Happy Friday the 13th!
I was running low on the fresh vegetables in my fridge so I took a trip to the grocery. This is what I got: (I love lists.) celery, broccoli, cilantro, green leaf lettuce, spinach, carrots, kale, red grapes, minneolas, lemons, fuji apples, red bell peppers, cabbage, bananas, cucumbers, zucchini, frozen strawberries, whole wheat flour, canned tomatoes, more fire-roasted peanuts in the shell and fresh tortilla chips. All this for $36.
Today's eats:
How healthy can I get than starting out my day with a green smoothie? Breakfast was this banana-date-mango-blueberry-collard greens smoothie. Yum.
Lunch was a cup of split pea soup and veggie crudités with a little bit of hummus. No photo.
Snacks: Mid-morning, a brown rice cake with pb and brown rice syrup. After the dog walk, I had an apple.
It's cold, wet and rainy outside and all I wanted for dinner was something warm and comforting. I had to make a curry. I made one that was based on the Chickpea and Tofu Mild Curry from You Are What You Eat. I omitted the tofu and added a can of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, garam masala, shiitake mushrooms and cauliflower. I pretty much transformed the recipe into something else haven't I? It was pretty good. I have to say that I am not a huge fan of shiitake mushrooms. This was my first time working with them and I found them to be way too strong and their flavor permeated the curry a little too much. I wish I wouldn't have added them in but oh well...the chickpeas were ace!
Very pretty curry. I served this with brown rice and a salad.
So we all know people will be scoffing all kinds of chocolate tomorrow in honor of St. Valentine right? I am not going to be deprived of gooey chocolatey goodness! If I can't have chocolate, than carob will do. I know some do not appreciate the flavor of carob but I happen to like it. I have fond memories of visiting the local health food store with one of my friends after school and we would get these carob ice cream sandwiches. They were good! Today I made a batch of fudge carob brownies made with carob powder, dates, walnuts and vanilla. I was originally going to make Ms. Gillian McKeith's brownies but her recipe required way too many kinds of nuts and seeds that I just didn't have. So I went online and found
this recipe that was perfect. I had all the ingredients except for raw carob, I only had roasted carob but it worked in a pinch. I also added a layer of dessicated coconut on top which made them extra special. Such an easy recipe. It's all mixed up in your blender or food processor, spread into a container and placed into the fridge or freezer. I'd say they took me about 10 minutes to make.
I put my container in the freezer to firm them up a bit. The icy coconut is a nice contrast to the gooey fudginess.
Oh my...how fudgy! I did sample two of these bites and I was filled with delight. They are gooey, sweet and very reminiscent of chocolate. I'm in love with these brownies and will be enjoying these through the weekend.
