Leftovers never tasted so good!

You're probably saying to yourself, these don't look like leftovers....BUT they are! Last week I made Ryan's favorite (enchiledas) and we ate them so quick I didn't get a picture. Luckily, when I made them I made a double batch and froze the other dish of them. We were watching TV and considering take-out when I remembered what was stashed away in the freezer. Ryan baked them for 45 minutes (since the interior was pre-cooked) and then topped them with a nice green salad, shaved onion, salsa, and Valentina. He served them with saffron rice and some refried beans. Here's how the enchiledas were assembled.

Whole Wheat Tortillas stuffed with a sauteed mixture of onions, green peppers, jalepenos, broccoli, spinach, ground mushroom burger, and black beans seasoned with taco seasoning.

We put Salsa Verde on the bottom of the dish and lined it with enchiledas, then baked them.

Good, cheap eats and we didn't even have to use the telephone or the debit card! Woo Hoo!

I need to remember to do double duty more often.

Raining on Sunday

This morning, like most Sunday mornings, consisted of coffee, Internet browsing for dream houses, the news (by news I mean SportsCenter) and lots of yawns. Sunday is really the only day of the week that we are guaranteed to see each other for more than an hour. It is a day that we love to relax and often only have a date with the piles of laundry that we need to catch up on. It's nice when one of us takes the initiative and makes some good food. This morning it was my turn; tonight it's Ryan's.

I wanted to make something that was different than our weekday morning breakfasts, so I looked up a recipe for pancakes. I've done some killer vegan banana walnut cakes before, but brunch is all about cooking and NOT having to take your PJ's off, so I used what we had in the house and made whole wheat apple cinnamon pancakes. I baked some tofu sausage that we had in an attempt to hush Ryan's desperate pleas for bacon. Miraculously, it worked.

They were really good, but very dense. I only made 4 pancakes and 4 sausage links, but we couldn't even finish those.

Everyday is Sunday for Raleigh Cat.

Pizza, Football, and SNACKS

Early Dinner - Pizza Night!

Spinach, Broccoli, Artichoke, Tomato, and Garlic Pizza and with 1/2 Tofuroni (something new)

Paired with a leafy green salad and some Ginger dressing it was VERY filling.











Late night snack:
A new product Vegan Chicken Tenders.
If you bake these and dip in ketchup or BBQ sauce they are actually REALLY good and quick. Nothing to clean up either!

I really like trying new meat alternatives because beans get kind of old, I'm trying to not eat so much wheat, and my best tofu recipe takes forever, so if I see something new at the store I'll usually take a risk and buy it. Sometimes the results are NOT so good, but other times I am pleasantly suprised. These will become a freezer staple just like veggie potstickers, and mushroom burgers.

It's cold and all I want to eat is soup

Basically, it's beyond bearable here with the coldness. It hinders every inch of New Year motivation I had for working out (which would require leaving the house). It takes all I have to change out of my pj's and into my snow suit to leave the house. One thing that makes me feel a lot better about doing so is having a cup of hot soup when I walk in the door. I know, hot chocolate would be better, but I need no calorie and high nutrients which is why I'm relying on this basic cabbage soup.

1 small head of cabbage
2 carrots

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

16 oz. Veggie stock

1 can white beans (I used Garbanzo but Cannelini would be better)
equal amounts of water

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
Red pepper flakes and lots of Salt and Pepper

It feels good to eat it. I know that sounds weird, but its true. It must be the amount of vinegar in it and the fact that there is no fat at all; it's the perfect cold weather,guilt free, but warming snack with real nutritional value.

Check out the vinegar I've been using. I'm trying to include it more in my cooking after reading more about the benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar: http://bragg.com/products/acv.html

New Shoes

Just because I love them so much.

You know you've made a good dinner when....

I've been wanting to try some new things with tofu since it's been too cold to go to Whole Foods and buy the cajun style tofu off the hot bar, so I did some research and found a few new recipies.

Well, my tofu stir-fry may not have been an original dish, but it was AMAZING. I have never been able to get tofu to be so chicken like in texture and still have lots of flavor, but boy was it a process.

It all started with Extra Firm Organic Tofu that I drained and lightly squeezed. I then sliced into 6 pieces, put it in a dish towel, put some weight on it and waited a few hours. After that I sauteed it in some coconut butter until it looked brown on most sides. I sauteed some frozen veggies and a mixture of fresh ones that I had in the fridge on a really hot pan with no oil while I tossed the cooked tofu in a marinade/sauce of sorts consisting of: Srirach, Soy Sauce, a touch of Teriyaki, red pepper flakes, and a drip or two of Agave. Then I tossed the said marinaded tofu into the pan with the rest of the sauce. I didn't even serve it over brown rice or noodles, just veggie and tofu.

So now to the point, you know you've made a good dinner when it gets eaten in its' entirety before you can even photograph it. The only evidence I have is the picture below which just shows a picture of what I rigged to get as much moisture as possible out of the tofu.

Snow Days

Here in Nashville we've been recently experiencing something that reaffirms the teaching profession as one of the best careers, snow days.

During these last two days I've been trying to keep up the work out and eating regimine while also trying to manage not FREEZING, serisouly, 7? Is that REALLY the temperature?

Here's what has helped keep me warm...

Breakfast (okay, whose kidding, I wasn't up until 11 am so technically this was BRUNCH):

Steele cut oats with cinnamon, pecans, soy milk, and a touch of agave nectar.

And for a late lunch:

A big plate of mixed greens, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, red onion, pecans, and some sesame dressing. The only bad thing about this lunch is that is makes me yurn for spring time...

Happy New Year!

It's 2010 and just like everyone else I have vowed to be a better, healthier me. I think constant improvement is a must, not in search of perfection, but to attain a state of well being. Change is constant, and to live in the now means not to linger too much on the past nor rely too much on the future.

I wanted to try to keep the blog up for those family members (that's you, Mom) that said they also wanted to start eating a bit healthier and for those that wanted some of my recipies from the holidays. And yes, if anyone was wondering, I did survive the holidays and remain vegan.

I did slip on a chocolate truffle, but come on I resisted Grandma's mac-n-cheese for pete's sake!

Here is protein packed earlier dinner before we are off to see Avatar in IMAX 3D. Who could want popcorn after this?!?!

Rosemary Veggie Wrap - packs a 21g protein punch!