Thankful for Food

I spent most of the day yesterday cooking, baking, and doing laundry.

My husband watched football and took a nap. But I am not bitter...not at all.

I had some help, though. I hope Grace doesn't outgrow the desire to help her mommy cook. She is so much fun.

I decided to make myself some sort of seitan "turkey" like thing. I found this recipe and decided to give it a go. Grace helped mix up the dough and knead it. It was incredibly easy to make.






I had some cheese cloth, but I ran into problems there. I had trouble rolling it up and having the seitan fit inside. I also could not find a string to save my life. Eventually I decided to just skip the cheesecloth and let the roll of dough simmer in the water free-form. No problem. After simmering for an hour, I baked it in the oven for 30 minutes. It was kind of crispy on the outside.


Grace and I ate some. It was a little bit blah, so I sprinkled a bit of sea salt on it. We just kept eating it. We couldn't stop! Every time I came into the kitchen, I tore off another piece and popped it in my mouth. Yummy and chewy and delish.

I wanted to make a gravy to go with it, so I tried the vegan gravy recipe from Oh, She Glows Thanksgiving Menu. It was easily the most flavorful yummy gravy I have ever tasted. While making everything else, I kept picking off pieces of the "turkey" and dipping it into the gravy.




By the time we had to leave for the relatives house, I had eaten so much of the seitan, I decided to leave it at home. I made my usual green bean casserole that I just love. I also made the usual pumpkin cheesecake that is to die for.


Garrett had some fun with the whipped cream on his pie.




And Grace was excited about the pumpkin cheesecake that she helped make.



It was a successful meal. I ate my green bean casserole (nobody else touched it). I also had some cranberry relish, pickles, and a bun. The potatoes and corn were swimming in butter, so I skipped them. But I was not deprived. We went to the new Harry Potter movie afterward, and I could barely eat any popcorn, I was so full. We had a good time, though, and there are plenty of leftovers for today. We are staying inside where it's nice and warm, relaxing, and eating. Sometimes, life is good.

Cupcake Fun

Yesterday was a crazy day. I had an article to finish, pictures to email in, blah, blah, blah. It doesn't sound like much, but when you have three children nagging at you all day long, it gets really hard to get stuff done.

Grace had been begging me all day to make cupcakes. She even found the right cookbook, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. So I saved my work and made the basic chocolate cupcakes. I haven't even made cupcakes for many months now, since I am trying to get off all the fat and sugar. But these are the best chocolate cupcakes ever. I licked the spoon when I was done mixing. And I only ate one cupcake, and after that I didn't feel like having any more! Kudos to me!

I also made the vegan buttercream frosting, which turned out a bit too runny, but I was out of powdered sugar, so we lived with it. I made three different colors for the kids, and let them decorate their own. It was a mess, but it was fun.

Grace's masterpiece.

Then I went back to work, and I got it all done by 8:30 last night. Then I had a smoothie, and that was my supper. I ran out of my usual bag of frozen mixed berries, and I had to use some strawberries and blueberries that I bought locally this summer and froze myself. HOLY SHIT! The difference was unbelievable. The taste of the berries was heaven. It was the best kefir smoothie I had ever made. I am fantasizing about one right now.

The other day my mom made a comment that she doesn't really like smoothies. I just stared at her, not sure that I heard her right. Is that even possible? It's like not liking the Beatles. It's just not natural.

I think I will listen to the Beatles while I drink mine today.

What's your favorite thing to put in a smoothie?

Baking It

I am feeling physically better after hurting my back the other day. There's nothing worse than being laid up on the couch unable to cook for myself or anything. I was so thrilled to be able to do dishes again and try out some new recipes with all my rockin' ingredients. I can't believe I was thrilled to do dishes, but it's true. I don't like being helpless. But thank goodness I have some awesome kids that like to help their mom. They are capable of much more than they let on...

Anyhow, I took some strong drugs the other night to get some sleep...and wow, did I sleep. I slept a lazy, pain free, comfortable, floating on a cloud, swimming in my mind sleep. And while I lie there in my Vicodin-induced stupor, it occurred to me that I am losing my sweet tooth. This is not 100 percent true, but I am losing my craving for processed sugar. At least the "gotta have it now or I will die" kind of cravings. I am also losing my taste for cooked food, although I suspect when winter comes I will get that back. I just LOVE the way I feel when I eat raw, healthful meals. L-O-V-E love it. I feel energetic, clean, pure, radiant

I have been eating mostly raw the past week or so. I try to make the morning and afternoon raw and eat a cooked meal at night with the family. Last night I made stir-fry with fake chicken, and although it was delicious, I don't care to have any more tonight. I am going to try out a new recipe from Ani Phyo, one that involves marinated portabello mushrooms and a broccoli mash.

I have also been eating a ton of fruit, but that's so easy this time of year. I kept track of what I ate the other day and it turned out by the end of the day I had eaten eight or nine servings of fruits and veggies.

Yesterday I made the Black Sesame Sunflower Bread from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. It took about five hours in the dehydrator, then I broke it into pieces and put it in the refrigerator. Today for lunch I made some guacamole and went to raw heaven...


