Category Archives: Vegetarian

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Shells

Posted by ljb in Dinner, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

Week 2 is complete and the scale said I lost 1.4 lbs. Not bad considering all the carbs I felt like I ate. I am down a total of 4.6, about 3.6 away from my first goal.

So what did I make this week? Well, the husband said he would like more meat in his diet. Apparently, my becoming anti-meat seems to be affecting his enjoyment of dinners. So I decided I would compromise. Except I didn’t. Instead, I made Broccoli-and-Cheese Stuffed Shells.

I really liked this recipe because 1) Mr. B loves broccoli so he thought it was great (even sans meat) and 2) you can totally make it the night before and then stick it in the oven for dinner the next night. Easy peasy.

What you will need is:

  • 16 uncooked jumbo shells
  • 1 Tbsp of water
  • 1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese or Daiya cheese
  • 2 Tbps shredded mozzarella or Daiya cheese
  • 2/3 cups pasta sauce
  • 2 cups broccoli florets
  • 16 oz Ricotta cheese or soy ricotta cheese

Preheat the oven to 350. Basically, boil the shells as indicated on the package. Rinse with cold water as soon as then are drained. If you are using frozen broccoli florets, cook them in the microwave according to the package then combine them in a bowl with the ricotta cheese and 1/2 mozzarella/Daiya cheese. Mix well. Next arrange the shells into an ungreased baking pan or dish. Fill the shells with the ricotta mixture. Spoon pasta sauce over the shells and sprinkle the remaining cheese over it. Bake uncovered for about 15 minutes.

The end result is a quick, easy and delicious meal all four around 9 WW points a serving.

broccoli and cheese stuffed shells

Andy went  back for seconds which is always a good sign and had no idea some of it was made with vegan ingredients :) Win.

We are heading back to the HeartLand (aka Illinois) this weekend to enjoy some quality time with our families and attend a few weddings. I haven’t been home since Christmas so this will definitely be good for us.  I am hoping to squeeze in some time to blog since my current life schedule has not allowed me the time I would like to dedicate to this site. And I do miss it. We leave Thursday night and are driving the whole 15-ish hours to the good old Midwest then heading up to Chicago for one wedding on Friday and back down to Central IL on Saturday for another. I honestly wish I could make it back for every wedding we get invited to because I just heart weddings. I hope to have some pictures to share with you once we get back. Until then, peace, love and happiness!

Here Goes Nothin’

Posted by ljb in Inspiration, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , ,

I’ve decided to try something. Last week I signed up for Weight Watchers. Why? Well, I think everyone would like to lose those few extra pounds and I was finding myself eating mostly vegan, but lots of it! Ya know how they say you can have too much of a good thing. That is where I was. That, and the fact that there are lots of unhealthy vegan and vegetarian foods out there. Like Oreos. Shocked to know Oreos are vegan? Well I was too. And once I found out, there was no stopping me from eating them. Fail.

pandas vegan fat

So with one week down, I’ve decided to keep you all updated on how my progress was going. Especially since it will be different being on Weight Watchers when you are trying to eat a mostly plant-based diet. In my last post, we talked about how I have been consuming cheese a few times a week. I am going to try my best to keep that at a minimum, but decided it is ok for me to indulge every once in a while. (Thanks for all the feedback on that BTW!)

So every Monday is my weigh-in day, and after one week, I am down 3.2 lbs. Go me! I’ve got some fun WW recipes coming up soon among other things. Like remember when I promised some fun posts? Well those are heading your way this week as well!

Toodles!

I Have A Confession

Posted by ljb in Juicing, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

I do. And I am not super happy about it. I have taken pride in the fact that I made the switch from eating basically anything and everything, to trying hard to stick to a plant-based diet. And for the most part, have done really well. Up until recently that is.

For the past couple of weeks, I have been partaking in meals/snacks that contain cheese. Yep. Not every meal or even every day. But about anywhere two to four times a week, I have been indulging in cheese. I can’t tell you why and I can’t tell you how it happened. And what is worse is that I know my body doesn’t like that I am doing this. How do I know this? It tells me by making my skin suddenly break out and by the awful pains I get in my stomach sometimes after my meals. So why do I do it?

