Food choices and vegan manicotti

In October of 2008, I read the now-notorious Skinny Bitch book. I didn't care for the tone of the book, but the scientific evidence advocating a diet free of animal products interested me. I decided to try to reduce animal products from my diet in a very serious way, and after sharing what I learned with Brian, he agreed to give it a try as well.  We had several "whoops" moments, and serious cravings to work though, but after 2 years I can say it has been an excellent decision. Now, I eat a plant-based diet with occasional small amounts of seafood and eggs. I'm not militant about it, but mindful.

One of the biggest changes this choice required was cooking from scratch. I'm embarrassed to say that the first year Brian and I lived together we ate a lot of Tuna Helper and Hamburger [Venison] Helper. Blechh. No wonder I gained 30 pounds! I relied on convenience foods high in fat, calories, and sodium, and low in nutritional value. Now I cook from scratch much of the time, and in March of this year I began calculating calorie content per serving. People unfamiliar with vegetarianism and veganism always ask me what I eat, and I eat most things others do, with small changes and more variety. I can make most any thing I want, and make it fit my nutritional choices (although I try not to rely on pre-packaged meat substitutes). I even made a mock-Hamburger Helper skillet meal because I was craving the taco flavor one. 

Tonight, I decided to make a family favorite with a twist. I loved my mom's manicotti as a kid. It was something she didn't make often because it took a lot of time, so I appreciated it a lot more when we had it. By combining her recipe with some tested-and-true vegan recipes, I was able to whip up an awesome supper. I started with the filling:

Vegan Spinach-"Ricotta" Filling (based on the Vegan With A Vengeance recipe)
2 boxes Mori-Nu Silken Tofu
2 tsp lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
2 handfuls of fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup soy mozzarella-substitute cheeze
garlic salt, pepper, and your favorite Italian seasonings (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc.)

Mash up the tofu with a fork, add the remaining ingredients and mix. All ready for your favorite recipes, like lasagna, baked ziti, stuffed shells, or even as a pizza topping.

Yummy!

 To assemble, I poured a little sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan (I use Hunt's No Sugar Added. It's cheap, and no HFCS). I next stuffed cooked manicotti noodles with my "ricotta" and placed them in the pan, sprinkled them with the remaining soy cheeze (from the 1/2 c. used in the "ricotta" filling), and poured the rest of the sauce over the top. I sprinkled some vegan Parmesan over the top because my mom always did. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes-1 hour, and ta-da!

I wish you could smell how awesome this is!

Made this way, there are 11 individual manicottis in this pan, at 175 calories each. It's cooling on the counter now while I'm waiting for Brian to come home. I'll probably have two tubes and a spinach salad with Italian dressing. Then I have to go back to bed, in advance of an overnight shift tonight. Have a great Saturday night, everyone!

Soup on a snowy day

We had a little bit of snow in central MN yesterday. I hear that the Twin Cities fared much worse than our inch or so, much of which melted. It was still slushy and cold enough to get me thinking about soup. I had a trusty can of coconut milk lurking in the pantry and set out googling to find a Thai soup recipe. Using this Tom Yum recipe as a guideline, I whipped up a decent, low-calorie supper.

 

 So, here we have diced carrots, onions, garlic, and ginger, also some pre-chopped broccoli, and bok choy and tofu. I sauteed the veggies in wok oil, a garlic-spiced sesame oil. I didn't have any lemongrass, so I added lime juice for the sour, as well as soy sauce for salty, sriracha for the spicy, and 2 tablespoons of sugar for sweet, to hit all the notes of Thai cooking. I also added about a cup of cooked wide rice noodles to thicken things up.

Garnished with cilantro, this bowl clocked in at 225 calories. Brian added way too much sriracha to his bowl and ended up sweating and blowing his nose. Ya gotta be careful with that stuff, right?





This morning I made waffles from my trusty Joy of Cooking, given to me by my uncle Bill when I graduated high school. It has certainly served me well, especially his inscription in the front: "The secret to good soup is layers... think about it!". If you don't have one, buy it now!

Quick Supper

Okay, I wanted to make a quick supper when I got home from the Y today. So I made an easy favorite, the Chickpea Cutlets from The Veganomicon. I mashed up a cup of chickpeas in the food processor and added 1/2 cup each of wheat gluten and bread crumbs, as well as 1/4 cup of veggie broth and some soy sauce, hot sauce, and spices. I kneaded it all together and made 4 patties, baked at 375 for 25 minutes (flip after 15 minutes). I made some sauce using 2 Tbsp each of lite mayo & dairy-free sour cream and a few shakes of the AMAZING Fiesta mix my mother-in-law buys for me. I freaking love this stuff, its incredible. Like. Whoa.

I also threw some steak fries for Brian and some sweet potato spears for me on the Pizzaz. I toss my sweet potatoes in 2 tsp of olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, garlic salt and cumin. Yum. (FYI, I really love the Pizzaz, its super useful for all kinds of stuff, like veggie corndogs and nachos.)

So, here's a home-cooked vegan supper in about 30 minutes. I was able to write this blog post while everything baked, so it was really easy and hands-off. I should have really added some fresh veggies besides the sweet potatoes, but oh well. Clocks in at about 615 calories, according to my estimates based on calories from individual ingredients. Yes, I do the counts for every meal. Part of the weight loss thing. I lightened this up by using one slice of bread and skipping the ketchup - saving 100 calories. I could have saved more by skipping the sauce I made or making smaller chickpea cutlets. Its all about balance though, right? Mine on the left, Brian's on the right.

I also got some new fiber in the mail today from the Spunky Eclectic Fiber of the Month club.

4oz. of hand-painted targee wool in the colorway "Flannel". Love it!

Brian and I are going shopping for Halloween costume-making supplies tonight. I changed my mind again, but its going to be EPIC. I can't wait!

Inaugural Post

I used to blog over on LiveJournal as To Knit or To Study?, but figured the name was no longer relevant a year after finishing grad school. I also wanted a forum that was more than just a knitting blog - a place where I can document culinary adventures, travel experiences, and general hoodlumfoolery. So... here it is.

Yesterday I roasted a gigantic pumpkin. GIGANTIC. So I need to make lots of pumpkin things. Unfortunately, Husbeast Hotpants specified that he will only eat sweet pumpkin things, not savory. So I baked a pumpkin crumb cake with pecan streusel from the Veganomicon.

It turned out pretty rad. Then I walked to the yarn store to pick up the yarn in "JennaGreen" that I have been coveting for the past few weeks.

5 skeins of awesome Pima/Silk Tonos from Misti Alpaca.

Now, I'm going to work on my Cloudy Sunday sweater for a few hours before I have to take a super nap. Working the overnight shift every other weekend is much improved by a 3-hour nap before my shift. Have a great weekend, everyone!