Reviews & Recipes (February 25th)

One of my resolutions this year was to cook more, specifically learn to cook vegan dishes. So I've been busy doing a lot of that lately. I also have some Lightlife products to review as well. So let's get started!

I started off by making the quiche that we had at the Lightlife event a few weeks ago, using the recipe they gave us at the event and Lightlife's Gimme Lean Sausage (which they sent me to try).

My mom and I followed the recipe exactly, but it came out a little too mushy and not solid enough, so we'll have to revise it next time. The sausage was really good however and gave the quiche a nice, flavorful taste.

The other Lightlife product I tried was their original Smart Ground crumbles (which they also sent, thanks Lightlife!).

I used this to make tacos...

In the past I had used the frozen crumbles that other brands make, but I thought this was a nice change. The Smart Ground seemed fresher than the frozen kind and tasted better. I just mixed it in with regular taco seasoning and I swear there was NO difference (this is the perfect product to "trick" your husband or boyfriend with! lol They'll never know it's not meat).

Peanut has some "product reviews" too! :) He apparently loves Newman's Own pineapple salsa! (Which is probably not good for cats, but as you can see, I let him have a taste!)

There are very few "people foods" that Peanut likes. But anything with spices or peaches he goes crazy for! Speaking of peaches, for old time sake, he still loves his Mott's peach medley apple sauce too!

(Note how I even let him eat things on my bed! I am a bad mother-- clearly. lol)

Now on to the recipes... I printed out some vegetarian recipes from EatingWell. And here's how they came out...

The first thing I tried was the Portobello "Philly Cheese Steak" Sandwich (you can see the recipe here).

This was really good and I can't wait to make it again! Although next time I won't be adding red pepper just because I'm not really a fan. And the recipe is vegan if you use vegetable broth or stock (which I did). I did use organic provolone cheese (just a bit) to melt on top like the recipe said though, but it's easy to omit if you want.

The next EatingWell recipe I tried was their Bean "Bolognese" (you can see the recipe here).

This recipe is also completely vegan if you don't put parmesan cheese on top (which I did, again an organic and rennet-less kind). This was SOOOO good. And this is an INCREDIBLY healthy dinner because you get your protein with the beans, not to mention all the veggies! Can't wait to make this one again too!

And the last recipe I tried is courtesy of Mama Pea, and that is her Italian Wedding Soup. I modified the version a bit like my fellow blogger, Gabriela did (and you can see her version here).

Basically the only difference was, Gabriela and I used Trader Joe's meatless meatballs (a favorite of mine!) instead of making our own like Mama Pea. This came out great, and I was really impressed! (The picture didn't come out that great though, but you can see how it looks and all the cooking instructions on their blogs.)

I have not given up dairy completely yet (as evidenced by the cheese I throw on top of things!) and I couldn't help but get a frozen yogurt on one of our few warmer days we had a week or two ago at Red Mango (I went to the one here in Astoria on Steinway St.).

I got my usual, a medium original with granola and strawberries.

All this food is finger lickin' good...

Or maybe Peanut just decided to clean himself instead!

If Peanut could talk he'd say, "Mom, stop embarrassing me!!!" So that's all for now!

Also, thank you for the birthday wishes on the last post! I appreciate them!

Daily Eats ~ August 2nd

I woke up to yet another rainy morning. I swear, it's pretty much rained every single day since the spring in NY! Oh well... Peanut doesn't seem to mind! lol

Breakfast:

I had some apple juice with 2 slices of Food for Life cinnamon raisin ezekiel toast, with pb & peach preserves spread on them, and I even drizzled on a bit of agave nectar for decoration! lol I had a Wallaby Organic peaches & cream yogurt too, which....

Peanut gobbled up! He LOVES anything with peaches (Mott's peach medley apple sauce, peach yogurt, peach anything really!).

Lunch:

I had an Amy's Vegetable Pie in a Pocket Sandwich with a Mott's Peach Medley apple sauce.

Snack:

I had a Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch Clif Bar topped with Nutella. Yum!

Some close-ups of Peanut that I took on this VERY rainy afternoon...

Dinner:

I had one of my favorites... Amy's single serve cheese pizza! I had some orange slices with it too.

