Meatless

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Jan 21, 2020

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HomemadePizzaCrust #CollectiveBias #HomemadePizza

Homemade pizza will forever be one of my favorite things in the world.

I love the smell of homemade pizza baking. I love being able to choose exactly what is going on our pizza. I love getting the kiddos involved and everyone making their own tiny pizzas.

Homemade pizza is just fun and delicious and making your own homemade crust is so much easier than you think! …

Three Bean Enchilada Casserole

Mar 25, 2019

Three Bean Enchilada Casserole – black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans layered with corn tortillas, enchilada sauce, and cheese. An easy meatless meal the whole family will love!

Hi guys!

How was the weekend?

We had soccer all day Saturday (one win and one devastating 11-0 loss) and then I started The Act on Hulu. Then I obviously had to watch every single documentary about the crime the show is based on.

Which lead to a Disappeared marathon and now it’s Monday morning.

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Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas

Jul 30, 2018

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas – easy and delicious meatless meal! A little bit spicy, a little bit sweet. The whole family will love this recipe!

Okay, hi.

I know.

Butternut squash in July.

I couldn’t wait any longer. Plus, I kinda feel like butternut squash has become more acceptable all year. I buy spiralized butternut squash every week of my life. So yeah, we’re going with squash in July.

Plus, Texas has been so miserably hot this summer that I’m actually ready for fall.

I’m never ready for summer to end so you know it’s bad.

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52 Pizzas – Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Pizza

Mar 04, 2018

Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Pizza – pizza with a roasted garlic ricotta sauce and topped with cauliflower, tomatoes, and fresh basil! Perfect meatless option for pizza night!

Hi guys, I’m obsessed with cauliflower and I’ll talk about it more in an upcoming post because it’s, like, a thing in my life right now.

A real thing.

Like, we ordered fried cauliflower at Megg’s the other day because I couldn’t resist.

So naturally I had to put it on pizza.

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Meyer Lemon Brussels Sprouts Pizza

Jan 07, 2018

Meyer Lemon Brussels Sprouts Pizza – my favorite savory way to use meyer lemons! Pizza with mozzarella, romano cheese, shredded brussels sprouts, and sliced meyer lemons.

Wanna do pizza every Sunday this year?

And maybe instead of being super recipe focused, we can talk more about books and TV and life stuff and puppies?

I start every year saying that I’m going to do more personal posts but then I feel lame doing it without a recipe so we’re gonna do pizza and talk about things we’d talk about while we stuffed our faces with pizza. And maybe sometimes I’ll just link to whatever recipe I used because it’s Sunday and typing up a recipe feels like a lot of work.

And also? I’m terrible at making pizza so I’m hoping by the end of the year, I’ll be as good as Rachel. I even bought a pizza stone and if you know me at all, you know that I hate kitchen gadgets so this is a big commitment for me.
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Pumpkin Alfredo Tortellini

Sep 27, 2017

Pumpkin Alfredo Tortellini – a fall twist on the classic alfredo sauce recipe! Tossed with tortellini and sprinkled with fresh sage and walnuts. You won’t be able to resist this one!

Yes, this is my 2nd pumpkin recipe this week.

FOR THE RECORD, I originally had 5 scheduled and then realized that I was being insane and moved things around.

But you may still get 3 pumpkin recipes this week.

Look, I enjoy pumpkin.

I dunno what else to tell you.

Anyway. How’s the week? We’ve made it halfway through. I’ve only been in the principal’s office once this week so we’re calling it a win so far.

You guys, I went my entire school life never getting in trouble. No detention, no meetings with the principal, nothing.

Ever.

But I am in that principal’s office at least once a week with one of my boys.

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Thai Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

Jan 02, 2017

Heeeeey guys! Happy New Year! Hope you had a safe and fabulous weekend and are ready to get to work on those 2017 resolutions.

First, I wanted to say thanks to you guys for sticking around all these years. I appreciate every comment, every email, every single time you click on my site. I love you guys.

Anyway, I skipped the whole year in review post this year because this last year was somehow the best and worst year of my life and my blog was a total mess because of it. My highs were really high and my lows were really, really, really low and honestly, I don’t even know how I managed to blog most of the time.

I’m going into 2017 knowing it’ll be probably the hardest year of my life but also knowing that things will look a lot better on the other side of this mess.

So, again, thank you for everything.

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Guacamole Tostadas

Feb 03, 2016

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Pinnacle Foods Group LLC. The opinions and texts are all mine.

Happy Tuesday!

Can we talk side dishes?

I feel like we have this talk once a month. I’m so bad at side dishes. I don’t even plan them. I’ll plan our main dish for every day of the week and then for sides, I literally write “sides” on my grocery list. And then I stand in the middle of the grocery store wondering what sides I should make.

Why is it so hard?

I picked up a couple bags of the Birds Eye® Protein Blends at Walmart recently. I discovered these back in the summer and went through several bags of the California Style and Asian Style – it’s safe to say I was obsessed. I could microwave them for a quick lunch and I felt good about eating them. Lots of protein, lots of veggies.

And then recently, I realized I could use them as a side for, maybe, a meatless meal (or any meal really) and make my life really easy by just keeping the freezer stocked with them.

I tried the Southwest this past weeks as a side for these tostadas and it was so delicious. It has whole grains, black beans, corn, lentils, red bell peppers, and a zesty sauce. It’s an easy and yummy way to squeeze some extra veggies into your diet.

If you’re interested in trying the Birds Eye® Protein Blends, download the Ibotta app and look for $.50 off any of the 4 varieties : California Style, Asian Style, Italian Style, or Southwest Style.

Let me know in the comments which of the 4 varieties you most want to try!

If you’re looking for a meatless main to have with your Birds Eye® Protein Blends, you should try these Guacamole Tostadas. These are the easiest meal you’ll ever make. Guacamole (homemade or store-bought) is spread onto tostada shells and then topped with shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, and queso fresco.

All the textures, all the flavors, it’s all so good!

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Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tostadas

Oct 21, 2015

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tostadas – black beans seasoned with chili powder and lime juice on top of butternut squash and crunchy tostadas. Topped with queso fresco and crisp lettuce. Perfect for meatless Monday!

Hey guys!

Did you watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown last night? I’m not a huge Peanuts fan but the kids and I watch it every year.

And every year I feel bad because my husband loves Peanuts but he’s never home to watch it!

Him not being home also explains all the meatless meals we’ve been eating lately. I can’t even tell you the last time I cooked something with meat.

Mostly because I don’t want to buy it and have it go bad when I inevitably decide to just have wine and graham crackers for dinner every night.

But also because I’d rather spend my grocery money on candles and dog sweaters.

Don’t judge me.

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Apple and Brie Quesadillas

Aug 31, 2015

Apple and Brie Quesadillas – easy and delicious meatless meal! Crisp apples with melty brie and peppery arugula.

Is it really Monday again? How did that happen so fast?

Well how was the weekend? I hope it was fantastic!

Ours was good. It is still so stupid hot here in Texas that I kind of didn’t want to do anything. Like even running to Walmart (as I’m doing every other day right now to look for new pumpkin goodies) seemed too difficult.

I keep reminding myself of our Christmas roadtrip last year and how we had to drive through snow in Dallas.

C’mon cold weather! C’mon 1/8″ of snow!

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Veggie Tortilla Soup with Quinoa

Mar 19, 2015

I promised you another meatless recipe this week and here it is!

I’ve been having a weird craving for lots of veggies. I say weird because lately the only veggies I’ve been into have been my bizarre burger salads that I have every morning for breakfast.

Yeah, I totally put bread and butter pickles and ketchup on top of spinach.

I told you, bizarre.

So, of course I start craving Veggie Tortilla Soup as soon as the weather gets warm. This soup is so delicious though and I’m totally willing to eat hot soup in warm weather if it tastes this good!

It’s like your typical chicken tortilla soup except I hate chicken right now so I used beans and quinoa as the protein. And then it’s got the veggies I’d been craving, mostly carrots and zucchini. So yummy, especially if you top it with lots of stuff! Tortilla strips, avocado, and cilantro are my choices but you can do cheese, sour cream, whatever you like!

I ate this for lunch all week and I’d make it again today if I wasn’t desperately trying not to buy any groceries right now.

Aaaaaand, it took about 30 minutes to make! *high five*

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Cheesy Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower

Mar 16, 2015

Cheesy Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower – pasta with cauliflower, kale, Parmesan, ricotta, and lemon zest! Light and fresh – perfect for meatless Monday!

This is the first of two meatless recipes this week. Things are getting weird.

So how was your weekend? Hopefully fabulous! I stupidly scheduled a vet appointment for Clementine at 7:15 yesterday morning. It’s never a good idea to make an appointment that early on a Sunday. Good news though, we only have this week and then it’s SPRING BREAK. And then the kids may or may not go back to school after that. Still waiting for papers to be signed so we know which day we can get the heck out of here.

Yesterday I also officially started cleaning out the house. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate over the years. I found one of those cell phones with the pull out keyboard in our junk drawer – like, how old is that?! Why do we still have it?!

I spent a good portion of the day just filling bags with stuff to either throw away or donate. I’m starting to panic because it just seems like so. much. stuff. and it’s stuff that we’ve just shoved into closets or drawers because we don’t even use it. I need it all out of here!

Aaaaand I started listening to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up while I cleaned. Mostly because I’ve heard that the author talks about your socks needing a vacation. My socks and I are pretty excited to hear all about that.

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Lentil and Collard Soup

Oct 10, 2012

Can we talk about how excited I am for cold weather? Now, I am not good in cold weather. If I have to stand outside in the cold? I’m done. I will whine and complain and probably steal your jacket. But when I’m inside and only have to go outside to check the mail? I love it. And that’s exactly how it was this past weekend. I only opened the door to let the dog out and the cold was fantastic for those 30 seconds.

