Customization & Options!

There are so many things I have been wanting to update you all on but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it YET.  One of these days I will but not today.  Today I would rather blog about better things.  One of them being a new(er) business that is in town.  I mentioned it yesterday but I thought I would expand on that today!

The business is called Total Evolution Cafe & Smoothie Lounge.  This place offers a LOT!  There is a core group of people that attend exercise classes there.  Some of the classes that I have been seeing info about are Kettlebells, Dance, Kickboxing, Tabata, Circuit Training, PiYo, Cardio, etc.

In addition to the classes they have a Cafe.  Here is one of the things I ordered yesterday.  It was from the Build Your Own Rice Bowl Option.

Here is what I chose of this bowl...Rice, Tempeh, BBQ Chickpeas, Avocado, Carrots, Sprouts, Marinated Mushrooms, and I ordered their vegan ranch but I think they forgot it.  It was pretty good.  I LOVE that they have Build Your Own Wraps and Rice Bowls.  They have some non-vegan items but are VERY vegan friendly and knowledgeable.  I can't wait to go back there and try something different!  I'm totally digging this place because of the way you can customize.

I couldn't resist trying their Avocado Toast.  I enjoy putting mashed Avocado on toast and bagels whenever I can but the price of Avocados have been INSANE lately on the local level.  So I do try and get something while ordering out.  This is their take on Avocado Toast.  It's on Super Grain Bread with Avocado, Tomato, Maple Mustard, and Salt and Pepper.  There was only a pinch of salt and for that I'm grateful - you know that I'm not much of a salt person.

Some of the other things I found interesting on the menu were Chia Pudding made with Coconut Milk...Super Food Energy Balls, Smoothie Bowls, Fresh Fruit Cups, Shakes, Juices, MANY Menu Wraps in addition to the Build Your Own.

I'm going to try their Oatmeal Bar one of these days!  Hot cereal of your choice with about 22 different toppings to choose from.

I grabbed this photo from their social media because I forgot to take a pic of it before I ate it last week.  I can't remember what they called it and it wasn't on their menu from what I could see.

This wrap had Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Carrots, Sprouts, Greens, Beets, Beet Hummus, and 2 dressings that they made in-house which was the Vegan Ranch combined with the Greek Balsamic type dressing.  It was AWESOME!

So YEAH...needless to say I will be frequenting this place often.  LOTS of options and LOTS of ways to incorporate different foods in different ways.  PLUS they have healthy snacks!  YAY!

Not to mention some of the things you can buy in their shop!  I'll save that for another day!

Where Did The Week Go?

Thursday, already?  Not sure where the rest of the week went but I knew I needed to get a blog post on before the craziness of the next few days takes place!  You see - my sisters baby shower is Saturday!  Both near-future grandma's are running around like maniacs and then there is the near-future 'Crazy Aunt' (that's ME) that has been overly busy at work and down and out not feeling well for a few days last week!  I haven't been as much help as I wanted the last couple of weeks!  Anyhow...today I will share with you some things I have been taking snapshots of over the past week and then I will blab about the shower next week!

First up is what I had for dinner last night.  It's the first photo you see in this post and it is LITERALLY something I threw together because I didn't want to fuss with anything special.  I found tortilla boats that happen to be vegan and I filled them with this chickpea mixture!

Smoked Russian Chickpeas:

1 Can of Chickpeas

4 T Vegan Mayo (I used Trader Joe's - see below)

2 to 3 T Ketchup

1/2 t Smoked Paprika

1/2 t Wildtree Memphis Dry Rub

3 Drops Organic Liquid Smoke

I cannot express how AWESOME this turned out!  I'm not going to lie - I kinda wanted to drink the 'dressing' which was a more smoked up version of my Vegan Russian Dressing I have done in the past.

This was the Vegan Spread and Dressing I used that I found at Trader Joe's the last time I went.  I'm partial to Just Mayo but this is pretty awesome on it's own.  It's not what I would call a straight-up vegan mayo but more like a dressing like it states - it seemed thicker and did have a different taste but the taste was pretty wonderful!

Another wrap I did within the last week was this one.  It doesn't look like much but it was a great comfort food!  I used a couple of potato patties, tomato slices, and vegan cheese sauce.  The vegan cheese sauce was the leftover vegan cheese powder I made not too long ago!  It worked well!

I had a huge salad this week, too, and I made this dressing.  It was supposed to resemble a vegan Ranch Dressing using Sunflower Seeds as the base but it totally missed the mark as a Vegan Ranch Dressing taste-alike.  The taste wasn't bad it just wasn't what I was going for.  

