Eve’s Revenge

It is hot. I have spent all last week and this week eating my way through a bag of apples with this cool salad:

•  1 cup raisins
• 6oz. vegan feta
•  1/2 cup chopped walnuts
•  4 small red delicious apples, chopped (toss in lemon juice so it won’t go brown)
• head of romaine, chopped
• raspberry vinaigrette dressing to taste(bottled or make your own)

My copycat is based on “Eve’s Revenge” — a salad I get at a local teahouse sometimes for lunch.

Apple Craisin Oat Muffin Experiment

Overcast and gloomy today so I don’t want to venture out with the kid. Instead, we decided to bake. Julia is busy sticking paper liners in my extra pan while I bake up a batch of muffins based on PCRM’s Apple Oat Muffins.

Here’s my version:

• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour (Didn’t have WW pastry flour on hand)
• 1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cups rolled oats
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 medium apples, peeled and grated
• 1 12-ounce can apple juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Mix everything together thouroughly. It’s a stiff batter. Using 1/4 cup scoop, dollop batter into paper lined muffin tin. Bake at 325 deg F for 25 min or until toothpick in center comes out clean. Makes 22.

Taste test?

Julia thought they were ok (rare… she’s not a cake person) and I thought they were about what I expected when you use WW flour and only juice for sweetener. Makes too much, a bit dense,and it needs more spice. So next time I want to try it like this:

• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 medium apples, peeled and grated
• 1 12-ounce can apple juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)

I don’t want it to be so sweet it is more cupcake-y, but I’m still shooting for a fruited up tea bread. So… needs some work.

Chilled Tomato Soup (makes 2 L)

Feel a bit tired this morning after doing the housework. Period Watch continues with cramps and general bloat. I feel good emotionally… just blaaaah physically. And knowing full well that I’m likely to NOT want to cook dinner tonight, I went ahead and whipped up a soup and threw it in the fridge for later for me and the kid. Paul’s got leftovers to eat and he hates tomatoes so a good time to just make use of the mess of tomatoes his mom gave me that last time we went to visit. (She gets them by the case!)

I put all this in the blender:

• 3 lbs tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cup low sodium V8
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup basil leaves
• 1 green onion

First thing I’ve made out of the new “5 Ingredients” Nava Atlas book and while to me it taste like a simple gazpacho (not bad, just not stellar), I do like the easy prep and wash. Which is good enough for today.

Julia came along wanting to know what I was doing. So I invited her to taste it.

.

She looked evil while taking a sip, thought about it, and handed it back and wandered off. She likes tomatoes. Just not sure about this new tomato texture, I think.

 

Fusilli with Tomatoes and Corn (6 cups)

Just made pasta salad for school lunch tomorrow.

I make this quite a lot in varying proportions. Sometimes just for me. Sometimes for feeding a crowd. It tends to be a crowd pleaser and kid-friendly. It’s from Sue Spitler’s 1,001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes.

• 8 oz dry fusilli or other small pasta shape
• 2 cups chopped tomato
• 1 cup yellow corn
• 1/2 cup minced green onion

For dressing:

• 3 tbs chopped fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tbs olive oil

Cook pasta and drain. While this is happening, prep veggies and mix dressing. Combine everything together and toss.

NUTRITION FOR 2 CUP SERVING:

 

Calories: 446
Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Carbohydrate: 78 g
Fiber: 6 g
Protein: 11 g

WW POINTS: 9

EXCHANGES:

• 2 grain
• 1 veg

Here’s how I’ve packed it for lunch 10-31-06 — I’m trading it with Carla tomorrow at school.

• a vanilla soy pudding
• organic cranberry juice
•  raisins and dried cranberries
• cinnamon graham cracker sticks
• pumpkin dip
• fusilli with tomato and corn

Barley-Lentil Soup (16 cups)

This soup was veganized from a recipe on the back of the packet of lentils ages ago. So long I don’t even remember what the original recipe had that was objectionable. This freezes well, and goes a long way.

