Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Everyday food and an anniversary

Where to start? Chronological order, I guess.

Last Sunday, Billy was supposed to have friends over to watch the football games. So I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies (Vive le Vegan) and chocolate raspberry cookies (Veganomicon), two tried-and-true recipes. And Billy even whipped up a vegan ranch dip for his chips, which is really good. But of course, the guys never showed (hungover) so we were stuck with all this food. I didn't have any cookies but I know they're delicious.


Then, to use up some white wine sitting in my fridge, I made peaches with spiced white wine, from Vegan Italiano. The wine is simmered with sugar and cinnamon sticks and then tossed with fresh peach slices. I don't drink or like wine...but this dessert isn't too bad, since the peaches are good, and the cinnamon sugar syrup helps out a bit too ;)

For lunches, I prepared easy Mexican wraps from the Candle Cafe cookbook. Quinoa and black beans are wrapped up in a tortilla with citrus-cilantro-marinated grilled tofu and a tomato-avocado pasta. These are very filling, and a nice change from regular sandwiches.


And lastly, yesterday Billy and I celebrated our anniversary and decided to have a romantic dinner at home with some of our favourite foods. So the appetizer was bruschetta on a whole wheat baguette (not pictured) and dinner was La Dolce Vegan's amazing mac n' cheese recipe, with a twist. Billy stirred in about a tablespoon of cajun seasoning. SPICY! I don't care what anyone says, mac and cheese by candlelight is just as romantic as any other recipe :) The picture I have is of the leftovers so it doesn't show how deliciously creamy this recipe really is!

Dessert, requested by Billy, was carrot cake. So I tried a new recipe from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch for carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. This is originally supposed to be a two layer cake, but that comes out to about 800 calories per 1/12th of the cake....and that does not make a Skinny Bitch. So I made just one layer and half the icing recipe. This cake is fantabulous! It is so moist that it is fragile, and it could stand alone without any frosting. In fact, I found the icing to be a little too thick/sweet, and would prefer a lite glaze instead. But we both wolfed our pieces down with glee.

17 comments:

moi + toi PHOTOGRAPHIE said...

your food looks great!! i am thinking about making carrot cake for someone at work for their bday.

Happy anniversary!

Anonymous said...

Happy anniversary! That cake looks wonderful. How ironic that one slice would have 800 cals. Not skinny at all!

VeganView said...

I have yet to try vegan carrot cake, and now I must get my hands on one. Yours looks fantastic!

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Anonymous said...

Hi Melissa,

I hope all is well. I can't wait for another post full of delicious vegan food! :-)

Claudia

Anonymous said...

Hey!

Love your blog and will have to try out some of your recipes!

My girlfriend and I run a vegan blog at My Vegan Planet and would love to do a link exchange :)

Check out the Vegan red velvet cake, absolutely delicious ;)

Anonymous said...

Hello!

Thank you SO very much for writing this blog. It is wonderful to see your dedication to expose people to vegan alternatives - and your blog is making me very, very hungry! In fact, it would be great to do a blog featuring Compassionate Cooks (www.compassionatecooks.com), an organization run by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, whose mission it is to demystify "vegan" cooking and baking - all while doing it healthfully and affordably - and joyfully. Patrick-Goudreau authored a cookbook titled, "The Joy of Vegan Baking" (www.joyofveganbaking.com), which was awarded Cookbook of the Year by VegNews Magazine. This cookbook is like HEAVEN in my kitchen and even my non-vegan friends rave about the breads and desserts I bring to work and parties. This Spring, Patrick-Goudreau's second cookbook, "The Vegan Table" (http://www.vegantable.com/), will be released. I simply can't wait to receive my copy and inundate my kitchen with many new meals!

Please consider a blog on Compassionate Cooks - it's truly a gift to the vegan community.

Be well,
Natalie

Anonymous said...

YUM! I think mac and cheese is very romantic, especially if followed by carrot cake! I need to stop reading blogs hungry, I am about to drool on myself.

Wheeler's Crew said...

Everything looks so yummy! Keep up the good work!

the twins said...

everything looks great. i've been thinking about getting some of these books for a while...always flip through them at the store. i guess i'll have to finally buy one now so i can make all these delicious recipes.

Anonymous said...

I have created a new site, and if you would like me to link to this one in the future, visit www.knowaboutveganism.blogspot.com and go to the talk page, then talk to daniel, and tell me if you want it linked :)

Anonymous said...

I love your blog. I'm looking forward to many more yummy food recipes!

TheModernBunny said...

Yum, that carrot cake looks delish. I'm considering vegetarianism, and if it meant I could eat stuff every day that looked like that carrot cake, it would be an easy choice to make. :P

pranamanda said...

I stumbled here and have spent well over an hour looking through your food reviews - I wish you would come back! :) Is there a new blog?

School Supplies said...

I have weakness for purple and white placed together. I really like your blog and the featured recipes as well, I am thinking of becoming a vegetarian this year and found this blog a good choice to start!

Jess said...

Absolutely fabulous blog! I am definitely adding you to my favorites. Have you checked out Tal Ronnen's vegan cookbook? If you like Mexian, spicy and vegan dishes, he has this great cornmeal crusted tempeh mexican style, here is someone's post about the recipe: http://www.therecipecard.com/best-cookbooks/the-conscious-cooks-cornmeal-crusted-tempeh-with-smoked-tomato-sauce-green-chile-relish-black-bean-puree-and-braised-kale-recipe-review/

Unknown said...

Wow your food looks so good my mouth is watering. I'm still recovering getting my wisdom teeth removed but as soon as I can chew again I'll be making some of those Mexican wraps.. mmm mmm