Tasty Testers

Before I moved, Krys from Two Vegan Boys sent me some recipes to test for her. I knew they would be great because her meals always look so yummy. It took awhile, but after settling into my new kitchen, I got around to making them.

First, some sweets. Coconut chocolate mint pudding, and chocolate raspberry pancakes.

The pudding was made with coconut milk. So creamy and rich.  The pancakes were gobbled up by Jackson and Olivia. Fresh raspberries on top -- how could anyone resist?

Next, some potato corn chowder made in the slow cooker. Vegan sausage was added to make it extra-hearty. I used Field Roast Apple Sage sausage. It was my first time trying a Field Roast sausage. It's no big thing to make my own sausage at home, but I have to say these links were really good.

My favorite of the bunch was a curried eggplant casserole. There's a layer of mixed veggies, topped with eggplant slices, covered with a soy yogurt curry sauce, and baked in the oven. I served it with basmati rice. Even Tony, who fears eggplant, admitted that this was good stuff. And, to my surprise, baby Olivia ate a big helping. You never know what little ones will end up liking, so I always let them try everything.

Are you doing any recipe testing at the moment? Or have you tried out a new recipe from any source, that you enjoyed?

This morning we are going to check out toddler storytime at our local library. I'm a librarian by profession, so I am a big supporter of public libraries! Then I have to fill out some paperwork to get Jackson enrolled in daycare. He will go part-time, two days a week, and he is not starting until September, but I still get a little teary-eyed thinking about it. Such a big step for my buddy. I'm used to having him around all the time. But I know he is ready. We toured the school yesterday and he blended right in. He loves to play with other kids. I'll be the one crying when I drop him off on that first day, not him!

Any fun plans this weekend? We are going to IKEA to get some stuff for the house. It's still looking kinda bare. When you move from a two-bedroom apartment into a two-story home, it's going to look bare, I guess. I'm not really looking forward to it. IKEA can be overwhelming. It's a huge store. If it gets to be too much, we will go back for the rest some other time. No hurry. On Sunday, we are taking Monster to a Boston Terrier meetup and then I am taking some goodies to the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale. I've never been to a vegan bake sale, so I'm looking forward to bringing home some yummy treats. I haven't decided yet what to bake. Any ideas?

Have a great weekend!