Love At First Bite ... (aka My JSP Experience)

I am in love! I had Japanese sweet potatoes (JSP) for the first time today … air fried on top of my chopped salad. I got the idea from Tami at Nutmeg Notebook. This is actually the second batch I air fried, ‘cause the first batch didn’t make it to the salad. After the first bite, I was a goner … well, actually, they were. With their super sweet, crunchy, carmelized outer layer giving way to an only slightly less sweet, all soft and warm inside ... I fell ... hard. JSP where have you been all my life?!

I usually take my lunch break in front of the TV, before I have to head back to work. Not today. No. This meal deserved more attention than it would get with my feet up in the recliner, watching a saved episode of The Good Doctor. Today I actually sat down at the table. I even lit a candle. Well … flipped the switch anyway. It's an electronic candle. What we were going for here was ambience. I just wanted to be alone with my salad. Yeah … THAT GOOD!

And since I was sitting there, I decided to go all out and have dessert after. I had made chocolate mousse last night and had one leftover serving in the fridge. It was the perfect ending to my perfect meal.

If you try these JSP  "croutons" I strongly suggest you use a large sweet potato, and use the WHOLE thing. I thought I could get away with using half of one but, believe me, you want to have one of these sweet morsels in each and every mouthful of salad.

Here's a link to Nutmeg Notebook's  blog post about her chopped salad with the JSP croutons.

And here's the link to the chocolate mousse recipe I used. It's a pdf file from the website where I found it. This way you don't have to wade through the blog post ads and stuff.

I've been using a lemon dijon dressing lately on my salads. If you want that recipe let me know in the comments below.

Someone's in the kitchen air frying ... someone's in the kitchen I know oh oh oh ...

I keep steamed whole potatoes in my fridge at all times. And with a zesty salt substitute recipe, (link below) perfect seasoned air fries are a fast and easy fix any time.

I had some yesterday for lunch with my chopped salad. I prefer the steaming method rather than baking,  because they don’t dry out in the fridge as sometimes happens with baked. Just chop and toss in a bowl with some of this zesty salt sub seasonings and air fry 12 – 15 minutes @ 375. Yumm!

My meat and potatoes husband loves these so much he has taken to spending time in the kitchen cooking himself ... well, at least air frying … baby steps!

Zesty Salt Substitute recipe link: 
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/zesty-salt-substitute/

Plant Based on a Budget (Part 1 of ?)

Being frugal by nature (and a former crazy coupon lady), I tend to purchase what’s on sale or special, and plan meals around that. Switching from the standard American diet to a whole food plant based way of eating has not changed that. What has changed, drastically, is the contents of my shopping cart. When couponing my motto used to be, “If it’s free, it’s for me!” And I used to bring home a lot of free stuff (junk). While I no longer stock up on packaged and processed food items, I do still love the thrill of the hunt and one of my favorite things to do is check out the marked down produce at my local store.

Stir fry w/Thai peanut sauce

Yesterday I got some great deals and have already put most of it to good use. I made stir fry last night for dinner. My omnivore husband and I both enjoyed a serving and I had three leftover portions for the freezer. I also made some mushroom and sweet potato curry. Then I made mushroom stroganoff. We’ll be enjoying both these dishes the next couple days, or freezing them for later. For dessert I had a fruit bowl using some of the mango. Today for lunch I had a big, beautiful chopped salad and have enough for a couple more. I used some of the mango in that and it was awesome!

Mushroom Sweet Potato Curry

When I get these prepackaged salads on sale, I throw away the dressing packets and toppings and use my own WFPBNO options. 

The squash got spiralized and it’s hanging out in my fridge, along with half a jar of Trader Joe’s fat free marina. I think I’ll let them meet up for lunch tomorrow … or maybe dinner since I will probably have another chopped salad for lunch. And this time I'll add some garbanzo beans.

Chopped salad lunch, al fresco

And today when I got home from work I sautéed up some more mushrooms, along with onions, peppers and garlic that I had on hand. I'll use this mix for pizza, or add some beans for tacos, or add some air fried potatoes for hash, etc. I had one more container of mushrooms left and decided, after googling multiple mushroom recipes, to make gravy. Again I sautéed onions, mushrooms and garlic for my base before adding veggie stock, soy sauce and thickening with flour. By this time I had worked up an appetite and the mushroom gravy won out for dinner. I grabbed some pre-cooked potatoes from the fridge, which I always have on hand, and smashed potatoes took just a couple minutes.

