Going Vegan Step 1

Okay, a lot of people think vegan and they think salad.  I know I did.  I knew they ate more, but I figured the only tasty thing they ate must be a salad.  But when it comes to food (just like in life) I am pretty picky and so is my family.  We are all just picky in different ways.  However, with my son's allergies, my husband's family history of heart issues, and our desire to eat healthier, we started learning more about food.
We watched a lot of documentaries about food, where our food came from, how it affects our bodies, and so on.  We finally came to the agreement that while we do not believe that killing an animal for food or clothing is cruel (however some companies are and it's disgusting), eating animals and animal bi-products must be unhealthy.
So we are taking the plunge.  I have stopped buying meat.  Remember my son's allergies, dairy and eggs are pretty much out of our house.  We do still have some yogurt and some mayo, but as soon as those are out they are gone.  I had found soy yogurt, but I don't know if we will miss it that much.  I have decided we will use honey since it's a natural sweetener, no one is allergic (that we know of), AND it's really not about cruelty.
While we still have some meat and stuff left in the house, I have made a few vegan meals just to see how easy it is.
So, salad yumminess-
Do you  like taco salads?  We love them.  We adore them.  We turn them into dip for tortilla chips.  Well, here is the latest yummy salad I have made.
Lettuce of some sort (I just used baby spinach) washed and torn into bite size pieces, corn cooked and drained (frozen is a very easy substitute), red bell peppers sliced, onions chopped, and guacamole as dressing.  You can make it homemade or use store bought (just make sure avocado is the first ingredient).  You can even do half guacamole and half salsa if you wish (just as yummy).  If you want to go more in depth, you can cook black beans with seasoning you would use for tacos and use that in place of the meat.
What about you guys?  Any salad ideas?

Jalapeño Bites

Be forewarned. I got this recipe from another mommy in cafemom.com Cuties With Cloth Booties is an amazing group of women and I am going to test more of the recipes they posted. Ingredients: 16 jalapeños, 1 block of cream cheese (Hubs bought two smaller boxes), and a package of bacon. You will also need: Gloves, aluminum foil and toothpicks Directions: 1) preheat oven to 350* 2) put on gloves and cut jalapeños in half longwise. Use a spoon to dig out seeds and as much of the white flesh as you like. The more you dig out, the less hot it will be. I dug most of out and I was able to eat them. Not a fan of jalapeño heat... 3) cut cream cheese into chunks and mold into jalapeños. It won't melt. 4) cut bacon in half and wrap aroun the whole thing. Stick it with a toothpick. 5) if you were smart, you would have the cookie sheet topped with aluminum foil. I had to ask hubs to do it. Arrange the bites. I got it all on two sheets. 6) bake for about 25 minutes. 7) wash your hands thoroughly now that you can take gloves off and enjoy.

Chili Spaghetti

Okay, that's not what the dish is actually called.  While watching yet another episode of "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" with Guy Fieri (really hope I spelled his name right), my husband and I saw a restaurant where they served chili on spaghetti with beans, cheese, and onions as options.  Well, we thought it sounded good at the time.  Then my husband decided he wanted to try it.  We had all the ingredients so he went ahead and made it the other night.  Needless to say, he didn't like it, though I kind of did and my son ate it up.
So today, we tried to make it again.  We did it by cheating...
I used two cans of hot dog chili sauce, a can of chili with beans, 4 hot dogs, a half an onion, and spaghetti (half of it was wheat).  I chopped the onion and hot dogs and threw them in a hot skillet.  I boiled the noodles and added a little salt.  Then, once the onion and hot dogs were cooked to our liking, I added the sauce.  My husband grated cheese, took the bread out of the oven, and plated it all for me since I was busy.
He even made the veggies (with a little salt, pepper, and butter).
We ate it up.  It's very filling, so we know to make less next time.
Go ahead, steal it.  Make it your own way.  It's actually pretty good so long as there's more sauce than beans and/or hot dogs.  You can nix anything you don't like.  You can add pureed veggies if you have them in hand (we didn't).  I think it would be excellent with cornbread since that naturally goes with chili anyway.  You can even nix the cheese if you want it even healthier or make your own chili from scratch for the healthiest version.

Quick Tuna Melt

Alright, I'm a fan of sandwiches and a fan of tuna salad. So when you combine the two, awesome! Here's a quick lunch I made today that was delicious and kind of an accident. I (normally one on stocking food) ran out of Mayo. The sandwich turned out to be great anyway.

Ingredients:

Tuna, one pickle (chopped), a few cherry tomatoes (chopped), mustard, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, pepper jack cheese (shredded), bread, butter, and cooking spray.

Directions:

Mix tuna, pickles, tomatoes, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder together. I just eye everything to try to keep it "uniform" I guess you could say. Do taste tests (that's what cooking is for anyway).

Preheat the pan and spray it with cooking spray. Butter the bread. Then layer. Stick the first bread down, the tuna salad you made, sprinkle your cheese on top (doesn't have to be pepper jack) and top with the last piece of bread. If you are anything like me, by the time you have these layered, you can flip the sandwich.

Once one sandwich is done cooking, I let it cool a little while I start the next one, cut to make it easier for small hands to handle, and promise my son if he eats his entire sandwich, he'll have chips afterward.

He took a bite and he thinks it's awesome (we already know he likes tuna by the way, so if you aren't a tuna fan, try chicken).

Quick Update

Alright, with my being pregnant, food has been a little crazy. During the first trimester, if I didn't feel like eating a specific food than my stomach wasn't going to bother trying to process it. So for a while, my meals have been planned last minute and I've been going through old favorites (I'm not going to tell you how to make spaghetti using store-bought sauce) or we haven't really been eating meals (I remember eating 6 pieces of toast in one sitting).
Also, since then, I've given my cookbooks to a friend, so I need to replace some of the ones I own. The other ones are for parties or losing weight (which I'm not trying to do).
So, for a little while, some of the recipes on here will be ones I find online and decided to try. I also might post about which options are healthier or things you can do to avoid certain allergens (more specifically milk, eggs, peanuts, and ham).
If you have any suggestions, then go ahead and give them to me.

Why I Am Doing It

Okay, I have started this blog because I am not a chef. In fact, the only "real" education I got was a couple of weeks during Home Economics class in 7th grade. After I got married, the number one thing I turned to when thinking of dinner was Tuna Helper. My idea of a healthy meal was Top Ramen.
Since then, I have bought many cookbooks only to look through them and think of how disgusting the food sounded. I have bought Rachael Ray magazines time and time again only to have cooked a few of her dishes. As awesome as they tasted, I couldn't compete with the prices and I really didn't have all the basic knowledge.
Then, one book I bought changed my life. Actually it was two that I bought at the same time. I was looking for a nutritional book for toddlers that I could understand because there are honestly several books about nutrition for everyone but I just can't grasp basic nutrition for some reason. I had found a book entitled "Eat This, Not That for kids" by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding. Then, I searched in the adult food area of the bookstore and found "Eat This, Not That" by the same authors. I bought them both on the spot. They were simple to read, though they dealt more with restaurants then with food I'd buy at the supermarket. It's basic though. At the beginning of every book, they give you basic food knowledge, ten worst list, and things you need to know about food. At the beginning of every chapter, they give you basic knowledge about that area. The majority of the book is very simple, on the left hand side are foods that are healthy to eat while the left hand side are the foods that are the worst.
Since then, I have bought "Eat This, Not That restaurant guide," "Eat This, Not That supermarket guide," "Eat This, Not That the new revised version," "Eat This, Not That the best and the worst," "Cook This, Not That" and "Drink This, Not That." Honestly, I would advise buying them all. Put a bunch of them in your car somewhere out of the way but easy to grab before you walk in a store or while you are sitting in the drive thru. Keep the rest in your kitchen.
It was "Cook This, Not That" that honestly changed our families life. It has simple recipes and shows you the basics of everything. They are guys, so most of the food is things that guys would want to eat (my husband doesn't comlain much). I think the most I have spent buying to be able to cook their foods were spent on a slow cooker and a cast iron pan.
Another cookbook that changed my life was "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessice Seinfield. My son refused to eat veggies and many other foods, so I picked it up as a way to get him to eat healthier. It works too, though she hired a nutrionist to help her put it together, so it has some crazy stuff in there. I know there are other books that you can buy to help you hide foods in there, but I haven't checked them out yet.
I am a Facebook Junkie. I have lots of friends who have started to try my cooking and are amazed at the difference there has been. I have heard from people time and time again that I am a healthy person who knows how to cook. The thing is, I'm really not. I just know the basics. I don't venture off of the beaten path. I just like to read more than others and have a husband and child who are willing to try things once.
Now, we have a new issue arising as well. My son is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, and ham. This creates a need for me to learn even more about cooking. I figured what better way to share my knowledge then to blog, post it on Facebook for my friend along with pictures and my husband's comments, and let people know how they can make it simpler or how to do it without avoiding allergies.