Dessert:

I had 2 Smart Ones Chocolate Eclairs with a strawberries and whipped cream. I'm getting good at this lol... looks like something you'd get at a restaurant, right?! ;)

I also had a handful of almonds and some apple juice later because I was still hungry (not pictured).

I hope everyone had a good weekend! xo

Daily Eats ~ July 25th

Today I'm posting later than usual, because this morning I just had a glass of orange juice and went out right away... I headed over to the East Village for brunch, and to pick up more of Peanut's kitten food... I noticed I didn't get many comments on my post yesterday, so I encourage you to read my extraordinary story about what happened at the Apple store yesterday! :) And before I went out the door this morning, I took this picture of Peanut:

Brunch:

I went to a vegan restaurant in the East Village called Caravan of Dreams. I've been there several times, but I haven't been in almost a year. I get the same thing every time... Angel's Toast. Which is basically cinnamon raisin toast topped with almond butter and fruit. It was a little different this time, compared to the other times I've gotten it (I didn't eat the bananas that they now put on top of the toast), but overall it was still tasty. (Oh and for you raw vegans, this is a great place to go, because they specialize in raw/live food! :)

After brunch I went over to Whiskers Holistic. This is the only store where I can get Peanut's Blue Buffalo Kitten food. I took a picture of the store's cat before I left. :)

Late Lunch:

I had a Van's Veggie, Egg & Cheese Pocket Sandwich.

Dinner:

I had 2 Yves veggie dogs rolled up in Pillsbury breadsticks with ketchup alongside. I made an Annie's single serve mac & cheese, and I mixed in a packet of Birds Eye single serve peas to go with it.

I caught Peanut mid-yawn... lol

Dessert:

I had a slice of black & white cake that I got at the Whole Foods Market the other day. Since I'm a fan of black & white cookies, I thought, why not? It was pretty good. I had some apple juice with it too (not pictured).

I hope everyone is having a good weekend! I really do appreciate your questions & comments, so please keep them coming!!

Daily Eats ~ July 19th

Since Peanut did not like the Blue Buffalo "healthy gourmet" canned food that I got him yesterday (yes, he's finicky!), I'm off to Petco to get him more of his beloved Petite Cuisines. It's weird because he likes Blue Buffalo's kitten chow just fine... but the only kind of wet food he'll eat are Petite Cuisine's fish flavors... red snapper, yellow fin tuna, crab cake, etc. Do any of you have finicky pets?

Breakfast:

I had 2 Kashi GoLean blueberry waffles, topped with fresh blueberries and maple syrup. Unfortunately I ran out of whipped cream this morning (as you can see in the picture! lol), so I threw on some chocolate chips instead... but they didn't really go with it as well as they did with the pancakes yesterday. Oh well. These waffles are okay, but Van's are way better. I had the usual glass of orange juice with it.

Lunch:

I had a Yves Jumbo Dog (with ketchup) with Annie's single serve mac & cheese and Birds Eye Steamfresh single serve peas mixed in. (I didn't like these veggie dogs for some reason... next time I'll be getting Yves "The Good Dog." Those were so much better.)

Peanut thrilled to have his red snapper again!

Like the fishy bowl?! :)

Snack:

I had some of a milk chocolate bar with nuts that I got at Gourmet Garage yesterday. The bar was already separated into 4 pieces, so I just had 3 of the pieces. I'll have the last piece after dinner. There is nothing better than belgian chocolate (except maybe belgian waffles! :).

Dinner:

I had an Amy's single serve cheese pizza (delish!) with a cut up orange. I also had my last piece of chocolate from earlier after dinner. Pizza & chocolate... a good way to end the weekend! ;)

Snack:

I had a yogurt parfait that I got from the Whole Foods Market in Union Square today. This used to be the only substantial thing I'd eat when I was anorexic... I'd get it once a week. It's really good for you... low fat yogurt, lots of nuts, granola, fruit. I never eat the melon though! (That's one of the only fruits I don't like!)

I was doing my usual shave/shower/tan tonight... It's a b*tch being a girl! lol Speaking of which, I've been PMS'ing all week and I feel like I ate like a pig today. :( After not having my period for so long, it really does drive me crazy having it again (even though it's been a year since I got it back). That has got to be the hardest part of recovery for me-- that, and the obvious-- weight gain. :( So that got me thinking... for those of you who've had an ED, what's been the hardest thing about recovery for you?

