Busy Veggie Mama

Monday Evening Speedy Post

2012-02-27T19:46:00.000-05:00

I have joined a book club, so the time that I would normally spend writing a more involved post is being consumed with trying to finish The Marriage Plot by next week. But I'll still attempt to blog, thus ignoring the wise words of Ron Swanson: "Don't half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."

For lunch, Jackson and I shared a buffalo popcorn tofu po-boy from Wheatsville. The popcorn tofu is amazing, but I am starting to think it's the bread that really does it for me. I love a good crusty, chewy baguette.

For dinner I made a quick curry -- quick thanks to the Minute rice and Seeds of Change jalfrezi simmering sauce that I used. I sauteed some tofu and added some cubed baked sweet potato, spinach from our garden, frozen peas, and sauce, and simmered it all together for ten minutes. The Seeds of Change sauce was on sale at the store so I picked up a jar. I might try their other flavors but I don't think I would buy the jalfrezi again. It's vegan and organic, which is great, but it was kind of lacking in the flavor department.

I also made a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread, recipe from 1000 Vegan Recipes, to use up some bananas that were turning mushy. This is the best banana bread recipe I've ever tried. So good with a smear of Earth Balance.

And the day's eating is not quite done yet. Now I am going to make popcorn for my freshly bathed little ones.

Have a good night!

'Eat, Drink & Be Vegan' Review

2012-02-24T17:57:00.000-05:00

This week I made a few recipes from Dreena Burton's Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. Although this cookbook has been around for awhile, I just recently picked up a copy. So far, I am really enjoying the results. I like that she uses wholesome, natural ingredients. Not a lot of processed foods, white flour or white sugar.

One night I made the Thai Chick-un Pizza. Look how pretty! And so delicious. All the flavors of Thai food -- ginger, cilantro, peanut sauce -- atop a pizza crust. So clever.

One night I made this simple Lemon Garlic Pasta. It's done in the time it takes to cook the pasta. You can't really see them in this photo, but there are a ton of toasted pine nuts in there. Tony and I were liberal with the crushed red pepper flakes on our servings. The kids liked it as-is.

Finally, One Wild Chick Soup. I assume this is based on the popular chicken and wild rice soup. I used to have a couple of coworkers who were obsessed with that soup. I've never eaten it, personally. But I enjoyed this version, especially the chewy texture of the wild rice.

Spring is here, and we love being able to spend lots of time outdoors. But sometimes the results can be messy. This is what happens when I say, "Hey Jackson, why don't you play in the backyard for a few minutes while Mommy finishes making dinner."

It's OK, we just hose them down. Have a great weekend!

National Chili Day

2012-02-23T12:45:00.000-05:00

Apparently today is National Chili Day. Here is a batch I made with French lentils, topped with oyster crackers and a sprinkling of shredded cheddar. I always enjoy a good bowl of veggie chili. Do you have a favorite chili recipe?

Date Night

2012-02-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

On Saturday evening, Jackson's school held a babysitting fundraiser, so Tony and I were able to drop off the kids and enjoy a few precious hours of "Couple Time."

Since I knew we were going out for dinner, I had a light lunch that day -- Sabra roasted pine nut hummus with carrot sticks and pita chips. Well, I'm not really sure how "light" it was, considering I polished off half the tub of hummus. Oh Sabra, why must you put crack in your hummus?

For dinner, we headed to NXNW, a restaurant/brewery we had heard good things about. To start with, we had goat cheese crostini with roasted garlic cloves.

I love roasted garlic. I felt kind of bad for the server, who had to pick up three bulbs of roasted garlic and squeeze them over our crostini with her hand while we watched. I sat there thinking, "We could have done that!" I was imagining her hands smelling like garlic for the rest of her shift. But you know, some restaurants like to make a big deal of doing things "tableside." She was probably used to it.

For my entree I had the roasted veggie pizza. It came topped with red peppers, red onion, eggplant, pesto, and feta cheese. It was great -- the crust was perfect, nice and chewy.

Mardi Gras

2012-02-21T10:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Mardi Gras! Even though we are not in New Orleans, we made some special recipes to celebrate.

First I made the Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta from Veganomicon.

Rather than the olive salad in Isa's recipe, which I'm sure is delicious, I used this mix from Central Grocery in New Orleans to make it a little more "authentic." We got a jar for Christmas.

The result -- pretty good, but I think I used the wrong kind of bread. It started getting soggy after a few hours. Next time I will buy a sturdier loaf. Then I will be able to let it sit longer, allowing the olive flavors to seep into the bread without making it all goopy.

I also made Gumbo Z, from Vegan Soul Kitchen. With four different types of greens, how could this be anything but a winner? Delicious.

I was also going to make a king cake -- there's a great-looking recipe in Quick & Easy Vegan Celebrations -- but after Valentine's Day, I find that I am burnt out on sweets. I haven't wanted anything sugary in the past several days. Since Tony doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, I decided to skip the king cake. But let me know if you made one! I've never had one, and they look so good.

Family Day

2012-02-20T15:50:00.000-05:00

I wish Tony was off work today, but he had to go in. So we had our family fun yesterday. First we went for a nice walk. Jackson wanted to push Olivia in the stroller.

When we passed by the fire station, he quickly forgot about pushing the stroller. He is fascinated by any vehicle with a siren.

We came to a strange sculpture, placed right in the middle of an intersection. The kids loved climbing on it. We thought it was an octopus...or maybe a spider? This is something I love about Austin. "Stick a giant sparkly spider thing in the middle of the street? Yes! Let's do it!"

I really didn't mean to give Jackson horns in this pic, haha.

Next we went to a park with a nice playground.

Finally we ate dinner at one of my favorites, Magnolia. I would eat there all the time if we lived closer. Unfortunately we are in another part of town these days. It is a special treat now. Olivia and I shared the Love Veggies. It's a big plate of veggies and rice, cooked in a garlic sauce. Zucchini, green pepper, onions, summer squash, mushrooms, and spinach. So good.

It looks like our winter is over for this year. That's fine with me. I love springtime. I can't believe we have been back in Austin almost a year. At the time, we thought moving back would make our lives perfect. That was silly -- there are always challenges. I had a couple of really rough months dealing with illnesses, anxiety, loneliness, and family drama. But as spring arrives, things are definitely looking up. We are all in good health, I've made some friends in our new part of town, and Jackson and Olivia have been thriving in their new surroundings. Can't ask for much more than that. Now I am ready for some lovely spring weather and many more days spent outside with my three favorite people.

The Many Faces of Orzo

2012-02-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I had to get groceries and run some other errands, so I did not feel like rushing home to cook dinner. Instead, we went to Souper Salad. It's a good place to eat with little kids because they can get all their favorite finger foods from the buffet. And they have compartmentalized trays to keep it all separate, which is becoming very important to someone.

Salad is a rare sighting on these pages, I know. But every so often, I do crave one.

This morning I had hemp granola mixed with Kashi blueberry flakes. Do you use hemp products in your cooking? I just picked up a used copy of Dreena Burton's Vive le Vegan and she has a whole section on cooking with hemp, but I'm not really familiar with it. I like the nutty flavor of this granola, though.

For tonight's dinner I wanted to make the Orzo Pilaf with Tofu Feta from Vegan on the Cheap. However, a thing of orzo at my supermarket was nearly $8. I don't know if it was organic or flecked with 14k gold or what, but it was the only kind of orzo they had, and I wasn't paying that.

Luckily, I saw this...

I checked the ingredients on this bag of "rosamarina" pasta against the orzo and, yep, it's the same thing. And it was $1. Dinner was a go.

I made the tofu "feta" a few days earlier and let it soak in the olive oil/lemon juice marinade that gives it its tangy flavor. So this dinner took all of 20 minutes to make, including boiling the pasta water. And it was yummy. The orzo was a bit messy for Jackson and Olivia to eat. Bigger pasta shapes could be substituted if you're feeding this to small children. I would bring this to a potluck -- it's great at room temperature.

Have a great weekend!

Nacho Bar

2012-02-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

The rationale for tonight's meal was that I wanted nachos, but bars are the only places to get good nachos with all the fixins that I like, and I can't take my kiddos to a bar. So we

made our own nacho assembly line.

From top to bottom: TVP taco meat, vegan Rotel queso, scallions, sour cream, chickpea "refried beans," Tony's salsa, guacamole, and lettuce.

I forgot to set out the pickled jalapenos, but I threw some of those on, too, after I took this picture.

Super short post today -- Olivia is starting her potty training, so I'm getting my exercise taking her to the bathroom every 10 minutes. She thinks it's fun!

Valentine's

2012-02-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

Our Valentine's Day was busy and festive. Jackson had a party at his school. He came home with a sack full of treats and cards from his little friends (awww!) Our playgroup also had a party, which I attended with Olivia.

I made a couple of things for the parties. First, chocolate cookie balls. I see cake and cookie balls everywhere these days and I wanted to try my hand at making them. I used this recipe and it was incredibly easy. Got lots of compliments on these.

I also made the Garden Rotini Salad with Inner Goddess Dressing from Vegan on the Cheap. It is a favorite in our house, and I got a few requests for the recipe.

Since Valentine's Day is all about love, I thought it was only fitting to prepare the one dinner Tony and I love above all others -- the Vietnamese Seitan Baguettes with Savory Broth Dip from Veganomicon.

Heart-shaped straws added to our modest weeknight festivities. (Don't worry, Tony and I are going to have a date night, too, but we have to wait until this weekend!)

After dinner, we allowed the kids to dive into their goodie bags. My little sweethearts bypassed the traditional candy conversation hearts and went straight for the giant, heart-shaped marshmallow Peeps.

Hope you had a love-ly day, too!

Enoteca Vespaio

2012-02-14T17:17:00.000-05:00

This weekend we headed down to our old neighborhood for lunch. We had a craving for some Enoteca Vespaio. Actually, we had a craving for one particular dish on their menu. Suppli!

Suppli are breaded, fried balls of risotto that have a piece of cheese stuffed into them. So when you cut into them, they are a hot, gooey mess. They come covered in red sauce and they are heavenly. We got two orders -- one for us, one for the kids!

Oh, we got some other stuff too. Margherita pizza with tons of fresh basil...

Pasta for the kids...Olivia preferred to eat hers one strand at a time.

I just liked this picture of Jackson. He looks like he's in the middle of telling a funny story...which he usually is.

For dessert, we ordered macarons. Aren't they cute? These French cookies (yep, French cookies at an Italian restaurant, don't ask me) are delicious. They just melt in your mouth.

Tony sort of looks like he wants to kill his macaron, but he is really examining it closely to try to figure out how it can be so awesome.

Of course the kids approved.

Have you had macarons? I'm dreaming of them now. They sound like they are really difficult to make, but I feel like I have to try.

Pannekoeken!

2012-02-13T10:49:00.000-05:00

Long ago, before kids, Tony and I spent some time in Vancouver, B.C. It has a fond place in my heart. We actually considered moving there, until we realized what a process immigration would be. Some day we'd love to visit again with Jackson and Olivia.

