Letting Go

It's time to dump the fat pants, so to speak.  I'm talking about cookbooks.  I love to cook and have many cookbooks.  I only own two vegan ones, The Kind Diet and Clean Food.  I love them both and have relied heavily on them over the past few weeks.

It all started when I got my newest Cooking Light magazine in the mail late last week.  Usually, this is a highlight for me, but now I was viewing the magazine with new eyes.  I was surprised to see how few meatless recipes there were and almost all of those had cheese or another dairy.  There wasn't much left to make.  Being new to veganism, I am still learning how to use certain ingredients.  I need more instruction.  Not to mention, that some of the recipes looked good!  I haven't been tempted to have meat, until I looked through that magazine.  I just don't need that.

Then my daughter pointed out all my cookbooks were full of meat too.  I already new this, but I was holding on to them like a safety blanket.  Makes no sense, since I see this as a permanent change.  Even last week, when I went to the used book store to sell some books we no longer needed, I didn't include the cookbooks, why?  I decided they were like fat pants.  I was holding on to them just in case.  It's time to let go.  Strangely it feels like a bigger commitment that the initial one I made.  So today I'm going through the cookbooks, 11 already this morning, and scanning out any vegan recipes I find that sound good.  I have about 15 to 20 to go.   It feels good.  We are boxing them up for our monthly shopping trip, when I can turn them in.  Now I need to find some new vegan cookbooks!

I'm looking forward to the day when I'm really letting go of my fat pants.  I'm losing weight, my hubby too, but haven't gotten rid of clothes yet.  I think that will be truly awesome.

My New Favorite Caesar!

It's starting to heat up here, today is in the mid 90's, and it is salad time. One of my family favorites is Caesar, but a vegan Caesar? I have honestly never had one. When I purchased Alicia's book I also purchased Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You. It is vegan, though she doesn't like the label, and organized by season. I think Alicia's book is better for getting into the lifestyle of being vegan.

Clean Food has a recipe for Caesar that I tried today. I would have tried Alicia's, but I didn't have the ingredients. We also made homemade croutons. My 9 yr old son actually cut them and seasoned them. He also helped mix the dressing and chop the veggies. It's so important if you have kids to get them involved in the process. He devoured two huge bowls of salad for lunch, chatting the whole time about how easy it was to make. I highly recommend Clean Food as an additional source of yummy vegan recipes.

Caesar Salad w/homemade Croutons

Homemade Croutons

1/2 whole wheat baguette

sea salt

dried oregano

extra virgin olive oil

Cut bread into cubes and place in large bowl. Drizzle lightly with oil and toss. Lightly sprinkle with salt and oregano to taste. Spread out onto a cookie sheet. Broil on highest rack in oven for 2-3 min or until golden brown. Stir croutons and put back under the broiler for 1-2 min more. Be careful and watch, this will burn easily! Let cool completely and serve with salad.

Asian Feast

I thought it would be a good idea to kick off this adventure with food I love. My main meal is lunch, so this is it. We will be starting off with some Miso soup. The recipe came from Clean Food (another great book). Then, I'm making the Fried Rice from the Kind Diet, pg 234. I had to make adjustments to the veggies, I didn't have what was called for here, I used, carrots and onions. I'm scrambling a small amount of firm tofu with soy sauce to stir in, this replaces the egg my family loves. I'm making the Crispy Tofu Slices with Orange Dipping Sauce on pg 158. I am adding some soy sauce and sriracha to the sauce and then thickening it slightly. I'm also making a simple stir-fry; mushrooms, bell peppers, leeks, carrots, zucchini along with simple veggie spring rolls. I'm so hungry.