Saturday, January 31, 2015

...Vegan Fideo...

...so...y'all know that I absolutely adore Mexican food...right?...

...and I was recently at our favorite Mexican restaurant with some friends not quite so familiar with their menu offerings...and we asked our server what his favorite Mexican food was...and he replied that it was not on the menu...haha...but that his favorite food since childhood was fideo...

...so naturally as soon as I got home...I searched the inter-web for fideo...and found that not only do A LOT of people describe it at their favorite Mexican comfort food...there are thousands of versions...just about one for each household...ha!...

...so how to choose...well...one of the first recipes that came up in the search...was Vegan Explosion's recipe...and since she says not to vary from the recipe at all...

...I didn't...
...although I couldn't find the 'yellow box' fideo that she mentions in the comments...I measured 5 oz of vermicelli...and broke it into about 1 inch pieces...
...and put that with the oil in a pan...
...stirred it around while it browned a little bit...
...added the onion...
...added the tomato sauce...
...and the spices...
...did a quick taste of the yummy sauce...
...then stirred it while it all cooked and the liquid evaporated...
...until the sauce was the right consistency...
...this made three large servings...
...and it certainly is yummy...I wouldn't describe it as the best thing I ever ate...nor is it my favorite Mexican dish ever...but it is hearty and filling and good...I can see why it's a favored comfort food...

...also several of the search results mentioned how inexpensive this dish is to prepare...so I thought it'd be fun to do a little itemized cost breakdown for this version of Fideo...

Estimated Cost

    .33        olive oil
    .16        1/2 Onion
    .31        Vermicelli noodles 5 oz.
    .25        Tomato Sauce (which is 1/2 of a can)
    .05        Water
    .01        Salt
    .04        Cumin
    .04        Garlic Powder
$1.23

...so there you have it...a nice hot lunch for 3 for $1.23...or 41¢ per serving...

~Have a lovely weekend!

...Oh...wait...

...I almost forgot today's nākd Bar flavor is...
...Strawberry Crunch...
...yummy things...I love that they list the percentages of each ingredient...
...109 calories...
...I really liked this fruity crunchy bar...

...go to Natural Balance Foods for more info...

Friday, January 30, 2015

...this and that...

...I have a couple of posts floating around...that I need to get done...one for some of the food that I cooked last weekend...and now it's this weekend...arghh...and one for a recent FO...but I've just not quite had the time...so this is just a filler post of some recent happenings...and I'll get caught up this weekend...
...first...it snowed again...and I love the cool blue light of dawn...when I first looked out this morning the light was like a black and white photo...but by the time I got the camera it was lighter and bluer...

...and today's nākd Bar flavor is...
...Cocoa Delight...
...chocolate-y and good...
...and because I forgot to post the ingredients for yesterday's bar...and you called me on it...here ya go...

...go to Natural Balance Foods for more info...

...and have a lovely day!

Thursday, January 29, 2015

...Vitamix Black Bean Soup...

...Y'all already know how much I LOVE my Vitamix blender...

...and it came with a whole book of recipes...but there's also a website with a bunch more recipes...

...and that's where I found this delicious Black Bean Soup recipe...
...I had cooked a big pot of black beans specifically for this recipe...so I measured out 1 1/2 cups and rinsed those...and chopped an onion...

...I also got out some individually frozen chickpeas...I know those are black beans in the link too...but I have garbanzos frozen the same way...
...put some veggie stock and the sauteed onions in the Vitamix...
...added the black beans and the garbanzos...
...cranked that baby up to high...and let it run for 6-7 minutes...
...until the friction has 'cooked' the soup and steam escapes form the vented lid...

...it always amazes me...
...served this thick and creamy soup with some warm yellow corn tortillas...Scout had his with tortilla chips though...and ate it like a dip...it really is that thick...
...the amazing thing about this soup is how quick it is to make...if you have all the ingredients on hand anyway...and it is so so creamy...even with no 'cream' of any sort added...it was delicious...you can probably make it in a regular blender...you may have to process it for longer and then you could just heat it in the micro or on the stove...

...and today's nākd Bar flavor is...
...it's rhubarb and custard...
...so far...this is my favorite flavor...tangy and sweet...so good...

...check out these healthy cereal bars at Natural Balance Foods

...and have a lovely day!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

...W.I.P. Wednesday...a Multi-coloured Scarf...

...this is some of the pretty yarn that my sweet friend Elizabeth sent...
...and now it's a scarf...almost...

...and today's nākd Bar flavor is...
...Apple Crunch...
...even the crunchies only have 3 ingredients...
...and only 108 calories...
...no added sugar...
...definitely 100% yummy!

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

...vegan rice crispy bars...


...I did quite a bit of vegan cooking over the weekend...none of it with Julia though...

...I made vegan rice crispy bars...

...I know...I know...I've already blogged about it a couple of times before...

....once when I made some failed vegan marshmallows...which made perfect rice crispy bars...

...and again using the somewhat grainy Vegan Sweets Marshmallows...I can't find a link to those brown sugary marshmallows...so maybe they don't make them anymore...
...This time I used Dandies Vegan Marshmallows...and I must say that they are the closest thing I've found to non-vegan marshmallows...

...and I made them in the crockpot...
...just put your Earth Balance and a whole 10 oz. bag of Dandies in the crockpot...they will puff up and melt perfectly...
...then grease a 9 x 13 pan with some Earth Balance...
...mix some vegan crispy rice cereal with the gooey marshmallows...and spread in the prepared pan...

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 package (10 oz., about 40) Dandies
6 cups crispy rice cereal

DIRECTIONS

1. Put Earth Balance and Marshmallows in Crockpot on high...

2. Add cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with Earth Balance. Cool and cut into squares.

...and today's nākd Bar flavor is Cocoa Orange...
...another very yummy bar...
...quite a filling snack too...with a cutie...and a small pot of tea...
...just four ingredients and a hint of flavor...
...another deliciously simple combination of flavors...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, January 26, 2015

...From my back deck...

...we had a little bit of snow over the weekend...
...and we spied a pretty red cardinal among the snowy trees...

..I thought it was interesting that the Northern Cardinal is the state bird of 7 states...more than any other bird...

Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
North Carolina
Ohio
Virginia
West Virginia

...followed by the Western Meadowlark which is the state bird of 6 states...including North Dakota...

...and...
...it's time for another Vegan Nakd bar review...
...it was good...I liked the crunch...and it seemed sweeter than the cashew cookie one...but bananas are pretty sweet...

...another good bar...that I'll definitely eat again...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week...

Saturday, January 24, 2015

...nākd Bar Product Review...

...how often do you get mail with the word nākd stamped across it...
...and this is what was inside...
...the nice folks at Natural Balance Foods sent me these healthy cereal bars to review...

...so...WOW!...and THANKS!...I love trying new vegan products...
...and the first one I picked up (a chocolate one...of course)...had only 4 yummy ingredients...
...but I decided to start the trial with the simplest one of all...only TWO (2) ingredients...
...100% yummy...100% vegan...love your body...
...so I tore open the Cashew Cookie bar right then and there...
...and WOW!...again...so yummy...simple and good...

...stay tuned next week as I try all of the bars...they don't have a lot of calories (most are under 150)...but I won't be bingeing on all of the flavors in one day...haha...

...so...hop over to Natural Balance Foods and check out these healthy cereal bars

~Have a lovely weekend!