Rawtastic!

 

Today I finally went to this raw vegan restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica called Rawvolution. Im ssoo glad I went because I had the tastiest food ever! Im very comfortable with eating vegan since its how I grew up but I very new to the whole raw food scene. (I have alot to learn) But I went there totally excited to try out some new things. Plus the Best of Raw awards were being broadcasted from there which was also really fun!

 

When I got there I was a bit surprised how small the place was. For some reason I was expecting it to be bigger. Although to be honest most places Ive been to on Main Street are very small. Anyways…I was totally loving the wide variety of foods. From pastas to pizzas and even sushi there was a bunch to choose from. It took me forever to decide but I ended up getting the Simplicty Roll and my friend got the Zucchini pasta with sun dried tomato sauce and onion bread. We decided to split since we were having a tough time choosing.

 

The pasta was ssssooo good. Honestly, a bit better than I was expecting. I was so mad I got full really fast! I just wanted to keep eating! The zucchini had an awesome crunchy texture and the sauce was super flavorful and paired perfectly with the pasta. I was really excited to try the onion bread too. It was very very onion-y but oh so delicious. Very chewy and tasty. I couldn't stop eating it. I was really excited about the onion bread because I keep hearing how awesome it is. And it totally lived up to the hype. (Anyone know how to make this???)

The Simplicity Roll was amazing as well. Daikon, kale, collards and sprouts all wrapped in a gigundo piece of Nori. I've eaten a lot of sushi before but Ive never had a large piece of Nori rolled liked a burrito before. It was a bit fishy smelling right as you start eating but had a completely neutral taste. There was a miso ginger sauce to dip in which was phenomenal. I am so going to have to make Nori rolls a staple in my diet. It was delicious!!!

I really wanted to try dessert but I couldn't fit any more food in. So I HAVE to make a trip back for some dessert soon. I even saw some raw balls on the way out! yey!!

Look at those Balls! Yum!

The awards ceremony was not too bad. We didn't get to stay too long but the opening speeches were very nice. They were having some entertainment before the awards were announced. I gotta say the place was packed. Which was great. Overall it was an awesome night and I cant wait to try more raw foods out!

Yummy Coconut ice cream giveaway!

Vanilla balls and Secret Santa

 

The morning started off with one rockin workout!! 60 minutes elliptical and a cool down sesh. Nice! Then back to the apt. for some chocolate oats! Looks gross but tasted great!

wahoo!! Later on today its massage time, my legs need some love! I try to get a massage once every couple of months. I really think it helps the body rid itself of toxins and just moves everything around in general. Very healing.

I have the entire week off which is really fabulous so Ive been spending some more time in the kitch. Im out of balls! Since I ate most of them over this past week I decided to try and work on some new flavors. This time I created a goji and vanilla bean Raw ball.

 

Goji and Vanilla bean Raw Ball *

30 grams cashews

80 grams pitted medjool dates

1/8 cup goji berries (dried)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 vanilla beans

3 Tbsp. oatbran (oatmeal or ww flour works too, whatever you have on hand)

2 tsp. maple syrup

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

Put cashews into food processor and blend to a fine powder. Add in dates. Seed your vanilla bean. Slit bean down the side and using the sharp side of your knife carefully scrape the beans out.) Add these to the food processor. Take goji berries and add to boiling water for 2-3 minutes. This will plump them up alot more. Add them along with the rest of the ingredients and pulse. If too wet just add more oatbran until a good consistency is formed. Roll into balls and pop into freezer, fridge or mouth.=) Enjoy!

 

*Ball Disclaimer: The raw balls are not truly raw. Its just a name that stuck. Raw cookie dough batter balls was a bit of a mouthful so I abbreviated.

I just wanted to say thank you to Rose from On a Lobster Placemat!! She sent me these WONDERFUL oatcakes. Oh gosh they are so good. Me and my husband tore into these bad boys right away and man are they tasty!

Thank you so much!! So incredibly kind of you!

