What I Ate Wednesday #43

 

I normally start my posts with a happy WIAW, today it is not so easy.  The grief in my heart for all those families and friends affected by the tragedy of Newtown.  My heart is broken and I have to believe there are twenty six additional angels in heaven. God bless all the families, the victims, and all of us who now feel an uneasy vulnerably to be reminded how short and precious life is.  Don’t let evil win, or the holidays will become a tragic reminder of the evil in this world, instead be kind, spread joy, bless others and remember that there is good in the world as well, and you are a part of the good.  Good always wins in the end.

On a more positive note, we celebrated my Grandmother’s 96th birthday this weekend! It was a night filled with family, love, lots of laughs and food of course.  It is one of my favorite days of the year. Our whole family gets together to celebrate, generations of aunts, uncles and cousins. Spending time with my cousins makes me feel ten again.  Seeing our children play as we used to makes me crack up. The highlights included Mya losing a brand new shoe in the bushes, water balloons being filled in the bathroom, Santa Clause visiting, and fights breaking out over a certain chocolate cookie!

Okay, enough of the personal stories, onto the food!

I made a tofu, mushroom, and baby kale scrabble today, unfortunately my pics were just too dark to use, so here a pic from a few scrambles ago!

Hearts of Palm “Seafood Salad” on whole grain crackers were a great snack.

Lunch was leftover veggie shepherds pie. I made a fabulous chicken-less gravy for the base, and stirred in onions, celery, potatoes, carrots, corn, peas, green beans, Gardien chicken, and chopped mushrooms.  I used lots of herbs de Provence for seasoning. The top was a combination of mashed/whipped cauliflower and a potato.  No crust to keep it a bit healthier. Although, I did miss my favorite spelt crust just al little.

Did I mention Mya was home sick today.  She had a cough and her eyes were really red and puffy. I did not know if it was a cold coming on, so rather than infect anyone before Christmas break, I figured I would just keep her home. This is the first day she missed. She seemed much better after breakfast and a few cups of tea and some hot soup. Since her lunch was packed for school, she had a floor picnic with Prince. She rested in the afternoon, and seems good as new now!

Dinner was one of my favorite guilty pleasures that made it feel like summer. Or maybe it was the 60+ degrees today?  Bbq riblets, oven baked potatoes and a side of corn.  The potatoes were so good.  They had a sweet and creamy flesh and they were golden with a slight crisp on the outside.  I rub some olive oil, agave and sea salt on foil to give it the skin that texture and flavor.

Just look at that potato…I could have eaten them all myself!

No dessert today. But since it was an early dinner, I think I see a bowl of cereal with vanilla coconut milk in my future.  I am always hungry again after typing up my WIAW!

I would also like to wish good luck to my mom and all the volunteers she gathers every year to participate in the Annual Law Enforcement Food Drive benefitting the Salvation Army.  This is the 17th year she has been coordinating this major event. Last year we were able to attend and be a part of the festivities.  This year Mya has two tests and already missed school this week, so instead we will be sending them well wishes and some of our bakery rolls and pizza of course!

Good luck mom!

I hope you enjoy your Wednesday and that you and all your families have a very happy holiday!

What I Ate Wednesday #42

 

Happy Holidays and WIAW!

Hello, and welcome to What I Ate Wednesday 42.  Today was a very busy day.  In and out all day, painting a room in between, plus, my range was being repaired. Naturally, when repairing it, the entire stove and oven was taken apart.  I was so nervous, my range is my baby.  It is only two years old, but it was having a thermostat issue.  It took from lunch to past dinner to repair.  Not so convenient for WIAW, but, I do have a few meals to share.

Breakfast was planned to keep us full for awhile.  A tofu “egg” sandwich always does the trick.

Toasted rye bread, tofu “egg” and Daiya cheese.

Doesn’t it even look like an egg!

Mya enjoyed her sandwich.  Can you see Prince scoping it out in the background?

