Day 10 is officially the last day of my ExtraVeganza! pilot project. The test phase ends here, but my adventures in the world of (wannabe) vegans will go on!
I’m determined to try and keep eating vegan as much as possible. I have a book bloggers meetup Afternoon Tea coming up next Tuesday where 100% vegan isn’t an option — yes, I checked — but I made sure I won’t be getting any cheese at least. The day after that we’re supposed to have dinner at my mother-in-law’s so I’ll call her tomorrow and will offer to cook. It won’t be difficult as I know she likes chilli!
And then there’s this VERY special occasion on Friday, when a dear friend will get her PhD on Bartholomeus van der Helst — she is the specialist on the 17th century artist (from the Dutch Golden Age), and we’ll be having a celebration dinner afterwards. It’s a buffet, so there’s bound to be something I can enjoy!
I’ve made a vegan menu plan for the upcoming week. Are you interested? I’m going to serve it to you anyway! ;)
Menu plan February 6th-12th
- Ratatouille with chickpeas & couscous
- Mushroom risotto with spinach, tempeh & bean sprout salad
- Miso soup, tofu puffs (inarizushi), Japanese sesame broccoli and salted lemon wheels; maybe I’ll finally try my hand at gyoza
(Hello Japan here I come! ;) - Mexican chilli with tortilla wraps, guacamole and possibly salsa picante [Wednesday]
- Turkish bulgur and red lentil soup, kohlrabi salad
Now that the ExtraVeganza pilot has ended I won’t be blogging daily about my food anymore. But here’s what I had today!
Menu Day 10 (Saturday February 5th 2011)
Breakfast
This morning I went for the successful oatmeal in almond milk again.
Lunch
Three slices of toast for lunch:
- Tartex olivera with olives and alfalfa.
Good. - Yesterday’s ‘green gunk’, which had gotten a little brown but was still tasty. ;)
- Tofutti ‘cream cheese’ with sun-dried tomato & radish.
Good.
You may wonder about the rotating Tartex, tofutti, avocado (& smoked tofu). There’s just so much I can eat at a time so I don’t want to open any more types of spreads.
The avocado is still the same from Day 1: each time I cut off a slice I cover the green pulp with lemon (keep the stone in of course) and a piece of saran wrap as snugly on the surface as possible. If I’m correct the browning of avocados is an oxidation process, which you can delay by letting as little oxygen touch the fruit as possible. I finished the avocado today (how appropriate!), but I’ll try to remember to photograph the next one. Yes, there are more yummy avocados in my fruit basket. ;)
Dinner
Our plan to conclude ExtraVeganza! by dining out at Kitchen Punx failed again, because the eatery is closed on Saturday due to other activities. No worries, I’ve made reservations for tomorrow! Eating at the only vegan place in all of Utrecht city must be part of this project.
So tonight we had some more of the Pumpkin-coconut soup from earlier this week instead and I tried a new recipe out of today’s Guardian newspaper: quinoa stir-fry with kale chilli and nuts. It was pretty nice — better than I had expected ;) Very lemony, which I like. I tried it with, and without soy sauce (like the article suggests) and appreciated both variations. A crunchy salad on the side would have been good but on the other hand we couldn’t have eaten any more food. ;)
One of the attractions of this dish is that author Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall states it’s good hot as well as cold… Me thinks “bento!” ;) So Monday will introduce my first Quinoa Bento ever. Before today I had never eaten, let alone cooked this type of ‘grain’ before! While it’s up to 7000 years old and was considered sacred food by the Incas. And it’s a great source of proteins!
Will I make this recipe again? I may, or may not — just not sure!
Snacks
In the afternoon I had a fruit salad (apple, pear, kiwi, banana) with lemon juice, ginger syrup, toasted coconut, walnuts and almonds. Yay for vitamins & fibres! ;)
I’m not sure whether it’s permanent, but over-all I seem to crave less food in between meals..?! As a matter of fact: I stocked up on a whole bunch of hearty vegan snacks (and I don’t mean veggies now ;) and haven’t opened a single package!
Experiences
Anything special about today?
Yep: it’s the very last day of my ExtraVeganza pilot. And I’ve told you all about it. ;) I hope you liked to read about Gnoe’s vegan adventures and maybe even got a little inspired? That I haven’t bored you to death for the last ten days is the best I can hope for! ;)
Any difficulties?
No. Having hardly ventilated any problems at all in the past 10 days, you must agree with me it was easier than expected! :)
Though the project ends here, you may expect more ExtraVeganza! posts on Graasland; whenever the topic or recipe is vegan. And someday Gnoe’s vegan adventures may migrate to the separate ExtraVeganza! weblog!
– – – – –
New recipe(s) tried for the Whip Up Something New! Challenge!
Graasland 
16 reacties
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zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 11:26
Iris
Oh, that recipe for Quinoa looks good. I have never made quinoa, but they had quinoa puffs as breakfast cereal in Sweden and I did like them combined with soy yoghurt.
And thank you for the tip about the avocado ;)
I don’t think we have a Vegan restaurant in Groningen. I came across a vegetarian and fish restaurant 2 days ago, but all the vegetarian options involved goat cheese. I have always wondered why restaurants insist on vegetarian meals with cheese, it is not as if cheese is the best replacement for meat there is. (But maybe I’m simply frustrated because I’ve always disliked cheese).
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 12:01
Gnoe
Like I said, it was my first time making *and* eating quinoa! Quinoa puffs sound weird though, but I think I know what you mean (those type of bricks you need to add dairy to). So you like soy yoghurt just as it is? I need to get used to the taste.
