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! :)

cookies and tacos

I know,

All I ate were cookies today.

Okay I had tacos too.

It's Sunday though :)

I think I also had some fruit salad same as yesterday.

So I spiced up the leftover taco recipe by adding: lime juice, avocado, nutritional yeast, hot sauce, cashew cheese and vegan ranch.

I also made a taco from the leftover pineapple glazed veggies, which was interesting!!

That's all :)

I have so much leftovers, not sure when I'll be cooking again, hopefully soon, I definitely have gotten over my south of the border cravings :) 

Cookies for breakfast

So I was pretty good this past week and making sure I have been eating relatively healthy.

Today is Saturday and the cookies I bought yesterday were the first thing that lured me in, this morning.

My mid morning snack happened to be leftover tacos from yesterday.  My stomach seemed to be a little confused about choices of food today. But oh well.

My midday meal currently is another fruit salad :)

1 pear
1 banana
1/4 cup blueberries
1/4 unsweetened coconut yogurt (vegan of course :) )
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baobob powder
1 tsp agave

I'll probably have some tacos after this, then for my mom's bday we are going out. Not really looking forward to the food choices, but they do have good hummus at the restaurant we are going to, so may make do with that :)

Tacos, Jamaican roasted veggies and fruit salad

So yesterday I invited my parent's over for a south of the border feast :)
Unfortunately I had a late start to dinner preparation so I didn't get a chance to finish all that I wanted to make. Oh well.

Tacos:
2 sweet potatoes finely chopped
1 tbsp oil

1 can of black beans
1 portobello mushroom sliced and then roughly chopped
1/2 can of salsa
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp lemon juice


Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with oil and put into oven at 400 F for 30 minutes. Place the portobello
mushroom in a large bowl.  Dump the rest of the ingredients on top of the portobello, let sit for 10-15 minutes.  Place ingredients in a frying pan until mushrooms are cooked.  Mix the mushroom mixture with the finished potatoes for the taco filling.

Garnish with:
chopped romaine
chopped tomato
ketchup -- I'm weird I know lol I love ketchup with tacos
salsa
vegan sour cream, cheese
guacemole

-- I just used romaine, tomato and ketchup and a little bit of taco sauce.
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Jamaican veggies:

1 bunch of broccolini roughly chopped
1 sweet potato diced
1 potato diced
2 carrots chopped
1 tomato diced
1 yellow bell pepper sliced
1 onion
1 slice of pineapple
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup of lime juice
1-2 tbsp of sugar (if at all)
2 tsp minced ginger
3 garlic cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
sprinkle with pepper and red chili flakes

I made two varieties of this dish, since my mom isn't a fan of pineapples. I made a version for her using a tomato in place of the pineapple, she really enjoyed it!  So basically first place the potatoes, carrots and onion on a baking dish, put into the oven at 425 F for 30 minutes covered.  While veggies are cooking blend the pineapple with the orange and lime juice, sugar, ginger, garlic, nutmeg and salt.  Once blended add the pepper and flakes.  Take the veggie tray out and add broccolini, tomato, bell pepper to the mixture and pour the juice blend over the veggies.  Re-cover and put into the oven for another 30 minutes -- could even do with possibly 20 minutes.

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Fruit Salad:
Serves 3

1/4 cup blueberries
1 pear
1 banana
1/3 cup grapes
1/2 cup unsweetened yogurt
3-4 tbsp agave
1/4 cup of orange juice
2 tbsp lime juice
Soy whip cream

Mix all the ingredients minus the whip cream.  Serve up 3 portions of fruit salad, and top with whipped cream. My family loved this, a very healthy light desert that definitely goes within the south of the border theme :)

I also served vegan chocolate chip cookies  :)

PS i was going to add mangos to this dish.. however once opened they were completely bruised inside :(

Oh well.

Cookbook references:

Jamaican veggies adapted version of the one in
Hot Vegan by Robin Robertson

Tacos inspired by seitan and potato taco recipe in
Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero

Fruit salad inspired by
vegetarian.about.com recipe "Creamy Vegan Ambrosia Fruit Salad with Pineapple"

Jamaican

So recently my husband got me the cook book 'hot vegan' by robin robertson.

And as I was looking through the recipes, I got entirely hooked on the recipes of the Jamaican section/ island section.

Featuring pineapples, mangos, plantain fritters.. etc.

So my plan is to make some of this stuff today, and I am excited, my shopping list:

1 pckg Seitan
1 green bell pepper
vegan margarine (although recently found a really awesome video for making it yourself! I think I'll do that instead)
2 plantains
2-3 mangos
allspice
red bell pepper
pineapple
potatoes


Stay tuned for more :) 

Salads, Pasta, Lentils and Healthy Blueberry Porridge and Snack times :) Summary of the last week

So it's been a long time!  School got the best of me at the end of fall, and next thing I knew I travelled to India for a month to see family I haven't seen in over two years!!

