Quick Sqasush and Spinach Side Dish

Since I am sure everyone is trying to abide by the "My Plate" guidlines, putting together a vegetable dish sometimes can be tough. Eating the same old veggies everyday is usually pretty boring so I thought I'd put up a simple post of a very tasty vegetable combo that I made earlier today that I absolutely loved. I didnt measure out the ingrdients since I was just cooking for one but I'll let you know what used and how I used them!

Ingredients

Oil

1 small squash sliced

2 hand full raw spinach

2 cloves garlic (minced)

dried rosemary

dried thyme

lemon juice

salt

Directions

Start by heating your skillet. Let it warm up as you cut up your squash. Add the squash to the skillet and just a splash of oil. Saute the squash until pieces are starting to turn tranlucent. Add minced garlic. Continute saute on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the raw spinach on top. Sprinkle salt over vegetables. Cook until spinach is welting. Add a few pinches of rosemary and a pinch of thyme. Sprinkle some lemon juice on top. Mix all the ingredients under low heat for another minute. Serve and eat!

Green Soup with Ginger

Lately I've been a tad obsessed with finding new blogs to follow. Whether they be about food, day-to-day life, weddings and events, or crafts, I really have been eager to see what's out there in this little blogosphere. My friend Aimee, who blogs about her life in San Francisco, fashion and all things fabulous here, suggested I check out the blog 101 Cookbooks. All of the recipes are made with natural foods, most are vegetarian and many are vegan so naturally I fell in love. Many of the foods are quite foreign to me, which is really fun because with alot of things I tend to fall into pattern then into a rut. This is helping me expand my vegan food dishes and even my palate! I started with a recipe that had a lot of unfamiliar ingredients, well at least to my taste buds, with leeks and green chard! Whats even better is that this recipe is one she adapted from an other, so now through that I've found even more sites and books of more recipes! I was delighted with this recipe, it tasted amazing. I ended up not using any vegetable broth and only the water, for a very hearty soup. And be sure to add the freshly ground black pepper and fresh squeezed of lemon juice at the end, oh man does that just multiply the exuberance of the flavors!! Because I like a little crunch I went ahead and quickly made fresh croutons (so fast and easy, who knew!) to put right on top for the perfect texture balance. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Click here for the link to 101 Cookbooks and the full Green Soup with Ginger Recipe 

"1 large yellow onion 
2 tablespoons  olive oil 
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste
1 large sweet potato 
1 large leek, white and light green parts
1 bunch spinach (8 ounces)
1 large bunch green chard (12 ounces)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger, plus more to taste
2-4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper

Chop the onion and cook it slowly in the olive oil with a sprinkle of salt, stirring now and then, over low heat until it is soft and golden, about half an hour.

Meanwhile, peel and dice the sweet potato and put it in a large soup pot with 4 cups (1 liter) water and a teaspoon of sea salt. Thoroughly wash the leek, spinach, and chard, chop them coarsely, and add them to the pot, along with the chopped ginger.

Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the soup, covered, for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are completely tender. Add the caramelized onions when they are ready. When the vegetables are soft, add the vegetable broth (you can add less if you like a thicker soup) and decide whether you want your soup chunky, like this, or smooth. If the latter, puree the soup in a blender, in batches, or with an immersion blender until it is smooth.

Stir in 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice and a few grinds of black pepper. Taste, and correct the seasoning with additional salt or lemon juice.
Serves 5-6.

This recipe was adapted from Love Soup by Anna Thomas. Published by W. W. Norton & Company; September 2009. For those of you who want to get books signed, Anna is visiting quite a number of California book stores throughout October and November, more info here. 

Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 30 min "

Homemade Croutons
Dice two slices of bread of your choice, lately I've been using a sourdough, and place in oven safe dish. Drizzle extra light olive oil until well coated, crack a bit of pepper and salt on top and lightly toss together. Place under a high boil until golden brown. Be sure to toss a few times so to cook evenly. 

Banana-Pumkin muffins

I know Kristin recently posted a yummy pumkin spice muffin recipe, but you really can never have to many muffin recipes! This recipe was inspired by the ripe banana chilling in my freezer and the extra pumkin puree waiting to be used in my refridgerator. Once thanksgiving past, the craving to make a whole pumkin pie also past. The craving for muffins though, that will never past! So this recipe will make 8 cute little muffins that will warm up your breakfast or mid-day snack. Enjoy! This recipe is an altered version of the Banana pumkin bread recipe from allrecipes.com:)

Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 1 tbsp egg replacer mixed with 3 tbsp warm water
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup pumkin puree
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pumkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a small bowl, mix together the banana, egg replacer, vegetable oil, pumkin puree, agave, and sugar. 
3. In another larger bowl mix together the flour, bakinig powder, baking soday, salt, pumkin pie spice, and cinnamon.
4. Form a small well in the center of the flour mixture and add the banana-pumkin mixture.
5. Stir until just combined.
6. Line a muffin pan with 8 cupcake liners
7. Fill each liners about 3/4 full of the muffin batter
8. Pop in the oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick and be poked in center and come out clean
9. Remove from oven and let sit for at least 5 minutes
10. Remove from cupcake pan and let cool
11. Eat!

More than just a decoration

The center of this dish is the gourd. Most people know gourds as no more then a fall decoration, but this dish proves that gourds are not only edible, but tasty! I was at the Fall 2011 Sustanability Coalition in Chico this past weekend and as a goodbye gift, the Co-op let us take home some of the vegetables they grew, one of which was the gourd. I didn't really know what to do with it at first, but decided to treat it as if it were any other normal squash. So what I came up with was a mediteranean gourd dish with a side of rissotto. If you ever cross paths with a gourd, don't just run away in terror, come to this recipe and relish in the goodness of the gourd!


Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 red onion, cut to your preference
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 3/4 cup canned tomatoes (drained)
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp dill weed
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 gourds, peeled, seeded, and chopped (prepping the gourd is probably the hardest part of the recipe so do it before you start cooking)
• 2 cups water

Directions
1. After you have everything prepped, heat oil in a frying pan that has at least 4 inch raised sides.
2. Add oninions and garlic to warm pan and cook till tender
3. Stir in the canned tomatoes and add all the seasonings
4. Let ingredients warm for 5 minutes, stirring occasionaly
5. Add the chopped gourds and the water
6. Cover pan until water is boiling
7. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until water has evaporated



 Rissotto
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup medium grain white rice
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup vegetable stock
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• salt to taste
• extra water

Directions


1. Boil 1/2 cup of water and vegetable stock in a small saucepan
2. Add rice and stir continuously
3. When rice has absorbed majority of the liquid, add garlic and salt
4. When all the liquid is absorbed, taste check to see if the rice is firm but not hard
5. If the rice needs more cooking, add liquid and keep stirring till desired consistency is met
6. Spoon remaining gourd liquid over top

Vanilla Tapioca Pudding with Banana

I love pudding so when I found a way to make my favorite type of pudding dairy free I knew it would be blog worthy! The pudding alone is delicious but the addition of the bananas just puts the dessert over the top, so enjoy!



Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Tapioca pearls
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups vanilla soy milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp egg replacer (cornstarch can be used as an alternative)
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (add another tsp if you are not using vanilla soy milk)
• 2 bananas
• 1  tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Soak tapioca pearls in 3/4 cup water for 15 minutes
2. Add milk and salt to pearls and heat over medium heat until pot begins to boil. Stir continuously
3. Once boiling, lower heat to let it simmer uncovered for 15 minutes
4. Warm up the 3 tbsp of water in microwave then add egg replacer, stir till dissolved.
5. Add sugar and egg replacer to tapioca and keep over heat for another 3 minutes
6. Stir in vanilla extract
7. Transfer to a oven-friendly container and store in refridgerator for two hours.
8. Remove from refridgerator and turn on the broiler
9. Slice up the bananas add a single layer of bananas on top of the tapioca pudding
10. Mix cinnamon and sugar then sprinkle over banana
11. Place in preheated oven  3 inches below the broiler and let heat for 3 minutes.
12. Serve immediately!

Surprise! Okra is delicious

Every time I go to the farmer's market I like to grab an assortment of vegetables just to make it more intresting throughout the week. I picked up okra a few times and played around with it, but came across a recipe online and tweaked it to make this wonderful okra dish! It has so much flavor and okra is one of my favorite vegetables to cook because of all the slime! If you have never had okra before, this dish would be a great first experience with it.

