Day 66 !!! Victory !!!

Day 66 - We made it! 

Okay, it wasn't perfect, but it was still a victory.

We didn't cook every day - we had leftovers, we ate over my parent's house, we went out to eat for social occasions, and we did go out ourselves sometimes or even got pizza/fast/junk food some of the days, as you've seen if you've followed the blog.

But the main goal was to STOP our bad habit of buying fast food almost every day (or multiple times in a day)! And that HAS occurred!!
Of the 85 days since we first began (remember, we reset and refocused mid-way!), we had 8 days where we either ate out or ate junk for laziness or emotional reasons. This is a 91% success rate - I'm calling it a win!

So some days I still don't feel like cooking and that evil thought pops into my head - but more often than not I can quickly turn this down as I now know that:
* What I make will taste better than anything else out there.
* I will feel better (healthier and more satisfied) during and after I eat, if I choose to make my own food - feel better both emotionally and physically!
* I can come home and pull something together quickly, it doesn't have to be an ordeal.                      * I have the ability to plan, prepare in advance, keep the fridge and kitchen organized (and this helps immensely in keeping on track!)
* It just takes a little practice, you'll learn as you go along, it's possible to change your life! Change happens in the moment - we have a chance with every choice, with every meal, am I going to do what is right for me here? You don't have to start on a Monday, a new week, a new year. If you 'mess up' it's not the end of the world, you just make a better choice next time. Do your best, and yes, your best is good enough. Each step you take towards a healthy lifestyle will bring compound rewards in future motivation, energy, and lasting health - it is worth it!

What else we're taking away -if you read my post on Day 56, some of this will be familiar:
* Jesse's blood sugar is generally lower, and his A1C levels have dropped 2 points.
* I am now pain free!
* I lost 19 pounds  (even with all the Halloween and Christmas candy I've already eaten!), and Jesse has lost some weight of indeterminate amounts. Apart from some light walking and a few days of minimal stationary bike work, this is really all from our eating choices.
* I feel lighter and a little sleeker.
* We both have more energy. I was able to walk joyfully to and fro through the entire Greenfield Village yesterday for Holiday Nights and still be able to move the next morning - something that would not have happened a year ago. And this with a case of plantar fascitis (heel pain) due to poor shoe choices....ha!
* I sleep better when I'm eating right - more sound and restful.
* I have also found that doing this has opened up new ways of thinking for me. I feel more hopeful. I feel that more things are possible for me. I know that I can change my life, and have power over my experiences - and have proof of this!

Where are we going from here?
Well, I think we'll take a break for the holidays and then jump on the 21 Day Kickstart program! I am going to continue to post the dinners from this program because I feel it does help me to stay accountable to our choices. The desire to eat out is much lessened, but it's still there a little bit - so I'm not quite ready to give up the safety blanket. :)
If you're interested in joining us for the 21 Day Kickstart beginning January 7th: http://support.pcrm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=21day_vegan_kickstart&JServSessionIda003=upegog3qg1.app234c

Also - I am going to do an extra post on the weekends displaying a healthy baked good. I am not yet ready to give up the sweets, and I've learned that not planning to have some means that I occasionally buy junk on the way home! So, I am going to bake something healthy and super yummy once a week, keep little bits in the freezer (if I can!), and essentially find a way to have my cake and eat it, too!
Hey - you have to set yourself up for success, and if my current 'success' stage is eating home-made dessert made out of slightly healthier options (versus eating my historical choice of processed, or fast food junk made out of dairy and corn syrup) - so be it. It's a step. :)

THANK YOU for hanging in there with us, and for offering support, inspiration, and advice!
Happy Holidays, everyone! :)

Day 66: Sunday Dec 23 ~ Raise the Roof Sweet Potato Lasagna ~

~ Raise the Roof Sweet Potato Lasagna ~

Well, we made it! Yeah, the post is a little late, and actually we had leftovers for our real dinner, but I'm cooking ahead today and thought I'd share this. :)

We've had this dish a few times - made a batch, then had extra chopped veggies which we froze to use in the next batch a few weeks later! It is SO good! :)

I thought this would be a nice dish to bring over for our family dinners this week. Something that hopefully everyone can enjoy - lasagna with a kick! - and something that will be super yummy and still on plan for us. I know we'll probably have a little 'off plan' things, but I'll feel better the more I limit this - so this yummy lasagna is a way to have my pasta and eat it too. ;0
http://engine2diet.com/recipe/raise-the-roof-sweet-potato-lasagna/


And as I bid you all adieu for a while on the blog, thought I'd share one more bit with you -
While the clock approaches 2:30 a.m. I just reached a breaking point in my work, contemplating whether to ride out the second wind and plunge through till Christmas Eve eve or take a little nap....and here's what the guys are doing...

Well, I can't begrudge him - he did work hard today, and well, the cats have to sleep to keep their stripes in line. :) but it's so funny they're OUT! And for me - time for another cup of coffee and phase 2 I think!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year's all! :)

Day 65: Saturday Dec 22 ~ Pizza Margherita ~

~ Pizza Margherita ~

SO excited to be going to Holiday Nights at the Greenfield Village tonight! :) I love all the holiday spirit there - the old-fashioned street lights, greenery shop, caroling, bonfires, horse-drawn buggy rides, all kinds of goodies - and I am thrilled to be able to share the experience with my family - they've never been! :)

I've had this dish on my 'to bake' list for a long time, so I thought I'd finally get to it! :) I made one the 'pizza margherita' style, and I made a veggie pizza - using up the remaining cut veggies from Thursday's wraps. Yummy! :)

Pizza Margherita
From "Heart Healthy Pizza" by Mark Sutton. Tons of great recipes, and very helpful tips! :)
All recipes (below) on this page are Copyright 2012 by Mark Sutton. http://www.hearthealthypizza.com/

Basic Pizza Dough - http://www.hearthealthypizza.com/Recipes_F.html [I opted for the whole wheat version, essentially replace 1 cup flour with whole wheat flour]
Classic Tomato Sauce - http://www.hearthealthypizza.com/Recipes_S.html [I used diced tomatoes I had in the freezer, sprinkled with Italian Seasoning and Garlic Salt. I had intended to just use pizza sauce from a can, but Jesse brought the can opener with him to work - oops! :)]
Millet, Sunflower Seeds, and Oregano Sauce - not available online ( replacing mozzarella cheese)
Parmiso (replacing Parmesan) - not available online

Day 64: Friday Dec 21 ~ End of the World Feast: Pumpkin Soup and Hot Chocolate~

~ End of the World Feast: Pumpkin Soup and Hot Chocolate ~

 

Well, the Mayans must be honored today - don't want to make the gods angry, right? ;0 It might cause the end of the world or something...

