Egg Salad
Time and time again I talk to people who love egg salad but don't like their own recipe for it. Well it's easy to make and I'm sharing my favorite recipe. My favorite happens to belong to my ex-husband. He makes the world's best egg salad. Unfortunately there's no real recipe, so I'll give you the basics.
Hard cooked eggs (I usually do about 6 at a time)
mustard to taste
miracle whip to taste
the secret ingredient: a dash of sugar.
I've left out the sugar and it doesn't taste as good. Just a dash. Yummy!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Vegan Burrito
I made my husband pot roast with potatoes and carrots, and since that's one of my favorite meals, was wondering if I'd miss it. Nope. Instead I came up with a vegan monster taco (I had too much filling in the thing to wrap it like a burrito)!
I cooked the potatoes and carrots separately from the meat so I could have some.
Recipe:
1 whole wheat tortilla (I used the 10 inch carb conscious by Mission - 130 calories)
2 slices of soy cheese (I used pepper jack, but you could substitute any cheese, soy or milk you want. This is your only source of protein in this meal).
The rest is up to you. I used a few chunky potatoes and baby carrots. To that I added some red leaf lettuce and cilantro. Then I added a little salsa for moisture.
As I was enjoying this I realized (duh!) you could use any vegetable combination in this. And I certainly will!
I made my husband pot roast with potatoes and carrots, and since that's one of my favorite meals, was wondering if I'd miss it. Nope. Instead I came up with a vegan monster taco (I had too much filling in the thing to wrap it like a burrito)!
I cooked the potatoes and carrots separately from the meat so I could have some.
Recipe:
1 whole wheat tortilla (I used the 10 inch carb conscious by Mission - 130 calories)
2 slices of soy cheese (I used pepper jack, but you could substitute any cheese, soy or milk you want. This is your only source of protein in this meal).
The rest is up to you. I used a few chunky potatoes and baby carrots. To that I added some red leaf lettuce and cilantro. Then I added a little salsa for moisture.
As I was enjoying this I realized (duh!) you could use any vegetable combination in this. And I certainly will!
Happy Dance!
Since the end of February I've really been watching what I eat - the old fashioned way - counting calories. There's several sites, but I've been using You can track exercise, calories, weight. There's also a recipe section and you can also get calorie counts by mobile.
Anyway, the happy dance - it's taken 2 months, but I've officially lost 10 pounds! Another 35 or so and I'll evaluate if I want to lose anymore.
After South Beach, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, etc I had decided that the best way was the old 'slow and go' method. I do need to kick up the exercise and should do that soon.
It does seem that at least for now, eating a vegetarian diet is helping with the weight loss. I know when I did this last time (several years ago), the weight came off quite quickly.
Since the end of February I've really been watching what I eat - the old fashioned way - counting calories. There's several sites, but I've been using You can track exercise, calories, weight. There's also a recipe section and you can also get calorie counts by mobile.
Anyway, the happy dance - it's taken 2 months, but I've officially lost 10 pounds! Another 35 or so and I'll evaluate if I want to lose anymore.
After South Beach, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, etc I had decided that the best way was the old 'slow and go' method. I do need to kick up the exercise and should do that soon.
It does seem that at least for now, eating a vegetarian diet is helping with the weight loss. I know when I did this last time (several years ago), the weight came off quite quickly.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Avocado Tacos
Hungry for mexican food? Wondering what you an order in a mexican restaurant that's crunchy with great mouthfeel? Try avocado tacos. You may have to teach the wait staff or chef how to make them - but that's the way you make new friends!
I'm going to give you the 'homemade' recipe. Change as you wish:
Serves 1:
2 corn tortillas
oil for cooking
1/2 (or to taste) thin sliced avocado
vegetarian refried beans
lettuce, onion, tomato, cheese (I love Cotija) as desired.
and of course hot sauce! (or why even bother!?)
Heat the oil. When hot add a corn tortilla. Let cook slightly, turn over and let cook slightly on the other side. As you take it out of the oil (use tongs!) fold over and drain. DO NOT USE PREMADE TACO SHELLS! Those aren't tacos - they're just yucko! YOU DESERVE BETTER!!
Now you're ready to make avocado tacos:
I like to take a thin layer of (heated) refried beans and spread that along the inside of the taco shell. But that's just me - and don't order them like that in a mexican restaurant unless you're sure that the beans are vegetarian.
Add a few slices of the thin sliced avocado. Build your taco the way you like it. It's that easy!
Vegan option: Vegan cheese
Hungry for mexican food? Wondering what you an order in a mexican restaurant that's crunchy with great mouthfeel? Try avocado tacos. You may have to teach the wait staff or chef how to make them - but that's the way you make new friends!
I'm going to give you the 'homemade' recipe. Change as you wish:
Serves 1:
2 corn tortillas
oil for cooking
1/2 (or to taste) thin sliced avocado
vegetarian refried beans
lettuce, onion, tomato, cheese (I love Cotija) as desired.
and of course hot sauce! (or why even bother!?)
