FitFeat

Archive for September, 2010

Vegan Mac-n-Cheese

Sep 13

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes, vegan | 2 Comments

Hi again friends!  Wow, two posts in one day!  That never happens here!  :)   If you missed it, check out the first post today about how time flies when you are unplugged, recapping the great time we had while MSP’s mom was visiting.

So as I’d mentioned previously, I finally tried making some Vegan Mac-n-Cheese.  In case you are new to FitFeat, I am not a vegan but I try to minimize (and completely avoid whenever possible) anything made from cow’s dairy.

I love a little comfort food every now and then, and one of my favorites is macaroni and cheese.  Most people these days know that eating a pasta made from refined white flour isn’t our best option, and we also know that boxed, processed food (like my old childhood favorite Kraft M & C in the blue box) is especially not a smart thing for our bodies.

I own a copy of The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone, love her book and her message, so I chose to head over to her site to look for a recipe to start with as my inspiration for a vegan mac-n-cheese.  You can click over to the original recipe if you’d like to try it as it’s written.  Because it is readily available on the internet, as opposed to in a book for purchase, I’ll list here the ingredients I used and how I went about making it since it’s a little different.

THE NOODLES:

  • 16 oz package brown rice elbow pasta (I use Tinkyada)
  • 1/8 to 1/4 cup Earth Balance soy free buttery spread (for use after noodles are cooked)

Brown rice pasta takes longer to cook than traditional pasta, around 17 minutes.  So start your noodles cooking, then go back to make your “cheese” sauce:

THE SAUCE:

  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 cup light soy sauce
  • 1 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 clove minced garlic (I used pre-minced jarred garlic)
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

The original recipe called for 2/3 cup of canola oil and I just could NOT bring myself to put that much into the sauce.  Yes, healthy fats are good for you, but in limited amounts.  So I switched to olive oil and only used 1/3 cup.

Add the sauce ingredients in a blender, with the exception of the oil.  Blend them all together, then with the blender running on low, carefully open the lid and slowly drizzle in the oil.  Then replace the lid on your blender and increase the speed to blend a bit longer.

Once your brown rice noodles are done, drain them and then add the 1/8 to 1/4 cup Earth Balance to your hot pan, melt it around inside, then add your noodles back to the pan.  I like to do this so my noodles don’t stick to the hot pan and also because I was aiming for a little ‘buttery’ flavor in the mac-n-cheese.

Start to pour in your cheese sauce and stir, using only as much of the sauce you need to coat the noodles to your liking.  Put the rest in a container to use when you reheat your mac-n-cheese leftovers (or try adding some to warm veggies – very good!)

Add some salt and pepper to your taste:

And then dish a little serving to enjoy for yourself.

Keep in mind the while the brown rice noodles are much healthier than refined white flour pasta noodles, they are still high in carbs and calories.  I like to keep my serving to less than 3/4 cup and use it as a side dish, or boost the volume & nutrients of it by stirring in some leftover roasted veggies, like mushrooms and zucchini.

THE VERDICT:

I loved it.  It’s certainly not what you might expect a mac-n-cheese to taste like, but it fit the bill of comfort food to me.  MSP wasn’t a fan, and could taste the paprika right away.  His mom wasn’t a big fan either.  But for ME, I’ll make it again.  I had this as leftovers 5 times from the first batch, because I liked it a lot.  I love having something creamy and warm to eat, while knowing that I’m still making a smart choice with the ingredient selection.  Next time around, I think I’ll back off the paprika and back off the soy sauce a bit, and see if MSP likes it better that way.

If you have any thoughts as to what you think you’d do to tweak it, please share!  I always love your input!

***

The countdown is on!  Only one week left till school starts!  I hope this week flies by like the last one did, because I cannot WAIT to get started!

– Shari B. =)

Time Flies When You’re Unplugged

Sep 13

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 6 Comments

Hi blog buds!

I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by since my last post!  When I last left you I was getting the house ready for the impending arrival of my mother-in-law, and then in the blink of an eye the visit it already behind us!  I had figured I might squeeze in a blog post or two during her visit, but we were having so much fun and kept so busy that it just never happened!

We were busy having Grilled Pita Pizza parties:

Posing for self-snapped pics:

Playing Wii games (even Mr. Potato-Head blinks for photos!):

Taking sunrise hikes:

Viewing the wildlife:

And taking in some of the AMAZING scenery Colorado has to offer:

Also, we shopped, we talked, we ate, we talked, we drank, we talked… there is a theme here.  My mother-in-law and I love to chat.  I think MSP’s ears may have been bleeding by the end of the weekend!  ;)

She was a great sport at trying some “Shari” foods, like green smoothies, black bean brownies, salmon cakes, Ezekial toast with almond butter, falafel plates – all of which she liked.  The vegan mac-n-cheese?  Not so much a fan.  (For the record, neither was MSP.  I love it for some reason…!)

