The Much Anticipated Eggplant Casserole Was a Success!

I can't believe I didn't blog at all today! Not even breakfast! Well here it is, the whole day.

Breakfast

I made myself a mocha this morning which is quite a treat. I was just in the mood I guess!

For the main course of the morning I made Cinnamon Apple Oats, and old staple. In the mix

• 1 sliced apple
• 1 cup water
• 1 handful raisins
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. milled flaxseeds
• cinnamon
• vanilla extract
• drizzle maple syrup
• splash soymilk

Can't go wrong with Cinnamon Apple oats, Mocha, and a Women's Once a Day!
After I turned in that crazy paper, Savannah and I walked our bikes instead of riding to soak up the sun. Today was HOT! It hasn't been warm like this in a while and we were really lovin it. We stopped and got Blenders! I got a baby blender tropical Guava minus the sherbet, added soy. Delish!

Lunch

For lunch I had a spinach salad with avocado, pre-made chickpeas, a little of Annie's lite Italian dressing, and carrots and hummus on the side.
For 'dessert' I enjoyed this Chocolate Chip Z Bar.
I love these!!

Snack

I've been having some weird stomach things going on lately where I can't tell if I'm hungry or if I'm having a stomach ache or what! I decided to try out this juice (which had a coupon woohoo!) called Good Belly. I measured out exactly 8 oz. which is supposed to have like... a bazillion live cultures in there to help my stomach!
I also gave these seaweed chips a try just out of curiosity and they were well priced.
They were surprisingly good and I gobbled them up!

Dinner

For dinner I decided to finally make a recipe of Susan's from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen that I have been drooling over for quite a while now: Creamy Creole Eggplant Casserole. I thought making a casserole would be good for this week because it would supply me with plenty of meals and only one night of cooking yessss!

Eggplants are alien plants! I cooked these for 40 minutes and 425 F.
Chopped up celery, green bell pepper, and white onion.
Chopped up garlic and mushrooms.
Alien guts! I mean, eggplant :)
Chickpeas and spiiiiices!
I cooked the onions, celery, and pepper till they were soft...
Then added the mushrooms and garlic. Then a little while later added the chickpeas, eggplant, and seasonings.
While this cooked I prepared in the blender a mixture of silken tofu, cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder (it was supposed to be onion but we didn't have any!) and water. Then I added that to the veggies and it cream-ified everything!
I placed everything in this dish, covered the top with bread crumbs, and voila! This pretty baby filled up the whole house with the smell of something delicious! I was so ready to dig in.

It was sooo good. Even a little spicy which I wasn't expecting.
Seconds! I have a feeling this is one of those dishes that is going to be even better tomorrow.
For dessert I followed suit with my favorite gals Kath and Tina and made ice cream out of frozen bananas! All I used was

• 1/2 frozen banana
• less than 1/3 cup silken tofu
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. agave syrup
• chocolate chips
• pecans

It is so satisfying and creamy! I do think this shall become a new staple!
It's bed time for bonzo. I really want to get up and run tomorrow morning and get my day off to a good start. I also have a killer breakfast planned, a.k.a. motivation for getting out of bed!

G'night!!

Shabbos Weekend, Kindergarden Friends!

I was in such a rush to get out of the house on Friday morning that I didn't think to grab any of my tasty snacks. Luckily I had this fruit strip in my bag which I ate during studio.

Doesn't my car look all nice and shiny!? I was so happy to finally get it back even though I do have to bring it back again to get something else fixed. It's always one the or another I guess. I went to LA this weekend to have Shabbos with the Zarets and even my brother flew in from Sacramento!

I knew I needed to keep a lot of room in my stomach because they try to stuff you to the brim on Shabbos. But I didn't want to starve on the drive down. I picked up a Carrot juice smoothie from Blenders and a chocolate chip Clif Bar.
Orange!
So I didn't take any pictures of the food on Shabbos but rest assured everything was amaaaazing and I did my best to keep myself in check!

After Shabbos Eric and I went to visit some friends who we met when I was in kindergarden! Alex and I went to kindergarden together, Dena is his younger sister. They made a special vegetable dinner for the weirdo vegan as I'm known there haha. It was sooooo delicious!

Juice to drink which is a treat for me!
Afterwards, Dena and I were on the prowl for some sweets! Cocoa puffs hit the spot.
Breakfast was some reheated grilled veggies and an english muffin with apricot pineapple jam. Oh! and coffee with almond milk. Alex provided the stuffed animal and the gang sign lol!
Lunch was a little pasta and some marinara sauce from an Italian Deli.
I don't know why I haven't mentioned it yet but I LOVE this gum! It's the cinnamon flavor by 5 and I use it all the time to give my mouth something to do and to stop me from eating more once I've finished.
Dena had a benefit piano recital that afternoon that we went to and she was great! There was a little reception after and I grabbed some punch. It was grapefruit, cranberry, and sprite tasting.
Early dinner pre drive home meal was awesome!!
When I got home I had the last of my oatmeal cookies smothered in peanut butter and chocolate chips!
I still wanted something so Kelsey suggested protein. I made a simple sandwich with fake sausage and hempseed hummus.

I had an awesome weekend and I totally enjoyed myself but I'm feeling a little off. I feel like I've lost sight of my normally second nature healthy habits. This week my small goals are going to be

1. drink more water
2. eat more fruit and veggies INSTEAD of sweets
3. exercise AT LEAST twice

If I can do that this week I will feel accomplished.