Berry Cobbler!

For the 4th of July (yeah, I'm a little behind) we didn't really do much. Kyle was (and still is!) getting over bronchitis and we just wanted a quiet day at home. We set off some little fireworks, BBQ'd, and just relaxed all day. Nicey.

I've kind of stayed away from gluten free baking because it's generally not that great and Kyle doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. But you need dessert on holidays, so I made this berry cobbler, which was great!

Instead of rolling out the dough and dealing with that, I just blobbed the crust on top. I guess it was more like a crisp than a cobbler, but it was pretty tasty! And it uses somewhat normal ingredients, so it's a good option for families who aren't gluten free, but have gluten free friends over for dinner.

Do not try this one at home!

This recipe for vegan sloppy joes sounded good, but it was not. I think it was the vinegar that jacked it up, but I'm not willing to try it again to find out. This dinner looks fantastic, but it was just too sour.

1/2 c uncooked lentils
1/2 c uncooked rice
1 bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, 1/2 diced, 1/2 sliced
3-4 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 c vinegar (or NOT)
1 can tomato paste
1 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin
salt and pepper
1 avocado, sliced
1 tomato, sliced

Cook the rice and lentils (I had some leftover rice from a stir fry the night before.) In a frying pan, sauté the diced onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Add tomato paste, vinegar, seasonings, lentils, and rice and simmer for 5-7 minutes. In a separate pan, caramelize the sliced onion. Put the lentil mix on buns and top with onion, avocado, and tomato. (We put this on baked corn tortillas because of our gluten issues.)

This had such potential and the avocado was a really tasty touch. Isaac took one bite and looked ill. At first I thought he was being dramatic, but I probably had the same look on my face! Oh well.

Hippie Cookies

I saw this healthy cookie recipe on Facebook a while back and finally got around to trying it this afternoon! I have two reasons for not making them yet: 1- it's been 8 million degrees out so turning on the oven didn't sound too pleasant and 2- I kept eating all the bananas before they got ripe enough. Now that it's cooled off to a brisk 104, I thought it was time to do some baking.

These cookies are vegan, gluten-free, and don't use any sugar at all!

3 mashed ripe bananas
1/3 c applesauce
2 c oats
1/4 c almond milk
1/2 c craisins
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon

Stir together, bake at 350, 15-20 mins.

As you can see, I made these fairly small because I was worried they would be mushy inside. They were still mushy inside. Isaac was MMMMM-ing all over the place, saying these were SO good! Esther doesn't like craisins or raisins, so she didn't care for them. I thought they were...meh. They mostly tasted like over-ripe bananas, which aren't my fave. It was worth a shot and if Isaac likes them, they're a healthy snack. 

Chickpeas Simmered in Masala Sauce

Yes, more chickpeas! Love 'em!

I still have a big bag of lemons and this recipe used up a whole teaspoon of lemon juice. I also had some chopped tomatoes leftover from tacos, so this was a really inexpensive dinner to make! I'm telling you, you can't go wrong with beans and rice. Cheap, filling, and full of fiber and protein.

http://www.treehugger.com/easy-vegetarian-recipes/chickpeas-simmered-masala-sauce.html

I only used 1/4 tsp of cayenne and it was the perfect amount of spice...I thought it was spicy and Kyle thought it was "flavorful." The kids actually ate all their broccoli and rice, and Isaac ate the salad too. I convinced Isaac to try ONE bean and he said it wasn't terrible. That's progress, I guess.

This made enough for last night and we're having it again tonight. I'll probably make the kids a plate of sandwiches, fruits, and veggies.

Gluten-free lemon bars

My parents have a lemon tree in their backyard that produces these HUGE, juicy lemons, so we always bring a bag or four home with us after we visit. One of my favorite uses for lemons is to make lemon bars using my friend Amy's recipe. They are so good and tart! Since Kyle loves them too, I thought I'd search for a gluten-free version. They turned out great! I used King Arthur GF flour (which for some reason I've been calling King George on this blog.) It doesn't really have that gluten-free taste and doesn't require mixing a bunch of different flours together.

http://www.food.com/recipe/gluten-free-lemon-bars-425323

I know this isn't healthy, but for people who don't normally cook gluten-free, this is an easy option for when you're entertaining friends with special diet needs.

Instead of 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, I added 3. Next time I'll add even more to get that lemony zing!

I let the kids add the powdered sugar, so it was definitely sweet enough!

We couldn't wait to taste our dessert, which was a mistake. They were a big, grainy, gloppy mess. They still tasted great, but were MUCH better after being in the fridge for a few hours.

Close up of the yummy filling!

After cooling, the crust tasted like regular old crust and wasn't grainy at all. I'll be making this again for poor, dessert-deprived Kyle.

As you can see, this was a big hit!

Quinoa X 2

Long time, no blog!

Monday we went to a potluck BBQ, so I decided to make an easy quinoa salad. Some people had never tried quinoa and were brave enough to try it! I think they were glad they did.

Greek Quinoa Salad
cooked quinoa (cooled)
cucumber
tomato
green onion (you could also use red, but they're a bit strong)
feta cheese
Mix all this together with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon pepper, and garlic salt. You can also add lemon juice if you have it. YUM.

Last night I made a Thai Quinoa salad. Yes, I'm obsessed with Thai and peanut sauce! My sister sent me this recipe and it was AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!! I didn't use the red onion, just added more green onion. I used a whole bunch of cilantro and an entire bag of shredded cabbage. I added the chickpeas but omitted the bell pepper. I am definitely making this again! Isaac even ate some...WHAT?!?!

Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing

Delicious vegan and easily gluten-free salad with Thai flavors and a perfect crunch. It’s even better the next day!

Author: Monique of AmbitiousKitchen.com

Ingredients

•       ¾ cup uncooked quinoa

•       1-2 cups shredded red cabbage, depending on how much crunch you like

•       1 red bell pepper, diced

•       ½ red onion, diced

•       1 cup shredded carrots

•       ½ cup chopped cilantro

•       ¼ cup diced green onions

•       ½ cup cashew halves or peanuts (honey-roasted is good)

•       Optional: 1 cup edamame or chickpeas

•       Fresh lime, for a bit of tang

•       For the dressing:

•       ¼ cup all natural peanut butter

•       2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

•       3 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten-free if desired

•       1 tablespoon honey (use agave if vegan)

•       1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

•       1 teaspoon sesame oil

•       1 teaspoon olive oil

•       Water to thin, if necessary

Instructions

1.     To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.

2.     To make dressing: Add peanut butter and honey or agave to a medium microwave safe bowl; heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and both sesame and olive oil and stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want a thinner dressing, simply stir in a teaspoon or two of water or olive oil.

3.     Add as much or as little dressing as you’d like to the quinoa. I always start out with a little bit of dressing and usually add more to suit my taste preferences. Alternatively you can save the dressing for later and add when you are ready to eat; however the flavors of the dressing usually soak into the salad so I love adding it to the quinoa first.

4.     Next fold in red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with cashews and green onions. Serve chilled or at room temperature with lime wedges if desired.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1/6th of recipe Calories: 260 Fat: 13.5g Carbohydrates: 27.7g Sugar: 7g Fiber: 4.3g Protein: 8.6g 

Fresh Mama

Yesterday was Mother's Day which means I didn't have to cook! I decided to go to a place called Fresh Mama so we could use a Living Social deal that was about to expire.

When we arrived, we were the only customers there. I guess this isn't the hoppin' Mother's Day spot. It's kind of in a funky area, but the building also has a Hot Yoga studio, a salon, and a few other businesses, so those customers must keep them going. The counter guy seemed kind of annoyed that we were there, but he did get our orders correct and the food came out pretty quickly.

Kyle and I both had the Spicy Thai Wrap, mine with rice paper and his with collard greens. I asked for no jalapenos on mine, and I'm so glad I did!

As you can see, the presentation was quite lovely. The wrap was good, but had waaaay too many red onions. The Thai dipping sauce was so flavorful, but a little spicy, even for Kyle! A little dab here and there added some nice flavor though.

The kids both had smoothies. Since Esther can't read, I ordered her a green smoothie with oranges, mangos, spinach, and I can't remember what else. Isaac saw the menu and any smoothies that had spinach or kale were quickly rejected, so he chose one with berries, bananas, oranges, and some protein powder (it had whey in it, which is a dairy product, so Esther couldn't have had it anyway.)

They both sucked them down! When Esther saw the green, she was a little traumatized...but as soon as she took a sip, she said yummm.

Overall, the food at Fresh Mama was good and definitely healthy, but I felt it was a little overpriced. The smoothies were $7.99 each. I believe the wraps were about the same price. The reason I feel that's a bit much for a wrap is that it was just basically salad...there wasn't any protein or spread like hummus or anything like that. This place is literally across the street from Isaac's school (and I never noticed) so it would be a nice little after school date spot to grab a smoothie.

This morning, Esther made this "snack" for Kyle. My friend at Redeeming Nutrition would be proud.

Vegucated

So, when we started this whole vegan thing, it was strictly for health reasons. Obviously, I knew animals suffered when they were used for meat, milk, or eggs. I became a vegetarian for nearly 10 years after taking an Environmental Studies class in college. But I guess I just chose to ignore it? Or thought that if I only bought organic, free-range animal products they were treated better?

Last night we watched Vegucated because we've been slowly adding more meat and dairy to our diet. Kyle and the kids have definitely been eating more eggs because they all love them and it's something healthier than cereal to eat for breakfast. We thought watching another documentary would kind of get us back on track and give us more info about healthy eating. Vegucated certainly did that, as it had some of the same information from The China Study in Forks Over Knives.

At the beginning of Vegucated, they started talking about vegan shoes and clothing. "Ugh," I thought, "come on...I am NOT buying vegan shoes! They have nothing to do with health!" By the end of the film, however, I was reminded of the disgusting, cruel, abusive ways that the animals are treated in the process. The definition of "free-range" is not what I thought it was...happy chickens roaming a farm. Even small, family-run farms usually use inhumane methods for raising and utilizing their animals.

There are also some Christian vegans who believe we were originally designed to not eat meat. Eating animal products only started after sin entered the world and we were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. I need to read more about this.

So, although a little meat and ice cream here and there won't kill me, it does lead to the brutal death of many animals. I feel like I have some processing to do!

*One thing I did NOT like about the movie was that they ate so many soy products. Soy is no good for anyone! But maybe for the people in the film, it was a good way to get started instead of going from "normal" diet to strictly plant-based, whole foods.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

Tonight I threw together a lentil shepherd's pie that turned out pretty well. I'm a sucker for anything involving mashed potatoes, so I loved it. The kids, not so much. Meh.

I cooked the lentils in turmeric and cloves and then mixed them with carrots, onion, corn, peas, and a can of diced tomatoes (I was planning on adding mushrooms, but they went bad before I got around to making this...boo.) I added some garlic salt, white pepper, and parsley. I put all that in a 9x13 baking dish, then topped with some skin-on mashed potatoes. Luckily, I made "too many" potatoes so I can eat starchy white carbs to my heart's content tomorrow. Then I baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes to let the carrots cook.

I didn't take any pictures, but this meal is very filling and affordable. We could probably eat it for the next two days but tomorrow is Mother's Day...I think I'll pass on eating leftovers!

May the Fourth be with you!

Yes, we are a dorky Star Wars family! I had planned on being super fun and making a whole themed dinner, including these Princess Leia cupcakes, but sadly, Esther has a stomach bug. The kid loves cake...it would just be rude to make them and for her to not be able to enjoy them.

But, people still need to eat dinner at some point, so no need to throw all the fun out the window. Esther will be forcing down some saltines and 7-Up, while the rest of us get our nerd on. This recipe isn't vegan or even healthy at all! But at least it's dairy and gluten free.

I call these bad boys "Han Solo Hot Dogs in Cornbread Carbonite."

My friend Marla made the Pioneer Woman version of these and they were great, but not gluten free. So I stole her idea and used this GF cornbread recipe. Instead of the flour mixture, I used King George GF flour.

I put little hot dog pieces in a mini muffin tray (sprayed with Pam, which has soy in it...boo.) After putting the hot dogs in I realized, duh, it would be a good idea to put some of the batter in, then the hot dogs, then more batter.

I baked them at 400 until they were golden, which seemed to take forever! You'd think teeny tiny muffins would bake quickly, but it was well over 20 minutes.

Anyway, here they are in their glory!

I must say, they were pretty tasty! They didn't taste gluten free, but the cornbread was a little dry. I'd rather have dry than mushy/gummy though. In this case, just add ketchup and mustard, but for regular cornbread...you can never have too much butter and honey!

Catching up...

Well, hello again! I just have a couple good recipes to share! I've been doing some repeats lately and we have bean tostadas probably twice a week. The kids love them and I don't have to listen to complaints. I also made the chickpea curry again, which Kyle and I love. And of course, plenty of stir fry!

A couple of weeks ago I made these Sweet Potato Fritters with Smoky Pinto Beans. Yum. I'm so glad I read the reviews about adding more spice because these could be bland, depending on the peppers you use. My store didn't have poblano peppers (what?!) and I wasn't sure what type of pepper would be close, so I used one bell pepper and one can of diced green chiles. Instead of all-purpose flour I used King George gluten-free flour mix. It didn't have that weird GF flavor. The beans were fantastic! I might make these again, but the kids didn't really love them (shocking) so we'll see.

Another new favorite that I discovered somewhere online (wish I had bookmarked it) was a guacamole hummus thing! Mash together an avocado and drained can of garbanzo beans. Then add some chopped green onion and cilantro, lime or lemon juice, and some salt and pepper. So tasty! This could be a dip for chips or vegetables, or make a great substitute for tuna or egg salad.

And finally...and I have no idea what my problem is...but I'm loving this drink. Someone help me. But, hey! It's vegan! That means it's healthy, right?!

Starving my children...one healthy meal at a time.

Yeah, so I've still been cooking mostly vegan, but just not blogging about it. I DO have some great recipes to share, so I'm trying to get back on track.

Both kids LOVE these baked tostadas, so I've been making them probably twice a week. The corn tostadas don't hold up so well in muffin tins, so I usually just bake them flat, which the kids gobble up just as quickly. We leave off the cheese to make it vegan, and like some reviewers said, we don't pre-bake as long, to keep the edges from burning.

Tonight I made vegan hot tamale pie, which Kyle and I thought was great (especially with margaritas, chips, and guac) but it made the kids writhe in pain. It did need a little something, so we put salsa and guacamole on top. It's always nice to find a "bread-y" gluten-free option!

I'll get around to posting some other recipes soon.

It's Working!

I have lots of recipes and pictures to post, but haven't had (ok, made) the time to sit down and type them all out. But, I did just want to give a quick update. We've added meat once a week, Kyle and the kids eat eggs a few times a week (they make my stomach hurt), and we use real butter in small amounts. We're still eating lots of fruits, vegetables, and beans...gassy. Haha.

BUT! IT IS WORKING. One of my biggest frustrations has been that the kids don't eat their food. I don't want them to be hungry and I don't like wasting food and money! A few nights ago Esther asked for more broccoli. Whaaa?? That has never happened before! And at lunch she skipped her peanut butter and honey sandwich and kept asking for more apples! Isaac actually said, "this is really good" to a couple of new dinners I made. I guess this just confirms that repeated exposure is the key. If we keep only giving healthy food options, over time kids will try it and then acquire a taste for it! I know, duh.

Sketti

Such a random memory to hang on to...I can still remember the first time I tried spaghetti squash! It was at Girl Scouts and our leader served it with butter, salt, and parmesan cheese. It was so tasty, and so different from anything I had ever had before. I'll admit, the texture can be a little...slimy? That's probably why we never ate it at home.

Tonight I baked a spaghetti squash and used it in the place of noodles. Gluten free pasta is ok...just ok. This is a good substitute, and also more nutritious.

I just cut the squash in half, removed the seeds, sprayed the inside with a little olive oil, and baked at 425* for 45 minutes.

After it was done cooking, I scraped out the squash and put it aside. For some reason, this one didn't turn out as "noodle-y" as it usually does.

For the sauce, I just used jarred sauce and loaded it up with vegetables, including onions and garlic. I don't really have a particular brand of sauce I always buy...I just look for one that's on sale and doesn't have soybean oil or HFCS. 

I asked Isaac if he'd like me to boil some macaroni for him, instead of the spaghetti squash, and he said don't bother...I won't eat it anyway. Haha!! He didn't say it in a disrespectful or rude way at all...he honestly wanted to save me the trouble! He said he didn't need dinner, but I did give them some fruit.

They both ended up eating a few plates like this. It was fine with me because, guess what...we are eating this again tomorrow! Muwahahahaha!!!

Time for some BBQ!

Yesterday was beautiful and sunny...the perfect day for barbecuing!

I added Italian seasoning to ground turkey breast and Kyle cooked them on the grill. The kids had whole wheat buns with theirs, but Kyle and I skipped the bun. For sides, we had asparagus, green salad, and delicious, unhealthy tater tots! "Hey, give me your tots!"

There really is a small turkey burger under that tomato, lettuce, ketchup, and mustard. The package was 1.5 pounds and I made 6 patties with it.

Esther ate, and ate, and ate. She ate her entire burger, bun, and tots. It was probably the most she's eaten at dinner in a month! Isaac was really happy with his meal too, and even ate 3 pieces of asparagus...with the promise of ice cream for dessert. 

Last meal of the month!

Whew! I made it, pretty close to budget! Woo hoo!

Normally for breakfast I eat an apple with peanut or almond butter, or sometimes I just act like a leftovers garbage disposal. But THIS is one of my favorite breakfasts!

Yum. Toast with peanut butter, bananas, and honey.

When I picked up Isaac from school, he immediately asked what we were having for dinner. When I told him I wasn't quite sure, both kids started asking for burritos. I had tortillas from the night before and a can of refried beans. I magically transformed into a super hero when I said YES, we are having plain bean burritos for dinner!

Favorite dinner

After eating their burritos, both kids wanted a plain tortilla. Why, yes, please eat some processed white carbs!

I made peanut butter noodles with some vegetables for me and Kyle. I made a final grocery run and got broccoli, carrots, and an onion because I just couldn't bring myself to eat plain old noodles!

Yes! I am obsessed with this meal!

I did my menu planning for next week and we're having meat one night and eggs another. We're having soup, pasta, and some stir fry-ish stuff, so hopefully everyone will enjoy a little more variety and certain small people won't choose to go to bed hungry.

I love a stocked freezer!

A couple of weeks ago we had friends over for dinner and for some reason I thought 7 people needed 400 cups of rice. Haha, so I used the leftover rice and added a few other Mexican-ish things and froze a casserole to use later.

This is layered rice, beans, corn, cilantro and green onion with enchilada sauce. I heated up servings and put it in either flour tortillas or on corn tostadas. It turned out pretty good, but the enchilada sauce I used was SO spicy! The kids mostly just ate the tortillas, but this made enough for our dinner and lunch the next day and then some. 

I love using even small amounts of leftovers and turning them into something else. Right now I have individual serving bags of lentil soup and potato soup, and another casserole like this. So on a rushed morning or a night when I just don't have the energy to cook, I can grab one of those. Woo hoo!

Um, out of money...

So, yeah, I didn't do the best job at meal planning and staying on a budget, so the next few days I'm getting creative!

Tonight I made a soup using frozen turkey stock, the vegetables I had in the house, and some rice. I have no idea what this would be called, but it's definitely high in carbs! I had zucchini, yellow squash, and some carrots on hand, so those were our veggies tonight.

In my book, as long as you add enough garlic salt, anything can be delicious! It actually was decent, and of course filling, with all that rice. It reminded me of a rice-y casserole. Mmm, comfort food.

This is how much I gave the kids:

I also gave them a plate of sliced apples and told them if they ate the apples and ONE BITE of carrot, they could have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, too. They both chose to just eat apples. No skin off my nose...more leftovers for me!

Yummy winter soup!

I made a lentil soup the other night that was surprisingly awesome! I'm pretty sure when Kyle heard "lentil soup" he died a little inside, but he was hooked at the first bite!

This winter lentil soup has an entire bunch of kale and also sweet potatoes...yummy antioxidants! I feel like it didn't have enough lentils so after it was done cooking I added a can of drained/rinsed garbanzo beans.

It was similar to the lentil soup I made a while back, but this one was tomato based and just really tasty. We had enough for 2 dinners and a lunch for Kyle, so it's a winner in my book. Nope, the kids didn't eat it.

I say potato...

who really says po-taaaaahh-to? I don't think I've ever met anyone who does.

Anyhowzerz, I made a potato soup last week that Isaac called his "favorite soup ever!" I KNOW...amazing!!

My favorite potato soup is a potato leek soup recipe that my sister's mother-in-law gave me at my bridal shower. It's made with butter and heavy cream and is SO good! Just dreamy!! But alas...it probably has 8 billion calories per serving and definitely has dairy in it! I was lucky enough to find a similar, vegan recipe on chezbettay.com. I didn't have celery seeds, so I used some celery salt instead. It turned out fantastic and also made plenty for leftovers AND the freezer. Just the fact that Isaac ate it made me happy.

I'm thinking you could add some carrots and broccoli in place of some of the potatoes to make this a little more nutritious. This is also a really cheap, filling meal, which makes it perfect for when you have more month left at the end of your money!

Cooking ahead

Yesterday I ended up cooking two dinners, so I didn't have to cook tonight. Wahoo!

I tried a crock pot minestrone soup that I stuck in the fridge for tonight. I added onion and garlic and also used 3 cans of beans: garbanzo, kidney, and great northern. I also added macaroni to the kids' portions. It turned out ok...nothing to knock your socks off. I like the other kind I made a while back better.

I had some bananas that were on their way to mush-town, so I made some pumpkin banana bread. It's not vegan, but is dairy and soy free. You could easily make it vegan by using Ener-G Egg Replacer. I made a loaf and a batch of muffins, gave about 1/2 loaf to a friend, and this is what was left the next day.

I think they liked it.

Last night I made my usual stir fry, but added chicken this time! I used a 3/4 pound breast for the whole meal. Two breasts that size set me back $10...ugh. I need to go to Costco, I think. Asparagus was on sale, so that was a nice change, and I also added orange slices and used the sauce from the peanut butter noodle recipe. So good. Yum. The kids didn't eat it. Kyle and I could eat that every day!

Making a few changes

Breakfast has been kind of tough around here. I'm not one to get up and make a hot breakfast, unless it's Saturday and we don't have anywhere to be. Sometimes I can manage to make some scrambled eggs, but that's about the extent of my AM cooking. With that option gone, everyone seems to be just having cereal with almond milk, and the kids also like toast or English muffins. Hello, processed carb city! I've tried getting them to eat oatmeal, but that doesn't really fly. For some reason, they also think fruit is not a morning food. Whaaaa? So, over the last couple of weeks, I've been making eggs a few mornings a week. Those are really the only days that I feel like Isaac goes to school without being hungry, and full of a meal that will actually sustain him until lunch!

Another change is that Kyle has started a new workout routine that is pretty intense. The exercise combined with eating healthier and cutting out alcohol (!) has resulted in him losing 9 pounds in a little over 2 weeks! With all that exercise and muscle building, he feels like he needs more protein.

Now, we COULD add some protein by using meat substitutes (fake burgers, bacon, etc.) but those are all soy-based. Esther can't have soy, and it's really not good for anyone, so those are out for us. And a person can only eat so many beans and still have any friends. Haha. Kyle's been tracking his diet and exercise with an app and discovered that a very large percentage of his diet is from carbs. They aren't simple, processed carbs, which is good, but he'd still like more protein.

So, we're going to add a bit of lean meat to our diet. For example, if I'm making a stir fry, I'll use one chicken breast to feed the whole family. The vegetables will be the main dish, with a little meat as a side. Since we're using a small amount of meat, it seems reasonable to only buy organic, free range, blah blah blah. For eggs, if this is something people will eating on a daily basis, it has to be free from hormones and chemicals. I wish I could have a couple of chickens, but they'd never survive here! As far as dairy goes, we're still going to steer clear. The one exception is using real butter in moderation because the substitutes are just full of junk! I'm still going to shoot for having our main source of protein being plant-based.

Whew. I'm glad I didn't name this blog something to do with vegan. It's simply documenting our attempts at healthy eating. We'll see how we feel adding a little more protein, but still eating mostly whole foods!

Last week

Somehow I didn't take any pictures all week, so it's hard to even remember what I cooked!

I had planned on making this lentil shepherd's pie...but it didn't quite work out. I bought all the ingredients and a few days later went to make it, then realized you have to roast the sweet potatoes first...which takes 45 mins. Plus the time to bake the pie! We wouldn't be eating until like 8pm or something! So I roasted the potatoes and put them aside to make the following day. Cut to 4 days later (pushing it for potato freshness!) and I'm prepping the ingredients...then discover the mushrooms had molded. Argh!!! So I scrapped that recipe all together and made the stand-by peanut butter noodles. I'll still make the shepherd's pie at some point, but it does seem like a lot of work. I'll need to do some of the chopping and stuff earlier in the day, or even make it during the day and re-heat for dinner. Four to six PM is kind of a nightmare around here sometimes!

