Portobello burger

June 18, 2013

The kids both packed their lunches today. My daughter brought a peanut butter sandwich. She was excited because I found a new kind of peanut butter. Banana granola nut (peanut butter). She also brought some applesauce. My son had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some grapes. I had some leftover risotto. I volunteered at school for awhile today. They had pizza, subs, and salad for the volunteers so I grabbed a salad.

Another night of new recipes. We are on a roll. My hubby and I decided to try a portobello mushroom burger. He lit up the charcoal and set to grilling. He topped them with some grilled zucchini, yellow squash, red/yellow/green pepper, jalapeno, and red onion. I had american cheese and he had provolone. I also topped my burger with spinach, avocado, ketchup, and mustard. The kids didn't want a mushroom burger so I tried something else new for them. I had a package of soybean pasta that was calling their name. Well, my daughter asked for it so I guess she was calling its name. Ha. I served it with a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce. We also had some grilled asparagus and the rest of the strawberries.

How did our new food turn out? First, the burgers. Let me say wow. I was surprised how much I liked it. My hubby said he loved them and we have to make them more often. Ha. Deal. One thing I have missed since we started making different veggie/bean burgers is the juiciness of a beef burger. Portobello mushrooms definitely bring the juice! The pasta was surprisingly good too. It has a different texture than regular pasta of course. It is almost a cross between spaghetti and ramen noodles. The surprise was that it didn't have a bean flavor. At all. Awesome!

Pineapple and portobello tacos & smoked corn

June 17, 2013

My daughter packed leftover black beans, a tortilla, and applesauce for lunch. My son's class had a cookout. My hubby and I packed leftovers (risotto, strawberry salad, strawberry chardonnay cheese, and leftover grilled veggie wrap) and ate at the park.

We decided to try two new recipes for dinner. My hubby wanted to try smoking corn on the cob. He removed the silk (kept the husk) and then soaked them for awhile. Then I rubbed them with olive oil and seasoned with garlic wine seasoning. He smoked them for about an hour. I wanted to try a recipe that I saw on 86 lemons (who tried it from the vegan chick pea). Pineapple and portobello tacos with roasted chickpeas. 1 cup of chickpeas are tossed with 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tsp thyme (I used ground so I only did a few shakes), 2 garlic cloves, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Roast them on a baking sheet with parchment paper at 400 for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, sautee red onion and portobello mushrooms (about half a pack). We added in some white wine. We also used our favorite garlic and wine seasoning. After the mushrooms began to cook, stir in 1 1/2 cups pineapple. We used fresh and there really is no comparison (stay away from the can!). Top your tortillas with avocado, cilantro, lettuce (we used farmer's market fresh), and tomato.

Wow. I'm surprised how well the pineapple works in a wrap. Delicious. Then I tried the corn. I wanted to go back to the wrap but there was no going back until the corn was gone! My hubby said dinner was definitely a "make again".

A day of wine and risotto.

June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day! After a quick breakfast (pancakes and cereal), we headed out to a wine and food festival. We decided to eat lunch at a little local restaurant before heading in to the festival. Man, am I glad we happened to pick that place to eat. My hubby ordered a black bean burger. It was very good. I ordered a veggie burger (brown rice, oats, soy, and egg). It was delicious. I think it was the best veggie burger I've had at a restaurant. My daughter ordered a bacon and peanut butter sandwich. What? 1) weird combo 2) meat? She really liked it and said she wants to make them at home. My son just had some cereal. The owner even gave my hubby a free coffee cup to take home in honor of Father's Day. So nice! On to the festival!

We sampled so many wines. Yum. We found lots of local food products. We bought strawberry chardonnay cheddar cheese, peanut butter fudge sauce, tomato garlic dipping oil, burgandy wine seasoning, a bottle of beer that my hubby has to brew himself, habanero mustard, peach salsa, veggie chips, and no bake pina colada cheesecake mix.

This afternoon we mentioned risotto. Oh risotto. How I love you. My hubby decided to make us some mushroom risotto tonight. Oh hubby. How I love you. Ha! I asked what he wanted to have with it. We opted for a side salad. I used lettuce, spinach, japanese cucumber, green onion, and radishes all from the farmer's market. I also added in red onion, pea pods, mushrooms, and sunflower seeds. We still needed something else. Have you ever heard of a loco moco? We used to get it in Hawaii all the time when we lived there. Basically, it is rice, topped with a hamburger patty, topped with an egg covered in gravy. Well, we thought we would try our risotto topped with a fried egg. It actually worked well!

Leftover wraps

June 14 & 15, 2013

We went to the farmer's market yesterday and found some goodies. We came home to make lunch and I wanted to incorporate some of our new finds. We made three bean (black, chick pea, and small white) burgers on the grill. I got out the spinach, lettuce, and strawberries that we bought and put together a salad. I added in feta cheese (normally we do mozzarella with this salad), cashews, and strawberry poppyseed dressing.

