Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Restaurant Review: Wallflower Modern Diner

This weekend I went to the Wallflower on Main Street again for breakfast. I'm really digging this place. So far I've only gone for breakfast so jetting over there for lunch would be fab sometime. I'd love to try their vegan mac and cheese which I've heard is awesome! One of the best things about the Wallflower is that they have 3 menu's (regular, vegan and gluten free) so everyone in your life has something to eat. And the vegans aren't left to eat just a fruit plate or salad. 

This was the first time I've gone out for breaky and everyone at the table ate vegan. My aunt and uncle are not vegan but love any food. We all also ate gluten free. I opted for fruit instead of gluten free bread but they had it. I had a couple bites and it was pretty good! Gluten free bread has come a long way. It really has. Silver Hills just came out with one a few weeks back, I need to try it. 

Black Bean and Corn Hash

BBQ Tofu Hash
My uncle and I both got the black bean and corn hash. Its super yummy. Fresh salsa on top. Tons of veggies. Tons actually. Its a generous sized dish. Even without the bread I was super full. The fruit was a little disappointing. They charged an extra $2 bucks for that, which amounted to a quarter of an apple and maybe 2 strawberries. I was sorta annoyed with that. At least give me a decent sized amount like at minimum it should have been half the apple. Oh well. And that was their only fruit option. Which is fine. I love apples and strawberries.

The BBQ Tofu Hash was yummy! It had a great bbq sauce on it. Sweet and savoury. Great combo. Next time I'd like to try the Benny. I wonder if they can make it gluten free? I'm sure they can. Use the gluten free bread instead of the English muffins....hmmmm.

I made this salad and I think you should make it. Its super easy and delish. 


Avocado Kale Salad
Ingredients
1 pkg kale
3 cups organic mixed greens
1 lemon
1 avocado
sea salt

Directions:
Tear the leaves off the kale, rinse and rip into bite sized pieces. Add the avocado, lemon and sea salt and massage for about 1-2 minutes. Add the mixed greens and toss until fully coated. Add toppings like blueberries, green onions, and cucumber. ENJOY!!!

SERIOUSLY yummy and makes a lot. I had 3 servings. I put some of it inside a rice paper wrap. Yum!

Wallflower Modern Diner on Urbanspoon

Peace

xoxo

K


Monday, January 30, 2012

Random weekend foodstuffs

This weekend was jammed packed full of stuff to do but I still had time to eat nutritiously of course. On Saturday I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up a little raw kale salad with Tahini dressing. It is seriously amazeballs!!! I could drink this dressing. In fact, I saved the leftover dressing and drizzled it on my other salad later that day. OMG I need to figure out how to make it!!! I got the green kombucha and had a half serving of VEGA Whole Health Optimizer berry flavour. YUM
Saturday lunch
 Later that evening my friend Nikki came over and we made a healthy vegan feast. She fully supports my detox thing I've got going on. We had steamed veggies, roasted broccoli, cauliflower rice, fritters, melon, orange, and I think that's it.....Super yummy!
Saturday Dinner
 This was WAY better than I thought. I got the recipe from DAMY health. You can check her out here. She's not vegan but super healthy and active. She's got lots of info but is mostly a site where you buy/subscribe to her weight loss programs. But some seriously good looking vegan, gluten free desserts. And she uses very good sugars like agave, maple syrup and stevia. 

The recipe was 1 head of cauliflower, 1/2 onion, sea salt. Process cauliflower in food processor. Fry the onion in 1/4 cup water until translucent. Add cauliflower and season to taste. Cook until heated thoroughly, about 10 minutes. Use as a rice substitute or add to soups, etc. YUMMMMMMMM. I obvs changed up the recipe. I used less onion than her official recipe and didn't use any oil. Her recipe is on her site. 
Cauliflower rice
 I've had these bars before but now have the pleasure of having an entire box. My aunt and uncle got them but didn't like them. BUT I do!!! Yah! I love how they only have 11 or less ingredients. All recognizable. Vegan, gluten free, kosher and are only 150 cals per bar. AND she uses brown rice syrup instead of crappy white sugar. There's only like 3 grams of sugar too versus like 20 in others. Max protein in as little calories as possible. YES PLEASE.
My new protein bar
 My new reads! Picked up these gems this weekend with my gift card from Nikki. She's such a dollface. She spilled a smidge of wine on a book and gave me a 25$ gc for chapters! YAH! Wheat Belly is great so far. I'll post about wheat later. Its crazy what I've learned in 35 pages.


