Stuff I Ate on Valentine's Day

As I mentioned in last night's post, my partner Paul is out of town for Valentine's Day. We celebrated our holiday on Sunday (and you can read all about that here), but today, I chose to spend V-Day doing a little self-care. If you can't love yourself, how can you love anyone else, right?

Y'all know I totally nerd out for holidays, so of course, I themed all of my meals. This morning, I got up early and had a Beetilicious Ginger Candy Raw Fruit & Nut Bar by Wunderbar (full review and pics of these coming in a future post) before my run. Because of the beets, the bar was a little pinkish/reddish. :-) Then I headed out for a short 3-mile hill repeat run on the A.W. Willis Bridge in Harbortown. After my run, I had this very Valentine's-y Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberry Protein Smoothie.

That's one cup cashew-almond milk, 3/4 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana, 1 Tbsp. hemp hearts (because hearts!!), 1 Tbsp. raw cacao, and 1 scoop Manitoba Harvest Chocolate Hemp Pro70 protein powder. Sprinkle of cacao nibs for garnish.

Around mid-morning, I snacked on my the Love Pop (caramel popcorn with fudge chunks) that Paul gave me for Valentine's Day. Perfect desk snack while checking work emails! I love how this popcorn is both sweet and salty.

I went home for lunch and whipped up a quick Vegan Grilled Cheese and Vegetable Soup.

Of course, I had to cut the sandwich into a heart shape! But don't worry — I ate the scraps too. The grilled cheese was made with Daiya cheddar slices, Miyoko's Creamery VeganButter, and Dave's Killer Bread. The soup, which was loaded with stewed tomatoes, okra, corn, and green beans, is homemade (and home-canned) by my Granny using fresh-from-the-garden produce.

Back at work in the afternoon, I sipped on some herbal teas, as well as my homemade rose petal kombucha (it's so good, y'all!). I also snacked on some pretzel crisps (they're kind of heart-shaped!) and edamame hummus that I found in the breakroom fridge.

After work, I popped by Hollywood Feed's dog bakery and picked up some treats for my furry Valentines — heart-shaped Pumpkin Bars for Maynard and some Greenies treats for the kitties.

Dinner was another recipe from Isa's The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook, which I've vowed to cook from for every holiday in 2017. I picked out a couple of Indian recipes from the Valentine's Day chapter. These were, of course, intended to be shared with a partner for a romantic Valentine's meal. But I had this Cauliflower Tikka Masala and Pistachio Lentil Biryani all by myself, and that was just fine. More for me!

The tikka masala subbed cauliflower florets for the traditional chicken and boasted a rich sauce made with coconut milk, fire-roasted tomatoes, and spices. It was a perfect complement to the nutty biryani flecked with firm beluga lentils and crunchy pistachios and seasoned with toasted Indian spices. A lovely, fancy dinner all for me!

I had some grocery shopping to do tonight, and while some people might not consider that "self-care," I love to make meal plans and shopping lists and spend plenty of time perusing the aisles for the things on my list (and NOT on my list!). And then, after I wrapped up a trip to Whole Foods and Kroger and unpacked the groceries, I ran a bath and relaxed with a glass of white wine, a book, and some raw Love chocolate from Addictive Wellness chocolates.

Hope your Valentine's Day was great too!