Cocktail Party Time!

[tassosss]

Hello and welcome to the healthy_eating cocktail party!

Come in, drop off your dish, and tell us a little about yourself. Mingle and get to know each other, and have fun.

~*~

I'm tassosss . I brought strawberry smoothies from my GoodHousekeepping Vegetarian cookbook.

You need a blender, 1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries (unsweetened), 1 cup of mango or apricot nectar (found in the Goya food aisle), 1/2 cup of plain or vanilla lowfat yogurt and 4 ice cubes if you're not using frozen strawberries.

Put them all in the blender and mix till you have frothy goodness!

Fun fact about me: I'm the only person I know who doesn't like pineapple. I also don't like cheesecake which is apparently sacrilegious to most people.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

Assorted pumpkin recipes, tagged by whether they're vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free. I must note I haven't tried any of them myself, only just found the link, but they all sound delicious.

HOMEMADE PIZZA. Easiest thing ever if you've got a bread machine and a small rolling pin. Google pizza crust recipes or buy a bread machine pizza cookbook, pick your favorite (this one off allrecipes.com is designed for a bread machine), dump all the ingredients in the machine, put it on dough cycle (or pizza dough cycle if your machine's from a sensible manufacturer), come back in an hour and roll out the dough onto cookie sheets (the recipe I linked should make one cookie-sheet-sized pizza). Toppings are of course up to you. My personal favorite is olive oil, halved cherry tomatoes, and thinly sliced garlic cloves. Then bake as long as the dough recipe says and enjoy!

ETA: Oh yeah, about me. Trying to go vegetarian. It's not working very well. Finding vegetarian microwave meals is a pain and a half and as a general rule I do not have the time or spoons to cook. Which I hate, because I love cooking and I love finding new recipes and I'm never going to get to try probably everything on the pumpkin list above because of that lack of time and spoons.

[tassosss]

Now I want pizza for dinner!

I'm going pseudo-vegetarian myself, in that I don't buy meat to cook at home though I will eat it if I'm eating not-at-home. I know what you mean about finding good fast recipes. I swear I only survive because I have two standing dinner dates with friends who feed me.

[majoline]

Are there any good vegetarian slow cooker books maybe? I realize that that's not lickie-split, but slow cooker recipes are low on spoons and can be left all day to cook.

That's the only reason I'm eating breakfast right now. I dump all the stuff I eat with my oatmeal in and wake up six hours later to a ready to eat meal.

[tassosss]

I found a list of crockpot cookbooks here. I've never done much with it but I am a fan of as little work as possible.

[killing_rose]

Grab meat of choice. Lightly brown if it's beef. Add to vegetables of choice. Add in spices, broth, wine or sauce, and let simmer for at least an hour.

...Yeah, my household has a lot of "what vaguely goes well together" soups and stews because I can make them in one pot while I'm doing other things.

About me? I'm gluten and soy free, my household includes onion and mushroom allergies, a possible dairy intolerance (or three--those are still being figured out), low carb and sugar free. Oh, and my roommate is threatening to go vegan. My meal planning? Often makes me cry.

[tassosss]

I am a huge fan of one pot meals. One of my standbys is hard boiling tow eggs while I cook pasta and frozen vegetable of choice in the same pot.

Your household sounds tough to cook for! I think I would cry if I had to live without onions.

[thegorgon]

Take eggplant. Cut into 1/4 inch slices, rub with salt, and let sit for a half an hour. Rinse off and pat dry, and then dip those babies in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and fry them in olive oil, a few minutes per side. Eat, be happy. Can also use bread crumbs.

I went vegetarian over the summer and haven't even looked back, and would love to hang out here on the internet but have to do a bunch of work on my honors thesis, the next ten pages of which are due at midnight. Wish me luck!

[tassosss]

Good luck! And remember that you can always come back. I'd love to chat about going vegetarian with you since I'm sort of doing the same thing when it comes to homecooked meals.

[breezeshadow]

Bake tofu with ketchup and soy sauce. It should not be as absurdly delicious as it is. Have it with soba noodles with grape tomatoes for ultimately delicious. Thank you, Moosewood cookbooks.

Also almonds, feta, and dried cranberries make a great snack.

[tassosss]

Okay. I never would have thought of that, and even reading it I know I'm going to have to try it to see if it's as good as you say.

PS. I am staring at your icon and for the life of me I can't figure out what it is! It looks like a bear?

[majoline]

I'm trying to figure out a recipe! *is nervous* Anyway, does being allergic to pineapple count as not liking it?

I have food sensitivities to gluten, milk and potatoes and am way hypoglycemic and almost everything processed makes me ill. Also I don't pretend that I would ever be able to be completely veggie because meat is basically the only way my B vitamins don't make my skin come off. :(

Um, my favorite green bean recipe is a little olive oil, cherry coke (or sub cherry marinade), soy sauce (or sub barbeque), and rosemary: sauté together. Yummy.

[tassosss]

No pressure!

I think being allergic can count as not liking it. I suspect I might be mildly allergic to it - it's one of the few foods that makes me want to throw it up.

Cherry coke? I wouldn't have thought of that! Where did you learn that one? I love this - I keep learning new things to try from you guys!

[majoline]

I add coke to a lot of my cooking - a can of coke is about the same acidity and sweetness as a marinade while being WAY CHEAPER.

And I just grew up with that? *g* I realize that doesn't help, but it was just something my mom and the other people cooking around our neighborhoods did (there are more than one, 'cause I'm a Navy brat)

Greetings!

[claire_chan]

I'm late, and claire_chan.

I've been buried in class work and government work, besides trying to find time to make music.

Can't try vegetarianism - I don't have time to figure out where the protein is coming from, besides the other nutrients I need!

As regards pineapple - I can eat it, but I'm not fond of it.

Re: Greetings!

[tassosss]

You are not late! And welcome!

Beans, the answer is beans! Well not entirely, and I'm not entirely veggie either.

What kind of music were you making?

Re: Greetings!

[claire_chan]

I'm glad. (Today I'm missing class and work because of various health reasons.)

Beans, beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot? xD;;; That's all I can think when it comes to (kidney) beans.

Vivaldi and Boisdeffre by myself/whenever the pianist of my house is in an agreeable mood, occasionally I can net a violinist to play the Handel duet I have together.