Breakfast Rice Bowl

Get creative when it comes to breakfast. J and I have taken to preparing shakes every morning before work because they're portable and packed full of fruits and veggies. But on the weekends, I really enjoy sitting down with a good book, a cup of coffee, and a nice breakfast that I can eat with a utensil! 

Enter Breakfast Rice Bowl. You can really make this however you want - different veggies, different dressings, add fruit, etc. But here follows my version this Sunday morning:

Breakfast Rice Bowl

1/2 to 3/4 cup of brown rice luke warm or cold (I used leftovers and microwaved them for 30 seconds)

5 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup shredded purple cabbage

1/4 cup julienned raw beet

2 Tbsp tahini 

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar 

1 tsp lime juice

1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast 

Serves 1

Mix it all together in a bowl and enjoy! If I had a navel orange or clementine on hand I likely would have added some sliced, in addition to a splash of orange juice mixed in with the rice. You could also add blueberries or strawberries. If you wanted something sweeter but don't have fruit, you could add some agave, honey, or maple syrup as well. 

Warm Breakfast Quinoa

So for the past few weeks I've been "sort of" doing the anti-inflammatory diet I mentioned several posts ago. The week I decided to start, I got a stomach virus and the only food I could keep down was pretzel rods - not all that gluten-free. Following my illness, I was pretty much on track until J and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary last week with a vacation to Vermont (more on that to come).

Although I've been loosely following this "diet," I must say, I do feel a bit better. I feel like I've got more energy and I'm not craving things quite as often. My general daily routine is to have my Warm Breakfast Quinoa dish around 7:30 a.m., then, as recommended by a former guest poster, I drink Bolthouse Farm's Green Goodness mixed with protein powder around 10:00 a.m. Sometimes I'll eat some almonds and pecans around 11:30 a.m. and then I have a salad lunch between 1-2:00 p.m. Occasionally I''l have some fruit in the afternoon at work, but I'm normally good until I get home. Dinner varies every night - last night J made polenta and veggies.

I thought I'd share my breakfast recipe with you, though. It's become a real favorite for me, topping my love of oatmeal even. It's warm and cozy in the early morning and packed with protein and antioxidants to get you on your feet. I make a big container of quinoa every week or so and I'm good to go for days. Remember - quinoa quadruples in size when you make it so a little does go a long way!

Warm Breakfast Quinoa
1/2 cup cooked mixed quinoa (I mix the red and plain quinoa - there's also black but our Whole Foods just stopped carrying it...which bums me out big time because it's my favorite kind!)
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup defrosted frozen or fresh blueberries
1 Tbsp Sunbutter
1 Tbsp local honey
1 Tbsp chopped pecans
almond milk

I begin preparing this overnight so that the chia seeds have time to plump up and aren't crunchy. If you make it the morning, I'd suggest removing the chia, unless you like crunchy tiny little seeds that get stuck in  your teeth. So the night before - I put the quinoa in a bowl and sprinkle on the chia. Then I mix in the blueberries and a splash of almond milk - just enough to absorb over night. I cover it up and leave it in the fridge.

The next morning, all of the milk is absorbed and the chia seeds have plumped up. I add in the sun butter and honey and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. I sprinkle on the pecans and top with some more almond milk, just as you would with oatmeal.

Guest Post by Lindsay!

Today we continue our theme on how to be a vegan on the go! Below is a post written by a fellow vegan who lives in New York. She's a busy artist in graduate school who doesn't have time to fuss with complicated recipes. Lindsay proves that it's easy to be a vegan on the go if you put a little thought and planning into it.



TIPS ON BEING A TIME EFFICIENT VEGAN
Being a gluten-free, soy-free (even coconut-free) vegan is not always the easiest thing
when you are out and about all the time. Plus, I am a full-time student commuter. Fast
food or even supposed “health food” venues are not always friendly to my way of eating.
I have, however, come up with the perfect way to pack food and prepare for the day that
stays within my restrictions, tastes yummy, and treats my body right…in just one hour (I
do a variation of this EVERY morning…so if I can do this, so can you). Think of it as a
morning food meditation. If you set your alarm one hour earlier tomorrow, and continue
to do it one day at a time, by the end of the week you will be used to it, and you will
naturally start going to bed earlier. This way, you won’t be grabbing unhealthy
snacky foods, wasting money on food out, or wasting time trying to read every
label in a store to find something you CAN eat.

