Toasted Corn and Sweet Red Pepper Rice

I ended up staying at my parents for much longer than anticipated this week.  I left on Monday afternoon, planned to come home Wednesday afternoon.  Well, its Thursday, I'm still here, and we're going to the movies tonight.  So, I don't think I'll be getting back until tomorrow.  Don't worry, I brought Zoe with me, and she is quite happy watching the birds and chipmunks again.

It took awhile, but I realized my mom has the same camera as me, so I can just borrow her camera cord.  Hellooo!  

When I was living at home I usually made dinner once a week.  I am not the type to make the same recipe twice.  There's just so much out there, why keep making the same thing?  My mom, does not agree.  If she ever gets asked, she always wants the same thing, which has come to be known as "that rice stuff I like".  

I figured since it is mom's favorite, and she's been asking me to actually write down some kind of recipe for it, I would make it for her, and share!  I gave it fancier name, but you can still call it "that rice stuff Gina's mom likes" if you want.  

Toasted Corn and Sweet Red Pepper Rice

3 cups of COOKED Brown Rice (about 1.5 cups raw)
10oz box frozen corn (about 2 cups)
2/3 cup salsa
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1 large red pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 block extra-firm tofu

Put two pans on to medium heat. Liberally cover both with non-stick cooking spray. 

While the pans heat up, remove the tofu from the water. Slice it as thick or thin as you want (probably into about as many pieces as can fill your pan), and press with a towel on both sides. You don't need to be crazy about removing the water, just dry it a little. Salt and pepper both side and place in one of the pans. Just let it sit in the pan. Don't move it around, don't pick it up. It will form a golden crust on that side. Peek at the corner of one piece until it is somewhat hard and golden brown. Then flip and wait for the other side. When its all done, cut it into cubes. 

The corn goes in the other pan. It'll thaw first, but it needs to be in long enough to toast. You'll want to stir, periodically under it starts get brown flecks and look toasty and caramelized.

You can do the rest before or while everything is cooking. While this stuff is cooking, slice the pepper, chop the scallion and make the dressing. For the dressing, mix the salsa, lime juice, and canola oil. 

When everything is done mix it all together in a big bowl. 

That's it! Its easy, its fast, its healthy and it is soooo good. We usually have it as the main dish with a side of broccoli. It can serve anywhere from 4-6, depends on how hungry you are.

Serves 6

Nutritional Information:  271.5 Calories;  8.2g Total Fat;  0.9g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  40.0g Carbohydrates;  4.8g Fiber;  11.3g Protein 

You could also use garbanzo beans if you are intolerant to soy, or you could just leave the protein out altogether.

We went to the Kutztown Folk Festival yesterday, my mom, brother and I.  Its in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch country.  

I always think this view looks like that default Windows background

I guess the food is supposed to be good, but its not really our kind of stuff, so I found a place that would make us all happy to stop for lunch.  If you ever find yourself in Kutztown, Betty's is a cool place.  Cute little place, kind of wants to be funky and earthy when it grows up, and the food was great!  Its casual, and cheap, mostly wraps, salads, soups, and you can easily eat for about $5.  Oh, and it caters to both omnivores and vegetarians/vegans.

We saw some cute baby ducks at the fair.  I love birds, but I especially love ducks, and everyone knows that babies get even more love, so I had to take a picture.  

There were really cute baby bunnies too, but my attention was taken away from picture taking then because we were allowed to pet, hehe.  

We stopped at the Clinton Station Diner for dinner.  Its right on the side of the highway and its got a train car attached to it, so we always notice it.  We actually got to eat in the train.  

Me and my brother

Also, my brother recently became a vegetarian, which I believe I have yet to mention on here, so that's pretty awesome!  There was plenty of stuff I could have eaten at this diner, but I thought we were getting fast food for dinner so I had brought my own, and already had eaten it, so I just had some fruit salad.   

