Chili Time

Hello All! I hope you are having a good Monday and cook up something great this week!

Tonight I am having a great bowl of cereal for dinner as I run from one thing to the next in my prep for finals week.  So I am blogging my mothers chili recipe I made this weekend for some carnivores. Ill post the vegan version for you guys :)

What you'll need:

1 12oz pkg of protein crumbles

1 med sweet onion

1 pkg of chili seasoning

1 12 or 15oz can of kidney beans

1 25 or 28oz can of crushed tomatoes

* 1tbs Cumin if you want or spice it up with a jalapeño 

Chop and sauté the onion until almost translucent, and then add the crumbles until they are "browned"

Add the chili seasoning and a cup of water

let simmer for 5 min

mix that in a pot with the beans and tomatoes, let simmer for 30 min

Its a 'quick and dirty' recipe for a simple dinner.  I love it and I think you could spice it up to taste.  It was really filling! I hope you all enjoy!

Happy munching! :)

  

Im Not Always A Good Cook

All week I have been looking forward to cooking a great curry fried rice recipe I had found.  So tonight I finally get a chance to actually cook and have time to sit and enjoy it.  The aromas from the rice and curry are filling the kitchen.  My mouth is watering while I am waiting for everything to finish cooking! Welp... first bite in and its like eating a mouth full of those decorative aquarium rocks.... My heart is broken.  The recipe was a good one and everyone was raving about it on the blog but the flavor of the garlic salt with the curry just kept reminding me of celery.  Celery might be one of the veggies I most despise.  Not only was the flavor of the rice not good I dont think I cooked it long enough.  This is one of the only times I can recall cooking rice and not getting it right. It is so simple and second nature to me.  Maybe my rice went stale? or maybe it was because I used brown rice with the curry? I didnt taste the rice before I mixed the veggies in and I think had I done that I would have known before hand that my rice wasnt ready.  Either way I was heartbroken by my dinner.  So I will post the recipe for the Curry Fried Rice here!  I hope you can cook your rice better! Enjoy bloggers, and learn lessons from my kitchen! 

Happy Munching :)

Brown Rice Soup

Hello All!

Yesterday was my usual sushi date with my girls and tonight I am eating some left over sushi and other odds and ends tonight, and therefore tonight's post will be another recipe from my mothers kitchen! She came up with this one her self and I loved it!  I can easily be changed and manipulated to fit your taste buds!  After prep and 30 min of cook time you will have a hearty soup!

What you'll need:

1 Can of Black Beans (rinsed)

1 Can of While Kernel Corn

1 Tub of Salsa (We love Margaritaville Salsa!)

1/2 cup of celery, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

3 T garlic

1 T of garlic/herb seasoning

4 cups of veggie broth

1 cup cooked brown rice

** Cholula Sauce if desired

Puree beans, corn, and salsa in blender

Sautee onion, celery, garlic in a little EVOL

Add puree mixture, sautéed veggies, cooked rice, broth and spices to pot

Bring to boil and then lower heat to simmer and cook for 30 min

Then eat! I really enjoyed the soup! I would be much happier with out the celery and if just a little Cholula Chipotle sauce were added!  When looking for the salsa make sure to get a fresh blend that is kept in the produce section.  That salsa in a jar you buy in the chip section is packed with preservatives and I think it lacks the fresh crisp flavor I look for in salsa!  There is brand sold at our store back home that is called Margaritaville and it is our favorite!  Every time it is back in stock we usually end up buying a tub or two! :)  I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Happy munching!

Mac & Squash

Hello All!

As I was preparing for this coming week I happened upon a new recipe on my favorite vegan blog! I was so excited to try it out!  It is like a vegan version of Mac & Cheese and I get it 4.5 stars!  The Mac and Squash was simple to make and overall it was pretty good. I feel like it missing a little something.  Before this recipe I never heard of Adobo and I am interested to find it some time! I kept looking for it at the store but I would imagine it would be something I would have to go to Earth Fare to find.  Maybe one day I can find it and make this again!  What kind of squash to use was not listed in the recipe but the picture on the side looked like an acorn so thats what I chose.  I am not sure what other type of squash would work either.  The recipe called for margarine and I was confused as I was making it because I thought margarine was not vegan.  Today not only did I make something new I also found out that margarine is in fact vegan!  Some brands use milk as an additive but the brand I got didn't.  The only problem I have now is what to do with the other half of the acorn squash I have sitting in my fridge.  Now after mashing the cooked squash I wish i would have gotten it a little smoother because the texture when its mixed with the pasta is a little strange but thats something easy that I can fix next time.  After cooking the squash and pasta it was a matter of minuets before everything was mixed and ready to eat! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do :)

Happy munching!

Lime Yogurt Dip

Hello!
Dear friends I am so sorry for my lack of post this week! Life hit me with a brick wall this week.

Work + Test - Sleep + Finals around the corner = one exhausted college student who hasnt had time for good cooking this week.

My dinner tonight was a bowl of cereal... SO instead of blogging about the wonderful things I have made I will be posting about some of the wonderful foods my mother has made for me!  I will be posting them all weekend and start back in the kitchen on monday.  Tonight I am sharing a dip to go with fruit or veggies!

Lime Yogurt Dip:

• 1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt (vegan substitute if you wish)
• 2T lime juice
• 1T cilantro (finely chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon jalapeño finely chopped ** (optional)

Simply mix together and serve cold!  I really like it! I think grapes were best paired with it but there were a few other veggies that might work well.  It is a strange dip but once I got used to it I really enjoyed it! It is a low fat/ low calorie option to those high sugar fruit dips!  I hope you enjoy! And again so sorry I havent cooked this week.  My body is hating me for living off cereal and Subway this week.

Happy Munching Friend!

Tater-Tot Casserole My Way

I found a great recipe last week for tater-tot casserole and it looked great.  As I looked at the ingredient list I realized it would require a lot of shopping and a major part of the list was vegan versions of regular food products.  Some times vegan replacements are just as processed as the junk I try to avoid in the first place.  So I decided that I would make my own version! I took a few ideas and concepts from a few different recipes.  I introduce to a trial version of Rachel's Tater-Tot Casserole!

What you'll need:

1 12oz bag of meat replacement crumbles 

1lb bag of frozen veggies 

1lb bag of Frozen tater-tots

1/3 cup of hot sauce or BBQ sauce

* Shredded Cheese (optional, could be vegan)

Yep thats really it! Just those few ingredients and it only took a a few minutes of prep and then it was in the oven and ready to eat soon!  As far as what I used in the recipe I learned after I made it what would have made it better.  I used a bag of peas, carrots, and corn.  I thought it was a great mix and worked well, but you could use other foods you might enjoy more.  I used Morning Star "Meat" crumbles.  For the tater-tots I used Alexia "Potato Puffs".  They were seasoned with black pepper which I didn't know until looking at the package after I opened it.  That was ok but I guess it wasn't best for the recipe.  I chose that brand of potato because when I looked at some of the other name brands they all had HFCS or Dextrose in them.  I just want potato in tot for but I guess some companies want to add more flavor.  If  you are really strict in your vegan ways then I suggest reading the labels or making your own version or tater-tots! (go on, get risky and try it!)  I used Frank's Hot Sauce for the meat and it was great! It gave the recipe a buffalo flavor and I really enjoyed the spice.

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350

Mix the meat replacement crumbles and veggies in a bowl with the sauce of your choice

Spread that on the bottom of the baking dish (This is your base)

On top add the tater-tots and cheese if you wish

Bake for 25-30 min at 350

I think the recipe was ok, but I am not in love with it.  I want to go back and maybe try it again with some tweaks.  Maybe I shouldn't be going out on a limb and trying my own concoctions :p but maybe you can try it and enjoy it! I used a little bit of sour cream on top when I served it and that was a huge help with the flavor.

Hope you enjoy it :) 

Happy Munching

Its Taco Time

As I have mentioned before I don's think you can eat out as a vegan and it be completely practical. There are somethings that can easily be made vegan though.  Hispanic food is one example! Your taste might be different but for me just stir fried veggies and rice is enough for a good meal.  Eating out at a mexican place can be vegan easily! Fresh lettuce, veggies, rice, and tofu if you please.  

For the past few days I have been craving tacos! After a long week why not?  Simmering the meat and crisping are the only things that took time and at most that was 5 min! I love simple meals almost as much as I loved my honey glazed salmon!

