pink, green, crunchy, bananas

Something was a little different today. 

That something was breakfast.

Why exactly is my first photo a HUGE stalk of rainbow chard??  It should be a bowl of oats, no?

Nope.  Breakfast included this lovely stalk of green crunchy deliciousness.  Thanks to Gena, for inspiring me to do something with breakfast, that I never though possible.  Gena is the queen of green, so I wasn’t too surprised when I saw this post of hers.  However, I was surprised when I thought, “hmmm, that could be good!”

But thinking about crunching through leafy greens in the morning, really sounded less than desirable.  Sure, I’ll throw some spinach in a green smoothie, but that is because you cannot taste it.  I even left Gena a comment saying I just wasn’t quite sure if I’d be able to try this one out.

Slathering the greens in nut butter, definitely made the idea more appealing.  I had to give it a shot!  I decided to use 1 small banana + 1 medium sized apple.  I only used about 1/4 of the apple in the wraps, but ate the rest on the side.

First, the rainbow chard was washed.  I figured if I was going to eat greens in the morning, I would at least pick one with a pretty pink stem!  I cut around the stem quartered the leaf.  It was hu-uge.

Then, on each leaf I spread peanut butter, peanut butter carob fudge and coconut + walnuts on two of them.   

I rolled them up and cut each in half.  Cute little breakfast sushi rolls, no?  Are you gagging just thinking about this? 

I plowed through this breakfast without looking back and could have eaten more.  I’m definitely used to having a warm breakfast, but this was quite refreshing.  There was no problem chewing through the greens.  The key is nut butter!!  I didn’t have any raw nut butter on hand, so my rolls were not full on raw.  I can’t wait to try them with raw almond butter + cinnamon.

Yes.  I’m going to make these again and I dare you to try them!  The most shocking thing was that they held me over for 3 hours.  If I’m lucky, oats will hold me over for 4hrs.  I ate a snack and waited another 1.5hrs before lunch.  I consider that a success of a breakfast! 

My bowls of oats are typically around 500+ calories.  I clocked this in somewhere around 400-450 cals.

The crunchiness was awesome!!  Not sure if I liked the apple or banana better.  Both were really good!

Be sure to check out Gena’s post for a step by step tutorial.  Thanks Gena!!

Soup was for lunch again.  I don’t get sick of leftovers too easily.  Especially when they are so delicious.  Not sure why I’m showing you this yet again….haha

I toasted pepitas with smoked paprika, again, and also added a hefty scoop of leftover cooked millet for a little more ooompf.

Salad on the side was topped with the delicious smoked vegan parmesan "cheeze" I made the other week.  Completely addicting!! 

I also thinned out the dressing from last night and dripped it on top.  Another Gena original!

In between lunch + dinner, I made a fabulous vegan chocolate banana bread.  Recipe coming later tomorrow.  It turned out great and I couldn’t/can’t stop eating it.  It has a super crunchy crust, thanks to the spelt flour, and a doughy soft center, thanks to the brown rice syrup and bananas.

You’re going to love this one!

Dinner was lovely.  Another great day of food!

I made the orange pan glazed tempeh from 101 Cookbooks, again.  This is a must, if you’re new to tempeh.  On the side was leftover millet, spruced up with tamari + garlic + ginger.

I found a recipe in the newest addition of Vegetarian Times for flash fried kale stir fry.  Awesome side dish, that was cooked in 5min flat!  I used a full head of dino kale, 1 medium carrot, ginger, garlic, tamari, sucanat and roasted peanuts on top.  I typically don’t use a recipe for cooking greens, but just stick to something simple…kale chips, steamed broccoli, etc.  This was such a nice change, and Husband approved!

Thanks for the great feedback on my January goals.  I’m excited to get started and to talk about them more thoroughly.  It seems you are most curious about my interest in playing the violin and detoxing.  More soon!!

1 more thing before bed…I’m going to be an Aunt this July!!!!!!!!!!!!  A big congrats to my BIL + SIL and little McNugget that’s cooking away.  SO very excited. :)

Happy Friday!

Ashley

preTTiest veggie eveR

Jar of peanut butter.  You are quite unassuming for the pure joy you bring to peoples’ lives.

And then……you provide the most amazing vessel for a morning tub of oats.  Could it get any better??  I’m not quite sure.

Simple OIAJ [oats in a jar] 

• 1/3 rounded cup of oats
• 2/3c plain ricemilk
• 1/3c water
• vanilla splash
• 1/2t vanilla
• 1 small banana sliced and mixed in at the end
• topped with one of my graham crackers + Heather’s amazing strawberry jam

I am torn between mixing in my naner at the beginning or the end.  Both have their benefits, so I guess I’ll just switch off.  WHO thinks about things like this!?

Earth to Ashley – Realizations I make…after the fact…

Round ONE

1. Before going for a winter run, check the weather, or prepare to get caught in a blizzardy cold storm.  Today I was getting weird stares not only from my Vibrams but also my capri running pants + single layer long sleeve shirt. Moral of the story:  Check the weather!  Ski goggles would have come in handy today!
2. If you are going to peel veggies, BE CAREFUL. 
3. If you make 4 batches of graham crackers, you are going to want to eat them ALL.

It’s hard to tell but my shirt is pretty soaked…as are my pants and feet!  Speaking of feet..how did mine feel today???

Okay..this doesn’t look bad, but it was coming down HARD.  I really was having a hard time seeing while running.

