Veggie Lasagna

*Casie Here*

This was a HUGE hit with the entire family. HUGE!!! The kids devoured this, Vernon craved it all day the next day. I will definitely be making this again and soon if Vernon has anything to do with it!!! I have not made Lasagna since we have gone vegetarian/vegan (so going on over a year and a half). No wonder everyone loved it.

First of all I found this little gem at Hy-Vee in their health food section in the cold case. I was sold. I have been wanting to make veggie lasagna, but didn't know how to get around the ricotta part. Welp, this was the ticket!!! It is made from Tofu if you couldn't guess and it does taste VERY similar to the real thing and has the exact same texture. It did cost almost $6 though, but it fed the whole family for two dinners and one lunch, so that's not too bad. 

 I already had some really old Lasagna noodles (like a year and a half old lasagna noodles). They worked just fine though.

I made the 'white' mixture with the Tofutti Ricotta, one of those frozen spinach blocks (thawed and wrung out, chopped up a little more), and for my 'egg' I used chia seed goop. How do you make Chia seed goop? Take 1 TBS. Chia Seeds and mix with 3 TBS water (this substitutes one 'egg'). Let it sit for about 10 mins and it turns into goop, like an egg. It helps bind things just like an egg. If you need more than one 'egg' just double it or triple it (I have used it in cookies that call for eggs and it works perfectly). I added some salt, pepper and garlic powder here too.

For my 'meat' mixture I used 1 whole onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 2 carrots, little bit of yellow pepper, 1 can mushrooms and I had 4 fresh ones too, and this product below (that I have had in my freezer for way too long). Chopped up everything, sauteed and mixed everything together with spaghetti sauce. 

Do all the regular layers like a regular lasagna (the kids helped)!

 I used these Veggie Shreds for some 'cheese' in between the layers (this product melts really well and tastes really good too, much better than the Diaya brand I think). 

 We had some french bread and green beans with it the first night and a lettuce salad the second night. Mmmmmm

 We had a lovely family meal. Isn't that what it's all about?

So, so good. A little time consuming, but not too bad considering how many meals it made. AND it would have gone farther if Vernon didn't over-indulge! Just sayin'....

*UPDATE*

I made this again and changed up a few things. First of all I the Hy-Vee I got the Tofuitti Ricotta was out and I called almost every single one in town and no one had it, so I just used regular Tofu crumbled it and added everything else above and it worked perfectly. It tasted just the same. So, now I'm not going to spend $6 and get that when I can just use regular tofu.
I also didn't use the Quorn crumbles. I used Seitan instead as the 'meat'.

Here is what Seitan looks like up close. I always chop or food process mine really tiny.

I didn't have any frozen spinach so I just food processed some fresh leaves really fine and mixed them in with the Tofu cheese mixture. Everything else was the same. It was so freaking delicious.

Burrito Lunch

*Casie Here*

 This was my yummy lunch the other day. It was quick and I had everything ready to go from dinner the night before, so it came together super fast.

Black re fried beans mixed with sauteed onions, corn, taco seasoning, and cooked rice. Topped with tomatoes, veggie cheese, salsa & green lettuce. All it was missing was my black olives (I was out) I did use a few Kalamada olives I had, but it wasn't the same. It was so good and refreshing!

Veggie Rolls

*Casie Here*

 I made some veggie rolls the other night. I baked them instead of fried. They turned out pretty good. 

 I used onions, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli sprouts, clean bean noodles, ginger, green onions, yellow & peppers 

Yumm

CORNEAL NEOVASCULARIZATION

How can you tell that this contact lens wearer is not getting enough oxygen to their cornea?

Answer:  The above eye looks slightly red and irritated, but that can be just as much from an irritating environment as it is from the contacts.  To find out if enough oxygen is getting to the cornea, we need to look at this eye under a bit more magnification.  Pictured below is the same eye as above in a magnified view and with a narrow light beam to show the corneal neovascularization.   The slit lamp biomicroscope picture (below) shows blood vessels moving (right to left) from the white conjunctiva into the clear cornea (the clear cornea is in front of the aqua colored iris).  This cornea is starving for oxygen so much that it is recruiting new ("neo") blood vessels ("vascular") from the white conjunctiva because not enough oxygen is getting through the contact lens that this patient has been wearing.

 

The healthy cornea is clear because of numerous reasons and one reason is that it is an avascular tissue, meaning that in it's normal state it does not have blood vessels going through it so the cornea does not have a direct oxygen supply from the body in its normal state.  To acquire oxygen, the cornea relies on receiving oxygen from the environment and when we sleep, the eyelid does a good enough job limiting the amount of oxygen to the cornea.  That is why it is extremely important for contact lens wearers to get as much oxygen to their corneas during their time wearing contacts.



 

Check out one of my next posts that will talk about how contact lens wearers can reduce their risk

for developing corneal neovascularization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE CHINA STUDY LECTURE

So you viewed my prior video about the ophthalmologist who talked about "The China Study" but you aren't interested in reading, here is a video lecture about "The China Study"

by it's author,  T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. :

 

 

 

 

Quinoa Mix-In

*Casie Here*

We are low on fresh food currently, so I really had to scrape for this little meal. I found some Quinoa in the cupboard and followed the directions on the box. 

While that was cooking, I chopped up a peeled cucumber, 1/4 of an onion (I didn't saute these, so they were pretty potent), some sun dried tomatoes, a can of artichokes, lots of Kalamata olives (I love these), some pine nuts that were in the freezer and a little bit of fresh basil. I used the juice of 1 lemon, some pepper, no salt because the olives have plenty & some garlic powder, added the quinoa when it was done cooking and mixed it all together. 

 I really, really liked this quick and refreshing salad for dinner. 

Veggie Pasta

*Casie Here*

I don't really know what to name this dish. We make it quite often (or a version of it) because my kids LOVE pasta with sauce. Seriously, LOVE it...like they will eat 3 bowls of it (even the little one). We just load it up with vegetables and protein though! Hee hee hee

 I started this one with chopped onion, zuchini and mushrooms. I sauteed it all with a tiny bit of olive oil and threw in some Italian seasoning and garlic powder. I added in some tempeh with flax (below) and warmed that through.

 I added the noodles once they were cooked and put it all together with some spaghetti sauce and a little bit of pesto sauce. I had some fresh basil, so I chopped it up and threw that on top too! It was delicious!!!

Homemade Granola Bars

  Soph and I made these granola bars this week. We used the recipe HERE, but made some changes. I wrote them in below).

They were really easy and delicious. 

Ingredients:

(I doubled this recipe. I had the ingredients out anyway, so I just made twice as much.)

• 4 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (I only had sweetened)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips* (I only had dairy free one, they are so good. I get them at Target)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I only had Sea Salt)
• 1/2 cup canola oil (I used Coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey (I used a mix of honey, agave and brown rice syrup to make 1 cup worth ~ just cause)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

4. Pour the wet ingredients over the oat mixture and stir to combine.

5. Place granola mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and shape into a rectangle, about 13 x 9 x 1 inch thick. (I did 2 cookie sheets so they were thinner)

6. Bake for 40 minutes. (only took 20 mins since they were thinner)

7. Allow to cool completely then cut into 3 x 1 inch bars. 

*BIG TIP* I cut the bars shortly after they came out of the oven, when they were still warm. It was so much easier that when they harden up.

* You can substitute raisins or other dried fruit for the chocolate chips.

** Individually wrapped, the bars will remain fresh for several weeks. (Ours didn't last that long)

Quote

 

Interesting...

Casie found this video online today.  Where else have you heard this information before?

 

2013 Goals

What if one of your 2013 goals was to motivate one person to: quit smoking, to lose 50 lbs, to lose 100 lbs, talk someone with sleep apnea into taking a sleep study/use CPAP machine or get someone to stop drinking soda (diet or leaded)?

Healthy Snacks for Kids (and adults too)!

Check out this LINK to these awesome healthy snacks for kids! I can't wait to make these, there are SOOOOOOO many! My kids will love them!!!

