In the Kitchen with Caroline

Recently, when reading Erica's post about her new home, she asked her readers, "What is your favorite part of your home/apartment/room, etc.?" Without a doubt, the answer to this question, as applied to my on-campus apartment, is my kitchen--my very red kitchen. Although my preference for this area of the apartment may be due to its inherent relation to another one of my favorite things--food!--my kitchen brings me joy beyond the cuisine it helps me produce. All of my contributions to the kitchen decor are of a scarlet hue: the dishes, the gadgets, the measuring cups, the dish towels, and, yes, my beloved blender. Here is a glimpse into my culinary world:
Right side. Where creativity happens.
Left side. Where...dishwashing happens.
Oh-so-glamorous stove (with cherry towels!).
Assorted utensils. Uniformly red and white, save for my Foodbuzz spatula.
OK, so I like colorful dishes.
A selection from my ever-growing cookbook collection.
Where the (blending) magic happens. Although I lust after my fellow bloggers' VitaMix and BlendTec machines, I'm not sure they make them in red:)

Clearly my kitchen is not a high-tech or spacious destination, but I have fun in here, nonetheless.
What does your kitchen look like? What do you love about it?

Take a look at the latest kitchen creations:

Monday
The on-campus grocery store was out of garbanzo beans last week, so I chose a different variety that I had never tried before, aduki beans. Although they are traditionally used in sweet Asian dishes, I opted to use them in a stir-fry with my bunch of bok choy. I simply cooked them in teriyaki sauce along with a few asparagus spears and topped the mixture with toasted cashews. Couscous and a few grapes rounded it all out.
Dinner was a momentous event--I finally tried Jenn's Humbecue Pizza! Although I substituted a sliced mozzarella stick for the feta, I think I achieved the same general flavor experience. Fabulous! I will be using this combination in the future, for sure. Just think, humbecue wraps, salads, quesadillas, potatoes...oh the possibilities. I also had some greens with a few chopped dates on top, plus peaches with almonds.
In the evening I slurped on a triple berry smoothie: raspberry Spirutein, strawberries, and blueberries mixed with soymilk. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Tuesday
Breakfast was a big ol' bowl of oat bran. I made this creamy delight with rice milk, vanilla, agave nectar, ground flax, and mashed banana. I topped it off with some chopped apricots. YUM.
For lunch, I reverted back to my childhood a bit. Ever since kindergarten, I was always responsible for packing my own lunch (which made for some pretty interesting combinations early on). I soon developed a favorite: fat-free bologna on white bread with mayo, mustard, and pickles. Not exactly health food. Nonetheless, I still crave it occasionally, so I made a veganized, healthier version yesterday: Smart Deli meatless bologna slices, whole grain mustard, vegan mayo, sweet relish, and a few mixed greens piled on whole wheat bread. I love taking trips down memory lane with food. Anyway, I used to eat these deli slices all the time when I first became a vegetarian but have since shied away from meat analogs. This one is still pretty darn tasty to me though:) To complete the "lunchbox" theme, I had an apple with PB and raw veggies with salsa.
Dinner was an attempt to revamp leftovers: butternut squash pasta with assorted veggies. I've pulled this before, using soup to make a pasta sauce, and it is still quite tasty. I wished there more saltiness to this soup though--that's what I get for buying the low-sodium variety. Anyway, in the veggie mix, you see red onion, squash, and asparagus. On the side, I had greens with Woodstock dressing, plus a nectarine.
The shake last night was pretty awesome: strawberries, banana, chocolate rice protein, special dark cocoa powder, soymilk, and a few dairy-free chocolate chips.
Wednesday
This morning, I decided on another banana dog with Sunbutter and apple butter, plus a Greek yogurt on the side. Of this entire package of hot dog buns, I've only used them once for their intended purpose, hot dogs. Go figure.
As I sit here typing, I am in awe of how dry and nasty my hands have become. The cold weather and dishwashing certainly have taken their toll. How do you keep your hands silky and supple?

Be back soon! Happy (Ash) Wednesday!

All Wrapped Up

Today has been all about wrapping--my mom and dad have both been so busy this holiday season that they asked me to wrap a few gifts for them today. In addition, I gathered and packaged up my gift for the Food Blogger Secret Santa. After much cutting, taping, and bow-tying, I am pooped. I never thought a day of dressing up packages could be so tiring!

Things are also "all wrapped up" here because my sisters have both graduated! Congratulations to Lea on receiving her MBA and to Katie for her degree in nursing! My dad also walked in graduation due to his position as a professor at UAB. Here are a few pictures from our weekend of academic celebration:
Anyway, here's what fueled me through my first weekend at home:

Friday
My welcome-home smoothie was fantastic! I miss having frozen cherries around--they don't sell them at my Whole Foods in Durham. Anyway, this concoction included cherries, cherry Spirutein, soymilk, and wheat germ. Delish.
Saturday
As I've mentioned before, my go-to breakfast when I'm in a rush is always a smoothie and a bagel with nut butter. Amidst my mad search for my left shoe and frenzied makeup application, I didn't have much time for breakfast...so I had a strawberry-almond milk smoothie with wheat germ, plus a Rudi's sweet wheat bagel with almond butter. (PS You have no idea how excited I was when I finally discovered these bagels at my local health food store...I can't wait to try the cinnamon raisin variety!).
Once home from Katie's ceremony, we barely had enough time to grab lunch. I packed a simple meal to bring along in my purse: a Tofurky sammie with dijon mustard, cherry tomatoes, apple slices, and peanuts.
The whole family had a celebration dinner at a local Italian eatery, Leonardo's. Our party consisted of a whopping 13 people! Nonetheless, the wait staff handled our large party with ease. The rosemary rolls that arrived first were delicious--still warm from the oven and slightly sweet. Everyone was also served a standard garden salad. Among the entrees, there were very few vegetarian options, but I was moderately enticed by what I ordered: angel hair with olives, tomatoes, and basil. The menu stated that the dish would arrive with "a sprinkle" of asiago cheese. Ha! As the picture demonstrates, their idea of "a sprinkle" and mine are quite different. I apologize for the dark pictures--a flash would have ruined the ambiance, for sure!
As you might expect, I saved room for my evening smoothie. This time I combined more cherries, blackberries, berry hemp protein (Nutiva), soymilk, and peanut butter granola.
Sunday
Just before heading off to church, I made a quick breakfast out of Publix Oatmeal Flakes (my new favorite cereal!), TJ's blueberry flax, and rice milk, plus some clementines on the side. I enjoyed reading the Christmas-y Sunday paper as I ate.
I had a lunch that you've all seen before: a lentil veggie wrap. I spread the rest of my delicious lentil dip (which I first ate here) on a tortilla with mushrooms, tomatoes, and carrots. On the side, I had a salad with Woodstock dressing and an apple. Yum!
My culinary skills were markedly absent from dinner as well, as I just had a Sunshine burger on whole wheat with salsa, brussels sprouts, squash, and salad. I agree with VeggieGirl, Sunshine burgers are quite possibly the best veggie burgers on the market!
The smoothie of evening featured one of my favorite flavor combinations: vanilla and mango! I combined mango, vanilla soy protein, soymilk, and peanut butter granola. This was good, but not quite as heavenly as when I use my Living Harvest vanilla hemp.
Monday
One of the luxuries of home is that I can treat myself to Greek yogurt--Fage is often just too expensive for me to buy for myself! I took advantage of my little treat this morning by mixing 0% Fage with flax seed, cinnamon, and stevia. I put a dollop of this mixture and some fresh blackberries atop some Van's waffles.
For lunch, I derived inspiration from Kath's curried chicken salad. Obviously, I made a few substitutions, using tofu instead of chicken, walnuts instead of pecans, vegan mayo for the yogurt/regular mayo, etc. I placed the mixture atop a bed of greens and served it alongside some All Bran crackers, and a sliced apple. For all you vegans out there: the All Bran crackers are far from natural, but they are vegan, unlike Kashi's TLCs.
Tonight's dinner was a new recipe for me from ED&BV. Yes, I actually ventured outside my cashew-ginger tofu obsession. This evening's recipe was the Thai Chick-Un Pizza. Again, I had to make a few substitutions due to ingredient limitations, but the flavors were still delicious! I forgot to add the pineapple on the pizza, so I used it on top of my salad, along with leftover chickpeas and the last of the Thai pizza sauce. I love how unique (and tasty!) this recipe is--I will definitely be making this dish again. PS The Santa salt & pepper shakers wanted a chance to be seen on the blog--cute, no?
I am headed to the mall for some Christmas shopping tomorrow. I still need to buy something for each of my sisters and my dad. Have you finished your shopping yet? Which gift are you most excited about giving this year?

Wishing you all a pleasant Monday:)