Food Collage

Look at all I've been eating!

Funny story, I'm actually packing on the pounds these days. It's how it rolls sometimes. But I was a little worried about my pants fitting because I get ready for the day at the gym. So I was at the gym one day, and pulled on a pair of jeans.

As I was easing in, I thought, oh geez, these are a little tight today. That sucks.

And then I looked down and realized that the fly was zipped up.

***

On to the food.

In the gorgeous picture above:

Top row: Adzuki bean chili, Red lentil lemon soup, and under that olive tapenade

Second row: Spiced and seasoned millet; Quinoa, broccoli and tofu salad

Third row: Minted carrot salad, Garbanzo and spinach

I've put links to my inspirations for these different meals. Those that I haven't highlighted are recipes from Meghan Telpner's 5 Days Vegan.

I'm still making adjustments and modifications, but all these things have tasted really good.

Mashed Cauliflower

Most people would consider this a side dish. I thought it was really good on the side of my salad...

This isn't a real recipe, because you just want to adjust the seasonings based on what you like.

Look at that. It's a great fake-out for mashed potatoes.

Mashed Cauliflower

1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped

olive oil

salt

pepper

oregano

Boil the cauliflower until it is fork tender.

Drain it.

Blend it, I used my immersion blender, which still left it a little chunky.

Add the spices to taste.

Tempeh and Broccoli

One of the unusual things about my restrictive diet is the recommendation to eat more tofu. Since I basically never ate tofu before, any amount is "more." And it's also an adventure to try some different things.

I have read different recipes and articles and mostly tofu is stir-fried. I have also read about this stuff called tempeh. It is fermented soybeans and some contend that it is better for you than regular tofu. I decided to try it, and I like it because it is not as mushy as tofu is.

Tempeh and Broccoli

1 block of tempeh, cubed

1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets

1 tbs oil

salt

Put a large frying pan on high heat. Get it really hot and pour in the oil. You want enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

Add the tempeh, and cook until it starts browning and getting a little crispy around the edges.

Add the broccoli. You may need to add a little more oil. Cook the broccoli until it turns bright green and even gets some darkening.

Season with salt.

You could serve this over rice or on its own.

Lentil Soup

I've been making some super easy recipes this week. And other than being easy, this soup doesn't need much introduction.

Lentil Soup

1 carrot, sliced

1 rib of celery, sliced

about 1/2 inch of leeks, sliced

1 cup brown lentils

3 tbs apple cider vinegar

2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tbs oil

2 bay leaves

4 cups water

Take all the ingredients and dump them in your crockpot. I cooked mine on high for about 3 and a half hours. You can do it for about 8 hours on low. When it is done, the lentils will be soft.

This is my favorite way to store things -- in reused glass jars. They don't leak!

This recipe is just enough to fill my little crockpot and yields 3 jars of soup -- which is 3 servings. It also freezes really well.

Pumpkin Muffins

Since it's time for fall, I decided pumpkin muffins would be good. Now I know, I already have a pumpkin muffin recipe. But unfortunately that one is not working with my restrictive diet. So I just modified this zucchini muffin recipe slightly.

(Secretly, I think it's better with pumpkin).

As you saw in the last post, I bought a pie pumpkin and roasted and pureed it myself. I used that for this recipe. I can't find canned pumpkin in the stores yet.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup pureed pumpkin (this was my entire pie pumpkin)

1/4 cup oil

3 eggs

2 tbs almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup + 3 tbs almond flour

3 tbs coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Spiced squash

Somehow it is suddenly fall. I have been rejecting the whole back-to-school equals fall mentality. But it suddenly hit me this week that it is actually fall. Here are my indicators: Monday morning when I went to the gym it was 44 degrees. And when I went to the grocery story there were huge displays of all kinds of squash. The apples were on sale, and the peaches were pretty sad.

I bought a delicata squash and a small pumpkin (the kind they label a pie pumpkin.)

Here's how I cook my squash:
Step 1. Cut it in half lengthwise.
Step 2. Scoop out all of the seeds.
Step 3. Place flesh side down (or skin side up) in a 9x13 pyrex baking dish.
Step 4. Fill the dish with water until the water is up to the first knuckle of my index finger.
Step 5. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, until the flesh is tender.

When it is done it will look like this:

This is the pumpkin. I scooped it out of the shell (what do you call that really?) and dumped it in a bowl.

Then I pureed it with my immersion blender.

You can use the squash either before or after you puree it.

Spiced Delicata Squash

1 cooked delicata squash

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp sea salt

Mix the spices into the delicata squash. Serve warm or cooled.

I actually like this the best when the squash is kind of chunky. I just scooped the squash out of the shell and used a fork to mix in the spices.

Menu Plan and Squash

Hallelujah! The restrictive diet now includes 3 pieces of fruit per day. I'm in heaven. I've had peaches, pears, honeycrisp apples (my fav type), bananas, and an orange. Not all today though.

Menu Plan:
Roasted delicata squash mashed with cumin, curry powder, tumeric and sea salt

Broccoli and Tempeh
Mashed cauliflower
Peas and rice
Lentils (Probably in soup)
Pumpkin muffins -- unexpectedly so good!
Mahi mahi
Salad