What I Ate Wednesday #79

 

Hello all! I hope you have been enjoying a wonderful summer.  It has been super busy around here but we have been having so much fun.  It has become harder and harder for me to capture a days worth of meals, I end up halfway done eating and realize I never took a picture!  So, for the next few weeks of summer, I am going to highlight my favorite meals of the week no matter what day they occur. 

I so excited that we were able to move our new bigger camper to our permanent space on the bay. We grew out of the little guy and now I have a real kitchen, no more covering the sink with a cutting board to make coffee! So hopefully some of my meals will be taken there soon.

Breakfast: Favorite breakfast still remains Avocado (gluten free) toast with tofu eggs on top. On the side were some fried up potatoes left over the the previous nights baked potatoes.

Andy had his on a fresh baked bakery bagel.

Favorite Lunch: Vegan Chicken  Soup with Gluten Free Pasta

I was craving soup and it tasted amazing, just like Grandma’s, only without chicken and without gluten!!!!

Lots of chunky veggies and spinach. I put some vegan chicken in for Mya and Andy, I avoided it because of the gluten. Since I don’t have a severe allergy to gluten, it does not bother me unless I actually eat the food with the gluten in it.

Favorite Snack: Local Farmed Cantaloupe

Years back I got very ill after eating cantaloupe and I avoided it for years. Now I found a local organic famer that grows amazing melons. I have finally been able to confidently enjoy these great melons again!

I clean them, cut them up, and leave them in ready to go bowls in the fridge for easy snacking. Mya and her friends really like cold cantaloupe on these hot days. My grandmother used to always put cut up cantaloupe on our ice cream when we were kids. Vanilla with chocolate syrup and small dice cantaloupe. It may sound strange, but it was delicious. I introduced it to Mya and Andy and they loved it.

Dinner: Favorite Dinner, bbq with potatoes, fresh local corn and baked beans! That might always be my summer favorite, especially when eaten outside.

Mya and Andy had vegan riblets, I had a gluten free burger in bbq sauce to make my own mock riblet.

Favorite part, potatoes. I love baked/grilled potatoes, I could eat them everyday.

Favorite drink this week… coconut water!

This brand tastes just like freshly opened coconut water. It is so hydrating and has a slight sweetness.

That wraps up the WIAW meals of the week. Hopefully some of the future meals will be made and photographed in my new camper kitchen…

The pictures will be taken on the table that overlooks the bay…

Now we have a bay window with a bay view!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and a great week. I know I will be preparing for back to school.  

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

What I Ate Wednesday #78

 

Hi all, welcome to What I Ate Wednesday #78, thanks so much for stopping by. 

Today is all about the meals, simple summer meals that would make any veggie eater very happy!

Breakfast Sandwiches…

Spinach and portabella tofu eggs with new vegan Daiya Swiss Cheese! Served on a bagel for Andy and 1/2 a gluten free English Muffin for me.

It has been four years since I have had Swiss cheese, I almost forgot what it tastes like.  When I saw the Daiya Swiss slices at the grocery store, I was ecstatic. I was so anxious to try, I was scared I would be disappointed, but to my surprise, there is such a thing as VEGAN SWISS!!!! Yes, it tastes and smells like  Swiss cheese.  Andy loved it as well. I also bought the Provolone and Cheddar. I am planning on “meatball” sandwiches with the Provolone today…can’t wait.

These sandwiches were built with tofu eggs, caramelized onions, juicy portabella mushrooms, garlic, and baby spinach, then topped with Swiss, which melted perfectly!

This nutrition packed breakfast kept me full for hours. In fact by lunch, all I wanted was a garden picked tomato salad.  I picked a variety of super ripe tomatoes out of my garden.

This one was huge!

Sliced tomato, onion, basil, sea salt, olive oil, pepper and Teese Mozzarella thinly sliced,

I served mine over over a bed of fresh spring mix that I drizzled Balsamic glaze over before placing my tomatoes on top.

Delish!

Chinese for dinner! A stir-fry of shitake mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, water chestnuts, and baked tofu over Jasmine rice.

We also had a evening snack of stove top popped corn, which I forgot to take a photo of!

Thanks for stopping by to see this week’s What I Ate Wednesday #78!

Have a great week…

XOXO,

What I Ate Wednesday #76

 

Wow, another week passed.  I told myself before summer started that I was going to make the most of this summer and be really active and not let it just slip by.  Active has been an understatement!  We have been having such fun from one activity to another and spending time at the beach has been therapeutic. We even got to attend a luau this weekend, it was so much fun! Mya had a blast with all her new friends.

A L O H A

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My yoga practice, that I have been saying I was  going to try for years, has become a part of my daily workout.  I am also committed to my gluten free vegan eating and have never felt better. I will admit, back in March and April I was impatient and not satisfied with my fitness progress, but with constant work, I have seen the changes and intend to keep going.

Without further ado, welcome to What I ate Wednesday 76! Since last week was a rewind meal, I thought I would include a few pics of the meals I intended on sharing last week as well as my meals from today.

Last week I had gluten free toast pretty much every morning and a few pieces as open faced sandwiches throughout the week, so I thought I would go back to incorporating corn tortillas as options this week. Calorie wise, I can eat three tortillas per one small slice of GF brown rice bread.

Breakfast: Tofu egg with peppers, onions, black beans, corn, salsa and ripe avocado served atop a crisp pan warmed corn tortilla.

Today promised to be  busy day, so two max filled tortillas were on the menu. These two delicious and filling tortillas are full of fiber and protein and come in at under 350 calories for both.

My avocado was so perfectly ripe, spreadable, creamy and just the perfect texture and flavor.

I look forward to leftovers tomorrow, I made enough to have breakfast for two days.

 

The breakfast from last week that I did not get to share was overnight oats.  These were quite delicious, and I really enjoyed them, but, I find with oats, I am always hungry an hour later. They never fill me, oats for breakfast are like eating Chinese takeout, I am full for a moment and back in the fridge an hour later!

This combo was raw oats and chia seeds soaked in coconut almond milk overnight until they produce a cold creamy bowl of oats.  I mixed in walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, and coconut flakes. For me this is a better dessert than breakfast.

After breakfast, it was time to take a ride to test out our wave runners on the river before taking them to the bay. We just had them serviced, we have not used them in seven years, Mya was so excited. Even Prince jumped in the car and wanted to come along.

I forgot how much fun it was to be on the water. Mya loved it!

We were all starving for lunch when we arrived home.  Mya thought BLT’s sounded good.  I have not been satisfied with the tempeh bacon lately, so I was exploring my GF vegan options, when I noticed smoked tofu as a baked tofu variety.  I decided to try thinly slicing the smoked tofu, then cooking it in some coconut oil with some agave, soy sauce and smoked paprika, pan fried until crispy. PERFECTION! This was the bacon replacement I was dreaming of. 

I used a tortilla as my base, Mya and Andy had wheat bread.  I added some leftover TVP tuna, onions, tomatoes, avocado, crispy tofu bacon and lettuce on top.  This will be in my lunch rotation a lot. Andy and Mya enjoyed it as well.

After lunch, I worked on a new recipe!  I have been having a mad chocolate peanut butter craving lately.  I really wanted some type of gluten free bars. I read through all the black bean brownie recipes I have previously made and chose to experiment with elements from a few.  This is not a “recipe”  I will make it again with exact measurements! Here is my successful attempt at what I call “Bean”ut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars.

I preheated the oven to 350. Into the food processor went 1 can rinsed and drained white beans, coconut oil, peanut butter, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla, agave, 1 very ripe banana, garbanzo flour, baking soda and baking powder. Blend until smooth batter.

 

Into a greased 8x8 pan I poured 2/3 of the mixture.  I place the other 1/3 back on the base and added two heaping tbsp. cocoa powder and blended. Then I dolloped it on top of the plain batter and swirled it a little before adding walnuts and chocolate chips. 

I baked it about 35 minutes until golden on top and soft throughout.

Totally addictive… but a few more calories than I expected, around 140 per piece, I cut it into 16 pieces.

I could call this my chocolate craving killer. Perfect bites that have protein, fiber and flavor, rich decadent flavor!

After all the batter tasting, I thought a light dinner was in order. Portabella steak salads.

In my double griddle pan, I sautéed peppers, onions and portabella mushrooms in coconut oil with a few drops of Braggs liquid aminos (soy sauce).

When they were perfectly cooked, I topped a plate of mixed baby greens, tomatoes, olives and some Tesse mozzarella, that were lightly drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette.

After placing my warm veggies on top, a little balsamic glaze was drizzled on top.

I also promised a look at my last weeks dinner that did not make it to WIAW.

Veggie topped corn flour elbow macaroni, sauce, melted Teese mozzarella, chopped and sautéed peppers, onions, zucchini, garlic, fresh yellow tomato, and shards of fresh basil.

That concludes the meals for this week and last weeks What I Ate Wednesday.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I am looking forward to getting the exact recipe for the bars out next week…so make sure to stop back soon!

Have a great Wednesday and enjoy this great summer weather. 

XOXO,