We checked out of AVIA Napa by 10:30 AM and headed north for an early lunch at The Culinary Institute of America, one of my favorite buildings with it’s beautiful castle-like stone exterior and landscaping or fragrant spices and olive trees.

We got an amazing table on the patio with a perfect view and ordered more wine with lunch. Normally I never drink at lunch, but it’s vacation in wine country. This time I went with a dry Riesling.

Lunch was this unique corn polenta dish with sliced squash, baby carrots and green chickpeas. The polenta was served in two fried triangles, like polenta tater tots … but wonderful with a creamy texture and amazing flavor.

After lunch, we headed to the elegant and pricy culinary shop where I drooled over the CIA Professional Vita-Mix. I was considering getting this model before I got my Vita-Mix 5200 simply because it matched my other kitchen appliances and was slightly more powerful. But, that was hardly worth the additional $200 and not including the extra containers the Vita-Mix package deal I got from Costco came with. Anyway, I ended up picking up a new spoon made from recycled materials and some flavored olive oils from the shop.

Then we headed farther north to Rombaurer Vineyards to complete our trip visiting the home of one of my all-time favorite red wines. I was surprised at how small the property seemed nestled in a lush hillside and landscaped like a serene English garden with beautiful paths to explore.

After exploring the grounds, we found a cute, shaded patio to sit at and enjoy the view a bit more before heading in for wine tasting. I noted that I’m truly spoiled by having amazing views constantly for the last few days and wondered how I’d get used to our boring old dining area again.

Rombaurer Napa Valley Zinfandel is truly one of the best zins I’ve ever had, fruity without the bite some zins have. I was first introduced to it when a then friend gave me a bottle for my 30th birthday. She’s now a frienemy, but that’s another post after perhaps an entire bottle. We only picked up a couple of bottles becausethey’re a splurge for special occasions at $31 each. And Whole Foods usually carries the slightly cheaper blend for $26 which is also a fave. We mainly wanted to see the vineyard and it was worth it, we had a great time chatting with other guests in the tasting room and enjoying the unique grounds before starting the 3 hour drive home.

Since we were both wiped and in no mode to cook, we stopped by Whole Foods for a quick dinner – a loaded salad for me and a new dessert adventure.

First time trying Coconut Bliss Ice Cream and wow! Decadent dark chocolate flavor with just an underlying hint of coconut and the texture was dead on as ice cream. Not something I usually buy, but it was a nice splurge to wrap up a fabulous weekend.

Since we had no agenda, we pulled out of the hotel around 10 am while I looked up nearby wineries on Yelp. After just a few minutes on beautiful scenic and winding roads, we were out of downtown Napa and in front of Folio Winemakers Studio. Is 10:30 AM too early to start tasting wine? Not when you’re on vacation.

This was the fabulous view from the back porch with a breeze and not a cloud in the sky.

After about and hour of wine tasting, enjoying the views from the porch and exploring the grape fields, we moved on to Domaine Carneros Winery for a little sparkling wine tasting and a light lunch and what amazing views!

The dried figs and strawberries were wonderful, I made them disappear quickly, as well as the pistachios and bread crackers. We sat there and enjoyed the scenery and people watching for about an hour, there were a lot of couples – many looking like they stepped out of a Tommy Hilfiger ad, adult groups and no kids. We probably could have enjoyed sitting there for a few more hours, but our waitress was making regular stops trying to talk us into more tasting and food plates.

Next stop was across the street to Cuvasion Estate Wines which was worlds away with a much more modern and open feel to the tasting room empathizing their green initiatives. The outer walls were glass panels that could be opened up to the outside in nice weather and much of the power was pulled from solar panels.

I’m not a huge chardonnay fan, but theirs was one of the best I’ve tasted with a rich, buttery flavor thanks to malolactic fermentation, but we ended up selecting a syrah and zinfandel to take home.

Three wineries and plenty of tasting did us in, I ‘d had about my wine limit tasting here, there and everywhere. It was wonderful that we weren’t trying to cram every winery in, but rather just going with the flow and enjoying where we landed knowing we could go back anytime. Relaxing and enjoying amazing views and weather with a minor wine buzz did wonders for forgetting the stresses of the weeks prior. We headed back to the hotel to relax and utilize the free wifi for a bit until hitting downtown Napa on foot for another evening of sight-seeing, shopping and eating.