Anyway, my first thought was corn, "we call it maize", beans, you know the 3 sisters....but then I found this fun tidbit and decided to go with Pumpkin Soup and Hot Chocolate. I feel that the end of the world is deserving of chocolate, and what better way to give tribute than to consume the thing I am most grateful to this culture for?  :)

A note on the hot chocolate - I was leery of drinking chocolate with only water. I learned on the Hershey's tour this summer that milk is a very important part of milk chocolate - so I was thinking about trying it with even soymilk....then decided to woman up and follow the recipe.
It actually wasn't bad at all! I think the honey not only adds sweetness but body. Now, once you put the cayenne pepper in - it does burn a little going down, at least until it's settled in the liquid. As Worf would say, "this is a warrior's drink". To the Mayans! :)

 

These recipes retrieved from: 
http://car.utsa.edu/Legacy/mayarecipes.htm (via: http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmaya.html)

*To make the pumpkin soup plant-strong, we skipped the oil and would have used veggie broth v. turkey broth if I had some prepared. Since I didn't, I used 2 cups of water instead. I think this would be good with soymilk or veggie broth to help give it more body - but Jesse & I liked it this way also. :)
P.S. I had pumpkin puree in the freezer, so I skipped the first half. You could also used canned pumpkin to expedite this. And 1/2 my pumpkin was actually hubbard squash. :)

Pumpkin Soup
Recipe by Shanti Morell-Hart

In early pumpkin soup recipes, the pumpkin would have been baked whole in hot ashes. Peeled and chopped pumpkin would then have been thinned with broth from wildfowl or game.
1 small pumpkin, about 12"
2 tbs palm oil
3 tbs honey
1/2 tsp ground allspice
4 c turkey broth
Salt to taste
Thinly sliced onions
Roasted pumpkin seeds, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pumpkin in a baking dish and roast until easily pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Allow pumpkin to cool, slice off top and scoop out seeds. Clean pumpkin fibers from seeds and discard. Toss seeds with oil and salt to taste. Spread out on a baking sheet and return to oven 15-20 minutes, until crisp and golden. Reserve for garnish.
Scrape the pumpkin flesh from shell and mash, or puree if a smoother mixture is desired.  Place the pumpkin in a large saucepan and season with salt, honey and allspice. Gradually stir in enough broth to make soup with thin or thick consistency, as desired. Simmer over medium heat about 5 minutes, until hot. If desired, serve soup in small pumpkin or squash shells. Garnish with onions and pumpkin seeds.

Hot Chocolate
Recipe by Shanti Morell-Hart

When Cortez and his army arrived in the land of the Aztecs, they were unimpressed by the little dark brown beans many of the Aztecs were carrying, until they learned they were used like money! These beans were cacao beans, a popular trade item before getting ground, roasted, and made into hot chocolate (without milk-- no cows!)  As popular as it was for the Aztecs, chocolate, or xocatl, was originally developed as a food by the Maya.  Sometimes it was made without honey, as a bitter drink, and occasionally even contained chiles, to make it spicy. 
2 ounces (squares) bitter, unsweetened bakers' chocolate
1 cup hot water
3 tablespoons honey
dash salt
3 cups hot water
Chop the chocolate and heat it in 1 cup of water until melted. Add honey and salt.  Beat the hot chocolate with a balloon wire whip as you add 3 cups of hot water.  Serve the foamy hot chocolate with pinch of cayenne pepper.
 

Day 63: Thursday Dec 20 ~ Tex-Mex Freezer Surprise ~

~ Tex-Mex Freezer Surprise ~ 

I'm trying to work on clearing out the fridge and freezer before Christmas arrives as I know we'll need space for all the goodies everyone is making! I found a mystery bag which turned out to be a batch of salsa we made that just wasn't quite the right consistency - too soupy...which went great with my bag of black beans and some frozen mixed veggies. Put in a pot, after they began liquifying tossed in some penne pasta...and voila! Tex-Mex Freezer Surprise has been created. 
 

Served with some homemade tortilla chips, this was an ideal dinner for a cold and stormy night! :)
(see instructions for chips: http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/09/day-1-friday-sept-28.html)

 

Day 62: Wednesday Dec 19 ~ Veggie Wraps with Homemade Hummus ~

~ Veggie Wraps with Homemade Hummus ~

 

This is what we were SUPPOSED to have yesterday! :) But anyway - today when I got home I spent 20 minutes chopping all our veggies, so now we're ahead a little bit.

Here's what we included: hummus (see below), brown rice, celery, carrot, red pepper, tomato, sweet potato, kale, lime juice, lemon pepper. Also on mine: olives, parsley, red onions.
I just took a pinch of most everything in our fridge and we rolled it up in a flour tortilla. Yum! :)

Hummus - make your own: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/hummusrecipes/r/oilfreehummus1.htm

* I made my own and froze it in yogurt cups, once solid remove from container by running 

water over the bottom and squishing until it pops out, then put in ziploc. It's good in a pinch, but it does lack a little bit in texture after freezing - so if you do this, I would recommend keeping it for a spread versus a dip.

Day 61: Tuesday Dec 18 ~ Schlubway :(

~ Schlubway :( ~

 



Well, I'm claiming 1/2 progress tonight. I did begin prepping tonight's dinner and if it weren't for a few factors, but mostly Jesse's low blood sugar, I would have held firm. I felt a little defeated caving in during the last week of this challenge!

I had planned veggie wraps with hummus (now Wednesday's dinner), took the hummus from the freezer to thaw, cut up some tomatoes - but that was as far as I got, so other veggies not prepped and kitchen is still a wreck from before.

14 hours later...work, Jesse then went on to cookies to close out and of course they're busy so it was late, I"m stuck at work but using the time to do Christmas crafts, then I learn that I have an interview the next day (yeah)...so we go by the place, then go pick up some things I need (namely a pet fur roller in case the interviewer had allergies or just could see the pounds of fur on everything I own)...and it's after 9 p.m. before we get home and Jesse hasn't eaten since noon. I was really worried about getting things ready for tomorrow, and both of us were just tired, so we decided to get Schlubway....which I think is doubly ironic considering Jesse's scathing review of them not a week ago!

 

I'm claiming 1/2 progress though because it was a struggle to allow this - versus how we were prior to the challenge, where it would not have even been a question.

Day 60: Monday Dec 17 ~ Bonzai Burger & Popcorn ~

~ Bonzai Burger & Popcorn ~

Poor Jesse is beat - going from part-time-part-time to working 6 days a week can do that to a guy! Not to mention all the other hooplah and holiday goings on of late. He is now melting into the couch, unknowingly being used as a springboard by the cats.

 

So, since he's working so hard, and we are fortunate enough to have pineapple rings, Boca Burgers, and teriyaki sauce on hand - his favorite, Bonzai Burgers it is. No hamburger buns on hand, but even on a bed of lettuce, they are fabulous: http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/11/day-34-wednesday-nov-21-bonzai-burger.html

 

Also, no potatoes to make fries or chips, and Jesse happily chose popcorn to complete the meal. ;0

 

 

 

 

 

Day 59: Sunday Dec 16 ~ Plant-Strong Party! ~

~ Plant-Strong Party! ~

 

We had SO much fun hanging out with some fellow plant-strong Michiganders! It was a FEAST- cucumber salad, pasta salad, roasted brussels sprouts, layered mashed and sweet potato casserole, stuffed red peppers, pumpkin cake, and our items below. Unfortunately, we did not remember our camera, but the hostess kindly took a few pictures of our contributions.

