i figure if you even looked at yesterday’s post you should probably go eat some greens, pronto! here’s the one that i ate immediately after taking down a few of those ridiculously tasty banana treats (all sugar guilt absolved!). this salad combines my love of spicy and sweet. it’s simple but the flavor is incredible. here’s what you need: caramelized onions, pear, arugula, lemon juice, sea salt. the trick to this salad lies in the onion… liberal seasoning (sea salt, pepper and red pepper flakes for spice), and a verrrrrrrry slow cooking time in a generous amount of refined coconut oil to caramelize them and bring out the sweetness in the onion. mix together arugula, onions, chopped pear and then sprinkle sea salt on all. Squeeze lemon juice onto the whole shebang until it’s dressed and serve immediately!
i wish i had a more condensed name for these, but unfortunately i was too hopped up on SUGAR and JOY to come up with one when i wrote this post. these, my friends, are heaven on earth…in your mouth. sweet, salty, chocolatey OMGoodness. they’re more work than my average recipe, and especially challenging because you can’t have a craving and whip them up all impulsive-like. you have to crave them, start making them on night one, and then MAYBE, if you’re lucky and your freezer works well, be able to enjoy them the next day at lunch. but i promise you, you will be so SO happy when you do.
be forewarned: i made these once using the amounts from this recipe…. then realized that’s WAY too much (especially for one family of two, neither of which have even the slightest bit of self control around sugar). as much as i would have loved re-making this recipe for the sake of blogging it, i didn’t {if i had you can be assured that my 1st chin would be resting comfortably on a newfound second}. SO, these measurements are based on my first over-excited go ’round and are only approximations- you may end up with extra peanut butter filling or chocolate (in which case you could throw together a few of these! recipe below
the what:
6 bananas
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup earth balance vegan butter
1/4 cup +2 tablespoons cup crunchy peanut butter (organic, unsalted, no added sugar)
1/4 cup (heaping) cup graham cracker crumbs (i found an organic, naturally sweetened kind at whole foods that did the trick)
1/2 cup turbinado raw sugar or other granulated sweetener
sea salt or maldon salt flakes- i tried both and loved them equally
the how:
the night before: prepare peanut butter filling by mixing earth balance vegan butter, sugar, graham cracker crumbs and peanut butter in a pan and melting together. Once thoroughly mixed, let cool and then place in a bowl in the fridge to harden for the next day’s banana sculpting extravaganza.
- cover a cookie sheet (must fit in your fridge or freezer) with wax paper
- cut bananas into 1/2-3/4″ slices (if you have a shortage of freezer or fridge room, you may want to do these in batches (i did!)
- using a knife and your fingers, make little caps for the bananas with peanut butter filling (see photo above for a tasty ratio)
- combine vegan chocolate chips and almond milk and heat over low until melted (stirring all the while)
- i set up a production line for this next part at our dining room table with all my peanut buttered bananas on my left, the pot of melted chocolate directly in front of me (DANGER!) and the wax paper covered cookie sheet to my right.
- place a banana slice on your fork and then dip into chocolate (do not spear the banana). use a spoon to pour melted chocolate over top until all of the banana and peanut butter are covered.
- once all of your banana slice have been coated, sprinkle each one with sea salt and pop them into the freezer. once they’ve hardened you can transfer them to any freezer safe container. eat them freely!
aren’t these ranunculus from the farmers market such a fantastic pop of color in our living room? i forgot how the perfect bunch of flowers can make a whole room feel brand new. now, on to what i’m really itching to talk about…. the division of labor in our house.
one of the most difficult things to work out in our relationship has been who does what when it comes to household chores. we’ve had countless arguments and passed passive aggressive comments back and forth like teenage mean-girls. it’s been the one argument we can’t quit. (it seems so silly, but that hasn’t stopped us!)
