Vegan Chocolate Protein Shake

I am testing out several vegan protein supplements for shakes/drinks.  I really like this chocolate one.



Vegan Chocolate "Shake"

2 cups almond milk
2 scoops chocolate vegan protein powder
1 cup ice cubes

Serves 2.

This shake is very filling and provides 17 grams of protein; 16 from protein powder and 1 from almond milk.

Vegan Banana Apple Muffins

I haven't made these in awhile but they are awesome for breakfast or a snack.

Vegan Banana Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas 

2 medium apples, peeled and grated

1 cup water

3 cups oat meal

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 bag of mixed dried berries (I use the mixed berries – blueberries, cherries & cranberries from Walmart 6 ounces)

Instructions:

Mash bananas with potato masher, add grated apple.  Put in rest of ingredients.  Stir well.  Let the moisture get into the oatmeal a bit.

Spoon into muffin pans.  (I use Pam and put it directly in the non-stick muffin pans)  I also poke down the fruit into the muffin batter so they don't burn.  Bake  for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.   375 degrees   I made 12 muffins.

Oriental Veggie Stir Fry

I found this package of oriental veggies at Trader Joe's last week.  OMG all I can say is YUMMY!  It has snow peas, soybeans, carrots, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.  I just added a little soy sauce and a little bit of teriyaki ginger sauce and then served it over white rice.  It sure was a hit with my boys too!

Triple Berry Smoothie

Today's breakfast was a triple berry smoothie with vegan protein powder.  It was very refreshing and filling too!  I forgot to add the chia seeds today but I will next time!

Triple Berry Smoothie
2 cups frozen berries
2 cups orange juice
1 cup water
2 scoops protein powder

Blend until smooth in your blender.  Add more water if you want it thinner.

Vegan Belinis

Sunday is a day of relaxation and family time.  We are watching movies (Crazy, Stupid Love and the Lorax) so far and enjoying our warm fireplace.  Dave made me and David vegan belinis for breakfast.  Belinis are Polish potato pancakes.  He just made them without the egg and added some coconut milk creamer.  They were delicious.

Belinis - Potato Pancakes

2 large baking potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 medium onion, cut in chunks
2 T flour
splash of coconut milk creamer
salt
pepper
canola oil

Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.  Take a 1/2 cup measuring cup and make pancakes in a frying pan with some oil.  Cook over medium heat until both sides are brown and crispy.


I totally forgot to take a picture.  :(  But they were so yummy!

Veggie Sandwich

Lunch was a veggie sandwich on the road today.  Not my favorite but did what it was supposed to do; fuel me.  This one kind of looked like mine but I didn't have cheese on mine.  The first one the guy made he forgot my tomato and onions.

Stir "Fry" Lunch

I've been reading all morning about macrobiotics and how similar it is to a plant base way of eating (woe.)  It is all so interesting to me.  So, for lunch I was craving veggies over rice and I made this yummy veggie mixture, black beans an rice.

Stir "Fry" Lunch

baby bok choy sliced
onions sliced
celery sliced
mushrooms sliced
cauliflower pieces
1 tsp. no chicken better than bouillon base
water

rice
black beans

Precooked

My Plate!  Yum!

Saturday - Burritos

Saturday - I used to love Saturdays.  When I was little I would spend the day running errands with my dad; going to the cleaners, bank, barber, hardware store, etc.  My dad was a traveling salesman.  He would leave either Sunday nights or Monday morning and mostly wouldn't come home until Friday afternoon or night.  My mom and dad would have date night on Friday nights and we'd get pizza.  But on Saturdays I could spend the day with him if I went on errands with him.  So, I did.

Saturdays used to be so busy when the kids were little - soccer, field hockey, baseball, etc.  Now Bri is mostly at college but now she's home on break but works every Saturday.  David is away camping with Boy Scouts or helping with the middle school play.  So, now it's just me, Dave and the beasts - Reiley and Alex.  I sit here and search for interesting meals to make and things I'm craving.

