A Smattering (sure, that's a word)

If any of you were worrying, finals have not eaten me alive. They have just rendered me unable to make a decent blog post. So I'm trying to make up for it with a smattering of food photos I've taken over the last week or so. My camera's out of batteries again, so I don't know how long it will be until my next post. Seriously, I got the camera batteries just after Thanksgiving, and they've died again already! But then again, I am just using normal double-A's.



I got this meal from the hot bar at my local Whole Foods Market. Pictured are a Mushroom Curry, Sauteed Kale, and a Cranberry Walnut Roll. I love eating at Whole Foods on the weekend, but sometimes their food seems like it's missing something - this was the case with the curry. Kale makes me feel virtuous and whole no matter what, so I always go for kale in any form when I see it on the hot bar at Whole Foods. I also love, love, love their cranberry rolls. I need to learn to make them myself. I asked for a bread machine for Christmas from my grandparents, so we'll see.



This post by Celine inspired me to try adding a little carob powder to the batter for the Homestyle Carob Cookies I always make. After I made them, I saw that Celine commented on her blog that she preferred the cookies without carob powder after she tried her cookies. Oh well. Since I am absolutely ridiculous and was only in the mood to eat one cookie, I only made 1/8 of the cookie recipe. This yielded one semi-huge cookie. If anyone else wants to attempt to try a ridiculous feat such as this, I suggest you use a very small mixing bowl for the dry ingredients to make sure they get fully incorporated. I also added two drops of peppermint oil into the wet ingredients for a special carob-peppermint taste. This cookie was yummy but still not as good as my Double Carob Peppermint Cookies with Almond Butter.



I had some cooked quinoa sitting in the fridge, just asking to go bad, so I decided to whip up some more Almond-Quinoa Muffins from Veganomicon. I really want to reemphasize that they make a great breakfast - the recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour and quinoa, so the 100% whole grain-ness of these muffins will keep you staying full. This is great news for people like me who don't like a lot of sugar at breakfast time.



Ever since I saw Katie's recipe for a grilled peanut butter banana sandwich, I could not stop thinking about it. So I finally got my butt to the store and bought some Ezekiel Sprouted 100% Whole Grain Bread (that's a mouthful...) and whipped up Katie's "sandwich of dreams," as she calls it. Well, after ingesting this lovely sandwich, I heartily agree. This concotion sure is a sandwich of dreams. I didn't have raisins, so I skipped that part; I used almond butter instead of peanut butter because almonds are just a better source of calcium; and I don't have a grill or stove so I sprayed my sandwich with cooking spray and broiled it in the oven for a few minutes, and then baked it for a few more minutes, and it came out great. See? Even if you don't have the perfect setup or equipment, you can still satisfy your cravings. And seriously, before I made the sandwich I was having intense cravings.



This one night I was hungry for something sweet so I whipped up a bowl of sliced bananas, soaked goji berries, carob chips, and crushed walnuts topped with a little agave, a little organic chocolate syrup, and a little pumpkin pie spice. It didn't taste too great but it satisfed the sweet tooth. Maybe some granola would have made it better. But it looks cute, don't you think? I know, I know, my ice cream bowl + spoon rocks.



I was also having some cravings for comfort food, and I definitely think French toast is a comfort food. I halved this recipe and made a hearty vegan breakfast for one (plus I added vanilla extract, cinnamon, and a teaspoon of almond flour to the batter). Oh, cooking for one! This quartering and halving is so silly! I can't wait until I can go home and use my own kitchen and feed other people too. It's so much more fun that way. And yes, earlier I said "cooking." I know I don't have a stove, so I packed up all the French toast ingredients in my picnic basket and trekked over to the dorm that does have a stove. The dorm also provides frying pans and other cookware, so I was set in that department. I don't know if I'll be making many more trips like this, because it's time consuming to transport cooking goodies to and from. Also, it's been snowing and I refuse to walk through the snow with my picnic basket. Sigh. I'll leave it at that.