A few things I've eaten recently.

Ladies and Gents, I have an announcement! Las Vegas has a VEGAN DONUT SHOP!!! Of all the things to have a donut shop? I don't want to sound like a complainer but it just seems odd to me. However, I hadn't had a donut in YEARS, so I decided to give it a try. Magda came over and we headed to Ronald's Donuts. It's really cool. There are 3 rows of donuts in the case and the top 2 rows are 100% vegan. I played Eenie Meenie and picked a dozen because I have plenty of people to share with. I'm not going to lie, I ate like 4 of them.

Here we have homemade trail mix. I had a bunch of different bags of snacks in the cupboard so I tossed them together. Old fashion rolled oats, raisins, peanuts, shaved coconut, chopped pistachios (very small amount. I only see a piece of one in this picture) and ground flax seed. One day last week I ended up pouring some soy milk over it because I was out of cereal. Worked out very well.

Strawberry sorbet. It has been gettin much hotter out lately and I usually try to have as many cold, healthy treats as possible.

Another falafel trip. Paymon's is where it's at! Here we have the hummus:

The warm, fluffy, delicious pita bread that comes with it:

And, YES, another falafel. Yes it is an addiction. No, i will not give it up!

I had made a gigantic pot of red beans about a month ago and froze a good portion of it. i forgot it was in the freezer! So, since I have been a little on the broke side lately I pulled it out and defrosted it. 'll be able to have this for dinner for a few days. No complaints either because they are SO GOOD! It is always best to use dry beans and cook them yourself. They always come out better.

And because I am my mother's child... I sometimes add ketchup to my red beans. Sounds strange? Try it. She has done this for as long as I can remember.

A salad for lunch. From the bottom up: Shredded (longwise) zucchini, Super Firm tofu, Organic Flax Tempeh, sesame seeds. The dressing I used was a mixture of Rice Vinegar, Agave Nectar, salt and coriander.

Finally, a girls day!

Yes, I am one of those gals who has mainly all male friends. It's not that I chose for it to be that way. I just stay close to who I connect with and I guess I don't connect well with too many women. I have very few female friends and the few that I do have I don't see too often. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys and I wouldn't trade them for anything but sometimes you just need a day with the girls. Yesterday was that day for me and it was great!

I didn't have to work until 6 p.m. and I didn't know what to do with my day. I hadn't seen my friend Magda in a while so I contacted her to see if she wanted to hang out. Luckily she was off yesterday and we had a day of shopping around, lunch & laughter.

LUNCH!!! I am an absolute sucker for Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe Falafel. It is quite possibly my favorite thing to eat. Magda had never been there and I felt it was necessary for her to try it out. We both ordered the falafel, only I made mine a Falamus. (Falamus = Falafel w/ hummus poured all over it. SO AMAZING!) Here are some pictures of lunch.

My Falamus. Look at that lovely hummus:


After the first 3 BIG bites:

Let me also say that you CAN NOT go to Paymon's and NOT get the Athen's Fries. They truly are a thing of beauty. The best fries I have ever had. Period.

Close up of the Heaven in potato form:

The last time I went to Paymon's I purchased a container of Athen's Fries Seasoning. One of the best purchases I've ever made!

What a great day.

Falafel

So, I was at work and Zach was talking about an amazing falafel he had. Here's how the rest of that conversation that conversation went:

ME: (calling back to him as I'm leaving the music department) Hmm.. I've never had a falafel.
ZACH: GET BACK HERE!! What did you just say?!
ME: (walking back over to him) I've never had a falafel?
ZACH: (angry silence) You're a vegetarian and you've never eaten a falafel?!?!

I explained to him that it's not that I WOULDN'T eat a falafel, I've just never had one. Then, this followed:

ME: Hmm.. I'll have to try that.
ZACH: You better!!!!!!!

(Right: Falafal mixture + water)

So, seeing as that conversation was one of many I've had with him that stuck out in my mind, I decided to have myself a falafel! SO!!! I went to the Whole Foods by my house and while I was there I picked up some falafel mix. When I got home I was really eager to make it.

WHAT YOU NEED:
-Falafel mix
-water
-diced tomatoes
-chopped lettuce (I used red leaf lettuce)
-tahini mixture (this is optional and there should be a recipe for that on the box)
-your favorite kind of pita bread

The easiest part about store bought falafel mix is that all you have to do is add water! Any fool could do that! And since my mama didn't raise no fool... you get the point. I enjoy easy foods because I have little time to spend on cooking. I also was kinda iffy about having to fry them. I haven't had hardly any fried food in about 5 months so I was afraid it would hit my stomach wrong. BUT!, everything turned out ok!

I chopped up some tomatoes, lettuce and mixed together a Tahini sauce. I'm not big on tahini but it actually goes well with the falafel! I assembled them onto a whole wheat pita and BOOM! MY FIRST FALAFEL EVER!!!!!(eating and making one.) And, it tasted pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

I probably won't have these very often because they are fried. These will be more like a reward dinner or something.

The up close view: