Mexican Feast.

Check out this fabulous feast! Chile con "carne" made with tvp chunks simmered in a roasted tomatillo, guajillo and arbol chile, onion, garlic, tomato sauce. And mexican rice and refried beans (with daiya) and tomatillo and avocado salsa! Who says vegans can't have yummy mexican food?


My friend Cynthia came over and taught me how to make all of this. This was my first time using tvp chunks. The texture was very similar to chicken (I think!) and the sauce just made it so mouthwateringly delicious.

Chile Con "Carne"

A dozen tomatillos, husked and cleaned and halved
1-2 dried guajillo chiles
3-4 dried chile de arbol
1 can diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups tvp chunks, rehydrated in boiling water and drained

Roast tomatillos in a 400 degree oven until soft and charred a bit.
Roast dried chiles either in a pan over heat or over an open flame with tongs.
Puree tomatillos and dried chiles in a blender. Add one can diced tomatoes and blend.
Heat olive oil in a pan and saute onion and garlic until soft. Add tvp and cook for a few minutes. Season with salt, pepper and cumin. Add puree to the pan and let simmer until heated through. Adjust seasonings to your taste.



Tomatillo and Avocado salsa.

Recipe for salsa

3-4 tomatillos, husked, cleaned and chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded
cilantro, as much as you want
pinch of cumin
avocado chunks
a little bit of onion

Puree everything in a blender. Add salt to taste.


Awesome salad with romaine, avocado and a roasted tomato, red onion, dijon dressing.

Salad dressing recipe

1 large tomato, cut into wedges
1/4 red onion, chopped
1-2 tsp dijon mustard
a couple TB of olive oil
1 avocado, cut into chunks
salt and pepper

Roast tomatoes and red onions in a 400 degree oven until soft. Meanwhile whisk dijon and olive oil in a large bowl until combined. Add roasted tomatoes and onions and mash with the dijon and olive oil to create a smooth dressing. Add avocado and combine with dressing. You can mash up some of the avocado if you like. Season with salt and pepper. Add romaine lettuce to the bowl and toss everything together. All these recipes I got from Cynthia.

Potato Tacos and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

My co-worker Cynthia passed down a recipe for potato tacos that her mom makes. I was very eager to try it. It's very simple. You just boil some potatoes until tender, mash them and add finely chopped onions. Season with salt. This is your filling. I wanted my onion cooked so I sauteed them before I added them to the mashed potato mixture. Fill corn tortillas with the potato mixture and pan fry in oil on both sides until crispy and browned.


She also gave me instructions for simple roasted tomatillo salsa. Take about 8 tomatillos, husked and cleaned. Cut them in half, along with 1/2 an onion, a couple of serrano or jalapeno peppers and a few cloves of garlic. Roast everything on a grill pan over medium high heat that has been lined with foil. Char on both sides and then cover/wrap everything with the foil while they cook over heat. Once the tomatillos are charred and soft, place everything in a blender and pulse to desired consistency. Thin with water if needed. Season with salt and pepper.


Mid bite. I also put some tomato salsa and guacamole in them. YUMMY.

VeganMoFo: Nachos

Quick dinner of homemade nachos with refried beans, jalapenos and fresh salsa. I used the Nacho Cheez recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese cookbook. It's very smooth and creamy with a nice kick from the cayenne and other spices in it.

Refried Bean Tacos with Chipotle Corn Salsa

Made a big pot of refried beans today from scratch. They are unbelievable! I don't like to buy refried beans in a can anymore. I used the beans to make tacos with corn tortillas, Daiya vegan cheese and a chipotle corn salsa. I also added a spicy habanero hot sauce that set my mouth on fire!

Chipotle Corn Salsa

1 14oz. can golden corn (no sugar added), drained or use frozen thawed corn
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne
juice of a small lime
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley or cilantro (I used dried parsley because that's all I had)

Mix all together and chill until ready to use.

Detox Week 1, Day 7

Yay, one week down, two to go!

Here are today's eats:


Breakfast: Mango-Date-Plum-Banana-Strawberry Smoothie. This was really nice.




Snacks: Mid-morning we had baked chips and salsa, Carrot sticks and the hummus recipe from You Are What You Eat. My early evening snack was half a banana and a handful of raisins.


Lunch: Thai Vegetable Curry (zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, red peppers and kidney beans) which I served with brown rice. I based this curry on the recipe in You Are What You Eat. It feels much lighter than the curries I normally make. It doesn't have much coconut milk so I added a little bit of plain unsweetened soymilk. In place of the spices she uses (coriander, cumin, kaffir lime etc), I used some lime juice and a tsp or so of red curry paste which has all those ingredients in it and not to mention some red chilis which in a curry is a must!

I wasn't very hungry at dinner so I made myself "Ants on a Log", a stalk of celery filled with unsalted natural peanut butter and dotted with raisins. Totally unspectacular and did not need to be photographed!

Detox Week 1, Day 6

Husband and I went grocery shopping and spent $27 on loads of fruits and vegetables. Some of the things we got: lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, avocados, spinach, zucchini, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, celery, jalapeno peppers, granny smith apples, fuji apples, nectarines, bosc pears, bananas and fresh roasted peanuts. Some organic, some not. A very affordable and lovely haul if I do say so myself!

Saturday is quite a lazy day for me. I usually do a few chores in the morning and then just chill out the rest of the day. I wanted to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen today. At least that's what I tried to do. I didn't cook anything from You Are What You Eat today but I know I used ingredients that are A-OK in Gillian's book!


Breakfast was this berry blast smoothie that had strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, dates and apple.

Mid morning snack was a handful of fresh roasted peanuts in the shell (no salt) and late afternoon was a banana and a handful of raisins. I also had a cup of lemongrass tea.


Lunch was a rendition of last night's dinner. I had to use up these sprouted grain tortillas before they went bad as there are no preservatives in them. I made a black bean wrap with fresh yellow peppers, fresh homemade guacamole and salsa.


Salsa made with fresh ripe roma tomatoes that we bought today.


My husband is a snacky kind of guy so I had the idea to make these baked tortilla chips. I just cut up a couple of sprouted grain tortillas and put them into the oven on a lightly oiled baking sheet at 400 F for about 4 minutes. You can tell the bottom ones are burnt. That was my first go at them and I left them in too long! These were so nice. They baked up perfectly crisp. I liked them so much that I only ate half of my wrap and abandoned the other tortilla half to use a few chips to scoop up the beans. I think these will be my new favorite snack after the diet instead of crackers.


Dinner was a salad of green leaf lettuce, spinach, red onions, red and yellow peppers, thinly sliced cucumber and sunflower seeds drizzled with yummy goddess dressing.