Near East Whole Grain Blends Roasted Pecan and Garlic

Near East Whole Grain Blends Roasted Pecan and Garlic

Since I moved to Florida, I have come to love Publix's Buy One Get One sales - hence how I got to try the Near East brand.  This dish would work great as a side or as a small lunch.  Easy to make and took less than a half hour.

Chili Dogs

I was so hungry, I couldn't even wait to take a bite.  Yum!

For these dogs, I used:
1 Arnold Select Wheat Hot Dog Bun
1 Lightlife Smart Dogs
Galaxy Nutritional Foods Vegan Cheddar Soy Cheese, shredded
Chili


You can use any chili recipe you like, but I chose to veganize my mother-in-law's recipe for my husband.  Hopefully she doesn't mind me sharing her recipe with the world! 

Chili
2 cans light red kidney beans
2 cans dark red kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package Boca Crumbles
Dark chili powder, hot pepper seeds, and sugar to taste.

Cook the Boca Crumbles in a frying pan on the stove until "browned" or cooked to taste.  Usually I cook the chili on the stove, but today I decided to use give the crock pot a try.  Dump all of the cans with juices into the crock pot with the Boca Crumbles.  Cook for 3 hours on low.  Add chili powder, hot pepper seeds, and sugar and stir. 


For the chilli dogs simply cook the vegan hot dog of your choice by it's directions, put in a bun, add a few heapings of chili, and shred the cheddar over the dogs and voila - vegan chili dogs!

Day 5: Another day of repeats, but tomorrow is a new day!

Other than breakfast, I had nothing new today.

Breakfast: Thomas' Cinnamon Raisin Bagel w/ Tofutti 'Cream Cheese'. Most of the time I don't need the "substitute" foods, but days like this morning I am glad there are things like Vegan Cream Cheese!

Lunch: You can guess... Vegan Mac & Cheez! Had extra elbow noodles, so decided to make some more 'cheez' to curb my late night 4th meal habits. Once the leftover 'cheez' is gone, I am removing it from my thoughts for a week or two so I don't overdue it.

Dinner: Remake of the Tofu Scramble & Home Fries.


Trying to find things I can do with the ingredients I had, since half of the recipes I planned for this week required an oven that is no longer in service, so I had to improvise. Making sure to plan accordingly next week until our oven is fixed, or replaced.

Excited to try new things again tomorrow, and get creative with a toaster oven! Until then!

Day 2: Leftovers, Packaged Meals, & Potato Soup

Today I have been feeling rather lazy since I got up and didn't feel like making much.

For breakfast I had my leftover Granola Bowl from yesterday and a banana.

Lunch I ate 2 Yves 'Hot Dogs' with Arnold Wheat Hot Dog Buns, some Heinz Ketchup & mustard. Quick and very easy for the lazy days and I found both the hot dogs and buns at a Walmart Market near by. I LOVE veggie dogs and was excited to find them so close and cheap! Now I just need some dill relish to complete the meal. :)

For dinner I made a Potato Soup I found online some time ago. Super easy with minimal ingredients.

Easy Potato Soup:
1 medium red potato, cut into cubes
1/2 small carrot, sliced thin
2/3c celery tops and leaves, chopped
1c plain unsweetened soy milk
dried dill, garlic powder, and black pepper to taste

Boil the potato and carrot in water until soft (about 15 mins), drain. Lower the hear, add remaining ingredients, and simmer to combine the flavors

The recipe makes 1 big serving, or two small bowls; so I quadrupled the recipe, subbed soy milk for rice milk, and used parsley instead of dill since I did not have it. I think I put a little too much pepper in, but still turned out pretty good. Nice and simple meal to use up those leftover veggie parts.