Category Archives: food
VeganSistah’s Vegan Meal Plan
There are so many places popping up that offer vegan meal plans. Some of them are reasonable, while others are quite unreasonable. I’ve realized that following a vegan diet can be a real budget buster if you’re not careful. I recently realized that with a little time, creativity & patience I could create my own personal vegan meal plan. The great thing about creating my own dishes is that I can make any combination I choose each day.
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My personal plan doesn’t cover three meals a day, but it’s definitely a sufficient start. I got some unbelievable inspiration & cooking creativity and decided to make a few dishes for the week that I thought I’d share with you guys. It really didn’t take me long at all so I am dedicating Sunday evenings to making a few dishes for the weeks.
Here are the ones I made for last week:
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These were so easy to make and very economical. Some prepared meals are exactly what i need for my busy lifestyle. In fact, this was way too much food for me. It really didn't seem like much food for a week, but i combine it a few other things like green smoothies & salads so i decided to freeze some of it. I think I need to find some special vegan friends to share my creations with….it's time for me to start hosting some vegan dining events or something similar to share all of the food.
Grilled Zucchini Tacos
I have discovered a new entrée that has become one of my favorite vegan dishes – zucchini tacos!A fellow vegan discovered a mexican restaurant in Evanston, Austin Tacos, and we were excited to see VEGAN TACOS on the menu. Now unlike many places that use some type of faux meat product filled with soy or wheat gluten, this play used all veggies. Awesome! They were quite tasty. In fact, I went a few weeks later to taste and see how I can make them my on. My zucchini tacos were quite different from Austin Tacos, but I think they taste even better because I made with just the ingredients I like. Here are a list of ingredients I used:
- zucchini
- onions
- jalapeno
- onions
- red & green peppers
- black beans
- smoked corn salsa (left over from the Baked Mexican Pasta Dish)
- green onions
- corn tortillas
- cabbage slaw
I made the corn tortillas in my new special pan that I bought just for this purpose – I admit that I love tacos!
I like this pan because I do not have to make one tortilla at a time. Oh yeah! I then grilled the zucchini in my cast iron grill skillet by adding a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). This is where the goodness really starts.
While the zucchini was grilling. I combined some left over black beans, grilled onions & peppers, corn salsa and brown rice to add as a topping with diced jalapeno.
I like spicy food so I added some fresh diced jalapeno, I tossed in some fresh cilantro, added a little cabbage slaw and guacamole on the side for crunch. I had never tried this before, but I think this is one of the tastiest creations that I have tried thus far while transitioning to a vegan lifestyle.
This was way too much food for me to eat in one sitting!!! I am pleasantly pleased by how I am eating less and less now that I am eating better. It’s amazing how satisfied you feel when you give your body what it needs. If I had participated in the VIRTUAL VEGAN POTLUCK on May 12th, this is the dish that I intended to include. Be creative when you are making vegan dishes…..I’m learning that this is part of the fun (and motivation) for continuing on my journey no matter how many ups and downs I experience.
Think Out the Box When Choosing Your Cereal (Unprocessed Cereal Recipe)
This morning I decided to share a wonderful cereal recipe. I obtained this recipe in the nutrition class for my marathon training session with the Elijah Running Club. This recipe is wonderful, quick to make and you have the liberty of creating it anyway you like it. It takes only a few minutes and its good enough for a breakfast cereal or midday snack. Bonus is that my daughter loves it too!
INGREDIENTS:
Diced honeydew melons
Diced Pineapples
Diced Granny Smith Apples
Sliced Straw berries
Bunch of green grapes
(I’ve also added cantaloupe, blueberries, raspberries, etc in the past)
Lots of Cinnamon
Agave nectar (really just a small amount depending on how much you make)
Walnuts and/or Pecan
Non-Dairy Milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but I may try coconut milk this week)
Clean Cereal Ingredients (except Non-Dairy Milk)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1st – Mix all of the fruits and nuts together in a bowl
2nd – Drizzle a small amount of agave nectar on the top and add a liberal amount of cinnamon
Gotta Love Cinnamon!
3rd – Mixed all the ingredients together and eat alone or with non-dairy milk
This recipe is delicious! If you buy the fruit already diced this should take you 2-3 minutes to make. Enjoy!!
Kicking Black Eye Peas & Okra
Todau I am posting a dish that contains two items that I generally have not liked most of my life. It is quite amazing to see how are palet changes as we age and as we expand our understanding of food. I must thank my daughter, who now exclaims that our entire place is green and there’s nothing to eat, for getting me to try this dish. My BFF fixed this for her one day when she was sitting for me before she moved to TN. My friend’s recipe included smoked turkey, but I think my vegan version is just as good or even better. This is a very easy and delicious dish that is great over brown rice – that’s how I had it with a little vegan jalapeno corn bread (see prior post) on the side.
Here are the ingredients:
1/2 lbs os soaked black eye peas (I soaked in cool water while I was at work
1 medium bell pepper (diced)
1 medium onion (diced)
2-3 pieces of garlic (diced of minced)
1 and 1/2 c of okra (fresh or frozen)
EVOO
HSS
Fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions:
Soak the peas for 4-5 hours in cool water (you can purchase pre-soaked peas or soak in warm water for a shorter time)
Drizzle EVOO in a skillet and sautee the diced onions, bell pepper & garlic
Add peas to the mixture and add water until the black eye peas are almost covered with water
Cook Your Black Eye Peas After Soaking
Cook the peas about 30 -45 minutes on slow heat. Add HSS and fresh cracked pepper to taster. You may also add other seasonings to kick this up. I use cajun seasonings and a little cracked red pepper. After the peas have become visibly tender or close to the texture of your preference add the in the okra (the point is to keep the okra from over cooking or becoming too soft).
Add Okra to the Simmering Black Eye Peas
Cooked for another 10 – 15 minutes. Again, until the okra has the consistency that you enjoy. I used frozen okra and I do not like soft okra so I only cook this dish about 10 minutes once I add the okra. This dish was great, especially for a person who didn’t like black eye peas and despised okra. I like for this dish to have a little kick so I add crush red peppers at the end. If I really want to “kick it up a notch” as Emeril use to say on the FoodNetwork, I add a litle hot sauce or tobascco sauce. Hey, I’m a girl that likes spicy food! Try this dish out, I’m sure you’ll like it.
We're done! Black Eye Peas w/ Okra. Yum!
The Neelys’ Texas (Prosperity) Caviar
I was watching the FoodNetwork (did I mention that I’m a FoodNetwork junkie???) and I caught an episode of “Down Home with the Neelys”. On this particular episode they actually made a dish that I realized was vegan – oh yeah! I think the Neelys are the cutiest couple and I enjoy watching them cook in the kitchen. I attached a FoodNetwork photo of this dish and I’m sure you’ll agree it looks quite tasty. Here is a link to the Neelys’ Texas Caviar Recipe As a quick bonus I though I’d add a video trailer of the Neely’s – please do not be offended that there dishes are not vegan, but they are a very positive and cute couple nonethless….in my humble opinion.
The Neelys
