Vegan...say what???

So, this might be hard to believe...but Nathan and I are attempting to go vegan...for a week. We vowed to eat a vegan diet for a week and then evaluate how we felt about it. I want to see if I feel healthier, more energized, not as sluggish, etc. I will have to post the results, I am a little nervous about making a big commitment, but if we feel much better eating this way, we would be silly not to!

This all started this weekend when we went to our friends house for dinner. I had been noticing that my friend Lindsay had been pinning vegan recipes on pinterest, so when we made plans for dinner, I asked her if she had "converted" and if we needed to make a vegan meal. She said that if we wanted to try to eat vegan that would work, but they were fine with eating "normal" every once in a while also. I agreed to give it a shot, I was curious to see how hard it really would be to come up with a yummy meal that was vegan-approved. When we got there, she offered us some vegan peanut butter cups and cookie dough dip that were SO yummy. It was weird though, because after we ate them, we didn't get that all-too-familiar lethargic feeling that comes after eating mass quanities of sugar...because there wasn't added sugar! The peanut butter cups were using natural peanut butter, and the cookie dough dip was made out of chickpeas (and yes, it actually was delicious). For dinner, we had macaroni and "cheese" (the cheese was made from veggies & cashews bleneded together) and sweet potato fries with pumpkin spice ice cream (made with coconut and almond milk) for dessert. I promise you that had I had the vegan macaroni and cheese side-by-side with the regular stuff, I could hardly have told a difference! Lindsay said that since eating vegan she has felt more energized, is running 6 miles (wow!), and has even lost weight! With a testimonial like that, how could I not try it?!?

When we got home, I asked Nathan how he would feel about going vegan. We both agreed that we would try it for a week - I mean really commit to following it, no cheats allowed, and then decide. Even if we do decide to eat vegan...we won't be pretentious about it, I promise. In social situations where it would be awkward to say "we don't eat animal products" we will probably cheat a little, and of course on special occassions. I suggested maybe doing one "normal" day a week...or even one "normal" meal a week...but we will make up our mind once we decide on if we want to really pursue this or not.

I have been reading The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone that Lindsay let me borrow and I have really learned a lot about nutrition and even (Nathan told me not to talk to people about this because I would seem like a nut) animal cruelty. Right now, the vegan decision is based primarily on my health, but if I can help animals in the meantime...great!

To be honest with you, the thing that is holding me back from really committing is my love of cooking and my dream of having a catering business. I think that I just need to have the attitude that if I eat 90% healthy and then sample my treats 10% of the time...I will be doing good. Did I tell you guys that I am in week two of the Gourmet Cooking & Catering Management program at Ashworth College? Well, I am, and I'm loving it!

Anyways, here is today's vegan menu - maybe this will help you realize that it really can be enjoyable and delicious!

Breakfast: Mom's Best Oat & Honey Blend Naturals Cereal with 1 cup of Silk Original Pure Almond Milk
Snack: Pear
Lunch: Boca Spicy "Chicken" Patty and 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce
Snack: Banana Bread flavor Lara Bar
Dinner: Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos
Snack: Peanut Butter Babies

I'll keep you posted on how the week assessment goes!

Fall Food - Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle



It has been WAY too long since I last blogged - so to all two of you, sorry! Anyways, it is finally official - fall is here. With fall comes some of my favorite things...football, boots, sweaters, pumpkins, cool weather, lattes, and fall foods! When I think fall foods, I think about pumpkin primarily (one of my favorite flavors for anything), soups, breads, and pretty much anything warm and hearty. Unfortunately most of those foods are also associated with weight gain...but this post isn't about feeling bad about weight gain, I would advise to just deal with it because the fall foods are worth it (Jillian Michaels would be screaming in my face right now).
We had a work party today, and the theme was "September Spectacular" - I decided to make a Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle that I saw on Pinterest awhile back. My new plan is to go through all of my hundreds of pins and favorites in Food Gawker and actually make what I have intended to make.
The trifle turned out great - I wouldn't change a thing, but be aware that some of the layers might need to be made bigger or smaller depending on the size of your trifle dish. Mine was smaller so I ended up only needing 1 1/2 cakes and 1 tub of Cool Whip.
Try this for yourself and see what you think, I thought it was simple to make and everyone at work seemed pleased with the taste!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Recipe from: Taste of Home

 



Directions

• Prepare and bake gingerbread according to package directions, using two greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
• Meanwhile, for pudding, in a large saucepan, combine pudding mix and milk; stir until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer or until thickened. Remove from the heat; cool to room temperature. Combine pumpkin and brown sugar; stir into pudding.
• In a 4-qt. glass serving bowl, crumble one gingerbread cake; gently press down. Top with half of pudding mixture and whipped topping. Repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Yield: 25 servings (1 cup each).

