Due Date Mini-Muffins

Today is my due date.
but...
Baby is not here yet.

I've been anxious, bored, and restless since I stopped working. I've been preparing for this date and here we are; no baby yet.

There are thousands of lists with things to do to prep for life post-baby. Since I've never had a life post-baby before I had no idea which were useful and which were eccentric.

We installed the car seat base, that seemed vital. We attached the co-sleeping bassinet straps. We washed tiny socks, gowns, and swaddling blankets in scent free detergent. We have 100 cloth diapers ready to go, plus one poor stuffed lion whose been wearing our practice folds. We spent way too much money on an adorable handmade stuffed fox that I love and will probably not let my son touch until he stops drooling.

What am I forgetting? Nourishment! It's not recommended to do a lot of cooking right after your baby is born. Probably, if you have an amazing community of people around, they will bring you food and delicious meals. My plant based diet can be challenging for folks so I decided to prep food for myself. In the freezer right now we have a lentil loaf and mashed potatoes, chili, shepherds pie, spinach lasagna, strawberry chia breakfast bars, and carrot walnut breakfast bread. ... keep reading for a mini-muffin recipe...

Green Smoothies

Green smoothies are to New Years what mistletoe and twinkle lights are to Christmas. It's the essence of the holiday. Everyone is detoxing and increasing their intake of green vegetables, and smoothies are a popular choice. I like green smoothies as much as the next vegan.

Here is my take on this year's green smoothie.

Oh wait... It's not green!
Tricky tricky.

This was my "All American" dinner the other night. Burger, Fries, Shake. My burger was the ever delicious Joe's Quinoa Patties in Power Protein flavor (Gluten-Free). My shake is a smoothie with TONS of spinach in it. Wanna Make One? ...

Vegan Short Cuts

Have you ever seen the TV show Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee?
It's not vegetarian or anything but it's an interesting concept. She takes pre-made items from the grocery store and slightly alters or personalizes them to make a "homemade" meal quicker and more easily. She might take pre-made pudding cups and pre-made ladyfingers and put them together to make a homemade trifle dish.

As much as we all love to cook at home from scratch I think this type of cooking is more common. You have to deal in reality to make a lifestyle work. Committing to healthy or plant based meals is the same way. Total homemade may be best but sometimes we need to allow ourselves some short cuts in order to get dinner on the table in time.

Here are five of my favorite vegan short cuts! (in no particular order) .....

What does a Vegan Eat While Pregnant?

I have gotten a few questions about my vegan diet while I've been pregnant. 

I try to live with the idea that my body knows what it needs. If I can trust my body's intuition and provide what it's asking for... then I'll be alright. It's a double edged sword though because I have to get my body to trust me. My body has to trust that I will give what it is asking for, and fairly quickly after it asks. Otherwise your body can turn into a crazy untrusting hoarder who stocks up on leftover calories and energy for another day. This is what most people don't want, since your body is the storage space for that hoarding.

Homemade Spinach Lasagna

During this pregnancy I ate when I was hungry, and I ate until I was full.

Almost New Years!

Remember when I had a blog?

I do.

It's been such a long time...

I'm still eating and living nourishingly in my corner of the world. Are you?
I've played around with raw food a little. I like raw food, but I also really like cooked food. I won't be going 100% raw anytime soon.

Living in a way that nourishes your soul is harder to define than eating in a way that nourishes your body. Ultimately everyone is different and needs to eat and live differently. As we start 2013 I get concerned when I think of all the folks picking up new diets and eating plans, remember to make your eating plans tailored to your body! You may need gluten and someone else may not. You may need more fats that someone else. You may need more sugar than another. I hope you find what works for your body :)

My body has changed so much since my last post. Here is a little photo of my body these days:

Happy Christmas and New Year!!

Foodie Pen Pals Reveal Day

It's the last day of the month which means it's Foodie Pen Pals reveal day. I was traveling this month and got my package while I was gone, but I was so excited to get it as soon as I got home! Isn't real mail the best, ah how things change :) 

Gia, my pen pal extraordinaire, was also very patient with me because I wasn't on top of my emails like normal and she put up with more than one delay on my account, so thanks! You can check out her blog here. 

My goodies!!

This month I received my first home-made treats! Home made granola that looked and smelled awesome! Chris tried it before me and said there might not be any left for me!

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day

It's the last day of the month which means it's my second month of Foodie Pen Pals. I actually received my pen pal goodies TODAY!

I was sort of sad about having nothing to post about when I decided to check the mail one last time and what was there? This big ol'box of foodie pen pal love.

