Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms

I am not a Rachel Ray "fan" per se, but when we were living in Hawaii, we didn't have cable, and only got a few very fuzzy local channels. This was right after we got married, when I was just discovering my love of cooking, and her new talk show was the only "food show" I had. So, I pretty much watched it every day.

One day I was struck by, what is the only recipe I have ever made of hers, Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms. At the time, I was vegetarian, and was more concerned with making it healthier (using fat free ricotta, and less cheese).

Well, we went out to dinner at a decidedly non-vegan establishment this weekend and there it was on the menu. Spinach and artichoke dip. Yum. Definitely a favorite of the appetizer world. Into my head popped that mushroom recipe and a new version, a Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushroom, was born.

You will need:

1 medium Onion, diced

12 oz Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained

8 oz Artichoke Hearts, canned in water

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

1 tsp (or to taste) Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 package Mori-Nu Lite Silken Tofu

1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast

3 Garlic Cloves

3 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp dried Basil

1 tsp dried Parsley

1/4 tsp (or to taste) Cayenne

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

6 Portobello Mushroom Caps

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the oil, sautee the onion, artichoke hearts, spinach, italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.

In a food processor or blender, blend together the tofu, nutritional yeast, garlic, vinegar, basil, parsley, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Clean the mushroom, removing stems and gills, and lightly score an X into the bottom of the caps.

Spray the bottom of the caps with cooking spray, and place gill side up in a baking dish.

Fill each cap generously with dip. There should be enough for 6 good sized mushrooms. If you have extra (I only had 3 mushrooms, so we had a lot of extra), you can make a few ramekins of it.

Serves 6

Nutrition Information: 153.5 Calories; 4.7g Total Fat; 0.7g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 17.7g Carbohydrates; 7.2g Fiber; 14.1g Protein

This got big thumbs up from both myself and my husband. This is also the perfect dinner for me because I get home from work fairly late, and I don't like to eat anything heavy and very filling, but I still want real food for dinner. Not to mention, its gluten free, fairly low in fat, and higher in protein and fiber. Yummy and good for you too!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. My husband and I are thinking about getting a new kitten. Keep your fingers crossed that Zoe is okay with this!

Vegan Challenge: The Workout

On Wednesday I talked about my husband's foray into veganism for the next 30 days.  So here is the second half of his vegan challenge.  Not only eating vegan, but lifting and maintaining an active lifestyle as a vegan. 

When my husband and I were living in Hawaii together, we went to the gym together.  A lot.  I was really stressed out during my last student teaching experience, so I cut out the lifting and stuck mainly to yoga.   

Last night was my first night back to some serious lifting, and while it went well, I definitely am noticing that yoga did much more for my upper body than my lower body.  My arms, back, and chest are still fairly strong, but my legs were getting spasmatic after two sets of deadlifts.  

My husband however, was lifting more than ever while he was in Iraq, so I let him choose this workout plan.  I don't necessarily love it, but I definitely missed lifting, so its good to be back at it.  Plus, I get to pick the next program...heheh.  It will probably be something equally as complicated as the 5-7-9 program I made awhile back.  

Since his is simple, it should be much easier to follow.  The idea was to do the exact same workout three times a week.  Well, I got him to change that at least a little bit.  There are going to be two rotating workouts, and while the big lifts will change a little, the smaller lifts will be staying the same:

Workout 1:  

Deadlift 5x5

Barbell Bench Press 5x5

Dumbbell Military Press 5x5

----------

Pullups 4x8

Dips 4x8

Barbell Curls 4x8

Workout 2:

Back Squats 5x5

Dumbbell Bench Press 5x5

Barbell Seated Shoulder Press 5x5

----------

Pullups 4x8

Dips 4x8

Crunches 4x8

If you knew my workouts well, you would see my obvious influence on this program.  Since you don't, I will tell you.  First, I refuse to do anything more than 8 reps, I get incredibly bored and antsy.  Second, the way it is split into two parts, with the bigger lifts first, and the smaller lifts second...very "me".  As is the way there are fewer, but longer, sets for the second half.  What can I say, he asked my opinion.  