Because I am at my parents', I have already seen a bunch of movies.  I don't know why, Nick and I haven't really been at all.  I saw My Sister's Keeper with my mom, and saw Public Enemy with my brother and his friend last night.  My Sister's Keeper was so sad, but really good.  No, I didn't read the book, but apparently some important things (I won't say what, but if you want to know, email me) were very different.  I kind of like it that way because I feel like I can go read the book now if I want.  Public Enemy was good.  The acting was good, it was engaging, but I'm not running around raving about it, its just not my kind of movie.  Tonight we are going to see Away We Go, which I am really excited for!  

As much as I like being home, I definitely woke up this morning wanting my own bed (which is weird because this bed was "my bed" for two years).  I think its my pillow that I miss.  Anyway, we should be back home on Friday!  

A New (Raw) Day

The first time I ever did a "raw day" I was nervous about exercising.  Worried that I wouldn't be eating enough, not getting enough calories, would be tired, sluggish, etc.  Yesterday, after having some dates, I went out and ran (and walked) a total of 5 miles, and I'm still feeling pretty peachy.  

The menu included a lot of nut and seed soaking, prep time, and a very messy kitchen, but it was well worth it.  

Breakfast was a Vega Smoothie.  The very lovely people at Vega sent me a nice sized bag of Vega Whole Food Smoothie Infusion last week.  While the hemp in Vega is raw, the other proteins aren't (like the pea protein).  I figured with so much good stuff in it, was still okay with me to start a raw day.  

But, I was skeptical.  Oh SO skeptical.  I have regular Vega and I'm not a fan of it.  I bought it because it has so much great healthy stuff in it, but I just can't have it every day, for various reasons.  I decided I'd make their Blueberry Smoothie suggestion on the back of the package, since I had fresh blueberries from the farmer's market yesterday.  My first impression?  Ew.  The powder is a gross green color...but that's because its filled with greens (spirulina, spinach, broccoli, etc)!  So I sucked it up and made the smoothie.  And...it was really good!!  It was still a gross greenish brown color (hence the lack of picture...you didn't want to see it), but that's just what happens when you add greens to a smoothie.  The Vega Smoothie Infusion is about 120 calories a serving and has 14 grams of protein.  So the verdict is, if you're looking for a very healthy, very easy way to start (or end, or continue) you day, there is no denying that this stuff is really good for you, and pretty tasty to boot!

I can't possibly say enough about how delicious my lunch was, so I will just give you a picture which does not do it justice.  

This is the Baked Macaroni and Cheese from Everyday Raw, with Buckwheat Cheezies (recipe follows).  This was SO good.  What really made it just the best was that it was dehydrated for awhile, so the squash softened a little bit.  Really, this is fantastic, if you have the book, you must try it.  

The Buckwheat Cheezies are based on a recipe that was in Vegetarian Times a few months ago, but I made it raw-ish, so I will share.    

1/2 cup Raw Buckwheat Groats

1/4 cup plus 1-2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast (not raw)

2 tbsp Olive Oil

3 garlic cloves

5-ish Basil Leavs (depends on how much you like basil)

2 tsp salt

1.  Soak buckwheat groats overnight.  Give them some space because they just about double in size.

2.  Dehydrate the groats for about 3 hours at 104 degrees.

3.  Blend together the oil, garlic, salt, and basil until it makes a thick paste.

4.  When the groats are dehydrated, add them to a bowl with the paste and mush everything together until all the groats are more or less coated with something (it may not be even).  

5.  Dehydrate for another 30-60 minutes.

These are so yummy!  I wouldn't eat them by themselves, the raw garlic is fairly strong, but they were absolutely perfect over the baked mac and cheese.  Also, for those of you without a dehydrator, you can do this in a 300 degree oven too, which is what the original recipe calls for.  If you want to roll that way, you don't need to pre-dehydrate them, and you should only keep them in for 30 minutes.  Also, if you're not keeping it raw, you could cook the garlic with the oil.  

Makes 8 2-Tbsp Servings

Nutritional Information:  90.5 Calories;  4.1g Total Fat;  0.6g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  10.7g Carbohydrates;  2.6g Fiber;  4.6g Protein.  And 181% of the RDA for Vitamin B12!

