Ditching paper cups

Every now and then--especially when my boss won't be in the office--I like to stop at Einstein Bros. on my way into work to purchase a cup of coffee. We have "office coffee" but since my boss and I are the only ones who drink it, it has always felt like a waste to make a pot... even half a pot... just for me.

Walking into Einstein's this morning, it dawned on me that I should just buy its reusable travel mug instead of throwing away a paper cup, cardboard sleeve and plastic lid each time I purchase a coffee. So, that's exactly what I did. I bought the groovy brown mug, which was the cheapest of the two styles they offered. The shelves contained what might be considered a more hip mug in pretty hues of purple and blue, but they also were $9 and I wasn't about to pay that when I have my fair share of travel mugs at home in the cupboard. But, for $2.64, tax included, I got a refillable mug that I'll use for every future coffee purchase... and the coffee will only cost $0.99 each time. Bonus! I love Einstein's Euro-French Roast. It's my absolute fav!

Tonight, I plan to try a recipe for Eggplant Salad... so come back soon to see how it turns out! :)

Basil-Mint Orange Pesto with Pasta

Found the recipe for this yummy dish in my local newspaper today. It was submitted by a reader named Bonnie Brines King of Plymouth, Mich. It's the first time I've made pesto from scratch... and it didn't turn out too bad! :) Loved the fresh taste of it. I mixed it with whole wheat penne pasta for an easy dinner.

Basil-Mint Orange Pesto

Makes: 1 cup

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons frozen orange concentrate, thawed

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 cup olive oil

In a food processor, blend the basil, mint, walnuts, orange juice concentrate and garlic until almost smooth. With machine running, gradually add olive oil; process until smooth. If pesto is dry, mix in more oil by spoonfuls. Press plastic wrap onto surface, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days. Freezes well.

I've been wanting to make a dish for Presto Pasta Nights... and this is my first one! Wooo!

And, many thanks to my mom, who recently handed down to me her rarely-used older food processor. I originally requested it because I had planned to shred some of my cold-processed soap and turn it into laundry soap. However, I found it much more useful for making food instead! Thanks, Mom! :-D

Tasty Bite meals save the day when camping

I survived! This past weekend, I attended the annual family campout hosted by my BF's omnivore family. Thought not a camping virgin, I felt like an oddball around meal times because of my choice to eat vegetarian. There were about 2 dozen people at the campout and each family took turns making a meal... but none were even close to being vegetarian. :(

Two words for surviving a weekend with omnivores: plan ahead. I worked with my BF's mom prior to the trip, in hopes of finding out what people were planning to cook, so I could try to "blend in" as best as I could. For instance, Saturday's meal was scheduled as "burgers and brats" so I took along a veggie patty for myself. But, to be on the safe side, I also made sure to bring along a few extra, easy-to-cook back-up meals... just in case. I took two Tasty Bite meals as well as some Luna bars, apples, bananas, peanuts and gingersnaps.

I've blogged about the Tasty Bite meals before, and they surely saved the day this weekend. The omnis cooked sloppy joes for Friday's dinner. The kidney bean mixture I had prepared as a veggie version turned out too watery to be slopped onto hamburger buns. I thought the Bombay Potatoes might prove a worthy substitute, at least from the picture on the box, but its sauce turned out to be too runny as well. But, I ate it out of the pouch and was happy to have a hot veggie meal in my belly. :)

Saturday's scheduled burgers and brats actually turned out to be beef stew. :( So much for my veggie patty. :( I was even more glad that I brought along the Tasty Bite meals now, and happily heated up the Bengal Lentils, which worked out extremely well for that particular meal because the bread provided for the meat-eaters stew proved to be most excellent for dipping in the lentil mixture as well. :) And, I can happily report that this dish looked WAY more appetizing than the stew the omni campers were stuck with. Before digging in, my BF looked at my bowl of yummy lentils then back at his bowl of gross-looking stew and said, "Wanna switch?" LOL Two thumbs up for Bengal Lentils!!!

I'm definitely a big fan of these meals now. They taste good. They are super easy to cook. And they can make camping easier for veg*ns.... or any meal. I now keep a few pf these in my desk drawer at work in case I forget to prepare a lunch at home or don't feel like going out to lunch (see pic in this post... today's lunch! LOL). Since they don't need refrigeration, they're perfect for this purpose!

I have another camping trip coming up in two and a half weeks; my BF and I will be roughing it in Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park in Michigan's beautiful upper peninsula. Last year, we went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which feels like a second home to me because I've done so much hiking there in the past five or six years. For our weeklong trip last fall, we relied solely on Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin' as our bible for easy veggie meal prep in camp. (My BF, who is omni, goes veg for the week we camp... isn't that cool?) This year, I'm also using a cool new book I ordered from FreezerBagCooking.com. I plan to blog a bit more about veggie hiking/camping as the trip nears... so watch for those posts soon!

Gone camping...

Just a quick note to say I won't be around to cook or post this weekend because I'll be camping in Merrill, MI. My BF's family is having its annual family group campout; I'll be the sole veg*n among some 2 dozen or so omnis. Wish me luck! I'm not expecting any big snarfus, because I've worked with my BF's mom to determine what the meals will be for the weekend. Therefore, I've been able to plan ahead and have attempted to coordinate the veggie meals I'm bringing to match as close as possible to what everyone else is eating. For instance, Saturday's dinner is supposed to be burgers and brats, so that's basically a no-brainer: I'm taking my favorite veggie patty with me. :)

I hope to post more about the getaway when I get back. Till then, have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Monday's Lunch

I work at a university, and usually that allows me some decent foods choices for lunch... unless of course, it's the summer term with less students on campus. Our campus dining options are very limited July/August. Not usually a problem, because I normally bring my lunch to work, but on those days when I'm running late or whatever, it's nice to have something to fall back on.

Yesterday I walked over to our dining area, intending to get a Subway sandwich. However, I completely forgot that Subway, the grill, etc. were closed until September. All that was at the cafe were pricey grab-and-go items. And slim veggie options.

There was a "garden" salad, but I saw that it had egg in it. (What part of the garden do EGGS grow?) Most lacto-ovo vegetarians would eat this, but lately I've been toying with the idea of eating vegan as much as possible. I started reading Diet for a New America. While I'm nowhere near finished, I have read up to the part about the egg industry, and I really have no desire to eat eggs again. So, I didn't want the salad.

No veggie sandwiches were available; they were all meat-based. That left me with a choice of a three-bean salad, which actually looked pretty good, but it was in a small container and overpriced. Hummus and pita chips sounded good, but I could tell the chips were fried and really didn't want that. I settled on the "combo platter" with hummus, red pepper hummus, bab ghannouj, meatless grape leaves, spinach feta pie, olives and baklava. I love middle eastern food, but this combo was a pricey $5.95. At least I feel that's pricey, especially when I could've driven down the street and got a bigger and warmer similar combo for a buck or two more. But I digress. The lunch did its job and held me over till dinner. I barely touched the bab ghannouj, so I may buy some pretzels from the vending machine today and finish that off. :)

'Nuts About Spinach' salad

Doesn't this look fabulous? It tasted just as fabulous too! This is the "Nuts About Spinach" salad on the menu at The Pool Restaurant, located inside the Henry Ford Estate in Dearborn, Mich. You may remember that I did a previous blog entry about the restaurant at the mansion earlier this summer.

This salad was BIG, and it better be for the $9.95 price! LOL Baby spinach leaves were topped with melon, strawberries, mandarin oranges and Michigan dried cherries. Underneath all the fruit were the almonds, walnuts and soy nuts. Raspberry vinaigrette came with the salad on the side. I couldn't resist... I poured the whole cup of dressing on top cuz the vinaigrette was divine! It had a nice, thick texture to it, not runny at all. Tasted very fresh, too.

To my delight, my dining companion--an omnivore--ordered this gorgeous salad, too! And, I discovered through our conversation today that he has a secret longing to be a vegetarian! Go ahead, R... you know you want to go veg! ;-p

Maple Fried Tofu

Ever since I discovered honey fried tofu earlier this year, I've been dreaming about trying the vegan version--Maple Fried Tofu.

Before getting extremely sick earlier this month, I bought quite a few tubs of 365 Organic brand tofu at Whole Foods Market during a visit to my BF's house (Lucky b*stard lives so close to a Whole Foods, and he's an omnivore that rarely shops there. Grr.). I try to stock up when I visit him because the WF tofu is cheaper than I can find it at my local grocer. So, I stocked up, then got sick and the tofu is now drawing close to the expiration dates (well, end of the month)... so I'll be using it up over the next few weeks. One of the recipes I'm dying to try is the BBQ Pomegranate Tofu from the book, Vegan with a Vengeance. Holding me back has been the pomegranate molasses ingredient. BUT, I found it at Whole Foods this past weekend, so I'm ready to dive in and try this one SOON! But for now, it's been quick and easy cuz we're having a heatwave here in MI... heat indexes hovering at 100 degrees. Oi. Last thing I feel like doing, especially since I don't have central a/c, is to slave over a meal on a hot stove.

Tonight I decided to use some of the tofu in my fridge with the quick and easy Maple Fried Tofu. I love making tofu this way so much that I didn't even make any sides, just the tofu, LOL. The recipe is the same as I reported back in February, but I used pure maple syrup instead of honey. Mmm, mmm good! :-D

Tomorrow, I'm treating a colleague of mine to lunch at the Henry Ford Estate in Dearborn, Mich. They have a great restaurant in a room that used to house Ford's indoor swimming pool! I first blogged about the Estate's veg*n dining options back in June when I ordered Clara's Garden Sandwich, which is a yummy veggie delight. Tomorrow, I plan to order the "Nuts About Spinach" salad... so be sure to come back to read about it! :)