WEEK #4 AS A VEGETARIAN

If you have been following me over the last couple of weeks, I have been making great shifts to become a vegetarian.  I just finished up week 4.  Although the week was not full vegetarian, I’m still quite happy with how I finished up this week and the entire month.  On one day I had a small chicken thigh (couldn’t resist) and had a little bit of honey in a dessert.  I don’t really feel guilty for having it, so it’s all good.  It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing for me at this point

Some new things and some favorites from the past week…

Vegan fajitas with sprouted rice and quinoa and golden beets.  The lentil/walnut “meat” was pretty tasty and I didn’t miss the usual ground beef at all.  My three year wasn’t really interested in anything but the beets, but my six-year-old devoured her entire plate!  Click here for RECIPE.

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Smoky Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad.  This salad was so ridiculously good my wife was eating it straight out of the bowl before dinner (seriously, don’t pretend you don’t do that too).

RECIPE from the Let them eat Vegan book by Dreena Burton

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Another one from the “Let them eat Vegan” book.  This is a Kale-Slaw with curried almond dressing.  I was hesitant to want to eat this salad since I love making kale chips and my stash was being used to make another salad, however, when I watched my wife make this dressing with almonds and water, I was intrigued.  Then I was just hungry.   The salad was delicious and I was not disappointed.

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Another one from the “Let them eat Vegan” book.  Can you tell we love this book 🙂   My wife has been on a roll with this book and I think she is trying as many recipes from the book because it’s due back at the library soon.  Lucky for me I am happy to help out!  The kids also liked this one.

Black beans, Quinoa, and sweet potato spicy croquettes with pumpkin seed chipotle cream. Yum!

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One of my favorite dishes from this week was on a Friday night.  Instead of the usual pizza night, we had eggplant parmigiana with whole wheat pasta.  The salad was a yummy mix of lettuce, Brussel sprouts, and some other green things I had to ask my wife what the heck they were.   My three-year-old asked,” what kind of bird does this eggplant come from”?

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This is a new drink to try.  It is a Quinoa drink.  I decided on this because I drink a ton of Almond milk in my smoothies.  Since almond milk has carrageenan, (which is not too great for us) I wanted to look for an alternative.   This Quinoa drink is carrageenan-free.  Was a great alternative to almond milk.  Even tasted fine in my tea.  It costs a little more but well worth it.  Until we make our own almond milk, I have officially switched to this.

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A new addition to my mid-morning Oatmeal…Chia coconut granola.  Added a nice yummy crunch.

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Home-made little pieces of dense sweet chocolate.   Yum!  They looked like little peanut butter cups but were made of solid chocolate that was not too sweet and had a cool smooth texture.  No one at the table was able to stop at one.  Now I have hidden the rest of them and see if they will last the night.

This recipe comes from www.ohsheglows.com.  Click here for the recipe.

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I would love to hear from you.  Recipes, what’s working, what’s not working, challenges, whatever

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