I Bought a Zoodle Maker

I made this lovely dish with it:

1 large zucchini per person

1/4 C uncooked rice per person (basmati or jasmine pair well)

1 tb peanut butter per person

Soy sauce to taste

Sriracha to taste
(You can add ginger, lemongrass, Thai basil, or whatever flavors you like most)

Cilantro for garnish

Steam the rice according to the package's instructions. Zoodle the zucchini and set aside. Add PB, soy sauce, and sriracha (and any extras) to a sauté pan and blend together. When the mixture comes to a simmer, add the zoodles and stir to soften them. When it looks done, it is. Serve with rice and garnish with cilantro leaves. 

I'm guessing the Zoodler would take well to carrots, mole, curry, or even sweet and sour sauce. If you're on the IC Diet, omit the sriracha and soy, try my Asian sauce from this blog post, and sub cilantro with greens you can tolerate.

Rice Cereal Marshmallow Treats

This is how I make them:

2 bags of Dandies Marshmallows
1 box of puffed rice cereal
1 stick of Earth Balance
1-2 tb of Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste
Cooking spray

Spray your container/Disney with cooking spray. Melt the Earth Balance buttery stick in a soup pot over a medium flame.  When just melted, add the vanilla and stir.  Now the marshmallows!!! And stir, stir, stir!!  When they are as melted as possible, without being burned, add the cereal, turn off the flame, and fold the heck out of it to make sure all the rice is covered in mallow goodness. Scoop into your container(s) and pat until even.  Chill, cut, and serve.

Cocoa PB Puff Cereal Treats

Ooey-gooey deliciousness!!

3/4-1 stick of Earth Balance

1 box of Whole Foods cocoa peanut butter puffs cereal

2 bags of Dandies marshmallows (the minis melt faster)

1/4 C Sunspire chocolate chips

2-4 heaping tb of PB & Co Smooth Operator (or chunky would work well too)

Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and pour cereal out into a gigantic bowl, sprinkling chocolate chips on top. Melt margarine in a sauce pot, then add mallows, stirring constantly. When the mallow margarine mix is melted, pour over the cereal/chocolate chip mix. Quickly melt the PB in the same pot, stirring constantly, then pour over the mallow mix.  Fold everything together until the fragrance of PB and chocolate make you nutty. Put the mix into the casserole dish and pat it down. Chill until set, turn out onto a cutting board, and slice into bars. You can put it back into your casserole dish, arrange the bars on a platter, or wrap each bar in parchment.  Warning:  your hands will get chocolatey and your mouth will be happy.

Fideo

This is how I make it:

1 section of fideo nido (wrapped around itself, as opposed to fideo corto, which is cut)

1 vegetable bouillon cube dissolved in 2 C of water (or 2 C vegetable broth)

1 small can of tomato sauce

Chik'n style seitan

Water

Canola or corn oil

Salt and pepper

(You can add a little garlic if you like-I don't usually, but sometimes I add a can of diced tomatoes)

First, you must fry the fideo. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of your soup pot (a tb or two) and keep the fideo moving. It burns quickly.  When the pasta is golden and toasted, add the tomato sauce and cover.  That sauce will spit at you like an angry cobra. Make sure to shake the pot by the handle (like when you make popcorn) to keep the sauce from burning. When it turns orange-y and smells yummy, add the broth, pepper, seitan, and garlic if you choose to add it. Add water up to an inch from the top of your pot and bring to a boil. Give it a good stir, then reduce to a simmer. When the fideo is tender, it's ready to season and serve. I like eating fideo with golden, dark yellow corn tortillas. 

I've had it with limes and/or mayonnaise added as condiments (no clue about the Reason why people use mayo, but it does taste good). This doesn't keep well because the noodles absorb the broth, but it still tastes good the next day, so I'm advising you to make small batches. And the best part is that it only costs a few dollars to make a pot that serves four people.

Rice and Beans

Rice:

2 C long grain rice

4 C water

1 6 partly can tomato sauce

Minced garlic to taste

2 tb canola oil

Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a soup pot and toast the rice, stirring frequently. When the rice is toasted, add the garlic. Next, add water that has been mixed with tomato sauce and pepper. Cover and allow to simmer, reducing the flame to the lowest level. DO NOT TOUCH IT until the rice is tender--it should look like little Xs. Let it stand covered for 5 minutes, then add salt to taste. You can garnish it with green peas and cilantro sprigs. 

Rice is a fickle mistress and it takes practice to make this well. Be patient. It's worth it 

Beans:

For a Party-->

A massive can or large pot of cooked pinto beans

Canola oil

Jalapeños (whole, fresh-roasted or pickled)

(If you use fresh beans, make them with garlic and herbs. Bay leaf and epazote work best.  If you use canned beans, you may choose to rinse them to reduce the sodium, sugar, and unpleasant bloating stuff.)

Heat oil in a large soup pot, then add the beans with some of their liquid.  When the start to simmer, use a smasher to crush about half of them. Add the jalapeños and simmer until they thicken. If you don't like them too spicy, remove the jalapeños. 

For Lunch With the Girls-->

2 tb coconut oil

2 regular (or one medium can) vegetarian retried beans (or smashed beans you made from scratch)

Daiya Mozzarella Shreds to taste (or your fave brand)

Water

Heat the coconut oil in a pot, then add the beans, breaking them down any large pieces. Add enough water to soften the beans into a smooth consistency. When the start to bubble, add the Daiya and stir to encourage melting. Remove from heat and serve. This reheats and freezes well. 

Roasted Potatoes

1 lb of waxy skinned potatoes (red, yukon, white, etc.), cut into small pieces

4 cups of large mushrooms (your choice of variety), sliced

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2-1 bunch fresh parsley (curly or flat), chopped

Olive oil

Salt, pepper, paprika optional

Put the chopped potatoes, mushroom, parsley, and garlic into a mixing bowl.  Add olive oil to coat the mixture, then sprinkle in the seasoning.  Mix well with your hands or your favorite utensils.  

Bake at 450º on a sheet pan or casserole dish covered in parchment until the potatoes are both fork tender and covered in roasty golden goodness.  Stir while baking a few times to keep the veggies from sticking.  This particular batch took about an hour to bake, but the time will vary with your oven and the size of your potatoes.

Make sure to transfer to a serving bowl or container shortly after you take them out of the oven so that you can soak your dish.  Roasting juices are hard to clean off after they've dried.  Also, these are unlikely to burn as long as you keep an eye on them after they start to roast.  

Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry Pancakes made with +Bob's Red Mill Organic Pancake and Waffle Mix

1 C of pancake mix

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 C sweetened vanilla almond milk plus 1tb to replace the egg

1 tb canola oil

1/4 C dried blueberries

Alton Brown's show GOOD EATS, though not vegan at all, offers great technique and some cool science behind yummy food.  Check out his pancake game here.  It is true that most people over mix their pancake, especially when there is no egg to help cushion the flour from the wet ingredients.  Leave some lumps and let your batter sit for a minute or two before pouring onto your griddle.  The pancake will cook best in the middle of the griddle on a medium flame and is ready to flip when the edges look dry and there are some bubbles/holes on the top.  The second side is done when the center of the pancake starts to look a bit like a cone in the middle.  

If you find that your batter is too thin, you can sprinkle in a small amount of mix or quick cooking oats, folding gently so you don't overmix.  If it's too thick, add a scant tsp of milk.  

I chose to use dried blueberries for a couple of reasons.  Thawed frozen blueberries work well, but are very juicy and tart.  Save them for your smoothie.   Fresh blueberries, even at room temperature or warmed in the microwave, contributes to uneven cooking of the pancake, which leads to raw and burned areas on the same cake.  BUT I'm only speaking from my own experience.  If you have luck with fresh or frozen berries, please tell me how you did it,  :P dried berries are more expensive than frozen.

