Dinner/ Exercise/ Fitness

Some Quick Pasta

ahh, it felt so good to relax this afternoon! After lunch I did some laundry then headed over to the gym for some strength training. When I got back I showered, made some blueberry tea and sat on the couch underneath a blanket and proceeded to read for about 2 hours. I snacked on some homemade trail mix while I read. I made the trail mix out of raw cashews, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and banana chips. Yum!

I was thinking today that I haven’t had pasta in a while. I LOVE pasta, and I just happened to have a package of my favorite ravioli in the freezer! This brand of ravioli is super yummy, vegan and organic. I usually eat about the entire package!!! The package claims to serve 2…but I find it serves only me quite well. I topped it with some whole foods organic pasta sauce and had a really tasty salad on the side. My new obsession is: Annie’s Woodstock Dressing!!!!!!!!!! Amazing!!!!! So much better than the gingerly one! I’m hooked 🙂

Okay–off to work!

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  • Erica
    February 23, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    Yum!! I have the butternut squash ravioli of the same brand! Seeing how great yours looks, I might just make that for dinner for myself tonight!

    I can’t imagine any dressing being better than the gingerly one, i’m in LOVE with it! But i might have to give this one a try!

  • Natalie
    February 23, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    I bought that ravioli at Whole Foods last week, (Butternut Squash flavor) and gagged. 🙁

  • ibex hk
    February 23, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    yum yum, I LOVE that brand of ravioli too!! good luck with work, sounds like you had a relaxing afternoon!

  • VeggieGirl
    February 23, 2008 at 10:37 pm

    Oooh, your trail mix sounds delicious – great combination of nuts, seeds, and fruit!

    I too love that brand of vegan ravioli – so full of flavor!

    Sounds like your Saturday has been quite relaxing, and enjoyable – hope your night is the same! :0)

  • Emily W.
    February 23, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    Does anyone have the infamous chocolate cookie recipe? I never got it before the recipes got deleted! Thanks

  • Romina
    February 23, 2008 at 10:39 pm

    Omigosh! Vegan ravioli? I have yet to find any. I’m super jealous. I thin I’ll just have to resort to making my own because I’m definitely craving some right now.

    I haven’t tried the woodstock dressing yet, but I checked the Annie’s website and it sounds super delicious. Maybe if I shop around a bit I’ll find it. Have you tried her Goddess dressing? It’s also amazing! I mix it up with some garbanzos, mash it all together and add some lemon and green onions… reminds me of tuna sandwiches. Delish.

  • Erica
    February 23, 2008 at 10:42 pm

    Aw Natalie, are you serious? Now i’m afraid to try it!!

  • Amy C.
    February 23, 2008 at 10:45 pm

    Emily W, here’s the link to the recipe. They’re so good and so easy to make! http://viveleveganrecipes.blogspot.com/search?q=chocolate+chip+cookie

    That ravioli looks so good! Pasta is the best. 😀

  • Kath
    February 23, 2008 at 11:22 pm

    Love that brand too!!! My favorite is the butternut squash 🙂

    What’s the Woodstock like?!

  • Erica
    February 23, 2008 at 11:26 pm

    So I just had the butternut squash ravioli, and i LOVED it! I can’t wait to try all the other varieties, I really enjoyed it!

  • Serena
    February 23, 2008 at 11:29 pm

    I have the roasted veggie at home right now – yum! I also like the one with hazelnuts and goat cheese, for any dairy eaters out there! yummm….

  • Natalie
    February 23, 2008 at 11:33 pm

    Erica, glad you liked it! I’m not accustomed to eating butternut squash…so maybe that was the reason in itself.

  • ana
    February 23, 2008 at 11:41 pm

    hey jenna! i saw you bought the oatmeal with flax that i’ve been eying at the grocery store but was too afraid to buy-have you or anyone tried it yet? let me how it tastes and how filling it is! (i’ve tried kath’s pb oatmeal, but i really just am not a fan-pb doesn’t taste very good to me-sticky and too thick) i love flax in my oatmeal, though and this looked like a good product, i was just skeptic as to the amount each packet would make. let me know! ^_^

  • ana
    February 23, 2008 at 11:43 pm

    *i meant hemp! sry! lol

  • Christie
    February 24, 2008 at 1:08 am

    ** Just wondering if anyone here can recomend a good pilates tape to get to do at home, i rememeber someone mentioned one but I was not sure what it was.

    Thanks!

  • Erica
    February 24, 2008 at 1:48 am

    hey guys, does anyone have some nice sandwich recipes using hummus? i bought some roasted red pepper hummus today and i don’t really know what to do with it! thanks!!

  • Matt
    February 24, 2008 at 1:49 am

    Hey Jenna,

    It’s been awhile since I’ve had the time to check your blog but the breads are looking really nice (especially that grouping of 4 french breads a few posts ago). One tip I’ll pass on that really helped me was lengthening my scoring. When I started out I thought the scoring was for decoration only, so I was dumbstruck when I realized how important it is for increasing volume. So I’ve started to make a rule that every part of the bread is affected by the score, which meant I had to direct them more parallel and less perpendicular to the length of the bread.

    What kind of yeast do y’all use? I still swear by instant yeast (when I’m not using sourdough) but I’ve never used cake yeast. I’d be happy to mail you some of my sourdough starter if you’d like, though at this point I don’t feel like I’ve completely gotten control of it and have had to add tiny amounts of instant yeast to make sure I get the rise I want – nothing more disappointing than unleavened bread.