Let’s go through this step-by-step.

1) Put brown rice and water into rice cooker (this takes one hour). I cook 2 cups of dry
rice (with 4.5 cups of water) at a time, and it stays good in my fridge for 3-4 days. I can
eat brown rice (in lieu of oatmeal) as a breakfast cereal, add it to my salads, or throw it
into an evening stir-fry to make fried rice. I can even make a quick rice dessert pudding.
It is ridiculously easy and good for you. Make sure you always have some on hand. To
make it extra delicious, soak the rice overnight, and the texture turns out creamy. You
wont be able to go back to using non-soaked rice. It also adds to the nutritional value of
the rice and ensures that it is clean (we’ve been hearing in the news about all that arsenic
in rice, so it’s never a bad idea to do an overnight soak). In an extra hurry?? Put on rice
first first thing before you even brush your teeth, and it will be done before you know it.

2) Put on oatmeal water. I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Old Fashioned Oats. One
serving needs one cup of water. When it boils (after about 3 minutes), I add ½ a cup of
oats, and let it cook until most of the water has evaporated. Then I let it sit for 2 minutes.
While this is cooking, I prepare my fixings. I add these things to a bowl: 1 tablespoon of
chia seeds, 1 tablespoon of ground flax, 1 tablespoon of cacao powder, 4-6 strawberries, a
banana, two tablespoons of SunButter, and a sprinkle of salt. Then when the oatmeal has
finished sitting, I add it to my bowl, add a little almond milk, and the effect is divine. It’s
like dessert for breakfast, but every ingredient is good for you. I use Himalayan sea salt
and unsweetened almond milk. Take your vitamins with this and drink some green tea,
and you will be ready to face even the toughest of days.

Note: If I’m really in a rush, I eat my breakfast while I am preparing my food for the day.
The macrobiotic people would censure me, but we’re talking about efficiency here!

3) Packing snacks. I need to pack at least 2 snacks each day. Usually I pack some
conglomeration of: raw nuts and dried fruit, an apple or any other fruit (sometimes with
nut butter), some carrot sticks or other vegetables (sometimes with hummus), a health bar
(the brands that I like are Macrobars, Luna Bars, Pulsin' Bars), and rice, corn, or kale chips.
And the amount that I need depends on whether I make a smoothie or not as I leave the
house…I’ll get to this in step 8.

4) A cooler and lots of food storage containers. You are going to need a cooler of some
sort if you are going to be gone all day with no access to a refrigerator. As a student I
don’t have any fridge access. I use a cold compress and an aluminum water bottle filled
with ice inside of a soft cooler that I got at Whole Foods. It keeps the contents cold and
food safe for at least 8 hours (as long as there’s no dairy or meat…but if you are vegan,
you have no need to worry).

5) 2-4 BIG salads at once. Always make more than one salad at a time. Salads take a
long time to prepare, and it’s way easier to just cut up a few extra vegetables than it is
to pull out all the vegetables again and again. If I have leftovers from the night before,
I only need to pack one salad for the day; otherwise, I eat one for lunch and dinner. To
put into your salads: any kind of vegetable that you want. Be creative. If you aren’t
creative and need help, today my salad consisted of: mixed greens, chick peas, avocado,
red onion, kalamata olives, carrots, and cucumber. Anything goes. Dressing lately has
been balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and flax oil with a few herbs from my spice rack.
Simple yet delicious.

6) While you are waiting for your rice to finish: read the newspaper, empty the
dishwasher, check email, write out your to do list for the day, check your Facebook, go
to the bathroom, take a shower, put on your makeup, brush your teeth etc, etc. Pack up 2
servings (3-4 cups) in a preferably glass container and continue to step 7.

7) Putting it all together. So, today, you are going to eat:
breakfast: oatmeal and fixins
snack 1: green smoothie (step 8)
lunch: fun salad with brown rice and balsamic vinegar, an apple
snack 2: raw cashews, raw almonds, dried figs & gogi berries (or any other snack
from the list)
dinner: leftovers from last night OR fun salad #2, with brown rice and balsamic
vinegar, and an extra fun snack.

Put all of these things into your cooler. Pack a fabric napkin and metal silverware (let’s
be good to the environment too). And you are almost ready to go.

8) Just before you head out the door, make a GREEN SMOOTHIE. The most efficient
way of doing this is buying a pre-made green drink (my favorite is the Bolthouse Farms
Green Goodness, but Odwalla and other companies make them too), and throw it in a
blender with a serving of protein power. This becomes your morning snack that you can
sip on for an hour or so while you are commuting, or in my case during my first class of
the day. There are thousands of green smoothie recipes to be found online if you feel
more creative or have 4 extra minutes (I don’t always).

Please note: If you are sick of brown rice, you can use other grains to supplement,
such as making a quick cold quinoa salad with chick peas, red onion, cherry tomatoes,
cucumbers, turmeric, and cumin.

There are thousands upon trillions of variations to my morning routine and food listed here, but this serves as a basic day. Sometimes I buy a veggie sushi at a local supermarket for my dinner and eat it with a bag of chips.

Also, please note: If you are wondering about all the dishes this creates, sometimes I
have time to wash them and throw them in the dishwasher right at the moment, and other
times I don’t, so I fill them with water and leave them until I get home at night (at 10pm
sometimes?!?). I tell myself that soaking the oatmeal pan, oatmeal bowl, and blender is
the best way. How you do your dishes is up to you, but if you do this every day, you’ll
find the dishes do themselves.

9) Go about your day as usual and wait for people to be impressed with how prepared
you are for your life! Remember efficiency is key. Time is money.

Lindsay Garcia
www.lindsaygarcia.com
lindsaydgarcia@gmail.com

Orange-Clove Pancakes

I woke up this morning before J and really wanted to make a yummy pancake breakfast. I started thinking about my favorite fall smells and remembered how, when I was a kid, we used to take oranges and stick cloves in them and bake them in the oven to dry them out. I always loved the rich, sweet smell  and started craving it this morning. I also had left over raspberry sauce from a cake order I made on Friday and thought this would be a great way to use some up.

Orange-Clove Pancakes
Makes 5-8 pancakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cloves, plus extra to sprinkle on top
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/3 cup juice squeezed from an orange (I used the juice of one medium orange)
1 cup almond milk
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 to 1 1/2 tsp orange extract (depending on how strong you want the flavor to be)
2 oranges (one for juicing and one zested and sliced with pith removed)

Cooking spray

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Form a well in the middle and add the oil, orange juice, almond milk, maple syrup, and orange extract. Mix until ingredients are combined. Stir in orange zest. It's ok if there are a few lumps left over.

Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Once hot (2-5 minutes) spray with cooking spray. I used a measuring cup for 1/3 of a cup to measure out each pancake. Don't flip your pancake until there are a bunch of little bubbles on top - be patient! If you flip too early it can be messy. Once you're all done, serve them as you like.

I served them with raspberry sauce drizzled around then edge and then placed sliced orange on to top of the pancakes and a few fresh raspberries. I sprinkled the tops of the pancakes and the oranges with some ground cloves and served with some maple syrup on the side.


Before J came out, I cleared off our coffee table and set up a little brunch breakfast with a pot of freshly made tea from Dobra. It was certainly a nice way to start the day!

I know, I know, I know

I know it's been forever. Sorry buddies! Life's been incredibly hectic since J and I found out we unexpectedly have to move. We think we finally found a place - so fingers crossed!

Since January, I've shed about 15 pounds. At first I was incredibly proud of myself and excited...but now the thrill is gone and I'm remembering that my real goal was to lose about 45 pounds. So back at it we go!

For the next week or so, I'm jumping into a semi-raw diet and excluding bread, any pre-prepared vegan foods other than tofu, and eliminating cooking for the most part. Pintrest has been a huge help in providing inspiration for meals and I've even started "Raw" and "Get Healthy(er)" boards to collect ideas. This morning's breakfast was a Pinterest find and is from food blogger Oh She Glows - Easy Overnight Buckwheat Parfait. It's really delicious - earthy tones of buckwheat, the tapioca like chia seeds sweetened with banana, the fresh strawberries J and I picked at Alewives Brook Farm yesterday, and some blueberries. And no cooking involved! Yay! She gives other incarnations of the parfait to try out just to mix it up and I'm sure I'll test those out too.

