My Foodie Call

Category: Meatless mealtime

• 

  Spaghetti Tacos done healthy

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Nov 3rd

  Do you watch iCarly?

  Probably the only show agreed upon in this house.

  

  Spence serving up some spaghetti tacos. He gets the credit for today’s post.

  

  Spaghetti tacos. Always a crowd pleaser. Kids and adults.

  

  Spaghetti.

  

  With sauce.

  

  Pile it all in a couple of taco shells and your golden.

  Here is the basic 3-ingredient recipe done a little healthier with whole wheat spaghetti noodles.

  Ingredients

  • 1 box whole wheat spaghetti
  • 1 box taco shells
  • 1 jar of marinara or venture out and make this easy homemade sauce.

  Directions

  1. Cook pasta according to box directions
  2. Add marinara to pasta
  3. Pile into your tacos

  

  If you have never done the spaghetti taco, give it a try.

  

  Your kids will love you for it.

  Posted in Meatless mealtime | Tagged whole wheat spaghetti
• 

  Healthy, Low-Sodium Marinara Sauce

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Nov 1st

  Remember this post on surprising sources of sodium? I called store-bought marinara sauce out on its’ sodium content, so for today I thought I’d make my own.

  Don’t get me wrong, I have made my own sauce before, but well…jars of on-sale sauce are just…EASY. And sometimes convenience rules…

  Except for today.

  This sauce was fast… and awesome. So try it.

  

  I could have licked this from the pot, but…. I didn’t.

  Here are how things went…

  

  I chopped some onion, minced some garlic….

  

  I added a little of this and that…

  

  sautéed it up….

  

  In went the tomato paste.

  

  In went the can of roma tomatoes.

  

  Added my nutritional yeast….

  

  A few pulses in the high-speed blender…

  

  Done. Good stuff right there.

  Here is the easy recipe that I am super excited about.

  Low-sodium Marinara Sauce

  Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp. coconut oil + 2 tbsp. veggie broth
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp. dried basil
  • 1 tbsp. dried oregano
  • 1- 6oz can tomato paste
  • 1- 28 ounce can whole roma tomatoes, undrained
  • 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • 2 packets stevia (or 4 teaspoons sugar)
  • 1-2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (Optional, but I recommend it. Love this stuff!)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pepper to taste

  Directions

  1. In a large stockpot, heat coconut oil and broth over medium heat.
  2. Add onions, garlic, basil,  and oregano. Saute for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add in the tomato paste and stir for another 2 minutes.
  4. Add in the roma tomatoes (and juice) and the balsamic vinegar. Simmer uncovered for another 11-14 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. Stir in stevia, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper.
  6. Carefully pour the sauce into your blender. Pulse several times until your tomatoes are chopped and your sauce is the texture you would like. (I pulsed mine enough to completely break up the tomatoes, but I still made sure to keeping the sauce a thick consistency.)
  7. Serve on your favorite pasta.

  

  This sauce did not take much time at all and was well worth it.
  Posted in Meatless mealtime | Tagged pasta, sauce
• 

  Meatless Nachos

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Oct 30th

  My older son loves nachos.

  He likes the “junky” kind. (His name for it). You know the kind.

  The nachos with the fake “cheese-like” sauce?

  Not to name names, but it rhymes with Melveeta.

  He ate these “junky nachos” at a Halloween bash a few nights back and has been asking for them ever since.

  I do actually make nachos…healthier ones of course.

  It had been a while, so I figured it was time.

  

  Nothing magical about my recipe. This here is just a healthier version.

  

  What I used.

  My stuff:

  Ingredients

  • 2 Bags Food Should Taste Good Chips (Love this brand. All flavors rock. this time we did lime)
  • 1 can Vegetarian Refried Beans
  • 1 can of pre-sliced black olives
    
  • 1 onion (fine chop it)
  • Daiya cheddar style shreds (although I didn’t have enough vegan cheese so I had to use some regular cheese as well)
  • Trader Joe’s salsa  verde (don’t let the green chiles scare you away, this salsa is MILD, MILD, MILD)

  Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Layer your chips on a pre-sprayed baking sheet.
  3. Using a knife, scoop and slather your chips with the refried beans. (I end up picking up lots of chips and spreading the beans on them and placing them back in the pile)
  4. Layer onions, black, olives, cheese…
  5. Layer more chips, beans, onions….you get the idea.
  6. Cook for 10 minutes. Scoop salsa onto top of your nachos. (I wait the 10 minutes on the salsa so that it does not make your nachos too soggy)
  7. Cook for another 5 minutes (or until your cheese is melted).

