Chez Mama

Stew

2009-01-21T21:07:00.005-05:00

During this time of year, there isn't much better than a nice pot of stew. I've made a couple new ones in the last week, and I thought I'd share. The first one is from a recipe I saw in the December '08 issue of Cooking Light. It's an Ethiopian lentil and edamame stew. It's really easy to make, and definitely has a flavor that would strike most people as totally different than anything they've ever tasted. It has a decent amount of lemon juice in it, which gives it a nice tang. Plus, the combination of cumin, cinnamon, cloves and fresh mint give it a really great flavor. To go with it, I made the Injera bread (using teff flour) from the same issue. It was also very different. Very much like a savory pancake. Probably more similar to a buckwheat cake which have that tad of sourness. (I subbed the Better Than Sour Cream for the yogurt.) It is definitley a meal I'll make again.

I also made a soup from a recipe on the blog of our local natural foods co-op. It's a vegetable soup with lentils, chickpeas and an interesting grain called kamut. The kamut is sort of like a cross between brown rice and wheatberries. It's really chewy and hearty. This soup was perfect for the bone chilling cold we were experiencing late last week. It would also be a good, healthy soup to make if you're suffering a cold or the flu. It's broth-y enough to be very soothing to your throat, and hearty enough to provide some healthy nutrition.

Not really a stew, but it's awfully close. A long, long time ago I made this recipe from Carrie's blog. It's a Thai curry with udon dish. I made it less broth-y this time so it would be easier to eat. These noodles are quite spicy, and if you need your sinuses cleared, this will take care of it!

I also made some really, really good scones this week. I didn't take a photo, though. They're the Ginger-Scented Date and Cashew Scones from Vegan Planet. We got the Vegan Planet cookbook as a Christmas gift. So far, so good! It's a huge cookbook too, and I look forward to making some new recipes from it.

Holiday Cookies (One Month Late!)

2009-01-17T14:23:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I think I'm ready to get back into blogging regularly. I'm not making any promises, though. I've discovered lots of new favorite dishes in the last year, or so. I've been sticking with lots of those, and only occasionally make something that I haven't blogged about already. That probably isn't good, so how about I commit to making one new recipe each week? Okay, that's settled. I've also decided to try to cut my grocery budget some. With these economic times, I feel like saving as much money as possible is probably a good idea. Maybe I'll try to come up with some creative food-budgeting ideas while still eating a healthy, varied diet.

Anyway, as you (not that I know exactly who "you" are) may remember, last year I embarked on an ambitious "12 Days of Goodies" holiday extravaganza. This year I kept it a bit more simple. Being vegan now, I made more vegan goodies. I made the kids their non-vegan holiday favorites, though (sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies).

I made the Sparkled Ginger Cookies from VWAV again this year. Even non-vegans think they are fantastic ginger cookies. They truly are. I would recommend doubling the recipe. They freeze very well.

I also tried a vegan thumbprint cookie from Vegetarian Times. They were pretty good. The texture wasn't great, but the flavor was. I've found that vegan cookies made with canola oil tend to be more true to their non-vegan counterparts than those made with Earth Balance.

Since 7-layer Bars are one of my favorite "cookies" ever, I actually vegan-ized those. Let me tell you, they may be better than the originals. I simply replaced the butter with EB, found vegan graham crackers (Keebler brand), vegan chocolate chips and vegan butterscotch chips (Food Lion store brand are the only vegan butterscotch chips in existance, apparently. They're pretty much just flavored chemicals. Not something I'd want to eat regularly, but once-a-year is acceptable.) I even made vegan sweetened, condensed milk from scratch. It didn't turn out like your standard milk, it was more gooey and carmel-y. YUM!

So, as you can see I didn't go all out like I did last year. I still managed to make some really tasty goodies, though!

Happy Baracktober!

2008-10-10T12:06:00.007-04:00

Hahahahaha! I'm now going to be referring to October as "Baracktober," hope you guys don't mind. ;) Anyway, I've been a little under the weather for the last week. I have a nasty chest cold, and even had a fever for a couple of days. I hadn't had a fever for like ten years! The fever seems to be gone now, but I've got a really nasty-sounding cough that just won't let up. I swear, it looks as if I haven't been doing much cooking in the last week and a half. I have, though. I guess I forgot to take pics, and now I can't even remember what I've made!

So, we're heading off to Canaan Valley this afternoon. Seems as if it's becoming a tradition to celebrate my birthday that way. I love, love, love Canaan Valley so I hope it's a tradition that will continue. I made myself a b-day cake. Gingerbread with a lemon glaze. I used the gingerbread cupcake recipe from The PPK. I multiplied it by 1.5, but probably should've doubled it for a taller cake (I did a bundt cake and baked it at 350 for about 45 min. Don't forget to grease and flour the pan!). I didn't want to frost it, so I used this recipe from Giada DeLaurentis for the glaze.

Last week at some point I made the Pumpkin Baked Ziti from V-con. It was quite tasty. To go with it I made a variation of my old honey-baked lentils. I subbed maple syrup for the honey and also added a chopped carrot. I use red lentils for this, and it has a nice, mush consistency. LOL Really, I think the consistency is great for this particular dish.

This week I wanted to use up the last of my frozen black beans, so I did the Black Beans with Chipotle Sauce from V-con. I tried my hand a vegan cornbread (Skillet Cornbread from V-con), and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed. Just to make sure I went overboard on chipotles, I made some chipotle-glazed green beans. So easy. Just brown up a chopped onion in a skillet, add fresh green beans and cook until they're almost done. Then add the glaze, which is a little brown sugar, a chopped chipotle, a little scoop of the adobo sauce from the canned chipotles, and a splash of water. Turn up the heat before adding so it gets nice and sticky. YUM!

Lots of Lentils, Chickpea Cutlets and A Pizza

2008-09-29T21:03:00.011-04:00

I've really been doing some cooking the past several days. I enjoy cooking so much more when it isn't hot outside. I'd say we're full-on into fall at this point. Last Thursday, some friends invited us over for a big pot-luck party. I decided to take two dishes because I didn't know what vegan options would be available there. I decided on Carrie's sweet and savory lentils and some simple, mashed sweet-potatoes. The lentils were a HUGE hit. Talk about a good pot-luck dish! Easy to make and just perfect for this time of year.

Friday I decided to make some chickpea cutlets. They're a favorite around here for sure, and it had been quite a while since I'd made them. I wanted something a little different this time, so I made the Sweet Vidalia Onion Sauce, which is also in V-c on. I also cooked some brown rice, and since I had a bunch of parsley from the CSA, I chopped it and added it to the cooked rice with some Earth Balance and salt. I steamed a bunch of kale and onions, which I seasoned with a dressing of red wine vinegar, sugar and a few drops of liquid smoke. The sweet onion sauce is soooo good. We used it for the cutlets and also to drizzle over the rice. What a fantastic dinner!

On Saturday, I made pizza because the kids just can't get enough of "Mama's homemade pizza". They're so sweet! Anyway, I made the kids their ususal cheese pizza. For Sleek and myself, I lightly sauteed a few cloves of minced garlic in some olive oil and brushed that over the dough. Then I added some Oliverio's Sweet Italian Peppers. (I can't believe they don't have a website!) They're kind of a local specialty item that Sleek grew up eating often and loving dearly. It was fantastic. There are really so many different things you can do with pizza to change it up and make it interesting.

I've been wanting to make some naan since I seem to make Indian food quite often. A while back, Carrie had posted aboutmaking naan. I swore I'd give it a try. Then I came across what I think is the same recipe via the forums over at The PPK. I decided to give it a try. I needed to find a good substitute for the yogurt, and we can't get plain soy yogurt around here. I decided to go with Better Than Sour Cream. I brushed it with Earth Balance after baking. It was phenomenal! I used my pizza stone as recommended, but I guess my "high" broiler setting is hotter than most because my stone ended up cracking and breaking. I'll have to be getting a new one ASAP! I set the broiler to low for the next batch (I was still able to use the stone to finish) and the naan came out much better. So, I look forward to making it often. It went perfectly with the Tamarind Lentils from V-con. They are so good and extemely easy to make. For a quick and easy dinner, it sure was delicious.

I'm Back!

2008-09-26T10:23:00.008-04:00

Wow! It's been a while, eh? My dad and I had a fantastic time in Colorado. It was very beautiful there, and we had wonderful weather. We did lots and lots of hiking, which I seem to have developed a passion for over the last year or so. I'm glad I live in West Virginia. Lots of hiking here, and mostly in places I haven't yet explored. I have a lot to look forward to. Chez Mama will now be a vegan cooking blog, as I've finally fully committed to living a vegan lifestyle. It's been a rather slow transformation for me, starting four years ago when I stopped eating land animals. Over the last year, I ate fish a handful of times. Over the last few months, I've barely eaten any eggs of dairy. A couple of weeks ago, I ate something with dairy in it, and it just didn't seem right to me. So here I am. Vegan. I feel really good about it.

So, when I got back from Colorado I was ready to start cooking. When I'm gone for a few days, eating at restaurants, I realize how much I miss cooking and eating my own food. Restaurant food seems to wreak havoc on my digestive system. Even if it's relatively healthy stuff. It kinda sucks.

So, I got back and cooked up a big batch of black beans. It's always nice to have lots of beans on hand and ready to go. And with some of those beans, I made one of the best things I've made in a while. Sort of a "Huevos" Rancheros. Or, you could call it "Tofu Rancheros". I made up some tofu scramble, loosely using the recipe from VWaV. I add whatever veggies I have on hand. This time it was onion, various peppers from the CSA, and a bag of spinach. I also warmed up some of my black beans in a pan with a can of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes, chile powder and diced onions. I had some corn tortillas which I heated on the griddle, then topped with the tofu, black beans, salsa and Better Than Sour Cream. It was so good that I think I'm going to be making it again this weekend. YUM!

I also made some black bean burgers this week. The same ones as usual from V-con. To go with those, I made some sweet potato fries. It's getting to be sweet potato time again, and I'm so ready for it. I can't get enough sweet potatoes.

Oh, and I made the Peanut-Butter Oatmeal Cookies from VWaV. I used whole wheat flour, and reduced the amount of sugar by 1/2 cup. They aren't really sweet, and they're soooo peanut-buttery. So good. I don't think I'm going to miss anything by going vegan! As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to enjoy baking more than ever. I mean, check out some of the cupcakes that Carrie (Adventures in Vegetarianism) whips up!

Sleek and I had the oppourtunity to check out a really fantastic concert last Sunday. We saw The Swell Season perform in Pittsburgh at the Byham Theatre. We've wanted to see them since last spring, so it was a real treat. We were introduced to them through the Irish, indie film Once. I highly reccommend checking out the film, and their music. They did lots of new stuff at the show, so I'm hoping for a new album from them sometime soon! It's not a show to be missed, so if they're coming to your area, check them out for sure!

Heading Out.

2008-09-14T13:51:00.003-04:00

Hey, faithful readers! LOL I'm heading out for a little vacation in Colorado with my dad. We'll be gone for 5 nights. My longest without the kids. I hope I don't miss them too much. We're going to be doing lots of hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Staying at the Stanley Hotel (in a villa on the hotel grounds, thank goodness!) where Stephen King was inspired to write The Shining. It's haunted, for sure. I know that because I saw it on Ghost Hunters. ;) We're finishing up the trip going to the WVU game in Boulder on Thursday night. Let's gooooo Mountaineers!

I hope there's some good food there!

Busy, Busy

2008-09-09T14:20:00.007-04:00

Damn. And here I thought that when school started I'd have so much extra time on my hands. I feel like I've been running myself to death. It seems I've barely had a minute to sit down. Our computer was also invaded by some nasty spyware, so it was out of commission for several days. Sleek copied our photos and iTunes, and we wiped the whole thing out and started fresh. The upside is that our computer is now smokin' fast!

I also thought when school started, I'd have more time for cooking. However, this year Annelies's piano lessons are later in the evening, and Julian has soccer late once a week as well. So, I have two nights each week that make it difficult to put a full-on meal together. Tonight is one of those nights, so it's going to be SmartDogs. I can handle one totally junk meal/week.

Anyway, since I've last posted, I've made some interesting and tasty things. One was a Southeast Asian Coconut Zucchini. That one is from Moosewood Restaurants Low-Fat Favorites cookbook. (I don't think I told y'all that we ate at the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca when we were on vacation, did I? We did, and it was tasty. The kids were having a tough time that day. It was the last day of vacation and Annelies was tired, and Julian had a cold coming on and had a fever. Doesn't make for the most pleasant of meals, eh? It was still a cool experience, though. Doesn't every vegetarian want to eat there?) Okay, back to the zucchini. It was very easy and quite tasty. I served it over jasmine rice. There are lots of good-looking recipes in that cookbook. I need to put it to good use.

I also made another green pizza somewhere along the way. Some falafel too. Also, the best damn banana bread ever. I kind of improvised the recipe from one I found online somewhere. Here goes:

3 ripe bananas
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup canola oil and unsweetened applesauce mixed (you could do either all oil or all applesauce, but I decided to go half and half.)
1/2 cup sucanat

1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sucanat (This needs adjusted to suit the ripeness of the bananas. If they're really, really ripe, I would omit it completely.)
1/4 cup flax meal
1/2 cup coconut (I used unsweetened, flaked)

Mash bananas and add lemon juice, oil and applesauce mixture and sucanat.

Mix together flour and other dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix until just moistened and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

One evening, I made some tofu scramble. I just use the recipe from VWaV for the seasonings, then add whichever veggies I have on hand. So easy and tasty. A side of roasted potatoes makes it a "breakfast for dinner" meal. I love that.

Last night, I made a batch of channa masala. It's easy to throw together quickly. Yum. Julian discovered that he loves it too. I've also been keeping some chickpea salad on hand for an easy lunch or dinner. I'm addicted to that stuff. This time I did add some chopped celery. It definitely made it even better. Mmmm. On toasted whole-wheat bread with some perfectly fresh, ripe sliced tomato? Insane. I've decided that instead of a mock tuna salad, it's much more like a mock chicken salad.

Oh, and I also made up a batch of the best granola ever. Same recipe as always, and for nuts I used cashews. I chopped up about a cup of dried papaya to throw in after baking. I also added a few drops of coconut extract for some extra tropical flavor. Mmmm. It's really good with So Delicious coconut milk yogurt.

Chickpeas and More Granola

2008-08-28T12:27:00.004-04:00

I cooked up another massive batch of chickpeas on Tuesday. Crazy, I know, but it's so comforting to me when I have a freezer full of chickpeas waiting for me to use. They are my favorite legume, by far.

I'd heard of "mock tuna-salad" before, and people online just seem to rave about it. So, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm going to just call it "chickpea salad," though. To me, that's a much more appealing name. I was skeptical about it being so tasty, but it truly is. I can see it being my go-to meal for the evenings when I just can't manage to cook a full-on meal. Here's how I made it:

Cooked chickpeas (I'm not sure how much, maybe a cup and a half? Doesn't really matter, as all
the other ingredients can be adjusted to suit the amount of chickpeas used.)
Vegenaise
A little minced onion
Diced pickles

Mix it all together, and there ya go. I had it on some toasted whole-wheat bread with some fresh tomatoes. So. Freaking. Good. I've had one for lunch the last three days. I already can't wait to make more.

Last night, I made one of our favorites here. The Chickpeas Romesco from V-con. As usual, I made the Garlic-Saffron Rice to go with it. It's so easy to make, and it's one of those dishes that upon tasting it, you'd think I'd slaved over the stove all evening.

I've still been making granola like crazy. I've finally tweaked the recipe enough that I think I can call it my own. This is it:

1/8 cup wheat germ, toasted
1/8 cup flax meal, toasted
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, toasted
1 cup of nuts, chopped and yes, toasted
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup of unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1-1.5 cups of dried fruit

Mix all the dry ingredients (except dried fruit) in a large bowl. Add oil and brown rice syrup and mix well. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 30-35 minutes, stirring every 10 or so minutes.

You can get really creative with this, and make pretty much any kind you can dream up. So far, I've made it using raisins, dried apples and walnuts. I think my favorite so far is blueberry hazelnut. This week I made cherry almond. I added a bit of almond extract to it to give it a little extra flavor. Next week, I'm either going to do either tropical or peanut chocolate chip. Decisions, decisions.

Pasta and Zucchini Cake

2008-08-26T11:48:00.008-04:00

A couple weeks ago, Carrie posted about a pasta dish she had made using some of her CSA veggies. It had a maple-dijon sauce, which I thought sounded like something different and delicious. I knew I would have to try that one. I did, and it was fantastic. I doubled the recipe and we had a dinner plus two days of leftovers. YUM!

We've been getting so much zucchini, and I have had a hard time finding a zucchini bread recipe that I love. So, I came across this recipe for zucchini cake. It's actually very much like zucchini bread, but baked in a bundt pan. The chocolate chips give some extra yum-factor. I followed the recipe from The Post Punk Kitchen (authors of VWaV and V-con), but I made the following substitutions: For half the flour, I used whole-wheat pastry. For half the sugar, I used sucanat. For half the oil, I used unsweetened applesauce. This cake is so good. I have to highly recommend it as a really yummy way to use zucchini.

Today is Annelies's first day of first grade. I can't believe my little girl is in first grade. I can't believe that summer break is over. I am, however, looking forward to autumn and all that it brings. Crisp weather, soups and stews, pumpkin bread, football. My favorite season.

Tofu Scramble, Sloppy Joes and A Lost Camera

2008-08-19T22:09:00.003-04:00

We had a nice weekend in Deep Creek Lake with the kids and my friend Olives and her kids. The weather was nice, just a bit chilly. Yep, chilly in mid-August. We had a nice hike at Swallow Falls State Park, and also enjoyed the beach at Deep Creek Lake State Park. Unfortunately, I lost our camera at Swallow Falls. Obviously, that means no photos of the food I've made the last couple of days. That's okay, though. One of them is a repeat.

Last night I made some tofu scramble. I used the recipe from V-con as a guide, but kind of made it my own way too. The only vegetables I used were onion and green pepper since that's what I had on hand. It was the first time I've ever made tofu scramble (unbelievable!), but it won't be the last. I decided that it would be good in a wrap, so I also cooked some black beans, onion and fire-roasted tomatoes to go in them too. I had some potatoes left from last week's CSA, so I diced them and roasted them to make some easy home-fries to go with the burritos. Very tasty. I think Sleek was pleasantly surprised by how good the tofu scramble burritos were. I think the scramble will be making regular breakfast/brunch appearances here. Especially when cooler weather hits and I actually feel like cooking something that early in the day!

This evening, I went with Snobby Joes (also from V-con). I've made them many times before, so I'm sure y'all know how much we love those around here! Hopefully we'll be getting a new camera in the next few days or so. Then I can post a photo of the awesome new (used) piano we just bought!

Lots of Fresh Veggies, A Green Pizza, and A Bit of Advice

2008-08-13T21:03:00.010-04:00

I've been cooking a lot, but not posting everything. I've found that with our fresh CSA veggies, I kind of like keeping it simple to enjoy the fresh flavors. I usually steam or saute the veggies and season with garlic, salt and pepper. It's perfect. It's easy too. I'll give just a few highlights from the last week...

A while back, I made the black beans with chipotle sauce from V-con. We loved them, and I swore they'd become a regular on the menu. I finally just got around to making them again. They are so tasty and super-easy. I made Mexican millet (also from V-con) to go with them. I also steamed some kale, then tossed it with caramelized onion.

I also made a bean stir-fry one night using a couple of different varieties of beans. Yellow wax-beans and purple beans (unfortunately, they turn green when cooked). I made a light sauce for them using shoyu, brown sugar, a bit of Thai chili paste and a splash of water. I also steamed some chard and made a dressing of red wine vinegar, sugar and a couple of drops of liquid smoke. I thinly sliced some potatoes, blanched them, then fried them up with a chopped green pepper. OMG. They were so good! Let's see...I also made some baked chili-lime tofu that evening.

Tonight I made possibly the best pizza I've ever made before. It was a green pizza. I made the usual dough, of course, from VWaV. I topped it with pesto which I made from a bunch of fresh basil, some toasted pine-nuts, salt, a couple cloves of garlic, and a decent amount of olive oil. On top of the pesto, I added some zucchini slices which I had lightly pan-fried to soften them up. Also some onions which I also sauteed before using. Holy smokes. It was just off the hook. I'll probably make it every single week that we get CSA basil. It's seriously that good. Oh, and I'm totally convinced that pesto absolutely does not need parmesan cheese to be tasty.