We really enjoyed hearing about their journeys and filing away tons of helpful tips! Thanks for a great night, everyone! :)

 

 

Here's what we brought -

No Knead Sweet-Potato Rolls http://www.thekitchn.com/easy-baking-recipe-noknead-swe-132580#recipe Instead of the butter, I used apple sauce. Instead of whole milk, I used soy milk. I also substituted 1 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour. I read that most recipes you need to substitute less than half of the white flour to maintain a similar consistency. I would recommend pureeing the sweet potato. I microwaved mine instead of roasting and apparently it wasn't totally soft because after mashing and mixing, I ended up with whole wheat roll dough and sweet potato chunks floating throughout it. Still turned out yummy - but pureeing would enhance this. Raw Pecan Tartlets http://www.thesweetlifeonline.com/2012/11/11/raw-pecan-tartlets/ These were SO good! It really tasted JUST like a regular pecan pie - but no corn syrup or added sugar, just dates. Kale Salad with Olives and Pine Nuts

http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/day-10-sunday-oct-28-portabellas.html

This time I omitted the pine nuts because instead of merely toasting them I burnt them. Oddly enough, it was a pleasant aroma, causing Jesse to finally get out of bed. ;0

Fruit Platter
lots of yummy fruit! dip in lemon juice/water mixture to prevent apples and pears from turning brown - Jesse prefers them this way, demanding we get a mister just for lemon juice. ;0

Day 58: Saturday Dec 15 ~ Healthy Ramen Noodles Revisited~

~ Healthy Ramen Noodles Revisited~

I was supposed to happily spend the day at a baking party (which I still hope to pop in on later if I recover) - but instead I spent it laying down, clutching my stomach in agony until I finally fell asleep. Yeah, with that pizza on Wednesday we also ate turbo cheesy breadsticks - and having not had a lot of cheese or oil in the past 3 months, this seems to have effected me poorly.

So anyway I finally woke up, but still not doing great. I didn't want to eat, but hadn't eaten much all day and really want to still make it to this thing, in full strength. Looked into the kitchen and decided to just sit on the couch for a minute and hope to magically recover, when I passed by our dresser of grains and saw the soba noodles looking at me.

And I thought - that's it! That is what I need. Some basic, healing miso-based ramen noodles.

So Jesse is kindly making this for me as I type - putting his flair into it, he's adding a can of peas. :) He's so nice to me. I'm incredibly grateful.

 

 

http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/day-12-tuesday-oct-30-healthy-ramen.html

Day 57: Friday Dec 14 ~ Thai Palace and White Christmas ~

~ Thai Palace and White Christmas ~

Well, I know we should have planned ahead on this one today, but it just escaped us. Having 2 days in a row where we are not living up to our goals is a little upsetting. But the important thing is to just get back to it. We both had a variation of red curries, all vegetables - super yummy.

 

 

Anyway - we chose to eat out at Thai Palace tonight since it is right by my work and my work is half-way to the Redford Theatre - where they were playing WHITE CHRISTMAS! YES, I got to see White Christmas on the big screen. It was such a huge treat! I have decided that White Christmas is my all-time most favorite movie ever because it combines many of my loves - Christmas and all the wonder that surrounds it, Bing Crosby, musical numbers, Rosemary Clooney, Edith Head costuming, 1940s-50s attire - it's just magical. So seeing it on the big screen was amazing, and totally different than watching it at home. When the wall falls down on 'Bob Wallace' in the beginning - at the theatre it is actually impressive and a little scary. Their costumes are gorgeous - all of the sequins really sparkle, the skirts seem a little fuller, and the feathers more feathery. And it's just nice to see these actors on the big screen - it seems 3D in a way, seems to capture them better, and it's just a totally different experience.

I love classical musicals of all sorts, but perhaps because this also includes Christmas, my enjoyment is kicked up a notch. Watching this makes me forget all that is wrong with the world - it's like a giant hug soothing my pains, making it right, and letting me believe once more that the world is a marvelous and magical place. 

 I was so happy. A big thank you to my Mom for finding this and passing it on to me! :)

Day 56: Thursday Dec 13 ~ Salad, Pizza, and an Apology ~

~ Salad, Pizza, and an Apology ~

Salad
I saw this super fun idea at: https://www.facebook.com/HannahBananaBakery.
She'll make 5 'salads in a jar' on the weekend, then just grab and go. I think it's great, not only to better contain dressings/liquids with less spilling, but it's also fun and decorative. Much more exciting to me than seeing another plastic container stuffed with dry spinach. :)

SO...I've been feeling I need more salad lately, and this helped inspire me to start focusing on that for lunches. Thursday I made up a few, and decided to just make it easy and have it for dinner as well.
(This is her image, I'm typing at work so no picture on hand, sorry!)



Pizza
Well, that was nice and all - the salad I mean - but I didn't make it hefty enough considering our days and week...it was cold, Jesse had to stay late that day, he was told about his first paycheck coming through (meaning monies we had not anticipated), we were tired, and all these intersected to become the pizza trap. 
And of course I had not pre-prepped the pizza as I had promised! So...well, you know what happened.

The Apology
First, if you're reading this blog but not accessing it from my shares on Facebook - let me  apologize for my husband's decision to use harsh language regarding animal products. Well, if you know him, you know everything is at least half jest anyway - but if you don't, I can see that there might be room for offense. Regardless, that is not really the message I am trying to send out with this blog. Yes, I personally believe that a plant-strong diet is the healthiest for humans (body, finances, spirit), animals, and the environment. However, our choices might not be the right ones for you, at least not at this moment - and I respect that. I mean, a year ago we were just beginning to learn about this! And as you've seen, even though we're trying to get away from it - we've had some animal products within the last month - he even ate chicken on Monday when we went out with my family! Now that I've tattled, this will probably be the first post of mine he reads. ;0 Anyway - when my husband is posting, just take it with a grain of salt. I don't know that he is this way - okay, I guess I've caught both of us acting like this a little from time to time - I feel that some early 'vegans' tend to overcompensate and be a little aggressive. I think part of it is embracing the new way of thinking - all of the data is fresh in your mind, you're fighting with how you were raised and what society says (not to mention all the 'stuff' out there - subliminal marketing, just our current environment - you can't turn a corner without seeing something that you're trying to avoid) , you're also having to defend or explain yourself a lot and it can sometimes seem lonely (until you find a great group like Engine 2 Extra!). So it can sometimes be a challenging transition and I think in their excitement or resolve to maneuver these waters, sometimes people come off as antagonistic. 

I would however like to take the opposite approach - embracing the positives of all the new wonderful colors, flavors, and textures that have come into our lives as a result of this change. We have had so many wonderful health benefits as well. Jesse's A1C levels have dropped 2 points, we've both lost weight, we have more energy, and I am no longer in pain from my internal troubles - I think they may even be healing! I have also found that doing this has opened up new ways of thinking for me. I feel more hopeful. I feel that more things are possible for me. I know that I can change my life, and have power over my experiences. I do not ever really remember feeling these things at such deep levels before. I'm still in process, but I am now excited to see where this is going.

Well, that is all the reflection we have time for today! So, thank you for your patience with us!