I had a free pizza coupon for my birthday so we headed out for dinner. We got a few sides (mozzarella sticks and salads) and we were all set.

My daughter had her gymnastics recital today. We had to be in town early so we grabbed some lunch before her show. We went to Moe's. I had a taco and man did I stuff it full! Tofu, black beans, grilled onions/peppers/mushrooms, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, and cilantro. My daughter had a tofu black bean burrito. My son had a cheese quesadilla. My hubby had a black bean, onion/pepper/mushroom, sour cream, cilantro, queso, and guacamole burrito.

After spending all day at the recital (we went to our daughter's and then to our friend's daughter's later on), I thought we were gonna cave in and go out for dinner. Score one for us we came home to cook instead. My hubby grilled up red/white/purple potatoes, onions, green/yellow/red peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and yellow squash. We made wraps and added in cilantro, sour cream, cheese, avocado, and black beans (whole and some processed with salsa). My daughter started making her wrap and she added in some leftover corn and orzo pasta and then even grabbed some spinach pasta. Ha. She said we should call them the leftover wraps. I followed her lead and threw in some leftover cauliflower in my wrap. I've come to the conclusion that you can hide anything in wraps. I didn't even taste the cauliflower in there.

Oh crepe!

June 12 & 13, 2013

Yesterday was a busy day for us. My son had an all day out of town field trip to a zoo. He packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I asked him to find some fruit to bring. He opened the fridge and said "I want spinach". What?! Ha. How awesome. He packed some farmer's market fresh spinach and some grapes. My daughter packed some soup and strawberries. I just had some leftover spinach pasta before I went grocery shopping.

My pre-challenge weekly average was $175. I spent $15.72 on toiletries and cleaners. I spent $92.13 on food. I spent $7.26 on impulse items. I found two new flavored almonds to try. One for me (raspberry) and one for my hubby (habanero bbq). I also got a pack of vegetarian bacon. My daughter had been asking for it and I hadn't noticed it at the store before. I spent $10.53 on gossip magazines. After adding in their surcharge and taking out my coupons, I spent $128.39 out of pocket. This is a savings of $46.61. Our pre-challenge weekly restaurant average was $80. This week we went to Subway and Buffalo Wild Wings. We spent $45.03 which is a savings of $34.97. The kids packed enough lunches to save $14. It will certainly be an adjustment when they get out of school for the summer and I won't get to "claim" their lunch savings. This brings our savings for the week to $95.58! Not bad for going to restaurants twice! Our grand total savings is $3,810.01 in 238 days!!

I had a friend mention to me today that she is going to try to use up what she has in the cupboards and try to save some money. I highly suggest giving this little challenge a try. When we started this challenge in October, I really didn't think I would last a month. Ok, I didn't think I would last a week. I thought it was going to be really hard and we would feel deprived of our favorite snacks, etc. It is an adjustment. However, it can't be all that bad if we stuck with it for 238 days, right?! It's all about finding a balance. Maybe I should change the title of my blog. I really don't feel like this is a challenge anymore. It is more of a lifestyle change and I feel fully confident we will stick with it for the long haul.

Ok, on to last night's dinner. My hubby got home after being away for 9 days! Yay! We decided to do a fun dinner (and keep it simple because we had to hurry up and get to Karate) and made our new favorite dip: salsa corn queso. We started out with black beans and homemade salsa in the food processor. That was spread on a layer of cream cheese (half a block). I had leftover green/red/yellow peppers, onion, and mushrooms that had been cooked for tacos. I put those in the food processor and then spread it on top of the beans. I added corn (from farmer's market). Topped it with cilantro and mexican and cheddar cheese. We baked it at 400 for a few minutes and then stuck it under the broiler. Yum! We used broccoli, carrots, green/red/yellow peppers, and pea pods as veggie dippers. We also had some tortilla chips.

The kiddos packed peanut butter (and jelly) sandwiches today. My son also brought apple sauce and my daughter brought strawberries. I went to the dentist for a filling today so feeling sorry for myself I decided that I needed some comfort food for lunch. Ha. Comfort food for me of course involves pasta of some sort. My friend had posted about her lunch yesterday and it looked amazing (think orzo, tomatoes, broccoli, cheese). I decided to do my take on that today. I cooked some orzo. While that was cooking, I sauteed up some farmer's market spinach with red onion (in white wine of course) and seasoned it with garlic wine seasoning. I looked in the fridge and saw some leftover cauliflower and corn. Oh! I also had leftover processed black beans with homemade salsa. Hmmmm. What else? I found some cilantro and half an avocado. Almost done...Cheese. I had feta. Perfect! I started out with some black beans, topped it with orzo, added some of the leftover veggies (warmed up), and topped it with the cilantro, avocado, and feta. A little sprinkle of salt and it was set. Oh. My. Gosh. Yum!! This could be changed up with what ever pasta you like. Any veggies you like. Any cheese you like. Options are limitless. Oh yes, I will be making this again. Maybe tomorrow?!

