Recently, I read this article called Dear Polly: “Why is everyone succeeding but me?” in NY Magazine and it hit the nail right on the head.

I have always felt that someone I know is always one step ahead of me or if I started something after me, they instantly became a pro at it while I struggled in the background. I know this all sounds so whiny but bear with me here. The person that wrote in to Dear Polly could have been me. It wasn’t but the things they wrote about easily apply to my life, especially about setting goals. I think it is great to have goals, something to aspire to. However, setting mini-goals like “I am going to go for a run everyday” or “I am going to start eating super healthy….tomorrow,” are the kind of goals I seem to make to distract myself from pursuing real life changing goals. Mini goals should be tools to pursuing your main goal, not crutches or distractions. 

I admit, I am terrified of pursuing these things out of fear of rejection and feeling unqualified or inadequate. It is easy get sucked into the trap of feeling comfortable, and that is where I am at. The restlessness I feel about not pursuing what I want is now too much to handle. Setting these mini-goals is great but what is it going to do for you long term? Is it distracting you from pursuing other things?

“It takes a lot of stops and starts to figure out what you’re really committed to and what you really love enough to work hard on without much reward in sight,” -Quoted from Dear Polly. 

I have had a lot of stops and starts in my life to figure out what I want to do and I still haven’t figured out all of them but that is ok. It means I started at all but I haven’t started those life changing ones- not yet anyways. I am giving myself this month to make the arrangements I need to make before starting my life changing goals. I need to write some emails, make some phone calls, polish up some documents, and then start. This is not another distraction but required steps I need to make in order to pursue what I want. I am tired of waiting for things to happen, I need to make them happen for myself. I have to stop comparing my journey to other people’s successes.

Comparative anxiety is so real to me and it makes me feel like trying new things isn’t always worth it since there are so many people who are so much better at the things I want to pursue. This is just that little voice telling me I am not good at anything, like somehow experts weren’t once beginners.

I hope you find the NY Magazine article inspiring or at least, comforting to know that others do not always feel successful. Ask yourself what you want to do. What is your main goal? What thoughtful steps can you take to pursue them?

5 recipes down, 25 more to go! See you tomorrow for Day 6: Recreation of a Restaurant Meal. Missed Day 4? Check it out here.

Stay connected on the daily by following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.  Made this recipe? I would love to see it! Use the hashtag #screcipe on your social media. 

Sweet Potato Sandwich w/ Sumac Miso Mayo

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Vegan MoFo Day 4: Sweet Potato Sandwich with Sumac Miso Mayo. A vegan sandwich does not have to suck. Sweet potatoes dressed with salty and earthy mayo.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Sandwich

Cuisine: Vegan

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• For the Sweet Potatoes:
• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon sumac
• For the Sumac-Miso Mayo:
• 3 tablespoons vegan mayo
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon white miso
• ½ teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
• ¼ teaspoon sumac
• Sandwich Toppings:
• 6 slices of your choice of bread
• Tomatoes, sliced
• Avocado
• Pea shoots
• Lettuce
• Sriracha

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Slice the sweet potatoes into about ½ inch coins with the skins left in tact. In a bowl, toss the sweet potato coins with oil, salt, and sumac. Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through cooking time. The potatoes should be soft but have some brown spots.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the mayo. In a small dish, add all the ingredients for the mayo and mix well until fully incorporated.
4. Spread the mayo onto the top slice of your bread of choice, I used grape spelt bread but sourdough would be good. Add sweet potatoes to the bottom slice and pile on your additional toppings. I used pea shoots and tomatoes.

3.3.3077

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This is for my mother, who taught me to love who I am and what I do,

Reading is my favourite thing to do beyond cooking, writing or photographing since books have been a wondrous habit of mine since I was young. My mom, a real champ about my book addiction, would stop at garage sales to look for new books for me, would fill out my order card for the book fair at school every year with at least three new books and we were frequent card users at our local library. She was a single parent for the majority of my life, worked two jobs to feed and clothe my sister and I but she never complained or questioned my need for books. Whenever we were at a family gathering and my social anxiety was at an all time high, she never pushed me to “go play with the other kids” since she knew I was most comfortable under a tree in the backyard reading a book. I had a bad habit of hiding in odd places to avoid my younger sister or cousins so I could read in peace. One of my favourite places to do this was the linen closet in the hallway. I would climb up the shelves, tuck myself in between the sheets or towels, turn on a battery-operated push light that my mom taped to the wall and read my book in a little space all to myself. It really freaked my mom out to see a small child’s head amongst the linen whenever she opened the closet. Her reactions were always very funny to me.

