A Cleansing Dinner

Today, I went grocery shopping and bought my usual 3 weeks worth of food.  Luckily, I had a super assistant today helping me shop.  My dad. 

Dad always said, that when he retired, he would shop with me and learn some healthy cooking tips.  He has since retired and is getting healthier by the day, and with all the food I buy at one time, I took him up on his offer to shop.   Of course, finishing at lunch time, we came home ready to eat and have a great cup of coffee.  While unloading 10 million reusable bags from the car, I also managed to make us a fabulous sandwich of hot Tofurky in gravy on Rye with horseradish sauce.  We had a few baked chips on the side, and 1 each Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie with coffee for dessert. I am totally in love with the new Starbuck’s K-cups.  My favorite roast is the Verona. It is beyond fabulous, rich, dark, with a hint of cocoa finish.  I LOVE it!

Anyway, lunch left me so stuffed, I had no room for a real dinner, and I don’t like to eat after 6:00pm, so I scouted around for an option.  I noticed all the fruit in the fridge and thought that would be a nice cleanse, considering all the heavier meals I have been eating.  When I make fruit salad, I have to get some protein in too, so, since I did not buy the ridiculously expensive and sugar packed soy yogurt at the store, I made my tofu cake batter topping. 

The fruit salad for 3 big bowls:

• 1 small honey crisp apple, chopped
• 1 small granny smith apple, chopped
• 3 clementine's, peeled, sectioned, cut in half
• 2 kiwi peeled and chopped
• 1 pink grapefruit, peeled, sectioned, chopped
• 1 banana, peeled and sliced

Mix them all in a bowl.

For the Tofu Cake Batter Topping:

• 1 tub firm tofu, drained
• 3 scoops vanilla soy protein powder
• 1/4 cup light agave or organic sugar
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. vanilla  extract
• 1 tsp. lemon extract (if you like it lemony)

Blend all ingredients in the food processor until smooth and resembling cake batter. 

Try not to eat it all in one sitting!  It is so thick and rich you do not need a lot to give your fruit a creamy protein rich sinful topping.  I did not have any real lemons, but when I do, I love putting the zest in here too.

I also sprinkle wheat germ and chia seeds on top for extra crunch and nutrition.

Who’s who?

I will give you a clue…

No mistaking,

that must be mini Maria having her coffee,

getting ready for baking!

I guess you can see,

we made gingerbread people last night, all three.

T’was a jolly time, we all had a great night.

We decorated our cookies and watched the Flyer’s take flight.

Claude Giroux, he was not, as you can see,

Andy’s Gingerbread man was dressed as a Phillie.

Mya’s was dressed full of sprinkles with care,

as her dreams of eating all the left over candy filled the air. 

You will not eat the candy now, tomorrow or later, I said with a motherly tone.

The answer is “no”, Mya’s response was a groan.

Sprinkles and icing covered the counters and floors,

they were everywhere including the doors.

Goodnight sweet gingerbread people, see you in the morning.

Where cleaning up will commence and coffee I will be pouring!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Scones

Delicious for breakfast or dessert, these scones were not too sweet and came together really quickly.  This was my first time making scones.  I made a raw version in the dehydrator over the summer, but that does not really count.

The recipe is pretty simple.  This version was adapted from vegannerd recipe:

· 2 cups whole wheat flour

· 1/3 cup sugar

· 4 tsp. baking powder

· 1/2 tsp.  salt

· 2/3 cup cold earth balance (or vegan margarine)

· 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

· 1/4 cup vegan sour cream

· 1.5 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles fine granules.

Add in the chocolate chips and stir. Add in the almond milk and sour cream, and form the dough into a ball. Place dough on a piece of parchment paper.  Roll out ill about 3/4" thick circle.  Cut into wedges with a pizza cutter.  Place the triangles on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. These can be topped with sugar crystals. Cook for about 15 minutes until they begin to brown on top.  Let sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Iron Skillet Breakfast

Nothing makes breakfast better than a cast iron skillet.  Even the cowboys knew that.  Potatoes get crispy, onions get soft and sweet, sausage gets perfectly browned. Even “eggs” don’t stick.  I love my cast iron.

Today, we had a late breakfast as lunch.  That was because Mya had me make whole wheat chocolate chip scones last night, they were so good we had those very early this morning with coffee.  After a bit of running around due to a bread mistake I made, we can home hungry.  Now, I was ready to cook. 

I inventoried the fridge and cabinets to see what I could whip up.  Potatoes, onions, peppers, 2 links of apple smoked sage Field Roast “sausage”, 1 block of tofu, some left over Dayia cheddar, and some rye bread.  Right away a skillet meal came to mind. 

I quickly cleaned the potatoes, then popped them in the microwave for a few minutes to pre-cook some.  Then heated my iron skillet, got the tofu poaching in another pot, and chopped up some onions.  As soon as the potatoes were par-cooked, I cut them in 1” chunks and got them into the hot, olive oil coasted pan.  They took about 8 minutes to be crispy on all sides, then I removed them from the pan and cooked the onions, then the peppers. Once they were almost done, I moved them to the side, added a drip more of olive oil, then tossed in my “sausage” cut in 1” wedges.  While they cooked, I drained my tofu added it back to the pan with a little pat of vegan butter.   I stirred it around, then seasoned it with  Turmeric, seas salt, white pepper, and nutritional yeast.  Stirred until all was blended, topped with Dayia cheese, then put a lid on it to melt.  Now the sausage was browned, added back the potatoes, toasted the bread, and got ready top serve with a little ketchup on the side. 

This was incredible.  It was better than a meal you could get at any diner.  It was so flavorful and the textures were just so perfect.  A real “10” breakfast.

His and Hers Lunch

His… “meat”ball sandwich on an Italian steak roll fresh from the bakery.

Hers… Vegetable Soup

There were only enough left over meatballs to make 1 awesome sandwich, which I was glad about.  Remember…I will not eat bread today? So that beauty went to Andy!

I, on the other hand, took the healthier road and finished up the vegetable soup I made with dad earlier this week.  Sounds innocent enough, but I did eat a nice slice of our delicious deli rye on the side for dipping! Okay, I know…I will not eat bread tomorrow.

Both were delicious options that were filling and fast.  We had to eat a late lunch after a grueling and crazy trip to Toys R Us.  What a madhouse. That place had every mom in a 10 mile radius shopping at once.  What recession?  Mya is 8 and still has a fantastic imagination, so creative toys still are making the list. Yes! Another Beiber free year! Thank goodness. 

Now, to have a cup of coffee and begin my bread orders…Fridays just fly by.  Can’t wait till Mya gets home from school.  We have lots of fun projects planned for the weekend.

Quiche, it’s what for dinner!

I was stumped on what to make for dinner, so I went leafing through my cookbooks, and I was inspired by a quiche recipe I saw.  I have not made a vegan quiche in quite sometime.  It was a real treat.  I am so glad I took the less than 30 minutes to put it all together and pop it in the oven.

The ingredients are pretty simple (this is my adaptation of the recipe that I used as a guide):

• 1 whole wheat pie shell
• 1 block tofu
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1 bunch asparagus, sliced in 1/2” angled pieces
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1/2 an onion, small dice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. Thyme
• 1 tsp. Sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. white pepper
• 1 tsp. Turmeric
• 1/4 cup Dayia cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375.   Poke fork holes in crust before placing in oven to prevent rising. Pre bake crust 10 minutes.

Heat a pan with 1 tbsp. olive oil.  Soften 1/2 diced onions and minced garlic for 3 minutes.  Then add broccoli and asparagus.  Cook about 10 minutes.  Then add thyme, sea salt, turmeric and pepper.

In a food processor place 1/2 cup cashew nuts.  Pulse until powdery crumbles.  Add tofu in pieces.  Add 1 tsp. Dijon.  Blend until smooth.  Add 1/2 of vegetable mixture.  Blend again.  Transfer mixture to bowl.  Add rest of vegetable mixture, 1/4 cup Dayia cheese and mix together.  Add additional salt and pepper if desired. Spoon into crust.  Smooth out top.  Garnish with asparagus pieces. I drizzled a tiny bit of olive oil on top.  Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and let rest for 25 minutes.  Slice and enjoy. We just had a simple salad on the side.

Oatmeal, all dressed up!

Most people think oatmeal is boring.  They want something “bright” for breakfast.  While I mostly enjoy oatmeal as a snack, this morning I felt I needed something warm and cozy.  Great oatmeal is all about the toppings.  It’s the difference between plain vanilla ice cream and vanilla ice cream at a toppings bar. 

This oatmeal was whole rolled oats, no instant.  Yes, you do have time.  It only takes 3-5 minutes and tastes so much better, and it is so much healthier too.  I cooked the oats in water and in the last few seconds of cook time I stirred in a scoop of vanilla protein powder.  Stir really well until totally blended.  This adds protein, vitamins, minerals and sweetness. Then stir in some cinnamon. 

Now for the toppings.  A drizzle of agave nectar, 1 teaspoon chia seeds, 1 tablespoon almond butter, a generous helping of unsweetened shredded coconut, and for great crunch, a few tablespoons of multigrain granola. Delish.  More like dessert than breakfast.  Now, does that sound boring? This should keep anyone full a long time.