Quick meals in a cottage
I’ve just returned from a lovely, long weekend in Vermont. The gorgeous weather provided a perfect setting for some training runs
and a nice bike ride.
We were fortunate to be invited up by a friend, who set us up in her guest cottage. I love travel that allows me to cook a meal or two. I can’t count on restaurants to leave me wowed by their vegan options (And I was right. Four meals out, three veggie burgers later…) We packed a bit haphazardly and I just started tossing things into the cooler and a bag (olive and sesame oils, brown rice vinegar, canned beans, fresh produce, nuts, tofu dogs, etc). Turns out, I was able to make a few tasty meals!
The first morning my husband and I parted ways, he for a long ride and me for a short (4-mile) run. Upon my return I was hungry and decided a breakfast wrap was in order. I drained a can of black beans and tossed half in a skillet with sesame oil and onion. I tossed a few huge handfuls of collard greens into the skillet. I realized I didn’t bring spices or S&P so I added some of the dehydrated Salt & Vinegar chickpeas I had made earlier in the week for some salt flavor. I wrapped the collards and beans in brown rice wraps. YUM (I said to my husband “Look, you’re a vegan right now!”)
From there we headed to Canada for lunch, with no idea where we were going. (Have GPS, will travel). We found ourselves in Magog, Quebec and enjoyed a nice lunch at Microbrasserie La Memphre where I enjoyed Le Hippie Burger
(hold the fromage) and a couple glasses of vin rouge.
We walked around the town and then drove back to Vermont, stopping off in a few towns for site seeing. We popped into a grocer and picked up a small salt and pepper shaker, pizza sauce (and cheese curds for the husband. Blech). We returned to the cottage and decided to eat dinner in and watch some DVD’s on our laptops. We each made small “pizzas.”
Mine
Brown rice wrap, olive oil on both sides, with refried beans, massaged kale, onion and a few dollops of store bought pizza sauce. I baked it at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. Delicious.
This inspired my husband
He also used a brown rice wrap and smothered it in pizza sauce. He cut up two Tofu Pups and onion and then destroyed a potential second vegan meal of the day by adding cheese curds. He thought it was very tasty! I told him when I was little I loved hot dogs on pizza. I’ll have to try a Tofu Pup pizza next time, no cheese, thank you very much.
Saturday morning we slept in much longer than planned and headed out late for a bike ride, which was simply breathtaking.
(My attempt to appear to be the reason Mt. Pisgah and Mt. Hor separated.)
We didn’t get back into the cottage until late morning. I was starving but knew we would be going out for lunch in a couple of hours. I turned back to the beans and greens I brought along and came up with this hearty snack:
Avocado, black beans, tomatoes tossed in brown rice vinegar and topped with a diced peach. Mmm Mmm
I prepped our final “home/cottage cooked meal” Sunday morning, after my longer (7 mile) run and his longer ride. At this point, I wanted to use up what I had on hand:
Massaged kale, salt and vinegar chickpeas, black beans, tomato and olive oil, lightly sauteed. A perfect warm salad post-workout / pre-long drive home.
After all of the beans and veggie (bean) burgers over the long weekend I had a big ole slab of tofu when I returned home!
Operation Beautiful
On Thursday morning, before leaving for Vermont, I was as caught up as most of my Twitter friends in Caitlin’s “Today Show” appearance. She was, of course, phenomenal. I was stalling my packing so that I could catch her and my husband popped his head in to watch, as well. It actually encouraged a great dialogue on our drive to Vermont. I shared with him that as I’m nearing 45 years old (less than a month!) I finally find myself no longer counting calories, counting fat grams or getting down on myself when my weight fluctuates. I credit it to going vegan. I know I’m eating healthy (sometimes more than I should!) and that I work out responsibly. What truly interested me was his response about body image and what it means to him as he’s become a competitive triathlete. He blogged about it. Very interesting. Oh, and go get Caitlin’s book. Her movement, Operation Beautiful, can truly change the lives of women. Imagine women spending their time thriving, being bold and being sassy. That is beautiful.
