All you need is comfort food!

Today I needed something warm, hearty and comfort foody. Pot pie to the rescue! I've been wanting to try the 'Vegetable Pot Pie' recipe from the Country LIfe Vegetarian cookbook for quite some time. I'm glad I did as it's a little different from the pot pies I usually make. The gravy is creamier with the addition of soymilk and flavorful from the 'country style seasoning' which is another recipe in the book. I didn't make the 'Flaky Oat-Wheat Crust' that is supposed to go on top because I didn't have all the ingredients so I used a frozen pie crust that had been languishing in my freezer for a while. I just thawed it and popped it out of the tin pie plate and flattened it out with a rolling pin and cut out little biscuit shapes for the crust. Came out real nice.




The insides: potatoes, green beans, carrots, onions, corn, celery and broccoli. I was going to put mushrooms in here but I forgot!

Edited to add the pretty purple smoothie I had after a long dog walk. Blueberry/Strawberry/Applesauce/Soymilk

Detox Week 3, Day 20

Hello weekend! It's a great one because it's the last weekend of my diet and next week I will finally get to eat some of the things that I've been craving. My husband bought me a bag of Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos, hehe...naughty! I'll have those next week as well. Just a little though. I'm not going to be a gluttonous pig or anything. I will have whatever I like in moderation. Other things I will have in moderation: banana chocolate chip cakes, nachos, tacos, vegan beer bread, chocolate rum cake, blueberry buckle, pizza with tofurky sausage and pine nut cheese, vanilla pudding trifle...boy there are a lot of desserts I'm looking forward to!

Today's eat were very nice.


Breakfast: Dandelion Carob Tea (dandelion tea, 1 tsp carob powder, unsweeteened soymilk, 1 tsp brown rice syrup)


A breakfast treat: Instead of eating my usual oatmeal, I'll have my oats in another form! Oat-Corn Waffles (oats, cornmeal, dates, water, olive oil) with sesame seeds. Served with 2 TB maple syrup. I got this recipe from the Country Life Vegetarian cookbook.

Snack #1: 1 tangerine


Lunch: Mediterranean pizza with a sweet potato crust. A Gillian McKeith recipe. Very healthy yet absolutely delicious!


Served with red leaf salad. I ate two slices at lunch.

Snack #2: celery and sunflower paté with a square of date brownie

Dinner will be two more slices of pizza and another salad!

Detox Week 2, Day 9

Moving along...moving along...

Had millet porridge for the first time today. I think I undercooked it because it wasn't as soft and mushy as I expected. And I made way too much and was only able to eat half of it. No need for a pre-workout snack apparently.


Here it is with sliced bananas, raisins, sesame seeds and a nice drizzle of brown rice syrup.

Lunch was pretty boring. I had a bunch of red grapes and a medium bowl of spinach soup. Yawn. No need for pictures.

Snacks: some macadamia nuts and raisins and later after a dog walk, a nectarine.


I finally made Gillian McKeith's infamous Chickpea Burgers. These guys are supposed to be a favorite of most people on her diet plan. They are much like falafel except they have sunflower seeds, carrots and tahini in them. They were very tasty. I served them with rocket salad, brown rice and garlic aioli from 'The Country Life Vegetarian Cookbook'. The aioli is made with unsweetened soymilk, garlic, lemon juice and some olive and canola oil. I also added some chopped cucumber to it. Because of the bit of fat in it, I didn't have very much.

Vegan MoFo: Country Life Tofu Loaf and Mashed Potatoes with Miso Gravy.

I haven't cooked much from the Country Life Vegetarian cookbook because I keep forgetting that I have it. So many cookbooks, so little time! I pulled it out today and flipped through it to find something I could do for dinner with the very few items I had in my fridge. Tofu-Check. Walnuts-Check. Onions-Check. Rice-Check. Seasonings-Check! I was on my way to a comforting loaf dinner. I didn't have any fresh potatoes but I did have -dare I say- a box of instant potato flakes in my pantry. I know, I know. Fresh is better but I only use the boxed stuff for emergencies like today! I whipped up a batch of my fave miso gravy and all was well.

The loaf is similar to my favorite loaf recipe from the Whole Foods website. I had a little plate for lunch and I thought it was pretty good. I think I like the Whole Foods loaf better because it doesn't have rice in it. This one does and you can taste it very much and it also gives the loaf a texture. I spread ketchup for a little color and sweetness. This loaf is very sliceable if you let it cool after it comes out of the oven. I will have more of this for dinner tonight! I wonder how it will do in a sandwich...


A perfect slice with mash and yummy gravy. I also had some HP sauce with it.

Corn-Oat Waffles + Bonus party cupcakes

My father in law is visiting from Montreal for a few weeks and he's a diabetic so I thought I'd keep the Country Life Veg cookbook close by as all the recipes are healthy, low fat and sugar free. These breakfast waffles are made entirely out of oats, cornmeal, water, a bit of oil and a tiny amount of agave syrup. They came out really nice! They are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside with a light corn flavor. I imagine a little cinnamon added to the batter would have been amazing. Never had a non-flour based waffle before and I think I will make these more often. It's like having a bowl of oatmeal in waffle form.




My father in law's waffles overflowing with sugar free pancake syrup.


Mine with lots of buttery Earth Balance!

***


Aren't these just screaming "birthday cake"? Tomorrow is a big party for several birthdays in our family so I made these festive cupcakes for them. It's the Dulce Sin Leche recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and the fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting.

Spaghetti and "Meatballs".

For dinner tonight I decided to try something from a new cookbook I just got called Country Life Vegetarian Cookbook. Along with some tempting loaf recipes (I dig veggie loaves so much.) there are also a few "meatball" recipes, one of which are made with tofu. I decided to try that recipe and use them for spaghetti and "meatballs". This afternoon I made a quick marinara and let it simmer while I made the tofu balls. While they were cooking in the oven, I was able to catch the Dodgers on tv. Yes, they won! (And Casey Blake is still my boyfriend.) Here is a picture of the meatballs cooling out of the oven.


Later on at dinner time I just reheated the sauce and meatballs and put a quick salad together with the "Sauce Rouge" dressing from the same cookbook. Sorry about the quality of photo, it got darker by this time.


It all went deliciously well. The tofu balls were very nice and surprisingly filling. They reminded me of mini tofu loaves. Three balls on top of the spaghetti and sauce was enough for me. Lots of leftovers for tomorrow!