it's so easy being (slightly) green... cookies

i'm always looking for easy to eat (and pack up) toddler snacks! tonight, while debating going to the store to get some snacks for the continuously-eating-when-not-running-around toddlers i'm watching in the morning but knowing going to the store really just means i want an excuse to buy ice cream, i remembered some 3 ingredient cookies i made (though with dried cranberry) with one of my kindergarten classes that the kids loved (though some moms were disappointed with! i.e. no chocolate. ha).
i figured i could do something similar to try out on the girls tomorrow.
well, they came out of the oven and since my daughter was snacking on shredded coconut already (hurrah for extra vacuuming tonight), we did a quick taste test. she is onto her third cookie as i type this.

here is approximately what i did/what you're welcome to do!

preheat oven to 350.

mash one banana (the riper, the better tasting and easier this is!)
add a sprinkle of cinnamon and spirulina
add oats (gf ones if you need to be careful) and shredded coconut until you have a firm, moist mixture of something!

i used basically an ice cream scoop to divide the mixture but then ended up splitting the little mounds and flattening them to make them an easier size for trying and less of a loss if dropped while walking to the park ;) i baked them for about 10 minutes - when the coconut started to brown.

looking forward to testing these on my daughter's friend tomorrow and see if she asks for more too!

ok, so maybe i don't want to quit this blog quite yet... plus, veggie pot pie

i thought i wanted to blog about vegan pregnancy, birth, baby, etc. but the idea really hasn't gotten me going. i guess it felt too separate from me somehow? and then today i thought about starting a blog about wholesomeness which i couldn't tell you what i would be doing ("wholesome" was the word i fixated on while pregnant) as it's not like i've started sewing or baking bread yet (but i REALLY want to buy a sewing machine if my tax return is a good one!) i think "wholesome" to me is organic, homemade everything and little-to-no screen time (i'm close to quitting my social medias again), more outside time than inside and doing as much as possible myself.
anyways, i think i'll just continue this blog! during the last couple days, i've given my brain a break from school and have been finding delight trying new recipes! yesterday, i really wanted to make lettuce wraps, being inspired by us picking up an iceberg lettuce! exciting, right?
and i found some gluten-free vegan ready-made pie shells at WF and have been dreaming of a veggie pot pie ever since. today, i tried out this recipe from treehugger. i made the dough (just half - for the top - as i already had a shell and i wasn't going to make the individual pies) and prepped most of the veggies before going out.
 
it still took awhile when i got back home to get everything going but wow, was it worth it!
upon sampling the filling, i added a bunch of braggs, onion powder, herbamare and nutritional yeast when it was seeming kinda bland.
 
i also wish i didn't add quite so much rosemary as, though i love the smell, i don't love biting into it as much. but ahhhh, this guy is delicious now! pretty hilarious topping, huh? ha, i think i need a bit more pie experience!
 
i'm hoping to try at least one new recipe per week to start getting more variety in my cooking life. i've been scared of cooking for awhile since raw food i seemed to do quite well but i tend to cook blandly which SUCKS. so, i'm working on it!

vegan pregnancy and birth

my baby was born 4 days after my last post. i've had friends ask me if i've been or will be blogging about vegan pregnancy, birthing, child-raising and i think i will start. i will try anyways. not that i think i am or have any sort of authority on the topics but it will be recorded experiences and really, just to get more vegan stuff out there... to hopefully cancel out that wretched article about the baby who died that had neglectful vegan parents.
i'll post a link to the new blog as soon as i get something going over there.
xo

family freezer meals #1 - chili

i had so much fun today making a big batch of chili! i wanted something for my friend's potluck tonight that i could also freeze batches of for when baby arrives and making good food for ourselves may not be the easiest!
chili was my first idea.

for this chili, i sauteed an onion and a couple big cloves of garlic in coconut oil. then, i added cubed turnip and some carrot, zucchini, broccoli, kale, 3 tomatoes, 4 stalks of celery, 1 baby bok choy, a few slices of red cabbage, and a can of mixed beans, about 1/2 cup of dried lentils and probably 1/2 a tablespoon of my punch-in-the-head powerful chili powder, a sprinkle of cinnamon and cumin and basil and some chopped fresh basil. let that simmer for awhile and OOOOH i am mighty pleased.

my pregnancy eats!

i have had no desire to blog lately though i continue to take photos of food and continue to read other people's blogs! sigh!
but thought maybe i should start a post on things i love to eat while pregnant. i had braced myself for comments like "oh, you will crave eggs and steak" and whatever during this new phase of my life, but i haven't gotten those! (i must surround myself with great people! hehe) i did get one comment at work that was "you eat so many vegetables, your kid is going to come out only wanting to eat candy!" which i thought was a little ignorant even as a joke and i replied, "not if she doesn't know what that is!" but i think being vegan is becoming more and more common these days and in general, most people seem to want to eat more vegetables and real foods so i don't think vegan is as confusing to people anymore, maybe?
i still can't believe that i have someone growing inside me (and somehow the 3D ultrasound and the kicking hasn't helped me make the connection either!) and that i will get to meet her by the end of this year! i can't wait to introduce her to so many things and watch her explore and figure out what she likes!
anyways! typically i have had smoothies for breakfast but i can't say i have a routine for breakfast anymore. sometimes i have cereal or toast or even dinner leftovers! this morning, however i returned to a green smoothie!