When getting taco shells or soft tacos make sure you read your ingredients! I got a national name brand that was whole wheat and vegan! I was happy to be able to get a brand that was vegan.  The ingredient list was only 3 ingredients long.  I used regular sour cream and regular cheese but finding vegan replacements for those is simple.  When cooking meat for the tacos I suggest using Morning Star Farms meat crumbles.  Just warm them and then add the sauce and simmer with water as the package says.  I added a whole bell pepper and half an onion to the meat but that is optional.  To top off the tacos I added some salsa and Chula Chipotle (smokey and spicy! Whats not to love with Chula??)

Simple Taco Friday, I hope you enjoy!

Happy Munching Followers :) 

Some Days Im Just Not Vegan

Sorry I am a day or two behind! But here is my latest treat :)
So I just bought a bunch of couscous on sale and I was thrilled to be making it my self!  Yesterday I found a great recipe for asparagus couscous.  When I looked at the link there was a great picture of the dish.  When it was all cooked up there was a nice filet of salmon on top and I was instantly hooked! I am a vegetarian/vegan until some one mentions sushi or salmon. After that its game over, I gotta have it.  I quickly hopped on pintrest and looked up a salmon glaze.  I didn't find anything I liked right off the bat so I used a couple different ideas and just made my own!

So here is the original Asparagus Couscous recipe I found  but of course I varied it a little bit.  I think I have trouble paying attention to directions and I like to think that I am a free spirited cook.

I followed it pretty closely but I also added some sliced up yellow zucchini because I wanted some vegetable that wasn't green to add some color. I also didn't add the lime zest I had already zestd the lime I had in the fridge so instead I just juiced it! This was a great touch in my opinion!

For the salmon:

• 1/4 cup of Agave Nectar
• 1 sprig of Rosemary
• A splash of lemon juice
• A Touch of Garlic Salt

That is for one filet of salmon so make sure to double it or multiply it by how ever many you have.  I took all the ingredients in tossed them in a ziplock bag (big enough for the salmon of course) and shook them all together.  Place your salmon in the bag and put in the fridge for about an hour.  I left mine for longer because I had class that night but just make sure it sits long enough to soak up a little of that Agave Nectar.  Once you are ready to cook line a baking pan or shallow baking dish with foil and then dump the salmon and glaze into the pan or dish. Crack from fresh black pepper and salt over it or sprinkle some pepper/salt over it to your taste  Cover and bake at 350 for about 35 min.  The time may vary based on how much salmon you have.  Make sure to check it after 25 min.  * When baking make sure you included the rosemary! It give the salmon a great flavor.  BUT Make sure that the rosemary is not on the salmon while cooking.  I made that mistake and today I took a bite of my salmon and ended up chewing on a piece of rosemary and it was too strong a taste on that part of the salmon.

This meal was simple and once the fish cooked it was a quick prep with the couscous.  It was by far the best meal I have made in my opinion! Go try it and share it!

Happy munching :)

Aspartame is so lame!

While at work (my second part time job is at a local grocery store) I had to go back to the dairy department and it caught my eye that a brand of yogurt I use as a snack or occasionally in smoothies said "NOW WITH OUT ASPARTAME!" on the front and my heart sank.  I claim to be an almost vegan because want a cup of yogurt or a glass of milk everyone in a while.  The main point for me choosing to be a vegan is that I want to stay away from processed foods and just enjoy natural fresh foods that I make.  I guess with the few processed foods I do eat I don't normally read the labels but now I am really regretting it.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is used to replace sugar for a low calorie sweetener.  It is about 4 times sweeter than sucrose.  I am totally against the use of high fructose corn syrup, genetically modified foods, and fake sugars.  None of these are natural, and they are so hard for the body to break down... if the body can even break it down.  It is rumored that aspartame can not be broken down by the body and that is not hard for me to believe.  If the body can not break something down it can be stored or be flushed out of your system.

Now if you doing your own research the web might not be helpful.  When I tried to look up a definition for aspartame I got a site that was all about promoting it.  I assume the site was set up by a big company who uses it in the diet drinks they make to make it seem more user friendly.  Honestly though I was not buying it.  Wikipieda can give you a good explanation of it but you have to have a little chemistry background to understand.  Do your own research as you choose but let it be known that you need to be checking your yogurt labels from now on (if you are not totally vegan that is).