Post workout last night was dinner.  I let him pick something out of The Vegan Table, and he chose the Pan-Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Herb Infused Marinade.  What a mouthful.  These were possibly some of the best portobello mushrooms I've ever had.  I know it seems so simple, and to a degree it is, but the marinade was totally delicious, and the way they were cooked made it really soak in and just taste awesome.  

We had the mushrooms with roasted asparagus and mashed cauliflower (hummus is a good addition to this, if you were wondering).  

You'll have to excuse the lighting in our apartment for awhile.  I still need to play with it to find the best place, but I didn't want my food to get cold!   

He's got what I think will be some of his biggest challenges coming up this weekend.  Tomorrow we are having a BBQ at my aunt's house with some family that is in from Italy.  He'll have food to eat, no doubt, but I think it'll be hard for him to watch everyone else eating meat.  On Sunday we're going to visit his family.  It should be fine, they're really open to my being vegan, but I still think its going to be a challenge for him...but that was what he wanted, right??

Rawday Sunday

Firstly, I would like to thank Denny for the SO sweet Valentine's Day e-card!  I got it first thing on Valentine's Day, but forgot to post about it yesterday when I posted about my other V-day swag.  My favorite line:  

"Do you have a raisin?

  No?  How 'bout a date?"

Thank you Denny, you're the best!  

How was everyone's Presidents' Day?  I hope you all had the day off.  It was a pretty nice day here.  I went to see He's just not that into you with my mom this morning, and since my grad class was also cancelled tonight, I got another yoga day this week!  

Most notably though, today was my second successful raw day (I had a raw flop a few weeks ago).  Same as last time, everything is from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.  Its the only raw book I have, and I like it.    

For breakfast I made one of my favorites from my first raw day, the Coconut Cashew Pudding, which I had with an apple and 2 tbsp of ground flax seeds.  I love this stuff, although I probably should have eaten a little more.

For a snack I made a batch of the Donut Holes.  I skipped rolling them in coconut (there was already coconut in them, and I had coconut for breakfast), and they were yummy!  

I used these dried green mangos, which I got while I was in Hawaii, instead of dried pineapple, because...well that is what I had.  They weren't green at all, and they were awesome!  I wish I had bought another bag.    

A melon baller worked perfectly for making the little "holes".  Does anyone actually use a melon baller for balling melon?  I can't say I ever have, I always use it for stuff like this.  Anyway, I had three during the movie, along with some dried pears.  I also had the rest of this raw Kombucha tea that I bought a few days ago (which is organic and raw).  Its weird, has an effervescence, but its pretty good once you get into it.    

Guava Goddess Flavor..they really don't market this stuff towards men, huh?

Lunch was probably the highlight of today.  I made the Stuffed Anaheim Chilies with Mole Sauce recipe.  They are stuffed with Ani's Black Pepper Cheeze, which is utterly fantastic.  

I wasn't thrilled with the Mole Sauce on its own, but it was good with the stuffed pepper.  I think my favorite thing about this was the strong spiciness from the garlic.  I can't believe I've never mentioned this before, but I adore garlic in any way shape or form, so this was totally perfect.  What is also perfect, is that this pepper package is totally portable and will be my lunch for most of this week!  

Snack time, banana ice cream!  Pretty simple, just a blended frozen banana topped with 2 tbsp of the Artisana Raw Cacao Bliss, that I found in Hawaii.    

Then I had some unplanned Donut Holes (they're so good!).  

Dinner was the Marinated Portabello Steak and Brazil Nut-Broccoli Mash.  This wasn't totally raw, because I didn't spring for the Nama Shoyu, and just used tamari sauce.  

My grocery store always has the most beautiful portabellos

Excuse the bite I took out of it...oops.

Now, I have something important to tell you.  If you have never had a raw marinated portabello mushroom, go out and have one right now.  Seriously, I've been trying to make myself like mushrooms for about a year now, and I just...don't.  Sometimes they're okay, but most of the time I just think they're icky.  But this is delicious.  I would seriously eat this often, happily.  And I really have to convey the fact that I have HATED mushrooms for years.  You may be asking why I even bothered trying this, but, again, trying to like them.  I'm so happy I found a way that works!  It is a tad salty from the tamari, but all in all, a glowing success.  As for the broccoli mash, as much as I am a huge fan of cooked broccoli, its never been a raw veggie favorite of mine.  So it was alright, but I'm not raving.  It probably would have been better if I had made the Mushroom Gravy, but I opted out of it.    