I keep my pancakes on a warm plate while I cook the rest, and serve them with maple syrup warmed with a pat of Earth Balance Buttery Spread.  2 pancakes per person, maybe with a slice of protein.

Platanos Machos Fritos (Fried Bananas)

1/2 to 1 platano per person

Canola or corn oil for frying

Salt

Side dishes

Platanos Machos look like a caveman style banana.  They have the same shape as Chiquita bananas, but are bigger, rougher, and thicker skinned.  Since they are starchier, they fry up very well.  Pick a platano this is still a little green, if it's too ripe it will stick to your pan.  

To peel your patano, I find it helps to cut off the ends, then score skin on the outer curve to peel.  Slice in rounds or angled cuts about a half a cm thick.  in a pan large enough to hold your sliced platanos with space between them, heat canola or corn oil.  You should use a few Tb, maybe the same amount you would use to fry potatoes.  

When the oil is hot, add your slices gently, the oil will splatter.  Fry until golden brown on each side, turn when they move easily if you jiggle the pan handle.  If you find that they are sticking, carefully use a spatula to lift and turn them over.  Season and serve with yummy sides.

Nopales

1 jar of nopales
1 8oz can of mushroom slices/pieces
1 8oz can of jalapeños, or fresh slices, to taste
1-2oz sun-dried tomato packed in oil, sliced
Fresh or dried herbs to taste
1/2 to 1 bag of veggie chicken strips
2 tb oil
Your favorite sides.

(This recipe doubles very well)

First, drain the nopales and rinse VERY VERY well under running water.  They tend to be starchy and salty, so wash 'em good.  I used Embasa Nopales here because I hate onions, but Doña Maria makes nice prepared nopales that are already seasoned.  I don't have a cactus or a grill, but making your own from scratch is easy with tweezers and a potato peeler.

Next, saute the mushrooms in oil until they're warmed through.  Add the nopales and stir to help reduce some of the residual liquid on your ingredients.  When the mixture is more dry, add the tomatoes, jalapeños, veggie chicken, and any dry herbs you may be using.

When the liquid cooks off a little, add any fresh herbs you may be using.  When the herbs are wilted and completely incorporated, you're done.

I used +gardein Teriyaki Chik Strips here and discarded the sauce.  Beyond Meat frozen strips also well in this dish.  Any protein you use will be good in this dish will taste good, but I like the strips because they make nice tacos.  

If you use dried herbs, use maybe a tsp or to to start, then taste before adding more.  Fresh work well in this, but know how strong each herb tastes in relation to the others you use.  Here, I used dried oregano and thyme, and fresh parsley and cilantro.

You may have noticed that I didn't list any salt or pepper among the ingredients.  Jarred nopales are very salty, even after being rinsed.  I used canned jalapeños and mushroom, drained but not rinsed, which adds more salt to the dish.  If sodium is an issue for your diet, used fresh ingredients whenever possible.  Mushrooms can be sauteed the day before, they keep well overnight.

Some good sides for this dish are corn tortillas, tortilla chips, beans, rice, israeli couscous, polenta slices, avocado slices, or Johnny Cakes made out of masa harina.  Let me know how you serve nopales, I'd like to hear it.

Reuben Sandwich

Toast up two slices of bread. Rye is traditional, but you can use whichever you like.
Smear the bread lightly with Vegenaise.
Top one side with some Gold Mine Raw Sauerkraut.
For the other side, top with a slice of Tofurky Deli Slices. I put my slices in the microwave for a few second to melt some Daiya Mozzarella Shreds to a lovely gooey texture.
Add Follow Your Heart Thousand Island dressing in the middle and nosh.

