Luckey's Lunch

TWO For The Price of ONE!

2010-11-11T22:45:00.008-05:00

So I was chatting with a friend the other day about my blog. I told her that I had pictures for 2 meals that I had made months ago and I never got around to uploading and so forth. Well.... turns out I was mistaken. I, in fact, have 4 random meals from the past! These next two recipes are simple and fast (almost no prep!) - GREAT for a weeknight dinner!

First off we have ANOTHER PIZZA! This time it's a pesto pizza. I started out with a whole wheat prebaked crust and spread a layer of store prepared pesto on top.

The toppings for this pizza include fresh tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, green bell pepper, and red onions.

I top my pizza with the veggies, spread some feta cheese on top, pop it in the oven for about 10 - 15 minutes and DING: dinner is served. I usually pair these quick pizzas with a salad. This meal took me a total of 25 minutes from start to finish! Not too shabby!

Next is another trusted recipe from allrecipes.com. Cheese ravioli with tomato and artichoke sauce. (I LOVE ARTICHOKES!) The recipe calls for fresh tomatoes, but to speed things up I used an undrained can of diced tomatoes. To start things out I prep my artichokes and some green onions. I then start to saute all the sauce ingredients which include tomatoes, artichokes, green onions, garlic, salt and pepper. (I added some Italian seasoning to the mix as well.) This is a very simple sauce that was super tasty!

I boil some prepackaged cheese ravioli while the sauce simmers.

Once the ravioli is finished, I drain the water out and mix in half of the tomato and artichoke sauce.

Final steps include plating the pasta, adding some more sauce to the top, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese! Everyone in the house liked this meal. Matt said I could make it any time I want! I also paired this pasta with a simple salad (my go-to). This meal took me about 25 minutes to complete.

More meals to come! (Maybe.... I start the new term on Tuesday. Hopefully I can find some time for at least one more post this weekend!)

Adventures In Pizza, Take 3

2010-11-09T12:13:00.007-05:00

My apologies for being such a slacker-blogger. Nursing school is in full swing lately and that along with family takes up most of my time! Therefore cooking in general has been placed on the back burner and with the exception of my toaster-oven-lunch-food-creations, I haven't had much to share!

This post is comprised of a White Bean and Spinach Pizza I made a couple of months ago. Since the kitchen has been closed most days, when I do cook I have been trying to focus on healthy options. This recipe was found on the site eatingbetteramerica. They send out e-newsletters and this recipe caught my eye! I LOVE pizza - and if it is sans the red sauce, I am more than willing to try it!

I start out with the food processor (next to the spatula - it's my favorite kitchen tool). I mix together white kidney beans, garlic and fresh ground black pepper. I also added some water to help with the dryness factor.

I spread the white bean and garlic mixture on a prebaked pizza crust (Boboli). Next comes a sprinkle of dried oregano.

I then top the pizza with fresh baby spinach and some sliced sun dried tomatoes.

And finally the cheese goes on top!

The pizza goes in the oven and comes out beautifully! My only complaint is that it was a bit on the dry side. The beans were the culprit. I'm not sure what could be done to remedy this problem besides using less bean mix on the pizza. I also thought some type of dipping sauce could fix the problem. But the type of sauce is beyond me at the moment. Maybe just a simple marinara?

I am off school this week so I am hoping to post some more food-fun! Last night we made mini black bean nacho pizzas (very VERY tasty) and I also whipped up a batch of vegetarian tortilla soup for lunches this week. Later this week I'll be making Italian quesadillas, vegetarian melts, and Matt and I are going to try and recreate Myra's Dionysus's Spicy Black Beans and Rice (we all dig black beans in my family). We'll see if I can get one or more posts up this week!

HAPPY COOKING!

Your Beef and Broccoli Substitute!

2010-04-27T08:40:00.007-04:00

Are you on the Meatless Monday's bandwagon yet? If your answer is no - why the heck not? Not only has my weekly grocery bill gone down since going full-time veg, I no longer suffer from daily heart burn or cramping and gas (yeah - I know you wanted to know that!) Any-who, I have been trying to take it a step further lately and healthi-fy my family's meals, 'cause everyone knows a can of Coke and a Snickers bar is "vegetarian". It also has to do with the fact that I am never home for dinner now - so when I am - I want to try and make it the best meal possible. Being in nursing school kind of makes you want to be a better person as well! I mean sheesh - I am learning about our bodies and how they work, what kind of risk factors different types/sexes/ethnicitys people have - and it makes you want to be a better person! A better person for my patients, for my family, for myself! Just take 2 short minutes to browse through my medical dictionary - the pictures alone will make you want to change your lifestyle to the healthiest possible, in hopes that you won't develop or catch some of the scariest looking medical problems you have ever seen!

So, in my quest to make a healthier dinner, I came across the site eatbetteramerica.com, (suggested by my Aunt Mary Jo actually - she also suggested the avocado soup that turned out yummy). Yeah, sure, it's a General Mills website (so you know there's an agenda), but at least they are trying, right? AND - if you are coupon-wiz, there are tons of coupons to download and print! On this site you will find your regular-run-of-the-mill healthy recipes, and there are also "healthified" recipes, taking old favorites and substituting a few ingredients to make it nutritionally better!

The following recipe is a stir fry - Portobello-Broccoli Stir-Fry that I found in the 30-minutes or less section. And YES! It took less than 30 minutes to prepare (I hate it when it actually takes longer than the stated time because of all the veggie-prep - but this one was true to it's word!) Now that I have eaten it (obviously - lol) it reminded me of a beef and broccoli dish I used to get for Chinese take-out. Reading the reviews on the site confirms this thought as well! Okay - first things first : I make up the sauce so it can meld a bit before I add it to the dish. The sauce was simple, but I did make some changes - I used everything in the recipe - water, soy sauce, hoisin sauce (found in the Asian isle of any well-stocked supermarket, I got mine at Biggs), cornstarch and honey. My family likes rich and bold flavors, so I doubled the hoisin and honey, and added a couple extra shakes of soy sauce as well.

Then it was time to wash and cut the vegetables. Onions, portobello mushrooms, red bell peppers, and broccoli! Really this is a great combo for any stir fry!

I get out my wok and let it pre-heat. I also spray it with some nonstick spray (instead of using oil). This makes the recipe "healthier" as I am not using large amounts of oil to saute the veggies. I start out by sauteing the onions, mushrooms, and red bell pepper first along with some minced garlic.

Once the onions and peppers have started to soften (about 5 minutes) I add the broccoli and about 1/4 cup of water and then I cover the wok with the lid. This is a steaming/stir frying technique that I had never tried before but it worked out really well! I keep the cover on the veggies for about 5 more minutes, or until the broccoli has turned bright green and has softened ever so slightly.

After the veggies have been softened (but not too soft!) I add the hoisin sauce mix. I let this cook for about 2 minutes tops and we are ready to eat!

If you didn't notice, there is not a picture of rice being prepared, that's because I was already-ready this particular day. A lot of times when I make rice, I will make a double batch and put the plain leftovers in the fridge. Rice will keep for a while in your fridge and it's super easy to reheat in the microwave!

The verdict - VERY TASTY! I will say though - next time I am going to add some crushed red pepper flakes to give it a kick!

If you are ready to get on the Meatless Mondays (or Tuesdays, or Thursdays, or whenever) bandwagon, and you want to try something familiar and not too out there, make this stir fry your go-to for the first week! You won't be disappointed!!!

Stuffed Then Baked Bread! aka - CALZONES!!!

2010-04-14T21:06:00.006-04:00

So... obviously it's been forever, but I have a good excuse! My school keeps me busier than ever. Plain and simple! But, I'm back... for now... Next term is going to be super-crazy! Hopefully it will go by both quickly and successfully (just like the first one)!

This calzone recipe was actually made back in January (YEAH - that's how life has been!) Being on break this week, I finally got around to editing and uploading the pictures on blogger! The calzones turned out really tasty! Probably because they HAD to! It has a 4.5/5 from 442 reviews! It better be good! LOL! So - first things first I make the dough - yeast, water, sugar, salt and flower. I knead it once it's been mixed, and then let it rise for about 45 minutes.

About 30 minutes into the rise, I get the fillings ready. Yeah - that's pepperoni. But that's why calzones are soooo good! Everyone can have their choice of filling! Besides the pepperoni, I also had on hand spinach, mushrooms, onions, and jalapenos! That's another reason why calzones are great: just fill them with any and all leftovers around the kitchen!

I changed up the cheese just a little bit from the original recipe. I used part skim ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning in place of the basil. I also didn't mix all the veggies (and meat for Ronnie and Matt) with the cheese. Next time I will though! That would have been better than my layering technique.

Once the dough has risen, I flatten it out...

And separate it into four "equal" pieces. (Equal is not easy! LOL!)

Next, I roll the dough into "circles". (HAHA - that's not easy either! You can tell I'm not a baker.)

And then my favorite part of any calzone - the fillings! Like I said, I will mix the cheese and veggies together next time. It was more of a logistical reason this first time. (I didn't want pepperoni in mine!) But I think the final product would have been even better if I had gone for a mix! So I'll just make that happen next time.

I close the the calzone and push the edges with a fork to make a seal. Finally I brush the top with some olive oil.

And there they are! Ready to go in the oven! I marked the vegetarian ones with jalapenos - super easy and super smart!

While the calzones are baking I heat up some marinara sauce for dipping! YUM! This is also the time that everyone at the Luckey-Meyer house is getting anxious to eat the calzones that make the kitchen smell yummy! (Ronnie LOVED these - they're great for the entire family!)

30 minutes have passed, we made some salads to go along with our calzones, and dinner is served!

These were a bit time consuming but super easy to make! I made them on a Sunday, so I had plenty of time for dinner. I think the next time you need something to please everyone on a weekend - these calzones are the way to go!

HUNGRY!

2010-04-14T18:18:00.002-04:00

I think it's about time for another post.... What do you think?

I'll get right on that!!!!

Green Soup! (But not the kind you're thinking of.)

2010-01-24T23:13:00.005-05:00

While checking up on family and friends on facebook, I saw that my aunt had posted a recipe that she wanted to try, Avocado Soup, from GMA's 10 Things You Should Eat. Being the avocado-lover that I am, I was instantly curious. After looking over the ingredients and directions, I decided this would be a perfect weekend lunch for my family, and with a few tweaks, Matt and I (not so much Ronnie - too "green" for him) GREATLY ENJOYED this awesome avocado soup!

First things first, the leek. For those of you that have never worked with leeks, it's basically like working with a really big green onion. Seriously, it's super easy and don't let the unknown intimidate you with this vegetable. I cut off both the rooted end and the tough green ends of my leek. I then cut the leek right down the middle, and proceed to chop. TIP - You'll find that leeks have hidden mud and dirt in them once you start chopping, so I always save the wash for after I am done chopping by soaking it in a bowl of water for a minute (to loosen the dirt) and then rinsing in a colander afterwards.

When I am done prepping my leek, I prep my other vegetables, a few celery stalks and a white onion.

I follow the directions by heating some olive oil in my soup pot, but I also add a bit of minced garlic to the olive oil. Once it is hot, I add the leeks, celery, and onion to saute for about 8 minutes.

While the veggies are getting soft, I cube and mash a large avocado.

Once the veggies have been softened, I add the bay leafs, coriander, and cumin. I actually used about a whole teaspoon of cumin and though this version turned out tasty - next time I am going to add some chili powder at this point as well. I give the seasoning about 2 minutes to get hot before I add the remaining ingredients.

Now it's time to add the vegetable broth (called for chicken broth, but obviously I changed that), the mashed avocado, and lime juice.

Instead of the ten minutes suggested, I let my soup go for about 20 minutes. It's kind of cool to see that as it heats, the avocado kind of disintegrates and starts to turn the soup a nice green color. When I am ready to serve, I remove the soup from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Finally, I ladle the soup up and top it with some cilantro (all I had was dried at the time) and chopped green onions. We paired this soup with one of those pull-apart cheddar loaves you get from the bakery. YUM! Super good to dip in the soup.

For the easiness and healthy factors of this soup - it is definitely a keeper! As stated before, I'll add some chili powder next time. TRY IT! Leeks? Avocados? Don't let it distract you from this awesome find!

TOUCHDOWN!!!

2010-01-17T21:55:00.007-05:00

Busy, busy, busy!!!! The holidays combined with working and going to school make it hard for me to keep the blog current. My apologies to anyone out there in cyberspace that likes to check up on Luckey's Lunch regularly. I will say this though - after today's post, I just have to upload some pictures and I'll have two more posts ready to go (an avocado soup and calzones from scratch). So check back for those soon!

I know the Super Bowl is coming up, so I thought I would post a few appetizers I have made lately that are truly crowd pleasers. First one up - Cowboy Caviar. This is actually a combination of two recipes where I only took the ingredients that suited my tastes. I just made this for a birthday party this past weekend and it was a hit!!! I had several people ask me for the recipe! So - here it is people!

