Summer of Juvenile Fiction

Welcome, welcome, so good to see you back...

Oh no, wait, that's me!

Ah well, today I bring you the best of July-August for your viewing pleasure...



A while back I read about caramelizing onions in a slow cooker somewhere on Metafilter and I just had to give it a whirl (see here for more tips)... and yay, it worked! Whee! So I turned them into soup, which you see above and is totally anticlimactic. But I WILL be using them on my next pizza (more on that later).


Here is a blueberry grunt which photographed terribly but was pretty good. It was a little tart, as I recall, but I think that was the berries we used which were from last summer, really late season blueberries (think apple picking time) so they, as a berry, were just tart. I followed the recipe here and veganized it, of course omitting the whipping cream at the end.


And here is my new favorite thing! Whee! I used follow your heart vegan cheeze, mozzarella flavour, and my new favorite pizza dough. Yummy! I made it again recently, and just used 1/3 of the block of cheeze so now I can eek out three pizzas from one block of (fairly expensive) vegan cheeze! Yay! And in all truth, the pizza using the third of a block of cheeze was better anyway, used some fresh veggies from the farmer's market that I sauteed up and nom, nom, nom!

Pizza Dough

1 C warm water
2 T yeast
3 1/2 C flour
1/4 C vital wheat gluten
1 t ginger
1/4 C oil
2 t salt
2 T sugar (or honey if you're a beegan)

Mix water and yeast and let sit 5m until dissolved.
Mix in olive oil, flour, salt and sugar.
Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, approx. 10m.
Place in oil coated bowl and turn and flip dough so it is coated.
Cover with plastic wrap or a wet towel and allow to rise until doubled, around 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Punch down dough, divide in half and let sit 10m (you could freeze one half here if you don't want to make 2 pizzas- that's what I did and I made breadsticks with it for spaghetti another day).
Place pizza stone on rack in lower third of oven. Preheat to 450 degrees for 30m to 1 hour (I scoffed at this initially, but the second time when I made it, I let the oven preheat for more like an hour and the crust came out crisper!).
Flatten dough to 1/2" thick and 10 - 12 " wide. Go easy, if it starts to get wierd, let it rest (and you, too) for 5m. Then start again, patting and stretching.
Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal and put pizza crust on it.
Make dents using your knuckles, then brush with oil and let rest 5m.
Top with toppings and slide pizza onto baking stone (if it doesn't slide, add more cornmeal).
Bake 10 - 15m.


And here is what we had for supper last night-

Chickpea and Broccoli Macaroni

I must have been channeling my winter self or something, because this is a *gasp* casserole (yes, I turned on the oven, I am a masochist) and *gasp* it uses frozen broccoli. I should have gone to the farmer's market and bought fresh broccoli (wears hairshirt).
Anyway, this was good! Yay! I will make it again, fo' sure.

I made it just like the recipe, except I was all like, what's up with the 3/4 t ?!?! So I bumped the salt, garlic powder and paprika up to 1 t. Talk about taking a walk on the wild side, baby! Also, I used pasta water for the sauce, because my husband was not home yet with the soymilk. It turned out fine. Really good, folks. Definitely put this in your 'to make' pile. I can't wait to make it again, this time with soymilk and maybe even frying up the chickpeas with some garlic and onion. Yuuuum!


So, this has been the summer of juvenile fantasy fiction. I read "A Wizard of Earthsea" which was really good, read the next two after that.

I also read Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonsinger" or whichever one is the first in the series. Dragonsinger, dragondrums, dragonmaster, dragonrider... eventually the series will reveal 'Dragonaccountant' or 'Dragonhairdresser'. I have read the 'harper's hall' trilogy. The first was pretty good, then they were okay.

When I've run out of library books, I've been slowly working through LOTR. So good.

Next up, I am thinking about tackling the Harry Potter series. Yes, I am that crazy. Don't you think that would be a good way to end the "Summer of Juvenile Fiction"?

I Despair!

Heya peeps! Long time no blog!

Well, maybe it's best this way... you are spared the innumerable combinations of rice/pasta with a bit of tofu/fake ground meat/tvp and a somekindof sauce made usually with nutritional yeast.

I bring to you my 'best hits' of the summer, thus far!


First up, the magnificent breadstick! Ooooh, ahhh!

Marvel at it's uniform brownness and the sparkly bits of salt atop it's crest.

Truly, it is a wonder.

Ahem. No, really, though. It was good! Yay! I think I just googled 'olive garden breadstick' and this is what I came up with (after wading past all the nutritional info sites, oh, yeah, and all the sites telling me how to make breadsticks using a frozen bag of bread dough- d'oh! yah, right.). So anyhow, I really liked these and the baking time is less 'cause you've cut up the dough and stuff and I added my seekrit ingredients the second time around (pic above) and got even better results! Hoorah!

Breadsticks

4 C flour
2 T sugar
2 t salt
2 t yeast
1 1/3 C water
1/2 C vital wheat gluten (opt- seekrit ingredient)
1 t powdered ginger (again, optional, secret ingredient)

1 T melted Earth Balance
1 t salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t oregano

Oil 2 baking sheets.
Mix first group of ingredients in mixer, then knead for a few minutes.
Divide dough into 16 (I use my digital scale for this, because I am a nerd) and roll into breadsticks, placing them on the baking sheet once you've rolled them out.
Cover with a damp teatowel and let rise 45m.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Melt butter and brush onto breadsticks.
Mix the salt, garlic powder and oregano and sprinkle the tops of the breadsticks.
Bake 15m.

