meatless monday recipes for memorial day…

image from pink parsley

happy memorial day! as you (more than likely) gather around the grill today, i thought it would be helpful to round up a few meatless monday recipes. thanks to delish’s 13 recipes for a vegetarian bbq, i found these mouthwatering chipotle portobello mushroom burgers from pink parsley. i’ve grilled portobellos a million times (well, actually the irishman has), but i do like the addition of chipotle in adobo to give it an extra somethin’ somethin’.

i’ll be taking the chipotle theme a step further with these grilled corn with chipotle lime butter as my side…

image from delish

add some chips, salad and watermelon for dessert and voila! my meatless-monday-memorial-day-meal is complete!

meatless monday has their top 10 tips for grilling, mother nature network has 10 veggie burger recipes, msnbc gathered 7 vegan memorial day recipes and rodale has 5 meatless grilling recipes…so fire up the grill and enjoy the last day of your long weekend!

a wee voice makes big change: neverseconds…

maybe you already know about young scottish VEG (Veritas Ex Gustu, “truth from tasting” in Latin), the brilliant 9 year old whose blog neverseconds has, in less than 20 posts, revolutionized her school lunch program (with a little help from jamie oliver).  basically, little martha payne blogged (complete with ratings – including “pieces of hair”) about her school lunches, with unappetizing photos like this one:

brown lunch with 3(!) cucumbers via neverseconds

and now, look like this:

not perfect, but a definite improvement | via neverseconds

the other completely charming thing about this blog is that other school children send photos of their lunches to martha. this one from japan is my favorite:

so, in a very short time and all thanks to martha, kids at her school are now able to have as much bread, fruit and veggies as they want…way to go, VEG!

UPDATE:  little martha has been shut down by politicians!

Related articles

• Nine-Year-Old’s Blog Takes A Frank Look At School Lunches (psfk.com)
• Adorable Nine-Year-Old Girl Reviews Her School Lunches on Her Blog [Food] (gizmodo.com)
• Food blogger, 9, crusades for better school lunches (bites.today.msnbc.msn.com)
• 9-Year-Old: More Veggies, Please! (abcnews.go.com)
• Little Girl’s Lunch Review Blog Persuades Her School to Serve Healthier Meals [Kids These Days] (gawker.com)

#meatlessmonday recipe: watermelon and arugula salad…

image from whole foods market

it may be may, but it’s hot in the valley. like in the 90s hot. who wants to cook (unless it’s outdoors)? not me. so this refreshing watermelon & arugula salad recipe from whole foods will do the trick just fine! i still am getting arugula, mizuna and other dark greens in my c.s.a. box, so i figure i can pick up a watermelon and our yummy health starts here balsamic dressing at work and whip this simple salad up in a snap!

on the personal front, it feels like things are shaking loose – not only for myself, but for my friends as well.  i didn’t end up doing the 10 day challenge per se, but i have been watching what i eat and (except for a big, slurpy bowl of orochon ramen and an ooey, gooey cheese panini sandwich at work) i’ve been doing really well. i do have more energy (plus, the tv is no longer my best friend). my days are still busy, but i’m carving out down time. the irishman and i are taking evening walks (the heat in the day is brutal, but the nights are gorgeous). and the biggest deal of all is i have applied for a big job. i don’t want to jinx it, but just let me say, it’s a perfect job and would give us the big change we’ve been longing for…

…so things are looking up. sometimes, the smallest change can lead to big change. sometimes, you have to believe in yourself and take a chance. sometimes, the ripple effect of just the thought of that change can change your outlook on what’s going on (or not going on) in your life.

ugh. i hope that last paragraph didn’t feel like a bunch of self help clichés!