I can’t even begin to tell you how absolutely gorgeous it is outside today- bright and sunny with a high of 90 degrees! It’s a Central Park kind of day for sure! Anyway, backtracking a bit to yesterday, after hearing Jenna’s tragic news, I didn’t feel like blogging would be all too appropriate, so I held off on posting yesterday’s eats until today. Here we go!

I had yet another terrific breakfast yesterday- Pumpkin Blueberry Almond Oatbran! As always, I used 1/2 cup oatbran, 1 cup almond milk, a mashed banana, 1/2 cup pumpkin, maple syrup, heaps of cinnamon, and a tbsp of flax. I topped the bowl off with a handful of heated frozen blueberries and a spoonful of decadent and delicious almond butter. It got my morning off to the perfect start!

As I mentioned yesterday, after breakfast it was Whole Foods time! I came home with a bunch of produce, yogurt, cereal, peanut butter, bread, etc. Being that I was sent a packet of coupons thanks to the lovely Kristina at Stoneyfield Farms, I also snagged two containers of Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt to try!  Being that I’m a purist, I stuck to good ‘ol vanilla and plain for starters. I’ll be sure to let you know what I think once I try them!

It was pretty late once I got home from my grocery trip, so I worked up quite the appetite! After toying around with a bunch of different lunch options, I went with a safe favorite of mine-

Sundried Tomato Hummus and Raw Veggies on Organic Italian with a Crispy Braeburn

This sandwich is definite evidence that sometimes, simplicity is best. I toasted two pieces of whole foods organic italian bread, spread it with a healthy helping of sabra’s sundried tomato hummus, and stuffed it with sprouts, shredded carrot, roasted red peppers, cucumber, and tomato, and the star- thinly sliced apples! This sandwich was simply divine, achieving the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors, and creamy and crunchy textures. I thoroughly enjoyed every single bite, and devoured this baby like it was my job. Accompanying my sandwich was the remainder of the crispy, juicy braeburn.

During the afternoon, I was starting to feel a bit empty, so I made myself a substantial snack- a maple nut clif bar alongside a small mix of kashi golean and honey kix in almond milk with a sliced banana. For whatever reason, I’ve had a huge hankering for a clif bar lately, so I bought one at Whole Foods to cure that craving. The maple nut was quite good, but not nearly to the caliber of the carrot cake or oatmeal raisin walnut varieties. It still did the trick, and satisfied both my hunger and craving! And the mini bowl of cereal was exactly what the doctor ordered- cereal is fabulous at any time of the day, I think!

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but my dinner last night was one of the best I’ve come up with yet! I was in the mood for a huge, hearty salad so that’s what I opted to prepare. I came up with this fantastic creation-

Wheatberry Waldorf Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato and Pecans

I took inspiration from a wonderful recipe provided by Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, and basically worked around the recipe to coincide with the ingredients I had laying around the fridge. First up, I cut a medium sized sweet potato in relatively small chunks, tossed them with olive oil, a drizzle of agave, cumin, cinnamon, chili powder, sea salt, and pepper, placed them on an aluminum foil-lined baking pan, and roasted them for about 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven, flipping them halfway through. They came out perfectly tender, sweet, and moist, just how I like ‘em. I put them aside, and started to work on the wheatberry portion of the salad. I had already soaked 1/3 cup dry wheatberries and cooked them off for about 50 minutes, so my job was basically done! All I did was toss the cooked wheatberries with 1/2 thinly sliced granny smith apple, about 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 diced red onion, and a bit of minced parsley. I dressed the salad with a spoonful of my homemade sweet and spicy dressing which contained- nayonaise, bone suckin’ mustard, a squirt of whole grain dijon, apple juice, rice vinegar, sea salt, and pepper. I laid the wheatberry mixture on a bed of arugula, topped it with the roasted sweet potato chunks, and sprinkled the entire thing with roasted pecans. My GOD, was this amazing! I loved the contrasting textures, of the crunchy apple, chewy wheatberries, and soft sweet potato, as well did I appreciate the savory sweetness (I know, that doesn’t make much sense!) that permeated throughout the plate. My recipe made a HUGE salad, so I left over about 1/4 of it to snack on today at some point. This is the type of recipe that probably gets even better with age, so I’ll be looking forward to trying it today!

Although my salad was the size of my head, I was still in the mood for a sweet treat to end the night right. That’s when I though up this lovely union-

Coconut Yogurt and Dark Chocolate “Pudding” Parfait with fresh sliced Bananas, Strawberries, and cereal.

I had bought the new dark chocolate silken creations a week or so ago, and have yet to think up ways to incorporate it into my meals. I decided a parfait would be the perfect vehicle for it! I was a bit hesitant at first, so before I put it in my parfait I tried a spoonful of it. To my surprise, it was absolutely fantastic! It had the exact same taste and consistency of chocolate pudding, only better! It was definitely parfait material, so I went ahead and assembled the layers, alternating between a container of fage mixed with shredded coconut and sweetened with truvia, kashi golean, sliced bananas and sweet strawberries, and the silken creations! Not only was this dessert healthy enough to pass for breakfast, but managed to be incredibly indulgent tasting! I can’t wait to use it for other things in the future! Like a chocolate peanut butter pie.. mmm!

But no, the fun didn’t stop there! I also made a batch of some my favorite cookies ever-

Eat, Drink, and be Vegan’s Infamous Super-Charge Me Cookies

These will always be top contenders for my favorite homemade cookies, just by virtue of the fact that they pack in so many of my favorite ingredients in one small package- oatmeal, raisins, pecans, chocolate chips, coconut, AND almond butter! How can you go wrong? You simply can’t! Of course, I couldn’t help but sample one straight out of the oven. Divine.

Alright guys, I’m going to take advantage of the picture perfect weather and head out. I’ll see you all tonight at some point! I’ll leave you with this-