There are some fun shops throughout Napa like this bike shop where I was disappointed to see my dream bike was already sold.

Being fans of the original Japanese Iron Chef, we wanted to eat at Morimoto Napa. But all the tables were taken on a busy Saturday night and we weren’t feeling being crammed into the sushi bar or communal table which were the only options. I’m up for a sushi bar occasionally, but last time we got seated next to a guy new to sushi and spent the evening grilling me on what’s good, how to eat it, etc. After an eventful day, we were looking for a more peaceful dining experience.

I was mesmerized by this lush outdoor hallway dividing a bistro and hotel in an historic building.

Another bistro lined in edible shrubs, aren’t the little apples cute?

I was temped to pick this up for our kitchen until I saw the $150 price tag. Another super fun day and I slept like a rock after so much excitement and wine.

This trip was an impulse thing, I booked the hotel two days before we left when I confirmed hubby could get a couple of extra days off, we really needed to have a change of scenery for a few days after a few weeks of stress. On vacation, hubby and I tend to be on different schedules, he sleeps in and relaxes and I tend to be the get up early and go type hitting the gym first thing in the morning and coming back starved. So I packed some quick, post-workout breakfasts to tide me over until lunch. My dad was always the early bird type on vacation too, getting up early to work out and start planning the day. That always seemed so crazy to me, and now I’m rocking it. Funny how things change.

What would a traveling vegan do without Larabars?

We got a great room at the AVIA Napa, not cheap, but worth it for a mini-getaway and this amazing room!

Love this saying on the TV divider wall, so Napa.

The room looked out on this beautiful terrace complete with swinging benches, an awesome fire pit and beautiful greenery.

I scampered across it early every morning on my way to the gym and it was packed with empty bottles of wine, plates, cigars and corks from serious partying the night before! Poor hotel staff having to clean that up every day.

Hotel lounge area with wine-themed art and a rustic feel. Not a fan of the leather couches, but I like the natural wood details.

The main dinning area and wine bar with more unique, mis-matched rustic decor.

Creepiest chair ever! Looks like something from Disney’s haunted mansion.

The street outside the hotel is packed with wine bars, shops, historic buildings and too many great restaurants to choose from.

Another historic building that looked creepy-cool at night lined with lights.

The patio to Cole’s Chop House restaurant where we wanted to eat, but they literally had nothing for vegans or even vegetarians. Everything on the menu was pricey meat.

A cute dog boutique with fresh made dog treats and goodies. Fun stuff, but my chihuahua refuses to wear anything besides a harness and won’t play with toys.

One theme I love about Napa and wine country in general is the use of edible shrubs and landscaping like these beautiful fig trees lining a dining patio. Good food is beautiful art and why not landscape with it too?

One of the main reasons for the destination of this trip – Ubuntu. I had originally read about it in an Oprah Magazine article a year or so ago and have wanted to go since. My sister generously gave me a gift card for my birthday that  we finally got a chance to use. Ubuntu is a true California restaurant to me for it’s laid-back style, beautiful presentation of vegan and vegetarian cuisine and appreciation for all things natural, fresh, local and sustainable. What they can do with plant-based foods is sure to impress anyone, even my hubby had to admit it was some of the most amazing flavors he’s had.

There’s a staircase in the main dining area that leads to yoga studio where we could see classes going on through the frosted glass walls, pretty wild and added to the atmosphere.

The menu changes frequently with seasonal fresh fare and each item is clearly marked for vegans, vegan versions available and dishes that are share friendly.

Being in Napa and possessing a large gift certificate, we had to start out with a nice bottle of wine. I’m not a huge drinker and drink even less wine now, but it’s something I will never give up and planned to partake in on this trip.

Our meal was also started with an on-the-house taster of cold-pressed melon bites marinated in lime – very interesting, cool and fresh.

