vanilla strawberry chia seed pudding. (paleo, gf, vegan)

Have you heard of chia seeds? I reviewed them before. They have an insane amount of fiber, and make their presence known by texture more than taste. Dry chia seeds are crunchy. When soaked, the seeds absorb the liquid and develop mucilage - which just means they get a little polysaccharide gelatinous coating.

This property is vital in order for chia seed puddings to work. In all the variations I've found, chia seeds are mixed with a non-dairy milk (probably to retain the vegan aspect), and let sit, with occasional stirring. After a couple hours (or overnight), the mixture has thickened substantially, forming a "pudding." Fruit, purees, nuts, and flavorings are added afterwards.

snickerdoodle cheesecake bars.

Big things are coming! In life, that is. Graduation in a few months is not even in my mind - there are other important things to do first.

Have (survive) a successful Dance Marathon.
Finish my thesis. (LOL. SOS.)
Run the half marathon 8K I signed up for.

And THEN, a mere few days after the end of finals period, I can don my cap and gown, stumble down the aisle to pose for a quick candid shot for my parents, and head back. A 2-minute walk and 2-hour ceremony to mark the end of my four years of higher level education.

apple pie bars.

"In one moment, I lived centuries." It's my favorite line from one of my favorite songs. Well, that's what the lyrics translate to, anyhow.

Although not quite as melodramatic, I feel the same way about these past two weeks. It's been a whirlwind of meeting new people, doing new things, and getting new perspectives.

It's been exciting! Interspersed among there I've had random food quests and cravings. These apple pie bars - the perfect homey autumn dessert - were obviously included.

whole grain superman muffins.

It's half past midnight (do people tell time like that anymore?) aka - far too late for me to be awake during break.

I just ate one of these muffins. There are so many good things in here. Whole wheat flour, oatmeal, bran, flax, wheat germ, yogurt, cinnamon. Yeah man, cinnamon has minerals and stuff. I added "0.25 tspn ground cinnamon" to my iProfile when I was keeping record, and it boosted my mineral counts incredibly. Winnnn.

I could eat these little baby muffins all day. This for breakfast, and the chicken chili with bell peppers & fresh tomatoes atop brown rice pilaf with lentils I had tonight for dinner every evening. And whatever for lunch. My day would be awesomeeeeeee.

challah french toast. (+ optional steps)

Hey there! It's a fyne Sunday noon, a perfect day for french toast.

But not just any french toast, no no. What I'm talking about is a thick slice of challah bread, doused in a slightly sweet cinnamon egg milk mixture, placed on a hot pan sizzling with butter. As soon as it's cooked through, it's transferred from stove to tray. Brown sugar is crumbled indulgently atop the golden brown toast. Served on a satisfyingly heavy ceramic plate with a sturdy fork and knife. Authentic maple syrup sits in a cute little jug on the side, waiting to be drizzled (and inevitably get everywhere, making every singly surface sticky).

I live for Sunday mornings. 

almond cardamom quick bread.

This bread is wonderful. I made it yesterday, and ate two slices within 15 minutes of taking it out of the oven. Two generously sized pieces. Right after a filling lunch of whole wheat penne with steamed veggies & some Thai sauce.

I was so full, but it was worth it! No shame. No regrets.

^Good life motto, actually. That's the motto ** YOLO and we bout it errday errday errday like we sittin on the bench ** we don really play, errday errday ** what anybody say. Huh, I guess it kind of loses its effect when you need to bleep out the expletives so many times.

Yesterday was really good, actually. So was today. I ate oatmeal like I've vowed, and had super healthy lunches and dinners. My workouts are also really satisfying.. the amount of bread I ate motivated me to go for both a hike and run/walk four miles, although the bread is really healthy. I am excited to see progress!

Of course, today my mom would say that from now on, she's making all foods that I like. Tomorrow's dinner is falafel, next day's is chole. Handwo is coming at some point. I love my mom. And her cooking is without a doubt too superior to not eat, so .. I'll try to eat in moderation, still? I'll workout more? ... If nothing else, I'm definitely going to enjoy my last few days at home. Because ain't no shrikhand, date rolls, or aloo papri chaat gun end up in da busch dh.

pumpkin oatmeal + veggie burger.

So the other day I woke up early, by break standards - 7:45 am - and drove about an hour to the greenhouse where The Garden of Eden meets to plant, water, and harvest organically grown lettuce. I ate breakfast around 9 am, as I was driving. We worked at the greenhouse till around 2 pm.

At the end, I was eating the arugula that had been picked because I was hungry and wanted to munch on something, even if that meant eating these really bitter (the flavor was much more pronounced) tiny leaves.

With the knowledge that Thomas Sweet was in close proximity, I proceeded to spend about 15 minutes getting lost on Route 18 and going who knows where to park in a spot that was most likely illegal. But I mean, I wasn't going to be long or anything.

whole wheat pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

What is the difference between cinnamon buns and rolls? I feel like the icing is different for both. Otherwise, they seem to be pretty interchangeable, from what research I've conducted on the good old world wide web. Which is kinda annoying, I feel like there should be a difference but whatever, who am I to start an occupy Cinnabon movement .. speaking of which, I guess they're also called cinnabons at Cinnabon. What the hell man! It's so important it needs three different names?!

Anyway, let's talk about these pastries, oozing with heavenly glaze and exuding cinnamon-y enticement.

cinnamon roll cake + maple cream cheese glaze.

spiced honey face mask.

Doesn't the "spiced honey" part sound like it's a cake or bread or something?

But it's not!

Before I get into the mask, story - I spent the day at Rutgers, with the people I will be living with next year. We also visited our other friend, who cannot make pasta. He put hot water to boil. But before it even began boiling whatsoever, he dumped in a bunch of pasta. And by a bunch, I mean a whole box of linguine. Into what would be termed a "small saucepan." My suitemate (who likes to cook, as well) and I ended up watching his pasta for him, and we turned off the stove when it was cooked to al dente. And we found a long hair in the water.

And then we walked over to the common area, where he was playing Smash and everyone else was watching and sat down. Yeah, it was a little gross.

monkey bread.

Ever since being back home, I have not been particularly inspired enough to make interesting things. Yes, I have baked some new things and increased the number of new recipes in my recipe book (really just a composition book where I record a lot of recipes I have tried), but I haven't been inspired.
However, that pull-apart bread I made the other day really got me hooked to working with yeast. It's not easy, which makes me love it even more. I want to eventually bake up some loaves of good, crusty bread and experience the delight of freshly baked bread. But until then, I need to be satisfied with pull-apart loaves & monkey bread.


Yes, I made monkey bread. And trust me, in no way did I settle by making it. A couple friends came over a few days ago, and it was almost obligatory that a baked good be offered. I decided upon monkey bread for a few reasons.