2 Delicious Recipes! Raw Vegan Knockoff Baseball Nut & Tempeh Enchiladas

Hi Y'all!
Today was a great day! I overslept slept in so that I got 9 hours of sleep, enjoyed yummy leftovers for lunch, and cut out of work 2 hours early! I've been relaxing in bed with The City, munching on super sweet red grapes, and enjoying rainy-cloudy sub-80 degree weather! So rare for Texas...
I am also super excited to share an awesome recipe I created Monday evening...
Raw Vegan Baseball Nut Knockoff! Have you seen the commercials for Baskin-Robbin's Flavor of the Month- "Baseball Nut" ice cream? It is vanilla ice cream swirled with raspberries and cashews. I decided to create my own version of this. I didn't have raspberries though, so I used strawberries instead.
Ingredients
1 frozen banana (chopped)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
a few frozen strawberries
1 TBSP chopped raw cashews

Process the banana and vanilla in a food processor and put in a bowl. Process the strawberries and and then stir the strawberries and cashews into the vanilla-banana mix!

This was super good! By the time I got the right lighting it started melting :( I also processed too many strawberries and ate them on the side!

Yummy! I would probably use fresh strawberries rather than frozen next time, but it was fabulous as is. 

And would you rather eat the Baskin-Robbin's Version:

holy saturated fat! and cholesterol!

or the entire serving of my knockoff?

Yeah, I thought so :)

The second delicious thing I made yesterday evening. I found an awesome recipe on Alicia Silverstone's blog, The Kind Life. She found a recipe for Tempeh Enchiladas on someone else's blog and reposted the recipe.

I followed the recipe except instead of flour tortillas I used corn, and instead of tomato sauce I had to use a small amount of marinara because I didn't have plain sauce. Luckily, the marinara we had only had garlic and onion as the spices so no Italian flavor snuck in!

The recipe was simple- about 10-15 minutes prep and 15 minutes in the oven.

I served them up with some steamed broc with garlic pepper.

Check out the inside:

Chewy hearty protein-packed tempeh with spicy tomatoes and onion!

I chowed down on these for lunch today- they were so satisfying!

I think my boyfriend liked them too. He said they were "good," whereas the carrot-rice loaf I made on Monday was "pretty good." He is not as enthusiastic about food as I am haha. I always worry that since he's not excited about food, he doesn't like what I make- but he assures me this is not the case :)

I'm switching things up today and hitting the gym in the evening...it has been too long! I want to make the most of my $60 membership the last month I'm here! 

Questions:

Do you try to healthify your favorite recipes? I definitely do! One of my faves is to make "fried" zucchini with Fiber One breading and baked in the oven.

Do you cook for anyone else but yourself? Do they always like what you make?

Happy Hump Day! We are now on the downward slope to the weekend! 

Buffalo Springs Lake, a Naked Rat, and a Delicious Dinner

Holla! What's up bloggies?
Life has been even busier than usual for me! I have started the processing of cleaning and packing my house, and it's so tedious! We decided to sell/give away all of our furniture and move with the bare minimum of belongings so that we don't have to rent a truck + trailer for our car which would end up costing upwards of $900. Instead, we're getting rid of stuff...and getting the smallest trailer UHaul makes to attach to our car!
As if this wasn't enough to worry about, my landlord is selling the house and I have to pack & keep the house clean at the same time so the Realtor (spell check wanted me to capitalize that) can show it.

I have been reading and commenting though- at the expense of regular posts. I would rather keep up on all of y'all's lives than rush through writing posts of my own!

Anyways, I have also been spending time with friends; this past Friday my boyfriend and I, Colleen and her boyfriend, and another friend drove out to Buffalo Springs Lake.

It was so nice out there! A great way to beat the heat- it definitely felt cooler the closer we got to the water. The boys set up the grill and I set out some yummy things I brought.

I packed cut strawberries, carrot sticks, grapes, and corn on the cob to share with everyone- along with Triscuits and cheese, and celery (which never made it out of the cooler...)
My first plate:

+ carrot sticks :)
I have been eating a little bit of cheese lately... I would say I'm still about 90% vegan though- if anyone was curious! After I (or my boyfriend) finishes the cheese in the fridge though, I probably won't buy any for a while.
Colleen brought marinated veggies and we skewered and grilled them:

and I roasted up some corn with a bit of Earth Balance,

then rubbed it with lime wedges.
Interesting Fact: Did you know that the niacin in corn is bound niacin which means that it is unavailable to us- unless we eat the corn with something alkaline- like lime! The lime turns the niacin in the corn into free niacin. Love. It.

So, limes were had...and we were thus saved from diseases such as pellagra. :)
We sat around the lake drinking a few beers and watching the sun set- the moon was almost full, and it was gorgeous!

