First, it’s ridiculously easy. You should allow about 90 minutes bake time, but other than that, the assembly comes together quickly and effortlessly.

Second, it’s packed with good stuff. The lentils are a good source of protein, dietary fiber, iron, folate and vitamin B1. The brown rice contains magnesium, iron and B vitamins. I always add one 28-ounce can of tomatoes, which provides additional nutrients like vitamin C and carotene lycopene, an antioxidant.

Third, it contains low-cost ingredients and provides leftovers, thus making you a frugal cook who knows how to stretch your dinner dollar!

Finally… it’s yummy, plain and simple. Hubby and I have been enjoying this recipe for months now.

P.S.– If you skip the cheese (and use vegetable broth, of course) this makes a delicious vegan dinner, too!

Get the recipe over at Food.com!

Late February, the day after my 38th birthday, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive!  I tried not to get too excited though… we had been trying to conceive for more than two years and the positive test result felt more like a dream than reality. Still, I shared the news with hubby and we kept things between us until I took a second pregnancy test nearly a week later… the result was still positive! This was really happening… “we” were pregnant!

I wanted to make an effort to revive this site this year, and the baby news definitely gave me the inspiration for that, but what I didn’t count on was how sick I’d be in my first trimester of pregnancy. It’s been a constant day-long nausea since the beginning of March. For the past two months, I’ve struggled tremendously with food. I’m talking about things like not being able to cook dinner for two months… not being able to go near the kitchen sink if it had any dirty dishes in it… and consuming some of the most bland, boring, carb-heavy edibles you can imagine: bagels, pizza, cereal, bread, rice, macaroni and cheese, etc. I couldn’t even think about fruit and vegetables without my stomach churning… such a weird concept to wrap my head around! But, my body rejected any sort of highly nutritious food I tried to take in. It’s safe to say I was adverse to most foods… even favorites, like chocolate! (I still can’t fathom eating chocolate. I hope this changes soon!)

I’m finally starting to feel better and regain my interest in food. I cooked spaghetti for us Friday night and didn’t gag once! I don’t say that to be gross, but as I was stirring the pasta sauce that evening, I realized how much I enjoy cooking and how much I missed it while I was sick.

Come November, when we welcome our first child into this world, I know these past few months of being ill will seem like nothing, just a tiny little bump in the road to achieving greatness!

What can YOU expect going forward as a reader of this blog? More posts, more often. I’m so excited to share my experiences with you! Yes, many of them will be centered on my pregnancy, but I promise I’ll keep the gushy stuff to a minimum. Besides… do you really want to miss out on some of the bizarre cravings I’m likely to have?!? LOL I did consider creating a “baby blog” to document my pregnancy, but talking about it here made more sense to me. I’m a 38 year old, plus-sized vegetarian woman working her way through her first pregnancy… my hope is I’ll have lots of insight to share as our mixed-diet household transitions from a couple to a real family!

Chocolate Berry Loaf
(makes 3 mini loaves or one standard-size loaf)

1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 plus 3/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Egg replacer for two eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup Tofutti brand sour cream
1/2 cup soy yogurt
1/2 cup dried fruit, chopped
3 tablespoons chocolate chips

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the three mini loaf pans with cooking spray or oil.
2) In a small bowl, mix together cocoa powder, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water until it’s a smooth consistency. Set aside.
3) In a larger bowl, mix together flour, bakig powder, baking soda and salt.
4) In a medium-sized bowl, mix together remaining 3/4 cup sugar, your chosen eggs substitute, oil and almond extract. Whisk in sour cream.
5) Stir sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until well-blended. Mix 1 1/2 cups of the batter in with the cocoa mixture, along with the chopped berries, until no white streaks remain.
6) Drop alternating spoonfuls of batter into the mini loaf pans, then swirl a knife through the batter for a marble effect. Top each loaf with one tablespoon chocolate chips.
7) Bake at 350 degrees for 35-50, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each loaf comes out clean. Cool loaves on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool completely. 

I created a Facebook fan page for I Married an Omnivore! as a way to keep in touch with you between blogs. Lately, I’ve been using the page to share content with you in lieu of writing a blog. I feel like I’m still connecting and sharing, but in a way that’s more manageable with my schedule. It’s made me much happier on a personal level. Yet, not updating this blog on a regular basis is a weight on my shoulders… a burden I’d like to address.

I’m not ready to give up blogging… yet. Although I love the ease of posting on the I Married an Omnivore! Facebook page, I want a home base for my original content… but I’d like to simplify. I’ve been mulling a switch to Tumblr. I love WordPress and advocate its use all the time, but the more I see of Tumblr, the more it looks like it could be a good fit for me at this time.

I wanted to give you a “heads up” on the switch. Don’t panic if you come back here and things look totally different! I have some time off coming up soon, so the changes may come within the next week or so. I haven’t decided if I will try to convert the entire blog into Tumblr in one swoop or start fresh while sprinkling in older content among the new. Decisions, decisions!

UPDATE: 2/26/12… I don’t have any plans at this time to convert this site to a Tumblr site as suggested above. Everything is staying as is, for now. Thanks everyone for your kind words! I appreciate the support!

I made these in mini loaf pans, which unmolded perfectly but, as you can see, were very tender when sliced. Still, they were quite delicious. And, the serving is very generous… could definitely get by eating only half the mini loaf. (For those following the Weight Watchers program, one mini loaf is 9 points according to my calculations.)

