Low-Carb “Potato” Breakfast Bowl

Sunday morning is the one day of the week when breakfast is a big meal.  We love pancakes, biscuits and gravy, potato bowls- all those breakfast choices that we do not have time to make during the week.  It is also the one meal of the week where we do not worry too much about calories or carbs.  This past week Bob has really been working on increasing the amount of protein and decreasing the number of carbs that we are eating.  I decided to surprise him with a low carb breakfast bowl.

I started with radishes and after washing them and trimming of the ends, I thinly sliced them.  I used about a cup of sliced radishes for each serving.  Then I diced up about half a cup of onion and about 3/4 cup of a mix of red and green bell peppers.

  

    I put my big skillet on medium-high heat.  Once it was hot, I added about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil in the bottom.  Then I put in the radishes, onions, peppers, and about a teaspoon of minced garlic.  Stir until the veggies are all mixed and lightly coated with the oil.  Cook, stirring frequently until the veggies are tender and slightly browned.  This is one of my favorite parts of these bowls- the radishes get a nice brown crust on them giving them a delicious taste and texture. 

        While the radishes and veggies are cooking, dice up about a cup of sliced mushrooms and chop some spinach.  I just took a big handful of the spinach, wadded it into a ball, and then thinly sliced it so that the pieces were small and didn’t get all stringy.  Add the mushrooms and spinach to the pan and cook until the mushrooms are softened and the spinach is wilted.

While everything is cooking, dice up about half a large tomato or cut about a cup of cherry tomatoes in half.  Add those to the pan with a small scoop of protein powder.  Stir well so that the protein powder is completely mixed up and has no lumps.  Then add a handful of cheddar vegan cheese. 

For seasonings, I added salt and pepper and about a teaspoon of marjoram. Cook just until the cheese is melty and spoon into bowls.  I added another handful of cheese to Bob’s bowl because he is a big fan of cheese while I am not. Enjoy!

Gone Vegan

The husband decided to go vegan in February 2020.  It has been a definite learning curve.   Because of the Covid 19 quarantine, we have been at home together as I taught online.   We have been able to experiment and try new products and new recipes.   Our blog will become our journey and adventures as we strive to be vegan.  I hope you enjoy our efforts!

Grilled Night Out

**Note- This is an older post I just had time to publish.  

With all the parties and cookouts over the summer, we have been indulging in some not so healthy choices over the last couple months.  This week Bob decided we would eat more healthy so we have been eating more salads, fruits, and veggies.  Tonight was an example of that healthy lifestyles.  We ate a meal made up almost completely of vegetables.  We started with one of our garden favorites - a Caprese salad with homegrown red and yellow tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil from our herb garden.










Then we put the grill to work.  We started with a grilled romaine salad with red wine vinaigrette based on a great recipe from Alton Brown.  The clean flavor of the romaine really shines through with the crispiness of a salad and the smokiness from the grill.  I drizzle the romaine with olive oil and season with salt and pepper before I throw it on the grill.  After a couple minutes, I pull the romaine off and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.  The cheese melts slightly but doesn't get the charred look and taste like when you put it directly on the grill.  I make a vinaigrette by whisking together one part red wine vinegar, 2 parts olive oil,  a teaspoon of dijon mustard, and some black pepper.




For our main course, we grilled a selection of vegetables.  We had asparagus, portabello mushrooms, and red and green bell peppers lightly sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with a touch of salt.  I took a small yellow squash and a zucchini and cut them in half lengthwise.  I brushed then with olive oil and sprinkled on a bit of garlic powder for seasoning.  We grilled them just long enough to be tender crisp.  The meaty texture of the mushrooms almost gave the impression of eating meat and the fresh taste of the veggies really stood out.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I have been making my own pasta sauce for a few years and I have recently started making my own pasta.  Mostly my pasta making attempts have been noodles and fettuccine noodles.  Tonight I decided to put these two together and make homemade spaghetti noodles with my homemade sauce with meatballs.

I made Mark Bittman's egg pasta dough from How to Cook Everything using my food processor to make the dough and my Kitchenaid mixer pasta attachment to form the spaghetti noodles.  The first thing I noticed when the spaghetti noodles came out of the mixer is that they instantly stuck together. Splitting them apart was like separating the silver tinsel my mother used to put on our family Christmas tree every year!  Overall, it didn't turn out too bad.

While the pasta dried and the sauce simmered, I made Caprese salad bites as an appetizer.  I took cherry tomatoes from Bob's garden and fresh basil from my

herb garden. I alternated them with mozzarella cubes on long toothpicks.  Then I drizzled them with Tuscan Olive Oil. Bob really enjoyed those! 

I scooped the pasta into bowls and topped each with a few meatballs and some sauce.  A sprinkling of parmesan cheese and dinner was served!  

Delicious!

Vegetarian Dinner

Bob decided that he wanted to eat healthy and vegetarian this week so I broke out my second favorite cookbook 1001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes.  We had Fettuccine with Fresh Fennel and Brussel Sprouts for dinner tonight.  We started with a salad with ingredients I picked up Saturday at the European Farmers Market in Chesterton.
Then I made fresh fettuccine pasta.  It was super easy, too!  I just put 2 cups of flour, 1/2  teaspoon salt, and 3 whole eggs in the food processor and blended them until they formed a rough ball.  Then a few rounds through the pasta roller and cutter- voila!  Fresh, healthy pasta!

For the pasta, here is the recipe:
1 cup each thinly sliced fennel bulb and onion
8 ounces fresh small brussel sprouts, cut in half
1/4 c water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste
8 ounces fettuccine, cooked
1/2 cup fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 c toasted pine nuts

Saute the fennel and onion in large skillet 3 to 4 minutes, add water and brussel sprouts.  Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer until sprouts are tender-crisp- about 5 to 8 minutes.  Stir in lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Serve over pasta with Parmesan cheese and pine nuts.

We paired dinner with Watusi Red from Karma Vista Winery in Coloma, Michigan.















Dessert was compliments of Designer Desserts of Valparaiso! 

Dessert

Tonight's dessert?  A chunk off Bob's one pound Hershey kiss!  Yum!

Intercontinental Dinner

Bob and I finally had the chance to have dinner together again tonight and we had a Mexican dinner with a Red, White, and Blue wine cocktail thanks to our friends at Anderson Winery.
For dinner, we had fish tacos with shredded cabbage and pickled red onions in corn tortillas.  The tanginess of the onions paired perfectly with the fish and the cabbage added a great crunch.  We paired the tacos with more Mexican corn.

The best part of the evening may have been relaxing on the patio with a Red, White, and Blue wine cocktail. We used a half glass of Anderson's Vineyard White and a half glass of Anderson's Vineyard Blush topped with a splash of Anderson's Vineyard Blue table wine.  The sweet wines mixed beautifully and tasted amazing!