Three recipes for Vegan MoFo

First of all I want to thank Jenn for this Farm Sanctuary video. This is a little difficult to watch at the beginning but hang in there because at the mid-point you meet actual healthy, happy turkeys with adorable personalities.



I watch things like this because it helps me remember WHY I don't eat animals.  Sometimes meat looks and smells good and it's easy to forget the suffering behind the plate.  I personally don't ever want to forget!  I try not to get too "preachy" about animal rights because I don't want to turn people away.  My basic motto in all things is "Do the best you can."  It doesn't have to be perfect.  You don't have to go vegan tomorrow - just eat fewer animals.  You don't have to eat sprouts and tofu - just eat less junk and processed foods.  Every small step has a huge impact when viewed through the lens of time.

As promised, I've been cooking.  This cake was DIVINE!  It was made with spelt flour instead of white flour and maple syrup and agave nectar instead of sugar.  And of course no eggs or dairy to muck up your arteries!

Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Lemon Glaze

from Get It Ripe by Jae Steele

Curried Garbanzo Salad

Curried Garbanzo Salad

1 can Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup leftover cooked grain (I used Israeli couscous, but brown rice or quinoa would be good)

1 tomato, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1 cup cooked spinach, chopped (could substitute fresh parsley or cilantro)

2 T vegan mayonnaise

1 tsp mustard

1 T honey

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp curry powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Mix beans, grains and veggies in a bowl.  Mix remaining ingredients together in a small bowl to make a dressing.  Pour dressing over bean mixture and toss to combine.  Chill before serving.

Rose-Scented Wheat with Almonds & Pomegranates

Rose-Scented Wheat

This sounds a bit strange but is absolutely sublime!  Rose water can be food in any grocery store here in Israel and in Middle-Eastern shops the world over.  A little goes a long way!

1 1/2 cups dry wheat kernels (can use Kamut in North America.  Here it's called חיטה)

3 cups water

Rinse wheat thoroughly.  Add to a pot with water.  Bring to a boil.  Cover pot and cook 40-60 minutes until soft.  Let cool somewhat before mixing with:

Seeds of 1 whole pomegranate

4 dates, chopped

1 cup slivered almonds, toasted for a few minutes until lightly toasted

1/2 cup grape juice

1/2 tsp sea salt

1-2 tsp rose water

Toss all together and serve immediately or chill for later serving.  Delish!

Should Eating Be Fun?

Vegan German Chocolate Cupcakes from

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Last week I published a new ad to local email lists.  I personally thought the ad was a brilliant bit of copy-writing.  In the ad I used my delicious wit to describe my view of a healthy food as more than just the sum of it's calories, points, and macro-nutrients, but rather one that gives us pleasure on many levels.  I said that sometimes even mom's apple pie might be the healthiest thing in the world if it's made for you with love and enjoyed by you with happiness and free of guilt.

The ad totally tanked.  I didn't get even one click.

It got me thinking about how often I feel like I'm fighting an uphill battle:

• I tell clients to stop dieting and start learning to eat and they tell me I'm nuts.

• I say "Here are the keys to diet jail, free yourselves!"and they toss the keys back and lock themselves back in.

• I tell new clients, let's ADD IN healthy foods before we even think about taking away the unhealthy ones.  They say "That's too easy, that will never work." and don't even give it a try.

• I teach simple, doable sustainable changes, but some folks want the hardest strictest meal plan they can cling to until their white knuckles get numb and they fall into the sugar bowl.

Sigh...

OK, so if you don't want to listen to me, here are the words of a few of my clients who are un-dieting their way to permanent, sustainable weight loss:

"Dear Emily, 
I don't know where to begin.  You have taught me to listen to my body.  You have guided me towards healthful habits and smarter choices.  I feel as if I have a renewed lease on life.  I feel great and I am full of energy.  And it is fun to learn how to put different ingredients together to create a meal. I have to admit I never understood how food effects the body.  I guess I didn't want to know.  But it really does - you are what you eat!  Saying thank you isn't enough but I'm saying it anyway.  Words cannot express how much you have helped me and how you helped me to help myself.  I am so grateful for your wisdom, knowledge and kindness."                   -Anne G.


