OH WOW! I am very sorry it has been almost a year....

Hi All!

I'm very sorry for my extensive delay! I have been cooking up a storm of course, gaining more knowledge about veganism as I always love to do, among other things. It's getting chilly outside, which means it's time to bake! As much as possible :)

I recently attended to Boston Vegetarian Food Festival with Zach, and although it was crowded beyond belief, it was lovely, as usual. There were numerous food vendors, countless samples, literarture about vegetarianism and veganism and a myriad of speakers. I didn't get to go to any speakers, but hey, maybe next year.

Vegan treats was at the vegfest, which was super exciting, becauses I didn't know they would come all the way from PA! (I have not been there personally, but I have had pastries from there and they are positively wonderful).

In other news, vegan candy canes are now out and on display at whole foods! Yay!

These were the most amazing little muffins I have ever made, I think they were supposed to be something like chocolate lava cake, but they ended up more like brownies. Zach and I made them one cold, rainy night a little bit ago. Anyway, they were from the book Pure Veganthat was a birthday gift to myself. I highly reccomend it.

For my birthday we went to The Red Lentil in Watertown, and I liked it, but I don't think I would go back seeing as it's far and it wasn't amazing. I only have pictures of the arame salad and the german chocolate cake (which is on my list of things to make a recipe for). I forgot to take a picture before we started eating it, I apologize.

Anyway, that's all the pictures I have for now, but my plan (for real this time) is to blog at least once a week and I have finally found my camera so all shall go well.

Tonight is Z's art show, so I wish him the best, and the same to the rest of the group. They borrowed my three waffle makers, and I requested that  they make at least some of the waffles vegan... we'll see.

In other news, I got the book Crazy Sexy Kitchen and it is positively amazing! I love how part of it is a summary of Crazy Sexy Diet and the rest is recipes. I can't wait to start making them and tell you all about it. This afternoon's endeavor is an Eggless Egg Salad, we'll see how it goes :)

Well... now it's time to do a little reading. I hope all is well!

Peace and Love!

Namaste!

Xo

Everything is as it should be

I have been taking pictures on my itouch, so they may be a tad blurry, but it's the thought that counts right? As we speak, I am eating a very chewy brownie with peanut butter swirls that I made earlier. Mmmm


This was a Thai bowl from Boloco that I had the other day. It was yummy and spicy but not too filling.

How lovely does this stir fry fry look? It's the ginger miso stir fry from the Candle Cafe's cookbook. Just helping my life goal of making every recipe in every cookbook I own... well I might have to veganize a few of them, but hey.

How beautiful are these meyer lemons from California that my friend brought back from me... oh the bounties that warm weather brings.

This was a raw salad of broccoli carrots, and an almond butter concoction. Twas lovely.

As of now, I've realized that I cannot restrict myself, I've been as raw as possible, but not strictly raw. Raw is just for fun, although I do adore the food. Veganism on the other hand has to do with ethics for me, so that's a different story.

I started a new journal and I realized that it may be more beneficial to me to write down my observations and disregard the particular people they may pertain to as opposed to writing about my days... this way, I can look back on it as unbiased anthropological research. I think it could be fun.

I wish I could post a picture of the snow here, because although the streets are cleared, the snow is quite beautiful still. Soon I will, I have to go back to Starbucks or somewhere that has wifi so I can email myself more pictures from my itouch.

The mind is an absolutely amazing tool, and the fact that we have the mere ability to think is quite stupendous. We as humans are capable of so much... do we really live up to our abilities... but then again, can we ever truly know what they are... and while I'm on the subject, what is truth anyway? It's always subjective. I just think that every single breath we take is precious, because we are blessed to be alive. Although some days may seem mundane, everything matters, some things just matter more than others.

For now, that's all, but I'll be back soon.

Namaste!

Xo

New Year, Infinite Possiblities!

Hi All!

Happy 2012! Every year, and every day brings new beginnings. I know it has been a long while since I've posted, and there are no excuses, but I'd like to start the year off with a clean slate and a fresh start!