My easy go to meal is just a burrito.  Oh, how I love a burrito now.  Doesn't it look so yummy?

Lisa's Burritos

Chili

My family absolutely loves chili. So, I decided to make a vegan version.  It was a total hit with my family and they finished it all for dinner.


Lisa's Vegan Chili

1 can black beans
1 can navy beans
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans tomato sauce
1 packet chili seasoning

Put all ingredients into a pot.  Simmer on low heat for at least 20 minutes to allow flavors to develop.  If it gets too thick, add a little bit of water to make desired consistency.  You can also serve over rice.

Mushroom Stroganoff

I had a bunch of mushrooms in the refrigerator and was craving making this recipe.  Here's how I tweaked it.  It was very yummy over angel hair pasta.  

Mushroom Stroganoff

1 T margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cups sliced white mushrooms

1/4 cup of water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tsp. no beef better than bouillon

1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/8 cup cold water

 freshly ground black pepper, to taste

6 ounces dry pasta noodles, cooked

Place the 1 tablespoon of margarine and onion in a large non-stick skillet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and ¼ cup of the water and cook until mushrooms are slightly limp. Add tamari, almond milk and bouillon paste and stir.  Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and add cornstarch mixture to pan, cook, and stir until thickened. Season with black pepper to taste. Serve mushroom mixture over cooked pasta.

French Onion Soup

Since I had the French baguette I had to have some French onion soup.

It's made with Better Than Bouillon "No Beef Base", water, and onions sauteed in margarine.   Yes, it's vegan.

French Baguette

Yup, I made another batch of bread yesterday; two French baguettes.  Yum.

French Baguette

2 cups warm water
1 T active yeast

2 tsp. salt
4 - 4 1/2 cups of flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let rest 10 minutes.  Put 2 cups of  flour and 1 tsp of the salt in mixing bowl. Stir in the water/yeast mixture.  Cover bowl with a tea towel and let rise 3 hours.

Add the remaining 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp of salt.  Mix to combine.  Using dough hook, knead until a ball forms away from bowl.  Keep adding flour as needed.

Place in a greased bowl and cover again with tea towel.  Let rise again for one hour.  Dough should double in size.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Form dough into two long loaves.  Make 4 to 5 cuts into each loaf.  Bake 20 - 25 minutes.

Corn Chowder

I posted this recipe on my first attempt at a blog (Bad Beer, Good Cook) two years ago.  Here's what I wrote about this recipe.

Corn Chowder is from the Badbeer family.   Apparently my dad’s family had a lot of cream type dishes because they grew up on a dairy farm.  One day when I was a teenager the Mema was making this family recipe.  She cooked up the bacon, onions, potatoes, corn and spices with the water into a soup; at this point my big brother and I tasted it.  She was ready to add the milk and we were like “no way – we like it like this!”  From that point on, we never had corn chowder as a milk/cream based soup ever again.

I have made it a plant base recipe now!  I just don't use bacon.

Corn Chowder

1 medium onion chopped
3 T. margarine
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into smallcubes
1 bag of frozen corn
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried thyme
pepper to taste

Saute onion in margarine.  Add cubed potatoes and frozen corn, salt, thyme and enough water to cover at least an inch over.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer until potatoes are cooked.

Of course this soup is much better the next day but it rarely makes it!

Inspiration

The inspiration for this blog is to keep me motivated.  I peruse many veganish blogs on a daily basis but I wanted my own to keep me motivated and accountable.  Plus I can look back and see how I progress throughout the year.

I will probably never really label myself a vegan but more veganish.  I am truly trying to be mostly vegan in my eating but being vegan is way more than eating.  I'm working on my health and eating right now.

My story is like many who transfer from carnivore eating to plant based.  I didn't think I could give up my steak or cheeseburger.  I, like many, had the oh my gosh I have to do this after watching Forks over Knives.  I also met someone who did the 28 day challenge from Whole Foods and she also recommended Forks over Knives and The Engine 2 Diet.  

