Cookies and Cuppies! Oh My!

A few weeks ago, I received an sample package of Intention Cookies from Bountiful Vegan. These gigantuan treats are totally vegan and their little packages contain special mantras that are said to bring positive qualities into one's life (so long as you repeat the magic mantra while noshing on the cookies). I'm reviewing them one cookie at a time. Today, I sampled this Harmony Cookie — a sugary Lemon Snickerdoodle:

Let me just tell ya. I ate this thing and I totally felt some inner harmony goin' on. Yep. That's because lemon and snickerdoodle are two of my favorite flavors and when you put them together, well, it created a bit of a harmonious party in my mouth. The texture was spot on for a snickerdoodle — chewy with a hint of crunch. And the natural lemon oil didn't overpower the cinnamon 'doodle taste.

By the way, you can get your own Intention Cookies on the Bountiful Vegan website. Or head over to The Urban Housewife and get in on Melisser's Intention Cookie giveaway.

Speaking of cookies, I FINALLY made those Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World:

I don't know what I was holding out for, but I think these may be my favorite from the whole book. I've always LOVED Oreos, and I'm so thankful that Paul Newman's folks offer the non-scary ingredient version in Newman-O's (which I used for these babies).

I made the cupcakes for my buddy Wes, who celebrated his 49th birthday yesterday!

Wes used to be my next door neighbor, but now we live one street apart from one another. He's like a second mom to me — cooking me dinner, babysitting my pets, and just being there whenever I need some conversation. Happy Birthday Wes!

The Pbu Revolution!

A few weeks ago, the awesome Shelby over at La Belle Vegan dollaped her oats with a mysterious substance she referred to as Pbu. That post led me over to Curly Top's blog where I was turned on to Pbu global domination. Apparently, a cute curly-headed girl named Emily is taking over the blogosphere with her delicious homemade peanut butter spread.

Count me in — I had a generous couple spoonfuls on my Pbu Steel Cut Oats with Maple Syrup and Fresh Blueberries this morning:

What's Pbu (pronounced pboo), you ask? Emily's awesome idea involves mixing peanut butter with a little almond milk, a dash of salt, and some optional cinnamon for an unbelievably smooth and creamy lower-fat version of peanut butter. It's lower in fat because it's thinned out with the almond milk, but that milk gives it the consistancy of super-thick PB smoothie. And everyone knows that anything that tastes like a PB smoothie has to be the best food ever, right?

Emily's recipe and Pbu FAQ sheet can be found on her blog. I actually halved her recipe since I knew I wouldn't go through 2 1/2 to 3 cups of Pbu before the almond milk in it goes bad. But I made a whole jar's worth, and it'll be topping my oats, my toast, my celery, my everything all week long.

All hail Pbu!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

My boyfriend Paul and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary Saturday night, although the actual anniversary date is today (Sunday). We took a road trip to Nashville for the occasion because we'd been dying to try the food at Mad Donna's – a hip, casual joint with vegan options for me and meat options for Paul (yea, he's into all that).

Here we are in Mad Donna's upstairs lounge, in front of a Betty Page painting:

Mad Donna's totally lived up to our expectations! The atmosphere is totally laidback with photos of gay icons — Donna Summer, Judy Garland, etc. — lining the walls. The prices were affordable, and they had a $3 long island iced tea special going on. And they have drag queen bingo!!!

As for food, I tried the To Wong Fu:

Crisp cubes of fried tofu are smothered in a coconut panang curry sauce with spinach, red and green bell peppers, red onions, steamed green beans, and a mound of jasmine rice. The tofu was perfectly cooked — chewy and crispy — and the sauce was delectable.

I'll spare ya'll photos of Paul's Flat Iron Steak, but he said his dish was also delicious. I'm not sure how dead cow can be delicious, but I'll take his word for it. We'll certainly be eating at Mad Donna's again in the very near future.

BBQ Sammich & Tater Salad

I've been working on my recipe for vegan barbecue for months. I knew I MUST include a barbecue sandwich in my cookbook since pulled pork sandwiches are such a big thing down here. Even though pulled pork is nasty, I wanted something that would simulate that meaty texture. I've tried seitan (too chewy), tofu (not chewy enough), and finally a tempeh/shredded carrot combo (perfect!).

