Tuesday, August 31, 2010

BELLY BUSTER of the day

hate being on the ground ?
Upside-Down Crunch
1)Start on ground in plank position, balancing on forearms and toes, hands clasped, so body forms a straight line from head to heels.


2)Tip tailbone up, arching back slightly, then tuck pelvis under, reversing arch to flatten back and pull abs tight; hold contraction for 5 counts.

Do 8 to 10 reps.

YOGA Pose of the day

Take a seat and relax your muscles today . After i get ten followers i will post a sequence and it will be a yoga tribute day  so help me get to ten followers and i will post a yoga sequence to help you relax.

Chair Pose
Step by Step
1)Stand in Tadasana. Inhale and raise your arms perpendicular to the floor. Either keep the arms parallel, palms facing inward, or join the palms.


2)Exhale and bend your knees, trying to take the thighs as nearly parallel to the floor as possible. The knees will project out over the feet, and the torso will lean slightly forward over the thighs until the front torso forms approximately a right angle with the tops of the thighs. Keep the inner thighs parallel to each other and press the heads of the thigh bones down toward the heels.

3)Firm your shoulder blades against the back. Take your tailbone down toward the floor and in toward your pubis to keep the lower back long.

4)Stay for 30 seconds to a minute. To come out of this pose straighten your knees with an inhalation, lifting strongly through the arms. Exhale and release your arms to your sides into Tadasana.

Check out the video on yoga journal tv
Yvonne-Marie

Monday, August 30, 2010

YOGA Pose of the day

WHERES MY BIG TOE !!??
Big Toe Pose

Step by Step

1)Stand upright with your inner feet parallel and about six inches apart. Contract your front thigh muscles to lift your kneecaps. Keeping your legs completely straight, exhale and bend forward from your hip joints, moving your torso and head as one unit.


2)Slide the index and middle fingers of each hand between the big toes and the second toes. Then curl those fingers under and grip the big toes firmly, wrapping the thumbs around the other two fingers to secure the wrap. Press your toes down against your fingers. (If you can't reach your toes without overly rounding your back, pass a strap under the ball of each foot and hold the straps.)

3)With an inhalation, lift your torso as if you were going to stand up again, straightening your elbows. Lengthen your front torso, and on the next exhale, lift your sitting bones. Depending on your flexibility, your lower back will hollow to a greater or lesser degree. As you do this, release your hamstrings and hollow your lower belly (below your navel) as well, lightly lifting it toward the back of your pelvis.

4)Lift the top of your sternum as high as you can, but take care not to lift your head so far that you compress the back of your neck. Keep your forehead relaxed.

5)For the next few inhalations, lift your torso strongly as you continue to actively contract your front thighs; on each successive exhalation, strongly lift your sitting bones as you consciously relax your hamstrings. As you do this, deepen the hollow in your lower back.

6)Finally exhale, bend your elbows out to the sides, pull up on your toes, lengthen the front and sides of your torso, and gently lower into the forward bend.

7)If you have very long hamstrings, you can draw your forehead toward your shins. But if your hamstrings are short, it's better to focus on keeping the front torso long. Hunching into a forward bend isn't safe for your lower back and does nothing to lengthen your hamstrings.

8)Hold the final position for one minute. Then release your toes, bring your hands to your hips, and re-lengthen your front torso. With an inhale, swing your torso and head as a single unit back to upright..

Did you fine your big toe? I did :)
Yvonne-Marie

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Yoga Pose of the day

Its Sunday lets take it easy.
Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose
Step by Step

1)Sit on the floor with your torso upright and your legs wide. Bend your left knee and snug the heel into your left groin. Then slightly bend your right knee and slide the heel a few inches toward the right buttock.


2)Exhale, lean to the right, and press the back of your right shoulder against the inside of your right knee. Lay your right forearm on the floor inside your right leg, palm facing up. Lengthen the right side of your torso along the inside of the right thigh. Turn your right palm toward the inside edge of the foot and take hold of it, thumb on the top of the foot, fingers on the sole.

