farina | Katharina's Food Adventures

Maggie started this thing called “truth week”, and each day she’s tagged somebody to tell the truth. Well she had tagged Mitri and then the Queen of Oats tagged me! So here goes.

The truth is that this week has been hard and I’ve done some reevaluating. I’d say my relationship with food now is a pretty healthy one, but I think this week has been a challenge for me. I’d say… my lack of funds led me to panic for a hot second. I’m use to being able to buy fresh foods and cooking each day. Well, I haven’t been able to spend money for over a week now and I didn’t mind at first because I hadn’t run out of produce. All my frozen produce is gone as well now. And that’s what got me thinking. I have plenty of things in my pantry, I just got so antsy about the fact that – oh my gosh – I have no fresh food. Fresh foods are the only things I really crave too. Weird, I know. I always have a bag of carrots on hand because they’re refreshing, tasty, and I’ve loved carrots ever since I was little. I might’ve said it before but when I was little I swore I was part bunny. I mean… I’ve got raisins and other dried fruits at least and this is only temporary. I’m hoping to get money in a couple of days and I’ll be buying some vegetables and fruits again. It got me to thinking how fortunate and picky I actually am. There are people that live off rice and beans every day. I am so fortunate to have a wide variety of things to choose from. I’ve got grains like rice and oats, nut butters, canned legumes, the package of Sunshine Burgers, Tofurky, and other yummy things. I was also able to use my soymilk maker to make some almond milk this morning. But I guess I got upset because I couldn’t have something. And when you can’t have something… you want it even more, and it almost seems like nothing else matters. So, that is my truth for today. And lots of things I have are simply luxuries, and now I really see what the necessities are. I just had to get that out of my system. Hmm… the bright side? Hey Janetha, I’m also taking part in your “clean out the pantry” challenge!

Hooray for seasonal items.

I heated up the Iced Gingerbread Clif bar and enjoyed every bite with sips of a cup of ZenSoy chocolate soymilk I warmed up. The people over at ZenSoy sent me a gracious sampler package not too long ago. I’m going to do a full review on them soon.

More Nishiki rice!

Last week I used my batch of okara (the pulp leftover when I made soy milk) to make a vegetarian meatloaf based on this recipe. I didn’t have any vegetarian “ground beef” on hand so I used a can of beans instead. I just melted some mozzarella on top and went a little crazy with the ketchup.

Quinoa pasta

I finished off my can of chickpeas and frozen spinach. Actually, a little ray of sunshine inspired me for last night’s dinner. Maya is quite the chef! The things her and her sister, Eliza, whip up make me so hungry! I saw she had a recipe for Spinach Ricotta Pine Nut Pasta. I didn’t have ricotta, but I pretty much had everything else. I just grated some parmesan on top and sprinkled on some pine nuts. Now I feel so silly for freaking out.

Breakfast this morning

I had a bowl of Farina with a ton of raisins and some cinnamons. I also decided to mix in a Banana ZenSoy pudding cup and a glob of cashew butter. Afterwards I attempted to make some almond milk for the first time.

Too watery, but I'll get it down next time.

Now I've just got to look up what I can do with almond pulp.

I went to the UPS station to pick up some packages that were sent to me, but too large to fit in my apartment complex’s box. Seriously, once I got home and opened these packages up, I counted my blessings again. On the topic of being grateful, check out Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness!

Exploding package!

The folks from Newman’s Own Organics sent me an incredibly generous package for me to sample and review on here. Wow!

I was even more excited to see that Matilda had some treats for her as well!!!!

Matilda sampled the Peanut Butter flavored treats and she gave it two paws way up!

Awhile ago I had used my last freebie coupon Tofurky sent to me. What’d I choose to get? The beer brat “sausages”! I tried it with beer mustard, ketchup, and sweet relish, and by itself! Yum yum yum. I’ve read that some of you didn’t like the other flavors except for the beer brats. I, however, do like the other sausage flavors and this one as well!

So there’s really been no cooking for me but I have been munching my way through tasty snacks! I hope you are all enjoying your Wednesday aka “hump day”.

Oh, and before I forget, I’d like to tag Holly to partake in “truth week”!

I forgot to mention that Mitri’s mom’s baked ziti recipe, the one I feared would send my tummy ailments over the top, actually left me feeling 100% better the next day. This would be my cure; Who would’ve thought?

