Vegan lettuce wraps

Have I mentioned that husband and I are going vegan? Sort of. And more! Vegan without any processed foods. It'll be good.
Day 1: for lunch I had spaghetti squash (found on the blog!)
Dinner was great.

I melded a number of lettuce wrap recipes because we aren't eating tofu, either. So here's what I used:
2 carrots
1/2 onion
1 celery stalk
I garlic clove
1 jalapeño
2 cups of black beans
2 cups cooked brown basmati rice
About 4T tamari (or soy sauce)
2t kosher salt
1 cup roasted cashews
Chop the veggies and sauté in 1T coconut oil. Once they're about the texture you want, add the beans, rice, tamari, and salt. Heat until most liquid is cooked off, add cashews, and serve with lettuce leaves and sliced avocado. We used green leaf. For the leftovers we'll use romaine.

It was a hit!
(it only looks like he's grimacing. He's actually smiling with a mouth full of food.)

amazing pizza

oh my gosh, this was amazing. homemade crust (aka a just-add-water pack that was on the clearance table for $0.50), garlic olive oil, leftover chicken, leftover bacon, fresh spinach, and small chunks of mozzarella.

preheat the oven to 400 with your pizza stone in it. mix the crust like it says to on the package. seriously, just add water. then i rolled it in cornmeal and rolled it out pretty darn thin on parchment paper, so i could just transfer the pizza on the paper onto the hot pizza stone. baked it for 5-8 minutes. take it out and add the toppings (this keeps the dough from staying to doughy). put it back in the oven for about 10 more minutes, until the edge gets brown and the cheese is melted.

enjoy! this smelled amazing while it was in the oven because of the garlic olive oil-- husband said this was the best pizza i've made, and we make a lot of homemade pizza!

chicken and rice with corn and sun-dried tomatoes

this was one of those meals that i'm sooo glad made a ton of leftovers. because i've been eating on this rice mix for the past two days now! when husband asked if i was making anything good for dinner, and i brought out the enameled dutch oven, he got excited-- and said that anything that comes from that pot is wonderful.

and it's true.

here's to another pinterest recipe!

martha stewart's chicken and rice with corn and sun-dried tomatoes:

• 1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds), cut into 10 pieces i used a mix of thighs, breasts, and legs. some with skin, some without


• Coarse salt and ground pepper


• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil


• 1 small yellow onion, diced medium


• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped


• 1 small green bell pepper, diced medium my yellow and orange had to go first, so i used one and a half peppers, any color you want


• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest i didn't have, so i didn't use.


• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano


• added fresh rosemary, the chopped leaves from one sprig


• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper


• 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice


• 3 cups frozen corn (from a 16-ounce bag)


• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips


• 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water use the chicken broth. it's worth it.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in lower third. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over high. Cook chicken, skin side down, until golden and crisp, 6 minutes. Flip chicken and cook until browned, 6 minutes. Transfer to a large plate.


2. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, garlic, and bell pepper to pot. Cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until onion is translucent, 4 minutes. Stir in lemon zest, oregano, cayenne, and rice and cook 1 minute.


3. Add corn, tomatoes, and broth and season with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on top of rice mixture. Bring to a boil, cover pot, and place in oven. Bake until chicken is cooked through and liquid is absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

it makes a ton, so it's great for if you have guests over. or, if you're like me and make it just for you and one other person, then you get to eat it for lunch and dinner the next day! perfect-o!

the PW asian-inspired flank steak

here's to trying new meals and sticking to the menu plan! This is actually from LAST week, but it's worth the post. I followed the pioneer woman's flank steak recipe with asian-inspired marinade. here it is, but remember that i am not the best at measuring.

• 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
• 1/2 cup Cooking Sherry
• 3 Tablespoons Honey
• 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
• 2 Tablespoons (heaping) Minced Ginger
• 3 cloves (to 5 Cloves) Minced Garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 whole Flank Steak

put everything but the steak in a shallow dish and mix well. add the flank steak, turning a few times to cover completely. i marinated it for about 3 hours, flipping it over at 1.5 hours.



i wish i'd flattened it a little in the middle. i think my steak was very thick because i had to cook it longer than she suggested (3.5-4 minutes per side? more like 5-6 minutes per side). also since i don't have a grill or grill plate, i did it in a skillet. next time i'd use the electric griddle at least. i chose not to make her "controversial optional sauce" with it (boiling the strained, leftover marinade with some water until it thickens some) only because i forgot to and dumped it down the drain. not because i'm concerned about any contamination at all.



served with steamed green beans and white rice! yes, i'd have loved to have asparagus and brown rice. but we use what we have when we're budgeting.

menu plan, week of january 9

well, scroll down and look at last week. yeah. notice that there's no posts between here and there? it's because, well, life happens. and i forget about an event on tuesday. and one on thursday. and one on saturday. so the good news is that i froze most of the meats and have food for another week! so, there's a bunch of repeats this week. but i'm pretty sure i have the events planned for, and we'll have quick meals on those days. here goes:

monday: chicken and rice with corn and sun-dried tomatoes
tuesday: chris out. leftovers
wednesday: elder led. quick dinner. pita pizzas
thursday: two bean chili with butternut squash
friday: leftovers
saturday: home group. dinner at the bells.
sunday: black beans and kielbasa served over rice

menu plan. week of 1/2 to 1/8

happy new year, everyone.

here's the menu plan for this week. i hope to post some of these and how i edited the original recipe throughout the week. and of course, since it's january, everything will be a little healthier-- however i can make it. most of these recipes can be found over at my pinterest page, but i'll be making changes to them as i can to make them healthier.

monday: baked chicken topped with olives and roasted red peppers. served with salad
tuesday: crock pot roast beef
wednesday: grab something to go because of elder-led
thursday: black beans and sausage served over rice
friday: asian-inspired flank steak with veggies
saturday: chicken and rice with corn and sun-dried tomatoes
sunday: leftovers

see you soon!

beef kabobs (baked!)

i have been meaning to get an indoor grill for about two months now. but something always comes up-- moving, buying plane tickets, etc.-- so i'm trying to still find ways to enjoy fun summer foods. usually this involves turning the oven on. which heats the house up to 84 degrees. which is still better than the 101 it is outside. but still. a grill would be so much better.



so i still made kabobs, that turned out wonderfully! simple-- beef, green pepper, and onion.



served with rice pilaf and a delicious salad.

(speaking of not heating the house up, i haven't mentioned that my mom bought me a pressure cooker **squeal** and they don't heat up the house-- because they cook things in a tiny, enclosed area, and it cooks fast! yay!)

also, seeing these photos, i wish we ate dinner earlier so that i had some natural light to take the pictures with. this indoor lighting sucks.