Focaccia Bread

Dave made another yummy sandwich for us for lunch but the focaccia bread we bought from Panera Bread this morning.  I love veggie sandwiches now!

Veggie Sandwich will sauteed mushrooms and onions

focaccia bread sliced in half and a little margarine and grill
sauteed mushrooms & onions in a little margarine
lettuce
spinach
tomatoes
cucumbers
black olives


Bread is my go to snack if I have yummy to eat.  We also bought a French baguette and I snacked on it all afternoon too.  I need to find a good focaccia bread recipe!

Friday, Friday, Friday

I love and hate Fridays.  I like the daily routine of the days Monday through Friday. I know what to expect.  The weekends you never know what's going to happen.

Recipe today is veggie sandwich.

Veggie Sandwich

Whole wheat bread - toasted
Vegan mayo
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Mushrooms cut thick
Cucumbers

Dave actually made these yummy sandwiches for us for lunch.  Plus pickles on the side!

Pasta Fagioli

Okay, I'm a total foodie and I love to cook. I love checking out vegan/plant based food blogs. But I also love the Food Network. Years ago I would watch Emeril every night at 8 p.m.  Now I mostly enjoy Restaurant Impossible and Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. It's hard though since almost every restaurant on DD&D features meat and/or dairy products.  It does give me inspiration because I like to figure out how I could make things plant based. Our homemade pizza dinner was from an episode the other night from DD& D and so is the pasta fagioli.

From all that I've ever known pasta fagioli to be a soup but this one Italian restaurant made it more like a meal that was pasta, sauce and beans. They used red kidney beans and I found another recipe online that used cannellini beans. So, I ended up using cannellini beans because we didn't have any kidney beans.  I will probably try it with both beans next time.  My family loves kidney beans but they aren't my favorite.

This meal was a super hit with my family.  I really think they loved the beans with the pasta.  I think I may not cook the pasta in the sauce next time.  I will just put the sauce and beans together and then spoon over the cooked pasta.

Pasta Fagioli

Olive oil  (about 2 – 3 T)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

1 T julienne basil leaves

1 15 ounce can cannellini beans

4 cups water

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. sugar

16 ounces ditalini pasta

Directions

In a big pot over medium heat sauté onions in olive oil (enough to cover bottom of pot about 2 T); cook covered, stirring frequently until onions are translucent.  Add tomato sauce, basil, minced garlic and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.  I used my immersion blender and made this sauce smooth.  

Add the cannellini beans, water and uncooked pasta.  Cook until pasta is done approximately 10 - 15 minutes.   

Add more water and vegetarian bouillon if you want to make this more of a soup.

Thin Crust Pizza

Yup, we had our homemade pizza last night and I made the pizza dough.  It was very yummy.  It was pretty thin though and I may try another recipe or just not stretch out the dough as much the next time.  I will also make my own sauce.  We used Ragu pizza quick sauce which is very good but a tiny bit too spicy for me.  Bri said that she would like a thicker crust and more sauce next time we make it.  I agree.

I was only the only one with leftovers for me to snack on today though.

Pizza Dough

2 ¼ tsp yeast

1 cup warm water

½ tsp. sugar

2 ½ - 3 cups flour

1 tsp. sea salt

Spray oil

Mix yeast and water. Add to dry ingredients.  Stir until smooth. Let rest 10 minutes.  Knead about 5 minutes.  Split dough into 2 or 4 round balls. Put in greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 2 hours in a warm spot. With floured hands and flour on counter top roll and stretch dough out into desired thickness.  Place on baking stone, add sauce and desired toppings. Bake 425 degrees for about 15 minutes

Being Prepared

Being prepared is key.  We had the most amazing salads today at lunch because Dave cut up all these vegetables - carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, cauliflower and lettuce earlier this week. I added sliced black olives and black beans to mine.  Bri's isn't plant based with that cheese and ranch dressing but she is eating healthy with us.

