Baking Practice

More baking practice today with Olivia. She's into it. She says she is going to open a bakery when she grows up. Ah! That would be nice.

Today we made salted caramel cupcakes. Salted caramel is everywhere right now, it seems like. For the frosting, you make real caramel on the stovetop, then mix in powdered sugar. I think these are our best cupcakes yet.

We had breakfast-for-dinner: tofu scramble (cubes this time, which I think I actually prefer!), and Vegan Diner biscuits and sage gravy. This was my first time ever having biscuits and gravy! I am a fan!

My biscuits rose. Woohoo!

Reading also takes practice.

Dressing like a princess helps with memorizing sight words. Fact.

Christmas 2014

Is it too late for a Christmas recap? Sorry for my absence, but I am battling a cold that has turned into bronchitis. I think I am finally turning the corner. I hope so...I don't want to start the new year sick!

On Christmas morning, the kids crept downstairs before sunrise to see what Santa had brought for them.

The first present Olivia opened was a new Elsa gown, which she immediately changed into.

Jackson sorted his stuff into a pile and went into a frenzy of tearing wrapping paper.

Legos and more Legos for our master builder.

Olivia's favorite present was a Lalaloopsy doll that, um, poops charms.

While we opened our gifts, Monster enjoyed tearing the stuffing out of his annual sacrificial stuffed toy.

Beginning the assembly. This would become an all-day project.

Pooping charms!

After awhile my parents came over bearing more gifts.

More assembly.

Jackson's gift from my parents, a wrestling cage match.

Showing Grandma her new dolls.

While the kids enjoyed some grandparent time, Tony and I put together the feast. We had tarragon green beans, homemade applesauce, maple dijon roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes topped with pecans and Dandies marshmallows, baked beans, broccoli rice casserole (from Cookin' Crunk), rolls, mashed potatoes, creamy sage gravy (from Vegan Diner), and corn. There were also ham slices. I was very pleased that everything was vegan this year except for the ham.

The gravy was a highlight for me. I could eat mashed potatoes and yummy gravy all day long, and this is one of the best gravies I've made. It was very black peppery and I am going to try it with biscuits next.

For dessert I made Vegan Richa's salted caramel chocolate pie. YOU GUYS. Make this pie! It's a no-bake pie, so I made it the day before and just stuck it in the freezer. Since I was already sick by this point, I was thrilled that it took so little effort. I thawed the pie for an hour before serving and then kept it in the fridge for the next few days while we finished it off. It maintained a perfect, creamy consistency. The layers of nutty, chocolatey crust, creamy salted caramel, and rich chocolate ganache are just heaven.

After a feast like that, it was time for relaxing in front of the fireplace. Do you like our double Yule log action?

Hope you had a merry Christmas!

Things We Ate in the Summer

Gardenburgers with homemade sauerkraut from Tony's coworker, and Alexia sweet potato fries. Fixins for this meal are always on hand in my freezer.

Cheezy Mac from Vegan Diner. Or cheezy farfalline, to be precise. I liked it, wouldn't change anything.

Yet another batch of salt and vinegar roasted chickpeas from Oh She Glows. Olivia's favorite. She would probably enjoy a salt lick if we purchased one for her.

Chocolate-blueberry pancakes (Jackson requested these, specifically) with blueberry maple syrup, and scrambled tofu.

Romesco Vegetable Bowls from More Quick-Fix Vegan. I am always a fan of romesco sauce.

Tofu and Green Beans with Hoisin Almond Sauce, also from More Quick-Fix Vegan. This was a hit with Jackson and Olivia, lovers of green beans.

Chimichurri Quinoa Bowls from, you guessed it, More Quick-Fix Vegan. Not the most flavorful chimichurri.

Matcha milkshake: almond milk, vanilla extract, matcha powder, stevia, ice. Blend. Repeat daily.

Water babies.

I've been listening to my old Low CD's lately. Slow and lazy. Summer soundtrack.

Cookbook Challenge: Vegan Diner (Part 2)

I already posted a few of my PPK Cookbook Challenge choices from Julie Hasson's Vegan Diner. We've moved on to Chloe's Kitchen this week, but here a couple more dinners I made from Vegan Diner.

The Smoky Potato Scramble was more substantial than my usual tofu scramble thanks to the addition of red-skinned potatoes. And I'm giving five stars to any recipe that incorporates smoked paprika.

The Rockin' Reuben was a hit with Tony and me. We'd tried other vegan reubens, but this is our favorite, mostly due to the awesome Pastrami-Style Seitan Roast. Fennel and caraway give the seitan a unique flavor. I froze it overnight, then thawed it, which allowed me to cut very, very thin slices. I sauteed the slices so they would be crispy on the edges before adding them to the sandwich along with sauerkraut and Julie's Very Secret Sauce. 

Jackson and Olivia had no interest in these sandwiches because the sauerkraut smelled funny to them. I wouldn't touch it as a child, either. However, they were wolfing down slices of the pastrami roast all by itself.    That was fine since the seitan recipe makes a lot. We now have a Tupperware container of leftover, thinly-sliced seitan in the fridge, to be used for lunches all week.

Goofballs.

Cookbook Challenge: Vegan Diner

This week's selection in the PPK Cookbook Challenge is Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson. So far I've made three recipes.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. Mine were more crispy than chewy, I suspect because I ran out of brown sugar and had to substitute regular sugar for half the amount called for. I also subbed whole wheat pastry flour for half of the white flour. Oh, and I threw in some chopped walnuts. These disappeared quickly.

Blueberry Nutmeg Muffins. I made mini-muffins instead of regular-sized. This recipes calls for a lot of nutmeg. It worried me. I shouldn't have worried. These are fantastic, and I'm not really a muffin fan. Like, just give me a cupcake already. But when you combine blueberries and nutmeg, they undergo a magical metamorphosis and actually acquire the power of speech, so they are able to call my name from the refrigerator anytime I walk by.

Garlic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts. I've had a long-lasting love affair with roasted brussies. Throwing in a bunch of raw garlic at the end certainly couldn't diminish that love. Jackson, Olivia and I finished these off before Tony even made it home for dinner.

Back to Normal

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?