Having a Vegetarian Thanksgiving

This year we are having a vegetarian Thanksgiving, we alternate between having a big roast chicken for the main meal to having a totally vegetarian dinner. This year my youngest really wanted to stick to having a plant based dinner. We took a trip to a farm animal sanctuary this Fall and it had a lasting effect on her. We don't eat any red meat anyway, but do eat some chicken and some turkey occasionally. But she does not. She has a great love for all animals and feels that they should be treated with love and care. I admire her steadfastness and dedication even when she is faced with people who do not understand her decision to not eat any animals. At such a young age she is already secure in her person and knows who she is and what she stands for.

So we planned an all plant based meal.

On the menu is: 

Lentil Loaf, Stuffed baked potatoes, Florentine stuffed mushrooms, garlic asparagus, roasted corn, roasted sweet potatoes, quinoa and greens pie, and possibly something with crook neck squash, for dessert gluten free cup cakes and brownies. 

All of my children will be involved in the preparations, they asked if I need help and if they could help with the cooking. I am looking forward to cooking for my family, as I do every year. 

Greens and Quinoa Pie

Serves 6

Technically, quinoa is not a grain (it’s related to spinach and chard), so it’s perfect for Passover. Here, spring greens are wilted then mixed with quinoa and cheese for a golden-crusted savory pie.

• ½ cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1 large bunch chicory (1 to 1 ¼ lb.), cut into bite-sized pieces (bottom 1 ½ inches of hard stems removed)
• 1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
• 3 Tbs. olive oil, divided
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced (2 cups)
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced (¼ cup)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh dill
• ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese, preferably Greek (1 oz.)
• ¼ cup grated aged goat cheese or Swiss cheese (1 oz.)
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Place quinoa in small saucepan, and toast over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, or until almost dry. Add 1 cup water, and season with salt, if desired. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to large bowl.
2. Heat large pot over medium heat. Add chicory, and cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until wilted, stirring frequently or tossing with tongs. Add romaine, and wilt 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer greens to strainer, and squeeze out excess moisture. Transfer to cutting board, and chop into small pieces. Stir greens into quinoa.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1 Tbs. oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, and sauté 10 minutes, or until browned. Add cooked onions, green onions, dill, feta cheese, and goat cheese to quinoa mixture. Stir in eggs; season with salt and pepper, if desired.
4. Pour 1 Tbs. oil into 9-inch pie pan, and place in oven. Heat 5 minutes, or until oil is hot. Swirl oil to coat bottom of pan, then spread quinoa mixture in pan with spatula. Bake 20 minutes. Drizzle pie with remaining 1 Tbs. oil, and bake 20 to 30 minutes more, or until golden brown.

March 2010 p.51 of The Vegetarian Times magazine

Food Budget

I have been curious about what a typical food budget is for a family of 5. So I did some searching online and found that it varies depending on where you live, what you chose to eat, if you eat out or cook at home.
The USDA allowed food budget per person is $7 a day. Which comes out to about $1050 a month for a family of 5. To me that is a huge amount of money to spend a month.

I sat down and did a realistic food budget for our family, which meant looking at exactly how much we spend in a given month, via our bank acct. records. I found that we spend an average of $720 a month for food, less if you take into account that sometimes we buy personal care products such as tissues, toilet paper etc...

We do not buy any meat, get chicken rarely, but we do spend money on wild salmon and other fish from TJ's. Fruits and veggies come from either TJ's, farmer's market or the neighborhood fruit/veg. store. We also have a small garden that produced some potatoes, tomatoes and yellow beans this year. Not enough for a family of 5 but something is something :).

I try to make every meal by scratch using whole ingredients, but we do use beans and re fried beans from a can. I have made it a habit to reduce the amount of junk food and prepared food that we buy, even though when we do buy them, every thing comes from TJ's which means no food coloring, preservatives or artificial ingredients. We have also had to switch to buying a lot of gluten free products for my dd.

There are many ways to cut down on your food budget, by eating less meat, buying less prepackaged food, cooking from whole ingredients, shopping around, cutting coupons and buying in bulk. My next venture will be to go to Costco and see if we can save money by shopping from there.

I am curious to see what other's food budget looks like, what do you do to save $ and eat healthy at the same time?

Tonight's gluten free dinner

Lentil and Egg Bowl

Serves 2

30 minutes or fewer

• 1 cup green lentils
• ½ onion, left whole
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. butter, optional
• 1 squeeze lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbs. chopped chives or green onion
• 1 Tbs. chopped red bell pepper

Bring lentils and 2 1/2 cups water to a boil with onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Cover, and simmer 25 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. Remove and discard onion, garlic, and bay leaf; stir in 1 tsp. butter (if using); and season with salt and pepper. Spoon lentils into 2 bowls, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and top each serving with 1 poached egg. Garnish with chives or chopped green onion and chopped red bell pepper.

I omitted the butter, diced the onions and garlic and left it in the lentil stew. I also added diced heirloom tomatoes as garnish. For 5 people I used 2 cups of lentils and 4 cups of water. The kids love poached eggs so they each had 2 eggs. I will definitely make this again. Easy, fast and really tasty. 

Quinoa :)

Going to a party where every one eats meat is not always easy for our family. Most people do not know how to deal with the fact that we do not eat any type of red meat. Yes, Spam is considered meat...(sort of)... The typical party food of rice with pork/beef or the baked ziti with loads of cheese and ground beef, roast pork, or beef stew, hamburgers etc... is not something my family is used to eating. 

We are going to one such party today to celebrate a family member's baby's 1st birth day. It is not a day I want to miss out on, so I offered to make things easier for the host by cooking our own meal and bringing some to share. There are so many options for delicious dishes that can be brought to a picnic, party, or any gathering.

I searched on the Vegetarian Times web site and found this recipe. This will be my first time making it, I will be tweaking it a bit, adding a few more veggies than it calls for. Hopefully it will be received well by every one.

Always make sure to rinse the quinoa thoroughly to remove any toxins, I soak mine for about 10 minutes, rinse and then soak again for another 10 minutes, then rinse it again before using it. This will ensure that the quinoa is not bitter and is safe to consume. 

Peruvian Baked Quinoa and Cheese

Serves 8

Think of this recipe as a protein-packed, gluten-free alternative to mac ’n’ cheese.

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 medium leek, white and pale green parts halved and sliced (1 cup)
• ½ cup diced red bell pepper
• ½ cup diced green bell pepper
• 1 ½ cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1 ½ cups grated Cheddar cheese (4 oz.), plus more for sprinkling, optional

1. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and bell peppers; cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in quinoa and garlic, and cook, uncovered, 3 to 4 minutes, or until quinoa grains turn opaque.

2. Add 3 cups water, and season with salt. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 3 to 4 minutes more, or until most liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Transfer to prepared baking dish, and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until browned around the edges and on top.

Gluten free/vegetarian dinner

Gluten free and vegetarian does not have to mean bland or boring food. A few nights ago I made the above dish, to rave reviews from my children.

Baked sweet potatoes, mashed with butter, milk and salt. Steamed carrots and broccoli with a little bit of salt. Sauteed dinosaur kale and red onions, seasoned with salt and pepper. Dinosaur kale has a sweeter taste than regular curly kale. Along with the mashed potatoes I sauteed leeks, green onions, green peas and toasted walnuts. Baked sweet potatoes have a sweeter and creamier taste than just boiling sweet potatoes and then mashing them like regular mashed potatoes. ( I know from experience)

The flavors of each vegetable complemented each other beautifully and there were no left overs :).

For extra color you can saute some red and yellow peppers seasoned with salt and pepper as another side dish.

Home made Chinese food

  When I was a teen and young adult I loved Chinese food. I loved it so much I went to work at my then best friend's parent's Chinese restaurant as an order taker. Along with the minimum wage pay, I got to eat as much authentic Chinese food as I wanted. When I got older I realized that I had an averse reaction to MSG. So my choices in restaurant were limited to those who cooked sans MSG. Now I realize that almost all restaurants will say they do not add MSG to their food, but that it not true of all of them. I know because I've eaten at many places that claim they do not use it, but I still had a reaction.
Then once I got married our choices were limited to those who did not cook with lard or msg. Then our favorite restaurant changed chefs, our favorite dishes were no longer made the way we liked them and instead of looking for another restaurant we decided to try and make our own food at home.

 This led to my search of all different Chinese food dishes. I found a few good ones, that we all really enjoy.  Some come from recipe books and some I found online... there are so many options, you are sure to find a few that you really like.

Tonight for dinner I made chicken and bok choy stir fry with jasmine rice. I found this easy and delicious recipe online one day while searching for ideas to cook bok choy.

Ingredients:

3 medium chicken breasts, boneless and skinless  (I use 1 or 2)
3 large bok choy stalks with leaves (I use about 4 or 5)
       Marinade
1TB Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 green onion, diced
2 tbs cornstarch
       Sauce
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth  (I use vegetable broth)
2 TB water
1 tsp white rice vinegar
1/2 tsp black rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
       Other
1 tspn cornstarch
4 tspn water
4 to 5 tbspn oil for stir-frying as needed

Preparation:

Cut the chicken into thin strips about 2 inches long. Add the rice wine or sherry, green onions and the cornstarch. Marinade the chicken for 30 minutes.

While the chicken is marinading prepare the bok choy and the sauce.  Separate the bok choy leaves and  stalks, and cut both cross-wise into thin strips.

Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside. Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat wok and add 2 TB oil. When oil is ready, add the chicken and stir-fry until it turns white and is nearly cooked. (stir-fry in 2 batches if necessary). Take the chicken out of the wok and put aside in a bowl.

Clean out the wok and add 2 to 3 tbsnp. oil. When oil is ready, add the bok choy stalks. Stir-fry briefly, then add the leaves.
Push the bok choy up to the sides of the wok and add the sauce in the middle. Turn up the heat to bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to the sauce and stir rapidly to thicken. Add the chicken, mix thoroughly and serve hot.

I like to make plain jasmine rice to accompany this dish. The rice takes about 15 or 20 min. to cook so it's perfect as the dish only takes about 20 min. or so to cook.

I can never find black rice vinegar so I just add a few more tspns. of the rice wine vinegar. I also slice red onions and add them to the bok choy stalks.  I like my chicken well cooked so I thoroughly cook it, then when it comes time to add it to the mixture I cook the whole thing for another five minutes or so. If you see that the sauce has gotten too thick add some more veggie broth to thin it out.  I use home made veggie broth with no salt so I add salt to the dish while the sauce/cornstarch mixture is cooking. If you are using canned/boxed broth I'd advise not to add extra salt as the broth already has a high sodium content.

gluten free lunch (Tuna and lettuce roll ups)

My daughter and I have discovered that our bodies do not react very well to the gluten in wheat products. This has meant having to alter some of our food choices... not an easy feat since bread and pasta play a pretty big role in our diet. Especially lunch. One idea that I had was instead of tuna salad sandwiches I'd try to make tuna and lettuce roll ups. I tried it last week for the first time to rave reviews from all my kids. Even my youngest who is not crazy about tuna said she really liked this. 

It's an easy and healthy option to a quick lunch. I decided to make it again today.

For the tuna I used two 6 oz. cans of tuna in water with half salt, a few table spoons of no egg mayonnaise, 1 grated carrot, a quarter of a red onion chopped fine, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and black pepper to taste. Mix it all together in a bowl, spoon some of it into a piece of romaine lettuce leaf and roll it up, rolling toward the stem of the leaf.  Flatten slightly so the tuna spreads to the edges of the lettuce leaf and serve. We were each able to have 3 pieces. (so that's 12 pieces)

I do not recommend having tuna more than 1x a week because of the mercury that can be found in the tuna. 

Fruit and kale smoothie

A few days ago I decided to add a little twist to a fruit smoothie that we all really like. This was my only day making something new to eat/drink for the week. I have been sick with a cold and am not up to planning and cooking new dinners. So easy and quick dinners have been the deal for this last week. Still home made though :).

Now for the fruit smoothie, I cut up fresh strawberries, cherries, blueberries, added some frozen berry/cherry mix (with raspberries, blackberries and blueberries) added enough peach, mango and orange juice to sweeten it up a bit and make it more juice like. I then added some fresh kale chopped small (about 2 medium leaves). Put it all into the blender and mixed it until it was liquid.
I have never made this juice with kale but was curious to see how it would taste.

It was delicious! The kids were not happy when there was no more left. :)  Success!  It was really very good, for those who would like to add some veggies to their children's diets this is a good start. We eat kale often but none of us could taste it in this juice. The trick is to put a lot more fruit than veggies into the juice. If you add too much fruit and it's not fluid enough just add a bit more OJ.

Hope you enjoy it.

Dinner is served

So far so good with my plan to make new dishes every 2 days. I decided to prepare a quick pasta dish, I had all of the ingredients here already so dinner took about 30 min. from beginning to end.
I do not make any dishes with tuna more than 1x a month, and my youngest doesn't like tuna, but she had seconds of tonight's dinner. I'm happy :).

I chose to make Spaghetti al Tonno e Limone ( Spaghetti with Tuna and Lemon)... From The Top 100 Pasta Sauces cook book that I picked up at the community garden yard sale a few months ago for $1.00.

 I usually enhance dishes that seem a bit plain or lacking in vegetables. Tonight was no different, I added sauteed red onions and grated carrots to the sauce. I also did not put as much parmesan cheese as they said, and just juice from half of a lemon did the trick. I also boiled some broccoli to add on the side. I think next time I will also add some fresh grape tomatoes on the side as well.

This is def. a dish I will make again, it was delicious!

1lb spaghetti
2 tblsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
4 tbspn chopped parsley
7 oz tin tuna fish
juice of 1 lemon
2 1/2 oz ( 3/4 cup) fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp butter
salt and black pepper

Heat the olive oil and add the finely chopped garlic and parsley. (I added the carrots and onion at this step) Stir continually over a low heat, gradually adding the drained and flaked tuna fish. The heat should remain low so that none of the ingredients changes color.
Cook the pasta, following the packet directions so as to not over cook it. Drain the pasta and turn into a heated serving dish. Add the sauce and stir well. Now add the lemon juice, freshly grated cheese, the butter divided into small piece and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and serve at once.

I had to double the ingredients to make a decent size portion servings for 5 people with a bit left over.

Challenging myself

I recently looked over all of my cook books and Vegetarian Times magazines and realized I have a LOT of options for delicious vegetarian meals. I have about 23 cook books!  I decided that I'm going to try to make a new meal every 2 days using most of my cookbooks. I already make a variety of meals but do tend to fall back on a few tried and true dishes when I'm in a hurry. I can't give up my rice and beans and greens :).

The kids and I will be looking for new recipes and doing the shopping for the meals, I am hoping I can get in the habit of pre- planning what I will be making at least a week ahead of time to make things easier.

Tonight I am making cauliflower mac and cheese.. delicious and with less carbs since there is no pasta in it. Not a new meal to us but one that I don't make very often. Today I added sauteed grated zucchini, carrots, diced red peppers and onions. The kids actually licked their plates clean! :)

We have made dishes from many different countries, namely Thailand, Egypt, India, Hungary, Spain, China, France, Italy and a few that I'm sure I'm forgetting right now. The girls especially, love helping with the choosing the recipes and doing some of the cooking with me. Food is such an important part of family life. I think I'm going to enjoy this challenge.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner, vegetarian style :)

I will be making this tomorrow for my family, paired with some good bread, it's a great wholesome meal. 

Irish White Bean and Cabbage Stew

By Susan Voisin   |   Posted on March 13, 2013

I created this recipe from basic ingredients (cabbage, potatoes, carrots) and seasonings (parsley, thyme, rosemary) that can be found in the simple, hearty dishes of Irish home cooking. With barley and white beans, too, it’s a healthy, filling meal all on its own.

Irish White Bean and Cabbage StewMakes 6 large servings

Ingredients: 

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ head cabbage, chopped
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 to 1-½ pounds potatoes, cut in large dice
• ¹⁄₃ cup pearled barley (optional or substitute with gluten-free grain)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
• ½ teaspoon rosemary, crushed
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6-8 cups vegetable broth or low-sodium vegetable broth
• 3 cups cooked great northern beans (2 cans, drained)
• 1 14 ½-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• salt to taste

Instructions: 

Crock Pot: Place the vegetables, seasonings, and barley into a large (at least 5 quart) slow cooker. Add enough vegetable broth to just cover the vegetables (start with 6 cups and add more as needed). Cover and cook on low heat for 7 hours.  Add beans, tomatoes, parsley, and salt to taste. Check seasonings and add more herbs if necessary. Cover and cook for another hour.

Stovetop: Place vegetables, seasonings, barley, and broth into a large stockpot. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, check seasonings, and add more herbs if necessary. Simmer uncovered for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Find this recipe and a list of more St. Patrick’s Day recipes at FatFreeVegan.com.