A healthy, fresh breakfast

This breakfast was just too pretty not to post! It was healthy, fresh, colorful, vegan, and gluten free!

Fresh fruit: bananas, apples, Clementine oranges, and pineapple rings. Nut butters: peanut butter and almond butter. Plus - cashews! Super yum-o!

Finally felt good enough to cook!

I've been fighting morning sickness (a.k.a. ALL DAY sickness), and I haven't felt like cooking in weeks. I've been doing good if I made dinner at all - even if it was cooking eggs and hash browns. Tonight, I actually cooked us a proper meal! It was fantastic, too. I am finally going to post a recipe for oat-walnut patties and "potato heroine." Besides those things we had steamed broccoli with pimiento-cashew "cheese," and a green salad. Yum! Here's my version of oat-walnut patties:
4 C water
1/2 C Bragg Liquid Aminos
1/3 C olive oil
1 C chopped walnuts (you can substitute pecans, but I've never tried it)
1/4 C nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried basil
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp "beef" broth powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried sage
4 C rolled oats
Put all ingredients except oats in a large pot, still well, bring to a boil. Remove from head and stir in oats. Cover and let cool. Preheat oven to 350F. Form mixture into 3 inch patties and place on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes on each side. (sometimes I make these meatball size, and then put them in my son's lunch) The original recipe comes from The Seventh-day Diet.

"Potato Heroine"
The original recipe is called Lemony Roasted Potatoes, and it is from Veganomicon. I have tinkered with the ingredients just a bit, but the real changes are in the cooking times. If you cook the recipe like the book says, you will end up with hard, watery potatoes - yuck. Here's how I make them:
2 1/2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled
1/4 C olive oil
8-10 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 C lemon juice (they say "fresh squeezed" LOL. They are obviously not caring for four children and pregnant with a fifth! Bottled works just fine)
1 C vegetable broth
2 heaping tsp dried oregano
2 tsp salt
2 tsp tomato paste
black pepper
Preheat oven to 375F. Slice potatoes in thin strips (if they are too thick - they will NEVER get done). In a large, deep casserole dish, combine oil, garlic, lemon juice, broth, oregano, salt and tomato paste. Put the potatoes in the casserole dish and pour the sauce over them. Toss to mix. Put pepper on top. Cook in the oven for 35 minutes - UNCOVERED! Then, stir, cover and cook for another 40 minutes. Stir and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir once more - check the potatoes for softness and to see if sauce has evaporated. Most likely you will need to cook them for another 15 minutes. Yes - they take an hour and 45 minutes to cook. Outrageous I know, but we don't call them "potato heroine" for nothing.

And here is the finished product!

Korean BBQ Marinade

Dinner was so yummy! Okay, technically it was a couple of days ago, but I've been too tired and nauseous to update my blogs at night. I tried a new marinade from Vegetarian Times called Korean BBQ Marinade. I marinated seitan and portabello mushrooms in it. The seitan should have been cut up more and should have had more time to marinate. The mushrooms were freaking awesome though! I sauteed a yellow onion with a little of the marinade and served that over some steamed fingerling potatoes and made an Asian Viniagrette and served that over mache and heirloom tomatoes. It was a fabulous meal! I made the marinade a little different than VT's. Here's my version:
1/2 Cup Bragg Liquid Aminos
1/3 Cup agave nectar
1/4 Cup mirin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbs. sesame oil

This week's bentos!

This week's bentos aren't very cute, but they're functional, and the kids like them!
Tuesday: mandarin oranges, grapes, tofu, cheese round, peanut butter crackers, a chocolate, and a skewer of tomatoes, olives, and a pickle. I also packed a fruit leather for Beth Ann and a package of Sharkies for Ray.

Wednesday: mandarin oranges, grapes, mini corn dogs, tofu, olives, a cheese round, a chocolate, a pickle, dried blueberries, and a fruit leather for Beth Ann, and a package of Sharkies for Ray.

Thursday: Pineapple, Tofurky, carrots, pretzels, a chocolate, and a skewer of olives and a pickle - plus a fruit leather for Beth Ann and a package of Sharkies for Ray.

Second bento of the year

I'm enjoying getting back into lunch making for the kidlets. I know they enjoy it, so it's sort of my act of love for them - a touch of mom during the day! These bentos have mini corn dogs, tortilla roll ups, grapes, Goldfish crackers, dried blueberies, a skewer of tomatoes, cheese, a pickle, and an olive, and a chocolate.

Back to Bento Time!!!

Beth Ann and Ray both start school tomorrow, so it's time to get the bentos out! We're eating a normal vegetarian diet for the time being, so the next few bentos won't necessarily be either gluten of dairy free. I just love the bentos so much, that I'm going to post about them anyway!!!

In the bottom tier, I packed mandarin oranges. There is fruit leather in the lid. For the main part, I put Flat Earth Chips in the cup, a Babybel cheese, veggie meat rolled up with the animal picks, a skewer of grapes, a skewer of cheese, cherry tomatoes, and a pickle and a little chocolate.

Swing Thai

Well, we're going through all the gluten/dairy testing now, and I think it's going to be a couple of months ordeal. Gah. My oldest daughter and I went out to dinner this evening at Swing Thai, and I was pleased to see that they have their gluten-free dishes marked, and there were quite a few of them. They also have their vegan dishes marked. How cool is that? I didn't take my camera, but I'm going to go back, take pictures, and do a proper review. For now, let me just say that their food is good, and there are plenty of gluten free/vegan options.