TJs Haul and Some Prep

Hey everyone! Happy weekend! Is it just me or has this been the longest week ever? It was driving me nuts. The days just wouldn't end. Anyway, I guess that doesn't matter now because the weekend is here and I finally feel some freedom. It is almost 11:00 am here and I feel like I've already had a full day's work! I was at Trader Joe's at opening (if I'm not there at 8 I'm not going, it's awful!!), planned for the week, did some meal prep and vacuumed the house. I'm exhausted, ha! After I post this I see some bubble tea in my future then hopefully some mellow relaxation time!

Anyway, enough of my rambling. I know the reason we are here is to see a grocery haul and what I've prepped for the week!

The very limited grocery items I got! Some diced tomatoes, cherry chocolate soy ice cream, veggie broth and some cannellini beans.

The first half of the produce was some snow peas, cabbage, spinach, green onions and zucchini.

I also got some mirepoix, cauliflower, asparagus and shredded carrots.

I promptly dumped about 60-70% of my groceries into a pot and made a giant pot of hearty veggie soup. This was the before picture when everything was just added to the pot.

This is how it turned out! I added the spinach and the beans in at the end and it looks gorgeous. I know soup isn't typically known to be a summer dish but to be honest this screams summer in a bowl to me! The gorgeous veggies are so fresh and delicious and I'm glad that I decided not to be lazy and get it done. I'll get a lot of meals out of it this week too!

So that's what I have for you today! I'll be back on Tuesday to show you some meals I've been eating lately! I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend <3

Fun Friday! New Cookbooks

Happy Friday everyone!! I hope your week has treated you well! So far I'm liking this new posting schedule and I'm really excited about my Fun Friday post for this week! I've been feeling a bit crappy mood wise over the past few weeks and decided to do some retail therapy. And of course even though I've been downsizing my cookbook collection there are a few that I still have my heart set on. I decided to go for it and I'm really excited to be the proud owner of two new GORGEOUS cookbooks and I'm going to share them with you today!

Just as a note before I get into it, I haven't had a chance to actually make anything yet but I am going to share a few pics and some things I'm looking forward to :)

How stunning is this book?! The Elements of Pizza is written by the same author as Flour Water Salt Yeast, another gorgeous cookbook I have about the art of making bread. This one is all about pizza. It has tons of different crusts and different styles. The idea of making my own pizza crust has always been appealing but I never knew how and I'm quite picky. This book is large and hardcover and seriously beautiful. I will probably be saving this more for the fall since it is still too hot to be using the oven a lot but I'm really excited to give it a try!

This book, Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking is fucking stunning. It is HUGE. And it is packed with gorgeous photos, amazing recipes and beautiful stories. This book was obviously appealing to me because it contains a lot of recipes for some of my favorite things and also a lot of new and easily veganizable recipes. The first section is devoted to Tehina (tahini) and the second is devoted to hummus!! You definitely can't go wrong with that! 

These amazing flaky pillows of deliciousness are called Borekas. They are basically a puff pastry stuffed with all kinds of amazing savory fillings. I know they are a popular breakfast food in Israel and I haven't had them in a long time but I know that they are amazing. They can be stuffed with feta (which was of course the best but I will be making a vegan feta for it!), potato, mushrooms, spinach… anything you want! I've never made them myself but I'm really excited to give it a try!

There is a huge section of salads in the book as well. Israelis are big on salads. They eat salads with every meal. I need to get on that train because my veggie consumption has been weak. Luckily this is offering up some major inspiration!

This gorgeous salad is Green Beans and Mushrooms with Tehina, Lentils and Garlic Chips. Um, yes. Please. 

Something to note about these books is that they are obviously not vegan cookbooks. The great thing is that most of these recipes are easy to veganize. There are some hardcore meat recipes in the Israeli book but honestly it's not a lot. I haven't really looked at those because they are not my priority but maybe I can make some great tofu or seitan dishes from them. It is very easy to be a vegan in Israel though which is why I knew that this book would be really great. The pizza book is VERY easy to veganize as well. Obviously I'll be using vegan cheese and I don't really like "meat" pizza anyway so mine will be packed with veggies.

You can definitely look forward to future Fun Friday posts where I'll share what I made from the books! have you picked up any cool cookbooks lately? I have one more on my list of "Must Haves" and it is the NYC Vegan cookbook. One day it will be mine! :)

What are your plans for the weekend?! I don't know what's going on here yet because I still have 2 more days of work to get through but I know I'll be babysitting on Monday. Inspire me with your plans!