Smashed potatoes w/mushroom gravy

The total cost for all my marked down produce was $10.26, but it only cost me $.26 out of pocket as I used a $10 gift card that I received free a week ago with a store promotion. This is what I got: seven 8 oz. packages of organic mushrooms, two 12 oz. packages of stir fry veggies, one 8 oz. package of sugar snap peas,  1 lb. of mexican squash, one 10 oz. package of mango chunks, one can of garbanzo beans, one single serve chopped kale salad mix and one family size chopped kale salad mix.  And this is what it has, or will provide (with a few additional items already on hand): 5 servings of stir fry, 4 servings of mushroom, sweet potato curry, 3-4 servings of mushroom stroganoff, 3 chopped salads, 1 large serving of spiralized mexican squash, plus enough toppings or fillings for multiple pizzas or tacos, not to mention the mushroom gravy that will top lots of smashed potatoes.I'm estimating 20 meals from my haul yesterday. My inner crazy coupon lady is quite satisfied indeed … as is my tummy … and will be for days to come!

In part 2 I’ll share more about my shopping strategies and how I save … so stay tuned! Be sure to click on the follow button to be notified.

A lot of Veggie Stir Fry and Mushroom Stroganoff!

The Mistake That Wasn't

A slather of gooey, stretchy vegan mozzarella and a sprinkle

of everything seasoning and angels began singing!

Did you know you can make toast in the microwave?! Now … I know some of you are opposed to microwaves, and if you are, then just stop right here. But if you aren’t opposed to microwaves and you love really (really) crunchy toast, read on.

I just made toast in my microwave and it was awesome! Well, actually, first of all, it was a mistake. But it turned out to be an awesome, wish I had actually thought of it, I will definitely do this again intentionally,  delicious, crunchy mistake. Now, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t just use the toaster. Am I right?! Well, for the simple reason, I don’t have a toaster … haven’t had one since I moved in February. It just hasn’t been that important for me to replace since I do have a Breville Smart Oven Air that will toast bread when I desire. Which is what I was going to do, but my bread was frozen, ‘cause it lives in the freezer. If it lived on my counter I’d be eating a loaf every week.

So I took my half loaf of Dave’s Killer 21 grain bread out of the freezer, used a knife to pry one slice apart from the rest and placed it in the microwave for 20 seconds to thaw before toasting. Or so I thought. I got busy and two minutes later when I remembered (because the buzzer went off) I was prepared to throw it out and start all over again. But I discovered it wasn’t the burnt mess I was expecting. It was slightly browned in places and quite crisp. I thought, what the heck, I’ll slather some melty, stretchy,gooey vegan mozzarella on it that I had made last night for my pizza, and just see how it is.  The cheese, by the way, was awesome on my pizza. So … I slathered a little. And then a little more. And after I slathered I sprinkled some everything seasoning on it and … mmm … mmm …mmm … toast heaven. I swear, angels were singing. Well, maybe that was my taste buds, but there was definitely a chorus going on in my head.

If you try it, just be aware that your microwave time may vary from mine due to the wattage thing and whether you are starting with frozen bread or not. I'd try it in 30 second intervals. But it's totally worth the try … if you like crunchy toast. (Did I mention that it was super crunchy?!) Toast from the microwave. Yes siree … this is definitely going to be a thing for me from now on.

If you liked this post, please consider leaving a comment and/or clicking the “Follow” button on the upper right. I also have a Facebook group that I have started and would love to have you join in and interact in regard to a whole food plant based way of eating. You can check it out here. 

The Thrill of Victory ...

I went out to lunch today. It was a planned outing and I was prepared. This, alone, went a long way in ensuring a successful outcome.

I knew we were going Chinese and I knew the restaurant had two dishes, out of the 29 they offer at lunch time (yes ... I counted every single one on the menu), that I could choose from: Snow peas, Mushrooms and Bamboo shoots, or Mixed Vegetables Deluxe. I also knew (knowledge IS power!) I could order either veggie plate steamed, rather than stir fried, with no oil or sauces, and that each dish would come with steamed rice, an egg roll and a cup of hot and sour soup.

This is how I prepared before I left the house: I toasted one tablespoon of sesame seeds and packed it in a small plastic container. I also packed some toasted dehydrated onions that I had on hand. I had toasted them the other day to top a salad. I got the idea when I thought about those fatty, fried onions you can buy in a can and was thinking they would go great on top a salad. Well, I didn’t have any, nor did I actually want any. I just wanted the crunchy, oniony taste. I then realized I had some dehydrated onions … had had them for ages and not used them. I toasted them up in a pan and they were awesome! Anyway, since I had them on hand I thought they would also be good on top of some steamed veggies.

