We're back at it again! My doctor (who is actually a nurse practitioner) recommended for the third time that I try going gluten-free and sugar-free for at least a month and asked that I document how I feel. I picked the month of June because, leading up to this point, I haven't been feeling so great. I've been sluggish, been getting more headaches, stomach pain in the evening, and my acne has been out of control. So I started on Tuesday with a well-crafted meal plan and a lot of conviction.
Week one has gone pretty smoothly, though not without some ups and downs. On Tuesday, I had a mild headache which I attributed to sugar withdrawal. On Wednesday, the headache morphed into a tension headache - sugar detoxing coupled with high stress from work, a pending storm, and not enough calories in my system? It was the set up for a bad scene. I ended up leaving work early and, after eating a handful of almonds and drinking two big glasses of water, I actually felt a lot better. I'm sure stepping away from work and my computer screen was a big help too. Thursday through today I have been feeling great! I'm not craving sweets and gluten was really easy for me to cut out.
Here's a sampling of our meal plan last week - I started by using other people's recipes so that I can get the hang of it and then begin writing my own!
Tuesday
Breakfast: Wild Blueberry Shake from lunchboxbunch.com
Lunch: Green Goddess Bowl from lunchboxbunch.com
Dinner: Vegan Macro Meal from lunchboxbunch.com
Wednesday
Breakfast: Wild Blueberry Shake from lunchboxbunch.com
Lunch: Green Goddess Bowl from lunchboxbunch.com
Dinner: Bake Stuffed Sweet Potatoes from lunchboxbunch.com - modified, we just topped them with diced tomato, broccoli, and tahini
Thursday
Breakfast: Homemade Shake - 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, 2 cups almond milk - Serves 2
Lunch: Green Goddess Bowl from lunchboxbunch.com
Dinner: Celebratory dinner at Green Elephant (it was J's last day of work at his old job!) - I had the spicy green leaves salad with gluten free dressing and brussels sprouts
Friday
Breakfast: Homemade Shake (see above)
Lunch: Lunched at Local Sprouts - I had the fiddlehead salad special with balsamic dressing
Dinner: Sesame Miso Zucchini Noodles & Tofu from Snixy Kitchen
Saturday
Breakfast: Almonds, peanuts, and blueberries (we bused down to Boston and need something easily portable!)
Lunch: Tofu Pad Thai at My Thai Vegan Cafe in Boston's China Town
Dinner: Sesame Miso Zucchini Noodles & Tofu from Snixy Kitchen
Sunday
Breakfast: Sweet Citrus Avocado Dreamboat from lunchboxbunch.com
Lunch: Green Power Tower Salad from lunchboxbunch.com
Dinner: Raw Macro Bowl with Knock-Off Dragon Sauce from Raw Food Recipes
Our snacks throughout the week consist of homemade oil-free hummus with veggies, frozen grapes, apples, and baby carrots.
So far, I've lost 6 pounds. I'm hoping to add at least 20 minutes of walking to my days to continue on this track and I'll keep monitoring the effects of GF/SF eating - maybe you'll want to test it out too? Check out other recipes we're considering on our Pinterest board!
Insights, quips, and queries on the vegan way of life
Showing posts with label Salads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salads. Show all posts
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Saturday, October 13, 2012
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
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
Monday, July 2, 2012
Vegan Lunchbox!
1/2 - 1 cup red kale massaged with about a teaspoon of flax seed oil with raw cauliflower, orange bell pepper, celery, cucumber, edamame, clover sprouts, hemp seeds, and dried cranberries. And a bunch of olives on the side - I'm on a super olive kick lately!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Vegan Lunchbox!
Raw carrots & green beans with creamy cashew/tofu dip; Rainbow Salad; and pecans, peanuts and dried cranberries.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Vegan Lunchbox
Feels Like Summer Salad1 cup arugula
1/2 carrot, chopped
1/8 yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly
1-2 radishes, sliced thinly
1 tsp hemp seeds
1 Tbsp crushed pecans
1 Tbsp dried cranberries
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Combine everything!
Serves 1
Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary & Thyme
2-3 Russet potatoes, cleaned and chopped (leave the skin on!)
