Time for soups!!

Okay, so I don't hide the fact that I don't like cold weather. Really, I don't. I could live with 90 degrees year round.

BUT!!! The one thing I like about fall is that its SOUP weather again! I love making soups and chili's and such. So here is my first soup of the season. Its a new one from Mark Bittman's Seasonal Cookbook (he's the guy who writes How to Cook Everything, which is the Joy of Cooking's rival).

Also, as a side note the cookbook - Mark Bittman Kitchen Express is AMAZING. It separates recipes by season, and the recipes are written so lots of variations can be made on each recipe. It is a meat and veggie eater book, so I recommend to everyone. I've gotten some really great recipes from this.

On to the Soup... Lemony Red Lentil Soup with Cilantro

Okay, so I realize that the picture looks kind of gross...but most soups DO look gross. This one is good, so just close your eyes and take a bite...

I cut up half an onion and cooked it in the pot with a little olive oil. Add 1/2 cup red lentils and2 cups of water (or chicken or vegetable broth). Simmer until cooked. Throw a handful of cilantro and olive oil into a food processor (i.e. my magic bullet), and purree. When the lentils are done, add the cilantro, and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Add salt to taste. Tada!!! Yum.

My favorite from this book is his chili. Give it a try...

http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Bittmans-Kitchen-Express-inspired/dp/1416575669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286126983&sr=8-1

Another recipe I want to share...which should have been more for the summer season is...

Massaged Kale Salad with Mango - SO RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS!!

Here's the recipe...http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/massaged-kale-salad-recipe/index.html

Easy Like Sunday Mornings....

Sigh....I am sitting at the computer now, drinking tea in a state of bliss. Don't you just LOVE Sunday mornings? I do - at least lazy Sunday mornings like this.

After waking up to the sunshine, I read for an hour in bed, and then it was time to make a fabulous Sunday morning breakfast. I kind of made this one up as I went, and now it might be my favorite thing I've ever eaten for breakfast.

Cheesy Southwestern Tofu Scramble and Cinnamon Raisin Mochi Waffle with Peaches and Drizzled with Maple Syrup

SOOO GOOD! I found this frozen veggie mix at Dierbergs the other day with corn, black beans, peppers, tomatoes, and onions then added the tofu "eggs", tumeric, shoyu (soy sauce), nutritional yeast (gives the yellow egg color and full of B12), and Daiya cheese. It was PERFECTION. Then I found the cinnamon raisin mochi at Whole Foods yesterday and threw some of that in the waffle maker. It was just the right amount of sweetness.

Happy Sunday to all of you!

Recipe for Non-vegans as well!!!

Mmmm...doesn't this look fabulous and colorful and perfect??? This might be my new favorite thing. I was playing around on the interwebs trying to find a good recipe to try and came across this from Rachael Ray. This recipe happens to be vegan, but not on purpose - no weird ingredients here :)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/chickpea-salad-recipe/index.html


2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 small red onion finely chopped

1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped

A few ribs celery and leafy tops, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced or grated then grinded into a paste with salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped, a few sprigs

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Combine chick peas with onions, peppers, celery, garlic, red pepper flakes and rosemary in a medium bowl. Dress salad with vinegar and oil, salt and pepper.

So easy and delicious - I dare you not to like it!! And if you aren't a chickpea fan, I was thinking you could cook up some bowtie pasta and make a yummy pasta salad with it as well :)

Mac and Cheese

As many of you may know, I love me some macaroni and cheese. There were summers that I had some mac 'n cheese everyday for a month or so - I love it!! As a vegan, making a good macaroni and cheese is difficult since I don't eat cheese anymore...

Well, I've been trialing some recipes. I have a pretty good one, but I still think I can do better.

First try was from 30 Minute Vegan. SO GROSS I couldn't even eat it. I mean - look at it... just not good and freaky color...

The second try was just using soymilk and my favorite cheese - Daiya. It was also not very good. Don't get me wrong, I love my Daiya...but umm...it was too rich, and not quite the right kind of cheesey.

Finally, I went to The Kind Life Blog and found a recipe that Alicia uses...it was pretty good. Not exactly like cheese, but still a tasty dish - I have a few ideas to work on it on my next try. It was creamy, and actually made a sauce. Doesn't it look more like real mac and cheese too?...

