Vegan/Vegetarian Side Dish

What helped me lose 30 lbs?? Eating well!

Eating healthy was instrumental in helping me to lose 30 lbs! Meals like this are very low in Sodium, Dietary Fiber, protein, Thiamine, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorous and vitamin K.

This is a shredded cauliflower blend (with carrots, broccoli) and edamame.  I put this over lettuce, and add an entire sliced avocado and balsamic vinegar.  I also enjoy this as a side dish with a serving of pinto beans.

This would also be fantastic over a baked potato with butter, or baked firm tofu, or as a side dish with a meat dinner.

How do I make it?

• 1 16oz. package of pre-shred cauliflower/carrot/broccoli mix
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen edamame
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 diced garlic clove
• Medium size frying pan

Turn stove burner on high.  Heat up the olive oil. First toss in garlic, then toss in bag of cauliflower blend. Turn heat down to med/high, stir in the edamame. Stir entire time, so food doesn’t burn.  Let mixture cook for 1 minute, then turn off the heat and cover.  At this point you could add cheese or a flavored sauce such as teriyaki, sweet/sour, whatever strikes your fancy! (Salt and pepper to taste.) Texture should be firm, slightly crunchy and NOT mushy.

Enjoy and stay healthy! xoxo

 

 

 

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Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread-By Bees Adventures!

http://beesadventures.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/pumpkin-spice-monkey-bread-with-caramel-glaze/

I found this amazing recipe on “beesadventures” blog! Easy to make, fun to eat!!

Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread with Caramel Glaze

Yield: 1 bundt pan

Prep Time: 60 minutes | Bake Time: 20 – 25 minutes

Dough Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Lactaid milk (soy milk would work fine too)
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine or lactose-free butter (Becel or Fleischmann’s are my favorites)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup warm water (between 100 to 105 degrees Farenheit)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed (if you want to make brown sugar yourself, see the recipe below)
• 1 tablespoon ground Pumpkin Spice
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine or lactose-free butter, softened

Glaze Ingredients

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup lactose-free whipping cream
• 1 tbsp vegan margarine or lactose-free butter, softened

Monkey Bread Preparation

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it is warm to the touch, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Leave to cool.
2. Heat water to 100 – 105 degrees Farenheit. Add yeast; stir. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate yeast. Mixture will look foamy on top when yeast has activated.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, sugar and salt; mix well.
4. Add egg to cooled milk mixture and mix well.
5. Add activated yeast and milk mixture to dry ingredients. Mix until dough comes together in a sticky ball.
6. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, kneading well after each addition until dough is soft and smooth but still a bit sticky.
7. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, pumpkin spice and softened margarine.
9. Tear small, pieces of dough and roll into balls. Toss each into the sugar mixture until coated, then place in a greased baking pan.
10. Cover baking dish and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. If you’d like to cook these at a later time, refrigerate or freeze covered and let pan sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Don’t be concerned if rolls do not rise too much.
11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit when ready to bake.
12. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until browned. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out on a serving dish.
13. Serve warm, drizzled with glaze. Glaze recipe follows below.

(Adapted from 90-Minute Cinnamon Rolls at Chinese Grandma)

Caramel Glaze Preparation

1. Pour the water into a saucepan then pour the sugar in a pile in the middle of the water. Turn the heat to medium-high heat and begin cooking without stirring. The sugar will dissolve in the water and begin to boil.
2. When the sugar begins to lightly brown, gently swirl the pan until all of the sugar is a deep golden brown.
3. Carefully pour in the cream and add the butter. Whisk until smooth.

(Adapted from Chef Michael Smith’s Caramel Sauce at Food Network)

PLEASE LEAVE ME COMMENTS!

Bean & Avo Salad With Lemon Dressing

Sorry-my pictures are a little blurry. This was so yummy though!

Salad
1 1/2 cucumbers, chopped
2 avocados, chopped
1 small bunch of cilantro
1 can of garbanzo beans, drain out liquid
1 4oz container of feta cheese

Dressing
1/2 olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp spicy mustard

Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients together, pour over salad. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss and eat!

