Archive for April, 2011
Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
0Used. Book. Sale.
That’s all I needed to hear. I was there. I think my book addiction is going to warrant another bookshelf. I’m running out of places to store all these books.
That whole box was thirteen dollars. Score! I may or may not be going back tomorrow, when everything is half price. 
In between buying books and hot yoga, I made delectable oatmeal raisin cookies. You didn’t think they’d be vegan? Well, they are.
Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
makes 12 cookies
Need:
1/4 c Earth Balance, softened
1/3 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 tbsp ground flax + 2 tbsp water, mixed to create a flax “egg”
1 tsp agave nectar
1/3 c whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 c uncooked rolled oats
1/3 c golden raisins
Do:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using an electric mixer, cream together the Earth Balance and brown sugar. Slowly incorporate the flax egg and agave nectar.
- Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and oats.
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients together to form the dough. If the dough is too wet, add a bit of flour. If the dough is too dry, add a bit of water.
- Gently fold the raisins into the dough.
- Scoop out heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Flatten the balls slightly on a greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until edges look crisp. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes.
Due to all the recent food holidays, I have six metric tons of baked goods laying around. Anyone want an oatmeal cookie, a zucchini muffin, a sunflower cookie or a pineapple upside down cupcake?
Friday Favorites
0Royal Wedding Drinking Games/Memos Reminding You Not To Watch The Royal Wedding at Work
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So, I haven’t really been “into” the Royal Wedding like most everyone else on the planet has, but I do find certain aspects of it amusing. Like the Royal Wedding Drinking Game. I personally think it would have been hilarious for me to start drinking at 5am EST. Then, I show up to work and read a memo reminding me that “improper use of state equipment is a violation” a.k.a. don’t watch the Royal Wedding at your desk. Yes, I seriously did get that memo. I suppose when two BILLION people tune in to watch, memos like that are necessary.
Pasta
Of course it’s not shrimp scampi, but come on now, any form of pasta is delicious. Yum.
Random Curls
My hair used to be super curly. As in, tight ringlets curly. It had a mind of it’s own 87% of the time.
Prom, circa Spring 2005. Why yes, I did find the most ridiculous picture of myself solely for your entertainment. You’re welcome.
Then, freshman year happened and my hair gradually turned straight. My hair now is mostly straight with a teeny bit of wave. Definitely not ringlets. So imagine my surprise when I noticed a random loose ringlet dangling in front of my face.
(apparently I still make the same stupid faces. Gotta work on that. )
I once read an article that said your hair can change every seven to ten years. Since my freshman year was seven years ago (!!?) it might be about time for my hair to go back to curly? We’ll find out I suppose!
The Book of Awesome
This book is, in a word, awesome. It’s based on a website, 1000awesomethings.com, and it’s literally full of awesome things. It reminds me of 14,000 things to be happy about, only this book gives more of an explanation after each awesome thing, rather than just listing them out. The author just came out with a second book, The Book of (Even More) Awesome, and I plan on picking it up after I finish with this one.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II
AHHHH!! I.love.Harry.Potter. Yes, I am a huge nerd. I LOVE the distorted theme in the beginning of the trailer. It looks SO good, so evil. Such a wonderful way to finish the series. I’m pretty much going to have a Harry Potter movie viewing party this weekend. And then I’m going to be counting down the days until July 15th.
Blueberries
0I can’t wait for the return of the farmer’s market.
Can I say that enough? Because I really can’t wait. One thing I vividly remember about last year’s market was the juicy, plump berries.
Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, you name it, they had it.
Super cheap produce, mostly organic, all local? Yes, please. I’m excited to see if there are any new booths this year. Maybe I’ll finally buy some local cheese.
Until May 7th, when the farmer’s market finally returns, I suppose I’ll settle for blueberry pie via yogurt cup.
Mm. Creamy.
Celery is Ribbed
0So today I was presented with my first real food holiday challenge.
It’s prime rib day. I’m a vegetarian.
I thought long and hard about any way I could vegetarian-ize prime rib. I came up with nothing. I did, however, come up with a play on words.
Celery is ribbed. And this little snack is prime. Prime. Rib.
Peanut Butter Stuffed Celery
Need:
celery
peanut butter, preferably Peanut Butter & Co’s Cinnamon Raisin, if not you will also need:
cinnamon
raisins
Do:
- If you don’t have the cinnamon raisin PB, mix together the raisins, cinnamon and peanut butter to taste.
- Take spoonfuls and spread the peanut butter into the long recess of the celery stalk.
- Eat. Swoon.
Stuffed Celery is so delicious and so simple. There are literally thousands of combinations you could try. Peanut Butter, Hummus, my all time favorite is cream cheese and green olives. Reminds me of holiday time. Is it Memorial Day yet?
Snacktime
0Pretzels
+ Cheese
+ Dijon
= Snacktime
Or dinnertime.
It’s the little things. Happy Pretzel Day!
Vegan Zucchini Muffins
2So this morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to go to hot yoga. Yes, I’ve lost my mind. Let me back up a bit.
I have never been a morning person. I do enjoy being awake and productive in the morning, but the whole process of waking up, getting out of bed, freezing my tush off, not being in the six tons of fluff that is my bed. It’s terrible, really. My bed is so soft, so plush, I never want to get out of it. In college I slept in a loft and I purposely put the alarm clock across the room (much to my roommate’s dismay) so I would have to get out of bed to turn it off. Of course once I got out of my loft it was much too much effort to get back up into it. So I ended up napping on the futon one too many times. Too bad our futon was a death trap.
