Fruits & Veggies Monday {Meal Prepping like a Madwoman--Pumpkin Seed "Milk", Sauerkraut, Sweet Tater Apple Breakfast...}

Happy Monday my friends! I hope you are cozied up with a tasty beverage and a nice blanket because this entry for @lenasveganliving's #fruitsandveggiesmonday is going to be an epic tale of kitchen adventures. Once again I have been slacking on the food posts, so I might as well play a little catch up by joining in on one of my favorite weekly contests.

Might as well start with a usual glory shot from the farmers market. I seriously cannot say "no" when making my weekly rounds. I think most of the farmers know I'm a sucker now, too, so they make sure to show me everything they've got even if it's not up on the table yet. I already had some butternut squash, but I figure it will last for a while so I might as well load up while I can get it. Most of what I am sharing this week is actually from the previous week's haul, so you'll have to stay tuned for what I'm doing with most of these beauties.

Next up is pumpkin seed milk! Yep, you read that correctly. I bypassed the usual vegan options of cashews or almonds and jumped right into pepitas. Nothing fancy, but it turned out to be so luscious and creamy!

Just soak the raw seeds overnight, then rinse and drain. I added them to my Vitamix with 3 cups of filtered water and a dash of cinnamon. Often you will see to strain the solids out or use a nut milk bag, but since it turned out so creamy I'm just using it as is. That way I don't have to worry about figured out how to use the leftover pulp (though I know @birdsinparadise has plenty of good ideas!).

I also took a page out of @buckaroo's fruits and veggies playbook and finally made some homemade sauerkraut. You can check out her instructional and wonderfully written post here. I switched up the seeds based on what I had on hand, so I used mustard and fennel seeds for a bit of flavor.

It was actually quite meditative to massage the cabbage in the initial prep stages, and after that the "hands on" work was pretty much done. We just took our first taste of it this afternoon. Definitely worth the wait! We'll see how long this batch lasts before being gobbled up...

I made these lovely eggplants turn into some baba ganoush to spread into vegan, sprouted grain pitas with chickpeas, mustard greens, cucumbers and a few olives. Doesn't get a whole lot easier for a weekend meal. We had some kale chips to go with.

I teased my sweet potato breakfast in my last post, as well, so I couldn't neglect to give that just a bit more attention. I can't wait to see @puravidaville's version of my original version with berries, but she also inspired me with her delicious apple crepes last week which made me want to try a slightly different take.

I chopped up about 3 good-sized sweet potatoes and sprinkled with an apple pie spice blend before roasting in the oven until soft. The apples I did similarly, but I cooked them separately to make sure I could get both to the texture I wanted. When they were done I divvied up into bowls (ok I may have snitched some of the apples...) and sprinkled with chopped raw walnuts. To keep the moisture I blended up a few soaked dates with water to make a bit of a date syrup. Nothing too sweet, but just enough to keep everything going down my gullet smoothly. 😋

Alright, since we covered some staples, breakfast and lunch, why don't we finish out with some dinner? I had broccoli left at the end of last week that I just wasn't sure what to do with. Then I realized how much I drooled over @puravidaville's homemade pasta sauce not all that long ago, as well, and decided to do a veggie-packed version to scoop over some lentil pasta myself. This kept up sustained over the weekend, and @dksart just finished up the last bowl for lunch today. I don't remember what I put in it--fennel, onions, peppers, tomatoes, a bunch of herbs, and the broccoli that I blitzed in the food processor.

It turned out perfectly chunky and delicious. I did a combo of green and red lentil pasta to make sure I had enough to go with my big pot of sauce. Yeah, there wasn't any extra to freeze like I originally thought. No food goes to waste in our household.

The rest of the week I should have some budget-friendly rice and beans to serve up for @cookwithus, as well as a cauliflower and mushroom soup. The sage is looking excellent in the herb garden to go into that. That leaves lots of other goodies still left to figure out, as well, but I'm sure I'll manage.

I hope you all find lots of inspiration around to start your week off happy and healthy!

Banners by @woman-onthe-wing, @dksart and @bearone for @steemusa