The new ice age…

February 9, 2010 · Filed under Vegan · Tagged , , , ,

Its day twenty-three in the icy tundra. Food was scarce so we had to resort to making snow cones to survive…

My car half-way through scraping

My street... geese louise

Teasing! But we are getting some crazy weather here! I know a lot of you are all experiencing the same type of weather (and if your not lets just say im insanely jealous of you right about now.)

So what’s a girl to do when she’s cooped up in her house all day long?

Bake of course!

I whipped out my new cookbook, VCTOTW or Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and made these…

 

I made your basic chocolate cupcakes and topped them with  homemade mocha frosting which I made from scratch. The little heart sprinkles are in honor of valentines day.

 

Speaking of valentines day did anyone see the funny little featurette featured on VegNews about vegan pick-up lines? Some of them are just too funny for words! My favorites are…

2. May I take your picture? It’s for the World’s Sexiest Vegetarian competition.

5. Wanna come up and see my Vita-Mix? ;)

Maybe its just my high school immaturity but they made me laugh.

I just found out that I have no school tomorrow, yes! We are supposed to be getting another foot of snow tonight. At least I’m all stocked up with goodies from my latest grocery store excursion. I was happy to learn that I wasnt the only girl in the world who hadnt seen The Notebook. I watched it the other day and I bawled my eyes out for about twenty minutes in the end. Dont get me wrong I love a good cry, but it just melted my heart watching the end with the two old people (just in case you havent seen it!)

Lately I have been thinking about re-doing my blog layout. I have seen so many gorgeous layouts out there but I dont even know where to begin! Does anyone have any advice on the easiest way to go about doing this?

Michal ♥

Question of the day – What do you think about Valentines Day? Are you a fan? Why or why not.

Did someone say peanut butah? Yum!

Who wants to make their own yogurt? *Me me me*

An amazing giveaway by my two favorite twins. :)

Averie is having a coconut-tastical giveaway.

Gena’s having a giveaway too. Love ya girl!

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Well thats just super…

February 8, 2010 · Filed under Food, Vegan · Tagged , , ,

 Superbowl sunday that is.

I’ve honestly never been much of a football girl. I’ve tried believe me I have, but something about it just doesn’t interest me. Actually I think im allergic to athletic. As much as I love working out and running, sports are just not my friend. Almost every time I play I somehow get hit in the face with a ball. I don’t know about you but that is so not my idea of having a good time. ;)

Going out today though was a riot, all the macho guys in their jerseys with a couple of six packs and many bags of chips. It was just too funny. I worked at the FIC today and we were semi-busy. A lot of people ordered plates of our BBQ chick free sandwiches and our humus for appetizers. I was doing a lot of baking in the kitchen today which is my favorite parts! I love getting to create desserts.

It’s still muy chilly here in Ohio, were still buried under snow! To warm up I have been drinking my favorite tea – Sleepytime of course. What is your favorite kind of tea?

   

Soup-er bowl of sweet potato and peanut butter bisque in honor of Superbowl sunday.

 

I tried a new flavor today of  Yogavive apple chips, I have now tried all five different flavors and loved them all! The one thing I really love about their products is that they are all organic, and to flavor them they only use natural flavorings that contain no synthesized chemicals. :) Plus at only 35 calories per bag they make a nutritious and delicious snack.  

Original – Sweet and crisp, with a simple apple flavor. Perfect on top of some vanilla yogurt.

Yogachips in apple cinnamon

Apple Cinnamon - Nice and cinnamon-ey! I would have to say this was my favorite. 

Strawberry – Tasty. The strawberry flavor was subtle and not over powering at all. 

Peach – Yummy! My second favorite!

Caramel – Good, but not my favorite. It was a little bit too sweet for my liking but stil really delicious.

raw oatmeal raisin cookies

Today I made another batch of raw oatmeal raisin cookies, but this time I added a little cardamom and some extra cinnamon to warm them up some. Yum! 