 My dinner on Sunday night. Quinoa and leftover steamed veggies topped with hot sauce. Then I had a protein shake and some maca pills. 

There you have it folks!!! All sorts of food and such from my weekend. Maybe I should start posting on weekends.......nah, lol.

Watched Moneyball last night. Was pretty good. Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt were awesome. Jonah is super awkward and weird but so good. The ending was kinda anti-climatic but it was loosely based on a true story so what can they do. Still good though. I recommend seeing it. 

Peace

xoxo

K

Restaurant Review: Foundation

I was back at Foundation on Main St again this weekend. LOVE that place. Had to wait forever for a table but its honestly worth the wait. We could have been seated faster because they had at least 4 empty tables but that's not how they roll at Foundation. Not sure what the reasoning is, but they often let tables go unseated while there is a long line out the door. Guess they don't have the whole lets make some money mentality. Lol

Everyone else was sharing nachos, which I hear are the best in the city, but of course I don't eat cheese so I got my own meal. I decided to try something different, opted for the Maple Tahini tofu dish. Served with tons of veggies, spinach, tofu and quinoa. Might have been some chickpeas but now I can't remember. It was seriously the bomb!!! That sauce was to die for. I'm going to need to recreate this sauce. Fo sho. 


LOVE this dish. I also love how this place has so many options. They serve brown rice, pasta, burgers and quinoa! I love quinoa so much. And not many places serve it. And especially since I've decided to try going gluten free. And, and, and. Lol

I've gone gluten and sugar free in the last week. It would have been at least 2-2.5 weeks but I got sabotaged last week with a vegan brownie. Not that I'm complaining too much cuz damn that brownie was tasty!!! The reason I'm doing the sugar thing is twofold, 1. sugar is the devil, addictive, keeps you fat, makes you fat.....etc. and 2. Tough Mudder. Its in June. Its baddass. It looks crazy hard and I'm just hoping I survive it. I've been working very hard at increasing my strength. Particularly in my upper body. And I'm getting stronger and seeing some results. But now I wanna go full on hardcore. We'll see how long it lasts! LOL

I've started the official Tough Mudder training workout last week. I'm going to do it 3 days a week and the other 3 days will be my regular workouts plus lots of cardio. That coupled with my clean diet should make for some awesome results. I'm going to document it and if it works then I'll post it for yah! I'm going to follow this regime for 12 weeks. I'm now in week 2!

Check out one of the Tough Mudder video's 


That shit cray!

Foundation on Urbanspoon

Peace

xoxo

K

Friday, January 27, 2012

Thai Chili

I love fusing different types of cuisines together and using ingredients you wouldn't think goes together, but totally does. I think that's what I've done here. I took my love affair with Thai food and Chili to the max by putting them together. It works. BELIEVE me! It was sooooo delish! I usually share my leftovers at work but this time I barely did. I only gave them a bite. I was a greedy little vegan. ha.

Thai Chili
Ingredients
1 can black beans
1 cup red lentils
4 cups water
1 lime, juiced
1 inch piece ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 lemongrass stalk
4 tomatoes, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp chili powder
2 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp Vegeta (dry veggie stock)
1 can low fat coconut milk
2 tsp green curry

Directions:
1. Saute the onions, garlic, ginger and carrots in a pot with about 1/4 cup water. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until translucent. (or use oil if you like).
2. Add sweet potato, lentils, black beans, tomatoes and 1 cup water. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add all remaining ingredients except for the coconut milk and lime juice. Cook for 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft. Add coconut milk and lime juice. Season to taste.
4. Serve over brown rice or rice noodles. YUM!!!


 Total heaven right there. SOOOO YUMMY!!! And pretty healthy too. This recipe makes a HUGE amount. And the only "added" fat was the 7 grams in the coconut milk, and that's in the whole pot so that's almost nothing in each serving! yah.



