Plan Nov 3- 9

I am feeling better this week. I was able to run 5 miles on Friday, which I think I needed spiritually more than anything else, if you know what I mean!

Monday
Walk Run
Smoothie
Vegan Chili
Out for dinner

Tuesday
Swimming
Tofu sandwich
Sweet Potato Quinoa
Asian Orange Tempeh

Wednesday
Walk Run
Smoothie
Asian Orange Tempeh
Crockpot Vegan Lasagna

Thursday
Swimming
Bhangra
Choir
Tofu sandwich
Crockpot Vegan Lasagna
Protien Vega One Shake

Friday
Walk
Long Run
Lunch Leftovers
Roasted Chickpea and Broccoli Burrito

Saturday &Sunday TBD

For Halloween this year, Rob and I were invited to one of my student's parties. We dressed up as Calvin & Hobbes, and had fun in the yard taking pictures in character before we went. Rob even did some yoga with me before hand, and stopped by the store in costume after the party, he's my favorite!

I finished out the #BackToBasicsYoga challenge in October, and in November, I am focusing on heart opening poses in my practice with the #healinghearts and #GetYourGratitudeOn yoga challenges. I love adding these to my daily practice because they allow and encourage me to learn about and focus on one or two positions a day. I feel I am becomming a better yoga practitioner through this practice.

Some of my favorite meals this week included a pumpkin falafel spinach salad, pumpkin noodles and kale, pumpkin bagels from Trader Joe's with vegan cream cheese, and, of course, our vegan chili last weekend!

I always give my friends books for All Hallows Read, and Rob surprised me this year by giving me The Woman in Black! I just started it, but am really enjoying it so far. We've also watched some scary movies this week in honor of Halloween: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (is it just me, or did young Jeff Goldblum look a lot like Ralph Macchio circa The Karate Kid? ) and The Awakening, a good ghost storywith mumbly british dialogue. 

Thanksgiving planning

I'm getting ready for Thanksgiving! Are you?
This year is especially exciting, because not only will I be seeing my family, whom I really enjoy being aroung, but I also may just have a new niece or nephew to spoil soon, so that's fun!

With some new cookbooks out (specifically Lindsay Nixon's Happy Herbivore Holidays and Gatherings) I'm debating trying something new, but when I asked Mia, she said she really didn't care as long as I made my cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mashed potatoes just like normal. Everyone else in the family will eat a traditional Thanksgiving, so my protien is really up to me, so I think I'm going to stick with my traditional seitan, because I like it best.

Roasted Seitan
Adapted from TVZ

Cooking/prep time: 2.5 hours

Ingredients:
1.5 c. vital wheat gluten
.25 c. nutritional yeast
.5 c. garbanzo flour
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
4.25 c. vegetable broth
2 T. liquid aminos or soy sauce
2 T. olive oil
.25 t. cumin
1 t. each salt & pepper
1 T. parsley

Mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl, 3 cloves garlic, 1.25 c. vegetable broth, 1 t. soy sauce, 1 t. olive oil, cumin, and salt and pepper together in a separate bowl.  Now combine both the wet and dry bowls, and knead for 10-15 minutes.  Cut the ball of seitan in two loaves, and shape accordingly.  Put loaves in oiled baking dish with the remaining ingredients.  Cover with foil and cook at 350 for an hour.  After an hour, flip the loaves over, and cook for an additional 45 minutes.

Vegan Mashed Potatoes

Cooking/prep time: 4 hours to soak, 1 hour actual fuss time

Ingredients:
2 c. Raw cashews
2 lbs. potatoes, evenly cubed
0.5 c. Vegan cream cheese
0.25 c. Vegan margarine (optional)
Water
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2T. Dill
Salt and pepper

For this recipe, you need to make the cashew milk first. The raw cashews need to soak in 2 c. Water for a few hours hours, I like to let mine soak overnight.
The next morning, drain off the water, rinse the cashews and add 2 c. Fresh water with the cashews in a blender. Pulse on high until smooth and creamy. My blender has a "frozen drink" setting, and I've found that by doing that cycle twice I get great nut milk.

