Nights of deliciousness

Once again I have lots to update here! A lot has happened since I tinkered around in my bloggie world on Monday afternoon. So, chop chop!

Monday evening I received a nice little surprise: a package! You all know how much I love getting packages in the mail. And so I was super excited when I saw that I had received the Buddha Bowls I ordered from Kath’s OpenSky shop. I’ve been seeing them popping up everywhere on Kath’s blog for her to put oatmeals in or make SIAB. So when I saw that she was giving her blog readers a discount, I jumped right in!

Lovely aren’t they?

Better yet, they came in these adorable boxes!

MONDAY DINNER

Happy with my surprises, I got to work on a Mediterranean fare. Of course I’m not just going to let the pita breads I made on Sunday be just another batch of bread forgotten in the freezer. Not after slaving away for hours in the kitchen that evening! So with the pita breads on hand, and this baby…

Mix with water…

…then broil for about 5 minutes on each side…

…you’d get falafels!

They look like cookies! They turned out kind of dry. Maybe because I baked instead of fried them? Not enough water when mixing? This box of falafel mix was actually from months and months ago. Recently I saw Brandi’s sweet potato falafels, and I think I’ll give them a try next time!

Continuing with dinner, on the side I prepped:

Finely chopped cucumber + Plain nonfat yogurt + dash of cumin + drizzle of honey = amazing yogurt dressing!

The feast. ❤ Mediterranean food!

TUESDAY BREAKFAST

The following morning, I put my Buddha bowl to good use.

SIAB! I started out making a banana-strawberry smoothie because I thought the pink color would complement better with the bowl and make prettier pictures. However, I couldn’t resist throwing in a cup full of frozen spinach into my smoothie and reblend them for a green monster. I really needed the extra energy boost that day! I topped my smoothie with sliced bananas and Swedish muesli that I got from Ikea.

Tuesday, 6/8, is also my boyfriend’s birthday! So what did I do?

First, I took the afternoon off from work (he thought I was in lab the entire day!).

I came home around noon, and fixed myself a quick and simple lunch, featuring leftovers from the mediterranean fare.

On a bed of arugula, I had sliced tomatoes, 1 hard boiled egg, 2 falafel patties, finely chopped cucumbers, all of that topped with generous amounts of the yogurt-cucumber dressing, homemade hummus, and salt & pepper. Can I hear someone yell delicious?!

With a satisfied tummy, I got to work on the Frozen Pink Cheesecake from Green Kitchen Stories that I knew it’d be the perfect birthday cake for Dmitri the moment I set my eyes on it. Dmitri is a cheesecake lover after all! 😀

All stirred up nicely with mascarpone and 9 parts ricotta + 1 part sour cream to sub for the quark. Poured onto the almond-date crust and ready to be frozen.

Well, all that stirring + mixing sure got me hungry! I made myself a veggie-galore snack plate with zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, more yogurt dressing, and a dollop of homemade hummus.

I felt like I needed some carbs since I didn’t get much for my lunch. So here came pumpkin cheesecake! Lol not really.

Half a toasted whole wheat bread, heaping spoonfuls of homemade pumpkin butter, topped with cottage cheese and muchos cinnamon + pumpkin pie spice. It was love at first bite for sure!

I’m really enjoying eating my homemade stuff (e.g., pumpkin butter, hummus, yogurt dressing, pita bread), because I know exactly what went into making those. No artificial ingredients, no preservatives, all freshly made. And doesn’t food just taste so much better when it’s homemade? Okay, so the hummus didn’t exactly turn out the way it was supposed to be, but I still ate them happily. Why? Because I made them. When you put a little love and effort in the kitchen, you’d get tasty results no matter what. It’s the same deal with traveling and living in grand hotels. However luxurious the beds, breakfasts, and bathrooms are in those hotels, nothing makes you happier than returning home to cozy up on your slightly shabby couch, or sleep on your a little creaky bed.

And that is why I continued with hand-made gifts for Dmitri’s birthday.

Hehehe coupons! 😀

And a store-bought card…:-P

His entire present set:

Annnnnnnnndddd…don’t forget the frozen pink cheesecake in the freezer! After ~2 hours…

Ta-daa! 🙂

The birthday boy enjoyed a large portion of Italian family-style dinner at Buca di Beppo, with the company of his friends.

And got a little brownie surprise from Buca di Beppo, while they sang & clapped away with their Buca di Beppo birthday song.

And of course, the night ended with more sweets from yours truly. The cheesecake actually turned out really good, and tasted more like strawberry ice cream cake than an actual cheesecake. They all raved about the almond crust, and how wonderfully creamy it was. Little did they know the cake was totally made out of all natural ingredients, and no sugar at all! SCORE!!!

After a night of cheesy ravioli’s, superb breaded eggplant parmesan, gnocchi in cream + garlic marinara, and butt loads of apple gorgonzola salad, a few bites of brownie + vanilla ice cream, and a generous slice of frozen pink cheesecake, my body was more than happy to be back to a normal, healthy eating routine. This morning, my tongue was still reminiscing the pink cheesecake from last night, and of course I gave my body what it craved: a healthified strawberry cheesecake.

I present to you…

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie!

This is very much like the strawberry yogurt dessert I made the other night. In the blender went:

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 frozen bananas
• 1/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup kefir
• 2 rounded Tbsp Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup soymilk
• 1/2 tsp xanthum gum

Blend, blend, blend, and you’ll get the perfect pink breakfast!

Lunch today was a repeat of yesterday’s lunch, finishing up the last bit of my cucumber yogurt dressing. I love that dressing! Did I say that already? Let me repeat…I ❤ cucumber yogurt dressing!!!

Returning home late from work meant getting dinner quickly on the table for devouring.

Roasted broc, zucchini, baked sweet potato rounds with cinnamon, and my leftover sandwich from lunch today. I got filled right up with my huge salad with falafels and tons of yogurt dressing, so I only ate half of that sandwich for lunch. The sandwich was again the pumpkin butter + cottage cheese + cinnamon + pumpkin spice combo. I popped it in the toaster oven while prepping my dinner, and the cottage cheese got all gooey and cheesy! I approve! 🙂

Anyways, off to do some laundry (I’m all out of underwear…)!

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+ What would you like to receive on your next birthday? My birthday is coming in 3 months! Hmm..this is a tough question for me. I gotta get back to you on that 😉

+ Do you like cheesecake? I used to hate cheesecake when I was little, but now they’re listed in one of my top five desserts of all times, along with tiramisu, apple crumble/cobbler, warm chocolate brownie, and creme brulee.