Experimenting

Now that I’m eating more raw, cleansing foods, I need to get creative. I love salads but after awhile, I need something a little more inspiring. 

Since I’m juicing in the mornings, I have been making juice the night before work and bottling them up in those fancy VOSS water bottles. They look good and are easy to tote around. Plus, I love to recycle things I already have.

With the pulp extracted from the juicer, I decided to make a carrot cake. Here’s a bag of all the pulp.

Combined with some flour, eggs, a little sugar and nuts, I turned that bag of mush into a beautiful carrot cake! Voila!

I was inspired by Ani Phyo’s nori rolls recipe so I soaked cashews to make a cashew “cream”.

I let those babies soak overnight, then blended them with water and some salt the next day for a creamy paste.

I took out a sheet of nori, placed sprouts along the bottom, smeared the paste on top and finished it off with avocado slices.

Then I rolled it up, sliced it and tada!! You’ve got some tasty rolls!

What A Great Day

I’ve been radiating absolute happiness since I woke up this morning. Cutting coffee from my diet has really made my sleep so much better and today, May 29th, I officially turned 27! Woohoo! So my coworkers, Jenn and Nicole, and their brother came to pick me up at 8:45am for a bday breakfast at Huckleberry Cafe. It was my first time there but I was thoroughly impressed by their herb and lettuce garden in the back and their variety of pastries lined up along the counter. Not to mention their use of fresh organic produce from the local farmers market.

OK. I didn’t ask for this, but our seat table card was 27!! How random, right? Jenn ordered me a doughnut. I know I’m on a cleanse diet right now but that’s no reason to deprive myself a bite of something sweet, sugary and fluffy!

We asked the kind gentleman to take a pic of us.

Andrew ordered the “Green Eggs & Ham” with the “green” being arugula and pesto. Heard it was delish.

Nicole got the eggs and beef brisket. A little too heavy for breakfast in my opinion, but if you add a cup of rice to the mix, it would make a great dinner.

I got the poached eggs over farmers market veggies: baby tomatoes, snap peas and corn with toasted salted bread crumbs sprinkled on top. Soooo good!

A shot of the little garden behind the cafe. I also had to snap these pics for inspiration for the little garden Chris and I are cultivating in his backyard.

The morning flew by with a ton of design projects. The girls surprised me with a peach tart for my birthday cake at lunch. Here I am making a wish for world peace. Just kidding.

The rest of the afternoon buzzed by. Chris came to pick me up for my surprise birthday dinner. I had no idea where we were going until we made a turn to veer up to Topanga Canyon. Hmmm…..

After too many curves and bends in the road, we came to our destination. WOW! Boyfriend scores 20 points!! For the past two years I have wanted to try Inn of the Seventh Ray up in Topanga Canyon. They are known for their organic ingredients, fresh farmers market produce, and creating foods that tap into positive energy. Yes, it might sound a little weird and hippie but I love it. And it’s perfect timing what with my new path of cleansing and all. We scored a cozy little table right along the river and it looked out into the “wilderness”…all the twinkling little lights, the sound of water fountains, and the low murmur of voices just added to the romantic feel of the restaurant. It was perfect. I wish I could’ve taken more photos but this is all I have. As for the food, well, I ordered: the flax crackers with olive tapenade, cashew “cheese” and pesto sampler, the vegan carrot, curry and cashew soup and the beet salad. Chris got the side of organic mushrooms sauteed in garlic and olive oil and the cooked-to-perfection salmon atop a bed of baby potatoes and pearl onions.

Goodbye 26, Hello 27!!

Time flies, doesn’t it? Seems like only yesterday when I just turned 21 I’m kind of looking forward to my 27s, though…I’m getting good vibes and I feel like great things are in store for me and those I love. Well, here’s to all the good times I had being 26 (and these are just a few of them)…

1.) I became a better graphic designer. No joke. Practice makes you so much better and designing day in and day out has made me so much more confident in my profession.
2.) I established such a better relationship with my parents. Not that I ever had a bad one but now I have an AMAZING one. I love my mom and dad SO much – I am so blessed to have them in my life. They’ve always been loving, supportive and there for me through thick and thin.
3.) I had the best camping trip ever. I’ve only been to three but third time is a charm, right?
4.) Chris bought a really jazzy house and our weekends are nothing but fun and relaxation in his backyard, grilling foods and chillin’ in the hot tub.
5.) Took the coolest trip to the Korakia in Palm Springs with my man. What a blast. One of the best vacays EVER. I highly recommend the place.
6.) I became more health conscious. Screw the superficiality of trying to look like a skinny b**ch and keep up with the all the gorgeous gals in LA. I want to feel good and radiate great health. Cheers!
7.) I’m more comfortable being me. I used to be self-conscious about how goofy and silly I was. I’m not your most ladylike chick but I like who I am and am proud of it. And if you don’t like it, that’s a you problem
8.) I got to go to New York for the very first time. Awesome.

That’s it – I’m stopping at 8. It’s a lucky number. But lord knows the list could go on and on. Thanks, 26! You’ve been good to me.

I Scream For Ice Cream

LOL. Check out the giant ice cream pinata me and my co-workers got for our joint bday party next week. I just couldn’t resist.

Let’s Go, Denver!!

