Vegetable-Packed Tomato Sauce

Once every month or so I like to make spaghetti for me and Kevin.  It is a nice meal that will feed both of us rather than me making two separate dinners, and I can sneak in a bunch of veggies without Kevin knowing the difference!  Another nice thing about spaghetti night in a veggie-meat divided house is that I can make us noodles we both prefer.  I would rather have zucchini noodles, while Kevin likes more traditional pasta.

Since my parents visited the last weekend, my mom gave me a HUGE zucchini from her garden.  What the heck was I going to do with that much zucchini?!  Spaghetti and marinara of course!  When my parents visited, we also went to the cute little Farmer's Market in downtown Puyallup.  One vendor was selling homemade pasta, so I bought Kevin two "nests" of semolina fettuccine and chipotle adobo fettuccine.

Pasta?  CHECK!

Marinara sauce...

Vegetable-Packed Tomato Sauce
Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
    Vegetables to saute:
        1 small yellow onion, diced (1/2 large onion)
        1 lb fresh tomatoes, diced
        1 carrot, peeled and diced
        1 celery stalk, diced
        1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
        1/4 cup zucchini, diced
        2 to 4 cloves garlic, pressed
    Sauce base and spices:
        1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
        1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes
        1 cup vegetable stock
        1 tsp parsley
        1 tsp oregano
        1 tsp basil
        1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

Instructions:
1.)  Prepare all of the vegetables to saute.  In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute all of the veggies until the onions are translucent and the tomatoes start to breakup, about 10 minutes.

2.)  Add to the saucepan all of the sauce base and spice ingredients.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.

3.)  Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until fragrant and well incorporated.

4.)  With an immersion blender, or in batches with a blender, blend the sauce to the desired consistency.

5.)  Serve hot over your favorite type of noodle (or not noodle).  Store leftovers in a closed container in the fridge for up to a week.  Or freeze in freezer-safe containers for next spaghetti night!

Amy's Notes:
When blending the sauce, you might want to keep it a little chunky, depending on your preferences and how well you cut up your veggies.  Since my husband is a bit anti-veggie, I like to blend it to a nice smooth consistency.

Along with the zucchini noodles, I wanted a bit of substance with some cooked red lentils.  Once cooked, they became a bit like meatballs, which was perfect.

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Spicy Macaroni Salad

One of my favorite summer-time BBQ foods used to be macaroni salad, of course, tossed in mayonaise and loaded with salt.  With the weather starting to get warmer, I was craving one of my old favorites.  I thought I would also make a spicy version to give it some zing.

Spicy Macaroni Salad
Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
    Salad:
        1 cup dried macaroni noodles (I used brown rice macaroni noodles)
        1/2 cup canellini or white beans
        1/4 red onion, finely diced
        2 stalks celery, roughly chopped

    Dressing:
        1 cup canellini or white beans
        1+ cup water, more to consistency
        1/2 cup raw cashews, or 1/4 cup cashew butter
        1 Tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice
        1/2 Tbsp miso paste
        1 tsp chili powder
        1 tsp smoked paprika
        1 tsp cumin
        1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
        black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1.)  Bring a medium pot of water to boil and cook noodles until al dante.  Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.
2.)  While the noodles are cooking, prepare the other salad ingredients and the dressing.
3.)  For the dressing, in a high-powered blender, blend all of the ingredients.  Add more water to achieve the desired consistency, which is somewhere between the consistency of mayo and ranch dressing.
4.)  Once all ingredients have been prepped, combine the pasta with the other salad ingredients and pour 1/2 cup of the dressing onto the mixture.  Stir until well combined.  Grind fresh black pepper over the salad and serve chilled.

Amy's Notes:
This recipe requires just one can of beans, divided into 1/2 and 1 cups for the salad and dressing, respectively.  I served my macaroni salad over a bed of mixed greens.  I didn't have any on hand, but I would have topped the salad with fresh cilantro.
This salad would also be great with the addition of some sliced black olives, but like I said in an earlier post, we are running short on some groceries in preparation of going on vacation in a little over a week.
The spicy mayo-like dressing could also be used to make a Nutritarian-friendly spicy potato salad for a BBQ or picnic.  Just use your imagination!

What is your go-to Nutritarian recipe to bring to BBQs or picnics?

Health and Happiness,

Amy

ABC Muffins

I hope everyone is having a grand weekend.  I am just finishing mine up with a dinner out with Kevin and my parents.  We're going for Mexican tonight and I can't wait to get me some yummy salsa, mexican rice, and beans!

I had the afternoon to kill time today after meeting up with one of my best girlfriends to help figure out how to bustle her wedding dress for this July.  All I can say is, she is going to be an absolute georgous bride!

I had two beets in the fridge that I have been needing to use up, so, at first I thought to make a shredded raw beet, carrot, and apple salad.  Once I got done shredding the produce in my handy food processor, I just knew that I wasn't going to enjoy eating it as a salad, and would inevitably end up throwing half of it out.  I decided to go ahead and make something similar to zucchini bread, but with shredded apples (A), beets (B), and carrots (C) and in muffin form (Get it?  ABC Muffins?) to have for breakfast and snacks during the week.

I have never been the most particular baker, so I just started throwing things together to make a batter, and low and behold, it turned out great!  Here is my recipe...

ABC Muffins
Time: 20 minutes prep, 20 minutes baking per batch
Servings: 24 cupcake size/12 muffin size

Ingredients:
        Shredded: (about 4 packed cups total)
                2 medium raw beets, washed, peeled and shredded
                4 medium carrots, washed, peeled, and shredded
                3 medium apples, washed, peeled, and shredded

        Batter:
                1 + 1/4 cup water
                1 cup old fashioned oats
                1 cup pitted dates
                1 cup whole wheat flour
                1 cup walnuts
                2 ripe bananas
                2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
                1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
                1 tsp cinnamon
                1/2 tsp ground ginger
                1/2 tsp nutmeg
                1/2 tsp baking powder
                pinch salt (optional)
       Mix-in:
                1/2 cup raisins (optional)
                1/2 cup old fashioned oats
                
Instructions:

1. With a food processor (or by hand if you are feeling so gung-ho), shred the apples, beets, and carrots.
2. Place the shredded ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined.  Set aside while you make the batter.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a rinsed food processor, combine the batter ingredients (water, oats, dates, whole wheat flour, walnuts, bananas, ground flaxseed, vanilla, spices, and baking powder) and process until a thick, fairly smooth batter forms.  Add more water to thin if necessary.  It should be about the consistency of  mashed potatoes, not quite pancake batter.
4. Place the batter into a large bowl and stir in the Mix-in ingredients (rasins and oats).
5. Add one cup of the shredded ABCs and stir in until well combined.  Add another cup and stir, and so on until the 4 cups of shredded ABCs have been well mixed in.  
6. At this point your batter should be well mixed and thoroughly pink from the beets.
7. Prepare a cupcake or muffin pan with cup liners.  Scoup 1/4 cup of the ABC batter into each cupcake holder (up to 1/2 cup for a muffin pan).  Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a bit of rolled oats if you want.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Serve hot or cold.  Keep leftovers in the refriderator.

Amy's notes:

These muffins end up being a bit messy and make your kitchen temporarily pink, but boy are they good AND nutritious!  If you are not a huge fan of beets (I'll admit, it took me a while to aquire a taste for them), feel free to replace the beet with more carrots and apples.  Or all carrots.  Or all apples.  Whatever you want really.

I would highly suggest that you use cupcake/muffin liners, as these end up being quite sticky, and would be hard to get out of the molds.

Whole Wheat Vegan Naan

& Day 2, Week 2

I am officially down 8 lbs from my starting weight!  I know I shouldn't go off of my weight day-by-day, so I will wait till next Monday to check it again.  It is just so encouraging to see such progress!  This week so far I have eaten at least one salad as a main meal a day, and I plan on continuing this for the rest of the week.

My mom and sister-in-law get back tomorrow from their cruise, and I offered to take care of making dinner for the family so that my mom didn't have to worry about grocery shopping or cooking right away.  When she called the other day while in a port, and I let her know I would take care of dinner she asked, "Can you just cook for us forever?!"  Haha, that would be fun for the first few weeks, then become quite a job!  I think I'll stick to cooking as my hobby, mom :). 