I also love how portable this breakfast is. One of my more recent goals is to try to make time for myself to eat breakfast at home in the morning. Not standing over the sink, not taking bites between brushing my hair - but actually sitting down, taking in the tastes, appreciating the work that went into making the food I'm consuming. But honestly, some mornings just don't work out as planned. And this morning, I just grabbed my little juice glass sized Ball jar and headed out the door.

I also prepared a large pitcher of water with lemons and limes at home and filled my water bottle up this morning to take to work. After I get to the store this week, I'll add cucumber and mint to the water to make "Sassy Water" - which a friend pinned on Pinterest and told me she was drinking for a while while detoxing and it really helped improve her skin health. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Rice Noodle Bowls and Warm Cherry Quinoa

J and I have been testing out a lot of recipes lately - vegan and non-vegan. I came across Eat, Run, Live's recipe for almost-vegan rice noodle bowls with crispy tofu and decided to take a stab at it. We ended up making a bunch of modifications and actually transformed it into a new dish.

Rice Noodle Bowls with Dry-Fried Tofu
Serves 4

1/4 summer yellow squash, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 head of red cabbage, chopped
1/2 package of rice noodles
1 package of firm tofu, drained/dried
1-2 green onions, sliced thinly
Vegetable stock

Sauce:
3 Tbsp Braggs
1 Tbsp vegan oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sriracha sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp freshly grated ginger

Boil water, add rice noodles and remove from heat. Allow the noodles to sit for 5-10 minutes then rinse in cold water and set aside.

In a skillet, saute veggies in a little veg stock (or oil if you don't care about the fat content). Add the sauce to the vegetables and cook a little while longer. Don't over cook - the veggies should still be a little crisp.

Chop the tofu into triangles or cubes, whichever you prefer. Heat a DRY skillet on high and add tofu once it's hot. Press on tofu and allow moisture to sizzle out. turn when the tofu is the desired color and repeat on all sides.

Assemble: Put some rice noodles in the bottom of a bowl. Top with veggies, tofu, a little vegetable stock, and green onion.


This afternoon, my stomach was grumbling and we didn't have anything quick to snack on. So I decided to try out a recipe I'd been curious about for a while that's been floating around on Pinterest - warm quinoa with cherries. I like the recipe but don't have the exact ingredients in my kitchen so I played around and here's what I came up with!

Warm Coconut-Citrus Cherry Quinoa
Serves 1

1/2 - 1 cup of cooked mixed quinoa (or whatever kind you have)
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup almond milk
2 Tbsp orange juice

Combine all ingredients; heat in the microwave if you want it hotter. Could eat this as dessert, breakfast, or snack - super yummy, nutritious, and filling!

Favorite Detox Breakfast to date!

Yum! So have you ever tried black quinoa? I did not even know such a thing existed until we reached week 4 of the detox diet. Black quinoa is not sold in the bulk aisle at our Whole Foods and since we rarely <never> buy grains that aren't in bulk, we never even noticed it sitting there on the shelf. So what's the difference? Well, it's similar in nutrition to red quinoa, but it's much more fragrant and it doesn't have that crunchiness to it. Which is why it made for a wonderful breakfast!

On Sunday night we cooked up a big batch of the black quinoa and for breakfast we have about 2/3 of a cup with 1/4 almond milk, 1/2 Tbsp of honey (yes, we're vegan and we're okay with honey...it's a debatable topic and we only buy local), 1 Tbsp of slivered almonds, and a couple thin slivers of avocado. It is an awesome way to start the day!

Although black quinoa is more expensive (it was $7.99 for a small bag...but remember - quinoa expands to 4x its size when cooked. A little goes a long way!), I think we'll continue buying it once in a while because we are liking the taste and texture much more than red. Have you tried all of the different types yet? Let me know what you think!

Detox: Day One - here we gooooooo!

