February 19th, 2007

Ideas for over the road eating

Hello all!
I have been vegan for five years and recently had to start driving a semi truck as a profession. I really love my job, as I have seen the entire united states now, but the lack of food is literally starting to kill me.
As I am sure you know, the over the road options are Taco Bell burritos (which are loaded with sodium and it's not the best place to eat in the first place), Wendy's Baked Potatos, and Subway veggie subs. I am supposed to limit my sodium due to my endometriosis and that's proving next to impossible. I live off the things listed above, veg "meats," canned soup and some of the microwave bag rices. It's pretty pathetic.
I have a cooler that I get ice for almost daily. I carry soy milk, toffuti better than cream cheese and sour supreme, veganaise, oj, jelly, carrots and broccoli, guacamole. I usually also have salsa. I find salad greens and spinach do not last more than a day and it's just impossible to pull into a wal-mart (only place you can generally park a big rig) every day to get things for salads and so on.

What I need are ideas from canned foods I can make interesting. Like making "soups" from canned beans, veggies and such in my little plug and heat pot. That is about all I can do cooking wise. There are little ovens and crock pots I can get eventually but for now money is super tight. I only eat fast food when I have points on my fuel card and can get the food for free...
Spice wise all I have on my truck is Mrs. Dash but I have tons at my home and I am here for the first time in months...also I can cook for a few days so ideas for things to make here that I can store in a cooler and either eat cold or heat usuing a plug in pot are good too. I am truely in need of some change and more healthy eating.

Thanks a bunch all!

Non-sweet granola bars?

I'm interested in making some kind of granola bar, but I don't want it to be sweet. So far, all of the recipes that I've run across use sweeteners (maple syrup, agave, etc.) to hold all the ingredients together. I don't even want it to be sweet-tasting, so no stevia. Anyone know where I can find such a recipe? Would flax seed work as a binder?

I lost my sweet tooth, and now have to rethink my approach to food!

Whole-Wheat Curry Pockets

A healthier take on fried samosas. This recipe requires more than a few steps, but if well-coordinated it can be pulled off in around thirty minutes. As a note, this was prepared both at a higher altitude and by two hot pepper loving girls, and therefore required more seasoning than if it had been made a lower altitude by more reasonable girls. Let your taste buds guide you, not the recipe which was made up along the way.

Start the dough by mixing 1 cup whole-wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour 2 tsp salt & 2 tsp vegetable oil together. Add water a little at a time, until ingredients form into dough. Set aside.

Next, chop up the sweet potato. Add to boiling water to cook and soften.

While sweet potato is boiling, saute 1 whole red onion until translucent in vegetable oil. Add chopped jalapeno peppers and New Mexican green chiles. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk, 2 tsp + of cumin, 2 tsp + cheyenne pepper, a pinch of yellow curry, a pinch of coriander, and salt and pepper. Let simmer on low heat. Add peas. When the sweet potato is soft, add to curry and stir until mixed. Take off heat and allow to cool a little.

Take pinches of dough and roll each out to 6-inch circles. Fold curry mixture into dough pockets and pinch closed. Continue until all of the dough and all of the curry is used. Brush tops with vegetable oil.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes until dough is cooked through. Ours were deliciously spicy and so we paired them with an agave & mustard dipping sauce.

Fluffy Pancakes and Artichoke Pasta

This is my grandfather's recipe for pancakes, made vegan.

Griddle Cakes

1 and 1/4 c sifted all-purpose flour
2 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 banana, mashed
1 cup soymilk (WestSoy Vanilla is good but quite sweet)
3 tbsp oil or melted vegan margarine

Sift dry ingredients. Blend wet ingredients and add dry. Bake on oiled griddle. Enjoy!

Here's a pasta recipe I made today.

Spaghettini Robusto

1 lb. thin spaghetti, cooked al dente
olive oil (Olio Beato organic is AMAZING if you can find it)
coarse sea salt
fresh black pepper

Season pasta with oil, salt and pepper.

1 medium white onion, julienned
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped roughly
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (pre-marinated would be delicious)
app. 10 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
salt, pepper, dried oregano/basil/Italian blend, soy sauce/Bragg's liquid aminos

Brown onions in olive oil and add garlic, artichokes, olives and other seasonings. Saute, then add a few tablespoons of water and stir until water evaporates. Serve on dressed pasta.

Variation: Saute sliced mushrooms along with onions.