Happy Veg Cooking

Hummus is always a quick snack, but with the addition of Tabbouleh and some pita bread it was dinner. Super Simple Hummus (low-fat) blend: 1 can chick peas 1 small lemon juiced 1 tbsp tahini chopped garlic (to taste) water or bean liquid until desired consistency. Tabbouleh (Recipe courtesy of Raulla Simko) Soak 1/2 C Bulgar in 1 C water for about an hour Chop parsley, tomato and green onion in small pieces. Mix ingredients together and add Lemon juice, olive oil and salt to taste.

I love Skinnytaste's Pumpkin Granola Recipe, and had a craving for some. I had no pumpkin, so I experimented with substituting applesauce.  The results were delicious while still remaining low fat. Low Fat Granola ( adapted from Skinnytaste) Toast  2 cups of rolled oats on a cookie sheet  at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes, until slightly darker. While oats are toasting, mix together 1/4 cup applesauce, 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1 tsp. coconut oil.  mix together. Add toasted oats to applesauce mixture, along with any nuts or seeds you prefer. (I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon also).  spread on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in 300 degree oven until golden brown. Let cool on cookie sheet so that granola crisps.  When granola is cool put in sealed container.

This is a throw together meal that can be varied with whatever is in the fridge. Mashed potato bowls are one of our quickie meals that hit the spot when you are craving comfort food. I boiled some redskin potatoes and after draining added warm almond milk and a little Earth Balance, salt and pepper and mashed them.  I heated some corn in the microwave, roasted a bag of baby sweet peppers that have been sitting in my fridge and we were ready to eat.  It was delicious, quick and easy.   

This recipe is an adaptation of The Barefoot Contessa's Winter Minestrone. It was easy, satisfying and creates a lot of leftovers. Minestrone Saute:                         2 carrots,chopped bite sized 1 potato, chopped bite sized handful of green beans cut small 1 can whole tomatoes (28 oz) mashed 1 can cannelli beans 1 carton vegetable broth 2 T. quinoa (uncooked) 1 t. thyme 1 t. basil 1 t. red pepper flakes salt and pepper to taste spinach can be added right before serving time

 A bit of chocolate for dessert is sometimes necessary.  My go to recipe is this chocolate pudding.  Its super easy, with no dairy or eggs and delicious.  It fills up four little ramekins. Chocolate pudding Adapted from "Wildly Affordable Organic" by Linda Watson In a small saucepan combine: 2 T Cornstarch (non GMO if you have it) 1/3 C Sugar 1/3 C Cocoa Add: 2 C Almond milk (soy, rice, etc...  any work fine) Turn on medium heat and whisk until small bubbles form and pudding thickens.  Pour into four small serving bowls. Delicious with chopped nuts, coconut or berries on top.

In January of 2016 my husband and I set out to eat a plant based diet to the best of our ability. He was nearing 60, and I not far behind, so our quest was to improve our health and feel better about our impact on the environment.  I knew that the only way we would succeed was to make it easy, delicious and affordable.  We tried many times to adopt a vegan diet,   but gave up for those reasons (I did the 21 day vegan kick-start three times), so we gradually added more plants, found delicious meat substitutes and tried to make it fun.   We are far from having a perfect diet, and on occasion still enjoy some fish, chicken or Parmesan cheese (and half and half in my coffee😉), and when eating at someone's home we enjoy whatever they are serving us, which is part of being happy and healthy too. We do try to keep it affordable by using whole ingredients and making most things from scratch.  We find we get the most for our money by buying in season when we can ...