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| 5:00 AM: Warm water with the juice from half a lemon...here's why. |
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| 5:30 AM Pre-workout Snack: Rudi's Multigrain gluten-free toast with organic strawberry spread and Earth Balance vegan butter. |
Workout: 1 hour of pilates with 10 Minute Solutions: Rapid Results Pilates
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| Avery's breakfast: Rice Chex cereal and SO Delicious Sugar-Free Vanilla Coconut Milk |
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| Always on the lookout for bunnies! |
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| 8:30 AM Breakfast: Chocolate Ice Cream Smoothie Raw cacao powder, hemp seeds, chia seeds, spinach, rice milk, frozen strawberries, and frozen bananas. |
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| 10:30 AM 1st Morning snack: Gluten-free, vegan pancakes from Cinnamon Quill with Maple Agave Nectar. |
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| 11:00 AM 2nd Morning Snack: 1 organic peach courtesy of my local Farmer's Market! |
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| 12:00 PM Lunch: Gluten-free Penne Pasta with "Sneaky Sauce" (1 jar marinara sauce, 1 cup cooked green lentils, 2 cups spinach) and topped with some peas. |
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| Someone was in a silly mood... |
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| Someone was hungry... |
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| And someone was taking pictures! You caught me Avery! |
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| To say the "Pasta & Sneaky Sauce" was a hit is an understatement! |
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| Our dog Jilly has really come to love mealtime, and she'll find a nice cozy little spot on the floor just waiting for the food to fall. |
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| 1:30 PM Snack #1: Juicy bowl of watermelon! |
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| 2:30 Afternoon Snack #2: One of Avery and I's favorite snacks...Veggie Straws! |
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| 4:30 PM Afternoon Snack #3: My "Peachy Kale Smoothie" |
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| 6:00 PM Pre-dinner snack: Apple Juice and Amazing Grass Green SuperFood Powder |
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| 7:00 PM Dinner: "Cheesy Mushroom & Broccoli Skillet" with brown rice, mushrooms, onions, and a vegan cheese sauce. See the recipe below! |
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| A little "bed head" at dinner...no problem! |
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| "I'll just take a little nibble here.." |
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| "Whoa Mom! This stuff is good!" |
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| Dessert: "Crazy Ingredient Chocolate Cake" (it's cauliflower!) from Chocolate-Covered Katie, This is a repeat from last week, but I couldn't resist! |
As I said before, I've got a recipe for you today...Cheesy Mushroom & Broccoli Skillet! This is one of my favorite dinner recipes that I often make because it's quick, easy, and savory. Best of all it's gluten-free, vegan, and full of veggies.
Now not too long ago, I was a little scared of mushrooms. Brandon thought they were great, but I wouldn't eat them unless they were chopped very fine and I couldn't see them! Over time, I grew to like them a little more and I realized they were actually pretty good, not to mention healthy. I guess it's easy to like them when the first thing you try them on is pizza!
Here's a recipe that combines not only mushrooms, but also broccoli, onions and brown rice...mixed together with some delicious, homemade vegan cheese. So here's the recipe...
Cheesy Mushroom & Broccoli Skillet
Inspired by "Mushroom Broccoli Bake" from Vegan Yum Yum
Ingredients:
- 1 crown of broccoli
- 1-8oz. pkg. of mushrooms (I use baby portabello)
- 1 medium-sized yellow or white onion
- 1 cup dry short grain brown rice
See below for "cheese" ingredients!
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| Main ingredients... |
Steps:
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| 1. Cook your rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top. Use 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. |
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| 2. While the rice is cooking, chop your veggies. Starting with the onions, but chopping them into small pieces. |
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| 3. Next chop the mushrooms (if you're cool with those!) to the size of pieces that you like, mine are medium-sized. |
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| 4. Don't forget your broccoli. |
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| 5. Now start sauteing the onions over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or so until they are soft. I like to cook mine on a cast-iorn skillet to steer clear from Teflon. |
While the veggies are sauteing, start making the cheese...like how I multitask? I bet you do it too! Now although this cheese isn't very thick, it has an awesome "savory Alfredo-style flavor"... that pairs great with the veggies!
Ingredients:- 1 cup rice milk (or other no-dairy milk)
- 2 Tbs vegan butter or vegan cream cheese
- 2 Tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
- 2 Tbs. tahini or cashew butter
- 1 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup cashews
- 2 Tbs. corn starch
- 2 tsp. ground mustard or 1 Tbs. prepared mustard
- 2 garlic cloves
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| Cheese ingredients...a little more than above, I know, but bear with me it will be worth it! |
Steps:
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| 6. To make the cheese, add all the ingredients above into a blender or food processor. Here's the tahini! |
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| Followed by nutritional yeast, a must-have for vegan cheeses. |
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| Blend it all up in the blender until smooth! |
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| 7. Time to check back on those onions...now add the broccoli and mushrooms. |
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| 8. Saute the veggie mixture for additional 5-7 minutes or until softened. |
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| Oh hey, look who just woke up from her late afternoon nap? Remember that "bed head" from before, here it is nice and fresh. Just checking in on what Mama is up to! |
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| 9. Now add all the rice to the veggie mixture. |
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| 10. Followed by the cheese. |
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| 11. Stir to combine |
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| Mushrooms, broccoli, rice and cheese...yummy! |
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| Time to serve it up. |
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| My favorite way to have it is with Rudi's Multi-Grain Gluten-Free toast! |
So there you have it, a day full of eats and one "cheesy" recipe! Happy 4th of July!