Vegetarian Family

I've Moved!

2006-11-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

The Vegetarian Family is alive and well! We've just moved. I wanted a title that more accurately describes what's going on in my kitchen. I could've just changed my url, but I also wanted beta and got tired of waiting & trying to make it happen. Thus, VEGAN VICE is born. Please come by & update your links when you get a chance. See ya there! :o)

VEGAN VICE

Soup's On!

2006-11-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

It has been chilly the past couple weeks - the perfect weather for soup. The savory smell infiltrates the house, the warmth of the stove comforts, and the steaming soup to eat on a rainy day. Soup in no particular order, family rated with stars (3 stars=a favorite, 2 stars=OK, 1 star=won't make again).

'Miso-Butternut Squash Soup with soba noodles and purple kale' Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons Bountiful Vegan by Nava Atlas **

'Moroccan Lentil and Chickpea Soup' from Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons Bountiful Vegan by Nava Atlas ***

I added some carrots.

'Sweet Pepper Coconut Corn Chowder' ExtraVeganZa by Laura Matthias ***

This cookbook was featured in Veg News Oct.'06, pg. 88. And, The Vegan Diva recieved it recently for a birthday gift -- Have you tried a recipe yet, Emmy?

Inspired by 'Simple Leek and Potato Soup' from La Dolce Vegan! by Sarah Kramer **

I added some carrots, parsley, purple kale, garlic, & cumin.

'African-Inspired Quinoa-Peanut Soup' from Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons
Bountiful Vegan by Nava Atlas *

Look what I received in the mail yesterday! It is such a cute cookbook, which Jennifer signed to my daughters. A sticker was enclosed, which I'll probably use as a bookmark. The Table of Contents include, Quick & Easy, Rise & Shine, Ready & Waiting, Lunch Box Adventure, Special Occasions, and much more. There's a photo section in the middle, but just go to The Vegan Lunch Box to see it all.

Slow Stuffed Grape Leaves

2006-11-07T21:24:00.000-08:00

from:
Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker (p. 20) I followed the recipe to a "TTT" - & tripled it!

This is the group of lucky dolmas going to the party. I sharpied a post-it for the dish that said "Vegan Stuffed Grape Leaves". I was little shy -- wondering if the crowd would go for the crackers + dip and cookies on the buffet --- or, turn a 180* and go for these very green & healthy morsels....

Here's 3 batches of dolmas (about 50) -- stuffed, wrapped, & ready for the Slow Cooker. It took a while to prepare, but well worth it. They vanished quickly at the party, and I felt a sense of victory for Veganism. It wasn't that people were starving, either, because there was plenty of left-overs of the junk food. They liked them. They really, really liked them! These were the perfect party pleasing appetizer.

for change.

Currant Apple & Oat Muffins, Millet and Root Stew, and a Vegan Cupcake

2006-11-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

Currant Apple & Oat Muffins
1 C. Dried Currants
1 med. Apple (peeled & Chopped)
3/4 C. Vanilla Silk
1/3 C. Granulated Sugar
1/4 C. Canola Oil
1 C. All-purpose Flour
1 C. Quick Oats
2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Allspice
2 Tbsp. Florida Crystals

Preheat oven to 400*F. Oil or line 12 muffin cups. Combine fruit, soy milk, sugar and oil. In another bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Mix together until just combined. Divide batter between the cups. Sprinkle tops with Florida Crystals (or Brown Sugar). Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This is basically a veganized version of the recipe off the Sun*Maid Zante Currants box.

Abi and Jolie enjoyed the muffins very much. But they'll eat just about anything! :o)

The true test of a successful recipe around here is if Liv will eat it. She can be a toughie, but she really liked these muffins. So did I. This doesn't happen very often, so I'm taking note and throwing this one into the regular muffin rotation hopper! Next time, perhaps dried cherries, blueberrries, or raisins instead of currants.

Isn't she a cutie-pajutie in her rainboots?! (no storm in sight) She leaves them outside the door so she can throw them on in a hurry outside. The Mums behind were blooming like that in late October!

I love raking leaves. It's great exercise, but not too rigerous. It is outdoors in the crisp Fall air, and the kids gather around to help. Even Jolie runs through the pile chasing a squirrel from time to time. I've raked leaves everyday for the past week (body is sore) and there are still a few hanging on to the branches, but not many. Most of the trees are bare now and it is looking more like Winter.

This is becoming one of my favorite cookbooks.

My first recipe was 'Millet and Burdock Root Stew' page 84. I did not have (nor have ever heard of) Burdock Root, so I subbed in a sweet potato (white one). The rest of the recipe was straight, except I left out the mushrooms & ginger because I just don't like them.

I'm telling you, this was a delicious and satisfying meal. I'll be making this again

Here it is! The moment I've been waiting for... My first cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World (Congrats on being Cookbook of the Year @ Veg News Veggie Awards).

It is:

Simple Vanilla and Agave Nectar Cupcake (44)

Not-Too-Sweet Blueberry Mousse (153)

I topped with some electric blue sugar crystals!

Vegan Dog Biscuits

2006-11-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Jolie is dreaming about cookies beside her new 'Dog Bone Cookie Cutter Set' from the PETA catalog.

Urban Vegan hosted the tART contest, and the prize was a gift certificate from PETA.

Seems appropriate that the prize should benefit the only (official) animal in the house.

The set includes:
* Five Ways to Be Your Dog's Best Friend
* Vegan Dog Biscuits Recipe
* 7-piece Cookie Cutter Set

Here's Liv mixing the ingredients, while arranging the Cookie Cutters (big bone, medium bone, baby bone, dog house, big fire hydrant, baby fire hydrant, & dog paw).

Rolling out the dough.

The recipe yielded two packed cookie sheets for us, and we utilized each cookie cutter several times. About 35 biscuits.

PETA has lots of other cool things for animal companions that you may be interested in. When I grabbed the link, I saw a funny cat puke hazard sign for the floors.

Finally, Jolie's moment comes!

The taste test.

And.... She loved them! Schnup quickly ate as many as she could, and she wouldn't lie just to make us feel good.

I've seen her gobble up barf like it were a delicacy.

And, be finicky and refuse perfectly good food.

She eats what she likes. No excuses.

Jolie loves vegan treats -- here's a link with many recipes.

This is Jolie's special trick. She wins hearts over every time with this one.

She will stay like this as long as it takes. Then, after we say "OK", she'll toss the treat in the air, and many times she'll catch it in her mouth. It's impressive!

I didn't realize when I bent the dog bones to squeeze them on the cookie sheet that they'd be a perfect curve for her nose! Yeaah, for Jolie!

What can your animal companion do that's special?

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T22:56:00.000-08:00

Highlights from the day include a visit from my mom, raking leaves, carving these 3 pumpkins, roasting seeds, a trick-or-treat visit from our neighbors (pregnant pumpkin & batman), and...

our candlelight dinner.

Herbivore Restaurant & Lombard Street (San Francisco Post 3 of 3)

2006-10-25T23:57:00.000-07:00

If you're in San Francisco, you gotta go to Herbivore. It's stylish, fresh, reasonably priced, and completely vegan. Herbivore features a cross-cultural menu from the Middle East, Thailand, China, Italy, and India. Next time, I think I'll try the Seitan Shawarma or Lemongrass Rice Noodles with grilled vegetables. There are so many choices, and you can check out the menu at the above link. There are two locations to choose from, and we went to the one in the Mission District because it's conveniently on the way to the airport.

We were famished, so we began with this from the Starters selection.

Crisp Tacos:
Two crisp tacos with soy protein, beans, tofu cheese, guacamole, lettuce, and salsa

Good thing I took a photo because these tacos disappeared like magic. They were so flavorful, and it made me think that vegan cheese might not be so bad afterall.

Washing it down was a San Pellegrino Limonata.

Art's Lunch:
Marinated Tofu Sandwich on Focaccia Bread:
with avocado, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, & pickles. Served with seasoned potatoes and green salad with dijon mustard dressing.

Mine:
Baked Falafel Wrap:
seasoned onions, fresh tomatoes, hummus, hot sauce, pickles, & tahini dressing in a wrap with a green salad with potatoes and eggplant.

I usually don't like wraps or burritos because they get too soggy & fall apart. Glad I took a chance with this one. They have a super-hoopified style. Only one hand necessary to hold it, no drips, no falling apart, & not just stuffed with lettuce, either. It was solid.

This is the kind of place you could easily eat at everyday. In fact, in this month's Veg News, there is an article, "The 20 Best Restaurants for Everyday Dining -- Dine out and dine well without breaking the bank," in which Herbivore is featured. It says, "Though this restaurant bills itself as 'the earthly grill,' it's more like veg heaven..." I totally agree with that statement.

Are you looking for a Veg friendly get-away? Try San Franciso. You might wonder if San Francisco can be affordable? Yes. Here are some hotels to get you started:

Metropolis Hotel -- Rooms start @ $99 There is a suite for children, and packages for dogs.

The Phoenix Hotel -- Rooms start @ $139 The "rock 'n' roll" hotel near the Civic Center. Art has stayed here... along with a bunch of other people! :o)

Hotel California -- Rooms start @ $139 Millennium is located in this hotel, near Union Square.

Cornell Hotel -- Rooms start @ $85 with shared bath, or $110 with private bath. Rate includes breakfast!

This last photo was taken on the famous Lombard Street -- and off in the distance, you see Coit Tower.

Millennium Restaurant & China Town (San Francisco Post 2 of 3)

2006-10-23T23:39:00.000-07:00

When we were deciding where to go for a couple days, San Francisco rose to the top for more reasons than just the obvious spectacularness of the city -- we have friends to visit (I just calculated that Lorna & I have been buds for 27 years!), and we really wanted to eat at the Millennium. Here we are sitting on the grassy steps of Union Square in anticipation of a gourmet vegan meal. It is a shame that I don't have photos of our meal. If you've seen his cookbook, The Artful Vegan, then you'll have an idea of what I mean. Each meal looked like a work of art -- very complicated & elaborate dishes. Nope, no photos. *dabbing corner of eye* I did get the above mentioned cookbook, which was signed by Eric Tucker himself -- he took a little break from cooking to do so. I saw him with my own eyes -- matched him right up with his cookbook photos.

Both our meals were Vegan, Organic, Local, Beautiful, & Delicious! We can't wait to go back.
Art's --
1. Grilled Bitter Greens and Sweet Onion Salad
fresh black Mission figs, house-smoked tofu, pecan-fig-balsamic vinaigrette
2. Chipotle Grilled Portobello Mushroom
cranberry bean & posole chile verde, butternut squash masa arepa, sauteed greens, sweet chipotle glaze, spiced toasted pumpkin seeds
Mine --
1. Roasted Pumpkin Salad
apples & sweet peppers, cider vinaigrette, toasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed oil
2. Pomegranate Glazed Tempeh
autumn vegetable hash, Israeli couscous with saffron "cream", green coriander, shaved fennel & lemon pickle, pomegranate seeds

This month's Veg News has an article "Tips from the Top - Veg chefs dish their delicious home-cooking secrets" in which Eric Tucker (Millennium co-owner) says his pantry must-have is curry paste, and his kitchen tool essential is a knife sharpener. Fun question... Guess if I could only pick one of each, It'd be Earth Balance & a Vegetable Peeler. What's your pantry must-have? And your kitchen tool essential?

Greens Restaurant & The Marina (San Francisco Post 1 of 3)

2006-10-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

OK, so what I didn't tell you is that while the Grandparents were in town, Art and I left town! We cashed in on some frequent flyer miles and visited San Francisco for a couple days. The first night, we stayed with some dear friends -- I asked Lorna where we could get some vegetarian food, and expected her to suggest Millennium (which is where we had reservations for the following evening) but she didn't. She said the place she hears the most about (she's omni) is Greens Restaurant. This photo was taken at the Marina with Alcatraz behind us -- right before going to Greens!
Greens has been around for 26 years setting the standard for gourmet vegetarian cuisine. You can enjoy the open, art-filled, floor to ceiling windows with sweeping views of the Marina, Golden Gate Bridge, and Marin Headlands --- or get Greens to go with their convenient take-out picnic fare counter. Greens serves gourmet vegetarian & vegan cuisine using only their homegrown & organic produce -- the diverse menu changes daily.

This is my lunch:

Mediterranean Sampler --

French lentil salad with lemon, mint and ricotta salata; filo turnover with leeks, fromage blanc and thyme; roasted pepper hummous; green, yellow wax and romano beans with tarragon vinaigrette; grilled pita bread; spicy tomato jam; olives. $13.75

Art's Lunch: (for once I'm glad I ordered mine and not his!)

Asian Tofu Sandwich --

Grilled tofu in spicy peanut sauce with pickled carrots, jicama and cilantro on Acme petit baguette. Served with little gems, tat soi, grilled shiitake mushrooms and sesame ginger vinaigrette. $9.75

I loved this restaurant! It was an outstanding feast for the eyes and mouth -- the view couldn't get much better & the food was perfect.

Our own fault, being tourists, we got lost finding this restaurant. Art, like some men, refuses to use a map. We finally gave in and called and they said it was across the street from Safeway supermarket at Laguna & Buchanan. We found a Safeway on Market Street between those streets and, coincidentally, it was the wrong Safeway, the restaurant is located in the Marina area in the Ft. Mason complex. We eventually crossed up to the right side of town to find the correct Safeway between Laguna and Buchanan, and thankfully, Greens was right there with easy parking access and a superb environment.

Pumpkin Puree & Cookies

2006-10-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

I used our longest knife to cut my two pie pumpkins. Then, scraped out the seeds & guts with an ice cream scoop into a colander -- where I could later wash the seeds for roasting.

Preheat the oven to 350* & place the pumpkin, cut side down, on a lightly oiled pan with an inch of water. Tent with foil and cook for about an hour - until very tender.

Let the pumpkin cool a bit before scooping out the flesh into the food processor. Puree the pumpkin with just enough water to keep it moving.

This was the first time I've roasted a pumpkin, and was inspired to do so by Melissa because of this post at Cooking Delights. It was much easier than I thought -- the toughest part was cracking the pumpkin. Next time, I may just drop it on the sidewalk & wash him up before cooking....

I'm so glad I did this because you just can't beat the taste of fresh pumpkin in recipes. Sure, a can of pumpkin is fine in a pinch -- but why not make it fresh and freeze it so that you can have it all year long?

My 2 small pumpkins yielded: a half jar pumpkin seeds, two 1 cup baggies of puree in the freezer, plus enough puree to make a batch of 'Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies' from VwaV, pg. 198.

For these, I skipped the walnuts & flaxseeds, and added extra oatmeal to compensate. They were really good, and I'm planning to make them again for our next road trip because they don't fall apart & are chewy, aren't too sweet, and compared to other cookies - are healthful.

We are looking forward to Art's parents visiting us this week, and I'll have my camera and cookbooks out, but I'll be away from my computer until Saturday. Have a great week, and I look forward to checking in with you!

Crockpot Applesauce & Bread & Potatoes

2006-10-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

We still have lots of apples from our day of apple picking -- combine that with the fact that I still hadn't christened my Crockpot, and this is what you get. Homemade apple sauce. We sprinkled some dried cranberries on top for some added zing. My kindergarten students loved discovering the star inside apples -- just cut them horizontally. These make pretty prints & are perfect for little hands to hold and stamp. Use some paints and make some homemade cards, wrapping paper, T-shirts, or whatever. I'm hoping to get to some of these activities soon!

Olivia wasn't feeling well, and this was just what the Doctor ordered. It was pleasant to have the aroma of apples all day, and it did wonders to coax ill taste buds.

CROCKPOT APPLE SAUCE
5 Apples - peeled & chopped
1/2 C. Sugar
1 C. Water

Combine all ingredients. Cook on High 4 Hours.

More comfort food! I'm including these spuds because I'm a total potato fiend.

VICKI'S ROASTED POTATOES
Yukon Golds - medium=quartered; small=halves
Whole Garlic Cloves
Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 400*F. Toss everything in a bowl and transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for about 40 minutes.