Ok, so I'm only 2 hours in to detox month, but I'm still feeling good and I'm trying to keep my mood positive. I CAN DO THIS!

It won't be easy considering I just had to bake 2 dozen cupcakes for the Cupcake Club of the Month deliveries tomorrow for Salt and Pine Bakery. I delivered the first batch yesterday and have received rave reviews so far:

"SO DELICIOUS!!!! Thank you so much!! They are amazing!"

"Honestly Christi, this is the best cupcake I've ever had. Feel free to bring me only this for the rest of my life."

 Chocolate, Sea Salt, and Caramel Vegan Cupcake 

Photo by Justin Lumiere

Luckily, the next set of deliveries is scheduled in the last week of my detox and I'm hoping, by then, that I won't be craving cupcakes! It's challenging to work with food when it's something you struggle with, but I'm determined to lose weight and change my way of thought so that I can pursue my passion. 

So for breakfast this morning, I'm drinking (right now, yes) a smoothie made with 2 navel oranges, 1 cup frozen raspberries, and 1 cup frozen blueberries. It is delicious. So simple and pure. I've already made up a batch of the Cranberry-Pumpkin Trail Mix and I'm going to make the Fruit and Nut Bites later today. I'm excited! Let's hope I can keep it up. The website that gives the details for the cleanse suggests keeping a food journal. I will likely use this blog. I intend to be brutally honest about my feelings, trials and tribulations and hope you all will encourage me as I go; I hope to encourage you, too! 

Tofu Benny!

Remember that time I posted about the Tofu Benendict from Isa's Vegan Brunch book? Here's some pics of it!

Pre-faux hollandaise sauce - bottom layer is roasted potatoes, onions & red bell pepper, then a nice thick slice of tomato, then a round cut slice of tofu, marinated & dry-fried

...And with sauce!

I'm drooling...must....look...away...

Sunday Omelets, Scrambles, and Benedicts

On a recent shopping excursion Justin and I picked up Vegan Brunch by our favorite vegan Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Isa is seriously our favorite - I mean, really, I have a girl crush on her. Her ability to render recipes for old-time favorites is uncanny.

For my brother's graduation, we invited them over for a Sunday brunch and took the cookbook for test drive. Although my brother, step-father and step-father's girlfriend are fairly open to many different types of food, they tend to be a bit leery of things labeled "vegan" so I knew we'd need to be creative. The menu: Pesto Scrambled Tofu with Grape Tomatoes, Diner Home Fries, and Pain au Chocolat. Everything turned out beautifully and tasted great - my brother and step-father each ate more than one helping. The most comical part - none of them realized that the scramble was tofu and not eggs.

Several weeks later, we tried out the Tofu Benny (we literally bought the book because Justin opened it up to this recipe, took one look at the picture, and said, "I can haz?"). Oh man. This recipe is amazing. Seriously, guys. I learned a valuable lesson as we made this recipe. Actually, it's a lesson I keep trying to learn over and over: READ the recipe ahead of time. Isa instructs you to marinate the tofu for at least an hour or overnight. It was Sunday, late morning, there was no way we were waiting. So we put the tofu in the marinade and then made everything else while it soaked. The sauce for these was incredible and could be used in a myriad of other recipes. Justin took a photo - I'll have to get it from him to upload for you later. They were beautiful and we were super proud :)

This past Sunday we made Tofu Omelets. It was the first time I was actually happy with using Silken. I could not believe how much the tofu resembled an egg omelet. They were some-what tricky to make; the flip timing needed to be just right. We filled them with caramelized onions, crimini mushrooms, and spinach and topped them with Isa's Cheezee Sauce. Below are some crappy cell shots.

In addition to providing great recipes, Isa has some awesome suggestions for serving brunch to company including creating a coffee station, seating ideas, and plating suggestions. The book is filled with her charm and wit (I laughed, making Tofu Omelets, when I read, "Don't use an 8-inch omelet pan or anything like that. Here you'll need at least 12 inches (tee hee).") and the photos are beautiful and accurate - the food you make looks just like the food in her photos. In short, the book is worth the $19.95.

