Chickpea Sandwich and Stirfry

A few days ago I made a delicious chickpea sandwich for lunch. I took half a large Ezikiel tortilla and filled it with lettuce, cold chickpeas, and alfalfa sprouts. It was simple, but very satisfying. The picture sucks, I know.



I also made a tasty stirfry using some eggplant and zucchini from the farmer's market. Here is the recipe:

Cherry's Zucchini Eggplant Stirfry

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 eggplant, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
3-4 large cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 15 oz can baby corn, drained and rinsed
1 cup of liquid of choice(water/broth/stock/vegetable steaming water)
1 T arrowroot powder or corn starch
1 T bragg's or soy sauce
.5 tsp. crush red pepper
7-8 oz tofu, cut into small trangles

Saute the onion and garlic in a little bit of liquid until onion is translucent. Then add eggplant, carrot, mushrooms, zucchini and baby corn and cook until carrots are easily pierced with a fork, about 10-20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the liquid of choice with the arrowroot, bragg's and crushed red pepper. When the vegetables are done, add this mixture as well as the tofu to the pan and cook a few minutes until tofu is warm and the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve with quinoa or other grain, if desired.

Yesterday I went to the Rec Center for the first time and worked out in the fitness room. I didn't do too much, I mainly wanted to see what equipment they have. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed it! I will try to go there and strength train at least 2-3 times a week, in addition to my walk/jogs.

One Wild Chick Soup!

I finally got my hands on Eat Drink and Be Vegan by borrowing it from the library. Yesterday I made my first recipe from it: One Wild Chick Soup! It had chickpeas, wild rice, carrots, celery and herbs. It was a little bit on the bland side(maybe because I left out to salt), but in a good, comforting way, not in a disgusting tasteless way, if that makes any sense. I can't wait to try more recipes from this book!

A few days ago my family join the Pflugerville Rec Center. It has a weight room and an indoor(air conditioned!) track, and a basketball court. I've been wanting to start doing some strength training, so this is a great way to start. I've been doing pretty good with my walking and jogging, but what I really need is to tone and strengthen my muscles. And maybe it will help me get rid of the weight I've put on in the last 6 months. I'm not overweight, but I'm not thin like I used to be, and I have no muscle tone. I want to get in better shape.

Farmer's Market and Steamed Vegetables

Every Tuesday for the past month and a half, the Pflugerville Farmer's Market has been open. I was so excited about this because now are going there almost every week; before, when we had to drive all the way to Austin for a farmer's market, it happened much less often, only a few times a year. They have lots of delicious produce- berries, Fredericksburg peaches(which are THE BEST PEACHES, no contest), squash, tomatoes, peppers, and more. They have delicious herbal teas, live music, and VEGAN BAKED GOODS from Happy Vegan Bakery. When I first saw this, I couldn't believe it. Fresh vegan baked goods in Pflugerville? You mean I don't have to go all the way to Dhaba Joy? Sweet! The baker is a really sweet young woman from South Africa. She offers cupcakes, brownies, oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, and recently, bread, all vegan. This past Tuesday, I bought a Banana Carmel Cupcake, which was fantastic.

Last night I made a recipe from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch called Steamed Vegetables and Tofu with Brown Rice. But instead of the sauce they suggest making for it, I just seasoned it with a tiny bit of Bragg's and left out the pine nuts, since I didn't have any. Also, I used a yellow squash from the farmer's market instead of the broccoli, since we also had broccoli on the side(which I ate before taking the picture). I really like this recipe because it was really simple and really healthy, and the Bragg's gave it just enough extra flavor, but not too much.


Today is the first day of summer. HA! It's been 100 degrees for the past month or longer here.

My first tag post!

I can't believe I've never done a meme before! Paulina of Veggie Delight was kind enough to tag me with this meme.

1) LAST MOVIE U SAW IN A THEATRE? I seriously can't remember, I don't go to the theater much, I'd rather just wait to rent them because I'm cheap like that. The last movie I rented was The Golden Compass. Not as good as the book, but still a great movie.

2) WHAT BOOK ARE U READING? Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America by Nathan Winograd.

3) FAVOURITE BOARD GAME? Chinese Checkers

4) FAVOURITE MAGAZINE? National Geographic

5) FAVOURITE SMELLS? Cinnamon, cedar and pine trees and fresh bread

6) FAVOURITE SOUNDS? My favorite songs, cats purring, and really, really hard rain

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Not realizing you've made a stupid mistake until immediately after it's too late to do anything about it

8) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE? Trying to get out the door for my run/walk before it gets too hot

9) FAVOURITE FAST FOOD PLACE? Ewww, no thanks, I don't eat that junk.

10) FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? I don't want to have children, but if I change my mind probably Marina for a girl and Joshua for a boy.

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D...Use some to pay for college, give some to my parents and brothers, buy only organic food, travel all over the world, and give the rest to charities that I believe in.

