Humorous Food Memes, Cartoons, Videos

1st of 3: My ideas for vegan restaurant names.
"Vegan AF"
(AF stands for my town, American Fork, of course) 

2nd of 3: My ideas for vegan restaurant names.
"Vegan SL,UT" for Salt Lake City, Utah

3rd of 3: My ideas for vegan restaurant names.
"Viva! Las Vegans!"
(Thank you, thank you, very much)

All My Meals Are Vegan; Take It Slow

Like the "Psycho Salad" post where I post different salads for inspiration and self-motivation, this post will be reserved for other vegan dishes I make that we seemed to like ("Oh, yeah! Let's make that, again!"). They won't always have recipes attached to them.

The following video is Luke Cutforth's parody of Twenty One Pilots' "Heathens" video called "Vegans." 💚

Diced potatoes, mushrooms, onions, green bell pepper,
red and green jalapeño, Beyond Meat sausage, gravy (not pictured)

Chili beans, jalapeño, baked potato, blanched broccoli

Sautéd bell pepper, red cabbage, onion, and broccoli.
Tofu, noodles.

Baby potatoes and Beyond Meat sausage. Greens and sprouts

Psycho Salads- Yummy Yummy

This mash-up video cracks me up!

Here I will include pictures of different salads I make (or see) to help inspire me and my family ("Remember when we made that? Oh, yeah! That was good; let's do that again) and will be updated. Dr. Joel Fuhrman encourages us to make large salads (mixture of raw veggies) the main course and not as a small side.

🌱 For chopping greens technique, click here.

🌱 For reviving wilted greens, click here 

I recommend this recipe book for healthy dips
and dressings: raw, vegan, oil-free, gluten-free.
You can order a hard copy on Amazon HERE,
or an electronic copy on her website,
RawFoodRomance

Greens, cucumber, bell pepper, carrots, and
baked tofu (teriyaki) with creamy mustard
dressing

Haven't made, yet, but looks good!

Greens, quinoa, roasted corn, bell pepper,
carrots, radish, roasted red pepper dressing

Greens, roasted cauliflower, chili beans, quinoa, roasted red
pepper dressing

Greens, baked tofu -teriyaki, avocado, hemp seeds,
orange bell pepper, raisins, pecans, probably a sesame
ginger dressing

Haven't tried but looks good: broccoli, lentils, yams,
tomatoes

From Marie's garden

Marie's garden: Do you see the tiny snail in the center? 💚

Everyone's is different, but basically: yams w/pineapple/
pecans/hemp seeds, shredded raw beets,
roasted cauliflower, jicama, greens w/ tomatoes

Greens, radish, tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, yams w/
pineapple and pecans

Greens, green beans, carrots, quinoa, roasted corn,
mango (I think, or crushed pineapple...hm)

This is also a good dressing in-a-pinch. It does have
sugar and sodium. I like that it's fat-free

Tomato with Basil and EVOL Snack

I love this.  So far I've only made this for hubby and myself.  The best ingredients for me are tomatos from the garden as well as freshly plucked basil.  If your grocer sells yummy tomatoes and basil, you are in luck.  I haven't tried this with dried basil, but that is certainly an option.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Tomato
Basil

Layer leaves, roll, slice.

Chop tomato, add basil,
drizzle with oil.
Yum.
And so good for you.

Sauteed Fresh-From-Garden Lima Beans

Kid Rating:  (Didn't save any for them.  They'll have some from the next picking.)

Do Again?:  Most definitely!  Over and over and over.  Will have to try beans from the frozen and dried variety when the garden runs out.

I vaguely remember reluctantly trying Lima beans as a kid.  I don't recall them ever being on our family table or anyone else's table.  They seemed to be depicted on TV as a kid's worst veggie nightmare.

Well, I grew my own.  Oh, yum.  I cracked open a ready pod and started eating them there in the garden.  So good.  I collected more pods, brought them in, and had my parents and hubby try them straight out of the pod.  We stopped so I'd have enough for a recipe.

Guess what.  We are not supposed to eat them raw because of their cyanide content.  They have to be cooked for at least 10 minutes first while the cyanide is safely released and diluted into the air as a gas.  Upon further reading, I learned that different varieties of Lima beans have different levels of cyanide, and the ones offered in the United States, especially the seeds in packets for us to grow, are safe. I'm sure the FDA wouldn't allow anything harmful be sold to us.

My family and I felt fine after eating raw Lima beans, but I will be cooking them just in case.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups  Lima Beans (amount after removing from pods)

1 T            Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOL)

1 T            Salted Butter

1-2            Cloves of garlic (depending on size and preference), minced

to taste     Kosher salt

to taste     Pepper

Heat skillet, oil, and butter.