Here's my Tempeh Carrot BBQ Sandwich with Poppy Seed Coleslaw on a homemade whole wheat bun:

The tempeh has a bit of a chewy texture, but not as much as the seitan did. When I tried this with seitan, it was like eating bread with a bread bun — way too chewy! I added grated carrot to the tempeh for more of a "pulled pork" look and some extra veggie nutrients.

The Poppy Seed Coleslaw recipe is also going in the cookbook. It's vegan mayo-based because that's what I like, but I'm sure a fat-free vegan mayo would work for the calorie-conscious (there's also a homemade tofu mayo recipe in my cookbook for those who prefer DIY).

The whole wheat buns are from Jessy's recipe. These are Dee-licious, but as you can see, mine didn't rise properly, Instead of rising up, they flattened out. But they were still tasty. It's not the recipe's fault though — I subbed all whole wheat pastry flour for some of the white flour in Jessy's recipe, so I'm sure that's the problem. Hers always look perfect!

On the side, I made the Creamy Avocado Potato Salad from Vegan Brunch:

Since I'm a huge guacamole fan, this stuff was awesome! But I did have to add a whole bunch more salt and some garlic powder to bring it up to par.

The recipe in VB serves four, but I didn't want the avocado to turn brown in my leftovers. So I cooked the whole recipe for potatoes and placed them in a bowl in the fridge, un-dressed. Then as I've been eating this each day, I mush up half an avocado with the other spices and some cherry tomato and mix with one serving of the potatoes. It's a good way to make a recipe like this for one person.

Tomato Rosemary Heaven

A couple weeks ago, Nora from Pride & Vegudice responded to a Facebook status I'd posted about having too much free time one weekend. She insisted that I use my plan-less weekend to make the Tomato Rosemary Scones from Vegan Brunch. Though I ended up not having time to make the scones that weekend, I finally heeded her advice the past Sunday night:

I've been eating these magnificently awesome scones for breakfast every day this week with a tall glass of So Delicious Coconut Milk and a side of iced green tea. These are so amazingly good!

Even my omni boyfriend (who's vacationing in Memphis for a week ... he lives three hours away) loves 'em. He's been dipping into my stash of frozen scones ... much to my chagrin. But at the same time, I'm happy that he likes vegan food. I always freeze half a batch of any baked breakfast good and then thaw them out the night before I plan to eat them, that way they're still oven-fresh.

These are bready enough for breakfast, but savory enough to eat with dinner. And the texture couldn't be better. Isa has truly mastered the scone with this recipe. After the Vegan Brunch tofu omelet, I think this scone recipe is my second favorite I've tried thus far.

Raw Solstice Celebration

Not only was Sunday Father's Day, it was also the Summer Solstice — the longest day of the year and the official beginning of summer. Since summer is my favorite season, I couldn't resist a chance to celebrate with my friends. The Father's Day celebration at my parents' house was over by 5 p.m., so I had a chance to attend my pal Judith's Summer Solstice party.

Here's Judith lighting the traditional Summer Solstice fire — which represents the sun — in her firepit:

Since Judith is almost 100 percent raw, she made a huge smorgasbord of raw goodies. Here's my plate:

Mango Salsa, Stuffed Cashew Tomatoes, Flax Crackers, Some Delicious Raw Pate, Something Purple and Yummy, Homemade Pickles, Raw Squash Salad, Coleslaw, and Carrot BBQ

Judith's yard is filled with toys, like this exercise ball that I'm doing push-ups on:

And this hexagonal ball contraption that my boyfriend Paul played on:

Here's Paul chatting with our buds Vaughan and Barbara after our Welcome the Sun ritual (by the way, Paul isn't drinking two glasses of wine ... he's holding my cup so I could take a picture):

We had lots of fun playing weird musical instruments, noshing on raw goodies, and welcoming the sun. Happy Summer!

Happy Father's Day, Papa Crunk!

For the past couple years, my family has grilled out for Father's Day. It's a new tradition, but I think it has potential to stick around for awhile. This year, Father's Day fell on the Summer Solstice, the best day of the year for grillin' out. Here's Papa Crunk and I before chowing down:

And here's Grandpa Crunk, lounging in a recliner:

We had Yves Spicy Italian veggie dogs (actually everyone else had meat dogs and burgers) with sauerkraut, potato salad, baked beans, and chips with guacamole and salsa:

Yum! Granny made the potato salad, most of which was not vegan. But she made a special vegan version with dairy-free Italian dressing for me. And she made it all fancy on top with pickles and red bell pepper for garnish:

For dessert, Granny made the best thing ever - Chocolate Hot Fudge Pecan Pudding Cake:

It's a dessert she's veganized for my cookbook and it is so amazing. It's similar to the hot fudge cake at Shoney's, soft gooey cake over a layer of chocolate fudge. I served mine with a scoop of French Vanilla Soy Dream.

