Thankful

Marinated Kale and Daikon Salad

Yesterday morning before work I wanted something savory and spicy, yet raw and substantial. Insert kale salad instead of my normal green smoothie. I shredded kale, carrots, ginger and daikon and rubbed it well with a bit of toasted sesame oil, braggs, and siracha and let it marinate while I showered. I sprinkled it with sesame seeds before eating. Super delicious. The leftovers are great too (I just had some for breakfast)... I will say that I have a love/hate relationship with daikon. I love love love the way it tastes and stands in for noodles in raw dishes. I hate hate hate the way it smells after it sits for a day. I remember a while back, I made a quart of daikon pickles. Even enclosed in a mason jar the entire fridge smelled so bad I had to throw them away after two days. Oy.

Just a simple veggie burger. The delicious yellow split pea soup (with smoked paprika and tarragon) below was turned into 4 burgers.
Now that it's Fall, I am cooking lots of soup. Anyone who has read me for a while knows that soup is one of my favorite foods and split pea tops that list!

This is an old pic, but one of my favorite dishes. Lentil sprouts, daikon and zucchini noodles all dressed up with a spicy peanut sauce. Pad Thai high raw style!
Blueberry banana soft serve. A month or so ago I actually made a raw ice cream pie with this filling. It was outstanding. No picture of that though...

The last two weeks have been hell on earth for my family. My younger son went in for what we thought was going to be a routine foot surgery. He had a large cyst/tumor on the bottom of his hell and they thought it might be malignant. After 9 long days and four pathologists, we got the final report that it was definitely benign and he had it removed in his second surgery in 10 days. He's on the road to recovery and is a real trooper. He runs track and will be ready run in the winter. I am so incredibly thankful he is going to be OK.

This experience has made me re-evaluate things in my life and I've made some changes that will be much better for me and my family.

Quick check in plus weight loss update

Ginger Lemon Cheesecake with Raspberries

OK, it's been forever! I am the biggest slacker ever when it comes to blogging, but life has been so busy and I have not been cooking much at home. I'm coming in to say hi because yesterday was my sons 18th birthday! The cheesecake above (infused with ginger and lemon) was topped with a ginger caramel sauce and fresh raspberries. I also made some raspberry coulis. The crust was gingerbread crust.. sooooo delicious! Andrew usually requests cheesecake for his bday instead of cake and I'm more than happy to oblige.

Raspberry infused Ginger Ale

Andrew's favorite soda is ginger ale.. you know the real stuff in the green bottle? I like it too, but at $5.99 a 4 pack, it is a bit pricey. Since I was making a ginger caramel sauce for the cheesecake, I figured I might as well make a ginger syrup and make our own sodas. They were super spicy and delicious, especially with the raspberries.

18 years old!

Tofu Rancheros

Andrew's bday breakfast consisted of these delicious tofu ranchers. Frozen tofu was scrambled and served over corn tortillas. I made a decadent cheese sauce to drizzle over the top.

This is the type of stuff I've been eating... fast and easy. Tofu salad on toast with salad.. also soups and veggie burgers. I'm boring myself!

I had an unfortunate fridge mishap a month or so ago and lost all the food in my fridge and freezer. What a total bummer, especially since I had just stocked my freezer with 2 cup portions of a lot of food. Oh well... stuff happens in life you can't control!

My sweet Jorda!

Finally, I'm very happy to report that I've lost 50 lbs since April! I attribute it to the stairs at my job. My prep area is downstairs and my service area is upstairs.

oh.. and to the 2 quarts of green smoothies I drink a day!

One last thing, I have some major reviews to publish soon! Cookbooks, products... I have two weeks off in November and I will be catching up on everything then!

.... but I was soooo excited to receive Urban Vegan's cookbook! It looks fabulous and you should all go buy it NOW!

$3.33 a day: Busy Busy Busy

One of the benefits of being a chef is getting to bring home leftovers sometimes. This is a super dense chocolate cake with ganache. At work, I serve it with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. It is so intense, I can only eat two or three bites. The cake itself is vegan (otherwise I would not be posting it here)..

I realize I have been very lax with my postings... but I am sticking with my $3.33 a day budget even if I'm not posting as much. Frankly, I it is not a matter of choice even though I am working. I still only have $100 a month to use for food. It is NOT easy to make ends meet. My Ex is still unemployed. Today is my day off so I made some food for the week. Above is a variation of a curried groundnut stew. It is full of eggplant, onions, ginger, zucchini, spices, tomatoes and a tiny bit of peanut butter. I need to run to the store and get some cilantro and lime juice to finish it off.

I also made a huge batch of ratatouille/chunky vegetable sauce. It has been a base for many meals.. (I made a batch last week and another today).. You can see in the background, brown rice, chickpeas and brown rice pasta. I am going to boil up the peas and add them to both stews for protein and choose either brown rice or the pasta with each dish. We can get 8 good sized meals out of these two main stews and beans. We'll probably go through half the rice this week and all of the pasta as well.

