MORNING

if you follow my new twitter (which you totally should) you will have heard this girl woke up 7 am in the morning on her day off. to say i hate mornings is an understatement. the only reason i woke up was simply because it was too quiet in the house.

once i get my sad self up from my bed of comfort i actually enjoy starting my day early because there simply is not enough hours to get everything done.

this was breakfast:

i first took my ezekiel bread and spread some firm coconut oil on top as a spread, then sliced avocados, chopped up green onions, red pepper flakes, pinch of salt and squeezed lemon juice on top.

the cocoa pudding i made night before for breakfast, which my sister and mom love, so i made enough for three.
it included:

• coconut milk
• tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• some nutmeg
• 2 tbsp of chia seeds

after breakfast i took my dog on his/mine morning walk! it was splendid since i was up before the park got crowded and seriously not a single soul in sight.

 

^^^ THRIFTED SWEATER<3 

then i biked to my best friends house, where we walked to get a card, drop off a redbox and print at the library it was quite the walking for some mundane errands. i encourage you all to get errands done with biking and walking because you totally kill two birds with one stone that way. i think the key is to be very concious of beneficial opportunities when it comes to exercise. remember daily activity's count as exercise! walking, gardening, mowing, painting etc. just keep moving.

                                     ^^^ enjoying some SUNSHINE while biking : ) hello vitamin D!

as soon as i got back i needed a giant smoothie:

• coconut milk
• handful kale and spinach
• 1 mango
• half cucumber
• fresh ginger
• frozen raspberries 

^it was all blended into a green smoothie that REALLY tasted like cucumbers for some reason so i was not in love. it needed a sweeter fruit so i added some sweetener and it was just fine :)

 i was hot & thirsty so it was downed eventually.

fried avocado tacos with homemade tortillas and refried beans

today for dinner i decided to finally make fried avocado tacos and used about four different recipes to make a vegan version and all from scratch! this is very tasty and simple. you will most likely have left overs so there's your lunch next few days!

 homemade flour tortillas makes about 13-15

 ingredients:

•  4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 cup oil (go with coconut!)
• 1 1/2 cups cold water

how to:

1. place all dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together until they mix well. add oil and stir. then add your water is 1/2 cup increments, stirring or mixing with your hands after each 1/2 cup of water. knead gently for a minute or so after you have added all the water. let the dough rest for 10 minutes in room temperature.

 2. lightly flour your surface and rolling pin. pinch off a piece from the dough no larger than your palm and roll it into a ball. use the pin to roll as thin as possible.
 3. place rolled dough onto a hot ungreased cast iron griddle (or something similar). allow it to lightly brown on both sides. i rolled out the next dough ball while the previous is cooking
4. repeat until all your balls are rolled out flat and cooked

homemade refried beans

* i halfed this recipe since it was my first time making it. it turned out really tasty so i would definitely make the entire amount next time and just freeze the left overs.

ingredients:

• 4 cups black beans (original recipe says pinto, and i used canned beans not dry)
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 5 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• water, as needed; especially if your beans are without liquid

how to:

1. in a pot or saucepan, saute the onions in the coconut oil until soft and translucent
2. add the minced garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes
3. add you rinced beans and little bit of water; and adding more as needed so it is not too dry
4. stir in the cumin, paprika, salt, chili powder, and black pepper
5.  bring to a slow simmer and allow it all to cook on low heat for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally
6. once the flavors have absorbed and the beans are soft, mash them with a potato masher or fork; up to you how chunky or smooth you prefer your beans

 pico de gallo topping

• 2 tomatoes
• green onions [or yellow/red onion if you prefer]
• 1 jalapeno [optional, i did not use this]
• cilantro
• garlic
• salt
• lime juice

how to:

1. prepare all ingredients and mix it all together in a bowl. serve with the tacos as a topping

 *feel free to adjust and add as much or little of any ingredients for your taco toppings

go here for a ranch dressing! i did not make this today but would be a great sauce for the tacos.

frying avocados

not going to lie...i had the worst time finding a recipe that was vegan for frying avocados since you normally would use eggs. one recipe that actually was vegan turned out terribly and did not coat the avocado slices well at all. so after looking at several recipes, vegan and not, i decided to just use my trusty unsweetened applesauce as an egg substitute and it seemed to work pretty decently! and no, it did not taste like applesauce at all once they were fried. i am definitely going to try and find a better vegan recipe for frying avocados (and if you know of any methods please let me know).

ingredients

• 5 avocados pitted and sliced
• apple sauce
• bread crumbs
• flour
• oil for frying

how to:

1. get three small plates for each of the 3 ingredients you will dip your avocados into. 
2. first take your avocado and dip it into the flour, then the applesauce, and then the bread crumbs. it is helpful to have two or three people total with each doing a station so your hands don't contaminate the plates (just speaking from a very very messy experience!)
3. repeat with all slices of avocado and once you have finished then slowly drop them into a deep pan with about 1/2 inch of heated oil over medium heat. turn over the slices once they are golden brown, it shouldn't take more than 1-2 minutes each side so watch them carefully.
4. scoop the fried slices onto a plate with a paper towel. continue until finished with all.

toppings

another topping i used was baby spinach leaves. other options include: lettuce, vegan sour cream, vegan cheese or any other veggies you enjoy.