I planned a well balanced completely random lunch.  [this goes with earth to ashley realization #3]

Leftover cold quinoa fruit + nut salad + black bean burger + steamed broc + 2 broken grahams plus ~2t PB

The burger was topped with a little of Nancy’s sourcream + 365 brand salsa.

How long do you guys keep leftovers around for?  This quinoa salad was from Saturday and I’m still eating it Thursday…gross??  It still tasted FABulous!  Topped with fresh goat cheese of course.

Speaking of graham crackers….here are some more photos from the trials. 

From left to right Trials #1 –> #4

As you can tell….I couldn’t figure out which way I wanted the fork pokes to go, or how many I wanted.  I was also being pretty sloppy with my fork stabbing skills…oops.  I think I like 3 stabs the best!

    

Trial #1                                                              Trial #2

Trail #3                                                              Trial #4

    

There is definitely a visual difference between all of them.  They range in color and in grainy looking texture.  I tasted trials 2 + 3 again today and they are pretty inedible.  I had to throw them out, which I hate doing.  #1 is wheaty but tasty and will definitely get eaten and #4 is yummmy + crunchy and almost perfect!

I broke down the nutritional info for Trial #4 - This was assuming you cut 24 crackers from the dough. [varies on size you cut, but mine were about 2.5x2]

1 graham cracker:

• calories: 58
• fat: 2g
• sugars: 8g
• protein: .75g
• fiber: 1g

Not too shabby.  If you eat 3, it’s not a bad snack or 2 with some PB!!  The flavor needs some work though.  I would love to get the sugar count down a bit, but I don’t want them to taste like cardboard.

The whole wheat version.

Whole wheat pastry flour.

What do you think the prettiest vegetable is???  I’m pretty sure I’ve come to my conclusion!!!  Although I do LOVE bok choy, I think the winner is RAINBOW CHARD!  

I don’t understand how something can grow from the earth and turn out HOT PINK. 

Just gorgeous.  I love how the colorful stems creep up into the leafy greens!  Don’t be scared of this amazing vegetable!!!!

As my girl Kelsey would say….”GORGEY!!!”  

What did I do with it??  Well, I have actually only cooked with chard twice.  It kind of scares me…I mean look at that color!!  It was on sale at WF for $1.50!!! so I decided to give it a shot again.  So so glad I did.  I did a little research into this nutrient DENSE veggie and wanted to learn the best way to cook it, destroying the LEAST amount of nutrients.  It’s seriously a powerhouse of HEALTH.  It looked like steaming for 2-3min was the best answer.  Su-weeet.

Garlic salted quinoa with savory red beans + rainbow chard [modified from a recipe I picked up at whole foods]

• 1-2c quinoa [depending on how much you want!]
• 2c. water for 1c. of quinoa [or 4c. water for 2c. of quinoa]
• 2 cans kidney beans
• 3/4c. water
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red/green pepper
• 1 bunch rainbow chard
• 2 bay leaves
• 1t dried oregano
• 1/2t dried sage
• 1T vinegar [I used apple cider vin]
• 1/2t salt
• pepper to taste
• salt/garlic powder/butter [for quinoa]

1. Rinse quinoa + beans and set aside
2. Chop onion, mince garlic, and chop pepper.
3. Wash chard well and chop about 1” off the end of the stem. 
4. Tear the leaves off the stems and chop the leaves + stems seperately.
5. In a lightly oiled pan, add the quinoa over medium heat.  Cook for 1-2min and then add water.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to simmer for 15-20min until liquid is absorbed.
6. As soon as you start the quinoa, lightly oil a medium sized pot and sauté the onion + bay leaves for ~5min over med. heat. 
7. Set up a large pot with a steamer basket and about 1” of water.  Cover + bring to a boil.
8. Add in the peppers + garlic [to the onion mixture] and cook for ~5 more min.
9. Add the water, sage, oregano, vinegar and beans to the pepper/onion pot.  Mash some of the beans to help thicken the water.  Let cook about 5-7min over medium heat.
10. While that is all cooking: add the stems from the Chard into the large steamer pot.  Cook for ~2min.
11. Add the leaves in and cook 2-3 more min.
12. Fluff quinoa with fork, add in salt/garlic powder/butter to taste and lightly stir.

CHOW!!!! [i used a slotted spoon to scoop out the bean mixture b/c it was pretty watery.]  Don’t forget to take the bay leaves out! hehe

I love deconstructed meals.  This took about 30min with prep + cook time!

It was kind of hard to write the directions but I really tried to write them out to maximize efficiency.  If you want to make this let me know if something sounds confusing.  We topped the chard with a little vegan butter [earth balance] and salt. 

I loved EVERY part of this dinner.  The greens were full of earthy flavor, the beans were seasoned well, and the quinoa was light + fluffy!!!  Huz loved it too :)  I had seconds of everything.  I loved the crunchy stems mixed in with the wilted greens.  mm mmmm

Teri had chard tonight too!!  How random is that!? 

……

A few random tidbits I have been meaning to share!

If you like baking, check out my friend Carly’s blog.  I know her from middle/high school.  She just started blogging and is rocking at it so far.  It’s called “So I Married a Chef.”  Carly has extremely mouth watering recipes.  Like: marscapone brownies, PBJ bars!!!!!!, cupcakes, cookies and MUCH more! 

Next on the list:

I love this post from Darryn about her experiences with Soy!  Want to know my views?  Check it out on my FAQ page!

Lastly:

Check out the articles that are up, on the Natural Food List website, that I’m working for.  They are fun + informative.  If you follow them on twitter you will get a lot of good coupon offers for organic/natural food. My first article will be up in a few short days! 

……

Ciao!

Ashley