The Weekend, and Portobello Pepper Steak Stew

So it's been a pretty great weekend! Better than I originally thought. On Saturday, I went to the gym, and then met my friend Shannon at the Farmer's Market. Her brother is starting up a coffee company. Noble Coyote Coffee. I bought some Decaf, and I'm drinking it now! I know, I know.. decaf. But I'm starting to be worried about nightly coffee drinking messing with my sleep.

Then today, I met my friend Jessica out for brunch at Bread Winner's Cafe. They were having a Hunger Games Menu with Katniss Everdeen Quiche (which Jess ordered), and Nightlock Waffles and District 12 Stack of Pancakes. Haha. Myself, I had the Veggie Scramble.

So here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:
Tofu Scramble w/ Baguette

Brunch:
Veggie Scramble over roasted potatoes
Coffee

Snack:
Ezekial Bread w/ Hummus

Dinner
Portobello Pepper Steak Stew
Baguette
1/2 cup Red Wine

Snack:
2 Peanut butter choc. chip cookies

I mowed the lawn today, so I felt like I deserved them. Our lawn SUCKS. The back half is basically at a 45 degree angle. Not cool, lawn.

Also, I got these Portobellos from the Farmer's Market! :)

Portobello Pepper Steak Stew

-2 tsps olive oil
-2 cups Seitan
-1 red onion
-1 red bell pepper sliced,
-1 green bell pepper sliced
-Big Pinch of Salt
-2 Portobello caps, sliced into 1/4 inch strips
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed (I chop it with my knife)
-1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper flakes
-1/2 cup dry red wine
-2 cups veggie broth
-3 Tbps all purpose flour

-Preheat skillet with 1 tsp olive oil over med-high heat. Saute seitan for about 5 minutes, until browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

-Saute onions and peppers and a pinch of salt in the remaining oil until the peppers are blackened. About 10 minutes.

-Add mushrooms, garlic, and spices. Saute for 3 more minutes.

-Add the red wine and bring to a boil over higher heat, for about 3 more minutes.

-Mix flour and veggie broth in a bowl and whisk.

-Lower the heat of the saute pan and add the 'slurry'. Mix well and let thicken for a minute.

-Add seitan back to the pan and let the stew thicken furthur. About 5 minutes more.

This is a thick, hearty stew that's good for eating on rolls. Even after mowing the lawn on an 80 degree plus day. haha

Dr's Visit and the Smoothie so nice I posted it twice..

Had a surprise Dr's visit today. I was planning on going Saturday, but the only appointment they had open (until April 2nd) was today at 3:30. Arrgh. But there was some interesting and good news I found out!

So I had been following Weight Watcher's Simply Filling plan. Basically, with this plan, some foods cost points, and others can be eaten 'to satisfaction'.

I mentioned to the Doctor that I've been having a hard time losing weight lately. She said that was no surprise, because Depo-Provera stimulates your appetite. So all this time, I've been feeling like.. I'm eating the right things, and I'm eating 'to satisfaction', but I'm gaining weight now. What the hell! It's because of the Depo! I'm glad to be able to blame my night overeating on something. Now it's time to do something about it!

Well, namely, making sure I watch my portions and eat within my points, even if I am still a little hungry.

Today I ate:

Breakfast:
Pumpkin Gingerbread Smoothie (recipe to follow)

Snack:
1 Piece toasted Ezekial bread w/ 1 Tbsp Hummus

Lunch:
Mexican rice and bean salsa bake
Green grapes

Snack:
Sliced carrots w/ hummus
Protein shake

Dinner:
Salad w/ basalmic vinegar/olive oil, walnuts
Smoky Chipotle Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

And I got to work out during lunch. Weights workout today.

Here's my amazing smoothie:

I put Molasses swirls on top. :)

Pumpkin Gingerbread Smoothie

-1 cup almond or soy milk
-1/4 cup rolled oats
-1 Tbsp chia seeds
-1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
-1 Tbsp molasses
-1 small frozen banana
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp ginger
-pinch nutmeg
-ice, if wanted.

-Soak the oats, milk and chia seeds for at least an hour or overnight. (I soak mine overnight. Obviously, less to do in the morning)

-Place the rest of the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

Day 2 Meal log - Butternut Squash, lentils over linguine

Day 2 of strict point counting is actually going well! I know that on paper it looks like I'm eating a lot. I'm trying to eat about 5 mini meals, so my portions are not very big. I hear several small meals every 3 hours or so revs your metabolism. And when I plan them out like this, it's easy for me to forgo bites of something because I know what I'll be eating in less than 3 hours.

So today I've eaten:

Breakfast:
Tofu scramble w/ salsa
1 slice Ezekial sprouted wheat toast
1 cup plain soy milk

Snack:
Smoothie - 1/2 mango, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 cup soy milk

Lunch:
Leftovers - Polenta w/ Seared Mushroom tomato sauce
1 cup green grapes

Snack:
Oatmeal w/ 1/2 banana
Coffee

Dinner:
Roasted butternut squash, lentils, diced tomatoes over whole wheat linguine
Salad w/ 2 Tbsps Walnuts and basalmic vinegar

Here it is:

Recipe:

½ cup brown lentils

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

½ cup minced yellow onion

4 garlic cloves

2 tsp dried sage

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup veggie stock

12 oz linguine

This is prework: you need to cook the lentils and roast the squash first.

1- Bring the lentils to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 min.

2- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil a pan that will hold all the squash. Cut it into ½ “ cubes. So be careful. And then roast for 30 min.

3- In a large skillet, add the chopped onion and 1 Tbsp olive oil. Saute about 5 min. Add garlic and cook for about 30 sec. Add sage, tomatoes, cooked lentils and veggie stock. Season w/ salt and pepper. Simmer about 5 min. You can use an immersion blender or a reg. blender if you want to make this sauce creamier.

Stir in the roasted squash and keep warm over low heat.

Cook the pasta according to the directions and toss the lentil squash mixture and pasta to combine.

 

 

Actually, I have to brag about something! I just got some blood work back recently. My numbers are not too bad for a near Vegan. :)

 

Glucose: 85  (norm - 65 - 100)

Potassium: 4.9 (norm 3.5 - 5.3)

Calcium: 9.6 (norm 8.5 - 10.5)

Protein: 7.6 (norm 6.0 - 8.4)

Cholesterol: 166 (norm - less than 200)

Polenta with Pan-Seared Mushrooms and Tomatoes

Hi, I'm back!

Well, I've gained a bit of weight. So frustrating. I have been following Weight Watchers pretty well, but I'm at a standstill. When WW introduced their new program, they made fruits and vegetables 0 points. Trying to get people to eat more of them, I suppose. The 'problem', I guess, is that I mostly eat fruits and veg! So I'm going to go back to counting fruits and veg into my daily points and see if that makes a difference.

Also, I got new shoes! I'm actually not sure if I like them. Ha! They are a little more snug on my feet than I'm used to. I'm not sure if this is something that's different in a good way, or if I need to exchange them.. But they are pretty! :)

Maybe I'll also try to log here, what I've eaten. Who knows, that kind of accountability might help! So this was my normal 'not counting points' meals. But now I am going to start with the points.

Breakfast:
Overnight Pumpkin Oats
Cup of plain soy milk
coffee

Snack:
Mango Strawberry smoothie (made with soy milk)

Lunch:
Cup of Mexican brown rice and bean Salsa Bake

Snack
Oatmeal w/ 1/2 banana
Protein Shake

Dinner:
Polenta with Pan Seared Mushrooms and Tomatoes

And here's a picture of my dinner!

Recipe:

Polenta part:
-3 1/2 cup water
-1 cup medium ground cornmeal
salt

-1/4 cup soy milk (or almond)

-In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the cornmeal and salt to taste, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring, until thick. About 20 min. During the last 5 min, stir in soy milk.

Tomato Mushrooms part
-1Tbsp Olive oil
-8 oz sliced white mushrooms
-2 garlic cloves, minced.
-1 tsp dried basil
-1/4 cup white wine
-1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

-Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over med high heat. Add mushrooms and sear on both sides. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the garlic, basil, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the wine, cook down for a couple minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Spoon polenta into the bowl, add sauce/mushrooms on top and sprinkle a little chopped basil on top, if you're trying to be a fancy pants. :)

Lazy weekend, Salad for dinner

I've had a lazy week. Lazy few weeks, judging by my post count! Especially this weekend. I didn't feel like talking to anyone or doing anything. I pretty much watched tv on the couch the whole time. Skipped my workout and Saturday. I even skipped Monday! I drove by the gym, but was just feeling run down, and blah.

Not sure if it's a lack of motivation, or perhaps my body adjusting to higher intensity workouts. I've been feeling like nothing much has been changing in regards to my running pace. So I decided to shake things up with some speed work. Intervals.

And after kickboxing and a really good dinner tonight, I'm feeling rejuvenated!

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu

Dressing:
-1/3 cup warm water
-3 Tbsp agave nectar
-3 Tbsp chili garlic sauce
-1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
-1/4 tsp salt

Salad:
-12 oz extra firm tofu
-2 tsp soy sauce
-1 8oz package rice noodles (vermicelli)
-1 med sized cucumber, sliced into half moons
-1/2 small red onion, sliced thin
-2 cups mixed greens
-1/4 cup chopped mint leaves

Gremolata
-1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
-3 Tbsp chopped mint
-Zest of 1/2 lime

-First, put on the water to boil for the noodles.

-Whip up dressing, slice up tofu and put the tofu in the dressing to marinate. Place in fridge.

-Make Gremolata. Put in a small bowl.

-Cook noodles. I put the noodles in the pot and soaked them for about 8 min, not boiling.

-Chop and slice all veggies.

-Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water.

-Mix veggies and mint in with the noodles. I used my hands. Careful, the little vermicelli gets everywhere!
Bring out tofu and pour extra marinade in with the noodles.

-Fry tofu in a pan on med high, 3 min on each side.

-Assemble salad by putting down romaine, noodles on top of that, tofu on top of that, and sprinkle the Gremolata on top of that!

YUM! It wasn't too much work, but it made a big mess in the kitchen! Oh well, I'll clean it tomorrow. :)

Pad Thai Salad

Pad Thai Salad

Today started out with a bang, ended out on a whimper... and then a bang again with this amazing salad!
It's not enough that it was a Monday, but I got yelled at in the parking garage. Worst thing is, I didn't even deserve it! Some jerk cut off a car, and almost hit them while they were backing up. I stopped and waited until they backed in, passed them, and parked. When I got out of the car, they started yelling at me. Mistaken identity. Oh well.

Then, I was supposed to do double workouts today, but I was so tired when I was driving back home. So I went home and wound up taking an hour and a half nap. Guess I needed the rest! I think it's a good thing to take an unplanned day off, once and awhile. Especially when you're feeling run down.
This pepped me right back up, though!

Pad Thai Salad (serves 4, but I just made two big salads)
-8 cups of romaine lettuce
-1 thin sliced red onion
-1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
-1 peeled and grated carrot
-4 cups sprouts
-1/4 cups roasted peanuts
-Peanut lime dragon dressing

-Fill a bowl with Romaine lettuce and thinly sliced red onion.

-Add grated carrot

-Add sprouts, peanuts and cilantro.

-Mix completely

Add dressing:
Mix in a blender or food processor
-2 Tbsp peanuts (blend first, a couple pulses)
-Add 1/2 cup water
-2 Tbsp (or 1 small) shallot
-1/4 cup lime juice
-2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
-2 Tbsp Soy
-1 tsp Sriracha (garlic chili sauce)
-Mix completely until smooth. Add 2 Tbsp peanuts, pulse one more time.
-Pour in salad and completely mix it up.

It's a little sweet and hot. Really good. The only thing I might do differently is to not add so many red onions. I thought the dressing might be too hot, but it's the onions that were getting to me!

I also thought that so many sprouts might be a little too.. sprouty? But they were great at soaking up the delicious dressing!

If I were you, I'd make this for dinner, instead of lunch. That way, you have access to a toothbrush. :)

Chipotle Chili w/ Sweet Potatoes and a Secret Ingredient!

Hooray for rest days!

Today was a good day. Traffic wasn't too bad. Work wasn't too hard. Nick changed the oil. (Finally!)

So I thought I'd take a little extra trouble with dinner tonight. That's right, I'm actually making cornbread along with the chili. I don't do side dishes often. Heck, as a vegetarian, side dishes ARE my main entree! So it always feels a little luxurious when I do it.

Chipotle Chili w/ Sweet Potatoes (w/ a secret ingredient)

 -1 tsp olive oil
-1 red onion diced
-4 garlic cloves minced
-1 Tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
-2 tsps dried oregano
-3 chipotles in adobo, chopped
-2 average sized sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
-12 oz Brussel sprouts, quartered lengthwise
-2 tsps ground cumin
-1 Tbsp chili powder
-1 (28oz) can Crushed Tomatoes
-1 cup water
-1 16oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
-1 1/2 tsp salt
-Fresh squeezed lime juice

-First, chop onions, and sautee in 1 tsp of olive oil for 5-7 minutes in a big saucepan.

-Add in minced garlic, coriander and oregano. Stir around and cook for about a minute.

-Add the rest of the ingredients. Chopped tomatoes, water, beans, chopped sweet potatoes, and chopped chipotle.

-Stir in. Drain and rinse beans. Add beans, salt, chili powder and cumin.

-Here's what we've got so far. Ready for the secret ingredient?

-Brussel Sprouts! Chop them up lengthwise. It didn't say to use fresh or frozen. But I couldn't find fresh. So I used the frozen ones. They're a little tricky to slice frozen, so be careful! Use a big knife you can lean on.

-Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about a half hour.

-Turn the heat off. Squeeze 1/2 the lime into the pot and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Enjoy with cornbread if you've got the time and inclination.(Yes, the cornbread is vegan, too!)

I really like this chili. It's got the smoky chipotle flavors, with the lime citrus kick and I like the brussels sprouts in it. It gives it a certain something. Of course, I love brussel sprouts on their own. So I asked Nick if he liked the chili and he said 'Yeah, it's really good!'. He doesn't not like brussel sprouts, but he won't eat a whole pan of them roasted or anything. This may have something to do with the fact that I'm the one removing the roasted brussel sprouts from the oven, though. (I beat him to them!) :)