This is a loaf of 'Maple Banana Loaf' from The Everyday Vegan, pg. 167. This was delicious. I used all whole wheat pasty flour because that's all I had (all out of white + spelt, & kamut!) The recipe calls for 1 cup very ripe banana, and that meant 2 bananas for me -- which was exactly what I had on hand. I used vanilla soy milk, and threw in 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Very yummy!

Pumpkin Muffins

2006-10-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

PUMPKIN MUFFINS (veganized from the newspaper)
2 1/2 C. whole wheat Flour
3/4 C. Sugar
1 Tbs. Egg Replacer
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1 1/4 C. Vanilla Silk
1 C. Pumpkin puree
1/3 Canola Oil
2 Tbs. Molasses
1 tsp. Vanilla

1 Preheat oven to 400* F.
2 Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3 Add remaining ingredients & stir until moistened.
4 Divide batter between lined or oiled muffin cups.
5 Bake 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let them cool on a rack a minute or two before serving with Earth Balance or Peanutbutter & Jelly. Art especially enjoyed these muffins and ate several, including day olds -- though he refused a photo op. Dragon-Girl, on the other hand was fine with the camera.....and the muffins.

For me, this recipe yielded 18 muffins, and that's just too many, even for a pumpkin lovin' family. I remembered reading in VwaV to freeze the extra. Just pour batter into liners and put them in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer to a storage container. When you want a fresh muffin, but don't have the time -- just bake one of these! Put in a muffin tin, adding an extra 8-10 minutes to the cooking time. Brilliant idea, Isa! And now, I'm wondering... where's my Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Amazon.com? Kindly put it in the mail and nobody will panic - you know the address.

Maple Baked Apples

2006-10-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

I altered an old recipe by veganizing it and subbing spelt flour. What a success!

MAPLE BAKED APPLES
1/2 C. spelt flour
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 Tbsp. soybean margarine
1/3 C. old-fashioned rolled oats
3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
9 small Gala apples

1 Preheat oven to 375* F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square glass baking dish.

2 In a bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in soybean margarine with 2 knives, fingertips, or pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add oats and maple syrup and stir with a fork to blend lightly.

3 Core an apple and cut off stem. Cut 1 inch off bottom of core; replace 1-inch-long piece in bottom of apple to cork it and place apple in prepared dish. Repeat with remaining apples.

4 Fill each apple with flour mixture. Cover pan snugly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until apples are tender and filling is lightly browned, about 15 minutes longer. Let cool and then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Know your APPLES

Fujis are firm, crisp and good raw and in applesauce and pie.
Galas have red striping, are sweet and crisp, and taste good raw and cooked.
Granny Smiths are bright green, tart and great raw and cooked in pies.
McIntoshes are softer than others -- great for applesauce.
Red and Golden Delicious are best raw, but Goldens make good pies.
Romes are sweet and medium-large; they hold their shape when baked whole.

More than just walnuts are falling from of our walnut trees. We found this perfect bird nest laying on the lawn. We've since put it in a shoe box, and it sits on our patio. Olivia loved seeing it up close because we've been observing it for a while. We watched the Robins build the nest in the Spring & heard the baby birds singing soon after. It's been fun to see!

Nava Atlas & Curried Red Lentil Soup

2006-10-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Look what Nava Atlas sent me in the mail! An advance, and autographed copy of the 3rd editon of her cookbook Vegetarian Soups For All Seasons, along with a nice note, saying, "Hi Vicki ~ As promised, a review copy for you of my latest. Enjoy! Best ~ Nava" How exciting!

I think Robin Robertson, author of Vegan Planet & Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, sums it up best in her praise for the new edition:

"With a vegan makeover and 20 new recipes, the best vegetarian soup cookbook just got better! Arranged by season and loaded with variety, Nava's recipes are sure to please soup lovers everywhere. Complemented by a chapter of tempting accompaniments and Nava's own delightful illustrations, this treasury of delectable recipes is as welcoming as a simmering pot of homemade soup."

Eager to try out a recipe, I turned to the Fall index and glanced the list of 29 Fall soup recipes. (Winter=30, Spring=30, Summer=27) and came up with this, 'Curried Red Lentil Soup with sweet potatoes and greens' which, I must tell you, is one of the very best soups ever to enter our home. Art & I ate 3 bowls each in one sitting because it's super delicious. The flavors are unique & perfectly smooth, and bonus! make the house smell absolutely amazing. The main flavors here are: sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, lentils, & curry. Per serving, this soup has 290 calories, 5 g fat, 13 g protein, 10 g fiber, 50 carbohydrate, 0 mg cholesterol, 94 g sodium. How do I know all that helpful info? Nava includes it for each recipe. If you're a soup-lover, you'll want to get this cookbook! Thanks, Nava.

I leave you with a glimplse of the amazing Fall COLORS that abound here. The firery splash of color in the trees & brisk breezes are just a couple reasons why this is my favorite season. I love Fall.

Mr. Pumpkin Head & Pepitas

2006-10-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

Here's our first attempt at a pumpkin carving this season. The fun here is in using vegetables to create different facial features -- we used: broccoli for his hair, pea eyebrows, walnut eyes, rutabaga nose, and a corn mouth.

Basic Tips:
Eyes Use a melon baller to carve holes for small vegetables like radishes or okra to sit in. Secure the veggies with skewers or toothpicks.

Nose/ears/neck plugs Slice one side off spherical produce (like eggplants) to increase the amount of surface area that rests flat against the pumpkin; affix the veggies with skewers. (Spritz sliced sides with lemon water to keep them from discoloring.) For a long pepper or rhutabaga nose, carve a hole that's a little smaller than the biggest end of the veggie; secure with skewers.

Mouth To cut out a mouth the exact size of a squared-off corn-cob, first trace its outline on the pumpkin with a water-based marker (which can be wiped right off). A mouth that requires no carving (nor parental help): Draw a smile with the marker, prick holes along the line with a skewer, wipe off the marker, then place whole dried cloves in the holes. We want to try this next....

Hair Use a rubber band to attach parsley or cilantro to the pumpkin stem. Affix green beans or snow peas with skewers. Or, do like us, and just put a bunch of broccoli in his head hole for a curly do. Asparagus makes pretty hair also.

"Not a thing inside there, Mr.Pumpkin. Where'd your corny teeth and seed brains go?"

Little and big fingers alike dug into these roasted pumpkin seeds. Emmy of Vegan Diva is right -- these are easy to roast and a very addicting snack. Just rinse the seeds in a collander until clean. Dry on a towel, and then toss with some canola oil and sea salt. Lay the seeds in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet, and bake them in a 250 (or less) degree oven. I checked mine every 10 minutes, and it took a while for them to completely dry out. A couple times, I just turned off the oven and left the pepitas inside for up to 30 minutes to slow cook. Then, if they weren't ready, I'd fire up the oven again. As Emmy suggested, we tested a few along the way to know for sure when they were done. Liv ate what remained from yesterday for breakfast this morning.

This picture reminds me of an old cartoon on Saturday Night Live, Mr. Bill, "Ohhhhhhh Nooooooooo!"

Pumpkin Preservation Tips:
Look for pumpkins with a sturdy stem, this is the sign of a healthy pumpkin. Don't lift the pumpkin by the stem, this can damage the pumpkin and make it age faster.

Put the pumpkin in a wash tub full of cold water, carved side down -- it'll absorb the water and become firm.

After you've carved your pumpkin, wipe vaseline along the cut edges to preserve -- this prevents water from getting out. If your pumpkin does shrivel, resoak it for several hours and even over night. A little unscented clorox bleach in the water will prevent premature molding by killing evil pumpkin germs. Here's a link to WH Foods with some great information about pumpkin seeds.

Counting Soup

2006-10-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

This photo shows us ready to mix together our 'Counting Soup' from Salad People by Mollie Katzen. Our ingredient line-up strayed slightly from the cookbook. In the white bowls there is cooked alphabet noodles with edamame, a bowl of broccoli, fresh corn cut off the cobb, and vegetable broth. The container holding the broth is one of the best garage sale items I've found. It sits on the stove and warms up liquid that you'll want to pour -- like syrup & sauces. Liv is hanging around in the background wondering when we're going to finish Mr. Pumpkin. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how he turned out!

Like many meals around here, Abigail was all over it while Olivia wasn't interested at all.

Here's the gift certificate I won from Urban Vegan's tART contest. I shopped the PETA magazine and placed my order today. What did I get? -- you may wonder. I'll let you know as soon as it arrives and I snap a photo. I love the anticipation of waiting for something in the mailbox! Thanks for that, Urban, and also for hosting a fantastically fun event while taking the opportunity to highlight such a compassionate organization.

Hot Damn and Hell Yeah Cranberry Scones

2006-10-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here's half a batch of 'Cranberry Scones' from a new cookbook of mine. It's an easy recipe using basic ingredients that you probably already have around the kitchen --- though I was out of lemon. I used lime zest instead, and combined the juice with soy milk to make the "buttermilk." The most notable difference between these and other scone recipes is the approach with the wedges. The recipe says to use a knife to cut three deep lines to create six wedges of dough, but don't separate them -- these'll break right off nicely once they're properly baked. I was skeptical about this, but the wedges did break off beautifully & I didn't have to handle the delicate scone wheel before baking. They turned out much prettier, and are best served warm from the oven with Earth Balance and maybe some preserves.

"Hot Damn and Hell Yeah" was written & illustrated by Ryan Splint, and boasts a Southern Cooking theme complete with the flamboyant flare of the South minus the meat and dairy. Some recipes of his that I'm itchin' to try are Sweet Potato Pie, Vegetable Mountain with Gravy, and Coconut Curry Tofu on Green Jasmine Rice. Splint says that "There's also a lotta people that think pompous attitudes and morality lectures oughta be served alongside with it, maybe ta make up for the lack of flavor in their food. It ain't too hard to see why vegetarian food and the people who eat it haven't wound up with the best of reputations."

What do you think?

This is the "happy hour" of cookbooks, because you get two for the price of one. Turn the book over, and you have "the Dirty South cook book" --- recipes by Vanessa, with help from some other people. She sets out to prove that you CAN make good southern food without meat or dairy. Vanessa gives a shout-out in her introduction to her family (of course!) as well as cooking by kittee, and the Post Punk Kitchen.

U Pick Apples & Happy Birthday

2006-10-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

It was Art's birthday, and here's a picture of the cake he baked with Olivia. I could hear them having fun working in the kitchen together while Abigail and I played in another room. I should have more details since this is a food blog, but all I can say for sure is that:

1. The house had a wonderful banana aroma while it baked
2. The cake was white
3. The frosting was white
4. There was a layer of fresh banana between layers
5. There aren't enough candles inside a box
6. It was delicious

With all the bananas, it's no wonder Olivia's nickname for Art is Bananas Gorilla. Another of his cooking specialities is pancakes. So for his birthday, we decided it'd be funny if he found this when he reached inside the pantry instead of his trusty, clear, plastic, pancake container. He was surprised, thought it was funny, and likes it very much.

The girls and I also painted two little T-shirts with birthday greetings. They wore them to bed the night before, so in the morning Art was wished Happy Birthday right away. The girls wore their night shirts over their day clothes for the rest of the day, so you can see what they look like below.

"Go pick apples." was Art's response to, "What do you want to do for your birthday?"

So we drove 30 minutes to Tyler's Orchards (S. Slope Road, Emmett). This sign is the first thing we saw after turning on their road -- other than row after row of beautiful, fragrant trees. We put $6 dollars in the "cash cow," grabbed a kitty litter pail, and began wandering between the rows of red delicious apple trees.

The trees here are unusually short, and both girls had no problem reaching the apples.

For us, apple picking is a family thing -- picking apples in the crisp fall air, with the hazy autumn sun glinting through the branches. If you've never done it before, you owe it to yourself to do it. It's one of those old-fashioned romantic fall activities, like hay rides that make you feel like a kid again. And - bonus- you've got a bushel of apples for baking pies, making applesauce, dipping - or for just polishing on your sleeve.

Orchard owner comments that:

*Gala: "Gala is the best early apple for fresh eating."
*Jonathan: "It's the best cooking apple for pies."
*Honey Crisp: "This is the best eating apple, mid-season, if you like a tart, crisp apple,"
*Fuji: "They're not very good for cooking, but they're good for fresh-eating, and you can buy them later in the season."
*Pink Lady: "You can't cook a Pink Lady, but for fresh-eating, this -- and the Fuji -- are good picks and they'll hold up for most of the winter."

I think being surrounded by trees with delicious fruit was the most exciting for Abigail. I'd say fruit is her favorite food category and this was a slice of heaven for her. This is a rare moment when she didn't have an apple in each hand.

There was a produce stand farther up the road near their home. The girls couldn't resist these georgous, giant pumpkins. We also bought some peaches and plums here.

This was our pick of the day -- Red Delicious.

Which is the apple of your eye? Orchard owner picks his favorite apples:

In his opinion, the best fresh-eating are Honey Crisp, Gala, Fuji and Pink Lady.

Top cooking apples, he says, are Jonathan, Rome and Granny Smith.

Walnuts + Basil = Pesto

2006-09-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

Fall means walnut season for us. The squirrels are busy in the trees collecting the nuts and running all around scouting places to hide them. All this squirrel activity irritates Jolie to no end. She works over time trying her hardest to put an end to something that won't stop until the nuts are gone. (There are a LOT of walnuts on our two trees) We really appreciate Jolie putting in the extra hours, because the squirrels are messy & rude. The debris they leave behind includes green casings, intact walnuts, partially eaten walnuts, shell fragments; and they dig holes in the grass, flower gardens, planters, garden, and anywhere else you could hide a nut. There are lumps all over our grass with buried nuts. I collect the intact nuts to use throughout the year, and to put back to feed animals in the winter. All this keeps us busy, and is a frenzied Fall ritual for us. Don't get me wrong, we love our walnut trees despite the extra effort. They provide a cool canopy during the summer, food for animals and us through the seasons, and of course, help reverse the effects of global warming.

Here's a close-up of a green globe about to release a walnut to the ground. Sometimes, the green globes open up, and perfect walnuts fall to the ground (I collect those) - Other times, the green balls will fall to the ground and the squirrels will peel the green to expose the nut (it's theirs!). If I find a green globe, I toss it over the fence onto public land -- it'd be great if it grew, but that hasn't ever happened. Instead the birds, squirrels, and countless other animals enjoy the feast.

Here's some basil and tomatoes freshly picked from our garden.

We had the pleasure last weekend of getting to know a Celebrity Canadian Chef! "Who?" you may ask -- which is exactly what I asked when Art said he made friends with Chef Rob Rainford on the airplane. When Art told me, I didn't know who he was --- We don't have cable, so we had not seen his popular TV show; and we don't eat meat, so we had not heard of his cookbook. We put our differences in diet aside, and he came over to Art's studio to hang out with us after his gig. We had a great time getting to know such a fun and likeable guy!

This is 'Walnut Basil Pesto' from Vive le Vegan! pg. 111, and it's served over quinoa pasta shells, with a sprig of fresh basil. The circle of walnuts represents 1 day's harvest from our walnut trees. I've also made 'Classic Pesto' from Vegan with a Vengeance pg. 132, which similarly features walnuts & basil, but the results are totally different. Vive's pesto is more creamy & perfect for tossing with pasta. VwaV's is more traditional and green, which I think is delicious with pasta as well as spread over a cracker as an appetizer.

PS: Tomorrow is Bananas Gorilla's Birthday!!!!

