Panang Curry (VG)

After my meal last night, I roasted the brussel sprouts I had left to take for lunch today. So all that was left of my overpurchased produce was Bok Choy. Aside from that, I needed a meal I could make in a pinch since I'm leaving tomorrow and didn't want to go to the store or buy any produce that would go to waste.

I had a craving for panang curry, and I also had the ill-fated Trader Joe's Beefless Beef Strips left from my lunch the other day. True to my word, I decided to give them another whirl. I knew that Jeff would never eat those on his own, and there were some leftover black beans he would have no issue eating while I was gone.

So, I decided to make panang curry with the beefless beef strips. I ran to the corner store across the street and grabbed an onion. I wanted to grab some thai chile paste, but unfortunately they didn't have any. Jeff goes through about a jar a week, so of course, we were out. I grabbed a can of tomato paste and hoped for the best. When I got home, I first set my baby bok choy on a cookie sheet, put a few liberal tablespoons of Trader Joe's Gyoza Dipping Sauce on top, set the over for 325, and popped those in the oven on a cookie sheet.

Then, I took the beef-less beef strips, coated them in yellow curry powder and some montreal steak seasoning. I put them in a skillet on the stove with a tiny bit of olive oil and cooked them on high until the got a little crisp on the outside. I tenatively tried one, it was just yesterday that their taste make me feel ill, remember. Suprisingly, it was not nearly as bad! I thought it could pass in the curry.

I took the beef out of the skillet, and added in 1/2 of a chopped onion, two tbs. of yellow curry powder, and about 12 ounces of vegetable broth. I then opened the 6 ounce can of tomato paste I bought and mixed in some vegetable broth, yellow curry spice and thai seasoning mix. It tasted okay, but not spicy enough, so I added in some chili powder till I was satisfied.

I then added that to the onions and vegetable broth that had been cooking. I let it meld together, and then I opened up a can of trader joe's light coconut and added that to the skillet. After I mixed everything together, I let it cook. While it was simmering, I added two tsps. of peanut butter, a couple of tsps. of cumin, and a couple of tsps. of garlic powder. I also added a sprinkle of brown sugar. I do everything to taste, and I think the moreso the reason why I share my cooking madeness is to demonstrate that you can make decent veggie or vegan meals through things you have in your pantry, as well as by experimenting. I just start with a small amount of whatever I am adding at a time, and add until I get to a desired taste. I am extra careful when I am simmering something for awhile - if you let something cook, the flavors can sometimes become more powerful, or less powerful, through the cooking process. I have also made some really bad things this way, but that's how I have grown as a home cook, I think.

I had 1/2 of a 32 ounce container of vegetable broth left that I didn't want to go to waste, so I added it to medium sauce pan and brought it to a boil. Considering I had about two cups left, I added one cup long grain rice to the broth, brought it down to a simmer, covered it, and let the rice cook. The rice took about 15 minutes to cook and I let the curry simmer while the rice finished. When there was about 10 minutes left, I added frozen green beans to the curry to get some additional vegetables in, as well as to add more substance to the curry. I thought I had frozen broccoli, but I didn't. I would have added that, too, or even some frozen peas, if we had them in the freezer. Next time.

Overall, it was a good meal, but I think in the future I would prefer to make it with the thai chile paste to give it more dimension. I also think it was comparable to Trader Joe's curry simmer sauce, so if you're looking for an even quicker option, I highly recommend that. You can toss in a can of the coconut milk to that for a similar style curry. I also think that the light coconut milk might not give it as rich of a flavor, but full flavored coconut milk has so much fat in it, it isn't worth it to me to use it. Overall, I think if you only have a few things in your pantry, this is definately a suitable meal.

Next up, traveling. I'm really nervous to see how this goes!

Portabella Pizza (V)

I am traveling for work later this week, and then I am staying with friends this weekend. I can't wait to see how I deal with having to eat out and eat at other, non-vegetarian houses. But tonight's topic is going to focus on the other issue which I have mentioned previously - my horrible tendency to overbuy vegetables, and/or, not knowing what to do with them.

