Week's meals & sprouting alfalfa

This week was hot hot hot.

It made me wanna avoid cooking with all seriousness lol.

Groceries bought for the upcoming week:
I feel like we are pretty stocked up so just one store this week.

Kroger:
Bag of vidalia onions - 4.99
Kroger sour dough english muffin - 1
Corn on the cob - 1.99
cilantro - .50
Kroger spinach - 1
avocado - 1.25
Lemon - .53
cucumber - .67
*Ling vegan potstickers - 2.00
*4 diet soda 12 packs - 10.00
total - 23.93 + tax

*- sale items


This week's meals:


































Quinoa Kitchari - I used red cabbage & red onion with spinach. It gave it a pretty purpley color.This made 6 servings, and that goes a long way with two people. Was very flavorful, will make again.
Tofu stir fry - marinated in an organic simmer sauce, on top of basmati, with a side of veggies.
Tofu scramble - I like the ppk tofu scramble and usually make it once a week. Dear Pookie doesn't like those spices for breakfast so I went on the hunt for something more.. plain jane. This is it. It was nice and simple. Will make again. Had mine on a sour dough english muffin.
Eccentric sushi - Again. This time I made half with alfalfa sprouts, avocado, spinach, orange bell pepper, red onion. The other half was the same + Spicy Tempeh recipe from the spicy tempeh roll link.
Steam baked Seitan Cutlets - served with an ear of corn, 1/2 sweet potato, 1/2c cantaloupe. yum. I am not quite used to seitan, so I dipped mine in 2T of Heinz 57 sauce to give it more flavor. The recipe turned out pretty good. It wasn't squeaky (first time I tried making seitan it squeaked on my teeth, ick), and the texture was pretty good. Made a double batch of these and put some in the freezer.
We also had a taco salad one night for movie night (Men who stare at Goats).

Sprouting:

This week I made sprouts again. I used all my last ones up in the eccentric sushi. I made more this week, so I will be starting another batch tonight. First time I used 3T alfalfa. Second Time I used 2T alfalfa. I think next time I will try it with just 1T seed.


Soak 6-8 hours. I usually set it out before bed.
Rinse 2-3 times a day. I do it right before I eat a meal.
I keep it in my kitchen cabinet for 5 days, then for the 6th day I pop it into the window to get a little green.



























Isn't that pretty?

Trying new (to me) recipes!

I am still wiped out from my walk yesterday! I hate being this out of shape! Woke up today and did sunrise tai chi with Pookie. It was just what I needed to get my day started off right.

Groceries bought for the upcoming week:
shopped Friday so used some in weekend meals

Kroger
6 roma tomatoes - 3.23
avocado - 1
2 sweet potatoes - 1.46
acorn squash - 2.24
english cucumber - 1
cilantro - .50
red onions - 3.94
green onions - .55
6 bell peppers - 6
2 spinach - 3.98
* 10 tofu - 15.00 (stocked up!)
* organic simmer sauce - 1.99
* atheno hummus - 1
* 2 ocean spray craisins - 2
* organic apple cider - 1.49
Big Lots
act 2 butter lovers popcorn - 2.30
sea creature animal crackers - .40 <---Pookie's purchase
Aldi
tortilla chips - .99
blue tortilla chips - 1.69
celery - 1.29
bananas - .83
2 lemons - .98
frozen mango chunks - 3.29
* - things not planned for, but bought because on sale-
$57.15 + tax


I have been trying to cut back on my diet mountain dew habit. While it seems negligible on calories, I don't think it's doing anything good for my body. I bought two 2qt bottles so that I could make cucumber water and lemon water. I don't like plain water. I know people think it's weird to not like a flavorless thing... but there it is. I guess if you grow up on soda and kool-aid you just expect more from your beverages! haha

I tried both and prefer the cucumber water. It is refreshing and light. It has helped me cut back on the mountain dew and kept me more hydrated through the last few days. I woke up today and Pookie was telling me how much he liked the lemon water. I guess it worked out well for both of us! I am glad I spent the few bucks on the containers for it. I will have cucumbers and lemons on the shopping list for most of the summer. Yum.