Shake & Make Soy Ice Cream

2006-09-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

What You Will Need:
2 tbsp. Sugar
1/2 tbsp. Vanilla
1 pint-sized plastic zip bag
1 cup Vanilla Silk (my modification)
6 tbsp. Rock Salt
1 gallon-sized plastic zip bag
mulit-colored Sprinkles

How To Concoct It:
1. Fill the gallon-sized plastic bag half full with ice. Add rock salt and seal.
2. Pour sugar, soy milk, and vanilla into the pint-sized zip bag and seal.
3. Place the pint-sized zip bag into the gallon-sized zip bag and seal.
4. Shake the bag for 5-7 minutes. (Cuidado: Use hot mits, cuz your hands will get cold!)
5. Use scissors to snip a corner from the ice cream bag to squeeze onto the cone -- soft serve style.

Concoction Tips & Ideas:
* Make peppermint ice cream by adding 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract or 3 tbsp. of crushed peppermint stick.
* Try topping your ice cream with sprinkles like we did. Or go for nuts or fresh fruit.

For Olivia, this was the best kid treat we've made -- it even topped Magic Monkey Bananas! You can see that she's at the end of her cone here, and she wanted more.

I've made the shake & make ice cream before with my classrooms, and it's a great edible science experiment kids love. But this is the first time I've attempted it with soy milk, and I think it was better because of the vanilla flavoring in the Silk.

I included this photo because I thought you might like to see how this "tale" ends....

Breakfast Ice Cream

2006-09-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes food is so delicious that you need two spoons to keep a steady rotation of intake. For Abi, this was one of those times.

GAIA'S BREAKFAST ICE CREAM

1 Banana
1 C. Frozen Blueberries
1 C. Frozen Strawberries
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Olivia cracks me up! After the first lick, she says, "Mommy is that cold?" and I say, "Yes, it's breakfast ice cream." Replys with, "I'll need the sunglasses."

I agree with Liv --- this is the cold, creamy, fruity taste that we enjoy in ice cream on a sunglasses wearing sunny day -- except this is waay better than real ice-cream because:

1. it's freshly made each serving
2. it's healthy: packed with antioxidents, vitamins & minerals
3. it's cruelty-free because it's vegan
4. there are only four ingredients: and, you know where they came from

Plus, with this ice cream, it's so delicious that you kinda feel like you're getting away with something, especially eating it for breakfast. My reluctant fruit eater really digs into this entirely fruit dish!! It's simply brilliant!

Thank you to Gaia of Live It Up Vegan! for this recipe and the inspiration to make it.

Kale is the "new" lettuce

2006-09-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

I don't "hate" sandwiches. I like them well enough, and trust me, I've eaten my fair share of them -- usually as a last resort, mind you, like after crossing a desert. Which is literally true, because when we drive to CA, we try really hard to make Bishop before Erick Schat's closes because they make an amazing Veggie Sandwich. (it's hard to get fresh veggie food on the road!) But this is my sandwich story -- and this is my new high-water mark as far as sandwiches are concerned.

VwaV 'Tempeh Bacon' pg. 23 (cooked yesterday, cold from the fridge)
Tomato (organic, thin slices)
Kale (raw, hand-tear pieces from the spine)
Dijon Mustard (Woodstock Farms Organic)
Idaho Harvest Organic Golden Flax & Whole Grains Bread (Fresh & Local!)
Half of a California Avocado

I think kale is way better than lettuce in sandwiches. It has great flavor and really stands up to the sandwich squeezing & is prettier.

These are 'Lindsey's Peanut Butter Cupcakes' from La Dolce Vegan! pg. 239. They were delicious, we'll make them again & again.

This morning, I made Breakfast Ice Cream -- inspired by Gaia's post. Can't wait to share the photos with you -- it was a big hit! Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Spuds, Soup, & Sauces

2006-09-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here's some of our famous Idaho Potatoes mashed with Earth Balance, Vanilla Silk, and Sea Salt. Served with 'Mi-So Good Gravy!' from The Everyday Vegan -- I omitted the ginger for personal preference. The gravy was tangy good and made friends with everybody on the plate. Also on the plate is 'Tempeh Bacon' from Vegan with a Vengeance.

Quick, Punk Heads! What's wrong with the ingredient line-up for the 'Tempeh Bacon'? What shouldn't be there? The vinegar. I figured it out in time that I needed apple cider -- we had some apple juice that worked fine. The tempeh is Turtle Island Five Grain, Jess says it's her favorite. I didn't have the recommended peanut oil, so I used sesame oil instead -- and I don't have liquid smoke, so I subbed agave nectar. This marinade is perfect, but next time I'll double the recipe because my 16 strips weren't all submerged. They marinated overnight with several careful flippings.

It rained the other day, so I made some soup. It was delicious, and I froze the left-overs.

BARLEY VEGETABLE SOUP
2 C. uncooked Barley (cook b/f adding)
2 Cloves Garlic
1 White med. Onion
Olive Oil (saute garlic & onion b/f liquid)
1 Carton Imagine Organic Vegetable Broth
2 C. Water
1 Stalk Celery
2 C. Carrots
1 Red Bell Pepper
3 Leaves Kale
1/4 C. Tamari
16 oz. Tomato Paste
1 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
1 Tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 Tsp. Cumin

These are 'Carrot-Raisin Muffins' from Vegan with a Vengeance. I really like these muffins and even ate several the next day. Too bad the girls didn't care for them -- I'm not surprised with Liv, but Abi usually likes everything. Oh well, can't win them all, and we'll try another kind next time.

It was dinner for just myself, and this is what I chose. A cup of guacamole (avocado, tomato, garlic, lime, cilantro, cayenne pepper, sea salt) and a cup of black-eyed pea chipotle dip (blk eyed peas, tomato paste, onion, chipotle pepper, cilantro, garlic, lemon, cumin) from the Sept. 18 issue of Meatout Mondays. For dipping, I have fresh celery and homemade pita chips (WW pita bread cut into wedges, brush on olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake @ 350* for 10 minutes)

Polka Dot Rice & Pregnant

2006-09-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

We got home yesterday from our 40 Watt Hype groupie tour - one day later than our plan. (I saw 3, & Art saw 4 performances) Our car broke down outside Sacramento. It wouldn't start after a meal break, so we called AAA, and we all rode on a big, yellow tow truck to the car doctor, loosing about 5 hours. After that, we couldn't make it home, so we spent the night in "beautiful" downtown Winnemucca, Nevada. We kept clicking our ruby red shoes, "There's no place like home, There's no place..." Thinking of "The Wizard of Oz" -- have you ever watched it with the TV volume off and listening to Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon?"

In the above photo, you see red bell peppers, carrots, peas, corn, and scallions all prepped and ready for the kids to make 'Polka Dot Rice' from "Salad People" by Mollie Katzen. It was mixed with jasmine rice, and served with broccoli, strawberry, and a Morningstar Chik'n Nugget. Olivia loved deciding what to mix in with her rice -- another success from this charming cookbook. I can't wait for "Pretend Soup" to arrive in the mail...

Abigail is proud of her skill sets with a spoon and fork --- but, let's face it, some things are most efficiently obtained by grabbing with your hand. Polka dot rice falls in that category.

My friend, Lora, who we threw the baby shower for came by for a visit recently. In this photo, she is at 39 weeks -- today, she is overdue by 2 days. I can't wait to meet Marcus! For another lovely belly-shot, visit Melody.

What do you do when this shows up at your door?

Make cookies, of course. This is what remained of Dreena's 'Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies' after the pregnant lady left! From Vive le Vegan! pg. 131 --- as if you didn't know already! :o)

Crafty Photos

2006-09-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

Where Have I Been?

2006-09-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

On the road...

40 Watt Hype released their album 'Strong Feet on the Concrete' and during the record release tour, played at BSU -- full-circle -- right in the city where the album was produced. We arrived at the campus via bicycles & trailer to see the band rockin' the students. After that show, they were headed back to California for shows in Venice, San Diego, & Fresno. We decided to become groupies and follow along -- they put on an amazing show.

Here's the Vegetarian Family's 'Strong Feet on the Concrete.' We're all sandy right after enjoying the ocean at 19th street Newport Beach. It's right by the pier and there are always sand dollars poking through the sand if you look carefully.

We also visited 'Centennial Farm' at the Orange County Fairgrounds. This is a must stop for kids in Costa Mesa. It has all kinds of farm animals that appear healthy and happy - like these 2 day old piglets.

It also has a well kept garden area, and you can buy their fresh veggies for a donation. This is a photo from the herb section - the stevia plant in the lower, left of the photo caught my eye because of it's popularity with several bloggers. There are rows and rows of all kinds of vegetables each with a marker featuring information and nutrition facts of each plant. It is a picture perfect farm complete with a red barn and windmill -- worth a visit if you're in the area.

Art in the Park & Prickly Pear Cactus lemonade

2006-09-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

It was the 50th Anniversary for Art in the Park. It's a super popular event in town, featuring 265+ booths with beautiful arts and crafts, children's art and activities, food, drink, and entertainment all in a beautiful park setting. Each year, I look forward to this event....

The girls and I traveled in style. We sported the bicycle and trailer to enjoy the morning and avoid parking & congestion hassles. It was awesome breezing by parked cars idling for parking spaces. We were among the first ones on the scene and so I was able to ride around the vendor's booths to get the lay of the land for about 20 minutes before the foot traffic got too thick -- then I walked the bicycle. Abi was able to stay awake & enjoy even though it was her nap time.

This painting is the only thing I really wanted -- and it probably cost more than everything else at the festival combined -- Muy expensivo, pero muy bonita! Anybody recognize the location of this painting?

The Menu Says:
"That's right! Cactus syrup and our Original lemonade! It's sweet and all natural! The prickly Pear syrup is imported from Arizona. (No artificial color added) The Kids love it!"
I ordered a large - thinking of our AZ bloggers - and was instantly struck by the bright pink color. "No artificial color?" I asked. And as proof she proudly held up a big glass dispenser revealing the deepest pink color I've seen. "Wow, can I take a photo of you with that?" I say. "Give me your camera." she says reaching for it to take mine instead...

She sang the praises of the prickly pear cactus, saying that it is naturally sweet and high in anti-oxidants. It is such a strong & vibrant color, like that of a pomegranate or cranberry - and it tasted very sweet and flavorful.

We continued on -- munching on popcorn, drinking lemonade and taking in all the original art.

I couldn't resist getting the girls aprons from one of the vendors. Liv choose the yellow one with the cat and the fiddle for herself, and the red with the cow jumping over the moon for Abi. They both love wearing them.

La Bicyclette & Les Legumes Vert

2006-09-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is how we spent the morning -- on bikes with the cool-cloudy breeze all around, rushing river beside us, and the green tree canopy overhead. It was lovely. We packed a picnic of water and pb&j sandwiches and apples.

Smoothies are the best after some exercise. In the glass is a great blend of:

Fresh --- pineapple, peach, mango, banana, OJ
Frozen --- strawberries, water (ice!)

I also made 'Peanut Butter Cupcakes' from La Dolce Vegan! pg. 239 - We were pretty hungry, and they disappeared quickly sans photo. I'm still confused about the differences between muffins and cupcakes. What are the rules?

It was a bicyclin' kind of day, so we popped this inexpensive bottle of French red. It went perfectly with...

a green salad! This bowl consisted of:

Butter Lettuce
Red Butter Lettuce
Red Bell Pepper
Green Onion
Tomatoes (from the garden!)

Kale might be our favorite vegetable (we prefer VwaV 'Garlicky Kale' pg. 120) and I still had some Asian Tempest garlic around. You also see steamed asparagus & red bell pepper, which was added to the veats bites when they were finished cooking. There's also collard greens, which we think turns out best in the rice cooker with a little water and earth balance & sea salt -- that's it! Art cooked the Veats Bites with a small amout of basic bbq sauce. This is our favorite kind of meal --- Green!

Crunchy Fruity Granola

2006-09-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is a new cookbook of ours by Mollie Katzen. The inside is just as delightful as the cover. It's written with Katzen's creative style featuring cute illustrations, charming kid quotes, special kid recipes with instructional sketches, and insightful tips for adults on how to enjoy cooking with preschoolers. It's awesome.

Each recipe has two sets of instructions - one for the adult and another for the preschooler. Here you see the preschooler's recipe for 'Crunchy Fruity Granola' featuring numbered box steps, each with a basic picture and a few key words or numbers. Perfect for a preschooler to read and even lead the way.

Mollie says, "Take the stress out of measuring liquids by placing the measuring cup in a pie pan. Let your child pour or spoon the oil into the measuring cup. The pie pan will catch the spills." Isn't that a terrific tip? We also used the pie pan for the dry ingredients. Liv really enjoyed the freedom of not having me helping her be careful.

She stirred the dry ingredients in the biggest bowl we have.

Our granola had: almond slices, chopped cashews, raisins, and dried cranberries + blueberries. We followed the recipe exactly, except I used agave nectar instead of honey.

How many of you stir the dry ingredients WHILE you stir the wet?!

I used parchment paper instead of nonstick spray, and it worked fine. Not using honey, I anticipated that the granola wouldn't clump together, and it didn't. What chunks there are, fall apart quickly. Other than missing the convenience of popping nuggets in your mouth, it didn't matter. It tasted great, and the girls Loved it. I was super surprised that Liv actually went bonkers over it. She rarely goes bonkers over food. So, I 'd put it in a cup for her and she'd eat it that way -- on the go.

This is what happens if you forget to bring the cup back inside.

TAH DAH! Our Crunchy Fruity Granola.

Lentil & Carrot Soup with Seitan

2006-09-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

Fall was in the air a couple days ago, and so soup was in order. The plan was set when I saw a 3-pack of cannonballs at the store - I thought of Leslie's bread bowls and wanted to try. It was fun making up this recipe, and it was so delicious that it's worth noting -- goes like this:

LENTIL & CARROT SOUP:
2 C. Red Lentils
6 C. Water
8 Carrots, cut in circles
1 Yellow Onion, super-finely chopped
1/2 Garlic, finely chopped (Asian Tempest)
1 Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
2 Tsp. Blackstrap Molasses
2 Tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 Tsp. Cumin
1/4 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Bring it all to a boil on med/high. Cover & reduce the heat to low. I let the soup simmer on the stove most of the day, making the house smell so good!

I carved out the cannonballs, saving the bread for dipping. Then, I topped it off with some seitan I had in the freezer -- the soy vay marinated, which we prefer.

And look, I "discovered" a new variety of garlic! This is Asian Tempest. The skin is more redish, and the cloves are BIG - one half of the entire garlic is only 3 cloves. The best part is that the skins come off effortlessly. It has a wonderfully strong flavor. I prefer this over the "regular" garlic, and the farmer's market vendor sold it for $1 per/globe. There were other kinds of garlic that I'll be checking into next Saturday.

Anybody else rock the Asian Tempest Garlic?

Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup & Sweet Potato Fries with Mango Sauce

2006-09-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

Perk up your pancakes with 'Blueberry Maple Syrup' next time the griddle is hot -- the recipe's in Vive le Vegan, pg. 2o. This is the beginning of a simple recipe that'll make your pancakes and tummy happy. I love the color of blueberries....almost as much as the flavor.

The syrup topped 'Pancakes' from VwaV, page. 31. I omitted the optional cinnamon, and used vanilla soy milk instead of plain. I didn't do either of the 2 variations to this recipe, and kept it simple for the girls. Isa says, "Straight up pancakes, just like at the diner at 2.00 AM." The left-over cakes keep well in the fridge & are ideal for snacking through-out the day. Spread some peanutbutter on one, add a slice of banana and you have a little sandwich my kids love.

Though, Liv prefers hers plain --- AND, so does Jolie! If I had taken this photo a half second later, there'd only be one pancake. Luckily, there were more cakes to go around. She's such a good dog, and by all rights, that one was hers -- just look how close the pancake is to Jolie's nose.

These are 'Sweet Potato Fries' also from VwaV, page 114. In the bowl is my pretty successful attempt at duplicating a most fantastic dipping sauce served at a restaurant in town, PAIR, with their yam fries. We go there frequently on Saturday nights, and usually order the yam fries with THE mango sauce. I've asked a couple times if they'd part with the recipe -- each time, "No," accompanied with an are you kidding? look. This weekend, one of the servers gave it up! and so easily. I'd almost given up asking, but she was a new face, so I gave it a whirl. She shamelessly rattled off the recipe for me. Such a doll, and smart -- she knows how to work the tips! Below is my homemade, veganized version:

MANGO DIPPING SAUCE

1 Mango, finely chopped
1/4 C. Nayonaise
1 Tbsp. Sriracha Sauce

Combine it all and Chill. Call it your new fry sauce.

