I don't have much time for this post but I make this porridge about twice a week. My boys eat bowls of it.
The recipe is from my friend Fateh. I first tried it at a kundalini yoga retreat and it became a favorite for my hubby and I immediately. Luckily my kids just love it because quinoa is great for protein as is tahini. Tahini is also a great source of calcium and omegas.
Quinoa Porridge:
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 1/2 cups oats
9 cups water
Soak quinoa in hot water for at least 10 minutes (or overnight with the oats). Then skim off the top bits and drain the rest.
Bring water to a boil.
Add quinoa and oats.
Watch it carefully as it comes back up to a boil. It can boil over so easy so turn it down to medium quickly when it does.
Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.
It stores great and makes enough for just over two helpings for my family. I just heat it up with all the toppings except of course the fresh fruit, yogurt and maple syrup. Especially not the maple syrup, you gotta drizzle that on top so you make sure you get enough maple syrup.
Toppings:
Really anything you want but here's a couple of my favorite combinations:
Fall/Winter:
Almond Milk
Applesauce
Raisins
Cinnamon
Tahini
Maple Syrup
Spring/Summer:
Almond Milk
Cinnamon
Tahini
Maple Syrup
Fresh Fruit
Yogurt
Enjoy a pot on a cold morning or a hot morning with some fresh seasonal fruit!
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
My go-to Cookie
I love cookies.
I come by it totally honestly. My mom is the 'Cookie Lady'. When my dad worked for the "City" she would bake every Wednesday in December for the staff. Those were days of "Don't eat that, I may not have enough of that kind" and other awesome gems that go along with a woman who has to make 20 dozen cookies in a day and a half. Just kidding mom you were always lovely...
But seriously I have always been ridiculously spoiled when it comes to cookies. I remember on a high school band trip my mom packed me a huge bag of chocolate chip cookies to share with my friends and me and my girlfriends were a floor above our guy friends and could see into their window because we were at the corner of the building. Well the totally fantastic move the chaperones pull is. We are putting tape on the outside of your door and if the tape is broken, you're in big trouble so stay in your rooms. It's funny to think about being scared of a piece of tape but let's face it, a bunch of bandies are more on the goody two shoes side than the rebel side of things so we listened.
So me and my friends ate those chocolate chips cookies while a floor down those boys sat at the window and salivated and cursed and gestured at us. THAT'S how good my mom's cookies are. No lie.
So when I got all weird and started substituting flours, milks, egg replacements, I thought for sure I would never make a cookie my mom would like. But I did it, I truly did.
My recipe is adapted from this one:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/chocchipcookies/r/r90110a.htm
So thank you Southern Food for the basics!
But theses are my Cowboy cookies. I know the recipe so well I actually try and race the oven. I try and get them made before my oven gets up to temperature. I haven't done it yet but I was so close once. If my applesauce hadn't been moldy and I had to substitute my substitute I would have been fine.
My best tips for cookies come from my mom:
1. If you are making her Chocolate chip cookie recipe you MUST use Fluffo shortening, nothing else will do.
2. Drop cookies (like chocolate chip and oatmeal) should look a little under when you take them out, they cook a little longer on the pan once out and they sit they are perfect.
3. Always go a little over with baking powder and baking soda, it never hurts, only helps.
4. Always go a little under with the salt.
5. Cookies are best enjoyed hot out of the oven and falling apart. Ok maybe I made this one up, mom really doesn't approve of this one.
I also cut the sugar considerably in most recipes I make. I usually experiment by taking out a 1/4 cup at a time until I actually notice them not as sweet but generally I get to about half the called for sugar. Then I feel better adding LOTS of chocolate chips.
Cowboy Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper
Makes 24-30 cookies
Dry:
3/4 cup gluten flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
Wet:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup of sugar (with a drizzle of molasses to make it brown sugar)
1/4 cup applesauce (my favorite egg replacer)
1 tsp vanilla
Fixings:
1 cup oats
1 cup chocolate chips (or partial choc. chips and partial m & m's - Mr. E's fave!)
1/2 cup raisins
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls and then add together.
Stir in fixings.
Drop (and I like to flatten) 12 to a pan on parchment lined pans.
Cook for about 8-9 minutes (depending on your oven).
Mmmm....I may have to go make cookies now....
I come by it totally honestly. My mom is the 'Cookie Lady'. When my dad worked for the "City" she would bake every Wednesday in December for the staff. Those were days of "Don't eat that, I may not have enough of that kind" and other awesome gems that go along with a woman who has to make 20 dozen cookies in a day and a half. Just kidding mom you were always lovely...
But seriously I have always been ridiculously spoiled when it comes to cookies. I remember on a high school band trip my mom packed me a huge bag of chocolate chip cookies to share with my friends and me and my girlfriends were a floor above our guy friends and could see into their window because we were at the corner of the building. Well the totally fantastic move the chaperones pull is. We are putting tape on the outside of your door and if the tape is broken, you're in big trouble so stay in your rooms. It's funny to think about being scared of a piece of tape but let's face it, a bunch of bandies are more on the goody two shoes side than the rebel side of things so we listened.
So me and my friends ate those chocolate chips cookies while a floor down those boys sat at the window and salivated and cursed and gestured at us. THAT'S how good my mom's cookies are. No lie.
So when I got all weird and started substituting flours, milks, egg replacements, I thought for sure I would never make a cookie my mom would like. But I did it, I truly did.
My recipe is adapted from this one:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/chocchipcookies/r/r90110a.htm
So thank you Southern Food for the basics!
But theses are my Cowboy cookies. I know the recipe so well I actually try and race the oven. I try and get them made before my oven gets up to temperature. I haven't done it yet but I was so close once. If my applesauce hadn't been moldy and I had to substitute my substitute I would have been fine.
My best tips for cookies come from my mom:
1. If you are making her Chocolate chip cookie recipe you MUST use Fluffo shortening, nothing else will do.
2. Drop cookies (like chocolate chip and oatmeal) should look a little under when you take them out, they cook a little longer on the pan once out and they sit they are perfect.
3. Always go a little over with baking powder and baking soda, it never hurts, only helps.
4. Always go a little under with the salt.
5. Cookies are best enjoyed hot out of the oven and falling apart. Ok maybe I made this one up, mom really doesn't approve of this one.
I also cut the sugar considerably in most recipes I make. I usually experiment by taking out a 1/4 cup at a time until I actually notice them not as sweet but generally I get to about half the called for sugar. Then I feel better adding LOTS of chocolate chips.
Cowboy Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper
Makes 24-30 cookies
Dry:
3/4 cup gluten flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
Wet:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup of sugar (with a drizzle of molasses to make it brown sugar)
1/4 cup applesauce (my favorite egg replacer)
1 tsp vanilla
Fixings:
1 cup oats
1 cup chocolate chips (or partial choc. chips and partial m & m's - Mr. E's fave!)
1/2 cup raisins
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls and then add together.
Stir in fixings.
Drop (and I like to flatten) 12 to a pan on parchment lined pans.
Cook for about 8-9 minutes (depending on your oven).
Mmmm....I may have to go make cookies now....
Fall Pumpkin Muffins!
I volunteered last week to help bake pumpkin muffins at Mr. E's preschool. I had two groups and it was intense having 6 kids aged 3-5 helping me bake. I tried to be silly, tell them to share, and teach them what the ingredients do in a baking solution. Mostly I was just trying to not teach them my terrible habit of not measuring ANYTHING! I'm not sure how I get away with it when I bake but it seems to turn out!
So I managed to memorize the recipe and have made it twice since preschool last Thursday. It's a good one! I never liked pumpkin pie but I've finally realized it is not the pumpkin, it's the texture. Also chocolate and pumpkin are excellent together. They are not as close as peanut butter and chocolate but still very close friends.
But shhh... don't tell the teacher I added chocolate chips to her fabulous recipe.
Pumpkin (Chocolate Chip) Muffins:
Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup corn meal
3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (or my trick white sugar and a drizzle of molasses into the wet ingredients)
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
Wet ingredients:
1/2 can of pumpkin puree
3/4 cup almond milk
2 tbsp oil (I used olive or vegetable)
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 375 F and grease a muffin tin.
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. Mix together wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Form a well in the dry ingredients and add in wet. Mix until just combined.
5. Add in chocolate chips if desired.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes (depending on your oven).
Another option is you can make a little icing instead of adding chocolate chips. Or you can spread on a little cream cheese. They are also perfectly lovely on their own, I just have a sweet tooth.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe preschool!
So I managed to memorize the recipe and have made it twice since preschool last Thursday. It's a good one! I never liked pumpkin pie but I've finally realized it is not the pumpkin, it's the texture. Also chocolate and pumpkin are excellent together. They are not as close as peanut butter and chocolate but still very close friends.
But shhh... don't tell the teacher I added chocolate chips to her fabulous recipe.
Pumpkin (Chocolate Chip) Muffins:
Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup corn meal
3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (or my trick white sugar and a drizzle of molasses into the wet ingredients)
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
Wet ingredients:
1/2 can of pumpkin puree
3/4 cup almond milk
2 tbsp oil (I used olive or vegetable)
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 375 F and grease a muffin tin.
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. Mix together wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Form a well in the dry ingredients and add in wet. Mix until just combined.
5. Add in chocolate chips if desired.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes (depending on your oven).
Another option is you can make a little icing instead of adding chocolate chips. Or you can spread on a little cream cheese. They are also perfectly lovely on their own, I just have a sweet tooth.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe preschool!
TOFU HACK! (The secret to tofu)
I hated tofu at one time. I thought it was tasteless and yet a weird taste and what was with the crumbly texture? This was until I found the trick to tofu.
I wish I could remember what website it was off of. I'm pretty sure it was "Vegan Dad". I was looking for something to BBQ. I was craving BBQ. I also used to hate BBQ but I'm pretty sure that was the meat part because it turns out I FREAKIN' love BBQ tofu!
So I found this recipe and the guy said the secret to tofu is that you need to freeze it in the marinade overnight before you need it. It seems to make the tofu more willing to absorb flavor. It's almost like it makes it more porous or something. I wish I could explain the science to you about it but that's really more my husband's territory, I just know it works.
So I feel the need to share it with everyone because if it's one thing I've heard when people talk about tofu is that it tastes like nothing. So I'm here to tell you folks it doesn't have to.
In honor of non-tasteless tofu, I'm sharing my three favorite tofu recipes!
BBQ Tofu (the one that started it all):
2 pkgs of tofu
Marinade:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
tbsp butter
1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
couple drops of hot sauce
3/4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (vegetarian of course)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Freeze overnight and fry or bake.
Lemon Tofu:
1 pkg tofu
Marinade:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Freeze overnight and fry or bake.
Sweet Sesame Tofu:
1 pkg tofu
Marinade:
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp soy sauce
So there you go! Now go and tofu on!
I wish I could remember what website it was off of. I'm pretty sure it was "Vegan Dad". I was looking for something to BBQ. I was craving BBQ. I also used to hate BBQ but I'm pretty sure that was the meat part because it turns out I FREAKIN' love BBQ tofu!
So I found this recipe and the guy said the secret to tofu is that you need to freeze it in the marinade overnight before you need it. It seems to make the tofu more willing to absorb flavor. It's almost like it makes it more porous or something. I wish I could explain the science to you about it but that's really more my husband's territory, I just know it works.
So I feel the need to share it with everyone because if it's one thing I've heard when people talk about tofu is that it tastes like nothing. So I'm here to tell you folks it doesn't have to.
In honor of non-tasteless tofu, I'm sharing my three favorite tofu recipes!
BBQ Tofu (the one that started it all):
2 pkgs of tofu
Marinade:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
tbsp butter
1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
couple drops of hot sauce
3/4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (vegetarian of course)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Freeze overnight and fry or bake.
Lemon Tofu:
1 pkg tofu
Marinade:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Freeze overnight and fry or bake.
Sweet Sesame Tofu:
1 pkg tofu
Marinade:
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp soy sauce
So there you go! Now go and tofu on!
Chickpea Salad!
I love a lot of foods and I think if I had to choose a top five they would be in no particular order:
1) Chickpeas
2) Raspberries
3) Chocolate
4) Peanut Butter
5) Quinoa
One of my go-to meals is a chickpea salad. My favorite is to serve it with marinated tofu (marinated overnight - *see my tofu tip post for more info!), quinoa, and kale sauteed in coconut oil, onions and Braggs soy sauce.
The key to the Chickpea salad is the dressing, and letting the salad sit in the dressing for a few hours before dinner to marinate to let the veggies pick up the flavor.
You can use whatever veggies you like I'm just telling you the ones I like best. I also don't give quantities for veggies, you can figure that part out for your likes.
Chickpea salad:
Dressing:
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp Vinegar
1 tbsp Water
2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
garlic to taste (I use 1-2 cloves)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of chickpeas
Veggies! I use: Cucumber, red and green peppers, onion (your choice), tomatoes
I love mixing it with the quinoa because the quinoa picks up the dressing, I also like mixing it in with the sauteed kale.
Anyway, have fun with this one, it's super customizable!
1) Chickpeas
2) Raspberries
3) Chocolate
4) Peanut Butter
5) Quinoa
One of my go-to meals is a chickpea salad. My favorite is to serve it with marinated tofu (marinated overnight - *see my tofu tip post for more info!), quinoa, and kale sauteed in coconut oil, onions and Braggs soy sauce.
The key to the Chickpea salad is the dressing, and letting the salad sit in the dressing for a few hours before dinner to marinate to let the veggies pick up the flavor.
You can use whatever veggies you like I'm just telling you the ones I like best. I also don't give quantities for veggies, you can figure that part out for your likes.
Chickpea salad:
Dressing:
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp Vinegar
1 tbsp Water
2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
garlic to taste (I use 1-2 cloves)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of chickpeas
Veggies! I use: Cucumber, red and green peppers, onion (your choice), tomatoes
I love mixing it with the quinoa because the quinoa picks up the dressing, I also like mixing it in with the sauteed kale.
Anyway, have fun with this one, it's super customizable!
Curried Coconut Noodles
Yeah..... so it's been awhile. I had two kids so I'm going to call that my excuse. I've been busy blogging about them and not food.
Well now that my littlest munchkin is almost two I seem to be having some more time to cook these days!
I even had a chance to go through my recipe box and clear out the recipes from Foods 9 (grade 9). I kept a couple but come on it's been 16 years!
So I was trying something new tonight and as always I start out and then realize I only have about half the ingredients I thought I did. Tonight it was vegetables. I had a few carrots with black ends and a cabbage that had seen better days.
I really wanted to try and make a Laksa type soup. My favorite restaurant in town makes amazing Laksa but I'm sure they have some spectacular asian ingredients I don't have tonight like lemongrass. My kids love noodles and my littlest (let's call him Mr. O) is currently wheat free so rice noodles are great! I'm lucky because my eldest (Mr. E) will eat almost anything. Mr. O.... well we are working on it.
So I salvaged the cabbage and carrots and made a pretty amazing soup. I don't normally write recipes down but this one was too good not to.
