Eggplant/Avocado/Mushroom Soup

Ok, so I was super hungry and felt like soup today, so I decided to take a leap of faith and try to create an eggplant soup. And it turned into an eggplant/avocado/mushroom soup ;) It turned out so yummy, I thought I'd share. Hope you like it.

What you will need:

- 1 large eggplant
- 1 avocado
- bunch of dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 or 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp earth balance
- 1 tsp thyme (or more if you want a bit more)
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp almond milk (or coconnut milk)
- olive oil (to taste)

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 400˚ fahrenheit. Cut eggplant in half and season with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Place eggplant in oven for 45 minutes. Once the eggplant is ready, remove from oven, and allow to cool down enough to handle.
On a separate pan, add the earth balance and the garlic. You can also add the avocado. Then peel the skin off the eggplant (or just scoop up the inside of the eggplant) and add this to the pan.
Next, add the vegetable broth and the mushrooms and allow to boil.
Once it is boiling, you may transfer contents to the blender until you acquire the consistence you desire for your soup. (I went a little less creamy today for some reason)

Hope you like it ;)

More Veggie "Tostada"

Hello all :) Ok, so I decided to try to make a veggie tostada with some hummus and a big rice cake. And it was incredibly delicious, so I thought I would share :) Bon Appetit

What you will need

-1 large frying pan
-1 or more (depending on how many tostadas you want to eat) big, plain rice cake
-Some hummus (we have been purchasing some pre-made hummus at Costco and it is so yum!)
-Handful of Daiya Cheese
-1 cup chopped zucchini
-1 cup frozen corn (unless you have fresh corn handy, which I didn't ;) )
-1/2 cup chopped brocolli
-1/2 cup chopped cauliflower
-1/2 cup chopped celery
-1/2 cup chopped chinese eggplant 
-1 tbsp earth balance
-1 to 2 cloves of garlic
-bunch dried celery and parsley
-salt to taste
-pepper to taste
-(optional) 1/2 lime juice
-(optional) dash of mixed spices

Add the corn until DE-thawed (if you used frozen corn). Then add the butter and the zucchini. Stir for about five minutes and then add the rest of the ingredients (except for the daiya cheese, hummus or rice cake obviously) and cook for about 15 minutes or until well cooked.
Then spread hummus over your "tostada" (rice cake) and add the mixed veggies and daiya cheese on top. :) Enjoy

Shaking it all off. Just an introspective statement

Ever feel like you are walking around carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders? Or simply lacking all focus, freedom, passion, joy, energy or life?

Yes, I think if we are honest, we can say we have all felt this way at one time or another in our lives. And lets face it, it is not pleasant.

Not only is it unpleasant to us, however, but to those around us. Because weather we realize it or not, our livers affect thousands of others on a daily basis. That lady a the grocery store who gave you a smile and found nothing in return, or the man who actually let you into his lane while you were driving only to meet with a glare in return for his kindness. The hug of a loved one, being received half heartedly because you simply are not all there. All these little things can make a world of difference for those around you, even the people you don’t know can be affected by your distance and indifference.

But, being human, we don’t always think about how our actions affect those around us first. Rather, we think, no we obsess on how every little detail of our day affects us, and no one else.

So we become angry and bitter. We start looking at the world and the people in it as our enemies. We judge harshly and we hold onto grudges as though they were precious diamonds. We develop insecurities and begin to see a distorted version of our selves staring back at us. And we begin to hate it all. We hate our selves, we hate the world and all living things in it and we become miserable.

It is sad we put our selves through this when all we really have to do is let go. But letting go is hard. Letting go means not being able to judge a random stranger, which also means, not being able to “save face” with our own darkness; it means the opposite, it means having to look our own darkness in the eyes and then saying, I accept and forgive you or even overcome everything you stand for, because my light shines brighter than your darkness.