<3

What I Eat In A Day #7: A Lazy Sunday

Hey everyone. I didn't really do any grocery shopping last week so instead I decided to do a What I Eat In A Day post today. I photographed my meals on Sunday which I made a VERY lazy Sunday and was very happy about it. I left my house once for about an hour and you'll see why in a minute. Otherwise I just relaxed, binge watched YouTube videos and that's just about it. And it was damn glorious.

So my first meal was later on Sunday because I just didn't feel like eating until then. I have two meals and a "snack" to show you. Sometimes on the weekends I just eat two meals and it's fine. I figured I'd put it out there though.

For breakfast I finally had a banana to make peanut butter and banana toast!! I used Dave's Killer Bread and the slices are big and hearty. I ate it late and was pretty set.

My "snack" if you will was a big ass bubble tea. I've turned it into a weekly treat and it's one that I look forward to. I got a large peach pulp green tea with boba (of course) and 50% sweetness. I'm so glad I cut the sweetness a little because this was perfect. And really filling.

For dinner I had a delicious Boca Burger with some tots on the side. Seriously good and a perfect summer dinner. 

So that's what I ate on Sunday. It was a pretty good food day, I definitely enjoyed all of my meals. 

I will continue to photograph meals throughout the week to post for you on Sunday and I'll be back on Friday with a Fun Friday post! I hope you all have a great week <3

Stuff I Ate Sunday

Hey everyone! Happy Sunday! It's so nice to post this during my actual weekend :) I hope you are all enjoying your weekend and staying cool if it is disgustingly hot by you. I plan on doing nothing today except maybe get bubble tea and I'm super excited about the idea of doing nothing.

I don't have a ton of meals to show you because I think I'm adjusting to this new schedule but I'll get into the groove of it soon. I'm really excited because my Amazon package showed up yesterday(!!!) and I can't wait to show you what I ordered and will hopefully be able to do so next Fun Friday. For today I have just a few things I've eaten over the week.

This is an Ezekiel English muffin with Tofutti Cream Cheese and Everything But The Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe's.

Gluten free pasta with sauce and soy crumbles. I made a large batch of this and had it through the week. It made a quick and easy lunch to bring to work!

I enjoyed these Larabar bites in the Mint Chocolate that I tried last time so I decided to try the Double Chocolate Brownie bites. These are really delicious. Kind of pricey though so I will probably stick to buying the bars on sale.

I babysat Delilah on Friday night and she wanted Chinese food for dinner so I got my tofu with broccoli and garlic sauce. This was actually leftovers for dinner on Saturday night.

I first read about 4Ocean on Bianca's blog when she unboxed a bracelet from her Goddess Provisions Box. I immediately fell in love with the idea of the bracelet and the bracelet itself because as we all know I'm a sucker for a good Ocean charity. Basically, when you purchase the bracelet the money goes toward cleaning a pound of trash out of the Ocean. I decided to finally go check out their site and saw they had a new limited edition shark bracelet as well. Not only did they clean up the trash but a portion of the donation would go toward shark conservation efforts. Naturally I went for the Shark Conservation Pack and purchased both bracelets. They are really cute and for a really amazing cause. The one with the blue cord is the regular 4Ocean bracelet and the gray and white cord is the Shark bracelet.

That's what I have for you today! I hope that you have a great weekend and I'll catch up with you on Tuesday!!

Fun Friday: Aquafaba Plans!

Hey everyone! I'm going to have to get used to this new blogging schedule but I'm so excited to be writing these Fun Friday posts again! Sadly the post I had planned for today will have to be postponed because the order I placed from Amazon a week ago hasn't even shipped yet. It was supposed to be delivered today. First world problems, I know, but still disappointing because I was excited to share my purchases with you!

I know I have posted briefly about my desire to experiment with aquafaba before and while I have not had the chance to play just yet I've been making a list of recipes that I've wanted to tackle using aquafaba and I thought it would be fun to share with you!

I'm intimidated by the process but I really want to try to make some macarons. I know they require time and patience and I lack both but I'm determined to make this work! When I posted this picture on my Instagram I received a comment saying that pistachio macarons are the best so I'm thinking about starting off with that flavor!

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No this is not a vegan version but I had to show it to you because I really need to veganize it and try it! Apparently Disney makes a freaking macaron ice cream sandwich. What genius came up with this?! I am definitely going to be trying this and I really wish Disney had a vegan version so I could just be lazy and try it there (did I mention I'm almost certain I'm going to be spending my birthday at Magic Kingdom this year?!) but sadly like with most things I have to make it myself.

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I actually really used to like Angel Food Cake. I have a thing about textures and I LOVE the texture of angel food cake. I've never made it before but I think it would definitely be a fun thing to try and make with aquafaba. I think it would be delicious with my macerated strawberries and some ice cream. I just need to get the angel food cake pan for this. 

