Category Archives: Vegetarian

Apr 28

March’s Vegan Meals: Part 4

I’m sneaking in this post just before the month of April is done. My goodness this was a strange month, but it went be quickly.

Here are a few more photos of the homecooking vegan goodness from my kitchen.

Breakfast for dinner, vegan style. My family wasn’t too excited when I told them I was making them a vegan version of breakfast for dinner. But they ate it all up, well not the kale & tofu scramble. I made roasted potatoes, and a veganized coconut milk French Toast. They all loved the French Toast, and asked for seconds.

Homemade Choco-coconut-chia-pudding. I had a bit of the coconut cream to use up from the coconut milk, so I added in some sugar, cocoa powder, and chia seeds to make some dessert. I topped it off with vegan chocolate chips, and it was pretty darn good.

Tofu Scramble. A month ago I was scared to cook with Tofu, now I stick it in every meal that I can.

Super-cheezy Vegan mac & cheeze. I have to say, I’m getting pretty good at making a mean vegan mac & cheese sauce out of nutritional yeast and rice milk.

Cheezy Quinoa bowl. Cooked Quinoa was my grain of choice in the fridge, so I’m seeing just how many meals I can make out of it. This bowl of cheezy-goodness was my breakfast. I’ve noticed that I crave savory, acidic, and bitter items as my vegan journey continues. It seemed that my entire life I had something sweet for breakfast, but this bowl was filling and tasty. It also quelled my savory tooth.

Veggie Patty Bowl. For my birthday my mom stocked up my freezer with lots of different types of vegan patties. I cooked up a pack for a quick meal. It wasn’t too bad. I paired the patties with steamed veggies, and some quinoa with capers too.

Quinoa with Veggies and fresh Strawberries. Such a simple meal, but so fantastic. Strawberries were on sale for a pound for just $.99 at my favorite store. I stocked up and added strawberries to just about every meal.

Messy Quinoa Sushi and fresh fruit. Have you seen those perfect Quinoa Sushi Rolls on Pinterest?!? Well my Quinoa didn’t do that. They were tasty though, but really messy. I think next time around I’ll just make the traditional sushi rice.

So if I have my math correctly I will have been completely vegan for 120 days on May first! I’m pretty excited about it. I’m going to keep going, and exploring new dishes to try, even though my family thinks I’m crazy.

Apr 26

March’s Vegan Meals: part 3

O.k. so we are finally starting to feel a bit better around here. The kids are doing well, but they still don’t want to go and play in the backyard. It just isn’t the same without the pup running around with them. I’m feeling a bit better too, I’m not sleeping as much as I was, and I’m getting a little more done around the house. I know that every day will get a little better, but my goodness, I miss my dog…

I left off this post a good week ago at part two. I still have two more parts to share.

Simple boiled Red Potatoes with Asparagus. I added in just a bit of lemon juice to brighten up the asparagus. Both of these items were on sale at the store, so I made a big batch for leftovers.

Here’s what I did with some of the leftovers. I made a Tofu Scramble with leftover Red Potatoes and Asparagus. This dish was delicious and filling. Once more the Tofu was on sale too, so this was a very inexpensive vegan meal.

Sushi Bowl

You know I love my vegan sushi, but some nights I need the sushi goodness a little faster. I had pre-cooked sushi rice in the fridge, and I made a quick bowl with Wasabi Avocados, Pickled Ginger, and Sauteed Bok Choy, Zucchini, and Yellow Squash. So tasty!

Vegan Burrito Bowl with plenty of homemade Guacamole.

Spaghetti with Chunky Veggies

Simple Pasta with homemade tomato sauce. I made a big batch of this pasta to eat cold, and to transition into dinner.

I took the some of the leftovers from lunch, and made a delicious veggie soup for dinner. I love cooking items that I can make into many meals.

All things green for lunch. One of my kids (Dylan) will eat the Not-tuna-but-chickpea-salad, but none of the kids will touch my mean and green dip.

They are crazy. Mean-green Tofu and Kale dip is the best!!! Vegan snack food is the best.

I’ll have the last post up soon. I can’t believe that this month is almost over.

 

Apr 18

March Vegan Meals: part 2

I think this is going to end up being a four part post. I took a bunch of photos throughout the month of March. I made a lot of vegan meals too.

Vegan dinner with way too many of my favorites. There is Jasmine Rice, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Kale & Quinoa bites.

I got out the wok and sauteed a big batch of cabbage and onions.

Simple but delicious. Roasted potato wedges with a side of sauteed cabbage.

Homemade vegan take-out! Veggie Lo Mien, with broccoli and snow peas.

Kale & Quinoa bites with all plenty of sides.

Super cheezy vegan pasta bowl.

A very light lunch full of raw vegan goodness.

Veggie wraps make a tasty lunch, or snack in the car when I’m running behind on lunch.

Vegan homemade Lo Mien with pickled ginger. Delicious!

Homemade veggie soup with crusty vegan wheat bread. Berries were on sale, so I added in a big bowl of fresh raspberries and strawberries.

Sometimes Agnes and I just have to have Sushi! I made this giant plate for me, and put a few extras on there for her too. She gets her own plate of vegan sushi, but then she usually ends up picking off of mine too. This batch there are some new ingredients that I was experimenting with. There are kimchi and marinated tofu rolls. Sauteed kale rolls. And Tofu with Avocado rolls. They were all delicious.

 

Apr 17

March Vegan Meals: part 1

I successfully remained vegan for the month of March. I have a lot of photos to share, and I’m going to do a few posts to get them all in.

I made some delicious homemade soup, with lots of chunky vegetables.

Vegan leftovers make a speedy meal when I really don’t feel like cooking.

Not Tuna Salad and homemade vegan wheat bread. The bread was fantastic. I’m finally getting the hang of vegan baking.

Chia Veggie Bake with Kale & Tofu Bites. Another odds and ends meal that I threw together.

Vegan mac & cheese with baked potato wedges and corn. I love vegan mac & cheese. I think I could eat it for just about every single meal. My family even approved of the potato wedges, so they have made it into the meal rotation.

This Kale and Red Potato Soup was unreal.

Kale Greens and Baked Sweet Potatoes. Simple and delicious.

Tofu Onion Dip and Chips, because I love junk food.

Tofu Onion Dip Rice Bowl with Kale and Garbanzo Beans. This was a filling lunch, and really tasty. I used up the odds and ends in the fridge too.

Tofu Veggie Stir-fry. Homemade take-out that was so very good. Stir-fry veggie mix was on sale at my favorite store, so this meal was inexpensive and really delicious.

I’ll have some more posts up soon. I am really running behind this month.

 

 

 

Apr 5

Making Peace With: Kale and Tofu

As I’m venturing along on this vegan path, I noticed that I’m still afraid to use some plant-based ingredients. It seems silly, I shouldn’t be scared of plants.  I have even avoided some foods all together, just because I didn’t know just what to do with them. I’ve decided to break out of my comfort zone, and try a few new things.

I started off at the grocery store and checked to see what was on sale in the fruit and veggie aisle. I found Tofu for $2.49, and Kale for $.99 , so I picked them both up. I had a few ideas what to do with the Kale, but with the Tofu, I had no clue.

So I took the Tofu to instagram.

I had a lot of help with recipes, ideas, and even some prep tips too. I also checked out some recipes on pinterest. It is nice having a community online that can help out with vegan meals.

So here’s what I ended up making with Tofu.

Well I decided the best way to try out Tofu was in snack form. Not the healthiest, but it was quite delicious. I whipped up a batch of Not Sour Cream but Tofu and Onion Dip. I loved it!

I added in some of the dip, along with sauteed kale into a spicy burrito bowl. It was amazingly good!

I marinated some of the Tofu in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic, and wasabi. I coated it in a little corn-starch and made a quick veggie stir-fry. The texture was fantastic, and the Tofu was very tasty.

And then I discovered Tofu Scrambles. Just in case you didn’t already know I am horribly allergic to eggs, and I love scrambled eggs. Going vegan cuts out the possibility of using eggs, and really helps my allergy. Tofu makes a mean scramble that tastes better than any egg.

I sauteed the Tofu along with Kale and Nutritional Yeast. I then proceeded to make this for just about every single meal for a week.

I made a Tofu scramble with Asparagus and Red Potatoes. It was unreal. The addition of nutritional yeast really makes the dish delicious.

The Tofu scramble is a great way to use up pre-cooked veggies in the fridge too. I could eat this dish for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks, in the car as a wrap, and now I’m hungry.

I nerded out the other day when I found a coupon on the Tofu that was already on sale. Vegan win!

So let’s see what we can do with Kale…

First, cleaning it and chopping it. It needs a good swish under the faucet, and then I remove the smaller leaves, that don’t need a chop. Don’t forget to remove the woody stem. I then roll the Kale into a neat little burrito and get to chopping.

It is very versatile. You can bake with it, sautee it, stir-fry it, use it uncooked, and it blends beautifully into soup. I was surprised at just how much I really loved this green.

I thinned down a bit of vegan scalloped potatoes with veggie stock and rice milk. I added in the Kale and let it simmer. This soup was incredible.

I stewed them in a mixture of veggie stock, garlic, onions, salt & pepper, and lemon juice. I served them alongside a baked sweet potato. It was fantastic.

I added pre-cooked (sauteed) Kale into a burrito bowl. I ate a fair amount of chips and guacamole too. The Kale adds just that little hint of green, and the extra vitamins don’t hurt either.

I made some vegan French Toast and a Kale and Tofu scramble.

I also made it into a snack. I added in raw Kale to a mean and green Tofu and Kale dip. Oh man, this was really good. It was good on toast and crackers too.

I added Kale into a batch of vegan scalloped Red Potatoes. It was so good.

I blistered some tiny tomatoes, and sauteed some Kale for dinner. My kids thought it looked really good, but I couldn’t get anyone to try it… Oh well, more Kale for me.

Since I have tried both of these ingredients out, I have added them to my weekly shopping. I’m now keeping Kale and Tofu in the fridge ready to go! Vegetables are tasty, and not too scary when you give them a try.