Salt & Humor

During my cleanse I am realizing some things that I will be changing.  While I can’t see myself completely giving up coffee, sugar and bread (gluten).  I will most certainly be reducing my intake of these food.  While I am giving it my best effort to stick to these dietary exclusions during my cleanse I realize just how darn hard that is.  I made veggie sushi one night and only afterwards did I think to check some labels! Wheat in the soy sauce and sugar in the Sriratcha!!

SERIOUSLY!

Some meals I think I pulled off pretty good.  I wasn’t too into taking photos because salads get a little boring after a while.  I made lentil, bean and sunflower sprouts.  They were great in salads and wraps. 

Salad with avocado, lentil sprouts and tahini dressing with

brown rice wrap of hummus, sweet potato and marinated tempeh

Each day I had 1-2 servings of green juice. Mine usually consisted of cucumber, celery, romaine, kale/collards or dandelion greens, green apple and ginger.

Also, daily exercise, about 8 hours of sleep, meditating, dry brushing and journaling have been daily tasks.  While this has been what I have been up to, I realized how little time left I have had to read, draw, paint, sew, talk on the phone, clean, play or BLOG.  I have been getting up at 5:30 to have ensure enough time to meditate, dry brush, make lunch and juice before work.  It has been quite the project and adventure.  I realized that it isn’t all that bad to get up at that time and if I can make it a habbit I want to start exercising at that time rather than after work.  The chances of getting it done after work are about 50/50.  This is a stretch but I would LOVE if I would make it happen.  So this is my goal.  I also realized that my heart just isn’t into blogging like it used to be.  I have so many other things that I need to be focussing on right now.  So as I am not sure what this might mean for Salt & Humor, I do think it is time for a BREAK.

I wanted to leave you with a happy accident recipe for a salad I made last night and the recommendation of Kris Carr’s book; Crazy Sexy Diet. I am really glad that I came upon this book.

WILD SALAD

sliced red cabbage

sliced fennel bulb

chopped celery

chopped green onion

very lightly steamed broccoli, chopped

sliced almonds

raisins

chopped cilantro

toasted sesame seeds

poppy seeds

Dressing: tahini, apple cider vinegar, salt, garlic, and stevia

As you know, when it comes to providing recipes I am a bit vague.  Those are the ingredients I used, as for the measurements, uh, I just go with it.  I can say this though, please try this salad! It was fabulous!!

XOXO

Without a doubt, one of my favorite breakfast meals is eggs benedict.  This was a traditional Christmas morning meal in my home and a favorite to order out. Sometimes Jason and I use the excuse that Sunday morning is reason enough to make this wonderful meal. Well,  I made it a whole new way last Sunday. 

This benedict consisted of an english muffin, tempeh bacon, tofu simmered in veggie broth, and hollandaise sauce, topped with salt, pepper and paprika.  The hollandaise sauce was a recipe from Vegan Brunch and the salt was Kala Namak from The Meadow.  I read in Vegan Brunch that this salt is fabulous to use for tofu scrambles to really bring out the sulfur flavor we are used to from eggs. How true this is! While, at the store, I sampled the salt and was amazed at how much the taste is reminiscent of hard boiled eggs.  I know this all sounds crazy but it’s true.

The Meadow is such a fun store! So many salts from all over the world, a whole wall dedicated to specialty chocolates and a table in the center of the room full of beautiful flowers.

I must say, the salt did complete the meal.  I will definitely be making this recipe again.

Do you like eggs benedict?

A little while ago I made crock cheese from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.

I highly recommend this recipe! I have brown rice miso, which I think might be a little strong.  At first I wasn’t so sure of the taste of the cheese, but 1-2 weeks later it got even better.  Some things we just have to be patient for.  I used it as a cheese spread and as a dip.

wheat wrap, crock cheese, steamed collard green, sweet potato, adzuki beans, avocado and grilled tempeh

Friends, please try this cheese.  It was stellar and made my wrap CRAY-ZAY good!

That’s a wrap!!

I have too much to blog about and I think I have officially fallen behind.  I randomly took some fun photos over the last three weeks but certainly never got around to blogging about it.  I have no idea where time goes.  No, honestly, I really don’t.  It seemed I was anxious for the Holidays and family to visit and now as I type this, it has come and gone. Gal! I will try to get some of these photos organized and get to posting.  For now I just want to share a bit.  Have a lot to get done tonight, so I’m making it quick.

It is safe to say that my dinner tonight was EPIC! I love the way something simple can end up being amazing!

My favorite masaged kale salad with avocado and tahini, steamed tempeh with dijon mustard sauce and chayote squash. Why on earth have I never tried chayote squash before!?! I prepared it with this recipe and am hooked!!

I had a great Christmas with my brother and his fiance. <3 I miss them already!!

A while ago I cooked a buttercup squash and discovered that two out of the three kitties liked it.  I wasn’t actually planning to give them some because if you know one thing about cats, it is that they are finicky eaters.  Well, when I took it out of the oven and was scraping away thee skin, Yoshi and Choopey were at my feet just staring up at me, begging.  So, I put some in their dishes and was amazed at what I saw…

Little Yoch actually had seconds!