Cowboy Caviar, Luckey's Style

1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can of black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 to 1 cup of frozen corn (depending on how much you like corn), thawed and patted dry
1/2 chopped onion
1 (4oz) can of diced jalapeno peppers
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup of Zesty Italian dressing
1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 avocados

In a medium bowl, combine the beans, peas, corn, onion, jalapeno peppers, and tomatoes. Season with the Italian dressing, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Right before serving, cube the avocados and add them into the bean mix. Serve with tortilla chips. ENJOY!

Next up is a twist on your average artichoke dip, Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Dip (<--- click on the name for the recipe). Instead of using spinach, this one adds in roasted red peppers and leeks. As you might have guessed, I spied this recipe from allrecipes.com and followed the recipe pretty closely. All I did differently was add some minced garlic to the hot oil and added about 2 more tablespoons of mayo. This is something GREAT to make up ahead (minus the baking), stick it in the fridge till you're ready to pop it in the oven and eat! I served this particular dip with plain pita chips, though I think next time getting the parmesan or garlic style ones would be AWESOME!

And finally for your Super Bowl party needs, whats a party if there is no chip dip!?!?! Green Onion and Ranch Dip is a PERFECT pick! Once again, allrecipes.com was the source of this find and WOW! This dip packs a green onion punch - but the good kind. I followed the recipe exactly and I mixed everything really well in my food processor. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever buy chip dip again because not only was it packed with good flavor, it was super easy to make too!!! I served this dip with carrot and celery sticks, along with ruffled potato chips. Pretzels would be good too!

See - you thought you would be stressing about what to make for your Super Bowl party... Not anymore!!! Try them out for yourself, I promise that people will be asking for the recipes!!!

Till next time - have a fun party!

Feliz Navidad!

2009-12-14T23:46:00.000-05:00

Luckey's Lunch LOVES Mexican food! There is no getting around it! I will take every opportunity I can to try out a veggie-fied Mexican dish. This post consists of Black Bean Soft Tacos and Mexican Rice!

To start the dish out I heat some oil in a skillet and add the rice to brown. The rice takes about 45 minutes to complete and is the longest part, so I start this out right away!

While the rice is browning I add some salt and cumin powder. I let this keep going for about 10 minutes.

I then stir in some chopped onions and cook about 5 minutes more.

After the onion has been softened I add in tomato sauce and vegetable broth, bring it to a boil, cover and let it simmer for about 25 minutes, keeping the lid on the entire time.

As I am getting the rice started, I also prep the black bean soft tacos. As I usually like to do, I get all my spices and herbs together. This particular recipe uses chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, garlic powder, and freshly ground pepper. I also drain and rinse two cans of black beans, slice an avocado, and chop an onion.

I start out by cooking the onions and some minced garlic in my wok. I LOVE my wok! If you don't have one, I HIGHLY recommend it! It is completely versatile and works great when I need a large, deep skillet.

When the onions are soft, I add in everything else: black beans, a can of diced (undrained) tomatoes, a can of chopped green chilies, and my collection of spices and herbs.

Everything gets mixed together well and then cooked together for about 10 minutes. If it wasn't for the rice, this might be one of the fastest home cooked meals ever attempted (and it's tasty too!)

Once the beans are done, the rice is ready to go and I fluff it with a fork.

Onto a warmed tortilla the bean mixture goes - and I top it with some shredded cheese and avocado slices. If you are thinking about skipping the avocado - DON'T!!! This adds such a great soft and creamy texture to the taco, they wouldn't be as good without it! The Mexican rice also keeps well in the fridge and makes GREAT leftovers!

I can honestly say this is a meal Ronnie really likes. So much so that during dinner he'll make comments like "This is delicious!" and "MmmMMM!" If Ronnie likes it - you will too! Guaranteed!!!

So.... holidays, school, work, football season... Life has just been one big whirl of activities! We'll see what it allows me to come up with next!? (Maybe when would be more appropriate!)

Happy Holidays and have fun in the kitchen this season!

Some Like It HOT, (with a little bit of fungus on the side)

2009-12-03T22:53:00.001-05:00

Oh. My. Gosh. Life has been a bit nonstop since I have started school back up... Hence why this is my first post in a couple of weeks. But, as promised, here I am with a Luckey's Lunch original, Jalapeno Melts. No, this is not your average healthy vegetarian sandwich, but it sure is tasty, and as you might of guessed from the name, this sandwich can pack some heat!

When we were in Florida earlier this year, we ate at a steak house that advertised $14.99 prime rib dinners on Thursdays only (ya know, we were sitting on the beach and spied a plane pulling a banner?). So, knowing my fiance, we were headed there that night. It actually ended up being this really fancy place, we were entirely underdressed, but how were we supposed to know that from a banner on the beach?! Anyway - the reason for my story was they had these burgundy mushrooms that were to-die-for! Wow! I wish I could eat some right now! So I have been craving these mushrooms ever since. I found a marinated mushroom recipe and decided to try it. Instead of serving them cold, I served them right away and they were tasty! Not as good as the ones in Florida... but an acceptable substitute!

To start out the mushrooms, I mix in a sauce pan red wine vinegar, olive oil, sliced onions, salt, parsley, dry mustard, brown sugar and garlic.

When the mixture has begun to boil, I add in petite button mushrooms. I let this go on low throughout the entire preparation of the meal. (About 25 minutes total.)

Now it's time to start the melts. I am making just two sandwiches here and to do that I need about 1/2 of a small onion sliced cooking in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil and minced garlic.

While the onions are caramelizing, I slice sour dough bread for the sandwiches. Sure, you could use any type, but the sour dough really is the way to go!!! I always have a hard time finding sliced sour dough at the grocery, so I usually just buy it from the bakery.

By this time, the onions for the melts are ready to come out of the skillet. I usually set them aside on a paper towel lined plate. Now it's time to start cooking the "burgers". When I want a "normal" burger taste, I ALWAYS go for these - Morning Star Farms Grillers Original (or the Grillers Prime, those are good too). Matt and I have, in the past, tricked traditional meat-eaters with these burgers. Not only do they have a very distinct meaty-taste, the texture is pretty right on as well.

So, into the skillet the burgers go! They are really simple to cook if you have never ventured in veggie-burger land before. Just flip them every few minutes until they are browned!

I take a quick peak at the mushrooms and they are looking good!!! A nice pleasant vinegary smell is starting to fill the room and I am okay with that!

Okay, now, as the burgers are going, I prep my bread. These are melts, so there is going to be some frying involved. I butter one side of the bread (that will be the outside) and spread mayo on the opposite. I stack the bread so it's easy to handle and doesn't smear butter or mayo all over the place. I also get out my flat skillet and warm it up for the melting time.

The assembly of the sandwiches is quite simple. Bread (butter side down), mayo, burger, pepperjack cheese, grilled onions, sliced jalapenos, mayo, bread (butter side up)!

Flipping these sandwiches takes a little practice and/or skill. I've made them so many times, its no big deal any more. (Ronnie's cheese and pickle only burger is on the left, the jalapeno melts are way too hot for him.)

The mushrooms are ready to go at this point, along with the melts. All there is to do now is plate up and eat!

MMMmmmMMMmmm.... yummy, gooey, spicy jalapeno melt!!! This is a truly quick and easy dinner. Try it on a busy week night for sure!

As I said before, these mushrooms were really good. I want to make them again and actually follow the direction by chilling them and then I'll probably add them to a salad or something.

Hopefully I can keep school work under control and the posts will be become normal again! Till next time friends!!!

After a long search, I finally found one!

2009-11-17T23:36:00.007-05:00

I am embarrassing myself a bit here and admitting that I never had Indian food till I met my fiance. Yeah, I know - a Cincinnati native where there are Indian restaurants on every corner downtown and on the east side... But somehow I never got around to trying it.

For our first official date out (2 years and 9 months ago - crazy how time moves), Matt took me to Clifton's Ambar India on Ludlow and ever since then I have been completely hooked! Seriously, I feel like I could eat there at least once a week, but my pocketbook won't allow it as the prices aren't that cheap! So, not too long ago I thought I would try preparing Indian food myself. My first attempt went horribly wrong and it was a long time till I tried it again. Trying recipe after recipe, I could never get the authentic taste to happen in my own kitchen. Then I found this recipe: Spicy Vegan Potato Curry. Not only does this recipe give me that Indian flavor that I have grown to love, it is also SUPER easy (it's almost no prep - you only chop potatoes and onions), and SUPER tasty! I serve the curry over rice and have nan bread on the side for the extra sauce!!!

To start out, I cube about 5 potatoes and boil them in salted water for about 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, I heat some olive oil in my wok (woks: not just for Chinese food!) and add 1 medium chopped onion and a couple spoonfuls of minced garlic.

Here is something kind of different I like to do, when preparing a recipe that requires a lot of spices, I like to get them all measured and mixed together in a small dish so I am not reaching for different things in my cabinet while also trying to measure and stir. It just seems to make the job a lot easier for me when I am trying to do 7 different things at once. Here you'll find all the different spices that make this curry wonderful: cumin, cayenne, curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and salt. It really is a perfect combination for a homemade curry!

Once the onions are tender, I add the entire mix of spices. I let the spices cook together for about 5 minutes before I add the remaining ingredients. Be sure you keep the mixture moving in the pot, otherwise it starts to stick and burn, which is never good!

The first addition to the curry in an undrained can of diced tomatoes.

After the tomatoes have been mixed in, I add in a can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, and about 3/4th's cup of thawed and drained frozen peas. This is also about the time I drain my potatoes in the colander...

And then I dump those into the curry mix! Mmmm - potatoes! The kitchen is really starting to smell good as everything starts to cook together. Also - while all of this is going on, I am cooking some rice as well (didn't think a picture of cooked rice was necessary).

I mix everything quite well, and some of the soft potatoes start to mash a little - you want this! It helps make the curry have a nice creamy texture!

And now for the final touch - I add a 14 oz can of coconut milk. If you are planning on making this (and quite frankly you are silly if you don't) DO NOT, and I repeat DO NOT substitute regular milk. The coconut milk is key to the curry's texture and flavor. I let this all simmer for about 10 more minutes and then it is time for dinner!!!

As I stated before, I serve this curry over rice with some nan on the side. This particular recipe makes a HUGE batch. Enough for Matt and I to have dinner and lunch the next day, along with freezing some for later. I cannot be more serious when I say this dish is FABULOUS! If you are like me and have failed at Indian cuisine before - try this tonight and I promise it will be a win!!!

Next post, a truly original Luckey's Lunch sandwich - Jalapeno Melts!!! See ya soon! (And wish me luck! I started the new term at Cincinnati State yesterday!)

You Knew It Was Only a Matter of Time...

2009-11-10T21:18:00.014-05:00

I love pizza! It's always a fast way to get dinner on the table, leftovers are tasty, and the possibilities are endless! When it comes to making pizzas, I am a bit of a rebel. Rarely do I make your standard tomato sauce and mozzarella pizza. I am always up for trying unusual and surprising toppings. So I was feeling like pizza last week, but I wasn't feeling particularly creative. I skimmed through allrecipes.com (go figure) and found this Caramelized Onion and Gorgonzola Pizza. To add some veggies to my meal, I paired the pizza with this Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing.

I pretty much followed the recipes exactly, only making small changes here and there and I will note them as I go along. To start out, I slice one large sweet vidalia onion.

After heating a bit of olive oil in a warm skillet I add the entire onion to start the caramelizing process. This takes a total of about 20-25 minutes.

As the onions are doing their thing in the skillet, I have Ronnie spread the pizza crust out on a cookie sheet for a little pre-bake and I start to prepare the salads. To save some time, I did not make the homemade lemon poppyseed dressing the recipe calls for. I used bottled dressing instead - and I have to say it was still a mighty tasty salad!

I top some romaine lettuce with shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, and raisins (I didn't have any dried cranberries on hand - so I figured raisins are an okay substitute!) You'll notice Ronnie's salad in the back - he would never go for all this stuff on his salad (though he would totally eat all of it on it's own - it's a mixing thing possibly)... I guess I am lucky he eats salad at all!

This part isn't in the original recipe, but I felt like the pizza needed some type of base... So I brush a light coating of olive oil on the crust after it comes out of the "pre-baking" stage. I pre-bake my crust for about 6 minutes allowing for a crispier crust in the end!

Once the onions start to brown I add a little over 1 teaspoon of sugar and let the onions cook for a couple more minutes. When I first saw this part, I was like, WHAT!? Sugar? But seriously, it worked out great and I wouldn't skip this part!

I spread the now fully caramelized onions over my pizza crust... Notice Ronnie's corner: onion-free! I laugh with Matt all the time how as Ronnie gets older I am sure I'll be the talk as the mom who makes all the weird food in the neighborhood... Oh well! They don't know what they're missing!

