the eve of new year's eve

and i am just sitting in my house, alone, too tired to really do anything.
i am exhausted for no reason, i have just been sitting around reading, and sleeping. but that's what vacation is all about right?....right? ah well.
so when i am being lazy, i like to be lazy in every aspect of my life:
including chewing, so to help my ventures against chewing and further my lazy aspirations (is that an oxymoron is it?) i made brown rice porridge

mmmm. the best part of this dish was that it was so easy to make! 

Brown Rice porridge

• 1 cup pre made brown rice
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp sweetener
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

optional add ins

• 1tbsp chopped nuts, i used pecans
• 1/2 chopped apple

in a pot, place rice almond milk, syrup, sweetener and cinnamon, alond with the chia seeds and simmer on a low setting until the rice absorbs most of the milk, and you're done!

it was a really nice twist to brown rice, i was sort of getting sick of oatmeal, so this really expanded my breakfast horizons.
so as the new year approaches, does anyone have any new years resolutions? i have a few but they are the basic ones like stay in shape, read more, get more work done, do better in school, eat well, and just generally be happy.

what are your new years resolution?

Christmas has come and gone,

And i hope it was wonderful to you!

christmas this year, was very low key, we haven't had a moment to ourselves for a couple of weeks, so we wanted to take things very easy and slow, starting out with a big lounge around breakfast! which we all made together as you can see:

my family ate french toast, in challah bread with bacon and sausage, which i could not partake in, i really didn't want to start out Christmas with a stomach ache so i made my version of oh she glows vegan blueberry vanilla pancake recipe, which i basically cut in half to make it into a single serving

Vanilla vegan blueberry pancakes with easy blueberry sauce

1/2cup and 2 tbsp of www flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8tsp cinnamon,

1/8 tsp baking soda

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup almond milk (add more gradually as I'm not too sure about the measurements on this is)

1 and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup warm water with 

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 cup blueberries

Mixed together the dry ingredients and mixed them all together in a large bowl, separately mixed together all the wet ingredients, and mixed together by pouring the wet ingredients in and folding it into the dry. you want to add the blueberries in last so the batter wont turn blue
heat a skillet and use 1/4 cup to spoon the batter on to the skillet, flip once the batter begins to form holes and bubbles on the surface of the pancake
 if you want to get a little more fancy and add blueberry sauce take 1/4 cup of blueberries, 1.5 tsp of chia seeds, vanilla extract and 2 table spoons of maple syrup, blend all together and microwave for a minute, then place in the refrigerator over night, to give it a jam like texture

for dinner we had torfurkey! a new dish for me, which was surprisingly delicious and liked by my whole family!
but now that Christmas has come and gone its time to get  back on track with healthy eating
i started out today with chocolate peanut butter oats which did not come out right unfortunately, and delicious cups of honey dew melon! i love the colors of honey dew, its such a happy and vibrant green

its so pretty!!

 and i had a very healthy smoothie for lunch, with a very small salad on the side

I'll get back to that tomorrow, it was delicious and healthy but I'm incredibly tired so i am unfortunately trying to speed through this post,
i was so tired i ended up just having tofurkey leftovers for dinner..oooh weell :)

well I'm going to go crash, i don't think i can be awake another minute, i haven't slept at all these past 3 nights and i went to the mall today (lesson learned NEVER GO TO THE MALL THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS) goodnight!

somedays you just can't win

for instance,
not all of your pictures will come out good.
like this one:
Pumpkin nog oatmeal with blueberries and chia seeds

it tastes much better than it looks...trust me. now, i was attempting to get more into the Christmas spirit though i am not really sure if it tastes like egg nog, seeing as how I've never had it before! all i really know about egg nog is that it flavored with allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. so it was in a way a shot in the dark. now if you are also in the mood for a breakfast full of holiday cheer then be sure to check out my gingerbread oatmeal. as you all know, i am more partial to gingerbread :)

in other news.....

i finally got to try chia seeds! i actually really like them, they have no flavor, add bulk to food, and absorb tons of liquid. Chia seeds have always intrigued me, just the fact that they're so versatile you can make them into crackers, put them in soups, in oatmeal, yogurt, etc. and they're full of important plant proteins, fiber, and omega 3's. so I'm interested to see how they play out in my food.

okay, so one thing i did not expect for Christmas, was a cold! i feel so gross, my throat hurts, i am tired, I've been skipping out on workouts left and right it's awful. i feel as though its covered the entire school, last night i fell asleep at 6:30 and woke up at 9. and then, since i took a nap i was up until 1 and i woke up every hour and at 4 o clock i actually got up thinking it was six and i made breakfast. then i actually looked at the clock and realized the time.

so because of that, it was a long day. so when i got home i needed a snack to pick me up

and with that, i am going to go sleep until Christmas
ONE MORE DAY TILL VACATION!

The winter routine

hey everybody!

so yesterday my ikea trip went very well :) i got all sorts of Christmas shopping done though i still have one more person to finish shopping for and then i'll be done. i can't wait for winter vacation. i started out with a delicious oatmeal bowl with flax seeds, blueberries pecans and coconut shreds. 

i would've posted a picture of my breakfast this morning but...it was really ugly.

do you ever get into a winter routine? i fall into the same one every year. not that i mind though.I feel that in the winter books i pick up a very specific routine of coziness. it usually starts on winter break as

• watch all six seasons of daria

• read all of my Francesca Lia block books

• going to the gym
• wearing giant sweaters.
• a d of course listening to lights on repeat

it's the same every year. i feel like i should be sick of it by now, but no i'm still doing the same thing. and i probably will be doing all these things until i am 60 years old. 

we have school until the 23rd. ugh. not even a half day. they really don't want to cut us any slack. god knows why.

well, happy holidays everybody, i have to go study for the 10 tests i have this week :(

what's your winter routine?

its beginning to look alot like christmas

..or not.
yesterday, December 16, it was 50 degrees outside. Everything where i live is blooming, its so odd. Tree's, roses, bushes, Pussy-willows, i can't understand it! it's literally a week before Christmas and it hasn't snowed since Halloween! things have been pretty quiet considering it's the week before Christmas, tomorrow i am going all out though, a whole day for shopping for presents and gifts for my family and friends. Ikea, Target, and Christmas tree shop (because it even has Christmas in the name! you have to give it props for that.)

    I always consider December the hardest month for food, so many good treats all month around. I can't lie, what i love most about the December season is Gingerbread

DEAR GOD DO I LOVE GINGERBREAD. my aunt brought these over to us a week ago, one for each of us!

mmmm sugar and gingerbread flavored. I of course nabbed the gingerbread first but i really want to wait till Christmas to eat it. now,  i really  wanted to it eat it right and there, and so i had to fight temptation so i used my favorite tea to help ward of the gingerbread craving

Celestial seasonings gingerbread spice! it actually tastes very much like gingerbread, celestial seasonings is always really close to the flavors of certain holiday treats. i think they always do a wonderful job. That's the beauty of the Christmas season though, is that if you really want to wait until christmas to eat treats, there are so many different kinds of alternatives nowadays to help ward of cravings, like this tea! Or if you love hot cocoa, there's always nestle's fat free hot cocoa to try!

In other news i saw the brand new Sherlock Holmes movie last night, which i loved, i really wish i read the books though, i saw it with a friend who has read the books, and i feel like she understood it alot more than i did :/
but it was so late that i didn't get home until  12 in the morning, and then went on to fall asleep on the couch :)

anyway, until my next post, Happy holidays!
Question: what do you and your family do for the holidays!
I'd love to here about it!

killing two birds with one stone

so, as a special treat, i have not one BUT TWO RECIPES TODAY!

i basically didn't leave the house this weekend which left me with long periods of time just sitting on the couch watching tv and eating, it was incredibly unproductive. it took me all the way till Sunday afternoon to stop being a lazy bones and actually get up and make something.

Saturday night, I'm sitting in my bed, it's pretty close to 1 am and just as i am about to drift off to dream land WHAM
a sudden craving for muesli hits me, and you know that in order to make muesli you have to let the oats soak the night before, so i crawled out of my bed down to the kitchen ( to find my sleeping sister splayed on the couch)
to make this:

Midnight Muesli

• 1 banana, chopped, 
• `1 tbsp toasted almonds
• 1 tbsp toasted coconut
• 1 tbsp wheat germ
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup almond milk
• dried or fresh berries to sprinkle on top
• 1 tsp ground flax seed

directions: the night before, mix together the oats, almond milk, wheat germ, and flax seed along with a dollop of yogurt if you so please, and place in fridge to soak overnight, in the morning, mix together coconut, berries, and toasted almonds and a sprinkling of sweetener if you want.
and you're done!

it was actually really good, so i was surprised seeing as how it was my first attempt at muesli, and it was so simple! i will definitely be making this again

so with the weekend come and gone, i need to get back into the flow of the week, meaning school work, after school clubs, and realizing i wont be able to cook dinner for myself every night this week, so i made more than i usually do for dinner (a single serving is what i usually make) i made an Asian edamame pasta salad

