Last night [Thursday] I cooked with my collard greens, finally!! They were on their last leg. I think I was scared to cook with them!

It was a quick + easy recipe from the cookbook, Clean Food. I don’t think I would like collards in any recipe, but this seems somewhat foolproof, especially if you have never had collards before [like me!].

Collards + Black Eyed Peas

1 bunch collards
1, 15oz can black eyed peas
2T olive oil
2T water
1/2 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
splash of apple cider vinegar
s+p to taste

Heat olive oil in a pot or pan [the book suggests using a dutch oven, but I don’t have one] and cook onion + garlic until soft.
Thoroughly was + chop collards into bite sized pieces + add to the onion/garlic mixture once softened.
Cook the collards until bright green + wilted. I cooked them for about 10min. I think cooking them a bit longer helps to release the bitter flavor a bit. Also, add 1-2T water as needed to keep the collards from burning.
Add in black eyed peas [new fav. bean!] and splash [1-2T] apple cider vinegar.
Cook for ~3-5 more minutes.
Season with s+p

I reallllly liked this dish!

I also pan cooked tempeh in a little olive oil [for the first time]. It was really really good! I got a different brand from the first time I used tempeh for Vegan Shephard’s Pie. This time I used West Soy Tempeh, 5 grain and liked it much more.

Also made some [local!] spaghetti squash and baked it with sauce and a little cheeeese.

Quite a random assortment. Quite delicious.

I was feeling a bit hungry later in the night but didn’t know what to eat. Then I saw Jenna’s rendition of protein ice cream from another bloggers site. My problem was solved! The only thing was I would have to use the VitaMix for the first time. I know this seems silly but I haven’t used it since we moved in a few weeks ago. Intimidated? Who knows! No better time to start than for dessert :)

So I take it out of the pantry room and plug it in and then CLANK CLANK CLAAAAANK comes from the VitaMix. The switch was turned to ON and the top plastic piece was IN the machine. FAIL.

Luckily, I still have all of my fingers and the plastic top wasn’t ruined. Super scary sounding!

Chocolate Protein ~~Ice Cream~~ Milkshake

handful of ice
1T chia seeds
1 packet chocolate, rice protein powder
1T sucanat
1c vanilla almond milk
~8 almonds

Love this protein powder! I have been using it for awhile now. I much prefer rice + hemp protein to soy or whey. If you want to read a great blog post about protein powders, check out Gena’s recent post.

It was pretty good. I would do a few things differently next time.

Friday Morning – Alert the press, Ashley did not eat oats! I broke out the VitaMix again for a fruity/protein/green morning!

A lot of spinach, frozen fruit, almond milk, 1/2 a hempshake = mmmmm

Super filling. Kept me going all morning, much to my surprise!

I had a lot to do before Melissa came over, so I was partially distracted from eating but overall really not that hungry. Love HempShake! Full of fiber + healthy hemp protein.

Lunch with Melissa:

I made a yummy veggie filled salad. We crunched all the way through. I made a simple balsamic vin. to go along with it. For croutons I just toasted and cut 2 slices of whole wheat bread from WF. So yum.

Jake ate lunch too :)

My bowl + 1.5 more servings :) I hate lemons in my water but LOVE cucumbers in my h2o. It is super crisp + refreshing and I need to remember to add them more often.