Posts from the “Vegan” Category

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Curry (and I’m d-o-n-e with snow days)

Posted on January 18, 2018

Remember yesterday’s post about getting used to snow hysteria in the South? I had a great attitude. I was glass half full. To be fair, I wrote it before the snow was supposed to hit. We were in the “wait and see mode.” That quickly moved to “disappointment mode” once we realized that we would not get the amount we had hoped to get. Then they canceled school today. All of my positive feelings have left my body. There’s no snow. There’s just cold. The kids are stir crazy. I need to work. I don’t know where the cubebot is. I don’t feel guilty about the 2-year-old’s obsession with the ABC game on the Kindle. I can’t fix one more snack. I’m d-o-n-e.

Yesterday, I made homemade chewy chocolate chip cookies. I made homemade pancakes and biscuits with sprouted wheat flour. Let me repeat this: with SPROUTED WHEAT FLOUR. I made bacon for goodness sake. I even made some DIY kitchen cleaner with essential oils. From the outside, it looks like I have it together, but I am here to say that I absolutely do not have it together AND IF MY CHILDREN DO NOT END UP GOING TO SCHOOL TOMORROW I’M GONNA NEED Y’ALL TO COME AND GET ME.

See? Not together.

So in between looking for cubebots and fixing the kindle and playing transformers and dancing and singing songs and checking the weather radar furiously, I also made this Sweet Potato Cauliflower Curry. Two things about this recipe: It is vegan and also delicious. Once my cauliflower gives out, I’ll move over to rice or grains.

Here’s to getting back to our routines! I’m sending light, love, support, and understanding to parents, grandparents, caretakers, teachers, and people in charge of our children. I’m grateful for you.

Categories: Family, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan

Revolutions and Resolutions

Posted on January 5, 2018

Today was my 6-year-old’s first day back at school after (what seemed like) the longest holiday break in the history of holiday breaks. When I got home tonight, I asked him about his day. I can ask FIVE questions and FIVE questions only, so you know I have to pick them carefully. I go generic for three and dig deep for two. Today he offered up his own recap of the day without me having to dig too deep.

He randomly said, “Making sure Mae (his sister) doesn’t mess up my Transformers on my book shelf and keeping my room clean.”

I paused and said, “Huh?”

“Those are my revolutions,” he said.

“Do you mean resolutions?”

“Yes, my revo…I meant resolutions.”

(Secretly, my heart was disappointed because I would LOVE for my kiddo to begin dreaming up his own revolutions, honestly. )

All of this to simply say that I’m keeping up with my own revolutions. Ahem, I mean resolutions. I’m still eating veggies and writing on my blog. My lunches have consisted of avocado toast with veggies.

Last night before bed, I drained, pressed, and baked tofu squares. Then I put it in the fridge to use tonight. When I got home from work today, I microwaved frozen broccoli. Then I sautéed a bag of riced cauliflower, diced onions, red and yellow peppers, green onions, and tofu. I added some salt and soy sauce for flavor. Once in my bowl, I added some more soy sauce, and drizzled some sriracha sauce on top. Super tasty and very easy.

Hope y’all are having a great first week back in a semi-routine (whatever that is) and making steady progress on your own REVOLUTIONS.

Categories: Family, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan

Tagged: Resolutions

Keeping My Resolutions on Day ONE: Cauliflower and Body Butter

Posted on January 1, 2018

I rang in 2018 with a quick run to my 2-year-old’s room at 1 am. She was crying, which is not like her at all. I scooped her up to take her to the living room to rock her and halfway there all I remember her saying is “my mouth” right before she threw up all over me. The next thing I know, Mike and I are navigating cleanup. I won Mae. He won the floor. This was the universe’s way of showing me that I won’t be able to control every aspect of 2018 and so I remain hopeful that I will keep the resolutions I made while staying open to all that 2018 clearly has in store for me.

Oh, and Mae is fine. She’s had an ear infection for a few days and I think it pushed her right over the edge last night.

So here we are on the first day of January and I’m trying to stick with my resolutions: eat more veggies and write on my blog. Sure, it’s the first day of the year and pretty much everyone keeps their resolutions on the first day, but let’s just PRETEND that this is monumental for a second.

My latest vegan journey features Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s cauliflower (thank you, Jessica)! I made two recipes:

Sweet Chili Cauliflower: I dipped the cauliflower in a garbanzo flour batter and baked for 30 minutes. Then I tossed them in a Ziploc bag with Thai sweet chili sauce. My plan is to combine them with farro and veggies for a quick lunch this week.
Buffalo Cauliflower: I tossed the cauliflower in olive oil, Frank’s hot sauce, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. Then I baked them in the oven for 30 minutes (turning once). I added them to flour tortillas and topped with shredded lettuce, cilantro, avocado, and tomatoes. You could add vegan ranch if you’d like!

And now for what you’ve all been waiting for: Whipped Body Butter! Okay, this is time consuming but easy. Just google or search on YouTube for Whipped Body Butters and you will find a TON of ideas. My favorite recipe can be found here. I tripled the recipe.

2 cups Shea Butter (I order mine from Amazon)

2 cups Coconut Oil (I got mine at Costco)

4 or 5 tablespoons Sweet Almond Oil (I got mine at Sprouts)

4 or 5 tablespoons Avocado or Jojoba Oil (I got mine at Sprouts and on Amazon)

1 tablespoon Vitamin E Oil (I got mine on Amazon)

2 teaspoons (or more) of Lavender Essential Oil

Fill a pot with ½ cup of water and bring to a low boil. Place the shea butter and coconut oil in a glass bowl and place on the pot with the boiling water.