See? Easy! You can make these if you have maybe an hour before supper and then all you have to do is make spaghetti, but you've really fancied it up here with the breadsticks and everyone will be like, wow.

Next up is a few pictures of my new favorite 'spice blend' for 'Indian' food. See how I used those little quotes there? That's because spice blend sounds so fancy, yes? And quotes make anything better. Also around the word, Indian? That's because I'm sure an real Indian cook would scoff. But hey, me likey. Scroll down for the recipe. Below you see fried chickpeas and tofu with tomatoes and below that you see fried chickpeas and silken tofu with tomatoes and freshly wilted, or is that wilted fresh, spinach. It was fresh spinach, freshly wilted, anyhow. Sooo good.


This 'spice blend' originates from this recipe... the only thing I changed was to drop the chili garlic paste and replace it with paprika, 'cuz my family are wusses.

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 can diced tomatoes
2 T oil
1 T fresh grated ginger
1 t onion powder, cumin, garam masala, salt
1/2 t coriander, tumeric, garlic granules
1/4 t paprika

Fry the garbanzos in oil until browning. Add ginger and spices. Add the tomatoes and spinach if you've got it, mix until well heated. Serve over rice. Tada!


And finally, here is the piece de la resistance (that is wholly incorrect, I'm sure)- strawberry shortcake!! I found the recipe on the intarweb and now alas, I cannot find it again. Ah well, besides, I changed it up some, so there. Soooo goooood! Go, pick some strawberries, now! Make this tonight!!



Strawberry Shortcake

2 C sliced strawberries/1 quart strawberries
2 T sugar

2 C flour
2 T sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cream of tartar
1/4 t baking soda
3/4 C soymilk
1 1/2 t apple cider vinegar
1/4 C canola oil

Oil two baking sheets.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Slice strawberries, sprinkle with sugar, mash up a little with a fork and set aside to allow juices to release.
Add apple cider vinegar to soymilk, whisk a little and set aside to sour.
Mix dry ingredients well.
Add soymillk and oil and gently mix.
Spoon 6 mounds onto baking sheets.
Bake 15m until golden.
Remove to racks and cool.
Top with berries and serve.


Well, so now for the reading...
I finally got my hands on a copy of "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" and it was a really good read! Lots of engaging stuff in there about culture and aging and love. I couldn't put it down! I was so tickled because I hadn't been able to get it from the library (not in the system) and so I had just relegated it to the 'books I can't get ahold of but have come highly recommended'- thanks Mallika!. This category also contains "The Mysterious Benedict Society" btw. ANYWAY I was making my semi-frequent stop at my local bookstore to see what they had on the free to members prerelease shelf and there it was!! Whee!

Again, you are treated with my 'best of' reads here, suffice it to say I would give myself a headache if I tried to remember and list all the books I've been reading, but one that stands out, dun, dun, DUN! is "Treasure Island". Yes, that great classic of old. Aaaaand, get this. I read it online!

Here's the story- I checked it out from my library, from the children's literature section, mind you, and it was some terrible bastardized version! Ptoooey! Oh, it was awful. I cannot even say how awful it was. They gutted out all the interesting asides that make the characters spring to life and I couldn't even bear to read past a few pages when I threw it down in disgust. Yes, folks, it was that bad. OMG, srsly, if this pap is what they are giving our children to help smooth it down their throats, I despair. End rant.

Okay, that's it for today. Have a lovely day!

Lovely.

Hokay, lets start at the top, shall we?

Here is Arroz non Pollo from "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" which is a very good cookbook, btw.

It was a good thing for me to try because it did things I would never do and it uses saffron, which I have but never know how to use! Okay, on the 'did things I would never do' front- well, let's just say it's busy. I mean, green olives, green beans, peas and chickpeas I would never put together in one dish. And to top it all off, some salsa in there too! But it was really good and simple and hearty. Win.

Wheat Berry Stew. This one turned out kinda weird. I was all excited to use my wheat berries, and I had some dried cannellini beans I used as well, so win there, but really, it was just odd. I added some stuff.

1 jar marinara sauce
1 jar's worth of water
1 1/2 C dried cannellini beans
1 C wheat berries
6 small potatoes, cubed
1/4 C nutritional yeast (just 'cuz)
1 T olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T cumin
2 T soy sauce
1 T brown sugar
1 t onion powder (I was out of onions)
1 t turmeric
1 t paprika (a desperate bid to make it taste better)
1 t salt
dash pepper

The original instructions say to mix together and cook on high 8 - 10 hours. Mine was done sooner and took a LOT more water.

Cupcakes! Using vegweb's super moist chocolate cake recipe, which is my 'go to' recipe for cake. Hard to get out of the muffin tin, but oooh, so worth it! Plus simple chocolate espresso frosting. I just used fine ground coffee and some cocoa our friends brought back from the carribean. Wow.


Manwich using Boca crumbles. Used "Manwich BOLD" it was so exciting. Perhaps a bit more tomatoey. I could not fathom what made them bolder really.

Gnocci from Target. Made a cheez sauce using the cashew butter I got at the coop on sale. Your basic cheez sauce; cashew butter, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powder, water, salt. I added a bit of citric acid and that tarted it up good! Pretty fun. Going to add citric acid to my cheez sauces from now on. Can't remember why I purchased citric acid- I know I had to go to some special ?brewer's? store and it was ?for a craft project? Hmmmm....

And finally, Cashew Garlic Alfredo Sauce which is so nummy. I upped the olive oil and the nutritional yeast to 1/4 c each and downed the water to just one cup. Also added citric acid, just a wee pinch (in lieu of the lemon juice).

Not much reading, really. Remember when I was all excited about having all these good books to read? Somehow they all evaporated. Like, one I hadn't remembered that I'd already read "The Pacific" by Mark Helprin who I really love. And "No one belongs here more than you" which went really fast and I liked it a lot. And "Everything Is Illuminated" - did I mention that one? Oh yeah, that I was sorta dense abuot what really happened. Watched the movie, which was fine, sorta have an inkling about what happened, but who can tell? The movie was supposed to have been different anyway.

So.

Enjoy the new digs, they are courtesy of my husband's tinkering- it was a lovely 'happy birthday' surprise!

A Footnote to the Footnote!

Well, it's snowing here- slated to storm, actually. I just got a good night's sleep in who knows how long, we've got most of our Christmas stuff done (did all the cards last night- phew!) and so now we have just a few trips planned today to run errands to the COOP, the library and the Bikery, our local coffeeshop. I hope you and yours have a great Holiday season and get to spend lots of time with loved ones!

Here is some spaghetti with bottled peanut sauce and some of that fake chicken stuff and a bag of frozen vegetables. Yes, we like to live it up here...

But, even better yet, here are Snickerdoodles!!! Whee! I got to use my whisk attachment for my mixer which I hardly ever get to use. Oh, baby, were these good, it was a good thing my husband took them to work and I only got to eat a half of one! Next time I will roll them in the cinnamon sugar, roll them in between my palms to soften them a little and reroll them. Yes, I am AR, thank you very much. Isn't the cracking bee-yoo-ti- ful? I guess that's from the chilling of the dough. What a great thing to know. Go, make these now. They are really simple and really good.
And lastly, inspired by Guava's Shepherd's Pie, I made this! Man, I didn't even get you guys the money shot it was just so good. Imagine some peas and corn and carrots floating around in the gravy. I used some red wine in the gravy and the mashed potatoes mixing with the gravy... mmmmmm... heaven! I used my favorite Baked Veggie Stew with Biscuits on Top recipe. Maybe I'll have to try Vegan Dad's version next...

Still reading "Infinite Jest"- I got to the part where I quit last time, you wanna know how I knew it? I was filled with the same bafflement, that's how. I was reading a footnote and THERE WAS A FOOTNOTE TO THE FOOTNOTE!!!!! Srsly, folks, this book truly takes a commitment to read, not to mention that it's sort of hard to read in bed when you have to hold up this thing that weighs like a ton. Really, I can read a big book, I'm a big girl now, but when I have to keep flipping to the back to read footnotes, it gets exhausting. I should skip the footnotes, but I'm paranoid I'll miss something crucial and you really can't let things go with this story. Well, anyhow, I'm commited. We'll see if it's fate is better than that of "In the Name of the Rose".

Even Better

WWHFDLN*

Delicata Casserole

1/2 16 oz box pasta
2 delicata squash, cut up into 1/2" pieces
1 C pumpkin from in a can
1 C raw cashews
1 clove garlic
1 C soymilk
1 C water
1 t salt
pinch nutmeg
20 Ritz crackers

Start your water for the pasta.
Oil a 9 x 13" casserole.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
In a blender, blend the cashews, pumpkin, garlic, soymilk, water, salt and nutmeg.
Chop up your squash and when the pasta is done, mix everything together in a big bowl. Pour it into the casserole and bake for an hour at 400 degrees.
Top with Ritz crushed in a bag or whizzed in a food processor and brown under broiler for 10m or until brown.

I thought this was great, the sauce complemented the sweetness of the delicata nicely. I think it would be good for sweet potatoes as well. I'm going to try that next time.

*What We Had For Dinner Last Night

And, to use up the rest of the pumpkin, I made Vegan With A Vengeance's The Best Pumpkin Muffins. Mmmm good. Not exactly healthful, but deeeelicious. I recommend. Added 1/2 C chocolate chips. Even better.

Feeling V. Virtuous

What We Had For Dinner The Other Night

Potato-Green Pea Samosa Filling

I skipped the lemon, used cumin instead of cumin seeds and no cayenne pepper powder. Yum! Served over rice as you can see.


What We Had For Dinner Last Night

Easy Yummy Lasagna Recipe

I need to work on perfecting my lasagna. I used uncooked noodles and they came out crispy/crunchy and rubbery- both at the same time!! Maybe next time I will just boil the lasagna noodles first. Sometimes you just can't cut corners.

I was pleased with the tofu basil sauce (much like Tofu Basil Ricotta except with soft silken tofu) and would definitely use it again in a lasagna. I know that my husband and daughter did not love the eggplant and spinach, though. Maybe zucchini and tomatoes or some other vegetable I'm not thinking of right now.
And last but not least, Chocolate Pudding In a Mug.

Oh bliss!

Last night I was just craving some chocolate and wishing I had some kind of ice cream bar, but alas, there was nothing to be had. So I hopped online, remembering something about chocolate cake in a mug... Well, I didn't find a recipe for cake, but I did find something chocolatey and good!! This recipe came through for me! Thanks, internet!

I especially appreciated the ease of making it, the not high calorie content (Holy heart attack, have you seen this recipe?!?) and the specific instructions about how to make it. Oh, the only thing I added was a pinch of salt and I upped the vanilla to 1/2 t.

1 T cornstarch
2 T cocoa powder
2 T sugar
3/4 C soymilk
1/2 t vanilla
pinch salt

Combine all ingredients except soymilk and vanilla in a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup. Use a fork to make sure there are no lumps (you could also sift the ingredients together if you were feeling really anal). Slowly add the milk and then the vanilla- add just a little and mix, then a little more and so on.

