H-Mart Haul & Meal Prep

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all well and had a great weekend! Mine was sort of lazy and sort of productive but I guess that's how most of my weekends go. The pain has been pretty bad this week so I've been taking it easy and trying to do a little extra self care as well. I'm planning on starting to do some yoga in the evenings so I can get all relaxed and stretched out before bed. I found some really great videos geared toward people with chronic pain and illness so they are more gentle practices and that is exactly what I need. I'm looking forward to it. I may try to do yoga by candle light because I feel like it doesn't get much better than that!

Today I decided that I would focus a little on meal prep and also show you my latest H-Mart haul. I decided that I'm going to step up my ramen noodle game (there are plenty of gluten free ramen options, yay!) so I picked up a few things to get on that. I did a little meal prep for the week as well so I wanted to share that too!

So first up is my H-Mart haul. I grabbed some of that mushroom seasoning to make some broth (I will be using miso with it I think), some unsweetened original Almond Breeze for when I am ready to make that garlic sauce), some enoki mushrooms, green onion, baby bok choy and some soft tofu.

On Sunday I was not feeling great but I decided that I was going to make the gorgeous Chickpea Flour Mini Veggie Frittatas from The Mostly Vegan. I used spinach, mushrooms, broccoli and green onions and I used the Onion Salt from Trader Joe's instead of regular salt.

Aren't they beautiful?! They are delicious too you guys. I highly recommend this recipe! I have them in the freezer for a quick on the go breakfast.

The veggies I used were getting to their use by dates and I didn't know if I would use them in time so I packed them up and put them in the freezer to grab for a quick mid week stir fry. Looking at the picture I regret using the plastic bag but I will use a re-usable container next time. Anyway, the moral of the story is that I'm trying to limit my food waste by freezing any unused veggies before they go bad.

Finally, if you've been here a long time you'll know that I used to roast veggies to eat with my hummus/dolma plates. Since my favorite fresh tomatoes are out I decided I cook up my favorite veggie combo for this dish (minus the eggplant) and sautéed up some onion, zucchini and mushrooms. I'll reheat in the oven so it gets that roasted flavor and I promise you guys this is AMAZING with hummus and dolma and some lettuce (which I don't think I have… oops). 

Anyway, that is some of the prep that I did over the weekend and my amazing H-Mart haul. I love how affordable they are. That mushroom seasoning was the most expensive thing at $6.99 but when you think about it that is going to last so long. I think I read that it is good for three years so I imagine that it will go A LONG WAY and that makes the price tag so worth it to me.

What are some of the things you've been meal prepping lately? These veggies will also be amazing in burrito bowls with brown rice, black beans, corn and avocado. I think that it will end up being a staple for me :)

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! I'll be back on Friday to share some of the amazing meals I've been eating lately!

Transitioning To Gluten Free And Nightshade Free

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing well and that you had a great week. Things are going ok here, I'm working on transitioning into my gluten free, nightshade free lifestyle and it has been difficult and slow moving. It's a lot of work to try and prep and plan everything and I feel like I didn't have a ton of time to plan before jumping in which made it more difficult. I've been focusing on getting everything planned and doing the best I can so I haven't taken much time to photograph a lot. So, I figured I'd share the few (ok two) pictures that I do have and then show you some of the recipes that I found on Pinterest that I plan on making in the next few weeks!

As you guys know I am not a huge fan of Kombucha. There are maybe two that I like and the one above being my all time favorite. It is from Target and it's the only place you can find it. I had it twice and then for months have not been able to find it. For some reason on Tuesday morning I decided to go to Target before work to see if I could find it and wouldn't you know it they FINALLY stocked it! So, I grabbed every single one they had 😂 There were 7 bottles and their Kombucha is reasonably priced between $2 and $3. I drink half at a time so this is 2 weeks worth of probiotic goodness. I was SO HAPPY because probiotics was on my radar for building wellness as well so I'm really happy about it.

I also decided to get some veggie rolls with brown rice for lunch one day. I'm switching over to brown rice as refined white rice is something else that supposedly causes inflammation so I'll just make the small changes where I can. I paired it with a delicious honeycrisp and it was a perfect lunch.

So, as I mentioned above, preparing and planning is going to be crucial to my success of maintaining this lifestyle. I always hesitate to use the words restricted or limited or anything like that regarding a vegan diet because you always want to show how abundant a vegan diet can be as there are definitely a ton of options. However, the nature of the lifestyle is basically that there are limitations and restrictions on what you will eat and to add on two more big limitations is difficult. So I've been doing my research to get some ideas of delicious meals I can make vegan, gluten free and nightshade free. I plan on having a meal prep day on Monday so I thought it would be fun to share some of the recipes I've found on Pinterest!

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The first thing that I wanted to figure out was how I was going to substitute for tomato sauce. There are plenty of options for gluten free pasta and pizza crusts but without tomato sauce it is a little ore difficult (particularly for pizza). I know pesto is always an option but it's not my absolute favorite. Then, as I was perusing Pinterest, I spotted this recipe for Creamy Garlic Pasta from the Minimalist Baker and I knew that creamy garlic sauce was the answer to my dilemma! Obviously I would not use the tomatoes if I made the pasta but that sauce is perfect and I can't wait to try it (omg you guys, how good is that going to be on pizza?!).

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The next thing that really caught my eye were these beautiful Chickpea Flour Mini Veggie Frittatas from The Mostly Vegan. These cuties are a combination of sautéed veggies (I will of course leave out the nightshades) combined with a batter made from chickpea flour, nutritional yeast and seasonings to make these adorable frittatas. These will be a perfect on the go breakfast, particularly paired with some fresh fruit. I'm really excited to make these and I probably will on meal prep Monday. Hopefully that means I'll have some photos to share on Tuesday 😉

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Potatoes are probably the food (along with tomatoes) that is going to be the most difficult for me to give up. I saw these adorable Cauliflower Hash Browns from Healthier Steps and was so excited to see this as an option. I think these are such a great answer to potato hash browns for those days where you just want a full delicious brunch. I can see these being a great pairing with the mini frittatas I discussed above or I can see them as a great option for an avocado toast substitute (omg imagine these topped with fat free refried beans and avocado for breakfast with an apple?! Yes please!). I definitely will be making these in the future and hopefully they will freeze well!

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Gluten free baking has always been really daunting to me but I guess now is the time that I need to jump in! I decided that these Black Bean Brownies from The Pretty Bee would be a great way to start since I won't have to buy a million different flours. Chocolate is always delicious and these are packed with protein from the beans. I've always been curious to try so I think I will give these a try pretty soon!

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My basic bitch is coming out and I've been craving some pumpkin bread big time. I found this recipe for One Bowl Gluten Free Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread from The Beaming Baker and knew I had to give it a try. I think it'll be delicious and a perfect way to satisfy the fall baking cravings. I haven't decided if I'm going to make a loaf or some muffins but either way I can't wait to try these!

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For the last recipe I found another fall treat that looks so delicious and I think I want to make for Thanksgiving! They are these beautiful Paleo Apple Pie Crumb Bars by Jay's Baking Me Crazy. I've never been one to really subscribe to the whole Paleo thing but I knew it would definitely work in my favor to find some gluten free vegan recipes and this one is perfect. The shortbread crust is made out of almond flour, there aren't a ton of ingredients and the final product is gorgeous. I definitely see these happening in my future, hopefully for Thanksgiving so I can enjoy some dessert as well 😉

So that's what I have to share with you today! Sorry I didn't have more of my meals to share with you but as I mentioned, I've been a bit of a mess this week and completely disorganized. I hope to have more to share on Tuesday along with some meal prep so you can see what I have planned for next week's meals as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 💜

Birthday Weekend Recap!

Hey everyone! I hope that you are doing well and that you had a great weekend! First, I just wanted to say thank you SO MUCH for the amazing support and feedback in my last post. I feel incredibly lucky to have made such wonderful, supportive friends through this blog and I want you to know how truly grateful I am.

Just a quick note before I head into the birthday deliciousness. I went through all of my posts this weekend and added some labels to them. I don't know why I haven't done that the whole time but I decided to do it before I added to the post count too much. It was a daunting task but it is done!

Anyway, I had such an amazing birthday weekend and I'm really excited to share it with you. It was relaxing and exceptionally delicious ;) That said, you'll notice that there is plenty of gluten and nightshades in these meals/treats. I decided that I'm just going to do what I want for my birthday weekend and start fresh this week. So check out all of the deliciousness and all of the hauls!

The very first thing I did for my birthday was start my day with a large peach bubble tea. It was the perfect way to start the day!

After I got bubble tea I went to the Sweet To Lick Market and picked up some goodies! They had stocked up on Wayfare products and you know I love that French Onion dip so I grabbed that. I've also been craving queso lately and they had the nacho cheddar dip so I grabbed that as well. I'm really excited to try the soy curls as well! I don't know how I'll try it first but I'm very excited. I have rationalized this haul by telling myself that other than the jerky (which is already gone, let's be honest) everything is gluten free. 😂 The onion dip is so good with carrots so that's how I'll finish it off.

