Recent dinners…
I’ve enjoyed making dinner, as I usually do, but it’s been extra fun with the changing of the seasons. I like the fall foods….it means cooking with pumpkin and squash and making more hearty, heavy, hot meals. 
Baked Beans and Dogs (The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook, p. 116). We had this with sausage cut up on top (grilled on George Foreman) and green beans.
Vegan Sweet Potato and Pecan Tamales with Amy’s Chili. I bought the tamales from Whole Foods in the refrigeration section (by the breads). The chili comes from the can (low sodium). Big salad on the side drizzled in balsamic vinegar.
Roasted Red Kuri Squash with Gnocchi (from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan, p. 141). This sauce is just amazing over the store bought vegan gnocchi I got. I could eat it by itself, and I did that too! I also ate it later in the week with other things, as you will see. Here I had a small salad and broccoli.
Tofu and Okra Stir-fry with Teriyaki and Hot Sauce. Throwing together a stir-fry is one of the most fun and delicious dinners to make and eat. It can be so satisfying and healthy too! This one was made up of tofu, okra, lima beans, carrots, tomatoes, and onions. With a side of hearty long-grain brown rice, this was awesome! I was feeling in a chopstick kind of mood (since that’s what I usually use when I get a stir-fry at Genghis). I managed to use the chopsticks until the last little bit. Then I switched to a fork so I could eat every little last bit. 
Leftovers Night. Have these at your house? I love leftovers!! I know it’s a personal thing. Eric doesn’t like leftovers at all. So when he’s not going to be around for dinner, I indulge in all the extra stuff left in our fridge. I had the Red Kuri Squash Sauce, baked beans, green beans, and broccoli. The squash and bean combo was awesome. I ate those two together. Yum!
REALLY Yummy and REALLY Quick Dinners this week!!!
This was my last single dinner before Eric got back home. I just threw together a salad with vegan thousand island dressing, and a pasta dish consisting of whole wheat fusilli, Amy’s marinara, okra, a few frozen vegan meatballs, and sprinkled with vegan Parmesan cheese. It was great and hit the spot! I love how simple, quick, and easy (yet satisfying and healthy) pasta can be.
This would be Baked Beans and Dogs (from The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook, p. 116). I essentially got the baked bean recipe from the cookbook, and then you top it with whatever vegan dogs you like. I bought the Light Life breakfast sausages and grilled then in a pan. Paired with a generous portion of crisp green beans, you’ve got a delicious and complete weeknight (or anytime) meal! Eric LOVED this! I can tell this is going in to the make it again and again file. Kids would love this!
Pesto Pasta Night!! When we lived in Scotland (and were non-vegan), we used to always make pesto pasta. It was really popular there. Since then, I haven’t been able to find vegan pesto in a jar. I’ve made it several times from scratch, which isn’t hard, but there’s something nice and convenient and delicious about the jarred pesto…call me crazy. At Whole Foods last week, I found vegan jarred pesto!! So here it is… I mixed the pesto with whole wheat angel hair pasta and added in fresh asparagus and onions that I had sauteed in a pan. On the side we had a simple, fresh salad with the new vegan caesar salad dressing I purchased.
If you cant tell I’m loving The McDougall Quick & Easy Cokbook, well I am!!! It’s true to the title, everything in it is so quick, easy, and not only that….I love how fresh and healthy all the recipes are. They have minimal ingredients too. On another school night when I didn’t have a ton of time to make dinner, I whipped up some Moo-Shu Wraps on p. 188. These were delish!! I bought raw, homemade white tortillas for this where you just cook them by heating them on both sides in a pan over medium heat. They taste totally homemade! I usually stray away from white flour, preferring the taste and health benefits of whole wheat and other grains, but I thought these would be great for the moo-shu wraps and would be a bit of a change from what we usually have. Variety is a good thing! Inside is cabbage, mushrooms, orange bell pepper, green onions, carrots, garlic, soy sauce, and tofu. I had some teriyaki sauce I bought to serve over the top. (The recipe suggests plum sauce, but I couldn’t find any at the store.) Eric put the teriyaki on his tacos, but it was plenty flavorful for me without the additional sauce. Very tasty!
Are you sick of seeing pictures of my Sunshine burgers yet?! heehee I know…I LOVE them!!! I can’t help it. This was a perfect Saturday afternoon salad toped off with a southwest Sunshine patty and drizzled with vegan caesar dressing.
I’m trying to get more into the smoothie making business. This was a simple blueberry, banana, Silk light vanilla soymilk, and ice smoothie. It was awesome though! I’ve been introduced to the world of frozen fruit.
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!!
