Hail Merry’s Meyer Lemon Miracle Tart…along with a chocolate almond butter, chocolate mint and a Persian lime <–all eaten in the last week by my husband and I and our friend Laura. These tarts are A-MAZING.
What are you favorite meals, snacks or desserts of the week?
Nutrition Tuesday is turning into Food Tuesday this week because I’m really excited to share my recipe from tonight’s dinner. I am tired out tonight and am having a hard time focusing writing a more informative post but don’t worry things will be back on track for next week. Okay so lets talk food; first lets rewind to last nights dinner. Last night the Hubz took over dinner and made VeganYumYum’s Easy Weekend Pancakes as part of the Cookbook Club.
With our pancakes we had a side of fruit (I was too full to eat my dates) and we topped our pancakes with a little almond butter, chocolate chips (for fun) and a homemade blue-raspberry sauce. Overall we thought the pancakes were good but they weren’t our favorite; we probably won’t make them again.
Dinner tonight was all about making a nice restaurant dinner at home. The Hubz and I have been trying to have more date nights in and I am loving it because that means more time in the kitchen; as the Hubz says “I have my groove back.” So tonight I decided to make a delicious Italian inspired meal of pesto manicotti, red wine and raspberry vanilla soygurt parfait.
Presto Pesto Manicotti
Yields 4-5 Servings
Preheat Oven 350F
Cashew-Basil Pesto
3 garlic cloves
1t salt
1/3 cup raw cashews
2T nooch
1 bunch of basil
1/3 C olive oil
1/4 C water
In the bowl of a food processor place the garlic and salt; pulse 5-6 times.
Add the cashews and nooch and pulse 5 times.
Add the basil and process on low; steam the olive oil and then the water in through the feed tube.
Remove from the food processor and set aside- don’t clean the food processor out though use it for your tofu ricotta!
Tofu Ricotta (make in the processor that has the pesto remains, you don’t want to miss out on any yummy goodness)
1 block extra firm tofu
2T nooch
1/3C almond milk
2 garlic cloves
1t salt
1/2t black pepper
1/3 cup shredded vegan cheese (optional)
To the food processor add everything to the bowl and process on low until the tofu mixture is smooth.
10 manicotti shells (cook by directions)
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese (optional)
Assembly
In a 9×12 baking dish evenly spread a 1/4 cup of pesto on the bottom of the dish. Fill 10 cooked manicotti shells and place in the baking dish in one layer. Top with remaining pesto- spreading it evenly over the manicotti. Sprinkle with shredded vegan cheese, if using. Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. ENJOY!
Now I’m off to watch NCIS with the Hubz! Goodnight!
This is the first of my “Dining Locally” posts which will be a series of post about Vermont eateries. Today’s post features Magnolia Bistro which is a certified green restaurant in Burlington Vermont that features a variety of breakfast and lunch options. The Hubz and I visit here pretty often to enjoy there great food, atmosphere and of course the vegan bloody mary’s.
Magnolia Bistro’s menu is a vegans paradise. Everything is labeled with a “v” if it is vegan and if you are gluten free you will be delighted to know gluten free dishes are marked with a “g”. This make the dining experience relaxing, easy and enjoyable.
Sesame Tofu Scramble
Plate O'Sides- black beans, kale, home fries and toast with Earth Balance
Yesterday my post featured my new eco friendly lunch box from Easy Lunch Boxes. I have been using these lunch containers all week and I love them. The three compartments make it easy for me to pack a great healthy lunch in one container. I also love that these containers are eco friendly, BPA free and contain no phthalates, lead, vinyl, or PVC. They are also dishwasher and microwave safe.
Now it is your chance to win your own Easy Lunch Boxes container set and lunch box. The winner of this giveaway can choose from black, dark red, olive, aqua, or purple for their lunch box. This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian Residence ONLY. Please keep reading to see how you can enter to win.
The Winner is Bianca:
To enter: All entries must be submitted byMay 16, 2010 at 5pm.For each entry you MUST leave a SEPARATE comment for the entry to qualify. This giveaway is CLOSED.
Visit the Easy Lunch Boxes website and let me know why you want to win this giveaway.
I used to eat oats all the time but lately I’ve been having soyogurt, scones and green juice but finally yesterday I returned to my old friend oats, if only it could have been oats in a jar. I also had oats this morning as well and I think tomorrow OIAJ will happen.
On Monday I got home from work to find my Easy Lunch Boxes sample had arrived and I couldn’t wait to try them out. My husband and I bring lunch everyday to work because it’s healthier, cheaper and easier than going out for lunch, besides the fact that we don’t really have time to go out for lunch during the work week. I have to say one of the hardest things at our house however is finding containers to pack our food into. The Hubz We are notorious for leaving our tupperware at work or in the car so it is nice to finally have some new ones.
I went right to work putting together my lunches for the week and because they stack so great I could just stick them in the fridge and grab them when I head out the door. This makes like so much easier because I don’t have to get up in the morning and make lunch or do it the night before they are all ready to go. I also received a cute purple lunch box that fits the containers perfectly- I think this is my first real lunch box since elementary school. If you check back later today I think there might be a giveaway post for your own chance to win these eco friendly lunch boxes.
For my lunches this week we have some fruit, salad and the most delicious GF vegan raw sprouted crackers from Livin’ Spoonfuls I have ever tasted. I tried the coconut curry yesterday and they were amazing I am sure I will post more about these later.
Dinner last night was delicious and filled with healthier versions of two of my favorite things- chili and quesadillas. I know I have blogged about these before but Maria and Ricardo’s Low Carb Tortillas are my favorite tortillas for a few reasons they are low in calories, fat and carbs and are made with ingredients that are all natural.
In my quesadillas I put some scallions and a serving of cheddar Daiya cheese- I couldn’t hold myself back from buying it the other day when I saw that it was on sale for $2 off. We tried the mozza a few weeks ago and I decided that a sale was a good excuse reason to try the cheddar; I think I am a bigger fan of the cheddar so far.
To go with our quesadillas I made up some chili with kidney and black beans that I had soaked the night before and I added a bunch of great veggies to it including mustard greens.
Beans and Greens Chili
Ingredients:
1/2T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1.5 cups cooked kidney beans
1.5 cups cooked black beans
1T tomato paste
2 t cumin
1 t paprika
1/2 t oregano
1T nutritional yeast
2t chili powder
dash of cayenne
1t garlic powder
1t onion powder
1/2t salt
1/4t black pepper
3 cups mustard greens, chopped
1/4 cup scallions, sliced
1T chipotle hot sauce or 1t chipotle chili powder (optional)
Directions:
In a medium pot heat the oil over medium-high and add in the onion and carrots; saute for 3-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute. Add in the vegetable broth, tomato paste and beans and bring to a boil; turn down to medium low and let simmer for 15 minutes. While the beans simmer mix the cumin, paprika, oregano, nutritional yeast, chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder salt and pepper with 2T of water to make a paste. Stir the spice paste into the beans and then top with the mustard greens and cover; let the greens wilt. Stir in the greens and scallions. At this point you can eat as is or if you want you can add in the chipotle hot sauce or chipotle chili powder- I think that with the beans and greens this smoky flavor and heat is a great addition to the chili but it is yummy without it as well.
This week for What I Ate Wednesday I am featuring my favorite snacks, meals and dessert of the last week. Enjoy!