Nuke for 1m. Stir. Nuke for 33 seconds, stopping when it starts to rise to the tippy top of the cup. Stir. Do this in 15s increments (or however long it takes to boil up again) until it's 'boiled' for approximately one minute.

Eat. Do not burn mouth. Yum.

Finished "Take Joy" by Jane Yolen, a really excellent book. Very encouraging and smart.

Bailing on "The Children of God" because it's dragging and I find it sort of voyeristic. Now that I sort of understand why what happened in the first book happened, I've lost interest. Boo.
All I have left are boring books, I think. Must go look through pile.

Started another Short Row Scarf with some crazy acrylic. Need to go up in needle size. Frustrated that I can't find my favorite size 10 1/2 circular needles. Stalled.

Started Flylady- go ahead, laugh! Go ahead! Anyway, don't have much clutter, but patiently submitting to the slow ramping up while waiting for more info on cleaning. Have polished my sink. Did "Swish and a Swipe" of bathroom this morning. Feeling v. virtuous.

Even Better Than The Real Thing

What We Didn't Have For Dinner Last Night

Banana Bread!

Yup! Followed the recipe as written. Didn't reduce the sugar, nor the Earth Balance Margarine. Nope. And boy is it good. We'll see if we can even get my banana-hating husband to try a piece. I think it's that good!

I was inspired when I was cataloging my freezer contents to make banana bread. I found 3 frozen bananas in there (frozen for smoothie making).

Oh, and the homemade ice cream made with Hazelnut Soy Creamer was based off of "How It All Vegan"'s recipe. I think it's even better than store bought.

2/3 of a box soft silken tofu
1 container Silk Hazelnut creamer (btw, do not look at the nutritional info ha ha)
dash salt

Blend/food process.
Pour into shallow container and freeze until solid.
Thaw (this takes about half an hour), spoon into blender/food processor and process 'til smooth.
Freeze again.
Remove from freezer 5m before serving.
Yum.

No Loafing!

Here are a couple of dinners for you...

The first is Loaf, made using The Magical Loaf Studio! I named mine "In All It's Awesome Glory". It was good! No, really, it was actually good! No, for serious, it was good!
I had all this wheat germ, see, from making the granola bars for our camping trip, and so I went to vegblogsearch.com and typed in wheat germ, and one of the results that came up was loaf!
Here is mine...

1/2 C walnuts
2 T canola oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot, grated
1 C TVP reconstituted in 1 C boiling water
1 C wheat germ
1/4 C tapioca pearls
1 t dried basil, crumbled between your fingers
1 t dried parsley, crumbled between your fingers
1/4 t oregano, crumbled between your fingers
2 T HP sauce/ketchup
1 t salt
pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan.
Boil your cup of water and add TVP, set aside.
In the small bowl of your food processor, process walnuts into meal. Pour into bowl and set aside.
In the small bowl of your food processor, process the onion, garlic and carrot.
In a large pot, saute veg in oil.
Add everything else and mix well.
Pour into loaf pan, press into pan and bake 1 hour.
Let cool 10-15m and turn out and slice into 8.
Approximately 3 points per slice.

Here is a recipe that I got from our CSA, was it ever good! I think this is how I will prepare chard from now on...

African Pineapple Peanut Stew

1 C chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T canola oil
1 bunch Swiss chard/kale, chopped (about 4 C)
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
1/2 C peanut butter
1 T Tabasco sauce (or to taste)(or whatever you use for 'heat')
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
salt to taste

Saute onions, then garlic.
Add pineapple, simmer and add chard. Simmer until chard is wilted.
Mix in peanut butter, Tabasco sauce and cilantro.
Simmer for 5 more minutes and serve over rice.
4 points per half cup.

Two potlucks this weekend!! One at the Harvest Festival at the farm and one for our church.
I brought Pineapple Upside Down Cake to the farm and it was good! I used 1/4 C Earth Balance instead of 1/3 C oil and it was fine. I beat the sugar and the margarine together, then added the pineapple juice and vinegar and then the dry ingredients. Oh, and I used rings instead of crushed pineapple.
It was the first time I've used my springform pan and I was so pleased that it worked. A little was leaking into the oven, so I just stuck a baking sheet under it to catch the drips and it was fine. Also, the inside did not get cooked, so when I flipped it out onto the plate, it was all raw, so I stuck it back into the oven and crossed my fingers that the glass plate wouldn't crack and it didn't- phew!
Didn't get a picture of the loveliness, so I guess I'll have to make it again. Definately a keeper.

For our church party, I brought a dish based off of Urban Vegan's Curry Cashew Casserole and it turned out great! I kind of diverged from the recipe a lot, but not really. Well, yes I did. But not in spirit. You decide.

3/4 C cashews
3 small eggplants, chopped
3 red or green peppers, chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can coconut milk
2 T brown sugar
1 T curry powder
1 t salt
1 t onion granules
1 t dried basil, crumbled between your fingers
1/2 t garlic granules



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil a 9 x 13" casserole dish.
In a food processor, process your cashews into meal.
Pour into a large bowl and add garbanzo beans, coconut milk, brown sugar, curry powder, salt, onion granules, basil and garlic granules. Mix well. Add eggplant and peppers, mix well.
Pour into casserole and bake 40m covered , 20m uncovered.
Serve over rice, yum!

Enjoying "The Sunrise Lands"- Stirling is a good storyteller- not afraid to pull out all the stops when it comes to plot development.

A Madcap Adventure

The soup and bread (Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day Master Recipe) turned out great, but I forgot to serve salad, d'oh! We had a happy birthday celebration. D. got some tshirts, exciting, I know.
Ahhh, the cake was scrumptious. I just used the same recipe for the frosting, except I used cocoa instead of the strawberry jam.