Knowing me, I'll turn the stews into a soup at one point as well and probably get a few freezer meals.

Ratatouille stew with yellow squash angel hair and tofu

Yellow squash spaghetti with tofu and veggies

Here's a pic of where I work. It's a comfortable environment. I do all of dinner service right there by the plates in an open "kitchen".. which isn't really a kitchen. It has a small convection oven, a panini grill and sandwich unit. Downstairs is my prep area and as of now, I only have 1 convection burner to do all the prep and cooking on. It is a challenging set up, especially since I do everything from scratch. Even our mustard is from scratch.

In the next couple of months, I'm going to be a guest chef for several weeks at a program run by the New Hampshire Food Bank. I am really looking forward to meeting the people who will take the classes. I think my first classes will be with Seniors. I am going to introduce them to green smoothies!

I am also going to be speaking at the Maine and New Hampshire La Leche League conference in November on meal planning on a budget. It is a 70 minute presentation (without cooking!).. Again, I'm looking forward to doing that. I believe so strongly that it is possible to eat healthy and delicious food on a budget, so having a platform to share what has worked for me and my family is really exciting to me.

$3.33 a day: June weight loss and stats

Raw sushi collard roll

Super spicy ginger, siracha, daikon, avocado.. so delicious and good for you!

The ginger root I got was incredibly fresh and pungent.. probably the best ginger I've ever eaten.

That reminds me; back when I was a kid I used to goto the hole in the wall Japanese restaurant in Denver. They would bring out fresh tofu that was sitting in ginger infused water. It was amazing. Maybe I'll make some fresh tofu tomorrow and use the rest of the ginger that way?

Indian spiced potatoes, peas and shan tofu. So good. I think plain chickpeas would be better than the shan tofu though. The heat level on this dish was off the charts. Lately, I have become even more addicted to heat. I have to be careful when cooking for others. (especially at my job since people in New England can't seem to tolerate the smallest amount...) The other day I made some chipotle cinnamon spiced truffles for work and they were too spicy for my boss.

Wasabi daikon raw slaw... my lowfat sesame ginger wasbi dressing mixed with lentil sprouts, wasabi, cilantro, carrots, scallions and red pepper and topped with Siracha of course. I finished it off with some fresh lime juice as well. The leftovers went into a collard roll up. (no pic)

I made a big batch of burgers to keep in the freezer... Sometimes a veggie burger is the perfect meal..

My baby girl.. I wuff wuf wuff her!

I lost 10 lbs last month! woohoo! 13 the month before. I'm officially on a weight loss roll again. Here's hoping I don't screw it up.

I did a huge stock up at Trader Joes this month. I used 15 bucks of my bulk food fund. I spent 80.81 at Trader Joes and 21.69 at market basket and 6.00 at a farm stand and 6.50 at the health food store on FYH cheese and some herbs.

Trader Joes haul:

Baby Spinach

Cilantro

Chocolate chips

Soy Creamer

7 lbs tofu

Balsamic Vinegar

Cumin

Brown Rice Pasta (14 lbs.. should last me at least 6 months)

Brown Jasmine Rice

Candied ginger

Coffee

Blue corn chips

Avocados (8)

Market Basket Haul:

Kale

Collards

Watermelon

Red peppers

cilantro

limes

ginger

blueberries

daikon

frozen broccoli

blueberries

bok choy

Farm Stand:

radishes

carrots

baby arugula

Health food store:

Follow Your Heart Cheese

Dried herbs

I have $17.49 left in my bulk food fund.

Finally, I have been having major issues with my email... so if anyone has sent me something in the last 3 weeks and I haven't responded, please send again. It should be figured out now.. but I think I lost a lot of emails from that time period.

Dessert and Dahl recipe

Lime Cardamom Vanilla Cake

I've been creating decadent desserts at work this and decided today (my day off) to make a healthier version for the kids and I to enjoy. I ground spelt berries for the flour, used chia, soymilk and vinegar and replaced half of the sugar with stevia. It turned out really well. Blueberries were delicious on the side (and only 2 bucks a pint).

It's kind of funny that I am doing the pastry for this job. In the past desserts and baking were not my favorite thing to do.. I guess I just love being able to create and doing the desserts is allowing me to be creative, so I'm really enjoying it now.

Tofu Scramble

Super simple, filled with chard and broccoli and spiced with cumin, coriander and chili, this mexican breakfast was delicious. Blueberries, spinach, broccoli and chard coupled with tofu and organic blue corn chips pleased everyone, even my X who stopped by to pick of our son. Sometimes, tofu scramble is the perfect meal.

Dahl

I've been eating this all week. Simple, spicy and oh so good for you.