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These cookies are one of my favorite all time cookies and I miss them. These are also time consuming and a little complicated to make and I don't know when I'll actually attempt them but I definitely want to give them a try! I LOVE the almond flavor and they are just so beautiful. The picture above is from The Veg Life and that is a vegan recipe for these cookies. I am going to have to take a closer look at it and I'll probably tweak it a bit for my own preferences but that's probably down the road because I'm already intimidated by it, ha!

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I've always thought that Pavlovas are a beautiful dessert and I think it would be really fun to make them. They are perfect in the summer with the lightness of the meringue and the beautiful fresh berries to complement it. This is another recipe I can probably tackle sooner rather than later because it is less intimidating than the others ;)

These are probably my top recipes that I'm looking forward to trying using aquafaba! There are probably more but I'm not going to get too far ahead of myself. Hopefully I will push through the intimidation with some of the more complicated recipes because it would be really great to be able to make some of my old favorites.

Have you tried using aquafaba to bake? What have you made? What recipes would you like to try?

I'll be back to share some meals with you on Sunday! Happy Friday and I hope you enjoy your weekend <3

Grocery Haul

Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday. As always the weekend flew by and here we are starting another week. I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend and that you are having a good week so far! I made a trip to Trader Joe's over the weekend and got a pretty great haul for about $30. I also have just two meals to show you. :)

Here is some produce. An avocado, some plums, grape tomatoes, romaine and some potatoes.

Random grocery section stuff - tots (!!!), soy vanilla ice cream, jasmine rice and tofu.

Other random stuff is chickpeas and tortilla chips.

I've been in the mood for fresh produce so I enjoyed some plums and strawberries for breakfast.

For lunch today I brought a salad with some of the Panera Asian dressing that I love on this particular salad.

That's all I have today! I know it's a quick post but I guess that's all I have to say :) I hope that you all have a great week and I'll be back on Friday for my first Fun Friday post!

Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone! I hope that all is well. Another Saturday has rolled around and I'm anxiously waiting for the weekend. Just a few more hours :) I actually have a lot going on this weekend which is unusual. Tomorrow I'm treating myself to a pedicure, I'll get bubble tea and will be going to my brother's house for a BBQ (with boca burger in tow!). I'm quite excited about some pamper time and it'll be nice to get together tomorrow. My mom and I will be babysitting Delilah on Monday (and for the next few Mondays as well) and I'm not sure what we'll do because it is supposed to storm this Monday so we'll see. What are your weekend plans?

I have a few meals to share with you. They are quite beige but whatever. It happens. They were still damn good!

I've been into my toast lately but as always have major decision making issues as to what I want to top it with. This time I did chunky peanut butter on one piece and tofutti cream cheese on the other. Really good.

One day I was just feeling like have fruit for breakfast so I had a granny smith apple and a banana.

I was feeling elementary school vibes for lunch on this day and had a peanut butter sandwich with a granny smith apple. Although from what I understand, I'm pretty sure peanut butter is banned from elementary schools now because of allergies. Maybe?

I made some more of my new favorite rice dish to bring to work with me! I didn't do anything differently this time except maybe a slight difference in seasoning (I don't measure when I throw dishes like this together) but it was even better this time around. That seasoned seaweed is so good.

I had 2 pieces of my Chao Cheese left and still hadn't had a grilled cheese with it so I decided to fix that situation. I know it doesn't look super melted in this picture but it actually melted more within the next few minutes. It was delicious. Next time I will probably add some sun dried tomato and basil. That would be amazing. I loved the Chao but it will definitely be a splurge purchase since it is so pricey. It is definitely worth it though.

This is what I have for you today. I will be going to Trader Joe's tomorrow morning so I'll share my haul with you on Tuesday! I hope that you all have a great weekend! <3 Also, if you have an Fun Friday post requests please let me know!

Long (Hopefully Exciting!) Post

Hey everyone! I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend! As always it seemed to have gone a bit too quickly but I have to say I enjoyed it fully. I actually went out and did stuff which is always exciting and I'll be talking about it more below. I also enjoyed some pretty great meals which I will also show you below.

Before I get to those I have some exciting news! I've decided that since I've been doing well with my consistent posting I really want to add a third post each week starting next week! I'm thinking my new posting schedule will be Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and I will be resurrecting my Fun Friday posts! I'll continue doing my Tuesday and (now Sunday) posts as usual but my Friday posts will consist of fun things like recipes, photography, Long Island fun, my favorite things, etc. I think it'll be a fun way of infusing a little more lifestyle into this blog. I'm excited! I hope you guys will love the Fun Friday posts too. Let me know if there is anything in particular you want to see. Any recipes? Anything I should go check out? Let me know in the comments!