Day 55: Wednesday Dec 12 ~ Soft Tacos ~

~Soft Tacos~
 I made soft tacos today.  Liv has a thing about meat loaf. Be it "real" meat loaf ( you know, made out of ground up animal remains) or vegetarian meat loaf, it doesn't matter. She will eat one slice of it and then retire from the loaf. So with this tendancy in mind, I repurposed the remaining 2/3 of the meat loaf she'd made a few days ago. Here's a reminder of it:

http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/12/day-52-sunday-dec-9-bean-lentil-loaf.html,

I put the load in a skillet and mushed it up. I added a generous dose of taco seasoning. I cooked that until it started to seem very dry, and I stirred in some sliced tomato hunks and a hefty splash of taco sauce.

 We're without taco shells, so I used tortillas. I scooped my taco mixture into the tortillas with more tomato chunks and some shredded lettuce to end up with:

And there it is. Vegan soft taco, just as spicy and filling as if it were stuffed with the ground remains of some animal.

I will admit, I missed having sour cream but I can live just fine without the cheese. You know the government is trying to get you addicted to cheese, right? I ain't falling for their nonsense.

Day 54: Tuesday Dec 11 ~ Quick Meal Composition ~

We are now entering 'Lazy Week' - or better put, quick 10 min. max meals. :)
We'll be pulling whatever we have out of the freezer and fridge and trying to make something out of it. In eating plant-strong, from what I've learned, meal composition should be: 1/2 plate greens and veggies, 1/4 plate beans/lentils, 1/4 plate whole grains. So this is the rule I"m using.

Previously I would base my meal on the meat - what do I have? Okay, what can I put with that? And I didn't really worry about spices a lot - cheese, salsa, thai mae ploy sauce - it was either that or salt and pepper. Maybe if I was being fancy, garlic salt, basil, parsley, possibly oregano - maybe. (Now we're using spices I had never heard of previously!)
So, when we started eating this way, I was totally lost at first. Without my anchor of meat, I didn't know what constituted a meal. It took a while to get used to this new outlook, but I feel more confident about the basics of a meal now. Still working on all the other details! :)

Today's feast: Leftover Mujadra from LaPita (dinner out yesterday with the fam! so yummy!), Leftover Cabbbage Salad Japanese Style (we stir-fried it so it seemed like a totally different dish: http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/12/day-46-monday-dec-3-cabbage-salad.html), Couscous (perfectly quick - mix equal parts warm water and couscous, wait 5 minutes, fluff, you're done!), Frozen Vegetable Mix: Florentine Style

Day 53: Monday Dec 10 ~ LaPita, dinner out!

My Dad's out of town which means my Mom has to get her garlic fix. So we have been invited out to dinner at LaPita. I've never been, but heard it's great! I am always up for grilled veggies and baba ghanoush. yum!

As far as the kitchen work goes - I do plan to catch up on some dishes tonight, but really no need to cook anything. We have tons of salad fixings and leftovers and things for lunches! :)

Day 52: Sunday Dec 9 ~ Bean & Lentil Loaf ~ Mashed Potatoes ~ Steamed Greens ~

~ Bean & Lentil Loaf ~ Mashed Potatoes ~ Steamed Greens ~

This Bean & Lentil Loaf recipe came from my dear friend Sarah. I've been meaning to make this ever since she posted it - it looked so yummy, I just had to give it a try! Today was the first day I've actually had totally 'off' from obligations in I can't remember when so I decided to actually cook something. I'll admit though that I forgot to soak the dry lentils (didn't have canned), so we decided to devour the potatoes and greens while the loaf cooks - it smells delicious, and I'm excited to bring it for lunch tomorrow! :)

Bean & Lentil Loaf
http://vegan-magic.blogspot.com/2012/06/bean-and-lentil-loaf-low-fat-gluten.html
skipped the oil - a pinch of salt will release the juices from the onion

Mashed Potatoes - Steamed Greens
You can't have 'meat'loaf without mashed potatoes ('normal' way except used soy milk v. regular, and skipped the butter). Greens are good to include in any meal. Steam 4 minutes in the microwave by adding up to 1/4 cup water to 3 cups greens, lift corner of lid up just a bit on the 'glad' - or like I did tonight, use the skillet, then top with lemon juice and a sprinkle of garlic salt.

Day 51: Saturday Dec 8 ~ Pre-packaged Pizza

Pre-packaged Pizza

So yeah, we have a problem with pizza I think!

Jesse got this because he thought the 'Duo cheese' meant Daiya/vegan 'cheese' - and he really liked the pizza we had for his mom's birthday with the Daiya cheese on it (Buddy's)....but no, it meant 2 kinds of cheese! Either way - vegan or no, 'cheese' is going out after this! Vegan cheese is essentially just oil/fat, so it's really not all that better for you - no hormones like you have with dairy, but equally as bad for the body! Why does cheese have to be bad for me though? I do love the taste so....sigh. ;0

 

Growing up, pizza was a special treat in my family - maybe once or infrequently twice a month if things were going good I think, but regardless it was infrequent enough to be a big deal. Jesse's family celebrates almost all special occassions with pizza, and he says they would only have it once a month...but I wonder. He says he wants it just because it's good - sauce and cheese, what could be better? - but I think he's also attracted to the 'one item meal' - no fuss. Or maybe this is just his last holdout with cheese.



Anyway - when we got married, I was amazed at how frequently Jesse suggested pizza for dinner - still am, but now he's got me on the craving train. We rented his dad's basement at first, no kitchen though I did stir-fry a lot in an electric skillet, but dishes were a challenge. I remember many nights though with Domino's Philly Cheesesteak Pizza and Star Trek TNG or Transformers: BeastWars. And later on in our marriage when things were really tight and we had no business buying out, like our first night without electricity even - we'd scrape together our last $5 in change and get Little Caesar's. So yeah, it's been a real problem for a long while.

 

So - I'm going to do something about it! I got an excellent book, "Heart Healthy Pizza" by Mark Sutton. http://www.hearthealthypizza.com/ , (we took a few ideas from it - http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/11/day-15-friday-nov-2-pspizza-wred-pepper.html) , but really haven't followed any of his pizza plans to the 't'. And the only reason for that is preparation. I actually had planned to make one of his pizzas yesterday, but I didn't prep it, we were doing cookies and finals (was that just yesterday?), etc.

How to remedy? Plan ahead - not tomorrow because first I have to reclaim my kitchen-let's be realistic here, but then my goal this week will be to create my stockpile of homemade plant-strong pizzas pre-frozen (or ingredients like the crusts, sauces) prepped and frozen.

 

It won't quite make Jesse happy because it won't have cheese on it - last time we made this, he said with a sad face that we really shouldn't call it pizza because it lacked the sauce and cheese! But hopefully following these recipes can help wean us off the stuff! And maybe one day we'll think of pizza as a yummy AND healthy thing!

Oh yeah - I'll actually COOK something tomorrow! :)

Day 50: Friday Dec 7 ~ Pizza Spaghetti ~

~ Pizza Spaghetti ~



Wow - is it really Day 50 already?
If you want to skip my drama and see the recipe....it's at the bottom of the post!