Heat the oil. When hot add a corn tortilla. Let cook slightly, turn over and let cook slightly on the other side. As you take it out of the oil (use tongs!) fold over and drain. DO NOT USE PREMADE TACO SHELLS! Those aren't tacos - they're just yucko! YOU DESERVE BETTER!!
Now you're ready to make avocado tacos:
I like to take a thin layer of (heated) refried beans and spread that along the inside of the taco shell. But that's just me - and don't order them like that in a mexican restaurant unless you're sure that the beans are vegetarian.
Add a few slices of the thin sliced avocado. Build your taco the way you like it. It's that easy!
Vegan option: Vegan cheese
Veggie Tips!
A quick and easy way to add fiber and nutrients to your veg*n diet is cole slaw and broccoli slaw. Karyn swears by broccoli slaw. I'm a cabbage slaw kinda person. Add it to wraps, sandwiches - anywhere you would normally eat rice or lettuce. An added benefit - slaw is a raw food. If you're pressed for time, by the bagged slaw. However, chopping your own cabbage (preferably green and red) and chopping a few carrots is a great way to save money.
BTW - Karyn came down for the weekend and we went to Mandala Tea Room (Downtown Scottsdale)for lunch. http://www.mandalatearoom.com/urban_teahouse.html
She had the 'north' sandwich, and I had the 'west'. We both had ice tea as well. While I would have loved to try the deserts, the sandwiches were filling and very very good - mine was a 'BLT' using fakin' bacon (tempeh). Karyn's sandwich was an artichoke-garlic pesto with spinach, lettuce, tomato - both were on a great toasted 12 grain bread. We sat outside and thoroughly enjoyed a lovely lunch under the trees with service by a very nice and knowledgable wait staff.
Places like Green and Mandala are rather new to the Valley of the Sun, and a welcome addition!
Tonight's dinner: Veg cole slaw with buffalo non-wings, Sweet potato fries (baked), seedless watermelon.
A quick and easy way to add fiber and nutrients to your veg*n diet is cole slaw and broccoli slaw. Karyn swears by broccoli slaw. I'm a cabbage slaw kinda person. Add it to wraps, sandwiches - anywhere you would normally eat rice or lettuce. An added benefit - slaw is a raw food. If you're pressed for time, by the bagged slaw. However, chopping your own cabbage (preferably green and red) and chopping a few carrots is a great way to save money.
BTW - Karyn came down for the weekend and we went to Mandala Tea Room (Downtown Scottsdale)for lunch. http://www.mandalatearoom.com/urban_teahouse.html
She had the 'north' sandwich, and I had the 'west'. We both had ice tea as well. While I would have loved to try the deserts, the sandwiches were filling and very very good - mine was a 'BLT' using fakin' bacon (tempeh). Karyn's sandwich was an artichoke-garlic pesto with spinach, lettuce, tomato - both were on a great toasted 12 grain bread. We sat outside and thoroughly enjoyed a lovely lunch under the trees with service by a very nice and knowledgable wait staff.
Places like Green and Mandala are rather new to the Valley of the Sun, and a welcome addition!
Tonight's dinner: Veg cole slaw with buffalo non-wings, Sweet potato fries (baked), seedless watermelon.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Corn and Pepper Chowder
You'll fin this recipe all over the internet. It's mine. I invented it and shared it on a vegetarian site years ago. I hope you enjoy.
3 cups whole kernel corn (fresh or frozen)
3 cups diced yellow peppers
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cups vegetable broth
Cook all ingredients together until peppers and onions are done (about 20-30 minutes).
Take soup in batches and 'rough chop' in a blender (you don't want a puree here).
Reheat a little (if necessary) and pepper to taste (I find that the vegetable broth adds more than enough salt).
Serve
You'll fin this recipe all over the internet. It's mine. I invented it and shared it on a vegetarian site years ago. I hope you enjoy.
3 cups whole kernel corn (fresh or frozen)
3 cups diced yellow peppers
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cups vegetable broth
Cook all ingredients together until peppers and onions are done (about 20-30 minutes).
Take soup in batches and 'rough chop' in a blender (you don't want a puree here).
Reheat a little (if necessary) and pepper to taste (I find that the vegetable broth adds more than enough salt).
Serve
My friend Karyn started making her own baked tofu. I love baked tofu, but usually buy it. However, if I'm going to do this - go veg - I need to find a substitute for buffalo wings. Okay, to the drawing board (or in this case, to the tofu aisle).
When you buy tofu make sure it's organic. The best tofu to use for baking (for a chewy texture) is nigari tofu. It's organic, not packed in water (or whatever that stuff is!), and freezes well.