I'll share pictures of my friend Judith's Solstice celebration tomorrow.

Fried Green Tomatoes, Sandwich-Style

Ripe red tomatoes are still scarce this time of year, but the farmers market is filled with green tomatoes. And that means one thing to this Southern gal — fried green tomato time! But rather than eat them as a side dish, I developed this tasty Fried Green Tomato & Tofu Sandwich:

The recipe is going in the cookbook, but it's basically a couple of cornmeal-battered green tomato slices paired with marinated, baked tofu and a maple-mustard sauce. I served mine on Ezekial bread, but this would be nice on a thick, hearty crusty bread as well.

I've been eating these for days now. Once I'm happy with a dish, I tend to re-create it for meals day after day until I run out of ingredients or get tired of it. In this case, I finally ran out of tofu. But I'm looking forward to the next sandwich when I get some more.

By the way, I spent a wonderful Father's Day with my family followed by a lovely Summer Solstice with a few raw food friends. I have pictures, but no time to post them tonight. Expect all that tomorrow.

Good Intentions!

About a week ago, I got a surprising e-mail from a nice lady at Bountiful Vegan, the bakery behind the new Intention Cookies. She offered to send me a box of samples to review, and I gratefully accepted (who says no to free cookies, right?). Today that bountiful box arrived at my office stuffed with these lovely goodies:

There's Well-Being (a coconut pineapple cookie), Prosperity (choco-choco chip), Love (chocolate chip orange), and Harmony (lemon snickerdoodle).

Besides the fantastic flavors, these cookies also come with a promise of good mojo. Each cookie is named for the positive characteristic it can bring into your life if you believe. On the inside of the cookie package, there's a corresponding phrase that you're supposed to repeat while eating the cookie. It works with the Law of Attraction — think positive thoughts and positive things will come your way.

Hokey as it might sound, I believe in all that new age airy-fairy stuff. So these cookies were especially fun for me. Since I can't eat four giant cookies in one day without gaining five million pounds (and suffering from major food guilt), I decided to sample the Love Cookie today:

I don't really need more love in my life, but it can't hurt to have more, right? Plus, this humungous cookie is Chocolate Chip Orange, a combo that sounds like a match made in heaven.

The verdict: If this cookie is Love, consider me head over heels! I cut the cookie in half and heated it in the microwave for 10 seconds so the chocolate chips got all melty. A hint of orange flavor (from natural orange oil, not artificial flavors) accented the creamy chocolate bits. And the cookie had that perfect chewy bakery-fresh texture. I enjoyed it with a cold glass of So Delicious Coconut Milk.

Do I feel more love now? Actually, yes since I've found a new love in Intention Cookies! They're made with all-natural, all-vegan ingredients and they cater to my penchant for the Law of Attraction.

Look for more Intention Cookie reviews in the very near future. I'll let ya'll know what I think as I eat each cookie. In the meantime, order your own at the Bountiful Vegan website.

Ratatouille!

After I watched that cute Disney Pixar Ratatouille movie about the cute little chef rat, I promised myself I'd try the film's namesake dish very soon. And then I forgot all about that promise, until I ran across the recipe for Ratatouille with White Beans in The Vegan Table:

I love anything with white beans and with all the lovely produce in season, it seemed like a great time to whip up this veg-heavy entree. I'm reviewing The Vegan Table for the Memphis Flyer, the newspaper I write for, so I need to try as many dishes from it as possible before the review is due.

This dish — loaded with eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, tomato, and fresh herbs — satisfied my craving for veggies. I love the idea of a main course made with such a variety of fresh produce. And of course the white beans really stepped it up a notch.

I did have to add a crap ton of salt though. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's recipe only calls for salt to taste at the end of cooking, but next time, I'm adding it in earlier. I also halved this recipe because it was meant to feed 6 to 8 people. The Vegan Table is an entertaining cookbook, so many of the recipes make huge amounts. I'll definitely be turning to this volume for potlucks!

