Day Four- Shut the front door "meat" loaf recipe!!!

Yesterday was Day Four of my vegan year and it was such a good day. It blew snow all day yesterday so my daughter and I just stayed home and hung out which was exactly what I needed. I even got to sleep late which was also sorely needed. This is going to be a short post today I am afraid because unlike yesterday I have gobs of stuff to do.

For breakfast I put some bananas, frozen pineapple, vanilla, a smidge of almond milk and water in a blender and  made me a quick smoothie. It was very satisfying and quick.

Lunch was leftover enchiladas, also satisfying and quick. lol

Dinner was fabulous! My family adores my meatloaf and one of our favorite meals is meatloaf, mashed taters and peas. I wanted to replicate this meal as best as possible so when I found this recipe online I was excited to give it a go.

At first it seemed daunting, way more steps than my traditional meatloaf, but it was actually pretty easy. The smell of the lentils, bay leaf and veggie stock cooking on the stove was soooo delightful. I normally don't let my daughter help me when I prepare meatloaf because I have this phobia of food borne bacteria and such being transferred from the meat to other parts of my kitchen or that she won't wash her hands well enough and will get some sort of horrible e coli or something. I get very paranoid when handling raw meats and so I just don't let anyone else in my kitchen when doing so. One thing I am loving about preparing vegan foods is that I don't have to worry about this anymore! It is a surprise advantage that I had not really considered until last night when my daughter asked to help make dinner.

My daughter mixing the loaf

This really was an easy recipe once I got everything organized and it smelled wonderful cooking as well. 

Here is the loaf right out of the oven

We always have mashed taters with our meatloaf so I made them vegan friendly by leaving a little of cooking water from boiling in place of the milk and added nutritional yeast instead of butter. After taste testing the taters I added a little salt and pepper too. They were just as yummy as the butter and milk filled ones I normally make. 

last nights dinner plate, lentil loaf, mashed taters and peas

My daughter was the first one to taste the lentil loaf since traditional meat loaf is one of her favorite foods. She went nuts for it and proclaimed her love for lentil loaf right away. Touch down Mom!!!

Hubby tried it next and he also really liked it although he said it was a bit drier than my traditional meatloaf but he still really liked it and said he would like for me to make it again. My son said he couldn't tell much difference between the lentil loaf and the regular meatloaf so I take that as a success too. 

Myself, I thought it tasted absolutely wonderful! I raved about it the whole meal which was bragging yes but I really enjoyed the meal. I really think any meat lover would go ga ga over this lentil loaf, its just that good. 

Stay tuned to tomorrow when I discuss eating vegan on a budget. :-)