savory days

Sometimes I go through phases where I just feel like making main courses or side dishes of the savory variety. Truthfully, most days I tend to favor baking or playing around with the more sweet ingredients to make tasty treats. Over the weekend I knew that I would have to prepare some meals for work to try and ward off the crankiness that comes with my hunger (wrote about last week). Keeping myself well fed is a top priority of mine and when looking in my purse, you will always find a snack in case I crash. Interestingly, I’ve never tested to see if I am anemic, etc. but have always been interested in getting my blood tested to see how my diet affects it.

When eyeing an extremely affordable box of organic red quinoa at Trader Joe’s last week, I knew it would be incorporated into a salad of sorts. First I roasted up some broccoli sprayed with my favorite Coconut Oil at 375 degrees for a good 20 minutes.

A Kabocha squash that has been sitting in my pantry for probably too long was cut up and roasted in a similar fashion, for a little bit longer. Too bad the season for them has come to a close, isn’t it a beauty?

Searching for a more thrilling way to prepare the Quinoa, I selected some organic light coconut milk and thai red chili paste. For one cup of quinoa, I combined one cup of coconut milk, one cup of water, one tablespoon thai red chili paste (could use more) and a few spices (salt, cumin, coriander, cinnamon) and brought to a boil. Simmering at a low heat for twenty minutes, the Quinoa was light and fluffy.

Lastly, I roasted a quarter cup of pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds) with a teaspoon of tamari (wheat free soy sauce-either works) for 5 minutes. I mixed it all up and drizzled with a mixture of sesame oil, umeboshi vinegar, grated ginger, and tamari. After one night in the fridge, all the flavors had melded together and it was the perfect lunch over a bed of baby spinach.

The other recipe I had bookmarked for weeks was Averie’s raw Kale Chips. Due to the fact that I do not yet own a dehydrator of my own, I decided to divide up my bunch into two batches. First, I washed and tore the Kale into a little larger than bite size pieces.

I followed Averie’s recipe exactly, and mixed the “cheesy” sauce with the kale with my fingers until evenly incorporated.

I spread the massaged Kale on a few parchment lined baking sheets.

One sheet was placed into an oven ranging from 125 to 175 degrees (for a few hours) and the other in the 350 degree oven (15 mins). As I knew someone quite hungry would be arriving, I wanted to make sure that one bunch was ready to eat ASAP. When my boyfriend entered, he said he smelled something “cheesy.” Of course this surprised him and he was happy to find that the taste of the Kale Chips were just as cheesy as they smelled.

Here are the remaining Kale chips from the previous night. We gobbled them up incredibly fast with tempeh bacon, vegenaise, spinach, and sprout wraps and baked sweet potato chips (yes, two chips in a night!). Because of poor lighting and increasing hunger, I was unable to snap a photo until today. I can’t wait to make these again for more people. I know my father will be a fan.

I give major props to Averie for this recipe, it really is a must-try! She also has some great words of wisdom on raising a child and making unconventional choices.

some natural goodies.

This post isn’t about the kind of vegan goodies that I usually write about, but the ones I use (almost) every day in the privacy of my bathroom. Striving to find all natural, vegan friendly toiletries can be challenging, but I thank Whole Foods and other natural health food stores for making some of these much easier to find.

I am loving the accessibility of the Giovanni Organic Hair Care products. Not only do I find that they work wonderfully, but I found them at Target (on sale!) last week. Before I was using the Balancing shampoo and conditioner but I switched over to the Colorflage line and am finding they work wonderfully. The Brazenly Brunette uses goji berry and coffee berry to bring out natural highlights. The best part is that Giovanni:

uses formulas that incorporate vitamins, herbs, minerals, proteins, nutrients and the purest of essential oils. The patented Giovanni PureOrganic Technology™ represents an exquisite blend of exotic organic oils, ripe-harvested from renewable plants at the peak of their freshness. The oils are cold pressed and refrigerated immediately to ensure maximum purity.”

–giovannicosmetics.com

In terms of eco friendly toothbrush companies, Preserve, is the best I have found. These babies can be seen any where from Trader Joes and Whole Foods to tiny whole in the wall health stores. They have a great program if you buy them online in a mail pack, where they can be sent right back to be recycled when finished. I usually drop mine off along with my brita water filters at a Whole Foods in the designated recycling bins.

I don’t know if you have tried the Tom’s natural toothpaste, but when I first ventured into natural toothpastes, it was the only one I could find. I was not a fan and was very turned off of natural toothpaste for a while. Recently, I found this Jason’s Sea Fresh one that is not chalky and has a great minty taste. Make sure not to get the Sea Fresh with CoQ₁₀ because that is a compound usually derived from meat sources.

Aromatherapy has never been my thing but the occasional bath is great with a few drops of Lavender essential oil. Sometimes we need to treat ourselves to a nice calming bath after a rough week and Lavender is said to be the ultimate oil for tranquility and cleansing. Reading up on Aura Cacia is also truly refreshing. They have a great philosophy and sustainability program.

Masks are another thing I don’t treat myself to that often, like the occasional bath. When I do, I reach for my Zia french clay mask. This Colorado company uses great ingredients like Seaweed and essential oils, which you can read about here. They are also animal friendly and are making a great effort to be as green as they can.

The last is a local soap, specifically flavored Almond Cocoa. I don’t always get this brand but since I saw it at the Earth Day Fest yesterday, I scooped it up after smelling every single soap. This one contains olive, coconut, palm, jojoba, rice bran, sunflower, avocado, cocoa powder, and essential oils of bitter almond. Each time I need a new soap, I head over to one of the smaller local health stores (instead of Whole Foods) to find a company that produces them in state. This is just because I want to support a local company to the best of my ability, even if it is just one soap a month, at least it is an effort!

I hope you enjoyed this post and don’t feel too overwhelmed by product galore. These companies had no clue that I was reviewing their products, I am just telling it like it is. I hope you try them!

Tomorrow I will be posting about some yummy food I have been enjoying.