Category Archives for Lunch

Backyard Basil Garlicky Pesto Zucchini

Today for lunch I felt like getting creative in the kitchen with some zucchini I bought yesterday. I looked out the back door to see my pup Peter hanging out with the Basil in the garden, and I was inspired!

I cut up the zucchini into quarters to bake without any oil or seasoning in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I started making my pesto! I used a bowl of fresh basil from my garden, 5 garlic cloves, olive oil and some black pepper. I was excited that I finally got to use a wedding gift I received from a fellow vegan foodie at work!  This little food processor / hand blender is perfect for smaller portion sizes – and better yet, its easy to clean!

I didn’t use a recipe, and I may have overdone the garlic, but oh man was it tasty. And can I mention how fabulous my house smells right now!  I coated the zucchini in the oven with my pesto and let bake for another 5 minutes.

Talk about delicious! And pretty! 

How do you make Pesto at home?

What’s for Lunch: Vegan Asian Coleslaw

Today for lunch I’ve made a simple Vegan Asian Coleslaw. Well, I didn’t really make it, I just mixed together the kit I found in the produce section at the grocery store, but hey it’s still vegetables!

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In the kit I’ve got cabbage, carrots, almonds, crunchy noodles, and the packet of asian balsamic dressing, then I add just a little bit of rice vinegar and lemon juice!

What are you having for lunch today?

What’s for Lunch: Delish Low-cal Superfood

Today for lunch I’m having this awesome Sweet Potato & Salsa Spinach Salad with Guacamole:

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I love this combination of sweet and spicy superfood!

I’m also obsessed with guacamole, especially this pre-made one I found in the Publix grocery store produce section:

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A great tip I love sharing about healthy eating is: Add spinach to anything and everything and you’ve instantly improved its nutritional value! It’s so easy to turn anything into a big filling salad with spinach.

Did you know that just one cup of Spinach (which isn’t very much at all) contains 1 gram of protein, 50% daily value of Vitamin A, and other important nutrients such as Vitamin K, Folate, Calcium and Iron!

For those of you interested in the calories…

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I told you it was low-cal!

What did you have for lunch today?

And yes, I know I haven’t eaten enough today, but I’m trying to reserve my calories for a very special dinner tonight at the Melting Pot with my husband for his birthday. I’m excited to have their vegetarian entree of tofu, edamame, mushrooms and asparagus!

Be sure to check out the blog tomorrow for all the details of tonight’s food adventure!

What’s for lunch: Refrigerator Hodgepodge

Today for lunch I’ve just thrown together some randomness from my fridge to come up with my Whole Wheat Bow Tie & Vegetable Pasta.

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Whole wheat bow tie pasta, marinara sauce, broccoli, red peppers, garlic, pepper, olive oil & nutritional yeast.

I’ve been trying to get more creative with my “cooking” and my rely on recipes, so pasta is an easy place to start. I also love using up food that’s been taking up space in the fridge before I go get groceries. I made two servings and will pack one for lunch tomorrow.

This is the first time I’ve used nutritional yeast – its supposed to have a cheese like flavor and contains B12, a vitamin lacking in the food of a vegan diet. I honestly can’t tell you I could taste it, so I’m not sure it’s worth the cost, but it’s not bad so I don’t regret it either.

Here’s the calorie breakdown:

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I know it looks like I haven’t eaten enough today, but we are going out to dinner with my dad tonight for Father’s Day, so I’m saving some calories just in case. I’ve been hitting 1800 calories a day for the past two weeks and have actually lost a couple more pounds!

What did you have for lunch today?

What’s for Lunch? (The Hospital Edition)

Greetings from my 2am lunch break at work!

Big kudos to Lakeland Regional Medical Center tonight for offering a vegan option in the cafeteria! I’m usually generally disappointed and disgusted with the food “down there,” but maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to judge with this awesome Taco Salad! The manager swears the beans are vegetarian, so hold the ground beef and cheese, and I’m in business!

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Yum!

What’s for Lunch?

Here’s a picture of today’s healthy lunch, Mexican Chickpea & Salsa Salad:

4 cups of Greens, today I have half 50/50 mix, half Italain mix
1/2 cup Chunky Spicy Salsa + fresh squeezed Lemon Juice as dressing
Taco Chick Peas (click the link to get the recipe)
Sliced Navel Orange 

I love bulking up a meal with a huge amount of salad greens – both filling & nutritious! I also love using salsa as a salad dressing! I’m trying to up my daily calories, as per the recommendations of my metabolic rate tests you may remember from a few days ago, so I’ve used an entire can of chick peas which on their own are 368 calories!

Here’s what the calorie count looks like so far today:

As you can see I’m about 900 calories away from meeting my 1800 calorie goal for today! I haven’t gained any weight since increasing my intake 5 days ago, although I haven’t lost either. I do feel as if I have much more energy during my workouts which is a fantastic feeling! I’ve also enjoyed having a little bit more freedom with regards to serving size! Hopefully this plan works, because I sure do love eating all this yummy food!

What did you have for lunch today?

My Vegan Pilgrimage to Whole Foods

To me, Whole Foods is like a theme park! It feels exclusive and exciting to be a shopper at Whole Foods. I love knowing I will probably discover something new and be able to purchase specialty items that Publix would never even think of carrying. I haven’t been to Whole Foods since moving away from Downtown and into the suburbs 8 months ago, so today’s trip felt especially special! I was even greeted at the front door with samples of fresh berries and fruit & nut pita! Yum!

First I had the most delicious lunch from the Hot Bar, Salad Bar and Soup Bar – a taste of every single interesting item labeled “vegan”:

From left to right: Spinach, Asian Noodles, Basil Pesto Tofu, Steamed Kale, Garlicky Kale, Lentil Quinoa Tabbouleh, Brown Rice, Vegetable Curry, Zucchini Red Pepper Tofu Curry, Romaine and a cup of Sweet Potato Chipotle Soup!  All for a little less than $10!

My absolute favorite was the Vegetable Curry mixed with the brown rice and romaine lettuce – it was sweet, spicy, and crunchy! Second place goes to the Asian Noodles with the Soup coming in very close behind! My only regret was not getting bigger servings! I ate this during a break in the rain at the nice little outdoor sitting area. Let me tell you, if you ever want to watch some interesting people, that’s the place to be!

Then the shopping began! My haul looks a little something like this:

From left to right: Ground Flaxseed (to add to my morning oatmeal), Whole Wheat Pita Bread, Vegetable Hummus, Navel Oranges, Chunky Salsa, Romaine and Radicchio Lettuce, Raspberries, Organic Bananas, 50/50 Mix (Spinach and Spring Mix), Lemons, Sprouted Multigrain Whole Wheat Bakery Bread, Cherries, Roasted & Unsalted Sunflower Seeds, Crushed Walnuts, Nutritional Yeast (cheesy tasting yeast packed full of B12), and Amy’s Soups Black Bean Vegetable. Total Cost: $63.57!

Would I shop at Whole Foods all the time? Probably not, unless I really had a lot of disposable income. This was a splurge, a treat to myself. This was not a grocery trip to restock my fridge and pantry, as I still have a lot of food at home left to be eaten. To be honest, I doubt I could afford a true grocery haul from Whole Foods. Luckily, I happily find comperable items at Publix all the time, it just takes a little more effort and label reading and a whole lot less money!

Why this Vegan loves Panera

Today’s healthy lunch is from Panera Bread who have great vegetarian options that happen to also be vegan! Just don’t look at the pastries!

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I’m having a bowl of black bean soup, a full size classic salad (hold the tomato), whole wheat baguette and small apple!

The calories look a little something like this:

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What are you having for lunch? What do you order from Panera?