Wait for 5 to 10 minutes until both butters are melted completely. Add your other oils except the lavender essential oil. Give the oils a minute to incorporate. Then move the bowl off of the pot.

Once it cools a bit, add your essential oil. You don’t want the butter/oil mixture to be too hot or else the essential oils will evaporate! Wrap the bowl with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator (or freezer). When the mixture is semi-hard (meaning when you push your finger on the mixture, you see an indention), then you are ready to whip! Whip the mixture with your hand mixer (or your stand mixer) until your butter is light, airy, and fluffy! It should look exactly like icing.

Add to jars and use immediately after your shower or bath. Enjoy!

In summary, I plan to end the first day of the year eating Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s cauliflower, diffusing frankincense, lathering on my homemade body butter, and pretending that I will keep this up the rest of the year.

Here’s to 2018…

Categories: DIY, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan

Tagged: Body Butter, DIY, essential oils, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Vegan

Resolutions: Eating more veggies and finding a tent of my own.

Posted on December 31, 2017

At the beginning of December, I was ending each night with the bright light of my iPhone reading my newsfeed, which included some uplifting stories, but mostly included shared articles about how the world was ending, everyone’s opinion about EVERYTHING, and a great deal of sarcasm/defeat/anger/uncertainty. I decided to leave Facebook for a minute and headed over to YouTube (I know, I know…baby steps, y’all).

On YouTube, I discovered a treasure trove of videos about essential oils, DIY whipped body butters, and vegan chefs whipping up fake eggs and flaxseed gel. It was a land I’d never discovered and I continue to find it fascinating and soothing. Next thing you know, I’m buying beeswax, shea butter, and diffusing lavender and frankincense like nobody’s business.

But because this is a food blog, I’ll focus on food for a second. For my loyal Food Revival readers, perhaps you remember why/when I started this whole thing. I think it was in 2009? I was just laid off from my job at Southern Progress/Time Inc (RIP).

***Delayed pause to give respect and a moment of silence for the passing of SPC/Time Inc***

During this time, I was volunteering for Jones Valley Teaching Farm and in exchange for my work, I received a box of veggies each week. I called each post my “CSA Challenge.” This is when my Birmingham freelance/nonprofit/food/volunteer journey began. Most nights were spent researching new recipes while my husband took photos of each dish for this blog. Let’s be honest, we were also doing a lot of googling (e.g. “what is kohlrabi?” “how do you cook a rutabaga?” “why do beets taste like dirt?”).

Here we are nine years later and you will find me (on most nights) picking up the 2-year-old from day care, inching and navigating our way down Highway 65, calling my husband to ask him to throw a Homerun Pizza in the toaster oven, and moving through the bath time/bedtime groundhog day activities. So now that I work for Jones Valley Teaching Farm, you’d imagine I would have conquered the kohlrabi, rutabagas, and beets. Nope. My 2017 food accomplishments revolve around Homerun Pizzas, Queso, and Banana Sandwiches (don’t ask).

HOWEVER, my new-found fascination with vegan YouTubers and the lingering effects of too much lavender and frankincense has inspired me to change this in 2018.

(I realize you are worried at this point. It’s okay. So is my husband.)

The truth is I still love to blog and cook. I (obviously) still love Jones Valley Teaching Farm. I’m not saying I’m going straight up vegan. But I would like to focus on a more plant-based diet in 2018. I’m also going to focus on getting my kids to eat more plant-based recipes. I tried last night. I made this amazing soup featuring broccolini (and its leaves) from Jones Valley Teaching Farm. But then I spent way too much time defending my rights to make soup for dinner with my 6-year-old. I mean, the AUDACITY to incorporate COOKED CARROTS in a SOUP and THAT’S FOR DINNER? Needless to say, I found myself pretending to “look for something downstairs” when really all I did was zip myself up in my kid’s tent in the basement and took this photo:

Don’t worry. I made sure everyone knew I was okay after I heard my name called the FIFTH time. I will not let this setback take me down. I mean, LOOK at this delicious soup:

I also adapted THIS Chickpea Salad. I used pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower seeds. I also used the hummus garlic sauce instead of mayo/mustard. I’m really happy with how it turned out and will be spreading this on my sprouted bread a little later today.

So, here are my resolutions:

Eat more veggies from the Farm. It’s a job perk. The veggies are amazing. TAKE THE JOB PERK, AMANDA.

Then document the recipes and experiences on Food Revival. You love doing this. DO WHAT YOU LOVE, AMANDA.

Perhaps this blog post inspired you to do the same? Well, I mean the eating more veggies part. I don’t want you hacking my blog. If so, then let that inspiration SHINE! On this last day of 2017 (which also happens to be the very last day YOU can give donations to your favorite non-profits for the year), you can give to Jones Valley Teaching Farm! What can I say? It’s kind of my job to beg you for donations and I’m even providing the link right here: https://jvtf.org/donate/

P.S. Just wait until I post about my DIY whipped body butter.

Wishing all of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR filled with frankincense, rutabagas, and a tent to hide in.

-Amanda

Categories: Family, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan

Tagged: Alabama, Birmingham, Blogging, Donate, essential oils, family, FoodRevival, Give, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Kids, Resolutions, Vegan