It's kind of a soup and kind of a pasta dish so it's a soup-pasta hybrid. If you have leftovers it sucks up the juice and become pasta though so I think it's best served right away. What I made was a great amount for 2 adults and two young boys. If I had older children I would double it. For sure. Especially older boys...maybe triple.
Enjoy my surprisingly good tribute to Laksa!
Curried Coconut Noodles with Optional Sweet Sesame Tofu Garnish:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion cut in long strips
2 garlic cloves chopped
1-2 tsp grated ginger (I freeze mine for easy grating)
2 carrots (cut in long strips)
1/2-1 cup shredded cabbage
2 cups veggie bouillon (or 2 cups water a bouillon cube)
1 can coconut milk
1/2 -1 tsp curry powder (I went 1/2 because the curry I have is hot and I add sirachi anyway)
2 tsp soy sauce (I use Braggs for wheat free)
1-2 tsp minced fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 pkg of rice stick noodles
Garnishes:
Cubed tofu baked for 20 minutes at 375 F in 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp soy sauce
Chopped Cilantro
Soy Sauce
Sirachi
1. In a medium-large saucepan fry onions in coconut oil until they start to brown. Add in garlic and ginger and sautee a couple minutes longer.
2. Add carrots and cabbage and sautee a couple minutes longer.
3. Add in the bouillon and coconut milk and bring to a boil.
4. Add the curry, soy sauce and basil and simmer on low-medium for 15-20 minutes.
5. Cook the rice noodles separately.
6. Rinse rice noodles in some cold water and then add them to the soup to reheat.
7. Serve immediately with the garnishes.
Well now that my littlest munchkin is almost two I seem to be having some more time to cook these days!
I even had a chance to go through my recipe box and clear out the recipes from Foods 9 (grade 9). I kept a couple but come on it's been 16 years!
So I was trying something new tonight and as always I start out and then realize I only have about half the ingredients I thought I did. Tonight it was vegetables. I had a few carrots with black ends and a cabbage that had seen better days.
I really wanted to try and make a Laksa type soup. My favorite restaurant in town makes amazing Laksa but I'm sure they have some spectacular asian ingredients I don't have tonight like lemongrass. My kids love noodles and my littlest (let's call him Mr. O) is currently wheat free so rice noodles are great! I'm lucky because my eldest (Mr. E) will eat almost anything. Mr. O.... well we are working on it.
So I salvaged the cabbage and carrots and made a pretty amazing soup. I don't normally write recipes down but this one was too good not to.
It's kind of a soup and kind of a pasta dish so it's a soup-pasta hybrid. If you have leftovers it sucks up the juice and become pasta though so I think it's best served right away. What I made was a great amount for 2 adults and two young boys. If I had older children I would double it. For sure. Especially older boys...maybe triple.
Enjoy my surprisingly good tribute to Laksa!
Curried Coconut Noodles with Optional Sweet Sesame Tofu Garnish:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion cut in long strips
2 garlic cloves chopped
1-2 tsp grated ginger (I freeze mine for easy grating)
2 carrots (cut in long strips)
1/2-1 cup shredded cabbage
2 cups veggie bouillon (or 2 cups water a bouillon cube)
1 can coconut milk
1/2 -1 tsp curry powder (I went 1/2 because the curry I have is hot and I add sirachi anyway)
2 tsp soy sauce (I use Braggs for wheat free)
1-2 tsp minced fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 pkg of rice stick noodles
Garnishes:
Cubed tofu baked for 20 minutes at 375 F in 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp soy sauce
Chopped Cilantro
Soy Sauce
Sirachi
1. In a medium-large saucepan fry onions in coconut oil until they start to brown. Add in garlic and ginger and sautee a couple minutes longer.
2. Add carrots and cabbage and sautee a couple minutes longer.
3. Add in the bouillon and coconut milk and bring to a boil.
4. Add the curry, soy sauce and basil and simmer on low-medium for 15-20 minutes.
5. Cook the rice noodles separately.
6. Rinse rice noodles in some cold water and then add them to the soup to reheat.
7. Serve immediately with the garnishes.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Back.... with Avengance!
Yeah... it's been awhile. Ok so I have some good excuses, I think. I got laid off, went to Hawaii, moved cities, got 2 new jobs. It's all good though I don't really have to explain myself to you all, I probably don't even have a following! If I do, don't be offended, please forgive my absence and thanks so much for reading!
So what have I been up to lately. I have gone from making normal dinners to being laid off and having lots of time for more elaborate things, to being in Hawaii and being very lazy and wanting to eat out and eat bad (btw Hawaii has some AWESOME Mexican food, try Maui Tacos, it's a fast food chain), then to moving here and having two jobs and no time to cook.
So I'll start with a couple cupcakes I made. The first were peanut butter cupcakes which I loved so much for their simplicity. They were so creamy and tasty.
The second set of cupcakes are the Chocolate Cherry Creme Cupcakes. I made them for my hubby's birthday because he loves blackforest cake. They are pretty neat looking. I don't like cherries so I can't tell you about taste but my man sure loved them. So pretty!
*Warning - the next one is NOTcompletely vegan*While we were in Hawaii, basically the only food we could get was Mexican food. So we ate A LOT of it. Mind you there was this place called Wok Star on the main road in Kihei, Maui which had vegan and vegetarian options, not to mention one hell of an awesome owner. But anyway one of the first meals I remember while we were still on Oahu was at Chili's. I ordered this crazy big Taco salad with cheese quesadillas on the side.
So basically I made a black bean and corn relish with some red peppers, red onion, cayenne, chili powder, cumin, vinegar, and olive oil. Then I let it sit for about an hour before throwing it on some lettuce and tomatoes then I added salsa as more dressing to the relish (you could also use a balsamic vinegar) and of course some avocado!! YUM!
One thing that my hubby wanted these Medjool Coconut, Almond Date Treats from Save On. I bought them and then thought, what the heck!? I could make these! So I did. The ingredients are Dates, Almonds, and Coconut. All you need is a food processor. I also rolled them in Coconut afterwards.
Now this next one I'm very, very proud of. I made gnocchi. It was a long and tedious process but I was unemployed so I had the time. I used the good ol' pesto recipe from VWAV which is also where the Gnocchi recipe came from. My friend Jeff helped me and it was lots of fun eating the fruits of our labour.
Ok, then I went on a pancake kick and these were my best attempt, using my Dad's good old family recipe, veganized. Then I melted chocolate chips and let strawberries sit in sugar overnight and topped with those. Not healthy for sure but man were they delicious. I had them for dinner/dessert even.
Lastly, I made this beautiful Chocolate Raspberry Blackout Cake from VWAV also! This cake was amazing. I made it as a dessert for a Sunday night dinner I made for my parents. I made the raspberry glaze though rather than using preserves. Do we even have preserves in Canada? Is that like jam?Anyway until next time!! Keep baking what you love and loving what you bake!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Hello.. long time no see.... ahem. Moving on. I have been cooking, don't you worry about it. I went to the Taste of Health in Vancouver and I got to meet Isa Chandra Moskowitz which was needless to say the highlight of my week. Her cupcake book made me realize I could be a vegan if vegan's could eat these delcious cupcakes!! She did a demo for us from her new brunch book, so tasty! And I also saw a demo by Raw Rose on raw food and bought her cookbook. I'm not saying I'm going raw but I really like the concepts and I'm not going to say, I could never do that because I used to say that about being vegan so I can do anything! mwahaha! So what have I been up to well I'm glad you asked... let me show you.
