Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-jig

I made it! We returned to Alabama yesterday afternoon, after a long day in the car. Fortunately, I managed to keep myself well-fueled throughout our sojourn, thanks to a little preparation. Here's what I've been munching on for the past few days...

Tuesday
Tuesday morning, before we got onto the highway, we stopped at a grocery store for some lozenges (I had a wicked sore throat), and while we were there I quickly grabbed a bag of sliced apples. My parents stopped at McDonald's for breakfast to get some Egg McMuffins, but I preferred my own grub: I had those apple slices with some almonds and a cinnamon raisin Gnu bar. It kept me satisfied while I paged through my new cookbook from the Chicago Diner (surprise from the parentals!).

For lunch we stopped at Atlanta Bread Co. We don't have this in Alabama, but it was very similar to Panera, perhaps even better. I ordered the California Veggie sandwich (sans dill sauce and cheese) with a side salad. This was really tasty! There was a thick layer of avocado smeared on this delicious Italian bread (decorated with a pretty tomato). There was a wide variety of soups and sandwiches that I considered; I hope one of these opens up near us. I also snacked on some grapes.
After a long evening of unloading and unpacking, I needed a snack. I dug out one of those muffin tops that made over spring break and poured myself a glass of almond milk. Totally hit the spot. One of my nighttime rituals at home is to have a somewhat decadent smoothie/shake before bed. Usually I use this time to wind down and catch up on e-mail or blogs. Last night's inaugural smoothie time featured pumpkin, vanilla Spirutein, pumpkin pie spice, and a squirt of agave nectar.

Wednesday

Upon my return from an awesome run outside this morning (in my nifty shoes), I made myself some simple toast with cashew butter and agave. I also had a container of plain yogurt with pumpkin mixed in. In case you can't tell, I just opened up my first bottle of agave nectar--love it!

We made a Target run this morning, (where I got two different kinds of nut butter--score!) and when we returned I was really hungry. I turned to the freezer for inspiration and decided to use one of my vegan Chik patties by Health Is Wealth brand. I had forgotten how much I liked these! I spread a whole wheat bun with Nayonaise and mustard to make a killer chik sandwich. I had last night's leftover salad with balsamic vinegar, plus a big Fuji apple on the side.
Dinner tonight was made on the fly, since my family was having Target brand frozen pizza--not exactly what I was craving. I had to come up with something with about 5 minutes notice, so I decided on some Amy's vegetarian baked beans, steamed brussels sprouts, and a baked sweet potato. Afterward, I also had some sliced peaches with a squirt of agave.
Now I need to catch up on everyone's blogs and pick out a few recipes to try from my new cookbooks...What are you favorite recipes from ED&BV and Veganomicon?

13 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Ahh, I can only imagine how great it feels to be back!! Hooray!! :0)

Wow, that California Veggie sandwich DOES sound tasty!!

Favorite recipes from ED&BV:

oatmeal-raisin cookies, quinoa-chickpea-confetti casserole, banana-pecan rice pudding, white-chocolate-macadamia-nut cookies, you've got chocolate in my peanut butter cookies... basically, I love EVERY recipe, haha :0)


Favorite recipes from Veganomicon:

Lower Fat Banana bread, Vanilla-Yogurt Pound Cake, Chocolate-Raspberry cookies, and the Chocolate Bundt Cake.

Anonymous said...

wow - i wish my target sold natural pb & other nut butters... they only sell plain old gross pb!

hope you enjoy your time at home!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

P.S. - I also like the Pumpkin-Cranberry Scones recipe from Veganomicon :0)

Cassie said...

Your meals look soo good! You did very well being on the road and all!

I love that sandwich from Atlantic Bread Co. - That's all I ever get there! YUM

J said...

I bet you are so glad to finally be home!

And the food just keeps getting better and better. I really like that sandwich with the avocado smeared all over it! Mmmmmm.

I honestly haven't really enjoyed Veganomicon's entrees, they are generally too salty for my taste. The desserts, however, are really good, though I will NOT use white flour and the amount of oil used borders on insane.

I don't have ED&BV. :-(

Ruby Red said...

omg, cashew butter toast. i love that so much too! (especially with a little sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice...) and i love your decadent-drink-before-bedtime ritual, sounds nice & comforting. it must be so nice to be home! and now that you are, you must try:

v-con: blueberry lemon pancakes, low-er fat banana bread (make them in a muffin tin and reduce cooking time!), spicy fennel tempeh with rotelle & broccoli rabe.

ed&bv: maple-pecan sticky blondies!!!

ChickPea said...

VeggieGirl: Thanks for the recommendations...you seem to like the dessert recipes:)
loveofoats: My Target carries some random healthful products. I got some cinnamon raisin PB and sunflower seed butter that I am super psyched to try...
Cassie: I am jealous that you have Atlanta Bread Co. near you. They seemed to have lots of tasty and nutritious options!
Jennifer: I have noticed that a lot of V-con's recipes require a lot of oil. I have been tweaking them a bit to make them more nutritious.
Ruby: Oooh I will definitely have to add pumpkin pie spice the next time I have cashew toast.
I took your suggestion and made the low-er fat banana muffins. I have always been a bit impatient when it comes to baking, so I appreciated the reduction in preparation time.

Anonymous said...

Hey Caroline.. glad to hear you're back home safe and sound!

Looks like you were able to eat healthily on your word trip. Yum!

I also have ED&BV and Veganomicon at home and haven't had the time to try many recipes so I'll be looking forward to seeing which ones you pick.

In regards to the nutritional yeast queso sauce, I got the recipe off of Jenna's (Eat, Live, Run) blog and let me tell you, it is sooo good! You kind of feel like you're eating something bad, but it's good for you!
Here's the link to the recipe:
http://vegweb.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=b1a727b886d52f0fcddab5f37f305463&topic=12238.0
It's a long one but it is worth it! Hope you enjoy!
-Evey

Anonymous said...

Something weird is going on with the link, sorry!

If you go to vegweb.com and type in "Nutritional Yeast Queso Sauce" it should direct you towards the recipe.

-Evey

Danielle said...

yummy travel treats :) i wish i had some favorites! i really need to purchase those cookbooks now that i'm home and working for the summer!

Jen said...

I just made the Moroccan-Infused Phyllo Rolls from ED&BV (there are pictures on my blog), and they were awesome! I definitely recommend them (the spinach & white bean phyllo rolls are great, too—but I'm kind of a phyllo nut!)

Sophia said...

I can' try cashwe butter, I'm allgeric to cashews, never bothered me until now. All you bloggers are eating this with cashews in them and I can't join in on the fun. COngrats on being done school!
I can sympathize about long car rides, my in-las live 6+ hours away from us and I get car sick :(

I'm glad I've finally seen someone else who loves pumpkin as much as I do. I over did it with pumpkin and have been giving it a break for while but I'll have to start up the love affair once again.

ChickPea said...

Vegannurse: Thanks for the queso recipe--I printed it out this morning. I can't wait to try it!
Danielle: The cookbooks are definitely worth the investment. You will enjoy your meals so much!
VegTriathlete: I actually just noticed that recipe last night. I have some white beans I need to use up, so that might be the perfect recipe!
Sophia: That's a bummer that you're allergic to cashews...but there are so many other yummy nuts and seeds out there to make up for it! Pumpkin is definitely one of my favorite foods. I have turned myself orange before, so I have to be careful about how much I eat...