Day 15-22

Opps, it's been awhile and now I've got so many days to catch up on! This week has been a little crazy because we finally decided to try "cry it out" after Quinn has been waking more and more progressively over the past couple weeks. His night time routine is getting better now but I was a little stressed and sleep deprived this week so a couple of days meals didn't exactly go as planned.

Day 15: Homemade Sauceless Pizza with Vegan Dough and Eggplant Spread

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5701.0

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-eggplant-spread-recipe/index.html

Deeeelicious! The vegan pizza dough recipe couldn't have been simpler and it made a delicious thin, slightly crispy, slightly chewy, pizza crust. Instead of sauce, I brushed the half-cooked dough with olive oil, and sprinkled with garlic powder, and topped with fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh basil, and a tiny bit of mozzarella (yea yea... not exactly vegan...). It turned out great and I love the idea of eating a quick, easy, yummy pizza in which I control the ingredients so I know they are fresh, local, and organic, as opposed to my old lazy stand-by of frozen pizza.

As of the eggplant spread... let me start by saying, I hate eggplant and I don't care of red pepper either, the two main ingredients in this spread. At least I thought I did! A friend introduced me to this recipe at a dinner party she threw recently and I fell in love. It is the simplest thing to make too. Chop a few things up and roast them in the oven then toss everything in the food processor for a quick chop and wa-laa, a scrumptious spread! If you are not an eggplant lover, I highly recommend giving this recipe a try for a quick and delicious appetizer served with some pita chips:)

Day 16: Leftover Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash (from Day 14)

*Green Smoothie:

I tried making a green smoothie for breakfast for the first time on Day 16 and yum yum yum! I've made several since and think it is such a wonderful, delicious way of getting those greens! I blended 2 cups baby spinach, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 cup frozen pineapple, frozen banana chunks, dash of ginger, and enough OJ to get it all moving. I couldn't taste the spinach or avocado at all:)

*Vegan 100% Whole Wheat Bread:

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=12628.0

I am not a fan of store bought bread and I have been meaning to start baking my own for awhile but thought it would be difficult/time consuming. Furthermore, I didn't know you could make bread without eggs so I didn't know I had a vegan option. But I found this recipe and it was so easy and made really great bread! The kitchenaid mixer did all the work. I don't think I'll be buying bread for a long time now that I've discovered how easy and delicious homemade is!

Day 17: Veggie Pie from the Farmer's Market

Considering I buy and enjoy these pies every single week... I absolutely must learn to make them. Maybe I'll give it a shot this coming week, I think I've got all the ingredients down...

Day 18: Baja Black Bean Cakes with Sweet Potato Sauce

http://www.veganchef.com/

This is our favorite vegan recipe yet!!! So much flavor. All I can say about this is... yum! Vegan or not, this is a must-try! Would be excellent with fish:)

Day 19: Frozen Pizza :(

This was the day after the first night of "cry it out" when we got maybe 3 hours of sleep total... I had no energy to do anything and this was all I had in the freezer for an easy meal. Guess this is a lesson to have a back up vegan meal in the freezer... I am trying not to eat processed foods, vegan or not, so I haven't really explored vegan junk food because that would kind of defeat the purpose for me. But it would be simple to keep some of the black bean cakes I made on Day 18 in the freezer to cook on nights like this one.

Day 20: Mom's Favorite Salad

This is an old favorite, and is great with grilled chicken for you omnivore's out there:)

Romaine, sugar snap peas, sliced strawberries, mandarin orange slices, toasted walnuts, and red wine vinaigrette. I am one of those people who thinks lettuce is boring so I really load up on all the yummy toppings on this to make it a fruity, sweet, delicious salad! Also good with raspberry vinaigrette.

Day 21: Dinner with friends- Vegetarian Lasagna

Sam and I almost died from cheese overload Saturday! We went to lunch with friends at one of our favorite places in Carmel, The Forge in the Forest. On top of great food and a fabulous atmosphere, it is dog friendly, so it is the perfect spot for a delicious, sophisticated lunch after a doggie play date on Carmel beach (which is leash-free). And they have a swiss fondue bread bowl appetizer that is to die for! THEN, friends of ours made a delicious vegetarian lasagna for dinner also laden with yummy cheese. However, after eating very little cheese for the past 20 days, both our tummies were not too happy with us after a full day of delectable cheese dishes! As delicious as everything was, I was happy to get back to vegan cooking on day 22:)

Day 22: Roman Style Artichoke and Asparagus Bake served over Brown Jasmine Rice

http://www.veganchef.com/

For artichoke and asparagus lovers like us, this dish was a home-run! Very fast and easy too. Sam made the comment that it would be an excellent side for grilled food too, and I agree.

New Habits:

This experiment has been about more than just vegan cooking for me. As a result of reading the Omnivore's Dilemma, among other articles, I've been making a much greater effort to shop for local, sustainable, and organic food. A friend recommended the iphone app, "grocery IQ," which has been really helpful in that pursuit. The app lets me store multiple grocery lists, broken down by store, which is such a simple thing, but has really helped me organize my shopping to make the most of my time and money. I now make Tuesday my grocery day because that is the day of our local farmer's market. First I go to the farmer's market for all my produce and anything else I can buy there. For things I can't find there, I then go to Trader Joe's where I can get cheap, fresh, and delicious, natural and organic products. Then, I stop by Whole Foods and the commissary for the few items I can't get at one of the other two places. This process is much more time consuming that just going to the commissary right down the street from us but I feel much better about what the money we spend on groceries supports now. And I feel much better knowing what I am feeding myself and my family is (mostly) free of harmful pesticides, food additives and preservatives. I'm worried I'm getting a little spoiled living here with all these grocery options!