Above you'll see probably the most ridiculously easy concept salad ever. I put down some spinach, some tomatoes, some avocado, black beans and covered it in salsa (this particular kind was corn and black bean) Then I put some tortilla chips for scooping. The only prep work was soaking and cooking the black beans ahead of time. It was so delicious and simple though. Take away the chips and I'm not sure it could be healthier. Awesome.
OK above is a variation on a recipe from VWAV. There is the Sesame Asparagus recipe. So instead I just added more of everything and more vegetables and served it over quinoa or rice. So it's garlic cooked in toasted sesame oil then add rice vinegar and soya sauce and I added a little bit of miso paste too. Then I put it all together with toasted sesame seeds on top. Mmmmmm for days.
Herb-Scalloped potatoes from Veganomicon. It was ok. I used potatoes that were little. I think it needed a little more liquid cuz I found it dry. But then I fried it up the next day for breakfast with hot sauce. Freaking good! I love leftover potatoes in the fridge! Instant breakfast!
So it was my co-workers birthday on September 28th so we celebrated at work this week and she loves bananas. And since I am the cupcake ninja and always make the cupcakes on anyone's birthday I found the banana split cupcakes. I didn't make enough icing to make them look super fantastic like the pictures in my book but they were pretty good. REALLY SWEET! Too sweet for me but I did use strawberry pineapple jam instead of pineapple preserves since I couldn't find any so maybe that contributed to it. It also made them kind of mushy. But not a terrible experience. I'm determined to make every cupcake in the book eventually. My friend Jeff missed out on cupcakes for his birthday since we didn't meet him until a couple months ago so we're celebrating his un-birthday (6 months after your birthday since you literally can't get further away from a birthday) which is coming up in a week or two. He wants the hardest cupcakes in the book... of course. Tiramasu here I come!
I also made the cookies and cream cupcakes just for the hell of it. OMG! My top three for sure. If you're wondering what the other two are they are the Brooklyn Brownie Cupcakes and the Green Tea Cupcakes. But yeah these were a big hit with everyone. My only tip is to keep them in the fridge... if it was possible to make them better... cold did it!
Well that's about it for now. I'm excited for thanksgiving! I'm hoping my mom might make me vegan perogies again. Oh and she also made us vegan spaghetti sauce (she usually uses butter), salsa and applesauce. I am SO spoiled! I also bought a huge bag of potatoes so you may see more potato recipes soon. Hopefully squash too but we haven't bought one yet! Why oh why!?
Happy cooking till then!
Above you'll see probably the most ridiculously easy concept salad ever. I put down some spinach, some tomatoes, some avocado, black beans and covered it in salsa (this particular kind was corn and black bean) Then I put some tortilla chips for scooping. The only prep work was soaking and cooking the black beans ahead of time. It was so delicious and simple though. Take away the chips and I'm not sure it could be healthier. Awesome.
OK above is a variation on a recipe from VWAV. There is the Sesame Asparagus recipe. So instead I just added more of everything and more vegetables and served it over quinoa or rice. So it's garlic cooked in toasted sesame oil then add rice vinegar and soya sauce and I added a little bit of miso paste too. Then I put it all together with toasted sesame seeds on top. Mmmmmm for days.
Herb-Scalloped potatoes from Veganomicon. It was ok. I used potatoes that were little. I think it needed a little more liquid cuz I found it dry. But then I fried it up the next day for breakfast with hot sauce. Freaking good! I love leftover potatoes in the fridge! Instant breakfast!
So it was my co-workers birthday on September 28th so we celebrated at work this week and she loves bananas. And since I am the cupcake ninja and always make the cupcakes on anyone's birthday I found the banana split cupcakes. I didn't make enough icing to make them look super fantastic like the pictures in my book but they were pretty good. REALLY SWEET! Too sweet for me but I did use strawberry pineapple jam instead of pineapple preserves since I couldn't find any so maybe that contributed to it. It also made them kind of mushy. But not a terrible experience. I'm determined to make every cupcake in the book eventually. My friend Jeff missed out on cupcakes for his birthday since we didn't meet him until a couple months ago so we're celebrating his un-birthday (6 months after your birthday since you literally can't get further away from a birthday) which is coming up in a week or two. He wants the hardest cupcakes in the book... of course. Tiramasu here I come!
I also made the cookies and cream cupcakes just for the hell of it. OMG! My top three for sure. If you're wondering what the other two are they are the Brooklyn Brownie Cupcakes and the Green Tea Cupcakes. But yeah these were a big hit with everyone. My only tip is to keep them in the fridge... if it was possible to make them better... cold did it!
Well that's about it for now. I'm excited for thanksgiving! I'm hoping my mom might make me vegan perogies again. Oh and she also made us vegan spaghetti sauce (she usually uses butter), salsa and applesauce. I am SO spoiled! I also bought a huge bag of potatoes so you may see more potato recipes soon. Hopefully squash too but we haven't bought one yet! Why oh why!?
Happy cooking till then!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Cooking in season!
I've found my new love (no offence to my husband of course): cooking in season!
We got a bunch of blueberries and fresh corn on the weekend and I looked through my recipes and found Corn Chowder and a Scones recipe I've been meaning to try (both from VWAV). I tell you when they say fresh is best they know what the heck they're talking about! Cutting corn directly off the cob into soup and watching plump fresh blueberries sizzle on the pan as the scones bake, it's an unreal feeling that makes you feel so good.
I've also taken to eating tomatoes with just salt and pepper. And greek salads with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. Also fruit salad with fresh peaches, blueberries and strawberries with just a sprinkle of sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. Here's a picture of our fridge after we picked up blueberries.
So here are some meals I've made lately (lots of greek salad you'll notice). Below is some pesto garlic bread and pesto with a vegan roux mixed.
Below is a California type sandwich. The banana peppers were amazing! Yum yum. For more info see my other blog.
This was towards the beginning of summer when scapes were first out. Below is onions, scapes, beans, and mushrooms. A little pesto pasta (I swear it's not the only thing I eat, only like once every two weeks... not sure how it keeps coming up here)
Well that's a good enough update for now I think. I'll try and make my posts more frequent rather than huge ones all at once. What's in my future? A curry recipe... some cocoa-chocolate chip scones... some more birthday cupcakes perhaps... coconut pancakes with pineapple sauce, scalloped potatoes, pizza from scratch.... Very ambitious I know. The best part about summer is all the selection of fantastic fresh fruit and veggies... but unfortunately it's also a time when people are ridiculously busy and running around and vacationing etc. So you have all these ingredients but no time to do anything with them! Grrrr! The irony of it all! Oh well I'm only leaving for one more weekend this summer so I'll find some time hopefully. Until next time... love lots, laugh often and buy local!!!!
We got a bunch of blueberries and fresh corn on the weekend and I looked through my recipes and found Corn Chowder and a Scones recipe I've been meaning to try (both from VWAV). I tell you when they say fresh is best they know what the heck they're talking about! Cutting corn directly off the cob into soup and watching plump fresh blueberries sizzle on the pan as the scones bake, it's an unreal feeling that makes you feel so good.
I've also taken to eating tomatoes with just salt and pepper. And greek salads with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. Also fruit salad with fresh peaches, blueberries and strawberries with just a sprinkle of sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. Here's a picture of our fridge after we picked up blueberries.
So here are some meals I've made lately (lots of greek salad you'll notice). Below is some pesto garlic bread and pesto with a vegan roux mixed.
Below is a California type sandwich. The banana peppers were amazing! Yum yum. For more info see my other blog.