This link should get you to her blog and the recipe:

http://www.thekindlife.com/post/mac-cheese

I have a frozen premade macaroni in the freezer - I'll let you know how that goes...

Anyone else out there have a good vegan recipe for this??

The Eat Pray Love Ex

Whatever Happened To Elizabeth Gilbert's Ex-Husband? The Frisky


I hope I can be this classy when I write my memoir. haha

I am glad to hear about the other side of the story.

A Few Words on Eat Pray Love

Reading the book a few years ago (in my former life as I like to call it), I remember feeling inspired. Not to leave my husband and fly around the world (although on second thought...). But, what I loved about the book was the reminder that all that we need in this world resides within ourselves. No thing or no person can fill that role for us. Its a lesson I am still learning. I count the book among one of my favorites.

However, in my current life now, watching the movie I found myself yearning to see the other side of the story. In the movie, yes Liz still loses herself and finds herself all over again. I respect so much her decision to take charge of her life and the kind of person she wanted to be. Yet, I couldn't stop thinking about Steven - her husband who was just left. He'd been torn out from the life he wanted and loved, and couldn't really see why. He didn't get any kind of real explanation. He made vows/promises that he had planned on keeping - for better or worse. Suddenly he was being forced out of his own vows. It made me sad for him. I couldn't stop thinking about him throughout the film.

I think a lot of women identify with Liz. In a lot of ways I do too. I have actually heard stories of women who have seen the movie and decided they need to get out of their marriages. Wow! But mostly I identify with Steven. We aren't all meant to have adventures quite as amazing as Ms. Gilbert. I would have liked to have seen what he had to do to put himself back together. I like to think that he was able to find in himself the strength to be his best self as well. I'm sure he did it more understated way, though. In the end there was a shot of Steven walking down the street with his new wife and a baby.

I guess the best we can do, no matter what trauma life brings us, is just to try and pick up all our pieces to put ourselves back together again. We might find that they come together a little differently this time, but that's okay. Everything we really need comes from within ourselves anyway.

And I Remember the Day...when you left for Santa Monica...

I feel a personal connection to this cafe - they had fabulous Chai Latte's...OMG! I got one everyday on my way back from my workout...oops :)

Meghan and Jayme being cold in the ocean.

This is after our bike trip to Venice (2 miles down the bike path). Meghan and I learned that we weren't quite as bad at biking as we remembered.

Me rubbing the Budha belly in Venice.

Me eating Nutella. Okay, so Nutella is NOT vegan...but its delicious, and it was kind of my goodbye morning to my favorite chocolatey treat!!


______________________________________________

Sigh...back to real life.

Last week, I had the most amazing vacation in Santa Monica with two of my besties (I don't know how I adopted this word, but unfortunately it is sticking), Jayme and Meghan. I get to see Jayme pretty often because she lives in town...but my Meghan is all the way in Seattle, so it was SO AWESOME to see her again!!

Anyway, we stayed in a little motel in Santa Monica just a few blocks from the beach. We all had dreams of laying around in our swimsuits on the beach all day long. Remember Baywatch, when all the guys were shirtless on the beach and the women rollerbladed in their bikinis?? - that was what we imagined.

We were wrong.

California is freaking cold!! However, after the initial shock of this (and Jayme and I buying jackets for the evennings), we began to love it! The days were warm enough to walk around and hang out at the beach or walk on the promenade. The evennings we added our jackets and hung out some more.

Santa Monica might possibly be the greatest place ever!! In the mornings I got up early and ran or walked either in the sand or on the bike path. It was so fun to see everyone out and about getting their morning workouts in. There is something wonderful about the ocean that gets you out of bed to pound the pavement.

Then we ate. And ate. And ate. There were so many wonderful restaurants, and we banned any chain restaurants. There was Mexican, Italian, Vegan (a dedicated blog to follow), Asian, Fusion Food Trucks....anything we wanted. Everything was delicious. My awesome cousin and aunt even took us to this fabulous Carribean restaurant on our last night - SO DELICIOUS!!!

So much to tell, but I thought I would post a few of my favorite pictures. Then tomorrow or when I get time, I will post about my amazing experience at the vegan restaurant. Yum yum!!