Frozen Casseroles & the New Man in My Life

I can't show you any new exciting meals I've made recently. I've got nothin'! I'm too busy playing with this little man:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

In the weeks leading up to his birth, I stocked the freezer with as much food as I could. I got some inspiration from one of my Mom's non-vegetarian casserole cookbooks.

Pizza Pasta
(pre-frozen/pre-cooked)

Elbow macaroni with everything I might top a pizza with: garlic stuffed green olives, black olives, tomatoes, bell peppers, chopped soy pepperoni, ground up veggie burgers (Amy's), Italian seasoning, Daiya cheese, and onions. If I would have had shiitakes on hand, I would have added those, as well.

Tater Tot Casserole

First, I made chili using several kinds of beans and carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, etc. I'm lovin' the Eden brand of tomato products minus BPA.

I topped the chili with Daiya and frozen tater tots. 

It was every bit as delicious as I had hoped for.

Kale Tofu Lasagna
(pre-frozen/pre-cooked)

Apparently nothing says casserole to me better than Daiya.

Enchiladas

(pre-frozen/pre-cooked)

Beans, rice, kale, corn tortillas, homemade enchilada suace (using more of Eden's tomato products), and cheezey sauce. I actually made the cheezey sauce primarily because by this point I was thinking, "I can't put Daiya on every one of them!"

And I also made about 16 garbanzo bean/sweet potato/oat/sesame seed veggie burgers to freeze. And finally - a big pot of lentils divided into different containers were added to my frozen stash. I was lucky to be able to spread my loot out a little bit because my mom was super nice about bringing lots of food over, like quinoa, beans, pasta, etc. One of my sweet friends brought over 3 different kinds of salad one night, and another sweet friend made us some healthy muffins. I'm also fortunate that I have a husband who knows his way around the kitchen and doesn't huff if dinner isn't on the table when he walks into the house.

I'm getting nostalgic thinking back to the time I had all of this food ready to eat in my freezer. 

Those were the days.

Pregnant Eats One Day

BREAKFAST

pomegranate arils and a grapefruit

SNACK

carrot sticks

SNACK

Banana Split Cake: This is cake #2 of the month. After the first one (recipe here), the kids had been begging me to make another one. There was no way my current girth could justify another one in the same month.

So I made some fat/sugar cutting changes, and we hardly noticed a difference (but if you're making it for a non-vegan, non-health conscious person, I'd just leave the ingredients as is). Bottom layer: Instead of 1/2 cup of melted Earth Balance, I used 1/4 with enough organic applesauce to blend in with the graham cracker crumbs. 2nd layer: Rather than 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1 cup of Earth Balance, I cut those amounts in half, so that layer was half as thick.

I also added chocolate syrup this time, especially for Rose and Zoa! We have been enjoying our Chocagave.

Ingredients: Organic Nectars Raw Agave Syrup, Organic Nectars Raw Cacao Powder, Organic Vanilla Powder and Extract, Pink Crystal Salt

LUNCH

Tofu Kale Lasagna, using rice lasagna noodles, tofu blended in mixer with nutritional yeast, garlic, soymilk, and spices. Marinara and Daiya on top. Garlic bread on the side.

Snack: Sun Warrior Chocolate Hemp Protein Powder Smoothie with almond milk, frozen bananas, and frozen strawberries.

SUPPER

Caesar Salad, which I could eat every day, every meal, I think. (Dressing: mustard, lemon juice, garlic cloves, Bragg's, almonds, water, nutritional yeast.) Sunshine Burger, my favorite kind of packaged burger on French Meadow Bakery Hemp Bread with miso spread, mustard, Daiya (Do I eat too much Daiya? Probably so.), and avocado.

Food for a Day

What My Pregnant Stomach Devoured One Day:

Breakfast: Mix of steel cut oats and Bob's Red Mill Organic Creamy Buckwheat plus chopped walnuts, apples, and agave nectar

Lunch: Almond Grain Burger from Sol Cuisine with circle pieces of Food for Life GF Tortilla as the bun plus avocado, kale, and Cashew Cheese Sauce from Matthew Kenney's everyday raw

I was still hungry, so I had a little dish of the kids' Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta with marinara, hemp seeds, broccoli, and edamame on a bed of lettuce and kale.

Snack: Shake with frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, chocolate Sun Warrior Hemp Protein Powder, and almond milk

Supper: Fig & Food Soup (I think this is their Wheatberry & Vegetable Soup?) - I like the Fig & Food Soups with organic ingredients in their little BPA-free packages. Salad on the side with lettuce, kale, tomatoes, snap peas, and miso dressing.

What a Hungry, Pregnant, Vegan Momma Ate Today

Breakfast: Cereal (mix of Puffed Millet, Nature's Path Whole O's & Flax Plus) with chopped walnuts, almond milk, and 1/2 of a banana, chopped

Snack: A couple of slices of Dr. Cow cheese and a few chunks of fresh pineapple

Lunch: Thai Salad from Matthew Kenney's everyday raw. It basically consists of lettuce, avocado, bell peppers, pineapple, cashews (with spices added), coconut, tomatoes (I used fresh, rather than sun-dried.), and Thai dressing (recipe also in the book). I shared this with my son.

Snack: handful of carrot sticks and a few Brazil nuts

Supper: Salad with romaine, baby romaine, Swiss chard, grated squash, tomatoes, and garlic stuffed olives. I also melted Daiya on top of some leftover Mango BBQ Beans (from Appetite for Reduction), then slid that whole thing right onto my salad. Bwahaha. So good. Topped with some Guacamame (edamame guacamole, also from AfR).

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The kids are always begging me to let them make a meal. Well, it's really sweet and wonderful, and I try to let them learn by doing as much as possible...but sometimes I just need to hurry, and sometimes I don't feel like eating exactly what they're making...and things like that.

This is a meal they prepared for us all once, about 6 months ago. It basically consisted of salad (lettuce with whole baby carrots), crostinis with melted Daiya and some olives and grape tomatoes thrown in there, and some pan fried tofu. We ate it. Every last, dry, loving bite of it.

Well, today they really wanted to make something. I told them I was too super busy to help, but they could make something by themselves. All I did was write down the recipe, open the can of garbanzos, pull out the appropriate measuring cups and spoons and pretty much left them to it.

Part of the reason they like to cook is that they like to play restaurant and serve one another. They take turns putting on the chef hats and aprons and taking the order of someone at the table. This was what they served: Bagel Crisps with hummus, rice cheese, bits of lettuce, and mustard. (There was an enormous, unfortunate amount of mustard on a couple of the ones the boys made for their sister; those went uneaten.) I tried a bite of their hummus (plain); it was good!

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Really fun giveaway (think: free vegan food) hopefully going up tomorrow! Get excited!

What a Hungry, Pregnant, Vegan Momma Ate

A Day of Food

I was running late this particular morning, trying to get everyone ready and where they needed to be. I grabbed a little bunch of organic grapes to take with me in the car.

About 45 minutes later, I enjoyed my Chia Pudding that had been chilling in the fridge. I always just pour some chia seeds into a cup and let it sit for an hour or less in almond milk. (It's also good to stir occasionally and adjust milk amount accordingly.) Then I chop up some strawberries (or peaches or whatever berries I have on hand). I looooove this. It's one of my treats I always talk about while I'm eating. (As in, "This is sooo good.")

A late morning/early lunch snack? I really like these Sprouted Bagels (I think this one was Cinnamon Raisin.) from French Meadow Bakery. On top of the 1/2 I ate: Sun Butter, 100% fruit spread, and hemp seeds.

Lunch: A wrap using Food for Life Gluten Free Tortillas (my wrap of choice!), kale, lettuce, kidney beans, hemp seeds, tomatoes, avocado, garlic stuffed green olives, Cashew Cheese Sauce (SO GOOD) from Matthew Kenney's Everyday Raw, and Miso Dressing (based on his Ginger-Miso Dressing, just without the ginger).

Supper: Enchiladas and a salad with kale, other lettuce & greens, carrots, beans, tomatoes, avocado, and salsa. One of my favorite enchilada recipes: Cheesy Bean Enchiladas. But I make my own enchilada sauce and add frozen organic corn kernels and greens or grated zucchini.

We tried to make Blessed Mama's Strawberry Tall Cakes by cutting out the center and stacking it, but our lovely Arkansas humidity was making the frosting melt and everything slide and fall. Delicious regardless. I used the Sexy, Low-Fat Cupcakes recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. If I am making cupcakes just for my family, it's pretty much the recipe I always go to because they really are so much lighter, using applesauce and yogurt (and 3 TBS of oil). We only had blueberry yogurt; it's always fun to use flavored yogurt when making this recipe. These cupcakes have a bit of a different texture than typical cupcakes - but one that I prefer.

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And that's it. I'm really impressed with everyone's posts I've read so far and appreciate everyone's comments. As I type this, my husband is upstairs putting together my new elliptical trainer. The nurse (and the doctor also made a comment) got on to me for gaining 8 pounds this month. It is a little frightening, I admit. I always gain a lot during pregnancy, though - probably a combination of nature and nurture. I'm getting serious, though! Elliptical, here I come.