Happy Monday!

Today has been a great Monday! Something you will not hear me saying very often... haha. It is only 11am here in Milwaukee, however I am pleased to say the my day is off to a great start.

I already got in a 30 minute cardio session and quite a bit of work done, which feels nice, the sun was out earlier and spring is in the air. Also 2 weeks until my vacation is also nice... :)

So how was everyone's weekend? My Friday night consisted of a little gambling at Potawatomi Casino (my first time there) and we dined at RuYi which is a Japenese style restaurant. Needless to say I was not impressed. We had sake which was good, they were out of the pot stickers so we couldn't get the appetizer sampler as we wanted. So we ordered Spring Rolls which were $9 for only 2 of them! I ordered a seaweed salad, which was tasty, and a side of stir fry veggies as well as a side of tofu.

My side of stir fry veggies had small pieces of tofu already in it, if the menu had stated this I probably wouldn't have order the additional side of tofu (see left hand side of picture). This dish had very large, mushy pieces of tofu that I did not care for. I like my tofu browned and a little crisp on the outside. I also thought the flavors were pretty bland. I figured I could make a much better dish at home. Most likely will not be going back to RuYi.

Sunday was a day of healthified junk foods for me... I ate some Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin bread with Vegan cream cheese since I was craving bagels, I went the healthy route.

I made Vegan Pancakes.

Healthy Mashed Potatoes

(Mashed Cauliflower)

2 T unsweetend almond milk

2 T vegan cream cheese

1 T Earth Balance or Vegan butter

salt & pepper

1 T Nutritional Yeast

1 head of cauliflower steamed until soft

Combine all ingredients into food processor and process until smooth and creamy!

Yummmmm.........

Getting ready for the trip to Malibu in 2 weeks I stocked up on some cute dresses from BEBE.com during a sale they were having... check out the gorgeous-ness below...

Just like Christmas...

This is a tube top (above)

Dress on left and tank on the right.

Can't wait to wear these fun new dresses!!!!

Back to the 30 Day Challenge:

Day 10: Something you’re afraid of - Spiders.... and Solar Storms in 2012. I am stocking up with water and food in my basement...

Day 11: Favorite tv shows - True Blood, Sons of Anarchy, Kardashians, anything on the Food Network

Day 12: Something you don’t leave the house without - my purse... ever... which holds all the essentials... money, lip gloss, keys, phone etc... however there are times when I go on runs and my purses stays at home, so I guess my phone would be with me then... I can listen to music with it and have it in case of an emergency.

I hope your week is started off on the right foot as well!!!

Nichole

Delicious Vegan Pancakes

I had breakfast food for dinner and it was fantastic. Super easy Vegan Pancake recipe that is so easy to whip up!!

All you need is (LOVE):

1 C whole wheat pastry flour (or any flour you have on hand)
1 T Agave (or any sweetener of your choice)
2 T baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 C of almond milk (or soy, rice etc)
2 T coconut oil
(any other add ins) I added in blueberries

Combine ingredients and whisk until there are no lumps

Not the prettiest picture but they were great, and since I didn't feel like grocery shopping or eating hommus and salsa all night - they worked for dinner. Enjoy :)

Speaking of Hommus and Salsa.... I picked these up the other day and the Jalapeno hommus is great and I think I see a homemade version in my future and the Lisa's Salsa is also delicious and spicy!!

First day of the blog challenge:

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts

Well if you are reading my blog you know that I am Nichole, I have been blogging off and on for a little over 2 years - basically after I learned about the whole blog world I was really intrigued and interested in so many amazing blogs out there. Also it has made me more aware... and I figured it would be interesting to show my vegetarian eats from time to time.

A recent picture of me:

15 interesting (or not) facts:

1. I bought my first house when I was 20

2. I love to play volleyball

3. Been a Prescatarian for over 3 years, haven't touched any fishies since 2010

4. Love Marilyn Monroe and James Dean

5. I drive a Jeep

6. My closet used to be color coordinated, now it is by type of clothing

7. I want to have kids of my own someday, just not sure when

8. I want to travel to Europe, Australia & Fiji

9. I hope to learn more about photography

10. I believe in retail therapy

11. I dislike really cold weather but still live in Wisconsin

12. I have a really big family and love it

13. I work at a bank - doing residential mortgages, I do enjoy my job

14. I am 5'1 tall

15. I am slowly learning how to meditate :)

There ya go... interesting or not???

I have had a long, tiring Wednesday and I am ready for bed. Good night, world!

Bring on Thursday :D

Nichole