Crepes Cake and Caramel....oh and Fish.

Once again my craving has been satisfied, along with the rest of the families.  Lol.  After baking the cake the other day that was eatien in less than 24 hours (actually like 2 hours) I made another which came out just as good and was eaten just a quickly.  Lol  I did as planned and did a 2 layer cake this time with the bottom layer frosted with homemade caramel, the cocoa glaze then a layer of berries.  It was then topped with the cocoa glaze and more berries.  It came out much better this time and I have to say I was pretty pleased with myself, although I wont go so far as to say I'm a baking connoisseur just yet.  Lol

Cooking Caramel

Bottom Layer

Finished Cake

The caramel recipe was really simple and took all of maybe 10 minutes.  The downside is that it wasn't as smooth as I wanted it to be due to the turbinado sugar.  I don't know a workaround for this yet but I'm going to definitely find one.  You could really taste the difference much once it was put on the cake, but I'm striving for perfection here people.  Lol

I think I mentioned the other day how badly I had been wanting crepes and I found a vegan recipe HERE.  The first one that I made ended up being a little too thick for me so I added a bit more soy milk (I should have measured it..UGH) and let it chill for an extra half hour and then they came out perfect.  Who knew!!!  I just topped them with a berry compote that I made that tasted similar to a strawberry syrup and it was extremely tasty.  I'm actually wanting more today, but I'll refrain.   Lol

Finished Crepe

Berry Compote w/Crepe YUM!!

I'm really looking forward to making these more often and of course I'll play around with the recipe, you know how I love to do that.  Lol

For dinner we ended up having Tilapia and a Porcini Mushroom Risotto.  I found the Risotto (Yes it came from a box!!!)  at Whole.Foods and was happy to find there were no animal products in it.  HOORAY! It was surprisingly tasty so I'm sure we'll be buying that more often.  I made a seasoned batter for the fish and  since we were out of Panko I ended up using these Quinoa Flakes that we had.  Hey...I work with what I got.  Lol  I don't really like frying and it's not something I do often AT ALL but I was in the mood for fried fish so I gave in and was happy with the results.  Delicous!!!

Fish frying with just a TINY bit of oil

Tilapia and Porcini Risotto

Well, now that I've made myself hungry....I'm going to go seek out some breakfast so that's a wrap!!  Enjoy the week all and I'll be back at you all later. 

Peace and Blessings!!!!!

Dinner and Dessert....

I really surprised myself this evening.  I made a fabulous dessert and dessert isn't even my forte.  I guess it's not THAT difficult if you follow a recipe, but for some reason I was always intimidated when it came to baking.  It took a few bad experiences for me to just say forget it and hang it up all together.  I'm starting to feel encouraged, especially after my husband just told me that I made the greatest dessert he's ever had and said "My tummy is doing a happy dance."  And then I just about fell out when he said he needed the Yo Gabba Gabba suit so he could dance around like Dj Lance so he could do the party in my tummy dance.  WOW!!!  Lol. 

I tried my hand at baking and used this recipe to make a chocolate cake and added a little bit of a spin to it.  I added some raspberries to the glaze and boiled it so the raspberry flavor could be absorbed in the cocoa.  I added caramel to the cake and then added fresh raspberries and blackberries.  So we had the cake with vegan vanilla ice cream and a tiny bit of mint and it was DELICIOUS!!!!.  I mean really.  The cake was pretty simple and very good.  I of course substituted the flour and the sugar for agave honey, but followed the recipe for the mix pretty much to the letter. 

I was a little disappointed because when I flipped my cake some of it stuck to the pan.  What I ended up doing was scraping out the cake the was stuck to the pan and  pressing it into a tiny dessert bowl, cutting up berries, adding some caramel and pressing another layer of cake on top and then adding chocolate sauce and ice cream.  This was a definite winner and the end product:

Cake on the bottom with caramel, strawberries and chocolate glaze

Top layer of cake with berries...

Topped with vegan vanilla ice cream and mint.  YUM!!

Funny that I would start with the dessert...Lol 

I had to satisfy my Tuna craving so we had Ahi Tuna again with a ginger and sesame sauce and my new favorite veggie asparagus.  I also had NEVER cooked polenta before and wanted some really bad so I decided to cook that.  It was actually pretty good but I felt it was a little to heavy for the fish and decided to cook a Coconut and cashew basmati rice.  It had a GREAT spiciness to it and it went really well with the tuna.  But I still wanted the polenta so I served both.  I know I know....don't even say it.  I know it was a bit much, but it was soooo good.  

I just roasted the asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Tasty!

Ready for the oven

Finished plating and fresh raspberry and blackberry lemonade

Closer pic.  It needs a garnish and something red...still great tasting though

And then the actual cake....The family crushed it.  There's like NOTHING left but crumbs. Lol.  They're all asking me to make another one tomorrow. 

Gotta work on my decorating Lol  Next time I'll strain out the berry seeds

SOOOOO GOOD!!!!! 

I think tomorrow I'll do the cake with caramel and chocolate between two layers and hope that they don't stick this time.  Oh yeah....My fast is over by the way.  It lasted all of 12 hours.  LOL.  My greed has definitely overpowered my discipline.  Oh well.  Better luck next time right.  Lol

So that's it for me people.  Hope you all are enjoying your weekend.  

Peace and Blessings till next time......

FOOD...Food..food.....

I remember now why we got rid of TV and Cable.  Up until about a month ago we haven't had cable in almost 2 years I think.  We decided to just watch movies and shows on netflix and stop spending so much of our day in front of the TV.  We decided that we'd get cable again for the summer and I'm thinking it was a mistake.

I'm hooked....

I have been once again obsessed by HGTV and my new love...The Food network.  Every time there's a commercial I'm flipping back and forth between the two channels.  Lol  I love Food network star and was thinking to myself, I'd LOVE to go on that show.  They need to do a vegan one so I don't have to worry about making meals with dairy or meat.  Lol  Probably not gonna happen.  People come up with the MOST creative meals and I find myself thinking "I'd like to try that... "  Some of it looks sooo good and the flavor combinations have my mouth watering.  I could literally sit here all day for days and watch these two channels.  Talk about addicting.

So I was watching Food network star and everyone was raving about one of the finalists, Mary Beth Albright's meat loaf recipe.  This was a  food that I LOVED and probably could have eatien weekly (or more) when I ate meat.  So I found the recipe and I'm going to give it a try and Veganize it.  Is Veganize a word?   Lol.  It's funny because it seems like whenever I'm trying to fast I end up wanting to try out different recipes.  I'm thinking it's probably not a good idea to fast and watch food network because I'm REALLY hungry.  Lol.  My husband is doing a raw food fast and says I'm torturing him by having him watch Giada at Home.  Lol.  He doesn't even like Mayo or raw fish but he's saying how good this sandwich looks that she's making.  Hilarious!!!  Day 1 may be a fail!!!  Lol Lets see if we make it.

Stay tuned for day 2.  Lol  Peace and Blessings.....

All about the color.....

I decided to try out a new brand of nail polish.  I usually use OPI but have a few other brands that I use every once in awhile.  I was in the store the other day and saw that Revlon had this top speed (dries in 60 seconds) nail polish with pretty bright and fun colors.  I decided to give them a try.

The nails on my hands don't grow much; they get to a certain length and chip and peal.  I've tried everything and nothing I can do, short of getting fake nails will help them grow.  I gave up on fake nails years ago.  So with my nails being so short I usually will give myself a french manicure, which I've gotten pretty good at doing, or wear clear polish.  The colors I bought were so cute and after I polished my toes I decided to do my fingernails also.  They didn't turn out so bad.  Because the color dries so quick I'll be changing the color all week.  With that being said here are the fun colors I chose:

