Cooking Out

Today we invited my parents over for a cookout. Tony is always happy to fire up the grill.  He made various meats for them, but here is my veggie plate: grilled marinated portabello burger, corn on the cob, and salad with goddess dressing.

I made a batch of Thai basil lemonade. I just blended a handful of the herbs with the lemonade, then strained them out.

For dessert I made the Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake from Isa Does It.  I got a bundt pan for $3 so I had to try it out! The cake was wonderful, very moist. The chocolate ganache was a little too runny, though. I should've only added milk as needed, not the full amount. It mostly soaked into the cake. 

Jackson, proud of his cup stacking skillz.

Grillin'

It may still be winter for a few more weeks, but here in Texas we already have plenty of warm days when Tony gets the urge to fire up the grill, as long as it is not too windy. Yesterday we made veggie kabobs with zucchini, summer squash, red pepper, mushroom, and onion.

We ate the grilled veggies over pasta, with olive oil, salt and pepper.

We had plenty of leftovers, so today I made a grilled veggie and pesto pizza. I also pureed some of the grilled veggies and used that as my "sauce" on the pizza.

Fire Chief Jackson always looks out for us when we grill.

Today: prepping for Olivia's third birthday party this weekend. She has requested a train cake.

Have a great weekend!

Checking In

Hey y'all, I know I haven't been around much. Blame Game of Thrones. Tony and I started watching it and now I'm hooked. Whenever the kids nap or go to bed early, instead of writing blog posts, I've been glued to the TV. I still have a few more episodes of the first season to go and then I'm going to start reading the books.

This weekend I went to the Renegade Craft Fair and blew a little cash on myself. We all need to do that once in awhile, right?

I can't wait to wear my new shirt.

I also bought a mermaid necklace and a hair clippy.

I liked that a lot of the sellers this year were local. I bought a little vial of lovely perfume oil from one of them.

I adore perfume oils. Back when I was employed, before Olivia was born, I spent loads of money feeding my perfume habit. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is my favorite. It doesn't really fit in our budget these days, but luckily I built up quite a stash that I'm still working my way through.

We also cooked out this weekend. While Tony manned the grill, I made fried green tomatoes. Actually they were oven-baked.

We had veggie burgers topped with grilled onions, grilled corn on the cob with Veganaise, chili powder and lime, collard greens, and the fried green tomatoes.

I think this was Olivia's first time eating corn on the cob. She thought it was really fun.

For dessert, I made chocolate mousse using silken tofu and chocolate hemp protein powder. I layered it with organic strawberries.

How was your weekend?

Quick Like a Bunny

I'll try to keep today's post brief, so I can get it done before my computer crashes again! Yeah, the fancy new PC we got 6 months ago is turning out to be sort of a lemon. A few weeks ago it crashed completely and Tony was on the phone with Dell customer service for FIVE HOURS as they determined that we had some sort of virus, because the anti-virus software they sold us with our computer was the wrong one. After "fixing" the problem, it started happening again a couple days ago. Some mornings I can turn on the computer and use it for an hour but then it will crash again. They are supposed to be mailing us some new software and we will probably have to wipe everything and start over. My mother-in-law bought the same model at the same time we got ours, and is having the same problems. Ugh. One lesson I've learned is that the newest version of something is not always the best! Luckily, I already knew another important lesson: always back up your files! I have thousands of pictures of my little family double-backed-up because I am that paranoid.

These guys right here, they are my life. I love documenting our life together and couldn't stand to lose those images.

We cooked out last night, and I made some jalapeno poppers. Some of them lost their little "hats" in the grilling process, but the cheese stayed inside where it belonged, so I was happy. For the filling I used Wayfare Foods' We Can't Say It's Cheese, hickory cheddar flavor.

I made a raspberry-lime dipping sauce by simply thinning out raspberry jam with lime juice until it reached a saucelike consistency. Tony and I were once served jalapeno poppers with a strawberry dipping sauce at a Mexican restaurant, and we loved the way that the fruity sweetness both complements and lessens the heat from the peppers.

We also grilled veggie burgers, and I baked some sweet potato fries. I usually make my own fries, but this time I used the Alexia frozen fries. They're really good. It's hard to get my homemade fries this crispy, so I'll probably buy the Alexia ones from now on, and deal with the crushing blow to my ego that comes with not making something from scratch (kidding...sort of!)

Hope to be back soon with regular posts after we get our technology back in line. Have a good week! 

Soup, Salad and Curtains

I'm having another productive day. This morning I finished making some curtains for the front entry. This was the last set of curtains I needed to make for the house. Yes! And it only took me two months to get them all done, haha.

Here is a close-up of the pattern.

It's similar to the pattern on our living room rug (but not matching.)

The funny thing is, the curtains and rug have a strong resemblance to Monster's bed, which we bought long before we moved into this house and started decorating. 

Hmm... Am I subconsciously trying to make my whole house look like Monster's dog bed that he despises? Ha. If anything, I should have my couches re-upholstered to look like his bed and then, just maybe, he won't sleep on them, either.

I also did a little cooking. Hot temps = light meals, like this Cauliflower Pesto Soup from Appetite for Reduction.

I give this recipe 4 stars for kid-friendly cooking. Jackson helped add everything to the soup pot, and then he helped me blend it in the food processor. The whole thing took no time at all. Some soups need to cook for 45 minutes or an hour, but not this one. 15 minutes and done.

The soup tasted fine, but I'm afraid it's no Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup (but then, what is?) I can find better uses for fresh basil, like Nigella Lawson's Pea Pesto Soup. Now that is an incredible pesto soup. I make it often, since the kids adore it.

We also made AfR's Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu.

I was so pleased with how my grilled tofu turned out. Look at those lovely grill marks. I used my grill pan. I had never grilled tofu before and I was afraid it would fall apart. I did lose a couple of triangles. You have to be careful not to get cracks in the tofu while pressing it, or it'll fall to pieces on the grill. 

I was happy to use these little single-serving packages of vermicelli noodles that I bought at the Asian market awhile back. Aren't they cute? I recommend breaking the noodles into small pieces before cooking them and adding them to the salad. Otherwise, they're difficult to combine with the other ingredients, being so long and stringy and clumpy.

My only complaint with the salad was that there didn't seem to be enough dressing. The dressing has a fantastic flavor -- garlic chili sauce, agave, lime juice -- I just wanted more if it.

Finally, a big thanks to Shenandoah Vegan who quickly identified yesterday's mysterious "alien flowers" as passionflowers. I love their curly purple tendrils.

My babies (and their babies) are up from their naps, so we've gotta run. Have a good evening!



Happy Birthday, Monster!

Today is Monster's birthday. He is five years old. In dog years, he is 35. He is older than me now! I asked him if he has any words of wisdom, anything he has learned in all his dog-time on earth. He responded by licking Olivia's face.

Then I asked the kids to make him some drawings for his birthday. They tried to eat the crayons. Monster was proud. He has taught them well.

Later we are going to bake him some special treats. Monster really is our "oldest child" and we always like to spoil him on his special day.

Monster, your tongue makes everyone laugh.

You are a goofy dog. Sometimes, I wonder if you get into the Scotch while we are not home.

A lot has changed since you joined our little family. Mama learned that bangs do not flatter her, for one thing.

You've rolled with the changes.

Lots of changes.

We love you, buddy!

Last night, I tried out my new grill pan. I made the Chimichurri Grilled Vegetables and the Grilled Tofu with Tamarind Glaze, both from 1000 Vegan Recipes.

The first thing I learned about a grill pan is...have a chair ready so you can stand on it and disable your smoke alarm! It never occurred to me that indoor grilling might produce a lot of smoke. Especially if you have your burners turned up too high, ahem. I had to open all the windows and send Jackson outside to play while the smoke cleared. Yikes.

After I adjusted my burners and got some ventilation going, things were much better.

The chimichurri sauce -- a blend of garlic, parsley, and basil -- was super flavorful on its own, but its herbaceous punch diminished once it was brushed onto the veggies and grilled. I had some sauce left over, so I dabbed it onto the finished veggies to give them some extra flavor. Not that grilled veggies need to be dressed up much. They are pretty tasty on their own.

The tofu was a big hit. The tamarind sauce was sort of like a BBQ sauce -- sweet and spicy. It had just the right amount of heat for me. I pressed the tofu steaks in my Tofu Xpress and they were nice and firm. I marinated them overnight in the sauce, so they soaked up a ton of flavor.

I served everything on a bed of quinoa. The tamarind sauce soaked into the quinoa and it all tasted delicious. I loved the rainbow of colors on the plate. Not bad for my first grilling attempt.

Grilling takes patience. My grill pan is large, covering two burners, but I still had to divide the veggies into two batches, and then grill the tofu. Halfway through, I realized I should be drinking beer to pass the time.

I doubt I'll be using the grill pan much in the coming months -- might as well use the outdoor grill when the weather allows it. That way my house doesn't get all warm and smoky. But it was fun to try it out. What foods do you like to grill?