The V word.

Vegan cooking:

It hasn't been on the forefront of my mind, but just being totally honest - vegan cooking sometimes scares the bejesus out of me. I love love love vegan baking, most of the substitutes are "normal" (for what I like to bake anyway, there are more exotics) but when it comes to cooking, to attain proper consistencies, texture etc. has been a little frightening, the extent of my vegan cooking has been steaming veggies and eating it sans sauce over pasta.

But, fears aside i'm taking on the monster that is vegan cooking this week. I found a really good, as in TONS of recipes, cook book that is based off the documentary Forks Over Knives and i'm going to give it a try. I have a fancy printer now so I went a little recipe crazy this week trying out their sample recipes before I actually commit and buy the book.

Gary goes back to work this week so I start my new position as housewife where my three main priorities are: go to the gym, clean the house, cook healthy food. It's a hard life, let me tell you. I am actually trying my best to pack nutritious lunches and plan healthy dinners as well as establish a cleaning routine with my time. I think Gary thinks cleaning elves show up at night while he's sleeping and all I do is lay around and surf the web all day ;) I wish I had cleaning elves, our new house is huge.

It was my birthday Friday so i've been a little lax about food lately, everyone is entitled to a birthday...week right? Anyway, the last of the birthday apple pie is going out the door today and the rest of the ice cream in the freezer....well that can stay but it will demand some pretty tough self control on my part. I love ice cream :( Of course our new neighborhood is frequented by an ice cream truck every afternoon. Who thinks of these torture devices?!

I haven't really been around much since we moved, we haven't set up my computer yet for a multitude of reasons. One, I don't have a desk anymore (I had a built in at the old place) and two, my computer isn't wireless capable and the thought of running a cable across the entire length of my house is a bit annoying. Gary seems to think I should hold out and get a new computer later in the year since mine was rather outdated anyway. Oh well, I haven't updated my iPod in quite some time either which is turning out to be a little annoying. Speaking of iPod...mine is on the road to death. Just last week I was commenting that I was happy it has endured such a rough life with no major incident but now it's been fighting me, turns off at random, slow moving, LONG pauses between songs when streaming Pandora, sometimes it refuses to turn off? Anyway let's just hope it holds out a while longer.

So to close up I suppose i'll leave you with one of the recipes i'm trying this week, i'm pretty excited about it. This is the picture from their website, Forksoverknives.com

Pasta Primavera 
12 ounces quinoa penne
3 cups broccoli, chopped
2 cups carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1½ tablespoon garlic granules
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
½ cup raw cashews
1 cup almond milk
½ cup oat flour
1 cup green peas
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons dried basil or 2 tablespoons fresh
2 teaspoons dried oregano or 2 tablespoons fresh
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Instructions:

In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Then add the pasta and cook according to the direc-
tions on the box. When the pasta is slightly al dente, remove from heat, drain, and set aside.
While pasta cooks, in a large sauté pan, sweat (see chef’s note below) the broccoli, carrots,
onion, red pepper, and garlic on medium heat for 10 minutes. Keep them covered and stir occasionally. Then stir in the vegetable broth and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Grind the cashews in a spice grinder to form a cashew powder. A coffee grinder or blender
would also work. Either way, make sure the appliance is completely dry.
Stir in the soy milk, oat flour and cashew powder. Make sure to stir occasionally to prevent
the oats from clumping together. Add the peas, black pepper, and dried herbs. Simmer for 10
minutes, continuing to stir occasionally, until the oats and cashews create a creamy sauce.
Mix in the pasta and tomatoes. Best served right away. Also delicious chilled as a pasta salad.

Wow!

Okay, i'll admit this has absolutely nothing to with vegetables but I was so thrilled that I wanted to share.
I'm getting things ready for the move, and didn't really want to fork over the $6 for the "dishwasher cleaner" at Kroger so I looked to other avenues. That's $6 saved on a dishwasher I don't ever have to see again, it adds up!
After googling a little bit I concocted a recipe that utilized a few different methods and it worked great!

1 large lemon
1-2 cups white vinegar (buy offbrand, it's the exact same thing and usually close to $1.00 a gallon)
1/2 capful of Downey fabric softener (takes off residual dish detergent!).

Total cost: Lemon $0.33, Vinegar $0.13, Downey $0.20: $0.66!

