I’ll post the recipe for my Hash in a few days.
These simple ingredients becomes this
It's amazing what you can come up with using a little creativity…that could just be the artist in me:) This dish is quite filling. It's quick, simple and delicious. My instructions for the recipe is for a serving of maybe 2 or 3 but you can just double or if need be triple it. Hey, have fun with it!!!!
Ingredients:
1 medium onion
1 medium green pepper
2 whole carrots
8-9 whole mushrooms (any kind will do as you can see I used whole white ones)
2 cups of cooked jasmine rice (I took the 10 min quick shortcut way, Success Boil in Bag)
A tsp. of liquid smoke
A 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast flakes
A tsp. of turmeric
A tsp. of sriracha
A dash of black pepper
Sea salt to taste
So I started off by chopping the carrots, green pepper and onions up and set to the side. The carrots I rough chopped in to chunks and the pepper I also gave a quick chop through. I really wanted them to be quite chunky. If your one of those ones who like their veggies finely chopped by all means chop to your hearts content. The onions I cut into quarters and then eighths. Roughly chopped mushrooms up.
In a small saucepan add the rice and carrots and enough water to completely submerge rice and carrots and allow that to boil about 10 mins. At this point add salt and pepper to your water. In nonstick skillet, add a tablespoon of oil. Add your peppers and sauté them a couple of minutes. Then add onions and allow them to cook until they are almost translucent. Let that cook for a few minutes. If you've used the boil in bag rice it should be done. Drain any liquid that is left and allow the rice and carrots to rest. I put it in a container with a lid on it so the steam can really make the rice nice and fluffly. To your peppers and onions add the chopped mushrooms, turmeric and sriracha. Let it simmer a few minutes. Then add your nutritional yeast flakes. At this point if your peppers and onions are a little dry and a little water to give it a stir. Also taste it to see if you need to add a little salt. Cook this a few more minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let it rest for a few.
Take your rice and fluffy it with a fork. At this point you can add the rice to your vegetables if you like or you could just serve the rice and top it with sautéed vegetables. Also feel free to add any other vegetables you like and like I said also increase the amount of ingredients. I wanted to keep this simple yet still flavorful. If you make this, take a picture and post it in my comments.
Until the next one…
I just decided to add my WordPress blogs to my iPhone tonight. I also wanted to go through the few blogs I had posted here to see how my thinking has changed over the last year or so and I just realized that this past Monday was my 2-year anniversary of being a vegetarian! Wow they say time flies and “they ain’t never lied!!!” I have really enjoyed the journey so far.
I would say the only thing I have ever struggled with is speeding up my metabolism. That is still an issue with me. I look at this stage in the game for me as the next step to getting healthier. Over the past few months I have found myself incorporating and re-incorporating things back into my diet. For instance, as a kid I used to love bananas but then I had an incident involving bananas and syrup that turned me completely off to them. I stayed away. The last year or so when I ate bananas, the only reason I was eating them were because of their source of potassium. I started making green smoothies with them and found myself just straight eating the bananas. Now I’m at a point where they have taken on a different flavor profile for me. I actually enjoy just eating bananas. Go figure!
I have also slowly been trying to limit and eliminate my sugar intake. I stopped drinking soda a few months ago. I haven’t really desired any either. Not that big of a stretch for me to “not” have soda so it was pretty easy to let it go. “Easy peasy!”
I have also toyed with the idea of incorporating a couple of Vegan Days in to my diet. Just to see how that goes. I will let you guys know how that goes and I will try to blog here a lot more. I know I have said that in a couple of my earlier post here but I’m try my best to stay current here.
-Namaste
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a recipe here…matter of fact it’s been a while since I posted period…Lol. Today I fixed some black bean burgers. It’s been a hot minute since I have made them. Let me tell you they were amazing! I figured I would share my recipe with you guys. So enough of my chitchat.
Quinoa Black Bean Burgers
Makes approximately 6-8 burgers
Ingredients:
- 1 15oz can of black beans (drain and rinsed well)
- A half cup of wild rice or brown rice (cooked and cooled)
- 1 half of an onion chopped
- Breadcrumbs (You can substitute crackers crumbled up if you like)
- Half a cup of TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)
- Half a cup of quinoa (I used the pre-rinse brand, saves a step of two)
- A cup of water
- A pinch of salt
- Half a teaspoon of onion powder
- Half a teaspoon of taco seasoning
- A dash of turmeric
- A pinch of parsley
- A pinch of black pepper
- 1 egg
Directions:
- Take a saucepan and add the water, then add the TVP and Quinoa. Add the taco seasoning, turmeric, and onion powder. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Let cook for about 10 minutes or until the water has mostly evaporated. Remove from heat.
- In a non-stick pan, sauté the onions in about a teaspoon of oil until the onions are translucent. Once they are translucent remove them from the heat.
- In a mixing bowl, add a little over half of the black bean and mash them up. Then add in the onions, the rice, and the quinoa/TVP mixture. Mix the ingredients up well. Then add the breadcrumbs and the rest of the black beans and mix. Take care not to over mix the mixture. You don’t want mush. At this point you should taste your mixture. You can salt to taste if it’s not to your liking. Add the salt and pepper. Then add the egg and parsley. Mix.
- Take the mixture and form it into 6-8 nice size patties. Not too thick, not too thin. In an oiled non-stick pan, brown the patties on each side for about 7 minutes until golden brown.
You can make these burgers in advance and freeze them until you are ready to use them. You can top these anyway you like them. If you are vegan you can omit the egg and use vegan breadcrumbs in the mixture. The egg works as a binder. By omitting the egg, you will need to leave a little more moisture in your quinoa/TVP mixture. Enjoy!
Hey guys I know it’s been awhile but I have been spending time over on my main blog and my new tech blog. You guys should check them out when you get a chance. Or if you are just browsing blogs and happened upon this blog feel free to check my blogs out. I will gladly welcome you guys.
So this is just going to be a quick blog to let you guys know what’s been going on with me. I have tried a few new things and I have made a few “GUERILLA-type” dishes and I have some pics somewhere on my PC that I will share with you guys soon. So be looking for those post to come soon.
Last thing I am going to share with you guys on this post happened at my Moms funeral. When one of the servers was bringing me my food I politely told her that I don’t eat meat and could she just bring me a plate with sides on it and this lady rolled her eyes and also gave me this look of, “What do you mean no meat?” I repeated to her again that I don’t eat meat and she walked away shaking her head as if I offended her and as if to say that’s just the weirdest thing she has ever heard. I am not out here fighting the PETA fight so I never go into great detail with people with why I don’t eat meat; I just tell them its a personal preference that I chose to kickstart myself into eating healthier. I’m not out here trying to convert people or preach to them about not eating meat, just trying to show them that people who don’t eat meat are normal people as well:)
Just wondering if anybody else has had any experiences like that. Again if you are just passing through and reading this feel free to comment on the matter. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with regular post. I mean if I am not at home near my computer or don’t have my iPad with or near me, I do have WordPress app on my phone; so there should be no excuse for not posting.
-Namaste
Here is one of my great staples of Vegetarian cooking. Tofu Scramble. Easy to fix…easy to eat…YUM
Hey people. I just wanted to share with you guys a quick recipe of mines. I have made this a couple of times and it is so good. So without further ado:
Simple Chickpea Macaroni Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups of dry macaroni
1 small can of chickpeas
1 small diced onion
1/2 cup of diced green pepper
A pinch of salt
A pinch of black pepper
Mayonnaisse (Salad Dressing or Ranch Dressing can be substitute)
Mustard
Optional:
Red and yellow peppers (for a little color if you like)
Celery seeds/chopped celery
Ranch Dressing (I use this to kick it up a notch)
Instructions:
In a small pot bring water for pasta to a boil. Add salt and onions to boiling water. Let it boil a couple of minutes. Then add pasta cooking according to package. Stirring occassionally. While that is cooking take can of chickpeas and rinse in cold water(the pasta is salted, we need to get some of the salt off of our chicpeas. Gotta watch that sodium intake people) Place the chickpeas in a bowl and smash them with the back of a fork. Really break them up. Add the chopped green peppers (the red and yellow too if you are using them, then add the celery or celery seeds as well if you are using them). Give this a quick toss. By now your macaroni should be done. You want the pasta just past al dente. If you cook it too long you will have mushy pasta. And thats no good. Drain you pasta and then rinse it with cold water. Add the pasta to your chickpea mixture. Give that a good toss. At this point its up to you how you want your salad. Some people like their macaroni salad just creamy enough and some people like it really creamy. Totally up to you. I put in a spoonful of ranch dressing, 2 tablespoons of mustard and then from there add mayonaisse to your liking. Mix it up well and add black pepper to your liking. Chill for a couple hours. This makes about 4 to 6 servings. This stuff is really good and its simple to make. Enjoy!
