Vegan peanut sauce

I've been craving Thai food lately but being poor means no going out for Thai food. So I improvised. 

I wanted Thai noodles in a peanut sauce. What I lacked though was soy sauce and rice vinegar, so what I created instead was a my version of a peanut sauce. I poured this over spaghetti squash mixed with sweet potatoes and mushrooms. Pretty awesome. 

My vegan peanut sauce 

1/4 c natural peanut butter

Juice of one clementine and 1 lemon 

2tsp white vinegar

Healthy squeeze of agave 

Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste

Water or vegetable broth to thin it out 

That's it! Mix together and pour over food when it's hot. It was pretty good and jack seemed to dig it. 

Favorite coffee

I'm a big coffee drinker. In the spring and summer though, I'm so grossed out by hot coffee and making coffee and refrigerating it just reminds me of drinking old coffee. 

Until now. 

Thanks to smitten kitchen, I found an awesome iced coffee recipe that is mellow and refreshing and needs no sugar. I just mix in a little almond milk. 

Iced coffee

2/3 c ground coffee

3c water

Mix the two and put in a jar overnight (best to let it sit 10ish hrs) in the fridge. Pour the coffee through a coffee filter, add ice and milk and enjoy!

At home breakfast

When I'm home, I tend to like to make something a little more sustaining than oats. I usually do some sort of tofu breakfast scramble and add whatever vegetables I have in the fridge, which is nice because even when jack has had his full breakfast, he always wants some of mine. 

Lately, this one has been a favorite:

Southwest Scramble

1/2 sweet potato

1/3 red bell pepper

1/4 onion

1/2 zucchini 

1 cup of kale

I serving of tofu (I had left over black bean patties so I used one of those)

Chili powder, salt and pepper

To cut down on oil, I dice my sweet potato and cook it in a covered skillet in a little water. When it's almost done, add peppers, zucchini and onion and cook for a few more minutes. Add your protein and kale. In a cup, add 1tbs water with 1tsp chili powder, salt and pepper. Mix well and pour over your skillet. Cook until kale is wilted. 

I added a little lemon tahini dressing and topped it with hot sauce and nutritional yeast. 

Good stuff!

Almonds!

I've always wanted to use almonds in a recipe in place of meat but the idea always scared me. I don't know why, after trying this recipe from ohsheglows.com, I'm going to have to find other recipes. 

I loved it. And a small amount in a salad really goes a long way. Ray didn't, this is supposed to mimick tuna salad, which he already isn't a fan of. 

Almond "Tuna" Salad

1 cup almonds

2 celery stalks chopped

Quarter of an onion finely chopped

3 tbs veganaise

1-2 tsp mustard of choice

1tbs relish

Soak your almonds in water over night. They'll become plump. Rinse well and pulse in food processor until "flakey." 

Add remaining ingredients. 

Mix well and refrigerate for an hour. I loved it in a salad and it kept me satisfied for hours. 

I had some leftover roasted chickpeas that I added to mine. Pretty good!

Enjoy!

veggie baby and other stuff

Introducing Jack to table food has been an interesting experience. First he hated all fruit. Then he hated vegetables. Now we're in the everything-you-eat-is-mine stage. So when I find a food that he likes for more than a few days, I get super excited and make it in bulk.

In the beginning, nearly everything he ate I bought and puréed. Some women boast their frozen milk stash, I had an impressive frozen purée stash. It's so easy that I honestly can't fathom why people buy jarred food as making his food is cheaper too. Then I realized that what he likes today he may not like tomorrow so cooking in bulk may not have been the best idea ;)

What has never changed is this kid's love of avocado. He eats a couple ounces every day at breakfast and has since 6 months old. All I do is purée a couple avocados with a little water in a food processor, divide into ice cube trays, cover and freeze. Then when it's frozen, pop them out and put them in a large freezer bag. Plus I've learned that I can mix two cubes of avocado with one other vegetable  from my stash for breakfast and he still loves it.

He was sick this past weekend so I started looking for different foods that he would eat (being sick obviously means you're too sick to feed yourself!) and found two chunky purees that he really loved. 

Lentil Puree (adapted from weelicious)

Quarter of an onion, chopped

Few baby carrots chopped

1 tsp minced ginger

2 cups of water

1 cup lentils (I used green)

14oz can tomato purée or sauce

1tbs curry powder

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tbs olive oil

Sauté the carrot and onion in oil for a couple minutes. Add ginger and curry, sauté for another minute. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to lowish, stir, cover and cook for 35 min or until lentils are done (make sure you're stirring occasionally) and in a creamy sauce. Let it cool and puree in a food processor. Freeze in covered ice cube trays, and once frozen, remove and put in a large ziplock bag. Good frozen for 4 months. 