One of the things I was really itching to make with the dehydrator was Ani's Black Sesame Sunflower Bread.  

I had it as a raw sandwich for dinner along with her Sun-Dried Tomato Cheeze, topped with some avocado and tomato, along with some fresh farmer's market green beans.  This Cheeze was okay.  The Black Pepper Cheeze was way better.    

The bread was somewhat of a disaster, although it worked out in the end!  Because my kitchen is still in pieces all over the country, I don't have things like sieves, so it was hard to get all the water out of the teeny flaxseeds and sesame seeds.  I think that made it too watery, and it made a bit of a mess.  Again though, it worked out.  Next time I make it I think I'll take her advice to make a few batches of it.  I calculated the nutritional information for it and was really surprised.  I'm not a big "real" bread person, so I'd choose this any day.  

Makes 9 Slices

Nutrition Information:  167.6 Calories;  13.0g Total Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  9.6g Carbohydrates;  7.0g Fiber;  6.6g Protein

Dessert, of course, was the impetus for having a raw day at all.  I've had my eye on the Key Lime Kream Bars in Ani's Raw Food Desserts since the moment I opened the book.  

I really didn't need a "raw day" as an excuse to make them, since they came together in all of 5 minutes (plus freezing time).  They are yummy!  I made a dessert or two in Ani's first book and I thought that they were incredibly salty, but it seems like she's toned it down for this book, and everything I've tried so far (like the Strawberry Macaroons) has been fantastic! 

I really love having an (almost) entirely raw day.  Because I have far too much time on my hands now, I calculated the nutritional information for everything (email me if you want any of it), and it came to just about 2000 calories (including an orange I had for a snack), which is perfect for me.  What is really more important to me though, is that it all came from good, whole food.  Nothing is better than that, right?  

  

Zero Calorie Sparkling Iced Green Tea

Everywhere I go now is so close that I rarely turn on the radio.  But it seems like every time I do I hear an ad for a new Lipton's product, Sparkling Green Tea.  Sounds yummy.  Especially now that it is really getting warmer here.  Of course I knew without even looking that one of the first ingredients would be sugar.  They proved me wrong though, its actually high fructose corn syrup.  My bad.  

So I set out to create my own.  Should be easy enough, right?  Well it is!  

2 green tea bags

1/2 cup water 

3/4-1 cup sparkling water

stevia to taste (liquid or powder, your preference)

1.  Heat the water until it just begins to bubble, not boil  Green tea shouldn't be steeped in water that is too hot or it cooks the leaves.  If it does start to boil, just let it cool a little before you add the tea bags.  

2.  Let both of the tea bags steep for a few minutes.  The taste will be rather strong, and the color will be fairly dark because it is pretty concentrated.  *Its important that you do this first for two reasons.  First, it will dissolve easier while the tea is warm.  Second, if you add the stevia after the sparkling water is added, it loses some of its fizz.*    

3.  Allow the tea to cool in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  

4.  When chilled remove from fridge and add sparkling water (which should also be chilled, just in case that isn't obvious).

6.  Drink!  Enjoy!  Be refreshed!  

Serves 1-4.  Depends on how much tea you want (and you can have as much as you want because it has no calories!)  I used some tea I got as a favor at the wedding we went to a few weeks ago, from our friends who we met when we were in Hawaii.  

You can obviously do this with any kind of tea:  green, black, white, etc.  Also, if you don't like stevia you can use sugar or agave and it'll still be lower in calories than the Lipton stuff.  If you are nervous about trying stevia, I say now is the time to try it!  I've been using it for quite awhile, in liquid and powder form, and I personally prefer the powder (although they both have their uses).  For stevia, I like the NuNaturals brand.  

This has maltodextrin added which I think is what makes it so NOT bitter, and it also mixes really well.  They make a zero-carb version also, which has some erythritol added.  I've used erythritol before, and I never really gave a review about it.  I don't like it.  It is a sugar alcohol and it just has a grainy taste and doesn't dissolve well.  They both are calorie free, so I'm sticking with this one.  

My only real personal update is that I really have no update.  Nothing worth sharing has been coming out of my kitchen, whether prepared by me or from a recipe.  Sadly most things have flopped, or they were just boring everyday things.  My mom has requested that I write down a recipe for one of my rice recipes that she loves, so that is coming, as well as some scones I plan on making tonight.  Oh, and tomorrow is going to be a raw day, so come back for that!  

As far as running is going, its going.  I'm much slower than I used to be which is extremely frustrating, but I'm still getting up and going which is what is most important right now.  I'm going out again with my new running buddy tomorrow (who is a vegetarian!) for a long run (which right now is only 5 miles, haha).  I also had lunch with another vegan yesterday (vegan friends, yay!), so I'm not just sitting at home with Zoe.  

So, that is why its been awhile, but I have much planned, so be sure to come back this week!      

Sweet Harvest Muffins

A lot of things have changed since I started this blog.  My husband came back from Iraq, I moved, I completed my student teaching, I graduated.  All good stuff.  One not so good thing though, is that there is more of me.  

A little background, I've lost some weight in the past.  I grew up eating a pretty normal diet, but my mom was always good about getting low fat mayo, turkey burgers, diet soda, low fat cream cheese, etc.  Then I went to college and there was full fat butter, whole milk whipped cream, and those disgusting Minute Steak cheesesteaks that were full of fat but tasted delicious.  Oh yeah, and there was beer.  Obviously I wasn't vegan or vegetarian before college, or during college, but the quality of my diet was severely different and as such...I gained weight.  

By the end of my junior year I was about 30 pounds overweight.  I started watching what I ate (and drank), I started exercising, and I eventually lost the full 30 pounds, although I don't think the weight I was at was ever sustainable for me.  I didn't become vegetarian until after I lost the weight, and I didn't become vegan until after my weight sort of evened out. 

I'm very frustrated because while I know exactly how and why the weight has come back on (stress!!!), I'm disappointed with myself for letting it happen.  But what else can I do but fix it, right?  I signed up for a 5K, I found a running buddy (we're going tomorrow, we'll see how that goes), I have a training plan, and a nutrition plan.  I don't have a scale, so I don't necessarily have a number that I am looking for, but it'd be nice if my jeans would fit again without having to do the "stretch out the jeans" dance.

To start out on the right foot, I made some muffins last night.  I know, that doesn't *sound* like it is on the right foot, but if they're the Sweet Harvest muffins from Sweet Freedom, they can be.  You've had zucchini bread, and you've probably tried carrot cake or muffin.  But this muffins packs in three different vegetables as well as something a little fruity.  Plus there's a little chocolately hint of goodness.  I did halve the number of chocolate chips.    

Makes 12 Muffins

Nutrition Information:  214.4 Calories;  8.0g Total Fat;  0.9g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  36.7g Carbohydrates;  4.5g Fiber;  4.6g Protein

These are so nice and moist.  One of my favorite things about this book (of which you can buy the hard copy or the e-book, like I did), is her reminder that you can freeze everything!  I get tempted when yummy baked goodness is just lying around.  

For lunch I had some roasted beets, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted garlic, and scallions with a sweet mustard dressing.  Simply it was about 2tbsp Vegenaise, 2 tsp brown mustard, 1 packet stevia, and a few tsp of apple cider vinegar.  

There was tofu too, but not pictured

Hopefully this is a new leaf turning over.  Not just getting in better shape but generally having some stability, and hopefully a better 5K time.

Want to see Food Inc?

If you're in the NY area and are free on Saturday around 3PM and want to see Food Inc, send me an email (not a comment, I won't be able to get to the computer to check the blog, but I'll check my email on my phone).  

Long story short, my brother, Nick, and I are going to see it tomorrow.  I bought the tickets for the wrong day.  So, you should be able to take two friends.  I need to talk to the box office, and they haven't been answering their phones, but I'm assuming it'll be okay if I just give you the confirmation number.  It'd be even better if you contact me before I get there tomorrow around 3PM, so I can give them your name in case there are any problems with the tickets being purchased in my name.  

