Hey guys! Its almost the weekend! I am SO excited! I’m heading to State College tomorrow to see Josh and I can’t wait. Its crazy how much you can miss someone just going a few days without seeing them. We have some fun plans this weekend I cant wait to recap with you on Monday! Make sure to check back around lunch time tomorrow though, I’ve got a special little post planned before I go MIA for the weekend! 😀
Also, I’d really appreciate your comments on my question of the day today at the end of this post. Its a topic I’d really like some honest opinions on! But I’ll get to that in a little bit, first onto the food!
This morning started off like every other morning, with a breakfast burrito. I decided to mix it up a little and slather it in some pesto sauce I was looking to use up. The tortillas already have pesto in them but adding more definitely upped the flavor and gave it a nice little kick.
After breakfast I headed off to finance in my workout clothes since I have aerobics immediately after. I swear that class must think I’m the crazy aerobic lady, they’ve never seen me not in spandex! While sitting in finance I remembered that today was my aerobics midterm, and that we weren’t going to be doing workouts today. Thankfully I had all my classwork with me so I could get a little studying done in between stock analysis. It was a little embarrassing being the only person showing up to aerobics in workout wear, but I figured that’s what they’ve seen me in since the second day of class so they’re probably used to it!
After class I did a little shopping at Kohls and Wegmans and then headed home to relax and spend some quality time with my babies. Andy recently got a new bone (even more recent than his other new bone) that he absolutely loves.
He guards it closely.
He’s also a bully. Everything Bailey has Andy wants, even if he has the exact same thing. Typical little sibling syndrome. (I had it!) Do you see that little bit of white fluff at the bottom of the picture? That’s Bailey. After she just had her bone stolen by Andy. She cried.
What a punk.
I worked up an appetite while playing with my puppies so I decided to make something quick and easy with the leftover tofu from last night for lunch.
Keep in mind the tofu has a peanut glaze sauce over it. Smothering it in cheese and putting it on a bed of noodles is not for everyone, but it was absolutely delicious for me!
For dinner I was craving soup. I found this recipe for Baked Potato Soup over at Skinny Taste. Its a new-to-me blog, but one that I am definitely going to start reading on a regular basis as the soup was delicious! I modified a few of the ingredients from her original recipe, so my ingredients are listed below.
Ingredients:
4 red potatoes, washed and dried
1 small head of cauliflower (stem removed)
1 1/2 cups broth (veggie or chicken)
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt
3 tbsp chopped chives (with additional to garnish)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (to garnish)
To start you want to cook the red potatoes in the microwave. First make sure to puncture them with a fork or knife, then cover them with a damp paper towel and microwave for five minutes. Then turn them over and microwave for an additional five minutes. At this point you can either peel the potatoes or leave the skins on. I love potato skins so I opted to leave them in the soup.
At the same time you should be steaming your califlower on the stove. When it is done drain and then leave in the pot.
Go ahead and add your stock, your milk, and your potatoes to the cauliflower. Cook until boiling, stirring occasionally.
Now this is where it gets interesting. If you have an immersion blender use that. If not, prepare for a messy ride. Just know that it is completely worth it. When I mentioned to Josh I don’t have an immersion blender he told me I could do the same thing in a blender. I was excited to know I could still make my soup but had no idea what I was in for.
He strongly cautioned me to take out the middle attachment in the blender because when blending hot things it causes the inside of the blender to get very hot. Which can lead to the lid popping off while blending. He also advised blending small batches of the soup at a time since without a complete lid you don’t want to be filling the blender to the brim. I’m so glad I didn’t because I can’t imagine what a mess I would have made. Having three blender cycles still had potato flying out at me. It wasn’t anything serious, I just wouldn’t recommend wearing nice clothes while you make this. ;p I ended up covering the hole with a dish rag and that worked out great for me.
Once the blending is complete, celebrate! Then move all of it back into the pot. Add your chives and greek yogurt. Mix thoroughly.
Then add salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking for an additional ten minutes on low heat, stirring continuously.
And voila! Soup is served! This wasn’t a hard recipe at all, and if you have an immersion blender, it should be downright easy. The soup was phenomenal. My dad deemed it restaurant quality. This was the point where you are supposed to garnish with chives and cheddar cheese. I only remembered the chives before I started digging in. It says something if I think this dish is perfect just the way it is, without any cheese in it.
Yum!
Now for what I really wanted to talk to you guys about. If you are a vegetarian I would really appreciate your opinion on this one!
Question of the Day: Do you ever eat foods made with chicken/beef stock, gelatin, and/or cheese products containing animal enzymes?
As a new vegetarian (I stopped eating animals completely about two or three months ago) its hard for me to figure out what I think about products that while they don’t physically contain animal are made from a dead animal. For instance, my favorite soup from Panera, the broccoli and cheddar soup, is made with chicken stock. Diane made rice a week ago cooked in chicken stock. And today, when going to make this recipe I realized we were out of veggie stock. Not wanting to run out to the store at night in the rain, I used chicken stock. This is not something I want to do frequently, I plan from here on out always having vegetable stock in the pantry and not using chicken stock again when cooking for myself. But I am indecisive on how to handle when I go out to eat, where who knows what kind of stock is flavoring the soup a restaurant is serving. I have absolutely no desire to eat a piece of chicken or beef (or fish, but I never liked that) at all, and would never eat a burger because there were no good vegetarian options around. But for some reason stock does not bring that same instinctual no to my mind. I think it might be a case of not seeing or smelling or tasting any animals when I eat it. Yet this seems very hypocritical to me. Do you guys have any foods that while not technically considered vegetarian you don’t necessarily view on the same level as eating a burger or a piece of chicken? Any advice on how to handle this situation? I would love to get your thoughts!
My own personal vegetarian philosophy is to reduce the amount of animal products I consume as much as possible, without being obsessive/perfectionist over it, or turning it into something like a religion. But that is just me — obviously, it *is* part of religious duty for many people, and plenty of strict vegans don’t have those obsessive perfectionist tendencies in the first place. I think you should do what feels right to your own conscience — and you should not feel guilty if your veggie rules adapt to accommodate different situations. That’s my two cents.
I really appreciate this! I love your vegetarian philosophy, and the thought of following my conscience instead of whatever the “rules” may be! Thank you so much!
I spent 3 years as a vegan (when I was a teen). I wasn’t very healthy b/c I didn’t know how to cook (read: spaghetti every night.) Then I fluctuated between vegetarian and vegan, with a short 2 month stint of eating chicken and pork.
After all the time, I’ve settled into being “a vegetarian”- but I don’t think labeling your diet in such a way is important. Eat what makes you feel good- mentally and physically. If you think it’s wrong to eat gelatin then don’t eat it- but don’t do it because, “That’s what vegetarians do.”
I don’t eat meat (now) b/c I don’t like the way I feel when I eat it.. it makes me feel bloated and sluggish. It also kind of grosses me out, as do eggs. I’ll eat a product that contains eggs, though, and I eat gelatin. It’s just a matter of preference.
Wow you’ve experienced the whole spectrum with eating choices! I agree with you completely, not eating meat I actually feel better physically and mentally! Its also encouraging me to get more creative with what I do eat, instead of relying on meat and chicken for meals like I used to. Thanks so much for your comment, I really appreciate it!
I think it’s okay to swing outside the boundaries once in a while. They’re your boundaries, right? 🙂 I’m sure it’ll happen less and less as you get used to it more.
That’s what I’m hoping, that eventually I won’t even want to eat soups that have chicken or beef stock in it. I haven’t eaten any actual animal products since I became vegetarian, but I feel like using stock, which I now have done, can also be considered an animal product, which means I technically have. I just need to go with the flow with it more! Thanks so much for the comment! 🙂
I saw your comment on Daily Garnish and thought I’d speak my mind. I stopped eating meat because I love vegetables, and there isn’t enough room for both. This has informed a lot my decisions–I’m a preferential vegetarian, not an ethical vegetarian.
That being said, here’s how I see the big picture:
– you’re vegetarian, but are not picky about eating animal products
– people see that a) being vegetarian is not difficult because you can still eat delicious foods, and/or b) eating less meat is ok–you don’t have to be 100% vegetarian
– result: other people try being vegetarian and/or eating less meat
– big picture: better for animals, better for humans, better for the planet
I understand the ethical argument the other way, too, but if it’s not an easy change for you, make the changes you can. In the process, you will show the people around you how easy it is to change.
I’ve already gotten my parents, my fiance and his parents eating more vegetables and less meat–a way bigger impact than me not eating chicken stock.
I love the way you visualized the big picture. That’s exactly what I want to show people, that it is super easy to not eat meat. Because it really is! There are so many other yummy foods out there! Thanks so much for the comment!
I think that everyone needs to make their own boundaries with their diet, so it should be completely up to you. I think the most important part of the journey is becoming more informed abou your food and where it comes from.
I’ve been eating less meat lately for health reasons, not ethical ones. I know myself though, and if I were to go vegetarian, I would have to do all or nothing. If I let things slide in a grey area, I would eventually let TOO much slide.
Like I said though, I think what’s important is the knowledge you’re gaining about where your food comes from and what’s in it, not so much about your personal boundaries.
Thank you for your sharing your opinion on this! Becoming more informed about food and where it comes from is so important, and something I am finding fascinating and very, very educational!
I’m a vegetarian as well. I think you have to find out what works for you with the “Grey zone” for vegetarianism. Some people go so far as to not wear animal products. It depends where you want to draw the line. I see it as a personal thing. Do you eat marshmellows (that have gelatin)? I do.
Personally, for me it’s more about biting into a piece of meat – I don’t like the taste, texture or the thought of biting into an animal. But when I eat at a restaurant I don’t bother to ask if something is made with chicken broth though I stay away from soups with meat in them. But some people do this type of thing, and that’s what works for them. For a while when I became vegtarian, I was technically pescatarian. I still ate shell fish. Slowly I’ve stopped eating shell fish, but still occasionally eat crab cakes. Little by little I’m working on cutting it out because the ethics of it do bother me, but I wasn’t able to go cold turkey with crab like I was with beef and chicken.
Ultimately it’s about doing what works for you and drawing the line where you feel comfortable. and if you have to gradually change your lifestyle rather than go cold turkey to get there, that’s okay too. IMO what you eat and don’t is a personal decision.
Thank you for this! It has been great getting to hear other people’s food journeys and see how individualized each experience is!