I looked in the fridge, and I have this:

A bag of brussel sprouts
Baby Bok Choy
Two stalks of Broccoli
Two Portabella Mushroom Caps

It is Monday night. I leave Wednesday morning for my work trip. My initial concern was, these vegetables will go to waste! I quickly googled a couple of recipes, I googled if I could freeze vegetables (fyi - you cant without blanching and that just seemed like more work than I wanted to do after cleaning the bathroom and starting laundry). I thought I was in a bad spot. Then, I thought, I bet I can make portabella pizzas, with broccoli on them, and as a side.

So, I googled "portabella pizza" and saw a ton of recipes! Granted I had to use cheese, but I had some leftover Sargento Reduced Fat Provolone I had purchased prior to my meatless adventure. I didn't feel so bad about using this since it had been a pre-veg purchase and would go bad soon anyways. After the cupcake, I'm lucky this day ended this good.

So basically finding out that portabella pizza had been done, I didn't really look at any particular recipes, I kind of just made my own. I didnt have any cans of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, or puree. I was out of onions. My basil was brown. Don't judge me - I know that's sad. I was about to give up on the endeavor, but then I improvised.

First, I cleaned the portabella mushrooms and destalked the broccoli. I put them both on a cookie sheet, and tossed a couple of liberal tablespoons of olive oil over both vegetables. Then, I used my garlic salt grinder and sprinkled that liberally over the veggies. I stuck them in the broiler, and went to work on my sauce for the portabella pizzas.

I was really nervous for this part. I took 6 of my heriloom cherry tomatoes (Trader Joe's needs to pay me for talking about these so much) and put them in a pan with a few drizzles of olive oil. I added italian herb seasoning blend, some granulated garlic, onion powder, some additional basil, and let them cook on medium low until the skin broke. Then, I kind of mashed them and let them continue cooking for a few minutes. Next, I did something a little weird. I added in a touch of almond milk. I wanted to give it a little bit more flavor and creamy-ness, since I didnt have many tomatoes, or anything else to make the sauce with. It worked out great - it tasted so good. People may think I'm nuts, but it was actually quite tasty.

I was going to brown some Gimme Lean Soy Sausage to add to the "pizza," but once it's open, it has to be used in 3-5 days. I knew I wouldnt use enough and didn't want the rest to go to waste, so I'll save that for after the travel is over. I started to think that the pizza needed some more substance, and I need at least a little protein. So, I got a can of black beans out and added it to my tomato "sauce" to heat them through at the very end. The sauce took 20 minutes, total. Next, I took the veggies out of the oven (after about 25 minutes of roasting, and set the broccoli aside. I then spooned the tomato/bean mixture onto the portabella mushrooms, put two pieces of the reduced fat provolone on top, and popped them back in the oven to melt the cheese.

I put the pizzas on plates, put the broccoli on as a side, and topped the broccoli with a little drizzle of olive oil... and had a meal that I was a little worried about.

It was actually really, really good. I wished I had more. I would definately do this again - even without having the cans of diced tomatoes/sauce.

There are hits, and then there are misses.

I have had really good luck so far in that most of the things I have tried have been pretty spectacular. However, today, I had a miss. If I had a miss like this within the first week of going meatless, I think I would have given up. However, I tried to take today with a grain of salt, since it mostly hasn't been too horrible fixing my ugly, meat-eating ways.

I have been working my way up to try different meatless products. I know there is a lot of noise out there about too much soy being bad for you, but until I get the hang of this, I feel like I still need to rely on it for a lot of my meals for the time being. And I haven't had anything from Trader Joe's I haven't liked yet (re: my post, a Love Song for Trader Joe's), so I finally decided to try the Beefless Beef Strips for lunch today. It is Monday, I did not plan out my food situation today at all, so I grabbed what I could find in the fridge and headed to work.

I had a salad of arugula (quickly becoming my favorite green, due to it's flavorful taste), topped with some "beef" strips that I warmed up in the microwave at work. I added some of my heirloom cherry tomatoes, a small handful of some quinoa, and had a piece of rye bread with 1 tablespoon of the Trader Joe's "This is not a tub of cream cheese" product on the side. I topped the salad with some Maple Grove Farms fat fee Vidalia Onion Salad Dressing.

