Friday, July 11, 2008

Chop, Chop!

Vegetables are not the only thing I've been chopping lately...I cut off 10+ inches of hair today! I typically go through hairstyle cycles of long-short-long-short...so this is my third time to donate to Locks of Love. I'm sure someone else will appreciate my hair much more than I did. Check out the new 'do:
I have lots to share with you today, so I'll just dive right in.

Wednesday
As promised, I tried a new protein powder on Wednesday evening: Nutiva Berry Pomegranate HempShake. I have tried Nutiva's chocolate variety before and loved it, so I was pretty pumped to try this flavor, plus it includes a popular superfood: pomegranate. I am happy to report that this flavor was a hit--I'll be using it again in the future.
Thursday
For a quick breakfast yesterday, I whipped up a pineapple smoothie in the MB. The smoothie was good, but I think my beloved Bullet is dying a slow death...good thing I have a spare! On the side I nibbled on some honey roasted peanuts and Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal.
My packed lunch included a Health is Wealth vegan Chik Patty on whole wheat (with Nayonaise and mustard), broccoli slaw (with red wine vinegar), and a tropical trail mix I made from raw cashews and diced dried papaya. I think this was a tasty lunch, but I can't really say--it started to raining (er, pour) as I was eating it (outside), so I stuffed everything in my mouth and ran! I was soggy for the entirety of my anatomy lab. Boo.
For dinner, I inadvertently cooked up a meal consisting entirely of vegetables: steamed squash, salad, a baked potato, and spinach/beans cooked in Annie's BBQ sauce and cumin. I highly recommend cooking your veggies in BBQ sauce. Oh, and my prankster dad snuck that teal M&M into the picture without my realizing it. Yum, candy-coated squash.
The shake of the evening included another Nutiva HempShake flavor: Amazon Acai. I was psyched about this one too for its inclusion of acai, another uber-trendy superfood. Maybe it was just the combination of ingredients, but this flavor tasted a little too "hempy" to me. I still ate it (of course), but the amazing Amazaon acai wasn't so amazing in my opinion.
Friday
Today I woke up refreshed and ready for the weekend...so I had another breakfast parfait! I can't really make these during the week because it's a more labor intensive dish than, say, oatmeal or cereal. Displayed in my new $2 parfait glass is two crumbled bran muffins, vanilla soy yogurt, and sliced peaches. Yum!! Allison from Sweets by Alli requested a recipe for the muffins, so here it is (adapted from Clean Eating Magazine):

Agave Wheat Bran Muffins
1 c wheat bran
3/4 c soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
2/3 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 T flax + 1 1/2 T water
1/2 c vanilla soy yogurt
1/3 c agave nectar
1 t vanilla
1/4 c pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375*.
In medium bowl, combine wheat bran with soymilk and let stand for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients in another bowl.
In the bowl with the wheat bran mixture, add flax + water, soy yogurt, agave, and vanilla.
Combine the wet ingredients into the dry ones.
Spoon batter into lined or greased muffin cups and bake for 15-18 minutes.
Eat:)
My lunch today was incredible. I still can't get over how tasty it was (yet so simple!). I decided on a "cookout" theme (because I'm cool like that), and here's what I came up with: broccoli slaw (with Nayonaise, rice wine vinegar, and stevia), baked beans (ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, and minced onions), BBQ Soy Crisps (purchased for $1.79!!), and fresh strawberries. In all honesty, I baked the beans for only 15-20 minutes--no time for that slow-cooked nonsense.
For dinner I made a dish from V-con: Israeli couscous with pistachios and dried apricots. I didn't have any dried apricots, so I used dried pluots (plum/apricot hybrid). I really like the texture of this Israeli couscous--it's not whole grain, but it's more fun to eat. Steamed zucchini, spinach salad, and an Stonyfield organic blueberry yogurt also joined the party.
Check out what came in the mail today...my Amazon order! Living Harvest Vanilla Spice Hemp Protein, new ear buds for running, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I just finished The Poisonwood Bible and really liked it, so I thought I'd read another book by Barb. Plus, her daughter just graduated from Duke:)
OK, I apologize for this excessively long post. Happy 7-11 Day--celebrate with a healthy homemade slurpee!

23 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Such a generous donation, with your hair!!

