You guys!!!
​ I made a COOKING video! 

I am SO excited to add this feature to my recipes and what better recipe than my Soy Glazed Meatloaf!

​This delicious creation came about kind of randomly. I never really made a meatloaf before and wanted to make something that didn't have tons of tomato.(#acidrefluxproblems)

I love Asian flavors of soy sauce, sesame, garlic and ginger...I have my Peanut Soy Glazed Meatball recipe and my Spicy Peanut Tofu and Green Beans, so this was a natural fit for my recipes!

I based this recipe on those meatballs, with a few tweeks to make it simpler!

This is a super simple recipe and the zucchini adds SO much moisture so you aren't left with a dry piece of meat.

I top it with a sweet glaze that caramelizes in the oven, which adds a nice balance to the meatloaf. It's perfect sweet and savory combo!

You can use any lean ground meat of your choice. For this specific recipe, I use ground chicken but it would be good with lean turkey or beef. Just try to keep the percentage of lean higher than 90%. 

I found that baking it in a small baking pan allows the juices to infuse the meatloaf better, rather than spread out onto the pan.

​Let's get to it!

Way back when (about 6 years ago), I was in my senior year, about to graduate college with a degree in Political Science and Sociology, planning on "taking a year off" and then applying to law school while planning a career in politics. 

Then one day, I decided to ask a friend of mine, who kept a vegan and gluten free diet, what he ate. He handed me a book ("Meat is For Pussies") and I finished it THAT day, along with cutting out all meat from my diet.

That moment is what catapulted me into wanting to learn about nutrition, and understand food and how it impacts our bodies..

Although that book was intriguing and made me rethink the role food had in my life, becoming a Registered Dietitian has allowed me to learn how to differentiate between ideas and scientific evidence, which is an important distinction to make when making choices about our diet.

Although I do eat meat regularly, plant based diets have been found to have great health benefits for many chronic illness, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and lipid disorders. It tends to be high in fiber, low in saturated fat and can be incorporated in a healthy way.

So why am I telling you all this?

Well, at the time that I was a vegetarian, I started buying a vegetarian sausage made by Field Roast. I recently decided to try it out again and decided to add in some veggies.

And out came this INCREDIBLE and flavorful veggie stew. The field roast sausage is made with wheat gluten and TONS of spices, it breaks down beautifully in the sauce and provides so much flavor to the veggies that you don't need to add anything extra but a little salt.

This is NOT an ad, nor sponsored by Field Roast. I just really love how it flavors this stew/sauce!

I also tried this with chicken sausage and it was delicious too! It definitely needed extra seasoning however, depending on the type of sausage you get.

​Let's get cooking!

Love&Grub! How I've missed you...
It has been several months since my last recipe post. I've been moving and shaking, planning a wedding with my other half, and just all around adjusting to our ever changing world. 

I've been doing some Love&Grub soul searching and am so excited to be back and bringing you my thoughts and recipes!

If you follow me on Snapchat or Instagram (if you dont --> get on it! @loveandgrub) you know that just because I haven't posted a new recipe does not mean I have not been cooking. 

And if you do follow me on said social media accounts, you know that there is one veggie that I have recently been OBSESSED with!

Can you guess?

Drum roll please......

Green beans! 

Okay, I know it's not the most exciting vegetable to suddenly become obsessed with well into my late twenties, BUT I just never really cared for them before.

And l though steaming veggies allows them to retain more nutrients and fiber, generally speaking, I am not usually a big fan of how they taste.
I prefer my veggies roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.

 However, I tasted steamed green beans at work one day and I was seriously hooked! I buy the steamable bags and either eat them, literally straight of out the bag, or toss them in this ridiculously good sauce, like this tangy, spicy peanut sauce!

Before we get into it, I want to talk about black vinegar, which I searched near and far for.
​I found it in an Asian super market but was unable to find it anywhere else locally. It has a malt flavor, slightly tangy and a little sweet. I realize not everyone has the time or desire to go searching, so I found this substitute ratio which I also included in the ingredient list below!

Shall we get cooking?