COOOOOOKIES!!!!!!!!!!

Last year I couldn't make holiday cookies becaue I broke my hand. So nothing was going to stop me this year. I made 4 types today and will make maybe 3 more this week.

First up are vegan Spritz cookies. I've been wanting to make these for so long. They are such a childhood memory for me. I remember making these with me maa for christmas. I used a cookie press that I received from my bridal shower in march. It didn't work to well but it was good enough for me. Eventually I loaded the rest of the dough into a pastry bag and just made little circle blobs. I covered some of them with natural pink sprinkles. The color didn't come thru as much as I wanted it too.



I also made Dreena's Chocolate Chip Cookies for the first time. I like them alot and they are super super easy to make. Although I find most cookies easy to make. Also in the oven today were Oatmeal-Coconut Cookies and Snickerdoodle cookies that I found on some vegan recipe page. They were ok. I'm not thrilled about them. The Snickerdoodles I didn't even take a picture of because they look strange and taste alittle strange. Oh well. Not everything you find on the internet is good.

Other cookies I have planned for this week are a classic peanut butter cookies and some jam dot's. I might make brownies also just to take the place of the Snickerdoodles.

Friends of ours gave us Rangers vs. Devils hockey tickets for free. It's kinda like seeing a Mets vs. Yankee's game. I don't understand hockey too much and am usually not paying any attention when something big happens buts its free and they are kickass seats. I gotta get ready. See you's tomorrow maybe.

Celebrations and Sickness.

This has been a busy week. First it was Peter's birthday on Thursday. (he's 30!!!) (but so am I) We always celebrate it on the Friday of the week of his special day at this Italian restaurant. But our friend Stephen couldn't attend so we went out to eat with him on Wednesday night (no cooking). Thursday night we went to Peter's parents to celebrate (no cooking.) Friday we went out to the restaurant. Again no cooking. Besides all the celebration my stomach hasn't been feeling very well. Especially after I eat. So I haven't been really wanting to cook or eat a whole lot. So tonight's dinner was really simple and quite good. (it didn't make me sick!) I marinated the last of my seitan in some BBQ sauce and then roasted it in the oven along with rosemary potatoes. Then I quickly sauteed stringbeans and garlic. My was it tasty. I was so happy to be eating something that I made at home. I really don't like eating out too much anymore.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to make some holiday cookies. I hope my stomach lets me.

The biggest buns around!

Sunday night I wanted a veggie burger. More specifically a red bean butternut veggie burger with chipotle aioli. So I set out to create my own. I sauteed garlic, shallots and red pepper's in a bit of olive oil and then added small diced butternut squash. This was my first mistake. I should have just roasted the squash first or sauteed it by itself or before all the other veg. But my brain has been in a bit of a fog recently and it all worked out in the end. While this was all cooking I cooked a big pot of millet in a veg broth/water combo to use as a binder. When it was all finished I mashed it all together with a can of kidney beans and cooked em up. First started in an oiled skillet and finished in the oven. I served them on the biggest rolls i've seen in a long time. They were Tribeca Rolls from Whole Foods. I loaded the rolls with alot of homemade chipotle aioli and a salad's worth of mixed greens on each. The aioli was HOT! I first put one chipotle in and wasn't happy with it so I added another which I was happy with but my mouth was on fire. Next time I'll use 1 1/2 chipotle's.

In all the burger was delicious but it smushed all over the place. I need to mess with the recipe a bit to get it to smush less although I don't mind it too much. Peter wanted them alittle bit more well done. Screw him.

I also attempted to make waffle fries. They wouldn't "waffle" some would some woudn't. I havn't figured out why yet because i've made them before. I'll blame the foggy brain.




There is nothing better than waking up on Sunday morning. Getting dressed. Leaving the apartment to find that my NY Times hasn't been stolen. Getting a latte and an everything bagel. Coming home. Toasting the everything bagel. Spreading natural peanut butter on the still hot bagel so it melts and is delicious and eat it up. I wish I had one right now. But it's 9:30 pm and it would give me crazy dreams if I ate this late at night.

Blogging in Bulk

Please excuse me for my lack of posting this week. I've been cooking but either didn't have the chance to post or was feeling a bit under the weather. I'm still alittle under the weather but felt guilty so I just had to post.

I've recently felt that I havn't been eating as healthy as I would like to so I made a fat-free delicious "fried" rice. I sauteed all the vegetables and garlic in vegetable broth and then added a tamari-arrowroot slurry to make a nice little sauce. Then mixed in some leftover brown rice from the burrito's I made the week before. This was a delicious dinner. So many vegetables and just the perfect amout of tamari. I actually couldn't finish my bowl and gave the rest to Peter. I felt so much better after eating this dinner.



Next, I had to finish those Field Roast "Sausages" that I bought. It was driving me crazy that I had two left even though I've already made 2 meals with them! I believe it was aTxVegn who suggested too use them in pasta sauce. I thought it was a great idea and I had a good idea of what kinda of sauce to make with it. Saute onions and garlic in alittle bit of olive oil. Add the chopped sausages. Brown a bit. Then add some paprika and then a can of Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes. These chipotle sausages are so damn spicy you don't need to add any extra spice to them. This made so much sauce. Luckily our friends Peter and Jenn (in our group of friends there are two Pete and Jenn combo's we have even lived in the same apartment building.) asked if they could stop buy for a minute and I made them stay for dinner so the sauce all got used up.