For our fist course, we tried the cantaloupe and sage gazpacho which we were unsure of when it was brought out. There was initially no liquid in the bowl, just the melon, seasonings, avocado drizzled with green oil. The waitress poured chilled water over it at the table to create the masterpiece above. But how good could it be with just water? Amazing. It was a wild, bright flavor combo of sage, citrus and melon that was unexpected and refreshing. Hubby was especially blown away by this unique creation.

The next course was yellow eye bean strew with rosemary bread cubes, chili seasonings and red kale and another smash hit for me since I’m a fan of any bean soup, minestrone, etc. The rosemary seasonings in the bread were a wonderful add to the flavors along with a nice spice kick that wasn’t over-powering.

I’m not a huge pasta eater, but this dish just looked too good to pass up – fennel and squash pasta with a strong lemony basil sauce and miso radishes. Fennel is huge in the northern California area because it grows as weeds everywhere … very tasty weeds. I remember chewing on sprigs as a kid in Cupertino while hiking and playing outside. It has a nice, licorice flavor that can be so wonderful in recipes and I’ve only just begun to appreciate fennel seed as a spice. Anyway, the contrasting colored petals were added eye-pleasing garnish. I am a fan of anything heavy on basil, so this was great with just the perfect amount of in-house pasta infused with basil-lemon flavors and a perfect portion size.

Hubby got the inside out grits, a dish with a lot of southern charm – smooth and creamy grits, topped with pan-fried potatoes, fried green and red tomatoes, more fennel and kicked up with cilantro, another winner dish he enjoyed.

By the time the dessert menu arrived, we were pretty relaxed, but made sure to save room for it.

Hubby got espresso to go with it and I loved the crazy seashell shot glass-style cup it was served in.

I tried the blueberry sorbet that came in this cute glass with a layer of lime tapioca at the bottom, blueberry sorbet in the center and fresh blueberries and ice on the top drizzled with more lime. It was a refreshing blast of flavors, the lime paired nicely with the blueberries and the tapioca added a fun texture experience to it.

Hubby got the smooth fudge and figs with fig leaf ice cream, another amazing and unique creation and so appropriate since fig season seems to be bursting here currently.

After the amazing dinner, we walked back to the hotel to enjoy the terrace fire pit in the brisk night air which was refreshing compared to the heat we left at home. It was a great first day full of amazing sights and eats already before we even began to get into wine tasting and vineyard visiting.

I know – me a Megadeth fan? Not exactly, but a supportive wife of hubby’s music and thankful I packed ear plugs. Actually it was a fun experience, I think I enjoyed the people watching most – let’s just say hardcore fans have a very unique fashion sense and I wasn’t exactly blending in my cheery purple dress.

So far my early morning, before breakfast workouts are going good, I got in my first run yesterday after a 2-week break from half-marathon training to rest my swollen ankle. Only 4 miles, but I didn’t want to push it and it was bloody hot outside even at 8 AM. I did 7 minute run/30 second walk intervals per the Jeff Galloway Half-Marathon book to reduce risk of over-tiring my muscles. It went well, no ankle pain. But I’m feeling it in my leg muscles today – apparently 2 weeks is a lot of time to take off from running.

I’m also enjoying having more free time in the evenings since moving my workouts to the AM and had a leisurely after-work shopping trip to Trader Joe’s this week.

That’s the first time I’ve seen micro greens at TJ’s and had to grab them along with plenty of other items. Shopping at Trader Joe’s seems to be hit-or-miss for me in terms of having everything I need, their produce tends to be more seasonal than Whole Foods and they were out of a few items like turbinado sugar. But, having fun new items like these micro greens and figs, plus much cheaper prices, makes up for that. I also grabbed a new drink for the drive home in our sweltering heat.

For $2.50, it was just okay with not a lot of flavor. It was packed with spinach, kale, celery and lots more green juice goodness, but I would have juiced an apple and maybe some ginger into it for more flavor. It did have a nice, fresh taste that was great for the dry heat.

I’ve also been utilizing more leftovers for lunch this week.

Like this southwestern vegan bean salad with guacamole salad for lunch.

And getting creative with tempeh for dinner.