Oh, and, as some of you may know, hubby isn’t a squash fan… he hates the stuff, but enjoyed his mini loaf. He said he could taste the squash. Yet, we also debated whether or not he would have “tasted” it if he didn’t know (prior to eating it) that it was made with squash. Next time, I ain’t sharing my secret ingredients with him. :-p

Sweet and Savory Vegetarian Meatloaf – Serves 4
2 – 12oz. packages Boca crumbles
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sweetened applesauce
1 large-ish zucchini, peeled and shredded
2 large-ish carrots, peeled and shredded
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 egg
1.5 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic pwder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mist four mini loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Combine Boca crumbles, oats applesauce, squash, carrots, ketchup, egg, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Scoop mixture evenly into the four mini loaf pans, packing it down into the molds. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before turning the loaves out onto a plate.

On our second to last day in Acadia, we hiked the Jordan Pond Trail, which is a moderate 3-mile trail around, well, Jordan Pond! The trail is fairly easy and flat but gets its rating from a stretch of rocky path that some folks might find challenging. I was really excited to hike this trail because it put us in the vicinity of the Jordan Pond House—the only restaurant inside Acadia National Park.

After the morning trek around the pond, we took a break from our trail food and stopped inside the House for lunch. The Jordan Pond House lunch menu had a few vegetarian options, including Cranberry Island or Kitchen Garden salads; Hummus or Vegetarian Panini sandwiches; and Vegetable Quiche. I ordered the panini with a cup of tomato bisque soup, and hubby got the roast beef sandwich with a cup of lobster stew. We enjoyed the food, but felt it was a bit over-priced. We definitely seemed to be paying for the privilege of dining inside the Park rather than exceptional food. Still, it was a nice to eat from a plate rather than a plastic bag in camp!

I’ve got lots I’d like to share with you in the coming weeks… ideas for vegetarian camping meals, stories about our trip… possibly some video, too!

While I sort through and prepare these cool blog items, I thought I’d post this “almost camp meal” that we ate today at home for lunch. We originally took two packages of Tasty Bite lentils and flour tortillas with us in our camping food tub. I thought we could pick up a fresh tomato and onion at a local Maine market and make easy camp burritos. I overestimated our meals so the burritos never made it to the camp stove. But, that’s OK… they hit the spot today and made for a quick lunch while we scrambled to unpack, wash clothes and put our lives back in order before the weekly work grind resumes tomorrow.

Lazy Lentil Burritos

1-2 pkgs Tasty Bite “Lentil Magic”
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 large onion, sliced and sauteed until soft
Flour tortillas

Slice onion and saute in lightly oiled pan over medium heat. Open can of diced tomatoes and place in a colander to drain. While onion is sauteing and tomatoes draining, heat package of Tasty Bite lentils in microwave per package instructions. Combine the lentils, onion and tomato atop flour tortillas and wrap burrito style… and enjoy!

If you want to bake vegan cupcakes for non-vegans, you really need to own Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (affiliate link). Every recipe I’ve tried from this book so far has been amazing.

I was charged with making dessert for my parents’ birthday party. It was a small affair—hubby and I, my sister and her husband, my mom and dad. Still, my decision to make an animal-free dessert over a “normal” dessert has gotten mixed reviews in the past. Of course, that was several years ago now and my family has had more opportunities to learn that vegan desserts can taste just as rich and delicious as those made with animal ingredients. Especially if you’re making cupcakes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s book!

Pictured above is the “Brooklyn Brownie Cupcakes,” which I topped with walnuts and a piece of Chocolove’s Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate Bar. Definitely a chocolate lover’s dream. Very, very rich. And quite irresistible. Because the recipe makes more than a dozen cupcakes, hubby taste-tested these (three of them!) before we left for the party. The birthday boy and girl also took “seconds” home with them. I think it’s safe to say these cupcakes were a winner!

Have you served a vegan dessert? What did you make and how did it go over with the omni-crowd?

This is a recipe I spied in a magazine earlier this year, but just got around to cooking it this week. It comes together quickly—the longest part is the cooking time—and by throwing in a package of Italian vegetarian (or vegan) sausages, it makes for an easy meatless weeknight meal that is sure to please any omnivore at your dinner table.

(Yes, I took a short cut and used package veggie sausages… feel free to give this a try with your favorite homemade vegetarian sausage recipe, too!)

Roasted vegetables with vegetarian sausage

2 crisp red apples, quartered
2 yellow potatoes, cut into thin wedges
2 leeks, halved crosswise and lengthwise (use only the white and light green parts!)
1 pkg your favorite faux sausages (I used Lightlife’s Smart Sausage’s, Italian), cut in half
1/2 TBSP dried thyme
2 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degree F. Slice and cut your veggies, place them in a large roasting pan and then toss them with the salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil, coating well. Once oven reaches cooking temperature, place the pan in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
2. Retrieve the pan from the oven and gently stir vegetables, adding the halved sausages into the mix. Place back into oven and roast for about 10 minutes more, or until the sausages are heated through and the vegetables are tender.
3. Plate immediately and serve hot. Enjoy!

I’ve been trying out Door-to-Door Organics and had lots of organic carrots to use up. As I may have mentioned previously, hubby loves carrot cake so it was a perfect opportunity for me to try another vegan carrot cake recipe. Those who follow me on Facebook know that I made the vegan carrot cake cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (affiliate link) for Easter and boy were they delicious! That recipe still is probably my favorite thus far in terms of animal-free carrot cake, but the Nasoya recipe was pretty good too. Nice and moist, more brownie-like than cake-like. Hubby loved it though and we snacked on it all week.

As for the peanut butter pie… hubby loves peanut butter, too. We somehow got on the topic of the peanut butter banana ice “cream” I made last year, which hubby didn’t care for. To redeem myself, I offered to make the frozen peanut butter pie you see above and it was quite delicious! Easy too. Just bake the pie shell and combine all the other ingredients in blender, pour into cooled pie crust, freeze and voila, you have a tasty vegan summer treat!