I took everything out of the dish washer, racks silverware holder etc and just gave it a quick wipe down to make sure nothing yucky was stuck to it.
Then I turned on the dishwasher (nothing in it at this point) and let it run a few minutes so it could drain.
Put all the parts back inside, chopped up my lemon into 4 equal sized parts put one part in the silverware holder, 2 slices on the top rack and the other slice on the bottom rack.
Pour the liquids into the dishwasher and let it resume running.
About halfway through the wash cycle unlock the door (so it stops running) set a timer and let the liquid sit in the bottom for 10 minutes to let the vinegar do it's stuff, then lock it back to resume wash.

Ta-da! My dishwasher looks brand new and it smells awesome. No elbow grease required :)

Shut the front door!

Okay, sorry - I failed at keeping you updated on this transition, but anyone who knows me knows that the last two months have been completely psychotic.

As most of you know we're moving (Yay!) to Lake Jackson next month, which is about 2.5-3 hours away (ish) depending on how much Houston traffic you have to sit through. Finding a place to live has proved to be completely haywire. I got a subscription to their local classifieds, I scoured every online resource I could find and I started calling every realtor agency I could find in the phone book (this is a old-fashioned euphemism for I googled phone numbers, lol)

Anyway, (I have to share how this actually happened because it's pretty ironic, and lucky for us) - I called on a house in Angleton (sight-unseen) that I found in the classifieds, roughly 15 minutes from Lake Jackson, and scheduled with a lady to see it the following Saturday. I asked the lady multiple times for the address which she gave me, she probably thought I was nuts by this time, but I could not find this address on GoogleEarth to save my life. Anyway, I get to Angleton and go to the street, the number she gave me does not exist so I call her - Oooops, she thought I was calling about another property in Lake Jackson (also with a street called Holly) so she rushes to Angleton, tells the tenants of the house that they were getting a surprise visitor (this family was more than accomidating, poor dears were trying to bathe their children and get packed to move with us barging in to get a tour). The house wasn't anything special, it was down the street from a pawn shop, off a busy road, and next to what appeared to be a 3 story crack house. I went in optimistic but by this time I was feeling a bit defeated, I had just made a 2.5hr drive for nothing.
We decided to make the best of the wasted trip and go to Lake Jackson and check on some luxury apartments, so we thanked the woman and left. About 15 minutes after we left the woman texted me with an address and told me it was a home her friend owned and that the last renters abandoned it, the landlord was out of state but the neighbors would let us in. We went over immediately and took a look, and as you probably guessed we got it :) It was trashed inside, the tenants definitely left in a hurry but nothing a little TLC and elbow grease couldn't fix.

Such a relief, it's been crazy finding a house getting hung up on, told "no pets!" already rented etc. I was ready to commit to another year of apartment living.

Lake Jackson is going to be really great for us I think, the community really promotes reduce, reuse, recycle and I love that, free weekly curbside-pickup of recyclables. The community seems to be very friendly, the neighborhood is already welcoming. We went there this weekend and the neighbor was mowing OUR lawn. Not just mowing, but edging, trimming, and blowing the leaves because he didn't think we would be coming in. The local gym also offers yoga, pilates, and zumba EVERY morning. It's a hard life for a housewife ;)

Okay, so now that you've endured that here are our meals for the week:

California-Style Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches: Tangy lemon garlic mayo on crusty ciabatta, with grilled red onion, bell pepper, yellow squash, and zucchini with feta crumbles. I've been making this meal weekly at Gary's request, he informs me it is his favorite vegetarian meal.  

Farmers Garden Salad: Self explained, a bed of hearty greens with any vegetable I could find. With croutons and cheese crumbles i'm sure ;)

Broccoli Pasta Bake: Another recipe that is a staple. It's a little on the heavy side as far as meals go, but it makes a TON of leftovers that are just as tasty and cut cost on lunches. 

Zucchini-Potato Hash: This is sort of a breakfast food I guess, but who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? Caramelized onions, roasted potato and zucchini all cooked together hash style in a skillet and topped with an over-easy egg. Yum!

Veggie Soft Tacos: A huge hit here. Black beans, corn, red onion, bell pepper, and lime seasoned and roasted paired with a cabbage, radish, cilantro slaw eaten on soft taco shells with a dollop of sour cream and cheese sprinkling. 

This week is a week of favorites. Sorry to cut this so abruptly but i'm about to scarf tacos and watch Game of Thrones!

Sorry again for leaving you all hanging, I promise i'll be a better blogger after the move until then you're kind of stuck with me and all my flaws ;)

(Please excuse the bag, our neighbor INSISTED he mulch our tree before I took a picture)

I love life.

Sorry I wasn't able to do anything productive last week, I was under the weather and couldn't bring myself to do anything.

First, I have discovered smoothie making, taking advantage of the wonderful bounty (on sale!) at the grocery store this week I whipped up a mango, orange, carrot, blueberry, and spinach concoction this morning that is delightful. The best part: It's just fruits and veggies, nothing additional added. It's not the prettiest thing i've ever seen but I imagine the only difference between mine and one that costs $7 at smoothie king (or Jamba Juice for you lucky readers back home) is the addition of yogurt which I could do, but at the cost of extra calories.

Yep I see many smoothies in my future, Gary is even on board.

Speaking of, can I just say how much we love this lifestyle. Gary is very enthusiastic about it which keeps me motivated to try new recipes and experiment with different grains, vegetables etc.

This is my last week of work i'm afraid, so i'll hopefully be able to start taking pictures of things as I make them to at least provide you with some idea of what we're doing here.

Another side note, Gary is down 25 pounds! These positive changes are adding up! I on the other hand chose to scarf ice cream and not work out while I was under the weather and as a result the scale reads +2lbs for me. Making some adjustments this week for sure.

This week we're making:

Spinach Quiche (a repeat from last week, this is so delicious. It's an egg base with spinach, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes - think the tastiest omelette you've ever had in pie form)

Veggie Fried Rice - Veggies and eggs with a light sodium sauce over brown rice.

Cheese Enchilada Casserole - We'll see about this one, i'm not so sure about it. It sounds more like a wet burrito to me, but anything is worth trying once.

Broccoli Pesto with Rice Noodle - Expecting great things from this, cheese-less pesto with a broccoli base with almonds, lemon, and yummy rice noodles.

We're undecided one day this week and we're going to wing it, Gary has a big test this week and I work every night so we shall see.

I'm also on the lookout for a yoga class, perhaps even Pilates. I'm treating the gym like it's my job, but I want an outlet for stress and they took out all the yoga classes at World Gym :( With my new-found-free-time as a professional student I will likely need a hobby outside of cleaning my house and annoying my husband.

In the meantime i'll channel my stress the same way I always have :) Have a wonderful weekend!

Taking a break

As the title would indicate, i'm taking a break from studying in attempt to get my weeks' meals planned.

First I would like I put up a recipe I like to use to make pasta sauce; No, I don't use this every time - i'm not betty crocker, but it's simple enough that you really could! Not to mention it is versatile and has multiple applications so it doesn't have to be a "sunday afternoon" type recipe. A friend came to the realization she was eating an atrocious amount of sugar, let alone everything else we don't want to think about, just from her store bought spaghetti sauce. I wont bore you with the details of why, but essentially these things are so bogus because they're meant to sit on a shelf for 6+ months before they are even consumed.

Ingredients:
10 tomatoes,
1/4 c fresh basil,
2 T olive oil,
1/2 t Italian seasoning (add more, less, or forgo and use your own mix based on taste, sweet basil oregano - fresh or dried, marjoram, red pepper flake etc. Get creative!)
2 T butter, room temp.
1 medium onion (more if you like chunky like I do)
1/4 c dark wine,
1 green bell pepper,
1 carrot, 1 bay leaf (dried),
2 celery stalk,
4 cloves of garlic (or mooooore if you love it like me),
And for the only canned item - 2 T tomato paste for a more intense flavor. 

There are two ways to prepare the tomatoes, but the easiest is probably blanching them. Plunge them into boiling water for about 1 minute until their skin peels. Remove from water and stick in an ice bath until cool enough to handle. Remove skin and squeeze out the seeds. Puree 8 of them, and rough chop 2.

In a stock pot, cook your chopped onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in butter (all chopped to your taste, fine if you like smooth sauce, chunky if you prefer. Once fragrant, about 5-6 min, add tomato puree and chopped tomatoes. Add basil, seasonings, bay leaf, whole celery stalks and wine. 

Bring to a boil, reduce to low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours stir in paste, and more seasonings if you see fit. Simmer 1.5-2 more hours. When ready to serve remove bay leaf and celery. 

