Vegetable Pasta

I've contemplated going vegetarian for a long time, but only sushi and seafood stop me from going completely vegan. What I do as a compromise is that I have like some days in a week when I go vegetarian and chuck the meat back on the fridge. It really helped me a lot in my fitness routine since I do home yoga exercises and pole dancing. I still need the energy for me to do my stretches and tricks yet somehow eliminating certain foods and replacing them makes me feel lighter both inside and out.

Going vegetarian is not at all boring. In fact, when I googled vegetarian recipes, I really found a lot - from lunches, desserts (yes! vegan desserts!), sandwiches, pasta, main course, appetizers, stuff like that. So I'm not just stuck to raw veggie sticks and dip. Just go to an Indian restaurant and marvel at how many tasty ways veggies can be prepared.

This recipe to me was shared by my good friend and fellow makeup artist Avy. She knows I like quick, healthy, and easy meals that won't make me starve after a few hours, it's pretty easy and the only thing that will take some time is prepping the veggies.

Ingredients:

2 carrots, peeled and sliced into small pieces

one small cauliflower bunch

one small broccoli bunch

sliced mushrooms (on can)

one zucchini, sliced. leave the skin on, it's yummy

lemon juice

penne pasta

seasonings (italian seasoning, rosemary, herbs, anything you like)

olive oil

parmesan cheese

garlic cloves (3-6, depending on your garlicky taste) , crushed

1. Prep all the vegetables. cut the broccoli and cauliflower into florets and blanch them.

2. Line the vegetables in a pan (or the pan you use in the toaster oven. Drizzle some lemon juice and bake in toaster oven for 5 minutes. This is where effort comes, depending on your oven size. I have a tiny oven so I do the baking in batches. Effort!

3. Once the veggies are all baked (they're still firm to bite but tender enough). Heat some olive oil on a pan and sautee garlic for a few minutes until fragrant. Toss in the veggies and add mushroom and squeeze in some more lemon juice so it's tangy and tasty, season as desired. You can make a big batch of this and store some on the fridge.

4. To serve, toss in some penne pasta until mixed well. Serve with parmesan cheese and smoked cheese on the side. Yumm!!!!!!

Tipco 100% Juices Are Healthy Veggies In A Glass

Vegetables are food I've never had problems with developing a certain liking in them at an early age. I said that the only thing that could stop me from going vegan is a plate of sashimi or grilled seafood. On the other hand, I'm quite picky with fruits. I've been traumatized with prunes and papaya back then, next to beans. Don't ask. Won't tell.

My first experience with veggie juices was really from scratch, straight from the juicer. It was interesting for me yet quite tiresome. Juicing was a chore per se and the effort of cleaning was indeed a lot.

My best friend has then been juice straight from the bottle or pack, which although tasted good, had a bit of chemical tweaking as a preservative.

When I got the invitation to the launch of TIPCO JUICES, I was interested to try another healthy drink. Apparently, this brand has been around for quite some time and now they're launching a few new cool flavors.

When I got there, the first I tried was purple carrot. Why? Because it looked like a fun veggie and I didn't know that purple carrots existed. Apparently, they have fivw times more health benefits than the conventional orange carrots.

The deep color reminded me of an opaque wine. Taste was refreshing and fruity and not too tart.

After that, I wanted to try the blend of veggie juices. I was thinking pureed salad but the taste was just as good. The color didn't scare me as a deep green thick juice but it was orange. It was refreshing as well and it didn't gag me. If you know someone who wants to add veggies to their diet but have veggie trauma, this ought to do.

Speaking of green juices, I was intrigued at their bestseller, which happened to be broccoli juice. Yes, you read that right - BROCCOLI. A veggie currently seen mixed with mushrooms and beef in oyster sauce, would you believe it's now a juice? And the bestseller apparently. Interesting.
See? I told you I'm not kidding you. Broccoli juice does exist. Apparently, this also was sweet and the taste reminded me of fruit roll-ups. I asked what the fiber bits were on the juice. It was actually vegetable fiber. So nothing artificial here.

Tipco 100% Juice is all-natural with no added chemicals, preservatives, sugar, or colorings. That's why we were advised to consume it 3 days after opening and to keep the tetra pack chilled in the ref. They're currently #1 in Thailand and are now available in the Philippines in leading supermarkets.

So I was wondering, how come the veggie juices don't taste like vegetable in liquid form? The thing was, they also blend it with fruit juices (which are also healthy by the way, any one with aversion to certain fruits could take this too). In this case, the broccoli juice has tomato, grape, kiwi, apple, orange, pineapple, and green tea powder incorporated in it.

I also found out that children and toddlers could also take in this too, but not the aloe vera variety. I think it's a good way to introduce children to have the healthy habit of including fruits and vegetables in their diet.

Aside from the delicious and refreshing juices, here's also what we were offered:

Healthy lunch courtesy of Icings restaurant (I ate the zucchini. oops!)

I was addicted to munching on these Mornflakes, a healthier alternative to sugar-ladden cereal. It's normally eaten with milk (soy in my case) but munching on it dry is addicting too. I'll probably pack on some of these since I'm out to go to work later.

The taste was like apple pie.

Tipco 100% Juices are available in all leading groceries and are available in 22 different variants. They come in 1 liter and 200-mL packs.

Jamaica in a Pie

Remember the Jamaican Patties we eat during school for that quick "lunch fix"? Starbucks has its version

And also, it's healthy being a vegetarian dish - carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, etc. My only complaint is that why they had to include beans.

I do like the exotic taste though that remind me of my favorite samosas. They do need to improve on the crust consistency as well.

And the talk on vegetarian food, what happened to the vegetarian stall @ the food court in Glorietta? I sure hope it didn't close!