Does anybody else cook with Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce?

Magic Monkey Bananas

2006-09-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is the closest thing I've found to a cookie cure. Come on, you know what I'm talking about.... Many bloggers have gone cookie crazy! Myself included, which I mostly blame on Vive le Vegan! Coconut-Lime Cookies, Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies, Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut 'Better' Cookies --- need I go on? I've heard reports of cookies not making it to lunchboxes because they were all eaten up! And I've even seen a blogger beg if there was some kind of cookie intervention group because her entire family might have a serious cookie addiction! People stack their cookies, others mail them to fellow bloggers.

Help is on the way, people. We found this adorable book at the library, which we've been enjoying during bed-time stories. "No More Cookies!" by Paeony Lewis & illustrated by Brita Granstrom. This book is a delicious and lighthearted treat for little cookie-lovers everywhere! And, it has a cute recipe at the end of the book....

MAGIC MONKEY BANANAS
Ingredients For Four:
2 bananas
4 ounces of chocolate (Carob chips work great)
2 tablespoons of multicolored sprinkles
4 popsicle sticks
1 sheet of wax paper (Parchment is perfect)

Melt the carob in a bowl over boiling water. Peel 2 bananas, cut in half, push popsicles sticks in cut end. Dip the bananas in melted chocolate and shake sprinkles on them. Place on paper and put in the freezer at least 1 hour. Clean-up, lick the bowl, and wait.

Then, eat your Magic Monkey Banana! YUM! These are great for sharing with your favorite people. For the most chocolate, just lick in a circle! Oh, and don't forget a hat -- it helps keep fly away hairs out of the way of your mouth!
Mom says, "We don't have to give up cookies in order to have magic monkey bananas." What a relief! :o)

Tagged & Broken

2006-08-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Isil @ Veggie Way to offer up my 5 favorite foods for a project started by Melissa @ The Traveler's Lunchbox.
Here are 5 Foods to live for -- it was really tough deciding, and I can't believe cherries and corn didn't make the list...

1. Potatoes -- baked, twice-baked, boiled, fried, mashed, scalloped (I sound like the Forest Gump shrimp dude!) No matter how you slice it, they are such a basic and delicious food, which feeds the masses. And, as you know I'm from Idaho so I'm partial!

2. Tomatoes -- another versatile food - plain with sea salt, pasta sauce, sandwiches, salads, brushetta - it's all so flavorful and good for you too (considered a "wonder food"). Remember, never refrigerate a tomato!

3. Nuts -- Doesn't matter what kind -- almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, Macadamia nuts, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, walnuts -- another "wonder food" that boosts the immune system, lowers cholesterol levels, prevents osteoporosis, and has protein. They go with anything, or on their own.

4. Citrus -- Oranges, Lemons, or Limes -- I can't decide. I've recently discovered the deliciousness of zest! And, don't forget to drink the juice for the Vitamin C.

5. Pizza -- Who doesn't like pizza? And looking out at your blogs, I see that there are as many varieties of pizza as there are people.

A little update on my pretty bowl that everybody seemed to like from the baby shower. It broke. Dad gum it! I splurged several years ago and bought this for my birthday -- and had NEVER used it until the other day. I was saving it for something special, which the shower certainly was.... But I should have been enjoying it all along. I re-learned a lesson. "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today" "No time like the present" and my father-in-law's favorite "This is not a dress rehearsal" I'm going to try, but I don't think I can fix it.

We are all a little bummed....

The Fair

2006-08-31T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Fair! Come along....

Liv did this one twice -- with dad and with mom. I couldn't help but audibly catch my breath at the top -- each time loosing my stomach. "Mommy yawned" is how Liv described it. My invincible Mommy legend lives on -- she was thinking that I was about to fall asleep! :o) "Yes, darling, mommy is just bored looking down on all the little people inside this rickety ol' rust bucket!"

Abi got in on the Merry-Go-Round and LOVED it. She waved to Art like a parade queen each time around. I'm the dizzy one in the middle.

Abi and I took a photo of them from our elephant. More of the around & around and up & down.

What? You're kidding, I didn't I tell you that I had a twin? Here she is on the Urban Cowboy bull. She said that this is something she's always wanted to do for some unexplainable reason, and just wanted to check it off the list since there was nobody around to laugh. The shadow of a man handed me...err, uh, handed my sister a glove and said, "A beginner, OK then, I'll just operate her at a 9 instead of a 10." Comforting, sir.

I'm not an exhibitionist, but I am the spontaneous type. Example: Once, long ago, I was out on a double date and we were around a pool -- we all got to talking about how much fun it'd be to just jump in the pool and swim. We all counted to three, and the only one who got wet was me -- hair and all. It was sorta like that with the bull (only I was sober). I'm not sorry I did it, because it was a fun challenge. But, I don't like real rodeos -- at all. And I didn't notice then, but look at the nasty leather on the cow. Ick, Nasty, Horrible. So yeah, for some odd reason I wanted to try, even though I am against all that it stands for. Doesn't make sense, and I figure this'll probably offend somebody...somewhere. I don't mean to - it's just the way the day unfolded.

Guess what she won for picking a duck out of the pond? A DUCK of course.

Aren't these guys adorable? It tickles when they lick the grain from your hand. They look so happy and clean -- just how I want my young girls to think it oughta be. Where do the goats and all the other animals go after the fair?

This whipper-snapper tried to eat Abi's hat. Think I'm kidding? Just look at that goat expression.

We saw, and interacted with lots of wonderful animals -- cows, horses, chickens, sheep, pigs, roosters -- but I only have photos of the goats. We especially enjoyed them.

Baby Shower

2006-08-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend that I've known since 4th grade. We went to elementary, jr. & high school together, and she's the one who introduced me to Art back in 1990 when they were in law school. And now, she's a first time mom at 40. It was myself and 4 other long-time friends who planned and threw the shower for Lora.
Deanna made this tea. It was so refreshing and perfect. It had fresh peaches, mint, tea ice-cubes, and was sweetened with stevia. She is an amazing cook and her tea was a big hit.

I made Dreena's 'Quinoa Spring Salad' from Vive le Vegan! I had all the ingredients chopped and measured in the fridge ready to toss together that morning - the pine nuts were in the fridge ready to be toasted. I tossed the salad, and forgot the pine nuts. Nuts! I was bummed that I forgot, nobody knew except me, and the salad was a big hit. Lots of questions from first time quinoa eaters, etc. Isa says to never apologize for your food, and I didn't.

Deanna also made this beautiful pasta salad. She had cork screw pasta tossed with olives, sugar snap peas, artichokes, tomato, cauliflower, broccoli, red bell pepper, dressing, and I think feta cheese. She may have had even more veggies than that -- I remember thinking there is every veggie known to man in this salad. Delish.

Tammy made the watermelon fruit bowl. It's hard to see in this photo, but there is all kinds of fresh fruit -- watermelon, pineapple, apples, oranges, cantaloupe, etc.

You also see my finger sandwiches with black bread, cream cheese, baby archly, & cucumber.

And Ann's colorful, fresh veggie basket.

After everybody left (about 25), we took some more photos of just us. We had to rub the Buddha belly for good luck...and also to document the magnitude of her otherwise washboard stomach. :o)

We all wanted good luck, so we stuffed ourselves with balloons for the group pregnancy photo. My shirt was long and stretchy, so I look just as pregnant as Lora.

She received a bunch of terrific gifts -- many along the Winnie-The-Pooh theme, and is expecting a boy mid-September.

August 22, 2006 --- that makes 14

2006-08-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, most of you already know that we recently celebrated our anniversary. Here's a photo just before going out to dinner at Richard's. We hadn't been there before, and were pleasantly surprised that they had a special vegetarian menu. I had: Carrot Ginger Soup, and Spinach & Artichoke Raviolis (hand made pasta with a tomato vodka cream sauce, and the day's fresh vegetable -- which was asparagus. Art had: Salad, and Avocado Risotto Cake (avocado risotto cake & fried tofu wasabi & lemon aiolis, & again the asparagus) We shared a bottle of red and enjoyed the evening on the patio.

Heart Tart for Art

2006-08-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
2 Fuji Apples - peeled, cored, cut into 1/8 inch thick slices (squeeze lemon juice over exposed apples to prevent browning)
2 Tbsp. Sugar
Agave Nectar
1 Lemon - finely grated zest & juice
4 Tbsp. Apricot Preserves
1 Tsp. Vanilla Soy Milk
Vegan Puff Pastry Squares

Method:
Preheat oven to 450*. Press puff pastry into individual containers. Combine apple slices, 1 Tbsp. sugar, zest from lemon, and several squeezes of agave nectar. Spread preserves over the crust (I used Organic Apricot Lavender Leaf preserves). Arrange apple slices in concentric circles atop preserves, overlapping. Try to build up a pretty edge for the crust, brush it with soy milk, & sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350*, cover crust with tinfoil and cook for 15 more minutes. Reduce heat again to 325*, cover entirely with tinfoil and cook 15 more minutes. Let cool.

Art & I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary this week, so I made 2 individual sized Heart Tarts. If you plan to use a regular tart pan, double the recipe.

This is for Urban Vegan's clever tART contest.

McHummer of a bad idea

2006-08-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

I saw this over at Vegan Cyclist, who in turn got the idea at Veggie Geek.

You can make your own sign and voice your opinion here.

Cookies & Celebrations

2006-08-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

The stage was set......

'Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies' and 'Peanut "Better" Cookies. We were receiving a house-guest, and nothing says, "Welcome" like homemade cookies -- don't ya think? I used spelt flour for both batches because I think it tastes better. I really like that Dreena gives that option. My first experience with parchment paper was just this year, so I don't know "the rules", but I used the same sheet 3 times (toasting the almonds + 2 batches) and it was no problem. Does everybody do that?

I emptied the maple syrup container on the right during this cooking session, and on the left is the replacement. ($20.00 per 64 fl. oz.) I have never gone through so much maple syrup in my life! An itty-bitty bottle used to last us years -- it'd move with us. Even "no big deal" hubby raised an eyebrow when I noticed we were out of syrup and the pancakes were steaming. We don't want to get caught like that again, so we're buying it in bulk. You Canadians really like your syrup, don't you?! Obviously, we do too -- thanks for giving us a reason to enjoy it other than pancakes. :o)

I know, you've seen these cookies before -- this is a different photo....really. And there's a not so subtle message in that -- if you haven't made them, you should treat yourself & others.

Had to include a photo of my current favorite cookie. This time I had the almond slivers and it makes such a difference on the appearance, and I like the way a sliver crunches better than whole ones ground.

The next week or so is going to be busy and exciting for me. As you know, we have someone staying with us a couple nights, so we'll be showing him around town. The 22nd is our 14th wedding anniversary! Of course, we have a sitter. :o) The next night, Art will be spinning records at a cool restaurant/bar in town and three of my best buds will join me for drinks & food. The following Sunday, I'll be hosting a baby shower for one of those friends. I'm making some tea sandwiches -- you know, the fancy kind. Please, any cool ideas in the finger sandwich department?

I caught one of those moments on camera today. Abi was playing in their cubbard and for the first time, I saw her stacking the sippy cups. I was impressed and told her so, when Liv went over and they began working together. Stacking the cups together -- it was beautiful. Kinda makes up for the spilled smoothie today --- red, gooey, sweet, seedy, splattered all over the white cabinets.

Untitled

2006-08-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

I'm rockin' an "old" photo of Kleo and I because she rocked my world today. Here's the text message she sent:

"hi Art n Vicki! On 3rd day of vaca in NoCal and Peter n i just got out of local screening of An I. Truth. Amazing. Hope U are healthy n happy..."

I'm speechless at how much this means to me -- even though she's the kind of person who would have seen the movie anyway -- she knows how much it means to me. There's nothing like blogging friends. A group of like-minded people pulled together across space and time because of same passions. I love ya, KleoPatra -- and the rest of you!

Appropriately, this is the BIZARRO cartoon today. Appropriate because Kleo is a HUGE fan of Dan Piraro, and also because it sheds light on the Inconvenient Truth. I'm not as good at posting cartoons as Kleo -- here's what it says:

Daddy Polar Bear: "Someday, Son, this will all be yours." (next bubble) "Of course, it will all be liquid and you'll be in a zoo somewhere, but still."

Enjoy your vacation, Kleo....& hurry back to blogland.

I'm throwing this photo in for Susana over at Mama's Village because she loves seeing beautiful art. This is a statue of Anne Frank at our Human Rights Memorial. In Anne's words:

"How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world!"

Anne M. Frank
March 26, 1944

Food & Find

2006-08-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Liv is my #1 helper when it comes to cooking, and her favorite thing to cook is muffins. Here she is stirring the dry ingredients for 'Wolffie's Banana Blueberry Muffins' from La Dolce Vegan! (p. 274) I like the hint of molasses, but perhaps the flavor is too strong for the girls?

I thought they were great -- warm from the oven with a bit of Earth Balance... But the girls didn't like them -- even though there were big, plump blueberries inside....

Can't win them all -- and the best compliment is from a critic!

They loved this! These smoothies had:

Fresh Banana & cantaloupe
Frozen Strawberries & Mangos
Carrot/Orange juice & Ice

They were as thick as they look.

It was a solo dinner for me and this is what I chose, 'Pureed Chickpea Pasta Sauce with Fresh Herbs' from Vive le Vegan! (p. 99) over Soba noodles. This recipe has 17 ingredients, excluding the pasta, and I had them all! Right down to the fresh oregano from our garden - I had to use a flashlight to pick it last night. This was really yummy and if you're a garbanzo fan, you gotta try it.

And now, for the "find" part of this post...

Look what we found at Costco -- A 12 pack of Amy's burgers! At .80 cents a patty, I think this is a great deal. I'm so pleased to see vegan, organic, delicious food available in bulk! One more testament that the Veg Lifestyle is becoming more mainstream. Can you believe this is the first time I've tried Amy's? Hands down, this is the best veggie burger I've had. Period. The only down-side is that we have to gack down the "other" brand burgers in the freezer.

Party Planning & on the side

2006-08-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last night, all 5 party planners were here to talk details of Lora's baby shower. Teri made two batches of the punch for us to preview & sample (champagne, club soda, blackberry brandy, bitters & an lemon-ice ring) We liked it! I made 2 appetizers for snacking. Dreena's 'Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus' -- but I messed around with the recipe too much. The only white beans I had were Great Northern, and I used chipotle hot sauce (what the recipe calls for) instead of dry chipotle spice, which I prefer. I didn't have pinenuts or cilantro and so sprinkled almond slices on top with garden fresh tomatoes. Not the usual "WoW" of the dip.

Another repeat recipe was 'Classic Pesto' from VwaV, featuring tomatoes from the garden and walnuts from our trees. I did too much tinkering with this dish also. I decided that I wanted to double it, which is easy enough except I didn't have enough basil. Forging ahead, I added the optional nutritional yeast. The plate was empty at the end of the evening, but I knew it could have been tastier. A friend (omni) borrowed my VwaV & noticed the look of hesitation on my face upon handing it over - No..really, I'll be OK without it for a week. :o)

We've been enjoying the bicycle trailer my neighbor loaned us. A nice man took our photo at the park, and now I know why I don't turn my camera that way. We're going to take it out for a spin again today -- my plan is to map out a bicycle route for a house guest who'll be with us this weekend. He used to work at Mother's Market in Irvine, so I want to pick his brain and see if I can squeeze a recipe out of him. I also hope to cook something special, but I don't know what!

Vive le Cookie!

