2/8/12

Vegan Day Two

I woke up on day two feeling GREAT! Energetic, light, good. By the end of the day I couldn't stop thinking about chicken. I blame the food network, commercials, pinterest, and my google reader.


Breakfast

This vegan yogurt was awesome! The recipe came from Happy Herbivore, and I was extremely skeptical at first, but it tasted just like banana yogurt...I would not have known the diff in a blind taste test.


The recipe uses silken tofu, soy milk, lemon juice, banana, and maple syrup. I used agave syrup instead and divided the recipe into 4 containers for the week. These servings are 2 WW P+ each. This is comparable to normal yogurt, and a pretty good deal!


Before I left the house for my internship, I threw dinner in a crock pot.


Slow cooker seitan carnitas a la Mama Pea!
And if you're thinking "EW WTF IS SEITAN. sounds evil" then rest assured this recipe would be excellent with chicken, pork, or beef. Ps Seitan is like tofu, but from wheat. It's like 100% gluten, so don't attempt this recipe if you are gluten intolerant.

Here's the recipe:

Slow Cooker Seitan Carnitas
a la Mama Pea
for 4 - 4 WWP+ each

Ingredients

  • 2 8 oz packages seitan
  • 1 c. vegetable broth, divided into 1/4 c. and 3/4 c.
  • 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 c. cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2/3 c. organic salsa
Instructions
  • If you're using seitan, brown the seitan in a lightly oiled frying pan just until you get a bit of color on the "meat"
  • Dump in to a slow cooker
  • Deglaze pan with 1/4 c. vegetable broth, then add broth and bits to crock pot
  • Add all other ingredients to crock pot
  • Cook on low for 6 hours
  • If you use real meat you can skip the browning step and go ahead and crock pot the raw meat for 8 or so hours on low
After internship, there was lunch:

Lunch:
  • Open face meatless meatloaf sandwich
  • Salad with edamame and snapea crisps
  • Honeycrisp apple
  • Red Zinger tea


And after an afternoon kettlebell workout and a bit of homework, I got to enjoy that seitan carnitas.

Dinner:

  • Two Seitan Carnitas tacos topped with avocado
  • Vegetarian refried beans
  • Spanish brown rice (brown rice, tomato sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, corn)
  • Salad with vegan cheese and salsa


Seriously GOOD tacos.


I think I promised you some info on Black Bean Brownies.

You GOT it.

The recipe for Black Bean Brownies came from Habby Herbivore.

What happens when you cross black beans, bananas, oats, cocoa, and some other stuff?


3 WW P+ brownies!


They're fudgy and moist and fix that chocolate craving in a snap.


And they're super easy. You just blend all the ingredients in the blender, pour into a pan, and bake. And there is no flour (just oats), so the recipe works well for people who are off gluten.

So that is all she wrote for Vegan Day Two!

2/6/12

Vegan Day One

Success!

I got so much done today, I can't believe it was only one day.
I started off with a trip to TJ's and a local health food store to pick up the week's supplies. Note that I also picked up pantry items at Target over the weekend. I estimate the grand total for 19 planned recipes that feed 3 people is about $150. Not too shabby.


Bulk spices are a wonderful thing. I transferred the baggie contents into jelly jars and labeled so I wouldn't forget. 


Say CHEEZE.

anyone interested in a taste test?
I took today to meal plan and prep for the week. Tuesday through Thursday shoot right by with work, workouts, and school, so if I don't plan ahead, I end up eating microwaved disgusting things while driving. Ick.

Today's Menu:

Breakfast AKA not vegan clean out the fridge fest AKA the last supper
  • Chobani 0% Blood Orange greek yogurt 
  • 2 pieces turkey bacon
  • Toast
  • Banana
Pre-workout Snack
2 Weight Watchers P+ for a huge piece!
Late Lunch
  • Sandwich with hummus, shredded carrots, and cucumber
  • Snapea Crisps
  • Honey crisp apple
Dinner
meatloaf ingredients

Pre-oven 

Post-oven


Meatless Meatloaf was a hit! It was mostly garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds, and oats, but all the seasonings were absolutely perfect. Kudos to Mama Pea. This is a MUST MAKE for anyone interested in a meatless meal.

On the side were these AWESOME garlic mashed potatoes. The recipe starts with 2 cans of white beans pureed with garlic, salt, and paprika. I modified the recipe a bit from Angela's version.  See recipe below.

Garlic Mash

High Protein Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 10 large red potatoes
  • 2 cans white beans (navy or great northern variety) drained and rinsed
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 2 tbsp whipped earth balance
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 - 1 1/2 cups reserved hot water from boiled potatoes (or hot vegetable broth)
  • cracked black peper to taste
Instructions
  • Scrub potatoes clean, cover with cold water, and boil for 20-30 minutes or until fork tender
  • Meanwhile, in a food processor, chop garlic until minced
  • Add beans and puree until smooth
  • Dump into a very large bowl
  • Add paprika, salt, and a 1/2 c. of hot water
  • When potatoes are ready, fish them out of the water and add to the big bowl with the bean mixture
  • Mash em up!
    • You could always rice the potatoes in to the bean mixture if you're afraid of potato chunks (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE)
  • Add hot water as you mash until you're happy with consistency
  • Season with S & P until your taste buds have a happy party on your tongue
I think I'm in love with these potatoes.


Oh yes, and then I had dessert
This blog has been entirely too long, so I will save the deets on that dessert for another night.

I'm going to go digest my plants now.


2/4/12

Go Vegan Update

I just HAD to share my shopping list. This covers 19 recipes of breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods and excludes any staples that we always have around like cinnamon, sugar, bananas, etc.

My point is... it's kinda long.


FAKE DAIRY
Almond milk
daiya cheese - cheddar
earth balance


PRODUCE
lemons
lime
cilantro
mint
rosemary
avocado
tomato
white onion
spinach
kabocha or winter squash
ginger
garlic
broccoli
red bell pepper
cucumber
celery
2 lbs apples
2 cups shallots
10-12 red potatoes

FROZEN
frozen peas

FRESH
fresh salsa
tahini

FAKE MEAT
22 oz. silken tofu+ ½ block
2 8 oz. packages ground seitan
2 15 oz extra firm tofu + 4 oz
tofu dogs
seitan slabs
10 oz. tempeh

PANTRY
2 cans pumpkin
coconut oil
unsweetened applesauce
1 c. vegetable broth
pinto beans
2 cans light coconut milk
1 can + 1 c. chickpeas
maple syrup
2 15 oz cans navy beans
15 oz black beans
vanilla protein powder
vegenaise <---- i am not too excited about this. think i'll just use silken tofu instead.

SPICES/SEEDS/WEIRD
chia seeds
nutritional yeast
sunflower seeds
xantham gum and/or guar gum <---- for smooth consistency of blended things. it's how starbucks makes your fraps so perfect.
curry powder
garam masala

CARBY
Oats
whole wheat flour
unbleached flour
⅔ c. cornmeal
panko
corn tortillas - no lard
brown rice 4  c cooked
elbow mac - egg free - whole wheat

How much do you think this will cost?