How’s Thursday going? (Publishing early in case you’re wondering.) I am doing fabulously because I am the proud owner of some new bedroom furniture! As I mentioned in this post, I was going to be getting a furniture delivery and I got my dresser!
And a new desk. This is where the blogging action happens.
I had previously purchased the chair from West Elm from about a year ago, but the pillow is new and pulls together the color scheme with with new duvet cover I got.
Keeps the cool wintery motif going and I love it! Sadly my nightstand is on backorder so it will be a few weeks til that makes an appearance but I am grooving with my new room decor!!! Skylar apparently loves the room, too! She was so excited she took her pants off. And put them back on inside out.
I’m happy you were digging the 5 Minute Raw Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. They are a snap to make and have no yucky ingredients in them so hopefully you’ll give them a whirl!
I wanted to thank everyone who writes me, either in the comments section or contacts me via email and tells me they’ve made a recipe of mine. So far, everyone who’s tried a recipe of mine (today Abby just made one and a couple days ago Bekah did) has given me 100% positive feedback and success stories. Yay!!! It warms my heart and makes me feel like my work on the blog is productive when I know I am helping people create yummy food. So thank you for making the recipes, and then getting back to me to tell me that you did. Love it!
So moving onto today’s eats…
First I made another batch of Kale Chips. Check the recipe here or here if you want to make a double-batch.
Coating close-up pre Magic Box…
…And after they came outta the Magic Box
Super Thin-n-Crispy
Almost a little too crispy. I dehydrated them a little longer than I should have. I forgot that the 95F, and 0 % humidity day was also at play. Nature’s Way of speeding the dehydrating process along. Note to self, get kale chips outta the box sooner when it’s uber-dry and hot out.
But no worries, guess who begs me for kale chips? This little girl. Her palate isn’t quite sophisticated enough to know the difference if something’s a little over-dehydrated. Nice.
Some of you have asked what a vegetarian toddler eats? Well here’s what mine ate for dinner: Cheese mini pizzas from TJ’s, carrots, orange bell peppers, half a tomato, raisins, & kale chips.
And here’s what her vegan mother ate. My Fresh Veggies Plates included:
Medley of greens, asparagus, B.S., orange peppers, and dressed with agave, OJ, and black pepper.
Also worked on a massaged kale salad topped with brock, cauli, tomatoes, cukes, and Homemade Slaw Dressing
And there was a little Brock Salad improvised with the addition of tomatoes, cauli, & orange peppers, dressed with Homemade Slaw Dressing
The homemade slaw dressing not to be confused with this dressing that I finally picked up at WF. Thanks for the hot tip Miss GC! I scored two bottles. I’m sure that’s nothing compared to your stash, though.
Managed to not only score some of that Annie’s LowFat Honey Viniagrette, but also one of the elusive PB & J LaraBars. I definitely enjoyed it! It kinda reminds me in a way of the Raw Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies I made, but with a PB vibe going on, too. Skylar loves her Larabar action, too.
So for the roasted veggie vibe, I decided to get in on the Curly Fry Action.
I spiralized a sweet potato, added some EVOO, S & P, and a scant Tbsp of ginger (dried powder) which I find is an awesome compliment to sweet potatoes.
Roasted the curly fries in a 400F oven for about a half hour. I have to say, that taking into consideration the cleaning of the spiralizer and struggling a bit with it to really hack through the rigidity of a raw sweet potato, although the curly fries were really tasty…
….they were not any better, and definitely not any easier, than just slicing sweet potatoes into fry shapes, coating with EVOO, S & P, and a dash of ginger, and roasting…
….and making sweet potato fries this way. Now we’re talking! Less work, just as tasty, works for me!
Crunchy on the outside, soft & tender on the inside. Good stuff.
So obviously after all these veggies, it was time to feast on a few Raw Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for dessert. Ahhh.
Yoga Today is Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) with my left leg up, then I allowed my left leg to fall over, and I looked underneath my left shoulder. This really opens up the left-side of my body, stretches my lats, my shoulders, helps work on hip opening, and helps ground, lengthen and increase the flexibility of the right hamstrings. Alison, this one’s for you mama.
Tip of the Day: My Chia Seed GiveAway!!!!! This contest has been smokin’ on fire, hope everyone who wants in has entered. If you’re not already entered, go get your pretty self entered for a 3 Pound Bag of Chia Seeds!!!!!
