Tap Tap

Hello, blog. Have not seen you in a while.
I am coming out from under the blogging rock to share with you something I should have seen a while ago.

Lisa Hannigan meets Bossa Nova.

Need I say more?

Enjoy!

I am going to start a new, better blog. Those who would like to follow, let me know so that I can give you the link. Shhh!

I Was Slicing Up An Avocado

Possibly the best usage of our Swedish love, Jens Lekman's Your Arms Around Me, aside from that scene in Whip It, is this combination:



Swoon.

Cold/Flu-Kicking Soup

GERMS
are evil.
But we all fall sick; be it due to the season, be it working in germ-prone environments, be it dorm life, be it otherwise.

The best way to clear your system? Take-No-Shizer-Soup!
Take any combination of dark leafy greens, a tasty veg stock, tomato paste/sauce, your body weight in garlic, a similar amount of ginger, some cayenne pepper, a little bit of lemon, any combination of vegetables, perhaps a grain or two, and consume liberally. You will feel better!

Vegan Pancakes!

Simplest recipe ever! And delicious!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

* 1 cup flour
* 1 tbsp sugar
* 2 tbsp baking powder
* 1/8 tsp salt
* 1 cup soy milk
* 2 tbsp vegetable oil


Preparation:
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until well mixed.

Mix in the soy milk and oil and beat together until batter is smooth.

Drop 1/4 cup of batter at a time onto a hot oiled griddle, or well greased frying pan over medium high heat. When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake, approximately 3 minutes, flip, and cook the other side for another 2 minutes. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts: One pancake provides approximately: Calories: 149, Calories from Fat: 50
Total Fat: 5.6g, 9% Saturated Fat: 1.0g, 5%
Cholesterol: 0mg, 0%
Sodium: 58mg, 2%
Total Carbohydrates: 22.2g, 7%
Dietary Fiber: 1.2g, 5%
Sugars: 2.4g
Protein: 3.7g
Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 0%, Calcium 22%, Iron 9%, based on a 2000 calorie diet

Free Stuff!

I want to be able to do free Give Aways on this blog. So, if you read it, please follow it publicly via google (see link to the right), comment here, etc. Once i reach 30 followers I will do free Give Aways, and then if it grows to 50, 75, 100, i will do them more and more often. Also, tell me what kinds of things you want to see on this blog! I want to be motivated, creative, and positive in 2011!

This post is top-dated, so look below for new posts!

Little Joy

I just cannot get enough of this band.
I:
A) (Unexpectedly) Miss Los Angeles
B) Wish I could have made it to Austin for SXSW and a million other reasons

"Honey" Mustard Tofu with Kale and Yams = Yum

I've been slacking on cooking properly, especially in terms of making new things, and documenting them for your viewing and possibly also cooking pleasure.



My new friend and former neighbor David (<--- click that, he is quite the renowned artist) helped me to finally attempt this delicious recipe for Honey Mustard Tofu with Kale and Butternut Squash I've been meaning to try after spying it on Made Just Right, which is Earth Balance's blog of deliciousness. Earth Balance - you know, they're the ones who make the best vegan butter, and have recently started making other things too, like soymilk and peanut butter (it's the healthy kind but it tastes like JIF, sweet.)

Instead of butternut squash, we used sweet potatoes/yams. I substituted the honey with dark raw agave nectar, which worked nicely. Instead of 1/2 a TBSP of chili powder, I used 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper. We used extra garlic. And be careful if you follow that recipe, it doesn't list vegetable stock as an ingredient until it mentions it in the directions.

I served it over quinoa, made simply with just a dash of Cajun seasoning, and later dressed a little bit with Braggs Aminos. Voila!



For dessert, we melted some chocolate chips and dipped these incredibly fresh, sweet strawberries in them. It was a success:




All photos courtesy of David Newman.