Day 1 B2B (Back to Basics) Food Challenge

Knowing that Day 1 of my challenge would start on Sunday, April 1, I did a lot of research and recipe searching ahead of time. (No, this is not the basis for an April Fool's joke.) I also stocked up on the majority of the vegan pantry staples at Wegmans when I took my mom home on Good Friday. When I made this decision, I knew I had to be 100% in or it wouldn't work. Otherwise, I wouldn't know if this way of eating would truly benefit me so it has to be all or nothing!

Sunday morning, I woke at 5:30 am to get dressed and ready in the darkness to go to Easter "Sonrise" Service at Jockey's Ridge State Park. What an incredible way to start off Easter, my favorite holiday! No better source of inspiration and motivation than reliving Jesus' resurrection in the middle of a sand dune as the sun comes up! Really put things in perspective.

On the way home, I had to stop by my original happy place to set the tone for the rest of my day and the beginning of this new challenge.

I have never been a breakfast fan and often will just juice some vegetables and suck it down real quick or grab some granola or a piece of fruit. But today, I wanted to make breakfast for me and Hubs. So I found a vegan oat and apple pancake recipe. I also must admit that I love to cook but I do NOT bake. This felt like borderline baking. While I mixed everything together and prepared it for going on the skillet once it got to the stove, the process was no longer fun for me. For the sake of the state of our kitchen, Hubs decided to take over the pancake flipping part of the process and for that I am beyond grateful.

The basis of these pancakes are oat flour, green apples, cinnamon and almond milk.  Slice a few bananas to throw on top and a bit of pure maple syrup (pure is the key) and you're good to go.

One thing I realized from making my first meal on this challenge was that vegan food is not that photogenic. At least not yet. But it tasted super yummy and that's the important part!

Sunday is usually my grocery shopping and meal prepping for the week day. I spend most of the day in the kitchen and while that may seem strange, it helps free up the rest of the week, especially when I work all day and have a puppy to entertain upon arriving home at night. This Sunday was no different except that I spent more time than usual in the kitchen. In fact, I grabbed a granola bar for lunch as I was preparing meals and washing dishes because I didn't want to stop!

Next up - Dinner

Cheesy Lentil Bolognese Casserole

Looks like a baked pasta dish with yummy cheese, right? Well, kind of.

I was pretty impressed and shocked to be honest.

I have found that vegan food is often misunderstood. We all assume it is tasteless but it's all about the spices. People ask how I could stop eating meat. Well, really, it isn't that difficult for me. I have toyed with the idea for quite a few years actually. Would you just eat ground beef or a NY Strip without seasoning it? Of course not. It's all about flavor and you get that flavor from spices. It's no different with vegan dishes.

So let's talk the basics of this recipe.

First saute (in a dutch oven) onion, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, basil, oregano until the water drains off. Then add the marinara sauce, drained green lentils and tahini.

Ok... hold up, girl, what is a lentil and where is tahini?

Yeah, I know. I agree. I've heard of lentils but never knew what they were. They are a legume. Legume. I love saying that word. 

Just like banana. Think of the movie, The Minions. Bah Nah NAAA!! Now you get it.

A lentil is an edible pulse; an annual plant of the legume family known for its seeds that are shaped like little flat disks. These little high fiber seeds are high in protein, low in calories and have so many health benefits, such as lowering cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart disease, aiding in digestion, and stabilizing blood sugar. They contain virtually no fat and give you energy!! Why am I not popping handful of these in my mouth every hour?

Now for tahini.

Sounds like it would be a nice tropical place to visit, right?

Naw, it's at thick paste/sauce made from sesame seeds that is most commonly used in homemade hummus (which is on my list) and in Middle Eastern dishes. It's used often in vegan recipes and I know I'll be keeping it real close at hand.

Ok, enough of that. Where were we? Yes, adding lentils, marinara and tahini in the pot. 

I made my own marinara sauce, which is nothing new. Store bought sauces are full of sugar and salt so I haven't used them in years anyway. Get organic, no sodium, crushed tomatoes and add oregano, basil, garlic and jazz it up the way you want it. Just no sugar or salt. I even throw in some crushed red pepper as well sometimes.

I added in cooked organic, gluten free, brown rice penne pasta next and coated it with the mixture that's already in the pot. It's the first time I've used brown rice pasta and it isn't as firm as typical pasta but in a casserole I couldn't really tell the difference. Hubs said it had a little mushy consistency but overall, it wasn't that noticeable.

Spoon all of this goodness into a casserole dish and pour the cheese over it next.

Cheese? Wait. But you said no dairy, no cheese. Yeah, I did. Daggone it. 

I am one who loves to throw a ton of mozzarella on my pasta before I bake it and even after I bake it. But not now. Sigh.

I found this recipe for Vegan Cheese Sauce. Could I have just bought a package of vegan shredded cheese at Harris Teeter? Sure, but I'm not doing that. If I'm going to do this, I'm doing it right.

I'm not eating processed, packaged crap.

This is when things got real.

Hubs was golfing, I had every counter of the kitchen covered, every burner on the stove going and every pot in the cabinet out or in the sink to be cleaned. But I wasn't stopping now.

When I saw the ingredients for the "cheese" I was just completely defeated and knew this was going to be complete nastiness, but, damnit, I committed to this and I'm doing it!

How on God's green earth was cheese going to be made out of raw cashews, boiled potatoes and carrots, refined coconut oil, white wine vinegar, nutritional yeast, a clove of garlic and water?

Well, I was about to find out.

 I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and I licked the spoon.

You have got to be kidding me.

I picked up the phone and called my mom and exclaimed, "You're not going to believe this shit."

Now it wasn't the best block of cheddar I've ever had or an ashen goat cheese that I crave, but it truly resembled the flavor of cheese - the consistency of a sauce that you would put over nachos. It completely blew my mind. It is then that I thought, I might really be able to pull this off.

I spread this "cheese" sauce all over the top of the casserole and then bake it for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, since I was on a roll, I decided to make the vegan parmesan because who doesn't need parmesan on top of their pasta dish?

Cashews, the vegan wonder nut, yet again, comes to the rescue.

Along with garlic and nutritional yeast, the cashews went into the food processor until it turned into a coarse meal. Completely floored. Looks just like parmesan. Doesn't exactly taste like it but it's a good knock off for what I need.

So I just made two vegan cheeses and I'm pretty amazed. Am I ready to give up cheese forever and say I don't need it anymore? Oh, hell no.  Cheese and I have had this love affair my entire life. It's going to take a lot of convincing for that to end but a 30 day break might be good for both of us in the end.

It's the end of Day 1, Hubs and I both survived. We both liked the two meals I made and I'm feeling pretty good about this challenge.