I've been scoffing at oatmeal for months. Every time someone offers me oatmeal for breakfast, I say “no thanks,” almost forcefully. Well, it's that time of the week, and I'm out of bread. I don't have the willingness to make time to make quinoa or something like it. So I swallow my gluten-pride and gofor-oat. A side note: this is specifically a Gluten Free (GF) oatmeal- be specific when shopping at the co-op. I whipped it up the way my sig-ot always does when she prepares it. And it is the bomb.

Go-Go-GoJi Oatmeal



½ cup dry GF oats
handful of dried goji berries
spoonful of pumpkin seeds (I think that's what they are!)
spoonful of chopped pecans (we keep the stuff ready to go in a glass jar)
boiling water (vs microwave method)
bit of rice milk
agave nectar

Mix up the dry ingredients above in a medium serving bowl. Bring a bit of water to a boil, add to the oatmeal mix until just covering; stir, add a little more water if needed. Cover with a saucer or small plate. In about 5 minutes (when your french press is done steeping) you'll have an expanded breakfast! Add some rice milk for flavor and top with agave nectar. Dangood!

Lunch was take-out; fried tofu with hummus sandwich. Yum yum. Not sure what all is on it; lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts....so good I usually eat half at lunch and the other half late afternoon. Have yet to master the fried tofu phenomenon. So many restaurants serve it however I can't seem to duplicate it at home! Oh well good reason to leave the house I suppose!

Dinner is in the making. Started with a fried rice concoction to use up that leftover rice from the other day; just heated up some oil and added a little bit of chopped onion, then added the rice and kept stirring. Tasty with Bragg's. Then I thought, wouldn't it be good to have a big bed of brown rice to serve the main course on. Going a bit into left field with this one; onions, red potatoes, green pepper, zucchini, garlic, and leftover tomato sauce. What!? What!? Yes- this is going to be similar to a jumbalaya, with oregano, basil, and rosemary. (If I don't end up burning the stuff that is...) Tip- what does one do if everything is sticking to the pan? I usually add a little water and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Might be a sign to lower the heat, or at least stir more often. Now about dinner; it wouldn't be jumbalaya without extra garlic and cayanne pepper, would it.

School's back for some, so it's a good time to tell your friends about vegan day. We'd love to hear about it as well! Cheers.