:: 23rd post ::

"greenleaf lettuce, oakleaf lettuce**, raw red bell pepper**, carrot, tofu (with soy sauce), mung beans*, radishes, sunflower seeds, lentils, millet*, 1000 island dressing*"


THV Salty Roasted Asparagus over Sesame Mung Beans. The asparagus** is roasted with soy sauce and served over mung beans* that have been tossed with sesame oil, red bell pepper** and fresh basil** and garnished with sunflower seeds. Oh hey almost everything in this meal is organic, did you notice? Just the sesame oil and sunflower seeds weren't.


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I had some beautiful veggies so I decided to make a stir-fry:



Here are some of the ingredients. Red bell pepper**, yellow bell pepper, tofu, portabella mushrooms, asparagus**, scallions** (in the little bowl), garlic, tangelo zest (I just put the whole tangelo down in the picture).


Here is some broccoli**, kale**, and spinach**. Not pictured was also some gf soy sauce, peas, brown rice and garlic hot sauce.





Miso soup, made of kale, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, chickpeas, carrots, onion, red miso, and sesame seeds. Not very traditional, but very good.


I wanted another little veggie platter. This time we have brown rice tortilla chips, roasted asparagus, and raw red bell pepper, and roasted garlic hummus. I wanted some carrots too but I was out :(


Wild mushroom soup. It's very good, but needs work, it's got enoki*, portabella and oyster mushrooms, oregano, lemon and basil**. I garnished it with extra basil** and enoki mushrooms*



red leaf lettuce, yellow bell peppers, tofu*, chickpeas, radishes, asparagus. I tried to make a different salad dressing by mixing grainy mustard with seasoned rice vinegar, I really liked it at first, but I could only eat half of the dressing because it was way to strong.



Smoothie if purple grapes, blueberries, strawberries**, blackberries, papaya, stevia*, and soymilk*

Fruit salad of green grapes, gala apple, Asian pear, kiwi, and strawberries**. I'd never had an Asian pear before, and they're really good, they taste like (tome at least) like a peach, but have the texture of an apple crossed with a pear.

Salad of lentils, romaine, carrots, red bell pepper, asparagus and 1000 island dressing. With a side of brown rice tortilla chips (love these!), I sprinkled these with dried oregano before I baked them, and then topped them with fresh basil after they were done. Yummy, though I sorta burned them :(



Smoothie of strawberries**, soymilk*, stevia*. I decided to do a little twist and add some Chinese 5 spice powder (which is star anise, cloves, cinnamon, anise, and ginger), it was really good, I only added a little, so it was just like a hint of it, and it smelled awesome.




THV 4 bean chili. Salad of red leaf lettuce, carrots, red bell pepper, lentils, 1000 island dressing. The chili I made a while ago and froze, it's so good, though I did it a little differently than normal, I roasted the garlic, onions and pepper, then blended it with the tomatoes, so it was kinda sweet. Next time I'm gonna try and add more veggies.

Salad Days

I will warn you now, if you do not like salads, close this page! I've gone salad crazy, eating at least 1 a day, sometimes 2, sometimes even having fruit salad for breakfast! Though going salad crazy isn't nessisarly a bad thing, I'm finding that I really like different things in my salads, though I don't like a lot of raw things, like I prefer roasted cauliflower to raw, etc. And to make sure I get enough protein/calories I've started adding beans, grains and tofu, which is really good. Though I am trying to make my salads a little different every time, I always use the same lettuces (red leaf, green leaf and romaine) I always add carrots, and I always use the same dressing HERE

As always:

THV = A recipe for The Healthful Vegan
* = oraganic
** = organic and local, most likely from our farm



"green leaf lettuce, roasted red potatoes, roasted asparagus, roasted red peppers (water packed), grated carrots, tofu* (frozen, thawed, pressed, sauted in soy sauce), ground flax seed*, olives, 1000 island dressing*"


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"green leaf lettuce, roasted parsnips, tofu* (sauteed in sesame oil), portabellas, wild rice*, grated carrot, roasted red peppers, 1000 island dressing*"


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"romaine, grated carrot, tofu* (THV Sesame Dijon Tofu), roasted cauliflower (tossed with curry powder), roasted red peppers, roasted asparagus, fresh basil**, 1000 island dressing*"


THV, Curried Sweet Potato Soup. I totally rewrote this recipe. It used to be my Curried Wild Rice and Lentil Soup, with sweet potatoes and curry, but now it's Curried Sweet Potato Soup with parsnips and curry. It's so good and really simple, especially with some fresh basil** on top (from the garden!)

"green leaf and red leaf lettuce, petite peas (frozen, thawed), wild rice*, lentils, grated parsnips, grated carrot, roasted red peppers, tofu* (sauteed with soy sauce), mushrooms (sauteed with the tofu), 1000 island dressing. I think there was some sesame seeds in there too. Isn't my new bowl pretty? It's nice and big and perfect for taking pictures."

Fried banana sandwich. Well it's not really fried. I took 2 slices of my Ener-g bread, lightly toasted it, then mashed up a small banana with some cloves and cinnamon, spread it onto the bread, and cooked it in a skillet with non-stick cooking spray until nice and browned. Very good, with a side of grapefruit and papaya.


Another Power Smoothie for Rock Climbing class, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, tofu*, wild rice*, maple extract (this stuff is awesome), stevia*.


"romaine, tofu* (THV orange pom tofu), grated carrot, roasted red peppers, ground flax seed*, sliced radishes, split peas, sesame seeds, roasted asparagus**, walnuts, 1000 island dressing*"



Here's one of my favorite snacks. I love Stonyfield Farms Soy Yogurts*, they're really good, think and flavorful, but I like to jaz mine up. This one here is strawberry, so I added a bunch of fresh sliced strawberries**, and I mean a lot of strawberries, a spoonful of ground flax seed* and sometimes a little bit of walnuts (which I did here), so good! And keeps me nice and full, without being too full for yoga.


Roasted sweet potato fries, sauteed Chinese broccoli and basmati rice with ginger, garlic, scallions and Chile. The sweet potatoes were just sprayed with olive oil cooking spray and roasted until tender, then tossed with a tiny bit of sea salt and stevia*, the Chinese broccoli (found at the Asian supermarket) was just thrown into a pot with a little bit of water, soy sauce and chili powder and cooking until tender. For the rice I found the recipe HERE, I did make a few substitutions though: I didn't use the cilantro, or oil, I added some basil**, and I did mine a little easier by using a rice cooker for the rice (I can't make rice to save my life!) then when the rice was almost done cooking, I added the scallions*, garlic, and ginger, that way the flavors would mellow out a little, and I don't have to dirty another pan, then added everything else. It was really good I loved it, even my mom liked it (and she's "allergic" to healthy food), she even asked for a bowl (though when I first talked her into trying it she looked really scared). Oh and for those of you who know me and are thinking "She ate white rice!!!", yes I did!. I read THIS article here about basmati rice, and I've been trying to feed my dosha correctly, and basmati rice supposedly balances out all 3 doshas, so I don't mind eating white rice (plus I get plenty of fiber)


Smoothie of soy milk*, ground flax seed*, wild blueberries, pineapple, a tiny bit of strawberries** (like 2), and maple extract, yum!


"greenleaf lettuce, carrots, radishes, split peas, small red beans, tofu*, leftover basmati rice (from the recipe above), walnuts, tofu dressing*."


I decided to do a veggie platter, because I was really in the mood for hummus. There's carrots, roasted broccoli, cucumbers and brown rice tortilla chips (I took a Food For Life brown rice tortilla, cut it up and cooked until crunchy). For the hummus I threw some chickpeas (2 1/2 cups), 2 cloves of roasted garlic (I roasted it along side the broccoli), salt, pepper, 1/2 TBS raw tahini*, then turned on the processor and drizzled in about 1 cup soy milk until it came to my desired consistency. This was very good, though I found I don't like cucumber and hummus much, the tortilla "chips" were the best, they have so much flavor on their own, really nutty and just great, BUY THEM! (And no they didn't pay me to advertise them :)


"red leaf lettuce, edamame*, tofu* (cooked in sesame oil), sunflower seeds, carrot, cucumber, radishes, roasted red peppers, lentils, tofu dressing*."

For anyone wondering, I only got a participant ribbon at my rock climbing competition. There's a gym in Richmond Virginia called Inner Peaks, and the kids there are so good! They climb like everyday for 4-5 hours from what I heard, and it shows, they game and totally beat me so I wasn't too upset (at east my ribbon was purple), if they weren't there, I think I would've have done much better. Oh well, I had fun, and most of the people who belayed me said I had really good form on the walls, so... :) yay me!

A Little Bit Of Everything #3

THV my Sesame Kale and Snow Peas again. I added chickpeas to make it a real meal.


[day before fating] I was reading The Urban Vegan's blog the other day, where she talked about doing a juice fast, and how it helps her digestion and all that stuff, and I have a horrible digestive system, I get sick after every meal (no matter what I eat), chronic constipation (though I get plenty of fiber and water) and I'm bloated all the time. So I figured I'd give it a shot. I bought 2 bottles (2 quarts) of juice. A bottle of Bolthouse Farms C-Boost and a bottle of Bolthouse Farms Blue Goodness. My plan is to drink both bottles of juice and lots of water (I was going to do a water fast but I didn't want to lose weight). Wish me luck.
[Day of fast] Well this was a complete failure, I had a massive stomach ache all day (worse than normal) an I ended up drinking all my juice by 5p.m. because I was so hungry, I ate an apple and, amazing, the stomach ache went away! I definitely will not be trying that again.


Fruit salad of apple, kiwi, pineapple and lime juice. I was going to go help out at my climbing gym (Redpoint) where they're having a bouldering competition, so I was going to help with registering people and stuff, so I did that then went to go watch my friends. To get points for finishing a climb you had to have 2 people watch you and then sign your sheet, so I helped my friends Haley and Lexi on that, but it looked like so much fun I signed up too. I'd never been in a competition before (of any kind) so I was super nervous, but I had a lot of fun and got 3rd place in beginner level (v0-v2 for those informative in climbing), for my prizes I got a free pair of climbing shoes (retail $90), a Redpoint coffee mug, a shirt that says "run like a girl" and a competition shirt. I think I'm going to do more competitions as this was so great.


Stir-fry of Chinese greens (it looked like broccoli raab but I'm not sure what it really is), mushrooms, garlic, red pepper flakes, peas, soy sauce, orange zest (Orange zest and soy sauce are so awesome together) and tofu. For the tofu I coated each side in lots of fresh pepper and a tiny bit of salt, then browned it in non-stick cooking spray then added it back to the stir-fry in the end. And of course a yam baked on the side, seriously awesome.

THV More 4 Bean Chili

Italian Roasted Red Peppers. All I do is take jarred roasted red peppers, and add peppercorns, rosemary, sometimes thyme, and garlic and it transforms them to Italian Roasted Red Peppers! Perfect for sandwiches or snacking.



Green leaf lettuce, carrot (grated), roasted red potatoes, olives, roasted chickpeas, and this recipe for 1000 island dressing I found HERE, it was good, tasted like thousand island, but a little bland.


My power smoothie, every Wednesday I have rock climbing, so I have to eat extra [calories] to keep up my strength, and normally a smoothie for me is only 200 calories or so, and this one was 370. It has strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, soft tofu, cooked millet, almond extract and stevia, it was so creamy and thick it was
perfect.


THV Chili Orange Roasted Chickpeas. There's a few ways I like to roast my chickpeas, Chili Orange, just soy sauce, Salt & Vinegar Chicks (THV), and just curry powder. I just made the Chili Orange and Soy Sauce this time, I would've liked to make SALT & Vinegar Chicks, but I didn't have any vinegar (weird!)


Kale and potatoes with roasted garlic. I steamed the chopped kale until tender, then added 1 small roasted potato (chopped), and used a fork to mash the potato, then added 3 or 4 cloves of roasted garlic, and mashed it in, then added salt and pepper. I loved the texture, it was just perfect, I think some mushrooms or peas would've made it even better

A Little Of Everything #1

I find it's a lot easier for me to post 1 week of pictures all at once, instead of a post everyday. Here's all my pictures for 3/8-3/14. Oh and THV means it's a recipe for The Healthful Vegan :)




A nice balanced dinner. Roasted sweet potato "fries" tossed with a little sea salt and stevia (the starch), cooked moong dal, or yellow lentils (the protein) and some frozen vegetable stir-fry mix cooked with some soy sauce and grapefruit zest (the veg). Very simple and good.



Breakfast Ice Cream. Frozen bananas and pineapple blended with a little stevia and just enough water to make it blend. So good, looks just like vanilla soft serve doesn't it. I really wanted it to look like vanilla bean ice cream, but I had no vanilla beans (too expensive), so instead, right before I ate it (after I took the picture), I stirred in a little ground cloves and it gave it the perfect finishing touch.


THV? Congeili (little shells) with mushrooms and peppers. I sauteed some portabellas and roasted red peppers with Italian seasoning, onions, and garlic, then added some cornstarch and soy milk. It was very good, but not enough flavor, and the onions weren't cooked long enough, so I had to pick those out :(


Gorgeous Rome apple I had for a snack. Can you see all the pink in the white? It was very flavorful, but a little mealy.



Normally I don't go all out for dinner, but the other day I wanted to so I made some short brown rice, Orange Pom Tofu (THV), a stir-fry (frozen stir-fry mix and some soy sauce) and some asian style greens (steamed mustard greens with sesame oil and sea salt). Everything was great except for the mustard greens. I'd never had them, so I bought a small bunch to try. I cooked them the same way I always cook my kale, but I hated them! They were so bitter it was awful, like dirt (yes I've tasted dirt)


I hate having to use those plastic bags for my groceries. So I made some of my own bags. We were given a big box of unused hospital scrubs, so I took some of the shirts and turned them into bags like the one above. The downsize is their huge, because the shirts were mainly extra larges, but oh well. I only made 2 so far, because I have to hand sew the top sides and bottom and handles, so it takes a good while. I'm gonna make more in the next couple days so we'll have enough for our re-stock shopping on the 15th.


THV 4 bean chili, yum. It's got lots of spices, tomato sauce, peppers, onions, chickpeas, kidney beans, pinto beans and black beans. I didn't have any pinto or chickpeas, so I substituted small red beans, some wild rice and black eyed peas instead. So great, though I missed my chickpeas :(


A really great breakfast. Half a papaya (I ate the other half at breakfast the other day), a Stonyfield Starwberry Soy Yogurt (4oz), to which I added some flaxseed, ground cinnamon and cloves, it really ups the flavor. And a slice of Ener-g Tapocia Bread with blueberry all-fruit spread. A perfect way to start the day.


Heres a pic of one of my (many) kitties. His name is coconut and he is blind and deaf (aren't his eyes cool? one blue and one green), you can read more about him Here. I was laying down and he decided to try and eat my hand, so I grabbed the camera and took a picture. Isn't he cute?