Chia breakfast and BLT wraps

These have been my two most common foods this week. And my chia breakfast I've been having for months and months now.

Chia Cereal:
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 scoop of vega nutritional shake vanilla flavor
enough water to cover
2 tbsp apple sweetened cranberries.

Mix everything together and let it soak for a few minutes and it is ready to consume. I also travelled around New York/ New Jersey last week, and took ziplock bags full of these three ingredients and I had an instant nutritional breakfast anywhere I went.


BLT wraps:
This takes less than 5 minutes to make, I was inspired by visiting a vegan restaurant in NYC and ordered this, and it was sooo amazing! I craved it so much afterwards that as soon as I came home I bought the ingredients so I could make it too.

2-3 leaves of romaine
1/2 tbsp vegan mayo
1 slice of cheddar vegan cheese (I use Daiya)
3-4 slices of tomato
(the restaurant also had avocado in the wrap, however the avocados at my local organic store were pretty unripe so I went without)
2 slices of tempeh bacon
1 wrap

I take the shortcut way, of using a microwave.. Take a wrap, put the slice of cheese on one side, plus 2 slices of bacon.  Microwave for 45 seconds. Add the tomato, lettuce, and mayo to the other side of the wrap. Roll it up and consume :)

So easy and so satisfying :)

Fiesta Quesadillas

Quick Lunch:

4 servings

4 Gluten free rice wraps

4 slices chao coconut cheese 

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup pinto beans

2-3 tbsp tomato paste

1-2 tsp hot sauce

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp tamarind paste

2 tsp sherry vinegar

1 zucchini chopped

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Garnish/toppings

1/2 cup chopped red cabbage

1 bell pepper sliced

In a pan, heat corn, beans, zucchini, water, and tomato paste. Add seasonings and sauces except cilatnro.  Once heated, add the cilantro and turn off the heat, mix well. 

Prepare garnishes/toppings. 

Heat a rice wrap in the microwave or toaster oven, with 1 slice cheese on top till the cheese melts.  Spoon 1/4-1/3 cup of bean mixture on top, top with some cabbage and sliced bell pepper, and fold in half :) 

Pasta, Quesadillas, and Moo Shu Veggies with a twist

First of all, I have to mention that Chao cheese is now available in Logan, Utah, and it is by far the most amazing vegan cheese (apart from home made) I've ever had.

It's made from coconuts and other things, but wow!

I think I ate the whole block in 1-2 days... I know.

Quesadillas:
Gluten free spinach wraps
Chao cheese
Beyond meat chikn strips
homemade tomatilla salsa
hot sauce

Pretty self explanatory, but this is a super lazy meal for sure.  Grap a tortilla, put the cheese down, the strips and microwave for 1 minute, take it out and put a few spoons of salsa over top and fold the tortilla over, voila and eat with hot sauce if wanted :)

These also work good just with cheese, but too easy to eat like everything in one go, so probably best to put some good fillers in it :)

Pasta:

I made two versions of pasta over the past 2 days.

Red Pepper Pasta:
1 tbsp olive oil

2 gloves garlic

1 red pepper chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp agave
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 can of tomato sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
nutritional yeast

1/2 package of dried penne prepared


Saute garlic in oil, add red pepper and zucchini.  Add the seasonings through tomato sauce.  Let simmer until the sauce is fragrant and the flavors had integrated.

Add to the cooked pasta and sprinkle with red pepper flakes, pepper and nutritional flakes
I like things on the hot side-- so you can always adjust this to what you feel like.

Mexican-ish Pasta:
1/2 can of pinto beans
1/2 can of corn
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 tsp basil
1 tsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp sherry
3-4 tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup of water
1/2 tsp salt
kalamata olives
nutritional yeast

1/2 package of dried penne prepared

Saute garlic, onion, beans, corn in the oil until the onions are transparent.
Add the rest of the ingredients until the sauce is fragrant and the tastes have absorbed.

Add to the pasta, and top with kalamata olives, and nutritional yeast.

if I had had cilantro and kale I probably would have added it as well :)

Moo Shu Gardein with Pineapples
1/2 package of Gardein 'Beef' chunks
1/2 head cabbage sliced
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sherry vinegar
2-3 tbsp liquid aminos
1-2 tsp black bean sauce (found in asian food section)
1 tsp hot sauce
1 slice of pineapple chopped (middle removed)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp minced ginger

Gluten free spinach wraps

Fry ginger and garlic in sesame oil.  Add the other sauces and liquids then add the gardein.  Saute for a few minutes then add the pineapple. Saute for 2-3 minutes than add the cabbage.  If liquids seem less, add tsp at a time of black bean sauce, and liquid aminos.  Heat until the cabbage becomes soft, and add sesame seeds.  Remove from heat.

Heat the wraps and then stuff the cabbage mixture into the wrap and use soy sauce as dip.

And I also made cookies:

Chocolate chip cookies:
 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup coconut oil, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used homemade...  just melt cocoa butter-- 1/3 cup and mix in lots of cocoa powder-- maybe something like 1/3-1/2 cup and some agave--2-3 tbsp and then let dry at room temp) 1/3 cup of silken tofu, 1-2 tbsp agave and 1 tsp vanilla extract. 350 for 8 minutes.

-- copied from my fb page.  



Okay off to bed, goodnight everyone! :)

And it's Monday again

For breakfast I had:

Apricot Mesquite chia cereal
2 tbsp chia seeds
soaked in 1 cup water
4 sliced apricots
1 sliced mango
1/2 tbsp of mesquite

I also had a small bowl of millet cereal with flax milk-- at breakfast late and wasn't sure when I'd be getting lunch.

Fo lunch I made:

Refried Black Bean Quesadilla with pumpkin seed cheese smothered swiss chard
Makes 2

2 rice tortilla
1 tomato chopped
6 tbsp refried black beans
1 small bundle swiss chard

cheese--
1 cup pumpkin seeds
 2-3 tbsp water
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons agave
1 dash braggs

Mix the cheese ingredients in a blender until chunky -- consistency of ricotta.

Wash and chop the swiss chard, and pour cheese mixture on top, mix well.

Spread out 3tbsps refried beans onto the middle of the tortilla and put it in the oven
or broiler for 5-7 minutes until rice tortilla gets soft in the middle and crispy on the outside.

Remove tortilla from oven and spread tomatoes, in the middle and half of the swiss chard cheese mixture.


Dinner:

Veggie burgers
Sauerkraut
Daiya swiss cheese
ketchup
bread
bread and butter pickles

I got home late tonight.. so picked up some of my favorite veggie burgers, put on the cheese -- can throw them in the oven or microwave and then add the rest of the ingredients :)

Super easy.

On the go

I've been working in the field and in the lab more than usual past couple of days, so it's been busy.  I haven't had a lot of time in the kitchen, so my days have been looking like:

1/4 cup of chia seeds soaked in 'milk' or water.  Mixed with micropinch of stevia and 1 tsp cocoa
This is a really quick bfast, I ran out of fruit.. so .. limits the full bfast a bit.

or, I grab some natures path "mesa sunrise" cereal with almond milk.  Pretty quick.

For a to go sandwich, I have been toasting bread, and then lathering it with peanut butter, and sprinkling raisins on the inside.  Once I put it together, wrap it up and eat it later for lunch.. somehow because it was hot when I wrapped it up.. the texture of the bread is pretty amazing.  It's kinda weird.. but I have been enjoying the peanut butter raisin sandwiches.

I've also been bringing snap peas and mini bell peppers to snack on.

Today I brought a raspberry chia kombucha drink, which was an awesome snack time drink :)

Sometimes I am so into kombucha and I want them all of the time, maybe it has to do with the weather getting warmer?

When I got home from work I had a raspberry lemononade popsicle. amazing. I am pretty sure it's been about 7 years since I last had a popsicle.. okay maybe closer to 2 :)

Some friends invited us over for dinner, and they made a quinoa and broccoli salad, it was amazing, it seems like they had used a lot of kale for it too and grilled it prior? It was delicious, and there were pumpkin seeds for garnish.  They had also made a really pretty red cabbage salad, just red cabbage maybe balsamic vinegar and seasonings? Not sure but very simple and very good.

For an appetizer they grilled bread, if I remember right, it was ciabatta bread and first they lathered the bread with oil and seasonings, there was a basil spread and tomatoes sliced, to go on top. It was so delicious!

For dessert vegan chocolate cupcakes!  Red velvet :) made with beets! wow they were incredible.  My friend mentioned that she has a blog so I will be posting a link to the recipe soooon :)

I was also gifted a Kombucha Mother, tonight I decided to make a batch. In the next blog I'll note the process :)

Chikn Tomatillo Quesadillas

Chikn Tomatillo Quesadillas
makes one quesadilla
3 vegan gluten free chicken strips (we used 'beyond meat' brand)
1 tortilla (the good life, rice tortillas)
3 tbsp tomatillo salsa
3 tbsp daiya cheese
1/4 tomato chopped or sliced
1/4 avocado sliced

Fry or the microwave (lazy style) the chicken strips until hot. Spread out one tortilla on a pan.  Put cheese on one side of the quesadilla.  Put it into the oven for broil, for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese starts to sizzle/bubble.  Remove from the oven, add salsa, tomato, avocado and chikn.  Fold in half and eat with sriracha sauce, BBQ sauce or more salsa :)

Quick and easy dinner.