Vegan Mofo 22.1: Sunday Update and Lemon Mustard Rosemary Roasted Veggies

Sunday morning started bright and early today for the farmers’ market. In fact we actually set the alarms for 5:45 am to get up a bit earlier in prep for changing our sleep schedule to get to the gym early in the morning. Now we just need to get into bed early every night. Only time will tell if that really happens. ;-)

This is a picture I took from the car (Dan was driving) to give you a sense of the trip to the market. The market itself is off the left exit (directly down the ramp ahead). The market is set up under this expressway.

Having the farmers’ market under the expressway protects people from the weather but makes it dark which means it is hard to take pictures. I wanted to give you a sense of the place. There are about 75 vendors the picture above was taken outsdie the shortest side (the area is a long thin rectangle) of the market.  The tents you see are vendors set up outside the market.

We took our time getting to the market since we were up earlier than usual. It turned out that wasn’t the best plan since we forgot the farmers had warned up to get there early since the market before Thanksgiving was always more crowded. Wow, they were not kidding. We had a little difficulty getting a parking place at 6:30 and the market doesn’t officially open until 7am. Some people were leaving with food when we arrived.

When we arrived at the market Rudy (Cat’s Paw Organic) wasn’t there at all so we started with our CSA (Calvert Farm). Not long after we started selecting produce from the CSA Rudy pulled in. Pam (from Calvert Farm) was kind enough to let us keep our bags there while we ran over to help Rudy unload. Since Rudy sells a lot of baked goods Thanksgiving is a bigger day than normal for him and he was late getting the truck packed. Between Rudy, Dan, the two ladies that help him and me we had the truck unloaded in less than 5 minutes. As one of you pointed out before that does bring new meaning to community supported agriculture. I loved that line so I had to use it. LOL

We headed back to our CSA to finish picking out our items there before the “good stuff” was gone. The market was definitely packed this morning. But you know us we came home with tons of good stuff. Our haul this morning included: kale, watercress, portabella caps to stuff, parsnips, beets, apple cider, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cilantro, parsley, celery, garlic, broccoli rabe, green onions, green beans, spicy greens, and baby spinach. Like usual we were able to fill five (5) reusable grocery bags with produce. I am really going to miss the farmers’ market when it closes on Dec 19th. *sigh*

Lunch with my folks was a simple miso soup with diced carrot, and julienned baby spinach to start.

The lunch entrée was green beans, carrots, onion, garlic, ginger and liquid aminos over brown rice and topped with walnuts and hot pepper flakes (for 3 out of 4 of us).

Since I had time I roasted a few veggies to include with lunch on Monday. This is a very simple recipe but it tastes great and is easy so I thought some of you would be interested. Here is what I did:

Lemon Mustard Rosemary Roasted Veggies
Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 lemon, zested and juiced
approximately 12 inches fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and minced (about 1 tablespoon minced)
black pepper to taste
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
1 quart (4 cups) Brussels sprouts, bases trimmed and cut in half

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees convection. Line two half sheet pans with parchment, easy release aluminum foil or silpat.

Combine the Dijon, lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary and black pepper in a big bowl and whisk. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat. Place a single layer of cauliflower on one of the sheet pans.

Place the Brussels sprouts in the bowl and toss to coat with the dressing. Place the Brussels sprouts on a single layer on the second sheet pan. Roast the veggies until they are the texture you desire. I roasted mine for 30 minutes and they were lightly browned and tender crisp.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 140.88
Calories From Fat (6%) - 8.29

Total Fat - 1g
Saturated Fat - 0.14g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 226.86mg
Potassium - 1493.85mg
Total Carbohydrates - 29.58g
Fiber - 13.07g
Sugar - 11.2g
Protein - 10.73g

Comments:

These are good tossed with greens or cold cooked grains. Our favorite way to eat them is on salad but there are versatile. We like them hot out of the oven, warm or cold. Roasted veggies are one of my favorite intentional leftovers due to their flexibility.

Monday:

The alarm was set for 5:30 this morning and we actually got up then without using the snooze button. Will miracles never cease? We were at the gym by 6:06 so we were almost on schedule. The gym was fairly empty but the pool was filled with the swim team. We decided it was best to get in the habit of getting up and going to the gym and start out easy. We did an hour of cardio. There was a little warm up on the padded track (nice), and then we grabbed two elliptical machines. I used the treadmill on an incline while Dan used the rowing machine. It was fabulous to get my blood pumping so early in the morning. I plan to do my strength training at home for a while since the idea is an hour at the gym in the morning before Dan goes to work.

I took a few pictures as we left the gym. This is the view as you come out the door. Loyola really has a lovely campus.  As you can see it was foggy this morning.  I will take more pictures of the gym in the coming weeks to share.

This is a picture of the front of the gym as you come up from the parking lot. We are very lucky to have such a nice gym in the neighborhood and at a very reasonable price.

Here is the best part of the trip to the gym this morning, other than those in the pool most of the people in the gym were my age or older. I have to admit that was a relief. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of working out with people 1/3 my age.  It was nice to have some people my own age around. ;-)

Happy Thoughts:

I had a great weekend but it was really busy. Here are the things I am thankful for this morning:

• I enjoyed being around so many people that wanted to learn about health at the conference on Saturday.

• We had a lovely dinner out on Saturday and got a chance to see our sweet Aimee which we always enjoy.

• The farmers’ market was a blast and I picked up almost everything I need for Thanksgiving.

• My father is completely on board with a vegan Thanksgiving. Who is this man and what did he do with my father? LOL

• Our first morning at the gym was great. I was able to knock out an hour of cardio before I would have normally been awake. I loved that, but I am not right. Dan said the gym wasn’t bad, which I thought was a great sign. I was thrilled when he suggested joining the gym. It makes me happy that he has started exercising.

• It is almost time to decorate for Christmas. That is my favorite thing to do. I start decorating the day after Thanksgiving while most people are shopping. I love Christmas decorations, the little white lights and shiny baubles. There is nothing like turning out the lights (except the decorations) and sipping hot chocolate and listening to music. Can you tell how much I love Christmas? LOL

Signing out:

I need to run to the store for bananas to get into the freezer (for smoothies and soft serve). Then I have to get my strength training in and start my day. I will be back later with at least one recipe (maybe two) that I made last week that I haven’t had time to post yet. I also have a lot of blog reading to catch up on. It has been a busy week and I am way behind schedule. Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. Dan and I had a good day but it was busy.

Talk to you all again later today. I hope everyone has a great Monday.