Day 22.2: In need of rest

For lunch today, I had leftover Vegan Red Beans & Rice, the last serving (sniff, sniff). I can’t wait to make this dish again and perhaps make some modifications (or perhaps get that Adobo seasoning)!

For my afternoon snack, I unintentionally had 2 tbsp peanut butter. It just sounded better than peanuts and it was already there 😉

I was scheduled to work out with Farrah today to do a short run and some weights but something came up on both our ends, so I decided to go home early and enjoy a night of relaxation 🙂

Self-realization #2 – I love to cook!

I have yet to make up my own recipes but I love trying out what others have created and sometimes putting my own twist on them. Especially when I have the time to just take it easy and prepare a good meal…there’s nothing quite like it.

Tonight, I tried another Happy Herbivore selection…Vegan Refried Bean Cakes!

I used just regular vegetarian refried beans and I substituted oats for the bread crumbs, like I did with the vegan meatloaf.

I also finished off the wine from Tuesday night while cooking, that’s a good way to relax too 🙂

And here are the little cakes when they came out of the oven.

I was really hungry by the time dinner was done, so I piled a few on my plate and went back for seconds later. I actually nibbled at the veggies before the cakes were done so there were more there originally 😉

There are still enough left for another serving or two, yay!

For dessert, I had some So Delicious peanut butter zig zag. It’s my favorite, officially.

I usually don’t eat dessert this much but thanks to my friends, I have a freezer full of So Delicious treats. I think they should just make a container of peanut butter So Delicious now that I think of it. Can they get on that?

I’ve been sitting on the couch most of the night and I think I will do a load of dishes and laundry before the Jeff Dunham show comes on, then after that hit the hay.

It was nice to take a day off from exercise. I love it and it is a big part of my life but sometimes we need a break.

I don’t want to overdo it and miss out on good workouts like my run yesterday. My hips are still kind of sore. But I should be good to go tomorrow!

And put my alarm clock across the room before I go to sleep! See how sneaky the dog is then…

Good night!

Day 20.3: Wine and vegan meatloaf

What a great night!

My friend Renee was coming over for dinner, so I got started on the Vegan Meatloaf from Happy Herbivore early since it had to be in the oven for an hour.

First I got out all the ingredients:

Then I chopped up my onion like a mad woman. Big props to my Pampered Chef chopper…that thing rules and is totally worth the money.

Then I got started on making the loaf. It was SO EASY!

I followed everything to a T, except the optional ingredients which I left out. One change I did make, was I used oats instead of bread crumbs.

Before going into the oven (and topped with organic ketchup).

Oh my gosh. This seriously tasted so good. Except for the fact that it was not at all greasy, this tasted like meatloaf. I mean that, sincerely. YUM! Even Renee, who is an omnivore, agreed. I sent the recipe home with her!

We had some broccoli too 🙂

And some vino!

The wine was a brand called Cupcake which was picked for the name which was fine with me since I love cupcakes!

It was a Cabernet Savignon and at first, we both found it a little dry but once we warmed up to it, it was really good!

I know some wines aren’t vegan but I didn’t really worry about that tonight. Everything else was!

For dessert we had So Delicious chocolate peanut butter non-dairy ice cream 🙂

Okay, chocolate velvet has some competition! The peanut butter part was very…peanut butter-y,  ha ha. But I loved it and it was so nice of my friend to bring it over. We also had another glass of wine with dessert!

I had so much fun drinking wine, turning on some music, making a vegan dinner and catching up with my oldest friend.

Renee and I have known each other since we were five but it has been a long time since it’s just been the two of us.

She’s actually taller than me, this was a re-enactment, ha ha. When we were kids, I was a foot taller than her!

Hope you had a great night as well. See you all tomorrow!

p.s. Don’t forget to Vote For Me for the Sam-e “Good Mood Gig” 🙂 You can vote once every day between now and October 30th. Thank you!