Vancouver felt like a truly international city. Walking down the street, it wasn't uncommon to hear several different languages being spoken. And the restaurants reflected the diversity of the population.

Some mornings, we ate breakfast at a little Dutch restaurant. Every time, we had pannekoeken.

Look at Tony, such a baby face!

A pannekoeken is a big Dutch pancake that's like a thicker version of a crepe. It's basically a conduit for whatever you decide to top it with, be it sweet or savory.

I used this vegan recipe to make my own pannekoeken. We topped them with cinnamon apples, and also Nutella and bananas. Along with a tofu scramble, this was a perfect Sunday brunch.

Do you have certain foods that remind you of places you've traveled?

Kabocha -- An Experiment

2012-02-10T15:18:00.000-05:00

Once in awhile, I like to grab the kids and go wander around at the Asian supermarket near our home. They sell cheap tofu, baby bananas for Jackson's lunchbox, and, if I'm feeling experimental, I can always find some new fruit or vegetable I've never seen or heard of before.

On my last visit, I picked up a kabocha squash. Also known as a Japanese pumpkin, this round, squatty winter squash is said to be even sweeter than butternut squash.

I decided to roast it. It took me 45 minutes to prepare -- not counting roasting time! I halved it, scooped out the seeds, peeled it, and cut it into thin slices. (Later, I read that peeling is unnecessary. Next time, I'll save myself a huge chunk of time and leave the skin on!) Then I tossed it with coconut oil, Braggs, cinnamon, and a little coconut sugar.

Have you tried coconut sugar? It looks and smells like a large-grained brown sugar.

To accompany the squash, I prepared a box of Annie's pasta. I ate this stuff often as a kid! I'm glad it's still around. I threw in some frozen peas during the last two minutes of cooking the pasta.

The finished product...

The squash was indeed sweet, and delicious. Kabocha will definitely be making more appearances on our plates in the future.

After dinner, Jackson let his daddy cut his hair for the first time in like six months. For a reward, Tony made him a little racecar ramp out of cardboard. I thought it was pretty ingenious.

Have a great weekend!

Review: Alexia

2012-02-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

I think my love of Alexia sweet potato puffs and fries has been well-documented on my blog. My own soggy attempts at sweet potato fries were not cutting it, so their frozen products have been a godsend whenever I am craving crispy, crunchy fries. So it's no surprise that I was thrilled when Alexia contacted me about sampling some of their other products.

First -- the puffs. Crispy, bite-sized, think sweet potato tater tots. They're so sweet. You could probably drizzle maple syrup on them and eat them as a dessert. I tried eating them with ketchup like a regular tater tot, but I found that what I really like to dip them in is Veganaise mixed with sriracha sauce. The sweet/savory/spicy combo is what I always crave.

One night I made the tofu migas from Quick-Fix Vegan, with plenty of avocado, and baked up some puffs to serve on the side. A great substitute for home fries. If your supermarket stocks these puffs, seriously, do your tastebuds a favor and try them.

Next we tried the Harvest Saute. This is a side dish consisting of red potatoes, carrots, green beans, and onions. It comes with a packet of seasoned oil. You preheat the oil, then saute the veggies in it for 12 minutes. That's it. I liked how super fast it was. The flavor was spot on. I used the entire oil packet and the veggie were a tad bit on the oily side, but you could easily control how much oil you use.

Finally, we enjoyed the Oven Crinkles with salt and pepper. These crinkle-cut fries baked up nice and crispy/crunchy, and the generous black pepper seasoning gave them a nice kick. Perfect with veggie hot dogs.

Alexia offers a whole line of frozen foods ranging from onion rings to ciabatta rolls. I didn't know this until recently. Now I'll be on the lookout, since I love their potato products so much.

Today while Jackson was at school, Olivia and I attended a birthday party for one of the other little girls in our playgroup. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but Olivia loves Chuck E. Cheese. More specifically, she loves the rides. She rode this little car twelve times in a row. Not kidding.

Then she moved on to the monster truck. No fear, my girl!

Hope you're having a great day!

The Little Gymnast

2012-02-08T19:44:00.000-05:00

Awhile back, Jackson attended a birthday party for a school buddy. It was held at a gymnastics center and the kids got to run wild, playing with all the tumbling equipment. Jackson had the best time. When we found out that they offer classes every week, I signed Jackson up.

He has the best time. And it wears him out so he takes a good nap later -- bonus! Olivia and I wait in the lobby and watch through the glass. She takes the opportunity to try on bubba's hoodie.

I'm thrilled that Jackson enjoys being active and seeing what his body can do. But I already knew fitness was important to my kids. I know this because, when we go out to the garage to start a load of laundry, this is what they do while I'm measuring out my detergent.

Tonight's dinner was the Mellow Lentil "Sniffle Soup" from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. I found a used copy of this cookbook awhile back and this may be the first recipe I made from it. We all enjoyed it, so more will follow.

A Tale of Two Pizzas

2012-02-06T16:18:00.001-05:00

While recovering from our strep throat, Tony and I did not feel much like cooking. I always want pizza when I am sick. One night we ordered from Promise Pizza. Their thing is that they use all natural, organic ingredients. They also offer Daiya if you're going the vegan route. We chose black olives and mushrooms as the toppings.

The pizza was good, with a nice, chewy crust. My only issue was that the crust-to-pizza ratio was pretty high. Like, there was a lot of crust. We also ordered a side of garlic knots with marinara.

The garlic knots were delicious. Not as good as Home Slice's, but I doubt that's even possible. The marinara sauce was insanely sweet! I don't know what was going on there.

It was kinda pricy, $20 for the pie and knots. I guess the price is higher due to the organic ingredients. We couldn't really taste a difference, so I don't know if we will order from them again. It was tasty, though -- I'd recommend it if organic is important to you.

Another night, I picked up some pies from the Via 313 trailer. They specialize in Detroit-style pizza. If you aren't from Michigan, you've probably never heard of this type of pizza. It's not well-known like, say, New York-style pizza. It's a square pizza, with a thick deep-dish-style crust. The cheese is placed on the crust first, before the sauce. The sauce is spooned on top of the cheese, followed by the toppings. The cheese is spread all the way to the edges of the crust so that it bakes into the edges and caramelizes. That's the best part! My favorite purveyor of this pizza is Buddy's. I haven't lived in Detroit since I was 18, but I have to have this pizza whenever I go visit my family.

Soooo, when I heard about this new trailer selling Detroit-style pizza, to say I was excited would be an understatement. They are only open in the evenings, not at lunchtime. So this meant I had to sit in rush hour traffic to get from my house in north Austin, over to the east side, to pick it up. And I was more than willing to suffer through that, to sample this pizza.

It was so worth it. We inhaled this pizza. I got a plain cheese pie and also a veggie pie with olives, onions and green peppers. Both were amazing. Plus, I don't usually drink pop, but when I saw that they were selling Faygo pop, I had to add that to my order. Faygo is made in Detroit and you don't really see it outside of Michigan. Also, I don't know if you've heard of the ridiculous, terrible rap group Insane Clown Posse, but Faygo is what they spray on their audiences. So there's that.

Due to its distance from my house, this will be an occasional treat. I couldn't eat this stuff every day, anyway! It's so rich. But I'm thrilled to have the option to eat it year-round, not just when I'm in the D. Yay!

Fossils and Gyros

2012-02-03T16:34:00.000-05:00

The other day, I took Jackson and Livi to the Texas Natural Science Center with some of our play group friends. Jackson is getting slightly obsessed with dinosaurs, so I thought this would be a nice educational trip for him.

He was actually a little scared of the dinosaur bones, so we didn't spend a lot of time in that room. I guess he thought there would be "real" dinosaurs? It's hard to explain the bones to him, because he is only three. He doesn't know what "extinct" or "dead" means. Anyway, he really got a kick out of all the fossils that they had neatly catalogued in drawers. He kept opening the drawers and asking what everything was.

Olivia just chilled in her stroller, taking it all in. It's what she does.

For dinner, I made a recipe from Quick-Fix Vegan -- Seitan Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce.

I needed some yogurt to make the tzatziki sauce, so I tried this So Delicious Greek Style yogurt, made with coconut milk. It worked perfectly -- didn't taste like coconut at all, and it's very thick and creamy.

I already had some seitan in the freezer, so I thawed out a portion and prepared it according to the directions. The thinner you can slice it, the better!

I stuffed whole wheat pitas with gyro "meat", lettuce, tomato, and olives. Tony and I enjoyed these gyros immensely. The tzatziki sauce adds a lot of flavor, and the seitan is tangy (it's coated with lemon juice and red wine vinegar) and delicious. If you don't have this cookbook, I suggest checking it out. As with all of Robin Robertson's books that I've owned, it's full of winners!

Miss Olive Fingers says hello.

Review: Rhythm Superfoods

2012-02-02T11:48:00.000-05:00

Recently the kind folks at Rhythm Superfoods sent me a selection of their raw, vegan snacks to sample.

First, two flavors of Sweet Potato Chips -- Sea Salt and Hickory BBQ.

Since the chips are dehydrated rather than fried (like typical potato chips), they're fat-free. The chips are crispy when you bite into them, but then they sort of "rehydrate" as you chew them and, well, they seemed to require a lot of chewing. It's not an unpleasant texture -- just different from a regular potato chip. The sea salt flavor is very lightly salted, allowing the sweetness of the yam to take center stage. I preferred the savory, smoky hickory BBQ flavor.

Next up, two flavors of kale chips -- Kool Ranch and Mango Habanero.

What can I say about Kool Ranch? You will not feel like you're eating a healthy snack. Salty, crunchy, ranch-flavored goodness. Think Cool Ranch Doritos in kale chip form. Olivia loved these. So did I. The texture is just perfect -- the chips stay totally crispy in their little pouch.

I was a little intimidated by the Mango Habanero flavor. Habanero peppers are hot! These chips do pack some heat, but it's nicely tempered by a hint of sweet mango fruitiness. Very addictive. Just keep a cold beverage nearby.

While not blown away by the sweet potato chips, we all agreed that the kale chips are an awesome snack, as well as a great way to get kids to eat their greens. Rhythm also produces Zesty Nacho, Bombay Curry, and Texas BBQ flavored kale chips. Don't those sound good, too?

Jackson had a great checkup at the dentist yesterday. They gave him some cool glasses as a prize. Here he is showing off his sweet shades, and also his pearly whites.

Since she waited so patiently while Jackson got his teeth cleaned, there was also a pair for Olivia...or Elton, as we've been calling her.

Chinese New Year

2012-02-01T09:13:00.000-05:00

We live near Austin's Chinatown, which is teeny-tiny -- it's basically just a shopping center with various restaurants, shops, and a big supermarket that's fun to wander around in. On Sunday, we headed over to check out their Chinese New Year festival.

Several different dragon dance troupes paraded around the parking lot, staging dances and "battles" along the way. The kids in the troupes wore surgical masks to keep the smoke out of their faces -- smoke from the thousands of firecrackers that were popping and snapping all over the place as part of the celebration.

