I hope your weekend is off to a good start. I ran a few errands including the post office. Boy, that place seemed especially like a zoo on a Saturday morning. And here I thought I was being smart and avoiding the crowds. Then I carried on to the grocery store and Trader Joe’s for more jam-packed fun.
After fighting the crowds and praying for parking karma After running errands, I came home and nibble on some strawberries. And polished off all the sale fruit. Darn.
I also fired up the oven and made Roasted Sweet Potato Fries
And decided that Raw Taco Nut “Meat”
for a Raw Taco Salad sounded good
I bring this taco “meat” to parties and always impress the meat eaters because it’s hearty, dense, full of flavor, and filling. And takes about 45 seconds to make.
Breakfast/Snack/Dessert: It would have been a good morning to make some banana bread, but I ran out of time for that because I was in the kitchen creating something else. But try a loaf of Peanut Butter Banana Bread (Vegan, GF)
Or if chocolate is more your thing, there’s always Raw Vegan Brownies
From my last post about What Caught My Eye This Week around the ‘sphere, I’m glad all that food looked good to you!
And it was interesting to hear what kinds of blogs you like to read, what keeps you going back for more, and any new-to-you blogs you’ve found and are enjoying.
Questions:
1. Do you plan your errands so you don’t have to run them on the weekends?
It’s hard for me to get everything done that I want to during the week, so am forced (along with most of the working world) to shop on weekends and deal with crowded stores. Plus, sometimes I just run out of produce or something comes up that I need to grab and I have to run out for it and can’t avoid weekend errands.
2. On my last post, it was all about great looking recipes I’ve seen. Have you ever tried a recipe you’ve seen in the ‘sphere and it was a failure?
I have. I sometimes wonder if the the author really tested the recipe or if their tasetebuds are just very different from mine. Or maybe I goofed and made it wrong, entirely possible, of course.
Some things I see and know, right off the bat, that would not be up my alley. Sometimes certain flavor combos don’t look good to me.
Other times it’s the ratios of flours + oils + lack of this or that ingredient, and I can almost “scientifically sense” that this recipe would be hard to successfully recreate or have it come together properly for me.
But other times, I think, mmmm, sounds great! And then I try it, and the recipe doesn’t come together or work out. Or, the taste isn’t up my alley. And I am a little bummed, but hey, onto the next meal and next recipe. As I said yesterday, there are so many amazing blogs with so many great recipes, just point and click on over to the next one I have bookmarked.
3. Best thing you’ve eaten or done so far this weekend?
I spent some time in the kitchen, spent time with Skylar, and got a great streamlined workout in!
Enjoy your weekend!
I have this love-hate thing with Mayonnaise and can’t figure out how to make it consistently awesome. Sometimes it is brilliant, thick and wonderful, and sometimes (using the same recipe and the same technique) it turns out thin and runny. I obviously have to time it with the correct phase of the moon or something…
Thank you for responding to my question about the chocolate covered oreo balls! I will definitely be making them with tofutti!
And yes, I have made recipes from blogs that completely failed. Total bummer. None of your recipes though! Your recipes always turn out super yummy :)
thanks lauren :)
I don’t mind running errands on the weekend, so that’s typically when I do them.
This recipe is looking absolutely delightful. Very nicely made and presented.
Oh I’ve definitely had an epic fail on a recipe. It was a cake I was making as a birthday cake, no less. Luckily the recipient was just as happy to have the broken cake in the form of a trifle, and I actually blogged about it as “When Life Hands You a Broken Cake, Make A Trifle Instead.”
I avoid grocery stores like the plague on the weekends, but sometimes things happen and I make a run into one. I do consistently hit up the farmer’s market on the weekends. I slip quickly in and out of there, so it’s all good.
Highlight of the weekend so far was getting to take some Yoga. Much-needed and I feel great (and grateFUL)! :-)
Oooh, raw taco salad! That looks amazing!
I try to do most of my errands during the week and on Friday nights (stores seem to be pretty empty then!) I like to have Sat and Sun available for nothing :)
I don’t think I’ve made any recipes that was a failure — there were recipes I didn’t really like (a stew recipe from someone– I don’t remember who! — a sweet potato/black bean chili that just tasted strange, and a few others). But I don’t consider them a failure, they just weren’t something I’d ever want to eat again!
Best thing I’ve eaten — I made some guac today that was FABULOUS. A Food Network recipe :)
I could basically drink ketchup too – it is my favorite thing EVERRR
Ditto! So glad there are others who like the stuff – I keep hearing “it has sugar” – so what! ;)
Recipe flops? Story of my life. I gave in tonight and just used a pre-mix. Whatever. It’s good.
I love that you make your sweet potato fries nice and big! I hate skinny sweet potato fries, lol. I like nice, big, thick wedges!
I always say I want to make every recipe I see on blogs, but in reality I’ve only made a few because I just never get around to… anything! :( So, I’ve been pretty successful, but haven’t had too many chances to fail, either. :P
I thought of you when I was making my “secret sauce” today: mayo + ketchup + relish. I thought of how you make your homemade dressings all the time, lol. I wish I could find a mayo made with a GOOD oil. Soybean oil isn’t that great. :? Still too scared to make my own, haha. I might try soon, though. :)
Oh, and I run errands randomly. No rhyme or reason. Sometimes we go shopping at 2:00am — my favorite time of day (night?) to shop!! Nobody in the store. :D
I have to do my errands on the weekend too because I have no time during the week, with school and work. And yes, the stores are crazy busy! It’s kind of annoying because you can barely move your shopping cart, there are always people in the way, but oh well, such is life. It’s funny because I used to kind of enjoy grocery shopping, taking my time and examining new products. Now I am short on time so I stick to my list and I try to rush through it, but because the store is so busy, it takes just as long as before!
I have experienced recipe failure, and I wonder if it is because I often tweak recipes. I don’t really follow recipes to a T and I guess the little things can make a big difference. But I’ll never stop tweaking things, I can’t help it, I’m not good at following recipes! I don’t like to be told what to do, I guess :)
im a tweaker too but i dont think it’s that…sometimes i think there are just some duds and fails!
I have a hard time making my food look beautiful. I make all these blog recipes, and they never look as good as they do on the blogs! photography geniuses…. but they seem to always taste as good!
it’s hard to make food look perfect and pretty on camera!
I have a ketchup addiction as well….my boyfriend is always amazed how fast a bottle goes!
Best eats this weekend were my enoki mushroom “noodles” holy-cow-wow.
I just picked up some strawberries and that just made my day. I try to plan my errands throughout the week when possible to cut down on running a million errands on the weekend. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. It’s great when it does though – more free time when you want it most.
If I run errands during the week, they literally have to be planned days in advance. As a college student, I have a full 24-hour schedule during the week. I don’t enjoy shopping as much as weekends just because it always seems more packed, stressful, and over-picked, but I do whatever it takes to work around my college lifestyle.
That banana bread looks so good… even in the blender! :D
Oh, yeah, I’ve made some recipes that make me think “What the heck was she smoking when she ate this?” Too much salt, too bland, etc. But you’ve never steered me wrong; I love all of your recipes that I’ve tried. (which is almost all of them!)
Had a great basketball game this morning; a dozen people braved the storm to make it to the gym only slightly soggy.
glad i never have steered you wrong either :)