While you're fussing with the blender, you should be bringing a large pot of water to a boil on the stove. Add the cubed potatoes, and cook at medium heat for the desired tenderness.  I like my potatoes to be not too mushy, so I find they're just right when I can easily slide a fork's times into each piece.

Drain the water, and return the potatoes to the pot. Add the garlic, about 1 c. Of cashew milk, and the cream cheese and margarine, if using, and mash it all together with a potato masher or an electric mixer. Personally, I prefer the hand masher, leaving some lumpy bits of potato! Add dill, and salt and pepper to taste.

Stuffing
For this recipe, I use pre bagged crumbs, just because it is easy.  Feel free to use fresh bread. Just read your ingredients. If you're buying pre bagged, the cornbread flavor is often the vegan one!

Cook time: less than 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 bag stuffing bread crumbs
0.5 c. Vegan margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 c. Mushrooms, chopped
1 c. pine nuts (toasted)
2 c. Vegetable broth
1 tsp each: parsley, sage, salt, black pepper

I like to sautée my veggies first, and melt the butter with the spices in a saucepan. Meanwhile, I stir the broth into the bread crumbs. Then I add it all together and pop in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Cranberry Orange Sauce
Adapted from Anna Thomas' New Vegetarian Epicure

This is one of the things I make for Thanksliving each year that Mia loves. She generally starts talking about it in October!

Cook time:15 minutes, plus time to cool.
Make ahead: easily done the night before!

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs fresh cranberries
1 c. Orange juice
0.5 c. Water
0.5 c. Red wine (whatever I will drink during dinner- but remember, I am a fan of the drier wines)
1.5 c. Sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
0.5 tsp ground cloves

Put everything in a pan over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Allow it to cool before serving.

Sauteed Kale
This is my own invention, and is addictive.  I never liked kale or any cooked greens growing up, they always seemed so slimy.  Then later, when I went vegan, I tried to like them, but it seemed like there was so much oil they didn't taste healthy.  I decided since kale was so darn good for you, I was bound and determined to eat it.  I concocted this recipe and everyone in my family loves it.  On top of this, it is super easy.

Cook:prep time: about 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs Kale
1 vegetable bouillon cube (to make 2 cups vegetable broth with)
2 c. water
Optional: fresh ground black pepper, sliced garlic (1-3 cloves) to taste

I drizzle the tiniest bit of olive oil in the bottom of the pan, then stuff as much kale as possible in the pan.  I traditionally make this dish in my large, 3 inch deep, glass lidded pan.  Sometimes, the only kale you can get has a lot of thick stems.  If there are a lot of these, I would trim some of the woodiest parts away.  Generally, if you buy a large bag of kale, the stems therein will cook just fine.

On top of the kale, I place the bouillon cube, and pour the water.  Then I cover the pan with the lid, turn on the stove top to a medium heat, and cook for 10-15 minutes.  The longer you let it cook, the softer and gooier it will get.  Mia prefers it when I cook it for 15-20 minutes, but Rob likes it better on the raw-er side, approximately 10 minutes.  15 seems to be a nice compromise.

Try to resist lifting the lid.  Keep that steam in! Stir when you're ready to serve!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
This has been such a hit in my house lately that we needed to include it in our celebration!

Cook/prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
8 c. Brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed, and sliced in half if large
3 t. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 T. Nutritional yeast

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, place the sprouts on a cookie sheet, and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast, toss, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Shopping list for Thanksliving:

garlic
2 Onions
1 bunch celery
3 Carrots
1 c. Mushrooms
1.5 lbs. Cranberries
2 lbs. Kale
8 c. Brussels sprouts
2 lbs. Potatoes

vital wheat gluten *
Nutritional yeast *
garbanzo flour *
Box vegetable bouillon cubes *
Sugar
1 bag stuffing bread crumbs
Bisquick

liquid aminos or soy sauce
olive oil
Agave nectar

Orange juice
Red wine

Vegan cream cheese
Vegan margarine (earth balance)

2 c. Raw cashews
1 c. pine nuts
Rolled oats
2 T. Chopped almonds

cumin
salt & pepper
parsley
Dill
sage

Task list for Thanksliving:
Wednesday, make cashew milk, cranberry sauce
Thursday morning, Go for a run, preheat oven to 350. Make seitan, and put in oven. Chop all veggies, and potatoes on to boil. Blend cashew milk. Flip seitan. Watch some of the Macy's day parade. Make stuffing. Put sprouts in the oven, mash potatoes, steam kale,
Serve, eat, drink, and laugh!