I have learned my lesson that from now on I will be paying more close attention to the few food labels that come through my kitchen.  As a time saver remember to keep it simple.  If the ingredient list is more that a few ingredients long then its not simple and not going to make you feel good.  Stick to as much fresh produce as you can!  If you do want to eat something processed try to make sure its as natural as possible, but in general eating simply means you would not eat processed food.

After eating clean and almost vegan for a few weeks along with regular exercise I am feeling great physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Also, I haven't slept so well in a long time.

Happy munching!

Couscous: its whats for dinner!

I love couscous and I am so excited to have picked some up to make in the coming weeks!
For those of you who have no clue what Couscous is I will give you a hint, its not this guy:

He is an emperor from a Disney movie, not a food.

Couscous is like rice.  I described it as a hybrid between rice-a-roni and rice.  It is a pasta that is made from a type of wheat that is stone ground.  If you are just a really awful cook then there is still hope for you! You can cook couscous in just a few moments and its really hard to mess up!  Eating as a vegetarian/vegan in the campus dining hall is hard most days, but when there was couscous it was like food christmas for me! Tonight I had couscous that came with a roasted garlic and olive oil flavoring, it is wonderful! I heated up some frozen veggies (since I haven't been shopping for the week yet it was the only veggies I had ready for use with out having to go and buy some fresh and clean and then cook them)  I used the couscous as a bed for the veggies and it was a quick, simple, filling meal!  As far as the veggies go I didn't like the soy beans that were mixed in but the whole mix had carrots, cauliflower, snap peas, soy beans, and red pepper.  When cooking I used just a little salt and basil to give them some more flavor.

Later on in the week I will be posting some of the foods my mom sent back with me after the weekend! Cant wait to share! 

Happy munching friends :)

Spicing Up The Kitchen Tonight! Pineapple Fried Rice is Calling My Name

I got 2 fresh pineapples last week at Earth Fare for free and I was so excited for them to ripen up so I can use them!  This morning when I saw they were fresh and I was so excited! While thinking about what I had in my kitchen for dinner and I realized I have rice, peppers for sir fry, and a pineapple so pineapple rice it is! I love thai food so much and the thought of cooking my own pineapple fried rice has me way too excited.

Browsing around on pintrest and I found a great recipe that was both spicy and sweet.  I didn't use all the same foods for the recipe but I chose to use a habanero which really kicked up the spice.  Its a great, basic, and quick to make.

• Brown Rice
• 1 whole pineapple
• 2 or 3 hot peppers (to your taste preference)
• peas
• 1 small onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 2" of ginger root
• 1 whole bell pepper
• 1 tbs of hot sauce
• 2 tbs of dark soy sauce
• Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Cook the rice, but make sure not to overcook it.  Stir fry the bell pepper, onion, ginger, and garlic.  Once that is cooked up after about 2 min and is making the kitchen smell wonderful add in the peas, hot peppers, hot sauce, soy sauce, and the pineapple (cut up into chunks).  Let cook a little longer and then add the rice for a final min or two of cooking.  Then serve, enjoy, and munch!

Here is the link for the site where I got the original recipe but above is listed the adaptations I made.  the site says that you should heat up the wok and cook it in there.... well about the wok. I don't have one! It is most defiantly on my list of things needed for a vegan kitchen!

I hope you cook it up and enjoy it for your self! The combo of spicy and sweet is perfect for me:)

Sushi... That Seems A Bit Fishy To Me!

When I initially heard about and research what the meat industry was doing to the meat products I was consuming daily I was quite horrified and I cut out all meat products cold turkey.  Honestly the switch wasn't hard because I already loved a lot of vegetarian staples like grilled cheese or peanut butter sandwiches.  What was really hard for me was leaving sushi behind.  Although I live in a land locked state there are still some really good sushi places around and once trying it freshman year in college I was instantly hooked.  Going back to my favorite sushi place with my friends after deciding that I was eating strictly vegetarian was so hard for me.  I sadly ate my fried rice with some tofu and looked longly at my friends spicy salmon roll or the shrimp tempura.  I quickly decided that I was a happy vegetarian but I could live with being the occasional "pescaterian" (meaning I would eat fish but no other meat).  So to this day as an almost vegan I stay away from processed food and meats.  I enjoy my mostly vegan food and love cooking until Tuesday rolls around!

Almost every Tuesday I get together with two of my closest friends and we enjoy half price sushi at this swanky downtown restaurant! 620 State has some of the best sushi I have had! (except for the sushi I got in Washington State but it was fresh out of the ocean) So thinking last night as I had my two favorite rolls and chatted over an appetizer of crab ran goons, wow I am pretty far from vegan and vegetarian.

Some pretty strict vegans might really frown upon my eating habits but sushi might be one of the easiest dished to make vegan.  When I look up vegan recipes to cook for the week I often seen 'protein crumbles' and 'soy'.  I don't mind taking some of my favorite foods and making them vegan but some times its so much work to try to change key ingredients.  Sushi on the other hand really consist of 3 or 4 key things that are already vegan!

1. Rice -  white rice is vegan no doubt!
2. Seaweed wrap - its like eating the oceans own home grown herb!
3. Veggies -  most of the time its carrots or cucumber! 
4. Fish - Now clearly this is where you end up in trouble but this could be cut out all together.

Now I am not a sushi pro but when I end up at dinner on Tuesday I get a dynamite roll and a stir fry roll.  The dynamite roll contains imitation crab and cream cheese.  I  would need to look at the ingredients for the crab but it could be vegan! And the cream cheese could be a simple fix of just replacing it with Tofutti or another vegan cream cheese! What a simple fix!  The stir fry roll is a shrimp and cream cheese roll that is tempura fried (meaning it has a light batter on it and then flash fried) and then topped with a hot sauce.  Tempura batter is clearly not a vegan dish so when I can figure out how to make vegan tempura batter make sure to find me because I will be making my own vegan sushi and starting a swanky downtown restaurant!

One last note! Big thank you to all of you out there sharing my blog and keeping up with me! My blog is growing more and more every day and the more I cook and blog the more I love my healthy eating! The blog has been shared and I now have viewers in Germany and Russia! Wow :) Thanks everyone!
Later on tonight for dinner I am doing pineapple fried rice and I cant wait to share it!

Furity-Nutty Spread?

I love cooking and eating as an "Almost Vegan" and my mom has now started to do some of the foods with me! After being home this weekend she sent me back to school with a few new foods to try.  One of them is called "Fruity-Nutty Spread" and I have some mixed review about it.
It goes as follows:

• 8oz of cream cheese softened
• unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
• dried fruit
• nuts of choice (we used walnuts)

Mix all of it together and spread on toast or bread of choice! For the cream cheese we are using a brand called "Tofutti" which I honestly enjoy more than some brands of regular cream cheese.  They make a garlic herb flavored cream cheese spread and I really enjoy that as well.  They make more foods such as sour cream.   A family member says that she enjoys most of the Tofutti vegan products more than regular dairy products.  Tofutti typically has less fat and it more healthy.  You might not find it in regular grocery stores (it would be in the cold case in the produce section with other vegan products)  I usually have to go to Earth Fare to find it.

When I tried it yesterday on a whole wheat english muffin I initially thought it was weird. It doesnt have the flavor I expected.  I think I would like this if I could mix in some different fruits that would make it sweeter.  We used raisins and my mom mentioned that maybe apricots would make it a little sweeter.

Dinner last night was simple but I am going to talk a little about the "chicken" I had.  Lat night I cooked a simple meal of just some steamed broccoli and roasted potatoes like I did a few weeks back.  I made chicken in some simple breading for the meat eaters (my roommate, my boyfriend, and another friend of ours).   While they enjoyed that I had "chicken" Scallopini.  It is a chicken replacement that my mom got for me to eat while everyone at easter dinner was having ham.  As far as meat replacements go I don't always have to have them and I would just as content getting my protein from a spoonful of peanut butter.  In those meals when you need to have a fake meat and it wouldn't be acceptable to go get a jar of peanut butter I will take a fake meat replacement.  My favorite out of all I have tried is by the company Morning Star and its a pretty common brand name.  You can find it in most grocery stores.  They make great chicken nuggets and chicken patties and those are my favorite.  The scallopini was good and I enjoyed the flavor it had, the only complaint I had was that it just didnt look natural.  Which clearly is not something you can always have when you are making plan proteins look like chicken or beef.

Have a great day bloggers and followers!