Hey everyone!
Well, my quest for finding a fun new veggie didn’t turn up anything. King Soops only had ‘normal veggies’ so I at least bought a veggie that I haven’t had in a long time: cauliflower. (Looks like a trip to Whole Paycheck Foods is in order to find the fun stuff! Better leave the credit card at home…!)
Back when the South Beach Diet first came out, there was one recipe that quickly became ‘famous’ from that program and that was using cauliflower to create a dish that resembled mashed potatoes. The ingredients in the South Beach version include a couple of dairy products, and while I don’t shun dairy completely, I will find ways to minimize or avoid things made from cow’s milk when I can.
Here is my twist on the original recipe of what I like to call Mashed Faux-tatoes:
- 12 oz package of cauliflower florets
- 2 tbs MimicCreme
- 1 tbs nutritional yeast flakes (approximate – use to your own taste)
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Steam the cauliflower until tender (I used the steamable microwave bag, 3-4 minutes on high). Place steamed cauliflower in a food processor and begin pureeing. Add the MimicCreme and continue pureeing until you have the consistency of mashed potatoes (a few minutes max). Add nutritional yeast, sea salt and pepper to taste then run the processor for a few seconds more to thoroughly mix all the ingredients.
This makes a pretty small batch (essentially a single serving) since I am the only one in my house that will eat cauliflower. Adjust your batch size as needed if you have veggie eaters in your house.
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Before my trip I’d ordered the MimicCreme to have on hand when I returned. I’d planned to use it in my coffee but learned that it can also replace cream in most recipes, which is why I’d decided to try it in the faux-tatoes before giving it a thumbs up or down. I’ve been searching for something to use in my daily coffee other than fat-free liquid Coffeemate and thought this might be the solution. I tried it for the first time yesterday. I had to use a fair amount to get the level of lightness in my coffee plus a full pack of Stevia as this ‘cream’ is unsweetened. It does give a very creamy taste to my coffee and it worked great in the cauliflower, so I’d say it’s a definite thumbs up! Which is good, seeing how I had to order a package of SIX from Amazon!
My Tuesday started with my Denver mug, in honor of being home!
I woke up hungry so had 1 cup of Kashi GoLean cereal with some almond milk.
Then I took the dogs out together for their wog. We did 2.5 miles – Riley got really tired right at 2 miles and kept stopping to lay in the grass, so we cut the loop really short. I’d been aiming to get them out for 4 miles but I need to remember that in dog years she’s like 70 and so I need to take it easier on her. That was the extent of my ‘planned’ exercise and the rest was running stairs from the 2nd floor to the basement floor with laundry and massive unpacking!
After wogging I had a scoop of Chocolate Vega mixed with almond milk.
For lunch I was in the mood for a veggie wrap. This one started with a warm whole wheat tortilla, smeared with Tofutti. I sprinkled pepitas on, then added sliced avocado, sliced tomato, alfalfa sprouts, sea salt and pepper. For crunch I added a few Baked Lays on the side. It was so good… I might have to have another one for today’s lunch too! But maybe with some fauxtatoes on the side. 
Afternoon snack was a delicious lemon flavored Larabar. And some hot green tea.
For dinner I ate my leftover Chipotle bowl (rice, black beans, fajita veggies, pico de gallo, and corn salsa) with a spinach salad on the side.
I’m working on getting the recipe page going since I had a few requests for that before I left for my trip, so you should see that coming soon!
Have a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY! Still looking to hear some comments on your favorite interesting veggies or a veggie you’ve never tried but wanted to! I like to eat pickled beets, but have never tried them any other way, so that’s one that I’d like to purchase and prepare myself to see how it goes. My most recent new veggie was fennel, which I tried because I heard that it tastes like licorice and it actually kind of does!
– Shari B. =)
