Challenge Weekend One

We're closing in on week one of my husband's 30 day vegan challenge.  In my last post I mentioned that I thought this would be his most difficult weekend, and...well if I was right, then the rest of this challenge should be a breeze.  

I don't have any pictures so I won't bore you with too many words, but Saturday we had a cookout at my aunt's house with some of our relative who are visiting from Italy.  We brought veggie burgers, so we had them on whole wheat buns with some rice salad that my aunt made.  Plus there was the raw veggies out.  Oh, and then fruit salad...watermelon...yumm.  It was really a lot of fun to meet them, and was all around a good day!  

Sunday we went down to my husband's family to see his sister off (she is going to Greece).  We now live exactly halfway between both of our families, so its kind of convenient.  Anyway, they were cooking out too, so we brought veggie burgers, but I didn't even end up eating them because my mother in law had gotten a tofu recipe from a friend of hers that was really good (thankfully...I don't think they had really tried tofu before). That with brown rice, corn on the cob, some polenta and vegetable pie she made, baked potato wedges, etc, was plenty for me.  My husband still ate two veggie burgers (Southwest flavor Sunshine burgers.  I've never had them, but he said they were good), along with everything else though.  Oh and there was dessert too!  My sister in law is gluten-free, so we had two options for vegan and gluten-free dessert.  Impressive.  

My in laws have a really awesome natural food store near their house, and as much as I love Wegmans, I do miss the local places.  So we went on our way home.  I didn't really get too much, but I did get these olive oil...things.  

I can't explain them, and I ate them all already (they were REALLY good).  I guess they are kind of like a mix between a pastry/cookie and a cracker.  Like, a sweet cracker.  But round, and sprinkled with sugar.  What put them completely over the top awesome though was the ground anise and anise extract.  Soooo good.  I have never seen them there before, and they were this special "imported" item, so I don't know if they'll be there next time, but if they are...you KNOW I'll be buying some more.  

Today we got up EARLY and went to spinning at 5:45.  We got there at 5:40 only to find out we were actually 10 minutes late because they moved the class up to 5:30.  I totally LOVED it!  It was so much fun.  On top of that we're going to be lifting tonight.  It sounds like a lot, but because of his job, my husband almost always works out twice a day.  Since I have the time now, why not?  On days we don't lift I am going to do yoga.  I've found a place around here called Yogawood that does an Ashtanga style flow, which is what I am used to, and what I love, but I think I may try a Bikram place tomorrow.  By the way, I want to clear up something I said on Friday, that the yoga didn't keep my legs very strong, and I think I should mention that "strong" is a pretty relative term.  Yoga keeps your muscles fit and relatively strong...but not strong enough to squat 100 pounds.  I hope that makes more sense.  To ME, that is STRONG.  Warrior poses don't really do much of anything to my leg muscles (my hips, that's another story).  I lost much more strength in my big legs lifts than I did in my upper body lifts.  But, every kind of exercise, every practice, whether its yoga, running, lifting, etc they all have their own benefits, and they all make you strong in some way.  Which explains why I'm always trying to do a little bit of everything!      

After spinning we have breakfast, which has been "interesting".  Since all I have is a Magic Bullet (no blender), I have a very limited volume capacity.  My smoothies always consist of six ingredients:

1.  Banana

2.  Spinach

3.  Protein powder

4.  Non-dairy milk

5.  Frozen fruit

6.  Water    

Well, as you may imagine, this does not fit in the Magic Bullet very well.  So I've been making them in pieces, and we end up with a green component (spinach, banana, water), and a fruit colored component (today was purple---blueberries!!).  When you pour them together it looks all swirly.  

I just think it looks cool, but my husband likes it like this because he says he can taste the separate components.  Okay. 

In case you were wondering, we're not using the same protein powder.  I'm using the same stuff I've talked about a bunch of times.  My rice and pea blend, sweetened with stevia, from trueprotein.com.  He is using a GNC soy protein isolate.  I can taste such a difference.  His is sweetened with sucralose, I believe, and it is so much sweeter.  I don't like it because it reminds me too much of whey.  So if you are trying to move away from whey, this stuff may be the way to go.  

One last update.  I stopped at my parents this weekend before going to my aunt's house.  I talked about the baby birds living on their porch a few days ago.  

Well this was my mom's most recent picture of them, just a week after that first picture. 

 And this was my picture of them this weekend.  

They're gone!  The babies have officially grown up and left the nest (and my family can use the front door again).  

As far as the vegan challenge, so far it is going very very well.  He says he's feeling really good, and...well that's about it, what else do you want?  Yesterday on the way to my in-laws, I had him listen to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's podcast, Vegetarian Food for Thought.  Now, I know I have  mentioned her in passing before, but I seriously love this podcast.  The one I really wanted him to listen to was one of her most recent episodes, and its one that I suggest everyone listens to.  I know I have people who read this who aren't necessarily vegetarian or vegan, I'm talking to you, too.  It may not be something that you want to hear, but I think its worth the 40 minutes to just listen.  Not because I want you to be vegan.  But because I want you to be sure you are YOUR definition of healthy.  You can take from it whatever you want, but I think it should be required listening.  And I will never beg you to listen to another one of her podcasts again, I swear.  You can even do it through iTunes, just search.  So, go download:  Vegetarian Food for Thought, Diseases of Civilization.  Now.      

My husband was really unhappy I was making him do this, but once he started listening to her, I think he is hooked.  He takes a lot of pride in being well educated, and her podcast present information that he has never really looked into before.  It is very well research, and it isn't presented in an angry way, so its hard not to listen.  We listened to it the whole way there, and then he told me I could put it on "if I wanted to" on the way home.

One last thing (I swear).  I get really tired of say "my husband this", "my husband that", etc.  I know that other bloggers have other names for their significant others or family members (BoyfriendLovlie from VeganLovie, CD from Heather Eats Almond Butter, and Mama and Papa Crunk from Vegan Crunk come to mind), but I got nothing .   Any ideas?  

Allright, NOW I'm done.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday!!

How to Have a Great Cook-In

The first step to having a Great Cook-In is to get your significant other out of the house.  Okay, he or she can stay if they want, but if they happen to be hiking in ridiculously cold weather with their friends, and your friend comes over instead, that would be fun.  

Second, you should arrange for the weather to look like this.  

This means that a cook-out is clearly out of the question.  However, what IS the perfect way to spend the weekend is having a cook-in.  

You'll want to start out the weekend with some Saturday morning yoga (you won't be doing much other exercising).  Then you should grab your friend, and stop at the grocery store to pick up some stuff, to make sure you are fully stocked.  It'll be nice if your friend wants to help you with some recipe testing for one of Robin Robertson's upcoming cookbooks.  Lunch for our cook-in was Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties with Handy Hummus.  

Handy Hummus

Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties

They were meant to be served as sandwiches, but I don't really like bread, so we just ate them with some salad greens and sliced tomatoes.  We both really liked these, and also thought that they would make a good base for lots of different flavor combinations.  The hummus was great also, really nice and creamy.  

Handy Hummus; makes approximately 1 1/2 cups, Serves about 6

Nutrition Information:  193.6 Calories;  12.4g Total Fat;  1.7g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  17.2g Total Carbohydrates;  3.9g Fiber;  5.4g Protein.

Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties; Serves 4 (not including salad greens and tomato)

Nutrition Information:  280.5 Calories; 5.9g Total Fat;  1.1g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  44.7g Carbohydrates;  5.9g Fiber;  13.3g Protein

Since this weekend is all about the food, you can spend the afternoon being pretty lazy.  After all, did you see that snow?  We watched a few episodes of Planet Earth, napped, and chilled out (in?) with her puppies.  

Deiter

Katahdyn

Then we decided we didn't want to be quite so lazy anymore, so, in keeping with the food theme, we went to the little Asian grocery/natural food store near her house, the Green Market.  The first thing I beeline for in any new store like this are the bars.  Duh.  I found something new!  I wasn't expecting to, because it is relatively small, but it really had a lot of good stuff.  

Excuse the fuzzy picture, but these are Sencha Green Tea Bars.  They're vegan and gluten free. So far I have tried Original and Delicate Pear, but I also have one of the Lemongrass variety waiting for me.  They each have about 220 Calories and 9g Protein, and are chock full of good stuff like pepitas, pistachios, black sesame seeds, dried fruits (the original had goji berries, pear in the other), almonds, matcha powder, dates, etc.  They are awesome, but I do like the pear variety better, as I'm not a huge fan of gojis.  If you ever see these, I definitely think they're worth picking up.  

If you want to involve some culinary adventure in your cook-in you should pick up something that is new to you.  We went for fruit, and brought home some quince and kumquats.  How fun!   

Upon arriving home from our second grocery stop, we decided it was dinner time, so we made the second recipe we were testing for Robin, a Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cashews and Kidney Beans.   

Serves 4

Nutrition Information:  369.3 Calories;  17.9g Total Fat;  2.6g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  44.7g Carbohydrates;  11.3g Fiber;  9.8g Protein

At first, we were kind of on the fence about this dish, but by the time were got to the end of it, we were both totally loving it.  There were a few different components, but they worked together harmoniously.  Plus, it was nice and colorful!  With that, it was time for dessert.  

If you aren't familiar with kumquats, they're a citrus.  Small, bitter, with an orange rind that is very thin, so it can be eaten if cooked slightly.  If you have ever wondered if there were cool things you could do with a kumquat, I am here to tell you that there are! 

We decided on cookies.  However, in order to make the cookies, we had to hit up the grocery store again.  Yes, count that, three times in one day.  That's kind of my idea of a good day though.  To each their own, okay?  We picked up everything we needed for some Chocolate Chip and Kumquat Oatmeal Cookies.    

Makes 12 Cookies

Nutrition Information:  136.7 Calories;  3.5g Total Fat;  1.7g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  24.4g Carbohydrates;  2.6g Fiber;  2.6g Protein  

These were completely awesome, especially right after they cooled a little out of the oven; nice and crispy on the outside and moist and fluffy on the inside.  They did make for a pretty cakey cookie, and almost looked like messy muffin tops.  I am going to try and make them again, to make them less cakey and gluten free, but it it doesn't work out, I'll post the recipe we used for these!  Soon, I promise.

A cook-in, if you aren't aware, is kind of a special occasion.  To make your cook-in truly great, you *must* have two desserts.  Since my friend had an avocado, we also made the Avocado Dark Chocolate Mousse that I posted about a few weeks ago.    

We ate dessert while watching the movie we rented:  Traitor, with Don Cheadle.  Honestly, he is fabulous, but I thought the movie was just okay.  If you haven't noticed yet, I watch a lot of movies, but I by no means claim to be a connoisseur.  I tend to like silly, lighthearted movies.

Its not the end of the post, and its not the end of the cook-in, but it is the end of the day.  Our cooking song for today was 'Nights in White Satin' - The Moody Blues.  We had a Classic Rock radio station on the TV while we were cooking.  You have to rock out while having a cook-in.    

We woke up to a lot more snow.

It continued to snow for most of the day.  This ruined our gym plans.  I mean...we were having a completely lazy cook-in so screw the gym  (I was supposed to go to the gym with her and take her on a walk through the weight room).  We did to some yoga on FitTV, which we both thought was pretty lame, but it was better than nothing.  We decided to try something with the remainder of our fruit adventure.  Today:  Quince.  

We didn't do anything quite as fun as cookies with it, but we did bake it up with some agave nectar, cinnamon, and lime juice with water at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, and 425 degrees for 10 minutes.    

Serves 2

Nutrition Information:  62.8 Calories;  0.1g Total Fat;  0.0g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  16.6g Carbohydrates;  2.1g Fiber;  0.3g Protein.  

If you've never had a quince, they're sort of inbetween an apple and  pear, although they're even grainer than pear.  Altogether they were good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to try it again.  If someone wanted to peel it, cut out that obnoxious core, and make it for me, I would eat it though.    

After this, we cleaned the whole kitchen.  This is not a necessary part of the cook-in, but chances are, you're making a mess...clean up after yourself!  

Another trip to the grocery store brought home some dinner supplies.  My friend has never had tofu, so I definitely wanted to make that.  We also got portabellos, tomatoes, kale, and some parchment paper.  Parchment paper?  Not for dinner, for the rest of the kumquats.  You want to waste as little as possible when having a cook-in (the more you can eat the better!).  

Since the rind of the kumquat is so thin and doesn't have much pith, I thought they'd be perfect for the Orangette recipe in My Sweet Vegan.  We split them in half, spooned out the flesh, which we dehydrated, and set to candying the rinds.  When both parts of the kumquats were done, we dipped them in chocolate.  

Dehydrated in the front, candied in the back

We did quite a bit of dehydrating while I was at her house, and it just made me want a dehydrator even more.  I keep saying that I want to wait until I have my own place to put it, but this is a lie.  I'll probably get one when I get another coupon for Bed Bath and Beyond or something.  Soon, hopefully.

While we were doing this, we also heated up the oven and made some Kale Chips.  I looked around the internet for this one, since I've heard varying reviews.  I don't understand why, they tasted like kale...crispy!  We both loved them.  They got tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt, and were baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  We could have also dehydrated these, but our cook-in was coming to a close.  

By the way, at this point in the cook-in you may be feeling a bit delirious and decide that your kale chips would look fabulous against a snowy white background...which you just happen to have right outside. 

I didn't take any pics of dinner.  If you are having a really great cook-in, your camera will most likely be running out of battery at this point.  Most of dinner ended up really good though.  We had roasted portabello mushrooms with balsamic and garlic, Italian marinated tofu, boiled and sauteed kale, and quinoa with pine nuts and tomato.  The quinoa was lackluster...sad.  That was okay though because like I said before, my friend was a tofu virgin, so that was where the pressure was really on.  She liked it!  Yay!  After dinner we rented The Go Getter on Demand, largely because I love Zooey Deschanel.  

So, if you ever plan a great cook-in, I hope that gives you some ideas.  We really did get a lot of snow, so I just got back this morning, hence the lack of posting on my part, and the huge lineup of posts in my reader, courtesy of many of you!  Student teaching starts tomorrow, so if I am slower at commenting and posting than usual, I apologize in advance!  

Lastly, I forgot to mention this in my last post, but your time to sign up for the Juicer Giveaway is running out!  I will be picking a winner on Thursday this week!  

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend, hopefully a nice long one, if you get to celebrate MLK day!  

Roasted Garlic Soup and Edamame Burgers

So, once a week I cook dinner for my family.  I tend to borrow recipes for these meals because I don't want to subject them to what may be a disaster.  

Tonight we had a completely borrowed, but nonetheless delicious dinner menu:  

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

This is from Vegan with a Vengeance.  It involves lots of garlic...yum!  This was seriously delicious.  I am not kidding when I say I licked the blender, haha.  I had also never used fennel seeds before, and I love how they smelled like Italian sausage and peppers.  I never liked Italian sausage though, just how it smelled...my grandparents always used to get sausage and peppers when we went to the state fair.  You can't taste the fennel too much after you blend it though, but the soup is so delicious. 

I eliminated the oil and just sauteed the onion in a saucepan with cooking spray.  

Nutrition Information:  178.8 Calories;  0.6g Fat;  0.1g Saturated Fat;  0.1g Cholesterol;  520g Sodium;  34.2g Carbohydrates;  7.0g Fiber;  10.5g Protein

 

We also had Joni's Edamame Burgers

They were a challenge for me, mainly because I don't have a food processor (yet!  Christmas, hopefully).  Also, I used soy flour instead of chickpea flour, which ended up being fine, I just think I used a little too much.  I baked them, 15 minutes on one side, 10 on the other.  I'm not big on bread, but my family ate them mini whole wheat pitas. 

Nutrition Information:  212.8 Calories;  9.1g Fat; 1.6g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  110.5g Sodium;  21.1g Carbohydrates;  9.0g Fiber;  15.9g Protein

All in all, this was a great meal to end a not so great day.  My left eye has been swollen all day.  I took some Benadryl and I can open it now, but it's still really sore.  It also didn't water when my other eye did when chopping my onions...creepy!!  I'm hoping it will be better tomorrow because I skipped the gym this morning because of it.    

Today's Cooking Song of the Day:  Ocean Breathes Salty - Modest Mouse