I am back and I am ready to start a fresh!  I want to reinvigorate fresh foods in my life as well as regular exercise.  The stress of daily life can sometimes impede.. but it's a sign that its even more important to make time for that!

So the last couple days I've been making super easy on the go foods.  The scale of goodness from 1-10, maybe is about a 5, the scale of healthiness is probably about an 8 though.  :)

Or something...

So coming back from India I was craving craving fresh foods, I had limited myself to mostly cooked cuisine since I had fallen sick a couple of times there and wanted to reduce my chances of getting any more stomach issues/ colds.  It was relatively mild what I had picked up, but it's good to be somewhat pre cautious while traveling.

I came home and I bought:
cabbage
romaine lettuce
kale
collards
green beans
yellow and orange bell peppers
oranges
limes and lemons
portobello mushrooms
canned organic corn (for the sake of ease)
coriander
parsley
i would have loved basil if they had had.. but they didn't
2 different types of tortillas -- ancient grains, and gluten free
avocados
zucchini

If I had had the option to purchase more fresh fruit I would have, the selection looked pretty sad though at the store so I held off.

First thing I made was:
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Spanish Lentils:
3/4 cup of lentils
2-3 cups of water
4-5 sundried tomatoes
3 crushed garlic
1/2 tsp salt

Add all ingredients into a crockpot, cook on high heat for 4 hours

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Avocado and Cilantro Lime Corn Soft Taco Salad:
2-3 servings

1 avocado diced
1 can of corn drained
1/2 lime juice
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
dash of smoked paprika
spanish lentils (optional, can add a few tbsp)

Mix all of the above ingredients into a bowl

2-3 big leaves of romaine sliced
2-3 tortillas
refried beans (home made or storebought -- I used an instant one that is just to be mixed with water... and it was actually pretty terrible.. lol I recommend either from the can or homemade)

Put a tortilla on a plate, top with beans

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Savory Portabello with Herbed Cheese Wrap:
1 portobello diced in large chunks
8-9 green beans ends removed and sliced 2-3 mm thick
1 zucchini diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp soy sauce
2-3 tbsp of sherry vinegar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp salt

Let vegetables cook in liquids and seasonings for 5-10 minutes.

Herbed Cheese:
1/2 cup cashews
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp of water, depending on desired consistency

Blend cashews plus water, salt and lemon juice until desired consistency
add basil.

For the wraps:
Place a tortilla on a plate, spread with 'cheese', layer chopped romaine, and add vegetables


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Curried Tomato Pasta:
1-2 servings
1 cup of dried pasta -- boiled

Sauce:
1 can of tomato sauce or 3 blended tomatoes
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 dollops coconut yogurt (or half can of coconut milk -- I recommend coconut milk, I used yogurt, which was fine, but the leftovers.. seemed to have too much of a sour taste)
dash of cumin
dash of pepper
dash of smoked paprika
dash of cayenne
2-3 kale leaves thinly sliced

Once the sauce is heated, add the kale until just wilted, mix altogether with the pasta.  I added nutritional yeast atop :)
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Cooked Cabbage and Quinoa salad with Tahini dressing:
1/2 head of cabbage sliced and roughly chopped and lightly steamed
3-4 leaves kale sliced
3/4 cup of dried quinoa boiled

Tahini dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp balsamic
1 tbsp agave
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all the dressing ingredients together

To make the salad mix cabbage, kale and cooked quinoa with the dressing.
Garnish with hemp seeds and flax seeds :)
I actually ate this for breakfast yesterday :)

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Healthy Blueberry Porridge:

1 cup of whole groat oats soaked over night
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbsp of vega nutritional blend (optional -- or any other high protein powder)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp of hemp seeds
2 tsp chia seeds
2-3 tbsp dried cranberries
1/2 cup of water -- or as much needed to make a porridge consistency

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth :)

VOILA


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Snack times:

For snack times, and for moments of hunger, I eat:

1 gluten free tortilla, spread with peanut butter :)

I also recently made chocolate!

I melted 1/4 cup of cocoa butter in a pan, and added 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder.  oh it was sooo good and it was dark!  I added 1 tsp of agave and MY mistake I added organic sugar... like 1-2 tbsp...
The sugar did not melt like I thought it would!! It was crunchy :////

Quite the disappointment.. anyway, I've still been eating it.

I poured the chocolate into a plastic container. And 5-6 hours later it was dried and easily peeled off. I was breaking it off and eating it.. it tasted awesome... texture was bad.. because of the sugar.. but oh well.

I added it to my peanut butter sandwiches after slightly microwaving the tortilla to get it warm.. and then the chocolate melts... and at that point i never noticed the crunch :)