Sammies
I don’t know if it’s the change to cooler weather or what, but I have been craving sandwiches allllll week!!! This was a special holiday sandwich…homemade whole wheat bagel lightly toasted, apple slices, pan-grilled tofu, and cranberry sauce. Sweet and delish!
Another craving I’ve been having is soup and sandwiches together! The perfect fall and winter combination. I especially enjoy dipping the corner of my sandwich in the hot soup and then taking a bite. Here I had some veggie soup (this was actually a gift…a packaged soup from Williams and Sonoma that I just added my own vegan broth to). Sandwich is made on yummy Whole Foods sourdough. One slice is spread with mayo, the other with fresh avocado. After a sprinkling of pepper, I sliced up a yellow heirloom tomato, some red onion, and layered on some Lightlife fakin tempeh strips. I love this sandwich!! This lunch rocked.
More soup one night….with slices of sourdough and earth balance.
Eric wanted soup and a sandwich. I made him a sourdough one with tempeh strips, apple slices, and cranberry sauce. He seriously woofed it down, so it must have been great!
Although this guy isn’t a traditional sandwich, I thought it still fits into this category of my craving bread with junk inside. This was a lunch I made last week made with an Ezekiel whole grain pita, Whole Foods hummus, green leaf lettuce, garam masala potatoes I had left over, and white wave baked tofu. LOVED THIS!! Carrots, hot tea, and a couple of squares of dark chocolate round out the meal.
Dinner guests
Well they’re not really guests per say because they’re family, but last night I made dinner for my father-in-law, sister-in-law, Eric, and me. On the menu:
- Scrambled Tofu from Vegan with a Vengeance (made with squash and broccoli in place of the mushrooms)
- Lightlife smoky tempeh fakin bacon strips
- Freshly made guacamole from Whole Foods
- all stuffed in tortillas (My sis-in-law and me had it in Ezekial sprouted grain tortillas, and I heated up flour tortillas for the boys.)
I’ve served this scrambled tofu loads of times. It’s always a hit! It’s just so yummy with the spices, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Eric LOVES it in a tortilla, so I’ve started to make that a habit now. It’s really delicious! I, of course, had to have it for lunch today as well. 
What’s for dinner?
So I know I go a few days without blogging, and then I go crazy and post like five million things, but that’s what’s working for me right now. With teaching and yoga, it’s just harder to post during the weekdays. I’m going to try to start blogging at least once during the week.
This week we had some yummy, new meals. First up was VeganDad’s Creamy Mac and Cheeze. I was determined to make macaroni and cheese this week after the disappointing serving I had at Spiral Diner. VeganDad’s I have to say is the best I’ve had yet, but again, not sure I would repeat it. Maybe I just don’t love mac and cheese enough. The best “cheese” sauce we love is the sauce in the Fettuccine Alfreda recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance. I sprinkled our mac and cheeze here with red pepper to give it some added spice. I also used whole wheat shells because I couldn’t find any whole wheat macaroni. We had it with steamed broccoli and an heirloom tomato. I remember as a kid, my mom would always eat sliced tomatoes with some mayo on top. I never liked tomatoes back then, but I thought I would give it a try with some Nasoya sandwich spread (vegan mayo). It was ok, but I prefered them plain. The heirloom tomatoes are to die for right now!
Next up was what ended up being probably one of my favorite vegan meals I’ve ever made. It was AWESOME!!! Sweet & Sour Chipotle Tempeh with Sweet Potatoes (from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan, p. 147). I served it with brown basmati rice. I rushed home from work to get it assembled and ready to go into the oven, so that after yoga I would be able to just pop it in. It has to bake for about an hour and 10 minutes. But oh my goodness…it is so sweet, spicy, and 100% delicious. I love pineapple, tempeh, and spicy/sweet things, so it’s no surprise I loved this. Eric was a huge fan as well. I can’t wait to make this for guests in the near future. I think it will be a hit! It makes a lot. Eric had it for lunch the next day, and I had it for lunch the next two days. Yum!! (The pictures don’t do this justice. Really…if you go buy Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan just for this one recipe, it would be worth it.)
On Eric’s last night (when I baked the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cupcakes) in Dallas, we headed to Freebird’s for a burrito. I got a 1/2 bird on a spinach tortilla. Inside it I got, black and pinto beans, veggies, tomatoes, lettuce, mild hot sauce, guacamole, and corn. The limes on the side are to squeeze on top. Yum! Look at how big they are too!! I got the smallest one, the 1/2 bird. It’s amazing that people can eat the bigger ones. I ate every bite of this one though. It’s just perfect.
And lastly, this is my first dinner without hubby. Bow Ties (which I did corkscrew pasta instead) with Bean Sauce (from The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook, p. 168). Frozen okra with fresh black pepper is on the side. Simple, filling, and made for a great lunch on Friday.
A Couple of Cool and NEW Dinners!!!
Black Bean Sloppy Joes from The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook….so easy, yet so homemade. We both took it for lunch the next day as well with two slices of regular sliced wheat bread. This will definitely be a recipe I repeat OFTEN. For dinner we had it on Ezekiel sprouted grain buns (so hearty), with lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, mustard, ketchup, a big juicy pickle, and frozen peas and broccoli sprinkled with vegan cheese.
This night I made Isa’s famous Scrambled Tofu from Vegan with a Vengeance. (I make mine with zucchini and broccoli, instead of the mushrooms. Everything else I do the same though.) Instead of just having it with potatoes, avocado, and toast, like we normally do, this time I made it into a taco! I had Ezekiel sprouted grain tortillas (again, sooo hearty and yummy…so good for you). After loading up the scrambled tofu inside, I slathered on some salsa and topped it off with a couple of sliced of pan-grilled Lightlife tempeh bacon strips. Oh my goodness….best ever!! I took the leftovers for lunch a couple of days later. This scrambled tofu is great the next day or two! I ended up eating with a group of my kids in the classroom that day, and it was such a hoot to see how intrigued they were with my lunch. Some of the things they said… “Wow…I’ve never seen a tortilla like that.” “That definitely has a smell…I can smell the spices.” So, I gave them a little tofu 101. 
I had also brought a little container of green salsa. Some of them had never seen that before either. Glad I’m expanding their knowledge in the amazing world of food too!!
Labor Day Post (Isn’t that a lovely title?!)
Sunday night we went to Salad Creations because a nice, big yummy salad just sounded good. Boy did it hit the spot! The dressing was the best part. It was called Asian Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette. We had them get out the allergens table to make sure it contained no dairy. I love chickpeas in a salad too! Now I just have to convince Salad Creations to stock tofu.
Monday was Labor Day. I woke up and had this lovely bowl of health. This was a new cereal I just got from Central Market. It’s VERY tasty and is loaded with fiber and has 12 grams of soy protein which is perfect for us vegans.
I just HAVE to tell you a little bit about my yoga experience on Monday. After my lovely breakfast and vegging around the house for a bit, I headed to a free yoga class. It was the 2nd annual free day of yoga in Dallas where a lot of the area studios offer free classes for the day. I forced myself to try a different studio out called Yoga Sport. It was an AMAZING workout, similar to Bikram in that it was pretty warm in the room. It’s a power yoga flow vinyasa class. I really adored it. If you’re interested in yoga at all, you should check out the website. I don’t know much about Yoga Sport yet, but I think they have similar Baptiste studios around the U.S. and world. No worries though, I’m not quitting Bikram all together. I’m going to mix it up and practice at both. After the Yoga Sport class, I headed to Whole Foods to stock up on some groceries for the week. I decided to take pictures this week of our stash! Notice all the fresh ingredients! I ALWAYS make sure I have more fresh things than canned/packaged foods. They’re so much better for you!
Fresh from the grocery store, I made us some sandwiches as we were both starving. On the sandwich was Lightlife’s smoky tempeh strips (fakin bacon) pan grilled, an heirloom tomato (which oh my goodness was the most amazing tomato I have ever had), butter leaf lettuce, Nasoya sandwich spread (vegan mayo), yellow mustard, red onion, and fresh black pepper. The chips are Terra’s sweets and beets (sweet potato and beet chips)…the best! Thanks to my darling co-worker Clorinda for the heirloom tomato recommendation. I had never even heard of them before, and when I ran in to her at Whole Foods, she convinced me to buy one. They aren’t cheap, like $6 something a pound, but I got one, and I will definitely go back for more. They are worth it!!!
Dinner was a quinoa recipe given to me by another lovely lady I teach with named Pam. She cut it out of the Kansas City Star paper. I was going to type the recipe in, but I know many quinoa recipes are out there. This one was pretty good, but I don’t know I would make it again. I think there are better ones out there. (So hopefully that explains me not posting the recipe.) We ate it on top of butter lettuce and with corn on the cob.
That was our Labor Day eating. I hope everyone had a nice, long, relaxing weekend!!