When I was eleven, I started reading the Harry Potter series and absolutely fell in love with the magical world, as I am sure all of us who read it did. Money was very tight during this time of my life but my mom, bless her heart, still bought me the newest Harry Potter books when they came out. She told me that there were worse things to spend money on than her daughter’s books and kept encouraging me to read. She hugged me when I sobbed over a character’s death and never once suggested that, “it wasn’t real,” even though I was sixteen when the seventh book came out. She knew that I was emotionally invested in the story and my feelings about it were very real to me. I will always appreciate her compassion. The Harry Potter series is still on my bookshelf, 17 years later, and I have refused to lend them out since they are my most special collection, thanks to my mom.

My sister and I played dress up quite often since we grew up with tinfoil covered rabbit-ear antennas and a VHS player that occasionally ate our beloved Disney tapes, we were left to entertain ourselves for the most part. For Halloween one year, I was Belle from Beauty and the Beast and I loved that bright golden dress with the matching gloves. I definitely pretended I was Belle and would hang out in the yard wearing that dress and reading a book. My mom never said anything about me wearing a Halloween costume in July but simply reminded me to bring out a blanket so I wouldn’t mess up my dress. 

My mother has helped me become a life-long reader and introduced me to my ultimate passion in life. She encouraged me to be myself, that odd book-reading kid who hides in the linen closest to catch up on her R.L. Stine and stood up for me whenever a family member questioned my desire of isolation. Sure, I was a weird kid that got really excited when I saw my mother carrying old dusty books in a grocery bag but she was more than happy to feed my addiction.

A special thanks to my mom for encouraging me to do the things that make me the happiest and allowing me to be myself, despite what others might think. Happy Mother’s Day to you.

Love, Jessica

This recipe is adapted from At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen: Celebrating the Art of Eating Well

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a *teeny* commission if you make a purchase using this link.

The post Mother’s Day Special: Roasted Tomato & Herb Quiche appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Five months ago, I published a post about my Champagne Birthday, styled by the wonderfully talented soon-to-be-mama Holly Bowman. In the post, I wrote down some goals I wanted to accomplish before my next birthday. A little recap:

Some major goals I have for this year are:

-Write and develop an e-book   (To receive your FREE copy, subscribe along the sidebar!)

-A full layout redesign including my recipe index (HUGE thanks to Minimalist Baker for their video tutorials)

-Posting more frequently (this will much easier when I am not in school full time)

-Taking more photographs besides food

-Find a form of exercise I enjoy (just signed up for a ballet class! Yes I am going to be terrible but that’s ok!)

-Take an overseas trip

-No more buying coffee (especially since I buy excellent coffee beans for home) 

-Get my drivers’ license (yeah I know…)

I keep a little notebook with me everywhere I go so I can write down goals as I think of them and better yet, crossing them off as I accomplish them. For me, it is the best way to stay on track. Every few weeks, I write down my action plans to best accomplish these goals and it is wildly satisfying to cross them off my list in ink. So my progress so far:

-The eBook in is the works and I have an editor! I recently attended a “How to Build an eBook” seminar lead by David from The Healthy Maven which was an invaluable source of inspiration.

-The redesign is coming soon with a much better recipe index layout.

-With school officially done (for now), posts will be more frequent. I am aiming for twice a week minimum.

– The season has changed and green things are popping up all over the place. My camera will be making trips with me outside of my kitchen!

-Finding a form of exercise: I tried a 7-week ballet class and it wasn’t for me. I did sign up for hot yoga with my best bud. We actually became friends after working out together for a 5K run and it has been amazing to reconnect with her through this experience. Exercise regimes are made better with a support group or friend.

– My overseas trip has been cancelled but for good reason! I opted to go to Texas for Vida Vegan Con instead of an overseas trip. I feel that this trip would benefit my other goals better than a vacation. Plus, I get to meet some of my favourite vegan bloggers in person! I will probably fangirl so hard that I will be too shy to actually speak to any of them.

– The daily trip to the café near my house has been made much easier since they moved across town so no more coffees that I did not make at home. I have saved $60 a month times 5 months = $300!! 

– I have not done a single thing to get my driver’s license. Yikes!

But I have added the goal of writing at least 500 words a day and not just about food related things. I was recently tagged on Instagram by Amy Le to reveal some things about myself that may not have come up on my site. I confessed that I originally started this blog to become a better writer but because of school, my non-blog related writing has taken a backseat. With school being over now, this is the time to get into a writing routine and creating the habit of sitting down to write. No more excuses! This is my time to better myself and I plan use every moment I can.

This guacamole is a favourite among my friends that I work with (We are all too close to call each other “coworkers”). I brought it into work and we all devoured the container in a matter of minutes. Restaurant servers are always hungry since no one actually gets a break from work and our dinners usually consist of cold fries and maybe a slice of garlic bread with buffalo sauce. They kept asking when this recipe would make an appearance and their persistence has paid off. Roasting the jalapeño adds complexity to this guacamole but the avocado maintains its buttery taste. I originally added 2 full roasted jalapeños to this recipe but found it overpowered the fresh taste of the guacamole and left my mouth on fire. One jalapeño was still fairly mild so I used one and a half peppers but if you like it hot, feel free to add two.

