Meatless Monday: Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms

August 1, 2011 by 2 Comments

Happy Meatless Monday friends!

On Wednesday I promised an awesome stuffed mushroom recipe and here it is!!  Hope you enjoy!

Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
4 Portobello mushrooms (you could also do this with baby bellas)
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup of your favorite pizza or pasta sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella (I like Daiya), plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.

Lightly scrape the gills out of your mushrooms (you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I find the gills kind of oogey so I like to scrape them out) and wipe them down with a damp towel to clean them.

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Sauté onion and bell pepper on medium heat until tender. (I like to sauté my veggies with a little vegetable broth instead of oil!)

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Add garlic and sauté until fragrant.

Remove veggies from the heat and place into a bowl with Italian seasoning, sauce, breadcrumbs, and cheese.

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Divide the mixture between the mushrooms and sprinkle the tops with a little more cheese.

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Bake in the 400 F oven for 45-50 minutes.

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We served ours with a big pile of steamed broccoli and some salad!

So. Good.

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Mushrooms.  Pizza.  Cheese.  Can’t go wrong there my friends!

Have a great week!

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Meatless Monday: Don’t Wanna Cook?

July 25, 2011 by 7 Comments

 

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Happy meatless Monday friends!!

We all know how much I love to cook.  But honestly, sometimes I just don’t really feel like cooking.  I think we all feel that way sometimes, am I right?

So let’s talk about some ways to still have a Meatless Monday without cooking!

Take Out, veggie style!

Obviously this would be the first thing we think of when we don’t feel like cooking!  It’s not as hard as you might think it would be doing a meatless take out!  A few options…

  • Subway!  Easy peasy!  Get the veggie delight and stuff that sucker FULL of your favorite veggies!
  • Asian food… you may be surprised at how many veggie dishes an Asian style place can have!  Veggie stir fries, black bean sauce, vegetable dumplings, steamed rice, tofu, veggie sushi, edamame, spring rolls…   If you have one of those Mongolian stir fry places near you they’ve got TONS of veggie options!!
  • Pizza!  This one’s much easier than you think!  Some pizza places even have whole wheat crusts and non-dairy cheese now!  When we have pizza delivered Pizza Hut is the only place near enough to deliver so we usually do the veggie lovers without cheese.  Sometimes I’ll add my own non-dairy cheese but most of the time I eat it sans cheese!  I think you might be surprised at how delish pizza is without meat and cheese.  It really lets the flavor of the sauce and the veggies shine through, not to mention the fact that it won’t clog your arteries!!
  • Grocery store salad bars!  There are so many grocery stores that have amazing salad bars now!  It’s an easy and quick meal to go!  Whole Foods, Central Market(these are only in TX), natural foods stores, and I’ve even seen several Kroger’s with salad bars!  Pile up those veggies peeps!  (I love to add lots of beans, baked tofu and grain salads to my grocery store salad!)
  • If you haaaave to do a fast food place (ugh), Taco Bell’s beans do not have lard so they have several vegetarian options.  Bean burritos(vegan without cheese), Seven layer burrito (vegan without sour cream and cheese), a taco salad without meat are just a few.  I’ve done taco bell in a pinch and it’s pretty easy to do veggie style.

Leftovers!

Freeze Meatless Monday leftovers so that you’ll have them on hand for nights that you don’t feel like cooking!  Easy!

Sandwiches/wraps

I always keep sandwich and wrap ingredients on hand so that they’re easy to grab if I don’t feel like cooking!  You should keep your fridge stocked with veggies anyway (cause, duh, they’re good for you!).  Things I keep on hand for veggies and wraps…  Bread, California Lavash wraps, lettuce, tomatoes, cukes, sprouts, avocado, pickles, hummus, etc… Pretty much any veggie you can think of!

Convenience Foods

I try not to do too many convenience foods because they tend to have a lot of fat and sodium in them.  Not to mention that most of them are highly processed!  A few things I sometimes keep on hand are Amy’s products!  The whole line is vegetarian, with many dairy free options as well.  And they don’t have weird unpronounceable ingredients in them!  I like their enchiladas, their burritos, and their veggie pot pie is to die for!  I usually also keep some type of veggie burger in the freezer as well, just in case.  The Dr. Praeger’s California Burgers are phenomenal!

 

Anyone have a go-to noncook item to add to the list??

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Meatless Monday: Grilled Veggie Lasagna

July 11, 2011 by 6 Comments

Hey there!!  It’s time for another Meatless Monday!

Before I get into the recipe I need to show off my new refrigerator!!  (First, remember the old one??)

And here’s the new one!  (p.s. I know I need to go grocery shopping)

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On with the recipe!!

Grilled Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients:
Veggies for grilling- I used an eggplant, a zucchini, and an onion, and two portabellas.
Jar of your favorite pasta sauce
Whole wheat lasagna noodles cooked according to package directions- I used 10 of them, but it really depends on the size of your pan.
Mozzarella cheese- I like Daiya

Directions:
Slice your veggies up and grill them.  (if you don’t have a grill, you can use a grill pan.  If you don’t have either you can just sauté them, but it won’t be quite as good because it won’t have that smokey flavor)

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Let your veggies cool enough to handle them, then chop them up into pieces.

Layer your lasagna starting with sauce, then noodles, more sauce, veggies, noodles, sauce, veggies, etc…

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When you get to the top layer sprinkle on the cheese.  (make sure you get a really good layer of sauce on the top so that your noodles don’t get all crunchy)

Place in a 350F oven for around 30 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melty.

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Serve it with a nice salad and THIS BREAD!  It is maybe the best bread ever!  And you can thank Laura for the tip on the bread!

I made it in my bread machine and it came out perfect!  I sprinkled a little Tuscan Seasoning on it before it went to the bake cycle in the bread machine.

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Perfection!!!

Have a great one!!

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Meatless Monday: Veggie Pot Pie

June 28, 2011 by 2 Comments

Happy Monday!  Since it’s Monday, that means it’s a Meatless Monday post!  I’ve been concocting this since last weeks post and really really looking forward to it. 

In my version of veggie pot pie, I use puff pastry for the crust instead of a regular pie crust.  It adds a nice light flakiness to it that you can’t quite get with a pie crust.  Of course if you can’t find puff pastry you can just use pie crust.  Oh and also- the smaller you dice your veggies, the quicker they cook!  Smile

Veggie Pot Pie
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
1 cup potatoes, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance
1/4 cup flour
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed according to package directions

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

In a medium sized pot spritzed with cooking spray or a little EVOO, sauté potatoes, carrots, and onions together over medium heat until the onions are tender.

Add the mushrooms and garlic to the mixture and sauté for another minute or so.

Push the veggies to the sides of the pot and put the earth balance right in the middle of the pot.

Let the earth balance melt, then sprinkle in the flour.  Stir together and let the roux cook for a minute.

Stir the veggies in with the roux.

Slowly pour the vegetable broth in.

Bring mixture up to a boil, stirring occasionally, then turn down to medium and let it simmer until it’s really thick.

Add the thyme and the salt and pepper, to taste.

Stir in the frozen peas.

Pour the mixture into a casserole dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray.

Place the sheet of puff pastry on top(you might need to roll it out a little first with a rolling pin if it doesn’t quite fit in the casserole dish).

Bake for 30 minutes, until the puff pastry is nice and puffy and golden brown.

 

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This will make 6 servings.  Serve it up with your veggie of choice- we did a nice salad alongside ours.  This is sooooo good and very comforting!  And it comes in pretty good in the calorie dept as well!

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Hope you love this as much as we did!

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Meatless Monday: Lentil Loaf

June 20, 2011 by 3 Comments

 

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We’ve heard of Meatless Monday, yes?  If you haven’t heard of it check out the Meatless Monday website.  Of course every day is meatless for us, but I don’t believe that the meatless thing has to be an all or nothing thing for everyone.  Not everyone is willing to go completely meatless, but everyone can commit to having one meatless day a week.  Simple!  You’ll get in more veggies, reduce your risk of some chronic diseases(heart disease, diabetes, cancer to name a few), and help the environment all at the same time!  So let’s do this!  Each Monday I’ll give you a great meatless recipe and a whole lot of encouragement!

On with the recipe…

I know you’re probably thinking that lentil loaf sounds weird, but trust me when I say it’s so good!  We actually crave it- especially in the winter.  It’s an amazing comfort food, and I think it’s appropriate at all times of the year!  This recipe gets a big thumbs up from the husband. (he actually requests it sometimes!).

And the best part…. the leftovers!  This is amazing on sandwiches the next day.

Lentil Loaf
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, shredded
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups cooked lentils
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped or ground
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
1/2 cup ketchup, plus more for spreading on top of loaf
2 teaspoons vegetarian worcestershire sauce
2 handfuls chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray.

Sauté onion, carrots, and garlic in the 2 tsp of olive oil until tender.

Add to a large mixing bowl along with all of the other ingredients.

Stir and lightly mash the mixture with the back of your mixing spoon until it comes together.  If it’s too dry and won’t come together you may need to add a few splashes of water or vegetable broth. (or if it’s too wet you can add more bread crumbs)

Press mixture into loaf pan and spread a little more ketchup on top.

Bake for 1 hour, let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Cut into slices- you should get eight servings.  Serve with mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls for some classic home cooked comfort food.  OR on a sandwich- the best thing to do with the leftovers the next day!!!

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I swear I could NOT get a good picture of this- though I took like a billion. I think you’ll have to make it and just trust me that it’s delish.

Happy Meatless Monday!

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