Feeling Like a Pepper With Its Head Cut Off!

You know the saying, "I feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off"?  I feel like that today but a veg-i-fied version!  I had a spent a FANTASTIC weekend with a dear friend and fellow food blogger Nicole Navratil, who was visiting me from Minnesota.  Nicole and I first met through a past job in which I taught 2nd grade, and she was our school's Music teacher who also served as my aide during Reading Block.  We quickly became friends, and that was that.

Nicole has been my #1 inspiration for changing my eating habits, my lifestyle, and starting this blog.  You should really check hers out... www.perpperoniisnotavegetable.com  She's not preachy, and is a wonderful resource for anyone looking to cook more veggie meals.  Anywho, can I say how wonderful it is to spend time with someone who shares the same interest as you do??  I don't have any veg friends here in Phoenix, so when she came to town, we lived it up!  We hit up a local Vegan restaurant  called Green where we indulged on yummy food and discussed our recipe ideas.  Here's what we had...

Nicole's Jerk Tofu Salad

My Singapore Tofu

We had a wonderful weekend, then it was back to the grind.  I had surgery about 3 weeks ago, and upon returning to my class full of energetic Kindergartners, it's been like starting the year all over.  The kids are wearing me out, there's a million and one things to get done, and all I want is a glass of wine and a loooooong nap!  Hence- I feel like a chicken with it's head cut off, or in my case, a veggie.  And that's what I did for dinner tonight!  I cut some "heads" off a few peppers and stuffed those little buggers!

Here's the recipe if you feel so inclined:

Ingredients

2 Green Bell Peppers (I will use red in the future, but green was what I had)
1T EVOO for brushing
1 1/2-2 C cooked long grain brown rice
1C thinly sliced or shredded carrots
1 1/2 C chopped mushrooms
1 medium onion chopped
1 handful fresh Spinach
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 can diced tomatoes. Fire Roasted if you have them on hand.
1 tsp. Parsley
2T fresh chopped Basil
2T sliced Almonds
2T dried fruit, such as cranberries or raisins
H20 or Veggie Stock for sauteing
Fresh lemon juice

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking dish with a thin layer of H2O.  Halve your peppers and remove the seeds and ribs.  Leave the stem on if you can.  Brush the cut sides with EVOO and place in the baking dish.  Sprinkle with S&P.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until the peppers are soft and can be easily poked with a fork.

Heat a few tablespoons of water or veggie stock in a saute pan.  Saute onion and garlic until the onion is soft.  Add sliced/shredded carrots and cook for 5 minutes until soft.  Add chopped mushrooms and spinach and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes, rice, basil, parsley, almonds, fruit, and cook until ingredients are warmed through.  Season generously with S&P.








Spoon mixture into the peppers and place back into the oven for 15-20 minutes.  Remove and let set for 5 minutes.  Squeeze fresh lemon juice over top, pour yourself a hefty glass of wine and ENJOY!




















A few suggestions:

-Look for peppers that are "well-rounded"  Hahaha!  No seriously, the deeper the center, the more you can stuff them with ;)

-Using a variety of pepper colors will really make this dish stand out.

-You can use any rice you like.  Wild rice would be amazing.

-Speaking of which, use any veggies you want to stuff the peppers.  I used what I had in the fridge and what I though would taste good together.  Feel free to omit anything you don't necessarily like.  That's what cooking is all about!

-Garnish with whatever you'd like!  Fresh herbs, cheese, whatever!

Did anyone eat any yummy veggie meals this weekend?  I'd love to hear about them :)

Experimentation...

Experimenting...  No that that kind ;)  The kind with flavors and food.  As stated previously, I have always loved cooking.  From the beginning I made things up on a whim.  I would stand in front of the refrigerator, stare into cabinets, and look longingly into the pantry.  "What can I make with what I have?"  When I first started living on my own, I never made a grocery list that revolved around what I wanted to make to eat, more-so a list of items I just loved.  I always found a way to put things together in a way that tasted good.  No recipe invloved.  Just.Experimentation.

