New Year, New Blog!

Can we just pretend 2014 never happened, blog-wise?  I mean, it appears it hasn’t.  So, moving on to 2015!  I am terrible with New Years Resolutions, mostly because I think that these things take time and consideration and somehow I’m never quite ready as the clock ticks over to jump right in.  And, then I’m already behind.  Heck, it was four days into the year before I even ran a mile...so it’s clear I’m not doing any kind of “run a mile a day” challenge.  What I am going to do is 12 (hopefully) month long resolutions/challenges, because that seems attainable.  I had a fun time making a list of resolutions, which include things like "add $1000 extra to savings" and "teach Turtle [my dog] two new tricks" and "make 10 new recipes". At the end of each month I will select the challenge/resolution to do for the following month.  This month I selected a Whole30 challenge to start off with.  Nothing like jumping in head first!

I’d like to preempt this by saying, I am going to make this my own adaptation of a Whole30 challenge. I’m still not going to eat any meat.  And this isn’t some weird paleo, culty, crossfit thing.  Because of this, I’m going to add back in beans and tofu and lentils and various things that will give me protein (because I still think eggs taste gross).  Since I’m bringing in the beans, peanut butter can stay, too (who doesn’t love legumes).  Also, I’m well aware that there are going to be missteps, “cheats”, and things that just don’t work.  But, I think that’s what this month is about. In all honesty, my diet isn’t all that “unclean”.  I cook most of my own dinners, my lunches when bought are mostly salads (although there is the delicious yoga-mat infused Subway quite often as well!), and there’s tons of fruits and veggies.  What I think this month is about for me - and I will remind myself of this often - is figuring out how to tackle some of the places where my eating habits aren’t top notch.  This is about fighting off the mid-afternoon cookie, or the chocolate bar I (apparently) always buy myself at Trader Joe’s.  It’s for the poptarts I used to eat for breakfast because they were easy.  It’s about finding a way to make some new habits so that making a better choice doesn't seem so overwhelming.  I’m not going to be bread-free for life, and dear god I already want to get some cheese back in me.  But, if at the end of this I have a better diet, great.  If I’ve lost a few pounds as I head in to marathon training season, well that’s fantastic.  Because I hear it’s way easier to run a few pounds lighter.

We can consider that I’m starting today.  But, I’ve barely figured out what that means - and I haven’t gone grocery shopping at all yet.  So maybe this is day 0, where I will try and figure it out.

For the fans!

Our one reader commented to Melanie and I that our blog was...well, lacking.  It has, in fact, been dead silent for over a year.  So, here to revive it, I bring you tonight's dinner!!

I came home and felt like I had nothing to pull together for dinner, but then a few things hit me.  First, there seemed to be the edge of a plastic bag in the veggie drawer, which tipped me off to the fact that I might have some "need to be used now" veggies in there.  Indeed, I found one zucchini, one yellow squash, half a red pepper, half a green pepper, and two tomatoes.  Of that, the yellow squash, green pepper and one tomato were put immediately into the compost pile. The remaining zucchini, red pepper and tomato were diced up and sauteed in a pan with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Then I remembered that I had made some Green Goddess Herb Pesto a few months back and had frozen the leftovers.  (This was from my snow-day grilled cheese extravaganza, which I need to retro-blog someday soon, for sure!)  So, I dumped the frozen pesto into the sauteed veggies. As it defrosted and coated the veggies I decided, perhaps I could make a fake creamy sauce, so I simply dumped in a little soy milk and sprinkled some grated parmesan cheese on top. The I just stirred it all together, and heated it so it thickened slightly.

Add some linguine.

And, viola, it turns out that I did have something to make for dinner!  Let's call this Zucchini Red Pepper Creamy Pesto Linguine.

Yum-o!

Salad doesn't have to be punishment

Here's my new-ish favorite salad recipe that was inspired by my friend Lisa. We made it when I was at her house one day for lunch. It's really simple yet oh-so good. Of course it starred two of my favorite things in the world (tomatoes and avocados) so it was an instant hit. Scott would call it one of my "crazy Armenian salads without lettuce" -- but there isn't much Armenian about it so I beg to differ. I added a few things to kick it up a notch, and no, one of those things wasn't mint. . . though that's not a bad idea.

Mix the following together in a bowl and enjoy! You might want to chill it a little first, but it IS best eaten the same day that you make it:

-1 package of cherry or grape tomatoes (because I'm a little OCD I definitely cut these guys in half)
-2 ripe avocados, cubed/chopped
-finely diced red onion (scallions would be good too, not too much though, maybe 2-3 tablespoons)
-14.5 oz can black beans or chickpeas or kidney beans, whatever you like
-juice of 1/2 a lemon
-drizzle of EVOO
-a few healthy dashes of garlic salt
-freshly ground black pepper
-several dashes of dried dill weed

Vegan Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

I did it! I veganized one of my favorite Ina Garten recipes. . . SO exciting (and yummers!!) Just one note, I've only made it once so I'm still a little unsure as to the exact amount of milk I used. I would start with 1/4 cup and then probably add up to an additional 1/4 cup, so have 1/2 cup ready to go just in case.

