Citrus Salad

So this was for dinner tonight! So light and refreshing - what a great way to end a warm day. I hope you love it as much as my sister and I do. It's a little bit crunchy, with a little bit tangy mixed with a little bit creamy and a touch of spicy. Enjoy!!

Serves 4

3 TBSP olive oil

1 green onion

1 TBSP honey

1/4 tsp salt

2 grapefruit, sectioned

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

5 oz bag of mixed salad greens (we used spinach)

1 yellow pepper

1 Avocado

1/8 C toasted almonds

2 tomatoes

Dressing:

Section the grapefruit as shown in picture. When you section the grapefruit do it over a bowl so that you can catch the juice. Use 1/4 cup of the juice and mixed in a small container with the oil, green onion (cut the up in small bits), honey and 1/4 tsp salt. Shake well and refrigerate until ready to pour over salad.

Layer salad greens with chopped yellow pepper, sliced avocado, chopped tomato, toasted almonds, grapefruit sections and sprinkle on crushed red pepper. Top with dressing (you don't need a lot b/c as your cut the grapefruit sections it will release additional juices). Yum!

Zuppa Toscana - Vegan Style

If you like Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup then I have a treat for you.  I found the recipe in a Weight Watcher's cookbook and made some alterations to make this soup Vegan friendly.  The recipe is called: White Bean-and-Sausage Soup with Escarole in the WW cookbook:  Comfort Classics.  Enjoy!

1 package of Morning Star's Sausage crumbles

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped (I don't do this)

2 garlic cloves

2 cups of water 1 (15 1/2 oz) cannellini beans (white kidney beans), rinsed and drained

14 oz can veggie broth
1/2 head escarole cut into pieces (about 4 cups)

In a nonstick soup pan add sausage, onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently to break up the sausage for about 8 minutes.  Add garlce and cook for 1 minute more.

Add water, beans and broth: bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.  Stir in the Escarole and simmer, covered, until the escarole is tender, 15 minutes.  Serve at once.  Can refrigerate up to 3 days.  (this is a 4 point meal with the 7 oz of italian turkey sausage it calls for so I'm guessing it's even less with morning star )  Serves 4

Grilled Panini's

*4 slices of Panini bread

*2-4 slices of vegan sliced cheese (I used Tofutti - mozzarella)

*1 Avacado (sliced)

*1/2 sweet onion
*sliced portabella mushrooms
*sliced zuchinni
*fresh baby spinach

I used olive oil on the outside of the bread to make it crunchy and pretty *smile*  I then grilled (we have a panini grill) the mushrooms, onions and zuchinni.  After that, I layered the veggies and cheese (cheese in the middle so as it melts it binds it all together).  I then put the whole sandwich on the panini grill and cook it up for about 10 minutes.  This has become a staple in our household.  Great alone or with soup.  ENJOY!

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

I am a mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend. I am not limited to only these but am better because of them. I am me and only me. I heard a quote yesterday by Marianne Williamson that reads, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." I am inspired to shine, right here, right now!
I began my vegan journey in September of 2007. I read the book, Skinny Bitch, and decided that I could not contribute to the horrific torture of God's creatures any longer so I dove in head first. For the most part I had been a very healthy eater. I love new recipes and enjoy many fruits and veggies but going vegan really opened my eyes to a new love for them. I was successful and quite happy with my new way of life. I had a tremendous amount of support from my husband (who travels a lot with work so he ate what I made at home and when he traveled he continued to eat what he loved...made it very easy) and a lot of "questions" from everyone around me. I answered those questions as best I could but I let the rest roll off my back. It seems that when you want to make a change for the good in your life, others feel like you are doing it to make them feel worse about their decisions. That is their demon...not mine, don't criticize me for wanting to eat healthier and make a slight difference in the world. Don't attack me b/c I wear leather and drink coffee. I will never claim to be perfect but every little bit I do is SOMETHING!
I "fell off the wagon" when I got pregnant that December. I craved meat like I had never craved anything before. It tasted amazing and I wanted all I could get (this lead to a 60 pound weight gain too *wink*). After my son was born I knew I wanted to get back to eating vegan again but it wasn't until he was about 8 months old and sampling table food that my heart ached for him to have nothing but good things going into his little body ( I nursed until he was a year). I could not fathom putting anything but fruits, veggie and whole grains into him. So it was at that point that I decided to cut out the meat and become a vegetarian. I worried about my son though, "how will he get his calcium, protein, etc..". So we went with a lot of soy meat alternatives. After he turned one he had boca/morning star nuggets for protein and lots of fruits and veggies. I also did short grain brown rice and pasta fortified with omega 3.
My son is now 17 months old and recently started having some reactions to something in his diet. We are still trying to figure it out but for now we have cut out most soy (especially the GMO kind) and are testing out Almond milk for a calcium alternative. He doesn't get dairy anymore (we had been doing cheese cubes but that's done b/c I've had a dairy allergy since I was 19) and I'm always on the look out for good vegan recipes that provide a lot of essential nutrients. We still have a lot of work to do, it is a never ending project that I'm looking forward to sharing with you.
We are not a vegan household at this point. I still buy eggs for the Omega 3's and protein and I can't seem to give up fish as I LOVE sushi. But as each day passes I become more passionate about making healthy choices for our family. Please feel free to reply with any helpful suggestions, recipes or anything else you might think is encouraging and I'll continue to post things that I'm doing for our family.
But, do not criticize! Life is too short to be so angry and judgemental. If you don't believe I'm doing the right thing then look in the mirror before you comment. Look at your eating habits and lifestyle and make sure you can tell me that you're getting a healthy, balanced diet before you "educate" me on mine.
Thanks! Until next time.....

***Update:  We discovered that the allergy is NOT to soy but he was eating too much banana.  We've cut it out of his diet for now and he's all better!!!***