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!     

Where's My Rainbow?

A word of warning, my internet is sucking, so I apologize in advance for the brief post, and possible lack of posting this week.  My dad seems to think there is some sort of virus on the computer that is hosting the network so, we'll see what happens.  

Yes, I am stealing my neighbor's internet right now (shhh, don't tell them).  

Anyway, today is about breakfast.  I happen to love breakfast.  In high school, I often skipped it or had something lame like a Nutri-Grain bar, but now  I would never ever miss it.  In fact, I usually love what I make for breakfast so much that I will make the exact same thing for days, or even weeks.  You may remember my Cranberry Quinoa...from a month ago.  I've had that at least 5 days a week since I made that post.  

Anyway, I decided I was in the mood for something new.  Sort of.  I still had the quinoa, and I still had the tempeh, but instead it was a Apple Pie Quinoa and Tempeh Bacon Hash.  

  

Both were super yummy.  I made it again today, but sadly, I also ran out of my flax tempeh today, which...I have been spoiled with and don't really like normal tempeh now *sigh*.  

The Apple Pie Quinoa is 1/4 cup of apple juice or apple cider, 2/3 cup cooked quinoa, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg.  Bring the apple juice/cider to a boil, add the apples, sautee until soft, then add the spices and the quinoa, which will soak up the rest of the juice.  

Nutrition Information:  230.6 Calories;  3.0g Total Fat;  0.1g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  47.5g Carbohydrates;  6.7g Fiber;  5.5g Protein

I never get tempeh bacon right, but I was craving the flavor, so I just crumbled it up hash-style, and made it like that.  I let it marinate while the apples were cooking in 1-2 tbsp water, 1 tsp ketchup, a few shakes of liquid smoke (1/4 tsp maybe), 1.5 tsp Bragg's (or soy sauce if you like), 1 tsp agave nectar.  Then just sautee it in a pan until it is cooked through.   

Nutrition Information:  131.0 Calories;  6.2g Total Fat;  1.3g Saturated Fat;  o.omg Cholesterol;  11.0g Carbohydrates;  10.0g Fiber;  10.6g Protein 

Now, I probably won't be making this exact breakfast again, because as the title of the post suggests...it wasn't exactly colorful.  I had to get my rainbow from the plate!  But it was totally yummy, and both pieces were definitely worth having again...just maybe with either a colorful addition or with a different meal companion.

Just for fun, the nutrition information for the entire meal is:  

Nutrition Information:  354.9 Calories;  9.2g Total Fat;  1.3g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  56.8g Carbohydrates;  16.8g Fiber;  16.2g Protein

  

By the way, I realize that no vegan meals have cholesterol...I just really like putting 0.0mg Cholesterol, it makes me happy!

I also wanted to post a short workout update.  I still have 2 more weeks of the program that I am doing, and I have a plan for what I will be doing next, but I am so excited that I don't have classes most nights anymore because now I can go to yoga more than once a week!  I still have class on Monday's, which is a yoga night at my gym, but supposedly it won't meet every week.  I can tell that I have been getting better at it, but I feel like I won't REALLY get any better if I am only going once a week.  Plus, I love it.  I have my strengths and weaknesses, I am pretty flexible, I have good balance, but my hips are incredibly tight.  Like, my basic pigeon needs some serious help, but then I can balance with a half lotus, wrap my arm around my back and grab my toe.  

I also think I'm going to start doing a raw day once a week.  I returned something and got Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, but was almost going to exchange it again, but those raw desserts totally lured me in.  I think some of the stuff you can do with raw food is just so...cool.  So I want to make some of it!  

Also, I want to give a little shout out to my bestest friend, Jackie, who just told me she is thinking of being vegetarian (and at the very least, eating better and expanding her diet), and I thought maybe you all could post some words of encouragement for her!

I hope that all of you out there in the blogosphere/internetland had a great weekend!  

Autumn Millet Bake

I know its no longer autumn.  But I had a butternut squash begging to be used before it was past its time, cranberries in the freezer, and a lot of people to food.  Enter the casserole.  

So today was my first time using millet.  I take zero credit for the recipe, it is one of Mark Bittman's recipes, and it was posted by The Woodstock Animal Sanctuary.  It is his Autumn Millet Bake from his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  The original recipe is vegetarian.  However, the "veganized" instructions on the sanctuary's website aren't really veganized, although the ingredient list is.  If you ever decide to make it, I substituted the cream with soymilk...honestly I don't think it really did much, I think you'd be fine with just vegetable broth.  

I also added a package of tempeh, at the same time it tells you to add the squash and the cranberries.  I doubled the recipe, sort of.  I doubled the millet, doubled the cranberries, added an extra half cup of liquid, doubled the spices, seasoning, pumpkin seeds, and maple syrup.  I only used 4 tsbp total of olive oil.  It called for 1/4 cup, and I couldn't figure out why.  So I cut it to 2 tbsp, but added more since I decided to double it.  I think you could away easily with 3.  

Autumn Millet Bake

   

I thought it would serve less, my brother and sister in law are here, so there were six of it, and I wasn't sure if it would be enough.  It could easily serve 8 though, it did for us.  That millet sure expands.  Regardless, the nutrition information is for 6.  

Serves 6

Nutrition Information:  371.7 Calories;  15.6g Total Fat;  2.5g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  51.1g Carbohydrates;  2.4g Fiber;  12.3g Protein.  

We also had roasted Brussels sprouts, which weren't anything particularly different, but I told my sister in law I would describe more specifically :)  

Probably about 2 cups of Brussels (mine came in a little tub today)

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Trim Brussels, save any leafs if they fall off.  You can do them whole, but I find them come out better if you cut them in half.

3.  Toss Brussels with olive oil, salt and pepper.

4.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray.

5.  Put Brussels on baking sheet and toss any leaves that fell off in the remaining oil.

4.  Roast for about 20 minutes, checking and tossing every 5 minutes or so.

5.  In the last few minutes, add the leftover leaves.  They should only take 5 minutes tops to be browned.  

They were especially good today for some reason, personally, I think cutting them in half helps. They had them on the stalk at the store today, and I almost got really excited, but they were really small, and not a lot of sprouts on it.

That's all I've got for today.  The rest of my meals were beyond boring.  In fact, they were largely Clif bars, because I have no self control sometimes...you may have noticed. 

Today's Cooking Song:  "30 Days" - nevershoutnever (Christmas Song!)      

Pre-Thanksgiving for One

I don't know what I will be having for dinner tomorrow.  So I figured, I'd make something that at least looked Thanksgiving-y today (i.e. Thanksgiving colors).  For lunch today I made myself something special, and I did not let myself down.    

On my menu:  Maple Glazed Tempeh, Sauteed Kale, Smashed Squash

Tempeh

1/2 block tempeh (114g)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp water

2 tbsp lite maple syrup

olive oil cooking spray

15 raspberries (approzimately!)

1.  Steam tempeh until tender

2.  Spray pan with cooking spray, cook tempeh until slightly browned on one side.  

3.  Add soy sauce and water to pan, turning tempeh occasionally, until browned on all sides.  

4.  Lower heat, add maple syrup  

5.  Gently toss with raspberries

Nutrition Information:  280.0 Calories;  12.3g Total Fat;  2.5g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  690.3mg Sodium;  24.7g Carbohydrates;  0.5g Fiber;  22.1g Protein

Sauteed Kale (this actually makes two servings)

1 big bunch of kale 

1/2 medium onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

crushed red pepper

salt & pepper

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

olive oil cooking spray

1.  Boil kale in a pot of salted water until tender

2.  In a separate pan, coat with cooking spray and cook onion until brown.  Add garlic and pepper.  

3.  Strain water from kale and add to garlic and onion, cooking until warmed through.  

4.  Remove from heat and toss with vinegar.  

Nutrition Information:  80.3 Calories;  1.2g Total Fat;  0.2g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  60.5mg Sodium;  16.4g Carbohydrates;  5.5g Fiber;  5.2g Protein

Smashed Squash

1 cup of 1 inch pieces of squash (I used a cushaw)

2 tsp agave nectar

salt & pepper to taste

1.  Steam Squash (I steamed it along with the tempeh).

2.  Remove skin from cooked squash

3.  Smash with a fork.  Add agave nectar, salt & pepper, and smash until well combined.  

Nutrition Information:  79.0 Calories;  0.2g Total Fat;  0.1g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  563.5mg Sodium;  20.0g Carbohydrates;  2.7g Fiber;  1.8g Protein

And, that's it!  This was so satisfying, I was quite pleased.  

Family dinner was also on my shoulders tonight.  I was also in charge of dinner tonight.  I had extra people to cook for (6 instead of 4).  We had, soba noodles with tofu and veggies.    

Sesame Soba Noodles, Golden Tofu, and Asian Veggies

Is Asian veggies and overstatement?  Maybe.  There was baby bok choy though!  

Loosely, it went something like this...

28oz Extra Firm Tofu

6 bundles Soba Noodles (2 packaged, for me)

1 bunch of scallions, chopped

4tbsp sesame oil

1.5 tbsp rice vinegar

1.5 tsp Bragg's Aminos (or soy sauce)

2 red peppers, sliced thin

4 carrots, cut into matchsticks

2 baby bok choy, white part sliced thin, green leafy parts roughly chopped

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1.  Start to boil a large pot of water.

2. Pat tofu dry.  Cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  Heat largest pan over medium high heat, and put tod in pan.  Let golden crust form, then flip.  Allow crust to form on opposite side, then cook until heated through.  Put tofu in covered dish 

3.  Heat 2 tbsp sesame oil in the same large pan.  Add all vegetables besides bok choy tops, and coat vegetables with oil.  

4.  Add broth to the pan, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until tender.  

5.  Cook soba noodles 3-5 minutes.  

6.  Toss soba noodles with the remaining 2 tbsp sesame oil, rice vinegar, and Bragg's

7.  Garnish with baby bok choy leaves.  My mom liked it with the tofu, I liked it with the noodles.     

Serves 6.

Nutrition Information:  335.5 Calories;  16.0g Total Fat;  2.2g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  247.8mg Sodium;  30.0g Cholesterol;  3.6g Fiber;  19.9g Protein

I know I promised cheesecake, but my sister in law isn't here yet, and we won't be able to eat it tonight anyway....so I will post about it tomorrow!    

Today's Cooking Song:  Street Lights - Kanye West (new CD came out yesterday!) 

Lastly, as a type this, I watch Top Chef.  I have to mention, because I am thrilled, that the Bassist from the Foo Fighter's favorite dish out of both teams was the vegan cornbread stuffing.  How awesome!