-18 oz peanut butter (I used 365 brand creamy organic. . . it was one of them that you don't need to stir that has both salt and sugar in it. In the original recipe, Ina recommends Skippy or some other commercial brand because it generally works/mixes better than the "all natural stir it yourself" kind)
-1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
-1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil, whatever you have
-1 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2 tsp vanilla
-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt (kosher or whatever you prefer)
-1/4-1/2 cup of your favorite non-dairy unsweetened milk (I used original rice)

-10 oz raspberry fruit spread (or any that's not clumpy)
-peanuts (raw or roasted, salted or non, whatever your preference) to sprinkle on top

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9X13 pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, applesauce, oil, sugars, and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 cup milk. You might need to get your hands in there if it gets too difficult to use a spoon/fork. The consistency should be sort of like cookie dough. If it sticks to your hands too much it's going to stick to the roof of your mouth, so adjust accordingly! (I'll try to remember to update this recipe when I make it again with more precise measurements).

Press about 2/3 of the dough as evenly as you can into the pan -- no need to go too crazy though. Spread the whole 10oz jar of jam evenly over the top. Spread the rest of the dough on top of the jam (and by "spread" I really mean take small clumps of it, flatten them a bit, and place them pretty close to each other, covering as much as the jam as you can -- don't worry it will all come together in the oven). Sprinkle the peanuts on top and try to press them into the dough a bit with your hands or a spatula.

Bake for about 40 minutes, I think. . . until slightly brown on top. This isn't a bar that will be hard and crispy when it's ready. It stays pretty soft and fluffy, so more like a blondie or lemon bar than, say, granola. It's amazing when warm from the oven but WILL break apart pretty easily so you should probably wait until they're kinda cooled to cut them. And then enjoy! And remember, you're eating peanut butter, so it's not all that bad for you ;)

CRACK MAC

I've made numerous vegan macaroni and cheese recipes over the past year and a half (NUMEROUS, I mean, you remember how much I use to love cheese, Jenni) . . . this is my new favorite and I had to share it. I like to refer to it as Crack Mac because, well, in my opinion, it's just that good. . . not that I know what crack is like or anything.

This recipe is my own adaptation from Vegan Vittles' Incredible Cashew Cheez Sauce. It's really easy to prepare, delicious (duh), low in fat, and pretty high in nutrition!

-3 cups vegetable broth
-1 cup water
-1 1/2 cups raw cashews
-1/4 plus 1/8 cup (so I guess about 1/3 cup) nutritional yeast
-1 1/2 tsp. salt (this amount was good if you're using 3 tsp. Better than Bullion like I've done. . . otherwise you might need to adjust the amount
-1 Tbs onion powder (which, when mixed with the tomato, reminds me of my childhood slash spaghettios)
-3/4 tsp dry mustard
-1/4 plus 1/8 tsp garlic powder

-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes in sauce (preferably no salt added), don't you dare drain this

-1 lb box of your favorite casserole pasta (I'm a big fan of cellentani and campanelle but medium shells or penne are always good choices)
-panko bread crumbs (I don't measure these)
-Earth Balance or your favorite non-dairy buttery spread (you don't need to measure this either)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get a big pot of water boiling on the stove.

Combine the vegetable broth, water, cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, onion powder, mustard, and garlic powder in your blender or food processor. Blend for a few minutes or until completely smooth. Transfer this mixture to a medium saucepan (3 1/2-4 quarts), add the can of tomatoes, and cook on medium heat until thickened and creamy. This might take about fifteen minutes, but keep and eye on it and stir pretty often. You don't want it to boil, but a small simmer is okay. If it starts getting out of control and looks thick you can go ahead and shut it off. Meanwhile, I hope that your water is boiling and you're cooking the pasta (in salted water of course!)

Drain your pasta and transfer it and sauce to a greased casserole pan. Yes, you want to use all of the sauce. It will seem like a lot but trust me you want it all -- it keeps it moist even when you re-heat the leftovers, if you're lucky enough to have any. Remember this IS Crack Mac that we're dealing with. I usually put the pasta in the casserole first, then pile the sauce in, using a spoon to slightly spread it around evenly. You can mix it in a large bowl first though if you want. I just see it as one too many things to clean at the end. . .

Sprinkle as much or as little of the bread crumbs as you wish over the top and then dot with a little Earth Balance here and there. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until your preferred readiness. Enjoy! And share with friends, if you dare. . .      

Faux Egg Salad

I know that both Melanie and I have made this, and it's really good - and easy for lunches! It came from How It All Vegan, but we've both altered the recipe a tad, to make it less...intense. Here's the closest, I think, to my recipe.

1.5 pounds firm tofu, water pressed out, and crumbled

1/2 cup soy mayonnaise

(a bit less than) 1/4 cup relish

1.5 Tbsp dijon

2 stalks green onion, chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp tumeric

4 Tbsp parsley, chopped.

In a bowl, combine ingredients. Mix together well & chill before serving.

When I make a sandwich, I un-vegan it with a slice of cheese, some spinach, and maybe some avocado, cucumber, or other addition I have in the fridge. Delicious.

I should also remember that this makes almost more than I can eat in a week, so I should cut this recipe in half!

Is this thing on....

Turns out, moving across the country and starting over with your kitchen appliances, tools and gadgets makes cooking and baking tough. But, I've definitely been up to more than I've let on. Here's a little something to tide you over. Unfortunately, I do not recall which vegan chocolate cupcake recipe I used for these cupcakes - I think it may have had avocado in it - and I totally cheated on the frosting. I cough *bought* cough it. I was pressed for time, and I didn't want to risk it.

I made these for a new co-workers birthday, which also coincided with our lab meeting. Yum, brains!!