Tonight was one of those nights again.  I was craving tofu.  Can I just say how much I fricking LOVE tofu?  Expecially the extra firm kind.  You cannot go wrong!  So, yes- I wanted tofu, but I also had a refrigerator FULL of fresh vegetables from my weekend grocery trip.  My favorite thing to do with veggies is to roast those little suckers.  Do you have any idea how fantastic roasted brussel sprouts, beets, and carrots are?  OH MY!  If you don't then you must buy some this weekend and get to roasting!

My dilemma:  I wanted to roast my vegetables, and I wanted some stir-fried tofu.  They don't really go together, or do they?  I figured that if I love both things so much, that putting them together would be great for my taste buds.  And I was correct!

First  I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  Then while it was preheating, I scoured the fridge for the vegetables I had.  I chose, beets, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and garlic- all of which I purchased at the Farmer's Market.  I chopped the veggies into bite sized pieces, placed them in a bowl, then drizzled them lightly with EVOO, S&P, and a little onion powder.  I mixed everything together then spread the vegetables out on the baking sheet so nothing was completely overlapping.  Popped those suckers in the oven and checked every 10 minutes until they started to lightly brown.

While the vegetables were roasting,  I made a quick marinade for the tofu consisting of 1T soy sauce, 1/4tsp. of miso paste, salt, pepper, 1 clove of garlic, some fresh ginger, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I prepared the tofu by pressing out any excess H20 then slicing into substantle sized triangles. Then  I used a large skillet and heated it over medium heat for about 30 seconds before lightly lining the pan with oil.  Once warmed, I placed the tofu pieces in the pan to get 'em started.  After about 1 minute, I drizzled the marinade over the tofu and stir-fried until the tofu had a nice brown glaze.  After this I chopped up a greeen onion and added it to the plan for another minute.

My veggies had finished and I decided I wanted everything in 1 bowl.  I LOVE eating out of bowls.  So, I put the veggies straight in the pan with the tofu and tossed to coat.  I then realized I had some extra skinny brown rice noodles from this weekends Pad Thai.  I threw that in there too and BAM!  Awesomeness!

Have you ever just made a recipe up on a whim?  How did it turn out?

'Till later my fine friends :)

Looooong Day!

So, if you're not aware, I teach Kindergarten to 20 wild, intelligent, and testing 5 & 6 year old.  Today was one of those days in which I had to contact 3 parents after school hours... ugh!  No fun!  My husband, Nick, is sick and moping around the house.  My energy is lacking and I want something filling in my belly.

We made a trip to the grocery store after work because Nick wanted soup to eat while he recuperates at home tomorrow and I needed 2,000 Fruit Loops (20 kids x 100 fruit loops each).  Why?  Well, because tomorrow is the 100th day of school and we are making Fruit Loop necklaces with 100 loops per string- DUH!  Yay!  Isn't Kindergarten fun??!  Well, it is :)  So back to the grocery store trip:  I was wandering around and found myself in the frozen food aisle, drooling over Amy's Organic food products.  A tortilla bake caught my eye, and viola!  I was inspired for dinner!

My kitchen is overflowing with veggies so I pretty much made up this recipe on a whim, using whatever I thought sounded good with what I could scrummage up.

Oh, and I will give you the recipe but I'm not going to be all exact and stuff...  I don't cook like that when I make things up.  Hope you don't mind :)

Easy Tortilla Bake:

8ish tortillas  (I used up my little round corn ones and used some whole wheat ones to finish the job.)
Sauce (I used marinara b/c it's what I had.  I will use enchilada sauce next time)
Veggies for filling (I used corn, black beans, spinach, onions, red pepper, canned green chile peppers, and garlic)
Cheese for topping (If you feel so inclined)

Directions


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


Meanwhile cut up and saute veggies together until softened.  Use EVOO or water if you're watching your fat intake.  Season the veggies if you'd like during this step.  It's better to add salt while cooking than after.  I didn't add any, only some chipotle powder for a little kick!


Line a baking dish with a thin layer of sauce.


Place 1 layer of tortillas over the sauce.  Tearing into pieces to cover as much of the pan as possible.  


