Instant Pot Quick and Easy Lentil Meal

 Last night I was watching Brittany Jaroudi present at the American Health Association Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.  She spoke about her health journey.  She also prepared four recipes in less than an hour.  The first one was this lentil meal.

In the Instant Pot place:

1/2 cup green or brown lentils
1/2 cup chopped red onions
3/4 cup grain--she used bulgar wheat; we used long grain brown rice
1 3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 cup hummus put on top--NOT STIRRED IN

With the ingredients in the Pot, turn on HIGH for 6 minutes then let reduce pressure naturally.  Because I used long grain brown rice, I cooked for 10 minutes on HIGH.  It cooled down for about 23 minutes.

It may not look appealing, but it is very healthy!  Keep that firmly in mind...!  Dear One was not a fan.  He got out the Tajin and sprinkled some on top.  Brittany says to "tweek it" for your family.  I think it could have used some garlic.  Also a slug of salt, but I have read so many articles lately swearing that salt is bad for our health that I am trying to go without.  At least today!

One of the best things about this recipe, as it was made by me, was that it did not make meals and meals worth.  We can each have one small bowl tomorrow.  Then I will make some other healthy meal. Not sure I am thrilled about cooking anymore but I am certainly thrilled about living so I guess I will continue...

Munchie Monday: Pad Thai!

 Sometimes I hanker for something different.  Many years ago I had some Pad Thai somewhere and really liked it. I have realized since then that Pad Thai is more or less a clean-out-the-refrigerator dish but so good even though it is impossible to replicate exactly.  This time I made it from a recipe, sort of.

Brittany Jaroudi has posted a recipe on her YouTube channel that worked for us. Dear One said it was okay.  That is high praise!  As you know!.  

We had the sauce made from her recipe:

1/2 cup cooked white beans
2 Tablespoons peanut butter or a little more
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon white miso or a little more
2 pitted Deglet Noor dates
1 large clove garlic
1/2 cup water

All these ingredients I put in our high speed blender until they looked beautiful and smooth.

We had some Udon noodles in the freezer that I thawed and boiled with the peas and corn that I also brought out of the freezer.  When they were happily soft and cooked through I drained them and threw back in the pot. After pouring the sauce on top and mixing well, I set it on the table and held my breath, hoping for the best. I was pretty happy Dear One liked it okay. I will try to replicate it!

This may not look appetizing because there are no fun toppings or a nicely wiped down dish before taking the picture, but is really was so good. We have other noodles we will try next time.

Munchie Monday: Quick and Easy Meal

 Today I made some of The Jaroudi Family Hummus again.  It is so light and delicious!  Some hummus is very sludgy and no matter how healthy it may be, I cannot eat it.  Not the case with this recipe!

For supper tonight I had a toasted whole wheat bun with Brit's hummus on both halves then topped with a sliced dill pickle spear and very thinly sliced English cucumber rounds.  It was SO GOOD!!  I made this because somewhere I heard that cucumbers are good for you. I don't generally like them.  At least, not unless they are straight from the garden...

Dear One had  Bubba Vegetable Burgers on the same toasted whole wheat buns.  He thought they tasted fine but were a little soft.  Still, he ate two of them...

Chocolate Pudding, Plant Style

The Jaroudi Family posted their recipe for Chocolate Pudding Pie on YouTube.  We just made the pudding, not the pie crust.

Chocolate Pudding Pie Filling

By: The Jaroudi Family

Ingredients

3 cups roasted sweet potatoes (without the skins)

2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

6-10 pitted dates (sweeten to taste)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender then blend until well combined.

(If the blender is having trouble add in 1 tablespoon of extra non-dairy milk at a time.) Chocolate pudding pie filling should be a thick consistency

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving

This is the recipe I was using when I smashed the tamper on our VitaMix, which has now been replaced.

BE SURE TO REFRIGERATE SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE EATING!!! That is really important. Also, it might be a good idea just to serve the pudding in a nice dish without any commentary on what is in it...Dear One ate it all in two evenings. I am pretty sure he would not have been so interested if he knew the ingredient list! Just guessing, but...I do know him rather well at this point. At least in some things...!

Food Friday: Quick and Easy Knock Off Wendy's Frosty!

Today has been pretty hectic.  We both had doctor appointments.  With the same FNP at the same time. (First time ever we went to a medical appointment together. Ever!)  An interesting thing is that the check in lady took our phone number (well, MY phone number since Dear One is not a fan of phone calls for some reason...!) and said we could wait in our car in the parking lot or stay in the waiting room which was full of people socially distancing themselves.  I had butterflies to crochet so we opted for the parking lot and comfort of our car.  All went pretty well.  We both have to go back again...me next week, Dear One in two weeks.  He says he has had more medical appointments in the last two weeks than in most of his life up until this time!  He may be right!


We got home and ate up some leftover shepherd's pie, kale chips for which we bought the kale at the drive-through farmer's market this afternoon, carrot sticks, and strawberries which we also got at the drive through farmers' market.  I will wait until things straighten out before going to the Farmers' Market again. I prefer picking out my own produce....

So, after I finished listening to General Conference I decided a sweet treat was in order.  Brittany of the Jaroudi Family on YouTube had recently posted a Wendy's Frosty made vegan. I thought I would try it.  It worked out very well!

It tasted really delicious.  I ate three or four bites and brought it upstairs to Dear One (you can see how well I held firm on no eating upstairs on the carpeted floors...!!! He had already brought upstairs tortilla chips and fabulous salsa that we got at the Yucatan Restaurant on my birthday...) who has just finished the rest of the jar of it.  It made a pint jar full of yummy frosty treat.

The only thing I would do differently is that I would cut the pitted dates into pieces instead of tossing them in whole.  I didn't really notice if Brittany wanted us to cut them up...!  Anyway, there were a few little chewy bits which did not really take away from the Frosty but did catch my attention.  Next time: chopped up!


Go to The Jaroudi Family but in the meantime so you can see if you have everything--the ingredients are: frozen banana, cocoa powder, pitted dates, water-soaked old-fashioned oatmeal, vanilla, and ice cubes. 

Be sure to do this. You will be glad you did.  Even if you just ate a Baskin Robbins Rocky Road ice cream scoop in a waffle cone...!