We walked every day, did some Bob’s Yoga, and also danced ourselves silly to the Wii game “Just Dance” (which I still maintain should be worn with a heart rate monitor and counted as a true cardio workout).  I was sweating and beat after an evening of trying to keep up with the crazy dance moves in that game.  It’s so much fun and my abs hurt from laughing so hard!  We all also suffered through “The Backup Plan” (J-Lo, what the heck were you thinking when you signed on to that movie??)

And then next thing you know, four nights had flown by and it was time to head off to the airport!

I know many bloggers still write posts while they are on vacations or having super busy times.  I learned after being on the RV trip with my mom and grandma last year that I had missed out on some of quality time because my blog was new and I didn’t feel right about missing any days.  It made for some stressful moments on my part when I couldn’t get internet access or when I was focused so much on my laptop and not on my family.  I regret that now, as time with our families is so important.  Other than an occasional email check and some work that I had to do, I’ve been UNPLUGGED since last Wednesday:  no Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, WordPress.  And it made for a very nice visit!

Do you find it nice to UNPLUG every once in awhile? Or do you get antsy without daily technology? I find that some days when I get started trying to catch up on Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, etc., hours get “lost”.  Meaning I may have intended on 5 minutes in front of the PC and then I end up at 16 different sites, or reading way more than I should and now that time is forever gone.   Does this happen to you?

***Last week I made the spicy tofu enchiladas and the vegan mac-n-cheese and promised to post further info on them.  I’m starting the mac-n-cheese one right now so you’ll see it post sometime today!

Have a GREAT day everyone!  Thanks so much for hanging with me during my absence!

– Shari B. =)

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Update City in FitFeat Land

Sep 7

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Hi blog buds!

First, a ‘heads up’ that this will be one of those posts with topic jumps!  ;)   It’s random update day!

How was your holiday weekend? Did you relax or were you a busy bee?  We did a little of both.  We finished up the ‘do-over’ on our guest room (baseboards painted, walls painted, dresser painted and added handles, curtain rod & curtains hung, lanterns hung, ‘flameless candles’ purchased, silk plants washed, new bedding purchased, then washed, and bed made, and finally vinyl “dream” quote added to the wall.) Phew!  Nothing like an upcoming house-guest to give you a deadline and the motivation to get things done!  It’s always more fun to do these things when you have a reason.

Do you ever start to look at your home through a different pair of eyes?  What I mean is, MSP and I are pretty clean people and keep a tidy house for the most part – but you know how sometimes your eyes scan right over dust on baseboards, or crumbs in drawers, or refrigerators that seem to have mustard rings, dried almond milk and who knows what else crusted to the shelves?   (Or my insanely messy closet!)  Well sometimes when I consider someone staying our house, all of a sudden I really *SEE* these things and go OH MY GOSH, where did that dirt (or dog hair or streak) come from??!!  :)   I’ll use our sliding glass door as the main example.  I could Windex that thing every day and our dogs would still have nose prints all over it in 2 minutes flat.  So I basically only Windex it now every once in a while or for special occasions.  I just don’t even notice it anymore because it’s a normal sight that my eyes skim right past now.  Then, all of a sudden you *SEE* what you think a house-guest might and you’re horrified because it really is gross!  EWW!  So I did a lot of that kind of cleaning this weekend – my fridge now sparkles, for one thing!

Which was interesting timing, because I then went to the grocery store and have a fridge so full you can’t even notice how clean it is! (I should have thought of that strategy before taking out each individual drawer to wash!)

And on the topic of groceries, I owe you an update on what I’ve been spending on groceries these days.  We planned what we think we’ll need for this upcoming week, with recipes including Summoning Summer Salmon Cakes, Black Bean Brownies, BBQ night (Sunshine Burgers for me, Spicy Turkey burgers for the meat eaters) and Pita Pizzas.  (While MSP’s mom is here she said she wants to try some of the stuff I show on the blog.)  Plus the usual veggie suspects for smoothies and salads.  We stocked up on Larabars which were on sale for $1.00 (SCORE!) as well as Vitamin Water Zero’s which were on sale for 88 cents.  All told the bill was $110.  As we were standing in line, MSP guessed it would be $92 and I guessed $118.  (We do that all the time at the store, because we’re goofballs like that!)

Prior to this I hadn’t made an ‘official’ organized grocery run since the last time I showed you a list.  But that didn’t stop me from zipping in a couple of times to the tune of $33.71, $16.70, and $44.29 since August 23rd.  I’d still like to do better, obviously, but I’m getting there!  We like to make sure we have a houseful of food for guests so we probably go overboard a bit.  Next weekend we probably won’t even have a normal grocery trip, outside of restocking fresh veggies and almond milk.  So it’ll even out.  I’m really interested to see what my grocery bill will be like when I’m in school, since we eat what we cook while we’re there.  Will my bill go UP from ‘homework recipes’ or down from not having to pack lunches & snacks on school days?  We shall see!

