Starting “Vegan Week”

Well like I said, come Monday I was beginning my week as a vegan. So far it’s really been a almond breeze. I crack myself up! But really I’ve just been subbing Almond Breeze (vanilla not original) for milk.  Though I do miss my CHO it’s not like I eat that every day anyway so I can give it up for a few.

I went to the St. Patty’s Day parade in Southie on Sunday and took a million bad pictures. I’ll just show you one for your sake.

It wasn’t as nice out as I was hoping so I was a little cold but overall it was a fun day. I nice step back from the hours of work I had to do yesterday. Luckily I got into a groove and busted out a lot of what I needed to do.  The weeks are just counting down it seems.

To fuel myself for all that brain busting activity I had some great, vegan eats.

Looks like my typical oatmeal. Just using the Almond milk instead of cow’s milk. Tasted “muy delicioso” as my bro and SIL would say. They love to throw in random tidbits of Spanish. Funny thing is they don’t even realize they are doing it haha. Too many trips to Cancun I say ;)

Black bean/Quinoa burger with ketchup and mustard (they seemed vegan) plus sauteed asparagus

And that my friends is a Papaya Coconut Muffin. Head on over to Nicole for this tropical delight! I only altered it by leaving out the egg and butter and subbing some canola oil to make it vegan. I also heeded her suggestion and added extra papaya so they came out super moist! I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with a dry muffin so this was a definite success.

Today has been just as delicioso.

Ran out of oatmeal so used my mighty tasty hot cereal instead. I love hot cereal for breakfast. I really do.

For lunch I really wanted to use some of this whole wheat couscous that I had for a while. So I did a little search and found a recipe for Lemon Pearl Couscous with Tomato and White Beans. I modified it with what I had.

Ingredients

    1 1/2 cups pearl couscous (I used my whole wheat box)
    1 - 1 to 16 ounce can Navy or White Beans (All I had were Pinto)
    7.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes (I put in a whole 14.5 oz can of unsalted diced)
    1/2 large onion, chopped in to small pieces
    2 cloves garlic
    1 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice, depending on your taste
    Salt, to taste
    Pepper, to taste
    1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (or plain basil, rosemary, or oregano)
    1 teaspoon garlic powder (didn’t have this. who cares)
    1 to 1 1/2 cubes vegetarian bouillon
    3 cups water
    1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1) In a small pot boil water with vegetarian bouillon. When the water is boiling, add pearl couscous. Cover with lid and lower heat.

2) In a separate pan, heat olive oil and begin sauteing onion and garlic. When onion is translucent and browning, add beans and tomatoes. While mixing, add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Also add about half of lemon juice. Mix until everything is cooked evenly.

3) Once the pearl couscous has cooked (no water is left in pot) mix the contents of the pan in. Add the remaining lemon juice and add more if you like the flavor.

 

I really enjoyed this! And even though it says that it makes 3-4 servings, I think its way more than that. I have 2 huge containers of leftovers :)

And because I wanted more veggies, I roasted up some red potatoes and carrots again. I’m digging the roasted veg lately.

 

And for my most exciting news to share! I couldn’t resist signing up when I stumbled upon Boston Organics.  While they aren’t technically a CSA because they will deliver produce from outside of the New England area, they do have a specific box you can sign up for that IS local, called the Dogma box. I signed up for the biweekly delivery and am super giddy about getting my first delivery on Thursday. Local and Organic. Yup :)

Back to work now, folks. Happy Tuesday!