Health Food /Smeath Food

In the day to day I try to eat whole grains,unsaturated fats, dark leafy greens, fruits and avoid refined sugars, but today is not one of those days, at least not totally. For Sunday dinner I'm having smart dogs on whole wheat buns topped with onions and mustard, Asian slaw, baked home fries and a butter pecan shake. Earlier today I had cornbread, a berry banana smoothie and coffee for breakfast, and sweet potato, dinosaur kale, dahl and wheat berries for lunch.

Lately I've felt myself slipping back into some disordered eating patterns that I thought I was past. So far this year I've been doing ok in regards to eating to meet my nutritional needs. In the past my diet was so inflexible that I set myself up to fail. I need to rededicate myself to healing whatever causes me to act out my rituals.


* I'll probably always be rather general about what my rituals consist of because its just not something I'm particularly comfortable sharing. I also wouldn't my post to become a step by step ed guide.

The Lemon Journey

I never made lemon bars in my pre-vegan days so I went in to it with few expectations. The first time round I followed the recipe. They were good but far too sweet and I wanted more filling. The second batch I :increased the tofu to 1 cup, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1/2 cup of lemon juice and added a 1 tbsp of powder sugar. The changes increased the baking time by approx 15 mins. I was happier with this batch because the ratio of crust to filling was better. The first batch was 1:1 and the second 1:2.

What's for breakfast

Berry-Banana Smoothie and corn muffins

Food Critic

I made a Dutch Apple pie for Thanksgiving dinner and to be honest I was not satisfied with the results. My mom ate it so it must have been good. Believe me if it had been an epic fail she would have made a face and said, "we can't give this to your father." It may have been the apples. I don't use granny smiths and I usually add a bit of agave nectar. I loved granny smiths however presently I find them just too tart and the texture far too crunchy. I'm sticking with Jonathan Golds, Braeburns or Gala's for my future pies.



I decided to make jelly filled oatbran muffins tonight. The recipie is easy peesy and each muffin has for grams of fiber.

Restaurant Rave: Teapot Vegetarian House

So my mum surprised me with a new find. Teapot Vegetarian House, named one of the best restaurants in Seattle, offers its diners a (ALL VEGAN) menu. They also have an extensive list of teas.

We ordered the Mandarin Crispy Tofu, Sweet and Spicy Eggplant, Udon noodles with "beef" and Green Curry. For dessert we shared mango "cheesecake". If you're ever in the Emerald City do visit.


*Note we ate at the Redmond location.

I come baring gifts

I made these for my dad.

Fall

Ok so my Vegan Harvest dinner party when off with out a hitch. I had to push somethings to the side planning wise however the menu did not suffer. I cooked up a storm. For dinner apple stuffing, pureed butternut squash and parsnips, red cabbage, mashed potatoes and a bean salad. I also made three desserts, a pear ginger cake, a cranberry pear tart and peanut butter cookies. I had to stop myself I almost made oatmeal cookies and cranberry relish but I couldn't get to the store to buy oranges. Folks started showing up around 4:30 and added more to the spread, 2 green salads, a pasta dish, squash, a pecan pie, and watermelon. Then at 5:30 with forks in hand we ate and ate some more, laughed and had an all around good time.

Only one regret I should have made more potatoes. I went back and damn there was only a teaspoon in the pot.