The Foods Lurking Deep In Your Cupboards

Good morning!

Last night, I watched Monday night’s Gossip Girl and I am still in shock! Like this –> :shocked:

Eric and I are donating blood on Thursday so I have been kicking it into spinach overdrive…

We have been really low on groceries the past week, so it has forced me to make due with what we have!

Sometimes when I think we are low on food, that just means code word for ‘we are low on the foods that we eat 90% of the time’, but in reality there are things in the cupboard like beans or canned tomatoes that could make a wonderful meal! It just means getting a bit creative.

Black Eyed Peas are so disgustingly cute.

The camera really loves them!

I decided to use the peas as a base and build a soup around it with a can of tomatoes, a can of soup, and some spinach.

An odd mixture, I know!

The Amy’s Split Pea Soup is quite bland, so I figured it could blend into anything…

With some seasonings, olive oil, sea salt, and pepper, it turned into a decent soup!

It wasn’t the best soup I have ever made, but considering how easy it was, I’m not complaining.

Black Eyed Pea Soup

Ingredients:

• 1.25 cups uncooked black eyed peas
• 3-4 cups spinach
• 1 can Amy’s split pea soup
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tbsp chia seeds (optional)
• 3/4 tsp sea salt (add more if necessary)
• Ground black pepper

Directions: Cook black eyed peas according to package directions. While they are cooking, add the rest of the ingredients into a large pot and cook over low-medium heat. Stir well. When peas are almost done, rinse, drain, and add to soup. Cook on low for another 20 minutes or so. Serve and sprinkle with sesame seeds or another seed of your choice.

It was a good soup considering the random ingredients that went into it!

This glass mug from Crate and Barrel makes me insanely happy. I feel like I am having one big tea party with the Queen when I drink from it. :kissing: Does anyone have any fancy teacups they want to donate for Shop 4 A Cause 2? I would so bid on them!

Breakfast this morning was more green!

I decided this morning that I could not part with my beloved Banana Soft Serve Vegan Overnight Oats so I decided to layer the VOO with a green monster. This is similar to the Julie’s Green overnight oats I made a little while back, but this morning I made a few modifications.

I think the main problem I had with the last batch of green monster VOO was that the green monster was mixed fully into the oats, making green oats. I can’t really stomach green oats early in the morning even though I don’t mind drinking a tall glass of green. I work in mysterious ways. :alien:

This time I kept them separate until layering.

The other issue I had was that it tasted too green in the first batch. This time I made sure to use a bigger frozen banana and I added a dollop of maple syrup for delicious sweetness.

The result was much better! Still not 100% there, but I quite enjoyed this batch. I made a few modifications that I will note below.

Green Monster Vegan Overnight Oats

Green Monster:

• 1/3 cup almond milk (reduced liquid to make more of a soft serve texture!)
• 1 large frozen banana
• 1.5 cups spinach (cut down on the green a bit)
• 1/2-1 tbsp pure maple syrup (see note below)

Vegan Overnight Oats

• 1/3 cup oats
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsp Amazing Grass Chocolate Amazing Meal Powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: Combine Vegan Overnight Oat ingredients in a bowl and place in fridge overnight (or for 2 hours in the fridge if in a time crunch). In the morning, blend the green monster ingredients and then layer the green monster and VOO in a dish or glass.

I think next time I will make my reduced sugar syrup (1 tbsp pure maple syrup + 1/2 tbsp coconut oil) and drizzle it on top, instead of mixing in the maple syrup into the green monster. That way the taste doesn’t get lost as much and you get a taste of it in each spoonful.

I enjoyed breakfast with these beautiful birthday flowers that were delivered to me!

Thank you to my sister Kerrie for the birthday flowers! :biggrin:

Gorgeous!

Updates:

• Raw + Gluten-free Glo Bar announcement –>The new bar will go on sale Tuesday June 1st! Mark your calendars!
• Don’t forget tomorrow is the last day to get in your Shop 4 A Cause 2 submissions! I need about double the amount of items I currently have so please dig through your stuff and see what you can donate for a great cause. Every little bit counts! All proceeds will be going to cancer research!

Today’s question: What ‘staple items’ do you always tend to have in your cupboards? Are there any foods in your cupboards that you never eat but you leave them there anyways?

Staple items that can be found in my cupboards:

• Pasta
• Couscous
• Quinoa
• Beans
• Canned tomatoes
• Canned soup
• Nut butter
• Oats
• All kinds of bagged and loose leaf tea
• Tomato paste

To answer the second question, I am going to take a picture of the foods in my cupboards that we never eat- this will be my 1,000 words post this afternoon!

Have a wonderful day!