All in all, there is no doubting that raw food can be incredibly delicious. 

I'm looking forward to this week, although I won't have a lot to post about.  I made full servings of each recipe, and planned out my whole week, and it should be a pretty high raw week, as I go through all the leftovers.  I'm not so much looking forward to it because it is raw, but because I have it all planned.   

I have to get to bed, up at 5 again tomorrow!  I'm getting used to getting up, but I've been falling asleep on the way home.  Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I'll edit nutrition info tomorrow!  I've started, but it takes so long for an entire day.  

Enjoy the four day week everyone!

Geek Love

Its almost Valentine's Day right?  One of my students asked me yesterday if I am excited for it.  I am not.  But, I figured its still worth showing someone some love right?  

Well, I am choosing to show some serious love for the Geek Squad, who came and fixed our wireless today!  I wasn't here while he did it, and I hear he gave me some flak for having a Mac, but...well he's a geek.  

I have a short post for today, and it is the last recipe that I tested for Robin Robertson's upcoming book, Vegan on the Cheap.  This is Chutney on the Cheap, and it came out pretty yummy.  

This is going to sound silly but...what do you eat chutney with?  I had it on some roasted portabella mushrooms, but I've actually never had chutney before so I wasn't totally sure.  That being said, I know exactly what I am using the rest of it for, but methinks that deserves another post.

Serves 8 (2 tbsp per serving)

Nutrition Information:  91.3 Calories;  1.9g Total Fat;  0.1g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  19.9g Carbohydrates;  1.0g Fiber;  0.7g Protein.  

This was not something I would have normally made, but it was really good, and had the perfect spicy kick to it.

Randomness for the day.  When I went on my mentor teacher's computer this afternoon, he had a window from the New York Times open entitled: Really? - The Claim:  Never Blow Your Nose When You Have a Cold.  It wasn't an extremely compelling arguement for me, but with everyone (but me!) in my house sick, and kids being absent left and right, I thought it was interesting.  Any opinions?  Anyone a non-nose-blower?

Okay, I have a bunch of other stuff I *could* talk about, but I am determined to actually make this post short (I'm not sure why, I just am).

With all that being said, I hope that none of YOU are sick, and that you are having a fabulous week!          

Portable Food

Sorry I skipped a post yesterday.  I have just been..tired.  But it is getting better!  I can tell, I'm not as exhausted when the school day is over, but I'm still yawning during class...oops.  At least I'm not teaching yet, and yawning in front of the kids.  

I don't have a lot of time to plan breakfast and lunch, so I have been making something that I can eat for a few days.  Also, I don't really like to eat in front of other people when they aren't eating, so I've been eating in the car.  Yes, 

I know this is kind of strange, but it works out.  

For breakfast I have been having these Breakfast Cookies.  They're kind of bastardized version of Ani's breakfast cakes, but I think I have changed them enough that the recipe is postable.  I really like these.  They have a lot of protein, healthy fat, and complex carbs.  Plus, they don't need to be cooked, and they stay together really well.  You can actually pick them up and eat them like a cookie.  

Okay, I realize this picture looks lame, but I promise, they're good.  

Protein Breakfast Cookies

1 cup protein powder of choice (my choice)

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup ground flax seeds

2 tbsp coconut oil

6 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp molasses

3/4-1 tsp salt

4 tbsp water

Melt the coconut oil, and throw everything into a bowl, mix it well.  Form into 8 cookies, 2 cookies per serving.

Serves 4

Nutrition Information:  445.5 Calories;  18.1g Total Fat;  6.3g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  51.2g Carbohydrates;  11.0g Fiber;  26.3g Protein

I've been just having a snack while I'm at school; some kind o

f bar, and fruit (apple and bananas).  I found two new bars at Nature's Pantry (it is right by school!).  First is Ruth's Hemp Power in Peanut Butter Banana.  

This was 190 calories and 7g of protein.  It was okay.  They had a few other flavors though, and they were good enough to try the other flavors.  

Today I had this GoRaw bar.  You can see the ingredients pretty clearly on the front...I had the pumpkin variety.    