3 T coconut oil

1 t black mustard seeds

1 T cumin seeds (or powder)

1 T coriander

2 T curry powder

1/2 t turmeric

1/4 t cinnamon

4 T freshly chopped ginger

1 large onion, diced

10 cloves garlic, pressed

2 serrano chilies, diced

pinch salt/pepper

1 lb red lentils

4-6 cups veg stock

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

juice of 1-2 limes

Siracha to taste

1 T toasted sesame oil

Braggs and pepper to taste

In a heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat add the coconut oil, mustard seeds and spices. When the seeds pop add the ginger, onion, garlic and chilie along with a pinch of salt/pepper. Saute for several minutes or until the onions are transcluscent. Next, add the lentils and stock. Bring to a boil for several minutes, turn heat down to med-low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Take off heat, stir in cilantro, lime juice and sesame oil. Add braggs (or salt or soy sauce) and black pepper to taste.

I'm still alive and photography business

Chipotle White Bean Avocado Spread

I am so behind in the blog world. One of these days I'll figure out how to integrate everything into my life!

Work is going well. We are getting busy and I just love the atmosphere of the wine bar. I'm also thrilled that I am incorporating more vegan food into the menu. I am doing the desserts as well as all of the food. (I am the only person doing all the food prep, execution and service for 36 seats.) I introduced a chocolate espresso torte that is vegan (if you leave off the whipped cream) and that makes me happy. The owner of the place made me promise that I would not tell any of the customers it was tofu based. HAHA! I get a cheap thrill every time I see someone take a bite.

Bok Choy and Tofu Stir Fry

We are still eating very simply at home. I'm doing what I always do; cooking once to eat twice or three times and freezing leftovers. This bok choy stir fry was delicious and very spicy. Lately, I've been craving carbs big time. I think I need whole grains to sustain my long days. I notice I feel much more alert mentally when I make sure to get enough carbs in my diet.

It's interesting, because I am really listening to what my body needs. Last month it was tons of salads and smoothies, now I'm craving heavier whole grains. I have been eating a pretty big sandwich late at night though when I get off work and I don't think that's good for me. Tonight I think I'll make a green smoothie with chia seeds to drink on the way home instead. It's not good to eat a lot at midnight.

I made a Trader Joes trip and stocked up on brown rice pasta. I just love it. $1.99 for a pound of organic brown rice pasta. You can't beat that. I topped the pasta with some of my simple marinara and dry fried tofu and served it over baby spinach.

Spicy Noodles!

Another staple in my fridge. My kids love them and they are good hot or cold. I used my low fat goddess dressing mixed with lots or ginger and siracha for this. I made big batches of the dressing and freeze it in 2 cup portions.

Sesame Ginger Glazed Tempeh

More Bok Choy Stir Fry

Watermelon 'Feta' Salad

Old pic (several of these pics are old pics actually).. I made a batch of tofu feta to have around and it was delicious in this salad. I also mixed in some of my low fat balsamic vinaigrette.

Finally, I have decided to start a small photography business. I started a blog to showcase some of my stuff (literally just started it so it's not completely set up..).. I'm really excited about doing this. I am going to offer services to families and food photography for restaurants.

Check out my blog so far!

http://melophotography.wordpress.com/

$3.33 a day: Generosity

More big salads. I've been enjoying chard in salad and smoothies lately. I just can't get enough of it.  I pretty much prep a large amount of greens so I can grab them for quick meals. 

I splurged on some FYH cheese and it was so good! These were just simple tostadas with my red chile sauce and super hot green salsa. So good. We were sitting down to eat and my son said, "Mom, you never take pics of your food anymore," so I snapped this after we started eating.

I also made an amazing lasagna (no photo..sorry) with sauce and veggies from the freezer. I used whole wheat noodles, eggplant, spinach, mushrooms and my "ricotta" that was made from whole soybeans and infused with garlic, olive oil and basil. It froze beautifully. The FYH worked well in the lasagna as well. Pricey, yes.. but so worth it. 

Finally, I have to say thank you to Catherine. A while back she blogged about Red Zinger tea and I mentioned how I loved it and couldn't find it around here. She sent me a package not only with red zinger, but two other lovely teas and a pound of this amazing coffee! Peace Coffee... totally organic, fair trade and locally roasted... It is DELICIOUS! Thanks Catherine!!! 

I was also shocked and in awe to receive a pound of delicious DeansBeans coffee from some very nice annonymouse person! Brew it forward indeed. Thank you thank you thank you! I have been enjoying fabulous coffee again!! 

I made some oatmeal cookies and breakfast bars for the kids and myself to snack on.. They were delicious. 

My son Andrew graduates from high school Friday. I am in shock. 

I'm still very behind on blogs. I've been reading most of them through bloglines and not commenting much... I will get caught up one of these days.