Last night at 1:30 am I ordered a 17'' PowerBook G4. I ponied up an extra $35 for overnight shipping. My soul broke when I paid for it. It cost more than my car. More than 4 months rent. 8 months, actually, since I only pay half. Bottom line: this is one fucking expensive piece of machinery.

It arrived this morning at 11 am. Talk about overnight shipping! Macconnection.com and DHL have earned a place in my heart. I'm an instant gratification type of girl, so ordering a laptop, going to sleep, and waking up to the sound of it being delivered was a beautiful thing.

Another beautiful thing is the computer itself. Macs are sexy. That's just how it is. I've never owned one, but we use them exclusively at school. They're pretty much the gold standard when it comes to graphics, animation, and art of any kind - which is why I had to get one. Yes, had to get one. At the beginning of next semester all junior illustration majors will be required to have an Apple laptop. So it was a matter of when, not if. I applied for a few credit cards and got declined on all counts (lack of income, I assume), so I decided to just bite the bullet and pay for the whole thing up front. It cut my bank balance in half, but it was better to do it now than wait until half was all I had, you know? At least now I know what I have to work with and can budget accordingly.

Anyway. It's a very hot little piece of electronic ass. I got the 17'' for 2 reasons. One, Apple has very recently (as in last Wednesday) decided to stop selling the 15'' PowerBooks, and the few that I managed to find online were equal if not higher in price than the 17''. Two, I'm getting rid of my PC and using the PowerBook as my only computer. So it made sense to get the larger one on all counts.

I'm not too familiar with the inner workings of Macs, so I'm a little confused, I'm not going to lie. The Boy is a computer genius, so when he gets home from work tonight I'm sure he'll be able to help me figure some things out. Until then I'm just exploring, and also revelling in how unbelievably hot this computer is. I want to pet it and call it my precious. My own. My preciousssss.

Yeah. I'm a dork. I won't apologize. If you don't hear from me for a while it's because me and my hot ass PowerBook ran away to Cuernavaca to sip umbrella drinks and talk nerdy to each other. 100 011 1001. Oh baby.

Posted by Amanda at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Cinnamon Life with soymilk. Again. I hate mornings.

Lunch
Baked Falafel with lettuce and tahini sauce in a wheat pita, baby carrots, and 3 dried dates with an almond stuffed inside. It's true: falafel is source of all happiness. It's just as good cold, too.

Snack
A clementine.
1/2 oz. of almonds.
A Peanut butter and jelly oatmeal muffin. I modified this recipe from VegWeb to include a little dollop of jam in the center. I had dreams of moist peanut buttery muffins with a sweet hit of strawberry jam hidden inside - yum. Too bad it didn't work out that way. They're not moist. Or particularly peanut buttery, for that matter. And the jam oozed everywhere. And they're really ugly, which is never fun. I mean, I didn't even bother taking a picture. That's how bad they are.

I declare this experiment a failure, but since I only stuck some jam in the middle I have to blame the recipe. I definitely won't make these again, although I'd love to find a good recipe for something similar.

Dinner
A black bean burger and fresh fruit at the Dispensing Co.

Snack
Another PBJ muffin. I wanted to like them. I thought maybe cooling had done them some good. No. No, it hadn't. I actually think they got worse. They're just so dry. It's like the Sahara in my mouth.
Baby carrots.

Posted by Amanda at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments

It's only been 6 weeks since I started this blog. Which means that it's only been 6 weeks since Operation: Lard Out took effect. That's so ridiculous. It seems like it's been so much longer. It's strange how quickly things can become part of your routine.

Anyway. I weighed myself on Sunday - I'm down another pound. So I've lost 7 pounds total. Not bad. I'm beginning to see it a little bit. My pants are looser. Some of my shirts are getting a little big as well. The best part, though, is that my boobs are shrinking.

Yes, the best part. I hate my boobs. They're way too freaking big. It wouldn't be so bad if they were proportional, but no. I'm short. Like, really short. 5-foot-nothing. Somewhere underneath all this fat is a pretty small person. D-cups do not belong on that person. The only good they've done me is making me look like I weigh less than I do, either because a good bit of my weight is actually on my chest or because they draw attention away from the fat that's everywhere else. Otherwise they're just a very literal pain. Mostly in the back region, and especially when attempting to run. So yeah, the fact that I had to trade in my bras for a C-cup is something I'm very happy about.

Wish me continued boob shrinkage.

---

Do you want to know a fool-proof way to kill your appetite? Spend the day sniffing turpentine. We were using oil paint in class today, and although most of us were using odorless thinner a few people had the stinky stuff. My friend was one of these, and she spilled a bunch of it all over the place. Right next to me. The smell was just... wow. The room was pretty full of fumes to begin with and that just put it over the top.

So, turpentine. An appetite suppressant you can get at the hardware store.

Posted by Amanda at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Cinnamon Life with soymilk. I'm pretty zombie-like in the morning, but today was especially bad. I only had time for cereal before work.

Snack
1 oz. of almonds.
A clementine.

Lunch
Baked falafel with lettuce and tahini sauce wrapped up in a piece of naan with baby carrots on the side. So basically a duplicate of last night's dinner, except with 4 falafels instead of 6 and the naan was onion flavored this time. Yum.

Snack
6 dried dates.

Dinner
Aloo Matar. Delicious as ever.


Snack
The other half of that toasted almond tropical source bar from yesterday. You know, back in the day (which was a Wednesday) this stuff would've tasted so bitter. But my tastes have definitely changed, because now it's mild and creamy and nearly milk chocolate-esque. I may need to pick up another one of these this week. I've been wanting to try the one with crisped rice.

Posted by Amanda at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

Lunch
Parsley potatoes and tempeh bacon.


Snack
The last coconut cupcake. Yum.
1 oz. of almonds.
3 dried dates.
A clementine.

Dinner
Baked falafel, lettuce, and a little tahini sauce wrapped in a piece of naan, with some baby carrots on the side. Man, I love falafel. Of course it's better fried (what isn't?), but even baked it's delicious. This is the first time I've had it with tahini sauce - I used the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. The whole thing was just seriously yummy. My standard falafel recipe is based on this recipe from VegWeb.


