Friday Night Musings

Kale apple

Carrot cucumber

I have returned to making some more juices.  The one on the left is a mix of carrot, cucumber, broccoli, lemon and ginger.  I put a little too much ginger in it and it was a bit too spicy.  The one on the right is a mix of kale, apple, cucumber, lemon, beet and ginger.  This is an excellent tasting juice.

Butternut Bisque

Fall is a great time to start making soups again.  This one is a blend of butternut squash, apple, and onion with some nutmeg to spice it up.

Cheesy bread

Making soup and bread has helped to keep the house warm as the temps drop.  No need for the heat yet, it is still 70 degrees in the house even though it is 43 outside. The bread uses a mock cheddar cheese and is spiced with onion and garlic powders. I used the egg substitute of flaxseed, baking powder, potato starch, corn oil and water and flax milk for the milk product.  I used the bread to make a vegan BLT for breakfast today using bacon spiced tempeh.

Chocolate balls

We can't forget dessert.  This is a raw sweet made with dates, cashews, coconut, cocoa powder and tahini.  The ingredients were minced in the food processor and then rolled and chilled.  I think they would have been better with peanut or almond butter in place of the tahini, but otherwise they were a nice sweet.

Sunday Funday

Hickory Syrup

Actually, the Ravens lost so it was not a fun day.  But there is food to write about.  When driving through Virginia last year, we came across this hickory syrup harvested in Virginia.  It is flavored with vanilla and definitely has a hickory taste.  You would not mistake it for maple, yet it has a smokey satisfying sweet taste.  I used it this week on banana pancakes.

Banana Pancakes

The batter was made by mixing oats and almond milk in a blender, then adding banana, flour and baking powder. I topped them with chopped walnuts.

For dinner tonight we had a skillet meal of shallots, red bell pepper, jalapeno, roasted corn, broccoli, arugula and toasted cashews. A simple sauce of sherry and soy sauce was added and I sprinkled nutritional yeast on top.  Yesterday, we did a 6 mile walk on the BWI Loop.  Afterwards, we stopped on my favorite vegan restaurant - The Great Sage in Clarksville.

Black Bean Quesadilla

I started with a serving of a Black Bean Quesadilla with salsa on a soft corn tortilla. Tommy started with a Tomato and White Bean Soup.  We then split a Quinoa and Green Chili burger that we devoured so quickly, I forgot to take a picture.

Soup

For dessert I had a Chocolate Mousse Tart with granche and pomegranate seeds.  Yeah, this was good.

Chocolate Mousse Tart

Stuff I have been eating

Limpa bread

I have been a bad blogger.  There have been no posts since August.  Oops.  Here are some of the things I have been cooking.  The bread shown about is called Limpa and it is a type of rye bread made with molasses and rye flour.  Even though the sweetener was added, the taste was not sweet.  The loaf bread was sliced for breakfast or with meals.  The rolls were for sandwiches.

Mushroom burger

One of the sandwiches I made was a Portabello Mushroom Burger.  The mushrooms were steamed in a mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar which gave it a sweet and tart taste.  Roasted golden beets and romaine lettuce rounded out the sandwich.

Hoppin' John

Hoppin' John is a traditional New Years Day dish in the South.  The black eyed peas are supposed to bring you good luck during the year. My version is made with sauteed onion and garlic, bacon spiced tempeh, celery, canned black eyed peas, cooked brown rice, thyme and parsley.  It has been a great lunch dish with just over 300 calories per serving.

 Tonight's dinner was a Ginger Not Chicken with Broccoli and Bulgar Wheat.  Some ginger was sauteed in peanut oil, then I added broccoli and roasted corn. The mock chicken was added next with some salt, pepper and mint.  The Bulgar was cooked in my veggie broth and added at the end.  This was a 352 calorie meal with 29 g. protein.  The mock chicken is a brand called Beyond Meat and is by far the best I have tasted.  People who are used to eating the tasteless chicken from regular grocery stores can't tell the difference.