vegan and so forth

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

Can't believe there's only one card left on the Advent Garland. We've enjoyed having a couple of extra days with Daddy at home. (That's Ryan, to you.)

Tonight, for supper, I made Pizza Bagel Wreaths. My sister Cary sent me this link for the idea.

For tomorrow, Ryan has requested cheeze fondue, and we'll eat up our veggie tree tradition, as well.

****************************************

I hope that everyone has a wonderful December 25th, whether you celebrate the holiday of Christmas or not! Those of you who do celebrate Christmas, may it be very merry. I hope you all feel very blessed today and every day.

Christmas Cookies Round 1

2011-12-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

This weekend, my 18-member immediate family (parents, siblings, etc.) got together to celebrate Christmas. My Mom worked hard making different versions of lasagna, manicotti, and ravioli, etc. that would suit the wide-range needs of her particular clan (vegetarians, vegans, vegetable-fearing, etc.). I contributed the desserts above.

Veggies and Tofu Lasagna with Squash & Spinach

part of my plate with manicotti and lasagna

I tried a new recipe for Chocolate Macadamia Meltaways. I call them a success!

Since this Taste of Home non-vegan recipe is posted online anyway, I can give you my veganized version:

Chocolate Macadamia Meltaways

1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened

1/4 cup organic powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups organic white flour

3 1/2 oz. macadamia nuts, finely chopped

Filling:

1 cup vegan chocolate chips

1/2 coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

additional powdered sugar

Cream Earth Balance and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well. Stir in nuts. Dough will be stiff; set aside.

For filling, in a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir. Stir in nuts; cool slightly. Drop by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto parchment or wax paper-covered pan or plate. Put in fridge for 30 minutes or until hardened.

Shape dough around chocolate mounds; completely cover. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees. (Recipe says 12-14 minutes. I think the key to good cookies is not overcooking, so I probably set my timer to 9 minutes first to see if they're already browning.) Roll warm cookies in additional powdered sugar.

I made my very-important-for-the-holidays Vegan Buckeyes. I always use a recipe from Kids' Christmas Cookbook, but it is similar to other buckeyes recipes online, such as this one. However, the recipe I use has a higher ratio of peanut butter to sugar and Earth Balance to others I've seen, which makes them a little healthier, I suppose. I think all you need to do is mix in enough powdered sugar to make the peanut butter roll into balls, freeze the balls, then dip them in melted chocolate chips, then let them harden again in the fridge or freezer.

I haven't figured out how to make my buckeyes prettier without the toothpick (for dipping) hole. And I actually prefer mine completely covered in chocolate (since I believe chocolate is better than peanut butter) so most of them were made that way.

Thumbprint Cookies

This recipe can be found at thekitchn. We had enjoyed the batch my sister made for us last year, and I needed a non-chocolate dessert. I used three different fruit spreads: 365 Fruits of the Forest, Organic Peach, and Organic Sicilian Orange.

Magic Cookie Bars

I veganize a recipe my mom used when we were growing up. I still use the recipe card written in my childhood handwriting. It's fairly similar to this one. I can't imagine too many desserts better than Magic Cookie Bars.

************************************

Enjoying a relaxing day in pj's! I was feeling very slow (pregnant) and very swollen last week, but this week I've been feeling a lot better. It has been a very nice December for us, so far. I will try to post one more time before Christmas, but I hope all of you who celebrate are enjoying this time.

Gingerbread House Pancakes

2011-12-09T19:50:00.000-08:00

One of our Advent Activities this week was reading Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett and making gingerbread house pancakes. I've had the mold for many years, so it is a tradition to use sometime around Christmas.

This is part of the Advent Garland I made. Everyday the kids rush downstairs to unclip the next Christmas activity for the day.

Mimic Creme Healthy Top, maple syrup, and melted fruit spread

kiwi, strawberries, walnuts, chocolate chips, bananas, blueberries, organic wheat squares cereal, raisins

I can't always get my pancakes to turn out as well when I use the molds, but they taste the same. Part of my problem was that I didn't have any nonstick cooking spray, and the olive oil in my Misto wasn't working as well.

We ended up with all sorts of gingerbread houses.

The tongue sticking out means serious concentration.

We were pretty impressed with the Mimic Creme, which is made primarily from coconut oil and nuts. It definitely has a different taste than Soyatoo or Rice Whip. The package is pretty firm out of the fridge, then it whips up very thick. Ryan says he prefers it to the other canned varieties. I don't know if I have a preference. But I do like that it doesn't "melt" like the canned whips. I haven't seen this at our stores, but I picked it up on a recent trip to Missouri.

The kids also had some Creme in their hot chocolate the next day (along with crushed candy canes). Bonus for them was that it even snowed in Arkansas (but melted off by noon, of course) this week!

Thanksgiving: check!

2011-11-30T18:41:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Supper 2011

I loved these stand-up turkey napkins my mom bought for us to use. Not extremely absorbent but cute!

Stand up Christmas napkins, anyone?

Hopefully, no arsenic.

I worked so hard on this Cinnamon-Dusted Butternut Squash. Really, it's from Whole Foods deli.

I did, however, make Homemade Applesauce. And applesauce does not need sugar. Here is the recipe I used. I was able to use up the last of our 20 lb. box of organic apples, that were starting to get a little soft, from our Azure Standard order.

Thank you again, Whole Foods, for the Brussels Sprouts I did not have to wash, chop, and roast. I did, however add the pomegranate arils after seeing Bobby Flay or someone do that on the news that morning. I think I could add pomegranate seeds to anything and love it.

I worked hard on my homemade stuffing, but I'm not sure it was worth the effort. It was pretty good that night, but it was soggy as a leftover. (I probably messed the recipe up by subbing a couple of ingredients; my main substitution was so dumb, I'm not even going to say what it was).

I did love the idea of making homemade stuffing, and I loved the idea of chopped pears and chestnuts in it. (Although - the canned chestnuts are soft and totally grossed me out. I will use only dry nuts next time.) I also added some chopped Smoked Apple Sage Field Roast Sausages, which might have saved it. My friend's stuffing at Portions of Goodness looked much better. I'll do a better job with your recipe next time, Pam.

Roasted vegetables with our Field Roast and Tofurky Roast. Road's End Gravy (not pictured) on the side. We love the marinade we use for our veggies (potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, and onions) and roasts. It's a version of this Tofurky Baste Option 2, using orange juice, maple syrup, soy sauce, olive oil, and spices.

I had kind of hoped to make a homemade roast this year...but I didn't even go grocery shopping until late Wednesday evening. And they weren't out of Tofurky Roasts, like I'd feared. Maybe one like this for Christmas.

an assortment of rolls from Whole Foods

We LOVED this Cranberry Mandarin Orange Relish, also from the Whole Foods deli. Delicious! I paired it with some plain, cooked millet.

I also took Pam's suggestion for Spaghetti Squash & Chard Gratin from Kalyn's Kitchen. I subbed in tofu, Vegenaise, and Daiya for cottage cheese, egg, and parmesan.

I won't go so creamy and decadent next time and let the squash and chard have more of a voice, but I liked it.

After a whole day of cooking and very little sampling, I couldn't WAIT to sit down and enjoy my meal. And yet...I couldn't finish even half of my plate. What a disappointment. This was the problem of deciding to have Thanksgiving supper rather than lunch: I can't eat very much in the evening, even if I don't eat a lot early on. (I'm 8 months pregnant, for those of you just tuning in.) I covered my plate and stuck it in the fridge.

My 11 year old, on the other hand, was being exceptionally quiet, and we realized it was because he was just shoveling it in.

And although everyone else got to enjoy my pumpkin pie (recipe here)...

...and this girl came back for dessert seconds, in which she asked for "more pie and more Brussels sprouts"...

...my burgeoning belly had to wait until the next day for a piece of pie. I tried staying up late just so it would settle enough for one little piece of pie. But I finally brushed my teeth, telling Ryan I was going to be a big girl and just wait until the next day.

Those of you who like Soyatoo, have you tried the new extra creamy version? I think it's even better.

************************************

And off to get ready for Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T10:21:00.000-08:00

The only turkeys eaten in this house today:

Part of our pre-Thanksgiving Meal brunch, eaten with hummus and pumpkin soup.

Idea borrowed from here.

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Idea borrowed from the amazing Fork and Beans.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!! I am truly thankful for all of my blogging friends and those who ever stop by here. Have a wonderful weekend. I'll be by to visit (well, your blogs, anyway) soon.

Our Halloween Festivities

2011-11-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

I don't know what happened to me after October. The weird thing is, I didn't think it was too difficult posting almost everyday last month, and now I'm 14 days into November without a post. I guess if you take away requirements and guidelines in life, I don't operate as well. Therefore, my Halloween post is late and not as relevant. However, I'm posting it, anyway, for record-keeping purposes for my children's sake. And I wanted to acknowledge the awesome blogs who gave me some of our ideas.

Our Halloween Meal:

Bat-a-Mole

from Fork and Beans

She has been posting really fun Thanksgiving foods, too, so check out her blog.

One-Eyed Willy Banana Pops

from Fork and Beans

I covered the banana pieces in peanut butter, coconut, then used a little frosting to stick on the chocolate chip eye. My kids don't know the term One-Eyed Willy, so they thought of them more as Cyclops Pops.

Everyone was also served a Jack O' Lantern Clementine. Color Wheel Meals gave me the idea for this and the carrot concoction below.

Carrot-Jack-O-Lantern

from Color Wheel Meals

I filled in the holes with hummus and used part of a leek for the stem.

We have only went trick or treating a few times over the years. We usually just go visit my parents and a few of their neighbors. (And we'll attend the parties at the area libraries, dressed up.) This year we actually went up and down a long street because we were collecting candy for our Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory we've been creating as we read the book. In exchange for willingly turning over their bags, I had these boxes waiting for them.

They included Yummy Earth suckers, Endangered Species chocolate bites, a boom Choco boom bar, a Simply Fruit Roll-Up (which I was excited to find at Target but now I don't endorse because I somehow overlooked that they contain sulfites, which we avoid), a Brown Rice Marshmallow Treat, Fork and Beans' Twix Bars...

These things are insane. As in insanely good. I had a little trouble temperature regulating the final product. If I left them out of the fridge, the center had more of a taffy consistency. They tasted better from the fridge. I don't know if this was because I used agave nectar instead of corn syrup.

Regardless, who cares? They were good, and I want to try her other candy bar recipes eventually.

They all each had a Friendly Ghost sugar cookie wrapped in their box,

and a couple of pumpkin cookies. The color of sprinkles makes little sense, I know, but it's what I had, and they're only 11, 6, and 4. My 11 year old did point out that the pumpkins weren't realistic, but what can ya do.

Last night as I was scoping the top of my pantry for something, I found the rest of the Halloween candy I'd ordered from Pangea (like Whizzers, caramel bites, and Eli's bars) and hidden away. I'd completely forgotten about it, which is how my brain works these days. We'll save it for another special occasion soon.

My Mom is always really sweet about having a special treat prepared for the kids, too.

Sugared almonds, pretzels, Back to Nature peanut butter cookies, a glo-stick, and pencils.

My sweet Jedi, Fred Flintstone, and Minnie Mouse approved of all of the above.

I, of course, couldn't waste this dress-up opportunity. No stuffing required!

Pumpkin & Spider Web Shaped Pizza

2011-10-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Friday night, we enjoyed Vegan Planet's idea for Pumpkin Face Baked Oatmeal. Tonight I continued to borrow her fun ideas with these pizzas. And I even got a, "You're the best Mom ever," out of it, so thanks, Robin.

I used this recipe for the crust and followed VP's "orange" idea of blending cream cheese with tomato sauce and cut olives for the facial features. I used my pumpkin cookie cutter to make "little pizzas."

I also made two larger (dough rolled out and cut into circles using my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl) pizzas. I piped a garbanzo bean/nutritional yeast cheeze sauce for the web and used her spider idea.

Heading back into the kitchen to start making some of Forks and Beans amazing-looking candy bars for tomorrow!

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

2011-10-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day! I needed to catch up to make my 20 Vegan Month of Food posts by Monday. And I thought someone might need a fun, EASY fall idea for the weekend, using ingredients you may already have around. After October is over, I'm going to be spending plenty of time blogging about all of the great ideas I got from everyone this month. This is one of them.

BAKED PUMPKIN OATMEAL from Vegan Planet!

I used steel-cut oats, chocolate chips for the facial features, and dates for the stem. I also used a spring-form pan, which worked perfectly. It took quite awhile to bake it. (I lost track because I set the timer over so many times. 45 minutes maybe?)

It cut into slices really well, too. My family ate the whole thing for supper tonight, and they could have eaten more. I'm definitely a fan of baked oatmeal now. And my husband thought it tasted so similar to pumpkin pie. I'm using a couple of Vegan Planet's other holiday ideas this weekend, too!

My Son's Version of Food Blogging

2011-10-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, I had left the kitchen for a few minutes while my kids were eating (noodles with nutritional yeast, olive oil, garlic, and hemp seeds). When I returned, my 6 year old son told me he had taken a picture of his bowl "just like you do, Momma."

Vegan Brunch

2011-10-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

A few dishes I've made from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's

VEGAN BRUNCH:

Curried Cauliflower Frittata

the tofu, grated carrot, and spices mixture

I changed the direction of this frittata by skipping the curry and using other spices. My kids will eat a lot of spicy things but pass if they think it's too spicy. And I don't have time to risk making a multi-step (also this one was actually really quick and easy) recipe if they're not going to eat it, too.

the cauliflower, sauteed in a tablespoon of oil with minced garlic

After putting it all together and baking it, the frittata came out well-formed and delicious. We loved having a new way to eat cauliflower, which is one of my kids' collective favorite vegetables. And it's always nice to have a way to eat veggies at breakfast.

Old-Fashioned Chelsea Waffles

Another winner. This waffle recipe includes cornmeal along with flour.

I added my own Sugar-Free Raspberry Sauce. We were practically lapping this stuff up. I mixed frozen organic raspberries, water, a little organic cornstarch and lemon juice plus a bit of all-fruit spread.

Mom's Morning Casserole

The Bottom Potato Layer

So...I took a bit of a detour on the next layer. I have a "cooking with tempeh" aversion right now. I do like to eat tempeh, but I never like to cook with it myself. The "moldy" spots freak me out; I can't handle looking at them. I always end up wasting half of the package by cutting them off.

Early in my pregnancy, I didn't really have morning sickness, but I did gag and dry heave whenever something was unappealing to me (really dumb things like a glass that didn't get completely clean in the dishwasher or a gray spot on a baked french fry). I had a spell with tempeh, and I haven't been able to cook with it since (although I can eat it if someone else prepares it, which is weird). Sorry for the long explanation and mention of dry heaving in my food blog...all of that to say: that's why I used black beans instead of tempeh in this recipe. I also used carrots instead of bell pepper for the sake of my middle child.

End Result

Here's what it would have looked like with tempeh and peppers.

This was a great meal: filling and satisfying. We all loved it. The black beans were delicious, but I always love beans with tofu scramble. I'm sure the tempeh would make this a different kind of wonderful dish. Maybe I'll try it next with seitan.

**************************************

Speaking of great cookbooks, Friday night is the deadline for entering my Appetite for Reduction giveaway.

And, as always, go here for others' Vegan Month of Food posts.

Pregnant Eats One Day

2011-10-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

BREAKFAST

pomegranate arils and a grapefruit

SNACK

carrot sticks

SNACK

Banana Split Cake: This is cake #2 of the month. After the first one (recipe here), the kids had been begging me to make another one. There was no way my current girth could justify another one in the same month.

So I made some fat/sugar cutting changes, and we hardly noticed a difference (but if you're making it for a non-vegan, non-health conscious person, I'd just leave the ingredients as is). Bottom layer: Instead of 1/2 cup of melted Earth Balance, I used 1/4 with enough organic applesauce to blend in with the graham cracker crumbs. 2nd layer: Rather than 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1 cup of Earth Balance, I cut those amounts in half, so that layer was half as thick.

I also added chocolate syrup this time, especially for Rose and Zoa! We have been enjoying our Chocagave.

Ingredients: Organic Nectars Raw Agave Syrup, Organic Nectars Raw Cacao Powder, Organic Vanilla Powder and Extract, Pink Crystal Salt

LUNCH

Tofu Kale Lasagna, using rice lasagna noodles, tofu blended in mixer with nutritional yeast, garlic, soymilk, and spices. Marinara and Daiya on top. Garlic bread on the side.

Snack: Sun Warrior Chocolate Hemp Protein Powder Smoothie with almond milk, frozen bananas, and frozen strawberries.

SUPPER

Caesar Salad, which I could eat every day, every meal, I think. (Dressing: mustard, lemon juice, garlic cloves, Bragg's, almonds, water, nutritional yeast.) Sunshine Burger, my favorite kind of packaged burger on French Meadow Bakery Hemp Bread with miso spread, mustard, Daiya (Do I eat too much Daiya? Probably so.), and avocado.

Appetite for Reduction Giveaway

2011-10-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

I've enjoyed everything I've made so far from Isa's Appetite for Reduction. "125 Fast & Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes" Although I imagine a lot of you have it already, somehow we've ended up with an extra copy, which I'm giving away! With the holidays coming up, it's a great idea to make lower calories meals so we can enjoy all of the treats even more. Here are a few of the things I've tried, and if you have this book and are not entering the giveaway, tell me which recipe I must try next.

Mango BBQ Beans

over Mashed Yuca with Cilantro & Lime

*Loved these beans, and I will definitely add mango to my beans again. However, I will not add any red pepper flakes to this recipe next time because my mouth was on fire! The Mashed Yuca was interesting (in a good way)! I don't think I'd make it again because yuca takes a lot of work; it's really tough to cut through and all waxy, etc. However, if you've been curious to try yuca, this would be a fun recipe for you to make.

FRESH TOMATO SALSA DRESSING

*Always love fresh salsa.

BIG FAT TACO SALAD

with Fresh Tomato Salsa Dressing

and

GUACAMAME

*I'm a big taco/taco salad fan, so this couldn't have been a miss with me. The guacamame (avocado with edamame) is definitely not as flavorful/mouth-watering as regular guacamole, but I love that it cuts the calories and adds protein.

QUINOA, WHITE BEAN, & KALE STEW

with FRESH CORN & SCALLION CORN BREAD

*I was out of quinoa, so I subbed sprouted rice. I also subbed turnips for parsnips. I like that this stew pushed me into eating vegetables I don't get a lot of, like turnips and leeks. For the cornbread, I couldn't find scallions at the store, so I omitted those. Good, reliable stew and bread.

To enter the giveaway: If you leave a comment on this post, let me know you're entering the giveaway. I'll put anyone's name who is entering in a hat and draw. Open to anyone in the world.

For 4 additional chances, tell me whether you are a google friend connect follower, whether my blog is on your blog roll, and for two extra chances: blog or tweet about the giveaway. You just need to leave ONE COMMENT with all of your entries to make it easier on ya. Or if you blog about it or something later, feel free to leave an additional comment another time.

I'll pick a winner next Friday, October 28 at 10:00 p.m.

To read more about: Vegan Month of Food

What's In My Fridge?

2011-10-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

The company, Lightlife, who makes such great products as Organic Smoky Tempeh Strips is offering a giveaway for a huge amount of their products. We spend too much money on food; we need some free food around here. To enter, you have to show a picture of what's in your fridge. Here's mine! (This isn't all mine. It also belongs to my husband and 3, soon to be 4, kids.)

And the door!

Closer look at the shelves: yogurt, kids' cups, almond milk, soy milk, hazelnut milk, coconut water (which I haven't been brave enough yet to try again), and water. There's also an empty drawer I had just put in there this week, in an attempt for better fridge organization. Not sure what to do with it yet.

Next shelf: Nutiva hemp protein powder, Sun Warrior chocolate hemp protein powder, hemp seeds, Brazil nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, flax seeds, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, macademia nuts, egg replacer, sourdough spelt bread, French Meadow Bakery hemp bread, and Ezekiel bread.

Next shelf: peanut butter, PPK caesar dressing, miso, leftover cannelini beans, olives, Bubbies pickles, hummus, leftover Appetite for Reduction stew, leftover refried beans, sunflower butter, lots of 365 brand tofu, and polenta.

Below: lettuce, apples, pomegranate, a pear, lemons, zucchini, leeks, kale, cauliflower, bell pepper, a jicama, grapefruit, carrots for juicing, baby carrots, avocados, a mango, grapes...hmm, that's all I can remember without going back to look.

Oh, and look! It's Lightlife!

Giveaway ends tonight at 11 p.m. CST!

More more vegan blogging and a chance to enter the giveaway,

visit Vegan Month of Food.

Another Edition of What's For (School) Lunch?

2011-10-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Most of these lunches belong to my 4 year old who attends preschool. One thing, among many, that I love about her school are the healthier snacks given daily and the fact that candy is not used as a reward. Between all of my kids, we've attended 5 different preschools or Mother's Day Out programs over the years, and this is the only one that doesn't dole out candy left and right and doesn't give cheese or animal crackers every single day. The snacks might be "strawberries and wheat crackers" one day - or "banana and 1/2 a bagel" another day. We are given a snack calendar a month in advance, and I can send an alternative any day I want.

For lunch, they have to bring: 2 servings of fruits or vegetables, a meat/meat alternative, a bread/grain, and a milk drink. Although she can bring non-dairy milk, I don't really love the milk requirement. I'd prefer water with a lot of her meals. And it's a real pain on some mornings when I have to dash to the store because I realize I'm out of milk. However, I like that it prevents the other kids from bringing junky drinks. I like the lunch requirements, in general, because it forces parents to think about what they're packing.

grapes, bell pepper slices, hummus, and New York Style Bagel Crisps

sourdough bread with hummus (When I pack these, I put the hummus sides facing one another, and she pulls them apart at lunch.), a Sweet & Sara strawberry marshmallow, applesauce (organic, unsweetened 365 brand) cup, pistachios, baby carrots

Kind of plain-looking day: applesauce (organic, unsweetened 365 brand) cup, tomato chunks, and a sandwich made with Rudi's Organic bread, mustard, lettuce, Tofurky slices, and a rice cheese slice

Brother's-All-Natural freeze dried strawberries & bananas, a cooked sweet potato coin with sprinkled cinnamon, raisins, Sun Butter & agave on tortilla, pistachios

Somebody asked: yes, her school is also "peanut-free," so she brings another seed or nut butter instead. Sometimes it is cashew, etc., but my kids do prefer sunflower seed butter because it tastes the most like peanut butter.

olives, steamed broccoli, a tortilla with Tofurky & Vegan Gourmet cheese & Vegenaise, pistachios, Amanda cultured almond yogurt (and the monkey is an ice pack)

Amy's Macaroni & Cheese with sprinkled hemp seeds, Brazil nuts, kiwi fruit, baby carrots, Zen Juice Gels

This was the first time I'd seen these gel cups at Whole Foods, and I love them over some of the other gel cups we've seen. Organic juice and no added sugar.

This is one of the boys' lunches for homeschool co-op, but they all took the same thing this day. Baked tater tots (365 brand organic), Sol Cuisine Organic Falafel, steamed broccoli, Annie's Organic Orchard Apple Fruits Bites, and ketchup & hummus for dipping

My Other School Lunch Posts

Catch up on other vegan food blogging at

Vegan Month of Food.

Banana Split Cake

2011-10-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

This was one of my favorite desserts my Mom made for us while growing up. It was easily veganized. And includes more sugar and fat than I like to consume on a daily basis. It's sooo good.

Mix 2 cups of finely ground graham crackers and approximately 1/2 cups of melted Earth Balance together. Pat down on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

In mixer, blend 2 cups powdered sugar and approx. 1 cup (I used more like 3/4.) Earth Balance. Spread this frosting-like mixture evenly over graham cracker layer. Cover with approximately 4 sliced bananas.

Spread evenly 1 can of well-drained pineapple or finely chopped fresh pineapple for next layer. Cover with finely chopped or ground nuts. (I used a mixture of walnuts and pecans.) This is the final product I put in the fridge to chill for several hours or overnight. It's totally eat-able at this point but will taste much better as the layers form together and chill. (In the olden days, whipped topping would also be added now, but Soyatoo doesn't hold that long.)

When you're ready to eat, spray on your Soyatoo or Rice Whip (or whatever whipped topping you prefer). Don't forget your cherry on top!

We use one of the brands at Whole Foods without red food dye. Since we have this jar now, my 6 year old son comes into the kitchen once or twice a day, smiling sweetly, "Can I have a cherry?"

I think it looks especially cute and festive in individual glasses.

Banana Split Cake

*2 cups finely ground graham crackers

(This time, I just broke up two Wholly Wholesome Graham Cracker Crusts.)

*1/2 cup melted Earth Balance

*2 cups organic powdered sugar

*approx. 1 cup Earth Balance, not melted

(You can play around with using less or also adding a little applesauce, which I've done.)

*4 big bananas, sliced

*1 can of well-drained crushed pineapple

or equivalent amount fresh, chopped

*enough chopped nuts to cover top to your liking

*whipped topping, like Soyatoo/Rice Whip or homemade

1st layer: Pat together graham crackers crumbs

and melted Earth Balance in 9 x 13 pan.

2nd layer: With mixer, blend powdered sugar and Earth Balance.

3rd layer: sliced bananas

4th layer: pineapple

5th layer: chopped nuts

6th layer: whipped topping, upon serving

7th layer: cherry on top!

10 thumbs up from here.

Pangea Giveaway Winner

2011-10-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

I had to add up all of the extra giveaway entries tonight, which took a few minutes. But I came up with 112 entries, and the winner was:

"bitt said...

I'd sooo love this, and probably drop a lot of it on that Dr. Cow cheese. Oh so good!"

This must be her lucky month because I know she won another giveaway recently!

Thank you for all who entered, and thank you for your fun comments! If you didn't win, Growing Up Veg's giveaway for candy bars and a cookbook ends Thursday, October 20!

Parmazano & Prawns

2011-10-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of other products I ordered in my latest shipment from Pangea (and tonight at 10 p.m. central time, my giveaway for a $40 gift certificate ends):

Parmazano

(on my ravioli with sauce and green olives)

I ordered this because I hadn't tried it before, and I like to try everything (vegan). And also because Pangea's website declared it "the closest thing to real parmesan cheese we've ever tasted."

Ingredients: GMO-free soy flour 72%, non-hydrogenated vegetable oils 17%, rock salt, flavoring (vegan), vitamin E (antioxidant). Produced in a nut-free facility.

They also carry Galaxy Nutritional Foods parmesan alternative (also made of soy) and Parma! (made of nutritional yeast, walnuts, and salt), both of which I like. What I haven't tried are the "chipotle cayenne" and "garlicky green" versions of Parma, which I think sound good.

I also decided to try Sophie's Kitchen Prawns (shrimp). I've always passed by the vegan shrimp in the store because it freaked me out for the same reason I can't handle eating Smart Dogs, etc. They look and feel too "real." I continued to be freaked out as I cooked them, and my kids were squealing with nervousness, too.

Ingredients (non gmo): Polysaccharide gel (konjac powder, beta-glucan, water for hydration), modified potato starch, organic agave nectar, sea salt, carrageenan, alginate (from seaweed), paprika, calcium hydroxide.

They're pre-cooked, ready to eat (and no poo!) when thawed, but I pan-fried them. I also had no idea how one would eat shrimp normally, so I googled it and came up with pasta as a quick solution.

The taste of this product was fine to me. Very plain like a noodle or tofu (but with perhaps a bit of an aftertaste that wasn't bad to me, but some might not like it...my husband and 1/3 of my kids liked it). I also made a quick "cocktail sauce out of Vegenaise, hot sauce, and ketchup. I never had any attachment to seafood, so there's no reason I'd run out and buy these tomorrow. But I'd definitely eat them again sometime, especially if I had a recipe that might include them.

Another NYC post: Cafe Blossom

2011-10-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

This was the second time Ryan and I had eaten at Cafe Blossom in NYC (first time here). It is a part of a group of restaurants (including Blossom, V-Note, Cocoa V, and Blossom Du Jour) from the same creator. Cafe Blossom is located on the Upper West Side and definitely worth a visit.

Zucchini Linguini (raw, gluten-free)

My oldest son ordered this. It was a huge mound of food. Only the few of you who know him personally will understand the glee of this appreciative kid when they set this plate in front of him.

It's like we never feed the kid.

Southern Seitan Sandwich

Ryan ordered the sandwich, and I don't remember exactly what this was. Nothing is ringing a bell on the menu; maybe it was a special. I don't feel like I need to say a lot about the food individually, anyway, other than it was ALL GOOD and GO if you ever get the chance. They are all vegan plus very organic, and the raw and gluten free options are marked on the menu. The atmosphere is very nice, and the restaurant is dimly lit at night, which I personally like. It feels elegant, yet it's not so quiet inside that you feel like you can't bring your kids.

Shakes for the walk/ride home!

Did you happen to see the abcnews story on Bill Clinton going vegan? The restaurant briefly showed in that video was Cafe Blossom.

from their website

Food for a Day

2011-10-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

What My Pregnant Stomach Devoured One Day:

Breakfast: Mix of steel cut oats and Bob's Red Mill Organic Creamy Buckwheat plus chopped walnuts, apples, and agave nectar

Lunch: Almond Grain Burger from Sol Cuisine with circle pieces of Food for Life GF Tortilla as the bun plus avocado, kale, and Cashew Cheese Sauce from Matthew Kenney's everyday raw

I was still hungry, so I had a little dish of the kids' Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta with marinara, hemp seeds, broccoli, and edamame on a bed of lettuce and kale.

Snack: Shake with frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, chocolate Sun Warrior Hemp Protein Powder, and almond milk

Supper: Fig & Food Soup (I think this is their Wheatberry & Vegetable Soup?) - I like the Fig & Food Soups with organic ingredients in their little BPA-free packages. Salad on the side with lettuce, kale, tomatoes, snap peas, and miso dressing.

Question/Need Advice and Giveaway Reminders

2011-10-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

What would any of you suggest as veg cookbook recommendations for someone who isn't vegan but is interested in eating healthier/more of a plant-based diet? I've had a couple of people request this suggestion, and I would like your advice! Thank you!

***********************************

My giveaway for a $40 Gift Certificate to the vegan store, Pangea, ends this Thursday.

Growing Up Veg is giving away Eli's Earth Bars (yum!) and a copy of Vegan Lunchbox. This giveaway ends this Wednesday!

Atlas Cafe in NYC

2011-10-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

I am almost a year behind in completing the documentation of our 16 Day Road Trip Extravaganza. (We drove from Arkansas to New York City through Tennessee, the Virginias, Pennsylvania, etc.) It seems irrelevant now, but I want to do it, anyway, (a little at a time) for my own keepsake purposes. And also that way I can delete some food pictures from my disc and computer. I don't want my kids to think one day that I took more pictures of food than of them!

Atlas Cafe is located on 2nd Avenue in the East Village. We had been here on previous trips, only for the purpose of getting dessert. The space is very small (hard to even stand and order at the register, if they're busy), but a plus for the place is the enormous selection. Here is a review from Quarry Girl, which includes a picture of one of their entire wall of menu choices.

The above picture is Vegan Ravioli and an apparently forgettable (because I don't remember anything about it, and I'm usually pretty good about remembering my NYC food) sandwich my husband ordered. Atlas is not entirely vegan and not even entirely vegetarian (I think they sell the "chi-" word and the "fi-" word.), but the majority of it is.

One item that I think is probably popular are the Vegan Crepes (above). Again, I can't remember which one we ordered, but I think it may have been the first time I'd ordered vegan crepes at a restaurant. Everyone picked something, and we all kind of shared, including these blueberry pancakes. Forgive our very flour-y meal; we tried to make up for it later that day.

There isn't a lot of seating at Atlas inside, but there are a few small tables outside you can enjoy on a nice day. Fortunately, it was such on this mild November morning.

I hate to say it, but the customer service was extremely strange when we were there. I don't remember the specifics, but I remember saying to Ryan, "Was that strange? That was strange, right?" I've read some other bad reviews online (such as in cooking vegan food, along with the meat or touching money then food without washing hands, etc.), but then again, other reviewers seem to love it (and everything else was fine to us, other than the strangeness).

The "pros" of Atlas are the wide range of food choices with plenty of vegan options, the hours (something like 7:30 a.m.-1:00 a.m., which are really nice, because in "the city that never sleeps," we always have the hardest time finding a vegan place open early enough or late enough), AND...

some kind of Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie,

Brownie Topped Cheesecake, and Cookies 'N Cream Doughnut

their BIG (I think the biggest in NYC.) selection of VEGAN TREATS (brought in from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). Seriously, the case is so full, it's really hard to choose. I had regretfully given Vegan Treats a "meh" kind of review on my Blackbird Pizzeria (in Philadelphia) review. But Vegan Treats redeemed itself, as I knew it would. In my opinion, the best dessert from Vegan Treats are the doughnuts. To get the best doughnuts (like glazed!) at Atlas, you have to be prepared for whatever day they are delivered from PA (maybe Tuesday?). I think they disappear pretty quickly.

We passed the plate around for shared bites. Except Kid #1 didn't share much of his Cookies 'N Cream Doughnut. That's okay, though; as the oldest, he gets shafted by his little brother and sister enough that he deserved to eat his doughnut in peace.

My final word on Atlas is: go for the Vegan Treats, go if you're just curious about the crepes, etc., and go if you're standing right at the corner, starving for something vegan to eat. Otherwise, there are 100% vegan places nearby that may make you happier.

*************************************

If you haven't entered my giveaway for a $40 gift certificate to the online (and store-front) Pangea, it ends Thursday!

Free Vegan Food! Pangea Giveaway (Edit: Giveaway Closed)

2011-10-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to be hosting a GIVEAWAY for a $40 Gift Certificate to PANGEA, an all-vegan, online store! They also have a store-front in Rockville, Maryland. Pangea was the first vegan store I ever became acquainted with, way over 10 years ago. When I used to get the catalog in the mail, I'd pore through every page. (I have always lived in middle America, and I haven't always had a health food store nearby.)

my fillet sandwich on a GF bun with Daiya, tartar sauce and a kale, tomato, avocado salad

We recently placed a big order, including some cold and frozen items. (See shipping notes at the end of the post.) One thing I had been wanting to try: Sophie's Kitchen Breaded Fish Fillets. I liked these a lot (and also like that they use non-gmo soy and corn). They are not that different, I think, than other chik'n patties, I've had. I don't know if I've ever eaten fish in my life (maybe when I was toddler), so I can't really speak on similarities there or anything.

I thought I should make the most of the experience by also ordering this Tartar Sauce. I imagined (and hoped) it was going to be very creamy, but it was more like an oily dressing. It tasted very good on my sandwich, regardless.

Ingredients: Organic sunflower oil, water, organic cucumbers, organic wine vinegar, raw organic cane sugar, organic onions, organic mustard, organic cornstarch, sea salt, plant protein, organic spices, carob bean flour, organic dill.

Here we go. Probably the tastiest thing I ordered: Peanut Butter Pillows with Chocolate. They taste like Butterfingers. I always see these Butterfinger desserts I think look so delicious. So I whipped this bad boy up. Cheesecake from Tofu & Soyfoods Cookery, topped with the Pillows that I'd pounded while they were in the bag. A little Soyatoo on top. The PB/Choc. Pillows are really delicious and not as pricey as some vegan decadent chocolates. ($5.49 for a bag containing enough to cover this cheesecake and some leftover.)

We don't have White Chocolate Chips around here to buy, so I snagged up two bags. And at $4.29 a bag, they're cheaper than most vegan chocolate chips I ever buy.

Therefore, if you win the giveaway, you could always make a batch of Almost Vegan Chef's White Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondies, like we did. Really great recipe!

I had always wanted to try Dr-Cow Nut Cheese. I did not realize the package would be so tiny (and it isn't cheap). I was told that some people love it, and some people just don't. I definitely loved it.

I could have eaten it all at once, but I have spaced it out to enjoy a little at a time. I'd like to try the other flavors (like kale or blue-green algae). I've made plenty of cashew type cheeses at home, but nothing I've made is exactly like this (and Dr-Cow's contains acidophilus).

We got a pack of 2-pack of Strawberry Cream Canoe Boats (which we've frozen away for a rainy day) and also a pack of Chocolate Covered Canoe Boats. Here is a review I'd originally written for my family blog on the Canoe Boats and Moo-Cluck Creme-Filled Cupcakes that we'd ordered from Pangea two years ago (when my kids look so small, sniff).

I ordered two packs of Sweet & Sara's Strawberry Marshmallows. My son saw non-vegan strawberry marshmallows awhile back and asked if there were vegan ones to buy. I said I really doubted it. We did a search on Pangea, and he could not have been happier to see these.

So that we would be ready for any fall cookouts (S'mores!) we might want to have, I also ordered two different kinds of graham crackers, Sweet & Sara and Grateful Grahams. I didn't know which ones we would like better, and I didn't want to miss out on the better choice! Our family was kind of split on which was the favorite. Sweet & Sara's are crispier (which I preferred), and Grateful Grahams are a softer graham (which others in my family preferred). After our taste-test, I also threw these in the freezer for safe keeping.

I bought a few things to put away for the kid's Halloween bags, including Whizzer's Chocolate Beans...

and Eli's Earth Bars. I had forgotten that I think I like the Treasure Bars even more than the Dream Big Bars. (Warning: even though these bars are delicious, they're rather small. Maybe that's a good thing.)

If you won the giveaway, just think: you could order over 40 Bug Bites or Chimp Mints.

Have you tried Vega's Shake & Go Smoothies? I've only gotten to try chocolate, so far, and it is sooo good. I like to make a Choc-a-Lot Shake with frozen bananas, frozen cherries, and almond milk.

Choc-A-Lot: Organic green pea protein, vegan natural flavors, organic coconut palm nectar, flaxseed, hemp protein, organic sprouted brown rice protein, organic green food blend (alfalfa grass, organic kale leaf, organic spinach leaf, organic broccoli sprout, spirulina), xanthan gum, digestive enzyme blend, and dairy-free probiotic blend (L. acidophilus, B. bifidum).

If you prefer hearty or savory over sweet, there are plenty of choices, like these Tasty Bite Meals, Nacho Mom's Quesos, Bragg's, gravy mixes - you name it. I always forget to order Soy Curls, which I'd like to do because I have yet to try them.

We're big fans of Chreesy Mashed Potatoes.

I didn't order any, but I thought these boxes looked really cute and fun. They sell something very similar (but non-vegan) on some airlines, so I'd like to get some the next time we travel.

There are five pages of items labeled specifically gluten-free, including this book.

Pangea is not limited to food. There are vitamins, books, shoes, cleaning supplies, and companion animal supplies. ETC!

I like these.

***************************************

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment about something in this post, or you may visit Pangea's website and tell me something different you'd like to order.

I don't want to make this complicated for you, but if you want additional entries, feel free to do any of the following:

1) Let me know you are a Google Friend Connect Follower.

2) Like "Pangea" on Facebook.

3) Tweet or blog about the giveaway and leave a link in your entry.

If you don't have a blog, or I can't find your blog through your comment, please leave an email address in case you win. I'll pick a winner randomly a week from tonight (Thursday) around 10:00 p.m.

*Note: shipping most non-perishable items is usually around $7-10. As we are getting into colder months, it shouldn't be such a problem to ship chocolates, etc. If you purchase something cold or frozen, it is recommended to purchase a cold pack for $5.95, and shipping could be around $30 unless you live in one of these places, where shipping only takes 1-2 days from Maryland: CT, DE, Chicago only in Illinois, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WV, and Northern GA. (Cold shipping policies in more details HERE.)

This giveaway IS open to anyone in the world, BUT if you live outside the United States, please read their shipping guidelines before you enter. Shipping charges might be high (and you probably wouldn't order perishable items), so you can decide whether you want to order from them or not.

Thank you, Pangea, for offering this

giveaway to one of my Vegan Month of Food readers!

What a Hungry, Pregnant, Vegan Momma Ate Today

2011-10-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

Breakfast: Cereal (mix of Puffed Millet, Nature's Path Whole O's & Flax Plus) with chopped walnuts, almond milk, and 1/2 of a banana, chopped

Snack: A couple of slices of Dr. Cow cheese and a few chunks of fresh pineapple

Lunch: Thai Salad from Matthew Kenney's everyday raw. It basically consists of lettuce, avocado, bell peppers, pineapple, cashews (with spices added), coconut, tomatoes (I used fresh, rather than sun-dried.), and Thai dressing (recipe also in the book). I shared this with my son.

Snack: handful of carrot sticks and a few Brazil nuts

Supper: Salad with romaine, baby romaine, Swiss chard, grated squash, tomatoes, and garlic stuffed olives. I also melted Daiya on top of some leftover Mango BBQ Beans (from Appetite for Reduction), then slid that whole thing right onto my salad. Bwahaha. So good. Topped with some Guacamame (edamame guacamole, also from AfR).

*********************************

The kids are always begging me to let them make a meal. Well, it's really sweet and wonderful, and I try to let them learn by doing as much as possible...but sometimes I just need to hurry, and sometimes I don't feel like eating exactly what they're making...and things like that.

This is a meal they prepared for us all once, about 6 months ago. It basically consisted of salad (lettuce with whole baby carrots), crostinis with melted Daiya and some olives and grape tomatoes thrown in there, and some pan fried tofu. We ate it. Every last, dry, loving bite of it.

Well, today they really wanted to make something. I told them I was too super busy to help, but they could make something by themselves. All I did was write down the recipe, open the can of garbanzos, pull out the appropriate measuring cups and spoons and pretty much left them to it.

Part of the reason they like to cook is that they like to play restaurant and serve one another. They take turns putting on the chef hats and aprons and taking the order of someone at the table. This was what they served: Bagel Crisps with hummus, rice cheese, bits of lettuce, and mustard. (There was an enormous, unfortunate amount of mustard on a couple of the ones the boys made for their sister; those went uneaten.) I tried a bite of their hummus (plain); it was good!

*******************************

Really fun giveaway (think: free vegan food) hopefully going up tomorrow! Get excited!

Fun Kid Foods

2011-10-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

I don't want you to get the impression that every meal that we eat in our home is meticulously constructed with cute themes...more likely, it's hummus slathered quickly onto a piece of bread, then thrown onto a paper plate. However...we do like to have a little fun around here!

Mermaid

Too much? I made these for the kids when we were in the middle of our week of Mermaid activities in the spring. I got the idea from Ziggety Zoom, a website with kids' activities. I cut a banana into sections for the head and body plus pieces for the arms. I used Daiya shreds for her hair, chocolate chips for the eyes, a piece of strawberry for her mouth, and flattened freeze-dried cherries for her bikini top. I used cut up kiwi for the scales and star fruit for her flippers, with a couple of star fruit slices on the side. I think this mermaid should be enjoyed by all ages, if you are tempted.

Mock Tuna Schooner

My kids - my oldest, in particular, love those creative food idea magazines you see in the check-out aisle at Wal-Mart and grocery stores. My mom is always buying them for us, and they love to look through them and dream about what "fun meal" we're going to have next. Although very little in the books is naturally vegan, everything is very easily adapted. I love that my kids see the pictures in the books and automatically think it's the vegan alternative being used. I got the idea for this sailboat from Taste of Home Fun Food.

I lightly toasted a Food for Life Gluten Free Multi-Seed English Muffin (and spread some Earth Balance on the warmed muffin to help soften it up a bit). Layered romaine with the Chickpea Salad recipe I use and love and added Guiltless Gourmet Baked Chips for sails. Next time I wouldn't use the GF English Muffins; they're too thick and heavy for the kids. I had mine with bread, and it was better. And if you haven't tried this type of Chickpea Salad recipe, it's really, really good.

I remembered that there was a Vegan Goldfish Crackers recipe at Vegan Lunchbox that I've always meant to try, so this was the perfect opportunity.

Unfortunately, I don't have a tiny fish cookie cutter, so it took a long time to cut out enough fish for their lunch. The remaining dough were cut into hearts, which was much easier (and cuter). I think I will go ahead and order the fish cookie cutter because...I think I've mentioned before how big of a place Goldfish Crackers are in the lives of American child activities.

We did have a large fish cookie cutter, about the size of my palm, so we also made a few big fish.

Awhile back, my sister Cary orchestrated a little "Silly Lunch" for her kids and mine. It included this Piggie, made with strawberry So Delicious, bananas, strawberries, and chocolate chips. To see the rest of our fun, vegan meal (including a veggie/pretzel scooter, a silly car watermelon, and silly (or was it scary?) nacho plate, visit Go Team Murphy.

What a Hungry, Pregnant, Vegan Momma Ate

2011-10-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

A Day of Food

I was running late this particular morning, trying to get everyone ready and where they needed to be. I grabbed a little bunch of organic grapes to take with me in the car.

About 45 minutes later, I enjoyed my Chia Pudding that had been chilling in the fridge. I always just pour some chia seeds into a cup and let it sit for an hour or less in almond milk. (It's also good to stir occasionally and adjust milk amount accordingly.) Then I chop up some strawberries (or peaches or whatever berries I have on hand). I looooove this. It's one of my treats I always talk about while I'm eating. (As in, "This is sooo good.")

A late morning/early lunch snack? I really like these Sprouted Bagels (I think this one was Cinnamon Raisin.) from French Meadow Bakery. On top of the 1/2 I ate: Sun Butter, 100% fruit spread, and hemp seeds.

Lunch: A wrap using Food for Life Gluten Free Tortillas (my wrap of choice!), kale, lettuce, kidney beans, hemp seeds, tomatoes, avocado, garlic stuffed green olives, Cashew Cheese Sauce (SO GOOD) from Matthew Kenney's Everyday Raw, and Miso Dressing (based on his Ginger-Miso Dressing, just without the ginger).

Supper: Enchiladas and a salad with kale, other lettuce & greens, carrots, beans, tomatoes, avocado, and salsa. One of my favorite enchilada recipes: Cheesy Bean Enchiladas. But I make my own enchilada sauce and add frozen organic corn kernels and greens or grated zucchini.

We tried to make Blessed Mama's Strawberry Tall Cakes by cutting out the center and stacking it, but our lovely Arkansas humidity was making the frosting melt and everything slide and fall. Delicious regardless. I used the Sexy, Low-Fat Cupcakes recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. If I am making cupcakes just for my family, it's pretty much the recipe I always go to because they really are so much lighter, using applesauce and yogurt (and 3 TBS of oil). We only had blueberry yogurt; it's always fun to use flavored yogurt when making this recipe. These cupcakes have a bit of a different texture than typical cupcakes - but one that I prefer.

*************************************

And that's it. I'm really impressed with everyone's posts I've read so far and appreciate everyone's comments. As I type this, my husband is upstairs putting together my new elliptical trainer. The nurse (and the doctor also made a comment) got on to me for gaining 8 pounds this month. It is a little frightening, I admit. I always gain a lot during pregnancy, though - probably a combination of nature and nurture. I'm getting serious, though! Elliptical, here I come.

What's For (School) Lunch?

2011-10-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

I missed out on yesterday's Opening Day, although I did read a few of your blogs while I was eating my breakfast this morning. I'm here now, and although I don't have anything too outrageous planned, I plan to embrace my participation as fully as possible. (And I will have two giveaways coming soon!)

This year, both of my boys are at home again for school, although they attend our homeschool co-op twice a week. On those days, they bring their lunches. My daughter will be attending preschool, thus bringing her lunch with her regularly. Therefore, most of my school lunch pics will belong to her.

One of the homeschool co-op days is Pizza Day, in which pizza is brought in to purchase. I have tried to make sure the boys have pizza in their lunches that day, as well, so they will not feel left out. This was my 6 year old son's lunch:

Tofurky Cheese Pizza (with hemp seeds sprinkled on top),

1/2 of a Hail Merry Chocolate Tart,

dried mango (from the bulk bin at WF), carrots

Since their preferred taste buds differ slightly, their lunches also vary slightly. The difference in my 11 year old's lunch:

Brazil nuts, Lemon Thyme Hail Merry Soaked/Dehydrated Pecans,

bell pepper slices, carrots,

Amande Cultured Almond Milk yogurt

And my 4 year old daughter got pizza that day, too, along with:

the other half of the Hail Merry Tart,

cherry tomatoes, bell pepper slices, Brazil nuts, Hazel nuts, dried mango

More 4 year old lunches:

3/4 sandwich with a Tofurky deli slice, hummus, lettuce, avocado, & mustard,

Garden of Eatin' Pico De Gallo Chips (love!), strawberries,

bell pepper, raisins

pistachios, soy yogurt with mini chocolate chips, Sun Butter & fruit spread sandwich,

carrots, berries

apple slices, cherry tomatoes,

Brazil nuts, a strawberry, a homemade chocolate chip cookie,

Rising Moon Organic Butternut Squash Ravioli

(with hemp seeds and a little olive oil)

Brothers-ALL-Natural freeze dried strawberries & bananas,

Cocoa Kissed Savi Seeds,

two "R" (her first and middle initials) nut butter & fruit spread sandwiches,

cherry tomatoes, pecans

*******************************

Off to clean my kitchen, then cuddle into my bed to read as many VMF posts as I can tonight! Have a fun week, everyone!

Free Advertisement for Spiral Diner

2011-09-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

Another restaurant in Dallas that we visited twice was Spiral Diner. We loooove Spiral Diner. It's one of the best vegan restaurants in the middle of the United States. We've eaten here several times over the years (vegan Texas posts).

Night 1

We shared the nachos, which includes a cashew-based cheeze sauce and quinoa, as an appetizer.

Ryan ordered the Chopped BBQ San'ich with potato salad on the side. This is Ryan's kind of meal. My sister and I play a game of looking at menus online and guessing what everyone would order; we know each other well enough so we're usually right. I'm sure she has guessed this sandwich for him before.

As typical, he had slid his plate over to me before he ate so I could get a picture. He was making happy noises and tearing up as he ate, thoroughly enjoying himself. Then when he got to sandwich side #2, he said, "Oh, here's this side; did you want to get a picture?" He forgot that I'd already taken one. I asked, "Were you eating so fast, you thought you'd wolfed it down before I took a pic?" He said, "I don't remember the last five minutes, to be honest."

My sister made a comment on my Texas post last week about The Mitch. Oh, The Mitch. She remembered that I had once listed The Mitch as one of my 5 food choices if I was stranded somewhere indefinitely. (My family and I like to play fun games, don't we?!) Well, I haven't changed my mind yet. The Mitch remains.

Let's get another look at him. Chipotle mayo, bac'n bits, grilled tofu, lettuce, tomato, what appears to be plain mayo, and that "special extra piece of bread in the middle, big and delicious."

The kids each ordered a Grilled Cheese Sandwich off the kids' menu. Can't go wrong with that.

For dessert, I ate (and split with others - I know you guys think that since I'm pregnant, I'm eating everything in sight, but honestly, I'm taking it pretty easy on the dessert front) this cheesecake. It was really good. There's so much going on here: there is the plain cheesecake layer, a chocolate cheesecake layer, the bottom crust, and the back & side BROWNIE crust. Would like to know how they did this one.

The kids got a milkshake to go. My oldest son obviously picked cookies 'n cream because anytime cookies 'n cream is an option, that's what he'll choose. The other two got peanut butter.

Night 2

The next day, the kids ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe because we were at the Grapevine Mills Mall, and it looked sooo exciting to them (and it was pretty cool inside). They told me the kids' pasta was fine for someone with "allergies" to dairy and eggs (but not the toast, which has cheese melted on top, that comes with it - not sure if it's vegan without the cheese). I waited to get a big salad at Whole Foods after the mall because I wanted to fill myself with plenty of veggie nutrition before we hit Spiral again that night.

The kids got strawberry slushies, to start things off.

We got the Chipotle Tofu Quesadillas for an appetizer. That's an inside look at it. Really good. Ryan says it is unbelievable, and he's disappointed he didn't get this as his entree...every night.

Ryan ordered The Meatball Sub. Not as mind-blowing for him as the BBQ - but good, nonetheless.

I ordered...The Mitch. I won't bore you with another photo. But I did add avocado this time for Baby Junior's sake.

My daughter picked the Baby Aven Plate. I'm sure she did because of the name. But it was also really cute watching her pick up each little bite with her fingers as she giggled. The plate comes chilled, which might seem a little strange. Cold sweet potato?...not bad!

My oldest son picked the nachos like we got the night before as his meal, and my other son got plain cheeze quesadillas.

This time, Ryan and I got milkshakes to go. I like that their shakes don't fill up an entire cup, which makes it much lighter. I asked for my chocolate shake "really, really thick," and I can't say it was really, really thick, but that's okay. Ryan picked strawberry.

Here are a few desserts we had gotten to go and ate during the rest of the week at the hotel. The cupcake: good and small (for the perfect cake to frosting ratio), just the way I prefer them. Brownie: they make very good brownies. Cookie: eh, it's okay. I can make better, but the kids loved it. Peanut butter cup: it looks dry because I put it in the fridge. I've also had better of these, but it's not like you can go too wrong with a peanut butter cup.

I appreciate Spiral Diner not only for their tasty food in the middle of cow country - but they are also seemingly committed to being as environmentally friendly as they can be. And they use organic ingredients as much as possible, too.

"Bliss"ful Dining

2011-09-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Last week, my husband was scheduled for a business trip in Dallas. He's had a lot of these types of trips this year (Arizona, California, Texas, North Carolina, etc.). We've had enough of his absence! He decided it would be great for us to go with him this time. He flew out one-way on Monday (so he could ride home with us at the end of the week), then Tuesday night, after the kids were finished with homeschool co-op, we made the 6 hour drive. He had meetings scheduled every day until suppertime (when he'd join us). But we found plenty to do while he was busy. Like eating.

The first restaurant we hit up was Bliss, raw cafe & elixir bar in the University Park area. I was really looking forward to this one. Ryan and I had eaten at the other location (which is no longer open) last year for our anniversary.

Rawsagna

slices of zucchini and tomato layered with basil pistachio pesto, sun dried tomato sauce, and pignoli ricotta cheeze

This was my 11 year old's choice. He laughed with glee when his plate was set before him. We liked the little green "flag" sticking out of the "cheese" on top. He's so funny and predictable; he always eats meals like this in layers. First, he ate the tomato with ricotta, then he ate the zucchini strips with sauce, then the mushrooms, etc. The salad appeared to be just a plain, ordinary salad, but it was delicious. I loved whatever dressing was on it. (Something creamy plus maybe some agave?)

Greek Wrap

tahini hummus, guacamole, olives, carrots, chipotle hot drops, and capers

This is what my daughter ordered. Everything was just so good. It makes me want to eat raw and only raw every day. I mentally stored away plenty of ideas from the menu to eat at home.

Chocolate Bliss

raw cacao superfood power blend, agave nectar, mixed tocotrienols, coconut, and cacao butter

The kids gasped with happiness when they saw these drinks arrive. They were soooo chocolate-y. I thought it tasted like straight chocolate syrup. My 6 year old said, "Oh, it's so chocolate-y, I can't take it!" But then he kept drinking it, of course. You can get shots of the different elixirs, which I would do, rather than try to drink a whole glass.

My 6 year old opted out of ordering anything else. He does eat plenty of raw food, but there was no food combination on the menu that sounded appealing to him. (He doesn't like avocado, tomatoes, or zucchini, which really puts a halt to things at a raw place.) He would have been more excited if I'd just picked up an apple, some baby carrots, and a bag of nuts from the grocery store. He ate a meal replacement bar I had in my purse.

Coconut Kale Enchiladas

marinated kale with nacho cheeze, pico de gallo, tomatoes, black sesame seeds, and a "dash of cumin"

My meal. I could definitely eat this one every single day. I'm going to order some coconut wraps ASAP (or maaaybe try to make them). I have wanted to for awhile. This entree was on the small side, but I ended up eating half of my son's salad and half of one of my daughter's lettuce wraps, which made it perfect.

Strawberry Cheezecake

with chocolate sauce

We took our dessert to go. It was well received. It was partially frozen (less so by the time we got to our hotel). I don't know if it's supposed to be frozen, or if it was just brought out from the freezer. I like my desserts cold, but I would have liked this more if it didn't taste like icecream. But I think that's what my kids did like about it.

(The bill for the food above was...$78. My eyes popped out a little when I saw it...but it is what it is.)

A couple of days later, I called in an order for pick-up. My plan was to get something like nut butter sandwiches for the kids from an organic deli two doors down when I picked up my food. But by the time we got there, they were closed. Fortunately, there was also a Jamba Juice in the same shopping center, so they made do with smoothies and Clif bars plus more snacks back at the hotel.

My to-go meal:

Amigo Wrap

chili spice beans, taco pate, guacamole, red onion rings, tomatoes, pico de gallo, lettuce, and cashew sour creme, served on a lettuce wrap

The sauces on the side were tasty but spicy, and I couldn't handle much more spiciness after my gazpacho (below). The wrap - there were actually two of them with one order - was delicious and inspiring to me to eat more taco lettuce wraps (with cashew creme and nacho cheeze) at home. I've also never made raw taco filling at home, which I need to do.

Pineapple Cucumber Gazpacho

Because I am a creature of habit when ordering at restaurants, I made myself pick one thing off the menu that I normally would not order. Uh, big mistake. There is not generally anything (vegan) that I can't eat, solely based on taste. I mean, I'm pretty (very) picky about ingredients, but as far as taste being the only factor, I wouldn't let something go to waste.

However, I couldn't get even half of this down. I was pouting as I forced down as many bites as I could. The pineapple cucumber combination was fine, but it's also blended with cilantro, olive oil, green onion, and cracked pepper. I didn't like the overall taste, and it was sooo spicy. Despite my determination to eat my $9 soup in spite of...I had to throw it out.

Our visit to Bliss last year

Arkansas Gets a Vegan Restaurant!

2011-09-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

With my posting unpredictability lately, I know you weren't expecting another post from me so soon! But I have had a strange surge of energy this week.

Hot Springs Visitors' Center

A few Sundays ago, my family and I spent the day in Hot Springs, which is a little over an hour away from our house. The occasion: Arkansas now has a vegan restaurant called Garden Secrets!!! Squeals! You know I rarely go out to eat; this is great news for us.

I'm always a little nervous about trying a new, independent vegan place because there are those vegan restaurants that mean well - but are a little underwhelming with food that is not worth going out for. We were really happy with it, though! Everything we ordered tasted great and looked nice.

We started out with a couple of orders of regular and sweet potato fries. I'd strangely been craving fries ever since I watched Crazy, Stupid Love (my favorite movie at the moment which is so funny and heartwarming that I saw it twice in one week). There was a random scene or two with Ryan Gosling eating fries at a bar, and I couldn't stop thinking about wanting fries (which I rarely have because of the not going out to eat thing). I don't know if it was the fries or Ryan Gosling. Probably both. I went home the first night I watched it and made oven-baked tater tots, which was a temporary fix. But it wasn't the same as having actual restaurant fried fries.

I ordered Eggplant Parmesan ($10.95), which came with a big side of spaghetti and garlic bread on the side. (Had to scrape off the burnt part of the toast.) I thought it was really good! I thought they were generous with the portion size.

Ryan ordered the Cheeseburger. Good!

The kids ordered Garden Quesadillas with "cheese," spinach, and mushrooms (no mushrooms for the youngest two) on spinach tortillas. Good!

I was super, duper excited about dessert, knowing I was going to order the Turtle Cheesecake and hoping someone else would order the Strawberry Cheesecake so I could try it. But tragically, they only had one or two desserts that day, not including cheesecake.

I went without dessert (although tried one bite for blogging review purposes, of course), but the others shared two orders of Brownie Madness.

After lunch, we spent some time walking along the main downtown street. (The row of historic bath houses are on the left.) We went in a few shops, walked along a trail that looks out over the city, and dipped our fingers into the "hot springs," which are REALLY hot.

Arlington Hotel

Here is the facebook page for Garden Secrets. They seem to be getting good reviews, so far. The only downsides: 1) They are closed on Saturdays. 2) The menu in the restaurant was a bit smaller than the one online (and not sure if that is always the case). We always look at online menus ahead of time, so that was a little disappointing.

I hope this place sticks around!

"Sweet" News!

2011-09-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm normally a chocolate (or creamy, as in cheesecake) girl when it comes to desserts, I've been craving fruit desserts all summer. We've been making the most of the plentiful supply of organic strawberries at Whole Foods lately and enjoying our favorite new dessert: Fresh Strawberry Pie from Vegalicious.

I like this recipe (which we've made many times) because it is a no-bake pie. (You fill the pie with fresh berries and cover it with a sauce of cooked strawberries, cornstarch, sugar, and water.) Half of the strawberries remain uncooked, so I feel like I'm eating a healthier pie. Also, I always cut the sugar in half (at least), and it tastes great without so much. (I've even tried adding strawberry fruit spread with just a little sugar, and that works, too.) Our only trouble with this pie is being impatient by cutting it too soon (which doesn't affect the taste). If you let it sit in the fridge many hours or overnight, it will form up very well.

We enjoyed some blueberry picking this summer at a local pesticide-free patch...

...and some of those berries ended up in these pies. (The strawberry portion is for my 6 year old who doesn't love blueberries in every capacity.)

That pie turned into this.

And blueberries sometimes find their way into our Vegalicious strawberry pies, too.

strawberry shortcake, using broken up pieces of pie crust and Soyatoo

I actually did a Strawberry Shortcake-themed unit (for homeschooling) with the kids this summer. We cooked and enjoyed as many strawberry recipes as possible like...

...strawberry muffins.

I also made a cherry pie recently (served with almond icecream). I'm tellin' ya; we're a little fruity lately.

Of course, that doesn't mean I've entirely given up my first love: chocolate. I discovered Sarah Kramer's Nanaimo Bars on Shenandoah Vegan's blog. These are insane. As in ridiculously tasty and so rich we couldn't eat more than a few bites at a time. I think next time I'll make the middle layer a little thinner because we're not used to so much sugar. My 6 year old had no problem eating more than a few bites at a time, though. He can't wait until I make these again.

And, for my other "sweet" news...

No, it's not from eating too many desserts! We're expecting #4 in January. My uterus and stomach wasted no time in popping out this time, and I've looked pregnant pretty much since I found out the news. I'm about 22 weeks right now; this picture was taken several weeks ago. And we have already found out...it's a...

BABY BOY!!! To surprise the kids with the news, Ryan took them into the other room while I set the table with the balloons, blue plates & napkins, and the ultrasound pictures. (The kids were verrrrry amused with the pics of the you-know-what. With 3 guys, soon to be 4 guys, in my house, this is obviously a frequent topic of conversation in our family.)

Our celebration meal: tater tots & veggie burgers with all the toppings, including pesto and my favorite - homemade chipotle "mayonnaise" made by using any vegan soymilk/oil mayo recipe online and blending it with a chipotle pepper.

The picture above doesn't really do my size justice.

Maybe this one, taken at 15 weeks, does a better job. People are a little surprised when I tell them I'm not due until January. I always offer a feeble, "Yeah, I know I'm really showing." I don't always go into details about the fact this is my 4th so my uterus is already "broken in." And I'm just one of those women whose body naturally packs it on during pregnancy.

Also, I really do love to eat.

Pensacola and Birthday Pie

2011-08-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

We spent a few days last week in Perdido Key, Florida (which is part of Pensacola). We were going to drive halfway, then stop at a hotel because our 4 year old is becoming worse at sitting in the car for long periods. However, something came over Ryan, and he kept on going through the night. I don't know how he did it, but I'm glad he did because it gave us a whole extra half, at least, of a day to enjoy (and my kids soundly slept all night).

We arrived on the beach around 7 a.m. This was way too early for us to check into our condo. And we thought it was too early to call the other 13 members of my family in their condo. We just parked and walked along the beach until it was late enough to call. It was really beautiful on the beach that early.

So, yes, we enjoyed our time relaxing and playing the rest of the week in the condo, at the beach, and by the pool.

We had packed plenty of food, but we didn't end up making any big meals but one on our last night. We mostly ate nut butter, hummus, or baked tofu sandwiches. I ate a lot of tacos...because I love tacos. My toppings were a little random, though...avocado, canned Eden Foods beans, Daiya, tomatoes, Hail Merry sunflower seeds, salsa, romaine until I ran out, and (my dad's garden) chopped cucumbers, which were a pretty good substitute for lettuce.

My vegan sister Tracy went with us into Pensacola one night to try out End of the Line Cafe. I was a little disappointed briefly because I had thought the online menu looked good and fun (sandwiches!) - but we found out they only serve one choice for dinner. I mean, one look at this, and what is there to complain about? I can't remember exactly what was served - greens, quinoa, mushrooms, salad, some type of bread...it was all tasty and looked fancier than the small, laid-back, un-fancy establishment would have suggested. This was also preceded by a course of flavorful potato-kale soup.

And followed up with this chocolate cupcake. I also ordered a couple of chocolate coconut truffles for the kids, hoping to ease my 6 year old's pain at having to be served cooked greens and mushrooms, etc. (My 11 year old bottomless pit finished off all of his courses, most of our desserts, and his brother and sister's shared plate.)

My son and sister also ordered pieces of chocolate mousse pie. The bite I took was delicious.

On the way home, we stopped at Ever'man Natural Foods to stock up on some essentials for the rest of the week and the drive home. I spent entirely too long because it's hard for me to jet in and out of a health food store. I have to search each aisle to see if there are any products I didn't know about.

Our "big condo meal" (compliments of my mom and Tracy, etc.) occurred Friday night...for my BIRTHDAY! Salad with chia croutons and Annie's Organic Goddess Dressing, rolls, spaghetti, and sister-created stuffed shells. Those were the the most flavorful things I've eaten in a long time. She mixed the tofu with nutritional yeast, lemon juice, Daiya, fresh garlic, and other spices. So good.

I made my own birthday pies (because I wanted to, not because no one else offered). I was just craving something very specific. I brought Wholly Wholesome pie crusts with us in the cooler. This one is chocolate mousse made with tofu, melted chocolate chips, vanilla, and a little organic sugar. I had this idea (and couldn't stop thinking about it until I did it!) to crush up several Justin's chocolate peanut butter cups on top. (My one wish is that their peanut butter in these cups was creamier - but I'm not complaining because I love those things. The weird thing is that a couple of times I've had one of their pb cups melt in the heat, then when it hardens back up, the peanut butter is VERY soft and creamy. I almost prefer to let them melt now!)

I loved it. Chocolate pie is probably my favorite dessert ever.

I also made a strawberry topped option. Also very yummy, if I do say so myself. I had a slice of each.

My leftover pie survived being smashed into the soft cooler on the ride home. I had a piece for breakfast the morning after we returned. I figured I needed to share because I hadn't yet gotten a picture with the whipped cream added.

*********************************

It was a nice treat after the day we'd had before. Our four cars hadn't left at the same time but were all headed in the same direction back to Arkansas and Missouri. The tire blew on the SUV my sister Cary was driving, with her husband and two kids. Their car flipped SEVERAL times from their lanes of traffic, ACROSS the big grassy median, then across the 2 lanes of oncoming traffic, and they ended up right-side up on the shoulder over there. My sister and brother-in-law were very sore with minor (if you call scratched eyeballs, concussions, scalped heads minor) yet painful injuries - but other than that, they are miraculously fine. (My sweet, precious 2 year old and 3 year old nephew and niece weren't injured.)

We were all just SICK as we tried to get to the ER to see them as soon as we could. I wrote more about the wreck, including pictures, on my family blog. We ended up getting home around 2:30 a.m. Pretty terrible end to such a fun week, but I can't say it ruined it because we have great memories. Obviously we all WISH (no one more than them obviously) it had never happened, but it's almost like you gain an extra amount of happiness because of the successful results. It is one of those times in life when you are reminded to just SOAK IT IN and appreciate and really value the time we have with ourselves and people we love. Because your tire can blow (literally or metaphorically) just like that.

Our Recent Vegan Essentials

2011-06-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

So long without a post! I always miss my veggie friends when I'm offline. I have so many pictures of food, I hardly know where to begin...

This was the last order we had placed with Vegan Essentials several months ago. There's nothing like a big box of vegan food delivered to our door to get us excited!

We ordered a lot of candybars. But if you want to get your fair share in a family of five, you have to make sure there's plenty to go around. And I had really wanted to try all of the new types. We also like to get as much as we can when we're paying for 2 day shipping.

I was excited about trying all of these bars because as tasty as the Go Max Go candy bars (which are sold at our Whole Foods) are, the ingredients are too un-organic for my preference (corn syrup, soy protein, etc.). The ingredients for all of these are much better, I think.

First up in the Eli's Earth Bars line ($2.49): the Dream Big Bar. Yum! (But small!) The ingredients: Organic dairy-free “milk” chocolate (organic rice milk, organic evaporated cane juice, organic cocoa butter, organic cocoa paste, organic non-GMO soy lecithin, organic vanilla), organic peanuts, organic rice syrup, sea salt.

This was the Dark Angell Organic Candy Bar. It was definitely good, and I would order one again. I might have preferred the Eli bars, but this one is good for a dark chocolate taste. The ingredients: Organic and fair-trade dark chocolate (organic and fair trade chocolate, organic and fair trade vegan sugar, organic and fair trade cocoa butter, organic soy lecithin, organic natural vanilla), organic tapioca syrup, organic oats, organic almonds, organic Dutch cocoa powder, sea salt, organic almond extract.

Another one of Eli's Earth Bars, the Treasure Bar. So good! The ingredients: Organic dairy-free “milk” chocolate (organic rice milk, organic evaporated cane juice, organic cocoa butter, organic cocoa paste, organic non-GMO soy lecithin, organic vanilla), organic evaporated cane juice, organic peanuts, organic rice syrup, organic palm oil, organic rice milk, sea salt.

I don't have a picture of the coconut flavor. I'm not a huge coconut-in-candy bars fan. I ordered a couple of those because I thought my son would like them.

We Can't Say It's Cheese Spreads by Wayfare Foods. I liked the taste of this. My oldest kid who likes most things also liked it. My 4 and 6 year olds did not. Between the two of us, though, we didn't end up quite finishing the tub before it had to be tossed. I should have planned my meals toward it better because I'm not a big snacker. I probably wouldn't order it again for that reason and because I like the cheese dips I made from scratch just as well. But if you don't have time to cook from scratch, try it out. The reviews on Vegan Essentials recommend the Hickory Cheddar flavor.

Cheddar ingredients: Non-GMO Whole grain oatmeal (water, oats), vegetable oil blend (may contain the following: safflower, olive, and coconut oil), sesame, pimentos (pimentos, water, citric acid), nutritional yeast, sea salt, calcium carbonate, onion powder, evaporated cane juice.

Eco-Planet Cheddar Organic Crackers ingredients: Organic wheat flour, organic sunflower oil, and / or organic safflower oil, and or organic canola oil, organic palm oil, salt, organic flavor (non-dairy), leavening (monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate), autolyzed yeast extract, paprika, natural vegan flavor, organic onion powder, annatto powder, organic red pepper, papain (enzyme).

These aren't really something I want my kids to snack upon on a regular basis (autolyzed yeast extract, etc.). HOWEVER. Those of you who are around kids might understand that Goldfish Crackers are constantly being thrust into my little one's hands. It's unreal. It's like people think the only things kids can eat are Goldfish and Dum Dum suckers because I can't begin to believe all of the situations and places that hand those things out. Get creative, people! One of my pet peeves in life: handing out food to my kid without my permission or during times when food shouldn't even be a factor, and I wasn't prepared! It's THE snack handed out to my kids at homeschool co-op snack time. And although my daughter would pass it up for her alternate snack, my 6 year old would not, unless he has another "cheesy-type" food substitute. So I had to stock up on these for the rest of the school year.

Audrey's Pleasure Royal Cheeze Veggie Bar snacks. I LOVED these. I think 3/5 of my family liked them.

Royal Cheez ingredients: Macadamia, cashews, bell peppers, lemon, spices, sea salt. If I was better about using my dehydrator, I'd try to make something like these babies all of the time.

Of course, we had to throw in some of Justin's Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. I had gotten really excited when my Whole Foods got an order of them in, but it's lookin' like that was a one-time deal. I keep forgetting to find the ordering guy and ask him to restock. I know they sold out the time they had them, and I know this because I bought most of them.

When I was in highschool, one of my favorite places to spend my time was the Battlefield Mall (in Springfield, Missouri). Whenever I got a hold of an extra $20, I'd head to the mall. It would get me a new shirt with enough money left over to purchase an unmentionable product at an unmentionable frozen yogurt establishment. (This was when I was a vegetarian, not quite vegan.) What I ordered looked something like the above. So I couldn't help from make it for my son when he asked for icecream one day.

Organic Chikin Fillets by Viana ingredients: Tofu (organic soybeans, water), water, organic wheat protein, organic sunflower oil, organic almonds, sea salt, yeast extract, organic rice flour, organic cane sugar, organic palm oil, organic maltodextrin, organic turmeric (added for color), organic locust bean gum, organic spices.

This is one way I enjoyed those. Tomato, lettuce, and warmed tomato sauce with melted Daiya.

Gone Nuts! White Chocolate Cashews, Almonds & Cacao Nibs - ingredients: Organic raw cashews, organic agave, sprouted almonds (organic and/or transitional), organic coconut, organic cacao nibs, organic cacao butter, Himalayan crystal salt, organic vanilla, organic mesquite pod powder.

Raw and sprouted, these are one of the things I was trying to help fatten up my oldest son. They were good.

Overall, our order was a success, and plenty of vegan treat-induced smiles ensued.

School Lunches Galore

2011-05-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

Most of an Alternative Baking Company Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, Ella's Kitchen Organic Fruit pouch, baby carrots, strawberries, and macadamia nuts. As far as the sandwich goes...can't remember what was in that one. I'm guessing hummus, avocado, and lettuce.

Mini-bean burrito, carrots, bell pepper slices, strawberries, and sweet potato chunks with sprinkled hemp seeds. Plus, a Cocoa Pistachio Whole Food Meal Bar. My kid is thin, and I like adding these meal replacement bars to his meal - or giving them to him at home for a snack. If I ever pack too much food, he will eat it on the drive home.

This lunch was the day after Valentine's Day so a pink heart cookie was added to his nut butter crackers, baby carrots, strawberries, macademia & Brazil nuts, grapes, and a Vruit Box.

Sandwich with hummus, hemp seed, lettuce, and mustard, Blueberry Lemon Muffin, So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt, carrots, Brazil nuts, and a little bit of leftover bean salad.

Romaine with vegan caesar dressing and hemp seeds, apples, mixed nuts, toasted frozen waffles, and So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt.

Pasta with beans, quinoa & broccoli meatballs, Brazil nuts & walnuts, carrots, Late July Mini Organic PB Crackers, pineapple cup, and caesar salad.

Nut butter & fruit spread on French Meadow Bakery Hemp Bread...this isn't his favorite type of sandwich, but he does like when I cut it into strips so he can dip it in his yogurt. Hail Merry soaked/dehydrated/seasoned pecans, strawberries, carrots, bell peppers, and grape tomatoes.

Amy's Bean & Rice Burrito, avocado chunks, carrots, bell pepper slices, and grape tomatoes, and half of a Hail Merry Chocolate Miracle Tart.

Garlic bread, Just Veggies (freeze-dried peas, corn, carrots, bell pepper, and tomatoes), pineapple cup, Yummy Earth organic sucker, Barbara's Bakery Snackimals, marinated/pan-fried tofu, and tomatoes.

Pasta with homemade cheese sauce & hempseeds, lentils, kiwi fruit, olives, and half of a Hail Merry Chocolate Miracle Tart.

*These lunches all belonged to my 10 year old who fortunately will eat almost any vegan food in the world. And a few of you asked: he was homeschooled for 4 years and attends public school this year. My other two are homeschooled and attend a homeschool co-op twice a week, where they occasionally bring their lunches, too.

Recent Celebrations: Easter and the Royal Wedding

2011-05-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

If I may back up a little bit...

Easter

Easter baskets were a little scanty this year because I forgot to order things online in time (and there were so many great-looking treats I wanted to get ~~myself~~ the kids). But I was okay with that because I feel like we've had quite a few celebrations lately - and I wanted to use these Peter Rabbit pails I'd bought once and put away; they were the perfect size for the amount of stuff I had. They each got a Where the Wild Things Are sticker scene set from the $1 bins at Target, a candy bar, a Lake Champlain dark chocolate square (*ambiguous sugar), Divine dark chocolate eggs (*ambiguous sugar), and some Surf Sweets gummy bears. (We also re-use green paper shreds for our Easter baskets.)

We paint wooden, ceramic, or paper mache eggs every year for Easter.

For breakfast, we had yogurt (sprinkled with flax) in egg cups,

fruit in the shape of a cross,

and Bitt of Raw's gluten-free Carrot Muffins with Cashew Cream Cheese.

my little sweeties, after church

(Sweetie #3 had a black eye.)

Royal Wedding Party

I became fanatically excited about the Royal Wedding. (Sorry to those who are terribly sick of the coverage. Don't read any further!) I think I watched every possible "secrets behind the royal family" and "how Will & Kate met" show possible. We planned a fun little event (just me and the kids) for Friday morning. We dressed up - my 10 year old would only don a knight's cape for a brief period...

but my 6 year old (who is surprisingly quite fond of fashion and dressing up) went all out.

And we girls were very serious about choosing our outfits and headwear.

(I'm wearing a formal from my sister's highschool days.)

The Spread

(on my daughter's little table set up in my bedroom)

How cute are they all? I don't really have an opinion about the monarchy in general (and it's not my tax money; sorry, Penny!), but I do love a good celebration. And they seem pretty nice and down to earth. I was obsessed with finding out what her dress would look like - it was perfect! And strangely, I cried. The kids asked me WHY I was crying and to please stop.

"It should have been ME!"

Scones

I was really proud of my scones (because I don't know if I've ever made them before and didn't know what they would be like). I can't point you in the direction of a recipe because I kind of combined two. I made part of them with fresh strawberries and used Just Cherries for the other half. I will make these again because they were a hit in this house.

English Muffins

The English Muffins were also a hit. I made them cinnamon toast style, using Food For Life Gluten-Free, Multi-Seed Muffins and toasting them in the oven with Earth Balance, cinnamon, and a little sugar.

I printed off the Royal Bunting to hang around part of the table. I found this at Make Merry!. Since the kids aren't big tea drinkers, we mixed in a little apple juice with the tea.

For some reason, I was absolutely enamored with my Will & Kate plates. I got the idea from a party planner on Regis & Kelly. :) I happened to have a pack of Chinet hard plastic plates, leftover from an event. All you have to do is print off a picture, cut it to size and put it between two plates. I told Ryan I loved my Will & Kate plates so much, it's going to be hard to go back to eating off regular plates.

I'm going to wash and save these plates and use this idea for future events. And try to hide it in future blogging photos that I may or may not still be eating off Will & Kate.

This was the perfect time to try out Bitt of Raw's Raw Vegan Cranberry Cheesecake. I topped it with the love birds' wedding topper from my wedding, hee hee. Her cheesecake looks a "bitt" different than mine (better, of course), but I was pleased.

I thought this was really, really good. I made it the day before and gave it plenty of time to chill. I loved the texture and consistency, and it is my favorite raw cheesecake I've made so far (as well as one of my favorite cheesecakes period). I also love how the cranberries give it such a strong color.

I was in a hurry while making it so I did not make the crust raw and homemade (but I will next time!). I just crumbled up an Arrowhead Mills Organic Graham Cracker Crust into the bottom of the pan. (This would have been better if I'd melted in a little oil or Earth Balance to make it stick together, but I was trying to watch my calories.)

We reconvened back to Party Central for lunch (and more royal wedding coverage!). This time, it was baby carrots, apple slices, Tofurky deli slices, avocado slices, and cucumber sandwiches.

My little Brits had to eat their sandwiches on wheat bread with crusts and not too terribly fancy. Since I'm trying to avoid soy protein isolate now as much as possible (which isn't 100% easy but getting easier), I made homemade cream cheese for the first time.

Pip, pip cheerio!

E.A.T. World! Challenge: Korea & Ireland

2011-04-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

We recently explored the country of South Korea during our homeschool studies.

I wrote about it on my family/homeschool blog.

I made a Korean meal to culminate our studies: stir-fry, kimchi, rice, and Bulgogi.

Bulgogi is Korean barbecue. We got the recipe from a fellow homeschool blogger mom who adopted her sons from South Korea. Here is the veganized version:

Bulgogi (Korean BBQ)

Marinade:

4 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 clove of garlic - finely chopped together

Mix together. Add 1 lb. chopped seitan. Marinade for a few hours or overnight. Cook in wok or frying pan. This was really delicious!

We began learning about Ireland around St. Patrick's Day and finished up tonight with an Irish meal (complete with Irish flag paper confetti on the table).

I was a little nervous I wouldn't get supper finished before our power went off in all of the storms swirling around tonight. We spent a portion of time in the closet under the stairs while the storm sirens blared and possible tornadoes were reported near our house. Therefore, meal prep was a little touch and go.

Potato Soup

I based it off this recipe, which uses pureed tofu. So it's actually Potato Tofu Soup. I also added freeze-dried dill. It's extra thick because my husband requested it as such.

We have been reading some Irish folktales about a man named Jamie O'Rourke. In this particular book, Jamie plants a magical potato seed which results in such a huge "pratie," the entire town grows sick of eating potatoes. We don't eat too many potatoes around our house, for some reason, so I bought a bag the other day - in honor of Jamie O'Rourke - and we've been trying to see how many ways we can eat them (so far - fried, roasted, mashed, and in soup...we've got plenty of potatoes to go, too).

Corned "Beef" and Cabbage

This is based on a recipe from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. I didn't have a few of the ingredients, including horseradish and wine. It was good, regardless, although my 6 year old wanted no part in it.

Irish Apple Mash

I used this recipe. It's basically mashed potatoes mixed with mashed apples. Pretty good stuff, if you like mashed potatoes and cooked apples.

Irish Soda Bread

This came from the same Fat Free Vegan Kitchen post as the seitan recipe. Ryan has requested that I now make this regularly. As I am not a maker of bread, I will say this one was super, super easy. It's just whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and plain soy yogurt. Stir, throw the resulting ball of dough on the cookie sheet, and bake.

************************************

Next, we're moving on to Great Britain. We're planning on dressing up fancy to watch the Royal Wedding on Friday. And drink tea and eat crumpets and cucumber sandwiches all day. Ooo, maybe we'll even make a wedding cake.

Wing-it Vegan's E.A.T. (Eating Around The) World! Challenge:

Vegan in St. Louis

2011-04-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend I drove to St. Louis to visit my sister Cary and her husband and kids. (She summed up our trip pretty well here.) Only my daughter went with me, giving us some "girl time." (The boys had lots of fun at home with daddy - going hiking, etc.) Traveling with one child is obviously much simpler. I'm going to take just the boys on a trip next.

I think St. Louis (which is a 6-6 1/2 hour drive for me) has really stepped it up vegan-wise over the past few years. "Vegan" seems to be popping up on the menu at more places. My sister lives in a downtown loft; we headed over a few blocks to Rooster, a crepe & sandwich cafe, for Sunday brunch.

There is a gluten-free, vegan crepe option listed on the menu. My daughter and I ordered ours...

filled with black beans, mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, onions, and oven dried tomatoes, etc. It was good; I would order it again for sure. They told me they have dessert crepes, too, for vegans who eat white sugar.

One night, we all went to Pi Pizzeria, located in "The Loop" area of STL. (Name dropping: apparently Obama loved the pizza here so much he had the owners go prepare it at The White House.)

I was looking forward to trying their deep-dish pizza. However, we found out upon arrival that they need a few hours notice to make the deep dish crust vegan (because otherwise it has butter on the bottom). Instead, we ordered the thin crust with roasted garlic, kalamata olives, artichoke, spinach, and Daiya. It's always fun to be able to order at a "pizzeria." (They also have Match meat as an option for those who are interested.)

******************************

Of course, who needs a vegan restaurant when you have a vegetarian sister who likes to make vegan treats for her family?

Breakfast options: blueberry muffins (a veganized version of this recipe), yogurt, fruit salad, milk, and juice.

Supper one night: wraps with cut-up Gardein strips, mustard, spinach, quinoa, Daiya, and spinach.

Lunch one day: guacamole and quesadillas with Daiya, quinoa, spinach, corn, and black beans.

Dessert #1: Clementine Cupcakes

These have a glaze topping, which isn't apparent in this picture. The recipe at The Daily Garnish is gluten-free, but for lack of certain ingredients, Cary used wheat flour. Aren't they cute? They were tasty, too.

Dessert #2 - Chocolate Chip Banana Brownies

These were probably the best homemade brownies I've ever had. They just had a very reliable, moist yet firm consistency. And I really like chocolate chips in brownies.

******************************

Mix all of that in with:

sweet Puddy who seemed quite at home under our covers on the daybed,

a fun morning at Lafayette Park,

my adorable niece and nephew,

a precious The Beauty and the Beast fairytale tea party for the girls (I brought vegan desserts for her, which she was fine with.) at The Magic House,

and even a So Delicious neopolitan icecream sandwich...

and it all equals a great weekend!

Things I'm Lovin' Lately

2011-04-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Vivacious Vegan from Adventures from Nutritarian Vegan in Midwestern America so kindly awarded me with the Stylish blogger Award. The bad news...VV is leaving the blog world. :( I hope she comes back one of these days!

In order to fulfill the duties of this prestigious award I must:

1. Make a post & link back to the person who gave me this award.

2. Share 7 things about myself.

3. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers.

I find that it is difficult to come up with 7 more things about myself that you don't already know. So instead, I'm going to mention 7 "things" I have especially liked lately.

Alamo City Salt-free Citrus Pepper. Would also like to try their Chili Lime or Lime Pepper, etc. I'm a big fan of citrus flavor in general. And also, incidentally, citrus lotion, shampoo, bubble bath, etc.

Sunja's Kimchi. Especially on wraps. This is my wrap with kimchi, greens, carrots, tomatoes, and chia seeds. I'd bet money there was some melted Daiya hiding under there somewhere.

I've eaten a lot of wraps lately on my gluten free tortillas, which are my favorite. Even though they're a little tough, I love them still.

another random wrap with avocado, rice, black beans,

cooked Kabocha squash, Daiya, and kimchi

Hail Merry's Chocolate Miracle Tart...it really is a miracle.

It's hard to get a picture to do it justice. The ingredients are cocoa, coconut oil, maple syrup, almond flour, and salt. The only downside is the $4.99 price tag. I've tried finding a recipe that would equal its creamy wonderness, but I haven't quite achieved an exact match yet. Anyone have somethin' for me to try?

Update: Since I started writing this a few weeks ago, I think I have finally eaten my share of chocolate tarts. Don't get me wrong; it took me many, many months to get tired of these. I always go through cycles of being obsessed with one dessert at a time. I had the Lemon flavor tart the other day, and it was a nice change.

I saw these Pom Wonderful Fresh Pomegranate packs at Sam's Club. I have always loved pomegranates, but this was a healthy-lazy girl's dream: pomegranate seeds all ready to eat. And usually when I eat from a pomegranate, it's one seed at a time as I make my way through. When you put a handful in your mouth at a time, it's bursting with juicy wonderment. I hope they have these next time I hit Sam's, or maybe I'll ask another store to carry them.

I also really liked the pomegranate seeds on my oatmeal. (Also included: apples, walnuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, grapefruit, and raspberries.)

Speaking of Sam's Club and raspberries, they have had the BEST organic raspberries (see above). I rarely ever buy fresh raspberries because I'd only buy organic, and those never look so fresh. These were the freshest, brightest, plumpest organic raspberries I've ever seen.)

That Pickle Guy's Olive Muffaletta. It is a raw mixture of minced olives and vegetables plus spices (and oil, which is the bad, bad thing). The jar makes these claims: Great on everything! and Habit Forming! Have Plenty. I can't say they are exaggerating. I love it on sandwiches.

Another hit for Hail Merry. (I really love everything I've tried from this company!) Red Bell Pepper Macadamia Nut Dip.

There was just something about it; I couldn't get enough.

Coconut Secret brand raw Coconut Aminos. I was interested in trying it after I saw it on Bitt of Raw's blog. I was going to order it online, then one day I gasped with excitement when I saw it newly sitting on the shelf at my Whole Foods. I like the taste of it; it is a nice alternative to Bragg's or soy sauce.

A version of Kristen's Raw Cherry Chocolate Bomb Shake. I use frozen bananas, almond milk (or whatever "milk" we have available), frozen cherries, and Vega's Choc-o-lot Shake & Go Smoothie Powder (pea & hemp protein plus veggie based). The cherry-chocolate combination is so good.

See how I applied a Michelle-like technique of sneaking more into my list. Hopefully, everyone is reading this part and not just assuming I can't count.

*******************************

That's my list, and here is my version of the States Traveled Map that has been floating around on your blogs. This has been good for me to look at. Especially during my "My life is so boring; I don't ever get to do anything, wah wah" moments. I think my new resolution for this year is to be able to fill in one more white state. Which one should I try?

As for passing on the award, let me think about that and get back to you. I have a couple of ideas, but I don't think I can come up with 10 new ones. Let me look around.

*******************************

Here is a fun read! Quarry Girl attended the Natural Foods Expo in L.A. again; I always look forward to her thorough recaps of the latest, greatest vegan products on the market. Still no health(ier) biscuits in a can or squeezey cheeze for me, but there is some other great-looking stuff! I know my kids will want to get their little hands on some vegan Peeps.

Missed you guys!

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

My oldest son presented me with this fistful of flowers on St. Patrick's Day. When we are apart for the day, he almost always has something for me. I usually find at least one drawing in his backpack with "To Mom, From (his name)" written at the top. Love him.

I am currently in "make kids more capable around the house" mode. They do help around the house some, but I am guilty of preferring to just do it myself so it is done correctly and quickly. However, I know I need to put in the time to teach them to do it right, and I know our household will flow more smoothly once they are doing more of their share. (Call me optimistic, but my plan is for the three of them to completely take over the laundry.) They're definitely old enough and capable (or at least could be) enough.

I said all of that to say, my 5 year old sat the table for me!

Every year for St. Patrick's Day we have a smorgasbord of green food, like this one. I wanted to do something different this year so I picked two dishes I'd never made.

For the Pesto Pasta, I used this recipe (subbing half of the oil with almond milk and a mixture of parsley & spinach instead of basil) for pesto. I wouldn't say it was delicious. It was okay. I probably didn't love it as much because it wasn't salty, and I didn't salt it at the table (since I'm trying to cut that out).

I liked the Pesto-Olive Foccaccia a lot. I think I could have left it in the oven a little longer, but I was trying to hurry things up. And I could have probably kneaded it better, etc. to make it lighter, but my son was helping me...and again, I was in a hurry.

The roasted asparagus (which was lightly misted with olive oil, Braggs, Coconut Aminos, spices, and lemon juice) was delicious. It got 10 thumbs up.

And then, of course, there were kiwi slices on the side "just because" they're green, pretty, and yummy.

I was disappointed in our silicone shamrock cupcake pan. They didn't resemble shamrocks after they rose. But they did when I turned them over.

I used the Simple Vanilla & Agave Cupcakes recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. It uses agave nectar (which browns quicker) as the only sweetener. They had more of a muffin taste, and we liked them.

I decorated them upside-down. Which was kind of weird. But I'm only trying to impress the 10 and under crowd here, so it's all good.

I also tried making Shamrock Shakes. I looked online, and there appeared to be many recipes supporting the addition of avocado into a creamy, delicious shake. After making them, I'm still not convinced of this. I think it's just not for me. I should have stuck with a green smoothie, which would have been delicious. My line of thinking was that if a green smoothie is delicious, then a green milkshake has to be that much better.

I used Purely Decadent Coconut Milk ice cream and added avocado and kiwi. Maybe if I hadn't made these myself and didn't know that it contained avocado (which I LOVE in non-dessert foods), it would have tasted better to me. I have food mixing issues. I also added just a bit of frozen kale to make it greener.

The verdict: 10 year old and 4 year old drank theirs right up, and my husband said he liked it, too. My 5 year old didn't like it, though, so I used his to make popsicles which they ate right up this morning.

After-supper entertainment included making St. Patrick's Day frog masks, puppet shows behind the couch, and a little karaoke.

Lots of "luck" and blessings to you all this weekend!

Deceptively Delicious Part Two PLUS Chocolate Muffins!

2011-03-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

Continuing on, trying out recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious...

(You can read about my veganized Blueberry (Squash) Lemon Muffins and Bean (Squash, Carrot) Baked Tortillas in my last post.)

I made a version of her Spaghetti Pie one night. I used Whole Wheat Angel Hair. I mixed 2 cups of Marinara Sauce with 1 cup steamed carrot puree. My 5 year old loves raw carrots but won't normally eat cooked carrots. (That's where the "deceptive" part comes in.)

I poured it into two pie plates, topped it with Daiya and my own version of meatballs, then baked it at 350 until it seemed ready. It was "delicious" with 10 thumbs up!

Pardon me while I ~~waste time~~ play around on Picnik for awhile:

1)pureed broccoli and seitan, 2) rolled up into balls, and 3) after they had baked

We loved these Broccoli Seitan Meatballs I created, based on the meatball recipe from Deceptively Delicious. As usual, I'm sure the rest of you will have better ideas about how to spice these up.

I used:

1 1/2 cups slightly steamed pureed broccoli

1 package of seitan

enough bread crumbs to help form balls

and a sprinkling of garlic salt

I pureed the broccoli with the seitan and garlic, then stirred in the bread crumbs before forming the balls and baking until slightly firm & browned.

Although it wasn't quite "pie-like" the first night (because we ate it hot from the oven), it definitely was the next day for leftovers. It cut very nicely into slices.

In other news:

I tried out the Chocolate Fudge Muffin recipe from Little House of Veggies. You might have seen it on her blog. Or you may remember drooling over its sister recipe, Chocolate Nutty Brownies, on Shenandoah Vegan's blog every few days for a week...or four.

This picture doesn't really do them justice. (Morgan's picture with the recipe is super yummy-looking.) These are the changes I made: I eliminated the oil (It only calls for 1 teaspoon to begin with - one major reason to love this recipe.), and I cut the sugar in half. The chocolate chips are what make the recipe, anyway.

Unless you're only baking for one, don't even bother making these unless you're going to double the recipe. Otherwise, you'll just feel angry and bewildered that you're out of these decadent little creatures so soon. Seriously, all five of us were talking about how much we loved these the entire time we were sitting at the table, eating them. There was a lot of "mmm"ing involved.

Deceptively Delicious

2011-02-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

Where have I been?

I think I had the flu (fever, chills, achey, head cold). Which was preceded by my children all having it. And although the kids were feeling better by the time I got sick, it hit my husband and me at the same time. We'd both be in bed while the kids fended for themselves. Occasionally, one of us would stagger out of bed to break up a fight or refill a sippy cup, then stagger back into bed as quickly as possible. It was one of those illnesses in which I was too weak to even fast forward through my dvr'ed show's commercials. I just endured the commercials rather than muster the energy to lift my hand.

Mix three weeks of someone being sick with a big birthday party, lots of out of town company, and the rigors (and fun) of everyday life - and that's where I've been.

Back to blogging!

I borrowed Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious from the library awhile back and have been enjoying trying out recipes from it. Although it isn't a vegan book, there is plenty to easily veganize. For those of you not familiar with the book, the concept is simply finding ways to sneak pureed fruits and veggies into your food.

And although my kids eat healthy enough that "sneaking veggies in" isn't necessary, I still find it fun and a challenge to do so. Above, I made the Tortilla Cigars with several changes. This is sort of what our Tortillas consisted of:

1 can pinto beans

1/2 cup yellow squash puree

1/2 cup carrot puree

sprinkling of Daiya

Yum! I spread the vegetable/bean puree onto Ezekiel Sprouted Tortillas with a little Daiya and rolled them up as tight as I could. I baked them for a bit (10 minutes? not sure) until they were browning and starting to crisp up a little. We couldn't get enough of these. I feel like there's no reason NOT to add veggie puree to my refried beans from now on. I didn't think it changed the taste much when it was all wrapped up.

Next up were the Blueberry Lemon Muffins, which I adapted quite a bit from the original recipe, veganizing it and cutting out some of the sugar and oil.

This was another yellow squash puree recipe. I chose these two recipes mostly because squash happens to be one of the vegetables my youngest two aren't crazy about. I love that I have these ideas to get a little yellow squash into them. We devoured these in two sittings. I could never stretch my desserts out for a month, like Shen, even if I wanted to.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Preheat oven 350. I stirred together these ingredients:

1/4 cup turbinado

1 Tbs. Earth Balance

3 Tbs. applesauce

1 cup lemon soy yogurt

(which is a little more than one container)

Then I added these ingredients:

3/4 cup steamed yellow squash puree

egg replacer equivalent to one egg

1 teaspoon lemon flavor

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup ground flaxseeds

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

The original recipe says to not overmix. Last, I stirred in:

1 cup frozen blueberries

Divide batter among muffin cups. (For me, this was equivalent to one 12-cup baking tin plus 2 extra silicone cups. Bake until muffins are lightly browned, about 13-16 minutes.

Next up on my list to try: Mozzarella Sticks with cauliflower puree!

What's Been Going On Lately

2011-02-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

A few random, fun happenings in my life lately:

I got to meet a blogger friend! Heather from Where's the Beach? and I had lunch together (the Friday before last). She blogged about it here. Since we live near one another, we had been talking for many months about getting together, and I'm glad we finally got the chance. She's fun, and I enjoyed our lunch (although it was much too short!).

This was my first time to eat at the relatively new 4 Square Gifts, which is a gift shop plus vegetarian deli (including vegan and gluten-free options) in Downtown Little Rock. I ordered the Hummus & Tofu Wrap, which was tasty, especially due to the lemon garlic hummus and kalamata olives.

We traveled up to Missouri that weekend to watch my niece in the Branson Community Theater production of Oliver! So cute and fun!

It usually only snows once or twice a year here, but it feels like it has been snowing every week.

where we live

The kids love the snow, obviously. And I love getting a call while still in bed that says, "The Public School System is closed today due to weather...". I bet my parents wish they had automated announcements when we were growing up. Of course, they didn't have cell phones or even phones on their nightstands, so I guess it wouldn't have made a difference.

We celebrated Ryan's birthday Friday night. (Unfortunately, he was out of town on business all week, including on his actual birthdate.) I asked him to choose anything he wanted for supper. I thought he might say a big Mexican meal or mashed potatoes and "meat"loaf, etc., but instead he picked Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with homemade cheese sauce. Normally, I use the grilled cheese recipe out of Ultimate Uncheese. I used Veganomicon's cheese sauce recipe this time, since I was out of tahini. On dark, seedy French Meadow Bakery Hemp Bread.

I also made Butternut Squash Soup. From scratch. Not really. I used Pacific's Organic Creamy Butternut Squash Soup.

He also requested a Delicious Choices Cheesecake. Delicious Choices was a company that would ship vegan cheesecakes to your door. Did anyone ever buy one? We bought several back in the day (always the sampler - every gigantic piece was a different flavor), and when they stopped selling them, they sold the recipes (that apparently can be found here).

I usually make the crust from scratch, but for sake of time, I just crumbled up two Wholly Wholesome Graham Cracker Crusts mixed with just enough melted Earth Balance.

I used a mixture of organic frozen strawberries, organic strawberry fruit spread, lemon juice, and a tiny bit of sugar for the topping.

Happy birthday, Ryan! Please don't go away on week-long business trips anymore!

This isn't the healthiest cheesecake recipe, but they are as delicious as their name indicates.

E.A.T. World Challenge (China)

2011-02-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

I had almost finished this post back in the days of Vegan Mofo, but then I went on vacation and never finished it. So...a little late, I present to you, "Our Night in China." Update: So...duh! It's Chinese New Year! Perfect timing! Happy Chinese New Year!

We like to celebrate big things and little things in our house. We have what we call "Family Fun Nights" with special themes. Often, they go along with what we are learning about at the time.(For example: here was our Ocean Unit party.)

Recently, the 4 kids of good friends of ours spent the night at our house. They are homeschoolers, too, and they appreciated joining in on a little of our Asian studies we've had going on around here lately.

We made hats and fans and looked at books and talked about the Chinese culture and food. (And we decorated with paper lanterns, etc. that we already had in our "party supply" tubs.)

We like to get recipe ideas from the juvenile non-fiction section of the library. There are a lot of pictures and easy, step-by-step instructions for the kids (easily veganized). I'd actually recommend children's cooking books for visual-learning adults like myself! Here are two of the Chinese food books we read: Foods of China by Barbara Sheen & A World of Recipes: China (There are several other country titles in this series.) by Julie McCulloch.

Here, they had rice cooked 3 ways; that seemed easy enough.

Fried Tofu with Rice

For our "fried rice with eggs," we just fried tofu in a skillet and mixed it with long grain rice and a little sprinkling of soy sauce.

Coconut Rice
and
Rice with organic Tamari and Peas & Carrots

The coconut rice was very interesting; the kids were shoveling it in! You are supposed to cook it in coconut milk for it to soak in the flavor. But I didn't have time to make a separate batch of rice so I just poured the (canned) coconut milk into the rice with a little sprinkling of organic sugar. The other section is just rice with (from frozen) peas & carrots.

Moo Goo Gai Pan

I was very excited and proud of myself for this one. I was just excited about making something called Moo Goo Gai Pan. I wove it into the conversation that night as many times as possible. I am a rather bland cook, and I'm a dunce when it comes to spices so this was stepping out for me! Here is a "sort-of" recipe:

*1 bag of Buffalo style Gardein strips (without using the sauce), tossed with salt, pepper, garlic, and organic cornstarch

*Cook shiitake mushrooms in a little oil, add 4 tbs. soy sauce. Mix in chopped onions, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and fresh minced garlic. (I added a tiny bit of ginger and would have added more if my kids weren't eating it.

*Stir in the sauce (about 1/2 cup vegetable broth, 2 tbs. hoisin sauce, 1 tsp. sugar, and 1 tbs. cornstarch.

I say this is a "sort of" recipe because I was trying to jot down everything I did, but I didn't measure the veggies, etc. and just "sort of" did what looked "right." It was delicious!

Seitan Broccoli and Hoisin Stir Fry

I based this dish on about.com's Chinese Vegetable and Hoisin Stir Fry recipe.

Vermicelli and Vegetables

Everybody also got a small glass of Cherry Apple Rooibos Tea (mixed with a little sugar) to try. Some kids liked it, and some did not. My oldest child gulped down cup after cup.

These two are quite a (comical) handful when you get them together. (That's my 5 year old on the right.) Fortunately, our house guests are used to healthy food and vegetables at home; they weren't picky (like some of the other kids who come to our house) and ate everything (although I didn't offer them the soy dishes because I know their Mom is leery of it).

You wouldn't believe what the aftermath of 7 kids mixed with rice, noodles, and chopsticks looks like.

We made the Sweet Chestnut Balls Recipe from the A World of Recipes: China book. They are made from processing chestnuts with a little agave nectar. (The recipe called for honey.) This is what they looked like before the balls were rolled in powdered sugar and cinnamon.

And this is with the cinnamon and powdered sugar. I rolled them in the sugar right before they ate them because if not, the sugar soaked into the ball and became invisible. These were tasty but a little sweet for my tastebuds to eat more than one.

We also had fruit salad for dessert, inspired by the Chinese belief in "good luck" fruit salad.

I am including this post as a part of

Wing-It Vegan's E.A.T. World! challenge.

My Kid's School Lunches

2011-01-27T10:16:00.000-08:00

3 mini "uncheese" (from Ultimate Uncheese) sandwiches, apple chunks (rubbed with orange juice), carrots & celery, Brazil nuts, and a Clif White Chocolate Macadamia Crunch Bar

salad (garbanzo beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, avocado, bell pepper, sweet potato, olive oil, spices), back to Nature Crispy Wheat Crackers, Brazil nuts, and an oatmeal raisin Alternative Baking Company cookie (Those 480 calorie cookies are good for his skinny 10 year old self.)

A Quinoa Spinach Salad purchased from Whole Foods, apple Crisps, garbanzo beans, lime Silk yogurt, and half of a Dark Chocolate Almond Dream bar

leftover homemade cheese and olive pizza, extra olives, broccoli, blueberries, lime yogurt, and back to Nature Multi-Seed Gluten Free Crackers

brown rice & beans with avocado, olive oil, and spices (plus ketchup because their father has conditioned them into believing beans aren't beans without ketchup), blueberries, salad (lettuce, avocado, sunflower seeds, almond slices and Vegan Caesar dressing), and a Surf Sweets gummy worm

Four Fun Facts

2011-01-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Heather at Where's the Beach?. Here are my Four Fun Facts:

Four TV Shows I Watch:
*Friday Night Lights

*Grey's Anatomy

*Private Practice

*The Bachelor (I'm just being honest.)

Four Things I'm Passionate About:
(These aren't necessarily the 4 things I'm MOST passionate about, just 4 OF them.)

*traveling around as much of the world as possible, also sharing that with my kids

*my food choices

*my kids' health and well-being; making sure they feel loved, supported, and challenged

*Brad Pitt. And Ryan Gosling. But only after my husband, of course.

Four Words/Phrases I Use Too Much:
"Awesome," maybe? I don't know if I use any word or phrase too regularly. Ryan can't think of anything for me, either. Sisters, any ideas? I do use "like" (as in "it's, like,...") and "so" too much in my writing.

Four Things I’ve Learned From The Past:

*It's important to guard your heart. (Above all else, guard your heart...Proverbs 4:23)

*Be careful of your word choices during arguments, because you can't take it back.

*Holding onto bitterness against someone isn't good for you. (If you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop, in order that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop...Mark 11:25)

*I have a bad habit of setting people up to disappoint me. I tend to see the world through fairy-tale lenses. This isn't fair to other people, and I'm not doing myself any favors.

Four Things I’m Looking Forward To:
*warmer weather

*another Hail Merry Raw Chocolate Tart, the next time I go to Whole Foods!!!

*visiting these places (among others) one day: Italy, France, England, Greece, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Yellowstone, and the Dakotas

*Every day I look forward to that moment of crawling into bed with my husband, relaxing, talking, laughing, and watching one of our shows; we just finished season 4 of Big Love.

Four Things I Love About Winter:
*I like Heather's answer: Um, pretty much the only plus is getting to wear boots.

*I also like wearing sweaters and the clothing choices, in general, during winter. I have a bad habit of wearing cardigans in the heat of summer.

*I like witnessing my kids' excitement the one or two times a year it snows here.

*Christmas and my daughter's birthday in February

I am supposed to tag some people. I'm going to go look at my blog roll and tag the first blog that's showing up right now...well, it's Heather so I can't tag her...next is Shenandoah Vegan. Well, I KNOW she will LOVE being tagged and telling us so many more things about herself. :)

I'm also tagging someone new I've been "following," but I'm just "getting around to" adding to my "roll."

Vegan Georgia - Her blog is fairly new; go over and say "hi!"

***********************************

My Hippy Pack

Carissa at Coffee & Sunshine created something called "Hippy Packs." She exchanges vegan friendly gifts with someone, and I thought it sounded like fun! Who doesn't want to get a box of vegan goodness in the mail? Thanks, Carissa, for a fun swap. (She wrote about my package here.) I think the world of this girl.

Here is what was in my box from Carissa: Color Drip Candles & chopsticks(fun!), Mama's Special Organic Kettle Corn (yum! didn't last long with the kids plowing in, too), Mareblu Naturals Cashew Crunch (yum!), MacFarms Hawaiin Macademia Nuts, Mrs. May's Almond Crunch (yum!), Seeds of Change Organic Quinoa & Brown Rice mix (haven't cooked this yet but looks good!), and a cute beverage cup!

There were also bags of Hops Flowers (She wrote that when made into tea, these help with insomnia, fevers, and digestion.) and Chamomile Flowers. I was excited that she sent these because this is one of the things I love about Carissa. She's always growing something and concocting something. She creates a lot of things naturally, from scratch; I love it and want to make more things the way she does.

She also sent me several packets of tea. This was perfect timing since one of my New Year's Resolutions was to get in the habit of drinking tea. I'm definitely not a drinker of any sort. I've mentioned before that I don't like soda, alcohol, coffee, tea...I have a hard time even getting my daily intake of water. I want to start drinking tea everyday, though, for the health benefits. So , thank you, Carissa, for the nudge in the right direction! I've been drinking my tea, adding in a dash of orange juice, and I like it that way.

She included two flowering teas. She wrote about them here on her blog. You just add hot water.

And look what happens! It's so pretty! The kids and I greatly enjoyed watching them "bloom."

Food Face Plates: How Fun Are These?

2011-01-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

The kids received these Food Face plates from us for Christmas and have had lots of fun eating on them.

My 10 year old originally saw these in the catalog and included them in his "Dear Santa" letter. They are from Hearthsong and sell for $9.98 apiece. They are made from a very thick, seemingly durable (well, you know, unless dropped on the floor, of course) high-fire ceramic and are dishwasher and microwave safe.

Aaaangry bell pepper strips and spiky carrot hair. Clearly this isn't enough food for my 10 year old. He likes to make a face, eat it, then make another face, etc.

And here is one my 5 year old designed.

The plates come in a sturdy box with several ideas for inspiration.

And here are a few of my plate creations:

organic baby corn, sunflower seeds, avocado, tomatoes, and baked sweet potato rounds

This plate belonged to my 10 year old, and his little sister also got the same. (My 5 year old won't eat tomatoes, avocado, or sweet potato, though.)

broccoli, mashed potaotes, and Field Roast

black beans, Kabocha squash, and Amy's Daiya macaroni & cheese

My 10 year old also has bell pepper chunks (and you can't see his squash I buried under the macaroni because I was running out of places to put it), and my 5 year old has an apple smile. At top, I tried mashing the squash into my 5 year old's macaroni so he couldn't tell...well, he could tell obviously and was not pleased. He ate it, though...something like dessert must have been on the line.

We love our Food Face plates! (I'm not being paid to say that.) And, hey, no judgment here if you get one of these plates even though you don't have kids! :)