Cass B Chickpea

In honor of today being my 24th birthday, I wanted to share my favorite local restaurant for brunch, lunch, and celebrations: Café Sunflower. It is a 100% vegan restaurant with a super cute ambiance located in Atlanta, GA. It had 2 locations (Sandy Springs and Buckhead), but unfortunately the Sandy Springs location closed due to the impact of coronavirus.  I prefer to eat foods that are cashew based as opposed to soy based, and this restaurant has a combination of both to make everyone happy. Their dishes can be a little pricey, but it is definitely worth the cost for the quality and portion size, especially for a special occassion.  My favorite dishes on their lunch and dinner menus include their Nachos Supreme, Fettuccine Alfredo, and their Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake. They also have items like spring rolls, salads, hummus, pad thai, etc. They have a special menu for weekend brunch which includes pancakes, homestyle fries, and chick'n and waffles.  I convinced my cowor...

One of my favorite ingredients to cook with right now is chickpeas. I have enjoyed making hummus, nuggets, pastas, etc., but one recipe that I have not perfected is falafel. After 3 failed attempts at making homemade falafel, I embarked on a journey to find the best falafel in Atlanta. Basically this means I have eaten A LOT of falafel recently.  To start, I googled falafel places near my condo in Atlanta and looked for a variety of chain restaurants and local shops. I selected 5 similarly priced restaurants to try and over a few weeks ordered either a side of falafel with tahini or tried the falafel gyro. I also got hummus with most of my orders, but I'll leave finding the best hummus in Atlanta to another compeition that includes homemade and store bought. I graded (1- 5 best) the falafel based on 4 criteria - shape, color, crunch, taste.  The first falafel place I tried during my competition was Gyro Bros. It is very close to my place, and I ordered a gyro with a side of fr...

Warm, fluffy comfort food yet vegan, healthy, and delicious. That's how I would describe this recipe. While it takes a bit of time to cook, it is worth the wait. By using mostly fresh ingredients for the base and ingredients bought in bulk for the biscuits, the amount of waste for this recipe can be minimal.  The recipe starts with chopping a few fresh ingredients. Then of course a slow simmer with some canned ingredients. This part may take longer than mentioned in the instructions based on the heat and how the vegetables are simmering. The goals is to have the sauce thicken as much as possible before it goes into the oven. Lastly it finishes with a bake in the oven.   This combination creates a recipe that will make you want to come back for more.  If you don't have time for chopping or access to fresh vegetables, a frozen medley bag of vegetables should work for the base as well. Feel free to share to your Pinterest for later and comment if you ...

Sometimes all you need is some spicy vegan chickpea nuggets. I am not the biggest fan of imitation meat, but this simple ingredient recipe is designed for happiness and is great for kids (or pretending to be one). For this recipe, you will need a food processor and a pan. You will start by creating ingredients that will be set aside and used later to get the right consistency. Once that is complete, processing the nuggets begins. Below, mine is still a little too liquid-y, so I added a little bit more of the oat flour to thicken it to the point where it did not stick to my hand.  Pro tip: Don't forget to take the blade of the processor out before balling the nugs! Learn from my mistakes. I use my hands and create small to medium sized balls and dip them into the baked bread crumbs. After baking, serve with your choice of condiment and enjoy. Double or triple the recipe if you have more than two people eating.      Please share to Pinterest and like or comment if you ...

Now that September is coming to an end and cooler weather is starting to roll in, soup and chili season is finally upon us. This vegan potato, broccoli, and cheeze soup is a great first soup for the year. It is best served with a crunchy bread that can be dipped into it.  I like to take french bread or ciabatta bread and cut it in half. Then I mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and spices (minced garlic, paprika, crushed rep pepper, oregano, and parsley) and coat on the bread. I cook it on 400 and then do a quick broil to make it extra crunchy.  The soup is fairly sustainable and can be made with fresh russet potatoes, carrots, and a head of broccoli. However, it does require almond milk, vegetable broth, and vegan cheese which may require some packaging. I prefer the Follow Your Heart brand for the cheese, but any vegan cheese should suffice. The vegan cheese and vegetable broth can cause this dish to be high in sodium. For lower sodium, buy unsalted vegetable broth...

This quick and easy meal to make has a nice balance of protein with a touch of fruit and veggies. It can be great for a packed lunch or for a larger meal, serve with pita and hummus (recipe to be posted later).  To make this a sustainable recipe, buy the coucous in bulk as opposed to packaged, and buy all of the veggies fresh in the produce section with a reusable bag. The white beans can be bought dried in bulk section and soaked overnight before using in this recipe.  Feel free to share to Pinterest for later and let me know how it turned out for you in the comments! Easy, Vegan Couscous and Veggies Yield:  4 servings Prep time:  10 minutes Total time:  35 minutes Ingredients Pearl Couscous | 2 cups Water |  2.5 cups White beans |  1 15 oz can, drained and rinsed Green Beans |  1 pound, halved Cherry Tomatoes |  1 - 1.5 cups Olive Oil |  2 - 3 tbsp Minced Garlic |  1 heaping tsp Oregano |  1 tsp Paprika | ...

Time flies when you are passionate, and I have been passionately living a busy life for the last two years. I graduated from college, started writing poetry, got my CPA license, and now work at one of the Big 4 accounting firms.  This blog was originally dedicated to my zero waste journey, but unfortunately, I did not stick with it and it led to me falling out of writing for fear of shame and embarrassment. The goal was to maintain a zero waste lifestyle, and even though I keep my mason jar of trash from that time on my counter as a reminder, it was not a realistic lifestyle for me.  Accepting that was hard.  I reevaluated what is important to me, and here are my top 3 priorities in life:  Live happily Do one thing a day that bring happiness. For me, that can be working out, eating right, writing, bingeing a tv show, seeing friends (though socially distanced right now), and many more.  Create balance When taking something from the earth, give something back. For...

  plazamoyua .com It has been a few weeks since the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its 2018 Climate Report. The report describes what the world will look like in 2040 if the global temperature rose by only 1.5 degrees Celsius - more humans dying from severe heat waves, 99% of reefs gone, increased extreme weather phenomena, half of the fishing populations dead, and ice caps on track to completely melt within the century. That means you can say goodbye to most polar bears, sea lions, and Miami or other low-level cities that would be flooded by an increase in water level. The scariest part is the fact that it says ONLY 1.5 degrees Celius. Effects of climate change are already present at 1 degree Celius and temperatures are set to increase by .2 degrees Celius every decade. Hurricane season in the Atlantic is longer and producing more severe storms. There have been cases on individuals in Canada dying from heat stroke due to increased temperat...