Per some suggestions I read about in the review section of the recipe, I halved the gorgonzola cheese, only topping it with about 4.5 oz. Then I stick it in the oven for about 8 more minutes.

While the pizza is in the oven I chop my pear and apple and add it to the salad!

When the time is up I remove the pizza from the oven. The cheese is nice and melted, the crust is a perfect shade of brown and we are all getting hungry!

Topping the salad with the bottled poppyseed dressing and mixing it all together is my final step before we all dig in! What a tasty meal! Thoughts: The pizza really was fabulous! The taste was very unique BUT the next time I make this I will prepare it for like a party appetizer or snack by cutting it into smaller, easy to handle, squares. It just wasn't satisfying enough to be a meal-type pizza - but Matt and I enjoyed it a lot so I definitely want to make it again, just in a different setting. The salad was AWESOME! Even Matt, who doesn't normally like "fruity" salad or poppyseed dressing, really enjoyed it and asked me to make it again soon!

I start classes up again next week.... I have to be honest and say I am not 100% looking forward to it. I took a break from the early fall term and now I am spoiled again! BUT - we are going to Pittsburgh this weekend to watch Notre Dame (hopefully) kick some Panther butt! Should be a fun weekend! I am making a mock tuna salad for the tailgating. I am excited about that too!

My next post will be a spicy vegan potato curry I have been making for a while now. It is so good and easy, anyone can make curry with this recipe! Get ready for it!

Comfort Food For a Monday Night!

2009-11-02T22:15:00.009-05:00

I am an avid list maker. I make grocery lists, menu lists for a week's worth of food, to-do lists, gift-shopping lists, if there is a list to be made - I am in the shadows making it (or out in the open sometimes - I'm crazy like that!) Anyway - wanting to make something Italian for dinner soon (because it's Ronnie's favorite and a sure way to make him eat up all of his dinner) while making my grocery list I couldn't decide on a lasagna or manicotti. Manicotti won after asking some people for their opinions and HERE WE GO: Manicotti comin' right at cha!

This manicotti is extremely simple and actually comes together fairly quickly. I paired the manicotti with a new garlic bread recipe I spied on allrecipes.com, Roasted Garlic Bread - and YUM-O, am I glad I did! To start the meal out, I cut the top halves off of 3 bulbs of garlic. Sprinkle them with a bit of olive oil, and just as the recipe says, stick them in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. This is also when I open the window in the kitchen - though it smells pretty good - roasting garlic can be a bit over-powering to sensitive noses! I then can move onto preparing the manicotti.

My filling for manicotti involves a pint of ricotta cheese, 2 cups of mozzarella, a handful of parmesan, an egg, half of a finely chopped red onion, garlic powder, basil, oregano, a bit of parsley, and a few twists from my black pepper mill. No need to add salt, the tomato sauce has plenty of it for the whole meal.

One thing I did not take a picture of, (because really, who wants another boring picture of pasta boiling), are the manicotti noodles. For this particular recipe, I only cook the manicotti noodles about halfway (5 minutes tops). This allows for a sturdier noodle when filling it with cheese, and the time in the oven afterwards is enough to cook the noodles all the way through - plus it's a time saver! Love those!

So - by now the manicotti noodles have been removed from the water and drained and we are ready to start stuffing!!! First things first, I cover the bottom of my 9X13 pan with half of my tomato sauce.

Who says "piping-bags" are just for pastries?!?! NOT ME! Using a big ziplock bag, I fill it with the cheese mixture, cut the corner off and fill my manicotti noodles with ease! Don't make the same mistake I have before by cutting the hole too big - remember the rule (and this is a GREAT rule that can be applied to a lot of different things) you can always take off more but you can never add it back once it's been cut! Anyway - if you cut the hole too big, it ends up taking almost just as long to fill because it gets messy. But if you cut the hole in the corner of the bag slightly smaller, it's really easy to stick it in the noodle - squeeze - and you are filled and ready for the next one! Pretty nifty huh?

I arrange all the noodles in the dish, cover them with the remaining sauce, and top with a bit more parmesan. By this time, the roasted garlic is ready to come out. So I swap the garlic for the manicotti in the oven for about 45 minutes.

I let the garlic sit and cool so it is easy to handle with my bare hands. This is exactly when Ronnie made his way into the kitchen, "mmMMmm - that smells delicious Mama" were his exact words. It really is hard to resist the smell of roasting garlic... too bad for Vampires. So, now that Ronnie likes the smells coming from the kitchen, he is ready and willing to help! We melt a stick of butter in the microwave and once it is done we simply squeeze the bulbs of garlic. The cloves easily plop out of the bulb into the butter and that's pretty nifty too!

Simply following the recipe - our garlic bread topping consists of a stick of melted butter, the 3 bulbs of roasted garlic, a handful of parmesan cheese, and some chopped parsley. We used a fork to mash the garlic cloves and mixed everything together.

A large loaf of french bread is cut into halves and we spread the garlic butter mixture over the two halves. We could already tell at this point that dinner was going to be good!

After washing a few dishes to help Matt out (I'm the cooker (for the most part), he's the dishwasher) the manicotti is ready to come out of the oven. I switch the broiler on and throw (okay - not literally) in the garlic bread.

Almost every time I cook - I learn a little something. Monday night was no exception! Next time I will lower the top rack so my edges don't get burnt by the broiler. It says 5 minutes and I kept a close eye on it and ended up taking it out a little early so I wouldn't totally ruin the bread. Regardless - obviously - it still turned out FANTASTIC!

Serve these up with a salad and you have a GREAT comfort food meal that would be hard not to please everyone! Really easy - a bit time consuming - but well worth it for sure!

I am thinking of switching my picture-provider-uploader-service-whatcha-ma-call-it. Currently I use photobucket - but lately service has been slow and my picture's don't always upload to blogger... Any suggestions? I was thinking of trying picasa?

Till next time! Have fun in the kitchen!!!

The Stir Fry's Alright!

2009-10-26T20:54:00.007-04:00

Stir fry's are a great way to get lots of vegetables into your belly and can be made in a variety of ways. To be honest - this isn't my normal stir fry. I usually like to add soy sauce and teriyaki to the veggies. But as I try to steer my family towards more healthy options, I opted for a stir fry that relies on dried herbs and spices for flavor rather than a sodium-filled sauce. This is an adaptation from a garbanzo bean stir fry I found on, you guessed it, allrecipes.com, (SERIOUSLY - I LOVE that site). To cater to my family's likes and dislikes I changed things up a bit. Needless to say, neither Ronnie or Matt were the biggest fans of my healthier-option stir fry - I on the other hand enjoyed it enough to think it was good enough for my blog! So, it just depends on your preferences and if you like the fresher taste of lightly seasoned vegetables over rice, this is your stir fry.

To start out I prep the vegetables, washing a chopping a red onion....

A zucchini....

And some mushrooms...

I open a can of garbanzo beans and rinse them in a colander.

Once all the prep is done, this really is a fast and easy meal to get together. Once olive oil is warm in the wok, I add minced garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil.

After about 5 minutes, I add the onions, zucchini and garbanzo beans to the oil mix. I let this cook until the veggies are starting to soften while stirring every few minutes.

On the left of me I boil some water and add two bags of brown rice. I'm not proud, I have been known to use the rice bags - they are easy and fast!!! I really need to invest in a rice cooker though... I had one, but then returned it because I want one with a timer so I can set it in the morning and have it be ready when I get home... I am still searching for that...

Once the original stir fry veggies are cooked through, I add in the mushrooms, dried cilantro, and a pinch of cayenne pepper for a little kick of flavor.

As the mushrooms start to soften, I add in about 3/4th's of a can of diced tomatoes, undrained.

When the rice is done I drain the bags and return it to the pan, fluffing it with a fork. I plate the rice and then top it with the stir fry mix! Dinner is served!

As I said before, my meat-eating finance and son didn't care that much for the meal - they ate it, but I am pretty sure they want me to try something else next time! I looked at them and said - Welcome to healthy eating suckas!!! LOL - anyway - I enjoyed this meal, and if you want a quick weeknight meal that won't bust your calorie or fat grams for the day - TRY THIS!!! You could do any veggies and play with the herbs and spices yourself! Let me know what you come up with!!!

Feeling a Little South of the Border

2009-10-20T22:43:00.006-04:00

If there is one thing my family can agree on when it comes to food, it's that Mexican food is GOOD! Mexican is also one of the easiest food genre's to veggi-fy! Just replace the meat with some veggies or beans (or both) - and you are good to go! This post is no exception. I stumbled upon something similar on (you guessed it) allrecipes.com, and I decided to change things up a bit and try it. To be honest, Matt loved this so much it completely made his crappy day into rainbows and unicorns... LOL! So if that's not enough to convince you to try it - I don't know what is. To start out I chop all my veggie's for the filling: onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and zucchini.

The original recipe called for roasting the vegetables, but unless it's the weekend - I absolutely cannot be wasting time to get dinner on the table before 7:00 PM! So, instead of roasting the veggies, I used my wok and stir fried them. Letting some olive oil heat up, I add minced garlic to the oil.

Once the olive oil is hot, I add the vegetables. At this point I also add in some chili powder, cumin powder, and fresh ground pepper to the vegetables. My kitchen starts to smell like awesome-ness at this point!

All while the vegetables are in the wok cooking, I am also boiling water, some butter and milk to make instant mashed potatoes! To be honest, I have never made instant mashed potatoes before! Maybe it was my Dad's persistence that my mom make the real ones every time, but it was just something I never ate or made. If I was making this on the weekend, and actually roasting the vegetables, yeah - I would make real mashed potatoes. But to get dinner on the table quickly - I went for the boxed stuff! These potatoes are ALSO going to be for my enchilada filling!

Now that the veggies and the potatoes are done, I combine them in the wok.

Now it's officially time to start assembling the enchiladas. I used canned enchilada sauce and pour one can onto a big plate. I then dip a tortilla into the sauce on both sides. This is usually a pretty messy process and I always have a towel on my shoulder so I can wipe excess food off my fingers.

I then place the tortilla on a plate and add my vegetable mixture and a bit of shredded cheese.

To be honest, if it wasn't for the enchilada sauce, these would be more like burritos. So really, if enchilada sauce isn't your thing, you could easily just make these into burritos and serve with some salsa and sour cream! But, I AM making enchiladas here - So I assemble my filled tortillas into my 9X13 pan.

Once all the tortillas have been assembled, I pour a second can of enchilada sauce over the tortillas and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.

When they are ready to come out, I remove the enchiladas from the oven and let them sit at room temperature for about 5 to 10 minutes. I then scoop them out onto a plate and serve with a dollop of sour cream and some sliced black olives. Like I said before - these turned out FANTASTIC! A great and easy dinner for sure! To make a complete meal serve with some guacamole and chips on the side!!! Also - these are filling!!! And they made a PERFECT lunch the next day at work!

As I stated last time, I am making a stir fry - well I actually did and I took pictures - so that will be my next post for sure! Till then - HAPPY COOKING!

Artichokes, Olives, Capers - OH MY!

2009-10-13T22:36:00.011-04:00

I have been on this artichoke-kick lately. I love them! I can't get enough of them. And I can't wait till my friend Beth decides to make fresh artichokes with all the dipping sauces just like she did for NYE this past year (are you reading this Beth?)

Any-who. Yesterday evening's dinner consisted of, you guessed it, artichokes. This particular meal has a light taste and is great paired with a salad and garlic bread (our staple "Italian sides" in the Luckey-Meyer home). Another great thing about this vegetarian meal - it is so close to NO PREP it almost hurts. The only items you need the cutting board for are the artichokes and parsley. But don't get me wrong - this is just the way I prepared it - you can buy already quartered artichokes! And I have been known to use dried herbs before! So if you really wanted this to be absolutely NO PREP - then by all means - get on it!

To start out, I bring vegetable broth, butter and flour to a boil and lower the heat, letting it simmer till the mixture has thickened up.

While the base of my sauce is thickening, I start to quarter 2 cans of drained and rinsed artichoke hearts. YUM! Not only are artichokes delicious - I think they are the most attractive produce of the bunch! (I really do have a thing for artichokes - LOL!)

Once the sauce has thickened and my artichokes are quartered, I add the artichokes, about a half-a-cup of lemon juice, garlic, and a little bit of parmesan cheese to the sauce.

Yep - the fettuccine looks good as it boils in my big pot!

I continue to let the sauce cook for about 10 minutes. When I am ready to mix in the pasta, I add some parsley and capers right before the end!

Once the pasta is drained, I pour it back into the large pot and I then add the artichoke sauce. I mix the pasta and sauce together, adding a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

I plate up the pasta, garnish it with some black olives, and DINNER IS SERVED! The briney (is that even a word?) flavors of the capers and olives give the subtle artichoke flavor a nice little "oomph". A prefect pair for anytime!