3)Remember, the pose is anchored by the femur bone of the left leg. Press the left femur firmly to the floor, as you inhale and slowly extend your right knee. Keep the back of your shoulder connected to the inner knee as you extend it; you'll find that your torso is drawn out by the straightening knee. When your knee is straight, twist your torso toward the ceiling.

4)Inhale your left arm straight up toward the ceiling, lean it back slightly, and then, with another inhale, sweep it behind your left ear and take hold of the outside edge of the right foot. Press the elbows away from each other, using them like a crank to help twist the upper torso further. Turn your head to look at the ceiling.

5)Hold for a minute. To come out, first untwist your torso, and without coming to upright, sweep it to the left midway between the legs. Then inhale and lift to an upright position. Remember not to come up directly from the twisted position.. Repeat these steps to the other side for the same length of time.

Yogajournal.com (check it out)
Yvonne-Marie

BELLY BUSTER of the day

Hope todays move gives you a kick in the CORE 
Advanced: Squat Jump

Targets: Arms, abs, butt, legs

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, hands by sides.
Squat, keeping knees behind toes, then jump straight up, lifting arms overhead.
Land in a squat with arms overhead.
Lower arms by sides.

Do 12 reps.
Enjoy
Yvonne-Maire

Saturday, August 28, 2010

YOGA Pose of the day

AHOY Mates!!! hope you feel the burn of this pose:
Full Boat Pose
Step by Step

1)Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you. Press your hands on the floor a little behind your hips, fingers pointing toward the feet, and strengthen the arms. Lift through the top of the sternum and lean back slightly. As you do this make sure your back doesn't round; continue to lengthen the front of your torso between the pubis and top sternum. Sit on the "tripod" of your two sitting bones and tailbone.


2)Exhale and bend your knees, then lift your feet off the floor, so that the thighs are angled about 45-50 degrees relative to the floor. Lengthen your tailbone into the floor and lift your pubis toward your navel. If possible, slowly straighten your knees, raising the tips of your toes slightly above the level of your eyes. If this isn't possible remain with your knees bent, perhaps lifting the shins parallel to the floor.

3)Stretch your arms alongside the legs, parallel to each other and the floor. Spread the shoulder blades across your back and reach strongly out through the fingers. If this isn't possible, keep the hands on the floor beside your hips or hold on to the backs of your thighs.

4)While the lower belly should be firm, it shouldn't get hard and thick. Try to keep the lower belly relatively flat. Press the heads of the thigh bones toward the floor to help anchor the pose and lift the top sternum. Breathe easily. Tip the chin slightly toward the sternum so the base of the skull lifts lightly away from the back of the neck.

5)At first stay in the pose for 10-20 seconds. Gradually increase the time of your stay to 1 minute. Release the legs with an exhalation and sit upright on an inhalation.

Hope you liked the pose
Yvonne-Marie

BELLY BUSTER of the day

Enjoy todays Move !!
Intermediate: Hands-Up Hop

Targets: Arms, abs, butt, legs

Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, hands on hips.
Step forward with left foot and simultaneously lift right knee to hip level as you hop straight up on left leg and extend arms overhead.
Land with feet together, hands on hips.

Do 20 reps, alternating sides.
Yvonne-Marie

Friday, August 27, 2010

Todays activities

Hello everyone
   So yesterday was kind of a crummy day for me until i got out of work. I'm at work from 9am till 6-7 pm. and this is my last week so its been extra horrid because before i leave i have to finish training the trainee and all the work we have. But however my night turned out great once i got a call from my best friend Rocio ( you might know her as rosey21 on twitter) Go check out her blog she is amazing i love her dearly and she is an American obsessed with the European music . I wanted to go out to eat so we did and my little brother came with us we hit a sushi joint close to my house i got an avocado roll and they shared a teriaki sandwich. Once i got home i saw i had MAIL. I'm still like a child when i get mail (yes even if its a bill) this is what i got.