"Working with you, Emily, has been about the positive things, not deprivation.  I enjoy fresh healthy food more since meeting you and I feel better.  I see that this endlessly rich palette of food and the new recipes you have provided add freshness and excitement.  Most importantly, I reclaimed myself as a priority though this lesson about food which is really about so much more.  My life is better for having met you."  - Susan M.


(Both of those ladies have lost significant amounts of weight by the way).

Food is Fun.  Eating is a Pleasure.  There is no reason why losing weight and keeping it off should mean 100% abstention from your favorite foods for ever and ever.  Who can do that?  I certainly won't!

Cinnamon-Sesame Oats & Chai with Rice Milk

But healthy food is also fun and eating in moderation and for hunger, rather than for emotional reasons, is an even greater pleasure.  Getting appropriate physical exercise is one of the greatest pleasures of all!

BBQ Lentils & Eggplant and yes, that's a piece of challah and yes I ate it

from Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes

Please don't think it's all or nothing - It's balance.

Please believe that you can make the simple changes that will greatly improve the quality of your life. - You can.

Please make peace with food. - It's not the enemy.

Please make peace with yourself. - It's not worth all this struggle and pain.

Macaroni with Garlic, Peas, Chickpeas, Sun Dried Tomatoes & Rosemary

No recipe there, just saute all in olive oil and toss together.  (It's gold because of the sunset)

For the love of Schmukinuck

My friend Christy wrote me that lovely comment about what a great mom I am cooking my kids all this home-made food, and well, I've got to come clean:  When I excitedly announced to my family that I had joined Vegan MoFo....

...they GROANED.  Collectively.

And just last week in fact, before this Vegan MoFo business even began, my husband whined pathetically that I don't cook enough "Dude Food".

So although it might look all Happy Healthy Homemaker from the outside, I've got the same problems as the rest of you.  I perhaps, am just really good at ignoring them.

No but seriously, "how to get the kids/partner to eat healthy foods" is a question that comes up a lot with coaching clients.  So let's talk it through.

Many of you have already heard this story, but my mother says that my first word was Pop-Tart and my love of junk food and all things processed and packaged just grew from there.  Do you guys remember something called "Space Food Sticks"?

Mercy me, these things were a 1960's Space-crazed version of giant tootsie rolls to fuel us young astronauts through our busy days of moon rock collecting.  I actually became so addicted to them that my mom had to stage an intervention.  I am NOT kidding.  She had the entire family corroborate the lie that the company that made Space Food Sticks (Pillsbury) had gone out of business.  And because I always did the grocery shopping with her, she had to constantly invent growing subterfuge to keep me from wandering down that aisle and uncovering her deception.  I eventually did and have yet to forgive.

My mom was a gourmet cook and ahead of her time whole-foods wise (Pop tarts and space food sticks notwithstanding). I of course hated everything she made and invented a name for healthy veg-filled meals:  Schmuckinuck. Yes for real, and if any of my childhood friends are reading you are surely cracking up right now.  For about 15 years I subsisted on scrambled eggs, grilled cheese and tuna fish sandwiches with the crusts cut off.   The daily Schmuckinuck that appeared on our dinner table along with those objectionable bread crusts, rarely passed my lips.  When at age 16 I announced I would no longer be part of the animal cruelty machine and was from here on out Vegetarian, my mother chuckled and said "OK, good luck with that."  The only vegetables I ate were tomatoes, corn and potatoes. PB and J became my new stand-by although my discrimination of bread crusts continued.  Yet through all my pickiness and food-stage-weirdness, my mom kept cooking the healthy stuff and I got pretty used to seeing it there on the table.  Now I understand this was Brain Washing.

So what's the point of all this?  I just want to encourage you to keep cooking healthy meals despite your kids' grumbling.  They'll survive and may end up coming around eventually and be Schmuckinuck lovers just like me!  But if you NEVER introduce them to healthy food, then they don't stand a chance as adults.  I'd say that like 90% of my clients never ate veggies, not as kids and not as adults.  And now they're sick and overweight with 40 years of food habits to change.  Think of yourself as Jaimie Oliver and step forth boldly and with humor, involving the kids in your healthy kitchen experiments.  Tell them your afraid of Brussels Sprouts too but you'll try them if they will and then make edible green sprout snowmen and bite their heads off.

At the same time, keep up a steady stream of grilled cheese, PB and J, and tuna fish sandwiches with the crusts cut off.  You have to make some concessions to prevent all out rebellion.  Case in point:  Yesterday was my husband's birthday and I made him a Flan.  Eggs, butter, milk, sugar.  I am not veganizing it because I don't want to be divorced.  Or murdered.

Vegans, avert your eyes!

Birthday Flan (NOT Vegan)

But I'm also made this:

Egg-less Egg Salad (with the crusts cut off for old times sake)

THIS is Vegan!

Egg-less Egg Salad
1 container firm tofu, drained and crumbled with your hands
2-3 T vegan mayonnaise
1 T mustard
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
Mix it all up.  Easier than egg salad and just as tasty!

Ocean Friendly Sushi

These little darlings are filled with Raw Food Goddess, Alissa Cohen's Mock Salmon Pate.  The recipe is all over the web, including her own website (here), so I'll go ahead and post it for ya!

Mock Salmon Pate
2 cups walnuts
1 stalks celery
1 large red bell pepper
1 large scallion
1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

I like this pate on top of a salad, or spread on crackers too, but here I rolled it up in the nori sheets with grated carrot and cucumber.  That's it, no rice needed!  It is super yum!

The best part though is my chopsticks:

They say "Be Happy" and I am happy that I didn't kill any fishies for these sushi!

Today I also made Tuscan White Bean Soup and Caramelized Onion Foccacia.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

1 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups cooked white beans (this is 1 cup dry, soaked, rinsed and pre-cooked)

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced

3 leaves fresh sage, minced

5-6 cups water or vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

Saute veggies in oil.  Add beans and broth and cook 30-40 minutes until all is soft and as it should be.  Serve sprinkled with more fresh herbs if desired.  You can also puree half of the soup to make it creamier.

 Caramelized Onion Foccacia (yes I know I have no idea how to spell foccacia)

1 1/2 Tbsp dry yeast

1/2 cup wrist-warm water

1 T sugar

Mix together and set aside 5-10 minutes until foamy.

4 cups flour of choice (I used half white bread flour and half whole spelt flour)

1 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

1 cup wrist-warm water

Mix together with foamy yeast mixture.  Knead 10 minutes until a soft, somewhat sticky dough forms.  Put dough in an oil-coated bowl, cover with a clean towel and set in a warm spot to rise 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.  Punch down and proceed as follows:

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

fresh Rosemary

Black olives, chopped (optional)

sun dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)

Olive oil for sauteeing and sprinkling over foccacia

Kosher salt or big sea salt crystals

Saute veggies and herbs.  Pat dough out into a large rectangle (or circle) and prick with a fork all over.  Brush with olive oil.  Top with veggies and herbs.  Sprinkle with salt crystals and bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20 minutes or until turning golden.

I wish you could smell my house right now!  Ahhhhhh.....  someone's been in the kitchen up to yummy things!

How cute is he?  Not that I'm at all biased.

Vegan Mo Fo Day One

And so it begins...

First the food:  Today I made Banana Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  I had planned to frost them with Coconut Pecan Fudge Frosting (whoa, yum!) from the same cookbook, but they got devoured by my family of vulture-people before frosting could happen.  Yes, they are so amazingly delicious that no frosting is needed!  But doesn't that frosting sound amazing?  I guess I'll have to make some more cupcakes just so I can frost them, hm.

These are so not muffins.  They are light, fluffy, sweet and moist, but save the fact there is no cholesterol, they DO contain white sugar and white flour, so in this case, Vegan does not equal Healthy.  At any rate, it is so easy to make perfect cookies, cakes and muffins without eggs and dairy, that I have no idea why anyone ever uses them at all?  These just had the mashed banana, flour, baking powder and soda, sugar, vanilla, rice milk and oil.  Perfect and so super easy!

For dinner tonight we had Vegetable Biryani from Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes.

This is essentially onions, garlic, ginger, curry and other spices sauteed in olive oil.  Then red pepper, sweet potato, zucchini, raisins chickpeas, Basmati rice and coconut milk.  Fast, easy, super comfort food indeed!


Both cookbooks are available in my amazon store to the right of this post or at the "Shop"link above.  I recommend them both and use them often.

Next I wanted to share this quote from trainer Bob Harper of Biggest Loser fame.  He went from vegetarian to vegan last summer and here's what he had to say about the switch:

"This week, celebrity trainer Bob Harper told VegNews that he has gone vegan, cutting all animal products out of his diet, and shared that the switch to a cruelty-free diet has improved his health. “I enjoy living a plant-based diet because it makes me feel clear headed and strong, not to mention my genetically high cholesterol dropped more than 100 points. That was all the motivation I needed,” says Harper. Famous for helping Americans slim down on NBC’s The Biggest Loser, Harper has been a longtime vegetarian, often promoting meat-free recipes. In addition to helping stars get fit and contestants shed pounds, the 44-year-old vegan trainer also teaches exercise classes through Crunch gym and has his own series of workout videos titled Bob Harper’s Inside Out Method.

Source

pizza, pizza

It's a double-header recipe day here at Triumph Wellness!

Just so you don't think that I make my kids eat lentils and rice all the time (although we DO eat an awful lot of lentils and rice!), I wanted you all to know this:

The Segal Family eats Pizza pretty near once a week.

Shocking!  I know.   Sometimes it's not quite that often, but it is one of the kids' favorite meals, and when you make your own, you can make it a perfectly healthy meal!

I make two pizzas, one for kids and one for adults.  I start with a whole grain crust, recipe is below.  The kids usually stick to the standard sauce, cheese and Parmesan, but because I am preparing it, I can control how much cheese goes on top.  At the pizza parlor, you have to blot the grease, right?  Yuck.  I put exactly 2 ounces (2 slices) of cheese, drastically cutting the fat and cholesterol content. 

Kids' pizza uncooked

Kids' pizza cooked

For the grown ups I put lots of veggies on top, whatever we have in the house.  Our favorite is sauteed onions and peppers.  Sometimes we put cheese on ours, sometimes not.

Grown Up pizza with tomato sauce, sauteed onions and spinach, fresh figs, goat feta and Parmesan

Finished and about to be devoured

Whole Grain Pizza Crust
makes enough for 2 pies

3 tsp dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp maple syrup or brown rice syrup

Mix together and set aside 5-10 minutes while you measure out:

4 1/2 cups flour, any combo of whole wheat, spelt, oat flour, barley flour etc etc
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 cup warm water
2 T olive oil

Add everything plus yeast mixture.  Knead a few minutes to form a sticky soft dough.  Coat a bowl with olive oil, place dough inside and turn it to coat all sides.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rise for one hour or until doubled in size.  Pre-heat oven to 200C.  Split dough into two, and gently stretch one portion into a big circle.  Place on greased pizza tray or ungreased, pre-heated pizza stone.  Top with sauce and toppings of choice.  Bake 20 minutes.  Dig in!  Repeat with second ball of dough.

Follow with Vegan Brownies!!!
Lightly oil an 8x8 square baking pan and pre-heat the oven to 170C.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/3 cup sugar
Mix dry ingredients and set aside. 

1/2 cup non-dairy milk of choice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 T maple syrup or rice syrup
5 T coconut oil, melted or sunflower oil
1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
Mix the above and add to dry ingredients.  Blend until smooth and spread into pan.  Bake 20 minutes.  Don't over-bake, you want these to be chewwwwwy, right?  Yumsville

In 2 days, my Better Half and I will be celebrating 15 years of marriage.

A lot of pizza and brownies have passed our lips in 15 years.  May there be many, many more.

Stay tuned....blog about LOVE to follow....

Day 100 I Did It!

Wow.  This is it.  My last day of the 100-Day vegan challenge.  Tomorrow I will wrap things up with my conclusions, but today I did just want to mention that this blog WILL continue.  So will my veganism actually, more or less.  I've really had a wonderful time blogging and sharing this with all of you.  Thanks so much for reading!

So here we go.  Today broke down as follows:

A Super Festive Last Day of Challenge bowl of CHOCOLATE Banana-Whipped Oats topped with dried cranberries and pecans.

Whoa.  Seriously amazing. 

Now the client I had right after breakfast today (you know who you are) understands what I was so Happy Vegan about.

Lunch was Taboulleh left over from the weekend with the Chickpeas in Saffron leftover from last week.

Dinner was Mujaderra, Persian Rice and Lentils, and Salad

and a congratulatory glass of ouzo.  OPA!

Now, here's my pride and joy showing off his Zombie Piratey Purim finest

Scary, huh?

Tune in tomorrow to find out where this vegan story is going to go next....

Day 86 Pick Up Sticks

Naw, no sticks.  I was just making a rhyme.

Lunch today was leftover Veg Stir-Fry with Brown Rice and a Spinach Salad.

Isn't that pretty?

Snack was Raw Brownies:

After that we all went to the gym and I cranked out a 5K on the Dreadmill.

Dinner was as follows:

Puree of White Bean Soup
1 onion, minced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
2 cups cooked white beans
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp Hawaij for soup
1 tsp salt
lots of black pepper
as much cayenne pepper as you want (I use chipotle pepper which is smoked jalapeno)

Saute onions and garlic in oil.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cook 20 mins.  Cool a bit, then puree, either everything or half, depending on your texture preference.  Re-heat and serve.

and...

Pizza with Vegan Cheeze!

The recipe for the crust is here.

Then I topped it with tomato sauce and sauteed onions and peppers and...

Vegan Cheeze Sauce

1/2 cup cooked white beans

1/2 cup cashews soaked in 3/4 cup water

1 T tahina

1 T ground flax

3 T Nutritional Yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2-3 T sun-dried tomato pesto or pimentos or roasted red peppers

Blend it all in the blender or food processor.  Chill until ready to use.  Blop in blobs on cooked pizza.

Truthfully, I don't even crave cheese anymore, which is unbelievable really, but seriously true.  This pizza would have been just as good without it.  I will have to think of clever use for the leftover sauce...

PS:  I made 2 pies.  One was standard cheese pizza for the kids to split.  The second was 3/4 onions, peppers and bulgarit cheese for my big boy.  The last 1/4 I left vegan for me.  That's how it works out.  Peace.

Day 61 Dr. Fuhrman needs to learn how to simplify in the kitch

First off, I just want to say that my heart goes out to the victims and families of the earthquake in Haiti.  It's totally ridiculous to be chuckling over my dietary adventures when such a staggering tragedy has occurred.  I completely understand this fact and I have no good defense for myself.  May the suffering soon come to an end and the world be united in support for the survivors as they work to put their shattered lives back together.

                      *                                 *                                       *

As promised, I tackled Dr. Fuhrman's famous Anti-Cancer Soup yesterday.  It took about an hour all told and managed to dirty several major appliances.  I'm thinking that probably Dr Fuhrman doesn't have to wash his own dishes.  The soup was good, but it wasn't THAT good.

The actual recipe can be found here.  Here it is in pictures:

Into a pot you put green split peas, whole onions, whole zucchini, whole leeks and a little water.  You start that cooking while you juice this:

That's a big mess o'carrots and celery and it makes this:

You add the carrot-celery juice to the veggies and peas in the pot.  Wash your juicer and chop a bunch of mushrooms.  By then, the veggies in the pot are soft and you can take them out and puree them in your blender:

Then you add raw cashews to the blender. 

The cashews are there to make the soup creamy and smoky-tasting.  Also, the soup has not had any oil or fat yet, so here the cashews will be taking that role in a very healthy way.

Finally you add in the mushrooms and some tvp plus whatever sort of seasoning you're using (I used salt, pepper and Hawaij for soup, because I have decided that everything is better with Hawaij on it).

Let it cook for another 20 minutes or so while you clean the disaster that is now your kitchen and finally...

Soup.  Everybody ate it.

(although I am willing to consider the possibility that they were afraid of what would happen if they didn't...)

Lastly, because man cannot live on soup alone, I give you  Dog + Shoe:

Day 60 I Explain the Process

"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness."

- Elsa Schiaprelli

Today I want to address the question I get most often in email: 

"How do you have the time to cook all that?"

