Sunday, November 1, 2009

3 - Green Shadow, Water Weight All Over Me~

So I'm sure you have had the mornings where you wake up and you feel dead tired from the previous nights activities...



For some of you this might be a daily occurrence but for me it's definitely a once in a blue moon type deal. But often the expression of the morning is "oh my god I can't believe I drank/ate that" and these are the mornings I re-establish that just want to eat healthy for the rest of my life ;)Best way to start is with a tall glass of water and a healthy salad! And today I'm going to talk about my favorite salad topping... QUINOA.




I'm sure a lot of you have no idea what quinoa (KEEN-WA) is, so It's time for me to enlighten you. Quinoa is a grain-like seed originating from South America that the Ancient Incas worshiped as a sacred crop (and for good reason!) I love quinoa and use it on next to everything from salads to veggie burgers! You can pick it up at your local health food store (i.e. whole foods) and to prepare it you pretty much treat it like you would rice. You have to first wash the grains with cold water then put them on the stove with 1 and 1/2 cups of water for every cup of quinoa (and one cup goes a long way!) first bring it to a boil then let simmer for about twenty minutes. Let the quinoa stand for a few minutes then fluff it with a fork and then you're done! Super simple and great to add to just about anything (expecially a salad!)




In case your wondering my salad contains fresh greens (from the farmer's market!) some red onion, tomatoes, Italian dressing, pickles (to vary the texture?)and probably more quinoa than I should have but... (what the hey this is a quinoa post right?)



Serve it with some herbal lemongrass tea and you'll be back up to full speed again in no time! :)

Friday, October 30, 2009

2 - 'Cause it's a Winding Road~

I have a pretty hellishly hectic work schedule during the week, but I've learned to take comfort in the little things and appreciate the breaks when you can get them...
Friday mornings are that break for me every week. I sleep in for an hour and then casually wake up, take a shower, get dressed and get my morning tea (opposed to the usual rush I'm in) and then I take take a nice stroll down to my local Farmer's Market!

Got Veggies? I DO!!





San Jose (where I live) has a very nice sized farmer's market right downtown every week!
http://www.sjdowntown.com/FarmerMarket.html
I have a few actually (being so close to the Central California) The neighboring city of Santa Clara has one Every Saturday I believe and even the local "high-end" dining/shopping out door mall of the area, Santana Row has one every Sunday! I have a 3 chances to go to the farmer's market in a week? Amazing!
But chances are there's one in your area, that not more than a short drive at most!

And it's not just food either, there's tea, spices, bread, meat (if your into that), hand crafted and made gifts and clothes, there's a bunch of free things like today a lady just handed me a very nice little 'healthy eating' cook book! And my local one even rotates different events usually with live music, cooking demos and give aways a totally fun experience!






















Today's Impulse buy? TANGERINES!


For me it's all about the experience and the adventure. I mean what is shopping to you? You get in the car go to Walmart and load up then drive home? I wake up walk downtown listening to an acoustic music playlist then head to the farmer's market and pick a couple of weeks worth of fruits and veggies with my own hands directly from the farmers who grew them and then walk home with a huge smile on my face! I do pay a little more than if I bought everything at the local grocery store but for me I'm paying for the experience... I go for the colors, smells, the food (obviously!), the exercise, the fun, and the smiles! :)

If you've got cold feet about it or afraid to try it on your own, ask your friends I've gone with or met numerous of my friends at the farmer's market and I can't think of one who didn't enjoy themselves, after all adventures are often more fun with more people right? So ask around, maybe find yourself a farmer's market buddy!

The day's spoils... $12.75 and this will do me well for two weeks easily!


So what are you waiting for? Go have yourself an adventure this week!!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

1 - Hey, I've got nothing to do today but Smile

Hmm guess I got to start somewhere...

I wrote a small bio about myself to the right ->
But this blog is not really about me, it's about Adventures. Veggie Adventures.

THE ORIGIN:
I started this new school year (Fall 09) with two new goals...
1) to attempt to cook more (like real cooking, no microwaves)
and
2) to go and explore the Vegetarian/Vegan cuisine offered in restaurants and stores around which I have yet to experience!

So yeah I guess that's what this blog will be chronicling... my Veggie Adventures! both by in my attempts to cook more and my explorations to the awesome places around me!

When I started to tackle goal #1 (see above) I started taking pictures of my awesome creations and posting them on my private facebook account and I was really surprised at all the awesome feedback I got from my friends (because really I was doing it for me, kind of proving to myself that I could cook) and after acquiring quite a few mouthwatering pictures of awesome dishes I made I decided maybe facebook wasn't the best place to post them... and one day after looking at a lot of other veggie blogs that I love (see below right) I decided I wanted to create my own!

Here's a bunch of previous dishes I've made in the past... I could probably go around again and post recipes as I create them again... So if you would like to see a future post on one of these (like how to do it) then feel free and comment or email me the suggestion/request!


The Kospee Special
- The dish that started it all... (it also stands as an awesome symbol of teamwork between my roommate and I!)


Baked Stuffed Tomatoes It's baked AND stuffed!! (but not in that order)


Fried Tempeh Salad - It's Bomb-diggity!



DC Stir-Fry
- Mushrooms + Yellow Bell Peppers + Tempeh



Veggie Dal
- Definately an experiment that turned out well!!



Angel hair Spaghetti with Tofu!
Or is it "AND Tofu?"



Quadruple Pepper Stir-Fry!!
4X the Fun! Oh Baby!



Vampires vs. Werewolves!
- haha an original for sure... it's a mixed vegetable dish with potato gnocchi


(Pinto) Bean Burritos + Fried Veggie Potato Medley - "I'm A Potato!, You're A Potato!!!"


A Traditonal Stir-Fry! - It's Oriental not Asian!


Broiled Tempeh! - + Corn on the Cob & Potatoes!


If there's one thing I've realized in doing this... it's that I need to learn how to take better pictures of food! (being an art major... some photography skills might come in handy!)

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT. I hope this all works out and I can actually inspire someone else to have an adventure of their own!

New Beginings, New Friends, New Adventures!
Cheers!