Long-Awaited Reprieve

Whew! My tests and quizzes are complete (for the time being), just in time for the holiday weekend. My nutrition test went smashingly, but the anatomy test...not so much. The professor posts grades on Friday evening, so we'll see. I probably won't check until Monday though, just so I can enjoy my weekend at the lake! I've been studying non-stop for the wast two weeks, so I am ready for a few days of down-time and maybe a smidgen of aquatic sports:)

I picked out a few recipes to try this week, and most have been a success thus far. Read on to find out the deets.

Monday
After my recent discovery of the wonder that is Annie's Goddess Dressing, I decided to try out Dreena's Goddess Garbanzos recipe. All I have to say is wow. I can't wait to try it again! I enjoyed mine atop a whole grain hot dog bun (Arnold brand), along with my usual salad, some steamed veggies, and a chocolate soy yogurt. I had never tried Stonyfield's soy yogurt before, and I noticed a few unique characteristics. The texture is more liquidy than that of other brands, and this variety (chocolate) was quite sweet. It was a nice treat, but I'm not sure it will go into regular rotation. The smoothie of the evening consisted of raspberry Spirutein, frozen berries, soy milk, and a bit of a broken up Honest Foods granola plank. De-lish. Tuesday
Return of the breakfast parfait! This particular combination was one of the best I have made in a while: vanilla soy yogurt, frozen cherries, and Fiber One cereal. The vanilla soy yogurt totally made this dish. Yum.
After class yesterday, I was so hungry that I just put together the fastest lunch I could think of...taking the test must have gobbled up all my energy. I made a pita sammie with cranberry and stuffing flavor Tofurky, Nayonaise, and spinach. A spinach salad (with dried cranberries!), a juicy peach, and some almonds finished it off.
For dinner, I picked out a recipe from Clean Eating Magazine (the premiere issue): Lentil Salad with Cranberries and Pecans. (I guess I just couldn't get enough cranberries yesterday...). I didn't have any pecans, so I subbed walnuts, and I used cranberries that I had in the freezer. That's a good tip actually: at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I stock up on bags of cranberries and freeze them so that I can enjoy their nutritious goodness all year round. Anyway, this recipe was bad. There was no flavor except for the extremely tart berries and acidic white wine vinegar; it needed a balancing ingredient of some kind. At least it looked pretty.
The smoothie of the evening consisted of tropical Spirutein, frozen pineapple (way cheaper than fresh!), almond milk, and broken up granola plank. In retrospect, this would have been perfect with coconut.
Wednesday
Today for breakfast I treated myself to a peach-soymilk smoothie and a banana-walnut Gnu bar. I went scavenging for cool cups and glasses, and I all I came up with was this hefty beer mug. I need to make a trip to Home Goods...
In the midst of my studying, I found the time to put together a quick (albeit random) lunch. I used up the rest of my tempeh by cooking it up in a Vidalia onion salad dressing I found in the fridge. Onto the greens it went, and along side it I had some crackers with almond butter and some blueberries.
Dinner tonight was phenomenal. I tried Dreena's recipe for Cashew Ginger Tofu. I could slurp this sauce with a straw--it was that good. Accompanying the superstar meal component were some vegetables, whole grain couscous, and a fresh pear.

I have a quick question for all of you: after a discussion with my nutrition professor, I think I might be borderline OD-ing on soy protein. Sooo, do you all have any recommendations for vegan protein powders not made from soy? As you all have seen, I just can't live without my evening protein shakes!

Well I am off to relax...at last!

Another Quick Post

Hi everyone! Sorry, today's post will contain limited commentary again. I hate it when pesky tests must take priority over the fun stuff. Boo! Anyway, here are the weekend's eats:

Friday
I tried a cool new treat on Friday night: Erin's Bakery Mini Breakfast Cookies. These were the peanut butter flavor. They're small but oh-so-peanut-buttery. Truth be told, I went back for another one:)
Saturday
Quick breakfast of strawberry-soymilk smoothie and some Whole Foods brand Organic Flax Waffles with a drizzle of pure maple syrup.
Lunch didn't happen until 3PM, so I was a starvin' Marvin. I made a hearty sandwich out of a Rudi's Flax English Muffin, mashed avocado, Soy Boy 5-grain tempeh, and Annie's BBQ sauce. I am totally in love Annie's products! Oh, and the salad has sliced button mushrooms, Romaine, and Craisins.
Dinner was completely random but so tasty. I grilled up the rest of my eggplant on my good friend Mr. Foreman. I drizzled tahini on top--SO GOOD. TRY THIS. I also had a hearty portion of corn/black bean salad and some plain soy yogurt with fresh blueberries.
I got around to trying my Kashi Vive sample. It was good, but a little too sweet, and that's saying a lot coming from a girl with a healthy sweet tooth. Maybe it would be better mixed with some bran flakes or something equally bland.
The shake of the evening was good in theory but not in taste. I combined a So Delicious Cinnamon Bun soy yogurt with a Chai Latte flavor Spirutein packet and some ice. Really sweet, but the cinnamon flavor didn't sufficiently shine through. What a waste of a good cinnamon bun yogurt.
Sunday
My breakfast was supremely boring so let's skip to lunch. It included a grilled tofu/hummus sandwich for which I used--you guessed it--Mr. Foreman. I also had a salad with salted cashews and balsamic vinegar and some random frozen fruit remnants (peaches, mango chunks).
For dinner, I tried another new product: Amy's cheeseless roasted vegetable pizza. Two thumbs up! I was surprised to discover that there was no tomato sauce on it though. I remember VeggieGirl's review of this product on Iateapie a while back in which she suggested adding additional veggies--I think that's a good recommendation. My family enjoyed it too--after I took my portion my dad and brother-in-law Major finished off the remaining 3/4. Go figure. I also had a salad with chickpeas, plus a bowl of strawberries and a glass of chocolate soymilk. I make the soy milk by whizzing plain soymilk in the MB with special dark cocoa and stevia; this is my current obsession.