I’m not sure how up-to-date the info is but I read you can eat vegan at De Zevende Hemel (Zuiderkerkstraat 7) in Groningen; it is specifically emphasized. Of course calling up front and letting them know you wish to eat vegan is always best — gives the chef a chance to be creative.
And then there’s Volxkeuken Salmonella on Saturdays… Not sure about that! ;) But really can’t have an opinion after having been there. You could try some of the recipes on their website first? But beware: the amounts are for about 60 people! LOL
I understand your frustration about the vegetarian options in restaurants. Same here ;) Although it was that BIG of of problem for me up until a short while ago. What bothered me most was the fact they use ordinary cheese = made with animal rennet and NOT VEGETARIAN at all! I also like to eat organic, *especially* concerning animal products, and that is seldom the case too. I hope one of the two restaurants works out. And you could always ask BlaBla on twitter whether vegan is an option? (@Rest_Bla_Bla)
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 15:46
Iris
No, that were not the quinoa puffs I meant. They are “gepoft”, een beetje zoals rice crispies? En ik at altijd soy yoghurt met een smaakje met muesli oid. Je hebt gelijk, zo af en toe smaakt de yoghurt heel vettig.. Dus als ik het als “yoghurt met muesli” eet, is het meestal een klein beetje, zodat de muesli flink compenseert.
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 15:58
Gnoe
Dat vind ik een goeie tip want ik heb muesli met soja yoghurt nog niet durven proberen, terwijl ik dat wel vaak als ontbijt at met gewone yoghurt. En die quinoa puffs zijn dan ws. zoiets als gepofte kamut, ook yummy ;) Maar ik weet niet of dat vegan is want die zijn gezoet en ik heb ze al een poos niet in huis gehad. #notetoself
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 11:39
Leeswammes
Great menu for the coming week, Gnoe. I’m tempted to “pop by” at dinner time (“Ah is it that time already? No, we can talk while you cook. Oh, well yes, if you’re offering, I’d love to stay for dinner.” :-)
This list looks absolutely delicious. I will use this as inspiration for my own meals.
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 12:02
Gnoe
Thanks Judith! You don’t have to be sneaky about popping by, you’re always welcome! :)
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 14:47
Bek
Ah, The Guardian! I love this newspaper for… well… their news. But the recipes are a big plus.
Last week I baked the Banana bread with toasted walnuts and dark chocolate. It does contain eggs and butter though.
And Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has interesting suggestions, but I seldom follow them. His River Cottage series was fun. Have you seen it? He has moved out of the cottage now and started a much bigger ‘permaculture’.
And my tiny town has a very tiny Asian vegetarian junk food place!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/18/banana-bread-walnuts-dark-chocolate-recipe
http://www.yusnacks.nl/index.html
http://www.destentor.nl/regio/apeldoorn/apeldoorn/3531855/Chinese-snacks-zonder-vlees.ece
(PS they do serve meat nowadays, but it’s prepared in separate cooking gear)
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 16:02
Gnoe
I had meant to post about the vegetarian snack-bar in Apeldoorn! Didn’t get round to it though, as with sooooo many topics :\ I’ve been there a few times as I work in Apeldoorn :) But I missed out on their vegetarian lemper every time :( And I didn’t know they sell meat now, I guess they have to to survive.
My favourite restaurant of the whole country is also located in A’doorn btw! Sinni in the Beekstraat. Have you ever been there? You should!
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 17:55
Leeswammes
Do tell us where the vegetarian snack-bar in Apeldoorn is, please. I go there regularly so I would love to know.
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 18:33
Gnoe
It is also in the Beekstraat.
zondag 6 februari 2011 bij 23:51
Maaike
Je hebt me zeker niet ‘bored to death’! Ik vond het erg inspirerend. Dat World Food Cafe Book klinkt erg interessant. Dat zet ik op mijn verlanglijstje!
donderdag 21 april 2011 bij 00:09
Suzanne
Ik heb geprobeerd Quinoa te vinden, maar ik werd in de toko een beetje raar aangekeken, want hoe ik het uitsprak betekent het heel wat anders in het Afghaans :S Kennelijk.
Anyway mijn vraag is dus: waar kan ik Quinoa kopen?
Bedankt alvast!
Suzanne (ennazussuzanne van Avo)
donderdag 21 april 2011 bij 10:45
Gnoe
Quinoa kun je kopen in de natuurwinkel (en vergelijkbaar).
Toevallig maakte ik gisteren quinoasalade: koken, mengen met vinaigrette, beetje af laten koelen en stukjes tomaat, avocado en kommer zonder pitjes erdoor. Lekker als bijgerecht (als hoofdsalade wat te weinig uitgesproken).
Quinoa is echt supermakkelijk klaarmaken: 15 min koken óf (staat op mijn verpakking) 5 min koken en nog 10 min laten wellen. Ik hoop dus dat je het snel te pakken krijgt! :)
zondag 15 mei 2011 bij 22:02
Suzanne
Hoi,
Bedankt, ik heb het gevonden en vandaag dat recept van die krantensite gemaakt :).
De smaak is heel sterk, ik moet er wel brood of iets dergelijks bij eten. Maar dat komt doordat ik onverdunde basis voor soep erbij heb gedaan (uit een potje). En ik heb er spinazie in gedaan ipv “kale”. Het was leuk om te maken en goed te eten. Ik probeer foto’s te maken voor AVO als ik er een bento van heb gemaakt :)
Groetjes,
Suzanne
woensdag 1 februari 2012 bij 02:04
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