Aló! Classes have just begun again and I am in a whirlwind of chaos. So to calm myself down and to procrastinate a little bit, I decided today is the perfect day to show you a snippet of the beauty of Chile.
Viña del Mar is a beautiful city filled with beautiful doors and I am so excited to share a sampling of them with you :)
Today I had a serious hankering for some mushrooms. Well, that's nothing new for me, I'm actually always a mushroom fanatic (especially now that I'm vegan, they are the perfect food!).
So as a ravenously hungry Lydia came home from class today, you know that it was time to break out the heavy machinery.
This included pots, pans, cutting boards, knives, and...
Ta-da! The handy-dandy-brand new-thank you mommy-food processor! WOO! My life is now 10x easier :)
Anyways, I cut up my mushrooms and threw them into the pan with some olive oil, a little bit of onions, a huge handful of spinach, and spices such as salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and chili powder.
NOM.
While that was cooking on medium-low heat, I cut up my carrots, radishes, and tomatoes for the salad. The cilantro looked so lonely in the fridge and it smelled too lovely to leave it out so I threw some into the above mentioned food processor to add to my salad.
After I mixed it all together I squeezed some lemon juice over the yummy masterpiece, sprinkled it with salt and pepper, and drizzled it with Olive Oil Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing.
The mushroom-loveliness was done and I set the pasta to a boil on the stove.
Can I say it again? NOM!!
As the pasta cooked, I heated up the pasta sauce and threw the mushrooms and spinach into it.
As a vegan, I have to be careful about everything that I buy. Some pasta is not vegan and neither is all pasta sauce. I have definitely learned to read the labels!!
Despite the absolute deliciousness of the meal, I could not even finish all of the pasta (probably because I snacked on tortilla chips and fresh salsa while I was cooking...)
I know that this is extremely easy and has been done before, but I just had to post it because it made my day!
Feliz Año!! Happy New Year!! I hope yours was great! I was fortunate enough to spend mine with a best friend in one of the most beautiful places in South America... Viña del Mar, Chile.
Our spot overlooked the whole coast. The closest fireworks were in Viña del Mar and the others are further down coast in Valparaíso and beyond. What an amazing night!
New Years in South America is quite an adventure. The people crowd the streets and dance until the sun comes up. The party that I was at served us dinner, had an open bar, and played music that lasted throughout the night. People of all ages celebrated the new year, from children to grandparents, and all were on the dance floor literally dancing the night away.
The aftermath of Año Nuevo littered the streets the following days. Confetti, broken bottles, cigarette butts, etc.
Beauty can be found everywhere, even among the litter!
It was a night that I will never forget.
Every year it is necessary to make a New Years Resolution. Mine is to be completely vegan, not just for the year but for my whole life. Over the past few months I have been educating myself and experimenting with different foods and so now I feel that I am fully prepared to embark on this journey!
I intend to keep you all updated on my progress with photos and recipes of all the delicious foods that I eat, maybe I will even inspire some of you to take the same steps that I have :)
So today I am leaving the country to visit my beloved friends that are practically family in Viña del Mar, Chile. Therefore I will be MIA for about two weeks, but when I get back expect some amazing photos!
Sometimes I get scared of what will happen in the future, only because I don't know what is going to happen. Questions start running through my head and I slowly begin to panic. During the moments when I lose sight of my path, God calms my worries and reminds me that He has a plan for my life. His plan is better than anything that I could ever imagine and so I do not have to worry. I hope that God speaks to you in a similar way, remember that He has a plan for your life too!
P.S. Due to the amount of dreamy and whimsical photos that I have been posting lately, I feel like I have to make a disclaimer:
I have an imaginary world where fairies and magic are my constant companion, but that world is only imaginary. I also live in a real world; in this world I worship one God and I do not believe in fairies or magic.
I am a child of God and He created me to be creative. Through my creativity I do not want to accidentally promote something that I do not truly believe in. So this is my disclaimer! It might not really be necessary but I felt a little bothered when I realized how I might have been coming off.