Now, in the meantime, to get in that holiday eating mood, one of these days soon I'm going to have to make this recipe by Vegan Dad, which just oozes Thanksgiving flavor without being overpowering with any clichés:

Stuffed Maple Tofu
Served with apple-cranberry chutney, this tofu makes a gorgeous centerpiece for your autumn dinner table. This mouthwatering, multi-layer masterpiece from Nathan Kozuskanich, the blogger behind Vegan Dad, is sure to impress guests with its three-part punch of maple-apple cider tofu, sourdough-thyme stuffing, and tart fruit compote. For more recipes that celebrate the best flavors of the season, check out our Recipe Round Up of 7 Fall Favorites on VegNews.com.
leftDottedLine
Serves 5
What You Need:
For the Apple-Cranberry Chutney:
2 tablespoons vegan margarine
4 Gala apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons apple cider, divided
10 fresh sage leaves, chopped

For the Stuffing:
2 tablespoons vegan margarine, plus more for spreading
2 slices sourdough bread
1 leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons apple cider
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups packed baby spinach
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the Maple Apple Cider Tofu:
2 tablespoons vegan margarine
1 package extra firm tofu
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons apple cider
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
leftDottedLine 3
What You Do:
1. For the Apple-Cranberry Chutney, in a large pan over medium-high heat, heat margarine. Add apples and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add raisins and cranberries and cook for 3 more minutes. Add maple syrup and mix well, then add 2 tablespoons of cider. Cook until cranberries burst and apples are soft but still have some texture. Lower heat and let simmer while you prep the other components of the dish. When ready to assemble the dish, mix in sage leaves and remove from heat.

2. For the Stuffing, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Lightly spread margarine on both sides of sourdough bread and fry each side for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden. Remove from pan and cut into 1/4-inch cubes. Into a large bowl, measure 1-1/2 cups of bread. Return pan to the stove. Melt 2 tablespoons of margarine, and add leeks and garlic. Fry for about 5 minutes, until leeks are translucent. Add apple cider and thyme and mix well. Add spinach and cook until wilted but still a vibrant green. Season with salt and pepper then add to the bread cubes. Mix well. Reduce oven to 200 degrees, put in an oven-proof container and keep warm in the oven.

3. For the Maple Apple Cider Tofu, cut tofu in half vertically, then cut each half into 5 thin slices. Use a 2.5-inch biscuit cutter to cut out 10 rounds. While cutting tofu, heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add margarine and swirl pan to melt, then add tofu circles. Fry for 3 to 5 minutes, only on one side, until a nice golden brown. Add maple syrup and shake to distribute. Flip tofu over and shake again. Add cider and shake to distribute. Season lightly with salt, and add freshly ground pepper. Flip tofu over and let reduce for a minute or so, then remove from heat.

4. To assemble, on a plate, place one tofu circle fried side down. Place 2.5-inch biscuit cutter on top of tofu, then pack in stuffing, pressing stuffing down with a spoon. Carefully remove biscuit cutter, then top with another tofu circle, fried side up. Top with a generous spoonful of Apple-Cranberry Chutney, and serve.

The great vegan chili cookoff

This last Sunday, Rob and I thought we'd have a mini vegan chili cookoff between the two of us. We each have a different chili style. I favor flavor and color, while Rob favors a more traditional approach with high heat. We visited the grocery store and thought about ingredients we could share to minimize costs. That's true love for you. Here's what we picked up (I already had the hot green chillies, Rob picked them up for me in Florida, and the acorn squash was from Trader Joe's) from Giant. We planned on splitting the onion, green pepper, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.

We started by chopping up our veggies. We also used some garlic we already had at home. When I went to cube up my acorn squash, I first cut it in half and removed the seeds. Then I microwaved it (face down) for 2 minutes to soften the flesh a bit, then removed the skin, and cubed it.

