Fall

You guys it's fall! I'm so excited. Sorry to have been away. Tony has been traveling a lot since starting his new job in August, and I do not always have the time to post every day. So here I am, catching up, while I love sitting here with the windows open because it's 65 degrees out!

Veganomicon Roasted Fennel and Hazelnut Salad with Shallot Dressing sounded nice and autumnal, so I whipped that up for dinner on the first day of fall. I could not find chicory at two different stores in Austin, so I used endive because they are in the same family. Along with the salad, I made the V'con Curried Carrot Dip, served with some naan bread.

I love the seasonal drinks. Harmless Harvest has introduced cacao and cinnamon clove flavors of their amazing raw coconut water. It is expensive but it's tastiest brand in my opinion. I also picked up a Rebbl hibiscus mint yerba mate tonic. I was excited because it was the first time I have seen any Rebbl drinks around here. I want to try them all!

Sprouts has and entire wall of pumpkin products. Not kidding! 

I came home with pumpkin loops cereal and pumpkin spice kale chips.

At HEB, I picked up pumpkin spice Mini Wheats, apple cinnamon Special K, pumpkin spice latte M&M's, and pumpkin spice baking chips.

I think we have reached Peak Pumpkin Spice, guys! At HEB I got pumpkin spice and rosemary dish soaps.

I also bought a bunch of Snapea Crisps and Lentil Snaps because they were on sale and Olivia absolutely loves them in her lunchbox.

Finally, not autumnal but pretty tasty none the less, a High Country kombucha, wild root flavor. It contained sarsaparilla, licorice root, star anise, yellowdock root, burdock root, wildcherry bark, and dandelion root. How's that for an interesting ingredient list? It tasted very medicinal and herbal, in a good way!

To welcome in this spooooky time of year, we made some cotton ball ghosts.

oooOOOooo! Happy autumn to you!

St. Paddy's 2014

Hope you had a festive and leprechaun-free St. Patrick's Day! We wore our green, so we were safe from their pinches.

Dinner was Trader Joe's veggie burgers topped with greens, Veganaise, dill relish, ketchup and mustard on whole wheat buns. This was my first time buying TJ's veggie burgers and I love them! I think they're the best frozen burgers out there.

We also had sweet potato fries, not pictured. But just a few, because we had to save room for dessert -- carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, a tester recipe for Kristy's cookbook. I can't give away the recipe, but these cupcakes contain a lot of grated carrot -- just how a good carrot cake should be!

Chillin', knowing their gold is secure for now.

More Isa Does It and the Zoo

I can't stop cooking from Isa Moskowitz's new Isa Does It cookbook! Everything has been a winner so far.

Carrot Cake Pancakes. These are really thick, puffy pancakes. So good.

Tofu Mushroom Stroganoff. The cashew cream sauce is so creamy and thick. Total comfort food.

Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Penne with Broccoli. I used rotini (because I accidentally used up the penne in the stroganoff.) Sorry for the crappy pic -- I think I left the flash on. This was a big hit with my broccoli-loving children (although they picked out the onions.)

Olive Angel Hair with Seared Brussels Sprouts. This wasn't a hit with Jackson and Olivia, but I freaking loved it. I used 16 oz. of brussels instead of 8 oz., because brussels = awesome.

Finally, Acorn Squash Risotto with Cranberries. It doesn't get any more autumnal than this, folks.

Today we visited the zoo (which is actually an animal sanctuary) with my friend Carey and her son. Feeding the animals is the kids' favorite part, so we did that first.

Jackson was a little timid about letting the deer lick food out of his hand. "It tickles!"

The llama was acting a little funny, stamping his foot and grinning at us. We were afraid he was going to spit at us. It turned out he was just jealous that the deer was getting more food than him.

When we were eating lunch, Olivia was nervously guarding her sandwich from a peacock who was lurking around her feet. "Don't worry, honey, it's not going to jump up on the table," I said. And then this happened. Shows how much I know!

A nice time with our animal friends.

An Assortment of Appetite for Reduction Recipes

I don't own Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, so for this week's PPK Cookbook Challenge, I turned to a recent acquisition in my cookbook library -- Appetite for Reduction.

Early in the week, I did a bit of prep work. I made the Basic Baked Tofu and the Sweet and Salty Baby Maple Carrots, and I also cooked some quinoa and bulgur.

(Let's just pretend those little feet in the corner aren't there, and I'm not the mom who lets her son sit barefoot on the dining room table.)

I hoped that the carrots would be a good snack for Jackson, but he wanted nothing to do with them.  Fortunately, Tony and I liked them and they did not go to waste.

So, the first meal we had was the Caesar Salad with Eggplant Bacon. Eggplant bacon, you say? Yep.