Last night was craving something chocolate, because that has not completely gone away. I also wanted something relatively healthy. I found a recipe for Banana Bread Macaroons that was unbelievably simple. I mean, come on! Mashed bananas, almond meal, coconut, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder. That's all! Other than the chocolate chips, there was no sugar.

While these were baking in the oven, two kids came in at different times wondering what that horrible smell was. Then Grace tried one right away and didn't like it. Too bad. More for me, I guess. I thought they were yummy. And they cured my sweet tooth for sure.



Off to marinate my mushrooms, do some yoga, shower, and try to get some writing done. Happy eating!

Pudding and Grilled Cheeze Love

I was sooo excited to discover on Saturday that my favorite health food store is now carrying Daiya vegan cheese. OMG EXCITED! I bought two bags ($4.99 each, ouch!), one cheddar, one mozzarella. I haven't tried the mozzarella but I am planning a homemade pizza night soon. Yesterday I made the most amazing grilled cheeze with the cheddar and some flatbread. Grace got a hold of it and took half of it from me, then made me make her another one. Then Garrett got in on it. Grilled gooey cheeze perfection. I should have taken a picture, but there was no time with all the nom nom nom going on around here. The cheddar tastes unbelievably like American cheese when it melts on a sandwich. This stuff rocks!

Last night I made a recipe from this fabulous web site called "Oh She Glows." I am loving this site so much...I tried the chocolate pudding and it was really good...very rich and sweet. Almost too sweet. I used half the amount of agave nectar called for, and it was still sweeter than it needed to be. My pudding did not look at tasty as hers, though. It was not as dark brown, it was runnier, and it looked like something I won't mention here because it's a food blog. I couldn't taste the avocado, which was a good thing. I once tried an avocado pudding that was really nasty tasting. I love avocados, but I don't want to taste them with chocolate.

The almond butter is what sold me on these. I could taste that, and sweet chocolate. Much healthier, easier, and tastier, than any other puddings. I have made other ones with silken tofu. To tell you the truth, I am getting tired of making everything with soy. This pudding is goooooood stuff!

Now that I have tons of groceries and great food in my house to make whatever I want, I am off to look at my cookbooks and plan my meals for the day.

The Holy Grail

At last the day has come. I have been searching in vain for the perfect vegan brownie recipe. I have made several attempts. Some of them I have mentioned before. Nothing ever quite did it. And tonight I came across the simplest, easiest, fastest, most slap-in-the-forehead why-the-heck-didn't-I-try-this-before recipe ever.

It has everything a recipe shouldn't. White flour. White sugar. Oil. Stuff I usually don't bake with. Herein lies my problem. I threw aside any concerns for my health and just went for pure gooey ecstasy.

And then I added chocolate chips.

Instead of copying someone else's recipe I will just give you the link. Click on it now.

You're welcome.

I am in serious need of a glass of soy milk now.

Sorry about the quality of the picture. They were still really hot and I couldn't wait any longer.

Delays and Fermentation

Well, the weather is making life difficult for those people who have family get-togethers planned. Do we make the turkey, or not? What about the pies? I don't have to worry too much, because all of my cookies are in the freezer.

I made the chocolate coconut cups last weekend as well, but we ate them up already. Sooooooo delicious! Just like a Mounds bar, only better. Luckily, I bought ingredients to make more of them, this time a double batch.

I also made a lot of vegan chocolate truffles. What a freaking mess that was! The filling never got hard enough to roll into a ball, even after being in the freezer. Then I had to dip the "balls" in melted chocolate. They look like crap. All of this work would be worth it, but they aren't even that great tasting. True, I have still been eating them, but I don't think I'll bother with that recipe again.

After the holidays are over, I am seriously taking a vacation from sugar. It is doing some crazy things to my body that I don't even want to talk about. I have recently discovered Kombucha tea through a friend. It is a fermented tea that has many heath benefits, including detoxifying the body, helping with digestive issues, and many other things. It is full of probiotics and good at getting rid of candida problems, which I believe is my main issue. I bought some at the health food store (a small bottle for $4) and tried it out. The smell reminded me of beer at first (which I hate), but I tried it. It was bubbly and tasty. The more I drink it, the more I like it. They sell different flavors. It is also easy to make at home. I have not tried it yet, as I need to get some of the culture from my friend to start my own batch. It's hard to explain the feeling I get from drinking it. It makes me feel clean, I guess.

This friend also makes her own kefir, which is kind of like yogurt, only better for you. She makes hers in goat milk. I have done extensive research on growing it in water or soy milk. She gave me some kefir grains and I am working on converting them to coconut milk. The kefir also has many probiotic benefits, and can be used anywhere milk is used. I think the coconut milk kefir will make for a delicious smoothie. Yummy! I don't really know what I am doing, but hopefully I get the hang of this. I believe I can restore balance to my body and start feeling better soon.

I'm craving kombucha right now. When I start brewing my own, I will share the results with you.