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Roasted Jalapeño Guacamole

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients

• 1-2 jalapenos
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large ripe avocados, pitted. 1½ to smooth and the other half diced.
• ½ cup lightly packed cilantro leaves
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/3 cup diced fresh tomato
• 1 small shallot, minced
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt*
• Serve with:
• Corn chips*
• Veggie sticks
• Cherry Tomatoes

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a small baking sheet with tinfoil or parchment paper. Drizzle the peppers with the olive oil on the sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, turning halfway through the cook time. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor add 1½ of the avocado, cooled roasted jalapeno, cilantro, limejuice and garlic and blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and add the tomatoes, minced shallot, cubed avocado and ¼ teaspoon of sea salt. Mix until just combined.
3. Cover and press the guacamole with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the flavours meld together. *If you are serving it with salted corn chips, try some of the guacamole on the chip before adding more salt.

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We recently purchased one of those fancy cords that hooks up from your television to your computer so we have been watching a lot of the FIFA World Cup that we stream online to our TV. It has been fairly heated around the apartment after I decided to walk in wearing an England shirt and Mark, being Scottish and a Celtic fan, was less than impressed (Celtic verses Rangers is a serious heated battle). He said immediately upon seeing my shirt, “Don’t let my mother see you in that!”

Though I am not too crazy about sports in general but events like FIFA or the Olympics I can totally get into. I love the collective enthusiasm over a loved team or the mutual hatred over another. The best part of watching a sport event is the pub food. I am a glutinous beast when it comes to greasy pub style food; my first date with Mark was at a pub where we shared a pitcher of beer and chicken wings. Nachos are probably our most favourite pub dish; easy to share, spicy and you know someone loves you when they let you take the last chip with cheese melted on it. We use to get the jarred fluorescent orange nacho cheese in the chip aisle but after going vegan we no longer purchased it. However, I still really love the creamy spicy sauce but after reading the ingredients list I knew I had made the best choice in giving it up. I wanted to recreate the chip aisle in a healthful way. Say what?? Yeah you heard me, I wanted to have my nachos and eat them too.

Jarred salsa is pretty good, can work great in a pinch and so many varieties are available, why would anyone bother to make it? Homemade salsa is usually served raw while jarred salsa is cooked and fresh summer time tomatoes make my mouth water. Jarred is great when tomatoes aren’t in season and taste like Styrofoam but when the weather is hot, fresh tomatoes are the way to go. It turns out fresh homemade salsa is pretty quick and easy to the make with the assistance of a food processor. A quick chop, chop, chop, pulse, pulse, pulse and voilà salsa! Not as quick as opening a jar but it is worth the process (get it? Process…? Hahaha oh I just kill me.)

The guacamole is also a fairly simple recipe but instead of buying a ton of avocados I used a little trick from the Forks Over Knives Cookbook to yield more guacamole. Edamame! I was hesitant at first since I LOOOOVE an all-avocado and I have tried many recipes with substitutions but did not crave them again. The FOK style guac uses all edamame but I knew I needed some of that green buttery stuff to tingle my taste buds. I did a part avocado/part edamame with tasty results and kept the rest of the ingredients simple to let the avocado shine through. Remember to keep those pits! Placing the pits in the prepared guacamole help it from getting discoloured. 

Vegans will try to make nacho cheese out of anything: cauliflower, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, milk with a roux, tofu and my favourite: cashews. Soaked cashews are a vegan’s creamy dairy free dream and I use them all the time. When I made my Ultimate Cheesy Kale Chips, I thought the sauce, before cooking it, tasted like nacho cheese. This recipe tastes better than any other plastic version of nacho cheese out there and it completely: vegan, oil free, sugar free, gluten free and almost raw. Yeah you heard me again, making the chip aisle healthful! Now I know cashews have a lot of fat in them but I will take the cashew nut fat over any other type of fat any day. Going turbo for a few minutes on your Vitamix makes the cheese warm, which is insanely delicious. Warning this cheese is addictive and tastes great on tacos, quesadillas and anything that needs a cheesy kick (on everything really).

Making chips without oil was a little trickier and they do have a slightly different texture than a store bought deep fried chip but they can hold the weight on a heavy dip of guacamole, which to me is a sign of a good chip. I used lime juice to help the salt stick to the corn tortilla and dusted them with a little more ancho chili powder since I am hooked to that smoky flavour. Plain salted with lime juice is good as well in case you don’t like spicy stuff.