Snack
1/2 of a toasted almond Tropical Source bar. I didn't actually need all this, but I just really enjoy shoveling chocolate into my face.

Posted by Amanda at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

Lunch
Coconut-date rice pudding stuff. I kind of just threw leftover rice in a pot with soymilk, coconut, chopped dates, and spices and simmered 'til it seemed done. I added some maple syrup and then a little garnish on top for the photo. It wasn't bad, but I probably won't make it again. I prefer oatmeal.


Snack
A clementine.
A coconut cupcake.

Dinner
A dulce de leche Luna bar at work.
The biggest apple that ever existed with 1 Tbsp. of natural peanut butter. Seriously, this thing was enormous.

There should be quotation marks around the word dinner. What a sham.

Snack
Swedish Fish Aqua Life candy. The Boy brough a bag of these home for me. They're not bad. The yellow starfish were my favorite. Overall they're not worth the 180 calories, though.
9 squares of Maya Gold chocolate.


So yeah, I pretty much subsisted on candy today. Awesome. And to make this one of the most picture-heavy posts ever...


Because if there's one thing I need, it's more cat hair on my clothes.

Posted by Amanda at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

This stuff is amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I never really bother making the actual samosas. This stuff doesn't need a little doughy jacket to be complete. It's perfect and wonderful on its own. Free the filling!

Potato-Green Pea Samosa Filling
Recipe modified slightly from Vegan with a Vengeance

3 medium-sized russet potatoes, cut into 1'' chunks
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 cup finely diced carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup green peas

Boil the potatoes until tender, 15-25 minutes depending how big your chunks are. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds in a large skillet over medium heat. use a lid if you don't want seeds in your eyes. (You don't.) Let the seeds pop for a minute, then add the onions and carrots. Raise the heat to medium-high and saute for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice and saute for another minute.

Add the cooked potatoes. Mash them to your liking with a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Throw in the peas. Let them heat up for a minute or two, then dig in.

Serves 2 hungry people as a main dish, possibly 3 if you're less ravenous.

Nutritional Information: 347 calories, 7.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat), 8 g fiber, 9.5 g protein @ 2 servings.

Posted by Amanda at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
A caramel nut brownie Luna bar.

Snack
A coconut cupcake.

Lunch
A hard-shell taco from Seniorita Burrita (tomato basil rice with vegetarian chili and salsa were the fillings of choice this time) and some baby carrots.

Dinner
Spicy Peanut Noodles and roasted green beans.


Snack
1 date.
A clementine.
1 fudge-mint cookie.
9 little squares of Maya Gold chocolate.

I wanted to post the samosa filling and coconut cupcake recipes today, but I had school and then The Boy and I went out to run some errands and now I'm going to watch Law & Order SVU for a while instead of posting recipes because I am a lazy bitch. But I am going to be posting them tomorrow for sure, so... stay tuned.

Posted by Amanda at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
A wheat roll with a little Earth Balance.

Snack
A clementine.
A Cookies 'n Cream Delight Luna bar. Yum.

Lunch
Leftover Potato-Green Pea samosa filling with a little tamarind-date sauce. This stuff is seriously amazing.

Snack
6 little squares of Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate. Drool.
Baby carrots.

Dinner
Baked beans and the last piece of wheat bread spread with a little Earth Balance.

Snack
2 fudge-mint cookies.
A Coconut Heaven Cupcake from Vegan with a Vengeance. SO GOOD. I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

Posted by Amanda at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Cinnamon Life with soymilk.

Lunch
A hard-shell taco from the burrito place across the street from my school. The filling was chipotle rice, black beans, lettuce, and their amazing fresh salsa.

Snack
About 3 Tbsp of chocolate chips, because my mouth is a sucking vortex of badness.
A piece of wheat bread with a smidge of Earth Balance.

Dinner
Potato-Edamame filling from the samosa recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance, except with peas instead of edamame and with some tamarind-date sauce. Oh, and I didn't peel the potatoes. This is seriously good stuff. I've made the samosas themselves before, but the filling is super delicious and definitely worthy of eating plain. Plus it's less work. The tamarind-date sauce is freaking amazing and comes courtesy of my local Indian store. Oh, Ohm Indian Grocery. How did I ever live without you?


Snack
2 fudge-mint cookies.

Good news: those chocolate chips have a few fewer calories per tablespoon than I thought, and now the bag is gone so I can't eat anymore. Bad news: The bag is gone because I ate the whole thing. That's 1,610 calories of pure chocolatey evil. It's like I invented an 8th day just so I could eat my way through it. Awesome.

Today was actually fine, though. Maybe even a little on the low side, which, given my recent chocolate feeding frenzy, can only be a good thing.

Posted by Amanda at 6:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
2 slices of bread with 1 teaspoon of Earth Balance and a clementine.

Snack
1 cup of Cinnamon Life, dry.
1 Tbsp. of chocolate chips.
1/2 oz. of almonds.

Lunch
A strawberry-banana smoothie with flax, plus 6 dried dates stuffed 1 almonds each.

Snack
1 slice of wheat bread with a little Earth Balance.

Dinner
General Tao's Seitan with broccoli and rice. YUM. That's all I have to say. I modified this recipe from VegWeb.


Snack
Almond butter Smacker. I like this one better than the peanut butter kind.
1 Tbsp. of chocolate chips
1/2 oz. of almonds.
2 fudge-mint cookies.

Yeah, so... the snacking is getting out of control. I don't even know why. I'd like to blame my period. It would be make me feel less like a loser. Unfortunately it's probably just me being lame and stuffing my face with chocolate chips for no reason other than that they taste good.

So I'm going to split the blame. Half menstrual craziness, half regular old being a fatty. It happened. Whatever. Chocolate chips do not rule my life. That's what I need to keep telling myself: I am not Food's bitch. I wear the very large pants in this relationship.

Anyway. This weekend sucked. Hopefully this week will be better. No, scratch that. This week definitely fucking will be better. Take that, chocolate chips. What makes you think I won't cut you?

(Please excuse me. I need copious amounts of sleep, like, yesterday.)

