Friday, March 16, 2018

Mixed Berry Smoothie, Ups & Downs of LightLife, Butternut Vegan Mac & Cheese

Time has been flying by!  I do have things to share but haven't had time to share it.  I almost forgot it was my birthday today, too!  But then again - it's just another day!  So, this will be a mishmash of a blog entry - yet again!

Kicking things off with a smoothie I had the other night!  I've been pretty bad about eating fruit lately.  I mean...technically...Tomatoes, Avocadoes are fruits, yes, but other fruits I have been passing over lately.  I think it's just because I find them too sweet lately.  My sensitive teeth have been avoiding the naturally sugary jolt.  I think a way around this is smoothies and I've going to try and work on this!  Having said that - what do you think about the photo above?  I have been trying to take some better pictures and have been tinkering with lighting a bit.

The Smoothie contains:

1 c Coconut Milk
1 T Flax Meal
1 T Hemp Seeds
1 T Chia Seeds
2 C Frozen Mixed Berries

This next photo is from Monday.  It was our League of Women Voters 2nd Annual Sunshine Event.  I blogged about it last year a little bit so I figured I would mention it again this year.  This time around we took a tour of the City/Municipal Building and had about 5 speakers including our Mayor, City Manager, Chief of Police, Freedom of Information Officer, and a couple of Council Members.  I think the event was a success and it was something that has been in the works for a couple of months!
Here's a new-to-me-product.  I found them a while back on one of our weekend grocery shopping adventures.  It's been a couple of weeks since I actually ate them but wanted to share it.  They were quite tasty.  It's been a long time since I have tried anything from LightLife because I'm not into fake meats and I found a bunch of their items salty (years ago) but I see they are coming out with a bunch of new products so I'm happy to see them kicking it up a notch!  I made a simple homemade Thousand Island type dressing/dip for them.  It was a complete meal and quite filling, too!
This was a completely thrown together meal one day while working.  I went to a grocery store nearby and grabbed 3 items...frozen cauliflower rice, Daiya cheese sauce, and LightLife Vegan Dogs.  I only bought them because they were 2 for $5 and then there was a dollar off coupon on top of that so far $1.50 I thought I would revisit them.  I still didn't care for them.  I ate a few of them in this dish and then picked around it and just ate the cheesy cauliflower rice!  

The weather has still been awful here but I was able to visit my parents and brought Cricket along for a playdate with their dog Lexi.  They surprised me with Amy's Vegan Curry for dinner last night!
As for this double photo...it was a Butternut Squash based Vegan Mac and Cheese dish I made earlier this week.  The recipe is below - all in a blender:

1 Can Organic Butternut Squash Puree
2 T Tahini
3 T Nutritional Yeast
1 t Minced Garlic
1 t Smoked Paprika
1 t Turmeric
To Taste: Yellow Mustard, Lemon Juice, Balsamic, Braggs Liquid Aminos, Almond or Coconut Milk


21 comments:

  1. That smoothie looks amazing! I've never seen that LightLife product either, they sound so good. The Mac looks awesome as well!

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    1. I've been a little TOO into pastas lately...oops! LOL

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    2. Ahhhh how did I forget to wish you a Happy Birthday!!!!??? Happy belated, I hope it was a wonderful day!

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  2. The smoothie looks beautiful. And it sounds delicious!
    Happy Birthday!! I hope you have a great one!

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    1. I was surprised at how filling they were, too!

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  4. Hi Jennifer, You are the queen of mac and cheez. I have always loved your mac and cheez recipes and this butternut mac and cheez recipe sounds delectable. I can't wait to try it.

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    1. Let me know if you do! I have since made a Pumpkin based one that I will be sharing soon!

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  5. Happy birthday, Jennifer! Love the smoothie photo; it looks like one you'd see in a cookbook! :) I haven't seen the veggie fritters; I'll have to keep an eye out for them! And your butternut squash mac & cheese looks great!

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    1. Awww thanks for the feedback on the smoothie photo and the birthday wishes!

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  6. Happy birthday!
    The smoothie photo looks lovely! I find it so hard to get good shots of drinks. But yours is great.

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    1. Thanks! I'm still in need of another light for my set up, I think :)

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  7. Happy Birthday! The smoothie looks great and so does the butternut mac, yum!

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    1. Thanks! I have a lot of other things come up - just not enough time in the day! LOL :)

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  8. Happy (probably belated now!) birthday! That mac and cheese looks heavenly.

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    1. Thanks! I have been a little lazy with my pastas as my fall back lately! teehee!

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  9. Happy birthday to you. Hope you had a great one. Cheers Sherry x

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