Winter squash, winter weather

Hi Kids!  How are you all on this fine Monday!  I’m feeling pretty fab myself, despite the 50 degree weather.  I thought winter was over, but apparently not…

After yesterday’s late night grub sesh I thought I wouldn’t be very hungry until later in the morning, but I woke up with the same hankering appetite as usual. 

I guess that just goes to show you, when you listen to your body (even if it tells you it wants 4 Vita Muffins with peanut butter at 11 PM), you can’t do too much damage.  I’d also like to note, I never felt stuffed or uncomfortably full at any point last night, despite the fairly obscene quantity of dessert consumed.  I’m not sure if my metabolism was just in overdrive or what, but I had to give in.  Don’t we all have those days – when no matter how much we eat, we aren’t satisfied?  At least I hope I’m not alone…

Some days I eat a meal, and literally less than 30 minutes later, my  stomach is growling!  What?!  How is that possible?  Rather than deprive myself, I just chalk it up to my crazy metabolism (and then thank the Lord that it hasn’t stalled out on me yet).  I guess I should be pleased that I still have the ability to burn off my chow sessions with a little extra cardio.

But I digress…

Coffee up the YingYang.

I was buzzed out of my MIND after this cup.  What the heck did Kyle do to the coffee this morning?!  I was seriously having an out-of-body experience, I was so jacked up on caffeine. 

I immediately had to get something else in my tummy.

Some breakfast math.  1 vanilla Chobz + plum + honeydew + cantaloupe + watermelon = creamy fruit salad

Mmmm…

This was THE BEST breakfast I’ve had in a long time, and although it seems pretty basic, it rocked my world and got my morning off to a GREAT start.  Sometimes simplicity gets a bad rap.  In all honesty, these are pretty much the same ingredients I have in the AM every day, I just decided to mix them together today. 

Remember this old friend?  Yes, I went back to my favorite sandwich for lunch.  Smart deli “turkey” – how I missed you!  I don’t know why we were apart for so long, let’s never fight again.  Spinach and hummus also made their way between the Alvarado Street bread. 

I also snacked on a few dried pineapple rings before heading to the gym.  Unlike yesterday, today’s trip was one I was REALLY excited about. 

Stats:  elliptical (levels 10 – 11) – 15 minutes (warm up)

          treadmill (6.5 – 7, incline 3.5) – 30 minutes

          elliptical (levels 11 – 12) – 45 minutes

          arms/abs/thighs – 15 minutes

This felt AMAZING!  I left the gym on cloud nine. 

Since I work most of the rest of the week, I decided to make the most of my day off. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening in the kitchen…so be prepared for some delish eats in the next few days.

To start I made KABOCHA!!  I’ve been drooling over Maggie’s kabocha meals for a while now, so I just had to make some of my own.  Talk about perfect timing now that it’s the BSI!!

I baked it in the oven and it was EASY as pie.  Minimal fuss (nonstick spray and salt) works for me!

It was done in no time, so I sprinkled on a little vegan parm and dug in.  I think I might have a new favorite squash – Y.U.M.  It was so tender and tasty.  I could definitely see this being easily incorporated into several other recipes (quinoa, couscous, vegetable roasts, salads, etc.).  Thanks for introducing me Maggie!

I also steamed some cauliflower for another blogger inspired dish.

Vegan mashed “cheesy” cauliflower. 

After I steamed the cauliflower, I let it cool a bit, and then tossed it into the blender with some unsweetened soy milk, vegan parmesan, and salt.

I ate dinner on a TV tray since Kyle is away on business.  In addition to the bowl of the mashed cauliflower, I also had a veggie burger and steamed green beans (also with vegan parm).

Anyone even seen or tried this kind of veggie/vegan burger before?

It was a new purchase for me, but I figured it would be good since it’s made by Food For Life (and they certainly hit the jackpot with the Ezekiel products). 

I gotta be honest here.  It wasn’t my favorite burger. 

Pros:  It was filling and the nutritionals are stellar, plus they don’t cost as much as other brands.

Cons:  It was a little chewy with not much texture, and the flavor wasn’t anything I’d write home about.

Look at these beauts!!  Cucarachas stuffed with carob covered raisins will never go out of style :)

I also had a few more dried pineapple rings and papaya spears…while perusing the shown cookbook which was a gift from a co-worker.  I got some good ideas for (raw) Wednesday in it!

Ok, time to pack up my eats for tomorrow.  The catch some zzzz’s.

April (in Cliff’s Notes)

I don’t even know where to begin…this past week has been one of the most incredible times of my life.  Between getting engaged, visiting friends and family in Nor Cal and So Cal, my cousin getting married and my other cousin giving birth, it has been a fantastically memorable week. 

Yes.  My only two cousins managed to coordinate the biggest events in their lives to overlap!!!!!!!!!

My older cousin went into labor 5 weeks early, and ended up in the hospital on the night of the rehearsal dinner and gave birth to a healthy baby boy the day of my cousin’s wedding (her younger sister).  Not only did she miss the ceremony and the reception, but she was the maid of honor and her husband was one of the groomsmen.  Needless to say, it was ONE EXCITING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I rarely remembered to snap pics of my food because I was a bit preoccupied (it was one of the LAST things on my mind…) and to be honest, a lot of it wasn’t very photogenic.  An unfortunate reality of traveling and going out to eat with friends/family is the inability to control the types of food that are available for vegans. 

In Nor Cal I ended up eating a lot of cereal messes…

(raisin bran, life, and nanners)

(grape nuts, bran flakes, nanners and fresh blackberries!!!)

SO MUCH wonderful fruit (!!) and yes, that bowl has my name on it…only in Paris can you find “Elise” on a dish.

Normally I don’t like citrus, but these oranges were SO juicy and perfect (AND they were from our backyard)

Who am I?  Gliding Calm?

No worries, we have massive trees with about 800 pounds of oranges, so I was going to town guilt free :)

They look fake, they are so pretty.  Mmmmm…

We also had a BBQ the day after the engagement.  Sorta an impromptu celebration (which is pretty easy when the weather is permanently 80 degrees).

Apps: Sabra hummus with veggies and ALL-BRAN crackers (review to follow)

Snackety snacking…

The All-Bran crackers were SO good.  They kinda reminded me of graham crackers because they had a sweet honey taste to them, even though I got the “multi-grain” flavor.  Plus, who doesn’t like fiber?  Can’t beat those stats…I’ll prolly never find them again back in NYC.

My dad threw some meat on the grill while I prepped veggie skewers.

Red and yellow bell peppers, zucchs, squash, and ‘shrooms.

And after some time on the barby…

There is nothing like grilling fresh produce to make me miss California.  This west coast livin’ just can’t be beat…

Other featured eats: salad, rice, VINO, and champagne (in bulk)

Plus, some tea on the late night to soothe my tummy.

…and FAR too much of this.  My dad is going to be pissed when he sees the cherry picking that went on while I noshed this tub down to nothingness.  I heart dried fruit like nobody’s business.

In So Cal I ended up frequenting the Whole Foods hot bar quite a bit (always a great option).  Hummus and falafel are definitely the flavor of the month so far.  Prepare yourself for a MAJOR falafel montage…

(and remember these are all different trips – and I only captured 1/3 of my meals on film)

The above meal had TWO kinds of hummus (parsley and plain) and in the corner is BBQ tofu.

The below meal was dominated by hummus.  I went overboard, to put it mildly.

I even tracked down a falafel, hummus, and pita chip platter at the AIRPORT, on one of our many flights, there’s no stopping me!!!

I told you I went through a MAJOR falafel phase.

We also spent some time at my g-ma’s in Newport Beach, so obviously I managed to get my hands on hummus :)

This was my first time trying this brand, and I gotta say, it gave Sabra a run for it’s money.  I would DEF buy it again.  Creamy and thick, and packed with flavor.

But enough about food…back to the fun times! 

 

The proposal was such a surprise.  :)

Kyle told me his parents were in San Francisco for business, so we decided to meet them in the city for lunch…I found out later no such business trip existed.

We stopped by my sister’s apartment on the way…

Here’s the view from her rooftop.

Then Kyle took me to Crissy field to “meet up with his parents.”

In actuality, he asked me to marry him!!!!!!

As if the day could get ANY more amazing, his parents AND mine then showed up (they knew the plan the entire time!!!!!!) and we all celebrated together!

As you can see, the weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, and I was the happiest girl in the world!!!!!!!

I was basically doing the above all day long (staring at my finger  and gushing on the phone).

How could I not, right?

For lunch, we went to a vegetarian restaurant called Greens, which was great!  I got a skewer with veggies and tofu and a side salad.  But I was hardly even aware of my food on SUCH a high :)

The champagne was flowing…

 

After lunch we took more photos, walked around the city, and eventually made our way to the financial district (near our old SF apartment before we moved to NYC).  Kyle had booked a hotel room for the night, so we check in and then headed out to do some shopping.  I desperately needed a nicer outfit than what I brought (jeans and a t-shirt) for dinner.  Clearly the ring upped the ante for the attire!  Off to BCBG, Aldo, and Victoria’s Secret…stat!