I am very sad that they don't have more varieties of this at my store, as it is one of the best bars I have tried in a long time that can really hold its own as a meal replacement.  There is about 275 calories and 14g of protein.  I think what sets this apart from most other raw bars, is that it has been dehydrated.  I'm actually considering buying some online, I am a fan.  

On my way home, I have what you would probably call lunch?  I don't know, its just a meal, I guess.  Anyway, I made the Mini Tofu Quiche from Fat Free Vegan.  I have made these before, and I love them.  Plus, you can pick them up and eat them with your hands on the way home.  

The vegetables in these are roasted asparagus and portabello mushrooms, and sun dried tomatoes.  I also use regular silken tofu instead of lite.  They're really good, I highly recommend them.  

Serves 3:

Nutrition Information:  163.9 Calories, 4.6g Total Fat;  0.4g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  17.1g Carbohydrates;  4.5g Fiber; 19.1g Protein.  

Additionally, I just want to sing the praises of dates.  They're fantastic.  Also, they're really great to have right before the gym, they give a great energy boost.  I normally can only find them pitted, but my grocery store had fresh dates, which I had never had, and had to try, even though I have tons of dates in the pantry.  These are so fantastic.  They're really easy to pit too, which I was nervous about.  YUM.  That's all I wanted to say.  

Dates are awesome

I have a bunch of good news, but I am going to post it tomorrow!!  Hah, you will have to wait.  

Hopefully everyone is excellent.  I have been trying to keep up with everyone's blogs, but if I slack a teeny bit, please know that I am still reading, and just not commenting as much.  I love you all, I promise!!  

Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms

Today actually was the dinner that I said I was going to.  I think I've finally gotten my days straight.  Today is Monday right?  Okay well it's 12:02 here, so technically its Tuesday, but you know what I mean.  

My friend told me she was making soup, but I was anticipating a lack of protein, so I decided to make some stuffed mushrooms stuffed with quinoa.  I was incredibly pleased with my time-management, actually, but the shrooms were good too!  

Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms

Pre-oven

About 16 baby bella or white mushrooms (enough to fill a square baking dish)

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsbp salt free seasoning (I used Emeril's Chicken Rub:  red pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning, etc) 

1 1/4 cup cooked quinoa

3 tbsp dried basil

3 tsbp dried parsley

1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast

3-4 tbsp vegan cream cheese

salt & pepper to taste

paprika

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Prepare baking by coating with a thin layer of oil, or use cooking spray.

2.  Stem and clean mushroom caps by brushing with a damp towel.

3.  Heat olive oil in pan.  Add garlic and saute for a few minutes, then add salt free seasoning, mixing to coat.  

4.  Add quinoa, basil, parsely, and nutritional yeast until well combined.

5.  Add cream cheese and mix well 

6.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

7.  Fill mushrooms with stuffing, sprinkle with paprika, and cook in preheated oven for 20 minutes, uncovered.  

Per Mushroom (about 3 per person would make a good appetizer serving):

Nutrition Information:  41.8 Calories;  1.8g Total Fat;  0.3g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  5.1g Carbohydrates;  1.3g Fiber;  2.0g Protein

Oh, cutest thing, my friend tried really hard to make stuff that I could eat.  She wanted to make potato leek soup, so I sent her a bunch of vegan recipes for it, and then she found her own recipe for vegan pesto.  When I got there, she said it came out really well, but she didn't understand why it told her to put yeast in it.  Too cute, she put regular yeast in it, when it obviously (to vegans) meant nutritional yeast.  It was seriously delicious though, even with the regular yeast.

We had a fun night, we ate, drank, there was a ton of food and not enough people to eat it.  Then we played Apples to Apples and Partini.  I am a big fan of Apples to Apples, I think because I am pretty good at reading people, so I often win.  I'm pretty competitive, so...I like any game I have a decent of winning, haha.  We were really frustrated with Partini at first, it seemed to hard, but it ended up being a lot of fun...so much so that I didn't realize how badly we were losing, and I actually didn't even care (shocker!!).

It still feels like the weekend to me!  My brother is home from school, my dad is home from work, I am just so damned confused.  So, I guess I should end this by telling everyone to have a great week!

Today's Cooking Song of the Day:  "Don't Look Back in Anger" - Oasis