Okay, now for that bit of advice I promised in the title...Never, ever, ever clean out the end of your immersion blender with your finger while the damn thing is plugged in. I did it while making the pesto, and somehow turned it on with my other hand. Of course, it sliced into my finger and then my finger was stuck between the blade and the inside of the mixer part for about 10 seconds before I managed to wiggle it out. It cut the f*#k out of my finger. Not very deep, but one of those "skin-flap" cuts. I've got a gash that's about an inch long, and I think it would lift up at least a half an inch of skin. I immediately ran it under water and applied forceful pressure until Sleek could get home with some bandaids. It's freaking sore. Really freaking sore. So, I'll never clean out my hand blender with my finger again. Maybe not even if it's unplugged.

Oh, and I made another batch of granola. This time I used hazelnuts and dried blueberries. It's the best yet!

Radiohead Etc.

2008-08-06T21:36:00.012-04:00

Well, it happened. It was a dream come true. Seeing my favorite band from just a few feet away. I can't even describe how freaking awesome it was. Totally surreal. Perfect setlist. I loved every second of it and never wanted it to end. It will happen again. I look forward to it. I feel myself becoming Radiohead-obsessed for a while. I'll probably be mostly listening to In Rainbows for the next year or so, with a little Kid A, Amnesiac, OK Computer, The Bends and Hail to the Thief thrown in for good measure. (I'm kidding, people! Kind of.)

Now for the food...The swimming lessons every evening have been killing me. Some days, I spend the morning/early afternoon in the kitchen preparing the dinner we will eat at 8 p.m. It's exhausting. I've been doing mostly really simple things. Last week, I did a really cool stir-fry with vegetables from the CSA. (Note the really cool carrots. Red/purple on the outside, orange inside.) I also added some black beans just because I had them in the fridge and needed to use them. I got all the veggies stir-fried, and at the end I cranked up the heat and added this:

1 TBS brown sugar
3 TBS shoyu
1/2 tsp Thai chili sauce
tiny pinch of Chinese five-spice powder
splash of water

Whisk until combined.

It was exceptionally tasty. Maybe the best stir-fry I've ever made. Great way to use up all the CSA veggies.

Instead of making rice to go with the stir-fry, I made the Soba Salad with Soy-Wasabi Vinaigrette from the July issue of Cooking Light. I subbed sugar snaps for snow peas, and left out the radishes. It was really good, but the wasabi nearly lit my nasal passages on fire. It wasn't spicy to my mouth at all, but boy my nose felt it! Didn't stop me from eating nearly the whole batch, though. (Not all in one day. I had lots of leftovers. Sleek thought the wasabi was a bit much.) So, if you're sensitive to wasabi-type heat, you may want to cut back the amount of paste you use.

Another thing I'm really into these days is making homemade granola. I made my first batch last Saturday, using this recipe. I subbed brown rice syrup for the honey, and used almonds instead of peanuts. I also used some chopped, dried apples as well as raisins. It's so good just to grab a handful as a snack, but it's extra-good in a bowl with some vanilla hempmilk. (I ordered a case of the Living Harvest vanilla hempmilk, by the way. That stuff is so good!) We finished that batch off, so today I made another. This time I used pecans instead of almonds, and dried cranberries instead of apples. I just can't wait to experiment more and make lots of different kinds of granola.

This evening for dinner, I made a zucchini orzo dish. (I left out the parmesan and used whole wheat orzo.) The recipe was given to me by Kathy Evans, of Evans Knob Farm, which is where our lovely CSA veggies come from. She had printed it out from the Animal Vegetable Miracle website. I've looked at that book many times in the bookstore, thought about getting it, and haven't done it yet. Have any of you all read that? I'm curious. I also made some beans from the CSA. They're a lovely heirloom bean. Light green/yellow in color with lots of purple stripes. Unfortunately the stripes fade when the beans are cooked, but holy smokes! They were absolutely delicious. I really wanted to get the full-flavor of the beans, so I cooked them simply. I started by sauteeing a chopped onion in just a little canola oil. After the onion was soft, I added the beans. I lowered the heat and covered the pan. After about 10 minutes, I added two cloves of minced garlic to the pan. I put the cover back on and let them steam for about 15 more minutes. I seasoned them with salt and pepper. They were nice and crisp, but not too crisp. Just incredible. I hate thinking back to the fresh beans my grandmothers would cook. They cooked the hell out of them and they were mushy and bacon-y flavored. I've found that fresh beans are so much more flavorful when they're nice and crisp. They also seem so much healthier.

For dessert, I made a batch of the oatmeal-raisin cookies from V-con. They are so freaking good. So chewy. They were a little difficult to remove from the baking sheets. The recipe advises a lightly greased sheet. I always use parchment, so I decided to go ahead with it as usual. It was not easy removing them from the sheets. So, I decided to lightly grease the sheets for the next round. It still wasn't easy getting them off. I think the parchment was actually easier. It just took some patience. They didn't tear or get destroyed in the process, at least. I'll definitely be making these again. They're really easy, and they're whole wheat and full of oats and raisins. They also contain brown rice syrup, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite ingredients! I think it's what gives these cookies the gooey-chewy texture. YUM!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-07-30T12:56:00.002-04:00

So busy! The kids have swimming lessons at 6:30 every evening, and Annelies also has a singing class at 10 every morning this week. Today she also has piano lessons at 4. That leaves little time for cooking. I've been doing a little cooking late-night for the next night's dinner. Really easy stuff, like a massive batch of black beans with tomatoes and brown rice. (I know I've posted about these black beans before, but I can't find the damn post. It was a long time ago. It's essentially onion, garlic, however many black beans you want, however many cans of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes you want, and whatever seasonings you like. Simmer for a while and serve over rice.)

This week's CSA pick-up was insane. I've got lots of vegetables to cook, and not much time to cook them. Maybe I should get off the computer and get in the kitchen!

Oh, I have a new favorite thing to rave about for a minute. It's Living Harvest Vanilla Hempmilk. It is so, so, so much better than soy or rice milk. I had a cup of it poured over some fresh blueberries for breakfast this morning. YUM!

Posting is going to be dodgy with all the activities this week, but I'll do the best I can!

A Veggie Feast

2008-07-24T21:58:00.008-04:00

I cooked up a huge veggie feast this evening, nearly using up this week's CSA bounty. Guess what? I forgot to take photos of everything! I'll describe it as best as I can, and you'll have to use your imagination for a visual. I'll add some random vacation photos throughout the post for your viewing pleasure. :) We were in the Finger Lakes region of New York. It was beautiful, and there were organic farms everywhere! How awesome is that?

This is our view of Skaneateles Lake from the dock at the cabin were we stayed. Skaneateles Lake is the cleanest lake in the world! Cool, huh?

When going through my Grandma's recipes this past week, I found a recipe for baked squash. It was my Aunt Phyllis's recipe which she got from the Battletown Inn. It looked so easy that I knew it would be a great way to use the squash from the CSA. Here's the recipe:

Slice 6 squash and boil until done. Saute and onion in 2 TBS butter until soft, and combine with cooked squash and 1 cup crushed Saltines in a baking dish. Top with lots of butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake at 400 degrees for half an hour. (I used Earth Balance in place of butter, and probably didn't use as much as the original recipe called for. The squash was fantastic, but I think using more butter would've given it a crunchier topping.)

The kids posing with statues at the Women's rights museum in Seneca Falls, NY. It was really cool, and I actually felt a little emotional there. It kind of took me by surprise.

I also made some pesto using fresh basil, olive oil, toasted pine nuts, garlic and almesan. (Almesan is a vegan substitute for parmesan cheese. The recipe is in V-con.) It was really tasty spread on some great bread that Olives brought over.

What else? Oh, yeah. The Garlicky Kale with Tahini Dressing from VWaV. Very easy and really good. A nice change from plain sauteed of steamed kale. From the CSA we also had a nice bag of Rose Gold potatoes and also some white carrots. I chopped them up and tossed them in a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and agave nectar then sprinkled with salt and some thyme. I roasted them at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. YUM! The rose golds were crisp on the outside, but very soft inside. A little sweet too.

This is the gorge in Watkins Glen state park. It took us just over an hour to hike through, and was probably some of the most impressive natural scenery I've experienced.

I think my favorite thing I made was the chipotle glazed haricots vert. Last summer, we got so many beans that I started creating new ways to cook them. This may have been the best way I came up with. I start by sauteeing half of an onion, finely chopped, until it's soft. Then, I add in the beans. When they're nearly done, but still nice and crisp, I turn the heat up a bit and add the glaze. The glaze is just a chipotle pepper, chopped fine, and about 1/4 cup brown sugar. To that I add a splash or two of water. Turning the heat up before adding the glaze makes the glaze really syrup-y and it clings to the beans better.

So, I'm guessing with that meal, we exceeded our daily recommendation of vegetables. We probably doubled it!

Fresh, organic vegetables at the Ithaca, NY farmer's market. All items there must be produced within 30 miles of Ithaca. It was the best farmer's market I've ever seen.

A Sad Note...

2008-07-09T22:55:00.002-04:00

Hello, all. I just wanted to let you all know that I probably won't be posting for the next week and a half to two weeks. I found out this evening that my Gram passed away. We're heading home to be with my dad for a couple of days, then going on a vacation with him to the Finger Lakes in New York. We're all very sad, although my Gram's death wasn't completely unexpected. She'll certainly be missed by all of us, and I'm so glad that my kids got the chance to really know her and form a great relationship with her before she became sick. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be on hiatus for a while.

Slip N' Slide

2008-07-08T20:02:00.009-04:00

I got the kids a really cool slip n' slide from Magic Cabin. They've been having a ball with it. It's much better that the slip n' slides of my youth. It has an inflatable runway, which leads into a nice pool at the end. I remember the slip n' slides of my day as being a long, narrow tarp-like thing that was on the ground. You'd feel every hole, gravel or branch you slid over. So, I'm happy to say that they are now much improved for a smoother ride.

I guess it's been a while since I've posted. Summer always gets away from me. So, I'll get started with last week's chickpea cutlet salad. I made the chickpea cutlets my usual way (that means that I reduce the wheat gluten and increase the breadcrumbs a little.) After frying them up, I cut them into strips, let them cool slightly, then put them on top of the salad greens. I topped that with some oven-fries. They're the garlic oven-fries which I found in Cooking Light. I made a creamy maple-dijon dressing for the salad. In a bowl, I whisked together:

approximately 2 TBS dijon mustard
approximately 2 TBS maple syrup
a good scoop of Vegenaise
a splash of cider vinegar
enough soy milk to thin it to a nice texture

It was such a good dressing. Perfect for this type of salad, which is basically your veggie take on a chicken-strip salad you'd get at a restaurant. Yum! It really turned out great. I can't wait to do it with black bean burgers and a chipotle ranch dressing.

I kind of took a couple of days off from cooking over the weekend. I'm much more into cooking when the weather is more moderate. I hate standing in front of a hot stove when it's steamy outside. Yuck! So, for the 4th of July, I made some BBQ baked beans with some leftover Backyard BBQ sauce (V-con) that I had left over. I threw it in a pot with some cooked pintos, a jar of pineapple salsa, a few squirts of ketchup and mustard, and a drizzle of maple syrup. I baked them at 375 for a couple hours. That BBQ sauce really makes some good baked beans! I also made some coleslaw with a nice, fresh head of cabbage from the farmer's market. I diced some onion, grated some carrots and made a standard coleslaw dressing using: Vegenaise, soymilk, sugar, cider vinegar, black pepper and a good pinch of cumin. We had typical holiday fare (except it was vegetarian) with Olives and her family. We watched the fireworks in the pouring rain later that evening. Olives made an awesome nectarine and peach cobbler. I think it was this recipe from Cooking Light.

Last night, I needed to use up some cooked pinto beans. I found this recipe for chipotle bean-burgers from Vegetarian Times. I had made them several times before, but it's been at least two years ago. They're really tasty, but as I made them I remembered that they always fall apart during the frying process. I managed to keep them together reasonably well, but it's really a PitA, and leaves a big mess in my beloved cast-iron skillet. They really did taste great stuffed in a pita with the cilantro, adobo sour cream sauce though. I just mixed up some Better Than Sour Cream with some adobo sauce from the can of chipotles and some chopped cilantro. Perfect! To go with them, I cooked up some beet greens from the CSA. I didn't really know what to do with them, so I found this recipe. Obviously, I left out the bacon and instead added a few drops of liquid smoke at the end. They were awesome! Really, really tasty. So, if anyone out there is looking to cook up some beet greens, I'd highly suggest this recipe.

Tonight, in an effort to use up the rest of my cilantro from last week's CSA delivery, I made linguine with basil-cilantro pesto and artichoke hearts. The recipe is from V-con, and actually calls for spinach linguine, which I couldn't find. I went with plain linguine. I have to say, it is a very easy, flavorful pasta dish that is dinner-party worthy. I also had a bag of sugar snap peas form last week's delivery. I steamed them and then tossed them in just a tad of Earth Balance and spinkled them with salt. They may be my new favorite vegetable. I could easily make a meal of them.

We've been getting lots of garlic scapes from our CSA. To ensure that I use them all up, I use them just as I would garlic in recipes. Maybe use more scapes than you would use garlic since they have a milder taste. I've never been able to use them all up in years past, but this year I've used every one of them.

I've really been digging the new Coldplay album, Viva la Vida. It could be on it's way to becoming my favorite Coldplay album. (Do you love it, Carrie?) You can check out some songs from Viva la Vida on their myspace page. It's really excellent stuff. I'll be playing the hell out of it for a while, I think.

Happy Birthday, P!

2008-07-02T13:01:00.003-04:00

Who is "P," you ask? "P" is what my husband (aka Sleekpelt, or Sleek) call each other. It's derived from sweet-pea. Over the years, we've shortened it to just "P." We pretty much exclusively call each other that. So, that's who "P" is, and yesterday was his 36th b-day. For his 35th I threw him a big party. This year I just made him a nice dinner.

I decided to go with Indian food, because he really liked the Indian veggie burgers and Roasted Manchurian Cauliflower. Both recipes are from Cooking Light. To go with the burgers, I made a spicy mango chutney mayo (using Vegenaise). I served them with pita, red onions and lettuce. So good. I decided to try something different since it was a special occasion. I made some homemade vegetable pakoras. I found this recipe, and used it for the flour/seasoning/water measurements. Then I added shredded carrot, chopped kale, minced onion and a chopped garlic scape to the batter. I can't remember the last time I deep-fried something, so I was a little nervous about that. They actually turned out great! I mean, really, really great. Wow! I'll definitely be making those again. I couldn't come up with a good dip for them. At the Indian restaurant, they have a spicy onion chutney and a tamarind sauce to dip them in. I tried making a tamarind sauce, but I only have tamarind concentrate. I couldn't get it mild enough and still retain a non-watery texture. I also played around with some ketchup and mango chutney, but I thought it still tasted to ketchup-y. So, we had them without dip. The recipe does use quite a bit of seasoning, so they were absolutely fine without the dip.

For dessert, I made a blueberry crisp. I kind of just winged this one, and let me tell you, it may have been the best crisp I've ever had. Seriously. It was crazy-good. Here's what I did (these are estimations. I didn't measure anything):

4-6 cups fresh blueberries
juice from half a lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBS cornstarch

Mix all of above ingredients in a reasonably large baking dish.

Topping:

1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 TBS Earth Balance (in small-ish pieces)

Mix oats, flour and brown sugar in a bowl. With fingers, mix in Earth Balance until it's all crumbly.

Then, spread topping evenly over blueberries and bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until it's golden brown and blueberries are bubbling at the edges.

We had the crisp with a big scoop of vanilla Rice Dream. We have decided to strictly limit our use of dairy products. The commercial dairy industry is absolutely horrible. We have no good local source for dairy (We can get few local cheeses, but not much variety. The kids are the big cheese-eaters, so it's mainly cheddar and mozzerella around here.), as West Virginia has very strict laws pertaining to that. We did find this group in Wisconsin, who sells cheeses online for very reasonable prices. The cows are treated humanely, and it's a co-op of farmers.

Chickpeas, Chickpeas Everywhere!

2008-07-01T11:23:00.007-04:00

I cooked up a big batch of chickpeas on Saturday. I didn't feel like freezing them, so I just put them all in the fridge and decided to use them all this week. A little ridiculous eating chickpeas everyday, so I found some recipes where they aren't too dominant. Just used as more of a filler, really.

Saturday evening, I decided to make some chickpea gravy. It's a favorite around here, and although I view as more of a fall/winter dish, I decided to make it anyway. It's so good, I could really just eat it plain with a spoon. I'm telling you, I think anyone would love this gravy. Even the most enthusiastic meat-eater. I made some mashed potatoes to go with it. I also had a large head of Chinese cabbage from the CSA. I stir-fried it with some onions, and made a little sauce with some shoyu, mirin, sugar, Thai chile paste, sesame oil and water. It was very, very good.

As some of you may know, my previous attempt at falafel fell apart (literally). Fellow blogger, Carrie, posted about her success at making falafel a few weeks ago. She used a recipe she found online, which used un-cooked (soaked) chickpeas. I had reserved enough chickpeas for the recipe before I cooked my big batch. I can't thank you enough, Carrie, for finding that recipe and posting about your success with it! It will certainly become a regular around here. It was just so good. Like Carrie, I used fresh cilantro and mint in it instead of the parsley. I already had them on hand, so that was the deal. I even made the vegan Tzatziki sauce to go with it. I didn't have any cucumber (I went to the store to get pita, and picked up a cuke too, and just sliced it onto the sandwich), so I just used Tofutti sour cream, a little soy milk, chopped mint and chopped cilantro. Yum, yum, yum. Maybe the best falafel ever!

Last night, I made one of our favorites: Chickpeas Romesco over garlic saffron rice. It's from V-con. This one never gets old. I think I could eat it once a week. I had some sugar snap peas that I picked up at the farmers market. I lightly sauteed them and sprinkled with a little sea salt. What a great meal. The recipe really makes a lot, so there's always plenty of leftovers with this one. Okay, mentioning "leftovers" has made my tummy start to rumble. Think I'll go eat them...

Big Salad of the Week and Lentils &Rice

2008-06-29T18:37:00.009-04:00

I think as long as we're getting so many salad greens from the CSA, I'll do a "Big Salad of the Week" post each week. I think it's fun! Hmmmm. I was thinking they would always involve tofu, but I just started thinking of making some chickpea cutlets, but cutting them into strips and making a "chick'n salad." One like you'd get in a restaurant with chicken tenders on it. I may do that at some point. Or, making some black bean burgers and doing something similar. With a homemade chipotle ranch dressing. I may have to do one of those this week. Okay, enough of the daydreaming and on to food that I've already made.

So, this week's big salad was a barbeque tofu salad with homemade croutons. I made the Backyard BBQ sauce from V-con, and just used the Baked BBQ Tofu from the same cookbook. It's a fantastic BBQ sauce. Much better than your run-of-the mill bottled, store-bought kind. So easy to make too. For the croutons, I bought a loaf of french bread from the supermarket deli. I sliced the bread, peeled off the crust, and cut the bread slices into cubes. I put them in a large bowl and drizzled just a little oil on them, sprinkled with sea salt and garlic powder, and baked them at 350 degrees until lightly brown. I'm guessing it was 20-25 minutes? They were very good croutons. Usually the croutons you get in a restaurant or store are a little greasy, but not these. Perfectly crisp without too much oil. For the dressing...I didn't have everything I needed to make my homemade ranch, so I cheated and used Newman's Own ranch. I mixed it with a little bbq sauce to make a tasty BBQ ranch.

The next night, I made the Lentils & Rice recipe from V-con. It's a really easy, one-pot meal. Pretty much toss the water, lentils rice and seasonings into the pot and cook them. At the end, you fold in some onions which have roasted in the oven and become very brown/black and caramelized. I was worried that it would be a bit bland, but it was perfectly spiced and one of my favorite things I've made recently. To go with it, I threw together a simple side salad with a honey-dijon dressing. I mixed about a TBS of honey, a TBS dijon mustard, a dollop of Vegenaise and a splash of cider vinegar. Whisk it together, and you have a very tasty dressing. You can make it according to your taste too. For a sweeter dressing, just add a little extra honey. If you like it spicier, just add some more dijon. You could even make it extra creamy by adding some extra mayo.

Six Penn Kitchen

2008-06-25T10:26:00.006-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, Sleek, the kids and I headed to Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon to check out the Three Rivers Arts Festival. As part of the festival, The Avett Brothers played a free concert in downtown Pittsburgh that evening. We're fans, so there's no way we could turn down a free show!

I searched the internet for a good, kid-friendly restaurant downtown. I finally found Six Penn Kitchen. The menu looked fantastic, and the prices were very reasonable. They also focus on fresh, local ingredients, and you know I'm always impressed by that. They recommend reservations, and even have an online reservation form that makes it so easy. No phone call required, and instant confirmation. If the time you want isn't available, it instantly gives you other times to choose from.

