Loaded Tofurky BLT on Rye

A healthier take on a classic sandwich.  I love BLT’s, but not all the bad stuff like cholesterol and fat that can accompany them.  Believe me, if you try this re-vamp, you will be happy you did. 
This super sandwich started with lightly toasted Rye bread, a little vegan mayo, thick slices of tomato, thin slices of sweet onions, romaine lettuce, baby spinach, sprouts, 3 slices of high protein Tofurky in roasted turkey flavor, 2 slices of vegan bacon, 1 slice veggie Swiss, and another rye slice.  It is bursting with flavor.  I choose to use rye bread more often because it has many benefits over the much revered wheat bread.  Just make sure it is real rye, not caramel color and enriched flour.  You want it to say RYE FLOUR, here’s why…
Some key benefits of Rye:

• Rye flour is high in fiber both soluble and insoluble which promotes weight loss
• Lowers the risk of gallstones.
• Lowers the risk of type 2 Diabetes.
• Rye has a slower rate of starch being digested into sugar
• Helps lower cholesterol due to it’s high fiber content
• High in phytonutrients: Plant Lignans which help prevent heart disease.
• Rye is also high in selenium, phosphorus, magnesium, and protein.

I also served a cup of low sodium tomato soup on the side.  Perfect cool weather lunch.  Hearty and satisfying.

Orange Chick’n Dinner

This was a simple 10 minute dinner that tasted like Chinese takeout.

In one pan I made the Gardein Mandarin Orange Chick’n.  Which takes less than 10 minutes, and it comes with sauce!  In a pot, I steamed broccoli, and I cooked a bag of Trader Joe’s multi-grain rice in 3 minutes in the microwave! Voila… dinner in 10 flat. 

Mya’s Sinful and Nutritious Waffles

Kashi 7 grain waffles topped with PEANUT BUTTER SYRUP with a few chocolate chips.

To make the syrup:

• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 3 tbsp. agave nectar
• 2 tbsp. peanut butter

Place all ingredients in a mug or bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds. Whisk in bowl to blend completely.

Let cool and thicken 2 minutes.  Add 1 tbsp. mini dark chocolate chips.  Pour on waffles.  I love sliced bananas on these waffles.  I also top mine with a tbsp. of ground flaxseed.

If you or your child has nut allergies, you can use soy milk and soy butter, or sunflower butter.

Serve with a nice cold chocolate or vanilla peanut butter banana protein shake.

Success… My first cooking class!

I did not get to post this weekend because I was busy preparing for my first cooking class.  It was  a success.  I really think everyone enjoyed it.  I know I did.  I love being in the kitchen and cooking for everyone.  It was also an early b-day celebration.  Thank you for all the great goodies!!!!!!
I’d like to thank a few people…
Thanks mom for all the great gifts and the support.
Lisa was an enormous help.  I could not have pulled it off without her being my assistant.  She was awesome.  Thank you Lisa, for all your décor, being my second set of hands, and for all the clean up help.  You are a saint.
Rachel, thanks for your help with Mya.
Andy, thanks for the support, your help all week, and taste testing of course.
Thanks to  my guests for sharing your Sunday afternoon and helping me host my first class.   You were all the best audience I could have asked for.  I can’t wait to do it again.
Our Menu:

• Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque
• Autumn Harvest Chicken Salad
• Bread and Fig Butter
• Autumn Couscous Stuffed Winter Squash
• Healthy Pumpkin Pie

Here are some pictures from the class:

It all started with a ball of dough…

While out visiting a few of my bread delivery customers yesterday, I picked up a ball of dough (thank you Anthony at Tosco’s).  You cannot go in and out of pizza shops for hours and not come home wanting a pizza.  So this is how I transformed that ball of dough into a slice of heaven.
  Since I drove with the dough for over an hour, which is plenty long enough to have it brought down to room temperature.  Next, I preheated my oven to 450. I prepared my “holey” pizza pan with a quick mist of olive oil cooking spray. Set that aside.  On a clean counter I rolled out my dough with a rolling pin until it was the perfect size for my pan.  I then laid the dough circle onto my pan, massaged a teaspoon of olive oil on top,  and set aside again.  I like to let it rise a few minutes for a thicker crust.  While it was rising I prepared my toppings.  They were leftover Trade Joe pizza sauce from the other day, baby spinach leaves, paper thin sliced onions, mushrooms, and my last link of Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausage.  I spread the sauce on the dough, then I layered the toppings, onions, spinach, sausage, then I shredded Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella directly onto the pie.  Season with pizza seasoning and hot pepper flakes.  Then I popped it into the oven for about 10 minutes, then lowered the temp to 350 until the cheese was melted.
This pizza was not less than awesome.  It was crispy on the bottom and fluffy on top.  It was so good I burned off the roof of my mouth because I didn’t let it cool long enough before I devoured my 2 slices.  Shamefully, Andy, Mya and me ate the WHOLE PIE for dinner.  I usually make a large salad on the side so that does not happen, we just wanted pizza.  Here’s how it went:
Before cheese..
  

After cheese…


Out of the oven…

Busy Day

From 6:00am the race was on, for me anyway, Andy started at 4:00am with the bread deliveries.  Mya had her big diorama project due today.  She was so proud of it, she worked so hard.  She presented the habitat of the Eastern Cottontail Rabbit.
Everything had to be hand made, nothing store bought.  She did so well.  She made this habitat by going out and foraging for all the materials.  She clipped branches, dug up grass and dug out a ton of moss.  Together we made salt dough to create her bunny and baby bunnies.  I helped her shape the big bunny, then she made all the babies.  She even painted them herself.  I hope she gets a good grade, she deserves it. 


After her breakfast was served, lunch was packed, project was secured, it was off to school.
By 8:30am I was home, blogged breakfast, then off to get my grueling workout in.  After a quick shower, I got lunch prepared before having to go visit some bread customers.
I made us chick’n salad in lettuce wraps.  It was my favorite Autumn Harvest salad, which I cannot get enough of.
 
 

This beautiful Blue Jay was hanging out by my compost watching me take pictures.





And, this bunny was in my office watching me create the blog post.  Doesn’t everyone have a bunny in their office????

Breakfast Scramble

Now this was a satisfying breakfast.  I felt like it must be a holiday to have a gourmet scramble like this.  The Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Veggie Sausage is incredible.   It is a great staple to keep in your kitchen even for non vegans.  It is so versatile and last forever because it is not meat.  The flavor and texture is so remarkable you would never guess is not meat.  Anyway, back to the scramble.

The ingredients in this scramble were:

• 2 teaspoons Coconut Oil
• 1 package Tofu, broken in pieces
• 1 link Smoked Apple Sage Field Roast Sausage, sliced thin.
• 2 Small Potatoes
• 1 Sweet Onion
• 2 cups Baby Spinach
• Sea Salt
• Pepper
• 2 tbsp. Nutritional Yeast
• 1/4  teaspoon Turmeric
• 1/4 Cup Daiya Cheese

I love to poach my broken up tofu in sea salted water to give it the egg texture.  While I am doing that, I prepare my veggies.  This time I cooked them slightly different.  I used my mandolin slicer and cut the potatoes in super thin slices.  Then I put them in a preheated cast iron pan with 1 teaspoon coconut oil.


Once the potatoes were partly cooked, I added the onion, and a crank or two of sea salt.
I let my tofu poach in the salted water about 10 minutes.  Then I drain it, put it in a bowl, season with sea salt, nutritional yeast, turmeric, and pepper.  Set aside.
When the onions and potatoes were cooked, I moved them to the side and added 1 teaspoon of coconut oil and then put in my thin sliced of sausage.  I cooked them 2 minutes on one side, then flipped and two minutes on the other side.  Then mix it all together.  Next, I poured my tofu egg on top and mixed in .  Two cups of baby spinach followed that.  Put a lid on 2 minutes, turn heat to low.  Once spinach is wilted, mix again and sprinkle the Diaya cheese on top.  Cook until melted and serve!  This served 3 of us.