Fried Rice

One of my husbands favorite foods is rice. I think if I didn't cook for him he would pretty much live on fried eggs and white rice. Or his favorite dish Texas Hash.

Before I met James I really didn't eat much rice but I've grown accustomed to cooking with it since James loves it so much.

One of my new favorite dishes is my version of Fried Rice. It's a healthy take on the fried rice you'd get at any Chinese restaurant, but it tastes way better. 

I think the secret to making it taste sooo good is using Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce. It gives the dish a great flavor plus you get the added health benefits of all those amino acids.  (my own personal opinion I was not paid to say this)

For James I fried up some beaten eggs and sliced them up so he could stir them in with his fried rice.



Today I'm sitting down to plan out another week of meals. I think this just might be the start of good habit.

 "God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style. He just goes on trying other things." - Pablo Picasso

Kitchen Mishaps

This week has been full of kitchen mishaps! I made one dish that was such an utter failure my dog wouldn't even eat it. There was the BBQ Tempeh that was not a success and then yesterday afternoon I started a pot of split pea soup and almost ruined it to the point where it would have been unsalvageable. Luckily I caught it in time.

Our dog Andy

Who knows why I've been wanting soup lately.  It started with the rain and my Miso Soup,  but now in 114-120 degree weather I shouldn't want it. I think the most likely reason is that I'm ready for it to be fall. And nothing says fall to me more than a hearty bowl of soup.

So yesterday I started to crave split pea soup. It wasn't on my menu for the week but with the two previous kitchen mishaps I didn't have as many leftovers I was planning. Leftovers are usually my lunch so I was needing something to fill the void.  I had everything I would need for the soup in my kitchen so I didn't think there would be any problem if I went ahead a made the soup.

I got to it, and started turning my bag of dried split peas into soup. Things were going fine and the soup needed to simmer for a couple of hours.  I went upstairs to my office and started to write yesterdays blog post. The whole time I was thinking my soup was happily simmering away on the stove. I even checked on it twice, granted it was after 15 min.  and then 30 min. after that, but everything looked fine. Then I got busy and didn't check on it again until it was time to add some seasoning and things. Here I had left the heat on too high and all the liquid had evaporated and the bottom was burning.

I quickly added some water and transferred it to another pot (and turned down the heat). I was able to save it but I'm still kicking myself. It was a silly mistake that I should have caught earlier.  I was especially kicking myself when I had to scrub the bottom of the burned pot. 

 I am laughing at myself now though! :)

Split pea soup. It was yummy and it hit the spot!

Well, I'm thinking next week will be better and I will make nothing but extraordinary food!! (note the hint of sarcasm in that sentence) 

"Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself, for he shall never cease to be entertained." - John Powell

 

BBQ Tempeh

Yesterday I made a BBQ Tempeh in my slow cooker. This is the second time I've tried Tempeh and the verdict is....I'm not a fan.

Although my BBQ Tempeh was better than the first dish I tried, which was Tempeh steamed and then seared in some peanut oil and tossed into a pasta dish, I don't see myself cooking with Tempeh again.

On a positive note, beans would have been perfect in place of the Tempeh in this dish. I'm looking forward to fiddling with this recipe and making it really tasty!

 A couple of nights ago I made scalloped potatoes from "Veganomicon" which were a big hit with both James and I. I really am enjoying meal planning and getting to try all the recipes I've been longing to try. FUN. FUN!

 "Skill is the unified force of experience, intellect and passion in their operation." - John Ruskin

Meatless Mondays

Happy Meatless Monday everyone!

I love that there is a movement out there that is encouraging a meatless life (even if it's just one day a week). You can check it out at  http://www.meatlessmonday.com/

In support of Meatless Mondays last Monday James and I got take out from a restaurant in our neighborhood that offers a discount on meatless meals every Monday.....

The Mac Shack 


 I got a dish they call "The Veggie" James got "The Farm House" (which does have ham in it)

I love the cartoon they have on their paper bags :) You can also see in the back ground the books I used this last week to help plan my menus.