nearly 4 years into our relationship, it seems we’ve hit our stride. i: make the dog food/feed the pups/grocery shop/cook and lou: cleans/vacuums/takes the pups out/handles trash & house laundry. no one begrudges the other their job, and we pick up each other’s slack without bitterness when it’s needed. this is the system that works… until it doesn’t i suppose. in the meantime, we’re off each other’s backs. (phew!) is this something you’ve worked out in your homes as well? or are we abnormal in our need to have our jobs clearly defined? {please, do share any things that have worked for you!}
first and foremost, thank you all so much for the kind words yesterday- it was an amazing experience reading your tweets, comments, facebook messages and emails. in these moments i’m truly reminded that we’re all in this together. and that, my friends, is why i have this blog.
now, something tasty for your weekend! this quinoa tabbouleh is grain and gluten free (if you want to read an incredible story about how cutting out gluten changed one amazing woman’s life, please head over here). it’s also really, really, really ridiculously good tasting. like, omg. i make a giant batch because we love it so much (so feel free to halve it on your first go-round to test it out….the wishing there was more when it’s gone will make the laborious onion chopping the next time around that much easier!). i serve it with this baba ghanoush or hummus, cucumber, kalmatta olives and toasted pita chips (slice pita into triangles, lightly brush with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, bake at 400 degrees until crispy). SO GOOD!
happy weekend my friends, see you monday! {recipe below}
the what:
3 cups cooked quinoa (i used tri color, but any kind will do!)
1 cup chopped chopped cucumber
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup rough chopped kalmata olives
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh, of course!)
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
sea salt
pepper
the how:
- chop onions, tomatos, olives and cucumber. combine in a large bowl with the cooked (and cooled!) quinoa. (how-to cook quinoa here)
- chop parsley, mint, garlic and combine in a seperate bowl with olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt and pepper.
- add dressing slowly to quinoa salad- taste as you go until you’ve found your preferred amount of dressing to salad.
yesterday i read this article by ashley judd (please, take just a minute to read it if you haven’t already). it really struck a chord with me and then later in the day i stumbled across this pin, which reminded me of a comment thread i’d read on this pin.
as someone who has weighed 35 lbs more than i do now, who gains and loses the same 5 lbs at least three times over the course of every year, who very clearly struggles with body image and weight, this hit home. first, i was appalled by the language and criticism these people put on ashley and the girls in those pins. but then, in reflection, i realized that i have done the same thing- not in the same manner, but equally poisonous. i have definitely speculated about celebrities having work done, made a mental note of an acquaintance who put on some weight, at times felt more pride when i am complimented for my looks than when i’m complimented for my talent. this is all hard to admit, and not something i do lightlly.
i’m critical of myself on a daily basis. there’s not a time that i look in the mirror that the running voice in my head (i have MAJOR monkey mind) doesn’t nag me about my skin, my arms, my thighs, (i am currently a size 2 and almost 5’8″…i know on a rational level that i can’t possibly be FAT, but that’s not what the monkey mind tells me). my inner voice can be cruel, ruthless, and unforgiving in it’s criticisms of my body. left unchecked, it can be devastating.
and i finally understand where those people are coming from, the ones who are making all of the comments on pins, in magazines and web sites,or just in their thoughts. it’s what we’ve been trained to do to ourselves and to others, and i think it’s become far too acceptable. the message we send when we aggressively criticize someone else is that none of us is really ok. we are all “too” something…and we need to change that dialogue. fortunately, it’s something that i think can change, and I’m hopeful that it will.
i’m making it my mission to start holding that running voice in my head more accountable. i’m going to challenge the thoughts that pop up in my head: both about myself and about others. i will be attempting to re-train my monkey mind to be more kind, compassionate, accepting and loving to myself and others.
this was not an easy post to write, i feel vulnerable and like i’ve just exposed a very personal weakness. but i think that’s important, especially if it will fuel this conversation. thank you so much for reading, for all of your feedback and kindness, it means the world to me.
* the amazing illustration above is by gemma correll and could be made for me, i love it so much.