So its been a long long long time since I posted here on my blog.
Today is Thanksgiving and it is my first Thanksgiving as a vegetarian so it will be interesting. Once been amazing to me leading up to today is that so many people equate Turkey with Thanksgiving. They go so what are you going to do since you don’t eat me? I am going to eat! Have we become so carnivorous that we are dominated by our love of eating meat? One of the first things I told myself was that I was not going to become one of those meat bashers. I wasn’t going to become one of those people. I wasn’t going to become “that” vegetarian. And I am not but now being on the inside it really seems wrong the way that people view vegetarians. I can not nor would I ever condemn people who eat meat because I come from that and who knows…I mean I wasn’t born a vegetarian, I was born into a family of southern folk (even though I am a bonafide city boy). Most of us know that southern folk love to cook on holidays, especially fixing their Hams and Turkeys;-). I mean just like with anything you can fall off the “proverbial” wagon. I have a thing about knowingly becoming or being a hypocrite to suit your own needs, so I take a stance that says do what you do or eat what you want. As for me, this is my walk and I am walking it. I have friends who are vegetarians and friends who are “meatatarians,” so there is that underlying civil war going on but I am a lone wolf and I choose to stay neutral. I love my neutrality.
Well that’s my post for today. I’ll try not to stay away too long this time;-)
Hey there people, it’s the start of my second week and I have been going strong. I have not desired any meat at all. It seems so natural to not eat meat. My biggest challenge is that now I have to cook again. I mean I normally cook anyway but now I have to come up with more recipes and new ones for my old ones. I am going to make myself some seitan so I can begin to have dishes are ready prepared. I have a few recipes that call for seitan and I also love the idea of making barbecue chicken that’s healthier than barbecue chicken. 
Anywhoogle I am going to go now but I will let you guys know how my homemade seitan experience goes.
I’m out…
So…it’s been quite awhile since I wrote here. A little over 3 months! Seems like an eternity huh, lol. Well fret not, hopefully I will get back to writing these posts more often.
I have been keeping up with my Monday/Thursday vegetarian days quite faithfully. On some occasions I have even added day(s) in. On those days I found myself, when it came time to eat, deciding against including meat as an option to my meal. I mean Monday/Thursday is so far instilled in my consciousness that those days I just go with the flow.
We have reached the month of July. We have crossed over into the realm of the latter half of the year. On Wednesday I decided that when the first rolled around, I would try a two week trial. For two weeks straight I will eat as if I am already a full vegetarian. At the end of my two weeks it will bring me into what is now a vegetarian Thursday. Which would mean that the next time I eat meat would be on a Friday.
I am not going to look at this trial period as a countdown to when I will eat meat again but as a way to gauge how I will feel after not eating meat for that period of time.
Is it a bit extreme? I think not. I mean I have been easing my way into the transition thus far. Why not give diving in a try! I really want to work on getting healthier the closer I get to 40 (I am 35 1/2; I bet my girl is going to get a kick out of that!!!). I have witnessed firsthand the results of not living a healthy lifestyle. I mean, I have for so long said this is the year. This is the year I start living healthier. Every New Years roll around and I made that same resolution to say “this is the year that I get healthy.” It just never seemed to come to pass. This past year, my oldest sister died and she was only 37! I promised myself that this year I would stop talking about it and decided that I would be about it. I full intend to follow through. I believe my future is bright. I have a wonderful girlfriend, my family has gotten closer and I have some great friends. I will push myself to stay the course and I will have faith.
I have talked you guys ears off enough already, so now I will take my leave.
Enjoy life because you only get one…