Having a good soup on the stove really helps with the cold enjoyment too. I made this because I had some collards that needed to be used and didn’t plan on blogging it, but I ended up loving it so much that I had to share.

This is my favorite kind of soup. I love pea/bean soups that get thick and creamy just from the peas/beans breaking down. This one is especially good because it has a ton of cumin, which is my favorite spice, and a bit of cinnamon, which was unexpected but really worked. Right before serving, you stir in some fresh lemon juice and that just takes it over the top.

I typically hate leftovers but I ate this 4 times and could’ve kept going if I didn’t run out of soup!

One year ago: Pumpkin Monkey Bread with Maple Glaze
Two years ago: Brie & Brisket Quesadilla

Lentil and Collard Soup

from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lentil-and-green-collard-soup/

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup dry red lentils rinsed and picked over
6 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch collard greens rinsed, stemmed, and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stir in onion, garlic and salt; cook until the onion softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in lentils, and cook for 1 minute. Pour in water, then bring to a boil over high heat; turn heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add collard greens, and cook until wilted, about 10 minutes. When the lentils are tender, stir in the collard greens and season with cumin and cinnamon; allow to simmer 10 more minutes. Stir in lemon juice before serving.

Spicy Tofu Stir-Fry

Nov 15, 2010

I’m home from the bake-off and unfortunately I did lose. Sara and her cute cupcakes won the whole thing and maybe one day when I’m over the loss, I’ll share the pictures from the bake-off. Maybe I’ll even show you the lobster pad thai we had the night before.

(You know, I am joking about not being over the loss.)

Traveling always throws my life out of balance off for a few days which is why I haven’t blogged. On top of the exhaustion that traveling brings, my husband has this habit of “cleaning” while I’m gone. And by “cleaning” I mean he takes everything and shoves it somewhere else. Admittedly, I do leave cookbooks, notebooks, magazine pages, things like that all over the kitchen and my desk but that’s how I work. So when my notebooks end up on top of the refrigerator during his “cleaning” spree, it takes me days to find them. And that’s my excuse for not blogging. And not cooking. And you know what, for not doing anything this weekend.

I did make this stir-fry the other night because what’s easier than a stir-fry? I used tofu but shrimp or chicken would be delicious in this. If you’re doing shrimp, I would either remove the shrimp from the pan before you do the vegetables or cook the shrimp last so you don’t overcook them. Any vegetable would be great: carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers, just whatever you want pretty much.

Spicy Tofu Stir-Fry

Ingredients

5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce divided
2 teaspoons cornstarch divided
1 pound extra-firm tofu pressed and cubed (I buy the pre-cubed. Itâ€™s perfect for this!)
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
splash of seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
5 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon chile paste with garlic
2 cups broccoli chopped
1 cup drained sliced water chestnuts
1 cup 1/2-inch sliced green onion tops
3/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts
brown rice for serving

Instructions

Combine 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce and cornstarch in a large bowl. Add cubed tofu and toss to make sure all the tofu is covered. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
Heat vegetable oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and brown on all sides. While that is working, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, vegetable broth, seasoned rice wine vinegar, minced green onions, ginger, garlic, and chile paste in a small bowl. Add to pan and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute until thickened. Add broccoli; cover the pan and cook for just a few minutes, or until broccoli is tender. Add water chestnuts, green onion tops, and peanuts; stir to combine. Serve on top of hot rice.

Falafel

Oct 30, 2010

Last night when I was making our little falafel balls, I got to thinking about how easy meal prep is when the meal is meatless. There’s no meat to worry about, don’t have to stress over expiration dates (don’t tell me I’m the only procrastinator here), don’t have to pull anything out of the freezer, etc. I just opened the cabinet, grabbed a can of chickpeas, and was ready to cook.

To make this recipe even simpler, I went ahead and processed everything but if you don’t have a processor, just diced your veggies and use a fork to mash the chickpeas. You don’t want a smooth paste so mashing works just fine.

I’ve made these twice in the past 2 weeks. That’s saying something because you know I hate frying things. (I burnt my eyelid last night, thanks for asking.)

We love this recipe, obviously. Sometimes I make pita to go with them and sometimes we make lettuce wraps with broken up falafel, tomatoes, and yogurt sauce. It’s good just about any way you can think of.

Falafel

Ingredients

1 15 ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 onion quartered
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup panko bread crumbs
oil for frying

Instructions

In the bowl of your food processor, add chickpeas, onions, parsley, and garlic (I have a very tiny processor and just did this in 3 batches). Process until pieces are small but havenâ€™t turned into a paste. You want it a little chunky. Pour into a large bowl and add egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder. Stir together to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Add bread crumbs and combine.
In a large, heavy bottomed pan, heat about 1 inch of oil over medium high heat. When oil is ready shape falafel into balls or patties and fry until golden brown, just a couple minutes per side. Drain on paper towel lined plate.