Sadly, my camera broke again, but my lovely sister Natalie got me an itouch for the holidays, so I will take pictures on that until I can get a new camera. Unfortunately I do not have picture from the holidays, but I do have a few pictures from somewhat recently to reminisce on:

This was an amazing ratatouille I had at a brick oven restaurant in Burlington, VT a few months ago, it was simply sauce and lots of veggies and some spices. Simplicity really is bliss. I just absolutely adore this quote. What would our world be like if we fully 100% embraced the fact that we are blessed to be alive and able to live on this Earth and that it in and of itself is a privilege to us? Hmm...

This was a fantastic pizza that I made with a friend a few months back. It was a whole wheat rosemary crust that we made with lots of summer veggies. Again, embrace simplicity.

We all know how I adore muffins, these are spicy zucchini muffins.

And some square carrot muffins.

Just a nice shot of Buddy lounging as usual.

I saw this on the MBTA and it made me very happy. I hope it has a positive successful impact! Fingers crossed!

And just some lights on the trees for the wintertime.

Like I did last year, I cleaned out my cabinet and put away my cooked things so I can go raw for January. I really enjoy the irony behind the raw January that I have decided to make annual for myself. Similar to many of us, I decided against a resolution, because I just love living so much. However, after going to 3 yoga classes in a row (on 3 consecutive days) and having not gone for a while, I realized that 3 yoga classes per week is a feasible goal. Other than that, I'd like to wake up every morning and that the world for my life, and tell myself that everyday is what I make it. Life is a choice anyway right? We have the power... it's all a matter of how we use our control of our lives. I'd like to take a moment to embrace the serenity prayer right now: "G-d grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Imagine what our world would be like if we had no corruption... complete and utter peace. Is that Utopian? Maybe a little bit, but I'd like to think that somewhere out in the universe it is possible.

Here's to new beginnings, and to every ending bringing us new possibilities.

Spread the love, share the light!

Namaste!

Camera Charger is SOMEWHAT a Necesity

Now I realize that my blogging schedule is a tad off kilter, but I still haven't gotten a new camera charger, thus I have no pictures because I simply cannot figure out how to transfer them from my phone. I am in sunny Arizona right now and I will inform you of a few eats I have had recently: lentil soup, sauteed broccoli raab, gluten free brownies, homemade iced tea, marinated olives, gluten free vegan mac n' cheese, fresh berries... I could continue but I lack pictures. GRRRRRRRR! AAAAAnyways, it is 110 degrees right now and it is sweltering. I'm almost done with my pantry clean out at home which is good, but now I can't decide whether I should buy more flour to bake or if I can post pictures, but for now, this is a picture of the scenery that I WOULD take if I HAD my camera.



That would be a golf course, because obviously grass does not grow and bloom naturally like that here.



And  this would be Scottsdale, where we are going tomorrow.

Ta ta for now.

Namaste!
Xo

Not as much as I'd like to Write

The sad new is that I lost my camera charger, thus I need to buy a new one, which is why I am lacking in the picture department. I tried taking pictures from my phone and sending them to my email, but it's just not working. Anyways, I tried this awesome new Kombucha called Katalyst and I think I just might have to order some even though they only sell in bulk. I tried the ginger devotion flavor and it was the best kombucha I have ever had, and I've tried quite a few Kombuchas. What's even better? It's local to Massachusetts! YAY! you know what else is local to MA? Taza Chocolate, you jut have to try some, even though it's local here, I think I'll have to bring some when I visit my family in Arizona. Anyways, recently I made a watermelon salad from Sarma's book. IT was AMAZING and everyone at the pot luck loved it, and it wasn't even a vegan potluck. I also made a new recipe for chocolate almond banana bread, but sadly I forgot to write down the measurements. Oh gosh I really need to get a camera charger so I can show you all pictures of my creations. I'll look through my phone now so I can just TELL you all about my recent taste bud adventures. After Earthfest Rachel and I went to Peace O' Pie for some vegan pizza and salad. I also got some vegan Recee's. YUM! I made lots of green juice a while back and then I made some nut butter in my juicer, but its so clean now I kind of don't want to ruin the cleanliness, but I'll get over that soon because after having cereal with almond milk now my body craves green juice instead. WEIRD! I had an awesome avocado cucumber whole grain rice sushi roll the other day. AAHHH I wish I had pictures! I had a nice white been soup... although I think I'm done for the year for hot soups. It was pleasant though. I think that's about all my telephone remembers. Anyways, my garden is nice and planted..... and the farmer's market in Copley Square is up and running so you will definitely see me there after a good yoga class.