I served my ratatouille with a slice of fresh Whole Wheat French Bread with Vegetarian Herb Pate:

I made this loaf last weekend using Sarah Kramer's Easy French Bread recipe in La Dolce Vegan. And the pate is AMAZING! It's by Bonavita and it's imported from Germany. I found it on sale when World Market was going out of business and now I'm wishing I would have bought all they had on the shelf. I'm gonna have to find a way to order this stuff from somewhere! It has a cheezy, nooch-heavy taste that I love!

Brunch Party For One

When I first got my hands on Vegan Brunch, I envisioned this fabulous brunch party — lots of friends, tofu eggs benedict, grapefruit mimosas. But so far, I've been having Vegan Brunch parties with myself a few times a week. Take for example today's breakfast — VB's English Muffins with Homemade Strawberry Jam and Cubed Scrambled Tofu:

The muffins were actually the only recipe from the book in this picture, but oh my gawd ya'll ... best thing ever! I know I say that a lot, but I mean it this time. These tender English muffins knock the Earth Balance off any biscuit, scone, or baked good I've ever put in my mouth. Mine didn't get any nooks and crannies, as the recipe promised, but I blame that on my subbing whole wheat pastry flour. That didn't matter though. These were tasty without nooks and crannies.

I served them with Earth Balance and Homemade Organic Strawberry Jam that I made with some local handpicked strawberries a few weeks ago.

I also whipped up a quick Cubed Tofu Scramble using my own scramble recipe:

I typically crumble my tofu for scrambles, but after seeing the "Portland method" (as seen on Jess of Get Sconed's blog and in Vegan Brunch) of cubing tofu in scrambles, I had to try it that way. I really like the texture of the cubes and it browns a little better than crumbled tofu. I also added black salt for a more "eggy" flavor, as well as chopped carrots and local summer squash.

Note to Testers (you know who you are): New recipes are up and ready for testin' on the Cookin' Crunk site.

I Made Crepes!

Yep, I finally successfully made crepes. Check out these sexy Lemon Cashew-Stuffed Crepes with Whole Berry Sauce from Vegan Brunch:

I've tried making crepes before, but with no luck. Until recently, I lacked a decent non-stick skillet — a mandatory tool when making crepes. But now that I have a good skillet, I decided to give Isa's yummy nummy cashew berry crepe recipe a go. I was amazed by how easy crepe-makin' can be!

My first crepe tore a little while flipping, but the defect was easily masked by rolling the ugly part up. The second went off without a hitch. I halved the recipe to make only 4 crepes (the recipe says it makes 10 to 12, but halving only produced 4), and I used the whole wheat variation.

These are stuffed with a fresh-tasting lemony cashew cheeze and a scrumptious berry sauce made from fresh, local, organic blueberries that I picked up at the farmer's market last Wednesday.

Elvis the Cupcake, Mac & Teese, and More

Elvis is Memphis. So it just wouldn't be right to right for a Memphian to write a vegan Southern cookbook without at least one recipe homage to the King. Meet the Elvis Cupcake:

It's peanut butter and banana, of course! The interior is flecked with peanuts and creamy banana bits, and it's topped with a rich peanut buttercream. The cupcake part is almost fat-free (except for the peanuts) so I like to think of it as "skinny Elvis." The frosting, however, is "fat Elvis" in all his chubby-cheeked glory. It's made with peanut butter, shortening, and loads of confectioner's sugar. That creates a balance that makes this Libra happy.

The cupcake is still in development, but I'm getting close to perfecting the recipe. I brought these to work today and my co-workers mostly all agreed that they were better than the first batch of them I brought in last week, which were more muffin-y than cake-y.

After all that cupcake bakin', I wanted an easy dinner tonight. So I whipped up this quick plate of Mac & Teese With Weiners In It:

Yep, it's kiddie food. But kiddie food makes me happy sometimes. I used Creamy Cheddar Teese melted with soymilk for the sauce. The new Teese sauces — creamy cheddar and nacho — are the best things ever made in the whole wide world! The veggie dogs were some I'd frozen back when I tried Melody's (of Melomeals) recipe for homemade steamed hot dogs. Her recipe is way better than the storebought kind!

On the side, I served Dark Leafy Greens with Sesame Miso Dressing from The Vegan Table:

As you can tell by the colored stems, I used fresh, local chard. And let me tell ya, this is the first thing I've made from The Vegan Table and it is most excellent! The greens are steamed and lightly sauteed with a miso-based sesame-flecked sauce. Yummy, nummy!

