Real Meal

A daily food journal of everything I eat! Happy, healthy and homemade :)

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 188, for the 12th of September 2017! Which comprised:

Breakfast: Banana, plum, apple, carrot, ginger, sultana & raisin porridge with nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, peanuts & almonds), seeds (linseeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds & butternut squash seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover vegan spaghetti bolognese, aubergine meatballs in tomato sauce, roast beetroot, roast cauliflower, tofu stuffed baby peppers, kidney bean chilli, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, salad (romaine lettuce, tomatoes & cucumber) and a sourdough bread roll.

Dinner: Veggie burgers with tomato sauce, green beans, roast potato and corn on the cob. I don’t normally see corn available with the husk, but they were selling them yesterday, and we got a couple to steam. They were so nice!

Supper: Banana & strawberry nice cream with crushed nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews & hazelnuts) and slivered almonds.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 187, for the 11th of September 2017! I had:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, carrot, plum, ginger & raisin porridge with nuts (cashews, almonds, pine nuts, walnuts & hazelnuts), seeds (linseeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, butternut squash seeds, pumpkin seeds & sesame seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover kidney bean chilli with tofu stuffed baby peppers, roast mushroom, veggie rice, stuffed bell pepper, tahini dressing, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, mangetout, salad (romaine lettuce, cucumber & tomato) and a sourdough bread roll.

Dinner: Vegan spaghetti bolognese with roast veg (peppers, courgettes & onions), salad (tomatoes & romaine lettuce) and a sourdough bread roll. This batch of rolls has lasted about five minutes! The week’s not even done yet and I’m going to have to make another batch. I think what made these ones so good was just that I kneeded them for a little longer. Not too hard to do the same again!

Supper: Banana, date & ginger nice cream with crushed nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews & almonds) and slivered almonds.

[realmeal]

Food Journal 186, for the 10th of September 2017! Here we have:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, plum, ginger, carrot & raisin porridge with nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts & cashews), seeds (chia seeds, butternut squash seeds, pumpkin seeds, linseeds, sunflower seeds & sesame seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover veggie burger, stuffed pepper, stuffed cabbage, couscous, roast mushroom, roast beetroot, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, tomatoes, roast broccoli, tahini dressing, spaghetti in tomato sauce and salad (romaine lettuce & spinach).

Dinner: Dal with mangetout, roast cauliflower, salad (spinach, romaine lettuce & tomato) and a sourdough bread roll. The dal ended up being more like a soup, but I’d had to substitute split peas for lentils, and the recipe wanted me to blitz it. No complaints from me though, I thought it was delicious.

Supper: Banana & mandarin nice cream with crushed nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews & almonds) and slivered almonds. Used a bit of soy milk in this to make it even creamier, and I was really happy with the results; it gives the whole thing a really delicate flavour.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 185, for the 9th of September 2017! This was:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, plum, carrot, ginger & sultana porridge with nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios & cashews), seeds (linseeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, butternut squash seeds & pumpkin seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover sweet potato curry, stuffed pepper, stuffed cabbage, spaghetti in tomato sauce, roast beetroot, veggie couscous, tomatoes, roast broccoli, tortilla, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms and salad (spinach, romaine lettuce & cucumber).

Dinner: Veggie burgers with tahini dressing, tofu stuffed baby peppers, sweet potato wedges, roast mushrooms and salad (romaine lettuce & spinach). I was inspired by jalapeno poppers with the baby peppers, and although I need to flavour the tofu a bit more, as an experiment, it went really well!

Supper: Stewed apples & plums with banana nice cream, crushed nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts & pistachios) and slivered almonds. I usually add a bit more spice to my nice cream, but the last few have been completely plain because I’ve used bananas on their own, and paired it with things that are spiced already (in this case, the stewed fruit).

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 184, for the 8th of September 2017! I devoured:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, ginger, raisin & carrot porridge with nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, almonds & peanuts) seeds (sunflower seeds, linseeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, butternut squash seeds & sesame seeds), powdered blueberry, banana & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover stuffed cabbage roll, roast broccoli, couscous, stuffed pepper, sweet potato curry, tomatoes, aubergine meatballs in tomato sauce, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms ad salad (spinach & romaine lettuce).

