Asheville, North Carolina

For our 9th Anniversary my husband and I spent a few days in Asheville.  It is such a beautiful, cool city and super veggie friendly.  There are so many restaurants in Asheville that are all vegetarian and even a few that are totally vegan.  It is so great to be able to order almost anything on the menu instead of having limited choices.  One of our Favorite restaurants is The Laughing Seed, which is where we had dinner.   We also went to Rosetta’s Kitchen and had some not so healthy snacks, which included chili cheese fries.  Breakfast was at the Green Sage where we had some really yummy fresh juice.  Asheville is definitely a city worth visiting and is where I would love to live.  I was so happy to have some time with my husband.  The few years have been so stressful for our family and he has been my rock.  I thank God for him everyday and for the way he leads our family.  We have had some tough times lately, but we have made our marriage and our faith a priority and both have been strengthened.

Here are the pictures of what we ate:

Asheville

Bloody Mary at The Laughing Seed

 

Asheville

This was Mike’s dinner.  It is brown rice risotto with mushrooms, sweet potatoes and tempeh.

 

Asheville

This was my dinner.  It is the Indian plate with vegetable curry, lentils and naan.  It was so spicy and good!

 

Asheville

Coconut Cream pie for dessert!

 

Asheville

This is the Red Planet juice at the Green Sage where we had breakfast.  It is beet, carrot, apple and ginger.  After all the decadent food the night before this was just what I needed.

Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza

This was our dessert on Valentine’s Day.  My daughter saw a non-vegan version of fruit pizza in one of her magazine’s and kept asking me to make it.  I am so glad that I finally gave in and made it.  It was so good and I have never seen kids so eager to eat fruit before.  This is a great recipe to get the kids involved in making.  They can help with the cookie dough and help with decorating it with the fruit.   I replaced half of the white flour in the cookie recipe with whole wheat white flour and it turned out really good.  I think fruit pizza may be my new favorite dessert (except for chocolate of course).

 

Mushroom Bourguignon

Bourguignon

 

This was our Valentine’s Day dinner.  It was of course inspired by the Julia Child recipe for beef bourguignon and it was equally delicious.  I replaced the beef with portobello mushrooms and simplified the recipe, so it did not take quite as long to make.  I think that Julia would have been proud of this meatless version of bourguigonon.  This was one of the best meals that I have had for awhile and I will be making it again very soon.  It was great for a special night and would be great to serve company.  This is one that you have to try.  I served the bourguignon with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted green beans.

 

I hope you try this version of bourguignon, you will love it!

Valentine’s Cinnamon Cookies

cookies

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I can’t believe that Valentine’s is here already.  It kind of snuck up on me this year, but I still wanted to make some special cookies for my family.  This recipe is so simple it feels like I am cheating by making them these cookies.  They are made with puff pastry, which believe it or not is vegan (at least the Pepperridge Farm brand is).     I hope you all enjoy your Valentine’s Day!

 

Polenta Bake

polenta

 

One of my favorite convenience foods is the pre-cooked polenta the comes in the tube.  You can usually find it in the produce section by the tofu, don’t ask me why.  This is my favorite way to use the polenta and it is quick and easy, so it is great for a weeknight dinner.  You can add anything that you would like for the toppings, so it is also good for cleaning veggies that need to be used out of your fridge.    Just serve it with a salad and you will have a great meal.

 

Peanut Butter Oatmeal

oatmeal

I know peanut butter and oatmeal sounds a little funny together, but it is delicious.  This oatmeal is a great way to start the day, you gets lots of protein and it is super filling.  This was almost like having dessert for breakfast, so it was easy to get the kids to eat all of their oatmeal.

Super Bowl Menu Ideas

Chili

 

The Super Bowl is the only football game that I watch all year.  It is really just an excuse to eat a lot of  yummy food.  It can be a really hard day to stay on track though, especially if you are going to a party.   Here are some of my favorite foods that would be great for a party and please non vegans as well.

Chili cheese dip is the best.  It is so simple (only 2 ingredients) and so good.  It is always the first thing gone when I make it for a party, so I make a lot.

Chili cheese dogs are another great party food.  Just get veggie dogs, top with canned or homemade chili and sprinkle with Daiya cheese.  Amy’s makes really good vegan canned chili.  Don’t forget to use whole grain hot dog buns.

A layer dip is so easy to make vegan.  There is a great recipe on The Kind Life.  http://www.thekindlife.com/post/cheesy-oozy-guacamole-bean-dip-2 . Think about using veggies to dip with instead of chips or try to find baked chips.

 

 

Curry Tempeh Salad

curry

Before becoming vegan I loved chicken curry salad.  This is the veganized version of it.  I used tempeh to replace the chicken and added some fruit and veggies to make it more nutritious.  The tempeh is a great source of protein and has a really mild flavor after it is boiled.  Look for reduced fat or fat free vegan mayo (Veganaise makes both).  I like to serve mine over lettuce, but it is also great as a sandwich or in pita bread.