Letting go means forgiving and forgetting all offenses, no matter how vile. Letting go means asking for forgiveness while expecting nothing in return (remembering that person may be identical to us, and may not be able to forgive our offenses)

Letting go means being open hearted, which also means we are vulnerable at all times.

Letting go means realizing we are all one and the same. Realizing that the pain one human being is enduring hundreds of thousands of miles away from me, is directly affecting my own life in ways we cannot even fathom.

Letting go means being truly alive, and that can be terrifying to many.

But wouldn’t you like to be able to wake up one morning and simply feel. Wouldn’t you like to know that you are free and that you are loved and that you can love to your maximum capacity with out bursting apart at the seams?

Wouldn’t you like to make a difference in the life of that one human being, hundreds of miles away from here? Wouldn’t you like to take his or her or their suffering away, knowing that their suffering is your suffering as well?

Wouldn’t you like to heal all wounds, harbor no resentment, and love unconditionally all the time so that you could greatly impact the lives of many?

I want this.

I want to shake it all off.

I want to be able to let go and be open to love, to life, to every single moment and every last breath I have while I am here.

I want to make a difference, however small (even it if means simply lending a smile to one who looks downtrodden, or giving a hug to those I love, and those I don’t)

I want to forgive and forget it all, because all this resentment I carry is not a pile of diamonds; it is a pile of misery, and trash. (to use kind words)

I want to be able to smile at myself and those around me when I feel like I am the ugliest human being alive.

I want to shake it all off!

And I am working on this every day of my life. Because it matters, because we all matter, and because life is exactly what we make it; and I do not intend to make it heavy and miserable, but free and open and meaningful.

So, on I go with my day, letting it all go, shaking it all off.

OM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI

Veggie Bake

Hello all :) Time for a new recipe! :)
Since it has been rainy, gloomy, and all around miserable the last few days, I decided a little comfort food was in order. But, since I spent the weekend eating sugary vegan cupcakes, I decided it was time to eat some HEALTHY comfort food. So I went to the store and bought a ton of veggies, and today, I concocted the following dish:

What you will need:
6 to 8 mushrooms chopped
1 yellow squash chopped
6 asparagus stalks chopped
a bunch of long-stemed white mushrooms whole, only remove the roots
juice of one lime
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsps earth balance
{Note: I used spices to taste, and didn't take an exact measure so all will be to taste}
Curry
Sea Salt
Garlic salt
Oregano
Sage
Dill
Chives

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Line an oven safe container with aluminum foil and add all ingredients. Then close aluminum foil (creating a little bubble for the veggies to steam under). Place dish in the oven and allow to cook for 30 to 40 minutes (until veggies are soft and tasty)
Done!

Enjoy everyone :)

Yummy Vegan Tacos

Ok so as you all know; I am Mexican, which means, I love Mexican food. No, I adore Mexican food haha. 

However, it has become increasingly annoying -as we go out to "Mexican" restaurants- for me to find something on the menu that I can actually eat. And if anyone says the words "spinach enchiladas" to me one more time, I will scream.... but I digress... We have been lucky to find some places in Houston with decent vegan options but today, I have outdone them all with my extremely yummy vegan tacos ; ) so I simply had to share this recipe before I forgot just how I made it. 

Hope you like it as much as I did.

5 to 6 mushrooms, chopped length wise


1\2 (for one person) cup nopales


2 corn tortillas 

A handful of eggplant chopped length wise


Handful of sliced carrots


As much salsa verde and salsa as you'd like


1 lime


Salt to taste


2 stems of asparagus (chopped)


A handful of cilantro


1/2 an avocado

Add nopales to your pan and cook on high heat for about five minutes, then add all remaining ingredients except for one half of the lemon and the salsas.

Heat tortillas separately while the stuffing for your tacos cooks. (Should be about seven minutes for the tortillas and about ten for the stuffing)

Once everything is cooked, stuff your tortillas, add the remaining lime juice, avocado and salsas and enjoy :)