  

  Serve up with a side of sliced avocado and call it a home-cooked “junk” meal.

  

  Older son left the table stuffed. A good thing.

  Posted in Meatless mealtime | Tagged beans
• 

  Tempeh Potato Curry

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Oct 26th
  

  Tempeh Potato Curry

  Figured it was time for some curry….

  It’s been a while. So I got to work.

  

  First, I chopped some of this…

  

  then I minced and grated some of this…

  

  added some of this…

  

  And this…

  

  And this….

  

  And it became this.

  The recipe.

  TEMPEH POTATO CURRY (adapted from this Whole Foods recipe)

  • 3 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 (8-oz) package tempeh, cut into diced-sized cubes
  • 1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
  • 2 tbsp ground curry powder
  • 2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 (13.5-oz) can light coconut milk
  • 2 medium size potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1/2 tsp garlic salt (or more to taste)

  1. In large skillet, bring 1/2 cup broth to simmer over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook 5 minutes or until onion is translucent and tender, stirring occasionally.
  2. Stir in curry powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add coconut milk, potatoes, tempeh, frozen edamame, and remaining cup of broth.
  3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook about 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes and edamame are tender. Stir in garlic salt. Taste and adjust seasonings.
  4. To serve, spoon curry over rice.

  

  Spoon it over brown rice and call it dinner.

  Posted in Meatless mealtime, Random stuff | Tagged potato, rice, tempeh
• 

  Chick Pea Sliders Salad

  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall

  Oct 24th
  

  It’s-a-slim-pickings-salad-kind-of-night.

  I have been on a slight grocery boycott lately because I am trying to “use what we have”. I put that in quotes because my kids hear me say it so much that I am sure I sound like a robot by now.

  But seriously, our country wastes so much food that I do not want to add to the problem by continuing to buy foods when we have more than enough. If our cupboards look understocked, so be it.

  Although that said, probably by tomorrow I’ll be sick of the kids complaining there is no food and I’ll go buy out the snack aisles of Target.

  Sigh.

  For now as a result of my grocery shopping hiatus, our cupboards were looking EMPTY.

  Time for dinner.

  After sneaking a peek in the cupboard, I found two workable ingredients.

  A can of chick peas (yes, garbanzo beans, same thing) and some brown rice.

  Add a little seasoning.

  Veggie burgers, done.

  

  Pile in your ingredients.

  

  Process.

  

  Mini burgers. AKA “sliders”.

  

  Cook ’em up.

  Except we are out of rolls….

  

  Chick pea slider salad?

  Sometimes the meals take on a non-traditional presentation. Yes, this is why the above veggie burger is on a bed of spinach instead of in between 2 buns and slathered with ketchup and mustard.

  Here is the basic veggie burger recipe that really can be extremely versatile. These became “sliders” because I wanted to make them small and have more than 4 large patties.

  Chickpea sliders

  makes 7

  Ingredients

  • 1 can drained chickpeas
  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste

  Directions

  1. Place all ingredients in the food processor. Pulse until it forms a chunky paste .
  2. Use a large ice cream scoop to scoop paste into your palms. Shape into patties and place on a large plate.
  3. Put in fridge for 10-20 minutes to help “set”.
  4. Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliders and cook until golden brown, about 6-8 minutes per side.

  Because these wound up being “non-traditional” in that I knew we were not putting traditional condiments on them, I decided to make a nice sauce for it.

  Miso-Ginger Sauce

  (modified from Eat Spin Run Repeat)

  • 1 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp white miso
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1-2 tbsp honey
  • 2-3 tablespoons each water and Extra virgin olive oil

  

  Whisk it up.

  

  Now off to the grocery store….
  Posted in Meatless mealtime, Salads, Soups, and Sides | Tagged beans, spinach

• You missed a call?

  • Make friends with…Bean Pasta.
  • Whole Wheat Flax ‘N Apple Muffins
  • Small changes…Eat what’s in season.
  • Whole Wheat Broccoli Mac N Cheese
  • What I pack my kid.

• Categories

  • Breakfast
  • Desserts
  • Make friends with…
  • Meatless mealtime
  • Pancake Day
  • Random stuff
  • Salads, Soups, and Sides
  • Small changes
  • Snacks
  • What I pack my kid.

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