"Junk Food" Night!

Now that class has begun again, my to do list gets too full. Last night, tired, stressed out, and behind on homework, we just couldn't fit in cooking. So I decided it was the perfect night to try out something new that I had picked up last time I was at the grocery store. It was in the produce section, where they put all the tofu and stuff. It was fake chicken breast, and I had read all the ingredients in the store to make sure it was vegan and without all my big no-no ingredients. Microwaved it for 2 minutes and heated up some left over mashed taters, but we had no idea what to expect.

I have eaten a lot of fake meat before and it's either the texture or the taste, but I can never stomach the stuff. So I was not sure. Wow. I mean really. Wow. We kept checking to be *sure* it wasn't chicken. We even had a little guilt because we just didn't trust it. Because it was that much like chicken. Texture, taste, the whole thing. Now, honestly, I don't miss meat. Not one bit. Really. I don't. I don't do a lot of "replacement foods" for things I have "given up." But I grabbed these just to try for a busy night, such as this one. And it was great! Also, I've been gearing up for a new low cal diet that is going to be heavy on protein, so I'm looking for ways to get a lot more protein in, and this had 26 grams!! So that was a plus.

Tonight should be just as challenging because I have a late night class. I think I'll have leftovers. I still have 2 more chickpea cutlets.

Chickpea Cutlets with Red Wine Roux

I got this one from Veganomicon. We also had mashed potatoes and broiled asparagus. I can't really post the recipe but it involved chickpeas (high in protein), a little olive oil, vital wheat gluten, bread crumbs, veggie broth, soy sauce, minced garlic, lemon zest, thyme, paprika, and sage for the cutlets and veggie broth, vegan margarine, flour, celery, minced garlic, red wine, bay leaf, marjoram, thyme and rosemary for the roux. I'll be honest it was a little labor intensive, more than usual anyway, because we usually do simple and quick. But it was really, really, really delicious and satisfying, because I felt like I really wanted comfort food and this did the trick. Yum!

What's for dinner?

Prompted by emails from Mom (namely, what do you eat?), I'm gonna start a new series called "What's for Dinner?" I'll attempt to remember to post recipes (or tell where you can find it), as well as pics and comments on how it turned out. Here you go!

This week's Dinner Menus:

Vegan Pizza

Black Bean Burgers

Spaghetti and Marinara Sauce with TVP crumbles (modified from Veganomicon)

Beanball Subs (from Veganomicon)

Chickpea Cutless with Red Wine Roux (also from Veganomicon)

Here's a grocery list. If it has a star behind it, I didn't buy it this week because I had already stocked up on it and didn't need more.

Cheerios

Almond Milk*

Blueberries

Bananas

Other Fruit for snacks*

Salad fixins (lettuce, spinach, cucumber, grape tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, bell pepper, etc.)

Little cans of V8

Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burgers*

Whole Grain Spaghetti*

Vegetable Broth*

Vegan no transfat margarine

Dry Red Wine

Marjoram

Canned Chickpeas

lemon

Potatoes

Fresh Asparagus

Canned Kidney Beans

85% Cacao No-Milk Chocolate Bar

Organic EEOV

Whole Wheat Hoagie Rolls (no HFCS, no Transfat)

1 lb Soft Silken Tofu

Arrowroot powder

Morningstar Crumbles

Canned Corn

Canned Great Northern Beans

Grand Total $150.00

Tonight: Pizza!

I had a Whole Wheat Pizza Crust from Trader Joes, we made our own Pizza Sauce from Tomato Paste and Tomato Sauce (organic to avoid added ingredients) and random spices thrown in. First spread the pizza sauce, then top with veggies, such as broccoli, fresh spinach leaves, tomato slices, bell pepper, and a couple of Morningstar black bean burgers. You can add whatever you want. After you take it out of the oven, top with Nutritional Yeast. It adds a cheesy flavor and is a good source of B-12. It was really delicious! Yum! This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was a good dinner. We ate half (2 pieces each) and have leftovers.

Simple, tasty, healthy, quick dinner

If your not ready to go veggie or vegan (there are so many more reasons to, than not to, but I get it, it's scary) try adding one or two (or three) meatless dinners to your weekly menu, and get the benefits of making simple, sustainable changes. My picky eater at home just loves eating this way!

Here is a simple dinner idea - check it out and tell me what you think!

Barley-Asparagus "Risotto"

1 med onion, minced (I use pre-cut onion to save time)
1 c uncooked quick-cooking pearl barley
3 c veggie broth
1/2 lb fresh asparagus cut into two inch pieces
1/4 c fresh sliced chives
1 1/2 Tbsp tamari
salt, pepper, nutrutional yeast to taste

saute onion, stir in barley & cook, stirring, about 1 min. more; add broth, cover & simmer on low for 8 mins; add asparagus & simmer 2 more mins; remove from heat & stir in chives & tamari; season w/ salt & pepper, and sprinkle w/ nutritional yeast; serve. 1 c per serving.

Yum!

Blogger's Beginning

I'm not big into blogging. I've never really "gotten" it. And before that I wasn't a journal-er either. Since I was a kid and people got diaries to fill, it never clicked with me. And then in psycho-analysis, not much help with the journals their either. I'm a talker, a big talker LOL everyone knows it! So. I'm doing this to keep up with the lives of my family and friends. Just to kind of let others know about my general life, and more importantly, to me anyway, to hear about theirs. My family members all have blogs (most of them) and we live far away from each other, and I can't figure out how to read their blog entries without having one of my own to link to. Don't know how often I'll add to this thing, but I'll try.

Oh, and I know about grammer. I have a BA in History and Religious Philosophy, so I've been well trained in proper writing, grammar, etc. I know about dangling participles, etc. This type of writing is a casual, conversational style, and is a legitimate type of communication. So to paraphrase my sister's blog's disclaimer - if you don't like it, go (away and) write a blog about it!