This was towards the beginning of summer when scapes were first out. Below is onions, scapes, beans, and mushrooms. A little pesto pasta (I swear it's not the only thing I eat, only like once every two weeks... not sure how it keeps coming up here)
Well that's a good enough update for now I think. I'll try and make my posts more frequent rather than huge ones all at once. What's in my future? A curry recipe... some cocoa-chocolate chip scones... some more birthday cupcakes perhaps... coconut pancakes with pineapple sauce, scalloped potatoes, pizza from scratch.... Very ambitious I know. The best part about summer is all the selection of fantastic fresh fruit and veggies... but unfortunately it's also a time when people are ridiculously busy and running around and vacationing etc. So you have all these ingredients but no time to do anything with them! Grrrr! The irony of it all! Oh well I'm only leaving for one more weekend this summer so I'll find some time hopefully. Until next time... love lots, laugh often and buy local!!!!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Well I went out for breakfast a couple times in the past month or so and my favorite thus far was The Pantry's Smothered skillet (without cheese and eggs) but I did cheat and have the hollandaise sauce (I know I know , it's made with eggs but it's yummy). And I would have had it without the sauce but then it would just be vegetables which are good and all but pretty dry. So I thought about it at home and made some little cubed hashbrowns with mushrooms, onions, peppers and hot sauce (I don't have banana peppers at home sadly) and then made cheezy sauce from Veganomicon and then topped it with tomatoes and green onions. Over all amazing but I added too much hot sauce but that's easily enough to fix next time. Oh and look how pretty it looks!!
LOL! I just love this picture. I made my Dad Boston vs. Brooklyn Cupcakes for his birthday (lots of work but yummy) with chocolate buttercream icing and this is what happens when you don't pay a lot of attention. I actually did it 3 times.
I also made a couple dozen cupcakes for my friends shower (VCTOTW the Vanilla made with whole wheat flour with chocolate buttercream icing).
Then below is Maple Mustard Glazed Potatoes and String Beans recipe but with Asparagus rather than beans, we decided it tastes better this way. My hunny made this! It's awesome!
Finally, I love love love love the following recipe. Whole Wheat Naan bread with spaghetti sauce as pizza sauce then onions and peppers then covered in beautiful pesto sauce (VWAV). I added pineapple as a topping and it just made it perfect with the salty pesto and sweet pineapple. This is one of my favorite things ever I think.
So that has been what I've been up to lately. Sorry all the pictures come at once, kind of overwhelming. The past week I've been doing the master cleanse and I ended up stopping after 5.5 days cuz of being sick. I just couldn't handle both and my heart really wasn't in the cleanse anyway. So I am weaning back onto food and loving every bite. Trying to start off on the right foot with lots of fruit and vegetables. The breakfast I am loving right now is chocolate almond milk with Vanilla Almond Cereal and a banana. I'm used to my hunny making me breakfast, he always makes us smoothies from the Thrive Diet book so I was kind of lost but I'm liking non-liquid breakfasts, haha. So I am excited about food again, feeling pretty creative! Hopefully lots more great recipes to come!
LOL! I just love this picture. I made my Dad Boston vs. Brooklyn Cupcakes for his birthday (lots of work but yummy) with chocolate buttercream icing and this is what happens when you don't pay a lot of attention. I actually did it 3 times.
I also made a couple dozen cupcakes for my friends shower (VCTOTW the Vanilla made with whole wheat flour with chocolate buttercream icing).Then below is Maple Mustard Glazed Potatoes and String Beans recipe but with Asparagus rather than beans, we decided it tastes better this way. My hunny made this! It's awesome!
Finally, I love love love love the following recipe. Whole Wheat Naan bread with spaghetti sauce as pizza sauce then onions and peppers then covered in beautiful pesto sauce (VWAV). I added pineapple as a topping and it just made it perfect with the salty pesto and sweet pineapple. This is one of my favorite things ever I think. 
So that has been what I've been up to lately. Sorry all the pictures come at once, kind of overwhelming. The past week I've been doing the master cleanse and I ended up stopping after 5.5 days cuz of being sick. I just couldn't handle both and my heart really wasn't in the cleanse anyway. So I am weaning back onto food and loving every bite. Trying to start off on the right foot with lots of fruit and vegetables. The breakfast I am loving right now is chocolate almond milk with Vanilla Almond Cereal and a banana. I'm used to my hunny making me breakfast, he always makes us smoothies from the Thrive Diet book so I was kind of lost but I'm liking non-liquid breakfasts, haha. So I am excited about food again, feeling pretty creative! Hopefully lots more great recipes to come!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Update on my undercover status
Well I have been an undercover vegan for awhile now (4 months) I have not been the best vegan always, many slip ups but luckily I did it for health reasons rather than other reasons that may have made me feel worse for cheating. I have learned more about how my body reacts to foods in the last 4 months than in my whole life. I have definitely found a correlation with eating dairy and then feeling more pain the next day. Another thing that makes me feel worse are potato chips and deep fried foods. Chickpeas also make my stomach hurt. I have also noticed that eating lots of pasta or bread makes me feel sluggish. So these are all things I can work on now! So far very interesting undercover work. People are excepting everything much better now than at the beginning. My parents have become 10 times as excepting. People who we don't really discuss our life and meal choices with who we meet at potlucks always ask for recipes of what I make. My husband is starting to become a great cook btw. I'll point out a recipe and ask him to make it and it's always fabulous.
As for my family, at first my mom was like, I'll never be able to make you anything again!! Then I was letting her know what I was making and how good it was tasting. Then we went home to visit and my mom had bought us soy milk, made us brown rice and beans to have in the fridge, and she made vegan wheat germ, walnut, banana bread (with carob chips!) She must have done a lot of research, i was surprised she even knew what carob chips were. Then they have noticed how much better I feel and how much more energy and less pain I'm in. So obviously they are very happy I've made this change for myself. When I was home this past weekend I made a huge salad for lunch hoping to share and everyone had some and enjoyed it and then I made dinner and made portabello mushroom fajitas from scratch for dinner. True my mom made some chicken with taco sauce on the side but I think my sauce was damn good! And everyone enjoyed dinner. So my fajita mix is what I thought I would share with everyone!
I fried some garlic (3 cloves) in olive oil and added some sliced onions. Then I added some green and red peppers for about a minute. Then I added my sauce (a teaspoon or so of the following: chili powder, cumin, cornstarch and 1/2 tsp of onion powder, 1/4 tsp oregano, a little salt, juice from a lime and enough water to make it a sauce (1/2 - 3/4 cup) and I added the portabello mushrooms. I served it in whole wheat wraps with cut up lettuce, tomato, salsa and fresh guacamole. Yum Yum! I've discovered an amazing affection for portabello mushrooms since I found the portabello mushroom salad in Veganomicon. Justin also made us the maple mustard glazed potatoes which have made it into our regular rotation. Another recipe I try to use all the time is the tahini dressing from VWAV. I made it into a dip for a potluck which went over amazing. Oh and lastly I modified my pancake recipe again with chocolate almond milk, adding cocoa and mint extract with chocolate chips. Pretty yummy, more of a dessert pancake rather than breakfast though, lol
Well that was my update and I even managed to throw a recipe in there! The last four months have been an amazing learning experience and I will continue my adventures in vegan cooking!
As for my family, at first my mom was like, I'll never be able to make you anything again!! Then I was letting her know what I was making and how good it was tasting. Then we went home to visit and my mom had bought us soy milk, made us brown rice and beans to have in the fridge, and she made vegan wheat germ, walnut, banana bread (with carob chips!) She must have done a lot of research, i was surprised she even knew what carob chips were. Then they have noticed how much better I feel and how much more energy and less pain I'm in. So obviously they are very happy I've made this change for myself. When I was home this past weekend I made a huge salad for lunch hoping to share and everyone had some and enjoyed it and then I made dinner and made portabello mushroom fajitas from scratch for dinner. True my mom made some chicken with taco sauce on the side but I think my sauce was damn good! And everyone enjoyed dinner. So my fajita mix is what I thought I would share with everyone!