Beth was my pen pal this month and she had a busy month but managed to send this out to me! Unfortunately I might not have specific enough with my pen pal about my dietary restrictions because most of the items aren't vegan :( These things happen I guess! Other vegan foodie pen pals, How do you explain veganism to your non-vegan pen pals?

Summertime Pasta Salad

Pasta Salad is like chicken salad, isn't it?!
What a coincidence.

Pasta Salad is one of those summer-time picnic bbq staples that I remember being weary of from the beginning. For me as a child pasta came covered in cheese sauce or tomato sauce and nothing else. It made me uncomfortable that this pasta was cold, and covered in who knows what, and with all kinds of spices on there. I remember elbow macaroni with beige-y yellow cream sauce and pepper, lots of pepper.

As a child, I went with the potato chips every time.

As an adult, I still wish I could go for the potato chips every time (they're seriously delicious) but now I know they aren't that great for my body and I do get a stomach ache every time I eat too many chips.

Thankfully, my opinions about pasta salad have changed! They actually started to change thanks for my husband (then boyfriend) who asked me to make him pasta salad with the strangest ingredients. He wanted broccoli, black olives, green peppers, italian dressing and NO mayonnaise.

This pasta salad recipe is chilled pasta with all sorts of vegetables and a tangy (super light) dressing that is reminiscent of the pasta salad I made for him when we first met.

Ingredients:
Roasted Red Peppers - from a jar (diced)
Black Olives (cut small)
Pickles and Bring (diced)
Broccoli (Use both the floret and stem cup up small)
Orange Pepper (diced)
Fresh Corn on the Cob (cut off the cob)
Green Onion (cut small)
Pasta - I like the twirly kind
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Spices - Salt, Pepper, You know.

Note: I use these yummy pickles we pick up at the farmer's market. They are cherry pickles and in the jar are some cherries that give the brine and pickles a sweet fruity flavor I'm obsessed with. If you don't have these, a-sorry and b-that's ok just use regular pickles and maybe throw a diced up cherry in your salad!

Boil your pasta and let sit in the colander until it is cooled down.

Chop up veggies and throw in a big bowl. Side note: I like the veggies I put in the ingredients list because some are salty, some sweet, all crunchy, and all great raw.

You can add whatever you have in your fridge! I don't think leafy greens would work as well. Avocado would be good, or celery. Zucchini or tomato would be delicious.

When pasta is cooled, add to big bowl.

Then pour in pickles brine, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, white pepper, basil, mint, rosemary... whatever you like!

Let it sit the fridge overnight and scarf away! It is good for summertime when you want something filling but not hot.

I think this would be a great option to bring to a potluck as a vegan because everyone will probably try pasta salad and won't even know it's vegan!

Happy Eating!

Chickpea Chickun Salad

Did you eat a lot of chicken salad growing up?
Our family did... I don't particularly know why. I guess because my mom loves the stuff.
Chicken salad is decidedly not vegan or even animal friendly. Normally these "salads" don't have the highest quality of ingredients since it's all combined and flavors are covered up. They are also high in cholesterol, saturated, and trans fats.

To be fair! Chicken salad could be light. If you skipped the mayo and the buttery croissant it's served on. There are "light" versions out there with grilled chicken, yogurt, and grapes. That's not the kind we had at my house though. We had the full fat variety with a silky creamy consistency, an earthy chicken taste and sometimes bursts of sweet with grapes or strawberries.

I visited my family for Father's Day and my mom actually made some chicken salad which got me thinking about all this.

We also went to a baseball game! Me, my dad, my grandpa, and my husband. There were even vegan snacks there!

I got home and I couldn't stop thinking about chicken salad. I thought about what I hate about it, what I love about it, and why there are so many various recipes for it with wildly different ingredients.

Here is what I came up with!

Sushi Salad

I love sushi, I mean, who doesn't?
Even if you don't eat meat (like me!) sushi is delicious. Cucumber, avocado, rice, seaweed, wasabi... All good things!

This salad doesn't have any rice, but you could totally add some rice if you wanted too! I didn't want to wait for rice to cook, it takes forever right?

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Cucumber
1/4 Orange Pepper
1 Radish
5-8 Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 cob of Corn
1-2 Carrots
2  Mushrooms
3/4 head Romaine
2 cups Spring Mix/Green Mix Lettuce Combo
1/3 cup Garbanzo Beans
1/2 Avocado

(I know what you're thinking... those ingredients don't really sound sushi-ish. Stick with me!)