Mondays

Every Monday, my local news channel shows a clip of a rooster cock-a-doodling to help those of us with a “case of the Mondays” to get their sorry bums out of bed.

I needed that rooster this morning. I can’t imagine why, because I was in bed at 8:30. I’ve been on this “go-tobed-early” phase lately. Usually because I enjoy getting up early when I have a day to myself.

It’s just that Monday’s don’t hold much promise.

Alas, I was up and at-‘em in no time. Feeding my face. Feeding my horses’ faces.  Entertaining random thoughts. You know.

Like envying those of you who have coffee shops that have non-dairy options. I’d love a non-dairy cappuccino. Or hot cocoa. Or latte. Or something.

And like how something so good [hummus] can be so bad [artichoke kalamata hummus].

Like how insanely lucky I am to have the best pony in the world.

Like how I’ve been dreaming up the best granola bar recipes for months, only to completely overlook the best one all this time: a banana swimming in peanut butter.

I was definitely a monkey in my past life. I know eating too much squash turns your skin orange…what’s too many bananas do besides keep me up-to-par with potassium?

Like how Vermont has started using cell phone towers that are supposed to look like trees, but since they’re a good many feet taller than the rest of the treeline, they just stick out like sore thumbs. There’s something about trying to blend in that just makes you more noticeable, I think.

Like how obsessed I am with this song.

Like how random it is to have a man and a woman nuzzling each other on my pumpernickel bread.

Although I was really thinking about how lucky I am to have had the opportunities to form such wonderful friendships with some pretty fantastic people.

Take Tat, for example! She is a constant inspiration to me, and someone I think I will always look up to for her bravery, honesty and generosity.

We did a fun little swap – I was just expecting date syrup, but was sent so much more, though what really meant the most to me was her wonderful note that she included. It made my night!

But this pumpernickel wasn’t far behind I’d seen Tat blog about it before and was quite envious – I haven’t seen anything like it before. I wasn’t super hungry when I got home from work (weird…) but just had to try it. It is fantastic! Dense, chewy, and full of flavor – reminds me of molasses! I smeared some of the fig preserves she sent me on it, and I am in. loaf. (hey, I haven’t said anything corny yet today – in loaf it is!)

Have you ever had real Pumpernickel?

Mondays – love ‘em or hate ‘em?

A Sampling

I think my mouth might be on perma-fire.

I think buffalo tempeh might be the longest “kick” I’ve had for quite some time, too. Luckily, I’m planning on going grocery shopping tomorrow – so I should have greater resources to draw on. As in…I currently have frozen mixed vegetables, frozen peas, wilted lettuce and red onions in terms of vegetables and frozen cranberries in terms of fruit.

I am nothing without fresh fruit and vegetables. They are, after all, the basis to all of my meals. I’ve always got a stockpile of grains and proteins to choose from but I don’t [unfortunately] have a secret garden of kale, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes and squash in my backyard.

Woe is me.

So, instead of showing you a bunch of repetitive pictures of buffalo-tempeh themed meals, I’ll show you a bunch of pictures of what I’ve come to love during Vegan Mofo.

Unfortunately, I still haven’t been able to find vanilla or plain coconut milk kefir. The co-op won’t stock it. I want to know who brainstormed the idea to stock strawberry and no “normal” flavors. I mean really?!

But it’s whatever.  What I can find is coconut milk yogurt, and I think I just realized that the two are one and the same – one is just drinkable.

What do you know, all it took for me to ditch that grudge against the co-op was writing a blog post! Anyways. I love this yogurt. I liken it to cake batter. I just wish they a. made a plain one with tang and b. made a greek yogurt variation.

Dear SoDelicious,

As a devoted customer, I sincerely enjoy each of the products I’ve tried from you. I am always thinking of ways for you to gain even more profit, however, and feel if you began straining your yogurt to create a Greek variation, you would have an even greater fan-base.

I return for this splendid idea, I would appreciate a swimming pool made of coconut milk/coconut milk yogurt/coconut milk ice cream/cultured coconut milk drink.

With Love,

Jessica Exposures

Anyways. The creamer was also a hit – but not necessarily a “vegan lifesaver.” I’m fine with adding coconut or almond milk to my coffee…it simply piqued my curiosity.

