DIY Soy Milk meets Oatmeal

Vegan

... and it's made its way into a new favorite breakfast oatmeal:

- quick oats, salt, prunes and almonds in a bowl, pour boiling water to just cover oats, cover bowl with plate
- grind cooked soybeans with water in a blender, pour on top - voila!

Lemon-Dill Zucchini with Fried Rice

Success! Quick, easy, colorful, fresh, simple, delicious meal!
Rescue Mission: leftover rice

Vegan -  Lemon-Dill Zucchini

- fry zucchini in olive oil, adding salt, pepper and dill once it softens
- at desired level of done-ness, remove from heat and toss with fresh lemon juice


Ovo-veg- Carrot and Egg Fried Rice

- great way to use up leftover rice, which apparently works better than freshly cooked
- flavoring made from mixing whatever bottled sauces I found on hand: soy, sweet chili, veg oyster (mushroom) and sesame oil

Lazy Rice Bowl / Greek Salad

Vegan
(though it would've had goat cheese in it, had I taken it out of the freezer in time)

This here is a bowl of rice with a Greek-type salad on top. Good for short-on-time and/or lazy cooks!
Dressing: EVO oil+lemon juice+herbs

Fruit Bowl

Vegan (though you could dress it with some yogurt if that's your sort of thing ;)

Such a yum and healthy way to enjoy fresh fruit - have it at breakfast, snack, dessert time...

Strawberry Banana Flax Smoothie

Lacto-veg (added yogurt)

It's strawberry season in Taiwan! These little gems are so amazing fresh!

DIY Ingredient: GROUND FLAX SEEDS
I made this "discovery" the other day - if you want ground flax seeds in your smoothie, just start them off in an empty blender and after 30 seconds - minute of awfully loud blending, voila! Fresh as can be. Since flax seeds oils are fragile and will go rancid very quickly after being ground, this is the ultimate way to go, I think! If you appreciate grinding your coffee and/or spices fresh, don't skimp on the flax!

Omelette à la Rich

Ovo-lacto veg

My Baby knows breakfast!

Simple Pumpkin Soup

Vegan

- cooked pumpkin in a little water with ginger, nutmeg, cumin.
- mashed with soy milk, reheated, garnished with oregano.

Rice Pudding

Vegan 
Rescue Mission: on-its-way-out banana and (cooked) purple rice mix

Ok, I know, I know, gruel, right?  So delicious!

Heated unsweetened soy milk, added the (cooked) rice mix with a dash of cinnamon and followed Kath Eats Real Food's method of whipping in the banana. Pleasantly sweet enough for me! Yum yum!

Brown Rice Congee and Veg

Vegan
Rescue Mission: various veg that have been idling in the fridge for nearly a week

Ok, nothing glamorous here... Let's face it, it's gruel... But it's pretty tasty!

High water to rice ration (up to 8:1)
Cooking time: 1 hour or more on low heat, just stir occasionally

Flavors: started with fresh ginger, added ground cumin, soy sauce, sesame oil
(+ salt & lemon juice to serve)

Veg: carrots, eggplant, red pepper, bok choy

Stewed Fruit

Vegan
Rescue Mission: using up past-its-prime fruit or fruit that was disappointing in taste (eg. bland)

Any fruit, fresh and dried is a good combo. Add water, spices and stew away... viola! Topping for oatmeal and pancakes, can serve as a jam-like spread, etc

The before and after. Suggested serving below!

Overnight Oats

Vegan (or not)

Unbeknownst to me, even as I searched hi and lo for easy nutritious breakfast ideas, Overnight Oats have apparently been taking the world of food blogs by storm.

The promise of a sunny day and a happy re-discovery of soy yogurt while grocery shopping means, tonight's the night!

Masala Chai #1

Lacto-veg Recipe from Rainy Pixels

Peppy, though the black bean soy milk and possibly the black tea I used bunked it up a bit

Spiced Basmati-Almond Muffins

Ovo-Lacto Veg

This is a recipe from Sunlight Café by Molly Katzen, creator of the Moosewood Restaurant phenomenon.

Overall, not bad, could be more moist (sub applesauce for oil next time and my rice was quite dry AND not basmati but a regular brown). The main issue was collecting all the ingredients... By the time I chopped nuts, zested the orange, ground the spices, squeezed the lemon juice and measured everything... oh boy...

However, I brought a few out of a freezer on a day hike and they really hit the spot, being all chewy and hearty and giving us sustained energy to keep trucking on.

Savory Sweet Potato Bread

Ovo-veg

Everyone likes this stuff (me included!)

*Note: I prefer either cutting down on or entirely skipping the 1/2 cup sugar in the original recipe, otherwise you get a strange mix of too-sweet with rosemary. I've also baked it in a loaf pan, just takes a bit longer.

• 1 ½ C uncooked shredded sweet potato
• 1/3 C oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 C white flour
• ½ C whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbl sesame seeds

• ---

• Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom only of 9” round pan or 8” square pan
• Mix sweet potato, (sugar), oil and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except sesame seeds
• Spread in pan. Sprinkle with sesame
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

• Recipe suggests serving warm with orange butter

Warm Ginger Papaya Smoothie

Vegan

Wanted something soothing and light to start the day after doing this Motivation-Activation Flow Practice video from Yoga Journal.

Inspired by the food-replacing liquid fast combo of guava-papaya-apple, I left out the apple this time and used warm ginger tea for the liquid.

I scoop out the guava seeds for smoothies, but then eat that bit with great relish, since I think the creamy flesh around the seeds is the best thing guava's got going.












Smoothies with a watery liquid (eg herbal tea) are kind of a nice lighter alternative to the creamy soy milk etc - based ones I often make. And you taste the actual fruit more. Witness this intensely colored blueberry-banana number from yesterday (left), compared to a creamy one (right):