Woman in Real Life

This vegan carrot cake recipe is simple to make and pairs beautifully with my quick and easy vegan cream cheese frosting. It has the tangy sweetness of a traditional dairy-based cream cheese frosting without the dairy, so it's perfect for your vegan, dairy-free and reducetarian friends. Find the recipe for this easy vegan carrot cake with cream cheese frosting over on the blog at Reducetarian.org.

There's a lot of buzz around the holidays already - people are talking about shopping for gifts, making goodies and putting up the Christmas tree. It's exciting, for sure. But the holiday season also comes with a lot of stress. It's a bit of a whirlwind. There are so many tasks to manage and maybe you're preparing your home for company or worrying about spending time with people who stress you out. Cold and flu season is also ahead and all the time spent indoors in close proximity to other people increases the possibility of viruses spreading.

All of this sounds dismal, and I don't mean to take the fun out of the holidays. I just want to be conscious that we need to balance the excitement of the holiday season with the need to stay healthy during late fall and winter. Now is a great time to reduce stress as much as possible and provide appropriate care for yourself and your body. One easy way to do this is to drink lots of fluids, like water and herbal tea. Add good sources of fibre to your diet and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Which brings me (finally) to this tasty and healthful juice/smoothie combo.

With all the effort that goes into holiday meals, sometimes we just feel like slacking off the rest of the days, don't we? Well, I do.

This What I Ate Wednesday, I have a few meals from the last week to share, but not many, because I just didn't make much or take many photos. I have spent a lot of time in pajamas.

Above, on Saturday I put together a lunch from whatever groceries were left in the fridge. I boiled a sweet potato and some regular potatoes and made a mash. I baked tofu in teriyaki sauce. I used leftover pesto on pasta. We had rapini and roasted veggies left from the day before. Finally, I boiled some carrot slices. I quite enjoyed the mishmash of tasty stuff.

I mentioned in my last "What's for lunch?" post  that my favourite lunches are made up of reheated leftovers from the evening before.

For me, a cold sandwich cannot compare to a nice warm meal. And, since you already did the work in preparing your food a day earlier, there is little to do now but enjoy it.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to have Sunday dinner leftovers for lunch. On Sunday, my husband and I both pitched in to make a meal that was a little more special than our average weeknight fare.

For a while there, it looked like spring would come early, and I was craving the types of things we ate last summer—simply prepared barbecued veggies and tofu in particular.

While my husband marinated some portobello mushrooms and prepared some baked tofu, I went to work recreating a sweet potato dish that I had enjoyed at Kale restaurant. We also prepared some asparagus and a quick lentil and rice dish.

What are you having for lunch?

Linking up to the Potluck Party at Lifeologia.