I told you I would be back with a complete meal! Tonight I am making a stir fry! Let's see if I remember to get out the camera!

allrecipes.com, Will You Marry Me?

2009-10-08T07:15:00.004-04:00

So, I don't know what it is... I have been a bit of a slacker in the kitchen. Not so much the actual cooking part, but more like the taking pictures/creating my own food part. The family get-together (almost) two weeks ago was a SUCCESS! We ended up making a Buffalo "Chicken" Pizza, a Veggie Ranch Pizza, the Pizza-Without-The-Red-Sauce, and a meaty pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and onions. But alas... The busy day kept me from taking pictures. Then, just last weekend, we had friends from Columbus stay with us, I made lots of yummy food like a spicy hot Mexican spinach dip and artichoke/eggplant sandwiches, but once again, pictures were not taken.

Maybe it's all the coming and going, maybe it was my son being sick last week (he is MUCH better now - thanks!), but one thing I have been doing - cooking from allrecipes.com and OF COURSE taking pictures of the final product to upload on the site. If I have said it once, I have said it a MILLION times, allrecipes.com is my favorite food site! The recipe database is HUGE and I love the fact that you can upload pictures, rate and review recipes. The reviews are especially handy because you can see what other people have experienced during their attempts to make the recipe.

So, as to not leave my faithful and AWESOME readers waiting any longer, I decided to upload and blog about a few things I have made recently from allrecipes.com. The first recipe I am sharing is the Original Blue Cheese Cole Slaw. For all the meat eaters that read my blog, this recipe was originally paired with a buffalo chicken sandwich (and I thought that sounded really tasty - if it wasn't for the whole vegetarian thing, I would be on that bandwagon!) I served this slaw one Settlers night with jalapeno melts (veggie burgers on sourdough bread with sauteed onions, sliced jalapenos, and pepperjack cheese - a burger that is made quite often at the Luckey-Meyer home). I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out really good! There is only one thing I would caution people about - the next day the blue cheese had taken over the slaw! That is all I could taste at lunch the next day and it was overpowering for my own tastes (which - you know it was strong because I LOVE cheese!) So, my suggestion would be to eat it all the same day!!!

That same Settlers night I also made these Twice-Baked Mashed Potatoes. They are a take on twice-baked potatoes, only instead of putting the potato filling back into the skin, you put it in a baking dish and let it bake with some cheese on top! I did not follow this recipe exactly, as I thought some adjustments were needed to please my particular crowd. Instead of using the green pepper and onion mixture it called for, I used about 5 green onions. I sauteed some garlic with the onion, and of course used fake bacon instead of the real stuff. These turned out better then expected and I will DEFINITELY be making these again and again and again. A bit time consuming, but they do take a little less time than real twice-baked potatoes (because you don't have to stand there stuffing however many individual potatoes), so if I were you, I would give these a try!

Finally, earlier this week I made this Really Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo. I have never attempted a homemade alfredo before, and this one seemed easy enough. Because of my lack of experience with this sort of food, I followed the recipe exactly, only adding some steamed broccoli at the end. Next time (and there will be a next time because this was like one of the easiest dinners ever!) I will cut back on the cream cheese (and by cream cheese, I mean neufchatel of course). Maybe add some more parmesan or try to substitute some with sour cream. I would only do this because the cream cheese was the main flavor in this dish, and that's not really the alfredo flavor I was looking for. Also - another word of caution on leftovers - the next day the sauce had turned clumpy and the taste was almost null. I didn't even finish it to be honest because I felt like I was eating just plain, clumpy noodles.

Next post I will have a complete meal! PROMISE! Till then - Happy Cooking!!!

***Also - QUESTION for all my computer geek friends... So - I am having trouble figuring out how to evenly space my photos, paragraphs and the like on my blog. I am only using the generic posting tools for blogger, but it's funny, because I will evenly space everything on my template, but then when I publish it, everything is all uneven again (as I am sure you have noticed! I promise I am trying to keep a clean blog!!!) HELP!?!?! Anyone?

A Mightier Salad

2009-09-28T16:04:00.006-04:00

To finish off the month of September, as promised, I bring you another tempeh recipe. This one was suggested to me by my good friend and fellow vegetarian Beth: Tempeh and Blue Cheese Salad. This being the first time I have ever made it, I stuck with the recipe's specifics. Next time (as there will be a next time because Matt and I thought this salad was fabulous and it was easy to make) I will make a few changes, and these changes have been noted in my post.

To start the recipe out, I cubed half of a tempeh log. An easy enough first step for sure!

This particular tempeh recipe called for steaming the tempeh for 20 minutes. I am not exactly sure what the point of this step was... The finished product didn't taste any different than my normally sauteed tempeh, and had a similar consistency. Next time I will skip the steaming step and just go straight to the skillet!

While the tempeh was steaming, I began to prepare the dressing. Naturally Light Ranch dressing (the absolute best - you don't even know it's light!), milk, garlic, and dried dill is all this takes. Honestly, I don't think it would change the flavor all that much to cut out all but the milk if you are short on time... The garlic and dill adds a nice touch, but aren't necessary!

When the dressing is done, I move onto the salad fixing's. Diced celery, red peppers, red onion, and a half a can of garbanzo beans get mixed in with the dressing. Next time I will cut down on the garbanzo beans. Though they are a great source of protein, the salad already has tempeh (also protein) and it left me rather full! I couldn't even finish it all! So, yeah - next time less garbanzo beans for me!

Once the tempeh is done steaming, I remove it, pat it dry with a paper towel, and then put it into a preheated skillet with a bit of olive oil. Turning the tempeh every-so-often, once it is browned, I remove it and let it cool for a bit before adding it to the salad.

As the tempeh cools, I mix roughly chopped romaine lettuce into the salad mixture. Next time I will use more of the leafy-green-stuff! Not only was I full by the end of the meal, I was left with a pile of salad filling on my plate...

Finally I mix in the tempeh and crumbled blue cheese. It is now ready to be enjoyed!

I like tempeh, I like salad, and I like blue cheese! All three things together make for a really tasty dinner! I hope everyone has enjoyed September's adventure with tempeh! Don't be afraid to try it! Honestly, the easiest way to try it is as a ground beef substitute for taco night! Simply crumble the tempeh, fry as you would ground beef, add your taco seasoning and water - and you are good to go!

I have no idea what is on the agenda for the next post. Unfortunately I don't have any new food photos, so it seems as though I must get on that mission! We'll see what we cook up this week at the Luckey-Meyer pad!

September = Tempeh Month! I'm callin' it!

2009-09-24T22:23:00.002-04:00

Well, apparently September is Tempeh Month because my first September post was a tempeh sandwich, the current post involves a tempeh burrito, and I already know what the next post's main ingredient is - that's right - TEMPEH! I guess I go through spurts with the stuff. Sometimes making it multiple times a week, then going a month without using it at all. And so it goes...

This particular recipe is borrowed from Ken Haedrich's cook book "Feeding the Healthy Vegetarian Family". It's been a while since I have read the opening chapter of the book, but if my memory serves me correctly, Mr. Haedrich was originally a food critic and a cookbook writer, and over the years his family began using less and less meat in their daily meals. He then wrote this wonderfully written narrative cookbook and the rest is history! I will have to give this book 5 stars!! Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING I have ever made always comes out absolutely fantastic! Another reason why I enjoy this cookbook so much, it doesn't read like your average cookbook. Before each recipe, Mr. Haedrich gives a little insight about the recipe - how it came about, who in the family likes it the best, and/or what small changes you can make to please a picky eater. It's like you are looking into the window of another vegetarian family's kitchen. Kind of what my readers do here - and I think that's cool! If there was ever a vegetarian cookbook to have - this one is it! Read the reviews on Amazon yourself and you will see that I am not the only one who feels so positively about this book!

So... This particular evening, I made the BBQ Tempeh Burritos! To start out, I brown some chopped onion and minced garlic in a bit of olive oil. When the onion has browned a bit, I add in 1/2 cup of water and a bit of tamari sauce (soy sauce) and bring it to a boil.

I then add in my sliced tempeh. I turn the tempeh every few minutes and I let this simmer for several minutes.

After almost all the water has evaporated I poor in about 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce. I then let this simmer and cook, turning the tempeh every few minutes, for about 10-15 minutes. This is when it starts to smell really good in my kitchen!

While my BBQ tempeh is cooking, I start to prepare the burrito fillings. If you never knew how to cube an avocado, here is your chance to figure it out. You simply slice the avocado into two halves, remove the pit from whichever half, and then slice grid lines down and across the flesh. Make sure you take your knife all the way to the skin. After you have finished your grid, you take a spoon and simply scoop out the cubes.

As you can see here, you are left with perfect little avocado cubes. This really is the best way to prepare avocado. You could even slice the flesh long ways and then scoop it out to have strips of avocado - perfect for a pretty salad! I am not a prep-cook and I have never been, but I am pretty sure this is exactly how they do it at restaurants.

Along with the cubed avocado, I also chopped up a tomato...

A red onion, shredded some carrots, and also got out the low fat sour cream. These burritos were gonna be YUMMY!

By now the tempeh is ready and all my fillings have been prepared. So on a lightly sprayed, warmed pan, I add a flour tortilla and a bit of monterrey jack cheese. I let it sit for a few minutes, just enough to get the cheese melting.

I take the cheesy tortilla out of the skillet and place it on a foil-lined plate. I top the tortilla with some of the BBQed tempeh, red onions, and the shredded carrot.

That then gets topped with the sour cream, tomatoes, avocado, and a shake or two of dried cilantro.

And finally, where the foil comes in - I wrap my burrito in the foil and as I am eating it, I rip the foil down. Somehow, I always over-stuff my burritos. Wrapping it in foil allows me to eat my overstuffed burrito gracefully without all the good-stuff falling out everywhere!

This burrito is TO-DIE-FOR! As I said, everything I have made from Mr. Haedrich's cookbook has been better then the best! I love it!

This weekend I am having my entire immediate family over for dinner (both sides - minus Jake). We are making pizzas!!! Hopefully I'll have time to snap some pictures and share them with you all! Till next time!!!

A German Veggie

2009-09-15T21:00:00.001-04:00

Along with pizza, Mexican food, and breakfast, another food I LOVE to make are sandwiches. They are versatile and are great for both lunch and dinner! The following dinner consists of a veggie-take on a classic sandwich, the Reuben! Instead of using corn beef, I use tempeh and the results are delicious! My corn beef-loving-fiance still devours this swap-out! Sometimes, depending on how high you stack your sandwich, a fork and knife is necessary to eat this mean-guy! But as Matt always says, the messier the sandwich, the better! I paired the sandwich with some rosemary red potatoes. These are a simple and delicious side that can compliment almost any meal!

I start by scrubbing and quartering the red potatoes. No need to peel the skin for these! I then mix the potatoes with some olive oil.

Next comes the flavor - a simple mixture of a quartered onion, minced garlic, dried rosemary and a bit of salt and pepper. See - I told you it was simple!

I then spread the potato mixture out in a 9x13 pan that has been lined with foil. It makes clean-up so much easier! The potatoes are then placed in the oven for about 40 minutes. *Tip - the smaller you cut your potatoes, the shorter the cooking time will be!*

As the potatoes are cooking in the oven, I begin my work on the Reubens. I took a picture of the tempeh package in case some of you were unaware as to what tempeh is / looks like. Tempeh is a fermented soy bean loaf that has a bit of a nutty taste. You can fry it, bake it, grill it, crumble it, slice it, marinate it - anything your heart desires! It is usually found in the produce section of the grocery store, close to the organics and other "fake meat" products.

As you can see, the tempeh comes in a long block. All I simply do is slice it for this particular recipe. Other times I will crumble it - like when making tacos or a chili.

After everything is sliced, I transfer the tempeh to a Ziploc bag that I fill with about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Similar to tofu, tempeh will take up whatever flavor you are cooking with and marinating it is especially rewarding. I use soy sauce for this particular sandwich because corn beef has a salty flavor. This makes for an excellent substitute! I let this marinate for about 15 minutes, flipping the bag over every few minutes to evenly distribute the soy sauce.

It is not suggested that you eat raw tempeh, so my next step is to fry it up a bit. It doesn't take long, just a few minutes on each side till it starts to brown.

On my griddle, I start to assemble the sandwiches. I butter one side of some rye bread and place it on the hot griddle (buttered-side down). I then spread some 1000-island dressing onto the bread.

Next up, the marinated and cooked tempeh.

The tempeh then gets topped with a slice of swiss cheese.

And to finish the sandwich off, sauerkraut and a bit more 1000-island dressing. I use canned sauerkraut, it's easy and it all kind of tastes the same to me...