2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
1-2 tsp rosemary
1-2 tsp thyme
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 425. Combine all ingredients in a roasting pan. Bake at 15-20 minute intervals, pulling the pan out to mix the veggies so they don't stick as much to the pan. Bake until browned and crispy, about 45 minutes.
Serves 4
1/2 carrot, chopped
1/8 yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly
1-2 radishes, sliced thinly
1 tsp hemp seeds
1 Tbsp crushed pecans
1 Tbsp dried cranberries
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Combine everything!
Serves 1
Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary & Thyme
2-3 Russet potatoes, cleaned and chopped (leave the skin on!)
2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
1-2 tsp rosemary
1-2 tsp thyme
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 425. Combine all ingredients in a roasting pan. Bake at 15-20 minute intervals, pulling the pan out to mix the veggies so they don't stick as much to the pan. Bake until browned and crispy, about 45 minutes.
Serves 4
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday Salad
This past weekend, J and I traveled 90 minutes up the coast for a weekend getaway in Camden, Maine. I will certainly post about the trip soon (need to steal photos from J first!) but I will say that it IS possible to take a vegan vacation! Especially when you stay at a Bed & Breakfast with owners who are VERY sensitive to dietary needs and who provide a morning menu that includes many vegan options!
As we pull ourselves out of vacation mode, it's time to get back to work on shedding those pounds and keeping our diets super healthy. J was plateauing with weight loss last week and asked if we could try replacing meals with big simple salads. I'm certainly game for this approach. We're going to continue limiting carbs/gluten and reduce, if not almost eliminate, the use of oils in our cooking.
I had off work today too so that I can get laundry/house cleaning done since we were away. So for lunch, I made myself a simple, delicious fresh salad with:
2 kale leaves - de-stemmed
1 handful of spinach leaves
1/8 of a red bell pepper sliced thinly
1 shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
5-6 thin slices of English cucumber
1/3 cup broccoli with a dash of water microwaved for 30 seconds
1 Tbsp of sunflower seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp dried cranberries
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp Italian herbed red wine vinegar
Handful of alfalfa/clove sprouts
As we pull ourselves out of vacation mode, it's time to get back to work on shedding those pounds and keeping our diets super healthy. J was plateauing with weight loss last week and asked if we could try replacing meals with big simple salads. I'm certainly game for this approach. We're going to continue limiting carbs/gluten and reduce, if not almost eliminate, the use of oils in our cooking.
I had off work today too so that I can get laundry/house cleaning done since we were away. So for lunch, I made myself a simple, delicious fresh salad with:
2 kale leaves - de-stemmed
1 handful of spinach leaves
1/8 of a red bell pepper sliced thinly
1 shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
5-6 thin slices of English cucumber
1/3 cup broccoli with a dash of water microwaved for 30 seconds
1 Tbsp of sunflower seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp dried cranberries
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp Italian herbed red wine vinegar
Handful of alfalfa/clove sprouts
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Seaweed Salad and Marinated Tofu
A few nights ago, J made a delicious seaweed salad using local frozen seaweed found at Whole Foods. We've been meaning to try the stuff ever since the company, Ocean Approved, did a tasting at the store. We were intrigued by kelp noodles and kelp salad, having had them at Japanese restaurants, but never making them ourselves. It's kind of expensive - $5.69 a package - but well worth it!
J also made marinated tofu, which complimented the salad nicely - the contrast of the soft, uncooked tofu against the somewhat tough and tangy seaweed was a really nice paring.
Seaweed Salad with Marinated Tofu
2 cups seaweed (frozen, not dried), salad cut
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 block firm tofu, pressed, then sliced into 8 steaks
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp brown rice vinegar
1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
Place frozen seaweed (in unopened package) in a bowl of hot water to thaw.
Blanch broccoli in boiling water. Remove and set aside.
Mix vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger in a bowl. Soak the tofu in 1/3 of the marinade. After seaweed thaws, place in a bowl with broccoli and mix with 2/3 of the marinade. Allow to marinate at least one hour.
Sprinkle seaweed salad with sesame seeds and spring onion before serving.
