Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 medium banana
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ice
• optional: extra pumpkin pie spice to sprinkle on top
• optional: a dash of stevia to make it super sweet

Directions:

• blend!

Nutritional info.:

1 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories		190.2
Total Fat		4.0 g
	Saturated Fat	0.5 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.2 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		187.3 mg
Potassium		909.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		39.6 g
	Dietary Fiber	7.3 g
	Sugars	18.6 g
Protein		3.5 g

Vitamin A	393.2 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	37.5 %
Vitamin C	26.5 %
Vitamin D	25.0 %
Vitamin E	58.1 %
Calcium	23.9 %
Copper	12.7 %
Folate	9.2 %
Iron	13.5 %
Magnesium	19.7 %
Manganese	18.2 %
Niacin	5.4 %
Pantothenic Acid	7.9 %
Phosphorus	10.6 %
Riboflavin	10.9 %
Selenium	2.5 %
Thiamin	5.4 %
Zinc	2.7 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs

Can’t beat those stats! 7g of fiber, hello! And, get in my belly!

<3,

The Cranky One

I don’t think I need many words to convince you that you should try this recipe…

Dense. Gooey. Healthy.

Yea, this ish markets itself. It’s vegan bread 2.0.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat; don’t use bleached or 100% white; if you’re going to use regular whole wheat, use 1/2 ww and 1/2 all-purpose, unless it’s whole wheat pastry flour, which you can use 100%)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 large ripe banana, mashed
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze)
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 Energ-E egg replacer or flax egg
• sprinkle of sea salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (the Trader Joe’s ones are vegan)
• 2 cups hulled and sliced strawberries + 1 cup for garnish (use organic!)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8 glass dish or loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Mix together flour and baking soda. In a separate bowl mix together banana, applesauce and liquid ingredients. If you haven’t mashed the banana separately, you can mash it with the liquid ingredients using a fork. When the liquid mix is relatively lump-free, add it to the flour bowl and mix. Add in salt. Fold in chocolate chips and 2-cups strawberries. Pour into baking dish and add a few sliced strawberries on top for the pretty factor.
• Bake for 35-45 minutes. It’s done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out dry.

Nutritional info.:

Nutrition Facts   User Entered Recipe
9 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		222.1
Total Fat		5.0 g
	Saturated Fat	2.8 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.3 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.1 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		158.2 mg
Potassium		298.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate		44.5 g
	Dietary Fiber	5.9 g
	Sugars	19.3 g
Protein		4.2 g

Vitamin A	1.2 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	10.6 %
Vitamin C	50.4 %
Vitamin D	1.4 %
Vitamin E	5.0 %
Calcium	4.8 %
Copper	7.8 %
Folate	5.9 %
Iron	8.1 %
Magnesium	12.4 %
Manganese	79.1 %
Niacin	9.6 %
Pantothenic Acid	5.0 %
Phosphorus	10.8 %
Riboflavin	6.5 %
Selenium	27.8 %
Thiamin	9.2 %
Zinc	9.1 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Six grams of fiber a slice? Hot damn!

Eat up!

<3,

The Cranky One

I wanted to create a mock tuna or chicken salad to eat in romaine leaves, so I devised the following recipe for a Vegan Chickpea Salad. It turned out amazingly delicious — the consistency and flavor is very similar to chicken salad. I have to admit this is my new favorite recipe because it’s delicious, healthy and can be eaten in a number of ways (atop a salad, with crackers, in a sandwich, in a pita, etc.!). Try it!

Vegan “Chicken” Salad/Chickpea Salad
Makes 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 tbsp light mayo (I used Trader Joe’s light mayo which isn’t marketed as “vegan,” but happens to be)
• 1/2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp paprika
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup raisins, chopped

Directions

• Mix chickpeas, celery and onion, using a fork to lightly mash chickpeas, leaving some chickpeas more or less intact (to maintain a chunky texture); mix in all remaining ingredients.
• Refrigerate or serve immediately.

Nutritional Info.

