Fun Fact Friday!

Do you hate charlie horses?

Do you wonder what possible reason your toes have for cramping up and making your feet feel like they're experiencing the worst pinching pain ever?

 

Do you get charlie horses anywhere other than your feet? (seriously we did a team poll and we've only ever gotten them in our feet-- we don't like the idea of other body parts scrunching up like that- yeck!) But we digress...

...This weeks Fun Fact Friday is brought to us by the amazingly lovely, smart and oh so talented Ms. Shehan! She and her nursing school brain informed us that if you have a charlie horse you can remedy the situation by getting your potassium on! Simply eat a banana and you'll be in the clear! 

This fact is so awesomely accurate that when we tested it the results were instant! 

You're welcome.

Here's to staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

Because who doesn't want Banana Doctor's seal of approval?

Main Entry: protein [proh-teen] Part of Speech: noun Synonyms: albumen, beans, casein, creatine, kashi cereal, enzyme, fibrin, prolamin

Let's talk about protein! We all need to have it but it can be hard when you don't eat the meat... one cheap Meatless Fleet suggested solution is KASHI CEREAL!

What's that you say? Kashi cereal isn't cheap? 
WELL, one of our savviest team members happens to love Amelia's and found a whopping 25oz. box of Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal there for only $4.99! It costs more than that for a much smaller box at any grocery store!


AND this cereal is not only crunchy and delicious with almond milk (mmm almond milk) but it also has 9 grams of protein per serving Hooty hooo! 


So go ahead and skip the eggs and bacon tomorrow morning-- instead have your Kashi Crunchy Cereal and end up with a little extra money in your pocket to make it a fantastic protein filled start to your day (without all the fat and cholesterol!)

Here's to staying "Meat Free"  in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

Mr. Popper of the Meatless Fleet Team wants YOU to get your kashi grub on!

Chilly Chili Days

For lunches this week the Meatless Fleet team will be chowing down on some delicious Jimbo's Gumbo (aka Vegan Chili). It's not at all a gumbo, but we can't stop calling it that!  

We know everyone and their mom has "the best" chili recipe, and we also know that there are lots of ways to veganize your often meat filled chili dishes- so we thought it couldn't hurt to offer up our version to the meatless masses! 

Here's what you will need to recreate this chili:

Carrots- We buy the large 2lb bags (buying in bulk saves in this case!)

Onion- Sweet yellow onions are great but you can use a red or white onion as well.

Giant Brand Spice Packet- Purchased because it's cheaper and deelish! (Do note that this is not a gluten free spice mix.)

Olive Oil- what recipe doesn't need a little Olio?

Garlic- Minced up and ready to fry!

Zesty Diced Tomatoes- Again we went for store brand (Giant) because its less cost without sacrificing taste.

Salsa- We like Medium on the salsa hot scale and find Nature's Promise to be an affordable organic choice!

Beans- This time around we're focusing on Kidney beans (buy 1 can small beans and 1 large)

Boca Meatless Ground Crumbles- On sale at (where else) Giant for only $2.50!


Here's a picture of the 
prepackaged foods you will need


Easy Peasy Vegan Chili Recipe (AKA Jimbo's Gumbo) Makes 8-10 servings:


First you'll want to heat your chili pot (aka largest cooking vessel.) 
Once it is warmed up to a medium heat setting add one tablespoon of Olive Oil.  
Then add two large carrots and one yellow onion (both diced into smallish cubes-no need for perfection just keep it on the small side and you'll be fine.) 
Saute these ingredients for about 5 minutes. 
Then add one package of Boca Meatless Crumbles and one and one half packages of Chili Spice Mix.

Stir often for 4-5 minutes. 

Next add in one jar of salsa.  

Immediately after adding your salsa, add two cans of  zesty diced tomatoes and the two cans of kidney beans (we recommend one can of smaller beans and one of larger for a little variety- but two cans of the same sized bean will also work fine!)

Stir and cover. 

Once covered lower heat to a simmer. 

