What I Ate Wednesday #40

 

Hi Everyone!  I’m so happy to be back this week. I was too caught up in the holiday and our business to get my timely WIAW done. So,  I combined pictures from last week and this week to share some of my favorite eats of the week.

My breakfast obsession of Avocado toast has not stopped.  I have eaten this heavenly pair for breakfast nearly two weeks straight! See, I told you I am obsessed.  To me, being vegan, I can replace eggs with tofu scramble easily, but I have yet to be satisfied with a “dippy” type egg replacement. That is, until, I discovered avocado toast. Who knew spreading warm ripe avocado on lightly toasted bread with a sprinkle of salt and pepper would taste like egg yolks. If I close my eyes it tastes like a poached egg on toast, amazing! I am a huge fan.  I cannot eat enough.  And my skin is proof.  I swear my face has been dewy and youthfully glowing. I just know it is my daily dose of avocado. 

My favorite lunch of the week was the veggie grinder on a seeded Italian roll.  This monster sandwich was shared by Andy and me.  It consisted of an assortment of Italian inspired veggies. 

The base of the sandwiched was one of our bakery’s seeded Italian rolls, followed by a generous spread of roasted pepper and sundried tomato vegan mayo.  Atop the spread went thick crunchy slices of breaded eggplant with some vegan mozzarella melted on top.  The juicy red and orange roasted peppers were next, then a generous pile of garlicky sautéed baby spinach, grilled caramelized red onions were then topped by browned mushrooms.  I quickly warmed black kamala olives and some artichoke hearts for the salty bite on top. This is a sandwich my Grandmother would love.  I snuck a couple of hot Italian peppers on my side!

Another lunch that I really enjoyed this week was open faced mini cocktail rye sandwiches.  Mya loves rye bread, how could I say no when she asked me for a loaf of cocktail rye at the market?  I couldn’t. That being said, she also came home with a loaf of pumpernickel. She was so cute, she said, “mommy, when I was looking at the bread and reading the packages, people kept staring at me”.  Probably because not many nine year olds are reading the labels, let alone shopping for rye bread!

She immediately wanted mini sandwiches when we arrived home.  Again, here I go with the avocado!  We made a sort of blt, without the “T” and used an “A” instead.  Tempeh bacon, avocado, lettuce and onion, but sadly, all out of tomatoes.

These little babies were quite good and surprisingly filling.

As for dinner, there is a new veggie burger in town, and it is rivaling  to be my new favorite.

Introducing, the Gardein Chipotle Black Bean Burger.  A 1/4 pound of heaven. And guess what?  I found it a BJ’s.  It was a box of 12 burgers for about $12.00.  These babies are huge and are only 220 calories of Mexican style goodness. Of course I topped mine with avocado, onion, lettuce, tomato and some dill relish along with some Dayia cheese and secret sauce, all on a super soft and crunchy multi-grain and seed bun. YUM!

When a vegan burger looks and tastes like this, how could you ever miss meat?  I could eat this every day of the week. 

Burger heaven…served with a baked potato on the side. Super carb night…must do extra time on the elliptical tomorrow!

We spent some time this week decorating the house, I love when the tree is up, it makes me so happy and relaxed.

I have had non stop Christmas music playing through the house, I am sure I am driving Andy crazy already. Sadly the only thing we did not get done this week was my b-day date for Twilight.  Maybe it will have to wait for the DVD.  We really enjoyed having Mya home for the week.  I wish when I went to school we had a whole week off  before Thanksgiving.  It is a great way to start the holiday season.

The dogs lounged around…

While the cat scoped out the Christmas tree ornaments…

I will end on my favorite dessert of the week.

Mock “Mounds” bar. A healthy version of the coconut chocolate covered confection.  I used a combo of shredded coconut, hemp seeds, vanilla protein powder, a little agave nectar and coconut oil in the food processor.  I pulsed until it was sticky.  I then pressed it into a glass dish and popped it in the freezer while I made a chocolate topping. Melted semi-sweet grain sweetened chips worked well.

A sweet ending to any meal.  I chopped these into bite size treats to have anytime.  I always need just a small bite of something sweet after a meal, don’t you?

Thanks for stopping by, I look forward to my next meals to share.  Have a great WIAW!

What I Ate Wednesday #39

 

Welcome to What I ate Wednesday #39! Thanks for stopping by!

Today is not just WIAW, it is also my 38th (I can’t believe it) Birthday! All my meals from WIAW are Tuesday, so today I will probably celebrate by getting some take out from Wegman’s. I am happy to be spending the day with Andy and Mya (once she arrives home), although, my big plans are for celebrating next week by going to see Twilight. Cheesy, I know, but I am crazy for vampire love stories! Vampire Diaries is my favorite show.

