The Veggie Burger - A Survey

I have a confession to make. I love veggie burgers. A box of veggie burgers does not last very long in our freezer. There is a very long list of veggie burgers that I enjoy, but I have a definite favorite. With four patties to a box, these burgers last for no longer than four days in our fridge. To me, they always sound like a great idea for a meal, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Although honestly, I would rarely last until dinner to have one of these, if they're in the house.

Yes, I eat them for breakfast. Today, I am having one for lunch (yes, its even good after being cooked and sitting in the car for 4 hours.

My most favorite veggie burger ever is:

Amy's TEXAS burger. It is the perfect blend of sweet and savory, made up of all ingredients that I can pronounce, and packs a good punch of protein too (12 g). It is just, delicious.

So with that, I'm wondering...what is your favorite veggie burger? Do you make your own instead? Do you (gasp) not like veggie burgers? Inquiring minds (mine) want to know!!

Have a great day people, I'm off to cook my veggie burger and get to work!

The Vegan Strong Blog-iversary!

I sat here today, thinking about how I was feeling a bit of the blogging slump. How I really wanted to just be excited about cooking again for the sake of cooking and not for blogging. I was thinking, its probably just like anything else, where the initial excitement starts to fade and you have to get through a rough patch to reach your stride. Of course, I say this all with a light heart, as it is, after all, just a blog.

But I started thinking about this in terms of the year and how after I hit a year, it'd probably be on the upswing. Literally, this happened less than a minute ago. Then I realized...it HAS been about a year. So I checked and, it has actually been EXACTLY a year! So, happy Blog-iversary to Vegan Strong. Its been quite a year. Some has changed, and some has not.

Bulgar Wheat and Soy, my second post, is still one of my favorite things.

My Vegan Coat is itching to officially come out of the closet this year (I have a new hat to go with it).

I had a Gluten-Free week, which definitely made me more sensitive to those of you with gluten intolerances/allergies/celiac's/etc.

I tried to involve as much of the "strong" in Vegan Strong as possible with posts about protein, protein powder recipes, and workouts, and while I know they aren't the favorite posts, they're important to me.

I've had a few raw days in there, something I wish I was more diligent about doing on a regular basis!

You were all there with me during my student teaching experience, the good and the bad.

I went to Hawaii and Maine, and moved to New Jersey.

And most recently, you've heard about my complete career change, which I am still really happy with.

All in all, its been quite a year, and I can't believe how quickly its gone by. I am really looking forward to this coming year, especially the upcoming holidays! I hope that I've been able to share some of my personality, my sense of humor, and given you an idea of who I am. Its been really great getting to know a lot of my fellow bloggers and developing relationships and doing exchanges and giveaways with them.

So thank all of you for visiting, reading, and commenting. I really love hearing from everyone, and I hope that I give back to you what you all give to me!

Have a great day everyone! And I hope you'll stick with me for another year!!

Pumpkin Ginger Granola Bars

Today is officially my last day of summer. Work for the teachers starts tomorrow and school starts next week. Time to end the fun and get down to business. In all seriousness, I'm really looking forward to starting work, and have been really looking forward to the fall days and flavors up ahead.

One of the best things about eating seasonally is that craving for the different foods that become fresh as the seasons change. Personally, I miss those days when everyone's blogs were filled with pumpkin: stuffed pumpkin, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, etc. Well I didn't want to wait anymore. I decided that a good back to school snack for me would be some Pumpkin Ginger Granola Bars.

These are high enough in protein that I could call them a protein bar if I wanted to. The macros rival Clif bars, but with much less sugar. These guys also have some healthy fat, fiber, and whole grain to keep you going, whether it be through a school day, or whatever else you've got planned this coming September.

Pumpkin Ginger Granola Bars

1 1/4 cup oats

1 1/4 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)

1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds

1/4 cup flax meal

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup brown rice syrup (agave can also be used)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup crystalized ginger, chopped

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Grease a baking dish.

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet in another. Mix wet and dry together until everything is coated.

Spread into prepared baking dish. I used a 11x13 dish, but I only pushed the mixture into about 3/4 of it. It worked fine, the TVP makes these hold up really well. You could use a smaller baking dish, but they would be thicker, and you might want to cook them longer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool completely and cut into whatever size you like. I made 10 granola bar-sized bars, but it could easily make 20 granola bar squares if you are looking for a less substantial after-school snack.

Serves 10

Nutrition Information: 218.3 Calories; 5.5g Total Fat; 0.6g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 31.8g Carbohydrates; 5.1g Fiber; 10.3g Protein

**If you want someone else to make your nutrition bars, be sure to enter my Love Force bar giveaway! Today is your last day to enter!!**

Carrot Cake for Breakfast

Its breakfast time here.  I have some time before I need to leave today, and I am eagerly awaiting my drive to school because I can't wait to eat this morning.  

I've made breakfast cookies before (check out the Banana Walnut variation too), but these are extra special...Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies!  It took a few tries to get them right and they are so. freaking. good.  Perfectly amount of spice, not too sweet, with that irresistible cream cheese icing slathered on top of them...perfect.  Plus, who doesn't like cake for breakfast? 

Of course, they have to follow my breakfast rules:  high in protein, high in fat, and won't crumble or get frosting on my pocket.  Such a delicious cookie does exist. 

Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies

15 baby carrots, shredded (food processor gets that done quick)

1/2 cup pecan halves (or walnuts)

1/2 cup flax meal

1/4 cup raisins

1 cup protein powder

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp molasses

2 tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp agave nectar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1 tsp salt 

2-4 tbps water (until you get desired texture, I think I used 2)

4 tbsp trans fat free Tofutti

1 tbsp agave nectar

Easy as anything.  Melt the coconut oil and mix it with all wet ingredients, adding only two tbsp of water.  Mix together the carrots and all the dry ingredients.  Add the wet to the dry.  If more water is needed, add now.  Form into 8 cookies.  They will be fairly large.  

Mix the tofutti with the remaining tbsp of agave nectar until smooth.  Dollop 1/2 tsp of frosting on each cookie, and spread out to "frost" it.  Your best bet now is to put them on a cookie sheet or cutting board and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight.  

Thats it.  Very easy, very tasty, very filling (keeps me going for four hours), very good for breakfast.  

Serves 4

Nutrition Information:  550 Calories;  26.0g Total Fat;  8.2g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  60.6g Carbohydrates;  10.4g Fiber;  25.8g Protein.  

Enjoy the day everyone!

Breakfast, Ideally.

   M: “What have we always said is the most important thing?”

GM: “Breakfast”

   M: “Family”

GM: “Family.  Right.  I thought you meant out of the things you eat”   

500 points if you got that reference.  

Anyway, we all grew up being told that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”.  But how many of us grew up on sugary cereal, Pop-Tarts, and doughy bagels?  How many of us skip breakfast now, or run out the door with a sugary granola bar masquerading as something "wholesome"?  Have you ever had the “Continental Breakfast” at a hotel?  Its all pastries, donuts, and maybe an English muffin.  You may get some peanut butter for that muffin if you’re lucky.   

The quick and easy American breakfast is heavy in one major food group:  carbohydrates.  No no, carbs are not evil.  Well, not all of them at least.  But when carbs come in the form of sugar, or of highly processed white flour, they can be bad news.  When these “highly processed carbs” hit your digestive system, they get to work immediately.  Perfect for an early morning pick me up, right?  Well you won’t be thinking the same thing an hour later, when you’ve quickly worked through all those simple carbs, and are now running on empty.  

We need carbs, they’re brain food.  We need them to keep our glycogen levels up, which is especially important for athletes, or any fitness enthusiast.  But we want complex carbohydrates.  This means whole grains;  whole oats, whole wheat, whole barley, brown rice, buckwheat, spelt berries, bulgar wheat, etc.  This stuff still has its fiber content.  While it will still give you the energy you need, it comes along with fiber, that will keep digestion at a slow burn to keep you feeling strong, longer.  Fruits and veggies are a carbs too, but they’re not as complicated.  I feel perfectly fine eating anything that comes from nature.  Fruit does have a lot of sugar, but it also has vitamins and fiber.  Most veggies are super good for you, but the poor potato has gotten a bad rap, since it is a simple carb.  In general, I get as many veggies as possible, and just stay aware that while fruits mean great nutrients and fiber, it does come with calories.     

Okay, so we know what kind of carbs we need, but what about ALL the other food items out there.  Surely if just carbs were enough, they wouldn’t add “part of a complete breakfast” at the end of cereal commercials, would they?  The other two macronutrient groups, protein and fat, are an integral part of breakfast.  

