Running Red Lights For Squash!



The enchilada filling - up close!



As we walked out to our cars after work today, my best friend Laura and I chatted about what to make for dinner. I got ridiculously excited when I remembered the butternut squash I had in the fridge.

She laughed at me and we joked that I was going to speed and run all the red lights just to get home and start cooking.

We may have been joking, but I was really excited about that squash - sad, I know... As soon as I got home, I started looking up recipes and found the perfect thing - enchiladas (one of my all-time favorite meals!

I had tortillas and a big can of enchilada sauce in the cupboard, so I went to work chopping and sauting and steaming and baking and making a big ole mess. I am having so much darn fun with this I can't believe it - cooking has become my new hobby!

I was inspired by this recipe: http://www.savorynest.com/2011/02/black-bean-brown-rice-roasted-butternut.html, but as I usually do, I tweaked it to fit what I had on hand.

Beans, Greens and Butternut Squash Enchiladas

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 roasted butternut squash
1/2 bunch green onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch red chard? (or some kind of reddish green from my CSA box) Chopped
1 bunch beet tops chopped
I can black beans

4 Whole wheat tortillas
1 large can green chile enchilada sauce
1/2 cups shredded cheddar daiya cheese

First I put the squash in the oven to bake (If I was to do it over, I think I would peel it first, cube it and then roast it). But this time, I just cut in half and put in a baking dish face down with a little water.

I let that cook for about 45 minutes while I made a delicious salad for tonight's dinner and prepared the other ingredients.

I filled up the rice cooker - way more than I needed so I could use it for other things this week.

Can't wait to taste 'em!

Then I diced and sauteed the garlic, greens stems (I'm using everything these days!) and green onions. After a few minutes, I threw in the greens and beet tops and let them wilt down. Then came the beans, the squash and the rice and voila - the enchilada filling was ready.

I heated my tortillas to soften, poured some sauce into the bottom of a huge baking dish and started assembly. Since I only had four tortillas, I stuffed them full and pressed them down so they could be covered in the sauce that I poured over top. I sprinkled the cheese on top and baked at 375 for about 30 minutes.

They look pretty good, but you'll have to wait to hear how they taste...

It's not even Halloween... :)

Oh, I also roasted the butternut seeds - just like you would with pumpkin seeds. Like, I said, I'm using everything!

And, having the time of my life! :)

New Cookie Baking Technique?



Lady Gwenivere, my cooking buddy



Last night I decided to warm up the house with the oven. My friend Kate had sent me a recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies that I wanted to try, but xanthum gum is not an ingredient I usually keep on hand. I'm not even sure what it is...

So, after a quick web search, I found a simple recipe on Vegweb.com that I could make with what I did have in the cupboard.

 The only thing that sounded different from regular chocolate chip cookies was it said to put them in the oven for five minutes and then flip and cook for five more minutes. Different, but okay fine - whatever you gotta do.

I figured maybe that was the only way they could cook evenly without eggs and butter. 

The flipped cookies... :)



So, after five minutes, I tried to flip the half-baked cookies over, and as they slipped and smooshed all over the cookie sheet and the melted chocolate smeared all over the spatula, I started to think maybe I was doing something wrong.

 

I looked at the recipe again. It said, "Bake for five minutes and then flip and rotate the sheets."
  

Oh - flip the sheets, not the cookies... Oops!

So, half of the cookies ended up looking pretty funky, but they were all yummy!





Super crunchy and delicious!



Stale sourdough = salad star
I also endeavored to make my first batch of croutons. I had a loaf of fresh sourdough wheat bread from Whole Foods that turned into a brick in the fridge.

So, I chopped it up, drizzled it with olive oil and minced garlic, and baked it in the oven. It was super easy and they turned out fantastic - better than anything you could buy in the store!

Next time your bread gets stale, give it a try!


Have you ever misread a recipe? Make me feel better and share your story below!

