Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner - Vegan Style

Taking a break from my boring life postings and doing another week of interesting food stuff or not interesting. LOL. I know many of my friends are trying hard to get healthy. If any thing, these recipes and video will be helpful, inspiring and amusing.

 EAT YOUR SPINACH

  Breakfast 

Among the World's Healthiest vegetables, spinach comes out at the top of our ranking list for nutrient richness. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is also concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids to provide you with powerful antioxidant protection. Calorie for calorie, leafy green vegetables like spinach with its delicate texture and dark green color provide more nutrients than any other food.

The Truth About Soy - Click here.

Vegan Tofu Scramble

Calories: 351. Save calories and replace the oil with vegetable broth when cooking tofu scramble.

A go-to protein source for vegetarians, vegans and meat eaters alike, tofu is a nutritious food made from soybeans. I would NOT eat any pre-pakaged tofu foods such as nuggets and patties etc. those are just bad. However, I do like Firm Non-GMO tofu in blocks, which I slice and bake on parchment paper with no oil. Also, I like Silken Soft Non-GMO tofu for breakfast scrambles.

Excellent Tofu Scramble. 
 Get the recipe. Click Here.

Please do not add oil to any tofu scramble, 
saute veggies in water or vegetable broth and then add in tofu.

Also, I recommend a dash of turmeric into a scramble. Delicious. :)

Hash Browns Oil Free
Crispy fat free hash browns add to a terrific healthy breakfast. Simply grate potatoes using the large holes of a traditional cheese grater. Cook the hash browns in the oven by putting them on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet, and cooking at 400 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes, then flipping them over and cooking for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, watching that they don’t over-brown. I bake two big potatoes the night before and put them in the fridge. The next morning, I shred them onto the parchment paper, season them and bake them for 15 minutes on each side. They always brown and crisp up nicely.

Hash Browns

The reputation of potatoes as fattening comes from the way they are usually cooked. It is the fat that they are cooked in (oily gravy or fried) or added at the table in the form of butter of cream, that is the real culprit! Potatoes are NOT fattening. Potatoes are best had boiled, steamed, grilled, roasted, and baked. Thus, potatoes can be cooked without butter or oil and mixed with other vegetables. Also, serve them topped with oil free substitutes, such as vegan non- cheese sauce or a vegan oil free gravy. We don't have to give up fries because they can be baked in the oven on parchment paper with no oil turning them into crispy goodness. 

Good Potato Facts

Country Gravy

Country Gravy - Vegan and Oil Free by Jeanine

New Earth Wellness's Jeanine shows us healthy ways to prepare healthy foods. Her uncle, Dr. Milton G. Crane MD was Director Of Research at Weimar Institute for over 20 years where he taught patients and staff. He proved with science that a whole unrefined plant diet is ideal for good health.

Vegan Pancakes - Oil Free
Click here for recipe.

See more pancake recipes - click here.

 Lunching Healthy

Eating a salad for lunch or as a side dish to your sandwich, instead of fries or chips, is an easy, healthy change you can make right now. Salads help you meet your nutritional needs by providing vitamins, minerals and fiber, and they may help you manage your weight.

Avocado Salad

Click this link for a delicious dressing that's oil free - Green Goddess Dressing. 

Yes, it’s true, avocados are high in fat.  But it is good fat. Our bodies need the good fat. A 1 ounce serving of avocado contains 4.5 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of carbs of which 2 are fiber, and less than 1 gram of protein. Of the 4.5 grams, only half a gram is saturated fat. The rest are “heart healthy” fats – 3 grams of monounsaturated fats, and the rest polyunsaturated. Bottom line: Fear not the fats in avocados.

Vegan Ranch Dressing

1/3 cup silken tofu
2/3 cup soy milk
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
 black pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Wraps Vegan Style

Collard leaves are very low in calories (provide only 30 calories per 100 g) and contain no cholesterol. Fresh collard leaves are also rich in vitamin-C, provides about 59% of RDA per 100 g. Vitamin-C is a powerful natural anti-oxidant that offers protection against free radical injury and flu-like viral infections. Try a collard green wrap with hummus and veggies. Try not to overload the veggies it will be easier to fold the wrap. After I clean my collard green, I microwave it for 15 seconds to steam it. It makes it easier to fold.

How to Make Collard Wraps

Hummus for Anytime
 

Easy Lunch or Dinner Meals

Vegan Pad Thai (Oil Free)

 Fried Rice (Oil Free)

Rice is one of the oldest cultivated crops, first mentioned in history as far back as 2800 BC in China.

Rice is an excellent source of energy. It is comprised of 77.5% carbohydrate; carbohydrate is one of the human body's two main sources of energy, the second being fat. Rice is an excellent food source, low in fat and high in starchy carbohydrate. Rice is packed full of vitamins and minerals and provides an excellent source of vitamin E, B vitamins (thiamin, niacin) and potassium. Brown rice and basmati rice have medium or low GI values, and are not associated with increasing risk factors for weight gain and diabetes. Rice has been found to be very easy to digest. It is low in fat, low in cholesterol, high in starch, and has a high nutritional content. 

Potato Croquettes

Southwestern Winners

Baked Spanish Rice (OIL FREE)

Refried Beans, Tortillas, Mexican Rice - (OIL FREE)

Here is what my tortillas look like. I roll my tortillas out with a rolling pin and I use a sauce pan lid to cut them out into circles because I am a neat freak and cant stand odd shaped tortillas. LOL.

Tortilla Oil Free Recipe
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm water
Combine in food processor. Cover dough with a damp cloth or paper towel and let sit for about an hour.  Separate into 8 balls, roll out. Cook tortillas on medium high heat in a non stick skillet with no oil for about 25 seconds each side.

Dessert Anyone?

Vanilla Pudding

2 cups non-dairy milk of choice
3 TB cornstarch
1/3 cup organic sugar (date sugar or coconut sugar)
1/8 tsp salt
1 TB Vanilla Extract 
Try adding a dash of cinnamon for extra deliciousness.

I hope that you enjoyed the recipes, videos and food facts. I encourage you to try a healthy change in your daily food intake by cutting out the oil fats, dairy, and meats. Give up fast food and try new meals that are made up of vegetable, potatoes and grains. You can cook without oil, it can be done. God bless you. :)

Travel Back in Time

Smoothies, Barley Patties, Faux Cheeses, Baked Vegan Lasagna

I decided to blog on food this week, since many of my friends have kick started January off with good health intentions. Im a vegetarian/carbotarian and I love vegetables, grains, potatoes and overall eating healthy and being healthy. Its never too late to start eating healthy. I do not eat fast food and my advice to everyone in the whole world is to not eat fast food. ITS BAD FOR YOU! Don't forget to keep hydrated and get plenty of water intake for each day. If your not big on drinking water try adding lemon juice or fruit to flavor it. Start the day with drinking 16 ounces or more of water. The Importance of Drinking Water Video.

EAT YOUR SPINACH


Morning Blender Meals

I love spinach for breakfast...as long as its in a fruit smoothie.
A green smoothie is the best way to sneak some spinach into your daily intake.

Green Smoothy

Try a combination of banana, pineapple and spinach. Its great.

Healthy Breakfast Smoothy
I also like to blend almond milk, banana, dates and cinnamon.

Overnight and Ready Oatmeal

Did you know that its perfectly alright to eat a bowl of oatmeal in the morning? Oatmeal contains whole grains, complex carbohydrates that break down slowly and keep your blood sugar stable. It's high in fiber, since it's a whole grain, and it can keep you feeling full longer. A bowl of oatmeal is relatively low in calories as long as you resist the urge to load it with sugar.  You could top a bowl of oats with a little coconut sugar to sweeten it up.

Lunching Healthy

 Barley and Mushroom Veggie Patties

I make this veggie patty recipe a lot. I add into the recipe, barley, brown rice, and mushrooms and veggies.  You can replace the egg with flax seed meal. It's one tablespoon flax seed meal and three tablespoon water per egg replacement. This patty is great served with vegan non-cheese on top and no bun. I generally have a veggie patty for lunch with a small bowl of salad. Like it spicy? To make this recipe even more awesome, try adding in a little bit of black beans and corn with some chopped jalapeno or green chiles. Tip: Form patties flat, wrap individually and freeze them before cooking. Cook frozen on medium heat with a little dash of vegetable oil. The patties cook quickly.


 Check out my 3 Grain Veggie Patty Recipe

 Check out this bloggers salad with lime and cilantro. Click Here.
This salad is great with a spicy vegetarian patty.

Its a benefit for the body to incorporate healthy salads into your daily food intake. Get creative with vegetables and try a variety of lettuces, such as, iceberg, butterhead, green leaf, and romaine, these are just a few of the many lettuces available at your local stores or farmers markets.

Potatoes are Great!
Most of the time, I have baked potatoes in my fridge, ready and waiting to be made into a quick and delicious snack or meal. Potatoes are very good for you, minus the butter and sour cream.

 Baked Potato with Broccoli and Vegan Non-Cheese Sauce

Vegan Sour Cream - Recipe- Click Here.

Easy Baked Potato Wedges

 Vegan Cheese Dip    

   1/2 cup ground white rice powder

    2 C. potatoes, diced large

    1 C. carrots, diced large

    2 C. water

    1 tsp. salt

    1 tbsp. lemon juice

    1/2 C. nutritional yeast flakes

    1/4 tsp. onion powder

    1/4 tsp. garlic powder

    dash of cayenne (opt.)

    dash of turmeric

    dash of dry mustard 

    2 tsp. of white miso paste

    5 tbsp of agar agar (or cornstarch)

Instructions
    1    Boil the potatoes and carrots until soft.
    2    Blend potatoes and carrots together along with the rest of the ingredients on high in blender until the     cheese is extremely smooth.
    3    Cook over medium heat until you see the mixture turn glossy. Lower heat and cook 2 minutes longer.
   4     Pour mixture into containers and let sit to cool without a lid. Once cooled put on the lids and store in    refrigerator for up to a week.
*** Add diced jalapeno to spice it up***

* Tip: Nutritional Yeast is sold in health stores. It ranges from $10.00 - $20.00. A little goes a long way.

Vegan Non-Cheese Nachos Dip

• 2 cups cooked  potatoes or sweet potatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
• ¾ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt or to taste
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 4-ounce can green hatch chilies
•  
• Add the cooked potatoes or sweet potatoes, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, cornstarch, sea salt, and cayenne pepper to a high-powered blender. Blend on high for 2 minutes or until the mixture is completely smooth.
• Pour the mixture into a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
• Whisk continuously for five minutes or until the mixture has thickened.
• Turn off heat and stir in the green hatch chilies.

 

Bake your own at home, Vegan No Oil Crisp Tortilla Chips. Click Here.

Zucchini Ribbons and Non Cheese Alfredo Sauce

A vegetable peeler, a couple of  zucchinis,
some Non-Cheese Alfredo Sauce and we can call it a meal.

Creamy Alfredo
Makes 2 cups 

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups dairy free milk
3tbsp corn starch or 4tbsp flour (gluten free if intolerant)
1-1/2tbsp veg stock powder
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
2tsp garlic powder
1tbsp onion powder
1/2tsp black pepper
Add all of the ingredients into a blender and blend well until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and cook over medium high heat. Continuously whisk the mixture. Once the mixture comes to a boil and begins to thicken reduce the heat and cook for 2-3 minutes and then serve over pasta or vegetables.

Dinner is a Winner

Julie Marie has an awesome lasagna recipe. I love this non-cheese lasagna.

Remember, pasta is okay, as long as you serve it with a nice salad and other veggies. 

I often skip the pasta and use eggplant or zucchini as pasta replacement.

Cooking Rice Made Easy

Cooked brown rice stores well in the freezer. It's a good plan to always have cooked rice on hand 

when you need a quick meal. I love brown rice, baked tofu and steamed veggies for dinner! If you dont like brown rice try combining brown rice and white rice cooked together. Its great.

Baked Tofu Instructional Video - Click Here.


 Taco Tuesday in 20 Minutes!

From the Low Fat Vegan Chef.
I would add avocado. Yummy.


SNACKIN VEGGIE STYLE

 Looking for something diferent but tasty?
Cauliflower Wings Recipe. Delicious!

Going Back in Time - Click Here.

My 3 Grain Vegetable Patty Recipe

3 Grain Vegetable Patties:  This is the easiest veggie patty to make. These cook well and do not fall apart. I should mention that they taste really good too.  Its okay to eat baked potato slices with a 3 grain Vegetable patty.  Slice a baked potato into wedges and bake on parchment paper with no oil. Great Video - The Starch Solution.
 

 3 Grain Vegetable Patties

    1 cup cooked barley
    1 cup cooked white rice
    1 cup cooked brown rice
    2 large garlic cloves, minced
    1 tablespoon crushed red pepper or 1 diced jalapeno
    1 cup yellow onion, diced
    1 tablespoon of fine grated carrot
    1 cup mushrooms - pulsed on high in food processor 
    1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
    2 eggs or egg substitute
    salt and pepper to taste
    Dash in your favorite seasonings, such as, garlic powder, etc.  I use Creole seasoning.

Combine everything into a big bowl and mix well. I use 1/2 cup to measure out the patty mixture. Form patties and place each patty into a plastic sandwich bag. Freeze them and when you are ready to cook one just put the frozen patty into a skillet with oil and cook on medium high heat. Makes 8 patties.

More of Nana's Recipes - Click Here.

Return to Foodie Stuff

Travel Back in Time

Its a New Year - Bagels, Marinara Sauce and Pizza

WEATHER UPDATE:
Baby, Its Cold Outside!

 January 1, 2015, this is what I woke up to. A beautiful morning. The snow melted late afternoon. I thought it would have stayed longer because it was very chilly outside. I don't see snow too often in my area of town so this is very awesome for me. I like to look at snow but not drive in it because Albuquerque has many bad drivers. Sorry ABQ but it's true. Its best to stay home on snow days in Albuquerque, NM.

550 over the Rio Grande.

Rio Grande Bridge.

PET UPDATE:

Trouble in Paradise

Missy has been acting freaked out the last couple days. At first, I thought it was because of the snow. I discovered that the neighbors dogs have been coming into the yard looking for cats. Today, they chased Skinny Ding Dongs (AKA Pedro the Traitor) up into the big tree in the front yard. I braved it and went outside onto the front porch and yelled as sternly as I could for those dogs to get home. Most people laugh at me when I try to yell because I don't have a loud voice. But, I thought I did pretty good because they left. I went into the house and they came right back. Normally, I turn on the sprinkler and they take off, but the garden hose was frozen from the snow and cold weather. After yelling at them a second time in my best "I'm angry voice" they left. Skinny is safe for now. Im sure all the cats have been terrorized. Currently, Missy is curled up high on top of my wardrobe. I woke her up taking this picture. I hope it gets better for her soon. Poor Missy.

Housekeeping Made Easy:

    

Oil & Vinegar Wood Furniture Polish/Cleaner

• 1 part white vinegar
• 3 parts olive oil

Pour oil and vinegar into a jar, seal tight and shake to mix before each use. Apply to furniture using a rag or microfiber cloth.

What Dogs Do When Your Away

I laugh every time I see this silly dog.

PC Technical Advice

I repair computers/monitors and I dabble in writing code C+, and website designing, Java Script, HTML, etc. I'm NOT an expert at all. However, when it comes to computers I will try to figure out most operating systems and their works. My best computer advice is to keep things simple on your PC. Don't overload your PC with programs that you seldom or never use. Never, ever download something without researching the program because of virus and non compatible reasons. Keep your PC protected and clean from malware daily.

Confession: I like Linux. LOL. I also really enjoy Sci-fi. :)

How to Speed Up Your PC Startup Time

Startup programs are a major factor in slow Windows boot times. If you are one of those people who have anything over 5 icons showing up in the notification area of the taskbar, then your boot time can probably be reduced. Using the MSCONFIG utility, which comes with pretty much every version of Windows, you can disable startup programs quickly and easily. You can manage your startup programs by opening the System Configuration Utility. Click on Start and then Run, type in msconfig and click OK. Clicking on the Startup tab will bring up the list of startup items. Here you can now enable or disable programs from your Windows Startup. Items you may want to disable at Startup would be programs such as Dropbox, QuickTime, Adobe Reader, Chrome, Java, Apple, Adobe, graphics drivers, printer drivers, etc! All of which you can manually run when you need them.

 

New Post -01/08/15 - Canning Marinara Sauce

This week, I completed a fun cooking project. Sarah gave me a big bag of cherry tomatoes and I decided to use those and jar up a batch of marinara sauce. I canned the marinara into small jars because that's the perfect amount for one or two plates of pasta. I love spaghetti but nobody wants a gallon of sauce sitting in the fridge, so these little jars of sauce are terrific to have on hand for a quick meal. Remember, pasta is okay if you serve it along with plenty of vegetables.
Canning Marinara Sauce.

New Post -01/08/15 - Cooking up Bagels at Home.

Finally, I decided to have the courage to make bagels. These were the first bagels Ive ever made. I'm sure the more I make them the better they will look. But , not bad for my first attempt. These taste great and toast beautifully.

 

How to Make Bagels

P.S. Bagels are very fattening. I eat them with cream cheese, which makes it even more fattening.

Burn off a large bagel with cream cheese of 320 calories = medium paced jogging for 45 minutes.

01-03-15 -Thin Crust Pizza

To make good pizza at home it takes practice and getting it down to a true science. LOL. Just kidding. Its simple, easy and fun to make pizza.

I make thin crust pizza all the time and it goes fast. Its delicious.

1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon granulated sugar or honey

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour 

1/4 cup corn meal

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Combine yeast, warm water & sugar. Let this set for about 30 minutes. Then add the dry ingredients and combine it all together. Place in an oiled bowl and flip the dough ball to coat the other side.  Let sit for 2 hours or not. ( I confess that I do not wait 2 hours for the dough to rise. Once the oven is pre-heated to 400, I start pressing out the dough). Prepare your pizza pan with vegetable oil, coating it well with your hands. Next, while your hands are still coated in oil. Separate the dough in half. Take a half of the dough and press it out onto your oiled pizza pan. I start pressing it out from the middle to the sides. You may need to add more oil onto your hands to get the dough pressed out all the way around the pan. Build your pizza, in this order -  sauce, cheese and then add toppings. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Plain tomato sauce is great on this dough, sprinkle a little Italian or oregano seasoning then top with lots of cheese and whatever else makes you happy. 

Tip: Re-heat pizza in a non stick skillet on top of the stove to keep crust crispy.
Burn off a slice of pizza of 290 calories = 90 minutes of walking.

Bonus - A Weird Pizza Video - Click Here.


Sharing Bookmarks
Food 52
RefSeek

Weird videos I watch on the Internet:

 Batman is a Terrible Liar

 Also watch, Spiderman Goes Suburban.

Endless Coffee Shop Check

Going Back in Time