Here’s a little (non) secret about me: I am not an amazing chef. I am still learning to even enjoy navigating my kitchen, so most of the time when I do cook, I need convenience and short times. When it’s 8:30pm and we’re finally getting around to dinner, I don’t want to be on my feet for an hour or more, carefully crafting a labor of love from scratch. I do enjoy this – but not seven times a week.
A few months ago, Ashley asked for easy vegetarian or vegan recipes, and I was thrilled when I sent her SUPER easy stuff and she said it was exactly what she needed. Then more recently, during a FaceBook discussion with a vegan friend of mine, someone mentioned that they’d swing more vegan/vegetarian but they didn’t feel like making every meal from scratch just to do it. It got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, someone out there might benefit from my super easy, totally uncreative, anyone-can-think-of-that recipes, and so I think I’ll post them from time to time for The Lazy Vegetarian! 
Also, pasta trick? Always add the pasta after the water is boiling – and add a bit of olive oil to the water to help prevent the pasta clumping together. This cooks for two people.
First you need…
- 4 ounces of your favorite pasta
- 1 box of Green Giant Cauliflower & Cheese Sauce
- 2 Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese wedges
- ¼ teaspoon any Mrs. Dash (I used Garlic & Herb)
- Black pepper and salt to taste
Then you just…
- Boil the pasta
- Steam the cauliflower bag in the microwave while you wait
- Once the pasta is ready, drain it and put it back in the pot
- Add in the cheese wedges, cauliflower/sauce bag contents and seasonings.
- Mix over low heat until melted together and serve!
cooking, recipes, vegetarian
Eat & Be Merry
& 
I am not a big breakfast eater – namely because I start my morning off by pairing coffee with 3 tablespoons of HEAVY CREAM and 2 tablespoons of sugar into a 16 ounce thermos, and all that delightful fat pretty much keeps me full until lunchtime. Yet I do acknowledge that breakfast is an important part of the day – and decided to find a way to have a healthy breakfast into that routine.
Enter: Baby Frittatas. About 100 calories. Or, for you fellow Weight Watchers, 2 points. TWO. POINTS. Three if you decide to use a muffin pan for a larger size.
And who wouldn’t be up for making a week worth of breakfast in under a half hour? Crazy people, that’s who. 
12-spot nonstick cupcake pan
Nonstick cooking spray (I use Pam’s pure olive oil spray)
2 cups of Simply Potatoes shredded hash browns – or 2 cups shredded potato
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
5 eggs
4 egg whites (I cooked the yolks and gave ‘em to the dogs)
½ cup of roasted red bell pepper (I bought the pre-jarred kind)
1 cup chopped spinach (I used frozen and had to pre-cook it)
¼ cup chopped white onion
1 tbsp heavy cream (or milk)
¼ tsp Mrs. Dash
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
01. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
02. Coat the cupcake spots in nonstick spray and spread the hash browns evenly between them. Press down with a spoon to try to make “crusts.” Pop into the oven for 15 minutes.
03. While those cook, mix together everything else into a bowl.
04. When the potatoes are done, pull the pan out and pour the egg mixture evenly into the pan.
05. Bake an additional 15 minutes.
06. Let cool 5 minutes before transferring.
And ta-da! Breakfast for an entire week! They ARE small, but paired with my coffee and a banana, they’re the perfect size for breakfast. I may try making them in an 8-spot muffin pan next week, with broccoli and spinach and white cheddar instead.
LOVE.
breakfast, gluten-free, recipes, vegetarian, weight watchers
Compassion > Eat & Be Merry
But my friend Liz has a little penis.
She also has a spare vagina.
So this afternoon, we all got together to celebrate it.
She is having TWINS (one of each!!) due this May, and today was her baaaaaby shower! I made cupcakes for the occassion — but was running behind schedule, so my fabulous husband got assigned the task of frosting them all!!! He was SO proud, the first thing out of his mouth when I came downstairs from showering was, “Are you going to put pictures of them on your blog!?!?” So! Without further ado, here are more of our unexpectedly joint venture cupcakes!!!
cooking
Eat & Be Merry > Inspiration > Personal Life
I. Love. Shrimp.
And our house is beginning to feel a little like Bubba’s speech from Forrest Gump: “…shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried…”
I haven’t done TAFT in a few weeks, but I wanted to try to pop up more “10 Minute Meal” ideas — because as un-fancy as they may be — They’re tasty and easy and if you’re like me, the idea of standing around in the kitchen for an hour after you’ve been at work, exercised, walked dogs, etc etc? Sounds like a punch to the nuts no matter how much you enjoy cooking.
This week I give you Rude Shrimp Tacos, which is really just jerk seasoning that has now been dubbed “rude” in any recipe in our house. And (if you get the right corn tortillas), they are !
◊ 4 corn tortillas (or up to 6, depending on how big you make yours)
◊ 1 medium avocado
◊ 1/2 can re-fried black beans
◊ 1 box Margaritaville’s Jammin Jerk Shrimp
◊ 1 pouch Uncle Ben’s Spanish Style Ready Rice
◊ Optional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream
◊ In a skillet, begin heating shrimp on medium-high for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until cooked.
◊ Cut avocado in half, remove peel and pit, and cut into slices.
◊ Heat rice (any flavor, really) for 90 seconds in microwave.
◊ Place half can of re-fried black beans into bowl, microwave 1 minute, stirring halfway.
◊ When shrimp is done, build your tacos with 2-3 shrimp per taco! Add beans, rice, avocado and sour cream, and enjoy!
PS We use these shrimp in a ton of stuff, so prepare for more uber simple meal ideas with them as the star!
cooking, gluten-free
Eat & Be Merry
Remember when I said I love any excuse for cream cheese frosting?
Scratch that and replace it with RAINBOW CHIP.
If you have to eat gluten-free, you might feel easier baked good options are far and few. Yesterday while browsing Walmart, Sean noticed that Betty Crocker now has gluten-free baking mixes — made in an exclusive gluten-free facility!!! — and we decided to test run the Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake Mix. I love cupcakes and have been learning to easily alter the recipes I do make to be gluten-free, but it’s pretty awesome to have a ready made mix for chocolate cupcakes as an option now! They turned out super nummy and it gave us an excuse to smother them in delicious rainbow chip frosting.
cooking, gluten-free
Eat & Be Merry