Ok, so, backtracking. I think Monday was the shepherd's pie deal. Tuesday was Fat Tuesday so we had some wine with dinner (whatever it was, haha!) Wednesday, Kyle had a meeting so the kids ate a plate of snacky fruit and stuff, and I had Brussels sprouts (my favorite to eat when Kyle is gone...he hates them.) Thursday I made homemade pizza again, since the kids love it. We even used real cheese! Friday we picked up some Greek food on our way home from school as a special treat. Isaac had gyros (he LOVES gyros), Esther had hummus and pita, and I had falafel. It wasn't our favorite restaurant, but Kokoras in West Seattle is hard to beat.

We're assessing our vegan-ness and may be making some changes coming up. I'll save that for my next post!

A few in one!

I haven't become tired of vegan eating...just tired of blogging, I guess!

Last week I managed to stretch some meals out with leftovers (and feeding kids pb&j) so I only really cooked 3 times. Woohoo! One was just ok, one was "warning: do not try this at home", and one was a winner!

A while back I made baked egg rolls, which turned out fine, aside from the fact that I flipped some of them too soon and they fell apart. This time, I decided to try fresh spring rolls. I chopped up cabbage, carrot, cucumber, celery, green onion, cilantro, and bell pepper and let it soak in some sesame oil and rice vinegar. Then I wrapped them up in the spring roll skins (that still sounds gross to me) and let them chill in the fridge.

I made some rice and stir fried some veggies to go along with these, and we used some gluten free teriyaki sauce for dipping. The verdict: meh. The rolls were definitely cool and fresh, which makes them great for summer. They were just missing some spice or flavor or something. I guess that's where a recipe would come in handy! Esther picked the skin off and ate a few bites, and Isaac took one bite and spit it out on his plate. Lovely. 

I think it makes for a nice, green plate!

Anyway, moving on! I decided to make a lemon, sage, and tomato pasta with salad. The recipe sounded good...the result was NOT. The first problem was that it had NO flavor. I've never cooked with fresh sage and was really looking forward to it. Boo. And it didn't help that I overcooked the gluten free pasta. Blech. The kids wouldn't eat it at all, Kyle and I forced down one serving, and I actually threw away the leftovers. I never do that...I will eat the same thing for 5 days before I waste food! I guess one good thing is that we all, even the kids, ate a bunch of salad.

Uuuuuugh.

Finally, I made a lentil soup from allrecipes that was really good, and we all actually ate it. It had great flavor, lots of vegetables, and was really filling. It also made a TON. Kyle and I had it again for dinner the next night, and I also have 2 lunch sized servings in the freezer. Hooray! I added more kale, cilantro and carrots, and used crushed cumin instead of the seeds. I also used green lentils instead of red because that's what I had. PERFECT winter soup!

This week I'm trying one new recipe and some tried and true ones. And I'll try to post more regularly!

No turning back?

Ugh. You think eating vegan gives you gas? Try eating vegan for a while, and then NOT. Holy cow.

My parents were in town, so we went out to dinner on Sunday and went to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Their salsa is amazeballs and the beans are made with actual lard. Oh, yeah...you know how those taste! Kyle and I both decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered dishes with meat and cheese. Everything was fantastic, but I was SO FULL after. I DID eat 8 million chips, but still...oofda, I was really, really full.

So, you know that whole "throw caution to the wind" idea? It resulted in breaking wind. I'm not going into details, but dang. Not cool.

Pizza Night!

We try to do something fun together as a family on Saturdays...sometimes we are successful, and sometimes, not so much. I'd say the majority of our day wasn't the greatest. Since I didn't grocery shop on Friday, I had to do it on Saturday, which isn't fun.

BUT, we did make dinner fun! We let each kid make their own pizza using Trader Joe's dough. We splurged and got them some pepperoni because...it's SATURDAY! We decided to not even bother with fake cheese. I don't care what anyone says...it's just not good.

I made Kyle a gluten free crust using a mix from Bob's Red Mill. It made 2 pizzas (so he had lunch for the next day) and they tasted ok...kind of biscuity. I used a whole wheat TJ's crust. We topped them with fresh basil, zucchini, mushrooms, olives, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, and Kyle put a few pieces of pepperoni on his.

They both turned out great, and the sun dried tomatoes were especially good. You don't really miss the cheese when you load them up with goodies...next time I'll add much more. I just didn't want to add too many "juicy" things and end up with soggy crust. We'll definitely do pizza night again!