A strange-looking creature came up and waved hello to us...

and before we knew what was going on, he/she/it was being mauled by a ferocious dragon!

The creature bravely fought back!

The dragon turned out to be quite docile. He politely posed for pictures. Jackson and Olivia declined having their picture taken with him, though. Jackson said, "No Mommy, I stand right here and hold your hand."

There was also a rock climbing wall...

and a mechanical bull...

But the coolest part, by far, was seeing all the dragons. The troupes must put a lot of effort into making these elaborate dragon costumes and practicing their dances. Jackson is still talking about the "dwagons."

As we were leaving, we saw more dragons coming down the road, heading for the party!

Truck full of dragons, watch out!

For dinner we had...lasagna rolls! Not Chinese at all, but still tasty.

I tweaked this Giada DeLaurentiis recipe...I used tofu ricotta, soy milk, and Earth Balance, but then I topped the lasagna with real mozzarella and parmesan cheese. That's what works for my family right now. Of course vegans could use Daiya or leave off the top layer of cheese altogether.

We all enjoyed this meal. The individual rolls were easier to serve than a traditional lasagna, and I think also more visually appealing to the kids.

Chimichurri Baked Tofu

2012-01-31T10:23:00.000-05:00

When I'm buying fruit, bananas and apples are the staples, since they are Jackson and Olivia's favorites. But I also buy whatever fruits are on sale each week, for variety. This week it was cherries. This morning I made oats with cherries, chia seeds, cacao nibs, and a dollop of coconut butter. So good. The kids ate the rest of the cherries within a few hours of me returning from the supermarket. Guess I'll have to pick up some more!

We had an amazing dinner -- Chimichurri Baked Tofu from Viva Vegan, served with brown rice and sauteed chard. That chimichurri sauce is some good stuff.

Chimichurri is a sauce of Argentinian origin, traditionally used for basting grilled meats. It's made from parsley, red wine vinegar, garlic, crushed red pepper, smoked paprika, and other good stuff. It's just bursting with flavor and it really soaks into the tofu, greens, and rice. I've had the recipe bookmarked for as long as I've owned Viva Vegan, and I'm so glad I finally got around to trying it. Now I want to eat chimichurri on everything!

One of my goals for 2012 was to start doing "school" every day with the kids for at least 15 minutes. We sit at the table and look at flashcards or play educational games. Today I showed Jackson how to play Chutes and Ladders, while Olivia worked on a puzzle. I remembered playing this board game with my dad when I was little. What I didn't remember is that one game can go on forever! We kept landing on the "chutes" and having to start over at the bottom, haha. Oh well...at least we practiced a lot of counting!

Indian Fast Food

2012-01-30T16:06:00.000-05:00

Awhile back, I impulse-bought some microwavable Indian entrees at Natural Grocers. The other night I decided to give them a shot.

Tasty Bite Spinach Channa

Sukhi's Vegan Chili Chicken

I really enjoyed the Spinach Channa. Chickpeas in a gingery spinach sauce, very nicely seasoned, not bland but not overly spicy either.

My pic of the chili chicken didn't turn out at all, but it looked pretty much like the photo on the box. Soy chicken pieces in a sweet chili sauce, with little bits of bell peppers and other veggies. It comes with a small piece of naan bread. I liked this dish all right, but the sauce was a bit too sweet. Not spicy at all. Jackson enjoyed it, however, probably because of the sweetness and lack of heat. And the naan, although fine for scooping up pieces of chicken, had zero flavor of its own.

I like the idea of keeping heat-and-eat Indian food on hand for evenings when I don't feel like cooking, but want something other than a veggie burger. I'll have to check out the other Tasty Bite and Sukhi's flavors.

Jackson and Olivia are at that age now where we have to buy two of everything, when it comes to toys. Racecars or dolls, they really don't have a preference -- all that matters is that Olivia can have the same toy Jackson is playing with, and vice versa. Here they are with Mr. Potato Head 1 and Mr. Potato Head 2. Whatever keeps the peace!

Nature Center Fun

2012-01-28T13:11:00.000-05:00

Hi guys, sorry I disappeared there for awhile. Tony and I both came down with strep throat. Not fun. And ten days of antibiotics is rough! The cure was almost worse than the strep. I felt horribly dehydrated the entire time I was on them. Thankfully, Jackson and Olivia didn't get sick at all. And now we are all healthy again.

The kids had a bad case of cabin fever from being cooped up in the house while Mommy and Daddy were recuperating. I tried to make it up to them with a trip to the nature center.

The grounds are really pretty. And there is so much to see -- you could easily bring a picnic lunch and make a day of it.

They loved tossing pebbles into the pond.

Their favorite activity by far was the Dino Pit. It's like a huge sandbox with cement "dinosaur bones" buried in the sand. There are plenty of shovels and brushes lying around, so the kids can act like little paleontologists at a dig.

Olivia did NOT care for the feeling of sand between her toes. She was much happier once we put her sneakers back on.

Inside the nature center, there were various fossils, crystals and rocks for the kids to examine.

There was even a cave replica to play in. Jackson had a great time chasing Olivia through the cave repeatedly.

Such a fun morning.

That evening, Tony was nice enough to make dinner for us while I attended a meeting at Jackson's school. He is the stir-fry master. This one had tofu, edamame, peas, broccoli, and onions, and green peppers. Very green. And very tasty!

Conscious Cravings

2012-01-17T13:30:00.000-05:00

On Saturday it was nice out, so we had lunch outdoors at a food trailer park. We are lucky to have these trailer parks around town. Each has a variety of food trailers to suit your mood, plus picnic tables to eat at. They bring the food to your table when it is ready. Besides getting to enjoy the fresh air, the meal cost is usually cheaper than at a traditional restaurant.

We had been wanting to try Conscious Cravings, a trailer that specializes in vegan/vegetarian wraps (depending whether you order dairy or Daiya cheese).

I had the blackened tofu wrap. The tofu was lightly seasoned...I felt like it could have used some more spice. The wrap also contained lettuce, tomato, and vegan mayo. I like that they grill the wrap so it's nice and crispy when you bite into it. We also got a big order of rosemary french fries to share. They were pretty good.

The kids shared a black bean wrap filled with cumin-spiced beans, tomato, lettuce, and a vivid green chimichurri sauce. The chimichurri is great. They also offer a chimichurri seitan wrap, which I'd like to try some time.

Tony had the BBQ seitan wrap. I loved their homemade BBQ sauce. It was really tangy. I think they used a lot of vinegar and maybe some ginger. Good stuff. Tony felt that the seitan was a bit on the "brainy" side, however.

All in all, not a bad lunch, and the kids think it's so much fun to eat outside and people watch.

Central Grocery Olive Salad

2012-01-16T14:30:00.000-05:00

One of our Christmas gifts was a jar of olive salad from Central Grocery in New Orleans. Several years ago, Tony had a roommate who was from New Orleans, so he got to spend a lot of time there. And apparently this is the olive salad above all others, and you need to have a jar of it if you are going to make an authentic New Orleans muffuletta sandwich.

I'm totally going to make a vegan muffuletta one of these days. But I was curious to try this legendary olive salad right away, so I tossed it with spaghetti and chopped spinach. (Also, since I can never have too many olives, I threw in a few kalamatas I had on hand.)

In addition to green olives, the olive salad contains bits of cauliflower, carrots, onion, celery, pepperoncini, garlic and parsley, as well as some other spices and oil. It's salty, tangy, olive-y goodness.

Have you been to New Orleans? We are tossing around places to go for our 10th wedding anniversary this summer, and we have talked about going there. We'll be taking Jackson and Olivia with us wherever we go, so we have to choose a destination that is at least somewhat kid-friendly, to keep them from being bored. There has to be other things to do besides Bourbon Street, right?

Have a great day!

Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T09:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday the 13th! Did you know there will be three Friday the 13ths in 2012? It will return in April and July. Hope you're not superstitious!

Last night I made the Chesapeake Chickpea Sandwiches from Quick-Fix Vegan. I didn't have any of the scallions, parsley, or nori flakes that the recipe called for, so my patties were maybe not as flavorful as they should've been. They were also on the crumbly side, yet still perfectly serviceable on a ciabatta roll with Veganaise, lettuce, tomato, and dill relish, with a side of sweet potato tots.

The kids are in a goofy mood today. Did you know that Mr. Potato Head's interchangeable facial features are way more fun when you wear them on your own face?

Have a great weekend!

Art Among the Ruins

2012-01-12T14:09:00.000-05:00

Today I thawed out some Lentil Chipotle Burgers (from Appetite for Reduction) that I made awhile back. They are just as delicious when reheated. I also baked some Alexia chipotle sweet potato fries. I wasn't trying to go for a chipotle theme. They just sounded good. Frozen sweet potato fries are my new thing. I gotta have some in the freezer at all times. They turn out so much crispier than when I bake my own fries. I dip them in Veganaise, yum.

Before Christmas, Jackson and I baked Chai Spice cookies (from 1000 Vegan Recipes). They kept well in the fridge while we were out of town and we are finishing them off now. They are so good with a glass of soymilk. You can really taste the fennel and cardamom. Like a gingerbread cookie, but with more heat.

It's cold today, but on a recent nice afternoon, I went to take some pictures outdoors. I've heard that this abandoned construction site was supposed to be condos. I think we have enough condos -- I love that graffiti artists have taken over the ruins and made it into something much more interesting.

Mac n' Cheese Disappointment

2012-01-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

Today we were in a snacky mood when lunchtime rolled around. I made some kalamata olive hummus and the Garlicky Baby Lima Bean Spread from Vegan Soul Kitchen. I happen to love lima beans, so it's fitting that this dip was the first recipe I made from this cookbook. It's strong and spicy, flavored with red pepper flakes and, of course, garlic.

My favorite thing about Vegan Soul Kitchen is not the recipes, however. It's the fact that author Bryant Terry suggests music to go with each dish. His taste is so cool and eclectic. If you want to check out the tunes, Oliver Danni posted the entire playlist on Grooveshark back during Vegan MoFo.

For dinner, I made the mac n' cheese from Happy Herbivore. I'd been having great results with this book, which I received for Christmas. This led me to have such high confidence in this recipe that I made a double batch. That probably jinxed me. It was gross. The sauce had a weird smell, and it turns out I don't like rice pasta. Or maybe I overcooked it. The package directions said to cook it for like 16 minutes, which seemed crazy. It was rubbery and slimy. I like rice noodles in pad thai, but this rice elbow pasta was not working.

It looks good, right? The kids liked it, so it was not a total waste.

It's movie time...aren't Jackson and Olivia cute and cozy in their new sleeping bags? They love to snuggle up in them and eat popcorn.

Shawnee Christmas

2012-01-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

Since Tony is sickly, I wanted to make him a treat, but not one that would leave him feeling even more sluggish. Katie's Chocolate Chip Blondies were an excellent choice.

Super moist and almost fudge-like, thanks to the magic of chickpeas...yes, chickpeas. Tony says these are some of the best blondies/brownies he's ever eaten, and I agree.