Posted by Amanda at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments

So that bread I posted about earlier, the one that wouldn't rise? Yeah. Well eventually it did, and it came out wonderfully. Next time I'm going to rise it in a slightly warmed oven, which should cut the rising time from all of eternity to an hour or so.

I like this bread. The dough was easy to work with and the end result is delicious. Two thumbs up. And one giant middle finger to my apartment building, which I suspect is actually just a giant Figidaire.

Thoughts from the day after: the flavor is still good, but this stuff dries out fast. I probably won't use this as an all-purpose bread for that reason. It'd be great if you need bread to serve with dinner, though, or for some other occasion where it'll be eaten right away.

Crusty Whole Wheat Italian Bread
Recipe is here, but I'm reposting it anyway

1 1/4 cups warm
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour (I subbed regular unbleached flour + 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten)
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 package active dry yeast
cornmeal, for dusting baking sheet

In large bowl, dissolve yeast, brown sugar, and ginger in the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes until yeast foams.

Add salt and bread flour; beat well. Stir in whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead 10 minutes or until dough is springy, smooth, and satiny.

Wash the bowl, grease it, and put the dough back in; turn over to grease the top. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Sprinkle cornmeal onto a baking sheet and set aside.

Punch down the dough. Divide in half, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into long loaves, rolling each piece first into a 5x12" rectangle, then rolling each up along the long side to make a long, narrow loaf. Pinch edges to seal, and taper ends. You could also form this into one large loaf, or divide the dough into smaller rolls.

Place loaves, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet. Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Make 4-5 slashes across each loaf with sharp knife or razor blade. Brush each loaf with water and sprinkle with whole wheat flour. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until loaves are browned and crisp. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 2 small or 1 large loaf, which will yield approximately 16 slices. Alternately, each small loaf can be divided into 4 rolls.

Nutritional Info: 88.5 calories, 0.38 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 1.75 g fiber, 3.25 g protein per slice @ 16 slices. If the dough is divided into 8 rolls, each roll is the equivilent of 2 slices of bread.

Posted by Amanda at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
The last piece of cornbread, plus 3 dates with an almond stuffed into each one. I wanted to eat something quick before I went out to do some errands.

Snack
A clementine.
1/2 oz. of almonds.
Baby carrots.

Lunch
A bowl of Cinnamon Life with soymilk. I'm feeling lazy this afternoon.

Snack
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips.
Another clementine.
1/2 oz. of almonds.
A slice of fresh baked bread. Yum.

Dinner
Shredded BBQ seitan and onions on a homemade wheat roll, roasted green beas, and a little half cob of corn. This was all good. I love roasted green beans. I was going for a "pork BBQ" type sandwich, as I mentioned in a previous post... but since I don't recall ever eating an actual pork BBQ sandwich I have no idea what they're supposed to taste like. I just know that they're orange. This sandwich, though not really very orange, was damn tasty. So I consider the experiment a success.


Snack
A peanut butter Smacker. Good, but not as good as I was expecting. I wouldn't buy it again.
Another Tbsp. of chocolate chips.
2 fudge-mint cookies.


Man, chocolate chips are evil. Snacks in general are evil today. I got a little out of control there toward the end of the day. I blame my period. It started last night and my urge to snack, especially on The Evil Chocolate, has gone through the roof. Awesome! Note to self: eat light for a few days.

Posted by Amanda at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm attempting to make bread right now. I have been since about 2 o' clock. All grunt work was completed by 2:30, at which point the dough was put into its bowl and covered and left to rise. It was supposed to take about an hour. It took 3.

Why, you ask? Because my apartment is about 3 degrees away from becoming the world's first example of nuclear winter. I didn't think about that before I embarked on my bread-making adventure, though. So now the dough has been divided and shaped and I'm just waiting for the little fuckers to rise again so I can bake them already.

Comeoncomeoncomeon. At this rate I won't have bread for dinner. I'm going to need to invest in an oven-proof bowl if I want to do this again, because next time I'm sticking this shit in the oven to rise. This is freaking ridiculous. ARGH.

Posted by Amanda at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
About half of a really gross, mealy Fuji apple and a piece of cornbread. I'm not very good at picking out apples - I think that's going to be The Boy's job from now on. He's got skillz in that department.

After discovering that my apple was bad, I took the next logical step and ate 2 pieces of chocolate. Strawberry and lemon creme. When the box is gone there will be no more chocolate for breakfast, I promise.

Snack
The last two pieces of chocolate. A vanilla creme and another hazelnut thing. There, it's done. The danger has passed. INTO MY TUMMY. Seriously, I don't know what it is about these things. I can handle cookies. I haven't touched those Smacker things. I've had a bar of Maya Gold in the cupboard for a few weeks and I haven't even unwrapped it. But these things are like little nuggets of crack. Ugh.

Lunch
Sweet and sour seitan stir-fry and leftover sushi rice. Very easy, very tasty. I am seriously in love with this seitan. If there was a Church of Isa I would worship at it. In fact, I'm not sure why there isn't. Let's get on that, vegans.


Dinner
Baked beans and cornbread. I didn't feel like cooking anything after work.

Snack
Baby carrots.
2 fudge-mint cookies.

Posted by Amanda at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

Re: BBQ Seitan - unfortunately there is no real recipe. I just threw some stuff together in a pan, which is pretty much how I cook unless I'm following a recipe. This particular BBQ Seitan was just red onions and slices of seitan sauteed in a pan with a little oil, then coated with BBQ sauce and cooked for a few more minutes until everything was nice and brown. So really the only reason it's called BBQ Seitan is because it has BBQ sauce on it.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

---

At any given time I want to make about 40 different things. But I've been pondering what to try out within the next week or so, and here's the short list. Because I love any excuse to make a list.

Crusty Whole Wheat Italian Bread
General Tao's Tofu with seitan instead of tofu
Almond-Crusted Tempeh with Strawberry-Mango Salsa from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook
Coconut Heaven Cupcakes from Vegan with a Vengeance
"Pork BBQ" type sandwiches with seitan instead of tortured pig

I think I might start making a list like this every week - it's a good way to make sure I try new things. And that way I can make sure I have the ingredients on hand when I finally do get around to trying them out.