Serves 4
J also made marinated tofu, which complimented the salad nicely - the contrast of the soft, uncooked tofu against the somewhat tough and tangy seaweed was a really nice paring.
Seaweed Salad with Marinated Tofu
2 cups seaweed (frozen, not dried), salad cut
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 block firm tofu, pressed, then sliced into 8 steaks
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp brown rice vinegar
1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
Place frozen seaweed (in unopened package) in a bowl of hot water to thaw.
Blanch broccoli in boiling water. Remove and set aside.
Mix vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger in a bowl. Soak the tofu in 1/3 of the marinade. After seaweed thaws, place in a bowl with broccoli and mix with 2/3 of the marinade. Allow to marinate at least one hour.
Sprinkle seaweed salad with sesame seeds and spring onion before serving.
Serves 4
Photo by Justin Lumiere
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sushi Night and a Really Pink Cake
I've had a great week in the world of cooking and baking! On Wednesday, I took the day off from my real job and baked a very large, very pink cake for a Salt and Pine Bakery client's birthday. It came out great and I received a text from her the other night that said:
"That cake is the best, richest, vegan vanilla cake I've ever tasted IN MY LIFE! Thank you sooo much! My mom says you should go to NYC!"
Very flattering :) My client was actually vegan, which is doesn't actually happen all that often. The cake was 5 layers of vanilla cake dyed various shades of pink and purple, and in between each layer, raspberry and a light almond no-buttercream. The outside was decorated with no-buttercream roses in varying shades of pink. Here's a few photos - please excuse the ones from my cell phone; J will have nicer ones from his camera once he has time to edit them:
Cake layers
Last night my back was aching from a day of baking and a little fender bender on Thursday (my friend's car not mine, and we're both okay!) and I started getting really scared that it was going back to the bad place it was in a year ago. It's still aching today, but a little better I think. Positive thoughts! Positive thoughts!
At dinner time, to brighten my mood, J and I thought it would be fun to make sushi. We had picked up some sushi rice at Whole Foods and I followed the instructions on Cooking Cute for preparation and seasoning. Meanwhile, J prepared some long cut pieces of sweet potato by frying them briefly in a skillet, some long strips of tofu by try frying, sautéed cremini mushrooms, and raw carrot, sprouts, and zucchini.
I was concerned that our dinner did not have enough protein, so I prepared a salad with spinach, yellow & red bell pepper, radish, carrot, and chickpeas, dressed with a wasabi vinaigrette (1 Tbsp wasabi powder, 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp water, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar).
Dinner was delicious and so much fun to prepare! I had never rolled my own sushi before, so J taught me how and I have to say, it's not super easy, but it is super fun! The hardest part was how much the rice stuck to our hands! We had a little sticky rice left over so we made two little rice balls and served them with the salad.
I've got to get baking - I'm planning to make a French Apple Tart for a little New Years Eve gathering we're having this evening. And guess what, everyone? Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of going vegan! Post to follow!
Have a happy, fun, and safe New Years Eve, everyone!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Vegan Laptop Lunchtime!
Spinach and Kale salad with chickpeas, kidney beans, carrots, yellow bell pepper, broccoli, red onion, and chia seeds and a dressing made from raw garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper; carrot sticks; homemade hummus topped with a little olive oil and chickpeas; sea salt pita chips.
I've been really sick for the last maybe 8-9 days with an infection I've been getting for the past 9 years. Some doctors say it's staph, some say shingles, some say it's a mold allergy - who knows?! All I know is that I'm uncomfortable and unhappy, dang it! So today's lunch is the "Immune System Booster" lunch. Kale, broccoli, spinach and raw garlic are HUGE immunity helpers and I'm trying to get down 1-2 raw garlic cloves a day. Of course this means I smell like I'm warding off the vampire apocalypse as I leak garlic from every pore. Hopefully no one around me notices/cares....although - why should I care anyway? If it's helping me get better, then, "More Garlic!" I say!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Vegan Laptop Lunchtime!
Mixed lettuce & barley-quinoa salad (recipe below) with apple picked on Sunday and soynut butter
Barley-Quinoa Salad
Ingredients:
1 c. uncooked quinoa
1 c. uncooked barley
1 can garbanzo beans
3/4 chopped zucchini
2 med. chopped carrots
5-6 kalamata olives, pitted, and diced
1/4 c. dried cranberries
5-6 crimini mushrooms, diced
1/2 c. broccoli, chopped very small
1/3 c. seitan, diced
1/4 - 1/3 white wine
Prepare quinoa and barley as directed. After they're ready, mix together in a large bowl. Add garbanzos, zucchini, carrots, olives, cranberries.
In a small skillet, saute the mushrooms, broccoli, & seitan in white wine until wine is cooked off. Add to the salad. Mix everything thoroughly and allow it to chill in the fridge for an hour or two.
You can serve this salad over greens and add a vinaigrette. I had it over mixed greens with a fig dressing for lunch and it was divine :)
Monday, September 26, 2011
Vegan Laptop Lunchtime!
Herb salad mix with cucumber, summer squash, grape tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, assorted seeds, cranberries, and balsamic; some plain hummus; doctored up Tofu Fried Rice from Robin Robertson's Vegan on the Cheap
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Laptop Lunchtime!
Yellow bell pepper and zucchini with hummus, tabouli, strawberries, and Sunday Supper Frittata from Robin Robertson's Vegan on the Cheap
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Vegan Laptop Lunch!
Spinach, tomato, and yellow pepper salad with balsamic, strawberries, and Veganomicon's Seitanic Red and White Bean Jambalaya
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Laptop Lunchtime!
Herb salad mix with tomato, summer squash, crimini mushroom, kohlrabi, sunflower sprouts, and balsamic; amazing pasta creation made by Justin last night (recipe will follow this evening); fresh local blackberries from our landlady's friend's backyard.
I've told you guys about Laptop Lunchboxes before, yes? Well, I'll repeat myself and say that this is one of the best investments I've made in the last year. It's small and easily transportable, comes in a variety of colors, has awesome little containers so you can make more interesting lunches, cuts down on lunch trash (no sandwich bags or disposable utensils), and it's BPA-free! Win! I think it ran me about $20 at Whole Foods during back to school season (which is coming up...) and after a year it's still good as new. There are many other lunchbox/bento options and Laptops has a million different designs and color choices. You can order them online or find them locally. Think about investing in one and cut down on your lunchtime trash!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Vegan Lunchbox!
Farmers Market Stir-Fry and an herb salad with yellow tomotos, cucumber, kohlrabi, and mixed sprouts, and greek hummus
Thursday, June 30, 2011
14,800 animals saved...but Paula Deen goes on kicking
200 animals a year. We save an average of 200 animal lives per year by going vegan. So, if I live a long and healthy life and make it to 100 years of age, I will have saved 14,800 animals. This fact is beautifully satisfying.
I thought about this statistic last night as Justin and I watched a DVR'd episode of Next Food Network Star. Three things really irked me about this week's episode - well, three major things, I'm sure I was disgruntled by other things too: 1) Paula Dean 2) Tofu bashing 3) Standard vegetarian meals.
Let's go backwards -
The contestants were asked to prepare meals for cast, crew, writers, etc. of the show Cougar Town starring Courtney Cox. They were put into pairs and asked to cook a certain style of food depending on the group they were cooking for. One group was assigned the stylists/hairdressers/make-up artists, etc and they were told that normally these people are vegetarian. First of all, anyone can be vegetarian and by restricting this dietary assignment to this group, the show was perpetuating a stupid stereotype (I'm not saying I don't think they should cook vegetarian meals; I'm just offended that it was assumed that only the stylists would require this type of meal). So the two contestants, of course, felt a bit lost. The male in the team says, "I'm going to think outside the box and make them something really good because they're always getting jipped." What does he make? PASTA with veggies and cheese. Yes, a pat on the back, very creative. The female contestant makes a salad with roasted pumpkin seeds and other various accouterments. Nice, but pretty boring.
