Carrot Frenzy

Yesterday after class I got straight to the cookin! I needed to get on the prep for the Green Chef competition since my dish was not a quick one. I guess I should tell you what I making huh? I decided to call my recipe "Died and Gone to Carrot Cake Heaven" which is a coconut, macademia nut, ginger, carrot cake layered with ginger infused coconut milk ice cream and garnished with coconut, candied shredded carrot.

My inspiration for the ice cream recipe came from Babbling Blueberry but I adapted it to be vegan and to suit my needs. I started by chopping up 3 0z. of fresh ginger.

I boiled the ginger for two minutes and then drained all the water.

Next I added 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice,1 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1 cup soy creamer. I let this steep for 35 minutes on low heat then switched the heat off when I noticed it starting to bubble too much and let it sit, lid on for the next 25 minutes. Total it was 1 hour of steeping.

Completely unrelated to the ice cream, I have my little sprouters all set up with cheese cloth! I got the step by step directions to do this from The Front Burner under Sprouting 101.

Lunch

For lunch I enjoyed a big ol' bowl of lentil soup. pita with tahini and guac, and a mate mojito soda.
This soda was delicious! It was minty and limey and very refreshing. Plus the green bottle made me feel like I was drinking beer in the afternoon so basically it made me feel hardcore. haha I'm so lame.
Now back to cooking and on to some shredding action.
At some point during the steeping of the ginger business I scooped out 1/4 cup of the mixture and reserved it in the fridge for this very moment. Rather than using eggs like most ice creams, I used arrowroot which has a thickening property. I mixed in two tablespoons but later added a third to the whole batch so when I made round two of all of this I added three all at the same time.

Next I removed the ginger from the pot and turned the heat back on just to re-warm the mixture.
After thoroughly whisking in the arrowroot mixture I strained everything into a pourable bowl using this very fine mesh strainer.
I placed that in the freezer for a quick cool down and got to work on the cake. I got the recipe for this from Vegan With a Vengeance whose author is the writer of the blog The Post Punk Kitchen. I have yet to make a single thing out of her cookbook that hasn't been absolutely amazing and pleasing to vegans and non vegans alike! I had a crazy murder mystery party for my 20th birthday and cooked everything out of her book. It was a feast I still remember slash crave.

Here we have:

• 1 cup pineapple juice (which I actually extracted from a can of crushed pineapple)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice

To the liquids I added the drys which was:

• 2 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

It smelled like carrot cake before the carrots even hit the scene y'all.
And of course, 2 cups of shredded carrots
1/4 cup chopped crystalized ginger,
and 1 cup unsweetened coconut.
Baked it in the oven at 350F for 42 minutes exactly.
Uh...yes, I licked the bowl. Do you even have to ask?

Snack

Once the cake was done and I took it out to cool, I decided it was 'now or never' if I was ever going to get my nails done. I snagged this chocolate cashew cookie Lärabar on the way out.
Definitely a keeper. Not super sweet but rich, bittersweet chocolate flavor.
I didn't want to have my acrylics ripped off and I also didn't want to keep them up so I asked to have them filled down and went with OPI Samoan Sand. I am in love with this color!
Soon as I got back I started the ice cream maker with my chilled coconut mixture. 30 minute spin.
I traced the loaf pan I would be putting my creation in and if you look closely on the cake you can see the outline. (Did you know if you click the pictures they get big? Pretty nifty.)
I cut out the slices from the baking dish and then sliced those in half. A perfect fit.
Those little nubs will not be going to waste. Can you say: taste testers!

Dinner

I was getting hungry, my appetite especially provoked by all the sweetness. I was in no mood to cook outside of my carrot frenzy so I busted out this Kashi frozen entree. These never disappoint and I have had this Black Bean Mango dish before.
I supplemented with a little of my homemade guac and some cholula.
When the ice cream was ready I spread a layer of ice cream evenly on all three of the loafs and topped it with the other slice of the cake. I popped those bad boys in the freezer to set. Kelsey and I split this little guy as a taste tester. One word: deadly.

My friend Tommy came over to get a little studying done before the quiz the next morning so I was a good little hostess and set out some of this curry spice popcorn I made.

I know that this was yesterday and trust me, I would really like to post about today because it was very eventful and fun but I am pooooped! And I have a performance tomorrow which trumps everything....even dishes. Sorry roomies! You know I always end up doing them. And I promise I will, just not tonight.

You know how tired I am? I can feel it in my eyeballs. That's not the usual for me. The other night I had a full on lucid dream where, within the first 30 seconds of my dream I turned to the people I was with and said hey, I'm dreaming right now. I felt totally awake and lucid but I knew that I was dreaming. They were all like, no you're not, come on! Pssh! But I said, Hey watch, I'll prove it. And then I pushed off the ground and started flying. It was the most amazing feeling. I could control my dream!! I've been crossing my fingers every night since then that it happens again cause that was just sick!

Anways, that should only serve as extra motivation for me to get into bed right now! Good night.

Double Breakfast

Making breakfast this morning I realized that somehow I completely forgot to post yesterday's breakfast! What the heck?! So that's why this is going to be a double breakfast post.

Breakfast (Sunday)

After completing Jillian's 30 Day Shred for Day 6 I simmered down and made myself a hot cup of java. I've been doing half-caff which is half full caffeine coffee half decaf. It's just the right amount of caffeine for me in the morning and the decaf stuff I have is hazelnut creme flavor. Incentive much? I used a little soy creamer and sweetened with stevia.

