I started with these:

Tasty Bite Bombay Potatoes:

Ingredients: Water, Potatoes, Chickpeas, Tomatoes, Onions, Sunflower Oil, Salt, Ginger, Garlic, Corn Starch, Coriander, Chilies, Cumin, Spices.
(VEGAN, KOSHER, GLUTEN-FREE, MSG-FREE & NO PRESERVATIVES!!!)
Nutrition per half box: 100 calories, fat 4g, carbohydrates 13g, fiber 3g, protein 5g

I was actually quite impressed with the nutrition! An entire box provides 10 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber! Pretty awesome! I was lazy and just microwaved the the contents of the package for 3 minutes. It was kind of a watery dish, so I used it as a sauce for some veggies, as you will see below!

Step 1: Saute lots of beautiful delicious veggies with spices! (ginger powder, garlic powder, coriander, chili powder, cumin, onion powder)

veggies include carrot, celery, mushroom, onion, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes

Step 2: Spiralize zucchini

Step 3: Pan-fry spiralized zucchini

Let me tell you, this was the best idea I ever had! TRY IT!!

Step 4: Microwave Tasty Bite contents and combine veggies and zuke spiralz in a bowl and top with heated the, in this case, bombay potatoes!
(this was only my FIRST bowl of goodness!)

Indian Life Samosas: Mixed Vegetable

I LOVE samosas! And these truly did not dissapoint for being frozen. They are a great snack for whenever, but I figured if I was going to have an Indian boxed/frozen feast I might as well go all out!

Ingredients: Peas, potatoes, carrots, corn, enriched flour, filtered water, onions, salt, ginger, green chilies, lemon juice, cilantro, canola oil, herbs and spices and citric acid.
VEGAN
Nutrition per Samosa w/ Tamarind sauce: calories 130, fat 6g, carbs 17g, fiber 1g, protein 2g

I was not exactly impressed with this nutrition info… but it is a yummy snack wrapped in a pastry shell! A good way to get in some fat at least! But at least I can feel good because of this from their website…”Majority of our products are 100% NATURAL with newer ORGANIC ingredients with NO PRESERVATIVES to minimum. Most of our extensive line of products have NO Added Flavor, NO Color, NO Eggs, NO MSG, NO Lard or NO Hydrogenated oils (Trans).” Not bad!

Directions: dipped warm and soft naan in bombay potato contents while consuming! Dip samosa in TAMARIND sauce

Indian Life Garlic Naan:

Ingredients: Organic Unbleached Enriched Flour, water, garlic, canola oil, salt, sugar, yeast, baking powder, vinegar and calcium propionate

Nutrition per half Naan: 150 calories, fat 4g, carbs 24g, fiber 2g, protein 4g

This Naan is unbelievably good for buying it prepackaged. All you do is wrap it in foil and put in the oven for a few minutes!

Of course, enjoy any type of cuisine with a side of Kabocha with ketchup and tobasco
\

Overall, I was extremly happy with my Indian feast! The veggies with pan fried zukes + the bombay potatoes was absolutly delicious! With the addition of the soft doughy warm naan and crispy samaosa, I was in boxed meal Indian heaven. I could not have been happier…

note: if you try the Tasty Bite bombay potatoes, I highly suggest serving them with veggies as the base. It makes for a delicious, yet hearty (from the taters and chickpeas) sauce for the veggies.

Although, nothing can truly beat roasting an entire Kabocha squash until the entire house smells of its goodness, at least in my books.

Oven: 450
Procudre: Roast whole kabocha (I like to poke a whole or two into it)
Time: 15-45 minutes (depends on on the size of your squash) or until just soft enough to safely cut.
LET COOL 5-10 mintues before slicing in half
Slice: Remove stringy insides and seeds and slice Kabocha into half moons and top with any seasonings you like
Seasoning: I left 1/2 of the slices plain; 1/4 seasoned with pumpking spice and coconut oil; the last 1/4 of slices I seasoned with braggs liquid aminos, ginger, garlic, seseme oil, red pepper flakes, and maybe a few others. I figured an asian spice mix was appropriate as Kabocha is a Japanese Pumpkin!
Roast: Roast the the half moons until it reaches your desired crispiness/softness/gooeyness (20-45 mintues longer, flipping half way through)
NOTE: I prefer to roast my veggies on parchment paper with canola oil spray, but when I run out, I opt for foil + spray

I roasted a few trays of kabocha, as you can never have too much! One of the trays also included extra firm tofu, brussel sprouts and broccoli trunks.

Tofu: Extra Firm patted dry & sliced
Seasoning: (another Japanese insipriation) Red pepper flakes, braggs, garlic powder, onion powder, seseme oil, ginger powder, agave, onion granules, and I think that is all (?) I also enjoyed my tofu with some nori!
*The broccoli trunks and sprouts were included in this seasoning mix to simplify things

I loved the half moon style of roasting kabocha. It was carmelized in parts and absolutly delicious (of course). I will defintly rotate my Kabocha prep methods with the half moon style.

Kabocha dinner #1 (there were many “seconds”):

Reheating for Kabocha dinner #2 (although Kabocha is delicious cold!):

squash + maple brussel sprouts + roasted mushrooms + spinach + leftover black beans stir fried with veggies + spices

ps: spinach leaves make awesome little mini “wraps” for the beans or squash

Kabocha dinner #3

tortilla veggie&cheese pizza + shrooms + leftover black beans + bell pepper halves stuffed with black beans and parmesan + Kabocha squash

I am slighly addicted to dipping Kabocha into ketchup + tobasco, but it is excellent on it’s own as well!!

How do YOU enjoy Kabocha if you have tried it? What is your favorite winter squash and way of preparing it?

I knew I had some beautiful pesticide free grown apples from my and the boyfriend’s adventure this weekend! ( I am saving the adventure for a separate post!) So I washed and chopped some of those up!

Do those look amazing or what?! I grabbed the rest of my zucchini + onion from earlier (last one!) and then found some broccoli in my freezer… well it was completely freezer burned and my mom always tells me that that ruins the flavor however I HATE wasting food! I decided a broccoli stir fry was in order, to this I also added some collard leaves for wilting.

I sautéed a tsp of sesame oil with the onions + zucchini + freezer-burned broccoli + collards. At the end I threw in a couple tablespoons Newman’s Own Lighten Up Sesame Ginger Marinade.

\

I had a bad “mom is always right” feeling about the broccoli (which was making crazy mushroom type noises!) so I made a “back up” plate which consisted of: Kale Chips + Seaweed Salad (from the weekend adventure!) + the apple! And Hot Apple Mustard Sauce for dipping (tastes like spicy apple sauce! soooo GOOD) Doesn’t it kind of looks like Peanut Butter??

Oh and a glass of pinot noir of course!

The boyfriend thought the stir fry was “bomb,” but after a few bites it started to become wierd to me! I blame the freezer burned broccoli! It was for sure a texture/flavor thing that got me. I ended up not eating too much stir fry. I knew the time had come to say goodbye my freezer-burned broccoli (I had a HUGE bag), but no worries, I compost everything!!! ps: that is where the rest of the stir fry went too

Does anyone have any tips on how to prevent freezer burn to your precious veggies???

OH, and after I did have my last two gluten-free cinnamon thins! I will be reviewing these later!

Bed-time! I have to get up early and clean up around the house and tomorrow I am taking my grandma to do some shopping/errands!! (she is 87!! and of course does NOT drive!!) should be a fun adventure! I will post what we decide to eat together!

xo,
MVFK aka Dara (pronounced like Sarah with a D!)