Leigh Ann's Tofu with Peanut-Ginger Sauce

This was delish! Really, it was sooo good. I just modified it a little. I doubled the recipe, but instead of doubling the tofu, I added in some steamed broccoli instead.

Thanks Leigh Ann for the recipe!!
http://food.yahoo.com/recipes/eatingwell/378/tofu-with-peanut-ginger-sauce

Red cabbage

I am not sure how this is going to taste, but look at the colors! Steamed red cabbage, spinach, black beans and corn salsa. Not very kid friendly, but maybe if you stick it in soft taco?

Stewed Greens

Sometimes I have such a backlog of greens from the farm I just put a whole bunch in a pot with a can of diced tomatoes, some corn for sweetness and a little Italian seasoning. It comes out so good! Even Ev commented on how good it smelled while I was cooking it tonight. Let's see if he actually eats some for dinner tommorrow. This batch has kale, spinach and collard greens.

Vegan Eggplant Rollatini

The vegan eggplant rollatini is by far my favorite recipe. It is so good, and the cashew ricotta is so creamy it really makes the dish! Also, the key to cooking this eggplant healthily is baking it so you don't have to use tons of oil to make it soft.

It's a little work so I usually don't do it on a weeknight, but if I do make it I usually make extra and freeze it. It also makes a good party food. Here is the recipe and some pics of me making it. Enjoy!

The pic shows it with a side of steamed kale and some avocado.

Eggplant Rollatini
* Mostly taken from a recipe in Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

3 large eggplants
1 lb frozen spinach
1 batch Cashew Ricotta
2 jars tomato sauce (approximately)

Cut off top and bottom of eggplant and peel. With a sharp knife, slice ¼ inch slices long ways. Spray pan lightly with spray oil so eggplant won’t stick and place eggplant on pan. Heat in oven for approx. 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until eggplant is soft and pliable.

Heat spinach and drain excess liquid. Mix the spinach and cashew ricotta in a large bowl.

Cover the bottom of a lasagna sized pan with tomato sauce. On a plate, place about a heaping tablespoon of cashew ricotta mixture on a piece of eggplant and roll. Place the roll in the pan. Cover the rolls with more tomato sauce when finished. Heat in the oven for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.


Cashew Ricotta
* From the Veganomicon by Isa Moskowitz & Terry Romero

1/2 cup raw cashew pieces (approximately 4 ounces)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cloves fresh or roasted garlic
1 pound firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil


In a food processor, blend together the cashews, lemon juice, and garlic until a thick creamy paste forms. Add the crumbled tofu to the food processor, working in two or more batches if necessary, until the mixture is thick and well blended. Blend in the basil.

Steamed Kale

I love steamed Kale! So delicious! It is very easy to wash the kale and then just scrape if off the stems, rip it into bite size pieces and steam it.

Carrots with the greens still on

For some reason my kids love steamed carrots if the green part is still left on. For some reason it is a total novelty for them. We got these carrots from our CSA farm and they were so tasty.

The other shot of the rest of the dinner, a hodge podge of other veggies and tacos.

Pumpkin Soup

Ev begged me for some pumpkin soup the other day. We had just came back from pumpkin picking so I just used one of the medium sized pumpkins we got. I cut up the pumpkin, cubed it and cut the skin off. I then boiled it with one onion in and a box of veggie broth until soft. I added some pepper, cumin and cinnamon and then blended it all in the blender. It was surprisingly easy and delish!















I also made toasted pumpkin seeds, but Ev acted like I was poisoning him when he tasted those!

Banana Oat Bars

These banana oat bars are so good and you don't have to feel bad about eating them! Ev helped me make this batch. Here is a link to the recipe:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Dr-Fuhrmans-Yummy-Quick-Easy-BananaOat-Bars-223077

We used the optional apple sauce and sprinkled the top with some pumpkin spice! Yum!

Veggie Chili

Veggie Chili is a good stand by to make as the days get chillier. We usually put it over a bed of spinach or some other greens. Sometimes it is hard to get the kids to eat chili so I sometimes make a quesadilla or tacos out of it for them.

Take out!

Sometimes you just have to get take out! I love the healthy Chinese restaurant Lo Fatt Chow in Clinton Township because they have a lot of veggie options. It tastes good and doesn't make you feel sick after like most Chinese restaurants. I usually get the Veggie Spicy Szechuan shown below and it is sooo good! Anthony usually gets the Vegetable Ginger Ginger. The kids get the Prawns Lo Mein, which is a little on the greasier side, but I add in some extra broccoli so they get some veggies too. Yumm!!

Pizza, pizza, pizza!