Breakfast

All through the workout I was fantasizing about having an oatmeal pancake for breakfast so I researched the recipes I could find online while sipping on my hazelnutty coffee. What I ended up making was a creation all of my own invention.

• 1 mashed banana
• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• splash vanilla extract
• shake cinnamon
• 1 tsp milled flax seed
• 1/4 cup water

Can you tell this is a disaster waiting to happen? I scattered frozen blueberries over the massive pancake while it cooked which made it smell totally delicious and fruity.

It came out pretty good considering I had to use two spatulas to flip this bad boy. Next time I should just make three small ones.
I smeared that sucker with peanut butter and drizzled it with maple syrup.

Workout

This morning I was super tired but I forced myself to get up and do Jillian's 30 Day Shred anyways. Today was Day 7 and after only doing this 20 minute workout for seven days I can really feel the difference. My arms feel much stronger (and Savannah told me she could see my muscles more!). I can feel the muscles in my legs getting stronger and I am a little bit sore everyday but in the good workout kind of way. I am excited about sticking to this video because I think I will really see some changes.

Breakfast, Today!

Now on to today's breakfast! I rehydrated with a glass of water and made myself a very hazelnutty iced coffee. I used mostly unsweetened soy milk but also added a splash of hazelnut creamer and a little stevia. For the oats I went out on a limb and made Butternut Squash Oats!
The ingredients included:

• 1/2 cup frozen butternut squash
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1 banana, sliced
• small handful raisins, about 1/8 cup
• shake cinnamon
• splash vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. milled flaxseed

I started by putting only the frozen squash and the soy milk in the pot to cook the squash. Next I added the bananas, raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla. When the milk started to lightly boil and I added the rest of the ingredients and proceeded to make oatmeal as usual.
It turned out great! I topped it all with a scoop of peanut butter and a drizzle of maple syrup. This is such a great way to get some veggies in the morning.

Wow I just realized what time it is and I am definitely going to be late for class. Gotta run!

Lentil Soup Time

Lunch

For lunch I made a simple sandwich with Tofurkey, homemade guac, hummus, and yellow mustard. On the side I had some cucumber slices, carrots, blue corn flaxseed chips, and a pickle spear. Oh and salsa for dipping. Also, while I was at the co-op I saw that these Chai Colas were on sale so that was my excuse for splurging on them. It was so good! It tasted like a chai root beer float.

Speaking of the Co-op, while I was there I had a serendipitous run in with the coordinator of a cooking competition called Green Chef. I decided to go ahead and enter, why not?! The contest will be held on Tuesday in the Multi Cultural Center at 5:30. All I have to do is come up with a dish that uses the mystery ingredient which this year is carrots. I have to have 40 bite sized samples and I will be judged on creativity, taste, and appearance. I am so excited! My Dad and I had a mad collaborative phone sesh and bounced ideas off each other until finally deciding on a dish. No, I won't tell! It has to be a surprise till Tuesday! Don't worry though, I will documenting everything :)

I decided to get on with it and start soaking these garbanzos so I can sprout them. These will soak overnight.

Dinner

For dinner I decided to make lentil soup. I got my recipe from one of my all time favorite chefs on Food Network: Alton Brown! The only thing I did differently was that I couldn't find spice of paradise and I used more celery than the recipe called for. First I sweated the onions with a little safflower oil along with the carrots, celery, salt and pepper.
Next I added a can of stewed tomatoes, 2 quarts of vegetable broth, a pound of lentils, coriander, and cumin. I let this simmer for at least 40 minutes then blended half for a smooth/ chunky blend.
I grilled up a vegan italian sausage and tossed it right on top of my soup.
Served with the left over roasted broccoli. Dinner!!

Dessert

For dessert I indulged in a little dark chocolate coconut milk ice cream with cherries and strawberries. Yum!!! The strawberries were sweet and the cherries were tangy, both a perfect compliment to the creamy semi-sweet ice cream.
I am one tired girl. I have dishes to do (blah). But then I'm going straight to bed!

Good Night!

Veggie Patty

The show in the park went really well! I sang in the first three songs and then I went out into the audience to snap a few shots of the band. They played awesome and everyone was loving it.

Snack

Afterwards I came home and had some chips and guac while watching Six Feet Under in my bed. By the time the episode was over I couldn't believe how late it was!

Dinner

For dinner I decided to attempt to make my own veggie burger. I made a kind of bean paste concoction a few days ago (during the days that I skipped blogging) and I would estimate that it included:

• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 small white onion
• seasonings to taste, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika

I pulsed everything in the food processor until smooth and stored what I didn't use. Last night I added to that:

• approx. 3/4 cup rice
• 1 cup mix of frozen peas, corn m and carrots
• about 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• garlic powder, salt, pepper, cumin and corriander to taste

The paste was sticky but held together well enough that I could form a patty and cook it in a pan with a little spray on cooking oil. I guess it was really more of a bean-veggie pancake but topping it with mustard made it feel like a burger patty. I also made a batch of the best ever roasted broccoli.

I was pretty happy with how it turned out. And it tasted good too!
I heated up the apple strawberry crisp from Sojourner that I ordered to go. Looks like it held the shape of the cup it was in.
I also finished the other half of that ridiculously good coconut cookie.

Snack

I know it seems a little weird to be having a snack after dinner and dessert but I was having one of those insatiable moments! I decided to be smart and go for the apple and peanut butter instead of something more carbby.
I ended up dressing up like a ninja with Kelsey for a masquerade party woohoo! But don't worry, I came home in time to get plenty of beauty rest ;) I skipped Jillian's video since my knees were feeling funny so that means Sunday I have a date will Jill!