Going out with a sneeze

I have a cold. It’s full blown-sies. An end of school year gift from my students I’m sure. When I’m under the weather, I don’t feel like doing anything in the kitchen.  Solution: get someone else to do the cooking.

Neal made me this brunch of tofu scramble, fried “ham”, english muffins and strawberries.

And one night we went to Harmony, a veg Chinese restaurant.

Pickled carrots and cabbage, served at the beginning of each meal here. Neal doesn’t like it so I eat it all.

Wonton Soup- we always order this when we eat here.

Salt and Pepper “Squid”- new menu item, second time we’ve gotten it.

Szechuan style green beans- we order this every time we’re here.

Orange “beef”- don’t order this as often, but it was tasty!

I’ve been taking vitamin C, drinking a lot of tea and smoothies, and sucking on Ricola’s non-stop. I sure hope I am feeling back to my old self soon. I’m tired of the stuffed up nose and the Darth Vader-like mouth breathing.

Any tips on how to curb a cold quick?

Whole Foods for a Well Vegan

I am testing out this 14-day free trial of Well Vegan, a week by week vegan menu planner, that I read about on Glue and Glitter. Though I’m not a vegan for health reasons, my gut is telling me (pun intended) that I need to start eating more whole foods.

We have made the following so far:

Almond Quinoa Muffin

I have never made a muffin that has quinoa in it! We used dried apricots as our fruit.

Broccoli Pesto Pasta

N made this and he thought I wouldn’t like it because it was “lemon-y”. That’s actually why I love this dish! It’s a unique take on pesto.

Tofu Scramble and Hash Browns

This meal pulls from the ppk tofu scramble (we added in nearly all the suggested add-in veggies). We cut prep time even more for this meal by using our food processor to slice up the potatoes and onions for the hash browns.

Using Well Vegan has been a wonderful time saver! I just have to hit print and I get the weekly shopping list, meal plan and recipes all in one. The shopping list is simple, already having most of the items in our pantry, and the meals are straightforward and realistic for busy people.

Helllloooo to a healthier me! Gym, here I come!! Cookie, I can eat you because I ate my fruits and veggies earlier.

Party hard

This past week has been my spring break (I’m not a student). That is why I haven’t posted in awhile…because things have been getting wild-crazy up in here! It’s been a non-stop party.

The party started with catching up on reads.

The all out rager continued with catching up with crafty stuff.

The party got a little out of control when we decided to get all healthy and bike everywhere,

and hike Stone Mountain.

Ahh, nothing says nature like an electric pole covered in gum.

No party is complete without food. Eating out. We did that.

Breakfast special at Radial *Click on the pic for the link to the restaurant*

I folded it in half. Radial did not.

Vegan tacos from Holy Taco *click for link*

Eating in. We did that too. The point is, I got to eat good breakfasts, as opposed to the normal stuffing cereal in my mouth at lightning speed as I dash out the door.

Shiitake, potatoes halfway cooked in the microwave, cubed "ham", green onions, garlic and red/yellow onions.

Smashed firm tofu mixed with salt, turmeric, pepper, and other spices.

A cup or two of soygurt and 2 blobs of peanut butter blended to make a fruit dip.

After sautéing the veggies and tofu with Daiya and slicing up some fresh fruit.

Props to Tiffany at livelearnloveeat.com for the fruit dip inspiration. Click on the pic for the link!

And no party is complete without some puppies. Those guys really know how to party.

Spring break 2012…woooooo! Let me hear ya holla!! Does anybody have some aspirin? My head is killing me.

I ::heart:: weekend brunches!

Since I was gone for a couple of days, it was nice to get back in the kitchen to bake and cook this morning! After taking the dogs out this morning, I got started on a batch of pumpkin muffins (from VV). While those were baking, I whipped together a tofu scramble with a side of tempeh un-bacon.

My palette. Consisting of veggies, tofu, garlic, spices and nutritional yeast.

Our brunch.

I’m terribly anxious for the fall weather and all that it brings (Halloween, crisp leaves, perhaps some vegan apple pie…) and the pumpkin muffins definitely helped get me more in an “autumn” mood as it is full of “fall-like” spices such as cloves, cinnamon and allspice. By the way, that orange juice in the background is the best orange juice. It’s really like fresh squeezed oranges! Its made by a company called “Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company” and we get it at our co-op.