Adventure Begins in the Kitchen
Breakfast: Fried Egg with Leftover Homemade, Earth Balance Slathered, Bread
Early Lunch: Handful of Kettle Baked Salt & Vinegar Chips
Lunch: BBQ Tofu, Strawberries & Leftover Homemade Bread
Dinner: Annie Chun’s Black Pearl Sticky Rice, Spinach Miso Soup & Roasted Brussels Sprouts
It’s days like today I miss having roommates so I can feed them my leftovers and I don’t feel the pressure of finishing an entire loaf of bread.
Check back tomorrow for the BBQ Tofu recipe!
It seems I have two choices… Either continue to re-check The Conscious Cook out from the library every couple weeks for the rest of my life orrrr purchase a copy for myself. The latter sounds a lot less complicated.
I’m not the biggest fan of meat substitute products, at all, but when my friend Ginnean mentioned that her husband would let her make Gardein for dinner, I figured it had to taste pretty normal.
And then I saw The Conscious Cook’s Gardein “Chicken” Scalloppini recipe when I was flipping through the pages this morning and couldn’t wait to test it out. I decided to leave out the Udon Noodle Cakes and Pea Shoots in order to make it less gourmet and more every day.
LOVE. MUSHROOMS.
This recipe was the perfect combination of easy and still feeling like you’re being chef-like. My current foodie hero, Terry Walters, better watch out cause Tal Ronnen is oh so close to being my Number One – the Gardein “Chicken” Scalloppini was RIDIC!
I honestly planned on roasting brussels sprouts as a side tonight, but the crusty goodness in the background was dominating the oven. The result of my second ever Kitchen Aid use and my first ever bread making trial was a smashing success too. Check back tomorrow for crusty goodness deets!
Breakfast: Sliver of Yesterday’s Chocolate Tart (that I may or may not have dreamt about last night) and…
An Apple (to justify eating chocolate tart for breakfast)
Lunch: Chopped Spinach, Green Pepper, Red Onion and “Feta” Salad
More Lunch: Amy’s Vegetable Barley Soup
Dinner: Yellow Miso Quinoa with Wilted Spinach and More “Feta”
Not pictured? A bowl of peas with a dab of yellow miso that I ate about an hour before fitting in a little cardio. Why peas? Because also not pictured are the additional slivers of chocolate tart that I helped myself to after each meal and I felt the need to balance the abundance of sweet with a little green.
I sent my mom home with a hearty portion of the remaining chocolate tart, but honestly… The tart needs to go! I can’t stop, won’t stop.
Sunday was especially great, and I’m about to tell you why. As I was drifting off to sleep at an obscenely early hour on Saturday night, my friend Lindsey shot me a text asking what I was up to that evening. In order to offset the embarrassment of being fully bed clothed and under covers before 9 PM, I suggested we hit the beach on Sunday for a walk.
I had also suggested we try one of the raw restaurants in St. Pete for lunch, but I understood the lack of appeal to a starving non-veggie. When Lindsey mentioned that her boyfriend, Dave, wanted to try a Vietnamese sandwich shop, my day took a turn from good to better. He ordered the Vietnamese specialty, she ordered the grilled pork, and I ordered the tofoagie. They all came loaded with pickled carrots, diakon, cucumber, fresh jalapeno, and cilantro. We mounged the simple, but amazing, sandwiches to the tune of Dave’s yummy noises. We joked about ordering seconds. We didn’t.
Then Lindsey and I hit the beach.
This was the first (of many) deceased horseshoe crabs and HUGE mollusks we’d come across during our adventure. It was sad… But the artful sand humor that someone graciously left behind lightened the mood.
We had a, presumably Canadian, tourist take our picture. Notice the short sleeves and exposed ankles? Beach season is around the corner kids!
We parted ways and I met Jennie for free yoga in the park, she’s addicted too! After yoga, I headed to Cafe Hey, solo, for the best vegan dinner in town. I ordered the daily grain salad (quinoa with apples, spinach, walnuts, and pinto beans) and the soup of the day (catalina vegetable with tomatoes, chick peas, onions, and black olives).
My day started off good, quickly went to better, jumped to amazing, and skyrocketed to…? The awesome-est day ever. I’d like to propose that awesomest become a word. How does one do that?