Food For Thought

    I suppose if I'm going to be sporadic in posting I should at least make it worth your time when I do write something! So this post is all recipes. Well, mostly! At 20 days into my self-challenge, I ate meat. After a long day week, we went to dinner at a local Thai restaurant and I did not have the motivation or in all honestly the care, to order vegan. Meat sounded good. And it was, no lie. As the weekend went on, I noticed that not a single meal was vegan. And by Sunday, I noticed I felt pretty crummy. Hmmm...
    So Monday morning I decided to get right back to it. However, I'll probably be a little more lenient about it this time. A part-time vegan I suppose. ( "Real" vegans hate that!) Anyway, here are some edibles. 

Sweet Potato Fries

*this makes enough for two people

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into "fries"

1 Tbs. canola oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 Tbs. potato starch (corn starch might work too but I make no promises)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Toss potatoes with oil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with potato starch and toss until potatoes are coated.

Place on a baking sheet in a single layer. 

Bake for 10 minutes then stir them so most of are flipped. Bake for another ten minutes or until golden. Check them every couple minutes during the second 10 minutes to make sure they're not burning.

For fry sauce:

A couple spoonfuls of Vegan Mayo, some ketchup and a dash or two of cayenne pepper. Mix well.

Roasted Acorn Squash and Mixed Green Salad

1 acorn squash

Butter or Vegan Margarine (with NO hydrogenated oils!)

Raw sugar

Sea Salt

Pepper

Chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Coat well with butter or margarine all over the inside and edges of the squash and leave a little extra in the bowl part. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Place cut side up on a baking sheet and bake for 55 minutes. About half way through, remove from oven and poke the insides with a fork a few times. After 55 minutes, remove from oven and add walnuts into the "bowl" of the squash. Stir to coat with melted goodness and bake for another 5 minutes.

While it is cooling, shred a couple handfuls of mixed greens and toss with a mixture of 1 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar and 1/2 Tbs. fresh Lemon juice. 

Vegan Blueberry Muffins 

with Streusel Topping

*makes 1 dozen or 6 jumbo muffins

2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour 

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups plain soy milk

1/4 plus 2 Tbsp. canola oil

6 oz. container plain soy yogurt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups frozen wild blueberries

2 Tbsp. flour

For streusel:

1/2 cup flour

4 Tbsp. sugar

dash of cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

4 Tbsp. Vegan margarine

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line your muffin pan with paper liners and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix all your dry ingredients. In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until combined. In a small bowl, toss blueberries with remaining 2 Tbs. flour and fold into the batter. Fill your muffing tin.

In another small bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and margarine together with a fork, cutting margarine until it becomes a crumbly mixture. Spoon onto batter.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes if using a 12-muffin tin, 30-35 for a 6-muffin tin. Insert a knife or toothpick into a muffin to check for doneness and if necessary cook a bit longer in 4 minute increments. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

I'm a sucker for baked goods so you get a few pictures of these!

My Mama's Salsa

In a blender mix:

1 onion, roughly chopped

26 oz tomatoes with juice (Pomì)

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

2-8 fresh jalapeños-adjust to desired spice level 

(can also use pickled jalapeños)

salt to taste

Blend until it reaches desired consistency.

Grubbin'

Along with leftovers galore, here are some highlights of my meals:

Pumpkin Spice Latté

Ezekiel 4:9 (Low Sodium) Toast topped with Almond Butter, half a banana, a drizzle of Agave and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Tex-Mex Soup

Serves 6-8

You'll need:

2 onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño, seeded, if desired & minced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 cup uncooked brown rice

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder 

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

26 oz chopped tomatoes in juice

(I recommend Pomì. Their packaging is BPA-free.)

1/2 prepared salsa 

1 quart vegetable broth

1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed & drained 

(Eden Organic is also BPA-free.)

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed & drained

1 15 oz can whole corn kernels

To garnish:

Avocado slices, chopped fresh cilantro, sliced green onions.

Sauté the vegetables in olive oil on medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if desired. 

Add the spices and rice and stir about 1 minute to toast the rice. 

Stir in tomatoes, salsa, broth, beans and corn. 

