FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Awesomest, Make It A Word

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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?

[Acorn] Squash with Quinoa, Apricot and Sage Stuffing

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I’ve had my eye on Terry Walters’ books for quite some time now, so I was pleased as punch when I found both Clean Start and Clean Food at Homegoods last week.

I also bought the beauty of a chopping block that’s hosting the veggies pictured below.

I literally walked between the acorn squash and buttercup squash about seven times before deciding to go with acorn.  Even though the recipe called for buttercup, the acorn was a sure shot, but it would have been nice to try the buttercup, but the acorn was such a sure shot.  See how that could be debate worthy?

As I was chopping shallots, celery, apricots, sage, and parsley, I realized I hadn’t used any of these ingredients in a while, and certainly not together.  I was excited.

So excited, in fact, that I skipped right past taking a picture of the quinoa folded into the veggies.

Soooo looks like this recipe will be the jump start to another quinoa kick.  The stuffing was so tasty!

What’s your favorite quinoa combo??


Not Yo Nachos

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I spent the entire day at my desk, watching torrential downpours through the window, dreaming of a time when my top priority would be a solid couch lounge.  But first?  A not so quick trip through rainy, rush hour traffic to get some fun Friday dinner snacks.

I love snacks for dinner.

I only had one mission when I arrived at Whole Foods: buy the Daiya faux cheese that Emily (A Nutritionist Eats) suggested I try.  Side note, a good portion of faux cheese products contain milk proteins and thus do not qualify as dairy-free.  Deceiving?  Very.

So naturally, I was beyond starving as I strolled the aisles and so I, naturally, helped myself to samples.  Lucky for me, I came across Demeter’s Harvest vegan bean dip.  Come to find out, they have a slew of tasty vegan products that are made locally (huge bonus, by the way).

It was all coming together, bean and cheese nachos.  The bean dip was so stinking good.  And the Daiya cheese was normal, as promised.  And I spent the evening couch lounging, as promised.

Another Non-Dairy Day, In Pictures

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Breakfast:  Lemon Soy Yogurt, Organic Blueberries & Ground Flaxseed

Snack: Go Raw Spirulina Super Chips

Lunch:  Brown Rice Fusilli, Leftover Marinara Sauce, Spinach & Mushrooms

Dinner:  Tijuana Flats Black Bean Burrito with Lettuce, Salsa, Black Olives & a HUGE Side of Chips (unnecessary!)

All of the above is my answer to the question I hear a lot lately – “what exactly do you eat?”.  Sure my twenty ten self would have opted for Fage Greek yogurt with honey, grated parmesan on my pasta, and every power lite dairy option Tijuana had to offer.  But these small substitutions allowed me to end the day feeling satisfied and, most importantly, good.  And darnit, I like feeling good!