Growing Up Veggie

I have never felt the need to blog nor do I real have a passion for it. If I had something in my life that I wanted to share with the world then yeah I would have done this a long time ago. The thing is there isn't one specific part of me I like to talk about more than others which is why my blog is called pieces of me. I will be discussing many different things from make up to different face washes to how I feel about public transit. They will be random but hopefully interesting and I would love some suggestions.

I've been a vegetarian  for a little less than half my life and most people are slightly shocked when I tell them. My decision was simple it started off with the fact that I am allergic to fish, which then turned into the fact that I didn't enjoy the taste of beef or pork in any form. I did enjoy chicken a little but only if it was covered in ketchup or something. The only logical thing to do was to simply stop eating it. being as I was only 13 when I finally gave up everything things got a little harder on my family. You see when I gave it up so did my mother, for a completely different reason, she read this book called hunting humans where this guy would kill people and sell their meat to local butchers in the 70's and it completely freaked her out and she was done with it. This is when it becomes a problem, I'm not eating any meat and my mother isn't eating any either, oh did I mention that I have a brother and father who absolutely LOVE meat? well I do and they were slightly pissed.

 Coming up with recipes that fit both groups and living on a pretty tight budget was tough but we made it work. She started making veggie lasagna and stuffed peppers with meatless ground beef so even though my dad and brother weren't vegetarian they were eating like one without even knowing.

Meatless ground beef is probably the best thing for people who have both vegetarians and non vegetarians living in the same household. The best part is it isn't that expensive and you can find it pretty much anywhere. Mine and my boyfriends favourite meatless ground beef is "ground beef crumbles" from Morning star, its perfect for pasta and stuffed peppers or cabbage rolls.
below is my favourite stuffed pepper recipe.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers w/ Ground Crumble

 

Ingredients:

§  1 bag of Boca Meatless Ground Crumbles (Can also try Morningstar Farms crumbles)

§  2 green bell peppers

§  ¼ of a tomato (diced)

§  1 can of tomato sauce (8 ounces)

§  1 small mushroom (chopped)

§  1 teaspoon of basil

§  1 teaspoon of garlic powder

§  ½ teaspoon of pepper

§  1 cup of rice

§  1 tablespoon of oil
(for 4 peppers just double everything)

 

 Preparation:

§  Begin by cutting the tops off of the green peppers. Following this, remove the guts and membranes to make space. (I saved some of the eatable portions of the top for the “stuffing”). Then, rinse the peppers.

§  Dice ¼ of a tomato and chop up 1 small mushroom. Mix these items with the leftover green pepper tops.

 

If you want a softer texture for your peppers, bring them to a boil in a large pot, allowing them to simmer for a few minutes. Prepare 1 cup of rice (I used Jasmine Rice).

Add about 1 tablespoon of oil into a skillet. Pour in the tomatoes, mushrooms, and peppers, sautéing them over medium heat. Then, add the meatless ground crumble, and cook for 10-12 minutes while stirring.

Take the green peppers and fill them with the ground crumble (mixed w/ veggies), rice, and some sauce. Proportion your filling based on preference for taste.

Place the stuffed peppers onto a large baking dish, baking them for about 15 minutes at 350º. If you did not boil your peppers, bake for a little longer, or until the peppers are tender. Lastly, drizzle on more sauce and serve!

If you would like me to post more recipes let me know and I will be happy to do so.