Eating Vegan ~ Day 4 ~ Southwestern Style
Forming quite the routine, my day started out with preparing our smoothies (kiwi-berry this time), snacking on rice cakes with nut butter, and sneaking some of VeggieGirl’s pumpkin bread from the freezer. I regained some virtue with an apple later in the day. However, both lunch and dinner had to get a bit more creative as we were tragically running out of vegetables! Not a good thing to have happen when you are eating vegan.
With more of that wonderful Amy’s Soup on hand (organic, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free) I had a good option for lunch. I set the rice cooker on with enough rice for two, and topped it with a steamer basket filled with the last two small sweet potatoes I had, diced into 1/2 inch square bites. I put the Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable soup on low to warm and went back to my work. The rice cooker went click about 10/15 minutes later and viola! I had two wonderful lunches ~ two bowls of rice topped with sweet potatoes and some southwestern style soup…
The soup had quite a kick, much more than either of us expected. I was glad that it was tempered by the rest of the meal, as on its own, the soup definitely would have been too spicy for our taste buds.
I had planned to get out for some grocery shopping before dinner … but … that didn’t happen. Then, I settled on giving that Vegan Gourmet cheese a real go, on pizza. But, when I went to proof my yeast to make the crust, I discovered that it had completely fizzled.
So, I reached for what little veggies I had left, and some of those fun products/ingredients I was trialing out. With just two tortillas remaining, I made us each a super-stacked medium-sized burrito. Piled with rice, black beans, carmelized onions (saute in a bit of oil for 15 min over med-low heat), spicy guacamole, shredded vegan “cheese” (a bit gratuitous, I really don’t think this was needed), some chicken-free chicken (smoky), and a few dollops of mild salsa for that tomato vibe…
Of course, we needed some greens though. So I made up some little salads with greens, shredded carrots (all the veggies I had left), the rest of the beans, and that dressing I made the other day (yum!).
All in all, not a bad day, but I must get out for some groceries tomorrow. I like to make those prepared foods last as long as possible by using them more as a base for recipes or as a flavorful “condiment”, but with too few vegetables in my crisper, they seem to be moving into starring roles.
My husband gave today’s meals a “good.” He liked yesterday’s better, but is still amazed that really, nothing seems different about our diet. Not a meat craving in site : )