Besides the cheese, I have done a pretty good job with keeping it plant-based. I still juice, avoid meat, eggs and milk in its true form, and try to make sure that I am staying away from fried things (which is a struggle, but has been totally doable). So I feel pretty guilty about it. I think that may have been why I have been avoiding this blog for a while. How could I write about my new “healthy” lifestyle when I was secretly devouring cheese behind my screen? The good news is that I have been keeping it to a minimum. Limiting your intake on dairy is better than nothing I suppose. I did take to the ol’ search engine and found some encouraging things.

1. I am not the only person who has done/is doing this.

2. There are people who are strict about eating a plant-based diet, but still enjoy the occasional cheese slice from time to time.

3. By doing looking at the positives, avoiding meat has still done wonders for my body and the environment.

I’d love to get your thoughts on this issue. Is it ok to eat a mostly plant-based diet with the occasional dairy? Is is possible to indulge in cheese once or twice a week and not feel guilty? Have you been consuming plant-based meals and suddenly found yourself pigging out on cheese? Any advice would be greatly appreciated it for sure.

And I promise my next post will be a little more upbeat. Yep – we are talking bike riding! (Oh ya, I got a bike).

But in the meantime, here is an adorable picture of my adorable nieces. Enjoy :)

kelsey and kaitlyn

 

Buddha Bowl

Posted by ljb in CSA, Dinner, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , , , ,

You need something easy. You need something quick. You need something healthy.

Well then, I have something for you – a Buddha Bowl. Some brown rice, chickpeas, add whatever veggies are in  your fridge along with some garlic, spices, flaxseeds and tamari sauce – BOOM – insta-greatness.

This easy meal really does have it all. You have your whole grains, protein from the chickpeas, fiber and vitamins from the veggies and a bowl full of taste!

I used some veggies that I received in my most recent CSA farm share – cute lil’ baby carrots and broccoli.

carrots

First things first, get the brown rice going. Notice I didn’t say white rice. Yeah, that stuff is just no good for you. Make a smart decision and go with the brown. Lots of protein and fiber! Now brown rice can be a little time consuming to cook, so if you know you will be in a hurry, try making this ahead of time so you can just pull it out of the fridge the next day and heat it up.

All you do is take 1 cup brown rice and combine it with 2 1/2 cups water in a pot. Salt it. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer for about 45-55 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it stand covered for about 5 minutes.

For your veggies: you can use about any veggie that your heart desires. I just kept it simple broccoli and carrots this time. Chop up your veggies, dice 1-2 cloves of garlic and drain and wash your chickpeas.

buddha bowl veggies

Add some olive oil to the pan along with the garlic and saute it for a minute or so, then add the carrots and broccoli. Let those cook for about 2 minutes and then you can throw in the chickpeas. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you want, add a dash of cayenne pepper to spice things up a little :) Cook all the ingredients for a few more minutes. After they are all done cooking, add in about a tablespoon of flaxseeds.

Put the rice in your bowl, add some of the veggies toppings and pour a little tamari sauce over the top. I really like adding avocados to the top! I really brings it to a whole new level! This dish makes great leftovers too so be sure to make enough to bring for lunch the next day!

buddha bowl

If you notice, I said “about” a lot in these directions. That is because this recipe is so versatile and really depends on how you want it! Feel free to experiment with it! Add whatever veggies or spices you like and see what makes your taste buds smile!

Sweet Potato Ravioli and Sweet Lemon-Sage “Butter” Sauce

Posted by ljb in Dinner, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , , , , ,

Hello my lil’ chickadees!! I am so so incredibly sorry I have left you for so long. I really feel horrible about it. I wasn’t ignoring you, I promise. As mentioned before, I had two different sets of visitors back-to-back from June 28th to July 14th. It left little time for blogging but I am not complaining as I had tons-o-fun. So what better way to usher us back into a beautiful relationship than to start off with a recipe!

Now, I know I did a ravioli post not that long ago, but I wanted to experiment with it. I posted about the Sweet Pea Ravioli from One Happy Table and I took that recipe and modified it slightly by using sweet potatoes. I absolutely love sweet potato anything and everything. The hubs does too for the most part, but he always gets a little concerned when I try to make something out of my know-how which you all know it quite a bit. So this is me, branching out and taking what I learned from cooking with my best bud up here in CT.

Enough talk! Let’s get to the recipe!