Now, let's take a look at some delicious meals I've enjoyed over the past few days.

You guys. Seriously, you guys. This may be my new favorite meal at the moment. It was inspired by MommyTang's Rice Ball recipe. It sounded delicious but I made a few tweaks and made it into a rice bowl! This is basically Jasmine Rice that I seasoned with soy sauce and a little agave, some seasoned seaweed, green onion, sesame seeds and baked tofu (seasoned with Trader Joe's Onion Salt… omg so good!!). It was simple but so delicious. This was turned into two meals and enjoyed with some white (non-spicy) kimchi that I forgot to photograph.

Toast is always a good decision. I couldn't decide between avocado toast and hummus toast so I had a piece of each. Both have Everything But The Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe's sprinkled on them as well. Super delicious

Yesterday I went out to lunch and bubble tea with a good friend of mine. We had some Thai food and you guys. It was SO GOOD. 

I got a light veggie soup in a veggie broth. It had tons of veggies and there were glass noodles hidden under them. There was crispy garlic on top and it was so flavorful and delicious. I also had spring rolls and they were amazing. You could see all of the black pepper in them and they were delicious.

After lunch we walked to get some bubble tea. I got my old standby, peach bubble tea. It was delicious as always. I always get 70% sweetness but I think I may try 50% next time. It's still quite sweet (not horrible) but I'm curious about how 50% would be.

I mentioned last week that I was going to make a conscious effort of making sure I get in some me-time this week. I had a plan and as long as the weather cooperated I was good to go. Luckily it was a beautiful day so I was able to make it happen!

If you have been reading here for a while you'll know that I really love the ocean and water in general. I never go to the beach because the crowds ruin the moment for me. I just can't find that peace and comfort with so much going on around me. After watching Moana I knew that I really need to grab my moment and get to the ocean. I decided that I would wake up early on Sunday morning and get my alone time at the beach. I woke up at 5:30 AM, was in my car by 5:45 and at the beach by 6:20. I spent an hour there and it felt so good to finally have that sand between my toes and the water washing over my feet and legs. It was exactly what I wanted… me, the surfers and the ocean.

I took some pictures to share with you from my trip.

The sun was rising and I thought the reflection off the water was beautiful.

It was so peaceful and calm. I really was in my happy place.

I can't remember if I've discussed this here but I've really loved the idea of surfing since I was fairly young. I've never tried it but it's definitely a bucket list item. Part of the reason I wanted to go so early was because I knew I could get some quality surfer watching time.

This dude was awesome.

Double surfers!!

I am so glad that I got up early and did this. It was exactly what I needed and I think choosing to go at that time was perfect. Oh and if you are curious this is Long Beach on Long Island.

That's all I have for you today! I hope you all have a great weekend! I'll be back on Saturday and then the new schedule will start next week! <3

Lazy But Yummy Food

Hey everyone! Happy Saturday! So excited for the weekend to start :) I definitely appreciated the shorter week. I'm still feeling a bit lazy with meals so what I've photographed is lazy not healthy food but I promise I did eat veggies this week, ha! I should have some more vibrant, healthy food to show you next week. I'm also excited about my plans for tomorrow. It looks like the weather should hold up and I'll be able to share it with you on Tuesday!

I couldn't decide what I wanted on my bagel so I did half with tofutti and half with the hummus for sandwiches, sun dried tomato and basil. This is a poppy bagel.

Vegan nachos!!! I've been craving nachos forever and finally decided to make them! I used a salad plate to make it look nice and full and topped the chips with Trader Joe's fat free refried beans, daiya cheddar shreds and green onion. Dipped in tofutti sour cream (which is seriously amazing!).

Lazy chinese food lunch special of tofu, broccoli and garlic sauce with rice.

I stopped by the farmers market this morning because I had to try the new Vegan Mint Chocolate Macarons from Macaron 5 Chic! I've been so excited to try this flavor so I popped in and picked up a 5 pack for $9. I don't know the normal price of macarons but I thought it was pretty fair? They had samples of mini macarons (which are adorable by the way) and I tried it and it's DELICIOUS!

Here is the glamor shot, haha. They are beautiful. I'll probably freeze a few to savor over the next few weeks :)

I am currently snacking on these gorgeous blackberries which I also picked up from the farmers market (quite pricey at $4.50) and they are also delicious.

As soon as I publish this blog I will grab an iced coffee and use my favorite Silk Original Soy Creamer in it.

So that's what I have today! I hope you all enjoy your weekend! Let me know if you have any fun plans :) I'll see you on Tuesday with some more colorful food hopefully!