Brad was away this weekend, for this month's Navy Reserve drill weekend, and got home Sunday afternoon. We didn't do anything in particular to celebrate, but I did my best to at least let him put his feet up and relax once he got home. We also had a nice family dinner where we all sat down at the table together. We've been trying to do that more often, but given that the kids don't always eat the same dinner as us, and given that they eat much earlier than we like to, it doesn't happen every day. Meg made some comments recently about how families only all eat together at restaurants or on holidays, and that was the kick in the pants we needed to start doing it more often. I won't pretend we all eat together every day, but at least we're doing it more than we used to.
For dinner tonight, I made my second attempt at a meat-free "meat" loaf. I made a cottage cheese roast earlier this year that was pretty good, but I wanted one without dairy this time. I came across this awesome meatless loaf recipe generator from Vegan Lunch Box, and gave it a shot. Isn't it cool?? It gives you tons of options for what you want to include in your loaf, then it generates a recipe for you. Nice!
I opted for:
protein: lentils
carbohydrate: quinoa
nuts: sesame seeds
vegetables: onion, garlic and mushrooms
liquid: V-8
seasoning: oregano, nutritional yeast, and worcestershire sauce
binder: oatmeal
salty seasoning: salt
oil: olive oil
This isn't included in the recipe generator, but I went the traditional route and spread some ketchup over the top of the loaf, and (my personal touch) sprinkled a little brown sugar on top.
There are so many ways you can make this, and I'm really curious now to try out a different combination. Our loaf was delicious, but it didn't stick together very well, so next time I might try using something stickier. Still, though, it tasted fabulous, and got a thumbs up from all four of us. Yeah!
If you're going to make this, be sure to cook up your protein, carb and binder beforehand, so you're not scrambling to do so when it's time to make dinner. I just put my lentils in one saucepan, my quinoa in another, and my oatmeal in the rice cooker (in case you didn't know, you can make oatmeal in the rice cooker! What a time saver!). Easy peasy. I made some extra quinoa, too, and had it for a snack with a little soy milk, cinnamon and blue agave nectar. YUM!
Hooray for a totally meat- and dairy-free day!
1 comment:
um, what are lentils?
Meatloaf looks good. It is one of my favorite foods but I've only made it like 2ce in my life because I'm paranoid about getting the inside cooked all the way. So a meatless meatloaf would be great for us!
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