SouthWest Style Pasta Salad

1/2 lb spiral type pasta

Red veggies:  bell pepper

Yellow veggies:  corn, squash, bell pepper

Orange veggies:  carrots, bell pepper, pumpkin, kabocha

Green veggies:  bell pepper, zucchini, parsley, asparagus, cucumber

Sliced black olives

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

What you see in the picture is green bell peppers, boiled carrots, corn, and olives.  Since the SouthWestern flavor profile has bothersome ingredients, you may want to use ingredients that complement the spices and chiles you would find in a more traditional version of this dish. This will add a familiar taste to the salad without irritating your system.  I listed a few ingredients above that work well with the flavor and the pasta (so that it doesn't get sticky or mushy).

Boil your pasta to a firm al dente, strain, and rinse in cold water.  While the pasta is cooling off, prepare your veggies.

Add your cooled pasta to your mixing bowl, season, coat with oil, and mix well.  Add your chopped veggies and mix well.  Chill and nom.  

In order to keep from going into a carb coma, make sure that at least half of the total volume is veggies.  1/2 lbs of pasta serves 8 at 30g carbs per serving, but this doesn't include the veggies.  If you need to keep an eye on your blood glucose levels, just use a 1/4 lb of pasta and keep the serving to 8 portions.  Adjust the proportions of ingredients to favor low GI veggies (lots of cucumber, peppers, and parsley; less corn, carrots, etc.)

This will keep in your fridge for at about 5 days.

IC Friendly Red Pizza

1-2 pizza's worth of your favorite dough

2 roasted peeled seeded red bell peppers, puréed

1/4 C water

4-6 large cloves of garlic, chopped

Fresh basil, shredded with your hands (use dried if you prefer)

If you have access to other fresh herbs, you can also add thyme, oregano, tarragon, parsley, etc. 

1 tb olive oil

Salt to taste

(Optional, red and black pepper to taste)

1 bag of Daiya mozzarella shreds

1 can of sliced olives

(Optional, artichoke hearts packed in water, mushroom slices, seasoned wheat gluten, or any of your favorite pizza toppings)

Purée the red bell peppers in a blender, food processor, or use a stick blender. You may need to add a little olive oil to get things moving. Set aside.

Warm your olive oil in a sauce pot over a medium low flame.  When you can feel heat from the oil, add your chopped garlic and turn the heat all the way down. Let the garlic infuse the oil for ten minutes or so.  When your kitchen smells like grandma's house, turn the heat to medium and pour in the bell pepper purée. 

Add your herbs and water, and simmer (stirring occasionally) until it thickens to a pizza sauce consistency. Take off heat and salt to taste. If your sauce is bitter, you can sprinkle in some sugar. Making sure all the seeds and skin are removed cuts down on bitterness.

My favorite dough recipe, made in a bread machine:

3/4 C semolina flour

3/4 C spelt flour

1 3/4 C bread flour or AP flour

3 tb sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1-2 tb olive oil

1 1/4 C plain unsweetened almond milk, warm

1 envelope of yeast

Using the dough setting, add the ingredients according to the manual for your machine. I add salt and sugar first, then liquid followed by the semolina and spelt. Next comes the yeast and finally the wheat flour. I let the dough mix for a bit, then use a scraper to push down the flour and dough pieces that stick to the side. Wait until the first mixing cycle is done to decide to add more flour or almond milk. A good dough ball will be round and firm, but not sticky (too wet) or flaky (too dry). To fix a dough ball, add a tb of flour or almond milk to get it right. 

This dough is ready to bake when the bread machine is done, or you can knead and store in a zippy bag coated with olive oil for the next day. This will develop the gluten and make your dough chewy and puffy. When you roll out your dough, you may need to let it rest if the gluten gets fussy.  You'll see this if the dough keeps shrinking back to its original size.  Letting it relax in the fridge for a few minutes will make rolling it out easier.  The higher the gluten content of your flour, the puffier our crust will be.  Bread flour has a high gluten content, AP flour has less, pastry flour has low gluten content.  You may need to play with different types of flour to get the crust you like.