Another shopping trip this weekend has me excited for some new spices & ingredients to play with:  refined almond oil (for high heat cooking), fig & orange balsamic vinegar (can’t WAIT to make a reduction out of this), Chinese five spice, garam masala, and herbs de Provence.

I’m already on the lookout for things I can make using these ingredients.  :)

Meanwhile, in the kitchen…

Here are some of the fun things I’ve been making lately:

Spicy Cheeseless “Cheezy” Enchiladas Verde (from my own brain, recipe & instructions will be included in a future post)

Halibut & Cucumber Sandwich (using leftovers) – looks a little boring, but was really tasty:

Vegan Mac-n-Cheese (this too will be discussed further in a future post, stay tuned!)

And as for adventures in fitness lately:

This is an area I realize I’ve not been discussing as much on the blog, since so much has been food based.  Yes, I still workout!   :)   I’ve been getting back to basics in my weight training again, focusing on bigger compound moves like deadlifts, free weight squats, weighted lunges, full push-ups, etc.  For cardio, I’ve only been getting one really decent run in per week outdoors with one of my clients, and the rest of it has been iron yoga or hill walking on the trails by our neighborhood.  Today I did a 4 mile power walk as a “socialcize” session.  Tomorrow will be weight training.  Thursday will be an outdoor hilly interval run.  It’s SO dark in the mornings already – today at 6:00 AM the sun still hadn’t peeked it’s head out yet.  It bums me out because I LOVE to wake up to early sunshine – it makes it so much easier to feel like getting up and getting your workout it.  When it’s dark, my body feels like it’s getting out of bed way before it should and I just don’t feel ‘with it’ until the sun is shining in the sky.

Are you feeling the effects of the shorter days and fall-like weather yet? I think that’s why I’ve been making things like the food you see above… the enchiladas, mac-n-cheese.  Craving healthified versions of good ol’ comfort foods!

Well friends, this was a long one so if you’re still reading :) thanks for making it to the end of the post!  I hope you are having a SUPER day and I’ll see you next time!

– Shari B. =)

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Battle of the (Black Bean) Brownies

Sep 2

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, vegan | 7 Comments

Doesn’t this look delicious?

How about this one?  mmmm… no drooling on your keyboard or iPhone now!

I promised in the Craving Sweets post that I would be back to share my experience with two different recipes for Black Bean Brownies.  I first tried a black bean brownie a few months back and I was instantly smitten with this healthier alternative to a regular brownie.  This past week, the summer intern at our office had his last day, and I wanted to bring something in to share, so I figured it would be the perfect opportunity for these intriguing brownies to be taste-tested!

The recipe used for the first brownie pictured above (with the nuts) comes from one of my favorite blogs, No Meat Athlete.  Matt’s sister Christine is a fabulous baker and I knew it would be her recipe I had to try for this round of Battle of the Brownies.  It is completely vegan and therefore dairy-free and egg-free.  It is not gluten-free, as it does contain whole wheat flour.

The recipe used for the second brownie pictured comes from a site called Happy Herbivore.  I’ve made this recipe a few times in the past with great success.  It too is vegan, with no dairy or eggs.  It also contains no flour and uses oats and bananas as its base.

The NMA brownie comes out truly like a brownie, with a great cakey texture (below, on the left).  The HH brownie is denser with a definite banana flavor, and a dense almost fudge-like consistency (below, right).

I tried to stay very true to each recipe to be fair to the chefs who created them, other than not having a couple of ingredients and making those adjustments.

Christine’s NMA brownie calls for hazelnuts, and I couldn’t find them ANYWHERE in the store, so I chose to use raw crushed cashews on the top.  Also I didn’t have the instant decaf coffee, so I brewed up some decaf and used it in place of the water in the recipe.

In the HH brownie, I used half carob powder and half cocoa powder, did NOT add the optional raw sugar and used ground old fashioned oats in lieu of instant.

Both are super alternatives for having a homemade dessert to snack on when the chocolate cravings strike!

So which one won?

From a taste perspective, Christine’s NMA brownie won.  Many in the office really liked the NMA brownie cake texture, while some preferred the HH banana bread flavor of the denser brownie.  Personally my vote on taste alone was the NMA brownie, hands down.  Actually to a fault!  Because I had to put the remaining NMA brownies in the freezer as I was having a hard time keeping my hands off!  MSP also voted for the NMA brownie, but said that next time I make them I can cut back on the sugar.

From a nutritional profile perspective (and if you are in a weight loss program) I’d be more inclined to recommend the HH ones.  The raw sugar is optional (which I didn’t use), and the amount of agave in the recipe is negligible.  The main ingredients are bananas, beans and oats, whereas the NMA brownies use a fair amount of raw sugar and whole wheat.

In my opinion, I think you should try them BOTH!  And definitely take them to your next social gathering – telling people that the main ingredient is BLACK BEANS is definitely a conversation starter!  You really won’t believe it till you try them – you don’t even know the beans are there!

Enjoy a little chocolate (and black bean) decadence this holiday weekend!

– Shari B. =)

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