I'm grateful on a daily basis that Paco has been doing well the last several months!  A few months ago he wasn't able to do this!  He would barely move let alone look engaged in things!  

I still have to help him up on the sofa and recliner but the WANT and INTEREST is there!  I put him up on the recliner but he managed to get on the armrest all by himself and pose like this!  I couldn't tell you the last time he did that!  For about a year I freaked out when he did try to because his legs were so unstable!  How can these photos NOT put a smile on your face?

More Wraps, More Dips!

This is a classic Left Over Wrap!

This contains the last little bit of tofu I had in the freezer.  I seasoned it with Wildtree Memphis Seasoning.  I also used left over corn and black beans.

I melted some Daiya 'Jack' Shreds on the wrap and added the rest of the ingredients and that was my wrap!

1/3 Block of Tofu, Frozen, then Thawed
1/2 C Black Beans
1/2 C Corn
Handful of Daiya Shreds
Pinch of Wildtree Memphis Dry Rub (to season tofu)
1/2 Avocado, smashed (with lemon juice)
2 T Salsa

All in a skillet (except Daiya, Avocado, Salsa) with Earth Balance, until done.

For a separate meal/snack I did the remaining multi-colored mini potatoes in a skillet with pumpkin oil until crunchy.  I also made a Lemon Dill Cashew Dip for them.

2 C Cashews
1 C Water
1/4 C Oil (I used Pumpkin)
4 tea Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tea Nutritional Yeast
6 T Lemon Juice
1-2 tea Wildtree Dill
Pinch of Pink Himalayan Seas Salt

This Lemon Dill Dip was AMAZING!!!!  It could simply be watered down more for a dressing.  I tried to do this and I found equal parts Water, ACV, and Lemon Juice worked nicely!

Random Leftovers & Sauces & Wraps

I hope everyone had a nice weekend!  The weather here certainly was more pleasant than the earlier part of the week was.  I'm hoping the snow is done and over with for this winter and we can continue on with your adventure of SPRING!

My post today will be a little all over the place.  I've been eating some strange food combos but everything has turned out pretty YUMMY!  I want to be sure I am not wasting food and using what I have before buying much more.  So far this has been going well.  I'm on a bit of a wrap kick but more on that shortly.

First I need to share with you one of the new dips I created last night.  It's a vegan version of a pink sauce that I saw on Giada.  It was on at DH's Grandmothers yesterday and I knew I could do a vegan version of it fairly easily!

Here is what I did for the vegan version I made...

1 C Vegan Mayo
4 or 5 Mini Sweet Red Peppers (or 2 Medium)
1 T Minced Garlic
2 T Lemon Juice
Sprinkle of Smoked Paprika

It was pretty YUMMY but next time I will be adding more sweet red bell peppers and more garlic!  Because that's the way I roll!

The veggies pictured in the first photo were left over from DH's Grandmothers House...we had a belated birthday for both him and I as our birthdays are only 6 days apart.  I treated myself to a Daiya Pizza and So Delicious Mint Chocolate Ice Cream (both vegan, of course)

The other night I had Vegan Mac & Cheese.  You have probably seen a LOT of Vegan Cheese Sauces I have done here on my blog so I figured I would share yet another one with you!

This one is a Nut-Free Version

2 Mini Red Bell Peppers
1/4 C Lemon Juice
3/4 C Nutritional Yeast
3/4 C Tahini
2 T Minced Garlic
1/2 C Water
1 Squirt of Yellow Mustard
Black Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Now on to the leftovers, eh!?

I had a very little bit of my Tater Tot Casserole that I froze.  I threw that on top of the stove along with some corn and some leftover tofu cubes.  I took a wrap and warmed it up with a slice of Daiya on it - enough to melt it.  Then I threw the rest of the warm ingredients on top of that and made a wrap!  But not before adding about a tablespoon of salsa on top!

This was super YUMMY and certainly a comfort food for the WIN!

 Like I said I have been on a wrap kick lately so here is another I did.  This is a Vegan Breakfast Wrap.  My main goal here was to use multi-colored baby potatoes I bought at Aldi's not too long ago but needed to start using SOON as well as finish up the Daiya Shreds I had on hand.  Mission Accomplished!  Let me tell you what is in this one, shall I?

Leftover Cubed Tofu
Leftover Corn
White & Purple Mini Potatoes
Daiya Shreds

I also threw in some Egg Trick Seasoning that I had leftover from when I did my Egg Trick Bagel last week!  This worked out VERY WELL!  It was tasty!

