Monster Hash

So the color makes this more appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day, the title more appropriate for Halloween, but I figure it is irrelevant since I didn’t get to post this on Valentine’s Day anyway, right?  

My brother loves anything with potatoes, and I’ve had some pretty Austrian Fingerlings sitting in the crisper for the past few weeks, so I decided to make him some hash browns for breakfast, since it was Valentine’s Day, and I was being nice.  Of course, I couldn’t just make hash browns.  I mean...just pure potatoes?  Not healthy enough.  So I made Broccoli-Potato Hash Browns, using my food processor to grate the potatoes and broccoli, which worked so incredibly well, it made my day.

We had it with my Tempeh Bacon Hash, which I posted a loose recipe for a few weeks ago, but I figured I would post it more officially here, since it has become one of my favorites.  

Double Hash for 2

Broccoli-Potato Hash Browns

2 cups potatoes, grated

2 cups broccoli, cooked until slightly crisp, and grated 

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Press it an oiled pan and cook until browned on one side, and flip (I do this in pieces, I don’t flip the whole thing).  

2.  Cook on the other side.  I tend to flip it a few times until it is cooked through.  

Tempeh Bacon Hash

1 package tempeh (8oz), crumbled

4 tsp Bragg’s/tamari/soy sauce

4 tsp agave nectar (honey can sub for this if you aren’t vegan)

4 tbsp ketchup

4 tbsp water

liquid smoke to taste, about 1/8 tsp

1. Mix together the crumbled tempeh with all the other ingredients, let marinate while you do something else (like cook the broccoli-potato hash, or whatever else you might be making with it).

2.  Spread in an oiled pan, cooking until it gets kind of golden-brown, and then you want to keep turning it until it is slightly crispy and golden all over.

Totally easy; minimal, simple ingredients, and best eaten all mixed together. 

Meal Totals

Serves 2*

Nutrition Information:  465.4 Calories;  12.7g Total Protein;  2.6g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  66.4g Carbohydrates;  7.8g Fiber;  29.9g Protein.  

*This could probably serve 3 or 4 people, but for my brother and I it was appropriate, I like a big breakfast.   

Besides breakfast, I did spend the rest of my Valentine’s Day with my brother.  We went on a little road trip to good old Pennsylvania.  He wanted to go to Sonic.  I was not thrilled with this idea, but I did a Happy Cow search for stuff nearby, and found that Vegan Treats Bakery was only a few short miles away.  So off we went.  

Two hours later, we had our very first Sonic experience.  Of course, there wasn’t really anything for me to eat there, but I did get a limeade!  Their drinks were always what intrigued me anyway.  My brother got some kind of bacon burger on texas toast, which he said was good.  My limeade (diet limeade, actually) was really good.  And, we went during “Happy Hour”, so it was only $0.90. 

 

(Yes, that is the actually scenery, we were in the middle of NOWHERE)

Next, we headed over to Vegan Treats, who have been featured in VegNews a number of times.  My brother was already stuffed, but he was a good sport and had a giant cookie.  I also got a giant cookie for my dad, a cupcake for my mom, and some carrot cake and a mini vegan Oreo cheesecake for myself.  

Yes, two cakes for me.  I ate the carrot cake right in the car, haha.  I forgot a fork, so...hands it was, right out of the box.  No, it was not a pretty sight (ask my brother)...but it was delicious.  Actually, the cake was delicious, the frosting wasn’t cream cheesey enough for me.  I could tell just by looking at it that it was too white, but the cake part was worth it.  

The only problem with this little adventure is that I haven’t been eating a lot of sugar lately.  By cutting out eating sugar after 8, I haven’t really been eating any sugar besides some carob raisins here and there.  So, this carrot cake went straight to me head and I had a headache in about 20 minutes.  

I still had to taste the Oreo cheesecake when I got home though.  You can see it has a kind of Oreo mousse on top...that was fantastic.  The cheesecake itself didn’t really taste like much, which was disappointing.  I actually liked the cheesecake we made for Thanksgiving more than this one.  Maybe they have yet to discover Tofutti?  I mean, I don’t think it is hard to mimic the cream cheese flavor, which I clearly love since both things I bought were (or should have been) cream cheesey.  Oh, and I can tell you that the cookies my dad and brother had were delicious, because I had a taste of my brother’s, and my mom said the cupcake was good.  So, my suggestion is to just avoid the cheesecake.  Not that it is bad, it just isn’t worth the calories, in my opinion.  They have soft serve soy ice cream and doughnuts too.

I was greeted with a nice surprise when I got home too.  Up until now, it was looking like my brother was going to my Valentine this year, and...not that I don’t love him but...well that’s kind of weird.  But I came home to find a Valentine’s Day surprise.  

This pictures isn’t very good, but on the bottom right is an orange and red rose.  I’m sure you’ve seen them, its kind of mixed, and it is my favorite.  There were a few of them, but you can only see one in this picture.  

I also got a turtle in a can.  I mentioned in my posts about my trip to Hawaii that my husband and I are really fond of the turtles, and we would go and visit them often.  So, he sent me a turtle in a can.  Like, I used a can opener to open it, and this little guy popped out.  

He is so cute, although Zoe is a little wary.  

Oh, I also wanted to follow up on the Chilies & Cherries ChocoLove bar.  It was possibly the best piece of chocolate I have ever had.  I’m not really a huge chocolate person, but I ate the whole thing.  I will usually only have a piece or two at a time (I mean like, a square at a time), but I happily ate the whole thing.  Yes, before the 8 PM sugar cutoff (not hard when you go to bed at 9:30).        

Speaking of 9:30, it is rapidly approaching bedtime.  I did want to mention quickly that we went to see Coraline today, and it was...weird.  The 3D was cool, although you kind of forgot about it after a few minutes.  But the movie was just...weird.  I can't really recommend or NOT recommend it, it was just...weird.  Although, I went into it having no clue what it was about, so that may have affected my opinion.  I think I may have liked it more if I had an idea of what it was about beforehand...so check it out before you see it!

I am doing a raw day tomorrow, plus more running and more yoga, and I'm so excited for it.  I hope everyone is having a good weekend!