1. Mondays Color Cherries in the Snow

2. Tuesdays Color Stormy

3. Wednesdays Color Orchid

4. Thursdays Color Orchid

5. Fridays Color Craving Coral

6. Saturdays Color Electric

7. Sundays Color Black Star

8. All the Colors

So this was my experiment with color.  I think I may start painting the nails on my hands on a regular basis now since I love most of these colors.  Now I'm wanting to go on a polish shopping rampage.  Lol  My favorites were pics 1, 2, 5, and 7.  I realize I don't really care for the pale colors so much, it doesn't go well with my skin tone and for some reason they just look a little dull to me.  The Black Star had a bit of a silver tint to it that I really loved.  I'll probably be wearing this one for the remainder of the week.  The Yellow I want to just toss in the trash and I doubt I'll ever wear it again.  It actually looked cute on my girlies hands so I'll probably just give it to her since she's decided that she now likes her nails done.  YEAY!!  Maybe she's turning the corner from tom boyishness.  Lol. 

Alright, that's it for me people. Wishing you all a happy Monday and a great week. Lol

Food of course....

It always seems that when I don't blog for a moment I'm always inspired to blog by good food. I've been craving Ahi Tuna for awhile and we haven't bought it because its always so freaking expensive.  I finally broke down and bought some yesterday for today's dinner and OH MY GOODNESS.  I need to really become a chef because I amaze even myself sometimes.

I love my fish sometimes with a little bit of sweetness to it and tried something a little different.  I'm not going to tell what I used in the event that I break down and write a cook book.  Lol   I will say that it was probably the best Tuna I've ever made.  It was perfect.

We've been doing a pretty good job cutting down on our carbohydrates.  We were overdosing on them daily multiple times a day so I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself.  There are days where I want to just indulge in a whole loaf of bread all by myself, OD on potatoes, rice AND pasta....in the same meal.  Lol  Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit.  JUST A LITTLE.

So our dinner this evening was Ahi Tuna, Steamed broccoli, with Strawberries, Pineapple, and Nectarines.  It was actually pretty filling not to mention delicious.  I could probably eat fruit all summer long.  Often times when the weather is warm I have to eat really light because my stomach will begin to feel a little queasy.  I could probably do a soup, salad and fruit diet all summer and be cool.  I had the best cherries and cantaloupe the other day.  Aly posted a recipe for drunken melon balls on her face book page and I'm so trying these, minus the liquor of course. 

Anyway pictures of dinner......

Cooking tuna

Spices added

Finished meal

So there you have it.  Tonight's dinner.  It was so good that the little one, with his 5 year old picky self actually ate it and liked it.  He even said he'd eat some tomorrow for dinner.  We may have a new food that we can add to the few foods we can actually get him to eat.  HOORAY!!!!  Victory for Mommy.  Lol

Alright...that's it for me people.  Peace and Blessings until next time.......

Workout day 1....

My husbands little cousin Korey has always been in great shape since I've met her about 4 years ago. She says she was heavier, but I don't recall.  She's been training for some track circut and I haven't seen her in about a year.  I happened to see a video on FB that she did working out and was like WOW.  She had mentioned awhile back that she was going to start training people and had considered having her train me but then never followed through.  After seeing the video I was definitely motivated and decided let me give her a call and set something up. 

So today I had my first workout with her and let me just say it was intense.  Not anything like in the video because that would truly kill me.  I did better than I thought I would  but know that I have still  such a long way to go.  I was sweating and huffing and puffing like crazy.  She took my measurements the other day...which I wont even tell you about, but I may post some before and after pictures.  I'm giving myself 4 to 6 weeks to start seeing results and I have to say I'm really excited.  I'll keep you guys updated on my progress provided I don't die from pain and exhaustion in the mean time. 

Have a good weekend people.  Peace and Blessings.

Inspiration....

So I was tweeting (I was going to say twittering until I was schooled on the correct useage of the word Lol) with a fellow blogger/tweeter Jameil last week and she asked me about different foods I always have now that I didn't have before going vegan.  I think Jameil may love food as much as I do.  Lol  First let me say I don't technically consider myself vegan since I still eat tuna and salmon....but I'm headed in that direction.

