FRESH
Garlic - 1 bulb
Shallot - 1 to 2 bulbs
Collard Greens - 2.5 lbs
Bell Peppers - 4 (red and/or yellow)
Green Beans - 1 lb
Green Cabbage - 1 small
Broccoli - 2 large
Cauliflower - 1
Lemon - 2
Basil - 1 bunch
Parsley - 1 bunch
Ginger - several thick fingers
Raw Walnuts
(Fresh Fruit for lunches and breakfasts)
(Salad Greens & Veggies for lunches)
LESS PERISHABLE (Some of these may already be in your pantry)
Chopped Tomatoes - 14 oz can (Suggest Muir Glen Fire Roasted)
Olives - (Buy what ever you like in a jar for easy storage)
Capers - (Buy in a jar for easy use and storage)
Balsamic Vinegar
Soy Sauce
Chick Peas - (2) 14 oz cans
White Beans - 14 oz can
Cumin (if you already have Cumin, get some coriander)
Mustard Seeds
Brown Basmati Rice (we will be adding this to some of our meals, optional)
(Salsa for lunch salads)
(Black Beans for lunch salads)
REFRIGERATED
Tofu - Baked - 8 oz
Soy Milk for Breakfast
(Frozen Fruit for Breakfast)
(Amy's Frozen Vegan Burritos for emergency meals*)
* It is better to break down and eat some relatively healthy Amy's food then some junk fast food or pizza so I usually keep a few things in the freezer for when our schedule gets messed up.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Learning to Cook Again
I have gathered some of our favorite simple recipes that have the potential to be made without added oil. We are going to test them out by having Matt cook them this week. The idea is to come up with recipes that I can share with Maureen in Columbus for healthy everyday dinners. Since I started cooking like this I have forgotten all the little workarounds and special pans and other adjustments I make to get the food on the table.
The menu for the week:
Garlic Braised Collard Greens with White Beans
Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Smoked Tofu
Braised Green Beans Puttanesca
Not Creamed Spinach with Chickpeas
Broccoli Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower and Bell Peppers with Chickpeas
Most of these recipes are intended to be vegetable side dishes. I am making them the main dish by adding some beans or tofu. If you have had your beans or tofu for the day you can leave them out of these dishes.
I picked these recipe because they are based on vegetables that you can get at any grocery store all year round. I will also be modifying the recipes a bit to simplify the ingredient list. When you are first starting out you could go broke buying all of the spices and vinegars. My idea is to not add more than 2 or 3 special purchase items a week.
Off to make my shopping list. (Which I will post later).
The menu for the week:
Garlic Braised Collard Greens with White Beans
Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Smoked Tofu
Braised Green Beans Puttanesca
Not Creamed Spinach with Chickpeas
Broccoli Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower and Bell Peppers with Chickpeas
Most of these recipes are intended to be vegetable side dishes. I am making them the main dish by adding some beans or tofu. If you have had your beans or tofu for the day you can leave them out of these dishes.
I picked these recipe because they are based on vegetables that you can get at any grocery store all year round. I will also be modifying the recipes a bit to simplify the ingredient list. When you are first starting out you could go broke buying all of the spices and vinegars. My idea is to not add more than 2 or 3 special purchase items a week.
Off to make my shopping list. (Which I will post later).
Monday, May 5, 2008
That's not Potato Salad
I made this one up with what was in the fridge to satisfy my potato salad craving and still remain kind of healthy. We like it.
Put on water to boil - I used pasta pot.
Mix dressing in large bowl and set aside:
60 g veganaise
15 g rice wine vinegar
5 g mustard
1 small shallot minced
1 small fennel bulb chopped
1 T fresh dill minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
dried dill and celery seed to taste
Chop vegetables
1 head cauliflower chopped
12 oz brussels sprouts trimmed and quarted
2 small red potatoes chopped
Add potatoes to boiling water. After 2-3 minutes add remaining vegetables to boiling water and bring back to boil. Total time in the water from potatoes on was about 10 minutes.
Drain vegetables and run under cool water to chill slightly. Mix into dressing and serve.
We treated this like 4 servings. Matt added salt to his at the table. There was something a little sour I don't know if it was the shallot or one of the dried herbs. Might try milder onion next time and all fresh herbs.
Put on water to boil - I used pasta pot.