With these recipes, crack some beers and turn on the game to cheer for your fav teams. England is sadly out now much to Mark’s delight but there is still plenty to cheer for like how it finally feels like summertime. Oh and don’t forget to pass the chips.

Quick Corn and Pepper Salsa

2014-06-27 10:10:23

Yields 2

Fresh, quick and full of spicy summertime flavours

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Prep Time

10 min

Total Time

10 min

Prep Time

10 min

Total Time

10 min

Ingredients

1. 2 Roma tomatoes, stemmed and cut into quarters
2. 1/3 cup roughly chopped red onion
3. 1 garlic clove, peeled
4. ¼ cup light packed cilantro leaves
5. ½ jalapeno pepper, diced
6. ½ red pepper, diced small
7. ¼ cup corn, fresh or frozen (thaw if using frozen corn)
8. 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
9. ½ teaspoon kosher salt or fine grain sea salt

Instructions

1. In the bowl of the food processor, place the quartered tomatoes and pulse 3-4 one-second pulses until tomatoes are chunky. Transfer the tomatoes to a medium bowl.
2. In the now empty food processor bowl, add onion, garlic, cilantro and jalapeno and pulse 9-10 one-second pulses until minced but not pureed.
3. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the tomatoes.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and stir the mixture together.
5. Serve with chips or on top of burrito bowls.

Notes

1. Don’t over process the tomatoes; it will cause them to release more liquid.
2. Fresh salsa is always more liquify than jarred since the jarred stuff is cooked.
3. This recipe is a medium spice level, omit the jalapeno completely if you want a mild salsa

By Jessica DeMarra

Sprouts & Chocolate http://www.sproutsandchocolate.com/

Protein Packed Guacamole

2014-06-27 10:18:10

Yields 2

Fresh, buttery guacamole with a protein punch

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

4 min

Total Time

40 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

4 min

Total Time

40 min

Ingredients

1. ¼ cup lightly packed cilantro leaves
2. 1 small garlic clove, peeled
3. 2 tablespoons diced red onion
4. 2 teaspoons diced jalapeno
5. 1 cup frozen edamame, cooked according to the package instructions and drained
6. 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
7. 2 large ripe avocados, halved and pitted
8. ½ teaspoon kosher or fine grain sea salt

Instructions

1. In the bowl of the food processor, pulse the cilantro, garlic, onion and jalapeno for 8-10 one-second pulses. Transfer the mixture to a medium sized bowl.
2. In the now empty food processor, add the edamame, lime juice, ½ of 1 avocado and salt and puree until completely smooth. Add the puree to the onion mixture and stir until combined.
3. Dice and scoop out the remaining 1½ avocado and gently fold it into the edamame puree.
4. Place the pits in the mixture, cover, refrigerate and let the guacamole rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

1. Keep the pits of the avocado! Placing the pits back into the prepared guacamole helps it keep it green.
2. This recipe is a chunky guacamole but if you want it smoother, just place all the avocado into the food processor and puree.

By Jessica DeMarra

Sprouts & Chocolate http://www.sproutsandchocolate.com/

Ultimate Vegan Nacho Cheese

2014-06-27 10:23:29

Yields 2

Spicy, creamy and a million times better for you than any nacho cheese you have ever had.

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Prep Time

5 min

Prep Time

5 min

Ingredients

1. 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 2-8 hours or quick soaked (bring water in a pot to a boil, add cashews, put tight fitting lid on the pot and take it off the heat. Let the cashews soak in the hot water for about 1 hour)
2. 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
3. 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4. 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
5. 1 teaspoon salt
6. ½-3/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder
7. ¼ cup water

Instructions

1. Place all the ingredients in a high power blender and blend on high or turbo until completely smooth. Going turbo makes the cheese all warm too.

By Jessica DeMarra

Sprouts & Chocolate http://www.sproutsandchocolate.com/

Oil-Free Ancho-Lime Baked Corn Chips

2014-06-27 10:31:04

Could an oil-free chip be delicious? The answer is in the crunch.

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Prep Time

3 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

28 min

Prep Time

3 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

28 min

Ingredients

1. 8 small corn tortillas
2. 3 teaspoons fresh lime juice
3. ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
4. Pinch of ancho chili powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Stack the tortillas on top of each other and cut into fours.
3. Place the pieces in a single layer divided between the two sheets.
4. Sprinkle the pieces with the lime juice, coating both sides. Sprinkle with salt and lightly dust one side with the ancho powder.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, flip the chips and cook for another 10 minutes until the edges are golden brown. These won’t keep very long since they aren’t fried so serve within the first day of being made.

Notes

1. Watch your chips after you flip them since burnt chips are never delicious.

By Jessica DeMarra

Sprouts & Chocolate http://www.sproutsandchocolate.com/

The post Vegan Pub Style Dips with Ancho-Lime Baked Corn Chips appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.