Vegan Challenge Day 3

I need to start taking pictures of my food but I've never been good and stopping a moment to take one. Especially if I cooked it myself. I don't like my dishes, etc and I never feel I have a picture quality area to take it in. I know....I just need to get over myself.

Last night I wanted to make spaghetti with a red tomato sauce. I have previously, in time saver mode, just heated up a can of Italian spiced diced tomatoes with some olive oil and topped my pasta with that but I wanted something a little more substantial and flavorful. After perusing the chowhound forum discussions on pasta sauces...I found two hints to try. Add balsamic vinegar for some extra oompf of flavor and add some sugar or honey to take some of the acidity out of the tomatoes. I added both the vinegar and some honey to my 3 cans of diced tomatoes along with some sauteed onion and garlic. That is the best sauce I have EVER made...it beat my standard sauce with ground beef that has been my go to recipe since I was 16. I was surprised how flavorful it was. It will definitely be a go-to recipe whether or not I'm doing a vegan challenge. It reheated great the next day as well.

I was hungry later in the evening. I think we need to add a side salad or some dairy free bread to make it more filling in the future.

Our local Noodles & Co was doing a fundraiser for the tornado victims in Joplin on Wednesday night so we headed there for our first restaurant vegan meal.

I did a lot of research online to look for options since my favorite go-to meal there was off limits :( The pesto in my Pesto Cavatappi has Parmesan cheese in it. Their website was very informative and I chose to try the Japanese Pan noodles minus the icky cilantro. It was extremely flavorful and just on the edge of being too spicy for this spice wuss. Looking at the nutrition information later...it does have quite a bit of sodium in it unfortunately.

I don't believe I'm getting enough protein daily. Tracking my food in BodyMedia's tracker is showing that I'm only getting about 45 grams of protein a day when I should be probably taking in double that. I need to try to add in some nuts and other things to increase my protein without vastly increasing calories. Oh..by the way.. both Josh and I are losing about a pound a day so far! Bonus!!

Vegan 21 Day Challenge

I am the ultimate midwest gal. I love me some steak and cheese and BBQ. So why on earth am I committing to eating vegan for 21 days?!!

Because I love a challenge and I think it will help Josh & I get on a better general eating pattern. Our first thought process after giving up red meat for a month was to give up dairy for a month. Josh has year-round "seasonal" allergies. I think there is more to it than just pollen and mold so I thought we could see how we felt if we gave up dairy for a month. Many people have stopped suffering from "seasonal" allergies by giving up dairy because their allergy was not based on pollen....it was actually a mild dairy intolerance. I think this will be the case with Josh.... I was just going along for support and the other 'diet' implications.

Once we agreed to this, I started researching dairy-free recipes and such and entered a contest on a blog to win a book. 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart: Boost Metabolism, Lower Cholesterol, and Dramatically Improve Your Health Well.. I won it and started reading. It basically is a 21 day vegan kickstart. The science behind it is strong and it sounded interesting and I am planning a fall wedding and would really like to lose 40lbs before that. SO....why not start the summer off with a big change. It didn't seem that much harder to go vegan from dairy free. So now instead of a month of dairy-free...we are going 21 days dairy, meat, egg, animal product-free.

It's going to be a long month of label reading. It's amazing....dairy is in EVERYTHING.

We were going to start on June 1st but I am not one to waste food and we had a few non-vegan things left to eat through before we started so June 5 was our start date.

I will try to keep this blog updated with things that we tried and the challenges that we face going from omni to vegan in the midwest.

Lemon Chicken (updated)

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1-2 T coconut or olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion
3 cloves garlic; minced (cut and let to sit for at least 10 minutes)
1/4 cup white wine/sherry
juice of 2 lemons (can use bottled juice but better flavor with rind added)
rind of 2 lemons
1 t rosemary (crushed)
2 t thyme (crushed)
2 T butter
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t sugar
1 t cornstarch

Sprinkle cut chicken pieces with salt (or salt substitute) & pepper and then saute in hot pan with 1-2 T coconut oil (or olive oil) until golden brown. Take chicken out of pan and put into a large casserole dish with cover until sauce is ready.

Empty pan of drippings and melt butter in pan. Add onion and garlic and saute until golden and soft. Add white wine/sherry, butter, lemon juice, rind, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and sugar. Bring to a low boil and simmer for two minutes. During this time put cornstarch in small glass bowl and combine with 2 T cold water until mixed. Add to sauce and allow to simmer and thicken for another minute. Add sauce to chicken in casserole and toss to cover chicken completely in the sauce. Can eat immediately or keep warm in 300 degree oven.

