Yesterday I was the most productive I may have ever been. Got my weeklies cooked and 2 entrees! I think I love daylight savings time, at least in the fall when we get that ‘extra’ hour.

I’m obviously obsessed with orange veggies – especially pumpkin. Yum!

Muffin of the week: Fat Free Pumpkin Raisin Biscuits

Sweet of the week: Pumpkin Black Bottom Cupcakes

Lunch Soup of the week: Sweet Potato Chickpea Gumbo with Brown Rice

Monday: Vegetable Pot Pie

Tuesday: Slow cooker Polenta with marinara sauce

Wednesday: Wine-Braised Lentils with Garlic Sautéed Spinach

Thursday: Make up jewelry class – bring gumbo for dinner

Friday: Veggie burgers and Fries with broccoli slaw

Saturday: Veggie Chili with Cornbread

Sunday: Use leftovers in a soup or a pot pie

I love Halloween! It’s my favorite holiday. I always have a fancy Gothic dinner party – you can read more about this year’s here.  On the dinnerware blog there’s also tons about decorating and drink ideas for Halloween.

Muffin of the week: Pumpkin Muffins

Cookie of the week: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lunch Soup of the week: Cauliflower Tomato Soup made with leftovers from this recipe

Monday: Leftover veggie loaf coffins and spook-tacular potatoes from my Halloween dinner party

Tuesday: Wine-Braised Lentils with Garlic Sautéed Spinach

Wednesday: Dinner out with Faith and Christy

Thursday: Sweet Potato, Okra, and Chickpea Gumbo and cornbread

Friday: Jack-o-lantern quesidillas – filled with mashed potato mixed with Trader Joe’s edamame succotash and salsa

Saturday: Butternut Squash Sage Pasties, spinach salad with roasted beets

Sunday: Pizza with salad

I love fall. I have the windows open to the fresh air, and have major cravings for swiss chard, kale, apples, soups and pumpkin in everything!

This is my second week of making a batch of muffins for my morning sweet fix. I’ve been sneaking in flax and oat bran for good measure.

I also decided I need a cookie fix and I had leftover canned pumpkin – the soft pumpkin pecan cookies are crazy good – very cakelike with a decadent brown sugar glaze.

To counteract the cookies I have a super healthy soup for lunch. The red kale is so pretty and it was a great way to use some of the last of the basil from my garden.

Muffin of the week: Low fat Apple Walnut Muffins

Cookie of the week: Soft Pumpkin Pecan Iced Cookies

Lunch Soup of the week: Red Kale and White Bean Soup

Monday: Leftover Pasta with pumpkin mushroom sauce (I will post recipe later). It’s a combo of these recipes and my own touch: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=550003# and http://www.momadvice.com/blog/2009/09/creamy-pumpkin-pasta.html

Tuesday: Tofu stir-fry with bok choy, and other greens in a soy ginger sauce with green beans in black bean sauce and steamed dumplings

Wednesday: Chickenl-ess Parmigiano with vegan Cesar salad and garlic bread

Thursday: Slow cooker Lentil Chard Soup or Curried lentil with greens soup

Friday: Homemade biscuits and veggie sausage gravy

Saturday: Gumbo of some kind – maybe z’Herbes

Sunday: Clean out the fridge veggie soup made in the slow cooker and fresh bread recipe from sparkpeople

Sorry for disappearing. Let’s just say too much money was spent and there was an eating out frenzy that’s made my budget look like the dog chewed it.

So here I go with the basics – menu planning. Over and over again it proves itself to be invaluable!

Fall is the perfect time to pull out the slow cooker if you haven’t used it in awhile. Take a look at a few of my favorites, and see if there are any you want to add to your menu plan this week.

I also recommend spinach salads for the week. Buying a large container of pre-washed baby spinach is a great investment. Not only does it keep longer than baby lettuce, when it’s at the end you can saute it, add to pasta sauces and even sneak some on sandwiches to add extra fiber and vitamins.

Monday: Minestrone and spinach salad (recipe near the bottom of linked post)

Tuesday: Refried Bean Tacos in blue corn shells with chorizo Spanish couscous over a romaine salad

Wednesday: Cauliflower curry potato curry with dahl over basmati brown rice and naan

Thursday: Grilled Pizza and salad

Friday: Pepper steak with steamed brown rice and wonton soup

Saturday: Chickenl-ess Parmigiano with vegan Cesar salad and garlic bread

Sunday: Clean out the fridge veggie soup made in the slow cooker and fresh bread recipe from sparkpeople

I survived my second 6am spinning class! Of course my behind is pretty sore and my quads (and legs) are still wiggly, but it’s worth it to meet my goals. I’m trying to take off a few pounds and get in shape. It can be a slow process, but I’m really working on keeping a positive attitude and eating fresh, healthy food really helps.