12) DO U DRIVE FAST? No

13) DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? No

14) STORMS–COOL OR SCARY? Mostly cool, except tornadoes and hurricanes

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? I don't have a car yet.

16) FAVOURITE DRINK? Water, of course.

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD…Go to the humane society more often.

18) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI? Yes, I love broccoli stems.

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE? Black or something weird like blue or green.

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN? I lived in Austin, TX until I was 3, since then I've lived in Pflugerville, which is just outside of Austin. How boring!

21) FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? I don't like sports.

22) ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Paulina seems very smart and friendly and determined to achieve her goals.

23) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED? Dust bunnies and the carpet

24) WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN?? No, that would be boring. I would want to be a different person or even a non-human animal.

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL? Morning person, I'm always up before 7:00.

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP? I didn't even like eggs before I was vegan!

27) FAVOURITE PLACE TO RELAX? At my computer.

28) FAVOURITE PIE? I don't like pie, so I've never tried to make a vegan pie.

29) FAVOURITE ICECREAM FLAVOUR? Vanilla Oatscream

30) OF ALL THE PEOPLE U HAVE TAGGED, WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST? Probably aTxVegn, she updates her blog pretty often.

I tag:
Ruby Red Vegan of Ruby Red Vegan
Peggy the Veggie of Vegan Teen Cuisine
Freedom of The Raw Vegan Princess
aTxVegn of eat'n veg'n vegan food and recipes
Veg-a-Nut of Life on the Vegan Highway is Good!

Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry

On Sunday night, I made Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry from Veganomicon. It was very tasty and healthy, but it's one of those recipes that tastes better the next day. I ate leftovers last night, and they were much more flavorful, and the red lentils had thickened up a little more. It was mostly cauliflower, red lentils, onions and parsnips with various spices, including my favorite, cinnamon. I haven't had parsnips since I made this a year and a half ago, but really liked them in this dish. They have a starchy taste and texture and are slightly sweet, like a sweet potato, but white instead of orange, and probably less calories than a sweet potato.

Yesterday was my first day volunteering at the library. It was pretty fun, I helped out with this program for teens in the summer reading program, and then cleaned children's tapes. I'm going to volunteer there every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Have a great day everyone!

No more high school!

A week before yesterday (June 6), I graduated from high school! My grandma came down from Connecticut on the Wednesday before it, and left three days ago. It was pretty
exciting! I have been waiting for high school to be over since I was a freshman, and now it finally is! Because my grandma was here, we ate out a lot. After picking her up on Wednesday, we lunch ate at Mother's, and on Friday after my graduation, we ate at Kerby Lane, since my older brother was with us. Then for dinner, we ate at Casa de Luz. I had never been there before, even though it's the only 100% vegan restaurant in Austin. The food was very tasty, but it was pretty expensive and it was a little confusing. It is sort of buffet style. You get your own soup and salad and can eat as much as you want, but everything else comes on a plate. We weren't sure if we were supposed to have more than one of these plates. Over the weekend, I stayed home with my brother while my parents and my grandma went to see some boring painted churches. I was happy to have some time away from my grandma, who likes to complain and b**** about everything. I was sick of her telling me to "do something with your hair" and saying that vegan food is gross and a million other things. When they came back on Monday, I cooked some scrambled tofu and pancakes for dinner. My brother didn't even try them, but my grandma liked them, even though they're vegan. On Tuesday, we went to San Antonio to go to the SAS shoe store and then we went to Green again, for lunch. I bought something for dinner too because on the way back, we were going to stop in San Marcos to eat with my other brother (he's 23), and the only vegan friendly restaurant there is Thai Thai Cafe, which my brother eats at all the time. For lunch at Green, I ordered cece's stir fry with brown rice and sweet potato fries. This was very delicious, with lots of sauce and lots of veggies and some crispy, breaded tofu. I ordered the Raw Deal Wrap with fruit salad and kale salad to save for dinner. The kale salad was kind of weird(too salty maybe), but the wrap was pretty good. The next day, my grandma finally left.



A few days before my grandma came, I made Brussel Sprouts Go Asian from FatFree Vegan Kitchen and served it on Tofu Shirataki noodles with steamed broccoli. This was my first time trying both brussel sprouts and Tofu Shirataki noodles. The brussel sprouts were okay, but some of the bigger ones were a little bitter. The tofu noodles had a weird taste and texture, but they were good enough. Other than that, this was a pretty tasty dish.



Last night and the night before, I had Creamy Curried Veggies from How it all Vegan. This was very delicious and healthy, after a week of eating out too much. I subbed unsweetened almond milk for the coconut milk to make it healthier. I've been wanting to make Indian food lately; I can't remember the last time I cooked an Indian dish.

While my grandma was here, I more or less stopped exercising, so now I have to get back into the routine and start where I left off, with walking 4 minutes and running 1 and repeating for an hour. I want to also do some strength training, because I'm weak and not toned at all, and I want to change that.