I knew cooking in the afternoon was not going to be an option, so I made a pot of Chickenless Pastina Soup.

While the soup cooked, Xander enjoyed the view of squirrels through the window.

This is Andy’s favorite soup. It was packed with fresh veggies, carrots, celery, onions, and spinach.  It has some whole wheat pastina and tons of herbs and spices.  Fennel seeds are a favorite of mine to add to soups.  When Mya came home from school she had a steaming bowl waiting for her.  As she was devouring it, she asked me if I put fennel in the soup.  I said yes, and I could not believe she recognized it.  She said, we grew it in our garden and she remember the smell and taste.  I was pretty impressed.  I don’t think a lot of nine year olds would recognize fennel seeds as and ingredient.  She enjoyed the bowl to the last drop. 

The stove was still being repaired at dinner, so the options were slim.  The whole kitchen had stove parts scoured about.  The options I proposed were, soup, oatmeal, or cereal.  I was limited by my need for groceries, so salads and sandwiches were not an option. 

Andy and I opted for more soup! Mya had a few bowls of cereal.

An after dinner but before bed snack was deemed necessary. I had a beautiful, ripe and juicy pomegranate just begging to be eaten.

It must be all those potent antioxidants in the pomegranate that just make me feel good after eating it.  It is a subtle energy that makes me just feel healthy!

Sorry, no great inspiring desserts today.  Maybe later this week.  I hope you enjoyed the few meals I could share on this WIAW!

Here is a clue to what will come later in the week…

Remember this post from this time last year?

Have a great Wednesday!

What I Ate Wednesday #41

 

Welcome! Glad you came by to check out today’s vegan meals.  It was a pretty simple day of WIAW eats.  But, sometimes simple is so good.

Breakfast of champs again. Buttery avocado smashed on lightly toasted rye with Celtic sea salt and cracked pepper.

On the side, my everyday favorite, Organic Sumatra Reserve slightly sweetened with coconut creamer.

Since I ate pretty early and did an intense workout, by 10:30am, I was starving.  I had a cup of my veggie soup that I made yesterday.  It is what I call my “cleanse” soup, because it is so loaded with veggies and beans. Then I had a bigger bowl for lunch. It was full of flavor and hearty, if it was not WIAW, I probably would have had it for dinner as well.

I had an afternoon snack. Sweet and tart organic Pink Lady apple. This one had a crisp bite. I ate half and saved half for Mya.

I planned on making pizza flats for dinner on these new Flat-out crusts I found. Check them out.

Only 150 calories for 1 whole flat, and they were big! 7 grams of protein too!

I decided on cashew cheese for a topping instead of store bought vegan cheese.  I soaked my cashews in water for a few hours, drained, and rinsed, then put them into the Vita-mix.

I added two small cloves of garlic, sea salt, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, nutritional yeast and then blended. It turns into a thick raw cheese that cooks up so creamy.

While the oven preheated, I precooked my toppings, mushrooms, onions, and asparagus. I also opened a can of black olives to share between the pizza and salad.

I cooked the flats a few minutes before dressing them with sauce, cashew cheese, mushrooms, onions, asparagus and olives.

The cashew cheese gets bubbly and golden.

A nice simple salad with vinaigrette on the side. I wish it was not dark outside when the pizza was done, the light just does not do it justice.

Mya has a new partner in reading homework…

Every night Prince jumps up and wraps himself behind her when she is reading.  He does it to me a night in the office, he doesn't know he is over 50lbs. when he jumps up on my lap every night!

Could you say no to that face?

I have a bonus meal to share. We had pizza on Sunday too.  Quite the opposites of the flats we had tonight.  I brought home dough from the bakery and made pan pizzas in my cast iron pans. OMG! Deep dish heaven.  I would only eat this as a special occasion because it is white dough, but it was pretty heavenly. Crisp on the bottom and pillow like on top.  Pure heaven!

Mya said it was the best pizza she ever ate! What kind of pizza do you like? Thick or thin?

Have a great day and come back soon!