Ingredients:
1 lb okra, both ends cut and body's cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small/medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 c. drained canned diced tomatoes
1/2 c. vegetable broth
3/4 tsp. cumin
1 can humany or 1 can of any other bean(15 oz.)
salt


Directions
Cook okra for 2 minutes in a large saucepan of boiling water.
Transfer okra with a slotted spoon to ice water, then drain.
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high. (Use a skillet that has a lid and raised sides)
Add bell pepper to skillet and cook until soft.
Transfer peppers to a bowl.
Add onion, garlic, ginger, and pepper to the skillet and cook until the onion is soft and slightly browned
Mix in the tomatoes, broth, cumin, okra, and bell pepper.
Reduce heat to medium and cover.
Stir occasionally and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Add either the beans or humany and salt.
Cook for another 4 minutes without lid.
It will be ready to serve when there is little to no liquid in the pan.




Note: This dish can be served alone, but I accompanied mine with whole wheat cous cous and tried it another time with brown rice and found it very tasty. Before all the liquid evaporated, I spooned some of it into my cous cous and found that it made it taste very good!

Mexican Vegetable Soup

We are entering the season of delicious soups! I've loved making soups lately simply because you can add so many different vegetables and flavors and it all comes together into one cohesive meal. I prepared this soup with some local farmers market veggies as well as some canned goods. This soup is definiely one of the top tasting soups I've ever tasted before. It has just the right amount of spice and a good balance between vegetables and protein. The recipe makes manyyy servings, but you wont regret having leftovers:)

Ingredients

1 small potato

1/2 large red bell pepper

1 small squash

1 small zuchinni

1/3 onion

2 cloves of garlic, miced

1 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

1/2 tsp papirika

1tbsp oil

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (if you can't find tomatoes that have green chile, chop some up yourself and add to your liking!)

1 can pinto beans

1/2 can black bean

1/2 cup quinoa

3 cans of water

1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1.Chop all the vegetables up and add to large saucepan.(this includes the cilantro and the garlic) I cut the veggies into pretty large chunks, so if you cut them down smaller just make sure you cut cooking time down a little so the potatoes dont dissolve

 2. Add olive oil and papirika to veggies and turn heat on medium high. When the vegetables start to sizzle lower heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes

3. Add tomatoes, quinoa and beans. With one of the cans you just emptied, refill it three times with water and add to sauce pan

4. Add salt, cover, and bring to a boil

5. When boiling point is reached, reduce heat to low-simmer and heat for 30 minutes

6. When time is reached, remove from hot surface and set aside to cool

7. Serve with crisp tortilla chips crumbled up inside



Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Happy first day of October!! Well as you may suspect I'm kind of obsessed with this season, I'm just too excited to start wearing sweaters and mittens, eating oatmeal and hot tea every morning and soup all the time! yee! Well in celebration of the first day of October here is a super simple vegan muffin recipe I found and tweaked a bit featuring thee fall ingredient - pumpkin! 

Serves Twelve

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cup All-purpose Flour

1 1/4 cup Evaporated Cane Sugar (Organic Sugar)*

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup Pumpkin Puree (be sure not to get pumpkin pie mix!)

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 Tablespoons molasses 
1/2 cup chopped walnuts - optional

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. In separate bowl combine pumpkin puree, almond milk, vegetable oil, and molasses. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix (add walnuts if desired).

Bake in muffin tin on 400˚ for 18-20 minutes, once toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

I enjoyed with a touch of Earth Balance soy free Butter and hot Pumpkin Spice tea!

*I got the Evaporated Cane Sugar (Organic Sugar) I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts!! yay! So excited to using this as a healthier, more natural alternative. An other great option would be to use Stevia! Enjoy! 

Quinoa Veggie-Bean Stew

First post as a college student! Very exciting. As you might expect, it's pretty hard going from unlimited food ingredients to being on a budget with a limited supply of goodies in the pantry. I threw this recipe together with some of my favorite ingredients and it ended up very good! I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did!