I got a csa style box of veggies from Tiny Farm  Saturday at the Durham Farmer’s Market and have tons of fresh heirloom tomatoes and green beans. I bought some cucumbers, lettuce, and tons of assorted berries to round out my week.

I made gazpacho and a chilled yellow beet soup as well for lunches. Salads topped with strawberries, blueberries, apples, nuts and herbs from the garden will be a welcome addition to lunches and dinners.  I may need to add in a cold bean or grain salad as well to round it my day out.

Monday: Tofu with green beans and carrots in black bean sauce over steamed brown rice

Tuesday: Taco salads with veggie chili, guacamole, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and almond cheese - topped with homemade pico de gallo

Wednesday: Fried brown rice with tons of veggies, portabella mushroom prepared pepper steak style

Thursday: Tunisian Sweet Potato Stew from fat free vegan made in the slow cooker served over whole wheat couscous

Friday: Veggie burgers on the grill with a side salad topped with fresh fruit and balsamic dressing

Saturday: Grilled polenta with veggies covered with a heirloom tomato pesto sauce with a Caesar salad and grilled corn on the cob

Sunday: Sloppy Lentils and steamed veggies -or- tacos with refried beans and guacamole

I have 3 kinds of basil this year Italian, lemon, and Thai all growing in my garden. Some are in the veggie bed and I have others in containers. If you have no space you can even grow some inside on a sunny window sill.

If you don’t have a garden you should be able to get locally grown basil at your farmers market, or local natural foods store at this time of the year. You can get fresh herbs in the winter, but they are expensive and they don’t taste as good to me.

Pesto is fragrant mixture of herbs and nuts ground into a thick paste with olive oil. And there are dozens of variations.

Traditional Basil Pesto

• 2 cups basil leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ cup pine nuts
• 1/4 – 1/2  cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (optional – add salt to taste if you are leaving out or use a vegan substitute)

Put basil, garlic, ¼ cup olive oil, nuts, and cheese if using into a food processor. Process the pesto using the pulse setting, so you can still have a few small chunks of nuts for texture. Add more oil if the mixture is too thick. Taste and add more garlic, salt, or cheese until you love what you have and can’t wait to eat it.

What to do with it?

• Toss with pasta and top with fresh ground pepper
• Spread on a pizza crust instead of red sauce
• Put in mashed potatoes
• Add into a soup (minestrone is great for this)
• Mix into your scrambled tofu in the morning
• Blend with silken tofu for a perfect dairy free dip

Ok, so I’ve sold you on trying to make pesto, but you don’t have any pine nuts? Or maybe your basil didn’t do so good this year. Now it’s time to get creative. First off you can substitute any nuts for the pine nuts. I used almonds in mine. Why not try pistachios or walnuts?

Use the recipe above for general proportions, but realize you will have to taste as you go even more since some herbs have a stronger taste than others. You’ll begin to notice how the oils of the bruised herbs smell mingled with the smell of the nut you chose.  And then you’ll know if you need to add more of another ingredient.

• A few combinations to try:
• Arugula (Rocket) and Pistachio
• Oregano and Walnut
• Sage with Pine nuts and a little lemon juice
• Mint and Almond
• Rosemary and hazelnut
• Tarragon and no nuts at all

If you need more ideas take a look at this post on the gardenWeb herb forum.

Save your new creation for a winter surprise! Oil an ice cube tray and put your freshly made pesto into the slots. Once the cubes are frozen, remove them from the try and place into a freezer bag. Now in January they’ll be waiting to go into your steaming pot of minestrone!

Nothing says summer has arrived like a chilled soup. When it’s so hot you’re sweating and the a/c is working as hard as it can, a chilled soup can make your whole day. Gazpacho is like a cool, liquid salad. It goes down easy, you don’t have to heat up the house to make it, and it cools you from the inside out. That’s my kind of hot weather dinner!

Watermelon Gazpacho

• 3 cups watermelon chucks, seeded with rind removed
• 2 cups heirloom tomato chunks
• ½ cucumber (peeled if it is not organic or is waxed)
• 1 small bell pepper (green is fine, but purple and yellow add a nice color)
• 1 small hot pepper of your choice, seeded with the ribs removed, and chopped
• 1 lime or lemon, juiced
• ½ – 1 cup filtered water
• 2 – 3 Tbs. olive oil (use less if you are cutting down on fat or calories)
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 Tbs. fresh basil (lemon or lime basil works great if you have some growing in your garden)
• Big handful of fresh mint leaves only – no stems (orange or lime mint is perfect)
• 2 Tbs. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tsp. Salt
• Pepper to taste

If you hate hot foods you can leave this out completely or choose a mild variety like a banana pepper. If you like it hot I recommend the heirloom variety Bulgarian carrot pepper. Really any hot or mild pepper you like or just have lying around would work fine, but it needs to be fresh. Don’t forget to use gloves if it is an extremely hot variety so you don’t transfer the oil to your skin. It’s no fun to rub it in your eye!

