I Am Sustained & Immortal

You'll often find me at Cafe Gratitude for lunch or dinner, but it's uncommon that I'll treat myself to breakfast. Today was an exception and I began my day with a phenomenal bowl of I Am Sustained (steamed quinoa with fresh strawberries, bananas, apples, goji berries, cinnamon, maple syrup, and coconut milk) and a nice warm cup of I Am Immortal (Immune system enhancing, consciousness expanding, ancient tonifying elixir made from Reishi, Shilajit and Ormus. Served hot with coconut milk and raw honey (I order it without the honey.)).

I'm always so taken with simple preparation of food that truly showcases its freshness and natural vibrancy. After savoring every bite of I Am Sustained, I decided I will start making myself similar breakfasts as regularly as possible. I eat both breakfast and lunch at work Monday through Friday and it would be easy for me to create a breakfast grain bowl to eat at my desk. I love when a restaurant meal inspires me in my daily life!



I also took home a wonderful raw quinoa crispy treat called I Am Truth (quinoa, coconut flakes, dates, coconut butter, vanilla, lucuma, and salt), which is one of the best desserts I've ever had at Cafe Gratitude (and I've tried almost all of them).

Celebrate Vegan

When Dynise Balcavage's new book, Celebrate Vegan: 200 Life-Affirming Recipes for Occasions Big and Small, arrived in my mailbox, I read through it trying to decide which of her featured occasions I should celebrate first. Would it be my birthday, Cinco de Mayo? What about Nowruz or Festivus or the recent St. Patrick's Day or Tea Time? With so many marvelous options, I was having difficulty choosing. Then, an extremely persistent upper respiratory virus permeated the armor of my self-proclaimed immune system of steel. I've been steadfastly battling this virus, which seems to be compounded with a very bad allergy attack, for well over a week now.



I've barely eaten anything other than toast in the past week, but last night, I wanted soup. I started flipping through this cookbook and found that one of Dynise's celebrations is none other than...Sick Day! The Sick Day menu is three-fold: Ginger Tea, Minimal Pastina with Spinach (soup), and Baked Apples. I made all three and enjoyed warming comfort food in under 20 minutes.



Dynise is a very gifted story-teller and each of Celebrate Vegan's recipes is introduced with an anecdote. The menus are thoughtfully and creatively put together with two indexes that make navigating the book a dream. I've bookmarked many other recipes and the only question remaining is what should I celebrate next?