Games, deep breaths, and determining intention

Do you ever have those days when you feel empty, and you really aren't sure quite what you are living for?  The way I remember it, it seems that quite frequently in my life I have gone through phases where I have assigned myself value and worth in dysfunctional ways.  I can't believe it has taken me almost 22 years to put together such a simple puzzle about life's meaning and purpose. 

If you happen to be outside soon, just take a slow, deep breath and look at the sky around you.  And the clouds.  Does it really make sense that this world is here unintentionally - that there is no real purpose behind it all?  I just can't think that way, because at that point, there is not much reason to live.  I cannot help but think that God has put this world in place for a special meaning.  In the past, my problem has always started at this point.  My usual pattern of thinking goes like this:  Yeah, this world is really fabulous and meaningful in the moments I can see pieces of God in the people and things around me...where there are little glimpses of how God will set all things right in the end...but right now I cannot find a meaningful place for me here, and often I stumble around and live from day to day with little purposeful direction...and it is so hard for me to see how I am giving any sort of significant contribution to it all. 

Back to the puzzle:  recently I allowed my mind to wander in a direction it does not normally take, and when I was just taking in my surroundings, I realized something else.  Yes, God was purposeful in creating the world, but that means He was equally purposeful in bringing me into it.  For some reason, He has set my feet here, and there is something I am supposed to do, things that I was created for that only I can do; if someone else could have filled my role in the way God intended, then I wouldn't be here at all.

I have gone through phases where I thought I would get a lot out of life by treating it all like a big game.  Why not take chances?  Life is just a game.  Why not have fun conversations and just relax, don't be so tense?  Live is just a game.  Why not make it as enjoyable as possible for the people around you and for yourself, in the most Godly way you know?  I think this viewpoint is really refreshing, and for a few weeks I felt like quite the genius for thinking of it.  But this game idea is flawed, because it still let me stumble around and play around without much real responsibility or direction.  This view makes it seem like God just set up this big playground, and we can frolic around and have fun fulfilling our own purposes, when we should be working towards God's purpose.

So, quite simply my new revelation is this:  The fact that I exist, that I was created to be here at this point in time on earth, gives me worth and value.  God has some sort of intention for me that I haven't figured out, but my role is important to him. 

More problems come up here.  I know I am important (but of course not the most important or the center of the universe) but I do not know what God wants me to do - I have been asking Him but don't have much clarity to report yet.  I acknowledge that I am entirely too selfish and that I would be serving God by letting go of myself and serving other people more often, setting my eyes on them.  I know I can live with and learn from all the other people here in the world because they are just as important to God as I am, and they have things to contribute to God's purpose that are unique and completely individual.  If my purpose can be partially fulfilled as a Registered Dietitian, which is what I have been working toward academically at least, I know I can serve others and improve their lives through nutrition.  I am struggling with being selfish, and not "feeling like" studying or doing the work, but I am not honoring God or my original intention to major in nutrition by being this way.  I know I should be working for school as if I am working directly for God, but studying seems so meaningless at times; however, I originally was drawn to nutrition because I wanted to help people become healthy because of the way restoring my own health has impacted me.  I feel that everyone deserves to be in good health, and we can do this by eating right and being physically active before disease comes our way (because then diet and exercise becomes specialized, as in the cases of chronic kidney disease and diabetes mellitus). 

A long-term goal of nutrition is to help people prevent disease, but my short-term nutrition goal started as a belief that exercise and a balanced, nutritious diet can improve one's quality of life immediately.  I kind of think this post has helped me determine some goals for myself just in typing out these words...goals to not be lazy and realizing that schoolwork will take its significant effect down the road...but I know my life is meaningful for more than just the field of nutrition.  My heart is reaching out, wanting something more, and I can't satisfy God's purpose for me through a nutrition career alone.  This is what gets me.  I would be thrilled to have my life down the road be spontaneous, a busy, varied workload in numerous settings (not just nutrition), but I don't know where else God is calling me.