    Thanks for the kind words on the new job, hope all is well.

  • Emily W.
    February 24, 2008 at 2:19 am

    Amy: Thanks!

    Has anyone tried to substitute applesauce for the oil in the chocolate chip cookie recipe?

    Erica: Try dipping carrots in roasted red pepper hummus~

  • Kelly
    February 24, 2008 at 2:36 am

    Christie- I would recommend any of the Stott Pilates DVD’s. They are very thorough and you can choose based on experience level.

    http://www.stottpilates.com/

    Enjoy!

  • Erica
    February 24, 2008 at 2:50 am

    Amy – Thanks for the suggestion 🙂

    I, in fact, have substituted the oil for applesauce, and my cookies came out quite delicious. I don’t know how much better they’d be with the oil, but my cookies were a hit.

  • Erica
    February 24, 2008 at 2:51 am

    Oops, I meant Emily.. sorry!

  • Brynn
    February 24, 2008 at 2:51 am

    I finally got to Whole Foods yesterday to get ingredients for the vegan chocolate chip cookies. Well, I made them today and they’re just as amazing as Jenna says! I don’t think I can make them again though because they’re too good. I have no control over cookies or brownies so I try not to make them. I have made the fudgy brownies from Vive Le Vegan though, and they are to die for!

  • Emily W.
    February 24, 2008 at 3:18 am

    Can’t wait to bake some! Thanks!

  • LT
    February 24, 2008 at 4:01 am

    Hey VeggieGirl I got some carob chips today at the store b/c you rave about carob…but mainly because they were a dollar cheaper per pound than chocolate chips! I was shocked..they were delicious! That’s not to say I’m going to EVER stop eating chocolate…I mean let’s get real…but I’ll definitely start using carob LOTS more!! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂

  • jenna
    February 24, 2008 at 4:14 am

    Matt,

    We usually only use fresh yeast at school. I believe the only time we used instant so far was when we made those wheat pitas a couple days ago. When I’m baking at home though I love instant! so easy and usually produces great results. I *think* next week is sourdough week and I am SO exited because I love sourdough but have never made my own before. I really don’t know the first thing about starters and am so excited to learn it all! I found out the hard way about the scoring—I did it just for looks then was flabbergasted when my bread opened up on the side because I hadn’t scored deep enough to let it release steam. Now I know better and cut deeper! We will have to compare starters once I get the hang of the sourdough thing next week!!

    oh and I am well aware there is nothing worse than unleavened bread—a couple days ago my bread died because the yeast hit the salt too quickly in the mixer. Completely and totally dead and flat. I was so upset and had to throw it all away!!

    Kath,

    If you like tahini you will love the dressing. It has tahini in it, as well as soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, tomato paste and canola oil. Its the best store-bought dressing I’ve tried so far and I’m really quite picky about my dressings. I usually prefer to make my own! You should def. give it a try!!! 🙂

    Romina,

    I have not tried that one! That might be next after I finish this bottle. Seriously this stuff is addicting though–I started dipping my carrots in it even before I made my salad tonight. it has tahini in it, which gives it a nice kick! Love it!

  • Kristin
    February 24, 2008 at 4:46 am

    About what proportions of each of the items in your trail mix did you use? I always want to make my own and never know how much to put in!

  • Jill
    February 24, 2008 at 5:33 am

    THE best, the best the best the best the best the best the best the best the best ravioli EVER.

  • Lori- the pleasantly plump vegan
    February 24, 2008 at 6:17 am

    i need to try those ravioli! and that dressing if you say it is so good.
    yr trail mix is beautiful!

  • Christie
    February 24, 2008 at 11:39 am

    **Kelly

    can you recomend a specific one, thank you so much for letting me know about this.. there is so many diff videos. I use to do winsor pilates and i am an avid runner so I want to include pilates into my work out 2 times a week.

    Thanks in advance

  • Kath
    February 24, 2008 at 11:57 am

    Jenna,

    Sounds like my kind of thing! I LOVE tahini. This little sandwich shop in the town I grew up in had a lemon tahini dressing that was out of this world. I’ll def. look for this guy. Thanks!

    K

  • Sarah
    February 24, 2008 at 12:20 pm

    Hi Jenna! I wanted to let you know I gave the vanilla hemp milk/ezekiel cereal/banana combo a try and LOVED it! 🙂 You’re right, it is really filling and very flavorful…I’m so happy to have found a new favorite hot cereal combination. 😀

    Thanks!

  • VeggieGirl
    February 24, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    **LT:

    So glad that you liked the carob chips!! It has such wonderful health properties, and a rich, smooth flavor. And hey, no need for you to give up chocolate – you can alternate between the two (or even combine them in recipes and such). :0)

  • Amy C.
    February 24, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    Erica, That’s a wonderful idea to sub in applesauce for the oil. I’m trying that with my next batch! 😀

  • jenna
    February 24, 2008 at 3:41 pm

    Kristin,

    I just buy a bunch of different things in the bulk bins….then when I get home, I mix it all together and scoop out 1/4 cup scoops into separate little baggies. I don’t measure or know the different proportions of the different nuts and fruits…just whatever I feel like and looks good!