A change of pace for breakfast

We had fun this morning… We made these…. errr, mostly,  of course I modified. We don't like coconut. I'll tell you more about it when I get the pancakes to be excellent. They were fine pancakes, but nothing to write home about. However, the strawberry and banana (vegan) ice cream on top was EXCELLENT.

I froze 3 bananas last night, and then added about 1/2 a bag of frozen strawberries.  Stuck it all in the food processor and turned it into soft-serve. If you haven't made banana ice cream, try it. Directions for this delicious treat are here; the possibilities of variations are almost infinite.

Indian fusion (now no oil)

Right now, I need EASY meals... I can't believe how crazy it is and I can't believe how much I need a break. Teaching, helping organize and run a big meeting (for 50 people), helping plan for another conference (150 people), doing a big week-long volunteer effort at the elementary school, and 4 dance numbers in 2 shows is my limit. (There's some other stuff, too, but I can't remember it all.) I can't wait until it slows down a little, but this summer, through most of July will still be busy--not quite as busy as June since the dance shows and conferences will be over.

This is easy. It's got lots of veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, peas) and protein because it has soy and garbanzo beans and it's sauteed in a bunch of Indian spices.

The spices are a brand called Aurora Creations. I want to learn more about Indian cooking and spices, but I haven't had time. These packets are super yum and give great flavor. Though one is called Chicken Tikka Masala, it's just the spices--no animals were harmed in the making of this meal!

 

These are fun! My friend the Happy Healthy Librarian told me about them.

 

(despite the name on the Chicken Tikka Masala packet, NO chicken and no animal products are involved, just yummy spices.)

 

This is hardly a recipe, but here is what I did...

a little oil (about 1/8 a cup)*

garlic

onion powder (next time I'll use an onion)

14 ounces of tomato paste -- next time I'll use a can of tomatoes

2 packs of the Tikka Masala spice and 1/2 pack of the Gobi spice

all the veggies described above (they were frozen and I just put them in the pan--used a small bag of cauliflower and a 16-ounce bag of the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots (mixed)

1 can of garbanzo beans

1 cup of frozen peas

1 whole packet of the soy curls (softened in water first, then drained)

1/2 cup water

a little almond milk

stir often and cook for a while (mine has been simmering now for almost 2 hours)

Enjoy!  (Can be served with rice, quinoa, by itself, bread, tortillas, other veggies, etc,)

*I have now made it with NO oil. I use the water I soak the soy curls in to keep the food from sticking, instead of oil.  I don't know how much water I use. I just keep adding some when it gets dry if it needs to cook more.

Mexican Quinoa version 2

We love Mexican and we love quinoa. This was tasty and super easy! Three out of 6 liked it (my brother is visiting).  We'll make it again!

I started with this recipe, but didn't want to wait an hour so I just did it in one pan on the stove.

What I did:

1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1.5 cups uncooked quinoa (rinsed)
3 cans diced tomatoes, with liquid (14.5 ounces)
½ cup water
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional--it's very nice in here--I'm not a huge fan, but it does add a nice flavor dimension)
1 tbsp tomato paste (or ketchup, but I recommend the paste!)
1 tablespoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons oregan
1-2 teaspoons chili powder (more if you like things spicy)
Salt & freshly ground pepper
1 or 2 cans black beans, drained
1 cup corn kernels (I used frozen)
3 cups baby kale or spinach (I used kale)
Toppings of choice: vegan sour cream, avocado, cilantro, vegan cheese, etc.

Add all ingredients in the list down to the black beans. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the beans and corn and cook for another 5-10 minutes but make sure it isn't sticking! Add a little more water if you need it and stir often. Reduce heat to very low and add the greens. Put the lid on stir and serve when the greens are wilted to your preference.

I made extra 'cause I read it would freeze well. I am excited to have a new, easy, tasty dinner!  Pictures soon or see the site linked.

Yummy vegan food at the resort we went to for Nick's Birthday

His birthday was a while ago, but better late than never. We love this resort.

 
Garlic Broccoli

 

From the Salad Bar

 
Gazpacho

 
Tofu with sauteed veggies--this was so good, I ate it for two meals!

 

Berries with hot fudge! Super yummy! Lots of antioxidants in the berries and the fudge!

I didn't get all of our meals and I didn't get one of the tofu bacon. I also had a super good hummus wrap, and a delicious southwestern veggie burger. Yum! We plan to go back to this resort in 2019 when the girls are old enough to go, too.

Pizza hummus

Make the regular garbanzo bean hummus.

Then add 2-3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried basil

2 teaspoons dried oregano

Enjoy!

Two new dinners: A mexican casserole and tofu ricotta stuffed rigatoni

We made this Mexican Casserole, with a few changes, of course. (See pictures on that site! Ours, despite the changes looked about like that, except I didn't make it in a glass container so I couldn't get as pretty of pictures.)

In a 9X9 pan

A layer of quinoa
A layer of salsa
A layer of kale ('cause I like it green!) (use as much as you like…it smashes down when you need it to and then it cooks down.)
A layer of Black beans (one can)
Tofu Ricotta (a layer--we only used half of what we made)
Corn (sprinkled on top of the ricotta)
More Salsa
Top with black olives (leave them off half if your husband doesn't like them) and use 1/2 cup of crumbled tortilla chips on top.

Bake in 350 degree oven until the casserole is hot all the way through (about 45-50 minutes)

Verdict, we liked it… Or at least 3 of us did. I needed to use a spicier salsa. I left olives off 1/2 the top, but my husband didn't notice and ate the half that them on, and he didn't like that. We'll make it again.

What we really liked was the tofu ricotta from that web site!

1 block of the extra firm tofu (I like it 'cause it's very dry)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon miso paste
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Since we only used 1/2 of it in the recipe, we used the rest to stuff some rigatoni and covered it with almost my Dad's spaghetti sauce, and baked it at 350 until it was hot and bubbly. Yum! (Credit to our wonderful friend and nanny for thinking of this!)