We got to the restaurant, and it really has a nice atmosphere. Not too fancy, but very nice, with an open kitchen. We were seated in a large booth with a window looking out onto the street. The kids really liked being able to look out at a city street from our table. We decided to get some onion rings to share for an appetizer. Julian loves onion rings, and he knew they were on the menu. We didn't really have a choice in the matter! When the onion rings were brought out, we about fell over. It was the biggest pile of onion rings I've ever seen! They were very thinly sliced, and served with a mango ketchup. Best onion rings ever! They also brought out their house-made foccacia and crackers along with some herbed butter. These were also fantastic.

For my entree, I decided on the beet salad and skillet cornbread with molasses butter. The beet salad had fresh greens, orange sections, spiced pecans, and feta. Oh, and beets of course. The dressing was an orange-y vinaigrette. I managed to eat the entire salad, but the skillet of cornbread was much larger than I expected. I ate a small wedge, and had to get the rest boxed up to bring home. The cornbread was some of the best I've had. It had some jalepenos which gave it a little kick, and the top had a few sprinkles of brown sugar which added a nice sweetness. I told Sleek that I didn't think it would be the last time we ate at Six Penn! He agreed.

Sleek ordered the lobster mac n' cheese, which he loved. He was able to eat the entire thing, even after all the onion rings! Julian had a grilled cheese, which was served with a stack of fries that was nearly as large as the stack of onion rings. Annelies had pasta (their house-made pasta) with marinara. The portions were HUGE compared to the price. When you go to a restaurant like that, you just don't expect the portions to be that big. You could easily make a meal from just a salad and appetizer. I'm already thinking about what I'll order next time!

The Avett Brothers show was really cool. There was a good-sized crowd there, but everyone was very mellow. Lots of babies and kids. Julian totally rocked out, and had a bit of an audience himself. More concerts for him! I would like to check out more of the festival activities next year. I know they have lots of great kids' activities that mine would enjoy.

Lettuce, Anyone?

2008-06-23T22:07:00.006-04:00

Lettuce and greens seem to be the focus right now since we're getting them in abundance from the CSA. It's fun to try to come up with new things to do with that. I've been trying to do one big salad for a meal each week. They seem to usually involve tofu. Thankfully, the co-op is once again stocked with Spring Creek tofu. Whew! We can all breathe a sigh of relief about that.

Let's start with last Tuesday's dinner, which was black-bean lettuce cups. Talk about an easy meal to throw together. I heated up a can of rinsed, drained black beans with a can of drained, fire-roasted diced tomatoes. I added some chili powder, cumin and tad of agave nectar. Oh, and salt and pepper too. I let them simmer for a while while I washed and dried the lettuce leaves. I'm not sure exactly what kind of lettuce it was, but it was perfect to use as cups for the beans. I scooped some of the beans/tomatoes into a leaf and topped with bit of Tofutti sour cream and guacamole. Very, very tasty. Lettuce wraps/cups pretty much rule, and you can really get creative with the fillings.

Wednesday night was big-salad night. This week, I did an Asian-style salad. I started by pressing my block of tofu for about an hour. After it was well drained, I sliced it in 1/4 inch slices and marinated it in a mixture of mirin, shoyu, rice vinegar, agave nectar, Thai chili sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper. I let it marinate for 30 minutes, then flipped the slices over for 30 more minutes. Then, I put it on a baking sheet and baked it at 375 for 20 minutes, then flipped and gave it another 10. I let it cool just a bit, and put it on a nice pile of fresh greens. I added some fried rice-noodles (from a can). Those things definitely aren't healthy, but they sure do add a nice crunch to a salad. I made an Asian vinaigrette to go on the salad:

1 inch piece of ginger
a clove of garlic
2 TBS tamari
2 TBS rice vinegar
a little squirt of agave
1 TBS sesame oil.

Give it a good whirl, and there you go.

Okay, my last greens were used making the Popeye Pasta from ED&bV. You can use any type of pasta with this. (I used whole-wheat rotini.) The sauce is very simple: Onion, lots of garlic, white wine, crushed tomatoes, and whatever Italian herbs you like. (I like to use dried oregano and basil. I'd use fresh if I had them.) I used my perpetual spinach (chard) from the CSA. It was a pretty hefty bag, and I used the whole thing. It's leaves are tougher than those of spinach, so it really held up well in this dish. It lent the dish an earthier flavor which was really nice.

On Saturday, Sleek, the kids and I headed up to Pittsburgh to take in some of the Three Rivers Arts Festival, which included a free concert by The Avett Brothers. We had dinner at a really fantastic restaurant before the show. I'm going to do a post about it tomorrow, so stay tuned...

Happy Birthday, Julian!

2008-06-17T14:19:00.006-04:00

Yesterday my little guy turned four. FOUR! I can't believe it's been four years since I woke up at 5 a.m. and thought I may be in labor. After the stressful event of nearly giving birth to Annelies in the car, I had decided that if I thought I was in labor with Julian, I was heading to the hospital. My midwife agreed. So, off we went. I thought they would tell me it was going to be a while, and send me back home. Imagine my surprise when my midwife told me I was a good 7 cm dilated. Shocked! I was fortunate to have a very nice, relaxed and peaceful labor. Julian was born just after noon. He's a really sweet little fella. (When he's not being a little demon.)

He was lucky enough to have two birthday celebrations. The first one was at my parents' house on Saturday. He had a Spiderman ice-cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery. It was pretty good, but I prefer homemade cakes. He loved the novelty of the cake, though, so it was really cool.

Yesterday, we had a small party here and invited just a few friends. I made some baked beans, macaroni salad and cupcakes. We also had hummus, guacamole, chips, veggies, fruit, etc. I'm going to re-post my baked bean recipe here because a couple of the guests requested the recipe. It is a modified version of the recipe my mom has always used for baked beans.

2 large cans (28 oz?) of Vegetarian Bush's Baked Beans
1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 jar of Newman's Own pineapple salsa
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup ketchup
a couple squirts of mustard
1 TBS of molasses (Optional. I've made them without and they're just as good.)

Mix everything up in a large baking dish. Bake covered for 2 hours at 375 degrees. Uncover and bake for an hour or so, or until the sauce thickens up.

For the cupcakes, I went with two vegan versions. A plain chocolate with plain buttercream frosting. I found the recipe for the cupcakes and the frosting here, but I think it's from Vegan Cupcakes Rule the World. I also made the Coconut Heaven Cupcakes from VWaV. I didn't eat any of the chocolate ones, but the kids seemed to really like them. The coconut cupcakes were just off the hook. I'll be making them again for sure. Like soon.

Cookies, Pizza, A Big Salad and Chili Dogs

2008-06-11T22:16:00.011-04:00

Last Friday was Annelies's last day of kindergarten. I can't believe the school-year flew by so fast. My little girl is a first-grader now. It truly makes my heart ache. Although, since last Friday, I've spent my days playing mediator for the kids. When they aren't fighting, they're zipping around the house. Trashing the place and screeching. I may very well lose my mind before the end of summer. Maybe once we get into a routine, things will run smoother. For now, though, I feel like I can't get a single bit of work done and I want to go to bed at 8 o'clock at night. I'm worn out already!

To celebrate her last day of school, I made her favorite sugar cookies and her favorite dinner, "Mama's homemade pizza!" I didn't do too much cooking the rest of the weekend since Sleek was out of town. I had lots of salad mix and fresh spinach from the CSA, so I did eat a good bit of salad. Wondering what to do with my bunch of fresh chives, I decided to try a vegan ranch dressing. It turned out to be excellent. Here's what I did:

3/4 cup soy milk with a good splash of cider vinergar. Let it sit for a few minutes until it curdles.
3 TBS Vegenaise
a good pinch of sugar (You can make it on the sweeter side, or not. Just whatever you like.)
pinch of salt
good pinch of dried parsley
black pepper

Whisk it all together, and there you go! It's best after it's been in the fridge overnight. The flavor of the chives really comes alive after a day or two.

When Sleek arrived home, I decided to make some buffalo tofu salads. After pressing the tofu, I sliced it and brushed both sides with a mixture of peanut oil and shoyu. I baked it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Then I flipped it over and baked it for 15 minutes more. After that, I covered it in buffalo sauce and baked it for 15 more minutes. I let it cool a bit, then put some slices on the salads. I put some french fries on top, then followed with the ranch dressing. So good! A great way to use up the CSA salad greens. I figure on one big salad a week for dinner as long as we're getting this many greens. Oh, and I made the buffalo sauce by melting about 1/3 cup Earth Balance and adding 3/4 cups of hot sauce to that.

Last night, I went with an idea that Sleek had the first time he sank his teeth into a Snobby Joe. Veggie chili dogs. I bought some veggie dogs and made the very simple Snobby recipe as a chili. Add some mustard and chopped onions, and OMG! It's a vegan chili dog! Even better than the "real" thing. I made some of my vegan macaroni salad to go along with them. A true summer meal.

I'm at my parents' house for the next several days. My next post will be Julian's birthday post. My little guy will be 4 on Monday. 4!

Quesadillas, Foccacia, Pie and Thai Curry (Not All at Once!)

2008-06-05T18:53:00.008-04:00

Summer is nearly here, and blogging becomes less of a priority. I think that's normal, right? We had our first CSA pickup on Tuesday. Due to a very wet, chilly May, it's off to a slow start. That's okay. It just means more for later. This week we got a nice bag of salad mix, a beautiful bunch of spinach, a nice bunch of radishes, and lots of fresh chives. Tomorrow I'm going to start using it up, so stay tuned for that. It all looks so beautiful!

We were once again out of town last weekend, and Sleek left today for a long weekend of fishing with his brother and friends. So, I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking. So, I'll start with last week...

Sleek was working some long hours last week, so to save my sanity, I kept things pretty simple. Wednesday evening I made some veggie quesadillas. I diced an onion and red bell pepper and sauteed them with a bit of garlic until soft. Then I added a can of black beans (rinsed and drained), and a generous sprinkling of taco seasoning. Then I just spread it between some whole-grain tortillas and grilled it. Easy, yummy and relatively healthy!

I had been dying to make the foccacia that Carrie blogged about a couple weeks ago. She found it on the blog of Vegan Dad. Very easy recipe. It turned out great. I made a very simple spaghetti with olive oil and garlic and roasted asparagus to go with it. I can't wait to get a big bag of fresh basil from the CSA and make a nice pesto to slather on this foccacia. OMG. It will be so good!

Friday was the day we headed to my hometown. I decided to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie to take along. I had dough in the freezer that I had made last month, so it was a relatively simple operation. Here's how I made it:

3-4 cups rhubarb, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
2 cups sliced strawberries
scant 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 TBS cornstarch
1 cup sugar
sprinkling of brown sugar
a few TBS chilled butter (or margarine) cut up to dot the filling

I filled the pie shell and topped with a complete top crust. (Not ready to attempt a lattice-top yet. Plus, I like lots of crust with a fruit pie.) I baked it at 475 degrees for about 15 minutes, then reduced the temp. to 375 degrees for another 45 minutes.

I had really been craving a Thai curry, so Tuesday evening I whipped one up. I started by lightly sauteeing an onion, green bell pepper, a few carrots and a couple cups of broccoli florets. I added in a good tablespoon of minced ginger and a couple large cloves of minced garlic. I let it sizzle for a minute of so, then added probably 2.5 tsp of Thai curry paste. I smashed it around a little, then added a can and a half of lite coconut milk. To that, I added about a tablespoon of brown sugar, a good pinch of tumeric and a pinch salt. Then I added about a cup of frozen green beans and brought it to a boil, reduced the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. I made some coconut rice to go with it. Honestly, it was so good we just couldn't believe it. It had a nice sweet and spicy flavor to it. I'll certainly be making that one again!

Spicoli Burgers and Pakastani Dahl (Again)

2008-05-28T11:37:00.004-04:00

I saw a recipe in ED&BV for some nice-looking veggie burgers. They're called "Spicoli" burgers due to the cup of hemp seeds the recipe contains. I thought that was pretty funny, and I have been looking for a plain-ish veggie burger that would be like eating an actual burger. You know, not like a Mexican-style bean burger or something. I've been wanting to make these burgers for a few weeks. No hemp seeds to be found here in town (well, not the shelled, edible-type anyway). ;) So, I ordered them online. Hemp seeds are packed with protein, fiber and essential fatty acids. Due to the idiotic drug laws in the U.S., industrial hemp can't be grown here in the states. This makes me crazy, and I could go on and on about it, but I won't. Even in light of the current food and fuel prices, I won't go into how hemp could potentially solve some of these problems. On to the food...

The burgers were really, really tasty. Loaded with short-grain brown rice, onion, red pepper, spices and hemp seeds. Sleek said that they reminded him of crab-cakes. I agree that these would make a suitable, vegan replacement for a crab-cake sandwich. I topped mine with some Vegenaise, red onion and lettuce. Very tasty.

Last night I wanted to make something simple. Something that I already had all the ingredients for. So, it was Pakastani Dahl once again. I made this a few months ago, and I thought it should become a regular. I guess it hasn't quite made it there yet! I found the recipe on Vegweb. I like to add a little garam masala and some extra chili powder. The original recipe isn't quite flavorful enough for me. It's so tasty, and the recipe makes plenty for leftovers the next day.

We spent the holiday weekend in our state capital, Charleston. We did lots of visiting with my Mamaw. We also explored downtown Charleston a little. A beautiful downtown, but not many people out and about. We thought it was kind of strange. We had a great dinner at Sitar of India with Becky and her husband, Mike. It was really fun. It's cool to meet an online friend in real life! The food was fantastic too. I had wanted to have brunch at Bluegrass Kitchen, but after eating three fresh-out-of-the-fryer Krispy Kremes for breakfast, I was pretty much done for the day. I'll hit it up next time for sure. We also saw family friends Bill and Becky Kimmons perform a concert with their a cappella trio, Bare Bones. Our kids are huge fans, so they thought it was a pretty big deal. It was a great concert, and they debuted songs from their new cd, Put Your Loving Arms All Around Me.

Yesterday, I was pleased to see this article/interview with Radiohead on cnn.com. They're so freaking cool! It prompted me to listen to Kid A, which is just a fantastic follow up to the amazingly hard-act-to-follow OK Computer. I remember a feeling of relief rushing over me the first time I put Kid A on. I was so afraid it wouldn't live up to OK Computer or The Bends. When I heard the first chords of Everything in it's Right Place start off the CD, I knew everything would be just fine.

Highlights

2008-05-22T21:03:00.006-04:00

I seem to be doing some serious slacking here at Chez Mama recently. I don't know what to blame, really. Okay, so I'll partially blame the Wii we got last Sunday. I've got a serious case of Wii elbow going on from playing so much tennis. For real! My arm is totally sore. It's so fun, though. So, since it's been a while since I last posted, I'm just going to do some highlights. A few things I made were old standards, like calzones/pizza and pasta pomodoro. I also made the Bean and Corn Lasagna with Avacado from ED&BV. It was really easy and tasty, but I didn't get a good photo of it.

Last Friday night, I decided to make some pancakes. Those are always a hit with the kids. I used Becky's recipe, which she had posted on her blog before. Here is her recipe:

1 egg (or egg substitute)
1 cup whole wheat flour (I like Hudson Cream... King Arthur is good.
You can cut it half-half with white flour if you want fluffier
pancakes)
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp applesauce
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Beat the egg, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix until
smooth. Ladle onto hot, nonstick griddle. Flip when pancakes aren't
shiny around the edges and top is covered with bubbles.

I added a little squirt of agave nectar to the batter to give it just a hint of sweetness. These were some really tasty pancakes, and the kids loved them. I can see it becoming my standard pancake recipe, except for the times when I need to just go all out and make Bisquick ones. LOL!

Monday night I made the best channa masala I've ever eaten. It was insane. I made it by adapting a recipe I'd found on vegweb. All the measurements listed are approximate. Here it is:

2 TBS oil
1 onion chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1.5 tsp curry powder
2.5 tsp garam masala
3 TBS tomato paste
3.5 cups of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3/4 can of lite coconut milk
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp salt
cayenne pepper
2 TBS margarine (I used Earth Balance. Butter could be used as well.)

Heat oil in pan, and sautee onion until softened and lightly browned. Add garlic and sautee another minute. Add spices and tomato paste, and stir until well-mixed. Add coconut milk and chickpeas and simmer until chickpeas are nice and soft. Add lemon juice, salt, cayenne and margarine. Stir until margarine melts.

This was just out of control. I swear it's better than any channa masala I've had in an Indian restaurant. I could eat it every day!

This evening, I made some refried beans the usual way. I also made some mashed potatoes, and once again the jalepeno-corn gravy from V-con. This time, I happened to be out of lemons, so I substituted lime juice in the gravy. I also added a few splashes of hot sauce. WAY better than with lemon juice.

Sleek and I saw a really rockin' show last night here in Mo-town. Clutch. Kinda blues-funk-hard rock. We had been wanting to see them for at least a year. They've played Mo-town before, but it's been a pretty long time. I didn't really expect them to return, since they've really grown and become more mainstream. The show was at 123 Pleasant St., which is pretty much our only really good music venue. Last month, I was checking out the 123 website, and saw that Clutch was playing on May 21st. I instantly IMed Sleek at work to tell him. I believe his response was: "SHUT UP!" We had a good time, and the show completely rocked. I'll check them out again any time they're in town.

Veggie Burgers, Cauliflower and Stuffed Zucchini

2008-05-14T21:16:00.005-04:00

Every issue of Cooking Light has a section called "Inspired Vegetarian". I've found some killer recipes there. In the April issue, that section was all Indian-inspired dishes. That pretty much rules as far as I'm concerned. Last night, I chose a couple of the recipes to try. One of them was for veggie burgers. The bulk of them is made up of chickpeas and potatoes. They also have carrots, onion, lots of cilantro and other spices. I knew they would need some sort of dressing, so I bought some hot mango chutney. I mixed the chutney with Vegenaise pretty much half and half. I spread some of that in a pita, stuffed in some baby romaine, the burger, and some red onions. So good. So freaking good. Best veggie burger I've had in a good while. (Oh, the recipe says to mix it all up and keep it in the fridge for at least 8 hours. Of course, I didn't notice that until I got the whole thing mixed up, and planned on eating dinner in an hour or so. I put it in the freezer for about an hour. I had no problems with the mixture holding together or anything.)

I also made some Roasted Manchurian Cauliflower from the same issue of CL. It was just out-of-control. No other way to describe it, really. I can't recommend it enough. Anyone reading this should plan on making it. Right now.

Tonight, I made some zucchini stuffed with millet, tomatoes, kalamata olives and capers. I came across the recipe in VWaV. Pretty simple, and pretty good. Not great, but good.

Sleek said that the veggie burger/cauliflower meal was the best meal he's had in a long time. So, I think I'll be making that one again in the next couple of weeks. It really was ridiculous. Oh, here's something cute...Yesterday, Julian came in the kitchen and got a handful of grapes. He headed for the back door and said he was going to make some "homemade raisins." A little while later, I look out on the deck and see this:

Just a Little Update...

2008-05-12T19:24:00.003-04:00

Hey y'all. I just wanted to check in here with a quick update. Sleek and I skipped the Radiohead show. We had a lot going on this weekend, so we over-nighted our tickets to a friend. Turns out, we dodged a bullet. The weather in the D.C. area was horrible, with torrential rains and flooding. Many concert-goers didn't even get into the show due to closed roads. Apparently there was parking-lot trouble after the show as well. Some people apparently just ended up sleeping there in their cars. So, I'm quite relieved we decided to skip it. If we didn't have PIT TICKETS! to the Cleveland show later this summer, I'd be disappointed. Since we do, though, I'm not. LOL

Anyway, we spent the weekend at my parents' house where I proceeded to fill my body with bad, junky food. For example: Schwann's cheese pizzas, Sun Chips (lots of 'em), candy bars (lots and lots of 'em), etc. I felt miserable the whole time because of it. I feel physically and mentally yucky when I do that. So, today I've just eaten raw fruits and veggies, and may do the same tomorrow. I'll probably cook something for everyone else, though!

Burritos, Beans and Tofu

2008-05-07T21:31:00.009-04:00

With the weather getting warmer, it seems like my computer time is definitely decreasing. I guess I don't really consider that a bad thing, though. Tomorrow is our 9th wedding anniversary. Nine years, Sleek and I have been married! Wow. We've been living together for nearly thirteen years, and that really throws me for a loop. Heavens! I was but a 20 year-old child when we got together. LOL I'm not cooking tomorrow, so we're taking the kids out for dinner at Black Bear for our anniversary. We're going to the Radiohead show on Sunday too, so that will be part of our celebration as well. OH MY GOD, we're going to see Radiohead on Sunday! In honor of that, I listened to both discs of In Rainbows today. Twice. Oh, and the photo at the top was taken by Sleek at the Hemlock Trail. He and the kids went hiking there with some friends last weekend.

Okay, Monday was Cinco de Mayo, and I wanted something resembling Mexican for that. I made the Garlicky Broccoli and Bean Burritos from ED&bV. While it's actually more of an Asian-style burrito, it worked. It was super-easy to put together, and that scores major points with me. Very interesting flavor for a burrito. I know, I know--burritos seem to come in every possible ethnicity these days.

