Summer Salads

I had such a busy day yesterday filled with lots of exercise! I started my morning out with a 24 minute lower body workout with Jackie Warner. I seriously love this woman. I am upset that the full body workout is no longer on my "on demand". I guess this how they get you to buy the DVD. Which I just might crack and buy.....
On with my day I had a great day at work and came home & walked both dogs (seperately), I could not walk a 90lb rottweiller and a 70lb black lab at the sametime. They would be pulling me in all directions! Then I went for a bicycle ride, I would say it was about 3 miles. When I got back I was craving cold veggies and I had plenty stocked in the fridge. I also wanted to try my new salad dressing..

I later realized I could easily make this stuff myself and have in the past since the ingredients list consists of apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, water, honey, garlic, onion and pepper.

Um yea.... it was still good.

Spinach, Cukes, Celery, Tomato, broccoli, crushed black pepper

With Some Yummy Daiya action

After I consumed this huge salad, I wanted something sweet...

Banana Walnut Ice Cream

1 frozen banana

1 spoonful peanut butter

1 spoonful cashew butter

cinnamon

1/4 cup almond milk

handful walnuts

1 teaspoon chia seeds

BLEND IT ALL!!

Hit the spot. Yum. 

I broke down and ordered a Vita-Mix yesterday, granted it was only a refurbished one.. let's hope it doesn't break the bank! Ha! I am so excited to use it and try lots of new recipes :)

Daiya Review

I finally was able to try Daiya Vegan Cheese! It was located at my local co-op Outpost Natural Foods in the Cheddar flavor. I thought this would be great to try on nachos, pizzas, tacos.... the list goes on.

I have been craving some healthy style pizza and this what I decided to make with Daiya.

1 whole wheat tortilla

pizza sauce

mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, onions

italian seasonings and Daiya

Broil for 10 minutes or less watch carefully....

mine got a little crisp around the edges!

There is a thing as too much Vegan cheese. I did enjoy the Daiya but I definately put way too much on my pizza here. I was picking majority of it off because it was a bit overwhelming.

Less is more with this stuff!!!!

I can't wait to try it with some other recipes, maybe where the cheese is more blended or masked by another element. I think this would  be good in lasagna. Otherwise I am excited to  melt some into a refried bean dip or on bean burritos. I think both would turn out lovely. I will post those when I try them as well!!

Busy Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone had a fabulous longggggggggg weekend! Mine was crazy busy and did it fly by. Friday night was filled with some yummy wine and fabulous art by my brother's beautiful girlfriend Lindsay Carron. She has her own studio in downtown Waukesha and let me tell you she is extremely talented. I took a photo of the river in Waukesha......

(this is some serious Blackberry action)

After the art festivies I made my way over to the first big festival in Milwaukee of the summer Dan Jansen fest. I consumed a couple beers and enjoyed some local music with some friends.

Saturday was a friend's wedding, also in Waukesha. Right at Frame Park on the river. So pretty. I loved all the flowers outside. Purple flowers and purple dress. I had to.

I started juicing again this weekend, my first batch of green lemonade of the year!!

I missed you Green Juice. I am defiantely right my body craves this stuff when it's warm outside. Winter not so much!!!!

I also made another batch of the Vegan Banana Walnut Pancakes this time for my brother and Lindsay to enjoy, and I think they did.

Sunday afternoon was filled with boating and attempts to wakeboard/surf after about 6 tries I gave up and I have been feeling it in my arms & back since then! :)

We had a bonfire Sunday night on Lake Michigan...

Remember those brave men and women serving our country for our freedom!

Nichole

Protein Vegan Ice Cream

It has been quite hot lately in Wisconsin and I have been enjoying a lot of this banana soft serve, I can't get enough of it!

Combine ingredients in a blender...

1 frozen banana

2 TBSP Peanut Butter

Cinnamon

1/4 cup almond milk

small amount vanilla

Vanilla Spirutien Protein Powder

sprinkle with walnuts, almonds or anything your heart desires!

My body craves fresh fruit and greens when it's hot out so I love enjoying a crisp Spinach and Strawberry Salad w/ walnuts and a raspberry vinagrette.

Here are some items of great deliciousness that I have been enjoying for lunch when I am in a hurry...

Naked Vegetarian Taco Salad from Qdoba

                                                Love all that color and love the grilled veggies!

Also enjoyed some hot bar at Good Harvest Market.............

Roasted Veggies, Potatoes, Wheatberries, Miso Noodles YUMMY!!!!

On these hot summer-like nights I like to enjoy something fast and fresh, and light.

Whole grain tortilla with "Vegan refried beans"

Black Beans

Spinach

Tomato

Avacado, Onion & Jalepeno

I plan on ordering my Vita-Mix soon, I am exxxxxcited!!!!!!!!!!!

Nichole

Not so Vegetarian Vacation

I had a fantastic vacation in South Florida with my cousins. We started off the vacation right - we went on the beach right away.

Later that night we hit the Blue Fish Company in Pompano Beach for some dinner. We had scallops, amongst other things but no pictures of food this night, I think we were too hungry!

We also had a great lunch at Aruba Beach Cafe, they had this delicious bread brought to our table with honey butter.

