February 23, 2017

What we've been eating lately



Every time I write a blog post I promise myself I'll write another one in a few days — or at least in a week. But the time just seems pass so quickly, and before I know it, two weeks have slipped by. I haven't stopped eating, I've just stopped thinking about it as much. And because I'm not thinking about it, I'm not taking photos of the food. Sometimes, though, I enjoy a dish I've made so much I can't help but photograph it. Today I'll share a collection of random foods I've managed to both enjoy and remember to photograph.

In my previous post I talked about my new air fryer, and I'm happy to report I'm still using it nearly every day — or more. In addition to lots of other foods, I've made a lot of fries, and have started embellishing them. The fries you see here are smothered in mushroom gravy, and were quite a treat. I've had many variations of the dish and plan to make one with cashew cheese and gravy — a take on poutine.



Yesterday, I made a 'baked' apple in the air fryer. I had already halved and cored the apple to eat when it occurred to me to air fry it. It took about 20 minutes at 390˚. The apple was sweet and sticky on the outside, and tender enough inside to cut with a fork. I added a dab of plum jam to make it look prettier for the photo, but honestly, it looked great the way it was. Tasted great, too.



Here is a dish of pasta with a side of bok choi. The interesting thing about the pasta, which we used to buy from Costco, is it's made from chickpeas. It's very high in protein so you don't really need another protein in your meal. I say "used to buy" because although I liked the pasta a lot when we first started eating it, I started to fall out of love with it after a while. It has a bit of a strong flavor that you either like or don't. Maybe I'll change my mind again, but for now, it's off the table.



We were also enamored with edamame spaghetti — another Costco find.



Seriously, where can you find pasta that has 24 grams of protein per serving. Wouldn't it be fun to answer the next "where do you get your protein?" question by saying, "oh, I get my protein from pasta." We used to love it, then we got tired of it. There's still a large box in the basement (it's from Costco, so quantity is part of the deal), and I'm hoping to start craving it again. Craving might be too strong a word, though.



These are spiced nuts from Kristy Turner's book,  But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan. (I reviewed Kristy's book here, if you want to read more about it.) The nuts are GOOD — sweet and spicy and perfect to have on hand when company is coming. I made this particular batch to take to a snack potluck.



Last but not least, here is what a day's food might look like for my dog. I've mentioned before she's on a special diet for liver failure. She gets a hepatic formula dry food which I mix with veggies to attract her attention. Sometimes there are chickpeas, rice or quinoa. Most of the time, the add-ins are broccoli, peas and pumpkin. Ironically, the hepatic diet is vegetable-based, as she's not supposed to get too much protein, especially animal protein. Her appetite can be erratic, but most days she eats. I've found she prefers a shallow dish rather than a typical dog dish. She's doing extremely well, considering, and you would never guess she's got such a serious problem. She's my baby, and I love her a lot.

10 comments:

  1. Aww I'm glad to hear she is doing well, it's a beautiful presentation for her, I could eat it! So colorful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha. I doubt you'd want to eat Callie's food. Although the protein in the kibble is plant-based, the food contains (much to my chagrin) chicken fat and fish oil.

      Delete
  2. Yeah, haha! What a pretty bowl of dog food! I wish Haxan would eat more vegetables.
    That baked apple is gorgeous! The plum jam does sound like a nice addition.
    Would love to see some poutine-y fries. What's in the smothered mushroom sauce? I love mushrooms but usually stick to pretty basic prep.
    I've heard of that chickpea pasta. I don't think I've tried the edamame noodles but some other bean-based noodle (maybe mung bean?) and you're right - they're so filling! And not in the carby-y, overfull kind of feeling that regular wheat pasta will give you. I never ate enough of it that I got sick of them, but they're kind of pricey and I haven't bought them in a while. maybe soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thge baked apple was a sudden crazy isea that worked better than I thought it would. I'm going to do it again, maybe with a sprinkle of cinnamon. The mushroom gravy was from a home pantry mix I made from Oatrageous Oatmeals by Kathy Hester. It was good, but I actually made it again with miso gravy and I liked that better.

      Delete
  3. What a beautiful bunch of meals - for you and your dog too! I love the take on poutine particularly - something I've always wanted to try but never quite managed to get around to making. Hopefully I shall now be inspired! That baked apple is such a clever idea too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Actual poutine, which I've never had, has cheese curds and brown gravy. However, as vegans, we're used to coming up with creative alternatives, are we not?

      Delete
  4. Glad to hear Callie is doing so well, her food looks so colorful and what a fun dish for her to eat from. The gravy fries look awesome! And that baked apple - all the more reason to get an air fryer myself. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Callie's food today looks very much like the photo with leftover veggies and brown rice. She also gets her food topped with nutritional yeast, and if I forget to put the yeast on, she walks away!

      The apples were a surprise — it just popped into my head to try it. I love my air fryer but sometimes I wish the cooking area were bigger. (The air fryer itself is huge.) Check out the fb group vegan air frying enthusiasts, if you're on fb. On the other hand, I don't want to be responsible for you buying another kitchen appliance! :D

      Delete
  5. Andrea, as soon as I saw your first photo, I recognised those chips! (Fries :) ) We have an Actifry and love it! I'd never thought of baking apples in it though, and am going to give that a try!
    And we have a bag of that spaghetti that a friend gave us, as a wee present for watering her plants while she was away. So now we'll try that, too! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a pleasure to see your name pop up here! So you have an air fryer, too! I'm having so much fun with mine. Yesterday I made roasted garlic cloves and ate them all before I had a chance to use them in anything. Actually, I ate all but one — I gave one to my husband so we would both be able to sit on the sofa!

      Delete

Thanks for visiting Andrea's easy vegan cooking. I love, and read, all of your comments! Please share your thoughts.

There are a few Amazon links in the posts. Thanks in advance if you click on one.

Note: ALL THE IMAGES FROM THIS BLOG WERE ACCIDENTALLY DELETED ON 1-21-12. I'M RESTORING THEM, POST BY POST, BUT IT WILL TAKE A LONG TIME. Recipe pages you visit may be missing photos, but all the text in intact. If you find a post without images, let me know so I can fix it. Thanks!