 

• 28 oz can Muir Glen fire roasted crushed or diced tomato
• 3/4 cup pearl or hulled barley
• 3/4 cup lentils
• 1-1 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup celery
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 tbs dried rosemary
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 4 cup vegetable broth
• 2 cup water

Dump everything in pot. Simmer 40-60 min on low heat.

Sometimes I use other beans, or in this case, a mix of split peas and lentils since I ran out of lentils and didn’t have quite enough for 3/4 cup.

While the beans make it hearty, the key thing for me is either taking the time to chunk up/blender actual tomatoes or a good brand of canned crushed tomato. Muir Glen Fire Roasted is esp. good for me:

 Since I tend to eat 2 cups of it at a time, the nutrition is for 2 cups.

 NUTRITION PER 2 CUPS

Calories: 265
Fat: 2 g
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Carbohydate: 53 g
Fiber: 18 g
Protein: 15 g

Unofficial Points: 5 pts

Puzzle Cinnamon Toast

I’m not prepared for days that get thrown awry. Which tells me several things:

• I need to feed my freezer so I have fast HEALTHY food to heat and eat.
• I need to get things better mapped out in advance.

I taught my toddler cooking class today. We did “Puzzle Toasts” where I had the children make toast from white and whole wheat bread slices. each child got one of each type of bread.

Then with a clean cookie cutter, I had them cut out the same shape from both slices and then trade shapes.

Say I used a circle shape, I take the white circle and put in inside the whole wheat “frame”slice and then take the whole wheat circle and put that one in the white “frame” slice.

Then we used Earth Balance spread and cinnamon sugar already in shakers. At home I just use separate sugar and cinnamon but in a preschool setting it’s best to have a couple premixed shakers so all they have to do is shake.

It was a hit with everyone but Simone, as usual. Though she liked eating the plain bread just fine. (Simone dislikes new food experiences. She just wants to watch.)

[...]

After cooking class and cleaning up, I went to work my one hour in the regualr rooms and we ended up staying for three hours instead of just one. Liz went home sick and I didn’t want to leave Carla understaffed and Julia was having a good time playing with her peers after being gone sick for a week so we stayed.

Screwed me up for going home to make dinner and getting ready for the weekend plans but it really was Julia’s turn to have her stuff on the front burner. She’s been a good sport about errand hell yesterday and then crazy housekeeping the day before. So my stuff could stand to be on the back burner today.

When Paul came in we ran a quick errand and then had fast food for dinner. Once I get those two to sleep I’ll probably end up doing some house things.

I checked my e-mail and it looks liek the in-laws want to do potluck. So I’ll be up throwing a pasta thing and a salad thing together to take. Easy enough, but still… another thing to be doing. Had I known we were going to be doing that I could have knocked this out last night instead since pasta and salad make ahead easily enough.

Warm Potato and Lentil Salad (4 Cups)

 

• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1 lb potatoes, peeled, chopped
• 6 green onions, minced
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Rinse lentils and then boil in water for 20 min or until tender.

Steam or boil the potatoes until tender in a separate pot.

While this is happening,  whisk the oil and vinegar together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

When the lentils and potaotes are done, drain, and mix together with the dressing and garnish with green onion.

This is a very mild, humble dish.  Which is why I made it — I’m still feeling blah and I don’t want to make or eat anything complicated.

NUTRITION PER CUP

•  Calories: 201
• Total Fat: 4 g
• Sat. Fat 1 g
• Carb: 34 g
• Fiber: 5 g
• Protein: 8 g
• Unofficial Points: 4 pts.

Sick, but Improving

Still sick, but better. I feel more alert and I’m clear in one nostril. Mostly it’s body aches.

Do you feel like you are on a diet most of the time?

No. Mostly vegan eating doesn’t feel like a diet to me. Perhaps because it isn’t just about food — it’s about environment, spirituality, and more.

When I start tracking calories, points or exchanges… that’s different. It does start to feel like a diet, and I make myself bananas after a while.

And every once in a while I have a yen for some non-vegan thing. Like when I was pregnant with Julia I was obsessed with steak! I don’t think I’m pregnant now, but lately I’ve been having chicken thoughts.

Like “I want to eat a chicken breast with adobo seasoning. Ugh, that’s disgusting. Think about what factory farmed horror I’d be eating if I did that. But man, adobo seasoning. Grilled. Stop it! It’s dead animal! Gross! Smells delicious on the grill though…. Have something ELSE with adobo seasoning and grill that. “

Do you have a diet mentality when it comes to eating out or eating desserts?

Nope. I like to eat out. I like to be served and I like the break from cooking and then cleaning up the kitchen. So long as it’s (mostly) vegan, I’m game.

Desserts I don’t make and I rarely eat though. Not because I don’t like them. I love them. But it’s too caloric and because it will send my blood sugar into high orbit. If I’m going to order it, I share it with Paul and kid.

What are your taboo or trigger foods?

My trigger foods are:

• white bread, esp. raisin bread
• cookies
• sweet crackers

I’ll eat right through the whole package of those things. So I practice “resist once at the store, and you don’t have to resist a million times at home.”

I don’t have a problem with savory or salty things.

Do you have a favorite healthy food that you use as a treat?

At the moment, it’s “Almond Joy” cocoa.

Last month or the month before I had this crazy yen for coconut cream. And I could find coconut milk, and I could find shredded frozen coconut, and I could find dried coconut. But not organic coconut cream. Real stuff without weird things added to it.

Granted part of the yen was a desire for a lucious Pina Colada, but still… I grew up in the tropics. I have a wild penchant for tropical fruits.

Anyway, an online search for real organic coconut cream led me to ordering a jar from Tropical Traditions.

When it arrived it was sitting on my stoop and was liquidy. I stupidly did not freeze it right then and there and I put it in the fridge. Later it was hard as a rock and I had to sit it in hot water. I managed to get half of it melted and dolloped 1 tbs out into ice cube trays to freeze. Once frozen I put it into a Ziploc in the freezer. Then I can put one frozen blob into my drink where it will melt.

(Now that I think on it, that’s a treat too. I will go out of my way to find and purchase fancy ingredients or foods. I just ordered about several types of tea from Mighty Leaf Tea and I adore every cup I’ve had so far.)

So to make it…

• 1 cup of Edensoy vanilla soy milk or Rice Dream Vanilla rice milk. Microwave or heat on stove til hot.
• Add 2 tbs Ghirardelli Hazelnut Cocoa Powder
• Add 1 tbs coconut cream.

Stir and drink. Yum!
{…}

Writing about it made me want to make it for breakfast. So I paired it up with the last of the organic pears. Yum!

Zippy Chickpea and Tomato Salad (4 cups)

I have a cold and didn’t want to eat anything heavy but I did want something zippy to see if it would help clear my nose so I got this recipe out.

Dump all this into a large bowl:

• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• handful of basil, chopped
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

To make dressing, toss this into a blender:

• 1 clove garlic
• the zest of 2 lemon. (I use a vegetable peeler and put the strips in the blender.)
• Juice of 2 lemons (about 8 tbs)
• 1 green chili, seeded and deveined
• 2 tbs oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp sugar

Puree it up and you will get a very pale green dressing. It tastes very strong in the blender but once mixed with the produce it tames down to a fresh tasting dressing with some zing to it.

Could try it with lime zest /lime juice next time. Or half and half.

Anyway, serve plain or on lettuce of your choice. Makes about 4 cups (not counting lettuce.)

NUTRITION PER 1 CUP SERVING:

• Calories: 199
• Fat: 7 g
• Sat. Fat: 1
• Carb: 29 g
• Fiber: 8 g
• Protein:  7
• Unofficial Points: 4 pts