Ok, so I bought a thing of purple kale and make this amazing salad last night!!! Its so pretty! So colourful and the dressing is the bomb!


Purple Kale Salad
Ingredients:
1 head purple kale, just leaves
1 royal gala apple, diced
1 carrot, shredded

Dressing:
1 large jalapeno
1 lemon, juiced
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:
Put all dressing ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Pour on top of salad fixin's and toss. Use your hands to massage the kale for about a minute. This will soften the leaves. If you have a cut, don't do it!!! The lemon and jalapeno will burn. lol

Prettiest salad? YUP

Such a gorgeous looking salad. And its seriously tasty. I made the whole head of kale and gobbled it all up. I had a lot of it last night and couldn't wait to finish it off for lunch today. Its all gone! lol ;)

SO happy its Friday!!! Got a good night out tonight with some friends. My girl Jess is going back to Germany soon so we have one last night out on the town. Going to have a kick ass dins at Foundation, play some bingo and then head out for some dancing. Then I have brunch, movies, appointments, tough mudder work out and trying Bikrams for the first time! Eeeek Imma scurred. :)

Have a good weekend y'all!

Peace

xoxo

K




Thursday, January 26, 2012

Easy appetizers and Vegan Brownies!!!

I needed to bring a small dish/appy to a girlfriends house on the weekend and needed something quick. This salad is so easy to make and has 2 of my fave ingredients: quinoa and black beans. YUM.

Mexican Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
2 cups dry quinoa, cooked according to package
1 can black beans
1 jalapeno, minced
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 lime, juiced
2 carrots, chopped finely
1/2 red onion, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
pepper

Directions:
Let the quinoa cool. I popped mine in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to cool it off faster. Combine all ingredients and add any more seasonings if you need it.

DELISH!
 My friend Bre made these cute little appies! Pita bread, hummus, falafel, tomato, cucumber and avocado!!! LOVE this idea. They were super yummy and look fancy to boot.


A little pick me up. 

Vegan brownie!!!!!!!

My gf Jessica made these kick ass vegan fudge brownies! omg. Obvs I got the recipe from her, because well, these need to be in my belly more often. Even though I'm training hard right now. Sigh. Maybe after. lol But sharing is caring, so here's the recipe folks!

Vegan Fudge Brownies

yields 12 squares

1 1/2 cups (360mL) unbleached flour
1/2 cup (120mL) cocoa
1 1/2 cups (360mL) brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp (7.5mL) baking soda
3/4 tsp (4mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5mL) salt
3/4 cup (180mL) soy milk
3/4 cup (180mL) coffee
1/3 cup (80mL) vegetable oil
1/2 cup (120mL) walnuts, roasted & chopped
1/2 cup (120mL) carob chips

glaze
7oz (210g) dark, belgian chocolate
5oz (150g) vegan margarine

1.) Pre-heat oven to 325 F. Prepare a 9"x 9" pan by greasing it and then lining it with parchment paper.

2.) Sift together the flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the coffee, soy milk and vegetable oil. Combine the wet and dry mixes and stir well. Stir in walnuts into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top with carob chips, and bake for 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Coool the cake on a wire rack.

3.) When the cake is cool, prepare the glaze. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and vegan margarine. Whisk together very thouroughly to get a smooth, rather than a streaky finish. Pour the warm glaze over the cake, smoothing it out over the surface. Place the pan in the fridge to set. Divide the pan of brownies into 12 squares and enjoy!

I def recommend making these delish brownies. Looking at the recipe the only thing I'd change would be I'd use almond milk. Just cause that's the one I love.....Oh man, now I want a brownie!

Must resist. I've started a new training program. I'm doing the official Tough Mudder workout and its hard! I love it to death but man. I gotta keep my diet in check! And I need a new protein powder. I'm a HUGE vega fan. Love all their products but I'd thought I'd check out a different one. Switch it up a bit. Hmmm, so far the consensus from my fellow vegan pals on FB and Instagram say Sun Warrior. We shall see.....