We had balloons, a crown, the birthday song, cards, gifts and cake!! What a great day... now this weekend we'll have a visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

Got a few repeats on the knitting done, looks like my idea about only 3 repeats instead of 4 was a good one! Hooray! Now I should go and check my Walker Treasuries to see if I've just reinvented the wheel or something...

Still reading the Bean Trees, pretty good. A madcap adventure.

A Symphony of Flavor

Last night's supper was like a taste explosion in my mouth! After a spate of meh suppers, this was an exciting change! Let me explain...

I saw this post over at What the hell does a pinkhaired girl eat, and then I googled it and found this post at Smitten Kitchen and was even more intrigued, and after realizing that I did indeed have romaine lettuce, I decided to go for it!

Originally I was going to make pizza, and try out a new pizza dough, but then I ran out of time. I was peeling my beets (naughty!) for Susan's Beet Chocolate Cake and decided to chop up the bigger ones and roast them, and then I threw in a few carrots and the last two fennel bulbs and some onion and a whole head of garlic to roast. Sprinkled them with oil and a leeetle bit of balsamic and threw those in the oven for 30m at 350 degrees. So it was to be pizza with pesto sauce and roasted veg, which sounds great, doesn't it? But pasta with pesto and roasted veg was great!

And we tried that new Barilla omega three juju magic pasta and it didn't taste too weird, so that's good! Weight watcher me was pleased to note that it's only 2 points a cup instead of 4.
And those beets! Wow!! So sweet and good! The puree for the cake was so tasty! I don't think I've ever had a beet that tasted so good.

And when I was making the pesto, I only had to use 1/2 t salt and 1 T of olive oil. So it's kind of light, but really tasty, and the sweetness of the roasted veg and the garlicky spicyness of the pesto really married well.

Romaine Pesto

1 1/2 C romaine lettuce, packed
1/4 C walnuts (5)
1 clove garlic
1/2 t salt
1 T olive oil (4)
2 T nutritional yeast

Blend everything except oil in food processor, scrape sides and drizzle in oil while running processor.
Yum!
And this cake! It is a light cake that you can eat everyday! But it's not the 'light' that leaves you like, 'Ah, I just ate a light cake.' Very moist and satisfying. I have to admit, I did not use any fancy-dancy cocoa, just Nestle's, but that worked well. The only change I made was to use 1 T of oil in it and not the 2 T of water she calls for to add to the beet puree. I think I used more than the 1/4 C water in the blender to get the beets to puree, anyway. I used 4-5 (can't remember) small beets and that gave me roughly 1 C of puree. Oh, and I didn't use whole wheat flour 'cause I was out. Heck, I should just give you the recipe...

4-5 small beets
1/4 C water
1 C sweetened applesauce
1 T oil (4)
1 t vanilla
1 t apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 C all purpose flour (12)
1/2 C cocoa (2)
1 C sugar (16)
1 T cornstarch
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon

36 points total divided by 18 = 2 points per slice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Oil a 9 x 13" pan.
Peel, chop and boil your beets until tender.
Puree beets with 1/4 C water, pour into 2 C measure and fill to 2 C mark with applesauce. Whisk together the rest of the wet ingredients.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in another bowl and then pour the puree mixture in and mix until just combined.
Bake at 325 for 40m or until it tests done.

Sorry about the rant yesterday about the book. I'm still reading it, because, truth be told, all I have left from the library is a non-fiction book that I should be reading, but don' wanna. Probably someday you'll even see me read the next one (I'm betting there is one) if our library has it. Or maybe I'm wrong! Looks like this is the last one! Now I have to eat crow.

Fiddled a little with the baby blanket pattern, got to the point where I figured out something else to try and set it down, will try and pick it up today. Maybe not stripes every other row, but then that means a wealth of ends to weave in...

Phew!

Good morning! Whee! We had a very nice weekend visiting with K. our guest who came all the way from Milwaukee!! We went out in the boat, played on the swings in the backyard, checked out Lumberjack Days... and of course we ate food.

Here's my favorite new recipe that I tried this weekend! It's the Morning Glory Loaf turned into muffins! People, these are gooood! I doubled the recipe and we still have batter in the fridge awaiting deployment (aghlaghlaghlaghl)!

Morning Glory Muffins

3 C all purpose flour (24)
1 C whole wheat flour (4)
1 1/3 C brown sugar (22)
1 T cinnamon
1 T + 1t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 C canola oil (32)
1 16 oz can crushed pineapple (reserve 1/2 C juice) (8)
1 T ginger paste
2 t vanilla
2 C carrots, grated
1 C craisins (6)
1 C shredded coconut (16)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tin.
Mix dry, then wet.
Makes 2 loaves, bake 50 - 60m or until tests done.
Makes 36 muffins, bake 18 - 22m or until tests done. Cool in pan.
Each muffin is roughly 3 points.
Notes;
next time add 2 T flax seed meal?

I kept meaning to make the green beans this weekend, but never got to it- here's what we had last night, sauteed green beans with herbs from the back yard! and Susan's Easy Mac and Cheeze reheated (I made this for when K. got in Fri. night) with 1 T oil added. Oh, and some salt and pepper. Yumm...
Bug break! Okay, check out this guy I saw while I was outside taking the seed pods off of my lilies... is it a spider? I Googled yellow spider with orange stripes and came up with nada. Maybe it's one of those bugs that masquerade as another?
I also made Chocolate Chip cookies, and did the whole refrigerate them for 24 hours thing...
I thought the refrigeration time really helped with the consistency of the dough- it was much firmer, and so therefore the cookies themselves baked up really nice, like where you get that crispy edge around the outside and it was all melty chewy in the middle and the tops crack a little bit- super!! Plus the dough got browner (due to saturation of the flour with the water) so they look better. And, it's hard to judge, but I think the taste was better. I did not bake a control batch, so who knows.

