Salads

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

Warmer weather means one thing-BIG cold salads. Washington experienced a heat wave a couple weeks ago and made it all the way up to 82 degrees! This is a big deal. Better than catching your cat sleeping in the litter box (anyone else’s cat do this?) Although I did eat plenty of HOT meals on the hot days, I usually opt for something refreshing. It was time to bring out the big guns.

Not only did this salad fill my belly, but it emptied my fridge. I was able to do a clean up with some left over produce! SCORE. Cleaning out the fridge is better than seeing a naked mole rat. Lots of “better than’s” going on in this post be prepared. I also used plenty of items purchased specifically for this meal, but the best part was the CHARD used from my garden. I love saying, “my garden.” I feel so proper. Almost like I should have a cup of tea with my pinky out every time I say the phrase.

Oh my chard. Simply beautiful. I get chills just looking at this picture. Please raise your hand if you get more excited over produce than you do about going to the mall. You better believe both my hands are high in the sky. Using produce from your own garden is better than a Tasmanian devils squeal. If you want to know what happens when someone trys to stick their fork onto my plate (dad) this is what will go down.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

From the chard working my way around the plate is: Chard, lentils, grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, avocado, wasabi almonds, and underneath is a bed of spring mix/spinach/and carrots. Topped with a combination of red wine vinegar and EV olive oil. This is what I call a salad mountain.

Perfect summer salad. Along with this salad, a vegan potato salad was created. Into this mix went a hefty amount of red potatoes, vegenaise (this tastes just like mayo it’s almost creepy), chives, TJ’s spicy mustard, jalopeno’s, basil, and pepper. This was so easy to make, you literally just eyeball everything..add enough “mayo” and mustard to coat the potatoes to your liking and then add the fixings depending on how much you want!

This is the perfect summer side to bring to a BBQ, but don’t tell anyone it’s vegan until AFTER they eat it. I made these vegan brownies for my mom to take to a pot luck and she told everyone they were vegan, and EVERYONE was skeptical. I was shocked! Fortunately this meant she had left overs to bring home, but I swear these are some of the best brownies I have ever tasted..the word “vegan” scares people. I wish I could take credit for this potato salad, but it was all Manfriend’s idea. I knew he was a winner.

Q(s):

  • What are your favorite summer salad toppings?
  • Do you find that people are skeptical when they hear words like “Vegan,” or “gluten free?” Yes, yes..absolutely, yes. People need to open their minds and TRY something new, when I see chocolate topped with more chocolate I don’t care if it’s vegan, gluten free, or vegan AND gluten free, you better believe I am shoveling as much into my mouth as I can fit!

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The Best Race I Ever Did Run

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

There has been minimal running talk here lately, but that does not mean it hasn’t been happening. I have been running twice a week, cycling twice a week, and whatever else helps to fuel my cookie addiction. Sunday I ran another race. This race counts as the May race for my, “one race a month” goal. This race was hands down the best race I have yet to run. Let me tell you why.

Reason Number One: SWAG BAG!

Now before you get your pants into an excited bunch, I did NOT run a marathon. I ran a 5 miler. The capital city marathon had three races: a marathon, a half-marathon, and a 5 miler. Due to the fact that there was a marathon and a half going on, this meant a real swag bag. None of those paper envelopes filled with a running chip and a race number. The shirt was a tech shirt, not cotton. I was in running heaven.

Reason Number Two: I saw Manfriend sweat pink.

Yes, we have matching pink shoe laces. Homeboy proudly sports the pink laces, in fact it was these laces that allowed me to spot him yards away running towards the finish line. You will notice we have two different running number colors on. This leads me into reason number three.

Reason Number Three: My Kenyan boyfriend rocked the half-marathon!

Seriously, at an 8:00 min mile pace he finished the half-marathon in 1hr 45min (with NO training). I was like a wild hyena jumping up and down after seeing his hot pink laces run towards the finish! This was my second solo race, but this time Manfriend was there..we just ran separate races. I wouldn’t have wanted this any other way. There are no words to describe the proud/excited feeling I felt watching him complete this race.

Reason Number Four: Spectators, Water Stations, and Course.

This was my sixth race this year, and this was the first time I really felt like a runner. There were people around every corner cheering us on, watching us, and giving us that extra boost of energy. Water stations were at every two mile mark, and I was able to snag some electrolyte SUGAR crack water each time. I didn’t get tired once. I wanted to keep running. The course was awesome. Through neighborhoods, and main roads..it kept winding so I never felt like I was running a straight away towards my death.

Reason Number Five: My new 5mile PR.

I’ve run 5 miles multiple times, always somewhere in the 10:00 min mile range. I never want to get too run happy and tire myself out. I tried to hold back in the beginning because the first half was almost all uphill. I held a comfortable pace and enjoyed every step. I ran a 9:38 min mile pace, and I finished 5.11miles in under 50 minutes which was my goal (and a new 5mile PR). Yay. I don’t have a picture of the PR, but it looked something like this.

Everything about this race has kept me on a constant runners high. I had such an amazing time, and I didn’t even get food after the race (aside from some PB pretzels I stole from MF.) Normally I am more excited about the food than the run, but this time it was ALL about the run. For all you foodies that don’t get excited reading posts like this, I will leave you with this valuable food information. Manfriend and I polished off an entire box of cookies, two chocolate bars, enough spaghetti to feed all of Italy, PB sandwiches fit for Shrek, more chocolate, more cookies, and lots of gas worthy veggies– anything to get that extra push over the finish line.

Q: What is the best swag bag you have received from a race, or from another event? For running, this was the best one. I have a new lunch bag and a comfortable new running shirt. From a different event, I once got a bag of womanly items like makeup and candy from a women’s expo. In that swag bag was a tongue scraper, to scrape your tongue and get rid of the nasty bacteria. I can’t live without my tongue scraper, toothbrushes will never do the job of the scraper. 

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Inspiration

Posted on May 20, 2012 by

in·spi·ra·tion- The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative: “flashes of inspiration.”

Not to be confused with the medical definition of drawing air into the lungs. Although, when I feel inspired I tend to get excited, which causes me to breath heavy. So I supposed they tie together in the end. Sesame Street inspired me to eat a lot of cookies throughout my life, and cookies make me draw LOTS of air into my lungs.

I’ve been inspired, well more like someone I know has been inspired. After talking about purchasing a Barbie sized grill for a few weeks, Manfriend bought one! I think the grill party we had inspired him to take the plunge.

Widdle baby. Perfect sized grill for a ton of veggies, and a couple bean burgers. This has been dubbed as the “veggie grill.” No animal meats will ooze onto this grill. The meal that broke Char-Broil Charlie in was veg-tastic.

Grilled broccoli, Brussels, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onion. The veggie tray is perfect for grilling the vegetables.

My favorite part about grilling is the lines that indent into whatever burger is made. I have officially been lined. That bean burger above was charred, lined, and attacked by my intestines. A new recipe including vital wheat gluten (protein protein PROTEIN!) was used, and I enjoyed it! I need to share my bean burger recipe soon! I was able to use some more Swiss chard from the garden to top the burger!

Of course something sugary was needed before I went into shock. If I go more than 2 hours without chocolate I will pass out. I’ll give you a guess as to which banana is mine..the one with 4 pieces of chocolate. I don’t mess around.

Since purchasing Charlie the Char-Broil (maybe someone else should name this one) my monkey of a man has been grilling any chance he gets. It’s called “man-time.” I am only invited when I put on my fake facial hair and baggy jeans. He’s taken the definition of inspiration to the extreme, getting creative in many foodie ways. I can’t complain, because I have benefited every time. Grilled pineapple that was soaked in lemon juice for an hour and then topped with coconut is life changing. Grill that now.

Q: What’s the best thing you have grilled? That pineapple was seriously life changing. Pizza too. 

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My Boyfriend is a Wilderness Nerd

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

Hiking is to Brittany ‘as’ digging for lice is to monkeys. I love to hike. Every aspect about hiking is appealing to me. I love to be outside, I love the low impact steep climbs, I love being within nature, and I love exploring. Although, I would be lying if I said the wildlife didn’t spook me at times. One time I was hiking with my best friend and she kept talking about cougars. A few moments later I heard a loud *CRACK* and I was OFF! I ran faster than I knew possible. You would have thought that the ice cream man was slipping away from my reach. I swore she was behind me…maybe not. This is beside the point thought, I just love to hike!

This past week Manfriend and I found ourselves in the middle of the Olympic Mountains. It was time for a new location that neither of us had hiked. We ended up hiking a trail called Lower Big Quilcene Trail. The trail itself was gorgeous. The incline could have been better, but the mini waterfalls around every corner made up for the lack of hills.

I’ve hiked a handful of times with Manfriend, and he always comes prepared. We have our food, water, emergency supplies, and anything else necessary for a hike. It’s safe to say he makes me feel calm when my imagination plays out images of wild saber tooth cougars and woolly mammoth bears attacking us. My parents let me watch too much Discovery Channel when I was younger.

This hike was never silent. I don’t mean there was a bird chirping here and there, I mean there was never a moment where the air was completely still without any apparent noise. This is why.

This river was LOUD! In a good way. It varied in loudness depending where we were on the trail. It was a calming sound. So calming I knew it was the place (actually it wasn’t my idea) to eat my five star lunch. There is a certain item all classy young women pack for themselves and for their mates while on a mountain wilderness trek.

Classic PB&J for a classy couple. I am obsessing over PB&J’s right now. Not the normal “eat one every day” I mean I will want multiple PB&J sandwiches every day. It’s most definitely an addiction.

Besides the monster killer slugs on the trail that made me scream like a baby shot with porcupine quills, there was one particular flower that popped up all over the place.

Such a dainty little flower. This was a new one to me, and I thought about snapping a picture every time I passed one. All of a sudden Manfriend said, “I wonder what kind of flower this is, I should look it up in my identification book.”

WHAT!?

Did you just: A.) Talk about the very flower I have been wondering about. and B.) Say that you have an identification book for the wilderness? SWOON. Moments upon arriving home after our wonderful 8 mile hike my Manfriend sits on his bed (before showering, before eating, before speaking) and grabs one of MANY wilderness and hiking books. Allow me to tell you exactly what this flower is called.

This three pronged beauty would be known as the Trillium ovatum, or Western Trillium. A member of the lily family. Who needs school when you can have books like this!? I can quit my job and live in the woods identifying EVERYTHING. People will refer to me as the wild wilderness woman, or W to the third power. Thank you boyfriend wilderness nerd, you get better every day.

Q: Do you ever wonder what wildlife items are? Do you ever look them up after your hike? OR better yet, do you ever KNOW what something is based off of your knowledge? My younger brother knows a lot of trees, bushes and flowers. While hiking one day my dad would ask him random questions about the wildlife and he almost always answered correctly. I finally had to slip him a $5 to get him to stop being so smart, he was making me look bad. He was 8.

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The First Harvest

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

It’s about time I gave you all an update on my wine box garden. So far I am beyond pleased with how things have turned out. It’s been just about two months, and I’ve already harvested some of the goods! Here are some before and after photos.

Onions

Beets 

Carrots

Swiss Chard

The Swiss chard has amazed me the most! The wine boxes have seen better days, and probably wont be used again after this growing season. They have continued to do their job, and for that I love them! The remaining wine boxes (I told you I was hoarding them) will be used for shelving/decoration.

The chard was getting so large in some spots that it was shading the little leaves below. Time to harvest.

These will grow MUCH larger, but having a few right now was great. They were washed, cut, and mixed in with some lentils.

It is so rewarding eating produce from your own garden, and this is just the beginning. I will literally pee myself when I eat my beets. I will probably cry too. It will be a messy moment.

The beets and carrots have been thinned so hopefully they will grow into giant beet balls and carrot tubes. Everyone is invited over for a carrot,onion,beet,chard,garlic fest at my dinner table in another month or two.

Q: Have you harvested anything from your garden yet? If you don’t have a garden have you tried any new produce lately?

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Virtual Vegan Potluck: Save The Best For Last

Posted on May 12, 2012 by

A few weeks back, I jumped for joy at the opportunity to take part in a vitrual potluck put on by the adorable Annie at An Unrefined Vegan. What a fabulous idea. I was given the option of making an appetizer, beverage, salad, bread, main dish, side dish, soup, or dessert. I’ll give you eight guesses as to which option I chose, this shouldn’t be hard. I chose dessert..shocker I know. Any excuse for chocolate is a great excuse. Besides, I like to save the best part of the meal for my ending bites. Dessert is last for a reason.

I wanted to make something safe, but unique at the same time. Something I knew would taste good. This was no time to experiment and be left at the pot luck eating my dish alone in the corner. I want people to crave my chocolatey goodness! The dishes had to be vegan, which was no challenge for me. I knew exactly what I was going to make.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Topped Zucchini Brownies

  • 1.5 cups of raw sugar
  • 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil
  • 2 cups of whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup of cocoa (and then some)
  • 3 cups of shredded zucchini
  • 2 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp of baking soda
  • 1 cup of chocolate chips/chunks (and THEN some!)
  • 1 cup of warm water to start, and gradually add a bit more (if needed) until mixture is wet
  • 1 package of “Oreo” style cookies. If you are a strict vegan and don’t want products made on a facility that shares milk and eggs then Newman-O’s are certified vegan. Otherwise you can use any other brand as long as no dairy is listed in the ingredients. Newman-O’s tasted off, so I would use Late July brand, or even Trader Joe’s chocolate vanilla Joe-Joe’s. Don’t buy them off of Amazon. Joe-Joe’s are $2.99 in the store.
  1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease an 8×11 pan and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut oil, and flour, combine until mixture resembles wet sand. While mixing, add cocoa, zucchini, vanilla extract, salt and baking soda. Mix until well combined. Add water (as much as you need) and stir in the chocolate chips.
  3. Pour brownie batter into prepared pan, crush cookies ontop, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the brownies are set.

Once brownies are done, you must eat at least half of the pan before completing a new task.

Although, I like to wait until the next day when the chocolate chunks have set in and have hardened back to a thick chocolate. These brownies lasted all of two days.

This is just the beginning of the dessert portion of the pot luck! If you want to see more dessert, or jump back to previous dishes click the photos below. These will lead you to the dishes before and after mine. Once you are on a new page you can continue to bounce from page to page by clicking the buttons! Have fun!

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Grill Love

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

It’s finally time. The grill has been dusted off and used for the first time this season. Browned veggies and crispy pizza make for an unbeatable combination. Manfriend and I went to our friends house to attempt round two of grilled pizza’s. We made these last summer, but they ended up burning on the bottom (I still ate every last bite.) After some research we found that the pizza’s need indirect heat, opposed to being placed directly over the coals.

First things first, prepare the toppings. Grilled veggies, vegan sausage, and homemade pizza dough.

There were 7 small/medium pizza rounds prepared, and there were 4 people. Not everyone gets two, but I made sure I had two. Normally I have to shank people to get two pizzas, but fortunately the host knows I throw away a lot of food. While the dough was setting we took part in some appe-teasers.

Grilled peppers, grilled eggplant, and grilled oysters (for the non veggiebites.) Did I mention we used the grill? The eggplant was seasoned to perfection. After inhaling this produce, the main course was prepared.

Two vegan pizza’s, and a garden fresh salad full of Swiss chard, beets, and tomatoes.

If you haven’t tried a grilled pizza, I suggest you do this immediately. The flavor is unlike any pizza I have ever had. Be sure to indirectly heat the dough, and before applying any toppings quickly grill the side you’ll top to ensure crispy-ness on both sides.

Perfect Piadine Pizza Dough

  • 1 active packet of yeast
  • Half a cup of lukewarm water
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 cup cool water
  • 2tblsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2tbsp salt

-Mix the yeast, warm water and 1/2 cup of flour. Let dough rise, about 20 minutes. Add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup cool water, olive oil, salt, and start kneading the dough. Continue until the flour is mixed in, and then add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as needed to produce a moist and soft dough. After a fair amount of punching and kneading leave the dough on a floured surface and let rise, about an hour. Once ready to use the dough, roll out individual pieces and let sit for about 15 minutes to spread out completely.

This is some of the best dough I have had for a pizza base. Make this dough, and then buy a grill. Grill the dough and use it as a pillow. Do this because the dough is fluffy, and because it will make a great midnight snack. Hooray for foodie friend adventures!

Q: Have you had pizza made on a grill??

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