My friend Emily had some leftover pumpkin in her fridge (fresh, not canned), so we decided to make cookies Saturday. We went with this recipe for pumpkin oatmeal cookies from the ppk.

We made a few changes, which led to these cookies tasting a little more healthy than decadent, but they were still delicious. If you definitely don’t like healthy-tasting treats, though, stick with the original recipe and you’ll be fine. 

We used whole wheat pastry flour, replaced half of the oil with applesauce, used brown sugar and only half the amount called for, and added ground flaxseed, carob chips, and walnuts. The cookies turned out chewy and sweet — plus they’re this awesome orange color. 

Thanksgiving is coming up! If anyone’s got an awesome vegan pie recipe, let me know…

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve had spaghetti squash. How did it and I last so long apart? 

I used the cut in half and bake for 40 minutes at 375 method. Perfecto.

For the sauce, I used absolutely no measurements. Forgive me, but isn’t it nice to throw ingredients together and cook whimsically, by taste, on a Friday night? I think so. I sauteed some onion and garlic in olive oil, then added the following: tempeh, swiss chard, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red pepper, a can of stewed tomatoes, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinaigrette, lemon juice, pine nuts, and nutritional yeast. And it was excellent. And I have leftovers.

I didn’t really end up having lunch today but just sort of snacked through the day instead. But at some point I had this fabulous smoothie:

Raw almond milk, ice, banana, almonds, and amazing meal powder. I also had an apple, some almonds, and a few dates throughout the day, but I was really saving my appetite for my raw dinner party tonight at Emily and Eliott’s. As always when I eat at their house, I have to apologize for the picture quality. They have funky lights. But all is okay because the food was delicious. 

We made a version of my spinach cashew dip, only with raw spinach instead of cooked and no garlic. 

We dipped carrots and sun-dried tomatoes. With the tomatoes it tasted like little pizzas.

For the main course we made a hefty salad. We started with whatever this lovely lettuce is, which came to us by way of Emily and Eliott’s CSA box. Look how pretty!

The leaves were super bitter, though. But it was okay with the toppings.

We added shredded beets, shredded carrots, chunks of oranges, and big chunks of avocado.

Plus Eliott’s AMAZING salad dressing, which is made of only olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic, but for some reason I cannot replicate it at home. Something about the way he makes it. He says it’s in the thinness of the garlic? Apparently I need to work on my garlic slicing skills. Anyway, my plate:

For dessert we tried to make the raw chocolate cake my sister and I made last winter, but it turned out more like pudding. I was fine with that though, because it was sweet and rich and I had been craving both all day. 

There were huge chunks of walnuts. I ate more than I needed to of this, but it was so good. And I think every raw day needs a little indulgence…

Ah, feat accompli.

Yes, today will be all raw, all the time. 

Eating raw all the time is definitely not right for my body, but I find raw days here and there to be a nice way to step back from the food routine and reassess. I’ve been stuck in a bit of rut lately — oats for breakfast, hummus and veggies sandwich with an apple and peanut butter for lunch, and some sort of spinach/tomato/chickpea concoction for dinner. It gets old. 

This raw day is also part of the Eat.Sweat.Blog challenge over at socialworkout.com. By tonight I think I will have enough feats to complete this thing, so I’m definitely not wimping out at the end. I’ll post throughout the day as I (a) eat all raw and (b) incorporate three colors at every meal. Oh, and fit another smoothie in there somewhere. Whew.

I whipped up a batch of raw almond milk this morning (and I swear, this is so much easier than it sounds, so if you haven’t tried it yet – DO! It’s way cheaper and better for you than store-bought almond milk). 

I added a bit of almond milk to a 1/2 cup of raw wheatberries (soaked overnight) and topped that with pumpkin seeds, 1/2 banana, one date, and a drizzle of agave. I might do this for breakfast more often; we’ll see how the wheatberries hold me over compared to my beloved oats. The things that’s going to kill me though: no coffee! How do people do it? Good thing I woke up with an abundance of energy this morning, because if it were one of those feet-dragging days, this might not be happening at all.

Stay tuned for progress!

I’ve been seeing tons of bloggers filling their nearly empty peanut and almond butter jars with oats in order to scrape out the last little bit. It’s pretty much a genius idea.

And I just wanted to confirm that this trick works just as well with smoothies. Especially chocolate banana smoothies. 

That is all.

I had some leftover pumpkin from those pumpkin cupcakes, and I knew exactly what to make with it… something with curry! This soup was amazingly good and, even better, astoundingly fast. 

1/3 can pumpkin

1/2 C water

1/3 C chickpeas

very large handful of spinach

sprinkling of wheatberries

pinches of the following, to taste, though the largest pinch will, if you’re anything like me, be curry:

curry powder

chili powder

tumeric

coriander

paprika

salt

Bring it all to a boil, then simmer til it’s nice and hot and the spinach is all wilty. Yum.

I’ve made lots of cupcakes since yesterday! Using this ppk recipe for Chai Latte Cupcakes and this recipe of Celine’s for pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, I made my friend Missy the birthday present of a lifetime. Cupcake variety + plenty of love.

I topped the chai latte cupcakes with plain frosting and a sprinkling of cocoa…

and the pumpkin cupcakes with the recipe’s cream cheese frosting (delish) and a sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice.

All together, cupcakes for everyone. That way, everyone feels like it’s their birthday.

On another note, check out these crackers I found! They are like all natural wheat thins — all the yummy taste without all the yucky stuff. I love them!

I had a handful yesterday, and another today. So far, good with hummus and good with mustard. Check and check.

For dinner tonight, I decided to get a little creative with my leftovers. I had a few tablespoons of quinoa, half a sweet potato, and just a few leaves of spinach left in the fridge. What to do? Mash it all together and make patties, of course.

I added a squirt of mustard, a teaspoon of hummus, two pinches of flour, and a few chopped up green olives (with pimentos). Plus a dash of salt. I grilled them in the pan with a bit of olive oil, and served them with a piece of toast with hummus.

I actually made three patties, so I have one left for lunch tomorrow — score.

I’ve been thinking all week about black bean brownies, and last night I finally had the chance to make them. I used Celine’s recipe with a few modifications. I didn’t have any applesauce, so I nixed that, and I used 4 tablespoons of carob chips instead of cocoa. And I added walnuts.

They were pretty good — a little mushy, but I’m happy to say that a night in the fridge was just the trick. I had a little bite this morning, and now they’re perfect.

I’ve been on a bit of a walnut kick lately. I’ve even mixed up my normal oatmeal toppings by adding them. Yesterday I had my oats with almond butter, slivered almonds, carob chips, and walnuts. 

Goooood stuff. Brainstorming what to cook next, and a trip to Trader Joe’s might just have to be in my near future… 

Guess what mysteriously appeared at the farmers’ market last Saturday? Okra! In Illinois! In the fall! What? I don’t get it, but I’m not gonna resist it. I bought a bag and proceed to make, tonight, my very first batch of okra fries. 

With plenty of mustard for dipping and a heaping side of my new favorite dinner combo: chickpeas and quinoa with spinach and zucchini, with a sauce made of soy yogurt and dijon, topped with pine nuts. So good! Mmm I love dinner.