Peace

xoxo

K


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Restaurant Review: Chomp Vegan Eatery

I had the pleasure of checking out a new vegan restaurant this weekend in Port Moody. Its a vegan, gluten free establishment that is just cute as a button! The decor is super adorable, all white with splashes of colour and the cutest little chairs you've ever seen. lol You can check them out here


My friend Leanne and I decided to share 3 items, which I love doing. I always want to try everyone else's food. Sharing is caring folks. We picked the Summer Salad, Full-alfel and the Grilled Cheese Madness. Let me tell you, it was madness. It was my personal fave.

Full-afel

Mmmmm
 Honestly, it was not the best falafel I've ever had. And not to imply I'm some sort of falafel connoisseur but being vegan and not a frequenter of dollar slice pizza at 2am, I have had my fair share and this one was a tad dry. But the vegan tzatziki was amazing.

Grille Cheese Madness
 This was madness, in fact, it was the bomb!!! Gluten free bread (yah!), daiya (double yah!), zucchini, pear, red onion, red pepper and basil. BAM! Seriously good and from now on, may all my grilled cheeses be mad.


Summer Salad
This was a very fresh and light salad. Needed a bit more flavour but it was good. It had my 2 fave beans, the chickpea and the black bean. Was nice and filling too. 

All in all, I'd go there again. Next time I'm getting the mac and cheesey and the sliders. YUM!

Check em out!

Chomp Vegan Eatery on Urbanspoon


Peace

xoxo

K





Friday, January 20, 2012

New use for muffin tins! Quinoa bean cakes.

I did a little experimentation in my kitchen last night trying to come up with something tasty and crafty. I use quinoa quite a bit. I love it. Super nutrient packed and full of protein. I was going to make little quinoa and chickpea patties but I didn't have any chickpeas. Fret not, I used fava beans instead. A white, broad bean. I don't like to pan fry food in oil, I usually cook with very little oil. I was planning on baking these suckers and then it came to me. USE MUFFIN TINS! Yes. Its just logical. lol

I came up with this little gem. One thing that I will do next time though is up the flax seed mixture so it stays binds better. I def didn't use enough. I'll give you my recipe that I made last night and then give you a recommendation on the amount to use. 

Quinoa Bean Cakes
Ingredients
2 cups dry quinoa, cooked according to package
1 can fava beans
1 inch piece ginger
3 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
2 carrots
1 lemon
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp corriander
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup almond milk

Flax seed mixture
3 tsp ground flax seed
1/2 cup water

Directions:
1. Process carrots, ginger, garlic, fava beans and onion in a food processor.  Make sure the beans get mashed. My food processor is small so I did the beans on their own. 
2. Mix together all the ingredients except for the flax seed mixture. Add any additional spices to your taste.
3. If using whole flax seeds, grind them in a blender before adding the water. Blend until gelatinous. Believe me, it'll happen. About 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Combine the flax mixture with the quinoa mixture and ball up and put in a lightly greased muffin tin. Press down.
5. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Before baking

After baking

Roasted veggies
 The veggies are: Zucchini, red pepper, red onion, lemon, garlic, sea salt and basil.
Dinner for 2!
Looks so good right? I totally just had an eye-gasm. This is some good food porn for your hungry eyes.

Food porn
So although they did fall apart a little, I found out that if you let them rest for a bit they stick together better. But who are we kidding, I can't wait to eat. lol Next time I would do another 2 tsp's of flax seed and 1 cup of water. Same process.

What I didn't show were all the bottles of wine me and Jimmy consumed. Jeez, polished off 3! Oops. Made for a rough morning. lol Had a real tough go of it. I saw this video today and thought it was hilarious. 


I say quite a bit of those. I thought shit girls say was AWESOME. Laughed my butt off, but all the others were just ok. This is the only other one that made me laugh. The ending is perfect. HA. 

Hope everyone has a kick ass weekend. Mine is jammed packed as usual but I'm hoping to be able to get to the gluten free expo on Sunday at the Croatian Cultural Center. Entry is by donation to the food bank. Cool!

Peace

xoxo

K





Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Master Wrapper

I'm really into wraps right now. I've always liked them for sure. But the last 2 weeks have been wrap-tastic. Collard greens are what I've been using mostly but I've dabbled in some rice paper and lettuce wraps too so that I don't get bored. I put anything and everything in them from tofu to apples and sprouts to cucumbers and avocado to tempeh. Whatevs. I even put a recipe that I tested that I thought was a fail in it because I couldn't bare to waste all those precious veggies.

