vegan green chili casserole & weight loss challenge comes to and end!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I had nothing major planned, but it kind of turned into a weekend of non-stop cooking! (I will share my new recipes in a couple individual post!)

This is what happens when you bring home Green Salsa Verdi left over from the company lunch, but have limited supplies on hand at home.  Originally they were going to be enchiladas, but those are hard to make with the small little tortillas.  So, I opted for a casserole!  This turned out amazing and was even BETTER the next day!

Vegan Green Chili Casserole
Original recipe from The Scattered Cook

Ingredients

15.25 oz. Can of Black Beans low sodium, drained and rinsed
15.25 oz. Can of Pinto Beans, drained and rinsed
1 Yellow Onion, diced
1 Cup sliced Mushrooms
2 T. Vegetable Broth
1/2 Cup diced Green Chilies
1 T. Garlic Powder
1 T. Cumin
2 Cups of Spinach
1 Jar Green Chili Enchilada Sauce
12 Small Whole Wheat Tortillas

carrot ribbon pasta in a jar

Was blessed to have my teenage daughter join me yesterday at the gym for the first time! Didn't do my normal 5k workout and instead hit the cardio machines to shake up my workout some. I felt amazing when I got home and had non-stop energy!  So much in fact, that I thought I would try something new for lunch the rest of this week.  Introducing Carrot Ribbon Pasta in a Jar!

Carrot Ribbon Pasta in a Jar

Makes: 4 jars

Ingredients

4 Large Carrots
2 T. Vegetable Broth
1 Onion, diced
1 T. Garlic (I used jar Garlic)
1 Zucchini, diced
1 Orange Bell Pepper, diced
1 t. Garlic Powder
1 t. Cumin
1 T. Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning Blend
8 oz. Jar Diced Green Chilies
16 oz. Can Black Beans (no salt), rinsed
1/2 Jar Pasta Sauce (no salt)

smoothies, broccoli-slaw and enchiladas oh my!

After our Father's Day weekend it was really nice to get back on track yesterday and fill my body with healthy goodness!  Started out the morning with my go to Green Smoothie. Thanks to my Vitamix it is the perfect way to start off the morning and super easy to make.  My little Cavalier iHop loves them too!

Go To Green Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Banana (or Avocado)
1/2" Piece of fresh Ginger
1/2 Cucumber pealed and sliced
1/2 cup of baby Carrots
1cup frozen fruit of your choice
2/3 cup of filtered water
1 cup of Spinach
2 T. Ground Flaxseed
1/2 cup Oats
Ice Cubes as needed

tofu scramble & something for the dogs

Happy Monday to you all!  It was a slow starting day today as we celebrated Father's Day a little too hard yesterday lol.

Father's Day morning started with J's favorite vegan breakfast - Southwestern Tofu Scramble.  If you are trying to cut eggs, but love a good scramble you really have to give this a try!  J and I both agree that the Tofu actually taste better than eggs ever did.


Southwestern Tofu Scramble

Ingredients

12 oz. Tofu Extra Firm (pressed)
1  teaspoons ground Turmeric
2 tablespoons of water
3 tablespoons vegetable broth or water
1 Small Red Onion
Several Peppers (I like red, orange and yellow)1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder                                            
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1 tablespoon Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 cup Sliced Jalapenos
1/2 cup Diced Green Chilies
1 cup Spinach
2 Tomatoes Diced
1 Avocado (for topping)                                           
Salsa (for topping)   

vegan clean the fridge out veggie pizza

Decided I needed an extra long weekend and took yesterday off.  Good choice on my part!  Enjoyed a nice day with J - little shopping, lunch and the gym (beat my 5k time!).   

Then it was time to make dinner! One of my favorite vegan meals that's quick and easy is making pizza.  I am in love with the crust from Whole Foods, so after a drive over there yesterday to pick up a crust it was pizza making time!  This is a great way to use up leftover veggies in your fridge and basically anything goes!  Here is my easy recipe:

chipotle mac & chesses with roasted brussel sprouts and some redhead chatter

Last night I tired out a new recipe for a vegan Chipotle Mac & Cheese with Roasted Brussel Sprouts, in the past I had great success with another recipe, but I am always up for trying something new. I love when I am at work and talk about making Mac & Cheese for dinner and I get, "What do you do for the cheese?" It is beyond amazing that you can MAKE cheese from cashews and when I tell them this they don't believe me.  LOL! I have also discovered that most people do not like the taste of Brussel Sprouts, but I guess since I was not subjected to them as a kid I really don't mind them at all.  The original recipe says to drizzle them with olive oil before roasting, but I cooked mine on parchment paper without the olive oil and they turned out great! I have to say it was a VERY easy recipe and did not take much time at all. I doubled the recipe as well so we would have some left overs for the week.  Here is the recipe for Post Punk Kitchen:

Serves 4
Total time: 30 minutes || Active time: 15 minutes

8 oz macaroni (gluten-free, whole wheat, or any type)
1 lb brussels, quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil (I skipped this and cooked on Parchment Paper)
For the sauce:
1 cup cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours
4 chipotles, seeded
1 cup vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons miso (I used chickpea miso) (I skipped this and used lemon juice and a little mustard)
Salt to taste
1 can of diced green chilies (I added this)

Preheat the oven to 425 F for the brussels, and prepare a pot of salted water for the pasta. In the meantime, prep the brussels and make the sauce.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the quartered brussel sprouts with olive oil and a dash of salt. Bake for 18 minutes, until lightly browned. No need to flip them, just let ‘em roast.
To make the sauce: Drain the cashews and place all sauce ingredients in a blender and blend away until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides with a spatula to make sure you get everything. Depending on the strength of your blender this could take from one to five minutes.
When the macaroni is tender, drain it in a colander. Immediately place it back in the pot you boiled it in and stir in the sauce. Place pot on low heat and stir for 3 minutes or so, until the sauce is thickened a bit and everything is deliciously creamy. Taste for salt, toss in the brussel sprouts and serve!

weekend babbling from the redhead

Happy Monday! It is wonderful waking up on a Monday and feeling so energized and ready to start the work week! I started my Monday off today with some steamed kale splashed with a little red wine vinegar.  Trying to eat more greens in the morning and making my normal green smoothie every other day (Inspired by Chef AJ).

Today I wanted to blog about three different topics:

1.Eating healthy at sporting events

2. Weekend Prep For The Upcoming Week

3. Recipe: Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

Saturday night was a fun date night for J and I as we had tickets to the Diamondbacks baseball game here in Phoenix.  They had a big bobble-head give away, so we knew even though the game started at 7:10pm we would need to be there really early.  We weighed our eating options as we know that eating vegan at the ballpark would be near to impossible and we didn’t want to be starving and cranky while there.  I looked for some vegan choices using my favorite app Happy Cow and we decided to eat at our favorite vegan place Pomegranates Café.  This place is beyond amazing!! Everything comes Vegan or Vegetarian, so you have that option.  We have been slowly working our way through the menu and this time tried a couple of their bowls.  I had the Dragon Bowl, very tasty, lots of wonderful flavor and FILLING!

Most ballparks now let you carry in items such as water and snacks (check first with your ballpark).  We have a vendor where we park that sells water cheap, so we picked up three along with a bag of peanuts for munching on.  Come on, you have to have peanuts at a ballgame!!   

The long line to get in was much worth it as we received our bobble-heads and had plenty of time to get some extra walking in.  We did a nice lap at the park checking out the food vendors and much to our surprised found some great vegan and vegetarian options!  Red Hot has a Veggie burger (however the bun does have dairy and eggs) and another had fruit and veggie bowls to go! Okay not a ton of healthy options but sometime some are better than none.  J and I also give ourselves a 2% rule when we go out.  At home I can make sure every ingredient going into our meals are vegan and whole, going out can you really trust that they are?  No.  So, if by some chance there is say dairy or egg in one part of our meal…we aren’t going to go all crazy and freak out.  It is what it is.  When outside of the house there is no way to control it all and I am not going to let it stress me out or ruin a good time.

So, there you have it – go out and have fun!  Bring your own snacks if you can. Eat before. Look for options that may work for you.

sesame-honey tempeh & quinoa bowl + my start to running

Last night I whipped up dinner from a new recipe I found on Pinterest.  I wrote before that one thing I love about being vegan is replacing/adding/removing ingredients from a recipe and how easy it is to do.  What I plan on doing is sharing the recipe I started with and make notes of how I changed it up, so if you want to try the original you can or if you want to try my version you can do that as well!

The first time I used Tempeh way back when I sucked it all up.  My daughter and I couldn’t stand it.  Then I learned how to use it right and recipes that made it POP and taste amazing, but for those of you who have never used Tempeh here is some basic info on it:

What is Tempeh?

Tempeh is a soyfood made by controlled fermentation of cooked soybeans with a Rhizopus molds (tempeh starter). This fermentation binds the soybeans into a compact white cake. Tempeh has been a favorite food and staple source of protein in Indonesia for several hundred years. But it is now rapidly becoming popular all over the world as people look for ways to increase their intake of soy, known for its health benefits. They discover tempeh's versatility and delicious taste. Especially vegetarians and vegans find the structure and protein content interesting. Tempeh has a firm texture and a nutty mushroom flavor. It is very versatile and can be used in recipes in different ways. Normally tempeh is sliced or cut in cubes and fried until the surface is crisp and golden brown. You can also grate it like cheese. Tempeh can be used as ingredient in soups, spreads, salads and sandwiches. Tempeh is now commonly available in many supermarkets (I buy mine at Sprouts next to the Tofu) and health food stores.

Using Tempeh in your recipes

Fresh tempeh has a nice mushroom and nutty flavor, but in recipes it will readily absorbs flavors of other ingredients. Often, tempeh is marinated before cooking to give it a stronger and savory taste. You can substitute all or part of meat in your favorite recipe with tempeh.

Cooking methods

You can cook Tempeh by: boiling, steaming, baking, microwaving, stir-frying or grilling.

Sesame-Honey Tempeh & Quinoa Bowl