And of course I top the sandwich with another slice of buttered rye bread. I flip the sandwich several times until the bread is browned and everything inside is nice a gooey!

I pull the rosemary red potatoes out, plate them, and slice the sandwiches and dinner is served! As I usually will do, I HIGHLY recommend you try out this normally meaty swap! I think you will be quite surprised by the great flavors! Unfortunately, Ronnie won't eat this sandwich; maybe it's the sauerkraut? I don't know. But otherwise, this sandwich is a regular enjoyment of Matt and myself!

Cool kids BBQ post has been postponed (obviously). As soon as I get everyone's pictures uploaded to my computer - I'll get crackin' on that! Last night I made another tempeh dish that includes BBQ and burritos! I am super-excited to share it as it turned out DELICIOUS! Coming soon! I promise!!!

Eggs and Pancakes in the Late Evening

2009-08-25T22:05:00.014-04:00

Remember that last post when I said I always make Steve's Famous Garlic Home Fries when I make breakfast? Well... I... kind of lied. Though that statement really is about 99% true, I amuse myself right now because this next post consists of breakfast... minus the home fries (oops!) Any-hoo, this breakfast was a battle between good and evil. Good because I made a fairly healthy breakfast sandwich and our pancakes had apples in them, bad because we top the pancakes with butter and powdered sugar. Meh - Ronnie would have never ate the sandwich (I can get him to eat over-easy eggs, but he won't eat scrambles or omelets - how weird is that), and he has been begging for Matt to make apple pancakes for weeks now!

Just like the black bean burritos, these apple pancakes are a Matt original. He starts by skinning, coring and slicing 2-3 medium sized apples. He them sprinkles the apples with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Matt then mixes the apples in a pancake mixture. We always just buy the box-stuff that can make pancakes or biscuits. You just throw in some milk and an egg and you are good to go!

All while Matt is working on the pancakes, I am on the other side of the kitchen working on the sandwiches. Cooking Light's Smoked Mozzarella, Spinach and Pepper Omelet Sandwiches to be exact! I start by sauteing finely chopped red bell pepper and onion with just a little bit of olive oil.

After the veggies are tender, I then dump in a mixture of 3 whole eggs, 2 egg whites, about 10 shakes of hot sauce, salt and pepper. This is *supposed* to be an omelet, so taking a spatula to the sides while tilting the pan is the way I prepared the eggs.

I then start to prepare the bread which consists of english muffins and some expensive smoked mozzarella cheese. These will go under the broiler for a few minutes. (Note - after dinner Matt mentioned that he would rather have the muffins toasted so they would be crispy all around. I didn't mind the broiler effect - but everyone's different!) Also I covered my egg pan handle with foil and stuck the eggs under the broiler too - it helped cook the top wet part of the eggs!

Matt on the other side of the kitchen was working my awesome new griddle that Ronnie gave me for my birthday! Griddles are absolutely THE BEST at cooking things like pancakes and over-easy eggs!

Matt has this great talent of frying bread... Grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes... He always seems to know the perfect time to flip them! That's why he is in charge of this stuff! I always burn them or they are not done enough when I flip foods like this on a pan or griddle.

My omelet and muffins come out of the oven looking lovely! And now it is time to assemble the sandwich!

First layer is the muffin and the now warm and gooey smoked mozzarella cheese!

Next I top the cheese with the omelet. This actually made way more than would fit on the muffin, so we had some extra on the side and it was quite tasty!

To add some greenery I top the omelet with fresh baby spinach. (As I have mentioned before - I LOVE spinach!)

Finally, the top half of the muffin and broiled smoked mozzarella complete the sandwich! This ended up being a pleasant surprise. Matt thinks I should have seasoned the eggs more, but I really enjoyed the simplicity of the eggs. It really lets the smoked mozzarella be the center of attention. I feel like if the eggs had been seasoned more, they would have been competing with the cheese making it a bit too much!

Then there's Ronnie favorite part of the meal! Matt's simple yet delicious apple pancakes! As I said before, no syrup for these bad boys! A little bit of butter and powdered sugar is all these need and they won't last long! Promise!

Next post is a special Cool Kids Grill Out post! My friends and I are having an end-of-the-summer BBQ and I thought it would be fun to ask them about their dishes and take some pictures! I am really excited about it and I hope it goes well. Not all the dishes will be vegetarian (because there are only 2 veggies in my network of close friends, myself included) but most should be veg-head friendly!

You Can Be A Veg-Head Too!

2009-08-21T05:00:00.002-04:00

As some of you may or may not know, today marks my 3 year anniversary as a vegetarian. I dabbled in it before, but now I can say everyday, for the past 1,095 days I have been making a conscious effort to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian (lacto-ovo meaning I eat milk and eggs). It's really nuts how fast time goes and if you have known me during this period, you know I have been taking pictures of my food the ENTIRE time!

Since I have been keeping this blog updated lately, I have had a few people ask me for recipes, tips, ideas and the like. Most of my recipes come from an array of websites and cookbooks, others I have come up with myself. Either way - to mark my three year anniversary I have went through some of my pictures and picked some of my favorite things to eat and make. I have either included simple instructions or have provided a link to the recipe so you can try them out yourself!

Enjoy!!!

First things first - BREAKFAST! Probably my favorite meal of the day. Every once in a while my family prepares breakfast for dinner. It's a fun way to change up the pace a bit. Below is a picture of a simple veggie-omelet, an english muffin, and my FAVORITE breakfast potatoes - Steve's Famous Garlic Home Fries. These home fries have become a staple at my house. If we are making breakfast, these potatoes are ALWAYS made. They also are pretty good heated up in the microwave the next day!

A great snack I have taken to MANY Thanksgivings is the Cranberry Salsa. I sub the serrano peppers for chipotle peppers in adobe sauce and this gives the salsa a nice smokey flavor. You would never know how good these flavors go together until you try it! Serve it over cream cheese and it will be a surprise hit! I promise!

This Fancy Thai Wrap is simple and delicious when you need a hardy snack or something quick for on-the-go! I start out with a whole wheat tortilla and spread low-fat peanut butter on the entire tortilla. I then top the peanut butter with shredded carrots, drizzled honey, raisins, and sesame seeds and it is good to go! This is one of my favorite snacks and I haven't made it in so long - looking at this picture seriously makes me want on right now!!! HAHA

My Happy Sandwich is something I came upon because I was looking for a way to use avocados for lunch. This simple recipe uses some of my favorite ingredients including avocados, sprouts, mushrooms and pita bread. I add a bit of cumin powder when making this filling. Though the avocado browns a bit, this still makes for a great sandwich filling for lunch at work!

Another staple at the Luckey-Meyer house are these Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers. These are so good, I served them to a crowd of about 40 at Scorched Nuts 2008. I usually double or triple the recipe and freeze the extras. I rarely buy store-bought veggie burgers now, as these are so much better!!

The Best Veggie Sandwich, though I personally wouldn't call it the best, it's still pretty darn good! The smoked cheddar adds a really interesting element and I wouldn't skip that at all!!! Again, this sandwich utilizes avocado and sprouts, but it has a completely different taste and texture than the sandwich above. The sandwich is paired with baked Spicy Fries. I cannot tell you enough how good these fries are! I like to mix in a sweet potato too! I will warn you though - these fries pack a major kick! Ronnie would never eat them because they are so spicy. Hmmm.... I think I might make some of these tonight! They are so good!!!

Temphe is a fermented soy bean loaf that I use a lot more than tofu. It is so easy to prepare and it crumbles just like a ground beef would, so I often substitute it for things like taco meat. The loaf can also be cut into strips as I do for the Temphe Fajitas. Before I cook the temphe, I let it marinade in a lime juice and soy sauce mixture as I am cutting up the fajita vegetables. These are always a hit - even the Ron-man likes them!

The first lattice I ever made was for a savory pie. This pie happened to be the Meatless Mushroom Tart. I was hesitant about this recipe at first, but it ended up being super delicious, and kind of fancy and expensive tasting all at the same time. A truly elegant and surprising dinner to make!

As I have mentioned in the past, I would rather have red peppers than green peppers, but these Stuffed Peppers My Way are the exception! These are so yummy and they also freeze up great to have future lunches and dinners ready to go! I usually double the recipe and individually freeze the other's for later. For this particular recipe I have added black beans and use canned tomatoes instead of fresh. These are GOOD and they make a great meal with some crusty bread and a side salad.

If I had to pick a favorite homemade pizza - this would be it! This Pizza Without the Red Sauce, as the name implies, does not have a standard tomato sauce base. Instead it uses a sun-dried tomato pesto (mixed with extra garlic and parmesan cheese) that can be purchased at any major grocery store (I have seen it at both Biggs and Krogers). I always add mushrooms to this pizza, just because mushrooms are like a pizza staple at my place.

PIZZA! Can't get enough! I LOVE pizza because you can put just about anything on there to please a number of different tastes. This particular Veggie Ranch Pizza uses a ranch dressing base instead of a tomato sauce (I know - I am such a rebel when it comes to pizza). I always skip the cheddar cheese base and use Naturally Fresh Light Ranch Dressing, I saute the onions and mushrooms in some olive oil and garlic, steam some broccoli, and add chopped tomatoes and green olives to the topping's list! This is one of Ronnie's favorite pizzas!

Looking for a tasty and beautiful summer salad? This Feta Cheese and Basil Salad is just what you have been waiting for!!! Oh my gosh - this is so good. I could seriously eat all of it in one sitting. Avocado, red bell pepper, and kalamata olives? I think I am in love! I follow this recipe exactly except I usually use dried basil instead of fresh - awesome none-the-less and it's just so pretty!

I left this entree for last because it is my favorite recipe online (so far anyway). The Seven Layer Tortilla Pie is something you should try ASAP. I'd like to think of this as an all-around awesome meal because it is so easy, comes together quickly, and the ingredients are almost always at my house already and really some of the cheapest things I buy at the grocery store. I always add chopped green onions, a can of chopped green chilies, and black olives to this bad boy.

And now onto the sweet stuff. I am not a baker - I rarely make desserts at home. But like anyone, occasionally I want to try something different. Seeing as I am not a particularly good baker, this No Bake Peanut Butter Pie is perfect for me! It came together really easily and it tasted even better! All I did differently was add chopped Reese Cups to the filling, sprinkled some extras on top, and drizzled some Hershey's syrup on top too.

Who knew something like baklava could be so simple? I surely didn't until I tried this Easy Baklava recipe. Though it seems kind of intimidating, this really was super easy to make. Time consuming - yes! Hard - no! I use a mixture of walnuts, pecans and almonds for my filling. I would also suggest keeping a close eye on it in the oven as it only takes mine about 35 minutes to bake through.

So there you have it people - 3 years of favorites right before your eyes! Try some, or heck - try them all! Let me know what you think!

It's almost time!

2009-08-19T11:38:00.001-04:00

This Friday marks my 3 year anniversary as a vegetarian. I will be making a special post to mark the occasion! Remember to come back and check it out!!!

Fancy-Smancy Pizza

2009-08-16T22:52:00.005-04:00

At my old place I would have never, ever, EVER displayed on the internet the cabinet I kept all the main cooking ingredients in. It used to be in two cabinets actually, and one of them was called "the cabinet we don't talk about" because when you opened it, usually about 3-6 things would come tumbling out. Now that I have my new space with a bigger kitchen I LOVE my new cabinet! I love it so much, that I wanted to share it with everyone! And seriously, I should have invested in a lazy-susan a LONG time ago! Those things ROCK! So here ya go - this is where it all begins...

Today's post includes a pizza and some fried eggplant. If you know me, you know I LOVE to make pizzas. And not just any 'ole pizza, I love to experiment with new ingredients and toppings almost every time, and this day was no exception - Artichoke-Pepper Pizza with Feta Cheese!

For the fried eggplant, I began by soaking cubed eggplant in some salt water for about 15 minutes.

While the eggplant was soaking, I start sauteing a red and yellow bell pepper I cut into strips with a little bit of olive oil and minced garlic.

For the base of my pizza, in the food processor I add a jar of drained artichoke hearts, 1/4 cup of low-fat mayo, crushed red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper, and some more minced garlic (because who could ever get enough of that stuff?) I then pulse it all together until it is well mixed.

Once the 15 minutes is up for the soaking eggplant, I drain the water and dry the cubes with a paper towel. After they are nice and dry I toss the eggplant with corn meal and freshly ground pepper.

And into a heated skillet with a little bit of vegetable oil the eggplant goes! This is the first time I have made fried eggplant, and it actually fried up a lot easier than I expected. You just have to toss every few minutes and they are good to go.

I almost always use the Pillsbury ready-made pizza crust for my pizzas. I find that they are equally tasty and easy, and you can almost always find them on sale or a coupon to use. I also always bake the crust for about 6 minutes before I add the toppings and put it back into the oven; it makes for a crispier crust.

So... While the eggplant is frying, I start to top the pizza. First things first, I spread the artichoke mixture on top of the precooked crust.

Next on goes the sauteed peppers and garlic.

And finally I top the pizza with some feta cheese and dried thyme. Into the oven for about 8 minutes it will go!

As I stated before, the eggplant fried up beautifully. I have to admit though - the eggplant was not a big hit... None of us finished it. I think next time I will heat up some tomato sauce to pour on top of it. It was just kind of plain and needed something to go with it.

The pizza out of the oven looks great and ready to eat!

All in all, it was a wonderful meal. The pizza was superb! It could pass for any fancy pizza parlor-pizza! Though the eggplant wasn't as good as I wanted it - I think I could do better with it next time!

Pizza also makes a GREAT leftover for lunch the next day! It was good then too!!!

Stuff This Not That

2009-08-09T23:16:00.006-04:00

Welcome to my NEW kitchen! Okay, well, it's not new-new, but it's new to me!!! Though it's not that much bigger than my old one, I feel like I have so much more room to spread out and really get cooking! You'll also see Ronnie in there - my trusty helper!

Today's meal is consisting of a stuffed shell that I have been making for awhile now. Being a vegetarian, the hardest part about cooking is all the prep-work that can go into it. I like this particular meal because it utilizes frozen vegetables! The only thing I have to prep is some fresh zucchini and opening cans!!!

To start the meal, I boil some lightly salted water and add around 18 shells.

After heating some olive oil in a skillet I add about a cup of frozen pepper and onion mix, along with some minced garlic. See??? No prep! Straight from the freezer to the skillet! LOVE IT!

This is my only major prepping-step! I cut up a medium zucchini. Not too bad at all!

I then add the chopped zucchini to the pepper-onion and garlic mix and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Then I add a small can of sliced black olives! Mm-mmm... Olives! I think it's the olives that really make this meal special.

My trusty helper Ronnie is seen here mixing low-fat ricotta, parmesan and part-skim mozzarella cheese. This recipe originally calls for an egg, but I was out - I honestly didn't even need it as it turned out fine in the end!

After the cheese mixture is together and the vegetables are done cooking, I add all the vegetables with the cheese and then mix in about a 1/4 cup of pasta sauce.

Once everything is good and mixed and the shells have been drained, I then proceed to stuff the shells and add them to a greased 9x13 dish. This really is the hardest step, only because it takes the longest and you have to be a little bit careful to not rip the shells.

Finally I dump a whole bunch of pasta sauce onto the shells. The more sauce the better in my household - especially since leftovers can get really dry if you were light on the sauce originally. I cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake it for about 35 minutes.

After the 35 minutes is up, I take it out of the oven, remove the foil and top with some extra mozzarella. Then it goes back into the oven for another 10 minutes or so.

This meal really does come together easily and it looks way harder than it really is! Two reasons to love it and make it often! Also - though I have never frozen them - they make GREAT leftovers for lunch the next day. ENJOY!

Southwest Feast with a Twist

2009-07-31T13:36:00.009-04:00

One of my favorite things to make is quesadillas. They can be made to anyone's tastes and they are super-duper easy! I found a recipe that called for BBQed pork to be used as a filling and seeing as though I don't eat pork, I decided to improvise a bit. Here you will find my own version of this Southwest take on quesadillas. I used portabello mushrooms instead of pork and the end result was fantastic! I also paired the quesadillas with some homemade coleslaw and garlic broiled corn!

I made the coleslaw first to let the flavors meld together. I started out with a bag of coleslaw mix (can't get any easier than that) and a medium chopped onion.

In a separate bowl, I mixed together a bit of low-fat mayonnaise, sugar, salt, vinegar, celery seed and a bit of vegetable oil.

I then mixed the slaw mix and dressing together. Seriously, I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com, its called sweet restaurant slaw. I cut the sugar and oil in half from the original recipe and subbed low-fat mayo for the dressing, but this slaw still tastes just like KFC! I HIGHLY recommend you try it!!!

Next comes the corn. All I did was butter, salt, pepper and add fresh garlic to the ears before wrapping them up in foil to stick in the broiler. Next time I will soak the ears for a bit, because they came out a bit dry. There is always next time... Mistakes happen in every kitchen - don't let it discourage you! Just learn and move on!

A simple roll of the foil does the trick to keep all the juices in the foil. I also find lining your oven with foil helps with clean up!

Now.... onto the FUN part. I saute some chopped portabello mushrooms, garlic, and onions until all is tender.

I then mixed the sauteed vegetables with some Montgomery Inn BBQ Sauce. To change the pace a bit, I also added about a tsp of cayenne to the sauce - I love spice!

My favorite part about making quesadillas is the actual frying of them. It is so easy, as soon as my son is old enough to use the stove, even he'll be able to do it! I simply spray a pan with Pam, put the tortilla down, add my stuffing on one side (mushroom mix and some Monterrey jack cheese), give it a minute to brown....

closer the lid and flip it again once it starts to brown on the down-side. Couldn't get any easier!

I then start the process over again! As long as your filling is already cooked, it is a simple and fast way to get dinner on the table!

This was a successful meal at the Luckey-Meyer house! My son wouldn't touch the coleslaw, but that was to be expected! Also, the coleslaw is great for days after, even better really as the flavors start to really mix together!

Next meal is at my new house! The first meal I made at the house was boring-ole spaghetti (because it is the easiest meal ever), so I didn't snap pictures of it, but this past Friday I made some stuffed shells. Once I upload and edit the pictures, I'll have it up for you!

The First & The Last

2009-07-03T21:06:00.007-04:00

My parents came over to pick Ronnie up last Wednesday, and they stayed for dinner too! The funny thing, this was both the first and probably the last time I will make dinner for them in this particular kitchen since the big move to the new house is less than 3 weeks away!

For dinner with my parents, I went with a new recipe I found on the Whole Foods website. The main ingredients include lasagna noodles, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, spinach, pasta sauce, and low-fat ricotta cheese! Sounds like a great start to me!

The basic ideas of these "Cheesy Spinach Rolls" is to roll the noodles instead of layering them like a lasagna. So... First things first, I boil the noodles.

Next, after the noodles are done, I lay some wax paper on the counter and place all the noodles next to each other. The first layer of the rolled noodles is the low-fat ricotta cheese. I also topped it with some garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

I then spread the noodles with the pasta sauce.

Our next ingredient - the spinach! I love spinach!

Lastly, I top the rolls with a little bit of leftover mozzarella cheese I had in the fridge. I figured - why not?

Now the fun part - rolling the stuffed noodles. Just a simple roll is all it takes. Seriously, this couldn't get any easier!

After each individual noodle has been rolled, I place them in a 9x13 pan. You want a bit of a tight fit so they don't come apart while they are baking.

Then before I place them in the oven, I top the rolls with my remaining pasta sauce.

These rolls are a great alternative to a regular lasagna. Next time I think I'll have Ronnie help me, because this truly is an easy, kid-friendly prepping recipe!

I am not exactly sure what is up for the next recipe! If I have my say, I will be making BBQ Portabello Quesadillas with grilled corn on the cob!

Settlers Night - Spinach Jack Bread Pudding and Company Cauliflower

2009-06-29T22:05:00.008-04:00

Most Thursday nights you will find Matt and I, and at least Beth and Kyle playing Settlers of Catan at our place. This past Thursday was no exception. For dinner I tried out my newly found Spinach and Jack Bread Pudding recipe. I have never made a bread pudding, but I figured I like quiche a lot, so I wanted to try it. I also wanted to make cauliflower because I know it's one of Beth's favorite vegetables. Because I didn't know exactly how the bread pudding was going to turn out, I wanted at least one thing to go right, so I opted for a simple cauliflower recipe that always pleases everyone, Company Cauliflower.

First things first, I steam the chopped cauliflower.

Tonight Ronnie is my helper. I find whenever Ronnie is in the mood to help, just about everything he helps make he is eager and willing to eat too. It's a great way to get him to eat foods that a lot of picky five year old's would rather not eat, like spinach! So for the Spinach and Jack Bread Pudding Ronnie starts out mixing the eggs, milk, and various ingredients like salt, pepper, thyme, and nutmeg.

After the egg mixture is completely mixed, Ronnie adds the chopped spinach. This particular recipe actually called for frozen spinach, but I always use fresh. I have always loved spinach, and whatever I don't use for recipes I use to make salads.

Next, Ronnie adds the Monterrey Jack cheese. After the spinach and cheese is mixed well, 8 slices of bread that have been cubed are added to the mix. Once everything is all together, we transfer the mixture to a lightly greased 9x13 pan and put it in the oven to bake for about 25-30 minutes.

After the cauliflower is done steaming we put it into a large bowl and mix together some light sour cream, 2% cheddar cheese, garlic and onion powder, and Dijon mustard. Once this mixture is well together, we transfer it to an 8x8 lightly greased pan. I then top the cauliflower with some bread crumbs I browned in a skillet with a little bit of butter. It's then ready for the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

When everything comes out, we let it sit for a minute, which allows the eggs to cool down and settle a bit. Let me tell you - I was wowed by this recipe. Who knew a savory bread pudding could be so good and easy to make! And of course, even the Ron-man devoured it. This will definitely stick around as a staple in the Luckey-Meyer home.

As usually, the cauliflower turned out lovely. We had an extra guest that night, Steven, and would you know it, he had never had cauliflower before! EVER! But, I think I turned him on because he finished up his share in no time.

That next day, Friday, I tried my hand at some zucchini cakes and boy am I glad I did! Zucchini is so inexpensive, but until now, I could never get Matt to eat it. Well, I have found his weakness, just fry it and stuff it with cheese and he loves it. We served them with marinara sauce and I wanted more when they were all gone!

Wednesday Night - Matt's Black Bean Burritos and Jiffy Corn Muffins

2009-06-25T14:33:00.010-04:00

First things first - THE KITCHEN! Where all the magic happens! Doesn't look like much does it? And that is exactly my point! You don't need an awesomely-huge gourmet kitchen to whip up some awesomely-good food! Though, I will say, don't get too used to this kitchen. I will soon be a homeowner and I am upgrading a bit. It's not that much bigger or greater - but I am excited!

One of the first meals my fiance Matt ever made for me were these black bean burritos and ever since then they have become a staple with my family. Because of this fact, I figured they were an excellent choice for my premier food-blog entry of 2009! The sheer easiness and frugal-factor of these burritos make them a great pick for a weeknight dinner. Flavors can be easily added and omitted to make your own personalized burrito. Though not the healthiest (just a tad high in fat for one serving), they come out pretty cheesy at the end, so cutting down on some of the neufchatel cheese will help cut down on the fat content, making these much more health-conscious. Below is a picture of my beloved cookbook. It is a collection of vegetarian recipes I have collected / created over the course of 4 years! If something were to happen to it, I would be lost!

Okay, first things first, I gather all my main ingredients. As you can see, this isn't a hard recipe, basically all you need is 5 things, minus the tortillas which were already in the 350 degree oven getting warm. You have a red bell pepper, a jalapeno, a medium whole onion, two cans of black beans, and 8 oz. of neufchatel cheese.

I have to say, canned beans are the way to go! When you are short on time, using canned is the only thing that will do. When making a dish that uses canned beans, the first thing I do is rinse them good! Real good! Then I like them sit and drain till I am ready to use them.

While the beans are draining I chop the whole (cleaned!) red pepper. You could substitute a green one if you like, but I LOVE the red ones and usually just splurge on them every time!

Next up - the onion. When chopping an onion I first make cuts across the entire onion laterally, and then I go back over the onion with long cuts across as shown in the picture below. Every time I come up with perfectly chopped onions and it is soooo easy. It's a little trick I learned from the Food Network years ago! It's been so long that I don't even remember whose show it was!

My final chopping partner, the jalapeno. Make sure you don't rub your face while chopping this sucker! And I always wash my hands immediately after the entire pepper is chopped!

After all is chopped I heat some olive oil in a skillet. Once the oil is good and hot I add the garlic. LOTS of garlic. I never measure garlic, I always just scoop a spoonful in (and yeah - I use the jarred, pre-minced stuff. I love it!)

Once the olive oil in nice and garlicky (maybe a minute or two) I add all the vegi's (the pepper, onion, and jalapeno).

Once the vegetables are good and tender (about 5 minutes), I add in the washed and drained black beans. I also added some cilantro and a little bit of salt.

This was about the time I pulled the Jiffy corn muffins out of the oven. LOVE that little blue and white box of goodness! They are always under $1, (usually about 68 cents) and all you have to add is an egg and 1/3 cup of milk. Tip - a co-worker told me today that he adds creamed corn instead of milk for a better muffin... I may try that next time!