I stir-fried tempeh cubes with cauliflower and yellow squash with fresh minced ginger, nama shoyu, a splash of agave nectar and red pepper flakes giving it a wonderful sweet and spicy kick.

I also threw together a monster salad with cilantro pesto dressing and topped with the micro greens and sunflower seeds for a veggie loaded lunch and the greens were great in the salad.

I had this for lunch the day after the concert because I was craving lots of greens to recover I guess.

For dinner I broke out a block of Trader Joe’s tofu to freehand an Indian-themed curry dish.

I stir-fried pressed and minced tofu with onions, tomatoes, micro greens and cauliflower using curry, cayenne pepper, minced garlic and Braggs for seasoning.

Very good if a little on the spicy side which is alright with me. Funny thing is hubby was craving pizza and opted to pick up a pizza for his dinner. I started preparing this right as he left the house to pick up it and it was ready and simmering on the stove when he got home, aside from pressing the tofu a couple of hours ahead, it took about 20 minutes to prepare and was easier, cheaper and more fun to me than driving to get a pizza. Not to mention way healthier. Sorry babe.

Anyway, I’m not sure how it happened, but my chihuahua has outgrown her harness, it was getting a little too tight across the her mid section.

She’s on a pretty strict diet with me, but I think it’s a different story on the days she spends at my mom’s with her chunky chihuahua. I need to revisit more raw vegan recipes for her! In the meantime, we made a trip to PetSmart to find a better fitting collar where I found there were too many to choose from!

What’s worse is she’s somewhere between a small and x-small size, many of the smalls were still way too big, but the x-smalls were a little snug with straps that were too flimsy and thin. I guess the entire process was more stressful for her than me because as I was looking, she was busy making several piles of poo all around me. Thankfully chihuahua poops are smaller than cats and the cleanup was fairly painless once I found one of the many pet accident cleanup stations all over the store. And I don’t think anyone saw since it was a quiet weekday. PetSmart had the same effect on my last dog, I’d wait with him outside to make sure all business was taken care of and as soon as we entered the store he always found more!

Once the poo was gone, I found a decent harness with a cute Hawaiian themed floral print.

When I first adopted her, I was warned that small dogs should have harnesses over collars because their small necks tend to be more delicate than larger dogs that collars can put too much tension on.

Anyway, I know my posting has been sparse lately, but we’re in vacation mode sucking up wifi at a Napa hotel and more on that to come. But now I have a date with more wine-tasting and shopping.

I’m still in a bit of a  easy foods/leftovers rut, like leftover hemp seed marinara w/ zucchini noodles and a pineapple-watermelon-mint salad for a quick lunch.

Zucchini noodles will preserve in the fridge for up to 3 days when mixed with lemon juice and a little olive oil. Which is great for me, a large zucchini usually produces 3-4 servings of noodles spiralized.

For dinner Sunday, I got a little crazy with red lentils to create a vegan curry dish.

I cooked 1 cup of dried lentils in water, created a curry sauce in the Vita-Mix with carrots, fresh garlic, cayenne pepper and curry powder. Then I sauteed the cooked lentils with chopped broccoli, eggplant and yellow squash. Poured the curry sauce over the mixture and simmered for about 10 minutes. The end result was very tasty and filling while covering many servings of vegetables in one dish. I actually like lentils that have been cooked to nearly a mush, they create a smooth and creamy texture that’s very satisfying while the pureed carrots in the curry sauce are hardly detectable. Not saying that’s a good thing, but it may be for picky eating kids not thrilled about eating whole veggies.

I also had a great lunch with my mom this week that included an amazing vegan southwestern corn chili she picked up at Nugget Market.

It packed fresh corn, kidney beans, tomatoes, green onions and the perfect amount of chili seasoning kick with a nice cumin/peppery flavor that wasn’t too spicy. I must recreate a raw version of this.

Monday’s dinner was half curry lentil leftovers and a fresh salad coated in guacamole dressing I threw together in the Vita-Mix:

• 2 avocados
• juice of 1 line
• 1/4 jalapeno pepper
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup water, as needed
• half bunch of cilantro, chopped

Blend all ingredients in a blender, pour over and toss into salad. Will cover a 4-6 serving salad.