It was a wonderful evening!

The following night, one of my co-workers invited Raine and I to a get together at her house. We played Apples to Apples (have you played?) and had a great time- especially with her pet rats!

They were hairless...

Here, one was sneaking queso off a plate of finished nachos... My co-worker had 3 rats! One of them was pregnant and we are considering taking one of the babies...
That was the only picture I took Saturday-ha!

Finally, I want to share a tasty new meal with you all.
This recipe is from the vegetarian cookbook (100% Vegetarian) I bought when I was in Dallas- I don't know how "legal" it is to post this recipe since I did not modify it...but the book was published 20 years ago and the author is Julianne Pickle. Here is the website for her publishing company here. The book is only 7.95 and I would definitely recommend it.
The recipe is for a Carrot-Rice Loaf and some the ingredients include brown rice, shredded carrots, quick oats, green onion...and a couple of other things!

There it is sliced and plated. 

It turned out really well, but it was missing...something. Peas? Sunflower seeds? I served it with another recipe from the book: peanut gravy. I actually just stopped blogging and e-mailed the author to see if I could share this recipe with y'all...let's see what she says!

I hate not being able to share something delicious and nutritious with y'all!

But until I hear back from her...check out the nutrition!

(I halved her recipe so that 1 loaf yielded 2 servings)

PS- it is vegan!

Today I also received a couple of organic summer squashes from a co-worker's garden!

I cut them up into fry shapes and roasted them to serve with my loaf.

Yum!

I went back for seconds and added some crushed red pepper...and a little dollop of ketchup in the background.

I have not prepared a full meal in such a long time it seems. Tomorrow I'm going to make a recipe I found on Alicia Silverstone's blog. Stay tuned!

On a side note, I got 2 e-mails regarding the "what I ate today" portion of my last blog post. They expressed concern that I may not be eating enough-and I was relieved that they did not sound malicious! I did end up having a large bowl of Special K Protein Plus cereal with soymilk after posting that night- and 2 more of Averie's Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (the last of them- so sad). So y'all were right- what I posted was not enough for me that day. But, my day-to-day eats vary quite a bit and some days I will eat much less than other days. Don't worry though- I am not depriving myself of anything and I feel that I eat enough (though not always healthily...) I have been maintaining my weight within 5 lbs for over a year now so I know I'm not under- or over-eating. I thank you for your concern, though!

Here is what I ate today:
Breakfast: 1 banana, 1 gala apple, 1 carrot
Morning Snack: celery sticks
Embarrassing Lunch: Twizzlers, Diet Coke, Bean Salad, and Broccoli (from the cafeteria at work)
Snack: whole wheat crackers
Dinner: Carrot-Rice Loaf with Peanut Gravy, summer squash fries
Potential Dessert: Banana softserve with frozen strawberries and some cashews

and if I'm hungry- I'll eat more!

A comparison to what I ate yesterday...
Breakfast/Snack upon waking up: 2 cups of grapes
Brunch: Indian Food buffet at a restaurant- 2 pieces of naan, spinach curry, lentils, basmati rice, salad, sambar (Indian tomato soup), and a samosa
Afternoon snack: carrot and celery sticks
Dinner: Thomas Everything Bagel Thin, mango pickle, tomato slices, broccoli, Triscuits
Dessert: those new pretzel filled m&ms

And I am always having nibbles and snacks here and there also :) There is usually dark chocolate involved every day! Particularly, Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt...

Questions:
Chocolate or Vanilla? Neither? Both?? I'm definitely a chocolate girl- the darker the better! I went through a phase from ages 5-14 when I despised it though- and would only eat vanilla flavored things!
Favorite Board Game? Mine is definitely Apples to Apples. I also love Boggle, Scrabble, or any word game!

Recipe: Oatmeal-Fruit Gems, and Tag-you're it!

Hi everyone!

I have been absent again... I hang my head in shame...
Vacation life was too good for me and unfortunately, today was my first day back at work. Also known as...catching up on 16 days of loose ends left for me to finish and trying to catch up on other things I missed!

On the bright side, I have totally cleaned up my eats after the fried food extravaganza that occurred during the beginning of my vacation! I would estimate that I have been eating about 60% raw foods most days, and 70-80% raw on good days. I feel great as a result! I reunited with Raine (my boyfriend) yesterday and he could see the difference as well.

Here is an example of what I ate today (no pictures, sorry!)
Breakfast:
1 large banana
2 of Averie's Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

Lunch:
1 head of broccoli, chopped
2 cups of sliced strawberries

Snack:
Sourdough Pretzel nibblers
La Croix

Dinner:
Thomas Everything Bagel Thin
lots of tomato slices
thin slice of cheese
spicy mango relish
raspberries
grapes

I feel satisfied and clean. Do you ever feel clean on the inside when you eat well? I think it was the broc!

I have not been in much of a cooking mood lately either- which is helping me up my  raw veggie intake. I did however, make some delicious baked goodies with my little sister last week! We found them in the vegetarian cookbook I bought, but I modified the recipe a lot so I'm going to post it!
Oatmeal-Fruit Gems

Ingredients:
1 cup mashed bananas (this was 2 bananas for us)
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
1/4 tsp salt
several shakes of cinnamon
1.5 cups quick oats (I was short on quick oats and ended up adding a packet of instant apple-cinnamon oatmeal)

Combine all ingredients but the oats and mix very well. Then, mix in the oats. 


Oil a cookie sheet and form the dough into little mounds on the sheet. Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes.

These came out so well. I think our recipe yielded about 20-25 gems.
We ate them warm with peanut butter smeared on top!

They were a little muffin-y, so I think they'd be great for breakfast!
I loved spending time with my sister and I miss her now that I'm gone!

Devi & Me

Once again, I have been slacking off in the Google Reader department. I have pinpointed the problem, though! I was subscribing to way too many blogs! I was trying to read more than I could handle, and I had to make some executive decisions and press unsubscribe to a few. That sounds so harsh! Don't worry though- I'm pretty sure that I did not cut any of my readers off! It was a lot of celebrity gossip, fashion, and political blogs, along with a few food blogs that I honestly have never commented on and usually just skim.

I have spent this evening catching up though, and was so happy to see that Becca tagged me to do a fill-in-the blank quiz-type thing! That was actually the motivation I needed to blog tonight! Thank you, Becca!
Here we go!

[3 ]...

 ...names I go by

Sonia

Soni Poni

Bab/Babs

 ...places I have been 

India

Mexico

Las Vegas

...favorite drinks

Red Bull

Tequila!

Water

 ...jobs I have had

Camp Counselor

Medical Research Technician

Comcast Tech Support

...tv shows I watch

Seinfeld

Gossip Girl

The Hills

 ...places I would like to visit

Egypt

Russia

The Netherlands

...favorite retro tv shows

I Love Lucy

Bewitched

Gidget

...places I have lived

India

Illinois

Texas

...favorite dishes

Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Salads

Chips & Salsa (can that count as a dish, pretty please?)

(aaaand.... insert anything my mom cooks here)

...things I am looking forward to

actually being in Charleston- not the moving part

Grad school!

Future road trips to Chicago

...people I am tagging

Caronae
Priyanka
Kendall

Holla back!

PS- Check out this amazing deal I got on a pair of jeans last week...

And if that wasn't good enough... they were 55% off of that price! Everything at Ann Taylor Loft was 40% off sale items and I had an additional 15% off coupon. what up.

Question:
Do you hunt for sales or do you pay full price for clothing? I rarely buy anything that isn't on sale these days! Sometimes that method backfires though and I'll buy something just because it's on sale...and then never wear it. Does that happen to you?

Monster Post: Art Trail, Charleston Visit 2, Too Much Fried Food, and Lifetime Fitness

Helllllooooo!

Oh how I have missed you all! I finally have some free time at home, and wanted to share with you what I’ve been up to before I tackle this:

gulp
I'm kidding :) I am looking forward to catching up!


Let’s rewind to last Friday, when I was still in Lubbock! My boyfriend and I went to the Art Trails which is…. One of the places we visited-The Foundation- had paints and brushes out for everyone to use and paint on the walls. I made a little design on a post:

it says, <3 Raine + Sonia at the bottom. I have always referred by my boyfriend as "my boyfriend," so I guess this is his official introduction- his name is Raine! 
We saw some adorable kids painting adorable pictures on our way out...

too cute.


We had fun but it was a semi-sad night since I was leaving for Plano, TX the morning after. I took off for the Dallas area early in the morning and my family met me at the airport. I was in Plano for 2 days, then Monday morning, my mom, sister, and I flew to St. Louis Missouri to begin our journey back to Charleston! Charleston, IL is so tiny that there isn’t an airport so we flew in to St. Louis and rented a car to drive there (about 2.5 hours away).
We were exhausted by the time we arrived- but had an appointment to check out an apartment the moment we got to Charleston at 11am. The apartment was just okay… we checked into our hotel and headed to Eastern IL campus to meet a professor afterwards. The campus was gorgeous in the summertime!

There were flowers and greenery everywhere and the temperature was in the low 70s- a wonderful change from Texas heat! Please excuse my tired eyes in these pics; by this time we had been up for almost 12 hours-from waking up at 3am to get ready and drive to the airport an hour away to make a 6am flight!

on a bench in the center of campus

with my sister

in front of the Student Union building- there is a Greek place inside! Looking forward to that...