Next, this team of two men is asked to prepare food for the writers. It needs to be classy and organized, because apparently this is what writers want....I'll leave that one alone. One of the contestants can't find ground chicken or beef at the store, so he buys tofu. And then he proceeds to BITCH the entire time about how hard tofu is to cook, how no one likes it, how he's crazy for using it. Paula Deen, a guest judge, and Bobby Flay approached his table as he was cooking and both turned their noses up at the dish (lettuce leaves stuffed with a tofu mixture), saying that he made a bad choice by choosing to tofu as a main ingredient. Here comes a rant - brace yourselves - tofu is one of the easiest ingredients to cook. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! It takes on the flavor of anything you pair it with; you can serve it with multiple textures and consistencies, and it's incredibly healthy for you (lower in cholesterol and fat than meat products). This guy is supposed to be a good chef, yet he had no clue how to work with tofu. And I feel like this is standard. Justin and I make some amazing tofu dishes and we are not professionals. I was originally rooting for this contestant - now he's at the bottom of my list.
And finally, Paula Deen. Is there anyone in the world more anti-veg than she? As she paraded around the various food tables she made comments about vegetable dishes saying, "You need to throw a stick of butter on there" and scoffing at the tofu, "If I made tofu for my husband, he would say get the tofu-outta-here." The comical part is that, when she tasted the tofu dish, she acutally liked it! Go figure...apparently tofu can taste good. In summary, that woman is an abomination.
Okay. I'm done.
On a lighter note, before becoming absolutely disgusted by the show, I made a delicious dinner for Justin and I and surprised him by having it all set up in our back yard when he got home. It was composed of Farmers Market goodies and some awesome finds at the Portland Public Market House. Sometimes we're so cute it hurts.
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I thought about this statistic last night as Justin and I watched a DVR'd episode of Next Food Network Star. Three things really irked me about this week's episode - well, three major things, I'm sure I was disgruntled by other things too: 1) Paula Dean 2) Tofu bashing 3) Standard vegetarian meals.
Let's go backwards -
The contestants were asked to prepare meals for cast, crew, writers, etc. of the show Cougar Town starring Courtney Cox. They were put into pairs and asked to cook a certain style of food depending on the group they were cooking for. One group was assigned the stylists/hairdressers/make-up artists, etc and they were told that normally these people are vegetarian. First of all, anyone can be vegetarian and by restricting this dietary assignment to this group, the show was perpetuating a stupid stereotype (I'm not saying I don't think they should cook vegetarian meals; I'm just offended that it was assumed that only the stylists would require this type of meal). So the two contestants, of course, felt a bit lost. The male in the team says, "I'm going to think outside the box and make them something really good because they're always getting jipped." What does he make? PASTA with veggies and cheese. Yes, a pat on the back, very creative. The female contestant makes a salad with roasted pumpkin seeds and other various accouterments. Nice, but pretty boring.
Next, this team of two men is asked to prepare food for the writers. It needs to be classy and organized, because apparently this is what writers want....I'll leave that one alone. One of the contestants can't find ground chicken or beef at the store, so he buys tofu. And then he proceeds to BITCH the entire time about how hard tofu is to cook, how no one likes it, how he's crazy for using it. Paula Deen, a guest judge, and Bobby Flay approached his table as he was cooking and both turned their noses up at the dish (lettuce leaves stuffed with a tofu mixture), saying that he made a bad choice by choosing to tofu as a main ingredient. Here comes a rant - brace yourselves - tofu is one of the easiest ingredients to cook. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! It takes on the flavor of anything you pair it with; you can serve it with multiple textures and consistencies, and it's incredibly healthy for you (lower in cholesterol and fat than meat products). This guy is supposed to be a good chef, yet he had no clue how to work with tofu. And I feel like this is standard. Justin and I make some amazing tofu dishes and we are not professionals. I was originally rooting for this contestant - now he's at the bottom of my list.
And finally, Paula Deen. Is there anyone in the world more anti-veg than she? As she paraded around the various food tables she made comments about vegetable dishes saying, "You need to throw a stick of butter on there" and scoffing at the tofu, "If I made tofu for my husband, he would say get the tofu-outta-here." The comical part is that, when she tasted the tofu dish, she acutally liked it! Go figure...apparently tofu can taste good. In summary, that woman is an abomination.
Okay. I'm done.
