This week, Jackson brought his friend Molly Monkey home to stay with us. Molly has been making the rounds among Jackson's classmates, and now it's our turn to play host to her. As with any houseguest, the first thing we did was make sure we had her favorite foods on hand.
We planned some outings to entertain our guest. A trip to the park...
Weeee! Be brave, Molly.
Jackson has never shown interest in a stuffed animal before in his life, but I can tell Molly is different. He hasn't put her down.
In addition to bananas, one evening I made a risotto with roasted broccoli and brussels sprouts. I was inspired by Carla who posted this delicious dinner back during Vegan MoFo. You can roast the veggies in the same time it makes to cook the risotto and have dinner on the table in 30 minutes.
Another night, I made tofu bacon, recipe courtesy of the Vegan Cookbook Aficionado. I skipped the freezing and thawing of the tofu. Instead I pressed it in my Tofu XPress and used a serrated knife to cut thin slices. It turned out great! Crispy, salty and smoky. (It's also quite greasy when you take it out of the pan, but you can transfer it directly onto some paper towels and that will soak up a lot of the oil.) It was fabulous on a rye bread BLT.
One evening when it was just me and the kiddos, I had a craving for stuffed mushrooms. These are Melissa's Stuffed Mushrooms from La Dolce Vegan. Garlicky and amazing!
And here's my attempt to replicate Sabra's Supremely Spicy hummus at home. That stuff is like crack for me. In a small bowl, I combined minced roasted red pepper, chili pepper flakes, and some olive oil. I let it sit for awhile to combine the flavors, then spooned it over some basic hummus. It wasn't quite as spicy as I wanted, so I sprinkled more chili pepper flakes on top after I took this picture. Not quite as good as Sabra's, but it'll definitely do in a pinch. Yum!
Thanks for visiting, Molly!
And thank you for visiting me here. Have a great weekend!
I remember getting to bring home the class stuffed animal when I was little! There was such a special feeling to it :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like your son had lots of fun with Molly :) The bacon sandwich sounds good! I've never attempted homemade bacon yet. I like the fakin bacon tempeh though!
ReplyDeleteAw, I love Molly Monkey! What fun that they do that with the kids. So cool!
ReplyDeleteOoh, that tofu bacon sounds great! And the risotto looks so delicious - something about caramelised Brussels sprouts are just irresistable to me.
ReplyDeleteThis might be the cutest post ever! Adorable pics of the kids entertaining Molly and that risotto sounds AMAZING! I love roasted veggies and that sounds so comforting and perfect!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they do the stuffed toy thing here now, they certainly never did when I was involved in schools!
ReplyDeleteMind you, health and safety over here would insist that the school wash the toy a soon as it was returned to school, and check all its seams for tightness, and insist that parents sign a disclaimer in case a sibling chewed a bit off and choked - you see the problems we'd have:(
Such a shame, it's a great idea:)
I have a bottle of olive oil that is filled halfway with chili pepper flakes. I just swish it around once in a while, and then use the oil when cooking spicy food. That oil is hot! When the oil runs low, I refill it, but it takes a good month or so before the oil really gets spicy. Maybe try that out next time you want spicy hummus?
ReplyDeleteFun; my kids would love it. The sandwich looks wonderful!
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