack to leave for my apartment I really don’t feel much like going back, and I’m none too happy that the spring semester is starting up on Tuesday. I’m not very good with change, and have just recently adapted my internal clock/body rhythms to being home. Now I have to create a whole new plan of when to eat, when to exercise, how much to exercise (which will be, in my opinion, not enough), when to do homework, when to blog…uhg. Not fun.

And I need to hop on over to the grocer. I’m out of oat bran! NOOO!

 

**Submitted as a Wellness Weekend Post**

What are your plans for the weekend?

How much exercise do you consider to be enough for one day? Do you exercise every day of the week, or only a few? What do you do for exercise/consider to be exercise?

What is your favourite way to eat squash?

What’s your favourite soup?

Are you going to watch the incredibly hilarious Ricky Gervais on the Golden Globes tomorrow evening? I am. Plus all of the lame pre-shows where snobby people talk about dresses and shoes. I have a thing for shoes.