I also made tortilla soup from the Happy Herbivore cookbook. Great for the sinuses. Tony loved the bold flavor of this soup, too.

I am having great results with this cookbook. Everything is a snap to prepare. Especially when I have my helper in the kitchen.

Olivia has watched Jackson assist me for a long time and now she, too, is ready to step up (onto the step stool).

So, today I'm finally getting around to posting some pics of our Christmas. We went to Shawnee, Oklahoma to stay with Tony's mom for several days.

On Christmas morning, the kids slept in, so we were sitting around waiting for them to get up and see what Santa brought! I know will look back on this occurance with great longing a few years from now, when they are waking us up at 4 a.m. to get going on the presents.

I think Olivia's favorite present was the Christmas tree-scented candle Tony got me. Baby girl is really into candles.

Monster got his annual sacrificial plush toy to chomp on while we unwrapped gifts.

Tony and I prepared a Mexican feast for Christmas dinner, but I forgot to take pics. I made lentil enchiladas, soy curl tacos, and guacamole, while Tony handled the salsa, queso, and chicken quesadillas.

The next day I walked around downtown Shawnee and took some pictures. I like the train depot. It looks like a tiny castle.

Main Street is kind of run down and deserted these days. Tony's mom said it has been going downhill since the shopping mall was built on the other side of town. It makes me think about what it used to be like, when it was thriving.

Faded signs, abandoned stores...

I don't know the real name of this antique shop. I just call it the Creepy Doll Store...

Old-timey signs...

Cool old theater...

It was a great trip. I always love going to Oklahoma. Hope we get to go back this spring, but Tony is going to be really busy at work the next several months, so we shall see.

Have a great day!

Dos Batos

2012-01-09T15:34:00.000-05:00

The night before we left on our holiday road trip, I didn't feel like dirtying up the kitchen. Tony suggested Dos Batos, where he sometimes eats lunch with his work friends.

We started out with a trio of salsa, guacamole, and queso. The guac had a bit of spicy heat to it, which is unusual, but it worked. The salsa was served hot, which I have never experienced before. It took some getting used to. I didn't like it with the tortilla chips, but it was delicious when I poured it over my taco.

I ordered the Ostin, a veggie taco, minus the cheese. It looked huge, but somehow I ate the whole thing. It was filled with portabello mushroom, onions, red and green bell peppers, and avocado. What makes it awesome is that the veggies are woodfired, which gives them a smoky flavor.

Livi looked so serious while sipping her juice box. I guess she didn't appreciate this dude staring at her while she ate.

Dos Batos' menu is pretty limited and the veggie taco is the only meatless option, but it's a damn good veggie taco. I'd go back and eat it again for sure.

Change

2012-01-08T18:40:00.001-05:00

Hi all...notice anything different? Yes, I've renamed my blog (even though I'm too technologically inept to change the web address!)

A confession (which I think many of you already know) -- I've never been 100% vegan. I cooked vegan at home for a year and a half, and that was the focus of my blog. But I was OK with eating vegetarian in restaurants and other people's homes. Tony, the kids, and our extended families are all omnivorous, so this was a compromise that made things easier for everyone. Well, lately I've been cooking the occasional vegetarian meal at home. And liking it. I was vegetarian for most of my life, switching to veganism after Olivia was born. For now, vegetarianism once again feels like the "right" diet for me. I didn't want to come off like a fraud, so I figured a name change was in order!

Vegan readers, I hope you'll continue to visit my blog, as I'll be reading yours. But I understand if you choose not to. I think the majority of my posts will still be about vegan food. I was never a big consumer of dairy. I am rediscovering it in small doses, like a sprinkling of feta cheese on a salad.

Last night, I made the Jambalaya from Peas and Thank You. Very tasty.

Tony loved it, mainly because I used Field Roast Apple Sage sausages. He's caught the cold I am just getting over, so I'm trying to give him his favorite foods. I always baby him to the max when he is sick. I think that when our loved ones are sick, our tendency is to treat them how we want to be treated when we're sick. I throw a pity party for myself and want to be fussed over, while my stoic husband wants zero fuss made and just wants to be left alone (I still baby him, though.) This afternoon I took the kids to run errands, to give him a little peace and quiet, and now we are off to do some baking while he rests on the couch.

Vegan Yacht

2012-01-06T15:31:00.000-05:00

Just before we went out of town for the holidays, we had a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Austin, just right for eating outside. It was the perfect time to try Vegan Yacht!

The Vegan Yacht is a food trailer that sits in a little trailer court in East Austin, along with half a dozen other trailers selling everything from wood-fired brick oven pizza to Japanese street food. I attempted to eat at Vegan Yacht a couple of times in the past, but they seem to keep odd hours. I was excited to find them open for business.

I ordered a sandwich called The Leftovers, because it's meant to mimic Thanksgiving leftovers. It contained thin slices of seitan, tomato, lettuce, Veganaise, and cranberry chutney. I really liked the texture of the seitan, nice and chewy. I also enjoyed the mild sweetness from the cranberry sauce. I would have appreciated a higher seitan-to-lettuce ratio -- I found myself hungry again a couple hours later -- but it was a tasty sandwich, and I'm looking forward to trying some of their other offerings soon.

The kids loved eating outside. I will take them on more trailer food exploratory expeditions soon if this nice weather continues.

I just thought Tony's can of Mountain Dew deserved a photo. It was all cute and retro-looking.

Review: Go Max Go Candy Bars

2012-01-05T12:23:00.000-05:00

Recently I had the good fortune to receive a sampling of vegan candy bars from Go Max Go Foods. I got the four original flavors (Mahalo, Jokerz, Twilight, Buccaneer) and two new flavors (Snap, Cleo's). In addition to being vegan, the bars are all free of trans fats, cholesterol, and artificial ingredients. The bars are made with wholesome sweeteners like rice syrup and agave syrup, and their luscious chocolatey coatings are made from rice milk. Sweet!

Being a coconut lover, I first tore into the Mahalo.

The Mahalo, with its adorable tiki wrapper, is similar to an Almond Joy -- sweet coconut and whole, roasted almonds, covered in a nice thick layer of chocolate.

I do have to say, the fact that one Mahalo contains 80% of your daily saturated fat quota was a little off-putting. But, on a healthy vegan diet, you're probably not consuming a ton of saturated fat from other sources. So this is my last mention of nutrition for the rest of this post, because hello, these are candy bars. We know they're not totally good for us. But they are delicious. Moderation! And anyway, the other candy bar varieties are lower in saturated fat.

Next, the Jokerz. I'd call this the vegan equivalent of a Snickers. Nougat, peanut, and caramel, enrobed in chocolate. The caramel has such a rich, buttery flavor. Pretty fantastic.

The chocolate coating wasn't quite as thick as what you get with a Snickers, but really, that is just a minor nitpick. The obvious advantage is that the Jokerz is vegan and the Snickers isn't.

Third, the Twilight. I'd say this is the Go Max Go version of the Milky Way -- chocolate nougat and caramel dipped in chocolate. Again, I loved the buttery richness of the caramel.

Next up, the last of the original flavors -- the Buccaneer. It's simply chocolate nougat covered in chocolate. Kinda like a Three Muskateers, but the nougat layer is denser and, in my opionion, better.

Next up, the first of the two new flavors - Snap! is crisped rice and chocolate. It's reminiscent of a Nestle Crunch. This was my personal favorite -- gotta love that crunchy texture.

Last but not least, Cleo's Peanut Butter Cups. How do these stack up to Reese's? Well, the peanut butter filling is smoother, creamier. To me, Reese's filling is a little salty. Cleo's filling, on the other hand, is quite sweet. The chocolate coating is nice and thick. I love the cute Egyptian-themed packaging, too.

A big thank you to Go Max Go Foods for letting me try out each of their scrumptious candy bars!

Back to Normal

2012-01-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

I always feel blue when it is time to take down the Christmas decorations. Halloween through New Years is my favorite time of the year. Everyone seems to be in just a little bit better mood, they can't help it. There are parties and family gatherings, not to mention my birthday. Best of all, Tony gets lots of time off work. We get to do things as a family. We get to stay up late, knowing we can sleep in (as much as Jackson and Olivia will allow, anyway). It's been wonderful.

Then January shows up. Tony went back to work today. Jackson had school. Everything is back to normal.

But, as I'm trying to remember today, normal doesn't have to mean blah.

For breakfast I had oats with chia seeds, walnuts, blackberries, and a drizzle of caramel-like brown rice syrup. Super good.

Blackberries were on sale at the supermarket. This is how much I started out with...

...but as you can see, only six remained for my oats after Olivia ate her fill. Get those antioxidants, baby girl!

After putting the Christmas tree in its box, taking the wreath off the front door, and recycling the paper snowflakes, I headed into the kitchen to cheer myself up. I don't know about emotional eater, but emotional cooker? Totally. An hour later, I had a sink full of dirty dishes and a noticeably improved mood.

From Vegan Diner, which I received for Christmas, I made Old-Fashioned Tomato Soup and Smoky Curls. If all the recipes are as good as these two, I'm going to get a ton of use out of this book in 2012. The soup has loads of basil, which is a huge plus as far as I'm concerned.

The Smoky Curls recipe is basically a method of turning soy curls into bacon. We were getting a little burnt out on soy curl tacos, so this was an awesome discovery. I piled the curls onto rye bread along with lettuce, tomato, and Veganaise, for a fantastic BLT.

Finally, I made some Fruity Cereal Bars, from Happy Herbivore. Just like the HH pad thai I made yesterday, this recipe came together in under ten minutes. Yes!

I think I make a pretty good effort to feed my family healthy food, but there is always room for improvement. I sometimes get lazy...like giving Jackson and Olivia Nutri-Grain bars for breakfast. I know they have high fructose corn syrup and little nutritional value; I buy them anyway. I don't want to anymore. It's not exactly a New Year's resolution, but I feel like I can do better for my little dudes. This is one small change I can make. Normal can always be improved.

Did you make any New Year's resolutions?

Playground and Pad Thai

2012-01-02T10:35:00.000-05:00

Our nearest playground is small, but that doesn't stop Jackson and Olivia from having a blast. (After all, they are small, too.) Jackson loves the dinosaurs.

Livi will go down the slide over and over...and over.

After wearing the kids out, I made the Cheater Pad Thai from the Happy Herbivore cookbook, which I received for Christmas. It's called that because it isn't completely fat-free like most of the recipes in the book. But it's still under 300 calories per serving. That appeals to me because I ate a lot over the past few weeks. I could definitely stand to cut back as the new year begins.

This was the fastest pad thai ever. While the noodles cook, you make your sauce and crush some peanuts, and you're good to go. The recipe called for topping the noodles with bean sprouts, but my supermarket was sold out of them. Weird. So that I wasn't just eating noodles for dinner, I roasted a crown of broccoli with a ton of minced garlic and served that on the side.

Besides the cookbook, I got to break in another of my Christmas presents -- a kitchen scale! I've wanted one for awhile because so many recipes give amounts in terms of weight, and I feel like my approximations are sometimes way off. It was cool to be able to weigh out precisely 4 oz. of noodles.