Unfortunately, I also think that the extended time that gave the cookies a richer taste also allowed for the baking soda to permeate? the cookie too. D. said they tasted like baking soda. Boo. So next time I'll drop the baking soda and then we'll see if we don't have chocolate chip crackers...

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance

1 C Earth Balance margarine (2 sticks) (48)
1 1/4 C sugar (20)
1 T molasses (1)
2 t vanilla
2 1/2 C all purpose flour (20)
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 C chocolate chips (12)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together margarine and sugar until fluffy.
Add molasses and vanilla.
Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix well.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Drop by teaspoonfulls 2" apart on greased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 - 10m until slightly browned, remove and cool on sheets 5m, then on cooling rack.
Makes 3 dozen.

notes;
I got 4 dozen.
better with refrigeration (24 hrs), but reduce baking soda to 1/2 t.
Next up, this Napa Cabbage Salad. This was an amalgamation of several recipes. It was pretty good, but next time I'd double the dressing or something- it didn't really pop like I wanted it to...
I have to admit I'm kind of a sucker for recipes that use things like a package of ramen noodles in a salad. Must be my roots showing...

Napa Cabbage Salad

1 Napa cabbage, julienned
2 C edamame
8 green onions, sliced thin
1 carrot, grated
1 pkg ramen noodles, souop packet reserved and noodles crumbled
1/4 C sliced almonds
2 T sesame seeds

dressing;
1/4 C olive oil (16)
2 T sesame oil (8)
3 T rice wine vinegar
2 T sugar (2)
packet ramen soup mix

Toast the sesame seeds, almonds and ramen noodles in a large skillet, stirring constantly. Set aside.
Blend dressing.
Chop veggies and toss everything together.
If refrigerating, add toasted noodles, almonds and sesame seeds right before serving.

Makes a lot!

Notes;
In lieu of ramen soup packet, use soy sauce.
Could double dressing.
Finally, here's what we took out on the boat for a picnic- Tofu Dill Salad Sandwiches. This was also from Vegan with a Vengeance! It was a great way to use up that dill from the CSA.

1 lb extra firm tofu, drained and pressed (8)
3 T red onion, diced fine
3 T Vegenaise (9)
1/2 C fresh dill, chopped
2 t Dijon mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Crumble tofu in a bowl, mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Refrigerate before serving.

Okay, still reading through "Meeting at Corvallis" by Stirling, it's good.
No knitting this weekend.
That's all for today.

The Ayes Have It

Well, what a wonderful weekend we've had! My friends B. and S. left yesterday morning, and we had such a good time! B. was here to play on his tour with his band, The Del Ripleys! While he was gone S. and I hit the town! We saw a busker playing down by the river, had the antique shop owner whose store we visited follow us all around the store as we looked at cast iron pans, old Pyrex and jewelry, and we stopped at a cafe where the owner's tires had been slashed! Good times! Oh, and the day before we hit a going out of business sale 90 percent off and I scored a pair of pants and a shirt (thanks, S.!). Can't beat shopping with a girlfriend, we had lots of fun.

Oh, can't forget the blueberry picking!! We went to the Blueberry Fields of Stillwater, we were nearly the first people there on this, their first day of their first year!! We will definitely return, they were so great with the kids- had special baskets of books for the kids to look at, which really came in handy! We were there early and so it was nice and cool and we had the pick of the patch. A very fun morning and we will be back.

Anyway, on to the food!

I made Easy Macaroni and Cheeze and boy was it! Thanks, Susan! I was a little nervous when I tasted it at first, but when we sat down and served it up, everyone ate up! But I am just a nervous nellie. It was so easy, did I mention that? Plus, low fat! This will be a regular player in our stable of household recipes.

Easy Macaroni and Cheeze

1 lb pasta
1 1/4 C water
1 C soymilk (2)
3/4 C nutritional yeast
3 T cornstarch
1 T lemon juice
1 t salt
1 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t dry mustard
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t turmeric
pinch cayenne
2 T tahini (5)
1 t miso
pepper to taste

Boil up your pasta.
Blend up everything else.
Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 C. (I didn't do this)
Return pasta to pot, pour sauce over and stir until boiling and thick.
Thin with pasta water if needed. (I didn't need to do this)

Notes;
use less turmeric
used 1 T miso

Next is just a picture of what we used some of our perfect blueberries for- a crisp made by S. She doesn't use a recipe, but I guess it's pretty simple. Didn't use a lot of sugar 'cause the berries were so sweet and just some oats and brown sugar and Earth Balance to top.

Finally was a cake I made for our csa's garlic harvest party!! Woo! It was a success! I don't know what I did differently (than other vegan cakes I've made), or if it was just the recipe, but it turned out so well (I thought).

Our day at the farm was so fun, as usual, and E. got to hold a chick- Lyle (so named for her rockin' hairstyle). Lyle was the smallest and therefore, easiest, chick to catch. Plus, fresh garlic! that I am so excited to use.

Super Moist Chocolate Cake w/ strawberry frosting

1 1/2 C flour (12)
3 T cocoa
1 t baking soda
1 C white or brown sugar (16)
1/2 t salt
1/4 C + 1 T canola oil (20)
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 t vanilla
1 C cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9 x 9" pan.
Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar and salt well with fork or whisk. Do not allow there to be any lumps! If you have a child eager to help, let them help with this part. If you have some inherent drive to mix, mix, mix, do it here, not after you add the wet ingredients. Alternately, use a mesh strainer to sift the dry ingredients- so much more fun!
Add wet ingredients and mix until moistened, DO NOT OVERMIX!, there can be some lumps.
Pour cake batter into pan* and bake 30m or until it tests done.

*if you're not going to frost this, check the top of the cake for any bubbles and if there are any, lightly tap the pan on the counter once to break them before you put it in the oven.

strawberry frosting- modeled after Best Frosting Ever

2 T Earth Balance (6)
1 T soymilk
1 T strawberry jelly (1)
1 C powdered sugar (8)

Nuke the butter (just 11 seconds or so!) in your mixing bowl. Mix in the soymilk and jelly (removing any big pieces of strawberry). Sift in the sugar and mix well. Pour over cake!

All told, if you cut this cake into 16 pieces it's 4 points a piece which is a lot better than most cakes, actually. And it's so, so good!

notes;
I used a scant cup of sugar and 2 T brown sugar
you can double this for a 13 x 9" pan but don't double the vinegar
if making cupcakes, bake time is 15m
next time I'll whip the frosting, ooooh, fancy.

Finished "Jewel"- felt like I was hacking through a forest. Must. have. closure. Question: will there be a final reckoning? No. Just namby pamby soft focus stuff. Sometimes I like a good smackdown, but, I guess, like life, things are grey. We do do our best with what life gives us. I guess that is the moral of the story.

Saslaw!

Do you know what I do in the morning when I use my french press* and it's going soooo sloooow when I press it down? I pretend I'm a fancy European who is part of the slow food movement and I try and repress my impatient American "I want my coffee nooooww!" response. Okay, so I know my bought-at-Target Yuban Organic ground coffee is not anywhere near their goals, but it's one step closer from my former instant coffee drinking!
We had friends over last night and so I made some fixins! It was pretty hot yesterday so I picked out some cool things to make and then my husband just grilled some Tofurkys on the grill. Oh! And our friends brought marinated Portabellas that we grilled too! And they were so good! I'll have to get that marinade from her...

We got cilantro from our CSA, like a big bunch, so I have a lot for more salads or whatever...
I just chopped up a few strawberries, half a jicama, one orange and yellow pepper and half a red onion and then tossed them with 1/2 C chopped cilantro, 1 T balsamic vinegar and 2 T olive oil. It was pretty good, but next time I'd double the balsamic and olive oil and add lettuce. Without lettuce it was kind of like a slaw, kind of like a salsa but neither, really. It was saslaw! Anyway, it was very light and summery and good, whatever you choose to call it.
Next up was this deliciously rich Tofu Chocolate Pie! I ran out of vanilla extract so I subbed in almond and thus the almonds on top! It was quite serendipitous that I had sliced almonds to decorate! I feel so fancy! I was actually debating the almond extract, but then I caved and thought, 'no, better go with what I know' and then I started pouring the vanilla into the teaspoon measure and drip, drip, drip and suddenly I was like 'well, I guess we're going with the almond, then!'. I'm not sure you could really taste the almond except that maybe it made it taste richer somehow.

Chocolate Tofu Pie

1 box soft silken tofu (5)
1 C vegan chocolate chips (16)
1 C powdered sugar (16)
1 t vanilla extract
1 t almond extract
graham cracker crust (24)
a few sliced almonds (you didn't actually expect me to count them, did you?)

8! points per 8th

Blend tofu and extracts in food processor until smooth.
Pour chips into a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup or other microwave safe vessel and nuke 1m. Remove and stir until chips are melted. Pour into tofu mixture and process well, scraping down sides. Add powdered sugar (sort of fold this in before you process it, thus avoiding a powdered sugar mushroom cloud) and process well, scraping down sides periodically.
Pour into graham cracker crust. Refrigerate 1 hour until firm.

Okay, I take it back on the Shari T. book, "The Visitor". I stayed up last night reading. So it's good. I have been drawn in. Now my only worry is that I'll be dragged into some long series of books and be thwarted by the library's missing one of them. I don't think she can wrap up what she's started with how many pages she has left. Curses!

Pandowdy, pandwody, pandowdy.

After seeing this post over at have cake will travel, I did decide to try the black bean burgers! We have been searching for a nice burger for quick suppers/lunch/grilling and this fits the bill for the first two. It was good- the color was good, the texture was nice and the taste was tasty, what else can I say? My husband liked them more than the chickpea cutlets, so that's nice, too! From Veganomicon.

Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (3)*
1/2 C vital wheat gluten (4)
1/2 C bread crumbs (4)
1 t cumin
1/4 C water
1 T HP sauce
1 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder

I mixed it all in the mixer (sorry, Isa!). First, mashing the beans, then adding everything else.
Knead by hand a little, divide into 6 and make patties and cook in a little oil in a skillet.
Each pattie is 2 points, plus ?maybe 2? for the oil soaked up during frying = 4 point per patty

Notes;
next time ?add 1/4 t salt?
can use minced garlic and actual onion
loved the HP sauce in there, but now I feel guilty (see wiki article above) for HP sauce is now made outside of England by Heinz! Geez, I got it as a replacement for Worcestershire sauce! White rice conundrum!
also, can replace HP sauce with ketchup. At least the HP sauce isn't chock full of corn syrup.
*these little numbers in parenthesis represent POINTS values ala Weight Watchers.

I also made Strawberry Rhubarb Pandowdy (from Veganomicon again, but not mango-whatever that was in the book- that pie crust is awesome!).

I oopsed and made the crust with 1/2 C shortening not 1/3 C and it still turned out great!- probably actually much easier to roll out, huh? I guess that's why I had to add a little flour in at the end 'cause it was sticking... but it didn't really matter because it all got smushed into the pie filling! Beauty!

crust;
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour (12)
1 T sugar (1)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking powder
1/2 C cold shortening (24)
1/4 C cold water + 2 T if needed
2 t apple cider vinegar

filling;
1 C rhubarb
2 C strawberries
1/2 C sugar (8)
1 t lemon juice
1 t cinnamon
2 T cornstarch

Cut shortening a little at a time into dry ingredients with pastry cutter. Combine vinegar with 1/4 C water and add a little at a time while mixing with pastry cutter. Add up to 2 T water if needed to get dough to hold together when pinched. Gather into a ball and knead a little, flatten into disk and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hr.

Mix together filling ingredients and set aside.

When dough has chilled, remove from frig and roll out onto parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dump filling into pie plate, place crust on top and bake at 350 degrees for 30m, take out of oven, cut crust into 1" squares and smush into filling, then bake 20m more or until crust is golden.

45 points total, divide into 8ths, 1/8th = 6 points (gasp). This was, of course, very, very good. Used up the last of the CSA rhubarb! Wah!

Notes; next time ?try 1/4 C flour? instead of cornstarch.

Going to the library to get new books!! Woo! Going to try and find some book that has "something something Fire and Ice" in it's title, by the guy who wrote "Dreamsongs". Hah. Wish me luck.

Could not get through "The Custom of the Country" by Edith Wharton. Brain too tired to hack through it. Need light sci fi/fantasy.

No knitting. Soooo close to being done with scarf, centrepullball is all squishy and gutted, awaiting it's doom, but it sits on the shelf in stasis. Must push on through.

Until it tests done.

Pizza!

I made pizza last night. I used some of our turnips and the rest was a mish mash of things. I used giardiniera to spice it up (just a spoonful!) and then black olives, roasted garlic, carrots and onions. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, although the giardiniera was pretty spicy for my family. The sauce was nice and creamy and let the toppings shine through. The crust was a little on the dense side and really crackery. The last few times I haven't been real pleased with the crust. I think I'm on the lookout for a new pizza crust- I've got my eye on a few recipes. The veggies I just put on greased baking sheets and roasted at 350 degrees for 30m.

White Pizza Sauce
1 T Earth Balance
3 T flour
1 C plain soymilk
1/2 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder

Blend soymilk, flour, salt and garlic powder in blender (no lumps!). Meanwhile, melt Earth Balance in pot, lower heat, add blender mixture and whisk constantly while bringing up the heat until thick.

Also I made applesauce cake. I guess I missed Applesauce Cake Day, June 6th- d'oh! Or June 4th- there seem to be some discrepancies... anyway, I made this for my husband's work, they had some sort of potluck going on... I think it will be good, never having made it, but all the ingredients were good and it sure smelled good. Will have to update later...

There seems to be a lot of love for the applesauce cake! I used this recipe, with a few changes...

Applesauce Cake
2 C flour
1 C sugar
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
2 t baking soda
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/2 C rolled oats
1 1/2 C applesauce (I used sweetened 'cause that's what I had)
1/2 C shortening (or Earth Balance or oil)

Toast your walnuts and oats. Watch that they do not burn.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9 x 9" pan. Mix dry, then wet- do not overmix! Fold in walnuts and oats. Pour into pan and bake 30-45m or until it tests done.

Notes;
could add 1/2 C molasses and down the amount of applesauce to 1 C.
could try just 1t baking powder
could add 2t ginger
could lower salt to 1/2 t or 1/4 t.

Vanilla Glaze (from here, but different)
2 T soymilk
1 t canola or vegetable oil
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 C - 3/4 C powdered sugar (whizz reg vegan sugar in blender)

Warm soymilk and oil. Remove from heat and add vanilla and powdered sugar, return to heat and bring up heat until boiling, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and pour over cake.

Notes; next time try almond extract- fancy! Perhaps with almonds in the cake itself?
Also, try brown sugar frosting, but with organic cane sugar, Mmmm!

Minimal knitting, no reading- gotta get to the library, and quick!

Potluck, ho!

This past weekend I had two potlucks to attend and one 'bring a treat'.
The potluck is a curious creature, much dependent upon the canniness of the attendee.
Her outward appearance is ever changing, but her soul remains the same...
Huh? (wipes drool from mouth) Oh, what was I saying?
Yes, so I brought casseroles! My favorite!!
One was based on Lachesis' Alfredo Stroganoff sauce, I've blogged it before, (no pic), I used CSA broccoli (I kinda felt bad smothering them in this casserole, but it was for the greater good). Everyone said they liked it (for goodness sake- a whole stick of Earth Balance!).

Then I made the baked lentils doubled everything, with maple syrup this time for the sweetener and 1 T onion soup mix, no other spices. Served over rice. That was pretty good too, just a tidge sweet, though, so I thought it was kinda strange. Next attempt, molasses.

And I made this go anywhere rhubarb bars recipe which was ok, but nothing too fantastic. Dropped out the eggs (in the filling- gack!) of course, but when I was pressing the crust into the pan I was thinking, "Shouldn't there be some, say, soymilk, in here? This is pretty strange.". I 'prebaked' the bottom crust, but didn't really need to because in an attempt to get the top to brown, the bottom got a leeetle burned. I thought about blanching the rhubarb, but I just sliced them really thin (like wooden yardstick thin) and woo! it worked.

Going camping, prepping food.

No reading, no knitting.