The Conscientious Eater

I’ll be MIA for a while

Hey friends!

I feel like I haven’t talked to you guys in forever, which is probably because it has been forever…at least in the blogging world. Life’s been full of hosting friends, language study and preparing for our 6 week trip to America and Europe (we’ll be on a plane for America when this post goes live!) I honestly just haven’t had the time or desire to experiment with recipes or blog these past couple of weeks. And it will still be a while yet before I do write another blog post because I plan to be fully present during our times with friends and family in America and while we’re hopping from country to country in Europe. 

I’m excited to share lots of photos and highlights from our time in the states and Europe once I get back to China in early August!

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Jumbo Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

One of the small things I miss most living in China is having fun, cute coffee shops to visit, either to study or go on a date with Brett or one of my girl friends. Thankfully we’ve found one great coffee shop in our city that has decent coffee, a Western feel, and the best fresh juices ever. But coffee shops in America usually have beautiful glass displays full of baked goods and desserts…and I miss that! I especially miss having the option to choose a vegan baked good if I want. Baked goods here in China are nothing like the ones in the west and either way, I can’t read the ingredients to see if they’re vegan or not. 

In order to get my baked good fix, I’ve been searching high and low for jumbo muffin pans so that I can make my own bakery-sized baked goods at home.

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WIAW: All My Favorite Foods

It’s good to be sharing all of my favorite foods with you guys again. I feel like in my past few WIAW posts I’ve either been sick or had weird stomach issues and had to eat more bland, carb-y foods. All of which was delicious, but not ideal for me. 

Today I’m sharing with you a full day of vibrant, hearty plant-based meals. Looking back over this day, I really did eat most of my favorite foods. Fresh fruit (esp. watermelon!), chocolate oatmeal, nut butter, rice bowls, smoothies, sweet potatoes and tofu. I could eat these meals for ever.

I hope you get some new inspiration for meals to try!

Breakfast #1:

I was craving watermelon so bad during our time in Tokyo last week, so I knew I would dive into some as soon as I got back to China.

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A Spring Day in China

I feel like most people when they think of China first think of smog, crowds, traffic, etc. And while those things are definitely present in this country, there is so much beauty as well. I don’t share enough about the culture, people or scenery on this blog, and I would love the change that!

Today I wanted to share some photos with you from a walk I took with my language teacher a couple weeks back during our class time. Sometimes for class we go on an outing to learn something new about the culture or help me learn how to run a certain errand on my own. I’ve been to this park hundreds of times, but this time I actually brought my camera.

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White Bean Hummus

Would any of you guys benefit from a Taobao link post?! I’m really getting the hang of using to Taobao (basically Chinese Amazon) and I didn’t know if any of my readers live in China or plan to live in China and would love to see what kinds of food products and household products I’m able to buy on-line as an expat living in China. 

I seriously don’t know what I’d do without Taobao. Survive, yes, but having access to so many more products has made living in China so much easier and enjoyable. Buying food off Taobao also makes our diet more varied and healthy so I definitely am thankful for that as well. 

Another thing I love about Taobao is how quickly things are delivered to our apartment.

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Date Sweetened Chocolate Sauce

When you read this post I will be in Tokyo! 

Brett and I and one of our friends got to spend two days in Tokyo last fall, but Brett and I have some incredible friends who recently moved to the army base in Tokyo and offered to fly us out for a restful week. What the?! The amount of generosity they’ve shown us over the years is unbelievable. I just hope our presence at their house will be a blessing to them as well. But I really am looking forward to our time there. They want us to prioritize rest and after a full week of intense sickness and hosting a lot of friends lately, rest is just what I need.

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WIAW: Long Run & Sick Day

Some days you end up with a fever and the runs all at the same time. (TMI I know.) Thankfully there are some pros to this unfortunate situation as it may force you to lay in bed all weekend long reading or binge watching your favorite TV show. 

This is what happened to me this past Saturday and unfortunately my cold stuck with me through Tuesday. It was a long one, but I am so thankful for a flexible schedule and time to rest. I’m pretty sure I was coming down with something Friday night and I did the stupid, but fun, thing of going on a long run with my Chinese friend Saturday morning when I was already feeling sick and had the runs.

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Vegan Seitan Tikka Masala

The day this Vegan Seitan Tikka Masala came into fruition my evening plans went from being a relaxing night with one friend, to being a full day where I was rushing around trying to figure out what to feed 8 people for dinner. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have heard parts of this story from my insta-stories, but basically I was home alone a lot last month. Brett was out hiking with his friends and I wasn’t expecting him home until Saturday. On Tuesday my friend and I had planned to cook dinner together the next day and attempt to make Vegan Tikka Masala using seitan, something I had never done before. We were gonna make one dish and enjoy a chill night together over a meal and probably watch a movie afterwards. 

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WIAW: Quick and Easy Meals

Brett and I have another couple and their sweet newborn staying at our house currently and it’s so fun to have their company. I’ve been cooking, cooking, cooking to keep food and snacks in the house lately and I’m loving having more people to cook for and serve. But, there is the occasional day when we have too many leftovers in the fridge or our friends have outings with friends over meals so I don’t need to cook. 

This What I Ate Wednesday is full of quick and easy meals that I whipped up from leftovers or made the day before. I love days like these when I get to eat healthy with minimal effort. 

Let’s look a what I ate!

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Basic Seitan Recipe

When I first decided to adopt a plant-based diet, I never thought I’d venture into the realm of faux meats. I probably didn’t even know what products like tempeh or seitan were in the beginning, and I’m not even sure if I had ever cooked tofu before. I believe it was through visiting restaurants and traveling that I first discovered faux meat and cheese products like seitan. Thankfully the amount of plant-based meats, cheeses and milks in America and other countries are starting to expand dramatically and that’s super exciting and will people more easily transition to a plant focus diet if they desire. 

Today I want to share with you the easiest Basic Seitan Recipe. And by basic, I really mean basic.

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