I love the thick texture of the dressing and how well it coats the salad and deviates from a traditional airy, tossed salad. Sure, it’s flavor fusion served with curry, but it worked.

I was never a morning person in my earlier years preferring to sleep in when possible and viewing it as impossible to function at the wee hours of the morning before the sun comes up. I viewed those who hit the gym first thing as super-powered mutants, especially if that meant leaving the house at the crack of dawn to go to a gym, shower, then go to work. Easier for a guy that doesn’t have to worry about hair and makeup I’m sure. I love getting exercise in 6 days a week, it helps me sleep better and feel more energized. But it also takes a huge chunk out of week evenings which can be tough after a long day at work. I tend to be a robot with my weekday morning routines, I get up about the same time and follow the same procedure to get ready for work and have a breakfast smoothie before tearing out the door  at 7 AM. I’m nervous about changing that schedule by getting up even earlier and running on tighter time, but these are the benefits I’m hoping to see:

• Having more down time in the evenings and days in general
• Working out 7 days a week instead of 6
• Being more alert and ready to start the work day
• Having more freedom on week nights to go out to dinner, meet friends, etc.

And there are other benefits to working out in the morning too:

• Why Morning Exercise is Most Effective
• Top 5 Morning Exercise Benefits
• Another 5 Reasons

This morning was my first trial, I jumped out of bed at 5 AM, threw on gym clothes, guzzled coffee and headed our home gym to fit in exercise for the day before breakfast. This is something I wouldn’t even consider without a home gym because it’s just too early to go to a gym and still have enough time to be at work by 7:30 AM. Anyway, the first few minutes of cardio was painful as I tried to get the blood flowing and my brain functioning, but it got much easier 10 minutes into it and I was able to wiz through my Bowflex routine after, grab another cup of coffee and have enough time to hit the shower and get ready for the day. I’m still feeling the lack of sleep today, but I knew there would be an adjustment to this new schedule and am determined to tough it out.

Another new adjustment is having breakfast after the morning workouts instead of before on weekend and working out later in the morning and waiting for dinner to digest and working out later on week nights. I was nervous about this because working out after work at a crowded gym before dinner never worked well for me, I was always hungry and feeling lathargic and hurried to get home and eat. But so far working out in the morning on an empty stomach has worked out okay, no energy sags or digestion cramps. I’ve heard over and over again that having something high in protein after a workout is good – perfect time for a protein breakfast smoothie. So this week should be interesting as I adjust to the new schedule, but so far I’m really liking it.

The chaos for the last week has produced some interesting eats because I was eating by myself a lot and using what I had in the house. Like this:

A bed of baby spinach, raw butternut squash noodles, fresh marina sauce, shredded vegan mozzarella topped with hemp seeds. I make so many variations of marinara sauce now that I don’t need to look at a recipe anymore, not sure if that’s good or bad. But I’m still getting a lot of butternut squashes from our garden that needed to be used up. It was pretty tasty for a last minute layered mess.

As I said, I’ve been on a huge marinara kick lately:

Zucchini noodles this time with thicker, chunkier carrot/hemp seed marinara sauce and topped with nutritional yeast, more hemp seeds and some Italian seasoning.

For this one, I was out of spinach and kale for a salad and improvised with a huge yellow squash from my dad’s garden:

I used a veggie peeler to create yellow squash shavings in place of greens, mixed plum tomatoes red pepper, red cabbage, avocado and tossed with  Annie’s Shiitake dressing and hemp seeds for a unique and tasty salad that was just as good as leftovers the next day after marinating in the dressing overnight.

When things get overwhelming, one of my favorite raw comfort treats is banana ice “kream”. I was thrilled when I first discovered some frozen banana slices and almond milk made amazing soft serve quickly in a good blender. But sometimes I crave a heartier, more rich, whipped texture. And that can happen with a good food processor.

Protein Ice Kream

• 2 bananas, sliced and frozen
• 1 scoop SunWarrior Chocolate Protein Powder
• 1/4 cup walnuts (optional)

Place frozen banana slices and protein powder into a food processor and process until creamy and smooth, add walnuts and pulse until chunks are evenly distributed. Serve and enjoy. Makes 1 large or 2 small servings.

