Bahaha an old warped picture from Photobooth - because it's Friday and everyone's smile should be that big!

Oats with bananas mashed in + Asian pear + biscotti + cashew butter

I am just going to do all my posts like this: breakfast-y foods first, then the rest just fall in place.

Waffle Pancake Wednesday

On the side is a chocolate protein shake I made with mixed berries and rolled oats for kicks.

These pancakes were HUGE! Almost the size of a plate. So I cut one in half and decided to do two different toppings. One side has coconut oil, apple slices, cinnamon, and confectioner’s sugar with nutmeg. The other half was just buttered, apple slices, cinnamon, and maple syrup. I sprinkled the last of my rolled oats on the whole shebang. I kept alternating between the two because I loved both sides equally. But which side was lucky enough to be my last bite?

Last week I received a package in the mail!

I’m sure you guys have seen Late July at your grocery store, but have you tried their stuff out? They’re organic snacks and a very family oriented company. Companies that care are an A+ in my book. I was sent their new Mini Sandwich Cookies to try out. The flavors are: milk chocolate and white chocolate. The website says that they are melt in your mouth good, and I agree. I also enjoyed washing down these cookies with a warm glass of almond milk. Yes, these are tiny (my hands are just bigger now that I’m a “big kid”), but it’s so fun to feel little again. If any of you Mommies or Daddies out there are trying to shy your kids away from chemical-laden treats, but don’t want to eliminate sweets – these are worth trying!

Cute!

“Seven different endangered animals are featured on the cookies and 10% of the profits go to the Jane Goodall Institute to help with their efforts in endangered animal awareness.”

My favorite grilled cheese sandwich!

I hope by now you all know what’s in this sandwich. Mango chutney + cheddar cheese. Rather than using pumpernickel bread -which I didn’t have- I used 2 slices of the Spelt loaf I bought last week. While eating this sandwich I realized this bread is the perfect grilled cheese bread. I’ve said it before, but bakery bread just tastes so good. But I’d imagine the best bread would come straight out of Mia’s oven! What’s that peeking in to the left of the sandwich?

Why hello there tasty salad.

While Kim and I were in the kitchen making dinner, she offered me some of her Lime tortilla chips. Then I thought, this would be awesome on my salad! I love edamame, and after seeing edamame hummus at Trader Joe’s I want to make some of my own.

Lately, I’ve been making myself a cup of agua de panela with a squeeze of lemon juice. What’s panela? It’s whole cane sugar, basically, unrefined sucrose. I just googled it, and this how someone described it, “a sweetener that tastes like a cross between molasses and brown sugar.”

I bought this box last time I went down to Colombia.

Running low, uh oh.

I’m sure you can find this at a Latin food market. Who knows, with the international food aisles the chain supermarkets have now, you may even find it there!

A Jamaican inspired meal.

While browsing the internet for tempeh recipes, I came upon one for Jamaican jerk tempeh. I’ve always wanted to try jerk something, so of course I decided to give this recipe a whirl. I found some others that asked for apricot juice instead of OJ. I think apricot is a better choice because of the sweetness. Since I didn’t have a lot of those spices on hand (crazy!) I used my tea masala. Tea masala has a bunch of Indian spices. I served it on brown rice I cooked with cinnamon, and once served I mixed in coconut oil. On the side I made a tomato, cucumber, and onion salad.

Since I baked the tempeh and it was rather dry, I spread on some tamarind-date chutney.

Such an exciting meal with an array of flavors. Sweet, citrusy, savoury, and a spicy kick.

I’ve been making more use of my toaster oven, now that I discovered that I can actually bake with it.

Toasted kabocha seeds with brown sugar and cinnamon.

I baked the kabocha with butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar then sprinkled some of it’s seeds for decoration. Then I assembled some Ak-mak crackers, spread some creamy gorgonzola, agave, red onion, Asian pear slices, and a sprinkling of more cinnamon. I haven’t had these Armenian crackers in so long! They’ve been sitting in my cabinet and I forgot all about them. It took me forever to finish this plate. An hour later I realized I was still eating. I find that when I eat alone, I finish rather quickly. But with this meal I took my time, and I didn’t even have to try.

So here’s my heart to heart for you guys:

The topic I want to share with you all is about “being on top of things.” There are responsibilities that I can’t ignore; like taking care of my beloved Matilda. I’m ready, but it’s hard when others around me don’t quite get it. Which is why I probably feel more at ease around older people because they don’t see my responsibleness as pooping on the party. But there is a crazy, fun-loving side to me as well! I’m starting to get it back. I think I explained before that I went through a period in my life where I became overly practical and cut out so many things. It was such a bleak moment, simply a moment… that I don’t want to go back to. I enjoy the feeling that I get from knowing that I’m flourishing again and walking down the street with my head up high and shoulders back ready to take on whatever is ahead of me.

Oh, and to fill you guys in on my school shtuff:

Not suppose to be eating in my studio!

In that big tupperware I layered a lot of kabocha, brown rice + coconut oil, and leftovers from my Jamaican jerk tempeh with tamarind-date chutney. And a little jar of roasted seeds!

Next week is my first critique of the semester in my main sculpture class. I’m kind of nervous because I’m making a video for it, and I know that some people might be like… why didn’t she make a sculpture? Well, I might make one – I just haven’t really thought of anything yet. I don’t really search for ideas, they just come to me. Hopefully, as I’m editing the video I’ll be knocked out of my chair by an idea that hit me!

Staring contest or crotch shot

Na-na-na-na-boo-boo, getting ready to do upward dog.

Stay tuned for the next post because I plan on featuring a culinary adventure I will be attempting tonight. Happy Friday everyone!