Portabella Topped Fettuccini

This is definitely a grown-up taste meal.  Kids might not like it.  I adapted it from a non-plant-based recipe which called for chicken broth and cheese and I really love the clean taste of it.  

2 portabella mushroom caps, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Red pepper flakes (whatever heat amount you desire...I used about a teaspoon but we like a bit of heat.

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup cooking white wine (you can use a dry white wine)

Handful fresh parsley, chopped

Fettuccini pasta

Cook pasta.  Saute garlic and red pepper flakes for 1 minute, add mushrooms.  Cook for 2 - 3 minutes (until mushroom shrinkage occurs...LOL).  Add white wine, juice of lemon and parsley.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Spoon on top of fettuccini.

QUICK.  DELICIOUS. NUTRITIOUS!  

Quinoa Tacos in the Crockpot!

I have a love/hate relationship with crockpots.  I understand them and why their use would be popular but I've never really cared for the way my meat comes out when I've cooked it in a crockpot so I generally don't use it.  But I have one.  

A friend told me to ask Mr. Google about a recipe and I did so.  With a few adjustments, I made it plant based my way.

These things were so delicious and such a filling meal.  We LOVED them!  I used as many organic ingredients as I could.  There were 24 corn tortillas in the package and we still had filling left over for more tacos once we ran out of tortilla shells.  I promise you that you will love these as much as you love tacos with meat.

1 can kernel corn

2 cans black beans

1 can Rotel tomatoes 

1 can red enchilada sauce

1 pack of taco seasoning

1 cup quinoa

1 cup vegetable broth

Avocado (we used 1 avocado per 8 tacos or so)

Cilantro

Salsa

Tortilla shells

Add all ingredients to crockpot, stir, cook on high for 3 hours.

Serve on tortilla shells and top with diced avocado, cilantro, and salsa.  SO.GOOD!  These are definitely making the rotation around here.

(Oh yeah...we've tried a lot of plant-based recipes but I'm only sharing the ones we thought were amazing.)

Plant Based Starting Point

Okay...so we OFFICIALLY started today.  I was out of town the first two days of the month and wore the hell out yesterday so we couldn't start until today.  Traveling is hard enough with a gluten free diet so chances of my doing plant based successfully were slimmer to noner.

SIDEBAR...

Why in the world aren't there more healthy options in airports?  

Okay.  Moving on.

Today's menu:

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with fruit, walnuts, and flax seed.

Lunch:  Salad with kale, spinach, avocado, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, olives, 4 bean salad and sunflower seeds.  I made a dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, fresh pressed garlic, seasonings.

Snacks:  4 pieces of fruit and two solid handfuls of raw almonds.

Dinner:  Lentil Vegetable Soup

I modified the recipe because it seemed a bit bland.  I added two 10 oz. cans of Rotel tomatoes and green chilis instead of the can of roasted tomatoes and I put in 9 cups of vegetable broth instead of just 8.  I wanted it to be more soupy.  Oh...and I added more spinach.  Why?  I like spinach.  Duh.  LOL!

I seasoned it well and yall...it was pretty darn delicious and it made a really big pot so we can get about 6 more bowls out of this pot.  I think we'll do it for dinner two more times this week and freeze the rest.

I did some calculations regarding protein and that's going to be a challenge I'm thinking.  To find out how much protein you need to multiply .36 times your weight.  If that's what you want to maintain...you'll come up with how many grams of protein you need to do so.  According to my calculations, I'm off by about 12 ounces today.  I'll do better tomorrow.

Robby loved the soup too.  I need to fix his protein intake too.  

Again...the soup was GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

Plant Based Creole

When's the last time you asked Mr. Google a question and found that there was no assistance whatsoever in populating the search results?  Hardly ever right?  Right.  So...imagine my surprised when I typed in 'PLANT BASED CREOLE' and found straight crickets.  LOL!

Now...let's backtrack here so you know where this came from.  The Robinator has decided that he wants to train for another marathon.  I was like...cool.  Go you!  Then he was like...I think I want to train plant based.

Me:  Um...

Him:  Check out www.NoMeatAthlete.com and tell me what you think.

So I go and I read and I'm like...UGH but then I'm thinking...if he really wants to do this, I guess I'll have to help him.  I downloaded the app, Forks Over Knives, and placed a hold on the book of the same name on Overdrive because some smarty pants had checked out all copies from my library.  UGH!

And I kept reading and then I started remembering onefromphilly talking about how good she feels doing plant based and I thought to myself...hmmmmmmm...

Okay...now I'm real particular about food.  I like good food.  Bacon is the best thing ever in life.  And ribeye's grilled on the charcoal grill.  And lawd...CHICKEN.WINGS.

But I want to be supportive and I seriously doubt that this is something you can do without the support of your spouse.  I mean...The Robinator isn't about to start cooking.  You know that.  I know that.  He knows that.  

I gave up wine for Lent this year and I've stuck to it.  It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  You can do anything for 40 days right?  So I started thinking that maybe I could try the plant-based thing for 30 days just to see how it goes.  And...if I can't stick to it, certainly I can do my middle meal non-plant based if need be so I can still support him by doing something plant based for dinner right?  I mean, I want to do it the right way so he has enough protein to train and yeah...again...I can always grill a steak for lunch so I don't have to eat it in front of him.

In looking for recipes I came up with nada Creole initially and that made me giggle.

All that said, for the month of April, I'm going to try and go all plant based foods to see how it goes.  It can't hurt and I'll learn some new recipes, hopefully, that I like and figure out how to make it work for him while he trains.  A whole month of plants only.

This should be interesting.

Lemme go figure out that app.  It even makes the grocery list for you so yeah...that's gonna be nice.

Have you ever tried it for any length of time?  Would you?