Edamame pasta Salad
serves 5 or 6

• a whole box of whole wheat pasta
• 1/4 cup tbsp of rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup carrots
• 1/2 up of zucchini chopped
• 1/4 cup of broccoli
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp of sesame oil
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 and 1/4 cup edamame
• 2 chopped gloves of garlic

Directions: at a high temperature boil a large pot of water, once boiled, add in box of pasta and edamame. This should cook until the pasta is a little less than chewy, to the side place all vegetables in a pan to slowly and lightly stir fry. drain the pasta and mix in chopped garlic, once the vegetables are done also mix in with the pasta. in a small separate bowl mix together the sesame oil, the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and rice vinegar and whisk together until it is all together. After that pour into pasta while slowly mixing it together, let sit for a little bit, maybe 20 minutes so that the flavors can  mix together

baked :) Berry breakfast pudding

wow i haven't posted a new recipe in a while! which is why i am very pleased to present:

The baked berry oatmeal pudding
(serves 1)

baked oatmeal recipe

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp of uncooked oatmeal,
1 tsp canola oil
3/4 cup almond milk
3 tbsp apple sauce
2 tbsp berries (blue berries)
1/2 a banana
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2packets of equal
1 tbsp almonds

preheat the oven to 350 degrees on the bake setting. in a blender, first mix the bananas,almond milk, almonds, applesauce, and vanilla extract, blend thoroughly and add in oil, and add in the oatmeal and sweetener last. before placing in over drop the berries of choice into the mixtures and sort of stir it, and if you really want to you can place a few berries on top just so.
bake for about 30 to 45 minutes.

i was inspired to make this oatmeal after i saw this post, and i wanted to make it for one, so i weened the ingredients down to a single serving. i loved the golden crust on top of the mushy semi thick consistency underneath it, it added a very nice contrast :)

In other news, i have noticed that my food photography definitely needs work :( i want to work harder to learn how to make food look good, but i have alot of trouble scheduling in time, with school and all the after school activities i'm in. SO in order to make the recipes i want to, i have to wake up at 5 in the morning to create them and then i get ready for school at 6:30 so i never have any good light! its way too dark to get the natural lighting i needto take pictures! and then i get home at 4 from school, when the sun has already gone down. it's just a pain in the butt.
but i'm going to keep working at it.

Berries and cream, Berries and cream, i'm a little boy who loves Berries and cream!

good morning!
i find myself sitting on my couch this lovely Sunday morning watching Harry Potter. again. i swear, it is always on ABC family. I feel like every weekend is Harry Potter weekend for them.

Last night, i fell asleep on my couch and forgot to make my oatmeal for the morning. so when i woke up on the couch at 2 in the morning i went straight to scrambling together SOMETHING for the morning ( there was no way i was going to be denied my leisurely Sunday  breakfast)

which is how this came to be:

Berries and cream oatmeal

• 1/2 cup dried oats
• 1/3 cup frozen berries
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp of pecans
• sweetener of choice

prepare oatmeal at you normally would

the strawberry cream

• 1/2 cup of almond milk
• 1 tbsp sweetener of choice
• 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1/2 tbsp of maple syrup
• 2 strawberries

blend all of the cream ingredients together until a creamy mixture comes about.

mmm oatmealy  :)

POWER BREAKFEST!

hello! i am back! 
how was everyone's thanksgiving? i felt like this was the longest week ever, and i as only in school for three days.  i have a mountain of homework and little to no energy.
i was hoping these protein pancakes would help me overcome my back to school energy slump

i followed a recipe from calorie count, and of course i messed around with it a bit.
i used VEGA chocolate protein powder, unfortunately i didn't taste much chocolate. i mostly tasted the wheat bran the recipe called for, which is an odd sweet munch like, sort of flavor.
I've been really lacking motivation lately.when i came back from Florida and i wanted to do a whole week of low carb and no sugar, but to be honest the low carb thing has just made me tired and edgy and the no sugar part ( fruit, processed food, etc) make me want to binge eat. I've been tired, haven't felt like exercising at all and i have this remaining need to sit down and eat a whole cake......
weird right? so starting Monday i am going to get back on track!


In other news.....
look at this sweet bowl i bought at Epcot!

i bought it in japan land!

it was an excellent bowl to hold my afternoon snack, light harvest vegetable soup

and to add a bit more protein i added some edamame beans!

i am unfortunately not a soup person. i mean, if i wanted a liquid, i would drink it, right?

i just don't understand the concept of soup.

oh well, off to the gym tommorow! 

How was your thanksgiving?

I'd love to hear if you're willing to share!