When I think I've tried it all.....

The vegetarian lifestyle......6 weeks later! We continue to love it.  If you had asked me a few weeks ago how I would like it, my first response would have been hesitation.  I mean, what would we eat every night? Just beans and rice?  How little did I know of the many choices available, the easy substitutions and how much we would NOT miss meat. A couple of times Bill thought he wanted some hamburger or steak, tried it, but was let disappointed every time.  I have lost all desire for meat and now prefer not to eat it.  It won't hurt us, it's not a health issue, we just chose to go down this path - the advantages continue to show themselves.

Super meatballs!

Today's recipe was so amazing  and unbelievable that I wanted to tell you about it right away. I made meatballs for lunch today. Meatballs! Fabulous!  I had been scanning recipes for some time, contemplating making them. How can you have MEATballs without meat that would actually taste good? This recipe had such great reviews that I figured it must be "the one".  Here it is: Vegetarian Meatballs.  After reading the reviews, I only made some minor changes....I ground up the walnuts and exchanged the bread crumbs for oatmeal.  I was dying to try them and could hardly wait to pull them out of the oven. While they were cooking, I made a basic gravy, added sauteed onions, dill weed and sour cream - giving it more of a swedish meatball flavor.  The meatballs were tender and stayed together just like regular hamburger.  You could cook and freeze a bunch of meatballs, then pull out the number you needed to add to spaghetti, make a meatball sub, sweet/sour, etc.....the list is endless. I waited anxiously for Bill to take his first bite.  "What do you think?" were my first words.  He said, "I can't believe it! Very good!"  It's hard to imagine so few ingredients working so well together. Nothing like good old "meatballs", gravy and rice!

Bill's pizza

Remember a while back we grilled our pizzas outside on the grill?  Bill made a few extra crusts, grilled them and threw them in the freezer.  I pulled them out  for lunch yesterday.  Again, I had heard others added squash on their veggie pizza so I decided to try it.  I actually pulled a lot of veggies out like onions, garlic, bell pepper, squash and zucchini and sauteed them in olive oil.  Bill decided to add fresh tomatoes and I chose sundried tomatoes.  Add some fresh basil, black olives, a little drizzle of olive oil, mozzarella cheese and  you have one delicious pizza.


I did cook the Sloppy Sam recipe.  It was supposed to have a "sloppy joe" flavor. We found it so-so.  Probably won't try it again.  Although, it was much better when we added the spicy coleslaw on top. I continue to look for new recipes and substitutions for old familiar favorites.

Happy fall ya'll!

What's new tonight?

Loving Vegetarian Recipes!..........Every once in a while I get a day at home to do whatever I want to do.  Today was one of those days! We bought some vegetables from a local co-op last night, and I needed to cook or freeze them.  I spent most of the day in the kitchen and I loved it! It's what I would call a Happy Day! We bought collards, mustard greens, flat green beans, okra, cubanelle peppers and some other produce.

I decided to cook the mustard and put them in the freezer.  Then I cooked the collards.  I remembered a while back going to the big BBQ cook-off in downtown Valdosta.  We bought some collard greens with  cabbage cooked in them; they were so good.  I had some left over cabbage in the frig, so in the pot they went.  They are almost done and the kitchen smells wonderful.

At the same time, I made a recipe for lunch that my mom cooked the other day - Mediterranean Vegetable Pasta. You basically cook pasta, add a light vegetable topping and then sprinkle with feta.  Super good!  The only thing I would have done differently would have been to add some pesto to the pasta noodles.

Remember that sweet and spicy coleslaw I posted the other day?  We loved it so much that I made some more today. Don't forget to cut the sugar! Supper tonight is flat beans, collards, okra, potato/sweet potato casserole and coleslaw. (I cooked the okra liked my granny used to fix it.  You cut it up and cook it slow in a skillet with seasonings.  It gets chewy if you cook it long enough.) Plus, there's enough for tomorrow.  Yea!

 I bought some fun kitchen tools at the EXPO last week.  The peeler is my absolute favorite.  I found one years ago and wore it out.  The one I bought last week is stainless steel and has a lifetime warranty. It fits your hand perfectly and cuts faster than a regular peeler.  I think it is the shape that makes it so perfect. Another tool we bought slices and makes waffle fries. We bought four different tools altogether.

Time for supper.  Talk to you guys later!

NEW recipes!

Tried two new recipes tonight that we enjoyed!.............. I am finding that by taking meat out of our diet that we are trying more vegetables and in many new ways.  There are so many great recipes to try.  It just takes a little time to hunt through and find them.

