Mom's Birthday Bash
I’ve had a busy weekend of preparation, both for my Mom’s birthday celebration (yay!) and my classes starting tomorrow (bummer). I’ll provide details on the fun part (the birthday bash) later on, but I’ll be a little less verbose for this post–I need to get a good night’s sleep before class in the morning…
Friday
I found some cranberries in the freezer leftover from last Thanksgiving. After seeing Zesty‘s cranberry smoothie the other day, it was only a matter of time before they made their way into my blender…
mango-cranberry smoothie with Berry HempShake, soymilk, & Acai Apple granola
Saturday
It is beyond me why I have waited this long to try this recipe. Coconut? Banana? Yes, please.
Banana Cream Pancakes (ED&BV) topped with vanilla agave & raw almonds
I love me some pizza bagels. BUT there’s not enough surface area for all the toppings I want! Hence, the pizza salad.
pizza bagels; strawberries; mixed nuts; pizza salad (spinach, roasted red pepper, 'shrooms, steamed cauliflower, & soy pepperoni)
although they may appear as roasted marshmallows, those are actually slices of string cheese
glorious.
Confession: when I am lazy and do not feel like cooking, I make wraps. Exhibit A:
Veggie Hummus-Guac Wrap with yellow squash; green beans; salad; cottage cheese & kiwi
My Berry HempShake supply is dwindling!
strawberry-mango smoothie with Berry HempShake, soymilk, & Acai Apple granola
Sunday
My “green” smoothie was more of a poopy brown. Ah well, it still tasted good. Somehow the coconut milk lent a “peanutty” flavor to the smoothie. Then again, maybe it was just the PB toast stuck in my teeth;)
green smoothie (cranberries, peaches, coconut milk, almond milk, & spinach); Ezekiel raisin toast with Cinnamon Swirl PB
You’ve actually already seen my lunch today–check out my scrambled tofu tutorial. I LOVE this flavor of kombucha–it’s like Grapico, except it’s good for you. Oh, and yes, I eat the skins on my kiwi…is that weird?
Scrambled Tofu with bok choy & onions; mini bagel; kiwi & blueberries; Divine Grape kombucha
We had the whole gang over for dinner to celebrate the madre’s b-day. For appetizers, we picked up a container of Sabra hummus and served it with Food Should Taste Good Olive Chips. I picked out a recipe from Ellie Krieger again; this time it was Pasta with Escarole, White Beans, and Chicken Sausage. Yes, I love my mom so much that I handled meat for the first time since 8th grade, just to honor her birthday. I actually didn’t mind that much, as the sausages were fully cooked, and I’m not one of those vegetarians who gets squeamish around meat. Anyway, Lea provided a fruit salad, and Katie whipped up some Peanut Butter Cupcakes–they even had Reese’s cups baked inside!
Sabra hummus with olive chips & multigrain Saltines
Rotini with Escarole, White Beans, & Chicken Sausage (for the fam)
Katie's cupcakes
tri-color whole wheat rotini with squash, white beans, spinach, & pine nuts; fruit salad
after dinner sweet: plain yogurt with vanilla agave
Check out what I bought at Best Buy today. Get excited for videos!
Alright, I am off to relax before a full day of chemistry and chemistry lab. Wish me luck!
Have a great week, everyone.
Filed under: Meals
Hello and welcome! I have created this blog for people who love food, especially healthful, vegetarian food.
I have just graduated from Duke University with degrees in English and psychology. I plan to pursue a master's degree in nutrition starting in Fall 2010. Ideally, I would like to combine my love of food and the written word someday as a health writer.
Oh yes, SO weird to eat the skins on your kiwi!
Fortunately, those pizza bagels redeem you–they look SO delish, and I was happy to read about the sliced string cheese–I was scared you were going to say tofu! Good luck with class, girl!
The birthday spread looks fab…chips and hummus? Yes please!
I can’t wait to see your videos!
Ha i always get a kick out of your string cheese slices
And I totally LOVE WW saltines- i feel so low brow but they are delish! What a fun celebration and your meal looks soo much better than going to restaurant.
When all fails…make a WRAP! You surriously can’t go wrong with one. So wonderful…espesh with guacamole.
Who is Katie and how can I get some of her cuppincakes?! They look beautiful and pb chocolately fabulousnesss!!
Haha, Katie is my sister, who has recently turned into a baker extraordinaire/domestic diva!
everything looks so yummy! those pancakes, OMG!
The pancakes sound so good! Great flavor combos. Glad your moms party was a success- all of the food looks so good. Hope your first day of classes goes well!
Banana cream pancakes look awesome! WOW!
My Mom eats the kiwi skin but I can’t bring myself to try it!
I eat the skins on my kiwis just because I’m too lazy to get them off sometimes!
Those cupcakes look fabulous. I want some!
Good luck on your first day back!
I am in love with Katie’s cupcakes!! Those sound amazing! Sounds like a great birthday dinner!
Good luck with Chemistry! I’m soooo glad I’m done
Caroline,
Thanks for your roommate reassurance. Very helpful!
My daddy’s birthday is tomorrow! The big 5-0.
Looks like your mum had a great day. Did you stick a candle in one of the cupcakes?
With Love,
Emily
oh this all looks so good! and sounds like it was a fun time. i always like cooking for family as opposed to going out. much more fun! i love the string cheese rounds, i never thought of doing that.. they resemble pepperonis! and are those better than sex cupcakes??? they look really good!
oh doh, i just read the part about the PB in the cupcakes how did i miss that. i bet the insides were so delicious!
Yummy eats. Lol, I have a lot of wraps/sammies when I’m too lazy to cook, too.
The good thing is that they always end up delish, haha,
OMG I like the sound of those cup cakes! Im going to check out your 50 smoothies post too
Have fun in class today!
I am STILL thinking about those pancakes and pizza bagel. Fabulous eats ALL day. I LOVE hummus and guac in any wrap!
oh myyyy those pancakes look amazing! you are such an amazing cook girl! phewey i was drooling reading this whole post!
Hey Caroline,
As another recovering anorexic, I was wondering if you ever allow yourself to eat treats such as the cupcakes for your mom’s birthday? Things like that are still hard for me… and I don’t see it getting better anytime soon. So I was just wondering if you felt the same way?
All that food looks great, especially the pancakes! And those cupcakes look delicious, too! I sometimes eat the kiwi skin if I’m too lazy to peel it. My Mom thinks it’s gross, though. I personally don’t really care, haha.
Banana cream pancakes sound like the most amazing pancake idea ever.
I’m also chuckling at the idea of pizza salad. I love it! I want to make a pizza salad now.
Eating kiwi skins isn’t weird, I do it too! It’s just so much easier and they really don’t taste like anything! As long as you can get past the fuzz haha.
Reese’s baked INTO the cupcakes? Seriously? What an amaaazing idea. YUM.
Schmancy cam! Can’t wait to see you use it!
I hope my question wasn’t offensive. It definitely wasn’t meant that way!
I love your pizza bagels!!! Great idea!
-A
ooooooooooooooo….i cant wait to try the grape kombucha…kombuuuuucha love!!!
I’ve never tried cranberries in my smoothies, but I love their tart & tangy flavour, so I really should test it out one of these days.
And those cupcakes look pretty awesome – how can you go wrong with peanut butter & chcocolate, really?