Praise Seitan....

I'm writing this Monday morning, and it was very tempting to skip most of my weekend meal descriptions because I thought, boy they were boring. But I guess that is sort of the point of this blog- although we eat a lot of interesting foods, a lot of it is very simple substitutes...all the more reason to make the easy switch to a vegan diet!

So I will try and be quick with the standard meals...

Friday, May 8th 2009

Breakfast
Bowl of Kashi with Almond Milk, raisins and bananas

Lunch
Bowl of mesculin mix salad with shredded carrots, raisins, sunflower seeds and lemon juice.
Silk Yogurt- Vanilla

Snacks
1 Apple

Dinner
Nate loves to make pasta- this time it included some sauteed garlic broccoli rab!

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

Breakfast
Bowl of Kashi and an apple

Lunch
oops...no lunch, I was busy cleaning!

Dinner
Leftover mashed potatoes with broccoli and a small mesculin mix salad.

Dessert
Nate made berry smoothies!

Sunday May 10th, 2009
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Breakfast
Pumpernickel bagel with Tofutti Cream cheese, side of hashbrowns

Lunch
Leftover cold pasta- somehow that was appealing at the time :)

Snacks
Rice crackers with Sabra hummus

Dinner

Baked Seitan Parmesan

We love to make our own seitan, it's so simple, delicious, & saves money. Here is the recipe I use for making about 4 cups of seitan. I usually double this recipe to get enough to freeze part of it for later. I choose to bake the seitan, rather than boil it, because it comes out with a firmer texture. I also added a variety of spices to the actual mix, including allspice, thyme, seasoned mustards, and even liquid smoke.

Ingredients:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 cup very cold water or vegetable broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated on a microplane grater
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Add your choice of spices to this mix

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together Vital Wheat Gluten Flour and nutritional yeast flakes. In a separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients: water or veg broth, soy sauce. tomato paste, garlic, lemon zest. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine with a firm spatula, knead dough for about 3 minutes until a spongy, elastic dough is formed. Let dough rest for a couple of minutes and prepare a broth and 2-3 casserole bowls for the oven. Now roll your dough into a log shape about 8 inches long and cut into 3 equal sized pieces. You can take small pieces of this and flatten them into patties in your palm, or keep them in small chunks. Place the pieces in the casserole dish with the broth. It is important that the water/broth be very cold when you add the dough, it helps with the texture and ensures that it doesn't fall apart. Put into an oven preheated at 375, bake for 30 minutes, and then turn the pieces and bake for 10 more minutes. These cooked pieces can now be added to any recipe you choose!!

Monday May 11th, 2009

Breakfast
Bowl of Kashi, bananas, raisins

Lunch
Leftover seitan parmesan
1 Silk yogurt, vanilla

Snacks
1 apples
1 banana

Dinner