Her question got me to really begin thinking about my food journey and all the ups and downs that come along with changing your diet in such a way.  It's funny because when people found out I was vegetarian I would always get the same response..."so you only eat fruit and vegetables."  I think that's so hilarious.  I think people equate VEG with vegetables and think that every thing else is off limits.  This is so far from the truth.

I've always, even when I was little, loved fruits, vegetables and grains so when I eliminated meat from my diet it wasn't a huge adjustment.  Around the age of 19 or 20 I gave up beef.  There were a few times where I would indulge (anytime I went to Benihana) but for the most part only ate chicken and turkey which I eventually gave up in 2009.  Shortly after I stopped eating dairy, which was a little more difficult since I LOVED everything dairy.  I would use it in excess and am surprised I don't have high cholesterol or heart problems as a result. I loved it so much that even though it would kill my stomach I would still indulge and pay for it seriously later.  Crazy right?  My daughter has severe allergies and eczema and we've noticed that she's has significantly less trouble with them after giving up dairy.  It's funny how changing your diet in small ways can impact your health in such a way. 

I've always enjoyed honey.  I would eat in on my toast, and love it in my tea.  It wasn't until recently that I learned about Blue Agave honey and began to use that and it's become a staple in our house.  I've heard recently that it's not too much better than actual sugar, so I'll have to do a little more research and find an alternative.  But in the meantime I'll stick with the Agave as my sweetener.  I used to always use Turbinado or raw sugar, but we've kind of steered away from using that also.

I wanted to get away from using all purpose white flour and began using Spelt which is a wheat flour that's supposed to have a lower percentage of carbohydrates and fat.  I also read somewhere that all purpose flour has a negative impact on joints and since I'm having arthritis issues I thought it best to remove this from my diet. Needless to say Spelt flour is also a staple in our house.

So here is a list of foods that we keep on hand or cook with frequently:

Agave
Spelt
Quinoa pasta
Carob powder
Dayia Cheese shreds
Morning star meat crumbles/burgers/chicken strips & patties and bacon
Coconut oil
Chickpeas
Miso
Vegetable Broth
Follow your heart Vegan sour cream
Silk
Almond milk
Nayonaise (vegan mayo)
Vegan
Earth Balance dairy free butter
EnerG egg replacer
SOdelicious Vegan ice cream (YUM)
and of course there's always fresh fruit and veggies.  :) 

There are other things but this is all I can really come up with at the moment without running into the kitchen.  We eat a lot of the same meals we did before we just substitute or omit the meat from the recipe all together.  I'm learning a lot about how my body responds to certain foods I eat.  I've noticed how I feel drained and sluggish when eating certain foods or how I feel hungry shortly after eating others down to what foods give me energy and don't have me feening for like a crack head an hour later.

I was also asked what foods I miss since changing my diet.  Even though it hasn't been too difficult, there are days when I think about fried chicken, or when we're at the families for the holidays and I'm tempted to eat a piece of turkey and dressing.  My dressing was the BOMB!!!  And baked macaroni and cheese or ravioli!!!  I have been dying for some ravioli for months and am starting to think I'm going to have to break down and buy a pasta maker and make my own.  Oh and let me not forget to mention French toast. There's a place here in CO called the Egg & I and I swear they had the best french toast I've ever tasted.  I tried making a vegan french toast and.....lets just say it didn't go over too well.  Just GROSS!  There's somethings that you just cant alter and make them taste good no matter how hard you try.   I used to LOVE cheese eggs...so much so that several months after I gave them up decided to try some.  Um...yeah...that didn't go over well either. They almost came right back up.  I felt sick for hours after and like I was on the verge of losing my lunch.  I haven't craved them sense. UGH!!! 

So there you have it.  A little bit about my food journey.  What we do currently works for us and for our family minus the little one and the 20 yr old.  The 20 year old will not succumb to the evils of our diet. Lol.  He's a funny character.  The little one is picky anyway and getting him to eat food PERIOD is a challenge.  If someone can help me overcome that little hurdle I'll be a happy person.

That's it for me for now.  Back at you all later and in the mean time.....Peace and Blessings.