hummus, goat cheese, artichokes, black olives, and romaine on toasted bread.

I hope I remember to make this again. Happy New Year! It’s gonna be a big one.

This recent 80 degree weather has me craving summery meals.

Alexia chipotle sweet potato fries, portobellos marinated in the usual: olive oil, braggs liquid aminos, balsamic, liquid smoke and garlic.

and crazy “assparagus”, as Ian calls it. Topped with evoo, parm, salt and pepper. everything baked at 375 for about 15-20 min.

berries for dessert!

(just a can of fire roasted tomatoes , 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried italian seasoning, 4 cloves garlic, a pinch of crushed red pepper, and pepper to taste and pureed in blender or food processor.)

2. This bird lovin’ dog

3. This workout

4. The return of green smoothies (it’s finally warm enough!)

spinach, banana, kiwi, coconut almond milk, flax seed and brown rice protein powder

5. This wine

6. and this school

Go Bobcats!

and lots of stretching in between.

After this I ran a mile. I have been so ADD with my work outs lately. I am getting SO bored with all of them. Running, swimming, yoga, body rock…I’ve been trying everything!  Help. I think it has to do a lot with just being tired after work, but I will be working for the next 50 years so it’s time to get over that.

Rainy Saturday morning banana bread and cappuccino. Heavenly.

Adapted from Gingerbread Bagels

•1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 very ripe, mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream ( I used tofutti brand)

Mix first 4 ingredients in bowl. Melt coconut oil and mix with sugar. Add oil and sugar to dry mixture, mixing well. Add applesauce and extracts. Add bananas, sour cream, and coconut. Pour combined mixture into greased loaf pan (9 x 5) and bake at 325 for 1 hour 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in loaf pan before slicing. Enjoy! Happy Saturday!

Sunday night dinner in 5 minutes.

Tortellini Soup:
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth plus 2-3 cups water
1 package refrigerated tortellini (I used buitoni 3 cheese whole wheat)
10 oz spinach (fresh or frozen)
salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder to taste

I made this for Ian 3 years ago when I was in college and I remember it being really good (and it is), and easy, but for some reason I never made it again until tonight. I love throw everything in a pot, heat and eat dinners.

This weekend I decided to start over. I planned meals and I have hit the gym 3 days in a row, what?

1. red curry: 1 can light coconut milk, 3 tbsp red thai curry powder, baked tofu, zucchini, yellow squash,and red pepper over brown rice.

I busted out my brand spankin’ new tofu press. Hey rather large spaghetti squash, I see you in my future.

Work day snackage:

spicy baked chickpeas

Ian had the day off, and when I got home from work he had a nice little appetizer display ready for me.

bye cold, hello vegetables.

Dinner #2: greek mac n cheese

with kalamata olives, havarti dill, feta and spinach

…and some Winan’s chocolates for dessert. One of our patients brought all the therapists a box of chocolate since today was his last day of therapy. How sweet is that?

Coming soon:

3. zucchini boats

4. reubens

the stuff mornings are made of:

cocojo fresh from the Keurig!

medium sized coffee + large mug sized hot chocolate=a perfectly filled mug of cocojo from my Keurig

and oatmeal. I reeeeeally love oatmeal. Hot, milky, sweet oatmeal.

My new obsession: quick oats, lots of almond milk, lots of cinnamon, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a big dollop of cookie butter! Mmmmm. Trader Joe’s cookie butter to be exact.    Go get some now.

Now I want oatmeal scotchies.

my mom got it. ian got it. i got it. my brother has it. who’s next?

hopefully not you.

I REALLLLLY REALLY really didn’t want to take off work today, but it was definitely in the best interest for me and my patients. Yesterday I saw inpatient’s with a face mask on, but you can’t really do that with children.

Olive was a good nurse today.

She was very concerned.

She let me sleep in bed til 10, when I started getting hungry and made myself a delicious bowl of oatmeal. The rest of my intake today included hot tea and hershey kisses. Those are the only things that sound good right now.

We haven’t moved far today.

our hike, not so much. Ian and I were both feeling a little under the weather, but wanted to get out of the house to do something. I looked up a nearby “hiking” trail and we persuaded Olive to join us.

I packed us pesto, roasted red pepper, tofurkey, cucumber and cheese sandwiches and a Yuengling for fun!

We parked and ate our lunch in front the “waterfalls”.

We walked  for 2 minutes, hit a no trespassing sign and walked back to our car .

Dinner made up for the crappy hike.

tzatziki and carrot sticks

fennel, almond, olive, fig and grape salad

mushroom gruyere tart (Ian said this was the best thing I have ever made!), inspired by a recipe Ian’s mom sent me a year ago but I could not find it anywhere! Google search to the rescue.

It is pretty simple to make.

Dough=1 refridgerate pie crust, folded over, brushed with egg wash

Mushroom filling:

• 12 oz wild mushrooms, sliced
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• heaping tbsp of chopped fresh thyme (would have been good with rosemary too)
• ~tbsp olive oasis olive oil
• s and p to taste
• béchamel sauce:
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1  cup warm milk
• 4 oz grated gruyere cheese
• * I didn’t end up putting in all of the sauce, just about 3/4 of it*

and for dessert….

inspired vegan chocolate mousse,  made with silken tofu, semisweet chocolate, agave nectar/maple syrup, unsweetened cocoa powder,  vanilla and a splash of almond milk, sprinkled with raspberries and sugar. I was weirded out at first because of the tofu,  and I thought I could taste it, but it still tasted good. Ian said he LOVED it. (I didn’t tell him there was tofu in it until the very end). He said he wants me to make it again.

Happy NEW YEAR!