I had a lot of BBQ sauce left over from my BBQ tofu sandwiches last week, so after much thought about what to do with it, I decided on BBQ beans. I thought I'd heard of them before, and after searching the web I found out that they do indeed exist. I couldn't find a recipe I liked, so I winged it. I used an unknown amount of cooked pinto beans. I would guess 5-6 cups? I mixed them up with the remaining 3(?) cups of BBQ and a jar of Newman's Own Pineapple Salsa. I baked them, covered, at 375 degrees for an hour. Then I uncovered and baked for 30 more minutes. Dang. They were some good stuff. So easy too. A fantastic way to use leftover BBQ sauce. Oh, I sauteed a green pepper and half a diced onion to add to them. Almost forgot that.

To go with the beans, I made some macaroni salad. Almost a tradition in my family. If you're having any kind of baked beans, you have to have either mac salad or homemade mac and cheese. I made my family's traditional mac salad recipe, except I vegan-ized it. Here goes:

12 oz. cooked macaroni, cooled
1 1/3 cup Vegenaise
6 oz. soy milk
1 scant cup of sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
4 tsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. salt
1 yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, grated

Blend together mayo, milk, sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery seed and salt. Pour over cooked macaroni and stir in onion and carrot.

Tonight I made Cumin-Lime Tofu from ED&bV. I made coconut rice to go with it. (Coconut rice is becoming very popular around here!) Served it up with a side of broccoli. The things on the tofu are chopped, raw pepitas. (aka pumpkin seeds.) The tofu was a nice change of flavors. Very, very easy and really tasty.

I probably won't post again until after Radiohead, so I look forward to telling y'all how freakin' awesome it was! Actually, I made some really kick-ass, healthy granola bars this evening. I may do a quick post tomorrow for those. They're really amazing! Oh, and check out what's on our front porch. On top of the porch light. Not a great photo, but I have to stand on a chair and just hold the camera up and point it down without being able to see what I'm shooting.

Long Time, No Blog

2008-05-03T19:46:00.008-04:00

Wow. It's been over a week since I posted. It all started with Sleek being out of town last weekend. I took a little break from cooking. Then, I woke up Monday morning with a nasty sore throat and congestion. I'd finally caught the cold that Sleek and the kids had. I thought I was in the clear. I was feeling much better by Wednesday, though. Still a little tired, though, so instead of blogging I was going to bed early. I'm not going to go in depth about every thing I cooked last week. I'm just going to do highlights.

Monday evening, feeling like crap. I decided to make some "no-chicken noodle soup," which I had made last winter. It was the perfect thing to ease the sore throat. Who says you need chicken in your soup to make it therapeutic?

I think it was Wednesday evening that I made the Lemony Roasted Potatoes from V-con. My God, they're good. I could've damn near eaten the whole pan. And it's 2.5 lbs. of potatoes! Thursday, I made a mixed vegetable, Malaysian-style curry. It was in a recent issue of Cooking Light. Instead of okra, I used zucchini. I made coconut rice to go with it. It was nice and spicy, and worked to clear my sinuses a bit.

Friday evening, I decided on BBQ tofu sandwiches with coleslaw. I made the BBQ sauce from V-con, and baked the tofu. For the slaw, I sliced half a head of cabbage, a couple carrots and half an onion. I made the dressing with Vegenaise, soy milk, cider vinegar, a bit of sugar, a pinch of cumin, and a dash of salt and pepper. It may have been the best slaw I've ever made, and the sandwiches were just ridiculous. Sleek said, "You could sell these."

Also on Friday, I decided to take it upon myself to make some homemade chewy granola bars. I just kind of winged it. They turned out to be AWESOME. They're pretty sweet, so next time I'll definitely reduce the amount of brown rice syrup and brown sugar. Here's the deal:

1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cups puffed millet
1 1/4 cups puffed brown rice
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup Sunspire chocolate candies (natural M&Ms)
3 TBS melted Earth Balance
1/3 cup natural, unsweetened peanut butter
1 1/4 cups brown rice syrup

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine wet ingredients in small bowl. Mix dry ingredients until all mixed up. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir (or mix with hands) until combined. Press into 9X13 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Today was the first day of the season for the Morgantown Farmer's Market, so I was all over that. At this point, it's pretty much greens, meat, jellies, eggs, and plants. So, I got a nice little head of bibb lettuce, and a beautiful bunch of purple kale. For dinner this evening, I made a salad with the lettuce. I found a recipe for a bibb lettuce salad with butter dressing, so I decided to give it a try. Very different. Very buttery. Very good. For the kale, I sauteed an onion and garlic until the onion was nice and brown. After boiling the kale for about 3 minutes, I drained it and added it to the pan with the onions a garlic. I made a sauce for it using about a tablespoon of Earth Balance, 2 TBS of tamari, and a tsp of balsamic vinegar. I think it was the best kale I've ever tasted. I'll be getting two bunches of it next week. The kids wanted some mashed potatoes, so I made some of those too. I made a simple onion gravy by dicing and onion and browning it in a non-stick pan. (I didn't even use any oil!) Then I added some minced garlic, a pinch of paprika and a pinch of oregano. Then I added a cup and a half of no-chicken broth with about a 1/3 cup of flour whisked into it. I stirred while letting it thicken, then added a splash of tamari and salt & pepper. It may have been the best meal of the week.

Only a week until the Radiohead show! Whoooo-hooooo! Two new (to me) bands I'm really liking right now: Old Crow Medicine Show and Amos Lee. That's thanks to Olives and the mix cds she made as party favors for her daughter's birthday. Now that's a great party favor!

Oh, for anyone who is interested...Sleek made a slide-show revealing the horrors of mountain-top mining. It's posted over at Picture West Virginia. It's quite disturbing.

Chipotle Black Beans With Mexican Millet, Veggie Reubens and More

2008-04-25T21:02:00.005-04:00

I've taken a few days off from the world of Blogger. With the weather getting really nice, I find my evenings being consumed with other activities. We've had a 10-day run on nice weather, it seems. We're trying to get outside as much as possible. Oh, and Sleek started a new blog called Picture West Virginia. It's really cool, so I'll be participating there for sure. If you're a West Virginian, or are just interested about what life is like in the Mountain State, come on over.

Okay, cooking...Tuesday evening, I decided to make use of some of the black beans I have in the freezer. I noticed a really interesting-looking recipe in V-con for chipotle black-beans. It was really easy with just a few ingredients, so I was game. The recipe intro mentioned that the Mexican millet (also from V-con, obviously) would accompany the beans nicely. The millet also was very easy with few ingredients. I'd never had millet before, so I decided to give it a try. Well, let me just say (and Sleek agrees), that the beans and millet completely blow my regular black beans and Mexican rice out of the water. Wow. This is the way it's going to be from now on. The millet is very interesting. Soft, but crunchy. A nice change from the usual rice. And the chipotle sauce for the beans. Yaaaaa-hoooo! Look out! That is some spicy stuff. So freaking good. This meal would be absolutely perfect with some cornbread.

Wednesday evening I made one of our favorite sandwiches, veggie reubens. These are just killer. Even just the veggie filling with some of the dressing drizzled over is good. You don't even need the bread and cheese! (I ate them as leftovers that way.) Last night, Sleek requested the tried and true chickpea gravy from WaVV. It's always awesome. This time I served it over some whole-wheat egg noodles for a change. Definitely comfort food.

I've made muffins a couple times this month. After the first batch, Annelies asked me to make her some blueberry muffins. (They're the only kind she likes.) Last week when I had over-ripe bananas and had to make muffins, she was crestfallen when she asked what kind they were. The poor kid just wants some blueberry muffins. So, I decided that I would make her some today. I scoured the internet for the perfect recipe. I had to find something that would be suitable for her. (Read: not uber-healthy.) I finally found a recipe from Ina Garten. It's loaded with butter, sugar and eggs. I knew I couldn't go wrong with these. I did use dried blueberries instead of fresh. I poured some hot water over them so they would plump up a bit. I followed the rest of directions perfectly. (Including a stick and a half of butter!) The recipe made 16 good-sized muffins. Let me just go ahead and say it: They are the perfect muffin. The best blueberry muffin I've ever had in my whole entire life. Incredible! Sleek is out of town for the weekend, so I made sure to put several in the freezer just so he'll get to try them. I have a feeling these will go fast!

Lemongrass and Aspargus Risotto and Lots of Other Things

2008-04-21T19:47:00.007-04:00

Wow. Seems I haven't posted in a while, eh? I feel like I've barely used the computer in the last week. The kids were at their grandparents' over the weekend, and I took a nice long break from cooking. I got back into the groove this evening, though, with lemongrass and asparagus risotto from V-con. While labor-intensive (lots of adding broth and stirring constantly) it was delicious. Crazy-good. Must make more risotto. To go with it, I made a sort-of crustless spanakopita. Jessica made it during our winter-fun weekend at Canaan Valley. I think she did hers like a casserole. I copied the recipe from her, and it called for making it in a pie-plate. I decided to try it that way and cut it into slices. Mmmmmm. So good. Jessica originally found the recipe in Health magazine. It was a really good meal, and the risotto was worth every second of preparation.

Now, back to last week...Wednesday evening, I made a really interesting lentil-kidney bean loaf. The recipe came from my Vegetarian cookbook. It turned out really good, and was especially good as leftovers on a sandwich. Cold with a little ketchup. Very reminiscent of a traditional meatloaf sandwich. I had a mandarin-pecan spinach salad with it. I made the dressing with some spicy pecan vinegar (Thanks, c-drums!), mandarin orange sections, olive oil, salt and pepper. I topped it with some toasted pecans.

Thursday I made the zucchini-chickpea-tomato curry from ED&BV. It was pretty good, but the recipe called for whole coriander seeds. Every few bites, Sleek and I would bite into one of the seeds. It was quite unpleasant. If I make it again, I'll definitely use ground coriander. First time I've thrown away leftovers in many, many months.

My absolute favorite thing I made last week was vegan, no-bake cookies. Yu-hum. Why hadn't I made these before? This is roughly the recipe I came up with:

4 TBS Earth Balance
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup turbinado sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 TBS peanut butter
3 cups oatmeal

Melt EB and cocoa powder. Add sugar and soy milk and bring to a boil. Let boil for a few minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract, pb, and oatmeal. Drop spoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets, or just start eating it out of the pot! So good! I'll definitely be making these again. Next time, I'm going to reduce the cocoa to 1/3 cup, and increase the pb by a TBS or two. They were a little too chocolate-y, and not quite peanut butter-y. Still freaking good, though.

Black-Bean Cutlets With Jalepeno-Corn Gravy

2008-04-16T10:36:00.006-04:00

Oh. My. God. I know the photo is a little dark, and the corn gravy looks super-yellow, but this was one of my favorite meals in a long time. I have a bunch of black beans in the freezer, and was skimming V-con to try to figure out something to do with them. I've made the black-bean burgers from there before, but I was wanting something slightly different this time. That's when I happened upon the recipe for jalepeno-corn gravy. Sounded very interesting. I thought it may be good with a thinner bean burger, more like the chickpea cutlets. So, I thought I'd just do the burger recipe and make them thinner. I also decreased the wheat gluten to 1/4 cup. I don't like the chewy texture that 1/2 cup gives the patty. It grosses me out a little. So, I added in a little extra breadcrumbs to make up for it. Then I pan-fried them just like I do the chickpea cutlets. I made mashed potatoes to go with them, and poured the gravy over everything. It was out-of-control! I swear! So freaking good. This will be in regular rotation, I'm sure. It's all so easy to make too.

I had some bananas that were getting way over-ripe, so yesterday afternoon I decided to make some banana bread and muffins. My favorite recipe, from a Southern Living cookbook, isn't the healthiest. So I modified the recipe to make it as healthy as possible while also making it vegan. Here's what I did:

3.5 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup of turbinado sugar
2 1/4 cups mashed banana (about 4 large bananas)
1 cup soy milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Mix the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the rest of ingredients in a medium bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry, and mix until everything is moist. For muffins, spoon batter into greased muffin pan, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Makes a dozen muffins. For the bread, spoon batter into a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 for an hour. I added some organic, dark-chocolate chips to the loaf batter. YUM!

Sunday Brunch and Cafe of India

2008-04-14T21:33:00.008-04:00

Sunday, Sleek and I invited some friends (crusselldrums and family) over for brunch. I always enjoy getting together with friends over a great meal. Brunches often work better than dinners for us because by evening, the kids are starting to get tired and grumpy. (At least during the school-year when they get up early. In the summer, they can go all night!) At brunch time, they're well-rested and can actually hang out for several hours without completely melting down. Much more enjoyable.

Anyway, I made a broccoli cheddar quiche using my typical pie-crust recipe (4 cups flour and 1 tsp. salt with 1 3/4 cups trans-fat-free shortening cut in. Add in 1/2 cup water, an egg and 1 TBS vinegar) along with my usual quiche-filling recipe. The milk-egg ratio always stays the same, but I like to experiment with the veggies/cheese that I use. It turned out very good, I think. Sleek thought it was the best quiche ever. Every time I make a quiche he says that! To go along with it, I made some oven-roasted potatoes. I diced the potatoes (russets), and spread them onto a baking sheet coated with canola oil cooking spray. Then I gave them another spray of the oil, sprinkled with salt and garlic powder, and roasted at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes. I stirred them about every 10 minutes. They were really good, and much healthier than pan-frying.

I also made a strawberry spinach salad, which Becky had posted on her blog last month. I thought about that salad for a month before I could get strawberries worthy of it. Like Becky, I also reduced the amount of olive oil called for. I probably used 1/3 cup. It was so good! I have lots of the dressing left over, so I can't wait to buy more spinach tomorrow and finish it off. I made some tropical muffins from the current issue of Cooking Light as well. Honestly, they were some of the best muffins ever. How could they not be? They're packed with pineapple, banana, coconut and macadamia nuts! I'll be making them again for sure. Probably sooner rather than later.

Saturday evening, Sleek and I decided to try our luck with Cafe of India once again. This time we opted for take-out. I had some vegetable pakoras, garlic naan, Shahi paneer masala, rice, and kheer for dessert. It was so good that I ate until I felt miserable. We're already talking about eating there again this coming weekend. We just can't help ourselves.

I'm still digging the new Joseph Arthur EP, Could We Survive. He's released a second one, which I'm putting on my iPod tonight. I can't wait to check it out. Y'all should check him out. I'll predict that anyone reading this would love him! Check out this video of Joseph discussing his new art gallery in Brooklyn. Very cool.

Olive Oyl Pasta and Thai Coconut Corn Stew

2008-04-11T21:19:00.005-04:00

Last week, I made the Popeye Pasta from ED&BV. I figured it was only fair to give the Olive Oyl Pasta a shot this week. I love olives, so I knew I'd love this dish. It was so easy! The sauce was made with shallots, lots of garlic (8-10 cloves!), olive oil, oregano, basil and a can of diced tomatoes. To that, just add your cooked pasta and the chopped olives. I opted for Kalamata olives and a green olive. (Can't remember the name of the green olive, but it was a Greek olive as well.) It was so good. Anything this easy is bound to become a regular around here.

Tonight I made the Thai Coconut Corn Stew, also from ED&BV. It required me to make my first trip to the local Asian market. I had to get some lemongrass and Thai basil. It was a really neat place. A bit overwhelming too, since I couldn't read any of the packaging. They had so many items! It was great, and I look forward to doing more shopping there. I didn't even try to pretend I knew what I was doing in there. I went straight to the counter and asked for help! I didn't even know what lemongrass looked like! The stew was amazing. Just amazing. Made with garlic, ginger, celery, onion, coconut milk, veggie broth, lemongrass, red pepper and corn. With lime zest, lime juice and Thai basil added at the end. Just amazing. It would be perfect for a Thai-themed dinner party.

Sleek and I decided that tomorrow we're going to order take-out from Cafe of India. I think my anger has abated. Whew!

Oh, you may notice I did two posts in a row here. I explained that in the post below!

Tofu-Veggie Lettuce Wraps and Leek and Bean Cassoulet

2008-04-11T20:49:00.008-04:00

Yippy-yay! I finally got my new computer cord. That means computer time is on again! The worst was not being able to check accuweather.com every few hours to see what weather to anticipate in the coming hours, days and weeks. A couple times, I actually called Sleek at work and asked him to check accuweather for me. That's plain crazy! Good lord, not being able to check cnn.com several times/day was no picnic either. Tuning in on the tele just doesn't cut it. One morning, I just didn't get up in time to read my favorite thing ever in the Gazette. Sleek was out the door so fast with his computer that all day I anticipated reading it! A day not started with the "Reader's Voice" is an unhappy day indeed. It provides much comic relief when I'm barely awake at 6:30 a.m.

Okay, enough blabbering and on with the food! I'm breaking this down into two posts because I just can't put four meals in one post. Something in me (OCD, anyone?) just won't let me. So, I'll start with the tofu-veggie lettuce wraps that I made on Tuesday. It was one of those things that just came to me, and I decided to make it. I love it when that happens! So, I started by pressing my tofu for a good hour. Then I crumbled it into a pan that had been heated up with some olive oil. I sort of sauteed it until it browned up a little. Then I added in onion, carrots, red pepper and broccoli. I had very finely chopped the veggies up in my food processor. I let them cook for just a few minutes because I wanted them to have some crunch to them. I made a little sauce with some garlic, shoyu, agave nectar, Chinese five-spice powder, Thai chile paste, salt and pepper. I had washed and dried some large romaine leaves, which I served the veggie mixture in, taco style. They were really good, and I look forward to experimenting with other flavors of veggie wraps. A Mexican, taco-style seasoning would work very well with the tofu and veggies. Anyway, as a side, I made some veggie fried rice the usual way.

Wednesday night, I made a new recipe from V-con. The Leek and Bean Cassoulet. I had heard good things about it, so I really looked forward to trying it. It's topped with biscuits, and it's as damn close to a store-bought pot-pie as a vegan-version gets. It's seriously good. A little time-consuming to make, but seriously worth it. I might make the filling some time and do a real-deal, double-crust pot-pie with it. Damn! Good stuff.

So, get this: As I've posted before, Sleek and I are going to a Radiohead show next month. We kind of missed out on the pre-sale tickets and got stuck with lawn seats. No biggie. I was super-stoked anyway. Well...Last week Radiohead announced the dates for the second leg of their North American tour that will start later this summer. Sleek was all over the pre-sale (thanks to me jumping up mid-blow dry and calling him at work to remind him at 7:45 a.m.), and got us pit tickets. Yes, I said pit tickets. What are pit tickets, you ask? Oh, the pit is just that little area between the stage and the first row of seats. My heart is pounding with excitement just thinking about it. I hope I don't pull a teenage-girl-at-a-Beatles-show and cry hysterically or faint or something! Woooooo-freakin'-Hooooooo!

Potato-Kale Enchiladas, Tamarind Lentils, a Picnic and a Rant

2008-04-07T20:41:00.006-04:00

Hey y'all. I've been MIA for the last few days. The power-cord to my computer broke, so I have very limited computer time until the new cord gets here. It's interesting, the things I can get done when I have no computer access. The laundry is done, the house is clean, and I'm left twiddling my thumbs wondering what the hell to do. We've had some good weather, so we've been able to play outside a lot. I got a new mountain bike, so I look forward to riding it often.

Anyway, I've done a good bit of cooking since my last post. Last week, I made the Potato-Kale enchiladas from V-con. I'd heard good things about these, and the didn't disappoint. However, the recipe made LOTS of enchiladas. So many that we had them leftover for dinner the next evening, and lunch for three days! They look a little funky in the photo, and I think my enchiladas turn out that way because I don't like them completely drowned in sauce. They were quite tasty, and for a new side-dish I made some re-fried black beans. I made them the same way I make re-frieds with pinto beans. Sleek says they're better than the pinto ones.

Saturday night, I made tamarind lentils (also from V-con). Wow! They were so good. They will certainly be a staple around here. They also take less than an hour including prep and cooking time. They were perfect over jasmine rice.

Sunday, we spent the day at Chestnut Ridge Park. The kids had been wanting to have a "real" picnic for a long, long time. ( "Real" means using the actual picnic basket, not just eating their meal out in the yard. LOL) So, we headed out to CRP, where we met moneytastesbad, who has posted here on Chez Mama and RTN too. We had met before, but didn't figure out who each other was until last week. He has a sweet little girl, and the kids all enjoyed playing and spending the day outdoors. Anyway, I made some "cold-slaw" (that's what Julian calls it), bought some hummus at the co-op, and a good loaf of bread from the bakery. We had sandwiches with the hummus, roasted red-peppers, cucumbers and red onions. They were quite tasty. Oh, and for the slaw, I just chopped up my cabbage and a little red onion. And peeled some carrots into it. For the dressing, I mixed up some "light" mayo, sugar, apple cider vinegar, water and a touch of cumin. I think I'm going to get some Vegenaise on my next trip to the store. I really just use mayo for dressings and such. Anyone here use Vegenaise? Think I'll like it?