I have gone on mission trips with church in the past, and I love singing, participating in and helping lead worship.  As of right now, I feel I would also be letting good parts of myself die if I were to neglect my loves and passions for theatre and acting and for the specialty coffee movement.  I do have ideas of where I would be happy and well-equipped to set out for, but it is hard to march towards anything because I don't know how God will manifest Himself in my future.  I straddle between being too worried about it and being too relaxed - not worried enough!  I know God will put His hand in my business, but I worry that I will be too passive and jut wait for something to happen rather than actively work towards what God wants.  I know His word says that God equips people with the abilities they need when He calls them to do something rather than only calling people to serve who are already have the needed "equipment" - so I know not feeling ready is fine, because God will make sure I am endowed to do what He wants me to do.

I have gotten my worth and value caught up so much in things other than God over the years.  When those things fall down or disappoint me, I am left again with something empty - and this is partially a great thing, because it makes me realize what a sinner I am and how I need God that much more.  But you know what?  Falling on my face isn't painless, and I don't actually enjoy it too much.  I have caught myself up in feeling valuable because of success in things I have done and because of certain support I have received from other people; but when I fail or when others fail me I am forced to crawl back to God and tell Him how badly I have messed up, how I have both unintentionally and intentionally allowed other things to have more significance to me than He does, things I have looked to to make me feel significant...all the while thinking of myself as a Christian, reading the Bible, and continuing to make excuses and twist my intentions to make it seem like they are in line with God's.

I am looking to Bible reading and prayer to set my direction.  Human hearts, including my own, have so many spots of black it is hard to know if any of my intentions are good anymore...but this is okay.  God accepts us exactly where we are, and even though we sin sin sin, He is a much bigger Savior than I am a sinner, and He can make up for my falling short.  God loves me and values me, and He loves and values you.  We don't have to be perfect, and we don't have to be successful for that love to stay constant.  God's love makes me want to be better and step up my life, but at the same time, I know God will be there for me no matter what, and that when I fail, I am not worthless and I have God to help me back up.  We do not have to face this life on our own.

Yes, We're Getting Married

We are very much in love. I know you are happy for me.

He's a tad moody at the moment because he is having to look at the camera, when he just wants to be feasting his eyes on me.

Haha, this picture is the result of both boredom and procrastination. 'Tis what happens when 3 days of school have passed and you don't really want to crack open a textbook yet. Even though you know your textbooks are really spiffy and interesting this year.

Treats from an Unconventional Kitchen

I hate receiving flowers. You have to be one freakishly special guy if you want me to smile when you hand over the floral bouquet. Not too long ago, a guy who knew, whom I had expressly and emphatically told, that I did not like getting flowers, gave me a vase of tulips. WHY?! Sigh. Are boys stupid?*

When I told Gena this story, she responded that I am unconventional. Boys don't know what to do with me because they cannot get away with treating me like any other girl. Just like Gena doesn't like a boyfriend to call her "cute," I similarly have preferences that are not the usual and live life along a different beat. Unfortunately, vegan goodies and whole foods aren't very conventional. The following items are the things that have recently invaded my unconventional tummy.

Roasted almonds. Dark chocolate. Gooey vegan marshmallows. What more could a girl ask for? Sweet & Sara's Rocky Road Bark tasted just as glorious as it looks. WOW. You can get these from Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe. This was so good I actually had to buy another one the next week.

[Pizza made with mozzarella Teese, Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, balsamic-and-olive-oil-marinated tempeh, red onion, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes]

I have never made myself pizza before! What a fun culinary adventure! I guess it helps to have a pizza stone, which I don't, but my crust got really soggy and thin in the middle. Whilst I was chowing down, I got messy but it was super tasty! Now I really, really want to make a calzone with Teese!

I would eat another one of these in a heartbeat...

[CINNAMON BLISS premium organic ingredients: Almonds, cashews, pecans, agave nectar, orange juice and rind, spice.]

Titled Cinnamon Bliss, this raw vegan cinnamon roll by Journey to Bliss Raw Foods is heaven on earth. It's a big ole 6-ouncer though (not to mention its big ole price tag of $7.99), so portion control is a must. For perspective, a Larabar is 1.6 to 1.7 ounces. Yeah, this baby is big. It doesn't taste like a Larabar, though - it is a touch fancier! So wonderful! It comes with a warning, though: Tastes best refrigerated - and don't take that lightly!

