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

Gallavanting

Well, now, there has been lots of rain, hasn't there? but that's a good thing, because the grass will be greener and the flowers will bloom. Rejoice in new life. Lately I have a few things to share with you.

This was the spelt banana bread I made last week. Oh so pleasant. It was gone within 3 days. So sad.

Here's Buddy, after a really short walk because he got very very cold outside in the downpouring rain. Poor baby. He loves the snow though...

This was one of my veggie burgers from Organic Garden with sprouts, cukes, sauce, and a lettuce leaf.

This was a buckwheat pizza I made last week. Super easy crust, recipe soon. It had sauce, olives, pesto, red peppers, and tahini. Mmmmmm!

Perfect buckwheat pancakes. I really do love pancakes. They're about a one-a-weeker for me

The grill for mother's day.. I of course had a veggie burger, some stir fry, and grilled asparagus. Too bad I wasn't very hungry that night. Although I think my mom had a nice day, even though I worked. I'm pretty sure it went well. Happy belated mother's day to all. Cherish all that you have.

On Monday, Dan and I went to Momogouse food truck for lunch. It was sooooo good! We shared the terriaki tofu and the yellow noodles. How awesome is that for $4 a pop? Pretty great.

Here we are outside Flour. We seem like such tourists, oh well!

My vegan chocolate cupcake was divine.

For dinner, later we went to River Gods. This is the god salad we shared, we also got a wrap, but I forgot to take a picture of that. Sorry guys.

Well, all in all things are well and I wish peace upon you all. Also, Averie is having a CamelBak giveaway! So I just thought you should all know.

Embrace all of the new life and emanate peace.

Namaste!

Xo

Listening to the Heart

I named this post as "listening to the heart because I know that the mind is a separate component from the heart, and the body. Often our minds lie to us and tell us not to do what is right for us. I say that I "listened to my heart" and my body for that matter, a lot this week because I completed two of my biking goals this week. The first was 10 miles and the second was 16. I had destinations in mind and my next goal (back and forth) is 28 miles, but I'll have to do that on a Sunday. I've also been really listening to my heart because I went to yoga on Sunday which I have been putting off for a while, but it was much needed, and I've decided not to buy anymore cooked food and use what I have and then go as raw as possible (at least for the summer, and I don't plan on being strict) and then I will buy raw ingredients rather than cooked counterparts. In January, when I was 100% raw for that entire month I felt wonderful, and now slowly I will bring it back.

The beginnings of lentil sprouts.

A socca sandwich (which helped me use all of my garbanzo flour).

Simple banana and nut milk smoothie with cinnamon. Yum!

 Pumpkin socca.

This was the meal the hotel served me at a family event. At least they tried (rice, beans, and squash), they made a little bit of effort to cater to "the vegan" as they call me although it does not encompass all that I am, but whattareyagonnado?

Gena's Chia Chai Pudding with bananas.

Banana soft serve with the organic strawberries that were on sale for $1.99 at whole foods! Gotta love one day sales! (although they're not local, but I'll sacrifice).

Another socca sandwich.

Shake with this awesome hemp infusion.

My reward after biking 8 miles to Organic Garden to prepare me for the 8 miles back, and to have for lunch today possibly.

And lastly, my finished baby lentil sprouts! Maybe I should plant a few and see if I get microgreens. Hmmm...

Anyways, more on my endeavors later, but for now, just know that your heart always tells you what is right.

Namaste!

Xo

Back Again!

I'm still not totally "with it" on the blogging front, but I'm thinking maybe once a week will work better for me at this point in my life. As for the rain, I like to always think, "the rain will make the grass greener and the plants grow, so smile, because new life is on its way." How's that for a positive outlook? So... hopefully that was the last of the snow, but I do have a few pretty pictures from a couple weekends ago to share even though they are snowy:

These were taken in New Hampshire when there was still snow there.

These are Black Eyed Pea fritters that Dan and I made a while back when I was in my blogging slump.

A beautious salad from when a bunch of us went out for Dan's birthday to a small mediterranean restaurant down the street.

The average coconut almond granola in the works.

A mixture of rice, tomato sauce, edamame, spinach, broccoli, and green beans. Perfect for a rainy day.

An impromptu tofu scramble including carrots, basil, onions, and of course, nooch.

Black rice mixed with pumpkin and carrots along side romaine and some asian dressing.

A quick and easy (vegan) eggplant parm made with Daiya.

A green juice from Rawbert's.

Impromptu what I like to call "trail mix cookies".

Omlette salad from Rawbert's.

Fresh flower and blossom salad from Rawbert's.

Rawbert's sprout filled salad.

A wonderful friend Bettina and me at the beach on a chilly day in April. The outdoors must be embraced no matter what the weather might be.

See? The sun is shining through and spring is here. Lets hug the new with both of our arms.

Now of course, I did not make all of these one night, I just had to do a huge recap, because lately, I've been a bit more focused on the mountains of life rather than the blogosphere, however, I find it quite fun to share my thoughts and creations with you all, which is why I will most definately continue, once a week (or more if I have time).

Namaste!

Xo

Yes, Yes, It Has Been a While

I am very much aware of how long it has been... considering I'm new at this I haven't really given myself a schedule yet... but I'm thinking Monday, Wednesday, Friday... We'll see... The good news is that I have soooooo much to share. For one I highly highly highly recommend The Celestine Prophecy to anyone and everyone. I truly believe it has the power to make a change through solely it's words, and it was brought to me at just the right time. The other day my Yogi Tea it said, "The rhythm of life is when you experience you own body, mind and soul." Everything is a dance, we just have to find the rhythm and go with the flow and where the Universe wants us to go.

Now, onto food. And lots of it.

So yeah, banana, any kind of nut butter, and oatmeal is happiness in a bowl.

My awesome henna that's almost faded away :\

I've been really into having my smoothies in a bowl with homemade granola lately. This was the easiest granola ever. Its oats, almond butter, almond milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and coconut.

My new favorite addiction is Sunflower seed butter. Seriously I ate half a container in two days. uhhhh....

It's super easy to clean the fridge when you can make a meal out of it: carrots, daikon, kale (did you know some people haven't heard of kale?!?!?!!?), millet, and tofu with tamari. Perfect!

Banana muffins from the Kripalu Cookbook in both regular and chocolate

flavors. Gotta  love!

Lentil burgers from the Veganopolis cookbook. These are to live for.

Fresh bread with spelt flour. What's not to love?

And finally cookie clusters which I will share more about later.

How's that for catching up? I think from here on out I'm going to stick to my schedule as much as possible and I appreciate all of your patience. With that I hope all is well. Spread the love and light.

Namaste!

Xo