Give the underdog a chance! Let’s go Denver. I’m so sick of the Lakers – they are consistently inconsistent plus they’ve already won their share of titles. I really want Denver to go head-to-head against Orlando in the finals. My sister lives in Denver so that’s one of my excuses for being anti-Lakers right now. And I really like Carmelo Anthony. Not to mention his band of incredibly tattooed mates. Oh, and “Birdman”? Don’t even get me started…he’s fun to watch. Chris would kill me if he read this – he practically bleeds purple ‘n gold.

The Veggie Monologues

Obviously my title is a play on words – ever hear of the V@gina Monologues?? Yeah, well…it’s an episodic play written by Eve Ensler - so it’s intellectual and funny, not raunchy like it might sound. Anyway, I’m introducing a series on Pastries & Bacon called “The Veggie Monologues”, my adventure in detoxing while I try to renew my health, cleanse my body and rid myself of toxins that have accumulated for the past 26 years (27 this Friday since it will be my BIRTHDAY!) Now don’t look at me like I’ve turned all hippie – it’s anything but, my friend. I’m just trying to be healthy and there is nothing wrong with going the holistic route. I just paid $40 for a doctor’s visit and another $60 for an asthma inhaler. My theory is: if I can maintain my health daily through a good clean diet and exercise, then maybe I can avoid all those medical bills. I’ll try to, anyway.

Yesterday morning, I juiced our breakfast: kale, celery, ginger, lemon, apple. You might be thinking GAG which is what Chris looked like he was going to do when I handed him a glass of green muck. But it was surprisingly good. The ginger burned my stomach in a good way, like it was killing off all the bacteria in there.

Lunch was a green avocado salad with balsamic dressing. Not bad. 

Dinner was another healthy salad with a homemade carrot ginger dressing I whipped up in the blender. That’s raw goat cheese grated on top. It was light but filling in a weird way. Must be all the water content in the veggies.

Chris was a trooper for chugging the morning green juice so he was rewarded with a semi-healthy dinner of a salmon burger. We made the patty from scratch with egg, panko, herbs, the usual burger mixture. Slapped it on a ciabatta roll and smeared roasted red pepper aioli in between. I watched him enviously as I munched on my rabbit food.

The salmon patty pre-burger assembly.

The burger assembled, complete with cheddar cheese oozing out.

Let’s Give A Pat On The Back Of The Silpat

My title makes no sense but that’s OK! Went to Sur La Table last weekend and bought a Silpat. I had one a looong time ago and my dumb@ss threw it out for no good reason. Anyway, an episode of Alton Brown had us drooling over parmesan crisps so I had to run out and get this nonstick beauty.

We grilled up burgers that day and Chris stuck the parmesan crisp in between a nice fat juicy burger patty and a warm chewy ciabatta roll. Add to that some Kettle Chips (the best chips ever!!!) and some grilled asparagus and you’ve got a perfect Sunday dinner for a non-vegetarian lol.

I had some mushroom ravioli with parmesan shavings on top. Chris made it look uber fancy with drizzles of mariana sauce and a sprinkle of basil we cut from our backyard. How Top Chef of he.

Dessert that night was fresh strawberry pie using a whole wheat pie crust that’s been hanging out in the freezer for ages. Chris’ dad dropped off a hugo bag of strawberries earlier that morning. I can only make so many strawberry banana smoothies so pie it was! Here’s a pic of the berries getting to know a cup of white sugar in a bowl…didn’t take pics of the pie but I can assure you it was DELISH.

BACK!

Back! Again! I’m fully recovered from that nasty flu bug which knocked the life out of me last week – yack!! Chris took this hilarious picture of me when I was feeling weak and awful. I fell asleep in his hammock. Funny how much I sag that hammock when I’m in it haha!

Recovering

Sorry for another hiatus from posting things – I’m recovering from a little flu virus. Currently at 90%! Can’t wait for the weekend.

External Hard Drive, RIP

I’m mourning the loss of my external hard drive, which gave out on me this morning. I’ve tried running every repair program on my computer and for some reason, it’s no longer showing up on the desktop. The little lights that use to flicker and flash (a signal of life) on the side panel of my HD no longer do…and four years worth of files and images are gone. I’ll either have to get Disk Warrior or bring it in this weekend to a store but who knows. I. AM. SO. SAD. If anyone knows the best way to fix this, please help!

Camping

What with an insane hectic work week, P&B has been on hold as you can tell. But no more! I’m baaaaack! We went camping last weekend to gorgeous Leo Carillo State Park in Malibu. I’ll admit that I’m not exactly a camping kind of girl. For one thing, the bathrooms are just plain gross and I’m already freaked out by public restrooms. Secondly, I refuse to go near the public showers so I remain greasy, smelly and dirty from Friday night to Sunday morning (though I’ve been worse when I’m bedridden with the flu.) And third, my usual healthy eating habits get completely thrown off track since my camping “diet” consists of alcohol and carbs. But all that aside, this time was by far the most fun I had (I’ve been three times by the way.) I almost can’t wait to go again. One of the things that made this particular trip great was that we had a giant blow up mattress, four pillows, warm blankets and the coolest lantern in our tent. So I pretty much felt like I was in my own bed except for the occasional sounds of leaves and bugs dropping on the roof of the tent and the crackling of the camp fire outside our “door”.