Woman in Real Life

Happy Wednesday! For those of you who seem to be stuck in a snow globe, not to worry, someone will break us out soon...I hope. In the meantime, cuddle in tonight and put the fireplace on (for the last time?). Enjoy a hot cocoa, read a great book and bid winter farewell in style. Or just have a good cry. Whichever.

I have so many hopes for spring and the renewed energy it brings. I'd like to go through my wardrobe and discard a bunch of clothes. I'd like to get rid of the magazines piled in my bedroom and have the upstairs carpet professionally cleaned. I'd like to freshen up the interior of my filthy car. The list goes on and on. For now, I'm focusing my limited energies on one area - the kitchen. I am trying to get it back to "clean" every evening (no small feat) and I am experimenting with new, healthy recipes and meal ideas.



I decided to soak some dry chickpeas this week. It's so easy and much more affordable than buying canned. (And yet I still buy canned chickpeas most of the time.) Just rinse the chickpeas, put them in a pot, cover them with cold water, then leave them to soak overnight. The next day, drain the water, cover the chickpeas with water again and boil them for about an hour or more. I used three cups of dry chickpeas, which makes a large quantity. I'm planning to put the leftovers in the freezer, two cups to each freezer bag.


I have also been preparing frozen fruit mixes this week. I'm popping them into the freezer in small, manageable bags for the kids to use in their smoothie blends. They love to make smoothies themselves using the Magic Bullet.


I often buy banana strawberry mixes in the store, so I thought I might as well make some up myself!


Again this week I have been reviewing vegan cookbooks and having a lot of fun with it. New cookbooks feed my cookbook addiction and also motivate me to try new recipes. I made a very easy Mac N Cheez recipe from Mayim's Vegan Table last night. I'll be doing a review and giveaway of that book soon. I served the pasta with Gardein crispy tenders and salad.


Now for a look at a full day of eats. (Except I'm sure there was a dessert in the evening that I'm missing - probably these raw vegan Ultimate Caramel Chocolate Squares.) On Monday, I started the day off with an old-fashioned peanut butter and jam sandwich. Not even toasted - just fluffy bread goodness. Makes ya feel like a kid again.


With no dinner leftovers to be had, I fried up an Amy's California Veggie Burger. I must have been craving salt that day or something, because I served the veggie burger with all kinds of pickled things - pickled veggies, pickled beets and, yes, pickles.


For dinner, I had another recipe from Mayim's Vegan Table - Mishmash Soup. I served it with vegan biscuits from a recipe in How it all Vegan. Soup and biscuits - yum - there's one good thing about this never-ending winter!

Are you a cookbook addict like me or do you like to whip up your own creations?


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