B-day cupcakes, Challenge recap, Three New items to review, Loomis & Lulla caught in the act!

  ****Cupcakes for the Birthday Girl****

We had to cancel. Too bad she didn’t get to eat them. They were good.

 

****Random Eating****

I love greasy eggrolls. Here is Miss Dottie keepin’ an eye on them for me while they thaw.

Chinese mustard + water spinach + tomatoes + baked tofu. My favorite!

   Vegetarian Egg rolls. Also my FAVORITE!

Breaky was hashbrowns a sunny side up egg, and 3 strips of “bacon.”

Early Grey tea with soymilk/almond milk to start the day.

****Salad Challenge Recap****

Sauteed tempeh, bed of greens & carrots.

Sauteed tempeh, avocado, bed of greens, vegetarian “pork floss,” and morningstar bacon.

My dressing for both salads above was the vegetarian dipping sauce. I also had a glass of orange juice.

My very last salad was a bed of mixed greens, yves deli slices, carrots and homemade potato chips.

I made the potato chips in the toaster oven at ~425 F for ~30 minutes. When it was done I added s+p.

A delicious tofurky sandwich. This time I tried the smokehouse flavor. SOOOO GOOD!

I was also sick. I ate lots of rice porridge….

Rice porridge + sandwich + Theraflu (ack!)

One night we had green beans and tomatoes. I ate it for about 2 days as leftovers.

****New Item of the Week***

Item #1: Tempeh!!

I absolutely loved it! I can’t believe I hadn’t tried it earlier. I love the texture and the fact that it is versatile, just like tofu. I’m definitely going to do some more experimenting. Right now I am thinking BBQ kebabs…..(mouth watering)….

Do you eat Tempeh? If so, what are your favorite ways to eat it?

Nutritional content. Again, loving all of the organic-ness. This brand of tempeh is also made by the Tofurky label.

Tempeh has lots of protein along with lots of carbs. This is why I counted this as two items on my salad for the challenge.

 New Item #2: Larabar, Cinnamon Roll

I actually ate this bar just because I knew I should eat. What is it about being sick that makes you lose your appetite? Initially I was hesitant to try it, but I knew if I didn’t eat it, it’d go to waste (I bought this bar when I still had a sweet tooth).

When I opened the package, I immediately smelled the cinnamon. It was very potent. The white specks are walnut/almond pieces, which of course added a soft crunch. It wasn’t chewy…,but more like a hybrid of chewy and melt-in-your-mouth type. I am guessing all of the sugar from the dates and raisins gave it the latter consistency. Would I buy this bar again? Most likely not. I prefer my cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven with dough.

 

New Item #3: Pasta Prima All Natural Wild Mushroom and Thyme Ravioli.

Nutritional Content: That’s a lot of calories for such a small meal….

“extra fancy durum flour” uh…..what does that mean? there are lots of cheeses listed. I don’t eat cheese that often, but I do have a preference to aged parm, asiago, and sometimes brie. My least favorite is Mozzarella, whish is listed as the first cheese ingredient here.

I boiled it for about 2-3 minutes until they puffed up and floated to the top. It also came with this parmesan seasoning packet. I used about half in this meal.

I drizzled it with a bit of olive oil and tossed it around a bit before I ate it. I must have cooked it on a too high heat because I found the dough to be very chewy and thick. (thumbs down). The seasoning packet made the already super salty filling even more salty. (another thumbs down). The taste of the mozzarella overpowered the wild mushrooms. If I had an extra thumb, I’d give it three thumbs down. Way down. 

****Loomis & Lulla****

Their daily routine is tearing up stuffed animals/other toys and making a mess. We can always count on Happy to be happy to lose his hat, lose his head and his insides.

The white cloth in front of Lulla used to be her bed. It also used to be three times it size—minus the holes.

I also want to thank those who participated in the salad challenge. I know I wasn’t every helpful/motivating during this round. so sorry! It’s just been so hectic. Dec and Jan are the busiest times of the year for me. Filled with Holidays, birthdayS, New school semester, family visitations…now I have to deal with doctor appointments as well. I should have planned it out better….I do hope that at least some of you found new and creative ways to enjoy your greens.

Until Next Time!

Out Sick…..

Good to go with Salads & Another cake!

Monday

I had my salad of mixed greens, seasoned croutons, baked tofu, shredded carrots and egg rolls.

For my dressing, I used my vegetarian dipping sauce for the egg rolls. It goes nicely with mixed greens too!

Tuesday

whole wheat toast with almond butter and banana slices. Missed this guy.

