NOT a diet

I am absolutely, positively not on a diet. If I were, my body would immediately shut out all reason and demand cookies until I cave. However, I snack A LOT. Every 2-3 hours, I'd say. And I've come to the conclusion that there are probably better snacks to eat than cookies, crackers, bagels, carby carby mccarbersons.

So today begins my adventures in "healthier" snacking.

Today I ate a small portion of cottage cheese and mandarin oranges for morning snack (I don't eat breakfast.)

For pre-lunch snack, I had walnuts and dried cranberries.

Lunch was a bowl of hearty tomato soup.

After-lunch snack was possibly my favorite of the day: two spoonfuls of cottage cheese, 1/3 cucumber, 2 cherry tomatoes and pepper.

That's healthy, right?

For dinner, my roommate is making asparagus and some coconut tofu while I whip up vegan lemon aioli sauce for the asparagus and vegan peanut sauce for the tofu. Recipes for those sauces to come!

Sloppy TVP - not quite as catchy...

My day started out really great! I won a giveaway from madewithlove so now my button will be on their page. Weeee! I'm excited.

On to other news, this next recipe is so simple yet positively mind blowing (for me, anyway). For 8 years I didn't eat barbeque sauce because I was a bad vegetarian and mostly ate cheese and bread. One day my husband made a baked potato with barbeque sauce all over it and my life has not been the same since. Here is my favorite recipe made with, you guessed it, barbeque sauce.

Sloppy TVP

Put 2 tbs oil in a medium skillet.
Add 1/2 cup TVP and slightly less than 1/2 cup water
Let that heat up a minute while the TVP soaks up some water
Squirt barbeque sauce over TVP mixture, stir in, add more til it looks coated
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional)
I like to add a little chipotle seasoning or vegan bacon salt
salt and pepper to taste

This goes great on a hoagie bun with a little vegenaise and a sliced claussen pickle! Or atop a baked potato.

Vegan Mulligatawny Soup - I'd get lost on an island with this soup

This soup is so amazingly awesomely delicious that you will decide to invite friends over to help you eat the giant pot of soup and then silently cry that you won't have enough leftovers to eat for breakfast.
* Be wary of growing feelings of resentment when your friends get seconds.
* Do not steal the pot and elope to Mexico. No one will understand your love.

Mulligatawny Soup (vegan version)

1 yellow onion, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
6 carrot, diced
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
8 cups vegetable broth (or Not Chik'n Broth)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup rice (jasmine rice is good)
1 can coconut milk
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 pinch dried thyme

Jazz it up with extra pinches of cumin, coriander, ground red pepper, and more curry powder.

Saute onions, celery, carrot, and oil in a large soup pot. Add flour and curry, and cook 5 more minutes. Add stock, mix well, and bring to a boil. Simmer about 1/2 hour.
Add applesauce, rice, coconut milk, salt, pepper, and thyme. Simmer 15-20 minutes, or until rice is done.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe

I know that soup season is nearly over, but I feel the need to share this recipe.
(for vegan recipe, use rice milk and omit butter and cheese)

5 cups Vegetable Broth
1 can Evaporated Milk
30 oz Pure Pumpkin, puréed
16 oz Yellow Corn
1 packet Lipton Vegetable Soup Mix
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
2 tbsp Stick Butter
6 tbsp. Dark Brown Sugar (this part is VERY important!)
2 tbsp. Chili Powder
1 tbsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Ground Coriander
1 tsp. Ground Red Pepper
1 tsp. Thyme
½ tsp. Celery Seed
Salt and Pepper to taste

Blend pumpkin, vegetable broth and evaporated milk in large stock pot.
Add remaining ingredients and whisk for 2-3 minutes.
Bring to boil over medium heat.
Reduce heat and simmer until flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Makes about 3 qts.

When we first made this, we used a whole pumpkin. Let me be the first to say, when you are standing in the kitchen holding a HUGE PUMPKIN, life can become very confusing. We ended up with 75 ounces of pure pumpkin, whereas the recipe only calls for 30. We put up a post on facebook calling all nearby residents to bring a bowl. There should be a proverb about how time and effort put into a pumpkin can feed a small village.