Mini Haul and Week Four

Bulk rice, hemp hearts and red lentils, ginger lemon and orange spice tea, hibiscus kombucha,dilly bites pickles,frozen mixed berries, oranges and 2 gala apples

I picked up a random few odds and ends at Winco yesterday. I'm completely obsessed with the Dilly Bites pickles and right now Winco is selling the cutie oranges for like $1.98 for five pounds. It's still a little early for them to taste really sweet, but they're good in juices. I also had to try the Revive hibiscus refresher kombucha since I enjoyed the ginger lemon lime so much.

I did not like this flavor as much as the lemon lime ginger. Hibiscus is tart which I like, and kombucha is a bit vinegar-y which I like, but I don't like the two together. This wasn't bad, I just wouldn't choose this flavor again. But the ginger lemon lime is aces.

I also made another batch of low sugar fudge. I know I'm blurring the lines because there is sugar in this, but very little and I only have a square or two. It tastes like Justin's peanut butter cups!
I'm going to get a few more groceries today for my final week of this elimination diet. I'm kind of planning what habits I will be keeping and what I will lose after this last week. Honestly I don't feel much different, and my clothes aren't looser so it's not like I've dropped weight so I don't even know if it helped at all!

Cats definitely don't help when it comes to yoga! I ended up doing yoga off of the mat. They're really nursing me back to health!

What I Eat When I'm Under The Weather

I've been a little under the weather the last two days. It's unfortunately that time of year when people start getting sick and breathing all over you. My body is fighting it off pretty well, but I just feel tired and icky. I haven't had much of an appetite, and when I do eat all I seem to want is soup! I've also been drinking lots of orange, carrot and ginger juice.

I also had this little, perfectly ripe avocado for a snack. With a little Himalayan salt and nooch. Also a few drops of green dragon sauce.Gotta have spice even when I on't feel well!

Thurdsay night I made a creamy red lentil and tomato soup. It was okay, it tasted more like pasta sauce than soup so it was a bit strange, but it was warm and comforting so it served it's purpose. I had it with BFree gluten free bread smeared with cashew cheese.

Last night I made beans and greens soup with cannelini beans and lacinto kale. This tasted so amazing. I made it with lots of onion and garlic and added some turmeric to the broth. On the side a grilled daiya on BFree bread. This is one of the first recipes I veganized way back in the day. I got the idea from Rachel Ray. It's very delicious, like a belly hug as the Happy Pear guys say!

Simple Truth Organic is Smith's/Fred Meyer/Kroger's organic store brand. They make some good products at decent prices. They have a coconut dark chocolate bar that is so creamy and delicious! I decided to try their yerba mate and I really like it. It reminds me of the yogi ginger tea, just with the earthiness of yerba mate!

The girls don't like that I don't feel well, but they do enjoy more snuggle time, and trying their best to make me feel better!

Probiotic Kind of Day

I am obsessed with these Oh Snap pickles! I've been buying the spicy bites but yesterday I decided to try the dilly bites and I don't know which I like best! If you like pickles you will LOVE these! The dilly bites are nice and crisp which is a must, and they're nice and sour. Yum!!

The last time I was at Winco I noticed this new to me kombucha. I've never seen Revive kombucha! Since my home brew wasn't ready I picked one up. This was really, really good. It remins me of a Sprite mixed with a ginger ale but in a good way. It's crisp and not too sweet or too dry. They have a hibiscus something flavor that I really want to try even though now my home brew is ready! This flavor is also caffeine free because they use ginger to ferment the culture instead of tea!! How in the heck?? This is competing with Brew Dr. as my favorite kombucha besides my own!
When I was at Trader Joe's, I saw a Banh Mi noodle bowl that had rice noodles, their sriracha baked tofu plus pickled veggies with rice noodles. It looked AMAZING. It was completely vegan except the sauce was mayo based. It makes no sense because they sell vegan mayo!! Anyway, I decided to make my own version with vegan mayo and sadly minus tofu.

I quick pickled some shredded daikon and carrot and made a spicy mayo sauce with Just Mayo and this really delicious coconut sriracha sauce.

 It's a little spicy and a little sweet. It would be great on some cauliflower wings or of course tofu. Le sigh.

Things That Made Me Smile!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
I don't know why I didn't know this existed, but I didn't. Until yesterday when I was reading an article talking about how Toto's Africa is the new Don't Stop Believing and Weezer's remake was mentioned and linked. And Weird Al is playing Rivers Cuomo! It made me smile and I couldn't resist sharing.

This was a really tasty breakfast. I toasted up two slices of BFree gluten free bread and had it with spicy yellow lentil hummus(so good) and sliced Persian cucumbers. This was sooooo good!

I had the best dinner too! I made some buffalo chickpeas and had them on top of a salad with butter lettuce, carrots and red onion. I topped it all with daiya blue cheese. This salad was definitely not bland or boring at all. This had different textures and temperatures and was very flavorful! It would have had even more textures if I would have remembered to add the sunflower and pumpkin seeds!

Ugly but Delicious Food!

I've been trying to eat more pumpkin seeds to get more zinc in my diet. I keep forgetting to toss them in with my salads so yesterday I experimented with adding some to my smoothie. It worked out well, they blended in nicely with all the other ingredients. Between the hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds who needs protein powder!!

This is such an ugly picture of what was a really, really delicious meal! I had some pesto that needed to be used so I made a cashew pesto cream and tossed it with cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Joe's. I had it with a butter leaf salad. This meal was so satisfying. Gluten free pasta has a certain firmness, especially bean pasta so it was so nice to have something soft and pillow-y. I've heard people say the cauliflower gnocchi is too dense, but to me potato gnocchi are dense, at least store bought. I really, really enjoy these!!
I just read the best article ever yesterday. Cover Girl cosmetics is now cruelty free! I'm sure a lot of their make-up might not be vegan, I don't know but they've stopped animal testing which is a huge, amazing start! You just know that other companies will follow, that's just how things go. I remember when one of the big fashion houses announced they were going fur free tons of other fashion designers followed. So this is amazing and in a world that seems to get crueler by the minute this is encouraging. Here is the article if you'd like to read all about it!

Etta rather ungracefully forced a cuddle with Kiki. She pretty much just plopped down on her. Kiki didn't mind though and they napped like this for hours!!

Haul, Dinner and a Cat!

I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Winco because of the prices and their huge bulk section. I also discovered that I can take back and side streets and walk to avoid the dreaded 200 bus. The only problem with Winco and why I can't really do all my shopping there is that the produce section is kind of an abomination. I'm talking cucumbers that almost squish when you touch them, and lettuce that is slimy and just blech. So I've been putting off going to Trader Joe's because my nerves can't handle when they're too busy. Yesterday I was able to wake up early and make it there about ten minutes after they opened. And it was STILL busier than I would have liked. I guess because it was a Sunday? I don't know but now that we're getting into the holiday season I won't be going there much at all. This might be my last Trader Joe's haul until January!

Falafel mix, red onion, apples,potatoes,fizzy water,peppermint tea,sweet potato tortilla chips, hummus (BOGO) booch,chickpea pasta,yellow onion, Goddess dressing,just ranch, coconut sriracha sauce

bananas, frozen blueberries,seaweed snacks,lemon,avocados,crushed tomato,butter lettucex2,shredded carrots,cauliflower gnocchi,coconut milk, canned pumpkin,Persian cucumbers and brown rice avocado rolls!

I kind of threw everything together so the haul is from both places. I'm the worst haul picture taker. I just empty my bags on the floor and take a quick picture. It's always a battle with my five snoopervisors wanting to sniff, step all over and sometimes chew everything in sight!

This is a new to me item.  Years ago, like seven or eight the Trader Joe's in Seattle sold veggie sushi at a decent price and I used to love picking some up as a treat. Then they stopped selling it and I was so sad. These jumped out at me yesterday and I couldn't resist! These rolls were under four dollars. I had them as soon as I got home and what a treat! The rice is nice and fresh, not hard and they tasted really fresh. They come with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. I will definitely buy these again!!

