Changing direction

We are changing the way we eat in our home.
We have been eating differently for a while, slowly changing the foods that we eat.
Bryce has been the lead in our diet, he has been a vegetarian of sorts for a long time. He has eaten fish and dairy though.
Starting this past Sunday, we have been meat free. I have ONE egg left in my fridge and when it is gone, we will not be buying anymore. I have been exploring different substitutions for eggs and will be trying some. Dairy will take a bit longer to completely give up. We rarely drink cow's milk, eat yogurt sometimes but use cheese in a lot. I have been trying some nutritional yeast cheese-like substitutions lately since we eat a lot of that anyway but haven't completely committed..
Here's one that I have used for a while now, got it from the Farm Vegetarian Cookbook back in college:**

NUTRITIONAL YEAST "CHEESE"
from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook

• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes*
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1 tsp wet mustard

Mix dry ingredients in saucepan. Whisk in water. Cook over medium heat, whisking, until it thickens and bubbles. Cook 30 seconds, then remove from heat, whip in margarine and mustard. It will thicken as it cools, but will thin when heated, or when water is added. Makes 3 cups.

Note: If you'd like to lower the fat content of this recipe, use a tablespoon of margarine. This works just as well. It can also be prepared without using any margarine at all.

Variation: For a richer stretchier sauce that's good on pizza, substitute for the flour: 1/4 cup cornstarch and 2 Tbsp Flour. Instead of margarine, whip in 1/2 cup of oil after it cooks, and add as much as 1 cup of water at the end, or as needed to make a thick, smooth sauce that pours easily. Pour it on pizza and for the last few minutes of baking, put pizza under broiler for a few minutes to form a stretchy, golden brown speckled skin.

I wanted to give props to the following blogs for helping me:
Vegan Lunch Box A long time fave of mine, she's an inspiration
Happy Foody I have gotten a lot of recipes from her
Urban Vegan I got a great rice croquette recipe from her


And I could never forget the variety of recipe search sites out there like Allrecipes
that have a variety of meal options.

The last few days have been easy because I have not been able to eat much due to lingering stomach flu-ish issues. I did enjoy some tasty rice Krispie treats and veggie spag sauce over noodles last night though!

I'm gonna try and pass on the best recipes that we have and the easiest ones to throw together also. I also try and pass on good vegan/vegetarian cookbooks that we have enjoyed.
Off on the veggie journey!



**Birthing mamas--yes, that's the same "Farm"!