For dinner we went to Kokkari, an amazing Greek restaurant in the financial district. 

The food was great and they were so thoughtful, catering the menu to make sure there were vegan options for me.  I hardly even remember what we had because there was so much good food…fried eggplant and zucchini cakes, mushrooms, babaganoush, hummus, greek yogurt, etc…just to name a few things.

L to R: my parents, Kyle, me, Kyle’s parents.

Our table faced a massive fireplace, with live rotisserie action going on. 

Baklava dessert with a sweet message.

It was amazing, for lack of a better word.  The entire day couldn’t have been more perfect.

GOBO on the brain

All day long I was fantasizing about tonight’s dinner.  Kyle and I had plans for a night out on the town to meet in the West Village after I got off work to try out a vegan restaurant called Gobo.  The menu looked unbelievable, so I was basically salivating all day in anticipation.

But first, I had to get through a day of work. 

For some reason I was starving way more than usual today…then I remembered an article I read in Shape mag, which made me feel better (apparently pre-red tent time it’s common for an increase in appetite).  Um, sure, that’ll work as an excuse.

After yesterday’s horrendous commute, I left for work super early today.  Damn Murphy’s Law…of course I made it to the hospital in great time, which left me standing in front of Starbucks waiting for it to open.  Yeah, while they were filling the display case with pastries, I was outside freezing my ass off.  It was a little depressing.  They made it worth my while (free coffee in exchange for losing feeling in my toes – totally worth it). 

Lunch: sammie with smart deli “turkey,” greek yog, bell pepps, on Alvarado street bread

And an apple, odwalla bar, and HUGE bag of dried fruit with carob raisins, figs, and pineapple

I ate almost all of this before noon, so I was left to my own devices for the rest of the day (don’t worry, I managed to find some stuff around the unit…)

Not pictured: raisin bran cereal, grapes, apple sauce, and random leftover candy from Valentine’s Day

And FINALLY, the good stuff…

Kyle met me after work for a hot date at GOBO, in the West Village.  We walked from the hospital and it was a good thing we had a reservation because the place was PACKED and I was starving when we got there.  We started by splitting the five spice tofu rolls with mango puree, which was quite tasty.  The tofu was somehow both firm and yet soft at the same time.  The crispy wrap in which it was fried was flaky, but not overly oily, and the mango sauce had such a new and interesting flavor.  I only wish there had been a dozen more on the plate!

I feel the need to interject here and comment on the wait staff.  It was bad – like, tap-the-mic-is-anyone-out-there-BAD.  There.  I said it.  Now that that’s off my chest we can move past the awkwardness and go forward with the rest of the evening’s eats.

Kyle got the vietnamese spicy stir-fry rice noodles with bean sprouts(above).  He seemed to enjoy it, since he devoured the entire thing in a matter of minutes!  (No joke, Kyle eats faster than a speeding bullet).  As for MY dish (below).  I got the smoked beijing-style seitan with chinese broccoli.  It was not what I was expecting, but still very good.  The “meat” on the top is the seitan, which wasn’t prepared any way I’ve had seitan in the past…it was a bit chewy and reminded me of chicken skin.  That sounds way grosser than it was.  It was actually good, so don’t take that description the wrong way.  What was underneath the seitan was actually my favorite part of the dish.  In addition to chinese broccoli, there was also acorn squash, enoki mushrooms, and some other random greens…I swear the chinese broccoli was actually swiss chard, but what the heck do I know, it was a dark restaurant and my first bite was so hot I lost a layer off the roof of my mouth!

SO MUCH FOOD.  I really liked the enoki mushrooms (which looked like squirts of mustard on top of that seitan), good thing I don’t judge books by their covers.

Yeah, it was tasty.

We also split an order of yam and yucca fries.  They were INSANELY huge.  I didn’t really know what yucca was when I ordered them (it’s a plant root btw).  The yam fries were yummmmm to the max, though.  They were battered in something before being fried, but they weren’t greasy.  They were dense too.  They certainly weren’t like any fries I’ve ever had.  Oh vegan dining, how I love thee.

After our walk back from the subway, I was desperately in need of warmth.  So I thawed out over a steamy cup of sleigh ride sugar cookie tea :)

I couldn’t deny myself a dessert plate of goodies!  (figs and carob covered raisins)

NOM!

Bed time, back to work again tomorrow.