If you have been dying to read my ramblings, here you go....
So - again we were plagued by the fast food monster - but opted instead for pizza spaghetti. ;0
There are a few reasons why this is rearing its ugly head again.
1. STRESS - Jesse just got a job (yeah!), dealing with that transition - a very good, awesome transition but some changes. I have a final project due in 3 hours that I am only half way through as I type this. It will somehow magically come together - I hope. And well, regular life stuff, right?
2. DAIRY - so we went out with Jesse's family on Sunday and I had ice cream because it was pre-ordered for us, like regular whole cream dairy ice cream. Okay and then I had half a Big Boy's hot fudge sundae ice cream cake and half a box of Christmas cookies. Let's just say I should have opted for alcohol earlier! And just refused the ice cream regardless! On the way home we picked up regular milk, because we agreed to do a cookie order (first one since we've been focusing on plant-strong/September, we gave the cookie biz up for a while mostly for time but partly for food choices, but made an exception here). Anyway, because we had regular milk in the house, and because I was stressed and already off the wagon, I used it for my cereal. I didn't touch the eggs or butter which we also bought for this project. But I used the milk for a bowl of cereal. Doing that made me crave cheese, and made me crave more milk - so it just kept nagging at me all week. So much so that part of why we had cereal on Wednesday is because earlier we ate pizza - like regular $5 Little Caesar's pizza. I should have confessed this on Wednesday because I've felt so guilty. ;0 Anyway - even though by this point in the week I was feeling sick (when you're off meat, dairy, oil and you have some, especially high quality choices [sarcasm] like I made this week - you can tell a difference! Especially when some health issues clear up when you're 'clean' and for some reason reappear when you .) - because I had really just blown it by now (increasing my stress level), I really just wanted to give it up - the blog, my plant-strong goals, just everything - back to McDonald's every night for me.
But Jesse did an amazing thing yesterday and instead of getting us Subway (because even though my spirit was at the Big Mac level I really wasn't happy with the way I was feeling and didn't want to continue it), so anyway he saved us and got components for our own Veggie Delights. This was very important. I feel that if he would have gotten Subway yesterday, it would have been very easy for me to say - let's get McDonald's - tonight...and back to previous life we go.... But - he held fast (THANK YOU!) - and so tonight it was my turn to say, NO - I don't want to go down that path again - we will cook at home tonight!!
And so....incredibly long story long...we did!

Pizza Spaghetti
He said spaghetti (I had a meal plan ready but it was more complicated and we didn't have time) - I thought that sounded good...then I started thinking pizza spaghetti. Something to change it up, right?
So - I started the pasta up, then sauteed green and yellow peppers, tomato, mild pepper rings (the 'pizza' part), parsley, and basil for about 10 minutes until soft, dumped in a can of spaghetti sauce. Strained pasta, put in bowl, topped mine with olives - voila! Pizza spaghetti all set.

Day 49: Thursday Dec 6 ~ Veggie Subs

We were tempted to get Subway for whatever reason today. But I said, 'No'. I said, "No, I will not do it." I went to the grocery store instead, and bought all the stuff we'd get on our Subway Veggie Delights.
 I spent about the same amount of $ we would have spent at Shlubway, and now we have several meals worth of food. And that's WITH me spending the extra change to get the pre-sliced sandwich pickles. Store brand. So there.
  Let me interject here on the matter of Subway restaruants. Or, more specifically, the Subway sandwich artists. I've dined at several Subway locations throughout my life and the same thing happens every time. I'll ask for light- just a LITTLE BIT - of mustard (or whatever drippy condiment that makes sense with my sandwich choice) and they never give me just a little. I always have to stop them somewhere on the THIRD swing as they squeeze the bottle and wave it back and forth over and over. A little bit! That's one, maybe two passes. That's plenty. Egads.

 Uh, where was I? Making your own subs. You can control the volume of mustard. You can put the mustard on BEFORE the toppings too. Hmm? How's that? You can use a knife to spread it, so it reaches all the way to the end of the bun, instead of lying in a thick pool in the center. Plus, you have the option of Miracle Whip over Mayo if you swing that way.

 Here's what Liv's sub looked like. I feel like I am more of a sandwich artist than those professional sandwich artists with their acne and their homework they do after work. Hmpf.

I don't like olives. There were none on mine.

Day 48: Wednesday Dec 5 ~ Cereal

Yeah, my plans went out the window. Cereal it was.

Day 47: Tuesday Dec 4 ~ Blue Corn Chip Salad ~

~ Blue Corn Chip Salad ~

Liv had gotten good at making our own chips, but for tonight's dinner we broke down and bought some.
(see http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/09/day-1-friday-sept-28.html )
 They're blue.
I made Blue Corn Chip Salad. It's pretty much a vegan taco salad.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/recipes/vegan-fourth-of-july-menu

Let me tell you about making roasted red peppers. It's easy to do. Turn your oven to the underused Broil setting. Line your favorite cookie sheet with your favorite brand of aluminum foil. Broil the red peppers for two minutes. Turn them over and broil another two minutes. Continue until you've done all four (they're square-ish enough) sides. That's all there is to it. Don't waste your money on expensive pre-roasted red peppers. I'M JUST TRYING TO SAVE YOU SOME MONEY.

Day 46: Monday Dec 3 ~ Cabbage Salad Japanese Style ~ Barley with Sweet Rice and Corn ~ Great Northern Beans ~

~ Cabbage Salad Japanese Style ~ Barley with Sweet Rice and Corn ~ Great Northern Beans ~

 

So this is 'salad week' at Engine 2. Jesse hates salad. The mention of the word makes him put his hands over his ears and scream 'lalalalala-I can't hear you'. My initial thought was that I'd just do salad for lunch and we'd have something else together for dinner. Then it felt like 'double work' somehow (typically lunch is quick/easy leftovers, soups, etc.)...so I decided to just tie the salads into the meals for dinner...and hope he didn't notice. Really if I keep it interesting enough, don't use the 's' word, and limit my use of regular lettuce...I might just get away with it! We'll see...
 

 

Cabbage Salad Japanese Style
http://www.marthastewart.com/939791/cabbage-salad-japanese-style
1/2 cabbage sliced thinly/shredded
1 Tbsp. miso paste
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup safflower oil (leave out)
zest and juice of a lime
1 tsp. sesame oil (leave out, sprinkled sesame seeds on later)
whisk and put cabbage right in bowl

Barley with Sweet Rice and Corn
From "The Kind Diet"/Alicia Silverstone, page 289. Sorry, recipe not online.
I am glad to see her diverse use of barley in the book. :)

Great Northern Beans
heated :)

Day 45: Sunday Dec 2 ~ Homemade Wheat Thins ~ Low-Fat Vegan Nacho Cheese ~

~ Homemade Wheat Thins ~ Low-Fat Vegan Nacho Cheese ~



 

Tonight we are actually eating out with Jesse's family to celebrate his mom's birthday. So I'm not cooking dinner today. Lunch is leftover tuna salad (on lettuce this time).

So - since I need to post something and I have a little free time - I thought I would splurge a bit again and make some 'junk' food. What's great is that there is nothing 'junky' about these recipes!! They are made at home from real, plant-strong ingredients. Awesome.