In the Student Union

We had 2 more appointments to look at housing after walking around campus for a while, but I didn’t really like any of the places I looked at.

The following morning, we had another appointment and I found it. The perfect house! It’s actually 3 apartments in a house- but it is in a beautiful- quiet!- neighborhood about 6 blocks from campus.

What do you think? We have the entire lower level, minus a chunk of the right side, which contains a community laundry area and the stairs to the upstairs apartments. I love it! I am so excited about moving into this house and most of all, decorating J I called my boyfriend while I did a happy dance about finding a house and he is super excited also.

I signed a lease right away and we had the rest of the day to do as we pleased. We decided to check out Champaign-Urbana, which is where U of I is. We went to Panera Bread and I had a delicious lunch of black bean soup and a salad.

I hadn’t been there in such a long time- it was wonderful! We also scoped out the area for an Indian grocery store which we also found.

Wednesday morning was our last day in Charleston, but we really didn’t have much to do so we left early for St. Louis and decided to check out the arch.

it's hard to take a picture while moving on a highway! This was take 9...

We tried to take pictures with the arch itself, but that was hard too.

hello slanted me 

There was a great museum under the arch about Lewis and Clark’s expedition and we went there as well.

A bear!

We flew back to Dallas that evening and arrived home very late- we were exhausted!

(insert lots of zzzzzz's)

Thursday morning, we had lots of fun stuff planned: shopping at Nordstroms, lunch at Chipotle, pedicures, and a stop to Half Price Books- my personal mecca J

At Nordstroms I picked up some amazing Coach boots (necessary for the cold IL winters, right?!) and an adorable purse:

Then, we hit up Chipotle for lunch. My mom and sis had never been there, and I hadn’t been in about 8 years. I got a Burrito Bowl minus the tortilla and it was as yum as I remember it being :) Sadly, I cannot find the picture!

We followed lunch with pedicures- I got mine French tipped:

And then went to Half Price Books. I couldn’t get as many books as I usually do since I barely have room for all of the clothes I’ve bought so far..but here is what I did get!

I have already started My Antonia and it’s great so far- the girl at the store said she was an English major and that she hated it, but I beg to differ- humph! I didn’t even ask her for her opinion.

I am really excited about this cookbook that I got also:

I know it’s easy to look up recipes online and that’s the reason I never buy cookbooks, but this had so many unique recipes that I had to buy it. My sister and I are trying a recipe this afternoon :) The book is actually vegan, besides honey in a recipe or two. 

Unfortunately, I have been eating too many fried foods lately. This is the stuff I grew up eating, but for some reason, I was never very conscious of eating so many fried things. There has been pani puri, which is a puffed up fried crispy cracker-like thing that you fill with sprouts, garbanzo beans, and potato, then dip into a salty broth. 

Here are the puffs:

and the filling:

all filled up:

pre-dip:

post-dip:

and then you pretty much stuff the entire thing in your mouth... it's delicious!

Then we had bhel , which is puffed rice, fried strips of chickpea batter, and chutney, mixed with cilantro, onion, and potato

The chutneys were cilantro chutney and a tamarind-date chutney. Spicy, but good.

We also went to a restaurant in Irving that specializes in dosa which is a huge crepe:

stuffed with spiced potato, onion, and peas:

um, coconut water balances it out, right?

Oddly, there was a DJ at the restaurant, and I requested an oldie I used to dance to when I was about 4 or 5 years old. There I am at the end! My sister requested Jai Ho.

After eating all of these things… I have been craving fresh fruits, vegetables, and lots of water. My family is back to work this week, and my sister is at day camp, so I am on my own for meals during the day. I have lots of salads and big bowls of fruit planned for my future!

I also went to Lifetime Fitness, a health club, with my family yesterday and got a one week pass. This is by far the best gym I’ve ever been to. There are complimentary towels, a gorgeous locker room, and rows upon rows of every cardio machine you could imagine. There is also a huge weight machine area, as well as 2 swimming pools, basketballs courts, rock climbing, and a sauna. I plan on taking full advantage of everything I can during this week and I’ll definitely give y’all a review! I’m planning on getting some great workouts in so I can look fab for my boyfriend when he picks me up from the airport next Monday ;) I miss him so much!

Oof this post is enormous! Anyone still reading??

Questions:

Do you eat fried foods? If you do, what are your favorite things to eat? Mine are definitely junky Indian foods…but after this past week I don't foresee any fried goodies in my future.

What is the biggest move you’ve ever made? Distance-wise, or “big” in the sense of importance- I’d love to know!

PS- my cat at home, Bosco, says hi!