Fruit, veggie, cracker lunch

Crackers
Papadum crisps
dried cranberries
dates
apple
habanero pickles
hummus
apricot
carrot
cucumber
bell pepper
sugar snap peas (not pictured)
strawberries (not pictured)

This is my favourite type of meal, lots of variety and very filling.

We have had that pumpkin since last fall when we bought all things pumpkin at Trader Joe's and it hasn't moulded yet!

Chi'ken Pot Pie Lunch

Chi'ken pot pie (puff pastry, corn, broccoli, carrots, onion, vegan chicken bits, coconut creamer)
Bell pepper
Hummus
Apple
Dates
Breakfast Cookies Tasty!

In other news, this Saturday I'm going to buy a tea plant so I can make my own tea! Come check it out in two or three years when I will be able to start harvesting from it.

Tofu Wrap Lunch

Korean seasoned tofu, lettuce, avocado, sriracha, tortilla
saltines
kimchi
carrot
apple
waffle cookies
pineapple

My wrap got a bit squished by my bento box. Nothing can peek over the side of the box.

Spiralizer!

For our birthdays, my sister and her husband bought us a spiralizer and a cookbook on Fermenting Vegetables. We had to go on an adventure to pick up the package because it was sent to our old apartment, but thankfully we were able to procure the package with no problem. Thank you so much for the gifts, sister sister!

We immediately spiralized an apple and a potato.

The strands get so so long!

We ate the apple and cooked up the potato in the oven. I drizzled on olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and cooked it for about 20 minutes in a 400F oven. The potato came out deliciously crispy and I served it with a mixture of sriracha and vegan mayo.

I'm off to get some canning jars today to begin the fermented experiments. What I love about this book is that all the recipes are for pint or quart sized jars so you don't end up with 3 gallons of something you hate. I have two beets in the fridge that are crying out to be fermented!

Beet Burger Lunch

Beet burger recipe here: http://www.theppk.com/2012/02/quarter-pounder-beet-burger/. These are so fantastically tasty. We try to make them every time we have beets in the house. This time we added about 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten and the burgers held together so so well.

Served with kiwi, apples, carrots, celery, and hummus.

Winter Rice Salad lunch

Ingredients
Rice
Chickpeas
Chard
Butternut squash
chipotle powder
olive oil

Tahini Sauce
2 parts tahini
2 parts soy sauce
1 part black vinegar
1 part rice vinegar
0.5 part hot sauce
1 partish water

Method
Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut butternut squash is half lengthwise. Clean out seeds and place cut side down in a baking dish with high sides. Fill the bottom of the dish with water to cover about 1/2 inch of the squash. Bake for about 30 minutes until the flesh is soft.

Drain and rinse chickpeas, saving brine for Aquafaba experiments, if desired. On a baking sheet covered in parchment paper lay out chickpeas and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and chipotle chili powder or any other spices desired. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until chickpeas are firm. They crisp up more as they cool down.

Cook rice in rice cooker. Can you cook rice any other way? I argue that there is only one way to cook rice and that is with a rice cooker.

Chop up chard into bite size pieces.

Whisk everything together for the tahini sauce adding more water if needed to get tahini to blend nicely.

In a bowl place rice, a couple of spoonfuls of butternut squash, chickpeas, chard and drizzle with sauce. Mix until blended together.

Notes
This was super tasty and a great way to use up the butternut squash that has been sitting on my counter for the past 3 months. The tahini sauce was adapted from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook.

This is what it looks like before mixing everything up. The squash sort of disappears in the dish.

The salad was served with carrots, apple, and hummus.

BBQ Tofu Lunch

Ingredients
Extra Firm Tofu
BBQ Sauce

Method
Heat oven to 400F. Press tofu, if desired, I have this press. Chop tofu into 1 inch cubes. Place tofu in a baking dish big enough for the tofu to lay in a single layer. Smother with BBQ sauce and mix until everything is covered. Bake tofu covered with foil for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes until tofu is firm. I'm still playing around with the baking times, so adjust to what tastes best to you.

Notes
My lunch also included: kimchi, avocado, cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, apple, and hummus. We ate the rest of the BBQ tofu leftovers today on toast with vegan mayo and avocado.

Breakfast Bread Pudding

I was looking through the breakfast section of Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, trying to find something that could cook over night. I decided to try this bread pudding and I am really glad that I did.

I wanted to make my own sausage, but the grocery store didn't have vital wheat gluten, so I'll have to wait until I can go to the hippy store to procure some more.

For a 1.5 qt slow cooker

Ingredients:
2 cup bread cut into cubes
1 apple, chopped into cubes
cinnamon
2 T brown sugar
dash of salt
1 cup non dairy milk
2 T maple syrup
6 oz sausage, crumbled

Lightly oil the insert of the slow cooker. Then put half of the bread in the bottom. Mix together the apples, cinnamon, sugar, salt, milk, and maple syrup. Pour half over the bread, add half the sausages. Layer the bread, apple mixture, and sausage again. Make sure that all the bread is covered in the milk mixture.

Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours.

I turned this on about 2330 and turned it off about 0700. It looked a bit soupy, I think, I was still sleepy. I went back to bed for another couple of hours. When I went to go and eat some around 0930, it wasn't warm, but it was really good. My husband loved this and I hope that I can make it with the sausages next time.

This is another one of those dishes that is best left unphotographed, but is super duper good.