WIAW #23

May 22nd, 2013 KimmytheVegan 8 Comments »

Good morning! And welcome to another edition of What I Ate Wednesday.

I started the day off with a breakfast I hadn’t yet tried. I sometimes get caught up in my favourites and don’t always try new things. I came across this recipe from the lovely Raw Food Sisters and had to try it out. It’s made from the almond pulp leftover after making almond milk. I am always trying to figure out what to do with it. And damn! So tasty!

It was also incredibly filling and I did not need a morning snack. I actually wasn’t hungry for another 4 hours after this bad boy! Lunch was simple – I just threw together some lettuce & black beans chopped garlic, onion, tomato, avocado. We just squeezed the juice out of a lime for dressing. It was so fresh and delicious =)

We did indulge in a bit of an afternoon snack:

… some of these may have been eaten before I had remembered to snap a pic ;p They are raw date balls.

And for dinner, I made some fancy digs that took awhile, but totally worth it:

I meant to make a big salad to go with this, but kind of ran out of time and energy, so I threw in some fresh from the market coleslaw instead. I actually found fresh fava beans at the market!! They are so good. Time consuming to work with as you have to shell them, boil or steam them (I chose steam), then shell them again! I made them in this recipe. And I have been wanting to make these Devillish Potatoes since a friend of mine recently brought them to a potluck. I used to love devilled eggs. I missed them a bit when I first went vegan… but haven’t given them a second thought since. But these potatoes are oh so good. You have to try them!!!

And for dessert:

Isn’t it beautiful? I got together with one of my besties over the weekend and we created the recipe together. I cannot share it at this time as we are currently considering writing a cookbook together and are stockpiling recipes. But fret not, I will have a different, yet delicious recipe for you Friday. Until then…

Fun Run & the hurt ankle

May 20th, 2013 KimmytheVegan 4 Comments »

Can you guess what this is???

Any guesses???

I can’t think of a good hint, so I’ll just tell you. It’s a picture I took from a run I recently did. A Rave Run. It was pretty fun! A little disorganized mind you, but pretty awesome overall. It was a run at night (my first!) and it was 5km of running around a fair ground all lit up with fun and cool light shows. Oh it’s a picture of a bunch of runners wearing glow stick necklaces.

Here is me and my partner in crime before the run:

I didn’t have to search my drawers very long for brightly coloured attire. Shocker ;p

A lot of people dressed up.

It was an experience for sure!

It was pretty fun, I enjoyed myself. But I’m not really sure I’d do it again. It started 45 minutes late and there were two many people (20,000?!), and no one really stuck to the runners on the right and walkers on the left (in all fairness, that is the opposite of what we’re used to). But, it is definitely fun to keep the routine varied and not do the same type of races over and over though =)

In other news… I hurt my ankle. I’d say again, as this feels like déjà vu for me as I sprained my ankle 6 months ago. But it’s a completely different ankle (different foot and all!) and it’s not a sprain. It sounds like it’s a minor stress fracture. Have any other runners had this problem?  Not much showed up on the x-ray, so they aren’t even quite sure it’s a stress fracture, but it just seems like the most likely culprit.

I have to admit, my first thoughts were “What did I do wrong?” I wondered about overtraining, but I was not. I thought maybe my diet was too acidic… but it’s not – I’ve been eating pretty darned healthily. I’ve definitely been drinking enough water. Not too much stress emotionally, and I’ve been getting the perfect amount of rest (sleep and physically). So I guess I just have to let it go and think that this just happens sometimes and not automatically assume it was something I was doing wrong, or something I wasn’t doing right. Now that it has happened, I’ve been resting lots, icing it lots (as strangely enough it’s been swollen, although this has gone down significantly with the icing). I’m able to walk and bike and continue all normal and low-impact activities. But no running for about a month :( It makes me sad… BUT, I will try swimming for a bit. It’s good to have varied activities, our bodies like variety – they honestly aren’t much for the same, repetitive exercises. I’ll look at this as a way to branch out and be creative with my workouts. I did actually go for a swim Friday and it felt wonderful. I used to adore swimming, not sure why I stopped.