I treasure my Sunday mornings with Justin. Sunday's are the one day we have off work together and we spend almost every morning cooking something special together. It's a wonderful way to enjoy each other's company, to be creative together, and to truly gain appreciation for the food we eat. Get a cooking buddy - it makes your cooking more fun and the food taste better!

From Bagels to Tacos and Oatmeal to VLTs

Four recent discoveries on the streets of Portland, Maine:

1. Local Sprouts Cooperative - If you're in town and looking for a consistently good vegan lunch, look no further. Local Sprouts Cooperative has got more than one option for you - yes! more than one! My favorite sandwich is the VLT, their vegan take on a BLT. It's made on the most fabulous thick slabs of hearty wheat bread with strips of Lalibela Farm's tempeh, tomato and lettuce and the most wonderful veganaise I have ever had in my life. Seriously. I need their recipe. The consistency is more like that of a soft cheese and it has a nutty, sweet flavor. Mmmm! The sandwich comes with a little side of their daily salad - sometimes a slaw, sometimes pasta, sometimes just greens. All for $7, which seems pricey, but seriously, it's worth it!

2. I am a very open minded person and like to try new things. So when I heard there was a new restaurant in town called Gogi serving Korean tacos and that they had vegan options, of course I wanted to check it out. No brainer. Justin and I went for lunch last Friday and well, it's easier for me to just show you the review I posted on Urbanspoon:

"My fiance and I went for lunch. The restaurant was totally empty except for the owner and his children who stared at us the whole time we were there (the owner didn't bother saying hello). The interior really needs some TLC - it's a cross between country, Asian, Victorian and modern decorating. We ordered seaweed "tacos" and potato fries. The fries were ok....very soggy though. The "tacos" were a disaster. It was basically 4 sheets of nori wtih some tofu, cabbage, cilantro and lime thrown in the middle - and by some I mean 2 tablespoons, if that. You can't bite through 4 sheets of nori unless your teeth are serrated so the whole thing was a mess to eat and just totally unpractical. Needless to say, they did not make a good first impression at all and we will not be going back any time soon."


Beware of Gogi....at least until they get their act together. And seriously, I hope they do because Portland could use some more reasonably priced eateries with vegan options.

3. A quick breakfast out is so hard to find. I'm surrounded by coffee shops when I get to work, yet none of their baked goods - muffins, croissants, scones - are even close to vegan. My only option lately has been a toasted multi-grain bagel from Starbucks, plain with nothing on it. When I asked if they had jelly, the girl just blinked. When I asked if they had margarine or a non-dairy spread she blushed and apologized. Oh well. Dry bagels it is. Until I discovered that Starbucks offers oatmeal and they make it with water. Perrrrfect! Next time I need a quick breakfast (which doesn't happen often because I'm really good about making it at home) I'll try out CBD to see if they make their oatmeal with water too because I'd rather support local.

4. Speaking of bagels, Justin and I were at the Old Port Festival this past Sunday which was filled with booths of food food food and all we could smell was cooking meat. It made me a bit nauseous. On our way home, we stopped in at The Works Bakery Cafe for a snack. Now I had never been to The Works so I had no idea what I was going to find, and boy was I surprised. Guess what, friends? They have Tofutti! I had a sesame seed bagel with veggie Tofutti and it was fantastic. I had never tried the veggie kind and it was really smooth and creamy and actually had small bits of REAL vegetables in it. Mmmm, yummy!

Have you made any vegan discoveries in your town recently? Do share!

Breakfast for dinner? Heck yes!

Last night, after spending about an hour shovelling our driveway with the neighbors, my boyfriend and I came in from the cold, dripping wet and exhausted. I was starving and it was already 8pm. Something I've been learning as I've been cooking vegan and cooking more in general is that we don't really have an quick go-to recipes for a quick on the fly dinner.

Well, the recipe I'm about to share is not an on the-fly quick recipe, but let me tell you, it was worth the wait! This fluffy, souffle like tofu frittata was the best kind of comfort food for a cold winter storm night. I never knew that you could prepare tofu so that it comes out airy and fluffy and now I'm excited to experiment more!

We served the "frittata" hot with a salad of fresh spinach, orange bell pepper, purple onion, purple grapes, and sunflower sprouts topped with homemade honey Dijon dressing (honey is a debatable animal product, but my boyfriend and I have decided we're okay with using it). Try it and let me know what you think (but I already know you'll love it!).

Sunday Supper Frittata greatly modified from Vegan on the Cheap

1 yellow onion, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 cup white mushrooms, chopped
1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped
5-6 purple potatoes, washed, chopped, & cooked (or whatever potatoes you've got laying around)
1 package firm tofu, drained
1 Tbsp plain soy or almond milk (or a little more to get the right consistency)
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground fennel
salt

Preheat oven to 425 and grease a 2-3 qt casserole dish. In a large skillet, cook onions in olive oil over medium heat, covered, for about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and peppers & cook for 3 mins more. Add spinach and cook 3 more minutes. Add the potatoes and cook until heated through.

Meanwhile, in a blender, blend tofu, milk, nutritional yeast, cumin, fennel and a pinch of salt until creamy. Add more milk if needed; mixture should be thick but creamy.

Put the veggie mix in the bottom of the casserole dish and then pour the tofu mixture on top. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid/foil and bake 10 more minutes until the top becomes brown.

Pizza! Pizza!

There are two major reasons I decided to start this blog:

1. To hold myself accountable to my new vegan lifestyle and my goal to lose 60 pounds in a year. I will be gloriously honest with all of you over the course of this year and hope to think of you as a source of encouragement- my cheerleaders, if you will.

2. To de-mystify the vegan lifestyle. Although the city I live in is primarily liberal and open-minded, I keep running into individuals who look at me as though I'm an alien when I tell them I don't eat meat. Is it really that strange to you? Some of the things I hear around the water-cooler at work are mildly offensive and just proposterous and, moreover, indicate to me that many people don't even know what it means to be vegan and jump to their own conclusions. I am not a hippie. I'm not a free-spirited-Berkinstock-wearing-fairy-loving-spiritualist. I am a young professional working in corporate America who wears suits to work and drives a Chevy Impala. You don't have to be a "type" of person to be vegan. Yet, people who don't understand lump us into a category and treat us as "different." I get frustrated and angry, but what's the point! This blog is to help educate so that I can turn that anger into something positive.

Ok- so are you ready for yesterday's menu? It was wicked good, I promise! And I must tell you, I hopped on the WiiFit last night and found that I've lost 2.5 lbs in 3 days- horrah! Clearly eliminating cheese from my diet is doing some good.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with Fruit Compote
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup of water
pinch of salt
The left over fruit salad from last night's dessert
1/2 cup Almond Milk

Cook the oats, water, & milk in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir in the fruit salad from last night's dessert (never let anything go to waste!) and microwave for 30 seconds. Pour the almond milk on top and eat!

Lunch: Left-over rice with broccoli and snap peas
Left over rice from previous night's dinner, about 1 cup
1/3 cup homemade veggie stock
Handful of broccoli
Handful of snap peas
You can use whatever veggies you have on hand!
Pinch of sea salt

Put it all in a bowl and microwave for 2-3 mins. Yum!

Dinner: Pizza! Pizza! Night
1 lb pizza crust--- we got ours at the food store and used Portland Pie Wheat Dough (this may not be a completely vegan dough, but we were in a hurry; you could make your own vegan dough)
Stuff for pizza!

We made 2 pizzas- one with a sauce made from a diced tomato, pesto, and garlic then topped with vegetarian sausage and orange bell pepper and the other made with a base of pesto then topped with sauteed onion, tomato slices and fresh spinach. Bake them in the oven on a pizza stone for about 20 mins at 400 degress---Belissimo!

Dessert: Chocolate Surprise Brownies (From Vegan on the Cheap, with my modifications in red)
Makes 16 brownies

1 cup cooked or canned black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp canola or other neutral oil
4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ripe banana
2 Tbsp instant coffee (we didn't have instant so we just very finely ground 2 Tbsp of Coffee by Design's Ethiopian coffee)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips (we didn't have vegan chips, but had a ton of regular since I run a baking service)
1/2 cup walnut pieces (optional) (we did not use these- the boyfriend HATES walnuts!)
1 cup frozen mixed berries, thawed in the microwave

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside. In a blender or food processor, combine blackbeans, sugar, & oil and blend until smooth. Add the banana, coffee, cocoa, and vanilla, and blend until smooth. Scrape the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnut pieces, if using. Fold in mixed berries. 