The rest of this doesn’t really have to do with Vegan MoFo. It has to do with Kombucha making me happily sad.

In that, I love it, but I can only splurge on it when I’m feeling frisky.

By frisky, I mean $rich$.

Aaaand for what it’s worth, Cinnamon Harvest = mine (& Teddie’s) new crack. I can’t figure out which of us likes it more.

I take that back. I don’t crane my neck around and flop my lips like a hooligan when I see it, but he does. I think he likes it more.

When I’m not eating it plain by the handful, I mix up some “peanut butter” with peanut flour, coconut milk and date molasses and use that as the milk to a bowl of it with banana and puffed rice. Because I have a really odd puffed rice addiction, too.

And I can’t forget the overnight oaties. With a side of Nutrition Concepts and Controversies, of course.

What’s your favorite cold cereal?

What spendy product do you consider your splurge?

Ingenius

Ding, Ding Ding! We have a winner…

Foodzie it was! Through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program, I was selected to be part of the foodzie.com program. You can only imagine my excitement. I mean – I have a hard time passing up an interesting new find in the aisles of my supermarket…so being sent samples before buying is an ingenious idea, if you ask me.

How perfect does that plan sound?! Add to it the element of surprise, and now you know why I was dancing when I saw the package. I had absolutely no clue what was hidden inside, but I had a pretty good idea that it’s be something amazing.

And “something” turned out to be the understatement of the year…look at all the goodies! And the adorable presentation, too.

Not only did they fill the box with goodies, but I was even introduced to some maple syrup from my home state. And balsamic honey?! I’ve never heard of such a thing, but I have a hunch once I try it, I’ll buy it by the gallon!

I tore into the pistachios first…

Oh so very good. Just enough garlic and onion to give a pleasant flavor – not so much to leave you with offensive breath, though! Ironically, I remember always having those dyed red pistachios as a kid. They would stain my hands and couch something silly, though, so eventually my mom started saying “no!”…and I still hardly ever buy pistachios. They are quite nutrient dense, however – very good for you – so it was wonderful to be reunited with them.

They’ve got a bunch of flavors, though – I’m eyeballing the sea salt and pepper, especially.

And then for my snack at work this morning, I had this pear. I did find being sent a pear a little bizarre at first – but hey, why not?! I do love me some pears. I microwaved it with cinnamon and raisins for a homey, warming snack. It was so juicy and succulent, it about melted in my mouth like butter, I kid you not. When it was raining cats and dogs outside, this hit the spot.

And by raining cats and dogs, I mean raining cats and dogs. It was miserable! We got ten inches of snow on the mountain, too – though that was at 11 this morning. There’s probably far more by now!

And with that – I leave you with this. By far the best gingerbread overnight oats I’ve had yet…I did double the ginger, after all. My tongue was a little tingly, but that is a-ok in my book! I even made a spiced “icing,” to go with it – kefir, ground ginger, ground clove, maple syrup, and chia seeds.

Thought of the day: I wish I was a cat so that I could wrap my tail around my feet when they got cold. Either that, or I wish I had a tail so I could do the same thing. I mean, really – when it’s 38* outside, the window should not be open! Please and thank you.

And as a side-note…I know, I haven’t been posting “daily eats” lately. I’m sort of enjoying the “just whatever” vibe I’ve got going on now, though. Short and sweet, if you will. I’m sure I’ll go back and forth between “blogging styles,” but for now I hope you don’t abandon me! I’ve got some things planned, and have been doing a lot of nutrition homework, too. Maybe I’ll do a post on protein?!

What’s something you enjoyed often as a kid, but haven’t had since?

How do you feel about your protein intake? Do you try to balance it, or think you fall short? Prefer high-protein? I’m just interested in your thoughts, and I learned some new things this week!

Jackpot

You just never know when it’s going to be your lucky day.

You know, winning the lotto, hitting the jackpot, finding cans of pumpkin, finding $10 in the trash, or being granted ginormous basil plants .

Did I have any idea I was going to be given this huge of a basil plant from a co-worker?

Absolutely not.

Did I have any complaints?

Absolutely not.

Hmmm – what to do with all my new basil?! Besides pesto. That’s a given.