Anyway, I’ll take it easy. And this will also be a great opportunity to lighten up on foods like tomatoes & bell peppers as nightshade veggies are pretty inflammatory foods and cook more with turmeric a great anti-inflammatory spice.

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. And Happy Victoria Day to my fellow Canucks =)

Rawsome Nori Wrap

May 17th, 2013 KimmytheVegan 15 Comments »

On this past Wednesday, I mentioned a quick & easy and super healthy lunch.

Nori wrap anyone? I usually make nori rolls with a ginger cashew filling. But I didn’t have any on hand and didn’t feel like throwing it together (but it honestly doesn’t take long and is ridiculously tasty – give it a try). I did however happen to have some leftover guac.

All I had to do was chop up some veggies, layer and eat. My kinda eats.

Rawsome Nori Wrap

Guacalmole 

1/2 of an avocado

1/2 of the juice of a lime

a bit of salt & pepper to taste

Mash the avocado with a fork and add the lime juice, salt and pepper and stir it up.

**Side note, I normally put a little more effort into my guac – but sometimes I like it quick & easy.

Wrap

2 Nori Sheets (try to find raw ones if possible – most are toasted, I use Bright Earth Foods Raw Nori as they are raw certified organic)

2 medium sized carrots, trimmed & peeled, cut & sliced thinly into matchsticks

1/2 a medium cucumber, cut into matchsticks

1/2 a yellow pepper, sliced into matchsticks

a handful of sprouts

the other half of the lime

Spread out your nori sheet, layer on half of the guacamole on half of the sheet. Layer the carrot, cucumber, pepper and sprouts on top of the guac. Rub the open end of the lime on the empty wrap side and roll it up. I use the lime to help the sheet stick better and not un-roll.

 

 

You can just throw this together quickly, using whatever veggies you have on hand, in the morning before heading out – it would make a great packed lunch too!

I have shared this recipe on my favourite blog hops: Gluten Free Fridays, Healthy Vegan Fridays & Raw Food Thursdays

the veggie nook

WIAW #22

May 15th, 2013 KimmytheVegan 2 Comments »

Happy Wednesday lovelies!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and guess what? You’re halfway to another one. To my Southwestern Ontario peeps, I am wishing & willing some warm weather your way. For my Cali peeps – enjoy the glorious weather we have been getting, we are very fortunate =)

I’ve been starting out the days with a warm glass of water with fresh lemon juice in it to get my digestive system on track for the day. And after having more water, I had a nice big bowl of gorgeous fruit. Look what I found at the market this past weekend! The first of the cherries are here: 

I spent the entire day catching up on laundry, cleaning and tidying the house after my mom-in-law left (fantastic visit by the way! we miss her already), so I didn’t feel like putting a whole lot of energy into my lunch:

And well… after a bit of indulging during the visit, I was craving some fresh, clean food. So I threw these nori wraps together. Recipe to come soon (probably Friday). It’s all about quick & easy! I had an apple with it too.

My snack was some homemade crawckers and raw cashew butter.

More cleaning ensued in the afternoon and it was a particularly warm day, I had no interest in cooking anything. So I made gazpacho and it was dee-li-cious!

Thanks to Jenn over at Peas & Crayons for hosting!

Feels good to have a light & clean day =) I’m also working towards cleaning the clutter in my mind and concentrating on more positive & affirming thoughts. I would like to try meditating… I’ve never really been much for it, but I know it’s good for the mind, body & spirit so I’d like to give it a go.

Speaking of positivity, I wanted to share with you a couple of blogs I’m loving lately that are helping me live in the present and be a happier & lighter person. Check ‘em out:

The Raw Food Sisters - beautiful girls inside & out who give me my daily dose of positive affirmations and they have great raw recipes to boot!