Nora from Pride & Vegudice did a Weil Bar giveaway on her blog, and my winnings arrived in the mail earlier this week - check it out:

An entire box - 16 bars! - of Goji Moji Weil Bars, as well as three other flavors and two cookies baked by Nora herself (the chocolate PB fudge ones from the Simple Treats cookbook, which remind me of my favorite vegan packaged cookies). Woo - it feels good to be a winner! It has been five days since I received the package, so naturally I have devoured the cookies and have sampled all four bar flavors. My favorite bar? Glad you asked:

Deeelish! I shall be buying the Pistachi-Oh! flavor again! As for the Chia Razz...'twas too much on the fruity end of the spectrum (as opposed to nutty), so I wouldn't eat that one again, even if it was free. On the other hand, what I love about the Goji Mojis are the dates, figs, cashews, and goji berries, but these are among several other ingredients. These bars are fruitier more than nutty as well. I like them a lot but I think Dr. Weil should increase the cashew-ness; if he were remaking the bar just for me, it would still contain the dates, cashews, figs, and gojis, but omit the other extraneous ingredients (e.g., cranberries and possibly the citrus too). I love figs, Dr. Weil! The Banana Manna was great but tasted just like the banana-flavored Larabar.

Once upon a time, I was proclaimed the Breakfast Queen by my wonderful friend Chocolate Covered Katie, and I have been churning out new oatmeal combinations like mad. I had this bowl bright and not-too-early this morning:

[Rolled oats, quick-cooking steel-cut oats, sea salt, whipped bananas, Tempt Original Hempmilk, chia seeds, cinnamon, raw almonds, and a chunk of an Honest Foods Maple Almond Crunch Granola Plank]

For the preparation of these granola-crumble oats, I used my Oatmeal Risotto technique (which I explain in this post). I stirred in the chia seeds before heating up the last bit of hempmilk (which I cooked over low-medium heat because I feel like hemp is more delicate than soy), and I was so surprised at how fast the chias plumped up and gelled in the presence of heat! I let the oats cool and thicken longer than normal so I could taste the flavor of the chia better, and then I added the almond and granola toppings.

I am madly in love with these granola planks. They are so fresh, almond-buttery, and maple-y. I reserve them solely for oatmeal toppers. They are that special. Oatmeal is a sacred meal in my kitchen. I don't mess around with the oats.

Another winner, my first foray into oats-eaten-chilly-from-the-fridge:

[Rolled oats, vanilla soymilk (though I prefer hempmilk), sea salt, chia seeds, whipped bananas, shredded unsweetened coconut, raw cacao nibs, and hazelnuts]

[Rolled oats, vanilla soymilk (though I prefer hempmilk), sea salt, chia seeds, whipped bananas, agave-ginger cashews, shredded unsweetened coconut, and raw cacao nibs]

With the last two bowls pictured, I cooked the oats and a pinch sea salt in water, removed from the stove, whipped in some thinly sliced bananas, and then stirred in the chias and soymilk. After a few initial stirs and a 15-minute fling in the fridge, they were ready for adding fun toppings and eatin'! This differs from the method used for the granola-crumble oats because for these, the chia seeds gelled up in the chilly atmosphere of the fridge rather than directly in the stove pot.

In summary, the moral of my breakfast story is I love chia seeds in my oats! They have replaced flaxseed in my breakfast routine for now - at least, while my wallet can keep up. I wish ChiaSeedsDirect.com would ship their chias in smaller amounts than 4.5 pounds! I got mine from a natural foods co-op grocery - the brand is Love Raw Foods, and I got a half-pound for $6.50. Not bad!

I love sharing my new foodie loves with you - thanks for taking a peek! I start classes on Monday - this is my senior year of college! Woo.

*[Note: Just for clarification, I would rather have nothing than get flowers. I would prefer a lot of unpleasant things happen to me over getting flowers. I don't want to take care of them. I don't want to have to change the water. I don't want to have to watch them wilt and get ugly. I don't want to have to clean my counter every day because the petals etc. shed all over. I don't want to see them snatched out of the ground, from where those pretty flowers belong and are very happy and perky, and thrust into my ungrateful hands. And most of all, flowers from an anything-but-perfectly-ideal male source are just creepy and give me an icky feeling. Anyway, I told him I was a dark-chocolate-kinda girl. I don't even care if I don't get a gift at all - just. NO. flowers! Whew.]

Hey there, my dear bloggies

I wanted to share some exciting things I have eaten in the past week. I don't share my fun eats very often, as I now only take food photos sporadically. So, to remedy this, and to document some of the delicacies on which I spend my money, I made a point of lugging out the camera a little more frequently than I usually do. I will admit that I spoil myself quite often. Need evidence?

I love Theo Chocolate. While this particular 91% cacao bar is not my all-time favorite Theo indulgence, I did rather enjoy it. Three cheers for extra-dark chocolate! Who's with me on this one?!

No clue on the cacao content of this baby...

...but Taza Chocolate disks are one of the most unique chocolate experiences I have ever had! I LOLOLOLOVE these things. Taza uses Mexican stone mills to grind their chocolate. How cool is that?! As a result, their chocolate tastes insanely incredible - you just have to try it! They also make awesome 85% cacao chocolate bars. Taza is based in Massachusetts, but I have been able to find their bars and disks in many of my local Whole Foods here down in the Southern US.

I really have to thank Vegetalion for introducing me. She sent me this bar back in February:

Read the label, read the label!

Isn't Taza the greatest?! It's funny how similar processing quality chocolate is to processing quality coffee... As well as the single-origin beans, the direct trade system, processing the beans in small batches... Oh, how I love coffee and chocolate!

Wait, did you just say coffee?

I think I did, in fact. So, since we're on the subject, here's my latest latte art:

And here's a meal I have made about 8 times in the past couple of weeks:

House Foods Atsu-Age tofu, buckwheat soba noodles, zucchini "noodles" (just thin slices shaved off with a veggie peeler!), raw yellow bell pepper, cilantro sprigs, and fresh Brown Turkey figs, all over a bed of raw kale massaged in lemon juice and sea salt and drizzled with olive oil and freshly ground pepper -- I love simple meals like this! It only took me 15 minutes to throw together because the tofu I buy is so delicious I can just eat it cold, as is. No prep required -- no freezing, pressing, draining, or marinating. That makes me smile. Anyway.

Can't forget the new Larabar flavors: Here's Peanut Butter & Jelly --

Simply dates, peanuts, dried cherries, and salt. Yuh-uh-um. And though I got this particular bar (and the other new flavors) as a prezzie from Larabar in the mail, I did see all 3 new flavors in one of my local Whole Foodses. Yes, they are finally heeeeere!

I cooked yucca for the first time... You must try this delicious recipe: Yucca with Red Onion. Even though yucca looks ugly and frankly unappetizing, I promise, it is quite addicting (seriously) and delicious! Really, you need to try it! It just might enrich your life in a wonderful way. Hahaha. And as long as you have a steady hand whilst cutting off the woody raw yucca skin (I do after more than a year of working in a cafe kitchen where I chopped veggies for hours on end), you can pull this dish off quite easily! Plus, yucca is so filling (says the girl who is never full...uh, meaning me).

Fun new snack discovery:

Stovetop popcorn! I've been making it nonstop! I bought some generic-brand white popcorn kernels at the grocery store, popped 'em in a huge-o pot in canola oil, and then I sprinkled this particular batch with sea salt and curry powder. I've heard sea salt is not ideal for sticking to popcorn, but that's all I have. I will admit I have to sprinkle a butt-ton on to even taste any saltiness. Oh well, I lovest sea salt! I have also tried nooch (or nutritional yeast for all ye who are not well-versed in vegan slang) as well as cinnamon + brown sugar as toppings. Warning (don't say I didn't warn you, now): this stovetop popcorn stuff is addicting. So. darned. good.

Oatmeal...

Chopped hazelnuts, shredded unsweetened coconut, banana, chopped squares of dark chocolate, soymilk, and cinnamon... (It's a pretty good combo but I have a new, even-more-delicious oat-y rendition to share with you very, very soon!)

A Vegetarian Times recipe:

Peach and Snap Pea Stir-Fry (link) --

It's basically homemade teriyaki sauce slathered over tempeh, sugar snap peas, fresh peach slices, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts, all atop a bed of buckwheat soba noodles. Yeah, I changed up the recipe a bit with ingredient substitutions, so that's why my description doesn't match up exactly with the recipe...if you were even wondering.

And finally, a delish lunch at a new find...a coop grocery store with plenty of raw foods bulk items (think cocoa butter, cacao nibs, raw cacao beans, lucuma powder, raw carob powder, and the like) a salad bar with lots of raw + living foods, and a vegan hot bar! I got the Living Broccoli Waldorf Salad, fresh mushrooms, cubes of a random tofu creation, sun-dried tomato hummus, living red cabbage slaw, Jamaican-style sweet potatoes, sprouted chickpeas, sprouted lentils, fresh greens, raw yellow bell pepper, shredded beets (I think raw? but I don't know...), and who-knows-what-else under there. Oh, and some ginger-cayenne-tahini salad dressing is in that yellow container in the top corner. And I got a slice of yummy vegan cheese pizza too (but the pic was uuugly - so sorry to deprive you of it)!

After this meal, life was complete.

This picture does lead into a topic I wanted to bring up...eating with family. I highly enjoyed what I ate at this cafe; however, this is not a meal I can eat with my immediately family members (mom, dad, and younger sis). My family does love eating out, but their idea of "eating out" is getting fast food at Jack in the Box, or Wendy's, or McDonald's, or Steak-n-Shake every couple o' nights. My dad enjoys finer dining like I do, and is willing to eat the veggiest of vegan meals with me, but my mom and my sister are quite a different story. They turn their noses up at vegetables, whole grains, almond butter, and tempeh.

While living at my parents' house this summer after my junior year at an out-of-state university, many frustrating dining experiences have come up. One of the greatest joys for me is the adventure of dining at new places...a pleasure which I cannot share with my immediate family members. It has gotten so bad that I will have to get a separate meal from the rest of the family, because they will either all want fast food or, if they are feeling more extravagant, a meal at Applebee's or some chain sit-down restaurant -- a choice which I know will be extremely environmentally un-friendly, non animal-conscious, unhealthy, and definitely slim-pickins for me. I just can't support these chain restaurants -- places I know that support factory farms and industries that are extremely cruel to animals (and they definitely don't use local or organic produce -- if produce items besides iceberg lettuce can even be found on their menus).

I know the cost of high-quality, nutritious food can deter many people, but my family can afford it. If we chose to spend our money more wisely -- cooking at home more often, avoiding fast food, and eating at great restaurants every once in a while -- we could definitely handle this financially, but my mom and sister are scared of trying new foods, especially anything non-American (read: ethnic cuisine) and health foods. How I would love to eat out at vegetarian restaurants serving local, organic produce once every week or two with my family. But this doesn't happen, so I brave these places without my family, and my love for nutritious, life-giving food goes unshared.

How do you guys deal with eating with family members? It's no fun eating separately from them -- they aren't willing to spend the extra dollars to eat healthy, or even just reallocate dollars to eat at better-quality restaurants or buy unprocessed groceries that don't come from a box. I would much rather eat out less frequently if I can have a more "fancy" dining experience rather than just getting fast food on-the-cheap multiple times a week. Eating out should be special! Often, the places I enjoy dining are far from the suburbs where we live, and I must trek their on my own if I want a culinary adventure. So sad. Anyway, I would like to hear any opinions/suggestions/whatever else on this issue, as well as any personal experiences you have had with dining frustrations, whether it be wanting to eat vegetarian, vegan, or even just something healthy! I'm curious! And I sure hope this topic doesn't make me sound like a spoiled brat, but hey, this is my blog and this issue has been on my mind.

Have a great week -- I hope you enjoyed the photos as well as my random rambles! Much love, my dear bloggies! <3

I am so hyperventilating right now

This is like the time I watched the most wonderful boy in the 9th grade sitting on the curb, at the very moment he opened the secret valentine I wrote him.

Only better.

I am sooo excited to eat them all up!

Thank you so much to the kind folks at Larabar!  I love yooooou!

Health and trying to be an artist

It's almost embarrassing how many meals I have eaten at the Whole Foods salad bar this summer.

It is just so easy to get a quick, pretty, colorful, healthy meal there that I cannot get enough. I have also managed to get myself addicted to sparkling mineral water. I must continue to chant to myself that carbonated water is a privilege and not a daily entitlement. My Whole Foods meals are almost always a small scoop of grain salad, tons of veggies (especially kale salad!), a couple pieces of fresh fruit, a little scoop of beans, a slice of grilled tofu, a sprinkle of granola and dried cranberries, and a Larabar or other raw nut/fruit bar (I also like thinkFruit, Pure Bar, and the coconut & agave flavor of Raw Revolution live food bars). I just love getting a bite of each goodie in an enormous salad! To keep my energy up, I have also been having green smoothies as snacks instead of "healthy" vegan cookies, which I had started to treat as an obligation instead of something special.

Nope, that's not Shiner Bock. (Definitely not - even a couple sips of alcohol make me feel dehydrated and horrible!) Enter my Green Monster recipe, stage right:

• 2/3 cup Living Harvest Original Hempmilk
• 1 pinch sea salt
• a liberal splash of pure maple syrup
• 1 scoop raw almond butter (I use MaraNatha natural)
• a few banana chunks
• 1/2 cup frozen fruit (my favorites are raspberries, blueberries, and mango, but I choose just one - I don't combine them)
• a couple large handfuls of spinach

I know I talk a lot about the latest vegan ice cream that has entered my tummy, but I really do think this smoothie is just as good as ice cream - better actually, especially if you don't want to have your energy zapped later on.

One of my favorite meals I have made lately was a fun little platter. It reminded me of eating at Whole Foods because I just put a bunch of my favorite foods on one plate:

Marjon grilled tofu, cinnamon-lime pearled barley, roasted butternut squash, rutabaga fries (which I heard about from Shelby), sliced mango...

and curry ketchup (curry powder + ketchup), for rutabaga fry dippin'! I felt so fantastic after eating this. I loved every single morsel on my (rather huge) plate.

And finally, I hinted in my last post that I would tell you about my summer job(s). Oh, the suspense! Are you ready for this?!

Okay, here goes...

Bam:

I work at two (!!) coffee shops, and I have been working on my artistic side.

Here's my latest latte art:

Ze heart.

Ze rosetta:

Ze heart, again:

These days I have been trying to balance health and my love for quality (as in good-tasting!) espresso by limiting my coffee intake. I will tell you I had between 10 and 12 espresso shots last Friday (oops)(and it wasn't all my fault, seriously), but beyond that I have been trying to limit myself to 2 to 4 shots a day. I have found that after my initial double shot of the day, any kind of coffee makes me sleepy and un-energetic... But I drink espresso because I have access to the good stuff (some of the best stuff in the whole wide coffee-growin' world, actually), otherwise I would cut coffee out of my diet completely. Bad coffee isn't worth drinking, and if I had to drink that or nothing, I would just wean myself off of caffeine. Appreciating espresso and coffee is like a person's love for fine wine - coffee done right can have a multitude of tastes and nuances, floral tones, hints of fruit, chocolate, or nuts. But this pretty much won't happen if one is buying their coffee stale or at Starbucks. Anyway.

I just love espresso so much. Coming up, I'll be doing a review of Amy Ferraris's new movie, The Perfect Cappuccino. Thanks for letting me take a peek, Amy! Stay tuned for the review on this very blog. The Perfect Cappuccino is such a great film - it is so satisfying to encounter the thoughts someone who is as passionate as I am about cappuccinos. If you watch this movie, you'll know I am not crazy!!! I am not the only one who is obsessed with the perfect balance of microfoamed [soy]milk and espresso. :)

RRV out!

Maybe? or maybe? or maybe?

My summer is one-third over and I have very few pictures to show for it. I have hopped on the Green Monster bandwagon and now am slightly obsessed. While I am waiting for my paycheck to go in, I have been making little lists of all the fancy ingredients that would make for suped-up, dazzling versions of my current Green Monster. I don't have any pictures of the ones I have made, but that's okay because you all know what GM's look like anyway. Just imagine a bright green smoothie and we're good.

Ever since I tried the Maple-Pecan Sticky Blondies from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan, blondies have been my favorite dessert to make -- yes, even before our beloved VeggieGirl made vegan blondies famous.

For this batch of good old fashioned Chocolate Chip Blondies, I adapted Nicole's adaptation of the VG recipe. VeggieGirl's recipe calls for non-dairy yogurt, which is expensive and not commonly in my fridge, but Nicole, in quite genius fashion, just substitutes a mix of non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar for the yogurt.