Dinner: Chilli wraps in homemade tortillas with rice, tofu dressing, roast beetroot and salad (spinach & cucumber). My tortillas were a bit smaller than they usually are, and behaved more like chapathis because I used wholemeal flour. Still worked though!

Supper: Plum & apple crumble with crushed nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts & cashews) and banana nice cream (not pictured because I didn’t want it to melt!) So I stewed up a huge batch of apples & plums yesterday, partly to make a dent in our supply, and partly because I had the idea to use some of my failed flapjacks as the “crumble”, which would help to crisp them up in the process. Mission successful! I do apologise for not taking a photo of the nice cream- I forgot that in the past I’ve just taken pictures of them separately.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 183, for the 7th of September 2017! These dishes were:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, ginger, carrot & raisin porridge with nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts & pine nuts), seeds (chia seeds, linseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, butternut squash seeds & pumpkin seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover stuffed pepper, roast aubergine, stuffed cabbage, spaghetti in tomato sauce, couscous, green beans, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, roast tomatoes, roast veg (onions, broccoli, peppers & courgettes), salad (romaine lettuce & cucumber) and a sourdough bread roll.

Dinner: Aubergine “meatballs” in tomato sauce with roast broccoli, rice, tofy dressing and salad (spinach & romaine lettuce). I had a sense of deja vu when I was frying those meatballs, and remembered why I haven’t made them for a while...they just don’t work. They barely hold together when you’re shaping them, and then as soon as they hit the pan, they fall apart. Lame. The taste was great though, so if I wanted to emulate that, I would go for a ratatouille, as it shares similar ingriedients.

Supper: Banana, kiwi & berry nice cream (blackberry, raspberry, redcurrant & blackcurrant) with crushed nuts (walnuts, cashews, almonds & hazelnuts) and slivered almonds.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 182, for the 6th of September 2017! From top to bottom, I had:

Breakfast: Banana, carrot, apple, raisin & ginger porridge with nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios & almonds), seeds (linseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds & butternut squash seeds), powdered banana, cranberry & blueberry. It’s nice to know I don’t have to buy apples for the next few months, at the very least :D

Lunch: Leftover sweet potato curry, spaghetti in tomato sauce, roast aubergine, tahini dressing, veggie couscous, roast veg (broccoli, courgette & pepper), pickled mushrooms, pickled chillies, salad (romaine lettuce & spinach) and a sourdough bread roll.

Dinner: Stuffed peppers with baked potato, roast tomatoes, green beans and salad (romaine lettuce & cucumber).

Supper: Banana, kiwi & berry nice cream (blackberry, blackcurrant, raspberry & redcurrant) with crushed nuts (walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, cashews & almonds) and slivered almonds.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 181, for the 5th of September 2017! I feasted on:

Breakfast: Banana, carrot, apple, raisin & ginger porridge with nuts (walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts & almonds), seeds (linseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds & butternut squash seeds), powdered banana, cranberry & blueberry.

Lunch: Leftover butternut squash pasta bake, dal, stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce, veggie couscous, sweet potato curry, wilted spinach & potato curry, roast aubergine, sliced cucumbers, tahini dressing and Japanese greens.

Dinner: Spaghetti in tomato sauce with roasted veg (broccoli, peppers, onions & courgettes), salad (spinach & romaine lettuce) and a sourdough bread roll.

Supper: Slice of apple flapjack. So disappointed with this! I followed a recipe where most of the moisture is supposed to come from apples which you stew down, but I think that was a mistake, because instead of being crunchy and chewy, they were flabby and soft, with zero flavour despite me adding a bit more spice. I was psyched to find a recipe that used apples like this since we’re in harvest season right now, but if the finished product is nothing like a flapjack and just plain bland, then trying to reinvent the wheel is pointless. I’ll trust a normal recipe next time, put my faith in syrup, and hopefully have better results!

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 180, for the 4th of September 2017! We have here:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, ginger, raisin & carrot porridge with nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds & hazelnuts), seeds (linseeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, butternut squash seeds, sesame seeds & sunflower seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover stuffed cabbage leaf in tomato sauce, pearl barley risotto, dal, rice, sweet potato curry, butternut squash pasta bake, roast broccoli, baba ganoush, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, salad (romaine lettuce & cucumber) and a sourdough bread roll.

