Lazy Sunday

Wilson keeps trying to convince me that I ought to get another job because I have every night and weekend off. You know what though? No. No way. Not the good life. His argument is that the good life is early retirement, but frankly, I'd rather enjoy bits of the good life where I can now. Like Sunday mornings.

A local radio station has a great program on Sundays (The Sunday Sessions from 10 am - 12pm) that's all acoustic/stripped performances of great alternative songs. WFNX or 101.7 FM in the Boston area. Right now they're playing an acoustic version of The Ting Tings "That's Not My Name." It's awesome.

You know what else is awesome. My mom. That's right. I'm not too proud to say that my mom rocks. Miss SJ put together a care package for me that includes four jars of PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful and 5 cans of Libby's pumpkin. So I can stop hoarding what I have and use it in delicious albeit every day things like oatmeal.



Over-the-Top Pumpkin Pie Oats
3/4 cup water
dash salt
1/4 cup mix of rolled oats, oat bran, and steel cut oats
1 small banana, sliced
1/2 cup of pumpkin
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Bring water to a boil, add oat mix, salt, and sliced banana. Whisk! Cover and let cook approximately 4-6 minutes, whisking intermittently until the banana "melts" into the oats. Add pumpkin and spices, vanilla at the end, whisk! Pour into bowl. (Make sure bowl is big enough!) 

Optional topping: PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful and Nature's Path Hemp Seed Granola
(If I had graham crackers or Biscoff cookies, you'd bet your patooty they'd be crumbled on top.)

Fluffy and delicious, oh yes.

Not the laziest vegan in the world, but close.

From Candle Cafe's Facebook

For most of my life I've heard that I'm lazy. It's not entirely inaccurate. It certainly is something that I have a proclivity toward and something at which I excel. I wouldn't say that I'm the laziest vegan in the world, and not because that title has already been taken,  but it's been a common thread in my life. In fact, I'm kind of convinced I should have been born a cat.

Ok, so what does laziness have to do with "la bonne vie?" Well, sometimes the good life is comfort food, and sometimes (often) I'm too lazy to cook. Enter Candle Cafe macaroni and vegan cheese frozen entree. Creamy, topped with a sprinkle of Daiya, it definitely hit the spot on this chilly autumn day. The serving is a bit small, but the noodles are good, and it's all warm and melty.

This is my first time trying one of Candle Cafe's frozen entrees, but I was definitely tempted to get it after reading a review. After seeing a $1 off coupon in Whole Food's Whole Deal Newsletter and a $1 coupon on the package, I decided to buy it for a rainy day, and I'm glad I did. I probably won't buy this regularly, but I will certainly buy it again.

That is, if I'm not too lazy.

Playing Hooky with Wilson

OK, neither of us were actually playing hooky. Yesterday was Wilson's day off, so I took a vacation day. Our conflicting schedules mean I don't see him nearly as much as I'd like to!

I tagged along with him on errands, and I got to go to Grasshopper for lunch! Hooray! How did I get to go there with the curmudgeonly omnivore? Wilson misunderstood my response to his question: Only vegan food? I said it's Asian food so it doesn't matter, and he took that to mean there was meat. What I really meant is that in most Asian dishes, I think it's all about the preparation, sauces, and spices, and I don't think one can tell so much if you're eating chicken or gluten. Finally, an instance where something is lost in translation and I gain!

Wilson, look happy about eating vegan food!

We were still in time for the lunch specials, so I ordered the Battered Gluten with Steamed Vegetables in Sweet and Sour Sauce. Wilson kind of refused to order, asking for "vegetables and rice" only. Well, that's what he got—Stir-fried Assorted Fresh Vegetables and white rice. Mine came with a Hot and Sour Soup starter, and I chose a side of brown rice. 

Spicy Hot and Sour Soup

The Hot and Sour Soup was really tasty. (I'm learning it's difficult to capture how tasty some food is in a picture though; sorry if this looks a little gross!)

No Name listed on lunch menu as Battered Gluten in Sweet and Sour Sauce with Veggies

My main dish was basically a smaller portion of Grasshopper's famous "No Name." The lunchtime portion means I only have enough for two meals instead of four.

Stir-fried Assorted Fresh Vegetables

Wilson ordered for the regular menu, so he was given enough food for four meals.

We left full and happy; although, Wilson did mention that he'd pay me back for tricking him. (The vegan kids know what I'm talking about.) But hey, it'll all work out in the end. 