Posted by Amanda at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

I love cornbread. I mean, really, who doesn't? Is that even possible? Sure, there's bad cornbread out there. I've made some myself. But this recipe is my gold standard, the one that's awesome every time. It's just as good if not better than any cornbread I had pre-vegan. Everyone loves it. This cornbread can do no wrong.

The original title of this recipe was Grandma's Cornbread Made Vegan; I dropped it because my grandma never made cornbread like this. My grandma doesn't really cook much at all, actually. I also changed some other things, and the recipe below is the modified one that I use.

Damn Good Cornbread
Original recipe is here

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup soymilk
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tsp Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 4 Tbsp water*
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together. Add the soymilk, oil, applesauce, and egg replacer and mix well. Pour into a lightly greased pan and bake 25-35 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test.

Let it cool down a bit if you can stand the wait, and then slice and enjoy.

Serves 8-10, depending how you cut it. I get 9 pieces out of an 8x8 pan.

*I use Ener-G because I have a box I need to use up, but I image pretty much any egg replacer would work. I'd just add a little extra baking powder since Ener-G contains a leavening ingredient.

Nutritional Information: 159 calories, 2.4 g fat (0.2 g saturated fat), 3.1 g fiber, 3.4 g protein @ 9 servings.

Posted by Amanda at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

Okay, so the first and only time before this that I tried to make seitan, it was a miserable failture. Spongey. Puffy. Overall not a good time. But I've been wanting to try it again, and Vegan with a Vengeance has yet to steer me wrong. So I embarked once more on the journey to seitanic glory, hopeful and hesitant.

The verdict? Excellent. So much better than last time that it's just ridiculous. It firmed up beautifully. The interior is solid - none of that spongey, pock-marked business. I'd give this recipe 5 gold stars. That's pretty much the highest goodness rating a recipe can get 'round these here parts.

Changes: I used tamari instead of soy sauce in the broth (but not the seitan itself) because I had more tamari on hand; I kneaded the gluten mixture for twice as long as instructed (10 minutes instead of 5) because I'm a chronic overachiever; I let the dough rest for about 25 minutes because I remember reading somewhere that it allows the gluten to develop a bit more, which results in a firmer seitan. And I am all about a firm texture where seitan is concerned. Also, I cut the gluten log into 7 pieces instead of 6. Not that that really makes any difference.

The recipe below is as it's written in the book, sans my alterations.

VwaV Seitan
Recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup cold water or vegetable stock
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely grated
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

For the broth:

12 cups water or vegetable stock
1/2 cup soy sauce

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl; mix the wet stuff (including garlic and lemon zest) in a smaller bowl. Pour the wet into the dry and combine. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until spongey and elastic. Let it rest for a few minutes while preparing the broth. Combine the stock and soy sauce in a large pot, but don't turn the heat on yet.

Roll the dough into a log about 10'' long; cut it into 6 equal pieces. Drop the pieces into the cold broth. Partially cover the pot and bring the broth to a boil. After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for an hour. Gently turn the pieces every once in a while.

Turn off the heat and let everything cool for at least 30 minutes - letting it cool completely is better.

From this point, do with it what you will. It can be stored, covered with broth, in the frige for 5 days or so. I think you can freeze it as well, but the book doesn't comment on that. I may report back on that at a later date.

Makes about 6 cups of seitan. I count 1/2 cup as a serving, so for me this recipe yields 12 servings.

Nutritional Information: 126 calories, 1.25 g fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 1 g fiber, 16 g protein @ 12 servings. Holy protein, Batman! Note that this does not include whatever calories, etc. may be absorbed from the cooking broth, but since that's just stock and soy sauce it shouldn't make that much of a difference.


Uncooked gluten, Dali-style.

Posted by Amanda at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
A piece of cornbread, a Fuji apple, and 1/2 oz. of almonds.

Lunch
3/4 cup baked beans, another piece of cornbread, and baby carrots.

Snack
3 pieces of chocolate - a cherry cordial, a mandarin creme, and a hazelnut crown. Oddly enough the mandarin was my least favorite. I don't usually like cordials, but this one wasn't bad.

Dinner
Gobetti All'Arrabbiata from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. The recipe calls for penne, but I didn't have enough for two servings so I subbed whole wheat gobetti. Whole wheat pasta gets a bad rap sometimes, but I like it just fine. I usually get the Bionaturae brand from the health food store, but I've never had a whole wheat pasta I didn't enjoy. Other alterations I made to this recipe: I halved it to make just two servings, cut the amount of dried red pepper in half again (so just 1/4 tsp - we're kind of wimpy with spicy stuff), used fresh plum tomatoes, and just mashed them a bit with ye olde potato masher while they cooked rather than pureeing them. It was a quick and tasty dinner. Two thumbs up.


Snack
Another piece of chocolate. A hazelnut shell thing.
2 fudge-mint cookies.

I have eaten 463 calories worth of chocolate and cookies today. The bright side is that I still only ate about 1,500 calories. The downside, is, of course, that 30% of those calories came from junk. Note to self: work on that. But yay me for having my chocolate without breaking the caloric bank, anyway.

Posted by Amanda at 8:27 AM | Permalink | Comments

Lunch
A Fuji apple spread with 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter.
A marzipan chocolate. You know, pre-this piece of candy, I thought that I didn't really like marzipan. Apparently I was wrong.

Snack
2 more pieces of chocolate. One had a chocolate ganache filling, maybe with a hint of coffe flavor. The other had sprinkles on top and a chocolate truffle-esque filling with little crunchy bits. Mmmmmm.
Also, 1 Tbsp of chocolate chips. If you don't here from me again, it's because I died of chocolate poisoning. Seriously though, I'm starting to feel sick. No more chocolate.
1 oz. of almonds.
A banana.

The giant period of snacking in there is because I ate lunch at 12 and then didn't have dinner until 9.

Dinner
Barbecue seitan, baked beans, and cornbread. Yum.


A veritable sea of beans.
Snack
2 fudge-mint cookies.
Yet another piece of chocolate. A hazelnut heart this time. So good.