Anthony loves pizza! Here we made our own on a whole wheat tortilla, piled on the veggies and sprinkled a little Daiya vegan cheese. The more veggies the better! Even if we order a pie, we try to get it on a whole wheat crust with tons of veggies and ask for no cheese. We also try to eat a lot of salad too so we don't eat too much pizza.

Fruit & nuts for breakfast??

I eat fruit and nuts for breakfast every day during the week and I switch it up a little on the weekends.

Today I'm having strawberries, pineapple, a banana, and some almonds. I usually buy fruit from the cafeteria at work, which gets a little pricey, but they almost always have strawberries, and sometimes blueberries, and on those days I know it's worth it.

I fill one of those containers, and it usually weighs a little more than a pound. I also bring some nuts, a banana, and sometimes an apple or a pear too.

Thanks Cathy for letting me post to your blog!!

Anthony

Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Soup

We got a butternut squash and cooking pumpkin from our farm pickup this week so I decided to make soup out of it. I peeled and cubed both the pumpkin and the squash. I then cut two onions and cooked them in a large pot with about a half an inch of water. We usually don't use any oil and cook onions and things in water instead. Once the onions were see through I added the cubed squash and pumpkin and one box of vegetable broth. I simmered it until the squash and pumpkin was soft. I then blended the soup in batches in the blender and returned it to the pot. I simmered it for a little while longer with some pepper.

Once the soup was done I steamed some kale to add to the soup so we had some greens. We also had veggie burgers, with hummus and spinach with the soup and I made the kids grilled cheeses. They loved the soup and liked dipping their sandwiches in it. Evan added his own addition to the recipe, his plastic rats!

Veggie Stew and Beet Chickpea Salad

I had some of my family over for dinner on Sunday. I made a big pot of veggie stew which pretty much entails putting whatever veggies I get from our Honeybrook CSA farm pick up on Sunday morning into a pot with a large can of stewed tomatoes and some Italian seasoning. This week we had onions, squash, bok choy, string beans and I added frozen corn and broccoli. We had that over whole wheat pasta, some extra sauce and some steamed broccoli on the side. It's hard to see the stew in the photo, but it's under the sauce.

We also had a large salad with some beets, chickpeas and string beans. Before joining a CSA farm, I never had a beet in my life. They are sooo easy to make and sooo delicious! You pretty much boil them until you can stick a fork in them easily. Once they are done you just run them under cold water and rub the skin off and viola, they're ready!

String bean snack

Henry inhaling some steamed string beans broken into bite size pieces.

Tacos!

I made the boys tacos and had a taco salad for me. The salad was lettuce, black beans, corn, avocado, salsa, and olives. I wish I had some tomatoes. Boys had black beans, corn, a little cheese, and black olives in the taco with avocado on the side.

Veggies for Breakfast?

Okay, this isn't dinner, but I thought it was worth posting. I never have time for breakfast. I am usually packing the kids lunch while they eat breakfast. This smoothy is a great way to eat breakfast fast and get some veggies in too.

It looks really, really gross, but it tastes really, really good. I promise!

I blended a banana, some soy milk (I think Anthony just uses water), some frozen rasberries and a whole bag of baby spinach. Anthony buys a whole bunch of bagged spinach at Trader Joe's because it is cheaper than the regular grocery store and it is so much easier to have washed spinach on hand. I blend it in a high power blender and drink it down. The more fruit you add, the sweeter it is!

And its in a pint glass, with a bendy straw!

Veggie sandwich with chili

This sandwich is a quick, easy healthy choice. It's on a pita with a layer of hummus, crumbled up Sunshine veggie burger, avocado, fresh spinach and salsa. The Sunshine burgers are the best because they are made from rice, seeds and veggies and have no soy fillers. I get them at the Basil Bandwagon in Flemington.

On the side is some leftover chili I found in the fridge. This is made from green & red pepper, onions, corn, bulger wheat, stewed tomatoes, a can of black beans, a can of refried black beans, pinto beans, spinach and spices.

Pasta Dinner Leftovers

These are leftovers from dinner last night, but it was really good so thought I would post it.

Used jar Arrabiata sauce and added raw chopped up mini portabellas, frozen peas and lots of frozen spinach. We usually make wheat pasta, but the kids really don't like it so last night we used regular. Added some extra fresh spinach for lunch! Yumm!

Veggie Burrito

This is my favorite and a good ole stand by, the veggie burrito.

Inside contents:

Amy's low salt refried black beans
Regular black beans
Spinach and lots of it!
Avocado
Mango
Salsa

Wrapped in a tortilla with avocado and salsa and some cherry tomatoes on the side. Yumm!!