• Per 1/2 cup (5 total): 119.7 calories, 1.3g fat, 344.4mg sodium, 21.86g carbs, 4.98g fiber, 7.46g sugars, 4.6g protein

<3,

The Cranky One

First, I’d like to thank Kahlua for her very nice “guest” post. She’ll be thrilled to know she’s now the Blogging for a Change mascot!

So, I heard Taco Bell was testing out tacos with shells made from Doritos. Crazy! Though, not gonna lie, if you served me up a taco made with a shell of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos it would take a lot of force to calm down the “old Bella” who still resides inside of me. Yep, she’s pretty quiet until you bring around her old favorites: Hot Cheetos, See’s candy & Reeses. Annnnyway….

I started thinking about aaaallll the Taco Bell I used to consume alongside my twin. Countless Mexican pizzas, hard shell tacos, pinto & cheese cups, Gorditas. Then I started craving a massive bean, rice and cheese burrito. Funny how that works. I wanted a burrito and it had to be massive!

There was only one thing to do: make a burrito the size of my head.

I did.

Massive Bean, Rice & Cheese Burrito

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cooked pinto beans (rinsed if from can) – I use Trader Joe’s organic, warm it if from a can (20 seconds in microwave works)
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 large tortilla (I used my favorite Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted tortillas), heated
• Cheese sauce, inspired by Angela’s at Oh She Glows: 4 tbsp. eggplant hummus, 1 tsp. nutritional yeast, 1 tbsp + 1tsp unsweetened almond milk
• Toppings: fresh salsa!

Directions

• Assemble. Wow, that was easy!

• Nutritional information for a burrito the size of your head: 448 calories, 8.4g fat, 525mg sodium, 75g carbs, 19g fiber, 0g sugars, 21g protein <— pretty damn amazing stats; you couldn’t ask for a healthier meals PLUS it has over 25% of your %DV of iron.

I would tell you how amazeballs this burrito is, but I’d rather you just test it out and tell me. I’m tired of hearing myself say amazeballs. Though it is fun to say. Amazeballs. Amazeballs. Amazeballs.

Get some!

<3,

The Cranky One

p.s. I know I’ve been rather annoying with all of my Blogging for a Change “plugs,” but this is charity, yo! Last day to enter to win awesome prizes for FREE and to donate is today by midnight EST. You still have an amazing chance to win these prizes…Kahlua says, “do it! *woof*!”

but one last hurrah before I do so…

I’m heading to New Mexico tonight to produce tracks for the Antique Toys’ new album. I am so excited I can hardly verbalize it!

Yesterday was my mom’s birthday and I made the most delicious vegan enchiladas…ever!…for her birthday celebration!  They are super healthy and hearty. So, I’m sharing the recipe below.

Birthday (or Vacation) Enchiladas

Ingredients

• Two teaspoons olive oil
• Three cloves of garlic, crushed
• One or two shallots, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
• Half of a large butternut squash, skinned, chopped into bite-size pieces
• One teaspoon taco seasoning
• Two Tofurkey Italian Sausage links, chopped into bite-size pieces, and cooked until brown (do this separately)
• Sea salt & pepper to taste
• Two cups raw spinach
• One 14.5-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• One half lemon
• 18 corn tortillas
• Canola oil for frying, optional
• Two bottles Trader Joe’s Enchilada Sauce

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Saute garlic and shallots in olive oil over medium heat until translucent (a couple minutes, tops)
• Add butternut squash and saute for a couple minutes. Then, add a few tablespoons of water and partially cover until butternut squash is soft (it doesn’t need to be fully soft since it will go in the over later, but somewhat soft is good enough)
• Lower heat, add Tofurkey sausage, taco seasoning, sea salt & pepper, stir
• Add spinach and garbanzo beans, stir and cook until spinach is soft
• Turn off heat and remove from heat.
• Squeeze lemon juice over mixture.
• You can heat your tortillas in the microwave or over, or fry them in canola oil for a few seconds each side. The choice is yours depending on the flavor you desire and your level of health-consciousness. Either way, you want your tortillas to be pliable and soft, but not fully cooked or firm
• Place enchilada sauce (empty both bottles) into a large, wide bowl. Dip each tortilla to coat on both sides.
• Fill each tortilla with a couple tablespoons of the mixture and roll up.
• Place seam-side down onto a shallow baking dish that’s coated in nonstick cooking spray.
• Once the cooking dish is filled with enchiladas, scoop additional enchilada sauce over the enchiladas and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
• Nutritional information (if you do not use canola oil to fry tortillas) via SparkPeople recipe calculator, per enchilada: 