Din Din with my hubby
Although I haven’t been as extravagant with my dinners lately (trying to just get through the first few weeks of school when it’s so hectic), I did manage this past week to try a new recipe and get some pretty decent meals on the table. See what you think…
This night we had Barbecue Sunshine Burgers (my favorite veggie burgers ever!!!!). I put the burgers on sprouted grain burger buns by Food for Life, Ezekiel 4:9. The buns were spread with Nasoya sandwich spread (vegan mayo) and yellow mustard, and then layered with lettuce, sprouts, grape tomatoes, avocado, and fresh black pepper. I made baked beans (1/2 of the recipe) to go along with it. There were even some beans left over which I happily took to school the next day for lunch and made bean and tofu tacos on corn tortillas. My class was looking at my lunch very oddly that day. For most, it was the first time they had ever seen tofu!
I’ve spoken of this baked bean recipe a bunch and posted several pictures, so I think it’s about time I posted the recipe. I think Mary McDougall will be ok with it. It is the best!! Seriously, it’s easy and you’ll just love them. Eric begs me to make them all the time.
Baked Beans
by Mary McDougall
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Servings: 6-8
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4 15 ounce cans great northern beans
2 15 ounch cans mixed beans (see hints below)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Dash liquid smoke (optional)
Drain beans and place in a large bowl. Place the onion, garlic, and water in a small saucepan and cook until softened and water has evaporated. Add to beans. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Transfer to a covered casserole dish. Bake covered for 1 hour, then remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Hints: Mixed beans are sometimes called chili beans. They are usually a variety of kidney, pinto, and black beans. Or use your own variation of canned beans in this recipe, 6 cans total. These are always a favorite at potlucks. They may also be cooked on the stovetop for 1 hour or in a slow cooker for about 4 hours.
A favorite of mine….angel hair spaghetti. This time I made it topped with Amy’s low sodium marinara sauce, fresh bok choy, and pineapple chunks. A side salad always makes a nice accompaniment to pasta.
Baked Tofu Loaf (p. 199) from The McDougall Quick& Easy Cookbook by John and Mary McDougall. I forgot to take a picture of my predinner plate, but there were plenty of leftovers, so you can see what I had for lunch the next day. I made mashed potatoes (which ended up being a mixture of two red potatoes and one sweet potato). I had never made it this way before, but the sweet potato gave the mashed potatoes a lovely flavor. I’ll definitely do this again. I mashed them with soymilk and fresh black pepper. That’s all! Frozen organic green beans steamed in the microwave in a bag rounded out our meal. Oh and for gravy…you can see a wee serving in the pink container. It was Tofurkey’s mushroom and “giblet” gravy, bought in the freezer section at Whole Foods. I would have actually prefered to make my own gravy because I haven’t ever made vegan gravy, but I needed something quicker. Tofu loaf was awesome though. Eric still doesn’t know it was made with tofu (although he will know now after reading this). He is a tofuphobic who loves seiten and tempeh. He always says it’s the texture of the tofu that gets him. I made sure to really crumble the tofu up in the loaf, so as to hide it from him. When he asked me what it was made of while we we’re eating, I named off the ingredients and for the tofu I said “soy meat substitute”. So that wasn’t a total lie! haha He even said at the end of dinner that he would want this to be a repeat!
Amy’s Roasted Vegetable Pizza (found in the freezer section). I’ve had this many times, but it was Eric’s first. We also had fresh okra and onions that I sauteed in a pan with olive oil and water and a side salad.
Natsumi is a new gelato, frozen yogurt, and sorbet shop that opened near our home. On a recent hot Texas afternoon (which I know is like every afternoon lately), Eric and I stopped by and indulged. We got three flavors: mixed berry, guava, and tropical fruit punch. We both agreed our favorite was the guava. The tropical fruit punch came in a very close second. If you’re in Dallas, you should definitely check out Natsumi! It’s probably the best sorbet I’ve had.
Supper Time
Here’s what we’ve been eating for dinner this past week…
Creamy Spinach Pasta from The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook and a lovely summer salad with fresh corn and carrots.
Field Roast vegan sausage, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes (made with soymilk and seasonings), and a wee little bowl of mixed beans and corn.
Spiral Diner to-go for fun in the middle of the week. Eric went on a long run, and I surprised him by picking up two wraps that we shared for dinner. The one on the left was the “Ate Layer Burrito”, and the one on the right was “Sweet Luv’Us Hummus”. These were both wraps that we had never tried before, and they both get thumbs up. The burrito was the best though! It had a chipotle mayo on it that was delish. I definitely recommend it and will get it again.
You just can’t go to Spiral without picking out some dessert. We had one of their famous brownies and a carrot cake cupcake.
This is one of my FAVORITE meals to make on a busy night. It is so delicious and simple, if you try it, you’re sure to make it a regular thing at your house as well! Corn tortillas with refried beans spread on top, baked or microwaved sweet potatoes, spinach leaves, and green salsa. Go ahead….try it! It tastes so delicious!! Fresh corn on the cob was for the side.
We usually eat out Friday and Saturday night’s, so this is what we feasted on this weekend. Friday night we went to Sushi Zushi , to get some great edamame and sushi. We got a veggie roll, a pickled plum roll, and Eric got a spicy vegetable tempura roll, which is not vegan because it has some mayo sauce on it (just to warn you). 
If you live in Dallas and are vegetarian, I’m sure you’ve heard of Kalachandji’s . If not, it is Dallas’s oldest and most renowned Vegetarian restaurant. It’s almost completely vegan too. They have a couple of things that aren’t vegan, but they are always marked. On Saturday and Sunday’s they even offer a vegan dessert. This time was apple crisp (sorry no picture of that). It’s a buffet offering mixed veggies, rice, various Indian curries, homemade vegan raisin bread, and an amazing salad bar as well (in the brown bowl). I took pictures of both of our plates. It was a feast! They have the cutest garden to eat around outside, and we loved listening to the live guitarist that was playing. Kalachandji’s does not disappoint.
Lunch Time
This week I started back to work. The kids start back to school on Monday, but this past week was just for the teachers. My lunch times were a bit hectic because I was either working in my classroom during them, or I was out to eat with teachers. I did manage to get a couple of photos of what I ate.
Leftover Creamy Spinach Pasta (p. 161 in The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook), salad with balsamic, and 1/2 of my carrot cake cupcake from Spiral Diner.
Leftover bean falafel patties (recipe from New Leaf newsletter I’ve posted about) turned in to an open face sandwich with bread and lots of mustard. Big yummy salad with balsamic.
This is a side salad from Cafe Express . It came with mixed greens and tomatoes. Then I just loaded up things from their awesome side bar (chickpeas, pickle, sundried tomatoes, pickled carrots, and olives). I drizzled it with balsamic vinegar.
This is a grilled tofu sandwich I made on Saturday afternoon. I love tofu like this! I love tofu anyway really though.
Busy Sunday…back to work manana
New box of cereal and lemon ginger tea…simple, quick, and yum!
Lunch ended up being brunch really because it was Eric’s first meal (he slept in), and I wanted to make him french toast. This is called Nutty French Toast from The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook. I also ate some leftover Speedy International Stew from last night.
Dinner was Black Bean Falafels and Summer Salad. I got this recipe from the August flyer I picked up at New Leaf. If you click on the link, you can find the flyer on the main page of their website in the right column. The salad was AWESOME. There was a lot left over too, which will be great to eat on for lunch. The black bean falafels were so easy and pretty tasty. They were a little bland for my liking, so if I make it again, I would add more seasonings than listed on the original recipe.
Back in D-town & Our 2nd year Anniversary
Breakfast came from a recipe in a NEW cookbook I just got in the mail. It is written by the McDougall’s. I found out about it when I went to CA for the cooking weekend. I bought it off Amazon. It is an all vegan cookbook with amazingly easy recipes with few ingredients. They also focus on low-fat cooking, so there are no oils or fats in most of their dishes. I know this is going to be a favorite cookbook of mine for a little while as I ease back in to work (well there isn’t any easing to it actually…I go back tomorrow). Quick dinners make life a little simpler. My breakfast was called Almost Instant Breakfast and is on page 3.
Lunch was the Ultimate Veggie wrap from Roly Poly. I told you we go there a lot! I brought it home and added some Nasoya sandwich spread (mayo looking stuff) to it. In the background is a cup of coffee (fake coffee). I learned about this brand at the McDougall Celebrity Chef cooking weekend as well. It’s “coffee” made form barley. It’s suppose to be healthier because it doesn’t have ANY caffiene. I like it.
This was our anniversary dinner at home. Since we’ve been gone, it felt so great to just chill at home and make dinner together. We made another recipe from The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook. This was Speedy International Stew on page 88. It has 3 ingredients!! (and hot sauce to sprinkle on top) It was SOOO easy and perfect. Eric made the wee salads with minced garlic and balsamic vinegar. The cornbread pictured was cornbread I made a few weeks ago. I had put it in the freezer for a night just like this, when we would be having chili again. The cornbread I made from two recipes here and here. I made it from two because of the ingredients I had and wanted to use and because I didn’t have a cast iron pan, so I made it in two hot pans, like the first recipe does.