As I said before, Rob really likes his chili hot, so he left all the seeds in his jalapeños.  If you want to lighten the heat, remove the seeds. Also, if you are sensitive, you may want to deal with peppers wearing gloves, or at least wash your hands immediately after chopping them!

Here are the finished products. We each let our respective chilis cook for 2 hours. 

You may want to recreate and decide on your own who wins. I'll let you know what we decided at the end of the post.

Steph's Autumn Vegan Chili:

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 acorn squash, peeled & cubed

28 oz. can whole tomatoes

8 oz. tomato sauce

3 oz. tomato paste

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can canellini beans, drained & rinsed

1 6 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained & rinsed

1 tsp salt

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp dill

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp chives

1 tsp evoo

1 Tbsp beer

Directions:

Sauté onion in evoo. Add curry powder, cinnamon, chili powder & cumin. Add green pepper, garlic cloves & remainder of spices & stir to coat. Sautee until onions are translucent. Add beer & squash. Stir & simmer 5 minutes (open your cans & drain your beans now). Add tomatoes, and with your spoon, crush the whole tomatoes, chopping them into smaller chunks. Cook about ten minutes. Add beans and corn, lower heat to low, cover and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with sliced avocado and chives.

Rob's chili 2014:

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Italian seasoning or basil

2-3 Tbsp chili powder ("You can't make chili without it!")

1 Tbsp oil

28 oz can whole tomatoes, cut into quarters

15.5 oz can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

15.5 oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

6 oz beer

8 oz tomato sauce

1-2 Tbsp tomato paste (Rob's note "I have not used tomato paste in the past. I hope using this does not make this chili too tomato-y.")

2 fresh jalapeños,  diced (with seeds and membrane) (Rob's note "Taste the jalapeños,  if they aren't hot, use 5-10.")

Directions:

Measure out the spices so that they are ready to go (Steph's note "Notice a distinct difference in cooking styles? I don't think he actually did this, I think he just said he did because I always use the palm of my hand to eyeball measurements!").

Sautee onion and green pepper in hot oil until the onion is almost translucent. Add garlic and saute another minute. Add spices and stir.

Add cut up tomatoes and juice, tomato sauce, tomato paste, kidney beans, jalapenos, and beer (Rob's note "Busch- gotta keep your priorities straight.-Bill Gawdy, Youtube)

Bring chili to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

You want the flavors to meld together, but you don't want to cook too long. You still want to see the form of the tomato quarters, the chunks of onion and pepper, the beans whole and not mushy. Also note the diced garlic.

Side by side, we each tested both chilis. With some TJ tortilla chips and Earth Balance crackers to cleanse our palates, we were ready to name a champion. 

We decided that for presentation, mine was the winner. Mine was more flavorful, but Rob's was spicier. In the end, I liked mine best, but also liked Rob's. Rob liked his the best, but also liked mine. Winners all around!

Meal prep for actual humans with real lives and normal kitchens....

Sometimes I look at blogs and diy videos and I chuckle to myself. Surely these people must be kidding. Or aliens. Or have nothing better to do. I mean, sure. I'd love to grow my own food and organically create a healthy vegan mecca whilst minimizing my carbon footprint and meditating at the same time.

But who am I kidding? I am a human. With a job. Sure, I may look like I have it all together, but there are dishes in my sink, and my living room is a constant war zone of dog toy casualties,  and every once in a while, I clear off my rocking chair in the bedroom by hanging up my clean clothes. I'd much rather read than sweep. I prefer to go for a run with my dogs than take out the recycling.

Here's the thing. Mondays are the one day of the week that I have afternoon/evening time that I'm willing to devote to meal prep for the week. That doesn't mean that by Monday night I have a week's worth of meals in my fridge. I'm not that cool. One of my coworkers was telling me that when her husband, who is the primary cook in the house, went away for a week, he prepped a week's worth of meals for the family in the freezer. I don't have that kind of freezer space! With just Rob & I at home, we can't eat breads fast enough, so they live in the freezer now. And the bottom shelf of the fridge is Rob's beer shelf, so I have to work around that, too.

To be honest, even if I had freezer or refigerator space I wouldn't do anything different. Because this works for me.