Another jackpot? This sandwich:

Okay, so it doesn’t look like much. Which would make sense, because that’s it when I packed it. When at work, assembled, it became a panini with:

• grilled tempeh
• baby spinach
• red onion
• sliced apple and dried fig
• raspberry honey dijon

I couldn’t have asked for anything more in life. Give it a try! And while you’re giving that a try, give these birdseed bars a try:

Ironically, these bear a shocking resemblence to a treat I’d feed one of the horses. I promise they taste way better though! Well, maybe, I’ve never actually tried one of those. I’ve only ever tried on of Teddie’s Orange Spice and Anise Seed cookies. They’re not bad, but a little too anise-y for my liking.

Speaking of Teddie and eating things, check out this really pointless video!

Hear I am, about to apologize for not reading as many blogs because I have stuff I should be doing, and yet I just spent the last hour editing that video. I have no excuses, nor any shame.

What’s your favorite thing to do with pesto?

Weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? (I’m talking like, not typical “human food,” or at least really bizarre combinations. Like horse cookies. I can’t think of anything else, though I’m sure there were plenty back in the day!)

And FWIW, be proud: I was fig-less this morning! I was feelin’ the dates. And Boo to Planter’s for selling me a can of mixed nuts with less than 50% peanuts that is pretty much all peanuts with a chance of almond, cashew, or brazil nut. Boo, Planters, Boo.

(With the recent drama, maybe I ought to clarify that yes, I at quite a bit more than three things all day.)

Not What it Seems

Wow.

It seems an overwhelming portion of you have been also chased by a man bearing a chainsaw. I feel not-so-alone now! That doesn’t make me enjoy Halloween any more, however.

It was a chilly one this morning! I didn’t much care for getting out of bed.

…but the promise of overnight oats and hot coffee makes everything better! I’ve had a question or two as to how I make my overnight oats.

• 1/2 a ripe banana (or other fruit that can be mashed, like a peach, strawberries, pear)
• 1/2 c. almond milk
• 1/3 c. quick oats (or 1/4 c. quick oats, and the rest old fashioned)
• 1 t. chia seeds
• cinnamon (a hefty portion!)

The night prior I mash the banana up with the oats, cinnamon, and chia seeds, and then stir in the almond milk. In the morning, I stir in a spoonful of vanilla or plain Chobani – but to make it vegan, just stir in coconut milk yogurt or soy yogurt! Sometimes I’ll add some protein powder the night before, too. Just sort of depends what I’ve got on the cards for the day, I guess!

The rest of my day isn’t as it seems.

What do I mean by that? Well, take, for instance, these figs. I don’t know what I was thinking packing them, as I know I need more of a morning snack than two lone figs.

Luckily, my boss brought in a bunch of apples he’d picked with his kids this weekend, so these figs turned into a baked apple with figs and cinnamon. Chop up that apple, chop up those figs, stir in some cinnamon, and nuke for a minute and you’ve got yourselves a mug (well, in my case) of pure delicious.

Continuing on, pictured is just a plain sandwich with red onion and baby spinach. Yes, I packed more – tempeh and rosemary sauce, to be exact – I just didn’t feel like taking a picture of another container. But, I added to that mix, a few apple slices and panini’d it all up. So yum!

I didn’t mention yesterday that I made another loaf of bread – honey oatmeal wheat, to be exact. Again. It’s a good recipe! But – again, it fell. Dude, what am I doing wrong?! I even follow the recipe now. I can’t wait to bake my next (or very soon!) loaf by hand.

Raw, these carrots tasted…wrong. The solution? Throw on the panini press and smother in yellow mustard. Success. My mustard craving was sort of creeping in there.

This white nectarine was just as delicious as it looks and sounds. I love white flesh peaches and nectarines!

I made these cashew birdseed bars a bit too dry in attempts to cut back on sugar. The first couple days they were still good, but by now they’re just a bit too dry. The solution? Dollop with some pear-almond jam that I keep in the fridge at work!

I’m telling ya – there’s a quick fix for everything!

…and I am 99% sure that things eaten hot and out of bowls are 99% better than things eaten on plates. Too bad they’re always ugly!

However, I quite enjoyed the last of my scalloped tomatoes over the last of my (current) spaghetti squash. It was a match made in heaven!

And now, I’m off. I’ve got senior portraits I’m still going through, as well as orders to put together that came through!

What are your quick fixes for things that turn out not as good as you’d hoped?