Frozen FOOD?!?!? Good Solution?

I came home tonight and Donna had made me dinner, what wonderful surprise!

She had visited out local grocery and found some chicken tenders by Morning Star that makes vegetarian "meat" product that is 100% meat free. She pre-heated the oven and followed the directions on the package. These were very tasty.

For the mixed vegetables she found a company called Alexia that makes Chipotle Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Vegetable she followed the directions put them in a pan and sauteed them with the seasoned oil that came in the package for 8-10 min. These were wonderful and a great healthy way to add vegetables fast and easy!

For the noodles she found adding Ramon Noodles was a fast way to as she puts it "jazz up any meal quick". This was nice but not something I could recommend very often as they are very high in sodium so not the healthiest solution.

All in all this was a good solution for a night you don't want to cook. Donna gives this an 8 on a scale of 10; compared to fresh cooking I would give this a 6 or 7. Compared to fast food or frozen TV dinners I would give this meal a 7 or an 8.

Nicely done Donna! Love you!

Roasted Eggplant with Roasted Broccoli, Yellow Gold Potatoes Garlic and Onions

Dinner tonight was, how can I describe it... AMAZING! Eggplant, broccoli with yellow gold potatoes and onions! I was talking with a frienda few days ago, thank you Jennifer, about broccoli and how best to cook it. Jennifer advised me that she had broiled some broccoli in the oven using some EVOO and encouraged me to try it.  So tonight I was trying to figure out what to feed the family for dinner. I found some eggplant, broccoli, yellow gold potatoes, onions and garlic what a combination I thought but recalling my conversation with Jennifer I wanted to try it. I had no idea if this combination would be good or bad. I can only say that it worked and worked well.  

So here is the list of ingredients:

1 regular sized eggplant

3 small yellow gold potatos

2 heads of broccoli

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash

Black Pepper

Garlic Salt

Extra Vergian Olive Oil aka EVOO

Balsamic Venagar

Vegtable Cheese Pepper Jack Cheese

Pamasian Cheese

Rotel Tomatos

Red Pepper Flakes to taste

Take the eggplant and cut the top and bottom off, then slice it into just under 1/2 inch steaks, you may get 4-6 slices each eggplant. Pre-heat the oven to broil the eggplant. Place on a broiling pan, drizzle the EVOO over each slice, season with black pepper and garlic salt flip and repeat the process. Place the eggplant in the oven and broil for about 7min then flip and broil another 7 min. Remove the eggplant from the oven place 1/2 a slice of cheese on each eggplant and 1 tablespoon of Rotel tomatoes on each eggplant. Return to the oven and broil for another 2 min.

Roasted Broccoli

Cut the pieces off the head into manageable bite sizes and place in a 2 inch roasting pan. Drizzle EVOO over the broccoli along with balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle the red pepper flakes over the broccoli as much as you like, I added 1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt to this for an extra kick. Place in a pre-heated 400 degree oven and cook for 12 min pull out stir and return to the oven for an additional 8 min. When you take it out for the final time if you want to add Parmesan cheese, this of course will make this dish vegetarian not vegan.

Yellow Gold Potatoes with Onions and Garlic

Wash your potatoes this seems to go without saying but one never knows. Cut the potatoes into small to medium bite sized cubes. Slice up 1 small onion and mince 2 cloves garlic. Pre heat a pan to medium high heat and drizzle EVOO into the pan. When the oil is hot add potatoes, onions, garlic stir the ingredients together to coat in the EVOO. Cook on medium high heat for about 15 min or until golden brown and done.

BON APPETIT!!!

Smoothie

I found this recipe on another website but the extra calories that came from the white sugar and heavy cream seemed unnecessary. I wanted a way to lessen the calaries and a natural way to sweeten this smoothie without using white sugar. Using the honey is a great way of making this treat a little sweeter and the silk milk lessens the calaries from the cream. I also used silken tofu in the mixture I think this will allow freezing of this mixture so you can have it as a frozen treet later. I'll get back to you later on that one or maybe you'll be up for the task and let me know.

