Talk to Me

After reading a recent post by Lindsay in which she asked her readers how they preferred to be contacted, I got to thinking that maybe I should do the same. Many of you may not know it, but I respond to each of your comments individually in the comments section of each post. I do this because I want to emphasize how much I appreciate each and every comment/question I receive. However, I fear that many of you never even see my responses. SO...I want to know: how would you prefer I respond to your comments? Should I continue leaving mammoth response comments in my posts, or would you prefer that I send you an e-mail? If it's the latter, you'll have to be sure to leave me your e-mail address.

Now, with all logistics aside, I have some fun dishes to share with you today. I am loving all this leisure time to cook as I please!

Monday
After being prompted to choose my absolute favorite Spirutein flavor by my friend K, I bestowed the honor on the Blueberries N Cream flavor. Accordingly, I made a smoothie with it that night: blueberries, said Spirutein, and soymilk topped with TRUWhip (a natural alternative to Cool Whip), and cashew ginger granola. Dee-lish. I think I have outgrown my liking for whipped topping though--I much prefer the crunch of granola these days.
Tuesday
After a very sweaty run outside in ~80* temperatures, I needed a cool and refreshing breakfast...so I had a breakfast parfait. This one featured Graham Bumpers, Cherry Almond Butter (from VeggieGirl!), dried cherries, and Greek yogurt. I cannot wait for cherry season!
For lunch I wanted another excuse to use my hand blender, so I decided on a soup recipe from Totally Vegetarian, Creamy Cauliflower Soup. The name of the dish is a slight misnomer,as there is no milk or soymilk in the recipe--the creaminess comes from the blended potato! This was a super simple recipe and delicious to boot. I enjoyed it with the rest of my pumpkin hummus, raw veggies, and a few clementines. Perf.
Although I don't normally include pics of my snacks, I thought this one was blog-worthy: Rachel's Cucumber Dill Cottage Cheese. I picked it up at WF the other day on a whim, and I am SO glad that I did. Its flavor was quite reminiscent of tsasiki dip, one of my favorite condiments these days. For those of you counting your sugar grams (Jenn!), these have 75% less sugar than conventionally sweetened yogurts.
I whipped up another dish from Totally Vegetarian for dinner: Pasta with Red Onion, Radicchio, Fakin' Bacon, and Edamame. I love all the colors in this meal! The green and purples are quite eye-catching, no? Unfortunately, this dish didn't have enough flavor for me. Next time I might add some pesto or something. That's a dish of peaches and a salad with Woodstock dressing on the accompanying plate.
Yesterday afternoon, I received a Facebook message from VeggieGirl with a suggestion for a shake recipe. After saving it in my recipe file, I decided to try something similar for my evening treat (I didn't have all the ingredients on hand, so I was unable to follow the recipe exactly). I blended strawberries, soymilk, unsweetened vanilla Spirutein, and a couple spoonfuls of PB2. Fabulous! I really recommend the PB-strawberry combo. As soon as I get some hemp milk and vanilla rice powder, I'll try VG's precise recipe:)
Wednesday
After much indecision over what to have for breakfast, I remembered Jenn's recipe for PB2 icing. I topped my toast with a good dose of the icing and served it with a combo of Greek yogurt, pumpkin, and almonds, plus a few clementines on the side.
My lunch today was again inspired by an Everyday Dish podcast. I made the Ginger Peanut Tofu Salad. It turned out pretty well--it tasted a lot like my Peanut Butter Noodles, just in tofu form. Oddly enough, I realized that I had forgotten to add the agave nectar--how unlike me to forget sweetener! Anyway, it tasted yummy just the same. I served the salad with some flax crackers, "carnival" cauliflower, and pineapple.
I didn't get much of a chance to plan dinner tonight, so when I finally returned home, I just slapped together the first thing that came to mind: whole wheat hamburger bun with broccoli, provolone, and sun dried tomatoes, plus a salad with Goddess dressing and an apple. I scarfed this down WAY too fast.
Before I go, I'll let you know about a few giveaways going on:
-Emily from Health Nut is giving away a supah-cute meal planner. Enter to win by March 13 at midnight!
-Jenn from Eating Bender is giving away a few Quaker goodies that I *really* covet. Enter my March 13 at 1 PM CST.

That's all for tonight--be back on Friday!