Why YOU should be a Vegan!

Lentil Tacos

I almost didn't want to post this, because I didn't want to make people jealous. I love it when my meals are colorful. Makes me feel like an artist.

This meal is made with red lentils, celery, onion, low sodium vegetable broth, salsa, tomatoes, baby arugula (I was out of lettuce), chili powder, cumin, Follow Your Heart Vegan Cheddar, Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, and corn tortillas. Almost all ingredients were organic.

Steamed carrots on the side.

My 11 year old gobbled these tacos up and had seconds. He said, "yum, we have to have these again!".

It was super easy and super delicious.

The recipe comes from Saving Dinner the Vegetarian Way.

Ziti with sun dried tomato cream

1 lb. ziti
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1 box firm silken tofu, drained
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (or 1 Tbsp. dried)
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Small can marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
Parmesan cheese (may use vegan)

• Cook the ziti until al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, combine the tomatoes, tofu, garlic, basil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a food processor and blend to a smooth consistency. Heat sauce on stove top until hot.
• Drain the pasta, and toss with the sauce, the artichokes, and the mushrooms.
• Sprinkle with the parsley and Parmesan and serve.

The recipes yields 4 servings however this made at least 8 servings! Great for freezing in lunch size portions!

This is our typical Italian salad we make when we have pasta. Lettuce of your choice, cucumbers, tomatoes, sliced black olives, sprinkled with a titch of parmesan cheese. We toss it in a light vinaigrette!

Brittney

A Light Dinner

After working 12 hours, sometimes I come home and run for 20-30 minutes. My husband and I went for a 30 minute run last night when I got home from work. I wasn't hungry, but I knew I should eat something for my body's sake. So I grabbed some frozen green beans, fresh plum tomatoes, and frozen edamame. I warmed up the frozen veggies and mixed everything together in some lemon juice, olive oil, tarragon, black pepper, and sea salt. I sprinkled some nutritional yeast on too. Nutritional yeast is not a yeast that you would use in bread. But it is very important for vegans to have. It has a nutty flavor, but in some foods you can't taste it at all.

I also reheated some sweet potato fries and left over kabacha squash. I had baked the squash a couple of days ago. I tossed the squash in brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Then I drizzled it with agave syrup. I cooked it in the oven at 400 for about 25 minutes. Delicious.

This dinner was perfect with a glass of unsweetened coconut milk. Dessert was a scoop of plain soy ice cream with some vegan chocolate chips, and a drizzle of peanut butter. Perfect.

Melissa

Vegetable Stir Fry

I tossed this dish together in no time at all. I was in the mood for some stir fry. I took some vegetables and diced them up. You can use any you like.

In a wok I sautéed:

5 garlic cloves, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms. I chopped up 2 of my faux chick’n breasts. A splash of olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Once the vegetables were tender, I added 2 cups of cooked brown rice and a few splashes of Braggs liquid aminos. I cooked covered for 5 minutes and served.

For more information about Bragg liquid aminos click here.

Info from their site: Bragg Liquid Aminos is a Certified NON-GMO liquid protein concentrate, derived from healthy soybeans, that contains the following Essential and Non-essential Amino Acids in naturally occurring amounts:

Ingredients: Our Bragg Liquid Aminos are made from health-giving, NON-GMO soybeans and purified water. They are an excellent, healthy, gourmet replacement for Tamari and Soy Sauce. Not fermented or heated and Gluten-Free.

 

Brittney

Broccoli Tofu Divan

Tonight's dinner came from Saving Dinner the Vegetarian Way by Leanne Ely.

I have to admit, we didn't love it.

It was too moist. Also, the recipe said to use a 9 inch pie pan, and it was too small. I ended up with a mess. A casserole dish would have been better.

It was still tasty and filling and I'll eat leftovers. But it wasn't to die for and I wouldn't make it again.

The ingredients were broccoli, tofu, flour, milk (I used rice milk), butter (I used earth balance soy garden), Cheddar cheese (I used Follow your heart vegan cheddar), mustard, onion, salt, pepper, grape juice, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese (I used vegan parmesan).

You heat the milk, flour, and butter in a saucepan and add onions, mustard, cheddar, salt, pepper and grape juice. Then you spoon the sauce over the broccoli and tofu (maybe I used too much).

Then you add the bread crumbs and parmesan to the top and bake it at 375 for 25 minutes.

The couscous was made with lemon juice and dill and I got the recipe here. We all liked the couscous and I wish I had made more for leftovers.

24 Carrots Juice

My mom discovered 24 Carrots Juice just a couple of weeks ago. We were so excited to find a new and healthy place to eat.

Today I decided to take my 2 year old with me to check it out.

I shouldn't have gone, because now I am going to want to be a regular customer. Of course this is a good thing. Fortunately the prices are great too. I have been following them on Facebook and they post the most amazing photos.

My 2 year old and I shared a meal. We had vegan pizza topped with spinach, homemade hummus, capers and so much more. Instead of adding sugar to their sauce, they use beets. It was delicious.

We shared a soy/strawberry smoothie that was so good, my little guy kept insisting it was ice cream.

For dessert we had a vegan flax meal brownie. To die for! My toddler ate the crumbs off the plate and let them know how good it was when we left.

We met Sasha while we were there. She is so friendly. We chatted about being vegetarian. She let me know almost any menu item can be made vegan. She said she experiments on new recipes all the time.

The place is so homey. They even have toys, games, and books. I can't wait to go back.

If you go don't forget to pick up some homemade granola too. I can't wait to try it in my yogurt tomorrow.

Make sure you tell Sasha that Melissa says hi.