Aldi Haul & Stuff I Ate

Hey guys! I hope that all is well and that you all had a great weekend. Mine was pretty good and the perfect combination of productivity and relaxation as I tried to just rest my body during this flare. I'm feeling a bit better but the exhaustion is getting to me. On the plus side, I've been able the sleep a lot more which is definitely helpful.

I did get to Aldi as I had hoped and got a pretty great haul! I obviously had to share it with you so I have some pictures of that. I also took some pics of food I ate and I really wanted to share the lunch I had with my friend yesterday. It was so nice to see her and I'm so glad we were able to get together!

Up first I have the Aldi haul. I am going to put prices there so you can get an idea of the price as compared to regular stores.

Almond Milk ($2.29), Wheat Thins ($1.69), Green Pea Crisps ($1.39 for a pretty large bag), VEGAN CHOCOLATE FREAKING CAKE aka the reason I went in the first place ($7.49 - pricey for Aldi, average for vegan cake), 2x Chickenless patties ($3.29 each), Veggie Chips ($1.69), 2x garbanzo beans ($.69 each), 2x Vegan Cream Cheese ($2.39 each), Vegan Mozzarella Shreds ($3.29).

Vine Tomatoes ($1.49), Zucchini ($1.69), Asparagus ($2.39), Bag o' mini potatoes ($3.89), Mushrooms ($1.09), Bag of pink lady apples ($3.69).

As you can see, some of the price are amazing and some are fairly average. The pricing on the vegan products are very good, particularly compared to name brands like Gardein. I heard that the cream cheese is basically like Tofutti and that is a great price for tofutti. Tofutti also happens to be my favorite vegan cream cheese so double win. That's why I picked up 2 of them. I also have only heard great things about chickenless patties which is why I picked up 2 of those. I've heard mixed reviews on the shreds so I only grabbed one of those.

We (I went with my mom) went first thing in the morning so when I got home I had breakfast and tried the cream cheese and it indeed was basically Tofutti. That was a great deal and I'm glad I picked up 2! The date on the container was really good so it should last me a while.

As I mentioned, I met up with my friend for lunch yesterday. There is a new vegan/vegetarian restaurant that opened fairly near me that I haven't yet had a chance to try. She was down for trying some veg food so we headed over to Zen Garden for lunch.

They have a prix fixed lunch menu that comes with an entree, soup and rice. I was torn between the hot and sour soup (typically my favorite soup) and the wonton. I chose the wonton soup because my meal was going to be spicy (supposedly, ha) and it was really light and delicious. I ate both wontons but left about half of the broth to save room for my meal!

For my entree I chose the Eggplant with "Chicken" in Garlic Sauce and subbed out the bell peppers for broccoli. It was DELICOUS!!! I came with rice and I chose white rice. The veggies were cooked perfectly, the soy chicken was amazing and the sauce was really great. It wasn't super spicy but it had enough of a kick that it was satisfying the spicy craving.

Despite being stuffed we were right across the street from my favorite bubble tea place so we popped over to grab a bubble tea! I got a medium (which is the smallest so it's funny that they call it a medium) peach pulp tea with 50% sweetness and boba. Such a great way to finish the meal.

We caught up and had a great time in general. I love hanging out with her and hopefully we can make it a more frequent occurrence. 

I wanted to have a lighter dinner that night so I made a snacks mediterranean plate. I had a few carrots, the last of my dolma, a small pink lady apple, some tomato and hummus. It was delicious.

I made another bento for lunch today and had to take a picture to share with you. I have the leftovers of my lunch yesterday and added my last giant honeycrisp apple and some raw almonds. I'll space all of this out over the course of the day but it all looks so good and I'm very excited to enjoy all of it.

Ok that's everything, finally! I feel like this post was really long but I hope you liked it! I'll be reviewing the Aldi's products as I try them so stay tuned for that! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that your week is great. I'll see you back here on Friday.

Random Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone!! I hope you are well. I am really excited because it is the day before my trip to Florida and the only day I am working this week. It is so close I can smell it. We have some really fun stuff planned and I just can't wait to see my bestie. The past few weeks have been really difficult for me so this break couldn't have come at a better time.

As I mentioned previously I did not go grocery shopping because I just didn't think it was necessary. I have a few random meals to share but not a ton. They were all good though so there is that. I am still going to post on Friday, and next week will be Florida wrap up week! I'm planning on doing a post on just what I ate there and a post on some of the stuff we did there. I can't wait to share it with you!