2006-08-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

But, first an update on the previous post: The VwaV Seitan recipe makes quite a bit, so as you see, we have the beginning of three more meals in the freezer ready to go.

Liv was happy to help wash the Yukon Gold potatoes for....

'Miso-Curry Roasted Potatoes' from Vive le Vegan! pg. 68. These are so delicious, and the miso paste adds such a nice brown crispness to the spuds.

After seeing these cookies on nearly everyone's blogs and reading the rave reviews, I had to make them myself. 'Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies' from Vive are amazing & if you haven't made them yet, what are you waiting for?

'Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies' from Vive are also delicious! I didn't have almond slivers, so I used whole almonds chopped up. Equally delectable are the Peanut "Better" Cookies from the same cookbook - Dreena really has a way with cookie recipes!

This weekend, we bought a new kitchen gadget, a blender. Enter....The SMOOTHIE! This is one of Art's just before hitting the motor, he likes his with yogurt, fruit, & some protein powder. The girls and I like ours with ice, fruit, & juice. Last night, I "Oooohed & Ahhhhed" over one with:
fresh pineapple
fresh banana
fresh plum
fresh cantaloupe
frozen strawberries
ice & OJ

Soul Seitan

2006-08-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

Those of you who check in from time to time know that we love soul food. Here's our latest helping: Blackeyed Peas, Greens, & Seitan.

This time, Art cooked the greens. They were extra good because the full flavor emerged & wasn't covered up. This is how he prepared it:

1 bunch each: Collard Greens, Purple Kale, Green Kale
1/4 Onion, finely chopped
2 small cloves Garlic
2 tbs. Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Boil Greens in 4 quarts Water. Add Salt after simmering 1 hour. Drain, add 2 cups fresh Water & reboil to steam. Serve with Earth Balance & Sea Salt.

I've been wanting to make this jerk, Seitan, for a while now & was inspired even more by Matt over @ the BakeHouse. Experimenting is fun, so I marinated the seitan (VwaV p. 157) four different ways:
1. BBQ Sauce
2. Sweet & Sour Sauce
3. Soy Vay Teriyaki
4. Jerk Mainade (VwaV p. 159)
We think the seitan tastes best when cut into thin strips and fried.

The seitan took several hours to prepare -- mostly with tasks that don't require a lot of attention like simmering & marinating. So it was a good day to get things done around the house......

Like organizing the tupperware drawer.

Good idea, Abi! :o)

The next day, I whipped up these drop biscuits from The Vegan Family Cookbook. While the biscuits were baking, I cooked some of the bbq seitan. Put them together, & you have a little sandwich. They were so good & cute. They disappeared too quickly for a photo.

We make a lot of muffins around here, but this is my first time making Dreena's 'As-You-Like Muffins' from TEV. I used half whole wheat pasty flour & half unbleached all-purpose. This is a basic muffin recipe, and she offers many variations to make them as you like. This time, I liked mine with dried blueberries & cherries. They were delicious warm with Earth Balance and had a sweet hint of applesauce.

Pesto, Pancakes, Pineapple, & Peanut Butter

2006-08-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Look under "P" in Webster's and you'll find it all. This is 'Classic Pesto' from VwaV, pg. 132. This recipe had two strikes against it before I began: 1. Art isn't a huge pesto fan. 2. I don't like walnuts. I made it anyway. We had an abundance of the ingredients and I wanted something different for the soba noodles. The pesto was a big hit & rated super delicious. I skipped the nutritional yeast, but plan to add it next time.

The basil and tomatoes for the pesto dish came from our organic garden! Look how grown in it is compared to when we first planted it. It is such a joy to cook what you grow.

And, the walnuts for the pesto came from our walnut tree! Here you see Jolie really making the squirrels work to get the walnuts. The squirrels rule the tree-top & down below the walnut shells are furiously flying. We have walnut trees sprouting up all over the yard from them forgetting their stash. Even after the squirrels and crows have had their fill of walnuts, we still have a bunch left over.

Because I don't care for the taste of walnuts, I usually end up doing something silly them. We had a dinner party and guests each received walnut-mouse wine charms. Art's is blue & mine is brown, and everybody else took their unique colored mice home with them.
When Liv's birthday party theme was "ducks", I made walnut-duck party favors. People's names were written in sharpie on the back. Or, I'll just glitter pen people's names on walnuts as a place marker. But now, I look at the walnuts & I visualize P*E*S*T*O!

These are 'Banana Bliss Pancakes' from Vive le Vegan! pg. 19. I followed the recipe exactly and we just put a little Earth Balance on top. They are quite satisfying and next time I'll plan ahead and make the blueberry maple syrup on the next page for some added sweetness.

Last night, I made 'Pineapple Lemon Bars' from Vive pg. 135. We were out of lemon, so these are technically 'Pineapple Lime Bars' and there's some coconut in the recipe too. Instead of arrowroot powder, I used corn starch; and I opted for the wheat free version and used spelt flour. We ate them warm from the oven and they were good. This morning, I ate one for breakfast and it was amazing. To us, these are best chilled. This is my kind of breakfast bar.

Back up one page, and you get 'Peanut "Better" Cookies'. Again, I followed the recipe exactly -- utilizing the spelt flour option. I really like the quantity that this recipe yields. 12 cookies - one pan - not too much - just enough. The title fits. These are better peanut butter cookies. And it's a wholesome cookie that I can feel really good about giving the girls, who by the way, LOVED them.

Scones, Nectardew, & Nature

2006-08-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

These are 'Glazed Orange Scones' from VwaV. This was my second time making them. But the first time, I used other citrus and also had fabulous results. Isa says the dough should be clumpy and not sticky. Mine was super-duper sticky both times. I just flour the cutting board really well & it works out fine. I made these again because I'm thinking about making them for a friend's baby shower - but, it's not until the end of the month, and I'm open to other amazing vegan party bread type things. Any ideas?!

Here's another hybrid, it's called a nectarine honeydew, and would have fit right in with my last post about artichoke zucchini. You can check this interesting article about hybrid fruits. I enjoyed this fruit almost as much as a regular nectarine. Whereas, the artichoke zucchini was a little weird -- I missed the ritualistic dipping of the artichoke leaves; and squash texture seemed strange with the artichoke flavor. I do recommend this though, and the window of opportunity is very short, so hurry if your going to try this new fruit.

Look, I caught a bee in our backyard pollinating the old fashioned way.

And, here's a volunteer butterfly bush. I want to transplant it to another spot, but I'm afraid I'll kill it. So it just keeps getting bigger, in the wrong place.

Can you believe a volunteer hydrangea? I absolutely love these flowers. We have another plant that has refused to blossom for past three years. I've tried everything, and still the healthy appearing plant never has flowers. So, I'm thrilled that at a completely different location, this flower pops up!

Liv and I enjoyed observing a preying mantis today. The praying mantis ambushes its prey and captures it with its spiny forelegs. A mantis feeds on all types of insects, including other mantises. The female praying mantis is widely known for her peculiar habit of biting the head off her partner while they are mating. The cannibalistic habits of praying mantises ensure that they remain solitary creatures.

Farmer's Market & Vegan Grub

2006-08-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

Liv and I went to the farmer's market while Abi napped and Art worked with a band in the studio. It was fun with just the two of us, and we wandered over to the artists' area. The market has a wonderful, free art program for kids and this week the 3-5 year olds could choose between ice painting (paint with salt), or clay painting. Liv chose the later, and here you can see a great beginning to her fish composition.

There are several artistic vendors at the market, and my favorite is always the mosaics.

I saw the sign "Zucchini Artichoke" and saw neither zucchini nor artichoke, so I asked about this strange looking veggie. She told me that it cooks like a squash, but tastes just like an artichoke. Say what? Ease of squash...taste of artichoke? Count me in. Here she is showing me how to prepare it: Cut the neck into "carrot stick" pieces, Hollow out the seeds and dice the round part. Steam. We dipped ours in fresh lemon juice and Earth Balance. It really did taste like an artichoke! But it had a squash texture.

The sign reads:

RENT A TREE
We Care For Your Tree &
You Get To Pick
CHERRIES * PEACHES * APPLES
$75.00 - $100.00

Zucchini Artichoke
Baby New Potatoes
Swiss Chard
Kermit Squash
Yellow Squash
Summer Squash
Leek
Kale

No lettuce again. Not because of the deer, but because I wasn't there within the first 1/2 hour!

During the recent heat wave, this soup really hit the spot. All I wanted was food from the fridge, and preferably the freezer. But, even I need to eat more than just ice-cream, popsicles, & fruit from time to time. So, without heating up the kitchen, I enjoyed a healthy, hearty bowl of Earthy Lentil soup from Vive le Vegan! along with some whole wheat toast. The ultimate frozen dinner.

Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus also from Vive le Vegan! sans pinenuts & cillantro. Some pita chips did the dipping:

Pita Bread (whole wheat)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the pita into wedges. Arrange on baking sheets and brush with oil and sprinkle on spices. Bake 5 minutes.

Dinner was centered around a jasmine rice dome topped with pineapple, but the main event was the picked-that-morning, organic kale. On the back side, you see Morningstar Meal Starter sauteed in Soy Vay with pineapple to mellow it out a bit.

Miso Kale:

1 Onion
3 Tbs. Light Olive Oil
3 Tbs. Miso Paste
2 Bunches Kale, rinsed & rinsed, and chopped
3/4 C. Vegetable Broth

In a large pan, saute the onions in oil until tender. Add the kale and broth. Cook until the kale is wilted. Turn down the heat and add the miso being careful not to boil it.

Did you know that Miso consumption is linked with up to 50% reduced risk of breast cancer?

This is our first harvest from the garden. Very exciting that it was edible. Fresh basil and some really good, plump cherry tomatoes.

and some flowers in the backyard.

Mocha Chip Muffins (minus the mocha, add some chocolate)

2006-07-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

I was outnumbered - 2 to 1. It was a simple and persistent request, "Mommy, you want to make some muffins?" "Mommy, I'll make you muffins!" "Mommy wants to cook." "Mommy, will cook it." "Mommy will make muffins...Please." Variations of this phrase were repeated over & over in hopes of breaking the code - to say it in such a way as to spur some action. It was only a matter of seconds before it broke me down, so I preheated the oven and pulled Vegan with a Vengeance off the shelf. In this photo, you can see my pay-off in the chocolate tooth black-out smile.

This one was just along for the ride. She loves all food and would be happy enough to enjoy anything her sister could motivate momma to make. She added to the hype with her yelps and observed big sister to learn some tricks of the trade.

As for me, well, I had a sweet tooth.......

Page 51 has the recipe for 'Mocha Chip Muffins' and I made a couple slight variations, though they probably deserve a different title since there is no mocha. Who has instant coffee in the house? Not me, and I probably drink too much coffee, but not the instant kind. I also used 1 cup Chocolate Silk instead of plain; as well as Zen Soy chocolate pudding instead of plain soy yogurt. Add the above two extra helpings of chocolate to the cocoa powder & chocolate chips the recipe calls for, and you get black-out chocolate teeth! I highly recommend these next time you need chocolate. I look at them and wonder... Why are these muffins and not cupcakes?

Midweek Munchies + Farmer's Market = Good Food

2006-07-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

A Veg*n Meme

What wonderful foods did you bring home from the grocery store?

Midweek Munchies: What Vicki is contributing for the week:

Peaceful Belly is my favorite vendor at our local Farmer's Market.

This is why. Just look at this organic swiss chard, kale, carrots, radishes, & onions! The nice guy appologized that there was no lettuce on the table because some deer raided the garden the night before! Lucky deer.

Here's my Co-op run. (list is below) The Peaceful Belly also sells their produce here. If you're in town, you should definately drop in because they have a great deli, restaurant across the parking lot, health/beauty section, food & wine selection -- plus, it's our one & only hippie store. You'd feel right at home. :o)

I was excited to pick these braggs up while we were in California at Mother's Market.

THE LIST
* = organic

Fridge:
*Vanilla Silk
*Chocolate Silk
Willow Run Soy Margarine
*Earth Balance
*Miso (sweet white)
*Tempeh

Non-Fridge:
Nutritional Yeast
*Muir Glen Ketchup
*Muir Glen Tomato Paste
Nature's Gate 'Herbal Cream de Mint'
*Bragg's Applecider Vinegar
*Bragg's Liquid Aminos
*Imagine Vegetable Broth
*Woodstock Farms Dijon Mustard

Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!

Banana Blueberry Oat Bundles & Cherry-Almond Muffins

2006-07-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

It's been too hot to cook lately. And when it gets this hot, it's hard not to think about the heat, so I ordered Gore's book, and will let you know when it arrives.

In the mean time, we had some overripe bananas, and you know what that means... Vive le Vegan's! 'Banana Oat Bundles'. This time was different though, because I had cardamom and parchment paper on hand, and I added 1/3 C. dried blueberries. Also, the bundles are consistently shaped because of my medium cookie scoop. Yummy, as always! :o)

I was inspired to make these muffins because of this photo at The House of Simon. I had to make a couple modifications based on what was in the kitchen. I used banana soy yogurt instead of vanilla; and I didn't have sliced almonds, so I chopped up whole ones in the food processor. I loved these muffins, but the girls didn't go for it. I'm pretty sure it's because this is the first time they've had nuts on muffins, and it threw them for a loop. Thanks for the inspiration, Carrie!

Magic Loaf, Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy, Quinoa Salad, & Berry Scones

2006-07-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

I did some yoga, I'm not about to start my period, and I'm still not OK. Please, just go see the movie and encourage your friends.

There are many simple things we can do in our everyday life, and this is a nice action item list.

In that spirit, we took a trip to The Berry Ranch. You probably already know that buying locally reduces the amount of energy required to drive your products to your store. When you buy from the farmer, there is less packaging, which could reduce your garbage by about 10%. Save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide and $1,000 per year. An added bonus is when a farm is organic, which is great, because the chemicals used in modern agriculture pollute the water supply, and require energy to produce. Let's promote, support, and celebrate our local farms -- before they sell out.

Here are some of the berries from the farm along with cantaloupe. In the bowl is VwaV 'Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy' and this recipe seals the brilliance of Isa in my mind - it is amazing. The brown lump on the right is my first attempt at The Magical Loaf Studio -- a clever idea by Jennifer @ the Vegan Lunch Box Blog. Be sure to enter your choices at the above link, and press submit to reveal the quantities and instructions (something I failed to do)

I used:

Smart Ground
Hemp Seed Nuts (not on the menu)
Uncooked Quick Oatmeal
Onion
Canned Black Beans with Liquid
Flaxseed Meal
Vegetable Oil
Cumin
Bragg's (not on the menu)

This is just a simple salad I threw together and really enjoyed. In addition to the fresh corn we bought at the Berry Ranch, there is quinoa, tomato, and Tamari Sesame Dressing, on a bed of lettuce with lemon wedges.

These are VwaV Scones, pg. 42. I did Isa's 'Berry Scones' variation using some of our Berry Ranch berries. I baked these to take to a playdate for the girls at a swimming pool, and wanted them to be appealing, so I sprinkled some pink sugar on top (not let's do organic as I'd like it to be, but I'm using up what we have first). All the kids kept calling them cookies - I think because of the sprinkles. Hey, whatever works!

An Inconvenient Truth - Show me your ticket stub

2006-07-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Here's our ticket stubs for "An Inconvenient Truth" -- Have you seen it yet? Please don't wait. Please tell your friends. This is a must see movie for people who wish to live on Earth. If you don't care -- please excuse yourself from the planet now, and give the rest of us a fighting chance. I know, I'm radical.

Is it surprising that switching from the average American diet to a vegetarian one causes a 50% greater cut in climate warming than switching from the average car to a Prius Hybrid. Link I'll blog more soon about the connection between global warming and an animal-based diet.

This is just one surprising way we can help save ourselves. It is clear we all must do more - we all must become proactive. Isn't it encouraging that the hole in the ozone layer a couple of decades ago was repaired. With that type of effort, this trend can be reversed, too. Everyone needs to make a difference. Everyone needs to do more. I've been examining, challenging, and organizing myself to improve, and I'll share more of that later. I'm not an expert, nor am I proud of my entire environmental footprint - but awakening is what we need. Come on, holler back!

