By Melissa, on December 30th, 2010%
Greens! Glorious greens!
In the weeks leading up to my move I was trying to eat everything I had been storing in my cupboards, so I wasn’t buying too much fresh produce. When we finally moved into our new apartment on Sunday I was delighted to find a great supermarket across the street that sells some really good tomatoes and avocado. So I have been eating my favorite meal (avocado, cucumber, tomato and mustard on toast) a lot this week! Then, last night I decided to use some of my new cooking apparatus…es… apparatuses (???) to make a yummy rice mixture.
I started by boiling some brown rice, and in a separate pan I cooked some black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, onion, olive oil and sea salt on a medium heat.
I added some crushed tomato halfway through, then when the onion was soft and the rice was cooked I combined it all in a large bowl with baby spinach and some nutritional yeast. I covered the mixture with a lid to let the spinach soften and then served it with some spinach, tomato and avocado.
It was so freaking good!
By Melissa, on December 26th, 2010%
Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
As you read this, Toby and I will be in the process of moving to our new apartment in the East Village. We’re excited to start our new adventure in our new apartment, but we’ve loved living in Riverdale and we will miss so many things about this place.
The beautiful sunrises…
The stunning views in the evenings….
Snowy days!
Soaking up the sunlight with a big cup of coffee…
Making my morning Vegemite on toast and watching the trains go by as I eat it…
But most of all we will both miss this beautiful little kitty…
Mia, our housemate’s cat, will be staying here in Riverdale.
She’s spending Christmas with her grandparents upstate, so we’ve already said goodbye to her. Both Toby and I got a little choked up.
We’ve never had the pleasure of knowing such a beautiful, sweet-natured and loving cat. Mia was adopted by our housemate when she was a kitten, and I am so glad she came into our lives.
We love you, Mia!
By Melissa, on December 25th, 2010%
Good morning and merry Christmas guys!!
Because Toby and I are attending a bring-a-dish Christmas lunch today, I prepared some vegan sweetie balls to accompany my green bean salad. These balls are based on my vegan cookie dough balls, but with a few additions.
Here’s a quick recap of the vegan cookie dough balls: chop dates finely, add water and microwave for 1 minute. When cooked, mix together with oats, almond flour, whole wheat flour, chocolate chips, vanilla essence, agave nectar and a pinch of salt. Roll into balls and store in the refrigerator.
For these vegan sweetie balls I doubled the mixture of the cookie dough balls and added some cranberries. I also added a splash of rum for some extra Christmas cheer!
The chocolatey color comes from the vegan dark chocolate squares that I cut finely before adding them to the mixture. When I added the hot dates they softened the chocolate so it ran throughout the mixture. I love this because it makes them look like rum balls. (The scent of rum certainly adds to this effect!)
I dusted the balls in some finely chopped oats before storing them in the fridge overnight. I love this dish because you can prepare it ahead of time and they travel well.
To quote the oldest Christmas joke in the book… Cherry Mistmas everybody!
