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Leftover Magic: BBQ Brisket

If you’re anything like us, you usually make WAY too much food for important events, holidays and family get-togethers. If you went to our wedding, you’d know this. No one had any room in their stomachs left by the time first dessert was served. Second and third desserts weren’t even touched. I don’t think people even looked at them. For St. Patrick’s Day, we always make far too many corned beefs, and in some cases, we buy so many of them that we don’t even cook some. Either way, whether you have cooked ones sitting in the fridge or uncooked ones, we found a fun way to repurpose them… by making BBQ!

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Vegan Mushroom “Stroganoff”

Recently, some friends and I have been having “movie nights” (actually during the day) where we eat and watch a movie. This past time, we all brought food to share. I planned on making a vegan dish that our friend who doesn’t eat cheese or soy could eat. Now, I didn’t actually make it in time for this get-together, but I eventually did successfully complete it! And boy was it worth the wait! I made a vegan mushroom stroganoff. This dish is full of flavor, with the mushrooms giving that depth and heartiness. Since we live in Koreatown, there aren’t a lot of typical noodles, so we used udon noodles! It actually turned out well. Chris has been eating it every day for work, as this recipe makes a great deal of food. Let’s get to it. 

photo 1 (28)  photo 2 (26) photo 3 (22) photo 4 (18)

Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
Serves 4
A yummy substitution for its beef counterpart
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. 8 oz package of any type of noodle
  2. 1 onion
  3. 1 tbsp olive oil
  4. 3 tbsp whole wheat flour (not all used at once)
  5. 2 cups vegetable broth
  6. 1 tbsp soy sauce
  7. 1 tbsp lemon juice
  8. 1 tsp tomato sauce
  9. 1.5 lbs mushrooms
  10. 1/2 tsp dried sage
  11. 1/2 tsp salt
  12. 1/2 tsp thyme
  13. 1 tbsp rice vinegar
Instructions
  1. Chop the mushrooms into 2 inch pieces and slice up the onions
  2. Cook the noodles as per directions on the package (undercook them slightly)
  3. Drain and set aside
  4. In a large saucepan, saute the olive oil and onions
  5. Add two tbsp of whole wheat flour and stir constantly for 30 seconds
  6. Slowly add the broth, soy sauce, lemon juice, and tomato sauce until mixture starts to become thick and bubbly
  7. Add mushroom, sage, salt and thyme and stir
  8. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until mushrooms have shrunk and absorbed juice
  9. Add vinegar and continue to let simmer for 5 minutes
  10. Now, add the noodles alongside another tbsp of flour
  11. Serve hot!
Adapted from One Green Planet
Adapted from One Green Planet
hungry and fit https://hungryandfit.com/
I am very pleased with how this dish came out, and it was inspired by One Green Planet. This is a great dish for anyone and everyone because it’s vegan and has no soy. It holds well for leftovers as well as the mushrooms continue to marinate with flavor. It’s very simple, the only time-consuming part is chopping up the mushrooms and onions, and even then it’s not a very long time at all. I’d be interested to see all types of noodles work with this, so please share if you decide to make it. It’s a perfect winter dish–full of flavor and warmth. It’s even been cold here in Los Angeles with temperatures of 39 degrees in the morning! That is cold for LA, let me tell you. Please enjoy this warm dish and as always, stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

photo 5 (14)

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Quinoa Chia Bowl

I always like saying quinoa the wrong way (“kih-no-ah”) just to bug Chris, so it’s always great when it’s in my life more frequently. This is an easy (PEASY) recipe that is perfect for breakfast, but will serve as a nice refreshing snack anytime of the day. I was inspired by Happy Fit Mama when she instagrammed a picture of this dish. I had to try! It fit my clean-eating perfectly. After all, I’m getting close to the end of contest prep! She gave me the ingredients she used, but I went ahead and created the recipe with measurements and all. Kinda winged it, but it worked! Enjoy this perfect recipe for summer living.

Mmmmmm!

Mmmmmm!

Macros (for 1 serving)

  • Serves: 2
  • Calories: 208
  • Fat: 5g
  • Carbs: 33g
  • Sugars: 4g
  • Protein: 8.3g

Ingredients

  • 3/8 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1/2 tsp drizzled honey
  • 1/2 cup Silk Vanilla Unsweetened Almondmilk 

Directions

  • Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
  • Mix together the quinoa, cinnamon, chia seeds, and honey in a small dish that can be put in the oven
Mixed up and ready for bake-age!

Mixed up and ready for bake-age!

  • Put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (until well-bonded and kinda crisp)
THIS is the proper serving. If you eat the whole thing, double the macros at the top of the post

THIS is the proper serving. If you eat the whole thing, double the macros at the top of the post

  • Pour 1/2 cup almond milk over and enjoy!
Mmmmmm!

Mmmmmm!

Yeah it’s that easy. And I was able to have the other half for breakfast the next morning! Talk about a good deal. The texture of the chia seeds after baking and then drowned in almond milk is next to perfect. It feels like a truly wholesome meal whether you have it for breakfast or any other meal of the day. Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah trying to help me with work

Sajah trying to help me with work

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Kiwi Recipe: Bubble and Squeak [Leftover Magic]

If you know me, or if you’ve been reading long enough, you’ll know that I’m half-Kiwi (meaning half “New Zealandish”). My mum is from New Zealand and thus I grew up with a lot of different cultural things coming from her. As you know, New Zealand is a part of the Commonwealth, and so it takes things from England and either keeps it the same or changes it. New Zealand, by the way, is the best place ever with the best people ever, and we can’t wait to someday move there (dual-citizenship comes in handy). Alana, what’s this back story for?! It’s for the recipe I’m about to share with you, Bubble & Squeak

You can read that link if you’d like, but I’ll give you a short description here. Many mornings, if we had leftover mashed potatoes from the night before, mum would make me bubble and squeak. It’s a little different than the one you’ll read about in that link, because my mum would normally just use potatoes (if you have other leftover vegetables like carrots or broccoli, you can use them too). She would put the mashed potatoes into a cast-iron skillet and just continually let them cook, then scrape them, cook them, scrape them. This results in a delicious manner of browned mashed potatoes, as best as I can describe. Once it’s browned all over, you serve it on some toast and pour lemon juice over it. My mouth is watering as I write this and making me miss home! Alright, let’s get down to the details.

Yum, ready to go!

Yum, ready to go!

  • Prep Time: 0-2 minutes
  • Cooking Time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

  • leftover mashed potatoes (or sweet potatoes, that’s what is in these pictures. You could even have boiled taters and mash them for this specific meal if you really want)
  • toast
  • lemon

Directions

Take out mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or any leftover vegetables out and mash them into the potatoes

Mashed up white sweet potatoes

Mashed up white sweet potatoes

  • You can salt and pepper it if you wish. Now cast-iron is best, but make do with whatever you have. Put that vegetable mix or mashed potatoes into the frying pan. You can put a little oil in if you wish, but really we just want to let it brown and keep scraping it and turning it. So, turn up the heat!

photo 2 (16)

  • Put on a piece of bread to toast 
  • Once you’ve gotten your mash nice and brown, go ahead and serve right on top of the toast. Drench it with lemon juice (we squeeze lemons on top).
  • You can cut it in half and eat it like toast or just use a fork and knife
Yum, ready to go!

Yum, ready to go!

It is sooooooo good. And it’s such an easy thing to prepare for any meal. The combination of tastes between the lemon and browned mash makes you want more and more. This is something I will continue to use and thank my mum for making it for me during my childhood. This is a sure-fire easy recipe to keep you hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah getting a nice bath

Sajah getting a nice bath

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Grandma Powell’s Iowa Casserole

I prompted my Grandma, who lives in Iowa, for a recipe called “Iowa Surprise.” However, she returned with a delicious, simple, very Iowan casserole recipe. I was definitely game to try it! I had most ingredients and the others I needed to buy only cost me $5. What a deal for a full casserole that is plenty to fill both of us! I made a few alterations, some by mistake and some on purpose. Big Note: I made half of this vegetarian for me, and half with meat.  Check it out and enjoy.

The Powell Family at our last reunion...you can find Grandma Powell sitting front and center

The Powell Family at our last reunion…you can find Grandma Powell sitting front and center

  • Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50-75 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1#bulk pork sausage
  • 1 cup cheese [only for vegetarian edition]
  • 1 (16oz.) can cream-style corn
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup panko [I used panko instead of said recipe’s bread crumbs because all the others had high fructose corn syrup in it]
  • 1 cup 1% milk
  • 1/2 white onion
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • dash of pepper
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • red pepper

Directions

  • Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  • Okay so I think I got this part wrong, but what I did is get raw pork sausage and just browned it, when I think I was supposed to get already-cooked pork sausage. Either cook the pork sausage, or start putting the cooked sausage in large mixing bowl[Note: If you’re doing the vegetarian step, ignore the meat and put 1 cup shredded cheese in, instead]

ground beef

  • Chop 1/2 white onion into finely diced pieces and throw them in with the meat.
  • Combine the salt + pepper, canned corn, panko bread crumbs, milk and eggs into the large bowl
  • Put mixture into casserole dish
half veggie/half meat. Doesn't look too appetizing at this point

half veggie/half meat. Doesn’t look too appetizing at this point

  • Cut the red pepper into rings and place upon half the casserole. At the same time, smear the ketchup across the other half

casserole rdy

  • Put into oven! Mine took about 65 minutes, just keep an eye on it after 50 minutes and test it for sturdiness
Hot n ready

Hot n ready

It was very filling and very enjoyable, and we have leftovers for tomorrow too! Thank you, Grandma!! Hopefully next she will send me her pie recipes…probably wishful thinking.

BONUS KITTY PIC

Sniper shot of Sajah asleep

Sniper shot of Sajah asleep

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