Well! We’re one week into the kickstart here at Chez Recessionista, and things are going just swimmingly. Over the weekend we dined out once (Indian!) and got takeout with friends once (Thai!), and while at home feasted to our heart’s content on all kinds of vegan goodies, from chai pancakes to tofu scramble to tempeh BLTs. I couldn’t be more pleased with how the past week has gone on the kickstart and am excited to settle into Week 2!
Tonight we hit the ground running with a huge pan of penne al forno. LeeLee and I both love pasta, and this whole-wheat version hit the spot in a hurry! Whereas my usual baked penne contains a hearty layer of cheese (vegan or regular), this contained neither, and we didn’t miss it a bit. What’s more, we filled ourselves up on all the veggies this dish contained – from zucchini to celery to carrots to onion! We each went back for seconds, but neither of us felt overly full or gluttonous after the fact – a wonderful victory indeed.
And like so many of the other recipes we’ve tried out during this meal plan, the penne al forno took no time at all to prepare! I prepared and cooked all the vegetables while the pasta boiled, so that when the pasta was ready, so was everything else and into the lasagna pan it all went. Just a few minutes later, we were ready to eat!
This Vegan Kickstart has been quite a learning experience so far, and I’m only a third of the way through it. I can’t wait to see what other habits I pick up! So far, so good.
:)