Bring to a boil and reduce heat, cover and simmer about an hour. 

As always, enjoy!

Day One

I guess I should start with the yucky part. Starting weight: 147.4 It's been fluctuating between that and 150 for way longer than I'd like to think. And I'm 5'2" so that's not good. If I was brave I'd give you a snapshot of my cellulite and jiggles but I want you to keep reading so I won't scare you away just yet. Anyway, day one of veganism was not bad at all. I did all my grocery shopping and meal planning yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to find that many items I already buy are actually vegan! I had to make a couple substitutions of course but not nearly as many as I had expected. Luckily, the Mr. has been surprisingly encouraging about this experiment and was quite patient while I skimmed the ingredient list of every item that made its way into my cart. 

I suppose you're wondering... "What did you eat?" 

Mmmm:

Breakfast was 1/2 cup Kashi 7 Whole Grain Nuggets (basically the same thing as Grape Nuts but with a variety of grains and none of the crap), cooked on the stove for a few minutes with some vanilla soy milk until it got soft. Throw in a spoonful of agave, some sliced almonds and half a banana and you, my friend, have a meal that will hold you over for hours!

Lunch was a Boca Vegan Burger cooked on the stove then chopped up and tossed into mixed greens and topped with Annie's Goddess dressing. So good! I've never been a fan of veggie burgers but this one actually tasted great. And okay, I snuck a couple of the Mr.'s fries from his lunch. But I made sure they were cooked in canola oil that had not been used for anything else!

Dinner was delightful and a new one for me. I was a little nervous mostly because it contains tofu and my previous ventures with tofu have not turned out so hot.

I call it Mama's Vegan Tofu Slop. *Just kidding. How about:

       Tofu and Veggies in Peanut Sauce

Take 2 packages Extra-Firm Tofu, slice open the pack and drain the liquid. Those suckers are like sponges so you're going to have to get as much liquid out as you can or you will have a very smokey kitchen. Here's a trick I learned. First slice your tofu into quarters lengthwise then slice again into about 8 sections the other way. Then get a cookie sheet and layer it with clean dishtowels or if you must, paper towels. Put each little piece of tofu on the towel and top with another towel first, then another cookie sheet. Then put something on top to weigh it down like some cans or a pie weight. Whatever you have around. Let it sit in your fridge like that for a couple of hours if you have the time or at least 20-30 minutes. 

Once you're ready to get cookin', heat a large skillet with about 3 Tbsp Canola Oil at about medium heat. Lay each piece of tofu down in the skillet (try to do this before the oil is too hot so you don't get splashed and burned) and let it cook for a while, until it starts to turn gold on one side. Try to leave it alone for the most part while you get your veggies ready but flip a couple of pieces periodically to check on their progress. When it starts to look like this: 

it's time to flip it all over.

While your tofu is browning up slice or dice a red bell pepper, about a half pound of mushrooms, 3 carrots and two onions and sauté in 2 Tbsp Olive Oil until the veggies are soft and the tofu is ready for them. Once the tofu is golden on both sides, add a can of Light Coconut Milk and a couple big spoonfuls of peanut butter and stir until PB is mixed in thoroughly. Next, add in the veggies with your tofu and season with a little salt and pepper if you'd like. 

In the same pan you used to cook the veggies add a tiny splash of olive oil and sauté head of Bok Choy that has been sliced. (Use the leaves and stem.) Once it's hot and wilted, add it to the tofu-veggie concoction and mix it up. Right after you do that, pour about 1/4 cup of water into the veggie skillet to deglaze the pan then add that water to the tofu mix. Peel and mince some fresh ginger and mix it that in as well. You don't need much, just break off a chunk about the size of two garlic cloves. Stir until it's nice and bubbly and you're done! 

***This is delish served on top of brown rice and sprinkled with fresh cilantro, lime juice, Sriracha hot sauce and if you have them, chopped peanuts. 

Enjoy!

Just so you know:

I HATE mushrooms. Can't stand them. And Mr. hates tofu. So I compromised by adding both so we could pick out what we didn't like and everyone was happy. Definitely a "do-over."