 

This salad consisted of a bed of spinach leaves, one whole avocado (delicious!) Yves deli slices (8 grams of protein/2 slices!), 3 strips of “bacon”, carrot shreds and a fig bar to go along with it.

 

****Another Birthday Celebration****

Vegan Carrot Cake. Find recipe here

 

Cuteness!

 

2nd week of challenge w/ last weeks recap and more…

****Salad Recap****

Wednesday

Today’s salad consisted of a bed of mixed greens, yellow squash, smoked tofu, croutons, roma tomatoes, “bacon” crumbs, vegetarian Caesar salad dressing. It was not the best salad that I have made and I was getting full quite quickly, so I didn’t finish all of the salad. I ate the baked yams (my carb portion) afterward because it was not finished cooking yet.

Thursday

I spent the day out of town, so I had to buy my meals. I did not want to spend too much time looking for something to eat, so I settled on a little Italian Fast food joint (I think it’s called La Italiano…?). It consisted of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, olives, red onions and croutons with Italian dressing.

I also ate ~1/2 a small bowl of baked ziti and nibbled on the breadstick (white bread—not so yummy).

 

Friday

This salad was a bed of mixed greens, tomatoes, carrot shreds and I decided to make the sandwich portions part of the requirements. My sandwich had: swiss cheese, Tofurky slices (see review below), mayo, yellow mustard, arugula, and tomato on a whole wheat bread. I don’t know if it was the tofurky, the swiss cheese or the combination of it that made this sandwich so awesomely delicious! I was literally enjoying each and every single bite of it.

Saturday & Sunday were no salad days. I feel so horrible, for missing two days in a row, but I have been out of town quite a bit and it becomes so hectic that I lose track of things. We have one more week left and I am going to try super hard to pack a salad for those days that I have to leave town.

 

****Another Birthday Celebration****

Yay for cake

 

****Random Intakes****

Vegan hot dog with whole wheat bun with ketchup and mustard

 

Eggs and whole wheat bread

 

****New Item of the Week****

TOFURKY!!

 The nutritional information. Not many calories for 5 slices.

 The Ingredients.  I wish manufacturers would specify exactly what their “natural vegetarian flavors” were. I do like that almost everything is labeled as organic or as non-genetically engineered.

Overall, I really enjoyed Tofurky. I can’t believe I hadn’t tried it earlier. It works perfect in sandwiches (which is what I have been eating all weekend). The only complaint I have is that it didn’t taste as peppered. I guess I still remember the meat deli slices. I’ll have to try the other flavors. Maybe with rye bread as well.

Will be back Monday!

Sorry guys! I have been uber busy. I will be back to blogging as soon as Monday hits. Keep eating those Salads and updating me on what you’re all eating.

In a Rut!

Good morning!!! I hope that everyone who is participating in the salad challenge is having an easy time coming up with ideas. I am at a blank on what to put into my salads. I keep running into a rut. Anyone who does not have a blog, care to share what you’ve been putting in so far?

Let’s see how the salad eaters with blogs are doing so far…

Tasha

Deb

Valerie

Wednesday

My salad for the day was super filling! I was not able to finish it all and left a bit of greens on the plate.

• Croutons
• baked yams
• soy sauce eggs
• mixed greens
• Vegetarian dried “pork” with nori kelp (see picture below)

I loved the nori flavor. Ingredients are soy bean fiber, sugar, soy sauce, veggie oil, nori kelp, sesame and soybean powder. This was my first time putting it on a salad. Normally I eat it over rice.

Another topping is the Vegetarian Delight platter from Ranch 99 This is the assorted platter. The left is smoked tofu, the middle is mock “ham” with tofu sheets wrapped around it, the right side is mock goose.

I dipped the tofu in my soy sauce dip.

leftover pad thai with a side of baked yams

Just photos…

I’m going to have to refrain from typing so much on this post. I’m super tired right now. I wanted to post my eats before they piled up. the salad for Sunday was already posted (last post) and today’s salad is under Monday. It was basically a bed of greens topped with tomatoes and pad thai (carrots, broccoli, onions, tofu and lemon juice + crushed peanuts). Super full and super tired.

Monday

Sunday

Oolong tea moon cake.

   

Saturday

 

Long drank the ENTIRED bottle of New Castle and didn’t collapse!

Friday

gingerbread waffles. they were great, I just burnt the first two. lol I ate this last one. YUMMY!!!  Vegan food from Souley Vegan: cornbread, potatoes, fried tofu, mac and “cheese” collard greens….lentils…..

fried okra rice and beans

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

  

First day of Salad Challenge!