So, along with my toasted twosome, I packed my 3 oz. plastic bottles of Sweet Heat and Teriyaki Balsamic vinegars from California Balsamic. I am finding these are a great take along size. This very easy preparation turned some rather bland, simple steamed veggies and rice into an excellent, epicurean experience. The food, thanks to me, was great and the company and conversation, thanks to my awesome sister, was a delight!

Did I encounter temptation? I did mention that the lunch specials come with an egg roll, right? So … yeah … there was a little temptation. China City has the best egg rolls around, but I had already prepared myself that I was going to bring it home for hubby, along with the hot and sour soup, and that’s exactly what I did. Both are now, safely, in the fridge. And even better than the feeling of being satisfied by whole, plant based, no oil, food is this feeling of victory I am enjoying right now ... Now that’s some good stuff!

Left: Steamed, (naked) veggies. Right: Veggies ala Jenny!

Beans and Greens and Rice, Oh My!

Not a chopped salad!

I know today’s lunch doesn’t look like my usual (as of late) chopped salad. It is, in fact, not. It was going to be a chopped salad, but it became this. Worse things have happened ...

I had about half of a (large Costco-sized) bag of power greens (kale, spinach, chard) that needed to be used today, and I knew that would make more of a salad than I would want to eat for lunch. I also knew I would not want to have salad for both lunch and dinner. And I didn’t want them to go to waste. So, I decided the only way I could get that volume of greens inside my body today would be to cook them down. I mean, you can cook a pound of spinach down to a couple tablespoons … right?! Well … maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But that’s what I started to do. As they were in the pan, I began considering how I could, perhaps, “liven” them up. Nothing against greens on their own … perhaps I should say “starchen” them up. I knew it would take more than greens to satisfy me through the afternoon.

Only 4 ingredients! I actually used fresh corn, but didn't 

take a picture first. Canned or frozen can be subbed.

I had a can of "savory sides" beans in the pantry, so I added that to the pan. I also had some leftover steamed ears of corn, so I cut the kernels off one and threw that in. It was looking good … real good. I had started off with some water in the pan when I thought I was just going to be steaming greens. And now, with the additional liquid from the beans, I had, at this point, a bit of a soupy dish. I didn’t want to drain the beans because they were seasoned. I thought I could make some quinoa, but didn’t want to take the 12-15 minutes. I was, after all, home on my lunch break and would need to get back to work soon.

Back to the pantry for some pre-cooked and

pre-portioned plain white rice bowls, courtesy of my recent Costco shopping trip. I microwaved one according to the package directions and threw it in the pan as well. A couple stirs and a minute or so to simmer and, voila … Super Easy Black Beans and Greens with Rice was born! It didn’t need any more seasoning, but I did top it with a dollop of smokey oat cheese and some diced onion. If I had had some plant based sour cream, I would have had a duo of dollops on top.

I enjoyed it with a home made sprouted wheat tortilla that I made last night. I had made them for the first time thinking I would use them tonight for pizza crust. My omnivore husband had pizza last night (not plant based, full o' fatty cheese and pepperoni) and that started my hankering. I knew I didn’t have any yeast, however, so I googled “oil free tortillas” and came across this recipe from Plant Smart Living. I used sprouted wheat flour. Super easy.  

So, a super simple (so much so, you don’t need a recipe, right?!), yummy dish and two leftover portions to enjoy again … and again.  Since the greens were cooked in the dish, I don’t have to worry now that their best by date was today. I think I’ll enjoy this again tomorrow for lunch. And maybe put one in the freezer for some time next week.

A Match Made in (Air Fryer) Heaven

Two years ago, before going plant based, I would never have thought that I’d be eating two pounds of  vegetables in one day, let alone one meal. Even now, two pounds of zucchini (and summer squash) steamed or stir fried would probably still be a little much, in both volume and taste ... at least for me. I like zucchini. It’s great in my banana, zucchini, oat breakfast cookies. I’ll add it as a “filler” to a lot of recipes to bulk them up, but I wouldn’t really say I love zucchini. Until today … when I introduced it to my air fryer. (Zuke, meet Breville … Brev, meet  zucchini.) A match made in air fryer heaven and now those two pounds of simple, unassuming squash are anything but.