The picture does not do it justice, it’s an amazingly creamy treat and my absolute favorite way to eat bananas. It’s a fun one to customize too sometimes tossing in frozen peaches, blueberries, other nut varieties, vanilla, peppermint extract, etc. However, it does require a decent food processor to turn rock hard frozen bananas into a smooth puree without shooting a blade across the kitchen. I tried a similar recipe in my mom’s older-than-time, lightweight, tiny food processor awhile back and it nearly threw itself off the counter with the weight of the banana spinning around inside. When I went to my first raw recipe class over a year ago, the instructor had a huge Cuisinart 14-cup food processor with a heavy motor base that meant business … this one.

Cuisinart FP-14DC Elite Collection 14-Cup Food Processor, Die Cast

Cuisinart, Kitchen, $237.98

At the time I didn’t have a food processor and was a bit intimidated by it’s size, large amount of accessories and price. She insisted it was worth it for processing tough raw veggies and doing large batches at a time. Months later I finally splurged and am glad I did after that scary experience with my mom’s cheap little one.

My crazy schedule over the last few weeks has left little time to read the many amazing blogs in my Google Reader and when I do have time, trying to figure out where to start and get to blogs I’ve missed is not so easy. Using this LifeHacker post, I arranged my blog subscriptions into weekday folders for more effective reading and so far I’m liking it.

I did cram in a few minutes to look at the paper last night and came across this disturbing study.

“The long term difference in body weight in the intervention and control groups suggest that there is an extended effect on fat mass after a short period of large food consumption and minimal exercise” said Asa Ernersson, who led the research.

The study suggests that slacking on exercise and living a little large diet-wise while on a vacation or over holidays can have a lasting effect on weight … for years! That the metabolism does not rebound as quick as I’ve previously thought. Not that I’ve binged like this recently, but has always thought slacking a bit for vacations wasn’t a huge deal. But apparently it is. Eek!

Anyway, as you can imagine with the chaos of this week, my eats have not been too exciting – another bummer to me. Lots of thrown together salads for lunch like this messy mountain.

Spinach, corn, peas, red pepper, sauerkraut and hemp seeds dressed with a little toasted sesame oil and lemon juice. Simple, reliable, but not ground breaking or exciting.

I did cram in another new recipe for dinner that was new grounds for me and a wonderful hit – Gena’s Classic Tofu Scramble. I’ve never been a huge tofu fan because it is flavorless by itself and the basic stir fry dishes my mom did with it growing up were just okay. But the mush lifeless texture of straight-up stir fried tofu was hardly appealing to me as a child. So, using 2 pasta dishes and one of hubby’s huge Statitical Analysis books, I smashed my block of tofu overnight in the fridge to squeeze out the excess flavorless water.

I was surprised at how much water came out of it and what a difference in texture it made.

The verdict? It’s a wonderfully tasty and simple recipe that’s appropriate for breakfast or a quick dinner. The texture and color were pretty close to scrambled eggs, I would never have guess it was the same mushy tofu. I doubled the recipe wanting to use the entire tofu block and took the leftovers to my mom who was thrilled with it and ecstatically told me how much this tasted like eggs. The women is a serious fan of eggs, so that’s saying a lot. Give this recipe a try even if you’re not a tofu fan.

Anyway, this is a very positive article for a raw diet.

I woke up not long ago thinking, “This is the craziest thing: I’m well past 50 and I feel sensational.” I knew it was what the eccentric health advocate, Arnold Ehret, 100 years ago called “Paradise Health.” I had it: physically and emotionally.

I think many women, myself including, can relate to:

I spent the first 30 years of my life bingeing and dieting — always gaining or losing weight, and conversely losing and gaining my flimsy self-esteem

I like how she stresses not being 100% raw, but rather doing what feels right. I tried to go very close to 100% last winter ignoring my cravings for hot food and it wasn’t easy. I’ve gained a better sense of balance since then and will be including plenty of slow-cooker bean soups this winter.

