Tuesday, January 8, 2019

So. Many. Hauls. (And Some Meals!)

Hey you guys! I hope that you are well and that you had a great weekend! Mine was good except I apparently can't get my shit together to just stop and relax. On Sunday I went out and ran so many errands which included FOUR grocery stores (WTF!?). I have hauls for three of them (one was just the Turkish market for my favorite hummus) and I am really excited to share them with you. I was not able to get to H-Mart because I just didn't have it in me at the end of that but I am hoping to go tomorrow after work. I figured three hauls is still good enough (😂) and I have a few meals and things to share at the end!


So up first we have Whole Foods. I rarely ever go there but there were a few things I wanted and knew I could only get there so I made the trek. Before I get into the haul I have to say I'm so proud of my restraint. I wanted EVERYTHING and only brought these few items home so yay! Anyway, I got a container of roasted mushrooms and eggplant to have with my hummus (sometimes you make concessions when you know you won't have the energy to cook), some Teeccino to try (maybe I can kick the coffee for good), some carrots because Whole Foods has THE BEST CARROTS, Earth Balance sticks to keep in the freezer if I need to bake at any point, Kite Hill yogurt (on sale 4/$5) and some Mother In Law's white kimchi. As you know I'm not a fan of most vegan yogurts and I actually find Kite Hill to be way too sweet but I really wanted yogurt so I got the plain to have with fruit and granola and the vanilla and key lime for other specific things 😉


Next I went to Trader Joe's and got just a few things. I got some honey crisp apples for the first recipe test for my e-book, some dolmas, coconut oil, pears, Mango Kombucha to try, cucumbers, tomatoes and frozen mango. Can you tell I've been craving mango lately?


Finally I have a small haul from the Israeli Market!! I go there for their amazing soup and their cashews and the other stuff was a bonus. I grabbed some vegetable barley soup (which I brought with me for lunch today), some potato leek soup (it was frozen but it is my favorite soup they make so I am giving it a try out of the freezer) some Date bars which just have dates and nuts and stuff, a point of the most delicious cashews and a big ass container of tahini.


This gorgeousness is my first recipe test for my e-book! I made a breakfast apple crisp which is essentially baked apples with a granola type topping.


I had some for breakfast and it was really good! There are a few tweaks I need to make but I love it and I'm excited! I drizzled some vanilla yogurt on top to mimic the creaminess of vanilla ice cream or vegan whipped cream on a traditional apple crisp and it was amazing.


Finally I thought I'd share a Mediterranean plate I made! It's been a long time since I've shared one and this one was really good. The roasted veggies are SO GOOD with the hummus, I highly recommend it.

So that's what I have for you today! I hope you enjoyed the post and that you have a great week! I'll see you back here on Friday! 💜

15 comments:

Panty Buns said...

All of those vegan eats look very tasty and healthy!
I love seeing and learning about all the yummy vegan foods you post about here on your blog.

Unknown said...

So many stores in one day...!! That mother in laws white vegan kimchi is SO good! I swear i could eat the jar in 24hrs. It sounds scary but i have made white kimchi a bunch of times now and it’s stupid how easy it is, and i just calculated my last batch ingredients were maybe $15-$17 (manhattan grocery stores prices) and will easily make six or seven jars the size of the mother in laws jar. Takes about a week to ferment.
I’m surprised at your restraint at TJs! I always end up with a lot of stuff- mostly to avoid going back any time soon...!! Those dolmas are good stuff to keep on hand- i like them chilled with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
An Israeli market sounds awesome.... i bet they sell some great tahini.
Apple oat bake sounds fantastic! Love the idea pf adding the yogurt on top.
Ttrockwood

Hillary said...

I hope you love the Teecino. It's one of my favorite treats, and it really is more like coffee than tea in my humble opinion.
OMG the breakfast apple crisp with yogurt is such an amazing idea!!!

Hillary said...

I forgot to say I definitely need to try roasted veggies with hummus! That sounds delicious!!

Sarah said...

Aww thank you! They are delicious!

Sarah said...

OMG I know! It was exhausting, ha! I really like the Mother in Law's white kimchi but it's so damn pricey. If you have a recipe for white kimchi I would be so grateful if you shared it! I'm trying to get probiotics in as much as I can and it would be a great way to do that! I would also love a komucha recipe if you have one (I know that you make your own from your comments on other blogs ;]).

I've been trying to show restraint because I am trying to budget myself and just get what I need. There are times where I go a little crazy but this week I tried to show restraint (especially because I went to so many stores!). Their canned dolmas are surprisingly good (dolmas are never as good in a can). Great idea with the lemon!

The market is really great, they have a lot of delicious stuff but again, restraint!

Thanks! It was delicious! Just some minor tweaks and it will be a great recipe!

Sarah said...

I can't wait to try the teeccino! It is going to be perfect at night when I want a treat or some coffee but definitely don't want the caffeine. I can't wait to try it!

Aww thank you! It is so good!

Sarah said...

Yes please try! My favorite combination is zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and onion. Sooooo good!

The Student-turned-Doctor said...

Great restraint on the Whole Foods haul! I know what you mean about wanting to buy everything. Your apple crisp looks great!

Unknown said...

For the white kimchi i follow Maangchi’s recipe method with a few ingredient tweaks. Note you need a Big Ass Bowl or two large containers, a warm-ish place that you don’t mind having whiffs of fermenting funky kimchi (my sister uses her laundry room, i just use the top of my fridge cuz i live alone..! LOL).

I omit the chestnuts, pine nuts, and jujubes (may be in very traditional summer white kimchi but not easy to find), and it’s going to make your life WAY easier to use a mandolin for the veggies, they need to be super thin to stuff between the leaves.
I misread the instructions initially and didn’t strain the broth/brine mixture (onion garlic pear puree) and just added it all in with the water and salt instead of straining- just makes the broth cloudy instead of clear.
And it’s less fussy and easier so i keep doing that.
It’s important everything stays submerged while fermenting. You’ll smell it, and there will be little bubbles- taste it around day 4-5, in cool weather it takes longer for me than in summer.
Once “done” keep in fridge but doesn’t last as long as store kind because it’s not pasteurized. Easily a month or six weeks it’s fine as long as submerged in the brine.

This is the recipe, and watch the you tube because she is ADORABLE!
Takes maybe 1/2hr to 45min chopping time and such plus lots of cabbages washing, it’s a good rainy afternoon project ;))
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/baekkimchi


For kombucha definitely look up the bon appetite video, and also the how to on cultures for health website. They explain the process better than i can! Def ask me any questions you have along the way :)) I’m ttrockwood AT yahoo for email

I use all green tea because for some reason i get better carbonation with green instead of black. I just buy cheapest big box at the grocery store- don’t waste the good stuff here. Order a scoby from amazon. Your first batch will suck. Takes a few rounds to get a hang of the timing within your own kitchen and the time of year to get ferment timing, how full the bottles are and what flavors you like down- don’t give up!
Save old GTS bottles to reuse, they work well for bottling. Otherwise the only essentials are sugar, tea, a big ass jar, cheesecloth for the top, a temperature sticker for the big ass jar (amazon has them about $5, to be sure temp is right to ferment)
Oh- and if your apt is too cold for getting warm enough to make kombucha you can get a “seedling warming mat” at ace hardware or whatever for about $8-$10, plug in for a few hrs at a time to help along the initial ferment (once in bottles not as critical)

Hope this is helpful!!
:))
Ttrockwood
PS
Just started for fermentation projects! Haha- new to me stuff, beet ginger kvass and some fermented pickles (vs pickles made with salty brine and vinegar) so we will see....

Sarah said...

Thank you so much for this detailed reply! It is so incredibly helpful! I'll probably have to wait until it gets a little warmer because there is no real warm place for me to put it but I'm going to bookmark everything! Thank you so much and I hope you'll update me on your new fermentation projects as well!

Sarah said...

Haha thanks! It was so hard, they have so many great products there! The apple crisp is delicious, I'm actually eating some right now ;)

J said...

Impressive hauls; the soups from the Israeli market sound so good! And yay for recipe testing!

Jennifer said...

Four grocery stores? ha! You sound like me! lol Though some are close to each other, and I spread my shopping over a few days since, you know, stay at home Mom aka no work.

The food from the Israeli market sounds so good. I love going to specialty stores like that because you find totally "new" vegan products.

Tell me if you like that teechino! I have some boxes that I accidentally bought too much of when I got pregnant. They are good, but I usually rather have REAL coffee, or regular tea. So if you want I can ship em out to you.

Unknown said...

So i made white kimchi last sunday thinking it would take a long time because i’m gone during the week and my apt gets really cold- but to my surprise it was done friday!! So don’t worry about temp for the kimchi, there is no way your place is as cold as mine is when I’m gone
Ttrockwood