Mince the cucumber, green pepper, basil, mint, and cilantro and set aside. Puree everything else in a blender or food processor until relatively smooth. Add in the minced veggies and herbs. Stir with a spoon to mix everything together.

(To make a smooth soup place everything but the cilantro in a blender or food processor, and puree the heck out of it. You will still have specks of tomato, cucumber, and green pepper skins to add a little texture and color. You can keep blending it until it is a smooth as you want it.)

Before serving take a final taste and decide if you need to adjust the salt and pepper, or add any more herbs or lime juice. Once it’s the way you like it, put it in the fridge to chill for an hour or so.

Garnish with the chopped cilantro, and a few sprigs of fresh mint. It will be a beautiful refreshing treat!

Menu planning really is the way to go. I ate so much better last week and it didn’t take that much time to cook things up after work. I prefer to crock pot and hope to be back on that road by the end of the month. We also got a gas grill at a huge discount, so I want to get my veggie grill on too! There is a burner, so my plan is to cook on it once the weather gets truely hot.

I bought some whole wheat panko bread crumbs and will post the recipe later if all goes well with my baked tofu shake and bake idea. Greens were all the rage at the farmers market. I over bought perhaps a little too much, but they all looked so good. At least it’ll fuel some nutritious dense recipe experimentation.

Romaine salads and assorted pasta dishes will make lunch this week, with oat bran, flax, banana-zucchinni-pecan muffins made with stevia for breakfast.  So I’m starting off the week on the rigth foot. Also keeping track of my food again on sparkpeople. If you’re looking to get on track give it a try – it’s completely free. You can sign up and be my friend – I’m vegWriter there.

Marla and Dee’s wedding is this weekend and they are veg too, so I’m hoping for some good , easy eating for my weekend!

Monday: Baked southern tofu (fake shake and bake!) with steamed carrots, garlic balsamic broccoli rabe,  and mashed potatoes  — (make asparagus goat cheese pasta for tues lunch and zucchini oat bran muffins)

Tuesday: Roasted beet, goat cheese and arugula salad;  Veggie dogs with kale/beet greens cole slaw and potato salad — (make spicy peanut noodles  lunch)

Wednesday: Vegan Dad’s Cajun Chickpea cakes on a whole wheat bun with left over cole slaw, and steamed broccoli and not cheese sauce – cook any leftover greens for lunch

Thursday: Leftovers or chick’n bbq sandwiches with tator tots

Friday: Cook out at Marla’s wedding site

Saturday: Marla’s reception

Sunday: Unknown – traveling back from GA

My first try using stevia and it turned out pretty good. The muffins didn’t rise as much as I hoped, but they are really tasty!

Blueberry Pecan Muffins with Stevia

1 cup Rolled Oats
2 Tb. Flax Seed Meal (ground flax)
1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. stevia (taste the batter and add more if needed – but only an 1/8 of tsp. at a time.)
3 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon, ground
1/4 tsp. Ginger, ground
3 Tbl. Egg white or 1 Egg, or substitute that equals 1 egg
3/4 cup Non-fat Milk, soy, rice, or almond
1/4 cup Applesauce, unsweetened
1 cup Blueberries
1/4 cups Pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 and oil a 12 muffin tin. Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl. In another bowl mix egg white, milk, and applesauce. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix and add blueberries and pecans. Put in muffin tins and bake about 15 minutes.

My next experiment will be tonight. I’m thinking strawberries with almonds…

Nutrition Facts from http://recipes.sparkpeople.com Stevia Blueberry Pecan Muffins
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories		101.3
Total Fat		3.1 g
	Saturated Fat	0.4 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.3 g
Cholesterol		0.3 mg
Sodium		232.5 mg
Potassium		144.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate		20.3 g
	Dietary Fiber	3.9 g
	Sugars	1.8 g
Protein		3.8 g

Vitamin A	0.2 %
Vitamin B-12	1.0 %
Vitamin B-6	3.6 %
Vitamin C	1.1 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	2.2 %
Calcium	10.3 %
Copper	7.9 %
Folate	3.5 %
Iron	7.4 %
Magnesium	10.7 %
Manganese	60.6 %
Niacin	4.4 %
Pantothenic Acid	3.7 %
Phosphorus	15.2 %
Riboflavin	4.2 %
Selenium	10.8 %
Thiamin	11.4 %
Zinc	6.7 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.