Friday Vegetarian Potluck LinkUp...Kinda

This week, I made Carmelized Onion and Portabello Mushroom Pizza.  I planned on posting it today for Friday Vegetarian Potluck.

Instead, my 13 month old has been vomiting all day, starting at 6:45am and ending at 7:00pm when he was in the ER after having dry heaves every 15 minutes.  Everything is a wreck here, but at least my son hasn't puked in almost (praise God) three hours.

I will do my best to post the recipe for the pizza soon!


In the spirit of a delicious potluck dinner, I’m hosting Friday Vegetarian Potluck. Mix up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it over for a virtual supper. You can bring a main dish, a salad, bread, a dessert, any food you want to share.We do have a few rules for our meal.

1. Your recipe needs to be vegetarian, but it can also be dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. Any recipe made without meat will do.

2. Your blog does not have to be about vegetarian food recipes. If you regularly write about gardening, that’s fine. If you usually post recipes with pork and poultry, you are welcome, too.

3. This doesn’t have to be a new recipe post, but I ask that you bring it to the blog only once.

4. Since potlucks are all about sharing, I ask that you post this invite on your blog post. It fits nicely into your html.
<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)

WIAW: Game Day!

I've read other food blogger posts with glee over the past few weeks. Like me, they get excited about college football season.

Yes, we are football fans, but more importantly we are a family. The weekly football game turns an average Saturday evening into a holiday, a scheduled gathering with my parents.  We laugh, we joke, we tease, and we eat.

My boys watching the game at Grandpa and Grandma's last year.

 

Here is what I ate:

Breakfast: Hurry-hurry-hurry before church. I just grabbed a FiberOne bar. I think most granola bars are candy bars. At least this one has fewer calories and fiber in it.

Lunch: Easy Vegan Caprese Salad that I tossed up for us, followed by cream of potato soup made by Mom and fruit salad for dessert (suggested by my 5 year old).

Supper: Leftovers from lunch!

Do you watch football?  Who do you watch it with?


Come back on Friday for Vegetarian Potluck Link Up!

 

 

Friday Vegetarian Potluck LinkUp & Bruschetta Pasta

What's new with you?

Last week, despite the daily trips to the hospital checking on my dad, I still managed to complete the Lazyman Triathlon one week early.  I've decided to keep doing the triathlon, alternating between biking, running, and swimming to complete 112 miles biking, 2.2 miles swimming, and 26 miles running every five weeks.

I love having a goal and something to motivate me.  This week, I have taken it a little easy, but I know I pushed hard last week to get it done.

Mixing my running routine up with biking and swimming feels great.  I use different muscle groups and they both give my knees and ankles a rest.

Here is what I'm bringing to potluck:

[Print this Recipe]

BRUSCHETTA PASTA

Ingredients:

*3 1/2 c. sliced roma or plum tomatoes
*2 Tb. balsamic vinegar
*2 Tb. olive oil
*3 cloves minced garlic
*1 Tb. fresh chopped basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
*4 oz.  or 1 c. shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese
*14 oz. GF or WW angel hair pasta

Directions:

1.  Combine tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, and basil.  Refrigerate in airtight container for 2-12 hours.
2.  Prepare pasta as directed on the box. While still hot, drain water and combine with marinated tomatoes.  Add shredded cheese and toss until well incorporated.  Serve warm or cold.

How have you been this week?




In the spirit of a delicious potluck dinner, I’m hosting Friday Vegetarian Potluck. Mix up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it over for a virtual supper. You can bring a main dish, a salad, bread, a dessert, any food you want to share.We do have a few rules for our meal.

1. Your recipe needs to be vegetarian, but it can also be dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. Any recipe made without meat will do.

2. Your blog does not have to be about vegetarian food recipes. If you regularly write about gardening, that’s fine. If you usually post recipes with pork and poultry, you are welcome, too.

3. This doesn’t have to be a new recipe post, but I ask that you bring it to the blog only once.

4. Since potlucks are all about sharing, I ask that you post this invite on your blog post. It fits nicely into your html.
<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)

WIAW: Hospitals in General

I am one of those strange people who like hospitals.

I'm not a nurse. I'm not a doctor. I'm not any of the various additional specialists, aides, or staff in a hosptial.

But I feel at home there.

When I was young, my grandmother was in the hospital a lot.  She had heart bypass surgery.  She had a stroke with months of rehab.  It seemed like she was always in and out of the hospital for one reason or another.

My aunt was also in the hospital quite a bit when I was growing up, too.  My mom had minor surgery. I was hospitalized with systemic E. coli for a week. My dad went through cancer treatment.  I birthed both of my sons in hospitals.

Hospitals have always been a second home.

A strange thing happens to people in hospitals: they are at their most real.

Some are there for joyous reasons, like to meet a newborn baby and mother. Others come to see a loved one recovering from surgery.  Family members gather in ICUs, hoping and praying someone gravely injured will pull through. 

In waiting rooms I have seen people at their best, offering up to each other a place to stay, a car to drive, a prayer of hope and healing for someone they have never met.

I'm late posting today since I have spent a lot of time this past week visiting my dad in the hospital.  Thanks be to God that he went from the ICU to home in five days and is recovering well.

I'm also grateful to be comfortable in hospitals, in general.

Here is what I ate:

Breakfast: I tried to make my usual a little more unusual by eating half FlaxPlus Multigrain cereal and half FlaxPlus Pumpkin Granola with unsweetened almond milk.

Lunch: I ate an Ezekiel wrap with seasoned tomato paste, Tofutti vegan "cream cheese," and fresh spinach.

Snack: Sliced Golden Delicious apples and Biscoff cookie butter.  Cookie butter! AAH! I ate an entire jar in three days!

Supper: I made Spicy Black Bean Quinoa and ate it with romaine lettuce.

Are you comfortable in hospitals like me or do they make you nervous?


Come back on Friday for Vegetarian Potluck Link Up!

 

 

Friday Vegetarian Potluck Link Up & Penne Florentine

It has been a whirlwind week.

On Tuesday, a very close family member (he shall remain nameless) finally went to the dr.

As we suspected, he had a severe case of pneumonia. His white cell count was 39 (under 10 is normal), his oxygen levels were low, and his blood-thinning medication was too high.  Quite simply, he was on the verge of death.

Today, a mere three days later, his white cell count is normal, his oxygen levels are up, and his blood-thinning medication is where it should be.  He is sitting up for hours at a time, eating normally, and on the verge of being released from the hospital.

I can't believe that three days ago he was admitted to the local hospital, then moved to ICU, then transferred by blaring-siren ambulance 45 miles to the regional medical center.  After only two days in the new ICU wing of the hospital and under the care of a pulmonologist, he is miraculously better.  I am grateful for the help of all the nursing staff and doctors who helped his recovery.  I also know that dozens of people have been praying for him.  I'm thankful to God and those who prayed on his behalf.

I'm on 13 hours of sleep in three days, so I'm reposting a favorite recipe of mine instead of writing a new post and the bruschetta pasta recipe I had  promised. 



Penne Florentine



[Print this Recipe]



   

PENNE FLORENTINE

Ingredients:

*13.5 oz. box of whole wheat penne pasta

*1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved
*14 oz. can of quartered artichokes, drained
*8 oz. sliced baby portabella mushrooms
 *7 c. of loosely packed fresh spinach
*3 cloves minced garlic
*2 Tb. olive oil
*1 c. alfredo sauce
*1/2 c. pesto sauce

Directions:

1. In a medium stock pot, prepare penne pasta as directed.

2. Heat a large skillet at medium heat. Add oil, tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, and garlic. Stir often and cook until spinach leaves are wilted and mushrooms are soft.
3. Drain pasta thoroughly. Add alfredo and pesto sauce. Stir well.
4. Serve immediately.




In the spirit of a delicious potluck dinner, I’m hosting Friday Vegetarian Potluck. Mix up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it over for supper. You can bring a main dish, a salad, bread, a dessert, any food you want to share.We do have a few rules for our meal.

1. Your recipe needs to be vegetarian, but it can also be dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. Any recipe made without meat will do.

2. Your blog does not have to be about vegetarian food recipes. If you regularly write about gardening, that’s fine. If you usually post recipes with pork and poultry, you are welcome, too.

3. This doesn’t have to be a new recipe post, but I ask that you bring it to the blog only once.

4. Since potlucks are all about sharing, I ask that you post this invite on your blog post. It fits nicely into your html.
<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)

WIAW: Breaking the Fast

Most of the time I'm vegan.

I eat high fiber organic cereal and for breakfast almost all of the time. Usually for lunch, I have a wrap with an Ezekiel tortilla, vegan cheese, homegrown alfalfa sprouts, and romaine or spinach.

I keep my snacks healthy, too. I like to have a soy protein shake with unsweetened almond milk and a piece of fruit.

Nearly every supper begins with a salad and dairy-free dressing.  Sometimes the entree is a vegetarian meat-substitute, other times it is something with beans. Whole wheat grains can also be the entree, while there is always a fresh or frozen vegetable for a side.

Dessert is simple.  Three small pieces of dark chocolate.

Holidays are different.  I thoroughly relish eating unhealthy food.  I feel it after I'm done eating and definitely the next day; I am often bloated, sometimes a little nauseated and ready to go back to healthy, whole, vegan eating.

Labor Day was one of those holidays when I broke my fast from simple starches, dairy, and meat.  And I enjoyed it.

The beginning of college football season meant snack foods at my mom and dad's on Saturday afternoon. I ate tortilla chips and cheese dip with enthusiasm.  Mom also made cornbread to go with a big pot of beans.  I finished the day off with some cookies and cream ice cream.  Nom. Nom. Nom.

I also skipped the norm on the Sunday before Labor Day (the day I'm using for my WIAW).

Here is what I ate.

For breakfast, I ate two pieces of cornbread and unsweetened almond milk. I never make cornbread, but this is possibly my favorite breakfast of all time.

At lunchtime, I reheated bruschetta pasta made with tomatoes from my garden and Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella.  I'm going to try to get the recipe written up for Friday Vegetarian Potluck Link Up.

As a snack, I ate a nectarine.  These are so good that I'm eating at least one a day, sometimes two.

Supper was spectacular and totally unhealthy.  I made a BLT salad with tomatoes from my garden, bits of pan-fried turkey bacon, romaine lettuce, olive oil mayo, and croutons.  Then, we ate oven baked seasoned potatoes, peas, and ribeye steak that had been marinating in mesquite seasoning for three days.  My husband grilled mine up to medium-rare perfection. It was all amazing! 

Do you ever allow yourself "cheat days" where you indulge in unhealthy food once in a while?

Come back on Friday for Vegetarian Potluck Link Up!