So tonight.....first, we made a vegetarian casserole.  It's a quick and EASY recipe that you can throw together using almost any combination of vegetables.  I used broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. I like reading reviews to see how others have "tweaked" the recipe.  The only additions I made was to add some Italian seasoning and sage (as suggested by others). It was like a breakfast casserole with steamed veggies.  Filling and good.....nice texture.

Secondly, we made Sweet and Spicy Coleslaw.  It was FABULOUS!  This recipe came from the Neelys of the Food Network.  I have never been a fan of sweet cole slaw and have always made the "southern" recipe with cabbage, onions, salt, pepper, and mayo.  This recipe was out of this world with flavor! Again, after reading the reviews I cut the sugar in half and cut the cayenne back a bit.  It does have a bite, but seriously, we loved it!

In just a few minutes, I am going to make a recipe for lunch tomorrow. It's called Sloppy Sams. Not sure why the name was changed from sloppy joes...but the same idea.  It uses lentils as the base. I find that having a plan makes eating vegetarian much easier. We continue to enjoy it!

Grilled pizza!

Roasted Corn Vendor

Our vegetarian journey continues......This past week we were at the Sunbelt Expo in Moultrie for three days. I wasn't sure how hard it would be to find acceptable foods since we were going to be there all day.  Most of the foods were non-vegetarian friendly.  But, as it worked out, I was able to go meatless the entire time. I found baked potatoes, green beans, roasted corn, and veggie subs.  AND I did indulge one afternoon with a scoop of ice cream.  Also, each day I took a full water bottle of juice.  It comes down to this - where there's a will, there's a way! 

Grilled, ready for toppings

Today we made pizza on the grill!  It makes the crust crunchy and has a more authentic flavor.  I made a simple tomato, caramelized onions and basil pizza with mozzarella cheese. Our first attempt to grilling the crust went well, although I prefer my crust thinner.

Ready to eat!

My body feels like it needs a little rebooting, so next week I think I'll go back to juicing two meals and eating one meal.  I have been online finding all kinds of great menus for supper next week. Pinto beans/rice in the crockpot, three veggie casserole, eggplant parmesan, lots of new things.  Find some great recipes here.

I am thinking about trying The Couch-to-5K Running Plan. I have been doing some walking and that's about it.  I need a more disciplined plan and something that will challenge me. This plan helps get new runners off the couch and onto the road running 3 miles in just 2 months!  I have never been a runner so I am not sure how well I will do. 

Food at the EXPO!

We were there...and will be for two more days: Sunbelt AG EXPO 2012!!  For the first time, WAFT had a booth at the EXPO.  Imagine - waves of people! I believe we met more people from other states than here in our own area. When I think EXPO, I generally think fair food; BBQ, ice cream, cotton candy, sausage dogs....well, you get the picture. After eating vegetarian for about a month now, I wasn't sure what I was going to do!

First, I gathered some snacks. Secondly, Bill made "mean green" juice. Third, I was determined not to give in and eat meat because there was nothing else around.   After perusing all the eating options, I found a vendor that had baked potatoes!!  Yay! So what did we eat all day?  Here's our schedule:

5:30am   Terry - juice, Bill - slim fast smoothie with peanut butter and banana (For the record, I do not think they are healthy)

7:00am   Arrived at EXPO. After setting up and ready to meet listeners, Bill went to a Media breakfast and had a sausage biscuit.  Terry - rest of mean green juice

8:00am   Jennifer had not had breakfast and I was still a bit hungry.  Guess what we found?  A vendor that had sausage, egg, cheese sandwiches.  I didn't have the bread or sausage - just a fried egg and cheese and it was actually quite tasty.

Lunch    Bill - fully loaded hotdog, Terry - Baked potato with cheese, banana

Snacks throughout the day....... Terry -  pretzels, kumquats, few bites of popcorn, water. Bill had the same, plus, ice cream! I was especially excited to meet Fanchone of Kumquat Growers! I love kumquats and bought a bag to munch on throughout the day!

Supper- I admit, I caved.  I had laid out the ingredients to make some soup when we got home, but we were tired and still had several things to do sooooooooooooooo  Bill had chicken nuggets and a loaded baked potato from Wendy's and I had a Cantina Burrito (Veggie) from Taco Bell with chips on the side.  I did pretty good till supper, Taco Bell is not the best fast food.  But the soup laid out for tonight is cooked and ready for supper tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day for all of us.  We have got to make good choices or our health will continue to disintegrate. Don't dwell or the past, don't give up today.  It's all about baby steps and making good choices one day at a time.
 