Hey guys! Today was the first day of the Salad Challenge. I have food photos to post, but I wanted to make a quick post of my “salad” today. I haven’t been around to blog about the challenge lately because I have been busy (will write more about later). I hope that some of you were able to get in your first salad today. If not, there is always tomorrow! I almost forgot myself! When I remembered, I quickly whipped up this green shake. This was my first time, so it wasn’t the greatest. At first I was hesitant to blend it all together, but gave it a shot anyway. What could it hurt? There were only healthy food items going into it. Once I blended everything together, I gave it a taste (with my eyes closed ). It wasn’t bad at all! I found it to be pretty plain. I thought about adding a ripe banana to it, but decided that I did not need the extra sugar and drank it just plain. It was fun making it because it was SO different for me (It is unlike me to be this adventurous in food). I’ll have to come up/find new recipe ideas for future green shakes.

Here’s what went in:

• 3 Tbsp. of Raw Macadamia butter

 

• Original almond milk
• 1 red pear, cut into chunks
• 1 zucchini cut into rounds
• roughly 2 handfuls of mixed salad greens

The “new” french fry

Thursday

For breakfast all I had was a banana and a cup of hot chocolate that I made at home. This hot chocolate was a combination of ~ 1-1/2 tsp. of unsweetened chocolate powder ~1-1/2 tsp. of sweetened chocolate powder, I added ~1/2 tsp. of sugar. I find it funny that I used to dislike hot chocolate that was this milky. Now, I’m enjoying it. Even preferring it to a cup of coffee and tea! How things have changed.

nice hot cup to keep me warm.

Lunch was leftover pesto pasta from yesterday with baked yams and a salad on the side with vegetarian friendly caesar dressing.

Dinner: I made myself a baked tofu sandwich (1 slice of whole wheat bread, 1 tsp of mayo, a handful of salad greens and a big block of baked tofu). The sides were leftover pasta, which I ended up not eating, and the most wonderful replacement for french fries—polenta fries! They are soOOo goood!!! I love how crispy it is. It is so simple to make. All I did was cut the rounds into strips, drizzled a teeny bit of extra virgin olive oil and then baked it in my toaster over (love this machine!) at 420 F for 30 minutes.

  

For dessert, I ate a red d’anjou pear and a green pear. See Loomis in the background wanting a bite?

Wednesday

I snacked on various items during the day, but here is a picture of delicious baked sweet potatoes.

 

Dinner was sun dried tomato pesto pasta topped with Morning star’s meal starter and a side of more baked sweet potatoes. I also drank lots of water. I didn’t get much during the day.

January 6th: Polenta with tomatoes, poblano peppers and portobello mushrooms

For Lunch, I decided to use polenta with tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers. I have to say that I am just starting to enjoy the subtle flavor of polenta. Well, at least polenta in a tube.

This first one pictured below is pan fried polenta topped with a sweet tomato reduction on a bed of sautéed poblano peppers, Portobello mushrooms and red onions. The tomatoes added a medium sweetness to the plate and the pepper and Portobello added a rich and robust flavor. The turning point was the addition of the red onions. With the already sweet tomatoes, the onions made this dish too sweet. I found myself wanting more polenta to balance out the flavors a bit more.

Polenta Covered with Tomato Reduction over Poblano peppers and Portobello Mushrooms.

Ingredients:

2-3 Tbsp of canned diced tomatoes, including liquid

1/2 tsp. of dried oregano

1 slice of Frieda’s organic traditional polenta tube

1/4 Poblano (Pasilla) pepper, cut into chunks

1/4 Portobello mushroom, cut into chunks

2-3 Tbsp. Morning Star Farm’s Meal Starters Griller’s Recipe Crumbles

1/4 Red onion, sliced

Olive oil for cooking

Add oil to a hot skillet. Add the Poblano pepper, onion, Portobello mushroom, morning start grounds. Sauté until browned, about 5-10 minutes. Sauté the polenta round in same pan. Remove both when cooked.

Add a little oil to pan and then add the tomatoes. Cook until liquid reduces and thickens. Add the dried oregano remove from heat. You’re done cooking now you can assemble your plate.

With this polenta round, I popped it in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes under broil at 400 F along with Morning Star Farm’s Vegetarian Bacon.

The flavor in this was much better than the first. The pepper added a hint of sweetness, while the “bacon” added a crunch. I also liked the meatiness of the portabello mushroom. The polenta in this plate was just enough to balance it all.