Day one, 07-01-09

Tomorrow i start this project. Here are the recipes i am planning on making.

Breakfast:

Vegetarian McMuffin

1 Egg yolk
2 Egg Whites
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package veggie Canadian bacon
vegan cheese of your choice (one that melts well, like Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet, or Tofutti singles)
English muffins/Whole Wheat Bread
vegan margarine

cook it like an egg sandwich.


Lunch:

1 packages of prepared potsticker or gyoza skins. They are about 3 in diameter, round.
Filling:
1 large carrots, grated
1/4 small head of cabbage, sliced thinly
1/4 cup unsweetened rice wine
1 can (small, 10 oz?) bamboo shoots
1 handful of dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked (10-20+ mushrooms, to taste)
1 cup textured soy protein, hydrated with some mushroom-soaking water, then drained
2 tablespoon white or yellow miso, mixed until smooth with about 1/4 cup water
soy sauce to taste
white pepper to taste
chopped scallions (optional)
1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed until smooth with about 1/4 cup water
Sauce:
1 part soy sauce
1 part rice vinegar
Some chopped scallions


This is a time and labor intensive recipe, but when its done, you'll be very happy as you suck down dozens of these things which usually go for 6/$3 in restaurants!

In a large pot, saute the first three filling ingredients. When carrots and cabbage have softened, place about 1/2 of the carrot/cabbage mixture in a food processor and process with bamboo shoots and shitake mushrooms.

Mix blended stuff with unblended cabbage and carrots and add the rest of the ingredients.
The filling should be moist and cohesive, but not drippy, so adjust water amounts.

Dinner:

1 cup of basmati rice
1 onion finely chopped
half cup of sunflower seeds, toasted in an unoiled skillet
half cup of peas (frozen okay)
2 tablespoon dairy free margarine
pinch turmeric
half teaspoon of bruised cumin seeds (press with back of spoon)
half teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups water


In a saucepan put margarine, onion and cumin seeds and fry until golden. Add rice and stir over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add water, turmeric and salt. Add peas. Bring to a full boil then cover and cook on a very low heat for 15-20 min., until rice is cooked. Stir in toasted sunflower seeds and serve.

For more flavor you can add a vegetable stock cube with the water and add freshly ground black pepper with the sunflower seeds.


I am only going to cook every other day, with the in between day being a "left-overs" day, cereal in the morning, and the previous nights dinner for lunch, and the previous day's lunch for dinner.

Vegetarian Project

OK, I've got it! The plan for me now is to become a strict vegetarian...no crazy processed foods...healthy. Along with this whole project, i am going to attempt, and i stress the word attempt, to quit drinking sodas and juices (unless i am sick, because Verners is a blessing to an upset stomach). This will be anything but easy for me, but it is something that i am interested in doing to completion. wish me luck.

Each post, i will put up my meal plan for the following day, with recipies (just incase something sounds good,) and i will write about the entire process. I don't like the idea of failure, so i will work hard at not screwing this up. maybe this will be my way of organizing my life, and realizing that i don't need to depend on processed foods and soda to stay awake, or feel full and satisfied.

The First Entry.

The year long project is an idea spawned by the book "Julie/Julia" by: Julie Powell. I am in the midst of reading it, and i feel the need to challenge myself to do something that i wouldn't typically do, and to do it over the duration of a year.

http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/30.html (here is the link to the Julie & Julia blog)

I am so up in the air as to what exactly i am going to do, so i need your help. throw some ideas at me (legal ideas). Give me the reasons why/why not, and i might just start doing whatever it is for a year, blogging regularly about the trials and tribulations involved in the process.

I am an open book.