Dream of Californication

Trip To Cali!! San Diego is so beautiful, tasted some delicious food as well 🙂

Hope you enjoy the pictures….

Fun With Tofu Word Clouds

Good morning all! This morning I was playing around with this fun tool I found on the web to create this mish-mosh of words I LOVE.

Check it out- It’s Called Wordle, a website dedicated to creating these beautiful images of word clouds! I’d love for you to make one and post it as a comment 🙂

Start Your Day Off Right, with TOFU

Amazing Tofu breakfast recipe I found by Jolinda Hackett

It’s called “Vegetarian Quiche” a version of artichoke quiche that uses TOFU (yum) instead of eggs. The benefits? A delicious breakfast that’s low in fat and cholesterol!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 containers firm tofu, pressed
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, minced
• 1 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and patted dry
• 1 6 ounce can of artichoke hearts, drained
• 1/4 cup grated cheese (optional)
• 1 pre-made pie crust

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.Sautee the onion and garlic in the olive oil. 

Blend the tofu, soy sauce, salt, pepper and basil until smooth. Add the cheese, spinach and artichokes to the tofu mix and stir to combine.

Pour the mix into the pre-made pie crust. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until set. Sprinkle with additional cheese if desired and enjoy your artichoke and spinach quiche

Final Result??? Yummm, I’m drooling already. Is it time for breakfast yet?

Tofu Types, How Do You Like It?

First, a couple things you must know about tofu. Tofu is…

• Coagulated soymilk
• A type of un-fermented soy cheese
• A variety of textures, hardness, and flavors

Now that we’ve touched upon what Tofu actually is, lets talk about the different types of tofu.

Regular Tofu: This type of tofu resembles a sponge and has silken texture. Manufacturers will typically label this type as, “tofu soft,” or “medium firm.”

Soft Tofu: Soft tofu is more like a water-logged sponge with tiny holes. Find this type labeled as, “silken.”

Firm Tofu: (My personal favorite) The hardness is much denser in this type of tofu,

This thing about tofu is that you can never make it softer, but it can always be made firmer by freezing and thawing, boiling in water, or pressing.

Let Me Twitter That…

Woah! Check out the very new and exciting DigestLove Twitter page… Pretty snazzy right?

Find me at @DigestLove and start up the conversation!

Mini Pancakes (via prettygirlscook)

Yum!!

Just had to share a pic of these mini pancakes which have to be the cutest littles things I have ever seen. My mom picked these up for me from one of our local bakeries, Paris Baguette. They were just as good as they looked! … Read More

via prettygirlscook

Mango Mango Madness

I’m going to start profiling restaurants that have left a memorable impression on my taste buds. I’m always looking for healthy restaurants, preferably with many vegetarian/vegan options… so please give me a shout if you have suggestions!

Restaurant of the week: MANGO MANGO, Amherst, MA

Last night I ate the most delicious meal from MANGO MANGO-their food is organic and most meals can be made vegan (yay!) This place has been a long time favorite for my veg head roommate and I. Of course living next door to the place is an added perk.

What’s on the Menu?

 

My personal favorite? Last night I tried the Pineapple Chicken Entree with Soy Chicken, two thumbs up. Now go try Mango Mango! If you decide to dine-in, BYOB 🙂

Today I Wanna Rip My Hair Out!

Today is particularly stressful. You know those days where you just feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Okay maybe I’m exaggerating.

Anyways, I’ve found the perfect remedy for such days. So listen up, literally.

1) Country Music
2) Delicious Food

What I’m Jammin To: Seventeen, Tim McGraw (Bringin me back to the good old glory days)

What I’m Eating: Italian White Bean Hummus (Sabra’s Recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white beans, canned, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• dash cayenne
• 2 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
• warm water

Combine beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and cayenne in the food processor. Blend and gradually add oil and warm water until the mixture has a creamy consistency. Refrigerate overnight for the best flavor. 

Enjoy this hummus recipe with pita chips, pretzels, or fresh veggies! Enjoy!

P.S. I hope you’re day is going better than mine 😉

Fig Newton… What’s That????

Raw Energy Author, Stephanie Tourles has completely revamped the idea of Fig Newtons. Her recipe called “Figgy Waltons” is the healthier, raw version of the sweet treat we all remember so fondly from our childhood.

Tourles recommends the regular consumption of these raw snacks to encourage lustrous hair growth, strong nails, teeth and bones, and to relieve symptoms of iron-deficiency.

My roommate and I decided to try our hand at her new food processor…

Figgy Waltons

Ingredients:

1 Cup dried Figs
2 1/2 Cups Raw English or Black Walnuts
1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut, Finely Shredded

1) Soak figs for 4-6 hours in enough purified water to cover by about 1 inch. Drain the soak water into a glass, refridgerate, and enjoy this refreshing sweet figgy nectar for later (if you desire…) Trim any hard stem ends from the figs and discard.

2)Process the walnuts to a medium-coarse meal in a blender, food processor, or nut and seed grinder. Expect the oily, moist nuts to stick to the sides and bottom of your appliance. Using a long-handle flexible spatula, scrape the nut meal into a large bowl, than add coconut.

3) Add the soaked figs to the blender or food processor you used to grind the nuts and pulse until you have wet, chopped fig paste.

4) Add the figs to the walnut mixture; blend with a large spoon or your hands until a slightly sticky, cohesive dough ball forms.

5) Pinch off small pieces of dough and roll them into marble sized balls about 1 1/4 inches in diameter.

6) For best flavor and consistency, allow the balls to set for 24 hours before eating. Store the balls in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator and consume within 2 weeks.

Bye Bye Tequila Gut!

Did you over do it this weekend? Find yourself feeling sluggish on Monday’s? With St. Patty’s day rapidly approaching I thought this detox drink recipe might be helpful to those of you who love to eat healthy but still like to get their drink on occasionally. It’s called the Master Cleanse

Some people do this cleanse for 6-10 days, but I find a couple days with this juice cleanse does the trick just fine!

Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet Drink

2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemons (use organic lemons)

• Add lemon zest and pulp if you’d like

2 tablespoons of maple syrup (pure maple syrup only)

1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

8 ounces of spring water

Drink 6-8 glasses minimum each day.