Angiebertos #5 - One Soyrizo Burrito To Go

 

Not exactly like Adalbertos #5, but delicious in its own way!

So far, I've done all my blogging late at night - after the dishes are washed, email is checked and I'm done catching up on American Idol... :) But I just made a breakfast so delicious, I couldn't wait to share it!

One of my guilty pleasures was chorizo. I have no idea what's in it - never wanted to because I'm sure it's gross. But I loved to splurge on it when out to breakfast at Mexican restaurants. Obviously, I'm not eating chorizo as part my new vegan lifestyle, but I found the next best thing... Soyrizo!

Ok, I know it sounds weird, but it's actually super similar in flavor and texture to the real thing. And it's much healthier. So, even if you aren't vegan, but trying to watch your calories, try it!



You could also make this with eggs instead of tofu and bell peppers instead of greens. Go wild! Here's what I did with it - super simple.

Soyrizo Breakfast Burrito

1/4 onion diced
3 cloves garlic diced
1 bunch kale (or some sort of green from my CSA box)
1/2 pkg Soyrizo
1 pkg extra firm tofu
1 whole wheat tortilla
1/4 cup shredded Daiya cheddar "cheese"
1 dallop (love that word!) vegan sour cream
1/4 avocado

Saute the onion, garlic and greens until soft. Throw in the tofu and soyrizo and mix together. Cook about 5 minutes until its cooked through.

Warm your tortilla, layer your ingredients, roll up and enjoy!

This would also be delicious (and still vegan) with a side of fried potatoes or with the potatoes mixed in!

What's your favorite weekend breakfast? Post it below!

And check out the new poll question!

Going Greens - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

When I decided to cut out meat and dairy I wanted to try and do it in the healthiest way possible.

One of the ways I'm trying to accomplish this is through a community-supported agriculture program (CSA). Members get a regular distribution of fresh, seasonal, organic produce from local farms.

I'd been wanting to join one for a while, but always chickened out fearing I'd end up with lots of unfamiliar green stuff that ultimately turned into slime in the vegetable drawer.

But as part of my new food adventure, it seemed like the perfect way to try some new things and up my veggie intake.

I'm lucky that my employer partners with Inland Empire CSA and there's a pickup on our campus. I opted for the smallest allotment - a half box, every other week. At my first pickup two weeks ago, I was pretty intimidated when I laid eyes on all those leafy things. I recognized the lettuce, citrus and avocados, but I wasn't too sure what herbs, greens and root vegetables I was looking at.

After asking around, and some Internet research, I was able to identify everything. So, I set out searching for recipes, ideas and some space in the fridge to store it all...

Over the last two weeks, I made some delicious meals: salads, stir frys, a casserole - I even put the greens in my smoothies.

One of my favorite meals was a hearty soup. Here's how I did it, but you can make any variation based on the ingredients you have. It was super easy and scrumptious!

Kale and White Bean Vegetable Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
3 baby bok choys chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
3 roma tomatoes chopped
1 medium daikon peeled and cubed
1/2 cup radishes cubed
1 can cannellini beans
1 can black beans
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
handful of Italian parsley chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large  pot. Cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in the kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and the rest of the vegetables, beans and herbs. Simmer on medium heat for 25 minutes, or until radishes and daikon are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


It was a challenge to try and use up all that produce! I've been doing a lot more cooking than I was used to, but I'm really enjoying it! And, it feels good to know my veggies were grown locally and picked within days of reaching me.

And, so far, no green slime in the drawer!

More info about CSAs:

The Inland Empire CSA is made up of two Certified Organic farms, Sage Mountain Farm in Aguanga, California, which supplies most of the veggies and De Luz Farms and Nursery in Temecula, which grows avocados, citrus and other fruits.

Another good one in San Diego is Be Wise Ranch.

Some fun food pics:

Cutest avocado ever - about 2" long.

Roasted beets, carrots, raddishs and baby bok choy.

Cilantro pesto - I ended up adding vinegar and using as a salad dressing.

Do you have a favorite veggie recipe you want to share? I'm gonna need it!

Santa Barbara Loves Vegans and Dogs!

This weekend the Sweetie and I packed up our little dog and set out on a road trip up the coast. Destination: Santa Barbara.

I was super excited to spend a few days in such a beautiful place. I was so ready for a relaxing getaway. But I couldn't help feeling a little anxious. To me, one of the best things about vacation is the food - finding new restaurants, indulging in yummy desserts and trying new things. 

And, we had never taken the dog on a trip before. So, I was a little nervous about how she would do - in the car, in the hotel and how she would be if we had to leave her alone.

So, before we took off, I did a little research and was pleasantly surprised to see there were a few vegan restaurants, not far from our hotel. And, most of them were dog friendly! Santa Barbara rocks!

Check out some pics from our adventure.

Saturday was gloomy, but the sky was amazing.

Sunday was perfect!

The snow on the mountains was completely melted by noon.

Stearns Wharf was about five minutes from the hotel.

How you walk a 14-year-old pekeinese.

  

My family :)

If you happen to be traveling to Santa Barbara soon and want to try some yummy, vegan-friendly restaurants, here are my suggestions:

• http://www.sojournercafe.com/ (dog-friendly patio)
• http://www.spiritlandbistro.com/
• http://crushcakes.com/ (dog-friendly patio)

Enjoy!

High Maintenance, Picky Be-@tch? Moi?

I just did something I've never done before. I marched myself up to the front desk of a fancy hotel and complained about a meal. [Gasp!]

Is trying to live a vegan lifestyle turning me into a high maintenance, picky be-@tch?

I never complain at restaurants. Forget my side of ranch. No big deal. Forget I asked for the dressing on the side. No big deal. Forget I asked for some water. No big deal.

Maybe it was because we drove for six hours, in the rain, in bumper-to-bumper traffic, through L.A., with our dog in the car. Maybe I was already a little on edge. Maybe...

Two hour wait for room service? Okay, we'll try the bar. I order the best salad option without the chicken, or the feta, but it seems like it should still have enough left on it to make it a meal. Seasonal fresh vegetables? Yum!

It arrives: field greens with garbonzo beans from a can and roasted red peppers and olives from a jar. The "seasonal fresh vegetables" are one piece of cold grilled yellow squash.

I try one of Pat's fries and they came from a bag in the freezer! Disappointing! Total: $98... You have to be kidding!! Have I been watching too much Food Network? Those restaurants never serve canned, frozen stuff - even the diners, drive-ins and dives make their food from scratch!!! And this is a fancy hotel!!!

The lady at the front desk was very apologetic and our meal was comped, but I walked away feeling really strange. What happened to my old happy-go-lucky, eat-whatever-you-put-in-front-of-me self?

I knew a weekend getaway would be a vegan food challenge, but I thought it would be a fun one. And I still think it will - I saw some vegan-friendly restaurants online that I'm excited to try.

So, my mission to achieve better health while helping to make the world a better place continues...

Check back to see how it turns out! And, Happy Presidents Day Weekend!!

My 30-day Bikram Challenge

If you haven't had a chance to try it yet, Bikram is a 90-minute class with 26 poses done in the same order in a room heated to 105 degrees.

The first time I tried it I thought I was going to die. The heat of the room was suffocating. I kept getting dizzy. I spent more time lying on my mat than doing the poses. I couldn't wait to get out of that room and never come back.

But something happened after class. First nausea, then something amazing. Like I found the reset button.

So I went back and each time class got easier. First I started  making progress with the poses. Then the I got used to the heat. I was becoming a Bikram yogi.

I went a few times a week for the better part of the past year, but rarely on consecutive days. So, what better challenge to start 2011 than going for 30 days in a row?

And, what a challenge it was! During the first week my back felt so tight it was hard to sit. During the second week I struggled with the mental challenge of going through the same class day after day after day after... Then, during the third week things started to change. My back relaxed. My mind relaxed. I was on fire - stretching farther and balancing longer and really enjoying class.

The fourth week was a little more challenging. I think knowing the end was near got into my head. But I made it through! I did miss one day, which I tacked onto to the end. So, my result was actually 30 classes in 31 days, but that was good enough for me!

In the few weeks since, I've gone back to my routine of mixing bikram with my bootcamp class. And I just started running again on the weekend.

I don't know if I'll ever do 30 days of bikram again, but I'm so glad I did. I feel stronger, more flexible and a little leaner - both physically and mentally.

Up for a challenge of your own? Find a bikram studio near you.

Namaste!

The Roller Coaster Ride

Everything I read just after deciding to go vegan was all positive. "You'll have more energy, better skin, easier digestion, weight loss... You'll be kinder to the planet by helping to reduce consumption of precious resources, etc., etc. How can you argue with that?

But since then, I've found a lot of conflicting information.

I pulled out the Perricone Prescription book (an anti-inflamatory diet I've been meaning to try) to see what it had to say about meat. The doctor included all kinds of scientific reasons why you need lean meats and omega 3 from fish like salmon... Um - not really gelling with the vegan point of view.

I wondered if I was doing the right thing.

That same day, we went to Burger Lounge for lunch. I had tried their veggie burgers before and was excited that I could still have delicious meals like that... until the girl at the register mentioned the veggie patties had cheese inside! And the salad on had eggs in the dressing! So, they had nothing I could eat - except for french fries... which I was pretty close to just ordering for lunch. We decided to go somewhere else, but I was really bummed! No Burger Lounge... and what else was I going to find out was full of dairy? :(

Was I going to be able to do this?

I've continued to do more research and one thing is clear - everyone has a different opinion. So, I guess you just have to see what beliefs resonate with you and what feels good for your body. So far, this feels good. so, we'll see how it goes.

There have been a few things that really pushed me in the vegan direction. This quote from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet (about how she felt after eating vegan for two weeks) was one of them:

"I noticed that my whole body felt lighter. I was more vibrant and spunky. I felt like my heart had sort of opened a bit and my shoulders could relax, as if an overall softening had taken place..."

Is it my imagination or is that happening to me too? I feel so light! Excuse me while I float off to bed... :)

Why Vegan All The Sudden?

It's been about a month since I cut out meat and dairy. It all started with an episode of Oprah about conscious eating, featuring clips from the documentary Food Inc. and Alicia Silverstone talking about her Kind Diet.

I had seen shows like this before, but for some reason this time it got in my head. The next day, I kept thinking about those overcrowded chicken coops and how happy and glowy Alicia was from her vegan diet. I was about 3 weeks into my 30-day Bikram Challenge and I really wanted to feel as good as possible after all of that hard work and sweating.

I figured I'd ease into it, but once I decided to do it, I got kind of excited about it and just went for it. Aside from a few mistakes in the first few days (there's dairy in places you'd never expect it!) and a superbowl party where I went nuts and splurged on non-vegan chocolate chip cookies, I've managed to stay on track. I don't know if I'll do this forever, but I'd like to give a good solid try.

I got started by researching online. I read Alicia's book cover to cover. I also found some really cool vegan blogs like Oh She Glows. I started incorporating lots of whole grains, tons of veggies and more soy products. I've really enjoyed all the cooking. I've made some delicious soul-warming soups, fun stir frys and yummy pasta dishes (and one really bad one...).

I've discovered some great new foods and some not so great ones...  I even joined a community supported agriculture group so I now get a box of organic veggies every other week. It's been a fun challenge trying to figure out what to do with all this green stuff.

And there have also been some challenges - there is a lot of conflicting information out there, which is really confusing. Also - there aren't very many vegan-friendly restaurants in San Diego, so eating out has been tricky!

I'll talk more about this later and share my favorite finds, the best recipes, and how it all goes! Stay tuned!

Vegan - ish Valentine's Day Dinner

Today I wanted nothing more than to make a delicious Valentine's Day dinner to enjoy with my meat-eating sweetie. I did a quick Internet search and came up with the perfect solution - risotto! All the ingredients are vegan, so I could cook up some chicken seperately and viola!

I already had everything I needed except the arborio rice - not something I've actually ever bought... So, it was a pretty big bummer to find out the Vons in Scripps Ranch DOESN'T CARRY IT!!! Booo Vons! I hate wasting trips to the store!

Luckily, Pat came up with the idea to try and make it with the cooked brown rice we already had in the fridge - genius! Another quick Internet search proved that it could be done, so about 45 minutes and 83 dirty pots, pans, bowls, spoons and cutting boards later... dinner was served. And it was really good!

Here's how we did it in case you want to try a healthier version of risotto, or just happen to have brown rice instead of arborio. And this recipe was kind of based on what veggies I had, so feel free to switch out with what you like best (or have on hand).

Brown Rice Risotto with Asparagus, Spinach and Mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus 3 additional Tbsps
3-6 cloves of garlic minced (or fewer - I really like garlic!)
1 medium bunch asparagus (cleaned and chopped)
2 cups spinach (washed and torn up if large leaves)
2 cups mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
1 Tbsp butter (I used Earth Balance vegan butter)
3 cups cooked brown rice
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 chicken breasts (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop up all the veggies, heat the first Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and add a few cloves worth of the minced garlic, cooking until fragrant. Add the veggies and stir. Cover for a few minutes to steam. Once they start to shrink down, remove the lid, stir and turn up the heat to cook out the liquid. Keep an eye on them and continue to stir until cooked but still slightly firm.

In a large sauce pan or small pot, heat the 3 Tbsps olive oil and the butter. Add more of the garlic until fragrant. Add the rice and stir to coat and start to brown - 2 or 3 minutes. Add just 1/3 cup of the broth to start. Stir ("and stir and stir and stir," as Kate says) until absorbed and continue adding the broth in 1/3 cup increments and stirring until the rice reaches a creamy risotto-like texture. It took me about 25 - 30 minutes.

When the veggies were done, I put them aside and cooked the chicken with a little of the minced garlic and a few misto sprays of olive oil. When done, I chopped it up and mixed in about half the veggies and half the risotto. Then I threw the rest of the veggies in the still vegan risotto and we each had our dinner.

I also made some sour dough garlic bread the way we had it in Italy - toasted, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.

It might have been a lot for a Monday night, but worth it to have a delicious healthy Valentines meal! And lots of leftovers! Try it like this or make up your own version - go nuts! And let me know how it goes. :)

Welcome to Angie Seeks Bliss!

I've been striving for optimum health for as long as I can remember. Who doesn't want to look and feel their best at all times?

But I also love to eat...and drink - and live life to the fullest! And I don't want to spend all of my time counting calories and obesessing over everything I put in my mouth...

So, it's been quite a journey and over the years, trying different diets, exercise plans, supplements and detoxes. Counting calories, fat grams, carbohydrates - you name it! Reading books, listening to meditation cds, attending countless Weight Watchers meetings and scouring the Internet for answers.

And life keeps changing. The last year was particularly eventful to say the least! I spent the better part of it planning a wedding, married my best friend, went on an amazing honeymoon, celebrated the holidays to the fullest and rang in the new year with a bang...

Now, here we are in 2011 - a new year with all kinds of potential. I started off with a 30-day Bikram Yoga Challenge which was a pretty intense, but definitely a worthwhile experience. I'll write more about that later. I've also recently decided to cut meat and dairy from my diet as an experiment to see how it makes me feel. It's been about a month now and I'm feeling pretty good. I don't know if I can officially call myself a vegan yet, but I'm taking it day by day. It has had it's challenges - and it's rewards - and I hope to chronicle them here.

So, if you're curious to see how it goes, stay tuned... :)