Thirty minutes @ 400 degrees on super convection and I have a super delicious start to my day. Veggies for breakfast, oh yeah!  Air frying vegetables, much like roasting, concentrates the flavor and brings out the sweetness as the moisture content is released. And what I had on my plate this morning tasted almost like, dare I say it, candy. I can’t believe I’m saying that (ok, typing that), because the first time I heard Chef AJ say that her air fried zucchini tasted like candy, I was like … uh huh … yeah sure. But, I kid you not, what I just ate for breakfast was as satisfying as any candy … more so, actually. If I had eaten candy (or waffles or pancakes or cinnamon rolls or any other sweet breakfast foods) my taste buds would be on hyper drive and I’d be wanting more and more and more … and more.

So this was a great savory way to start my day. I did drizzle the finished product with a little of my California Vinegars. I mixed Sweet Heat, Teriyaki and Gilroy Garlic. Just the tiniest amount of each. And, honestly, these sweet little squash spears were good to go just plain naked too. Didn’t even need salt. Could I have dressed them up more? Sure. I could have dredged them in aquafaba and rolled them in some seasoned panko crumbs and faux parmesan. And I just may do that when I have the time and inclination. But this … this I will definitely be doing again. This just might be my new morning favorite.

Mud Cookies ... a (delicious, decadent) blast from the past

I've been eating these all week … so I deserved a treat!

I have been getting back on track the past week, after over a year of on again, off again that has taken a toll on my health and caused me to gain back 20+ pounds of the 127 I had lost. But that's OK. It's a marathon, not a sprint. And I know what I need to do. I have just, up until the past week or so, felt powerless to do so. Depression … complicated grief, life, etc. have taken its toll, but, thankfully, this week I am doing better. I see the light at the end of this tunnel.

So the past week has been full of chopped salads, air fried potatoes, veggies and hummus, rice cakes and tzatziki and fresh fruit. Up until last night. While my cravings for sugar and fat have subsided, measurably, from previous weeks (thanks, I'm sure, to the whole food, plant based, no oil, way of eating I have returned to) I did find myself wanting something chocolate. I wouldn't really call it a craving. It was something I think I could have resisted with some fruit, but I was feeling inventive and decided to try and make something yummy and chocolate that was still compatible with a WFPBNO way of eating.

A childhood favorite, now veganized!

And I did it! I have perfected the vegan, low fat mud cookie!  And while the name might not sound particularly appetizing, let me assure you they are (were!) delicious! I think these were actually called chocolate drop quickies in my mom's 1960s Betty Crocker cookbook. However, when I was growing up, we called them mud cookies. I have scaled the recipe back, omitted the butter it called for, opted for a plant based milk and replaced peanut butter with a defatted peanut flour. I couldn't get around the sugar … at least not yet. I'll continue to work on it … enjoying delicious, decadent, plant based cookies (every once in a while) until I do. While I wouldn't consider these healthy, by any stretch, this recipe tastes and has a mouth feel identical to the original  …if not better. They took me back to my childhood and it was a nice trip.

Mud Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cane sugar

3 tbsp almond milk

3 tbsp PB2 (or other defatted peanut flour)

1 tbsp cocoa

1/4 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup quick oats (possibly a little more)

1. Whisk 1st four ingredients together in a small saucepan. I used a one quart saucepan.

2.  Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat and boil two minutes.

3.  Remove from heat. Add vanilla and oats and stir quickly to combine. Check if any more oats are needed at this point to make sure they are "setting up." I had to add just a little more, but didn't measure the additional.

4.  Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper or a silicone mat. Allow to set up and enjoy! (I actually put mine in the freezer to set up faster.)

It's Complicated ...

You’d think salad dressing recipes and grief are two totally unrelated topics that don’t belong in the same blog post … right?! Well, you’d think so, but here you go … 

I haven’t blogged for over a year. So to my many, OK … four, followers, I do apologize for leaving you hanging. You have missed me, right? I just haven’t felt the motivation or inclination to write. It seems kinda ironic that my last post in June 2018 was titled, “How Blogging Has Helped Me and How it May Help You.”  Perhaps I should re-read it myself, but as I said I haven’t been motivated, stimulated, inclinated (if that’s a word) or any other kind of “ated” as I have been dealing with some (a lot of) complicated grief. Some days it's all I can do to motivate myself out of bed in the morning.

From left: Charli, Kahlua, Bear.. all now at Rainbow Bridge.

