What have we been eating?

My son called from school at 3:30 last Thursday morning -- sick with a stomach bug.  By 8:30 we had him home and I spent two days coddling him and by Sunday he was well.  By Sunday evening I wasn't so well.  Apparently the "flu" is going around his campus...and even a lot of professors have been out.  Ick!!!!

My poor hubby has eaten a lot of peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  We've all eaten a lot of fried rice type dishes, but blander than usual.  In all honesty, my daughter and I have skipped most meals because of the ickies.

However, I'm feeling 50% alive and I'm hoping to eat some real food today.  Real as in more fried rice because it is settling on my stomach.

Thanks for all the tips on adding more things in.  I do have the 500 recipes book, but not the other. I'm going to order it for myself because I'm not giving up on this.

Struggling

I'm struggling to find meals with enough "substance" to satisfy my hubby.  I really, really need some advice on how to plan vegan meals that will fill him up and make him not leave the table wanting "something else."

Our Trip

I didn't really feel great while we were on our trip so I spent all my time snuggled in.

Meals were pretty simple.
On the ride we had veggie burgers from BK.  Not sure if they are vegan or not, but we decided it was the best we could find and still ride. (We were late leaving..lol)

At the resort there was a pretty good restaurant that also did the room service .
I had potatoes with onions for breakfast.  Not fancy, but filling.  Most of the breakfast foods had either meats or cheese.
For lunch I had a veggie wrap -- tomato and basil wrap filled with grilled veggies and an order of fries.
For supper we didn't do as well.  Dh didn't want anything the restaurant had to offer and he went out and picked up vegetarian pizza complete with cheese.  It was the first time I'd eaten anything out of "range" since I started and ironically I felt rather guilty about it

I've been careful to eat extra veggies and try to cleanse my system since I got back.

Photoless St. Patrick's Day

We had a slow St. Patrick's Day.  I was down on the couch with a head cold, but I did get up and fix a simple supper.  I was slack and forgot to take photos though.


Our meal --
steamed cabbage
stewed potaotes
sliced tomatoes
sliced cucumbers
raw carrots
apple tart of sorts made with puff pastry

I'm glad to say I'm feeling a little better this morning.  I've had a day time medicine added and I'm ready to face the world.

This weekend we'll be facing a new challenge.  We'll be out of town for meetings until Saturday and I'm not sure where we're going to eat.

First Bread with Okara and Chatter

Our first bread with Okara turned out okay.  It wasn't as fluffy as my bread usually is -- more of a dense bread.  It was great with a bowl of hot veggie soup.  I'm not completely satisfied with the results, so I'll continue to tweak the recipe until I get what I'm looking for or give up.

The recipe I used was one I found online.  I tweaked it as I went, because the original was not vegan.

Here's what I did.  I put it in this order in the Zojirushi Bread Machine.  When I make the next loaf I will probably use the mixer and bake the bread in the oven.  I'm also going to try white wheat flour.

1 cup of soy milk

1 cup of wet okara

 1 1/2 tsps salt

2 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of sugar

3 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour

2/3 cup of rolled oats

2 1/4 tsps of yeast

Bake on wheat cycle in machine.  Makes one large loaf. 

Now for the chatter -- I hit the small local grocery store yesterday and found a few things they haven't had before and one or two things grown in our state.  So that was nice.  They had Jasmine Rice for the first time ever!  They had collards grown locally so I picked up a large bag of them.  They also had great prices on potatoes, cabbage, squash, zucchini, and ....well you get the picture.  We have a whole refrigerator full of fresh veggies and fruit to eat up this week.

I'm not doing a menu because we'll be gone for 3 days this week.  So it is just a cook up what needs to be cooked up kind of week. 

Shopping and Rice Milk

I was excited to find some "veggie chicken patties" that are vegan so I bought a package to try.  They are "grilled chicken" and I will serve them on buns with the usual suspects like tomato, lettuce, pickles and mustard. 

I found blueberries and raspberries.  I ate some of the berries in some brown rice cereal and they were fabulous!

I also made our first batch of rice milk this morning.  We're trying to alternate between the soy and the rice.  I definitely like the soy better...lol.

My supplies from Amazon came and I'm hoping to try my hand at "turkey" on Sunday.

Firsts in our Kitchen

We're having some great firsts in our kitchen.
This morning we made our first soy milk and this afternoon I intend to make
our first bread with okara added.
I also went on Amazon and ordered a few things I couldn't find.
I thought I could stick just to the grocery store, but things are getting old fast.
I will still buy 99% of my supplies there, but there are two things I can't get that
I really want to add....vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast.
I've ordered those two things via Amazon.

I'm really excited because I think dh and I are ready to advance beyond our
regular diet with meat left out to a real vegan diet.

Menu 5.8.10

Menu Plan 5.8.10


Monday

Breakfast – pbj on whole wheat (what I was craving…lol)

Dinner -- veggie soup and pitas

Supper -- lentil tacos



Tuesday

Breakfast – biscuits with jam

Dinner – on the road, so probably subway veggie sub

Supper – bean soup and cornbread



Wednesday

Breakfast – oatmeal with cranberries

Dinner – pasta salad Italian style

Supper – homemade calzones (spinach, tofu, and spices)



Thursday

Breakfast – cream of wheat

Dinner -- split pea soup

Supper – fried potatoes, fresh sliced veggies, and hush puppies



Friday

Breakfast – grits

Dinner – fried rice

Supper – lasagna (first attempt to veganize)

Saturday

Breakfast – homemade whole wheat cinnamon rolls

Lunch – veggie burgers, buns, fries

Supper – great northern bean soup, sweet cornbread



Sunday

Breakfast – toast with jam

Lunch – cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and fruit salad

Supper – homemade pizzas



Go over to Organizing Junkie and see more menus. I have a hard time sticking to it exactly, but it makes me look over the pantry and plan a more careful grocery list.



This week I only need to buy:

Tofu

Potatoes

Fresh veggies

Fresh fruits

Cabbage

And soy milk if the soy milk maker doesn’t come today.



That’s a pretty short list.

What No One Wanted...

No one wanted spaghetti tonight.  Even the dog couldn't be wooed into thinking it would be great.

So menu change on the horizon.

Cabbage with potatoes and carrots
Cornbread (cause it is my favorite)
Apple and Orange slices

Busted!!!

I've been a horrible eater -- Oreos were my downfall.  Several Oreos in fact.

I did so well, all week and then last night I was really, really tired and feeling stressed.  I know the tiredness is a side effect of the fibromyalgia and the tired I get the more stressed I feel -- basically a bad cycle going round and round. 

So did I go to bed early?  Yes, but not before I consumed a good chunk of a package of Oreos. 
Should I have had a plate of fruit instead?  Yes, and I did try this.  Cantaloupe (sp?), honeydew, fresh pineapple and grapes.   

So I overate on junk and ate a big helping of fruit and washed it down with an icky articficially sweetened drink.

Thank God today was a new day!

Topsy Turvy Tuesday

It is Tuesday -- only the second day of the menu week -- and I am a failure.  I cannot stick to a menu to save my life.  See Monday night went fine.  I went to my Mama's house and made do with the side dishes we had.  Walked away satisfied and quite happy to see my family together.

On the way back from her house we stopped at a Foodlion to buy the kiddos some pepperoni pizzas for the freezer.  Bad I know, but the college kid is home....lol.  While I was there I grabbed a few things for healthier eating, too.  Bananas, apples, grapes, onions, pitas, whole wheat tortillas, and orzo.  I found orzo for .69 a lb.  I came home with 5 lbs.  A little less than 1/2 price.

So today I have the orzo sitting on the counter staring at me and I think I'd like to have some.  Then when I try to move the apples out of the way of the soy milk, I find that I still have broccoli from last week in the frig and I need to go ahead and use it.  Under the broccoli is a package of spinach that needs to be finished.  So do you see where this is going?

Tonight we're having orzo with a bit of olive oil, broccoli, carrots and onions and I'll serve it on a bed of spinach with pitas and perhaps apple slices on the side.

A Pantry Meal

We got stuck at our home away from home...long story.
I had to pull together a meal from the pantry items, so it wasn't fancy.
BUT it did taste really good.

Cornbread always tastes better cooked in cast iron.
The potatoes were potatoes I had canned. Sadly the last jar, so I've got to get busy.
Corn and string beans from our stash of canned items.
Onion from the basket on the counter.

An easy meal, but one even my non-vegan children loved.

Monday Menu -- March 1

My meals are a little more sporadically planned this week.  I'm expecting a crazy work week, crazy school week, and in general a crazy life.

Breakfasts in no particular order:
oatmeal, cream of wheat, biscuits with jam, pancakes, grits, fruit, french toast

Lunches in no particular order:
veggie soup, leftovers from suppers, slaw, corn and bean salad

Suppers in order:
1.  Monday -- supper at Mama's house for my brother's birthday party
2.  Tuesday -- lentil tacos
3. Wednesday -- black bean chili
4.  Thursday -- rolled oat burgers, fries, wheat buns and fruit
5.  Friday -- crockpot spaghetti sauce, noodles, peach slices, garlic bread
6.  Saturday -- fried rice,
7.  Sunday -- Susan's black beans, rice, fruit salad

I should say that given how the week may be, this menu is subject to be rearranged or changed at a moment's notice..lol.

Go over to Organizing Junkie to see more great menu plans.