Ingredients

• 2 packages (14-1/2 ounces each) gingerbread cake mix
• 1 package (4.6 ounces) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups 2% milk
• 1 can (29 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

A Sandwich for Supper



I noticed that a lot of times when we go somewhere casual for dinner, Nathan orders a French Dip. So in wanting to prepare a weekly dinner menu that he would enjoy, I put them on the menu. These turned out so much better than either of us expected, and I would take this over the ones in the restaurants any day. As you can tell in the picture, we like lots of the au jus, kind of at a 2:1 ratio of jus to sandwich. The seasoning on the roast was great, and the best part was that you can put it all in the crock pot in the morning, come home after work and slap it on some sandwich bread with provolone and voila a simple, delicious dinner.

French Dip Sandwiches

Adapted from: http://blogchef.net/?s=french+dip

Ingredients:

Ingredients:1 boneless beef roast
½ cup soy sauce
1 beef bouillon cube
1 tsp. pepper
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Sub rolls (we used wheat hoagie rolls from Kroger)
Provolone cheese
We also spread some Marzetti Chipotle Ranch on half of the bread - totally optional

Instructions:

Remove any visible fat from the roast and discard the fat. Place the roast into a slow cooker. In a medium bowl combine soy sauce, beef bouillon cube, black pepper, rosemary, thyme, and garlic powder. Pour the mixture over the roast. Add enough water to almost cover the roast. Cook on low for 8 hours
Remove the roast from the broth (reserving the broth). Shred the roast with two forks. Place the reserved broth into cups or small bowls for dipping.
We cut our hoagies open, put the provolone on, and broiled them for about 3 minutes at 425 to get them toasted and the cheese melted
Place shredded beef onto sandwiches.
Serve with the au jus sauce for dipping!

Pizza Goes Gourmet



I have been craving pizza for a while now, but have felt too guilty about eating such a greasy, fatty food on a week night. (Didn't you know, calories don't count on weekends?) So, I decided to go with a pizza that was homemade, and made with fresh, quality ingredients. I stumbled across a fig and prosciutto pizza that looked amazing. Right now, Nathan and I are weirdly obsessed with fig - dried as a salad topping, pureed as a salad dressing, spread on crostini, the list goes on.
This pizza was adapted from the Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond - and if you have ever checked out her blog or any of her cookbooks, you know that we are already set up for success here. We absolutely loved this pizza - the homemade dough, the sweetness of the fig paired with the bitterness of the arugula, the fresh mozzerella...the list goes on. I would highly recommend that you branch out from your usual cheese and pepperoni and take the time to make a homemade dough topped with these fresh ingredients.

Fig-Prosciutto Pizza

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

Pizza Crust

• 1 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil

For the Pizza:

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 4 Tablespoons Fig Preserves
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• 12 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella, Sliced Thin
• 6 ounces, weight Thinly Sliced Prosciutto
• 1 handful arugula
• Pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup Shaved Parmesan (we didn't have this and it was fine without but probably would be great with it!)

Directions:

Note - the pizza dough is enough for 3 pizzas, so only use 1/3rd of the dough for this recipe - or play around to make the pizza whatever size you want - ours took up a cookie sheet

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour.
Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Roll out 1/3 of the pizza dough as thinly as possible. Place on a large baking sheet.
Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Spread fig spread all over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
Lay sliced of mozzarella all over the surface. Sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly. (Ours was ready at 12 minutes)
Remove from oven and immediately lay prosciutto over hot pizza. Just before serving, sprinkle on arugula and Parmesan shavings.
Cut and serve immediately!

Fiesta!

Stock Photo since I forgot to take one!

Over the weekend, Nathan and I went to a mexican-themed party at a friend's house. We had SUCH a great time, everyone is always so great about chipping in and we always end up with a ton of great food. I decided to bring mexican cornbread, churros & chocolate, and sopapilla cheesecake. The cornbread was ok, but I overcooked it a little so it was sort of dry. The desserts, however, turned out great! There is something about fried dough dipped in Nutella that is sort of magical, and then cheesecake with cinnamon sugar dough isn't too bad either!

Churros and Nutella Sauce

Idea from Forgiving Martha

These churros are great because they are so simple and they aren't fried - which while this dish isn't remotely healthy - at least cuts out some of the fat.

Ingredients:

One Package of frozen Puff Pastry Sheet (Pepperidge Farm comes with two sheets)

1/4 cup of melted butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup of sugar (mix with the tsp. of cinnamon)

Nutella

1/3 cup of milk (I used 2%)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450

Cut thawed puff pastry into 1" strips and put on parchment paper on a baking sheet

Spread melted butter onto strips

Bake strips at 450 for 8-10 minutes or until the strips are golden-colored

Take the strips out of the oven, spread with butter again, and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture

Nutella Sauce:

On low-medium heat combine 1 jar of nutella with 1/3 cup of milk and stir until "dippable" - you may want less or more milk based on your preference. I would recommend adding a small amount at a time until you reached the desired consistency. Pour the sauce into a sealable container - I used Corningware.

Dip the churros into the warm nutella sauce. Yum!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Recipe from CopyKat Recipes

Ingredients:

2 can of crescent rolls (I used Pillsbury)

2 eight-oz. packages of cream cheese

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. lemon juice (I didn't use this - it might be good, but it was good without too!)

1/2 tsp lemon zest (I didn't use this - it might be good, but it was good without too!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with 1 can of the crescent rolls. I rolled out the dough a little bit with a rolling pin to get the perforated crescent roll marks out of it. Whip cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar (reserve the other 1/2 cup for the topping), the vanilla, and the optional lemon juice and zest. Spread this mixture over the bottom layer of crescent rolls. Top this layer with the second can of crescent rolls. Melt the butter and pour this over the top (it's going to seem like A LOT of butter - which it kind of is) and then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.



Slow-Cooker Success

So I realize the picture doesn't look great (thanks in part to me thinking it was a good idea to put a dollop of salsa on my already sad looking black beans) - but the flavor in these tacos was amazing. Pulled pork tacos sounds a little weird - but we aren't talking about barbecue pork here, we are talking about pork slow cooked in salsa and spices and even cocoa - yum! I actually have to thank Nathan for getting this together because while crock pot recipes are great, I always forget to assemble everything the night before - so I had to call him all panicky and instruct him over the phone on getting everything in the crock pot before he left for work. We serve them with corn on the cob and black beans. This leaves you with lots of leftovers, but it's one of those recipes that actually gets better the longer it sits as the flavors really soak into the meat. So if you make this, you will probably be having lots of tacos - but it also lends itself well to pork sandwiches which we had yesterday with mexican cornbread.

Slow-Cooked Pork Tacos

Adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients:

2 cups salsa

2 tbsp. chili powder

2 tbsp. dried oregano

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Salt

2 1/2 pound boneless pork butt or shoulder trimmed of excess fat (we used pork shoulder - cheaper)

Corn or flour tortillas (I like corn, Nathan likes flour)

Cilantro

3/4 cup sour cream (we used non-fat plain yogurt instead to save calories - you should give it a try - we actually like this better than sour cream)

1 lime cut into wedges (optional)

Directions:

In your slow-cooker (needs to be at least 4-6 quarts) combine the meat and the seasonings (salsa,chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 tsp. salt). Add the pork and coat it in the seasoning.

Cook, covered, until the meat can easily be pulled apart - high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours

To warm the tortillas before serving, put them in a 350 degrees oven wrapped in foil for about 15 minutes

While the tortillas are warming up, shred the pork with two forks and the stir the meat into the cooking liquid.

Serve with tortillas, cilantro, sour cream (or yogurt in our case), lime, and extra salsa.

Easy Seafood

During the summer especially, we like to eat some type of seafood once a week. Usually we have tilapia or another type of white fish. Why? Well to be honest with you, because it's cheap - and we like it too! I should probably branch out more and start marinating and grilling some salmon, or splurging on some red snapper - but I found a way to jazz up tilapia that was pretty darn good. For dinner the other night, we made Cooking Light's version of almond-crusted tilapia and served it with some french bread and fresh green beans from my in-laws garden. The crust made the tilapia surprising filling and gave it some crunch, which I tend to think fish needs to compensate for it's floppy texture. This recipe was so simple, quick (ready within 15 minutes), and healthy as well!

Almond-Crusted Tilapia

Adapted this recipe from: Cooking Light

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of almonds

2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

1 tsp seasoning (I used Adobo) - Cooking Light recommends Mrs. Dash garlic & herb

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon dijon mustard  or 1 egg white (Nathan doesn't like dijon, so we instead coated his in egg white before dredging it in the almond mixture)

2 (6-ounce) tilapia filets

Parsley for a garnish

Directions:

Place the almonds, breadcrumbs, seasoning, and pepper in a food processor or a blender and process until the mixture is finely ground. Put this mixture in a shallow dish for dredging the fish in.

Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat and brush the mustard or egg whites over the fish. Dredge the fish in the crumb mixture. Add fish to pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Be SURE to have enough oil in the pan, otherwise your crumb topping will burn. When it's ready, the fish will flake easily and be warm all the way through. Remove it from the pan and sprinkle with parsley if you choose to!