My daughter asked for pancakes for dinner. Breakfast it is. My son had french toast. They both had a side of strawberries. And by side, I mean there is only about 4 berries left in the box! I was undecided between a veggie omelet or crepes. I love crepes (because it's like you are eating dessert) but they are a lot of work. Hubby to the rescue. He made us all our favorites. He made a filling out of sour cream, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. He made a fruit sauce out of strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and water. I ate until I couldn't eat anymore. There is a little bit of the filling and sauce leftover. Mmmmmm. Can't wait to have more breakfast!

Tempeh tacos

June 11, 2013

It's my birthday! One of my favorite birthday wishes today was when my husband's cousin wished me a "flavorful" day. :) I'm such a foodie.

My kids both packed peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, and yogurt smoothies. I was surprised at lunch. Two of my friends stopped over bearing lunch! Vegetarian calzone, chocolate chip cookies, and cookies and creme cake. Yes please!

I couldn't decide what to make for dinner. My daughter said that today is national taco day. Tacos it is. I had a package of tempeh that I have been meaning to try. Oh boy, here we go...

I started out by cooking red onion, green/red/yellow peppers, garlic, and portobello mushrooms. I seasoned them with cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and chili powder (and of course some local white wine). I set them to the side. I added a dash of olive oil to the pan and crumbled in half of the tempeh. I seasoned it with the same seasonings. I chopped up lettuce and spinach (both from farmer's market), avocado, tomato, and cilantro. We also worked on some of the leftover fruit (strawberries and pineapple) seeing as tomorrow is shopping day. I put a few extra pieces of tempeh on my plate so you could get a better look at what it looks like. What did we think of the tempeh? Half way through dinner my son said "I like the meat ok". Simultaneously, he reached for the tempeh pieces that were on my plate! What a thief! I realized that I forgot to add the pepper/mushroom mix to my taco. Of course I realized this after I had finished it. So I helped myself to a pile of veggies on the side. After I ate, I brought my plate to the kitchen and asked if they needed anything. My daughter asked to finish off the rest of the tempeh. Wow. I would say dinner was a success! It actually had a nice chewy texture to it. The flavor? It was almost nutty. I read that you can fry it in slices too. I'm excited to try it again in another dish. Ok, now it's almost time for cake. Yep. I had a very flavorful day.

Spinach fettucini

June 9 & 10, 2013

Yesterday we had plans to go to the zoo with a friend. My daughter and I had leftover shepherd's pie and my son had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. After the zoo, we decided to all go out to eat together. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings. My daughter and I had black bean burgers and my son had macaroni and cheese.

Today my daughter packed a sandwich for lunch. She decided to try our new jar of sunbutter (peanut butter equivalent of sunflower seeds). She also packed some leftover salad and strawberries. My son ordered school lunch. I didn't know what I felt like eating so I settled on a quesadilla of almond butter and bananas. It was ok but it wasn't what I wanted. I hate those days.

I decided to make a batch of the cookie dough hummus for the kids to snack on after school. Oh who am I kidding? It was for me too! That stuff is addicting. We haven't had it for awhile so you should have seen the kids faces when they got home. "You NEVER make hummus"! Ha. Ok, guess I better make it more often. I changed it up a bit today. The recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie calls for 1 can of chick peas (1 1/2 cups), 1/8 plus 1/16 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp vanilla, up to 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk), and 2/3 cup brown sugar. Ugh. That is way too much sugar. I only use 1/3 cup and it is still plenty sweet. I used half honey and half brown sugar to equal 1/3 cup. The last ingredient is 1/4 cup of your choice of nut butter. I have only made it with peanut butter before but today I tried half the batch with sunbutter and half with almond butter. Oh yeah, and don't forget to stir in some chocolate pieces too! I served it with apple slices and cinnamon graham crackers. Is it me, or does it kind of look like a smiley face?! There really wasn't much of a taste difference between them. Although, my daughter and I both liked the sunbutter one better. The kids (and I) ate the entire batch! So much for leftovers for later. Ha.

My daughter asked for spaghetti and chickpea "meat" balls for dinner. I didn't feel like putting much effort into dinner after doing a bunch of yard work. We compromised. I had a bag of spinach fettucini to try. I was going to open a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce but then saw that I had half a jar of home canned tomatoes in the fridge. Hmmmm. I decided to do a light fresh sauce instead. I sauteed onion and garlic in a little vegan butter then added in the tomatoes, a tiny splash of olive oil, a fresh basil leaf, oregano, salt, and pepper. I steamed cauliflower for an easy side. When the pasta was almost done cooking, I figured I would make "chicken" scallopini tonight too. Super easy. Just heat a little oil and brown for about 3 minutes per side. I topped our pasta with freshly grated parmesan cheese. The kids were surprised the pasta was made out of spinach. You couldn't even taste it. The scallopini was similar to the chicken tenders we had made before (Gardein brand). Not too bad for fake out meat.