My salad

Bri's salad

 Dave's salad

Dave added the quinoa and black bean chips I got from Trader Joe's last week.  They are quite yummy.

Bri and Dave asked for homemade pizza for dinner.  I guess I need to make some dough and go shopping.  I need a few ingredients.

One Week

Wow, I've been blogging for one week. No one really knows but Dave about my blog and that's okay.  I'm doing it more for me to keep me accountable.

No pictures today. :(  I went out to lunch with my girlfriends and then we had a late dinner.

Lunch was angel hair pasta, marinara and zucchini.  I said no cheese but I'm almost positive they put it on by mistake and then tried to stir it into my dish. I didn't realize it at first because I found it in the left side of my dish and it wasn't a lot either.  I was over half done my meal at that point and I wasn't about to make a stink with my friends there. Plus, I'm not a purist.  I am irritated though.

Dinner was soft tacos. Yum - I had refried beans, lightly grilled onions, black olives, and salsa on mine.  We also had vegan beef crumbles with homemade taco seasoning, guacamole, shredded cheese and sour cream.  My daughter is not eating plant based.


Taco Seasoning

1 T. chili powder

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. dried basil

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. paprika

½ tsp. black pepper

Mix all ingredients.  Store in an air tight container.  

Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

I loved the canned vegetarian vegetable soup but it's not vegan with the egg whites in those alphabet noodles.  So, I figured out how to make it myself.  Here's my version.

Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

1 bag of frozen vegetables for soup (16 ounces)
32 ounces vegetable broth
3 T tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
about 1/4 cup of alphabet noodles or other small pasta

Add all ingredients to a large sauce pan.  Bring to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer a 1/2 hour. Right before serving add 1/4 cup of alphabet noodles to soup. Let cook about 4 minutes.  Serve immediately.

This soup is better the next day. So, if you are going to wait, then I'd wait to add the alphabet noodles until you reheat it.

Okay - so, here's my yummy soup. I barely got a picture of it.  My family came in the kitchen and asked to have some.  Wow, they loved it.  I will definitely be making it again!

Roasted Butternut Squash, Snap Peas & Coconut Rice

Well, day 5 of my blog and I didn't make anything new today to post.  Oh well, c'est la vie.

Here is one of my favorite meals though that I happen to have a picture of from November.  Roasted butternut squash, sauteed snap peas with coconut rice. I actually had something like this in Cambridge in fall at this wonderful restaurant called Veggie Planet.  They added caramelized onions and Daiya cheese on top.

Coconut Rice

1 can coconut milk (14 ounce) (I used lite)
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1  1/2 cups of  jasmine rice

Bring coconut milk, water and salt to a boil.  Add the rice, cover and continue to cook over medium low heat for about 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.  Fluff and serve.

Note: 1 tsp of sugar may also be added to make it sweet

Homemade Vegan Dressing & Vegan Gravy

I made a loaf of my artisan bread for my friends who watched my animals while I was away and I just got a text from them saying they loved it and want the recipe.  How exciting!  I love that bread and it’s so easy to make and yummy.  And vegan and no soy!

So, today was a leftover day.  This what's in our fridge this morning.

Dave and I have been really good at staying on the plant base woe.  I made the hummus yesterday but we didn’t really eat it yesterday.   OMG – I had it for lunch today and it is awesome.  I like it so much better than the store bought expensive brand! 

Dave made dinner last night which included quinoa, black beans, stir fried veggies, and pasta and spaghetti sauce for the kids.  The funny thing is the kids put black beans on the side of their pasta!  LOL  My kids love beans.  We actually had two kinds of leftover pasta in the fridge; the rigatoni and the capellini from the night before last!  The real funny thing is the kids (16 & 18) would have definitely eaten the quinoa, black beans and stir fry veggies but Dave didn’t think there would be enough.  Obviously there was enough but I think we could have used two cans of black beans.  There’s barely any black beans left in that container!