One item I’ve never been a huge fan of is stuffed bell peppers, the few recipes I’ve tried have been a huge ordeal to cook, messy to eat and just okay in the flavor department. Last night I decided to experiment with this Raw Pimento-Stuffed Pepper recipe because I actually had all the ingredients, it seemed quick to prepare and gave me a great opportunity to use more of the fennel growing wildly out-of-control in our garden.

And use an exotic ingredient I picked up at the Raw Health Expo that’s been sitting untouched in my pantry since.

This is my first time actually using dulse in a recipe and it was an interesting experience.

Not sure how filling this would be, I paired it with a steamed artichoke for an interesting combo.

The first thing I noticed was my mixture hardly looked anything like the picture with a reddish color, I’m guessing the one in the picture used the salt option instead of dulse. I can see why, dulse isn’t exactly cheap, that small bag was $5 as I recall and this recipe used half of it. It’s dried red seaweed or red algae usually in either flake or powdered form and it has a strong, distinct flavor that probably won’t work for everyone. If you’re not a fan of seaweed or nori wraps, you can add dulse to that list as well. If you’ve never tried it, it’s worth a try for the health benefits alone.

The recipe was simple and fast enough to throw together, since our temps topped 100 degrees yesterday, I skipped the option to warm it in the dehydrator. The texture and flavor was very similar to a ground meat product, the buttury ground sunflower seeds blended well with the saltiness of the dulse while the nutritional yeast added a creamy flavor. Also this dish is a good source of protien and B12. And it wasn’t nearly as messy to eat as past stuffed pepper recipes I’ve tried, the mixture held together nicely. If you have some dulce hanging out, give this recipe a try or try the salt option if you’e not into dulce, it’s a recipe I would do again.

I wish I could spend so many hours sleeping and laying around and still look as good as her – not fair. Actually, no I don’t, I love being active. Especially when a sore ankle is not getting in the way. My ankle is feeling a lot better, hardly swollen. I’ve been icing it about twice a day with this wrap, after workouts and being on it for awhile and it seems to be helping.

Southwest Technologies Elasto-Gel Hot – Cold Foot and Ankle Wrap

Southwest Technologies, Health and Beauty, $33.69

Also I’ve been spending time watching move TV, whatever movies are on, catching up with the DVR, etc. Taken and Away We Go are great movies, can’t recommend the new Friday the 13th though. It’s been a quiet weekend so far since hubby is still working way too much overtime, poor guy. I pulled a little bit of overtime myself spending 4 hours on my work laptop yesterday working on a project. Then I went to the mall with my mom intending to spend overtime funds. I haven’t been to the mall in ages, spending money there just hasn’t been appealing to me lately. We spent a couple of hours checking out the Gap, Express, H&M, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel, Payless Shoes and I just couldn’t get into the money spending mood no matter how hard I tempted myself. I ended up buying new clothes for hubby and a couple of cheap winter tops from Old Navy for myself. Pathetic, right? I tried on a bunch of sale items at H&M that looked okay, but I couldn’t justify even spending $5 – $10 on sale pieces partly because they seemed so cheaply made and I couldn’t really determine when I’d wear them.

I finally got my car detailed, which I’ve been meaning to do for longer than I care to admit, I was sure that ancient bird do-do was never coming off. Somehow, they got it off and my car almost feels new again. About as new as a 9-year-old car could feel, but nice not having a buildup of pet hair, my hair, dust and I don’t what to know what else inside. A definite mood lifter.

The last few days was all about easy eats since I was mostly eating by myself, lots of big salads I could remix and cooked vegan dishes I could get a few meals from.

This was a wonderful mess coated in Kristen Suzanne’s hemp nacho sauce and topped with home-grown bean sprouts. The bean sprout seed mix seems to have more bite and spice than alfalfa sprouts as well as a hardier texture, perfect with the cayenne kick in the nacho sauce.

Another monster salad topped with balsamic vinegar, nutritional yeast and hemp seeds and served with an eggplant sauteed in a little olive oil and Italian seasoning. I’ve been trying, but I’m still having a hard time getting into raw eggplant. I think I need to try marinading it next time.

