Grocery Haul

Hey guys! I hope that you are all well and that you enjoyed your weekend. My weekend was exhausting and I was totally drained yesterday but I was able to catch up on sleep a bit last night. I don't have a lot to share today but I did take photos of my grocery haul from this week.

I didn't buy this but did you guys know that Trader Joe's started carrying açai packets?! That is definitely good to know. I have some in my freezer from a really long time ago but now I know I don't have to go to Whole Foods to grab them.

For produce I got some romaine hearts, celery hearts (I rarely eat celery but I've been craving it with peanut butter lately), asparagus, HUGE honeycrisp apples, and some tomatoes.

Random stuff includes tortilla chips (restaurant style, yum!), some delicious sounding ancient grains and nuts granola, frozen mango and pineapple because it's almost smoothie time! And I'm sorry about the hideous tablecloth… this is one of the 5% of the time you'll have to see it!

Bianca posted about these maybe a week ago and they sounded so good! I didn't know where to get them and then I randomly walked in to a 7-11 and they were there staring at me! I don't know when 

7-11 starting carrying things like this but it's awesome! I haven't tried them yet but I'll let you know how they are.

So that's what I have for today. Nothing crazy interesting but a decent haul nonetheless. On a different note, I ended up facing my fears and going to the movies yesterday. I did see Beauty and the Beast and you guys… it was GOOD. I really loved it and I'm glad that I didn't give in to the intrusive thoughts. It was really difficult to sit there before it started and during the previews but once the movie started I was able to get lost in it for the most part. Anyway, I highly recommend seeing Beauty and the Beast!

I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you on Saturday!

Stuff I Ate

Hey guys! Happy Saturday and happy weekend! As always, I'll be joining you there in a few hours. This weekend is a little bit more hectic as I'm pitching in to help take care of Delilah and the fur babies while my brother and sister in law are in Aruba. I got her ready for school yesterday and put her on the bus and it was a lot to get done while taking care of the animals and getting ready to go to work myself. We all survived and made it where we needed to go on time. I'll be with her again on Sunday to put her on the bus again on Monday. So much credit to all of you parents out there that do this every day.

Anyway, I have some delicious meals to share with you. I've been eating some good stuff lately and I've been pretty diligent about taking some pictures too :)

Sometimes all you need is a good bowl of cereal. This is a bowl of the Cinnamon Puffins that I got from Whole Foods with some unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

This is probably the best bento lunch I've made yet! On the left is a wrap with hummus, avocado, tofurkey, lettuce and tomato and a few of the Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Crackers. On the right is a salad made with romaine, craisins, almonds and apples with a vinaigrette. Seriously so good you guys.

Popcorn as a snack. So freaking good. It's such a great, simple, satisfying snack.

I enjoyed that salad so much I made it for lunch again. Larger salad, just as delicious.

A unhealthy processed dinner of champions. I had some Gardein Crispy Tenders and some of the Alexia Rosemary Fries. Both were delicious.

You guys. Seriously. This breakfast was so simple but so insanely good. I haven't had avocado toast in a long time and I had a perfectly ripe avocado so I made some. Rather than topping it with the usual salt and pepper I decided to use the Everything Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe's and you guys… do this ASAP!!! It's amazing! I had some strawberries on the side that were surprisingly sweet and delicious for this time of the year.

So there you have it! I'm not sure what I'll have for you on Tuesday since this weekend is a bit weird with scheduling and whatnot but I'll try my best to get something interesting together to you. I hope you all have a great weekend! <3

Treat Yo Self

Hey everyone! Happy (?) Tuesday! I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend and that you are settling into your week. I've had a bit of a splurgey weekend and I'm totally ok with that. It's not a bad thing to splurge on yourself every once in a while and I definitely did that at Whole Foods. I also bought myself another little gift but I'll show you that when it arrives.

Anyway, I was pretty excited about my Whole Foods haul so I'll show you that now!

First up is the produce.  Some bosc pears, strawberries, butter lettuce, honeycrisp apples, carrots and a tomato.

Next we have random stuff, haha. Gardein crispy tenders, apple cider vinegar (I'm going to start drinking a tablespoon of this mixed with pineapple juice in the morning), some mushroom flavored ramen and a chocolate So Delicious yogurt.

This was pretty splurgey haha. This is my snack haul. Puffins Cinnamon cereal, dill pickle chips, my favorite Thai Peanut Primal Strips (!!!!! this is the first time I've seen these in my Whole Foods in years!), emmy's mint chip macaroons, Artisana pecan and walnut butter packets and Dandies to put in hot chocolate because it's still cold as f*** here.

Alexia Rosemary fries (they sounded so good!), almond milk, So Delicious Chocolate Cookies n Cream ice cream and some Tofutti.

Yesterday I did some more therapy homework and went to the mall. My goal was to go for an hour and I surpassed that by 15 minutes for a grand total of 75 minutes at the mall by myself. I was so incredibly proud of myself and decided to reward myself with Bubble Tea! I drank a lot of bubble tea when I lived in Seattle but have only had it twice in the 10 years since I've lived there (it's not easy to find here on Long Island). They opened a kiosk at the mall and I was so excited when I found out about it! 

This is what I ended up with and oh my goodness you guys! It was FREAKING AMAZING. I got the mango green tea with boba and it was so delicious and refreshing. This may have to be a tradition when I go to the mall from now on ;)

So that's what I have for you today! Lots of splurging and I can't wait to get into all of it. Luckily it should all last me a while so I can justify the price tag that way. What have you splurged on lately?

I hope that you all have a great week! I'll catch up with you this weekend!

Stuff I'm Into Saturday

Hey guys! I hope that you all had a great week! It was my intention to take pictures of delicious food to show you today but sadly that didn't happen. I wasn't feeling great this week (oh migraines, you are the worst) and I just wasn't really into prepping anything interesting or eating anything interesting for that matter. I wasn't going to post because I didn't feel like I had anything to talk about but I thought it would be fun to bring back the old Fun Friday style post that I used to do. I did one a week or two ago and it was fun so I decided rather than skip this post, lets just have some fun!

I decided that I would talk about some things that I am into at the moment as well as things that I want to do. Check it out!

source

Something that has definitely not been on my radar in quite a few years is travel. Well that's not entirely true I guess. I've had places that I want to visit but there were never any real plans to go. As my bubble got smaller due to my OCD, things like travel completely left my radar. There was no way I would feel safe. I'm so excited to say that now that I have started treatment and have been able to see past the OCD my desire to travel has come back full force! A few of the places at the top of my list are Sedona, Iceland, Denmark, Montreal, Israel, Greece and Amsterdam. I'm really hoping to plan a trip for sometime in the next year but obviously finances will determine whether or not that is possible. I'm just really excited that the idea of travel is back on the table.

*Note: I know I have gone to Florida but I consider that more of a visit than an actual travel experience. I'm talking about going to new places :)

source

When I was younger photography was a passion of mine. It was something I truly enjoyed. I've worked in the field for 9 years now and I've pretty much completely stopped shooting on my own for fun. This is something that I want to remedy. For a long time I hated it. I couldn't imagine doing something in my free time that I did all week at work. Now I have what feels like a second wind. I want to create. I want to see what I am capable of. I have a list of places I want to visit this spring/summer and I want to see what I can capture there. I will make sure to share them with you.

source

You guys. I know you have to be with me on this. Don't you miss summer fruit?! I seriously can't wait for the weather to get warmer so I can enjoy more raw foods and so summer produce is back in season. All I've wanted lately is fresh summer produce. I'm also thinking about starting to juice again once it gets warmer. I remember how good I felt physically and I miss that. 

source

Is anyone else excited about the live action Beauty and the Beast movie?! I have a friend that saw it yesterday and she said it was really great. I haven't been to a movie theatre in 6 years (also OCD related) but I'm thinking about dealing with that fear and going to see this in the theatre. I'll let you know if I see it and if I do how I like it!

I know it's not a lot but that's what has been going on here. I'm thinking about taking a trip to Whole Foods tomorrow instead of to Trader Joe's. It's obviously a bit more splurgy to go there but there have been some things that I have wanted to check out and it looks like they have some decent sales going on. If I go I'll make sure to photograph my haul to show you on Tuesday.

That's all I have for today. I hope that you are all doing well and thank you so much for reading this :) I know it's an interruption in our regularly scheduled programming but sometimes it is fun to give an update on things that aren't food related. 

I hope you all have a great weekend! I'll see you on Tuesday!

Snow Day Life

Hey hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing well! As the title suggests, today was a snow day. Although it wasn't so much of a snow storm as it was an ice storm. It must have snowed overnight but when I woke up it was freezing rain. The streets were sheets of ice and we have a nice icy coating to the pretty white snow. Needless to say I did not want to drive on an ice skating rink so I took a snow day. I didn't waste it thought, I was actually fairly productive! I got some meal prep done for the rest of the week and also worked on a few other things :) Have you guys gotten any snow? If so I hope that you are remaining safe and warm!

I had to take this picture yesterday because of how ridiculous I thought it was. We finally had some signs of spring in our front yard the day before a snow storm was supposed to hit. Needless to say this beautiful start to spring is buried under ice and snow.