I have had so much fun these past couple days doing Zumba at home in addition to my classes twice a week. I was able to find some of the songs on iTunes to download, and the rest were on YouTube (thank you technology!). I’m actually off to do some now actually! 

Good night, and stay warm out there! :)

Michal ♥ 

Question of the day – Are you doing anything special to celebrate the super bowl? Who do you want to win?

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Rawr Snowmageddon!

February 7, 2010 · Filed under Food, Vegan · Tagged , , ,

Oh Phil I am so mad at you right now.

Were in the middle of the worst snow storm ever and I had to get up this morning and dig under a foot of snow to get to my car so I could get to work. It  took me an over an hour to get to there and when I did no one showed up and I waited for two hours! I was not a happy camper! I didn’t end up working today, but on the bright side I went to a new grocery store and I came out with a bunch of new goodies!

I was in paradise they had an amazing selection and products that I havent been able to find before! I spent over an hour in there and came home with a bunch of bags.

The best finds are pictured here. I found Stoney Field  soy yogurt in chocolate, angel hair tofu shirataki noodles, three flavors of pure bars, organic crunchy peanut putter, a carob coconut (I know!) energy bar and an amy’s black bean burrito. Oh and did I mention that most of it was on sale ;)

I got a couple of emails asking what kind of figs I used on my carrot spice purée from thursday. I bought these at my local health food store they are so delicious and sweet.

Speaking of my carrot spice puree I got a few awesome suggestions on a new name for it…

  • Carrot-gasm in a bowl
  • Hottie Carrot Shmoo
  • Tasty Carrot Smash

Cute suggestions! :)

Im just relaxing tonight, ive already gone to the gym today and did a little zumba. On my agenda is more scholarship writing and watching the Notebook finally! I think I am the only girl in the world who hasnt seen it yet.

Michal ♥

Question of the day – Snowstorms do you love em or hate em?

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Whats that taking over the world?!

February 5, 2010 · Filed under Raw Food, Recipes · Tagged , ,

Happy Vegan Thursday to you!

For round four of vegan thursday I whipped up an oldie but a goodie…

My favorite carrot mess topped with a fun new ingredient that I picked up this past weekend. Figs!

I’ve been tweaking the recipe a bit for my Spiced Carrot Puree which im thinking of giving a new name! Needs something a little more festive. Ideas?

Spiced Carrot Puree

2-3 medium carrots, chopped

1 banana, chopped

1/2 cup milk of your choice (soy, almond, rice, hemp)

2 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 packet of stevia

1 tsp agave

Pinch of nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon.

Assembly

In your food processor process carrots until finely shredded. Add your banana, milk, peanut butter, stevia, agave and nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon and process again. Enjoy!

If your feeling adventurous you can add different spices like apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice or chai spice. Aaaannd then you can add the toppings which is my favorite part. I love adding granola, nuts, fresh fruit, dried cranberries, bloobs, papaya or even rice cakes.

Okay so brownie points to all of you who guessed me new cookbook…

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World… or VCTOTW.

Thank you Isa. I suppose it wasnt too challenging to guess which one it was, but im so excited to get baking. Next on my agenda are S’mores cupcakes. One of the things I really like about this book is how it has the cooking glossary in front of the book that goes through different types of flours, sugars and all kinds of substitutions. It also includes tip and tricks for trouble shooting and ideas about why your cupcakes turned out kind of funky. It’s a really fun book to look at to – if you get a chance flip through it!

A new favorite snack of mine, a sweet carrot shmeered with a huge glob of tahini. I finished off the last of my jar today! Boo :( But on the bright side it looks like a trip to my one of my favorite ethnic food stores is in order!

Quick post tonight! Ive got a valentine’s day card for spanish IV to finish and I have to track down some more Zumba music on iTunes.

Back tomorrow with a new product review.

Night y’all!

Michal ♥

Question of the day – Do you own VCTOTW?

Nicole is having a super yummy giveaway!

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Six more weeks of Winter!

