Almost-Vegan Beef-a-Roni

I never acquired a taste for Chef Boyardee, but am always looking for new recipes, especially heart-healthy and easy meals. Tonight both kids were sick and fussy, so it was as good an evening as any to enjoy some comfort food. I got a recipe for a vegan version of beef macaroni online and decided to try it. In addition to onion and garlic, the recipe called for a bag of MorningStar faux ground beef crumbles, two cans of tomato soup and elbow macaroni.

It came out pretty good, though I cheated and added grated cheese to the cooked concoction, which really added a creamy, comforting flavor. I ate a bowl-and-a-half without guilt - the great thing about eating vegan dishes is that you can pig out without as much consequence!

Yummy Dinner

Amazing what can be done with an oven. Decided to give the microwave and Pizza Hut a break tonight and undertake some real meals for a change. Kids both pooped out by 6:00 pm, which gave us the rare opportunity to have a kids-free, peaceful dinner.

Dinner entailed some first-time recipes: Baked Furikake Salmon and Broiled Sushi Rice.

The salmon came out so-so; we just don't seem to be at-home fish eaters - it always seems to taste better in restaurants.

The Broiled Sushi Rice was "da winnah," though used lowfat sour cream and "fake" mayonnaise. It still tasted OK. Of course, it's actually better with the real stuff but our arteries just can't take it! Click here for the recipe - just a hint, it's MUCH better with real mayonnaise (Best Foods, of course!) and sour cream!