For tomorrow night I am making one of my favorite FAVORITE dishes: Indian Chickpeas and Greens.  I'm making a double batch for dinner, and with it we always have rice (probably pink Madagascar rice), and naan bread.  The chickpeas and rice are nice and easy to make, but the naan takes a bit of time and care.  I decided to make my double batch of naan tonight and share the recipe with you.  It is not salt, oil, or sugar free, but for how much it makes, it isn't very much per serving.  And my recipe is vegan and 100% whole wheat.  But first, my daily log...

Food log:

• Breakfast: 2 bananas, 1 apple
• Lunch: bit of leftover Kale Mac N Sweet Potato Cheese, small cup of leftover chili, 1 apple
• Dinner: 2 smaller naan breads, and a salad with baby romaine lettuce, chickpeas, red onion, celery, raisins, apples, and cilantro curry almond dressing (inspired by this recipe)
• Extras: Dr. Fuhrman Brownie in the afternoon, 1/2 mini watermelon, Dr. Fuhrman Brownie after dinner

Exercise log:  Ok, this is almost embarrassing that I am so bad at getting my butt to the gym.  I always originally plan on going when I get home from work, but then I see a bunch of chores that need to be done, and before I know it, it is in the evening and time for dinner.  Can we count housework and cleaning as exercise?

How I feel:  I had my first real tempting moment of the 6-weeks so far.  My coworker goes to Costco about once a month to get supplies for both of the offices I work at.  She generally gets coffee creamers (I've quit!), M&M's for the front desks (which I have learned to tune out), and a big box of cookies (this was the difficult part).  For the Spokane office she set the cookies right at my front desk to make sure those who wanted one would see it.  At first, the sight of it didn't bother me, but the second someone cracked them open and that very slight smell came my way, I had to start pep talking myself into not even thinking about it.  In the end, I walked away without a cookie, but came straight home to have a Dr. Fuhrman brownie.  I wasn't necessarily hungry when I had it, but it is loads better than if I were to cave and have a SAD cookie.  In the end, I can say I'm proud of myself and have one less food demon to face in the future.  Once I say no once and make a better choice, I know I can do it again!

Now on to the naan...

Whole Wheat Vegan Naan

Ingredients:
Single Batch (suggested):

• 3/4 cup warm water (at least 100 degrees F)
• 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 2 tsp sugar (raw, natural, and organic if possible)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 cups whole what flour, divided
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Double Batch (pictured):

• 1 1/2 cup warm water (at least 100 degrees F)
• 2 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp sugar (raw, natural, and organic if possible)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4-6 cups whole what flour, divided
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Instructions:

1.  In a large bowl or stand mixer, whisk together the warm water, yeast, and sugar.  Cover with a towel and let sit for 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.  If, after 10 minutes, the yeast mixture hasn't become foamy, your yeast may be too old of your water too cold.  Start over and try again if this is the case. 

foamed yeast mixture

2.  Whisk together the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar, set aside.
3.  Next, whisk into the yeast mixture the coriander (or cumin), salt, and 1/2 of the oil.
4.  Stir in 1 cup (2 for double) of whole wheat flour and the baking powder.
5.  Next, add the milk and vinegar mixture to the mixer.  Mix until well combined.
6.  Add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough comes together, but is still sticky.

7.  Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand, adding more flour to reach the correct constancy of firm and not sticky but still moist.

8.  Prepare a boil coated with the remaining oil and place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat.  Cover with a towel and set in a warm place to rise for at least one hour, until it has doubled in size.

9.  Once the dough has risen, punch it down (Kevin's favorite part) and lightly knead it again.  Heat a skillet or cast iron over low medium heat and keep at a low temperature throughout cooking.

















10.  Cut the dough with a pizza cutter into balls just smaller than your fist.  Roll them out with a rolling pin to be around 1/4 inch thick.  Try not to use extra flour to do this, as it will make the final naan a bit floury and gritty to eat.

11.  Place flat down in a preheated skillet and cook on each side for 45-60 seconds, until each side has lightly browned, with bubbles browning a bit more than the rest.

12.  Cook each in the same way and stack them on a plate together to stay warm and moist.
13.  Serve with your favorite Indian recipe or use like pitas with dip. They can nicely be reheated in the microwave, oven, or stovetop. Keep leftovers in a ziplock bag for up to a week.

Amy's Notes:

I made a double batch for the bigger dinner I'm prepping for tomorrow, and so I could have extra leftovers, but I would suggest doing a single batch till you get the hang of it.  I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and for this recipe I use the whisk attachment at first, then the dough hook once the first flour has been added.  It is NOT necessary at all to have a mixer, this could easily be done my hand (my mom does this).  Regardless of whether you have a stand mixer or do it all by hand, make sure to knead it by hand when adding the final amounts of flour.  Actually touching it by hand will help you better gauge how much extra flour is "kneaded" (hehe), and doing it the old fashion way just works best.  My double batch ended up making 24 naan, so a single batch should make around 10 or 12.  I tend to make mine very thin (yeah, so I can eat more), so you may end up with more or less. Enjoy!

Have you ever tried naan?  What is your favorite thing to eat naan with?

This post was entered into Healthy Vegan Friday hosted by the following lovely bloggers:
Carrie @ Carrie on Vegan:  http://www.carrieonvegan.com/2013/05/17/healthy-vegan-friday-recipes-upcoming-vegan-event/
Katherine @ Green Thickies: http://www.greenthickies.com/healthy-vegan-friday-43/
Gabby @ The Veggie Nook: http://veggienook.com/2013/05/17/healthy-vegan-friday-43/

Kale, Mac N Sweet Potato Cheese

This is day 3, week 1 of my Eat to Live 6 week challenge, and I am feeling pretty great!  I have noticed that my usual "time of the month" pains and woes are much less than they usually are, and for that, I am so grateful.  Here is my daily log and a recipe at the bottom: Kale, Mac N' Sweet Potato Cheese.

Food log:

• Breakfast: 2 apples
• Lunch: Dr. Fuhrman's Warm Lentil Salad, 2 slices of gf bread with hummus
• Dinner: Kale, Mac N' Sweet Potato "Cheese" (see below)
• Extras: 1 beer

Exercise log:

• Cardio: 30 minutes stationary bicycle
• Body weight exercises: calves, abs, back, core
• Stretching: 5 minutes before and after

How I feel:

I'm happy that I was able to get in some exercise today. I know because of that I will sleep a lot more soundly tonight, yay!  I have noticed that I really really felt hungry for lunch today. Once I took that first bite, it was so delicious!  Looking over my food for the day, I feel like I did not get in as many fresh fruits as I had hoped for.  I'm hoping to find some time tomorrow to crack into a pineapple I have been saving up.  Yum!  Tonight, I found some time to cook and needed to use up a sweet potato I had had in my produce basket for a while, as well as the rest of the tofu package I used for my last recipe post. What resulted was Kale, Mac N' Sweet Potato Cheese.  Hope you enjoy! (Please note, since I am posting daily, my pictures are not being edited, and these are the best ones I could do on my iPad at the time!)

Kale, Mac N' Sweet Potato Cheese

Ingredients:

• Pasta:
• 1 cup dried macaroni noodles per person
• 1-2 cups chopped fresh kale

• Sauce:

• 1 sweet potato, baked and peeled
• 6 oz or 1/2 package silken tofu
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a boiling pot of water, begin to boil the macaroni. 
2. In a high speed blender, blend together all of the ingredients until smooth and creamy.  If the sauce is too thick for your liking, add non-dairy milk one tablespoon at a time. 
3. Once the pasta has become nearly al dente (with 3-5 minutes left to cook), add the chopped kale and stir.  Frequently stir the pot until the pasta is fully cooked. Drain the kale and pasta in a strainer. 
4. Return the kale and pasta to the pot and drizzle on the desired amount of sweet potato "cheese" sauce for the entire dish.  Return to the stovetop on low heat.  Remove from heat and serve once the sauce has become hot. 

Amy's Notes:

This dish actually came together very quickly.  For the noodles, I used rice macaroni that I had gotten from the bulk bins at the grocery store.  To be honest, they are not my favorite on their own, but this sauce definitely makes them worth eating.  I would suggest that you use a whole wheat pasta instead.  When I made this, I used about 1 cup of kale per one cup of macaroni.  I found that this was a little less kale than I desired, so make sure to overestimate for the greens, they tend to shrink down!  If you don't have kale on hand, you can always use another dark green like collards, mustard greens, or spinach.  Keep in mind that lighter greens like spinach will take much less time to cook in the boiling water.  For the sauce, I have experimented with making several different types of vegan "cheese" recipes including those that are nut base, some that use corn starch to thicken, and some with pretty interesting ingredients.  I found that this has been my favorite one so far.  The sweet potato and tofu add the right thickness and color, while the spices add a great, but subtle kick to it. 

What types of vegan "cheese" sauces have you tried making at home?  Which ones have been your favorite?

This post was submitted to Healthy Vegan Friday.  Thanks to one of the hosts, Carrie from Carrie on Vegan for giving bloggers such a fun stage for recipe creativity!
(Backlink: http://www.carrieonvegan.com/2013/05/10/healthy-vegan-friday-recipes-my-favorite-submissions/)

Lemony Israeli Cous Cous

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!  I'm getting more interviews for several jobs, but I have my fingers crossed for the one with full time and benefits :).  I should know by Friday if I get the job, so lets hope!

The weather in Spokane has not been incredible lately, but the next few days should be in the mid-seventies and beautiful.  I've always loved pasta salads when summertime comes around, but most pasta salads you find at BBQs or picnics are loaded with mayo or oil, unfortunately.  So, I decided to try to make a yummy "pasta-like" salad to fit perfectly with the coming summer weather.

Ingredients:

• Cous Cous Salad
• 1 cup uncooked Israeli Cous Cous (whole wheat if you can find it)
• 1/4 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium bunch cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• 1 cup sugar snap peas, ends removed and cut into 1 inch sections
• Lemon Tahini Dressing
• 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp fresh minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. In a small pot, bring 2 cups of water to a boil.  Once boiling, add the uncooked Israeli Cous Cous and simmer covered for 8-10 minutes.  Place in a strainer and run cool water over the cooked cous cous to cool for the salad.
2. Place all of the chopped vegetables and cooked and cooled cous cous into a medium sized bowl.
3. In a small bowl or cup, mix together all ingredients for the lemon dressing with a fork or whisk until smooth and creamy. 
4. Pour all, or as much as you desire of the dressing over the salad.  Mix well until all the salad is well coated.
5. Serve chilled and store in the fridge.

Amy's Notes: I didn't realize that the cous cous I used was essentially "white" cous cous, so next time I make this I will try looking for a whole wheat cous cous, and I would recommend that you do the same.  For those of you that are not as big a fan of lemon, substitute one or two of the Tbsp of lemon juice for some more water.  Warning, this leaves you with a bit stinky breath, so bring some tictacs if you bring this to a picnic.

What foods do you love that just scream "summertime" to you?

Graduation and Chef AJ's Disappearing Lasagna

What a whirlwind week it has been for me!  I made it through my final finals relatively unscathed, spent some time celebrating with friends and family, and finally, I graduated!  I officially graduated from Washington State University with a BS in Environmental Science and Regional Planning on May 5th, 2012.  And does it feel great to be done!  My parents came into town on Saturday to pack me up, to take me out to an awesome lunch at my favorite restaurant called Sangria, and to go to the Spring Commencement.  Here are a few pictures of our day:

Packing up and getting ready for graduation!

Out to lunch at Sangria.  Dad and I toast to finally being done! 

Me and my Envi Sci friend Danielle.  We will forever say "we DID  Environmental Science together." 

My parents and I after the commencement ceremony.

Now that I'm done I will finally have time for more blogging, and most importantly, more time for my health!  Since being back home I've gotten exercise everyday, have been drinking a bunch more water, drinking less alcohol, and eating and feeling much better.  During these last few weeks of school, I admittedly enjoyed myself a bit too much in the food and drinking category, and it feels so much better getting back into a healthy routine again!

I finally have found some time (and more people than myself to cook for) to try out a few of her recipes.  I made her famous Disappearing Lasagna and her wonderful Hale to the Kale Salad and it was DELICIOUS!  Here is my experience at trying the lasagna:

Chef AJ's Disappearing Lasagna

Ingredients:

Faux Parmesan pp.142

Kale or Spinach Dip Filling pp.83

Saucy Glazed Mushrooms pp.152 (sorry I forgot to take a picture of this part)

Finishing the Lasagna pp.100

Directions:  For the sake of spending less time typing out directions, and because I thought the videos were super helpful, I'm going to direct you to The Chef and The Dietitian videos for each part of the recipe.

