Cold days and busy work/school schedules can be an easy reason to take some shortcuts. That's ok but don't shortchange your family!! You will that this week included some pre-made meals combined with homemade ones. Also, my freezer container of veggie scraps was full so it was time to make veggie broth for any recipe that calls for it. It's simple. Fill a large pot with water and throw in the frozen veggies. Add fresh herbs if you have (or dry), salt & pepper. Adding a small can of tomato paste is optional and makes a much more flavorful broth. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let cook covered for as many hours as it takes until the veggies all turn brown. This included cuttings from cauliflower, carrots, onions, cabbage, zucchini, eggplant, peppers,
etc. Taste the broth towards the end of the process to determine any spices needed. Once all are boiled, I strain the broth into jars I have saved from olives, salsa, sauce, etc. leaving almost an inch of room. The smaller the jars, the better. Then I freeze them. When I need it, I just let it sit in a bowl of hot water and all set!!
Now on to the meals of the week.
Breakfast continues to be the biggest challenge. I made a batch of pancakes at least two mornings so everyone to grab. I leave out fresh berries and bananas to top. Other morning I made a blender full of smoothie made from bananas I had frozen, almond milk, frozen pineapples & some hemp seed -- and everyone poured out their servings. The weekend everyone was treated to homemade waffles using the recipe on the Bisquik Original just replaced the egg with applesauce.
Lunches were primarily leftovers but it seemed this week there were not leftovers so I made some Minute Rice seasoned with Adobo and cooked with veggie broth (see above) and heated a can of beans. Other days I cooked some pasta and topped with Earth Balance and Nutritional Yeast. Sides included raw carrots, steamed edamame and popcorn. When I am home for lunch, I usually make a quick hummus and eat it with carrots & pretzels. One day I had some peanut butter & berries on bread.
Dinners were a balance of dishes made from scratch blended with items that were pre-made. As pictured above, an easy replacement of meatballs without buying highly processed foods is TVP Balls. These are made from TVP hydrated with veggie broth and seasonings then deep fried or baked or air fried. I served with pasta & broccoli and marinara sauce. My first attempt to make cauliflower gnocchi was a very long process and required hands on steps but were worth every single bite.
The evening I served Beyond Burgers, I offset the processed foods with a simply mix of roasted veggies. The dinner that included Field Roast Sausage was served with garlic quinoa and home-made stuffed mushrooms. As backup (since none of my kids eat the mushrooms) I saute'd some kale with garlic and oil.
A great one-pot meal was concocted based on what I had on hand and was not planned! Coconut-curried Red Lentil Stew over basmati rice. This was great when you have the time let it stew yet don't have enough time to stand over the stove stirring and monitoring flames.
The weekend allowed me one day to spend hours in the kitchen. I used this day as an opportunity to make the veggie broth and make "Trick'n Cutlets" for the next week's meals. This takes a reasonable amount of time so I only get to make these maybe once per month but they can be stored in the fridge for 3 days or frozen for weeks.
Do any of these sound like something that you would like to learn to make?
Email me thevisitingvegan@gmail.com
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