How Many Ways Can You Dress a Burrito?

Posted on October 25, 2010 by

Last week I wasn’t feeling very adventurous in my kitchen. I had some of Amy’s organic vegan frozen bean burritos and every time I went to my refrigerator, these things kept begging me to choose them. I know, frozen burritos are not exactly the material that are going to make a food blog wildly popular. But, day after day, I just couldn’t help myself.

How many ways can you dress a frozen burrito, after all? Well, let me tell you.

There’s the simple, yet elegant tomato paste and sliced avocado worn angled and slightly off the shoulder look–the perfect day look for a burrito. It’s not trying too hard, but it still manages to turn heads.

Then there is the Tomato Paste, Roasted Salsa Verde, and Green Onion look, paired with bright red pumps peppers. Tomato Paste is the little black dress of burritos, you know. This look says “I’m up for a good time, but don’t expect me to be here in the morning.”

Finally, we present the Left-Over Veggie Enchilada look. This is the perfect look for a business meeting. The muted colors and soft edges of the cooked veggies don’t call too much attention and using left-overs show that you’ll be conscious of things like budgets and the environmental impact our choices make.

What’s your favorite way to dress up a burrito?

I think I’m beginning to feel the strain of not living close to a better grocery store. Real grocery shopping requires a trip 20 minutes in one direction to HerbMart (love this little place–great prices on health food items) and then another 15 minutes to Kroger Signature, then another 20 minutes home. It’s a chore, I tell you, a chore.

On week two of groceries, the freezer was hit up. Week three (that’s this week), I usually finally break into the pantry and start using up my dried beans and things that require more preparation.

Do you go through cycles with groceries, too? Eating all your fresh food first, then to the convenient freezer food, then finally to the stock of dried goods?

Although grocery shopping is a bigger chore now that we live outside of the city, I still get to enjoy my country views.

Waking up to the morning fog makes it all worth it.

I’ve never seen a rainbow with such vibrant colors. I made my husband jump out of the shower to come see it.

Nature has given us such beautiful art in that sky this week. Last night God even put on a light show for us. We turned off all the lights and watched this incredible lightning storm until I finally fell asleep in Jared’s lap. It must have gone on for an hour or so. When I was a kid, we had a huge wall of windows in our house and I have some great memories piling up on my parents bed and watching lightning storms over the lake.

Has the weather been crazy for you, too? It’s almost the end of October and we had tornadoes and golf ball-sized hail not too far from us yesterday, the lightning storm, and then today the wind is blowing like crazy, yet I heard we may hit a record high of 90. That’s Texas for you.

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Weekend Recap: Healthy Vegan on a Budget

Posted on October 19, 2010 by

A lot of people ask me if being vegan is more expensive. In truth, it can be, but it’s mainly because becoming vegan was primarily a health choice for us. So along with getting rid of animal products, we’re also trying to cut out a lot of processed junk foods and eat organic when possible. Being a healthy vegan on a budget is a challenge, but I’m up for it.

Take this budget-friendly weekend for example.

Free entertainment with Friday Night Football. Jared’s team beat his old high school by a landslide!

What’s better than a box of shoes? A shoe box full of free veggies! I met my mother-in-law to give her the football tickets for the game and lucky for me, it was her CSA day and she was up for sharing her share. I ate half of one of those red peppers today without even cutting it in slices. It’s so sweet, it’s like biting into a piece of fruit.

Pita pizza. No delivery charges, no tips, and no explanation needed when asking for a cheese-less pizza.

Simple and inexpensive ingredients, odd combinations, big flavors.

Black beans that required MUCH patience. Cans have spoiled me with their instant gratification, but no one said eating healthy and on a budget would be easy. I learned that planning ahead is required if you want to eat beans for dinner, not the next day’s breakfast.

Salsa Showdown. Texas Longhorns may have won the game this weekend, but Wal-Mart’s store brand won this showdown. I’m not a huge fan of Wal-Mart, but in our small town it’s one of the only two grocery stores. Sometimes they surprise me with deals like this though.

Chip Showdown. The Tostitos have been our favorite tortilla chip thus far, but Wal-Mart’s store-brand took the win on this, too. I wish they were organic, but the hearty flavor and texture were really good.

Instead of buying two books to read at the same time, we saved money and just bought one to read together. Sunday mornings have become one of our favorite times together as I read a chapter out loud and then we discuss the questions in the back. I don’t think I’ll ever buy us two copies of a book again.

$1.50 Organic Spaghetti Squash. Need I say more?

$4 meal. Spicy Maple Tofu on top of Maple Butter Spaghetti Squash. I cleaned and sauteed the seeds with a little Earth Balance and S&P for a delicious crunchy topping. Resourceful, eh?

I have to admit that I’ve kind of enjoyed the way the bad economy has made living on less chic. I get giddy when I make a great meal with a few dollars or pull together a new outfit from clothes I thought I’d never wear again.

How has the economy taught you to enjoy living on less?

 

 

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LOVE – It’s a Lovely Thing

Posted on October 15, 2010 by

I grew up in the country and every one of my friends lived on a big plot of land with lots of privacy and a view. None of us had a lot, but looking back, maybe we had more than we realized. Our house was backed up to a lake, where fishing and swimming were at our fingertips. As I got older, I remember taking naps on our hammock, or eating meals outside on the patio, or dangling my feet off the dock as I cried over a broken heart. We sold the house my freshman year in college and I’ve missed having a place to retreat to ever since.

When we went house hunting for the first time this summer, I just couldn’t imagine myself buying a home where I couldn’t sit out on my back porch and find peace. Every house we saw, I walked outside and asked myself “Could I enjoy reading and praying and having my morning coffee out here?”

That’s why when we found this house, I knew it was the one.

Eventually we’ll landscape and build out the roof to cover all of the patio.

This rocking chair was on my front porch growing up. This is where you could find my dad cleaning his shot gun every time a new boy picked me up for a date.

LOVE

I love my backyard view. I love my Pumpkin Pie Vegan Overnight Oats. I love coffee.

I also loved this lunch.

Leftover brown rice couscous, sataued mushrooms, avocado, tomato, red bell pepper, spinach, and salsa on a low-fat whole wheat tortilla (x2), with a side of organic chips & salsa. So simple, yet so delicious.

I also loved this for dessert.

I break the bar into little pieces and keep it in the fridge. I can only eat a little bit of dark chocolate at a time, so one bar usually lasts me at least a week or two. You can taste the little bits of espresso in this bar. So good!

Speaking of love, I think I’m going to change yesterday’s crust recipe name from Make-At-Your-Own Risk Flax Seed Pie Crust to You’re-Going-to-Love-This Garlic Herb Flax Pie Crust. This was even better on day two. I also liked how thick the pot pie filling got as it sat.

I topped off dinner with my pac-man orange, leftover from the foaming beers last night.

These were consumed overlooking this view. LOVE.

Then it was off to cheer on the man I love at his football game. A coach’s wife is always prepared.

Much better than a pickle–the only vegan option at the concession stand.

Sweater. Check. Stadium Seat. Check. Camera. Check. Green Tea. Check. Larabar. Check. Potty Break Before Sitting Down. Check. Blackberry with Facebook for Entertainment. Check. (During time outs of course ;) )

These two teams are huge rivals in the same town. Jared played for the maroon team in high school on this very field. He’s now traded out maroon for Big Blue–kind of sacrilegious in this town. Tonight is the varsity game and we’re really hoping for a Blue Win!

I loved that the girls on both teams wore pink bows to support Breast Cancer Awareness month. Even among rivals, something like breast cancer can even out the playing field.

And at the end of the night, the love of my life came home to curl up and watch The Office with me.

LOVE, it’s a lovely thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wolfgang Puck Pot Pie

Posted on October 14, 2010 by

I’ve never been a fan of sweet breakfasts. Even when I was younger and had a pantry stocked with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Honey Graham Oh’s, I reserved those for a late night dessert.

When I gave up eggs, meat, and dairy, I missed having a big variety of savory breakfast options, like eggs and toast with turkey bacon, or even plain greek yogurt. I don’t crave those things anymore, but I still find myself craving something solid for breakfast.

While sipping on this…

…I was checking my google reader and came across Ashley at Edible Perspective’s hearty lunchtime sandwich with avocado, egg, and tomato paste. I knew that I had to make an open-faced vegan version for breakfast. Nothing else would have done. So I subbed the egg with chickpeas for a delicious savory vegan breakfast.

Don’t the chickpeas nestled into the avocado look like little peas in a pod? They just sort of fell into place that way. So cute.

Lunch was leftover pasta and tomato sauce from the night before with chickpeas again. Chick – please! When the weather gets cooler, I have a harder time eating my greens, so I made myself eat a spinach salad with S&P, EVOO, and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos. I don’t know why I have to force myself to eat salad, I always end up liking it.

Do you struggle eating more fresh veggies when the weather cools off?

Dinner was an adventure. My friend Michelle told me about this easy recipe that she makes for Chicken Pot Pie using store bought pie shells, gravy, and a bag of frozen veggies and chicken. Then, of course, I couldn’t get Pot Pie out of my head. I wanted to make a lentil veggie pot pie, but I got started too late to let the lentils cook all the way.

Then I remembered I had scored a deal on some of Wolfgang Puck’s organic Hearty Lentil & Vegetable Soup. $0.99! It was really thick and gravy-like and had the lentils and some veggies in it already. I added a bag of frozen veggies, and sauteed onions and mushrooms to bulk it up a little bit. Then I added a bit of seasoning and swig of almond milk and white cooking wine and voila’ – filling.

Wolfgang, you’re kind of freaking me out in this picture. Thinking these are on clearance for a reason. (Actually, I find a lot of vegetarian options on clearance in our small town Brookshires. I think I may be the only vegetarian in town.)

Then I got adventurous and decided to make my own crust. I should really go spend an afternoon with my Granny to learn the basics of working with dough, because I had no clue what I was doing. I took some different recipes online and came up with this recipe.

Garlic Herb Flax Pie Crust

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup ground flax
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp garlic
4 tbs vegetable shortening
2 tbs Earth Balance
Ice cold water

Mix dry ingredients.

If you have a pastry mixer, well good for you, use that. Or do like me and use two knives, and chop the vegetable shortening and Earth Balance into the flour mix until it looks chunky and your husband looks at you all scared and asks what on earth you are doing to that poor flour.

If you snap at him because he’s asking too many questions while your trying to chop up flour, he may provide you with one of these.

If you push the orange into the beer, it will foam excessively and you’ll have to keep drinking the foam fast enough to prevent an avalanche. You might end up laughing so hard that you blow foam all over the place. A few dirty jokes might be tossed around in the process. After you have a foam buzz, the dough challenge may look a lot less stressful and a lot more fun.

After you chop the flour until it’s fully dead, I mean crumbled, use a fork to mix in the ice cold water until it all sticks together…but don’t get it too wet or it will be sticky…like mine was.

Form two balls. Resist the urge to make another dirty joke…or not, it’s your kitchen.

Some directions said to wrap the dough and chill it for thirty minutes. I didn’t do this, but I would have if time had permitted.

Roll out the first ball.

Then line your pie pan with it.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. I poked a few holes at the bottom, but I don’t know if you’re really supposed to do that when you’re about to fill it with liquid. Do you know?

Fill it with your pot pie filling and roll out the second ball of dough. Lay on top.

Peek-a-boo, I forgot to take a picture of you!

Then pinch the sides down and cut a few slits at the top. Pop in the oven at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes, then serve.

Jared and I both liked the crust a lot. I liked the texture that the flax added. I’d like to make this again and make my own gravy and lentils, though. The flavor of the soup didn’t quite work for me in the pot pie. It was still quite good, though. Thanks for giving me a hand this time, crazy-eyed Wolfgang.

*UPDATE: Day 2, this was delicious. I think letting the pie set-up longer helped a lot. I’d suggest letting it sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. I’ve also decided that this pie crust is perfect for a healthy savory dish.

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“I Can’t Even Boil Water”

Posted on October 13, 2010 by

I have a very pretty stove. It’s stainless steel and has a nice smooth glass finish. It’s built into the counter so you never have food fall in between your counter and your stove, like it does in those oven/stove combo units. However, the burners take FOREVER to get hot, so making breakfast on the stove is pretty much out if I want to eat before noon.

In comes my favorite kitchen accessory, Pampered Chef’s Micro-Cooker. I never use the stove for oatmeal anymore. If you’re like me and “can’t boil water,” it’s a well-spent $8.

This morning’s breakfast was Cinnamon Apple Raisin Oatmeal. I like my oats to have a lot of texture and this always delivers.

Into my micro-cooker goes 1/2 c. oats, 1 c. Almond Milk, 1/2 chopped apple, spoonful of chia seeds, teaspoon of cinnamon, and a sprinkle of raisins, whole almonds, and sucanat. I put the cover on and cooked it for 4 minutes, stirring half-way, and topped with organic peanut butter, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I washed it down with this…

and a sweet memory of my trip to Seattle to see my nephew, George.

By the time I finished reminiscing on how big George has gotten in the past year and sending out a newsletter for a client, it was time for lunch before I knew it.

Admission: The hubs and I love Ramen Noodles. It’s not something we are proud of, so I recently banned them from the house…

until I found these:

The ingredient list looked pretty harmless, and although they aren’t $0.33, they’re still relatively cheap at $0.99.

While waiting for the water to boil…darn stove. I snacked on the other half of my apple from breakfast, half an orange, some little tomatoes, and sweet peppers. These were prepped, photographed and eaten before the water in my smallest pot came to a boil.

Alas, after much patience, the Ramen Noodles were enjoyed just like the good ole days. They were a little different, but they definitely satisfied my cravings for Ramen.


I work a couple of days a week doing marketing for a restaurant nearby. After lunch I headed there and ended up letting myself get too hungry and caved into a few fries and a brownie, but vowed to get my veggies in when I got home. I think the brownie + going too long without real food gave me a headache. Should have reached for the go-to bag of almonds in my purse instead. Lesson learned.

Dinner was all about the veggies.

I tossed kale, chickpeas, new potatoes, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots and bell pepper in olive oil, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, garlic, and Bragg’s Liquid Amino and roasted it on 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. I took out the Kale at about 15 minutes or so and did a taste test with Jared. We both confirmed that the few chips I had initially cooked would not be enough (somehow they disappeared while we were “testing” them), so I quickly coated the rest of the kale and threw it on it’s own baking sheet for the rest of the cooking time.

I served the veggies on top of Whole Wheat Penne and Spaghetti Sauce, which meant I had to boil water again.

I read online somewhere that some of these stoves have trouble detecting a pan without enough weight. I’ll try anything at this point, so I used my cast iron trivet to weigh it down. Not convinced this is my issue. Any suggestions?

Alas, after “boiling” my pasta in hot water, a meal was served. Jared totally “What About Bobbed” this meal, specifically the kale chips. Mmmmm, Mmmmmm, MmmmmMmmMmm!


I’d also like to report that Jared is feeling much better today. Last night’s regimen seemed to have worked. Oh, and the Ranger’s just won their first post-season series ever, so he’s actually feeling pretty amazing right now. Go Rangers!!

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Lunch Dates for Z’Adventurous

Posted on October 12, 2010 by

Today started out cool dark and gloomy. I didn’t mind because it meant I could open the blinds without battling the laptop glare and Marvin, our big-boned cat, didn’t mind since I left the door open to let in the fresh air. He likes to be outside, but hates to be excluded from the activity. He gets the best of both world’s on mornings like this. Look how gloomy it is.

A day like this calls for Oh She Glow’s Pumpkin Pie Vegan Overnight Oats and after a restless night of sleep, I was so glad to see breakfast all ready for me when I woke up.

See link for recipe. I layered the oats with organic peanut butter, maple syrup, ground cacoa nibs (I grind the nibs b/c they are kind of bitter to bite into), roasted pecans, and dried cherries. I L.O.V.E this breakfast.

My day brightened even more when I got to have a spur-of-the-moment lunch with my friend Roxanne. I bought a Groupon a few months ago to a place in Uptown Dallas that I’ve been wanting to try called Greenz: Salads for Z’Adventurous. Made for a cheap date!

I think Roxanne ate the Spicy Panko Shrimp Wrap. I ate the Grilled Southwestern Wrap with breaded tofu, roma tomatoes, sweet & spicy tomatillo-jicama relish, spinach & romaine mix with cilantro-lime vinaigrette. Served with sweet potato straws. It was delicious, though I think I’d prefer sweet potato fries. The straws were so crispy you could harldy taste the sweet potato.

We shared the fruit cup for dessert. I was so eager to chat with Rox that I didn’t read the menu very well and notice that it came drizzled with cinnamon yogurt. It was still good, but I honestly was craving just some plain fresh fruit. These are times when I am flexible with my vegan diet. I mean, look how pretty this is.

Then Roxanne and I proceeded to stretch out our lunch for two hours talking about life, God, and of course food. I haven’t known Rox for long, but she’s one of those friends you just feel so comfortable with. Let’s just say we were smitten for each other from day one! She filled my cup, literally with Passion Fruit Iced Tea.

We both showed up in scarves, signs of our longing for fall, over our summer clothes, signs that we live in Texas and even on a “cool” October day, it reaches 80.

We enjoyed this lovely view on McKinney Avenue.

My hubby just came home with a 99.5 fever and a sore throat. Dinner was Amy’s Lentil Soup & Brown Rice Couscous for him and leftover Baby Lima Soup with Chipotle Broth for me with a cocktail of Meds and Vitamins for him and an immunity booster for me. I.Will.Not.Get.Sick.

Here’s to a healthy household!

 

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My First Bite

Posted on October 10, 2010 by

I’ve wanted to start a personal blog for awhile. Actually, I’ve started two personal blogs already. One was generally about me, then I merged that into a blog about being a coach’s wife. I have to admit that I didn’t find my life exciting enough to share on a daily basis and I realized, profoundly I suppose, that my life actually didn’t revolve around my husband’s job as a coach. It’s a great source of joy, pride (and sometimes frustration) for me, but I’m more than just a coach’s wife so I’ve struggled with consistent posting.

Every day, though, I eat. I don’t eat just normal stuff, either. For example, today I ate tomatoes and avocado for breakfast and the hubs accurately pointed out “You’re not normal.” Normal is so boring! I find myself wanting to share my meals with other people who like to eat interesting healthy things, too. My facebook page has 130 food photos where I’ve attempted to share with friends and family my journey of becoming a plant-eater. It’s hard to share recipes on Facebook, so I’ve decided to try my hand at a food blog.

Since I don’t have any pictures from my querky meal this morning, here’s one of my favorite vegan meals paired with my healthy twist on a margarita. I am kind of guessing at the quantities for the enchiladas since I made this a long time ago, but I encourage winging it with cooking, so just go with it. This made 17 enchiladas, so I froze half of the batch. In the future, now that I’m blogging, I’ll try to keep track of quantities a little better.

Clean-Out-the-Crisper Veggie Enchiladas

Ingredients

  • 2 New Potatoes (Any white potato would work, but these really “make” the enchiladas, so don’t skip them.)
  • Handful of Spinach
  • 1 Onion
  • 2 Carrots
  • 1 clove of Garlic
  • 1 can Black Olives (Chopped)
  • 1 can Black Beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 1 can of Corn (drained)
  • 1 cup cooked Brown Rice
  • 1 can Enchilada Sauce
  • 1 cup Spaghetti Sauce
  • 1 tbs Chipotle Adobe Sauce
  • Corn or Flour Tortillas
  • Daiya Non-Dairy Cheese (optional)
  • Toppings: Cilantro, Tomato, Avocado, (Optional)

Boil the potatoes, let cool, finely chop. Chop onion and sautee on medium with minced garlic. Chop spinach and black olives, and grate or chop carrot (and any other veggies you have on hand: bell peppers, jalapenos, broccoli, zucchini, squash…) and put in large bowl. Add potatoes and onion and garlic to bowl. Add black beans, rice, and corn. Stir. I really liked the finely chopped veggies in this, but if you’re in a hurry or like each veggie to “stand on it’s own” I’m sure a rougher chop would do just fine.

Mix Enchilada Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce, and Chipotle Adobe Sauce in bowl.

Soften up corn tortillas in a little olive oil. These were actually a mix of corn and wheat tortillas with 5 grams of protein per tortilla. I like to look for high-protein carbs, so I can justify being a carb junky. ;)

Spread sauce on tortilla, top with filling and a little Daiya “cheese,” roll-up and line up in a baking dish (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray). You may need two baking dishes.

Cover enchiladas with sauce.

Top with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with Daiya cheese, bake for another 5-10 minutes.  I froze the other batch before adding Daiya cheese on top for an easy re-heat dinner.

Sprinkle with your favorite toppings: chives, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, salsa, Tofutti Sour Cream. I paired these with kale chips (I have some kale in my crisper right now, so I’ll post the recipe soon) and a fresh citrus margarita.

Fresh Citrus Margarita

Indgredients:

  • One orange (juiced)
  • One lime (juiced)
  • 2-3 ounces of simple syrup*
  • 2 ounces of clear tequila

*Traditional simple syrup is a 1:1 ration of sugar and water. I like to cut down on sweetness with a ratio of 1:2, though.

Mix all the ingredients and serve on the rocks with a salt-rimmed glass. Makes one fabulous margarita.

I hope you enjoyed my first bite on My Life in Bites!

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