This is a good link to learn more facts.

Here is another link that gives 20 things to do.

Kale, Lemon Berry Muffins, & Biscuit Casserole Stew

2006-07-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

Dinner was kale, plain quinoa with Earth Balance, and Blackeyed Peas with a touch of cayenne.

Vicki's Kale Recipe:

1 bunch kale, spine removed chopped in strips
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 c. olive oil, extra virgin
1/2 c. water
1 tbsp. bragg's
sea salt
3/4 tsp. hoisin sauce

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add kale, water, bragg's & sea salt. cover and cook until the kale is wilted and the water is almost gone. when there's still a little water left, add the hoisin sauce and stir together. Serve warm with lemon. Kale is a house favorite!

This is basically 'Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins' from VwaV, except I replaced the poppy seeds with blueberries, and also used raspberry soy yogurt instead of plain. Art said, "These are vegan?! Wow, they are great muffins!" I agree, but next time, I will add more than just 2 lemons worth of zest. I like it zesty!

This is left-over collard greens from another meal. I used a recipe from The Vegan Family Cookbook 'Greens with Onions & Garlic', which didn't impress either of us -- hence, the left-overs....we always finish our greens! So I took the left-overs and chopped them up fine to use for a different recipe from from the same cookbook. See below....

'Biscuit Casserole Stew' from The Vegan Family Cookbook was a huge hit! I didn't have carrots for this dish, so I decided to give the collards a second chance in the stew. I made the stew out of new potatoes, collard greens, split pea soup, vegetable broth, and other good things. Then, before it goes in the oven, you drop 15 uncooked biscuit dough balls on top of the stew. This medium scoop from Pampered Chef made the job easy & fun.

Here it is out of the oven. This was a delicious and satisfying meal - one that will go into the regular rotation.

Goodies Waiting @ Home

2006-07-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

When we got home, I was thrilled that I had a package waiting for me from Leslie of Eat Peace Please. Just look at the beauty of this necklace & bracelet, and they are even prettier in person. Each stone is beautiful, artfully placed, and of the highest quality that can only come from being carefully hand-made. She has lots of gorgeous pieces to choose from, and maybe one would be perfect for you. Dreena also scored a Leslie original, which you can see here. I also got this organic lavender & flax aromatherapy pillow from her, which is divine. I adore it all! Thanks Leslie! :o)

I won this cookbook on ebay, and it was also waiting for me when we returned. I became interested in Nava Atlas from reading the Vegan Lunch Box. Jennifer has an ad for "The Vegetarian Family Cookbook" also by Nava Atlas, and she says that really most recipes are vegan & raves about how awesome they are. After thumbing through the cookbook, I see that this cookbook is essentially vegan also with little or no modification. Anybody have this cookbook? Summer soup titles include: 'Cream of Green Pea & Cucumber Soup' & 'Zesty Green Gazpacho'. She even has an "Accompaniments" chapter with all sorts of delectable bread recipes. Can't wait to dig in.

Restaurant Review: Sipz & meeting KleoPatra

2006-07-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

I was more excited than ever about having dinner at Sipz. First off, this is an all vegetarian & vegan restaurant - just knowing that we could order anything off the menu was enough to make me giddy, but also, this is THE restaurant that KleoPatra raves about in her blog, pisces place. Add to all of that the fact that we were actually meeting Kleo for dinner! This was my first experience meeting someone that I met via the computer, so it was a monumental meal for me. Art & I were early, so we wandered into an awesome thrift store next door, which supports animal rescue & had tons of vegan literature. Art scored some rare vinyl - which Kleo joked could easily have been donated by her since she frequents & supports this place. In thrift stores, I usually head to the kitchen stuff & books, but this time somebody had beat me to it. But, I didn't leave empty handed, as they had a display with some great literature on global warming and veganism. For dinner, we all shared some veggie drum sticks, which is something we can get at a restaurant in town (Mai Thai) - they are really good. Art & I both had the Sweet & Sour Chicken entree with rice, which we agree is the very best we've ever had...I mean ever. I think Kleo had Chow Mein with soft noodles & mock chicken. Kleo had extensive knowledge of the menu, so it was fun to talk it over with her about what we might order. In fact, everybody working in the restaurant seemed to know & adore Kleo - they'd come by the table and say hello to her and make sure the food was just right, and it was.

After dinner, we went to Pacific Beach (where Art & I used to live) and walked Kleo's super sweet & soft dog, Mattie, along the boardwalk. It was refreshing meeting someone whom I have so many things in common - including our love of animals, concern for the environment and our impact on it, a plant based diet, living in San Diego, and of course, blogging. I'm sure glad we met, and thanks for a wonderful evening, KleoPatra!!

Global Warming: What You Need to Know

2006-07-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Anybody watching this tonight? 'Global Warming: What You Need to Know' 7 p.m. Sunday on Discovery.

If you do, will you please post or comment about the progam? I'm interested with how it stacks up to An Inconvenient Truth ~ the TV guide says it'll separate fact from fiction about global warming.

Brokaw Joins Fight Against Global Warming

Beach Days

2006-07-09T23:18:00.001-07:00

We had an extended family get-together at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California, and the girls had so much fun that we had to hit Newport Beach the next day. Our favorite location is 19th street, which is just south of the pier. The sand is vast, clean, and there are abundant sea shells in low tide. The girls had fun chasing (or, rather, being chased by) the waves. The day at the beach was a great break from the heat wave. After the beach we went back to the hotel and cleaned-up and then we hit Mother's Market in Irvine for a nice meal. Vicki enjoyed potato taquitos with pineapple salsa, with black beans and rice, with berry lemonade. Art ordered his usual, the tofu mushroom melt, wheatgrass and orange juice which I blogged about previously (click here). The girls shared whole grain pancakes with pure maple syrup. There was more licking of the syrup than eating of the pancakes.

Lots of Vegan Food

2006-07-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

These are 'Wolffie's Banana Blueberry Muffins' from La Dolce Vegan! This recipe calls for one cup blueberries, fresh or frozen. After eating our fill of fresh blueberries from the farmer's market, we didn't have a cup left. So I added some fresh cherries to fill up the measuring cup. There is only 2 tablespoons of molasses in this recipe, but that flavor is very strong and also gives the muffins a brown color. They were good.

The yellow peppers are ready to go in the oven for the 'Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce' from Vive le Vegan! I made our sauce on the thicker side, and it was perfect for the bean & rice cakes and chimichangas below...

'Celebrity Adzuki Bean and Rice Cakes' from Vive le Vegan! served with the yellow pepper sauce and fresh tomato. I soaked the adzuki beans overnight and cooked the brown sweet rice. The next day, I made the rice & bean mixture and refrigerated overnight. The day after that, I made the cakes you see here! This was quite a process, but well worth it.

Here you see 'Chickpea Ratatouille' from Vive le Vegan! Dreena suggests making burritos with any leftovers, which got me thinking... After the ratatouille finished cooking & cooling, I mashed the chickpeas up a bit, put 2 scoops on flour tortillas, rolled up the burritos, placed them seam-side down in a dish, then covered and put in the freezer. After the burritos were frozen, I transferred them to a plastic bag for cooking later.

When we want a chickpea ratatouille chimichanga, I just defrost for a couple minutes, then brown in some vegetable oil. They are served with the roasted yellow pepper sauce and some grilled summer squash & carrots. I will be making these frozen burritos again! They are a warm, hearty, meal in a pinch.

Farmer's Market Booty gets Jolie's sniff of approval:

Cherries
kohlrabi
Blueberries
Sugar Snap Peas
Snow Peas
Summer Squash
Purple Kale
Collard Greens

& Oregano + Chive plants for the garden

I was thinking stir-fry, but Art requested steamed veggies instead ~ I'm so glad he did because it was easier to prepare, more healthy, and there was nothing to cover up the natural flavors. I cleaned and prepared the veggies: broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas, kohlrabi, summer squash, purple kale, & collard greens. Then, I put them in the steamer with some sea salt, water, & Earth Balance. Art made the risotto with some collard greens to flavor it along with sea salt, Earth Balance, and tamari. I needed something to compliment the grain, so I added some sesame oil & hoisin sauce to the left-over adzuki beans and made kind of a refried dish. We loved this meal! We especially loved the fresh, steamed veggies.

After all that, it was time for something sweet. This is 'Chocolate-Rum Pudding Cake' from Vegan with a Vengeance. Well sort of...I didn't have rum extract, so I substituted almond extract. And, I didn't have 1/4 C. light rum, so I skipped it. This was a very rich, decadent cake which I'll be making it again. I'll make sure that I have the rum next time, and I'll probably make it in individual serving dishes. It'd be appropriate for company ~ it's kinda fancy & impressive.

This'll be my last post from home for a while. We are heading to California ~ the land of sea, sun & fun! I hope to meet up with KleoPatra and also go to some of the restaurants that Shannon mentioned recently in her "What Should I Order" post. I'll have a laptop and will be checking in with you, and posting some of our experiences too. See ya on the road!

Moosewood & Crockpot

2006-06-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'd heard so many wonderful things about the Moosewood Cookbook, that I wanted to see for myself. I snagged this one on ebay, and it's a 1977, hardback edition. (Are they all? Curious if there was only one pressing?) This is one of the most charming cookbooks I've seen. It has wonderful hand-drawn illustrations and scripts, recipe notes, and personal touches. It's as if a friend wrote down all her favorite recipes and artfully doodled on each page. It's hard to describe, so look:

How cute is this picture titled 'How To Eat A Tostada'? ~ underneath the drawing is an entire paragraph on how to eat ~ ending with:

"...Eat it sitting down, holding the plate under your chin to pick-up what drops as you progress from one end of the tostada to the other. If you need two hands to eat it, find a trusted friend to hold up your plate for you."

Here is part of the page for 'Cream of Asparagus' Soup. This book is vegetarian, which I suspect could easily be veganized. Any Moosewood fans out there? Which recipes have you tried? Veganized any of them?

I also picked up this little cookbook on ebay. The recipes are divided by countries: Passions of Italy, Colors of Mexico, Asian Delights, Irish Epicurean Delights, America's Favorites, and Slow-Cooker Desserts. I'm looking forward to cooking our first meal in the Slow Cooker ~ just throwing everything in, setting the timer, forgetting about it, & seemingly insta-meal. Any Crock Pot fans?

Dori first got me interested in getting another Slow Cooker - we sold ours years ago when we went veggie thinking it was just for meat. Silly us! Anyhow, we're back in business, and we were happily surprised to find that our new Crock Pot was expecting....when we unpacked her, she had this cute 'Little Dipper' inside. Perfect for hot dips like Creamy Spinach Dip, Chocolate Fondue, Artichoke Dip, etc. Nice bonus.

Carrot-Raisin Muffins & Easy Pleasin' Oat Bars

2006-06-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Liv loves to help in the kitchen, and I'm pleased that she enjoys cooking. My little kitchen helper is especially good at stirring the dry ingredients while I mix the wet. I usually call off the items as I measure and toss in the bowl, and she gets especially excited when I start working with the teaspoons. When I say "teaspoon" she hears "tastespoon" and wants to sample everything with these cute little spoons that must be for tasting. It tickles me so much. Here she is concentrating very hard on keeping the flour, sugar, etc. in the bowl.

Her favorite thing to cook is muffins, and I decided on the 'Carrot-Raisin Muffins' in VwaV. It's a good stand-by recipe because we usually have all the ingredients on hand, and they were good. They aren't the most exciting muffin I've ever tasted, but they were all gone before I cleaned up the kitchen. Sometimes good is better than exciting when you're really hungry.

I had 2 overripe bananas, and like a sleep-walker, I opened up Vive for the 'Banana Oat Bundles', but I glanced at the 'Easy Pleasin' Oat Bars' and decided to toss the sorry bananas and make these instead. Why? Well, I had made the bundles quite a bit, and had never made these. Plus, I think it'd be kinda cool to have made every recipe in Vive before Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan! comes out. It'll be a toughie, because it's hard not to get stuck on one recipe and make it over & over instead of trying a different one. Anyhow, with the Oat Bars, Dreena suggests adding different flavors and textures, so I added Let's Do Organic coconut and chocolate chips. These easily pleased me! They are delicious & nutritious.

Orange-Glazed Beets, Quick Asparagus Saute, & Creamy Hummus

2006-06-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

I really love beets, especially the orange ones. They are less messy than the red and the flavor is so sweet. I had some organic beets on hand, and instead of making them my regular way, I decided to turn to the cookbooks. I found 'Orange-Glazed Beets' in VwaV and busted out my veggie peeler - something I never use when it comes to beets. What I usually do is trim off the top and boil - leaving on the skin. Then after the beet cools, voila! the skin just slides off - leaving a naturally juicy beet. I'll go back to doing that next time. For the asparagus, I also decided to use a recipe and found Dreena's 'Quick Asparagus Saute' in TEV. The asparagus was perfect! But inquiring minds ask, "Why does asparagus make your pee smell funny?" On the plate, you also see: lemon for the asparagus, fresh apricot, & citrus sparerib cutlets.

Earlier that day, we were famished! I kicked into auto-pilot and made Dreena's 'Creamy Hummus' from Vive by heart. It's because I *heart* this recipe! I threw some fresh parsley in the food processor for some added zing, and topped off with a fresh tomato. This was gone in no time at all!

Toothpaste

2006-06-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

We eat more than toothpaste. Well, most of us do, though Olivia might be happy enough to just eat the toothpaste off the brush and skip meals. Don't get me wrong, she does a good job brushing, but wants several rounds of toothpaste per toothbrushing session. We have 3 bathrooms, so I'm prepared with toothpaste/brushes in each, cuz ya never know when the urge will strike. Yesterday, she brushed her teeth about 8 times with at least 2 different kinds of paste each round, and would have more if I hadn't redirected her...

Here's our toothpaste line-up:

1) Top row: this is the grown-ups' all-time favorite: Nature's Gate Herbal Creme de Mint.
2) Second row: with 3 vertical tubes, and a 4th tube being swiped is: Logodent Kids Zahngel Erdbeere (which is German for strawberry....I think - it's an old, empty tube), Gerber Natural Mixed Berry, Tom's of Maine silly strawberry, Logodent Zahngel (with a different package and design, different paste?)
3) Nature's Plus Animal Parade very-cherry
4) Doctor Burt's Orange Cream

My mission was two-fold: 1.) Which was her favorite toothpaste? 2.) Exactly what was in the toothpaste? After several taste tests, we had a winner! *drum roll, please!* Hands down, she chose Doctor Burt's! I was surprised because the label is boring and it's orange flavored. (all the others are sweet strawberry or cherry jel) But mostly, I was pleased to read the label: (filtered water, vegetable glycerin, natural chalk, natural clay, orange oil, baking soda, yucca extract, vegetable oil & beta carotene, xanthan gum.) Other than the last thing, I know what it is, so I'm feeling much better about my daughter's toothpaste tendencies.

Glazed Citrus Scones & Daisies

2006-06-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

I was at the Post Punk Kitchen and read in one of the forums how The Urban Vegan made VwaV's Glazed Orange Scones with lemons instead. I love lemon, & that sounded amazing so I had to give it a try. I went to the fridge and only had a 1/2 lemon and 3 limes. My wheels were already in motion and decided to make do with what I had, so I made mine citrus. (this photo was taken the next day after a store run) The scones keep really well in the fridge and allows for the glaze to harden, though I admit to eating 2 hot & sticky ones right off the press. The scones are surprisingly easy to make and oh so delicious. My new favorite ingredient is zest!

I had to include some flowers from the garden since they echo the yellow & green of the lemon & lime. The colors of summer!

Four girlfriends & I are throwing a baby shower for a dear friend. For the menu, we'll each bring a bread item along with a fruit or veggie item. I'm seriously considering these scones, only with the intended orange flavor. Any menu ideas for me? A bread item? A fruit or veggie dish?

