Les Bouchées Quotidiennes

Let me just say that the past week has been crazy. And this is a light way of putting it. Since we had three snow days and couldn't go anywhere, all of my huge assignments have been pushed together instead of being spread apart. So that's fun. Also being snowed in for that long was fun, but got old after a day two. Luckily, we went out on Valentines day to get dinner, which for us consisted of our favorite snacks and sparkling wines. Hopefully things will get back to normal after next week, but as of right now things are very hectic. But despite the craziness, we've still been eating well!

So this is the best vegan mac and cheeze EVER. Plus it doesn't have nutritional yeast, which means I can convince Mike to eat it. The recipe is very simple and it ends up tasting like pizza, so I don't know what you're waiting for: go make it! If you're wondering what the green stuff is: I cut a large head of broccoli into florets and tossed with the juice of 1 lemon, a good sprinkle of garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 mins at 400 degrees until slightly charred and tender. 

I must be crazy, because I made this cold noodle salad with grapefruit and avocado on our second snow day. Despite the outside conditions, it was incredibly refreshing, filling, and it made us dream about warmer weather. The dressing is made of sriracha, grapefruit juice, and other delicious components. The components take a little time, but it's definitely worth it. I think this salad would be great in late spring too. 

This was my first time having a soft-boiled egg and I loved it! I am hooked. They take so little time and effort, but they're so delicious. Especially with paired with Deb's shallot-cream-spinach mix and Dijon mustard. To make this dairy-free, I used almond milk instead of cream and Earth Balance instead of butter. It sounds like a long process, but it actually took less than 10 minutes!

There is nothing better than a big bowl of homemade soup (and garlic bread...and wine) when it's snowing outside. I made this delicious Italian soup with baby potatoes, fresh kale and homemade pinto beans. The blend of rosemary, fennel, oregano and thyme really sticks out here to make a lovely combination. It also comes together in about 30 minutes, so I highly recommend it for whenever the next super cold night is! 

When you think of potato salad, do you think of yellow mushy junk packed in a plastic container at the grocery store? Well, think again. This potato salad with lentils, pickles and quick-pickled shallots is incredible. Although Deb titles it as a "warm" salad, we both enjoyed it cold with some warm garlic bread. This would be an outstanding salad to take on a Spring picnic (can you tell I am SO ready for Spring?!). 

I think I need to stop saying "This is the best --- ever!" because about a month later, I will trump myself. Well anyways, these tacos could be described as the best ones yet. I know the combination sounds strange: baked curry tofu, a raw avocado tahini kale slaw, and pintos? What?! But trust me, the flavors work together in such an awesome way that you will be going back for seconds, or even thirds! I also had to stop myself from eating the entire bowl of kale slaw because holy moly it was delicious.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you might remember that I had to purchase a very large butternut squash that probably weighed close to 7 pounds or more. So we have been trying to eat the entire thing this week in several different ways. The first way was Deb's warm salad with butternut squash and chickpeas, slathered in a tahini dressing. The flavors here were truly delicious, especially the allspice roasted squash. This is an easy, quick dinner that is great with rice for lunch the next day or a light salad. Next week I will share the other ways that we used our gigantic squash!

I finally, finally made Sara's falafel with pistachios, fresh mint, and cilantro. Okay so I apparently really love weird food combinations. But in reality you don't taste the mint that much because it works so well with the other flavors. I will definitely be making this again when it gets cooler because it is SO good. The tomato salsa is delicious too. If you still haven't attempted homemade falafel, you will be amazed at how easy and satisfying it is. I was so bummed when I went GF that I had to skip Greek food. But once I made Sara's other falafel (made with quinoa!), I was no longer sad. So get to it!

Pantry Mac & Cheeze

Sometimes when I get food cravings, I get cranky. I tend to crave things I can't really eat (i.e. mac and cheese, pizza, grilled cheese). I have pretty much ditched vegan cheese all together due to its lack of nutrition and high price, so I have had to make substitutes for cheese when one of these cravings come up. And instead of making some complicated vegan cheese recipe, I decided to "find the easy way out" by using pantry ingredients instead.

So after searching the grocery store for boxed vegan GF mac and cheese, I was disappointed. But I went home and declared: This can't be that hard. I threw together things I always have on hand and this is the result. Feel free to use any spices you love or veggies! I definitely would've added kale or zucchini, but I just wanted cheezy noodles. This recipe also uses only ONE pot which is kind of awesome. It takes the same amount of effort as boxed mac and cheeze (except its not!).

