Getting back into the right gear shift for the new year!

     

    My Monday morning started out great and I woke up early and had a fun yoga work out!

    I also made some blueberry orange protein bread using a recipe in this berry lover's cookbook.

    I made a few adjustments in order to make it vegan and I used almonds instead of pecans since I didn't have pecans.

 

 

    I also added some hemp protein powder to give it a bit more protein.

 

     The addition of the hemp protein didn't impair the flavor at all, and it was very good especially served with tea.

 

 

Blueberry Orange Protein Bread

 

Ingredients:

    1/2 cup vegan butter

    3/4 cup sugar

    2 tbsp flax seed meal

    6 tbsp water

    2 cups flour

    2 tsp baking powder

    1 tsp cinnamon

    4 tbsp hemp protein powder

    2 orange peels grated.

    1/2 tsp baking soda

    1/2 tsp salt

    1/2 tsp ground cloves

    the juice of 2 oranges

    2 cups blueberries

    3/4 cups slivered almonds.

 

Instructions:

    In a small bowl prepare flax eggs by mixing flax seed meal with water and set aside. 

    In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in flax eggs.  

    In a separate bowl sift in flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, baking powder and cinnamon. mix in orange peels and hemp protein.

    Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture alternately with orange juice.

    Fold in blueberries and almonds.

    Pour batter into 2 greased 8 x4 loaf bans. Bake at 350 degrees Farenhiet for 50 minutes.

    Allow 15 minutes to cool before removing from pans and slicing

Yield: 

    7 servings 290 calories per 2 slice servings.

    For lunch Monday I had some of the left-over soup from last week's blog and for dinner I had some of the left-over holiday food from my holiday blog.

    I had a very good balanced day Monday morning starting off my week right with a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner and ending my day with a calorie deficit. I had a yoga work out at home because of the cold stormy weather, and I did lots of cleaning and had a bit of fun dancing. I dance a lot now that I am more fit, that is something I have always done when I am more fit just random dancing to music because it is very fun for me.

    Tuesday, I got a new yoga bag to match my new yoga mat so once the weather clears up, I can go to yoga class in style.

    I decided to stick with the witchy lunar cycle theme of my yoga mat.

    Tuesday is when the hormonal cravings started to hit hard. I was just about to start my cycle the next day.

    I had a bowl of cream of wheat with hemp butter, pistachios, and honey left over from when I bought some last summer for a parasite cleanse (I had no parasites.) But with a second thought, I think it would have tasted better with date syrup than honey.

Borlotti Bean Curry Fried Rice

Ingredients:

    1 tbsp vegan butter

    1/2 a small red onion diced.

    4 small chilis or sweet peppers sliced.

    1 package borlotti beans drained and rinsed (you can substitute 1 can pinto beans)

    2 tbsp turmeric root diced.

    2 tbsp yellow curry powder

    1 tsp garlic pepper

    1/4 cup coconut flour

    2 tbsp coconut sugar

    2 cups cold white rice

    1/2 cup sliced green onions.

Instructions:

    In a skillet melt butter and sauté onions, peppers, turmeric root, and beans adding water as needed to reduce oil use. 

    Add rice and season with curry powder, garlic pepper, coconut sugar, and coconut flour adding splashes of water as needed to combine flavors. 

    Reduce heat and toss in green onions.

Yield:

    2 servings 783 calories per serving

     Now that I know how easy it is to make popcorn in the microwave it makes a great quick snack. All you need is a paper lunch bag and about 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels. Roll up the opening of the bag and microwave for about 3 minutes or until kernels stop popping. I enjoyed this popcorn seasoned with Sichuan chili oil and nutritional yeast.

    I have been studying and veganifying recipes from this better homes and gardens soup and stew cookbook from 1978. This week's soup I was highly questioning if it would turn out tasty or not... a squash and split pea soup. 

 

    It actually turned out amazing. the butternut squash with vegan bacon bits and liquid smoke made it taste like it was made with real smoked pork, but no pigs were harmed in this pot of peas.

Vegan Squash and Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:

    2 cups green split peas

    1 tbsp coconut oil

    2 tbsp soy sauce (or coconut aminos)

    1/2 cup bacon bits

    1 onion chopped.

    1 green bell pepper (or 2 jalapenos) chopped.

    1 teaspoon veggie bullion 

    1 small butternut squash

    2 cups hemp cream

    1 tsp salt 

    2 tsp liquid smoke

Instructions:

    In a large soup pot, sauté bacon bits in coconut oil and soy sauce. remove from heat and set bacon bits aside in a bowl. 

    Slice butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. spray both sides with nonstick spray and place cut side down in a baking pan. roast for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F or until squash can be pierced with a fork. set aside to cool.

    Sort and rinse green split peas and set aside.

    In bacon drippings sauté onion and peppers adding water as needed until tender. Add split peas and veggie bullion, and 4 cups of water and a tsp salt. Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to simmer for 1 hr. and 30 mins.

    If soup is too thick add 1 to 2 cups water. Then scrape out the meat of the squash and mash it with a potato masher before adding to the soup. add 2 tsp liquid smoke, and 1 tsp black pepper and cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.

    To make hemp cream blend 1/4 cup hemp seeds with a pinch of xanthum gum and water.  Stir hemp cream into soup with bacon bits and serve. 

    Garnish with a drizzle of hemp cream, and a sprinkle of bacon bits and a dash of pepper.

Yield: 

    5 servings 355 calories per serving

    I served the soup with Alvarado St. vegan sprouted wheat bagels which are so deliciously addictive toasted with hemp butter.

 

     I didn't log much food Wednesday because the majority of my day was spent sleeping off cramps.

    Thursday morning, I was feeling much better and full of energy, so I made 1.5 gallons of my blend I am calling vampire juice.

Vampire Juice

    1 very large beet about 2 lbs.

    1 bunch celery

    2 cucumbers

    4 turmeric roots

    1 bunch asparagus stalks

    1 lb. apples

    4 lbs. carrots

     I got my weekly free food box. I know Beggers can't be choosers, but I do wish they would stop sending so many cans of meat. I've passed those onto my neighbors. But unfortunately, hormonal munchies won over and I kept the Oreos and fruit loops bars. They were very tasty and at least they were vegetarian, but I am definitely a bad vegan this week.

    I went grocery shopping with my nurse and got some needed essentials and supplies to make a big batch of kim chi! I also came home to my delivery from Martie Grocery at my door and got some amazing stuff!

 

 

        I spent the rest of my evening making a huge batch of Vegan kim chi.

 

         I followed Maangchi's recipe loosely

Vegan Kim Chi Alterations

Ingredients:

    2 heads of nappa cabbage

 Porridge:

    2 cups water

    2 tbsp flour

    2 tbsp brown sugar

    5 bunches of green onions

    5 bulbs of garlic

    3 carrots

    1 lb. radishes

    2-inch piece of ginger root

    1 onion

    2 apples (substitute for Asian pear)

    1/2 cup coconut aminos or soy sauce (substitute for fish sauce)

    1/2 cup Miso paste (substitute for shrimps)

    3 tbsp kelp powder (substitute for bonito)

    1/4 cup sesame seeds (substitute for shrimps and bonito)

    1/2 cup red chili flakes

    1 jar kim chi seasoning

    2 tsp Indian red chili powder 

        (of course, if you can get your hand on authentic Korean chili flakes use that!)

    It took 2 days and 4 burps to get the desired fermentation at 70 degrees F room temperature. It may take an extra day or two at a lower room temperature.

 

    I ate quite a bit Thursday but manage to burn most of it off with how active I was running around the kitchen and out shopping.

 

    Friday morning, I tested out the freeze-dried avocado on toast, but it was very much so not good. maybe just because here in Southern Oregon I have been spoiled with delicious fresh avocados from California and Mexico. I may see if it is more palatable in smoothies.