On a lighter note, before becoming absolutely disgusted by the show, I made a delicious dinner for Justin and I and surprised him by having it all set up in our back yard when he got home. It was composed of Farmers Market goodies and some awesome finds at the Portland Public Market House. Sometimes we're so cute it hurts.
Kale, strawberries, black bean tempeh, portebello cap, tomatoes, avocado, and our favorite CabSav, Pine & Post
Dinner waiting for Justin in our backyard: Pasta with portebello, tomato, kale, garlic, and herbs and an herb salad with cucumber, carrot and strawberries. And of course, some Pine & Post. And yes, I made the easy vegan pasta dish - but in my defense, we don't make pasta often and our cubbards are going bare so there weren't many other choices!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Are you out there??
As a blogger, you get kind of bummed when you don't see the "Followers" count increasing steadily over time. You start to think - is anyone out there actually reading this? To quench my blogger-loneliness, I added a nifty little widget "Feedjit" to my page. Over time, I've been noticing that folks from California, Alaska, Washington, D.C., Canada, Boston, New York, and several other countries have been visiting my pages. And although they aren't clicking the little "Follow" button to let me know they're right there with me, I'm confident that they are. Don't be shy friends - feel free to click that button and to leave some comments on my posts! I love answering questions, responding to ideas, and getting advice from readers, so step right up!
As the weather is becoming increasingly more beautiful and the plants around us begin to delight our senses, I've been doing more summer vegan cooking. What exactly does this mean? Well, I've put away my stews, heavy dishes, warm soups and roasted veggies for now, and have started preparing a lot of crisp raw dishes, celebrating the array of summer veggies just starting to show up at the Farmers Market and food stores.
This week Justin and I put together a Korean-style cabbage salad using a head of shredded purple cabbage, some shredded carrots and edamame. Justin made a sweet-spicy sauce that complimented the flavors of the veggies really well.
We also made Vegan Yum Yum's Smokey Miso Tofu and used it to make sandwiches with caramelized onions and mushrooms, tomato, and cucumber. The tofu was delicious and we'll definitely be making it again, though next time I won't use her drying method. When I tried using her method (placing a cast iron pot on top of the tofu to squeeze excess water out) the tofu ended up crumbling a lot and we didn't get as many slices out of it as we wanted. I'll also slice them a little thicker next time. The marinade in the recipe has a surprisingly salty, smokey, sweet flavor. We had some extra and used it on the sandwich as well.
As the weather is becoming increasingly more beautiful and the plants around us begin to delight our senses, I've been doing more summer vegan cooking. What exactly does this mean? Well, I've put away my stews, heavy dishes, warm soups and roasted veggies for now, and have started preparing a lot of crisp raw dishes, celebrating the array of summer veggies just starting to show up at the Farmers Market and food stores.
This week Justin and I put together a Korean-style cabbage salad using a head of shredded purple cabbage, some shredded carrots and edamame. Justin made a sweet-spicy sauce that complimented the flavors of the veggies really well.
Korean Cabbage Salad
We also made Vegan Yum Yum's Smokey Miso Tofu and used it to make sandwiches with caramelized onions and mushrooms, tomato, and cucumber. The tofu was delicious and we'll definitely be making it again, though next time I won't use her drying method. When I tried using her method (placing a cast iron pot on top of the tofu to squeeze excess water out) the tofu ended up crumbling a lot and we didn't get as many slices out of it as we wanted. I'll also slice them a little thicker next time. The marinade in the recipe has a surprisingly salty, smokey, sweet flavor. We had some extra and used it on the sandwich as well.
Smokey Miso Tofu
Dinner! Smokey Miso Tofu with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, Cucumber & Tomato, Korean Cabbage Salad, and, of course, a pickle
Since this is one of the few times Justin and I have two days off in a row together (he works on Saturdays and has off on Fridays; I have off on Saturdays & Sundays) we decided to do a little exploring. My dad recently gave me the family picnic basket which I'll pack with some left over cabbage salad, hummus veggie wraps, and juice, and we'll head up to Bradbury Mountain State Park for a picnic and a hike.
What are you doing for Memorial Day? Family picnic? Hiking? Hanging out at home? What are kind of menu are you planning? Let us know!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Granola bars, Quinoa Salad, and Edamame Pesto!
