Budget Vegetarian

Since becoming a vegetarian, I have been looking high and low for easy meals to become my new staples. It's hard to find filling meals that taste good, don't take too long to prepare, are cheap and HEALTHY. I'm pretty hard to please :) This salad has quickly become one of my favorites. I am dying to try it with whole wheat tortellini but it's a little hard to find in the boondocks.

Tortellini Salad
from Vegetarian Times' Low Fat and Fast cookbook (I spent $3 on this cookbook and it is one of the best cookbook investments I have ever made!!)
Serves 4

• 1 pkg frozen tortellini (16 oz)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 green peppers, seeded and sliced
• 1 cup carrots, sliced thin (or 2 cucumbers, sliced and quartered)
• 1 cup fat free Italian salad dressing
• Freshly grated Parmesan, if desired

Cook tortellini according to package directions.

Prepare vegetables. We tried it first with the carrots but thought they were too crunchy for the softness of the tortellini. We use cucumber instead and it works perfectly.

Combine tortellini, vegetables and dressing in a large bowl.

Top with Parmesan and serve.

See? EASY. This meal is so refreshing. After cooking the tortellini, I let it go down to room temperature so it's a nice salad that isn't hot. Since the pasta is so small, it doesn't take very long.

Vegetarian Dirty Rice with Beans
adapted from Vegetarian Times' Low Fat and Fast cookbook
Serves 4

• 1 pkg veggie sausage, chopped (recipe says links but I used patties; Morningstar Farms makes the best!)
• 1 cup frozen peppers and onions mix
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 2 bags Uncle Ben's Whole Grain Medley Ready Rice, Vegetable Harvest (original recipe uses more vegetables and brown rice but this is much faster!)
• 1.5 cups Lima beans, equivalent to one 14.5 oz can, rinsed and drained (I used dried; soaked and cooked the night before)
• 1-2 tsp creole seasoning

Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add chopped up veggie sausage, celery and peppers and onions. Cook until sausage is warmed through and celery is soft but not mushy.

While cooking, cook Ready Rice in microwave for 90 seconds.

Add Lima beans, rice and desired amount of seasoning. Cook until Lima beans have warmed.

This one takes 15 minutes tops. It's fabulous. And it tastes pretty good too ;)

Veggie Fajitas
from my brain
Serves 2

• 4 fajita size flour tortillas
• 3 bell peppers, colors of your choosing, seeded and sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 Tb. canola oil
• 1 tsp chili powder
• Salt and pepper
• 1 avocado, just ripe
• Salsa, sour cream, etc.

Now, I am not going to pretend to have created this recipe. Because it's just fajitas. Buut I have made this recipe several times because it's one of my favorite things ever. So I got the technique down pretty well.

In a small bowl, combine peppers, onions, oil and seasonings. 

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the peppers and onions. Now, here's the hard part, WALK AWAY. 

I used to be terrible at messing with things while they cook. TERRIBLE. Like a helicopter mommy. But then, one day about a year ago, I was recording Atonement from Starz onto a DVD and got enthralled while watching it on the couch and forgot about the pork chops on the stove. It had only been 5-6 minutes so they weren't burnt and I ran over to flip them. And I saw the most beautiful pork chop when I flipped that baby. They were fabulously juicy and flavorful. Sooo. My point is, sometimes it's better just to leave the food alone! :)

Slice the avocado while it's cooking and then return 5-6 minutes later to the skillet to see this...

Isn't it beautiful?? :)

Serve on warmed tortillas with salsa and sour cream. 

I realized there hasn't been much baking lately. Which makes me sad. Unfortunately, healthy eating isn't conducive to much baking. I've tried to lie to myself over the years and say that balance is possible! but really..it's not. You just don't get to bake as much unless they are people to share it with :) Buuut I did get to bake for the bridal shower Something fabulous and worth tweaking. I will share that and my craftiness with you very soon! :)

Chicken and Chickpea Chili

Last we talked, I had just made the veggie decision. WI'm now going on a solid two months of vegetarianism. The only challenges I've faced is making sure to fill the leftover calories with food (not ice cream) and lunch. Portable, economical lunch is proving to be pretty difficult.  I'm working on the no ice cream thing right now but could use some help for the lunches. Any ideas??

It's been a while since this was made but I still wanted to share it because I loved the flavor of this stuff! I made it while trying to get rid of the meat so it has chicken in it but I will be recreating this once it gets cooler with tofu or some other kind of bean. So yummy!

Chicken and Chickpea Chili
from Weight Watcher's New Complete Cookbook
serves 4

4 tsp olive oil
1 each of green, red and yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 Tb. AP flour
1 Tb. chili powder
1 Tb. ground cumin
1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (don't shy away...it truly makes the dish!!)
1/8 tsp. cayenne powder
3 cans (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 Tb. balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Beautiful veggies before chopping! Am I the only one who loves the beautiful look of bell peppers?

Heat the oil in a large nonstick dutch oven. (I do not have a dutch oven so I had to use a large skillet followed by a large saucepan and the directions follow that procedure.) Sauté the bell peppers and onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook completely.

Mix together the flour, chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder and cayenne.

Sprinkle the spice mixture on the peppers, onions and chicken; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. (If using the skillet, transfer peppers, onions and chicken to the large saucepan and let sit.)

Add the tomatoes and vinegar to the pan and use the spoon to get the bits off the bottom of the skillet. I didn't have crushed tomatoes, just diced, so I crushed them myself with a potato masher.

Pour the tomatoes from the skillet to the saucepan. (This was to keep all of  that lovely cooking juices/spicy goodness on the bottom of the pan.) Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring frequently, for 30-40 minutes, until thick. Stir in the chickpeas and simmer until heated, about 5 minutes.

Serve over brown rice or with cornbread.

I CANNOT WAIT FOR FALL. So I can make lovely dishes like this. So my hair doesn't go poof the second I walk out the door. So I can watch FOOTBALL! So I can put up my pumpkins and scarecrows. So I can get cheap, fresh apples. Anyone want to take a stab at my favorite season? :)

The reason I rarely blog these days is because it takes so long! I'm cutting down the recipes in each post so that hopefully I'll post more often and be able to share more recipes with you! :)

Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow....because I have MANY recipes I want to share!! :)

Tofu goodness, a new addition and Father's day goodies!

Are you in love with tofu just as much as me?? Here's $1/1 Nasoya product coupon that doesn't expire until 12/31/2010!! This made a very happy Stephanie :)

Why hello there! As I bring to a close my first all vegetarian week, I thought I'd post about some of the meals I've used to start my new lifestyle off with! I had the return of two tofu favorites...

Tofu Parmigiana

Tofu Stir Fry (I find it funny that in this post, I say that while I love vegetarian food, I don't think I could ever  become a vegetarian...oh how the times have changed! haha)

For the stir fry, I used Emily's Tofu Tutorial to make the perfect tofu! While I've been eating tofu for a few months, it's been sporadic and so I've really only made it 5 or 6 times..still a newbie, in my opinion. This is a good place to start if you're interested in trying it! :)

And now on to the best tofu I've had in my life. And I have a new addition to the family to thank for it.

Beautiful. (Yes, I am cradling the pan like a baby. Hush.)

I'm telling you, a good pan makes ALL the difference. (Plus, I got this 50% off from the Publix clearance section...SCORE!)

Now on to the tofu! I showed you the pan because it made a HUGE difference in the amount of oil I was able to use. We've never had a brand-new, high-quality non-stick pan before now so bear with my gushing.

Herb Crusted Tofu with Mushroom Gravy - Serves 4
from Vegetarian Times' online database

• 1-16 oz block extra firm tofu
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil...wow! I halved this recipe and only needed 2 Tb. but this might be because of my fabulous pan ;)
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 Tb. olive oil
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 5 white mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 tsp cornstarch

Drain and press tofu then cut into 8 slices (The recipe says 6...but if it serves 4 that makes no sense!). To make herb crust, combine cornstarch, salt, Italian seasoning, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a shallow dish.

To make mushroom gravy, sauté onion in olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally for 5 minutes, or until browned.

Add rosemary, mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Add broth, and simmer until mushrooms are tender (this took about 5 minutes for me).

Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat.

Coat each tofu slice with crust mixture. (I double dipped to make an extra crunchy crust!).

Set in oil, and fry 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels. (This only takes about a minute)

Heat gravy over high heat. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water, whisk gravy until thickened, then remove from heat.

Spoon mushroom gravy over tofu and serve.

Wow! For real, this tofu was AWESOME! So crunchy! And the mushroom gravy, while it wasn't really the gravy I'm used to, was fabulous!! I could drench everything in that gravy and be a happy person. 