Top your pizza with a few tb of sauce, olives (and other veggies), a handful of cheese shreds, and bake at 450° for at least 10 minutes. Check the crust for crisping, depending on the thickness, it may take 20 minutes or so to cook through. The thicker the crust, the lower in the oven it should go. You may need to broil the top to get the cheese to melt. If your crust is golden, take the pizza out of the oven while the broiler fires up so that the bottom doesn't burn. 

Serve hot, keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days.

IC Friendly Pozole

Pozole is a lot like menudo as it has hominy cooked in a spicy broth.  From what I've been told, the difference types of soup is the meat you make it with,  Menudo has tripe while pozole has pork and chicken.  Pozole can be red, made with red chiles, or green, made with tomatillo and green/yellow chiles.  If you want to make this recipe green, use yellow bell peppers that you've roasted, seeded, and peeled.



1 jar of roasted bell peppers (about 3-4 peppers)
1 large can of hominy (the really big one that looks like it's about a gallon)
Thyme (I used about 4 heaping tb dried)
Oregano (if you use fresh, start slow, you can always add more)
3 large cloves of garlic, chopped
2 boxes of sliced mushrooms
(optional ) 1 C of your favorite chik'n substitute, sliced (unflavored wheat gluten/seitan works well.  I used +gardein Crispy Mandarin Orange Chik'n without sauce, but it has soy)
1/2 - 1/4 C maseca (masa harina)
Canola or corn oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Water or IC Friendly broth for cooking




Traditional IC Friendly garnishes include shredded cabbage, avocado, radish slices, oregano, and thyme. *

You're gonna need a big soup/stock pot for this quantity of pozole, but I guarantee it's worth it.  Everybody will want some too and it will last until the end of the next day.  **

The first thing I do when I cook with hominy is drain and rinse it.  Just dump it in a colander, run the faucet, and leave it to drain while you cook.  Then, put your mushrooms in a dry pan to sweat.  Cook them until they're soft.  They don't need to dry out, the juices will add flavor to your broth.

Add the bell peppers to your pot with a 1/2 C of water and bring to a boil.  Put the peppers with the water into your blender (or you can use a boat motor), keep the pulp or strain if you like, then back into the pot with 2 quarts of water.  Add your garlic, herbs, salt, pepper if you can tolerate it, and bring back to a boil.  Taste your broth to see if it needs more herbs or salt.  Add the mushrooms, chik'n, and hominy and cover with more water, about two inches over the hominy.   Boil for about 15-30 minutes, stir so it doesn't stick.  It;s ready for the roux when the hominy is tender, but still toothy (al dente).

While the soup boils, make your masa roux.  For masa roux, I like to use 1 part oil to 2 parts maseca. Heat oil in a saucepan, then sprinkle or sift in the maseca.  When it's cooked through, ladle some broth from your pot (about a cup) and add water to thin.  Work out any lumps and stir while you bring to a boil.  If your hominy isn't soft when the roux comes together, set the roux to warm and stir about every minute so that it doesn't burn or stick.

When, the hominy is soft add the masa roux and stir so that it mixes evenly.  Bring back to a boil, stir well, and serve with hot corn tortillas.  What you see in the picture is pozole topped with shredded cabbage and avocado slices.

*If any of the ingredients in this recipe are bothersome for you, substitute them for something else.  For example, parsley instead of oregano or diced zucchini instead of mushrooms.  

**to make a more manageable quantity, use these proportions:

1roasted, peelers bell pepper

1small can of hominy

1 tb thyme and 1 tb oregano

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 C to 1 C sliced mushrooms

(Optional)1/2 C chik'n, sliced

1 to 2 tb maseca

1 to 2 tb canola or corn oil

Salt and pepper to taste

The hominy and herbs will be cheaper at the Mexican market, and they may have better corn tortillas.  My favorite are dark yellow, grainy, thick, and smell like fragrant masa.  They steam very well.  I've seen hominy that has been frozen in supermarkets before, but I've never used it before.  If you have massive leftovers, freeze them in a zipper bag for no longer than a month. The Middle Eastern store may have large jars of roasted peppers at a good price.

Brussels Sprouts with Chorizo Style Seitan

I lifted this recipe from Aaron Sanchez; he demoed this on Melting Pot some years ago.  My recipe, however, is vegan, cholesterol free, and lower in fat.

You need: 

14 oz of washed and trimmed brussels sprouts

1 package of +UptonsNaturals Chorizo Style Seitan

2.5 oz of +Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Chile powder (optional, for heat)

! tb canola oil

1/2 C water

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a saute pan or wok with canola oil and sprinkle with a dash of salt.  Add your brussels sprouts.  If you washed them right before cooking, make sure you dry them off well; moisture will cause oil splatters.  Cook the sprouts well and try to get black roasty spots on all sides.  Salt well and add the water to steam.  When the sprouts turn bright green, reduce the flame, add seitan, black pepper, chile powder, and stir well.  Bring the heat back up to cook the seitan, then stir in shredded cheese until it melts.  Take off the flame just before the cheese looks gooey.

I serve these with beans and corn tortillas.  This recipe made 5 meals with about 230 Kcal each, including the beans.  These will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days and freezes well for no longer than a month.  

Enchilada Pasta

+Fresh & Easy

Tapenade Pizza

Pizza dough for 1-2 pizzas

Parmela kalamata spread

Black olive or kalamata tapenade

Veggie parm for topping

Roll out your dough and cover first in Parmela, then with tapenade. Bake according to the direction of your pizza dough recipe and serve with veggie parm if you like it.

If Parmela is not available to you or has problem ingredients, use whichever cream cheese substitute is friendly for you (like Daiya). If tapenade is bothersome to you, use black or kalamata olives to make your own in a food processor. Add garlic and limonolio for flavor. 

Vegan Tips for Living With the IC Diet

Some of these are ideas that I've found on forums and others are from my own experimentation. Everything on this list has gone in my body and come out safely. BUT!! Every body is different and you know your body best. Don't try anything you think may cause a flare. 

Soy sauce:

Simmer molasses and water and add to stir frys to give them their familiar taste. Cook the sauce with red bell pepper chunks to lend a teriyaki flavor to the sauce. Add sesame oil and fresh ginger if you can tolerate it. Kafir lime leaf and lemongrass make the sauce a bit more savory. 

Soft drinks:

Torani makes fruit flavored syrups (Regular and Sugar Free) for Italian sodas. If you can tolerate them, add a tablespoon to a pint of cold water, sparkling if you can tolerate it, to make a tasty drink. Or you could make kafir lime infused water, add coconut, watermelon/blueberries (chunks, purée, frozen chunks), or chilled chamomile/peppermint tea with agave or honey for sweet tea. 

Pickles:

Bubbies dill pickles and sauerkraut are full sour. They have no vinegar or preservatives, but be wary of the sodium. Also, you can cook cucumber slices in salty sweet syrup with some mustard seeds to fake bread and butter pickles. The same goes for red and yellow peppers. 

Broth/Bouillon:

Zucchini/red pepper/potato purée thickens soups nicely as does a good roux made with plain unsweetened almond milk. Earth Balance makes a good soy free vegan margarine. Using herbs to flavor your cooking liquid helps too. Also, wine becomes less irritating when the alcohol is cooked off. And if you really miss grilled onions, carmaluze sliced fennel. It's anisey and sweet without being pungent like onions, but has a similar color and texture. See my cooking instructions here. 

Boyajian:  

Boyajian makes citrus oils--lemon, lime, and orange that you can use to flavor baked goods and sauces. I've used them in salad dressings and Daiya cream cheese to make cheesecake. Olive oil is often infused with other flavore, citrus being most popular. I use limonolio to flavor foods that call for lemon juice. 

Dips:

Salsas can be made with savory ingredients without using chiles. Roasted red pepper and sweet corn makes a great base for salsa. I've read that chile oil is not irritating, but it doesn't taste like jalapeño so I skip it. You can add dried parsley and avocado chunks to make a great party dip. 

