Hot Dish: Comforting Potato Soup

While it's still warm & sunny here in Florida, I understand that many of my northern neighbors are gearing up for yet another blizzard. I hope everyone is warm & cozy and have plenty of food to last through the storm. I'll be thinking of you while I enjoy some nice comforting potato soup, wish I could share it with you all!

         

Potato Soup

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•   6               cups  vegetable broth, ready-to-serve
•   1             medium  onion -- chopped
•   1             cloves  garlic -- minced (1 to 2)
•   6             medium  russet potatoes -- peeled and chopped
•   2             medium  carrots -- chopped
•   2             stalks  celery -- chopped
•   1             medium  zucchini -- chopped
•      1/2           cup  fresh parsley -- chopped
•   1           teaspoon  dried dill weed
•      1/2      teaspoon  freshly ground pepper
•   1               dash  salt

1. Place a small amount of the vegetable broth in a large soup pot.  Add the onion and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, until vegetables are tender and potatoes have started to break apart.
3. Serve with some fresh bread to dunk into the flavorful broth.

Source:
  "the McDougall newsletter."
Start to Finish Time:
  "1:00"
                                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Makes 6 to 8 Servings; Per Serving (based upon 6 servings): 107 Calories; 1g Fat (10.0% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 1074mg Sodium.  

Chip and I both loved this soup! Great flavors, savory and filling, perfect for a winter's night. I am definitely adding this to my tried-and-true recipe file, will be making this one again.

Hope everyone is toasty warm, stay safe!

Michele~

Two Hot Dishes!

 

Even though it wasn't Taco Tuesday, I decided to make tacos last night. I served Chip the "traditional" hard shell kind, filling made with Boca Crumbles, while I decided to do something different.  I made up a batch of the Black Bean & Corn Salad with Lime, rolled some up into a 100-Calorie Smart & Delicious Tortilla, topped with fresh Chipotle & Tomato Salsa. Wowie! This was so much better than a plain ol' taco, I ended up having another one for lunch today.



Tonight I decided to make Pretty Stuffed Peppers, second time around for this recipe. I gathered up all of my veggies & spices, got the rice cooking, then looked in the fridge for the cooked black beans. Oops. I only had about 7 ounces, about half of what the recipe called for. What to do? Hmm..how about tossing that leftover taco "meat" into the mix? Sure, what not! That's just what I did, and the result was deee-licous!

By the time Chip got home from work, it was too late to take nice photos of the finished product, so I'm gonna cheat and share some from the first time I made this dish. Let's just pretend they look exactly the same, ok? My Ormond house is so much lighter and brighter than the one down here, the photos are always so much nicer anyway. Below is my version of the recipe as I made it last time, feel free to improvise on the filling depending upon what's in your kitchen.

Pretty Stuffed Peppers

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Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked by your favorite method
• 6 medium bell peppers of your choice; I used 2 red, 2 yellow, 2 green
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 15 ounces cooked black beans; if using canned, rinse and drain well
• 1 cup seeded and chopped fresh tomato*
• 8 slices Cheddar-style soy or rice cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.  
2. Cut each bell pepper in half lengthwise.  Remove seeds and ribs.  Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil; add the pepper halves and blanch for about 4 minutes.  Drain and pat dry.
3. Heat the broth in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute for about 3 minutes, then add chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and black pepper.  Saute for 1 minute more.  Add the beans, rice and tomato and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Stuff bell peppers with mixture, packing them well. Top each bell pepper with a slice of cheese.  Place in an 8 x 8-inch baking dish. 
5. Bake peppers, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.  Set the oven to broil, broil peppers for 1 to 2 minutes, until the top is browned and cheese is bubbly.

*For added flavor & spice, you can substitute a can of diced tomatoes w/green chiles (such as Ro*tel) for the chopped fresh tomatoes. I found it also added some needed moisture to the mix.

Note: I'm a bit confused by the serving size of the original recipe..there are 6 peppers, which equals 12 halves, but only 8 slices of cheese. ? However, there was so much filling there's no way it could've fit into fewer peppers. I'm leaving it as is but noting the discrepancy here. I myself just used an extra slice of cheese, put 1/2 slices on some of the smaller peppers.

Nutrition Info:

• Calories:425
• Fat: 8.5
• Protein: 21.2
• Carbohydrate: 69.1
• Sugar 10.7
• Fiber 15.6
• Sodium 787

I think it's time for a nice cup of tea and a book. I haven't been sleeping well, blaming the little bit of stress I've been under, hoping a cup of Sleepytime will do the trick.

Have a beauty-full evening,

Michele

Monday Menu Planning: Week of February 3rd

Good morning, how's everybody feeling today? I'm sure some of you are still smiling about last night's football game, others are likely crying in their coffee cups.  Me? I was in bed by 9 pm, didn't know (or cared) who won until Chip came to bed and reported the results.

In order to insert more structure and discipline into my routine, I'm going back to weekly menu planning. I will also be logging faithfully into my food journal. Both of these habits have been very helpful in the past so I need to stop being lazy and just do the stuff that works!

This week's menu features mainly recipes from PCRM's 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, which, if you read my other blog, you'll remember that I joined in last summer. If you're new to the plant-based way of eating, or simply need a bit more structure in your diet, I highly recommend this program. There are also a few from The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook by Dr. Neal Barnard and Robyn Webb.  (I'm still crushing on Dr. B., by the way) *wink*

So, without further ado, below is the plan for this week. I've provided links to the recipes (when available) but will also be posting them along with pics and reviews.

• Curried Tomato Lentil Soup
• Black Bean and Corn Salad with Lime
• Brown Rice, Chickpea and Vegetable Soup
• Pretty Stuffed Peppers
• Tacos with Chipotle and Tomato Salsa
• Vegetable Paella
• Italian White Bean, Kale & Potato Stew
• Black Bean Chipotle Burgers

Have a great day!

Michele~

Hot Dish: Super Bowl Snacks

 Let me get this out of the way first thing: I hate football. Always have, always will. Numerous boyfriends and a couple of husbands have tried in vain to change my mind, attempted to "teach me the game" because then you'll "understand why it's so great" blah..blah..blah.  One even took me to the stadium, thinking surely I'd get caught up in the excitement and finally get what all the fuss is about. I ate popcorn and watched people get increasingly drunk and angry. Not my idea of a good time. However, just because I am not a fan doesn't mean I can't appreciate the Big Day in my own way: cooking and feeding. Super Bowl Sunday is a chance for me to whip up something different, a new tasty appetizer, savory snack or sweet dessert.  Even if it's just myself and the hubby, as it looks to be this year, might as well pull out all the stops and get into the spirit of the thing.

From what I understand, no football party is complete without hot wings. I can appreciate that. Before I went vegan, I loved me some chicken wings. Greasy & spicy, the hotter the better for this gal. No longer able to dig my head into the sand and ignore the plight of our feathered friends, I stopped eating all things chicken almost two years ago.  While I'm proud of my decision and will never again eat animals, I admit that I do occasionally miss some of those meaty foods. Wings are at the top of that list.  I realize, though, that what I am really longing for is not the taste of the animal (eww!) but the seasonings, spice and, especially, the experience that it provided.  Sitting around with friends, ordering up a batch of unhealthy-but-oh-so-tasty appetizers and a couple of cold beers, that's what I'm missing.  You know what? I can still do that. No animal should suffer and die for my belly or my taste buds.

Nowadays it is so easy to be vegan.  There are zillions of meat substitutes; from burgers to sausage to hot dogs, someone has come up with a plant-based alternative.  While I don't consume those faux meats on a daily basis, it's nice to know they're available should I want them.  These are also great transitional foods, especially if living with a vegan-in-training. I'm extremely proud of him for the progress he's made, for "allowing" me to keep our kitchen cruelty-free, so if keeping him satisfied means throwing a Tofurkey sausage in the skillet or a Boca burger on the grill now & then, so be it. I'm more than happy to do so.

Today I'll be whipping up some veg-friendly snacks that mimic the animal-based ones being served at  Super Bowl parties across the country. I promise the end result will be just as tasty as the originals, just a tiny bit lower in fat, calories, and totally without animal suffering. I'm going to cheat a little here, re-posting one of my recipes as well as sharing some from fellow vegan bloggers, I hope you don't mind. If you're like me and haven't quite finalized your party menu, this will give you the opportunity to plan, shop & cook in plenty of time for the Big Game.

Note: I've been saving up my extra Points Plus so that I can indulge a bit today. These recipes aren't exactly low-cal so I'd suggest picking one or two of your favorites and serving alongside a big green salad and/or veggie platter. A walk around the block before the game wouldn't hurt, either.

First up, my beloved hot wings.  These are a big hit in my family, who needs Hooters when you can whip up a batch of these babies in your own kitchen?

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings" 

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• 1 cup water or soy milk
• 1 cup flour (any kind will work, even gluten free!)
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped into pieces
• 1 cup buffalo or hot sauce
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil or melted vegan margarine

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Combine the water or soy milk, flour, and garlic powder in a bowl and stir until well combined.
3. Coat the cauliflower pieces with the flour mixture and place in a shallow baking dish. Bake for 18 minutes.
4. While the cauliflower is baking, combine your buffalo sauce and olive oil or margarine in a small bowl.
5. Pour the hot sauce mixture over the baked cauliflower and continue baking for an additional 5 to 8 minutes. 

Serve alongside vegan blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.




Note: This recipe produces a very spicy sauce, similar to the restaurant "Hot" version. It was too spicy for Chip who normally orders a "Medium" sauce. If you want a less intense flavor, I'd suggest adjusting your hot sauce/oil ratio. Also, next time I'll spray the baking sheet first as there was a bit of sticking, and perhaps bake a little bit longer to achieve a crisper "wing."  

For more football-friendly snacks, how about:

Warm Vegveeta Dip from Plant Powered Kitchen
Beer Soaked Fries from Edible Perspective
Fully Loaded Nachos from Lunchboxbunch
Vegan Brownies from Oh She Glows

Or perhaps you want something a little bit more filling; here's my super-simple chili that's sure to warm you up!



 I hope I've given you some "food for thought" as you plan your game day gathering.  Have a great time, and may the best team win! As for me, I'll be hiding out in my Mom Cave, will peek out to watch the commercials and the half time show.

Enjoy!

Michele

Weekly Weigh-in

 I had to change my weigh-in day back to Thursday because there are no WW meetings on Wednesday morning.  Since I missed last week's meeting, I was very anxious to see the official number on the scale, and very pleased to report that I'm down 3 pounds! I really think the Simply Filling plan is responsible; I feel more full, and even though I'm (mostly) eating from a limited food list, I feel less restricted.  If I find myself hungry in the afternoon, I'll have some brown rice & beans which are always present in my refrigerator.  I am jokingly calling this the "potato diet" because I'm eating a lot of them! Roasted potatoes (with 1 tsp of olive oil) every day for breakfast, baked potatoes with veggies for lunches &dinner, etc.  I feel like what Dr. McDougall calls a "Starchivore!" Though I am eating my share of carbs, I'm focusing on the whole-grain, brown variety.  What I have not been eating: white flour.

Yes, I've said it before and I still believe it to be true - for me, bread, at least the fluffy white variety, does evil things to my body! When I remove it from my diet, I lose weight, no longer feel bloated, and don't have the crazy food cravings.  The only "bread" I've had this week is whole grain Sandwich and/or Bagel Thins a couple of days, and Ezekiel Sprouted grain. No fluffy Italian bread, no giant bagels, no white pasta.  It's been much easier than I thought, and the number on the scale is proof that it works!

Hope you're having a beauty-full day,

Michele~

Hot Dish: Thai Food Eat-In!

 

Last night I was in the mood for Thai food, but didn't want to spend too much money and calories on the restaurant version.  A quick search led me to this recipe, and allowed me to use up one of the "mystery ingredients" I have in my refrigerator: green peas.  I often make a dish that calls for a cup or so of peas, but not the whole bag, and since they aren't my absolute favorite vegetable, I never eat them on their own. So, I end up with little half-eaten bags of them in my freezer, forgetting their existence when I go to make another pea-required recipe!

This would be considered is a yellow curry, I guess, with a splash of green thrown in.  I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, always a plus! Sorry that I don't have any pretty pictures of the finished product because, once again, by the time I ate dinner it was too dark to capture one.  However, here's the tofu & onions being sauteed, isn't that a gorgeous golden color?!



Please note: the original recipe states that "Red curry paste can be found in the ethnic or gourmet sections of most large supermarkets. The paste is a blend of clarified butter (ghee), curry powder, vinegar, and other seasonings" which is not accurate. Not all curry paste contains clarified butter and, as a matter of fact, the most commonly available brand, Thai Kitchen, is vegan.

Tofu with Red Curry Paste, Peas & Yellow Tomatoes

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Image courtesy of Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced onion
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 1 to 2 tablespoons red curry paste
• 1 cup shelled green peas (about 1 pound unshelled) or frozen green peas, thawed
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow tomato
• 4 cups hot cooked long-grain rice (I used brown rice)

Preparation

1. Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu; cook until liquid from tofu is evaporated (about 3 minutes). Remove tofu from pan; sprinkle with lime juice, turmeric, salt, and pepper.
2. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes. Add tofu, and cook 7 minutes or until golden. Combine milk and curry paste; add to pan. Reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Add peas and tomato; cook 2 minutes. Serve over rice.

Source: Cooking Light MAY 2000

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup tofu mixture and 1 cup rice)

Nutritional Information, per serving:   Calories: 421; Calories from fat: 23%; Fat: 10.6;Saturated fat: 3.1; Protein: 15.5g; Carbohydrate: 66.9g; Fiber: 5.3g

The Verdict: Very tasty!! I will warn you that unless you like your Thai really spicy (probably 3 stars), you should stick to one Tablespoon of curry paste. I used two and it had quite a kick!

Other than the coconut milk, this recipe is relatively low in fat and if you use brown rice, as I did, could almost be considered Simply Filling.  I ran the original nutrition info through the WW calculator, not the Recipe Builder, because I was lazy, came up with a total of 11 PointsPlus.  A little higher than I normally spend on dinner but certainly less than it would "cost" at a restaurant!

Off to do some laundry, have a beauty-full day!

Michele~

Hot Dish: Black-Eyed Pea Chili with Quinoa and Corn

Just a quickie post to share tonight's delicious dinner! I wish I could literally have you all over to eat because this recipe made a huge amount of food and I would be more than happy to pass it around my table.

I had some extra pre-soaked beans from the Hoppin' John, and since it (finally) got chilly last night, I figured I'd put them to good use in some chili. With leftover cornbread, this made a scrumptious, tummy-warming meal, perfect for a cozy night in front of the fire, or, in our case, the patio chiminea.

I must warn you: this calls for two large onions which, if your food processor died over the holidays as mine did, might cause you to be in tears like poor Hilda up there! It's totally worth the sniffles, though!



The recipe comes from Fat-Free Vegan so not only is it tasty, it's also super healthy - no fat, lots of fiber, protein & other good stuff. Head over there for more of her yummy offerings!

Enjoy!

Michele~

Day of the Dead..and World Vegan Day!

"Sometimes a part of us must die before another part can come to life. Even though this is a natural and necessary part of our growth, it is often painful or, if we don’t realize what’s happening, confusing and disorienting. In fact, confusion and disorientation are often the messengers that tell us a shift is taking place within us. These shifts happen throughout the lives of all humans, as we move from infancy to childhood to adolescence and beyond. With each transition from one phase to another, we find ourselves saying good-bye to an old friend, the identity that we formed in order to move through that particular time....We can surrender to this process, letting go of our past self with great love and gratitude, and welcoming the new with an open mind and heart, ready for our next phase of life." ~ Daily Om

Today is Día de Muertos, Day of the Dead. I thought today's Daily Om was appropriate, especially since I've been doing some deep soul searching of my own the past couple of weeks.  Before leaving on vacation, I began reading a self-help book called The Emotional Eaters Repair Manual by Julie M. Simon. I haven't finished the book but let me tell you, just the first few chapters really stirred things up for me and made me think about exactly why I'm overweight.  Not just the surface reasons such as I eat too much and don't exercise enough, but the deeper issues, the emotional stuff that causes me to eat when I'm not hungry, to use food as a comfort and dare I say, a drug.  I talked to my friend Marion about this, not knowing how much to share on my blog, and I've decided to keep most of it private.  I'm just not comfortable baring my soul to the public, nor do I want to risk hurt feelings for anyone else "involved." I'm not even sure I'm going to stop with just the book and the exercises, have even thought about attending an OA meeting.  At this point I just know that I've got to fix the inside, heal the parts that need healing, and learn to deal with my emotions and not just shove them down with food.  I need to shed that old self, that past self, and hopefully along with her will come the excess weight I'm carrying around.

So, on to lighter things..Happy World Vegan Day!

 

I plan to spend the day cooking something healthy and taking a good long walk with Loki. How about you?

Have a beauty-full day,

Michele~

Well, here we are at the end of Week One. I've been following my program about 80% of the time, had a couple of PMS-related Oreo episodes and a glass too many of vino at a certain happy hour, but otherwise I've been doing pretty well.  I guess the scale agrees because I am down 1.8 pounds! Not bad, but I know I can do better. 

I've been thinking back to the last time I lost weight, when I was following Jenny, and pondering what it was about that program that worked so well for me.  Well, duh, it was a no-brainer: Go to meeting. Weigh-in. Buy food. Eat food. Repeat.  I had little to think about, I just heated up the meals, ate the food, and the weight came off.  Though I certainly don't want to go back to that way of eating, and honestly I missed my own cooking, I can't beat the convenience.  So, how to implement that into the way I live & eat now?

I started out by planning my weekly menu, as I've been doing, preparing my meals as usual.  Then, after dinner, I portion out the leftovers into individual containers and label them.  These become lunches for the next couple of days. If there's more left over than I can safely store in the fridge, or if I'm tired of a particular meal (that rarely happens, I don't mind repetition), I freeze those portions instead.  Same thing with breakfast, have a few containers of Tofu Scramble stacked in there.  I also have a big tub of Vegetable Soup to accompany meals or even as a mid-day snack.  Speaking of snacks, I took a cucumber & a head of broccoli,chopped & divided them up into little ziploc bags and labeled each one with the contents and weight so that logging into Sparkpeople would be a breeze.  These went into a handy-dandy Snaptight container (on sale this week at Publix, if you're in my neck of the woods), so easy to grab & go!




Lastly, I mixed up a batch of hummus and divided it into tiny tubs.  Now, when the snack attack hits, I can open my fridge, grab a bag of veggies and a pot of hummus, I'm good to go! You can see there's also a big bin of crunchy apples there, and a fruit bowl of bananas sits on the counter, nearby, perfectly portable health food.  I also have some cooked chickpeas and pink beans in there, easy to toss onto a salad or into a soup for added protein.





Also this week, I baked several sweet potatoes in the oven, used two of them for the Sweet Potato Beginnings breakfasts..



the other I mixed in with my Spicy Vegetarian Chili. So delicious, filled with fiber and nutrients. Dr. McDougall would be proud.




So, that just about wraps up Week One.  I have a simple pasta dish on the menu for tonight, will share that tomorrow so hope to see you then!

Have a beauty-full day,

Michele~

Retro Recipe Redux: "Hamburger" Casserole

We had a perfect Sunday. Quiet, relaxed, nowhere to go and nothing to do.  We puttered around the house, did a little laundry, took Loki for a nice long walk, and spent some time in the kitchen.  After Chip's crazy week, running down to Miami only to find out that his job was delayed, turning around driving back up here the next day, going in to work at 2 am..whew..well, let's just say the man deserved a good night's sleep and a lazy day in front of the TV! Oh, and a home-cooked dinner, which is where I come in.

I decided to redux another retro meal, a casserole that harkens back to (at least) the 1970's.  There are many versions floating around the internet, the one my Mom made consisted of hamburger & cream of mushroom soup all mixed together and  topped with french fried onions.  It was delicious but very high in fact and certainly not veg-friendly! A little searching led me to this recipe at PETA's site, I made a couple of changes and came up with my own twist. Goodness knows, this is not an especially "healthy" recipe, but the cleaned up version is much better than the original, and now and then I like to treat my hunny to a "traditional" meal. Now, admittedly, the only thing pretty about this picture is my vintage Pyrex, but I had hopes that it would taste better than it looks!

 "Hamburger" Casserole

(print-friendly)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups macaroni
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
• 12 oz. faux ground beef-style crumbles
• 1/2 cup whole kernel corn
• 1 can tomato soup
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 2 cups French-fried onions

Directions

1. Cook the macaroni according to the directions on the package. Drain, pour into a large bowl, and set aside.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion and green pepper in a bit of water or vegetable broth until tender.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
4. To the drained macaroni, add the onions and green pepper, burger crumbles, corn, soup, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine. If the mixture is dry, add just enough water to make it moist. Pour into a large baking or casserole dish, top with the French-fried onions, and bake for 15 minutes or until the fried onions are lightly browned.

Makes 6 Servings

Nutrition Info:

• Calories: 329.6
• Fat: 4.9g
• Carbohydrates: 58.9g
• Protein: 14.7g

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because this dish has so few vegetables, I started the meal with a bowl of "Zero-Point" vegetable soup, a loaf of freshly-baked Caraway Rye bread alongside.

The Verdict: Despite it's ugliness, both of us really enjoyed this meal! Chip, in fact, gobbled up two portions, very unusual for him. While the casserole isn't something I'd have on a regular basis, it was a nice switch from the beans/grains dishes I eat so often. 

Hope you had a beauty-full weekend!

Michele~