I got the recipe from VEGA. The company of Brendan Brazier, my vegan god. I thought it looked and sounded wonderful. Used some colourful ingredients and ones that I love, like dijon mustard. But I really wasn't feeling the flavour and I don't like it when a food dyes everything else the same colour, like beets. I rarely use beets even though they are super tasty. You can get the recipe here if you're interested. I changed a couple of things. I didn't use oil or have any chickpeas but other than that I followed it. 

SOOOO, to not waste it I threw it into my rice paper wraps and romaine lettuce wraps along with some other veggies and it was great! Actually I liked it quite a bit like that, just not on its own. Weird. 

Romaine lettuce wraps and sriracha

Refreshing like this. And nice and light. 

The next few photo's are of my dinner last night. I was running late to meet my friend Steve and he kindly gave me an extra 15 minutes so I could eat dinner. Lol. I threw these together really  fast and pan fried some tofu with soy sauce and put that on top of some quinoa for a quick dinner. The wraps all have various ingredients but I find with the rice paper ones is to not soak them for long. Just soak until they are soft, like 30 seconds. And lay down a piece of lettuce so your filling doesn't poke holes in the paper. 

Rice paper wraps
Fillings that I've been using are carrots, sprouts, tofu, avocado, stir fried veggies, red pepper, cucumber, hummus, and jalapenos. Not all at once.

The dip is just low sodium soy sauce and sriracha


Green smoothie and berry smoothie
 The green one has spirulina, hemp seeds, spinach, half a banana, lime, water and carrot. The berry one has half a banana, spinach, lime and water.
Winterized
Its so effin cold in Vancouver right now. There's barely any snow but was like -7 this morning. Felt like -10 though. Even with my ear muffs, leg warmers, boots with the fur and parka I was still freezing. But its supposed to get in the pluses tomorrow. Lets hope they're right. I'm just not built for this kinda weather. Lol

Tonight I'm experimenting with something that may or may not work out. There's a gluten free expo this Sunday from 11-4pm that I might try to check out. You can see the deets here. I'm very interested in going gluten free. I always feel better when I am. And I am for the most part. I don't eat bread very much and I almost never eat pasta or noodles anymore. Usually when I do eat noodles its rice or buckwheat noodles. 

My friend Steve told me about one of his good buddies blog. Its a health/fitness blog and it looks super awesome! Yah I said super awesome. I'm very excited about checking it out some more. There's some seriously good info on there and I think you should check it out. Click here to see. Good tips on keeping fit, which is good for all you resolutioners. Ha

Peace

xoxo

K

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I heart balls.

Who doesn't love balls? I love them that's for sure. Especially when they're as tasty as the balls I'm going to present to you today. The recipe for these protein balls is not my own, although I did make some changes. I got the recipe from a girlfriend who got it from a blog called Smashed Peas and Carrots. You can get the original recipe here but I will give you the one that I made. I only made a couple minor changes. One being that I didn't use honey so that it would be vegan. And I also didn't have any vanilla left and I didn't use chocolate chips........this time. Oh and I used almond butter, and double the amount. Plus I used some hemp seeds too. lol

Sidebar: there is a great debate on whether or not honey is vegan. But what it comes down to is that bees are an animal and honey is produced by bees, therefore its an animal product. But that being said some believe that because we are not taking anything from their body that we aren't harming them. It is a product they create during pollination. It is not their bodily fluids nor their "meat". I don't have any strong feelings towards this, I'm a dietary vegan not an ethical vegan. I do avoid honey when I can. I've probs had it twice since going vegan. Meh. I'm not too worried about it. 

I digress, Back to my balls.

No-Bake Protein Balls
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1.5 cups almond butter
1/3 cup agave nectar
3/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup hemp seed

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls and pop in your mouth!!! Store in an airtight container. They will store for a week.....if you can keep them that long. 

TIP: I warmed my almond butter in a pot on the stove with a couple tbsp's of water to loosen it up. Mine is natural and the oil had separated so it was a little hard. This loosened it up. Also, I grind my own flax seed, and added half the rolled oats to it too to grind.

I couldn't wait, I ate some from the bowl!

Oh yah! Best balls you'll ever taste

Seriously, these balls are so tasty in your mouth. You should make them. They are super easy and are loaded with nutrition. Lots of protein, iron, calcium, and other vits and mins. If you can hold onto them for the week then you're a better person than me! Lol I had 2 this morning with my blueberries.

Breaky!
So yummy! And the balls kept me full until 1130am! That's unusual for me. I usually eat at 8am and then again at 10am. Lol.

You should make these balls. Or the original recipe. They are super tasty. I'm also gonna make some more. My own recipe. Or modify other ones I've found. Great way to snack or add some good fats and protein to your day.

Has everyone been working out these days? I know my gym has been packed. I hope everyone is getting their fitness on. I work out like 6 days a week, 5 on a bad week. I'm gonna start this 100 push up challenge. You can check it out here. I did a test of day 1 last night and I can barely move my arms. Sheeettt. Lol

Planking but not on a million

I wonder if anyone will get my planking reference? ha

Peace

xoxo

K






Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Black Bean Soup

I haven't made a black bean soup in a long time. It usually doesn't last long in my house because I just love it so much. Its such an easy filling meal. You top it with a little salsa and avocado/guacamole and BAM!!! Delish meal right there. Its filled with fibre, vitamins and minerals. 

I figured the soup would be pretty safe if I made it back to back with another soup. That way I'd have too many options for lunch and would HAVE to freeze some. Yah! Plus I used way more beans this time.

Pureed Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
4 cups dry black beans, soaked overnight and rinsed
1 onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped
3 garlic cloves
6 cups water
2.5 tsp cumin
4 tsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
3 tsp Vegeta (dry veggie stock)
3 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:
Place all ingredients into your slow cooker and cook for 8 hours. Remove bay leaves and puree until smooth. Taste and add any additional seasoning to your taste. 

TIP: Make sure you soak your dried beans overnight and rinse them. The more you soak and rinse the easier they will be to digest. And by that, I mean you won't fart as much. You know what they say, beans are the magical fruit. But the more you soak them the better. If you use canned beans make sure its 4 cups, which should be about 2 of the larger cans. And rinse those too. But they don't need to be soaked. 

Black Bean Soup

Yummy!!! And super filling because its pretty much just pureed beans. It kinda turned out like refried beans so if you want it to be a little more "soupy" I'd add one more cup of water. I like it thick like this. Delish!

I'm still totally obsessed with collard greens. I pretty much eat them every day as wraps. Snack on those suckers and you're one happy camper. I started adding jalapenos and sprouts to them. SUPER good!!! I love spicy food!


This one has hummus, carrot, jalapeno, roma tomato and sprouts. I even got a friend at work obsessed with them too. Its such a great way to get major nutrition in a delish way. 

My new thing is making my own protein balls. I tried last week and it was a partial fail. Not sure if I talked about it. I say partial because they were damn tasty but they wouldn't ball up. Jerks. So I just ate them straight from the bowl. Lol. I'm classy like that. So I picked up about 5 or 6 different recipes and I'm gonna try a couple out tonight I think. At least one. And these are all no-bake balls. Lol Mmmmm 

I was so surprised  that the gym wasn't a gong show last night. It was pretty busy but I was able to get on a treadmill! Yay! But I couldn't' take a shower after, I had to wait. It was a zoo. I think the snow scared everyone off. And tonight I have my first skype date with a friend in Korea so I'll be going a bit later, so there better be a treadmill for me then! You hear that?!! LOL 

Peace

xoxo

K

Monday, January 16, 2012

Thai Coconut Lentil Soup

Double header today!

I have been dwindling down my collection of soups and chili's in my freezer so its time to replenish. No frills has a sale on 2lb bag of carrots for $1. Yah that's right, you read that correctly, $1!!! I bought 2 so far. I'll be back though. lol 

I decided a nice, warming, carrot soup would be good. So I tossed all the ingredients into the crockpot and set off to enjoy my Sunday. 