 

For lunch I loaded up on a cucumber salad with some of Averie’s slaw dressing. (Which is amazing btw!!! Im eating it on everything right now)

Also some greek yogurt and apples. (Surprise!)

The rest of the day was random housey stuff and errands. Then onto dinner! I like to munch while I cook and right now Im hooked on this amazingly hot and spicy mustard with cucumbers.

So delicious!! Super spicy which I love too.

Dinner was just some sautéed veggies and a miso and nooch gravy which turned out just ok. I think it still needs something though so I’ll have to keep on playing with it.

Then finally time for dessert! The usual Peanut butter tofu pudding and some naners and chia seeds for crunch.

Tomorrow Im really excited because Im hitting up Rawvolution in Santa Monica. Seems to awesome. Im hoping to learn a few things and try some fabulous new raw foods.

Anyways I hope everyone had a fantastic evening!!

xoxox!!

Cool soup giveaway!

Award!

I was lucky to be presented with this amazing award! Averie passed on the Beautiful Blogger award to me and a few other incredible ladies and I'm so incredibly excited and humbled to receive it! Thank you so much, you are too sweet!!

Here are my 7 facts….

1) I work in the film industry as a digital lighter. Basically I light cg shots, so fun! (If your curious my reel is here)

2) When I was 12 I was “adopted” into the Leni Lenape tribe along with my grandfather. It was such an honor to be accepted as a friend.

3) When I was 13 I got to travel to 7 different European countries with a student ambassador program. It was an amazing life changing experience for me.

4) My absolute favorite type of food is mexican/tex mex. I could eat it 24/7 if I could. (And wash it all down with some amazing tequila!)

5) My absolute favorite scent is vanilla. I love vanilla anything from ice cream to perfume and everything in between. Its my favorite!

6) I have one sister and one brother both younger who just make my day. I'm incredibly close with my family and I talk to them at least once a day even though we live across the country from each other.

7) I hate the cold so much! If it gets below 50 degrees I have to start layering on the sweatshirts and complain to everyone around me about how cold it is. Yuck! I think it looks beautiful when it snows and everything but I just cant be outside in it for a long period of time.

Good stuff, thanks again!! I find it actually a bit hard to write about myself. Its feels a bit strange but I did my best.

Ive met sssooo many  incredible and inspiring people through this  blog. I think that has to be one of my favorite things. So please share fun facts about yourself!

Anyways this morning I went off to my favorite Spin class. Felt good to get a great morning sweat on. I came back cleaned up the apt. a bit. Super messy still from our Christmas eve soiree. Definitely was procrastinating as long as I possibly could. I made up a quick lunch though. My stomach was growling…

A big cucumber salad with a veggie burger and dressing. Also some apples and greek yogurt. Delish!!

 

After that I was ready to really tear up the house. 2 hours and 3 loads of laundry later it was definitely break time. They had a Deadliest Catch marathon on that I was watching while I cleaned. (I always have to have something on in the background.) I have incredible respect for those guys. Wow!

Later on for dinner I made a big spinach salad with veggies and some seitan “beef” strips which weren't too bad!

So good!! Well I think Im about out for now. Im off to get the jammies on make a nice cup of tea. The Surrogates just came on so Im off to watch that too.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and amazing night!

xoxo!

 

By the way…check out this amazing giveaway from the lovely Katie!

Vitalicious give away from IowaGirlEats!

awesome yoga mat giveaway!

Christmas Eve Extravaganza!

 

Happy Holidays everyone!! I hope it was full of friends family and good times! I wasn't able to visit family this year but I was lucky to be surrounded by wonderful friends. I woke up yesterday morning totally excited to cook. I was really tempted to skip the gym but I have to say, I was really glad I ended up going. I did a 90 minute power cardio workout! I knew since there would be lots of treats and good drinks some extra minutes in the gym would do me good! I blew through about 650 calories! Wahoo!