Toasted Quinoa Salad

2006-06-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

This dish was inspired by Creative Kismet (link to see a slightly different recipe w/a fresh photo, and lots of other cool things), who was inspired by Vegetarian Times May/June 2006 issue. I was taken with the recipe for two reasons ~ first because she toasted the quinoa, and second because she didn't rinse the quinoa first to remove the natural bitterness. No bitterness here ~ just a more nutty, toasted, earthy, groovy flavor. Thanks for the recipe & inspiration!

This is what I did:
1/2 C. Almond Slivers
1 C. Quinoa
2 C. Water
1 Carton Grape Tomatoes
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/4 C. finely chopped Parsley
1/4 C. Olive Oil
3 Tbs. Fresh Lemon Juice

1. Toast almonds in a skillet over medium heat 4-5 minutes, or until fragrant and golden brown. Set aside.
2. Toast quinoa in the same skillet over medium heat 4-5 minutes or until light brown and beginning to pop. Stir in sea salt and 2 Cups water. Cover, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Transfer to serving bowl and let cool.
3. Add all other ingredients. Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley. Creative Kismet served hers on a bed of lettuce, which is lovely.

Check the Vegan Club for more quinoa recipes!

Potato Chickpea Garlic Soup

2006-06-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Michelle of Tiger the Lion, who was inspired by Jess of Get Sconed!, who was in turn inspired by this recipe. I was looking through some emails I had sent myself with recipes I'd seen on blogs that I wanted to try someday. This one caught my eye again, so I decided to make it even though it's hot as H - E - Double Toothpick outside.

This is what I used:
4 C. Vegetable Stock
2 C. Water
10 Whole Cloves Garlic, halved
1/2 Red Onion, quartered
1 Stalk Celery, cut into 4 big pieces
1 Can Chickpeas
1 Lg. Potato, washed & diced + skin left on
Sea Salt & Pepper to taste

Put everything except the salt and pepper into a large pot, cover, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 mins, until potatoes are super soft. Puree in the food processor, reserving some whole chickpeas. Return to pot, season with salt and pepper to taste.

I garnished mine with fresh basil from the garden, and some heart biscuits I made with extra dough from the "weiner wraps". This soup was so easy to make, and I'm a potato & garbanzo fiend, so I was happy with the results. Thanks for the inspiration everyone!

"Weiner Wraps"

2006-06-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

Back in April I attempted some weiner wraps and they could have chipped a tooth they were so hard. So I was happy to see a weiner wrap recipe in The Vegan Family Cookbook. The dough is really easy to make, and is actually a "drop biscuit" recipe. I wonder if the book has a typo, because it calls for 3/5 C. Olive Oil ~ none of my measuring cups work with fifths, so I did slightly less than 3/4 and it all worked out fine. Is the 3/5 odd to you? Anyhow, I rolled out the dough, gave some to Liv to roll out too, cut the dough to size, covered the Tofu Pups up, and put them in the oven. Easy.

The dough was light and fluffy, and really perfect! I served the weiner wraps with naturally sweetened applesauce (no high fructose corn syrup), 2 grape eyes, and a celery stick smile ~ and you can see the other smile this meal produced! I really like this new cookbook!

Midweek Munchies & Cookbooks

2006-06-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

A Veg*n Meme

What wonderful foods did you bring home from the grocery store?

Midweek Munchies: What VICKI is contributing for the week ~ but first, new cookbooks:

The Vegan Family Cookbook ~ Table of Contents: snacks & dips, soups, salads & dressings, vegetables, side dishes, breakfast, lunch, dinner, beverages, breads, desserts, miscellanious recipes, glossery, conversion chart, a well-stocked vegan pantry, and a protein list ~ over 400 recipes! There aren't any photos, but the book makes up for that in it's simple format and extra room for notes. I already cooked one recipe from this cookbook (post later) and can tell that I'm going to love this book.

Healthy Cooking for your Kids ~ This book isn't vegan or even vegetarian, but I picked it up because it looked worthy of $5. Table of Contents: nutrition, breakfast, lunchs & lunchboxes, party, family meals, & treats. There are some vegan friendly recipes: fruit smoothies, cereal fruit cupcakes, tomato soup, souffled baked potatoes, apple + carrot muffins, couscous salad w/roasted butternut squash, crispy vegetable bake, & others. There is a photo on every page along with fun serving suggestions.

Now, Midweek Munchies. This list represents approx. 2 weeks worth of groceries, and 4 chain grocery store receipts + 2 Co-op receipts. * = organic

Refrigerator:
*OJ
Van. Silk
Plain Silk
4X Morningstar Breakfast Strips
Chix Nuggets
Veggie Ham Slices
Morningstar Pattys
Smart Ground
*Nasoya Silken Tofu
Shedds Soybean Margarine

Bulk:
*Dried Blueberries
*Sweet Brown Rice
*Adzuki Beans
*Unbleached White Flour

Pantry:
* Pure Maple Syrup
Tahini
Dijon Mustard
Kettle Chips
Flax Seed Bread
*2X Cannellini Beans
*Pacific Veg Broth
Black Eyed Peas
*Vanilla Extract
Thyme
Dill

Produce:
Bananas
*Red Seedless Grapes
Leeks
Kale
Lemons
Yukon Potatoes
Garlic
Russet Potatoes
Pasilla Peppers
Portobello Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Red Bell Pepper
*Gold Beets
*Celery
Yellow Onion
*Carrots
*Collard Greens
*Rutabagas

Personal:
2X Fuchs Jr. Natural Toothbrush
Logodent Strawberry Kids Toothpaste
Burt's Bees Kid's Toothpaste
Nature's Gate Herbal Creme de Mint Toothpaste

Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

Happy Father's Day!

2006-06-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a proponent of beginning with dessert, and I'm so pleased to begin with 'Coconut Heaven Cupcakes' from Vegan with a Vengeance. These are easily the best cupcakes I've ever made (vegan & non), and possibly the best I've ever eaten. They are dense coconut cupcakes topped off with fluffy coconut icing. I used coconut extract instead of vanilla in the cakes & icing, let's do organic coconut, and topped them with a blueberry for color. The recipe should really come with a warning label for dieters "You can't eat just one". I'm telling ya...these are so delicious, and if you like coconut, you will LOVE these cupcakes.

Olivia painted a picture for Art. She said it had a yellow and a blue sun. She made finger prints all over and fingerpainted a bird. We only had blue, yellow, & red ~ and she mixed to also have orange, green, & purple. Every year, I pick out a new bedtime story and write Happy Father's Day & the year with a Sharpie. This year, I picked up, "What Am I?" It's a really cute animal guessing game book. Speaking of guessing games.....read on.

While she painted, I made 'Banana Bread' from "The Vegan Family Cookbook", which touts that this will be the best banana bread you will ever have! It is really good. Among other ingredients, this recipe call for egg replacer, 2 very ripe bananas, soy milk, & silken tofu. The bread also fills the house with a wonderful aroma, and I think this loaf would have gotten more attention if it weren't for the coconut cupcakes! (the only downside of beginning with dessert)

A guessing game: What vegetable do you think this is? Hints: It has thick skin, golden roots with purple shoulders. They are carrot-sweet and slightly peppery, with a golden flesh that tastes like a cross between a turnip and a yellow-fleshed sweet potato. Here is the mystery vegetable after being peeled, cubed and boiled. Below, you'll see it mashed with soybean margarine & sea salt. Comment on your mystery veggie guess & I'll comment back later with the answer.

I had a lot of fun cooking Art's Father's Day dinner. I began cleaning the collard greens by cutting out the spine, folding the leaf in half, & cutting into strips. I put the collard greens into a large pot, covered with water, added some sea salt, & brought to a boil, reducing the heat for an hour. Then, I changed the water, added some onion & soybean margarine and brought to a boil again. In a skillet, I browned each side of the Veats Bites, then added some Island Teriyaki sauce by Soy Vay along with some fresh green beans and a half can of pineapple ~ & let that simmer together. On the plate you see: a dual bed of mashed mystery vegetable and jasmine rice, topped with collard greens and veats bites & a thick tomato slice. Art called this 'Soul Food' and said it was the best meal I've made him. Wow! Happy Father's Day.

Sesame Asparagus, Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes and String Beans, & Portobello Mushroom Burgers

2006-06-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

The 'Sesame Asparagus' recipe is from VwaV (pg. 124) and is the new house standard for straight up asparagus. It is a basic recipe which enhances the flavor of the vegetable ~ not covering it up. I was without rice vinegar, so I substituted red wine, and they are topped with toasted black sesame seeds.

I had intended for the 'Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes and String Beans' from VwaV (p. 113) to go with the Portobello Burger, but I only skimmed the recipe and didn't notice that it takes over an hour to make. So, I whipped up the asparagus quickly for the meal, and continued with the potatoes & beans. The flavors in this dish are perfect, I just finished the last of it cold from the fridge. The recipe calls for yellow onion, but we didn't have that on hand so we went with one red onion.

Here is the potato dish out of the oven. We sampled a few spuds, then put the rest in the fridge. My daughters ate some for lunch, we had some the following dinner, & I just finished the last as a snack. The flavor is a blend, as there is no one flavor that sticks out. It's a small secret in our home that I really don't like mushrooms. However, I did gag down a few bites of the portabello burger. Art sauteed it in a tablespoon of butter for 5 minutes, turning once, and adding cheese and a lid for the last minute. It was tasty, but I didn't finish my burger. Just a bite of a mushroom is a big deal for me, so I'd say the portabello burgers were good, served on onion buns with lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard.

Creamy Potato Leek Bake & Garlicky Kale + Tahini Dressing

2006-06-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

I found some info. on leeks: the leek is a member of the onion family, but the flavor is much more refined, subtle, and sweet than the standard onion. European chefs call leeks "poor man's asparagus." Asparagus is actually a distant relative of the leek, residing in the same Lily family as onions. Although giant leeks do not make for great eating, Britain holds a yearly competition and awards a prize to the largest leek, which can range from 4 to 5 inches in diameter. In 640 A.D., the Welsh wore leeks in their hats to distinguish themselves from the enemy during the battle between King Cadwallader of Wales and the Saxons.

Art requested a potato dish, so I looked through a few cookbooks, and came up with 'Creamy Potato Leek Bake' from Dreena's Everyday Vegan. There are 3 layers in this dish: Potato, Leek (what you see on top of this picture), & an optional soy/rice parmesan. I spaced on the Arrowroot flour, so Art & Liv made a store run and couldn't find it either, so I substituted the same amount of Corn Starch. Another major "DOH" is that I didn't have thyme, oregano, or savory! I didn't substitue for the spices, and this dish was really delicious plain! This is one of those warm comfort foods, probably ideal for winter but it's been a bit rainy (odd for June) and it really hit the spot. I'll make this one again.

The 'Garlicky Kale with Tahini Dressing' came from Vegan with a Vengeance. I was excited to try a recipe from Isa's cookbook other than fries (which are really great). I like this recipe because after getting the fresh kale & parsley all the other ingredients are always on hand. Art is a "big kale eater" (not big in stature, but rather "big" as in large quantities of kale consumed!), and he says it could be better, so we'll collaborate next time. This time, I cooked it (my first time), and I ate it (not a first), and thought it was delicious (also a first). So there'll be more kale in our future. Also on the plate, you see Vegetarian Sparerib Cutlets.

To go with the kale, I made Isa's 'Tahini Dressing' and stored it in this water bottle. We always consider the packaging when we buy things, and normally something like this would stay on the shelf. But take a look at the beauty of this bottle. It has that awesome self-contained rubber cork which is perfect for storing things airtight, so we splurged that day and bought 2 French Leamonades just so we could reuse the bottles. The leamonade was good too!

Oh, and I also made La Dolce Vegan!'s 'Green Bean Zasmashha' without snapping a photo. This recipe only has 3 items: breadcrumbs, green beans, & Earth Balance ~ extremely simple and surprisingly tasty.

Garden, Bundles, & Recipe Testing

2006-06-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

"What are we doing today, boss?"

How about finishing up the garden spot that we started back in April? I had found some raised garden bed plans in Sunset Magazine, showed them to Art, and said, "Think you could do something like that on the side of the house?" He didn't follow the plans, & came up with something better, "It's all up here," he says pointing to his head. You can see the pipe arch, which will hold a netting to keep out birds, squirrels, deer, & whatever else.

I love that Art didn't buy much stuff for this project. He reused some old boards that were torn-up from the deck last summer, and only had to buy the nuts & bolts. The frames are 2 boards tall, and has a wire netting underneath to deter the groundhogs.

We put down 4 of my mosaic stepping stones and framed the beds with a perennial thyme ground cover. Inside the boxes, on the right, there is a cherry tomato, basil, habanero pepper, 2 other pepper plants, & marigolds. The box on the left has a yellow squash, 3 peppers, & marigolds. (marigolds in the garden help repel pests) The pepper plants are a mystery ~ Art said the tags were mismatched in the store, so we have 5 unknown varieties of pepper plants.

Digging in the dirt works up an appetite, so I cooked up some 'Banana Oat Bundles' from Vive le Vegan! Our bananas were really big & made the batter runny, so the first group on the bottom row looks more like cookies. I added more oats and the top 2 rows look more like little bundles. Olivia kept saying, "These are yummy cookies!" She really likes helping with this recipe because she can lick the banana puree, & I can feel good about all the ingredients. This time, we added some chocolate chips, I used cardamom instead of cinnamon, and they are smaller.

Here is a recipe that I tested for Catherine. It is her healthier, veg version of Sloppy Joes ~ 'Sloppy Lentils'. I've heard lots of chatter about Sloppy Lentils, but this is my first time making it. Her "Party Of One" recipe yield was the perfect amount for us. I ate one, the girls shared the other, and I spooned up the remaining from the saucepan. It was a perfect lunch for us. I thought that I had all the ingredients when I began, but as you can see, we're missing the pretty green color. Next time. Awesome recipe, Catherine, thanks for sharing it with us!

The Bouquet

2006-06-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

While Art unpacked his equipment, I kept an eye on the unlocked car & his gear in the alley behind The Bouquet, a bar where he had a gig. The headliner canceled at the last minute, so Art said he'd do it 1 week before. He wanted to have some friends play with him, so he invited Louie to play his electronic drum kit, and Louie said they should have this girl sit in and sing on a couple songs ~ Bjork style. They never practiced, and the first time Art met the singer was just before going on stage. Don't the guys in the other group have a cute VW Van?

Others have had time to kill in this alley ~ they entertained themselves by wallpapering an air-conditioner with stickers. Wish I would have had one of our "Mother Trucker" stickers on me that Tom had printed up as a joke and always gives away. I like the way things look when they are close together, like a quilt or mosaic.

Being the wife of a musician, I find myself alone plenty of times in bars or venues. Sometimes friends will join me, but most of the time it's me, myself, & I at the performance. I'm fine with that ~ I always have my camera to keep me company, and I don't mind sitting or dancing by myself, and Art doesn't care when I dance with others ~ I rarely turn down an invitation to dance! Here's a glamorous self-portrait near the toilet. I like brown ~ it's my color.

Art had his DJ turntables to spin & scratch records including "Beats & Breaks" and some of his original music ("Rocket Up" on myspace). He had a bunch of his equipment there including synthesizers and mixers, while Louie kicked mad beats. It was contagious dance music and people couldn't help but move.

It was awesome to have some dancers to watch! The girls' conversation earlier that night went something like this, "wear jeans with black shoes & a black short sleeved shirt. oh, and don't forget the watch & black belt." Oh, and I know we're a little behind the times, but check out James Dean there ~ he was wearing 501 jeans rolled up at the bottom with old fashioned paten leather shoes & a plain white T-shirt. His hair was slicked back just like John Travolta's in Grease. Oh, and you can see Art above just above the "blond-twin-dancer-girl".

Happy Hour

2006-06-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had some girlfriends over for happy hour after they got off work. I served these 'Baked Cajun French Fries' from VwaV, accompanied by some Mango dipping sauce inspired by a restaurant in town.

Mango Fry Sauce:
1 mango, finely chopped
1 lime
1 hot pepper, finely chopped
1/4 C. agave nectar
1/4 cilantro, finely chopped
mix with 1/3 C. nayonaise
Then, I added some of the spices from the Cajun Fries ( paprika, cumin, cayenne, sea salt)

Recently, Dreena appeared in a podcast with Erik Marcus highlighting her 'Cannellini Yam Hummus', and in that segment another person reviews her cookbook, Vive le Vegan, and praises her 'Coconut-Lime Cookies' in such a way that I decided that I must cook them. It was such a recommendation that I didn't even try the recipe out before cooking them for my friends. These cookies disappeared so fast, and my friends were shocked that they are vegan. They made me go get the cookbook to prove it!

Along with the cookies, I made Dreena's 'Creamy Hummus' & 'Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus' the night before. When my friends arrived, I put down a leaf of lettuce in the bowls, spooned in the hummus, & topped each with toasted almond slivers & served with Ezekiel pocket bread. They were both such a hit ~ but especially the cannellini yam because it was a little different and the smoky/sweet combination is really so perfect.

Apple-Hemp Muffins & Hemp Brownies

2006-06-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

I was pretty excited to finally find some hemp seed nuts at the Co-op, even if it was just 3 lonely bags sitting in the cooler. I snagged myself a sack and then it was just a matter of deciding which recipe from Vive le Vegan! to use them in. It was Dreena's description that convinced me to make these muffins: "Moist, lightly spiced muffins with the added nutrition of hemp seed nuts. These are easy and quick, and sure to please both kids and adults!" Sounded perfect to me, and they were. I baked 10 smaller sized muffins, and 2 larger heart shaped. This was my first time eating hemp, and I expected a stronger flavor, but it it sorta disappeared once cooked ~ no nutty crunch. I can see where these nuts would be easy to add to a recipe to gain the nutrition and not distract from the other flavors. Just yummy muffin goodness.

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a box of Organic Hemp Plus Brownie Mix by Nature's Path on a Midweek Munchies run. They look pretty good, don't ya think? We were craving chocolate & excited to try them, so each of us took a big, confident bite expecting the yummy goodness of a brownie...only better. I must say we were disappointed and didn't go beyond the first bite. They were dry and flavorless ~ how could that be with such a rich chocolate color? Anybody else tried this or other Nature's Path products? Next batch of brownies will be recipe testing for Catherine, & I'm really looking forward to that! I still have brownies on the brain. :o)

4 things

2006-06-08T22:16:00.000-07:00

Got tagged by Carrie ~ so it's on.

4 jobs i've held:
1. jr. high history & english teacher
2. ice-cream scooper @ baskin-robbins
3. step-aerobic instructor
4. waitress

4 movies i like:
1. fight club
2. amelie
3. the sound of music
4. paris when it sizzles

4 places i've lived:
1. san diego
2. silverlake
3. boise
4. hollywood hills

4 tv shows i like:
1. rick steve's europe
2. 20/20
3. sex & the city
4. saturday night live

4 places i've visited on vacation:
1. jamaica
2. holland
3. france
4. italy

4 blogs i visit everyday: (there are several others)
1. vive le vegan
2. eat peace please
3. food snob
4. dori

4 special treats just for me:
1. after-hours w/hub
2. photography
3. blogging
4. gardening

1 place i'd rather be right now:
vacation! with that in mind, i included some photos of a few of them. (top to bottom: rome, jamaica, amsterdam, pacific beach, florence)

thanks, carrie! this was fun.

Midweek Munchies

2006-06-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

A Veg*n Meme

What wonderful foods did you bring home from the grocery store?

Midweek Munchies: What VICKI is contributing for the week

Produce:
*garnet yams
yellow onion
*green leaf lettuce
*russet potatoes
jalapeno peppers
*green bell peppers
*mangoes
*limes
bananas
*pink lady apples

Other:
*2 cans cannellini beans
2 packs tofu pups
2 packages Ezekiel pocket bread
*maple syrup (we really go through this stuff, eh)
Silk
*spelt flour
*agave nectar (bigger container this time)
*shredded coconut
*red lentils
ground cardamon (first time buying this spice!)

I got it! It arrived in the mail yesterday, so last night I went to bed with "Vegan with a Vengeance" ~ I'm going to try some of the recipes on my friends tonight. Isa has a delightful writing style ~ it's hip, it's punk, it's high energy, and it's darn fun to read!

Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

Green Tea and Grapefruit Kanten & Guacamole

2006-06-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is like vegan gelatin, and makes a refreshing snack or dessert. A little green tea in the kanten gives it a lovely flavor, and the grapefruit is pretty in the molds. This recipe comes from 'Veggie Life'.

2 large pink grapefruit, peeled & sectioned
3 tblsp. agar flakes
3 C. white grape juice
1 tblsp. loose-leaf green tea
1/4 C. agave nectar

1. In a saucepan, combine agar flakes and juice, & let stand for 15 minutes. Place grapefruit sections on a towel to dry slightly.
2. Stir in agave nectar. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium & continue unil agar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in tea and set aside to infuse for 5 minutes.
3. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain mixture into a large measuring cup with a pouring spout.
4. Arrange grapefruit sections in 6 individual dishes or a large mold. Pour juice mixture over grapefruit and chill until set. To unmold, run a knife around edges & invert.

This is what I call "dinner for 1, my style." I cut up an avacado and tomato into big chunks. Added fresh cilantro, cayenne pepper, & sea salt. I didn't have lemon or lime, so I added some Mike's hard lime for some added zip. Served myself some tortilla chips and green pepper to dip it up.

Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus

2006-06-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that Schmoo of The Vegan Lunch Box announces his #1 Lunch! Ooh, the anticipation, and there has been much speculation as to which lunch was his favorite of the school year. What a tough decision it must have been for the little guy given all the amazing lunches Jennifer has made. Personally, I'm guessing that his favorite was Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus from Dreena's Vive le Vegan! When it appeared in his lunch back in February, the verdict was 5 Stars ~ "Shmoo ate it all with an "mmm!", even the "crust". Like Schmoo, I give this smoky-sweet hummus 5 Stars!

I Heart Dal & Chapatis

2006-06-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

This morning, using ingredients I already had in the kitchen I made this up for The Great Lentil Challenge!

1 1/2 C. red lentils
4 C. water
1 C. baby carrots, cut in circles
1/2 C. shallots, finely chopped
1/2 C. tomatoes
basmati rice
2 tbl. olive oil
1/2 tsp. cumin, paprika, turmeric, & ginger
sea salt

1. In a pot, combine lentils with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. About half way, add the carrots.
2. Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat oil and add shallots and spices; saute for about 2 minutes.
3. When lentils are finished cooking, add salt and shallot-spice mixture.
4. Use a cookie cutter as a stencil for tomatoes to make a heart, and add a circle of basmati rice.
5. Add some homemade Chapatis, this recipe came from 'May All Be Fed' by John Robbins.

Potato Prints: groceries

2006-06-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Potato Prints: groceries

Leftover Grains Muffins

2006-06-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

This muffin recipe came from Gourmet Vegetarian Feasts by Martha Rose Shulman, and this is the first time I've attempted to veganize a recipe - 5 of the 10 ingredients were changed and are in parenthesis:

1/2 C. chopped dried figs or apricots (sun-dried organic peaches)
1 1/4 C. WW Flour (mine is WW pastry flour)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tblp. honey (agave nectar)
1/4 C. melted butter (Earth Balance)
2 eggs (Egg Replacer)
2/3 C. milk (Silk)
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 C. cooked brown rice, millet, couscous, or bulghur (I used quinoa)

I really like the idea of using up last night's leftovers in the next day's breakfast. They tasted OK right out of the oven, but I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to be able to stack muffins like this. Any input on veganizing a recipe?

PS ~ Last night I ordered Vegan with a Vengence!

Veggie Ribs & Quinoa Pasta

2006-06-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

Our dinner came from 2 boxes:

1. Veggie Ribs

2. Quinoa "Garden Pagodas" Pasta

We've eaten these veggie ribs countless times before, and Art is the only one who has ever cooked them in our family. He says that you have to follow the directions on the box precisely or they're no good. We used to eat them quite a bit several years ago, and we were disappointed that they disappeared from the face of the earth around 2000. Back then, we were kinda paranoid that the ribs would disappear because stores were slow to restock the shelves and then it would only be with 7 boxes or so. Then, the ribs would be gone from one store but still be at another. So we all started hoarding the veggie ribs and buying the shelves empty when we'd come across them. It got a little competitive.

I think Mike stock piled the most, and recently we saw him again and he gave Art 6 boxes of the ribs - partly because he knew we'd appreciate having them, and partly for old times sake. When Art worked for the Dust Brothers in 1999, the guys at the studio in Silverlake would ask Art to take a break from composing music for such things as "Fight Club" or "Santana's Supernatural" to make ribs.

I tossed the quinoa pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto, then added fresh tomatoes, green onion, and cauliflower. We both really liked the flavor of the quinoa pasta. Art even said this was the best pasta he's had, and he doesn't usually like the curly type pasta. It's made with a nice blend of corn and quinoa.

This batch of ribs was actually better than the ones back in the day because Art used tahini instead of peanut butter. And, I'm happy to report that anybody can try these ribs. I see on our rib box a website where you can buy this and many other great vegan & vegetarian products (the link is at the top). I'm looking forward to making some fake meats from scratch like I've seen on other blogs and can't wait to compare the taste to these - our current high water mark. What is your favorite homemade fake meat?

So, here it is, dinner from 2 boxes ~ veggie ribs, quinoa pasta, and marinated cucumbers.

Midweek Munchies

2006-05-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

A Veg*n Meme

What wonderful foods did you bring home from the grocery store?

Midweek Munchies: What VICKI is contributing for the week:

Our kitchen is well stocked right now, so I just basically picked up some staples and a few other things that I found intersesting.

Produce:
*Grapefruit
*Yams
*Sun-Dried Peaches
*Bananas

Ingredients:
Agar Flakes (bulk $75.95/lb.)
Egg Replacer
Hemp Seed Nuts (I found them! There were 3 lonely bags in the cooler)
Eden Sea Salt (French Hand Harvested)

Other:
Silk
Tasty Bite (Bengal Lentil & Bombay Potatoes)
2 Lara Bars (Cherry Pie & Cocoa Mole)
2 packages Tofu Pups
* White Grape Juice
Black Bread

Return Bag credit = .15
* = Organic

Links to other Midweek Munchies
(If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

Aloo Gobi Potatoes & Cauliflower + Spices

2006-05-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

I've never made Aloo Gobi before, though we've eaten it several times at Electric Lotus. I found the recipe in La Dolce Vegan! and thought it was easy & fun to prepare. As Art said, "Yours isn't as saucy as Electric Lotus'!" and I'm pretty sure he was talking about the food. He was right, and we both missed the sauce. But this was also good, so we decided we'll make it again with other Indian dishes -- or at least something other than a French baguette!

Do you have any Indian dish ideas? I just bought a couple Tasty Bites - Bengal Lentils & Bombay Potatoes, both of which are vegan, delicious, quick, & saucy!

It's really all about the spices! (aren't these 2 packets of organic Turmeric & Garam Masala cute?) Here's the recipe spice list:
Fresh Ginger
Hot Pepper (I used Pasilla)
Fresh Garlic
Garam Masala
Cumin
Cayenne
Sea Salt
Turmeric
Fresh Cilantro

Peanut Butter Banana Oat Bundles & Peanut Butter Dip

2006-05-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

I still had some brown bananas around so I turned to Vive le Vegan! and found a recipe for Banana Oat Bundles on pg. 32, which was perfect because it calls for 2 large, over-ripe bananas. Dreena suggests adding some nuts or chocolate chips, but I happened to have peanut butter chips, so I tossed about half a bag in the mix. These are sort of a cross between a cookie, a mini-muffin, or scone, and the word "bundle" is a perfect description. We had ours for breakfast and found them quite delicious and satisfying. Dreena can get 12-15 from this recipe, so maybe mine are "too big" because I made 9. But they were cooked all the way through, so whatever. I gave one to my neighbor and we ate the rest over the next couple days. Everybody liked them, and this is my favorite "use up the ripe bananas" recipe.

The peanut butter chips made me think of a recipe I was going to test for Catherine, so I pulled out the food processor and made her Peanut Butter dip to go with the bundles and some apples slices. I like using same flavors to compliment different dishes, you may remember that I tested Catherine's pumpkin dip with pumpkin bread. Again, the the peanut butter flavor was really enhanced and it was a perfect union. We really liked this dip, Catherine! Liv kept saying, "More Peanut Butter. More Bah-beanna!"

Vegetarian Family

I've Moved!

Soup's On!

Slow Stuffed Grape Leaves

Currant Apple & Oat Muffins, Millet and Root Stew, and a Vegan Cupcake

Vegan Dog Biscuits

Happy Halloween!

Herbivore Restaurant & Lombard Street (San Francisco Post 3 of 3)

Millennium Restaurant & China Town (San Francisco Post 2 of 3)

Greens Restaurant & The Marina (San Francisco Post 1 of 3)

Pumpkin Puree & Cookies

Crockpot Applesauce & Bread & Potatoes

Pumpkin Muffins

Maple Baked Apples

Nava Atlas & Curried Red Lentil Soup

Mr. Pumpkin Head & Pepitas

Counting Soup

Hot Damn and Hell Yeah Cranberry Scones

U Pick Apples & Happy Birthday

Walnuts + Basil = Pesto

Shake & Make Soy Ice Cream

Breakfast Ice Cream

Kale is the "new" lettuce

Spuds, Soup, & Sauces

Polka Dot Rice & Pregnant

Crafty Photos

Where Have I Been?

Art in the Park & Prickly Pear Cactus lemonade

La Bicyclette & Les Legumes Vert

Crunchy Fruity Granola

Lentil & Carrot Soup with Seitan

Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup & Sweet Potato Fries with Mango Sauce

Magic Monkey Bananas

Tagged & Broken

The Fair

Baby Shower

August 22, 2006 --- that makes 14

Heart Tart for Art

McHummer of a bad idea

Cookies & Celebrations

Untitled

Food & Find

Party Planning & on the side

Vive le Cookie!

Soul Seitan

Pesto, Pancakes, Pineapple, & Peanut Butter

Scones, Nectardew, & Nature

Farmer's Market & Vegan Grub

Mocha Chip Muffins (minus the mocha, add some chocolate)

Midweek Munchies + Farmer's Market = Good Food

Banana Blueberry Oat Bundles & Cherry-Almond Muffins

Magic Loaf, Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy, Quinoa Salad, & Berry Scones

An Inconvenient Truth - Show me your ticket stub

Kale, Lemon Berry Muffins, & Biscuit Casserole Stew

Goodies Waiting @ Home

Restaurant Review: Sipz & meeting KleoPatra

Global Warming: What You Need to Know

Beach Days

Lots of Vegan Food

Moosewood & Crockpot

Carrot-Raisin Muffins & Easy Pleasin' Oat Bars

Orange-Glazed Beets, Quick Asparagus Saute, & Creamy Hummus

Toothpaste

Glazed Citrus Scones & Daisies

Toasted Quinoa Salad

Potato Chickpea Garlic Soup

"Weiner Wraps"

Midweek Munchies & Cookbooks

Happy Father's Day!

Sesame Asparagus, Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes and String Beans, & Portobello Mushroom Burgers

Creamy Potato Leek Bake & Garlicky Kale + Tahini Dressing

Garden, Bundles, & Recipe Testing

The Bouquet

Happy Hour

Apple-Hemp Muffins & Hemp Brownies

4 things

Midweek Munchies

Green Tea and Grapefruit Kanten & Guacamole

Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus

I *Heart* Dal & Chapatis

I Heart Dal & Chapatis