The Drawing Board #10

Build a Wealthy Spirit Brand Reveal, Jersey Part 1, Disco Ball 2, Temp. Vegan: Killer Tofu + Peanut Lime Noodles

Welcome to the ✨TENTH EDITION✨ of my newsletter where I share my personal creative process. I hope to inspire you to pick up a pen, paint brush or spatula and create something spectacular.

Here’s this week’s lineup:

1. Branding Reveal: Build a Wealthy Spirit

2. Jersey Part 1: A new essay, coming soon

3. Disco Ball 2: My step-by-step process

4. Temporary Vegan: Killer Tofu + Peanut Lime Noodles

Branding Reveal: Build a Wealthy Spirit

I was beyond excited Michelle and Sammie, the hosts of the Status Post Adulting podcast, reached out to me to help them design their logo and cover image for their rebranded podcast: Build a Wealthy Spirit.

But how did this happen? Michelle and I met while taking Write of Passage. I just finished a collab with another one of our friends, Sandra Yvonne, for her Newsletter Sunday Candy. Michelle retweeted Sandra’s tweet announcing our collab with the kindest words.

Collaborating with Sandra was so creatively satisfying, that I wanted to do it again. So I replied to Michelle, offering to collaborate, and this happened…

Jersey: Part One

I wrote a new essay and will be released later this week.

It’s all about my journey to visit my friend who just had a baby in New Jersey. I also compare this journey to the ones I had as a kid visiting family with my dad.

It’s a two-parter. Stay tuned for part two next week.

Disco Ball 2

Hiding in plain sight amongst some fake ivy in a Brooklyn warehouse bar, I discovered this disco ball. It was rotating and indirectly lit in a dark room: recipe for a disastrous iPhone photo. But it was a happy accident because the location of light in this disco ball seems intently organized. I guess this disco ball likes grids as much as I do? This disco ball had potential. I needed to paint it.

I’ve spent the past week painting this disco ball, and I’m still not done. My goal was to exaggerate the colors already on the ball, but mixing these colors turned out to be more difficult than I expected. Half-way through, I actually painted the entire canvas white and started over. 

Next week, I’ll share my in-depth step-by-step process of how I painted this disco ball. And I’ll include some visual analysis (like how I analyze art on Twitter), but with GIFs! Here’s a preview:

Temporary Vegan: Killer Tofu + Peanut Lime Noodles

It is week 2 of The Fast and I’m going strong. I’ve had my fair share of cravings, but I’ve found ways to cope with easy vegan meals, including filling smoothies and toasted english muffins topped with almond butter and banana slices.

I wanted to branch out this week and try some new recipes. So I broke out ALL the vegan cookbooks gifted from my vegan friend (thank you!) and bookmarked every recipe I wanted to try… which was basically every page in each book.

The one that caught my eye right off the bat was a rice noodle dish with a peanut and lime sauce… it’s not far off from last week’s killer tofu recipe BUT I figured they’d both complement each other. So that’s what I tried last night and it was a PERFECT union. *Chef’s Kiss* 🤌

Let me know how it goes!

Killer Tofu + Peanut Lime Noodles

(Recipe adapted from Vegan Yum Yum)

Sauce Ingredients

• ¼ cup soy sauce (low sodium preferred)

• 3 tbs peanut butter

• 3 tbs lime juice

• 1 tbs coconut sugar

• ¼ tsp ground ginger powder

• ½ tsp chili flakes (optional)

Everything else

• One batch of last week’s Sweet Chili Lime Tofu

• 1 10oz package of flat rice noodles

• 1 tbs olive oil

• ½ bunch of Tuscan/Lacinato Kale (Whole Foods calls it “Dino kale”…? I don’t know why it has so many names, it looks like this)

• 1 large shredded carrot (I bought pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store because I was lazy and used about a cup of that)

• 2 handfuls of crushed roasted peanuts (take a few handfuls of peanuts, put them in a lil bag, and smash. Don’t smash them too much, we don’t want sand, we want the peanuts quartered in size)

Recipe

1. Prepare one batch of last week’s Sweet Chili Lime Tofu

2. Prepare your kale by rinsing under cold water, pulling the leaves off the stems, and shredding them by hand into like 3” long strips (like long bite size chunks).

3. Start to prepare your rice noodles per package instructions. Prioritize cooking these correctly if this is your first time, because a lot can go wrong… Once cooked, rinse under cold water and set aside.

4. Break out your saute pan and heat the oil in it over medium heat. Add kale and cook for a few minutes until bright in color and some of the leaves start to char. Add shredded carrots and cook for another minute. Throw the noodles into the pan, followed by the peanut and lime sauce (save like 1 tbs for garnish). Toss everything around until everything is combined/mixed. Turn off the heat immediately!

5. Serve right away. Bring out your aesthetically pleasing bowls and place your noodles in a pretty swirl pattern. Top your noodle mound with killer tofu triangles. Delicately garnish with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts and a fresh squeezed lime wedge. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

Happy Creating, Elizabeth

Special thanks to TDB’s Editor-in-Chief Sandra Yvonne for providing valuable feedback on this newsletter!