For the filling:

  • 1 (1-pound) sweet potato
  • 2 tablespoons vegan Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon Earth Balance

Pierce the potato multiple times. You can either stick it in the oven at 400 degrees on a foil-lined pan for about 50 minutes or you can place it in the microwave for around 8 or 9 minutes. The time really depends on your appliances so be sure to watch it. Once it is done cooking, let it cool for a few minutes. Then scrape all the insides into a food processor or blender. Add the vegan parm cheese, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and Earth Balance. Pulse until creamy and smooth.

For the dough:

I found this recipe for the perfect ravioli dough thanks to One Happy Table as mentioned before:

  • 2 cups white or wheat flour (I used wheat)
  • 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 pinches salt

Mix salt and flour in a bowl. Then add the olive oil and slowly add the water. I found it works best when you mix with your hands. You may need to add more water than what the recipe calls for. I definitely did. Knead the dough for about 5-ish minutes to make sure it is the right texture. Once it is made, roll it out thin on a floured surface. Now, if you are fancy you may have a ravioli cutter or even a cookie cutter for that matter. To show you how awesome I am, I used a small tupperware because, well, that is all I had. (whatever, it worked great).

For the sauce:

  • 4 tablespoons Earth Balance
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • chopped pine nuts (to taste)

Melt the Earth Balance in a sauce pan. Add in the chopped sage and let it cook for about a minute or so. Turn down the heat to low and add the ground pepper, lemon juice and pine nuts. I added the brown sugar last, but I think it would be fine to add it in whenever as long as you don’t over cook it.

Once you have all the components complete, add the filling to the ravioli doughs. Use your own judgement as to how full you want them as it will depend on the size of your ravioli cut-outs. Cover with another ravioli cut-out and use a fork to seal shut and add some decoration to your ravs.

sweet potato ravioli

Andy even helped me out with sealing the ravs. Clark kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t mess up.

Toss them into a pot of salted boiling water and cook for a few minutes. They are done when they float to the top. Fish those little guys out of the water and let them cool for a few minutes. Then cover them with your delish lemon-sage sauce and enjoy!

sweet potato ravioli

You may need to mess with the sauce a few times before you really find a combination that you like. But I promise, it is worth the time and effort you put into this dish! Mr. B actually love them! In fact, he went back for a second helping which I did not expect. Sigh. It is so nice when your hard work pays off.

The best part about ravioli, I think, is that you can fill it with whatever you want really! I am dying to know what your favorite type of ravioli is. Share it in my comments and maybe I’ll try it!

Thanks for sticking with me friends. I promise I will be more attentive from here on out.

Love to you all,

Sweet Pea Ravioli from One Happy Table

Posted by ljb in Dinner, Inspiration, Organic, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , , , , , ,

There is this vegan blog I’m kinda in love with. Just a tad. All the recipes are delish and relatively easy for someone like me to understand. Today, JJ and I attempted to make the Sweet Pea Ravioli recipe from One Happy Table. It was ah-maze-ing. We made a few minor changes such as we used basil and pine nuts since we didn’t have lemon verbena and almonds at the time. It was so easy and the complete meal was done within about 20-30 minutes. It felt like a gourmet meal that we just whipped up at noon on a Thursday afternoon before laying out!

sweet pea ravioli

Our little baby raviolis before going in the pot

sweet pea ravioli

The final product! So delicious!

Careful: You may over-consume like I did since it was so tasty. Over-consuming = food baby (which is not ideal before putting on a swim suit to lay out).

While the recipe is for sweet peas, I think there is a lot of room to experiment with some other veggies such as asparagus or sweet potato. If you are interested in making this (which I highly recommend) head on over to One Happy Table for the recipe and let me know how it goes!

Happy tummies and big thanks to One Happy Table!

Juicing Cleanse Recap

Posted by ljb in Juicing, Organic, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

If you have been actively following my posts lately, then you know I just finished a 4-day juicing cleanse last week. Cleanse, fast, feast. Whatever you prefer to call it. So as promised, I am writing up my recap with some tips in case you were interested in doing your own.

I figured the best way to do this was to break it into two sections. If you have never ever juiced before, then I would recommend doing what I did for my very first cleanse, which was juicing until dinner. If you currently juice or want to jump in with two feet, then I say go for it and juice fast away!