February 3, 2010 · Filed under Food · Tagged ,

Oh Phil I don’t care how cute you are, why did you have to see your shadow?

I don’t know if I can make it through another 6 weeks of winter. I suppose I will just have to do some extra Zumba to warm me up. ;)

I’m glad you all enjoyed my drool worthy pictures from the FIC yesterday! I have to admit just thinking about that post is making me a little hungry. I don’t work again until later this week and I am really disappointed because they are having a new item on special today – vegan crab cakes with a rémoulade sauce! First of all that just sounds delicious, but ive never had crab cakes before let alone vegan ones! I am hoping they will still have them on special this saturday when im working next so I can sample a few.

I got a new cookbook at the bookstore this weekend.

Can you guess which one it is?

I might have went a bit camera happy. My peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate ganache turned out perfect – and I decided to top mine with organic chopped dates. Yum!

On a side note the month of february is national sweet potato month! So now that I’ve informed you of this glorious month how do you plan on celebrating? I intend to eat massive amounts of my SP&NB soup - which ive made some alterations to…

SP&NB Soup V2

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

1 banana, chopped

1 packet of stevia

1-2 tbsp nutbutter of your choice

1/2 cup soy milk

1/4 cup of filtered water (interchangeable with soy milk)

1 tsp pure almond extract

Assembly

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Top with granola, fresh fruit, dried fruit, or anything your heart desires!

I came across an interesting article over at In the Raw – 15 tips to transition to a raw lifestyle. This article is perfect for anyone who is looking to incorporate more whole and raw foods into their diet (everyone can benefit from that!).

Dont forget to guess what my new cookbook is! :)

Michal ♥

Question of the day – How are you going to spend these next 6 weeks of winter? *grumble grumble*

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Drool.

February 2, 2010 · Filed under Fitness, Food, Vegan · Tagged , ,

Happy Monday!

If your not drooling by the end of this post, your not human.

Just teasing! But serisouly you have got a truck load of delicious eats commin at ya so consider yourself warned!

I am so happy that I shared my want to become a certified zumba instructor with you all. Just writing it down and talking about it aloud made me realize that it could actually happen! I had a zumba class tonight and I asked my instructor if she could burn me a copy of the cd so I can practice more at home, but she said it would be against the Zumba code and that she could get in trouble. But thats okay. I’m planning on buying a cd asap!

 

For those of you out there who mentione that you never tried Zumba please do! It is so much fun and it honestly doesnt even feel like working out. Now a couple people also werent sure what Zumba exactly is…

The Zumba® program fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program that will blow you away. Our goal is simple: We want you to want to work out, to love working out, to get hooked. Zumba® Fanatics achieve long-term benefits while experiencing an absolute blast in one exciting hour of calorie-burning, body-energizing, awe-inspiring movements meant to engage and captivate for life!

The routines feature interval training sessions where fast and slow rhythms and resistance training are combined to tone and sculpt your body while burning fat. Add some Latin flavor and international zest into the mix and you’ve got a Zumba® class!

Doesnt that sound like fun!

Also thank you for your kind compliments on the shared excerpt of my paper. I really did enjoy writing it!

As promised I have some pictures from the FIC aka the best job in the world.

Not only is the Flaming Ice Cube an all vegan café but it’s also a gift shop too right inside. I took a couple pictures of our stocked fridge case near the register and some tasty eats. Yum! We have got a bunch of new shipments in with loads of new products! They are all so tempting, Im surprised that im still getting  paycheck. ;)

Our super stocked front counter by the register. Its always full with fun vegan treats, groceries and homemade desserts. Note the blueberry and cherry turnovers!

We just got these cheese in all the way from Scotland! We have a bunch of different varieties of Sheese such as blue, smokey cheddar, sharp cheddar, colby jack and mozzarella. We all sampled some and we all had some pretty different opinions. Some said they thought it had an after-taste like crayons, but personally I really like it! It tasted very much like real cheese and it melts (I had to test it out!) Have you ever tried Sheese, what did you think?

