No End To The Craziness

It's been crazy around here the last few weeks.  I've heard an expression before that goes something like 'I meet myself coming and going', and that is definitely how I've been feeling.  During the last few weeks, I'm ashamed to admit I've eaten more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches than I can shake a stick at.  Luckily, last month I stocked up on peanut butter and got a couple of really good organic fruit spreads from bionature.   At least my PB&J's aren't the sugar filled variety I ate when I was a kid.  The Hickory Smoked flavored Tofurky and I have also become very close, to say the least.  :)

While I'm being honest, the reason for so many sandwiches lately is really due to lack of planning on my part.  When I'm not so busy, I can usually wing it most of the time and be fine, but when my schedule is hectic, I find  I need a plan.  If I'm walking in the door late, exhausted, with nothing planned for dinner, and I don't feel like going out to eat, my options are delivery (which means eating even later), trying to figure out what to make (not happening) or something easy like a sandwich (jackpot!).  I'm starting to use my slow cooker a little more for these busy days, and I'm trying to plan a little better.  I'm really hoping things will get back to normal soon though, or at least a little closer to normal.  :)

Here are a few things I did manage to squeak out recently:

Baked tofu over rice with mixed vegetables.  I topped this with a little sriracha.  The tofu was dry rubbed, before baking, with the Peruvian BBQ seasoning I got in my August vegan food swap.  The rub on the tofu was amazing.  I can't wait to make this again.

Vegan Linda was talking about making homemade tomato soup last month, and ever since reading about it I had been in the mood for tomato soup.  Her's had fresh tomatoes from her garden (I'm envious).  Mine more closely resembled the recipe in Vegan Diner.  I used canned organic crushed tomatoes with basil, garlic, fresh basil, organic vegetable broth, and cashews.  I took some leftovers to my daughter's house for lunch one day (and remembered to take a picture, I forgot to take one at home).  I had it with whole grain toast topped with vegan cream cheese and homemade vegan pesto.  My granddaughter Lexi loved it!  Lexi is still pretty young, and her r's aren't always real defined, depending on what word she is saying.  It was so cute to here her ask twice for "mo soup please".  She ate 3 bowls!  :)

Nothing elaborate here.  Gardein Crispy Chik'n Patty, Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs, Seapoint Farms Eat Your Greens Veggie Blend, cheesy quinoa, and honeydew.  I just mixed a little vegan cheese into the warm cooked quinoa to get the cheesy quinoa.

I steamed some Trader Joe's Vegetable Gyoza and made this Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce from Alton Brown.

Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chik'n finished off the meal.  I love this stuff!  :)  I served broccoli with this.

A day where I actually sort of planned and made lentils in the slow cooker.  I made the Honey Lentils out of Make It Fast, Cook It Slow and subbed agave for the honey (I used a little less than called for).  I forgot to plan for the rice, so I made couscous (gotta love how fast couscous can be done and on the table).  I had the Eat Your Greens Veggie Blend with this meal too.  This meal was a protein powerhouse.  :)  A heads up, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is not a vegan or vegetarian cookbook.  It does have some nice sounding recipes that are vegan, and some that could easily be veganized.  The author is also gluten free.  It's worth checking out from your local library if you're interested in using the slow cooker.  She also has a lot of recipes posted on her blog.