I fried some garlic (3 cloves) in olive oil and added some sliced onions. Then I added some green and red peppers for about a minute. Then I added my sauce (a teaspoon or so of the following: chili powder, cumin, cornstarch and 1/2 tsp of onion powder, 1/4 tsp oregano, a little salt, juice from a lime and enough water to make it a sauce (1/2 - 3/4 cup) and I added the portabello mushrooms. I served it in whole wheat wraps with cut up lettuce, tomato, salsa and fresh guacamole. Yum Yum! I've discovered an amazing affection for portabello mushrooms since I found the portabello mushroom salad in Veganomicon. Justin also made us the maple mustard glazed potatoes which have made it into our regular rotation. Another recipe I try to use all the time is the tahini dressing from VWAV. I made it into a dip for a potluck which went over amazing. Oh and lastly I modified my pancake recipe again with chocolate almond milk, adding cocoa and mint extract with chocolate chips. Pretty yummy, more of a dessert pancake rather than breakfast though, lol
Well that was my update and I even managed to throw a recipe in there! The last four months have been an amazing learning experience and I will continue my adventures in vegan cooking!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hello! Yah yah I'm over a week late. Ok first of all here are the Vanilla/Chocolate Marble Cupcakes I made for my Mom's Birthday/Easter. I gave her Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and told her to pick one. I did the same with my Dad and of course instead of picking a nice easy one he choose Brooklyn vs. Boston Cream Cupcakes. But that's ok I like a challenge I just have to use some new ingredients. But my mom gave us Bunny Grahams for Easter and I put them on the cupcakes, don't they look adorable?
So we went home for Easter and I put myself in charge of dinner to relieve it from my Mom, partially because it was supposed to be my Mom's birthday dinner a few days earlier. I decided to go with a green theme (ok ok I lied it just happened) and I made Pesto Pasta from VWAV and Sesame Asparagus from VWAV and a green salad (with the green icing cupcakes for dessert).
Ooo pretty. So here is what the Sesame Asparagus looks like. It was so delicious. I have made it and the pesto so many times!! They are both absolutely amazing.
So this ended up turning weird. I made a quinoa pilaf and the asparagus and decided the pilaf had no flavor and mixed them together. It was weird... but ok.
Finally my strange little corn tortilla burritos. I walked into the supermarket and fell in love with these little corn tortillas so I had leftover beans and rice and fryed them up with some pico de gallo and topped with some avocado mixed with more pico de gallo, They were tasty although the corn tortillas split easily. Definitely eat em all at once. After they are opened the dry out and crack and don't stay together.
Well that's what I've been up to. As I said I've been working full time so my hubby's been stepping up to the plate! It's been great! Anywho good eats to you all!
So we went home for Easter and I put myself in charge of dinner to relieve it from my Mom, partially because it was supposed to be my Mom's birthday dinner a few days earlier. I decided to go with a green theme (ok ok I lied it just happened) and I made Pesto Pasta from VWAV and Sesame Asparagus from VWAV and a green salad (with the green icing cupcakes for dessert).
Ooo pretty. So here is what the Sesame Asparagus looks like. It was so delicious. I have made it and the pesto so many times!! They are both absolutely amazing.
So this ended up turning weird. I made a quinoa pilaf and the asparagus and decided the pilaf had no flavor and mixed them together. It was weird... but ok.
Finally my strange little corn tortilla burritos. I walked into the supermarket and fell in love with these little corn tortillas so I had leftover beans and rice and fryed them up with some pico de gallo and topped with some avocado mixed with more pico de gallo, They were tasty although the corn tortillas split easily. Definitely eat em all at once. After they are opened the dry out and crack and don't stay together.
Well that's what I've been up to. As I said I've been working full time so my hubby's been stepping up to the plate! It's been great! Anywho good eats to you all!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Update and stay tuned!
Hello
Unfortunately, I've been MIA lately. I've begun working full time and the energy isn't always there, not to mention the time. I have made some things though. I will get them together and post very soon. Most likely later today or tomorrow. Hugs to all!
Unfortunately, I've been MIA lately. I've begun working full time and the energy isn't always there, not to mention the time. I have made some things though. I will get them together and post very soon. Most likely later today or tomorrow. Hugs to all!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Crepes!
Don't let the exclamation mark scare you... these are not scary they are delicious. And so pretty! Below are my strawberry chocolate ones and at the bottom there are my peanut butter banana ones (with a little chocolate drizzled).
So basically how I made these was using my pancake recipe. I veganized a pancake recipe that my dad passed down to me. I will tell you the veganized version:
Pancakes:
1 cup of flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk (I use chocolate usually)
1 mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
You mix the first three ingredients together then the next three and add a little more soy milk if you want a thinner batter (it will go a little further). If I do this I add maybe a tsp-tbsp extra. Then you fold in the baking powder and let it sit for a few minutes.
So to Crepe this recipe I used about 1 & 1/4 cup soy milk (chocolate) to make it a little thinner yet.
Then you just put some batter on a pan and shake the pan at every angle to get it nice and covered in a very thin layer. This is what it looks like after a flip:
Below are the ingredients I used. There were amazingly tasty smelling strawberries which prompted me to have a crepe morning in the first place. Then I melted chocolate chips with some soy milk to have chocolate sauce.
So that was my crepe adventure, delish! There were leftovers but you can't have any nah nah! I did miss whipped cream a bit but not too much . Here's one more picture for the road of the banana, peanut butter chocolate one....
So basically how I made these was using my pancake recipe. I veganized a pancake recipe that my dad passed down to me. I will tell you the veganized version:Pancakes:
1 cup of flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk (I use chocolate usually)
1 mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
You mix the first three ingredients together then the next three and add a little more soy milk if you want a thinner batter (it will go a little further). If I do this I add maybe a tsp-tbsp extra. Then you fold in the baking powder and let it sit for a few minutes.
So to Crepe this recipe I used about 1 & 1/4 cup soy milk (chocolate) to make it a little thinner yet.
Then you just put some batter on a pan and shake the pan at every angle to get it nice and covered in a very thin layer. This is what it looks like after a flip:
Below are the ingredients I used. There were amazingly tasty smelling strawberries which prompted me to have a crepe morning in the first place. Then I melted chocolate chips with some soy milk to have chocolate sauce.
So that was my crepe adventure, delish! There were leftovers but you can't have any nah nah! I did miss whipped cream a bit but not too much . Here's one more picture for the road of the banana, peanut butter chocolate one....
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Soup, Sandwich & Salad
Latley I have been obsessed with pumpkin seeds. They are so delicious on salad. So that is why I posted this. My salad is pumpkin seeds, spinach, salad greens, cukes, onion, red pepper and Little Island Salad dressing.
This is what I was lucky enough to have my hubby make for me for dinner tonight. It was supposed to be a dinosaur kale quinoa wrap but after seeing Justin try to eat it that way, I tore my kale up and had a dinosaur kale, quinoa salad. It was delicious with the obvious ingredients in the name plus: tomatoes, avocado, grated carrot, & cucumbers. Add salad dressing and voila! It was super tasty (from the Thrive Diet).
