Another weekend has come and gone. Sat afternoon, I made green smoothies with my new Vitamix blender. I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about, until now. This blender is amazing! The smoothie was very tasty and the TDs even liked it. I made hummus, and it was the smoothest, creamiest I have ever had. I even made strawberry rice cream (ice cream with rice milk) and it was great and so quick and easy to make. I think I am really going to enjoy this blender! Enough gushing about my new blender.
We did have the cheese burger pizza Sat night (I referred to this in my previous post). And it was really good. The oldest TD made the crust, which was a yeast free pizza crust from Sarah Kramer (the same cookbook as the cheese burger pizza). I used flax seed meal as the egg replacer. While TD made the crust, TG and I went over to our friends house to feed their cats and dogs. It takes two people to complete the task. Once we returned the oldest TD had the crust pre-cooked and ready for us to add the toppings. I used canned tomato sauce (organic), onions, pickles, morning star meat substitute crumbles and cheese of your choice. TD and TG had some jack cheese mix on theirs and I had some mozerella teese on mine. Then top the pizza with mustard, I use spicey mustard for this. Place the whole thing back in the oven and cook another 20 minutes or so until hot and bubbling. The TG just loves this and so do the TDs.
Sunday, I made black bean burgers, but modified into balls and made Italian black bean ball sandwiches. The black bean recipe I found here it is a very versatile recipe. I usually double the recipe so that I have extra burgers to freeze for quick meals. The burgers can be baked or fried, just depends on what you prefer.
The tomato sauce recipe I used was from Christina Cooks, it was very simple, low fat recipe. I used dry basil instead of fresh and the cool part is she uses a whole, peeled carrot to offset the acidity of the tomatoes. There is no need to add a sweetener. I like this recipe because I usually have the ingredients on hand and I can start it and let it simmer while I am busy preparing the rest of the meal. This time I did deviate from the recipe by adding a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes.
The accompaniments were spicy fries and steamed broccoli. I use a recipe that I found on VegWeb.com. This is a wonderful site for vegans and vegetarians. They have many recipes for vegetarian and vegans. You can post your own recipes and have others try them and rate them. I must warn you, these are very spicy. The TG finds them to be very hot. If you want a milder, spicy fry, cut out the cayenne and halve the chili powder. I use large white potatoes for TG and sweet potatoes for the TDs and myself. They are very good and lower in fat as they are baked. The broccoli was very simple. Just took broccoli, steamed it until just tender. Removed to a serving bowl, added some roasted sesame oil, a little sea salt and sesame seeds. The TDs loved it.
Last night was a free-for-all. Just eat what you want to eat. There was some sauce left over and noodles, so I made myself the obvious. One TD made herself a pasta salad and the other toasted some country loaf bread and smothered it in sauce and top it with cheese, et viola, one pizza.
Tonight is going to be a quick and easy meal. Pita pizzas, using the remainder of tomato sauce and adding our own favorite toppings. I like onions, peppers and teese then topped off after cooking with pepper flakes and fresh tomato slices. I think we will make a simple tossed green salad to go with it.