On twitter i won a body by Bethany DVD its yogatastic (i shall be trying this tonight ) and with it came an acacia catalog that I'm still looking through and my fitness magazine i subscribed to in June I love this magazine its the best. Check out Fitness mag to subscribe or look at all their friendly advice online.

That was my night and of course some blogging  which i have NEWS I'm thinking about posting a who's the top blog this week section, and although I'm not comfortable with my body yet my own work outs that i must say have been working but not a very camera loving person. But if you guys are supportive i shall be posting the workouts I do and have worked for me on here in its own little section on THE MASH.

hope you enjoyed today's activities
Yvonne-Marie

Happy reminder: today's activities is usually posted from the night before :)

YOGA Pose of the day

Can you say MOOOOOOOOOO

Cow Face Pose
Step by Step
1)Sit in Dandasana (Staff Pose), then bend your knees and put your feet on the floor. Slide your left foot under the right knee to the outside of the right hip. Then cross your right leg over the left, stacking the right knee on top of the left, and bring the right foot to the outside of the left hip. Try to bring the heels equidistant from the hips: with the right leg on top you'll have to tug the right heel in closer to the left hip. Sit evenly on the sitting bones.


2)Inhale and stretch your right arm straight out to the right, parallel to the floor. Rotate your arm inwardly; the thumb will turn first toward the floor, then point toward the wall behind you, with the palm facing the ceiling. This movement will roll your right shoulder slightly up and forward, and round your upper back. With a full exhalation, sweep the arm behind your torso and tuck the forearm in the hollow of your lower back, parallel to your waist, with the right elbow against the right side of your torso. Roll the shoulder back and down, then work the forearm up your back until it is parallel to your spine. The back of your hand will be between your shoulder blades. See that your right elbow doesn't slip away from the right side of your torso.

3)Now inhale and stretch your left arm straight forward, pointing toward the opposite wall, parallel to the floor. Turn the palm up and, with another inhalation, stretch the arm straight up toward the ceiling, palm turned back. Lift actively through your left arm, then with an exhalation, bend the elbow and reach down for the right hand. If possible, hook the right and left fingers.

4)Lift the left elbow toward the ceiling and, from the back armpit, descend the right elbow toward the floor. Firm your shoulder blades against your back ribs and lift your chest. Try to keep the left arm right beside the left side of your head.

5)Stay in this pose about 1 minute. Release the arms, uncross the legs, and repeat with the arms and legs reversed for the same length of time. Remember that whichever leg is on top, the same-side arm is lower.

Enjoy this cow friendly pose
Yvonne-Marie

BELLY BUSTER of the day

Hope you like todays move :)
Intermediate: Lunge Reach

Targets: Shoulders, abs, butt, quads

Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms by sides.
Lunge forward with left leg, bending both knees 90 degrees, and reach arms toward floor.
Explosively push off left leg to return to starting position and lift arms straight overhead.

Do 8 reps. Switch sides; repeat.

CHICKEN FRIED TOFU YUMMMZ

So this recipe is not mine it is actually was given to me by JCLOV because the otehr day i had a fight with tofu and felt that i needed to fix things and make up because its a basic something in all or almost all vegan recipe i have not tried it yet However i will be doing a review on it once i do but if you want to try it before me go right on ahead.

Chicken Fried Tofu!

1 block extra firm tofu (cubed, rectangular prismed, whatever shape you'd like really)
-olive oil
-nutritional yeast flakes
-tamari, soy sauce or bragg's liquid aminos

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add tofu (it might be best to do half a block at a time, especially for tofu newbies). Cook tofu until golden brown. Toss on nutritional yeast flakes until the tofu is coated, stirring to mix it up. Drizzle soy sauce on top and mix. Don't overdo it on the sauce.

