The Last Hurrah

Since my last post, my life has been one big last hurrah--a final trip to the lake, plus one last (bittersweet) Whole Foods run. My time at the lake was spent celebrating my dad's Double Nickel (aka his 55th birthday) with my sisters, Ryan, and my parents. We passed the time exploring the lake and, well, just chilling together. I love weekends like that.

As for the Whole Foods run, I picked out a few things to enjoy for the remainder of my time at home, but I will miss having access to a large Whole Foods location. The Durham WF has a great "family" atmosphere (yes, they do know me by name...), but it is quite small and limited in selection. I know, I know--I lead such a deprived life;)

I'll quite being such a Negative Nancy, though--onto the eats!

Friday
Yes, I am a creature of habit--the mango-vanilla makes another comeback. At least this time I mixed it up with a bit of shredded coconut.

Saturday
We woke up bright and early to head down to the lake. I scarfed down a bowl of GoLean with almond milk and walnuts, plus a bowl of cherries that ended up being a road snack. Check out my one of my fellow passengers, Gus.
As per usual at the lake, I dug into the freezer for my lunch: a vegan Boca burger on whole wheat with lots of mustard, lettuce, and tomato. I also had a salad, walnuts with dried cherries, and an orange.
For the birthday dinner, I was in charge of appetizers, so I made a White Bean Dip from Giada, using this recipe. Surprisingly, my anti-health food sister loved it. After sampling my Bunco dips and this one, she has dubbed me "the queen of dips." She doesn't have to know that I don't come up with the recipes myself...
The dinner consisted of my mom's pasta salad, with steamed broccoli and fresh watermelon. I made my own vegan version by using beans and cashews instead of chicken and cheese. I highly recommend the addition of cashews to pasta salad--they add richness and crunch.
I forgot to bring a packet of hemp protein for my voyage to the lake, so I just made a smoothie from vanilla yogurt, soymilk, and frozen blueberries. I used Cascadian Farm granola as a topper.
Sunday
I finally got around to making banana pancakes again. I never get tired of these things. To pump up the fruit content of this breakfast even more, I also had an orange.
After a toodling around in the boat for a bit, we started packing up, and I made a quick lunch: salad with beans and salsa, whole wheat tortillas, and almonds with dried cherries.

We returned home just before dinnertime, so we decided to take it easy and order in Chinese. I just got some steamed vegetables, but I jazzed it up with tofu, sliced almonds, and an agave-mustard sauce I made up. Hit the spot!
I used up the last of my vanilla hemp last night--no more mango-vanilla combinations! Maybe I'll try the Cocoa Chile flavor next time...Anyway, I decided to use a cherry in my garnish last night--it was nice and soggy by the time I got to the bottom of the cup:)
Monday
Another grilled breakfast sammie this morning, except this time I used sliced apples. Apples + PB in sandwich form=heaven. The flavor actually reminded me of apple pie. Hmm, perhaps a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg would be a good addition? I washed it down with a glass of almond milk.
Lunch was so simple but so tasty. I used Whole Foods brand refried black beans and mashed avocado on a whole wheat tortilla to make a burrito. I found some leftover salad in the fridge to which I added a new salad dressing (no HFCS or trans fats!) and some wheat germ. I have seen other bloggers (Kath) use wheat germ on salads, so I decided to give it a whirl. It was good with a sweet dressing, but I'm not sure how it would taste with more savory varieties.
Dinner was a ED&BV favorite, Goddess Garbanzos. I can totally see myself making this at school--it's so easy and satisfying. More importantly, it dirties up very few dishes--a definite pro for a girl living in an apartment without a dishwasher. I stuffed the yummy goop into an Ezekiel pita and served it alongside veggies and a side salad.
Before I go, I wanted to share a blog with you all that my sister introduced to me: Cake Wrecks. I never thought I would find dessert so hilarious. For more professional cakes, take a look at Duff's creations. Enjoy!

Olympic Obsession

I have returned to reality, but I'm not too disappointed--the Olympics have kept me entertained. I can't help it--I turn on the TV, and I just soak up every little nugget of trivia. Yes, add the Olympic games to my ever-growing list of obsessions. I'm sorry to say that my cooking is nowhere near as exciting as the meals I enjoyed over the weekend. Maybe I should try some new recipes to spice things up? Send any recommendations my way.

Monday
It was around lunchtime when we returned home from the airport. I was hungry but totally not in the mood to cook anything. After rummaging around in the fridge, I salvaged some rice and beans, strawberries, and a salad. Those are BBQ soynuts on the salad. This did not satisfy.
By dinnertime, my creative juices had returned, so I tried my hand at a Mexican-inspired tofu dish. I made a sauce out of low-sodium V8, cumin, chili powder, garlic, lime juice, S + P, and cilantro. Then I baked the tofu for 10 minutes, flipped and stirred, and baked another 10 minutes. It turned out alright, but I don't think I'll repeat this dish. On the side, I had some toasted corn tortillas (cut into triangles) dipped in guacamole (made from avocados on their last legs!).
The shake of the evening made up for my mediocre dinner, however. Good thing I decided to freeze our bananas before we left--they make such excellent additions to shakes and smoothies.
Tuesday
Upon waking to a drizzly and gray morning, I decided that it would be a warm breakfast kind of day. Since I had OD'ed on oats over the weekend, a grilled breakfast sammie was in order. This one had the last of my almond butter and sliced banana. I also enjoyed a container of Fage with my new tiny spoon from Crate & Barrel.
The soggy weather continued into midday, so I had another rainy day meal for lunch: Health Valley Split Pea Soup, Ak-maks, spinach salad with local tomatoes and Snacktrition Fiber Cashews, plus freshly cut honeydew. Tasty.
I used a repeat recipe for dinner, Edamame Pesto from Food to Live By. I tossed it with whole wheat radiator noodles, mushrooms, red onion, and broccoli. I also had a side salad and a travel mug of chocolate almond milk. Can you tell I like anything related to cherries?
The smoothie last night was fabulous! Frozen cherries pair well with the PomegranPlus granola.
Wednesday
I took advantage of a little extra time this morning and put together another breakfast parfait. I am out of muffins (!), so I used some of the never-ending Weetabix with plain organic yogurt, blueberries, walnuts, and some more of the Bear Naked Native granola. I think eating it with a little spoon makes it taste better.
Today's lunch was a bit of a flop. I started out making scrambled tofu but decided I wanted to use broccoli as a mix-in (shocker!), but the veggie-tofu ratio got out of hand. As a result, I didn't taste much of the tahini's creaminess; the garlic and poultry seasoning were a little too subtle too. A spinach salad and fresh cherries rounded it all out.
I'm off to read a bit...or maybe check on the Olympics. Ciao!