Faux Parmesan

Kale or Spinach Dip Filling

Saucy Glazed Mushrooms

Finishing the Lasagna 

Note, in the video she says to bake at 350 F for one hour but the book, the directions that I followed, were for 375 for one hour.

Amy's Notes:  This recipe is a long process and makes a lot!  I spent most of the afternoon yesterday getting everything ready, but each thing can be done on your own time the day before you put together the lasagna.  I'm guessing it would serve up to eight people with one serving a piece.  It served the three of us without going through even half of the dish.  I made it for my dad to have for lunch the rest of the week and the weekend because my mom and I are leaving tomorrow morning for a mother daughter trip to DISNEYLAND!!!  What a proper way to end my college career right?  I'm so excited to go for the weather and all of the nostalgic moments.  

Thai Peanut Vegetable Pizza

Well, I am getting worse and worse about scheduling my blog, and I apologize!  Today I will feature a recipe that was meant for World Wednesday this week called Thai Peanut Vegetable Pizza.  I got inspiration for this meal from needing to use up the Thia Peanut Sauce I made in bulk a while ago, and the craving for an old favorite pizza from a restaurant in Spokane called Rock City Grill.  Their pizza had much more cheese than mine, and was loaded with shrimp and chicken, instead of the loads of veggies on top of mine.  

Thai Peanut Vegetable Pizza

Ingredients: 

2 c red cabbage, chopped

2 c small mushrooms, quartered

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

1/2 c green onion, chopped

1/2 c unsalted peanuts

1 c shredded low fat cheese (mozzarella)

2 T fresh basil, chopped

2+c Thai Peanut Sauce (recipe here) 

whole wheat pitas or pita halves

Directions:  Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.  Place pitas on an oven sheet and bake for ten minutes, to warm the base of the pizza.  In a medium sized bowl, mix together the red cabbage, mushrooms, red onion, green onion, peanuts and cheese.  When pitas are done warming, heat the oven up to 225 degrees F while you assemble the pizzas.  Pour and spread a good amount of the Thai Peanut Sauce on top of each pita, then sprinkle fresh chopped basil onto the sauced pizzas.  The, place a heaping amount of the cheese veggie mixture on top.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese is well melted.  Serve and enjoy!

Amy's Notes:  The veggie cheese mixture is enough to make around 6 pizzas if you are liberal with the toppings like I am.  For the sauce, I always make it in advance and save the sauce and any leftover toppings for pizzas another day.  To make this recipe quick, just put together the pizza and zap in the microwave for less than one minute.  I did this for my lunch earlier this week and it was still pretty good, but the veggies weren't quite as roasted and the "dough" was not as chewy.  Later in the week when I was making pizzas I tried adding kale to the mixture and found it delicious!  Tonight when I made it for me and my dad who is visiting for the weekend for WSU Dad's Weekend, my toppings were cheese, shittaki mushrooms, red onion, green onion, belgium endive, and kale.  Very yummy!

Since it's Dad's Weekend here at WSU, I thought I'd talk a little bit about dads and food!  My dad an I have always had similar tastes in foods.  We both have liked somewhat odd-ball things such as thai pizzas, ruebens, tartar sauce with our fries, (we love) pumpkin pie, (we both go nuts over, you guessed it) nuts, we both chew on ice, and like to have oatmeal in the morning.  Some memories of my dad growing up were when he made us french toast in the mornings sometimes on the weekends.  There was nothing particularly fancy about how he made french toast, but it was some of the best!  Because we are both eating a nutritarian diet now, I will not be making him french toast for breakfast this weekend.  I'll be making Pomegranate Muesli (from Dr. Fuhrman's member center recipe guide), which is pretty much cooked or uncooked oats with fruit and almond milk or orange juice.  More on this later in the weekend!

My dad and I both have a difficult time stopping snacking when we eat things like nuts (or cookies before ETL).  Are there any odd eating habits you share with family members?  Do you think our taste buds are genetically similar to family?