Dinner: Veggie couscous (peppers, carrots & onions) with fried aubergine slices, tahini dressing, courgettes in tomato sauce, sliced cucumber and Japanese greens.

Supper: Banana, kiwi & clementine nice cream with crushed nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, almonds & walnuts) and slivered almonds. I really enjoyed this, but sadly I won’t be using those clementines again- I found out too late that they’ve been coated with wax containing shellac. Boo!

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 179, for the 3rd of September 2017! The above are:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, carrot, ginger & raisin porridge with nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews & peanuts), seeds (linseeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, butternut squash seeds & pumpkin seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover pearl barley risotto, dal, roast tomatoes, wilted spinach & potato curry, couscous, butternut squash pasta bake, roast mushrooms & courgettes, roast tomatoes, baba ganoush, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms and spinach.

Dinner: Stuffed cabbage leaves in tomato sauce with roast broccoli & peppers, spiced chickpeas, salad (romaine lettuce & cucumber) and a sourdough bread roll.

Supper: Pear, banana, blackberry & cherry nice cream with crushed nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews & peanuts) and slivered almonds. Last of this year’s pears! Considering we’ve previously gotten about four at most, I’m really impressed with our little tree. It’s done so well <3

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 178, for the 2nd of September 2017! This consisted of:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, ginger, raisin & carrot porridge with nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews & pistachios), seeds (linseeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, butternut squash seeds & pumpkin seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry).

Lunch: Leftover butternut squash pasta bake, dal, pearl barley risotto, baba ganoush, roast tomatoes, carrot bhaji, roast mushrooms & courgette, roast broccoli, pickled chillies, roast cauliflower and salad (spinach & cucumber).

Dinner: Sweet potato curry with okra, wilted spinach & potato curry, rice and salad (romaine lettuce, tomato & cucumber).

Supper: Banana & cherry nice cream with crushed nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews & hazelnuts) and slivered almonds. I could eat this by the truckload, honestly. Still the best combination, hands down.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 177, for the 1st of September 2017! I got through the following:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, pear, raisin, carrot & ginger porridge with nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts & pine nuts), seeds (chia seeds, sesame seeds, linseeds, pumpkin seeds, butternut squash seeds & sunflower seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover vegan spaghetti bolognese, dal, couscous, roast cauliflower, sesame dressing, baked sweet potato, roast broccoli, baba ganoush, courgettes in tomato sauce, green beans, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, half a sourdough bread roll and salad (romaine lettuce & spinach).

Dinner: Pearl barley & mushroom risotto with roast vine tomatoes, roast veg (butternut squash, peppers & courgettes), salad (romaine lettuce & cucumber) and a sourdough bread roll.

Supper: Banana, blackberry & pear nice cream with crushed nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts & cashews) and slivered almonds. Another dark purple one, despite having twice as many bananas! Those blackberries are intense.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 176, for the 31st of August 2017! I ate:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, carrot, ginger, pear & raisin porridge with nuts (hazelnuts, cashews, walnuts & almonds), seeds (linseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds & sesame seeds), powdered cranberry, blueberry & banana.

Lunch: Leftover kidney bean chili, dal, couscous, vegan spaghetti bolognese, roast cauliflower, roast onions, baba ganoush, pasta with pesto, roast broccoli, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, carrot bhaji, courgettes in tomato sauce, sliced cucumber and spinach.

Dinner: Butternut squash pasta bake with roast courgettes & mushrooms, green beans, salad (spinach & romaine lettuce) and a sourdough bread roll. I’m calling it a pasta bake, but I actually followed a recipe for vegan mac n’ cheese where the blitzed up squash becomes the sauce, and I don’t think what I made was really enough to qualify. For one, although the sauce was delicious, I wouldn’t call it creamy or cheese-like, and for another, I didn’t have any macaroni, which I’d have been forgiven for had I chosen a pasta that was vaguely tubular, however I settled on mafalda corta (small, wavy, reliable) as it wasn’t being cooked in advance.

Supper: Banana, blackberry & pear nice cream with crushed nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts & hazelnuts) and slivered almonds.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 175, for the 30th of August 2017! My meals were:

Breakfast: Banana, pear, apple, carrot, ginger & raisin porridge with nuts (cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds & peanuts), seeds (chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds & pumpkin seeds), powdered cranberry, blueberry & banana.