Juicing Until Dinner

The very first time I cleansed, Jessica and I did a variation of the cleanse outlined in Kris Carr’s book, Crazy Sexy Diet. We juiced for breakfast, lunch and had a small snack of fruits, veggies or nuts then ate a plant-based dinner. This means, no dairy or meat and at all cost stay away from refined sugars. And yes, no coffee (decaf or not) and no alcohol. Sorry.

The point is to give your body a break from digesting down hard foods such a meat and dairy products, so eating a fully plant-based meal for dinner is essential. Now, by plant-based, I also mean to stay away from the fake cheese and meats that vegans sometimes eat. Try to stick with whole grains such a brown rice and quinoa along with some veggies. So a typical day might look like this:

Breakfast: Kale, spinach, celery, cucumber, apple, lemon, ginger and romaine juice

Lunch: Apple, cucumber, carrot and ginger juice

Snack: 7 to 10 almonds

Dinner: Kris Carr’s Buddha Bowl

Dessert: Almond milk, agave, cinnamon and water drink

Not bad right? It may not seem like much, but after the first few days, your body really starts to thank you by feeling much much better. We did this for 21 days and I think we could have kept going. If I am completely honest with myself, I think this is how I would like myself to eat on most days. I felt incredibly good and satisfied while doing this. Towards the end, I didn’t even have those crazy off-hour cravings for sugar or unhealthy foods like I did before.

Juicing Fast

Ok, so now for you crazy kids that think you may want to dabble in a full-out juicing fast. This means juice for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. No solid foods at all. This is not for the faint of heart. It is hard. Super hard. Especially if you have never juiced before. For at least the first two days, you will feel like complete crap. Your head will hurt and you will want to eat anything. Even the pencil at your desk, will look appealing. But by day 3, your body is adjusting and using all the awesome nutrients you are getting to your benefit. I think this is especially important to those that eat large amounts of meat and dairy products. Your body will have a hard time going without these things since you are used to it. So this transitional period will be extra tough. But remember, it is allowing your body to clean itself of all those nasty leftovers remaining from consuming those types of foods.

Aim to drink at least 96 ounces of juice a day. Make sure you get at least that in water as well. If you use the 16 oz Ball mason jars, it ends up being 6 of those. If you want to juice more, go right on ahead.

If you are planning on juicing all day and work full-time, get up about 20 minutes earlier than normal and make about four juices before you leave. Store them in mason jars in the fridge until it is time to consume them. I found four juices work well for me because that means one for breakfast, one for a mid-morning snack, another for lunch and the last one is a nice mid-afternoon snack. Then once you get home you can

Maybe you had done a 3-day cleanse and what to try it again. Go for it! I applaud you! Try 5 days this time or maybe even 7!

Tips and Advice

No matter which option you choose, here are my tips for you!

  • Drink coffee? Start weening yourself off it about a week before your cleanse. You will already have a headache due to your body detoxing, but when you put a coffee withdraw headache on top of it, it is pure hell. So do yourself a favor now.
  • If you are juicing until dinner, I would recommend doing it for at least a week. If you are juicing all day, then start with 3-days and work your way up.
  • By golly, get yourself a nice juicer! I bought mine on Amazon for less than $70 and decided if I keep up with juicing, which I have, then I will by myself I really nice one someday. A gift to myself.
  • Be sure to juice mostly vegetables and add in a piece or two of fruit and ginger to help with the taste. Fruits have quite a bit of natural sugars, so by using more veggies and adding just a few pieces of fruit, you will get the full benefits of juicing.
  • The week before a cleanse, try to cut back on processed foods and sugars. It will make the transition a little easier.
  • WATER WATER WATER. For the love of all things holy, drink your water! It is so so important to remember to do this. You need it daily anyway, but during a cleanse try to up your water intake so you stay full and so you flush out all the toxins you are detoxing from.
  • You can find juice recipes all over the internet. It just takes a little bit of searching. After a few days, you will learn what you like and what you don’t like. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different fruits and veggies. You might be surprised what you end up liking!

One thing to keep in mind, I am not a doctor. Are you shocked? With that being said, I don’t know what is best for your body. Only you and your physician do. Please do your research and talk to your doctor to decide if this is a good thing for you to try.

Other than that, the most important thing is that you try. I don’t care if you do it for 3 days or for 60. I will be proud of you no matter what. The results are totally worth it and your body will thank you. You might even enjoy it and decide to do it once every couple months. Let me know if you do and we can “Cheers” our mason jars virtually.

