Black Bean Burritos (VEGAN!)

Tonight we were going to have black beans and plantain. But sadly, the Plantain was no good. I'm definitely going to have to have DH pick the next one out.

So, having the beans all prepared, I improvised. And oh, am I glad I did. Black Beans, rice, tomatoes, lettuce and guacamole! Holy Moly!

Mini Muffin ate half of a tomato, and some beans and rice. She just LOVES tomatoes! I ate all that I had here and was satisfied. DH ate the same amount and he didn't seem to complain either. He mentioned that he liked the beans this way!

AND....AND...It was VEGAN!! Now, if I could have just added those plantains!

Eggplant Pizza.

Well, I almost forgot to take a picture. But I did manage to get one of the last, lonely piece of pizza!

If any of you are thinking, EWWW, Eggplant on PIZZA, let me explain. I first had Eggplant on my Pizza several years ago at small restaurant called "The Trolley Stop Pizzeria", in Massachusetts. This place had all sorts of oddities on their pizza menu..apples, almonds, and yes, Eggplant. My mind envisioned brownish purple slimey blobs....but they told me they used their eggplant Parmesan. I was intrigued, and tried it. And that, my friends, was the best ingredient I've EVER had on my pizza. It became so common for me to order, that they began to know which pizza I wanted before I asked! Mushrooms, onions, and eggplants, please!

So now, I bring the secret to you all! Next time YOU make eggplant parmesan, try saving aside a couple of slices to add to your pizza. Trust me, you'll be glad you did!

I made this pizza on whole wheat crust!

Verdict: Muffin Man was so surprised at the flavor. I don't think he believed years ago when I'd order it. He does now!! He did mention however, that the pizza crust tasted, um, wheaty. GOOD! Mini Muffin ate half of a pizza slice. Pretty good, I think. I ate 4. Yes, 4!! Then I ate the last one before bed.

Macaroni & Cheese Please!

First off, I have some bad bad sad news.....Starting this weekend, I will be on vacation to Central California and will most likely not be able to post. HOWEVER, I will take images of things I think you will enjoy and post them when I get back. I should be back to posting July 5th! We may even find some new vegan restaurants on the way. If so, I am SO taking pictures!

HOWEVER!!! This week I will continue to post. Once again, this doesn't start until this weekend!!! I may also try to get a comment from the Muffin Man on his eating experiences without me. He'll be staying home this trip.

Now, for supper. And yes, I almost forgot to take a picture. But I did take one and you all can enjoy.

Yes, its the infamous Macaroni and Cheese! However, I do believe that if you do this meal right, it doesn't have to be unhealthy! For instance, as you can see, there is MORE salad than macaroni! Secondly, there is broccoli, onions, and carrots in the macaroni. Third, this is homemade, from scratch! No box mixes. Thus, you can control the ingredients and amounts you put in!!

Corn Muffin (my mom) came for supper tonight. Hence, Mini Muffin almost didn't anything but red peppers and cucumbers, but then she discovered how fun it would be to let GRANDMA feed her. So she ended up cleaning her plate! HURRAY!

Muffin Man gave me a dear compliment. He called me from work to tell me that dinner was good and he greatly enjoyed it! HURRAY AGAIN!!! This was indeed a good meal, and not just because he said so!

Eggplant Non-Parmesan

Last night we had Eggplant Non-Parmesan. I made us each a small salad as well.

I sliced the eggplant into 1/3 inch slices, and dipped them in flour, then in egg, and then in cracker crumbs. The cracker crumbs were crushed finely, and seasoned with crushed rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil, and red peppers. I then fried it in olive oil until brown on both sides. If anyone can give me a Tried and True method to do this without eggs, I'll try it and post the results!

Verdict: Very good! Unfortunately, we accidently spoiled Mini Muffin's appetite by letting her have crackers and things before I made supper. (by we, read Muffin Man). So, she had some tomatos and that was it. Hmmm.....The Jumbo Muffins stuffed themselves. There were also two eggplant slices left, so those will end up on pizza one day soon!

O-Crud, its Okra! Vegan!

Tonight I made a variation of Kadhai Bhindi, variation being because I didn't have mango powder or a few of the spices. I sauteed garlic, onions, and okra together, added some garlic salt and presto, done!

I also made Eggplant Curry, by sauteing onions and garlic with the eggplant, and then put coconut milk in until it covered the eggplants, added curry and garlic salt, and some paprika.

The last thing we had were lentils. Basic lentils.

