Day 102 & 103 Strawberry Peach Ice Cream Recipe

For a great "do ahead" meal try Bill's Enchiladas (pg 88). Normally, around 5:00pm I start thinking about what I am going to make for dinner. So, it took great self discipline to force myself to think "dinner" at 11:00 AM, but what a treat it was at 6:00pm when I came rolling in from an afternoon of errands, to smell the aroma of an already prepared dinner in my crockpot! I just heated up some extra corn tortillas and put the crockpot on the table along with leftover Cilantro Slaw (which still tasted great)

For dessert I made peach/strawberry icecream (my own invention) which was luscious.
I just put 1 cup of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of frozen peaches and 2 frozen bananas and 1/2cup of vanilla flavored almond milk in my high speed blender ( I let things thaw for about 5 minutes before hitting the switch). It made the most wonderful creamy treat. I topped each serving with 1 t.orange juice concentrate and 1T of sliced almonds. Sooo good!

So that was yesterday, Today, I slacked off. We ate out twice. After my second dissapointing meal, I have come to the conclusion that there are no longer any good restaurants, but then, maybe, I am just getting spoiled by Bill's great meals.

Tonight, I got fired up again and made Bill's Healthy Muffins (pg 161). These are check +++ muffins. I just made 1/2 the recipe and came up with 18 good sized muffins. The recipe calls for 2 lbs of nuts and 2 lbs of raisins which I decided must an error and probably should be 2 cups of each. Anyway, that is how I made them and they were perfectly delicious. I also added dried cranberries and a little maple syrup 1/3 Cup instead of the stevia. Please try this recipe. Its wonderful!

Day 101

For a nice change of pace try the Cilantro Slaw (pg 24). It is made with red cabbage and a jalapeno pepper and cilantro of course. Its a very pretty dish and would make a nice side for cookouts this weekend.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will get my herb garden all planted and for the rest of the summer fresh herbs will be at my fingertips for all Bill's great recipes.

Day 100 Recipe 86, Lentil Curry pg 110 Check ++

I was talking with a new friend tonight who is attempting to cook more healthy, vegetarian meals, but cannot find recipes where you really prepare a main dish.
She said all she can find are recipe books that tell you how to cook asparagus or broccoli or what we would call side dishes, not main courses. So, of course, I told her about "Dining with Bill Irwin".

Lentil Curry is one such main dish and it is totally satisfying. You feel like you have eaten a meal, not a bunch of vegetables. I think this is what sets Bill's book apart from all the others

I really encourage you to try the Lentil Curry. I served it over brown rice as suggeted and then I topped it with tomato chutney. It was so good. As I was preparing the dish I realized that I was out of curry powder, of all the things to be out of! Anyway, I found out online that you can make curry powder by mixing coriander, tumeric, cumin and red pepper. It worked like a charm!

Till tomorrow............

Day 98 & 99

I know this must be hard to believe, but I have just prepared another sensational salad from Bill's cookbook. I am just amazed at the recipes for their variety, taste and eye appeal. Wild Rice Cranberry Salad (pg 64) is tops in all three catagories. This would be great to bring to a summer picnic as it makes 10 to 12 good size servings.

Tomorrow will be day 100! What shall I cook ???????? It will have to be something special..................

Day 96 & 97 Here Is An Outstanding Soup Recipe

Here is a great recipe that I simply had to share with you. It is easy to make and absolutely wonderful to eat. You have try Bill's Cream of Broccoli and Potato Soup (pg 27). I think it is one of the best soups I have ever tasted. It is super healthy. Try it and let me know what you think.

Day 95 and recipes 82 & 83

Linguine with Swiss Chard Pg 118 is so good. The lemon Zest and saffron infusion give it a great flavor. It is quick to prepare and also makes a colorful presentation if you use the ruby swiss chard.

I served corn on the cob first, which I purchased at Wal Mart. It was some of the best corn I have ever tasted, young and very fresh. Then came the linguine with crusty bread followed by Bill's Fruit Pudding pg 178 for dessert, which I rated check +++. It was such a treat. I drizzled 1/2t orange juice concentrate on each serving. It looks pretty and adds to the flavor. That is a tip I learned from Bill. You could also top it with a lttle granola or just serve it plain.

How can something so healthy taste so good?..............

Day 94 Creamy Wild Rice and Asparagus Soup (check ++)

This was a wonderful soup(pg 30)and really it is a meal in a bowl. It is hardy and delicious. The men, Sam, Chris and Loren, gave me the rating, check++. KIatie and I loved it too. The color is appetizing, bright green with the black wild rice. I love Bill's method of thinkening the rice milk with cornstarch. It made it so thick and cremy. I used 2T of cornstarch and a little extra lemon. also, I used only 12 oz of rice as I felt 16 oz makes it a little too heavy. This recipe serves 5 as a full meal. We had some crusty 12 grain bread along side and we felt well satisfied.

This recipe is fairly quick to make especially if you cooked the wild rice ahead. I used Silk creamer for the cup of non-dairy cream. You can usually find it right near regular cream or half and half.

I hope you will try this one, you will be glad you did. I am constantly being amazed at how delicious some of his most simple recipes really are.

Now, what will I cook tomorrow. My son, Loren who started us on this Vegan adventure, is here for the weekend so I will have to make something really special.
Hmmm.................