Anyway, let's check out some random meals:

Some chip crumbs and salsa. This was the bottom of the bag and difficult to dip but it was still tasty. I saved the actual crumbs because they will be great in a taco salad or a taco soup kind of situation.

We have a deli next door to where I work that makes actual deli food but has a ton of South American fare as well (the owners are from Venezuela). When I don't bring lunch and I need food I'll grab some rice, broccoli and some yucca. It is delicious.

Something I made a few times this week was the Aldi's baked teriyaki tofu with some roasted veggies and rice. It was very delicious and comes together so quickly.

So that's what I have for you today! I'm going to get a post ready for Friday and then I'll be back with the Florida wrap up posts next week! I hope that you all enjoy the rest of your week and I'll see you back here soon! 💜

H-Mart Haul & What I Ate In A Day

Hey everyone! I hope that you are doing well! It's Friday again, yay! I'm really excited because I went back to the gym today! It has been a goal for such a long time but I was worried about it because the last time I tried to go back it triggered a lot of Fibro pain and it kind of scared me away. This time I'm just being more aware of the workouts that I do and I'm going to try to avoid anything that tends to trigger pain (the bike definitely was a trigger, for example). Anyway, I'm really glad that I went and I'm hoping to turn this into a consistent habit so I can start getting back into shape and improving my fitness. Supposedly exercise is one of the best ways to manage Fibro symptoms so I guess we'll see!

Anyway, for today I have a small haul from H-Mart and a What I Ate In A Day type of post in one. I meal prepped this week so I've been eating the same stuff for the most part so it didn't make sense to take pics of the same meals every day. So this is an example of how I've been eating!

So here is my small H-Mart haul! I got the rice cakes (!!!), some scallions (for $.89 a bunch), gochujang (you guys, I read SO MANY LABELS!! Every other brand had chemicals and high fructose corn syrup. This was the cleanest brand I could find), some chili garlic sauce, firm tofu (stir fry) and soft tofu (I'm going to crumble that in with the rice cakes). I'm going to make the rice cakes this weekend, I can't wait to try!

I decided to use my favorite Monbento bento box to pack up my breakfast and lunch. For breakfast I have more of my apple crisp and yogurt (go with vanilla yogurt if you are going to use it for something like this - it's SO MUCH BETTER that the plain). For lunch I had some delicious stir fry (sauce made from low sodium tamari, a tiny bit of agave, chili garlic sauce, rice wine vinegar and a little cornstarch to thicken it up) with tofu, mushrooms, broccoli and asparagus with some jasmine rice. When I know I won't get to my fresh veggies in time I put them all in a container in the freezer and use them for stir fries. This is the combination I happened to have now. It was so good.

For snack I had a pear.

For dinner I had this delicious Mediterranean type plate with dolmas, carrot, cucumber tomato salad with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and some hummus. Another awesome meal.

My final snack was some cashews from the Israeli market that I posted about in my last post. All in all I'd say a really delicious day of meals and I'm doing well with not consuming a ton of processed food and chemicals. I'm aware that a few things like sauces have some preservatives in them but I'm cut out most of the packaged food and I'm really glad that I have.

So that is all I have for you today! I am hoping to do my shopping at Aldi's this weekend so maybe hopefully I'll have a haul for you on Tuesday! It kind of depends on the weather though. Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you next week!

Meal Prep and a Mini Lush Haul

Hey you guys! I hope that all is well and that you all had a great weekend. I had a really wonderful weekend and I am so excited to share what I did with you… on Friday! 😂 We went to the RISE of the Jack O'Lanterns last Saturday and I took tons of pictures to share but I thought it would be a great Fun Friday post for you guys. I am really excited to show you the amazing pumpkins that they had this year. I had THE BEST time, it is truly my favorite way to celebrate the Halloween season.

For today I still have some fun stuff to share. I did a lot of meal prep yesterday so I figured I'd show that to you along with a mini Lush haul! It has been so long since I've shopped at Lush but they just came out with a new product that I'm hoping will be really beneficial for me.

Anyway, here's all the stuff!

The first thing I made was the beautiful Apple Pecan Baked Oatmeal from Apples for CJ. It was so quick to put together, made the house smell amazing and is so so delicious! Definitely recommend!

Up next I just sautéed up some fajita veggies to have for burrito bowls and quesadillas. I made a mix of zucchini, onion and mushroom.

Last I made a stir fry and used the sauce from the Buddha's Delight Stir Fry from Dinner at the Zoo. I made my stir fry with tofu, onion, broccoli, zucchini, asparagus and mushrooms.