Ah my tummy finally started to not act all funky on me.

I tried some Artisana Walnut Butter on cranberry cinnamon swirl toast. I don’t thing there’s a single Artisana nut butter that I’ve tried that I haven’t absolutely loved. And I love cinnamon-anything toast for breakfast; especially the smell when it’s toasting! I also smeared on some of my favorite pumpkin butter and cream cheese on two slices. Oh! That’s also a bowl of European style yogurt with Crofter’s superfruit spread.

Thank goodness for leftovers! I enjoyed Mitri’s mother’s baked ziti recipe for lunch, and I gave my dad the other half to have at work the next day. SO GOOD!

I visited the islands the other day... kind of!

I visited the Caribbean the other day... kind of!

I followed this recipe for a taste of Haiti: Polenta, Beans, and Coconut or Maya Moulen Kole Ak Pwa Ak Kokoye, or Polenta aux Haricots Rouges et a la Noix de Coco. The above picture has the addition of tamarind-date chutney, but my favorite way to eat this was with melted cheese!

Let’s take a break from the food for a New York minute. The other day I went on a bike ride with my friend and Matilda on an unusually beautiful day.

We stumbled upon one of the many secrets parts spread out among the old Victorian neighborhood.

Pretty solid jungle gym!

Uh oh this was a lot bigger than what he thought.

Uh oh this was a lot longer than what he thought.

Is he going to attempt it?

Let go!

He went zooming down.

Yeah!

Matilda and the dog on the balcony were having a conversation.

Cray-cray!

My little warrior.

While we were at the park, the woman who helped keep it from being knocked down came and talked to us. She told us about events that are in the works, then she was summoned by her little son telling her the kitchen was beeping. “That means the rice is done cooking!”

Matilda was in her element running around and exploring.

Then we headed over to Strawberry St.

Might I also add that I bumped into my ex on this street. I was just trying to send brainwaves to my friend hoping he would hurry up!

: Remember this from your childhood?

I had a bowl of Farina creamy hot wheat cereal. I mixed in one of sample packs of rice protein powder, NuNaturals vanilla liquid, and cinnamon. On top I sliced a banana and finished the rest of my Artisana walnut butter sampler. I tried to make something inspired by banana-walnut bread. Eating the Farina was so comforting as I felt the chilly morning through the window pane.

And something to wear on a chilly day.

I forgot I had these!

After I got back from my Taoism class I wanted to bake something!

I decided to bake some pumpkin pie spiced, dried cranberry and ricotta cheese scones.

I decided to bake some pumpkin pie spiced dried cranberries, and ricotta cheese scones.

Mixing!

In to the toaster oven you guys go!

And shortly after these little guys were ready, and smelling better than ever!

I had a friend that I wanted to give some scones to in my English class.

I had a friend in my Literature class that I wanted to give some scones to.

That’s the thing I love about baking – it’s just so easy to share. Maybe it comes from the infectious smells that come from the oven whenever something delicious is baking.

Enjoyed for breakfast the next morning!

I spread on a dollop of ricotta + pumpkin butter on one scone, and the other I tried with coconut oil. I don’t think I could ever go wrong with coconut oil. Afterwards, since it was my free day I decided to walk over to my friend’s place of work. She works downtown in the heart of the medical campus of my school. I had a special delivery to make, so that meant dressing up! This is part of the work criteria when you work for Katharina’s version of FedEx.

This dress is rather large, but I love it anyhow!

One of the problems I encounter as a member of Petite People crew.

The back that had me at hello.

I have busting out the Forgotten Shoes this week.

I have been wearing some of the Forgotten Shoes this week.

I’m so sorry for my absence this week. I have been studying for a mid-term and working like a busy bee in the studio. But I have been trying to keep up with everyone’s blog because I just can’t get enough of you all!

Now here’s something for you all to chew on. The other day as I was browsing for recipes I stumbled upon an Ayurvedic recipe site, and I noticed they use the word pacify when it came to eating. Why not pacify ourselves? Afterall, we deserve it.

p.s. Next post is super special! This is my 100th post, but 101 is so much better. So don’t miss it, okay???

Katharina's Food Adventures

Tag Archives: farina

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