Vegan Chili with Sweet Corn Muffin

Pho!

Pronounced “Fa”, pho is a warm and cozy treat. I’m vegetarian, so no meat in my soup. But it did have tofu, bean sprouts, broccoli, carrots, basil, cilantro, bok choy, and a splash of lime 🙂

Irish Cream Cake

Fresh out of the oven. Needs to cool down before you put the glaze on top.

Glazed, wrapped, and ready to be delivered!

Here’s the recipe:
CAKE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur. I used Bailey’s

THE GLAZE
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 C). Grease and flour a 10″ Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil and 3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur. Beat for 5 minutes on high speed. Pour batter over nuts in pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto the serving dish. Prick top and sides of cake. Spoon glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake. Allow to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.
4. To make the glaze: In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur.

Side note; I used 7 mini-dishes. The cake rises a good amount, I filled the mini-dishes 3/4 full, and baked for 40 minutes. If you are nervous about using a Bundt pan, I would just use a 9″x13″ dish. After cooling-poke holes as directed, drizzle glaze on top of cake. Do what’s comfortable for you 🙂 Have fun and enjoy the delicious cake!

Veggie Japanese-Sushi House

This was my first time to a Japanese restaurant, shame on me! There was fried tofu, tempura veggies, rice, melon and a salad. The meal was quite generous in size, really enough for two people. At only $11.00, I thought this was very reasonable.
Sushi House-Alameda, Ca
My daughter and her boyfriend, Pat, pictured above 🙂

Audrey’s Fancy Egg Salad Sandwich

Boil 4 eggs, peal and chop
2 avocado’s chopped-Avo’s should be firm, not squishy, if possible
1 Table spoon blue cheese
1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard
3 Tablespoons plain, non fat yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all ingredients. Toast 2 pieces of your favorite bread, place a piece of iceberg lettuce to cover toasted bread. Scoop desired amount of egg salad onto lettuce, top with 2nd piece of toasted bread. Yields about 4 sandwiches.

Try a variety. You could also add any or all of the following; pickles, relish, black olives, green olives, garlic, finely chopped cucumber. Play with it 🙂

Healthier Food Choices at Disney Parks

I very rarely eat “fast food”. Sometimes when I travel I eat foods that I’m not use to, then I don’t feel so great. You know what I mean. You get that heavy, bloated feeling. It’s easy to find the fun stuff like pizza, churros or popcorn (see my upcoming post about that! LoL), but it’s not as fun as it use to be. I usually bring some food with me when I travel. Such as trail mix, instant oatmeal, protein bars,etc, but those aren’t meals. I like to have a least one real meal per day. When I took my niece to Disneyland a few weeks ago, she really liked to have 3 meals a day, LoL! I don’t like to eat that much, but this trip was about her, so we ate 3 square meals every day.

Look at this beautiful salad! That was my dinner. Complete with craisons, nuts and golden California raisins, my tummy was so happy! The dressing was a simple vinaigrette. Jessica chose a pesto and cheese filled ravioli, topped with pine nuts, tomatoes and a bit of Parmesan! Of course I had to try one 😉 I stay away from pastas and cheeses, but this was a relatively “healthier” alternative to say, nacho’s or something.

You may have to search a bit to find healthier types of food, but it’s out there 🙂

Vietnamese Lunch, Part 2

My daughter, her boyfriend and I went out to lunch in Alameda, California. We went to a Vietnamese place called Pho Singh http://www.phosinh.com The tofu sandwich was hands down the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life! I was hesitant to order it at first because of all the carbs between the bread and the tofu. But to my surprise, this sandwich was worth every calorie and every single carb!

The bread was fresh, crispy outside, but soft at the same time! In the sandwich was tofu, long strips of skinned cucumber, green and red peppers, carrot sticks, cilantro and a fabulous anjou type of sauce. The sauce caused the sandwich to be slightly drippy, but oh man was it fantastic!