Ingredients

• 1 c. quinoa
• 1 can black beans with some of the liquid
• 1 can garbonzo beans
• 1 can tomato sauce (I used trader joes tomato sauce, picture below)
• 1/2 c chopped carrots
• 1/2 chopped onino
• 2 cloves miced garlic
• 1/4 tsp papirka
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Cover and keep on low for 40 minutes.

The longer the ingredients stay on heat, the less soupy it will become so if you prefer a soup over a stew, try cutting the time down or use lesss quinoa.

That's it! Simple and delicious, just how a college student likes:)

The Chai

Ashley can attest to this, I love chai. I would have a chai latte every single day if I could, and now I am happy to say I can- and so can you! I, like many blue blooded americans had their first experience with chai at Starbucks. And although for this past year I've been scouring the trusty world wide web for impressive homemade chai recipes I have yet to be impressed. Some much too weak, and tasting like just watery warm milk, ewww, and others so bitter I had to dump it out. So today, being the first Sunday (day off) of fall I decided to get crafty and experiment- never did I imagine it would turn out perfectly, the first time! Whoa, beginners luck? I will take it. So here it is my friends, my deliciously amazing chai latte recipe!!

Serves two of your favorite medium/large mugs

            or three small one's

Ingredients:

3 cups water

3 cinnamon sticks (broken up a bit)

8 cardamon pods (lightly crushed with mortar & pestle)

3 star anise  (lightly crushed with mortar & pestle)

1 teaspoon whole cloves  (lightly crushed with mortar & pestle)

1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorn  (lightly crushed with mortar & pestle)

1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

5 bags Darjeeling Tea

1/4 cup Almond Breeze Almond Milk -Vanilla

      or Silk Soy Milk -Vanilla, per serving 

1 packet of Stevia, per serving

In medium saucepan over medium heat start to bring water to a boil. Place cinnamon, cardamon, star anise, cloves, peppercorn, nutmeg, & ginger in water and bring to a full boil. Once boiling reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Now reduce heat again to low (the lowest your stove top will go) and let it simmer once more for 10 minutes, make sure you stir a bit and get anything off the sides of the saucepan. Once that ten minutes is up bring the heat back up and just before boil turn off. Now is when you can put in your Darjeeling Tea and let seep for 5 minutes. Do not leave in any longer than five minutes, it will release tannins and make an insanely bitter chai, no no good! Take tea bags out and prepare a container to strain the the drink into. I use a strainer and also half of a paper towel (because I don't have cheese cloth which would probably make my life easier, soo next time). You want to make sure you don't get any floating chunks of spice into your actual chai concentrate. 

To serve, warm up milk and put about 3/4 cups of concentrate into your mug. Once milk is all warmed up add to your mug, add stevia and stir! Garnish with whatever your heart desires, I added a dash (or maybe two) of ground cinnamon and put a little star anise for the photo because it was cute. 

I really don't mean to toot my own horn, and I am one of thooose who rarely loves the things I make and always need second, third and fourth opinions but for this baby, one sip and I knew I did good. Now go- go and make your chai latte and never buy the $4 a cup again! 

Tips & Tricks:

Store the concentrate in air tight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. 

I like my chai spicy. Not hot spicy, just the ability to taste all the spices and get a good flavor! If one or two particular spices fancy's your particular taste just add more! Simple as that! This recipe will easily double or triple ;) 

As much as I love "the chai" I dislike all that black tea in my system, I am not a major caffeine gal. Thus I, and those of you who may be in agreeance, can sometimes substitute it with an herbal tea, a red roobios  would be perfect or a red roobios chai, and even though the latter is probably kind of cheating, it would be a great idea to use.

Serve on ice or blended for a cool treat!

Sunday Morning Crêpes with Blueberry Sauce

For the past couple of weeks I've really been dying to have crêpes. However the last time I'd had some was when I was being babysat by my cousin at the tender age of ten.. so yeah, I guess it's been a while, and they were definitely not vegan. I suppose I wasn't searching too hard for any vegan crêpe recipes, actually I wasn't searching at all, I figure the less I make sweet goodies like this, vegan or not, well the less I have to hit the gym. But lone and behold as I was reading through my newest favorite cookbook "Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook by Kim Barnouin" I came across a very deliciously sounding vegan crêpe recipe and I decided it was fate.

I did change it up a bit using blueberries and actually reducing them on a stove top (Oh My Goodness..Heavenly). Here is her recipe that I followed and added my own quirks to:

"Serves Six

Ingredients:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 Tbsp. evaporated cane sugar,

  plus 1/2 cup.

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup almond milk 

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. Earth Balance"

(and here is where things change up)

1 cup fresh blueberries 

1/4 cup water

"In medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the salt. Whisk in the milk and the vanilla extract until smooth.

"Heat the Earth Balance in a skillet over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter mix into the skillet, swirling to coat the bottom of the skillet as evenly as possible with the batter. Cook until the edges are lightly browned and the crêpe is almost dry on the top. Loosen the edges with a thin spatula and flip the crêpe over with your fingers. Cook crêpe an additional 15 seconds. Transfer to a plate and continue cooking remaining batter."

Now at the time you are mixing the batter you can take a moment to toss the blueberries, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and the water into a blender. (I used the Magic Bullet, because it's so easy and fun) After the mixture is blended well pour into a small sauce pan on medium heat and let simmer until you've completed all of your crêpes (about 10 minutes). The blueberry sauce will slightly reduce and be nice and warm to pour onto your freshly cooked crêpe, ready for you to mangia!

The recipe calls for Evaporated Cane Sugar, which is actually really awesomely vegan and better for you. Unfortunately I didn't have any so I used regular granulated sugar, and wanted to mention that incase you end up in the same boat. It is still doable.

These are a few of my favorite things:

Almond Milk- Almond Breeze by Blue Diamond

I switched over to almond milk rather than soy over a year or so ago. Since I eat quite a bit of soy products I wanted to lessen up and try something new with my milk. I love Almond Breeze Original Unsweetened, I use it in cooking, I use it in cereal, It's a perfect alternative or almost anything that calls for milk! What's also so great about almond milk is that is is lactose, dairy, casein, gluten, and cholesterol free with much less saturated fat than cow's milk. It is chalk full of vitamins and a great source of calcium and vitamin D. 

Butter Alternative- Earth Balance Soy Free. 

I believe I've mentioned or at least used the soy free version of Earth Balance once before, but you don't even know how much this is changed my life! Well at least my cooking :) It tastes the closest I've yet tasted to actual butter, it rich and creamy with no trans fat, no cholesterol and excellent source of Omega-3's. Spread alone on toast or use in cooking and baking and you wont be disappointed!

Bell Pepper Cous Cous with Tofu & Broccoli

My mom and Ashley were gone for a week and I did a whole lot of cooking for my father and my brother! This meal was one our absolute favorites of the week! I found some Whole Wheat Cous Cous at  Trader Joe's and knowing my father grew up on Cous Cous as a staple I had to get it and make it a little more "me" like- with veggies! 

Ingredients:

Serves 4-5

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Red Bell Pepper & 1 Orange Bell Pepper, diced

2 Tbsp Italian Parsley

Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Cous Cous

1 cup Vegetable Stock

2 Tbsp. Earth Balance Soy-Free Butter

Sliced Pressed Tofu seasoned and sautéed with 

McCormick Grill Mates 'Roasted Garlic & Herb'

Broccoli

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a medium size skillet heat oil on medium heat add Diced Bell Peppers & Parsley and sauté until tender and set aside on low heat. 

Start up a small saucepan with water to boil (will be used to steam the broccoli) 

At the same time begin on the Cous Cous, follow the instructions on the box and in 5 minutes you will have ready to eat Cous Cous! The instructions actually call for water but instead I used the same amount just used vegetable stock instead. The vegetable stock gives it a much richer flavor! Mix in half of the bell peppers and Eath Balance Butter and set on low heat.

The water should be boiling and you can now steam your broccoli using a double boiler. After it's finished season with a little sea salt and pepper it's good to go! 

Now you can heat your skillet with a small amount of olive oil and season the tofu with the McCormick Seasoning and cook until heated through, about two-three minutes on each side on medium heat

Use the remainder of the bell peppers to relish the tofu and plate everything up and mangia! 

Substitutions:
Instead of tofu you can use organic free range chicken breast, use the same seasoning and all! 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Apple Pancakes

With another morning without my bananas, came another morning experimenting with a new recipe. These pancakes have a lot of good fiber, protein, and flavor!

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. oats
• 3/4 c. water
• 1 c. soy milk
• 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. egg replacer with 3 Tbsp. water or 1 beaten egg
• 2 Tbsp. Earth Balance or butter
• 2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 apple diced very small

Directions

Soak oats in the water for ten minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon of Earth Balance to a skillet.

When the "butter" is melted add diced apples and brown sugar.

Stir occasionally and keep on medium-low heat

In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Stir in Egg Replacer, 1 tablespoon Earth Balance,  soy milk, and oat mixture.

Stir very well until smooth mixture is formed.

Add cooked apples to the batter.

Pour batter onto a hot skilllet and cook until both sides are browned.

Once browned and firm, they are ready to serve!

Enjoy with some 100% maple syrup :)

Scramble!

After my morning workout, I came to the realization that I couldn't make my usual morning oatmeal because we had run out bananas! For a minute I was stumped, I had no idea what I wanted to eat instead. I started thinking about what was available and decided I could utilize the eggs that my mom had brought home from a friend that raised healthy free ranged vegetarian chickens in her backyard. So my mind was set, egg white omlete it is. As I started gathering veggies I came acrosss some of our tofu and decided that there was no problem in adding some more texture and protein to my breakfast! So that left me with a yummy aray of ingriedents that created a tofu scramble as well as an eggwhite omlet. Yum!

Serves One

Ingredients:

• Egg whites from 2 eggs
• About 3oz firm tofu (pressed and crumbled)
• Handful of spinach
• Four baby tomatoes (cut in smaller pieces)
• 1/4 small onion (diced)
• 3/4 tsp. nutritional yeast
• vegetable oil
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

Start off pouring a little vegetable oil in a small pan on medium high heat.

After oil is warm, add spinach, onion, and tofu.

When the spinach has wilted and onion is tender, add the tomatoes.

Stir the mixture around the frying pan while adding the nutritional yeast, some salt, and some pepper.

After about 5 minutes the scramble will be ready.

Remove from pan and place into a small pan near by.

With the pan still being warm, add the eggwhites.

Once the egg whites look cooked throughly, add some of the scramble to one side of the eggwhites.

With a spatula, fold the other side on top.

Add salt on top, and you are finished!

Enjoy

Nutrional Value

Calories: 220

Fat: 10 g (1 Saturated, 3 polysaturated, 6 monosaturated)

Carbs: 4 g

Sugar: 2g 

Protien 16g



Choose Your Plate like 'My Plate'

Music to my ears :)

choosemyplate.gov

And check out the history of the USDA efforts to guiding people to healthier eating here CNN Health and what this new My Plate program is all about. 

Mushroom Herb Sauce & Tofu over Whole Wheat Rice

I'm home! Now that I am back living in Modesto my sister and I will get to cook together for the few months we'll have until she goes off to college and thats just what we did tonight. 


Ingredients: 
Serves 4 

1/4 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread 'Olive Oil'

1/4 cup Herb Infused Olive Oil or EVOO
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup diced onion

1 Tsp Thyme

1 Tsp Rosemary

1 Tbsp Dried Basil

1 Tbsp Drired Parsley

Sea Salt and Freshly Cracked Pepper to taste

1/4 cup Unsweetened Soy Milk or any other unsweetened/unflavored milk
2 Tbsp Whole Wheat Flour or White Flour
1 cup cooked Whole Wheat Rice
Sliced and pressed firm Tofu


On low heat simmer combine Buttery Spread, Olive Oil, minced garlic, mushrooms, onion, thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, and a pinch of salt & pepper. Let the vegetables to sweat out and get tender, about 10 minutes. Add milk let reduce and combine for about 5 minutes then add flour and mix together for 5 additional minutes.
During your wait time for the mushroom sauce you can start preparing your rice and your tofu. I seasoned my tofu with a bit of "McCormick Roasted Garlic & Herb" seasoning. It helps give it a little crunch and extra flavor. 
Ashley made artichoke's to go along side this dish, I just drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and ate. 
Plate up and serve! I added some fresh slices of basil on top for garnish and freshness. 

My yummy Tofu!

 Benny's Chicken

Tips & Subtitutions:

• Chicken rather than tofu would be best here, you can also use the same seasoning, thats what we did for my brother!
• McCormick Roasted Garlic & Herb seasoning. I've talked about these seasonings before and they are a great way to quickly prepare tofu or chicken.
• Wheat flour or white flour? You can really use either, I am used to using white myself, however, my sister has apparently made sure we have only wheat flour in this house, so I tried and it worked!
• Herb Infused Olive Oil! Awwh this little baby is the best, and you have to go get it. Promise it will change your life, I drizzle just this on broccoli and other veggies and eat raw, mmMmmm :)

ANDI score

This post isn't going to be about a recipe, but it is about food! I stumbled across a little thing called the "ANDI Score" when I shopped at Whole Foods Market. ANDI stands for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index. Foods with high ANDI Scores have the highest nutrients per calorie. The system is amazing and can really help anyone navigate around the grocery store and pick the foods with the most abundant nutrients. Like Dr. Oz says, "Your body craves nutrients, not calories" !
Below I posted the food pyramid, determinded by the ANDI score, as well as the website which gives tons of information about the system.
I encourage you to look into it and start adapting it to your lifestyle!

http://andiscores.com/

Bruschetta & Bruschetta Sandwich

I'm going to let you know right now, you may fall in love with this recipe to the point where you will crave it day in and day out. The great thing is that it is soo simple you'll have hardly reason not to! So without further ado I present to you the famous Bruschetta Sandwich!

Bruschetta & Bruschetta Sandwich:

Ingredients 

Bruschetta:

French Baguette

Pesto:

8oz. Organic Basil

1/4 cup Pine Nuts

3 cloves Garlic

1/2 cup Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

Tomato Pesto:

3 Roma Tomatoes or 1-2 cans Organic Diced Tomatoes

Pesto 

Bruschetta Sandwich:

French Baguette 

4oz Pressed Firm Tofu* (cut into 1/4 in. thick strips)

Chicken seasoning 

Pesto

Tomato Pesto (or sliced tomatoes)

*See below for other options!

Start with putting basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and salt&pepper to taste in Cuisinart. Mix and blend until your pesto looks about like the photo here. Et Voila! Your Pesto is finished!! 

Now when you take out the pesto it is okay to leave some of the pesto in, don't worry about getting everything off the sides of the Cuisinart or the blade because this will be used in the next step (and makes for easy clean up later!). Put the pesto in a separate container and refrigerate until use. In the Cuisinart now add your tomatoes, if using whole roma tomatoes, peel and dice before hand, otherwise strain the can of tomatoes before you add. Add a bit of Salt & Pepper and pulse just until blended. Strain the mixture until it is a similar consistency to the pesto you made prior. Transfer to separate container, store in refrigerator until use.

For the Bruschetta, slice the French Baguette in 1/2 inch wide slides, broil on both sides until golden brown. Don't forget to save some of the baguette for your sandwich or be sure to get an additional baguette. Spoon the Tomato Pesto first then the Pesto on top and you are ready to serve up an amazing appetizer, people will be begging for more!

My favorite seasoning to use for my Tofu and especially for this recipe is the McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Chicken seasoning (it's vegan, no actual chicken harmed!) But it works perfect with tofu and even gives it a great texture. Gently press the seasoning on both sides of the pressed firm tofu and fry in a pan with a small amount of olive oil on medium heat until crisp on both sides.

To serve, cut the French Baguette into sandwich size lengths, pop in the oven broil on high until golden brown. Place cooked tofu, pesto, tomato pesto or sliced tomatoes into sandwich and Mangia Mangia!

Substitutes & Options:

Pesto- If you are making pesto for your pasta you will want to add more olive oil and blend for a longer period of time. This will make for a smoother pesto that will work best with pastas! You may also add the pesto to a saucepan with Parmesan cheese and milk/cream for a creamy pesto (or mix it with your alfredo sauce).

Substitute for Tofu- Chicken will be best with this sandwich. Use the same seasoning on Chicken breast, cook and eat!

Bread- As far as the Bruschetta I would keep with a French Baguette, however for the sandwich you can use whatever your heart desires! My favorites have been, Ciabatta, salted Fococcia & Fococcia with herbs.