Okay, now it's rant time...So, after a two-year hiatus, Cafe of India re-opened here in Mo-town. It used to be one of our favorite restaurants. We had decided we would go there for dinner this evening. Sleek and the kids got there at 5:30, and I joined them ten minutes later. The restaurant was crowded, but not every table was taken. We sat there...and sat there...and sat there some more. No acknowledgement, no drink order taken. Sleek went to the register at one point and asked if maybe we should just order some take-out since it was taking so long. The waiter said he'd be right over to take our order. He walked past us at least three times in the next 15 minutes. After sitting there for an hour with two young children (who behaved exceptionally) we got up and left. I mean, I get that they just opened the restaurant, but they operated the former Cafe of India for many years. I never had poor service there. I mean, when they seated us, they could've explained that it may be a while before someone could wait on us. They could've brought out some naan for the kids at least! Hell, they could've frisbee-thrown it out from the kitchen. I would've caught it! I promise! We finally decided to leave when Annelies started crying from hunger pains! So, at this point, I'm thinking I'll never set foot in that place again.

Popeye Pasta

2008-04-03T10:28:00.005-04:00

With Sleek's arrival home this evening, I was back in the kitchen. I tried another recipe from ED&BV, Popeye Pasta. It was very easy to make, and so tasty. A nice change from the typical pasta dish. The sauce is made from crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, Italian seasonings and agave nectar. At the end, you add a bunch of spinach. Again, so easy. I garnished mine with some chopped sun-dried tomatoes. I can eat those right out of the jar, if I'm feeling particularly naughty. I'll definitely be making this one again, but I really can't wait to try out the Olive Oyl pasta from the same cookbook. Carrie made it once, and when I saw that was when I knew I had to have ED&BV!

While Sleek was away, I pretty much stayed out of the kitchen. I cooked a few little things for the kids, but I pretty much lived on smoothies. Generally, one meal each day is a smoothie. They're so good! Here's how I make mine: I put a mixture of orange juice and pineapple juice equaling six ounces into the blender cup. Then I add several chunks of frozen mango and a small handful of frozen blueberries. Next, I add a TBS of flax oil, a massive handful of fresh spinach, and a sliced banana. Then I mix it all up using an immersion blender. It's so easy. I know people think the spinach is weird, but honestly, you can't even taste it. It just tastes sweet and fruity. When we get kale from the CSA, I use it instead of spinach.

Before Sleek left, he loaded up my iPod with the new Joseph Arthur EP and the second disc from In Rainbows. The Joseph Arthur is just off the hook. Apparently he's releasing several EPs this spring before releasing his new LP this summer. He's back to doing solo stuff, and it's a nice change. You really get a good feel for just how good his voice is. I really, really hope he does a solo tour. The second disc from In Rainbows is awesome too, as expected. Just over a month until the Radiohead show. WooooHoooo!

Chickpeas Romesco, Calzones and Cashew-Ginger Tofu

2008-03-30T19:04:00.008-04:00

I'm doing one post for three different meals because I've been feeling particularly lazy this weekend. So lazy, in fact, that I went to bed at 7 p.m. last night. We also spent the better part of yesterday afternoon (and this afternoon) at the playground. The kids have had so much fun! So, on to the cooking...

Friday night, I finally used up the last of the chickpeas I'd cooked the previous week. I made chickpeas romesco over garlic-saffron rice again. Both of those are from V-con. I swear, this may be my absolute favorite meal. It is just ridiculous. It's so freaking easy too, so you really can't lose with this one.

Yesterday the kids were talking pizza. It's their favorite for sure. They like my homemade pizza (still making it with the dough recipe from VWaV) better than anything we can order around here. That makes me feel pretty good since they generally turn their little noses up at nearly everything I make. It was calzones again for Sleek and me. Sleek had his with ricotta, mozzerella and spinach. For mine, I sauteed some onion, garlic and eggplant. When it was all softened, I added some chopped roasted red-peppers and sun-dried tomatoes. I put just a tiny layer of mozzarella over the veggies. It was off-the-hook! I may have to start making pizza/calzones a weekly thing around here.

I got a new cookbook right before I left for my parents' house, so I've had a good time looking through it since I got back. It's called Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. Carrie has made several really nice looking recipes from it, so I ordered it back in February. It actually took me about 7 weeks to get it! Anyway, tonights meal was made from ED&bV. A baked cashew-ginger tofu. The cashew-ginger sauce was made from cashew butter, fresh ginger, tamari, vingar, agave nectar, garlic and water. I served it over coconut rice, which is from last month's Cooking Light. It's really simple. Just jasmine rice cooked in "lite" coconut milk with a couple of bay leaves. It went perfectly with the sauce on the tofu. I also made a little broccoli and red pepper stir-fry. I made a light soy-sesame sauce for that. Just mixed up some soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, agave nectar, thai chile paste and water. Everything was just awesome! A very, very good dinner. One which I will make again, certainly. I can't wait to try some of the other recipes in ED&bV.

When I planned all of my meals and made my shopping list, I forgot Sleek would be out of town for a couple of nights this week. I may not cook for the next couple of nights and make the previously-planned meals when Sleek returns. Maybe I'll post about my daily fruit/spinach smoothie that I have for breakfast every morning! Sound exciting?

Sleek introduced me to a new band this weekend. They're called Mr. Gnome. He brought home the CD, and told me to play it ASAP because he really thought I'd like it. Well, I certainly do. Very interesting. I think they're just a two-piece band, but they sure know how to make a lot of noise. Sort of trip-hop with some hardcore heaviness. Nice.

Hey Y'all!

2008-03-27T14:39:00.002-04:00

Jeesh! The kids and I just got back from a little "vacation" to my hometown to visit family. I was thinking I'd do a post while there, but my mom's computer wouldn't let me log in to blogger! I was totally shut out. WTF? Anyway, I'm still here. I just made up my menu for the next week, and I've got lots of good stuff to make in the next week. I'm not cooking tonight since the pantry is bare and I just can't take the kids to the store. (They make me spend at least $20 more than I spend when I'm alone!) So, I'll be back with a good food post tomorrow. In the meantime, check this out. It's just a little something I "stumbled upon" thanks to g2thelow. One time, Rebecca mentioned that my blog was like food porn. Well, click that link above and you'll see the ultimate food porn. I'm talking XXX. It's not all veggie, but there are some kick-ass baked goods on there! The photos are really nice too.

Spicy Chickpeas and More

2008-03-20T20:02:00.005-04:00

Last night was another recipe from Vegetarian. Spicy chickpeas. They tasted very much like channa masala, but were less saucy, and maybe even better. They were spiced with tumeric, cumin, garam masala, fresh ginger, minced green chile, a couple cloves of minced garlic and tamarind concentrate. Really easy to make to. Just saute onion until soft. Add above ingredients and saute for a couple more minutes. Add a couple cups of chickpeas and a can of diced tomatoes and simmer for 45 minutes. That's it. I served it over jasmine rice, and made a side of steamed cauliflower and broccoli. To season the veggies, I toasted a few cumin seeds in about a tsp of oil, added a pinch of tumeric, and poured it over the veggies. The toasted cumin seeds gave it a nice little crunch.

Tonight I made a dinner that Sleek had requested. In the Vegetarian cookbook, he saw a recipe for asparagus with hollandaise sauce and another for asparagus and eggs. He wanted a combo of the two. Another really easy dinner. I roasted the asparagus, and poached the eggs in ramekins in a pot of boiling water. The hollandaise was really easy to make. I think it would have been a bit creamer and more "solidified" if I had used butter instead of Earth Balance. The flavor was really good, though, and definitely lighter than your traditional hollandaise. I don't eat eggs very often, but when I do at least I can get free-roaming, pasture-fed eggs from a farm right outside of M0-town. If I couldn't, I definitely wouldn't be eating them at all.

I kicked it old-school in the kitchen today with Beastie Boys License to Ill and Check Your Head. Sweet!

Chickpea Cutlets, Quinoa Salad, and Stir-Fry

2008-03-18T20:36:00.008-04:00

I cooked up a massive batch of chickpeas over the weekend, so be warned--lots of chickpea dishes coming this week! Last night it was the chickpea cutlets from V-con. These are a definite favorite around here. I didn't have all the ingredients for the mustard sauce that I made with them last time. I decided just to wing it with a onion gravy. It turned out really, really good. As a matter of fact, I think I liked the cutlets better with the gravy than the mustard sauce. I started the gravy by sauteeing a small onion in a smidge of canola oil. While the onion was cooking, I wisked 1/4 cup of flour into a cup and a half of No-Chicken broth. When the onion was soft, I reduced the heat to med-low and poured in the broth mixture. When it got to the consistency I wanted, I turned off the heat. Then I added a splash of soy sauce, a good pinch of thyme, a pinch of paprika, a pinch of sage, salt and pepper. Mmmmmm. It was so good. I made some steamed cauliflower and broccoli to go with it.

Yesterday for lunch I made some black-bean quinoa salad. I saw it on Keeta's blog, and she got it from Jenny's blog. LOL It's a trickle-down recipe. It's so easy to make, and just so good. I just put a tiny drizzle of olive oil over it, and gave it an extra squirt of lime since I went light on the oil. It was perfect over a bed of baby lettuces. Who needs dressing when you have something this good on your green salad?

Tonight I just wanted to do something really simple for dinner. I did a garlicky veggie stir-fry. I stir-fried an onion, a couple carrots, a couple zucchini, a bit of broccoli, half a red bell-pepper, and several minced garlic cloves. I sprinkled it with salt and pepper at the end, and served it over brown rice. It's nice to do something simple like that and actually let the veggies themselves flavor the dish.

I haven't really been writing about any music these last few days. That's because I'm slightly embarrassed about how much I've been listening to In Rainbows. I'd say it's an average of three times/day. It's got me.

Soup and Pizza (Again!)

2008-03-16T20:39:00.004-04:00

Well, the kids asked for pizza again today. Since I had nearly everything I needed to make it, I indulged them. For the "grown-up" pizza, I used some fresh spinach, roasted red peppers and banana peppers. Since I left the cheese off my half, I made sure to put lots of sauce on it. YUM. Today we took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who, and that was lots of fun. We all enjoyed it.

Yesterday, I made a really nice soup. It was a leek, pea and broccoli soup from the Vegetarian cookbook. It also had some potatoes in it, which gave it a nice and creamy texture. It had no oil or dairy in it, so it was fat-free and loaded with veggies. It was seasoned with a bay leaf, fresh parsley, salt and pepper. The whole thing was pureed at the end. It was a lovely green color. So good!

Friday evening I attempted to make falafel. The recipe was also from Vegetarian. It was a recipe for bite-sized, deep-fried falafel nuggets. I wanted to make pan-fried patties. I don't know what went wrong, but I noticed the falafel mixture seemed awfully wet. I wasn't too sure what would happen. I formed it into patties and put it in the pan. It sort of fell apart. I managed to salvage two of the patties, and they crisped up nicely on the outside, but were complete mush inside. They tasted really, really good though. The rest of the patties sort of fell apart and weren't really edible. I definitely plan to try it again. Maybe I didn't drain my chickpeas enough? Maybe the recipe was strictly for deep-fried falafel nuggets? I don't know, but if anyone has any advice, I'd welcome it. (Oh, and once again, I forgot to take pics of this and the soup!)

Has anyone else noticed their grocery bill skyrocketing? Holy crap! I used to spend between $75 and $100/week. I can't get below $150 now! I feel like I'm not even buying as much as I used to. It's really frightening to me. If something doesn't change, this blog will become very boring. I'll have to change the name to: Chez Mama: How to Get Creative With Beans and Rice. I have a feeling the worst is yet to come. I don't know how people are going to manage. I'm glad we'll have the CSA this spring/summer. That will help for sure.

Calzones

2008-03-14T14:52:00.003-04:00

Since I enjoy making pizza dough, and the kids want pizza every couple weeks, I decided that this time I'd make calzones for Sleek and myself. The dough recipe from VWaV makes enough for two large pizzas, so I made the kids their usual cheese pizza and had just enough dough for two calzones. I decided to fill them with a mixture of ricotta, mozzerella, fresh spinach and lightly steamed broccoli. I went really light on the cheese and heavy on the veggies for mine. I honestly had no idea how these would turn out, but I hoped for the best. I baked them on a pre-heated pizza stone at 500 degrees. I'd say they baked for 10 minutes or so. I didn't time them, just kept an eye on them.

Well...They turned out AWESOME. Holy smokes, I almost can't wait to make them again. Next time I want to just do veggies. Maybe some sauteed eggplant, sundried tomatoes and onions. Now THAT really sounds good. You could really put anything in these. I dipped mine in some pizza sauce I'd made. I use pureed tomatoes with some salt, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. I swear, it's so much better than any pre-made pizza sauce I've bought. YU-HUM! Sleek actually said it may have been the best calzone he's ever had.

Last night, I made another recipe from Vegetarian. It was a sweet and sour bean hot-pot. Really interesting, and very good. Some different flavors for sure. It had limas, great northerns, chickpeas and green beans. Also shallots. The sauce was made with tomato sauce, ketchup, apple juice, cider vinegar, dry sherry, butter (I used Earth Balance), soy sauce and brown sugar. With a little thyme and marjoram added before baking. All this was topped with sliced potatoes that had been blanched. The liquid came up over the potatoes while baking, so the topping wasn't as crisp as the one in the cookbook photo. It was very good, though. Super-easy too. I forgot to take a pic before I dug in!

Spicy Cauliflower and Potatoes

2008-03-11T20:17:00.004-04:00

So, I mentioned that Sleek found a vegetarian cookbook in our cupboard last week. I've made recipes from it the last two days, and I've been shocked at how freaking good they are. Last night, I made the Spicy Cauliflower and Potatoes. The recipe seemed so simple, that I was a little worried it would be bland. Not bland at all. It was amazing. You start with boiling the potatoes whole, then peeling them and cutting them in one-inch pieces when they cool. After that, you lightly toast the spices (cumin, corriander and tumeric) in a little hot peanut oil. Then you add the cauliflower into that along with a splash of water. Stir-fry until the cauliflower is soft. Add in the potatoes and cook a little more, then remove from the heat. This is the best part...Heat a little more peanut oil in a skillet, and add some minced garlic and cumin seeds to toast. Drizzle over the cauliflower and broccoli. OMG! This stuff is like something you would get at a good Indian restaurant. I'm not even joking. I made a little raita to go with it. I just used some plain yogurt and added some shredded cucumber and chopped mint. So good!

Today, I was back in the kitchen early. I wanted to make the brown bean salad, which is also from the Vegetarian cookbook. I wanted something healthy with a decent amount of protein that I could add to my dinner. I made the salad, which is really easy. The beans are simmered a little with water, an onion, some thyme and bay leaves. The dressing is made with chopped parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and cumin seeds. It reminds me of tabbouleh minus the bulgar, if that makes sense. So good and healthy. (For this recipe and the spicy cauliflower one, I used half of the oil called for in the recipe. I can't tell that it took away from either dish at all.)

For dinner, I decided on Chinese brussel sprouts and veggie fried rice. The sprouts are also from Vegetarian. (Be prepared for lots of recipes from this cookbook. It is INSANE!) These brussels are so easy. Just stir-fry the chopped/shredded sprouts in a tad of sesame oil. Add a splash of soy sauce and a sprinkling of Chinese Five-Spice Powder, and that's it. I made the rice the same as usual, but I added some broccoli this time just make it a little more nutritious. YUM!

Yesterday, Sleek and I received our tickets for the Radiohead show we're going to in May. So, I decided to listen to their latest album, In Rainbows. I liked it a lot the first few times I listened to it, but this time it got me. I mean, it really got under my skin. I see myself listening to it constantly until the show. Holy smokes. It's amazing. While listening to it, I got so excited about going to the show that I actually started jumping up and down and giggling. Yep. I'm that dorky. After In Rainbows, I proceeded to listen to three other Radiohead albums: Amnesiac, The Bends and OK Computer. Can you tell I'm a little excited? ;)

Enchiladas, Casserole, Snobby Joes and Tag

2008-03-09T20:59:00.004-04:00

Well, I've been "tagged" by Carrie. It's my first time, so I guess my "tag-cherry" is officially popped. LOL So, I need to think of five things about myself. I don't know why this is so hard for me, but here goes:

* I have a fascination with serial killers and other morbid-type things. I watch lots of horror movies, and also real-life shows about serial killers and forensics. I also read lots of horror fiction and Appalachian ghost stories.

* I'm agnostic.

* I have extremely normal-looking ears.

* I did LOTS of drugs in college. I mean, LOTS! (And graduated in 4 years!)

* I'm really good at Trivial Pursuit. (I guess all those drugs didn't hurt my brain too much!)

So, there's some inside info about me. Most people who post here have been tagged before, so I understand if you don't want to play along. I'll tag: Sleek, Rebecca and Olives. (I know you don't have a blog, Olives, but you can do your tag as a comment in this post.)

Okay, now onto the food...

Thursday night, I made some bean enchiladas. Holy smokes, they turned out good. I started by sauteeing an onion and some garlic. Then I added probably 4 cups or so of cooked pinto beans, and some no-chicken broth. I mashed it all together, and seasoned it with salt, chili powder, cumin and a few drizzles of hot sauce. Honestly, it was so tasty I could've just started eating it out of the pan! I made my enchilada sauce using this recipe. It was really good, and very easy. As I was cleaning up the kitchen that evening, I realized that I had left the tomato sauce out of the sauce! Crazy, but it was still really good. Whew!

Friday night, I wanted something really easy. I found this recipe for an Italian Veggie Casserole on vegweb. It looked simple and tasty, so I gave it a try. I used a whole-wheat blend rotini for the pasta. I also made the breadcrumbs with whole-wheat bread. I just put them in the food processor, and then mixed a little melted Earth Balance in with them. I have to say, the simplicity of the ingredients and recipe had me worried that this casserole would just be mediocre. It was actually really good, though. I think if I make it again, I'll use 2 zucchinis instead of one. I swear I thought I took a pic, but it sure isn't on my camera!

Yesterday, I made up another batch of Snobby Joes. I tell you, I think a meat-lover could try these and be fooled. They are so freaking good! I could eat them once a week. I think Sleek could too. Today we had lots of leftovers to eat, and I didn't cook a thing.

The weather has improved somewhat here in WV. I've been walking/jogging nearly every day. I'm still trying to lose a few pounds, so I've been eating raw fruit, vegetables and nuts for two of my meals each day. Then I eat a normal, but healthy, meal. No snacking at all. I also have given up all beverages besides water, coffee and green tea. No more diet soda, which I drank regularly but wanted to stop for a long time. I have to say that I feel like the fog is lifting. I feel better than I have in a long time. I haven't been posting as often because I haven't been sitting around online very much at all. So, I think that's a good sign. Spring is in the air!

Asian Broccoli Noodles and Smothered Tofu

2008-03-05T20:12:00.006-05:00

I'd mentioned in a previous post that I found some good-looking recipes on vegweb. The last two evenings, I've used recipes that I found there. Tuesday evening, I made smothered tofu with mashed potatoes. I was impressed. It was very good. I did make a few slight changes, though. Instead of frying the tofu, I baked it. Just 'cause it's easier. After pressing it for an hour and slicing it, I baked it in a little peanut oil and shoyu for 40 minutes at 350 degrees, turning it after 20 minutes. For the sauce, I subbed shoyu for half of the balsamic vinegar. I also doubled the entire sauce recipe because I wanted to have plenty to go over the potatoes. When the sauce was thickened to the consistency I wanted, I added the baked tofu and let it barely simmer for about 15 minutes. It was so good, I can't believe that anyone would ever want a meat-based gravy after eating this.

Tonight I went with Asian broccoli noodles. It's a really easy recipe, and comes together really fast. For the noodles, I used a whole-wheat blend thin spaghetti. I followed the recipe exactly, and the noodles were very tasty. I think I like my tahini noodles better, though. I had some carrots and shallots in the fridge, and they weren't going to make it much longer. I decided to chop them up and roast them. I tossed them in a little canola oil and sprinkled with kosher salt. I roasted them at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. I took them out, and drizzled with some balsamic vinegar and a good sprinkling of black pepper. I put them back in for about 3 more minutes. When they were finished, the balsamic was nice and glazy. They were so good I couldn't even believe it! It's always nice when you just wing it with something like that and it turns out to be amazing. I love it.

While I was in the kitchen today, I listened to one of my recent faves--Beirut's The Flying Club Cup. After that, I played Weezer's Blue Album. I enjoyed it so much that I played one more time. I almost never listen to an album twice in a row, but I think I realized just how much I love that one.