You can do it!!!

Done Son!

Posted by ljb in Juicing, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , , , ,

All good things must come to an end.

Actually, I don’t think that phrase is appropriate for this scenario after all. While my juicing cleanse was good, I must say, I am not overly sad that it is finished. Yesterday, was my 4th and final day. You can really tell my body appreciates me giving it a break and letting it enjoy all the nutrients that it had been lacking for a while. I was again at about an 8 or 8 1/2 yesterday which is pretty good for a normal day. On top of it, I attended a happy hour after work filled with beer, wine, cheese sticks, nachos, wings and basically all the things that I would just love to devour.

But, I didn’t. High Five for me!!

high five

Thanks.

So overall, day 1 and 2 I thought would be the end of me. Day 3 was much better and day 4 was definitely the easiest of them all. As far as how my body feels – I can honestly say it feels amazing. While I didn’t do this cleanse to lose weight, I did lose 6.8 lbs. Most is water weight which I will gain back shortly, but it was nice to see that number on the scale. Going forward, I will continue to have my juice in the morning as I have normally been doing for the past few months, but I may try to juice until dinner a few times a week just because I know how much my body loves it. Plus, I have heard I am “glowing” more than once from my husband. Who doesn’t like to hear that?!

Tomorrow I will do an in-depth recap of my juicing experience and give some tips if you are interested in doing your own cleanse. Feel free to contact me if there are some questions you have that you want me to cover as I want to make sure I have all the information there that you need! Shoot me an email at fromtheinsideoutblog@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from ya!

Juicing the Day Away

Posted by ljb in Inspiration, Juicing, Organic, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

Day 3 has come and gone. And I must say, I was actually feeling really good about it yesterday. Of course, the worst parts for me were in the morning and right when I got home from work. But I think that is just because I have a horrible habit of having a little snack before Andy gets home from work and we eat dinner. I really must must must quit that. And watching Mr. B eat and enjoy his dinner doesn’t help at all.  Regardless, yesterday I was at an 8 on my “How Does Lauren Feel Today” scale which is an amazing improvement.

Once again I made four juices to take a trip with me to work.

juicing mason jars

Hey, lil guys!

Such a lovely collection, right? A few juices I made yesterday were:

  • Cucumber, apple, celery, carrots and kale
  • Pineapple, spinach, carrots, ginger and orange
  • Pear, swiss chard, carrots, lemon, ginger and spinach
  • Cucumber, celery, apple, kale and ginger

The thing I love about juicing is that you are only limited by your imagination. If you see a fruit or veggie you want to juice, just try it! It could be awesome or it can turn out to be a disaster, but you never know until you try. And even if it is a disaster and tastes awful, I promise there is something in there that your body will love. And trust me, you WILL feel better. You just gotta stick with it, you juicing newbie!

Alright ladies and gents, short post today. I’ll write again tomorrow and hopefully have a recap for you soon!

Eat PB and J, Help Save the World

Posted by ljb in Inspiration, Lunch, Organic, Snack, Vegan, Vegetarian and tagged with , , , , ,

You read that title right. Too good to be true? I came across this neat little campaign called the PB&J Campaign that is urging people to eat more Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches. Or so it seems at first glance. When you read a little more, you see that it is actually about getting people to eat more plant-based meals. I mean, what is more appealing to people than a PB&J! So if you could switch out your turkey sammy for a PB&J and help the world, wouldn’t you?

peanut butter and jelly sandwich

They have some interesting facts that may make this even more appealing to you.

For instance, if you eat a PB&J instead of a red-meat lunch sandwich like a hamburger, you can actually reduce your carbon footprint by almost 3.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

Also, if you eat just five PB&Js or other plant-based lunches per month, you would save more water than switching to a low-flow showerhead. About 133 gallons worth of water!

Pretty neat huh? I took the pledge, and it turns out that by eating my plant-based diet, per week I save:

  •  2734.2 gallons of water
  • 497 square feet of land
  • 51.5 lbs of green house gas emissions
I rock.
If I weren’t on this darn amazing  juicing fast, I would whip one up right now. However, I will need to save this delectable meal for later. But I do recommend organic peanut butter, strawberry or raspberry jam on Ezekiel bread. Instant satisfaction.
It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time,