Well, there are many solutions, sometimes just a salad with beans, but I find myself getting bored with salads if I have two in one day, so I do some other things sometimes. Today I had some rice left over, so I added some water and some frozen peas to it and let it come up to proper temperature and let the peas thaw. Once it was heated through, I added a little bit of Nama Shoyu. What a wonderful flavor combination. Also served some little peppadews on the side with a little goat cheese. (The goat cheese made it non-vegan so you don’t have to do that, but it was delicious)! We are really working on the cheese and find ourselves eating it less and less. I also had made some cracked black pepper and roasted red pepper hummus. So we had some of that with a few “unsalted” tortilla chips. I just wish I had taken a picture of it all. Too hungry!

Cracked Black Pepper/Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 can drained chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 of a whole roasted red pepper
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
pinch sea salt
water for blending

Place all the ingredients in the blender except the water and blend. Add the water as needed to be able to blend until smooth. Serve

One thing to remember about salt. Not all sea salts are created equal, so make sure you read the label and look for additives. If there are additives, it is not something you want to use.

Okay, now for the simple dish I made, when we were starving and in a hurry! I do have pictures of this one.

Fried Potatoes with Sauteéd Dino Kale and Green Bean Succotash
(Don’t forget, click on the small picture to open up a bigger one)

Fried Potatoes with Sauteéd Dino Kale

Use leftover baked or boiled potatoes. Chop into medium sized pieces (leave skin on). Slice the kale into thin shreds (roll several leaves into a tight cigar shape and use your knife to make thin slices). Using an iron skillet (this is what I use), place some olive oil on a paper towel and wipe all around the inside of the skillet. Turn on high heat and when temperature comes up (don’t let oil smoke), add potatoes and let them begin to brown. Once one side has browned, add kale and let cook together. Turn heat to medium. Kale will become crispy. Season with some ground up nori sheets and cracked black pepper. (I tear the nori into small strips and then put in my little magic bullet type blender to grind up.)

Green Bean Succotash

1 small onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 small yellow squash, chopped
1 cup frozen french style green beans
pinch sea salt
cracked black pepper

Put one tablespoon olive oil (you can also just wipe the skillet with olive oil on a paper towel again) in a skillet and saute onion, red pepper, zucchini and yellow squash until onion is translucent. Add green beans (which have somewhat thawed at this point). Sauté, stirring occassionally. Season with salt and pepper.

I put these seasonings in the recipe, but usually I just let people put their own salt on their plate if they want. I usually will use pepper or some other non-salt seasoning (like the ground nori or Mrs. Dash when I cook at home, but some things just simply need a little salt!)

Yesterday, Ken was just simply starving, so I had him make himself a sandwich. We had a tomato, avocado and some whole grain bread. He sliced and toasted the bread, sliced the tomatoes and avocado and made a sandwich. It was delicious!

Rusty came up on Thursday this week because he was going to a Youth Conference with some youth from his church and some of our nieces and nephews. So I made a tomato-broth based vegetable soup and a grilled “rice” cheese sandwich with sliced tomatoes. Again, it was delicious. The comfort of a grilled cheese sandwich (made of course on whole grain bread), but made with rice cheese.

I hope you see some of the quick and easy alternatives. Just because you are simply starving, doesn’t mean you have to give up your way of eating for something quick!

Happy, Healthy Eating

Jackie V

Rusty and I had ridden to Ohio together yesterday, 500+ miles for him, 460+ for me. Our cousin, Emma Lee Watson, passed away and we went to Ohio to be a support to her children, our second cousins. You know, we just don’t see family enough any more. We all grow up and get busy with our lives and it takes a funeral to bring us together again. So sad, but very true. I guess if I want that to change, it has to begin with me. I do know that I love them all very dearly.

Today I was very tired. I looked in the refrigerator to see what I could make for lunch, and when I looked in the freezer, I saw several opened bags of frozen veggies, just several partial bags. I decided to make “Clean Out The Freezer Vegetable Stewp.” So, use whatever veggies you have that you want to use up, in whatever quantities you have of each one.

I sautéed 1 large onion in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I then began to add the frozen veggies. I had lima beans, haricots verts (green beans), peas and carrots, corn and I added 2 medium sized potatoes that I diced up.

To this I added 5 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water. I added 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. I also added 1 teaspoon hungarian smoked paprika and 1- 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes and about 1/2 cup uncooked barley. Let it cook until all vegetables are tender and barley is done then serve. So delicious!

The meal was delicious. With this stewp I served a beautiful salad. Romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, shredded granny smith apple and sliced grape tomatoes. Lime vinagrette over the top. Very simple a little apple cider vinegar and some lime juice, black pepper and a pinch of salt. So good!

I also served whole grain baguette with the lunch. Here’s the table picture.

As with most soups, this stewp is even better on the second day. Please be adventurous when making soups. Fall and winter is such wonderful soup weather. I could eat soup every day, so I’ll show you my recipes. If you have any you would like to share, please post them here. Include a picture!

Happy, Healthy Eating

Jackie V.

I made Agedashi Tofu and Miso Soup for lunch. It was a very quick lunch, definitely not low-fat, but I don’t feel having this once in a while will throw me off track. It is not something I would eat every day, but is a wonderful now and then lunch and a much better choice (for me) than a burger! Miso soup has become my new “comfort” food.

I got my recipe from Everyday Dish. There are so many great recipes here and videos to watch along with the written recipe! I love this site!

Here’s the link for the recipe:

Agedashi Tofu

Miso Soup:

For miso soup I just lightly sauté onion and mushrooms and place them in the bottom of the bowl. I then bring 3 cups of water to a boil, remove from heat and add 2 Tablespoons miso paste (I use the brown rice miso usually), stir until well blended and then ladle over the onions and mushrooms. You can add seaweed, I just didn’t have any this day. The main thing is that you do not want to bring the liquid to a boil once you have added the miso paste. If you make too much and have some later, heat it gently and do not bring to a boil.

Here are some more pictures of our lunch:

I sure hope you try this recipe. Don’t be afraid to be adventurous. It was fun and very, very tasty!

Happy, Healthy Eating

Jackie V.