They may not look pretty...

But they sure did taste good.

I feel like that sounds like something my father would say. Or at least I'm thinking of him saying it in his accent, and it's funny. (Think stereotypical hillbilly drawl, but do so lovingly.)

Many of my friends get incredibly excited about Fall due to the return of the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks. The last few years it's been incredibly too sweet for me, even when I get only two pumps instead of the usual four. So now that I'm vegan and won't be having them anyway, I don't feel like I'm missing anything.*

Lest you label me an Autumnal Scrooge, please know that I love pumpkin! I do! Why just this morning I ate pumpkin pancakes! And I had to share.



They may not be my most photogenic subject, but they were pretty darned tasty. I had a Sandra Lee semi-homemade moment, as I usually do with pancakes, and as always, I didn't really measure a thing. I guess if I'm going to be sharing things with people, I should start measuring?

The mix I've been using is Cherrybrook Kitchen, and I am very happy with it. I mean, pankcakes! It's good for kiddos with allergies or vegans, and it's available at Whole Foods (and probably other places as allergies become more commonplace).

I started with 1/2 cup mix. The smallest quantity on the directions is seven pancakes, which I have no business making (and subsequently eating until I'm in a food coma), so I always cut the recipe in half. Standard recipe calls for rice milk (or milk of choice) and oil. I usually substitute apple sauce for the oil, as meh, why not? I got some of the little unsweetened apple sauce cups, and they're perfect for cases such as these.

This morning though, as I was lying awake with a terrible headache, I thought, why not use pumpkin instead of the apple sauce? But the half recipe oil sub of 1 TBS just wouldn't do. So I mixed 1/2 cup mix, 1/2 cup pumpkin, and poured is some unsweetened almond milk until it started to look like pancake batter. It  didn't really, so I put in some more mix. And then some more almond milk. And then I shrugged and thought to myself, whatever, let's fry 'em.

The secret to pumpkin flavored things is Pumpkin Pie Spice. I put a good hardy shake of that and a glug of vanilla and another half stir while my frying pan preheated.



Like I said, they aren't pretty, but they sure did taste good. While it's omnipresent this fall, throw a can of pumpkin into your cart. (I like the organic canned pumpkin at Whole Foods, but I'm kind of weird about things.) You'll be surprised all the places you can stir a spoonful in. Well, unless your vegan, then maybe you know that it's a great substitute for eggs.**

Heck, some wacky New York Best-Selling author puts pumpkin in smoothies!

I hope you are having a beautiful Fall day, and if you're not, mix in a spoonful of pumpkin.

*Pumpkin spice syrup contains dairy state by several sources found via Google. I'm not really concerned about investigating further because, as stated, I don't like 'em.
**Depending on what you're making, if the pumpkin flavor may effect the end product positively or what purpose the egg serves in the recipe, i.e. to bind or to moisten.

Guess who's back?

It's been a while. I'm planning on revamping ye olde blogge, but for now, I wanted to get a post in about MOFO! MOFO is the vegan month of food, where bloggers try to post bunches about delicious vegan food.

Those wacky vegans. Always telling people about their delicious food.

So what do vegans eat? I'm probably not the best at answering this right now, because I have a cold, and I'm grumpy.

That being said, there is one thing that I'm grooving on right now. It's packs a nutrient punch, is delicious, and I'm sure will probably KO this cold shortly. Also, Wilson refuses to go around it, so it's all for me.

Behold, the green smoothie.




Many 'healthy living' bloggers rock on the green smoothie, so for some of you, this is nothing new. I don't ever really measure anything I make, but I'll give you the approximation of this tall glass of awesome.

'Tropical' Green Smoothie
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup almond milk (I prefer unsweetened original)
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen mango chunks
1/3 cup frozen pineapple
1 TBS protein powder (I used Nutribiotic Vanilla Rice Protein)
1 TBS peanut butter (I used White Chocolate Wonderful from Peanut Butter & Co).
1/4 cup of orange juice (To get it blending and for EVEN MORE VITAMINS!)

Blend on med-high for approximately a minute and a half. I blend until it seems liquidity. Sometimes I don't, and I pretend that it's soft serve and eat it like that. Either way, it's awesome.

AND, LOOK AT ALL THAT SPINACH! (Bee tee dubs, you can't taste it!)