experimenting

Hello to all on the other side of the Week Hill.

Hope your week has been lovely. Mine has been mixed. I had my weekly Wednesday funk yesterday, but that’s okay since this week had other enjoyable moments (as well as enjoyable food).

On Monday I went with my friend to visit one of her friends. We ended up at a cafe by the beach for lunch, it was gorgeous. I decided on an avocado & jalapeno veggie burger, but decided to splurge with french fries (to be regretted later). I did not miss my “normal” burger at all. Also asked the waitress to leave the cheese off. Bye bye extra unnecessary calories!

This was a mistake. But look at how gorgeous they are! My friend told me that I had to share the cupcakes with them or else she’d just blindfold me. Haha. They looked so yummy, and tasted amazing, but I definitely paid for this and the french fries later. My stomach was not happy at all, and I felt sick. Not a good choice. I can be persuaded way too easily. I need to work on this, if only for my stomach’s protection.

After class on Tuesday, all I wanted was a hummus spread whole wheat bagel thin. Either that or I had nothing else to eat at home. It was good, but I was starving, so decided to have an early lunch.

I had 2/3 of Amy’s Black Bean Soup with additional corn that I added. I sprinkled it with garlic pepper. It was scrumptious. I think I ate something after this too – I was really hungry.

One of the largest highlights to my week thus far was my date with one of my best friends. I had texted her in the morning telling her that I missed her, and she asked me if I wanted to go on a date that night. We ended up finding the happening place of the evening by accident. There was a beach-side concert (by an unknown band) that hordes of people were gathering for that just happened to be next to the restaurant we had decided to go to for drinks and food. It took us about 45 minutes to find a parking spot. It was insane.

This was a Sunset Martini. I ended up having two, and enjoyed them thoroughly. It was my first martini, but I liked it! (Probably due to the juices and peach liqueur that was in it.)

College students are thankful for bottomless sourdough rolls.

These were artichoke and fried and amazing. I have really been learning about how much I enjoy artichokes lately.

Then we walked on the beach in the dark, it was ever-so-lovely.

Last night after my late afternoon nap of escape, I finally ventured to the grocery store. After reviewing my handy new VegWeb recipe app on my iPhone, I decided to make vegan french toast. It was surprisingly good and people that I lived with even said they liked them too. Curious of the recipe?

Vegan French Toast

2-3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup soy milk [I used vanilla flavored]
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, optional [I used it!]
1 teaspoon vanilla
bread, any kind is fine [I used whole wheat double fiber]
vegan margarine [I used Earth Balance]

1. Blend bananas, soy milk, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla in blender or food processor and pour mixture into pie plate or wide dish. [I didn't blend it at all, I just mixed in a dish, using a fork to mash up the bananas.]
2. Gently dip bread slices into the mix, coating both sides. Fry in vegan margarine in medium-hot skillet until golden brown. Serve with maple syrup if desired. [I didn't desire.]

I highly recommend these, as you can see!

I have been having my usual oatmeal this week, but this morning I had Go Lean Crunch with almond milk and some banana. Of course by 9:30AM I am hungry again, but I don’t have food with me… you’d think I’d learn.

Yesterday I got this vegan cookbook in the mail and I was asked. “are you really going to be vegan?!”

I am still researching and experimenting, don’t worry yet.

Question: what would you like to see more of on my blog? Or would want to increase or decrease or change to improve it?