I can't think of many words of wisdom right now except for "Be yourself, for that's all there is to you" -?

Namaste!

Xo

More Experiments

"Maybe being overwhelmed is just what happens when the Universe is delivering everything you want, but you’re just not ready to receive it yet." (unknown).

I've been really "overwhelmed" lately what with all of these silly little obligations... but I know that everything being thrown at me is positive, what I need it to prioritize...

That's where tea comes in!  

I always love tea. No matter what time of year. Can you read the quote on the yogi tea? It says "Noble language and behaviors are so powerful that hearts can be melted." Sweet.

These came in handy, I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but they found there way into my cornbread (see below).

Here are the kale chips I made, from Averie's recipe which you can find here.

I finally got around to using my lovely trusty Green Star again, and boy, am I thankful for my green juice, oh how you sustain me!

 I completed a goal of mine this past weekend, which was to make my own banana bread recipe! YAY! This one is GF, and vegan. I call it Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread. Recipe to come soon.

Here it is again, with ground almonds throughout (that's the white). Basically it's dehydrated almond pulp throughout.

I had this simple smoothie this morning of frozen bananas, hemp protein, cherries, and almond milk.

My homemade fresh cornbread... that's where the edamame snuck in!

And if I do say so myself they worked quite nicely.

Oh how I love my broccoli, there is some TVP underneath, which I am not a huge fan of because it has gluten, but which I got for free, so why not?

And another broccoli dish with carrots, daiya, and lentils. Simple is the way I like to keep it.

I've realized that when my living spaces are clean, my mind feels cleaner too, so I think I shall do some cleaning now. The good thing is that I have a lot of pride for the two new recipes that I created in the past few days. That's all for now, and I look forward to hearing from you and to sharing my new experiments with you all again soon.

Namaste!

Xo

PB&J: And You Thought It Was Just a Sandwich

Although I yearn strongly for summer, the weather has been fairly kind to us lately, and everything will come in due time. I know I just need to remember, one day at a time, and live in the moment.

Anyways, this week I've been really into making cookies considering I have told myself that I will not buy any more pantry items until I have used everything (unless something is extremely imperative). That has been doing me well because it has forced me to create new recipes. These above I call chocolate trail mix cookies. They are basically Earth Balance, cocoa powder, dried fruit, oats and nuts. They were perfect.... but sadly I ate all of them in two days. Woops!

I found this sucker in the back of my pantry and decided to make some cookies for my neighbor. Of course, I kept them vegan and used Earth Balance for butter and flax for eggs. They loved them, which of course brought a smile to my face.

Here they are after cooking. By the way, I ran out of parchment paper, and after I have used all of my pantry ingredients, I will reward myself with a silpat, which is great motivation. I was going to wait until then also to buy my kitchen compost container , but considering I haven't been able to compost for some time due to fruit flies around my old container (a plastic cereal box), I think this is a little needed. 

Here was a quick dinner of daiya, lentils, grilled veggies, and cucumbers.

This was a great tofu dish I made when I mixed the end of the peanut butter, and fig pear jam together and then covered the tofu with that. It actually worked quite well if I do say so myself.

Here it is fully plated.

My last cookie creation this week were "peanut butter and jelly cookies." These consisted of the actual rest of the peanut butter and jam, oats, a bit of brown rice flour, oat, and raisins. Some pals loved them. These bad boys aren't gone yet.

I haven't set a deadline for when my pantry shall be empty, but I'm shooting for two weeks, because I plan to be as raw as possible for the summer, although we'll see how that goes when I am in Arizona (staying with family), and then in Israel (on a group trip), but I'll manage as best I can. As for living in the moment, the future greatly excites me, and although we all may have that bit of fear of change, I am also excited to embrace the new, and all that comes with it.

Have beautiful days.

Namaste!

Xo