I think  The Mac Shack is becoming one of my favorite places to eat when I don't feel like cooking. "The Veggie" is my go-to dish but I think next time I will try creating my own dish from their build your own section.

We enjoyed this meal while we had a movie night and followed it with a big bowl of popcorn.

 Nights like this are some of my favorite memories I have with my husband. *Sigh* :)


 “Woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea.” - Honore de Balzac

 

Black-Eyed Pea Croquettes

Last night for dinner I tried my first recipe out of Alicia Silverstone's book "The Kind Diet". I've owned this book for over a year now, and I love it. I'm currently reading it again for the 2nd time. It's filled with great information and I'm reminded about all the reasons why I want to eat a plant-based diet. 

You're probably wondering why, if I love it so much, haven't I ever made anything out of it. Well, I have one big problem when I buy cookbooks. I buy them and I immediately sit down and read them, making a mental note of all the recipes I want to try. My problem comes when I go to the grocery store. I very rarely make a list for things other than the staples we use like salt, pepper, dog food, soy milk, TP ....ect. When I need vegetables to make my meals what goes on the list is.... "Veggies".  I'll buy whatever looks good or has a great sale price. Ending up with sort of a mishmash of things. When it comes time to make dinner I just throw things together...stir fries, scrambles, pastas, stews or soups. 

When I get the urge I might sit down and look at some recipes to make for dinner and I'll find I'm missing a key ingredient for just about everything I want to try. I found this especially true after switching to eating a plant-based diet because I'm still learning how and what to put together. 

This bring us to last week when I actually made out a meal plan for this week. I took some time and picked out a few recipes I wanted to try, went to the store and actually purchased the specific things I would need to make them. Amazing! *patting myself on back*

   Dinner was Black-Eyed Pea Croquettes with Dijon Glaze and a side salad. As I was making the croquettes I noticed that it was kinda smelling like falafel. Which makes sense because they are both made out of beans. After tasting the croquettes I found that I liked them a whole lot better than falafel and they had a very satisfying crunch. James on the other hand likes falafel better.


I did have a problem preparing them. I only have a small food processor so I had to blend them in 2 batches and then I mixed the two together in a bowl. I don't think I blended them long enough so some of them fell apart a little while cooking. I didn't mind though because the ones that fell apart were crispier. Yum! It definitely hit the spot last night.



 "Each person's task in life is to become an increasingly better person." - Leo Tolstoy . 

Tofu Scramble

Since I first started eating a plant-based diet I have made quite a few tofu scrambles, and I have really fallen in love with them. So it's not surprising that I made one for breakfast this morning with a side of breakfast potatoes. Usually I put the potatoes in the scramble but today I wanted them on the side. For seasoning I used salt, pepper, garlic powder and turmeric (to make it look like scrambled eggs).

 For dinner the past two nights was Samosa inspired mashed potatoes, Jasmine rice with coconut spread(YUM!) and a side of romaine lettuce (plain, just to get some greens in). I really need to work on creating more balanced meals. This one was very heavy on the starch. 

" If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

More Rain and Pizza

The beginning  of this week started with thunderstorms again! I swear James and I turn into little kids when it starts raining. If one of us notices it we'll run to the other and yell "It's raining!" and we'll both run to a window or outside. I know the reason for this is that I can count on one hand the times it's rained at our house in the last year. We both come from areas where we saw a lot more rain than we do now. He's from Southern California and I grew up it Southeast Alaska where it rains all the time. I honestly thought I would never, ever miss rain but after living in Las Vegas for 10 years it's official.....I miss it.

We also take the time to notice the rain because if we don't we might not know it was ever here.

View from my office window.... *Rain*

Out of the same window an hour later...Rain? What rain?

With enjoying all the rain the last couple of days, last night I decided to be lazy and we had frozen pizza. I had Amy's no cheese pizza (I cant' get enough of this pizza) and James had a three cheese pizza from some company I didn't pay attention to.

Dinner tonight will be much more inspired. I'm planning on spending several hours in the kitchen :)




 "You've got to find yourself first. Everything else'll follow." - Charles De Lint