Now on to the good stuff…

Everyone came out around 4ish and I started off by making some appetizers for everyone.

There was some tomato basil bread pudding with a basil cream and balsamic reduction.

Then I made some artichoke and roasted red pepper bruschetta on crostinis. (bad pic…)

Lentil Pate on Endive with cranberries (a take on the traditional liver pate, vegan and delicious!)

Then I just had a veggie platter and some shrimp and cocktail sauce as well.

I finally got to put together my cookie tray as well!

Complete with plenty of raw balls. (they were all gone by the end of the night!)

More random pics..

Then finally after much wine and appetizers it was time for dinner! My friend Di made an excellent turkey!

Followed by some roasted root veggies (these always make an apperance at my holiday parties!)

Sauteed green beans..

and mashed potatoes which I actually didnt have a picture of. Ah well=)

I also made some of the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon (which are amazing!!)

Overall it was tons of fun! Im so glad I had wonderful friends to share the holiday season with!! Although I have to say my holiday was complete with this gift from my husband. I found under the tree….

A banana bunker!! hhahaha. Im totally excited. I have to say I couldnt stop laughing.

 

 

and also an amazing new camera=)

Complete with tons of different lenses and all kinds of good stuff. Im going to be a picture taking machine! Im so excited!!

Sorry to be a bit MIA, the holidays have kept me quite busy but Im ready to get back to some regular posting time. I was recently graced with an award and I’ll be sharing that soon!

Anyways I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday!  I cannot wait to hear all about it!! What was your favorite dish you or someone else you know made this holiday season?

Take care!! xoxo!!

Workouts and baking bonanza!

Im usually a very early riser but today, for the first time in months, I slept in until 9am! Whoa! lol. Not that late but late for me! Im usually up at around 7 am for some reason. I think my body is just used to getting up then. So I feel really rested but a tad on the groggy side. Nothing a big cup of coffee cant fix though. My amazing mother sent me some more coffee. Seriously I cant find a great coffee place in L.A! If anyone knows of one Id love to find out…But anyways she sent me a coffee called Holiday Spirit which is chocolate, caramel and awesomeness in a cup. Next up was a pound of eggnog coffee. Im in love. My brother even rocked out and sent me some coffee too. What a fabulous family. Jazzy Java and Jamacian Me Crazy. Thanks Drew!

I drank two gigundo cups out of my pumpkin mug then its off to the gym!

My legs are sore!!! Yowza! My brain is having fun but my legs are saying stop. I did about 60 minutes on the elliptical with a 15 minute cool down. Fabulous! Ive been really hitting the cardio up. I usually do this on holiday week so that I can enjoy some extra treats that I normally don't have. It helps me balance it out a bit.

So my cookie-a-thon continues! Peanut butter cookies with a dark chocolate drizzle, Jackson Pollock style, and then I showered them with some crushed, toasted nuts and some cane sugar.

I found this cane sugar at my local health food store and I love it! Although I think its a bit like brown sugar as it clumps real easy. I’ll have to throw some bread in the next bag.

I like it because it has a very nice rich molasses-y taste to it.

Then of course I had to make the infamous rum balls. I hope mine hold up to Mimis!! Pressure is on. They are still solidifying in the fridge though at the moment.

I made a quick lunch of some spaghetti squash and roasted broccoli.

 

Also, the people from Okinos were so incredibly kind and sent me a few coupons for some free yogurt to try out. I tried out the plain first and topped it with some chopped apples. Very tasty!!! I enjoyed this alot for lunch.

Ah finally raw ball time. These are my favorite snacks!

I started off making some dark chocolate ones..

Then I had to make the cranberry bliss ones. I think these are my favorite so far.

Then I finished up with some classic gingerbread balls.

 

I took some of the chocolate ones and rolled them in some crushed peanuts as well for some added crunch.

I cannot wait to tear into these tommorrow! Although I made sure to save some dough for myself=)

Aahhh I love being able to lick the bowl guilt free!