This is not only delish for pasta but I love dipping dry baguette bread in it, or making bruscetta style appetizers :)

This turned out to be longer than I anticipated and I'm afraid I still haven't decided what i'll be making this week, I do however LOOOOOVE the meal we made tonight: A salad of baby arugula, fingerling potatoes and fresh green beans with a homemade walnut/mustard/yogurt dressing. It was absolutely delightful, light and tangy with a roasted nutty flavor. Seriously I would eat it again tomorrow given the opportunity.

Have a wonderful week friends.

A blurb.

This week was rather hectic in our house. A lot of running in circles between work, school and errands, so i'll do a quick catch up.

Gary and I have decided we have opposite-wired tastebuds, which I attribute to the fact we grew up eating completely different foods. Upon moving to the south I was accosted with what one would call "excessive flavor" and seasonings (lol), having grown up in the north with a Gran who was partial to plain old S&P as sufficient seasoning - I am accustomed still to more bland food while Gary longs for the strong flavor (*see goat cheese?!)

On the bright side, Gary and I are accommodating to one another and are not opposed to compromising and rotating between meals we each prefer. This week Gary had a favorite (portabellos and goat cheese rotini) which I would not say I jumped with joy for, my favorite from the week was probably a warm (and spicy!) edamame salad.

We're going to start incorporating more stir fry style meals into the routine this week as they are incredibly simple, fast, and versatile.

Some more good news, I'm down 6 pounds and Gary 3 since we've started. Given it could be much better, we've both had weak spots (*see papa johns veggie pizza, and subway FebruANY is a convenient calorie deathtrap), I haven't seen the inside of the gym since school started but Gary is really rockin' it. He's been getting in the gym everyday and is really feeling good. He hasn't mentioned feeling sub par in quite a while. He was getting frequent headaches but since we've started cleaning up our act I have heard complaints few and far between from my hypochondriac-husband.

A little bit more sunshine, with a side of clouds: I decided this week that i'm unable as a person to cope with working and going to school while being a successful human so after much deliberation i've decided that it's time to end my service with Walgreens, at least for now - we can't be sure of what the future holds. It was a really difficult decision, I feel like I held myself to an unrealistic standard that just wasn't working out so despite the guilt I initially felt i'm starting to feel happy day-by-day that i'm finally going to be able to focus on school while bettering my health [can you say gym every day of the week?]

Sorry I went on a bit of a tangent to my original intention, tomorrow i'll work at getting the weeks meals up. I actually meant for this to be a short post but as i've had a bit o' wine this eve...well you get it.

Week 2 and a wrap-up of week 1.

So Gary and I consider week 1 to be a success. 

Recap: of the 5 recipes we tried, 3 will be repeats in our recipe-repertoire. The caprese salad, and the polenta artichoke dish will not be making a return to our kitchen, for the time being.

The salad was too wet, vinegar-y, and fresh basil has a wildly potent flavor. It's also more of a light lunch than a weeknight meal. The artichokes had a very bad taste and texture, they were canned per the recipe, so perhaps if we try that one again it'll be with fresh.

The good part of the these two failures? We learned that Gary loves eggplant! Also, that canned artichoke hearts are to be fresh only - which is kind of the point of this whole lifestyle change...to be ingesting fresh foods.

I would love to take pictures of all these dishes for you, but as i'm currently working exclusively nights, my wonderful husband has been preparing most of the meals and I'd hate to burden him with the trouble of photographing all the steps in the meal every night. I'm just happy he's cooking :)

Be patient and bear with me until May, i've been promoted to start my life as a housewife/student, and i'll have the time to be much more active in my vegetable blogging. I might even start vegan baking again.

So this weeks meals are as follows: 

Warm edamame salad, over Basmati rice.

Eggplant salad with Israeli couscous.

Broccoli pasta (repeat from last week!) *This makes awesome leftovers*

Thirty-clove garlic soup.

Golden tomato and kale pasta.

OH! I also have intention to start a vegetable garden, as soon as we move of course. I want to start an herb garden in the house, but as I tend to kill everything I touch i've postponed this temporarily. I've also been turned on to the idea of raising a couple hens for eggs (cage free of course), but Gary says it's a big N-O so we shall see, assuming we end up moving toward Houston it may not be feasible anyway.


One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. - Virginia Woolf