What’s for Lunch: Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini

I was inspired by something I saw on pinterest, a craving for quinoa, and the gigantic zucchini I had in my fridge to come up with today’s fun and nutritious lunch. Quinoa is a great whole grain, packed with protein, and zucchini is probably one of my favorite veggies, especially when they are coming into season in Florida. I tend to make zucchini with pepper, onions and garlic sauteed on the stove top, so this is really just a creative way to enjoy the same flavors.

What you need to make my Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini:

  • One large zucchini – the fatter the better
  • 1/4 cup Quinoa
  • 1/2 Onion, chopped
  • A few cloves of Garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste

Rinse the quinoa first and thenstart it cooking per the package directions. This should take about 15 minutes.  Also remember to preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic and let them sweat on the stove top with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Carefully cut the zucchini in half long-ways and scoop out the insides with a spoon.

Add the zucchini pulp to the onions and garlic on the stove top at medium heat for a few minutes. When the quinoa is ready, add it to the onion/garlic/zucchini mixture just long enough to combine well.

Spoon the mixture into the zucchini shells. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes depending on how crispy or mushy you like your zucchini.

For those of you interested in the calories:

What did you have for lunch today? Whats your favorite vegetable?

Why this Vegan loves the Taco Bus

For those of you who live in Tampa, or have ever visited, I hope you have heard of the awesomeness that is the 24 hour Mexican Food Truck known as the Taco Bus!

The Taco Bus holds a special place in my heart. It’s the place of my first date with my now husband and I even considered using them to cater my wedding! It’s the place you take anyone visiting from out of town! You may have even seen them featured on the Food Network’s Show “Diners Drive-ins and Dives”.

But I especially love the food because of this from the Taco Bus Website:

Facts about our commitment to Vegan/ Vegetarian food:

1.  Mexican Rice and Refried Beans are 100% Vegan (that means no meat, and no dairy).

2.  Red and Green Salsas are 100% Vegan.

3.  Guacamole is 100% Vegan.

4.  Vegan Tamales are Vegan.

5.  Our Rajas con Queso is Vegetarian. It contains cheese and cream (as well as roasted poblano peppers, pico de gallo and corn kernels).

6.  Butternut Squash Tostadas are 100% Vegan (if you get them without cheese, otherwise they are vegetarian).

7.   The traditional Vegetarian Burrito includes rice, beans, taco veggies (white onions, red onions, tomato, cilantro and shredded cabbage).  If you hold the cheese, that would be Vegan as well.

The following fillings are all Vegan (or Vegetarian if you choose to include cheese):

  • Grilled Tofu
  • Vegan “Steak” Strips 
  • Tempeh
  • Butternut Squash
  • Guacamole

You can wrap any of the above fillings the following ways:

  • tacos
  • burritos
  • quesadillas
  • tostadas
  • tortas (Mexican sandwich)

As an added bonus-our Agua Frescas are made with RAW fresh fruit!  Enjoy your choice of Pineapple, Watermelon, or Cantalope.

Please note:  Watermelon and Cantalope are seasonal, but you can enjoy refreshing Pineapple Waterall year round!

Love the Guac!

If you are ever in the Tampa Bay area and in the mood for some authentic, healthy, Mexican food at a really affordable price, check out the Taco Bus at one of their 3 (soon to be 4) locations:

Taco Bus Tampa (The Original, open 24/7)
913 East Hillsborough Avenue
Tampa, FL 33604
T: 813.232.5889

Taco Bus St. Pete 
Open 24/7 on Th, Fri, Sa, & Sun
7am-9pm Mon, Tues, Wed
2324 Central Avenue
St. Petersburg, FL 33712
T: 727.322.5000

Taco Bus Downtown
Open M-Sa 7am-3am, Su 11am-3am
505 Franklin Street
Tampa, FL 33602
T: 813.397.2800

Have you ever been to the Taco Bus? What is your favorite menu item? Leave your comments or email me at SummerVBlankenship@gmail.com