First, fat.  Oh poor fat and its misconceptions.  Fat is just another type of food.  It isn’t, nutritionally, going to make you fat.  The reason why fat is synonymous with “being fat” or weight gain, is because one gram of fat has more calories then protein and carbs.  

1g fat = 9 calories

1g protein = 4 calories

1 g protein = 4 calories

So, its easy to see how, if you eat too much fat, you do, in fact, gain weight.  Guess what though?  You gain weight if you eat too much of anything.  Because fat has more calories, it fills you up more.  Just like carbs though, fat can be good or bad.  I think everyone knows by now that trans fats are bad.  I’ll actually be talking about trans fats with my students this week.  No, I’m not a health teacher, but trans fats are principle of organic chemistry, which we’re starting this week.  If anyone wants to know about the chemical basis behind trans fats, let me know!  Anyway, good vs. bad fats is pretty easy once you think about it.  Fats that are from nature are good:  Avocados, olive oil, peanut butter, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, coconut oil, etc.  For me, fats are one of the most important parts of breakfast.  I’ve mentioned before, and have posted recipes for, my breakfast cookies, my personal weekday portable breakfast of choice.  They’re full of good fats, with ground flax seeds, coconut oil, and sometimes other nuts and seeds, depending on the recipe.  Stay tuned for a Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookie recipe later this week.  

I think the macronutrient that most vegans and vegetarians are most aware of, is protein.  If you are any sort of vegetarian and have never been asked where you get your protein, congratulations.  But its still good to know the answer, right?  Protein is everywhere, tofu, nuts, seeds, tempeh, whole grains, seitan, beans, etc.  As far as I am concerned, when it comes to vegetarian sources, there is no unhealthy, or “bad”, protein.  Supposedly protein fills you up too, but I’ve never felt that way; I attribute the full feeling more to fat and fiber, than to protein.  Regardless, it is important to have protein at all your meals, and as long as you are conscientious of the vegetarian sources, you should be getting more than enough.  Some of us want more protein.  Muscles are made of protein, and if you are consistently breaking them down, you’re going to need protein to build them back up.  I am always pushing my muscles pretty hard, through weight training, yoga, and running, and to facilitate that repair, I turn to protein.  The amount of protein we need is debatable, but as a general rule, your body can only absorb so much at once.  This is why its a good idea to have some at every meal, so your body can make use of it all.  

So much to take in before breakfast!  You want the first meal to count though, right?  So you need protein, good fat, complex carbohydrates, and nutrients you get from fruits and veggies.  It can all sound complicated, but its not so daunting a task.  

I have breakfast every morning, but I especially love my weekend breakfast, when I have time before yoga to cook up something different, and relax while I eat.  Today I had my ideal breakfast.  

It started last night with setting aside some oat groats for a raw “oatmeal”, inspired again by Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.

  

1/4 cup raw oat groats, soaked overnight, and rinsed

1/2 nectarine

1/2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tbsp water

1.  Blend the oats, water, and nectarine in a food processor until it is "oatmealy".  

2.  Drizzle with maple syrup

This was my first time having the raw oats, and I was so pleasantly surprised.  First off, I couldn't believe how much it smelled like oatmeal just after being rinsed.  And it was so chewy and fruity, it was really a really tasty alternative to a bowl of cooked oats.

Now, my weekend scrambles may be old news, but they are seriously my most favorite breakfast.  The key ingredient, for me, is the vegan cream cheese.  It makes it so nice and creamy.  If you can't find the trans fat free version of Tofutti near you, there are a few other vegan cream cheese options, like Vegan Gourmet, and Soya Kass.  They're both good, but the Tofutti tastes the best if you are using it as a condiment.    

3.5 oz Extra-firm Tofu

1/2 red pepper

1/4 cup scallions

1/2 tsp Bragg's/soy sauce/tamari

1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast

1 tbsp vegan cream cheese

tumeric

cayenne pepper

1/2 ripe avocado

I've posted my method before.  This isn't too different from my regular scramble, except I added the scallions at the end instead of cooking them with the pepper, like I do when I use yellow onion.

Stats for the ideal breakfast?  

Serves 1:  

Nutrition Information:  516.7 Calories;  22.0g Total Fat;  3.8g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  60.9g Carbohydrates;  15.0g Fiber;  24.8g Protein

Vitamin Information:  83.1% Vitamin A;  66.5% Vitamin B-12;  259.5% Vitamin B-6;  213.1% Vitamin C;  9.9% Vitamin E;  4.9% Calcium;  15.2% Copper;  53.6% Folate;  9.8% Iron;  12.3% Magnesium;  31.9% Manganese;  152.8% Niacin;  16.2% Phosphorous;  850.3mg Potassium;  291.9% Riboflavin;  17.0% Selenium;  328.7% Thiamin;  18.4% Zinc 

Breakfast of champions, indeed.  I absolutely believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  If I screw up breakfast, the rest of my day is just off.  What do you consider to be your ideal breakfast?  I'm always up for new breakfast ideas!

I'm off to finish my lessons for my two weeks of Organic Chem (it ends with something fun)!  I know it has a terrible rap, but at the High School level, I really like it (not so much at the college level, I almost failed my second semester...stupid mechanisms).  

Oh, and let me know if you won my 500 point prize...no Googling!!  I'll think up something good to send ya :)

You get an extra 250 points if you can tell me the chemical process that creates trans fats.  

If you really want to be a show-off I'll give you 100 points for the chemical formula for sucrose (table sugar).  My teacher made us memorize it in 5th grade, the things that stick with you are funny!    

Vegan in the Cities

I had a kind of interesting weekend.  Mainly because I spent over 15 hours of it traveling.  I think what made it so interesting is that I am still feeling quite sane. 

Yesterday started pretty great.  Since I am somewhat used to getting up early now, I was up at 7, and decided to make something fun for breakfast before yoga.  

Waffles!  Chocolate Cherry White Chocolate Chip Protein Waffles, to be exact.  I know you're all saying "recipe, please?" (maybe not, but I'm pretending you are), but I have some things I want to change.  They're based off of the Brownie Waffle recipe from Veganomicon, and they're good, but they are not quite deserving of recipe sharing yet.  They will make a great portable breakfast this week though.  

After yoga, I went down to Brooklyn to have dinner with some friends.  It is only about an hour train ride to the city.  But the train that comes closest to my house runs pretty infrequently on the weekends, so I drive down to Jersey.  That is about a half hour.  Then the train itself takes about an hour and a half, counting the waiting and switching trains once.  Then, walking to the subway station, waiting for the subway, and getting to his house...another hour, easy.  I know that doesn't add up exactly to 3 and a half hours, but that was how long it took.  

Whenever I go to see this particular friend, we get Thai food.  It is my most favorite type of food.  Who doesn't love a good Thai curry?  So, first we went to Trader Joe's because I had to get a gift certificate, and then we found a little Thai place that ended up being awesome.  It was called Cafe Chili.  I didn't get any pictures, but I had the Vegetable Spring Rolls and Panang Curry.  One of our friends, who was also down this weekend, studied abroad and then lived in Thailand for quite awhile, and he was telling me how he had actually been to Panang.  I googled it, and I think he meant Penang, but close enough, right?  My husband studied abroad in Thailand too, so I've heard more than I really want to hear about the place.  Anyway, my curry was fantastic.  I have Thai food rarely, so its okay that it is one of the only time I am a member of the Perfectly Spotlessly Clean Plate Club.  I never eat white rice, but as soon as I have a bowl of curry sauce in front of me, I am using it to sop all that up.  So delicious.    

After that, we hung out for a little, and then I made the trek back to my house.  It would be so much faster to drive, but I'd much rather chill out with my music then stress about driving in the city.  Normally, a day like this would irritate me so much, but the playlist the iTunes Genius created was so awesome, that I was completely relaxed and happy the whole time.  

This is a small sampling of said playlist, which is 100 songs based off of 'I Believe in Symmetry' by Bright Eyes:

'Hooray' - Minus the Bear

'Sundress' - Ben Kweller

'People as Places as People' - Modest Mouse

'Yankee Bayonet' - The Decemberists

'Act appalled I' - Circa Survive

'Pink Bullets' - The Shins

'Across the Sea' - Weezer

'I'm Ready, I Am' - The Format

'The Same Boy You've Always Known' - The White Stripes

'Cashmir Pulaski Day' - Sufjan Stevens

'Ask Me Antyhing' - The Strokes

'My Mind' - Portugal.  The Man

'Play Crack the Sky' - Brand New

'Time' - Ben Folds

'Still Take You Home' - The Arctic Monkeys

'Come on Home' - Franz Ferdinand

Those songs are some of my favorites.  If you're curious, or just want some new music, leave me a comment, or send me an email (its in my profile), and I'll send you a CD!

I wanted to post this all yesterday, but I was up against this:  

Sorry Mommy, I'm using the computer right now

Moving on, today I went up to Boston with my family to see my brother and his wife, for her birthday.  After yesterday, I actually went home and bought the new(ish) Format CD, B-sides and Rarities, which is both a bunch of new songs that weren't previously released, and some demo versions of older songs.  If you aren't aware, The Format is longer together, which is very sad.  So, I've been listening to that, Ben Folds, Flight of the Conchords, and Ben Kweller.  Loveliness! 

Now, I mentioned above that Thai food is my favorite, but I rarely get to have it (I don't exactly live in a cosmopolitan area), so imagine my surprise when my not-so-adventurous mom agreed to my brother's suggestion to get Thai!  Twice in one weekend!  Plus, I'm sure I'll be having it in Hawaii this weekend too.  

I don't remember the name of this place, but it wasn't as good...but I also didn't get what I normally get...because I had it the day before!  

For an appetizer here, we had the Vegetable Triangles, which was actually curried potatoes in peas in little fried wrappers.  Pretty yummy!  

My main dish was pretty healthy, steamed veggies with tofu and peanut sauce on the side.  I didn't want to go crazy after having all that curry and rice the day before.  It was good, and the peanut sauce kept getting better as I kept eating it.

After that...oh after that.  We went to the Amsterdam Cafe for frozen yogurt.  They had chocolate and vanilla yogurt, as well as sugar free vanilla, and dairy free vanilla.  They called it "tofu frozen yogurt"...geez, way to turn people off.  Anyway, they had a list of about 30 possible mix ins.  As would be expected, this took me quite awhile.  Minty?  Cookies?  Candy?  Fruit?  Nuts?  Oh my goodness, too many decisions!  I ended up getting the dairy free vanilla with peaches and coconut.  

This was so good.  I almost wanted to move to Boston for it (they even deliver!!)....then we walked outside again and I changed my mind, haha.  It was COLD.  

Now I am back home and it is nice and warm.  

I hope everyone had fabulous weekends!  I am getting all geared up for Hawaii this coming weekend, and I am mucho excited.  We're staying on the North Shore, at Turtle Bay (in case you wanted to stalk me), which...normally I would rather stay in Waikiki or a B&B on the East Side, but my husband wanted to stay there, and now that I've seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall a bunch of times, I really want to go!  I am so looking forward to going back, I totally miss it.  

I also start classes this week, which I am not looking forward to.  My thesis class is going to be a crazy amount of work.  I can bring my computer to class though, haha, so it'll probably give me some time to catch up on blogs and other internet things, actually!  For a teacher, I'm not a very good student.   

Oh, and I wanted to set a goal for myself for this week.  I've gotten the sleep schedule under control, I've got the feeding schedule under control too.  But I definitely have not been drinking enough water.  So, my goal for this week is 4 liters a day.

Let the week begin!  

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!!  

Protein Packed Ice Cream

Who doesn't love ice cream?  Even better, who doesn't love ice cream that is pretty darn healthy?  

I've been making this for awhile, although it is a thousand time easier now with my new food processor.  I wanted to eat it before it started to melt, so the picture is a little fuzzy..oops!   

Strawberry Protein Ice Cream

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 tbsp solid fat (that sounds gross, but I mean coconut oil, or a nut butter..who knows, maybe avocado, but I haven't tried it)

1 scoop protein powder (should be about 1/3 cup, if you don't have a typical scoop)

2 tbsp of your choice of milk (I have used soy and almond)

water to "taste"  

Throw everything but the water into the food processor.  I'd imagine this would work in a high powered blender that everyone has but me ::pouts::  but I wouldn't recommend a regular blender, because its a pain.  You can still do it, but you have to manually turn everything a lot.  Anyway, blend everything.  Once it is combined, add water until it has reached the desired texture.  I usually only use a tbsp or so of water.

Serves 1 - made with strawberries and coconut oil

Nutrition Information:  292.3 Calories;  15.3g Total Fat;  12.1g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  17.0g Carbohydrates;  5.0g Fiber;  25.3g Protein  

There are a ton of combinations that you can make:  Strawberries and almond butter, cherries and cashew butter, raspberries and coconut oil...tons of combinations!  And honestly, you can't really taste the fat, so it is kind of irrelevan, taste-wise.  What is important though, is the protein powder.  I've talked before about my favorite protein powder,  and the quality and type of protein powder affects the taste.  This is the case with almost any protein powder recipe that I post.  If you hate the taste of your protein powder, this recipe isn't going to mask it.  

Anyway, this is one of those desserts that just makes me so happy!  I only have it on days that I don't work out though, because I don't like to use a protein supplement more than once a day.  If you haven't realized from my workout posts yet, I work out most days, haha, so I maybe have this once a week.  Of course, this would make a perfect post workout snack, I just like to have it at nighttime.  

Zoe says:  Mommy, when are you going to make ME something??  

As a small aside...I fixed my rainbow problem from yesterday morning.  Apple Pie Quinoa with a tofu scramble instead!!

  

Tomorrow is going to be a raw day!  Stay tuned :)

My Best Protein Shake

Tonight I have class, then I am going to my friend's house for the night, and spending the day tomorrow observing her at her school.  This means a lot of food packing :), which I sort of like.  It does mean I end up eating more protein bars than usual, but such is life.  But I know I won't be cooking anything today, so I thought I'd write about my favorite macronutrient..protein!    

I'm sure everyone who eats any sort of vegan diet has been asked how they get enough protein.  Now, I spend a lot of time of forums; fitness forums, vegan forums, vegan fitness forums, diet forums, etc (also a moderator on a military girlfriend's forum, but that's a story for another day), and there is always this "debate" about protein.  How much do we need?  What kind is the best?  Is there such a thing as too much?  Can you really get enough protein to build muscle on a vegan diet?  Is vegetable protein inferior to animal protein?  

Almost all of these questions are debatable.  But I do know that it's possible to get plenty of protein on a vegan diet.  Some of my favorite whole foods sources are seitan, seeds (pepitas in particular), tofu, beans, soynuts, nut butters, whole grains, and tempeh.  But personally, I'm also a big fan of the protein shake.  I wouldn't suggest it if you don't work out, lifting or otherwise, since we all know that whole foods are way better for us, and if you are only eating 1200 calories a day, it would be hard to get all the nutrients and vitamins you need if one of your meals is a protein shake.  But I am burning a lot of calories, eating a lot of calories, trying to increase my body's muscle, and a protein shake is easy, fast, and completely convenient when I come home wiped from the gym.  My favorite protein powder is a custom True Protein mix of 50% gemma (pea), and 50% rice protein.  I avoid the soy protein isolate because I figure I get enough other soy in my diet.  

My go to post-workout shake is a scoop mixed with OJ.  I'm not going to bother with a picture because it doesn't look pretty and it isn't the most delicious thing, but it is fast protein and fast carbohydrates.  However, on my non-workout days, I still like to have a protein shake, and it is delicious.

Chocolate Banana Protein Shake

1/2 banana

1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk

1 scoop protein powder

Blend!  

I know, this is ridiculously easy and it sounds silly, but most vegan proteins get a bad rap for being gross and chalky (because...most of them are), but this masks the chalkiness and is yummy chocolate deliciousness.  

So, if I'm not home, like I know I won't be tonight, I do resort to protein bars.  One of my favorites is the Odwalla Super Protein bar.

As far as the calorie to protein content ratio..it can't compare to many of the non-vegan bars out there.  But...they're non-vegan, so who cares?  I don't know if you can see, but I think this one is pretty good, 230 calories, 16g protein.  The protein is soy, the sweeteners are grape juice concentrate, brown rice syrup, and date puree.  I know that Clif Bars and Larabars, and some Luna Bars are vegan, but Clif Bars are more energy bars, the calorie to protein ratio isn't high enough for me, Larabars are essentially cookies in a bar shape, and Luna Bars aren't enough calories for me to have as a meal.  The calorie count of this bar allows for some fruit or veg to be added to the meal too, which I thoroughly enjoy.

For anyone who is curious, I average 100g of protein a day right now.  I'm also eating between 1700 and 2000 calories.  

So, that is how I feel about protein.  It's important, and it is NOT hard to get enough of it.