Spoon half of the veggie mixture over the tortillas and spread.


Spread another layer of sauce over veggies.


Layer with tortillas again, then veggies, and lastly the sauce.  


Sprinkle with cheese.
















Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes (I don't know how long actually b/c I was in deep conversation with a parent).  I took it out when the cheese had browned.


Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Garnish with cilantro, sour cream, hot sauce or all of the above.


Find and good show and get cozy on the couch and enjoy my friends :)


Let's pray that those crazy kids listen to Mrs. CoCo tomorrow!

The Road to Vegetarianism

Back in September after a trip to MN for my sister-in-laws wedding, I ate meat for the last time.  It was a Juicy Lucy (2 hamburger patties stuffed with scalding cheddar cheese) from Matt's Bar and Grilled.  Now don't get me wrong, it was uh-mazing but something had changed.  I realized my stomach hurt and and I felt, well... gross.  From that moment, I decided to quit meat. Cold Turkey.


Now my friends know me.  They know how ridiculous I am with things.  I quit smoking years ago and to this day, I won't even take so much as a puff.  I feel like that one puff will erase all the years I've stacked up without smoking.  It's kind of like an addict staying sober in my eyes.  So, when I decided to "quit" meat, I took the same mentality.  Wanna know something weird?  I have dreams that I eat meat or smoke and I wake up in a panic.  It's safe to say that I'm nuts.


My road towards vegetarianism has been a long one.  I'm a huge animal lover and break down and sob if I see a dead animal on the side of the road.  I can't watch any Sarah McLachlan commericals, and my husband is really great at quickly changing the channel as soon as that song comes on.  As a child, I took care of and rehabilitated wild animals (my father was our city's Animal Control Officer).  So, when it came to eating meat, I basically just ignored the fact of where it came from.  I tried to tell myself that they animals led a great life until they were slaughtered and I even glorified the slaughtering process by telling myself that it happened quickly and with little pain.  I knew that what I was telling myself was a complete lie, but how could a little Ohio girl live without meat??


Well she can, and she does.  I began to educate myself on a vegetarian lifestyle.  I bought the book The Kind Life by Alicia Silverstone and began reading.  I learned things about the manufacturing process that made me sick.  I learned what the raising of livestock was doing to our world.  I learned that I could live a long and healthy life.  I learned that I could take control of my health issues. And so it began...


Cooking had always been my hobby.  To me, there's nothing better then coming home from a long day of work, pouring a glass of wine, putting Pandora on, and chopping, and sauteing, and smelling, and eating.  I LOVE it!  So this new way of eating was going to be easy for me.  All I needed was some ideas to get me started.  I started reading blogs and looking on Amazon for good cookbooks.  I came across a blog called The Happy Herbivore and was enticed.  The author of the website, Lindsay Nixon, also has 2 cookbooks out and I ordered them both.  Now this website and the cookbooks are all Vegan but I was up for the challenge.  Cheese however, ugh.  I do LOVE my cheese.  Disclaimer:  I am not completely Vegan.  Although many of the things I eat are.  More on this topic later...


I have been going strong for over 5 months now.  I was seriously annoyed when my veggie pizza I ordered during the beginning of the journey contained many pieces of ham, but I spit them out.  And I was not happy when my veggie breakfast burrito was hiding chewy pieces of bacon.  But I persevered :)  I'm just glad I'm not allergic to it!  


At the end of the day, many GREAT things have happened:


I have kept off the weight I lost for my wedding- WITHOUT working out 5 days a week for 2 hours at a time!  HOLLA!  C'mon- I lost 16 lbs. and have only gained back about 3lbs.  #Winning!


I have more energy than I ever have before.  This is good considering that I am teaching Kindergarten this year and those little munchkins are exhausting!


My tummy troubles are almost non-existent, and I now use the restroom regularly if you catch my drift...


My skin shines, my hair and nails are strong.


My seriously meat loving husband enjoys the food I make.  He's dropped some weight too!


Oh, and my clothes fit :)


I think that's enough background to get me started.  Oh, and I hope that I didn't bore you too much and that you're still awake :)  


Goodnight Friends!