I forgot to photograph my haul from Trader Joe's this week but I did grab a picture of this! I found the much anticipated nooch at Trader Joe's and I picked it up because I needed some anyway.

This was the first thing I prepared for the week. I made another stir fry. This one has tofu, snow peas (snap peas? I always get confused between the two) and asparagus. I know it is a random mix of ingredients but it's just what struck me at Trader Joe's this week. I made the sauce out of hoisin, tamari and garlic powder. If I did a grocery haul the tofu and veggies would have been in it :)

I also made the Apple Pie Chia Jam from Oh She Glows! I really like this and I haven't made it in a while so I figured it was time to make a batch. I think it will be perfect for breakfast throughout the week in oatmeal and on waffles. I'll have to make sure to take pictures to show you how I used it.

I was going to have a burrito for dinner but I wasn't really feeling it when dinner time came. I decided to make a small flatbread pizza with mushrooms, Daiya and garlic powder. I was going to add broccoli to it too but my broccoli had seen better days. It was still really good though.

I also packed my lunch for tomorrow. As you can see I am having some of the stir fry I made earlier today. There is some Jasmine Rice under there somewhere. I am also going to bring a Lemon Larabar to snack on during the day.

So there you have it, this is what I did on my snow/ice day. I'm glad it was productive and that I am going to be saving myself time in my meal prep throughout the week. If you had a snow day today what did you end up doing? For those of you that didn't, is it warm where you are? Let me know so I can be jealous ;)

More Randomness

Hey guys! Happy weekend! I'm excited to join you there in a few hours :) In stark contrast to last week, this week has been really great. I feel really good emotionally and really proud of the accomplishments I've made in therapy over the past almost 6 months. I've been doing a lot of reflecting and I feel like I'm in a good place for the first time in a really long time. It's exciting and leaves me even more optimistic and hopeful for my future.

Anyway, on to today's post. I just have a few more meals to share with you today. I'm hoping to get into the kitchen to test out some recipes to share with you guys. I love expressing my creativity in the kitchen and I hope that I'll be able to share some more of that with you in the future.

Here are some meals I've enjoyed this week:

I picked up this big beautiful salad earlier in the week to have for lunch one day. I really love the texture that the cranberries and almonds add to it. I'm definitely going to have to start adding them to my salads in the future.

I also had some of my favorite veggie rolls. Can't beat them.

Here is another bento box meal I had. On the left is some stuffed grape leaves, tomatoes and hummus. On the right is a wrap with hummus, tofurkey, pickles, tomato and lettuce. Another really good meal.

For dinner last night I had a Chick'n Ranch wrap that I made using Gardein Crispy Tenders, tomato, lettuce and Just Ranch on a lavash wrap. It was way too big, I could only eat half. I had a few veggie chips on the side.

As I mentioned in my last post, watching the Great British Bake Off on Netflix has really inspired me to get back in the kitchen and really have some fun with my baking. It's also one way that I've seen the change that has occurred regarding my self esteem. Before I would watch baking shows and get incredibly jealous that I couldn't do the things that they did or that their ideas were so creative and unique. It always bummed me out. Now I'm inspired. I'm inspired to test my own capabilities and to push my creativity. I feel really excited that I finally feel that freedom of being able to go into the kitchen and be ok with a failure. It's ok if things don't turn out the way that I want them to. It's part of the process. I just didn't realize that until now.

source

I promise there was a point to all of that :) As I mentioned in my last post, the bread episodes were always my favorite in the Great British Bake Off. I've always wanted to bake my own bread. Now I have been inspired to not just bake bread, but to really learn about it. The science behind it, the proper technique, etc. I ordered the book Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza to start that education. I'm expecting it to arrive on Monday and I can't wait to start reading it!

So there you have it, my ramblings for the day! It was really beautiful here for a few days, definitely very spring like. Then the temperature dropped from 60 degrees to 30 degrees overnight and it snowed yesterday. I think we are expecting a nor'easter on Tuesday too. Mother Nature needs to stop teasing us! I was enjoying getting outside in the sunshine and soaking up the warm(ish) weather.

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend! Do you have any fun plans? If so let me know, I want to live vicariously through you!

This and That

Hey guys! Happy Tuesday! I hope that you are all well and that you enjoyed your weekend. Did you do anything fun? Is it warming up near you? It had gotten pretty warm here for a few days but now it is cold and gray again. It's such a tease! I'm definitely ready for spring. I'm feeling really motivated to get out and live my damn life for the first time in a really long time and it feels good. I just need the weather to cooperate with me! If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this post on my other blog!

I don't even really know how to categorize what today's post is. I have a meal, some new things at the store and a bunch of things I've been into lately. I guess if you've been with me for a while this would be a lot like a Fun Friday post from my past blogs. It's just a random combination of fun stuff that I've been enjoying lately. So I guess let's get into it!

So this happened! I tried it last night and oh man is it good! I really love it because it taste as cloyingly sweet as the rest of them. I'd say out of the flavors I've tried so far the Coffee Caramel one is my favorite followed closely by this one!

I enjoyed another Tofurkey wrap with some veggie chips. I can't wait for it to be lighter later so my dinner pictures don't look quite so terrible.

Have you guys seen this?! Trader Joe's is now selling Nutritional Yeast for $2.99! That is amazing! Thanks to the VegNews Instagram feed for giving us the heads up!

source

I've heard about The Great British Bake Off a lot but had never really watched it before. I found the first three seasons on Netflix and I basically binge watched all three seasons because I'm obsessed! I have three episodes left of season three and I just love it. I am so incredibly impressed by their talent and creativity and I love seeing what they come up with. I also love thinking about what I would do if I were there (please tell me I'm not the only one that does this!) and I now have a long list of things that I want to try! The bread episodes are always my favorite because I love bread more than anything and I've always wanted to try to make my own bread from scratch. If you watch this, which week is your favorite? Bread, cakes, patisserie? Let me know!

source

Just like I've been binge watching The Great British Bake off, I binge listened to the first three episodes of the Missing Richard Simmons podcast. The host is someone that took classes at his fitness studio and became friends with him. After Richard Simmons disappeared from the public he became concerned and has begun to search for answers as to why he became so reclusive. I will be honest and say that I always thought that Richard Simmons was a bit much for me to handle but I also recognize that he helped so many people and seemed like a genuinely good person. All of the theories about his disappearance are pretty sad and the one that you hope for is that he just walked away from the spotlight and just wants some privacy. Sadly, I personally don't think that is the case. Anyway, I really recommend listening to this if you are into podcasts. It's so interesting.

source

I discovered Planty Good yesterday and I'm already in love with everything they sell and am planning on placing an order soon. The shirt pictured above is definitely my favorite but I'm also really loving the Romaine Calm & Carrot On shirt. So freaking cute!! If you like cute, vegan, punny tees, definitely check them out!

So there you have it! A random mix of things I ate, things I found at the store and what I've been watching and listening to lately. What have you been binge watching on Netflix? What are your favorite podcasts? Please let me know in the comments below, I'm always looking for suggestions! Especially now that I'm almost done with all three seasons of The Great British Bake Off.

I hope you all have a great week! I'll see you again on Saturday! <3

Stuff I Ate

IHey guys! Happy Saturday! It's been a rough week for me but I'm feeling better and more optimistic now. In the midst of all of the feels I still managed to take a few pictures of some meals to share with you. Some pictures are better than others but hey, you win some you lose some. I've been really enjoying getting back in the kitchen and making some yummy meals and I'm looking forward to expanding on that even more and hopefully I'll be posting some more recipes in the future.

Check out the meals!

This was delicious. It is Tofurkey, hummus, tomato, lettuce and pickles wrapped in one of the Trader Joe's Lavash wraps. I had an apple on the side. I love pairing fruit with sandwiches for some reason.

You guys. This salad was everything. It is a Vegan Chick'n Caesar Salad and it was so good. I used the Just Caesar dressing and some Gardein chickenless tenders and some random vegan croutons I found. I'm an idiot and got rid of the packaging for the croutons so I don't even remember which ones they were but hopefully I'll recognize them when I see them again.

Yay, another Bento Box Lunch! On the left I have a small bed of Jasmine Rice with some of my stir fry on top. There is obviously fruit in the box to the right :) I'm ready for strawberries to be back in season. We are getting there but they still aren't amazing.

This is a terrible picture of a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with tofutti spread. I made this one at home. It was delicious but just not very photogenic. It's ok, we love her just the same. We don't judge based on looks.

Finally, this was amazing. I didn't put enough water to help the Everything Bagel Topping adhere to the pretzel but I assure you it tasted just as delicious scooped up with the ripped up pieces of pretzel. If you ever try this topping on a pretzel instead of straight up salt I assure you that you'll never go back.

So there you have it, some delicious things I've enjoyed over the past week. The stir fry made about 4 good sized meals which was perfect. I'm definitely looking to get back into doing more meal prep for the week because it really helps me stay on top of it and saves so much time. I'll have to take some time tonight to see what I can make for next week.

I hope that you all enjoy your weekend! I'll see you next week with some more yummy meals.