Haha, the teal M&M in the photograph with the squash made me laugh out loud :0D

Hooray for purchasing Living Harvest hemp protein!!! :0)

Anonymous said...

I highly recommend reading other Kingsolver books as well... The Bean Trees and Animal Dreams are wonderful!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Oh wow, you are such a sweetheart for donating to Locks of Love!

I am still loving those chocolate hemp shakes, so thanks for introducing them to me.

Ooo and I read Poisonwood Bible many years ago, and it was my all-time favorite book for a loooong time.

Rosalie Y said...

Carolineee! It's Rosalie! I never comment but your blog is on my RSS feed and today I felt the need to tell you that your haircut looks fabulous :)

I just finished reading Animal, vegetable, miracle and am on chapter 1 of the poisonwood bible! How ironic is that? I'd love to hear what you think of A, V & M :D

Emma said...

I love the hair cut. It really suits you and you should feel great for donating to Locks of Love!

All the food looks delicious as usual. I think I will try making a parfait. I have never eaten one before and they seem like the perfect summer brekkie!

Anonymous said...

love the new 'do!

i think that is awesome that you donated your hair - i have wanted to do that but couldn't take how long my hair was (i was 2 inches away) and got it chopped :/

Anonymous said...

I've been growing out my hair too - its just about there again. I've done it twice before but my hair usually takes a while to grow. This time it took 2 years!

Your new hairstyle looks great and as always all of your healthy meals are inspirational.

Anonymous said...

delurking to say how AMAZING YOUR HEAD LOOKS!!

Miz.

Anonymous said...

PS - I went back posted the recipe in yesterday's post :)

Unknown said...

Thank you for posting the recipe!! I can't wait to try it...and make a breakfast parfait! You look so pretty with your new hair cut...what a great donation! :0) Oh, and I'll put bbq sauce on about anything, so your meals in this post are especially catching my eye!

Anonymous said...

first off, i wanted to say im new to your blog, and i LOVEE it! its so gorgeus and well thought out! and that is SO generous and nice of you to give your hair to locks of love, dont worry im sure the cancer children (sad,sniff) will LOVE your hair! and those meals look uber yummy! and the m&m made me laugh out loud it was so funny! (and sneaky) have a great day!

Anonymous said...

Ooh.....those smoothies look great! How is that bullet blender? I was thinking about getting one. They look pretty useful. There's a guy at my work who keeps his at his desk and makes smoothies every morning.

I get excited when I'm walking down the tea aisle as well! Its my favorite part of the grocery store!

I need to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Barbara Kingsolver is such a great author. Have you ever read High Tide in Tuscon? Its a collection of short stories she wrote. Very good book!

Anonymous said...

A lot to say about this post!

1) Your hair looks great - and such a great cause, too :o)

2) That teal M&M made me laugh - it's something my dad would definitely do to me too!

3) Your parfait has once again made me hungry! Love the peach layers!

4) I LOVE soy BBQ crisps!

And to answer your questions on my blog, I found the wheatberries in the Whole Foods bulk bins. I soaked them overnight AND added them to my oatmeal while it was cooking in the morning. I don't know if you necessarily have to do the latter, but I did because I wanted them to be warm.

I love the Friendship brand whipped cottage cheese too :o)

Have a great weekend!

No Longer Using said...

ooooh! i loved B. Kingsolver's book of essays: Small Wonder.

i have the choc-chile hemp powder! i like it. like the "kick" it has to it, subtle but there. i can't wait to hear how you like the vanilla spice, i might have to get that... :)

Little Miss Sunshine said...

hey gorgeous! Nice chop - by the way, is your hair color natural?! :0)And also, you are so kind to donate your hair to the ones in need :0)

Tehee, your dad is too funny!! He's kinda similar to my dad! :0)

ooh ... cooking your veggies in BBQ sauce?!! I'll definitely try that out, I'm (embarrassing,I know) quite a fan of BBQ sauce myself - but I can't find any vegan ones here!! Do you have any good BBQ sauce recipe by any chance?!

Yumm for the parfait! Look scrumptious!!

ChickPea said...

VeggieGirl: Thanks for the Living Harvest recommendation-I LOVE it!
TheDesertLife: Ooh thanks for the Kingsolver titles...I'll be sure to add them to my list.
CCV: Yes, I think the chocolate flavor is my fave...I just ordered a big package of it!
Rosalie: Thanks so much for commenting! Yes, we should def discuss our Kingsolver books when we finish:)
Emma: I highly recommend breakfast parfaits--you make so many different combinations, so you never get bored.
LoveOfOats: Yeah, it kind of bothers me that there is a length limit. Logic would dictate that ANY hair would be appreciated, but I guess something about the wig production requires it to be long. Oh and thanks for posting the recipe!
Nikki: That's great that you're a repeat donator, especially since it took a few years!
MizFit: Thanks!!
Allison: I hope you enjoy the recipe, but be forewarned that the recipe is not perfect--my batch ended up a bit flat.
Healthy Eating Blog: Welcome to the Broccoli Hut! I'm so happy to have you as a reader. I just checked out your blog, and it looks great!
Eric: The Bullet is great if you have limited counterspace (as I do). It's pretty powerful considering its size. Mine is dying, but I have used it almost every day for the past 2 or 3 years, so it's had a pretty good life.
Jenn: Aren't BBQ soy crisps the best?! Thanks for the info on wheat berries. I'll keep my eye out for them!
Lacey: I love the vanilla hemp powder so far; I can't wait to try the chocolate chile variety.
Cecilia: Thanks for the compliment! Yes, my hair color is natural. I don't have a specific BBQ sauce recipe, but when I ran out of BBQ sauce the last time (and needed some), I just looked at the ingredients list on the old bottle: tomato sauce, apple cider vinegar, sweetener of choice, and any spices you might like to add. Experiment and you might like what you create!

Ruby Red said...

Ahhh, you are so cute! I love the haircut, and it's so nice that you donate to Locks of Love.

Speaking of adorable, I love your parfait glass, too! It's such a great idea to crumble a muffin into the parfait. The muffin recipe looks so yummy too; it reminds me that it's been way too long since I've eaten a bran muffin! Annnd I wanna try that vanilla-flavored hemp protein powder!

ChickPea said...

Ruby: Great to hear from you! I hope you're having a good summer.
Muffin parfaits are really good--especially if you like soggy things like I do:)
Oh, and I highly recommend the vanilla hemp protein powder...more on that in my next post!

Aimee said...

I can't wait to try to make those muffins, and your parfait looks so tasty!

Good for you to do locks of love!!

Anonymous said...

The m and m is too funny! At first I just saw the picture and was thinking that's odd, she puts a small ball in her squash.

I was wondering how you made your beans with the spinach mix. It looks so good. You mentioned not cooking them the long cook way- your way sounds more convenient how did you cook them? Do you typically cook beans or buy canned?

My last question is that hemp shake looks good, so I went on the website. How do you make your shakes-meaning do you have ratios of milk, fruit and powder? I am thinking of getting the chocolate one- what was your favorite combo with the chocolate. So sorry for the gazallions of questions!

oh yeah and that's super nice of you to donate your hair!

ChickPea said...

Aimee: The muffins are tasty, if not exactly beautiful!
Lauren: I am the queen of lazy cooking. For the dish you mentioned, I plopped some canned pink beans (rinsed and drained) and some frozen spinach into a skillet. Once the spinach cooked down a bit, I added a few tablespoons of BBQ sauce and a dash of cumin.
As for the shakes, I usually go for 1.5-2 cups of liquid with several ice cubes, 3/4 cup-1 cup of frozen fruit/ice cream and 2-4 tbsps of protein powder. As you can see, it's not really an exact science!
My favorite combination with the chocolate is probably frozen banana, chocolate hemp powder, and soymilk, perhaps with a dash of extra cocoa. Yum!

Erin said...

Your haircut is cute! It must've been really long before, you've still got quite a bit of length. I'm thinking of chopping mine off soon, it is far too hot here for long hair!

Crumbled muffins in a parfait is a fabulous idea, kind of like a trifle. I'll have to try it sometime.

ChickPea said...

Erin: Yes, my hair was quite long. I am convinced that my hair grows abnormally fast, but I'm not sure that's biologically possible.
You're right--the muffin parfait is like a trifle. Perhaps I should call it a breakfast trifle instead?