this one (serving 2) contains:
- 1 quince
- 1 pear
- mini handful of baby kale
- about 2 shots of BrainOn
- about 1.5 cups filtered water
- about 1.5 cups frozen mango
- 1 frozen banana

i added my daily liquid iron supplement to it (i generally have my iron with orange juice during my work morning break) and i'm set! super yum.

i just finished roasting some butternut squash (and currently eating the roasted seeds that roast just a wee bit faster! yum!) for lunch.

at work, i almost ALWAYS have a salad. nothing different than pre-pregnancy. i never look forward to anything as much as salad! on days that i haven't felt like chopping somehow or market shopping, i hope that it's wednesday, thursday, or friday and that i can get to christina's food cart, culver city salads. her salads are glorious!

i got a cuppow dressing cup for mason jars which makes mason jar salads all that more exciting to eat out of. i have never minded so much having dressing on the salad during transport and pre-lunch but it's still fun to add it and mix it in at lunch.


 
 hemp seeds are always a great addition to salads!
 
 i was craving corn (organic, duh!) and added some tao cafe raw burger to the top of my salad and oh goodness, it was the most delicious thing ever!
  
a delicious garden-fresh potato salad my mom made for me this summer - all backyard or CSA box ingredients except the pickles. YUM!
 
yesterday, i bought some sprouted grain wraps (i eat gluten on occasion now, mostly out of curiosity, though it is always organic, whole and/or sprouted) and plopped some collard green, kale, red cabbage, and carrot on top and then drizzled a dressing that i generally have some version of on my salads lately: sprouted chickpea miso, apple cider vinegar, flax oil, nutritional yeast. SO YUMMY!

dinner is generally a warm grain and bean/legume with steamed veg. paul has been amazing at cooking up something for when i get home around 4:30. such a treat!

so basically with this growing a baby deal and being vegan, i feel extra justified in getting any and every veg and fruit (especially seasonal ones at the farmers market) and i continue buying/ingesting organic food. i am taking a prenatal vitamin and iron supplement daily, but other than that ritual, i'm just trying to eat as many different things as possible and the least processed foods as possible. which is not anything new for me.

(i love trying new-to-me things at the farmers market, like these "mini watermelons", er, sour mexican gherkins, which are really like sour bite-sized cucumbers! so refreshing!)
i can't get over how easy pregnancy has been and how awesome i feel and how excited i am about the little growing inside me! part of me wants her to stay inside as long as possible as i'm thinking this is going to be the easiest part. but i hope that paul and i will continue to celebrate and marvel in every step of her growing up.
and i'm confident we will.

inspiring dinners! (an excuse for delicious food photos!)

paul's been surprising me with lunches and dinners more often lately and it's been super awesome to get to eat together and also try new things!
the other night, i was craving baked potato styles and we had some sweet potatoes so he steamed them and mashed them and topped them with an avocado/cashew sour cream and coconut bacon and a mary's crackers chipotle tomato pretzel stick! (don't they look like savoury cupcakes?) nutritional yeast (obviously) and steamed veg on the side. YUM!

and a craving for poutine turned into... (his super yum mushroom gravy with steamed potatoes, green onion, daiya, and peas!)

and farmers market-inspired dishes like multi-coloured carrots and beets, zucchini, broccoli (all steamed) with mashed potatoes!

 and more farmers market-inspired eats (with more mushroom gravy!) swoon!
 
and, well, who can resist a great potluck/dinner party?
this is my plate from janna and phil's bbq in the summer... some whole foods deli salads and homemade slaw and quinoa salad!
 
 and from a dinner with hayz and hanh - veg burger and raw chili and salad!
 

black bean veg burgers! aka i started this post probably 4 months ago and i'm just going to post it now.

i wish i started this post back when i had my original link of inspiration. i know the recipe i was basing my burger off of was something like this one and i feel like a doofus for not posting while my memory of modifications was fresh.
paul just finished the last of the stash we had in the freezer the other day and was remarking how much he liked them and gah! could i even replicate them?

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1/3 cup chopped sweet onion 1 tablespoon minced garlic 3 baby carrots, grated (optional) 1/4 cup minced red bell pepper (optional) 1 tablespoon ground flax 1 tablespoon warm water

1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon cayenne 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 slices gluten-free bread, torn into small crumbs 3/4 cup rice flour, or as needed

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
2.	Mash black beans in a bowl; add onion, garlic, carrots, and bell pepper. Mix.
3.	Whisk flax, water, chili powder, cumin, cayenne seasoning, salt, and black pepper together in a separate small bowl. Stir flax mixture into black bean mixture.
4.	Mix bread crumbs into bean mixture. Stir flour, 1/4 cup at a time, into bean mixture until a sticky batter forms.
5.	Spoon 'burger-sized' mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheet, about a 3/4-inch thickness per mound. Shape into burgers.
6.	Bake in the preheated oven until cooked in the center and crisp in the outside, about 10 minutes on each side.