A day of eats

Today was kind of atypical as far as eating goes for me, since I was out and about and ate lunch and dinner away from home.  I’ll do this again on a weekday!

Breakfast -

Banana Chocolate Smoothie with Cherries and Spinach (shared this with Luke)

Lunch -

I went shopping today and found myself starving at about 1 p.m. with a lot more shopping to do, so I opted for some Black Bean soup from Panera.  Did their soup bowls get bigger?  This was a huge amount of soup.  I ate about half the soup and most of the bread.

Dinner –

Veggie pizza with vegan cheese (Teese) from Vesuvius Woodfired Pizza.

Dessert –

A square of this dark chocolate hit the spot.

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Banana Chocolate Smoothie – Recipe

Honestly, this smoothie is more like a milkshake.  Except it’s pretty healthy!  The only sugar is from the banana and the tiny bit of agave syrup I add.  You could also use a juicy date or honey in place of the agave, or even stevia.  I am kind of obsessed with this smoothie lately.  In fact I am working on a long post about snacking, but I got sidetracked tonight when I found a lost doggie wandering in my yard (I live on a busy highway!)  I had to track down her owners and stay with her until they arrived.  So I decided to post about this smoothie instead.  I can’t take credit for the idea – I got it from Girl on Raw.  This smoothie would be great for breakfast or a snack, but I usually have it for dessert!  You could also add some spinach and turn it into a Green Monster.

Banana Chocolate Smoothie (vegan)

Ingredients
1 frozen banana
about 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (I used Almond Breeze)
1 teaspoon agave syrup, or to taste
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder, or to taste

Directions
Toss all ingredients in a blender and blenderize until smooth.

Nutrition Info (with a medium-sized banana): 142 calories, 2.5g fat, 2.5g protein, 36g carbohydrates, 4.5g fiber.

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Vanilla Chia Pudding – Recipe

Here I go talking up another “miracle” product!  Maybe you’ve heard of these magical little seeds:

But did you know that you can eat chia seeds?  And that they have a pretty impressive nutritional profile?  You can read all about the history of this Ancient superfood over on Raw Reform.

In a nutshell, they are loaded with protein, antioxidants, minerals like calcium, iron, and potassium, and they contain 60% essential fatty acids (omega 3s and omega 6s).  In fact, they have more EFAs than flax seeds and are more easily digestible.  They also have loads of soluble and insoluble fiber.  When you put them in liquid, the seeds absorb up to 10 times their mass in water.  You can take advantage of this “gelling” to use the chia seeds in recipes like the one below. Admittedly, it looks a little scary, but the chia gel has a similar texture to tapioca (and a similar taste, if you’ve ever made tapioca pudding from scratch you know that it only gets its flavor from the sugar and other things you add to it). You can probably find chia seeds in bulk at your local health food store or co-op, or they are readily available online. I got mine from Nuts Online.

Vanilla Chia Pudding (vegan)

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
tiny splash vanilla extract
just a pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar (or to taste)

Directions
Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir.  Let sit for about 10 minutes and stir again.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or as long as overnight).  I topped mine with banana and kiwi and a couple tablespoons of granola.

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Morning Glory Muffins – Recipe

I’ve been trying to come up with a more portable breakfast than my usual oatmeal.  I saw a recipe for these carrot muffins in an issue of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine, but I couldn’t find the recipe on her website so I came up with my own vegan version.  I used cranberries because I have a big bag of them, but I actually think these would be better with golden raisins.  I also used pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds), but any kind of nuts or sunflower seeds would be good too.  The muffins are not very sweet at all, but increasing the sugar should work if you prefer a sweeter muffin.  These are really hearty and filling – they have everything my usual breakfast has: oats, fruit, protein, and a little fat. I know the list of ingredients seems long, but these come together quickly in one bowl.  I had enough batter to make 19, so I used that number to figure the nutrition information.

Morning Glory Muffins (vegan)

Makes 18 (or 19) muffins

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
2 Tablespoons water
3/4 cup soy yogurt
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (1 medium-sized banana)
3/4 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup grated carrot
3/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins (or both)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons ground flax seed
1/4 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 18 muffin tins with paper liners, or spray muffin tin with non-stick spray.
In a small bowl, mix together 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed and 2 Tablespoons water.  Set aside to thicken.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together yogurt, applesauce, mashed banana, soy milk, and vanilla.  Stir in carrots, cranberries or raisins (reserve a couple Tablespoons for tops of muffins, if desired), cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar.  Stir in oats.
In another medium-sized bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add to wet ingredients and stir to combine well.  Stir in pumpkin seeds and remaining 2 Tablespoons flax seed.
Divide batter into 18 muffin cups (1/4 cup batter per muffin).  Top with a few cranberries and pumpkin seeds, if desired.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tops spring back when you push on them gently.  Let cool.

Nutrition info for 1 muffin:  118 calories, 1.5g fat, 24.6g carbs, 2.7g fiber, 3g protein.

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Tofu Scramble – Recipe

Tofu scramble is one of my favorite things to make on the weekend for breakfast or brunch.  It’s easy to throw together, and my husband likes it too!  I love to serve it with these vegan sausages from Field Roast Grain Meat Co. The Smoked Apple Sage flavor goes so well here.  You can feel free to add in whatever veggies you’d like, think of it kind of like an omelet.  Nutritional yeast is used in a lot of vegan recipes to impart a cheesy flavor.  I buy mine in bulk at my coop, but you might be able to find it at your regular grocery store – Red Star is one brand-name I’m aware of.  I also love to remix the leftovers into a breakfast burrito – just load the scramble and any leftover sausage pieces in a tortilla and too with salsa and avocado if you have it.

Tofu Scramble (vegan)

Ingredients
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed*
2 teaspoons oil
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/3 cup shredded carrot
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce
1/4c water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
hot sauce (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook for a few minutes, until the onion starts to turn translucent. Add the bell pepper and carrot, stirring to coat in oil, and cook for about a minute. Add the tofu. Break the tofu into chunks – about 1/2″ to 3/4″ in diameter. Some of the tofu will crumble in the process and that’s just fine. Leave the tofu to cook without stirring for a couple of minutes, so it starts to brown on the bottom. Then stir it and let it sit to brown, repeat this a couple of times until most of the tofu is browned. Reduce heat to low. In a small bowl, mix together the spices, water, and tamari. Stir this into the tofu, warming through. Add more water (a tablespoon at a time) if the mixture becomes dried out. Stir in nutritional yeast flakes and remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

*To press the tofu just means to put it between several layers of paper towels (or a tea towel, if you want to be more enviro-friendly) and press press press. you dont need to squish it, just press down firmly several times to get as much excess liquid out as you can.  I use Westsoy Organic tofu and it works really well in this dish.

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