I steamed an entire spaghetti squash, scooped out the squash “meat” and sauteed with Trader Joe’s frozen artichoke hearts, tempeh chunks and a tomato pesto sauce I created in the Vita-Mix for a lonely Friday night dinner. The leftovers were great with shredded vegan mozzarella on top.

For lunch today, my sweet mom treated me to an Asian buffet I like because of the great vegan selection.

Sesame seaweed salad, edamame, picked veggie salad, vegan sushi and marinated tomatoes. They also had a great selection of fresh fruit for dessert. What was not so great was where we were seated. I try not to complain about people on this blog too much, but oh my! I got seated facing a guy who was, well, large. Very large. And he carried all his weight in the stomach area which prevented him from being able to close his legs when sitting. His crotch was wide open for everyone to see and I ended up sitting at an odd angle just to I wouldn’t have to look in that direction. Of course I still couldn’t keep from looking and he stayed there the entire time we were having what looked like his sons grab him more plates of food. I’m still trying to get that horrifying picture from my head. How does he …. ack, nevermind!

Moving on! After lunch I went to Costco against my better judgment. I’d been putting off the trip for two days and I knew I was in for it looking at the packed parking lot. There seemed to be an excessive amount of samples going on today for things like … butter, rice, and nuts. Sadly no wine tasting which I needed after 10 minutes into my shopping trip. Did they really need to sample Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches right near the laundry detergent? I got rammed into a wall of Tide by a women who really wanted that sample.

For dinner my plan was to go simple with a big salad topped with a Sunshine burger crumble.

I crisped and crumbled the patty over medium heat and simply topped a salad of spinach, tomatoes, carrots, sauerkraut and red cabbage for a very filling and tasty combo. So far, I think the Falafel and Southwest flavors are my favorite for the Sunshine patties, but they’ve become a staple in our freezer lately for both hubby and I.

Thankfully my sinuses are doing much better, no more pounding, splitting headaches. Our odd weather here probably triggered it, this morning was in the 50s and breezy feeling like fall. But tomorrow we’re supposed to have a high over 100 degrees again, just weird. This week is shaping up to be a quiet one with hubby working way too much overtime again. I’m hoping to get to more new recipes and be more creative in the kitchen since I’ll have plenty of time home alone and hopefully sans throbbing head pain.

Whining aside, the last two days I’ve been having pricey lunches at Whole Foods.

I’m not proud of the costs, but going easy has been kind of nice with everything else challenging me this week. I was happy to see another kombucha option, Vibranz Kombucha, and the Peach-Passion Fruit flavor is fabulous being sweeter than GT’s with less of a bite and costs about the same at $3 each. I’ve been saving the glass bottles since they’re perfect for taking my own homemade kefir water on the go.

I knew this week wasn’t going to be easy, so I picked up some crutch foods at Trader Joe’s for easier dinners.

I’ve never tried this before, but decided it looked perfect for a throw toghether stir fry. I created a sauce in the Vita-Mix with tamari, fresh ginger, agave nector, chopped carrots and water. Then stir fried cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, cashews and the cubed tofu in a wok with the sauce poured over the top. The end result was wonderful with a nice gingery flavor and varying textures.

Last night’s dinner utilized another quick TJ’s ingredient that’s a fave of mine.

I like this tempeh because it’s about a $1 less than the Lightlife stuff at Whole Foods and considerably cheaper than most other grocery stores. I got a little crazy and decided crisp up the tempeh chunks in a wok with a little toasted sesame oil, then top a raw salad of spiralized cucumber, tomatoes, avocado and carrots dressed with sesame oil, dulce and lemon juice with the chunks.

Besides being a little watery, cucumbers actually spiralize very well and was a fun way to mix things up a bit for a salad. And since I’ve been eating alone the last few nights, I have plenty of leftovers for the next two nights. I know, not too exciting, but easy and gives me more time to catch up on house chores.

Anyway, I’m looking for new ideas to get out of my funk – it’s nearing the end, but some sort of pick me up is in order. Running to the mall has been tempting, but so has saving money and not cluttering my closet. And getting something pierced or tattooed is not an option. What works best for you to end a funk?