Yummy and Healthy Food

[anogete]

Generally, I don't make New Year resolutions. So, my decision to eat a bit healthier this year isn't exactly a resolution, but it did coincide with the beginning of 2008. I actually don't eat all that horribly to begin with. Being a vegetarian limits my options and ensures that I never eat at fast food restaurants simply because there's nothing on their menu I can have except a dinky side salad. However, I could be better about my meals, like eating more veggies and less cookies.

I dragged Jason to the farmer's market yesterday. His job was to hold the basket while I bought healthy things. I ran out of room in the basket, and we ended up leaving with $25 worth of fruits and veggies. This made our trip to the regular grocery store much less; it was only $20. All I had to pick up was cereal, yogurt, bread, milk, and a couple canned items.

The high bill at the farmer's market was because I needed all the veggies to make a delicious Tuscan Vegetable Soup.

While the garlic and thyme was sitting happy in some olive oil, I chopped up a load of green cabbage, carrots, and celery.



I dropped that bowl of goodness and some stewed tomatoes into the pot and let it saute for a few.



Then I attacked the zucchini with my trusty knife.



Next came the chopping of the potatoes and fresh basil. They can be seen here with the white kidney beans.



The last step was to dump the zucchini, potatoes, basil, and beans into the pot with eight cups of vegetable broth. You can you use chicken broth, but I can't. Eww, chicken. I let it simmer for about an hour until it looked like this...



Mmmm... yum. Because no soup is complete without some sort of bread, I made wheat dinner rolls. You're supposed to brush melted butter on top, but I'm being healthy, and they still taste wonderful without.



I have a neat microwavable thermos that I'm going to use to tote a serving of the soup to work for lunch. It will be the perfect meal with a wheat roll on the side. You can find the recipe for the soup here and the recipe for the wheat rolls here. Both are very tasty. Oh, and they both made a huge amount of food. The pot of soup will feed me lunch for two weeks. I'm going to keep this week's in the fridge and freeze next week's portions.

Other than taking Ferguson on a couple walks and watching a couple movies, I didn't do anything else this weekend. I'm definitely not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Boo to that.

Oh, and isn't my Jean Havoc icon the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Comments

[marasmine.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good weekend to me! Enjoy the soup it looks really good.

[transephera.livejournal.com]

T_T I'M HUNGRY! T_T

No seriously, that looks delicious! I've been tempted to go vegetarian so many times, but...I hate beans. Loathe. Despise. And it'd be very hard to meet nutritional requirements without them :(

Is there a particular reason you're vegetarian? (<-is curious)

edit: Havoc! *sob* gives Havoc huggles

[anogete.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't eat beans that often. You can easily go vegetarian without eating beans every week. The only time I have them is when they are in a soup or burrito. Tofu is a great substitute, and they have so many pre-made tofu products that taste great. I'm a big fan of Boca Burgers, Morningstar Chik Nuggets, and Tofurky Deli Slices.

I've been a vegetarian for almost ten years. I was flipping television channels one day when I came across some sort of animal rights awards show. I have no idea what channel or why they were showing it on TV. I happened across it when they showed a video on treatment of animals destined to become food. I can vividly recall a short video clip (less than five seconds) of a pig being beaten to death. It was on its side in a narrow aisle. A man was standing over it, beating it with a metal pole. The pig was screaming and wiggling around. I cried and then I went in the bathroom and threw up. I don't know why it had such a huge impact on me, but it did. From that moment on, I refused to eat meat in honor of that poor pig. There wasn't any sort of last meal in which I stuffed my face with hamburgers and pork chops. I just quit. My parents thought I was a nutball because I grew up in the south and food (especially meat) is a huge part of that culture.

Now, I can't eat meat. The thought of eating it makes me sick to my stomach. This is going to sound gross, but I can't help but think of it in terms of rotting, dead flesh. And that certainly doesn't make me say yum. I did unknowingly take a bite out of an eggroll that was supposed to be just veggies. It had pork in it. I ate the first bite, but something seemed odd about it. I sat it aside and started eating the rest of my food. A few minutes later, I felt sick to my stomach. I pulled the contents out of the eggroll and saw the pork. Then the nausea got worse, and I went in the bathroom and threw up. I can only assume that my stomach isn't used to meat anymore. If I did eat it, I don't know if I could digest it very well.

But, I'm not one of those preachy vegetarians, though. My boyfriend is a meat-eater. He cooks his own meals if he wants to include meat in them. I actually don't even know another vegetarian, other than online. I do eat dairy products and eggs. I can't give up cheese. I love it too much.

[transephera.livejournal.com]

^^b Thanks for explaining!

I live in southern LA, so I understand about the culture thing. I'd make a meatless spaghetti and draw the strangest looks. Sometimes when someone made a gumbo I'd get the rice and gravy and pick around the sausage and unidentified 'bits'. They thought I was a freak XD

Are the Boca Burgers really that good? I glance at them every time I'm in the store, but I've yet to buy them. We're on a budget, so it's hard to try new things that I might not like ^^;;

[anogete.livejournal.com]

The Flamed-Grilled Boca Burgers are the best. Morningstar makes a Spicy Black Bean Burger that is very good, too. Just don't get the Gardenburgers, whatever you do. I can't eat more than two bites of one. You should wait until they go on sale. Usually they're marked down every two or three weeks to a more affordable price. I don't eat them that often because they are a bit pricey. Most of the time I make an avocado and apple sandwich on toasted bread whenever we're having hamburgers at get-togethers. If I bring a Boca burger, they want to slap it on the grill with the rest of the meat. Which kinda defeats the purpose.