I had it for dinner last night and it was so delicious you guys. I just added a little brown rice to the bottom of the bowl and it was a quick, easy dinner.

As I mentioned above I found a new product from Lush that I really wanted to try. It is called Magic Crystals and it is a shower scrub. It has epsom salts, peppermint and menthol and is supposed to be great for achy muscles so I thought it would be really great if it really worked because it would be perfect to use during my Fibro flare ups. I also got a free tub of the Oatifix fresh face masks for finally returning the 5 empty pots that I've had forever (Lush is big into recycling guys!) and I asked for some samples of the solid mouthwash tabs. I'm really excited to try everything!

This was the description of the Magic Crystals Shower scrub. I'm really hoping that it works because it would be such a great thing to have. I was also concerned that it was part of their Halloween collection but it's permanent!

Finally, I just wanted to share my home screen on my phone because it is awesome. I'm sorry I can't share a source link, my friend sent me the image and I have no clue where she got it. If I can find it I will make sure to update it. I just love this picture so much, I feel like it is perfect for me!

So that's what I have for you today! I hope that you all have a wonderful week and definitely come back on Friday because I'm SO EXCITED to share my experience and RISE of the Jack O'Lanterns!

H-Mart Haul & Meal Prep

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all well and had a great weekend! Mine was sort of lazy and sort of productive but I guess that's how most of my weekends go. The pain has been pretty bad this week so I've been taking it easy and trying to do a little extra self care as well. I'm planning on starting to do some yoga in the evenings so I can get all relaxed and stretched out before bed. I found some really great videos geared toward people with chronic pain and illness so they are more gentle practices and that is exactly what I need. I'm looking forward to it. I may try to do yoga by candle light because I feel like it doesn't get much better than that!

Today I decided that I would focus a little on meal prep and also show you my latest H-Mart haul. I decided that I'm going to step up my ramen noodle game (there are plenty of gluten free ramen options, yay!) so I picked up a few things to get on that. I did a little meal prep for the week as well so I wanted to share that too!

So first up is my H-Mart haul. I grabbed some of that mushroom seasoning to make some broth (I will be using miso with it I think), some unsweetened original Almond Breeze for when I am ready to make that garlic sauce), some enoki mushrooms, green onion, baby bok choy and some soft tofu.

On Sunday I was not feeling great but I decided that I was going to make the gorgeous Chickpea Flour Mini Veggie Frittatas from The Mostly Vegan. I used spinach, mushrooms, broccoli and green onions and I used the Onion Salt from Trader Joe's instead of regular salt.

Aren't they beautiful?! They are delicious too you guys. I highly recommend this recipe! I have them in the freezer for a quick on the go breakfast.

The veggies I used were getting to their use by dates and I didn't know if I would use them in time so I packed them up and put them in the freezer to grab for a quick mid week stir fry. Looking at the picture I regret using the plastic bag but I will use a re-usable container next time. Anyway, the moral of the story is that I'm trying to limit my food waste by freezing any unused veggies before they go bad.

Finally, if you've been here a long time you'll know that I used to roast veggies to eat with my hummus/dolma plates. Since my favorite fresh tomatoes are out I decided I cook up my favorite veggie combo for this dish (minus the eggplant) and sautéed up some onion, zucchini and mushrooms. I'll reheat in the oven so it gets that roasted flavor and I promise you guys this is AMAZING with hummus and dolma and some lettuce (which I don't think I have… oops). 

Anyway, that is some of the prep that I did over the weekend and my amazing H-Mart haul. I love how affordable they are. That mushroom seasoning was the most expensive thing at $6.99 but when you think about it that is going to last so long. I think I read that it is good for three years so I imagine that it will go A LONG WAY and that makes the price tag so worth it to me.

What are some of the things you've been meal prepping lately? These veggies will also be amazing in burrito bowls with brown rice, black beans, corn and avocado. I think that it will end up being a staple for me :)

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! I'll be back on Friday to share some of the amazing meals I've been eating lately!

Grocery Haul and Stuff I Ate!

Hey you guys! I hope that all is well and that you enjoyed your weekend! I thoroughly enjoyed mine as I was able to relax a bit and I went out with a friend for bubble tea! It was definitely nice to catch up so I'm glad that we were able to do that. Otherwise, things are moving along here. I have a classic Tuesday post for you consisting of a grocery haul and some stuff I ate (and drank!) and I have some pretty great stuff to share!