He loved it. It's actually pretty good, I ate some for lunch before I pureed it. 

The second recipe he liked but not the first bite. The quinoa texture threw him off guard but by the second bite he was hooked. It reminded me of rice pudding, and with quinoa, I knew he was getting a vitamin and protein packed breakfast. 

Quinoa banana smash (adapted from weelicious)

I banana

6tbs cooked quinoa

2 tbs plain almond or soy yogurt

Pinch of cinnamon 

Mash banana and add remaining ingredients. Makes roughly 3-4 servings. 

I'll periodically post baby recipes but back to adult food in the next posting!

vegan part trios

Alright so my last go around wasn't too successful. a few days in and Taco Bell started calling my name and I gave in. Then came the holidays and the rest was a gainful history.

but I'm back.

About two weeks ago I contacted a good friend about my frustrations. He and his wife have been vegan for years and both are healthy and fit, so I knew I was contacting the right person. He told me to write down everything I ate for three days. no cheating, no changing how I normally ate, just write it down. It was embarrassing. Even I could see how my diet had become mostly processed, sugar centered and water-less. he took some time and wrote me a thoughtful response about what I need to change and it was like it clicked. the first few days were rough but after that, I fell into my good habits again and I feel awesome. And silly for taking this long to get back into a healthy diet. it's been 7 days now, and already I have more energy, I feel clearer and I've dropped 7 lbs. only a literal ton more to go.

Anyway, I've been getting a ton of my recipes from ohsheglows.com which has been helpful. I nanny part time, so the days I do that, I make vegan soaked oats to take with me in the morning. Its hearty, it satisfies me til I get home and it clocks in at aound 380 calories. No picture because it's really not a pretty dish.

Vegan Soaked Oats:
1/4 c rolled oats
1 smashed banana
1 and 1/2 tbs chia seeds
1/2tsp cinnamon
2/3 c unsweetened almond milk
1/3 c water
1tbs nut butter
flax seeds

Mash the banana really well. Stir in the remaining ingredients except for the nut butter and flax seeds. Put into an air tight container and let sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning, add nut butter and flax seeds (and whatever else you add to oatmeal) stir and enjoy.

It's weird at first but it's pretty good. It doesn't taste like you're eating cold oatmeal either.

up next: almond "tuna" salad  and some baby recipes!

Day 1

I did it! And I feel pretty good. Actually I feel full, need to learn how to stop when I'm full, no matter how much is left on my plate.

Ray and I stocked up on supplies last night, dry goods, spices, produce, the works. Then I spent some time cooking so I'd have things in the fridge for lunches and dinners. The first thing I made was hummus. Bangin' hummus, so much better than store bought. Why do people pay for hummus when it's way cheaper to make and doesn't take that long?

Then I made big servings of what I packed for lunch so I can have it on hand for a few days:

Nevermind, the photo won't upload.

So I'll just write it out.

I made a detoxing red cabbage saute. I sauted one sliced sweet onion in 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil, then added to that a whole sliced red cabbage, 2-3 tbs apple cider vinegar, a little sugar and salt. Then about 2oz of water and let it cook down, covered on med-low, for about a half hour, then partially uncovered for another 20min. It's roughly 125 calories, 3 grams of fat and 4 grams of protein per serving. I love it because i feel like it cleans my body while I eat it.

Next I went back to my old faithful, quinoa salad. I cooked up 2 cups dry quinoa, then simply mixed it with 1 zucchini, handful  of cherry tomatoes and some green onion that I sauted in 1tbs of olive oil. 130 cal, 4 g of fat, and 5 g of protein per serving. For lunch, I added a dollop of my hummus to the top of the salad.

Snacks through the day were almonds and a rice cake with hummus. I know i need to be careful with almonds though. Yes they're healthy, but a handful is too much ;)

Dinner was a salad. I was hungry and tired and didn't feel like doing much, so I just roasted a japanese sweet potato, then mixed it with some spring mix, cherry tomatoes, some gardenia meatless beef tips and salsa.

Upped my water too so I feel soooo much more hydrated than previous days. Now early to bed as my son is still not used to time change which means frequent night time risings.