Car Repair

I had to get up early this morning so that I could get some work done on the car in the Timonium area.  Last time I was there, I had an appointment that lasted through lunch and I ended up raiding the snack machine for lunch.  It was neither healthy or tasty.  This time I had a 8:00 am slot which gave me time to walk and feed the dogs then eat breakfast before the trip north.  I just did a quick microwave of some of the leftover Apricot Oatmeal.  As for the car, the gas pedal assembly needs to be replaced.  The parts were ordered and I will be doing this again on Monday.

For lunch I did a repeat of the Tempeh Sandwich from last week.  At dinner I did a Jamaican Stir Fry in the hopes to trick myself into thinking the weather isn't so cold.  Didn't work.  It is still 18 degrees.  The stir fry was made with onion, red bell pepper, plantain, garlic, ginger, serrano pepper and curry over brown rice.

One that I am doing too much of snacking during the day.  I had a apple with peanut butter, bread with sundried tomato and pasta  during the day.  I need to cut down and stick with just an apple.

Comfort food

Today was a very cold day.  I took the dogs for a walk when the wind chill was 5 degrees.  It was so cold Jack crawled under a blanket on the couch. Cold days are great for comfort food, which is what I did for breakfast and dinner.

Breakfast was a Huevous Ranchero using tofu for the eggs.  It was served on a tostado with my salsa.  On the side were Garlic Kale Hash browns made from what the name implies, garlic, kale and potatoes.

For lunch I made a Chickpea Salad from chickpeas, red bell pepper, celery, apple, capers and parsley with a tahini based dressing.  I had a piece of my peasant bread on the side.

One of the best ways to keep the house warm without turning up the heat is to have something simmering on the stove for several hours.  I made 3 quarts of vegetable stock from veggie pieces that I keep in the freezer.  Whenever I am prepping vegetables, the ends or stalks or other pieces that we don't eat are stored in a plastic bag.  When I need stock, I empty the bag into a 5 qt. pan, add water, and simmer for several hours.  I strain the liquid into a large pitcher and have enough stock for a couple of weeks of soup and rice.  I also made a large batch of Sweet Potato Lentil Chili with onions, sunchokes, garlic, crushed tomatoes, sweet potatoes, lentils and black beans.  I roasted some tortillas sprinkled with garlic and onion powder as an accent.

What was nice about the meals was that I didn't miss meat or eggs at all.  Everything was warm, tasty and filling.

Lots of dining out

We ate out Friday through Sunday for dinner.  That is a lot more often than normal for us. It also meant I was not making as many new meals.  Friday started with cereal, banana and almond milk for breakfast.  For lunch I had some leftover Penne al Forno.  For dinner we went to Fleet Street Kitchen for the first time.  The restaurant specializes in creating meals from local sources.  This was a great place for me.  One of the chefs is vegan and made a special dish for me.  Browned shiitakes and enoki mushrooms were served over a saute of kale, peppers, pine nuts and baby turnips.  For dessert I had the pomegranate sorbet.  We had a Chablis with dinner.  Afterwards, the sommelier gave us a tour of the wine cellar.

On Saturday I had a Mango Smoothie before Spin class.  There were no blueberries in the smoothie, so it was not purple.  It was made with mango, vanilla rice milk, lime juice, and a touch of maple syrup.

Lunch was a Creamy Tofu Palak 'Paneer'.  Tofu was marinated in a ginger lime sauce then added to palak and served with spinach.  I made some Herb Roti in the oven on the hot stone.

A friend had a birthday dinner at The Prime Rib that evening.  That was a bit of a challenge.  Every entree and appetizer are meat.  Thankfully, they have a lot of side dishes.  I made a veggie plate of grilled asparagus, baked sweet potato, and grilled artichokes.  I added a salad dressing of white balsamic vinaigrette for some flavor variety.  The waiter gave me a strange look when I said no butter or sauces on the veggies and didn't understand why I wanted the vinaigrette without the salad.  I split some Raspberry Sorbet with Tommy.

Sunday morning I made a Vanilla French Toast for breakfast with some fresh strawberries on the side.  The toast was cooked in a skillet with some spray cooking oil.  It never gained that crispy outside that you get when it is cooked in butter.  It was more of a soggy toast.  Lunch was leftover Pasta al Forno and Herb Roti

The Ravens were playing at night so we went to Shiso Tavern on the square.  They have a great menu for me.  I started with a Tofu Capresse Salad.  It was made of tomatoes, basil, and tofu replaced the traditional mozzarella..  The main course was a Vegetable Stir Fry with rice.  It was too large to finish.  Most importantly, The Ravens are going to the Super Bowl.

This morning, I reheated some leftover Apricot Oatmeal.  At lunch I had a Beet Orange Salad with a Ginger Honey Vinaigrette and piece of pita bread.

Dinner was Aloo Gobi or Cauliflower and Potato Curry with Brown Bismati Rice.  The rice was cooked with smoked cardamon pods, a cinnamon stick, and cloves.  Excellent dish that paired with the Herb Roti.

Southern Roots

Breakfast was a simple fare of a fruit salad made with banana, strawberries, grapes, and mango.  I toasted some of my peasant bread and spread apple butter on it.

I am picky about veggie burgers. The soy burgers meant to taste like real hamburgers are unappetizing.  I like the Morningstar black bean burger, but Whole Foods does not carry it. I tried Amy's brand made from bulgar wheat and it made a good lunch.  I placed it between 2 slices of  the peasant bread spread with the garlic parsley hummus and topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, alfalfa sprouts, salsa and unsweetened ketchup.

One of my dishes at dinner was Collards with Almonds.  Collard greens are a traditional southern dish, but I never had it growing up.  The only thing green in our kitchen was iceberg lettuce and canned green beans.  Southern fare as a whole is not vegan friendly, but greens are very popular - mustard greens, dandelion greens, spinach, turnip greens, and collards were found in many homes.  I had made all of theses except the collards before.  These were very tasty.  I steamed them and dressed with a little salt and rice vinegar and added some toasted almonds and minced garlic.

The main course was a Pasta al Forno. Brown rice penne was topped with a freshly made tomato sauce and sauteed  onion,  carrots and zucchini.  I added a can of cannelloni beans, some garlic stuffed olives, tomatoes, and basil and then roasted in the oven.

I think if I made these for dinner in most southern homes, there would still be a 'where's the meat to go with this' moment.

Pizza

Started the day with the basic cereal, strawberries and almond milk.  I am using the whole foods brand frosted flakes for cereal.  Their frosted flakes has less sugar than Kellogs corn flakes.  Lunch time was a big salad.  I used romaine lettuce at the base and added, roasted red peppers, croutons, tomato, asparagus, broccoli, black beans, onion, sun chokes and mushrooms.

Dinner was pita pizza. I spread a quarter cup of the garlic hummus I made on Monday over a pita and topped with olives, roasted red pepper, mushrooms, tomato and sun dried tomato.  I had a side salad of mixed greens with grapes, tomato, and chickpeas with a freshly made Soy Sesame Vinaigrette.

Snacks for the day were raisins, orange, and some bread.

Baking day

Today I am starting week 2 of the Kickstart Program. Technically it is the 15th day of the program, but I am behind because we have eaten out some and made use of the leftovers.  It does mean eating at home until the weekend and that means more nutrition and variety in my meals.  Since veganism is not vegetarianism, eating out is a little bit of a challenge.  It generally means asking for a dish without something.

Breakfast is the Apricot Oatmeal that I made yesterday.

For lunch I had a Smoked Tempeh, Alfalfa Sprout and Tomato Sandwich on whole wheat bread with carrots. I broiled the tempeh to give it the same texture as crispy bacon. The sandwich is similar to the powerhouse sandwiches at some restaurants.   It was a little bit of a cheat. Instead of buying a vegan mayonnaise, i used a jarred pesto sauce.  Pesto traditionally has some Parmesan cheese in it.  Later I will make some without the cheese.

Dinner was excellent.  A Cuban Black Bean Soup with Potatoes and a Spinach Salad made with some leftover orange fennel salad are the evening's fare. Tommy paired a very nice Pinot Noir with it.

We ended the meal with some bread.  I made a very large batch of Peasant Bread with herbs. The 2 loaves, 3 baguettes, and oval should last a month.  The extra is being frozen until needed.  The only thing I did different from previous breads was skip the eggwash on top, so the top is not as brown.  Otherwise, this is old school rustic bread.

Grocery Day

Breakfast was an easy one. I made a fruit compote that was served over regular oatmeal.

The weather was a little bit warmer today (we were promised 60 degrees but that did not happen) so we had lunch at Panera www.panerabread.com outside with the dogs. I had the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich minus the feta cheese with a side of potato chips.

Dinner was all leftovers, the Portabella Tacos for Tommy and the Couscous with peas and carrot for me.
Today was grocery day for the 2nd week on the Kickstart Program.  Most of the recipes are 4-6 servings, so we take 2 weeks to go through 1 week of food.  I also use this day  as prep for the coming week.  I made the sponge starter for some peasant bread that I will finished up tomorrow. Next up  was a Garlic Parsley Hummus.  Then I roasted some  red peppers and a bulb of garlic.  Finally, I made the Apricot Oatmeal for the week.  I am using the steel cut oats that take 40 minutes to cook.  It is much easier to prepared it ahead of time, then microwave it at breakfast.

One of the nice things about changing to a vegan diet is the cost of groceries.  Previously I spent about $250 every two weeks at Whole Foods when we are not in CSA season.  Now, I am spending about $210 for the same time period.  $80 is a nice monthly savings.