Yesterday, Sleek sent me a link to a really cool article about Jeff Magnum. I know I've mentioned a band called Neutral Milk Hotel (Please click on the previous link and listen to Holland 1945. It's one of my absolute favorite songs ever.) here before, and their album The Aeroplane Over the Sea. It is one of my all-time favorites. It is truly amazing. Anyway, they kind of just did that album, and then disappeared. The article talks about how Anne Frank was the inspiration for the album. Sleek and I knew that Anne Frank was definitely a theme in that album, but I had never heard Jeff Magnum talk about how that all came about. That was very interesting to me since that album is one of the reasons my daughter is named Annelies. Most people don't know that "Annelies" was Anne Frank's name. We wouldn't have either, but we bought a biography when we visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. (Just two months before I got pregnant with her!) We saw the name "Annelies" in that book, and we knew that our little girl (Sleek knew we were having a girl from the moment of conception.) would be Annelies.

Pineapple-Cashew-Quinoa Stir-fry

2008-03-04T13:37:00.006-05:00

I've heard that this stir-fry from V-con is pretty damn good, but I really wasn't prepared for how good it really is. To be quite honest, it's ridiculous. No joke. It's really easy to make too. You get started the night before by making the quinoa. The quinoa is cooked in a mixture of pineapple juice, water and soy sauce. Then it goes in the fridge overnight.

The next day, you begin by toasting the cashews. Then you saute some garlic, scallions, diced chile pepper and some ginger. Add some fresh mint and basil, and then stir in the quinoa and fresh pineapple. Add the cashews and a mixture of soy sauce, veggie broth and mirin. Heat it through, and that's it. So damn good. Unbelievable, really. I'd like to say this will be in regular rotation, but I've go so many new things I want to make! It may be a while before I'm seeing repeats.

I also baked some chocolate chip cookies for the kids last night. (Really. These are for the kids. I'm seriously trying to drop a few pounds right now.) Well, my dad was in town for the WVU-Pitt game, and in his true fashion he ate at least a dozen of them! He thought they were great. I used my regular recipe, except I was out of whole wheat pastry flour. I subbed white whole wheat instead. I also used real butter this time. They may be the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made. For real.

I listened to a little Radiohead yesterday. I started getting a little excited about the upcoming show since I posted about it here yesterday. I played a few songs (here's one of my absolute favorite songs ever) from OK Computer, and listened to all of In Rainbows. God, I can't believe I get to see Radiohead again. I'm a lucky girl.

Lots of Soup and A Dinner Party

2008-03-03T13:28:00.007-05:00

I seem to be having a trouble finding the time to post regularly these days. Maybe that's good since it means I'm not sitting at the computer all the time. Although, most times I can't use it because the kids are hogging it. Now that the weather seems to be getting nicer, we're all going to be getting outside more. That's good stuff.

Last week was cold and snowy. That prompted me to make a big pot of chili on Friday evening. I made the usual veggie chili recipe from the White Grass cookbook. It uses carrots, celery, onion, wheat bulgur and pinto beans as the main ingredients. Tomatoes and tomato puree too, of course. It was the best chili I've ever made. I have no idea what I did different. I've made that chili several times, but this time it was the bomb. Yum. Even the kids ate some!

Olives invited our family and the Getto-Dillons to a dinner party on Saturday evening. It turned out to be a big meal of Cooking Light recipes from the current issue. Everything was delicious. Olives made a spicy shrimp and coconut soup, spicy tomatoes and shallots, vegetable curry and coconut rice. I made a ginger angel-food cake with coconut frosting. It was quite a meal. As I mentioned, all of those recipes can be found in the current issue of Cooking Light.

Even though it was sunny and warm yesterday, I made another big pot of soup. This was a spicy peanut and eggplant soup from V-con. I was a little concerned that it wouldn't be that great, but holy smokes! It was delicious. One of the best soups I've made, I'd say. It will definitely be making another appearance around here.

Yesterday Sleek found a vegetarian cookbook in the cupboard. It seems we'd sort of forgotten about it. We sat down and looked through it, and DANG! Damn near every recipe in there looks off-the-hook. I can't wait to start making some things from it. I was a little disappointed that I'd already planned all my meals and done the shopping for the week! Next week, everything I make may come from that cookbook.

At this point, I can't even remember the music I've listened to over the last few days. Must not be anything new. LOL Sleek and I did order tickets to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (The Swell Season) in Baltimore in May. It's just one week after the Radiohead show we're going to. Looks like May is going to be pretty sweet. Can't wait!

Just a head's up: I had to turn on the feature that makes you type in some random letters before your post shows up. I was getting spammed left and right.

Pakistani Dahl

2008-02-29T15:08:00.000-05:00

I've recently began browsing vegweb for some new recipe ideas. I found this one for Pakistani Dahl in the massive list of favorite recipes. It was very easy, and I even already had all the ingredients. So, I made it for dinner last night. It was really, really good. When I first tasted it, it seemed to be missing a little something. I added another pinch of chili powder, and a tiny pinch of garam masala. That did the trick! I also used 2 cups of no-chicken broth and one cup of water for cooking the lentils. Sleek thinks this one should become a regular. It's so easy and good, that I must agree with him. I'm really liking the vegweb site right now, so you'll be seeing more recipes from there.

Wednesday night, I decided to make some french toast. It's something I just don't make very often. I bought a loaf of french bread to use since my attempts at french toast with sliced sandwich bread were disastrous. It turned out really good using the french bread. I wanted something other than maple syrup to top mine with. I had some dried cherries, so I was thinking of some type of cherry sauce. I pretty much just went for it, and put the cherries in a pan with some water and a sprinkling of sugar. I boiled them for a while, then added a splash of brandy. Boiled some more until it got thickened up a little, then added a little almond extract. It turned out to be a great topping for the french toast. I think it would be really good on pancakes too. (Okay, when I typed "pancakes" my stomach started to rumble!)

I've been listening to the soundtrack from the movie Once. I listen to it nearly every day. It seems like I've found so much new music recently that I'm just really loving. It's crazy! I'm still frequently listening to The Water and Emotionalism a lot too. This afternoon, I kicked it super old-school and listened to Licensed to Ill. That album is timeless! I can't believe it's been over 20 years since it was released. Crazy.

Oh, and I must say happy birthday to Hannah. She's two in leap years, 8 in human years and 56 in dog years!

Lots of Cooking, Not Much Blogging

2008-02-26T08:56:00.000-05:00

I haven't been using the computer much in the last several days. I managed to finish the Stephen King book late last week. Annelies has been home from school and sick since last Wednesday. I haven't really been feeling 100% myself. I have, however, done lots of cooking.

Let's see...I think last Wednesday evening I made some baked ziti. I actually used penne pasta because I couldn't find whole-wheat ziti. This time I also made my own sauce using crushed tomatos, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. I mixed it up with a small container of ricotta, and topped it with some shredded mozzerella. That's always an easy dinner that the kids will actually eat. Of course, they wouldn't touch the sauteed spinach, garlic and onions that I made to go with it.

Thursday evening, I was really feeling like some good comfort food. I decided on homemade macaroni and cheese and some baked beans. I used this recipe from Ina Garten for the mac n' cheese. It's definitely an "Ina recipe". Not lacking in fat or deliciousness! It's pretty easy to make, and easily the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had. For my baked beans, I make them the way my Mom taught me. I use two large cans of Bush's Vegetarian baked beans. To those I add a jar of salsa, a can of rinsed kidney beans, ketchup, mustard and molasses. I bake them at 375 for two hours, covered. Then I remove the foil and bake them uncovered for another hour or so. They're very good, and super-easy.

On Saturday, I made a very labor-intensive meal of Curried Tofu in Coconut Sauce. (Thankfully, Sleek was in the kitchen helping me on that one!) I found the recipe in my mom's America's Test Kitchen cookbook. It was good, but like many of ATK's ethinc recipes, it slightly lacked flavor. It would've been much better with a little dab of Thai curry paste mixed in. I'll definitely do that next time. To go with it, I made the Cornmeal-Masala Roasted Brussel Sprouts from V-con. They were really different, and really good. I'll definitely make them again.

Last night, I made my best pizza yet. I can believe how it gets so much easier to stretch the dough each time I make it. I was getting everything ready, and realized I didn't have any sauce left. All I had was a large can of tomato puree, which I accidentally picked up instead of crushed tomatoes. I opened it and tasted it. It was horrible and flavor-less. I spiced it up with some garlic, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. It actually may have been the best pizza sauce I've made. I'll definitely plan on using the tomato puree for pizza sauce in the future. I made the kids a cheese pizza, and for Sleek and myself, I topped it with fresh spinach and banana peppers. I left half of it cheese-less since I'm seriously trying to fit back into my jeans. :)

Sleek and I watched a fantastic movie on Saturday night. It's called Once. The soundtrack is unbelievable, and one of the songs won an Oscar for "Best song in a film". I highly recommend the movie. I've been listening to as much of the soundtrack as possible online, but Sleek purchased it from iTunes yesterday, so I've got the whole thing on my iPod now. Can't wait to give it a good listen today!

Black-Bean Burgers

2008-02-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

I had some black beans in the freezer that I needed to use up. I was leafing through V-con, and saw a nice looking recipe for black-bean burgers. I had all the ingredients here, so I decided to make them. They came together in a total of 15 minutes. So it's a super quick and easy recipe. They were really, really good. Probably the best bean burgers I've ever made. Like the chickpea cutlets, they use vital wheat gluten to bind them and give them a bit of a chewy texture. That texture is a little difficult for me to get used to. It wouldn't bother me in a store-bought product, but for some reason it's a weird texture for food that I make at home. The bean burgers (and the chickpea cutlets), are both fantastic, though. I guess it will just take a little getting used to. I definitely plan on making these again. They're just so easy. I topped them with a little sour cream and salsa, and I ate mine sans buns. I roasted some asparagus to go with them. Honestly, finding a nice variety of veggies in WV in the winter is not easy. I feel like it's always broccoli, asparagus and brussel sprouts!

The previous night, I made some baked ziti. I used to make it frequently, but realized that I hadn't even made it since I started this blog! I used whole-wheat penne pasta, some ricotta, and some crushed tomatoes which I seasoned with garlic and other Italian spices. I topped it with mozzerella, and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes. It was pretty tasty, and it's something the kids will actually eat!

I have to say, I haven't been using the computer or listening to music much this week. I bought the latest Stephen King book, Duma Key, last weekend. I started reading it Monday, and it has pretty much consumed every spare minute. It's very, very good. Then again, I've never read a Stephen King book that I didn't like. Duma Key has really gotten rave reviews, though. I'll probably finish it sometime today.

Taco Salad, Panini, and Birthday Parties

2008-02-19T12:39:00.000-05:00

Last week on Carrie's blog, she posted about a taco salad she made. It looked so good. It was also super-easy to make. I made it Friday night since I was tired from making cakes and cupcakes for Annelies's birthday party. It was really easy to put together, and so tasty. I hadn't had a taco salad since I gave up meat over three years ago. I saw Carrie's, and immediately began craving it. I made it exactly the same way she did, except I added a dollop of sour cream and used blue corn chips. They're the only corn chips I've ever been able to eat right out of the bag. (Well, except Doritos.) Garden of Eatin' brand is my favorite.

I didn't do any cooking at all over the weekend because we were so busy. The birthday party took up much of Saturday, and honestly in just wore me out. We had it at Valley World's of Fun, which is a really great place for kids. It's the type of place that gives adults a headache almost instantly, though. All the kids had a great time, but Annelies started getting overwhelmed toward the end, as you can see in the picture below.

Last night I was still feeling a bit lazy, so I just made some paninis. I got some good Italian bread, and made them with spinach, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts and fresh mozzerella. They were really tasty.

I've still been hooked on the Avett Brothers Emotionalism album. It's crazy good. Also, Sleek saw Jessica on Saturday night, and she had burned us some CDs of music she played during our weekend at Canaan. So, I've been listening to lots of BR549. It's really great stuff too. It seems that I'm on a bit of a country/bluegrass kick recently. (With the exception of The Water, of course. It's still seeing a good bit of play too.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T10:28:00.000-05:00

Six years ago, I had the best Valentine's Day surprise ever! My little girl was born. The reason it was such a surprise was because she was nearly three weeks ahead of schedule. On top of that, she was almost born in the car! In a matter of hours, Sleek and I went from thinking we had a few more weeks before the baby came, to holding her in our arms. I had one of those fast, painless labors that women hate me for. I wouldn't change a thing about it. She was healthy, and I was like: "Wow! That wasn't bad at all!" It was the best Valentine's Day ever!

I haven't done too much cooking this week, as Sleek has been working late again. I just can't stand making a big meal and sitting down to eat it all by myself. Monday night, I made some really good veggie burritos with a sour-cream sauce. For the filling, I sauteed some carrots, onion, red pepper and broccoli. I added some black beans too. I seasoned it with the same taco seasoning I used for the veggie tacos. For the sour-cream sauce, I used about a cup of "Lite" sour-cream, some no-chicken broth, and a can of green chiles. It was really good, but didn't have the super-smooth texture I was hoping for. Maybe because I used "Lite" sour cream? I served them with a side of Mexican-style rice, which is brown rice cooked and tossed in a pan with sauteed onion, garlic and a can of diced tomatoes. Throw in some Chili powder and cumin for flavor.

Last night, I made some pasta pomodoro and roasted asparagus. I was worn out from making so many heart sugar-cookies for Annelies's V-day party at school, so I kept it simple. The heart cookies came out looking so good! I hope the kids like them.

I think I've listened to The Water about 10 more times since my last post. I'm still loving it like crazy, but I've also been listening to The Avett Brothers, and that album is just out-of-control as well.

Sunday Brunch

2008-02-11T11:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had some friends over for brunch. The Getto-Dillons were here with three of their four kids. Olives and her girls were supposed to come, but one of the girls wasn't feeling well, so they didn't make it. Olives was stuck at home, forced to eat the entire french-toast souffle that she had prepared. (She says she didn't eat all of it, but I'm not sure...)

Anyway, I made a crust-less spinach quiche. It's so easy to make, and just amazingly good. I've made it several times before, and I'll definitely be making it again. It's really dense, and really cheesy. How could it not be good? I also made two kinds of scones: Blueberry lemon cream-cheese and cherry almond. They were both awesome. I used this recipe, and tweaked it as needed. For the cherry almond, I just added a scant teaspoon of almond extract, a handful of dried cherries, then topped them with sliced almonds. For the blueberry, I subbed 1/2 cup of softened, reduced fat cream cheese for part of the heavy cream. I tossed in a handful of dried blueberries and maybe 1.5 teaspoons of lemon zest. I sprinkled the tops of them with a little sugar before baking.

The Getto-Dillons brought some roasted potatoes and the absolute best banana bread I've ever tasted. So, we had quite a feast. I can't even imagine if Olives would've come with the souffle and also the cheese grits she was planning to make! That would have been quite a spread. I definitely plan on getting together with friends for Sunday brunch. It's a fun way to share food and hang out, and for some reason it just doesn't seem as labor intensive as dinner.

I can't stop listening to The Water. I had to force myself to not play it twice in a row yesterday. Sleek suggested I try The Avett Brothers, and I did. I really liked it on the first listen, and Sleek said it gets even better the second or third time around. I'll listen to it again this evening when I'm making dinner. (Wow! They're pretty cute, huh?)

Oh, on Saturday evening, I made pizza again. Same crust recipe as always. You may remember the last time I made it, I wanted the crust to be more crisp. Well, this time I preheated my pizza stone and got it really hot. The pizza was perfect! My best yet. The crust was perfectly crisp.

Sweet Potato Pecan Pancakes

2008-02-09T15:27:00.000-05:00

Last night I decided to make some pancakes for dinner. The kids love them, and I must say that I do too. I wanted to try something different, and realized I had a couple of sweet potatoes that I had meant to make earlier in the week. So, naturally I thought I'd try some sweet potato pancakes. I used this recipe from Alton Brown for the mix, and then kind of adjusted the wet ingredients for the sweet potato cakes. (I made plain pancakes for the kids. They'd never consider trying sweet potato pancakes.) As far as cooking the sweet potatoes, I peeled and chopped them. Then I put them in a pot and boiled them with water, brown sugar and about 1 TBS of Earth Balance. When they were soft, I mashed them.

I must say, the pancakes turned out very well. I added a small handful of toasted, fine-chopped pecans to the batter. I used a dollop of mashed sweet potatoes and a sprinkling of pecans as a garnish, and topped them with maple syrup. They were great, and I'll definitely be making them again.

Okay, so yesterday I listened to Colin's new album, The Water, six or so times. It is IN-SANE. It's crazy. I haven't fallen this hard for an album for a long, long time. (And y'all know how bad I had it for Beirut a couple months back!) Just so you know what level this is on, I'll throw out a couple of albums that have had a similar effect on me: Radiohead's OK Computer (Yes, seriously), Jeff Buckley's Grace, and Joseph Arthur's Big City Secrets. I loved Colin's last album, This is Hope, but I have to say that The Water is on a completely different level. He MUST tour the US soon. I'm really going to be talking this album up on here, so get used to it! Now, I want you all to head over to his myspace page and listen to Future Gods and Past Kings and Stalker.

Chickpeas Romesco With Garlic-Saffron Rice

2008-02-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

Wow! I chose this recipe from V-con just because I had so many chickpeas in the freezer. Little did I know that I would be making a classic dish. It was amazing. Definitely dinner-party worthy. Super easy to make too. To get started you make the sauce with roasted red peppers and canned fire-roasted tomatoes. Get it all pureed and cooking, then add some white wine, thyme, rosemary and red wine vinegar. At the end, you stir in the chickpeas and some ground almonds. It's a Spanish-style dish, and it definitely has some new and different flavors going on.

As the cookbook recommended, I served it over garlic-saffron rice. I had never used saffron in cooking before, but I always noticed it in the spice section at the grocery store. It's pretty expensive, but if it keeps relatively well, it will last quite a long time. I loved the rice. It turned out beautifully. I made some roasted asparagus to go with the chickpeas and rice. Just drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled on some salt. Perfect.

So, I finally listened to Colin's new album yesterday. Wow. It's definitely different than his previous works. That is to be expected though, since this is his first time working with a producer. His three previous albums were written, performed and produced by him. That is certainly impressive. So, The Water definitely sounds more "produced", but it's still awesome. I'll be listening to it daily for a while for sure. Now he just needs to get a US tour organized!

Snobby Joes

2008-02-05T17:53:00.000-05:00

I know it's getting redundant with all the V-con recipes I've been doing recently. The only thing I can tell you is...Expect them to keep on coming! LOL There are lots of recipes in there I want to try, and it's a big cookbook. Tonight I made the Snobby Joes, which are a lentil-based version of sloppy Joes. I made up my own sloppy Joe recipe last summer, so I was sort of hesitant to try these because I was afraid they'd be a lot better than mine. I definitely wouldn't say they were "better". They're different for sure, but as far as goodness goes, I'd say mine are right on par with them. I'll definitely make them again, but I'm not replacing my own recipe with these.

To go with the Joes, I made some sauteed onions and spinach with an Asian-style peanut sauce. I mixed a little peanut butter with some shoyu, rice vinegar, agave nectar and Thai chili paste. I just poured the sauce over the spinach and onions when they were softened. It's really easy, and delicious.

Still haven't listened to the new Colin MacIntyre album yet, but it will be on tomorrow. Probably all day. LOL While I was cooking, I checked out a band called Reigning Sound. Sleek put it on my iPod a while back, so I decided to check them out today. Good stuff.

BBQ Black-Eyed Pea Collard Rolls

2008-02-05T12:23:00.000-05:00

Another recipe from V-con. These were really, really tasty. So easy to make, too. Just mix a can of black-eyed peas with some sauteed mushrooms, chopped collards and bbq sauce. (I used leftover bbq sauce that I made last week.) Roll the mixture up into boiled collard leaves. The recipe didn't call for it, but I poured some extra sauce over the top and baked them at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. I have to say I was impressed. I wasn't convinced these would be that good. Sleek and I both really liked them. I was going to serve them with mashed sweet potatoes and a salad, but I forgot about the sweet potatoes! Oh, well. We were both pretty full by the time we finished, so we probably didn't really need them anyway. I'll definitely be making these collard rolls again.

Sunday night, for the Super Bowl, I made some baked buffalo tofu. I think it's a fantastic substitute for wings. I'm sure many people would think that is absolutely ridiculous, but I think they're awesome. Actually, I think this tofu was the best I've ever made. I sliced the block of tofu into about 12 slices, coated them in a little peanut oil and shoyu, and baked them for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes. Then I poured on the buffalo sauce and baked them for 15 more minutes. The texture was just perfect. We had them with some raw veggies and ranch dip. A couple of years ago, I found a brand of organic buffalo sauce at Kroger. Fortunately, I stocked up on it. Unfortunately, I used my last bottle for the tofu on Sunday. It's called "Melissa's Organic Marinades". My Kroger no longer carries it, so I'll probably have to start making my own.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we were introduced to some awesome music during our weekend at Canaan. BR549 was my favorite, but I really liked the Gram Parsons too. Jessica is burning us some cds, and I can't wait to get them. Oh, I just remembered! Colin MacIntyre's new album is out today! I'm off to get it immediately.