Buffalo "wings":
1 brick nigari tofu sliced into 'fingers' - your choice of size
Frank's red hot buffalo sauce (or Crystal's)
Panko crumbs
Parmesan cheese
Drain the tofu (I put down some paper towels, put the sliced tofu on top and put my heavy cutting board on top of that) for about 30-60 minutes.
Put the tofu into a ziplock bag (or other container). Add enough Frank's sauce to coat the tofu. Marinate overnight.
Put some foil on a baking sheet. spray with Pam. You can bake off the tofu at this point or you can 'take it up a notch'. Dredge the tofu in the panko crumbs, put onto the baking sheet, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Bake in an oven 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.
When you buy tofu make sure it's organic. The best tofu to use for baking (for a chewy texture) is nigari tofu. It's organic, not packed in water (or whatever that stuff is!), and freezes well.
Buffalo "wings":
1 brick nigari tofu sliced into 'fingers' - your choice of size
Frank's red hot buffalo sauce (or Crystal's)
Panko crumbs
Parmesan cheese
Drain the tofu (I put down some paper towels, put the sliced tofu on top and put my heavy cutting board on top of that) for about 30-60 minutes.
Put the tofu into a ziplock bag (or other container). Add enough Frank's sauce to coat the tofu. Marinate overnight.
Put some foil on a baking sheet. spray with Pam. You can bake off the tofu at this point or you can 'take it up a notch'. Dredge the tofu in the panko crumbs, put onto the baking sheet, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Bake in an oven 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Maine Street is going veg.
For several years I was vegetarian, dietary vegan during part of that time. I lived in Los Angeles, and it was as easy as Magic Johnson going down court with the ball. Follow Your Heart
http://www.followyourheart.com/ was my grocery store. I cohosted a vegetarian email group for vegsource http://www.vegsource.com/, attended lectures by John Robbins, Howard Lyman, http://www.madcowboy.com/ - very easy to stay focused.
Then I fell off the turnip truck.
Heck, the turnip truck didn't even go to where I moved!
I moved to Phoenix, Arizona. This was 2000 - there was a food co-op in Tempe, near ASU. The saddest produce you ever wanted to see. Nothing at all like I'd been used to. Chain restaurants that offered boca or garden burgers didn't offer them here. Plus, I was cooking for my new husband - an omnivore (of the 'if my mom didn't make it, then it's not a food' persuasion'). Finally, in late 2001 I quit waiting for the turnip truck, and joined my fellow omnivores.
Now there are options in the Valley of the Sun - granted, there's no Follow Your Heart, and the produce is still lacking, but there are vegan and vegetarian restaurants here now. And, my good friend Karyn has decided to return to vegetarianism, which has given me the impetus to climb back up the back of the truck.
What's happened to me during the omnivore years? I gained 40 pounds; became a type 2 diabetic; my cholesterol (that used to hover around 100) went up to 275, so I went on statins; my triglicerides are over 500 - this is obviously not a healthy way for me to eat! And, the entire time I've felt guilty that I wasn't living an eating 'low to the ground'.
This blog is my trek back to the turnip truck. I've told my family I won't be as militant about it as in the past, but they know Mom - and they'll go with it. I'm not sure about giving up crab - but then again, I don't have that very often anyway. I will play those cards when dealt.
For several years I was vegetarian, dietary vegan during part of that time. I lived in Los Angeles, and it was as easy as Magic Johnson going down court with the ball. Follow Your Heart
http://www.followyourheart.com/ was my grocery store. I cohosted a vegetarian email group for vegsource http://www.vegsource.com/, attended lectures by John Robbins, Howard Lyman, http://www.madcowboy.com/ - very easy to stay focused.
Then I fell off the turnip truck.
Heck, the turnip truck didn't even go to where I moved!
I moved to Phoenix, Arizona. This was 2000 - there was a food co-op in Tempe, near ASU. The saddest produce you ever wanted to see. Nothing at all like I'd been used to. Chain restaurants that offered boca or garden burgers didn't offer them here. Plus, I was cooking for my new husband - an omnivore (of the 'if my mom didn't make it, then it's not a food' persuasion'). Finally, in late 2001 I quit waiting for the turnip truck, and joined my fellow omnivores.
Now there are options in the Valley of the Sun - granted, there's no Follow Your Heart, and the produce is still lacking, but there are vegan and vegetarian restaurants here now. And, my good friend Karyn has decided to return to vegetarianism, which has given me the impetus to climb back up the back of the truck.
What's happened to me during the omnivore years? I gained 40 pounds; became a type 2 diabetic; my cholesterol (that used to hover around 100) went up to 275, so I went on statins; my triglicerides are over 500 - this is obviously not a healthy way for me to eat! And, the entire time I've felt guilty that I wasn't living an eating 'low to the ground'.
This blog is my trek back to the turnip truck. I've told my family I won't be as militant about it as in the past, but they know Mom - and they'll go with it. I'm not sure about giving up crab - but then again, I don't have that very often anyway. I will play those cards when dealt.
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