The meat had a good texture - it "ripped" like meat. This was unusual, because usually the texture is what is off on fake meat products. The taste was just not there for me. Whether it was the microwaving of the "meat" or the lack of extra seasoning, these were not tasty. I kind of felt like barf after I ate it. Writing about it still leaves me with a yucky taste in my mouth.

Real time Gchat:

Still, I won't give up on these. I think maybe if I use the Montreal Steak Seasoning, warm them up on the griddle pan, used maybe a teriyaki marinade, or with A-1 (which I love), or even put them in a fajita of sorts - they might be better the second time around. We'll see if I work my nerve up to try again.

I have the chickenless "chicken" strips, too, and I am hoping for better results with those. Fingers crossed.

As an aside, misses abounded today of all kinds. Monday was not good for my vegan eating, as someone in the office brought Sweet Mandy B's cupcakes in, which I liken to putting a drink in front of an alcoholic. Second behind meat on my list of things I thought I couldn't live without is cupcakes. I love them all. I haven't had a chance to check out the vegan kinds yet, and when I saw a case of these crack like cupcakes next to the printer when I got up to go get some water, I knew all bets were off.

I had a chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake, and immediately regretted it upon eating. It made my stomach ache, I felt guilty, and then I felt gross all day. I will never apologize here though. I am a real person. It would be great to think I am never going to make mistakes, or fall down, so I am not going to hide the ugly truth from you. Even if one day I have to post something like, "I got drunk and ate steak nachos at 3am." I hope that doesn't happen, and I don't think that it will, but I think my moment of weakness will come for something stupid like that, rather than as a result of a fancy meal or a special treat.

I've had grilled cheese and mac and cheese once or twice since going vegetarian, all in times of dining out with friends where the options were limited. I literally went to a bar one day, and they had three things on their menu: Burger, Cheese Quesadilla, or Grilled Cheese. I think I wasn't upset then, and that I am now because of the cupcake, because the cupcake seemed completely unncessary; flagrant. All of these feelings for this do not seem worth it:

There's always tomorrow.

Sometimes, you just have to throw it together - Beefless Ground Beef, with Manwich... (VG).

Much like an outfit you have to randomly put together when you wake up late, realize you have no clean clothes, and have no matching socks (I hope I am not the only one this happens to...I will be really embarrassed otherwise), I came home and had no idea how to put together tonight's meal. I had exhausted my go-to meals, and really want to force myself to think outside of the box to get a broader option of meals I can go to at a moment's notice.

Feel free to laugh. I had a meal of 1/2 a cup of quinoa, Roasted Brussel Sprouts with olive oil and garlic, and, the piece de resistance, Trader Joe's Beefless Ground Beef in...manwich sauce. Yes, that's how pathetic it got tonight. I doctored up the manwich mix with some other seasoning (Montreal Steak Seasoning, I'm so uncreative) and a little soy sauce to make it tast less ketchup-y. I think I went too heavy on the salt, but other than that, it was passable. I am taking the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, so clearly it wasn't inedible. I may actually use it to make a "real" sloppy joe sandwich next time, instead of just having the meat/sauce over quinoa. We'll see.

Tonight's meal, while not bad, was not something I can see myself going to in a moment's notice. But, it sufficed in a pinch, which is the same thing I can say about this morning's outfit.

Tofu Stirfry (V or VG)

This has to be one of the holy grail meals for people trying to become vegetarians. It's an easy first meal to have if you are making tofu, because it doesn't force you too far outside of your comfort zone.

This is all over the internet, but just in case - drain your tofu and rinse. I let mine sit out on a plate for a little bit so some of the water drains out. Then, I put a marinade on it. One block of tofu usually makes enough stirfry for 3 portions for us, for dinner, and leftovers for my lunch. For this one, I marinated it with some soy sauce, and some of this fantastic Maggi Seasoning Sauce my father-in-law gave us. If you buy this and use it, you only need a few drops - its very potent. It's similiar to soy. We also added a teaspoon of granulated ginger, and two minced cloves of garlic. We let that sit in the fridge for thirty minutes. We then started cooking this cous cous quinoa mix I got at Trader Joe's. While the tofu was marinating and the water started to bowl, we cooked a clove of additional garlic and one medium onion in a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil. When the onion cooked, we added in some fresh broccoli, frozen green beans, and some fresh mushrooms and let those cook. Then, at the very end, we added a scrambled egg and some basil. If you are vegan, obviously you don't have to add the egg. We bought Cage-Free eggs, but I have been doing a lot of reading about eggs, and I think I might have to give them up completely, unless I can find Animal Welfare Approved eggs, or locally raised eggs from chickens who are not debeaked and/or killed somewhere. I dont like the egg industry at all. We'll save that for another time.

Jeff also put some Trader Joe Gyoza Sauce on some Baby Bok Choy and baked it at 350 under it was tender. It was SO GOOD. I highly recommend, and it was so easy.

Overall, this is going to be a go-to meal. I cant wait to do some other marinating with tofu, too!

Taco Salad (V)

Let me be clear, I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture, and this was so good, that I didn't even want to stop to take one. So that's why when you see the plate, it looks kind of gross. But trust me, it is so good we've had it two or three times since our first attempt. This is one of those meals that we used to have with meat. Turkey Taco Salad was a staple for us, and I'm glad to see a meatless version is in the cards.

Easy as it gets:

As with most of my meals, I'm cooking for two, so keep that in mind. I put a little olive oil in a pan, and start cooking some diced onion in it over medium. I usually do 1/2 a medium onion (I also leave a little bit of raw onion out to put on the taco salad at the end). Once the onion gets good and cooked, add in about 1/2 a package of Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo, can of black beans, and continue cooking until the chorizo and beans are warmed through. I have found that I dont need to add any taco seasoning, but if you want to add cumin and or cilantro to taste, you can.

While the chorizo and beans are warming through, I slice some tomatoes, an avocado, wash some lettuce or arugula, or whatever greens I have in the house. Sometimes we use some salsa on the side, or Trader Joe's spicy Bean Dip. We top the argula with the bean/onion/chorizo mixture, then the tomato, avocado, and raw onions. Jeff also uses jalapenos, but I don't like super spicy stuff.

I usually have enough beans/chorizo cooked to divide it into 3 portions, two for Jeff and I for dinner, and one for lunch the next day. I save 1/2 of the avocado for lunch the next day, as well.

You can add shredded cheese and sour cream if you are not a vegan. I haven't found any substitute for sour cream yet, and I adore it. I'll work on giving it up, but right now, I don't know that I can imagine my life without it. If I find a good substitute, I'll keep you posted. I also can't forget to mention my boyfriend, AKA, Frank's Red Hot Sauce. He is the 4th love of my life after my husband and two dogs. I douse this salad with Frank's.

Seriously - I ate this with ground turkey meat at least once a week, and am so happy to know I can continue eating a meatless version now! And seriously - Don't let the gross photo fool you!

Love Song To Trader Joe's

In my last post, I talked about how enamored I have become with Trader Joe's since going veggie. Honestly, they have made it very easy to find things that are vegetarian and vegan, their prices (which, before I shopped there, I imagined to be high due to the organic nature of their offerings) are ridiculously affordable, and they have a broad range of items available for purchase so my meals aren't simply constructed of lettuce and some soy meat product day in and day out. To top it off, their staff has been so informative and pleasant everytime I have gone shopping. They don't come off as pretentious, they are more than willing to give recommendations, and every time I check out with something new, the cashier always makes a comment - "I love barbeque sauce on my tempeh!" or "This soy yogurt is really delicious" or "I make scrambled eggs with this soy chorizo".

I would also like to say that I thought being vegetarian would be REALLY expensive. It has been quite the opposite. I am still learning how to buy veggies - I do have to go to the store more often to buy fresh produce, so I don't waste items that go bad before I eat them, but meat free protein products are alot cheaper than real meat, and the shelf life is longer. A package of tofu at Trader Joe's is like $1.99. That is less than half the price of an on sale package of boneless skinless chicken breasts. A box of quinoa has lasted me for weeks. Soy Yogurt is $.99 at Trader Joe's, which is about the same price as the greek yogurt I used to eat and adore.

Here are some of the items I have come to rely on from Trader Joe's. I highly recommend, and will describe recipes using many of these at some point on this blog, I am sure. I have already told you about the heirloom cherry tomatoes, but please don't forget those. They truly are fantastic.

Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce - Fantastic with Tofu and Veggies

Trader Joe's Mini Chocolate Soy Sandwiches

Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo - Jeff can't even tell the difference, and I mean that. We use it for taco salad, breakfast, and chili.

Trader Joe's Soy Yogurt- I like the peach best, and the strawberry

Trader Joe's Almond Milk - I cant only drink a little bit, its more rich that regular milk, but its really good!

Trader Joe's Gyoza Dipping Sauce - Use this as a marinade, adding to stri-fry, or a dipping sauce

Trader Joe's Vegetable Gyoza - I'm not sure if this is vegan - I believe it is. Tasty, either way.

Trader Joe's "This is Not a Tub of Cream Cheese" - it's not that "healthy" for you, it doesn't replace the real thing, but its good on breads or as a sandwhich spread.

I have some other things I haven't tried yet, and some things I have tried that aren't that great, but we'll get to that.

Portabella Mushroom Burgers - (VG)

A lot of people say that when you go veggie, you should strive to think outside of the box regarding your meals - that they don't have to resemble what you're used to: a plate with a protein, a vegetable, and a grain. But for me, I need to make this transition as easy, step-by-step as possible. So, I decided to start out by trying to make vegetarian versions of meals I once would have eaten. I am trying to eat "vegan" as much as possible, so I will also denote which meals are vegan vs. vegetarian only.

As a disclaimer, I want to say that I don't identify as a "vegan." I feel that it is rude and disrespectful to refer to myself in those terms - I still do many things that true vegans would frown upon. Maybe one day, I will be able to go as far as to limit my usage of animal products beyond my food, but again, I need to do this one step at a time. I see myself growing into things such as changing up my soap and shampoo, and I for sure won't be able to buy that Louis Vuitton bag I sought after for so long...but I need to make sure this is a change I can sustain, first. Baby steps though.

The natural first meal seemed to be some sort of veggie burger. I love mushrooms, and we had used portabella before, so I decided to give it a shot.

Before starting in making the burger, we used our mandoline, which is probably the most used thing in our kitchen, to slice a potato into extra thin strips. We put the potato slices on a cookie sheet with some season salt and olive oil and started baking them at 375 degrees.

We cooked the portabella and seasoned it with Montreal Steak Seasoning. It is McCormick's brand and I have used it on our steaks and burgers ever since I can remember. I love the stuff. I was hoping that using the seasoning on the mushroom would make me envision eating meat. It did. We basically cooked the mushroom in our griddle pan over medium on the stove with a bit of olive oil, some onions, and the Montreal Steak Seasoning. While it was cooking, we sliced up some heirloom cherry tomatoes from Trader Joe's. These are $2.99 every day! I use them in everything now - from sauces, to sandwiches, to salads. Phenomenal. We also sliced up some avocado, and washed some arugula. All from Trader Joes. I need to write a seperate post proclaiming my love for Trader Joes now that I am going veg. Seriously, amazing. I will get to that at a later point.

Next, we toasted our rye bread up in the griddle pan. After that we were ready to assemble our sandwiches.

Finally, we mixed up a balsamic vinaigrette with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and an italian herb spice mix, and made a small side salad with some arugula, freshly cracked black pepper, and a little of the leftover heirlooms and avocado.

The only mistake in this meal was the portion size. I assumed because I was eating veggies that I needed to eat more food, but the potatoes and the side salad were too much. We were stuffed. Next time, one or the other with the sandwich.

To this date, this is one of the most tasty vegetarian dishes we have made. Simply fantastic - I didn't miss the meat at all, and neither did Jeff, which says a lot since he has not joined the meat free bandwagon yet. We have had this a few times - its a meal we are comfortable with. We usually use one half of the avocado between us, and I put the other half in some tupperware in the fridge, after putting a little lemon juice on it to perserve it. I take it to work the next day, and make a sandwich with some toasted rye, Trader Joe's "This is not a cream cheese tub" spread, heirlooms, and arugula. Tastes like a vegan BLT, minus the B.

