Veggie Minestrone Recipe

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 
3/4 cup chopped onion 
3 cups water 
2 cups diced zucchini 
1 cup diced carrot, peeled
 1 cup canned cannellini beans 
3/4 cup diced celery
 1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil 
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/8 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper 
28 fluid ounces canned plum tomatoes, dice and include liquid
 2 garlic cloves, minced 
1/4 cup uncooked ditalini or 1/4 cup elbow macaroni




 Directions: 1 Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. 2 Add chopped onion and sauté for 4 minutes or until just lightly browned. 3 Add water, zucchini, carrots, canellini beans, celery, basil, oregano salt, pepper, canned tomatoes and garlic. 4 Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. 5 Add macaroni, cover and cook an additional 10 minutes. 6 Adjust spices to suit your taste. 7 Serve hot.


***This was excellent!  We actually ate it all before I remembered to take pics! LOL  Served with warm french bread from the bakery!

ReThinking: Pizza Night!

No-i'm not taking credit for making this.  I absolutely detest homemade pizza!  No matter the toppings, I just don't like it.  For take-out pizza, we started by just getting cheese instead of my favorite:  pepperoni+sausage+steak.  (This was a few months ago)  After awhile, I began getting mushroom and cheese, since I looooove mushrooms.  Kyle and the kids only like them.

After we decided to give up dairy, I got my regular mushroom pizza, but selected the "Light Cheese" option.  Now they only added a couple tablespoons of cheese instead of a thick, greasy layer.

Today, we wanted pizza and decided to go "cheese free" from Dominos.  Now, I know they still use dairy in the crust and in the garlic topping, but I felt much better about it not having an inch of cheese on top.  I can also tell a difference in the way my taste buds work.  Foods that used to gross me out actually taste AMAZING these days.  For example, I am in love with red bell peppers these days!  I have never liked bellpeppers much!  One of the toppings that is offered is roasted bellpeppers, and O-M-G!  They are great! Also added baby spinach and mushrooms, since I know I like them.  In a pinch, this was a good meal and very cheap/filling for us.  Add a big salad and some tea, and you're set!

Re Planning: Breakfast

One meal that has been hardest for me to rethink is breakfast.  I love breakfast...I love breakfast foods...I love eating breakfast foods for supper! LOL

For us, we'd always been a typical family.  Breakfast consisted of pancakes (smothered in butter and Aunt Jemima/Mrs. Butterworth/or any other high fructose corn syrup concoction), scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potato hash browns, and coffee.  There is nothing better that sleeping in on Saturday mornings, and then lazily making my way to the kitchen to assemble this spread.

Not only did I overeat, but I felt absolutely sick afterwards...it made me want to go back to bed and be lazy for the rest of the day.  After our big switch to a plant-based, vegan-ish diet, this was definitely going to be off limits!

Now, we wake up and put together a slightly different meal.  Instead of Hungry Jack instant pancakes, I use a boxed Buckwheat Pancake mix with almond milk, coconut oil and natural applesauce.  Instead of bacon, we used veggie sausage and fresh fruit.  I still have my coffee, but replaced my creamer with coconut creamer (i've used stevia for years and years, so that stays! :)  And goodbye HFCS, hello maple :)

All in all, I can eat less and feel full quicker and longer!  I have more energy when I start my day off right.  I'm learning to like and try things that I normally wouldn't...it's been a fun ride so far :)

Recipe: Vegetarian Southwestern Eggrolls

Vegetarian eggrolls were a hit :)  Not quite vegan, as the eggroll wrapper itself has egg whites in it (somewhere toward the end of the ingredient list...)

Ingredients:
1/2 T pecan (or canola/olive/vegetable oil)
3-5 Baby Bella mushrooms
1/4 red bellpepper, diced
2 cups baby spinach
1/2 yellow onion, diced
(I also added Pampered Chef Southwestern seasoning here...you could add a little cumin and chili powder)

Saute all fresh, chopped veggies in the oil, then stir in:

3/4 can of black beans
1/2 can green chilis
1/2 can whole kernel corn

When mixture is heated, take a package of store-bought eggroll wrappers and count out 12.  I used about 3T of mixture in each eggroll.  After trying several different folds, I found the easiest was to turn the eggroll sideways (where a corner points down) and fold the contents up like an envelope.  I sprayed the top lightly with organic cooking spray, and baked at 350* for about 15 minutes.  You don't want to undercook the wrap, but overcooking them makes the corners a little crunchy.

These were really, really good!  Some recipes called for chicken and cheese, so we just left it out.  The kids tore the eggroll wrap open, and ate the inside only.  LOL It wasn't as creamy as some i've eaten at restaurants, so I whipped up a mixture of guacamole, Tofutti sour cream, and a dash of the Pampered Chef Southwestern seasoning to use as a dip.  Also served with steamed edamame (they ARE eggrolls after all! LOL  And we had some on hand...)

School Lunch Ideas

One of the hardest things I have had to figure out has been what to fix for Taylor's school lunch.  She has eaten school lunches a total of 5x.  Even she (at 7 years old) knows that they are completely unhealthy.  This is one of our "go to lunches".  Peanut Butter/Jelly on whole wheat, banana, strawberries and blueberries, and carrot sticks!  Easy peasy...takes 5 minutes to assemble!  A 99% vegan lunch...the only animal protein is whatever percentage is found in the bread.  Sent this with a box of coconut milk!

Favorite Oil!

     As we made the switch to a non-dairy diet, one of the things that was hardest to give up was butter.  I LOVE butter.  Love it!  Unfortunately, butter doesn't love my waistline or my arteries. 


     When I browsed the Internet, I really couldn't find a clear answer for whether margarine would be a safe replacement. Yes, it is plant based, but it is also processed. On the other hand, butter is "natural", but ridiculously high in saturated fats. Luckily, I don't need to use either! We had been getting by with organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but I really didn't like the taste of it. While on a trip to Natchez, I was browsing downtown and came aross this:

     100% Virgin Pecan Oil!  I was a little nervous to try it, because pecans (in my opinion) are very strong flavored.  Surprisingly, there was NO strong pecan flavor!  It really doesn't even have a flavor! 

This nutritional information can be found on their website, as well as the pamphlet that came with my bottle of oil:  "Our Pecan Oil has only 9.5% saturated fat compared to Olive Oil with 13.5%, Peanut Oil with 17%, Corn Oil with 13.7% & Butter with a whopping 66% saturated fat."

     I will definitely purchase this again! You can visit their Facebook page for ordering/store information.http://www.facebook.com/#!/kinlochplantation

Recipe: Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles

       This is probably one of my favorite recipes!  I got it from a friend (Hi Kerri!  *waves*) who threw it together, and it happened to be magical! LOL  It can be altered a bit to suite your own tastes, which is always a plus for me and my picky children.


Ingredients

o 1/2 cup vegetable stock
o 3 tablespoons soy sauce (light is fine!)
o 2-3 tablespoons natural-style peanut butter
o 2 tablespoons honey (I use 3!)
o 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger (minced)
o 2 teaspoons ground cumin
o 1 teaspoon ground coriander
o 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
o 3-4 garlic cloves (minced)

o 1 (8 ounce) spaghetti noodles

o 1 carrot (julienned)
o 1/2 red pepper (chopped)
o 1 cup broccoli florets (small)
o 6 sliced mushrooms

Instructions:
Cook spaghetti as directed, drain, and set aside.

Saute your veggies in a skillet with a drizzle of oil.  Cook until they are done, but are still slightly crisp (I don't like mushy veggies in this dish!)

 Stir together vegetable stock, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, ginget, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes and garlic in a small sauce pan.  Heat in small skillet until honey/peanut butter are melted.

Stir veggies and sauce into noodles, and mix well! 

This recipe is 99% vegan.  The only animal protein found in it would be in the noodles.  Also-there IS honey, which we still use...Agave nectar would be a good substitute!  I just love the taste of honey :)