Side note: In preparation for the EXPO and being on our feet all day, I went and bought some new tennis shoes.  I had worn mine out and knew it was time. As we were walking through the store I saw these running shorts and had to burst out laughing. Really?!  They would barely go over my arm!!

Soooo close!!!

28 days and counting...ALMOST!!! I am so bummed with myself! Our vegetarian lifestyle was going so well - notice, I did not say vegetarian DIET - until Friday.  We had a ton of work to do at WAFT and we called in volunteers to help.  We fed everyone pizza for lunch and WITHOUT THINKING I had the pepperoni pizza!  I was so aggravated with myself.  It didn't matter, or even hurt me to have the pepperoni, I just wanted to see how long I could go without meat.  I keep telling Bill to have meat if he wants it, but he is still opting out (for the most part).  My mom cooked supper for us the other day and he decided to have some (in his words, "Very small pieces of roast and chicken!").  I will admit the smell of the roast filled the air as we walked into her house. I could imagine how it would taste with thick brown gravy covering it. But no temptation for me! So far, the vegetarian lifestyle seems to agree with our bodies very well.  It's not for everyone but it is working well for us!

Meatless stir fry! Never missed the meat!

I tried a new stir fry recipe today.  Perhaps I should say, "I started with a new recipe and completely made it over."  I had read about using peanut butter in the stir fry sauce but had never tried it, so, why not? I am game to try something new! We had all kind of veggies in the frig to use; broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, onions, peppers, cabbage, etc.  I used them all. I made the peanut butter sauce as directed BUT it was way too strong for me.  At that point, I opened the frig and went crazy "fixing" the recipe by adding all kind of stuff.  One of the extra ingredients I added was Sriracha, a hot chili sauce.  It gave it a nice kick.  I also decided to use spaghetti noodles instead of rice.  I would have loved trying to make fried rice, but time was a factor.  Ironically, it was pretty good. Sadly,  I could never duplicate it again.

This week we will be at the EXPO.  I'm already planning on taking fruits, nuts, our "mean green" juice, etc.  I just don't think eating a bunch of fair type foods would be worth it in the end.  No funnel cake for me!  Bill - well, that's another story! We will see if the temptation is too much. If you are in the area, come by and see us!  The EXPO is Tuesday-Thursday.  We'll have a drawing for a Acer Netbook!  Compliments of Circuit Board Computers and Technology, Valdosta! A big thanks to them!

I cooked what with what?!

24 days and counting! The vegetarian lifestyle continues......and I am LOVING it! Now just in case you think I am MAKING Bill eat vegetarian, I have said numerous times, "The initial phase is over, have meat if you want it." So, we went out to the Mexican restaurant and guess what he orders? The vegetarian special. So I don't want to hear anybody hollering that I am twisting his arm...lol!  

 It is Wednesday evening at 9:35pm.  Our life is really busy since WAFT is going to have a booth at the EXPO next week and then right after that - SHARATHON.  This time of year days and nights just blur together.  Supper is in the oven and you will not believe what's cooking! I came across two NEW recipes; one isn't what I would call "healthy", but curiosity got the best of me.  So here you go, tonight we are having PUMPKIN Macaroni and cheese and DR.PEPPER Baked Beans! Crazy, isn't it!  I ran across both of them this week and said, "Why not?!"  The mac/cheese cooked up just as the recipe was written, the beans took much longer.

It had been forever since I have been grocery shopping.  Like I said, life is crazy for us right now.  It was quite wonderful to skip the entire meat section and I felt so "Suzy Homemaker" pushing my cart filled with fruits and veggies. Bill on the other hand was wandering behind me doing his own shopping!  You know how that goes!  Note his "vegetarian" addition to our cart! Jif Mocha Cappuccino flavored Hazelnut spread...need I say more?!

Next week will be the big challenge.  If you have never been to the Sunbelt Expo before think "fair" foods; sausage dogs, funnel cakes, alligator tail, etc.  I have got to make some plans!  My only consolation is that the Vita mixer booth is right across from WAFT's booth.  If you want to come see us, find us here.

Bill just got in from his run. I ended up cooking instead of walking, I might try and get a little in before bed. For that matter, who needs sleep?!

Now what?!