Tony the eggplant-hater recoiled in horror. More for me! Although the eggplant didn't really crisp up like bacon, the smoky flavor reminded me of baba ganoush made from grilled, charred eggplants, and I appreciated the extra note of flavor that the "bacon" added to my salad.

I made a double batch of the Caesar Chavez dressing so I could use it the next day on Mediterranean Bowls.

The dressing made a nice sauce over the bulgur, roasted cauliflower, baked tofu, and chickpeas.

Finally, another bowl -- the Supergreen Bowl, with Green Goddess Garlic Dressing.

Chock full of quinoa, edamame, and steamed broccoli. I love using the entire broccoli. If your broccoli stalks seem tough, just peel off the tough outer layer with a vegetable peeler. Then, thinly slice the stalks, and they will steam to tender perfection along with your florets.

My verdict on the bowls was...hmm, I don't know if bowls are for me. The grains seem to soak up the dressing and dilute its flavor. But I loved both the Caesar Chavez and Goddess dressings, and will use them on salads in the future.

Next week is free choice week on the Cookbook Challenge, and I'll be cooking from Robin Robertson's Vegan on the Cheap.

Yesterday I received something in the mail...

Soy curls! Liz at Vegan Food Rocks did a giveaway, and I won these. Soy curls are not sold locally, so I am really excited to have this opportunity to try them out! Thanks, Liz! I think I'm going to make tacos. Have you tried soy curls? Any suggestions on what else to make with them?

Happy New Year!

Ah, New Year's Day. Hangovers, clean slates, good intentions.  How is 2011 treating you so far? How was your New Year's Eve?  Did you go out to a fun party, or celebrate at home with family?

Our evening was pretty mild, as you might expect when two little ones are involved.   The only party I attended was a pajama party with Olivia!

The day was eventful, though. Monster, our dog, got to check out a new dog park. According to Tony, this is not just any dog park. It was designed by a guy called Paul Jr., who is on a television show called American Chopper.  Tony is somewhat obsessed with this show. He has already taken Jackson to check out their shop.

Even though Paul Jr.'s dog park is 45 minutes away, it'll be worth it to take Monster there on a regular basis now that we know about it. When we lived in Austin, we took him to monthly Boston Terrier meetups at a local dog park, and he was always so excited to run and run and run with the other Bostons.  Bostons aren't really outdoor dogs -- most of the time Monster is content to lay on the couch with us -- but every so often it's good for him to get a lot of exercise and socialize with other dogs. It makes him so happy.

Jackson had fun, too.

Happy New Year, Monster.

The other excitement of the day was that I got to try out my new toy -- the Tofu Xpress.  It's pretty easy -- you just stick the block of tofu in, place the lid on top, and leave it alone for an hour. I was surprised at how much liquid got pressed out. It works!

Here it is, pressing away.  Strong like Hulk!

For our New Year's Eve snacking, I made a bunch of finger foods from American Vegan Kitchen, which I recieved for Christmas.

First up, Tempting Tofu Dippers with Pineapple-Pomegranate Dipping Sauce. I could definitely see the benefits of the Tofu Xpress here. My pressed tofu sticks were very firm (heh) and held together just fine during the entire breading and baking process.  This was also the first recipe where I used herbes de Provence.  It's got lavender in it, how crazy is that?  I love this appetizer. It's got a lot of exotic flavors going on, but is easy to put together. 

Next, Baked Poppers with Lime Cream.  Of course this was one of the first recipes I chose to try out from my new cookbook.  In my pre-vegan days, I loved jalapeno poppers.  When I lived in Oklahoma, there was a Mexican restaurant that served them with raspberry jelly. You might not think that would taste very good, but you would be totally wrong.  It's the best thing ever. In fact, now I'm thinking I should've bought some raspberry jelly.  Next time!  These jalapenos are stuffed with a smoky, cheesy filling and coated in panko breadcrumbs.  They are superb.  I was a little nervous about the breading process, because it called for three separate bowls and seemed really involved. But you just need to follow the #1 Rule of Breading -- always keep one hand dry. 

Finally, Lettuce Wraps.  Um...I'd never seen a lettuce wrap, let alone eaten one, and I quickly realized I had no idea how to roll a lettuce wrap.  Iceberg lettuce might not have been the way to go.  Maybe romaine would be easier to roll. Anyway, I just ended up serving these as lettuce cups. I loved the sweet, spicy tofu and veggie filling.

This morning, I started off my new year with a bowl of Carrot Cake Oatmeal, courtesy of Angela at Oh She Glows.  Soooo good.  It tastes really decadent, but you know it's good for you, since it's like 2/3 carrots.

Happy 2011!