Veggie Lifestyle

Quorn Roast Review

2009-12-10T21:58:00.001-08:00

I promised a review so here it is. It will be short and sweet...simply because...the roast was GREAT!

I cooked it in aluminum foil and basted the roast with olive oil and some spices like thyme and basil. It takes about an hour to cook, and is easily eaten re-heated in the microwave as leftovers or on a sandwich.

We used mushroom gravy to help with flavor and to keep the roast moist.

I have no complaints whatsoever about the Quorn Roast. It is by far the best mock meat product I have tried. My mom is terrified of anything that tries to replace a meat product and she even liked it. It had the texture and flavor of real turkey, except it was in the shape of a sausage.

WEBSITES OF INTEREST
Quorn
Become a fan of Quorn on Facebook

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-01T09:21:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we got together at my sisters house. My sister was not there but she offered to let us use her house because its a big nice house :) How nice of her! My mom, boyfriend, his momm and my moms boyfriend were there.

Last year my boyfriend and I tried the Tofurky for the first (and probably last) time. This year we decided to try the Quorn Roast. It is not made out of tofu. It is made out of a fungus (like a mushroom). Let me just say....it was AMAZING! I will make another post reviewing the Quorn.

We are not vegan, but we use alternative milk sources when we can. For example, we used soy milk in the mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. The meals are not vegan, but it does reduce our intake of animal products. I have wanted to try cheesy potato casserole with imitation cheese someday to see if it is much of a difference.

We didn't expect this much food...but its okay because we had a lot of leftovers that were really tasty! By the way...the pictures are clickable if you want to see a full size version.

My Boyfriend and I

OUR MEAL

Quorn Roast
Green Bean Casserole
Cheesy Potato Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Mushroom Gravy
Deviled Eggs
Rolls
Oven baked carrots and potatoes
Squash with onions
Cranberries
Peas
Corn
Candied Yams
Pumpkin Pie

FOOD PICTURES

LEFTOVERS

And...some pet pictures from Thanksgiving! They enjoyed our company :) This is two of my sisters pets, Falcor the dog...and Jazzmine the cat!

How was your Thanksgiving? Post a comment and let everyone know!

Garden Salad

2009-04-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long! I am finally back to blogging and I have the recipe I promised ages ago from Thanksgiving! I had lost the recipe and never got around to getting it again but I have it now. Here it is.

Veggies:
1 can green peas
1 can whole kennel corn
1 can french green beans
1 can pimintoes
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion

Put veggies into a bowl

Dressing:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

Put into vinegar and oil into sauce pan and boil. When it starts to boil, put the rest of the dressing ingredients in and melt the sugar. When its melted, turn off.
Let dressing cool and then pour over vegetables.

That's it! Simple! Also, the person who gave me the recipe didn't write teaspoon salt/pepper....they just put "t salt and t pepper" so im not sure if it is teaspoon or tablespoon. So use your own judgement!

Cheesy Potato Casserole

2008-11-29T18:44:00.000-08:00

Today I will give you the first recipe. It is for

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Most people use this with cream of chicken soup, but ive changed it to mushroom so there is no meat.
It can be made vegan if you know what vegan products to put in it.

CHEESY POTATOES

Ingredients:
- Large bag of hashbrown potatoes (squares or regular stringy kind...doesn't matter)
- 1 medium size sour cream. Not the small one or largest one. The middle sized one.
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 regular size can of cream of mushroom soup
- 1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese (2 cups)
- 1 onion

Steps:
1) Dice onion
2) Put sour cream, onion, soup, and butter in a sauce pan and melt. Mix until it is fully melted and mixed together.
3) Put potatoes in a large casserole dish. I usually use a glass casserole dish.
4) Add the melted mixture and cheese on top of the potatoes and mix together until it is all mixed thoroughly.
5) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

When it is all done it should look like this...

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T22:02:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

I spent Thanksgiving day at my aunts house with the rest of the family. It sort of changed my Tofurky plans, so I had my Tofurky dinner the day after Thanksgiving.