Pantry Mac & Cheeze

• 1 box GF elbows
• 1/2-3/4 C almond milk
• 1/4-1/3 C nutritional yeast
• 2 T earth balance vegan butter
• paprika
• cayenne pepper
• dried thyme
• Italian seasoning
• garlic powder or minced garlic cloves
• onion powder or minced onion
• optional add-ins: vegan cheese, minced jalapenos, chopped kale/other vegetables, etc.

1. Put on a pot of water to boil for your noodles. Cook according to package directions, then drain. If you're going to steam vegetables for your mac and cheese, add them in the last few minutes of cooking the noodles and drain everything together.
2. Put your noodle pot back on the stove on medium-high heat. Add vegan milk (less for thicker sauce, more for a thinner sauce), nutritional yeast (same option as vegan milk), butter, spices, and any other add-ins (minus vegetables) that you want. Whisk everything together.
3. Bring to a slight boil, taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. 
4. Add your noodles (and vegetables if you cooked some) to the pot with the sauce. Toss together and heat through. 
5. Enjoy your cheaper, easier mac and cheese!

(819) and a comet rips the sky

I am finally on fall break! It may only be two days but I could really use them to catch up and to get ready for the rest of the semester to get knocked out. As noted on the previous post, I am trying to eat more tofu/tempeh/mushrooms/healthier and I can't honestly remember the last time I ate meat. I will surely enjoy these two free days and hopefully can make some food in advance like vegetable stock, homemade bouillon, tea-scented tofu, smoothie cups and more. We'll see!

I ate the leftover tofu from these AMAZING tofu breakfast tacos for breakfast like scrambled eggs with vegan buttered toast. Absolutely amazing! I found this easier to digest and more flavorful then regular scrambled eggs. 

Finally tried Heidi's kale and coconut salad from her last cookbook. I think I slightly burnt the coconut and kale, so it wasn't as good as I thought it could be. I ate it with brown rice, a scrambled egg, and sriracha. It was definitely interesting flavor-wise, but the leftovers didn't hold up so well. I am glad to know that kale, coconut, and sriracha go well together! 

Trying to make breakfast more versatile: steamed kale, buttered brown rice and Irish breakfast tea. 

Also made another flawless recipe from Sara's book: smoky red lentil soup topped with fresh cilantro and served with corn chips. It was so easy to prep, cook, and make in less than an hour. I made it early in the morning and had it ready for lunch, dinner, and froze the leftovers. The simplicity of pureed soups will almost always win me over. This is my third time cooking with lentils and this one went better than the other tries! Red lentils seem to cook up quicker/easier anyhow. I recommend you all pick up Sara's book immediately!

Halloween bounty from my mother. Starburst for Trick-or-Treaters are almost all gone. 

I'm completely over store-bought hummus. I considered buying some to make sandwiches, but then looked at what ingredients I had and made a cilantro-lime hummus. Recipe to be posted below! 

Me drinking in front my apartment on a lovely fall day. 

Hummus, avocado and tomato sandwich with baby carrots. I am on a HUGE baby carrot kick since they are on sale right now. This has also become probably my favorite sandwich. Never fails to taste amazing, especially with extra avocado. It's so healthy and filling too. 

Finally ventured out to one of the last days of the South Elm Urban Farmer's Market where I scored fresh field peas and sweet potatoes for about $2.50. Can't really beat that and the vendor's artwork was awesome too. 

I am trying to do more homemade things, and more importantly, all vegan things. I am slowly slipping into a full-on vegan diet. I think the only thing holding me back is that cutting eggs out completely from my diet, which don't bother me, will start to bother me if I avoid them. Anyways, this homemade vegan mac + cheese was everything I expected, and more. The sauce is made from sweet potatoes, white beans or cauliflower, and nooch with a bunch of spices/almond milk thrown it. It was absolutely amazing! I feel great knowing all the vegetables that are tucked into this sauce, even though I felt reluctant to eat it with out greens, so I wilted some chard to eat alongside it. I seriously recommend this and hope that my leftover sauce freezes well!

First night of fall break success: homemade mac + cheese, pumpkin hard cider and a GF vegan pumpkin cupcake topped with cream cheese frosting and crystallized ginger. Finished off with a horror film: "Slither". 

Cilantro Lime Hummus

-1.5 C chickpeas

-1/4 C olive oil

-1-2 garlic cloves

-large handful of fresh cilantro

-2 T tahini

-large pinch of salt

-large pinch of cumin

-cayenne

-paprika

-juice of two limes

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-Process until smooth and enjoy!