Okay, there was just way too much chocolate going on today. I'll be really happy when this box of evil is gone. Except that for that to happen I have to eat it all. Every delicious morsel. Darn.

I'll post recipes for both the seitan and the cornbread sometime soon, but right now I have homework that needs done. Lame.

Posted by Amanda at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Blueberry-mango smoothie with flax.

Lunch
Spicy Peanut Noodles, fresh pineapple, and red grapes.

Snack
3 delicious vegan chocolates from Rose City Chocolatiers. The Boy ordered me a box of them from Vegan Essentials, along with two other treats. The chocolates are amazing. I had a hazelnut cream, a pistachio marzipan, and a rose city mint. All delicious. This thing is like Pandora's box. Chock full o' danger. But damn does it taste good.

The other goodies are these Smackers patty things. Almond or peanut butter + chocolate = oh hells yes. I won't be eating these today, though.




Dinner
Samosas, aloo mutter, saffron basmati rice, and naan at Passage to India. Pretty much the best meal ever.

Snack
Another piece of chocolate. This one was a double hazelnut thing. Hazelnut "creme" and whole nuts as well. So good. I heart hazelnut everything.

So today was kind of heavy, food-wise. Eating Indian out does that to me. I guess because we only do it once every few months I just feel the need to stuff as much goodness in as I possibly can. I'm not beating myself up about the chocolates, because it's Valentine's Day, dammit! And the best way to say "I love you" is to gorge yourself on candy.

And now here's a picture of a cat wrapped up in a blanket. What? Don't act like I need a reason.

Posted by Amanda at 2:42 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Strawberry-banana smoothie with flax. This is pretty standard fare for me, but today it tasted weird. Like, bad weird. I think my flax may not be so good anymore. Which is fine, since I actually just bought a new bag. So I'm just going to throw the old stuff out. Because really, ew.

Lunch
Sushi, dipping sauce, red grapes, a clementine, and 2 chocolate Earth Balls. And yes, those are Hello Kitty chopsticks you see. They come with their own carrying case, which is not pictured here. They are, in fact, the best thing ever. It's okay to be jealous. I would be too.


Snack
2 Tbsp. of chocolate chips.
1/2 oz. almonds.

Dinner
Spicy Peanut Noodles with peas, broccoli, and peppers. It's official: this is my new favorite recipe.

Snack
2 fudge-mint cookies.

My chocolate consumption has gone up. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I think it might be making me feel like a Junk Hoover. A bottomless pit of snacking. I don't like the Earth Balls, really, but I'm eating them to use them up. That's not so good, but it means they can be easily cut out. The chocolate chips are a gateway chocolate. If I'm not careful I can inhale a whole bag over the course of a day. That's not a hypothetical, either. Before I went vegan I managed to suck down a bag of Andes baking chips AND a bag of white chocolate chips in one day. The chips, they are a slippery slope.

Posted by Amanda at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Home fries (chopped red potatoes, orange peppers, and red onions sautéed in 1 tsp. of olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, cumin, chili powder, and oregano) and a Fuji apple with 1 Tbsp. of natural peanut butter.


Lunch
Leftover Baked Aporridgy, red grapes, a clementine, and 2 chocolate Earth Balls. Okay, so this stuff was good yesterday... re-heated, not so much. The slight gumminess pretty much turned into paste. If I make it again, I'll halve the recipe. It doesn't make for good leftovers.

Dinner
Sushi! I pretty much just followed this tutorial, and after one or two botched rolls (which you will not, of course, see below) I got the hang of it. The filling was marinated and sautéed tempeh and carrots. It was pretty tasty, I have to say. And surprisingly filling for its size. I'm taking leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I hope sushi keeps better than the porridge paste from yesterday.




Snack
1/2 oz. of almonds.
1 1/2 Tbsp. of chocolate chips.
2 fudge-mint cookies.

I was feeling very snacky this evening for some reason. I think because the sushi, while filling, just wasn't very satisfying for some reason. I think it'll make a better lunch than dinner.

Posted by Amanda at 1:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

As month one of Operation: Stop Being Such A Fatty (Oh, And Eat Healthier Too) (which will henceforth be known as Operation: Lard Out, because change is good) draws to a close, it's time to examine what I've accomplished over the last four weeks.

I kept the two pounds from last week off, so overall I'm down 6 pounds. My BMI has dropped 1.2 points. I've only baked once, which is pretty much a record for me since I used to bake twice a week or more. And the one time I did bake didn't become a major deal. I didn't eat 12 cookies at once. I'm learning to handle junk food and snacks and food in general in a way that I never could before. I can have a cookie or two and that's enough. I can have one tablespoon of chocolate chips and be completely satisfied with that amount. It takes less food to fill me up, and I'm enjoying real, healthy food just as much if not more than junk food.

It's been a good month. I'm looking forward to the next one.

---

And now, a break from out regularly scheduled food blogging. It snowed las night, and now there's a thick white blanket over Lancaster. My kitty, Miss Scarlet, was quite intrigued by this new development.


Checking out the snow.


Kitty face.


And... the full body shot.

Posted by Amanda at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Baked Aporridgy from La Dolce Vegan!


Snack
A big Fuji apple.
1 oz. of almonds.
2 Tbsp. of chocolate chips.

Lunch
Greek-Style Green Beans.

Snack
A clementine.

Dinner
Garlic smashed potatoes and 1/2 cup of Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans. Easy. Tasty.

Snack
2 fudge-mint cookies.

Posted by Amanda at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments

This was my first attempt at a recipe from La Dolce Vegan, and I'd call it a success. It was also my first baked oatmeal experience, so I can't say how it stacks up to anything else, but I can say that it was pretty tasty. Very creamy, although there was a bit of gumminess - flax can do that if you let it sit in liquid for a while. It wasn't really bothersome, though, and I'm a freak about textures so if it was going to bother someone, that someone would be me.

Nutritionally it's very reasonable, but my regular oatmeal has it beat in the protein and fiber departments. I'll stick with that most days anyway, since it's much quicker to make. But this was a nice Saturday morning treat.

Baked Aporridgy
Recipe from La Dolce Vegan, with very minor tweaks.