Crab Nachos, Peel and Eat Shrimp and Seafood Soup

Even though the crab nachos were way too cheesy there were still good. We even got a side of black beans to add on top of them.

Seafood is soooooooooooo good in Florida.

We went to Miami on Saturday for some sun in South Beach and stopped for lunch at the famous Ocean's 10........

Fish Tacos

Greek Salad

Tuna Sliders were great - had seaweed salad and wasabi mayo on them.

A lot of drinking while on vacation......

Lots of sunshine....

(Huevos Rancheros)

My cousin Haley's yummy cooking...

Views of the Ocean...

Lots of DRESS UP!

Nights out with good eats and family...

So sad to leave..........

Coming back to Wisconsin after 6 days of fun in the WARM sun.. is well, depressing. It should be in the 60's most of the week... which is a good thing... I guess?!

Nichole

Oh So Sweet...

Eats that is.. oh and what a beautiful day it is going to be, 80 degrees in Milwaukee!

I have quite the list of interesting eats to share for this past week, as you will see I have been busy in the kitchen as of late.

I made some fantastic Vegan Banana Walnut Pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. I used a pancake mix that was vegan..

There were instructions on making pancakes on this "mix" but I switched it up a bit...

I used 1 mashed banana in place of the 2 eggs

1 T of coconut oil in place of canola oil

The recipe also called for sugar, I put a small amount of Agave Syrup to sweeten it up a bit but I think next time I will skip this because it was not needed! Also added small handful of walnuts (went very well with the banana)

Combining... Stirring....

Cooking... these were simply THE BEST pancakes I have ever had, so moist and delicious. I think I have outdone myself :)

I topped them with some Earth Balance and Real Maple Syrup and they were a slice of HEAVEN.

I tried Angela's Vegan Overnight Oats, and I could see myself doing this a lot in the summer. Cold oats, you say? They were fabulous and I loved every bite.

1/3 Cup Regular Oats

3/4 Cup almond milk

2 T Chia Seeds

1 ripe banana (mashed)

1/4 pure vanilla extract

Combine these ingredients cover and place in fridge overnight.

Top with syrup, nut butters, nuts... etc! Serve them cold.

Soooo quick and easy... I loved them!!

I re-created the Garlic Dill Wrap from Steaming Cup from last week's post at home with hummus, spinach, tomato, carrots and cukes in a whole wheat wrap.

All rolled up..

SUPERB! This is great lunch for summer...

Vegan Spaghetti with Nutrional Yeast

and ezekial pasta!

I used Boca's vegan soy crumbles with a organic tomato sauce, garlic, onion, zuccini, peppercini, and mushrooms. 

Lastly... my final dish to share, I was craving some fries... so I opted for Sweet Potato Fries.

MY GOODNESS these are to DIE for!

Such great flavor... I used oilive oil, italian seasonings and sea salt, pepper. Baked at 425 for 40 minutes or so, I like mine crisp so I kept turning them and baking them longer.

I have some good news to share, my kitchen remodel is almost finished.... here is an updated picture to gander at....

I spent all last weekend priming and painting and re-painting... the new tile floor is going in and shortly will have my kitchen back and let me tell you it's been a long time coming!!!!

Nichole

Quinoa Bars

After taking a short break from the gym (this past weekend + Monday), I have been back it at pretty hard. Tuesday evening I did 40 mins of the eliptical, 20 minutes on the stairmaster, weights and abs. Wednesday I did about the same + some core work with Jackie Warner on demand. Thursday (this morning) I have yet to hit the gym but I did a last chance workout with Jillian Michaels and that was a great start to my morning.

I had this delicious salad Tuesday night...

-Mixed Greens

-Cucumbers

-Sunflower seeds

-Garbonza Beans

-Bean Sprouts

-Spinach

-Pea Pods

topped with Wildtree homemade Italian dressing

This salad seriously filled me up for hours!

I also am dealing with a sick puppy at home, he has been acting "different" all day yesterday, sleeping a lot and not his normal wild self. He seems better today but it is scary thinking something could be wrong with your pet because they hide sickness and pain so well so when you can tell something is bothering them, you know it's really is.

Poor Kujo Mujo :(

On a lighter note I had lunch at a different place today close to my work in downtown Waukesha. It is called The Steaming Cup and it is a wonderful little cafe right in the heart of downtown Waukesha.

(no we don't have that much snow right now)

I ordered the Garlic Dill Wrap minus cheese w/ fruit for a side. This was delicious!!

This was made with a garlic dill sauce, carrots, lettuce, onions, cucumber, tomato & sprouts.

I really enjoyed the tomato basil wrap with the veggies it gave it that extra flavoring that was right on point. I don't think the "dill sauce" is vegan I am sure it has sour cream in it, maybe next time I can opt for mustard or another vegan option???

I also bought one of these to enjoy with my lunch since they looked fabulously organic...

Oskri Quinoa Bars

I thought I might enjoy this crunch after I enjoyed my wrap. Truth be told while this is good, it is a little sweet for me. It reminds me of carmel popcorn (which I love) but I think the rice syrup adds quite a bit of sweetness that is just a little much for me.

If I am ever craving anything sweet this will surely do the trick! It is Gluten Free, and VEGAN. Very crunchy and it would be good for dessert after any meal.

They also had chocolate Quinoa bars as well, I think I will try that one next!

Nichole