Smoothie time featured another attempt at using soy yogurt: strawberry banana soy yogurt, "Nutty Berry Burst" Spirutein, peanut butter, and ice. It was mediocre at best. I am in dire need of a tasty shake--I've had quite enough of these sub-par creations.
Monday
Excellent breakfast this morning: oat bran (cooked on the stovetop) with whipped banana and a healthy dose of almond butter. It's not difficult to figure out why this is a classic:)
For the midday meal, I had tempeh dipped in a rather thick peanut sauce, along with a perfect (Chilton County!) peach, spinach salad, and a few rice cakes. I was hoping for some rice crackers, but the cakes'll do, I suppose. This kept me really full--no growling tummy in class today!
Now I am off to eat dinner! Ciao/chow!

Blog Updates and Worries

This Friday the 13th wasn't terribly unlucky, but it was rainy. I woke up to a hot and dark house--the power mysteriously went out this morning. It stormed all afternoon too, so I spent some time updating my old blog posts. You'll notice that I've included a lot more links to the makers of the foods that I feature on here--Kashi, Spirutein, etc. I've been getting some questions lately about my preferred brand names, so I figured this little addition would be helpful.

I am afraid that I have lost a lot of readers due to the name change; there seem to be fewer comments recently. This makes me sad! I don't know how to get the word out about my new URL besides just commenting on other blogs with the new address. Please spread the word about Broccoli Hut! However, I realize that the quality of my readers is much more important than quantity, and I know that everyone who reads this blog is uber-cool:)

So here's what has been on the menu lately:

Wednesday

Yet another cherry smoothie! This one had lots of frozen cherries, almond milk, and cherry Spirutein.

Thursday

Breakfast consisted of old faves: scrambled tofu (using the Chicago Diner recipe), Ak-Maks, and sliced peaches with cinnamon. The sesame crackers perfectly complemented the tahini in the scramble.

I packed my lunch to eat on campus yesterday. I decided on a simple Oven Roasted Tofurky sandwich on whole wheat with Nayonaise, Grey Poupon, and organic greens. The other containers housed a garden salad, raw almonds, and a tiny container for strawberry balsamic vinaigrette. I also brought an orange. For dinner, I tried something new: I made a flavored mayo dip. This dip consisted of Nayonaise, lemon juice, garlic, and fresh herbs. I spread this tasty goo on some tempeh cubes. The accompaniments included cauliflower, corn, and a side salad. Great summer meal! The shake last night used a limited edition Spirutein flavor: Egg Nog. There were no actual eggs in the mix though (go figure!). I combined it with light soymilk and some vanilla extract, plus some nutmeg on top for authenticity. This concoction really wasn't that tasty...

Friday

Breakfast was simple today. I opted for a whole wheat mini bagel spread with PB & Co.'s Cinnamon Raisin PB, and I made a pseudo-Frappuccino with some coffee, soy milk, and almond-flavored coffee syrup (check out that foam!). Blueberries balanced it all out.

After breakfast, I finally got around to trying a recipe that I've had in mind for awhile. I found a recipe in Clean Eating Magazine for ham and cheese muffins that required meatless ham, real cheese, milk, and eggs. I changed it up a bit by omitting the ham (just had Tofurky), substituting vegan cheddar and soy milk, and using flax+water for the egg. I just made a half recipe in my muffin top pan--these vegan cheddar muffins made for a great afternoon snack later in the day. I scarfed down lunch in 8 minutes flat today. I was in a hurry because my dad and I had a few errands to run, so I just came up with something quick: corn, kidney beans, cumin, chili powder, and some mashed avocado, plus a sliced apple. Dinner was just weird and not all that tasty, so I am not even gonna post it. Dessert made up for it though--I tried So Delicious Cinnamon Bun Soy Yogurt. I first saw this on Ruby's blog a few months ago, and I have been dying to try it ever since. This was SO good (no pun intended). I really wanted to share the joy, so I tried to get my mom to try it--but she wouldn't bite. All the more for me:)

Well, I'm off to find a new book to read. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Enjoy your Father's Day weekend!