Once the beans have heated through (5-10 minutes) I add the cubed cheese. Mmmm.... cubed cheese. And seriously - if you haven't made the switch from regular cream cheese to neufchatel cheese : GET ON THAT BAND WAGON STAT! You really can't tell a taste difference, it cooks the same and it will save you some calories and fat grams!

Mix the vegetables, beans, and cheese constantly so the cheese doesn't burn. Once everything has been mixed and the cheese has melted, you are ready to turn off the burner and stuff the tortillas that have been heated in the oven.

If you are like my family, eating Chipotle is something you like to do. Next time you are there, pay attention to how they roll the burrito. That is exactly how you want to do it, especially if you are about to devour an over-stuffed burrito. As you see, this make 6 medium stuffed burritos. Not too much, not too little.

Finally as I wrap each burrito I place them in a baking dish to put in the oven for a few minutes. Maybe it's just in my head, but I always liked to place the burritos in the oven for like 10 minutes to get the filling and tortillas hot again from sitting out.

Once they are pulled out of the oven, the only thing left to do is enjoy! Pairing with a salsa is what I usually like to do, but I didn't have any around at the time.

Any suggestions or thoughts I would love to hear in the comments area. And as with all my recipes, if you are interested in trying them out yourself, shoot me an email and I will get them to you!

Looks like tonight I am gonna make a bread pudding. My first ever in fact so it should be interesting. I figure I like quiche enough, so it should be good. See ya soon!

That was then, this is now

2009-06-24T21:51:00.003-04:00

After some much needed R&R I am back at it!

Right now I am doing two things at one time. One is typing this blog up. The other is uploading and editing photos.

I am going to try and get back into the blogging of things. I know I have said this before, but this time I really mean it! Well.... We'll see anyway.

There will be a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but the main focus will be vegetarian cooking. When I think about it, it's kind of become my hobby I guess you could say. I love to find new recipes, I have a subscription to a vegetarian cooking magazine, and cooking is a great enjoyment of mine.

Once the pictures are done, I will post Wednesday night's dinner of Matt's Black Bean Burritos and some good ole Jiffy cornbread muffins.

Drumming to his own beat.

2007-03-27T16:28:00.000-04:00

So, it's Tuesday. Gmail is down. And it kind of sucks... I guess I decided to travel over here for awhile hoping by the time I go back to my personalized Google page, Gmail will be back up. That'll be nice. Please Gmail, please cooperate!

Life's just been flying by. I've been keeping myself real busy the past month or so. I have to say I haven't watched any real TV in a long time, (well, besides March Madness, but that's only when it's been Ohio State or some other game that may effect my bracket in a major way!) I have no idea whats going on with some of my staple shows - Grey's Anatomy - no clue; Desperate Housewives - couldn't care; and How I Met Your Mother - kind of miss, but I'm surviving. I've been downloading music like a fiend! I made a mix for my friend Jennifer about a month ago titled "XMU & itunes Now Own Me" and it is soooo appropriate. I honestly have a running list sitting on my desk of songs I want to download... It's pathetic!

Speaking of brackets, the best place I can get in the one I'm in is 4th, which would win me $11, (I think). So, fingers crossed and GO BUCKEYES! (Yeah - about 75% of me having Ohio State winning was because of my bro - whatever! They do have a great shot at it!)

Sunday I did venture out to Lens Crafters (finally! I've been trying to get new glasses for almost 2 weeks!), and got myself some snazzy new glasses! They're green; that's right; I said it; GREEN! It was between two different green pairs, a blueish/green pair and a brown pair. I could have taken one of each, but my vision insurance isn't that good... unfortunately! I'm planning on adding some pics, so hopefully when I'm done typing, Blogger will be aloot nicer than Gmail at the moment!

Pictures I'm planning on including in this post are also from Ronnie the other day. Jen and Charlie got Ronnie this percussion set from Target about a year ago, but he's really been playing with it allot lately. I hope he's going to be a musician like his awesome Mother! :-) But, I am also accepting the fact that he might totally rebel in his teen years and do the exact opposite as his mother. :-(

Thank you Blogger for being so cool today and not giving me any smack when trying to upload pictures... Thank you!

"A Healthy Dose of Photo Inspiration" - Photojojo

2007-03-22T14:08:00.000-04:00

Sooo... I get this incredible email newsletter called Photojojo. It comes once a week and it gives tips and tricks to improve your photo-taking skills. They might even give you cool links for services to totally ROCK your photos - for example - www.blockposters.com . This free website lets you make HUGE pixel posters of your photos. You can do it in four easy steps - 1. Upload your picture, 2. Slice your image, 3. Download images, and 4. Print! If you have a good enough printer, you could make a huge mural for your wall and it would be fantastic! Another favorite link of mine from Photojojo - www.pikipimp.com . This free, (yes that's right - FREE again), lets you upload images onto their site and then you can add fun and sometimes quirky "stuff" onto your picture. Add a smoking pipe, add a mullet, add some pimples, you can even add chest hair!

My favorite link came just a few weeks ago and I visit it at least once a week now and have pushed it onto my friends as well. It's George Lange's 2006 Photo Flip book. A must see if you have a fast internet connection and speakers, (you have to see it with the music going!) It literally is a flip book, the whole thing just sinks together so well! Love it!

YEAH!!!!!!!

2007-03-09T11:03:00.000-05:00

So it's official. I have finally earned some "street" points with Threadless. I just looked at my threadless profile and the first order I submitted was on February 22, 2006. So it's about damn time I got some love for the money I've spent with them. Last night I had a "photo-shoot" with my new friend Matt. It was quite fun, but a little nerve-wrecking at the same time. I'm not really "model" material. So he figured out the dimensions the pics needed to be and uploaded them onto the Threadless site. It's such a pain in the butt how they have to be a certain way, the pictures that is. It took Matt quite some time to get all of them the way Threadless wants them. I also have two more shirts of myself to take pictures in, (one was in the laundry and the other - we have to take a new picture for). I also have 3 threadless shirts for Ronnie, so I'm going to have to take those pics as well. Interested in seeing all of the pic's for yourself? Check my profile out at http://www.threadless.com/profile/247373/Lighter31/photos. Hey - you may even start ordering from threadless... I highly suggest it!

Bored At Work Again

2007-03-08T10:30:00.000-05:00

Here I am. I have to say that life is going a lot more swimmingly then the last time I posted. I was feeling really down on myself, and now I'm kind of embarrassed about the post. But then I start to remember - 'That's what blogs are for - they are made possible by "bitch"-sessions.', and then I start to feel like I really do fit in! Okay enough of all that...

So it's Thursday, I'm at work and I feel like my head could just fall into this keyboard while I passed out from boredom/lack of sleep. 'So, Justine, What have you been doing on this fine day?' I've been surfing the internet of course and I'd like to share a few awesome finds with you. (I want to apologize in advance if you were wanting to read some juicey gossip, or are just not into STUFF.)

I like stuff. My addiction isn't as bad as others, but I like stuff. So when I came upon the online retailer ThinkGeek I was so stoked! ::A little background information - I don't consider myself to be the stereo-typical geek. In fact, some of the things I found on ThinkGeek I don't even know what they mean, (I'm more of a street smart kid). But I will proudly say I'm a music geek, some might even consider me a music snob (my itunes library can reveal this), but I am totally okay with both of those labels.:: ThinkGeek has a huge variety of "geeky" items, but most can be enjoyed by your regular Joe. I've decided to show the world, once again, what I found amusing and wouldn't mind have sitting on my desk or in my home. *Oh yeah - and make sure you click on the hyperlinks, it'll take you right to the products - that is, if you happen to find them as cool as I did!

First on Justine's wish list - 1930's Books Love. These could be quite the conversation starters. Supposedly these books were made from our former geek relatives. I guess this was the stuff that they wanted to experience, but probably never got a chance to because they were too busy writing the book. They give sound advice like, "All women liked to be flattered. They like to be told they are beautiful even when the mirror throws the lie back into their ugly face." CLASSIC! (Oh - he is certainly getting laid tonight!)

Second - ACROBOTS! Now this is something I could use on my desk at work. (Especially on days like these!) These small Acrobots have to be super fun. The regular Acrobot is about 4" tall and has 6 pivot points, (definitely the one I want, but I'd have to have at least 2). You can also purchase a stack pack which are 3 smaller ones, but let's face, sometimes size does matter and the bigger the better with Acrobots, (plus you can move them in more different positions). One of the coolest things about ThinkGeek is that you can send in pictures of yourself, family, friends, whatever, with your new ThinkGeek products. They're called action shots and they post them on the page with whatever you purchased. The Acrobots action page is the best, and I would suggest anyone to just go check that out for the sake of it's coolness!

Next up on the wish list - Desktop Desert Hothouse Kit. Who doesn't like plants? I dare someone to say they don't like plants. I only wish I had a greener thumb, if I did my place would have some of the cleanest air you have ever breathed. But, since I can't seem to keep most plants alive more than a few months, I have opted for cacti. This mini desert greenhouse gives you everything you need to grow a desert from scratch. It comes with 20 seeds and they will start to sprout within 1-6 weeks. How much tender love'in care has to go into this? Eh, maybe water it every 6 months or so. Oh yeah, I can definitely do that. It also mentions that you can leave the cacti in the hothouse and they'll stay small, or you can replant them so they'll start to grow in size. Very cool, and very green... My kind of stuff.

When I saw this third one, I laughed purely for that fact that a friend of mine recently asked me who I thought would win in a fight, 100 ninjas or 100 pirates? Well, we both agreed the pirates would win, so I guess they could use these puppies to help mend the wounds. I think Ronnie would thoroughly enjoy these gems as well. What kid doesn't like band aids?

And last, but certainly not least - Smart Mass Thinking Putty. Now, honestly I could play with something like this for hours and hours. And the add explains it all - It bounces; it stretches, contorts, and squishes; It lifts comics; it shears and tears; it shatters; and it drips from ceilings. It's putty for grownups and I think this may have to be my first purchase from ThinkGeek. My favorite color is atomic bronze!

So that's it for now. Maybe next time I'll have some updated pictures of myself and the Turtleman. (I have lost 44 lbs ya know!) Till next time...

Ya know what? I do have some fun for today!

2006-12-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

I just remembered the Thanksgiving pics I took out at my grandparents house. And since I know for a fact that one of my uncles does read this, (at least he told me he does, maybe he's trying to make me feel better about myself), I guess I'll let you take a little peak. Well first off is from the day after Thanksgiving. (Yeah, I forgot to take my camera out on the actual holiday, go figure.) My parents, brother, and a long time friend of Chad's, Billy, decided to go out to eat on that Friday. We went to this luxurious place (not really) in Warsaw, KY. The food is kinda boring, okay, it's awful for someone like me, but they make good drinks. Hey, it's Warsaw, what do you expect?!?! I just love this picture with little Ronnie and my brother Chad. In fact I love every picture that includes those two together. It's just so great because they don't get to see each other too often.

Then we come to Sunday. My dad side of the family traveled to my grandparents house to have a little get together for Thanksgiving. We all were outside checking out my parents new car, (oh yeah, they got a new car...), and the camera's started flashing. The first of our series includes the 4 generations of my immediate family. This picture is priceless. And I love how it is so candid (spell?). I sometimes hate those pictures that started out with someone saying "cheese!". So you are looking at my grandfather, my dad, my brother, and little Ronnie-Roo. Lastly, I'll include a picture of all of my dad's brothers and his sister, oh wait. Jeffery is missing because he lives in Florida now. Maybe I'll get a new one at Christmas if he comes up. You'll also see my grandparents in this picture. I love how everyone's personality kinda comes out in this picture. MaryJoe just looks like a sweet little angel if I ever saw one. It was chaos when these pictures were being taken. Everyone on my dad's side of the family can be quite loud and their voices just carry. It was a great time getting together with them all. I'm definitely looking forward to Christmas when I get to see them all again. Okay... well, I just tried to add that last picture and blogger is not cooperating. I guess I'll try to add it later.

Long time, no post...

2006-12-13T14:44:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know, it's been awhile, but some crazy stuff has been going on in my life right now. And if I had time to write a novel I might let you in with whats going on, but I don't. So forget about it. I will tell you that I have came across this mega cool website called Spark. Forget about paying anywhere from $2.00 to $5.00 a week for a diet webpage. This place is freaking awesome. I was a member of the Biggest Loser Online, but that is now long gone because of Spark. It has everything the BLC or ediets has and more. And like I said before it is all free! Yeah! I'm so excited to start this journey, again (yeah, yeah).

I'd like to tell you that my life has been so exciting and fulfilling right now, but I can't. I have no new pictures, no new fun stories, no new nothing to share on blogger at the moment. Well I did get this awesome vintage coat from my friend Jennifer, (pictures will be comming soon, you gotta see this one). But that's about it.

Are You Like Me? Do You Dig The Vintage Look?

2006-11-29T15:10:00.000-05:00

Well, a couple of weeks ago I traveled to Morrow, Ohio. My friend's parents live up there. They just happen to own an outstanding ebay company. Out of the 4450 feedbacks they have received, only 2 were negative! Can't beat that kind of customer service! They specialize in anything from vintage glasses, jewlery, clothing, and records to key blanks and transponder keys to tons of different styles of art. (Hey - it's ebay, what do you expect?) So if your looking for something new or old for a great Christmas gift check out their ebay store, SW Sales.
I helped them go through about 10 bags of vintage clothing straight from the 60's and 70's. It was great fun. My friend Jennifer just had to try on a couple of jewels... I think my favorite had to be the purple body suit with cordinating vest and tie. Priceless!

Thanksgiving's Treats!

2006-11-29T14:54:00.001-05:00

So for the actual Thanksgiving dinner we went to my Aunt Cynthia's house. I was asked to bring something that I would eat (since I obviously wouldn't eat the turkey.) I decided on an eggplant casserole. Of course I didn't think of taking a picture at the time, but I wish I did because it turned out beautiful! Everyone that tried it loved it. Well, let me correct myself; my brother didn't like it. But he doesn't care for soy sauce, (that had to be the reason).

I also made a cranberry salsa. Now this is going to have to be a Thanksgiving tradition. This was awesome. I took some whole cranberry sauce, green onions, a regular onion, jalapenos, and chipotle peppers in abobe sauce and mixed it all together. I then poured it over a block of cream cheese. Yumm! The spice and sweetness of it all was to die for. Now I did take a pic of this, but it was from the next days leftovers. (Still just as yummy!)

I'm The Biggest Loser!

2006-11-21T16:15:00.000-05:00

So, I've joined the biggest loser online yesterday. I'm pretty excited about it. I just made up a shopping list for Friday and WOW! This is going to be interesting. I'm going to be eating as much food as when I was pregnant. But this time it's going to be quite more health minded. I'm printing out my menus as we speak...

Today I was on the phone with one of my vendors and we were talking about Thanksgiving and I mentioned that I'm a vegetarian. The first think that she said was , "Wow, that's different. What do you eat besides vegetables?" So in honor of her question, (and because I'm really bored right now), Here's my basic shopping list of the week...

Breads / Grains

Kellogg's Ego Lowfat Nutri-Grain Waffles

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Whole Wheat English Muffins

Lowfat Granola

Cheerios

Bulk Brown Rice

Couscous

Quinoa (This one's new to me, I think it's a grain. I'm pretty excited.)

Produce

Baby Carrots

Salad Greens

Celery

2 Green Peppers

2 Red Peppers

2 Cucumbers

Onion

Salsa

Strawberries

3 Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Blueberries

2 Bananas

Apple

2 Grapefruits

Garlic

Cilantro

Lowfat Soy Milk

Firm Tofu

Dry / Canned Goods

Orange Juice

Apple Juice

Tomato Juice

Chickpeas

Black Beans

Red Kidney Beans

White Beans

Pinto Beans

Lentils

Raisins

Dry Roasted Peanuts

Raw Almonds

15 oz Can Tomato Sauce (Low Sodium)

Light Italian Dressing

Dairy

Yoplait Light Yogurt

- 1 Fruit

- 3 Strawberry

- 2 Vanilla

Nonfat Cottage Cheese

Reduced Fat Sour Cream

Lowfat Cream Cheese

Now I can cut and paste my list on an excel or word spreadsheet and have a handy-dandy check list. I'm super stoked. Sorry for putting you all through this boredom today...

Fancy Tia Wrap

2006-11-10T16:01:00.001-05:00

For a quick snack or a light meal these fancy Tia Wraps can't be beat. This is a recipe that I got from Veg Web. It's a huge database of recipes from members of the site. You can join for free or you can just browse as a guest. It's great because these are recipes from the vegi's themselves. This site has been a great companion for my new lifestyle.

The wrap contains a whole wheat tortilla, peanut butter, raisins, shredded carrots and sunflower seeds. Yumm!!!

Hearty Black Bean Soup

2006-11-10T14:52:00.001-05:00

After a long Halloween night Ronnie and I needed some good comfort food for dinner the next day. I made "Hearty Black Bean Soup". I got this recipe from The Pretty Darn Quick Vegetarian Cookbook by Donna Klien. This book is great when you do need something pretty darn quick. Let's face it, we all can't cook from scratch all the time. This whole cookbook provides vegetarian recipes that need absolutely NO PREP! Yeah, I know it sounds strange and even not possible to cook a vegetarian meal with no prep, but it really is! For instance, she calls for a lot of prewashed, precut fresh vegi's and fruits that most supermarkets carry now. Or you can opt for the frozen or canned variety. I wouldn't suggest eating like this everyday if your looking to live a healthier lifestyle, but it's great for when you are in a pinch! This black bean soup is so simple and quick to make. It calls for two can's of black beans, vegetable broth, a can of sliced, stewed tomatoes, and various herbs and spices. It is delicious for how simple it is. It's great for leftover's also. (As you see in this photo - I thought about taking a picture after we had finished our meal, so I decided to take a pic of the leftover's in the fancy plastic tub. My apologies for not making it pretty.)

Boo!

2006-11-10T13:44:00.000-05:00

Yeah! Halloween is here! The night before the trick or treat's I had Ronnie try on his costume. He was in love. He didn't want to take it off! But after I did get it off him he was dripping with sweat! He only had it on for about 20 minutes (I didn't want to ruin it for the next day.) I was hoping for a cool night, otherwise, he was going to be hot! I should have gotten his haircut before the "big night" though... He kinda looked like a little girl with the curls hanging out of the hat.

The actually trick or treating was a blast. We traveled to the big city of Walton, Ky where my Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Ron live. They live in a nice suburb where there are plenty of houses giving out candy. My mom and dad met us there. (They never got to take us trick or treating; oh well; that's a long story, and maybe one day I'll go into it. ) My mom actually went out with us while my dad stayed behind with my aunt. We forgot to get him something to collect candy in, so he had to use a plastic shopping bag my aunt had. Oh well. He was still the cutest Halloweenie of them all! The night ended up being perfect. It rained all day and I was afraid that Halloween might be cancelled for my little one. The temperature was great for that big ole' thick costume he had on. I was a good mother too! I only let him have 4 pieces of candy that night, and I think he had maybe two the next day. I then brought the rest to work for everyone else to enjoy. Neither Ronnie or I need that kind of crap in the house!

Money makes the world go round...

2006-10-27T14:47:00.000-04:00

Why are my tastes so darn expensive? I want a certain look for my home, and I've found some great ideas, but they are all way out of my budget. Being bored at work today I started to surf the web and came across a few interesting sites. First I found Velocity. A store with ultra-modern decor for your home in and out. Now I'm not too modern, I like the earthy side of things, but some of this stuff I can't resist. My first pick are these "plastic elements" that you connect together to make a type of screen. Love them! The red was definately my favorite. They also come in white, green, or black. One piece is 12.25" x 10" roughly. They can be purchased in packs of 6 for $30.00 or you can get a 50 pack for $200.00.

Next I came upon the Anthropologie web site. This site offers a wide variety of goods from clothing to furniture. I found quite a few of goodies on this site that I could easily blow my paycheck on. First are the hidden mushroom pillow and hidden owl pillow. They'll run you about $128.00 EACH. Yeah, that's right, each... But at the moment, funds are tight and maybe when I can spend some money on things like these, they'll be in the sale section. Anthropologie has a great sale all the time. Most of the stuff I clicked on was cut by an average of 60% or more.

Okay. I'm going back to making myself look busy. Till next time...

Broccoli, Carrot, & Tofu Stir Fry

2006-10-26T15:21:00.001-04:00

Last night was nice and relaxing. Ronnie was staying with his dad. I got home and went through the mail in peace. Yay, the new Design Within Reach catalog came in. I can't afford a darn thing in there, but it's fun to browse. (So I guess it's not really "within reach", at least not for myself.) I then proceeded to make dinner. But what to do when you're cooking for one? STIR FRY! I found a recipe in my favorite vegetarian cookbook, "Student's Vegetarian Cookbook" by Carole Raymond. I cook out of this book more than any others. It's not at all just for students, it's great for any beginner vegetarian on a budget. I stir fried some broccoli, carrots, and tofu and at the end dumped (by mistake) some soy sauce on. I also cooked up some Uncle Ben's Instant Brown Rice. I then toped it all off with some slices of green onions. The recipe calls for cashews for a garnish also, but I didn't want the added fat. I was just about to dig in and I thought, 'Why not do what all the other food-bloggers do?'. So I took out my camera and snapped a picture of my dinner. (You like my Martha placemats? I do.) I then proceeded to eat. Mmmmmm... It was yummy. After the dishes were done I sat on the couch for a minute. What to do, what to do. I went for a walk. It was close to dark already, and getting cool outside, but it was a perfect evening. I'm glad I got up and moving. The TV was still there when I got home...

Just give him 30 seconds...

2006-10-13T14:24:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon. How we all doin'? I'm pretty good. It's Friday again. It's also my grandparents 50th anniversary today. Congrats to them. Wow! 50 years, 7 kids, 11 grandkids and 1 great-grandkid later, here we are. (Geez, I hope I didn't forget anybody, then I'd be the bad guy.) Well, tomorrow we're having an "Open House" for them. I know what a open-house is, I just thought it usually had to do with the actually house. Not in this case though. It will be fun and I'm looking forward to it. I'm making my much loved spinach-artichoke dip for the occasion. I had a bit of a problem at the grocery store though. I guess everyone's still afraid of spinach. They had no fresh spinach, bagged or not... I had to opt for the frozen. We'll see how it goes.

Oh yeah, about my title. Well the pictures I plan on posting in this blog, (if everything goes okay, I seem to have trouble with that sometimes), are shots of my son sitting on my lap the other day. All 4 pictures were taken in about 30 seconds, probably less. I've posted them in the order they were taken. You'll see my point when you check out the pictures...

A Day Out with Thomas

2006-10-04T16:16:00.000-04:00

So.... Two weeks ago my parents, Connie , Dave, Noah, and my son, Ronnie, made a trip to Lebanon for "A Day out with Thomas". It was actually great for the kids. I can't believe the number of people that were there. The first thing we did was ride the train. This is my son and I waiting in line showing our tickets off. The ride was great, (could have been longer then 20 minutes for $19.00 a ticket), but I'm not complaining too loud because Grammy and Grampy bought our tickets. Ronnie just sat on my dad's lap most off the ride with his head sticking out like a dog in a car. After the train ride we went to go see Thomas himself. It was pretty cool, they had a big "engine" that looked like the real thing. My parents made their way over to the refreshments while Ronnie and I waited in line for those big blow-up bouncy things. I don't know what they're called. After waiting about 15 minutes in line, my son decided it wasn't such a great idea after all. I was surprised that he allowed a stranger to put one of those temporary tattoos on him. Ahhh... like mother like son. I guess we'll be the two going to the parlor together to get inked. All in all a fun day was had. Something to do every year maybe. "Thomas is comming to town! We gotta go visit!" Yeah, until he's 8 or 9 or maybe even 5 and Thomas is soooo yesterday.

I am so smart. Not.

2006-09-21T15:26:00.000-04:00

Woo-hoo! I can't believe I finally got it to work! Like I was trying to say before... Here's a picture of my adorable 2 year old son. This picture is actually from Saturday, we went to Chipotle for take-out. I started the veg life about a month ago. I guess I would be a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I have cut way down on my dairy consumption though. Cutting the meat out hasn't been a problem, the dairy is another issue. I've been a long time cheese lover. Maybe one day I'll cut it all out, we'll see where my life path takes me.
My son hasn't had a problem with it so far, though I'm not delegating what he eats when he's away from me. He always would pick out the meat most of the time anyway, (maybe a texture thing, I don't know). So I just loaded him up on the black beans instead of the chicken at Chipotle.
I made the transition mostly because of the health issues. I've been contemplating the change for awhile now and one day I just thought, I should just do it! I want to gain a better life style for myself. I want to lose weight and become more active.
Till next time...

Maybe it will work this time?

2006-09-20T13:39:00.000-04:00

Okay, I have a minute... lets see if I figured this out...

Darn it. Is it me or is blogger "experiencing technical difficulties"? Why can't I get a picture to upload?

Oh well. Back to square one.

Welcome

2006-09-18T16:23:00.000-04:00

Yes, this is my first post. woo-hoo. Where to start. Well about a month ago I started the vegetarian lifestyle. I was surfing the net for ideas, comments, help, on the whole new lifestyle and I came across some vegi blogs. I thought, what a great idea to archive my new lifestyle. So, here I am blogging. Not sure what to write my first time around. I'll figure it out. Don't worry kiddies...

Anyway, here is a picture of my son eating a vegi burrito I made the other day, (I promise these will get better).

Shoot. Nevermind. I'll figure that out too. Promise...