Muffin Man was out on business this evening and didn't eat supper with us. He took his to work with him, so I don't know what he thinks of the meal. Mini Muffin stuffed her little tummy with lentils and rice, but didn't want to try the okra and eggplant. The jury's still out on curried eggplant and okra as far as she's concerned! I give this meal an A+! It was healthy, delicious, and it LOOKS wonderful!

Update! Muffin Man said his food was good, however, when asked about the Okra, he said, "it was ok.... "
I'm pretty much the only person in this house to appreciate Okra properly, but that's alright with me. MORE FOR ME!!!!!

VEGAN!!!! Asian Food

Whoo hoo, what a surprise. An Asian meal that's vegan LOL. I have to say, this is probably the easiest menu, aside from Indian, to make Vegan.

Menu: Tom Yum, a Thai soup, Sushi, and Stir fried rice.

Tom Yum: This is a sweet and sour soup, usually made with Shrimp and flavored with Shrimp paste, or fish paste. Here is what I did to make it vegan.

2 C water
3 fresh mushrooms medium size cut into convenient spoonable size pieces
2 stalks of lemon grass, bruised (this isn't eaten, but is an essential flavorant)
2 "kaffir" lime leaves
2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
1-2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 chunks of Galanga root.
1/4 cube tofu, chopped into convenient spoonable size pieces

Beat the lemon grass with the grinder of the mortar and pestle, or with the back of something like a cleaver. Heat the 2 cups of water to boiling point, add the lime leaves, lemon grass, galanga root and soy sauce. When it is highly aromatic, add the mushrooms and the sweet chili sauce. Taste to see if it needs more chili sauce or soy sauce. Serves 2 and a half!

I apologize for the blurry pictures. I am not sure what was wrong with my camera today. I notice it only did that on the warm foods, so I'm wondering if steam was an issue.

Verdict: Mini Muffin was hesitant about trying the Tom Yum. However, we've eaten this at our friend's Thai Restaurant before, so I think she realized it was familiar. She ate a several bites and then discovered the sushi....which she LOVES! So she proceeded to eat most of one of those. When I finally gave her the rice, she ate most of that, only stopped because her belly couldn't hold anymore! Healthy and delicious!

Special thanks to Corn Muffin, my mom, for messing up her Tom Kha recipe the other day and donating the lime, lime leaves, lemon grass, and galanga root for this meal!

BAM!!! BOP!! WHAM!!!!

Ok, just being silly with the title. I want to post a little on Worthington Foods. Wham, Turkey, Fri-Chik, are all made by Worthington. MorningStar Farms brand favorites of ours are Chik Patties, Bacon Strips, Sausage Links, and Sausage Patties.

The MorningStar Farms foods can probably be bought at just about any grocery store. The Worthington Foods probably will only be found at Adventist food stores such as places called Adventist Book Center (ABC) or A Better Choice Nutrition (ABC). A store locator can be found here.

Many of these foods are not vegan but are only vegetarian. However, you will NOT find meat in them. They are all vegetarian. I hope this information helps!

Sandwiches, Sandwiches, Sandwiches

The last few nights we've had sandwiches. Tonight it was because we were in a hurry. The other nights because I really didn't want to "cook". It was too warm. Sunday we had Hoagies and chips. I took Hoagie Rolls, layered them with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, onions, and wham. These were awesome! We even added a bit of horseradish to it! MMMM.

DH ate his sandwich and Mini Muffin picked at hers. She's kinda in that stage. She ate her tomatoes though! She ate most of her wham, and some of her bread. She did want some chips though!

The second sandwich I'm featuring is the all American grilled cheese! Add that to tomato soup and you have a winner! I added green chilies and kidney beans to this soup. I also snuck in mushrooms and onions into the sandwiches.

Mini Muffin ate all of her soup and asked for MORE! She had a baby bowl, MUCH smaller than this one. She also ate half her sandwich, dipping it all the way! Her sandwich was on baby -sized bread. That may explain her eating so much of it! Her little tummy was tight as a drum!

Tomorrow should bring something BESIDES sandwiches!

Fish Fillets

I made Tofu Fish Fillets with tarter sauce, rice, and green beans. However, DH wanted fish fillet sandwiches! So we added the bread as well!

These were very good! I apologize that you can't see the tofu fillet very well, but it basically looked like my tofu burger's. The biggest difference between the two were the fact that I didn't marinate the tofu this time.

Mini Muffin ate 1/2 of a fillet, and some rice and bread. "Beb" as she calls it! She declined the green beans today but I got a couple into her.

I want to thank all you guys for letting me know how your meals work when you try these ideas! It spurs me on to get creative!

Fondue!!!!

