Last week my blender died mid-smoothie and my food processor just refused to work. It was....frustrating. And I was worried it was going to derail my militantly lazy vega-tarianism. Fortunately, I was able to push myself to get excited about cooking other vegan or vegetarian meals.
I decided it was fine to continue eating black bean burgers every day a la the Non-Consumer Advocate blog I love, rather than stress myself out over not going entirely vegan yet. I was so bummed out about my appliances taking a crap that it seemed wiser to continue eating foods I know would at least be satisfying and wouldn't require either a blender or a food processor to be delicious. This amazing burger recipe is located here: http://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/2009/01/cheap-eats-katys-black-bean-burgers-2/ .
The recipe yields 8 burgers, which I promptly froze and put in ziploc bags and used throughout the week any time I didn't feel an ounce of creativity about dinners or lunches.
I also switched out my breakfast eats from smoothies to a Badass Breakfast Quinoa recipe that makes enough for several days and is super easy. I found this recipe via the livejournal community cheapvegan and it's great! I copied and pasted the recipe from the lj community for you here:
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups cooked quinoa
4 medium bananas
5 Tbs peanut butter
METHOD:
Cook
rinsed quinoa as per package instructions. While quinoa is cooking,
mash bananas in a medium-sized bowl. Add peanut butter, stir a bit to
combine. When quinoa is done, transfer while still warm to bowl
containing banana and peanut butter, and mix well.
Makes approx. 8 slightly-heaping 1/2 cup servings. Cals/serving: approx. 270
Serve warm, or cold. Reheats nicely.
Note from the recipe creator:
the quinoa will turn somewhat brownish when stored in the fridge - this
is just the bananas in the mix oxidizing. It's still good to eat!
Notes from me: I will say that I did NOT enjoy eating this cold. Reheated though, it was fabulous, and tasted better than any oatmeal I've ever made. I am curious about making it again and adding other fruit to it.
And thanks to my friend Tina, I also made this fantastic recipe again, featuring quinoa, kale, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes that is delicious, filling, and reheats well:
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/quinoa-mushrooms-kale-sweet-potatoes-recipe-00000000019649/index.html
This recipe calls for wine, but I substituted vegetarian broth and it is still amazing! I love this recipe because the only thing it really requires is patience. I've learned to set the timer on my stove and wash dishes or chop up veggies during the time it takes everything to cook, which really helps.
I still have notes on what other easy recipes I used, but those will have to wait for another blog post. This is definitely an ongoing learning process for me. Fortunately, my food processor is on the mend!! In celebration tonight I made almond cheese with garlic and herbs. I put some of that on an organic whole wheat wrap with homemade mustard and some mixed greens and it was a tasty easy dinner treat!
And stay tuned for Adventures in Juicing, also courtesy of my friends Tina and Bethany. I acquired a juicer, and will learn which vegetables make the best green juice. But for now, this Militantly Lazy Vegan (ok, Vegetarian for now) is out!
