(903) c'est toujours ensoleillé

The holidays are over! Yay! They were great and I got to spend lots of time with my family, which was great. I had a very quiet New Years. I have to say, I am ready for school to be back (in 1 week!) so that my life can have some sort of a routine again. I am really excited for this semester because of all the great French literature I get to read for my French lit in English translations class. I am also taking the second part of a British lit survey I took last semester, which will briefly cover some gothic lit! Okay, enough geek talk...now switching to foodie mode.

I love having leftover vegetables to do something new with. I cooked brown rice pasta with I sauteed mushrooms in vegan butter and Italian seasoning. I then added two cloves of minced garlic and red pepper flakes, then added it to pasta. It was absolutely amazing! Some of the best things I've eaten have been last minute and with out a recipe (I need to do this more often)

Doing some vegan cookbook reading and drinking a lovely GF beer

What my New Years Eve consisted of.

Mise en place: something I am trying to incorporate into my cooking as much as possible. 

It may have been a day late, but this hoppin' John bowl is out of this damn world. In Isa's book, Appetite for Reduction, she explains the components of "the vegan bowl": a grain, a protein (beans, tempeh or tofu), a green/vegetable and a sauce. Pulled together, the vegan bowl is a nutritious, versatile meal that you can make a million different ways. On New Years Eve, Isa posted this AMAZING bowl recipe on her blog. I immediately bought the ingredients and made it the next day. I opted for short grain red rice, which she used, and I absolutely love now! (I just got two bags of long grain from WF for .99 each!) The red hot tahini sauce is addictive, and the entire thing comes together beautifully. The tomato parsley salad was a great addition. I suggest you all make this bowl now, especially if it's your first vegan bowl! (it was my first!)//post-punk kitchen

My sister made an amazing GF lemon tart for New Years! I loved it with a dollop of vegan vanilla yogurt on top.

Roasted romanesco cauliflower with lemon, pepper and toasted almonds. So amazing!

New Years Day brunch: scramble with potatoes, peppers and eggs using a scramble starter I got my mom for Christmas. So good! 

Hazelnut chai tea with almond milk in my mom's Christmas mug. So good and I am in love with this mug.

Treat yo'self lunch at Printworks Bistro: the Pimm's #32

More from brunch: roasted green beans with a mushroom roasted root vegetable and quinoa stuffed pumpkin. Amazing and all vegan!

Got tired of my tea cluttering two cabinets and my spices being all over the place, but I also didn't want to take up room on my counter with a spice rack...so I turned one of my drawers into a spice drawer! I figured this is the easiest way to see all of my spices, with out taking up a ton of room, and keep them organized! I also put my teas in three cubbies on my cabinet by type of tea. Yes. I have THAT much tea.

Cute little GF beer I'm trying tonight. I love the strawberry and honey notes!

Lazy dinner tonight. Salmon with thyme tomatoes and leek herb fingerling potatoes from Whole Foods with homemade quinoa I prepped for lunch tomorrow. So amazing and filling.

I am hosting my first Criterion film this week and am so excited!