What was your favorite present this year? Or did you get any new kitchen gadgets that you are trying out?

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T10:44:00.000-05:00

I've been traveling and hosting family the past couple of weeks. Hope you had a lovely holiday season. Also, Happy New Year! New posts soon, I promise.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2011-12-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

We had some warm, rainy, humid, basically miserable weather this past week. Luckily, we know how to keep ourselves entertained indoors.

Wrapping presents...

Jackson's class did a book exchange, which I thought was such a great idea. Each child got to have the excitement of unwrapping a gift, and they all came home with a new book to read!

Blowing bubbles...

And of course, dance parties...

We made some goodies, too...like these Chocolate-Almond Butter Truffles (from 1000 Vegan Recipes.) They are so fast and easy to make, if you need a quick food gift idea.

From Quick-Fix Vegan, Chard and Red Lentil Soup. Although healthy and hearty, this soup was missing something in the flavor department. If I make it again, I'll probably dump in a bunch of cumin and lemon juice.

Also from QFV, Seitan and Slaw Wraps. Tony and I really enjoyed these Asian-inspired wraps. Sweet and just a little bit spicy. Jackson loved the seitan -- he was eating it all by itself.

Hoping we get some cold, dry days this week. If not...more dance parties!

Spruced Up Cedars

2011-12-11T20:54:00.000-05:00

While running errands this weekend, we stopped to take some pictures of some particularly well-dressed cedar trees.

It seems that people have taken to decorating random trees along the highway.

Don't the trees look happy, with their festive trimmings? I hope they bring a smile to commuters' faces.

One of my errands was to replenish my tea stash. Now that winter is just around the corner, I'm drinking countless mugs of tea all day long to keep warm! Natural Grocers was having an awesome sale on Yogi Tea. Better than turning up the thermostat!

Another thing I crave during cold weather is oats. I loved this bowl of oat bran with chia seets, cacao nibs, and of course a big scoop of peanut butter.

Here's the first meal I made from a cookbook I just purchased -- Robin Robertson's Quick-Fix Vegan. I'm a big fan of Robin's recipes, and of course I'm also a big fan of meals that can be on the table in half an hour or less. I loved the subtle flavor of the tahini-sesame sauce in this Farfalle with Sesame Cabbage.

One morning, Jackson and I made Magical Coconut Bars. They will be a Christmas present for his daycare teacher.

When I was small, I helped my Granny make these bars every Christmas. They are the first food that comes to mind when I think "Christmas." So I was really excited to make them with my little one. Granny called them Hello Dolly bars, and she made them with sweetened condensed milk. This recipe calls for coconut milk, which makes the bars super coconutty and awesome.

Tonight, Tony is watching the Cowboys game, so I thought I would make a "game night" meal. First I made spinach dip in a bread bowl. I got the spinach dip recipe off the side of a silken tofu package. I love using recipes that I find in random places -- especially when they turn out this good! Tony loved this dip. We all did. I'm sure it will make another appearance before the holidays are over.

I also made another recipe from Quick-Fix Vegan, called Muffaletta Pizza. Muffaletta, if you didn't know, is a sandwich that originated in New Orleans. It's typically loaded down with meats and cheeses, and dressed with a tangy olive salad. In this recipe, you top the pizza with a spicy chickpea spread, artichoke hearts and avocado, then you spoon the olive salad on top. Since it features several of my favorite pizza toppings, I was loving this pie. Now I'm totally looking forward to trying more of Robin's quick meals.

My goal this coming week is to greet every morning with a smile as big as the ones you see below. The fact that I stocked up on all those yummy teas should make that goal a little easier to accomplish.

Hope your week brings lots of big smiles, too!

Black Bean Soup

2011-12-07T15:25:00.000-05:00

Today, at Tony's request, I made black bean soup with a side of cornbread. The recipes came from Peas and Thank You, and they couldn't have been any easier to put together. No-fuss recipes like these are perfect for Jackson to help me with.

See all the ingredients sitting out on the counter? This is something I've found myself doing more and more -- getting everything out before I start cooking. I then put each ingredient away after I use it. Yes, this helps reduce clean-up time at the end. But the real benefit is this: if I get distracted, it prevents me from omitting anything! While making the cornbread, I was about to combine my wet and dry ingredients, when I saw the baking powder sitting out. Which means I had forgotten to add it. I'm not sure how cornbread without baking powder would turn out, but I don't think it would be pretty!

As soon as I turned on the gas under the soup pot, Jackson exclaimed, "Now we add the onions!" I had to think about it, but I guess you do always add the onions first when you make soup. Smart little dude.

Due to my bean allergy, I had to take Tony's word for it that the soup was "perfect." I do know that the cornbread was quite tasty. The kids crumbled it into their soup. Along with the cornbread, I was eating sauteed spinach and leftover queso. Man, that stuff is good!

What did you make today?

Gingerbread! Po'Boys! Queso! (Not All At Once)

2011-12-06T16:33:00.000-05:00

Brrrr, it is chilly out there. This morning I had to unpack the gloves and scarves we haven't seen since we lived in New York. So we are staying inside as much as we can, spending a lot of time in the kitchen, of course.

One morning we made gingerbread men (as well as gingerbread footballs, trees, and stars!) Olivia helped with the rolling...

while Jackson assisted with the icing. They are both such good helpers these days.

One evening, I made two dishes from Appetite for Reduction that paired well together -- Cranberry Cashew Biryani and Curried Chickpeas & Greens. Opinions were split over which dish was best. Tony and Livi preferred the biryani, which is slightly sweet, thanks to the dried cranberries. Jackson and I preferred the savory chickpeas and greens. I used two giant bunches of kale in this recipe. I think it's my new favorite way to eat kale.

Another day, I had the idea to make a homemade version of the popcorn tofu po'boy from Wheatsville. I've raved about this sandwich before. It is a thing of beauty. But, Wheatsville is kind of far from my house and, unless I'm already in that part of town running errands, I sometimes feel silly driving all that way for a sandwich.

For my version, I prepared some Tofu Fun Nuggets from Peas and Thank You.

Since the tofu nuggets are baked, they have a lighter texture than the fried popcorn tofu. Not as chewy. But still delicious, especially once the po'boy is fully assembled: ciabatta roll, tofu nuggets, lettuce, tomato, red onion, sprouts, and dressing. I found a cashew tamari dressing recipe online and I think it's pretty close to the one Wheatsville uses.

I'm so psyched that I still have another po'boy in the fridge to eat tonight!

Finally, I knew I had to make the Post Punk Kitchen's Cashew Queso as soon as I saw the recipe. Tortilla chips, salsa and queso can be a meal for me. I just love it. When I'm eating at a Mexican restaurant, it is really hard not to indulge (thankfully, at least one restaurant, Guero's, now offers a vegan version.)

I was in a time crunch, trying to have the queso ready when Tony came home for lunch, so I half-assed the directions. I didn't soak the cashews, and I only cooked the queso for ten minutes. And, because Isa's recipes are amazing, it still turned out fabulous.

The recipe makes a good amount, so I have plenty left over to use for tacos or enchiladas. You know, do something a little more fancy with it. But for a warm, comforting lunch on a cold day, give me hot queso ladled over crispy tortilla chips, and I don't need anything else.

Except maybe a hose. Look what these two got up to while mama was making that queso!

My Blog Name is No Joke

2011-12-01T17:51:00.000-05:00

My goodness, we have been so busy lately. Today, Olivia and I accompanied Jackson's school on a field trip to a Christmas tree farm. It was so much fun, but this mama is wiped out! Truly, if the energy of a pack of three-year-olds could somehow be harnessed, we would never be dependent upon foreign oil again. I thought for sure J and O would take nice long naps this afternoon, but actually, twenty minutes in the car on the way home was enough to recharge their tiny batteries.

Some recent eats:

Vegan Brunch Pumpkin Pancakes. Seen here with Jackson's pinecone turkey.

Appetite for Reduction Lotsa Veggie Lentil Soup.

Peas and Thank You Chewy Energy Bars.

Appetite for Reduction Catalan Couscous Salad with Pears and Romesco Dressing. Like a dummy, I forgot that I don't really like the mealy texture of couscous. It had been so long since I'd eaten it. Next time I'll make this with a chewier grain like quinoa or bulgur. The dressing is amazing.

Appetite for Reduction Chipotle Lentil Burgers.

So good on a whole grain bagel with spinach, Veganaise, and dill pickles.

Gratuitious cute toddler shot. She will tire soon. I know she will.

Saturday Shopping

2011-11-26T20:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Black Friday. Did you get up early to take advantage of sales, or stay far away from the stores? We avoided the shops on Friday, knowing the parking lot and checkout lines would be crazy. But we did do a little shopping today.

Why does Blogger have this habit of turning some of my pictures sideways, like the one above? I can't figure out how to flip it back the way it should be. Thanks Blogger, but I want landscape, not portrait.

Anyway, my personal haul...new jeans, red flats, purple tights, blue nail polish, blue belt, and some new eyeshadow. I feel a bit weird buying for myself at this time of year. However, since my birthday is coming up, I did treat myself to a few items.

When I got home, I checked the mail and found this...

As if the day didn't already feel like Christmas, I received my copy of The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet that I won from Kimmy, of the Vegan Conversion Challenge blog. Thank you so much, Kimmy! The burger recipes look awesome and I can't wait to try them out.

For dinner we heated up some leftovers. Then, while Tony got a fire going, I made some Eggless Eggnog (from How It All Vegan).

I have to say I like this recipe better than any of the store-bought vegan eggnogs I've tried. It takes only a minute to throw together, and I sweeten it with stevia, so I don't feel bad about drinking a lot of empty calories.

Jackson doesn't care about calories, he just loves some tasty eggnog. Even more yummy because he helped me make it!

Have a lovely evening! We're going to.

Thanksgiving '11

2011-11-24T14:17:00.002-05:00

I have so many things to be thankful for this year. I'm thankful that my health problems, which started back in August, finally appear to be mostly cleared up. This means I'm enjoying spending time in the kitchen again. If I don't feel like cooking, I don't feel like me -- so I'm incredibly thankful that I had the good health and energy to prepare today's feast. I love to take care of my family by cooking for them.

Last year we celebrated Thanksgiving in New York. This year we are back in Texas. Who knows what big changes will come over the course of the next year? I've always found it challenging to deal with uncertainty -- I want to know what's going to happen next. But I have to be thankful for the experiences that help us learn and grow and for the surprises that life brings, because they are what keeps it so interesting.

And of course I am thankful for family and friends, near and far. And that definitely includes y'all. Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we had tofurkey (homemade -- the recipe is from How It All Vegan) with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, roasted brussels sprouts, and pumpkin garlic knots. I made the knots last year using Angela's recipe, and they were such a hit that I had to make them again. For dessert, a vegan cheesecake (from 1000 Vegan Recipes) topped with strawberries that I cooked down to a syrupy consistency. Everything was so good.

