Last night I sat down with my vegetarian cookbooks and set to work making my March menu. I know that there are a lot of Orthodox families who struggle with delicious dinners during this time (hello! that is me!) while maintaining some sort of variety. But this year, I am making it a priority to provide healthy, tasty, and Lent-worthy meals for my family.
This is not going to be an easy task! I live with two picky children and one closet carnivore. However, I think it will be fun to share my dinners with other Orthodox or vegan families.
First, I have to share with you the best vegan cookbooks ever written. It is "The American Vegetarian Cookbook" by Marilyn Diamond. Followed closely by "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison. Madison's book is not vegan, just vegetarian. Both were gifts from my mother. She has great taste in cookbooks!
These two women have a plethora of tasty recipes that are not terribly difficult. Josh's favorite dessert, apple crisp, is from Madison's book. My favorite Lenten meal, New York Goodwiches, is from Diamond's.
Armed with these books I planned out several meals.
On Monday we had our favorite dinner, which we eat even on non-fasting days, Sauerkraut dogs. This are SO easy and SO tasty! All you need are hot dog buns, sauerkraut and tofurky dogs. Word to the wise, when you buy the tofurky dogs, make sure you are getting the "beer brats". Tofurky makes a couple other flavors, but they just do not taste as wonderful as the beer brats. Also, grilling the dogs is heavenly. I am totally serious. SO GOOD.
Anyway, simply cook your dogs, layer ketchup and vegan mayo on your bun, insert dog and top with sauerkraut. We had roasted red potatoes and caramelized Brussels sprouts. Levi and Claire love the dogs with ketchup.Tuesday night I made a bean soup with Trader Joe's 17 bean soup mix. I added Tofurky kielbasa style dogs and it was delicious. I also whipped up some home made bread and served with a salad. I think Levi and Claire ate one bit combined of the soup. They ate tons of bread though!
Tonight we had tofu and vegetable stir fry.
I buy a large container of Mr. Yoshida's gourmet sauce from Costco and simmer the tofu until done. Unfortunately, I am going to have to find another simmer sauce. Much to my horror, Mr. Yoshida's has high fructose corn syrup in it. I am totally against HFCS and try really hard to avoid it. Let me know if there is another comparable product out there without the HFCS! 
Next I sauteed tons of veggies, and then served everything over brown rice. My kids LOVE rice and sweet and sour tofu. They are not fond of stir-fry veggies so they got corn on the cob. What darlings!
Hopefully I can keep up the healthy meals, and keep blogging about them! Happy eating!
3 comments:
MAKE YER' OWN!!!!!!!!!
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water (or pineapple juice for more sweetness)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Throw all ingrediants in a pot. Simmer, stiring frequently untill thick. I haven't tried it, but you should be able to make a quad (or more) batch and keep it in the fridge for several weeks.
Or if you are lazy, try Newman's Own or Annie's Naturals for a replacement sauce.
I am glad to see its not just me that is against the HFCS/Corn Syrup. I love yoshida's too, well Paul loves it. What about SoyVay - they are my parents neighbors and they have a few different kinds of sauces, you can get it most anywhere.
Lent. I'd forgotten all about it until I read your post! Then all these fond memories of lent foods came to me...
I'm curious, how strict is your church in lent observance? Are you allowed to cook with olive oil and wine during it?
I was dissapointed to hear Yoshida sauce contains HFCS in it! We use it in a regularly basis!
Post a Comment