New favorite food January 17, 2012

I picked up some of this coconut creamed kale a Wegman’s the other day. I didn’t get a lot because I didn’t know if I’d like it. Well, it was so good, I forced my husband into going back for more – twice!! I know how to have an obsession.

Anyone know how I could go about making this at home?

updated to add:
I just called my friend google and asked about coconut creamed kale and check out the first recipe that popped up. I think we all know where I will be going tomorrow and what I will be buying.

I suppose there are worse foods to be obsessed with…

Vegan meal planning: day 1 January 3, 2012

Today was the first day that my husband and I would be using the vegan meal plan book that he’d gotten me. It’s always easy to eat vegan on the first day. But, with the meal plans given in the book, it’s way more food than I normally eat in a day.

Breakfast was a bagel with peanut butter and a banana. And, no, I didn’t give up my coffee.

Lunch was a veggie burger on whole wheat bread with lettuce, sprouts, mustard, ketchup, and a slice of fake cheeze. And a cup of vegetarian baked beans.

Dinner, pictured above, should’ve been pasta and sauce with a giant salad. I didn’t want straight up pasta so I made a thick pasta soup. I combined sliced red onion, chopped carrots, celery, some leftover mini pasta stars, and chick peas. I then added some tomato sauce, and lots of spices. It turned out pretty good. Our salad was romaine hearts, cucumber, orange, sunflower seeds, sprouts and a strawberry vinegarette. The drink is a (hot) black cherry tea, it is cold tonight! Oh, for dessert I had a small cup of applesauce that was an apple/pineapple/passion fruit blend, it was really good.

But yeah, the meal plan book had a snack of raw veggies an hummus planned out and my husband and I never ate them. Maybe as a snack during baby-less tv time?

Red onion marmalade December 23, 2011

As part of my plan to make homemade Christmas gifts this year, I made some red onion marmalade. It was kind of a pain because it didn’t set properly the first time and I had to open up all the jars to re-cook and add more pectin. The result is a sweet and kind of vinegary jam. My husband and I like it, a lot, but feel that a little bit goes a long way. We think it would be good on a bagel with cream cheeze (the fake stuff).

Here’s the recipe I used:

ingredients :

1.5 cups thinly sliced red onion (I used 3 onions)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 pack of powdered pectin (I used 2 packs)
2 teaspoons of orange zest
4 cups of unsweetened apple juice

directions:

1. Put the onions, dried cranberries, brown sugar, and cider vinegar in a skillet over med-high heat. Cook until the onions are clear.
2. Combine the onion mixture with the pectin, apple juice, and orange peel in a large stockpot.
3. Bring to a boil over med-high heat.
4. Add the sugar gradually while stirring. Return to a rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Keep stirring.
5. Remove from heat and ladle into jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

(this recipe was in the ball blue book guide to preserving)