rain, rain, go away!

I had a very busy day since we last spoke (er... read?) with each other. First of all, the rain stopped. Not in time for me to run outside, but it stopped. Before I went for my wedding hair test run, I had a quick lunch.

left over "almost fallafel" chicpea balls, sauteed mushrooms and asparagus

apple, raisins, and almonds

The picture below is ALL you will see of my wedding hair until the big day. It include extensions, a viel, and a headpiece. Most brides would agree all are necessary.

horrible lighting - lo siento

I was at the hair stylist for about 2.5 hours - i LOVE my hair! I am so excited about it - we sat and chatted for a while about colors, flowers, timing, all that good stuff. The good news is we don't start hair and makeup until 11 AM on the big day! Hooray for an evening wedding! I then went over to my house to check on the progress FH was making on the floors (sidenote: althought I do love that FH is super busy at work, a rain day is good for home progress!). The floors look so good! The only thing they have left to do is the office and kitchen. I love the "putting back together" phase. It's much more fun than the demolition phase we just went through.

When I got home, I threw together a quick dinner for the madre and me. She is pretty much "couch bound" right now - she fell yesterday and sprained her ankle. The funny thing about this is she just got over an injury, and now she has given herself another one. We're pretty sure it's God's way of telling her to "take it easy for a while". She now has no choice!

in the mix: romain, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, red pepper, and red onion

pretty brown rice and stir fried veggies

I had to take a picture after I smashed the brown rice tower. I'm such a child.

It was a great dinner! I love when I eat so many veggies in one day - it makes me feel so good!

As of right now, I'm attempting to upload my next half-marathon schedule to a post. Does anyone have any tips on how to do it?

Cross your fingers that it isn't raining in the morning! I'm scheduled to go running and to the beach with friends tomorrow!

Before you leave me, you need to watch this. I swear, It gets funnier every single time. I actually was crying watching this about a half hour ago!

Question: What is your favorite commercial?

"almost fallafel" chickpea balls

You will most definitely want to keep reading if you would like to find out how to go from this:

can of chickpeas

to THIS:

"almost fallafel" chickpea balls with tahini sauce drizzle

"almost fallafel" chickpea balls

• 1 can chickpeas drained (reserve about 1-2 tbsp liquid)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp flour (I used all purpose GF)
• 2 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• cumin & pepper to taste

1. Drain the chickpeas, but set aside about 1-2 tbsp of the liquid. Mash your chickpeas with a potato masher - or you may use your food processor to get them more smooth.
2. Chop your onion and garlic, add all of your spices
3. Add the reserved liquid and flour
4. Form into approximately 10 balls
5. Spritz your frying pan with olive oil - preheat pan to medium heat
6. Cook chickpea balls until brown on all sides (kind of like making meatballs on the stove top)
7. serve with tahini sauce drizzle

Tahini Sauce Drizzle

• 1 tbsp. tahini
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• approximately 3 tbsp water (just enough to thin it out to your liking)
• lots of garlic and pepper

Combine all ingredients and enjoy served over "almost fallafel" chickpea balls.

chopped onion


pre-cooked fallafel balls

money shot

browning evenly on all sides

You know these bad boys are screaming EAT ME!

"almost fallafel" chickpea balls served with a side salad and balsamic vinaigrette

If you have never tried capers, I suggest going and getting some.

This was a great alternative for someone (like me) who cannot have "regular" fallafel. I really enjoyed EVERYTHING about this lunch. It was so pretty - fresh ingredients and so many colors!

Garage saling was an epic fail - I try really hard to get into garage sales, but I just can't ever bring myself to buy anything. I did, however, find blank cards from Target for fifty cents! I write a lot of cards - thank yous, notes to students, friends, etc. - so those will come in handy! I tried sitting outside this afternoon, but it is just far too hot outside. Guess it's an inside day for me!

I am going to a Father's Day brunch on Sunday - does anyone have a good vegan breakfast casserole I could bring? and What are you getting your dad for Father's Day?