I know I have talked about how much I like massaged kale but I must tell you at least one more time.  I made this one with avocado, lemon and salt.  I promise you, it is fabulous

The combination of this dinner is one I might just have to duplicate the exact same way.  Yup, it was that good.  Avocado-massaged kale salad+ buttercup squash with tahini+ tempeh= perfect.

You know how I talked about kitties always wanting to get in the photos, well it didn’t fail this morning.

I almost forgot to mention the tasty zucchini muffins I made from ED&BV.  This morning I toasted them under the broiler in the oven. Let me just tell you about a really rad memories real quick.  My mom used to make the most fabulous sourdough biscuits (one of the best foods I have had in my whole life) and we would toast them in the oven this way.  Told you it would be real quick.  Have a great night

Today I picked up wild, local chanterelle mushrooms.  This would be our first time trying them and I am so glad we did.  I had a new tempeh to fix and thought I would go with the flavor of it and make a curry dish.

sweet onions, garlic, zucchini, green beans, tempeh, curry powder, chanterelle mushrooms, lite coconut milk and  sriracha

Served with baked kabocha squash and brown rice

It is safe to say that I was proud of dinner tonight, just saying.  I mean really, it all went together so perfectly.  I am even over the moon that Jason enjoyed it as well. In fact, I was too hungry and anxious to take the time and take better photos.  I was a bit disappointed with what I had on my camera when I sat down to post this.  All I know is, lunch will be stellar tomorrow!

Also, in great food news, have you had a persimmon yet!?! I fell in love with these little guys last year.  I have been waiting for them for a few weeks now and finally saw some Saturday.

“I think I love you fuyu.”

Did you enter the GIVEAWAY?

Well, two wonderful food discoveries for me over the last year would be tempeh and massaged kale.  Yes, I have heard of kale but it’s not like I was really eating it.  When I did, I think I only put it into smoothies.  Well, one day I discovered massaged kale.  Crazy right?

Massaged Kale

I start with a bowl of rinsed kale pieces

Next, add salt. (hopefully sea salt)

Then add lemon or lime juice. (I used 1/2 of a lime.)

Lastly, massage the kale.  I mean use your hands and mix and squeeze. If you let it sit for a few minutes it breaks down even more.

Then add your topping and dressing.  I recommend using less dressing than usual because of the tangy juice.

This salad was topped with tempeh, marinated in dijon mustard, olive oil and basalmic vinegar, purple bell peppers and tomatoes.  Which brings me to my next favorite discovery, TEMPEH!  If you have followed this crazy blog for a while, you may have noticed it pop up from time to time.  I LOVE the stuff.

I added some tahini sauce for my dressing.  I was at Trader Joe’s the other day looking for tahini, which I discovered they DO NOT have.  Will have to make a seperate trip, gal! However, they do have tahini sauce.

Well, this stuff is WONDERFUL! The ingredients are tahini, lemon and garlic.  It is like whipped tahini goodness!  Is it too late to mention that another favorite food would be tahini.?  Anyways, do get to your nearest Trader Joes and get some of this stuff.  I could practically eat it by the spoonful.

How about you, any new foods lately?  What is a favorite food discovery you have had?

Wow! I must say, I really love salsa!  Lucky for me, Jason enjoys making it.  Lately, he has been using red onion, which just so happened one night when that was all we had.  Now, I think I might like it better with red onion.

Yesterday, the weather was very mild.  I went for a bike ride earlier in the day and I don’t even think it got up to 70.  
I packed my bike to the Spring Water Corridor trail.  The weather was really nice for the ride.  I am very lucky to live near such a nice bike path.

These wild sweet peas are one of my favorites.  They really get your attention.

Leave it to me to spy a sweet kitty off in the grass.  I stopped to take a closer look and it immediately came to say hi.  It was a very friendly kitty.  Silly thing tried to follow after me when I started to pedal away.

Of course I was crazy hungry for lunch when I got home.  I quickly made some miso and lime tempeh and topped it over a salad with quinoa.  For a salad dressing, I used Jason’s salsa.

Our garden this year seems to be a little behind as far as the “season” might go.  We had a very cool and wet Spring here.  The tomatoes and peppers are looking pretty sad.  So, imagine my excitement when I saw this yesterday!

Yahoo!

We were going to make fish tacos for dinner last night and so I made a black bean and couscous salad to go with it.  Jason worked later than I realized so we will make the tacos tonight.  So, I had some of the salad with corn tortillas for dinner. The salad was: Israeli couscous, black beans, raw corn, green bell pepper, green onion, tomato, cilantro, jalapeno and avocado.  The dressing was lime juice, avocado oil and honey.

kjjjjjjjjjjjj ( kitty on keyboard) “GALL!!”

Have a great Sunday night.  I shall be back with fish taco details and a guest post from Jason about rhubarb soon.

This tulip seems to be out pretty early this year.  Oh, well, I am not complaining.  Tulips are for sure, one of my favorite flowers.

I have a few random eats to catch up on. Just haven’t been making fun meals and taking good photos lately, I guess.  No worries though, I have a few to share.

This was a killer sandwich! It was on homemade bread.  It is my favorite bread recipe, so I just keep sticking to it for now.  The filling was tempeh, cheddar, bbq sauce and avocado.  I also made butternut squash fries with bbq sauce and mustard to dip.

Wednesday we made turkey chili with black and pinto beans.  It seriously hit the spot! As usual, I loved every bit of the cornbread, especially topped with smart balance and honey!  I never need an excuse to make cornbread.  :)

This super filling breakfast kept my full from 10 to 4:30! Can you believe I stuck those slices of tempeh in the pan with Jason’s bacon!! Sheesh! Pretty tasty if I have to admit!

Can’t believe it is the end of the weekend already.  Enjoy the rest of the Sunday night!!

You know those days when you don’t get up in time to properly get ready for the day…Well, that was me on Wednesday.  My back was so dang sore that everything I did, just happened at a slower and more painful rate.  I did not fix a lunch for work the night before and told myself I would do it in the morning. HA! Well, I didn’t even manage to make much of a breakfast.  So, it was a “lunch out day.”
It just so happens, there is an amazing Thai food restaurant down the street.  Green curry it was!  I have a hard time ever ordering anything else when I go there, it is that good!  I asked for their black rice which is so good and nutty.  The tofu was fried, whoops! I forgot they do that.  The eggplant was the best part!

I made breaded-baked chicken tenders the other night.  I haven’t made chicken in a while.  The cats were going nuts! I wasn’t as into it as I thought.  No worries, J loved it! I did like the oat groat pilaf though.  Simple recipe on the back of the Bob’s Red Mill bag.

Buffalo chicken wraps inspired by Danica!
tempeh for me, chicken for J.

Let’s just say this was one of our new favorite dinners!!

Lunch today was more like a late breakfast. I started the day late and before you know it, it was 3:00! Just taking the day easy today.  Those can be the best days!!

oats with almond milk, Jay Robb vanilla rice protein powder, walnuts, raisens and cinnamon

topped with black cherry jam and cinnamon raison swirl, peanut butter!

2 eggs and cheddar all wrapped up!

YUM!

That lunch is still keeping me full! I think some chocolate and popcorn might be in order! Do you like popcorn? What is your favorite way to fix it?

**GIVEAWAYS**

MINE ENDS TONIGHT! So hurry and get your entries in!

Living Fit has a giveaway of your choice!

Eating Bender has a ICBINB giveaway!

I was so happy when I left the chiropractor’s office today! I was in a hurry to get back to work and walked very fast to my car.  Then I noticed that I was walking easier and my posture was a little better.  YAHOO! I had heat, electro stimulus, Graston, minor adjustments and massage.  I think the massage made all the difference.  It was all deep tissue and pressure points.  All I can say is I love Hawthorne Chiropractic!!!

I have some catching up to do! Let start with a picture, shall we.  I figured out a setting in my WordPress profile that made all the difference.  I can post photos again!!

Killer wrap last Saturday: hummus, kidney beans, sprouts, red pepper, cucumber, tomato and avocado.

Mushroom raviolis and salad

Banana soft serve with walnuts and chocolate sauce.

Monday night Jason made dinner for me! That was one of the most sore days for my back and I had just come home from the chiropractor and was told to rest and ice.  I actually sat in the kitchen and guided Jason as to how I would like the dinner made. Also, he took all the photos.  Well except for this one…

Check out my sweet view! xoxox

zucchini, brussels, tempeh and kale

special sauce: tahini, dijon mustard and water.

All served over quinoa and millet.  It hit the spot.  I loved the tempeh and the sauce.  He used a juiced lemon to cook the veggies and added some of the avocado/lemon oil.  That stuff is AMAZING! It is pretty darn special that he did that.  It is safe to say, that he pretty much doesn’t like any of it! He did try the tempeh though.  He “thinks” he likes it!!

THANKS J!!

If you haven’t entered the giveaway, what are you waiting for?

**Remember to link to your blog. **

Best news in a while! I finally geared up and got to the gym yesterday.  I admit, it has been since before Christmas that I was last there. I enjoy my home workouts and feel I get a good workout.  I just think it’s nice to balance the two.  Since it has been about a months since my last gym visit, it has also been a month since I last wore my iPhone arm band.  I announce, it was LOOSE !! Yay! I think that gave me an extra bit of energy during my workout.  So did this:

Just a bit of my granola with almond milk. I know some of you don’t care for the elliptical but I love it! I spent 35 minutes on it and burned 523 calories! I was so jazzed that I then did 15 minutes on the stair master and then arms. I love when gym days go like that.  That is why I like to balance my workouts with gym, home and outdoors. It keeps each activity exciting.

Dinner was zucchini, kale and broccoli with tahini-yogurt dressing, tempeh with tahini and quinoa.  It took maybe 15 minutes to prepare this dinner and I loved every bit of it!

Just a quick post today.  It is my Birthday and I think the day is going to be jam packed! Road trip! Enjoy the weekend!