 Carrot Pineapple Muffins

 Banana Dog Bites

 Cinnamon Honey Wheat Thins

 Green Ice Pops

 Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

 Homemade Fig Bars

Peach Fruit Leather

Brushetta

*Casie Here*

Usually our summer-time favorite, but we had it recently and boy did it hit the spot! 

 Mini heirloom tomatoes chopped with roasted garlic, chopped katamala olives and some fresh basil, drizzled with olive oil and a little salt and pepper! Some times we add a splash of balsamic vinegar. Yummm!

Serve it over french bread that is toasted in the oven. Delicious

Best Soup EVER!!!

I make this type of soup often, but for some reason tonight was really, REALLY good. We really loved it!!! 

 I wanted to write it down before I forgot what I did. 

I started by roasting in a 350 oven a butternut squash halved, seeds scooped out, drizzled with little olive oil, placed flesh side down. Along with 2 sweet potatoes and about 10 mini finger potatoes, chopped. 

I also roasted 2 whole garlic cloves with tops chopped off and olive oil drizzled over them in foil in the oven along with the squash and potatoes. 

 I sauteed in 1/2 stick of butter (Earth Balance) 1 big onion, chopped until translucent. At this point I added thyme, oregano, turmeric, celery salt, basil, cumin, salt & pepper to warm the spices and bring out the full flavor. I added chopped portabella mushrooms, 4 stalks celery, 2 carrots, 2 little yellow squash, 1 big zucchini, 1 big parsnip, 2 cups kale, 1 cup fresh parsley. 1 box vegetable broth, 1 lime, juiced, 1 cup red lentils, 1 can coconut milk, 1 can white cannelloni beans, 1 can of kidney beans both drained and rinsed. I added the things from the oven after they were gently roasted (about 35 mins). I added about 4 cups of water since it was a little thick.

It was so, so good. I am glad we have LOTS left over for the rest of the week!!! : )

Earthy Wheat Bread

*Casie Here*

This morning for New Years breakfast, I made this bread that I have been wanting to make for a while. I was given the recipe by a friend. I made a couple changes and will tell you what I did (In purple).

Overall this is pretty healthy.

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 

1 cup whole-wheat flour

(My flour is mixed with both, so I just did 2 1/2 cups of my own flour)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup old fashion oats, plus extra for the top

(I think I used just a little more ~ I love oats)

1/4 cup flax seed, plus extra for the top

(I didn't use this much flax, it seemed like a lot ~ I used just a little less)

3 TBS. baking powder

(I didn't use this much baking powder, it seemed like WAY TOO MUCH ~ I used 2 TBS.)

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter, chilled, cut into 1/2 in. pieces

(I had Earth Balance sticks)

1/2 cup grated carrots 

(2 good sized carrots is what I used)

1/2 cup chopped dates

(I think I used 6, remember to remove the pits)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

(I used Walnuts instead ~ all I had)

1 cup half and half, plus 1 tablespoon for top of bread

(I used 1 cup of vanilla almond milk)

Heat oven to 375, grease 8x8 baking dish. In bowl mix everything up until the butter. 

Add the butter & cut it into the dry ingredients until it looks like coarse sand.

I put my carrots and dates in my food processor (my walnuts were already chopped). Toss all together. Add milk and blend until everything is moist. Press dough into pan. Brush top with extra milk, sprinkle extra oats and seeds on top. Bake 35-40 mins. until toothpick comes out clean. Cool & cut. Best to have day of!

Tofu Scramble

*Casie Here*

On Christmas morning I made a Tofu Scramble, basically Scrambled *Eggs*. It was quick, easy and only needed a few ingredients.

I sauteed a small chopped onion in a tiny bit of olive oil. I added chopped mushrooms, yellow pepper, broccoli and 1 container of firm tofu squeezed out and crumbled. I added salt & pepper, turmeric, garlic powder, nutritional yeast and some (like 1 tbs.) Dijon mustard. Heated all till warm and it was done!

Everyone loved it. You really can't tell it's not eggs!