So on Friday I made pesto, my first attempt. It was from Vegan with a Vengeance and it was really yummy but unfortunately i failed to read that it was a teaspoon and a half of coarse salt rather than what I used which was finely ground sea salt. Needless to say it was REALLY salty. But I still ate it up and again the next day and then for lunch yesterday. So overall a success. p.s. I LOVE WALNUTS (no gross pinenuts, ick)
I made miso soup last week sometime as well. It was half from the thrive diet (ground up sesame seeds, miso paste, green onions) but I added a little soya sauce and tofu (way too much tofu). It was good minus the copious amounts of tofu, oh well the first time you make something never goes perfect. I had it with a hummus, avocado, spinach and red pepper sandwich, toasted. It was a pretty quick, yummy little dinner.
That's all for this week, I made stir fry again but decided not to bore you with the same old same old. My hubby is making me a pizza from the Thrive book on Thursday if it's fabulous I will post it. Until then happy cooking!
This is what I was lucky enough to have my hubby make for me for dinner tonight. It was supposed to be a dinosaur kale quinoa wrap but after seeing Justin try to eat it that way, I tore my kale up and had a dinosaur kale, quinoa salad. It was delicious with the obvious ingredients in the name plus: tomatoes, avocado, grated carrot, & cucumbers. Add salad dressing and voila! It was super tasty (from the Thrive Diet).
So on Friday I made pesto, my first attempt. It was from Vegan with a Vengeance and it was really yummy but unfortunately i failed to read that it was a teaspoon and a half of coarse salt rather than what I used which was finely ground sea salt. Needless to say it was REALLY salty. But I still ate it up and again the next day and then for lunch yesterday. So overall a success. p.s. I LOVE WALNUTS (no gross pinenuts, ick)
I made miso soup last week sometime as well. It was half from the thrive diet (ground up sesame seeds, miso paste, green onions) but I added a little soya sauce and tofu (way too much tofu). It was good minus the copious amounts of tofu, oh well the first time you make something never goes perfect. I had it with a hummus, avocado, spinach and red pepper sandwich, toasted. It was a pretty quick, yummy little dinner.
That's all for this week, I made stir fry again but decided not to bore you with the same old same old. My hubby is making me a pizza from the Thrive book on Thursday if it's fabulous I will post it. Until then happy cooking!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Falafel night!
Mmmm.... falafel. So I attempted falafel tonight. It went quite well actually. Would never have gone near as smooth without a food processor (I love you food processor). So this is from Vegan with a Vengeance I can't remember everything in the recipe off the top of my head but I think it's chick peas, bread crumbs, flour, cumin, cayenne, coriander, onions, garlic, & salt. You also have to let it rest in the fridge for a bit first as well as the dressing you put on it.
So this is from Vegan with a Vengeance I can't remember everything in the recipe off the top of my head but I think it's chick peas, bread crumbs, flour, cumin, cayenne, coriander, onions, garlic, & salt. You also have to let it rest in the fridge for a bit first as well as the dressing you put on it (Tahini Dressing where you fry garlic in oil and add tahini, paprika, salt, pepper, & balsamic vinegar, water and blend it all). Then after a 1/2 hour in the fridge you fry em in a lot of oil (didn't say they were super healthy). This is what they look like, draining after the pan frying.
So then you put em in a pita with lettuce, cukes, tomatoes and red onion and drizzle on the dressing. Fantastic. My husband just loved them too, I will definitely make them again!! It may become a Sunday tradition in fact!
So this is from Vegan with a Vengeance I can't remember everything in the recipe off the top of my head but I think it's chick peas, bread crumbs, flour, cumin, cayenne, coriander, onions, garlic, & salt. You also have to let it rest in the fridge for a bit first as well as the dressing you put on it (Tahini Dressing where you fry garlic in oil and add tahini, paprika, salt, pepper, & balsamic vinegar, water and blend it all). Then after a 1/2 hour in the fridge you fry em in a lot of oil (didn't say they were super healthy). This is what they look like, draining after the pan frying.
So then you put em in a pita with lettuce, cukes, tomatoes and red onion and drizzle on the dressing. Fantastic. My husband just loved them too, I will definitely make them again!! It may become a Sunday tradition in fact!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Valentine's Day Treats
There! Got your attention! Banana Split Pudding Brownies from Vegan with a Vengeance. I made them for my hubby for Valentine's Day... although we may have partaken in 3 a day early.....
Ok now that I've shown you the prettiest picture I'll show you what we've been up to lately.
My husband made some crackers which I did not enjoy, but he loved! Lemon sesame crackers. They were very pretty I must say. They are from the Thrive Diet.
Ok, next I also made some lemon cupcakes. I took them from the sexy low fat cupcakes (VCTOTW) and added lemon juice and I put lemon juice in the buttercream icing. Well I used whole wheat flour and the cupcakes were uh, ahem, very healthy tasting. And my icing was so running. So all in all not my best work but I thought I would post anyway just to have something more to show for my past few weeks.
WARNING: MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF STIR FRY AHEAD!!!Last but not least I show you what happens when I get let loose in the produce section. I found baby bok choy and zucchini and sugar snap peas.....and then I grabbed tofu thinking yum yum. Then I added my usual stir fry appearances (red peppers, garlic, onion, & lots of mushrooms) and did a make shift sauce of peanut sauce, soya sauce, veggie broth, basil, and some mixed thai seasoning (ingredients: basil, paprika, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne). And by the time it was all together well... look
Yup that's right I needed two gigantic frying pans to contain the spread of the stir fry. Here's a close up of the extreme yumminess served over brown rice (it's under there somewhere).
It was awesome, possibly a bit much... But very delish! I quite enjoyed it.. and I got to enjoy it in my lunch today and tomorrow and the next day and the next...
Monday, February 11, 2008
Yay! Cookbooks!
Ok small correction for the last post. The refried beans I usually use are Amy's not Annie's or Eden Organics not Simply Organic, yah I know that one was way off. Sorry about that!
So I got my two new cookbooks and what recipe do I make first? One off someone's blog. Credit due to Domestic Affair and her red lentil hummus.
http://domesticaffair.ca/
I decided to make this since chick pea hummus tends to give me some digestive issues. My lentil hummus was very thin though, not sure what I did wrong. Once the lentil mixture was done I tried it and decided I would eat simply that with no other additives... mmm. But it was still good, unfortunately still gave me some digestive problems...maybe hummus and I were not made for each other like I thought we were :(
Ok I did spend a lengthy amount of time going through my books this weekend though. Funny story actually. On friday when I knew my books would arrive, I got a call on my cell at work. Our building buzzer phones our cell when someone rings it so it was the lady with my books. I told her to wait and I'd phone my husband to go down and meet her. I phone him and he doesn't answer. So I wait like 15 grueling, feeling awful minutes for her to phone back saying... helllloooo? And I tell her to just leave a slip. So I get the slip and we go to the post office that night (despite the fact that it says pick up tomorrow after 1:00). So I wait in line like 15 minutes and by the time I get to the front I decide to play dumb about the 1:00 thing, at first I thought about leaving and coming back but after investing all that time.. you know. So the lady rifles through all the boxes after giving me a hard time that it's supposed to be tomorrow and I make everyone in the line wait just to get my precious vegan cookbooks. Then she's like and ACTUALLY because it's friday it should be after 1:00 on MONDAY. Then I was like man I'm glad I lied, lol. So I have my babies finally. Here are some I want to make, something for you to look forward to. (BTW if any of you (assuming anyone actually reads my blog) have made any of these, please give me the review!)
Vegan with a Vengeance:
Banana Split Pudding Brownies
Tofu Scramble
Chocolate Chip Scones
Carrot-Raisin Muffins
Spanakopita
Falafel!!!