We then went two doors down to the Sweet To Lick Bakery and grabbed some birthday treats! The tart was the most amazing chocolate peanut butter tart and the cookie was my favorite oreo chocolate chip whoopee cookie. I love their treats because they are not cloyingly sweet. That tart was perfect.

I chose to go to Oak House Mexican Kitchen for my birthday dinner because they have a regular menu for my omni family and a full vegan menu for me. It is so nice to be able to choose whatever you want and not have to make substitutions. Wait until you see what I chose.

OH. EM. GEE. You guys. This is the Seitan Tinga Burrito Loco and it was freaking incredible. And massive. Look at how huge that thing is. I got through half of it and saved the rest for leftovers. If you are in the Long Island area I highly recommend Oak House.

The next day I went to Trader Joe's and this is more indicative of what my grocery hauls will look like from now on. No gluten. No nightshades. Lots of yummy produce. I'm not going to lie, the lack of tomatoes is a sad thing for me.

I decided that this first week I am working solely on eliminating gluten and nightshades from my diet and from there I'll knock out the processed foods as well. I'm not really concerned about these three things pictured above as they are all gluten free and not horrific for you. 

On Sunday (which I still considered birthday weekend 😂) I made a grilled cheese with the Follow Your Heart American cheese that I got from the market. This is my favorite way to use it and I wanted to have it one more time as I have not found a gluten free bread yet. I'm not sure how I'll use the rest but I'll figure it out. Anyway, I'm not going to lie, I make a damn good grilled cheese, ha! Pairing it with a honey crisp is perfect because it adds a little freshness to the heaviness of the sandwich.

Finally, Sunday night was birthday dinner part two. It doesn't look pretty but it was just as delicious the second time around. I also had the other half of my peanut butter tart later.

So there was my birthday weekend! It was a really nice weekend and having the three day weekend was really great. I'll be back on Friday to show you some of the meals I've come up with for this first week of Gluten Free, Nightshade Free Vegan eating.

Thanks again for all of your support from my last post and for all of the birthday wishes. It truly means so much to me 💜 Have a great week!

Answers

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing well and that you had a great week! Things have been interesting here on my end as you'll soon find out. I am really excited though because I took tomorrow off for my birthday so I get to enjoy a three day birthday weekend! I have a few things planned for my birthday, including some yummy vegan deliciousness and I can't wait to share that with you on Tuesday!

I don't have food to share with you today because this week has been crazy with a Jewish holiday and doctors and things like that but I do have an update to share with you. Those of you that have been reading here for a while will know that I suffer from chronic full body pain, headaches, muscle spasms, etc. I've been dealing with it probably for about 7 years now. I have been to countless doctors and have had every test done in the world and I still had no answers. Until yesterday. I finally saw someone that took every single symptom into account, examined me the way I needed to be examined and came up with my answer.

So, yesterday I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. My initial reaction was pure relief. The relief doesn't come from the actual diagnosis (I'll get into that in a minute) but I was so relieved to finally know what is going on so I can move forward. I have been searching for an answer for 7 years and I finally know what it is.

That said, my initial reaction to the actual diagnosis was a little bit rough. It's another invisible illness to add to my list with no cure and only hope of management. A lot of people think that it is a bullshit illness because there are no blood tests that say here it is, you have Fibromyalgia. The treatment options are not really great. The most recommended one is an antidepressant which I'm pretty sure will not be a good thing for me based on my psychiatric diagnoses. I can take anti inflammatories which are ok and take the edge off but don't really do a whole lot.

So, I've decided the best route for me to take for now would be to make some lifestyle changes to try and manage my pain. I was told that exercise is really beneficial for people with fibromyalgia and it just so happens that I've been looking to join a pool so I can swim as my exercise. I tried going back to the gym but even no impact workouts are really hard and cause muscle spasms. I noticed that after I went in the pool a few weeks ago I was pain free for 2 days. I asked the doctor and he said that water exercises are one of the best things I can do so I will be looking into that.

Finally, there are a few diet changes that I'm thinking about making. I decided to look up what foods trigger fibromyalgia pain and luckily I don't eat most of them. However, there are two groups that are big triggers and those are gluten and nightshade veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and peppers). I'm thinking about trying an elimination diet with these foods and I'm really not excited about it. Nightshade veggies make up a big part of my diet and you know I love my gluten. I'm a little overwhelmed by it but I decided that I will start to look into it more seriously next week (birthday weekend plans are still going on as is dammit, ha!).

In the meantime, I would love to hear from you guys about what tips you have for going gluten free and maybe some substitutes for nightshade veggies that you know of. This is definitely a daunting challenge for me but I feel like I need to at least give it a try if it means less pain on a daily basis. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. Links to your favorite gluten free recipes would also be so appreciated!

I know this is a bummer of a post but I thank you guys for always listening to what I have to say. I really appreciate it. I know that a Fibromyalgia diagnosis is not the end of the world and is not fatal but I'm working on accepting that this pain is with my for life and that there will be people that doubt it. I am going to do everything I can to manage my pain and move forward and thrive.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'm so excited to share birthday weekend festivities and FOOD with you next week! 💜

Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone! I hope that you are well and that you all had a great weekend! Mine was really nice, I had a good combination of productivity and relaxation and a really good therapy session so I'm heading into the week feeling pretty good. I did the best I could to photograph some meals for you and as you'll be able to see I've been eating some pretty yummy stuff.

I had a yummy hummus plate for lunch the other day. I cut up a really good roma tomato, had some stuffed grape leaves (of course), a little Violife vegan feta (I only ate half of that little brick, that stuff is rich!) and some delicious hummus from the Turkish market.

While it is a sad thing that we are at the tail end of watermelon season I am pretty excited for HONEYCRISPS!!! Yeeeeesssss! This delicious dinner was a simple Boca Burger, a honey crisp apple and some chips. So good.

Sometimes you just need some chocolate and Justin's is there to help a girl out.

A bialy toasted with melty tofutti. Yum.

It's been a while since I posted a bento! I put this one together for lunch today and it is just some tomato and stuffed grape leaves with hummus and another honey crisp apple. I think this will be a great combination.

That's all I have for today! I hope that you all have a wonderful week and I'll be back on Friday with some more delicious meals!

All The Boring Food (And Ice Cream!)

Hey you guys! Happy Friday! I hope that you have all had a great week. It has been so gloomy here all week, the kind of days where you just want to hang out in bed. I think we are supposed to have the sun come out soon-ish so hopefully that is true! I still have been dealing with a low appetite this week so my meals have been pretty sad but I still took pictures of them to share with you. Hopefully I'll start to get back to normal and have some more interesting things to share with you next week.

Some sad sourdough toast with Earth Balance that I took to work.

I snacked on this fruit bowl all day one day. Some yummy watermelon and crispy grapes. I've been loving grapes lately!

Some Trader Joe's gluten free waffles with every square filled with syrup 😂

This was supposed to be my dessert for our family Rosh Hashanah dinner but I just was too full to eat it. It was sitting in the freezer taunting me so I finally tried a spoonful of it and it was so freaking delicious! The fudge is so rich and the ice cream is so creamy. They really nailed the texture on their ice creams. I've mentioned a million times that there are products that I've tried that are just not worth the hype or the price tag in my opinion but this one is DEFINITELY worth both the hype and the price.

That's all that I have for you today. As I said I hope to have more exciting meals to share next week! I hope that you all enjoy your weekend 💜

Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing well! I don't know about you guys but the nasty weather we are having here is so exhausting! It makes me want to make a huge cup of tea and just hang out in bed and watch all of the YouTube. Which is kind of what I did this weekend. I didn't have much of an appetite so I didn't have a ton of meals but the ones I did have were great. It was also Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) this weekend so I finally got a picture of what I had for our holiday dinner! I'm pretty sure in all of my years blogging I've never taken a picture of that!

Anyway, enough chatting, let's check out some yummy meals.

On Sunday I decided to treat myself to these beautiful, fresh veggie rolls. All of this for $6.49. It was so good.

Here is my holiday dinner. I couldn't finish it because I wasn't feeling great but the meals was so delicious. I had some Gardein crispy tenders, asparagus, broccoli, my favorite roasted potatoes and some pickles.

The following night I had some leftover potatoes and some of the tempura cauliflower from Trader Joe's. So delicious!

I don't have a source link because my friend sent this to me but all of my fellow Beauty and the Beast fans, how freaking funny is this?! 😂

OMG MEEEEEEE. Those are my favorite 5 words to use hahahahaaha 😂

I hope you all enjoyed this quick post. I'll see you back here on Friday for some more fun <3