Father's Day was my first vegetarian meal at someone else's house. I was extremely nervous. (Is this normal? To be completely terrified of how people close to you will react to such a life-changing decision??) The host, my sister, was kind enough to let me bring a bean side just to be sure I would have enough food. I decided to dig into one of the many vegetarian cookbooks I've been reading lately and I found a yummy, and easy, side dish!

Ranch Beans - makes 10 to 12 servings!
from Vegetarian Times' Low Fat and Fast cookbook

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 Tb. olive oil
• 1- 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (I used dried. Soaked and cooked beforehand and used 1 cup.)
• 3- 16 oz cans vegetarian baked beans, undrained (I used a 32 oz and 16 oz because it was cheaper!)
• 1- 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 Tb. prepared mustard
• 1 Tb. apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup brown sugar 

Sauté onion in oil.

Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir thoroughly.

Simmer for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

See? Super easy! And pretty good! I would make a few adjustments next time. I would drain the tomatoes. I thought it was too liquid-y. I would also decrease the brown sugar by ALOT. It was super sweet and already had sweetness from the baked beans. I would go down to about 1/2 cup, maybe less. I think the cider vinegar and mustard flavor got lost in all the sweetness, which is truly sad since they are a great combo. But, I will be making this again because it was still really good!

And for dessert...

Lemon Baby Bundt Cakes - makes 24 baby cakes or cupcakes

adapted from Country Living's recipe

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• zest of half a lemon (their recipe used 1/4 tsp five-spice powder but I wanted lemon)
• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 325° F. Coat mini-bundt pan with butter or shortening and then dust with flour, tapping out the excess. Set aside.

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Throw in lemon zest. 

Cream the butter and sugar, using an electric mixer set on high speed, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the eggs and yolks one at a time - fully incorporating each addition. Mix in the vanilla. 

Alternately add the flour mixture and sour cream, in thirds, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix on medium-low speed until fully incorporated.

Divide the batter among the cake molds, filling each about 3/4 full. 

Bake in the middle rack of the oven until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean - about 15 minutes.

Let cool on a rack for 20-25 minutes. HOW CUTE!

I didn't feel like cleaning out my mini-bundt pan and greasing it all over again so I just did the other 12 in my cupcake pan. Same distribution, same temp and time. 

I made a simple glaze with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2 Tb. milk and drizzled it on top. 

These were PERFECT topped with whipped cream and some of the delicious, organic berries we snagged at Earthfare that week. YUMM. I personally wasn't over the top impressed with them by themselves but everyone else loved them so that may just be my preferences. 

The Veggie Decision, Weight Loss and Jillian DVDs!

So, now that I'm caught up to about mid-May...I'll catch you up the rest of the way. For the two weeks following Mother's day...I went on a salad diet. I had been eating too much lately and not enough veggies. Plus, I wanted to "jump-start" our weight loss again since I'd been plateauing. So, for two weeks straight, I had nothing but salad for dinner. I mixed up the protein source: using chicken, fish, turkey and tofu or beans.

It was actually refreshing and enjoyable. And it did help me get back in the losing column. :)

Somewhere along there, I wondered why I wasn't a vegetarin. I've always had a problem eating animals due to the treatment they get during mass production. If this was the 50s where meat was a rarity for most families and therefore the very questionable manufacturing techniques weren't needed, this would be a different story. But sadly, it's not. And the more and more I learned and thought about it, the more and more I realized that I already felt that way...and that I was just avoiding it and ignoring my feelings.

Then, I tackled the next problem everyone has with vegetarian diets: lack of nutrition. Well, the more research I did, the more I learned it's not really a problem. It calls for planning and I'm well aware of that. But I already plan weeks in advance so that won't change. I don't think I'll become protein deficient since I love beans and soy products. 

The only thing left was how expensive it was going to become. As a couponer, I know that the sales tend to revolve around meat or things that are made with meat. But, after a couple weeks of shopping, I've realized that it's difficult but not impossible. Everything about being a vegetarian just requires being creative with meals and doing a lot of planning. I do not think I'll have a problem with either of those ;) 

It seems once you make that decision, it's hard to eat meat. I always found it cliche, but now I understand. It feels wrong since you already made the decision and once you let those images and facts in, it's hard to block them out. So it's been difficult for me to eat the meat left in the freezer. But I do understand that I already bought it, and it would just be a waste to throw it all away. I'm not buying any new meat or anything new that isn't vegetarian friendly. In limbo right now but I'm gettin there!