Day 21.....I can't believe it has been 21 days of no meat! As we got to the very end of today Bill said, "I think I'll go to Wendy's". He was a bit disappointed. In all honesty, I wasn't even interested in a hamburger or a spicy chicken sandwich.....but a few french fries sounded good! As crazy as it sounds, not only did I not miss eating it, but I didn't miss cooking it. Meals are much easier.  Tonight's supper: homemade potato/corn chowder for Terry and Wendy's for Bill.

Now that the 21 days are over.....  Bill and I have decided to basically keep eating a vegetarian lifestyle.  It doesn't mean we won't ever eat meat, but definitely not every day.  Bill will more likely have it more often than I will, as of right now, I just don't want it.

Who should be vegetarian? Here's an interesting article on the webMD about eating for your blood type. If you want to do some serious study on the subject, the official website is a good place to start. Interestingly, Bill and I are both A neg and the vegetarian lifestyle is recommended. Is it for you? Perhaps you should give it a try.  About 5% of adults in the US consider themselves vegetarians.

So where have our adventures taken us?
Juicing -  beneficial and juicing daily for breakfast
Vegetarians -  very advantageous

Now what? Stay tuned and we'll let you know!

I can smell them cooking!!!!!

Day 17.....on our vegetarian journey! The kitchen is full of steaming pots and wonderful smells!  Ever get the hankering to just cook and cook and cook?! It started at lunch...well, let me just tell you our menu for the day.  As usual, we had juice for breakfast - a nice full serving of the mean green.

Lunch was homemade pimento and cheese sandwiches, cucumber/onion salad and oranges.  Now, I will say I did the quickie recipes for both of these.  The pimento/cheese - shredded cheese, mayo, S/P, little dill and pimentos; the cucumber/onion salad - cucumbers, onions, apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, S/P, little dill (must have had it on the brain today). We seldom eat sandwiches so this was a nice change.

Then I started I on supper; fresh mustard, rutabaga, squash and onions - and that's just the start! Fortunately, Bill was home to cut the rutabaga which he hates but I LOVE! They are a bear to cut! Everything is simmering and the aroma alone is mouth watering! I am going to pull some cornbread muffins out of the freezer too (the ones I made the other day with sun dried tomatoes).  The recipe is just a post or two back. I am also cooking a new squash (to me) called delicata. I found a recipe that looked pretty good where you bake the squash in the oven, it gives the squash a sweeter flavor using dried fruit and brown sugar. I think I'll get Bill to cook it for me.

In case you are wondering how to cook greens without smoked turkey wings or ham or fatback.........here's a great recipe that we have used for a long time.  The secret is in the smoked sweet paprika and apple cider vinegar.

Remember, I told you Bill put in some sweet potatoes for the first time? We had no idea how long to leave them in the ground.  While Bill was watering plants he saw some humps in the ground......yowza!!  They are gigantic!

In the midst of my cooking mania, Bill decided to cook some green peanuts. So, all the eyes on the stove are hot and food is cooking away!  The good news is that it all warms up well, so I should be covered for tomorrow too!
And yes, I didn't work at WAFT this afternoon. But I sure enjoyed some time off to just cook!

Vegetarian? What about protein??

Day 15........still meatless! I know it is totally insane to most that we are maintaining a vegetarian lifestyle. A friend of mine, Donna, said tonight, "I plan our entire meal around the meat." Isn't that the American way?  We decide on what meat to cook, then a plan a carb and lastly a veggie (if you plan a veggie). We are such meat and potato eaters. I cannot believe how easy it has been to give up meat.  The hardest time so far was going out to eat at a local restaurant on Sunday - they had so few meatless choices.  Basically we could get a soup, a salad or some fattening appetizers. We decided to eat lunch somewhere else.

Did you watch the movie Forks over Knives? It's a must! One of the main objections to being meatless is, "What about your protein? Where are you going to get it?" The movie answers that and many other questions. Here's a great chart from Kerry that shows how you can get protein from veggies.

We were in a hurry to get to Bible study tonight so I just grabbed some spaghetti and some spaghetti sauce from a jar. I felt like "Susie Homemaker" when I grabbed some pesto that I had put up in the freezer this summer and added it to the spaghetti.. It was great - meatless! Tomorrow I plan on cooking some mustard greens, fresh squash and rutabaga. My mouth is watering at the thought.


 Be careful!  One of the dangers of eating vegetarian is wrong thinking.  If I am not eating meat, then it will be okay if I eat some cookies (or whatever).  Think of all the calories I am saving.....moderation!!!!

Change the way you think! The vegetarian lifestyle is a good choice!