A most unusual breakfast…Oat Bran Almond Butter Waffles
So I read on a blog last week, I can’t remember which one…I apologize, about someone who made oatmeal or oat bran then broke a waffle up into their bowl of oats. Well…that inspired me this morning. I wanted waffles, but I didn’t have any bananas to slice on top. My creation was toasted waffles, spread with almond butter, and then oat bran on top. I put about 1/6 cup of oat bran and 1/3 cup of water in the microwave. That’s all the oat bran I had left!! When it came out done, I mixed in cinnamon and nutmeg. After I placed the oat bran on top of the waffles, I drizzled them with warm agave nectar. YUM!!! This was such a satisfying and delicious breakfast!
And to keep things funky today…I had an interesting, and new, afternoon snack! I needed a substantial snack, as Eric and I are going to a Bikram yoga class this evening and dinner will be later than usual. Apple slices, dunked in almond butter, and then rolled in Nutlettes cereal (which is 100% soy protein). I’m good to go now!! 
Random pics
My recent favorite breakfast (that I even had today too) is Nature’s Path organic flax waffles (2 of them) smothered with almond butter and manuka honey and then layered with slices of yummy ripe bananas. This breakfast makes me feel on top of the world!! It doesn’t get much better than this. 
This was an interesting breakfast creation. So I really wanted CCV’s Banana Bread Blender Cereal, but I didn’t have any frozen bananas. Therefore I had to improvise. I used frozen strawberries instead. I was really wanting the cold, creamy cereal that I usually get when I make this. The strawberries gave me that, but it wasn’t as yummy. I think strawberries are more water based, so my cereal ended up tasting a bit bland and watery. The banana usually makes it creamy and rich tasting too. It was ok though. It wasn’t bad enough for me to throw away and make something else, but I don’t think I’ll make it again.
Roly Poly ultimate veggie sandwich that I got to-go. Once home I added some grilled tofu and liberal amounts of yellow mustard and vegan mayo. This is our usual Saturday lunch. Yum!!
Eric came to school for lunch, and instead of him bringing lunch to me, I packed us a picnic. We had sandwiches made with the cranberry and stuffing Tofurkey slices. This is the first time we’ve tried it. I thought they were great!! Like the package recommends, I put cream cheese, cranberry sauce, and lettuce on the bread with it. It tasted like the holidays!
This was a very hearty lunch that kept me satisfied all the way to dinner. I put a serving of brown rice in the bowl and then poured the soup on top. The avocado piece on top was a lovely complement. A favorite lunch dessert of mine is endangered species chocolate.
The rest of the week…
I mainly ate the same cereal for breakfast every day this week that I previously blogged about. Except for Thursday morning, when I decided to indulge on almond butter, banana waffles. The best!!!!
For lunch on Thursday also, Eric brought me Quizno’s. I got a small veggie sub with no cheese, no dressing, add mustard, and on wheat bread. I also brought a couple of grilled slices of tofu from home to throw on it too (I know I’m a BIG dork). It occurred to me that morning that my Quizno’s sandwich could be extra delicious with some tofu. And boy was it!! Man…tofu, guacamole, pickles, and banana peppers…I was in heaven.
‘I was feeling a little lazy Wednesday night. After a meeting after school, a long private tutoring session, an hour long run/walk, I was ready for an easy and quick meal. Amy’s vegan pot pie to the rescue! I haven’t bought or had one of these in forever. I was really grateful I bought it on my last rendezvous at Whole Foods though. With a little broc and carrot on the side, it was enough to make my belly full and my mood smiley.
Thursday night was stir-fry night. You know…when you throw everything into the pan in your kitchen/refrigerator that even could possibly work in a stir-fry. I had tofu, carrots, broccoli, red onions, and a wee bit of okra. I cooked it with water, Bragg’s, and added in a bit of nutritional yeast at the end….YUM! The grain is whole wheat couscous. When I sat down to eat, I had a few bites. Although it was pretty tasty, I remembered I had some leftover refried beans in the fridge that would go great with everything on my plate. I quickly hopped up, nuked the beans, and added those to my dinner plate. Dinner made even better!!
Dessert was a wee slice of strudel (heated up) with some vegan ice cream.
Repeated Breakfasts
Breakfast has been a lot of the same. This doesn’t mean it hasn’t been delicious though. The morning food will be more varied after today though. I went to Whole Foods after work and picked up oat bran hot cereal (which is a first for me….thanks CCV for the recommendation) and some yummy granola cereal. I also got some Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk because I was a teansy bit bored with the Vitasoy Lite Plus. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but everyone needs a little change now and again. You can look forward to pretty pictures of the new breakfast stuff! But for now…. I was inspired this week by Lauren to make good old frozen, wheat-free, flax waffles with earth balance margarine and maple syrup. I woke up one morning and had already poured some cereal into a bowl. I got side tracked and was reading her blog. The yummy waffles she had posted about made me quickly change my plan. Cereal went back in the box and waffles into the toaster. After the first bite smothered in hot syrup hit my mouth, I knew I had made the correct switch. Sooooo good and absolutely hit the spot. It was a proper Sunday morning breakfast!! You see the agave syrup in the picture as well because I only had a little bit of maple syrup left. When I ran out, I ate the rest with agave.