Thai Coconut Lentil Soup
Ingredients
2lbs carrots
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves
3 roma tomatoes
2 lemongrass stalks
1 can low fat coconut milk
1 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp Vegeta (dry veggie stock)
1 tsp powdered ginger
2 dried chili's
pepper
2 cups red split lentils
8 cups water

Directions
Put all ingredients into a slow cooker except for the coconut milk and cook for 8 hours. Once cooked, remove the lemongrass stalks and the chili peppers. Add the coconut milk at the end. Use a hand blender or regular blender to process until smooth. Taste and add more seasonings if needed.

Its what I do

YUM

This soup is nice and thick. Super tasty. The spice level isn't bad at all. Personally, I would have liked it to be spicier. But I was lazy. Lol Plus I know I'll be adding sriracha to it later.

I made a very similar one to this before, you can check it out here. Both are awesome. I should have put some green garnish on there for the photo's sake but I was hungry. I also roasted up a squash and a cauliflower for me to nosh on.

Acorn squash

Roasted cauliflower

I did not use oil. For the squash I just scraped it out and baked it upside down so that the steam would cook it nice and softly. Then I sprinkled sea salt, cinnamon and garlic powder on it.

The cauliflower is mixed with a lemon, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder and sea salt. YUMMY. Good snacks. 

Peace

xoxo

K

Restaurant Review: Gorilla Food

I haven't been to Gorilla Food in SO long so it was glorious to return. But I was shocked to see that there has been some changes to the menu and the shop. I'm not opposed to change per say but the old menu was banging. They took off some of the wraps which makes me upset. They used to have like 6 and now they have 2. But he said they might come back. Which I hope. ALSO, they have a new bowl on the menu that sounded phe-nom but the staff on that day didn't know how to make it so I couldn't try it, BOO. 

That all being said, it made no difference on my experience because the people that work there are super friendly and laid back and the food is nourishing and amazing. Its just so good.

Since my meal decision got thwarted, I had to make a game time decision. I opted for the Great Gorilla salad. Its great and fit for a gorilla. Its got kale, other leafy greens, veggies, veggie pate, nuts, olives, sprouts.....everything basically.

Great Gorilla Salad
SUCH a good salad.

My girlfriend Beth got one of the veggie burgers. They are all good but my fave is the Go Veggie Burger. Its a double pattie and has tomatoes, guacamole and served with a lettuce leaf bun. Unless you opt for the veggie flax bread. Which is delish. Not everyone likes raw breads, the texture is a little chewy, but I'm down wit it. :)

Go Veggie Burger

Look at how amazing that looks. Its totally food art. I usually get it with the lettuce leaf bun. Its slightly messy, but not crazy. Beth got the flax veggie bread and took half the lettuce off. It does look rather aggressive I guess. LOL

Now, Beth introduced me to a lovely lady, Debbie. She has been vegetarian for quite some time. But still ate eggs and cheese. About 2 months ago, she decided to challenge herself and be vegan for 30 days. And she's still going!!! She reads my blog daily and makes some of recipes (with good reviews, PHEW) lol. Cheese was the main thing Debbie missed which is totally understandable. Dairy turns into an opiate in your body which is why people love it so much. And when they make cheese, its way more concentrated. This explains people obsession with cheese. 

Anyhoo, I digress. It was super awesome to meet Debbie. I love chatting with people who have the same interest in health as I do. And I love chatting food! I also haven't seen Beth in just under a year now. But that's better than our last drought, I think it might have been like 6 years! GASP. 

Debbie chose a sandwich. SHe got the Main St. Monkey. Its quite yummy and creamy. It has a creamy avocado mash up, zucchini hummus, olive tapenade, tomatoes, cucumber and sprouts. She chose the flax veggie bread too. 

Main St. Monkey

YUMMY!!!!
The whole shabang

Me, Beth and Debbie!
So nice to catch up with an old friend and make a new one!  Happy Cooking Debbie!!!


I almost forgot to mention the smoothie Beth and I shared. OMG it was so damn tasty! It was the Choco Gorilla. It had almonds, cacao, banana, hemp seeds, dates and coconut oil. SUPER yummy, like dessert. I pretty much licked it clean. Seriously.


All gone. In my belly.

PS I can't believe its been snowing here. And its supposed to snow all week. Boo. I'm just not built for this weather. Although, if it snowed enough to shut the city down and have a snow day, I wouldn't be tooooo upset. lol

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Peace

xoxo 

K