Vegan MoFo ~ Weird Food Combo

For today's Vegan MoFo prompt of "Weird Food Combos You Love" I have to admit I was a little stumped.  Mostly because the 'average person' thinks no matter what I eat is 'weird'.  I guess I could tell you about having to go a picnic or potluck where I didn't prepare my own food well and having to 'settle' for a vegan hotdog.  And by that I don't mean an actual vegan hotdog or veggie pup - I mean having Mustard, Ketchup, and Relish on a roll!  People really look at me like I'm going insane.  But desperate times call for desperate measure, eh?

So I guess instead of ranting about all of the weird things I eat or really trying to come up with an out-of-this-world flavor combo I thought this would be a good time to post some of the 'thrown together' wraps I have been creating as of late.  All of which have been pretty darned tasty!  First up is the one you see above!  This one has Potato Patties that I cubed and pan fried along with mushrooms, red sweet peppers, corn, cherry tomatoes, and Vegan Shriracha Mayo.

Next up is this one.  It may not look pretty but it was pretty darn tasty!  This has Zucchini, Red Bell Peppers, Pine Nuts, Mushrooms, Spinach, Corn, Spices,  and Sesame Oil.

This is similar but different, I guess!  This one has Carrots, Spinach, Corn, Red Bell Peppers, Zucchini, Hemp Seeds, Spices, and Jalapeno Grapeseed Oil (Wildtree Brand)

I guess moral of the story besides experimenting with different combos of food is that wraps are a great way to mix it up and throw in various fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds to get more of a nutritional benefit.  Normally I would branch out even more with what I put in each in individual wrap but this is what I had on hand.  This was also an 'eating from your pantry' type post.  

Looking ahead to the weekend I did do some scheduled posts and they were pretty fun.  But I do see some potential rocky roads ahead with these prompts so I might tackle them in a round about way with a loose interpretation.

Messy Veggie Wrap & Dark Chocolate Chili Peanuts

Last week I told you about a new Sprouting Kit I got and LOVE!!!  Well, I haven't been able to share with you YET what the Sprouts looked like!  Here they are!  I noticed they were more vibrant, CLEANER, they were more fresh, they air dried MUCH better, and they are more plush and even longer that my attempts prior to using the kit!  I absolutely LOVE this kit.  If there are any 'con's' at all I would only say that the 'screen' did rust a very little bit around the edges after the first time sprouting but not back at all.  I would suggest this kit to ANYONE!  It's really awesome!  Next I am going to start in with their blend of sprouting seeds!  But I do have LOTS of my radish sprouts to use!  And I did...check this out...

Last night I threw a bunch of stuff into a Spinach Wrap!  I am going to do many more of these BUT at least now I know these spinach ones are a little touchy.  It fell apart!  But...you can at least see my attempt here!

Yes...these are veggies from a can!  BUT...I did wash them first!

I figured canned veggies are better than no veggies at all but of course I do prefer FRESH and Frozen is ok, too!

 Then I put some fire-roasted diced tomatoes on top of the veggies and on top of that I added a small handful of Daiya Vegan Shreds!

I heated this up a little bit!  That's were I probably went wrong!  With the wet contents and heated up a bit - that caused the wrap to break, I think...but it was still edible!  Just with a fork!

Where are the sprouts, you ask!?  Hold on...I'm getting to it!  I know I am long-winded...even when I write!

I melted the Daiya Cheese, too - as you can see here, underneath the sprouts!

I LOVE the color in this!  There is a lot going on but there are LOTS of colors, LOTS of nutritious things laid out here, eh!?

So...I wrapped it all up and was so excited!  I probably should have taken a few photos of this ordeal but I didn't.  I did get a close-up for the 'good' part of the wrap (to hide the fact it fell apart!)

And here it is!

Again, LOVE the color...

The taste was fine and dandy...

but it fell apart!  Oh well, thank God for forks, eh!?  LOL


I'll have another post today but it's heavy on the pictures, too, so I will post that in a few hours! 

I thought I would mention another flavored Peanut from Lush Gourmet Foods that I have tried recently!  It's their Dark Chocolate Chili flavor and it was wonderful!   Upon opening the package it smelled a bit like Peanut Butter Chocolate Coffee.  It tasted like Peanuts and hardy Coffee Coating with a Peppery kick at first - then a dark chocolate with chili pepper kick - more defined and specific.

This flavored peanut from Lush was a little more crunchier than the other flavors so far but it completely worked in every way!  The Chili Pepper lingers longer, too, but has me coming back for more!  These are really fantastic!

I'm totally a fan of this company...that's for sure!
 Participating:
Just Another Meatless Monday 
Made By You Monday 
Meatless Monday