Enjoy the delicious food with your families, and enjoy this clip; everyone's favorite Saturday Night Live skit:

More Pie

Well, I had my final Thanksgiving dinner for the year yesterday at my aunt's house. On Saturday I made my green bean casserole, and the caramel apple pie that I found on VegWeb. Let me just say that when people hear the words "caramel" and "apple" together, they go completely pie-crazy. The pie was gone in like three minutes. And even though there were plenty of pies there, everyone kept asking for this one. And nobody knew that it was vegan. Thank goodness I grabbed a piece when I did, because it was heavenly. I wouldn't say there was a strong caramel flavor to it, but definitely something more than just a plain apple pie. And it was easy to make. It was my first attempt at an apple pie, and I must admit, it was a success. It even looked pretty! You can't really tell from my photo; I had to snap a picture of Grace eating hers because by the time I thought to get out my camera, my plate was empty.

Pumpkin Heaven

Ahh...my belly is really, really full. I just ate leftovers from lunch, topped off with a piece of vegan pumpkin cheesecake. Wowza!

There are a jillion recipes for this online, and most of them are probably about the same. This is the most delicious pumpkin pie I have ever had, vegan or not. I have not been a big fan of pumpkin pie since I was a kid and my brother and I attempted to eat an entire leftover pie on Thanksgiving night. I went years not touching the stuff after that. In fact, I always passed it up, until I made this version. I promise this will be my last pumpkin-related post for a while.

Today we ate lunch at my in-laws. I ate my delicious green bean casserole (I can't stop eating it!), corn, fruit salad, cranberry apple relish, a bun, and a sweet potato (no butter or anything because once again I forgot my Earth Balance). For the cheesecake, I was lazy and used a store-bought graham cracker crust. I then managed to forget the flour, but it made no difference. It was sublime.

Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 12 oz. package silken tofu
1 container vegan cream cheese (I used Toffuti)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup natural sugar
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda

Puree all ingredients in a food processor. Pour into graham cracker crust. Bake 50 minutes at 350 degrees. That's it. Seriously. You're welcome. Happy Thanksgiving!

More Pumpkin

Yesterday I finally made the pumpkin bread, and it sooooooo delicious and moist. The recipe in Vegetarian Times had eggs in it, but I used flax eggs to replace. I use 1 tbsp. of flax meal (or ground up flax seeds) and mix it with 3 tbsp. water to make one egg. Always works wonderfully, and this was no exception. You should really use pure maple syrup if you can. There's nothing better. It's very expensive, but I was lucky to find two large jars at the B&D for $3 each. You could also buy it in bulk from your local food co-op and not pay an arm and a leg. Believe me, it's worth it.


Maple Pumpkin Spice Bread (recipe used without permission from Vegetarian Times magazine Nov/Dec issue)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil (or unsweetened applesauce)
2 flax eggs (or real eggs, if you want)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (optional- I didn't add any nuts)

Preheat oven to 350- Spray 9x5 in. loaf pan with cooking spray or coat with oil. Mix together flours, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and allspice in large bowl. Whisk together maple syrup and oil in separate bowl. Add eggs or egg replacer, then pumpkin and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture and mix. Add nuts if using. Pour into loaf pan. Bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack 5 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely. Eat this stuff warm, and add a little Earth Balance margarine if you want.

Sweets and Comfort

I am not doing a great job of posting every day. Oh, well. That's life. I am, however, eating every day. Last weekend I had to bring a pan of bars to my husband's grandpa's 80th birthday party. Since I knew damn well I would have nothing else to eat while there, I made mine vegan. I used a recipe I found on the Post Punk Kitchen website for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Just so you know, I only use 1 cup of sugar in them instead of the 1 1/2 cups called for. Instead of shortening I use canola oil (or appleasauce if I feel like being healthy). Instead of soy yogurt, I add about a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to some soy milk. The cookies always turn out so cake-like and moist that I like to make bars out of them. They are the perfect bar, and I have received so many compliments from people who can't believe they are vegan. And they are AMAZING. So AMAZING that I probably gained a few pounds that day. I love to make things with pumpkin. And chocolate. Which reminds me, I still have some pumpkin in the refrigerator that I need to use up.

Last night I was in a casserole mood. It's cold and snowy here already. I remembered a creamy baked risotto that I made last year at some time and really loved. I dug through my recipes and found this one, hastily scrawled on a recipe card, no title or anything. It didn't make a lot of sense to me, especially at the end where it said 2 tbsp chives et. al. WTF does that mean? And it called for parmesan cheese. I don't know what I used last year (probably nooch), but I added some of the Buffalo Mostarella cheeze I made last week because I need to use it up. It turned out really creamy, comforting, and delicious.

Creamy Mushroom Spinach Risotto

2 cups brown rice
5 cups vegetable broth
3 tbsp vegan margarine
3 cups (or so) mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup vegan parmesan, or nutritional yeast flakes
2 cups fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste
dried herbs of choice (I used basil and oregano)

Toss everything into a baking dish except the spinach and herbs. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes, stirring ocassionally, until rice has absorbed all the water. Remove from oven and stir in the spinach until it's all wilty. Add the herbs as you please and enjoy.