Vegan Yumminess and Stuff

I haven't cooked since Monday, so have been subsisting on leftovers. Tomorrow is payday, so the cupboard (and my wallet) are bare. Therefore, I'm thinking tonight it's homemade hummus and oven fries. That's a healthy combo, right?

Monday night, I made the BEST meal ever.
Creamy Corn Crusted Tempeh Pot Pie from Terry Hope Romero's
Viva Vegan. OMG...it was so good I could have eaten the whole thing in one sitting. Fortunately, I didn't. The picture doesn't do it justice.

My favourite meal of this whole year! So far...

This Week

I made Corn & Potato Chowder on Saturday and that was the last thing I've cooked since my last post. I've been eating leftovers and yesterday was monthly dining out day.

I only had one whole bell pepper and two scallions in the fridge by the time I got around to making the chowder, so I threw in a leftover leek from something else to compensate. All in all, pretty good if I do say so myself.

Corn and Potato Chowder

Chipotle Bean Burritos

I made Chipotle Bean Burritos from Cooking Light's website on Monday. Tonight I'm making a Corn and Potato Chowder. The burritos were good the first night, but leftovers are already tiresome. Too bad I'm stuck with them for the next couple of nights since I don't like waste. I'm premaking the soup tonight because I won't be home tomorrow night.

Here's a lovely photograph. I'm still mastering the art of food photography, so hope it doesn't look too gross.

Chipotle Bean Burritos

Broccoli Beef Stir-Fry

Last night was Broccoli Beef Stir-Fry. I acquired this recipe from WeightWatchers.com, but since it's a subscriber recipe, the link will probably only work for other subscribers.

Overall it was pretty good. I threw it together with some egg noodles and didn't think there was quite enough sauciness to accomodate any kind of pasta or grain, because I like my...well...saucy.

Tonight...well, I don't yet have a plan for tonight. I'm about to hit the grocery store and try to get stuff together for the next three meals. I know one of them will definitely involve some tempeh and/or seitan that I have sitting in my fridge.

In the pan, pre-noodles



Tossed with some egg noodles

The Weekend

I haven't done any cooking since Thursday night. Friday was leftovers and I went to my parents' house yesterday where I ate hot dogs and cole slaw for dinner. All processed foods, but it was better than going to McDonalds, in my opinion. Next time I'll just have to plan to be better prepared.

Next Sunday is my niece's baptism and we're dining out afterwards, so that will have to be my meal for the month. The following Sunday is my grandfather's 91st birthday, so I am hoping we're eating a meal at my grandparents' and not going out, otherwise I will have to skip the first part of it.

Tonight I'm making broccoli beef stir-fry. This is a Weight Watchers recipe. I'm pretty excited about it. I bought some egg noodles to cook and throw together with it.

My goal this week is to rein it back in. While I have been staying away from fast food, my portions are not under control like they should be and I'm consuming more "points plus" than I should be. Thus, I'm not really seeing any weight loss. I'm going to track each day and plan ahead the day before. Additionally, I'm going to try very hard to start transitioning back to vegetarian as much as possible and cut out meat for now. I'd very much like to move back to completely vegan as it just felt healthier and better for the universe in general.

I've also decided I'm going to create a 2011 personal cookbook with all the recipes I've used along with my own notes about each item. What I would change, improve upon, etc. I think that will be a fun little project. Because anyone who knows me knows I don't already have enough projects going on. :)

Meanwhile...for your viewing pleasure, some food photographs from this week! (I have yet to master food photography)



Baked Falafel from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite For Reduction



Chicken Salad Sandwich Wrap that I threw together



Cooking the Innards for Biscuit Topped Chicken Potpie



Biscuit-Topped Chicken Potpie in the Pan




...and served up!

More Scratchy Food

I just ate leftovers yesterday, so no new meals yet...

Tonight is chicken pot pie from a Cooking Light recipe and Saturday I'm trying some broccoli beef stir-fry with a recipe I found on Weight Watchers. I actually shopped for both tonight so I won't have to go to the store again until at least Sunday!

Apparently my plan to go back to vegan isn't working just yet. Next week I'm going to cut out a few choice items, but for now, it's carnivore all the way.

Falafel, Beef Stew, and a Chicken Salad

So this updating daily thing is clearly not working out for me so far. In any event, the past three days have seen baked falafel, beef stew and a chicken salad wrap. All from scratch!

The baked falafel was taken from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite For Reduction. I served it up on a whole wheat wrap with some romaine and cherry tomatoes and a little bit of sesame tahini. All in all not too bad, though a little dry.

The beef stew is a Paula Deen recipe which can be found here. I overcooked it so all the water pretty much evaporated and I had to add more which watered down the flavour a bit as well, but it was still pretty good.

And tonight, I made chicken salad wraps. I had a hankerin' for chicken salad, so threw together a salad and threw it in a wrap with some of my leftover romaine and cherry tomatoes. I boiled some boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets and chilled them for a bit before shredding them into a bowl filled with sweet yellow onion, scallions, celery, bell pepper, parsley, fresh taragon and a simple dressing which I made with about a cup of light Miracle Whip, 2 tablespoons dijon mustard, some salt, pepper, and a dash of Italian seasoning. It was quite tasty, but next time I'd cut back on the miracle whip and maybe reduce it to 3/4 cup, as it was just too "moist".

I also took some photos for you all, but I am very lazy with uploading digital photos, so those will have to wait til tomorrow. :D

Day One-Two

This is Day One-Two, because January 1 was a day of celebration and biding adieu to my old ways. And to be honest, today, I'm really not feeling this whole cooking and not gobbling up fast food lifestyle I'm encroaching upon. However, I'm just gonna suck it up and do it, but I am going to tell you that I'm about to eat the remainder of the store-bought hummus I acquired on Friday as "lunch".

I had a bagel this morning and consider that part of the "toast" category. See how I'm already bending the rules to my will? In any event, I have decided on homemade baked falafel a la Isa Chandra Moskowitz for dinner tonight and I will take my lovely leftovers for lunch tomorrow and will eat them alone and in silence while my co-workers head out to the restaurants for lunch.

I wanted to do a brief check-in today as I'm not sure I'll have another chance to post before the day has ended. So, this is my game plan and I'll let you all know how the falafel turns out tomorrow and hopefully, if I remember, I will also have a lovely photograph of said falafel to share as well! I've made baked falafel before, but not using this particular recipe from Isa Chandra's Appetite For Reduction. I'm super excited about this book, btw.

Meanwhile, please send vibes of strength and willpower to me for tomorrow so that I am not at all tempted to jump ship and dine out with my colleagues. :D