On an unrelated note, I made our first payment for our CSA share this season. Only 3.5 more months until we're picking up a weekly bounty of local, organic produce. YAY!

Winter Fun

2008-02-03T18:43:00.000-05:00

Sleek and I just got home from a nice weekend at Canaan Valley. Some friends of ours, Jessica and Pat, have a family place up there. We finally decided to take them up on an invitation to hang for a weekend. Olives and g2thelow went along with us. We left Friday afternoon, knowing we were going to hit some really bad weather. Much of the eastern part of WV was hit with an ice storm on Friday morning. It later turned to rain, then snow. Everything was fine until we were about 20 miles from Canaan. That's when the roads became snow-covered, and the snow was still falling. I creeped along at about 25 mph for that part of the trip. I even have a Subaru, but I can't help but be overly-cautious driving in those conditions. I was relieved when we finally pulled up to the townhouse.

We had a reservation to eat at the White Grass Cafe. I was super-stoked because I have made lots of fantastic recipes from their cookbook. For appetizers, we had some smoked-trout dip made with local trout, and some spinach artichoke dip. Both of them were amazing. I could've eaten them with a spoon! For dinner, I had a curried sweet potato soup and a hummus panini. They were both very good as well. Dessert, oh dessert. Olives and I both wanted to try the sweet potato cake with toffee frosting and the walnut and pecan pie. So, I ordered the pie and she ordered the cake, and we split them. The cake was really good, but the pie...Oh, the pie. Amazing.

The weather was just fantastic on Saturday, so a few of us went out for a hike and the others hung out while Jessica got started on dinner. We really ate well. Jessica is an amazing cook. She made some salmon cakes and what I would call a spanikopita casserole. Very much like spanikopita, but without all the butter and phyllo pastry. Much healthier and eaiser to make. I had made some chickpea gravy and mashed potatoes to bring along. (At the request of Sleek.) I also made a batch of apple scones.

Saturday night, Jessica, g2thelow and Sleek did some skiing and snowboarding. (Unfortunately, Pat stayed home nursing a cold.) Olives and I opted for something requiring less athletic ability. Snow tubing! It was really fun. It was super-icy, so it was like a luge. We were flying down the hill! After that, we returned to the townhouse and played several hours worth of board games. There were drinks involved, and lots of laughter. We had an awesome time.

This morning when we woke up, Jessica was already downstairs making breakfast. She made something I've always wanted to try, but thought it required too much work. Tofu scramble. It actually looked really easy to make, and I'm definitely going to make it soon. She also made some oven-roasted home fries. I wrapped it all up in a tortilla with some cheese and hot sauce. Wow. Very tasty.

On the way home we stopped at Blackwater Falls. They had the bottom part of the trail blocked off because the steps were too icy. We got a decent view from above, though. What a great weekend. We're hoping to do it again next year! (Oh, and I was too busy eating to take any pics of the food!)

Samosa Stuffed Baked Potatoes

2008-01-31T17:00:00.001-05:00

Yeah. You read that right. When Sleek spotted this recipe in V-con, we knew it was on. I love, love, love samosas. Of course, I don't get to eat them very often since we don't have an Indian restaurant within an hour of here. I was all over this recipe. It's quite easy too. The yellow color comes from tumeric. They also have mustard and corriander seeds, along with some sauteed onion, garlic, carrots and peas. These would just be out-of-control drizzled with a little tamarind sauce. I made the spinach and chickpea curry from VWaV to go with. YU-UM!

This evening, I made some simple veggie fried-rice and some broccoli and red peppers in a sweet-spicy sesame sauce. No recipes needed for these, I just wing it. I can't even tell you how good this fried rice is. Way better than what you would get at most Chinese restaurants. I only use 2 TBS of oil, so it isn't greasy at all. Plus, with long-grain brown rice and lots of veggies, it's actually healthy. I cook the rice in no-chicken broth instead of water. I think that extra bit of flavor really helps. After the rice is cooked and the veggies are softened, I just add the rice into the skillet with the veggies and add some soy sauce.

For the broccoli... I stir-fried it in just a smidge of oil, and when it was nearly done I added the red pepper. I had made up a simple sauce of brown sugar, water, soy sauce, garlic and Thai chili paste. I got the pan really hot, and poured the sauce over the veggies. I let it boil for just a couple of minutes, then took it off the heat. This is a really good meal if you're looking for a healthier alternative to Chinese take-out.

I listened to one of my all-time favorite albums this evening. Say Anything...Is a Real Boy. I probably hadn't listened to it for a year or so, but I feel like it may be in regular rotation once again. It is so good. It's really hard to describe, but I'd call it alternative rock with a punk-ish influence? The music itself is more complex than you'd find in your standard modern punk-pop, and the lyrics are intelligent and hilarious at times. Definitely a different sound. Sleek and I saw them in Pittsburgh about a year and a half ago. They rocked the house. They were touring with Dashboard Confessional, and I think Sleek and I were the oldest people there. Well, besides all the parents who took their adolescents and young teens to see the show. LOL

Spinach Pasta With Artichokes and Basil Cilantro Pesto

2008-01-29T10:49:00.000-05:00

I kind of slacked on my cooking last week, so on Sunday evening I actually made a meal that had been planned for Wednesday. It is yet another recipe from V-con. It's actually supposed to be spinach linguine, but I couldn't find spinach linguine anywhere here in Mo-town. I did find some whole-wheat spinach spaghetti, so that's what I went with.

I was a very easy meal to put together. The pesto was fantastic even though I'm not really fond of cilantro. Along with the basil and cilantro, it has salt, lemon juice, olive oil and almonds. It was as good as the pesto I usually make with lots of parmesan cheese. I always scoffed at vegan pesto, but damn, it was really good.

The pasta required sauteeing a sliced red onion with some garlic until soft, then adding some white wine. After the pasta was finished cooking, I added it to the onion/garlic mixture along with some of the cooking water. Then I kind of tossed in the pesto, and finally added the canned artichoke hearts and heated it through. It was a really good pasta dish. I think it would be just as good with plain noodles too. It would be something different and really easy for a dinner party. It seems a little bit fancy too, so it would impress the guests.

Last night, since I had all the ingredients, I made the chickpea cutlets again! Yep, they're that good.

Chickpea Cutlets With Mustard Caper Sauce

2008-01-28T12:49:00.000-05:00

So, I had really been feeling the need for a new cookbook. I felt completely uninspired, and was having trouble coming up with new, fun, and healthy stuff to make. I went to every bookstore in town looking for Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. Carrie makes lots of amazing-looking recipes from that book, so I really wanted it. Couldn't find it. Checked amazon.com. It doesn't even ship until mid-February! So, I bought Veganomicon. It's the new cookbook by Isa Moskowitz, the author of my much-used VWaV.

On Saturday evening, Sleek and I invited our friends, Olives and G2thelow, over for dinner. I decided to try the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon. I have heard people raving about these all over the freaking internet. Well, I wasn't disappointed. They were INSANE! I served them with a mustard caper sauce, which is also from the new cookbook. These will be a staple around here. I can promise you that. We had some twice-baked potatoes and roasted asparagus to go with them. Olives made a pan of brownies for dessert. I only ate three! After dinner, Olives and I went to see the movie Juno, which was an awesome movie.

Now, backtrack to Friday evening. I decided to try the baked bbq tofu, also from Veganomicon. Well, let me just tell you...I'll never buy bbq sauce in a bottle again. The recipe in V-con is very easy, with ingredients that I always have on hand. It was just so good. Much better than the pre-made stuff. I had my tofu on a big salad, topped with some garlic oven-fries and a southwest ranch dressing that I made by mixing a little bbq sauce with regular ranch dressing. It was off-the-hook!

Veggie Reuben Redux

2008-01-24T18:34:00.000-05:00

I feel like I just haven't been cooking much lately. I guess I haven't, or I'd have more to post about! My dad came to visit on Monday, and offered to watch the kids while Sleek and I went out to do whatever. We decided to try the new Japanese steakhouse, Fujiyama. I'm not a huge fan of Japanese steakhouses, but I know Sleek really likes them. I was in the mood for some sushi, so I looked forward to trying it there. It was just okay. I ended up getting the vegetable meal from the grill. I think if you've eaten at one Japanese steakhouse, you might as well have eaten at every one. Nothing special, and highly overpriced. I don't care if I ever go to another one. The sushi is much better at Ogawa, a regular Japanese restaurant here in town.

The next night, my dad was feeling like ordering some Chinese food (he can't get decent Chinese where he lives), so that we did. I don't like to get Chinese very often because it tends to make me not feel very well. I kept it kind of light with broccoli and garlic sauce (no oil) and steamed rice. Much, much better without the oil.

Last night was veggie Reubens again. I can't believe it took me this long to make them again. They really are so good! I could probably make them once a week and never get tired of them. I'm making a serious effort to start eating healthier, so I've got a big bag of lettuce and veggies cut up and ready in the fridge. I've been trying to mainly eat fruit for breakfast and raw veggies for lunch. I do fine until about 2 p.m., then I feel like eating everything in the house!

Potato-Leek Soup, Panini, and More Chickpeas

2008-01-20T21:29:00.000-05:00

This is just too weird. Last week, when I planned my menu for the week, I planned on potato-leek soup for Friday night. Imagine my surprise when I logged on to Carrie's blog mid-week (after we had made two similar meals on the same days) and saw that she had made a potato-leek soup! Actually, the first meal we made was exactly the same: sweet and savory lentils, mashed sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts. Three of the same meals in one week!

Anyway...On to the soup. I found this recipe on the Food TV website. I love, love, love potato soup, but I wanted to try something different from my usual. This one looked really easy and good. I made a few changes to it, though. Instead of chicken broth, butter, and heavy cream, I used no-chicken broth, Earth Balance and Silk soy creamer. It was fantastic, but honestly it wasn't too different from my regular potato soup. I'll definitely make this one again.

To go along with the soup, I decided to try my hand at panini (Apparently it's actually panino in singular form. I'm sticking with panini, though!) So, I made a spinach, roasted red-pepper and mozzarella panini. I tossed the spinach in just a little Italian dressing for some nice flavor. It was really, really tasty.

We had plenty of leftover soup to get us through Saturday without having to cook. This morning I made some really great omelets with the leftover black bean and veggie filling from the quesadillas. I topped them with a dollop of sour cream and some good salsa. Amazing! They were every bit as good as the Santa Fe Omelets that we sometimes get for brunch at our favorite local diner, Maxwell's.

This evening I kept it simple with the off-the-hook chickpea gravy that I've blogged about before. I had mine over brown rice, but made mashed potatoes for Sleek and the kids. I sauteed some onions and spinach to go with it. Yum!

Quesadillas

2008-01-17T21:50:00.000-05:00

I've still been battling this SAD. Damn, it's tough. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning. I mean STRUGGLE. Then I struggle, all day, to not climb back in. I can get up and drink two large cups of coffee, then go lay down and be asleep in five minutes. I've been trying to just let myself do whatever my body feels like it needs because I know next month at this time, I'll be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I just don't really want to gain another ten pounds between now and then!

Anyway...This evening for dinner I decided to make some black bean and veggie quesadillas. I've been wanting an excuse to try out my new Le Creuset grill pan and panini press anyway. So, here's what I did: I chopped up an onion, half of a red pepper and a few cloves of garlic and sauteed them until soft. Then, I added some chopped, cooked broccoli that I had leftover from yesterday. I added about 3-4 cups of cooked black beans. I seasoned with some chili powder, paprika, cumin and cayenne. Salt and pepper to taste. I put a big spoonful of the veggie mixture between a couple whole-grain tortillas with some cheese. There ya go. Quesadillas.

I made some mexican-style rice to go with them. I cooked one cup of long-grain brown rice in two cups of "No-Chicken Broth." While that was cooking I sauteed half an onion and a few cloves of garlic. To that, I added a can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes. When the rice was finished cooking, I dumped it into the tomato mixture. Super-easy, and unbelievably tasty.

I didn't post yesterday, but I made one of Sleek's favorites. It's such an easy dish. It's called "Halusky." (Mmmmm. The version described on that wiki entry sounds awesome!) Just cabbage and onion cooked in butter (or Earth Balance), and added to a bag of cooked egg noodles. (I use whole wheat noodles.) Add some salt and pepper, and there you have it. It is mighty good. I originally found the recipe in my trusty White Grass Cafe cookbook. I served it with a side of roasted asparagus with a really simple balsamic-soy sauce.

Today, I listened to an album that I haven't listened to forever. I played the hell out of it from 1999 to 2001, I swear. It's Ben Lee's Breathing Tornados. Great, great album. Sleek and I saw Ben Lee last summer, and he didn't play a damn song off of that album! I was highly disappointed. He is cute, though! ;)

Thai Curry Noodles

2008-01-15T16:43:00.000-05:00

Last night I made another of Carrie's recipes. This one was curry noodles. As you may have noticed in my last post, Carrie and I made the same meal. Well, guess what Carrie made last night? Yep. She made a Thai curry. A different one, though. But still. Ca-Razy!

Anyway, I pretty much followed Carrie's recipe, except I added more noodles. I'm one of those "the more noodles the better" type people. I also skipped the cilantro garnish since I'm not a huge fan of that herb. I also added a red pepper since I had one that needed used ASAP. OMG. They were so good. Pretty spicy, but just really, really good. I'll definitely be making them again, but not before I try a green curry!

Yesterday, while cooking, I kicked it old-school with Radiohead's The Bends. Can you believe it's been like 13 years since that album came out? Talk about timeless. I tell ya, seeing them do My Iron Lung live is like an out-of-body experience. Actually, just seeing them live is like an out-of-body experience. Doesn't really matter what they're playing. They're doing a US tour this summer, and I can't wait to see them yet again!

Sweet and Savory Lentils by Carrie

2008-01-13T17:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, this is the first time I've posted within minutes of eating. I just can't help it. Dinner was out-of-control good. I made Carrie's Sweet and Savory Lentils, which she blogged about way back when. I don't think I'll be making the honey-baked lentils anymore. These are WAY better. They will definitely be in regular rotation around here.

I also made some mashed sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts to go with them. Since my oven was in use for the lentils, I boiled the sweet potatoes. I'm very, very glad I did. They are a bit difficult to peel and cut, but it was so worth it! I boiled them with water, about 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2TBS Earth Balance, a good sprinkling of cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne, and a good pinch of salt. I boiled them, covered, for about 15 minutes. Then I took the lid off and let them simmer for about 15 more minutes, until the liquid got thick and syrup-y. I did end up draining off some of the liquid at the end. Then I mashed them up a bit. They are just so freaking good!

I made some brussel sprouts as well. I just sliced them up and sauteed them in some canola oil for a few minutes. I just used salt, pepper and some garlic powder to season them. They seemed especially good. I think I just needed to get some veggies in my body.

I wrote the other day about how I seem to be in a funk right now, and I went through the same thing a year ago. Well, today I discovered that I have every single symptom of Seasonal Affective Disorder. I mean EVERY SINGLE ONE! It's so weird, my brain tells me that eating better and getting some physical activity would help, but it sure isn't what my body is telling me! Another crazy symptom I've been having is the desire to lay in bed and watch Lifetime movies. Now, I haven't really done it (well, I did watch one Lifetime movie yesterday), but the desire is there. One of the symptoms is intense craving for carbs. Hmmm. I guess that would explain the pack of hamburger buns that disappeared in the last two days. Plus the vanilla wafers. Plus the crackers.

The meal I made this evening actually gave me hope, though. Hope that if I make really tasty, healthy things, that's what my body will start wanting again. If not, at least I can count on being back to myself by the end of February!

OMG! Check out Carrie's blog and see what she made for dinner this evening. CRAZY!

Three Meals, One Post

2008-01-11T20:04:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't been blogging as regularly as I'd like. I've made three meals since my last post. Every January, I seem to get into a funk. Mild depression, I'd say. I feel like eating crap-loads of unhealthy foods. I feel like staying in bed all day. I find myself not taking very good care of myself. It happens every year, and usually ends sometime in February. I need physical activity and fresh air. Both are hard to come by with January weather around here. If it's not freezing cold and snowing, it seems like it's rainy. Yuck.

Anyway, I have been cooking up some nice, healthy food. That always helps, but when I polish off a box of vanilla wafers (the kids talked me into that one) in one day, a healthy meal doesn't really matter. ;) At least they're gone now!

On Wednesday evening, I made a great Italian Rice and Vegetable Soup. That was from my trusty White Grass Cafe cookbook. That book has never let me down when I need a good soup recipe. It's just canned tomatoes, veggie broth, garlic, brown rice, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash and onion. Plus some thyme, oregano and basil. Really easy to make, and very tasty. I forgot to take a pic of it! You'll have to use your imaginations.

Thursday evening, I made Indian-Spiced Red Lentils. I copied that recipe from my mom's cookbook from America's Test Kitchen. I've heard so many people rave about that cookbook and say everything in it is just fantastic, but I was slightly disappointed in the lentils. They just didn't seem as flavorful as much of the other Indian foods I've made. Of course, it didn't contain the variety of spices that they did, either. It was really easy to make though. An onion sauteed with some garlic and fresh ginger, a little garam masala, water, coconut milk, tomatoes and lentils. I served it over jasmine rice. I would say it was good, but not great.

Tonight was pizza night again. The kids (yeah, right) need to have some pizza every few weeks, and honestly, it's so easy to make. This time, my dough was so stretchy and elastic. So easy to work with. I usually struggle with the stretching and shaping, usually having to patch a tear or two. Not this time! I had it stretched and perfectly round in less than a minute. It was definitely a nice surprise. It was really good, too. I can't seem to get it quite crisp enough on the bottom. I bake it at 500 degrees. I think if I preheated my baking stone, it would help crisp the bottom. Does anyone have any experience with that?

Anyway, I've been listening to Super Furry Animals (Ha! I just typed that as Supper Furry Animals!) Rings Around the World. What a fantastic album. I think all of y'all would like it. Also, today I listened to Chuck Ragan. Really good stuff. Sometimes folky, sometimes punk-ish, I love it. Then, I discovered that my little guy really likes Bad Religion. He was dancing around and pumping his fist like he was leading a mosh pit! It was great.

Beans n' Cornbread

2008-01-08T15:23:00.000-05:00

I know it seems like I've been making lots of bean dishes in the last several days. And, well...I have. I'm trying to drop just a few pounds that I put on over the holidays. If I eat lots of lean protein, I just don't crave junk as much. Hence, the beans.

Last night I made a dish that I've been making, in some variation, for the last 15 years. I lived on this stuff in college. Black beans with tomatoes over brown rice. Sometimes I'll throw in some pintos too if I have them around. I start by sauteeing a chopped onion and several cloves of minced garlic. When the onion is soft, I'll add a semi-drained can of diced tomatoes. (Sometimes two if I'm making a lot.) Then I add the beans. This time I also added a small can of chopped green chiles. I think I'll definitely do that from now on. Next, I add the seasonings. I use a couple TBS of sugar, some chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. Really you could add whatever you like. I like serve it over brown rice. Very tasty, and very filling too.

I like to have cornbread with my beans. (Who doesn't?) I used Jiffy brand cornbread mix for years, and several months ago I decided to read the ingredients. I noticed it contained lard, and I almost barfed. (I have no problem with people using lard for cooking. We don't eat land animals, though. That was the problem.) How that had escaped me for so long, I just don't know. I read the ingredient list on EVERYTHING. So, I needed to find a good recipe to make my own damn cornbread. Well, I think I picked a winner! Holy smokes, it was the best cornbread I've ever had. I even baked it in my cast-iron skillet. That's the old-fashioned way, you know. Anyway, I did reduce the amount of sugar that the recipe calls for. I used a scant half-cup. I do like my cornbread on the sweet side, but I don't like it to be like cake. So, I definitely recommend reducing the sugar.

My little guy was hanging out with me in the kitchen while I was cooking, and he said he wanted to listen to "the music I liked when I was a baby". So, it was Damien Rice's O. That album was the only thing that soothed him when he was a tiny baby.

Veggie Joes

2008-01-07T12:03:00.000-05:00

Heh! Silly me. I thought I "invented" veggie joes last summer. When Sleek and I ate meat (just over 3 years ago, now), we frequently ate sloppy joes. I had been craving some joes last summer, when I also happened to be wondering what the hell to do with the mountain of veggies I had from the CSA. Veggie joes popped into my mind. I decided to just kind of wing it with the sauce, and amazingly they turned out awesome. I have since seen a version of veggie joes in every vegetarian cookbook I've looked at! Every time I make these, I get that Adam Sandler song stuck in my head for at least two days! OMG. Y'all must watch that. Adam Sandler and Chris Farley may be my favorite comedy duo ever.