 

 

Homemade Wheat Thins
http://www.bellybytes.com/recipes/crackers.shtml
It's funny how many times I've 'realized' that you can cook things that usually come in a box or can. I know - this might be one time I use the blonde excuse - but I never thought of baking my own crackers! So when I ran across a recipe a while back for crackers I totally flipped - what? You can bake your own crackers? OMG! I didn't know that! Well - duh - they have to be made somehow, somewhere, right?!
Anyway - still amazing to me, and a sign that we take too much for granted, and that possibly there is too much 'convenience' in the world. I do fear that we really aren't all that far away from a Wall-E type existence where the future leader of the world is excited to learn (well, he thinks) that pizza can grow from a thing called a seed.

So...off my soap box and on to the recipe! The only thing I substituted in here was the oil - used applesauce instead. And the thing about flipping it onto another cookie sheet to just transfer back - silly! Just flip it onto another cookie sheet - period. Reuse the parchment on your next batch or something.
Now - how these turned out. They DID taste like Wheat Thins, which is amazing! I couldn't get the texture right though. Some of the edges were right on - so I'm contemplating a few things...poke more holes in it (first time I forgot - oops!), roll it thinner, and if this doesn't do it, separate the rows totally to allow more air on the edges. It is more convenient to keep it in a sheet like they say - but I have the bad feeling that until each cracker is totally separated, I'm going to keep getting heavy, chewy pieces.
We'll see - I'll keep you posted. Hoping to refine this prior to the holidays so I can have some yummy, healthy snacks on hand! :)

Low-Fat Vegan Nacho Cheese
http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/low-fat-vegan-nachos/
Yummy! Guilt-free 'cheese'! :) I didn't have cashews, used almonds. Also ommitted the red pepper (so I'm looking forward to putting this in next time). I used Silk original soymilk - but there is still a vanilla-y taste to it...which put the cheese off a little bit. I think next time I'd try homemade oat milk or maybe Meijer organic soymilk which seems to be less flavorful (ideal for cereal imo). :)
Overall though - very good! This one's a keeper. :)

Day 44: Saturday Dec 1 ~ Kinda Tuna Sandwich ~

~ Kinda Tuna Sandwich ~

Alicia Silverstone brings us this sandwich. Jesse is not a tuna 'salad' kinda guy, and as the focus of this recipe is to make you think you're eating tuna because of all the 'salad' content...I thought it'd be a good one to try on my own. ;0

http://thekindlife.com/blog/post/alicia-silverstone-a-tuna-sandwich-without-tuna-or-bread-vegan-recipe

I opted for the bread!
Instead of the tempeh, I followed the suggestion on the 3rd comment below - just crushed up some chickpeas. This saved time, too! :) I also feel like chickpeas sometimes smell 'tuna-y'.
I also left out the onion bit - none in the house unfortunately.
And instead of veganaise I used soy yogurt just to add that creaminess.
If you're trying for a 'quick' meal - I would recommend just using canned or frozen veggie mix (versus cutting carrot, celery, adding peas, corn).

Overall - very good, and yes, it is very tuna salad sammichy! :) yum.



Day 43: Friday, Nov 30 ~ Sweet potato, topped with black beans ~Chocolate Banana 'Milkshake' ~

~ Sweet potato, topped with black beans ~ Chocolate Banana 'Milkshake' ~

So tonight Jesse is off on a comic adventure and I'm still trying to wrap up all this schoolwork.

Quick and easy is the name of the game! (also, he's got the camera - so no pics tonight I'm afraid!)

 

Sweet potato, topped with black beans

Saw this 'recipe' on the Engine 2 site. I baked the sweet potato in the microwave, heated up the beans, combined - voila! Nothing more to say.... ;o except...omg is this good! :) It would probably be even more healthy and balanced with some greens on the side, but I could only eat half as it was - very filling! :)

 

Chocolate Banana 'Milkshake'

I also decided to treat myself as I've plugged back into using my exercise bike, even doing so today on my own versus crashing on the couch with the cats. I saw a recipe for something similar, and thought I should try it out.

Here's what I did:

- 2 small bananas, frozen (be smart and peel and chop the bananas then put in freezer! I had to skin 

   mine under running hot water...)

- 3 teaspoons of cocoa powder

- 1 teaspoon of sugar

- 1 dash (tsp) vanilla extract

- 1 cup soymilk

Blend like crazy until desired consistency.

 

Here's what I will do to improve:

This was SO filling - much more so than a 'regular' milkshake! I think next time I'll just use 1 banana, possibly less soymilk as well (as I had to put half of it away for later anyway!)

Also - you really don't need 3 tsp of cocoa. Now, anyone that knows me knows I'm serious about chocolate - but (I can't believe I'm saying this) - this was too much, like Burger King shake syrupy chocolaty tasting almost (without the sick aftereffect though!).

And...you probably don't need the sugar - taste and see what works for you.

So - the next time I will try:

- 1 banana frozen (and prechopped!)

- 1 tsp. cocoa powder

- 1 dash vanilla

- 3/4 c. soymilk

Blend like crazy until desired consistency. And use a straw to drink because that's just cooler.

 

I felt pretty good about this creation. I know that all of these things are in line with how I want to be eating, will not hurt me (finding that I'm feeling so much better off dairy!), are even GOOD for me....and more importantly, this tasted even better than a shake from a fast food place - AND I didn't end up with a tummy ache or headache after!

I had reconsidered making this (after watching Biggest Loser while on my bike and thinking hmm...I've got a lot of weight to lose) - but then I reconsidered because if eating healthy substitutions like this will help me stay plant-strong (and these have much less calories and much more nutrition!) - then why not? I am going to find a way to have my cake and eat it too - Yum! :)

 

 

 

Day 42: Thursday Nov 29 ~Spaghetti :)

~ Spaghetti ~

So I had something else planned for tonight, but it must've been too weird because Jesse ended up making spaghetti while I crammed for my final. And you know what? It was absolutely perfect - exactly what I needed to help me ace my test! So a HUGE thank you to my husband for all of his work throughout this project, including covering for me tonight. :)

 

P.S. He was also so sweet to put mine on the Snowman plate he smuggled into our cart last Christmas season. :) Something I wanted but did not intend to buy for myself, it is not only a reminder of my favorite holiday but his thoughtfulness. :)

Day 41: Wednesday Nov 28 ~ Leftover Better Than Chicken Soup ~

~ Leftover Better Than Chicken Soup ~

Well, it's 8:30 and I'm not yet home. Jesse just wrapped up a drawing session at a comic store(yeah!), and is now being coached on how to succeed at his interview tomorrow (thank you REN!). While I'd like to leave prison, uh I mean work, it is a nice, quiet environment to do some studying - of which I have a copious amount with a final tomorrow and a huge project due soon that I'm trying to wrap up. I know if I were home I'd be watching either Downton Abbey or Supernatural, of which I've seen every episode...and cuddling with cats, all concerns for our future and my scholastic career just out of my head. 

SO anyway - just in case this happened, I packed extra food and am eating the leftover soup from yesterday and maybe a grapefruit for dessert. I'm hoping that Jesse brought food with him as I instructed - but if not(and probably not), he will be scavenging the fridge when we get home! No Wendy's for you, sir! We must stay clean for another 25 days (well, for this goal anyway)....and by the way, that's the countdown to Christmas Eve. Wow...well, now that I've freaked you all out, go watch a Charlie Brown Christmas for me and have a good night!

