Choose Happiness!

-
Asian inspired Spring Roll -recipe below


This morning I woke up and it was raining. For some people this could either make or break their day. It all depends on how you choose to look at it. Just think about it, if it happened to rain on your wedding day, would that be the worst thing that could possibly happen? You might even think it was a sign signifying that the marriage was bad luck from the start. However, in some cultures, rain on your wedding day is considered good luck and even symbolizes fertility and cleansing.

Anyone can find something wrong in the best situation if you try hard enough.

 Did you ever meet someone that you know is struggling and their life is absolutely falling apart yet they always seem to be happy? This is someone is actively chooses to be happy. Then there is the person who lives in a beautiful home, has everything they could possibly want and is miserable all the time. Now granted, there are two extreme situations and many of us fall somewhere in the middle.



You can look at your window and see rain, what do you think of? Do you think about April showers bringing May flowers or ugh, a bad hair day? I have a friend who always says that the universe will cooperate with who you show up as. What does this actually mean? If you you are in a negative space you will draw more negatively to you. Think about it. Have you ever written a story in your head of what is going to happen and it is usually the worst case scenario?  You have already determined the outcome in your mind. Every time I go to a casino with my husband  or buy a lottery ticket I am always positive that I am going to win. If I don't have a positive attitude. what is the purpose of even going or buying a ticket, I may as well just throw out the money. Happiness is tied to optimism. Things don't always work out the way we want them to but that is just a fact of life so you you need to make the best of any situation. Always look for the rainbow no matter how bad the storm!

I encourage you all to choose happiness

You can also find happiness in trying new things which leads me into the recipe portion of my blog.

This week I tried a new product that I never used before to make an Asian inspired spring roll. The wrappers I used were rice pancakes and they looked like a semi clear piece of plastic when I took them out of the package. The directions said to soak them briefly until they became pliable so you could wrap your ingredients. First off, do not try to do more than one at a time since they will stick together, the first three didn't survive, they became a sticky mess. That being said, all in all, this came out great once I got the hang of it.



Hand wrapped Asian inspired Spring Rolls

I only made 5 spring rolls (to try this recipe out) but you can double or triple the recipe as needed

1 Cup of finely shredded cabbage with carrots (I used pre-packaged cole slaw mix)
5 spears of steamed asparagus
Cilantro
 1 carrot thinly sliced
Crystallized ginger slices cut fine ( I love these even as a snack)

Sauce

1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 Tablespoons of raw agave

Stir fry shredded cabbage mixture with soy sauce and agave and ginger until sauce is fully incorporated. I like a crunch when eating a spring roll so I didn't want to overcook. Reserve the sauce for dipping later.

Prepare the wrappers using the instructions on the package. I made these without deep frying them but that is definitely an option.

I placed the sauteed mixture in the middle of the pancake and topped with some sliced carrots, an asparagus spear and some cilantro, I folded both sides and rolled tightly. If you plan to fry these wait at least 5 minutes before putting in the pan. I keep these uncovered in the refrigerator and they were just as good as some store bought that I had purchased. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Some of the dipping sauces I like to use are Thai chili sauce ( I actually have two flavors which are both great Thai Mango Chili and a Thai Sweet Chili) Gochujang which is a spicy miso sauce and the soy sauce infused with agave and crystallized ginger that the veggies were sauteed in.




I steamed some string beans and dipped them in the sauce and had some for lunch and the rest for dinner as shown in the picture above.






Hope you all have a great week!


With Gratitude,


Trudy

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Healthy & Flavorful Vegan Meals

-
Image
Sometimes it can be helpful to meal prep for the week, especially if you are typically really busy. Here are some recipes that may be good for you if you want to make some good meals for yourself and your loved ones. One meal you could do is take some of the Gardein Chicken tenders and bake those. You can put them over some rice or shredded veggies with some seasoning. I usually put a lemon on the side to add some extra flavor. Another thing that I typically put lemon on is some fishless fillets by Gardein. I had this with some cauliflower rice with lemon and garlic to flavor it. I also decided to have some zucchini on the side for extra vegetables. Another meal I love making wraps with some tortilla chips. For this above, you can stuff a tortilla with cucumber, tomato, hummus, and any other veggies that could be added. This is a great meal that can be healthy but filling. I like to have tortilla chips and salsa on the side as well. The last one that I want to sha
Read more

Veganism and Animals: Does veganism really help animals?

-
Image
With all of the greener lifestyles that are being adapted all around the world there are tons of questions about exactly what veganism is, and exactly how it pertains to animals. For the vast majority of people it is extremely important to realize that you simply cannot make a sudden change like shifting from eating burgers every day to living a successful vegan lifestyle overnight. However, it is also possible to make some substantial changes that are on the path to becoming vegan and showing animals the respect that you believe they deserve. Many people in the quest to treat animals better are appalled to learn that many countries use some rather unconventional animals as food; this for many people can be action that triggers their desire to change to a vegan lifestyle, however for others it is simply another reason in a long list of reasons. Many countries such as China make usage of animals such as dog for their meals and many times people are unhappy to learn this, how
Read more

Healthy Snacks

-
Image
Sometimes when you are in a pinch it can be a bit of a struggle to eat healthy. Sometimes you run out of produce when you are out and may have to settle for some packaged foods. There are some better options to reach for when you want to get a snack. There are definitely some good brands out there that I love getting for when I have a busy work day. Some of these snacks can be good for dipping in salsa or hummus, or any other dip. A lot of these snacks shown also have other flavors in that kind that are also really good to try out. I love all of the products I have tried by a brand called The Daily Crave so far. I love eating these as a snack with some hummus or you could find any other dip that may go well with this. I enjoy any sort of spread that can be eaten with this and you can also top it with some veggies as well. There are also some other really good flavors including tomato basil, barbeque, salt and vinegar, and sriracha. They have veggie, lentil, and quinoa ch
Read more