Garden Rotini and Chickpea Salad

Yesterday, I actually sat down and planned out a week of menu ideas. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to hit the grocery store until today. Still, here is my first vegan dish. I thought it was very tasty! Jeff enjoyed it, too, but I didn't realize that he doesn't care much for pasta salads. Oh well, more for me! :-)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz rotini
• 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1/2 roma tomato, diced
• 2 radishes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• Annie's Natural Goddess dressing

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook rotini according to package. Drain well and rinse with cool water. Transfer to a large bowl.

2.  While pasta is cooking, prep vegetables. Add all the vegetables to the cooked pasta. Drizzle with 1/3 to 1/2 bottle of dressing  and toss gently to combine.

*Recipe adapted from Garden Rotini and Chickpea Salad with Inner Goddess Dressing. Vegan on the Cheap. pg. 85.

challenge accepted!

I have accepted my sisters challenge!! I am even starting out with a meatless side dish just for her!!!! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and LOVE the difference mayonnaise changes the taste of scalloped potatoes! I did tweak it just a little...one cannot conform too much I say!!! So here is scalloped potatoes and onions! YUMMY!!!

Ingredients

• 5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• Paprika
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Directions
In a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish, layer potatoes and onion. In a saucepan, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add broth, mayonnaise, salt and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 2 hours or until tender. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!! Not only was excellent it uses basic pantry ingredients and is relatively cheap too!!!!!

Off Track

Since leaving MN, we've gotten way off track with our eating. A few months prior to leaving, we made the choice to become Vegan/Vegetarian - if not always, at least primarily. There are many reasons behind this choice. I'm not going to get into them right now.

Right now, I'm just going to share with you my excitement at the future.

Like I mentioned before, since leaving MN we haven't been very good about living this new lifestyle. We've even *gasp* gotten into the habit of choosing convenience (i.e. McDonald's) over healthy.

This needs to STOP!

Over the past couple days, I've searched online for Vegan or Vegetarian dining options and resources in the Vegas area. That got me excited, but I knew it wasn't enough. We can't afford to eat out every meal.

So, where does a Vegan newbie go? Amazon.

I found a couple cookbooks that, I hope, will help me learn to be a better Vegan. I'm so excited for these two titles to arrive.

In the meantime, I also purchased a few Kindle cookbooks (for free!) to help me get started.

I can't wait to get back in the kitchen and try some new recipes, expand my taste palate, and share my new adventures with all of you.

Note: If you're not into Vegan eating, do not worry. While I'll be primarily posting Vegan or Vegetarian recipes, I'm sure my sister will continue to post her favorites recipes here.