So for my produce haul from Trader Joe's: Butter Lettuce, Baby Spinach, plums, avocado, baby carrots and asparagus.

Random grocery section stuff: Restaurant style tortilla chips (thanks for reminding me of these Vegan Peace!), Tempura Cauliflower, Sourdough Bread, Waffles and chocolate chips.

Here are a few drinks I enjoyed!!

I rarely ever drink Starbucks anymore but after the trip to Trader Joe's I decided to have a Treat Yo Self moment. I got an iced tall, decaf, soy hazelnut latte. I feel like such a pain in the ass ordering it.

Yaaaaaaaaasssssssss bubble tea! My standard peach pulp tea with 50% sweetness and boba.

And some meals:

I felt like having some veggies in garlic sauce so I got some veggies in garlic sauce. This was broccoli and eggplant with some rice. It was good, cheap ($5.00ish) and lasted two meals. Can't go wrong.

Some of the Trader Joe's waffles with syrup. Yes, I have to fill every hole with syrup and yes it bothers me that there is one that isn't full in the one on the right.

Spinach and "feta" pinwheels with fruit for a quick, easy dinner.

And here I am at the height of indecision. I decided to just have a little of column A and a little of column B because I couldn't decide. So, I have some vegan chick'n caesar salad and some of the tortilla chips and salsa. And it was freaking awesome and I'm glad I couldn't decide! 😂

So that's all for today! I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you back here on Friday 💜

Grocery Haul, Meal Prep and Meals... Oh My!

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing well, had a great weekend and are staying cool. I really enjoyed this weekend as I was able to see one of my best friends for the first time since December. We've been friends for almost 20 years and she is one of my favorite people on earth and I miss her all the time. We were also joined by her husband who is also wonderful and we had a great time. I'll share a little more on this later.

Today's post has a lot going on! Of course I have my (small) Trader Joe's grocery haul to share. I also got some meal prep done as well as some meals I ate over the past week to share with you. I also have the delicious meal I enjoyed with my friends to share as well.

Let's get into it!

First is the produce portion of my grocery haul. I got two bags of butter lettuce, some shredded carrots, asparagus, portabella mushroom caps, grape tomatoes, an avocado and an onion.

My grocery portion of the haul was quite small and contained two delicious treats: Crunchy Curls and Soy Creamy mini ice cream sandwiches.

Next up we have some minimal meal prep:

The timing could not have been more perfect to make these banana muffins. I have been craving banana muffins for a while and I happened to have some very ripe bananas that needed to be used so I got to work using my very favorite recipe: Chocolate Covered Katie's Fat Free Banana Bread recipe. Instead of strawberries I used walnuts and chocolate chips and I made them into muffins. Of course it can't be a Sarah muffin making experience without some sort of issue (seriously, why can't I just make a batch of muffins without incident?). This one was minor but I completely forgot that since these are fat free they would stick to the paper... seriously that's amateur hour on my part. Luckily it's not too bad and I was able to rescue my muffin from the paper (in a few pieces) but next time I'll just make the loaf like I normally would.

Of course I made a batch of my favorite pasta salad for the week. I usually get 3-4 servings from the batch (I usually use a half of a bag of pasta at a time and add tons of veggies) so lunches are pretty well set for the week.

And here is some stuff I ate:

Of course you know I have to have my watermelon!

This was a lazy yet delicious meal of mini Field Roast corn dogs with some roasted potatoes and obviously a lot of ketchup... because I love ketchup on everything.

A quick lunch of rice and beans and broccoli. Very delicious.

This was the amazing meal I enjoyed when I went out for lunch with my friends on Sunday! We had Thai food and I enjoyed this dish of spicy eggplant, tofu, broccoli, onion and green beans with a spring roll and some rice. So so delicious and the leftovers were devoured the next day.

We also went for some bubble tea and I had my usual Peach Pulp tea with boba. I thought I'd take a picture of the top before I punctured it with my straw because I thought it was so cute! You know I love my skulls so combine them with bubble tea and I'm a happy girl.

So there you have it! A little bit of everything to start off the week :) I hope that you all have a great week and I'll be back here on Friday with another post to welcome the weekend (well for you guys, not for me since I still work Saturdays). I hope that you are all enjoying your summer! What fun summer things have you been up to? 