What’s your fave winter fruit? I try to eat locally & seasonally as much as possible, but I still enjoy fruit every day and at this time of year, it’s feeling kinda blah to me. In my grocery there are tons of apples, a few beat up pears, pineapples, pomegranates (but they are too much work, sorry), and citrus fruits haven’t come in yet. Kind of in no-man’s fruit land at the moment. What are you eating in the fruit department these days? Or better, what fall veggies are you loving? Let me guess…squash anyone?
Stay Tuned For a 5 Minute Raw Vegan Dark Chocolate Dessert…
I don't really have anyone near by to train with, but occasionally I'll do a workout with someone at the gym and it's more fun than slogging it out on your own.
BTW, would you mind emailing me what the difference is between soaking and not soaking nuts?
Did I tell you my v-mix almost died twice? Once with peanuts and once with RAW almonds. Thank goodness it came back to life.
Most of the time, I like to exercise alone so I can think and clear my head. But, I do love going to yoga classes so that I can learn to do it the right way.
All your treats look fabulous!
Woo thanks for the shout out. stoked for my seeds. Im actually going to look through your "chai seed" archive for some ideas of what to use them in. I def am going to make the chocolate pudding and the overnight oats. YUM.
Im so glad you got to meet up with "Greens and Jeans".. how cool! Its so amazing that blogging has turned into a social networking thing. I love it!
As for working out.. I actually enjoy doing it alone. Thats just me though. If I was to run, I would feel obligated to chat or "keep up" or whatever with the other person. I suppose Im an introvert at heart. lol
Love the bars and balls. Ha ha. Always enjoy a good recap :-)
Fun meet up!!
Again, another amazing recipe!
I love to workout alone, but it is nice to occasionally be with a group. :)
I wish those fudge balls were my breakfast now! Maybe later this week… ;)
Gah! I seriously am bemoaning my lack of a blender! When I'm visiting my parents this winter, I'm taking over the kitchen!
I haven't been to a yoga class in ages, but I loved the feeling of community my classes provided. However, when I work out in the gym, I like being alone. Otherwise, I start comparing my efforts to others, when I should be concentrating on what I'm doing.
Averie, I need to learn not to read your posts late at night. It's 12:30am and now I'm starving. Darn you! Haha I'm kidding, I got mad love for you and your raw delicious (err, delicious-looking?)desserts.
I definitely prefer to workout solo. Well, Muffin and I have ellipticaled next to each other and that was fab, but I'm really bad at talking while doing ab work and stuff.I don't really do the yoga thing at the moment, but I totally would if I had a mat and knew the right videos/sites to use.
love doing the exercise thing all by myself.
and blogging is as social, exercise wise as I get!
oh, larabar fun! MMMMMMMMM
Hehe, not quite monday yet for me. It looks like you had an awesome weekend! Mine was super fun, too. That's so cool you had a blogger meet-up! I can't believe you keep coming up with all these amazing treats–your creativity is boundless! The fudge balls look amazing :)
I really like group fitness classes, but I also like running by myself. I'm scared to run by myself here in AZ, though. The college guys and scumbag men dole out WAY too much unwanted attention, and it can be uncomfortable to downright scary. So when my hip gets better, I'm all for finding a running group here. I wish I could run by myself, but there's no way to do that here :/
So glad you got to meet a blog pal, Averie. So fun and cool!!
Homemade Larabars??!!! Eeeekkk! I LOVE those things!!
And more chocolate goodies? You're just too RAWsome!!
Of course, your veggies always look yummy too.
Hmmm…. I'd have to say I prefer practicing yoga in a quiet room, by myself. I do have a DVD or video on but that's it. I feel energized from being by myself, ya know?
Anyway, how in the world did you see my contest so fast and post it here. It barely went live and I noticed you had the link here. Girl, you're crazy good! LOL
*smiles*
Michele
My competitive side needs some healthy competition when exercising. I do much better in group exercise classes or with a workout partner.
Those fudge balls sound so good! I will definitely be giving those a try!
<3 jess
xoxo
Sounds like you had a lovely weekend! Those fudge balls look AMAZING and I love all the suggested add-ins.
I think I tend to get more out of my exercise when I am alone. I get easily frustrated and self-conscious when there is someone with me. However, a partner or group in walk, run, yoga session every once in a while is never a BAD thing. You get to share your own expertise as well as getting motivated by those around you.
xxoo
Heather
As a college cross country/track runner, there's something magical about running with other people, both people of your ability, people of lesser ability, and people of a higher ability.
But then again, I always look forward to my morning or weekend runs when I get time by myself to think and clear my head.
Everytime I see those chocolate chip cookie dough balls, I have to take a second to pull myself together so I don't lick the screen ;)