Up Goes the Tree

2011-11-23T16:47:00.000-05:00

Since we did our Thanksgiving traveling last week, visiting family in Oklahoma, we are looking forward to a long, relaxing weekend at home. To make things feel a little more festive, we decided to go ahead and put up our Christmas decorations.

This is Olivia's second Christmas and, for the first time, she's big enough to help put up the tree.

However, she was a little more interested in the decorations. Like her mama, she is all about the sparkly.

Jackson has learned to wink, it cracks me up. He is such a cheese ball.

Somehow, all the trimmings eventually ended up on the tree.

I still haven't decided which is my favorite soup recipe from Appetite for Reduction -- the Arabian Lentil & Rice, or the Smoky Split Pea. Rather than force myself to choose between them, I'm making both soups this week. Here is the Arabian Lentil & Rice. I love the strong lemon and cumin flavors. Sorry for the shadowy pic -- it gets dark early now.

I've started keeping bars in my diaper bag at all times, for when the kids get snacky in the car. I picked up these seasonal Clif Bars -- Peppermint Stick, Iced Gingerbread, and Spiced Pumpkin Pie. I don't really want to share the Peppermint Stick with them, but I do.

I also picked up some time-saving frozen falafel balls and Cedar's stuffed grape leaves. The only thing I made for this meal was the hummus. The grape leaves are awesome! They're filled with rice that has been seasoned with dill and lemon juice. I've also had the kind that are flavored with tomato sauce and cinnamon, and I'm not a fan. Lemon and dill is where it's at! Have you ever made your own stuffed grape leaves? I am thinking about giving it a try.

Next day for lunch, we had a few more falafels and stuffed grape leaves to finish off, so I made a couple more finger foods to go along with them. I put my oven on double duty, baking a tray of Alexia sweet potato puffs and roasting a head of broccoli. The sweet potato puffs are amazing! They're basically tater tots made from yams -- is that the best idea or what? The only thing is, what do you dip them in? I don't really like the combination of sweet potato and ketchup, so I was just eating them plain. Maybe some kind of Veganise-based dip? I am open to suggestions. :)

Today, while out with the kids, I picked up a popcorn tofu po'boy from Wheatsville. This sandwich is so huge, it provided lunch for all three of us, along with some ginger tempeh pasta salad on the side.

And now, I'm off to make a vegan cheesecake! Since it's just our little family at Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, we can make whatever we want. Tony doesn't do pumpkin pie, so cheesecake it is.

I know I have so much to be thankful for, tomorrow and every day. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Lunch at Spiral Diner

2011-11-19T11:20:00.000-05:00

We spent last week in Oklahoma visiting Tony's family. We had a great time. I love me some Oklahoma! I lived there for ten years, and I can honestly say that the best people in the world are from Oklahoma. I even married one of them!

As a bonus, on our drive up there, we stopped in Fort Worth to eat lunch at Spiral Diner.

Jackson and Olivia are all about dipping their food, so we decided to order a couple of appetizers for them to share. The Chip & Dip Party included salsa, guacamole, and cashew-based queso.

We also ordered them some hummus. It was a huge bowl of hummus! Even for a family of hummus fiends, we had to have most of it boxed up to take with us.

Olivia loves her chips and dips!

Jackson saw a picture of an ice cream cone on the menu, and started asking for ice cream. We were on vacation, so why not have ice cream at lunch? He loved his strawberry "I-Scream," as they call it.

I had the Veggie Wrap, chock full of greens, carrot, cucumber, peas, olives and raisins, dressed with some amazing ranch dressing. I was happy to be able to get a big serving of veggies while on the road. The wrap came with a side of pesto pasta salad, which was delicious. I love pesto.

Tony had the Sketti & Meatballs. It looked so good, covered in marinara sauce, pesto, and pine nuts. But, he complained that the spaghetti was overcooked. Mushy pasta is never a good thing. He did like the soy meatballs a lot.

I want to say thank you to the bloggers who have presented me with a Liebster award. Liebster is apparently the German word for "dearest" or "beloved." So, Christine at Christine's Chatter, Bethany at Bananas for Smoothies, and Cheryl at A Midlife Vegan+ -- thank you so much, ladies, I am honored!

So Delicious Review

2011-11-18T21:22:00.001-05:00

Recently...OK, not so recently...back in July (sorry!)...So Delicious was awesome enough to send me some coupons to try out a variety of their dairy-free products.

The coconut milk creamer is rich and non-curdling in tea or coffee. It can also be used in cooking -- for example, to make a pasta sauce a little more decadent and creamy.

If you didn't know (I didn't), So Delicious coconut milk is nothing like the cans of thick coconut milk that you would use to make a curry. It's thin like a dairy or soymilk. It comes in original, unsweetened, and vanilla flavors. And it doesn't really taste like coconut at all, if you're worried about that. I enjoyed it on my chia oats.

The only thing that stops me from buying it regularly is that one serving contains 25% of your daily saturated fat. So if you're using it on your morning cereal, and then you have some in your coffee, and then you have milk and cookies later, or whatever, you might be ingesting more saturated fat than you planned to. But I do buy it on occasion, just to switch things up from our usual soymilk.

We tried three different types of ice cream sandwich "Minis" -- vanilla (made with coconut milk), lowfat vanilla (made with soymilk), and lowfat neapolitan (made with soymilk). They were all fabulous. A perfect little treat on a hot day -- which we had far too many of, back when we were sampling these products.

Next we tried the coconut milk yogurt.

We loved the chocolate flavor. It could be eaten as a dessert. I've bought it several times since I originally tried it. I also sampled the mango flavor, but it had a tartness I didn't care for.

Next up, cultured coconut milk. I guess it's similar to a kefir drink. The live cultures are supposed to be beneficial. We had the strawberry flavor -- there's also chocolate and vanilla. It has a thick, smoothie-like texture that Jackson and Olivia love. I have bought this from time to time and it never lasts long, because they want to drink it all up.

Finally, coconut milk ice cream. I love mint chocolate chip. I'm not sure why I bought the sugar-free variety, but there you go.

Now this product, I would say, should be eaten as a very rare treat, as one serving contains 45% of your daily saturated fat. It's super rich, and pretty yummy.

I'm so very grateful to So Delicious for their generosity. Do you like their products? Have you tried their holiday beverages yet? The nog has been calling to me, and then today at Natural Grocers I noticed there is also a mint chocolate drink. Yum!

Molly Monkey's Visit

2011-11-12T08:38:00.000-05:00

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!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T15:37:00.000-04:00

My brave firefighter and loyal firehouse dalmation had a blast last night, traipsing up and down our street (all two blocks of it) and filling their pumpkins with candy.

Hope your Halloween was spooky and amazing!

Dia de los Muertos

2011-10-24T08:33:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, we spent the day downtown at the Dia de Los Muertos (Mexican Day of the Dead) festival. Tony and I used to go before we had kids, and we were excited to take Jackson and Olivia this year.

Lentil tacos with guacamole gave us some fuel for the celebration.

The very cool Mexic-Arte Museum puts on this festival each year. I love the murals on the side of the museum.

The ofrendas were so gorgeous, covered with paper marigolds and offerings for the departed.

Jackson liked the skeleton musicians.

Sugar skull lollipops were a big hit with the kids. Jackson made a big, sticky mess with his. For the rest of the day, his hair smelled like burnt sugar (which was kind of nice.)

On the music stage, bands played all day long. There were also vendors selling Dia de los Muertos art and Mexican food.

Finally it was time for the parade. We headed over to 6th Street to get a good viewing spot. A big cheer went up when the parade came into view.

I loved all the dancers in their amazing costumes and skeleton make-up.

There were also dancers with giant papier-mache skull heads, who stopped and did a little dance in front of us.

How was your weekend?

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-20T19:14:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, we took the kids to a local pumpkin patch. We took a hayride, checked out some animals, and enjoyed the perfect fall weather. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

When we got home, I made a quick pot of soup for dinner. I chose the Winter Greens Soup from the appropriately named Fields of Greens cookbook, which I checked out from the library. It's the cookbook of Greens Restaurant in San Francisco. I ate lunch there once, many years ago.

All the dust and hay at the pumpkin patch caused Tony's allergies to flare up, so he requested greens to help his immune system out. This soup is chock full of greens -- a full head each of kale, chard, and spinach. Look at that vivid green color! The soup had a great flavor, and homemade garlic croutons were a perfect addition. I'll have to copy down some other recipes from the cookbook before I return it to the library.

Fall Festival

2011-10-19T19:15:00.000-04:00

The other day we took the kids to a fall festival at Jackson's school. In addition the typical booths selling crafts and baked goods, there were a lot of fun activities for the little ones. Jackson and Olivia both loved the bouncy house.

There were llamas to pet...

...and feed.

And, Jackson got to ride a pony. He was so excited!

I've seen some sad pony rides in my lifetime, but honestly, these animals didn't look like they minded being there one bit. So I was glad to give Jackson this fun new experience. He and his sister are both developing a big love for animals, which is so nice to see.

To snack on, we brought along some Navitas Naturals Raw Power bites. Jackson and Olivia both love the Citrus Chia flavor. Since the snacks are so nutrient-dense, you'd think one or two would be enough for them, but they like the flavor so much that they keep coming back for more. I'm partial to the Cacao Goji bites because they taste like a chocolaty indulgence, yet they actually have no refined sugar and are packed full of super healthy stuff like sunflower seeds and maca powder. They are my new favorite grab-and-go snack when I am out with the babies.

Dinner was super-easy Peanutty Pasta. You'll have three burners going at once for this, but it really is easy and fast.

Peanutty Pasta

8 oz. linguine

14 oz. firm tofu, drained and pressed

2 carrots, finely shredded

6 scallions (white and light green parts only), sliced

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp. sriracha chile sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced

Boil linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, cube the tofu and dry-fry it over medium heat in a nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray. Fry until golden-brown on one side (about 5 minutes), then flip and brown on the other side (5 more minutes.) Once you have those things going, combine the water, peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, sriracha and garlic in a saucepan and heat, whisking, until the peanut butter melts and the sauce thickens slightly.

To serve, drain the linguine and toss with the tofu, carrots, and scallions. Pour the peanut sauce on top and stir to coat.

Halloween Prep

2011-10-18T20:55:00.000-04:00

Hey all, I am thrilled to report that Olivia's ear surgery went fine yesterday and she is doing absolutely great! She was a little fussy yesterday as the anesthetic wore off, but today she is back to her usual sweet and playful self. We're keeping her away from Play-doh for the next couple of years, by the way.

Do you have your Halloween decorations up yet? We put up ours over the weekend.

I've never seen two kids who love rats and skeletons so much. Truly, they are my offspring.

"Look, Daddy, a femur!"

Tonight's dinner was Vietnamese French Dip Sandwiches from Veganomicon. Awhile back I asked you guys to tell me your favorite vegan cookbook recipe ever. This is mine.

Today was the first day that it really felt like fall here in Austin. After dinner I took a walk around the neighborhood and breathed in the crisp, cool air. I love this time of year. We've been keeping the kids busy with one fall activity after another. I'll post some pics soon.