Let simmer for 40 minutes. 

You'll only need to stir occasionally so it doesn't burn/stick to the bottom.

Eat delicious vegan chili for lunch that is low fat, way better than anything your office vending machine has to offer and that you didn't even have to break a sweat to make!

Here's to staying "Meat Free" and warm! in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

Smore's on Sunday

To slowly ease ourselves back into a 9-5 frame of mind the Meatless Fleet team gets ready for the upcoming work days by preparing our lunches for the work week. We always make a delicious somewhat "less bad for you" snack as well to munch on as we make the healthy stuff (otherwise what would be the fun in having a day off?!) 

After spending a wonderful day outside cheering at the top of my lungs at my nephew's soccer game (they won big time by the way!) all I wanted to do was relax and get caught up on some bid'ness class assignments. IE- I was ready to let my teammate get his bake on.

And get his bake on he did! 

Using the following recipe @ http://texascottage.blogspot.com/2011/08/smore-cups.html we now have at our disposal some of the most delicious Smore Cakes ever!

He veganized the recipe by using the Dandies brand vegan marshmallow (which are a treat all by themselves!) and semi sweet Ghiradelli brand melting chocolate chips. And you know we used Best Life Butter Spread for the graham cracker crusts! Find the Dandies Marshmallows at Rhubarbs- but be warned a bag of these beauts is not cheap! For around $5.00 you can be in the gelatin free zone and loving it. As for the chocolate chips, Giant is currently having a two for $5.00 sale which at only $2.50 per bag is a steal!

Here's our end result with vegan marshmallows and chocolate minus the milk-fat:

MMMMM Smore's on  Sunday!

Here's to staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

Fun Fact Friday!

It's time for TGIF! 

As you count down the hours before you're free from the grip of the daily weekday grind here is this Friday's Fun Fact:

Did you know that most cats are lactose intolerant?   

Wait Whaaaat?

It's true. Poor kitties love their milk but it hurts their bellies.
So next time you lovingly give your cat a saucer of milk and they upchuck all over your carpet- don't say we didn't warn you!

We found a good solution to this by giving our kitties soy milk. Their favorite drink by far tends to be the almost-milkshake-thick Almond Milk. Find Blue Diamond Almonds Unsweetened Almond Milk in the regular Milk Freezer Aisle at Giant. Purchase the Original & Unsweetened flavor to use with ease in any of your cooking. That version has zero grams of sugar and only 40 calories per one cup serving.

Note: Vanillla flavored Almond Milk is fine for baking but gross with mac n chreese (that's right mac n "chreese" the cheese free boxed mac!) so just be sure you remember which one you bought before mixing it in to your dinner!

For more information on why your cat has a love hate relationship with lactose check out this handy site-

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/cats-and-dairy-get-the-facts

PS This seems like the best time to introduce the Meatless Fleet Felines! Below on the left (you can just make out his almond milky chin) is Max the Cat! Max likes sequins, almond milk, outdoor boy cats, and ribbons. Max dislikes Tupperware containers and thunderstorms. 

On the right is Mr. Popper getting his almond milk grub on. Mr. Popper likes being dapper, meowing in the guise of Flipper, and nibbling on plant leaves (such a veg!). Mr. Popper dislikes the street cleaning machine, and sharing the bed.

Here's to staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

What Would Tom Haverford Do?

Wednesday's suck and "rainy today" was no exception. 

Between our forgotten (packed) lunch bags, umbrella's that decided to turn inside out in the rain, and important-document-eating printers, MFT was more than ready for a delicious home cooked vegan meal. 

When the nutmeg was unknowingly subbed in for the cumin needed in our zucchini tacos, we decided it was time to turn things around. In the words of Parks and Recreation's Donna Meagle and Tom Haverford, it was time to "TREAT YO' SELF!"

And so I called Rice and Noodles for pick up. Their food is and always will be out of this world! They serve a variety of vegetarian dishes that are made to order at warp speed, and everyone on staff there is super nice, accommodating and friendly. 


Some of their Meatless Fleet must haves are:
1. Goi Cuon Chay (or in lazy American terms, "tofu spring rolls") 
Only $3.75 for two rolls!
They fry their tofu to perfection and bundle it up in a handy spring roll with some vermicelli noodles and veggies. These are perfect for dipping into their extremely addictive peanut sauce!


2. Banh Dau Hu Chien (for the confused, "steamed vermicelli patties w/ tofu"). 
These are $7.50 and therefore only ordered when we want to look like ballers (or when we just really really want them!) 
When you order this platter you get to make your own lettuce wraps with tofu and vermicelli noodles and top it with as much delicious nuoc mam sauce and cukes as your little vegan heart desires.


3. Bun Dau Hu Chien (for those who refuse to try and improve their Vietnamese pronunciation skills, "tofu and vermicelli salad bowl") 
A sweet sized portion is only $6.25!
Every time I look at their menu I go back and forth in my head  between this dish and the one listed next at #4. The only reason this tasty treat of warm lettuce, noodles, and tofu doesn't win out is usually due to the price point- but it definitely pleases my veggie taste buds in the colder months!



And now for the Pièce de résistance! 
4. Bahn Mi Chay (otherwise known as a "Vietnamese Hoagie w/ Tofu") 
Coming in at only $3.75 per hoagie, this delicious monstrosity of deep fried tofu, pickled carrots, cucumbers and jalapeños on french bread will make any and every Wednesday the best night of your life! We like to order ours with a side of peanut sauce (as seen below) so we can dip the tofu-less ends of the baguette all up in it.

So remember when you've got the Vegan Wednesday Blues- just "TREAT YO SELF!" to a little deep fried tofu goodness at Rice and Noodles. You can always make dinner with extra veggies and no deep fried sides on Thursday.

Here's to staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team
 

BANH MI CHAY!
AKA THE BEST TOFU SUB YOU WILL EVER HAVE IN YOUR LIFE-PERIOD.

"More Better Butter"

After shoveling Mac N Chreese into our faces for dinner tonight- we here at Meatless Fleet realized we must write about the importance of BUTTER.

Now that you're eating MeatFree do you miss its pale yellow sweet milky goodness? Of course you do! It's delicious and it sits atop every good breakfast food (show us a waffle without butter and a vexed Meatless Fleet we will be). 

So what's a good VEG to do?

Worry no more butter loving friends, Meatless Fleet has your solution and it comes in the form of a tub of

bestlife buttery spread.

With only 6 grams of fat per tablespoon and 60 calories, this butter substitute with zero trans fat will not only knock your socks off because it's made with plant sterols (which can help lower cholesterol) but also because it tastes ridiculously good! 

For the fact finders among us you should know this-most regular butters have 100+ calories in just one tablespoon and 7 grams of trans fat- that's a hell of a lot of artery clogging!

Moving on, many well intentioned meat eaters assume that if a brand of butter does not use milk fat or anything that comes directly from a cow you might as well be eating plastic... but serve them a platter of chocolate chip cookies made from this stuff and they truly won't know what hit them (seriously they won't, one meatless fleet member has a brother who swears the chocolate cookies made for him have real butter in them-nope bestlife buttery spread-sorry big bro.) So for any would be vegan bakers out there- you can thank Meatless Fleet for your new found lease on buttery life by baking to your hearts content and knowing that this little "heart healthier" spread (how heart healthy can any "butter" really be?) is the best vegan butter substitute for baking- hands down.

You can find bestlife at Giant in the regular Dairy aisle for about $2.50 a pop! No need to search amongst the pricey butters in the expensive vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free organic section for this little butter spread. One tub should last you about two weeks but if you've got some serious baking to do stock up and grab two.

Here's to staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

PS a conversation about butter just wouldn't be complete without mentioning The Buddha of Budda herself, Ms. Paula Deen. She's got a new flavored chap-stick that we're sure her target audience will just want to eat right up... with some mashed potatoes on the side!

Fun Fact Friday

Greetings from the Meatless Fleet Team! 

We're about to go get our Friday on but before we do it's time for this Friday's Fun Fact:

Did you know that eating 7 walnuts each day can help lower your cholesterol?   

Just let that nugget of knowledge marinate for a bit- we know it's a doozy.

We must request a sidebar because we know that as a rule most of us who refrain from the meat eating should not have any cholesterol issues BUT if you're like the lucky member of our team who has familial cholesterol issues, eating 7 walnuts a day is a great vegan way to address the problem!

Just make sure your walnuts aren't salted or coated in sugar (and not only around town when you're eating baked goods) and you'll be fine. Now go eat your walnuts and be amazed at how smart you are!

Here's to staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

You Say ReeCoatUh and I Say RuhCottAh

Tonight's Meat-Free Meal- A Mound of Gooey Goodness

On any given rainy night we likes to have our comfort food, and tonight's dinner was no exception.

Meatless Fleet cured our chilled to the bone blues by making the Vegan Lasagna featured in the Appetite for Reduction (Low-Fat Vegan Recipes) cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  
Her recipes are always easy to follow, never filled with pricey ingredients, and absolutely delicious! 

The best part about this dairy free lasagna dish is hands down the Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta--we love it so much we use it as a filling for stuffed shells, and manicotti (and maybe one or two extra lasagna noodles get slathered with it and "taste tested" along the way.)
  
Roasting the cauliflower is the most time consuming portion of creating this dish. Other than that it's easy-- just layer the sauce, noodles, "ricotta", chopped spinach and repeat!

Tucking into this recipe gets even better when you remember that it cost you less than $8 to make the whole thing! Assuming you've previously stocked your pantry Meatless Fleet style of course. Frugal Frans everywhere can further rejoice because the end result is a dish huge enough to provide packed lunches for two for an entire 5 day work week. And trust us when you're bored out of your gourd at work and almost convinced to join in for a co-worker pizza lunch, having this little gem in your lunch box will keep you from making any rash mozzarella infused decisions. 

Here's to having an Appetite for Reduction and staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

We'll Show You Our Pantry If You Show Us Yours

Tonight Meatless Fleet attended its first small business mixer! 

Here's what we learned; pasting your paper business cards onto a clear plastic backing with rubber cement is not a good idea, people in Lancaster really like blogs and they're interested in learning more about vegan/vegetarian cuisine!

What better way to get the (meatless) ball of your new found cooking knowledge rolling than by starting to stock your pantry?

Here's a list of some Meatless Fleet spice essentials:

Chile Powder

Coriander

Cumin

Marjoram Leaves

Paprika

Peppercorns (grind your own fresh!)

Rosemary

Sea Salt

Thyme

You can purchase most of these spices for less than you think! Shop for the BADIA brand and pay less than $1 per spice! We also like to keep it local here at Meatless Fleet so when we purchase Thyme, Paprika, or Peppercorns we only go to the Spice Guy at Lancaster Central Market. If you love fresh ground pepper like we do and cannot afford the beautiful pepper grinders at William Sonoma, save yourself some dollars by buying the cheapest pepper grinder there is, the McCormick Black Peppercorn Grinder. It's an affordable way to grind your own pepper that also eliminates waste. Simply remove the cap after use and add in new peppercorns anytime you run out.

We would also die without the following in our kitchen:

Saracha Sauce-hot and spicy

Nutritional Yeast- flaky and cheesy

Olive Oil!

Minced Garlic/and or Garlic Cloves

Apple Cider Vinegar- binding agent in egg free baking

Red Wine Vinegar- great for sauces and salad dressings

Sesame Oil- use when making Meatless Fleet style hummus

Chile Oil- spicy

Lemons/Limes for Juicing

BEANS! (chick peas, black beans, and navy beans are in our cupboards at all times)

You can find the saracha, chile and sesame oils at our favorite Asian Market in Lancaster! (Located on Franklin Street, across from McCaskey School)

For the cheapest and freshest lemons/limes head to Market Street Produce at downtown Lanc's Central Market.

I said it before and I'll say it again, buy beans cheap! Everybody carries Goya these days so you won't ever have to pay more than $1 for any of your favorite beanies.

Find affordable Apple Cider Vinegar and Red Wine Vinegar by purchasing the store brands.

Nutritional yeast is hard to find in general in the 717- and when you do find it the prices can be outlandish. Ignore all of this and simply remember to pick some up during your travels. Every time the Meatless Fleet team goes to Philly or Baltimore you can bet your bonnet that we always stop to stock up on Nutritional Yeast at a Whole Foods (two words-bulk bins.)

Familiarity with these items are a great way to ease into the world of vegan/vegetarian cooking and baking. Don't be scared to ask for help when you shop after all you are on your way to becoming a vegan culinary master!

Here's to staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team

HUMMMMMMMMUS!

Today I taught a group of women in transitional housing how to make hummus. Why you ask? Because it's a delicious and cost effective treat that provides some serious protein whenever you're having an intense SNACK ATTACK and will leave you feeling fuller longer. Oh and it's super easy to make once you get the hang of it.

This recipe was tweaked from the original one created by Mrs. Cleaves-- an amazing Hummmist!

Ingredients (for 6-8 servings):

1.) 2 Cans Chick Peas Drained and Rinsed well*( I use the canned Low Sodium ones from Goya- .80 @ Giant)

2.) 3 Teaspoons Minced Garlic ( I use IBERIA brand "Chopped Garlic in Water" a 32 oz. jar lasts me about two months and costs only $2.99 @ C-Town Grocery on East King Street)

3.) 1/3 Cup Sesame Tahini ( I use JOYVA Brand about $5.00 @ SaveMart)

4. ) 2 Whole Lemons squeezed for juice ( I buy lemons 4 for $1.00 at Market Produce at Lancaster's Central Market)

5.) 2 Teaspoons Sesame Oil (I use Mong Lee Shang (brown bottle) a 6 oz. bottle of pure sesame oil is only $2.29 @ The Asian Market on Franklin Street Across from McCaskey)

6.) 2 Whole Roasted Red Peppers (If you have time to roast your own peppers- how nice for you! For everyone else I recommended my "sneaky cheat" which utilizes jarred roasted red pepper ( find a large INEXPENSIVE Giant Brand jar in the pickle aisle @ Giant)

7.) 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt (Find Morton brand Coarse Kosher Sea Salt @ Giant)

Kitchen things:

You will need; measuring spoons, measuring cups, a small rubber spatula (for scraping), and a food processor or blender.

 Steps:

1.) Pulse the chick peas in the food processor until broken up and somewhat smooth

2.) Using rubber spatula scrape down the sides of your food processor

3.) Add Garlic, juice of ONE lemon (watch out for seeds!), tahini, sesame oil and salt

4.) Blend until smooth

5.) Mixture should be thick! Using your hands, rip the roasted red pepper into pieces and add to the food processor. Also, now is when you add in that extra lemon juice.

6. Blend and taste for salt.

7.) Eat with celery, carrots, pita bread etc and ENJOY!

 *The more you rinse your chick peas the less likely you are to have the toots. So unless you're planning a night in alone, this step makes all the difference!

Many of the women I worked with today weren't sure how to pronounce several of the items on the ingredient list above. They didn't know what they were, the health benefits this snack offers versus a typical chip and dip, or where these ingredients could be found  in Lancaster, PA. These hesitations and similar conversations with friends are what led me to start this blog. I am a relative newbie to vegan/vegetarian) cooking and I know first hand what its like to be perplexed by a list of ingredients that sound and look intimidating. With this in mind, I will always list where in Lancaster I prefer to get my ingredients. I shop to save money and hope I can help you do the same!

Here's to staying "Meat Free" in the City- The Meatless Fleet Team