Favorite Farmers Market

All of this produce for $8.70.  I'm telling you - it is best to go right before the market closes for the awesome deals (or free bok choy shoved in your bag).  I love the Mountain View Farmers Market!  Have you voted for your favorite market?


Then I whipped up a stir fry with my fresh tomatoes, leftover tofu, some garlic, balsamic vinegar, ground black pepper, and cayenne.  I definitely took a gamble with that sauce combination, but I think it highlighted the natural veggie flavors quite well!

Experimenting

I love weekends where I have the time to experiment with new recipes.  This weekend I tried 2 new ones and re-vamped an old one.  I revisited the black bean/corn/quinoa salad we made for the barn party, except this time we added mango and avocado - a tremendous improvement.  Best eaten with salty tortilla chips.  Yesterday I made the vegan apple muffins in my previous post, which turned out great and are now in my freezer for future enjoyment.
The other new recipe that my friend Steph and I tried was a vegan chocolate chai cheesecake. DECADENT (and easy to make)!!  My pictures aren't as great as the VeganPandamonium site, so check out how pretty it can look.

Vegan Chocolate Chai Cheesecake
-2 containers of 8oz Tofutti cream cheese
-1/4 block of extra firm tofu
-2/3 c agave syrup (could've used 1/2 c next time)
-2 tsp vanilla
-1/4 c + 1Tbs Chai tea concentrate
-2 Tbs of corn starch
-1 9" store bought pie crust
-vegan chocolate chips

Oven 350 degrees. Put cream cheese, tofu, agave, vanilla, chai in blender.  Then mix in corn starch. Line bottom of pie crust with thin layer of choco chips. Pour filling into crust. We dotted the top with more choco chips. Bake for 45 minutes until top is golden.  Let it set for at least an hour in fridge.  (We, of course, could not wait that long = goopey slices.)  Drizzle with choco syrup, if desired.

Pining for home and apples

shirt from WisconDiego.com

It's family reunion weekend in WI, and where am I?  In CA.  Making apple muffins.  Because that's what I do when I miss WI - I make apple products.  How often does that happen?  Not much.  Not since I moved out here in the Fall of 2007.  That was my handmade caramel apple phase.  Apples abound in WI, especially in my parents' backyard orchard, so I have a strong association with apples and WI.  Every year our family creates an apple pie assembly production and churns out dozens of pies for freezing and baking.  So now that everyone is playing in WI except me, I decided to make apple muffins using the bucket of apples my neighbor had set out with a "FREE" sign.  The 2 cups of applesauce and the 12 muffins that resulted from that bucket turned out fantastically.  Too bad I still miss WI.

Vegan Apple Muffins (courtesy of the Happy Herbivore)
-1.5 c flour
-.5 c oats
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-2 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp apple mix spice (or ginger and nutmeg separately)
-.25 tsp salt
-.5 c sugar
-.25 c brown sugar
-.25 c maple syrup
-1 c unsweetened apple sauce
-1 c diced apple

Oven 350 degrees. Thoroughly mix dry ingredients, then add sugars and wet ingredients. Plop in greased muffin sheet. Sprinkle top with brown sugar.  Cook for 15 min.

My name is Laura, and I have an addiction.

Or several addictions.  If you've read any of my posts, you'd know that I am addicted to sugar.  Addictions run in my genes.  You may also have noticed that I'm developing an addiction that I've ignored.  So here I am now - declaring my addiction to plants.  No, not that certain fun-loving California herb, but all plants in general.  You see, when left unsupervised, I end up planting vegetables and herbs in anything resembling a pot.  I now have nearly 15 plants growing in my courtyard and 2 on my desk at work.  After today's shopping spree (the nursery was having a 30% off sale!), I now have the following species: rosemary, basil, stevia, Anaheim peppers, jalapeño peppers, Early Girl tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and onions.
Surely, now my neighbor Drew will never agree to water my plants ever ever again.  Looks like I won't be going anywhere for awhile.  Time for more visitors!

In other news, I found my new favorite produce market: http://www.demartiniorchard.com/  They have samples for EVERYTHING, and it's relatively inexpensive for such fresh, high quality goods.  That's where I purchased a canary melon and Crunchfuls cereal (a Mountain View-based product).

I'm a winner in my book

Apparently I have a competitive spirit - when I know I have a good chance of winning, anyway.  I like setting goals, achieving them, and kicking the butts of my competitors.  Examples...
-Roomie and I have a "Wish Board" in our kitchen with all our goals for the year.  Seeing the board every day reminds me of what I want to accomplish.  Also, it holds us accountable, since we can remind each other (our guests check in on our progress too.)  Start learning the Thriller dance, Angela!
-See previous post for Jump Rope Competition.
-For the next 5 weeks I've enlisted in another G-Fit competition where I submit my athletic accomplishments every day.  It gets progressively more challenging, but today's exercise mandate was 30 min of cardiovascular exercise and 25 crunches, for example.
-Roomie and I play DDR on a regular basis (Dance Dance Revolution with Wii).  She usually beats me, but I love the thrill of the thumping beats and syncopated rhythms that keep us jumping, bouncing, and stomping to beat our high scores.
-A couple friends and I are trying out "August Accountability" competition.  We have to track our sweets and exercise amounts on a shared Google spreadsheet.  The goal is to enjoy no more than 1 sweet per day and exercise 5 days per week.  If one of us eats more sweets than allowed and doesn't exercise as much, then that person is the "loser" and must buy the winner a gift card.  It's very motivating so far!

Japanese eggplant and graffiti cauliflower that I roasted. I heart purple.