In standard Eat Live Run fashion, I hastily froze the hot-outta-the-oven blondie batch and had yummy frozen blondie squares to filch from the freezer all week long. Glorious!

I went on a last minute trip last weekend and was finally able to get my hands on a pint of hemp milk ice cream -- Mint Chip to be precise, of the Tempt line by Living Harvest. 'Twas fab, but Purely Decadent's (with coconut milk) Mint Chip wins the mint award, over Tempt and over Mint Galactica by the Coconut Bliss people; however, I am confident that I shall find true love when I try the chocolate and coffee flavors of Tempt.

My thoughts on Tempt? It starts off tasting like "normal" dairy mint ice cream, but the finish and aftertaste sweetens up and is very unique. I think this is when the hemp comes through. I wish this were sweetened with agave instead of sugar, and I also would have liked the chocolate bits to be bigger. Big fat chocolate cookie bits mixed in would have been nice too, but then again, the name of the ice cream is mint chip, not mint chocolate cookie bit, so it's not like cookie tidbits were promised or anything.

Hmmm, maybe I should start taking pictures of my real food? Or maybe I should start eating things that are actually interesting? Or maybe I have been notorious lately for being lazy and eating my meals from the Whole Foods salad bar and being too scared to whip out my camera in their seating area? I have been working 6 days a week, so that is one of my excuses... And soon I shall reveal what exactly I am doing at my place of employment, so stay tuned - I won't be straying too far from blogworld this time!

Have a fabulous Thursday!

Summer 101

Thanks for enrolling in Summer 101.

Hi, my name is RRV, and I will be your instructor for this course.

Let's get started right away now, shall we?

Lesson 1: Eat some yummy vegan cupcakes.

This Mint Chocolate Cookie cupcake was made for me by Jess, who just so happens to be an incredible baker! Thank you sooo much, Jess! She really went all out on these cuppies and made them with me in mind. Awww! Here you see a chocolate cupcake base filled with crushed Joe-Joes (Trader Joe's sandwich cookies - so good!), some buttercream with more crushed Joe-Joes, a Joe-Joe on top of the buttercream that was dipped in a mint dark chocolate bar, and mint dark chocolate shavings on top. Incredible!

Lesson 2: Find some local eats and go eat 'em.

I found these locally-made energy bars at one of my (seven) local Whole Foods stores. (Seriously, seven Whole Foods within 30 minutes of my family's dwelling-place? Yes!!) Pretty good (and large, which I appreciated).

Lesson 3: Eat a wonderful lunch for some lovely mid-day energy.

This lunch consists of Whole Foods Whole Wheat Rustic Bread, Cedar's Artichoke & Kalamata Olive Hummus, fresh avocado slices, (sad-looking) sliced tomato, fresh ground pepper, and some peeled carrots. Yum! I think I am going to turn into a hummus this summer. I have eaten it almost every day so far. And then, two days in a row I ate a hummus and pitas and veggies for lunch and for dinner.

Lesson 4: Find your creative outlet.

If it happens to be pouring pictures on top of your soy cappuccino, then so be it.

(Cappuccino #1)

(Cappuccino #2 - view one)

(Cappuccino #2 - view two)

Here's my summer espresso setup in our family's temporary tiny kitchen (we're in the process of moving into a house, out of the apartment).

Counter Culture Coffee's Espresso Aficionado is amazing! Dare I say I like it better than Intelligentsia's Black Cat Classic Espresso?

On the far left bottom is my Intelligentsia cappuccino cup, and on the top of the espresso machine (right) is my World Barista Championship 2009 cappuccino cup. I love Italian-made cups! <3

Cappuccino #3:

I am getting better at the latte art thing... I have a long way to go, however, to match up with the pros!

Lesson 5: Indulge in your first ice cream of the summer. (To keep cool, of course.)

Purely Decadent Mocha Almond Fudge vegan ice cream - made with coconut milk. I haven't tried a pint of Temptation vegan ice cream, though I have had a Temptation-based shake, so I will venture to say this is my favorite ice cream ever. (Chocolate Oatscreme pints are a love of mine too, but I haven't had one in two years!)

Feast your eyes on this:

I hope your summer is relaxing so far!