 

For dinner I was trying to clear out as much space in the fridge as possible to make space for the feast tomorrow. I ended up using up the last of the spaghetti squash, brussels sprouts, onions and veggie burger. I sautéed these all up until nice and crunchy and topped it with a quick dressing of sour cream and salsa. Very cool little mixture!

And now its time to decorate some sugar cookies and also prep for tomorrows feast. Going to be so fun. I plan to wake up early so I can get a good session in at the gym before I start cooking in the morning. It will feel so good to stretch the muscles out as I am a bit sore today. Even Max was giving me his best stretchin pose..

They will be feastin too tommorrow on tuna and cat treats=)

Do you have a favorite stretch? Anything you like to do in order to help relieve some muscle tension?

Have a fabulous evening everyone!

I love Christmas cookies..

Actually I like making them more than I like eating them for some reason. I get such a kick out of it. Each year my mom makes an AMAZING cookie tray. Oh gosh. We used to work on it forever and by the time Christmas finally rolled around our freezer would be full of cookies. This year though, since Im staying here and not flying home to visit, I decided to make my own tray!

So of course I had to start with the classics..

Chocolate chippies!

Then onto some oatmeals (my personal fav…)

Then I baked up a bunch of sugar cookies. These are just waiting for me to ice them. So I will be back with some iced cookie pictures!

Then I made some Peanut Better bars from the Cooking with PETA book. Love these! My mom made these for us each year and they were always a fav.

Crunchy, peanut buttery and chocolaty.

Next up..Peanut butter and chocolate cookies, Carob thumbprints and some Peanut butter spelt cookies. Also on the list some rum balls (Austin’s fav..his grandmother Mimi makes some great rum balls so I gotta do it up Mimi style!) And I also plan on a slew of different raw balls. Cannot wait to start those either. I gotta get movin!

My Aunt flew in from China yesterday so I got to hang out with her for a bit. She was too sweet and treated me to some rocking new baking pans from Williams Sonoma. My cookies come out fabulous with these new baking pans!! (complete with flour still on them=)

 

I had some old crappy pans earlier and was finding my cookies were burning on the bottom and not finished baking in the middle. Aaahh the wonders of insulated baking pans. The second I started these my cookies are turning out perfect. Some good pans are worth the cash!

So I was shopping around and came across some interesting peanut butter.

I had to pick some up just for curiosity’s sake. Its not the greatest for you as it has a decently big ingredient list but it tastes great and is very decadent. I’ll honestly probably just eat this once in awhile, but its great as a small treat!

I finished up the night with a big huge salad. I needed something to balance out all that baking! Grilled onions and peppers on a huge bed of lettuce with small veggie burger and a quick dressing of just some sour cream and spicy smoky salsa. Sooo good!

Since we are hanging around we decided to have a get together with all our friends that will still be in town. So far on the menu:

 

Appetizers:

Tomato Basil bread pudding bites with a balsamic reduction

lentil pate in Endive with cranberries and pistachios

Fresh artichoke and caramelized onion crostinis

Shrimp (!) with cocktail sauce

Veggie tray with a onion dip (and a vegan version too)

 

Desserts:

cookie trays

vanilla bean layer cake with hot chocolate icing

Assorted raw balls

rum balls

Looks like alot but oh well. Its fun! I cook as healthy as I possibly can but I try not obsess about it around the holidays (the rest of the year is a different story, ha!). I find that just keeping everything in moderation, enjoying friends and of course keeping up with workouts is the key to preventing any added weight during the holidays. I think that's the best way to get through the holidays. No stress, relax, hit the gym and have a good time.

Tomorrow I plan on going to my spin class and continuing to prep. If its nice out (It was sunny and 75 the other day!) I might bike around for awhile too.

Anyways I hope everyone is having a wonderful day so far!!

How's the holiday shopping going? I think mine is all done. (Finally!) Do you have any special treats you look forward to only at the holidays?

 

Take care!! Im on to Part 2 of cookie baking…