OK, so now you will get to know me for what I truly am:  An Organizational Geek.  My mask is off and my true Fly Lady training has been revealed.  I am not one of those people who can fly into the kitchen at 5:45pm, look at what is available and throw together an amazing meal.  And because I am not willing to call in take-out very often and I do my best to avoid packaged, processed foods, I have got to have a Plan.  Stan.

It all starts will a menu of the family favorites. I took some time one day and typed up about 3 pages of vegetarian meals, animal meals, soups, salads, dressings, sides, and desserts which at some point in time someone at the table said "Not Bad, Mom."  It's in my Kitchen Control Journal along with the relevant recipes.  (Shameless Plug:. Private Nutrition Clients are guided through a process of creating their very own Kitchen Control Journals.  This madness can be yours too!)

Step two is sitting down once a week, usually a Thursday, sometimes a Saturday night (hot social life that I have) and planning out what we will eat more or less for every single meal and snack.  I take ideas from the family favorites list and also from one or two cookbooks that I rotate each week or so.  I sit with the date book in front of me so I can see which nights different family members have sports, or meetings, or classes or whatever, and I plan accordingly.

That gives me a plan that looks like this:

Sure, things change and I cross things out, or move them forward.  But having the basic plan gives me peace of mind.  I a regular mom, wife, chief cook and bottle-washer who happens to be running her own business as well.  I don't think I have any more time or less time than anyone else.  I can honestly say that I am rarely in the kitchen for more than an hour or two a day and that's cooking 4 meals a day and cleaning up as well.  I don't cook complicated things very often.  We eat leftovers quite a lot.  I work quickly.  I've had a lot of practice.  The kids are put to work too beacuse I want them to know how to cook when they're off on their own.

That said, I'm not perfect.  Sometimes we still fall back on pizza or falafel.  Sometimes I make things that turn out really awful.  I'm sure my kids would prefer pasta and schnitzel tiras every night.  I'm just doing my best to eat healthy and feed my family healthy things.  If they come to your house and eat nothing but potato chips, soda and cake, you don't need to gleefully report that to me.  They're normal children.  I know they love junk food as much as the next person.  How they eat outside of the house is not for me to control.  I do my best to feed them well at home, to teach them about nutrition and cooking and to not make too big a deal about "forbidden foods" or whatever.

Now, if you'll pardon me, I've got a date with Neon, my patient, blonde belly-dance teacher.  Then, I'm going to go back on what I just said above and spend a really long time in the kitchen trying to create a dubious looking soup recipe by Dr Fuhrman with the auspicious title of "Anti-Cancer Soup."  I will of course be taking pictures and blogging all about it...

Day 57

Hi Everyone!  Here's a re-cap of some of what we ate for Shabbat:

First, I found these really cute little acorn squash at Eden Teva.  So I halved them, scooped out the seeds, roasted the seeds with a drop of olive oil, sea salt and dash of cayenne pepper. 

Then, I burned them:

((oops))

None-the-less, my husband and sons scooped up the lot of them on their way out the door to the beach and I heard them mumbling "I don't know what these are, but they're good."

And yes, I did say "beach".  In January.  The weather here is DIVIIIIIIINE!  Sorry, people who live in cold places.  I was one of you my entire life and I have to say that life is so much better like this!

Alas, I stayed home from the beach this time to allow for Male-Bonding and to finish cooking for Shabbat. 

These are the mini acorn squashes, which I roasted and then stuffed with brown rice, pecans, sauteed onions and spinach.  No recipe.  I just winged it.

Then I made the Vegan Pot Roast from Robin Robertson's Vegetarian Comfort Food:

Does that not look like meat pot roast???  Wow, it has all the same ingredients but with seitan instead of beef.  All that great taste and warm, comforting sensation with NO cholesterol, no saturated fat, no animal suffering and NO death.  That's what I'm talking about!  It was really yummy.

I also made roast baby potatoes with garlic and rosemary, a cooked zuchini-tomato salad, and for my carnivores I made schnitzel (breaded, fried chicken breast cutlets.  NOT vegan of course and not remotely healthy, but they have been such sports, they deserved a break). 

Today I ate the pot roast leftovers for lunch and tonight I'll have the squash leftovers for dinner.  I heart leftovers!