Homemade Cream Chese Wontons

We are trying to eat more plant based at our house. I know cream cheese is not at all plant based but we had not yet made wontons so we wanted to try a fairly simple recipe first. The verdict? We LOVE them!

Step 1: Buy your ingredients:

1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 small package of green onions (green parts chopped)
1 package wonton wrappers
1 small bowl of water
2 cups of oil (we used 1/2 veg and 1/2 olive)
1 small pot to fry

Step 1: combine cream cheese and green onions.

Step 2: lay out wontons and fill each with 1/2 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture.

Step 3: Fold wontons into halves. We experimented with the envelope shape but I didn't like how they fried so we stuck with just folding them in half.

Step 4: Fry in the heated oil for about 30 seconds on each side and drain on a paper towel.

Step 5: EAT!

Pinterest Challenge: Ice Cube Lunch Trays

My children were off of school today but alas, as the teacher I was not. While my mother in law got to stay with my two adorable girls I was working. To celebrate a day where both girls can stay home together I decided to complete a Pinterest Challenge I had been dying to try. I found this great picture of a toddler lunch idea.

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Source: wileyvalentine.com via Melissa on Pinterest

So I make my own for both of my girls. Now, our tray was a little bigger but both girls just loved it. Here is my interpretation of what I called a Rainbow Lunch Tray.

 From left to right is as follows: 1/2 slice of American cheese, mix of chocolate and white chips, 3 sections of purple seedless grapes, 1/2 filled container of ranch dressing, two containers of brocolli, 1 container with 6 mini carrots, 1 container with cheese cracker birdies (Target brand), 2 containers full of animal crackers (about 6-8 animal crackers total), two sections of blue jello roll up (another Pinterest find) and two sections of strawberries (about 2 large strawberries).

My oldest who doesn't usually like raw veggies devoured her plate while my youngest didn't eat all of her veggies but everything else was gone. I think this may be a snow day/ day off from school/ fun Saturday tradition around here. Long live a $2.00 ice cube tray!

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie with Boca Soy Crumbles

My family and I watched a great documentary called "Vegucated" and I honestly wanted to cry. A few times I did in fact cry and so did my 2nd grade daughter who insisted on watching with me. I had long known that animals were killed for food, what person doesn't? But what I didn't know was just how cruelly animals were kept and treated.

I began my journey into "vegetarianism" by listening to my own body. I have horrible energy swings, headaches, feel tired and groggy, get tummy troubles, etc. I seem to have issues with lots of foods. What food was it? Who knows? I know that I couldn't sleep at night all night because I couldn't breathe. Was it my allergies? Maybe. I do have two dogs and two cats but getting rid of them was not an option. I love my animals but I also love to breathe. I had read that dairy causes more mucus production so I thought maybe getting rid of dairy would help my breathing issues at night. Can I give up milk and yogurt? Sure! Can I give up cheese? Maybe not. Cheese is a staple in my home and is used multiple times a week for a majority of meals.

My husband and youngest daughter are total meat eaters. My youngest LOVES her chicken nuggets and will eat meat over anything else. My husband looked at me when I said I wanted us to give up meat and flat out said "no". I am slowly convincing him by switching out our meat for soy substitutes for 2-3 meals a week. We still have some beef and pork in the freezer to use up and it would be horrible to throw it away especially since the animal's life has already been forfeit but I have purchased Boca and Morningstar Farms products and soy milk to get us started. Believe it or not, the youngest meat eater LOVES her 25% less sugar Westsoy Plus Plain soy milk! She asked for it twice today and she NEVER asks to drink milk. Yeah!

This recipe I found at Peta's website in their pdf version of the "getting started" Vegetarian information packet.

I mixed together:

1 can of peas
1 can of carrots
1 packet of gravy (made to serve)
1 bag of Boca Soy Crumbles

and spread into a sprayed glass dish

Wash, peel, and boil for 20 minutes 4-6 medium potatoes.

Mash with 1/2 cup of soy or regular milk
2 Tb of margarine or real butter
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tsp Garlic Salt

Spread on top of mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are slightly brown.

*This recipe differs slightly from the PETA recipe as I doubled the amount of veggies and added two potatoes.

Of course mine does not look nearly as pretty as PETA's version as I believe I pulverized my potatoes but my family still ate it and my husband even went back for seconds! I also had a little gravy sneak out on the side (bad gravy).