1 cup rolled oats
1 3/4 cup water
1/2 cup soymilk
3 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
2 tsp molasses
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Dump everything into an 8x8 pan and stir it around. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Eat.

Serves 2 starving lumberjacks or 4 normal-sized persons.

Changes I Made: Regular rolled oats instead of "rolled oat flakes," 1/2 tsp cinnamon instead of 1/4 (because I love cinnamon far too much), pecans instead of walnuts, because I hate walnuts, and I toasted them because they're yummier that way.

Nutritional Information: 232 calories, 8 g fat (0.75 g saturated fat), 4.25 g fiber, 5 g protein per serving, @ 4 servings.

Posted by Amanda at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
A mango-pineapple smoothie with flax and a clementine. The smoothie was okay, but I won't make it again.

Lunch
Spicy Peanut Noodles without carrots but with extra added veggie goodness in the form of orange bell pepper slices and broccoli. This stuff is yum^3, seriously. I halved the recipe to just make one serving, and I'm really glad I did because I would've eaten any extra. I mean, I licked the bowl. I'm not ashamed.


Snack
A Fuji apple.
1/2. oz of almonds.
1 tablespoon of chocolate chips.

Dinner
Oven fries. I got home from work at 9:30 and wasn't very hungry, but I haven't eaten enough today that I'd be okay with skipping dinner. So I made your standard issue oven fries - russet potatoes, a smidge of oil, some spices, an enormous amount of salt. Because salt is essential to my survival. Mmm, salt. Even after this I should still get some more calories in, though.

Snack
Baby carrots.
Red grapes.
Another clementine.
2 fudge-mint cookies. Remember those calories I talked about? Well here's a few!

Posted by Amanda at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

I don't work until 5, so I had time to get to market this morning. Here's what I got:

2 pounds of green beans
7 plum tomatoes
6 red onions
5 bulbs of garlic
3 limes
2 orange peppers
2 lemons
1 bunch of broccoli
1 red pepper
1 bag of baby carrots
1 plastic heart full of valentine's candy for The Boy

All for under $20. Not bad at all.

I'm feeling some guilt about the candy, though. None of it is vegan, and I knew that when I bought it. I've never been quite sure what to do when it comes to buying non-vegan things for other people. I've bought friends non-vegan lunches and dinners, and I'll get Doritos or something if The Boy wants it from the grocery store. I guess this isn't any different, really, so I'm not sure why I feel so much weirder about it this time. I guess I'm just getting more and more uncomfortable about my money benefiting companies and practices that I don't support. My one consolation is that at least the candy was from a local company and not Conglom-O.

Posted by Amanda at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
A strawberry-banana smoothie with flax.

Lunch
A small peanut butter and ricemellow sandwich on wheat bread, a huge Fuji apple, baby carrots, and two chocolate Earth Balls. I heart fluffernutters. The bread, however, was kind of stale and hard. Yum.

Snack
1 oz. of almonds.

Dinner
The last of the leftover Red Lentil Dhal and a piece of naan.

Snack
A fudge-mint cookie.
A clementine.
About a tablespoon of chocolate chips.

I'm feeling chocolatey today, in case you couldn't tell. I had to fight the urge to unwrap the bar of Green & Black's Maya Gold I have sitting in the kitchen. No good can come of late night Maya Gold booty calls. Actually, those chocolate chips kind of made me feel sick, so more chocolate really isn't looking to great right now. Oof. I guess that's a good thing.

Posted by Amanda at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

Lunch
A grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich on multigrain bread and a smorgasboard of fruit (banana, fresh pineapple, red grapes, clementine segments).




Snack
A huge, delicious Fuji apple. Yum.
1/2 oz. of almonds.
A double berry smoothie (strawberries and blueberries) with flax. It was such a pretty color that I couldn't resist taking a picture.


Dinner
Leftover Red Lentil Dhal and a piece of naan.

Snack
2 fudge-mint cookies.

Reason #27 why I'm very stupid: I choose the morning after fried food to weigh myself. Really, I don't even know what I was thinking. I weigh myself "officially" on Sundays, but I can't help hopping on a few times during the week if I'm in the bathroom in the morning. The scale just stares at me, all mocking, like "so how fat are you today, beeyotch?" I'm so weak.

When I weighed this past Sunday I was down 2 pounds. I know part of that was the sharp decline in my ability to eat for a few days, but I figured that if I just kept on doing what I've been doing then it should stay off. Right? Well, yeah, probably, but then I had to go and hop on the scale this morning after what I can only assume is a high-calorie meal at Burger Night last night. And of course it told me I had gained both of those pounds back. Fun! So I'm feeling a little crappy, even though I know weight fluctuates and it was a stupid time to weigh myself and blah blah blah.

But whatever, I'm just going to keep on keepin' on. (I'm pretty sure I just channelled my mom for that one.) Hopefully things will work themselves out in a positive way by Sunday.

Posted by Amanda at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

So I was at Target last night, and as usual I was uncontrollably drawn to the Choxie. Have you seen the Choxie? Bright colors, adorable packaging, delicious names. Irresistable. Until you read the ingredients and discover that nothing is vegan. Nothing.

I mean, yeah, the milk chocolate stuff wouldn't be. But I had hope for the dark chocolate. I always have hope for the dark chocolate, but more often than not those hopes are trampled by big candy companies that seem to have cow's milk flowing through their veins. GAH. Attention candy company executives: it's dark chocolate. Dark, as in not milk, as in free of cow secretions and safe for ecstatic consumption by vegans and lactose intolerant persons the world over. At least that's what it should mean, if we listen to logic's sweet, rational whispers. But oh, logic. American done got no use for ya', son.

Adding milk to dark chocolate to make it less intense is like adding milk to soymilk to make it taste less like soybeans. Stupid. Pointless. People buy dark chocolate because they want to eat dark chocolate, not because they want milk chocolate but the color really doesn't match their upholstrey.

I'm tempted to send Choxie a letter.

Dear Choxie,

I would like to purchase and consume your dark chocolate products, but I can't. You won't let me. You might ask what I mean, because surely you'd be happy to sell them to me. You are, after all, in this for the money. Which I would love to give you, if only your dark chocolate products didn't contain dairy.

Contrary to what they may teach you at Candy School, not everyone likes milk. A lot of people are allergic to it - you may have heard of something called "lactose intolerance." You or someone you love may even be afflicted with this condition. There are also people out there who choose not to consume dairy out of compassion for cows of all sizes. These people are called vegans, and we like chocolate too. It's true! We are growing in number and need for chocolate items - items like the ones you produce.

But none of your products are free of dairy, Choxie. The only thing I can conclude from this is that you do not like baby cows. You steal their breakfast and put it into dark chocolate, where it does not belong in the first place. Why don't you love baby cows, Choxie? What have they done to you?

In conclusion, here is a piece of business advice for you: If you build it vegan, they will come. And they will bring money.

Sincerely,
Vegancore

Now I wonder what they'd say if I actually sent it. I mean I'd probably just get a stock response, but you never know.

Posted by Amanda at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Oatmeal made with a half and half mix of soymilk and water, raisins, flax, maple syrup, and a few toasted pecans.

Lunch
Leftover Spicy Peanut Noodles, fresh pineapple, and red grapes. The original recipe said to eat the noodles immediately and no later, but I re-heated them for lunch and they tasted fine.

Snack
A fudge-mint cookie. Oh, fudge-mint cookie. We've been apart for a while, what with my not being able to chew... but it's so good to see you again.

Dinner
Burger Night! A black bean burger and curly fries. I thought I was ready for The Burger, but here again I jumped the gun a little. I kind of had to wiggle the burger into my mouth once I got my teeth into it. It was a lot like smooshing my fat into freshly washed jeans, so you know, on that level it was familiar territory.

Snack
4 Twizzlers. I don't even like Twizzlers, but The Boy bought a bag and there they were. Evil.
Another fudge-mint cookie.

Today was a little snackier than usual. Not that snacks are bad, but two cookies and some Twizzlers are less "small quantities of healthy, nourishing foodstuffs to keep you energized and happy" and more "hello raging sugar high." But it wasn't a total junkapalooza, because there are way more than two cookies in my house. And restraint and moderation are better skills than deprivation, I think.

Posted by Amanda at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments

I came across this recipe ages ago on the Vegan Cooking LJ community and bookmarked it for future use. And finally, that future is here. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being veal and 10 being candy and unicorns, I'd rate these noodles a solid 9. And also a solid tasty.

Spicy Peanut Noodles
Original recipe posted here; what's below is how I did it.

2 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 teaspoon ground ginger
1 Tablespoon chili garlic sauce

1/3 cup (frozen) peas
1/3 cup sliced carrots

4 ounces soba noodles

Cook the soba noodles according to the package directions - mine said 5 to 6 minutes. Make the sauce while the noodles are doing their thing.

Combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, and chili garlic sauce in a large skillet over medium heat; stir it a bit until the peanut butter melts and everthing comes together. Add the peas and carrots.

When the noodles are done, drain them and add them to the skillet. Toss to coat.

Consume and enjoy.

Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side. Or just 1 if you have an extra stomach where your soul should be.

Nutritional Info: 333 calories, 8.5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 3 grams of fiber, 15.5 grams of protein per serving, if serving 2.

Posted by Amanda at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Oatmeal made with soymilk, flax, and maple syrup.

Lunch
Red Lentil Dhal, a piece of naan, red grapes, and a clementine.

Snack
A chocolate macadmia nut cookie. My ability to chew is slowly returning, so this went fine until the very end when I got overconfident and tried to finish it off in one big hunk. Bad idea. I have to say, these keep really well. They're 8 days old now, and while the texture isn't quite as nice as it was when they were fresh, they're still damn tasty.

Dinner
Spicy Peanut Noodles and two steamed vegetable dumplings. This was my first time eating soba noodles, and may I just say yum? Because I feel the need to say yum now. The dumplings were okay - they're frozen, purchased from an Asian grocery store. I keep trying to find something as delicious as the dumplings I had in Chinatown during a horrendous school trip to DC, but so far nothing has approached them. These are the closest yet, though. I think pan-frying them would help - steaming gave the shell a kind of gelatinous texture. I'd make the noodles again in a heartbeat, though - that recipe is going into the regular rotation.

Posted by Amanda at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Banana-mango-pineapple smoothie with flax.

Lunch
Red grapes, a clementine, and a chocolate Earth Ball. Not much of a lunch, but I was late for work and I'm not really stocked with foods for people who can't chew or fit things larger than 1/2'' in their mouths. I managed this stuff just fine, though, with the exception of the Earth Ball which, before I broke it into smaller pieces, almost made me cry.

Snack
About a tablespoon of chocolate chips. I can just suck on 'em until they dissolve. Good times.

Dinner
The PPK's Red Lentil Dhal with added carrots and potatoes plus a piece of naan on the side.

Posted by Amanda at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Strawberry-banana smoothie with flax.

Lunch
A WholeSoy cherry soy yogurt.

Snack
1.5 chocolate Earth Balls.

Dinner
A little White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup and a slice of organic wheat bread.

Snack
Red grapes.

Another day of pain and liquid food. It's not quite as bad today, and I can open my mouth a little wider... but I still had to tear my bread into tiny pieces, and those Earth Balls needed to be broken up like whoa. This whole thing is especially annoying for me because I like my food chunky. Crunchy peanut butter. Lumpy, coarsely mashed potatoes. Chunky applesauce. Soup with big pieces of stuff in it. If there's a smooth option and a chunky option, I will invariably go chunky. So this whole no-chewing thing is really putting a kink in my existence.

Calorie-wise it was a very low day. I know I didn't top 1,000; my best estimate is somewhere around 850 to 900, give or take a few on the Earth Balls because I don't have nutritional information for them. 900 calories isn't nearly enough food, and on most days I would be starving. But I've been up since 7 am and I'm not hungry at all. It's weird. I don't really know what's going on with that outside of the general mouth pain issue.

Posted by Amanda at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
Oatmeal made with soymilk, raisins, flax, and maple syrup. The left side of my jaw is killing me. I see soft foods in my future.

