He likes it! Bubs really likes it!

Matthew came up to the land where the water is white last night very, very late after working for the man of wood. I promised him I would make him some breakfast in the morning since he was so sweet for coming to see me at Denny K's. (Robby and Marcus came down too to shoot the shit, but Obby passed on my offer and said that he thought all my recipes sounded good but he'd add bacon. Or chicken. Or bacon wrapped chicken. Or steak. Yes, steak.) Bubs willingly accepted my proposition of  trying the chocolate banana steel cut oats breakfast that I made the day before. 

"Possibly the best breakfast I have ever had." SUCCESS!

I plan on making him the Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing for lunch. Maybe some Miso soup too. 

Yesterday I wrote out a grocery list for Woodman's for the next recipes I want to attempt to make out of Veganomicon-

Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls
Silken Mayo (Another essential staple of any Vegan kitchen)
Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Asparagus

VERY EXCITED! Happy New Year Everyone!

Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing

Dressing-
1/4 cup spicy, smooth mustard (I used a stone ground mustard) 
3 tbs grapeseed oil
1/4 cup  red wine vinegar
2 tbs pure maple syrup (I didn't have the money [yet] to by pure maple syrup, so I made due with the off brand)

(The amount of dressing that this makes is enough for 4 entree servings, since I only need one serving, I put the rest in the refrigerator.)

Salad ingredients-
Red leaf lettuce (you can choose any lettuce that you like the best)
1 avocado thinly sliced (I only put 1/2 of a small avocado into the salad... I stuffed the rest into my mouth.)
1 red onion (I used about an 1/8 of a small red onion- finely chopped)
1 15oz can of chick peas (I used about 1 1/2 tbs of beans)
1 recipe Roasted Portobellos (I had to improvise the mushrooms quite a bit. I started to slice them-which the recipe doesn't call for- and I didn't have all the ingredients for the marinade called for in the recipe. So I used some soy sauce, grapeseed oil, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and mustard and made a marinade to pour into the pan while I sauteed the sliced mushroom cap. I was VERY pleased)

Thoughts on the salad-

I think that it was a very colorful mix of ingredients that I would normally never put together. I think I added a little too much red wine vinegar, and I would be curious to try a honey mustard of some sort. But overall, I would definitely make it again! (And I will have to have it again since my grocery selection is lacking.) 

My Vegan Adventure!

Good Morning Chocolate Banana Steel Oats!

Thanks Kerry for this DELICIOUS recipe!!

1/4 cup Steel Cut Irish Oats
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup Almond Milk (unsweetened)
1 tsp. cocoa powder (Ghirardelli)
1 banana
A smudge of honey!

My "vegan friendly cupboard"-

Not so sure if the booze are vegan friendly but they are too expensive to throw out haha


ALSO did P90X Cardio X this morning with Gina. We are now dead. 

Attempting for lunch- Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing!

Clean Sweep

Not only did I spend an obnoxious amount of time cleaning the house today (kitchen and bathroom being the biggest challenges), but I took the time to organize and "deshitify" by room. From the bookshelf to the closest nothing was safe from my anal retentive habit. 

After about 3 hours of organizing and deciding what was essential to keep and what wasn't, I had I now have a space that I can breathe in! (Excluding the whole mold thing of course).

There is a 10 lb bag and a boot sized shoe box that is headed to the clothes closet! 

ALSO-

made my first vegan meal today! I went on an epic shopping adventure through Woodman's to get most of the vegan staples from Veganomicon. I had the idea of making the Portabella Avocado Mustard Dressing Salad, but since I spent a little too much time organizing, I stuck with this-

Probiotic Hummus with Cucumber slices and Whole Wheat Pita Bread (the bread was not completely vegan because of a preservative that contained dairy something or other)

and 

Miso Soup with Tofu. 

It was delicious!

The List of Non-Facebook Activities

This is the list I compiled last night of things I can do with all the extra time from not being on FB.

1. Go to gym/fitness class/run
2. Go on nature walks with friends or solo
3. Read all books that I have purchased and not finished such as- In the Woods, Devil in the White City, In Cold Blood, and The Lost Symbol .
4. Listen to N.P.R. 
5. Go to the library and rent a classic movie
6. Email friends and family
7. Update blog(!!!)
8. Try new vegan recipe from Veganomicon
9. Bring back Art nights
10. Call up someone
11. Practice Guitar
12. Try new restaurant with friends

The House Cafe 12/27/10

A beautiful night among beautiful people! Matt, Kerry, Richelle, Danielle and I all made the trek down to DeKalb to see and partake in The House Cafe's Open Mic Night. It was a packed house! 

Matt and I had the opportunity to play 3 songs (Said So Much, Slammed, and Kaleidoscope [a Paul Nolley original]) to a very receptive audience. Kerry wowed me with her 'Veganomicon' Cookbook and Danielle whispered majestic movie titles into my ear. 

With our respective notepads, writing utensils, and micro brews in hand we all jotted down notes of things to look up, read, or watch. Here was some of my noteworthy ones from the night- 

Look ups-

1. http://creativecommons.org/  - this was inspired by a discussion about the NPR special on Girl Talk creator Gregg Gillis and sampling - http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=131791011&m=131814648
   (This isn't the exact segment that I listened to on Sunday but it's pretty interesting.)
2. Jay-Z/Rhianna Illuminati video on Youtube (Discussion on conspiracy theories brought up this video)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqGJSLmwOrI  
3. No Impact Man- http://noimpactman.typepad.com/ 
4. Rope- 1948 Alfred Hitchcock film about two men who plan the perfect murder. (James Stewart- what a hunk)
5. Paul Thomas Anderson- American film director, screenwriter and producer. Films include There Will Be Blood, Punch-Drunk Love, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, etc.
6. The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

This should keep me busy for awhile.

Also- CD's to purchase- The are great to listen to while blogging and finishing your morning coffee-

1. KT Tunstall- Tiger Suit
2. Elton John and Leon Russell- The Union
3. Billy Bragg and Wilco- Mermaid Avenue Vol. II

 

The Start of Adventure...

Well, this is a very foreign concept for me. Reading? Writing? Who knew it could be done. 

This idea of a blog was spawned off of an inspiring dinner date conversation with some new friends. It was finals week and we were discussing how we would all spend a lot more time studying if we weren't "obligated" to check Facebook so frequently. The status updates, the witty comments, or the newest gossip about the person you met once at a party your freshman year was much more important than the biology, health, or finance final exam that was within the next 24 hours. On average, our dinner party spent between 2 to 3 hours on Facebook per day. Whether it was broken up between small 10 minute intervals or an hour of mindless surfing. 

If you spend 2 hours per day (on average) on Facebook (or any other social media outlet) that is 14 hours per week, 56 hours (2 1/3 days) per month, and 672 hours (28 days) per year. ALMOST A MONTH ON FACEBOOK PER YEAR? Seriously? I have had my Facebook account since I was a senior in high school . Have I really wasted 4 months in 4 years on social networking?

This is how the pack was formed. No Facebook starting January 1st of 2011. 

I cannot guarantee that the amount of time that was previously sent on Facebook won't be just transferred over to this blogging site, but I feel that this is a more creative and personal approach to social media online. 

I hope that you will follow my journey through this blog and create one of your own. 

Peace and love to all, 

Ashley

"Be the change you want to see in the world" ~Mahatma Gandhi