Make your own hummus. Garbanzo beans, tahini, and limonolio make a good dip. You could add blended roasted red bell pepper or roasted eggplant to cut the calories too. The same goes for baba ghanouj; just add limonolio instead of lemon juice to brighten the flavor. 

Protein:  

Wheat gluten is a great source of protein. Unfortunately, seitan is the easiest product to find and it almost always has soy sauce in it. You can make your own; several brands of gluten flour are available at natural food stores. If packaged veggie meats are bothersome, you can still get concentrated protein from beans, nuts, and seeds. Ask your doctor/nutritionist for I nformation about food combining to help you make complete proteins. 

If you have any tips to add to this list, please share :)

Fennel Pizza

To make the caramelized fennel:  buy one large fennel bulb per pizza.  Slice into 1cm rounds, I suggest using a mandoline, and cook on high/med high heat in a dry pan until softened.  When the fennel starts to wilt, season with salt and continue to cook until soft and brown, covered when needed.  When the fennel starts to stick, add a few drops of olive oil and continue to cook while stirring until the fennel is completely caramelized.  It will look like grilled onions when it's done.

Top your favorite pizza dough with Daiya Provolone slices, caramelized fennel, and sliced Field Roast maple breakfast sausage, then bake according to the directions.  To add flavor to the dough, season with fennel and salt, or anything else that will complement fennel.

You could use nutritional yeast instead of cheese slices, or maybe cashew cheese.  The sausage could also be any other seasoned gluten, or even baked apple chunks that are seasoned and sweetened with maple.

Chik'n Soup

1-2 C frozen peas

1-2 C frozen corn

1-2 C frozen cut green beans

1 bunch celery chopped

1-2 C shredded or diced carrots

1-2 boxes sliced mushrooms

1 bunch parsley chopped

1/2 C pasta stars or alphabets

1 package chicken style seitan (White Wave or Upton Naturals work well)

2 tb turmeric

Dried parsley

Dried tarragon

Dried thyme

Chopped garlic

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Sweat the mushrooms until soft, add a few tb of olive oil and add the celery and carrots. When the veggies begin to caramelize, add the seitan and herbs/garlic/spices. Stir and cook until the herbs start to release their aroma, then add the pasta and frozen veggies. When the veggies start to defrost, fill your soup pot with water (no more than two inches over the veggie mixture) and simmer covered until the pasta is tender. Season and serve with saltines or toasted bread. 

If you like your soup thick and hearty, you can add a roux to the broth. It does not keep for more than two days in the refrigerator (the pasta breaks down) but it freezes well enough to make a whole pot. The turmeric may stain your pit and dish mop, but soaking in sudsy water helps. 

IC Friendly Sunday Breakfast

Sunday breakfast can be daunting for vegan IC folks since soy is such a huge presence in veg comfort food. I have come up with a nice alternative to bran flakes and almond milk :D

Frozen hash brown patties are rad. The microwave thaw in about a minute and fry up well in a little canola oil. For low fat diets, toast them until golden brown. Also, they lack the seasonings and onion bits that are found in tater tots. And FYI, sweet potato tots always turn to mush. If you prefer sweet potatoes, slice and roast them in the oven. 

Greens are good for you. Pick greens you can tolerate, or use a pre-washed blend you know you can enjoy. Place a handful on a plate covered in a slice of Daiya cheddar and nuke for a minute or so. 

Those tasty sausages on my plate are Field Roast Apple Maple Breakfast Sausages.  They are made of gluten and have significantly less bothersome ingredients. If you need to double check the ingredients, they are listed here.  If you find that these are unsuitable for your diet, substitute with plain seitan or season gluten with apple, maple, and sage. 

Add fresh fruit, Teeccino, and a probiotic shot (I like Good Belly Straight Shot) to round out your morning. 

Happy eating :)