Today, I made a variety of great meals that were vegan yet low soy.  If you read my last post, you may already know that I am reducing soy in my diet as an experiment.  I read that too much soy can make it hard to get really lean when working out.  I was curious to see if there was any truth to it.  So far, it has been a week, and the results have been weight loss of two and half pounds.  I had no other changes to my diet or exercise program.  I am continuing the experiment to see if it’s working or just a coincidence.

After cardio and weight training, breakfast was fried potatoes, peppers, onions, and a little field roast sausage. Mya just loves fried potatoes, nice and crispy with a small dollop of ketchup on the side.

I am so excited to share lunch.  Guess what these ingredients make?

 

Vegan Seafood Salad!  It has become my latest obsession.

Hearts of Palm make a wonderful stand in for crab.  It has the same look and texture.  Check it out. Here is how I made this delicious salad:

Shred hearts of palm with fork.

Add your favorite seafood seasoning to some reduced fat vegan mayo. I used Old Bay, salt free crab seasoning, sea salt, dill, lemon juice, a little Dijon, and cracked black pepper.  Stir to blend.

Add minced onion, celery, and red pepper.

Fold in the mayo mixture till all is well coated.

I served mine on rye bread, with mashed avocado “butter”, and sliced tomatoes.

This is totally to die for. I am going to make this as an appetizer for the holidays on mini rye breads.

After lunch I decided to make some birthday chocolate for myself.  I loaded it with shredded coconut, chopped almonds, and goji berries.  I poured the mixture into silicone mini muffin molds. Popped it in the freezer for a few minutes to harden. YUM!

 

Decadent dark chocolate made from raw cacao, what could be better?

Since it was getting difficult to find the counter after all the previous meals, I kept dinner quite simple.  We had leftover tomato pie from our bakery that I heated and topped with sautéed spinach, olives and some Daiya cheese.

Simple and delicious.  But, I have to admit, I really wanted more “seafood” salad.  I need to get more hearts of palm!  I think I am an addict!

I hope you all enjoyed your meals today as much as I did.  Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Wednesday!

What I Ate Wednesday #38

 

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!  I had so much fun making all my meals today.  I am happiest in the kitchen, it relaxes and excites me at the same time.

   

This week I am doing some experimenting with my vegan meals.  I am trying to use as many veggies as I can and less meat replacers.  I always treat meat replacers as a condiment to my veggies. This week I am trying to focus more on meals that are mostly vegetable and grain based.  So far so good.

Instead of my favorite, tofu scramble, breakfast today was oatmeal for me, grits for Mya and Andy.  I made “oatmeal Raisin Cookie” oats.  I started with my plain bowl of whole oats, not quick cook, added some shredded coconut, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, a tiny bit of agave, coconut milk, and a spoonful of crunchy granola on top.  It was so good and really tasted like a cookie!  It was twenty eight degrees this morning, so the warm oatmeal was a welcome breakfast.

Right after breakfast I started on lunch.  I made a pot of chicken-less Wild Rice soup.  The classic celery, carrots, onions, but I added a kick with half a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies. It made a great boost in flavor with a mild heat.  It turned out even better than I expected, I ate a bowl and a half.  Mya was home for election day and she had a nice bowl too.  Soup is not the most photogenic meal.

After lunch, I was lucky enough to have Mya join me in the kitchen to help make a coconut bread that was outrageously good.

I made a version of Chocolate Covered Katie’s Breakfast Coconut bread.  I tweaked it for the ingredients that I had.  It was so delicious and easy to make.  Less than 1/2 cup sugar in the loaf.

We made a glaze of powdered sugar and coconut milk.

While the bread was cooling, I prepared dinner.  Stuffed Shells.

One of my favorite meals.  I usually stuff them with tofu cashew ricotta, but this time I made a cashew ricotta.  It was so rich and creamy.  I soaked 1.5 cups cashews for a few hours before blending them with some garlic, miso, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of salt.  Perfect cheese replacement.

In a cast iron pan, I sautéed minced mushrooms, minced onions,  and a bag of frozen spinach with some garlic seasoning, a pinch of sea salt and some pepper.

Then I combined the two.

Then begin to fill.

Add sauce…

Bake 30 minutes…

and serve.

What a day in food. I can’t wait to eat leftovers tomorrow, or now. The rest of the coconut bread is haunting me from the kitchen.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Have a great Wednesday!