Having dinner with the family is a little crazy. Especially when being a vegetarian is simply unheard of in my family. My 9 year old cousin had to ask me what I could eat. Not only "what can you eat?", but she went through each thing on the table and asked "Can you eat that?" lol...I was like "everything that does not have meat in it...like no turkey for me". She would still ask away though haha.

So as promised, I took photos of my Tofurky and the rest of my meal! And I have reviews!
Here are some photos from my mini Thanksgiving. I spent it with my boyfriend.

Please CLICK on the photo to view the whole picture.

BEFORE IT WAS COOKED

AFTER IT WAS COOKED...SEE THE STEAM?

TOFURKY & CHEESY POTATOES

VEGGIE SALAD

MY BOYFRIENDS PLATE

So....

I was very impressed with the Tofurky! Honesty, I was a little afraid at first. I was afraid the first time I had tofu too, and that turned out yummy. I think people are afraid of the wrong things. People should be afraid of rotting animal flesh, not soybeans :) My boyfriend and his brother also liked it. They are boys. So if they can admit to liking a cruelty free meatless veggie meal, then so can you :D

It tasted good and had a good consistancy. So well done. I don't know how they do it, but they do.

Also, I wanted to give you guys a couple of recipes from my Thanksgiving.

1. Cheesy Potatoes
2. Veggie Salad

I will post those later sometime. I'll try for tomorrow! You will want to try these recipes because they are sooooo delicious!!!

Day before Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T20:19:00.000-08:00

I got my first tofurky today! I got the cheaper one that doesn't include all of the special sides and stuff because I wanted to see if I liked it. The bigger one was $20 and the smaller one was about $9. I will be taking pictures of my meal tomorrow with recipes and everything! Its going to be a nice big post! Im so glad to be having a vegetarian dinner...you should be too. Don't follow this crazy lady.

Watch Sarah Palin look stupid while Turkeys are being slaughtered behind her. This is considered the most humane way to kill turkeys.

Primavera Noodles

2008-11-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

I love this recipe (Primavera Noodles) I found on AllRecipes.com

The only stuff I change is:

- I didn't think the bell peppers really fit into the mix...everything was soft except for the peppers, so I don't add those anymore.
- I add more ranch and cheese than it calls for in the recipe. I would put how much it says in the recipe and then add more to your liking.
- I get the microwave steamers veggies because its faster. Sometimes I get broccoli and carrots seperate, sometimes together...and sometimes i get broccoli, carrots, and cauloflower.

Check out the recipe here ---> http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Primavera-Noodles/Detail.aspx

And yes, that is my photo on the website.

2008-11-22T14:21:00.000-08:00

Last year for my 21st birthday my mom bought me Skinny Bitch and Skinny Bitch In The Kitch.

I have read Skinny Bitch and figured I could review it on here since it can help people who want to lose weight, and I totally agree with everything in the book. Now, I have not tried any of the recipes in the recipe book, but they look promising. Hopefully I can make some sometime and give you some reviews. So let me begin telling you about the Skinny Bitch book itself.

The front cover reads:
"A no-nonsense tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!"

The back cover reads:
"If you can't take one more day of self-loathing, you're ready to hear the truth: You cannot keep shoveling the same crap into your mouth every day and expect to lose weight. Authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin are your new smart-mouthed girlfriends who won't mince words and will finally tell you the truth about what you're feeding yourself. And they'll guide you on making intelligent and educated decisions about food. They may be bitches, but they are skinny bitches. And you'll be one too -- after you get with the program and start eating right."

It is about 200 pages without the sources pages. It is a very easy ready, so if you do not like to read or have reading troubles, don't worry! I read this book very fast and Im not a fast reader.

About The Authors:
Rory Freedman is a former agent for Ford Models and a self taught know-it-all. Kim Barnouin is a former model who holds a masters of science degree in holistic nutrition.