Nutrition Facts  User Entered Recipe
18 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		140.5
Total Fat		2.3 g
	Saturated Fat	0.2 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.6 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.6 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		445.5 mg
Potassium		210.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate		23.5 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.1 g
	Sugars	0.8 g
Protein		3.3 g

Vitamin A	79.4 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	11.3 %
Vitamin C	16.0 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	0.8 %
Calcium	5.4 %
Copper	5.5 %
Folate	7.5 %
Iron	5.7 %
Magnesium	9.6 %
Manganese	16.2 %
Niacin	3.9 %
Pantothenic Acid	2.3 %
Phosphorus	11.5 %
Riboflavin	2.2 %
Selenium	3.6 %
Thiamin	4.0 %
Zinc	4.4 %

Is there a dish that you love to make for celebrations? Are you a different person when you’re on vacation?

Enjoy!

<3,

The Cranky One

p.s. Sadly, I rarely have time anymore to read other blogs (even my faves!), but today I was catching up on one of my favorite bloggers and had to share this post where she recaps her journey of a 100-lb-loss. Gotta love this chick. [here]

Since it’s winter break and I’m making a point to truly sit back and reflect on ways to ensure that I can maintain a healthy diet even when times get really tough (as they did last semester and as they will, invariably, next semester), I thought I’d share some of the ways I’ve been planning meals to save time (and money!):

• Find recipes that are easy, cheap, delicious and easy to spice up. Make a batch of one or two of your fave recipes on Sunday night and eat them throughout the week. I always change up recipes by adding different spices, a different type of bean, salsas, turning it into a soup, eating it with hearty whole grain bread, adding hot sauce, etc.
• Make sure your pantry and fridge are stocked with the staples, like beans, veggie broth, vegetables & fruits, non-dairy milk and …

Tortillas, pitas

Canned organic tomatoes. If you’re weary about BPA from cans, try Eden’s new amber glass jarred tomatoes

Brown rice [basmati pictured] and other whole grains

Tofu, tempeh, or seitan

• Get creative!

Some of my favorite things to make from these staples include:

Pictured: brown rice, lentil bolognese, & tofu taco “meat”

I love to make lentil bolognese, which only requires a few ingredients (& a bit of chopping). It has 85.83 calories, 0.95g fat, 5.53 g fiber, 4.44g protein per 1/2 cup serving.

I also love to have a batch of brown rice (made without oil) ready as a blank palette. Per 1 cup cooked, brown rice has 216 calories, 2g fat, 10mg sodium, 45g carbs, 4g fiber, 1g sugars, 5g protein. I like to eat 1/2 cup cooked brown rice with steamed veggies, in stir frys, with tofu or Italian Tofurkey sausage with veggies or edamame (pictured below).

Having a batch of cooked beans or canned beans around comes in super handy to throw into salads, burritos, enchiladas,

I love to simply saute chickpeas with a tablespoon of hoison sauce and throw into tortillas with spinach. A half cup of cooked garbanzo beans has 143 calories, 1.3g fat, 359mg sodium, 27.1g carbs, 5.3g fiber, 5.9g protein.

Recipe for Tofu “Taco Meat”

Ingredients

• One package organic firm tofu, drained
• One 14.5-oz can organic diced tomatoes (I like to use fire roasted)
• Two teaspoons vegan taco seasoning (from Trader Joe’s)

Directions

• Spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray, heat on medium heat, saute tofu with all ingredients while breaking up into crumbles. Cook for about 10 minutes, until tofu and tomatoes absorb some of the extra water.
• Nutritional information per 1/2 cup serving (7 total): 65.35 calories, 2.85g fat, 237mg, 1.36g fiber, 6.21g protein
• Serve in corn tortillas with lettuce, salsa (cilantro, diced jicama, guacamole, etc.!)

Local Events Coming Up

• Vegan Cooking with Chef Joni Newman, author of The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions, at Whole Foods Market in Long Beach this Thursday the 13th, 6 – 8:30 pm. Free! See here.
• The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life book signing with Melisser Elliot at Doomie’s Home Cookin’ in Los Angeles, this Friday the 14th, from 7-9 pm. [via Quarry Girl]

Do you plan your meals for the week or take it day by day? What are your fridge and pantry staples?

<3,

The Cranky One

Did you guys make any new year’s resolutions? Fellow blogger Rachel’s video post on the “Resolutionaries” invading the gyms was hilarious [here]! I’ve already seen the beach full with runners whereas, before the new year surge, I was one of a few running in the middle of the day. And while i don’t endorse this kind of “encouragement”…[source]

I also think being realistic about the long-term feasibility of goals is key (coming from someone who thought she could maintain a 2-hour work-out/day regiment. D’oh!) 

Anyway…

I didn’t make any resolutions that began specifically on Jan. 1st., since I use every day to evaluate and revise my goals, but I do use the new year spirit as an opportunity to suck up as much second-hand motivation as possible! And, even though I didn’t make a specific Jan. 1st goal, I really appreciated MizFit’s post asking the question: “If today were 12.31.11 & you were reflecting back on the year whats the BIGGEST healthy-living accomplishment you would have achieved in the previous 365 days?” For me, I want to be able to look back and say, “I’ve finally achieved a healthy body image and relationship with food.” I’ve made a lot of progress towards the goal, but it’s certainly something I still have a lot of work towards achieving this year. I think it’s important for me to evaluate what mini-goals I should strive for that will help me accomplish that big goal. I’ll also continue doing the things that make me feel fit and healthy like eating as clean as possible and running.

Outside of physical-health-related goals, I look forward to enjoying the things I’m passionate about — singing and writing — and the people (and fur babies) I’m passionate about! This will also be a year that marks a significant lifestyle shift as I finish my final semester as a master’s student and begin my search to find a full-time writing gig (that is if my singing career doesn’t serendipitously take off in a tour bus ). How exciting (and nerve-racking!)!

What’s something you want to have accomplished by 12/31/11?

Cool Stuff in the News

• Packaged meat to feature nutritional labels, effective Jan. 1, 2012 [here] Awesome! Wonder if  fruits and veggies will be next? Would that be necessary?
  
• “Humane” is to be a new label trend on grocery items now that research by the Chicago food industry shows that consumers rank animal welfare high on their list of concerns. “Whole Foods is launching a program developed by a group called the Global Animal Partnership that will rate products on a scale of 1 to 5 based on their animal-welfare standards” [here].
• Restaurant trendspotters predict that pies will replace cupcakes in prominence and that root vegetables will compete with meat as the star of entrees [here] Awesome news about the veggies!
• Hungry Girl premieres on Cooking Channel this Saturday, the 8th, at 4pm ET/1pm PT: “Tune in for guilt-free tips, restaurant-ordering tricks, Lisa (HG herself!) cooking in the kitchen, and all kinds of fun. The first episode is all about… PIZZA! Do NOT miss it. And don’t miss tomorrow’s email for a sneak peek at the episode!” [via e-newsletter here]
• Article about how the mind and body cannot be extricated when it comes to your health here: “The point now is that the emotional centers of the brain, which regulate our behaviors and our responses and our reactions, are physiologically connected with — and we know exactly how they’re connected — with the immune system, the nervous system and the hormonal apparatus. In fact, it’s no longer possible, scientifically, to speak of these as separate systems, as if immunity was separate from emotions, as if the nervous system was separate from the hormonal apparatus.”
• Calorie counts appearing on fast food menus in CA [here]

Happy new year, every one!

<3,

The Cranky One

My boyfriend and I love spring rolls — we get them at Zephyr, The Loving Hut and anywhere else we can get our hands on ‘em. It’s been on our “summer fun list” to try making them ourselves and, since my summer officially ends tomorrow (back to the grad-school grind, oy!), we spent some time in the kitchen yesterday concocting these beauties…


Aren’t they beautiful?! I still need to get better at wrapping them up tightly, but I’m very proud of how good they came out! This is some of the filling we used:

Bella & Boy’s Spring Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 medium cucumber cut into strips and then quartered
• 2 medium carrots cut into little strips (or peeled, if that’s easier)
• A few cups chopped cabbage
• Plenty of green onion chopped
• Plenty of fresh cilantro
• Rice paper wrappers for spring rolls (They sell these at Whole Foods)
• One 14-oz pack of tofu, marinated, cooked & cut into bite-sized pieces (see recipe below)
• Smooth peanut butter &/or tahini paste, optional

Tofu Marinade

• 2 tbsp Trader Joe’s BBQ sauce
• 2 tbsp Hoison sauce (they sell this at Whole Foods)
• 2 tbsp brown rice vinegar (they sell this at Whole Foods)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• black pepper to taste

Directions

• Have all of your veggies chopped and ready to go.
• Drain and pat tofu dry as you normally would. Marinate tofu in the mixture above. If you have time, let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking (I didn’t have time and the tofu still soaked up the yummy flavors).
• Spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray and set heat to medium-high. Cook tofu equally on all sides ’til it gets nice and crispy. Then, remove from heat and set on a plate.
• I’m not sure this is the safest way to do it, but I got a large and wide glass bowl (wider than the width of the rice wrappers) and filled it half-way with water, & microwaved for 3 minutes. I then dipped a rice wrapper into the water for 30 seconds or so until pliable, then removed to a plate, filled with sprinkles of veggies, cilantro and tofu, topped with a drizzle of smooth, unsalted peanut butter, and wrapped up. Be very careful to make sure the water isn’t too hot to dip your hands in — you don’t want it to be boiling, just warm enough to make the rice paper pliable and not burn your fingers when dipping in!
• Do the same with as many wrappers as you care to use.

The options are endless with these babies. You can add whatever veggies you want. I know many people fill them with bean sprouts, vermicelli, bell peppers, tempeh, seitan and more. I am envisioning that some sort of coconut curry tempeh would go amazing in a spring roll with mint leaves and veggies.

If you want to make your own dipping sauce, you can experiment, as I did, with hoison, peanut butter, tahini paste, vinegar, lemon juice and water.

What does a spring roll have to do with the “saying yes to change” I referenced in the title of this post? Not much. But as an English M.A. student I reserve the right to make loose connections like it’s my job. Plus, I just wanted to talk about my hair! See, another thing on my “summer fun” list (am I the only one who makes lists of things I want to do for fun when I have the time?) was to have one frivolous expense. I’m just not that into clothes (buy ‘em all used, anyway) or shoes (only spend on running shoes; otherwise, been wearing the same pairs for the past 5 years, no joke!). The only thing I’ll really invest in/experiment with to express myself aesthetically is my hair. I intended to get blonde highlights again (which I did for the first time, after a decade, about 9 months ago, and that was a big deal to me). But as I sat there in the chair, I knew I wanted something way outside of my comfort zone. I wanted red hair. I wanted to be a mix of Titanic-Kate-Winslet and Paramore’s Hayley — two chicks who’d grace my walls if I were 13 again and in my posters-from-floor-to-ceiling phase The hairstylist warned me about the upkeep, about how drastic the change would be, etc.. And these words just flew right out of my mouth, “I want it, I’m ready and there’s no turning back now!”
It’s still kinda burgundy in this pic, but just today it’s getting that red pop that makes me want to stand at the edge of a giant ship and say, “I’ll never let go, Jack!”

What’s your ideal filling for a spring roll? Ever made ‘em? Ever stepped outside of your comfort zone on your hair color or did some sort of change because you were tired of the norm?

<3,

The Cranky One

Well…I did create a bite-sized bit o’ chocolate heaven, but, yea, I’ll save those gypsy days for another time. These bites are very dense due to the whole-wheat flour and oats, so there’s a lot o’ brownie in one lil’ bite!

Cranky Brownie Bits and Bites of Chocolate Heaven
16 one-bite servings; Little prep time & ingredients you most likely have already!


Ingredients

• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (I use Trader Joe’s brand of turbinado sugar)
• 2 tbsp. Earth Balance, softened
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup, unsweetened original almond milk (I use Almond Breeze)
• Optional: Top each bite with an almond
• Nutritional info. per bite: 130 calories, 5g fat, 31mg sodium, 3g fiber, 3g protein (estimate based on Sparkpeople recipe calculator here)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees; spray mini-muffin tray with cooking spray.
• Mix all ingredients and spread evenly amongst 16 mini-muffin cups. Top each bite with an almond if you’d like.
• Cook about 15 minutes or until tops are no longer wet.

Enjoy!

In other news – Holy Razzle McSnazzle! I’m going to be hosting an awesome give-away tomorrow — stay tuned!

What is your favorite muffin flavor? Outside of chocolate, it’s gotta be poppy seed for me!

<3,

The Cranky One

Whenever summer comes around, I am reinvigorated with life and the desire to try out new recipes! I’d been wanting to use up some whole-wheat pie crusts I had sitting in the freezer, but figured making a dessert dish would sabotage my “get fit” summer plans, so I opted for making an eggless quiche with my favorite vegetables — it came out delicious (and quite gorgeous!).

The Cranky One’s Cliche Quiche — Eggless for Your Delight

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. olive oil — 119 calories, 13.5g fat, 0mg sodium, 0g fiber, 0g protein
• 1 large sweet potato, chopped into bite-sized pieces — 162 calories, 0.4g fat, 65mg sodium, 5.9g fiber, 3.6g protein
• 1/2 large white onion, chopped — 32 calories, 0.1g fat, 2mg sodium, 1g fiber, 0.7g protein
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed — 9 calories, 0g fat, 0mg sodium, 0.1g fiber, 0.4g protein
• 1 cup frozen spinach — 60 calories, 0g fat, 345mg sodium, 6g fiber, 6g protein
• 1/2 cup frozen corn — 66 calories, 0.3g fat, 4mg sodium, 2g fiber, 2.3g protein
• 10-15 frozen asparagus spears, chopped except for 4 (to top quiche) — 11 calories, 0.1g fat, 1mg sodium, 1.1g fiber, 1.2g protein (Stats on 15 spears)
• About 8 oz. firm tofu, drained (1/2 typical package) — 329 calories, 19.7g fat, 32mg sodium, 5.2g fiber, 35.8g protein
• *1 vegan egg-replacer (I use Ener-g) — 15 calories, 0g fat, 5mg sodium, 0g fiber, 0g protein
• 1 tbsp. tahini — 100 calories, 9g fat, 37.5mg sodium, 0.5g fiber, 0g protein
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk — 20 calories, 1.5g fat, 90mg sodium, 0.5g fiber, 0.5g protein
• Salt and pepper to taste
• One 9″ whole wheat pie shell — 880 calories, 64g fat, 800mg sodium, 16g fiber, 16g protein
• Nutritional information for entire dish: 1,803 calories, 108.6g fat, 1,381.50mg sodium, 38.3g fiber, 66.5g protein
  
• Per 1/8 slice: 225 calories, 14g fat, 173mg sodium, 5g fiber, 8g protein
  

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400
• In a large saute pan over medium heat, saute olive oil, onion, garlic and sweet potato until onions are translucent. Add a couple teaspoon of water and cover for a couple minutes so that sweet potatoes get somewhat soft (they don’t need to get fully soft).
• Remove cover and add spinach, corn and chopped asparagus. Saute over medium-heat for a few minutes (until spinach defrosts and separates). Turn off heat.
• If you want a legit quiche texture: Put tofu, “egg,” tahini and almond milk in food processor and blend until well-combined, smooth and creamy. Then add to veggie mixture and stir together gently. If you don’t mind your quiche having a more “scrambled egg and veggies” feel, break up tofu with you hands and add straight to the veggie mixture, then stir in other ingredients gently.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and stir.
• Spoon veggie and tofu mixture into the pie crust, patting down and making sure it’s cohesive. Top with 4 aspargus spears, pressed lightly into the tofu.
• Bake for 35-45 minutes.

*You can find this in the baking aisle of Whole Foods; it’s not refrigerated. Your recipe will still come out fine without it, though!

Enjoy!

<3,

The Cranky One