Things you will need:
Portebella Mushrooms
Seasoning of your choice
Sandwich Toppings - We prefer onions, avocado, arugula and tomatoes
Rye Bread

This is as easy as it comes my friends.

The Break-Up

Consequently one of my favorite movies, it is also a very fitting title for this first post. You could say my first love is meat. All of my favorite things in the world, involve meat. My best memories, my worst memories, everything is wrapped up in food for me, and food for me has always meant meat. Dates, parties, girls nights - the first thing was always, where and what would we eat. I remember vividly the best times I have had: A filet topped with holladaise and lump crab meat; the tradional steak Sundays my husband, Jeff, and I shared all summer, the Christmas Eve Prime Rib. For thirty years, I have been a carnivore extraordinaire.

My adoption of two dogs a few years ago started making me think more about my actions as a human. I started to see the plight of homeless and abused pets, and as my love for my dogs grew, my sadness over the treatment of animals and animal cruelty grew. However, at that point, I still wasn't thinking holistically about the matter. I didn't see that behind what I was eating, was another animal; and probably an animal who was suffering even more.

But, that slowly started seeping into my thoughts. For every barbeque I have hosted, every beer can chicken I have made, every pork loin roasted, turkey deep fried, double cheeseburger I have eaten in a hungover stupor, something else had to die. Something that has feelings, thoughts, intellect.

My breaking moment, much like the one you may have had with a boyfriend, a job, a friend, whatever the point is when you reach the conclusion that you have grown out of something, came when I was actually watching a show on the Food Network called "The Big Waste." Part of the episode shows chickens that were slaughtered being thrown away because their skin had broken during the processing phase. They said they couldn't be sold because no one would buy them like that. To me, that reeked of arrogance, lordliness almost. People around the world are starving and we are throwing whole chickens away. But what really sealed the fate of meat in my diet was the fact that we abuse living creatures and take their lives with the defense that there are people to feed - only to do so in vain because the cosmetics aren't right.

After that, I forced myself to read things I knew were true in the back of my head, but failed to acknowledge before so I could continue to live in my faceless, meat-loving happy life. Just because I didn't know, didn't mean it wasn't true. I don't want to buy eggs or eat chickens that came from stressed out environments - who are forced to produce, have their beaks ripped off, and are kept in tiny crates the size of a piece of legal paper; I dont want to drink milk from cows that are made to reproduce to keep producing milk; I don't want to eat cattle that spent their final hours without food and water being transported to slaughter, I dont want to have a piece of bacon that came from a smart pig who had parts of its flesh ripped off and was kept in a tiny cage. Suddenly, that piece of bacon doesn't seem so necessary; the milkshake not as fulfilling; my hangover not as important as knowing that something suffered so I could have something so trivial.

The world is a big place. I'm not stupid, and I do understand how factory farms have come to be necessary. I think I understand the cycle of life. I don't know if I am saying that animals shouldn't be eaten, but I am saying that animals, during the course of their lives, should be treated humanely. And until I can know that animal products have come from an ethical place, I just can't bring myself to be a participant any longer. This is all so new to me. I am still sorting out my thoughts. So, for my own peace of mind, I don't know that right now I can contemplate fighting a full on rebellion against the man - I think this is a step by step personal process that I need to slowly undertake. But, what haunts me are the thoughts - when did we become so flagrant? when did food become less about what we needed to survive, and more about status and consumerism? When did we start caring only about the ends and not the means? I don't want to be the cause of suffering for anything, and I have started to realize that just because there isn't blood on my hands, doesn't mean I am not guilty. I'm tired of being a coward who makes excuses.

This is not meant to be a blog with me on my soapbox every entry. The goals of this blog are: 1)To motivate myself to stick with this, and to remind myself of the reasons why I gave up meat 2) To show others that if I, a former meat junkie can give it up, so can they 3)To share good ideas and recipes for people who are trying to live as cruelty-free as possible 4)To find a positive way to explore my thoughts, especially when I might not have anyone else in my life I can relate to.

The name of the blog came from a long-standing joke that started when I was in college. I loved meat so much, I told my best friend I would one day start a cable access show called "Meat for the Manly Girl." And here, 10 years later, I find myself meatless.