Feast Your Eyes On All Of These Meals!

So,

Time flies by, especially when your studying non stop in a five week summer school class!

We've been taking some pictures of our delicious meals, but have not had time to post any blogs! So here goes on our meals over the last few weeks.....

One night for dinner we made Italian White Beans Stuffed Bell Peppers - an Italian spin on the usual Mexican black bean stuffed bell peppers. It was so wonderful and creamy, with a large can of white beans, short grain brown rice, Italian herbs, tomato sauce, onions, and garlic. Will make again! So filling, healthy, and easy.

The next picture is of delicious and quick Vegetable Pita Pizzas! A simple way to make pizza by using whole wheat pita bread. Just spread garlic, tomato sauce, soy cheese, fresh basil and vegetables (sauteed prior to pizza assembly) and bake in the oven. I love any meal with tomato sauce and herbs!

Another evening we got to make and eat Fantastic Food's Vegetarian Sloppy Joes http://www.fantasticfoods.com/catalog/vegetarian-meals-c-30.html, on whole wheat Mrs. Baird's buns. We enhanced the Sloppy Joe mix with some sauteed mushrooms, celery, onion, and bell pepper dices. Unfortunately, we didn't have tomato paste like the mix called for, but next time we will add alot of tomato sauce/paste to make it more like Italian sauce Sloppy Joe flavor versus more chili-ground meat flavor. Overall the mix is great to have on hand, even though it does have alot of sodium and is processed. It is nice to do because it is easy and has the "meat" and some spices already ready for you. Our philosophy - try something new and have all things in moderation! Maybe next time try making sloppy joes with Garden Burger "Chicken" cutlets, diced and crumbled into pieces and mixed in a spicy tomato sauce for a different way.

Along with talking about Fantastic Food's Sloppy Joes, we recently tried their hummus mix, which was really great. It lasts so long and you mix in how much you want. We love eating hummus with avocado, cucumbers, red bell peppers, and tomatoes, and spread on pitas or crackers.

We are hooked on these new unique crackers we discovered - Mary's Gone Crackers Black Pepper flavor. http://www.marysgonecrackers.com/ns/intro.php. They are really crisp, an addicting crunchy snack! Also great with avocado, hummus, or cheese! Other variations include Original flavor, Herb, Carraway, and Onion. We've tried carraway and it is tasty, too.

Our last great meal post for the night is Apricot Tofu and Vegetable Stirfry! Very sweet and addicting sauce made of all fruit apricot jam, mustard, soy sauce, and water, which is mixed in with dried apricot peices, sauteed tofu, and sauteed vegetables (fresh green beans, red bell peppers, onions, bean sprouts). The sauce was sweet and tasty, but rich after a while. We served it over whole grain and flax couscous, which is so easy to make. For variations, you can have asparagus, spinach, pineapple, tomatoes, etc... instead. This meal was adapted from Crescent Dragonwagon's "Passionate Vegetarian" cookbook. http://www.amazon.com/Passionate-Vegetarian-Crescent-Dragonwagon/dp/0761128255/ref=sr_1_1/102-6622881-5172935?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182560481&sr=1-1

We will end tonight's blog with a talk about our delicious Maple Almond Oatmeal Cookies we made from scratch for our birthday (June 18), from "One Smart Cookie" cookbook by Julie van Rosendaal! (another great favorite from this cookbook is the Peanut Butter Cookies!!) http://www.amazon.com/One-Smart-Cookie-Favorite-Brownies/dp/1579549446/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6622881-5172935?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182561042&sr=1-1. This cookbook of healthy desserts is one of our top dessert cookbooks! The oatmeal cookies we made are definitely a keeper, as we have experimented over the years with a good chewy, not cakey, and hearty, spiced oatmeal cookie. The oats we used were some hearty and chewy grains that enhanced the texture. We also modified it and incorporated graham flour and whole wheat pastry flour. I wish we had a picture, but we forgot to take some! Oh well, just imagine the devine cookie!

Oh, and just a thought if you're interested - I can't believe we're 21 already! Time flies by, and it makes you feel so old. Just looking back though, I see how great my life is and has been, and how much we've matured and learned!

Sharing our joy for vegetarian and healthy food!

-LK