It's only Tuesday and already we've tried out four different AWESOME recipes. Here we go:
1. On Sunday I made up Vegan Stoner's Granola Bars. First off, these babies are SO easy to whip up (as are all of VS' recipes). They're sweet and crunchy and nutty - mmmm! We used trail mix from Whole Foods bulk aisle so that we only had to pay for a cup of it and we could pick from a bunch of different types. We went with a locally made trail mix that boasted a high level of antioxidants and didn't include candy pieces like many of the other options. I will make these again, but my one critique is that they are very crumbly. Next time I think I'll add a little more peanut butter or agave to help them stick together more and I'll bake them a bit longer. I still recommend trying them out though! So far this week, they've helped quench my afternoon cravings and I have not made any mid-afternoon CBD trips! Victory!
2. Monday night my fiance made veggie chili burgers using left over chili and some frozen veggie burgers and I made up Vegan Stoner's Mango Quinoa Salad. This salad is AWESOME! The next time we go on a picnic, I am totally bringing this salad. It's crisp and refreshing with sweet mangoes paired with tart strawberries and crunchy celery and red onion. Make it!
3. On Tuesday I decided to try out Post Punk Kitchen's Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto. We didn't have any spinach linguine (sadly), so I made it with regular. The only complaint I had with it, and it had NOTHING to do with the recipe itself, was the fact that we had to make the pesto in a blender instead of a food processor. The next kitchen upgrade on my list is a food processor - no more lumpy pestos! The recipe was awesome though and it's included in her list of low-fat recipes, so yay to sticking to the diet!
4. For dessert on Tuesday, I decided to try my hand at Vegan Stoner's Strawberry Soup. This was my first time using vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti's) and I actually enjoyed the taste of it and foresee using it in some of my baking endeavors and Mexican dishes. The soup was...different. My fiance liked it better than I, and finished his whole bowl. But we both agreed that there was a strange aftertaste - possibly attributed to the strawberry seeds. We saved my portion and incorporated it into our breakfast shake and I thought it tasted wonderful. I'm not sure that we'll be trying that one out again any time soon though.
Today I picked up fiddleheads at the Portland Maine Farmers Market an I'm wicked excited to figure out how to prepare them. I can't wait for the Farmers Market to expand as more and more produce becomes available. It's a bit sparse right now, but I was able to find the fiddleheads and pick up a bunch of scallions. I also found, maybe, the largest carrot I have every seen in person!
1. On Sunday I made up Vegan Stoner's Granola Bars. First off, these babies are SO easy to whip up (as are all of VS' recipes). They're sweet and crunchy and nutty - mmmm! We used trail mix from Whole Foods bulk aisle so that we only had to pay for a cup of it and we could pick from a bunch of different types. We went with a locally made trail mix that boasted a high level of antioxidants and didn't include candy pieces like many of the other options. I will make these again, but my one critique is that they are very crumbly. Next time I think I'll add a little more peanut butter or agave to help them stick together more and I'll bake them a bit longer. I still recommend trying them out though! So far this week, they've helped quench my afternoon cravings and I have not made any mid-afternoon CBD trips! Victory!
2. Monday night my fiance made veggie chili burgers using left over chili and some frozen veggie burgers and I made up Vegan Stoner's Mango Quinoa Salad. This salad is AWESOME! The next time we go on a picnic, I am totally bringing this salad. It's crisp and refreshing with sweet mangoes paired with tart strawberries and crunchy celery and red onion. Make it!
3. On Tuesday I decided to try out Post Punk Kitchen's Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto. We didn't have any spinach linguine (sadly), so I made it with regular. The only complaint I had with it, and it had NOTHING to do with the recipe itself, was the fact that we had to make the pesto in a blender instead of a food processor. The next kitchen upgrade on my list is a food processor - no more lumpy pestos! The recipe was awesome though and it's included in her list of low-fat recipes, so yay to sticking to the diet!