Unfortunately, this is not vegan fondue. I wanted to make that, but had just about none of the ingredients. So I made chedder fondue. We used bread, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, mushrooms, and roasted garlic as our dipping mediums. Not pictured are the garlic cloves as they weren't out of the oven yet...I forgot they were cooking. No, they didn't get burnt!

Verdict: This was a first for both the Muffin Man and our little Mini Muffin. Mini Muffin doesn't take to well to new items, generally she pretends to hate them. Have them a few times and she loves them! Add cheese to the mix, and well....she hates cheese. (Loves Cheez-its, go figure!) Muffin Man, however, couldn't get enough and ended up pouring fondue onto his plate so he could eat faster and thus get more in!!! He said, "Fondue! Where have you been all my life!" I'm wondering how he'll react to the vegan one, as he tends to like vegan things even more! This was definately a winner!

Lasagne

I promised lasagne! And now I deliver. Not that you all haven't seen it before. But that's beside the point.

Tuesday night I had a couple of visitors for supper. Some nice young men came to our house to discuss theology, and the differences between our two (or three) religions. I didn't post that last night because after they left I was tired. Anyway, for supper, I had made a tofu lasagne and salad. Seeing as I STILL didn't have any lettuce, I made a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and mushrooms. I tossed it with a smidge of olive oil and basil and thyme.

The lasagne had broccoli and carrots in it, along with tofu and some tillamook cheese. As you can see, it came out textbook!

Verdict: The two visitors had no CLUE it was tofu. They thoroughly enjoyed the meal, and were shocked that tofu could blend so well into foods. Mini Muffin ate her's happily, vegetables first of course! The salad was surprising tasty, I'm not a big fan of vegetable salads without lettuce.

Spaghetti!

I was going to make lasagne. I even made bread to go with it, and I was going to make a salad. BUT, we were out of tofu, and pasta sauce. We also had no lettuce. So I went to the store today to buy tofu, lettuce, pasta sauce, and spagetti noodles in order to have a spaghetti meal with the young LDS men who were coming to dinner. However, the lettuce was nasty. So, no salad. And the young men weren't able to come at dinner time, so hence I have a TON of spaghetti left over. I'm sure I'll find a use for it. But I made the bread into herbed bread in the oven.

Those young men are coming tomorrow, and I'm hoping to have the lasagne made then. I'm not sure what I'll make to go with it, but I'll try to be creative!

Again, no photo as of yet as BlogSpot won't let me. SOON I PROMISE!

Quesedillas

Sorry for no picture. I'll post as soon as BlogSpot lets me! Last night's meal consisted of a small quesedilla each, with rice and beans and a vegetable side: zuchinni and corn. Simple and satisfying!

The zuchinni was apparently very bitter, so everyone left that on their plates. But the rest of the food was eaten happily!

Indian food! VEGAN!

Ok, here's another vegan meal. Lentils, brown rice, coconut vegetable curry, and samosas! The samosas were made with pie dough, stuffed with curried potatoes and garbanzo beans. I then baked them at 350 till the dough was nice and done, at least 30 minutes. I didn't really keep track.

The lentils were basic lentils, but the curry was made with the rest of the potatoes from the samosas, a can of garbanzo beans and frozen mixed vegetables. I cooked all that in water thickened with cornstarch and at the end added a small amount of coconut milk, to give it creaminess. I seasoned the whole thing with curry powder, paprika, and garlic salt.

Verdict: Good and filling! If you want to feed people well, this is it! I was full after eating the plate of food pictured here. Mini Muffin still isn't feeling her greatest, but after tasting the food, decided it wasn't all that bad, and ate half of her plate. That still wasn't much, but hey, she ate it! My mom was here again, (yes, she eats with us a lot now!) and she was in heaven! Definately a great meal. I'm glad DH begged for it for so long!

Stirfry and Chili Cheese Puffs

The stirfry is vegan. However the cheese puffs aren't. The cheese puffs are basically wonton wrappers stuffed with cream cheese mixed with sweet chili sauce! Its my mom's recipe! And its the best! I'm wondering how vegan cream cheese would work here.

The stirfry is tofu, carrots, broccoli, and rice stirfried together. I also made egg drop soup, but we ate it all before I remembered to take a picture! For that I julienned some carrots, broccoli, and scallions, and boiled them. I added a package of ramen noodle oriental seasoning and then when the whole thing was boiling well, added two eggs, slowly. Next time I'll grab a snapshot! I also added some seaweed in at the end.

Verdict: Mini Muffin ate some of her chili cheese puff, and half of her soup. She tried to eat some fried rice but as she isn't feeling well, she didn't eat much. The rest of us however....lets just say, everything's GONE!!!!!!!