Awesome served over mashed potatoes. Probably be good with pasta as well.
This recipe makes 3 large servings (4 small servings)

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Needs some tweaking but I want to remember the basics

2 cups pre-cooked quinoa (chilled)
1/2 cup corn kernals
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced (broiled until skin burnt, then cooled in closed tupperware and then skin removed)
1/2 cup pinto beans (need to try different bean-didnt really like)
1/4 cup diced onion (one large onion slice, diced)
   
Mix with following blended dressing
  2 T lime juice
  2 T EVOO
  2 T red vinegar
  2 garlic cloves, pressed
  1/4 tsp cumin
  pinch chilli powder
  pinch cayenne pepper

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
• 3 T flour
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic; minced
• 1/4 cup white wine/sherry
• juice of 2 lemons
• rind of 2 lemons
• 1 t rosemary
• 2 t thyme
• 2 T butter
• 1 t salt
• 1 t black pepper
• 1 t sugar

Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt & pepper and then cover with flour. Shake off excess flour and then saute in hot pan with 2 T olive oil until golden brown. Take chicken out of pan and put into a large casserole dish until sauce is ready.

Add 1 T olive oil to pan and lower temp to med/low. Add onion and garlic and saute until golden and soft. Deglaze pan with 1/4 cup white wine/sherry. Add butter, lemon juice, rind, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and sugar. Simmer for a few minutes and then add to chicken in casserole. Toss to cover chicken in sauce. Can eat immediately or keep warm in 300 degree oven.

Savory Chicken & Rice Casserole

Savory Chicken Marinade

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 T full fat mayo
1-2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 T Poultry Seasoning
1 T garlic puree or garlic powder
1 T sweet paprika, preferably Hungarian paprika
1 tsp. thyme (optional)

Put all ingredients in jar with tight-fitting lid and shake well until all ingredients are combined. (Don't worry if there are some beads of mayo that don't combine; they will dissolve when you're marinating the meat.)

Used leftover marinade (1/3 cup?) on 3-4 chicken breasts and let marinade for a few hours.
-1 can cream of chicken
-1/2 can hot water
-1 tsp onion powder
-3/4 cup uncooked white rice
-2 cups frozen mixed veggies (can of veggies drained)
Mix above in casserole. Add marinated chicken breast and cook at 375 for 50 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle cheese on chicken and let melt for 10 minutes.

Ate with crescent rolls. Awesome and savory!

Bliss Candle Scents

Scent Name - Candle Scent Description

Amber Romance -duplicate of VS
Aphrodisiac- Sensual blend of essential oil fragrances
Banana- just like the real thing
Baby Powder- just like the real thing
Basil Sage Mint- Very herbal and clean scent
Black Cherry -Dark and full bodied Cherry
Blueberry -Blueberry with a touch of vanilla and cinnamon
Breathe Deep- Relaxing, clean citrus blended with floral and piney
Caramel- just like the real thing
Cedar Wood- Like the inside of a hope chest
Cinnamon Red Hots- just like the real thing
Citroberry Berry -version of Citronella
Cucumber Melon -duplicate of BBW
Honeydew- just like the real thing
Country Berry Hotcakes- Buttery hotcakes layered with mixed berries
Cupid- Sweet, rich, cherry almond, coconutty scent.
Fresh Linen- floral blossoms scattered through blades of green grass
Goddess- exotic musky floral with a hint of citrus
Harvest- warm spices in apple cider
Honeysuckle -just like the real thing
Hot Apple Pie- just like the real thing
Jingleberry- Mulberry and cranberry with a splash of orange and vanilla
Lemon Bundt Cake- just like the real thing
Juniper Breeze Type- duplicate of BBW
Love Spell -duplicate of VS
McIntosh Apple- Crisp, red and juicy!
Mango Papaya- Fruit fusion with mango and papaya
Orchid- just like the real thing
Patchouli- just like the real thing
Peppercorn -masculine dark, spicy, warm and sultry
Peace of Mind -Soothing blend of chamomile and lemongrass
Pineapple Cilantro -Sweet fruit with a touch of fresh green cilantro
Pink Sugar Type -Duplicate of Aquolina's Pink Sugar
Pumpkin Pie- just like the real thing
Rain Fresh- green-floral fragrance
Raspberries & Cream- just like the real thing
Spiced Cranberry- just like the real thing
Spiced Pear- Duplicate of Pier 1 fragrance
Strawberry Jam- just like the real thing
Sun Ripened Raspberries- duplicate of BBW
Sugar Cookie- Smells like you have been baking Christmas cookies-yummy
Sweet Dreams -soothing citrus blend that is peaceful and calming
Tidal Wave- Clean, salty ocean type
Wildberry Zinger Tea- Overflowing with berry scents
Ylang Ylang -sweet floral scent similar to Jasmine. Very relaxing.