Hope you're having a good day.

Sugar Cookies

2011-10-13T17:28:00.000-04:00

I'm throwing in the towel on Vegan MoFo, sorry guys. I've caught the cold/stomach yuckiness that Tony, Jackson, and Olivia has last week, and I doubt you want to see pics of the bananas and yogurt I've been subsisting on.

Also I had to take Olivia to the doctor today, and we found out she will have to have ear surgery on Monday morning. The purpose is to remove a big gob of Play-doh that she wedged in there right up against her eardrum. She wouldn't hold still for the doctor to get it out, so they will have to put her under anesthesia. Kids. What can you do with them?

Make sugar cookies and give them lots of extra love and cuddles. Or that's what I'm doing, anyway.

Pumpkin Ziti and Giveaway Winner

2011-10-11T08:15:00.000-04:00

Good morning! The winner of my Peas and Thank You giveaway is....capiscumthings! Congratulations, please email me your mailing info and I'll get that right out to you!

And a big thank you to all who commented with your favorite vegan cookbook recipes! The Veganomicon Pumpkin Baked Ziti got quite a few mentions, so I thought I better try it out.

As is usually necessary with a more labor-intensive recipe, I did some of my prep in the morning while the kids were occupied with sleep and breakfast -- pureeing the cashew ricotta, toasting the homemade breadcrumbs, and grinding nuts. In the evening it still took me about an hour to put together, including baking time. But it makes a big casserole dish full, so now I don't have to cook tonight. It all evens out, right? It's such a perfect autumn meal, with the flavors of sage, walnut and of course pumpkin.

I also made these Sour Cream and Onion Kale Chips that Carrie on Vegan posted. What a yummy snack.

Have a lovely day, see you tomorrow.

Inspired

2011-10-10T08:58:00.000-04:00

Hey, how was your weekend? This weekend I attended the Austin Yoga Festival. It was awesome, especially considering that it was my first yoga festival and my first time ever practicing yoga outdoors. The festival was held at a gorgeous park right on the lake, and the weather was beautiful during our yoga session. A lovely breeze kept things nice and cool. It started pouring down rain later on, while I was attending a lecture, but the speakers quickly moved their talk indoors and it was fine.

The lecture was called "A Heart Centered Approach to Food and Lifestyle on the Yogic Path" and it dealt with veganism and its ties to the yoga philosophy. The speakers, Claudia Castro-Leverett and Thomas Leverett, discussed both ethical and health reasons to follow a vegan diet. The focus was on compassion -- having compassion for animals, and also for ourselves and our well-being. The medical statistics and descriptions of slaughterhouse cruelty weren't new information to me at this point, but it was a solid reinforcement of ideals that I already believe in, yet find it hard to stick to from time to time. I left the festival feeling inspired to try to eat compassionately every day.

Speaking of inspiration, I thought I would post some links to recipes that have inspired me so far this MoFo. Don't they all look so good? Can't wait to make them.

Tofu Bacon (The Vegan Cookbook Aficionado)

Banana Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream (Joyfulgirl's cupcakes and crafts)

Bounty Chocolate Bars (The Compassionate Cook)

Spicy PDX Bowl of Goodness (Vegan Noms)

Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls (oh, ladycakes)

"Tuna" Salad (Amanda Eats SLC)

Hatch Green Chile, Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Tortilla Bake (The Lively Kitchen)

Butternut Squash Mac 'n Cheeze (Oh She Glows)

Bac'un Cupcakes (The Lady and Seitan)

When I got home from the festival, I had Spicy African Peanut Soup waiting for me in my slow cooker. Another Peas and Thank You recipe. Tony was fighting a cold all week, and then Jackson and Olivia caught it, so I wanted to make something warm and healthy that would help them feel better. We all loved it -- no leftovers.

Today is the last day to enter my Peas and Thank You giveaway! I'll announce the winner tomorrow morning.

Reubens and Shepherd's Pie

2011-10-06T10:58:00.000-04:00

For dinner the other night I made Tempeh Reubens from Peas and Thank You, in spite of my negative childhood memories of sauerkraut. The smell, you know? And my dad taking the leftover sauerkraut and dousing it in (get ready to be super grossed out) brown sugar, thus turning it into the most disgusting dessert ever.

Mama Pea's reuben recipe inspired me to give sauerkraut a chance, all these years later. And I'm glad I did. The whole sandwich is an oozy mess, and I mean that in the best possible way. My favorite part is how the creamy, tangy Thousand Island dressing seeps through the holes in the hot, toasted bread.

Last night, another PaTY recipe (when I make my dinner menu for the week, I select a cookbook and go with it.) The veggie/quinoa layer of the Indian Shepherd's Pie is so pretty, isn't it? Reminds me of Thanksgiving stuffing. I subbed lentils for the chickpeas, which I was out of due to hummus cravings.

This recipe takes a lot of prep time. Give yourself an hour to peel, boil, and mash the sweet potatoes and butternut squash, prepare the quinoa, and fry up your veggie sausage links.

I did all the prep while Jackson was at school, so I didn't have my little sous-chef helping out. However, Olivia is becoming a great kitchen companion in her own right. She is content to play among the pots and pans. Or sometimes, in them.

Tony felt that a shepherd's pie should have a gravy, so I made the Merciful Miso Gravy from La Dolce Vegan.

The curry flavor was just right -- not overwhelming. I liked how the sweet bits of dried cranberry brought out the sweetness in the mashed sweet potato/butternut topping. The downside was that the kids didn't like it, so Tony and I are going to be eating a lot of leftovers. Which means I won't be cooking tomorrow. What will I write about?

If you'd like to win your own copy of Peas and Thank You, don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Pumpkin Obsession '11

2011-10-05T09:14:00.000-04:00

October is here, which means three things...

The leaves are falling from the trees.

Halloween is right around the corner...

And, of course, I am craving pumpkin! Oats, pasta, soup, hummus, pie -- is there anything pumpkin can't do?

I adapted this recipe from something I saw in one of those freebie nutrition magazines they hand out at Natural Grocers.

Pumpkin-Ginger Pudding

1 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)

1 cup coconut milk

4 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 Tbsp. agar flakes

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

15 oz. canned pumpkin

In a saucepan, combine the milks, ginger and agar flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened. Strain into a large mixing bowl and add maple syrup, vanilla and pumpkin. Whisk until smooth. Pour into ramekins or bowls and chill until firm, at least 1 hour. Serves 4.

Peas for You (Giveaway!)

2011-10-04T07:53:00.000-04:00

Tony typically goes out for lunch a few times a week, but the BVM household is in penny-pinching mode right now, so he's brown-bagging it. This week, he requested that I make him some kind of "quinoa salad thing" to take to work.

Since he would be eating it for a few days in a row, it had to be full of flavor, something he wouldn't get bored with. I cooked quinoa in veggie broth and tossed it with chickpeas, green and red bell pepper, carrots, frozen corn and frozen peas. Then I blended up a batch of Lime Tahini Sauce from Peas and Thank You, for him to drizzle on at lunchtime.

I would probably toss in some cubed, baked tofu to make it substantial enough for my taste, but Tony says he likes it just the way it is. He is sweet like that.

Do you have the Peas and Thank You cookbook? You should. The tahini sauce is one of countless amazing, delicious recipes in this book. If you don't own it, I am pleased to offer you a chance to win a copy in my FIRST EVER giveaway! It's even signed by Mama Pea.

You see, I won a promotional pack from Mama Pea and I didn't realize it came with a copy of the cookbook, which I had already bought. So I am excited to share the love and pass it on to one lucky reader. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Y'all know I love cookbooks, so please tell me, What is your all-time favorite vegan cookbook recipe? The contest is open until midnight on Monday, October 10. I will announce the winner on Tuesday, October 11. Good luck!

And here's one more giveaway to check out -- Robin Robertson is giving away a copy of Party Vegan.

A Day at the Zoo

2011-10-03T08:23:00.000-04:00

This weekend we took Jackson and Olivia to the Austin Zoo. Austin's zoo is a little different from most other zoos, in that it's actually an animal sanctuary. After our great experience at the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary last year, we were excited to go check out another one of these wonderful sanctuaries that provide a permanent home for rescued animals.

This was Olivia, pretty much the whole time we were there. She loved all the animals and wanted to get as close to them as possible.

She really wanted to see the turtles. She was pointing and making little excited noises. So Tony picked her up, stroller and all, to get a good look.

Mr. Turtle enjoying his salad.

They give you little bags of feed at the entrance and you can feed some of the animals. Jackson was super excited to feed the goats.

There were tons of kids at the zoo on this day, and they all wanted to feed the goats. These guys were definitely not going hungry!

These little monkeys kinda reminded me of my own two, haha. I didn't get a good picture of the nearby marmosets, because they were so tiny -- but they are the cutest things ever, take my word for it.

Dinner was Ma Po Tofu from PF Chang's. I would always drool over this dish when the Shenandoah Vegan posted it on her blog, and I finally got around to trying it for myself. Freakin awesome. Give me a giant bowl of broccoli and spicy tofu and I am a happy lady. Almost as happy as Olivia cuddling up with those goats.

Vegan MoFo Day 1

2011-10-01T09:39:00.001-04:00

I feel a little lame starting off this Vegan MoFo with a product review post, but regular readers know I've been taking a vacation from blogging and eating a lot of convenience foods as I recovered from an inner ear infection. What this means is, I don't have a backlog of cooking pics. Or any. But I wanted to do something to kick things off, so here we go!

I've been a fan of Amy's frozen meals for a long time. At my last job, I kept a bunch of them in the office freezer and they helped me actually look forward to days when I had to eat lunch at my desk. But my only job these days is raising Jackson and Olivia, so it had been a couple of years since I ate my last Amy's meal. I recently saw some new varieties that I wanted to try, but their prices have gone up. So I emailed the company and asked for some coupons. Did you know you can do this? I saw it on that nutty Extreme Couponing show. It works! Many companies will mail out cents-off coupons to those who ask. Thanks, Amy's!

The steel-cut oats were nice and chewy, not gummy as you might fear with a frozen meal. If you really want the unique texture of steel-cut oats but don't have 30 minutes to stand over the stove, this is a convenient alternative. Although the oats are flavored with agave nectar and cinnamon, the taste was on the bland side, so I added peanut butter and stevia to mine.

The split pea soup was really tasty, with a smooth, blended texture. I didn't notice until I was eating that I'd grabbed the low-sodium version. Being something of a saltaholic, I had to add a little salt to mine. But it's great that they offer low-sodium soups for those who prefer a less salty soup.

This vegan spinach pizza is also gluten-free. The thin crust is made with rice flour. I prefer a thick, chewy crust on my pizza, but my kids enjoyed this.

This pasta and veggie bowl isn't vegan due to the sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top. I heated it up for for Jackson and Olivia, and they both loved it. I stole a few bites of broccoli and asparagus, and I was really impressed. In some frozen meals, the veggies can be either tough and stringy, or watery and mushy. These were perfect, and the sauce was delicious.

