Detoxing

I've intentionally given myself a pass nutritionally since the week before Christmas.  It's sort of fun eating junk food and sweets without feeling fat about it, but the lack of guilt doesn't prevent me from feeling tired and nauseous.  One of my favorite things about New Years is putting a stop to that and eating and feeling better for awhile.  In my efforts to try some new things and eat well without spending all my time on it, I'm spending New Years Day binge-cooking.  Here is what I've made so far today:

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup, because Simran has started eating it willingly, so I've started serving it with nearly every meal.  This means making a batch at least once a week.  Whatever works, I say.

Vegan Andouille Sausage, based on the bean sausage recipe in Jill Nussinow's Vegan Under Pressure, but with dry spices amended based on a meat andouille sausage recipe I found online (I reduced the black pepper by 50% and the cayenne by 75%).  I'm going to use the bean sausage in a vegan jambalaya recipe for dinner tonight -- the beans are even black eyed peas in honor of New Years.  I'm just using a normal jambalaya recipe but I've replaced the andouille with the bean sausage I made and replaced the chicken with an equivalent weight of small red beans.  I'm also replacing the white rice with brown basmati rice and omitting the oil.  I think Vegan Under Pressure's veggie paella cooking method/time will work for the jambalaya in the Instant Pot because the amounts and ingredients look very similar.  I've already been soaking the brown rice and small red beans since last night just like I did for the beans and brown rice in the paella.  I wonder if I should add in the sausage at the end or if it will hold up okay with the other ingredients.  I feel like it might fall apart if I don't save it till the end.  I think I'll dry saute it, then dump it onto a plate while I cook everything else.

Vegan Lentil Pate, which is nice with crudites such as baby carrots.  I don't have walnuts on hand so I used pecans.

Salted Raw Caramel Dip (Dates and cashews are currently soaking, and I omit the oil.  I love eating this stuff with an apple after a meal, especially a light lunch that might otherwise leave me hungry in two hours.)

I also cooked enough French green lentils for the pate that I have plenty to make vegan chorizo later this week.  The Tofurky brand chorizo was okay and fleshed out dinner a bit that one night we ate it, but it cannot hold a candle to the homemade vegan chorizo at my favorite taqueria, so I'm trying to make some myself.  I want weekly taco nights to become a thing at my house.  With Mission brand's extra thin (no oil whole grain) corn tortillas, beans, and all the vegetables I can chop, it makes for a very tasty and healthy meal that shouldn't take up all my time in preparation (except for the chopping, my god the chopping).  The only reason I haven't already put this together today is that I need to buy tempeh.  Thankfully they've started selling plain tempeh at all the grocery stores in my area.