Anyway, I thought it might be helpful to see what I do on Mondays to make my week go a little smoother. First of all, I do my grocery shopping on Monday afternoons. I think any non-weekend time is a good time to shop. I make careful lists, and only walk down aisles that I need to. I find that I generally hit the produce section, the bean aisle, and occasionally the bread or freezer aisles.

When I get home, I preheat the oven. I've been using a lot of sweet potatoes lately, so I prebake them all at once so I only have to turn my oven on one time. Any other baking will also happen on Monday. Yesterday, I also baked a butternut squash for some soup I'm going to make tonight.

The recipe I was making for dinner called for 1/3 c diced onions, and I knew I'd need other chopped onions since I had 3 on my list, so I chopped the whole thing and stored the rest in a container in the fridge for easy use later.

Since I already had the oven on, I baked my pumpkin falafels that I'll be eating for lunches Tuesday and Thursday.

I know you've seen this on pintrest, so why aren't you doing it already? Salads in a jar are a great way to bring your greens to work. I mixed a salad dressing in the bottom of sunflower butter, soy sauce and lemon juice in the bottom, then layered in cukes, onions, tomatoes, and spinach. These I will take to work and eat with my pumpkin falafels on Tuesday and Thursday.

With just a little effort, I pre made lunches for Tuesday and Thursday,  prepped veggies for Tuesday dinner (which will also be Wednesday lunch), and the sweet potatoes will be used in a dessert Tuesday night, and meals on Friday and Sunday.

By the time Rob gets home from work on Mondays, I've got dinner going, and feel pretty damn productive. That way, I don't have to stress too much about other meals through the week.

Plan Oct 27-Nov 2

I'm hoping to be able to get back to exercising this week. The last two weeks have been a bit of a struggle with my headaches. I hope to be on the mend very shortly.

Monday
Walk
Fruit smoothie
Vegan autumn chilli
Creamy pumpkin sage pasta with kale

Tuesday
Swim
Yoga
Tofu sandwich
Pumpkin falafel salad
Autumn vegetable soup

Wednesday
Walk/run?
Fruit smoothie
Autumn vegetable soup
Vegan cashew chickun salad sandwich

Thursday
Swim
Bhangra
Choir
Tofu sandwich
Pumpkin falafel salad
Protien vega one shake

Friday
Walk/run
Pumpkin pie smoothie
Butternut quiona wrap
Pumpkin enchiladas

Saturday
Protien vega one shake
Walk for farm animals
Lunch with Cari & Paul!
Dinner TBD

Sunday
Pumpkin overnight oats
Butternut quinoa wrap
Tomato cobbler with rosemary biscuits

This last week included lots of yoga, and not much else. No running, swimming, singing, or dancing. Simple meals. Lots of sleep. By Saturday, I was feeling a little better, so Rob and I were able to have some adventures, but Sunday is a well deserved rest day.

Be well, my friends!

Plan Oct 20-27

Well, my week of no grocery shopping was a win and a loss. I saved some money, and cleaned out some of my pantry and freezer. Most of my meals turned out well, except for the couscous and soy curls, which tasted off, like cheap boxed food. The dogs liked it, though! I ended up cooking up a vegan burger, some frozen broccoli, and eating it over yellow grits. An odd mixture, like many of the things I ate this week. It was a good time to do it, though. Rob was out of town for much of the week, so I was living the bachelor life.

The bachelor life for me = a choice of being productive or binge watching old TV shows (I'm currently re-watching Twin Peaks. I missed the end of the series since I was living overseas when it was being aired, and AFN was behind on what it showed. The whole world knew JR was dead 6 months before we did.) and napping. This week I did all of the above. We don't watch normal TV in our house, but we do have Netflix, which allows us to watch what everyone else is watching- just a few years later.  Which is JUST FINE by us. But..... Don't talk to me about the Walking Dead. We're still on season 4. And don't you dare tell me how Lost ends, because we're still on season 3 of that...

But I also was productive. I got 2nd drafts of my Chapters 1 & 2 sent off to my mentor, and two more interviews scheduled. Once those are done this week, I can start evaluating my data and writing Chapters 3, 4 & 5. I cleaned the carpet in the living room, as well as Mia's living room area.  I've decided to re-claim it now that she is at college, and turn it into my yoga space so I don't get puppy bombed every time I try to do a floor pose. Her kitties may be equally obnoxious, but we will see. Anyway, I got the floor in there cleaned, and next I'll sort through the stuff on the desk and shelves, consolidating it so it has a peaceful zen-like feel back there. I also bathed the dogs, washed the towels and sheets, cleaned out the produce drawers, washed all of my spice jars... Huh, I feel I deserve another nap.

