Kitchen Therapy + Tomatopalooza = Bruchetta and Salsa

It's been a rough few days at Casa de Cagaanan. We have a sick doggie who's getting up there in her years - 15! Over the last week and a half we've made multiple trips to the vet, cleaned up lots of messes and finally invested in one of those pet spot carpet cleaners...

We're crossing our fingers that she will come out of this okay, but in the meantime there's a lot of wait-and-seeing going on.

Last night, after Lady Gwenivere was all taken care of, I decided to finally do something with that giant bowl of tomatoes on my counter, instead of sitting around feeling helpless.

Rice Queen Makes Vegan Orange Chicken

During the college years, Laura and I used to always go to Rice King and order the same thing. I'd order broccoli and beef and she'd get orange chicken and we'd share.

I still love broccoli, but the beef ... not so much.

The orange chicken came with big chunks of bell pepper and carrot. So, when I looked in the fridge tonight and saw those two veggies, I could almost taste our old Rice King favorite.

I decided to try and make it with tempeh instead of chicken. I found a recipe online and changed it up based on what I had on hand and it was pretty scrumptious.

Here's how I did it:

Sushi-Inspired Rolls And Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I know I say this all the time, but this week I have been trying really hard to get back on track! I've been tracking my points and my workouts and trying to balance it all out. And, so far so good!

Yesterday at dinner time, I needed to make something light but filling. I had picked up some wasabi and pea flavored hummus at the Little Italy Farmers Market that I wanted to use, so I came up with these veggie-filled sushi-inspired collared green rolls. It was the perfect light dinner.

Here's how I did it: