A fun filled Saturday....Vegan style

Our Saturday began at 6:30 in the morning. I had forgotten to order my Bountiful Basket first thing Monday morning so by the time I did we were limited on pick up locations. Hence the having to get up at 6:30am after a night out and going to bed at 2:30am. But we stumbled bleary eyed out of the house excited for our basket and our 20 pound box of citrus. We stopped at the park across from our house on the way home so I could snap a picture of the sunrise. It is a rarity for us to be awake and outside when the sun is rising. I walked the rest of the way home. The cold air woke me up slightly. Happy with our produce selection I climbed into bed deciding that it was time for some sleep. After a bit I decided (with a lot of prodding from Jackson) that we shouldn't waste the day. We had a coupon for breakfast at Chabaar's that is expiring soon. I had issues logging on to my computer to print the coupon so we figured I could just use the one on my phone. Well you can't do that. But it doesn't matter because the breakfast was delicious and we are going back next week to do it again with the coupon! There are many different breakfast options. Traditional breakfasts, Thai infused breakfasts and a vegan menu!!! So we each had a vegan breakfast. This was our first experience with vegan cheese. I had been extremely resistant. Looking back it is because the only vegan cheese I remember seeing is the fake American cheese slices. And I hate American cheese. So I think that is why I haven't bought any to try yet. They make a lot more than fake American Cheese!  

The Vegan - from Chabaar's

After our delicious breakfast we went to the Sunflower Market looking for nutritional yeast and cashews. Natalie made us this glorious raw vegetable lasagna awhile back and she made this "cashew cheese" that is like a decadent creamy cheesy mixture (that doesn't include any dairy). We ended up with the nutritional yeast and cashews as well as vegan ice cream, vegan shredded mozzarella, soy creamer, more avacadoes and some more nuts. We decided since we had found vegan shredded mozzarella that looked tasty as well as edible we would make a roasted vegetable pizza for dinner.

Jackson is melting away. He has lost over 30 pounds since we started to Eat to Live! We took him to his usual Big and Tall clothing store. He has been going there for about 18 years. The manager has known him since he started shopping there when he was about 15. We found some shorts for our upcoming trip and several shirts. I was looking for a 4X and the manager said that we should be trying 3X shirts instead. So Jackson went into the changing room and came out wearing a 3X for the first time since he was 15 years old. I was a blubbering mess. So proud. He is a good looking man no matter his size. But as he gets smaller he gets healthier and I can see our future together stretching further into our 70's, 80's and 90's where if we had not made drastic changes we may not have made it to our mid 40's together. 

For dinner we made the roasted vegetable pizza. Jackson normally buys the whole grain Freschetta crusts but he did the Bobolli this time. And to our dismay it had a little mozzarella cheese baked on top of it. Jackson diligently scraped it all off. We are doing our best to hold true to absolutely no dairy for 6 weeks and then very little thereafter. If they are going to put cheese on the crust it should say so on the label!!! 

So we chopped and roasted veggies, I made the "cashew cheese" to use as the sauce on the pizza and then I made a citrus salad while J chopped the roasted veggies and assembled the pizza. It was heavenly. Guilt free and extremely delicious. Packed full of healthy foods yet you felt like you were "cheating"!

We finished the day by going to Walmart at 11:30pm to buy a juicer. We have 5 giant stocks of celery to use plus 20 lbs of citrus so I figured a juicer was a smart way to use up large quantities of produce. I can make soups with the celery juice and J loves fresh squeezed OJ. All in all it was a glorious Saturday with my hubby, vegan style. 

"Cashew Cheese" Ingredients

I used about 1 cup plus 1/4 cup of cashews (original recipe calls for 2 cups cashews)

2 TBSP nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic (original calls for 1 but since this was going to be the base for my pizza I wanted it more garlicky)

1/2 cup of water

some dried Italian herbs (I added these to make it more Italian for the pizza base)

Normally you should soak the cashews for about 4 hours but I didn't have time so I soaked for only about 30 minutes. Drain the cashews and then add everything to the food processor blend till creamy.

Pizza Ingredients

1 already made whole grain pizza crust

"Cashew Cheese"

Asparagus

Garlic 4 cloves

1/2 of a tomato sliced

broccoli

baby bell peppers

1/2 onion sliced in small slices

mushrooms sliced

garbanzo beans about a 1/2 a cup rinsed and drained

fresh baby spinach

artichoke hearts

vegan shredded mozzarella cheese or real mozzarella cheese

We roasted the asparagus, garlic (leave in the skins because it roasts better that way) broccoli, peppers, onions and mushrooms on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven until they were roasted and the peppers started to get darker spots. Make sure to spray PAM on the baking sheet and on the vegetables once they are on the sheet. I sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. Once the veggies are done take them out and chop them up. For the garlic just pop it out of the skins and dice it up. 

I spread the "cashew cheese" thinly on the crust and then J loaded the pizza with all the toppings sprinkling a little vegan mozzarella cheese on the top and then baked according to the crust's instructions. We sprinkled a little crushed red pepper on top once it was out of the oven. Yummmmmmmm!

Citrus Salad Ingredients

Clementines

various Oranges

Fresh Mint Leaves

Lemon juice

Lime juice

Agave nectar (just a drizzle)

I peeled and separated the clementines and oranges. I chopped the mint and added it to the oranges in a bowl. I sprinkled a little lemon and lime juice along with a drizzle of Agave nectar and stirred it all up. It was a great salad to go along with the pizza.