The stir fry veggies were absolutely delicious and Dave only used olive oil, salt and pepper with the broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, celery and carrots.  Most of the veggies were already cut up from earlier in the week for our lunch salads. 

I love having so many vegan options to choose to eat quickly!  I think the hardest part of going plant based is that I need to reprogram my go to foods.  I tend to grab bread or an apple if I don’t know what to eat and I’m really hungry.  I ate a lot of bread at first and when I visit my parents.  That’s another post. 

 

So today we’ve been eating our yummy leftovers, tonight we finished them and I also made homemade dressing/stuffing to go with the leftover gravy and sour cabbage.  Yum.  (Dressing is when it’s outside the bird and stuffing is when you stuff the bird with it.  But, I know it confuses people.)  I had some leftover artisan bread in the freezer that I used for it.  The gravy was super thick.  I actually made a second batch this week and I used the leftover potato water when I made it.  It adds flavor, nutrients and the starch helps thicken it.  I've also used the green bean water when I've made gravy too for flavor and nutrients.  Anyhow, my leftover dinner was delicious; it tastes a lot better than it looks here!  Yes, I put gravy on everything.

Homemade Dressing/Stuffing  Recipe

Cubed bread (about ½ a loaf of artisan bread)

3 T margarine

2 stalks celery finely chopped

2 small onions finely chopped

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

½ tsp. ground thyme

½ tsp. sea salt

¼ tsp. pepper

½ cup water

1 tsp. no chicken vegetable broth

Vegetarian "Beef/Chicken" Gravy

2 T. margarine
2 T flour
1 tsp no beef bouillon paste (Better than Bouillon Vegetarian)
1/2 tsp no chicken bouillon paste (Better than Bouillon Vegetarian)
1/2 tsp Porterhouse & Roast Seasoning (it's just spices - see below)
1 1/2 cups water

Melt margarine and whisk in the flour.  Whisk in the bouillon pastes and the seasoning.  Slowly whisk in the water.  Cook over low heat until desired thickness. 

Ingredients of Porterhouse & Roast Seasoning - salt, granulated garlic, granulated onion, black pepper, oregano, corn meal, paprika, celery seed, parsley and rosemary. vegan :) 

  

Hummus

I’ve been web searching hummus recipes for a few days.   I haven’t made any yet until today.  I like the idea of homemade hummus for many reasons.  I have to be honest that it is much cheaper to make it yourself and really not that hard to make as long as you have a food processor!  I used canned chickpeas because I didn’t have any dry ones but I’m going to get some soon!  I also like the idea of varying my own flavors.   I just made the basic one today though.

Here’s the recipe I made up from reading a few.

Classic Creamy Hummus

1 15 oz. chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained & rinsed

¼ cup tahini

3 T lemon juice

2 cloves garlic minced

2 T olive oil

3 T water

1 tsp sea salt

Put the tahini and lemon juice in the food processor and blend.  Add the garlic, olive oil and water and mix until frothy.  Then add the sea salt and the drained chickpeas.  Puree until very smooth.  (a few minutes)

Today’s food choices:

Artisan bread

Coffee

Spinach salad from Panera sans the bacon & egg of course

½ Mediterranean Veggie sandwich with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and cilantro jalapeno hummus

Snack – homemade hummus & pita chips

Quinoa, black beans, stir fry veggies

Dinner

Lisa's Artisan Bread

Hmm - this blogging thing is new to me.  I'm trying to figure out format, fonts, postings, etc.  Day 2 - another learning day!

New Year's Day main meal was a hit especially with Dave.  Everyone tried the sour cabbage and the mashed potatoes.  Bri finished the mashed potatoes when she got home from work and had a bite of the lucky cabbage.  It's amazing how no one says anything about it being vegan if you just don't tell them.  I think in the back of their minds they must have known about the mashed potatoes though since I don't use butter or milk/half & half any more.  I just don't make a big deal about it.

Speaking of half & half.  The one thing that really helped me in my new way of eating is this:

So Delicious Coconut Creamer.  I thought not eating meat would be the hardest but it was actually eliminating dairy products until I found the creamer.  Yes, I adore my coffee first thing in the morning so having the coconut creamer is awesome because it is so thick and creamy.  I definitely recommend it to a new plant base people!  I use it in my coffee as well as in the place of milk/cream in recipes.  I also use almond milk too.  I try not to use soy.  Soy is in everything!!!!  But that is a topic for another day.

Today's meals include:

• homemade artisan bread toast with Earth Balance soy free spread
• carrot sticks
• salad - romaine lettuce, baby spinach, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini & leftover balsamic dressing from Panera
• sour cabbage & gravy
• spaghetti, sauce & sauteed mushrooms
• bread

Lunch 

Artisan Bread

6  1/2 cups of flour
1  1/2 T granulated yeast
1  1/2 T sea salt
2  T sugar in the raw
3  cups warm water

Put all the dry ingredients in a very large bowl.  Add the water and stir to incorporate all the ingredients.  Mixture will be very wet but that's okay.  Cover with aluminum foil and let rise in a warm spot at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  With floured hands make dough into two round balls with extra flour.  Place loaves on a stone and cut a few marks into loaves to make air vents for loaves.  Place a pan with 1+ water at the bottom of the oven.  Bake the loaves 25 - 30 minutes.

This is the easiest bread I've ever made and everyone loves it.  I've tweaked the ingredients a tad with the addition of sugar.

Happy New Year!  Happy New Me!

I want to be more focused on eating plant based most of the time.  I also want to eat healthier.  I need to plan out my meals more and be more accountable.  I've allowed myself to eat a lot of bread and yes, potato chips; not the healthiest plant based options.  As my vegan nephew has told me that even Oreos are vegan.

We usually have pork and cabbage for our good luck New Year meal.  So, today I made the traditional sour cabbage sans the bacon fat!  It's a family recipe from my dad's side of the family.  It used to be so delicious with mashed potatoes and gravy and of course the pork roast.  So, today's menu is sour cabbage with vegetarian "beef/chicken" gravy and mashed potatoes; all vegan prepared of course.  YUM!  I don't think we need the pork for luck!  I think it's in the cabbage.

Sour Cabbage (Grandma Margaret's recipe) - veganized

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
shredded cabbage
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. pepper (lots & lots)
2 T margarine (or bacon fat)

Bring water, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and margarine to a boil.  Add shredded cabbage and cook very slowly (at least an hour) over low heat.  Stir occasionally.  Add more vinegar and water if needed - taste syrup and add sugar and pepper to taste.  The slower it is cooked, the better!

I actually didn't shred the cabbage; I cut in small cubes about 1/2 inch pieces. It smells so yummy cooking!  It also tastes really good with cooked carrots.

Vegetarian "Beef/Chicken" Gravy

2 T. margarine
2 T flour
1 tsp no beef bouillon paste (Better than Bouillon Vegetarian)
1/2 tsp no chicken bouillon paste (Better than Bouillon Vegetarian)
1/2 tsp Porterhouse & Roast Seasoning (it's just spices - see below)
11/2 cups water

Melt margarine and whisk in the flour.  Whisk in the bouillon pastes and the seasoning.  Slowly whisk in the water.  Cook over low heat until desired thickness.

Ingredients of Porterhouse & Roast Seasoning - salt, granulated garlic, granulated onion, black pepper, oregano, corn meal, paprika, celery seed, parsley and rosemary. vegan :)

Today's food choices -

• coffee
• vegetarian vegetable soup* 
• potato chips & pretzels while watching a movie (The Hunger Games)
• French baguette
• classic salad from Panera without the cheese and balsamic vinaigrette on the side
• mashed potatoes
• sour cabbage
• "beef/chicken" gravy

* I know vegetarian vegetable soup isn't vegan because there are egg whites in the alphabet noodles.  Go figure.  I am trying to be as veganish as possible.