Lunch: Leftover veggie burger, vegan spaghetti bolognese, roast cauliflower, couscous, corn on the cob, roast broccoli, vegan jambalaya rice, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, pasta with pesto, courgettes in tomato sauce, roast onions and salad (cucumber & iceberg lettuce).

Dinner: Dal with rice, carrot bhajis, roast broccoli, sliced cucumber, spinach and a sourdough bread roll.

Supper: Banana, blackberry & pear nice cream with slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds. A lot more purple than I expected! Unfortunately I found this a bit too sweet, (I blame the very over-ripe pears) but I’ve adjusted the balance with today’s batch, and when I blitz it I’ll add some lemon juice to be sure.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 174, for the 29th of August 2017! These noms were:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, blackberry, ginger, carrot & raisin porridge with nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews & pistachios), seeds (linseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds & chia seeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover kidney bean chilli, vegan spaghetti bolognese, spiced rice, vegan jambalaya rice, corn on the cob, pasta with pesto, roast broccoli, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms, salad (lambs lettuce, beetroot, red chard & ruby red chard) and a sourdough bread roll.

Dinner: Cauliflower steaks with sesame dressing, courgettes in tomato sauce, baba ganoush, rice and salad (iceberg lettuce & cucumber).

Supper: Diced frozen strawberries with blackberries, pumpkin seeds and crushed nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, pistachios & hazelnuts). This was a bit of a rush job because I wanted to watch something on tv that clashed with my prep time, and while nice, wasn’t as nice as it would have been if I’d had half an hour to make it presentable (also I should probably have blitzed it, but oh well) :P

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 173, for the 28th of August 2017! For which there was:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, carrot, peach, ginger & raisin porridge with nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews & hazelnuts), seeds (chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds & linseeds), powdered banana, blueberry & cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover kidney bean chili, veggie burger, tomato sauce, vegan spaghetti bolognese, veggie couscous, spiced rice, vegan jambalaya rice, corn on the cob, green beans, pickled chillies, pickled mushrooms and salad (spinach, lambs lettuce, beetroot, chard & ruby red chard).

Dinner: Pasta with pesto, nutritional yeast, roast onions, roast broccoli, salad (cucumber, red chard, ruby red chard, beetroot, lambs lettuce & spinach) and a sourdough bread roll. I used some of the nutritional yeast in the pesto itself to replace parmesan, which worked fine, but as a garnish on top I can’t say I was bowled over. It’s got a really weak flavour that’s supposed to be cheesy but isn’t imo, and I don’t think it enhanced the meal at all. The main reason people buy it, I think, is that it’s fortified with B12, so provided you do like the taste, you’ve got a great way of incorporating the vitamin into your food (I’ve mentioned it before, but if you’re vegan, this one is super important). I’ll find ways of using it up, though I’m definitely sticking with soy milk as my preferred source :)

Supper: Banana, pear, blueberry & peach nice cream with crushed nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts & hazelnuts) and slivered almonds.

[realmeal]

Food Journal Day 172, for the 27th of August 2017! I feasted upon:

Breakfast: Banana, apple, ginger, carrot & raisin porridge with nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds & pistachios), seeds (chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds & linseeds), powdered banana, blueberry and cranberry.

Lunch: Leftover veggie burger, dal, couscous, vegan spaghetti bolognese, roast broccoli, tofu salad, stuffed pepper, cherry tomatoes, pickled, mushrooms, pickled chillies, tomato sauce and salad (spinach, lembs lettuce, beetroot, red chard & ruby red chard).

Dinner: Kidney bean chili with baked sweet potato, green beans, corn on the cob and salad (beetroot, lambs lettuce, spinach, red chard & ruby red chard). Read a tip that said you could mash the chili up for a thicker consistency, which I tried and will continue with from now on; the texture was a lot better, and the beans remind me of frijoles refritos. This was also the first time I tried using coconut oil as butter for my baked potato! You can taste the coconut (which some people complain about, for some reason), but I love it, and the fact that it behaves the same way as dairy butter (without being full of junk, or, y’know...dairy) is a win by my book. Just to confuse you, they do make coconut butter as well, for similar purposes; the difference being that coconut oil is extracted from coconut flesh, and coconut butter is the flesh itself, ground into a paste. The more you know!

Supper: Banana, peach & kiwi nice cream with slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds.