Keep On Keepin' On

    Today was a difficult day for both Tim and me.  For the first time during this vegan food challenge, today I felt a little deprived.  I was just craving something more...substantial. It certainly didn't help that Tim was watching the Food Network show Man Versus Food which was highlighting hotdogs and hamburgers.  He complained that he craved a big piece of meat the entire time he watched.  It's almost been three weeks now, so I guess it's not so terrible that today was the first day I felt deprived.  I know Tim's felt that way much more than I have, so I give him kudos for sticking with the program despite those feelings.

A Warm Bowl of Soup
I have been relying heavily on soups for our lunches.  I love a warm bowl of soup during the winter months, and I think it's an easy way to get a lot of good nutrients into one bowl.  An added bonus is that I can make a big batch and it will usually last for 3 days worth of lunches, so the second and third day all I have to do is heat up a bowl.  Most of the recipes I've used have been from 1,000 Vegan Recipes, including an outstanding hearty minestrone. Today, however, I made this soup from The Fat free Vegan Kitchen blog.  We loved it---very tasty.

A Few Dinner Highlights
   Dinner is definitely the most difficult meal as so many of my former go-to recipes have meat or cheese.  I always strive to create a meal that will be satisfying in taste, its ability to fill us up, and, of course, that has high nutritional value.  This hasn't been easy, and I certainly have failed on more than one occasion in the past few weeks.  Overall, though, I think I've done a good job of finding recipes that fit the bill and have worked well.
    I find grains to be hearty and satisfying and actually love to use them in the place of meat.  Here is a picture of a quinoa and lentil cutlet I recently  made.  Could pass for a big hunk of meat, right?  ;-)

You can find the recipe here.  The only difference is that I couldn't find red lentils so I used regular brown lentils.  I made a quick Tahini-lemon sauce from 1,000 Vegan Recipes to top mine off.  I liked this; Tim said it was "tolerable".  Isn't he funny?
    I also love to treat portobello mushrooms like they are meat.  You can do so much with a big, fat portobello mushroom.  My only problem with this next meal was that I somehow ended up with wimpy little caps; they really weren't big at all.   This was an easy meal to make, though, as everything was roasted in the oven.   I marinated the mushrooms in a mixture that included balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic before roasting them in the juices.  Rounding out the meal was asparagus and mashed sweet potatoes.  Mmmmmmmmm!

  Stayed tuned for updates on how we are keeping our sweet tooth satisfied.