ANYWAY. The point of the story is that I don’t like waking up in the morning. And yet I did to go to yoga. The class I went to this morning was the classic hot yoga, Bikram Yoga. We did a series of 26 poses and held them for a bit. It was challenging and I definitely got my heart rate up as the room was a sweltering 106 degrees. Yowsa.
The class I went to last Saturday was a flow class, Vinyasa Yoga. The room was only 98 degrees but I definitely worked harder then because it was non.stop. I still haven’t decided which one I like better, but I definitely have decided that I’m in love with hot yoga.
After sweating out approximately 89% of the water in my body, I had a smoothie in a bowl (tupperware?), topped with granola. It was so very delicious. And such a pretty color.
After that, I figured I needed some vegetables, so I made zucchini muffins. What’s that you say? It’s national zucchini bread day? HOW CONVENIENT.
Vegan Zucchini Muffins (adapted loosely from Smitten Kitchen)
makes 12 muffins
Need:
1.5 tbsp flax seed + 3tbsp water to make a flax “egg”
1/3 c canola oil
1/2 c water
1/2 c sugar
1 c grated zucchini
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c chopped pecans
Do:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin or use muffin cups.
- Put all ingredients into a big bowl. Mix. (Yes, this is seriously how I bake. And it works.)
- Drop batter into muffin tin by the 1/4 cupfuls until all batter is distributed evenly.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean.
- Let cool. Try to make a zucchini muffin tower. Fail. Use toothpicks to make a zucchini muffin tower. Succeed in making leaning tower of zucchini muffins for a few brief seconds. Photograph. Eat one or six when they fall.
So yum! Muffins, anyone?
Easter
2Happy Pigs in a Blanket Day!
Mine were made with Tofurkey Italian Sausages + crescent rolls and they were delicious.
Also, Happy Easter for those who celebrate!
I hope your Sunday was relaxing and enjoyable. I’m off to bed because I’ve committed to a 6:15am hot yoga class. I’ll leave you with this hilarious Easter gem:
Ten Things I Learned from Hot Yoga
2- Yoga is hard. Anyone who says otherwise is a. lying or b. dumb. It is challenging to not only your body, but your mind as well.
- Going to your first hot yoga class two days after giving blood probably isn’t the greatest idea. I got a little lightheaded halfway through and I couldn’t tell if that was because it was hot or because I’m down red blood cells (did you know it takes over a month for your red blood cells to get back up to normal count? Crazy!)
- My progression during class went something like this:
Excited/nervous/I can totally do this!:
Okay, it’s getting a little difficult:
Child’s pose is my friend:
Core work!?!?!:
Yay! Savasana!:
- Yoga helps me unwind and focus. I noticed that the second I left the studio my mind started going a mile a minute again. For 90 minutes, it was nice to be able to focus on my breathing, my form, my balance, my posture, my intention. Nothing else.
- Setting an intention or dedicating the class to someone or something at the beginning is crucial. I find it helps me to focus on that one thing in conjunction with my breathing, and not the 502,129 things that are on my to-do list. I dedicated my practice today to my best friend’s baby, Damian. Damian is only three months old and is facing some pretty serious health issues. We did a lot of twists that are supposed to help the liver and the digestive tract, so I sent some positive energy his way. Also, it helps that two of my favorite poses are named after children: Child’s Pose and Happy Baby.
- Becoming a sweaty mess is a given. I have never sweat so much in my life. I was literally dripping, pouring buckets from every exposed area.
- Wear proper attire. Today I wore running shorts and a tank. Next time I will definitely wear capris.
- A good playlist makes all the difference. I was super into the music the instructor put on. It included things like Sideways and Wicked Game.
- Artificial cherry cheesecake pudding is not ideal after doing natural, holistic yoga.
- I will have no money after my unlimited month is up. I can really see myself falling in love with hot yoga. Good for my body and mind, bad for my wallet.
Friday Favorites
2Self Manicures
Cheap. Easy. Fast.
Saving Money
Sorry I’ve been cheating on you lately, Publix. I know you’re sometimes cheaper than Whole Foods. But the cheese selection? The olive bar? The fact that everything is organic and all natural? Sorry P, WF has got you beat. I will occasionally come crawling back to you when I need things like canola oil and you are running a BOGO sale.
Ob.sess.ed. Pininterest is a visual dictionary of pictures you like. It’s basically my dream. I’m a very visual person so it’s nice to have a catalogue of eye candy, neatly organized into different categories, or boards. If you don’t have an account, you need to request an invitation. Immediately. Ask me to send you one. Its a major time suck that’s obviously completely worth it.
I start tomorrow. 10am. Nervous? Yes. Excited? Yes. Am I going to die? Probably.
Jellybeans
Actually, I don’t really like jellybeans all that much. But it’s National Jellybean day so I suppose I have to.
Not convinced? Yeah, neither was I. 
Chocolate Chip + Cashew Butter Sandwich
0Sometimes I am impulsive.
Take today, for example. The blood donation truck was outside my workplace. My co-worker said, do you think we should donate blood? I said yes.
I’m not one of those people who hates being stuck or has an aversion to blood. I don’t particularly like being prodded with a sharp needle though, so I was initially a little nervous. However, after vigorous questioning, a finger stick and about 10 minutes of collection, I was done. I left feeling lighter, with a tummy full of HFCS and a free t-shirt that is a size too big. Woo?
There was nothing impulsive about today’s food holiday. I made cashew butter a little while back, so when I saw today is Chocolate Covered Cashews Day, I simple topped some butta with chocolate chips. DONE AND DONE.
It was a tasty little snack after my good deed of the day.
I’ll leave you with this beautiful song. It’s all I could think about as I was donating, and it calmed me down. Bon Iver is so soothing.
Thank God tomorrow is (good) Friday!
