Meat Free Monday!

I've been paying for bread like a sucker! Did you know Whole Foods has a frequent bread card? (Worst name for a card ever). They do, and after you buy 5 loaves of their 365 or Whole Foods brand bread you get the 6th for free. For free!!!! I'm almost positive I've purchased at least 3 loaves there already and I got nothing to show for it except a possibly cleaner colon (I don't mean that to be gross, just you know, whole grains guys!).

It's been a pretty successful Meatless Monday so far. Last night I made Oatmeal (Steel Cut Oatmeal!- sounds gnarly) for the first time ever. Seriously. I'm not sure why, but oatmeal always skeeved me out and I never ate it as a child. I love cream of wheat though, how ironic. Anyway, it was another impulse buy while at Whole Foods (I really should be banned) and a recommendation from the "Becoming Vegetarian" handbook. What's great is you can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge til you're ready to use. Another tip: be sure to set your timer or at the very least check what time it is when you start cooking. I'm a genius and totally forgot to do this until I had already stirred the oats a couple times. I ended up over cooking them just slightly for re-heating but they were perfect last night around 1 AM. I also used a 3:1 ratio of water to coconut milk instead of all water or all milk. Now, all I need is something called blackstrap molasses and I'm good to go!

Lunch was supposed to be a salad made at home but of course I went to Whole Foods to get bread (and join the bread gang) and ended up buying some prepared foods too. I had some delicious roast garlic and tomato soup, smoked mozzarella pasta salad, Asian cabbage slaw, and French lentils. I have no idea what made them French, but there were carrots.

If I'm lucky, dinner tonight will be pizza with olive oil, roasted red and yellow peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, goat cheese, and mozzarella. Yum!

What did you do for Meatless Monday?

(I seriously need a better camera phone)

Salad Daze II

Happy Meatless Monday! I totally remembered in time- can you believe it? This morning I had sliced strawberries (now in season- yea!) and cantaloupe with a side of pretzels. What can I say? I was in a hurry this morning dealing with the cable guy and trying not to be incredibly late to work. My plan for the rest of the day is to devour some edamame, kale chips, and maybe soup for lunch. If all goes well, dinner will be a seitan picatta recipe I got from "The Kind Life", but I'm going to substitute tempeh instead. Cross fingers it works. (I'll post pics and the recipe if it does).

I kept hearing about nutritional yeast on several veggie blogs I follow and was tired of not knowing what the heck they were talking about. So, earlier this week I found myself wondering aimlessly around Whole Foods looking for the stuff. I had hoped it would come in a cute little glass jar and I could avoid the bulk food aisle completely, but no luck. Thankfully, I still had one glass spice jar left over from the time I received Hungarian paprika as a gift (It came in these cute pouches that revealed a plastic sandwich bag inside. Not very easy to use and messy). If you're thinking of taking the plunge, I suggest you get a similar jar. Plus, they're just so cute in the cupboard!

I have never bought anything in bulk before but thankfully the people at Whole Foods are so nice and took pity on me. It's a bit expensive (mine was $8.99 lb), but a little goes a long way so there's no need to go overboard.

Nutritional yeast is a complete source of protein, full of B vitamins, and low in fat making it a friend to vegetarians and vegans alike. It looks like large flakes of garlic powder and has a nutty/cheesy taste. You can use it in place of cheese in a dish or just sprinkle it into anything you make, such as salads, sauces, soups, potatoes, eggs, etc. I sprinkled about a tablespoon on top of a salad with Romain, spinach, cucumbers, celery, carrots, marinated artichoke hearts, garlic croutons, and balsamic vinaigrette. Yum! I can't wait to try it other ways.

Have you ever used nutritional yeast? Know any good recipes?

Soy what?

I spent my Friday wandering around the new Whole Foods that just opened not far from my house. The news on the street (okay, from a girl who works there), is that it is bigger and better than ever. Having completed one week on my new diet lifestyle kick, it was definitely time to clean and restock the fridge.

Everything was beautiful! I'm trying to buy mostly what's in season and as local as I can get it. That's a pretty tall order at the grocery, even one like Whole Foods; so I'm looking forward to visiting the farmers market a little further into spring. So, what is in season now? It all depends on where you live and the season (obviously), but you can find a handy list Sustainable Table, one of my favorite websites for information on organic, local, and legislative information. From there, I made a list of what was in season that I liked: cabbage, celery, grapefruit, greens, herbs, onions, oranges, spinach, strawberries, and sweet potatoes. Yum!

Part of what got me into this was health reasons. I've been suffering from allergies a lot lately and it hasn't been pretty. I love milk and cheese and yogurt, but the mucus it causes/exacerbates has become a heavy price to pay. I heard about the brand Soy Delicious from The Kind Life, a vegan lifestyle website founded by Alicia Silverstone. It is a great source for recipes and knowledge. I've tried soy milk before but just couldn't get behind it. It does not taste like milk and has a consistency I found troubling. This is where Soy Delicious comes in. Not only do they make soy based products, but they also have a line of coconut milk products like ice cream and yogurt. Let me tell you, the yogurt is divine! I tried the Passionate Mango (love that name) coconut milk yogurt. On first glance, the consistency reminded me of baby food, but it went down smoothly and I finished the whole thing. I don't even normally finish my milk yogurt. It also didn't have chunks of fruit in it which I like as well. Their products are all vegan, kosher, and organic. You should definitely try them out. You can even print off a coupon from their website here.

Happy eating, and let me know what you think after you try it!