Full and Not Full

Snack

A little passed the halfway point into studying I couldn't resist those juicy oranges. I thought leaving them in the peel would help to avoid the juice mess that usually happens. I also lit my Oleander candle to set the study mood. It helped!

Dinner

Finally I finished and it was dinner time! Just in time too, Savannah rolled in and we decided to start watching the series The United States of Tara. My dinner is suspiciously similar to last nights but I don't care because it was so good! On the plate:

• roasted broccoli
• roasted sweet potatoes with yellow mustard
• mushroom soup rice with kidney beans (and a little something extra...see below)
• corn bread muffin with vegan butter

While I was studying I got an intense craving for the sun dried tomato and mushroom risotto that I made for my birthday last year. I thought I would use this black truffle infused oil to bring back that flavor. I mixed 1/4 Tbsp. into my rice but sadly it didn't do much if anything to the flavor :(

Dessert

About three episodes into The United States of Tara we took a dessert break. I went for Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet with mango and blueberries all mixed up.
Now I am really to hit the hay! Is it possible to feel full and not full at the same time? My stomach feels full for sure but it also feels sort of hungry...I don't think I had enough protein in my dinner or something. I nixed the hummus tonight so I could have that black truffle oil. Hmm, I guess it just means I will have to have a hearty breakfast! I'm already mentally concocting.

Good night!

It's Not Hard When All You Eat Are Veggies

Lunch

After class I decided to run downtown to Macy's to pick up my recital dress (I did pre-sale, saved 30 bucks!). I also hit Trader Joe's on the way back which did pretty quickly but still only left me 20 minutes to prepare and scarf down my lunch! I hate rushing when I eat :( My salad was

• baby lettuce mix
• snow peas
• tomato
• beets
• mushroom soup rice with kidney beans
• carrot sticks
• celery
• TJ's roasted tomato salsa
• TJ's Eggplant Hummus

The eggplant hummus is only 35 calories for 2 Tbsp. Um, hellooooo hummus!

Snack

After work I went for this Coconut Cream Pie Lärabar. I was walking to choir when I took this shot.Man these things are like dessert! Now I remember by the Coconut Cream Pie is one of my favorites.

Dinner

For dinner I decided, even though I was pretty hungry, to put the time in and cook. I was inspired by Tina's salad the other day which had roasted sweet potato chips. I sliced one sweet potato into discs, laid them on a baking tray which I sprayed with cooking oil, and baked them for 20 min at 350F.
Then I got to work making some cornbread! Somehow I ended up with two bags of cornmeal. Figured I may as well use them up! I got my recipe from Fatree Vegan Kitchen and used her recipe for Confetti Cornbread minus the confetti (bell peppers and corn). I also used gluten free baking mix because that's what I had! I am definitely sharing these with Miz Kelsey, my gluten free, roomie. Here's the drys,

and the wets. I combined the two and poured the batter into 11 individual muffin tins. They baked for 20 minutes at 400F.

Voila! Dinner is served! Roasted sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli, mushroom soup rice with kidney beans, cornbread muffin with expertly measured out vegan buttery spread, yellow mustard, and eggplant hummus. What more could a vegan ask for!?!?
Not to toot my own horn, but when I try, I can really whip out a tasty dinner! I guess it's not hard when all you eat are veggies :)

Dessert

I was thoroughly enjoying myself while I ate dinner with an episode of Six Feet Under that I didn't want it to end. I decided to watch the last episode of season 1 with a fruity dessert. Here we have

• scoop of my homemade Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet
• frozen mango from trader joe's
• frozen blueberries also from TJ
• Kelsey's raw coconut cashew cookie bar.

There really is sorbet in there, I promise!
See, there it is!
By the time I finished season 1, it was bed time. I missed last nights post but I knew you would understand that sleep was more important! Hope you had a good night too!

Ants on a Log Brings me Back

Monday morning I got up early to finish that Ethics paper I so wonderfully put off till the last minute. Sometimes I actually work better under a deadline. (That doesn't mean I like it!) I perked up with this mug of peppermint tea.

Breakfast

For breakfast I had a beautiful bowl of fruit and yogurt. Fresh fruit is so pretty!

• 1/2 cup soy yogurt
• 1 slice banana bread
• mixed berries
• 1 Tbsp. of Kelsey's raw flaxseed coconut banana pancake mix

I also made sure to take my Cleanse tablets and a Women's One a Day.
This morning was my dress rehearsal for my recital. All that really means is that I get the chance to sing in the room that I will be performing in but it's exciting because the sound is totally different in there. It felt really good to be in that space and I am getting super excited about my recital. I decided to treat myself to something warm to drink: tea latte! I asked them to use mostly water and some steamed soy. I went with mint tea, my classic favorite.

Lunch

After classes I came home and made a crazy salad for lunch.

• chopped cabbage
• snow peas
• tomatoes
• cucumber
• yellow onion
• 2 Tbsp. Tahini Salad dressing

The carrot sticks served double as snacks and salad tossers! Like my yellow carrot from the farmer's market?
I also had ants on a log! I had been craving some ants on a log for a while now and I finally got 'em. It just brings me back!
Later I ate this juicy orange. There is so much juice in these, they just fill me up!
I bought too many lemons when I was on my cleanse so I decided to make strawberry lemonade something.
I ended up putting everything in the blender and eventually transferring it to the ice cream maker to make Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet! The mix included

• 2 cups lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 10 Tbsp. Agave
• 4 dates

It came out pretty tangy and I probably should have cut the lemon juice with water but it's whatever!

Snack

On our way out to choir I smeared a slice of banana bread with almond butter. Ok seriously, this snack was dangerously good. And I mean dangerous! This is the kind of thing I could get addicted to so I better just be careful!

Dinner

After choir I was in the mood to cook. I came up with quite the feast if I do say so myself! On top we have Kabocha Squash with Roasted Beets, garlic and onions. The lower left is rice cooked in left over Raw Creamy Portabello Bisque topped with marinated portabello. And on the lower left is Tina's recipe for Roasted Broccoli. Doesn't this sound like a menu at a restaurant!?
The roasted broccoli recipe does call for sugar which I was wary of but I wanted to taste what Tina had been raving about and also what I will be aiming to replicate without using refined sugar. I altered the amount of oil from 2 Tbsp. to 1 and the sugar from 1/8 cup to 3 tsp.
Warning!!! If beets are not cooked completely they will be very bitter. I'm embarrassed to say but I didn't cook my beets enough. I should've known and just boiled them to finish them off but I was hungry and stubborn. I tried to doctor it a bit with some mustard. Next time will be better!

Dessert

For dessert I had a serving of the Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet, half of a raw cashew coconut cookie bar, and some fresh berries.
Look at that yellow raspberry! So tasty.
Being back on cooked food is good but I am still feeling the effects of the raw diet and I like it. What would I do without my veggies!?!?!