Snack
A clementine. Ow ow ow owowowow. Baby oranges should not hurt this much.

Lunch
A banana-date smoothie with flax.

Dinner
White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup from Vegan with a Vengeance. I love garlic, especially when it's roasted, so of course I love this soup. I only made one change: I didn't have fresh sage, so I used a little less than 1/2 tsp. of dried. It was delicious, and inoffensive to my increasingly stiff and swollen jaw. At this point those two things are of equal importance.


So yeah, I didn't eat much today. Mostly because I couldn't. It's now 10:58 pm and I can only open my mouth about half an inch before the searing pain kicks in. It's fun. I really hope this goes away soon. Otherwise me and my absolutely-no-insurance are going to have to see a dentist, and I really can't afford that right now. Or ever, actually.

Posted by Amanda at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments

This is the corn chowder that I made yesterday. It's easy, tasty, healthy, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. It's great fresh from the pot and even better the next day. I even use frozen corn in place of the fresh corn it calls for and it still turns out amazing. You can ask no more from a soup.

Corn Chowder
Recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and thinly sliced (use just one if you like less heat)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
A few dashes of fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups vegetable broth or water
3 cups fresh corn kernals (from about 5 ears of corn)
2 medium-sized russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks
1 bay leaf
Pinch cayenne
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup plain soymilk
1 tablespoon maple syrup

In a stockpot, sauté the onions, bell peppers, carrots, and jalapeños in the olive oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent, about 7 minutes. Add rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and salt; sauté 1 minute more. Add the broth, corn, potatoes, bay leaf, and cayenne. Cover and bring to a boil, then lover the heal and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Uncover and simmer 10 minutes more to let the liquid reduce a bit.

Remove the bay leaf and puree half the chowder either using a handheld blender or by transferring half the chowder to a blender, pureeing till smooth, and adding back to soup. Add the lime juice to taste, and the soy milk and maple syrup, and simmer 5 more mnutes. Let sit for at least 10 minutes and serve.

Changes I've made with no ill consequences: frozen corn instead of fresh, no jalapenos if I don't have them around, and instead of pureeing or blending the soup I just take a potato masher and smush it a few times. The chowder still ends up creamy and delicious and this way I don't have to dirty the blender. Also, I never let it sit before eating. I'm too impatient.

So do yourself a favor and make this soup. And then do yourself a bigger one and get your hands on a copy of Vegan with a Vengeance. It rocks the casbah.

Posted by Amanda at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments

Breakfast
A slice of multigrain bread toasted and topped with natural peanut butter and a sliced banana.

Lunch
Corn Chowder, fresh pineapple, red grapes, baby carrots, and a fudge mint cookie.


Snack
1 oz. almonds.
A chocolate macadamia nut cookie.

Dinner
A banana-date smoothie with flax and a piece of naan.

Snack
Another chocolate macadamia nut cookie.

Not much of a dinner tonight, and I ate it at 10:15. I just wasn't very hungry, plus I'm having major mouth pain because I have a wisdom tooth coming in. Now I know why babies are cranky all the time. That shit hurts! Not enough to keep me out of the cookies, apparently. Three cookies today. Three! That is two cookies too many. I don't feel that bad about it, though, because my dinner was small.

Posted by Amanda at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments

Lunch
I did a little experiment with leftover mashed sweet potatoes and made little pan-fried sweet potato cake things. So I had 5 little cakes and some tempeh bacon. No breakfast because I woke up too late and wasn't that hungry anyway. The sweet potato cakes were pretty good, but I'll change a few things if I ever make them again.


Snack
A chocolate macadamia nut cookie. They're three days old and still just as freakishly good as ever. Clearly they're evil.
Clementine.
An apple with 1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter.

Dinner
Corn Chowder from Vegan with a Vengeance. I heart this stuff. It's so easy and so, so yummy.


Snack
Another chocolate macadamia nut cookie.

I didn't really eat that much today, but I wasn't hungry. Part of that was waking up late, but I've noticed a trend since I've started paying more attention to my food: I'm not as hungry when I eat less. It seems counter-intuitive, but I think when I would snack out of boredom it threw things out of whack. I couldn't really tell if I was really hungry or if I just wanted to eat because I wanted something to do. Being conscious of what I'm eating and why I'm eating it ensures that when I do eat, I'm satisfied - because there was actually a need to satisfy in the first place.

Posted by Amanda at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments

I found this at Monkey Eat Food and couldn't resist stealing it.

Your three favorite spices, oils, or food flavorings:
1) Garlic
2) Lemon (tied with vanilla for favorite sweet food flavor)
3) Indian spices in general, especially coriander and cumin

(The next two questions were originally just one, but I had to split them up because I can't pick just three favorite dishes AND baked goods combined.)

Your three favorite dishes that you make:
1) Aloo Mutter
2) Red Lentil Dhal
3) Corn Chowder

Your three favorite baked goods that you make:
1) Pumpkin Muffins
2) Chai cake
3) Cookies!

Your three favorite foods you buy at the store: (as in, already made, not whole foods)
1) Vegan Gourmet mozzarella
2) Tofutti vanilla soy ice cream
3) Zatarain's Black Bean and Rice mix

Your three favorite meals to order in a restaurant:
1) Aloo Mutter at Passage to India
2) Moroccan Tomato Lentil Soup at Panera Bread (it's seasonal, though)
3) Grilled Onion (Black Bean) Burger and curly fries at Lancaster Dispensing Co.

Your Three Favorite Vegetables:
1) Potatoes of any variety
2) Carrots
3) Onions

Three Favorite Fruits
1) Fresh pineapple
2) Melons of any kind, but especially watermelon
3) Clementines

Three Places You Most Often Buy Food:
1) Central Market
2) Giant
3) Redner's Warehouse Market

Top Three Things You Consider When Buying Food:
1) Is it vegan?
2) Is it worth the money?
3) Is it healthy?

Three Things You'd Want me to Make For Dinner, if you came to my house??
1) Roasted vegetables
2) Soup of some kind
3) A vegan dessert (this would earn you a gold star)

Posted by Amanda at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments