VeganMoFo: Snow

Green and Blacks Hot Chocolate w. Sweet and Sara Marshmallows


Today was our first day of snow. It wasn't anything nuts. But it made the trees and telephone wires beautiful for a few hours. It also made traffic, but that's okay. To celebrate our first snow day I made us some Green and Blacks Hot Chocolate, which was a baby shower gift for Peter, topped off with some Sweet and Sara Marshmallows! I was so excited when I saw them at our small Whole Foods tonight for the first time especially since they don't carry a whole lot of good stuff anymore. All that good stuff moved 1 mile up the road to our new super big Whole Foods. I had the option of buying the vanilla ones, which I did or the toasted coconut, which I should have. It was my first time ever having these marshmallows and I have to say they are the best vegan marshmallows I've ever had. (I've had my fair share and they were nasty.) All I can think of now are Rice Crispy Treats............

VeganMoFo: Jerusalem Artichokes aka Sunchoke

Chipotle Black Bean, Acorn Squash + Millet Veggie Burger w. Avocado Spread
Jerusalem Artichoke and Potato French Fries
Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts




I made a kickass dinner tonight and am almost out of all the food I purchased last Sunday which is a miracle. I need to make it last until tuesday morning when I leave for my parents house for Thanksgiving. Anyway...the veggie burger..shallots, garlic and carrots finely chopped and sauteed in olive oil, throw in some spices such as cumin, chili powder, tumeric, paprika. Add a can of black beans drained and rinsed and a chopped chipotle pepper. Scoop out an acorn squash you roasted in the oven 2 days ago. Add some millet you cook even more than 2 days ago for another veggie burger. Salt, pepper and mush together. Maybe add some bread crumbs if it's a bit wet..form into patties. Lightly fry in olive oil. Serve on delicious ciabatta rolls w. avocado spread (avocado, lemon, cumin, chipotle adobo sauce, salt blended in blender. Eat...with the addition of a thinly sliced red onion you found all alone in the fridge.

Now about the delicious Jerusalem Artichoke..aka..Sunchoke. I love these things. I don't remember when I first heard about them or had one. It must have been when I was in culinary school and was making trips to the Union Square farmers market 3 times a week.

Health Benefits of the choke are as follows: it is a superior source of inulin, a natural fructose that is medicinal for diabetics. it relives asthmatic conditions and nourishes the lungs and apparently helps in the constipation department. It contains the vitamins A and B-complex, potassium, iron, calcium and magnesium. That's a lot of good stuff coming from a root vegetable that doesn't contain starch.

The j.choke is at it's peak season now thru winter so look for it the next time you go shopping..it's delicious fried like a french fry or used with potatoes or other root vegetables in a gratin.

VeganMoFo: Pesto

Parsley-Almond Pesto




Pesto. I was thinking about it the other day and it is probably hands down my favorite way to eat pasta. Generally I make basil pesto's but when I have greens hanging out in the fridge that need to go I'll use them instead. Arugula, parsley, cilantro even spinach. They are all good. The same thing goes for nuts. It's usually pine nuts for me. But if I am out there are always almonds, pistachios, cashews, sunflower seeds etc to be used and they are just as good and sometimes better.

The other day I found I had a lot of parsley and hadn't had anything to really use it in. So I strapped Reno in her highchair and made a big batch of the stuff and wrote down the recipe. I keep it simple. No nutritional yeast. No soy milk. I've been seeing those ingredients a lot recently in vegan pesto's and I don't think they are needed. I understand the use of the yeast for a cheesy flavor but I prefer mellow miso instead. The soy milk, I have no idea why that's used in pestos, maybe to use less oil? I don't know. I like mine to be a bit oily. One of these days when I'm bored I will try out a nooch, soy milk recipe just to see what it's like. For now I'll just stick with my own.