The vegan, gluten-free baked ziti kids' meal was another hit. Jackson loved the ziti (Amy's really does have the best, most flavorful tomato sauces) and apple crumble. Again, the broccoli was perfect. The only thing we didn't like was the little square of focaccia bread -- too mushy.

Finally, the dairy-free veggie pot pie. It's filled with tofu, carrots, peas, and potatoes, and it's awesome. So warm and comforting. And, although the instructions tell you to bake it, I can tell you from my office days that if you microwave it for about 7 minutes, it will turn out just fine.

Happy MoFo to you all, and hopefully I will be back soon with some food that didn't come from a box. Have a great day!

Well Hello There

2011-09-23T16:06:00.001-04:00

Hey guys, what's going on?

Thanks for your sweet comments and emails on my last post. Sorry it's been awhile. I'm still having some health and anxiety issues but I'm taking the necessary steps to get them taken care of. I'm supposed to get physical therapy for vertigo (it's an inner ear imbalance, so they contort your head into all kinds of positions to get everything back where it should be -- crazy huh?) and I'm going to the other kind of therapy next week, for the first time, to talk about some stuff that's been worrying me. I chickened out and cancelled my first appointment that I made a few weeks ago, but I rescheduled it and now I'm actually kind of excited about it. I strongly believe in listening to your body's cues and being your own advocate when it comes to your health, whether physical or mental, so that's what I'm trying to do.

In other exciting developments, Jackson started school!

It's just a Mother's Day Out program a few mornings a week, but it was a huge step for him and me. I've been lucky enough to either work from home or be a stay-at-home mom since the day he was born, so this is our first time being separated. He had a lot of tears the first week and it was extremely difficult to leave him when he was crying, but the staff is wonderful and he loves it now. He tugs on my arm to hurry up and get in the car and go! And when we turn into the drive, he says eagerly, "This is my school!" Ahh, little man. You make me so proud.

While J is in school, it's nice to spend one-on-one time with Olivia. She gets sillier every day.

Sometimes she cracks herself up, too.

My awesome mom came to stay for a couple weeks. I wish it could have been longer. The kids totally adore Grandma.

I planted a fall garden. I planted beets, carrots, green onions, Swiss chard, spinach, and collard greens. The chard was the first to sprout through the soil. Grow, little guy! You can do it!

I also did a mini-herb garden on my kitchen windowsill. I have basil, sage, oregano, and thyme. I'd like to get some mint and dill, too.

I've been cooking a little, here and there. Sometimes I don't feel up to it and eat cereal. I haven't been eating strictly vegan, either. Some people want noodle soup when they're sick -- I want Little Caesar's and Taco Bell. With the nausea that comes with vertigo, these childhood comfort foods are sometimes all I can stomach. But since I don't feel like changing the name of the blog right now, I'll just post the vegan stuff. Time will tell if it's a temporary lapse. I don't really feel that being vegan has contributed directly to any of my health issues, but to be honest, I've dealt with more illness during my past year of veganism than in any of my 25+ previous years as a vegetarian and I'm wondering if that might be the better path for me.

Anyway -- the food.

BBQ Tempeh Hoagies with Chipotle Mayo from Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations. The BBQ sauce was sweet and smoky, but the chipotle mayo was my favorite part. You'll have to buy a whole can of chipotles in adobo sauce to make it, but it's easy to freeze the leftovers for later use. Place one chipotle pepper in each square of an ice cube tray, and spoon the adobo sauce evenly over them. Freeze, then pop out and store in ziploc bag. Now that they are portioned out, you can thaw them as needed.

After other great results from Uncheese, I decided to try Joanne Stepaniak's recipe for French Onion Soup. It may look funny with those globs of "gruyere" on top, but oh man, is it good. I opted to caramelize the onions instead of just boiling them in the broth as the recipe instructs. I feel they have more flavor that way. And the creamy, salty, slightly sharp Gruyere melts right into the soup, while the crisp toast soaks up the broth. Ahhhh. So good

Here is the Labor Day cookout we had to welcome my mom. Actually, because of the scary wildfires in our area, we cooked all of this indoors on my little grill pan! Clockwise from top left: baba ganoush made from grilled eggplant; grilled zucchini, summer squash, and onions; toasts for the baba ganoush; potato halves and portabello mushrooms.

Minestrone, another kind of comfort food. I always stir in some basil pesto to amp up the flavor. I could eat this for a few days in a row. Oh wait, I did.

Well, that's all my news. What's new with you?

Taking a Break

2011-08-28T20:41:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, I've been having some health issues that I am pretty sure are anxiety related. Basically this busy mama is too busy (i.e. stressed) for her own good and needs to take it easy for awhile. So I'm taking a break from the non-necessities which, for now, includes this blog. I hope to be back before too long.

Try It Tuesday - Jackfruit

2011-08-23T08:13:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Try It Tuesday, where we try a fruit or vegetable that is new to us. Last week, we discovered what lies beneath the alien-like surface of the rambutan. This week I present another Southeast Asian fruit...the jackfruit. It's the largest tree-born fruit there is, and can weigh up to 80 pounds.

You can buy it fresh, in which case you wanna look for a big greenish-yellow ball with little spikes all over it.

(image source)

You can also buy it in cans. However, I bought it frozen.

It looks like peach or mango. Tastes similar, too. We made the Urban Vegan's Jackfruit-Banana Smoothie.

Jackson sucked his down in record time.

This was all that was left for me after the kids drank their fill!

It didn't blend as smooth as I would've liked, but I think that's because my blender broke and I was using my food processor to make a smoothie, which isn't the best scenario. The jackfruit had a lightly sweet flavor and I picked up hints of cinnamon.

You can also turn jackfruit into vegan BBQ! I am totally going to do this.

Have you tried any new foods lately? I'd love to hear about it, good or bad.

Jackson Turns 3!

2011-08-22T17:57:00.000-04:00

When I showed Jackson a photo of him as a baby, he said, "I was small! I'm a big guy now!"

I would have to agree with that!

But he is still my same sweet boy. Always wide-eyed and smiling, always ready to leap right into whatever adventures the world offers him. I hope that never, ever changes.

He had an awesome birthday. His grandma and aunt drove down to celebrate with him. We had Mexican food for lunch, his favorite, then we did presents and cake at home.

He got a new backpack for school, which he will be starting in just a couple of weeks.

He and sissy are both crazy about this inflatable firetruck.

The train set seems to be his favorite present. He might love trains more than he loves firetrucks, which is saying a lot.

We ordered a delicious vegan cake from Mr. Natural, complete with firetruck of course!

Yum!

Happy birthday, sweet boy. We hope your third year is your best one yet!

Gardein Variety

2011-08-21T10:52:00.000-04:00

Some may turn up their noses at convenience foods, but I'm grateful for the abundance of vegan convenience foods that have become available in the past few years. Even as a stay-at-home mom, there are days when it's hard to find the time to cook three healthy meals from scratch. And I know from previous experience how hard it can be to find motivation to cook after a particularly long day at work, too.

Gardein recently sent me some coupons to try out some of their vegan protein options. First we had the Chick'n Marsala. The package contained two servings, each the size of a chicken breast, and a packet of marsala sauce. A few minutes in the microwave and they were ready to eat. I served the chick'n with spaghetti and mushrooms sauteed in garlic butter. The sauce had a mild, sweet flavor, and Tony and I both enjoyed the chick'n. Some other faux meats I've tried are a little too realistic for my liking, with a stringy texture that I can only guess is meant to resemble animal muscle fibers. There was no stringiness here! I'd definitely buy this again. The whole meal was ready in the time it takes to boil spaghetti, with the added nutrition of 18 grams of protein per serving thanks to the Gardein. Perfect for a busy evening.

Next we sampled the BBQ Pulled Shreds. The package serving suggestion read, "Heat up and load on a bun" and I obliged. I tried to make it a little healthier by adding romaine lettuce and radish slices, but really, one shouldn't try to healthify barbecue. Next time, I'll just eat it all by its lovely self, on a ciabatta roll. I loved the texture of the finely shredded "meat" doused in sweet, smoky BBQ sauce.

One evening we had the BBQ skewers. All Gardein products are pre-cooked, but the instructions suggested grilling them briefly. So I seared them on my grill pan.

I stuffed them into a pita with red pepper and pickles. The big meaty chunks were a little too much for me...I guess because I've never been a meat eater. But Tony. So if you're feeding an omnivore, or someone who's recently become vegan and misses actual meat, these BBQ skewers might be a good way to go.

Finally, our favorite of the products we sampled -- the Crispy Tenders. These are the best faux chicken I've ever eaten. Super crispy coating. The shape makes them fun for kids to eat, dipped into some agave mustard. Jackson and Olivia loved them. I bought a couple more bags already to have on hand for easy lunches. My only concern was that the serving size is small -- just two tenders. I don't think that's very realistic, even for a child. But even if you double that and eat four, you're still only looking at 200 calories and 7 grams of fat.

There are plenty of Gardein flavors to choose from besides the ones we tried out. The Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Wings and Mandarin Orange Crispy Chicken look especially awesome, but I haven't been able to find them yet at my supermarket.

I love cooking too much to use convenience foods every day, but I can see myself keeping a few Gardein packages in my freezer or refrigerator for extra-busy times.

Uncheesin' It Up

2011-08-19T18:14:00.000-04:00

It seems like the main barrier that prevents many vegetarians from making the leap to veganism is their love of cheese. After a little over a year of vegan cooking, I can see their point. Cheese is hard to duplicate in vegan form. Especially bubbly, stringy pizza cheese! For some, Daiya is the answer to their faux cheese prayers, but I can't get past its funky smell. And I've been pretty lazy about trying the other vegan cheeses out there (although I've heard good things about Follow Your Heart and should really pick some up.)

Lately I've been missing cheese more than ever, so I decided to try my hand at making it myself, with the help of the Uncheese Cookbook.

First I made the Mostarella, a vegan take on buffalo mozzarella. It took only minutes to prepare. After firming up somewhat in the refrigerator overnight, it had a creamy, spreadable consistency.

I made bruschette caprese -- toasted baguette slices topped with a layer of Mostarella, a slice of heirloom tomato, and some basil from my garden. To make a meal out of it, I served it with garlic-marinated green olives and some broccoli salad (recipe from Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations.) The result was heavenly. The dairy cheese wasn't missed at all!

We also had good results using the Mostarella in grilled cheese sandwiches. Melty and creamy, yum.

I also made the Fabuloso Kale Casserole. As opposed to some casseroles where everything is mixed together, this one has two distinct layers.

For the bottom layer, you make a cheezy sauce and stir it into cooked brown rice. Then you add a layer of sauteed kale, mushrooms, red onion, and carrots. I couldn't get enough of this casserole. The bottom layer tasted like the cheesiest, creamiest risotto ever, but the veggies made it seem healthy. With a few splashes of Tabasco, it's a perfect all-in-one meal.

My cheese cravings still haven't been completely satisfied, so I'll be making more Uncheeses soon!

What's your favorite vegan cheese?