Mix dressing in large bowl and set aside:
60 g veganaise
15 g rice wine vinegar
5 g mustard
1 small shallot minced
1 small fennel bulb chopped
1 T fresh dill minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
dried dill and celery seed to taste
Chop vegetables
1 head cauliflower chopped
12 oz brussels sprouts trimmed and quarted
2 small red potatoes chopped
Add potatoes to boiling water. After 2-3 minutes add remaining vegetables to boiling water and bring back to boil. Total time in the water from potatoes on was about 10 minutes.
Drain vegetables and run under cool water to chill slightly. Mix into dressing and serve.
We treated this like 4 servings. Matt added salt to his at the table. There was something a little sour I don't know if it was the shallot or one of the dried herbs. Might try milder onion next time and all fresh herbs.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Average Daily Consupmption
Breakfast
45 g rolled oats
45 g raisins
8 g flax seed meal
200 g unsweetened soy milk
45 g rolled oats
45 g raisins
8 g flax seed meal
200 g unsweetened soy milk
404 calories
8 g fat
16 g protein
8 g fat
16 g protein
Mid Morning Snack (aka second breakfast)
20 g raw walnuts
20 g raw walnuts
131 calories
13 g fat
3 g protein
13 g fat
3 g protein
Lunch
411 g Wolfgang Puck Organic Tortilla Soup (1 can)
150 g bell pepper
150 g apple
411 g Wolfgang Puck Organic Tortilla Soup (1 can)
150 g bell pepper
150 g apple
420 calories
8 g fat
12 g protein
8 g fat
12 g protein
Afternoon Snack
45 g dried apricots
45 g dried apricots
112 calories
0 g fat
2 g protein
0 g fat
2 g protein
Dinner
Pasta with Spinach and Tempeh
85 g whole wheat pasta
142 g spinach
57 g tempeh
10 g olive oil
5 g garlic
This is cutting back for me. I have been eating 500 calorie breakfasts and lunches and 200 calorie snacks. My new goal is 1600 calories (from 1800 calories) with 61 grams of protein (unchanged). With out the evening snacks I would have made it.
The final count
2032 calories
62 g fat
73 g protein
For me the this is still in the weight loss category of a pound a week it just doesn't give me any room for slop on the weekend.
Pasta with Spinach and Tempeh
85 g whole wheat pasta
142 g spinach
57 g tempeh
10 g olive oil
5 g garlic
546 calories
16 g fat
30 g protein
16 g fat
30 g protein
If I had stopped here this would have been a good day but my throat hurt and eating made it feel better. I then proceeded to graze the remaining of the evening.
Evening Snack
100 g cookies
25 g whole wheat bread
Evening Snack
100 g cookies
25 g whole wheat bread
419 calories
18 g fat
10 g protein
18 g fat
10 g protein
This is cutting back for me. I have been eating 500 calorie breakfasts and lunches and 200 calorie snacks. My new goal is 1600 calories (from 1800 calories) with 61 grams of protein (unchanged). With out the evening snacks I would have made it.
The final count
2032 calories
62 g fat
73 g protein
For me the this is still in the weight loss category of a pound a week it just doesn't give me any room for slop on the weekend.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Blogging While Cooking
Matt is out tonight so I have the computer and the kitchen at the same time. I am going to see if I can use this to keep track of my cooking tonight. What I usually do is keep my notes in a notebook and then try and find some time to transfer them later. Tonight there is no editing.
Roasted Ratatouille from Andrea Immer's cookbook is the basis of the meal but the goal is to use up everything in the refrigerator.
While the camera battery is charging I will get down the ingredients.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees and put rack in the center.
Mix the following in a non stick roasting pan:
1 eggplant unpeeled (1/2 inch dice)
2 zuchinni unpeeled (1/2 inch dice)
2 yellow squash unpeeled (1/2 inch dice)
1 green pepper (1/2 inch dice)
1 red pepper (1/2 inch dice)
1 yellow pepper (1/2 inch dice)
6 very small shallots (coarsely chopped)
1 fennel bulb (coarsely chopped)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper ground
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Put in oven and roast, stirring about every 15 minutes.
Here are the vegetable after just a few minutes in the oven.
At 30 minutes when the veggies are starting to brown stir in:
1 can of white beans drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp olive oil
(I would rather have red beans but I have white beans. I added the additional oil because when I typed up the earlier ingredients it sounded like the vinegar was a bit out of proportion).
I am going to serve this on hominy grits since I forgot to start the polenta. So at 30 minutes start the water for the grits. From the package that is 4 cups of water to 1 cup of grits.
Chop up
1 bunch of parsley leaves
1 bunch of chives
4 sundried tomatoes dried of their oil
At about 50 minutes when the veggies are browned, stir in the above along with 1/2 tsp of salt.
Add 1/2 tsp of truffle oil to the grits.
Serve 1/4 of the grits covered with 1/4 of the vegetables.
This is very bland. It needs more cooked onions/shallots and/or garlic. I am going to eat it but I can't recommend it.
Of course Immer's recipe has artichokes, and pancetta, and goat cheese so don't think ill of her because my version is lame.
I ended up drizzling some balsamic vinegar and griding on some salt and pepper and enjoying it with some zinfandel. When I slowed down and tasted it I ended up liking it enough to go back for seconds. After we eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow I will give my final opinion but right now with a little wine it seems quite fine.
Roasted Ratatouille from Andrea Immer's cookbook is the basis of the meal but the goal is to use up everything in the refrigerator.
While the camera battery is charging I will get down the ingredients.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees and put rack in the center.
Mix the following in a non stick roasting pan:
1 eggplant unpeeled (1/2 inch dice)
2 zuchinni unpeeled (1/2 inch dice)
2 yellow squash unpeeled (1/2 inch dice)
1 green pepper (1/2 inch dice)
1 red pepper (1/2 inch dice)
1 yellow pepper (1/2 inch dice)
6 very small shallots (coarsely chopped)
1 fennel bulb (coarsely chopped)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper ground
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Put in oven and roast, stirring about every 15 minutes.
Here are the vegetable after just a few minutes in the oven.At 30 minutes when the veggies are starting to brown stir in:
1 can of white beans drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp olive oil
(I would rather have red beans but I have white beans. I added the additional oil because when I typed up the earlier ingredients it sounded like the vinegar was a bit out of proportion).
I am going to serve this on hominy grits since I forgot to start the polenta. So at 30 minutes start the water for the grits. From the package that is 4 cups of water to 1 cup of grits.
Chop up
1 bunch of parsley leaves
1 bunch of chives
4 sundried tomatoes dried of their oil
At about 50 minutes when the veggies are browned, stir in the above along with 1/2 tsp of salt.
Add 1/2 tsp of truffle oil to the grits.
Serve 1/4 of the grits covered with 1/4 of the vegetables.
This is very bland. It needs more cooked onions/shallots and/or garlic. I am going to eat it but I can't recommend it.
Of course Immer's recipe has artichokes, and pancetta, and goat cheese so don't think ill of her because my version is lame.
I ended up drizzling some balsamic vinegar and griding on some salt and pepper and enjoying it with some zinfandel. When I slowed down and tasted it I ended up liking it enough to go back for seconds. After we eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow I will give my final opinion but right now with a little wine it seems quite fine.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
New Cookbooks
This summer I got the new Peter Berley cookbook called Flexitarian Table. We have made about three meals out of this book and while all were successful they were all a lot of work. I am going to save this one for special Saturday night dinners for the two of us or for when we are entertaining.
This summer we went for a vacation in the Finger Lakes region. We camped in a state park and made most of our meals at the campsite. One night we ventured into Ithaca so we could try out Moosewood Restaurant. We really enjoyed our meal. I didn't have a positive recollection of their cookbooks but after the great meal we had I thought I would try again. This fall I got the Moosewood low fat cookbook because making good vegetarian food with a big hunk of cheese really doesn't count. This week I made 4 dinners from it (three vegan and one with cheese). They were all satisfying in a hearty hot dish kind of way and pretty easy to make. They did not have the elegance or beauty of the the recipes I had been following but I think they will add a nice mixture to our weekly menus. I found the Moosewood recipes did a nice job mixing in some interesting spices that made for some nice savory hot dishes.
This summer we went for a vacation in the Finger Lakes region. We camped in a state park and made most of our meals at the campsite. One night we ventured into Ithaca so we could try out Moosewood Restaurant. We really enjoyed our meal. I didn't have a positive recollection of their cookbooks but after the great meal we had I thought I would try again. This fall I got the Moosewood low fat cookbook because making good vegetarian food with a big hunk of cheese really doesn't count. This week I made 4 dinners from it (three vegan and one with cheese). They were all satisfying in a hearty hot dish kind of way and pretty easy to make. They did not have the elegance or beauty of the the recipes I had been following but I think they will add a nice mixture to our weekly menus. I found the Moosewood recipes did a nice job mixing in some interesting spices that made for some nice savory hot dishes.
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