On another note, though, I wrangled with a headache most of the week. I don't know if it was because of the weird storms we had midweek, or if my body was going through raw plant food withdrawal... I see my neurologist this week, so we will hopefully get this sorted out.

This week, I'm back to my normal meal prep. I'll be cooking some meals from Lindsay Nixon's (the Happy Herbivore) getmealplans.com for dinner, and drinking some fruit smoothies for breakfasts. Monday's dinner is courtesy of my BOGO coupon I got from the Baltimore Running Festival this weekend.

Monday:

Run

Date night- Chipotle sofritos and Season 4 of The Walking Dead with my Love!

Tuesday:

Yoga

Spicy Sweet Potato Bowl with Avocado and Quinoa

Wednesday:

Run

Chick-un Salad Sandwich (for Annie) and Kale and Garlic Salad

Thursday:

Swim

Bhangra

Leftovers

Friday:

Run

Portobello Strip, sweet potato, broccoli bowl

Saturday:

Baltimore Vegan Soul Fest

Www.vegansoulfest.com

Sunday:

Yoga

Sweet Potato and Kale roll-ups

Oh, I developed this delicious recipe for a single serving of apple crisp! Check it out:

Slice up one apple (remove the core, first, but you can leave the peel!) The finer you slice it, the better it cooks. 

Put it and a sprinkling of raisins (oh, how I love raisins lately!) In a mug into the microwave for a minute, maybe a minute, twenty for a large apple.

Meanwhile, mix this in a bowl: 2 heaping TBSP flour, 2 heaping TBSP quick oats, 1 TBSP brown sugar, 1 tsp each cinnamon and ground ginger, and 2 TBSP earth balance butter. Mix, but keep in mind it wont look completely mixed.

Pour in the apples and raisins, and mix. Microwave for 1 minute, then stir again and let it cool a little. 

Meanwhile, make yourself a cup of tea.

Enjoy!

My friend, Cari, started running just a few months ago, and did her first 5k this weekend! I was so proud of her, and pleased to be part of the day! The Baltimore Running festival was well organized, with nice courses, nice swag, and nice runner amenities. 

They DID, however, make the 5k start time at an hour which should be unlawful! 7:20am! That meant I had to get up at 4am! It is DARK at Camden Yards in the 6am hour!

This afternoon, I am attending a Meditation Workshop at thestudiocooperative.com 

Meditation is something I've been trying lately, but would like to become a more mindful practitioner of.

Plan October 13-19

Good evening, friends!
Tonight I'm sitting down to a lovely butternut squash soup, inspired by Lindsay Nixon's upcoming Happy Herbivore Holiday book (I pre-ordered, and got a sneak peek this week!) For this warm and creamy autumn soup, I blended in some jalapeno peppers, so the soup was quite spicy! Yum!

Other exciting vegan cookbook news, I got my copy of the brand new Thug Kitchen cookbook this week! It looks great, I've really enjoyed reading this one. I'll give a few of these recipes a try next week. This week, though, my goal is to NOT go to the grocery! I've been trying lately to use some items I already have. With a couple of bags of veggies and some bananas in the freezer, I think I will be able to do it. We will see if the dogs notice the difference between those frozen veggies and fresh carrots!

Monday
Run
Pasta, field roast, & sauce

Tuesday
Swim
Yoga
Couscous, soy curls & veggies

Wednesday
Run
Sweet & sour (rice, mandarin gardein, pineapple, & mixed veggies)

Thursday
Swim
Bhangra
Vega one chai shake

Friday
Run
Earth Balance white cheddar and veggies

Saturday
Baltimore Running Festival
TBD

Sunday
Alfredo pasta plus with veggies and baked tofu

I've been working most of the day on my Chapter 2, it is slowly, slowly getting there... even though I have a busy week, I hope to get it done by Friday. At least, that's the deadline I've given myself.