I did a fair amount of cooking this week, here is what we had:




















Chickpea salad - topped with tomato, sprouts (I sprouted those!), on tomato basil bread, with veggie chips, nsa applesauce, cucumber water. This was very tasty, will make again & again.
Easy Chilaquiles - used blue corn chips & kidney beans, put on red cabbage, had with wine - THIS WAS AWESOME!
Chocolate chip cookies - from vegan cookies invade your cookie jar - good stuff
Sesame tofu - served on basmati rice with steamed broccoli
"Tuna" mushroom casserole - didn't have any onion, used red cabbage in it's place, also added a can of corn to it. This was just ok. I would make it again, but only to mix things up. lol
Eccentric Raw Sushi - I used red bell pepper, red onion, seedless cuke, carrots, spinach, avocado, the rest of my homemade sprouts - dipped in soy sauce. We thought this was really tasty. I make sushi (veggie & rice) about once a month. It never occurred to me to make it without rice. It was fast, easy, and delicious. Will definitely be making it again!
Breakfasts: Green monsters (blueberry, kiwi, banana, flax, spinach, soy milk this week) for 5 days and tofu scramble for 2. Boo had eggs & toast and tofu scramble.

Pink Ribbon Rush 5k Run/walk

I wanted to have a fun, new, and healthy date activity to do with Boo. I wouldn't call it cheap... but it was for a good cause. We don't go out much so I have justified it to myself (& pookiebear).

Here are the before pics-



We walked.
I got to "set the pace" since I am the less athletic of us. I walk slow, I walk slower up hills, but I did finish. I wanted to do it in under an hour. I managed to, just by the hair of my chinny chin chin.

Here are the after shots-



I worked myself into a pink faced mess ;)
Boo claimed he'd probably just look more awake, lol. Turns out, I was the very first person to pre-register for this 5k, so I got tag #1! Poor boo got #2, I told him he was my Will Ryker =( lol
We also got teased a couple times about being 1 & 2 and being near last (hahaha!).
I was pretty uncomfortable being there with all the fit people. I am still in the hide from the world obese stage. I hope that passes someday, I would really like to be apart of it more.

We hung around to cheer on the people who won, and see who got the door prizes.
My attempts at blending in were completely foiled when they called my number for the 5th prize!
I think our first 5k was pretty awesome. I am hoping to do another one this year and see if I can beat my time:
53:44.7

Visit from an old friend

An old friend from school (met in 5th grade) was in town visiting this week. I met her kids and we did a few kid-friendly things while we got re-acquainted. She has a daughter about to go into 9th grade! Where have the years gone? We met up on Tuesday when she first got in and went to taco bell (kid's choice). I mentioned we were near a "That fun place", so we went in for games & black light golf.

Thursday we decided to take her son to the zoo. This is a picture of them right before the 4-D ride with the happy feet penguins. Liz laughed the entire ride. It was a great ride and I know I giggled quite a bit too.







I had a great visit with them, and the walking at the zoo was great for my slacking ways (got in about 4miles). It did cut down on my cooking though. This week was a whole lot of quick grab meals for the most part.

Groceries bought for the upcoming week:

Krogers
red cabbage: 3.28
grn cabbage: 1.42
atheno hummus: 1.00 (normally I would make it from scratch, but it was darned cheap)
shiitaki mushroom: 1.59
kettle S&P chips: 2.99
green salsa: 2.09
3x mixed peppers & onions frozen: 3.54
sargento cheese: 2.50 <--- pookie snuck that in hoison sauce: 2.95 tortilla chips: 1.00 carrots: 1.49
Big lots
2x natures path bread: 2.40
sweetzle's spice wafers: 2.00
onion powder: 1
basil: 1
Aldi's
fat free refried beans
generic rotel
blueberries
kiwi
avocado
cucumbers
eggs- pookie's purchase
I don't have this reciept as boo is fast to pitch them, but it was around 15$.


Last week's meals:


Spaghetti squash & sauce with a salad of spinach, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, onion, topped with organicville dressing
Taco salads- spinach, pico de gallo, avocado, tortilla chips, ff refried beans mixed with a can of rotel, onions
Raman - oriental flavor
Green monsters
Pizza leftovers from freezer - spinach, artichoke, black olive, onion, sundried tomato
Leftover "yummy" vegan soft tacos


Tomato basil bread with hummus, spinach, sprouts, cucumber, roasted red pepper, balsamic vinegar & shiitake mushrooms
Veggie lo mein - inspired by this vegan lunch box post - out of hoison so made this recipe. Veggies were broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, & edamame.





I had some okara to use up so I made a double batch of the tomato basil bread (4 loaves total). The bread was delightful and went over well with hubby. Will make it again if I ever run out ;). I put 2.5 loaves in the freezer for now. I can tell already that finding different things to do with the okara is going to be my weekly challenge.

First Vegan Week

It's been a pretty simple week food wise.
Since it is just Boo & me, we have leftovers from almost everything I make. I usually can get by making 3-4 dinners a week.


Our grocery trip:

tortilla chips (.99)
2 Spinach (1.49ea)
5lb bag red potatoes (1.89)
avocado (.99)
tomatoes (2.29)
spaghetti squash (5.59)
stoplight bell peppers (3.99)
oatmeal cookies (1$) *Boo's dollar store impulse buy*
3 roasted red peppers (.50ea) *My dollar store impulse buy*
Cilantro (2.39)
alfalfa sprouts (2.69)
diet mountain dew (5$)
3 bananas & 3 apples (idk, boo threw out that reciept, lol)


This week we had:

Green monsters - spinach, flax seed, 1/2 banana, 4 strawberries, 1c homemade soymilk
Tofu Scramble & tempeh sausage crumbles (vwav) -onion, mushrooms, 1/2 yellow bell pepper, 1/2 red bell pepper
Okara Burgers - topped with alfalfa sprouts, spinach, tomato, onion, hummus, mustard
Taco salads - tortilla chips, spinach, fat free refried beans, avocado, pico de gallo


Vegan Yummy Tacos (kind of blah)
Pizza - artichoke heart, sundried tomatoes, black olives, onions, spinach, spaghetti sauce

Okara burgers

I made soy milk today (Wednesday) in my handy dandy Homson soy milk maker. I know you've never heard of it, and I can't even find a link to one online. It plays a happy little song when it's done processing the milk, a-dora-ble. I found it on ebay for 18 bucks + shipping. It was way more affordable than the ones I had actually heard of. It is an older model, so does have the strainer that is a bit of a pain to clean. Other than that, I am pleased with the purchase.
Hoorah! at not having to buy soy milk again.


Started the day off with a green monster:
homemade soymilk, ground flax seed, spinach, strawberries, 1/2 banana










The only downside (if you can call it that) to making soy milk is what to do with the okara. Okara is the soy pulp that is left over from making milk. There are several recipes for using it online. I opted to try this one from Ellen's page (OAMC page).

Lunch was Okara burger on nature's path bread with tomato, onion, spinach, alfalfa sprouts & veggie chips.









My snack was stove popped popcorn with nooch & ground sesame seeds. Kind of boring, and it was less light & fluffy than microwave popcorn. =(


For dinner I made homemade pizza, topped with classico spaghetti sauce, spinach, onion, black olives, artichoke hearts, canned mushrooms.


I used the pizza dough recipe from VWAV.

First day of being vegan.

I am pretty excited about today, nervous too.
I have been trying to stock up on staples and get rid of all things animal ('cept Ralphie, of course). I have got Boo sort of on board. He is giving up all meat/dairy for a week or two. I am hoping he will like how he feels without it, and kick the habit as well.

I started the day with a tofu scramble. I have seen them posted to tons of blogs and in several books.

I decided for my first ever tofu scramble to go with the recipe in vwav. The veggies I used(as I had them on hand)was a bag of frozen mixed bell peppers & onions, canned mushrooms, and jicama. I really liked her blend of spices and will be having it again sometime soon.
I had it with nature's path toast and kiwi,strawberry,cherry fruit spread.




Lunch was a simple taco salad(this time sans Instant Cheez). Tortilla chips topped with: spinach, fat free refried beans, avocado, pico de gallo. I find that as long as I have fresh tomatoes and avocado I could care less about cheese and sour cream.






Snack plate:

Hummus with a couple sundried tomatoes in it
black olives
carrots
cucumber
jicama




For dinner I had chole palak.