Upside down day! 11/20/17

Usually my days are vegan for breakfast and lunch and then whatever for dinner. I guess it is loosely based on Mark Bittman’s Vegan Before 6 (VB46) plan of eating. Today, though, my whatever happened at breakfast and the rest of my day was vegan.

This morning we were having the house cleaned so John, our daughter, and I went out for breakfast. At this place we go to, Bill’s Cafe, they have what they call a mini-breakfast which is actually way more than I normally eat for breakfast. I have no idea how the people who get the regular breakfasts manage to eat them. So my mini-breakfast consisted of one egg, one piece of toast, two pieces of bacon, and a bunch of hash browned potatoes. Today I ate the egg, the toast, and the bacon. The potatoes suffered from being cooked too quickly getting them brown on the outside while leaving the inside  cold. Not happy with the breakfast.

For the rest of the dayI needed to be vegan. So here is lunch. It is warmed up brown rice on the bottom with chickpeas, tofu, and kale salad.

Bowlful of brown rice, tofu, chickpeas and kale

Later on I made this vegan dinner of puréed cauliflower soup with crispy baked tofu and flaxseed plus a kale salad. It was an upside down day but good nonetheless.

Cauliflower soup with crispy tofu croutons

Kale salad with croutons and home grown tomatoes

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Immersion circulators, a boon in the kitchen. 11/19/17

Vegan Part of the Day

Today started off with the usual oatmeal, flaxseed, and blueberries. I really hope all the great benefits I’ve read about come true. When I go see my doctor in six months I would like to be slimmer with a lower blood glucose level and a better cholesterol reading.  Otherwise, it will be a lot of boring breakfasts for naught.

I am trying hard to make lunch more interesting. I bought some baked tofu and had it over brown rice with chickpeas and almost the last of our wonderful tomatoes. One minute in the microwave and lunch was ready. I will be sad when the tomatoes are gone. We’ve been spoiled. BTW this is a salad plate not a dinner plate.

Brown rice with chickpeas, baked tofu, and tomatoes

Non-vegan Part of the Day

About the immersion circulator – Not only did we use the immersion circulator to cook the steak to a perfect medium rare, we took the brussel sprouts that I made yesterday and heated them up in their own bag. The meat cooked at 125F and so did the sprouts until John took out the meat for a sear on the grill. Then I bumped the water up to 140F. The sprouts came out warm and not overcooked. I think I am going to try heating some of my Thanksgiving sides this way.

Ribeye cap steak with grilled russet potato and brussel sprouts

 

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Such a great daughter! 11/18/17

We are settling back into the home routine and gearing up for Thanksgiving. Our adult daughter who lives with us has offered to really help out and protect my poor aching back from too much time on my feet in the kitchen. Already she has helped me peel 42 onions for our Thanksgiving roasted creamed onions and accompanied me to the Farmer’s Market to get butternut squash and brussel sprouts. Plus she made dinner!

As a part-time vegan I started off the day with steel-cut oatmeal with flaxseed and blueberries and then for lunch had one of my Trader Joe’s Quinoa Cowboy burgers that I stuffed into a pita pocket. I tried to get around the mushiness by microwaving it briefly and then searing the burger on the stovetop. It still came out pretty mushy and did not hold its shape as I put it in the pita. Actually that worked out pretty well since I could get the burger into the corners. The picture looks pretty unattractive but it tasted good.

TJ’s Quinoa Cowboy burger

For dinner our daughter made a pork curry with brown rice and black sesame seeds. It is creamy and and tart from buttermilk and sour cream.  Here is the recipe from her site, Braisinhussy.  http://www.braisinhussy.com/2016/10/24/improving-on-an-old-favorite/Seriously this could be great with tofu instead but she is not the vegan/vegetarian type and I was certainly not going to undermine her kind effort.  She was afraid that she had made it too spicy for me but I found probably less spiced than I would have liked. Anyway what a great daughter to be so helpful and considerate!

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Easy chicken dinner. 11/17/17

First here is a look at the breakfast served at TownePlace Suites (Marriott) where we stayed. This is John’s breakfast. The egg looks like one of those joke rubber items and the sausage is pretty greasy. While I applaud their use of compostable plates, the grease soaking into the plate is pretty unpalatable.

 

We got home midday and spent the afternoon unpacking, doing some shopping, and taking a rest. We opted for an easy dinner. Along with a grocery store rotisserie chicken, we tested some pre-made Costco mashed potatoes that I want to use on Thanksgiving. Since my back is still pretty achy I am trying to take a few shortcuts where they probably won’t be noticed. I also made some broccoli.

Chicken breast with wing, mashed potatoes, and broccoli

Chicken breast with wing, mashed potatoes, and broccoli

 

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A tasty lunch on the road. 11/16/17

I have been searching for a restaurant that serves a decent vegan/vegetarian lunch on the road. Granted my travels take me along I-15 through the Mojave Desert where towns and dining choices are few and far between. I use Yelp! as my guide. Finally I found a reasonable choice on the rather seedy side of Barstow, CA called Mr. Kabob.

Mr. Kabob’s business card

Mr. Kabob serves Persian style Mediterranean food. There were choices here for John such as chicken and beef kabobs but also for me. I ordered green rice, eggplant, and a roasted tomato with pita. It was so good! The lady who works behind the counter is lovely and really wants you to enjoy their food. There are only two tables and it appears that most of their food is take-out. If you are ever driving through Barstow at lunchtime, give Mr Kabob a try!

My lunch of green rice, eggplant, and roasted tomato.

For dinner we ate at the Macaroni Grill in Bakersfield, CA. I had eggplant again with a side of pasta but this eggplant was breaded and spent too long in the fryer so was kind of a disappointment. Their tomato sauce is really good though.

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Eat-down. 11/15/17

Today John and I are trying to eat everything out of the refrigerator because tomorrow we are leaving for home. We copped out of making dinner yesterday and ordered a pizza so we are a little behind in our eating responsibilities. At lunch John suggested I put more stock in the ugly parsley soup so there is enough for both of us. This was an exercise in making something unattractive even worse.

Green sludge with carrots and celery (parsley soup)

John kept saying that it tasted fine but seriously it is hard to get past it’s dark green-ness. I also had a slice of bread with peanut butter.

Later we went out to dinner. It was forgettable.

I wonder what delights we shall find on the road tomorrow!

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Parsley soup. 11/13/17

Today I made a very unattractive soup. I think the last time I made it ages ago I used milk instead of stock so it came out light green. With the stock it is dark green. It tastes fine and for the picture I dressed up with some carrot pieces and tofu but it is hard to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Parsley soup with carrots and tofu

Other than the soup no new dishes for today. We finished up the lasagna for dinner so I guess I will have to cook something new tomorrow.

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Yum! Lasagna. 11/11&12/17

I have to admit that eating oatmeal with flaxseed has taken all the joy out of breakfast. I used to get up thinking, what shall I have for breakfast? I rarely ate the same thing two days in a row. Now it’s oatmeal day after day. Food has become fuel rather than a joy. I will keep eating my boring breakfast because I know it is good for me but, sigh.

Moving on to more exciting food, I finished up my cauliflower soup for lunch over the weekend and have bought a couple of bunches of parsley for the next incarnation of the soup.

Cauliflower soup with tofu

On Saturday I made a lasagna. It will definitely last for several days of dinners unless we decide to freeze it. It was really good although I am not sold on the American Beauty brand of no-boil noodles. They were too mushy after cooking the lasagna per the instructions. John really loved it though so I am pleased.

Lasagna

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Pacific cod, chickpea purée, and collard greens. 11/10/17

Quick note about lunch – I had the cauliflower soup again but this time with tofu cubes. I also added the tofu to a tomato and lettuce pita pocket sandwich.

Later we went to the store and bought some Pacific cod which John roasted in the oven. In the meantime I julienned some collard greens and sauteed that with a little corn, made a parsley sauce, and puréed a can of chickpeas with some water and olive oil. The dinner was delicious.

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Pacific cod with chickpea purée and collard greens

 

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Cauliflower soup and grilled steak. 11/9/17

Today for lunch I made a cauliflower soup using the guidelines of the celery soup that I’ve made recently. Sauté in 2 tablespoons of olive oil  a chopped medium onion, a head of cauliflower broken apart, and a small chopped waxy potato until the onion is translucent. I also added three sprigs of thyme and of course some salt. Add three cups vegetable stock (I used 2 cups stock and 1 cup water). Simmer until everything is soft. Whiz it up with a stick blender. Serve hot, cold, or room temperature. It has the look and texture of vichyssoise.

Cauliflower soup

After the vegan daytime portion of my day we settled into a small grilled steak, half a baked potato, and a broccoli salad. I am trying to follow the “portion plate.”

The Portion Plate recommends the plate should be 1/2 vegetables, 1/4 protein, and 1/4 grains, legumes or starchy potatoes

Here’s my dinner –

Grilled steak, 1/2 grilled potato, and broccoli salad

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