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 25-30 mins.

Welcome!

Why hello there! I've started this blog to catalogue my journey into the vegan lifestyle, which began with the new year. Why vegan, you may ask. Well, I can think of 3 reasons off the top of my head:

1) Health benefits. Although I've been vegetarian on and off for several years and fairly strictly in the last year, I'm still feeling sluggish, gaining weight, getting migraines, and colds. Although I tend to love dairy products (ice cream and cheese are my vices), they leave me feeling bloated and sick. The vegan diet, which cuts out all dairy/animal products, has been known to improve health. As I continue blogging, I'll fill you in on more of these benefits!

2) Environmental benefits. Studies have shown that the vegan lifestyle is not only healthy but is also a diet that benefits the environment! More details to come :)

3) Cost benefits. Animal products are pretty pricey these days. There seems to be a misnomer that vegan products are as well, and yes, they can be, but if you're savy, you'll end up saving money!

So let's get to the good part. The last three days of vegan eating have been superb. My boyfriend bought me a lovely cookbook for Christmas called "Vegan on the Cheap" by Robin Robertson and we've tried 2 recipes so far. I'd like to share a day's menu with you. Enjoy and please tell me your thoughts...I'd love to know if you try these recipes out!

Breakfast: Super Delish Fruity Shake- Serves 2
2 Frozen bananas or fresh (whenever we have bananas or other fruit that's ready to go bad, we stick it in the freezer to use for shakes so that it doesn't get wasted!)
Almond Milk about 2 cups
365 Everyday Value Vanilla Protein Powder with Spirulina- 2 heaping scoops
1 Kiwi
1 Apple
1 cup of frozen mixed berries

Just blend it all up and drink! Delicious and really filling breakfast that provides the protien, fiber and nutrients you need to get your day started.

Lunch: Cucumber-Avacado Rolls- Serves 1
Cucumber, sliced thin
Avacado, sliced thin
White or Brown Rice, cold
1 sheet of Nori
Sea Salt
Soy Sauce

Lay down a piece of nori, rough side down. Put a handful of rice in the middle and spread it out with a spoon into a thin layer. Lay cucumber and avacado in a thin layer towards the middle. Roll! Wet one end of the nori to seal the roll shut. Put it in the fridge for several minutes so that the roll dries. Run the blade of a sharp, unserrated knife under water, and gently slice through the roll, creating 4-5 sushi rolls.

In addition to these rolls, I packed celery with peanut butter :o)

Dinner: Tofu Fried Rice, Serves 4 (From Vegan on the Cheap, with modifications by me in red!)
1/4 cup soy sauce (I'd use less- maybe half this amount)
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp rice vinegar (We didnt have this, so we used white vinegar)
2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp canola or some other neutral oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced (I'm Italian and love garlic, but this was WAY too much- try using 1-2 instead!)
4 oz white mushrooms, chopped (splurge a little and use crimini mushrooms...they're only a few more cents per pound and have a lot more flavor)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
8 oz extra-firm tofu, drained, dried, and crumbled
3 cups cold cooked rice (we used hot brown rice and it was fine- try white or brown!)
1 cup thawed frozen peas
Salt & pepper and Crushed red pepper
1/2 cup diced pineapple

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, & sesame oil & set aside.
In a large skillet, heat canola oil over med. heat. Add onion & carrots, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Uncover, and stir in garlic, mushrooms, & ginger. Add the tofu and cook, stirring for 4-5 mins. Add soy sauce mixture, stirring to coat.
Add the rice and peas. Stir-fry until well mixed and heated through. Mix in pineapple. Season with salt and pepper and crushed red pepper. Serve immediately.

Dessert: Fruit Salad- Serves 4
1 Apple
1 Kiwi
1 Orange
1 Apricot
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup of frozen mixed berries, microwaved for 1 minute

Chop up everything and mix it all together; add the berries last after they've cooled off a bit. Don't drain off the juice from the berries- mix them in!