Hope the recipe turns out well
Yvonne-marie

WHO'S THE TOP BLOG !!

This week the top blogger has been (insert drum roll here :))

COOKING FOR A VEGAN LOVER

Her birthday is actually tomorrow she has great recipies and an amazing OPENSKY SHOP that you all should go and support and is just an all around  very wise person go check out her blog and leave her lots of BIRTHDAY wishes.


Happyblogging :)
Yvonne-Marie

If you want to be mentioned for blogger of the week please send me a message to my twitter  stating why you want to be the blogger of the week.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

TODAYS ACTIVITIES

Hello everyone so last yesterday i did ALOT of blogging so much i have blogged for a month.LITERALY i have made updates for every day till my birthday on my birthday im going to try and do a give away for vegan goodies beauty products and handy gadgets for the kitchen. But i will need atleast 50 ppl to apply for the auction on my b-day ill realease a post a week before and then the count down will start from there. But on another note i also use this blog to write down what I eat.
this morning (meaning yesterday morning ) i had a bagle with jelly and earth balance butter.
 for lunch a boca burger with fries (i was bad)

and for dinner this :

so now i wanted to here the thoughts  of my followers what would you like to see and what questions do you want answers to?

oooooand BIG NEWS  next week i shall be moving back into the dorms at school so there will be a dorm and  pic tribute to moving in :)

happy blogging
yvonne-marie

YOGA pose of the day

Relax to this pose
Half Lord of the Fishes Pose
Step by Step


1)Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, buttocks supported on a folded blanket. Bend your knees, put your feet on the floor, then slide your left foot under your right leg to the outside of your right hip. Lay the outside of the left leg on the floor. Step the right foot over the left leg and stand it on the floor outside your left hip. The right knee will point directly up at the ceiling.

2)Exhale and twist toward the inside of the right thigh. Press the right hand against the floor just behind your right buttock, and set your left upper arm on the outside of your right thigh near the knee. Pull your front torso and inner right thigh snugly together.

3)Press the inner right foot very actively into the floor, release the right groin, and lengthen the front torso. Lean the upper torso back slightly, against the shoulder blades, and continue to lengthen the tailbone into the floor.

4)You can turn your head in one of two directions: Continue the twist of the torso by turning it to the right; or counter the twist of the torso by turning it left and looking over the left shoulder at the right foot.

5)With every inhalation lift a little more through the sternum, pushing the fingers against the floor to help. Twist a little more with every exhalation. Be sure to distribute the twist evenly throughout the entire length of the spine; don't concentrate it in the lower back. Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then release with an exhalation, return to the starting position, and repeat to the left for the same length of time.

Stretch and enjoy
Yvonne-Marie

BELLY BUSTER of the day

Todays belly buster will be fun :)
Beginner: Step Hop

Targets: Abs, butt, legs

Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, hands on hips.
Step forward with right foot, then lift left knee to hip level as you hop straight up on right leg.
Land with feet together.

Do 16 reps, alternating sides.

A NEW GREAT LINK

So i have been thinking about running lately because my Dr.'s appointment is on the 9th and i want to be somewhat  fitter than i am  now and youdailyvegan sent me this link that i just thought was an awesome help. And i wanted to share this with all of you.

couch to 5k

Hope some of you try this i know i will try to get my but off the couch and bed
Yvonne-Marie

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

YOGA Pose of the day

So along with a belly buster of the day i have chose to add a  yoga pose of the day :)
  Bharadvaja's Twist

Step by Step
1)Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Shift over onto your right buttock, bend your knees, and swing your legs to the left. Lay your feet on the floor outside your left hip, with the left ankle resting in the right arch.

2)Inhale and lift through the top of the sternum to lengthen the front torso. Then exhale and twist your torso to the right, keeping the left buttock on or very close to the floor. Lengthen your tailbone toward the floor to keep the lower back long. Soften the belly.