4. For dessert on Tuesday, I decided to try my hand at Vegan Stoner's Strawberry Soup. This was my first time using vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti's) and I actually enjoyed the taste of it and foresee using it in some of my baking endeavors and Mexican dishes. The soup was...different. My fiance liked it better than I, and finished his whole bowl. But we both agreed that there was a strange aftertaste - possibly attributed to the strawberry seeds. We saved my portion and incorporated it into our breakfast shake and I thought it tasted wonderful. I'm not sure that we'll be trying that one out again any time soon though.
Today I picked up fiddleheads at the Portland Maine Farmers Market an I'm wicked excited to figure out how to prepare them. I can't wait for the Farmers Market to expand as more and more produce becomes available. It's a bit sparse right now, but I was able to find the fiddleheads and pick up a bunch of scallions. I also found, maybe, the largest carrot I have every seen in person!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Radisson Let Down
Just as I'd suspected, the Radisson had no idea how to accommodate a vegan. I showed up on Monday morning after a 2 hours bus ride and found a long table with breakfast before me. Our options: egg bagels with cream cheese or butter, danishes, muffins, and yogurt with fresh fruit in it. So close, Radisson, so close! All you needed to do was to have yogurt and fruit separated so that people could choose one or the other or mix them on their own. What was disappointing was that they should have been prepared for a vegan in the crowd since I'd filled out a form in advance that asked me about dietary restrictions!
I dropped by their lunch and saw sandwiches...yes, there was a vegetarian option with cheese, but no, there were no vegan options. At afternoon snack time, they offered power bars, and comically choose ones that all contained some version of milk. Oy!
So out into the city I went! The first day, I met with my friend Kelly for lunch at this little Thai place for some delicious pad thai. That night, we ventured to Cambridge for dinner at The Friendly Toast where I had the Vegan Vahalla with sweet potato fries (if you've never been to The Friendly Toast - GO. There is one in Cambridge and one in Portsmouth, NH. It's totally worth the drive - this was my second trip and I certainly see more to come!). The following morning I had one of my Larabars for breakfast and then met Kelly at an Italian restaurant across the street called Vapiano's. I was craving something super healthy and went for the salad which was wonderfully refreshing. When I asked the girl to leave out the parm and mozz cheese, she looked at me like I was from Mars. "Do you want to add some chicken to it instead?" NO!
My yummy salad!
Vapiano's $5.95 lunch specials...not a lot of options, but it is very easy to convert a lot of their items and they seem very happy to do it!
Oh well! All in all, the trip was great, the conference was super informative and it was fantastic seeing friends I rarely get the chance to visit. I am however, very disappointed in the Radisson and you can be sure that I made mention of their failed food options when they emailed me a survey!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Failed Italian Genes
I was excited all day long to make Vegan Stoner's Kale Stuffed Shells tonight. The biggest change we made to the recipe was using manicotti instead of shells. This was NOT a preference, believe me; for some reason we couldn't find the large shells anywhere at Whole Foods. We got water boiling, threw in the manicotti, and got to work on the stuffing. The stuffing we created, I must say, was incredibly delicious. We made several modifications including adding fresh cut tomato and using Italian Seasoning instead of All Purpose Spice. After the noodles were done, we laid them out on paper towels to dry.
Stuffing time. Disastrous. I had hoped my Italian genes would kick in and stuffing manicotti would be second nature to me. Wrong-o. It took both of us, me holding the noodle opened and pinching one end shut, my fiance spooning filling into the little opening, me cursing every time I put them in a pan because some (or most) of the filling would spurt out. Frustration, indeed! Filling was splattered on the top of the stove, and bits were falling to the floor, much to the chagrin of our cats. Stuffing shells would have been SO much easier!
After stuffing the manicotti noodles, we added a step to the recipe. We covered them with a nice jar of tomato sauce and stuck them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. As they baked, I made a nice fresh salad from kale, dandelion greens, yellow pepper, mushrooms, cucumber and carrot, while my fiance made a nice vinaigrette to pour over it.
Although stuffing the manicotti noodles was a fiasco, this dish was pretty good. We liked the flavor of the kale paired with nutritional yeast and the ricotta-like textured tofu. The tomatoes added another layer of sweet flavor against the bitterness of the greens in our salads. We will try making this again - but next time, with SHELLS!
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