Curried Indian Potato Stew

Zoey's dad has been busy in the kitchen lately now that Zoey and I are more focused on baby-preparing tasks. He has been checking out books at the library and searching the internet for new recipes to try. This is one of his first recipes that he found on his own and created without any help from me. He even took the picture and asked me to post it on the blog!

This recipe is from the McDougall Program website and the actual recipe can be found here. It is the first recipe in the list. We used fresh cauliflower instead of frozen and we left out the peas. Actaully I didn't even know that there were peas in the recipe until I just looked at it now. I think it would have been great with peas added, but it was great without them so you can make your own choice about that.

He used about 2 1/2 Tablesppons of curry powder spice that we got in the bulk foods section of the grocery store. He also added a little black pepper which gave it a little more zip. We served it over brown rice and hulled barley which makes everything taste even better.

Overall this dish was delicious and we ate it for leftover lunches for 2 days.

He also made the next dish down: Mexican Beans and Rice and that was really good too but we didn't take any pictures.

As for me and Zoey:

We have been busy putting together the baby's room:



Zoey tested out the changing table when I wasn't looking and she was so cute up there that I had to take her picture. It isn't the most flattering image of Zoey that I have, but it captures the moment pretty well. We are getting ready to have the baby any day now!

Taco Soup

One of our favorite go-to meals in the slow cooker is a vegan taco chili/ soup recipe that is super easy to make. We often make this when we have non-vegan friends over for dinner and it is always a success!

Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 onion
1 package frozen morning star frozen "hamburger" crumbles
3 fresh bell peppers in a variety of colors
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can black beans
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1/2 cup frozen or canned corn
1 can black olives
1 package taco spice
cumin to taste (optional- it gives the soup a smokey flavor)


*** Note: If you prefer to soak and cook your own beans, you can add 1-2 cups of each type of cooked bean instead of the canned beans. ***

Directions:

1. Saute the onion in cooking spray or a little bit of water for about 5 minutes
2. Add the morning star crumbles and continue to saute for another 5 minutes
3. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker except the olives and mix well
4. Cook on low for 6 hours or cook on high for 3 hours
5. Slice and add the olives
6. Enjoy with baked chips (optional)

We love using the chips to scoop up bites of chili but it is just as good when the chips run out! I meant to get a picture of this in a dish with chips, but we were so excited to eat this that there was no time for final pictures! This dish is also really good the next day, so it is great for leftovers.

Boring Snoring

Well, it has been awhile since Zoey and I have posted and it is mostly because my diet has become extremely boring. I was talking to my sister on the phone the other night and she asked about my blog and when I told her what I have been eating she agreed that what I was eating really has been boring. I eat a lot of plain grains- hulled barley, bulgur, brown rice, oats, quinoa and couscous. I am soaking and eating large amounts of plain beans. And then I am having daily salads with lots of fresh fruit. It has been delicious but not much to blog about.

For some reason the past few weeks it hasn't occured to me to actually mix foods together into a "recipe". Zoey's dad has been more creative on the food front and actually checked out a cookbook all on his own this weekend and was pointing out things that he wants to make. So I am hoping to get a few more things up here on the blog before the baby arrives.

I am also in the process of collecting wholesome vegan non-refrigeratable food to take with me to the hospital when I go into labor. I met with someone at the hospital where I am having the baby and she said that they should be able to get me some wholesome vegan food while I am there but I am not going to leave much up to chance. Does anyone have any recoomendations for packaged foods that I could take with me that would be great for a 2 day hospital stay with no microwave or refrigerator? So far we have individual soymilks, canned beans, grapenuts and a few granola bars. I am at least banking on there being fresh fruit and greens/ salad bar at the hospital.