3)Tuck your left hand under your right knee and bring your right hand to the floor just beside your right buttock. Pull your left shoulder back slightly, pressing your shoulder blades firmly against your back even as you continue to twist the chest to the right.

4)You can turn your head in one of two directions: continue the twist of the torso by turning it to the right; or counter the twist of the torso by turning it left and looking over the left shoulder at your feet.

5)With every inhalation lift a little more through the sternum, using the push of the fingers on the floor to help; with every exhalation twist a little more. Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then release with an exhalation, return to the starting position, and repeat to the left for the same length of time.

Relax and Enjoy
Yvonne-Marie

BELLY BUSTER of the day

So here in the mash section i decided to make things fun after all i can do anything with this blog so im going to pick a belly blaster move  every day .  today is
Beginner: Lunge Twist

Targets: Abs, obliques, butt, quads
Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, elbows bent 90 degrees by hips.

Lunge forward with right leg and rotate torso and arms to right.
Rotate back to center as you quickly push off right foot to return to start.

Do 16 reps, alternating sides.
Hope you enjoy this move :)
Yvonne-Marie

A little brand named SALLY

So for those of you who follow my twitter you know that yesterday i was stuck in the rain for about 4 hours because i forgot my keys in the office so i had to wait for the evil nurse to come and open up the office. I got so bored that i when to rite aid across the street and bought NAIL POLISH . But it was one specific kind of nail  polish it was the brush pen by sally the one with the actual brush not the one that looks like a marker.
this is the (color quick). First of all id like to say it DOES NOT color quick as a matter of fact its horrible and the brush stays rough (kind of like when you haven't used a polish in like years and the brush gets really hard , yea that's what the brush felt like after 2 min of use ) not only was it a bad brush and a  not quick thing to do but  it dries quickly so like the minute you put polish on it dries but then you still have the rest of the nail to do so it comes out uneven and very sloppy. Also because this brush is so horrible it leaves a texture on the nails.

I'm not sure you can see the texture or not but it was really bad and icky and although the colors they had were great i give this product a 1 on a scale of 1-10 and they only get the one because of their awesome choice in colors.

sorry if you like this brand  and had a better experience if you did please comment about it
Yvonne-Marie

Todays Activities

I'm sorry i know i promised all the recipes to be up before today but i got caught up with so many things and my job is not training the person who will take over when i leave back to school so I'm very occupied at work to blog any more:( . how ever tonight i will try my best to post the recipes and stuff. Since i have been mia for the past two days i feel i should let you know what i have been up to.

You may know I'm still buying things just so that when school comes i have a very well stocked kitchen cabinet so that i am prepared for everything college has to throw at me school and food wise. The cafeteria at my school is not the best place to be vegan so i shall be cooking  a lot more meaning there will be Sunday food blogs because I have chosen that Sundays will be the cooking days.

Enough now for some fun FOOD PORN
As you know i made my own hummus recipe which i altered to have red peppers and a regular hummus both recipes will be up soon .


This lovely dish here is what i had for dinner last night I'm trying to take out needing meat in my plate. I honestly think i need a (meat substitute on my plate 1- because I'm still transitioning 2- because its usually the one main hot thing on the plate). so I'm desperately trying to kick the habit.

I also did some shopping :)

I bought a green salad, Pb and j , 2 bagels, baking powder two containers of almond breeze, silkened tofu, and earth balance butter.

I finally figured out whole foods and found where everything is so not it should be much  much simpler to shop for all the food i need.

In Tab THE MASH there will be a nail polish review you should go check it out I'm not sure if the company is vegan or not but its a very popular  brand  so everyone should check it out any ways and I'm sorry if its not vegan i seriously did not know  if it is or isn't so i apologize in advance if it is.

I'm still currently working on the recipe book for  the auctioning i think ill auction it off when i have a few followers ill give an exact number later.  But i hope for now this is a little update on what I'm currently doing until i can get back into the blogging game.

Happy everything
Yvonne-Marie

Sunday, August 22, 2010

TODAYS ACTIVITIES

Ok so today i must say was a very hot day and I know it was raining out side but my kitchen was very hot. I was baking frying roasting and boiling all day long. I decided  to try some recipes now that i have the ingredients for most of them. and decided it was time to make my own recipes which unfortunately wont be up today but i promise will be up tomorrow.

I made Happy Herbivores  cinnamon bun smoothie for breakfast this was really good and filling. I made a fun lunch they were Happy herbivores corn dogs if you follow my twitter you know that her corn cover for the tofu dog was amazing but the dog however was not! Now I'm not sure if its because of the fact that I'm only a month in to being vegan or if its because  the tofu pups  just was not the best tasting brand. I'm going with that my taste buds are still use to the real "meat" hot dogs because I've heard raving reviews about tofu pups by all the vegans who cook up some amazing recipes. After  the taste bud (Fail)which honestly I'm disappointed about,  I decided to make my dinner early  (mostly because i didn't want to leave the kitchen :)) i made rice my Spanish beans and some rice. Now i was a bad vegan because i sued white rice because it was already made and i kind of want to save my big bad of brown rice for school, To top off my rice and beans i BBQ grilled some gardine chicken cutlets. My Spanish bean recipe will be up on here on the FOOD tab tomorrow when i get home from work.
I took a break to eat and feed the little brother when i decided i wanted ice cream so of course i made Happy herbivore's raw ice cream IT WAS AMAZING  my mother even liked it although i have to say i might find another recipe for it only because my brother hates bananas and is allergic to them any ways so please  if you have a cookie, ice cream, even cake  recipe with out bananas in it I would greatly appreciate it and would defiantly site you on it. but any way here is her website for the RAW VEGAN ICE CREAM.

I figured i should give the kitchen a break and my dad comes home with a bunch of red peppers ( my absolute favorite ) and it dawned on me to make roasted peppers. How roasting peppers turned into making my own recipe for hummus I still do not know but it take really good and its all mine. The recipe will be up tomorrow along with the Spanish beans recipe.

Hope everyone is excited to see the recipes on the FOOD tab tomorrow i know i am . Below are some  picture of every thing from today.

FOOD PORN




can you guess which one is the roasted pepper left or right?

Happy -Blogging
Yvonne-Marie

egg replacers

I could not find the ener-g-egg  replacer that is in everyone  recipies and i have no car to drive to whole foods and both my parents where out for the after noon. So i really wanted to make corn dogs  i got desperate and went on twitter and asked if any one knew of a recipe for an egg replacer. and fit chick in the city  told me she used flax seed and water and gonepie ( this is there twitter name)  told me to check out this site  called vegan baking . I decided to share what i found these egg replacers are cheeper than if you bought ener-g-egg and you can make up at home.

Non dairy Yogurt binder
Yogurt Binder isn't actually a binder that's on par with eggs. It's about as effective as um, yogurt for binding in recipes which isn't much but it works great in things where you don't need lots of binding power. Examples are cakes, waffles and pancakes. It won't help you get things very dense and chewy but it's great for holding in moisture and adding flavor complexity at the same time.

An egg contains about ¼ cup of liquid so using yogurt as a substitute in a recipe consists of:
¼ cup non-dairy yogurt

Flax seed binder
 
Flax seeds contain magical 'goopifying' properties that are perfect for vegan baking. Be sure to use golden flax seeds which are the light colored ones. Brown flax seeds will impart more color in your baked item which is usually undesirable. Flax Binder has a slight mealy flavor that's usually not prominent enough to stand out in most baked items. Flax seeds also contain protein, fiber and are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids which makes this binder a healthy alternative to other egg less binders.


This recipe makes the equivalent of 1 egg.

3 Tablespoons water

1 Tablespoon golden flax meal

1)

Grind the golden flax seeds into a meal in a blender or spice grinder. You may want to grind a larger amount and store it in the refrigerator for future use. Like flax oil, flax meal is extremely perishable so if you grind a larger amount for later use, discard unused portions after about a month in the fridge. 1 cup of golden flax seeds equal about 1 1/3 cup of meal.

2)

Add the water to a small bowl or cup. Add the flax meal and mix together with a whisk or fork. Let the mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes so it develops a goopy texture similar to a raw egg. Warm water will speed up the 'goopifying' process.
 
Banana egg replacer
 
Bananas work great as a binder due to their natural 'goopyness'. Keep in mind that whatever you put bananas in will undoubtedly turn into 'banana'-'whatever-the-name-of-your-recipe-is'. This can be great for things like cakes, pancakes and sweet breads but awkward in things where you're not going for the whole banana thing. Banana's aren't as powerful binders as Eggless Binder Powder or Flax Binder but they're more powerful than yogurt.


An egg contains about ¼ cup of liquid so using banana purée as a substitute in a recipe consists of:

¼ cup banana purée.

i know on the site they have chia seed egg replacer but i said stuff you can afford. Maybe for some of you chia seeds is affordable but i know for myself it is not.
 
if you have any ideas that i have not mentioned for  an egg replacer  place a comment below.
 
Happy Baking
Yvonne-Marie

Review on Happy Herbivore's alfredo sauce

So while making the muffins i realized i would not want just muffins for dinner. I went looking through some of the random recipes i had printed out to possibley be in the fat free recipe vegan book. and found happy herbivores alfredo sauce recipe. Now ive said it time and time again me and tofu are still testing out our relationship. so i was a bit skeptical on  using  silkened tofu . but i was amazingly wrong about it it was a delicious recipe and honestly i would of never thought nutritional yeast would actually  make it taste cheesy.
  you can find her recipe on her website  or on the link above. the only things i changed on her recipe was the cayenne pepper i used the hot sauce instead  and instead of the vegan parmesan cheese i used Follow your heart vegan mozzarella cheese . I paired this recipie up with a gardine  marinara chicken  and it was to die for.


THIS WAS A GREAT RECIPE i suggest you follow her website and try to make all the yummy things she has.

I hope you try her site soon.
 Yvonne-Marie

yesterdays activities

So my fresh direct order came in on Friday after noon although i was not able to pick it up my brother did and i got to go look through what i got last night. However the groceries you will see here were not all just from fresh direct some were from  a local Latin grocery store by me and I was shocked they has some of these important staple spices.

bananas are my favorite fruit

a couple of things from gardein because they are so good at what they do.

nutmeg and raw sugar the nutmeg was 99 cents

I got 2 containers of the cream cheese because I'm thinking about making a cheese cake :)

I got these at the Latin store by me i have been looking for these ingredients like crazy every where for a cheap price each was 1.09  i know the sesame seeds are not a major vegan staple but to me they are .

This was my shopping along with some peppers and onions and scallions that i needed to make some other good stuff. if you have any recipes you would like to share post them or tweet me to get my e-mail.  to send it my way and it will be added into the recipe book.

will be posting more soon go check out the new muffin recipe
Yvonne-Marie

Gluten free Banana oatmeal muffins

So yesterday i decided to experiment with a few recipes this one in particular i got from love veggies and yoga she is really good at  recipes that are not time consuming and that don't ask for things that are not in your kitchen. i did this recipe because i have a bunch of bananas and wanted to see what i could make from them. I absolutely love bananas they are my favorite fruit. I did make a change in her recipe but its not too serious its just what i would of preferred.

Vegan Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Banana Oatmeal Muffins (what a mouthful of a name!)


1 large ripe banana

1/2 c dry oats

1/3 c brown sugar

1/2 c white sugar

1 heaping Tsp Cinnamon

1 heaping Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/3 c raisins (omit, or use other dried fruits, nuts, seeds, etc. as you prefer)

Note: If you want to reduce (or even omit) most of the sugar, feel free. I like sugar though.