It started July 13, 2018 with the death of my beloved dog, Kahlua. A very premature death, as he was only 5 years old. It then escalated with the realization that there were other losses I have suffered that I haven’t fully dealt with … other beloved pets, my mom’s death, my dad’s death, the death of a close friend and mentor, the moving away of friends, the estrangement of family, etc. As I said, it’s complicated … complicated grief that remained (remains?) unprocessed. Now, unprocessed … in the context of a whole food, plant based diet, the usual subject of this blog, is a good thing. I still believe unprocessed (whole) foods are definitely best for the human body. Unprocessed grief, however, has got to be the worst. … Has been the worst, at least for me, this past year or so. My therapist (yes … I am not ashamed to share that I needed to seek out professional help) thinks that blogging could be beneficial for the processing of my grief but that is not meant to be the subject of my post today.

I am actually writing about a completely different type of loss I experienced recently when I visited my local Trader Joe’s. I don’t get to Trader Joe’s very often so when I do, there are a few things I like to stock up on. The number one item being sesame soy ginger vinaigrette. I have found this to be such a versatile sauce for veggies and noodle dishes as well as a dressing for salad. After adding a few items to my cart I wandered down the salad dressing aisle … once … twice … and then a third time. What was going on here? There was no sesame soy ginger vinaigrette to be found. Seriously? I didn’t even see an empty spot on the shelf where it should have been. Then, horror of horrors, upon inquiring at the customer service desk, I was told that it had been discontinued … a month ago. What?! … wait … what???!!! How?!  How could they do this?! How can I live without sesame soy ginger vinaigrette?!!!  It is the only truly oil free dressing that I have found that I love … love … LOVE. And it was relatively inexpensive … not like some other brands that shall remain nameless.

After catching my breath, I realized that if I had (barely) endured this past year without Kahlua, I could live without sesame soy ginger vinaigrette. Or not. What if I didn’t have to live without it? What if I could just replace it? I could … I could do that. Note: While this may work for this particular situation, it will not work for dogs. I know … I thought to try and replace Kahlua (as if!) with a look alike (eerily so) doggie in need of a home a couple weeks into my grieving. Fortunately I took the advice of my therapist and did not … but I digress.

Back to the sad salad dressing situation. Thankfully, I still had an almost empty bottle of the good stuff in my fridge and, using the ingredient list from the back of the bottle, this morning I concocted my own copycat recipe which you can find below. Is it as good as the original? No. While the label provided the ingredients, it didn’t provide measurements. The color is different … lighter. The consistency is not quite the same. The taste, while yummy (in my humble opinion) is definitely not exactly the same. Will it do? Yes it will. I can live with it. Life goes on ...

Yes … life does go on. Enter Itsy Bitsy … not a Kahlua replacement by any means. He looks nothing like him and his personality is totally different. Itsy is outgoing and fierce while Kahlua was more shy and reserved. Itsy barks … a lot. Kahlua never really barked all that much, but he did howl. His howl was the sweetest puppy song I had ever heard. How my heart would fill with joy when he would throw back his head and let loose, encouraged by and emulating his daddy who taught him well. I have had to insist that my husband not teach Itsy Bitsy the same behavior for fear my heart could not take it.

So Itsy barks … and barks … and barks. It drives me crazy sometimes, but I have also grown to love him fiercely, madly, totally. I didn’t think I had it in me, after Kahlua, to feel this much love for another furry creature.  And yet … I do. And yet … again, I digress, but I am not going to apologize. It’s who I am, it’s what I’m dealing with. And, this morning, while yet still dealing with complicated grief I felt both motivation and inclination to experiment and come up with a pretty darn good salad dressing and then blog about it. A salad dressing that I know I will grow to love … scratch that … enjoy … as much as the original. The word love really shouldn’t be used in conversations about food, but that’s another post.

So, if you, like me, really, really enjoyed Trader Joe’s sesame soy ginger vinaigrette, try this version and let me know what you think. And, if you try it and make any changes to improve it or make it more like the original … please do let me know. After all … recipes are just a starting point, right?!

To your health …

Sesame Soy Ginger Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp miso
1 clove garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp NOW organic Better Stevia extract powder 
1/8 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Instructions:
Place all ingredients except toasted sesame seeds in a blender and blend. I would have used fresh ginger if I had it. Not sure how much to use if you want to sub.

After blending add the toasted sesame seeds in and mix just to combine, keeping the seeds whole. Then bottle up and store in the refrigerator. I do not know how long this keeps but it will be used too fast to worry about that.

Note: I have xanthan gum listed as optional. I like how it thickens the dressing. If you prefer your dressing not thickened, or if you are opposed to using xanthan gum, simply omit it. I also use stevia. You may not want to use stevia. I won't judge you, but you may want to add more honey or other sweetener to taste. I am going to try using dates in this next time and will update the recipe is that works.