I would like to apologize to all the readers of the Lazy Vegan blog. I haven’t posted since December. You know, I am lazy, but this is ridiculous!
A family member was sick at the end of the year and then had to be hospitalized mid-January. The stress involved ate up all my energy and brain cells.
My family member is doing alot better and things are getting back to normally. Hopefully, my posting to this blog will too!
Thanks for your patience!
Wishing the visitors to this blog a very happy holiday season!
Merry Christmas to all!
I’m not sure what’s going on in the protein/energy bar aisle. First, NuGo doubled the amount of sugar in their bars. Now Luna has jumped on the bandwagon.
Nutz Over Chocolate used to have 9 grams of sugar per bar. It now has 12 grams. The Caramel Nut Brownie used to have 11 grams. It now has 14 grams.
I don’t really understand why they are increasing sugar levels when the bars tasted good right from the start. I used to be able to eat two Nuts Over Chocolate bars and keeping my snacking sugar grams under 20 for the day. But, now I can only have one. Two bars equal 24 grams of sugar! Two brownies come out to 28 grams!
I really wish they would revert back. They had a good snack that tasted great. Now they’ve got a very sweet, sugary tasting snack that you have to be careful of overdoing. Bummer!
After being vegan for several years, I finally bought tempeh. Have you tried it? It’s a fermented soy product that mimics meat in recipes. It can be straight soy bean or it can be mixed with grains.
I don’t miss meat, but sometimes I like something else in my sandwiches. I bought LightLife’s Three Grain Tempeh and gave it a try.
It looks a little strange, but it’s really versatile. I took a hunk, crumbled it into my vegetables, and heated in the microwave. It came out really good! The Three Grain has a kind of grainy/nutty taste.
It freezes well. I put small chunks in freezer bags, then take what I need.
I haven’t tried it but it might make a good pattie.
If you’re looking for a little more texture to your meals, something on the line of ground beef or tuna (in texture, not taste!), then give this a try. It’s a good filler!
If you are addicted to the NuGo Double Dark Chocolate bars like I am, take a look at the label. They’ve almost doubled the amount of sugar in each bar.
The Double Dark Chocolate bars were sooooo good. I loved the fact that they only had 8 grams of sugar. If I wanted to be greedy, I could eat two and it wasn’t that big of a deal. Now they have 15 grams of sugar, so you have to be careful. If you feel like two, that’s a whopping 30 grams of sugar!
Why did they need to increase the sugar content? It makes no sense to mess with something that already tastes great. They should have left well enough alone.
I guess it’s back to Luna bars since the Nutz Over Chocolate only has 9 grams of sugar.
Wishing everyone a very happy 4th of July filled with great taste of veggie BBQ 
Get ready for a change in produce. It’s spring and it’s time for summer squash. Zucchini, Patty Pan, Yellow Squash, Crookneck, and more. This fruit makes a great compliment to dinner meals and it’s a nice change over the carrots and peas you’ve probably been eating all winter.
All of these varieties are easy to cook in the microwave. Scrub them up good under water. Remove the ends. Break them in half so they’ll fit in your bowl. I use glass bowls with plastic lids for steaming produce in the microwave. Put the squash in the bowl and add a little bit of water so it doesn’t burn.
Microwave for two minutes then check to see if it’s done. Some squash has thicker skins so it takes longer in the microwave.
I’ve been buying baby carrots for the last year. They are precut and can be sliced or mashed after they are cooked. I thought they were easier to work with.
A couple of weeks ago, I was craving regular carrots. Don’t ask me why. I bought a bag and washed them up. Chopping carrots is too hard for me to do, so I went the lazy route and broke them into chunks. I put them in a glass bowl with some water.
I wasn’t sure how long to microwave them. Baby carrots can take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes. I decided to start with 2 minutes.
I sure was surprised when I tested them with a fork and they were done. I couldn’t believe they took half the time of baby carrots.
Now all I cook is regular carrots. They may take a little longer to prepare but they microwave better and are sweeter.
I’m always looking for ways to make dinner quick and easy. I realized a couple of weeks ago that vegetables microwave very well when wrapped in a tortilla. Make sure the vegetables are quick cooking. Fresh broccoli, shredded carrots, chopped zucchini, frozen peas, canned beans, and many others can be thrown in a tortilla.
Here’s what I do:
Rinse a handful of broccoli. Break up the florets and throw them in the tortilla.
Rinse some mixed greens and throw those on top of the broccoli.
Wrap it up like a burrito.
Microwave for 1 minute. Let cool a bit. (Although you can touch the outside the inside will be steaming hot.)
It’s a really easy way to have a nutritious meal. And, it’s filling. You can throw in a variety of vegetables and they steam up really nicely.
Couscous has got to be the easiest side dish in the world to make. Takes about 5 minutes total and you’ve got a nice hot meal. It amazes me that it isn’t a staple in all American household especially since we’re so pressed for time.
If you’ve never cooked couscous, it really easy to make in the microwave. In fact, it’s much easier than cooking it on the stove. Get yourself a microwave bowl. Put in one cup of couscous and 1 1/2 cups of water. Microwave for 1 minute. Then let it sit for 5 minutes.
That’s it! You’ve made a really good side dish and it took almost no time.
If you like you can add to it. Before cooking through in some frozen peas or broccoli (fresh or frozen–takes about the same time). Microwave for 2 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Now you have a meal.
You can use other vegetables, just make sure they are quick cooking. Otherwise, the couscous might dry out before everything is cooked through.
Enjoy!