Day 40: Tuesday Nov 27 ~ Better than Chicken Soup ~

~ Better than Chicken Soup ~

So apparently my sister is sick - and since we had been over there frequently over the weekend, and since our immunities are down because we've supplemented our healthy leftovers with junk or non-plant-strong material this weekend (I know, I know - but we're back on track!)...to help prevent issues and just boost our system, we're making this amazing soup.

 

It's super easy and super yummy and super healthy! :) The only thing that could improve it in my book is to serve with homemade bread (or in a bread bowl - yeah!).

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/better-chicken-soup

oh - of course leave out the oil and use vegetable broth!
We sorta took a short-cut, putting the remainder of the Kale Salad from Thursday in (versus the kale it called for) - this made it a little sweeter with the addition of the red and yellow peppers.
 

Day 39: Monday, Nov 26 ~ Sunny Summer Squash Soup ~

~ Sunny Summer Squash Soup ~

 

Jesse somehow found these cute little yellow squashes, and while I'm not a huge fan of pureed soup, something about this recipe called out to me. Maybe it was 'sunny' - nice to bring some of that into November! :)

We did substitute half the yellow squash for butternut, hence the darker color. :)

 

 

Glad we did try the recipe out - it was delicious! :)

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/08/sunny-summer-squash-soup.html

Day 36/Fri - Day 38/Sun ~ you guessed it, leftovers!

you guessed it, leftovers!

We had SO much food - stuff we had in our fridge that wasn't eaten before Thanksgiving, stuff from both of our families, stuff, stuff, stuff.....so we had many variations of leftovers over the weekend. I was trying to stay away some from the usual internet trap, so didn't blog about it.

Happy to be back in the flow of things today! :)

Day 35: Thursday Nov 22 ~ Apple Braid ~ Kale Salad with Olives and Pine Nuts ~ Scarlet Roasted Vegetables ~

~ Apple Braid ~ Kale Salad with Olives and Pine Nuts ~ Scarlet Roasted Vegetables ~

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :)

 

I'll be helping out with the usual preparations at my mom's later today - but thought I'd make a breakfast treat ahead of time, so we can pick at it while we wait for the rest of the food to come together.

Besides...I really wanted to try this out!!
Also thought it might be nice to bring a few new favorites!

 

 

 

Apple Braid

http://www.eatliverun.com/apple-braid/#more-24074

Instead of the oil, I used applesauce. Instead of the whipping cream, I used homemade almond milk. If you need frothiness/body, I wouldn't necessarily recommend substituting the almond milk - but in this recipe, it is just for a glaze - so I thought, sweet, a little healthy fat in there...that'd be a good substitution. *In retrospect, it probably could be a little thicker - why they said with whipping cream perhaps? I would recommend thickening the almond milk by not adding as much water when processing (as you would for regular 'milk'). Alternatively, you could just add in a little extra powdered sugar and you'd be all set.

Homemade almond milk:

http://www.edibleharmony.com/almond-milk/ 

 

Kale Salad with Olives and Pine Nuts

This was one we tried the last day of the Comicon - it was a fun, spicy salad. Hmm...with the colors if this is a winner over there I might reprise it at Christmas!http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/day-10-sunday-oct-28-portabellas.html

 

Scarlet Roasted Vegetables

Yeah, I know - not scarlet today! Surprisingly enough, Kroger did not have beets! I had canned some earlier this summer, but was afraid even with rinsing the vinegar might throw the flavor off, so I decided to abstain.

This dish is never the same twice because I always have a different mixture of vegetables - however, it is always good no matter what you put in it! :)

http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/day-10-sunday-oct-7.html

 

Day 34: Wednesday Nov 21 ~ Bonzai Burger and Steak Fries

~ Bonzai Burger and Steak Fries ~

I know...tomorrow's the big day so we should eat light tonight, right? Well, it's also the end of work for a few days and that calls for a celebration. I didn't feel like doing anything elaborate, and since our typical past celebration might have been to go out to dinner...say at Red Robin...thought we'd stick to our guns, beat the system, and give this a try. :)

The Bonzai Burger is Jesse's favorite burger at Red Robin. A while ago, a friend with a 'real' blog posted a great review/recipe: (http://thegoodthedadandthebaby.com/?p=3470).

Bonzai Burger
http://www.food.com/recipe/bonzai-burger-from-red-robin-restaurant-453235
We used Boca burgers, and skipped the cheese and mayonnaise, but rest of recipe was the same.

Steak Fry Directions from a previous post:
http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/10/day-18-monday-oct-15.html

Jesse's REAL love there is not the burgers, or even the bottomless steak fries, but instead...the seasoning. If the attentive servers left us alone too long, I'm sure we'd have a stockpile of it at home. But...since they don't, and we don't - I went on the search for a recipe! I did find one, however I didn't find the dried tomato soup it calls for - so, we'll just be using the good ole' Lawry's seasoned salt tonight.
Red Robin seasoning:
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Red-Robin-Seasoning-Recipe.html

Day 33: Tuesday Nov 20 ~ Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms over Whole Wheat Pasta with a White Sauce ~

~ Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms over Whole Wheat Pasta with a White Sauce ~

WOW - today is HALF-WAY through our little challenge! The first time around, it seemed like it would never end...got to day 19 and that was it. Now, all of a sudden - we're half-way done? Really?!

Recently the realization that this is a lifestyle change sort of sunk in - or sunk in a little more anyway. We really are trying to create a new habit, not just 'get through' 66 days of something. It's starting to seem more consistently manageable. It doesn't seem so terrible anymore, being a responsible adult and coming home to cook dinner for myself.

 We still struggle a little on the weekends, especially lately with my school stuff going on - so we have made a few poor choices for lunch occassionally, but these have been more rare and we always circle back for dinner - stopping the poor choice binge at one meal. I do want to commit for the rest of the challenge to TOTALLY avoid fast food - no matter when/time of day, frequency, occassion - doesn't matter, if I don't make it, I don't eat it. I had declared this during our reboot - but we weren't ready. I think we are now. I'll keep you posted. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jesse got a a giant bunch of brussels sprouts still on the stalk - we had never seen them this way! It's like having a tree in our fridge. :)
Anyway - we usually roast them in the oven and they are scrumptious! But I thought for at least one dish we should try something new. So - we found two great recipes at the Fat Free Vegan blog and morphed them into one dish.

We started our pasta first, then moved on to this recipe: 

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2011/02/brussels-sprouts-and-mushrooms.html
and at the end threw in the chickpeas from the next recipe.

Then get started on the white sauce:
# 3 - http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/03/pasta-and-vegetables-with-white-sauce.html
While the pasta and the vegetables are cooking, make the sauce: combine in a medium saucepan the soy milk. garlic, herbs, and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes or until pasta is done. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and the nutritional yeast. Stir the cornstarch into 1/4 cup of cool water and add it to the sauce, stirring well. Increase heat and cook until the sauce boils and thickens slightly. Check seasonings and add salt to taste.