Chemo Blog – I am a lucky girl to have had the chance to meet Jordan in December and we hit it off and exchanged blog info. He is hands down the most positive person I have ever met. His posts help me keep on track with my goals and just be grateful for life in general =)

Turning into Mom

May 12th, 2013 KimmytheVegan 10 Comments »

Have you ever uttered the following phrase: “Oh my god… I’m turning into my mother” with a groan?

I certainly have. There are certain qualities my mother has that I prefer not to have inherited. Like the ability to get lost in my local neighbourhood (or anywhere for that matter…), or having my eyes glaze over when someone starts talking about current affairs, or being a complete clean/neat freak to the point of obsessive compulsiveness. Yup – those qualities all came from mom.

But something I’m realising as I get older, is that I’ve taken on a few of her other qualities too. I am the eternal optimist. You may hear me grumble and whine about somethings sometimes, but generally, I am an incredibly positive and upbeat person that knows everything will always work out for the best in the end. I was jokingly dubbed the Kelly Kapowski of my highschool and more recently have been nicknamed Sunshine for always being a genuinely cheerful person.

I’m a fairly thoughtful person. I’m the one who will send you a card “just because”. And I mean the old fashioned way, through snail mail ’cause it’s way funner to get actual mail. I like sending people cute care packages randomly because I know it will help make their day.

Most would describe me as a very nice person. I like making people feel comfortable, I try to make sure people around me are happy. I’m very caring and thoughtful and helpful. I will try to remember what foods you like and be sure to make a meal out of it when you are over at my place and will make a point of remembering what you don’t like. I help my friends out every chance I get and volunteer in the community to help those I don’t know (yet). I love that I can randomly strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere – I have been known as the networking queen.

I think my favourite quality is the fact that I always see the good in everyone. This may at times be detrimental as I am a bit naive and gullible, but, for the vast majority of the time, it works out really well and I end up meeting and connecting with fantastic people.

These are all thanks to my mom. I took a few qualities I’m not in love with, but I am fortunate enough to have taken all of her best qualities too =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tempting Tempeh Bowl

May 10th, 2013 KimmytheVegan 2 Comments »

This is a day that included me looking forward to dinner allllll day long! I had planned on making a dish that I really liked but hadn’t made in awhile so I was excited about it =) I eagerly awaited the time to start prepping my veggies and started to pull my ingredients out of the fridge. And stopped. I was missing a key ingredient. NO!

Now, I am a creature of habit. I make meal plans well in advance, make lists and buy what I need. I usually do this to have a meal plan each and every week. How could I have possibly had this oversight and forget to buy sweet potatoes? Ugh. Trying to quell my panic, I start grabbing things out of the fridge while trying to figure out what to make. I’m not always very good at making things in the spur of the moment. Especially if I already had a plan. But I persevered and a super tasty dish came out of it.

Tempting Tempeh Bowl

Rice

1/2 cup of brown rice, cooked in 1 cup of vegetable broth and 1/4 cup of water for 20 minutes or until the liquid is gone

1 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp of water

the juice of half of a lemon

1/4 tsp of herbamere (or sea salt)

In a small bowl, combine the tahini, nutritional yeast, water, lemon juice & salt and add it to the rice once it’s cooked.

Tempeh & Veggies

1/2 tsp of coconut oil

1 pkg tempeh, cut into strips, then cut in half

1 tsp of coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch piece ginger, minced

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

1 small head of broccoli, cut into small bite-sized pieces

1 small zucchini, sliced & halved

1 generous handful of snow peas, trimmed

1 generous handful of purple cabbage, thinly sliced

1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped

4 leaves of kale, torn into bite-size pieces

1 tsp of curry powder

3 tbsp of coconut aminos

top with thinly sliced tomato, avocado and cilantro

As your rice is cooking, heat a wok on low – medium heat. Add 1/2 tsp of coconut oil, add your tempeh and 1 tbsp of coconut aminos and sautée your tempeh until cooked. Remove the tempeh from the wok and set aside. Reheat the wok and add another tsp of coconut oil and sautée the garlic and ginger for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and sautée until the water releases. Add the broccoli and a tsp of water (as your pan may start to dry a bit) and sautée for 1 minute. Continue to add a tsp of water when needed if the pan becomes dry. Add the snow peas and zucchini and sautée for another minute. Add the cabbage and pepper, sautée for another minute. Finally, add the kale and the curry powder and coconut aminos and sautée for a couple of minutes. Add your tempeh and cook until heated through. Remove from heat, add the tomato, avocado and cilantro.