Fun Friday: Self Care

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing well! Today's post will be a little different because it's not vegan centered per se but it is a topic that I do think is really important. As I've mentioned before, I deal with mental illness and have discovered how truly important self care is. I'm very guilty of not engaging in self care very often and as my plate becomes even more full I realize how important it is to take the time to relax and recharge and to do something for myself. I thought it would be good to discuss the idea of self care, some of my favorite forms of self care and I would love to hear what you do for self care!

As I've mentioned above, my plate has become pretty full. I have a full time job, run two blogs, and I'm currently in the process of starting a business (have I mentioned that here?). When I come home from work I go back to work. There are rare moments where I take time for myself but I don't do it nearly enough. It is currently something I'm working on and I'm trying to fit in more time to rest, relax and just take a moment away from the grind.

So, here are some of my favorite forms of self care!

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Quite possibly my single favorite form of self care is to completely unplug for a little bit. Even if it is just an hour I enjoy every second of that quiet time. This means no phone, no texts, no social media, no e-mail, NOTHING. It is my favorite form of quiet to be honest. As much as I love being connected to everyone I think we all need a break every now and then. In addition, I tend to pull random inspiration from random things so being connected means I'm constantly brainstorming and working. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but these sources of inspiration will still be there an hour or two later. So, if I can recommend one thing to you it would be to unplug for a little bit, enjoy the quiet and engage in your passions completely uninterrupted.

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Another one of my favorite things to do to take some time to myself is to just go for a drive. I definitely have to be in the mood for this since driving can cause a lot of anxiety for me but it is one of my favorite things to do when I just need to get out and away for a minute. I'm incredibly lucky to live so close to the North Shore of Long Island which boasts some of the most incredible scenery, history and property that I have ever seen. There is one spot that I have been going to since I was a teenager and it remains my number one place to go when I need some time to myself. It will turn my mood around without fail and driving also goes hand in hand with unplugging. I do not believe in talking on my phone (hands free or not) or texting (duh) while driving so being unplugged is a given. I highly recommend taking a ride when you feel like you need some time to yourself and to clear your head.

I mean we can't go through a self care post without mentioning that you should treat yo self to a great meal and/or dessert. It's not a matter of health or having a "cheat meal," it's a matter of sitting down to a favorite meal or treat and enjoying it. Healthy food is delicious and unhealthy food is delicious and your favorite meal or sweet can be healthy or unhealthy. The important thing is that it is your favorite thing and you should be able to enjoy your absolute favorite dish every once in a while. Some examples that I have shared above are a Rocky Road bar from the Sweet To Lick Bakery and the bottom is a mixed veggie Thai dish that I enjoyed with my friends around the holidays. Sometimes you just need to shed the "rules" and enjoy something because you want to enjoy it. I try to do this once a week. I also include my bubble tea in this section. I try to go every week in the summer and when I feel like it otherwise.

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Have a movie night! I specifically chose a movie night because it is the best way to truly lose yourself for a few hours and allow yourself to be part of another world. This is something that I'm actually planning to start and I'm hoping to do it once a week. I'm a Netflix kind of girl so I'll be staying home in my movie night and I think that the comfort of being home in PJs watching a movie is the perfect way to take a moment to yourself and a break from everything going on.

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When I was younger I was an avid reader. I would stay awake all night to finish a book and I would read book after book. I fell out of the habit as I got older but I've recently been putting my library card to work and I've gotten back into the hair of reading. The idea is similar to the movie night idea and you are able to escape and go to a different place for a while. It can also challenge you, provide comfort and take you on adventures you never could have imagined. I would highly recommend taking the unplugging advice as well and allowing yourself some uninterrupted reading time so you can really get into the story.

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Another form of self care that I love is to take a relaxing bath. Candles are great for enhancing the experience as well as scented bath products. Aromatherapy can be so helpful and so relaxing so to include that in your bath experience is really amazing. I think you definitely have to be a "bath person" to enjoy this but it can be one of the most relaxing experiences. I don't get to indulge in baths as often as I would like but I always love them when I do.

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The final form of self care the I practice all the time is journaling. I can say that journaling has been so helpful to me particularly in my mental health journey but also just in general. I feel better all around when I am consistent with my journaling and if I fall off course there is a major difference in how I feel. It is a really great way to get everything out and to let it go and move on and you are also taking the time to explore your thoughts and feelings in a way that you won't be able to when you are distracted. 

I hope that you enjoyed this post about self care. It was relevant because I am planning a self care night tonight because I really just need a few hours to recharge. I am planning on sharing what I did in my post on Tuesday!

Until then, please comment below what you love to do for self care! I would love to get a ton of ideas for people to be able to reference for their own self care.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 💜