Monday Lunch

I went shopping today and spent about 6 hours on my feet walking and trying on clothes, so I feel like I kind of worked off that caramel cake.  But I really want to get back to healthy eating for now! Here's my breakfast/lunch for tomorrow, clockwise from the left:  Nature's Path Agave Plus granola, followed by unsweetened Almond Breeze, a salad of chickpeas, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, cilantro and some smoked garlic chipotle salt instead of dressing, an organic apple of some variety, a persimmon, and in the very middle there is a packet of acai berry tea.

(Vegan) Caramel Cake With Caramelized "Butter" Frosting

No, that's not a giant donut.  It's this month's Daring Baker's challenge from author Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater and her signature caramel cake.  The challenge was hosted by Dolores, along with Alex,  Jenny, and alternative baker Natalie.  If you have the need to satisfy a sweet craving, this recipe may well cure you of that forever.  It is S-W-E-E-T!  Too sweet for me, actually.  I mean, I'm always trying to cut sugar out of my recipes, and here I am eating it by the pound for this challenge.  I stopped counting the sugar after the first 4 cups of it!  Here's to hoping it doesn't go straight to my hips or butt ;)

I had to make a few substitutions like Earth Balance instead of margerine, ground flax instead of eggs, and almond milk instead of dairy milk.  I've never made caramel syrup before, it wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be.  But I have to admit, I was wearing heavy oven mitts after reading the disclaimer about having a bowl of ice water ready to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin. 

Once it was all said and done, I gathered up some girlfriends and we dug in.  Everyone thought it was fantastic, though we all felt naughty eating it because it has about, oh, a zillion calories.  I'm gonna work those calories off tomorrow at the mall doing some speed shopping...or trying to, anyways. 

Spreading veggie love on Helium.com

During the summer I wrote an article on Helium.com on a whim, it was not a topic that had been covered by anyone thus far, and they have thousands of articles.  The article is called "Vegetarian 101 for parents" and it was meant to be some suggestions on what a parent can do if thier child announces they want to be a vegetarian.  I was so suprised when I learned that my article is now featured on the Helium home page!  It seems as though they are focussing on a vegetarian theme as there are several other veggie related articles featured.

Yay!  One more step in the veg movement.  Already today five more writers have written articles using my Veg 101 subject.

*Update:  It appears that they change the featured articles after just one day so I'm not on the home page anymore.   You can still read my article here.

Meals for busy people

Eek!  It's been two weeks since I last posted.  I  got  an exciting new job at an advertising agency, so between that and my other job, and  taking care of the baby, I'm sorry to say  I've been putting together some pretty boring meals that don't really seem blog-worthy.    But maybe a healthy quick meal is just what someone else might be looking for.  I'll probably be posting a lot of these easy to prepare meals for the next little while until I get used to my new routine.

So here you go, a dinner that is quickly tossed together at the end of a long day:  a big heaping bowl of steamed veggies with pan fried tofu and brown rice in a spicy peanut sauce! Yes, brown rice takes a while to cook, but while it's cooking is the perfect opportunity to spend quality time with the baby.

And while I'm at it, how about taking a peek at tomorrow's lunch?  Well, it's actually breakfast and lunch.  Clockwise from the left I've got 2 slices of sprouted grain bread with hazelnut butter, an organic gala apple, Enjoy Life sunbutter crunch bar, brown rice avocado rolls sprinkled with sesame seeds, a small container of Braggs soy sauce, and some plump organic raspberries.  Sushi really isn't difficult to make at all., and  I needed to do something with the extra brown rice I had left from my dinner tonight.  Much to my suprise (and delight) the brown rice didn't fall apart like I thought it would.  I ate one of the ends of the roll because 1.) it wasn't pretty and 2.) I wanted to know if it tasted good.  Yep, it tastes yummy.  I can't wait to have lunch tomorrow!

Mock Tuna Casserole

I trust you all had a spooky Hallowe'en?  Ours was a little less spooky with this little butterfly fluttering around...

A few days ago Happy Herbivore posted a Mock Tuna Salad recipe and I just had to try it.  The last time I ate tuna was at least 16 years ago when my mom used to bake tuna casseroles for dinner.   Though I don't miss tuna at all, I do miss my mom so I made this dish with pleasant memories of cooking in the kitchen with her. 

I whipped up a batch of the mock tuna, and let me say that it is so tasty it barely made it out of the food processor! I tasted a spoonful which then became two spoonfuls, then three...

But I managed to save enough of it to add to a casserole dish full of cooked brown rice pasta and peas.  I combined the mock tuna with my favorite pasta cheez from Get Sconed's adapted version of New Farm Macacroni and Cheez.   I sprinkled some kelp granules and black pepper on top before baking it.

Oh my, this was extra delicious!  And since I loved the mock tuna so much, I later made it again and enjoyed it on some sprouted grain bread with romaine lettuce.  Equally scrumptious!