Day 32: Monday Nov 19 ~ Leftover Moroccan Quinoa

~ Leftover Moroccan Quinoa ~

This Moroccan Quinoa was so yummy the first time around - I'm not minding having it again!

It's been a lot of leftovers lately - usually we just use these for lunches, but school projects, needing a break, and a full freezer from past efforts have dictated the necessity of revisiting some of these dishes. :)

I'm thinking we'll get back to the regular program next week...and maybe once school is over I'll work on 'flipping' some recipes. So if you're reading this, and have a family favorite recipe that you would like to see reworked into a plant-strong dish - just let me know, and I'll make my best efforts!

http://freedomfromfastfood.blogspot.com/2012/11/day-18-monday-nov-5-moroccan-quinoa.html

Day 31: Sunday, Nov 18 ~ Beany Backblast Burritos

~Beany Backblast Burritos~

Tonight, we dined on burritos. I expect a big backlash from these, since they're chock-full of beans. Here's what I did...

I had a failed batch of hummus. (see post from Wednesday, 11/14)
1 can of Garbonzos, two tablespoons of garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of Bragg Liquid Amminos and 3 tablespoons of water.

Now, here's the trick. You have to either over blend the above ingredients, or add too much water. Or possibly both. Any way, you have to end up with a really, really liquidy matter.

Next, add a can of pinto beans and hope that A) nobody notices and B) it thickens the mess up. In the end, if you've done it right, it will still be too liquid. Oops.

Moving on, take a can of kidney beans. Lightly mash them with a fork, and stir it in to your failed hummus mixture. Dump in a packet of taco seasoning, and an extra dash each of cayenne and cumin. Mix well with the fork you mashed the kidney beans with.

Heat the new mixture in the microwave for 2 mins. Spoon (or fork) some into your favorite variety of tortilla. Fry in skillet until lightly browned. Top each burrito with a line of taco sauce. Eat.

A side serving of Beano is recommended. (This is Jesse if you hadn't already guessed.)

Day 30: Saturday Nov 17 ~ Thai Feast: Spicy Thai Soup, Spring Rolls, Pad Pak Priew Waan

~ Spicy Thai Soup ~ Spring Rolls ~ Pad Pak Priew Waan ~

A Thai feast for us tonight! Celebrating the completion of 2 major school projects - plus a big thank you to Jesse for all of his support lately - I thought I'd surprise him with a fun dinner on a Saturday night (usually a scrounging-type night for us ;0).

My rebellion against 'normal' cabbage this week takes me to my favorite use of it - in a Thai Spring Roll! We don't have any spring roll wrappers on hand, but I found out that they actually are fairly easy to make. (HA! - could still use a lot of practice to perfect these!). Needing to round out the menu a bit - I thought I'd turn it into a more authentic fare. We always start with soup at Thai restaurants, and the Spicy Thai Soup recipe below is so quick and easy (not to mention yummy!). The Pad Pak Priew Waan looked great, so I thought we'd try it out.

Spicy Thai Soup
http://www.nutritionmd.org/recipes/view.html?recipe_id=197

Pad Pak Priew Waan (Hot and Sour Vegetables)
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Pad-Pak-Priew-Waan-_hot-And-Sour-Vegetables_-Recipezaar?columns=4&position=1/1
Soooo good! :) Instead of zucchini, we used the yellow squash we had on hand.

Spring Rolls
http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetarianthairecipes/r/springrolls.htm
Instead of frying, we baked at 350 for 15 minutes. (and oh, are these spicy!)


http://www.essortment.com/homemade-spring-roll-wrapper-recipe-13943.html
instead of regular eggs on the wrappers - made 'flaxseed' eggs, per egg - 1Tbsp flaxseed meal + 2 Tbsp water stirred until thick. I think next time (if I don't just buy wrappers) I'll try EnerG or something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnqoEht_VYM - my dough was not quite this thick, I poured mine from a pyrex bowl with a spout - but this helped me realize just how thin they needed to be on the pan!

And one last thing....we're almost half-way through this challenge! Phew :)

Day 29: Friday Nov 16 ~ Leftovers AGAIN!

Yeah - more leftovers. Really, it was more of a snacky day in general as I was in power study mode - off work due to huntin' season and crumpled under some giant end of semester projects. So we nibbled at the hoardes of leftovers in the freezer and fridge all day, and dinner time was popcorn. ;0 Well, anyway, I am grateful that we had things ready made as I was not up to cooking.

Sorry for the boringness lately - things are now a little cleared out and will get back to normal soon. :)

Day 28th: Thursday, Nov 15 ~Leftovers~

~Veggie Lasagna ~ Yesterday's Ghallaba~

We've got a growing supply of leftovers, so we're eating them tonight. No, I won't bother taking a picture of them.

Eat food.

Day 27: Wednesday Nov 14 ~ Mediterranean Feast: Greek-Style Vegetable Salad, Hummus, Ghallaba, Mediterranean Brown Rice, Served with pita and beets

~ Greek-Style Vegetable Salad ~ Hummus  ~ Ghallaba ~ Mediterranean Brown Rice ~

Today I am hoping to treat a friend who is doing a huge favor for me! I have this terrifying school video project where I need a human guinea pig to help demonstrate that I can listen and hopefully give appropriate prompts so they can find the answers they need within themselves (essence of academic advising). Yeah, not sure how my video will go...but regardless we will have a feast before hand to celebrate! :)

* And a HUGE thank you to Jesse - for cooking this feast for us!! I had great intentions, set all this up, but too much schoolwork and needed to sleep the stress off - so didn't get to the cooking part! ;0
He is wonderful. :)  (I promised to handle all the kitchen chores for the rest of the week. :))

Greek-Style Vegetable Salad

This is the most awesome salad recipe ever! I used to make a batch early in the week, keeping it separate from the lettuce - and every day just take a scoop of the 'toppings' and add to a few cups of lettuce - not only extends the life of the salad, makes for easy lunch planning, but reduces the calories a bit as well.

So good. I learned of this through Denise Austin's online program, but it is available in some of her books as well. You can view it online, p. 190 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=tBNEm06K9XMC&pg=PA274&lpg=PA274&dq=Greek-Style+Vegetable+Salad,+Denise+Austin&source=bl&ots=huVcVVsKs4&sig=v18_9BrUxoCFpMtuyvGA3kE-1bM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CXKiUOa9F-j8yAH1hIDYAw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Leave out the olive oil and feta cheese to make it plant strong. I also just use plain black olives versus kalamata (cheaper!). :)

Hummus

homemade hummus - so many variations. Here's a good, healthy, plant-strong recipe:

http://engine2diet.com/recipe/engine-2-hummus/

Ghallaba

Our first go-round on this challenge we tried a dish that reminded me of Ghallaba, and I promised to get back to you on the 'official' recipe. I love Ghallaba from La Oasis in Taylor. We often had their ghallaba wrap and it disappeared quickly!

http://www.dedemed.com/mediterranean/ghallaba-recipe

Of course, we left out the chicken and the oil.

Mediterranean Brown Rice 
http://dedemed.com/mediterranean/brown-rice-recipe
*Our place puts roasted pine nuts in theirs - yummy!