Spaghetti? How about Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino

I get a lot of my love for cooking from my mother. She was always creating tasty and exciting ways to get me to eat vegetables; she would sneak shredded zucchini and squash into spaghetti sauce. Almost every Friday she would cook up here spaghetti in a huge batch and it would last the whole week! It was usually served with carrot sticks with ranch dip and garlic toast. We would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Her spaghetti is one of my absolute favorite meals even to this day! I had always associated tomato sauce with spaghetti and spaghetti with tomato sauce. That is how it was. That was spaghetti. I recently was referred to a recipe that claimed to be the traditional way spaghetti was prepared, except it did not use a tomato base for the sauce! Furthermore, there was not even really a sauce on it! It turned out to be extremely satisfying and light! If you need to avoid tomatoes or have frequent heart burn, try this type of spaghetti! 

Ingredients:

• 1 serving pasta                    ($0.45)
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic          ($0.15)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil                     ($0.15)
• 2 tbsp. chopped parsley     ($0.07)
• ½ tbsp. red pepper flakes   ($0.09)
• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice    ($0.04)

Preparation:

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain and set aside. Heat the oil on medium heat and throw in the garlic once it has warmed. Sauté for one minute and throw in the pasta. Keep sautéing, stirring constantly and add the chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice. After 2 minutes remove from heat. You are done. That is it. Simple, savory spaghetti in less than 15 minutes! I cooked some mushrooms and asparagus in some garlic and oil for a side dish. For the salad, I used spinach, black olives, red onions, and balsamic vinaigrette. Any pasta dish can be cheezed up with Go Veggie! vegan grated parmesan cheese! Enjoy! 

Better Bruschetta

It is 2 PM. Your stomach rumbles, head spins, and eyelids droop. Sounds like it is time for a snack! Instead of grabbing a chemical filled energy drink or fully loaded cup of coffee, how about having a nutritious, savory slice of bruschetta. 

Fresh bruschetta with hummus and spinach

Ingredients:

• 1 slice whole-grain bread             ($0.33)
• 2 tbsp. roasted garlic hummus   ($0.35)
• 1 handful of baby spinach            ($0.12)
• 4 tbsp. bruschetta topping          ($0.50)

Preparation: 

Toast the bread until lightly brown. Spread the hummus on the bread. Top with baby spinach leaves and the bruschetta topping and devour like a wild herbivore. The bruschetta mix I used was store bought, containing tomatoes, onions, garlic and basil.

Ready in less than 5 minutes, this $1.30 snack is karmically and nutritiously better than any dollar menu item at any fast food joint. In the afternoons, caffeine is so very seductive. It tempts not only your neurotransmitters, but also your palate. Delicious coffee is delicious!  One cup of coffee in the morning keeps your mind focused, as well as reducing the risk of heart failure and Alzheimer's disease. In the afternoon, your body has worked off the caffeine and tells you that you probably need another boost. Fill this with vitamins and nutrients instead. Your body will thank you later. 

Eating a vegan diet, the human body will need sustenance intermittently throughout the day due to the small amount of calories in such large amounts of food. Take a look at this chart from Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. 

The amount of calories it takes to fill up a human stomach with vegetables is about 400. For chicken, it is about 1,200! We can achieve that same, satisfied, full feeling on vegetables, and eat MORE! Eating small meals and snacks throughout the day is the best way to keep the body well nourished and functioning properly. This also keeps the metabolism on its toes and processing well into the later years of life.

Did you know?

The most commonly accepted pronunciation of bruschetta is not what you think. In Italian, the digraph <ch> is always pronounced /k/. ex.  [bru'sket:ta] 

Brusketta. Brushetta. Bruschketta. Bruschetta. VIVA L'ITALIA!