Green Thai Curry
Spanish Omelet with Saffron, Roasted Red Pepper, & Almond Sauce
Lemon Gem Cupcakes
Veganomicon:
Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls
Tofu Florentine
Chickpeas Romesco
Marinated Asian Tofu
Acorn Squash, Pear and Adzuki Soup with Sauteed Shiitakes
Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce
Mac Daddy
Curried Udon Noodle Stirfry
Fresh Rosemary Focaccia
Fudgy Wudgy Blueberry Brownies
Ok if your mouth is not watering you are a robot. Ok, I'm done now, any thoughts, feelings, emotions on what to make first? I'm thinking the banana/fudge brownies for sure, maybe a curry... Falafel... and I was so excited to see a Romesco with chickpeas, I love the type of sauce and my mom used to make it on chicken and it was one of the few times I enjoyed meat a lot so I figured damn it'll be good with chickpeas. Alright that is enough! I need to go finish eating some dinner! There is salivating happening. *MWAH*
So I got my two new cookbooks and what recipe do I make first? One off someone's blog. Credit due to Domestic Affair and her red lentil hummus.
http://domesticaffair.ca/
I decided to make this since chick pea hummus tends to give me some digestive issues. My lentil hummus was very thin though, not sure what I did wrong. Once the lentil mixture was done I tried it and decided I would eat simply that with no other additives... mmm. But it was still good, unfortunately still gave me some digestive problems...maybe hummus and I were not made for each other like I thought we were :(
Ok I did spend a lengthy amount of time going through my books this weekend though. Funny story actually. On friday when I knew my books would arrive, I got a call on my cell at work. Our building buzzer phones our cell when someone rings it so it was the lady with my books. I told her to wait and I'd phone my husband to go down and meet her. I phone him and he doesn't answer. So I wait like 15 grueling, feeling awful minutes for her to phone back saying... helllloooo? And I tell her to just leave a slip. So I get the slip and we go to the post office that night (despite the fact that it says pick up tomorrow after 1:00). So I wait in line like 15 minutes and by the time I get to the front I decide to play dumb about the 1:00 thing, at first I thought about leaving and coming back but after investing all that time.. you know. So the lady rifles through all the boxes after giving me a hard time that it's supposed to be tomorrow and I make everyone in the line wait just to get my precious vegan cookbooks. Then she's like and ACTUALLY because it's friday it should be after 1:00 on MONDAY. Then I was like man I'm glad I lied, lol. So I have my babies finally. Here are some I want to make, something for you to look forward to. (BTW if any of you (assuming anyone actually reads my blog) have made any of these, please give me the review!)
Vegan with a Vengeance:
Banana Split Pudding Brownies
Tofu Scramble
Chocolate Chip Scones
Carrot-Raisin Muffins
Spanakopita
Falafel!!!
Green Thai Curry
Spanish Omelet with Saffron, Roasted Red Pepper, & Almond Sauce
Lemon Gem Cupcakes
Veganomicon:
Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls
Tofu Florentine
Chickpeas Romesco
Marinated Asian Tofu
Acorn Squash, Pear and Adzuki Soup with Sauteed Shiitakes
Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce
Mac Daddy
Curried Udon Noodle Stirfry
Fresh Rosemary Focaccia
Fudgy Wudgy Blueberry Brownies
Ok if your mouth is not watering you are a robot. Ok, I'm done now, any thoughts, feelings, emotions on what to make first? I'm thinking the banana/fudge brownies for sure, maybe a curry... Falafel... and I was so excited to see a Romesco with chickpeas, I love the type of sauce and my mom used to make it on chicken and it was one of the few times I enjoyed meat a lot so I figured damn it'll be good with chickpeas. Alright that is enough! I need to go finish eating some dinner! There is salivating happening. *MWAH*
Friday, February 8, 2008
Mexi-Pizzas
Ok so this is a recipe I've tried twice and looooved. Now I've never seen anything like it so I guess I'm going to take credit for it, my first original recipe on here so to speak. I call them Mexi-Pizzas.
You'll need:
2 whole wheat tortilla shells (10 inch)
1 can refried beans (I prefer black beans my self... either Annies or I believe Simply Organic)
about 4 tbsp of salsa
1 pepper (color of your choice or do 1/2 and 1/2) in thin strips
1 small!!! red onion or 1/4 of a large one (depends on how much you like onion)
1 Avocado
The way I put these babies together is, preheat oven to about 350-400 and on a pan put the tortilla shells, spread beans on first then a couple tbsp of salsa over them. Then cook the peppers slightly ( I usually do this with a little bit of vegetable broth in a pan) and put the peppers on and I like to put the onion on raw on top in thin strips... you can cook if you prefer but when they are very thin all they need is oven time. Then I bake them for about 10 mins, and while this is happening I make some guacamole with an avocado and a little bit of salsa and sometime garlic if I'm feeling it. Then I top the guac on the pizzas. Surprisingly simple and so goooood.
There! I'm officially an internet published recipe author... I didn't realize it'd be over so quickly...
You'll need:
2 whole wheat tortilla shells (10 inch)
1 can refried beans (I prefer black beans my self... either Annies or I believe Simply Organic)
about 4 tbsp of salsa
1 pepper (color of your choice or do 1/2 and 1/2) in thin strips
1 small!!! red onion or 1/4 of a large one (depends on how much you like onion)
1 Avocado
The way I put these babies together is, preheat oven to about 350-400 and on a pan put the tortilla shells, spread beans on first then a couple tbsp of salsa over them. Then cook the peppers slightly ( I usually do this with a little bit of vegetable broth in a pan) and put the peppers on and I like to put the onion on raw on top in thin strips... you can cook if you prefer but when they are very thin all they need is oven time. Then I bake them for about 10 mins, and while this is happening I make some guacamole with an avocado and a little bit of salsa and sometime garlic if I'm feeling it. Then I top the guac on the pizzas. Surprisingly simple and so goooood.
There! I'm officially an internet published recipe author... I didn't realize it'd be over so quickly...
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Superbowl!
Well despite the terribly sad ending to superbowl 2008, my party went incredibly well. I made my miso guacamole again to have on tortilla chips and some quesadillas (refried beans, peppers, onions, mushrooms, & salsa) and people didn't even miss the cheese! There was also veggies and red pepper hummus and some pineapple and strawberries, and of course my green tea cupcakes. I was very impressed. I think I threw a pretty good party. I'm hoping to do it again soon. Maybe a theme party! I'd like to attempt sushi for sure... so maybe japanese.
Anyway, so my camera died so I unfortunately have no pictures to show you. *sigh. I could not find the extra batteries. Justin did make some extremely yummy energy bars... spicy chocolate I believe. They really kick my chocolate craving (banana, jalapeno, dates, sunflower seeds, carob powder, flax seed, macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, & sea salt). So yummy! On par with the banana chocolate energy pudding (bananas, dates, ground flax seed, carob powder, coconut oil, lemon juice, & sea salt) also super yummy! Ok enough for tonight!
p.s. my books were shipped yesterday! 3-5 business days!!!
Anyway, so my camera died so I unfortunately have no pictures to show you. *sigh. I could not find the extra batteries. Justin did make some extremely yummy energy bars... spicy chocolate I believe. They really kick my chocolate craving (banana, jalapeno, dates, sunflower seeds, carob powder, flax seed, macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, & sea salt). So yummy! On par with the banana chocolate energy pudding (bananas, dates, ground flax seed, carob powder, coconut oil, lemon juice, & sea salt) also super yummy! Ok enough for tonight!
p.s. my books were shipped yesterday! 3-5 business days!!!
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