These I did not buy. Calling these a tortilla chip seems a little misleading because they seem to be more of a gluten free rice cracker just in small triangles. Although I like all of the things on the chip, nothing about this sounds good to me. It actually seems like a crime against tortilla chips.

My freezer is getting a little full of BFree bread I have stashed from various WooHoo sales plus leftovers. While I was organizing I found these Dr. Praeger's hash browns. I wasn't in the mood to cook so I decided to make room and have a simple dinner! These hit the spot with ketchup plus a salad!

I got a new bag and Etta loves it so much! For some hilarious reason she likes to lay through the handle.

Week Three

Today starts week three of my elimination diet in which I am avoiding gluten, sugar, soy and goitrogen vegetables which include broccoli, cabbage, kale and spinach. I can have those veggies, just cooked. I cringe saying elimination diet, it makes me feel neurotic but it is what I'm doing. I've had ups and downs, and I am missing tofu and I all of a sudden want everything processed when I normally don't even eat a lot of processed food.
In addition to changing my diet a little I'm also trying to meditate everyday, do yoga three to four times a week and up my cardio workouts. It takes people with hypothyroidism longer to burn calories. I'm also adding Brazil nuts to my diet for selenium, and taking a multi vitamin with lots of good stuff in it.
I took pictures of everything I ate and drank yesterday so I figured I'd show it. It's pretty typical. For exercise I did yoga and walked to and from Winco which is over three miles. I didn't meditate because I'm struggling with meditation which means I need to push myself harder to do it. UUGGHH.

Before yoga and after the long walk I had a Fuji apple with some peanut butter. One of the best combos ever.I know everyone loves honeycrisp and other pricier apples but Fuji have always been my favorite.

I had an orange, carrot ginger juice before cleaning to get that little burst of energy. It definitely worked!

one to two a day!

I can't get enough!!!

Waiting for my home brew to be ready so I've been enjoying Brew Dr. This is a flavor I haven't tried, and like all the rest I absolutely love it!

For dinner I made a cheese-y potato broccoli soup. I made it creamy with blended white beans, potato and carrot. I also added a little rice because why not! I loved that this was thick and creamy and rich but had no nuts or cream in it. I had it with one of my BFree gluten free dinner rolls I scored awhile ago for $.99. This was a delicious cozy meal.

My biggest accomplishment of the day. I made this peanut butter fudge that is very low sugar. Thanks Ttrockwood for the suggestion! I just used the darkest chocolate I could find with very little sugar, (the kind I normally wouldn't buy) and melted it with some coconut oil and peanut butter. I added a little maple syrup for sweetness. Since I've been avoiding sugar this is very rich and sweet. A tiny square of this satisfies my sweet tooth.

Have a cozy Sunday!

Kitchen Meh and Finding Those Deals

Although I've tried no boil gluten free lasagna noodles before with no success, I decided to give Barilla a shot. I enjoy some of their other gluten free pastas, in my opinion they taste closest to regular pasta. I only get a craving for lasagna like once a year and yesterday it hit. Since I'm avoiding soy I made an almond ricotta which turned out pretty nice. The Miyoko's was on sale so I splurged.  Although to be honest it's not my fave. It really doesn't make ooey gooey lasagna like daiya, or heck even Trader Joe's vegan shreds which are pretty inexpensive and melt wonderfully. I know Miyoko's is highly lauded in the community, but for me it's kind of meh and I definitely only buy when on sale. Otherwise it's not worth the splurge for me.

This is the almond ricotta. I just blended slivered almonds with some water, lemon juice, nooch, S&P and a little garlic powder. Don't tell tofu but I might like almond ricotta better!!

I had such high hopes for a beautiful lasagna!

Here is my disappointing picture. I think I just don't like no boil noodles. I feel like I tried gluten full no boil noodles back in the day and didn't care for them. They soak up too much of the sauce. And gluten free noodles have definite texture issues to begin with, and once baked it's worse!But taste wise it was delicious. I layered the ricotta with garlic-y nooch-y lentils and a little green onion. I was going to add pesto but forgot! I shared this with a non vegan coworker who didn't like the noodles, but loved the almond ricotta! Here is a direct quote "vegan or not I just want this almond ricotta on all lasagna!"
The Smith's grocery that's closest to my apartment is undergoing a huger renovation. It's kind of frustrating to shop there anymore because every time I go in there they've moved everything. There's construction going on in and out of the building. The upside to all of the chaos is finding amazing deals! They are getting rid of certain items so they have carts of clearance stuff, in addition to their usual random WooHoo sales. Yesterday I found some SCORES!

This is a 29 ounce jar for $2.29!! I usually buy my coconut oil from Trader Joe's who has the best price at $4.99 for 14 ounces. I use coconut oil for cooking and for moisturizing so this made my day!!

I also scored two loaves of BFree gluten free bread for $.99 each! This is hands down the best gluten free bread I've tried, but it's normally $5.99 a loaf for what is about half the size of a regular loaf of bread!! That's just not in my budget so when I see these sales I definitely go WOOHOO! These are now stashed in my freezer for those days when I want a sandwich!

Yogi tea starting my day off right!

Welcome Back Mr. Cauliflower

I found this sauce awhile ago at Smith's and my plan was to use it on jackfruit. I changed my mind yesterday and decided to make cauliflower wings and instead of doing the usual General Tso sauce use this. I battered the cauliflower in a teff/garbanzo flour mixture and bake them, then added this sauce and bake again. They turned out AHMAZING!

I haven't had cauliflower wings in such a long time! I used to have them at least once, sometimes twice a week! I don't know why I ever stopped!

I remember seeing this over the summer and laughing to myself thinking who the heck is going to pay for banana ice cream when it's so easy to make?? Fast forward to me, red faced eating my words because I paid for banana soft serve! It does have sugar which is something I'm avoiding, but it has less sugar than vegan yogurt which I was thinking of getting. I like to have a little sweet treat after dinner, and although I love oranges and grapes, sometimes I want something more decadent. Since I don't have any frozen bananas I caved and picked this up to try. I took a bite when I got home and it pretty much tastes like banana and strawberry nice cream. Which is good, they didn't add a bunch of sweeteners and weird fake flavors. When I have more than a taste I'll report back!

Trying Some New Stuff

Since I've been brewing my own kombucha I find that I'm a lot pickier about store bought kombucha. This is a brand I recently discovered and it's definitely my favorite. It's light and crisp and the flavor is mild. It also isn't too sweet, vinegar-y or dry. It's Goldilock's perfect booch! So far I've tried ginger lemon, superberry and love. All three are delicious. And for anyone like me who can't handle the floaties, don't worry there are none!!

I've seen these little packages of pickles at 7-11 and Winco for awhile now. I always want to try them but for whatever reason never have up until yesterday. I was watching an Edyn Jacks video on YouTube, This is her channel if you want to check her out, she's a very relatable down to earth vegan and I love her! Anyway she was eating a packet of these and she just made them look so freaking amazing I just had to get some. Guys, if you love pickles you need to try these! They have a regular non spicy version too. These are the pickles pickles dream of becoming! Tart, crunchy and definitely spicy! I already want more!!!

Yesterday I was feeling grumpy and restricted on my elimination diet. I'm really missing tofu to be honest. Or a chip or piece of candy. I saw these and wanted to try them as a "healthy" cheat. They're soy and gluten free with not a single weird ingredient. They're made with yellow lentils and veggies like mushroom, sweet potato and carrot. I've had the veggie burgers from this company and enjoyed them.

I had some with some chunky Yukon gold oven fries. I dipped it all in a ketchup and spicy mustard combo. The bites are just okay. They definitely taste like vegetables, but they really don't have a ton of flavor if I'm being honest. The texture is denser than say a veggie burger or nugget. It was a let down for me because I guess I was hoping for something a little more decadent. I'm not supposed to be eating anything processed so this was kind of a treat that really didn't taste like a treat. Honestly I can't recommend or not recommend these. They're just meh. I won't buy them again because I like flavor and these are a little spendy to have to be dolled up in my opinion. I think they would be better in a sandwich like on the box. The fresh crisp bite of lettuce and cucumber plus a sauce would probably really help.