Note: There is no water, mylks/milks, or liquids added. If you feel you need a splash of something, go for it. A splash though, that's it.

Yields One Dozen 3-Bite Muffins

so i started off by getting all my ingredients together .
most of these ingredients you can find at home or at any local store. so the only things i really changed was that i put about 1/2 a cup of raw sugar  in place of the other two sugars only because i figured the banana is sweet as is.
I mashed the banana and its makes a pudding like liquid is semi smooth and slippery.

then combine all the ingredients and stir it up.

then pour the mixture in to muffin pans (i used cupcake pans meaning it only made 1/2 a dozen  but if u use a mini muffin pan it makes about  a dozen ) make sure not to forge to place the cupcake holders.
this was truly Delicious it was a yummy dessert and my mom even loved this.
I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as i did
Happy eating
Yvonne-Marie

Friday, August 20, 2010

Todays food discoveries

So today i decided i was going to try everything and test out new flavors. Last night i began to prepare a new recipe which is in my FOOD tab of my blog. I also decided to prepare my breakfast ahead of time. I have so many Florida mango's left that I just don't know what to do so i decided to pour some blue agave on the slices i had cut up. I placed the pieces into a small container and shook them up and placed in the refrigerator. This morning when i was ready to have breakfast I woke up to mango's that had absorbed the agave and were juicy. 
it really was as delicious as it looked
then for lunch i had the jerk tofu the new recipe I was blabbering on about that is in my FOOD tab.  i had that for lunch you can go check that out.

I had a dunkin donuts peach tea (my current addiction) with no sugar.

while at dunkin donuts i tried to convince my nana to  not put milk in her coffee and just have it black but that did not go over to well her words were "  no no i gotta have my coffee with milk" i finally convinced her that instead of the whole milk to at least use the skim (i know to vegans this is still using the cow but I'm trying its a slow process to get my family into healthy mode) and she surprisingly did and enjoyed it to.


Also a great thing that happened today was that my mom surprisingly decided to FEED me when i say feed i mean buy me all the spiced and veggies that i needed to  make some excellent vegan recipes. Her reasoning behind buying me all this stuff was that she felt as tho she was depriving me of eating food with flavor lol but at least i was able to get the things i needed.
Well now that i  probably rambled on for some time I'm ready to get to doing my job and then heading out to Staten island tonight for some quality time with one of my sisters.
Happy Eating
Yvonne -Marie

Jerk TOFU recipie


I made this one i was inspired by celery in the cities blog. this recipie is simple all you need is:
Jerk sauce
salt papper
diaya cheese (optional)
onion white
and green bell pepper

I started with the picture above three slabs of tofu they were fairly thick slices. I pressed them and then copped then up and places two tbl spoons of the jerk sauce.

2TBL spoons was a really good amount i placed the pieces in foild and rubbed them for about a minitue in the sauce then slosed it up and placed in my refridgerator for an over night marinating session.

After i had preped my tofu i chopped this White onion in to pieces along with this green bell pepper.
I like fairly small piences so they were chopped up pretty good.
after both were chopped i sprayed some palm olive oil onto a small frying pan and saute'd the vegies with salt and pepper so that they could have there own little flavor.


The pepper and onion looked so good and smelled awesome.

This morning i took the tofu pieces out and they definatly soaked in all of not most of the jerk sauce. I placed the tofu pieces into  the  glass bowl with the onions and peppers and mixed evenly then i dont know why but i placed about a hand ful of diaya cheese and placed in the oven to back for 30 minutes at 300 degreese.


And for those of you who know about my battle with making tofu taste somewhat decent. I must say that this was definatly a good recipie and it definatly filled me up for the day. I hope you guys  try this and like it as much as i have.
Happy eating
Yvonne-Marie