sweet summertime

in an attempt to fall in love w. the university i am currently at, i decided to do some thesis reading at the little pond [?] on campus. this is one of the pictures from that day. i'm not a huge fan of flowers. i don't know what that means, but i just don't care about them. yes, they can be pretty, but i like them in their natural habitat and prefer they do not get cut for my temporary satisfaction. however, i've always, always loved lilies of the valley. they are beautiful little bells and they smell divine. i picked these while walking the dog w. my mom.

i went to lunch w. my friend dennis the other day. we went to the house cafe. it is surely a gem. this place has a vegan bakery in its basement and it serves up some incredible hummus && pita chips. i had the salsa avocado wrap w/o cheese. it was delicious! this is just one half of it.


i've been eating a lot of salad b/c my mom & dad sent me home w. a grocery bag filled with lettuce. that lettuce and the radishes were from my dad's garden. i loved the way that the corn complemented the peppery taste of the radish. i saw a recipe for roasted radishes that i am dying to try. i'll let you know how that goes. how many times did i just say radish in this paragraph?!


this coconut bar was leftover in the fridge for a verrrry long time. i decided it was time to get rid of it. i ate the first one a while back and i was not impressed. it tasted like candle wax. but this one...this was fabulous!! i would attribute that to the almond extract or flavoring. it was so great. i wish i had more.


i went out in the city for my friend's birthday yesterday. we ate at this restaurant called carnivale. it was awesome. it was HUGE with mexican inspired decor. i had the vegetarian dish w/o cheese and cooked in oil instead of butter. it was so delicious. it had roasted squash w. maitake mushrooms, and asparagus, green beans, and onion surrounding it. oh. my. gosh. so great! their guac was just the way i like it too--a bit spicy, sort of chunky, and hints of cilantro. i wish i took pictures, but it was dark and not conducive to picture taking.

bruschetta!

i was delighted to have a chance to use my fresh herbs! lemonade w. mint. perhaps, i should have used more mint b/c there was only a hint of it.
the makings of bruschetta...i've been wanting to make this ever since i bought the plant!




needs more basil, but there were not enough leaves on the plant yet. i take what i can get!

not much to say

these photos speak for themselves.


the secret ingredient to my chili?? liquid smoke.


this one contains corn, green pepper, black bean, && broccoli.

some randos

so excited to have fresh herbs! i got cilantro, mint, basil, and stevia.
asparagus from my dad's garden! lettuce to come soooooooon!

a photo of wacky cake made into cupcake form--for my friend sarah's 27th! it was a beautiful day.

just a couple things

romaine lettuce, strawberries, mushrooms, and carrot. that has a bit of baba ganoush hummus from tribe on the side.
this is going to be a frequent breakfast item for me this summer: oatmeal, cinnamon, a pinch of cardamom && raisins!


strawberries w. quaker oatmeal squares. love those.


leftover gluten free bread buried under those mixed greens && some wild garden hummus.


rice crackers from the dollar tree w. the first hummus i ever tried: wild garden. i used to get it at world market before they closed in rockford. :( so good. this will probably forever be my favorite.


a little concoction i whipped up today. despite being barely hungry i decided to eat this. i snacked on pretzels ALL day. this is just a sign that i am bored w/o the routine of school. i NEED a job. immediately.

but anyway, this is just spaghetti noodles, baby corn, water chesnut, mushroom, and bamboo shoots. it's dressed in a little bit of sweet baby ray's bbq sauce and low sodium soy sauce. even so, i think i hit the sodium overload today.


i need to motivate myself to be active this summer. it wasn't a problem last summer, but something has changed. i've gotten lazy. wish me luck.

VEGAN QUESO!!!!!!!!!!!

this stuff deserves its own post. that's all i have to say. OR, NOT..

people are raving about this stuff like crazy and so when i found out they were selling it in rockford, i made a trip just to find it. i ate a jar in one day. BUT! it's only 160 cals per jar and no fat. i ate it with pretzels, but i have all of these other ideas, like quesadillas and nachos, and potatoes, etc. mmmm!! i am going to get more when i am home again.

i also can't wait to make this for my friend. she is obsessed w. queso and was devastated when i went vegan and couldn't make my famous nachos anymore. it's a little spicy for her taste though, so i think i'm going to add avocado or something to it.



but, i'm just sayin'...you've got to try it.

farewell/celebratory dinner

i made dinner for the boyfriend before left on a trip to amsterdam and after we finished school.

i made bbq jackfruit!! i love this stuff.


i got gluten free bread for him. it was extremely dense! but it wasn't bad. later, i tried it with the jackfruit and i was disappointed b/c it was much, much better with the whole wheat buns i had. the flavor of the bbq was complemented much better with the wheat bun. oh well.


blurry picture before eating...


i drowned mine in greens. man, i love greens.


i ate some leftover gluten free bread the next day. it was wonderful with olive oil and onions and olives. so much better w. olive oil.

last one of the massive comeback posts?? i hope so...

not the last one!! ahhhh!

smoothies!

i'm running out of post titles.

most important::: first asparagus of the season!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE ASPARAGUS. thanks dad. :)


pizza wrap:::


just a stock salad...spring mix, carrot, avocado, onion, i don't know what else...
wrap w. excessive amounts of mustard...

there are those chickpeas again. this was on a tomato basil wrap. so good!

proof of my addiction to broccoli and corn...

and rice && bell peppers....rice is so versatile.

a boyfriend-made meal

there was hummus && bread which i didn't take a picture of.



there was gnocchi! he tossed it in olive oil. i think they already had parsley in them and the garlic flavor was perfectly intense. mmmm! this was so great.


i'd never had gnocchi before. i was happy for an introduction. :)