Tag Archives: VeganMofo

Hopeful

Posted by sarah3030 in cooking, food, My food creations and tagged with , ,

I had a 2nd interview today.  It was good.  I liked it.  I love the opportunity.  I am hopeful.  I will be anxiously awaiting what happens next.

In the meantime, I fell off the vegan wagon.  It was sour cream that did me in.  One tablespoon of sour cream.  Sometimes between vegan diet and working late nights at the Kitchen Conservatory I don’t get a lot of calories in.  Yesterday’s total was only 850.  I woke up this morning and was out of bananas, which meant I did not make my now signature breakfast smoothie (banana, peanut butter, cocoa powder, almond milk, ice).  I had some coffee while I got ready for the interview.  On my way home I was famished.  I had no healthy snack to tide me over.  I started to have unpure thoughts about a cheese pizza.

I righted my mind and headed to the grocery store to pick up just a few things.  I’ve been thinking about making black bean burgers for a few days.  I wanted avocado to go with it.  (And I needed bananas!)

I whipped up a pretty tasty black bean burger.  Black beans, oats, frozen corn and some bread crumbs.  Plus cumin and chili powder.  I was worried they may be too dry, yet they were great!  Perhaps the best batch I’ve made.  I sliced up the avocado to put on top of it.  Then…I went one step further.  I had some just-past-the-expiration-date sour cream in the fridge.  I had lime and cilantro.  I thought a mixture of those things would be really nice on the burger.   I threw them all in the blender.  It was good.  It was really good.

In retrospect I could have thrown the avocado in with the lime juice and cilantro and made a guacamole type sauce and omitted the sour cream.  I wasn’t thinking straight!  I wanted them both!  I have let down vegan month.

I won’t let it get me down.  I’m going to keep going to finish October strong.  Since October 1 I’ve lost 8 lbs.  That was 11 days ago.  I’m like a Biggest Loser contestant.  The fact that I’ve worked out at least an hour every day is a factor as well, but I cannot deny that being very conscientious about what I am eating matters.  It is true that my desire for sweets is less.  I was hoping that would be a side effect of vegan month as well.

Here’s hoping…for a new job and for less cravings for dairy!

Eggplant meatballs

Posted by sarah3030 in My food creations and tagged with , ,

I am suffering with some kind of cold or sinus thing.  All I wanted tonight was a hot, comforting meal.  And a nap.  I took the nap and much to my disappointment, found no hot comfort food magically in my kitchen.  I was a little burnt out on the food I had in my fridge as I’ve had leftovers most days this week.  Spaghetti and meatballs sounded so good.  Here in Vegan Month that would need some adjustments.  I had run across a recipe for eggplant meatballs and made the trip to the store to buy the few things I needed to make this happen.

I couldn’t remember which blog I found this recipe on, so I worked off of memory.  I sauteed an onion and garlic, added a diced up eggplant and lots of italian spices.  Once that was all soft I put it in the food processor with about 1/2 cup bread crumbs and walnuts I had in the pantry.  I used my small cookie scoop to portion out “meatballs” onto a cookie sheet and baked for half an hour on 400.  Meanwhile I made a really simple marinara, just adding a can of crushed tomatoes to sauteed shallot and mushrooms.

I didn’t take a single picture of any of it.  I don’t feel well.  This whole process took an hour.  I was hungry.  I wish I had.  It turned out well.  The eggplant meatballs were very good.  A very different texture than a real meatball, but the flavor was great.  Please don’t forget to spray some nonstick spray on your cookie sheet.

Vegan month is ongoing and going well.  I relaxed my rules a few nights ago to have dinner with my cousin.  Risotto and sweet potato pie were involved.  This first week was all about getting into some better food habits and trying to kick the sugar/alcohol dependency I have.  Is dependency too strong of a word?  I don’t think it is.  When Meg, the roommate, was here, we were imbibing with a pretty high frequency.  I keep lots of wine in stock, she makes a great gin and tonic – it was a match made in heaven.  All good things must come to an end.

I would like to incorporate another good habit into this next week.  On top of my ongoing cleaner eating, I’m going to leave the tv off as I fall asleep.  I like noise and I maintain that I can play music or a book on tape or something from my iphone, but no tv.  The light from it is really messing with my falling asleep.  And often times I’m playing something that I get caught up in watching and that isn’t helping either.  I need all the sleep I can get.

Stay tuned for on the job updates…

Why you should purchase an immersion blender…right now

Posted by sarah3030 in My food creations and tagged with , ,

Butternut squash soup.  That is the reason you should buy an immersion blender right now.  I’ve made this soup about 3 times in the past.  This may have been my best effort yet.  This is an extra exciting discovery because this version, while most delicious, was also my vegan effort.  I love cooking when I can wing it.  Here’s what I did:

Please insert the word about before each line of ingredients.

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups diced butternut squash

half a yellow onion, roughly chopped

one apple chopped, skins on

5 sage leaves

1 bay leaf

1 tsp cinnamon

salt and pepper

Bring to a boil and let simmer about 30 minutes.  Take the immersion blender to it and don’t let up until it’s smooth.  At this point you could add a touch of cream if you wanted slightly more richness.  I never missed it.  Seriously, make this soup.

I put a quick spinach salad that I topped with carrots, alfalfa sprouts and sunflower seeds on the side.  I made a quick vinaigrette with white wine vinegar, squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil, basil and tarragon and tossed my spinach in that.  I also toasted one piece of whole wheat bread and smeared on a tablespoon of apple butter.  I’m just so pleased with how everything turned out.  Vegan Day 2 – I did me proud


Vegan again

Posted by sarah3030 in Event, My story continues and tagged with ,

Years ago, I’m talking 2008, I read a book called Skinny Bitch.  It was of the opinion that veganism was the only way to go.  I thought it was a compelling read and took the plunge and became what I referred to as a six day a week vegan.  It was not as much about animal rights as it was about the environment and health reasons.  I believe some of the resources the book cites in that humans were making ourselves sick and crazy with the things we put in our bodies.  I changed what I put in my body, with pretty good outcomes.  It was hard to sustain as I then started working for a company where we went out to lunch 4 times a week.  My then husband was tolerant, if not supportive, of my new hobby, but not really willing to go all in with me.

A couple of weeks ago my mother landed in the hospital with a bought of colitis.  I listened to her list the medications she is on and for what to the doctor.  I knew I needed to do some eating overhauling once again.  This caught my eye just a few days ago:

There is an organization that has declared October the Vegan Month of Food.  There is a huge list of vegan bloggers that are planning on blogging once a day.  This seemed like an ideal time to commit to a month of vegan-ism once again.

I’m going to be all about green smoothies and entrees centered around vegetables and quinoa.  The timing is right, I’m mentally prepared and I have a giant community at my fingertips.

Today was my own day one of easing back into this and I declare it a success!  Even working for 5 hours in the chocolate shop did not tempt me.  I hope to post some of the meals and recipes that I make in the future.  Tonight, I’m exhausted and it’s enough for me to declare a win for the day.