Also, its first come first serve, but if you are only one person, then I'd hope you'd be open to me giving the other tickets to other people and meeting up to go in together (you don't have to sit together, but you could make new friends!).  

Anyway, if you want to see it, again, email me asap!  

Ragin' Vegans

No, we're not angry, and we're not mean.  In fact...we're not really "raging" at all.  But we did spend the weekend in the land of the Ragin' Cajuns, which is the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's mascot (it took us awhile to figure it out).  Long story short, we had a wedding reception to go to for one of Nick's military friends.  

It can always be difficult to be a vegan "on the road" (even though we flew, you know what I mean), and I was worried that my husband's first vegan-away-from-home experience was going to be terrible.  We had no refrigerator, we had no microwave, and...we were in Louisiana.  The land of crawfish and gumbo.  Very un-vegan.  

Surprisingly, that was not the case.  First off, the Philadelphia airport made me extremely happy.  This little CIBO stand (concourse E, if you're looking for it) that was right behind our gate had the obligatory Clif and Lara bars, that would have definitely worked.  But upon delving deeper, they also had a ton of fresh fruit and vegetables, Sabra hummus and pretzel chips, and vegan cookies!  Dairy, egg, and nut free cookies!  So cute, called Divvies because they are meant to share, and share we did.  We had the chocolate chip, and they were perfectly soft, exactly what I was hoping for, but not expecting.  Looking at their website once we got to a computer, the whole company is awesome!  They don't just make cookies, but caramel corn, jelly beans, cupcakes, etc!  These are all things that I love (yes, I have a little bit of a sweet tooth).   

We were hungry when we got to Louisiana.  We were also worried and ill prepared (we didn't really pack anything but some trail mix, and we hadn't researched but one place...it was all we could find).  GPS to the rescue.  I always search International Cuisine first.  We found a really nice and really yummy Greek place called Zeus (they had bellydancers and everything).  

We had stuffed grape leaves for the first time!  I had falafel for dinner (pictured), and Nick had a vegetarian plate which included moussaka, lentils, hummus, etc.

We got breakfast from Wal-Mart.  My go-to cereal is Special K protein plus.  I really like having a little extra protein in the morning and this is lower in calories (meaning you can eat enough of it so that you actually feel full), and has a nice cinnamony taste.  We got some individual sized Silk (I don't usually drink sweetened soymilk but...it was vacation!), fruit, and we were more than good to go.  Well, after that plus the coffee we were good to go. 

The bottom with the orange top is liquid stevia.  A must, for me to drink coffee.

Lunch was at the one veg place I had found before we left.  It was a little place called The Whole Wheatery.  I had a hummus and tabbouli stuffed pita (we ate a lot of hummus on this trip).  

Dinner...well that was the night of the wedding, we mainly just had fruit and raw veggies.  But we did fill up on some snacks beforehand, which we got from the Fresh Market.  It was cool, they had about 72 big bulk bins (kind of set up like barrels, not your typical bulk bin), with everything from trail mixes to raw nuts and dried fruit to fresh coffee beans.

The next day was kind of a bust.  We had the same breakfast, we had a salad and french fries for lunch at a very local place, and the selection at the airport was miniscule.  We did, however, get some Alternative Baking Company cookies at our layover in Memphis.  Some vegan, gluten free goodness amongst the rib buffets!  I've been wanting to try these for ages, but I could never convince myself to waste the calories (about 240 calories for half a giant cookie).  I figured, since I had barely eaten anything, it'd be okay.  I went for Snickerdoodle.  Nick got both a Double Chocolate Decadence and a Colossal Chocolate Chip.  Don't get me wrong, the chocolately ones were both good (I stole a bite of each), but the Snickerdoodle was amazing!  It was soft all the way through to the middle, but still just a little firm on the outside.  Cookie awesomeness.  It actually kept me pretty full too.  Nick though, after two of them, was still feeling a little sugar-rushed by the time we got home.  

I guess the moral of the story here is...you can be vegan almost anywhere, and don't judge a place before you get there...or at least Google-Earth it.  Some places will be harder than others, naturally, but its all about knowing where to look.  After being vegan for awhile, you know the types of establishments that will most likely have *something* you can eat, or you can easily ask for something veganized.  We ended up eating a lot of Greek food, but there were also Japanese, Thai, Indian, and Mexican places in the area, all of which could have easily worked.  

I leave with some pictures from our trip to the Tabasco factory (which I always thought was just a name for hot sauce, not a name brand).  

Nick at the entrance

A fishy being teased by a "Tabasco pepper"

A Louisiana Bayou!

If you're going to be doing some lengthy flying, check out my Vegan in the Air post from when I went to Hawaii!  

Nick has a review for you tomorrow, so make sure to come back and give him some love!  

Another Momentous Day

It was going to be so hard to top a 100th post, that I figured I would wait for another momentous day.  Luckily, one came quickly!  

Today is our third anniversary!  (Wedding anniversary, if that wasn't clear).  Its hard to believe, really, maybe because we've been apart for more than half of it.

For our first anniversary, we went to our favorite place at the time, Roy's.  This was just around my switch to vegetarianism, and I remember being really conflicted about the fish.  For some reason people seem to view fish as lesser beings, hence the increase in pescatarians, but fishies have always been some of my favorite animals, so I didn't quite get that.  I had goldfish wen I was younger and when I was in college, my husband (then boyfriend, obviously) got me two goldfish.  Once we have our own house and little more room, we hope to get a really big tank (we'll see how Zoe feels about that).  (By the way, some Roy's locations have really fantastic separate vegetarian menus.  For example, the one in Maui is fantastic.  The one in Baltimore, sucks).    

Anyway, our last anniversary he was in Iraq, so we didn't really do anything.  This year we're finally together again, there is no fishy conflict, and my husband offered to make dinner.  That's right ladies and gentlemen.  Not only has he decided to try out eating a vegan diet, but he's trying to learn to cook too.  If you knew my husband, you would probably want to call him up to confirm this because it even sounds to ME like I'm making it up.  I'm happy for him though.  

He made the Three-Bean Chili from The Vegan Table, substituting the three cans of beans we had on hand. It took every ounce of self control for me to not go over and check on him constantly, but I tried my best to relax and watch the train wreck that is Daisy of Love (did I just admit that??).  

Three Bean Chili with Roman Beans, Kidney Beans, and Small White Beans

I was in charge of dessert.  This was a toughie.  If I made a cake, I'd spend the next few days stuffing my face with it.  He requested chocolate, and the same fate was true with brownies.  Yes, I want to relax and enjoy my anniversary, but I don't want it carrying over to the rest of my week and causing me grief.  I scoured the cookbooks...Vegan with a Vengeance?  Ani's Raw Food Desserts?  Veganomicon?  Vegan Express?  

I finally settled on the Chocolate Orange Pudding from Vegan Soul Kitchen.  Who doesn't like a rich chocolately pudding, right?  From there I took the easy way out and made mini chocolate pudding pies using store-bought pie crusts.  

I made the topping, and if anyone wants the "recipe" feel free to email me.  It was really easy and it went perfectly.  The only problem?  They were super good and even though I only made half a recipe of the pudding it filled five mini pie crusts.  So we both had two...but that's what anniversaries are for :)   

On Monday I mentioned an announcement, and I still have it, although it has changed a little.  Nick just found out that he has some temporary duty at Ft Lewis starting at the end of this month.  If you are unaware, Ft Lewis is in Washington state.  We are in New Jersey now.  And we are driving!  The drive out there, I think is going to be a straight shot.  One the way back though, I'm hoping to take a little bit more time and see California a little, and go through the middle of the country.  I've gone cross-country before with my family, but never to Washington, and never as a vegan.  So...if anyone has some must-see, or must-eat-at places, a suggestion for a route to take on the way back, advice, etc, let me know!!  And I mean, anywhere in the country really.  Comment or email, I want to know the best places to stop at, from random to obvious.  And, if anyone lives near Seattle, let me know, I will most likely be pretty bored!