Aloo Gobi.. kind of

I am a busy lady, and like all busy ladies, I often find myself cooking without having shopped. I just open my cupboard and fridge and come up with an idea. The other day, I felt like indian food. I looked in the fridge  -- I had both cauliflower and potatoes and thought - Aloo gobi!

1 head of cauliflower
6 fingerling potatoes
Dash of dried ginger
1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 tspn tumeric
2 cups water
1 can rotel
1/2 tspn cumin

Chop and roast potatoes in oven for 20 minutes.
Saute with olive oil the cauliflower for about 5 min.
Add potatoes after being roasted, to saute pan
add other ingredients except water. Toss so spices cover everything
Saute for 5 mins.
Add water - cover, mixing every 5 min. Do this for about 20 mins

Say Yum!

Lentil Pasta

So personally I thought it tasted good, but some in my family felt that the texture was a little weird.

1 Shallot
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 zucchini
1 can of diced tomato
fresh oregano, rosemary, sage, and basil to taste (we like it herbie so we used a ton)

Sautee veggies...
Separately cook lentils (I used 1/2 cup of red lentils)
Drain and then add to the veggies
Toss in with cooked pasta..


say yum

Why Yes I did put a butternut squash in my smoothie!

I tend to do juice cleanses two times a year. I was looking through various juices and saw one that had butternut squash in it. Having some cooked and left over butternut squash in my fridge at the moment and it being almost October, I immediately thought of PUMPKIN.. and so the following smoothie was born:

1/4 of a small to medium butternut squash. I would equate this to about 1 cup cooked (packed down to measure).
1 complete apple (peeled)
2 ounces of almond milk
1 cup water
two shakes of the cinnamon
I also added one serving of my unflavored protein/vegan nutrition powder. (I use naturade soy free vegan protein powder)
If you have pumpkin pie spice, I would suggest also adding a pinch of that to it.

Tasted like pumpkin pie = D
Feel free to add frozen bananas to give it a more frozen texture.

If you like pumpkin season as much as I do, then be prepared to say yum!

Quick Spicy Veggie Soup

Last night I made a new twist on an old favorite. I took a can of diced tomatoes, a can of rotel, and added assorted veggies (zucchini, bell peppers, potatoes, cilantro, and beans). Squeezed in half a lemon and bam 15 min later I had soup.

Saute potatoes and garlic for about 5 min.
add veggies and cans (do not drain).  - Cook 10 more minutes.

Now I like to serve this with a cheese quesadilla --one tortilla with 1/3 cup of cheese. (I use the Trader Joe's brown rice tortilla) and grill stove top. Each side grill for about 2-3mins.

Say Yum!

Banana Ice Cream

I am one of those, "I'll believe it when I see it," (or in this case taste it) type people. There seems to be a craze right now of banana ice cream. So I froze about 5 bananas (pre chopped), put them in my vitamix (do small amounts at a time because the banana gets stuck under the blades), scooped it out and mixed it with some caramel (Coldstone style), and bam - banana ice cream that totally hit the ice cream spot without a bunch of fat and calories. I will totally make this again. I will say that the bananas that I used were super soft/ripe. I would think you need them to be for a natural sweetness.

Mixed Veggies - Indian inspired

So I am a fan of the whatever is in the fridge type recipe. You come home tired, you open the fridge, and you see what veggies you have and magically turn that into a quick meal.

What I used: Turnips (I didnt have potatoes and this is a lower carb alternative anyways), carrots, swiss chard, and cauliflower.

Take garlic to taste, and sautee the turnips and carrots with olive oil (I used a jalepeno pepper olive oil. You can just add the pepper instead).

After they soften add the cauliflower, sautee about 2 min,
In a bowl mix - 1/4 tspn turmeric, 1 tspn cumin, 1 tspn coriander, 1/2 cup water
Then add to the sizzling veggies. Also add the swiss chard - mix, and steam about another 5 min.

Indian inspired, healthy, all veggie, satisfying mixed veggie meal. Say Yum!

Vegan Paella (kinda)

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I saw a vegetarian recipe for paella and decided to give it my own twist. It was wonderful! 

Take olive oil, green onions (I used two, including the green and white parts), 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, a tblspn of garlic, and one box of veggie broth. Bring to boil then add 2/3 a cup of lentils and 2/3 a cup of quinoa. At same time add 1 tsp of saffron threads. Cook for about 10 min then bring down to a simmer. Add broccoli (I used two large heads), and 1 bunch of kale. Cook until the lentils and quinoa are tender (about another 10-15 min). 

Say yum!