Meatless Monday #3: Late to Rise, but Successful by Sunset

After having a rough couple of days I finally came through the weekend, exhausted, wondering what this week might hold for me. As my head hit my pillow last night I realized and muttered, "Oh no... tomorrow is meatless Monday." My husband groaned and I thought, "Why oh, why did I have to feel so gross on Saturday morning? Why did I have to miss the farmer's market?!" I decided not to stress it until morning, figuring there wasn't much I could do about it until then anyway and went to sleep.

And sleep, I did! I did not wake up until nearly 11:20 am! It was almost lunchtime. This is not good news for someone who is on a strict schedule of medication, but I went to bed telling myself not to stress and it seemed the advice had lingered until morning. I decided to just figure out what I was going to have for breakfast. I really wanted something hot.

Breakfast

As I shuffled into my kitchen I started to think about my breakfast options. I first thought about eggs, but I said, "No, meatless Monday!" Plus, it usually isn't too long after an egg though that thoughts of Canadian bacon start to creep into my brain... Then I thought about my Gluten-free toaster waffles, but I decided I wanted something with a bit more substance, something really hot to warm me up on this Fall morning. I began to think of one of my old favorites: Quaker Instant Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal. I used to live on this stuff. That was exactly what I needed - but I didn't have any around and I am not even sure if it is gluten-free, so I went on a web search to help me in my craving!

That is when I found Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast! This recipe was pretty simple and exactly what I was looking for. I now have a homemade replacement for one of my old cravings using quinoa, which is a great grain to include in my diet. From what I have learned about it so far, it is a good source of protein, calcium and iron and gluten-free.

That is the actual steam coming out of the bowl!

The only change I would make to the original recipe for next time would be to not blend the apples so much. I like to have little warm apple chunks in my hot cereal, so I would probably save one slice of the apple on the side, dice it up and mixed it into the rest of the blended mix before cooking. Otherwise, this was DELICIOUS! I had a small glass of chocolate hazelnut milk and a large glass of water with my breakfast as well.

Lunch

**I skipped it.**

Don't yell at me!! I had a really late breakfast which filled me up, so I was on to preparing dinner before I even started to feel hungry. Strangely, now that I am thinking about it, I don't even think I had any snacks or anything in between. I was adequately distracted today - I was listening to the audiobook version of The Deathly Hallows while cleaning up reminding myself of the fabulous story before going to see the midnight showing of the new release this week.

Dinner

I didn't have much in the way of veggies around the house since I missed this week's Farmer's market, but there was one meal I thought I might have enough stuff to scrounge up to put together: Vegetarian Chili. I went back to the Internet searching through recipe after recipe to find one that may fit. Nothing fit my ingredients exactly, of course (I had even less than I realized once I got to preparations!), but I managed to put together the following, very delicious vegetarian chili:

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 bell peppers, chopped 
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes, cut up
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of red beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of dried parsley
• 3.5 tablespoons of Emeril's Essence: Southwest

Directions

1. Sauté onion, peppers, and garlic in olive oil until tender.
2. Add tomatoes, beans, herbs and spices.
3. Bring up to a boil.
4. Reduce to a simmer, cover and keep stirring every now and then. Cook this way for at least 30 minutes.
5. Serve hot with rice or tortilla chips. Add shredded cheese and sour cream, if desired.

My chili with rice. My husband added sour cream to his as well.

I will definitely be making this again! My one panic, turned into a pretty cool discovery. One of the recipes that I was using as a guide called for salt, chili powder and cumin - all I had was the salt (I couldn't believe I didn't have chili powder and I was making chili!!). That is when I pulled out this Emeril seasoning I had which had, among its first five ingredients - salt, chili powder and cumin! I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best and it worked! For the original Vegetarian Chili recipe I leaned on the most, click here (it is from MizzNezz on Food.com, she is, by far, one of my favorite chefs on the site!).




Anticipated Dessert

I am about to go join my husband watching the movie Avatar on cable (as if we didn't already see it twice in the theaters!) and I did hear him sneak into the freezer. This must mean that he has had some of his ice cream. I can now no longer resist the idea of doing the same thing myself! Don't worry - this will not ruin my vegan-day, since I am stuck in dairy-free land all the ice cream I have is soy ice cream from my favorite place on Staten Island: Mazes Creamery. I think I will have some Soy Mint Chip, maybe with a gluten-free ice cream cone (YES I found ice cream cones!!). 


Well, another meatless Monday is in the books, now on to Tuesday... I wonder what it shall bring. Until then!