KnittingOpera

Well, I'm back with another recipe, this one full of garlic! Ingredients: •Cooked pasta (enough for about 4-6 people. I used mafaldine) •Baby Spinach (I used about 2 ounces, but 4-6 oz would be better) •10 cloves of garlic, chopped •13.6 oz can of unsweetened coconut milk •2 tbsp olive oil •3-4 tbsp fresh oregano •1/2 tbsp dried basil •pinch of salt •lemon juice to taste (I used about 1 tsp fresh) •garlic powder Directions: 1. Cook pasta and set aside 2. In a pot saute garlic 3. Add coconut milk and stir until fully incorporated 4. Add in oregano, basil, and spinach. Simmer until spinach is cooked 5. Add rest of the sauce ingredients 6. Remove from heat. Add pasta. Serve with your favorite vegan meat substitute. (I used seitan chorizo, but gardein meatless meatballs, Boca crumble, beyond sausage, or TVP would  all be good) 

Aka: almost done and getting a little sick of looking at the same foods all the time Sunday's food! Sunday: my dad bought me spring rolls again, so that's another $5.99 spent from my budget. They were really delicious, and it was good to have some fresh veggies in my life. There was also food at church, but it was gumbo, Caesar salad, cheese cubes, and king cake... So I could only eat rice. It was kinda depressing because I was starving by 1:00. I think because of that I ended up eating way too many crackers (the whole box... Oops). Monday & Tuesday  I ate so much this week... I think I was getting sick of eating the same things over and over again... Tuesday & Wednesday  On Wednesday I stopped at Racetrack And bought myself a giant coke icee and two 50 oz bottles of water... I was nearly falling asleep driving and this was my way of staying awake: sugar, caffeine, and fluids. Wednesday & Thursday & Friday   I tried some new jerky this we

... and the last bit from week two! So my dad bought me veggie rolls at the store Saturday morning and I had to eat them before the avocado went brown... So another $5.99 added to last week. Food from Saturday night and Sunday  On Sunday my awesome friends Elizabeth and George took me to get Starbucks and treated me. It was really sweet that they did that, and I had so much fun hanging out with them in between church and choir practice. I did eat the last of the cheese noodles I had made last week and I froze the rest of the curry because I was getting sick of it. Monday's food Monday was a very long day with lots of running around from appointment to appointment to class to rehearsals. I ate some trail mix as snacks between things and some really yummy meals to keep me going. I added kale to my tomato sauce and some elbow macaroni... Such A great idea! Also, the breaded mushrooms from Dollar Tree? fantastic!!! Tuesday's food Tuesday was another day full of

This is my favorite local food. Since going vegan I don't eat it a lot, since I can't order it at restaurants because they are full of meat. It's actually really easy to make, and is super tasty. Everyone has their own family recipe, it seems, for red beans. You will find so many people using different ingredients to make them taste amazing. This is just my take on red beans and rice, New Orleans style, without the meat. Enjoy! Variation 1: the easy way Ingredients: 2 cans no salt added red kidney beans, drained 4 stalks celery, chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 1-2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp onion powder 1 tap kosher salt flakes Directions: Throw everything in the pot except the beans and cook until soft. Add beans and a little water and cook until thoroughly heated. Take a hand blender and puree 1/2 the pot until smooth. Mix together and serve with rice. Variation 2: the long version Ingredients: 1 package

Hey everyone! I decided it's better to do weekly recap posts instead of a post every day. Here we go: Be ready for lots of pictures! So, I didn't spend any money on food this week! But, I was taken out to lunch by my grandmother and I received a package of vegan almond biscotti as a late Christmas present. So "free" food did happen. I have also managed to get myself sick. So I have spent the last two days in bed I'm drinking tons of fluids. I've been eating a lot of leftovers, things I don't have to cook, and drinking vegetable broth. I'm hoping that next week will be a little bit better. I've got a few things that are easy to make, but they're really spicy and I don't want to aggravate my sore throat. I'm planning to start using up my giant box of snack foods... Whenever I get back out into the real world instead of sitting in bed all day. I think the foods I enjoyed most were the pasta dishes and rice dishes.

Simple, easy to make, and doesn't take long to prepare! Ingredients: 1 6oz can of tomato paste 2-3 cups water 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 20 fresh basil leaves 7-10 fresh oregano leaves 1/2 tsp salt (to taste) 1/2 tsp garlic powder (to taste) Directions: Like everything else I make, throw it all on a pot on the stove, cook on medium high until it starts bubbling, then serve. I use a lot of garlic and salt it this because I don't normal salt my pasta. If you salt your pasta, you might want to add less salt.

Curry Veggie Rice Bowl Someone was asking on my Instagram for more recipes... So here you go! Ingredients: 1 cup dry basmati rice 1/2 block extra firm tofu, cubed 2 Edward & sons yellow curry cubes 1 cup frozen peas 2-3 cups frozen stir fry veggies (Broccoli, bell pepper, cauliflower, snow peas, water chestnuts) 2 cups water Directions: This is super simple. Turn the heat to high on your stove. Throw everything into a pot and stir it until the curry cubes dissolve/the mixture begins to boil. Cover, turn heat down to simmer, and leave it alone for 20 minutes. Eat by itself or with beans. Also good to add: lime juice, sriracha, and cashews/peanuts Enjoy!

Shop my pantry: day three has been a success! Ready to see the amazing food? Breakfast was the rest of the Sabra garlic hummus and the end of a container of quake Quaker rice cakes. Used up two things this meal: score! I've still got another container of hummus and more rice cakes, so I'll probably be eating this again in a day our two. Lunch was made of leftover white beans and curry rice from last night. It was definitely an interesting blend of spices (Indian and Creole flavorings have a few similarities, but all really different beasts when it comes down to it.) I loved the combo, and would totally eat it again soon. Dinner: 2 vegan spicy chick'n patty sandwiches on sourdough bread. I'm not the hugest fan of Boca burgers, but their chick'n is really quite delicious! Also, I'm really loving this nuco coconut mayo I found at whole foods. A little vinegary, but awesome. Great texture! The mustard is the 365 brand and super vinegary... It works w

Day two dawned cold and with a need for warmth! Breakfast was an Amy's Kitchen tofu scramble pocket with salsa. Lunch was pretty big today: two veggies patty sandwiches and sea salt kelttle chips.  Dinner was this epic tofu and veggies curry rice bowl... It was really easy to make... I just threw all the ingredients in the pot and cooked for 20 minutes. Super simple and yummy. And I have leftovers for later! Not pictured today: some vegan jerky and yogurt I had for snacks! Overall, this challenge is going pretty well. I think the first thing I'm going to run out of is tofu, but I can live with that. I'm counting this as a successful day!

Happy New Year! Today I began my challenge to shop my pantry, a good way to use up things and not spend as much money. Breakfast today was oatmeal (which I hardly ever eat) mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. I also had frozen blueberries and some orange juice. Apparently we have 4 bags of frozen blueberries in the freezer. Lol! Someone got excited when shopping once (hint, it was probably my mom). My pre-lunch snack was a delicious pear... I am a pear fanatic! Lunch was leftover fried rice from a few days ago and some spring rolls I picked up at the dollar store last week. They are actually really good... Much better than I was expecting. I ate them with sweet chili sauce I've had in the fridge forever. Snack was a little bag of vegan trail mix I made for Christmas. It's full of pretzels, mixed nuts, cereals, chocolate, and dried fruit. I still have about 10 of these to eat. Lol. Dinner was a bowl of black eyed peas and mustard greens