Daily Eats ~ July 7th

Peanut is at that stage where he's running around getting into everything, so it's a bit harder to get pictures of him now! For those of you who don't have cats, kittens usually don't settle down until they're neutered. We probably won't be having him neutered until September (when he's 6 months old), so we just have to suck it up until then I suppose! lol Anyways, here's...

Breakfast:

I had my other Organic Cinnamon Raisin Roll that I got delivered from Organic Direct the other day with my last Chobani pineapple yogurt (I'll be getting more of these in the near future!). I also had the rest of my Peach Orange Nantucket Nectars juice from yesterday with it (not pictured - see below).

Lunch:

I had 2 Yves veggie dogs with some ketchup alongside, and an Annie's single serve mac & cheese with some Birds Eye Steamfresh single serve peas mixed in.

Snack:

I had a Kashi GoLean Chewy Chocolate Almond Toffee Bar. This was the only flavor I hadn't tried yet in this line of Kashi bars and I'm glad I did! It was very good. :)

Dinner:

I had Trader Joe's Garden Vegetable Lasagne for dinner. They make such a good lasagna... even better than Amy's. I also had an orange and a handful of chocolate chips later (not pictured).

Peanut finishing his dinner...

(As you may notice in the picture, I gave Peanut the ceramic ramekin bowls that I got with my Trader Joe's Chocolate Souffles to use for his food and water. They're the perfect size for him! And guess what? As small as they may be, he's still upgrading from the measuring cups we used to use! He was so tiny when we got him, we didn't know what else to use! lol)

Dessert:

Just one Vitatop muffin tonight! These are surprisingly filling, and I found out yesterday that 2 is too many. I topped my last Vitatop with a bit of Nutella, whipped cream, and had some strawberries with it.

Peanut likes to go "shopping" on my vanity... Despite all his toys, he likes to find trinkets and things he shouldn't be having on his own. ;)

"I'm not doing anything wrong, Mummy! I promise!" lol

Daily Eats ~ June 30th

Well, it's been a whole month since I started this blog! It flew by! Anyways, for anyone who is interested, here is my first blog post.

Breakfast:

I wanted to make a breakfast similar to one that I've gotten at a restaurant called Caravan of Dreams in the East Village. It's called "Angel Toast." Basically it's cinnamon toast topped with almond butter, fruit, and fruit preserves. In lieu of almond butter, I was going to use peanut butter, but I figured it would overwhelm the flavor of it, so all I would taste is peanut butter! So instead I took 2 slices of cinnamon toast (after burning the first 2 and throwing them away-- don't ask, but I was keeping Peanut out of trouble-- he is very feisty in the morning!), and I topped them with berries and a drizzle of maple syrup. I had a glass of Dole's Pineapple Orange juice with it. This was good, but of course, not nearly as good as the dish at the restaurant!

Peanut taking a quick morning nap in my lap...

Lunch:

I made 2 veggie cheese dogs by slicing 2 Tofu Pups down the middle, putting a sliced piece of american cheese in them and microwaving them in the buns for a few seconds. I had ketchup in a cup alongside and cut up 2 oranges to have with the pups! I also had a rainbow cookie after lunch (not pictured).

Snack:

I was going to try the new Pinkberry parfait that I was talking about the other day, but since I had a big lunch I figured I'd wait until tomorrow to have it. Instead I had a mini chocolate bar that I got at Fairway yesterday... their Fruit & Nuts Chocolate Bar. This was very good!

Peanut's Petite Cuisine's came from Amazon.com today, but he only seemed to be interested in chewing on the boxes that it came in! lol

Dinner:

I had an Amy's Baked Ziti Bowl for dinner (still can't believe it's vegan because the cheese tastes so real-- this bowl is a real winner!). I also had another rainbow cookie after dinner (not pictured).

Snack:

I had enough desserts/sweets today, so I decided to have something healthier. I had a WholeSoy & Co. vanilla yogurt with blueberries, strawberries, TJ's granola with almonds, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

(Oh, and I also had a 100 calorie Quaker Chocolate Chip Granola Bar that I got for free in Union Square the other day! Not pictured.)

I have really enjoyed blogging this past month and as always, I really appreciate your comments/feedback!