As if the coupon Gods heard my complaints about becoming vegetarian, Publix had Morningstar Farms entrees on BOGO this week. I'm OBSESSED with everything made by Morningstar Farms. They're meat free entrees that are easily made into meals and they always taste great...I ate these long before deciding to go veggie and I never even missed the meat. So...I went crazy when I saw they were half price. I then headed to Ebay to look for coupons. For a mere $3.75, I had $40 worth of Morningstar coupons heading my way. We were able to get 40 boxes for $35!! I was ecstatic. Without coupons and without a sale, this would have easily been $160. 

Needless to say, my freezer is completely full! And I'll have quite a bit of goodness to start off our vegetarian eating with :) PLUS, while I was rearranging the freezer to fit it all, I found a box of Deep Chocolate Vitatops hidden in there! I thought I ran out 3 months ago!! WAHOO! It's like finding treasure :)

It's been a while since I've talked about my weight loss on here. Since this blog was actually started as an effort to document my food choices and therefore keep me accountable, I find it weird that I barely talk about it. So I guess it's time to show off what I've done ;)

Starting weight (Aug 2008): 180 lbs.

Current weight (May 2010): 146 lbs. 

Goal weight: 135 lbs.

As you can see, it's been a looong time. This is because I don't really believe in "dieting" as much as I believe in lifestyle changes. While I eat less calories per day than I would if I were maintaining my weight, it's not a drastic 1000 calories per day. I let myself indulge and have dessert but make healthy choices 90% of the time. I exercise 5 days a week but don't fill it with cardio "blasts" with only the purpose of losing weight. I focus on weak areas or areas that need to be toned, or on overall goals. I run to get faster, to build my endurance back to what it used to be, not to lose weight. Ultimately, my final goal is to lose weight, but I'm not going to make myself miserable for 5 months to get there faster. These changes are things that I can keep up with forever, like portion control, more veggies, smarter snacks and creative ways to get my dessert cravings satisfied. So, while I'm sure it's nice to drop the pounds quick, I enjoy doing it my way. My way includes leniency for slip-ups and sometimes even month-long slumps.

Even still, it's nice to see when the hard work pays off. Like this weekend for example, when I went dress shopping for my sister's wedding. I've been wearing 8's and was already super excited to be back in single digits with that. But I decided to get crazy and try on a dress that was only available in a 6. And it zipped. Without a problem. I then proceeded to do a little dance in the dressing room and try to walk out and show everyone without acting like a four year old. If this sounds like bragging, that's because it is. And I deserve a little bragging. Since the trigger for me to change was in American Eagle when I had to buy a size 14 jeans (the highest size they have), getting down to a 6 is an amazing achievement for me. And the fact that on Sunday, when I went shopping, I was able to buy a pair of size 6 shorts as well, just made my weekend. Bragging over. :D

In case you were wondering, this is the dress I chose.

Ignore the face...I don't even know how that happened. And the terrible posture. And the color...and the size was one too big as well. hahaha I promise, I tried on the right size and I've seen the color so I know that it was the right choice. This one is actually for a different wedding, but it's the same color...

So use your creative powers to meld them together :) haha

Turning vegetarian had me thinking of easy, cheap and healthy lunches for me. They have to be portable and able to be heated in a microwave or a toaster oven but not take ages. First thing that came to mind: Amy's burritos. But those suckers are like $3 each! So... I made my own frozen burritos! Yup! Because I'm cool like that. (This would be a great after-school snack for any moms reading...)

Stephanie's Vegetarian Bean and Cheese Frozen Burritos

Makes 12 Burritos

• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained (but not rinsed!)
• 1 can (14.5 oz) vegetarian refried beans
• 1 can (10 oz) Ro*Tel tomatoes, partially drained
• 1 Tb. taco seasoning (I used my own homemade - chili powder, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder and onion powder)
• 1/3 cup (+/-) 2% milk cheese, cheddar or mexican blend
• 12 fajita size flour tortillas

After draining the black beans, mash them up a bit. You don't want the beans completely mashed, just about half mashed and half "broken" to add some texture. 

Mix with the can of refried beans.

Add the tomatoes and seasoning.

Warm tortillas up according to package directions so they'll be more pliable and easier to fold.