I ate a lot of Uncle Sam’s toasted wheat flakes this week with raspberries. I’ve been craving blueberries so badly, but the prices have gone up again. Today they were $5.99 for this wee little thing (I think it was a 1/2 pint). Of course, I have to have a spoonful of almond butter, my favorite all time food right now.
Breakfast Time
I absolutely adore the day’s first meal, but I often rotate the same foods. Here are things I frequently eat in the morning. First picture is of Banana Bread Blender Cereal from CCV’s blog. I first started making this last spring when Katie first posted this recipe on her blog and have been a fan of it ever since. I’ve told co-workers who now eat it too!
Steel cut oatmeal with soymilk and dried prunes. I love prunes!! (I know I’m weird. Thank you.)
More waffles!! I have waffles at least two times a week. They make me happy, the ultimate comfort food. I made one with almond butter and jelly, and one with almond butter and agave nectar. YUM!
Whole wheat flakes and flaxseed Uncle Sam cereal with fresh blueberries (on sale at Whole Foods) and soymilk. This wins my favorite breakfast of the week award. The blueberries were perfectly ripe and juicy.
Another day in the food life of me (and my family)…
Almond butter waffles make another appearance this week. This time with bananas on top. Drizzled in agave nectar, they were the perfect start to my Thursday.
Mom and I hopped on over to Whole Foods for a lovely, yummy lunch together. We invaded the salad bar. Look at all the yumminess on that plate! Most memorable was the beets, cilantro tofu, curried sweet potatoes, and the dolma. I also had a wee bowl of black bean soup and Lime Perrier to drink.
Madre and me at lunch. Love you Mom!
Dinner tonight was Fettuccine Alfreda (p. 142 in Vegan with a Vengeance). This is really the most awesome recipe. I’ve probably made this sauce half a dozen times. I roasted brussel sprouts in the oven at 430 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes. We like them a little burned and crispy. I sprayed them with a little Pam, fresh black pepper, and Maine Coast organic kelp granules (my favorite low sodium salt alternative) before going in the oven. I think I learned about this product from the amazing vegan cookbook author Dreena Burton. After the brussel sprouts came out of the oven, I baptized them with half of a lemon. Yum! On the side was a mix of every frozen vegetable I had left in my freezer: broccoli, corn, and fava beans. Time to go shopping.
We LOVE a good cookie around these parts. These Super-Charge Me! Cookies from Dreena Burton’s cookbook, Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan, get my vote for all-time favorite vegan cookie. They are so versatile. I have made them several ways. If you’re out of maple syrup, you can sub in agave nectar to make a chewier version. Tonight’s Super-Charge Me! Cookies were made with maple syrup, almond butter, and chocolate chips (along with the oatmeal, and other regular ingredients). The fam wasn’t in the mood for nuts or raisins in their cookies tonight, so I left those babies out. Maybe they’ll make it in the next batch.
Favorite Breakfast
This is my all time favorite breakfast. Nothing is better than piping hot waffles smothered in almond butter and drizzled with agave nectar. Unless of course you have a ripe banana to slice on top. Pure food bliss! I usually buy Van’s original, wheat free, gluten free waffles. I don’t own a waffle maker yet, but I hope to start making my own waffles soon. Stay posted! Frozen ones will have to do for now because I clearly have a love affair with these things. Every morning I have a cup of hot herbal tea. Today’s tea was organic nettle leaf. Never heard of it before? Me either! Last year when living in Scotland, I read a lot about the health and digestive benefits of this particular tea. I used to buy it all the time in Glasgow in the most charming wee (and I do mean small) grocery store called Roots and Fruits.
Lunch today was made up of leftover components from last night’s dinner (refried beans, broccoli, corn) stuffed in two blue corn tortillas. I poured a wee bit of Bragg’s and vegan worcestershire sauce on them to flavor it up. Paired with a nice side salad, it made a lovely lunch. Dessert was the same as yesterday, half of Eric’s blueberry cookie (which he left uneaten in the biscuit tin…anything is free game in the cookie jar…right?!) with ice cream.
My sweet mom flew in today to spend the week with us. I thought I would give her a proper welcoming by whipping up a delicious vegan meal. On the menu was Falafel (p. 98 from VWaV) with tahini dressing (p. 121). Eric LOVES falafel, but is quite picky about it, so I was a bit nervous to see what he would think. Everyone loved it (including my lovely sister-in-law Ashleigh, who was also over)! It was such a yummy dinner…I mean… how can you not like a homemade pita stuffed with crunchy falafel, crisp lettuce, red onions, cuccumbers, tomatoes, and drizzeled with a zesty tahini dressing?! Thank you Vegan Dad for the pita recipe. I would be remiss though if I didn’t tell you that this meal was A LOT of work. Buying pita bread would have made it easier. They seemed to love the pita bread, and it did have a great homemade bread taste to it, but again just a warning, it was quite time consuming.
Dessert was the recipe from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen’s latest post, Blackberry-Lime Tartlets. Except when I went to Whole Foods, they didn’t have any blackberries, so I made Raspberry-Lime Tartlets instead. Delish!! These were so super easy, yet so elegant. They probably thought I slaved away in the kitchen for hours on these babies.