I’ve shared this on some of my favourite blog hop parties: Healthy Vegan Fridays, Gluten Free Fridays & Allergy Free Wednesdays

Head on over for some great recipes!

the veggie nook AllergyFreeWednesdays

WIDW

May 8th, 2013 KimmytheVegan 7 Comments »

Ok… so I had a whole bunch of super fun and delicious food and it would have made for a great post. But I completely forgot to take pictures of any of it. Not very WIAW of me ;p The day consisted of super great eats like parfait (home made) for breakfast, a gluten-free and vegan black-bean burrito for lunch from whole foods (holy crap it was *so* good – too bad this whole foods was over an hour away) with a chocolate pb smoothie (I can’t even describe how utterly delicious it was) and some fantastic chickpea, rice & roasted brussels sprouts for dinner.

But sadly, as I forgot to take pictures of it, I’ve decided to adapt my post into a What I Did Wednesday. The reason I forgot to take the pictures of my food is because my mother-in-law is up visiting and we’ve been doing some sightseeing around Northern California. I thought I’d share some of the highlights.

We headed on over to Santa Cruz over the weekend:

This made me smile =)

Saw some beautiful ocean scenery:

Monday we were in San Francisco and checked out Alcatraz! If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend it.

Tuesday we headed back out towards San Francisco and went right on through to Napa Valley to check out a winery.

I don’t actually drink alcohol, but have been wanting to see the scenery at least. It was beautiful.

We also checked out the Palace of Fine Arts (again – a must see if you’re in the area!):

It is utterly spectacular.

And despite the fact that I have lived here for 10 months now, I had yet to see a huge attraction and finally got to:

Pretty fun few days =) What have you been up to?

Santa Cruz Half Marathon

May 6th, 2013 KimmytheVegan 6 Comments »

I think I mentioned a few posts ago that I was going to be running a half marathon. I hadn’t run one in well over a year (mind you I had run a full marathon just over a year ago and a 30km trail run at some point around that time). I didn’t quite have enough time to properly train, and that made me nervous, but it turned out pretty well.

My friend and I ran it together, which is something I have never done before. Back in Canada, I have always run solo. I basically trained solo and just always run road races alone. Since moving here I have run with others a few times and have enjoyed it and really liked running this half marathon with another runner.

And it was quite the experience. Santa Cruz California is situated along the Pacific Ocean and has breathtaking views. It was absolutely incredible to run along it for this race.

Here we are before the run:

How cute are we?

Here are some of the amazing views:

We ran along the coast and then up into a bit of a farm area (running through a farm!) and saw some cute animals:

And more of the ocean:

 

And here we are after having finished the race:

We were pretty psyched to have finished it. It took us longer than we thought, but we had a blast doing it and stopped *a lot* to enjoy the view.

I am so very fortunate to live near such natural beauty:

Almond Butter Bomb Shake

May 3rd, 2013 KimmytheVegan 15 Comments »

“My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,
And they’re like
It’s better than yours,
Damn right it’s better than yours,
I can teach you,
But I have to charge”

When I was younger, I used to love chocolate peanut butter milkshakes. Oh, who am I kidding, I liked them up until I decided to give up pb (as it’s not super nutritious, especially for people with thyroid and hormonal imbalances) a couple of years ago. And so almond butter and I became fast friends =)

And there is nothing I like more after a super long run on a hot summer’s day then a smoothie sans greens. Don’t get me wrong, I love my green smoothies, but sometimes a gal just needs to have variety.

It is 90 degrees outside right now, the sun is blazing and fortunately I’ve already done 45 minutes of strength training and some pilates as my after afternoon run is probably not going to happen. So I sit here and slurp sip my shake instead before I tackle some spring cleaning.