Place about 1/4 cup mixture in the tortilla and top with about 1-2 Tb. cheese. Fold up into a burrito. Or, if you're like me and completely terrible at this step, ask your husband with puppy dog eyes and he'll do it for you. ;)

Place the burritos, seam down on a large cookie sheet. Freeze for at least an hour (I put mine in the deep freeze for 30 minutes). Wrap each burrito individually in saran wrap or place in individual baggies...and put all the individually wrapped burritos in a gallon freezer bag and keep in the freezer. 

To reheat you can use the microwave but it'll probably come out a little soggy. I take out a burrito each morning and by lunch it's pretty much thawed. Then 10 minutes in a toaster oven set to 350 and it's toasted on the outside, warm on the inside. YUM!

And now, as promised ages ago, I'll go ahead and give you my opinion on the two Jillian Michael's DVDs I've tried. Hopefully someone will be interested :) haha

I first tried Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism.

This DVD contains a 55 minute workout split up into 7 circuits, a warm up and a cool down. 

Completing this DVD start to finish is HARD. The first time you do it, I would not recommend doing more than 2 circuits. I am very thankful I was able to listen to my body and do this. Each time I did it after that first time, I added a circuit until that fabulous day when I was able to do all 7 circuits. Now, this may vary from person to person but I calculated via my heart rates during the workout, height (5'5") and weight (then 157 lbs) and doing the whole workout burns 582 calories. I'll agree any day that this workout is hard but it feels good and burns almost 600 calories, you can't beat that! Plus, it's easy to see how you get stronger. Even when I first did all 7 circuits, there were moves that I skipped. That I wasn't strong enough to do or I just found to difficult. I slowly added these moves in which helped me realize how far I had come. Jillian is a great trainer who always says the right things to keep you moving. However, the more I did the DVD, I knew what she was going to say and it didn't have the same effect on me.

I started doing this DVD in February and did 2-3 a week until May. I lost 9 pounds during this time. The cover says "Lose up to 5 pounds a week!" I'm sure this is possible if done everyday but I did not have the time to spend 55 minutes on exercise each day. I also felt like this was a strength training/cardio combo and my muscles needed a break from the intensity some days. 

I would recommended this DVD to anyone looking to jump start weight loss or slim down. I feel like I didn't loose a ton of poundage at first but I definitely could see a difference in my silhouette. Jeans felt looser, my arms got so much stronger and I looked leaner, even before the scale started moving. I still use this DVD when I need a heavy workout day, following a big meal or a couple days off, etc. 

Just recently, I started using Yoga Meltdown. I have done this DVD three times. It contains two 35-minute workouts, level 1 and level 2. The first time I did it, I didn't really feel like I burned anything. I was so busy trying to watch her and pick up the moves. I have done yoga before but just with the programs on Fit TV so I still consider myself a beginner. I am able to follow the beginner's version of most of the moves and on some, I able to do the advanced. I like how it gives the two versions so you have the ability to find the middle as well. 

After that first time, since I know what the moves are, I can definitely feel a burn and this last time when I could easily follow without looking up, I even got pretty sweaty. I was able to focus on completely moves and my muscles instead of wondering whether or not I was doing it right. Jillian's hard-ass techniques weren't as strong in this one. She is encouraging, which is a nice change. :) The workout is a collection of power poses. Each poses is repeated with motion to burn calories and then held for 15 seconds to build strength. 

I really like this DVD. I feel that I get a good workout and it's nice to change it up and get those muscles confused so they keep getting stronger. As for whether or not you can "Lose up to 5 pounds a week!"...I'm not so sure about that. It's a challenging workout but I didn't feel like I burned enough to lose that much. However, I feel like this DVD has helped me build more muscles and muscle burns more calories than fat so I do not discount it as a way to lose weight.

The consensus: I liked them both. If you're trying to lose weight and fast, BFBM would be the most helpful if done several times a week. I would still give at least 2 rest days a week since it does a lot of muscle work. The yoga is a challenging workout that I feel like I will be able to stick with longer since I can increase the difficulty of each move and then move onto level 2 and do it all over again. 

Right now, I'm going to continue doing the Yoga DVD while I work on my running endurance. I'm following a Couch to 5k plan in order to get back to "high school shape." I was on the cross country team and used to run for half an hour, sometimes an hour, each day and would love to get back to that. I'm hoping to be able to do a 5k in the fall when they start popping up everywhere :)