Happy last day of 2010 to everyone!  I don't know about you, but this year literally flew by for me!  It was Valentines' then summer break then Halloween then Christmas and now it's all over and time to welcome a new year.


I've never really made any "lucky" food for new year's before, but this year I decided to try some black-eyed peas (poor little fellas - it sounds like they got beaten up :( .  I wasn't sure if they would turn out if I tried to cook dried peas (then they probably really would be beaten up ;), so I was super lazy and bought canned ones.  Perhaps some day I'll give the dried version a go, but not this year........


Lucky Black-eyed Pea Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 large tomato, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 packed cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin
Sea salt/freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I didn't need to add any salt)
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon agave nectar

Directions:
Simply combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Allow to sit for as long as possible before serving in order to allow for the flavors to combine.

Here's what you're going to need:

Everything in the bowl and time to employ a bit o' arm power:

All done and ready to sit (oops, I think I missed that last part as I started devouring it as soon as the last stir was stirred)!

I'm sure that black-eyed peas is a myth, but I'm not going to spoil the fun.  Let's just say I felt lucky while eating my lunch yesterday.

Now, I had originally planned on saving the salad to eat for today, but I just couldn't resist. The avocado made the salad creamy, the agave made it slightly sweet, and everything else just made it delicious!  Between my mom and I, we nearly polished it all off by yesterday evening (perhaps it really serves two?).  But that's okay.  We just got our luck a little early, right?


And, for all the carob lovers out there, you must try this!

One cooked sweet potato chopped up a bit, spread with a bit of coconut oil, and sprinkled with carob chips.  Truly divine (if you like carob chips, that is; if not then try it with chocolate chips as chocolate never disappoints).


The daily question: Do you have any New Year's plans?
My mom and I are making tamales tonight, and we're going to church tomorrow.  But, other than that, we have nothing planned.  I hope this New Year will find everyone doing well and enjoying lots of yummy foods!

Good morning!  We finally have some snow here in Colorado!  Our very first snow for the year (ok, we got maybe half an inch back in November).  Hopefully, I'll have some pictures for you guys tomorrow!

Because we might be having a winter storm today, we went to the grocery yesterday to stock up on some food (seems kind of like hibernation :)!  While at the store, something caught my eye - carob chips!  After seeing so much carob on Heather Eats Almond Butter (sorry, I don't know how to do hyper-links yet), I snatched up the goods and tossed them in the cart. That night, I decided to do the taste test.  I was still a little bit weary of the chips as my mom hates carob, but after one bight I was addicted.  Another bite was followed by another bite and so on.  Trust me, if I didn't have some will power, I could have easily polished off every last chip (thank goodness I do have some will power!).  My beloved chips:

On to breakfast!  A seven grain bagel (also boughten from Whole Foods on our "pre-hibernation" store run), one half spread with Dark Chocolate Dreams, one half spread with Maranatha crunchy peanut butter, both sprinkled with wheat germ (love that stuff!), and alongside some fresh black and blue berries (no, I didn't beat them up ;) :

Let's see, carob off the list, breakfast checked...... oh right!  The haircut:

The shortest I've cut it in a looooong time, but I love it! 


The daily question: How's the weather where you live?  Have you had any snow?  Or maybe where you live, you don't get any snow?

I really wanted to post this before Christmas because I thought body butter would make an excellent Christmas gift.  But for that very reason (I made this for my mom), I couldn't take the chance that she would read this and discover what one of her presents would be (that wouldn't be any fun!).  It can still make an excellent gift, though!  Perhaps there's a birthday coming up soon or maybe you need a gift idea for Valentine's.  Of course, you could just make some and keep it for yourself - I think I'll be doing this soon!  Anyway, on to the butter (body butter, that is)!
I tried use ingredients that are pretty easy to find (when I looked at recipes online, they called for cocoa butter and beeswax, so I decided to create my own recipe with ingredients I already had).  Should you decide to embark on the adventure of body butter makin', you will need the following ingredients:


2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons goat milk powder
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon aloe vera gel
1/4 teaspoon pure lemon oil


The first step is always the same, gather your ingredients:

Now, it's time to mix, mix, mix (or, more accurately, whisk, whisk, whisk) all of the ingredients!

Next, pour your amazing smelling mixture into a small container (I used a glass spice jar, but I think that anything would work).  

Now comes the more time consuming part.  Place your filled jar into the freezer for about three minutes and then take it back out.  It's time to whisk, whisk, whisk, once again (you'll get your exercise in if nothing else)!

Continue the freeze and whisk method about three more times or until it looks like this while you're trying to whisk it:

And then like this when you finally give up on whisking as it gets really messy:

Let's clean that jar up!

The final step is to give the butter a name and (most importantly) fancy it up with some decoration!

The body butter makes an excellent gift for someone you know or yourself. :)  And, it really does smell out of this world!  Oh yeah, it's moisturizing too!


The daily question: Have you ever made body butter before?
You just saw my only experience!

I hope you all enjoyed the pesto story-like post yesterday.  I thought it was kind of fun and different.  But onto today's post!
Yesterday, my mom and I went out to do our Christmas exchanging/returning/gift card using.  While we were out, we discovered that our appetites were ravenous!  So, while in downtown Fort Collins, we stopped at a new place called Ingredient in order to satisfy those appetites.

The atmosphere was very comfortable and boy was it crowded!  Still we got our food fairly quickly.  They serve soups, salads, sandwiches, and pizzas (and they have a "build your own pie" option that allows pesto for the sauce, and they have a big list of toppings that includes a lot of veggies!).  I settled on the falafel sandwich, and my side of choice was grilled and chilled vegetables:

The sandwich consisted of pita bread topped with falafel patties, shredded lettuce, diced tomato and onion, and tzatziki sauce.  The vegetables consisted of, well, vegetables.
Here I am ready to dig in:

My only complaint is that the grilled onions were really spicy!  So spicy in fact, that I wasn't able to eat them.  Also, I would have loved it if the sandwich had come with some hummus. But, I would love EVERYTHING to come with hummus. ;)  All in all, my lunch was delicious! My mom ordered the caprese panini with red chile chips:

She really like hers as well!  Although she said the chips were very spicy (maybe they need to tone down their food a bit).
Now, since it was a new place, we just had to try some dessert.  My mom ordered a lemon bar, and I got this mini lemon cheesecake:

And I mean mini.  That little guy was like an inch across!  Isn't it adorable?  And it was mighty tasty too!
Our lunch experience at Ingredient was definitely a positive one, and we will definitely return!  We'll just have to make sure that nothing we order should be at all spicy.


The daily question:  What's your favorite place to eat out?
My favorite is a little Indian place, also in downtown Fort Collins, called Taj Mahal.  They have the most amazing saag and naan bread.  Just thinking about it makes me hungry!

Deep in the darkness where the trees were lined with frost and the ponds were covered with a thick film of ice, there was a girl faced with a terribly conflicting decision.  She desperately wanted pesto, yet she longed for oats.  There is only one choice for a person to make in a position such as that - make Savory Pesto Oats!  Not only do they satisfy every party in question, but they will also warm you from the inside, should you ever find yourself in a position resembling the one above.


Savory Pesto Oats

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup rice milk (or other milk)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons pesto 
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 ounce goat cheese, crumbled

Directions:
Combine the oats, milk, and water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until the oats are creamy, around 7 to 10 minutes.  Remove the oats from the heat and stir in the pesto, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder. Pour oats into a bowl and top with goat cheese.

To make vegan: either omit the goat cheese or replace it with a vegan cheese.

The ingredients:

The result:

Yes, it is as good as it looks.


The daily question: What's your favorite oat combination?
For me, any oat combination makes for an excellent meal!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas yesterday!  Mine was truly fantastic!  
I'll start this post by showing you guys the amazing Christmas Eve meal:

The above plate encompasses a warm bread roll (recipe from good 'ole Betty Crocker), my Mom's amazing potatoes au gratin, Happy Herbivore's Maple Glazed Vegetables, and, yes, a piece of lamb.  I thought long and hard about whether or not to have any lamb, but I finally came to a decision that Christmas only comes once a year, and I didn't think it would seem as much like Christmas without it.  I admit that it tasted pretty good (Dad, you did a great job), however the texture did seem a bit odd - i probably just wasn't used to it! 
An now for dessert (always the most important part of a meal): 

On the left is my mom's fantastic chocolate cream pie (are you seeing a recurring theme of my mom's awesome cooking skills?) and on the right is a gingerbread cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  The cupcakes, made by yours truly, tasted great in the end, but it was a bit of a struggle to get there.  First they sunk take so deeply that it seemed like there was just gong to be a big hole in the center (maybe it's due to the fact that I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose?).  Second, when I went to take them out of the muffing tin, they stuck and nearly completely fell apart.  Finally, the texture definitely wasn't right.  The tops were crispy and the inside was kind of firm - more like a muffin.  Oh well, none of that really matters as long as the taste is wonderful, right?
The next morning was present time!  Here's all the kitchen related gifts that I got:            

Moosewood Restaurants cookbook, A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen cookbook, a teapot, passion fruit green tea, a mini egg pan and spatula, bowls and a plate, a mini soup scooper, two mini whisks, mini spatulas, and three mini colanders (can you tell I love 
minis?).  I also got some chocolate black tea, but I forget to get it in the picture.
Ok, this post is getting kind of long, but I have to show you one more picture before I go:

Isn't that great?!  My brother gave it to me and I wore it all day yesterday!


The daily question: How was your Christmas? 
As you can probably tell, mine was remarkable.  I hope yours was too!

Good morning!  I hope you all are having an excellent Christmas Eve!  I need to start baking cupcakes in a little bit, but right now, I'm here to tell you about last night's eats.  Boy were they good!  It was make your own pizza night, and so we bought some whole grain pizza dough, pesto, pizza sauce, and a variety of toppings when we were at the grocery store yesterday.  Here's my pizza creation pre-baked:

It's hard to tell, but here's what's under the cheesy goodness: whole grain crust, pesto, fresh basil, broccoli, and fresh tomato.  
My pizza creation post-baked:  

Post-baked and sliced:

Do I have your mouth watering yet?


The daily question: Do you visit family, friends, etc. for Christmas or do you stay home? 
We have always stay home, and I love it!  I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

Well, not exactly.  Although I do eat many more sweets during the holidays, I'm not about to eat pie for breakfast.  In reality, the "pie" was closer to toast, but I liked the title of pumpkin pie better than pumpkin toast.  Anyway, to start from the beginning, I woke up this morning craving pumpkin (very much like many other mornings).  And so, I decided to satisfy my pumpkin craving with the below plate of deliciousness:

I started by mixing canned pumpkin with pumpkin pie spices.  Then I toasted two pieces of sprouted multi-grain bread and spread one of them withe Maranatha raw almond butter and the other with Maranatha crunchy peanut butter.  Next, I spread on the pumpkin mixture and drizzled both pieces with pure maple syrup.  Amazing!
Heres the recipe written out:


Pumpkin Pie Toast

Ingredients:
2 pieces of bread (I used sprouted multi-grain)
About 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin
Pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg), to taste
2 tablespoons of nut butter (I used both almond and peanut)
Pure maple syrup, for drizzling

Directions:
Toast the bread.  Meanwhile, mix the pumpkin with the spices.  When the bread is done, spread each piece with one tablespoon of nut butter and then spread the pumpkin mixture on top of the nut butter.  Top with a drizzle of maple syrup and garnish with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

I enjoyed my "pie" with some fresh berries:

I also had some green tea.  I drink green tea every morning, but lately, I've been enjoying this variety:

Just perfect for the holiday season!  
This breakfast was so good that it may just my breakfast of choice for Christmas Eve morning.  Is that really tomorrow?
The daily question: Any plans tomorrow to get ready for the big day on Saturday?  
I'm planning on watching Rudolph and Frosty (yep, I still watch those :) and then my family will have our special dinner on Christmas Eve night.  I'm so excited!  

Good afternoon!  Can you believe there's only three days till Christmas?!  I'm really excited, but it came a little to quickly this year for me.
Have you ever seen this dip before?

I saw it the last time we were at Whole Foods and decided to give it a try.  After all, anything with garlic has to be at least decent, right?  
So today, I toasted two pieces of sprouted multi-grain bread and spread it with the above dip and some sliced avocado.  I had the sandwich along with some raw veggies, a clementine orange, and some of Endangered Species 88% dark chocolate (my absolute favorite!!!).

That was such a deeeee-licious lunch!  If you see that dip at the store, I really recommend you give it a try.  I'm 99.9% sure that you will love it! 
And, the daily question: Do you have your Christmas shopping done?  I was planning on getting all of my done early, but, of course, I didn't get it all done until today.  Oh well.  At least it's done, and now, I can focus on some cookie baking!

....with homemade whipped cream.  Yes, I beat that cream for forever and forever. But the result was definitely worth (at least please tell me it was ;).
Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you will return!