I Cheated on my Vacation of A Recipe for Split Pea Soup

I was on vacation for about a week in London and Dublin for St. Patty's Day. It was great fun, and almost everywhere I ate had a vegetarian menu-even bars! I suppose I could have stuck to a strictly vegan diet that week, but it would have been terribly difficult and probably pretty expensive. So I was a vegetarian for a week-still no meat, but I ate things like bread and eggs and whatnot. Everything was so yummy! I missed chocolate more than I thought I did.

Now I am back home and it's time to get back to "normal" if you will. I had no idea how good my body felt since going vegan until I started cheating a little bit. Everything I ate on vacation seemed so heavy-even though it didn't contain any meat. All the sauces and breads and everything just seemed to weigh me down-they were great, but I noticed a difference almost immediately. I do eat a lot of rice and things of that nature being vegan, but I guess they don't feel as heavy as other foods-if that makes any sense.

I have been cheating a little bit since I got home too. I felt pretty guilty about it so I gave away all of my non-vegan friendly foods to friends of mine so that I don't have anything to tempt me in my room anymore. I don't know what I was doing keeping those things in the first place anyways.

Today I made split pea soup. I always hated regular split pea soup, but I think that had more to do with the fact that it's not a very attractive soup to eat. I think mine turned out really well today-I had two bowls! Here's the recipe:

Split Pea Soup

1 bag of split peas
4 cans vegetable broth
A mess of carrots chopped up
A mess of celery chopped up
salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Turn down heat and simmer for 2.5 hours.

Not too hard, eh? It took minimal effort on my part so that contributed to my enjoyment of the meal. It makes a lot, but I am confident I can put it to good use.

Stuffed Mushrooms with Tofu and Herbs

I just finished making this and I am so proud! I think it's a great recipe!

16 large button mushrooms (or other mushrooms of choice), washed well
3 T. olive oil, divided
8 oz. firm tofu, frozen, and thawed
1/4 cup green onion, thinly sliced
1 T. garlic, minced
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Lightly oil (or spray with vegetable oil) a large baking dish and set aside. Remove the stems from the mushrooms, roughly dice the stems, and set aside. In a non-stick skillet, place 1 T. olive oil and the mushroom caps, and saute for 2 minutes per side. Remove the mushroom caps from the skillet, transfer to a large plate, and set aside. Using your fingers, crumble the thawed tofu into a small bowl and set aside.

In the same non-stick skillet, saute the reserved mushroom stems, and green onion in the remaining olive oil, for 5 minutes to soften. Add the crumbled tofu, garlic, and thyme, and saute an additional 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the remaining ingredients, stir well to combine, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Fill the mushroom caps with warm filling, slightly mounding the tops, and place them in the prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the mushroom caps are heated through and slightly browned on top. Transfer to a decorative platter for service and serve immediately.

Yield: 16 stuffed mushrooms or 6-8 servings

Here's a picture of how they turned out. I know they look kinda weird, but they're super tasty!

Hello :)

Well, as of a week ago tomorrow I went vegan. I think it's a healthier lifestyle overall, and it's just something I want to do. I was surprised at how much opposition I got when I told my friends, family, and co-workers. It's was pretty sad actually, having everyone tell me that I either can't do it, or that it was "bad" somehow. Anyways, I think it's a great change and I am really looking forward to finding new recipes. I figured I'd use this blog to help myself keep track of how well I am doing, post recipe's I am using, and as a general motivation tool. I am also working on losing weight so I'll probably talk about going to the gym or whatever as well.

Wish me luck!