Friday I was off from work! YEAH! But I became bored as hell because it was SOOOOOOOOOO cold outside and my car isn't available for me to drive it until next week or so. I was stuck inside and didn't feel like doing much. I actually had to force myself to go into the kitchen and do something. (that was a first but then again I was feeling weird) So I made for the second time my Fire Roasted Tomato and Butternut Soup with Coconut and Curry. I had to change the recipe alittle bit from the original one I wrote down but It basically came out exactly the same. I love this soup recipe. I will post the recipe below.



I also made cookies on friday. I have no idea where I got this recipe from! I found it written down in one of my notebooks. I know it isn't one of my own. But I usually write down the source of the recipe. I didn't for some reason. So whom ever invented this cookie thank you. It was delicious. The title I wrote down was CC Cookie for chocolate chip cookie which is exactly what I wanted. While I was making these and was adding the molasses it called for I knew it wouldn't be the chocolate chip cookie I was expecting. I was alittle dissapointed when I first tried the batter. Even when I tried the first cookie out of the oven. The main taste was molasses. Now that I know that I LOVE these cookies. And will make them again. I just wish I knew who's recipe it was.


Fire Roasted Tomato, Butternut + Curry Coconut Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions
4 Tablespoons parley, chopped
3 cups water
4 cloves garlic, sliced

28oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth, use those 1 cup amount containers of veg broth.
1med size butternut squash, diced medium (4-5 cups)
1 can coconut milk
2 1/2 -3 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
salt and pepper

Saute carrots, onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. When they start to get soft add the water and parsley. (This eventually turns into a broth so you dont' have to bother making a seperate broth.)

Add tomatoes, butternut and broth (i add this amout of broth just to give it an extra richness). Bring to a boil and simmer until butternut is soft. Mix in the curry powder and cumin. Then add the coconut milk. Cook for 10 minutes or more until all the flavors meld and season with salt and pepper.

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool a bit. Use and immersion blender and blend it up so that its has a nice and creamy consistancy. If you don't have an immersion blender you can alway's use a quisenart or regular blender.

For two people this makes alot of soup. So I freeze 1/2 of it which is alway's a nice surprise to find in the freezer since I forget about everything that's in there. Enjoy!

Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes

I finally made cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I alway's loved chocolate Red Velvet cake so I had to make these first. They were delicious. I was however dissapointed that they didn't come out as burgundy as I was expecting them to. I'll add more coloring next time. I topped it off with the Fluffy Buttercream Frosting. I was never a fan of buttercream. My wedding cake was a bunch of chocolate cupcakes covered with hot pink buttercream. I scraped that shit off of my cupcake. I loved this buttercream though. I was eating it out of the piping bag. I should have just made my own wedding cupcakes.

Whole Wheat Burritos, Food Shopping

I still had 3 of those "sausages" left over from the dirty rice. All I could think of to make with them was burritos. I only needed one though so now I have 2 left! They are so good. I need more ideas. Maybe I'll make a nice mexican breakfast with them on saturday. The burritos were filled with a mix of garlic, shallots, jalapeno's, carrots, seitan sausage, sliced tomatoes and black beans with a mix of spices. I think I used cayenne, tumeric and cumin. Also short grain brown rice. On top is a simple guac. Avocado, salt and lime juice. I usually use white tortilla's exclusively. But I'm trying to be healthier so I bought the whole wheat ones today. I'm glad I did. I forgot how much I like whole wheat products. (except whole wheat pasta, gross).



I went food shopping today. This is why.



We had nothing. Except Peter's beer, his yogurts and a few odds and ends. My list was huge.



Here is everything. Almost. What you don't see are in the drawers. Carrots, onions, apples etc and our case of Smart Water. CB was very interested in the butternut squash.

Orecchiette w. Cauliflower

I havn't been cooking alot this week. This weather is driving me crazy and making my apartment so hot. I can't stand it.
This is a dish I first saw on Urban Vegan's blog for Orecchiette w. Cauliflower and I had to make it. I looked up a recipe for it and it has butter, anchiovies and lots of cheese it in. Urban Vegan said she used some miso to take the place of the anchiovies so I went that route also. I used some veggie broth mixed with miso to made a nice thick brothy sauce for the whole thing. You basically saute 1 head cauliflower and 4 chopped cloves of garlic in oil, add 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes and some chopped fresh parsley, 2 or 3 Tablespoons. Then add some miso mixed with veg broth. About 1/3 cup with about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of mellow miso. Salt and pepper. Add 1/2 a box of cooked orecchiette. So simple. I love cauliflower and I loved this recipe. Peter hates cauliflower and he loved this dish and even ate it the next day at work and loved it even more. So make it for all those cauliflower haters out there.

Since I havn't been cooking much we have been fighting with Captain Clearbeard. This is my favorite photo. She is so fierce.