Yummy!

So, yesterday we had azuki bean stir fry over pasta. I thought it was really good. Drake said it was "edible." Emma ate it all and Caitlin, Cole, Ethan and Sera just ate the pasta.

Azuki Bean Stir Fry

Oriental Cooking spray
1 sm onion
1 med red bell pepper - sliced
2 C haved snow peas
2 t minced garlic
1 t minced ginger root
2 C cooked dried azuki beans
1 C water
2/3 C orange juice
2 T soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
2 T honey
1/2 t chili paste
4 t cornstarch
3 C cooked brown rice or Chinese-style noodles

Spray wok or large skillet with cooiking spray; heat over medium heat until hot. Stir-fry onion, bell pepper, show peas, garlic and ginger root for 5 minutes. Add beans and water and heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Heat mixture to bliling. Mix remaining ingreients, except rice; stir into wok. Boil, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve over rice or noodles.


That's the original recipe. I doubled it, but left out the snow peas, used one red bell pepper and one orange bell pepper and added a container of extra firm tofu (cut into 1 inch cubes). You can omit the honey or substitute something else for it to make the meal vegan.

Tonight's dinner was lacto-vegetarian enchiladas.

I don't really have a written out recipe for this. Basically, I just fry (but just until soft, not until crispy) some white corn tortillas in olive oil on a skillet. After I remove them from the skillet, I put some cheese in the center of each one along with three whole black olives. I roll them up, then place them in a 9x13 pan. When the pan is full, I pour a large can of enchilada sauce over them and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.

It's quick, easy and a huge hit in my family!

I've been doing crockpot oatmeal and green smoothies for breakfast every morning. We've finally gotten to the point that there is more green in them than fruit and the kids don't complain at all! I'm absolutely thrilled about this! Here is what we used this morning:

Full blender of kale leaves
1/2 C almond milk
1 fuji apple
1 large carrot, peeled
7/8 orange, peeled
1/8 orange peel still on
4 T. flax meal
7 frozen strawberries
1/2 C frozen assorted b3erries
1 C frozen organic wild blueberries

Fill blender with kale leaves and almond milk. Blend until smooth. Add non frozen fruits and veggies and flax meal. Blend until smooth. Add frozen fruits. Blend until smooth. If at any point you can't blend it anymore, add more almond milk or water. Serve immediately.

If you don't serve it immediately, it kinda gels up at the top because of the fiber in the veggies. It's really gross when it does that. You can just mix it again though if that happens and it's fine. Tomorrow I'm doing a "red" smoothie and using beets as my secondary veggie instead of carrots. This morning's smoothie was a bit brown and I'm always afraid my kids won't drink it if it's not a "fruity" color. They don't like to know that they're drinking vegetables. lol

Pretty boring

So, breakfast today consisted of crockpot oatmeal with ground flaxseed, fuji apple pieces and walnuts. Yummy! Lunch was a mocko salad. I think dinner is going to be steamed swiss chard, kale and zuchinni cooked with tomatoes and onions...and maybe another mocko salad if that isn't enough.

Yeah, pretty boring. lol

Back on track

After a very indulgent pregnancy, I'm back on track! Veg*n, baby!


Thai pasta salad
(from vegweb)

4 ounces angel hair pasta (I used Barilla Plus. It has egg whites in it. I'm sure you can find a vegan pasta if you prefer)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup red cabbage, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon lemon peel seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon salt, Optional

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Drain but don't rinse. Toss immediately with the 1 cup of coconut milk to prevent sticking. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Serve either hot or cold. Serves 3.

Caitlin and Emma are in Hawaii, so they didn't try it. Cole wasn't fond of the red cabbage. Truth be told, neither was I. I think I'll try green cabbage next time. Drake suggested wilting the cabbage a bit before adding it because he didn't like the texture. I think green cabbage will take care of that though because it's not as crunchy as red. Sera LOVED it. She had leftovers for breakfast AND lunch today! I'll get the pictures and stars up later :)