Parsley-Almond Pesto

2 cups semi packed parsley
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1-2 tablespoons mellow miso (start out with 1 taste it and see if you'd like more added...I'm a miso lover so I always add 2)
2 cloves garlic (medium size cloves)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
water to help blend if needed. (i made it in the blender this time instead of the Cuisinart, what i usually use, so it needed the extra liquid to help blend it.)
extra almonds

Add everything except the oil and water to the blender and blend until it's chopped up well. Slowly drizzle the oil in until well blended and is the consistency that you like your pesto to be. Some like it chunky some like it creamy it's up to you.

Thin with a few tablespoons of water if you feel you need extra liquid either to thin it out or help process it.

If you aren't using right away and storing the pesto in the fridge coat the top with a thin layer of olive oil to keep it the pretty shade of green it should be.

To serve. Cook pasta according to cooking directions. Drain pasta, return to pot and mix with pesto and extra almonds to give a nice crunch and extra texture to your meal.

Besides using it with pasta it's also great on: pizza, garlic bread (mix room temp earth balance with a ton of garlic and a few teaspoons of pesto), mixed with vegan mayo for sandwich spreads or to dip french fries in...mmmmmmmmmm, spread a thin layer on crostini and top with bruschetta...the possibilities of pesto are endless.

VeganMoFo: Dinner

Seitan w. Cashews + Veg w. Tamari Glaze over Brown Rice




I went old school tonight and made a stir fry that I haven't made in a long time. Seitan, cashews, mixed veg, lots of garlic, ginger powder and red pepper flakes cooked until the veg are crispy and then glazed with a mixture of tamari and arrowroot powder. Making both seitan recipes from the new issue of Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk has given me a lot of seitan to use and this was a great way to eat the chicken style one. I think I said this in another post...buy the zine and make those seitan recipes.

I had this whole other topic I was going to post about tonight but i've gotten a headache so I will share a very short story on the first time I tried seitan.

I was shopping at Whole Foods many many years ago when it was a Fresh Fields and saw a box of "wheat meat" in the freezer case. It said it was great to use as a sub for chicken in chicken salad recipes. As a new vegetarian I was interested. So I purchased it and made "chicken" salad. I didn't eat wheat meat for along time after that and never saw that product in the freezer case ever again. It was so gross. What got me to try it again I can't remember but I'm glad I did because the wheat meat of today is nothing like the wheat meat I ate 11 years ago.

VeganMoFo: Pancakes? Pakora's?

Indian Vegetable Pakora's w. Broccoli, Cauliflower + Almond Saute



Anytime I shred up a bunch of vegetables and add Indian spices I say I'm making pakoras. Whether this is correct or not I don't know and don't really care. Basically it's the same process of making a potato pancake except there are other veg..this time potatoes, onions, string beans, garlic, ginger and carrots and I use olive oil, chickpea flour, curry and other indian inspired spices to flavor and hold it all together. It's my favorite way of using up vegetables that are on there way very soon to the trash.

Tonight I served them with a really simple and delicious saute of broccoli, cauliflower and almonds topped with papaya chutney (store bought). My all time favorite way to serve them though is more "ball" shaped, lightly fried and then simmered in a homemade curry sauce over rice...kofta curry. I usually make a lot of them at once and then freeze a batch for later use.

If you are having guest over for a party and are serving appetizers these are perfect because of there reheating abilities. Make them bit size, cook them the night before and then just heat them up in the oven and top them with a bit of your favorite chutney. Your guest will go nuts over them and think you've slaved away in the kitchen for hours.

VeganMoFo: skin of my teeth..

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies



I actually rushed home from America's Next Top Model night to get my VeganMoFo post in. I'm crazy. But determined not to miss a day. What better then eating cookies while watching a modeling contest. Nothing and I like nothing more than chocolate chip cookies. What is even better is the raw dough that is in my fridge. The last time I planned on making ice cream with it but then just ate it raw. This time I will make the ice cream. Hopefully in time for the next ANTM night.

This isn't much of a post but it's a post.

VeganMoFo: mmmmmmmmm...........

V-con Caesar Salad w. Chicken Seitan + Garlic Bread


mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I'm in love with the Caesar Dressing in V-con...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'm also in love with the Chicken Seitan recipe (baked) from the new issue of Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk. In regards to the dressing..this is one of those recipes that you could feed a tofu-phobe and they would never no that there is tofu in the recipe. One thing I have to say about this recipe is about the almonds..if you don't have almonds and want to make this..make it. In my opinion it wouldn't really make a difference with or without. This recipe does makes a ton of dressing (see photo below). Luckily tomorrow I'm going to my sisters for dinner where there will be a lot of people so I'm just going to bring it over there for people to devour..and it will be devoured..without them knowing that it's made w. tofu. In regards to the Chicken Seitan..this is the first time I've baked seitan. I like it so much more then simmered seitan. The texture was nice and chewy. The taste was delicious. This will be one of those seitan recipes that I would make over and over again. In fact it wasn't the only seitan I made today. I made both of seitan recipes in the new issue. The other was Chipotle Seitan. I baked that also and it is just as good. I'll be using it in chili either tomorrow or thursday.



V-con Caesar Dressing


p.s. I didn't feel like roasting garlic to make the croutons used in the caesar salad recipe so I just made garlic bread. I will stink like garlic for days now but the vampire that use to haunt me as a child will keep his distance.

VeganMoFo: Reuse. Some Mac and a bit of Reno

Chickpea Cutlet w. Carmelized Onions + Chipotle Aioli w. Lemon-Parlsey Potatoes + Garlic Broccoli

I love when I get to re-use food that I made the night before and turn it into something different. It helps with my goal of not throwing out food. I slightly heated the 2 leftover chickpea cutlets in the oven and then sliced them to use on a sandwich. All that is on the sandwich are the cutlets, caramelized onions and chipotle aioli. I would have loved to have put arugula or even just plain mesclun greens on the sandwich but I didn't have any. The chipotle aioli I made tonight is different from others that I've made with that it has capers and almonds blended into it. The only reason I put almonds into it is because it was SPICY and I didn't want to add more mayo so I though the almonds would help calm it down just a bit which I think it did and now I will forever put almonds in my recipe.


the sliced chickpea cutlets

The potatoes were just roasted in the oven with olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. A few minutes before they were done I threw in some fresh parsley. Delicious. The end.


Lunch. Shells and Chreese




A month or so ago I ordered some food stuff from Food Fight. A box of Shells and Chreese Cheddar Style was one of those items. I simply bought this because I've never seen it around where I live. I know it's really easy to make my own Shells and Cheeze but I wanted to try it. It wasn't 1/2 bad. I wouldn't eat it all the time but for those days where I'm hungry around lunch time and Reno is wanting attention its rather easy to do. I also discovered yesterday that the new super Whole Foods by us carries this now which is exciting for me just to have products like this available where I live even though I usually don't eat from a box.

Speaking of Reno...



....we purchased her one of these floor gyms or whatever they are called finally..she loves it. It knocks her out.

VeganMoFo: Finally I went food shopping.

Veganomicon Chickpea Cutlets w. Spaghetti Squash Saute


It's about time I went food shopping. Our kitchen was empty. So sad. We spent a good looooong time in Whole Foods tonight buying a lot of stuff. My goal is to use it all up this week without having to throw anything away. I'm tired of throwing unused food out. The good thing about this is that I will be semi forced to create new recipes like I did tonight. I had 1/2 of an already roasted spaghetti squash in the fridge that would most likely have been forgotten about and thrown away..but the NEW Jenna made a delicious side dish with it. In oil I cooked garlic, shallots, red bell pepper, slivered almonds and spaghetti squash. Seasoned w. salt and pepper to taste and then threw in some parsley. It was really good. I'm kinda proud of myself for recognizing that I had that squash in the fridge and was able to use it. Anyway..this new side dish went really well with the chickpea cutlets. One thing about the cutlets is that they really need a sauce. I didn't have everything I needed to make a sauce that I would have wanted to have with it..next time. I am excited about the leftover pieces of cutlet to use in a sandwich for lunch later this week. I think this will be one of those recipes that I make a lot (the cutlets). It's super fast and easy and it's a great substitution for those days when I want seitan but don't have any made or thawed.



Our food closet before shopping. This is a 5 shelf closet but we only use 3 shelves for food. I end up keeping a lot of stuff in the fridge or freezer like flours, nuts, grains etc...because of pantry bugs. We have not really had a problem with them and I'd like to keep it that way.



After. Some of that stuff will be moved to the fridge or freezer if not used in the next week or so.



The produce. We have some butternut squash, brussels sprouts (Peter hates them, I love), Jerusalem artichokes, shallots, onions, garlic, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, rutabaga, red bell pepper, potatoes, jalapenos, ginger, parsley, string beans, and some tofu. I think that's all of it. I'm looking forward to what I'll be making with all of this plus the few staples I already had.

VeganMoFo: I will not eat.

As I was carefully removing all of the peas from my chinese fried rice tonight I thought I'd post the top 4 foods that you will prolly never see me use.

1. Peas. I will remove them from anything I eat before I eat one bite of it. Except in a veggie samosa at an indian restaurant. I will remove peas as I see them but it's hard to remove all of them from a samosa so I end up eating some. When my mom would make macaroni salad she alway's put peas in it. There would be a mountain of peas on the side of my plate when I was finished eating dinner which my dad would end up eating.

2. Celery. I believe I hate celery more than I hate peas. Again..my mom put celery in her potato salad...I had to pick it all out. I can tolerate some celery in a soup or something like that where it isn't a strong flavor. It isn't even an ingredient I put in soups that I create. For some reason though I've tried to like celery. I've smothered it in peanut butter, that didn't work. I've peeled away the stringy bits because that's suppose to make it taste better someone told me...they lied. I might use it from time to time in a vegetable stock..but that's it.

3. Seaweed (not counting agar agar). Seaweed=vomit in my mind. The taste is so evil. This is another food that I hate that I've tried to like. I hate it so much I'm not even going to talk about my hate.

4. Black Olives. Now I love kalamata olives and some green olives but the black olives you find on nachos and the like leave such a nasty after taste in my mouth that I cannot get rid of. I hate them so much that it took me forever to even try different types of olives..thank goodness I did..I love my kalamata's.

I just looked up black olives and found out this info....."Canned black olives may contain chemicals that turn them black artificially." Know wonder they leave such a bad after taste.

VeganMoFo: Clean Out and Chocolate Fashions

Since I still haven't gone food shopping I had to make do with what I had. Which is something I'd like to do more often. I tend to over buy food and then it goes bad and then it goes in the trash and I hate doing that. I even plan out what I'm going to make for dinner for the week and still throw unused food away because some of our dinner plans don't pan out because of unplanned reasons. I'm not going to go to extremes and not go food shopping until all is used up..that would be nuts..I know someone who does that. My old boss at an office I worked in would do that. Once all he had left was some bread and processed cheese slices and ate that for dinner for 3 nights!! Gross!

Tonights clean out the fridge dinner consisted of: Roasted spagetti squash, 1/2 a box of linguini, divina roasted red tomatoes, walnuts, garlic, bread crumbs, olive oil, earth balance salt and pepper. I was surprised at how well it came out. It is something that I would purposely buy ingredients for and make again.



Another way I used up ingredients was to make my own potato chips. I was craving them the other day so I thinly sliced a red skinned potato and fried myself up some salt and pepper potato chips. They were much better then the ones I would have ended up buying and super quick and easy to make.




Today was the chocolate show. Last year's show was a lot better. This year there weren't as many venders and quite a few weren't giving out samples. Guess which booths didn't have people buying there products..the no samples table. None of the chocolates really stood out for me this year. We still had a great time though. Above and below are some chocolate fashions that were worn in a fashion show on opening night of the show.

VeganMoFo: Chocolate Show

This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday is the 10th annual Chocolate Show in NYC. I've copied the info from their website (chocolateshow.com) below. I suggest you go. I'm going tomorrow with my sister and Reno. This will be my 4th year in a row going and I can't tell you how wonderful it is. A room full of chocolate. Let me change that to a room full of chocolate samples! Obviously not all the chocolate is vegan but some is. Last year I kept circling the Green and Blacks booth to get sample after sample...so gluttonous.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9 TO SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2007


Metropolitan Pavillion & Altman Building
Entrance: 125 West 18th Street
(between 6th & 7th Avenues)


November 9-11, 2007 - Chocolate Show

Friday, November 9: 11am to 9pm
Saturday, November 10: 10am to 8pm
Sunday, November 11: 10am to 7pm



TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE ON TICKETMASTER.COM

Advance tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com or calling 212-307-7171, and will also be on sale at the door (cash and checks only!)
Tickets are valid for 1 day, Nov 9-11
Adults: $28
Children under 5: Free
Children, 5 to 12: Free*
*Limit: 2 children per adult. Each additional child (5-12): $8

Includes demonstrations, art exhibit, and more!

VeganMoFo: 1 year.

Well I am back from my 4 day visit with my parents. It was really nice to be away but me and Reno missed Peter (and the kitties) a bunch and are very happy to be home. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of VeganMoFo trying out new dishes from all the new cookbooks I've recently purchased as well as new recipes that I have in my head or ones that I havn't made in quite awhile. I also just realized that I missed my 1 year anniversary for my blog. September 2006 and 85 posts ago I started my blog. I started my blog basically to share with people the food that I make and love and to also keep a sorta diary of what i've eaten, created and such. So many times while making something for dinner that I've made before I've forgotten what goes in something and I've checked in on my own blog to find out the missing ingredient that I just can't think of. Sometimes I just look back to see what I've made that I've only made once and wonder why I havn't made it again and what made me forget about it. There are also some dishes that I can't believe I've never posted about! (getting pregnant and not being too interested in food while being pregnant has something to do with the last few sentences). I am also very happy with all of the blogging friends I've made and am still making all the time..I've been inspired by all of you at some point or another and enjoy the peak into your lives that you share with everyone. So here is to a new year of B36Kitchen, new food, old favorites, new and old blogging friends...etc...etc......

VeganMoFo: Tastebuds

I learned something today. Sometime between making and tasting all the parts of the Pumpkin Ziti and then hours later eating the pumpkin ziti..I lost my sense of taste. I've been dealing with a throat and nose thing for over a week now. I've been feeling really good for the past few days. But for some reason my sense of smell and taste have decided to take a vacation. I didn't realize it until today when I was walking Reno around in my parents backyard. I picked a piece of rosemary off the plant and put it up to her nose and then to mine and NOTHING..I smelled nothing....I smushed it all in my hand, smelled again, NOTHING. I then moved on to the lavender, sage and whatever other herb back there with the same result. NOTHING. I was so disappointed. For dinner tonight I ate the homemade veggie burgers I brought down with me. (Red Bean, Butternut and Millet) When I first made them they were so delicious and had a great spice to them. I was sad that I couldn't taste that again this evening. I hope they come back soon so I can eat the Pumpkin Ziti again and taste all the taste that I know was there.

Pictured above are my parents cats. To the left is Sam..I like to call him SAM-well. To the right is Oliver...aka Oli.

SAM-well is a lover.
Oli is a wimp.

VeganMoFo: Traveling Part 2

This is about traveling while trying to blog every single day while away. There is not much to say except bring your own computer. Use your own camera. My parents got a fancy new digital camera that I took pictures with earlier today. Well we can't get them off of the camera. The camera is so fancy that they need to buy an extra piece of equipment to get the pics off. For dinner I used the camera my sister left behind. I could not get the pictures to come out how I needed them too. But a few worked out.

I made the Pumpkin Baked Ziti from Veganomicon. Each component of the dish was delicious on it's own while I was making it. I absolutely love the cashew ricotta! It reminds me a lot of a tofu mousse I would make for a restaurant I worked for. Anyway everything was great on it's own but when baked I felt the flavors got a bit lost. I still liked this recipe a lot and will make it again, but I was just expecting a stronger taste.



Served along side the ziti...Garlic Asparagus.

VeganMoFo: Traveling

Traveling is something I do a lot now a days. We don't go far..it's just to my parents house 2 hours south from us on the outskirts of the Pine Barrens in southern N.J. There are no sidewalks down here..that freaks me out! Anyway the closest places to shop around here are 3 WaWa's which have nothing to offer a vegan besides black coffee and weird looking apples and banana's. So I go food shopping (at the store and my own fridge) now before I leave my house. I thought for today's VeganMoFo post I'd make a list of what I brought with me for my 3-4 day visit.

Soy Milk
1 block of Tofu
Cereal
Cashews and Walnuts (for cooking with and snacking)
Chips
Canned Pumpkin (i usually don't use canned but i'm away so it's easier)
Assorted Vegetables (i could easily buy those down here but I'm at the store already)
Canned Beans
Iced Energy Green Tea
Bread Crumbs
Earth Balance
Penne Pasta
Vegetable Broth
Ciabatta Rolls
From my Freezer: my Fire Roasted Tomato and Butternut Soup w. Curry and Coconut
3 homemade Redbean and Millet Veggie Burgers

I believe that's it. Its not a ton but it's more than enough to get anyone thru a 4 day visit for me and my parents to eat without having to leave the house and be in danger of being kidnapped by a PINEY!

I've got the veggie burgers and soup for lunches. I'm planning on making the Pumpkin Ziti from Veganomicon for all of us one night..enough veggies for some stirfry's and side dishes..and maybe some rice and beans. Since I've left Peter at home to make us some money i'm sure there will be leftovers from every dinner as well, for my dad to eat WEEKS later after i've left..the man has an iron stomach I don't know how he does it without getting sick. He's one of those people who would open a canteloupe that was moldy and scoop out the mold and eat it with the same spoon that he used to scoop out the mold..disgusting!

I hope I haven't grossed too many of you out with that last part. I'm grossed out.

Anyway...if you have a car and some tote bags with some frozen soup and veggie burgers to keep things cool for a few hours, traveling vegan is easy. If you are traveling to say New Orleans from New Jersey in the middle of August (big mistake..SOOOOOOOOO HOT) like I did years ago with 2 car loads of friends and only 2 of us vegetarians a nice small fold up when your done cooler and directions to local whole foods/health food stores will do the trick.

Happy Traveling..Beware of Pineys!

VeganMoFo: Cashews

Cashews are by far my favorite nut. I love to eat them raw, salted, roasted, as a snack, in a stirfry, as a garnish, however. The love affair probably started when I first had Chicken w. Cashewnuts at a chinese restaurant. I now put cashews in almost every asian type stirfry that I make, they just seem wrong without them. Homemade creamy cashew milk is great for using by itself or with a mixture of coconut milk for ice creams of all flavors. Blend them up to make sauces and dips a bit creamier. How about using them to crust some seitan or tempeh...delicious! Cashewbutter and jelly sandwiches! Cookies! Its endless. I love cashews.

Pictured above is Tamari Cashews. When I was a young vegetarian and had no idea what I was doing I "created" this recipe by mistake. I thought I was a culinary genius at the time, but have realized that recipes for this already exist (hey, I didn't know!). Anyway..my mom was alway's telling me how she use to toast pumpkin seeds in the oven and then coat them with tamari. She never told me how she did it. So one day I decided to toast some cashews in non stick skillet when the skillet was all hot and bothered I dumped in some tamari. Thats when I "created" this recipe all by my young self. I love eating them warm right out of the pan or cold out of the fridge. They are also good to chop up and garnish you dinner with if it needs a bit of extra saltiness.

Tamari Cashews.