    I could not resist the palak paneer for long as it is definitely a favorite Indian dish of mine, like I said I have been a very bad vegan this week. But at least I didn't actually purchase any animal products this week as the food had been given to me for free.

 

    Saturday, I made a few staple seasonings for my kitchen, vegetable powder using dehydrated vegetable scraps, starting the process of making garlic powder, and making a batch of vegan cashew parmesan.

 

 

    I definitely over did it with the hormonal munchies Saturday, but I would still weigh less based on what all I did eat.

    That evening I felt like having a cocktail but didn't have any alcohol, so I made a virgin picklerita.

Virgin Picklerita

Ingredients:

    6 ice cubes

    2 pickle spears

    2 pickle slices

    1 cup pickle juice

    1 lemon lime soda

    juice of 1 lime 

    1 tsp agave nectar

    a drizzle of chamoy or hot sauce

    green sugar crystals mixed with tajin for sugar rim.

Instructions: 

    Rim a large margarita glass with a lime wedge and sugar mixture

    Add ice cubes, pickle spears, and pickle juice to the glass. 

    Pour in soda until glass is mostly full. add agave nectar, lime juice, chamoy and a pinch of sugar tajin mixture. 

    Stir with a straw and finish garnish with 2 pickle slices on the edge of the glass.

    I used spicy garlic pickles but feel free to use your favorite pickles.

    About 70-80 calories per drink if using a zero-calorie soda.

 

    Sunday morning, I went thrift shopping with my friend at goodwill and it was so dead, obviously most of the days scores had already been picked through, but I did still manage to find a cute pair of leggings, a candle and a shot glass. Then my friend dropped me off at Albertsons where I bought a few things I needed and 1 thing I wanted to get for my boyfriend, Khalid.

    After that I made a very tasty dinner where I got to try some of my fresh kim chi and I made an amazingly delicious vegan teriyaki cashew cauliflower dish using Make it dairy free's fried cauliflower recipe. 

 

 

    I altered it a bit to make it more teriyaki flavors, but it turned out incredibly amazing and I definitely will be using this technique in the future.

 

Vegan Teriyaki Cashew Cauliflower

 

Ingredients:

    2 small or 1 large head of cauliflower cut into florets.

 

Batter:

    2 cups all-purpose flour

    2 cups masa flour

    2 tsp creole seasoning

    1 tsp mushroom powder

    2 tsp onion powder

 

Breading:

    1 container vegan panko

    1/4 cup teriyaki powder seasoning

 

Sauce:

    2 tbsp oil from frying

    1 cup raw cashews

    1 bottle vegan teriyaki sauce (I used blue dragon)

    2 cups sliced green onions

Instructions: 

    Boil cauliflower for 3 minutes then drain and set aside. 

    In a mixing bowl prepare batter by mixing flours with seasoning and several cups of water to form a pancake like batter.

    In another mixing bowl prepare dry breadcrumbs by mixing panko with seasoning.

    Dip each cauliflower floret in wet batter then dry breadcrumbs and fry until crispy about 3 minutes in small batches. Drain and set aside. 

    After you finish frying the cauliflower heat a wok on medium heat and add a couple tablespoons of left-over frying oil to the wok and toast your cashew in the oil. then reduce heat and add cauliflower and teriyaki sauce then green onions tossing with a wooden spoon until well coated.

Yield: 

    5 servings 480 calories per serving

 

    Sunday was a pretty good day, but I think I accidentally logged the banana bread toast twice. Oh well it makes up for my initial miss calculation of the split pea soup. Yes, my calorie calculations are probably not super accurate this week, but I was also contending with the superior forces of mother nature. I hope you are all having a wonderful new year and smashing all your new year's goals. Fortunately, the weather should be better this coming week so I am hoping I will actually be able to make it to the gym this week so I can flash some of my awesome stylish new work out gear. Stay blessed y'all!