Random Meals #11

It's many people's favorite thing to see from me: The weird stuff! Here are the meals I made from whatever I had, on days I couldn't be bothered with anything else. Here's hoping it inspires you to "just eat something" and take care of yourself as best you can. It does involve some repetition, be forewarned, but never the exact same meal--which is key, I think, to helping to feel as though you're still eating well. Even the best food gets old if you have it the exact same way day after day. So if, like me, you gravitate toward an old standard--there are a lot of noodles for dinner here--shake things up a bit sometimes and it won't feel like the same old, same old.

Breakfast

When focused on using what I had, this made for a tasty breakfast: A blood orange, some grain coffee with soy milk, leftover tofu scramble, a frozen veggie sausage patty, leftover sushi rice with everything bagel seasoning, and a drizzle of sriracha mayo. I loved this! It was maybe more food than I would typically eat on a weekday morning, but it was right after Daylight Savings Time began and I was inexplicably starving that week.

I had made some blueberry chia jam and had some applesauce in the fridge, so I made overnight shredded wheat while in my use-it-up mode. I mixed crushed shredded wheat biscuits with the applesauce and soy milk and topped that with a layer of blueberry chia jam. Over the top of that, I had some soy yogurt mixed with almond butter and cinnamon. It was tasty, though the overhead shot looks like it is a bowl of sludge.

More delicious sludge! This time, I had some leftover cinnamon apples, and thought that would make for a good overnight shredded wheat. I mixed crushed shredded wheat biscuits with soy milk, then layered on the cinnamon apples. On top, I spread a mixture of soy yogurt, peanut butter, and more cinnamon. It was wonderful.

Here is a veggie sausage and JUST Egg bialy with an orange juice smoothie. This is perhaps just a normal breakfast more than a random one, but for me, it's not common!

A very typical random breakfast for me in the summer: Fruit (here, kiwi and clementine), a grain-based soy latte, a muffin from my freezer, and cereal with soy milk. Well, the cereal isn't typical, but I had it for some reason and decided I'd make it "part of this complete breakfast," as the commercials of my childhood used to say. Although this is random, it actually looks pretty great, and it was!

Lunch

I had some leftover snow peas and carrots on a Friday just before going to the store, so that was the beginnings of a bento with some tater tots and nuggets from the freezer (I baked them in the morning while doing other things, in spring when it was cold enough for the oven, though they can easily go in the toaster oven, too). I added my little tomato bottle filled with ketchup on the side. This was pretty good!

This was a staycation meal, because sometimes you just need a really good sandwich. This one is on Wegmans garlic Tuscan bread with vegan mayo, Field Roast balsamic mushroom slices, non-dairy smoked provolone, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. I had some potato chips with it. Sure it was basic, but it was also amazing.

This came from inspiration from reading century-old-or-older cookbooks. Many had recipes for sandwiches made from leftover baked beans. I read several of them, then went on my own path. I mashed up the end of a can of baked beans while I toasted the end of a loaf of seeded multigrain bread I had. I spread the toast with mustard and then the beans, then added chopped dill pickle. I had this sandwich with some salt and vinegar chips. This may be a bit unconventional for the modern era, but it was actually pretty tasty. I'd be very likely to have this kind of sandwich again, albeit preferably with regular slices of bread rather than the ends.

We have here some leftover okra rice, nuggets, and an improvisational dipping sauce made of mayo, jalapeno-garlic sauce, and onion powder. This was pretty great, in spite of looking a bit bleak and beige.

This was one of those last meals before a grocery trip. I had some potatoes that needed using, so I mashed those up, and I had it alongside some lemony green beans (beans from the freezer, cooked with some garlic and then seasoned with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon), (frozen) corn sauteed with onions (I'd have added bell pepper if I had any), and a frozen chick'n cutlet (Wegmans Don't Be Chicken--a reliable standby). This was pretty satisfying, albeit a little TV-dinner-like.

Dinner

I wouldn't be me if one of my random meals wasn't some form of spicy peanut butter ramen! Here, I have an assortment of veggies--onions, mushrooms, carrots, shredded snow peas, bell pepper strips, and corn--alongside noodles in a broth with peanut butter, gochujang, maple syrup, and soy sauce. I topped it off with everything bagel seasoning. Delicious!

This may be a bit weird; I found it pretty great, though! I had some leftover gochujang chickpeas and sweet potatoes (that were super spicy), so I toned down the heat with some Trader Joe's Asian sesame soy noodles, peanut butter, maple syrup, scallions, and sesame seeds. My only complaint here is that I should have put this in a larger bowl, because this was kind of overflowing.

A meal from use-what-you've-got mode: Polenta with some frozen meatballs simmered in jarred marinara garnished with shredded non-dairy Parmesan cheese. I didn't have pasta, but I did have polenta, and this turned out to be pretty good. I would usually have some steamed broccoli or something alongside this but sometimes the main dish is really all I can manage.

More noodles? Yeah, sorry, my randomness was like that this time. Here, I added some rehydrated TVP (made with no-beef broth) to a bowl of other good things. The soup is made from no-beef broth, doenjang, gochujang, soy sauce, and a bit of peanut butter. There are veggies (mushrooms, scallions, broccoli, carrots, and some frozen corn) and ramen noodles, too. When I'm upset, this is what comforts me: A spicy, rich bowl of noodles.

I had some grits I wanted to use up and thought they'd go well with a version of West African peanut stew. I made a batch out of what I had on hand, which was a significant departure from the veggies I'd usually put in--there was some frozen okra, carrots, zucchini, onions, and canned tomato. But it worked. And it went with grits. A win.

What do you eat when you're forced into creativity?