Almond Butter Bomb Shake (serves 2 or one really hungry person!)

2 bananas (frozen)

1 small avocado (frozen is best)

2 tbsp almond butter

1 tbsp of cacao powder

1 cup of almond milk

3/4 cup of coconut milk

1/4 coconut water

2 tbsp shredded, unsweetened coconut

1-2 dates (optional if you want a little sweetness)

Blend all ingredients in a blender.

Now, next time you make this, I want you to hear the Milkshake song in your head ;p

 I have shared this recipe on Healthy Vegan Fridays, Gluten Free Fridays & Raw Food Thursdays =)

the veggie nook

WIAW and Cookie Giveaway Results

May 1st, 2013 KimmytheVegan 6 Comments »

Good morning Lovelies,

I hope you are having a great week so far. I am excited to share with you some fun eats I had over the weekend. I had mentioned in my post on Saturday that I was having a rough day and I had not been looking forward to it at all. But my husband had other plans in mind and surprised me with a fun little getaway. He took me to Half Moon Bay and it was glorious. I had a wonderful time and am so grateful to have him in my life =) Ok cheesiness part over – on to the good stuff!

We saw this on our way to the beach and thought you’d find it cute. I sure did =) If only I could meditate like this…

I forgot to take a picture of breakfast, but I made us some smoothies. Apparently the area isn’t well known for it’s vegan fare, so Terry had the foresight to grab lunch to go at the market on our way out.

It’s a shitake and tofu rice wrap with a TON of greens. It was awesome! The sauce probably wasn’t the healthiest, but it was tasty and I didn’t finish it off. The vendor tried giving me two as one isn’t enough apparently… riiiight. We had a picnic lunch sitting in front of the ocean:

Stunning.

Then we took a nice little stroll along the beach.

We found this carved into the rock on the path back up to the road. All you need is:

We found a super cute little market on the way back to our car and bought some produce. We then hit up a beach trail and went for a nice walk and then we headed over to the marina. I love being by the water, it makes me feel energized. It’s a great feeling. We came across some stores, one of them being a bookstore. I’ll tell you right now – I am happiest when I’m finding some good vegan eats or in a bookstore. I’m easy to please =)

Then we happened across this super cute store that sells beautiful, local hand blown glass dish ware. We fell in love with everything as it was so beautiful… sadly it was out of our budget. Maybe one day.

We came home and I made us mac n’ cheeze. I mad this in tribute to my dad as it was his all time favourite food. He used to add some weird things to it like pickles and hotdogs. I like adding mushrooms and kale.

And we finished the day off with some dessert:

Ok – you HAVE to try this dessert. Seriously. It is so good!!! Terry and I ended up eating 2 slices each! That is not entirely uncommon for me to be honest… but Terry doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth and can easily stop after just a little bit of dessert. He was eying up that pie and considering a third slice!! It’s a Raw Chocolate-Coated Key Lime Pie and I can’t wait to make it again =)

This is from one of my favourite bloggers Gabby over at the Veggie Nook. She was actually asked by Ethical Ocean for a recipe as they are currently hosting a recipe contest and she entered this beauty. Show her some love by voting for her yumlicious pie: Ethical Ocean Contest.

You will not be disappointed when you make this pie ;)

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for. The winners of the cookie giveaway contest. Drum roll please!! The random number generator helped me with this…

Winner of the Triple Mint Chocolate Cookies – Laurie. I hope you enjoy them – trust me, they are just as good (in my opinion even better!) than the lovely-o’s =)

Winner of the Snickerdoodles – Gay (well, hopefully you are ok with snickerdoodles even though your comment was about chocolate ;p)

Ladies – please email me at rockmyvegansocks@gmail.com with your mailing addresses and I will get these out to you asap.

For those of you that didn’t win – best of luck next time, I shall do another draw in the future for sure! And in the meantime, go check out their website as you can order online or find a location that sells their products closest to you.

Have a great week everyone! See you back here Friday.

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