Now, what do I think of the book? I think its great. And no, I don't need to lose weight. Im a skinny bitch already I guess you could say. I wanted this book because I was interested in the topic, and and a vegetarian. Its a vegan book, and there is a lot of amazing information you would have never known without reading the book.

The people who do not like this book are people who can not handle the language in the book and how the authors tell you flat out facts. People are afraid of these facts because knowing some of the things that are told in the book means if you do not change your life, you are CRAZY! Lol, at least that is how I look at it. You cannot know the things that go on and still be the same. If you are, then you do not care about your body and you are an inhumane person.

Now, with that being said - I do not follow everything in this book. Yes, it is great information and will make you laugh sometimes, but I am a vegetarian because I love animals. The health benefits are just an added bonus. I would like to be vegan but at the time I can't because of money,time,location. I do not drink pure milk anymore, but I eat things with milk in them. In the book it talks about not drinking soda or coffee. I still drink those things. So you do not have to follow every tiny thing in this book. They put everything in here for your information, and you can use it however you please.

It is a very funny book if you are open-minded.
For example, chaper 8 is called "Pooping" It starts out by saying "Pinch a loaf. Lay cable. Drop the kids off at the pool. Let's face it; there is no greater pleasure than taking a big, steamy dump." Now that is some great, easy reading right there. The whole book has this feel, but they give you great information.

If you are interested in the vegetarian and/or vegan lifestyle, want to lose weight, or just want something fun to read with good information, check out Skinny Bitch . Check it out for the laughs and for the incredible information! If you want to lose weight, love the environment, love yourself, or love animals - check out this book! Click on the links below to order the book/books on amazon!

Thanksgiving for vegetarians

2008-11-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is on it's way and for vegetarians it may be a sad Holiday because you can't join in the Turkey dinner like everyone else. Of course, it does not make you sad that you are opting out of eating a beatuiful creature. So what do vegetarians eat during the Holidays?

In the past, I did not make mock meat for the holidays. I would make all of the other things that people eat during the holidays, but no turkey. And when I went to eat with the family I would not eat the Turkey. This year, I am going to try Tofurky. I have read reviews about it and they are all mixed. So im going to try it this year (hopefully if I can find it) and show you a pictures and review the Tofurky.

If you would like to know more about Tofurky and other tofurky products visit their website
HERE

Did you know?
Each year, more than 300 million turkeys are raised and killed for their flesh in the United States alone. Ben Franklin called them "true american originals" yet they have no federal legal protection, so they are abused from the day they are born. There are videos on this, but i'll let you decide if you want to find them.

Obviously, things have changed since the pilgrim years. Animals are not running around freely outside and we don't need to hunt to survive. There are millions and millions of people to feed in the world. How do they do it? How do they get all of these millions and millions of people their turkey dinner? Its not by having a good ol' family farm with a few turkeys running around in happiness. In today's factory farms, thousands of turkeys are crammed into filthy sheds after their beaks and toes are burned off with a hot blade. Many suffer heart failure and become crippled under the weight of their drugged bodies. They are thrown into trucks, and when they arrive at the slaughterhouse, their throats are cut and their feathers are burned off -- many times while they are still conscious. Do the workers care? No, they are making money!

For some holiday cooking recipes that will make vegetarians' mouth water and will spare turkeys' lives, go here
------> http://www.vegcooking.com/f_holiday_cooking.asp

If you have decided to leave real turkey off of your dinner plate this season, sign the pledge
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/p2thanksgivingpledge?source=p2advenewsturk&c=peta2_enews">HERE

2008-11-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

If you are not a vegetarian, try taking this pledge to be one for 30 days. 30 days is not that long, and you will feel amazing after the month of not eating meat!

Click
HERE to pledge to be a veg for 30 days!!

Choose the cruelty free option :)

Subway

2008-11-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

I spent all day with my dad yesterday. First we went to Gander Mountain which is a sports/hunting store. I had never been, but I didn't enjoy the 100's of stuffed animal heads everywhere haha. My dad was picking up a gun there. Later in the day I made him and my boyfriend my spaghetti. Check out the recipe at http://gottabehealthy.blogspot.com/

Thats my blog for helping people lose weight.

Today my boyfriend Tim & I went to subway. People always ask "What can YOU eat at Subway?", which is sort of understandable. They DO sell veggie sandwhiches! :)
Even the workers get confused sometimes. They always ask the other worker .."...where is the meat on this one? "or "is this meatless?"

lol anyways...
Here is my regular sandwhich from Subway...

1 foot long italian herbs & cheese bread
Provolone or American cheese
lettuce
tomato
onions
spinach leaves
black pepper
green peppers
banana pappers
mayonnaise
honey mustard

Thats it. Sometimes I don't get the banana peppers or green peppers. It depends on how I am feelings, but everything else is always there. Its a great veggie sandwhich.

2008-11-09T23:51:00.000-08:00

MMM...

Today I had some awesome chili. It was simple chili, not very thought provoking - but chili is chili :) I assume most people know how to make chili, but i'll let you know what I did today. Also...I love love love making different types of chili. This one is the kind that takes no work....open a can and pour in haha! Anyways...
Use any amount you want. This amount below was for 3 people and we all got 2nds - so its plenty! We even had a little left over. I don't usually measure my food out, so just go with your best instinct. Its to YOUR taste, not mine.

Ingredients:
- 2 regular or 1 large can of BUSHES medium chili beans.
- 2 regular cans of chili ready tomatoes - cut any size you want. I usually just go for the cheapest one at the store!
- 1 small can of tomato sauce
- 1 Onion
- Half a package of Morningstar beef crumbles
- Chili Powder
- Paprika
- Black Pepper
- 1 can of Corn (I like to buy the small cans of corn with peppers mixed in)
- Crackers
- Shredded Cheese (optional)

Okay now for the steps.

1. Dice onion using a knife & cutting board or use a food processor.
2. Grab a large pot and mix beans, tomatoes, sauce, onion, Morningstar beef crumbles, and corn.
3. Add a lot of chili powder.
4. Add just a hint of paprika and black pepper.
5. Cook on the stove on low to medium for about 20 minutes to let everything mix together and get heated up. I never time mine. I just use my internal cooking clock and decide when its done. Everything is already cooked so it just has to heat up.

Now serve with crackers and cheese!

Welcome!!

2008-11-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog! This is my first post ever on here so I would like to introduce myself to you. I am a 21 year old female living in southern Illinois. Yes, thats me on the left. I am a vegetarian and love veggie foods. If you are a vegetarian/vegan or animal lover - bookmark this page. I will blog about the wonderful world of veggie foods, problems vegetarians face, give my favorite recipes, show you what I eat for the day, give reviews...and much more. So lets start off today with what I had for lunch!!...

A simple BLT sandwhich. I would have taken pictures, but I made this after I ate and forgot to do it! There will be pictures next time :)

The ingredients I used are:

- Morningstar Bacon
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Smart Balance plus Omega mayonnaise
- Tomatoes (sliced)
- Lettuce
- Black Pepper (optional)

This is how I make mine.

1) Bake the bacon in the OVEN (I think they turn out better this way) according to directions on the box.

2) Toast the bread so it is a little bit crisp. I just hate soggy bread lol.

3) Add however much mayonnaise you like on 1 slice (or 2) of bread.

4) Add the black pepper to the side with the mayo so it doesnt fall off. Im a black pepper freak. My boyfriend doesn't add black pepper to his, and I probably add to much :p So just add it if you like it!

5) Take bacon strips and break them in half. I usually put 2 full pieces of bacon on the side of bread, but cut in half. So its 4 half pieces of bacon on 1 side. That is usually enough.

6) Take a couple pieces of sliced tomato and lay them on top of the bacon.

7) Take some lettuce and add it on top of the tomato

8) Take the other half of the bread and lay it on top of the tomato and press down a bit so everything stays in the sandwich.

9) Eat and repeat! :)

Many people think you can't have good food without meat, but that is far from the case! I love these veggie blt sandwhiches and I know you will too :)