1 cup Raw Cashews
1/8 cup Tamari (use low sodium unless you like how intense regular is)

In a dry non stick skillet toast your cashews, constently moving them. This is a good time to practice your sauteing/pancake flipping skills..its fun. When the cashews are lightly browned about 3-5 minutes dump in your tamari. Remember you are pouring a liquid into a hot dry pan it's going to react on contact and steam will be released so be careful!! Stir with a wooden spoon until cashews are coated and tamari dries up about 1 minute. Immedietly remove from the pan. If you don't the nuts will stick to the pan (even non stick) because some of the tamari coats and sticks to the pan but is easily cleaned up when washed. Eat!


I don't know if i've ever posted 3 days in a row! Here's to VeganMoFo and all it's glory!

VeganMoFo: VEGANOMICON

Someone was on my side today. This book wasn't suppose to arrive until monday when I will be away. As we were leaving for a walk Peter noticed a box. I could have cried I was so excited. I ripped it open in the car and immediately started reading and scanning the pages. If I could have walked, read and drank coffee all at once I would have. With not much time to look at it today I'm still declaring it as probably the best vegan cookbook ever written. (the probably will be taken out of this statement when I'm finished reading it (like a novel) and cooking from it because I'm sure it's the best.) When I hopped out of the car to get us coffee Peter confessed to picking it up and looking at the pictures and was very excited about how good the food looked especially since he saw a photo with broccoli rabe in it. I would have loved to have made us dinner from the book tonight but we are both sick like hell..we probably shouldn't even have gone for the walk but our apartment building is trying to kill us by pumping heat into our apartment and we needed fresh air. Tomorrow is another day. A day to go food shopping and cook.

VeganMoFo

It's NaNoWriMo month. Personally I don't have time to write a novel. The idea is nice though. Instead I'm going to take part in VeganMoFo...a month of writing about vegan food. I havn't posted in over a week due to lazyness. I wish I could say it's because of Reno but quite frankly it isn't. I am a very lucky. I have a good baby.

Here's some porn and words for ya to look at and read.



Sundried Tomato and White Bean Sauce...I had this idea for a pureed sundried tomato sauce that I wanted to be creamy. I used white beans to do that plus added pine nuts, nutritional yeast, a bit of miso and a long list of other ingredients. This recipe wasn't a total success but it was still good. Even better the next day and the day after that..a.k.a. it made a ton of sauce.



Last tuesday my sister was over to bother Reno and eat dinner. She alway's order's Gnocchi w. Pesto from this italian place by us. I decided to save her some dough and make it myself. She declared this to be the best pesto she's had. I reminded her that it was vegan..she almost took her declaration back. But didn't.



A nice side of Garlic Bread with the gnocchi. I wizzed up some Earth Balance, garlic, olive oil and a touch of pesto in the blender and spread on the most delicious looking bread I could find at the store.




Celebration Roast. I've never had it before. I've alway's loved Field Roast's sausage things but the celebration roast alway's scared me a bit. It scares me no longer. This was good. I wouldn't eat it all the time but for Thanksgiving away at the parents or in-laws house i'd take one with me. It cooks in minutes with just the addition of some broth. For this dinner I served it with some StringBeans w. Crispy Garlic and Rice and Beans. This was delicious the next day for dinner with the roast sliced and sauteed in some oil.



Awwww..how sweet...heart cupcakes...

I have this recipe for Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes that I'm working on. They are suppose to be filled with a ganache center. Stupid me put them in the oven and then went to check on Reno...In less that 2 minutes they were out of the oven because I forgot to put the ganache inside the cupcakes...but the cakes already starting to set on top. I tried to force the ganache in but it of course melted right away, which I knew would happen but I had to try anyway. So needless to say they didn't come out as planned. People still liked them but I felt like I needed to apologize about them which I shouldn't do.


So again..welcome to VeganMoFo...some suggestions were posted on the ppk forums of what to write about...but if you have any suggestions of what I should write about or would want to see me make or whatever please let me know. I might run out of ideas.