Happy, happy Friday! Hope that you all have some fabulous plans for the weekend. I've had a great week in Jersey hanging out with family and girlfriends, and have some fun plans that I'm looking forward to for the weekend. My week has been full of good food, and there are definitely certain eateries that I simply must hit up when I'm in town. One of those places is Veggie Heaven (my post on the restaurant can be viewed here), which I just chowed down on for dinner: (I'm digging my fortune!) And speaking of yummy, healthy Asian food, I have a new recipe to share today! ... [Read More]
vegan recipes
Spicy Vegetable Wonton Soup {vegan}
A couple of weeks ago, I awoke to a rare sound in Southern California that had me confused about where I was for a moment... pouring rain. I don't mind a rainy day here and there - especially when the area is in a serious drought that has caused the water company to restrict the days that I can water my plants - and I find it especially nice to wake up to the sound of rain. I didn't want to get out of bed, but my mind was immediately awakened to thoughts of food (surprise, surprise!), more specifically the idea of soup. The rain stopped about 10 minutes later and the sun was shining the rest of the day, but I had made up my mind that I was in the mood for soup for dinner. Around 11 hours later, I was in the kitchen chopping broccoli and folding wonton wraps with a very attentive ... [Read More]
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Date Bites
Any time I have guests in town, I make sure to have some good meal ideas, ingredients on hand to prepare to prepare those yummy meals, and restaurants ideas for a couple of delicious meals out. I'm pretty sure that anyone that knows me expects nothing less - After all, I call myself a foodie for a reason! :) When my mother-in-law was in town visiting a few weeks ago, we enjoyed some pretty awesome eats. We strolled around at the Vista Farmers Market one day.... ... [Read More]
Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie [Vegan]
My hubby and I have a very serious, ongoing debate in our household. You see, we're both grown ups that like eating PB & J sandwiches -- though I make mine a banana, PB & J sandwich because it seems more adult to add a fruit into the mix -- but he only likes grape jelly. I, on the other hand, think grape jelly is gross and prefer strawberry or raspberry jelly. PB & J sandwiches happen to be our go-to thing to pack if we're on the road, going to the beach or anything like that, so it has come up many times and usually starts something like this: Me: "Babe, we're out of grape jelly. Should I just put strawberry on your sandwiches?" Him: "Nah, I don't like strawberry jelly." Me: "Stop the madness...How do you not like strawberry jelly??" When my hubby's ... [Read More]
Cinnamon Raisin Granola [Vegan & Gluten Free]
Nearly all of the billion people on the planet who have eaten it say this, but granola is seriously addicting. Despite knowing this, I got in a granola munching mood recently and couldn't resist whipping up a new homemade version: cinnamon raisin flaxseed granola. Since it's well documented on here that I'm cinnamon obsessed and eat it on nearly everything, it shouldn't be a surprise that this granola is full of cinnamon-y goodness. I decided to use a sweetener I haven't used in awhile: brown rice syrup. A few tidbits about it: Brown rice syrup is made by culturing cooked rice with enzymes to break down the starches, then straining off the liquid and reducing it by cooking until the desired consistency is reached. It's vegan and gluten-free. It has a sticky consistency ... [Read More]
Banana Chocolate Buckwheat Pancakes [Vegan & Gluten Free]
Being the big pancake lover that I am, I obviously couldn't let National Pancake Day pass me by without whipping up a new flapjack recipe! Before talking about my yummy creation, I want to share a picture of the newest addition to my family -- a baby boy name Daniel Richard! I became an aunt for the third time this morning when my younger brother Danny and his girlfriend welcomed him into the world. How precious of a little face right? Being across the country from my loved ones is hard when things happen with my family. I would love to hold him while he's so tiny, but I'll have to wait a few months for my next trip to the East coast to meet him. Moving onto other happy things, pancakes... When I picked up some buckwheat flour at my local health food store yesterday, I immediately had ... [Read More]