What's In My Pantry

People constantly ask me what's in my pantry & what I eat.  Lately, I've been doing a lot of bicycle commuting so I've been more conscientious of my protein and general calorie intake in the morning versus my usual game of skipping breakfast.  I have found that I'm a-ok to drink my breakfast, so I've been pairing a morning protein smoothie with my daily vitamins to fuel up before I hit my bike ride.  It's only 5.5 miles to the nearest train station, but most of that is on the road, and part of that is through terrifying construction.  I'm trying my damnedest to keep up & not be a wuss.  Keep in mind, I'm really not that experienced with bike commuting.  I've casually done it around my college town, but it was never my primary means of transportation and rarely was I seriously on the road.  That's all changed now that I live in White Rock.  I can either take the train, or I can make a ridiculous bus commute.

My morning smoothies have been lacking.  I'm not going to lie, there is a nearly finished tub of Plant Fusion back in Ohio that I dearly, dearly miss and wish had ended up in one of the boxes that came to Texas!  To date, I have not tried any protein powder that I like as much as the kinds I've had from Plant Fusion and Sunwarrior.  Vega is on my list to try, but I just can't presently justify the price tag.

This is pretty much all I have in the pantry, haha.

Top Ten Vegan Sweet Treats

The title is misleading.  It should actually read 22+ vegan sweet treats, but that would be an arguement on semantics and that title doesn't seem nearly as appealing.  Instead, let's call it ten, with alternatives, and two unsolicited bonus suggestions.

This list came about because my friend Jordan and I were recently discussing the qualms of eating too many cookies, especially at inappropriate times like 8am.  She is newly vegan and my casual use of the phrase "Joe Joe's" was lost on her.  Being the smart (and pretty!) cookie that she is, she googled it and saw that there is an even more vegan friendly sandwich cookie than accidentally vegan Oreos.

I then proceeded to promise Jordan that I would do a blog about my top ten vegan friendly, commercially available sugar fixes.  Thinking about the research required for this was grueling, and knowing I'd have to buy one of each for photographing seemed daunting.. how on earth would I ever survive?  =D  [Please note:  photographing these treats never happened.]

This list contains a lot of items from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.  If you are fortunate enough to live near one, you will be relieved to see this.  If you aren't, I will try to offer alternatives where I know of them.  Sadly, even accidentally vegan sweets are becoming harder & harder to come by.  I avoided "candy" in this list because, honestly, I don't eat a lot of it.  I'd rather have a cupcake or a cookie than taffy.  If that's odd, I'm not sorry.

Breakfast!! Success!!

It finally happened! Breakfast!!  I managed to eat this, and with only being a little nauseous, I'm calling this a great success!  Added bonus?  I think this breakfast is totally soy free!

In the bowl:
1/2 c (dry) oats [not instant] & 3/4 c Almond Breeze Almond Coconut Milk
1 medium banana, sliced
1/2 c Amande Plain Yogurt

Directions:Cooked the oats & milk per package instructions.  Let it cool a little, then slice bananas over the top, and spoon on the yogurt.  Enjoy!  It's best in layers; if you mix it together, the yogurt gets hot.. gross.

Nutritional breakdown:
Calories:  380
Carbs:  72g
Fat:  10g
Protein:  9g

posted from Bloggeroid

Mushroom Wrap

I could eat this three meals a day, and it's a great way to use up veggies!  I generally saute whatever I have in the fridge to al dente, put hummus in a wrap, layer on the warm veggies, top with kale, spinach, lettuce.. whatever leafy green I happen to have (in this case, it was baby kale), wrap it up, and demolish it!

This particular wrap has red pepper hummus, sauteed baby portobellos, mini sweet peppers, and kale.  Two of these are only 288 calories, with 47g of carbohydrates, 5g of fat, 13g of protein.

posted from Bloggeroid

Dinner!!

This is delicious.  The "burger" is a Simple Truth Meatless Crispy Patty on a sandwich thin with lettuce and cherry barbecue sauce.  The fries were new to us, and more of a formed/pressed potato product.  The sprouts are Jennifer McCann's Best Brussel Sprouts recipe from Vegan Lunchbox.  All together, it was 592 calories, 75g of carbs, 26g of fat, 24g of protein.  Kind of a high cal meal, and I definitely could have made better potato choices, but tasty and indulgent nonetheless.  =]

posted from Bloggeroid

Chili gone wild!

Clancy's chili is in the monster tupperware container at the bottom.
I've already eaten two servings of mine...

Clancy and I are busy people who like to eat tasty food on the cheap and on the fly. Hence, large quantities of chili being cooked at once. But here's the thing.. there are TWO kinds of chili here. We started off with very similar base recipes, but he added sausage (like, real sausage, from a pig) and I certainly didn't. Different strokes for different folks, and YES, vegans can happily co-exist.

And by the way?  This chili is a vegan protein powerhouse.  You're welcome.  =]

Ingredients for my chili:

• 2 cans of chili ready diced tomatoes (or just diced tomatoes, adjust your spices accordingly)
• 1 can golden sweet corn
• 1 can dark red kidney beans*
• 1 can black beans*
• 1 pkg Tofurkey Ground Beef Style
• 3 mini sweet peppers (or 1-2 bell peppers), diced
• yellow onion (I used up what I had left in the fridge, I recommend 1/2-1 medium onion), diced
• Season to taste (cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, white pepper, chili powder, garlic, etc)

Directions:
Pour all of your canned ingredients into your crock pot and put it on high.  In a nonstick pan over medium high heat, saute your onions and peppers in your oil until your onions are starting to go translucent.  Add your "beef" and continue sauting for about five minutes per package instructions.  Stir your "beef" into your chili.  Let your ingredients cook for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally, and adding water as needed.  Bump it down to low, and let it simmer as long as you see fit (chili tends to simmer all day & night around our house).  Enjoy with homemade biscuits and peanut butter sammiches!

Nutritional info (serves 8?):
Calories:  229k
Fat:  4g
Carbohydrates:  37g
Protein:  14g

* = feel free to use whatever beans you like!  It's your chili!

posted from Bloggeroid

Breakfast!!

I made myself eat today!  I was up early enough that I had enough time to get hungry, versus the usual nausea I get in the mornings.  And before anyone asks, no, I'm not pregnant (unless I've been pregnant my whole life, ha).

In the photo:
1c Kroger Corn Flakes
1 medium banana
1/2c 365 Organic Vanilla Soymilk
1c Folger's Medium Roast Coffee
2tsp bulk sugar
splash of Soymilk in the coffee

Nutritional info:
Calories: 284k
Fat:  2g
Carbohydrates:  69g
Protein:  7g

posted from Bloggeroid