Zucchini Bread for Breakfast!

For the past few mornings, I've been enjoying this moist loaf of Swell Vegan's Lemon Zucchini Bread:

I'm a sucker for anything with lemon, and with the fresh zucchini finally coming into the farmer's market, I knew I HAD to make this recipe from Swell Vegan's cookzine (appropriately named Swell).

As you can see by the picture, it didn't get much lift in the oven, but I'm used to that since I only use whole wheat pastry flour rather than white. It never gets as fluffy. Swell Vegan actually recommended spelt flour (which I didn't have on hand) or part all-purpose, part whole wheat pastry flour. But I subbed all whole wheat pastry flour.

I did have to cook this about 30 minutes longer than the recipe called for. I think this might have had something to do with my oven. But her recipe calls for a 45 to 50 minute cooking time on 325 degrees. I always bake breads like these on 350 for about an hour, so I ended up jacking up the temp to 350 after 55 minutes in the oven. Then I cooked it for 20 more minutes. When I make it again, I'll start with a 350 degree oven.

And I will be making this again! It was scrumptious schmeared with Tofutti cream cheese:

By the way, after the last tofu fish post, a few people asked when my cookbook will be coming out. Honestly, I don't know. I have about 200 recipes developed, but the dessert section still needs some work. And my testers are hard at work trying things out. I plan to find a publisher (or self-publish) after the recipe development phase ... that way I can do things at my own pace. My goal for finishing recipe development, though, is December.

Un-Fried Un-Fish

In the South, most major celebrations (and just about any Friday night) are marked by fish fries, at which folks batter and deep-fry catfish and hush puppies. But even in my pre-vegetarian childhood days, I wasn't the biggest fan of fish. My family ate a bad batch of catfish once and I was turned off of all seafood forever (even though catfish really isn't seafood).

So I surprised myself when I decided to develop this Baked Tofu Fish Fry recipe for my cookbook:

I knew a good vegan Southern cookbook must include some faux catfish recipe, seeing as how its such a staple down here. But I felt like I already had enough fried recipes in the book. I don't want the whole cookbook to be a big fat fest, so I baked these tofu fish filets for a healthier spin.

The reddish brown stuff you see is dulse flakes, which is what makes the tofu taste like fish. And even though I'm not a huge fan of that fishy taste, these are tasty. The fish taste is mild, and I couldn't help but pat myself on the back for actually eating a healthy dose of sea vegetables.

I served my filets with vinegar and homemade tartar sauce (also in the book) and these Hush Puppy Corn Muffins:

If you've ever had a hush puppy, you know they're typically deep-fried. But if you're baking the faux fish, you can't very well break out the deep fryer for the hush puppies. These little guys have the same ingredients as my mom's fried puppies but without all the fat. The recipe will also be going in the cookbook.

Finally, I also tested out another of my mom's contributions for my cookbook — Fried Cabbage:

Last time I mentioned fried cabbage on the blog, a few commenters thought I meant "deep-fried" cabbage. But not so. It's really sauteed and caramelized with onions and a touch of sugar. But Southerners will label anything "fried" if they can get away with it.

World Music Picnic

My neighborhood park — Overton Park in Midtown — boasts an adorable outdoor concert venue that hosts free live shows four nights a week in the spring and fall. The Shell stage has a long Memphis history (it's actually the first stage Elvis ever played on!), and it was recently re-vamped and re-named the Levitt Shell:

Tonight, a cute world music group called Chic Gamine performed, and though we didn't know anything about the band, Stephanie (of the Poopie Bitch blog) and I saw the event as the perfect opportunity to pack a picnic. Steph brought some homemade apple-sage steamed vegan sausages with homemade buns and some tasty macaroni slaw. I provided boozy beer beans and some marinated summer tomato salad:

And of course, Steph brought one of her uber-delicious vegan cakes (this lady can bake the hell out of some cakes). Tonight's selection was a summer-y Raspberry Lime Cake with a Lime Glaze:

Here's a blogger behind-the-scenes shot of Steph taking a picture for her blog:

And here we are — me, Barbara, Vaughan, and Steph's husband Richard (a.k.a. The Brit) — before stuffing ourselves silly:

The band — Chic Gamine — turned out to be pretty awesome. It's made of up four girls and one dude from Canada, and they play a mix of American soul and gospel blended with Brazilian forro and even 1950s doo-wop. Kinda crazy, but lots of fun. Here's the band in action (check out that one chick wearing the washboard instrument!):

Anyway, there's a free concert every Thursday through Sunday at the Levitt Shell through June, so I'm sure we'll be picnicking there again very soon.

Black Salt Is My New Best Friend

Lemme just say this on the record: Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a genius! Thanks to her new Vegan Brunch book, I have discovered my latest love — black salt. I enjoyed some mixed in and sprinkled over this Vegan Brunch Tofu Omelet:

Black salt, which Isa highly recommends for this recipe, smells and tastes EXACTLY like eggs. Seriously. I hunted down a pack at a local Indian market, and I was blown away by the smell of eggs when I tore open the pack. I sampled a little on my finger, and I was swept back to my childhood Thanksgivings, when I ate way too many of mom's deviled eggs. It is that good.

In the omelet, the black salt (which is actually more of a pinkish grey) makes the tofu-based mixture taste like an actual egg omelet. I've tried Susan V's omelet before, and I still love that recipe too, but I'll never make enother faux egg dish without black salt. Anyway, enough gushing — go buy some and see for yourself. It's widely available at most Indian markets. And I'm sure it's available on the Internet too.

I stuffed this omelet with mushrooms, spinach, and mozzerella Teese, and scarfed it down for dinner, along with these Roasted Potatoes with Fresh Rosemary, Paprika, and Garlic:

I mixed a couple of Isa's roasted potato seasoning suggestions together. These crispy taters were the perfect complement to the very realistic omelet. Vegan Brunch is totally my new favorite vegan cookbook of all time, partly because of the black salt revelation and also because breakfast is my favorite meal — no matter what time its served.

Hey testers: New recipes are posted over at the tester site (sorry I'm a few days late!).

Raw Food Made Easy

It seems like just yesterday that I was doing my once-a-month raw food cleanse, but that's only because last month's cleanse was pushed back a week from the usual first Tuesday of the month. Last time, I spent TWO HOURS in the kitchen prepping nut cheezes, spreads, and sauces. But this time, I wanted to make things easier on myself. So I started with this lovely and simple Green Smoothie:

I say it was simple, but now that I think about it, this smoothie was a pain in butt. I got the bright idea to add coconut water and fresh coconut meat to my usual fruit and kale smoothie. That meant hammering and prying at a coconut last night (I could only find the kind with the hard shell at my local Asian market, but next time, I'll drive to Whole Foods for a young coconut with the shell already removed). The meat was so hard to cut out that I abandoned the task halfway through. I didn't get much reward from all that work.

But this morning, the smoothie was easy as pie (although is pie really that easy?) to throw together in the blender. I used the coconut water and meat, banana, strawberries, pineapple, mango, kale, and a bit of flax seed.

I was starving by 10 a.m., but luckily I packed some carrot sticks and Rosemary Guacamole from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen:

The recipe calls for fresh rosemary, which is a pretty interesting addition to traditional guac. It complemented the avocado quite well, but I'll probably stick to traditional guac from now on. I omitted the olive oil in Ani's recipe because, um, who puts olive oil in guacamole?

Lunch was this Dolmas Salad from One Week Raw:

It did require a little prep but not too much. Dolmas are those lemony rice-stuffed grape leaves, and this dolmas paté — made with a parsnip and nut base — actually tasted a lot like the real thing. One Week Raw is a free raw cookzine that you can download here.

Since I'm hungry every two hours on raw day, I snacked on more guac and carrots, as well as a ruby red grapefruit and a Key Lime Pie Larabar (great flavor!). The Larabar kept me satisfied throughout my spinning class at the gym.

But afterward, I was famished. So I dove into this Pine Nut Pesto Over Zucchini Fettucine:

I recently saw this over on Breedale's blog Perpetually Changing. She used Ani's Pistachio Pesto recipe as a guideline, but subbed pine nuts for pistachios. So did I, since I couldn't find raw pistachios anywhere. I also added nooch because I think that's the secret ingredient to an awesome vegan pesto.

Here's a bonus picture of my kitty Polaris, about to steal a bite of my raw pasta:

Now it's nearly bedtime and I'm kinda hungry again. I may snack on a fresh peach and drink some herbal tea. But I'm really yearning for tomorrow's breakfast — a big bowl of Barbara's Bakery Cinnamon Crunch Shredded Oats with hemp milk. If nothing else, raw food day makes me appreciate cooked food and grains so much more!