Portabella Mushroom Pizzas

Tonight while grilling hubby's steaks I decided to try something different. I took Portabella Mushroom caps (the large ones) and removed the stems. I then coated them with a little olive oil and salt. I placed them on the grill stem side down until they were tender on that side. When I flipped them over I added fresh spinach leaves, sliced cherry tomatoes, and whole milk Mozzarella Cheese. When the cheese was melted  I removed them drizzled them with a little olive oil and some cooked garlic.  I have seen these at Kroger but they are $7 for two of them and all they have is  cheese and spinach on them. I like being able to put other stuff in them.

These were low in sodium, high in taste and my children ate a whole on a piece.

This is the second day in a row that Wesley has given up meat when offered. I asked him if he wanted any steak tonight and a grilled hamburger last night. He has turned it down every time.

I let my kids make the decision on what to eat. They help pick out the food, they help cook it, and they eat what they want with in reason. So far they have been about 90% vegetarian since we started in that direction. I did grill some shrimp and they ate a few but not many. I am proud of them.

We are still experimenting and finding things we like to eat. Rebekka takes the fruit I keep and makes fruit salad with it. We bought a pomegranate for the salad this week.

The only problem we are going to have is eating out. Around here we do not have vegetarian or vegan food in restaurants. I live in the heart of the South. I am 2 hours away from Nashville or Huntsville Alabama.

Wesley is already planning on trying the tofu bacon, hot dogs and such. If I can get him to eat those may be he wont want to eat out so much.  I think he is going to miss what he qualifies as junk food.  I am really trying to stay away from processed foods due to my sodium problems. But I figure I can make him chips, pizzas, and such where they are way more healthier than store bought ones.

Tomorrow on the menu is spaghetti squash with garlic butter. I will let yall know how it goes.

Change The World Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011

It is Wednesday again and you all know what that means. It is Change the World Wednesday.  http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/2011/11/change-world-wednesday-ctww.html    

This week I just copied down the challenges here. (Yes I cheated but at least I gave the credit where credit is due. )

MONTH-LONG CHALLENGE: This month make note of the electricity (Kilowatts) used in your home (find this number on your electric bill, by reading the meter, by using a home electricity monitor, etc.). Then, spend one month reducing that number by 10%. In December we'll come back and report on our success including the actions we've taken to reduce our usage.

  There are several ways to cut energy. Here is an article from Mother Earth News that has great tips. 
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/Save-Money-On-Energy.aspx?utm_campaign=Green+Energy&utm_medium=email&utm_source=iPost&utm_content=07.24.09+GEGH

We also have a contest in the house to see who can turn off the most light switches at a time. While this makes my daughter mad my 7 year old son will go thru the house turning off everything not just lights if no one is near it. If someone is in the kitchen cooking and they leave the room for a minuet he turns off the light. Some times being the little boy he is he even turns off the light while my daughter is still in the kitchen.

WEEK-LONG CHALLENGE: This week, eat Vegan for one entire day. That means, for one entire day eat only plant-based foods ... no meat, poultry, fish, dairy, etc.

This one is not to hard to do around here. We have been slowly going vegetarian/ vegan. My son told me he would be a vegetarian as long as he could have his meat. (yes I secertly laughed at him) But that being said when I cook all vegetables and then cook Hubby meat for dinner Wesley will pick the vegetables every time. he problem he would have going vegan is the cheese, milk, egg, and yogurt. Bekka and I chose to go vegetarian/vegan due to health issues. We are both diabetic and I have some other health issues that require low sodium and extra minerals. The only reason I am not totally vegan is the cheese issue. I have only been eating low fat ricotta cheese lately since it is low in sodium but I need that extra boost of calcium.

The best way to get your children involved in going vegetarian/vegan or just eating more vegetables is to get them involved.  I let both of my children go shopping with me. They are always happy to try something new if they picked it out. I also get them involved in cooking. Bekka loves to play mix and match stir fry. She takes what ever we have on hand and comes up with some sort of stir fry.  Wesley is getting involved too. We have the wood heater going so he has a frying pan he uses and he plays with vegetables and fruit. Some days it is not all that good but at least he is figuring out what goes with what. The other night he made a yogurt and fruit salad. He took Trix yogurt, apples, and grapes and mixed them together. This would have been great until I bit down into a piece of garlic. Today he experimented with garlic butter. We had asparagus (ok that was good), raw coconut (it was ok) and pomegranate seeds (not to great but not to bad either.)  He feels great accomplishment in this. I do not let him waste food he just gets a little piece of something to try out. He is exploring flavors, textures, and different combinations.

It is helping so far in my swelling and  blood pressure. I am waiting to see how it effects my blood sugar. Rebekka's blood sugar has stabilized and they have taken her off one of her meds since we have started going mostly vegetarian. Yes there are a few slip ups. I am only human but it is an on going process and I am working hard at it. I have eaten meat for over 35 years.  Now only if we could get hubby on board and then I would not have meat in the house at all.

I almost forgot that Our friend SmallftPrints from the Change the World Wednesday Challenge gave me this great site on Vegan cooking.  http://www.veganwolf.com/keep_on_hand.htm