We made Lemon cupcakes with a buttercream frosting which I dubbed “Think Spring Cupcakes” you can tell that im ready for winter to be over.

Chocolate-cranberry muffins. Enough said. :)

One of our sides that we had on special, pasta salad with sweet potatoes and kidney beans.

A fruit and vanilla soy yogurt parfait with hemp seed granola. I really do love that granola its delish!

A picture of one of my random creations. Using a whole wheat tortilla I made a taco type shape using our panini press, and filled it with out Buffalo Hot Mama Chikin dip and topped it with green onions, peppers and had a homemade ranch sauce for dipping. Amazingly good! One of the cool things about my job is that we all get to invent whatever we like to eat, and who knows it might even end up on the menu. Another thing I did last week was make a sun-dried tomato hummus pizza with pesto. Holy yum!

Can anyone else believe that it is February already? Where did January go?

I was also informed that I won a pound of raw macadamia nuts in The Raw Juice Girl’s giveaway! I am so grateful, I have always wanted to try macadamia nuts. I can’t wait to review them :)

Until tomorrow!

Michal ♥

Amazing Xan chocolates giveaway over at Living Fit.

Averie is having a 50$ iHerb giveaway!

Larabar overload giveaway over at PreventionRD.

Ginger is the new pink is having a glass straw giveaway.

Snackface is my new favorite person with her giveaway!

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Zumba-fied & Tahini Dressing

February 1, 2010 · Filed under Fitness, Recipes, Thoughts · Tagged , , , ,

Two hours of zumba on friday + one hour 9 hours later = sore muscles.

My zumba fiesta at my gym went fabulous! I made it through the class, and only took one break. There were four different instructors and so many new songs. After the two hours were over we all noshed on some fruit and I talked with one of the instructors who I had never met before. She told me that I had a really good energy and that I should think about getting certified.

Me? Getting certified?

Back in september I was so nervous to even attend my first zumba class, I never thought that it would have become such a huge part of my life. I love it, I really do. It makes me feel strong and I enjoy it so much. I looked into the process of getting certified and the nearest certification classes are almost five hours away from my house, and they aren’t cheap. But after that two-hour session, and then getting up the next morning to attend another class made me realize that I have to get certified. It just feels so right and it’s something that I definitely want to do. So when will it happen? I don’t know, but I would like to get certified before I go to college so then I can start teaching classes on campus!

Fiesta swag. Love my new bracelet!

This weekend I did a whole bunch of nothing…

  • I watched three movies with mom. Pulp Fiction, Catch and Release and my new favorite movie Whip It.
  • I went bowling for the first time in three years and bowled a 19. You can laugh its okay :)
  • I went dress shopping – I totally scored!
  • Shopping – new kitchen goodies and a new cookbook.

My original plan was to be super productive, get half of my scholarship essays done… and then I didn’t. But I don’t feel guilty about it at all. I was in need of a break and some good ol’ me time. I whipped up a batch of cashew ricotta, and topped it with a drizzle of a new dressing which I have enjoyed daily for the past week.

Simple Tahini Dressing

2 tablespoons tahini

2 table spoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of filtered water (omit if you want a thicker dressing, add more if you want it thinner.)

Pinch of pepper, cilantro and paprika

Whisk together until creamy and pour over anything. Enjoy.

Now as promised (three weeks later!) I wanted to share a small excerpt from my senior research paper which I wrote on factory farming and animal abuse.

…The animals traveling to the farms are kept in unbearable conditions and many die before they can make it to the slaughter-house.  Brutally hot in the summer and frigid cold in the winter, there are thousands of accounts of animals who have had their flesh frozen to the sides of trucks, or who have started foaming at the mouth and seizing because of the heat (Freedman Barnouin 77).  Laws must to be put in place to protect the animals on their way to factory farms.  The farms themselves are miserable enough, why must we prolong the agony of the animals?  Comfortable transportation and having access to food and water is a basic human right.  Who are we to deny another living being the basic necessities that are needed to live?  Isn’t it enough that we are taking their lives, let alone we have to make them suffer greatly before we kill them? …

…What gives us the right to choose who or what gets to live or die?  A life is a life – whether in a pig, cow or a human.  We take extreme measures to protect domesticated animals like cats and dogs every day.  If they are considered to be worthy enough of our protection and our love why then can’t the same love and affection be given to factory farm animals?

 Hope you enjoyed that! What are your thoughts about the animal agriculture industry? The purpose of my paper was to persuade legislators to push for stricter laws against the mistreatment of animals in the food industry. I originally wanted to write my argumentative paper on the benefits of a vegan diet but my teacher said I couldn’t do that, so I thought that this topic was the next best thing. I really enjoyed writing it because I got to learn so much about “the industry” and became so well-informed on the subject.

Thats all for me tonight, I really should go work on those essays and I have something in the oven that is smelling mighty tasty. ;) More on that tomorrow!

Michal ♥

Question of the day – How was your weekend? What did you do?

Kristen from Eating R.D is having a giveaway.

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Stretch!

January 29, 2010 · Filed under 1, Reviews · Tagged ,

TGIF!!

Yahoo its the weekend! No work, no school and nothing do to but scholarship essays and dress shopping. Can you believe that it is that time of the year to start prom dress shopping? Prom is a little over four months away, so you know it’s never too early to start planning. ;) I figured that I was way ahead of the game but today I found out that other girls have already gotten their dresses. Psh.. I know… so im keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll find something tomorrow.

Review alert!

The other day at the health food store I picked up a couple of these fruit strips from Stretch Island Fruit Co.

These all organic fruit strips provide 1/2 of a serving of fruit per strip. They come is a bunch of flavors like autumn apple, abundant apricot, mango sunrise and orchard cherry. I sampled ripened raspberry and summer strawberry. They are vegan and kosher… not to mention delicious! These strips are super portable making them perfect for packing on the go. Each fruit strip only has 45 calories. These fruit strips were also very affordable which makes them an excellent choice.

The verdit, would I buy them again? A big fat yes.

Today I noshed on one of my favorite Larabars. The peanut butter cookie flavor is definitely one of the best.

Ahh how I love thee.

A tasty bowl of my SP&NB soup topped with organic dried cranberries and some granola. Im telling you if you havent tried this soup yet its deelish! I also mixed in a little coconut butter which gave it an amazing flavor.

Did anyone happen to catch Alicia Silverstone and Michael Pollan on the Oprah show this past Wednesday? I missed it, but I watched the whole thing online. Amazing! I really admire Michael Pollan’s food philosophy. Eat real food. He is a strong advocate of a whole foods diet, and elimnating processed foods, which I support 100%!

 

Alicia Silverstone is also a truly amazing person. She is doing such a wonderful job by spreading the message of veganism through her book The Kind Diet which I still want to get! She is someone who I look up to and aspire to meet. She is living proof that you can be a happy, healthy and glowing vegan. :) I have also been thinking that if I do decide to take on a cookbook challenge like the one in Julie and Julia, I might use Alicia’s cookbook.

Tonight they are having a Zumba Fiesta at my gym! Two whole hours of zumba and there are going to be prizes and all kinds of stuff I can’t wait. I hope I can make it through the two hours, usually im pooped after an hour.

FIC pics tomorrow!

Michal ♥

Question of the day – What did/does your favorite prom dress look like?

A really yummy giveaway over at Health, Happiness and Hope.

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Feelin Funky…

January 29, 2010 · Filed under Food, Vegan · Tagged ,

 Happy Vegan Thursday! :)

For round three of Vegan Thursday I decided to make a recipe that I bookmarked a couple of weeks ago after seeing it on Vegnews.com. You can find the original recipe here, it was part of their Go Veg guide for 2010. Good ol’ baked macaroni and cheese with an ezekiel bread crumb topping. It was so simple and both my mom and I really enjoyed it.

It was different though than regular macaroni and cheese, it was tasty but not what we were expecting. The only thing that we found really added to the “cheesy” flavor was the 1/4 cup of cashews. So if you’re looking for a recipe that mimics your old favorite Kraft, your out of luck. But if you’re looking for a delicious and healthy alternative this is it!

I can’t wait for the weekend to arrive. Old man winter has brought dump trucks of snow so im back to wearing my layers. I’m glad I got such a positive response on my last post to the movie Julie and Julia. Seriously if you havent seen that movie go watch it! I’ve got so many great ideas to try if I decide to pursue my cookbook challenge.

I am feeling just glorious right now. After not working out for the past two days and eating massive amounts of delicious foods (thank you FIC!) I was feeling super sluggish. I just got home from the gym and feel so much better. Has anyone else noticed that their body gets really funky feeling if they have been inactive for a couple days? I’ve been thinking more and more lately about switching up my workout routine. These days I have been running and biking more, and spending less time on the elliptical. I’ve also been working on my new years goal of practicing yoga at least three times a week. It’s all about trying to find a balance within your body, and lately I have been trying to listen to my body more and rely on my intuition.

In the days to come…

  • product reviews
  • tasty eats
  • FIC menu pics (you will want to see these!)

Id better be getting back to scholarship essays, deadlines are coming up fast and I want to make sure i get all of my essays done. Ahh I cant wait until I don’t have to worry about scholarships any more. This whole college thing is still really stressing me out! :(

Michal ♥

Question of the day – Whats your favorite was to excercise your body?

 

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Bon appetit!

January 26, 2010 · Filed under 1, Quiz, Random, Thoughts · Tagged ,

I loved hearing all about your favorite yoga poses.

After 20 minutes of sun salutations and a zumba class im feeling quite re-energized. And it was fifty degrees here today! I was actually able to go outside without three layers on. Amazing! :) It’s not going to last though, as we speak it is starting to snow. Seeing the sun was nice though!

Julie and Julia was one of the cutest movies I have ever seen. I am a huge fan of both Amy Adams and Meryl Streep , and a movie that involves them both plus a healthy dose a cooking and blogging. Umm… yes please! The movie has left me inspired. Inspired to do what you might ask? I would love to take on a challenge like Julie did. She challenged herself to make a change. While 536 recipes in 365 days is a little extreme for me I would love to take on a challenge of my own. Perhaps a blog world version? Recipes from all over the blogosphere. I will make, test and enjoy. Just an idea that I am tossing around. I would love some suggestions on recipes to try. What are your favorite recipes that you have discovered because of blogging?

A delicious salad combo. Avocado, spinach, snap peas, shredded carrots, tomatoes and a tahini-miso dressing. YUM!

The gorgeous Ayla over at Dainty Vegan nominated me the Amazing Blogger award. :)

  1. My family. My family means the world to me, spending time with them makes me so happy.
  2. exercising my body. When I move my body, I feel good. It constantly amazes me how many things my body can do.
  3. My job! I love my new job at the Flaming Ice Cube. Being surrounded by good food and wonderful people make it enjoyable for me to go to work.
  4. Reading. Books can take you to places you may never get to go.
  5. New issues of Vegnews magazine.
  6. Cooking. I really enjoy being in the kitchen, it always makes my day better.
  7. Puppies. I don’t have one but I will someday.
  8. Blogging. Each blog post that i put together is special, and I enjoy creating each one.
  9. Blog reading. I have learned so much just by reading blogs.
  10. Having a good hair day. I am a girl after all ;)

Thank you so much Ayla your too sweet! So now I have to tag 8 other amazing ladies…

Enough from me tonight. Ive got an early start tomorrow morning and a long day ahead. Good night!

Michal ♥

Question of the day – What are your favorite recipes from around blogland?

Lauren is having a cool giveaway!

Yummy giveaway over on An Apple a Day.

Tasty giveaway over at Healing with Raw Juices.

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