Post hike lunch: pan seared salmon, organic kale salad, & garlic fries

Food adventures, Recipes May 19, 2013 Leave a comment

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Went hiking for the first time in forever near Rose Canyon Lake and had a blast! It was so amazing to be out in nature on a beautiful sunny day. Even got lost, and you know what? Had fun doing that, too. We were out there for about 2 and a half hours – not in any rush, took lots of breaks, and took lots of pictures. Afterwards, I was exhausteddddd. Ate this fantastic lunch then passed out for a 2 hours. Felt good.

For the salmon: seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and canola oil – then seared for a about 4 minutes on each side in a hot cast iron skillet

For the kale salad:

Tuscan Kale (Trader Joe’s)

Brown rice

Broccoli slaw (Trader Joe’s)

small grape tomatoes

raisins

All tossed together with lemon juice and olive oil to taste

Garlic fries from Trader Joe’s and followed the package instructions

National Chopsticks Day

Favorites, Food adventures February 6, 2013 Leave a comment

Reblogged from Foodimentary - National Food Holidays:

Click to visit the original post

February 6

is

National Chopsticks Day

Five things you should know about

Chopsticks

  1. In old Chinese chopsticks are called kuaizi roughly meaning "quick little bamboo fellows"
  2. Over a quarter of the world's population uses chopsticks as their primary utensil for eating.
  3. The first chopsticks were probably used for cooking, stirring the fire, serving or grabbing bits of food, and not as eating utensils.

Read more… 146 more words

Using chopsticks helps me eat my food slower because I am forced to take teeny tiny bites!

Gotta start somewhere

Breakfast, Food adventures, Vegan Recipes February 6, 2013 Leave a comment

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I’ve been away for a while and I have missed my blog world. I have been busy buying a house, starting school again, and just dealing with life in general. No excuse, though. I kept telling myself that I would compose some fabulous post with lots of pictures and tips when I did return but never got around to it. So here I am eating breakfast when it occurred to me, “what better time than now?” This has for a lot of things lately – buying a house, getting a Masters degree, and interviewing for that promotion at work (which I didn’t get). There really is no better time than now to live our lives one day at a time. There is no better time than now to let go, love people, and eat good food.

Good morning!

Lovely spinach salad with cannellini beans

Food adventures, Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Weight loss journey January 3, 2013 Leave a comment

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The thing about getting back to my normal diet of rabbit food and beans is that I am always hungry! It sucks! I put a half cup of rinse and drained cannellini beans on top of my salad so I’m hoping it hold me over at least until after the gym.

Either way, I am already feeling lighter and that’s what I really want.

The recipe is as follows:
Two three handfuls of baby spinach (romaine would have been good, too)
One tomato
One carrot
Handful of fresh flat leaf (Italian) parsley
Half cup of cannellini (aka white kidney) beans
For the dressing:
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Ground cumin

I tossed all except for the beans in a large bowl and tossed. Then I piled the beans on top. That’s it!

I did a calculation using myfitnesspal.com and this huge salad is only 210 calories! Not bad! With the calories that low, guess who’s having a homemade chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich later?

Vegucated

Food adventures January 2, 2013 Leave a comment

getvegucated.com

I was going to my Amazon Instant Videos to watch Forks Over Knives again when I stumbled upon this gem of a documentary that I haven’t seen before.

The following is the synopsis (taken from the website above):

Part sociological experiment and part adventure comedy, Vegucated follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. Lured by tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover the hidden sides of animal agriculture that make them wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough. This entertaining documentary showcases the rapid and at times comedic evolution of three people who discover they can change the world one bite at a time.

So basically, if you have seen Forks Over Knives; Food, Inc.; Fast Food Nation; Supersize Me; or any other of the many movies/documentaries out there about what we put in our bodies every day, you might like this documentary, too. Check it out!

What other movies have I not seen? What other good ones are out there other than those I listed above?

Getting back into the routine

Favorites, Menu, Recipes, Vegan Recipes January 2, 2013 Comments: 2

538405_10200211875682033_121956455_nOk, it’s day 2 of the new year and I’m starting out on a good note. It was a vegan dinner tonight made with a no-recipe recipe because they were almost all leftovers! Yes! On the right side of my plate, I have leftover couscous from the lunch I made on Saturday (see previous post). After I stuffed those acorn squash, I had a bunch leftover and I couldn’t let it go to waste. In the middle are some lovely green beans that I bought at Sprouts yesterday. I steamed them in the microwave (about 5 minutes) then melted some Earth Balance over the top and added salt and pepper. Then, on the left, are leftover Brussels sprouts and potatoes from our New Years Eve dinner at Union Public House. It was hearty and satisfying and delicious and I am feeling good about myself right now! After eating these Brussels sprouts tonight, it reminded me how much I absolutely love them. I am going to have to get some to make more this week.

 

A vegan lunch for old college housemates

Food adventures, Menu, Recipes January 2, 2013 1 Comment

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I really lucked out when I shared a house with two girls while going to college at the University of Arizona. I found the house on the dreaded Craigslist, met the owner of the house, but did not meet the girl who would be living across the hall and sharing a bathroom with me until after I moved in! Here we are today, graduated, doing big things, and still friends. What could have turned out to be a miserable year turned out to be the beginning of a great friendship and a bond created over both of our love for FOOD. Devynn Hawley, your the best!

On December 29th, 2012, we made plans to get together for lunch, coffee, whatever… we just knew we wanted to see each other. Sure, we keep in touch through facebook, etc, but there is nothing like an in-person hangout.

I decided I would cook lunch for my amiga – just like old times! We both wanted something light and healthy after overindulging over Christmas. So, what better than a nice, nutrient-filled, vegan lunch? I decided to make acorn squash filled with a whole wheat couscous mixture of cranberries, walnuts, parsley, and green onion. I paired this with my favorite spinach salad that I used to make for Devynn all the time at the old house. It consists of grilled or sauteed onions, spinach, apple, walnuts, cranberries, and a simple dressing of apple cider vinegar and olive oil (oh, and salt and pepper of course).

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To wash it down, I made a mocktail of Trader Joe’s Cherry Cider, Hansens Diet Soda in Tangerine-Lime, and apple slices. For dessert, we had a couple of those no-egg chocolate chip cookies I made the night before.

A vegan lunch for old college housemates

It was awesome catching up and gossiping about boys and such. I made a friend for life while living in that house and at the core is, once again, food.

Let me know if you want any of these recipes and I will gladly post them!

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