Woman in Real Life

I have been highlighting some of my favourite vegan cookbooks on the blog this month for Veganuary (when people switch to a vegan diet for the month or longer). Not surprisingly, most vegan cookbooks are focused on good health in addition to delicious vegan recipes. So, even if you aren't planning to go vegan, they are a handy resource to have on your bookshelves in your quest for better eating habits.

Naturally this month I have been examining my own diet a little more closely and cutting back on some of the refined sugars I normally consume. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I have been eating lots of fruit, both fresh and frozen. I got this mix in the photo above from the freezer section at Costco. Within one large bag, there are six smaller bags, portioned to make two smoothies each. Each bag contains blueberries, raspberries, green chickpeas, bananas and spinach. You simply add liquid (and another banana in my case).

Granted my food photography table is sort of an odd item to feature for Vintage Bliss Tuesday. It's brand spanking new after all. But I bought it with my assortment of vintage and not-so-vintage dishes in mind. Rather than keeping the mismatched plates and cutlery mixed in with the daily family dishes, I wanted them to be kept separate and handy for food photos.

I bought the cart for something like $90 plus tax at Costco recently. I had looked at a number of other kitchen carts with a couple of desirable features in mind - particularly wheels so they could be moved around and shelves underneath the table top to hold a selection of plates, cutlery and cloths. I opted for this kitchen cart/chef's table for two reasons - because it is cheaper by at least half than the others I saw and because it has a solid bamboo top, meaning it provides a nice surface for pictures.

Happy Wednesday! My spirits have picked up some this week. (I was a bit miserable last week after losing my beloved cameras.) The weather has been pretty close to perfect these last couple of days and I am looking forward to sunshine, picnics and drinks on the patio.

Being without my cameras, I have grown a little bit more easygoing about snapping pictures. Although my LGG3 cellphone has a great camera, I am usually a big advocate of using real DSLR cameras. But I have been quick to use my cellphone camera this week and I find it a little bit freeing. I have used a mix of cellphone and Olympus pics here, starting with this one from my phone, above. This was a pic I took for Instagram (I'm @ziajojo) of a juice I made in the juicer one day - using celery, baby carrots, lemon, apple and parsley. It was a good blend of veggies and sweet stuff.

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! This past week has been a good one in terms of meals in this house. (Unfortunately that's not always the case.) One highlight was this long-weekend breakfast that I made on Sunday. It consisted of a tofu omelette filled with sautéed baby bella mushrooms, roasted asparagus and Daiya vegan mozzarella shreds. We also had vegan sausage and hash brown potatoes (from a bag - that tofu omelette took long enough to make!).

On Friday night, my husband and I went to a members' preview of the Basquiat exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Whenever we go pretty much anywhere, I get to thinking about what restaurants are nearby. I saw on somebody's Instagram account that she got a vegan mac and cheese burrito at Hot Beans in Kensington Market. I was determined to get me one of those very same burritos before the exhibition.

Well, long story short, when we finally found a parking spot and trudged through snow and dirt to get to the restaurant, we opened the door and were told it was closed - early. I don't take food-related disappointment lightly. I practically begged for whatever food was left. To no avail. But the nice guy at the restaurant did stamp a card for me so I would get a free burrito next time I visit. See what begging gets you? In any case, we walked over to Urban Herbivore instead. (Kensington Market is amazing for vegan food options!) We caught them just before closing (whew!) and ordered BBQ tofu sandwiches (made on delicious focaccia bread with a miso sunflower spread). I'm not big on sandwiches overall, but this is a good one.

I always find January difficult. It's super cold right now and it feels like winter still has a long way to go. Although I often crave comforting, warm foods in winter, I've been consuming quite a few fruit smoothies for breakfast lately. I must be needing vitamin C! Plus, I don't really feel hungry until about 10 a.m., but I prefer to "break my fast" earlier than that. Hence the easy-to-swallow smoothies. This one, above, was a combination of banana, orange juice, frozen strawberries, frozen pineapple and water. Sometimes I add a bit of pumpkin protein too. 

It's sunny today! Temperatures are still below zero and there is supposed to be another winter storm on Thursday, but I'll take the sunshine while I can get it.

This What I Ate Wednesday I'm taking a look at what I ate yesterday. It was the day after the Family Day long weekend and there were few groceries to be found in our house. I wasn't sure what I could even pack in the kids' school lunches so I got up (relatively) early and made fresh banana chocolate chip muffins. We always have ingredients for those (except I was short half a banana). I also gave them veggie hot dogs, orange slices and snacks. This is a long way of saying that my breakfast ended up being banana muffins with half of an orange left over after I prepared the kids' lunches.

Yesterday morning when I took Jolene to the park, the entire park was covered in snow topped with a layer of ice. I slipped and fell...sort of...I caught myself on my hands partway down. The point of this story is that I'm tired of winter. Saying it just makes me feel better.

You know what else makes me feel better in winter? Vegetarian chili. It's warm and comforting. And quick to make. I made it for dinner one night this week and served it on top of quinoa for added protein.

Happy Wednesday! Dare I say it? Only two weeks until Christmas. My preparations are not as far along as I'd like, but that's not unusual for me this time of year. It all comes together in the end.

I find that November is such a busy time, with the kids in sports and dance activities, my attempts to plan, shop and clean early for Christmas and my work on the holiday gift guide for this here blog. All of this is to say that I have not been putting the optimum amount of effort into meals lately.

Still, I believe you can eat healthy without spending hours in the kitchen. For a quick meal one day recently, we enjoyed vegan fajitas filled with faux chicken, a rice/quinoa mix (pre-cooked in a bag from Costco), refried beans (from a can) and stir-fried peppers.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? So why do we pay it the least attention? Well, maybe you don't. But I do. Besides on the weekends, I don't really want to put a lot of time into preparing breakfast. It has to be quick and tasty.

Inspired by my children, I had a bagel topped with peanut butter and banana for breakfast today. The banana slices are certainly healthier than the jam I usually choose to sweeten up my peanut butter.

I remember when grocery shopping used to be fun. I still like to browse, read ingredients lists and pick out new products to try, but I have so much stuff to get now that it's a little overwhelming. I have to please four picky people (including myself), think about what to make for dinner, devise ways to get the kids to eat healthy snacks and figure out what to pack for those dreaded school lunches.

Once the kids were off to school today, I stopped by No Frills just to pick up some fruit for lunches and snacks. Close to $200 and a full trunk later, I drove home thinking now I have to get all this stuff out of the car and put away. For motivation I put a Beastie Boys cd in the stereo. I figured they could keep me moving if anybody could. Anyway, that's done, the Beastie Boys are still running in the background, and it's time to move on to What I Ate Wednesday and a look back at some food highlights from the past week.

I chowed down on a whole bunch of these vegan Triple C Bars, above. They are completely addictive. Just ask my mom - she made some herself the other day, and she rarely ever bakes anymore. She just had to have them!

Happy Wednesday, August 14th! I'm looking on the bright side today. It's sunny outside and we still have a couple more weeks of summer to enjoy. Right? Back me up here.

The good news is, summer, fall, winter or spring, you can always enjoy a good meal. Last Thursday, my husband prepared a lovely dinner of homemade vegetarian sushi and miso soup. Yum!

Today promises to be another scorcher. There won't be a whole lot of cooking going on around here. This week's menu plan calls for falafel sandwiches with vegan raw tzatziki sauce today. Cooking will be minimal.

Monday on the menu plan called for rapini pizza and that is indeed what I ate. We also served pasta left over from Sunday. I made a tomato sauce with peas and navy beans. My husband and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but the kids prefer their sauce plain.

Hard to believe it's June 26th already! The kids have one more day of school tomorrow and then it's home for the summer! The husband too. Should be interesting trying to keep them occupied while doing my freelance writing. Any suggestions?

On to What I Ate Wednesday. On Saturday, I diverged from my menu plan. With my son away at a birthday party, my eight-year-old girl decided she wanted to make dinner. She boiled some veggie hot dogs, put out hummus and crackers and made a salad. Her dad helped her make a chickpea salad to fill warmed naan bread with. It was a nice, light dinner.

Taco Tuesdays

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Last week, I skipped doing a menu plan entirely. We were so busy in the evenings that I decided to wing it instead. Super busy weeks are probably the best time for a plan, actually, but sometimes something's gotta give.

This week, I am taking inspiration from the Vegetarian/Vegan Starter Kit from PETA that I picked up at the Veggie Fest on Saturday. Browse PETA's recipes here. I was also inspired by all the kale and other greens on display at Veggie Fest. I'm off to Costco, a surprisingly good source of greens. I'll get organic mixed greens for salad, organic spinach and whatever mixed bag of greens they have this week.

Happy Wednesday folks! I hope you are having a good week. I believe some of you are on spring break. Enjoy!

We have some sunshine here, and that's about all I can ask for. Some of the snow has not melted yet, but the withered grass in our backyard is completely exposed, along with some things the dog left behind over the winter. But perhaps that's not appropriate to discuss when talking about food.

Last week, I showed you my home office organization. This week, the Organizing Revolution continues with week two - the kitchen.

I once read an article in Real Simple about a fabulously organized but seemingly relaxed mother. Her home was simple but lovely. I'm not saying I believe everything I read, but one thing she said stuck with me. Her secret was to ensure that, at the very least, her kitchen was back to clean at the end of each day.

I'm not going to lie to you. Halloween is here, and I'm going to be dipping into some treats.

Okay, truth be told, I have already had a few treats. I might have indulged in a couple of small packets of Swedish Berries...and a couple of chocolate bars.

I'm going to limit myself from eating too much candy though. How am I going to accomplish that? Why, by baking of course. If I have some homemade treats to consume, I won't be so tempted by the chemical-infused packaged goods.

Now for a What I Ate Wednesday look at what I ate on the weekend...besides candy of course.