Add beans.  Stir occasionally. 15-20 min.

Add garlic, salt, and pepper.

Saute 1-2 min. longer.

An additional note about adding beans:  While taking them out of the pods, separate them into different sizes.  Cook the larger ones first, then add the next size to the skillet after about 3 minutes (and so-on).

Skins peel off the beans during cooking.  I served
them, too, and they tasted yummy and crispy.

Grilled Summer Squash - Easy

Kid Rating:  Not their favorite.

Do Again:  Yes, for me.

I've made this twice within the past few days because, well, I have a lot of these growing in my garden.  And, it's so quick and simple.

Ingredients:

Summer squash

butter

salt (I used Kosher)

parmsan cheese (from block)

Slice squash to desired thickness.

Spread a thin coat of butter on both sides.

Grill on medium direct.  Turn every 2 minutes until desired texture is reached.

Sprinkle with salt.

Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

I only thought of the cheese after putting in on the
raviolis.  Bonus discovery!  Yum!

The cheese really makes the dish splendid.  I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it.  I guess the kids will have to grow into it.  For now, it's a nice lunch while the kids are in school.

Tomato Soup with Basil

Kid Rating:  3 out of 3 like it

Do Again: Yes

My initial tomato soup post was mostly an experiment.  Here is a clearer recipe, although I still have a few kinks to work out.  The end result is delicious.

I'm excited about this because the tomatoes and basil are from my garden.  (I never really liked tomatoes until I had some from a garden).  They smelled wonderful and were yummy as I nibbled on a few pieces during preparation.  I even thought I may not add sugar because they are so sweet.

I'm also excited because I used my pressure canner for the first time.  I canned my own tomato soup!  Maybe it sounds silly to be happy about that, but there is something satisfying about learning these new skills.  I'm thankful to friends and neighbors who let me tag along to watch, help, and learn during their own canning sessions.

You came here for a recipe, didn't you?

Ingredients

15 tomatoes, various sizes (makes about 7 1/2 cups pureed and strained)

1 medium onion

2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed (or a few dashes of garlic powder)

Basil leaves (I used about 21 fresh) --  dried is good, 3T+

2T sugar

1T butter

1T flour

1t Kosher salt

Special equipment:  food processor, although it's not required. You could use a blender in smaller batches or mash the tomatoes with a potato masher in the pot while they are cooking.

1.  Chop tomatoes, remove stems and blemishes

At this point, you have a variation of procedures.  I put the tomatoes with seeds and skins in a food processor then strained them later after they cooked a bit.  Some people remove the seeds and skins first.  Here is a method for that on this link:  formerchef.com   Someday, I'd like to just leave the seeds and skin for the extra fiber.  My family seems to prefer the smoother texture for now.

2.  Puree in a processor if available.  Add the onion and garlic to one of the batches.

3.  Put pureed tomatoes/onion/garlic in pot and heat to boiling, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Starts off foamy.

Turns a nice red.

4.  Strain if desired.  I have a sieve that allows the pulp to go through but keeps most of the seeds back.  I do it in batches.  Return soup to pot.  (No picture).

5.  Ladle some soup into a smaller bowl/cup.  Add the 1 T of flour to it and stir until smooth.  Return it to the pot.

Adding flour to a small amount of soup.
Add more flour for thicker soup.

6.  Chop basil leaves (layer, roll, and slice).  Add sugar, butter, and salt.  Reheat.

My first pressure-canning experience!  It seems silly
to have only 3 pints for that huge canner, but I was
so proud, like a toddler taking her first steps.
(13 psi, 15 min.)

Family Review:

11 y.o. - Likes it.

10 y.o. - Likes the flavor and aftertaste and would eat it slowly (she has an aversion to smooth textures like soups, pudding, and yogurt).

6 y.o. - Loved it.  He started helping himself to the leftovers in the container.  I asked if he'd like a bowl.  "Yes!"

Hubby - He'll have to wait until we open one of the jars because our 6 y.o. ate his portion, too.  -I'm sure he'd like it  ;)

Me - Loved it, too.

Next time:  Maybe I'd scoop out the seeds before pureeing, then I wouldn't have to strain and could keep the skin pulp.

Question:  Why are the seeds removed anyway?  I Googled the question and only came across that it's a personal preference.  I've read comments that people think they are bitter when bitten into while eating tomato soup. I don't remember ever chewing my tomato soup.  You?  I have chewed chunky salsa, though, with chips, etc. Aren't seeds left in there?  Texture is probably the biggest deciding factor.

:)