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!

Hauls and What I Ate on the 4th of July

Hey everyone! Happy 4th of July! I hope that you are all enjoying the day and have had a great weekend. Mine has been busier than I expected and as always I haven't really had the time I need to take care of myself and things that I need to take care of but I guess that will all come soon. I still have intentions of taking some time for myself this weekend as long as the weather holds up and I'm really looking forward to it. I was able to accomplish a little bit of my cleaning and I did relax a little bit but otherwise it was a pretty busy weekend.

I managed to stop at what seemed like a million stores to pick up a few odds and ends so I can make some fun meals this week. I figured I'd share the hauls with you. There is also a non-food haul and my yummy 4th of July dinner!

Two thirds of this picture I found because of Vegan Peace! I saw the Mocha Nut Latte and the Onion Salt on her Instagram feed and knew I had to add them to my list! I'm so excited to try the Onion Salt! I already know the first way I'm going to use it and I'm so excited. I am also really looking forward to trying out the Mocha Nut Latte. I'll let you know what I think! I also grabbed some turmeric because.... you know, health.

For some produce I grabbed some basil, romaine lettuce, baby carrots, fresh garlic, one lonely tomato, an avocado and some frozen corn.

I grabbed some Ezekiel English muffins from Fairway and some really yummy air packed sun dried tomatoes from H-Mart (I could only find oil packed at Trader Joe's).

I grabbed some Tofutti sour cream for my quesadillas (oh yeah, I grabbed some more un-pictured tortillas and fat free refried beans) and some Tofutti cream cheese. These came from Stop & Shop.

So I decided that the 4th of July was a good enough excuse to get some vegan ice cream. While I was in Stop & Shop I checked out the vegan ice cream section and saw my absolute favorite kind on sale ($3.29!!!) and figured it was a sign, ha! Of course I picked it up. If you haven't tried the Chocolate Cookies 'N' Cream Cashew Milk Ice Cream grab it if you can! It's so good.

Here is my non-food haul! I decided to head over to the mall (and those of you that have been here a while know that I struggle with the mall) and pick up a few things from Lush. I picked up my tried and true Fresh Farmacy facial cleanser. I really love this cleanser. It's really gentle and soothing on my sensitive skin and even helped tame an allergic reaction that I had to a makeup wipe once. Yes, it is expensive but it lasts a really long time and it's worth it to me to spend a little more on a quality product that I know will be ok on my sensitive skin. I also wanted to try some of their toothpaste options. I like the charcoal toothpaste I have but to be honest it's still a bit of a mindf**k to brush your teeth with black toothpaste and sometimes I wish my teeth felt a bit cleaner after. I've heard some good reviews about the Ultrablast Tooth Powder and wanted to try it before it gets discontinued (which is happening soon I think). In anticipation of it getting discontinued I also asked to sample the Sparkle Toothy Tabs which are solid toothpaste tabs! I think this is such a unique idea and perfect for travel. They were incredibly generous with their samples and gave me enough for a full two weeks of brushing twice a day so I could make sure I really liked it. I tried the Ultrablast tooth powder first and have used it twice so far and I really like it. My teeth feel clean and it's really refreshing. If you read the packaging close enough you'll notice that wasabi is an ingredient in the tooth powder. This was a concern for me because truthfully I hate wasabi. You don't really taste it at all though and I am really glad I tried this. I may have to pick up some more before it is discontinued!

Side Note: After grabbing the link to the Sparkle Toothy Tabs I noticed that those are a Last Chance Item too. I also noticed in some reviews that they have an overwhelming black pepper flavor which seems a little weird to me. I'm kind of nervous about trying them.

This is a random picture of my iced coffee at work on Saturday. I used my new favorite Silk Soy Creamer and it was delicious.

I've been wanting to make the Hummus for Bagels from Veganomicon for a while now (it's one of my favorite hummus recipes and it's been a while) so I made some this morning. I think this is the best batch so far! I added a little extra lemon and it's so delicious.

Naturally I had to have some for my brunch meal today and I decided to make my favorite sandwich with it. I toasted up a bialy and had it with hummus, sun dried tomato and basil. It was so good you guys and super filling. I was good until dinner after this.

For dinner I attempted to be somewhat festive for the 4th of July. I had a delicious "Cheeseburger" using a vegan Boca Burger and some Chao Cheese and topped it with ketchup, pickles, lettuce and tomato. I assure you that when I eat boca burgers they never look like this but I guess this is my attempt at making the most appealing looking burger I could :) I had it with a side of corn and it was delicious. 

There will be some of that ice cream in my future for sure!

That's all I have for you today! I really hope that you enjoyed your holiday weekend! I'll be back this weekend hopefully with some interesting meals to show you!

Short and Sweet

Hey everyone! I hope that all is well! I'm also hoping that you are all knee deep in a long weekend. I'm a few hours away from my first three day weekend in a long time and I couldn't be more excited about it! This week has been a bit tough, I'm feeling really burned out and tired and in desperate need of a break. I'm also feeling that urge to clean so I'm hoping to get a good chunk of my de-cluttering done this weekend. I also thought of a really great way to give myself the alone time that I crave so desperately and I'm hoping to start that next weekend :) If I get to go I'll make sure to take some pictures so I can share the experience with you! Fingers crossed the weather holds up for me.

Like I said, I've been feeling drained and burned out this week. Needless to say the meals suffered again. I haven't even been photographing much because they all just tend to be the same but I grabbed a few pictures for you.

I have been loving my peaches lately! A fast, easy breakfast for me is two peaches. They are so sweet and juicy right now! I need to get my hands on some berries too.

I haven't had a pizza bagel in so long and decided it was time to fix that! This is just a simple one with sauce and daiya mozzarella. It was so incredibly filling. Next time I'll probably just make half and have a salad with it. 

I wanted to finish up the rest of the spinach, refried beans and my last quesadilla so I made one more of my favorite quesadillas. Seriously so delicious. This is my favorite combo.

Those are all of the meals I have to share today. I'm planning on getting a few things from Trader Joe's tomorrow so I should have a small haul to share with you along with some meals. I'll probably post a little later on Tuesday to share my 4th of July meal with you.

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Just as a random side note, I FINALLY saw Moana (it's on Netflix!!) and you guys… it was so good!! I don't know what I was expecting but I really really loved it. I like how Disney has been going in a direction where the Princesses are more independent and the focus is on their strength and not necessarily on the need to find a Prince. The movie was really great and I felt extra joy because of the connection that she had with the ocean. I've always been in love with the ocean and I just love that the ocean plays such a large role that it was almost like a character for me. It was really beautiful and I'll probably watch it again at some point this weekend. I highly highly recommend it.

Do you have any fun plans for the long weekend? Let me know! The only things I know for sure right now is that I want to get my weekly bubble tea tomorrow, I have to run to Lush to pick up facial cleanser at some point and I will be doing the bulk of my major cleaning. Otherwise I plan on doing some major relaxing and probably some binge watching.

For all of my fellow Americans I hope you have an Happy and safe 4th of July! To my international friends out there have an amazing weekend!