This cool and refreshing smoothie is as healthy as it is easy to make and take with you while on the go. I used fresh berries cut them up and then froze them an extra step that may prove unnecessary. I freeze them so that they add a thick texture to the smoothie. You could very well choose a good frozen berry, I may in the future as they keep longer than fresh and the frozen berries are less expensive than fresh.

The following list is per smoothie:

Start with some silken tofu about 2 oz, 

1 tea spoons of vanilla

2 table spoons of honey

1/2 cup of silk milk or almond milk (lite)

1 cup of frozen cut up strawberries

1/4 cup of frozen blueberries
5 cubs of ice

Place all ingredients in a GOOD blender and blend till smooth, place in a glass garnish with a fresh strawberry and some fresh blueberries.

A good blender is necessary so that you get the mixture very smooth quickly, skimp on this piece of equipment and you can get lumpy not so smooth smoothies and runny if it takes too long.

Cheers!

January 10, 2011 Breakfest of Champions

Today's breakfast is a simple breakfast burrito, find a wrap that you like mine is a multi grain wrap with only 120 cals. I was in a hurry this morning and out of fresh onions and garlic so I substituted garlic salt and onion powder where I would normally include fresh.

How I started, I had some extra firm tofu and used about 2-3 ounces sliced into strips, I heated a saute pan and when temps came to a high heat I sprayed it with a zero cal Pam spray add tofu and brown on all sides. About half way through the browning I added bell peppers, garlic salt, onion powder then added some pre cooked jasmine rice and black eyed peas along with some fresh mushrooms. Once heated through I placed the wrap over the food in the pan to steam heat the wrap, once done add filling. After assembled I added the final touch of salsa and veggie vegan cheese, YUM!!! Total cal content about 275.

 

 

This was a fast, easy and very tasty way to enjoy a vegan breakfast, your taste buds will be delighted

Vegan Style Cooking First Up BURGERS!

I decided to start a food blog after my students suggested that I keep track of the meals I create. Recently I started experimenting with vegetarianism and even a total vegan diet. At first I thought "wow this is going to be gross". In fact just the opposite, this new endeavor has been quite tasty so much so I am going vegan. This blog will be a testament to my trials in cooking VEGAN style.

I started out at a restaurant that I called hippies and moon beams as I could never remember the name only what it made me thing of, I have since been advised it is called Dream Cafe. Now please understand hippies and moon beams is something that makes me smile so not a slam at all. One of the dishes they have on the menu is called "Your so VEGAN" and I decided to try it. I LOVED IT!

This dish started me out on my journey, only to be fueled by my company that started a vegan study to see the health benefits of a vegan diet. Since my visit to Dream Cafe I have visited local grocery stores as well as speciality stores and found tremendous support for my vegan ways. This blog is intended to document my endeavors I hope you enjoy it as much as I hope to enjoy the journey.

Today I made a Porta Bella Mushroom burger.

I went to Kroger and bought a package of Porta Bella Mushrooms, when I came home I put together a marinade and basting liquid comprised of Balsamic vinegar, EVOO, and Italian herbs. Then I brushed the inside of the mushrooms and let them sit for about 15 min. While they sat I fired up the grill once ready I placed the shroons on the grill smooth side UP. I grilled these for about 10 min on this side basting with the marinade. When i flipped them I allowed another 10 min of grilling smooth side down.

Once done I placed some VEGAN cheese I bought from Kroger pepper jack flavored on the inside of the shroon and allowed to melt. Meanwhile I had some bread that I also got at Kroger that is 35 cal per slice and placed some VEGAN butter on it with some fresh chopped garlic and let this toast on the grill along with some onions. Once done I simply started building the burger. Lettuce, onions, I do not care for tomatoes so I skipped these, I did add bell pepper and mustard and Viola! Bella Burger and the best burger I have ever had! I am hooked!