So, here's what I do: Dice up some veggies. I like zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, onions and bell peppers. I saute them until just soft. Then I add various amounts of beans. (I don't really measure, but I'd say about 2 cups.) I usually use pinto beans, but yesterday all I had cooked were chickpeas. So, I lightly mashed the chickpeas and added them to the vegetables. Finally, I added about 1 1/2 cups of cooked brown rice.

While that was all getting heated through, I made the sauce. If I had to guess on the measurements, it would go something like this: about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup to a cup of ketchup, 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of brown sugar, a couple TBS of yellow mustard, splash of vegan Worcestershire, several shakes of paprika (I just keep adding and tasting until I get it right), a dash of salt and a dash of cayenne pepper. Mix it all up and pour it into the veggies and heat it through.

This really is an easy dish to make, and it's just so good. Plus, it's just full of veggies, so it's good for you too!

Dinner Party

2008-01-06T12:12:00.000-05:00

Good news. My good friend, Olives, and her girls have moved back to Mo-town after being away for nearly a year. Not only do I have my friend back, but the kids have two of their "very best friends" back too. They were excited to invite them over for dinner on Friday night and finally exchange Christmas gifts. I made dinner simple and kid-friendly with some spaghetti pomodoro, which I have blogged about before. I also sauteed some broccoli, and Olives brought a loaf of bread from the new bakery in town. We had a good time.

Yesterday, we had a birthday party to go to, so for dinner I wanted to do something easy and healthy. So, I made the spinach and chickpea curry from VWaV. It is unbelievably easy, and so good.

Oh, I don't think I posted about my New Year's resolution...Well, besides the usual healthy eating, physical activity regimen that nearly everyone resigns themselves to, I've decided that I'll no longer use plastic grocery bags. I'm going to buy all reusable cloth bags. Plus, Olives got me a nice collapse-able shopping basket too. I can't wait to relieve myself of the "plastic bag burden". Yes, it actually weighs that heavily on my mind when I come home with a zillion plastic bags. Honestly, it's a relief for me to do this. I do reuse, and mostly recycle my plastic bags. That just doesn't seem good enough anymore, though. I envision them escaping from the recycling center and floating all around the globe for thousands of years to come. Not anymore!

Carrie's "No-Chicken Noodle Soup"

2008-01-04T12:00:00.001-05:00

It is so good to be home. I haven't really been here since Christmas Eve, so it seems like forever. Next year, we're staying home for the holidays. I planned a week's worth of meals yesterday, and headed to the store. It is so nice to have my pantry and fridge stocked with good, healthy ingredients. I think I put on 10 lbs. in the last few months. Time to work on getting that off. It sucks when all your clothes start to feel a little tight!

Sleek and I had a nice time in Vegas. Like I said before, it's not really our type of place, but I'm down with laying around a nice hotel room anywhere. That's basically what I did, except for some fantastic partying on New Year's Eve. Sleek and I ate at the Indian restaurant in our hotel two different times. We also had a nice dinner at a really good seafood restaurant. I did learn that any time Red Bull invites you to an event, you really should go.

So, on to the cooking. A few (couple?) weeks ago, Carrie had blogged about a noodle soup she made. It looked so good, and I vowed that it would be my first post-holiday meal. I couldn't wait to make it. I followed her recipe, except I used the whole bag of noodles. My kids love noodles, so I thought it couldn't hurt. There were LOTS of noodles, but it was still really, really good. Maybe more like "No-Chicken and dumplings" than soup. I'll definitely make it again. It would be good with rice too.

I'm back on a Beirut kick, folks. Look out! I can't wait until Colin MacIntyre's new album comes out in early February.

Blog-lazy

2007-12-29T19:07:00.000-05:00

Hi all. I must apologize. The gluttony I've been indulging in has apparently been making me lazy. We went to my parents' home on Christmas Day, and Sleek and I came back today. I over-indulged in all the holiday goodness while I was there. (Oh, okay. I was also indulging here on the days leading up to Christmas Eve.) So, I mainly laid around in my pjs watching the tele and reading. Not a bad way to decompress from the rushing around and stress of the previous days. I could've blogged about the big Christmas dinner we had (broiled sea-bass, sweet potatoes, baked beans, macaroni salad, homemade rolls, etc. And pie: pumpkin, pecan and coconut cream.), but I didn't. I lazed around instead.

Anyway, like I was saying, Sleek and I came back home today sans kids. You see, we're leaving in the morning for a little New Year's getaway to Las Vegas. Sleek and I aren't really the Vegas types, but we were invited out to attend The Red Bull Experiment. Sleek's friend is going to attempt to break the world record for longest motorcycle jump. He's attempting to jump the length of a football field. Yikes! Should definitely make for an exciting New Year's eve! Coverage of the event starts at 11:15 p.m. EST. on ESPN if any of y'all want to check it out.

I'm looking forward to getting back home on Wednesday and getting into some more healthy cooking. My body is just screaming for it right now. I may post some from Vegas. If not, look for me to be back in the cooking business on Wednesday. I wish all of you peace, health and happiness in the new year!

Christmas Eve Brunch

2007-12-24T22:24:00.000-05:00

I wanted to really do something good for brunch today. I've been wanting to get really good at making homemade cinnamon rolls. I don't know why. I just think that's a really good thing to be able to make. So, I saw an episode of Good Eats on the Food Network back in November. Alton was making cinnamon rolls. I think I was drooling by the end of the show. I decided that those would be the ones I would make. So, the above picture is actually of the rolls that I made. (Don't they look too good to have been made my some amateur like myself?)

I wanted something savory to go along with the cinnamon rolls, and Sleek and I just love the chickpea gravy from VWaV. I decided to make that with some good, homemade biscuits. I found a recipe by Emeril for biscuits, and figured he knows a thing or two about a good biscuit. Wow. The gravy was great, as usual, and the biscuits were off-the-hook. That's the only kind I'm making from now on. So, we had a really nice Christmas Eve brunch this morning, which I plan on making a tradition.

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow we'll be heading to my mom's house for a big Christmas feast. I'll definitely be posting about it within the next few days. And with that...

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Tweleve Days of Goodies: Part XII

2007-12-24T22:15:00.000-05:00

Wow. I actually did it. Well, I cheated a little. The kids really wanted to make Christmas tree sugar cookies. I'd already made the snowflakes, but they really wanted Christmas trees. So, I'd been planning to do it on Friday the 21st. The first day of Christmas break for the kids. I was going to make my twelfth goodie, popcorn balls, on Friday evening. After baking the cookies all afternoon, I was just too damn tired. I decided that the Christmas trees would be my twelfth (doesn't that word look weird?) goodie. So sue me.

They turned out great. The kids love them. (Although when the time came to make them, they mysteriously disappeared. After talking for days how they would help me!) Plus, now I have more cookies to give away.

I gave neighbors and friends plates of goodies. It was fun. I look forward to doing it again next year!

Tweleve Days of Goodies: Part XI

2007-12-20T21:56:00.001-05:00

WHEW! One more to go. I can't believe I've made 11 different goodies in the last few weeks. My freezer is busting at the seams. I can't wait to give most of this stuff away! At this point, I really don't feel like eating any of it. Isn't it funny how that happens?

Tonight it was candied pecans. Let me tell ya, these things are goo-ood. Super-easy to make, too. I have a feeling they won't last too long around here. Tomorrow I'm making more sugar cookies with the kids and also my last goodie. It's going to be popcorn balls. Remember those from your childhood?

As for cooking regular meals...Well, that's sort of fallen off the radar for now. I just can't. I'm cooking up an awesome Christmas Eve brunch. Then we'll have a huge Christmas Day dinner at my mom's. I hope to do a special video post on Christmas Eve...

Tweleve Days of Goodies: Part X

2007-12-19T12:40:00.001-05:00

Coconut macaroons. Something I've loved my whole life. When I started thinking about making these macaroons, I knew that I wanted something that really just let the flavor of the coconut stand out. A few years back, I had asked my mom to make some macaroons, as she had made them for Christmases past. (Like, WAY past.) She had trouble finding a recipe that she liked. She eventually found two that she thought looked good. Honestly, neither of them were much like the coconut macaroons that we had remembered. The recipes she used both called for almond extract. I thought the almond flavor took over the cookie. Call us all unimpressed.

So, I searched the Food Network website for something that looked good. I found one from Ina Garten's show, The Barefoot Contessa. If you've ever watched Ina's show, you know she ain't messin' around. The recipe was extremely simple, and it had a five-star rating. I knew I'd picked a winner! They were so easy to make, and let me tell you, they are delicious. I even dipped the tops of some in chocolate. Ho-ly smokes! So freaking good. I somehow restrained myself and only ate one.

In my last post, I talked about how tired I've been from being in the kitchen all the time. I know my posting doesn't quite reflect that. I've made almost two batches of everything I've posted about. None of them have been made the same day as the first batch. Just yesterday, I made second batches of the macaroons (I think I made the first batch on Saturday) and peanut brittle. Today, I'm just finishing up a second batch of chocolate chip cookies. Friday, the kids and I are making a second batch of sugar cookies. (Or fourth batch, since I always double the recipe?) So, it has indeed been labor intensive, but I have enjoyed every minute of it. It has definitely enhanced my holiday season.

Okay, on to last night's dinner. A simple repeat, and it is indeed another casserole. (I'm trying to use up some of the beans in my freezer to make way for more goodies.) So, I made the Navy Bean Gratin from The Hippy Gourmet cookbook. I served it with a side of roasted asparagus with a soy/balsamic sauce. The sauce is 2 TBS butter or EB (melted), 1 TBS soy sauce, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar. Easy, quick and satisfying.

Tweleve Days of Goodies: Part IX

2007-12-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

Pretend it's this past Monday, and you're reading this. I've been too tired at night to keep up with my blog. I've fallen asleep in bed with the kids every night this week. Like at 8 p.m. I always get back up for a while, but I'm just too tired to even open the computer. So, Monday I decided to try my hand at homemade brownies. I love brownies, and honestly, the ones from a box aren't bad at all. I know that because I'm sure I've eaten a whole pan of them on numerous occasions.

Since it's the holiday season, I wanted to make them special. So, I searched the web until I found a suitable recipe. I doubled it and used a 9x13 inch pan. It took them longer to bake than the recipe recommended. I think about 35-40 minutes. They came out very, very nice. They're so easy that I may not even buy boxed brownies anymore. (I did read the ingredient list on boxed brownies. There's some not-so-nice stuff in there! Of course, if you don't eat the whole pan that really isn't a huge problem.)

I've decided to make dinner as easy as possible this week because truthfully, all this baking is hard work! By 4 p.m., I just don't feel like being in the kitchen any longer. Plus, Sleek has just been working insane hours, so anything he can easily heat up when he gets home is good. So, Monday night I made a tuna casserole for dinner. Sleek and I like some tuna casserole every now and then. I do make a slightly healthier version than the old standard. Here goes:

14 oz. bag of whole wheat noodles
2 cans of tuna
2 cans of Amy's organic semi-condensed Cream of Mushroom soup (No funny ingredients here.)
salt and pepper
cheddar cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. Mix in tuna and soup. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour it all into a casserole dish and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

It's really easy, and really good. The Amy's soup gives it a much more natural taste than Campbell's soup. Yum!

Twelve Days of Goodies: Part VIII

2007-12-16T21:48:00.000-05:00

What's better than homemade peanut brittle? Ummmm. Chocolate-covered peanut brittle, of course! Last night after the kids were asleep, Sleek and I hit the kitchen for a little late-night goodie makin'. (Minds out of the gutter, please!) It was strictly peanut brittle. I seem to get a little anxious when making something that requires a candy thermometer. I have no idea why. It seems like an exact temperature would make it easier for me to get right. I really needed Sleek there to offer his infinite bits of wisdom with an occasional stupid joke thrown in. Wait...I think I got that backwards.

Anyway, making peanut brittle ain't no joke. It takes a long time, with lots of stirring and temperature-taking. We finally finished up, and I decided to wait until today to dip it in chocolate. YUM, YUM. It is so freaking good, you wouldn't believe it. I can't wait to surprise my dad with it. I've decided that since I have all the ingredients, I'm going to make a some more to have plain. Really, it isn't that difficult to make. Just lots of babysitting.

While the brittle was cooling, I whipped up a batch of coconut macaroons. I'm saving those for a later post, though. So, last night was a big night in the kitchen.

The kids have been wanting pizza, so before I got to chocolate-dipping today, I whipped up a batch of pizza dough. It gets easier every time, and turns out better every time too.

I've found that when I need some music besides "classical Christmas", I can just log on to rebecca's blog and listen to her playlist. Excellent taste in music, she has.

Veggie Reubens

2007-12-14T21:41:00.000-05:00

Yum, yum, yiggity-yum! I love the veggie reubens at my favorite local restaurant. I have no idea why it took me so long to make them at home. It's so easy, really. I started by making the Russian dressing. Very easy to make. The recipe called for a cup of vegetable oil. I could not, in good conscience, put a cup of oil into that little bit of dressing. I used half a cup instead, and I don't see how it could've been any better. Certainly it would've been a tad oily with a cup of oil. Eeek!

Next, I sliced and sauteed a green pepper and an onion. When that was nice and soft, I added in some sour kraut. (It came from a jar. I'm not ready to make my own sour kraut!) I also added a TBS of brown sugar and some salt and pepper to the veggies. Then, I pretty much proceeded as one would when making grilled cheese. I buttered my (rye) bread, put it on the griddle, added a slice of swiss cheese, some of the veggies, dressing, and topped it with another slice of buttered (well, okay Earth Balanced) bread.

To go along with the sandwiches, I made some garlic oven fries. The recipe is from the September 2007 issue of Cooking Light. Sleek spotted the recipe and really wanted to try it. Best oven fries ever! I made them according to the recipe, but used Earth Balance instead of butter. I didn't have fresh parsley either, so I just used the garlic and parmesan. Sleek raved about the meal the whole time he was eating. He thinks it's among the best things I've ever made.

Black-Bean Soup

2007-12-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

Last night, I finally got to make my black-bean soup. I had cooked my beans on Wednesday, planning to make it that evening. I realized that I was out of onion, and Sleek was working late. I didn't feel like loading up the kids and driving to the store for onion, so I thought I'd make my tuna casserole that I'd planned for Saturday. Ha! I got out my can opener, which I realized was stripped. I finally settled for a can of tomato soup (opened with the sharp side of a bottle opener) and a grilled swiss on rye sandwich. It really hit the spot, so I wasn't too upset about the previous turn of events.

So, bean soup. I got the recipe from my White Grass Cafe cookbook, which I've mentioned before. It is a very simple soup to make. At the end, you puree it all in a blender. It wasn't as thick as I thought it would be, and I had to use way more seasonings than the recipe suggested. It really turned out good, though. I've never made a bad soup from that cookbook!

To go along with the soup, I made some sweet-potato fries. Slice up a sweet potato, toss in a smidge of oil, sprinkle with salt, cumin and chili powder. Bake them at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, tossing them after 15 minutes. Delicious.

Annelies has been bugging me to make apple scones for her. So, yesterday I whipped up a batch. I used Alton Brown's recipe from the Food Network website. I made a few changes, though. I substituted 1/4 cup of the cream with apple cider, and also added a cup of chopped apples. Damn. They're awesome. Of course, Annelies doesn't like them. Typical.

Twelve Days of Goodies: Part VII

2007-12-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

I crossed the threshold of the half-way point today when I made my peppermint bark. It is truly one of the easiest "candies" to make. The hardest part is unwrapping all the candy canes and crushing them up. I usually make it just using white chocolate, but this year I decided to add a layer of dark chocolate on the bottom. So, I started by melting my dark chocolate. I used one 14 oz. package of the chocolate wafers that you've certainly seen taking over your grocery store during the holidays. I spread it on my pan and let it cool and harden. I melted 2 14 oz. packages of white chocolate wafers and spread them over the dark. Then I sprinkled on the crushed up candy canes. I let it all cool in the fridge, then broke it into pieces. The only thing I should have done differently is not let the bottom layer of dark chocolate cool so much. I should have had the white chocolate melted and ready to spread soon after the dark chocolate was spread. Because I let it cool so much, the white chocolate and dark chocolate came right apart on some of the pieces. Oh, well. Next time I'll get it just right! It tastes fantastic, so that's all that really matters.

Orange-Sesame Tofu with Veggie Fried Rice

2007-12-11T20:52:00.000-05:00

This evening I decided it was time for orange-sesame tofu again. I haven't made it for a couple months, so it was definitely time. I decided to make a simple veggie fried rice to go with it, along with a broccoli and red pepper dish. It was quite an involved meal to make, with lots of prep work. Since I've posted the tofu recipe before, I won't go into that part.

Yesterday evening, I decided to throw together some veggie fried rice to go along with the honey-baked lentils I had made. It turned out so good that I decided to make it again tonight. Here's what I did: First, I cooked my rice. That's one cup of long-grain brown rice brought to a boil with one cup of water and one cup of No-Chicken broth. Cover and turn heat to low, simmering for 50 minutes. In the meantime, I finely chopped half an onion and half of a red pepper. I sauteed those in oil until slightly browned and softened. (With a clove or two of minced garlic.) Yesterday when I made the rice, I used some diced carrots. I didn't have any this evening, so I improvised with the red pepper. When the rice was finished, I let it cool just a little, then added it to the hot skillet with the vegetables. I added a few splashes of shoyu, and that was it. I'm telling you, it's so easy and just amazingly good. Way better than the usually-greasy fried rice you get at a Chinese restaurant. I also made it with brown rice, so it's whole grain!

I saw a recipe for a sesame broccoli and red pepper dish in my Hippy Gourmet cookbook. Since I had all the ingredients on hand, I made it. I just steamed a head of broccoli. Then made a sauce with garlic, shoyu, rice vinegar, a bit of oil, and turbinado (raw) sugar. When it was ready, I added the thinly-sliced red peppers and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. I swear it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Wow.

I've still been kicking the Pandora classical Christmas station. I'm thinking that will be it for me until Christmas Day rolls around. By Christmas night, I'm ready for the whole thing to be over with. LOL!

Twelve Days of Goodies: Part VI

2007-12-10T09:59:00.000-05:00

Wow! I'm halfway there! Yesterday I made chocolate truffles. I used this recipe from Food Network's Alton Brown. I wanted them to be extra-good, so I used all Ghiradelli chocolate in them. Making the filling was very easy. Getting the balls coated in chocolate? Not so easy. I was freaking out for the first ten or so truffles. Sleek was right there, offering support in whichever way was needed. (It was mostly emotional support.) LOL!

After coating them in chocolate, I rolled them in either cocoa powder, toasted chopped pecans or toasted, unsweetened coconut. I have to say, they are off the hook! Even Sleek liked them, and he doesn't really like chocolate that much.

I have to admit, I couldn't even rock any tunes while working on these. I had to devote my full concentration to the truffles. I kind of got the hang of it toward the end, and next time it will be much easier, I think.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

2007-12-09T21:39:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Sleek started getting a hankering for twice-baked potatoes. He searched the web until he found a recipe he liked. It looked really easy and sounded very good. I mean, "Twice-baked Potatoes with Cabbage and Onions"? Yum. How could it not be good? We made them this afternoon since we felt like having an early dinner. They were really easy to make. I used massive potatoes, so I had to tweak the ingredients some for sure. I also used dried dill and parsley since I didn't have any fresh. I made an easy side of steamed cauliflower and broccoli to go with them. Sleek helped me out in the kitchen a good bit for this one. It's fun when we have to opportunity to cook together!

Happy Birthday, Olives!

2007-12-09T12:43:00.000-05:00

Today is olives and more's birthday. The big 26. On Friday night, we went out to celebrate. Celebrate we did. Maybe a little (or a lot) too much. We started off with a nice dinner and some drinks at The Vintage Room. I started off with an Upside-down Pineapple martini. It tastes just like a piece of pineapple upside-down cake. Amazing. For dessert, I had a pumpkin pie martini. It was fantastic as well.

After dinner, we headed to a friend's graduation party. After a couple of drinks there, olives and I were ready to head downtown. We went to 123 Pleasant St. where they had a dj and dancing. We danced our asses off, and kept on drinking. I got home sometime between 3 and 4 a.m. Had a fierce hangover yesterday. I couldn't cook anything. That wasn't a problem, though. Annelies had her first piano recital, which she was a little nervous about. I told her we'd take her to eat at any restaurant in town after the recital. Much to my dismay, she chose Ihop. Oh, well. The slightly greasy hash browns eased the hangover, so I really can't complain too much. I'm looking forward to doing some cooking today, plus some chocolate truffles for my "goodies" segment. Stay tuned...

Friday night went on...

and on...

and on...